Whoa! Technical difficulties last night at EricDSnider.com headquarters. The server went down at the worst possible time — Thursday night when I’m posting reviews and sending out “In the Dark” — and prevented me from getting a lot of things done. But here we are now! We are OK. We have each other, and that’s the important thing.

Unsurprisingly, Pixar has knocked another one out of the park with “WALL-E,” an animated sci-fi love story that raises the bar yet again in terms of technical excellence and storytelling technique. I dare say it’s brilliant, easily the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. My review is at Film.com.

Then there’s “Wanted,” starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy as assassins. My review of this will be posted shortly is at Cinematical.

In limited release: “Stuck,” a horror-comedy about a woman who hits a homeless man with her car, then drives home with him still alive and embedded in the windshield; and “Expired,” an abrasive comedy from Sundance 2007 about two parking-enforcement officers in love.

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First Texas, now the Zohan — I can’t mess with anything anymore! “Zohan,” an overlong mixed bag, is the subject of my review at Film.com this week.

Then there’s “Kung Fu Panda,” which is pretty funny and very well animated. Not just one of the cheapo throwaways.

Also new: “The Strangers” (scary), “The Fall” (trippy), “Sangre de Mi Sangre” (dreary), and “Savage Grace” (tawdry). (In secret code, I have named four of the Spice Girls.

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Two major releases this weekend, and the studios stubbornly screened them at the same time on the same night. Thanks, movie people. I reluctantly chose “Sex and the City” because it’s the higher-profile of the two, and also because I knew that if I didn’t see it for free at the press screening, I would never be able to motivate myself to see it after it opened.

I have already written about the travails of the screening. The movie itself is mediocre, though I say that as someone who never watched the TV show. I assume fans of the show will like the movie, assuming they like the idea of watching five episodes back to back. (Oh yeah: It’s 2 1/2 hours long.)

The other new wide release is “The Strangers,” a horror film that piques my interest because they don’t screen horror films for critics much anymore. Maybe it’s actually good? Or maybe screening it was a diversionary tactic to make us think it’s good? I’ll find out when I catch up with it this weekend.

There are three excellent films in limited release that you should seek out with all due speed. One is “Young @ Heart,” a terrific documentary about a chorus of senior citizens who sing rock ‘n’ roll songs. It’s as sweet and uplifting a doc as I’ve seen in a long time.

The other two are “The Visitor,” about a lonely man who becomes friends with some illegal immigrants in New York, and “Priceless,” a light French farce starring Audrey Tautou (aka Amelie).

They’re predicting big box office for “Sex and the City,” but is anyone other than fans of the show going to watch it? Are there enough fans to make it a giant hit? We’ll see, but color me skeptical.

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The Friday movie roundup — on a Thursday? What kind of deviltry is this?! It is the kind necessitated by the Thursday release of a little film called “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which I quite enjoyed. It has the look and feel of an Indy film, and it fits right in with the collection. I’m pretty sure I like it more than “Temple of Doom,” which has that really annoying Kate Capshaw stinking up the place.

And … that’s it. There aren’t any other films opening this week. I hope to have reviews of a few indie flicks (not to be confused with an Indy flick) within the next several days, though, including “Young @ Heart” and “The Visitor.”

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The only wide release this weekend is “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” which I have reviewed at Film.com. I have also written at Cinematical about how the PG rating for “Prince Caspian” is astoundingly wrong. The level and frequency of violence is definitely PG-13-worthy.

In limited release, I can recommend “My Blueberry Nights” (the English-language debut of director Wong Kar Wai) and “Then She Found Me” (the directorial debut of Helen Hunt).

I saw “Blueberry” when I was in New York City! It cost $11.75!

Finally, I remind you of the existence of “Son of Rambow,” a delightfully joyous comedy, in limited release, that is just about my favorite movie of the year so far. It got mentioned in the podcast a couple weeks ago but not the e-mail version of “In the Dark,” so here it is again.
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Here’s the “Speed Racer” review!

Here’s the “What Happens in Vegas” review (at Film.com)!

I watched them both Thursday night — “Vegas” at 7 p.m., “Speed” at midnight — and now I am tired. “Speed Racer” screened earlier in the week, when I was in New York, and maybe you’re thinking, “Couldn’t Eric have found out where the NYC press screening was and seen it there?” And I thought the same thing. But as it turns out, getting your local publicists to find out information from their NYC counterparts is difficult, especially when your local publicists don’t even try. (At least, you assume they didn’t even try, since they ignored your follow-up e-mails.) But again, I’m tired now. Goodnight!

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And the 2008 Summer Blockbuster Season officially begins with “Iron Man,” a slick and funny comic book flick that gets the season off to a good start.

