This week, even the great George Lucas has his hands full with a Valentine’s Day timed release. This weekend’s predictions and revenue results go as follows:

1. The Vow ($37 Million) – There are forces at work that can even beat “Star Wars” sometimes. A romantic drama on the weekend before Valentine’s Day will be one of those. The timing on this film really couldn’t be better.

2. Safe House ($32 Million) – Denzel Washington is also such a force at the box office. Big Hollywood’s own John Nolte had some great comments on this in one of his Daily Call Sheets this week. This will be yet another action film of Mr. Washington’s to beat projections. Liam Neeson showed how reliable this audience is right now with “The Grey”’s success. Look for even better results here.

3. Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace 3D ($22 Million) – “Star Wars” audiences are loyal, but this particular franchise entry was a great disappointment to general audiences in 1999 (three words: Jar Jar Binks). On the bright side, it will open higher than 2008’s animated “The Clone Wars,” the franchise’s current lowest opener.

4. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($19 Million) – The Rock takes over for Brendan Fraser, which in itself isn’t bad. The problem is the first one opened when 3-D had a lot more appeal with audiences. That’s not the case today, and this one will finish far behind its predecessor’s overall gross ($101 million domestic).

5. Chronicle ($10 Million) – The “found footage” films usually post significant drops on their second weekend. This one won’t be immune.

Does Sensei have it right, or will others prevail?

The new film’s trailer will debut tonight at the annual CPAC convention in Washington. The clip will show Judicial Watch’s battle versus bipartisan corruption as well as corrupt elements within the Obama administration.

Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon and produced in association with Constant Motion Entertainment, the Judicial Watch film will be released in the summer of 2012. The film will chronicle Judicial Watch’s heroic battles to clean up government corruption in Washington, DC, focusing most comprehensively on its efforts to counter the unprecedented corruption and secrecy of the permanent political class and, currently, the Obama Administration. The film will comprehensively expose the Beltway’s current scandals, including: “Fast and Furious”; Solyndra and “Green Energy”; federal bailouts and earmarks; the New Black Panthers; ACORN and voter fraud; stealth amnesty; threats to the integrity of the 2012 elections; and new attacks on government transparency and accountability.

The film is a companion piece to the upcoming book, “The Corruption Chronicles, Obama’s Big Secrecy, Big Corruption, and Big Government,” by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  The Judicial Watch book is scheduled for release in July 2012, from Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions.

“For too long our nation has suffered through a massive expansion of government power and corruption, the likes of which we haven’t seen in generations,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American people are tired of Washington corruption—that’s why Judicial Watch is the largest grassroots watchdog group in the nation.  Our new partnership with Stephen Bannon, the nation’s preeminent conservative filmmaker, will educate the American people by giving them the unvarnished truth about Obama’s corrupt machine and the longstanding problem of bipartisan corruption in Washington, DC.

The modern hero is less than perfect, to put it mildly. Think Showtime’s “Dexter,” or films like the “Bourne” franchise where shades of gray are the order of the day.

The era of John Wayne-style heroes is no more.

Enter “Safe House,” the new Denzel Washington thriller about a rogue CIA agent who possesses a file so important people are lining up to kill him. Washington’s character, Tobin Frost, is a prime example of the modern anti-hero. He’s a mastermind who went off the grid a decade ago against the will of his government.

At least that’s what we’re told.

The film keeps us guessing about Tobin’s true nature, and that’s part of the story’s appeal. But “Safe House’s” impressive nuance ends abruptly when it’s time to give us a typical Hollywood finale. (Major Spoilers Ahead)

The story’s big reveal involves a number of government spy agencies trying to hide damaging information on some of their members. So one of the film’s key characters chooses to leak the information in toto so the bad guys can be outed – and punished.

But what other information got leaked? Were there field agents compromised by the intelligence dump? Could the move impact ongoing missions or terrorism tracking efforts?

The film just doesn’t care. The screenwriters insist full and complete transparency, in the grand WikiLeaks style, is the order of the day. The leaker is deemed a hero for dumping the data. Real life doesn’t work that way, and the film is poorly served by pretending it does.

