The Soloist — Starring Robert Downey, Jr.. Jamie Foxx and Catherine Keener. Based on the book and columns by Steve Lopez.
Steve Lopez (Downey) is a newspaper writer in L.A., struggling for stories and taking the occasional bike tumble to get them. That is, until Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) falls into his lap. Ayers is a gold mine for Lopez — he’s musically gifted, went from rags to riches to the gutter, he’s mentally unstable and, with the push of Lopez, he goes through a ton of mental anguish. Lopez, for his part, gets some good columns, sells newspapers and makes some honest, if not entirely selfless attempts to help resurrect Ayers’ sanity and musical prowess. The Soloist is admirable for its soft approach towards homeless folks and the mental problems they tow along. But this is much more a film about Lopez than Ayers. Ayers just happens to be the most colorful and notable thing passing through. B- (Joe Allison)

Star Trek — Starring mostly people whose names you don’t know but will probably recognize. Directed by J.J. Abrams.
Star Trek... Where to begin? The concept meetings?
“Oh man, this series is toast! Let’s get a director in here who has a fresh look on formulas. And it wouldn’t hurt if the guy has an appreciation of the old Star Trek stuff. Does somebody have the number for that Abrams dude?”
That sounds about right. This time around, it’s a reboot —from the beginning. We start with Kirk (Chris Pine, pretty good choice) and Spock (Zachary Quinto — Sylar from Heroes) as wee lads.
Then it’s off to Starfleet Academy, hop on board the brand spankin’ new Enterprise, off to deal with a Romulan threat, introduce every character you’d know from the old T.V. series, drop in a ton of nods to fans of the series, keep the story light for the casual movie goer, sprinkle in a few action scenes, pace it out really well, and... WOW! They managed to pull it off.
My prediction: Avid fans will appreciate the Star Trek nods but will be disappointed by the lack of content. Casual popcorn fans will find it enjoyable, mainly for its lack of overbearing Star Trekkyness. A- (Joe Allison)

Food Inc. — Documentary
Have you ever wondered where your food comes from, and the processes it goes through until it hits the table? Food Inc. shows how Robert Kenner (director) and his team sought to uncover the mysteries in food production. The deeper they dug, the more grim things became.
Goods such as corn, soybeans, factory-farmed meat and various other foods are treated as profit makers by big business (that generally don’t take into account the public’s health). One of the biggest evil corporations overseeing U.S. agriculture is Monsanto — a company that pigeonholes and alienates farmers on how to produce, harvest or even treat their own farms. Another big subject touched on is the recent E-Coli outbreaks within our food industry. Let’s just say we’re all literally up shit-creek without a paddle. And instead of preventing diseases, “which is too expensive,” these mega-giant companies would rather treat the symptoms by spraying ammonia on our meat. You really do vote with your dollar! A+ (Misty Johnson)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine — starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds
The first big “summer blockbuster” is now in theaters. But by the time you read this, it will already be forgotten. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is disappointing, frustrating and completely unmemorable. The story feels rushed, thrown together and poorly edited. The movie suffers from having too many characters and not enough character development. Why were The Blob, Cyclops, Emma Frost (as Silver Fox’s sister?) and others even in this movie? I was under the impression this was supposed to be Wolverine’s origin. Once again, Hugh Jackman was dead-on as Wolverine. Liev Schreiber was fantastic as Sabretooth. Ryan Reynolds should’ve been awesome as Deadpool, (his first action sequence was the movie’s only bright spot), but all he got was a few lines. Overall, Origins wasn’t as bad as X-3, but it wasn’t much better. Where’s Bryan Singer (X-Men 1 & 2 director) when we need him? D (Andy Laudano)

Rock Prophecies — Documentary
Targeted for musicians and photographers, this documentary is based on Robert Knight, a rock photographer who started his career in the 60s — a true relic. Some of his previous subjects include Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck. Knight is established as the “last photographer to photograph Stevie Ray Vaughn” in concert the night before the blues legend’s fatal helicopter crash. In Rock Prophecies, Robert explains how he doesn’t like to be the wallflower; instead he’s a charismatic helpful photographer for musicians. He was there to push along the rise of Australia’s Sick Puppies and Texas’s own blues prodigy Tyler Dow Bryant. John Chester (director) did a great job of balancing Knight’s story and the musicians. A+ (Misty Johnson)