Sinister 2

The sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit horror movie. In the aftermath of the shocking events in Sinister, a protective mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her 9-year-old twin sons (Robert and Dartanian Sloan) find themselves in a rural house marked for death as the evil spirit of Buhguul continues to spread with frightening intensity.

Not sure that the original called for a sequel.  There is also a reason why this was released in August.  It was pretty much garbage.  The male lead was just plain awful.  Actually all actors in this were pretty much awful.  The somewhat original idea from the original was barely enough to carry that one and seemed just plain silly by the end of this one.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time or money on this turd.  There were some cheap sight scares but nothing more than that.

Hitman: Agent 47

Hitman: Agent 47 centers on an elite assassin who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research – and forty-six earlier Agent clones -- endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence. His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47’s past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe.

This movie is a prime example of why movie theaters should be avoided at all costs the last couple weeks of August.  This is the time of year where studios release their crappiest movies trying to bank on people just looking to catch whatever is new at the local Cineplex.  I figured that you pretty much have seen this movie just by seeing the trailer and I was right.  It's basically a marketing ploy for a video game franchise.  At least the first attempt bothered trying to use a name actor in the lead.  This one felt more like a made for Cinemax action movie.

I would not recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's late August garbage and not worth the time.  Certainly not the money either.

Straight Outta Compton

In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.

This was a great biographical movie.  You have to value the validity of it all since Dre and Ice Cube produced it too.  I totally forgot how much of this I remembered from back in the day.  The feuding and the listening to each other's albums taking shots at each other was so weird because you always imagined that stuff like that was happening and then you actually saw it play out.  

This was a great watch - especially for someone who was into that kind of music or followed all the back and forth drama from back then.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. centers on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe. 

You could tell that the movie was based on an old tv show because that is exactly how it played out.  The writing, acting and action were TV level not movie level.  The character development was especially TV like.  It's not that the movie was awful.  It was watchable and the banter between the two leads was entertaining.  I'm just not sure that it was necessary to be made.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's not necessarily a bad watch.  It's just kind of there.

Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

This movie is all about expectations.  If you expect it to be on par with the greatness we have been given by comic movies - it is garbage.  If you expect garbage - it is a somewhat decent watch.  I went into this expecting a somewhat decent watch and I was disappointed at some parts and thought that others were better than the predecessor efforts.  The cast was definitely better.  The Thing looked much better.  It wasn't as campy.  However, this was the first time that I have not enjoyed watching Miles Teller.  The campiness might have actually ended up being needed for certain scenes because us taking it seriously just makes it stupid.  And worst of all - this didn't feel like a complete movie.  It took way too long for them to "become" the Fantastic Four, they skipped forward a year - which would have been vital to the actual development of the superheroes.  They brought in Doom for what felt like the middle of the movie but it was actually the final battle.  The movie only actually felt like the Fantastic Four at the very end . . . . . which again should have probably been the middle.

I wouldn't really recommend people wasting their time with this.  Even going in with the lowest of expectations and being surprised with it being decent is still not really worth the two hours of your life.  I really hope that Fox just stops and lets go of the rights to go back to Marvel.  Maybe they can finally give us a legit film version of Fantastic Four.

Shaun The Sheep Movie

When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan, and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it's up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.

I've always been a huge fan of claymation.  This movie was great claymation.  As if that wasn't entertaining enough, the way that they were able to tell an almost 90 minute story without actually saying a single word was very impressive.  I'm not going to say that this is like the usual Pixar or Dreamworks animated fare with the adults liking it as much as the kids, but it was still a very enjoyable film.

I would recommend people checking this out.  It is a fun watch for the family and it will be a while before something else comes out for that demographic.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

See how simple that synopsis was?  It's just another Mission Impossible movie.  What more do you need to know?  Quick and tight paced story.  Awesome action.  Crazy stunts.  And lots of bantering laughs throughout amongst the agent/friends.  

If you like the other Mission Impossible movies, this one absolutely does not disappoint.  At times I find Tom Cruise to be annoying but I think he is really at his best in these movies.

Vacation

The next generation of Griswolds is at it again—and on the road for another ill-fated adventure. Following in his father’s footsteps and hoping for some much-needed family bonding, a grown-up Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) surprises his wife, Debbie (Christina Applegate), and their two sons with a cross-country trip back to America’s “favorite family fun park,” Walley World.

