Film Gecko’s blogging platform won’t let me embed the video (wah!), so I’m going to send you over to Moviefone to watch it, because it’s quite romantic and fun.

In case you need more incentive, it’s got Hepburn and Tracy, Pattinson and Stewart, Ford and Fisher, Roberts and Grant, Streep and Eastwood, Keaton and Allen, Bogart and Bergman, and oh, plenty more.

Regular Film Gecko readers know I’m all about the romantic movies, so it’s definitely worth three and a half minutes of your time.

Really, it’ll give you hope that love truly exists in our crazy world — both in the movies and real life.

Image: Warner Bros.

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One of my favorite actors, Patricia Clarkson, plays his wife, and Noah Emmerich plays his long-suffering assistant. Director Gavin O’Connor (‘Tumbleweeds’) and the producers of the similar sports movies ‘Remember the Titans’ and ‘The Rookie’ help bring this story to life.

Aside from a great cast and production team, what I love about ‘Miracle’ is the attention to detail. Not a hairstyle or accessory was missed in capturing the era of 1980. The story was especially needed at that time because the country was in a bit of a depression after the whole Watergate debacle.

Buy ‘Miracle’ on Blu-ray or DVD. Here’s the trailer:

Image: Amazon.com

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The multi-talented star has a slew of film credits, including “American Son,” which did really well on 2008’s film festival circuit, but never reached a bigger audience.

Cannon stars as 19-year-old Mike Holland, who’s about to be shipped off to Iraq. In fact, he has just four days to say goodbye to everyone who’s important to him, and maybe even start a new relationship on the eve of his deployment.

Here’s the thing. We hear a lot in the news about the war overseas, but it’s films like “American Son” – and Cannon’s heartfelt performance — that really hit home and tell us what it’s like for soldiers to leave everyone and everything they know and go off to a distant place with strange customs and people.

Directed by Neil Abramson, “American Son” also stars Melonie Diaz, Erica Gluck, Tom Sizemore, April Grace and Chi McBride. It’s rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and drug use.

Buy “American Son” on DVD.

Image: Amazon.com

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So I was glad to finally get a chance to check it out; it was released on DVD and Blu-ray Aug. 25, 2009. If you like movies about the 1980s or teens or quirky dramedy type of films, then you should definitely check it out.

It takes place in the 1980s and revolves around a recent college grad named James (Jesse Eisenberg), whose parents’ financial woes leave him stuck at home for the summer instead of roaming around Europe.

So he takes a job at a dilapidated theme park called Adventureland, where he mixes with a motley crew of misfits and free spirits, including Em (Kristen Stewart), who has a complicated past, a dysfunctional family life, and an odd relationship with the park’s fix-it guy Mike (Ryan Reynolds).

Running the park are offbeat owners Paulette and Bobby (scene stealers Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader), who despite their roughshod appearance seem to look out for their employees.

More after the jump, including a trailer…

Greg Mottola directed this coming-of-age movie, and if you like his other movies like “Superbad” and “The Daytrippers,” you’ll probably like “Adventureland.” It’s chock full of 1980s pop culture stuff and boasts an awesome soundtrack that includes music from cult faves Yo La Tengo, Hüsker Dü, the New York Dolls, the Replacements, and Falco (“Rock Me Amadeus”).

Buy “Adventureland” on DVD or Blu-ray.

Bonus Features:

• Deleted Scenes – With optional audio commentary by writer and director Greg Mottola
• Audio Commentary – With writer/director Greg Mottola and actor Jesse Eisenberg
• Just My Life: The Making Of Adventureland – Director and writer Greg Mottola sits down to reveal how his real life experiences helped inspire his unique comic vision for Daytrippers, Superbad, Arrested Development and now Adventureland. Cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, and Martin Starr also talk candidly about what shaped them into who they are today, including the worst job they ever had.
• Picture Music Selection

Trailer:

Image: Amazon.com

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The tagline on the DVD cover calls it “A funny, touching and vital film.” Yeah, I’d go along with that, though it doesn’t seem all that funny to me.

It takes place in Australia  and follows the life of a sports writer named Joe (Clive Owen) whose wife Katy (Laura Fraser) dies of cancer, leaving him to raise their young son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). He also has an older teenager named Harry (George MacKay) from a previous marriage, who comes to live with them, as well.

The movie is a bit scattered in terms of story. You’ve got the wife who shows up as a vision of Joe’s – she tries to help him learn how to be a dad. You’ve got Artie, who’s quite a handful, and Harry, who is resentful that his dad took off and left him with his mom in England.

First of all, I love the Australian scenery. Joe lives in this cottage-type house that’s near both the sea and open lands full of waving grass. Really beautiful.

All of the actors are on target as far as their characters; none of them are pigeonholed into any sort of stereotype.

One thing that bugs me about these types of movies is that the mom always dies. My 12-year-old daughter and I watched this and within the first 30 seconds, we looked at each and said, “The mom’s gonna die.” It’s so predictable; and yes, I know it’s based on a true story, so there’s no changing the fact that the mom dies.  

But it’s worth a look if you like these sorts of introspective dramas. And Clive Owen is wonderful. It’s directed by Scott Hicks and rated PG-13 for some sexual language and thematic elements.

