This Is Where I Leave You

When their father passes away, four grown siblings, bruised and banged up by their respective adult lives, are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and the frayed states of their relationships among the people who know and love them best, they ultimately reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways amid the chaos, humor, heartache and redemption that only families can provide—driving us insane even as they remind us of our truest, and often best, selves. 

One of the greatest things that has come out of Hollywood over the last couple of years is the rebirth of Jason Bateman in to regular roles and relevancy.  There are few actors that are funnier at delivering lines in the most perfect way.  Dry humor, sarcasm, dramatic physical reaction, disgust - he kills me across the board.  He was great in this.  Honestly, the whole cast was.  The only knock you can make on this is that it is as much a drama as a comedy (if not more so).  That being said, it still does an amazing job at portraying a family with all levels of dysfunction in an accurate, touching and funny way.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  There are plenty of laughs and even some tears but you are able to connect and root for all the different family members.

The Drop

The Drop follows lonely bartender Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) through a covert scheme of funneling cash to local gangsters – "money drops" – in the underworld of Brooklyn bars. Under the heavy hand of his employer and cousin Marv (James Gandolfini), Bob finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood’s past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living – no matter the cost. 

Although this movie was a much more artsy character drama than I expected based on advertisements, I still enjoyed it very much.  They had several different angles all playing out at the same time and even though you were not aware of the connections yet you were so intrigued throughout wanting to see how it played out.  The chemistry between the cast was phenomenal - especially Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini.  This was a great last role for the departed Gandolfini and Tom Hardy really is becoming one of my favorite actors at this point.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's artsy and edgy but really is a very enjoyable watch.  

The Maze Runner

When Thomas (O'Brien) wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. Based on the best-selling novel by James Dashner.

I loved this book and was really excited to see this movie.  The story is basically like a forced version of Lord Of The Flies.  You don't know why this is happening to these people but its done in a way that keeps you hanging on to find out.  There were parts of the book that I thought were too much or kind of silly and clearly the filmmakers agreed because they were the parts that got changed for the better in the movie.  They pretty much kept to the book but with less of the drawn out fluffy stuff.  It was a great paced ride with lots of action and characters that you really are able to get behind.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  I can't wait to go read the other two books of the trilogy now.

No Good Deed

Terri (Taraji P. Henson), a devoted wife and mother of two, lives an ideal life that takes a dramatic turn when her home and children are threatened by Colin (Idris Elba), a charming stranger who smooth-talks his way into her house, claiming car trouble. The unexpected invitation leaves her and her family terrorized and fighting for survival. 

This was a textbook "see the trailer - you have seen the whole thing" kind of movie.  There was a big advertised twist at the end that is nowhere that big of a deal as advertised.  You still know what is going to happen long before it all plays out.  However, it is still watchable for two reasons.  One - Idris Elba and Taraji P Henson are both great actors.  Even though their roles are formula/textbook they are both captivating enough that you enjoy it.  Two - the movie is super short and they don't waste any time on overdevelopment of unnecessary stuff.  If this would have been a 2 hour movie instead of an under 90 minute movie, I probably would have just pulled the plug on it.  

I would not really recommend people checking this movie out.  I know that it came out at a time when there really nothing else.  If you are in desperate need to see something - its short enough to check out and not be annoyed.  I think you are better off waiting a week or two for better options though.

If I Stay

Mia Hall (Chloë Grace Moretz) thought the hardest decision she would ever face would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at Juilliard or follow a different path to be with the love of her life, Adam (Jamie Blackley). But what should have been a carefree family drive changes everything in an instant, and now her own life hangs in the balance. Caught between life and death for one revealing day, Mia has only one decision left, which will not only decide her future but her ultimate fate. If I Stay is based on the best-selling novel of the same name.

I don't know what was missing.  I just didn't connect enough to this movie to really enjoy it.  It felt like it was trying too much to pull heart strings instead of really connecting the viewer to the events that were taking place.  I also was not really feeling the storytelling of flashing back from the hospital.  It just felt very fragmented and again trying to pull heart strings too much.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this movie.  It was way too melodramatic and made The Fault In Our Stars seem oscar worthy.