I have a massive emotional attachment to the original Vacation films.  Basically, my dad is Clark Griswold.  Those movies are considered classics in my family and are quoted on a regular basis.  When I heard that they were passing the torch to son Rusty Griswold, I was nervous about it just being a lame and half assed attempt to reboot.  Happily, I was wrong.  This movie was pretty damn funny and had great family messages through all the gross visuals and some pretty crude dialogue.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It's a bit raunchy at times but pretty funny and a worthy entry in the Vacation series.

Southpaw

Southpaw tells the riveting story of Billy "The Great" Hope, reigning Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World (Jake Gyllenhaal). Billy Hope seemingly has it all with an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely savior at a run-down local gym: Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), a retired fighter and trainer to the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future riding on Tick's guidance and tenacity, Billy enters the hardest battle of his life as he struggles with redemption and to win back the trust of those he loves.

This movie was well acted and you can see how much Gyllenhaal put in to this role with how jacked he got.  It definitely hooks you that you care about the characters and their paths.  But it all honesty the movie is incredibly formula in every way and basically a big mashup of all other boxer movies that came before it.  

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It is a good watch but is pretty formula and repetitive.

Pixels

When aliens misinterpret video-feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war against them, they attack the Earth, using the games as models for their various assaults. President Will Cooper (Kevin James) has to call on his childhood best friend, ’80s video game champion Sam Brenner (Sandler), now a home theater installer, to lead a team of old-school arcaders (Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage) to defeat the aliens and save the planet.

This movie was literally an extension of the trailer.  They gave away the whole story and most of the small laughs that were there.  And since the trailer looked ridiculously stupid with very little laughs . . . . . Need I say more?  The only slightly good thing about this movie was Josh Gad.  The rest was pretty much doodykins.

I would definitely not recommend people wasting their time on this.  It was not a good movie and there were way too few laughs.

Trainwreck

Schumer also wrote the script which is inspired from some of her real-life experiences as she plays a commitment-averse woman trying to get past her self-sabotaging ways.

This movie has been heavily advertised as Amy Schumer's big breakout and an absolutely hysterical movie.  Both of those things are mostly true.  Schumer's has definitely been this year's biggest breakout star and this movie is only going to help.  And the movie is very funny.  I wouldn't say it's funny from start to finish but there are a lot of laughs from Amy Schumer's dialogue based mostly on her stand up and the quirky as hell side characters.  What has not received enough credit or hype is how all around great the movie is.  As much as you laugh, Schumer is allowed to actually act and the scenes where she is not going for laughs feel very real and genuine.  She knocks the concept of someone using humor as a self defense mechanism out of the park and deserves as much credit for that as she does for the actual humor.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It is pretty raunchy dialogue wise at times but was still a very enjoyable watch and a surprisingly touching movie.

Ant-Man

 Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world. 

I doubted that they could pull off Thor and they did.  I never thought that The Avengers would meet the hyped level of expectations and they actually blew them out of the water.  I thought for sure that Guardians Of The Galaxy would be the first non-great flop for Marvel.  Nope.  Biggest movie of last year.  So I have decided that they can do no wrong.  Even if it is a movie about a man that can shrink down to the size of an ant and lead ant armies on missions?  Yes - Marvel can even make that awesome.  This movie was another great entry into Marvel's ever expanding universe.  The cast was great - especially Paul Rudd who is going to be solid gold playing off of some of the other superheroes moving forward.  This movie had great story material, built up the characters and developed chemistry well, there was plenty of entertaining action and there were plenty of laughs throughout.  

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It's entertaining across the board and fits perfectly into their continued story telling on such a massive scale.

Magic Mike XXL

Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, Magic Mike XXL finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.

The movie showed up online so I gave it a shot.  In all honesty, the first movie was not that bad and was pretty damn funny for the first half before becoming overly serious and stupid in the second half.  Thought this would be more of the same.  Made it 30 minutes in without laughing at all.  Seemed very forced and wasn't going to waste any more time on it.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering to see this.  If you are a girl and couldn't wait to see this, you probably already did.  The movie seemed like it was only going to get worse when I pulled the plug.

The Gallows

Twenty years after an accident caused the death of the lead actor during a high school play, students at the same small town school resurrect the failed stage production in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy—but ultimately find out that some things are better left alone.

These hand held camera movies are pretty much a dime a dozen since Paranormal Activity started the whole craze years back.  For the most part they are pretty crappy and never have a good payoff.  This one was one of the rare exceptions.  I'm not saying that it was great or anything, but there was plenty of tension built and lots of jump type scares.  There was definitely too much looking at the floor while people were running but the story build, the tension and the ending payoff were definitely better than average.

