Yeah, its another vampire film, but this one deals with the global end game instead of emo teen angst.

It’s been ten years since a global outbreak has transformed the earth; vampires are everywhere and everyone. While immortality has eradicated previously unsolvable medical problems from cancer to the common cold, one key issue remains: feeding a population with a quickly disappearing food supply. As the few living human beings left are being hunted down or kept alive to farm for blood, a vampire hematologist named Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) works tirelessly with a team of scientists to find a synthetic substitute that can sustain the masses. With time running out and a population beginning to starve, another solution presents itself but one almost unthinkable to vampires… a possible cure.

While the flood of today’s love affair with vampires deal in romantic encounters, masquerades or world domination, here’s one that tackles the real problem: if everyone who wanted to be a vampire could be, who would be left to feed upon? Daybreakers is a remarkably ambitious film telling the story of a global crisis on a relatively small budget, and at least a small chunk of that is spent on all the gore and blood fountains you don’t see in Twilight sequels. While the artistic license taken in restoring human beings may intentionally mirror religious rites (a subject otherwise omitted by the production), wouldn’t it make sense that the cure is every bit as mystical as vampirism itself?

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Compelling performances and an intriguing story undermined by poor direction and editing, and it’s a shame, too.

Precious (Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe) is an illiterate and overweight teen who is kicked out of school when discovered pregnant with her second child. Without a school to attend, Precious is forced to endure living with her mother Mary (Mo’Nique) in a rundown Harlem apartment while ducking an occasional swinging frying pan. A new opportunity presents itself when Precious is enrolled at an alternative school, but how can she succeed in a second chance at a better life while still living in the shadow of her hateful and self-serving mother?

There’s are some powerful performances in this film, from the lead role and her mother to the angelic school teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) and the concerned social worker Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey.) The subject matter is equally affecting, showcasing the bottom rung of a society happy to provide taxpayer-funded cyclic welfare for poorly-supervised leaches instead of encouraging individuals to better their lives and themselves. The end product of the film, however, does a poor job of providing a flowing narrative that renders the story and subject matter inert. How did this go so wrong?

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Remember how much fun the cast of Ocean’s 12 looked like they were having while the audiences watching it weren’t? Same thing.

After a bad breakup, reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) decides to prove himself by hitching a ride into war-torn Iraq for a career-making story… if one can be found before he gets himself killed. Fate (or something) intervenes when he recognizes the name of a private security contractor: Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). According to a man Bob interviewed a few months earlier, Lyn was the best of a secret group of psychic soldiers, men who could kill things with their minds… you know, like goats.

The premise sounds ripe for hilarity: a reporter stumbles onto a story of secretly-trained psychic soldiers who attribute weak philosophies and random happenstance to actual super powers. From remote viewing (visiting distant locations in dreams) to enhanced perceptions (or whatever trip LSD will take you on), these guys truly believe they have become real-life Jedi warriors. The plot, however, seems more intent on snarkiness than comedy or drama; who is dumber, the guys who believe this crap or the person hanging onto every word? By the time the film is over, it feels like the real answer is the audience (for having actually watched the entire thing.)

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A sequel is generally expected to provide more of the same, but every so often, a fresh installment not only meets but exceeds the original. For fans of the original underground hit, the sequel we were all wishing for has arrived.

Word has reached the shores of Ireland that a priest has been killed in Boston, Massachusetts. What is most unusual about the heinous crime isn’t so much the act itself as to the way it was done; the murder follows the modus operandi of the legendary “Saints” killers who have been missing since publicly executing a mob boss. It’s obvious that whoever perpetrated the crime did so with the knowledge that it may well bring the Saints back to U.S. soil for bloody vengeance, but there’s one fatal flaw in the assassin’s plan: it’s going to work.

Like many, my first experience with The Boondock Saints was long after any theatrical run. With no knowledge of the sorted history bringing this film to the big screen, it was a feast of memorable characters, stylized violence, and twisted humor tied together by a simple plot: what to do with those above the law. Now the MacManus brothers have returned (again played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), but the new story is both darker yet still just as zany. For any fans worried that anything has tainted their beloved Saints, the plot comes together like a mirror breaking in reverse, scattered pieces that suddenly falls perfectly together to become crystal clear. It’s exactly what you wanted plus a few things more (thanks, Troy! Can we call you Troy?)

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Believe the hype. Avatar goes a long way towards arguing that artistic merit and epic storytelling go together better when you have an visionary at the helm.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic ex-marine who is given a unique opportunity. On the world of Pandora, a corporation has discovered a mineral with fantastic (and profitable) properties. Due to a toxic atmosphere, scientist Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) has developed a mind-linked remote-controlled body to act as an ambassador, an “avatar.” While the intent behind the avatar project is explore the world of Pandora and interact with the local sentient species, the Na’vi, the goal is to make the mineral more accessible to the corporation mining it, even if they have to relocate the native people to do it.

People worry that technology will one day replace the need for actors. Writer/director/producer James Cameron reminds us that people, not technology, are still at the heart of storytelling. To bring the imaginary to life, manipulate it for the sake of a story and blur what’s real into it seamlessly, that has been the goal of many Hollywood types, and Cameron seems to have at last perfected it. Avatar is transporting from beginning to end and meticulously edited to make the story flow and forget about the technique. Much like the original Jurassic Park when people asked where Steven Spielberg found actual living dinosaurs, it isn’t any more of a stretch to believe that the fantastic the world of Pandora does indeed exist. Then there’s the better news: the characters and story are just as believable.

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