Greetings movie lovers, it's time to take a look at what the cinema has to offer us this weekend.

     Resident Evil: Retribution 3D

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

     My Take

I'm going to be honest here, I've only ever seen the first Resident Evil film which was released in 2002 and I thought it was a pile of crap. I had no interest in investing any of my time to bother to watch the next three chapters of this series. Now that the fifth installment is being released I can safely say that my interest level has not increased one iota.

First of all, I'm not a video gamer and I can honestly say that there has never been one single solitary film based on a video game that has ever been truly good at all. The plots are thin, the characters have little to no development, and most of the time it's just constant shooting, fighting and mind numbing action and violence.

Secondly, the film is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson, who is brilliant), who has an absolutely horrible track record with filmmaking. I am not surprised that this film is not being screened in advance for critics.

Look, I know I'm being hard on this film and the likelihood is that this franchise already has its built in audience of gamers that love this sort of thing so it will undoubtedly score at the box office. The previous four films collectively grossed $675 million worldwide, making it the most successful film series to be based on video games.

If the idea of watching Milla Jovovich hack, slash and shoot her way through a bunch of zombies while lots of stuff blows up around her sounds appealing, then this will be the movie for you. If on the other hand you are looking for a film with some substance and quality, you might want to look elsewhere.

     Finding Nemo 3D

Finding Nemo follows the comedic and momentous journey of an overly protective clownfish named Marlin and his son Nemo -- who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from his ocean home and dumped into a fish tank in a dentist's office. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory, a friendly-but-forgetful Pacific regal blue tang, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son -- who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.

     My Take

Disney/Pixar has decided to re-release its 2003 animated classic in an upgraded and expensive new 3D format called Xpand 3D. Finding Nemo is a wonderful film for all ages and there are many children that will now get to experience this great movie for the first time on the big screen.

It is a clever and funny film filled with a whole heap of adventure and absolutely stunning animation. The visual depth that the 3D will undoubtedly provide is sure to enhance the vibrancy and extraordinary creativity of this exceptional picture.

Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres do a fabulous job of providing the voices for Marlin and Dory. Ellen is comic gold in this film.

I adored Finding Nemo when I saw it nine years ago and I have no doubt that it will be just as loved by a new generation of kids. Whether you've already seen it or not I highly recommend checking this out in the theater.

Finding Nemo is simply marvelous!

     Raiders of the Lost Ark

Another all time classic film that is getting the re-release treatment; this time in Imax. Of course we don't have an Imax theater here in Kelowna but fear not because the Grand 10 Cinemas is bringing it to town. This is your chance to see one of the greatest films ever made the way it was intended to be viewed - on the big screen.

Back in 1981, when I was 7-years-old, I walked out of the theater having just seen this glorious film and I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I wanted to carry a whip and wear a fedora, and I was for sure going to become an archeologist and have many adventures around the world. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created one of the greatest adventure films ever made with one of my favourite characters of all time in Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford established himself as a mega star playing arguably his most iconic role to date (I know some may say it's Han Solo - too close for me to call though). I have lost count how many times I've seen this masterpiece over the years and I never get tired of it.

The fact that you now have the opportunity to see this extraordinary film on the big screen is wonderful and I implore everyone to gather up their kids or friends and family and see this glorious wonder the way it should be seen.

I guarantee that you won't see a better movie this year. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best adventure film ever made.

Go see it!

     Movie Trivia and Tidbits

While filming the movie Dazed and Confused (1993), Milla Jovovich eloped with actor Shawn Andrews to Las Vegas. It was 1992 and a few months before she turned seventeen. Since she was only sixteen at the time, her mother had the marriage annulled. Milla is now married to her Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson and they share a daughter together.

Pixar's characters are often planned years in advance. Nemo first appeared as a stuffed toy on the couch in Boo's room in Monsters, Inc. Finding Nemo also introduces the main characters of post-2003 Pixar films. A boy in the dentist's office is reading a "Mr. Incredible" comic book, anticipating The Incredibles and Luigi the car is driving by the dentist's office, anticipating Cars.

The opening scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark set in the lost South American temple is partly based on a classic Disney Ducks adventure written by the legendary artist Carl Barks, many of whose comic books have inspired George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Exploring a lost temple, Donald Duck, his nephews, and Scrooge McDuck must evade a succession of booby traps, like flying darts, a decapitating blade, a huge boulder, a tunnel flooded with a torrent of gushing water, etc., in the story "The Prize of Pizarro" ("Uncle $crooge" #26, 1959), which hit the newsstands when Lucas and Spielberg, both avowed fans of that comic book, were respectively 15 and 12 years old. Another Barks story, "The Seven Cities of Cibola" ("Uncle $crooge #7, 1954), has a native American lost city and a valuable idol that triggers a giant round rock to smash everything in its way.