As Above So Below

Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all.

At this point I'm pretty much done with the "found footage" horror movies.  They really need to stop making these or make them few and far between instead of one every 2-3 months.  The theater has become saturated with them and they are pretty much all the same.  This movie took what felt like forever to get to the good stuff.  Once it did - there were a couple of really good parts for a "found footage" movie.  You still had that annoying thing of not really being able to see what is happening in the most intense scenes but the parts were they worked around that were better than most of these types of movies.  The ending fell flat just like pretty much all of these movies do.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this movie.  It's not the worst of these kinds of movies.  I would put it right around the middle of the pack or a little higher due to a couple of really good scenes.  But it's still not something that you need to rush out there to theaters to see.

The November Man

Code named 'The November Man,' Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) is a lethal and highly trained ex-CIA agent, who has been enjoying a quiet life in Switzerland. When Devereaux is lured out of retirement for one last mission, he must protect valuable witness, Alice Fournier, (Olga Kurylenko). He soon uncovers this assignment marks him a target of his former friend and CIA protégé David Mason (Luke Bracey). With growing suspicions of a mole in the agency, there is no one Devereaux can trust, no rules and no holds barred.

This movie was a somewhat decent watch.  The problem is that it was supposed to be a political espionage suspense type of movie and there was nothing that you didn't see coming whatsoever.  You could see everything coming ten miles away that it started to drag after a while as you had to wait for the dots to be connected that you already knew would be.  Pierce Brosnan was good but the rest of the cast was pretty lame.  This probably could have been much better with a better cast and tighter story telling.

I wouldn't really recommend people wasting their time seeing this.  You can just catch this one cable or something if you really have nothing to do and it happens to be on.

When The Game Stands Tall

Inspired by a true story, When the Game Stands Tall tells the remarkable journey of legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel), who took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that shattered all records for any American sport.

This was a textbook sports movie.  Lots of melodrama and adversity for the players and coaches to deal with both on and off the field.  Will they rise above it all?  If you saw the trailer, you pretty much saw the movie as it is formula in every way.  That being said, I am a sucker for these movies and this one was no different.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It's not a must see by any means.  It is an enjoyable sports movie though for people that like those.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring Miller's visually stunning "Sin City" graphic novels back to the screen in Sin City: A Day to Kill For. Weaving together two of Miller's classic stories with new tales, the town's most hard boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more notorious inhabitants.

This movie was pretty much exactly like the first one.  The stories and characters are pretty much taken right from the comic books.  But the movie is not about them as much as it is about the film style.  Its just as great in this one as it was in the first one.  It's so surreal and cartoonish but with real actors.  The whole thing really is amazing.  

I would recommend anyone who enjoyed the first one or was really into the visual look of the first one.  I don't have much else to say because thats really all these movies are to me.  Glorious filming style.

The Giver

The story of The Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community's memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community's secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined - a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all - a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before.

This was another movie about a future society based on a young adult novel.  The whole set up seemed very similar to The Hunger Games and Divergent and that should really make me sick of these movies by this point.  Yet I'm not for some unknown reason.  I like these movies even though they seem like knock offs of each other.  Not sure if that's a reflection of my views of society and how I think the future will shape up or if I just have some sort of patience for this.  The cast in this was good although I think they could have actually done more with the three teenage friends dynamic.  Meryl Streep was no necessary and seemed out of place but Jeff Bridges was perfect and great as always.  I did not read this book so I can 't really account for the book vs movie debate.

I liked this movie.  I would not say loved it or that it is a must see.  Not nearly as good as The Hunger Games or Divergent in my opinion but still a pretty decent watch.  I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.

Let's Be Cops

It's the ultimate buddy cop movie except for one thing: they're not cops. When two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party, they become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line. 

