“SAW” Directed by James Wan Lions Gate
Films

Two men wake up to find themselves chained inside a filthy
subterranean bathroom. In between them lies a man with a gunshot
wound to his head, holding a .38 in his hand.

Some say imitation is the best form of flattery. If this is the
case, then Americans have been paying foreign filmmakers the
biggest compliment to date.

Once, the defiance of gravity was exclusively the domain of
those skilled with paper and pencil. And while animators have
always had the ability to bring their most incongruous ideas to
life, transcending the limitations of time and space have now
become a pedestrian feat for live-action filmmakers thanks to a now
well-established technique called computer-generated imagery.

Raising Helen Directed by Garry Marshall Buena Vista
Pictures
Director Garry Marshall has partially redeemed himself to his
glory days of “Pretty Woman” with his latest creation
“Raising Helen." Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) leads every
shallow woman’s fantasy; she has a nice home, a well-paying
job and an impeccable wardrobe.

To rock ‘n’ roll whizzes, 1955 is recorded as a year
of cornerstones. The movie “Rock Around the Clock”
single-handedly liberated an entire generation’s ears, torsos
and imaginations, inventing the rock ‘n’ roll
movie.

So no one told you life was going to be this way, that one day
you would tragically witness the end of an iconic television show
that has defined an entire decade for sitcom fans.

“13 Going on 30″
Directed by Gary Winick
Columbia Pictures
There’s a thin line between cute and annoying. At best,
“13 Going on 30″ totters in between the two.

It’s extravagant, colorful and melodramatic.
To many Americans, Bollywood provokes no greater depth than
these three adjectives. But in a movie industry that churns out
more movies per year than Hollywood, Bollywood’s proponents
hope to prove to Western eyes that Indian films are more than just
dance-filled spectaculars.

Looking solely at the premise of “The Girl Next
Door,” it would seem to be treading on well-worn territory: A
goody-two-shoes high school boy breaks out of his straight-arrow
persona with the help of a sexy girl.

“Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights”
Directed by Guy Ferland
Miramax Films

I am sad to say I didn’t have the time of my life “¦
again with “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”
While the film slavishly follows the formula of the original
“Dirty Dancing,” all of the familiarity that hooked
audiences in the original rendition is rushed through without a
second thought in the remake.