That Morgan Freeman would star in a biography of Nelson Mandela is not the least bit surprising. That Clint Eastwood should direct Freeman in this role is also not the least bit surprising. But what is surprising is the story they use in showing us the man who was tasked with holding his country together after the discontinuation of oppressive racial segregation under apartheid. Rather than creating a biography of the life of Mandela, "Invictus" shows us a snapshot of a brief period of time that helps define the man, a country, and its people, and how they started the process of re-uniting with a sporting event serving as the catalyst. Mitch reviews the highly acclaimed "Invictus" for our readers in his latest movie review here at TCF.

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Once upon a time, vampires were some of the nastiest creatures out there in movie-land. Evil bloodsuckers without an inch of remorse or compassion. But yet, there has also always been somewhat of an allure to vampires. Even with that, vampires have universally been the villains throughout the history of cinematography; no matter how charming they were. And then something changed; vampires went mainstream. Suddenly, vampires are "heroes". And it's clear ... Mitch Cyrus isn't a fan of this development. Nor is he a fan of the "Twilight" film that he reviewed for our readers in his latest trip to the theaters.

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A big week for movie releases as we head towards the holidays. The animated "The Princess and the Frog" and "Invictus" (directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon both hit the theaters today amidst very positive buzz. And on DVD? Three biggies. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "The Hangover", and "Inglorius Basterds". As he does each Friday, The Mitch Man gives our readers the 411 on all the latest films out at the theaters and on DVD.

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An uncharacteristicly weak holiday weekend for theater releases this weekend, with "Old Dogs" (starring Robin Williams and John Travolta) as the most notable release. The coming weeks have some biggies though, with the latest from Clint Eastwood ("Invictus") and James Cameron ("Avatar") highlighting the coming slate of releases. Further down the pike? A collaboration between Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, "Shrek 4", "Scream 4" ... and some other projects Mitch updates us on in this week's Crystal Ball.

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