It’s been a great year for Marvel, as three of the comic book company’s superhero titles have made their way to the big screen, each garnering critical praise and respectable box-office numbers. “Thor” got things started in early May, followed closely by “X-Men: First Class.” “Captain America: The First Avenger” hit theaters most recently, and it maintained the high quality set by the earlier films. 

The annual Silent Film Festival (Le Giornate del Cinema Muto) has been attracting increasingly larger and more youthful crowds of silent film enthusiasts to Pordenone, Italy. Inhabiting a media culture in which portable film screens feel more and more like sensory extensions of one’s own body—from the iPod Touch to the all-encompassing, visceral thrills of 3-D IMAX—it is nothing short of spectacular to witness a hand-tinted, science-fiction film from 1902 manage to fill Pordenone’s palatial Teatro Verdi to the limits of its capacity. 

Writer-director Kevin Smith’s latest project has probably attracted more attention due to Smith’s pre-release antics than for the movie itself. Leading up to the Sundance film festival, the filmmaker promised to sell “Red State” in an auction at a special festival event. Then, at that event, he announced that he was purchasing the movie for self-distribution. This created controversy in the industry, and the film ultimately received an extremely limited theatrical release before becoming an on-demand option Sept. 1. This week, “Red State” is getting a wider rollout on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download. 

Only time will tell if “Tree of Life” becomes an all-time great, but it is certainly one of the most intriguing films released this year. The movie is hard to describe because it is so sweeping in scope. Terrence Malick has always strayed from traditional storytelling and added elements of visual poetry to his films. Here, he takes that predilection to the extreme, adding lengthy sequences of footage that are backed only by music tracks and never completely explained.

The “Fast and the Furious” movies have never been the benchmark for cinematic quality, but expertly staged action sequences and a likable cast have helped them achieve an impressive box office run. Now a decade old, the series is still relevant and, surprisingly, getting better.

The only major theatrical release making its way to home video this week is a big-budget action film from director Michael Bay.  It’s no secret that Bay is Hollywood’s go-to guy for loud, violent, special effects-laden blockbusters, so it should come as little surprise that his third entry in the “Transformers” franchise is exactly that. 

Unlike the dancing, singing and sewing on other reality shows, we barely get to see, let alone taste, the food from ‘Top Chef,’ so we can’t apply our personal preferences. Sautéed scallops with banana foam sounds unappetizing, so despite head judge Tom Colicchio assuring us that this is the best thing he’s ever tasted, there’s no connection to the end result.

This past summer, there were seven film sequels or reboots, including Cars II, Transformers III, Spy Kids IV, Final Destination V, and Harry Potter VIII. This year there will be a total of 27 (according to Box Office Mojo), the largest number for any year in cinematic history. Where have all the new ideas gone? 

Where is the Latin-American Tyler Perry? In his career, Perry has earned more than $500 million with his movies alone. This does not include the earnings from stage productions and his television show. Madea, Perry’s alter ego, has made bank by bringing African-American “urban” theater to the silver screen. According to the 2010 United States Census, 12.6% or 38.7  million of the total U.S. population is African-American, and 16 percent or 50.5 million are of Hispanic or Latino descent.

It’s no secret that the summer television season isn’t exactly high quality. It’s typically a time for major networks to dump shows that were, for one reason or another, deemed  sub par for a  slot in their regular season lineup or to air reality shows and competitions that cost very little to produce-- which is why you end up with shows like Combat Hospital, an import from Canada, showing up on ABC’s primetime schedule, or competition shows like So You Think You Can Dance? airing multiple times in a given week.