Noah

Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe stars as Noah, a man chosen by God for a great task before an apocalyptic flood destroys the world.

I'm not going to remotely pretend that I know anything more than the building of an arc.  So I can't touch on how accurate it was or whatever.  As a stand alone movie based on Noah's building of the arc, I really liked this movie.  It was very powerful in its portrayal of belief and spiritual faith.  The family dynamics shown through their dealings with those things was very well acted/directed.  The effects were phenomenal.   The kids all put in great performances and Russell Crowe was great.

Again - not sure how accurate it all was but I would definitely recommend this movie.  I thought it was a well put together "epic" and absolutely worth the time/money.

Sabotage

In Sabotage, Arnold Schwarzengger leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done until, one-by-one, the ten members mysteriously start to be eliminated.  

This was a pretty good adrenaline fueled movie.  Total badass characters, lots of action and some crazy violence.  I like movies like this where I can shut my brain off and just enjoy the ride.  I also like the filming style of this director.  Can't remember his name but he is the same guy that made End Of Watch.  The only knock I'll make on this movie is that I was not a fan of the last 10 or so minutes. It extended a bit to far past the DEA team and into a part of the story that I wasn't as interested in.

I'd recommend this movie for any action movie fans.  Sure a lot of the testosterone acting was way over the top but that is to be expected in a movie like this.

Son Of God

 

This major motion picture event -- an experience created to be shared among families and communities across the U.S. -- brings the story of Jesus' life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational. Told with the scope and scale of an action epic, the film features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays the role of Jesus as the film spans from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection.

Sorry if this sounds completely sacreligious but I pulled the plug on this big turd after about 15 minutes.  How did they package this and release this as an actual movie?  It would have been cheesy if it was a History Channel special presentation or something.  It was actually annoying how lame this was.  Even the constant narration was awful.  Pretty sure that it was Keith David.  Really?  Movie about Jesus Christ and you can get Morgan Freeman to narrate this like he does everything else?  It played like one of the Disney Earth movies.  Seriously.  Couldn't do it.

I would definitely not recommend anyone checking this out.  It's nowhere near as great as Passion Of The Christ was.  It's like a low budget, documentary rip off of it. 

Bad Words

 

Jason Bateman (Identity Thief) makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy Bad Words. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand), who is completely unfazed by Guy's take-no-prisoners approach to life.

I'm a huge fan of Jason Bateman and the trailer for this movie looked absolutely hysterical.  I would have to say that the entire movie being hysterical didn't really meet my expectations.  There was a lot of down time trying to push some sort of a story that took away from the laughter.  But the stuff that Bateman's character says . . . . especially to the kid had me absolutely howling at times. 

I would recommend people seeing this but lower your laughter expectations a little.  Like I said - the movie definitely could have been a much funnier total comedy and held back too much instead of going all in throughout.  But when the lines are delivered you will have a very time holding back from laughing regardless of how "wrong" the punchlines really are.

The Single Moms Club

When five struggling single moms put aside their differences to form a support group, they find inspiration and laughter in their new sisterhood, and help each other overcome the obstacles that stand in their way.

This is pretty much just another Tyler Perry melodramatic character drama with some laughs sprinkled in.   This time it's a bunch of single mothers struggling through various life situations and leaning on each other to get through, make life choices, blah blah blah.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this out unless you really are a huge fan of Tyler Perry's previous twenty very similar movies (with or without Madea).

Divergent

 

Divergent is an action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late.

I read these books and was very psyched for the movie.  I have to say that I thought that they did a really good job of getting it from the pages on to the screen.  They made little tweaks here and there, but they were not too major and the tinkering with the end I actually liked better than the one in the book.  I like Shailene Woodley alot and think she is pretty much the next Jennifer Lawrence.   I wouldn't say that the movie is on a level with Hunger Games in terms of mass appeal because it is more young adultish than that.  The acting was pretty lame at times.  That being said - it is MUCH better than Twilight and other young adult fare.

I would still recommend people checking this out.  The books are very enjoyable so far and even though it had an excessive running time of almost 2 1/2 hours, I didn't really feel it for the most part. 

Muppets Most Wanted

 

Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe's most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine, the World's Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit, and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard, and Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon.

Let's be honest here.  The Muppets really can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.  And this movie was no different.  It literally started right where the last one ended and had a lot of the same tongue in cheek moments.  I also liked that they did a really good job of working in more muppets than in past movies.  The cameos were great.  The main human characters were great - especially Ty Burrell as the Interpol agent.  Him and Sam The Eagle really stole the show in this one.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It's a Muppets movie, people!!!  Why would you not want to see this!?!  Side note - the Monsters University short that accopanies it was also great. 

Need For Speed

 

The story chronicles a near-impossible cross-country race against time - one that begins as a mission for revenge, but proves to be one of redemption. In a last attempt to save his struggling garage, blue-collar mechanic Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), who with his team skillfully builds and races muscle cars on the side, reluctantly partners with wealthy, arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Just as a major sale to car broker Julia Bonet (Imogen Poots) looks like it will save the business, a disastrous, unsanctioned race results in Dino framing Tobey for manslaughter. Two years later and fresh out of prison, Tobey is set on revenge with plans to take down Dino in the high-stakes De Leon race - the Super Bowl of underground racing. To get there in time, Tobey must run a high-octane, action-packed gauntlet, dodging cops coast-to-coast and dealing with fallout from a dangerous bounty Dino put on his car. With his loyal crew and the surprisingly resourceful Julia as allies, Tobey defies odds at every turn and proves that even in the flashy world of exotic supercars, the underdog can still finish first.

