At blackjack, there's a way to count cards in order to bet in your favor. The new high-stakes gambling movie 21 wants to take a look at how it's done. After seeing the movie, I'm still not quite sure how it's done although it is explained. Just that the explanation didn't get me to quite understand. Still, I'd recommend the movie as entertaining melodrama. Young M.I.T. student reaps in big money at Las Vegas casinos. It's the sort of hook that gets you rooting for its lead character.

Still, the question of how counting cards is done still gnaws at me - there's a definite formula discussed in the movie but I don't get the formula. I wonder if I watched the movie a second time if I'd get it then. I wonder how many other people will get it and how many other people, like me, won't get it. The movie is so entertaining and filled with scenery chewing performances, that I'm diverted anyway.

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is the bright math whiz looking for a scholarship that will take him to Harvard. But he learns the hard way that the application process will likely deny him the scholarship. This poor kid needs $300,000 to pay his way in, but he's not going to get there working for eight dollars an hour as a suit salesman. He is seduced into joining a team, led by teacher/mentor Kevin Spacey, to beat Vegas.

This is the kind of movie where the characters are supplied with crackling, show-off dialogue. Good stuff ("You're only as good as the money you make!"), but a minor problem is that Spacey telegraphs in advance his mean streak which later ruins the suspense. It's no surprise that Sturges will eventually have to square off against Spacey in some form of revenge.

Ben's favorite teammate in the entourage is the beautiful Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth is decent for a change). Jill and the other teammates, a.k.a. spotters, use sign language and facial ticks to inform Ben, the big money roller, that a table is hot. When the table is hot, you bet big. The table is hot when the players know that the dealer is dishing out high cards to the players and four's and five's to himself. Another minor plot hole problem: you would think that the gang would mix up their signals. It's not too long before Laurence Fishburne, as a villainous casino enforcer, spots these crooked gamblers.

Ben is a good kid who temporarily becomes a bighead once the money starts to become overwhelming. But in the meantime, Ben and his team live the high life. Pic gets the flash and glitter of Vegas but a little more restraint at times might have made into a better more believable movie. It's a fantasy gambling picture more than an authentic portrait. Still, it is fun watching this group of college kids ride on the money stacks.

When I saw the movie was directed by Robert Luketic, the hack who brought us "Monster-in-Law," I thought, oh crap. I wasn't expecting to be entertained. I don't know if I believed everything that happened, but I was cheering for math nerd Ben. Last encounter between Ben and the casino's security heavies is a bit far-fetched, but the final resolution where Ben convinces Harvard that he's the real deal is, well, priceless.

Low

Centers around the unlike pairing of a former heavy weight boxing champion and heroin addicted jazz musician, both in hiding. The boxer is in deep trouble with the mafia from mounting gambling debt. As for the jazz musician, his pushy manager wants him to get clean so he can return to his old professional glory. Both men are in too deep, in danger of losing all they have and their lives. Rhomeyn Johnson (The Boxer) and Rob Arbogast deliver convincing performances. Director/Writer Brennan Howard captures the essence of 70's chaos, which parallels the lives of the leading characters.

Choose Connor

Steven Weber of TV series Wings fame plays Lawrence Connor, a California Senator up for reelection. When Senator Connor meets 15-year-old idealistic, he sees a window of opportunity. What seems to be a chance of a lifetime for Owen becomes a tangled web of lies and deception. Choose Connor gives a glimpse of the political underworld. Weber is a good cast as the good-looking smooth talking senator. His weakest scenes are his melt down moments. Owen played by 19-year-old Alex D. Linz has an extensive acting credits and it shows. He brings a believable freshness to screen as to the likes of young Dustin Hoffman or Richard Dreyfuss. This film is an election year treat.

Familiar Strangers

Familiar Strangers is an invitation to meet the Worthingtons. This film is in the classic tradition of films seen before about returning home for the holidays but it offers its own brand of family idiosyncrasies namely the family tradition of playing donkey basketball. On the other hand, it confronts familiar issues such as not opting to work for the family business, pursuing dreams, and deciding whether to put to sleep the family dog. There is a great small town family dynamic. The average Los Angeles transient should identify with walk of the main character Brian Worthington's played by Alpha Dog rising star Shawn Hatosy. Tom Bower gives a poignant and conflicted performance as the family patriarch. The film also features writer/star of Thirteen Nikki Reed, Ann Dowd, DJ Qualls, and Cameron Richardson.

Falling

Falling is a gritty Hollywood movie, which centers on the less than glamorous consequences of the erosion the character. Writer/Director Richard Dutcher plays underground world videographer Eric Boyle, who aspires to be a screenwriter. Ever wonder where the graphic home video comes from that you see on the news? Falling answers that question following the story of Eric's daily beat as a videographer paid large some of cash to get exclusive video. What follows ever-growing recognition that his once spiritual core has gone on the decline. This path is family affair as his wife has some questionable choices to make. Falling is graphic and violent to the point of art very closely imitating life. However, it is dead on with the desensitized manner of news personnel from the video photographer to the reporter. Falling is another film, which questions the pursuit of fame and at what cost?