I would sort of recommend people checking this out.  Again - it wasn't great,  But it wasn't bad like most of them are either.

Self/Less

In this provocative psychological science fiction thriller, an extremely wealthy man (Ben Kingsley) dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man (Ryan Reynolds). But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause.

I was worried going in to this one that it would be one of those high concept ideas of a movie that would fall flat in the end.  Happily, I was wrong.  The movie wasted no time with an unnecessary story build up and got right to the procedure that you are already familiar with from the trailer.  The movie did a nice build with some good twists and turns and played out very well without the letdown that I was afraid of.  

I would recommend people checking this movie out.  It's not a must see or anything but it is a pretty good watch.

Dope

in Dope, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

This movie was entertaining in so many ways.  First - it was funny as hell watching the kid in truly awkward situations and working his way through them.  Second - the soundtrack was AWESOME!!!  Seriously.  I felt like I was back in high school/college the whole time watching this movie.  Third (and probably most important), was that it showed how someone can really rise above a situation with smarts regardless of the cards that they are dealt or where they are in society more or less.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It really was a surprisingly enjoyable movie on many levels.

Max

A precision-trained military dog, Max serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan alongside his handler, U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott. But when things go terribly wrong on maneuvers, Kyle is mortally wounded and Max, traumatized by the loss of his best friend, is unable to remain in service.  Shipped stateside, the only human he seems willing to connect with is Kyle’s teenage brother, Justin, so Max is adopted by Kyle’s family, essentially saving his life. But Justin has issues of his own, such as living up to his father’s expectations for him; he isn’t interested in taking responsibility for his brother’s troubled dog. However, Max may be Justin’s only chance to discover what really happened to his brother that day on the front, and with the help of a tough-talking young teen, Carmen, who has a way with dogs, Justin begins to appreciate his canine companion. Justin’s growing trust in Max helps the four-legged veteran revert back to his heroic self, and as the pair race against time to unravel the mystery, they find more excitement—and danger—than they bargained for. But they each might also find an unlikely new best friend…in each other.

I was terrified to see this movie because I thought for sure it would be traumatizing on a Marley & Me level.   I'm going to go ahead and spoil this - it's not!   Thank the lord!!!  This was just a really great family film.  And to say that this would be any pet lover's ideal movie is an understatement.

I would definitely recommend people with kids see this.  Not the little, little ones but the ones old enough to learn from the morals and family dynamics shown in it.

Minions

The story of Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, "Minions" evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. Continuously unsuccessful at keeping these masters--from T. rex to Napoleon--the Minions find themselves without someone to serve and fall into a deep depression. But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he--alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob--ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embarks upon a thrilling journey that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world's first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in mod London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind... from annihilation.

For the record - I'm a huge fan of the Minions so there really was no way that I could find this movie as anything but great.  They kept it super short and sure you pretty much see most of the movie just by watching the various trailers and marketing for the movie, but who cares.  They are cute, a completely original and non-Disney created entity (a real rarity when you think about it) and are funny as hell.  They don't even speak English yet are totally understood and entertaining.  And the very end of the movie was probably the best part of the whole thing.  

I couldn't possibly recommend this movie more.  This is very entertaining and funny for kids and adults and they are not remotely close to being tired or played out.  And I for one hopes that they never are.

Terminator Genisys

When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

This movie started out awesome.  It was in the future post Judgement Day, the robot stuff was cool, it was when the first terminator and Reese travelled back in time and they actually recreated the same scenes from the first one.  But then it fell off the rails.  Sarah Conner was there waiting for Reese.  Huh?  And an older version of the original terminator was there waiting for the other one.  Huh?  Wait, that terminator was there because one was sent back in time during Sarah's childhood to protect her (shown via flashback) and has been with her all along and she calls him Pops.  WHAT THE F . . . .!?!?!?!  Then they spent a ton of time talking about how time travel effected all of this.  Any time that you have to explain your story so much via dialogue you have failed.  This is supposed to be a Terminator movie not a lame ass version of Interstellar.  The acting from everyone was so atrocious that it made Arnold Oscar worthy but the running joke was that he was too old.  Again . . . . WHAT!?!  And I'm not even going to touch on their big twist and how simply the nonsensical thing could be prevented.

I would not recommend anyone bothering with this.  Unless you want to angrily rant about it like me.  It's a waste of time and a huge disappointment.

