WEEKEND PIC - April 18 - 20 2008

Your Guide to the Weekend Viewing

1. THE KITE RUNNER (drama with Khalid Abdalla, Homayon Ershadi, Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) Rated * * * * (out of 4): This one gets my vote for the Best Movie of 2007. It does not have the eye candy power of "Atonement" or the cool brutality of "No Country For Old Men", but it gets us both on the emotional and intellectual levels. (Reviewed below).

2. NO COUNTRY OF OLD MEN (action thriller with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Woody Harrelson) Rated * * * 1/2 (3.5 stars): Catch it if you want to know how this brutal kill-'em-all movie was picked Best Movie at the Oscars. Typical Coen Brothers pic with its signature unsatisfying ending. (Reviewed here in March).

3. DEFINITELY, MAYBE (romantic comedy with Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Derek Luke and Kevin Kline) Rated * * * (3 stars): A funny and witty treat for die-hard romantics and fans of Breslin who steals the show here. (Reviewed below)

4. FORBIDDEN KINGDOM (kungfu fantasy with Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michael Angarano) Rating * * (2 stars): The main attraction for this movie is the first-time teaming up of Jet Li and Jackie Chan (picture). And if you feel you must catch this, you have swallowed the publicity bait. The stunts are familiar with lots of wire-fu and nods to Jackie's Drunken Master days.

5. NIM'S ISLAND (fantasy adventure with Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerald Butler) Ratig * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Another Breslin vehicle based on the novel by Wendy Orr. It is whimsical but uninspiring. There's an attempt at charming the audience but no real sense of peril or suspense.

6. FEAST OF LOVE (romantic comedy with Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Selma Blair, Radha Mitchell, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway and Jane Alexander) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Again, Freeman is in the sage role, dispensing advice and concern to a couple of lovers in this passable rom-com that's more of a snack than a feast. (Reviewed below).

7. STREET KINGS (cop thriller with Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie and Chris Evans) Rating: * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): A rather confusing saga of a 'dirty cop' made worse by foul language cuts. The twist at the ending is supposed to explain the incongruities but it turns out ridiculous and compromising. (Reviewed below).

8. OVER HER DEAD BODY (comedy with Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs and Lindsay Sloane) Rating * * (2 stars): Longoria plays a bride who gets killed on her wedding day and returns to haunt her groom. Let's let her Rest In Peace and stay away from this mediocre fare fit only for TV.