Today's Pick

What are hitting theaters this weekend to finish up the 2009 summer movie season? "The Final Destination" or often called "Final Destination 4" is franchise’s fourth and reportedly final installment of the gloriously schlocky thriller/horror flick series, and the first of the series in fusion 3D, which was shot over 60 days in New Orleans last summer, and opens today, comes three years after “Final Destination 3” made $113.3 million worldwide.
By making sure no one dies of natural causes, director David R. Ellis and screenwriter Eric Bress, who co-wrote "Final Destination 2," have clearly given plenty of ghoulish thought to the visceral thrill of the 3D format, which might give it an edge, and offers a new perspective on the horror franchise, and indeed on ideas of life, death and destiny. It's just as bloody and fun as the previous three films.
IF you have seen any of the previous three Final Destination movies, you probably already know how it all works, or at least you think you do. You won't need a sixth sense to know what is coming. As usual a group of teenagers dodge an early grave when one of them, Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) can see the future and uses the power to help his friends cheat death. They try to escape their fates, but death always catches up, and then pursues them to their ultimate destination. The difference here is that those of you near a digital cinema will be able to see people being sliced in half in 3D, a format that should intensify the visceral experience.
Eat your heart out, this 4th installment brings no fresh ideas to the mix is not a problem; the added dimension is a hugely entertaining carnival ride of elaborate, and more than enough to reinvigorate interest in this enduringly and deservedly popular New Line's series.

Fall in love again? The gifted Rachel McAdams melted our hearts in "The Notebook" and "Wedding Crashers" returns for this summer's biggest remantic movie, and tries to keep Eric Bana’s heart in "The Time Traveler’s Wife," which coming out today in local theaters near you.
"The Time Traveler’s Wife," a romantic drama with Sci-Fi twist, is directed by Robert Schwentke of "Flightplan" and adapted by Bruce Joel Rubin of "Ghost", based on the 2003 best-seller novel by Audrey Niffenegger, about a Chicago librarian Henry (Bana) who has a genetic disorder that causes him unable to control his abiliy to vault through time, and the impact that has on his marriage with a young heiress Claire (McAdams), a long-suffering woman who can't stay away from him. Basically this is a glad-to-be-sad romance of two people who can’t bring themselves to part but can never really be together.
It's never easy to compare movies from different times and genres. All time travel stories have one thing in common, they require a total suspension of disbelief. If you start thinking about the lapses in logic, everything falls apart. Time travel serves as a metaphor for love, absence, aging and death, but once you see it on screen, it becomes real. This adaptation of the 2003 bestseller is meant to be supremely romantic, but why does this love go so bad? Only time will tell. Timing is everything, especially when it comes to love. "The Time Traveler's Wife" takes this expression quite literally. The film is a tale of highly-praised reality-bending romance, but early reviews of the film show an uphill battle since it doesn't fulfill its destiny. One thing for sure is it seems no question that tears will flow and hankies will suffer terribly. This dramatic fantasy film has held up well, and is honest assessment of how difficult and magical a true and lasting love can be.