MAY 11th - MAY 17th

Just when we'd come to expect little from Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) as a director, in 2002 he reemerged with 28 Days Later, a modest film in digital video about zombies and fatal viruses. The movie was so, so effective that here comes the sequel – under the direction of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo –, another refreshing perspective that serves as a metaphor for the war on terror. They say nothing is ever as good the second time around... but fortunately, this one is among the select few exceptions.

Rating: B+

In this family, one person lays down the law: Georgia (Jane Fonda, in another menopausal role similar to the one she played in Monster In-Law). As the grandmother of an outrageous, rebellious teen-ager (Lindsay Lohan in a portrayal and parody of herself), Georgia makes and breaks relationships among three generation of women by overruling her own daughter, played by Felicity Huffman. The film turns repetitive after a very entertaining first half-hour, but a skillful Lohan, say what you may, manages to grab moviegoers' attention.

Rating: B-

It has all the elements of a Hallmark movie: a pregnant waitress who hates her marriage falls for a forbidden love, possibly her last chance at happiness. Thank God that the director and scriptwriter were smart enough to avoid falling into clichés in situations we've seen a million times, and that Keri Russell uses her character to produce emotional instead of sentimental work.

Rating: A-

...And on the eighth day, Guillermo del Toro was born. He's a little genius with a childlike spirit and a Gothic point of view that he manages to convey on film like few have been able to do. Imaginative, creative, surprising, Pan's Labyrynth is a fable about escaping to the reality of war conflicts (just those that are contrary to our ideals). Through the eyes of a girl, Del Toro reminds us how unfair and neglectful adults are with little ones. The two-disk collection, available starting May 15th, includes extras such as four documentaries, the storyboard and comments from the filmmaker.

Rating: A

It took Darren Aronofsky seven years to make his most personal film. Originally, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were going to star in it (in fact, they filmed several scenes), but it was twice put on hold due to financial woes, until the original production company opted to cancel the project altogether. Years later, while Pitt and Blanchett were filming Babel, Warner Independent Films gave Aronofsky the green light to do another movie. The Requiem For A Dream director put his foot down and went back to The Fountain, this time casting his wife, Rachel Weisz, and Hugh Jackman in leading roles. There is no doubt, after seeing it, that this was a philosophical disaster about eternal life that it should have never come to be. It's that bad.

Rating: D

This collector's edition of the adrenaline-inducing film -- celebrated for the scene in which Cary Grant and Grace Nelly intimate that they're going at it with a fireworks shot that Hitchcock managed to imprint in our minds forever -- finally gets fair treatment with a DVD. Four documentaries, Peter Bogdanovich's comments and a better image quality complement this adventure, which along with North by Northwest, gave way to James Bond.

Rating: A