This was a pretty simple concept and should have been a pretty basic movie with good laughs especially considering the two lead actors.  These guys are absolutely hysterical on New Girl so you knew that the chemistry would already be there.  Instead, they tried to infuse too much of a story that there is no way you are going to get that invested in emotionally because you only went to laugh.  This also made the movie too long.  This should have been 90 minutes at most and off the wall comedy from start to finish.  This is not to say that the movie was bad.  The laughs were great - especially if you like these two guys.  But there was a lot of down time in between that kind of made the movie fall into the decent range instead of being good or great.

I would somewhat recommend this movie - again especially to fans of the show New Girl.  You will definitely not be disappointed.  Just be aware that it is not as funny as it could have been and runs a little too long.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan.

This was one of the better all around reboots to come out of Hollywood in a long time.  I loved the turtles growing up and was beyond skeptical when I heard that they were going to reboot this.  When I first saw the trailers, I got even more skeptical because the turtles looked totally jacked up and their faces just didn't seem right.  Regardless, I was excited to see this and although the way that they looked annoyed me, that annoyance wore off as the movie went on.  Besides, the awfulness of how Splinter looked and the over the topness of Shredder (he was like part Transformer and part Edward Scissorhands) made the annoyance of the steroided up turtles the least of my annoyances compared to how they were.  With all of that being said - everything else about the movie was great.  The build up was quick paced and easy enough to follow.  The action was awesome - especially the whole scene on the snowy mountain. That 15 minutes alone would be worth the price of admission.  The comedy was still there - especially from Michaelangelo and they did an awesome job of getting all the turtles the same amount of screen time and showing their different personalities well enough. 

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It will be fun for the whole family. The adults who like them when they first came out will enjoy this as much as the children of theirs that they are taking to see them on the big screen for the first time. 

The Hundred Foot Journey

In The Hundred-Foot Journey, Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai. That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own escalate to all out war between the two establishments – until Hassan's passion for French haute cuisine and for Mme. Mallory's enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), combine with his mysteriously delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. At first Mme. Mallory's culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan's gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

Honestly, this is one of those you saw the trailer you saw the movie type of watches.  There is nothing that surprises you or that you don't see coming.  That being said, it was still a very enjoyable watch.  This was a great movie about the importance of family and respecting other's cultures.  It is a great example of letting go of being so set in your ways and how greatness can really be found or experienced if you will let it in even if it is from where you least expect it. 

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a really great watch with great performances across the board.  You definitely leave the theater feeling good and you care about the paths of all the characters from beginning to end.

Get On Up

In his follow-up to the four-time Academy Award-nominated blockbuster The Help, Tate Taylor directs 42's Chadwick Boseman as James Brown in Get on Up.  Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.

This was a good and entertaining biographical movie.  There were a lot more laughs than I expected.  Chadwick Boseman is once again lights out playing a legendary figure.  The back and forth in James Brown's timeline was frustrating at first but it grew on me and they did a great job of portraying James Brown and showing where he came from.  And needless to say - the music was great.  

I would recommend people checking this out.  It's not a must see by any means.  But it's definitely a good and entertaining watch.

Life After Beth

Zach (Dane DeHaan) is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza). But when she miraculously comes back to life, Zach takes full advantage of the opportunity to share and experience all the things he regretted not doing with her before.  However, the newly returned Beth isn't quite how he remembered her and, before long, Zach's whole world takes a turn for the worse.

The premise of the movie was great and so was Aubrey Plaza but the rest of the movie felt flat and failed to fully keep my attention or caring as it played out.  This could have been really great if it wasn't an artsy/independent movie.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this.  I was pretty excited from the trailer but ended up pretty disappointed .

Into The Storm

In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot. Told through the eyes and lenses of professional storm chasers, thrill-seeking amateurs, and courageous townspeople, Into the Storm throws you directly into the eye of the storm to experience Mother Nature at her most extreme.

This was basically a documentary style remake of Twister.  The acting was pretty much garbage and any non storm stuff was boring as hell.  The actual storm stuff was great.  And I think the documentary style actually made all the weather related effects even better.  There were a couple of times where I actually caught myself completely awestruck by the effects on screen.  Unfortunately I was questioning leaving early any time they were not up there.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  The effects were some must see stuff.  Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was wish I didn't have to see stuff.

