The folks out at Image Entertainment shipped us  out a copy of Money Matters to cover, and if you thought yesterday’s entrant, The Littlest Angel, was heavy handed, then brace yourself for a fist made of iron with this one. It only just hit shelves today, but chances are there won’t be a whole lot of interest going on unless you already enjoy this kind of thing.

Money Matters follows the title character–yes, it’s about a girl named Monique “Money” Matters–who finds herself neck deep in a whole lot of very urban problems. Her mother’s trying to keep a roof over their head, which isn’t easy since she often finds herself living with a series of less than sterling men, and daughter Money is having plenty of girl-growing-up problems of her own in the midst of a Catholic school that is often less than supportive. But as mother and daughter struggle toward their own ends, never really knowing just how similar said ends are. But when Money ends up meeting a new girl that offers up a surprisingly friendly posture, that friendship will push a few boundaries in its own right. How will it all end up? Well, you’ll find out.

This is the kind of movie that made Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood possible in the first place, a movie so thick with lessons and morals that it might as well have some guy come by the camera, look into it, and shout “Message!” every time they try to make a point. The only problem with that approach, however, would be that by the end of the movie the poor schmoe assigned to the role would keel over from exhaustion, because he’d be shouting every couple of minutes.

Money Matters is thicker than hip-deep caramel and moves just about as fast. It’s dull, pompous and spectacularly preachy. It’s clearly trying to be a powerful independent movie, and that is, in a nutshell, Money Matters’ biggest problem. It’s trying, it’s clearly trying, it’s trying so hard that it’s next to impossible to take it seriously because it’s so busy taking itself seriously that there’s no room for anyone else. Even better, it’ll be another one of those movies where pretty much every guy–from the drug dealing boyfriend to the rapist ex-boyfriend to the child-molesting Catholic priest–is a complete waste of skin who exists for no other reason than to give Money and her mother yet another Challenge to Overcome. It’s every inch as bad as Tyler Perry, but almost worse for its clear lack of a shooting budget.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Money Matters a three out of ten for trying way too hard and taking itself way too seriously. Being “indie” is not an excuse for building a half-decent narrative and making a story more than a handful of people want to hear about.

Screenhead has joined up with Warner Bros. to help promote the release of the final Harry Potter movie. We’ve included this Harry Potter Widget and DVD contest.

The final face-off between good and evil is finally upon us as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is now available, just in time for the holidays! Join Harry, Ron and Hermione as they do battle against Voldemort in the epic conclusion to the film series!

Screenhead has a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 to giveaway.

To enter the giveaway, post your name and take The Harry Potter Trivia Quiz and share their results in the comments section on your Facebook or Twitter page! We will pick the winner November 29, 2011.

Opening in select theaters December 16, 2011 and starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly, the movie based on the play “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza is directed by Roman Polanski.

Carnage is a dark-comedy. The likes I haven’t seen Polanski do ever, unless I am mistaken. The list of talented actors alone drives me to want to see this movie. The premise of the movie — bullying — is prevalent to our culture.

The movie is being billed as a razor sharp, biting comedy centered on parental differences. After two boys duke it out on a playground, the parents of the “victim” invite the parents of the “bully” over to work out their issues. A polite discussion of child rearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors. None of them will escape the carnage.

The trailer is brilliant, enjoy!

Acclaimed writer and director Terrence Malick brought us Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World. His thought provoking film experience hits a new level with The Tree of Life.

The award-winning movie is about a family and their relationships with each other, particularly the father and sons. The camera work is stunning. The cinematography and raw emotional power Malick’s hymn to life excavates answers to the most haunting and personal human questions through a kaleidoscope of the intimate and the cosmic, from the raw emotions of a family in a small Texas town to the wildest, infinite edges of space and time, from a boy’s loss of innocence to a man’s transforming encounters with awe, wonder and transcendence.
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MTV premiered this exclusive clip from Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.
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It’s hard to believe, folks, but Christmas is just under two months away now, and as such, it’s not too much of a surprise to see the Christmas movies come out in full force. And we’ve got a look at just one such early riser with Dear Santa, a movie that should leave you feeling your Christmas spirit just a little early. The folks out at Image Entertainment sent over a copy for us to review, and this one will tug all the right heartstrings.

