Iron Man 2

2010 (Jon Favreau) PG, 123 min
Starring: Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

Unless you spent the last few months living under a rock 3000 miles below the surface of the moon with your fingers in your ears and your head encased in cement, you probably know the basics about Iron Man 2: Tony Stark returns in his plutonium-pec-powered robopyjamas to duke it out with military industrialists, an envious inventor (Sam Rockwell) and a vengeful Russian (Mickey Rourke) who seems to loathe both Stark and proper oral hygiene in equal vitriolic measure. The real question is whether Iron Man 2 follows in the footsteps of Spiderman 2 and The Dark Knight, surpassing its original source material, or instead goes the way of...well, just about every other sequel in history.

Thankfully, it manages the former. Everything you loved about the original Iron Man is back and cranked to 11. The action is faster, the jokes are funnier, the effects are fancier and the story is more engrossing. Most importantly, Robert Downey Jr. returns and is better than ever, effortless shifting gears between humour and gravitas, creating a hero that is the most interesting character is his own movie – a summer blockbuster rarity.

Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: 35mm print!

1984 (W.D. Richter) PG, 103 min
Starring: Christopher Lloyd, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Peter Weller

Describing this film in a short capsule review is like getting my father to pay more than 5 dollars for a meal - completely impossible. Buckaroo Banzai features the following cinematic treats: A dimension-jumping car, Jeff Goldblum in a cowboy suit, a rock and roll band comprised entirely of physicists, Rastafarian aliens, John Lithgow with bad teeth and an out-of-place watermelon.

Confused? Good. You’re now ready to have a great time at the movies. At a time where every film out there just gives you more of the same, Buckaroo Banzai offers a singularly unique film experience, not to mention the best closing credits music of all time. If you are planning to see only one comedy/sci-fi/action/adventure/romance/satire about a neurosurgeon/scientist/rock star that saves the world from an invasion of Red Lectorids from Planet 10, make it this one.

Date Night

2010 (Shawn Levy) 14A, 87 min
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Steve Carell, Tina Fey

In the age of reality TV where carefully crafted dialogue and finely honed performances have been traded in for watching Jersey Shore’s Snookie getting punched in the face, NBC’s hilarious comedies The Office and 30 Rock might just be scripted TV’s last best hope of survival. It seems a natural fit for the stars of these shows to team up on the big screen. Carell and Fey are Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple from the suburbs who decide to shake things up with a night on the town, away from kids and responsibilities. When they steal another couple’s dinner reservation, they accidentally also steal their identities, ending up on the run from mobsters, hit men and crooked cops. If Date Night had simply relied on the charisma of its leads, it would most likely not have surpassed the level of pleasant but forgettable (also known as the McConaughey Effect). Fortunately, director Shawn Levy finds laughs everywhere, from elaborate stunt sequences to a fantastic supporting cast, including all too brief cameos from James Franco, Mila Kunis and a perpetually shirtless Mark Wahlburg.

Ghost Writer

2010 (Roman Polanski) PG, 127 min
Starring: Ewan McGregor, James Belushi, Kim Cattrall, Pierce Brosnan

Are you one of those people who watches old Hitchcock movies and mutters condescendingly under your breath, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore”? Well, you can shut-up now because apparently they do. Roman Polanski lifts just about every move from Hitch’s playbook – stark setting, ear splittingly ominous music, cruelly withheld information and a hapless schmuck in the center of it all – while tossing in a few tricks of his own. Ewan McGregor plays a semi-successful writer who lands a dream gig ghosting the autobiography of a former British prime minister (Brosnan) after his original collaborator washes up dead (cue the aforementioned ominous music). He does his job a bit too well, asking questions that best not be asked and getting answers that don’t add up. Soon our inquisitive writer finds he is compelled to uncover the truth, lest he share his predecessor’s watery grave. Equal parts conspiracy thriller and black comedy, The Ghost Writer is far and away one of the year’s best films. If only it had a cameo by Jim Belushi....Oh wait, it does!