Today's Pick

The first-time director Grant Heslov has come up with something wackier and more whimsical, a quirky rapid-fire military comedy "The Men Who Stare at Goats" which has hit the nation's movie screens today. The movie offers a fitfully amusing adaptation and "inspired by" British journalist Jon Ronson's book, about the U.S. Army's exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal techniques, and purports to be closer to the truth than many people would suspect. A title card claims, "More of this is true that you would believe," indicating that Goats is just the tip of the absurdest iceberg.
You might not know that there's a silly side to the military-industrial complex, but the folks behind fhe film certainly do. In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story, you will hardly believe is actually true, it set in Iraq, and follows a reporter, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he meets a special forces operator, Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). As they embark on a new mind-boggling mission, Lyn reveals his twenty-year involvement in a top-secret wing, psychic military unit and shares details of their activities, each more bizarre than the last.
The film has such a fantastically odd story that Heslov would have been well advised to stay out of the way and let the bizarre details stand on their own. He has tried to crowbar Ronson's anecdotes into a feeble story, and slips too easily into lackluster wrap-up mode down the stretch, but it still has enough serious satire to recommend it. Meanwhile, the screenwriter Peter Straughan hit on more juicy material than he knew what to do with when he adapted Ronson's controversial book and began researching the subject matter himself.
As the result, the film is merely a light-hearted approach, advocating peace and acid not war. It has a glorious good time satirizing the extravagant lengths to which the military and intelligence establishments will go if they think there's a payoff at the other end. However, the film somewhat disappoints because the narrative Straughan has come up with isn't that engaging? the best stuff is in the flashbacks where Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey do battle for the future of the New Earth Army, which contains the most actual material from the original book.

It takes an exciting new talent to breathe life into the zombie genre and show audiences something new, but first-time feature director Ruben Fleischer proves he's more than up to the task. With his directorial debut, "Zombieland," Fleischer has not just made one of the funniest and goriest films all year but has also drawn terrific performances out of his quartet of leads. Led by Woody Harrelson as a cowboy zombie-killer, the cast includes Jesse Eisenberg ("Adventureland"), Emma Stone ("Superbad"), and Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") as the sole survivors of a zombie apocalypse.
Fleischer began his career as an assistant to director Miguel Arteta on the films "Chuck & Buck" and "The Good Girl" before branching out to shoot music videos and commercials and landing a directing gig on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show." He came across Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick's script for "Zombieland" when they were pitching it as a TV movie in hopes of launching a series. Deemed too expensive for the small screen, the film now hits theaters today in all its gory glory.
You’ve see zombies, but you’ve never seen them this funny. You’ve heard the buzz and by now you know that "Zombieland" is a must see, because it injects fresh life into the corpse of horror comedy. Clearly, the horror-comedy is not your average gore-nucopia, but "Zombieland" is within chomping range of brilliant, and that’s no mean feat, that's light on horror but heavy on comedy, and mostly about character-based laughs, and leaves tense, existential survival behind in favor of joyous, and the most flat-out fun horror/comedy since "Shaun of the Dead". The fun movie that will go down in camp-horror history, and also honestly it is a nice break from the recent overload of vampires. And as you might expect, "Zombieland" is easily one of the most enjoyable films and one of the biggest surprises of the year.

Honor Society, an American pop rock boy band, recently signed to a label under Jonas Records with Hollywood Records, are out with the new music video to their debut single "Where Are You Now," featuring footage from the musical-romantic comedy film "Bandslam" as soundtrack. It opens in theaters last Friday. It sees the band performing the song near a swimming pool with captures from the Vanessa Hudgens-starring movie being featured in between the performance scene.
The boy band are four well-dressed, well-coiffed guys originally from New Jersey who were fortunate enough to have their EP, "A Tale of Risky Business," catch the eye of Jonas Brothers last summer. Since then, Honor Society have opened up shows for the mega-star siblings, and are now managed by the Jonas Group, which of course also manages the brothers and fellow Disney star Demi Lovato.
The film "Bandslam," written by Josh Cagan and Todd Graff, and centers around Will and Charlotte who form an unlikely bond through their shared love of music. Assembling a like-minded crew of misfits, the friends form a rock group and perform in the battle of the bands competition at their school, called "Bandslam".

One of the funniest movies of the decade, and the hilarious and unforgettable bro-mantic comedy hit “I Love You, Man” is finally making an appearance on DVD starting today!
“I Love You, Man” is a comedy from director John Hamburg and starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel as two completely different guys who form an unlikely friendship in this start-to-finish laugh marathon about a lovable, yet awkward, groom to-be Peter Klaven(Rudd) goes on a series of man-dates to find a best man for his wedding. But when his insta-bond with his new man, Sydney Fife (Segal) puts a strain on his relationship with his fiancée, can the trio learn to live happily ever after? Are you man enough to say it?
Sometimes, a comedy doesn't have to be laugh-out-loud hysterical to be a good comedy. Not necessarily great for anything but the jokes, which in most cases are enough. "I Love You, Man" is a bromance in its truest form, filled with outrageous humor, and surprisingly enough. The film is an hugely enjoyable comical and heartwarming story in that it paints an entertaining and humorous portrait of friendship and capitalizes on the strengths of a talented cast. The movie works because everything hinges on the camaraderie and undeniable chemistry between Rudd and Segel, who give a startlingly funny and original performance. Paul Rudd is one of those guys who could stand there and read a phone book, and we would laugh. Without question, "I Love You, Man" is one of the funniest (and oddest) things in the comedy this year.

