"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," inspired by Mike Mignola's comics and graphic novels, arrives today on DVD and Blu-ray. The film is one of my favorites from this year. The fabulous Ron Perlman returns as the big-hearted and big-fisted red demon working for a secret paranormal government agency. This time out he's trying to announce himself to the world while he fights Prince Nuada (a beautifully tragic Luke Goss) from the underground elf world. Once again, filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro creates a vivid fantasy world where we feel the greatest connection to the monsters and creatures.

"Pride and Glory" is another one of those films about good and bad cops fighting drug lords, but then joining them. This particular story is about a family of cops. The father was in the NYPD and has two sons that grow up to drive the black and whites. His daughter also married a man in a blue uniform. The son-in-law, Jimmy (Colin Farrell), is under the command of the eldest son. But Jimmy is dealing drugs and killing people behind his brother-in-law's back.

"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is one of the best films I've seen this year. It features our four favorite New York zoo animals -- Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman-- finding themselves on yet another epic adventure in a foreign land. This time our friends are stranded in Africa, which at first seems like a wasteland, but soon becomes a long lost paradise.

"Madagascar 2; Escape 2 Africa" is a story of four animal friends -- Alex, Marty, Melvin and Gloria -- attempting to go back to New York and to their old lifestyle of living within the zoo. Unfortunately, on their way over to New York, their plane experiences some techinical difficulties and four infamous and mischievous penguins discover that the plane has run out of fuel. Their solution: Crashlanding in Africa.

Swedish Vampire Film Has Bite

"Role Models" is a story about two friends, Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott), who work together advertising an energy drink and end up conducting wild behavior. Their punishment: Work off 150 hours of commmunity service hours in a Big Brother program mentoring kids.

Kristen Scott Thomas is turning into a far more interesting actress than I ever thought she would be. I first noticed her when she did "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "The English Patient" because those films were such hits. She was good in those films, but not particularly interesting. Yet now that she's in her late 40s, she is taking on more interesting roles in foreign films -- not unlike what fellow British actress Charlotte Rampling has done. This year she had a supporting role in the thriller "Tell No One" and she has a starring role in "I've Loved You So Long."

A Look at the Zombie Genre