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

Marvel did a great job with what is easily their toughest sell so far.  Imagine Thor but A LOT more sci-fi type of material.  Plus making it about five central characters that all need to be developed pretty much from scratch for the general public because this is nowhere near one of their high profile comics.  And they pulled it off.  The characters were great and very well developed.  The story was excellently told while doing this and bringing them all together.  There were plenty of laughs.  The action and cinematography was awesome.  I had pretty high expectations for this even though I was trying to keep them in check but the movie completely met them and pretty much exceeded them.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  This is what going to the movies during the summer is all about and it should be the start of another great branch of Marvel's universe.

Hercules

Everyone knows the legend of Hercules and his twelve labors. Our story begins after the labors, and after the legend…  Haunted by a sin from his past, Hercules has become a mercenary. Along with five faithful companions, he travels ancient Greece selling his services for gold and using his legendary reputation to intimidate enemies. But when the benevolent ruler of Thrace and his daughter seek Hercules' help to defeat a savage and terrifying warlord, Hercules finds that in order for good to triumph and justice to prevail... he must again become the hero he once was... he must embrace his own myth... he must be Hercules. 


This movie was much better than I thought it would be.  I knew that I would like it regardless because The Rock is in it.  This guy just makes everything better.  Even with that being said, I still expected this to be the same run of the mill Conan/Hercules type of movie with overdone special effects and what not.  The fact that the movie pretty much made fun of the whole Hercules myth made it so much more entertaining.  And the posse he had with him instead of him taking on the world by himself also made the movie better.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was very entertaining and a very pleasant surprise since I just expected to watch The Rock in a piece of crap.  

Planes: Fire & Rescue

Planes: Fire & Rescue is a new comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire. When world famous air racer Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.

This movie is just a retread of the first Planes movie.  The only difference is that its about fighting fires instead of racing.  And just like the first one - this really is a movie that should have gone straight to DVD but Disney is just taking advantage of pretty much no family/kids movies out there and getting more money out of their parents wallets.  This also applies to the marketing of toys that stems off of both Cars movies and Planes movies.  I thought the first Cars was pretty good but all three entries in this line of movies is really just about getting the parents' money one way or another.  And it is a shame because the voice casting is actually pretty good in this and the soundtrack was great.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone waste their time with this although it is incredibly short.  Just wait for it to show up on Netflix, on demand or DVD since that is pretty much the kind of quality it is.

The Expendables 3

In The Expendables 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.

This is pretty much just more of the same from the first two movies.  The story doesn't really matter.  It's the action and all these action stars not taking themselves seriously and riffing on each other while playing shoot em up and what not.  The new additions this go around were good as the bad guy and the laugh track.  

I would recommend this to anyone that liked the first two.  You will probably enjoy this one as much as those.  If you have not seen any of them - I have no idea why you would start now.  

And So It Goes

There are a million reasons not to like realtor Oren Little (Michael Douglas), and that's just the way he likes it. Willfully obnoxious to anyone who might cross his path, he wants nothing more than to sell one last house and retire in peace and quiet -- until his estranged son suddenly drops off a granddaughter (Sterling Jerins) he never knew existed and turns his life upside-down. Clueless about how to care for a sweet, abandoned nine-year-old, he pawns her off on his determined and lovable neighbor Leah (Diane Keaton) and tries to resume his life uninterrupted. But little by little, Oren stubbornly learns to open his heart – to his family, to Leah, and to life itself - in this uplifting comedy from acclaimed director Rob Reiner.

This is a textbook "you see the trailer - you see the movie".  There was not a single thing you didn't see coming from the commercial whatsoever.  That being said, it was a cute romantic comedy.   And it did a good job of portraying people falling in love later in life after suffering personal hardships and how doing so can work wonders for people's demeanor as well as confidence.   Douglas & Keaton were great and played really well off of each other.  

