The Tribune

Dinner for Schmucks seemingly has a lot going for it: a funny premise (based on the French film Le Dîner de cons) and a big-name comedic cast. It turns out that sometimes the sum can be less than its parts. For one thing, most of the movie takes place before the actual “dinner for idiots” where financial executive Tim (Paul Rudd) has to debut successfully in order to finalize a promotion.

Despicable Me was touted as Universal’s answer to Pixar’s steady stream of successful, adorable, and quirky animated films including Up, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. While the style of Despicable Me may resemble that of Pixar, and the characters are of the same eccentric variety, Despicable Me offers a new and interesting story for children and adults with a villain whose sole desire in life is to make others as miserable as he is.

Reclining in my IMAX chair and slipping on my 3-D glasses, I was totally prepared for Shrek 4 to suck. Instead, I partook a fun, genuine, and hilarious ride through the fairy tale world in absolutely gorgeous IMAX 3-D. The movie gets off to a bit of a slow start, with Shrek trapped in a “Groundhog-Day-esque” scene of mundane family life.

Just when you thought that Pixar couldn’t perfect another timeless movie, they’ve done it again. Although I’ve always been pretty skeptical about sequels within the animated genre-need I mention Little Mermaid 2, Lion King 1.5- this third instalment of Toy Story has truly proven that sequels can rank up to par with their original.

Picking up immediately from the intriguing cliff-hanger of season two, season three begins with Sookie Stackhouse enlisting the help of the (very sexy) vampire Eric in order to look for Bill, who has just been abducted by a mysterious source. As the season unfolds, it turns out that it is Russell Edgington-the vampire king of Mississippi- who, along with a brigade of werewolves, has taken Bill as a prisoner.

It would not be presumptuous to call Inception the movie event of the year. Certainly no other film this year has generated nearly the same amount of buzz as Christopher Nolan’s most recent blockbuster. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an extractor, a thief who steals thoughts from the minds of his targets through their dreams.

Despite wavering in popularity, The Real World is to reality TV what Columbus is to accidentally finding continents. Call it an innovator, call it an institution-either way, the franchise has produced 23 seasons, not including their latest, The Real World: New Orleans.

Going into the show’s seventh season, Entourage followers have been anxiously waiting all year for some new excitement in the life of Vincent Chase and the boys. After leaving off last season with Vince filming in Rome and Eric finally proposing to Sloan, Vince begins shooting a new movie in which he’s persuaded to do his own dangerous driving stunt.

This summer’s reality shows lacked complexity, and tended to favour one overblown storyline over a more cohesive selection. Jersey Shore’s Miami revamp is no exception. The silly idea-turned-cultural-phenomenon has primarily focused on the on-again/off-again relationship between last season’s only serious couple: Ronnie and Sammi.

The Festival du Nouveau Cinema is the oldest of its kind in Montreal, celebrating its 35th birthday this October. The festival opens tomorrow with Philippe Falardeau’s Congorama and closes Oct. 26 with a spotlight on the Spanish cinema screening of Pedro Almodovar’s Volver.