So which is it, Hollywood? Are anti-heroes and shades of gray the building blocks for great stories? Or are they gimmicks to be set aside when there’s an agenda in play?

I like The Rock because he always manages to steal every scene he’s in with that huge on-screen presence; you can’t deny him that. However, some of his films are goofy and tired; d0es anyone remember “The Tooth Fairy?” I hope not. With that said, I walked into this film not expecting much at all and thought the 3D effects were going to be non-existent. I walked out pleasantly surprised and with a smile on my face.

We were first introduced to Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) four years ago in “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” based on the classic Jules Verne tale. Now, Sean has matured into a handsome, determined teenager whose hormones are raging as he eagerly awaits another exciting adventure.

Sean’s mother (Kristin Davis) is newly remarried to Hank (Johnson), who Sean can’t stand and refuses to get along with. One night, Sean starts to decode a distress signal he relayed from a local satellite and convinces himself the message must be coming from his long lost grandfather Alexander (Michael Caine). Hank barges into his room and offers to help Sean with the message, thinking this would be the perfect bonding activity for them.

By determining the longitude and latitude coordinates, they find that the S.O.S. is being broadcast from the foreign waters of the South Pacific. Sean immediately wants to embark on a rescue mission and mother says he can go to the island, just as long as Hank accompanies him.

When they get to their destination across the globe, Sean and Hank run into tour guide Gabato (the hysterical Luis Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), who agree to fly them to the island on their rinky-dink helicopter. Of course, Sean and Kailani have a corny, predictable tween romance, but that’s expected in a movie like this and it doesn’t hurt the film. One thing that hinders the proceedings, though, is the midriff-bearing, sweaty tank top Hudgens wears throughout the film. This is supposed to be a kids’ movie, and her choice of outfit is a bit too much for young audiences.

Johnson and Guzman hit their relationship right on, and it truly makes the film. The two actors have great chemistry, and their hilarity just bounces off of each other and offer plenty of amusing exchanges onscreen.

With all the incredibly beautiful CGI created landscapes we’ve seen in movies like “Avatar,” “Thor” and “Planet of the Apes,” it becomes a challenge to top cinema’s best. “Journey 2“ may not exceed the backdrop of “Avatar,” but it sure is fun to watch the actors gallop around in it. In one especially well done CGI scene, the group rides gigantic bumblebees to get up a mountain. Yes, Caine and Johnson ride bumblebees, and even if you’re not impressed with the CGI, this scene will certainly give you a few chuckles.

Where “Journey 2″ gets lost is the horrible stepson and stepfather subplot. Why can’t the scriptwriter just let the movie be funny, goofy and even corny? But the several sappy, sentimental moments between Hank and Sean were completely unnecessary. At least Johnson does the famous “pec pop” in one.

“Journey 2″ is certainly a fun hour and a half in the theaters, and if you can get through the useless family drama subplot, you might come out surprised and with a few laughs, too.

The story, based on true events as recalled by survivors in a 1991 book, begins in a Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Lvov in 1943, where occupying German soldiers and their Ukrainian allies are slaughtering men, women, and children in the streets with the casual barbarity that was a hallmark of Nazi derangement.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland presents some of this depravity (in one scene, a Ukrainian officer takes a break from shooting Jews to exchange greetings with a friend, then happily returns to his hideous work) in an almost offhand way, as part of the day-to-day scenery in that awful time and place. This slight distancing serves to deepen our horror.

The central character is a sewer worker named Socha (Robert Wieckjewicz), a Polish Catholic who moonlights as a burglar in order to sustain his small family. Like many of his neighbors, Socha has idly concluded that the Lvov Jews must somehow deserve their fate; he has other worries of his own. Then, one night, he and a fellow burglar glimpse a group of naked and terrified Jewish women being herded through the forest by soldiers. After they disappear from view, the two men move on—and before long come upon those women again, now shot dead and clumped in piles among the trees. Later, at home with his family, Socha listens as his wife (Kinga Preis) expresses a Christian empathy for the Jews of Lvov, and is surprised to learn from her that Jesus, too, was a Jew. We feel a small light begin to kindle in Socha’s mind.

