The new horror thriller, Orphan can be summed up in one word… ridiculous. In all fairness to the film, I have to be honest and say that the horror genre is my least favorite, especially those featuring murderous children. I did go to the theatre with an open mind, but Orphan is an over long, tedious film with a twist that I saw coming from a mile away. That’s not to say everyone will see the twist coming, but a large portion of the audience will. The only saving grace of the film comes in the form of terrific acting by all the leads.

It’ll come as no surprise to the legion of Harry Potter fans that the sixth entry in the popular franchise, The Half-Blood Prince, is a wonderful film. After watching all 6 films of the series over the last 6 days, I believe it is time to declare that Harry Potter is the best film franchise in cinematic history. Believe me I don’t make the above statement lightly, I’m a huge fan of the original Star Wars trilogy, but SW has had its share of bad moments over the course of its life, whereas 8 years and 6 films later, the Harry Potter films have never had one creative misstep. Every time I watch any of the Potter movies, I think to myself this is the best one in the series only to disagree as soon as I watch another one. They are all fabulous movies based on source material that is out of this world and there is no reason to believe that the final films won’t be just as fantastic.

It would be easy to dismiss Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno as a vulgar, shocking, push the envelope, raunchy comedy that plays like Candid Camera on crack, but it is so much more than that. Bruno much like Borat is truly a grand social experiment with Cohen serving as our deranged tour guide. Bruno isn’t quite as funny as Borat, but there are still plenty of moments that will make you laugh until you cry. Is Bruno offensive to gay people? I truly don’t know… my perception is that Cohen is making fun of bigoted homophobes not homosexuals, but surely opinions will vary.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third entry in the popular animated series, is an endearingly sweet family film that will thrill the tykes and keep parents engaged as well. The entire gang from Ice Age: The Meltdown is back and just as fun in this 3-D installment. This time around Manny the wooly mammoth and friends share an adventure that takes them underground to where dinosaurs are still living and where they must rescue their friend Sid the sloth and ultimately learn what it means to be a family. There are plenty of laughs and some heart stirring moments along the way that make Dinosaurs an enjoyable ride.

Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, the true story of infamous bank robber, John Dillinger, is a well acted, well written, nicely filmed bio-pic that unfortunately is lacking soul and ultimately is rather boring. The central problem with the film is that it starts in the middle of the story. John Dillinger is already a big time bank robber wanted by the law and respected by his peers and this takes away from the drama of his fall from grace. I understand that Dillinger is a famous criminal, but by not showing his rise to prominence, the character is woefully underdeveloped (along with every other character) and therefore you don’t give a damn about him or his story.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is one hell of a schizophrenic movie! There are parts that are terrific, high octane fun and there are parts that are so bad you can’t help but cringe during them. Fallen also strives to be more adult than the original featuring more suggestive dialogue and sexual situations than the first film, but at the same time is geared more towards kids. I realize that doesn’t make much sense, but here is a perfect example. There are two new Autobots (the good guys) named Skids and Mudflap who are solely in the movie to provide comic relief and crack up youngsters. The only problem is that these characters curse quite a few times. It seems like a rather odd contradiction to me. Kids run out and buy the toy versions of these lovable, silly robots… just don’t repeat any of their dialogue from the movie! All in all, the good outweighs the bad, but the first film is way superior.

Year One, a prehistoric stoner age comedy starring Jack Black and Michael Cera is an amusing at best comedy that never quite gels or deliver big laughs. You might chuckle a bit, but that’s all. Don’t get me wrong, Year One isn’t a terrible movie, it’s just not a great one either. I expect more from director Harold Ramis, one of the geniuses behind the funniest movie ever (in my opinion), Ghostbusters. Then again Ramis has always been sort of hit or miss; for every Groundhog’s Day there is a Bedazzled. The main problem with Year One is that it plays as a series of different sketches and never coheres into one definitive film.

The Taking of Pelham 123 is a slick, reimagining of the 1974 original that is filled to the brim with suspense, action and the one thing that is missing from many big budget spectacles, good old fashioned character development. Director Tony Scott has crafted a tension filled thriller with both John Travolta and Denzel Washington sharing a chemistry that propels the film to its rocketing conclusion.

The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as three men who take their buddy, Doug (Justin Bartha) to Vegas for his bachelor party is one hell of a party that will leave you drunk with laughter. Directed by Todd Philips, The Hangover takes the Vegas bachelor party that we’ve seen so many times before and puts it squarely in ludicrous territory resulting in a bevy of laughs and smiles.