Diego (Denis Leary) is worried that he’s losing his killer instincts and tries to become an intimidating saber tooth again. Ice Age is not complete without Sid. This time he also wants to have his own babies and decided to adopt a bunch of dinosaur eggs. And here’s how all the misfortunate series of events started to unfold.

Ice Age 3 introduces a new character, an adventurous, mad weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg). He’s like part Jack Sparrow and part Indiana Jones. Buck has the potential of having his own animated movie. With Buck’s addition to the cast, Dawn of the Dinosaurs stands out from the first two Ice Age movies.

Some people are complaining that Ice Age 3 was historically inaccurate because there were no dinosaurs alive during the Ice Age. But they might have forgotten that it’s a cartoon they’re watching. Forget about the facts and just enjoy the show. If you want reality, go watch the Discovery Channel.

Manny (Ray Romano): Sid, you’re gonna have a family too someday. You’re gonna meet a nice girl, with… with low standards, no real options, or sense of smell…

We all love Sid and you don’t need to have low standards to enjoy Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. It is an animated movie that both grown-ups and kids would love. The Ice Age series gets better with every installation.

It might have Alice in the title but the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) stole the show, especially when he did his futterwack dance. I thought the Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee) would get up and join him, JabbaWockeeZ-style.

The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) was impressive as well and I love how she says “Off with her head”. The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) felt like she was trying to impersonate Jack Sparrow. There’s a funny scene where she’s making a potion made out of nasty stuff, such as butter fingers and urine.

The CGI characters were believable and props should be given to the voices behind Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) and Dormouse (Barbara Windsor).

Alice (Mia Wasikowska): Yes you’re crazy, you’re loony and bonkers but you know they say all the best people are a bit mad.

People are saying that Mia Wasikowska is the wrong Alice but I beg to disagree with them. She’s just right for the job. Alice didn’t want to believe that she’s destined for greatness but once she found her inner strength, she managed to slay the monster to save Wonderland and face her real life problems as well.

The 3D effects might be way below Avatar but Alice in Wonderland is still entertaining. I expected it to be a little trippier and this is my only complaint about the movie. Tim Burton painted a beautiful masterpiece with an uncomplicated plot behind it. Interesting is the right word to describe the movie. There was no boring moment at all. If given the chance, I would go back down the rabbit hole to watch it again.

Then Summer (Zooey Deschanel) came and Tom’s world revolved around her. Too bad for Tom, Summer doesn’t want any commitments. This is the main premise of the movie. 500 Days of Summer expertly portrayed unrequited love.

500 Days of Summer managed to use a non-linear approach to its advantage. It went back and forth along the timeline with a simple title card to indicate which day it is among the 500 days in their relationship. The audience experiences how Tom’s feelings seesaw from happy to sad.

The script was perfectly written and helps give 500 Days of Summer an authentic feel. The dialogues were flawlessly delivered by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. As Tom, Levitt managed to exceptionally portray a boy who’s hopelessly in love as he goes through the emotional rollercoaster brought by Summer. Deschanel is ideal as Summer. She exudes every characteristic that makes her just right for the role.

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt): I love how she makes me feel, like anything’s possible, or like life is worth it.

Most guys can definitely relate with Tom. There would always be that one girl (a couple for some) who personifies Summer in their life. Relationships can’t always have a happy ending. Just remember that that person that broke your heart made you a much stronger person you are today. So what if she ended up getting married after she told you she’s not ready to commit just like what Summer did to Tom. There’s always autumn after summer.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed 500 Days of Summer and I’m naming it as the best movie of 2009. I don’t care if it wasn’t nominated for an Oscar award this year. It is an extraordinary movie that is a must see. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should!

Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) was brought in to investigate the rare murder case and in the process he uncovered a bigger plot that can threaten the peaceful existence of the Utopian world. It involved an armed resistance group opposing the use of surrogates and the company that produced the androids.

Bruce Willis still has it in him to be a badass action star and he proved it in Surrogates. He carried it through bad CGI effects and second rate action sequences. It has the advantage of having an interesting plotline that entices the audience to keep on watching. Acting-wise, everyone did well. Aside from Willis, Surrogates also featured Ving Rhames, Radha Mitchell, James Cromwell, Rosamund Pike, among others.

The Prophet (Ving Rhames): Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We’re not meant to experience the world through a machine.

Older Canter (James Cromwell): Surrogacy is a perversion. It’s an addiction. And you have to kill the addict to kill the addiction.

We might not have androids at present but most of us have another identity; an online persona that’s totally different from the real one. Maybe it’s time to heed The Prophet’s advice before we lose our humanity, even though it turned out that he’s a surrogate planted by the inventor of the surrogates. In the movie, Greer saved humanity by destroying all the surrogates; kill the addiction. I think it’s better for humans to be on our own than to depend on Surrogates to live our lives for us.

Surrogates is a pleasurable viewing experience and a good reminder that I should spend less time online and more time outside. Wakeboarding looks like a good alternative to World of Warcraft, don’t you think?

The Ugly Truth is a fun movie. It is romantic and yet offers a bit of crudeness that guys will find entertaining. It’s because of the adult humor that makes it unsuitable for kids but there’s no nudity in this one. No sneak peeks of Katherine’s peaks.

Katherine Heigl plays Abby, a morning show producer who’s still waiting for her Mister Right. But instead Mister Wrong came when network executives hired crass talk show host Mike (Gerard Butler) to do a segment to resuscitate the show’s ratings. Mike tells girls what men really want and Abby disagrees with most of his opinions. But we all know where this will lead to, right?