Read the full review at Reason.com

That’s the dilemma facing Leo (Channing Tatum) after his wife Paige (Rachel McAdams) recovers from a serious brain trauma wiping out all memories of their marriage in “The Vow.”

The film, loosely based on a true story, tells the standard tale of a young couple who meet, fall in love, get married to live their happily ever after until one of them falls out of love. It’s just not in the way you expect.

When Paige wakes up from a medically induced coma following a car accident, she thinks she is currently engaged to ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Scott Speedman), still in law school, and is in close contact with her estranged parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange). Paige resumes her old life, the one she lived before meeting Leo and becoming a completely different person.

So artsy Leo hardly seems her type, and her parents seize the opportunity to re-enter her life again. Can Leo win back the heart of the love of his life?

What happens when your loved one loses the last five years of her memory and can’t remember you at all? Well, it probably wouldn’t go down exactly the way it did in this film, but director Michael Sucsy does a sweet job trying.

I know this is only “based on” true events, and whenever that pops up in the trailer, it means the scriptwriter has taken an idea from a true story and used plenty of creative license. I was very much in love with “The Vow” until it took an unexpected turn midway through. Paige becomes extremely whiny and annoying after starting out as likable, fun, and relatable! I just couldn’t sympathize with her anymore.

One minute she wants to be with Leo, then the next she’s fighting her feelings for ex-fiance. This story’s been said and done and frankly, we didn’t need all this mixed feeling nonsense in the middle. We should’ve seen more of Leo and Paige’s back story and struggles the couple face while trying to reconstruct her memories. It would’ve been much more of a realistic touch than how the film eventually plays out.

McAdams is a talented young actress, but don’t expect to see her charismatic character from “The Notebook” here. She does what she can with the part; I just didn’t agree with the scriptwriter’s wishy-washy tone.

As for Tatum, the handsome star certainly has impressed me this year kicking butt (literally) in Soderbergh’s “Haywire” and coming off strong with his film performance. If nothing else, it’s he who really carries the heartfelt tale all the way to the end.

“The Vow” isn’t this year’s best romantic drama or the Valentine’s Day film girls were hoping for, but Sucsy tells us an unusual story in a very pleasant and watchable way. If only certain subplots were left out altogether, the film could’ve been remarkable to watch versus just mediocre.

But all is now forgiven.

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is not only a terrific piece of popcorn entertainment, it’s far and away the best of the trilogy. And the best news is that Bay’s delivered another pro-freedom, pro-American, pro-military blockbuster that made somewhere around a billion dollars. We don’t get too many of these, and we should embrace and support the good ones.

The film isn’t perfect. In most cases, I still can’t tell an Autobot (the good guys) from a Decepticon (the bad guys), which makes it difficult to understand who to root for during the many action sequences, but unlike its predecessor, “Dark of the Moon” has a story that sets up and explains the stakes well enough that you don’t feel like you’re watching someone else play a video game for two hours.

Length is another problem. This is a four-act story instead of the standard three-act, but the too-long climax really is jaw-droppingly well done and on Blu-ray the only thing that surpasses the fantastic picture quality is a sound design that made my archaic 5.1 system do things I never thought possible.

Though I hate him in almost everything else, in this particular franchise, Shia LeBeouf is perfectly cast as the every boy who’s not only unwittingly thrust into a secret war between giant robots from another planet, but also into the deepest recesses of America’s national security apparatus, which Bay always portrays with humor but also respect. Moreover, while the boyish LeBeouf is the star and hero of the film, he is always surrounded by the American military, which — and God love him for this — Bay always portrays as selfless and heroic. In other words, Bay portrays our service men as they really are.  

Liberals will love that LeBeouf’s Sam Witwicky is smitten with meeting President Obama and conservatives will get a huge kick out of the humor-mileage Bay, with the help of a very game Frances McDormand,  milks out of Senator Barbara Boxer’s unfortunate “Ma’am controversy.