Dear Santa follows Crystal, a go-nowhere socialite whose wealthy parents have just about had it with her constant shopping and layabout lifestyle. They plan to cut her off unless she can show some change in her life, either finding a good man or finding a good job. And since Crystal and work go together like matches and gasoline, she’s planning to go with plan B: find a man. But about that time, she finds a letter from Olivia, a little girl who’s got one special Christmas wish, for a new mommy to replace the one that died two Christmases prior. Crystal gets to thinking that she might be said little girl’s wish come true, which would also keep her in cash from her own, somewhat more live, mommy. But it won’t be as easy as Crystal thinks, no, nowhere near.

Dear Santa watches a lot like a movie you might see on Lifetime, except there, the roles would be reversed, with a little girl writing for a new daddy for Christmas and an irresponsible womanizing jackass gets his life changed by the ultimate virtuous force of a single mother. Here, the woman is the hopeless slackass and the man is the virtuous force, which is totally not what you’d see on Lifetime. But at the same time, it’s great to see lives changed in such a significant fashion by what looks like a whole lot of coincidences combining.

And indeed, from a narrative sense, this is a big pile of schmaltzy sludge that’s got all the structure of pudding. But then, it falls under that grandest of all umbrellas: the Christmas tree. Yes, it’s a Christmas movie in most every sense of the term, and it will behave much like one. Basically, as long as you don’t look too closely at it, you’ll find that the end results are tolerable, at least somewhat heartwarming, and manage to tug the heartstrings in the standard, most efficient way there is.

The Screenhead Ten Scale in turn gives Dear Santa the mark of reasonably good quality, a six out of ten. Nothing special here…nothing even particularly new or interesting…but still, a Christmas movie in every sense of the term.

The Blu-ray/DVD release of Water for Elephants from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will hit the streets today. Screenhead has two copies of Water for Elephants to giveaway.

Take a journey back in time with the romantic tale based on Sara Gruen’s New York Times #1 Best-Seller novel of the same name, “Water for Elephants”, on Blu-ray and DVD.

Starring Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line), Robert Pattinson (Twilight series) and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), the film presents an epic tale of forbidden love in a magical place filled with adventure, wonder and great danger.

Showcasing the decadence of a bohemian circus and the majesty of its animals against the backdrop and beauty of a bygone era, Water for Elephants makes the ideal holiday gift idea for your favorite film buff, fashionista or book-lover!

To enter the giveaway, post your name and we will pick the winners* November 15, 2011.

U.S. Residents only

You might think that it’s difficult to write a movie about Russian roulette. Sure, The Deer Hunter had a couple scenes involving it, but a whole movie about people competing in a game where the loser kills himself? Not exactly easy to do. And the folks out at Anchor Bay are going to take the chance on it as evidenced by 13, a copy of which they sent out to us for review. While you won’t be able to get hands on this one until a week from today, you’ll almost certainly want to see it when it hits.

13 follows a young newcomer to this most bizarre of blood sports, in which he’s found himself a participant wearing a number. And while the risk is high, so too is the payout for those who compete…and those who win. It’s entirely too high, in fact, for our boy to resist, being as his father’s in the hospital and the family home is on the line. But while he’s playing the game, he’s also drawing a lot of unwelcome attention, and it’s that attention that may well wind up killing him just as surely as losses in the game would.

Most of the first third of the movie is devoted to the intricacies of getting to be a competitor in the Russian roulette underground, a baffling and downright Byzantine performance featuring mail drops, train ticket chicanery, and more. It may be a bit much, but it really does go to show just how deeply, deeply underground all this is, and it’s impressive, but it does take up a lot of run time.

