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Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), turned into a vampire and locked away for nearly 200 years by a love scorned servant and witch named Angelique (Eva Green) in Collinsport, Maine. Now, 1972, Barnabas is mistakenly freed from his coffin, returns to Collinwood Manor to find his home almost in ruins and his descendants dysfunctional to the point of disgrace. Meanwhile, for two centuries Angelique has been undermining the Collins family seafood business for her own benefit. Now it’s up to Barnabas to set things straight, with a little help from Elizabeth Collins-Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Grace Moretz), Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), groundskeeper Willie (Jackie Earle Haley), and David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). But not everything in Collinsport is shrouded in darkness, in addition to stopping Angelique, the lovely Victoria (Bella Heathcote), has caught the eye of Barnabas, how to win her heart is perhaps the bigger dilemma? Sounds like the cast of Tim Burton film eh? Well you’d be right, although the story comes from different writers and is actually inspired by the original TV series from the 60’s and 70’s, that being the case, the usual art direction of Burton is largely kept in check, and interestingly enough the score from Danny Elfman seems largely uncharacteristic of his usual bag of tricks. Although for both Burton and Elfman I would suppose there’s only so many times one can go to the well and maintain fresh creative flow, so perhaps this change is good. Meanwhile, given that the film is based off a daytime drama, there of course have to be a few steamy scenes as well, something of a rarity in Burton’s catalog; naturally, the material is treated tongue in cheek which in some regards almost negates the steaminess and feels more in keeping with what Burton fans are used to. And, given that the film’s overall tone is comedic this all still fits together nicely. Sadly, what doesn’t fit together so nicely is the finale. As the storyline devolves to a relatively mundane showdown between supernatural beings, the film’s real sense of fun and purpose feels lost and ends with a fizzle rather than a bang. Still, fun and perhaps a matinee, Dark Shadows is rated PG-13.

All set with their own reasons for leaving England, an unlikely group of retirees converge in India to what they have been told is a newly restored retirement hotel. Upon arrival fast talking but well meaning hotel manager Sonny (Dev Patel) is quickly set into action to appease his new guests; but, charming this group will take every ounce of energy and to what end? Of the group, Evelyn (Judi Dench), Graham (Tom Wilkinson), Douglas (Bill Nighy), Jean (Penelope Wilton), Muriel (Maggie Smith), and Norman (Ronald Pickup) who will stay, and what of the pending and untold foreclosure of the hotel? Romantic comedy for a slightly older demographic, yes, but that’s not to write this one off to other audiences either. Good acting is still good acting and when you’ve got the above names involved, you’re bound to get something good no matter what. And, where the cinematography isn’t what we might hope for now that we’ve seen successful films that truly catch the frenetic nature of India, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire comes to mind, the general spirit of the culture is still present. Overall, there are some genuinely touching and emotional moments and interesting story arcs. Still worthy of a matinee or perhaps a rental later, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is rated PG-13. On a side note, I’m still convinced Bill Nighy can do no wrong, too damn cool.

When an alien technology power source known as a tesseract, acquired by the U.S. government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. begins giving off an unusual radiation power signature, physicist professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is on high alert. Concerned with the change he notifies his superior, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); but, no sooner than he can do this, the tesseract magically opens a door to another universe allowing the scorned Norse god, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), to walk earth. With the intent of destroying earth and the power of mind control, Loki assembles a team of unlikely individuals to assist in creating an even bigger gateway to the universe—a gateway large enough to allow the entire Centauri army to reign terror upon humanity. Now it’s up to Fury to assemble his team of unlikely heroes, the Avengers, including: Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)– all big names and sometimes bigger egos in the world of crime fighting. Unfortunately, with Loki’s bag of tricks, intellect, and archer extraordinaire, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) at his beckon call it looks like earth’s fighting chance is slipping away by the minute. Can the Avengers set aside their differences long enough to come together and save the planet, will Tony Stark ever get a night alone with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and who will pay the ultimate price in battle? Sounds exciting, right? We’ve been building to this crescendo for years as the pieces of Marvel’s superhero team were assembled one by one– the pressure is on to make this good. So, let me be brief and up front, the film is entertaining and fun; but, this praise comes with several reservations. Directed and partially written by Joss Whedon, fans of the previous Marvel flicks are in for a treat in that the humor, pace, and stylistic feel is consistent right into the Avengers. In a way it’s kind of like a buffet line of some of the more interesting superhero’s we’ve seen on the silver screen. You get the snark and cynicism of Tony Stark, the oafishness of Thor, The brains of Bruce Banner, and the sometimes nauseating patriotism of Captain America; plus, we get more insight on Hawkeye and Black Widow, not bad. The acting all feels spot on, which is expected since the actors have all had the chance to grow into their characters for several years, and, Hiddleston’s mean mugging Loki even works. But, when it comes to the rest of the villainous plot and the foes set on destroying earth, well, quite simply Whedon and crew just run out of steam. With dialogue equal to the caliber of the Power Rangers, artistic rip-offs of damn near every other action film we’ve seen, I’m thinking Transformers, Spiderman, and even Star Wars, the “evil” we’re supposed to be fearing just comes across as old hat and played out. By the time the film devolves into a giant sea of CGI battle, as per the norm now days, we still haven’t been given anything new or compelling to look forward to…Except the hulk. Even then, inconsistencies between the Hulk’s inability to control himself and then suddenly the appearance of a conscious awareness and sense of “good” makes me scratch my head a bit. Never the less, it’s still entertaining, the humor is well placed and you get what you pay for. The 3D here is a waste and does nothing to add to the film. Remember to go easy on your beverage, clocking in at 2 hours and 22 minutes in length this is a longer one. And, as always, stay in your seat well into the credits for the latest cliff hanger, fun. The Avengers is rated PG-13.