Leonard Nimoy returns to voice Sentinel Prime, a character who gives a powerful voice to the film’s important theme, that of human liberty and why that’s something worth fighting and dying for. And when the fight is over and our heroes gather to take inventory of what just happened, it is the tattered stars and stripes that waves prominently in the background.

As big a treat as the film is the four-disc package it comes in that was just released last week. You get a 3D copy of the film, a digital copy, a regular DVD copy, and another Blu-ray disc that includes hours and hours of extra features to dig into. This is probably the first time ever that I thought watching at home in 3D might be kind of fun.

After my experience with the first sequel, I was soured as hell on the franchise and hit “play” with some real trepidation. But I had a blast watching Michael Bay redeem himself and I suspect you will, as well.

‘Transformers Dark of the Moon’ is available at Amazon.

Yes, it does sound like a “Bourne” movie, doesn’t it? But no, this is “Safe House,” with Denzel Washington taking over for Matt Damon, Sam Shepard replacing Scott Glenn as the steely Agency overseer, Brendan Gleeson in for Brian Cox as the dodgy controller, and Vera Farmiga stepping into the Joan Allen role as his straight-shooting subordinate.

The picture has a familiar swarming hand-held visual style, thanks to cinematographer Oliver Wood (who shot all three “Bourne” films) and editor Richard Pearson (who worked on “The Bourne Supremacy”). At one point, an agitated spook even yelps out a demand for remote surveillance with the words “I want eyes on this!”—a line previously yelped by David Strathairn’s agitated spook in “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

“Safe House” may be faux Bourne, but for those counting the moments till the release of “The Bourne Legacy” next August, it might seem better than no Bourne at all. Swedish director Daniel Espinosa has a flair for action staging—the one-on-one fight scenes, agreeably many in number and often set in confined spaces, are smashingly effective. And first-time screenwriter David Guggenheim has usefully adjusted the Bourne template. Here, Washington’s character, Tobin Frost—nominally the Jason Bourne figure—isn’t an unwitting innocent being set up by his shadowy CIA masters; he’s an actual traitor who has been selling Agency secrets for nearly a decade.

Read the full review at Reason.com

Denzel Washington stars as a rogue CIA agent who turns himself in to U.S. authorities, and before you can say “human rights abuse” his character undergoes a waterboarding treatment.

Had “Safe House” come out five years ago, the scene might have included jabs at the Bush administration, the War on Terror or both. Likely both. Instead, the scene arrives and leaves without any sermonizing to lessen the moment’s impact.

We’re supposed to learn that Washington’s character, the colorfully named Tobin Frost, is a certifiable bad-ass, and that the information he possesses is critically important to the story. And that’s it.

Nice.

Left unsaid is the notion that if an Oscar winner like Washington is willing to be waterboarded for a movie, perhaps the technique isn’t as torturous as Bush critics once claimed it to be?

You are already aware of whether or not “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” interests you. “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is a bit of a stoner classic, possessing the sort of random logic that strings the best weed-fueled movies together. The sequel, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” was raunchier and had some hilarious bits, but never really came together as a complete product the way a lot of modern comedies fail to do. This third outing fares better than the second, adding a Christmas-driven plot to the stoned “After Hours” shenanigans.

This time around, Harold & Kumar have gone their separate ways as friends. Harold is a big-shot executive on Wall Street and lives in mortal fear of his father-in-law, which is completely understandable since the in-law is played by Danny Trejo. Trejo’s fearsome father has an intense love of Christmas, with special attention reserved for the magic of his homegrown Christmas tree.

While his wife is out with the family for midnight mass, Harold pledges to decorate the tree, hoping to make into a magical display and win the respect of his in-laws. His hopes are dashed when Kumar, still a bloodshot walking disaster, shows up to give him a mystery package, which contains a magical joint. One thing leads to another, and Trejo’s Christmas tree is destroyed in a freak accident, leading Harold & Kumar on an evening excursion to replace the tree, even if it means getting attacked by Russian mobsters, going on a claymated acid trip, or having yet another run-in with Neil Patrick Harris.