You might expect this to be an action title, and while there will indeed be gunplay, it’s rather in short supply through most of the first hour. This focuses much more on the dramatic side of things, with the various competitors and their reasons for being involved in a game in which they could all quite easily die. It’s still pretty interesting because, after all, when’s the last time you saw a movie entirely about Russian roulette? I frankly can’t recall the last time I did, so this is at least mostly new territory.

The Screenhead Ten Scale always welcomes new effort, and hands 13 about half its score, a seven out of ten. It’s a little on the dull side, a little too much drama and gambling, but given the nature of the movie itself it’s hard to avoid. That and it being largely untraveled ground gives it that little something extra that should be experienced.

I hope all our readers are doing well!

I am wondering if any of you would be interested in entering our giveaway for the films Call Me Mrs. Miracle and The Shunning, which are both now available on DVD. The winner will receive a copy of each.

Call Me Mrs. Miracle brings back Doris Roberts as Mrs. Merkle (Mrs. Miracle) and brings hope for the holidays. Posing as an unassuming toy department clerk, she sets out to ensure that this Christmas is memorable and meaningful for all at a struggling family-owned department store in New York City. With broken dreams to mend and promises to keep, Mrs. Miracle has her work cut out for her, but she won’t give up until she delivers a merry, meaningful Christmas for all! Also starting Jewel Staite, Eric Johnson and Lauren Holly.

The Shunning we meet Katie Lapp (Danielle Panabaker), who has always struggled with the rules that define her sheltered Amish community, but when a wealthy outsider (Sherry Stringfield, TV’s “ER”) begins asking questions about her family, Katie begins to wonder about her origins. What connection does this woman have to her life…and how will the unraveling secrets challenge Katie’s faith? Beverly Lewis’ The Shunning is a powerful, personal journey of discovery based on the famous novel by the New York Times bestselling author.

To enter the giveaway, post your name and I will pick the winner* November 11, 2011.

U.S. Residents only

The folks out at Image Entertainment sent out a copy of A Little Help for us to cover, and while you won’t be able to get your hands on this one until sometime after Tuesday, if you’re a Jenna Fischer fan from her tenure over at Donder-Mifflin, well, you’ll definitely want a piece of this.

A Little Help follows a family that’s got plenty of issues, including an overworked dental hygienist with an overbearing family, a husband who’s got a few secrets of his own, a son who’s steadily growing more distant from her, and a life that’s in general so woefully unpleasant that she’s taken to slamming Budweisers and smoking frequently (even though she said she’d quit some time previously). But life is about to get seriously shaken up for her, when her husband unexpectedly dies. And that’s going to kick off a whole pack of new and strange horrors for her, and she’s going to have to pick up the pieces as best she can, which is surprisingly well.

You could probably tell, right when I said “family with plenty of issues”, what kind of movie this was going to be. And yes, for the most part–at least for the first half–it is indeed one of those kinds of movies. It’s a very well-trod path, the path that A Little Help takes on. They did try, and I give them all the credit in the world for trying, to interject some humor in here, and it does succeed on a few levels and more than a few instances, but sometimes the humor just seems wildly out of place.  It’s a bit uncomfortable in a lot of places, and probably more of a “chick flick” than anything else. Worse, by the time you get to the halfway mark, you begin to figure where most of the family’s problems come from, and they can all be traced to pretty much one key focal point. Frankly, entirely too large portions of A Little Help spend far too much time being depressing to be all that interesting. There is something that improves, though, when you get toward the end as people start realizing just how life actually should be, and it provides a bit of comeuppance to said problem, but still.

But still, if you’re looking for a lot of drama in your movies, and you don’t mind feeling bad about it, Image Entertainment’s latest presentation should be just what you want.

The Screenhead Ten Scale, meanwhile, gives A Little Help a six out of ten–there’s plenty of drama, a few good laughs, and way, way too much of a downer to really be enjoyed by people who like their movies to be at least somewhat happy.