CARS is the most awaited animated film this year, directed by Disney’s first Pixar film TOY STORY’s director John Lasseter.  Ambitious, handsomely special effected and crafted, CARS is a more difficult project to be accomplished on screen.  For one, CARS are inanimate objects.  Unlike inherently cute creatures that naturally transform into cutesy and lovable characters as in the animated features OVER THE HEDGE, THE WILD or even A BUG’S LIFE, CARS is even more unfeeling to work with then toys.  But director Lasseter grew up loving cars as his dad was a parts-department manager at Chevrolet.  Throwing in stock car racing into the main story also involves rules, regulations and a lifestyle most young audiences are unfamiliar with.  Given all these obstacles director Lasseter and crew might have discovered midway during the film that they might have taken too much that they could initially handle. 

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION is the name of the long running American radio show hosted by veteran Garrison Keillor.  Known as GK and playing himself in the Robert Altman film collaboration, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION is a mostly fictitious (though the film contains some real true life characters from the show) homage to the art of the radio variety show.

The original OMEN was made in 1976, not too long ago and it shows.  I saw that when I was in High School.  As I previewed THE OMEN (2006) quite a number of events started ringing bells in my head.  And that is not a good thing.  The surprise elements - killer nanny attacking diplomat Thorn, the party suicide including the climatic ending at the church - are totally gone.  The original starred Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Billie Whitelaw as the nanny and was crisply directed by Richard Donner.  So good and scary it was that the film spouted 3 sequels and a remake.

Written by Luc Besson and Bibi Naceri (who plays the villain Taha in the movie) and directed by Pierre Morel, DISTRICT 13 or B:13 as the French title goes, has action written all over it.  Besson directed FIFTH ELEMENT, NIKITA and SUBWAY while director Morel did camerawork for TAXI 2 and TRANSPORTER 2.  The two main stars Cyril Raffaelli (cop Damien) and David Belle (rogue Leito) are action athletes indulging in extreme sports. 

Richard E. Grant (most famous for his first role in WITHNAIL AND I) has assembled an excellent cast, probably using his powers as a respected actor, for his directorial debut WAH-WAH, set in the Swaziland of the 60’s.  The era marks the start of the country’s independence and the decline of British rule.  With the political unrest, writer/director Grant weaves a similar tale of a family failing in its moral values as seen from the eyes of an adolescent, Ralph Compton.