I would recommend this movie for couples wanting a good laugh and some heartwarming moments as well.

Lucy

Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

This movie was basically a great premise and would only work if it was short and fast paced in order to prevent it from just going on and on and becoming to talky.  This movie completely did what was necessary to keep it great.  There was no slow build.  It jumped right into the story and kept its foot on the gas for the 90 minute run time.  It's very smart and has crazy philosophical/scientific ramifications.  The action was different and intense.  And the movie overall seemed to be very fresh and edgy.

I'd definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a very fun and quick watch that had a great premise and didn't drop the ball.

The Purge: Anarchy

The New Founders of America invite you to celebrate your annual right to Purge in The Purge: Anarchy. 

There really is no more need of a summary for this one because the original is still more than fresh enough in our memories.  I was a huge fan of the first one until the end where I felt like they tripped all over themselves getting wrapped up in philosophical stuff too much.  When I heard they were making a sequel I thought that this would pretty much be garbage.  However, the fact that they left the style of the first one where it was an attack on the house and flipped it to people stuck out of their house trying to avoid getting "purged" was great and in all honesty I liked this movie more than the first one.  They did another great job of "taking us" to this version of the world where the Purge exists.  They kept you on your toes by having three different groups trying to survive before meeting up and trying to get through it all together.  I thought it would slow down tremendously at that point, but they managed to amp up the crazy even more while showing so many different views on how to feel about the Purge.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  If you liked the first, I believe that you will definitely like this one too.  Again - I liked this one more actually.  It's a violent/horror movie but is also really eye opening about how to look at things and what not government/political/humanity wise.

Sex Tape

When Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) first got together, their romantic connection was intense – but ten years and two kids later, the flame of their love needs a spark. To kick things up a notch, they decide – why not? – to make a video of themselves trying out every position in The Joy of Sex in one marathon three-hour session. It seems like a great idea – until they discover that their most private video is no longer private. With their reputations on the line, they know they're just one click away from being laid bare to the world... but as their race to reclaim their video leads to a night they'll never forget, they'll find that their video will expose even more than they bargained for.

This movie was a decent watch with some great laughs.  Unfortunately they were spaced out too much.  For a movie that is a sex comedy, they tried to involve way too much relationship and emotional stuff.  It should have been more off the wall consistently.  The parts where it was were great but then it slowed down tremendously in between.  A 90 minute comedy should not have felt this long.  

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  You might enjoy it more if you lower your expectations some.  I was hoping for a laugh riot and got some good laughs but not enough.

Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer, based on the French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige," is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.

I liked this movie a lot.  It was a great take on the overly tried apocalyptic future.  When told the entire movie takes place on a train, you would never imagine that the film would be so creatively cinematography wise but it really was.  The story is excellently told with lots of hooks to characters.  You really feel like you are along for the ride and at no point does the movie drag or get boring.  

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It can be pretty violent at times but it is a great watch and story.   How did this movie get such a small release?

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

This was an excellent continuation of the modern version of the franchise.  I thought it would be great and loved the first one but had no idea how dramatic it would be.  Normally, you would think that referring to this movie as dramatic would be bad since half if not more of the cast were apes.  However, the effects used to bring the apes to life was so lifelike and the different emotions shown through them should have some of them up for oscar contention.  Andy Serkis did another excellent job as Cesar but it was whoever played Koba that really stole the show.  There was one part where that monkey went from serious to scared to being silly to get out of a situation and then vicious.  It was really impressive. The matching emphasis on the importance of trust and family between the humans and apes was very well directed and kept the pacing of the movie great even though it had a two hour running time.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It was a great watch and entertaining in many more ways than I expected.  

Earth To Echo

In this summer family adventure movie, Tuck, Munch and Alex are a trio of inseparable friends whose lives are about to change. Their neighborhood is being destroyed by a highway construction project that is forcing their families to move away. But just two days before they must part ways, the boys begin receiving a strange series of signals on their phones.  Convinced something bigger is going on, they team up with another school friend, Emma, and set out to look for the source of their phone signals. What they discover is something beyond their wildest imaginations: a small alien who has become stranded on Earth. In need of their help, the four friends come together to protect the alien and help him find his way home. This journey, full of wonder and adventure, is their story, and their secret.

