Starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey
Directed by Lee Daniels
Based on the book by Sapphire

After all the hype surrounding “Precious”—the critical acclaim, Oprah’s endorsement, and the back-and-forth between some bloggers and reviewers about Gabby Sidibe’s weight—I walked into the theater this weekend with one expectation and that was to cry my eyes out. And indeed, my eye makeup suffered. This movie left me a bit shell-shocked, to be honest, both positively—because of the incredible performances—and negatively, because it paints such a bleak portrait of a way of life that I don’t have any experience with. It was hard to watch and not one of those movies you walk out of the theater declaring as “wonderful.” But, man, was it powerful.

Starring Natalie Portman, Rachel Bilson, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Bradley Cooper, Ethan Hawke, and more
Directed by Faith Akin, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, and more
Written by Joshua Marston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Minghella, Jeff Nathanson, and more

I have been waiting for “New York, I Love You” ever since the trailer was released way back in Aug. 2008, so, of course, I went to see it the weekend it finally came out—just eight months after its originally scheduled release date.

Starring Chris Rock, Nia Long, Al Sharpton, Raven-Symoné, and Andre Harrell
Directed by, Jeff Stilson
Written by Lance Crouther, Chris Rock, Chuck Sklar, and Jeff Stilson

Have you ever sat in a gym locker room and wondered why black women don’t wash their hair after an invigorating workout? Or wondered how your black coworker went from straight, long hair to a curly bob overnight? Well, Chris Rock’s “Good Hair” will answer these questions and more as he tries to figure out what exactly constitutes “good hair.”

Starring Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, and Kristen Wiig
Directed by Drew Barrymore
Written by Shauna Cross

You know that Hulu commercial with Alec Baldwin where he’s an alien turning our brains to soft, goopy edible mush through the power of television on the internet? Somewhere there is a boardroom full of old men (or aliens) twirling waxed black mustaches and guffawing over the latest sales figures of the newest insipid feel-good rom-com. Well, hang onto your helmets and strap on your skates ladies, because “Whip It” is not that movie.

Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried and Amy Sedaris
Directed by Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight”)
Written by Diablo Cody

Please, please, please don’t read other movie reviews of “Jennifer’s Body.” I can tell you what the 50-year-old white men who write them are going to say:

Megan Fox can’t act.
Diablo Cody‘s dialogue sounds like “Juno”!
It’s a horror movie but it’s not that scary.
Nice kissing scene!
Good soundtrack, though.
The end.

Very original, guys! Good job. If you want the real scoop on “Jennifer’s Body,” read on ...

Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams
Directed by Nora Ephron

The Lowdown: Here’s what I wish the title of this movie was: “Julia.” Period. No Julie, just Julia.

Julie, who you probably know as the blogger and author who cooked through Julia Child’s recipes in a year, is a drip. Julie (as played by Amy Adams) is a self-acknowledged failure on the brink of 30, who had striven to publish a novel and instead wrote only a portion of it before settling for a dreary Manhattan office job. A painful commentary on the state of professional women, there’s the lingering stereotype (and, admittedly, partial reality) of the “lost” thirty-something woman that hangs over the climate Julie exists in.

Starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Full disclosure. I knew I was going to be in love with this movie before I even saw it. Typically, this kind of over-hyping would cause me to end up being disappointed—“Marie Antoinette” directed by Sofia Coppola suffered this fate—but not so. I laughed, I cried, and Ryan Gosling, poor thing, has been usurped by the wonderfulness that is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I know, I can’t believe it either.

The Lowdown: Watching the feature film “Bruno” is somewhat like eating a whole bag of candy corn. There is a sugar rush high and momentary feeling of elation and giddiness, but all too soon you feel sick and crash. The experience is not awful and you come out no worse for the wear, but it’s not something you are likely to try again in the near future. Walking out of the theatre in a zombie-like trance from the sheer amount of material that was thrown at me from beginning to end, I couldn’t form a statement more coherent than “wow.” “Bruno” is neither a great movie nor a horrific one. I am sure it falls somewhere between good and meh, but the movie’s predominant characteristic is its sheer recklessness and audacity.

Starring Drew Barrymore, Jessica Lange, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Based on the 1975 documentary by Albert and David Maysles

The dramatic film version of “Grey Gardens,” which is set to air on HBO this Saturday April 18 at 8pm, takes a look at the lives of Little Edie and Big Edie Beale, relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Many of the film’s scenes are reenactments of classic moments from the documentary about them, while the rest of the movie shows how the Beales ended up as recluses in their East Hampton estate. Catherine, Simcha, Jessica Wakeman, and I discuss the movie, after the jump ...

Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Steve Zahn

The Lowdown: Ten years out of high school, most people have some kind of college degree. Lots are in stable relationships, a bunch are married and some have kids.  A few lucky ones might have made partner or published her first book.

This movie is not about those people.

Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter

Based on the series of chick lit books by Sophie Kinsella, “Confessions Of A Shopaholic,” is the story of adorable, but bumbling “journalist,” Rebecca Bloomwood, who has a serious shopping addiction that has left her in major debt. This movie, as we’ve noted, hit theaters at a seriously awkward time—WE’RE IN A RECESSION, ZOMG! Hardly the most appropriate time for a film about a woman who has a romantic attachment to stores and the wares they sell. Maybe the producers hoped the movie would be “relatable” to the millions of Americans who are having rough times themselves. After all, Rebecca’s credit cards are declined! Rebecca is being stalked by debt collectors! Rebecca cannot afford her rent! It’s just too bad that the account cancellation notices paving Rebecca’s yellow brick road of woe lead back to Bloomingdale’s.

Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long

When God created chick flicks, she/he had this one in mind as the epitome, the end all, be all of chick flicks. Not one straight man on the planet will see this film willingly, and those women who do, should walk in with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, the movie is based on a self-help book of the same name, which has been ripped apart for its stereotyping of women. Plus, it wasn’t clear to me how in the hell it would translate into a film. That said, it was produced by Drew Barrymore’ Flower Films—which also put out the fluffy gem “Never Been Kissed”—and also stars Barrymore alongside Frisky faves Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Connelly. Additionally, having been a crazy lady in the boy department many times myself, I went into the movie believing that there was nothing wrong with looking crazy moments like those in the face and laughing about how young and stupid we’ve all been. In that sense, “He’s Just Not That Into You” didn’t disappoint.

Starring Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson

Against my better judgment, and the groans of many, many people I respect and whom I want to respect me, I saw “Bride Wars” on Sunday afternoon. [With me! What? I’m not ashamed.—Editor] Everyone who has seen the trailer and or merely read the title knows exactly what this movie is about. Trust that it goes no deeper than that.

I’m having a chick flick kind of weekend. So far I’ve watched “Definitely, Maybe,” “Rachel Getting Married,” and, now, “27 Dresses.” It got me thinking about all of the chick flicks we reviewed this year. So…

Starring Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Gabrielle Union, Columbus Short, Cedric the Entertainer, Mos Def, Beyonce Knowles

I took myself on a date yesterday to see “Cadillac Records” because I’m a history buff and love a biopic. Plus, I get fashion inspiration by seeing how people dressed in the past. I read very few reviews of the film before watching it because I wanted the movie to speak for itself. I was rather entertained, but, since I’m not a real blues fan or scholar, I didn’t notice the historical inaccuracies.

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Sissy Spacek, Robert Duvall, Tim McGraw, & Kristen Chenoweth

Let me start by saying that I’m probably not the most biased reviewer, considering I’ve been dying to see this movie since it was cast. In terms of pure movie enjoyment and giggles, Reese Witherspoon is my favorite actress and Vince Vaughn is my favorite actor. Could I have been more excited to find out that they were in a rom-com together? Um, no. As I’d hoped, Reese was perfectly adorable as always and Vince Vaughn, playing himself, per usual, had me almost peeing myself from the beginning. Needless to say, this is the perfect post-Turkey Day movie. Light, fluffy, funny, and, oh hell, heartwarming. Full review after the jump…

The minute my cousin and I realized we both read “Twilight”, we knew we had to make a date to see the movie…a very well planned date so we could get tickets before they sold out. I might be the only person on the planet that thought this, but I couldn’t really envision Robert Pattison as Edward Cullen. He just seemed too scrawny to me. But he proved me wrong! He looked so sexy on screen and had the perfect build to play Edward. I’m sure most of the girls in the theater experienced their first pitter pat down there when he was onscreen. But Pattison wasn’t the only eye candy to be had during “Twilight.” I liked Emmett Cullen’s (Kellan Lutz) hip hop, jock swagger. And Jacob Black’s (Taylor Lautner) boyish looks were dreamy.

We were big ol’ fans of “Casino Royale,” the last Bond flick, and the first starring the delectable Daniel Craig, another Frisky favorite. So when “Quantum of Solace” came out this weekend, we were extremely excited to see if their action-packed “boys” film would rock our chick flick hearts the way “Casino Royale” did. Sadly, it FAILED. After the jump, five reasons why you should save it for your Netflix queue.

Starring Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long
Directed by Kevin Smith

Last night I got to see the much-talked-about movie “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” as part of the CMJ Film Festival. Quite honestly, I was not impressed. Maybe it’s because there has been so much media attention surrounding the movie because of its title and the banning of certain posters. Or maybe my sense of humor just doesn’t mesh well with writer/director Kevin Smith’s. Either way, I thought the story was a big cliche, and Seth Rogen really didn’t need to say “f&*k” so many times without reason.

I decided to see “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” because even though “Rachel Getting Married” looked good, I knew I couldn’t handle a movie with so many ups and downs on a Friday night. I dragged two friends to the not-so-highly acclaimed movie, which Fandango classifies as “teen movie” and “comedy,” and I was nervous they would kill me when it was horrible. But the entire theater, including me and my friends, laughed and cheered through the entire film.