Year One (2009)

When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world in Columbia Pictures' comedy Year One. Harold Ramis directs. The screenplay is by Harold Ramis & Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg (The Office) from a story by Harold Ramis. The film is produced by Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow, and Clayton Townsend. --© Sony Pictures



Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria, Paul Rudd

Director: Harold Ramis

Screenwriter: Harold Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg

Story: Harold Ramis

Producer: Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis, Clayton Townshend

Composer: Theodore Shapiro

Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber's ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. Ryder, a criminal mastermind, leads a highly-armed gang of four, threatening to execute the train's passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages. But there's one riddle Garber can't solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?

The Proposal (2009)

When high-powered book editor Margaret faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she's actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew, who she's tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade, but with a few conditions of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family and the always-in-control city girl finds herself in one comedic fish-out-of-water situation after another. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences.

Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they'll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can't remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can't find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle

Land of The Lost (2009)

"Land of the Lost" is a silly contrivance of a comedy set in a strangely surreal world populated by fast-moving T. rexes, lumbering big-eyed lizardy Sleestaks, a tribe of monkey people and a random assortment of prehistoric wildlife.

There are three moons floating above and a desert below, artfully littered with half-buried remnants of important cultural artifacts: a Big Boy statue, a piece of the Bay Bridge, an ice cream truck, a motel swimming pool and a Viking ship to name a few. It's enough to make the Salvador Dali in you smile, or sigh, depending on the moment.

Spinning wildly off the '70s Saturday morning TV series of the same name, it stars Will Ferrell as Dr. Rick Marshall, a quantum paleontologist whose time warp theories have landed him in an elementary school teaching precocious kids who specialize in sarcasm.

But before you despair that science isn't getting the respect it deserves, spunky beautiful researcher Holly (Anna Friel) slips into the classroom to encourage Dr. Rick to finish his mythic Tachyon particle accelerator. Huh? You know, the time-travel gizmo he abandoned after a really humiliating Matt Lauer grilling on "Today." But Holly has faith -- not even the legacy of the Lauer YouTube clip shakes it.

What else then would any true man of science do but dig out the machine and head to a souvenir hut in the desert run by a wisecracking redneck named Will (Danny McBride)? As fate would have it, Will also doubles as a tour guide willing to paddle them down the polluted stream that disappears into Devil's Canyon Mystery Cave, which happens to be next door.

Sure the cave looks like a papier-mâché science project, but the Tachyon readings are really high (and forgive me if I don't get all the science right). A flip of the Tachyon Meter switch and whoosh -- that stream is a rumbling river tossing them through a portal and into another world. Let the games begin.

Director Brad Silberling and screenwriters Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas have borrowed liberally and loosely from the series, grafting enough of its rock, paper, scissors design/emotional aesthetic onto "Land of the Lost" that the film will feel like a repressed memory experiment for fans of the show. The names are the same, only the identities have changed. Holly still wears braids, but she definitely doesn't think of Dr. Rick as dad. There's the "Beware of Sleestaks" whitewashed warning on a rock wall that even 30-or-so years later no one sees no matter how many times they walk past it. Monkey boy Chaka (Jorma Taccone) still speaks the screechy Pakuni developed by an actual linguist for the TV show, and the Sleestaks are still heavy breathers.

The story is a simple one: The science gang is trying to deal with another world that comes with all the confusion of different life forms, new cultural clichés and an obsession with powerful crystals. It turns out that many truisms translate -- don't trust anyone in a tunic for starters -- but that doesn't mean there won't be mountains to climb, lava beds to cross, dinosaurs to outwit and outrun on their quest to save Earth from a Sleestak invasion, or difficulty finding their way back home.

Like its characters, the film keeps getting lost too, stumbling as it struggles to keep kids and adults from squirming in their seats. There's a crowd-pleasing, clever T. rex named Grumpy fighting for screen time with a bad and long-running gag built around Chaka grabbing one of Holly's breasts every time he tries to say her name. Meanwhile, Ferrell is his likable Ferrell self, nothing new or especially exciting to report on that front.

The filmmakers get props for persuading Leonard Nimoy to suit up as the Zarn -- you know, an invisible alien creature except for the spots of light that totally make him visible. But not so much for a close-up shot of Ferrell delivering an F-bomb that seems the definition of gratuitous, which in movie lingo roughly means completely unnecessary but designed to get the boob in the back row to laugh. Mission accomplished.