This movie was a somewhat decent watch.  It was basically a knock off of Fast & Furious based on the Need For Speed video game.  The problem was that there wasn't enough popcorn action in the races and the movie was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long.  I mean it took like half the movie to establish the need for revenge.  I had it figured out in the first ten minutes and had to wait while it slowly played out before it really got to the actual story.  Aaron Paul is much better than this movie and he pretty much was the main reason that made it tolerable. 

I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this out.  Its not a must see by any meand but it isn't awful either.  It's kind of middle of the road.  Nothing really more to say about it.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

 

Mr. Peabody, the most accomplished dog in the world, and his mischievous boy Sherman, use their time machine - The Wabac - to go on the most outrageous adventures known to man or dog. But when Sherman takes The Wabac out for a joyride to impress his friend Penny, they accidently rip a hole in the universe, wreaking havoc on the most important events in world history. Before they forever alter the past, present and future, Mr. Peabody must come to their rescue, ultimately facing the most daunting challenge of any era: figuring out how to be a parent. Together, the time traveling trio will make their mark on history.

This was a very fun and cute movie.  While most of the historical humor and banter will be above the head of most children it made the movie just as enjoyable, if not more than, for the adults.  The kids will still love the characters and story and to be honest - it provides them and the parents with lost of historical teaching moments. 

I would absolutely recommend people checking this one out - especially those of you with kids.  This is one of those great movies for the whole family. 

300: Rise Of An Empire

 

Based on Frank Miller's latest graphic novel "Xerxes" and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster 300,  this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield, on the sea, as Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. This movie pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Artemesia (Eva Green), vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

At the risk of having my "man" card revoked - I never understood how people held 300 in such high regards.  It was a decent watch with crazy slow motion violence and a very unique film style.  But, I never held in the high regards that most guys do.  Maybe I should get my testosterone levels checked or something?  That being said - I felt pretty much the same way about this movie.  And it was a much lesser attempt because they were just trying to expand the 300 movie.  The first half of the movie was a quick paced narrated version of how the people that were fighting the Spartans became who they were and the second half was another battle shortly after the time of 300.  And the narration was annoying as hell.  It was like they had no faith that the story would tell itself so you had a constant voiceover telling you what was happening. 

I wouldn't really recommend people checking this out.  Again - maybe I'm not the best critic because while I kind of enjoyed the first one, I didn't think it was nearly as great as most others did.  That on top of the annoying way that they chose to "tell the story" in this one made it pretty much just there . . . . . . with lots of slow motion blood and violence.

Non-Stop

Liam Neeson stars in Non-Stop, a suspense thriller played out at 40,000 feet in the air. During a transatlantic flight from New York City to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Neeson) receives a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the government to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes.

This was a decent watch . . . . . . . as long as you suspend any sense of reality before it starts.  If you can leave your brain at the door and not question the logic of this story as it plays out and just enjoy the ride, you will get exactly what you expect from seeing the trailer and go home happy.  If you are not able to do that and analyze this movie in any way - you will be absolutely miserable because it is as far from being realistic as you can get. 

I would recommend people checking this out that are looking for an hour and a half break from stuff.  Having a fear of flying made this movie somewhat uncomfortable for me but I was watching it to be distracted and it worked. 

Winter's Tale

Set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century, Winter's Tale is a story of miracles, crossed destinies, and the age-old battle between good and evil. Based on the acclaimed novel by Mark Helprin.

This movie was way different than what I expected.  I thought it would be a fluffy romance movie but it was about love and the forces of good and evil fighting/helping people find their way with miracles and wishes.  Seriously.  There was some surprisingly deep stuff in this movie.  The only knock I can make against it is that it's a tale of two stories and I was very hooked by the first one and was turned off when they totally switched gears and moved to the second one.  And even though I did like how it all played out there was a big loss of momentum with the time jump/story switch.

I liked this movie because of how different it was from your normal fluffy romance.  The spiritual portion of it all gave it a much fresher and different feel.

About Last Night

A modern reimagining of the classic romantic comedy, this contemporary version closely follows new love for two couples as they journey from the bar to the bedroom and are eventually put to the test in the real world.

I'll admit that I truly was as far as possible from being in a state of mind to laugh when I watched this movie.  So it is quite possible that my review of this is a little tainted.  I thought that the Kevin Hart parts of the movie were funny but that was about it.  The two main leads were very stale and I didn't really care about where their story was going.  It's like you were forced to watch them in order to enjoy the Kevin Hart/Regina Hall  stuff that was actually carrying the movie.  

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  There were some good laughs from Kevin Hart/Regina Hall (they might have been even funnier if I had watched this at a better time) and it was definitely a watchable movie about dating.

Pompeii

Set in 79 A.D., Pompeii tells the story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.

This movie was pretty much garbage.  Imagine watching Titanic knowing that everyone dies in the end and not having the emotional investment that you had in Jack & Rose.  That is Pompeii.  It was a wannabe Gladiator for the first hour plus with a love storyline that creates zero interest in.  Then Pompeii erupts, lots of effects that were not spectacular in any way honestly and this is not a spoiler based on it being an actual event - everyone dies.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this movie.  It was such a boring snoozefest.  Didn't even have great apocolyptic effects.

Endless Love

Endless Love stars Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike) and Gabriella Wilde (The Three Musketeers) in the story of a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.

This is exactly the fluffy romance movie with the two leads being in love while their parents don't agree with the relationship.  Everything is totally formula and there really is no hook into any of the characters to make you care about how it plays out.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this.  Even the Twilight crowd that this movie is meant for would probably not be too thrilled with this movie.