Chronic Town

Set in Alaska, full of kooky characters Chronic Town is Northern Exposure on drugs. The frosty town's characters include drug abusers, exotic dancers, and pedophiles. For the people of this town escapism is an everyday reality manifested into substance abuse and psychosis. The very easy on the eyes JR Bourne plays Truman, a drug abusing cab driver who can't handle being alone. His tale includes a band of misfit friends plagued with deep emotional scars. Director Tom Hines captures a dark, cold, and depressing feeling. Cinematically one can feel the cold of Alaska permeating through the screen with his focus on the ice cold blue of the night time sky while the ground is covered is always covered in snow. The frigid cold location drives notion of oddity among people who choose to live there. Chronic Town subtlety questions the worth of psycho wards. It recognizes it as a crutch, a hiding place and what is most disturbing as place that sometimes helps to push people over the edge. Writer Michael Kamsky skillfully intertwines the stories of the lives of his well fleshed out characters.

Deleted Scenes

Deleted Scenes is a witty and humorous parody about the reunion of ex-friends while they record the director commentary for their hit indie film. The story picks up five years after the release of the film Josh played by Josh Davis has become a movie start and Ryan played by Ryan Seibert has virtually diminished in the part of public recognition. It is the classic tale between brains versus tall dark and handsome driven by shallow society. This pointed is reiterated of who can attract a woman. Does the level of unprofessional antics, which occurs during the recording session, seem plausible? No, but the viewer will have a good time watching. Siebert and Davis are well cast. The short film is by Ryan Gielen.

Hirsute

This imaginative and somewhat disturbing film entitled Hirsute by A.J Bond centers around a young scientist named Kyle struggling to build a time machine when confronted by an arrogant future version of himself. What is remarkable is how the writer/director pulls of a futuristic aura to the film with virtually three locations in the house. Bond's creative mind achieves making the simple appear large than life. The use of the monochromatic set design furthers the sci-fi theme. Cleverly, embroiled are issues of homosexuality and masturbation. From the beginning, the story unfolds like the figuring out of a riddle. There is a tension established from the moment Kyle meets the future version of himself. Hirsute is a delightfully dark film.

Trails End

The strength of Trails End begins with the acting caliber of veteran actor Barry Corbin of CBS Northern Exposure fame. Non-verbal and verbal communication are in every detail of his portray of Hank Crow, an ailing man aiming to fulfill his promise to his late wife. Trails End is a western tale of a man and his trusty horse, Chip. The two have traveled every state together except one, Hank's home state of Kansas. It is a story of bonds, commitment, and loyalty. It is a masterful piece illustrating dogged determination to conquer terrain and illness to make good on a promise. This film is the winner of several film festivals receiving the Gala Award for Short film at Moondance International festival, 1st Place Audience Winner at Crest Butte Reel Fest, Direst Best at TriMedia Film Festival and two awards at Estes Park Film Festival for Best Short and Audience Award.

Multiple Choice

Taking the audience back to the horrors of SAT preparation is the teen flick, Multiple Choice. Adam played by newcomer Mitchell Letulle and his sister Jackie are twins. He is a neurotic commonly called type A personality trying to study for his exam right to exact point that one should get ample rest. However, the clanging sound of drums from his wild child Jackie played by Sarah Agor is just the first in a series of distractions. Agor's cocky yet insecure portrayal has a certain Joey Lauren Adams flair from Chasing Amy. The antics of sis and her sleepover guest Barb lead to a night turning out not like Adam has never known. Filmmaker Robert F. Cosnahan does with his take on sibling rivalry. Multiple Choice addresses the stress of youth and the old adage that blood thicker than water.

In his roles, Simon Pegg plays the kind of guy that we want to see fail. The more he fails the funnier he is. In his new comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run the actor starts out as a failure but the mechanics of the plot contrives to make him a winner by the end. Pegg is the clueless slob Dennis, an ineffectual security guard who can't figure out why he's an obnoxious fool.

Besides the fact that Pegg isn't fat (he does wheeze however when he runs), the comic actor of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" is very good at playing an irresponsible man-child. At the beginning, he runs out of his own wedding abandoning his wife-to-be Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar. Five years later he's regretting it, especially when Libby has met a dashing new man, played by Hank Azaria. Dennis and Libby do share a five year old son.

The question of the movie is this: Can Dennis get Libby to fall in love with him all over again? It would be funnier if the movie tried to reflect the real world and not some kind of sitcom formula. The movie makes Azaria's character Whit an adversary - if Dennis can knock Whit out of the picture Libby could be all his again.