"Julie & Julia" is an inspirational film about finding your passion! Reuniting the leads of “Doubt”, "Julie & Julia" stars Amy Adams as Julie, a woman who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Julia's autobiography, and Meryl Streep as Julia, the life of famed chef in written and directed by Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two true bestselling memoirs: 'Julie & Julia' by Julie Powell and 'My Life in France' by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme. "Julie & Julia" intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends...until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.
Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do You Have What It Takes? Few movies are as delightful as "Julie & Julia", it's a light and entertaining treat, with winning performances, sharp writing and some happy surprises. Though not an all-out feast, "Julie & Julia" is spiced with plenty of humor and affection. The experience is well worth relishing, and a movie you’ll definitely want to see on a full stomach.
Ephron was nominated 3 times for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay for "Sleepless in Seattle," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Silkwood." In her new movie, "Julie & Julia," Ephron combines her talent for romantic comedy with her art for weaving personal biopics.

"The IT crowd" is a British deliriously funniest workplace sitcom from the producer of "The Office", airs on Channel 4 in the UK and IFC in the US. The TV show is about a group of IT specialist so to speak at the bottom of a company, it follows the IT department, two computer IT guys Roy, Moss and their computer illiterate boss Jen, end up working together, they must work below ground in the dark, horrible basement, struggling to make it into normal society. Fantastic character work pull off a simple idea and make it phenomenal. The program series has won BAFTA and International Emmy awards for Best Comedy.
Bored with sitcoms? Not seen anything new in a while? Trust me, I would love to emphasize to everyone just how much you NEED to check this show out, or you're really missing something great! I was shocked and bewildered at how ridiculously funny and entertaining "The IT Crowd" is! I have not laughed this hard in years! 5 stars...... stellar, amazing, and absolutely brilliant series!!! You can watch it online or on the IFC channel. Let's take a quick look a scene how they take your "help" call: "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

“Funny People” the latest from director Judd Apatow, will implement more dramatic elements than seen in his previous hit comedies “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”, is all it's cracked up to be, and has its share of crude jokes about body parts. At its heart, though, is a somber story about a famous comedian, Adam Sandler stars as George Simmons, whose personal life is sorely lacking. He cheated on his one great love, Laura (Leslie Mann), and spends his middle-aged days — and nights — pursuing a string of meaningless dalliances. A medical diagnosis prompts him to take stock of his unexamined life. George is by turns funny, imperious, engaging and self-obsessed but always compelling. It is easily Sandler's best and most multi-faceted performance.
"Funny People" may not be Apatow's funniest movie, however, and more interestingly, it's his best film, deep and rich and unexpectedly honest while still being remarkably funny. It is a true brass ring effort, a reach for excellence that takes big risks. Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, takes a decidedly less funny path to storytelling at times when talking about the mortality of its main character. We know that comedy can always lead to drama and vice versa, so we explore some of the funny people who've traversed the invisible thread between the two genres, and comment on their journey.

From British director Shane Meadows (This Is England), who takes the helm for this monochromatic childhood drama, "Somers Town" follows 2 teenage boys Tomo and Marek, both newcomers to London, adrift in an adult world, who develop a mutual trust and acceptance through an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer, and their efforts not to turn out like their aimless fathers - but it's only a matter of time before Marek's dad discovers what's going on...
Shane hits the spot with this short but sweet slice of good natured comedy, surprisingly, as it’s essentially an extended black & white advert for a train station. It is proof that there are all sorts of teenage lives going on in Britain, and sometimes, their most magical moments take place on dead-end streets. "Somers Town" is one of the most charming coming-of-age films in years, everything about this film says "gentle and tender," from the friendship between the two boys -- I've to use all kind of words to say that "Somers Town" is a charming, hilarious, witty, uplifting, heartwarming, and funny gem with a heart of gold.
"Somers Town" released by Film Movement, and opens at Film Forum in Manhattan on last Wednesday, through July 28. The DVD will be available to subscribers on August, and available to the public on December 8, 2009.

What do you do when you’re struggling to get by and you realize your boss is about to fire you? Well, check out the new original movie "Labor Pains", premieres on ABC Family tonight. The plot is that a *clueless* secretary, Thea (Lindsay Lohan) is stuck in a dead-end job at a military publishing house that she can't afford to lose. When her evil boss starts hinting that he’s about to fire her, in a panic, she quickly makes up a lie that she’s pregnant. The word gets out quick and now she's milking her one big lie for everything it's worth.
Whatever her press, Lindsay Lohan (was born in New York City, on 2 July 1986) delivers a great performance in "The Parent Trap", "Freaky Friday", "Mean Girls", and now "Labor Pains". This is a REALLY smart and funny film -- well worth seeing and far better than the usual comedic maternity genre. Rest of cast is excellent as well. I'll say Lindsay's new comedy "Labor Pains" may not be a blockbuster comeback, but hey, she showed up, there were no major scenes, she finished it and though there have been mixed reviews, most critics say her strong performance is the best part of the movie. I think its gonna be great for Lindsay!

It was a "wunderbar" weekend for comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, whose latest mockumentary, Brüno, finished 1st at the box office by grossing $30.4 million, according to early estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office. However, Cohen better celebrate his victory quickly because like his gay Austrian fashion reporter character's interview with Congressman Ron Paul, it's not going to last too long. Bruno topped the charts on opening day Friday but had a huge drop the rest of the weekend. Clearly, many of Cohen's fans rushed to see Bruno on its opening day, but that considerable Friday-to-Saturday drop may also indicate poor word-of-mouth (the comedy scored a rancid "C" rating from CinemaScore moviegoers).
Brüno has received some pretty scathing reviews. The Los Angeles Times wrote that it "pile[s] even more stereotypes and discomfort onto an already hostile climate." And even Fox News asked the question, "Is Bruno harmful to gay and lesbian causes, or just really funny?" The Christian group also wants cities to Brüno because it says the movie is offensive and loaded with inappropriate sexual content.