2012 Shop Movies

Two crime-scene cleaners find a Huldra (a mythical creature with the body of a beautiful woman and a cow's tail) locked in the cellar of a secluded home, and realize that someone is coming to claim her in this dark fantasy thriller from Norway. Longtime friends Elvis (Erlend Nervold) and Leo (Jon Sigve Skard) have been dispatched to a house deep in the forest to clean up the body of an animal attack victim when they discover a secret door in the home. Upon investigating, they find that the door leads to a hidden laboratory in which a fearful woman named Thale (Silje Reinåmo) lies dormant in a bathtub, and sustained by feeding tubes. Meanwhile, the audio diaries left by her caretaker offer clues to her mysterious origins. Though the situation turns frightening when a team of heavily-armed mercenaries show up determined to claim Thale, Elvis and Leo are shocked to find that she is far more powerful than appearances suggest. Meanwhile, out in the forest, there are more like Thale, and they long to bring her back to the wilderness, where she came from. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A group of hunters contract a highly-contagious blood virus that transforms them into rampaging lunatics. Later, as night falls over the forest, a small band of survivors wage a desperate fight against the growing horde of ravenous flesh eaters. Michael Madsen and William Forsythe star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

When a powerful new drug opens the gateway for an inter-dimensional invasion, the only two people on the planet capable of saving mankind are a pair of dubious amateur exorcists. Adapted from author David Wong's cult novel of the same name, Don Coscarelli's John Dies at the End opens to find a revolutionary drug called "Soy Sauce" allowing users to transcend time and space. But it can also have one very disturbing side effect; some people who take Soy Sauce experience a shocking physical transformation. When the world faces a threat that seems beyond human comprehension, only college dropouts John (Rob Mayes) and David (Chase Williamson) have the power to drive the mysterious invaders back. But there's no guarantee that they'll succeed. Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, and Doug Jones co-star in this outlandish horror comedy from the director of Bubba Ho-Tep. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two freedom-fighting lesbian musicians living on one of Jupiter's moons wage a valiant fight against the oppressive powers that be in this animated sci-fi musical set in the 28th Century, when humankind has fled planet Earth to make their home amongst the stars. Featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Michael Dorn, and George Takai. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe teams with producer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) to bring the magic of Cirque du Soleil to the big screen in stunning 3D. When a young couple become separated, they must journey through the magical realms of Cirque du Soleil to find one another again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This freewheeling surrealist outing from France attempts to dispense almost completely with conventional narrative structure; instead, it offers a series of absurdist sketches with scarcely any discernible connection between them. The film opens on a character played by director Leos Carax known only as "Le Dormeur." After waking up one morning, he somehow locates and opens a secret door in his apartment, and wanders into a packed movie house where an audience watches King Vidor's classic The Crowd and a giant dog wanders up and down the aisles. Meanwhile, Oscar (Denis Lavant) rides to work in a white limousine driven by his close friend and associate Céline (Edith Scob); Oscar's job, it seems, involves using makeup, elaborate costumes, and props to carry out a number of complex and unusual scenarios. Of these, one has the actor performing an action sequence and simulated sex with an actress on a soundstage while he's filmed by an off-camera director. The second sequence puts him in a sewer with Monsieur Merde, a character who first appeared in Carax's segment in the omnibus picture Tokyo!; here, Merde falls in love with a beautiful model (Eva Mendes) who accompanies him on a jaunt through a cemetery. Subsequent episodes cast Oscar in a deathbed melodrama, a gangster film, a musical alongside pop star Kylie Minogue, and much more. At one point in the picture, Carax implies that Oscar may be acting these scenes out for hidden cameras, which are webcasting the episodes for Internet surfers. An intriguing footnote: Movie buffs may experience some déjà vu while watching Scob in this film, as she's deliberately used to invoke her characterization from Georges Franju's 1960 horror classic Eyes without a Face, and at one point, even wears a facial mask similar to the one she donned in that picture. Holy Motors marked Carax's first feature since the 1999 Pola X. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A Detroit gangster searches for his missing girlfriend with the help of a mysterious doctor, and uncovers a dark mystery that plagues the city as a crooked architect launches an ambitious project. Nicole Saint Aubin is missing, and her ruthless boyfriend will do anything to find her. The enigmatic Dr. Akbar may hold the answers he's looking for, but the grisly truth about her untimely demise leads to an even greater mystery involving her prominent family. Later, as the spirit of the ill-fated girl attempts to reach out from beyond the grave, a probing reporter stumbles into a story that will send shockwaves rippling through the entire city. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man (Ed Stoppard) uncovers a global corporate conspiracy to keep the public oblivious to the clandestine powers that control humanity's every move. Leelee Sobieski, Jeffrey Tambor, and Max von Sydow co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Tim Burton's 1984 short film Frankenweenie is resurrected for the big screen with this stop-motion 3D remake, which once again centers on a boy (Charlie Tahan) who reanimates his dead terrier and the suburban fallout that occurs because of it. Big Fish screenwriter John August provided the script for the Walt Disney production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

This CG animated action adventure offers a prequel to Mass Effect 3, telling the story of James Vega, Alliance Marine and leader of an elite military unit sent deep into distant space to combat a strange and largely unknown race of aggressive aliens known as The Collectors. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Originally adapted by director Paul Verhoeven in 1990, author Philip K. Dick's classic sci-fi short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale returns to the big screen in this remake starring Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, and Kate Beckinsale, and directed by Underworld's Len Wiseman. The planet has been decimated by nuclear war in the late 21st century, leaving only two nations -- the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. Douglas Quaid (Farrell) is a factory worker with a stable job and a loving wife (Beckinsale), but upon learning that a company named Rekall could grant him the memory of the ultimate espionage adventure, he decides that a virtual vacation is better than no vacation at all. But in the midst of having the new memories implanted, something goes haywire. Still strapped to the chair as the system breaks down, he's branded a spy as the authorities close in, and quickly flees for his life. Later, Quaid discovers that he has a secret identity, and he joins forces with rebel soldier Melina (Jessica Biel) on a mission to track down Matthias (Bill Nighy), the head of a fierce resistance movement that's been labeled a terrorist organization by the tyrannical Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Cohaagen seeks to control the entire free world, and now the harder Quaid fights to defeat him, the clearer it becomes that his memory had been altered long before he walked into Rekall. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A United Nations Space Command (UNSC) cadet experiences a crisis of conscience before facing the Covenant on the battlefield, and draws inspiration from Master Chief while fighting for the future of mankind in this sci-fi action opus based on the hit X-Box franchise. As the latest crop of cadets trains to defend Earth from extraterrestrial threats, new recruit Thomas Lasky questions the need to fight. Later, after witnessing the ruthlessness of the Covenant firsthand, Lasky realizes that he may have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the great Master Chief. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi