Synopsis: The last time we saw Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), he was being tormented by rival Bruce Nolan onscreen, live from their Buffalo TV station. But as time passed and Evan has made up with Bruce, he’s gone onto bigger and better things. Newly elected to Washington D.C. as a congressman, Evan has left Buffalo, New York in pursuit of a greater calling. But that calling isn’t serving in the illustrious ranks of America’s politics, but being summoned by the Almighty himself (Morgan Freeman), who has handed Evan the task of building a new ark, much as Noah did before. With time passing by and his family belittled by Evan’s newfound realization, Evan will have to do the work that God has given him in what promises to be an unusual adventure for a man who just wanted to serve his country, might actually be serving humanity.

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Conclusion: Yeah, it was a fun movie, although not realy to my taste – good for a wet afternoon (which it was – how ironic was that!) – good for DVD, not BIG enough for the cinema.

Synopsis: The animated feature, Surfs Up started with a unique premise. It is partially a narrative story, and partially a mockumentry. I dont see many animated features, since I have no vocally gifted, but self-control challenged ankle biters in my home to gently persuade me to make that kind of movie choice. Its not an unpleasant 85 minutes. It starts slow, but soon offers some absolutely amazing water CGI, a few classic tunes and a decent story, that is interesting enough, but could have used some punching up in the humour department.

Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia) provides the voice of Cody Maverick, a young penguin who dreams of winning the biggest penguin surfing competition of the year. His pursuit of this goal is the chosen subject of documentary makers who interview, him, his friends and surfing fans along the way. This is kinda cool, but also a disturbing celebration of our media/fame-obsessed culture, but what the hell, its just a kids movie. Anyway, in his travels, he hooks up with a surfing chicken (voice by Jon Heder), is smitten by a beautiful, penguin lifeguard (Zooey Deschanel) and finds both an enemy (Bader) and a mentor (Bridges, who is great, sorta reprising his Dude character) and passes on the message that we should do what we love, because we love it, not because we want to win at it.

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Conclusion: Yeah, it was fun! There was no singing, or dancing (mentioned in the introduction by Cody) which was a plus point for a start! It’s a touching tale of a little brother that is picked upon by his brother; he so wants to be like his hero "Z", and takes the oppertunity to travel to the tropic’s to take part in a surfing competition. It’s here he learns true values…

Synopsis: Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager’s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned. Fearing that Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort’s return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge’s Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

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Conclusion: Well they were saying it was one of the darkest – it’s true it was, most if it was in darkness, literally.

Harry’s come a long way since we met him living under the stairs; he’s got his own room now! And he’s growing up with his first "sloppy" kiss (ugh). The story works well, and we see a lot more of the Ministry this time – but to be honest, it’s all becoming much the same – glad #6 is the last (no really)..

Sysnopsis: A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it.

The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain’s glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain’s ship.

A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain’s glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth – in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, within the depths of Hoover Dam, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens…

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Conclusion: What can I say – it was truely worth the wait. It’s not just a kids film, it’s a full action CGI spectacular. The Tranformers have come of age. I dare you to watch this firm, and not come out secretly wishing your car was some kind of guardian Transformer robot (see BeetleBot below).

*** Best SCI-FI movie of the year so far…