For counter-programming, the womenfolk get a big ol’ piece of crap called “Made of Honor.” It has a pun title, and it’s the worst kind of pun title: the kind that doesn’t actually mean anything. Y’all know I don’t exactly go into romantic comedies expecting the moon, but this one is bad even by the terribly low standards of romantic comedies. Also, despite being marketed exclusively to women, all the female characters are shallow imbeciles. My review is at Film.com.

In limited release, there are a few films worth checking out: David Mamet’s “Redbelt,” David Gordon Green’s “Snow Angels,” and foreign-language Oscar winner “The Counterfeiters” (which, yes, I’ve just barely gotten around to seeing).

Finally, the podcast has a review of “Son of Rambow,” which is terrific, one of the best films of the year, and it opens in limited release today. But ignore the podcast, because the review’s not actually going up until next week. Sorry about that.

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You know, I sort of forgot about “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.” I saw it at South By Southwest over a month ago, wrote my review, and then cast it from my mind. Yet here it is, opening in theaters today. Weird! It’s like I’m living in two different time periods.

A better option for your movie-going dollars is “Baby Mama,” which isn’t quite as funny as a movie with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler should be, but it’s close enough. Those two gals crack me up. My review of it is at Film.com.

Did you know there is a movie opening today called “Deception”? Me either! But it’s opening on more than 2,000 screens, a full-blown wide release! They didn’t screen it for critics, though, so never mind.

In limited release, “Standard Operating Procedure” is a very good documentary about Abu Ghraib, while “The Life Before Her Eyes” is a cheap and mediocre drama about the aftermath of a Columbine-esque school shooting.

Finally, I reviewed “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” a few days ago. There’s already been quite a lively discussion in the comments. It’s a much smarter conversation than we get with, say, “Prom Night.”

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“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” one of the biggest hits at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival, opens today in wide release. It should be another victory for the Judd Apatow team, and it really is very funny. There’s a part where the guy is working on a musical about Dracula, and he favors us with a number, and — oh man. When that scene played at SXSW, my friend sitting next to me laughed so I hard I thought he was going to wet my pants.

Over at Film.com, my review this week is of “The Forbidden Kingdom,” a goofy but mostly likable martial-arts fantasy epic. If nothing else, it has Jet Li and Jackie Chan fighting each other, which has never happened before (or at least not in a movie).

Al Pacino’s “88 Minutes” is pretty bad, and it’s not even in real time. I like things that are in real time, like “24.” Not that being in real time would have saved “88 Minutes,” but at least then it would have had a hook.

“Expelled,” a documentary about the bias against Intelligent Design proponents by those mean old evolution-believers, opens on about 1,000 screens today — enough to be considered wide release — without benefit of screening. In fact, when they have shown it to preview audiences (mostly church groups and such), they’ve required viewers to sign nondisclosure agreements. The film was made by an independent studio, but they’re already following Hollywood studio tactics: Spend lots of money on advertising and promotions in order to boost your opening box office — but whatever you do, don’t let anyone actually see the movie in time to spread negative word of mouth.

Finally, in limited release are “Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?” (good) and “Chapter 27″ (bad).

Oh, more finally: links to the surveys! This one is for all visitors to EricDSnider.com (that means you!); this one is for “In the Dark” subscribers; and this one is for “In the Dark” podcast listeners, whether they subscribe via iTunes or just listen to it here on the site every Friday. One more week and then you won’t have to see me mention them anymore.

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It’s another meh weekend for new releases as we drift through the doldrums before summer blockbuster season begins on the first day of summer (May 2).

The big ticket is “Prom Night,” which has the same title but no other connection to the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis slasher film, other than that they’re both slasher films. This was one of Hollywood’s Shameful Secrets©™®, not screened for critics before it opened. In fact, there was a promotional screening last night at 7:00, and the studio reps who covered it were specifically told not to let any critics in. “Do not under any circumstances let a movie critic see this movie!” was basically the message. “Negative reviews on opening day might foil our smash-and-grab money-making approach!”

So here’s my review. Thank goodness for midnight screenings!

Then there’s Keanu Reeves in “Street Kings,” an average but not awful L.A. cop movie full of grit and swearing and corruption. My review of it is over at Film.com.

Your best bet is “Smart People,” a funny (if unremarkable) comedy starring Dennis Quaid as a self-absorbed college professor.

If you missed it yesterday, we’re conducting a few surveys of EricDSnider.com visitors. This one is for all visitors to the site (that means you!); this one is for “In the Dark” subscribers; and this one is for “In the Dark” podcast listeners. If you’d fill out any or all of the surveys that apply to you, we’d surely appreciate it.

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