This movie is exactly what is wrong with Hollywood today.  You have movies like Transformers 4 which cost like 200 million dollars to make, are 3 hours long and just crammed with over the top nonsense, crazy special effects and big name actors.  They are a dime a dozen.  We all flock to see them and they are all out of our minds two minutes after we walk out of the theater.  Then there is a movie like Earth To Echo that will phase out of theaters in the blink of an eye without most people even knowing what it was.  It had to cost pretty much nothing to make comparably.  It has pretty much no known actors whatsoever and is really just four random kids.  It's barely 90 minutes long.  It's that single camera filming with minimal amounts of effects.  Yet - this movie has the whole crowd clapping at the end of it.  It has made you completely fall in love with this group of kids and Echo over the course of 90 minutes.  You are laughing your ass off at parts and getting choked up at others.  You catch yourself completely rooting for these kids and Echo as the movie plays out in E.T. like fashion.  I had a hunch that I was going to like this movie but I ended up absolutely loving it.  This is one of those special connection type movies and I loved how incredibly simple the movie was.

I absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It was a fun, touching and very entertaining watch.  This will probably be the shocking movie to show up on my Top 10 of the year when 2014 comes to a close.

Deliver Us From Evil

In Deliver Us From Evil, New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramirez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Based upon the book, which details Sarchie's bone-chilling real-life cases.

This was easily one of the better exorcism movies in a long time.  And I feel like there have been way too many of them in the last couple of years.  This one was different simply because it had a whole separate slowly evolving storyline that led up to the exorcism.  And it was creepy as hell the whole time.  It also had great casting.  Eric Bana was great.  Joel McHale was awesome as his partner.  All the characters played really well off of each other and the story developed at exactly the right pace and didn't fall into that textbook, wash-rinse-repeat story.  The tension was clearly there throughout the movie and there were numerous points where the audience will jump out of their chairs.

I very much recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a huge surprise how much I really enjoyed this movie and I don't understand how underadvertised it was.  

Tammy

Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) is having a bad day. She's totaled her clunker car, gotten fired from her thankless job at a greasy burger joint, and instead of finding comfort at home, finds her husband getting comfortable with the neighbor in her own house. It's time to take her boom box and book it. The bad news is she's broke and without wheels. The worse news is her grandma, Pearl (Susan Sarandon), is her only option—with a car, cash, and an itch to see Niagara Falls. Not exactly the escape Tammy had in mind. But on the road, with grandma riding shot gun, it may be just what Tammy needs.

I find Melissa McCarthy absolutely hysterical.  She is a lock for the top five funniest people in my opinion.  It really doesn't matter what she is doing.  Her delivery and physical humor get me every time.  This movie is a pretty great testament to this.  Spade a spade - it was a pretty pointless and stupid movie.  But the surroundings are carried by the aforementioned strengths of McCarthy and I still found it enjoyable and funny.  It is nowhere near the league of The Heat or Identity Thief where the movie around McCarthy was also hysterical.  This is just a testament to how talented she is when it comes to hitting the funny bone.  

I would still recommend this movie to anyone that is also a fan of Melissa McCarthy like I am.  I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone that isn't though because if you don't find her funny - the movie is pretty much trash.  

Transformers: Age Of Extinction

Transformers: Age of Extinction is the fourth film in director Michael Bay’s global blockbuster franchise. Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Li Bingbing, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, T. J. Miller, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor and Titus Welliver star. The film begins after an epic battle that left a great city torn, but with the world saved. As humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history… while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs. With help from a new cast of humans, Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet. In an incredible adventure, they are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climactic battle across the world. 

