30 Days of Night was scooped up in a wave of comic book-to-film adaptations. It told the story of the small town of Barrow, Alaska, and the group of vampires that attacked it when the sun set for an entire month. It wasn’t a fantastic film, but it had its merits. It was one last hurrah for terrifying, demon-like blood suckers before Twilight took over, forever damaging the vampire’s reputation. Now more than ever we need a vampire film done right, and while 30 Days of Night: Dark Days makes good on that front, it’s pretty much a bust in every other aspect.

Dark Days begins a year after the original, with Barrow survivor Stella (now played by Kiele Sanchez) traveling the world, preaching the existence of vampires. Not surprisingly, few listen with a serious ear. Her lecture circuit is cut short, however, when she meets up with a group of fellow survivors. It’s through them that she learns of Lilith, the vampire queen who was behind the attack on Barrow. She joins the group in an attempt to take Lilith down.

What follows is very, very different than its predecessor. The original was very much a horror movie, with some of the scariest creatures to grace the silver screen in a long time. Dark Days feels much more like Blade, with the team bringing the war to the vampires. It’s a natural evolution for the story, but that doesn’t do it any favors. While the Blade films may be far from cinematic greatness, Blade was a character you could believe in and really get behind. This ragtag group of slayers feels a might too silly and forced, especially the youngest girl in the group, who seems more like a girl scout than Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This also hurts the vampires themselves. They still look pretty much the same as before, but now they’re the victims, which takes away a lot of the terror.

Then there’s the probably with Stella, who’s somewhat inconsistent of a character. She starts out the rough, stoic action hero, and by the end of the movie she’s in tears. Of course, it could be intentional, her getting in over her head and becoming overwhelmed, but it just makes it even harder to support her character.

Like the vampires themselves, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days has no soul. The original 30 Days of Night felt like a complete story, and while the comic has numerous sequels, it doesn’t feel right for the films to keep up, especially when you have to do so with cast changes and a lower budget. It’s not scary, it’s not cool, it’s not worth your time.

“Dylan Duarte is a horror buff and writer who writes about Halloween costumes for StarCostumes.com.“

50% of this movie is worth seeing, given that Meryl Streep was nominated for an academy award it doesn’t take a mensa membership to guess it’s her half . The half with Amy Adams is awful and in a bit of Irony we find out that Julia Child is not a fan of Julies blog just like the audience wont be a fan of her part of the movie. Two hours of exhausting detail and a tacked on ending. This is half worth watching and half wasting your time. So if you can get someone to go halves with you preferably at a red box so you will only waste 50 cents on this.

Up in The Air

Starring:

George Clooney, Vera Formiga, Anna Kendrick

Director: Jason Reitman

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rated: R

George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham a part time motivational speaker and full time consultants who travel’s the country firing people for companies that are downsizing. Ryan leads a solitary life and his philosophy consists of constantly moving and keeping the burden of relationships to a minimum.

Ryan’s life is swiftly changed when two woman come into his life Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) the female equivalent of himself complete with the obsession with frequent flyer miles, rewards programs and the perks and status that these provide; and Natalie the recent college grad who thinks she can revolutionize Ryans industry through firing people via video conferencing.

When Ryan gets grounded due to Natalie’s ideas Ryan’s only chance to get back in the air (the place he calls home) is to take Natalie under his wing and show her the ropes of doing the job face to face.  While working with Natalie and hooking up with Alex Ryan begins to change his philosophy on life.

There are some great performances here Clooney puts on one of his best performances since “Out of Sight” with both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick delivering as well.  Up in the air combines solid emotional impact with its timely relevance to the failing economy complete with excerpts from downsized employees and the impact it had on their life, it is definitely a perfect time for this movie. Many people however are going to see this and walk away from this wondering what did they just see? The story isn’t put into a box and wrapped up with a bow. The ending is definitely not spoon fed material and that is what I liked most about it. There is realness to this film where not everything has a Disney ending conclusion. Up in the Air does an excellent job examining the complexity of relationships and life in general and how ones priorities might change over time.

Grade-90

Painfully unfunny with no redeeming value whatsoever. Sandra Bullock plays one of the most annoying characters ever, Attempts at having her grow on you into a likable heroine are more akin to growing a rash or fungus. This never should have been made. I implore you please do not rent this Although these people were in “The Hangover” and “The Proposal” this is not even close to either movie. Grade-10