Terminator Salvation

In 2003, Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to sign his body over for medical research following his execution by lethal injection. One year later, the Skynet system is activated, perceives humans as a threat to its own existence, and eradicates much of humanity in the event known as Judgment Day (see Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). In 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale) leads an attack by the Resistance on a Skynet base. John discovers human prisoners and the plans for the development of a new type of Terminator incorporating living tissue, but is the only apparent survivor of the attack after the base is destroyed in a nuclear explosion. However, Marcus emerges from the wreckage of the base and proceeds on foot to Los Angeles.
John returns to Resistance headquarters located aboard a nuclear submarine and tells General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) of his discovery. Meanwhile, the Resistance has discovered a radio frequency capable of shutting down Skynet machines. They plan to launch an offensive against the Skynet base in San Francisco in four days, in response to an intercepted "kill list" indicating that Skynet plans to kill the Resistance's command staff in four days' time. John learns that his own name is second on the list, following Kyle Reese. The Resistance leaders are unaware of Kyle's importance to Skynet, but John knows that it is because Kyle will later become his father (see The Terminator). John meets with his officer Barnes (Common) and wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) and sends radio broadcasts to Resistance members and surviving civilians around the world.
Arriving in the ruins of Los Angeles, Marcus is saved from a T-600 Terminator by Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and his mute companion Star (Jadagrace Berry). Kyle relates to Marcus the events of Judgment Day and the ensuing war between humans and machines. Hearing John's radio broadcast, the three leave Los Angeles in search of the Resistance. They survive an attack by machines, but Kyle, Star, and several other humans are taken prisoner, while a pair of Resistance A-10s are shot down. Marcus locates downed pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) and they make their way to John's base, but Marcus is wounded by a land mine. Attempting to save his life, the Resistance fighters discover that he is in fact a cyborg with human organs, a mechanical endoskeleton, circuitry, and a partially artificial cerebral cortex. Marcus believes himself to be human, demanding to be released so that he can save Kyle from Skynet, but John orders his destruction. However, Blair releases him and helps him to escape from the base. During the resulting pursuit Marcus saves John's life from Skynet hydrobots, and the two form an alliance—Marcus will enter Skynet's headquarters and attempt to disable its defenses so that John can rescue Kyle.
John demands that Ashdown delay the attack so that he can rescue Kyle and the other prisoners, but Ashdown refuses and relieves John of his command. However, John's soldiers remain loyal to him and he sends a radio broadcast asking the other Resistance fighters not to attack Skynet. Meanwhile, Marcus enters the Skynet base and interfaces with the computer, disabling the perimeter defenses and allowing John to infiltrate the cell block and release the human prisoners. The Resistance's disabling signal is revealed to be a ruse, and the command submarine with the Resistance leaders aboard is destroyed by a Hunter-Killer.
Marcus discovers that he was created by Skynet and has unwittingly fulfilled his programmed mission to lure John into the base to be killed. He tears out the hardware linking him to Skynet and leaves to assist John in battling a T-800 model 101 Terminator. John is mortally wounded during the fight, but succeeds in destroying the Skynet base by rigging several Terminator nuclear power cells to an explosive, detonating them as he, Marcus, Kyle, and Star are airlifted out. Kate attempts to save John's life, but his heart is too damaged. Marcus offers his heart for transplant, sacrificing himself to save John. Recovering, John radios to the other Resistance fighters that though this battle has been won, the war is far from over.

In 1989, Michael O'Donnell was a star athlete with a full college scholarship imminent. He seemingly had it all, when, right before the championship game, his girlfriend Scarlet informed him she was pregnant. In that moment, he made the decision to throw everything away (including basketball and a chance at a scholarship) and proposed to her.
Twenty years later, Mike's life has come to a standstill. Scarlet has separated from him, forcing him to move in with his geeky, but millionaire, best friend Ned Gold, his job is going nowhere, and his kids Maggie and Alex want nothing to do with him. While paying a visit to Hayden High School to reminisce about the life he threw away, he encounters the mysterious janitor. On the way home, is magically transformed back into his 17-year old self.
With Ned posing as his father, he re-enrolls in high school, believing he has been given the chance to live his life over again, "but to do it right". However, he then discovers that his daughter is dating the basketball captain Stan, who is bullying his son. He realizes that his real mission is to help his children and makes friends with Alex. With Mike's (using the name "Mark Gold") help, Alex gets a place on the basketball team and the girlfriend he desires. Mike also comforts Maggie when she is dumped by Stan, who was pressuring her for sex. Meanwhile, he assists Scarlet in decorating her garden, gaining a new appreciation for her.
Meanwhile, Ned is smitten with the high school principal, Jane Masterson. Although his initial attempts to 'peacock' her fail, they soon bond over a love of Lord of the Rings. However, when taking her back to his house, they discover an out-of-control party raging there. To celebrate Alex scoring the winning basket in a game, "Mark" is throwing a victory party. When Scarlet appears looking for Alex, Mike's feelings for her are reawakened, and he goes to kiss her. She is appalled, and slaps him. His action is witnessed by Maggie and her friends, who are all disgusted, especially since Maggie became smitten with "Mark".
The next morning, Ned reminds Mike that it is the date of his divorce hearing with Scarlet. He shows up as Mark to read a letter from Mike O'Donnell, the contents of which touches her. However, upon seeing the "letter" (which is really just a piece of paper with directions on it), she realizes the truth. Later, at the championship game, Mike makes a gesture which she recognizes as his. Realizing that she is in the same situation as twenty years earlier, she flees the scene. Mike follows, handing the ball to Alex, who goes on to make the winning shot. The janitor catches sight of Mike and changes him back into his adult self, and Mike and Scarlet reunite.
In the end, Mike is happily reconciled with his family, now the coach of the high school basketball team. Ned, too, is happy, having mended his relationship with Principal Masterson.