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Retired CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is reunited with his best friend from the agency, Marvin (John Malkovich), as word of a portable nuclear device called “Nightshade” becomes public knowledge through Wikileaks. Threatened by the CIA, MI-6, KGB, and bounty hunters Frank and Marvin will have to team up with their former colleagues to save the day, but it may be too late. What about a future between Frank and his new wife, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), and, what about Dr. Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), the inventor of Nightshade? Picking up where Red 1 leaves off, one thing is clear, the entire cast had a blast putting this edition together and lets not forget Catherine Zeta-Jones and Helen Mirren. Part comic book style and action with quippy humor delivered by some of the best, smiles and thrills are in store for all. And, while there isn’t much of a challenge to plot and structure, as far as popcorn chomping summertime fun time sequels go, you could do a lot worse. Bottom line, The sheer amount of talent, doing what they do best and having fun at it should pay for the price of admission. Live a little, have some fun. Red 2 is rated PG-13.

Based on the actual files kept by the Warren Family, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) have seen and heard their share of things that go bump in the night; known as experts in the field of demonology and the supernatural the two have proven and disproven scores of hauntings over the course of their career. But, it’ll take all of Warren’s efforts to exorcise the evil that lurks within the house of Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor). Evil intent on draining the life from all that stands on the property the Perron’s have just purchased. Adding to the difficulty are the Perron’s five unbaptized little girls– easy prey for evil. It’ll be a race of time, but how to bottle this tempest?Directed by known horror quantity James Wan, The Conjuring sits as a truly disturbing and successfully frightening experience from start to finish, a departure from the torture porn of SAW and semi-misfires of Insidious and Dead Silence. Instead of relying on gore or impossible scary monsters to deliver a message, classic auditory haunts and clever visual pops will keep the audience gripping their seats tight. And, big points in the scoring department in the choice of Diamanda Galás (Avant-garde vocalist) for added auditory terror. Performances from Wilson and Farmiga do feel a little nutty at times but Livingston and Taylor prove to be steady from start to finish. Serving as a fun introduction to the Warren’s work for the uninitiated this one’s worth the ride, if you’re up for it. The Conjuring is rated R.

In the not so distant future a portal between earth and another dimension opens allowing for enormous creatures called Kaiju to rise from the Pacific Ocean. The Kaiju’s apparent goal is to destroy earth, cheapest take over our planet, pilule then move on to a new world to destroy. Putting up a defense on earth is the unified worldwide military Jager program; basically giant robots piloted by two individuals who’s minds are electronically linked together for greater speed and processing power. As the Kaiju become bigger and stronger the Jager robots and their pilots must step up their game or face certain death, about it or is it too late? Grumble grumble grumble, here’s the deal, Guillermo del Toro, he’s a genius and a mastermind, he does horror like no one else, he understands monsters and creatures with many teeth better than most, he is versed in creating visually compelling images, and generally the stories he tells are interesting and make us think, so what’s the deal with Pacific Rim? Conceptually we’re watching a re-hash of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Voltron, and Godzilla, which sounds semi-interesting from a comic book mindset, except in this go round we’re crippled with dialogue so incredibly droll and thick headed the appropriate response to much of the film is laughter. And missing the basic tenant of melodrama, evil can never be totally destroyed, can it be that we see evil destroyed? Why Guillermo why? Basic storytelling concepts are checked at the door, and instead we’re given a mindless sci-fi action film that serves as a display of CGI prowess more than anything else. By the end we don’t give a rip about any of the leads, who cares if they live or die, it’s inconsequential? Need we even discuss the blatant stereotypes depicted throughout the film as well, not really, but yup they’re there. Bottom line, this thing is dumb as a post, but oddly it does prove to be entertaining in some capacity. Perhaps this summer’s equivalent to Battleship? Be advised. Pacific Rim is rated PG-13.