I will try to be positive about this movie first.  The action was great.  It was actually better than the last two because it wasn't so over the top with so much going on that you couldn't really tell what was happening at times.  The effects continue to evolve and are top notch.  There is a new way that the man made Transformers morph back and forth in this particle spray thing that was pretty bad ass.  Mark Wahlberg was definitely a better lead than Shia LeBeouf was in the last two and Stanley Tucci was probably the best part of the movie in human form.   And the Transformers story in this one wasn't as far out there as it was in the last two.  Bottom line - it was definitely the best of the three sequels to the original which is still one of my favorite movies ever.  I really didn't like 2 and 3 at all.  Now for the negative . . . . . all the other actors outside of Wahlberg and Tucci were god awful.  I mean seriously.  The daughter and boyfriend thing made me look like the Undertaker with how far my eyes would roll back in my head during every one of their scenes.  They made Megan Fox and whatever the girl's name from the third one look awesome.  I was actually rooting for them to get killed for most of the movie.  I understand that they needed to get away from the first three entries characters to move the franchise in a different direction but that meant a whole lot of blah blah character development.  If you are going to take an hour of my life for that then at least make it be characters that I could remotely care about.  Then there is the run time.  Why in the blue hell does this movie have to be almost three hours long!?!  How can you be on part 4 of a franchise and still have that kind of a running time?  There was so much that could have been edited out of this.  It's like nobody showed Michael Bay where the editing room was.  It felt like forever and could have easily been a 1 hour and 45 minute movie.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  Again - I think its the best entry since the original but still light years behind it.  While I do appreciate Bay making it better than the totally overdone 2 and 3, that running time was insane.

Jersey Boys

Clint Eastwood's big screen version of the Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of the four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic '60s rock group The Four Seasons. Their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the hit songs that influenced a generation, and are now being embraced by a new generation of fans through the stage musical.

I liked this movie but I didn't love it.  And I feel like I could have but there was just something missing from it.  I don't know if it was the pacing.  I don't know if it was the lack of a real dramatic hook.  I don't know if it was the no-name actors.  Maybe it was the rave reviews for the play that I never saw effecting my expectations?  I can't put my finger on it, but there was something.  Normally a movie like this would have me loving it but this one just seemed to drop the ball.  And I was a bit thrown off thinking that it was a musical when it really wasn't.  It was a drama about a band and all songs that were performed were when they were performing on stage as part of the movie.  Maybe that was it?  I don't know.

I would somewhat recommend this movie.  Again - I did like it.  But I should have and wanted to love it but I didn't.  Still can't figure out what it was that was missing.  This is going to bother me for a while.

Think Like A Man Too

In the highly anticipated sequel, which was inspired by Steve Harvey's best-selling book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like A Man," all the couples are back for a wedding in Las Vegas. But plans for a romantic weekend go awry when their various misadventures get them into some compromising situations that threaten to derail the big event. 

This movie was pretty much just more of the same from the original.  A bunch of friends, who are also mostly couples get together.  Lots of laughs, battle of the sexes, relationship blah blah and growing up blah blah.  There were enough laughs that the movie was enjoyable and honestly how can you go wrong with Kevin Hart at this point.  Totally formula in every way but you still enjoy it as it plays out.

I'd somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It's not a must see by any means, but you could do a lot worse.

22 Jump Street

After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don't have to just crack the case - they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.

This was a pretty funny movie.  It was just like the first one in the fact that they were mocking the movie the entire time.  There was one scene towards the beginning where it was essentially a dialogue on how stupid sequels as a whole were and did nothing but riff on them and making fun of themselves.  You can never go wrong when you blatantly don't take your movie seriously like this.  It always provides awesome comedic material.  The overacted relationship of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum also continued and is very funny due to the great chemistry that they have together.  However, the best part of the movie is the mockumentary type stuff during the end credits.  That stuff had me belly laughing.

If you were a fan of the first one - there is no way that you will be disappointed with this one.  It was just as funny and I think I might have actually liked it more than the original.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

The thrilling second chapter of the epic How to Train Your Dragon story returns to the fantastical world of the heroic Viking Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless. The inseparable duo must protect the peace – and save the future of men and dragons from the power-hungry Drago. 

