Movie: Public Enemies * Trailer * 6 Clips * Images * Official Site	In Theaters: July 1, 2009
Runtime: 140 minutes	Directed by: Michael Mann
MPAA Rating: R for gangster violence and some language	Gecko Rating:

I wondered if "Public Enemies" would romanticize the gangster life, and it sort of does. But it also gives the other side of the story – the blood, violence, and nastiness.

Still, this movie mostly romanticizes it, mainly because Johnny Depp is just so darn cute. What girl could resist his charms, gangster or not? Plus, I think he’s actually getting better looking as he gets older. But enough of my crush…

In "Public Enemies," Depp plays notorious gangster John Dillinger in the 1930s. It’s not a life story or anything; the movie actually picks up with him getting out of prison after something like nine years. Apparently, he’s learned nothing in there, because he’s right back at it, gathering the gang back together and planning their next bank robbery.

We really don’t see a lot of the other gangsters – it’s mostly about Dillinger – but on the sidelines is Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and others. In a nightclub, Depp spots the beautiful Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and goes over to introduce himself. He wastes no time and not only strikes up a romance right away, but also tells her who he is and what he does. "I’m John Dillinger, and I rob banks." She resists his charms at first, but they’re soon involved in a torrid affair.

Read more

I’m probably more in love with "Transformers" than "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (read my review here). They’re both rock-em sock-em movies with giant robots, but the first one had more plot and character development, in my view. Well, as much as you can have in a movie about giant robots. 

THE DVD: The 2007 action flick directed by Michael Bay centers on an ancient battle between two extraterrestrial robotic clans, the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons. But the key to who wins this battle is held by a teenage boy, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Also stars Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rachael Taylor, Jon Voight, and John Turturro.

("Transformers" is also now available in a two-disc Blu-ray edition. As with the DVD, it includes new deleted scenes and 25 minutes of bonus features; available on June 16 from from Paramount Home Entertainment.)

THE GIVEAWAY: I have FOUR “Transformers" DVDs to give away.  

HOW TO ENTER: To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this post by midnight on Saturday, July 11, 2009. Be sure to include a valid email address. Winners will be drawn randomly. I’ll email the winner for their snail-mail address after the contest ends. Good luck!

Image: Amazon.com

When my kids were little, one of our favorite books was "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi and Ron Barrett. I think I liked it probably more than the kids. Just the idea of having food raining down on you whenever you’re hungry is a pretty entertaining idea. Ok, my adult-self thinks it would get really messy, but my kid-self says bring it on!

The animated big screen version hits theaters Sept. 18, 2009, and features the voices of Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, James Caan, Tracy Morgan, and Mr. T. Yes, Mr. T! It’s directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who’ve done some episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and other TV shows and a few movies.

The official site doesn’t give a lot of clues about the story, other than the raining-food part, but it still looks cute as all get out. And of course, on the site you’ll find fun downloads and games, like 3D Food Fight, Stump the Monkey, and Sticker Studio. Here’s the trailer playing in theaters right now:

I’m such a sucker for Disney movies with cute talking animals. I hope "G-Force" is as cute as it looks. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer, it’s a 3-D comedy adventure about a covert government program that trains animals for espionage work.

Armed with the latest high-tech spy gear, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws! Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan, Penelope Cruz, and Nicolas Cage provide voices. The movie also stars Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, and Steve Buscemi, and hits theaters July 25, 2009.

Watch the trailer here, and check out the official theme song for the movie, by Flo Rida:

Much of the population might think that vampire Edward Cullen and his human alter-ego Robert Pattinson is cuter than cute. But he doesn’t share that feeling, and says that not only did he almost back out of auditioning for the role, but seeing himself on screen makes him sick!

For the rest of us, we’ll get to see Pattinson as the sultry vampire again on Nov. 20, 2009, when "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" hits theaters.

I love it when studios release movies on Wednesday, because it helps to break things up and gives us a chance to see lots of new movies in the same week!

In Theaters Today:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG). Released in regular and 3D formats, this third movie in the franchise finds Scrat still on the hunt for that elusive acorn (and possibly finding love with a female sabre-toothed squirrel); Manny and Ellie expecting a baby; Diego pondering his place in the world; and Sid wishing for a family of his own. Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril. [Trailer] [Poster] [Official Site]

Public Enemies (R). Directed by Michael Mann, this gangster movie tells the story of charismatic John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), whose bank raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) and his fledgling FBI, including agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). Rated R for gangster violence and some language. [Trailer] [6 Clips] [Images] [Official Site]

Images: © Universal Pictures

There’s no denying that "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" may be short on plot, but high on special effects action — which makes it the perfect movie for IMAX theaters. Read my review here.

The sequel from Paramount raked in an estimated five-day gross of $14.4 million on 169 IMAX screens, the largest haul ever for the big screens.

Directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox (though the real stars are the giant robots), the action flick earned a per screen average of $85K plus between June 24 –28, 2009.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Transformers" also gave IMAX its biggest single-day domestic gross of $3.9 million, and its biggest international gross for a digitally remastered IMAX title at $770,000 on Saturday.

Did you see "Transformers" at an IMAX theater? Did you like it?

Image: © 2009 DW Studios L.L.C. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

I’m giddy over the release of "Public Enemies" next Wednesday, July 1, 2009. Here are a few clips of the premiere, with Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard and Leelee Sobieski talking tommy guns, cars and fedoras.

Thanks to MTV for the videos, and check out all of Film Gecko’s "Public Enemies" coverage!

Johnny Depp: What motivates an outlaw? 

Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen * 32 Images * Gecko Links * Official Site	In Theaters: June 24, 2009
Runtime: 150 minutes	Directed by: Michael Bay
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material	Gecko Rating:

It’s best if you go into "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" expecting nothing more than a big action flick with giant robots, because that’s pretty much what it is. The special effects are darn awesome, but the plot can be summed up by saying that two factions of warring robots battle it out on earth, and the humans get involved. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

But let’s start at the beginning. After a brief bit of Transformers history, we learn that Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is heading off to college. His dad (Kevin Dunn) is happy to have him out of the house and plans to make his room into a home theater. His mom (Julie White) is weeping hysterically and wandering around with Sam’s baby shoes draped around her neck.

Read more

On June 25, Megan Fox stopped by the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her new film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which opened in theaters last week.

The stunning actress co-stars with Shia LaBeouf and a bunch of giant robots in the sequel. She’s so tiny, and is that a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her arm? Maybe she identifies with the blonde bombshell…?

Read more