And as we're in the boring month of February, it's time to add a new feature.  The Mini Movie Review will be a (very) short review of movies I've either seen at the theater that I don't think warrant a full review, or recent DVD releases that I had previously missed (and perhaps shouldn't have).

Mini-Review - "Edge of Darkness"

Mel Gibson returns to acting for the first time in seven years as a tough Boston detective whose 24 year old daughter is gunned down in front of him.  Initially thinking the attack was meant for him, he quickly becomes involved in a conspiracy tale of some very bad people who were actually targeting his daughter.

Gibson does a great job as Thomas Craven.  He projects the despair of a father in grief very well, and he doesn't shy away from the fact that he is no longer a young man.  Ray Winstone is also exceptional as a shady operative with completely unclear motives.  Is he trying to hinder Craven's investigation or help?  It is all deftly handled by director Martin Campbell, showing that his work on "Casino Royale" was no fluke.

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Jack Bauer sleeps with a night light because The Dark is afraid of Jack Bauer.

Time to start speculating about where this show might be going.

At least for this season. 

I'm really hoping they wrap up the nuclear threat soon, as the "first crisis" normally is solved between the 12^th and 14^th hours, leading to something completely different.  My belief at this time is that it'll turn into a Jihad of sorts against Omar Hassan as a result of his heavy handed response to the assassination attempt.

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Not too bad on my predictions last week for Best Picture nominees.  I hit on eight out of ten, with "District 9" being the sci-fi representative instead of "Star Trek", and "The Blind Side" surprising everyone by getting a nod over another sports-related movie, "Invictus".

This is going to be a very interesting race, and I think it could come down to four movies that have a chance of winning: "Avatar", "The Hurt Locker", "Up in the Air", and "Inglourious Basterds", with no clear-cut favorite, although currently it's thought to be between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker", pitting James Cameron up against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow.

News and Rumors

~ Columbia Pictures has already started moving forward on the next Robert Langdon movie "The Lost Symbol"...even though the Dan Brown follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" was just released in September.  Tom Hanks hasn't officially signed on yet, but I think it's just a matter of time (and money).  This time, Langdon is in the US, unraveling a mystery in Washington, D.C. involving the Freemasons.  No word yet on whether he teams up with Benjamin Gates from the "National Treasure" series.

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Las Vegas is the home to many wild and crazy things. It just also happens to be the stomping grounds of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  Many events are held there and will continue to take place in "Sin City."  

This Super Bowl Saturday UFC 109 card will feature a first, something Las Vegas hasn't  even seen.  Two active members of the UFC Hall of Fame will step inside the octagon for the first time.

Mark Coleman is the first ever UFC heavyweight champion. Randy Couture is the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes. Both guys have done it all in the cage and have taken part of some of the biggest fights the sport has ever seen.  It's amazing that these two great have never crossed paths until now. Couture is 46 years old and Coleman is 45 for crying out loud.  This is a fight that was scheduled years ago but was scrapped due to a Couture injury.

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