I don't know that I will ever have more of an emotional attachment to a movie or movies like I do to the How To Train Your Dragon movies.  Toothless is literally an animated dragon version of my cat J.  The relationship between him and Hiccup is a carbon copy of the relationship I had with J.  J and I used to watch the first movie all the time.  We had to put him to sleep almost 4 months ago and to say that I have not been the same since is beyond an understatement.  I have been equally looking forward to this movie and dreading it at the same time.  It didn't disappoint on either front.  The movie was just as amazingly animated as the first one.  You still enjoy the wide cast of characters and their dragons.  The story is well done and paced excellently.  There are emotional hooks galore in this movie about the importance of friends and family.  And there is the amazing friendship and loyalty between Hiccup and Toothless.  I was bawling my eyes numerous times throughout the movie and the way it played out served as the most amazing recognition of honor for my dearly departed best friend. 

I'm sorry if this post seems like more of a eulogy than a movie review.  That's the emotional attachment I have to these movies taking over.  This movie will be just as enjoyable as the first one was for movie goers and if like me you love and appreciate the bond between Hiccup and Toothless - it just gets even better.  

The Fault In Our Stars

Hazel and Gus are two extraordinary teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them – and us – on an unforgettable journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that they met and fell in love at a cancer support group. The Fault in Our Stars, based upon the number-one bestselling novel by John Green, explores the funny, thrilling and tragic business of being alive and in love.

First off - the movie was beyond crushing emotionally on so many levels.  It would be very difficult for even the coldest of heart to attempt to watch this with out at least getting choked up.  But it was not a blatant movie that was going for the tears.  This wasn't like a Nicholas Sparks book/movie.  The book/movie was about how to look at the world through the eyes of those who truly value it the most.  I enjoyed this movie very much.  I might have actually liked the movie more than the book when I read it because of the excellent performances by all involved.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  However, it is one of the more difficult movies that anyone could ever choose to watch.

Edge Of Tomorrow

Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.  But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

This movie was pretty awesome.  The effects were amazing.  The aliens were like a crazier and faster version of the things in The Matrix Revolutions.  You are invested in the characters.  The pacing is great.  There are plenty of laughs mixed in due to the whole Groundhog's Day repeating of events. This is what going to the movies in the summer is all about.  

I'd absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a lot of fun and one hell of an enjoyable ride.

A Million Ways To Die In The West

Seth MacFarlane directs, produces, co-writes and plays the role of the cowardly sheep farmer Albert in A Million Ways to Die in the West.  After Albert backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a mysterious and beautiful woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in love. But when her husband, a notorious outlaw, arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test.


Wow!  This was absolutely awful.  Like I walked out on it because it was so awful.  This was basically one joke (people died easily in the old west) stretched out for two hours (which is about one hour and 59 minutes too long).  Anything that might have been funny was in the ads.  The rest was overdone jokes and a bunch of characters that you really don't care about.  Ironically, I actually pulled the plug when one of the characters suffering from diarrhea shit in a hat.  Literally.  That wasn't bad enough though so he did it again and then knocked the hat over.  What was shown coming out of the hat completely summarized the movie as a whole.

I would recommend absolutely nobody ever seeing this.  It was beyond disappointing and so horribly bad that I walked out of a free movie.

Maleficent

From Disney comes Maleficent—the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic "Sleeping Beauty." A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

Let me just go on record as saying that the casting of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent is easily on the list of Top 10 casting calls ever.  That being said - I didn't really know what to expect from this movie.  It didn't really seem like a fluffy kid movie.  But it was from Disney so I didn't think it would be too dark of a tale.  It ended up being pretty much right down the middle.  Angelina Jolie was awesome.  Whether her viciousness, her softer side or her sarcastic delivery of one liners she was totally firing on all cylinders.  The action scenes were great and the forest effects were good too.  The best part of the movie was that it really didn't waste any time.  It was very well paced, didn't drag and had a perfect 90 minute running time.

I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie.  I didn't really have high expectations but I enjoyed this movie and thought it was a good story in a well paced feature length.