Headache enthusiasts and fans of clattering monstrosities will both find much to like about The Transformers (Paramount), Michael Bay's blockbuster adaptation of the beloved '80s television show/program-length toy ad. Bay's inane, bloated fusion of dumb comedy and mindless spectacle accomplishes the singular feast of being shallower than the toys and cartoon that inspired it…
Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof got most of the love from Grindhouse lovers, but Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror (Weinstein) is pretty entertaining in its own right, with the way it shoves a handful of John Carpenter movies into a blender and pushes "puree." And yet, because Planet Terror felt a little long even at 80 minutes, and because its best gags were built around sudden cuts and "missing footage," the prospect of a standalone, extended-cut DVD isn't all that enticing. Those who pick up this disc are advised to keep their fingers poised above the "skip" button for a more authentic experience…
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip: The Complete Series (Warner) promises a fast-paced drama set behind the scenes at a sketch-comedy show, but creator Aaron Sorkin botches his grand premise by spinning pages of dialogue out of minutiae, while finding a political dimension to everything. By the end of Studio 60's one and only season, Sorkin was spinning three-parters out of emergency C-sections, then somehow tying it all to 9/11…
Based on Mariane Pearl's book about the abduction and beheading of her journalist husband Daniel, A Mighty Heart (Paramount) was dismissed sight-unseen by many as a vanity project for its glamorous star, Angelina Jolie. But save for one volcanic eruption of grief, Jolie gives a fierce, disciplined performance that honors Mariane's courage and conviction in the face of a desperate situation…
Woman of the cloth turned damned dirty skeptic Hilary Swank gets hit with 10, count 'em, 10 biblical plagues in The Reaping (Warner Bros.), a delirious horror melodrama pitched equally to camp horror buffs and Bible-thumping true believers. Finally, a Halloween movie for people who think Halloween is a shameful Satanic abomination.