Mike (Gerard Butler): Let me tell you something about women. Women would have us believe that they are the victims; that we break their hearts for sport. That’s crap. They say they want romance, they say they want true love, but all they want is a check list. Is he perfect? Is he handsome? Is he a doctor? For you men who fit the criteria, don’t kid yourselves. Cuz if they’re not sleeping with you, they’re sleeping with a carefully calculated set of venal choices. Money over substance, looks over soul, polished over principles. No gesture, no matter how real or romantic will ever compensate for a really impressive list of credentials.

Yup, that’s The Ugly Truth according to Mike. If you believe that there’s no fairy tale ending to this battle of the sexes then you don’t know how romantic comedies work. But in spite of that, men and women will enjoy The Ugly Truth even if you can predict how it ends as soon as the movie starts rolling.

The main man Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is accused of stealing Zeus’ Lightning Bolt. Zeus (Sean Bean) is threatening to start a war among the Olympians if Percy the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) doesn’t return his bolt. Now the fate of the world lays on the hands of a demi-god, who doesn’t even know he’s one.

A centaur by the name of Chiron (Pierce Brosnan) taught Percy that the pen is indeed a powerful weapon and help Percy train to become a stronger warrior. A hero is not complete without his posse and Percy can count on Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) to be by his side. There’s also Luke (Jake Abel), who Percy thought to be his friend but turns out to be the titular antagonist in this one.

Big stars played a major part in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, such as Uma Thurman as Medusa and Rosario Dawson as Persephone. You should not get up when the end credits start rolling or else you wouldn’t see Medusa’s last victim.

Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario): I definitely have strong feelings for you. I just haven’t decided if they’re positive or negative yet.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is different from the source but it’s still enjoyable. Forget about the books and just let the movie entertain you. It was engaging enough that won’t notice two hours has passed by. It has its flaws but I recommend it as an appetizer for the upcoming Clash of the Titans.

Valkyrie is centered on Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise). Save for his accent, Cruise did well in playing the German army officer who was one of the leaders of the failed Hitler assassination plot. I don’t agree with Cruise’s religious beliefs but I have faith in his acting abilities. The supporting casts were great as well.

Within its two-hour runtime, Valkyrie managed to show how some Germans are unhappy with the dictatorship and their plot to remove the Nazi Party from power by killing Adolf Hitler. The cinematography brings the audience back to that dark period in world history. From the uniforms, locations; everything seemed authentic.

Adolf Hitler (David Bamber): The Valkyrie; handmaidens of the gods, choosing who will live and who will die, sparing the most heroic from an agonizing death. One cannot understand National Socialism if one does not understand Wagner.

I don’t need to understand Wagner to come to conclude that Valkyrie is a well-made World War II movie. If you haven’t slept through your history lessons then you already know that Hitler survived the assassination plot against him but Valkyrie is interesting enough to keep its audience attention at maximum. History buffs who found Inglourious Basterds to be an abomination should watch this instead.

Keanu Reeves is just right to play Klaatu because he already perfected the role of an emotionless humanoid. Jaden Smith and Jennifer Connelly did well for what was given to them. John Cleese and Kathy Bates are great thespians and it’s a shame to see their talents wasted in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

The Genetically Organized Robotic Technology or GORT had a lot of potential but just as the giant Oscar-like robot was about to pulverize everything in sight, Klaatu comes out and gets shot in the process. The title should have been The Day the GORT Stood Still.

Klaatu (Keanu Reeves): Klaatu barada nikto.

This phrase was used by Klaatu when he was shot near the start of The Day the Earth Stood Still and in the end to stop the sphere from destroying the planet. The meaning of the phrase was not explained in the remake. In the original it was Helen who uttered this phrase to stop GORT.

The threat of a zombie invasion in World War Z was more believable than The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. The main issue of global warming was not given the importance it deserved. It was just in the background, just like GORT, with a lifeless robot getting all the attention. You know the feeling when time seems to go slow when you’re not having fun? Well, you’ll experience it while watching this movie. Skip the remake and look for the original instead.

World War Z is a zombie movie on a global scale. Imagine a world where the undead outnumbers the living and their numbers are increasing with every human killed. That’s the scenario the readers are immersed in when reading Brooks’ novel.

Through a fictitious event, Brooks managed to poke at current political practices and policies. There were real world references intertwined into the story that makes World War Z more believable, like the instable relationships among the Middle East countries.

The nonlinear, interview format of World War Z made it more realistic. It managed to show how different individuals lived through the zombie war and their contribution to the cause. It is an emotional rollercoaster as you read through the tragic massacre of humans but uplifting in the end when people managed to pick themselves up and unite to take back their planet from the undead.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a serious take on an outrageous, fictional event that almost destroyed everyone on Earth. It showed how incompetent present governments are against a zombie outbreak and how humanity can shine through darkness. This is a good novel not just for horror and zombie fans but for anyone that wants a good read. There are rumors that a movie is in the works; I hope that it’s at par with the book.

Don’t expect much from Sex Pot. I didn’t find the pair of Spanky (Rollin Perry) and Mert (Seth Cassell) to be funny as much as Harold and Kumar. A soft porn is not complete without the hot girls and Sex Pot has the likes of Michelle Penick, Lindsey Ahern, Christine Nguyen and a lot more.

You need to be stoned to enjoy Sex Pot. I don’t advocate drug use therefore I won’t recommend this movie to anyone. Watch it at your own risk.