WEEKEND PIC - Aug 15 - 17, 2008

Your Guide To The Weekend Movies

1. WALL-E (sci-fi adventure with voices of Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, & Sigourney Weaver) Rated * * * 1/2 (out of 4): If you liked The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, you will like WALL-E, a robot that will capture your heart and imagination. (Reviewed below)

2. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (animated sci-fi with voices of Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein and James Arnold Taylor) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This animated flick is a pilot for the new TV series and it is actually 'Star Wars 2.5' in terms of chronology. Should prove a nice fix for Star Wars addicts. (Reviewed below).

3. MIRRORS (horror with Keifer Sutherland (picture), Paula Patton and Cameron Boyce) Rating * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): At last, here's a horror flick that's really scary and weird. The second half may disappoint a bit but then if you want to be jolted out of your wits, this is it.

4. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE GOLDEN EMPEROR (fantasy adventure with Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh) Rating * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): With Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh in the supporting cast, this sequel may be much more attractive to Asian audiences than Western ones. Except for a few f/x sequences, it just gives more of the same from a franchise that should have been mummified. (Reviewed below)

5. 21 (Black Jack drama with Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts and Laurence Fishburne) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This movie about card-counting students trying to hit Vegas casinos is formulaic and so by-the-book. A see-and-forget film. (Reviewed below)

6. ROGUE (killer croc thriller with Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington and John Jarratt) Rating * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This 2007 Aussie thriller about an American writer touring the Outback took some time to get here. However, it is a formulaic effort offering credible character development and the requisite frights.

7. MEET DAVE (comedy with Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Scott Caan, Ed Helms and Kevin Hart) Rating * * (2 stars): Murphy plays the captain of a spaceship landing on Earth on a mission to save his home planet. As a fish-out-of-water gag, we get a few chuckles but it is obvious that Murphy has past mprime as a comedian. He's jow a tired comedian.

8. X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE (sci-fi thriller with David Duchnovny, Gillian Anderson and Amanda Peet) Rating * 1/2 (1.5 stars): Even with its creator Chris Carter at the helm, this movie version fails to impress like it should. The plot is predictable, its relevance prolonged and you can't help feeling that X-Files should have been axed. (Reviewed below)