The problem with the movie though is that Whit is an interesting character, the kind of guy that succeeds professionally, looks good in Giorgio Armani and Versace but can kick butt in racquetball, or, marathon running. Dennis decides to compete in a marathon race to prove to Libby that he can do it, too. Dennis only has a couple of weeks to train before the "big race."

The movie wants to say that if Dennis can finish the race then he has the right to win Libby's heart. It would be more convincing if Dennis was a delusional character that wrongly believed a finished race would grant him love, but the movie wants to take the race gambit seriously. Time is also running out: Whit has proposed to Libby and she said yes (but with hesitance). But isn't Whit the better guy? For the most part Whit is the better guy. But it's a cop-out shame that the screenplay manipulates to turn him into a jackass at the 11th hour. It feels like a second writing committee came in to rewrite the third act and betray its characters.

Some of the jokes hit the bull's-eye. Absurdist humor works such as when Dennis uses a mannequin to scratch his itchy groin area will put you in frantic fits of laughter. Also chuckle-filled is the subplot of gamblers betting on whether Dennis can finish the race. If I remember correctly, three-months rent is put on the line.

But one thing in particular made me resent the movie. My memories of the funny stuff is overshadowed by a scene that's very unfunny (weeks after seeing the movie, my recall of dislike for the movie boils down to this one individual scene). What's unfunny? Erstwhile in training, Dennis has a gigantic foot blister. Dennis' friend insists that the blister must be popped, and he will do it for him. The friend uses a prodding tool that pops the blister, and a huge gunk of puss shoots out spraying the friend's face. Outrageous Gross-out humor was funny back in the early Farrelly Brothers movies when spontaneous shock channeled way to embarrassing bursts of audience laughter. But enough of this crap already. These days that kind of humor is just damn tired.

Think of the Young@Heart chorus as the world's oldest and coolest cover band. Comprised entirely of senior citizens in their 70's through 90's, they've been rocking audiences around the world since 1982 with an eclectic musical repertoire that includes The Ramones, Jimi Hendrix and The BeeGees. The chorus now stars in an eponymous documentary (opening April 9th in limited release) which chronicles the preparation for their newest show, buoyantly titled "Alive and Well".

In October of 2005, director Stephen Walker was introduced to the group the night they performed in his native London. He and his producer/wife, Sally George, were looking for their next project and George saw great potential in the senior singers. Walker was initially skeptical as a few old-timers emerged on stage assisted by walkers. He admits, "I remember thinking this could either be awful or it could be extraordinary."

His got his answer moments later as the lights dimmed, the chorus rose and launched into a remarkable interpretation of the Talking Heads song "Road to Nowhere". He was instantly struck at the resonance the music carried in the hands of the singers. That initial impact can be seen throughout the film as Walker peppers music video interludes (including one for "Road to Nowhere") that punctuate the story with a David Lynch meets David LaChapelle feel.

"I Wanna Be Sedated" takes on a whole new meaning when given the MTV overhaul then setting the video in a nursing home and featuring a man confined to a wheelchair rolling down the putty colored halls singing lines like: "I can't control my fingers, I can't control my toes". It's funny and sad, shocking and endearing.

"Young@Heart" begins with "task master" musical director, Bob Cilman, introducing the first song they'll be learning for the show; "Schizophrenia" by hometown heroes, Sonic Youth. If you're unfamiliar with the sound of the band, it should be noted that they are considered one of the great "Noise Rock" groups of all time. Remember when your parents used to scream for you to "Turn that racket down!"? This was the music they hated hearing and it gets a mixed reaction from the chorus, some tapping toes and bobbing heads, others plugging their ears.

Considering that almost all of them contend that they love "Classical [music] with Opera on top", they're pretty good sports. Even when they dislike a song or struggle along the way, you can see their passion for music and the desire to try anything new. As one cast member says, he joined the chorus to "broaden [his] horizons"…He's 86.

But struggle they do. If you've ever tried to teach someone over the age of 50 to text message, you'll feel enormous swells of sympathy for Cilman. You think getting a 60 year old to type "c u soon" is difficult? Imagine teaching musicality, rhythm and lyrics. It makes programming the VCR look easy. As a musical director, Cilman is tough, even harsh on occasion. He isn't a hand holder and doesn't treat the seniors with kid gloves or pander to them like children. He demands the best from them and they strive mightily to deliver while you find yourself gripping the arm rest, silently praying that lyrics won't be forgotten. Who knew James Brown was such a beast to master?

The films emotional resonance comes from the knowledge that everything is finite. No one wants to be reminded of their mortality but there's no way to shy away from it when you're watching a film comprised of a group with a median age over 80. One of the most poignant scenes is during a performance inside a prison. Time is a cruel mistress. For some it moves too fast, for others, too slow and here you see the brutality of that reality at its most blaring.

Truth be told, I haven't cried this hard in a film since "E.T.", however, the threat of death is the best reminder of life and "Young@Heart" ultimately inspires you to live every day fully and passionately. They may be old, but they're still rocking.