Cult movie in the making alert!

While we wouldn't go so far as to say that Step Up revolutionized anything with the latest installment of its franchise, this fourth film actually broke out of the rut that the last two films had found themselves in. It still has a predictable and formulaic plot that exists primarily as an excuse to put crazy dance scenes on screen every five minutes, but overall it was a moderate improvement... and it was a relief not to have to watch two dance groups battle against each other for a change.

On occasion, Ben Stiller decides to join forces with a few other comedians and make a buddy comedy. While this was fun during his Dodgeball days, lately the best we've seen from this particular branch of Stiller comedy has been Tower Heist (not saying too much there). The Watch is essentially like any other of Stiller's subpar group ventures, only now a few aliens are thrown into the mix. It's kind of a mess, but if you love Costco, you'll be pretty okay with it all.

Silent house... deadly house...

Lauren Greenfield's new documentary The Queen of Versailles begins like a promo for the next big Bravo reality serial... call it, Timeshare Royalty. In this case, the subjects who are opening their lives (and their two houses) to the camera are David and Jackie Siegel, who up until recently were one of the wealthiest couples in Florida, if not the nation. David Siegel made his fortune via the timeshare titan Westgate Resorts, which offers lavish condo units to prospective part-time owners. Following two previous failed marriages, he wed former model (and diploma-carrying computer engineer) Jackie in 2000 and four years later they started construction on their dream house: a 90,000 square foot estate modeled after the Parisian palace for which it's named: Versailles.

At the end of Christopher Nolan's first Batman adventure, Batman Begins, Gotham cop (and future commissioner) James Gordon warned his new masked vigilante pal about the potential for "escalation" amongst the city's criminal element in the wake of the costumed crime-fighter's arrival. In the moment, that scene existed to set the stage for the arrival of more challenging villains like the Joker, whose flair for anarchy would baffle and befuddle Batman through the course of The Dark Knight. But in hindsight, that scene was really Nolan's warning to us the audience that he was planning on escalating the franchise, not to mention the entire comic book movie genre, far beyond its expected conventions.

The Dark Knight was the initial shot across the bow and now here comes Nolan's third and supposed final chapter, The Dark Knight Rises, which pushes the director's specific vision to its breaking point. With its super-sized three-hour runtime, expansive storytelling and enormous action set-pieces (many of which were filmed in the IMAX format, which is the ideal way to see the movie), Rises is the fulfillment of that seven-year old pledge from Nolan to moviegoers. When the title card finally appears onscreen at the end of the movie, it's his equivalent of dropping the mic and walking offstage. (WARNING: Spoilers Will Rise Beyond This Point)

Before The Dark Knight Rises closes out the current Batman series, we celebrate the anniversaries of two older Caped Crusaders.

When Christopher Nolan was first tapped to reboot the Batman franchise in 2005, few people could have accurately predicted how well that pairing of filmmaker and material would work out. After all, at that point, Nolan had only one big studio credit to his name (2002's Insomnia) and no experience at all in the comic book realm. But the one-two punch of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight proved that he was more than up to the task. Fusing his own specific interests with familiar Batman iconography, Nolan crafted a distinct take on the character that pleased both comic book fans and general audiences... to the tune of over $700 million at the domestic box office combined.

Jennifer Westfeldt and Adam Scott invite you to be their friends.

A slow weekend at the multiplex gives you time to catch up with some of the indie features -- like Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz -- currently playing at an art house or video on demand service near you.