Again, you know what you’re in for with a Harold & Kumar movie, and while not as fresh as the original, it’s a more coherent sequel than the last film in the series. Inserting them into a Christmas setting gives it a sweet holiday flavor to go with the raunch-factor, which is always almost cranked up to John Waters levels of nasty in these films. A Rankin/Bass-style sequence of claymation high jinks allows them to indulge the Christmas-special vibe the story already has, while showing stuff you probably otherwise couldn’t get away with in an R-rated comedy. I giggled like an idiot through the last two films, and I did the same through this. Unlike a lot of stoner comedies, you don’t need to be high to enjoy them.

The Blu-ray ain’t loaded in terms of extras, it features an extended cut, as well as deleted scenes, which is par for the course. There’s a segment on realizing the claymation sequence, but it’s just a storyboard-to-film comparison. The only bits that are really worthwhile are some short “interviews” with Tom Lennon, where he crafts an argument that “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” is superior to the work of Dickens, Hemingway, and Faulkner, asking whether or not they thought to depict showering nuns in their work. He does admit that Victor Hugo explored some of their ideas first in “Les Miserables,” though. Can’t win ‘em all.

I find it strange that they’ve decided to go ahead and release it in February, as most Christmas movies don’t get their home video release until the next Christmas season is upon us. Not that I mind, I don’t need to be in the Christmas spirit to chuckle at some good ol’ fashioned stoner antics. This ain’t a candy cane for the easily offended, but I’m sure most of you know better than to put it on during the next family gathering, because we all know this is more of a treat for an ugly Christmas sweater party with some friends.

Available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Other Noteworthy Releases

The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part I: I’ve never seen any of these, but one day I plan to get loaded and have a marathon once they’re all available for home consumption. Anyone care to join me? Mark Kermode described this movie as “bonkers,” which sounds promising on several levels. Look for it on Friday, February 11th.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Lady and The Tramp: I watched this movie a lot when I was a kid, which is why I’m shocked I remember hardly anything about it, apart from the memorable spaghetti-date scene and the “we are Siamese if you please” bit with the cats. Time for a refresher.

Available on Blu-ray/DVD combo

Anonymous: Roland Emmerich took a break from Irwin Allen films writ large and sub-Spielberg/Cameron offerings to do a movie about nutty conspiracy theories regarding whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote his plays. The movie drew the ire of Shakespeare experts and plain ol’ film critics alike, but it’s interesting to see a guy who loves to blow stuff up as much as Emmerich does take such a dramatic turn.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World: If you were alive in 1963, and had ever appeared on film with the intention of making others laugh by that point, chances are you were in this movie.

Available on Blu-ray

Casino Royale: Not the Bond debut of Daniel Craig, but the Bond spoof with the likes of David Niven, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers and Orson Welles.

Available on Blu-ray

Love Story: No, moron, love DOES mean having to say you’re sorry.

Available on Blu-ray

The Sunset Limited: A two-man show written by the great Cormac McCarthy, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones, who also directs. I’m in.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Project Nim: A man versus beast documentary about an ape raised as a human, directed by “Man on a Wire” filmmaker James Marsh, which goes well with a side of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”

Available on DVD

A Fish Called Wanda: Kevin Kline’s Oscar-winning turn came from this unlikely Monty Python-populated film, which gets its Blu-ray release this week.

Available on Blu-ray

La Jetee/Sans Soleil: I own this set on DVD for “La Jetee” alone, which is one of the more interesting science fiction films out there, even if it is comprised almost entirely of still photographs and voiceover. Speaking of Monty Python earlier, one of their veterans, Terry Gilliam, took the plot of “La Jetee” to new heights by remaking it as a feature with “12 Monkeys.” Mark Romanek also referenced it heavily in his video for David Bowie’s “Jump, They Say.” This set showcases the most significant film work of Chris Marker, whose work has found much renown across various mediums.

Available on Blu-ray

A Star is Born: The film likely to win big at The Oscars this year, “The Artist,” owes its basic plot to this film directed by “Wild Bill” Wellman, starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March. Kino is presenting it just in time for the Academy Awards, with all the bells n’ whistles they’re wont to give.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

This piece originally appeared over at Parcbench.