Image: Amazon.com

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Also, Abby and Kovacs share unexpected news. Gallant comes home from Iraq to be with Neela. Pratt goes to Darfur to work with Carter. And burn victims, stabbing victims, gunshot victims, assault victims — young and old, male and female, grateful and combative — all serve to keep the ER on edge.

AS TV medical dramas go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Buy “ER” Season 12 on DVD.

Clip from “ER” Season 12, “You Have No Idea”:

Image: Amazon.com

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There’s a Black Plague going on, and a church dispatches two knights to take a witch to a secret abbey, where some rituals will be performed to stop the plague. It doesn’t sound good for the witch.

It’s a period movie – 14th century (love it!) – but also looks like a combo of horror, fantasy, supernatural and action. At least based on the trailer. Check out the poster.

Image: Lionsgate

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I really hope it’s a winner for Cage, because his slate of movies over the past few years really haven’t fared that well at the box office. On the plus side, it also stars Ron Perlman (Clay on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy”) and Christopher Lee.

It’s directed by Dominic Sena, whose credits include “Whiteout” (sitting on my desk waiting for a review), “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” and “Kalifornia.” Quite an assortment of genres there.

“Season of the Witch” opens in theaters March 19, 2010. It’s rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence and disturbing content. Check out the “Season of the Witch” official site, Facebook page, and Twitter account.

More pics after the jump, along with a trailer.

Images: Lionsgate

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Movie: The Book of Eli * Official Site	In Theaters: Jan. 15, 2010
Runtime: 118 minutes	Directed by: The Hughes Brothers
MPAA Rating: R for some brutal violence and language	Gecko Rating:

I saw “The Book of Eli” last night with my 15-year-old son. It’s rated R and has a few scenes of gore and violence, so if you’re at all squeamish about that stuff, be forewarned.

The story takes place after some sort of apocalypse. We know that “30 winters have passed since the flash,” so it sounds like some sort of nuclear explosion. 

Denzel Washington takes center stage as a guy named Eli walking to the west coast with a coveted book in his possession. It’s the only known book of its kind; the rest were destroyed after the war. One man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman) wants to get his hands on that book.

More after the jump…

Carnegie has access to a water spring, and is thus lording it over people who’ve gathered in one spot – a town of sorts. The entire country is a wasteland of crumbled buildings, barren and windswept lands, and people struggling to survive by any means. Crime is rampant, as the women and weaker people are preyed upon by those with weapons and strength.

In Carnegie’s stead are two women trying to make the best of things – Solara (Mila Kunis) and her blind mother Claudia (Jennifer Beals). Also in the town are lots of thugs doing Carnegie’s dirty work, as well as a shopkeeper/engineer (Tom Waits) who agrees to re-charge the little battery that Eli uses with his worn iPod.

When Carnegie realizes that Eli has the book, he plots and schemes and will do whatever is necessary to get that book. Meanwhile, Claudia feels her daughter will be better off with Eli, so Solara ends up tagging along with Eli on his journey west. She’s curious about the book, and we learn that it has something to do with faith.

Eli tells her that long ago, he heard a voice in his head that told him where the book was, and that he had to journey to a place somewhere in the west. He’s not sure why, but he has faith that all will be revealed in the end. That’s the overall message in this movie.

I won’t reveal a few big “wow” moments towards the end, but they’re definitely of the “wow” variety. You get a few hints along the way of what’s to come, but when the end credits roll, you realize this movie is all about faith and what people can accomplish with it.

Denzel Washington is grim and determined in his task to get that book to the West Coast, but you also see that he has a heart for humankind. He knows that his mission is bigger than any struggles he encounters along the way.

“The Book of Eli” is gripping, never boring, and you’re drawn into the story from start to finish. Mila Kunis can play just about any part, whether it’s funny, sexy or apocalyptic, and Gary Oldman makes a great bad guy. I also love that this movie is washed in gray and sepia tones. It’s all very eerie.

I definitely recommend checking out “The Book of Eli.” Yes, it’s apocalyptic and dismal, but it’s much more hopeful than “The Road” (read my review here), another recent doomsday movie. Whereas “The Road” left you with the feeling that we’re all doomed no matter what, “The Book of Eli” gives you a glimmer of hope that things will work out, no matter what happens.

“The Book of Eli” Trailer:

Images: TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

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It was unceremoniously canceled by NBC last year (they’ve made some really great decisions lately, haven’t they?), and then picked up by TNT. Seems like a better home for it, as TNT also has shows like “The Closer,” “Leverage,” and “Saving Grace.”

If you think Los Angeles is all sandy beaches, Bel-Air mansions and flawless bodies, just spend some time with the cops on “Southland” and you’ll learn differently. You’ll find gangbangers, drug deals gone wrong and apartments crammed with almost as many people as cockroaches.

Though the cops’ work is hellish, sometimes it pays off: “Every once in a while, you get to take a bad guy off the street for good,” says one veteran cop. “And that, my friend, is God’s work.”

The 2-Disc season one set hits store and cyber-shelves on Jan. 26, 2010. Watch the clips below and check out the official DVD site.

“Southland” – Lovely Gentleman:

More after the jump…

Behind the Scenes with "Southland":

Image: TM & (c) 2010 Warner Bros. Entertainment and Turner Entertainment Co. All rights reserved.

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