Ted 2

Seth MacFarlane returns as writer, director and co-star of Ted 2, Universal and Media Rights Capital's follow-up to the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time. Joined once again by star Mark Wahlberg, MacFarlane produces the live action/CG-animated comedy alongside Bluegrass Films' Scott Stuber, as well as John Jacobs and Jason Clark.

I was not as big of a fan of the original as most were.  To be fair, I didn't see it when it first came out.  A couple of weeks went by with me hearing how great it was and I think it kind of ruined the movie for me.  That all being said, I found this one to be much funnier than the first one.  I was straight out belly laughing numerous times during this movie.  Without the story telling, they were really able to let the one liners fly and just ride the chemistry between the actors/voices.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It was raunchy as hell at times and lots of drugs jokes but I thought the movie was hysterical.

Inside Out

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Pixar has produced excellence yet again.  I was so excited about this movie since seeing the trailer for it. It reminded me of this show called Cranium Command at Epcot Center in Disney World.  You were watching a day in the life of a pre-teen from the inside with over the top personalities playing the different parts of the body.  Hans & Franz were the heart.  Norm from Cheers was the stomach.  Bobcat Goldthwait was the adrenal glands.  It was a short little movie but I would go out of my way to see it every trip to Disney.  This movie was very similar to that but focused on the different emotions instead of areas of the body.   The emotions were perfectly voice casted.  The story was tight and adorable on every level.  There were plenty of laughs and choke up scenes for both children and adults.  More importantly than anything this movie is going to help so many children psychologically.  Children that see this movie are going to understand so much better now to deal with their emotions and parents are going to have an excellent tool to help them do so or refer to,

I absolutely recommend this movie to everyone.  It is a very smart, funny, emotional and possibly educational movie for both kids and adults.  Outside of that Cars sequel this is another link in the long chain of Pixar's legendary level of excellence.

Jurassic World

This is a new sci-fi terror adventure set 22 years after the horrific events of the original Jurassic Park.

Do you really need any more of a synopsis than that?   This was easily the best sequel of them all to the original.  It had that same epic/event feel to it.  It had the same types of characters.  It had those same holy sh$t dinosaur moments.  Where the first sequel was a failed attempt at a continuation and the second one was a short but enjoyable adrenaline dinosaur chasing romp, this was a recreation of the original with the park officially being opened 20 years later and things going bad with the dinosaurs.  There were plenty of shout outs and references to the original that made the connection even better.

I would definitely recommend everyone checking this out.  It's what popcorn movies are all about.

Insidious Chapter 3

The newest chapter in the terrifying horror series is written and directed by franchise co-creator Leigh Whannell. This chilling prequel, set before the haunting of the Lambert family, reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl (Stefanie Scott) who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.

This movie makes a lot more sense to me now that I just read above that it was a prequel.  I watched the whole thing thinking that it was  a sequel and thought it was pretty lame that the only connection was the psychic lady.  And while it definitely makes more sense knowing this - was this franchise in need of a prequel?  Feel like they should have just continued the franchise instead?  That being said - the movie was okay.  They did a great job with the sight scares.  Definitely better than the last one.  But again - there was really no need for a prequel story and I wasn't really invested in the characters and there struggle.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out - as long as they are aware it's a prequel.  It's got good scares and they show the other world well even if the story was lacking.

Spy

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner (Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Statham) is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global disaster. Written and directed by Paul Feig, the comedy also stars Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Miranda Hart.

Let me first say that I am a HUGE fan of Melissa McCarthy.  I think she is honestly one of the funniest people in the world.  That being said - maybe I'm a little biased but I really enjoyed this movie.  She was great.  Jason Statham was hysterical.  Seriously.  I was shocked.  Rose Byrne was great too.  The way that all of them played off McCarthy was so funny on every level.  The action was good.  The pacing was good.  Usually a two hour comedy tends to run out of gas but this movie definitely didn't.

I would absolutely recommend this movie for people looking for a laugh.  It definitely delivers.

San Andreas

After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Johnson) and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning, and when they think the worst may be over…it’s just getting started.

This movie is exactly what you would expect it to be.   Lots of crazy effects.  Lots of unnecessary was-was family drama to fill out the breaks in the devastation.  But it's of course much easier to deal with because they put The Rock in there.  There really isn't much else to say about it.

If you like disaster flicks like this, this movie will not disappoint.  There is plenty of chaos from all different angles and is enjoyable on that level.  You should check it out.  If this isn't your cup of tea - you should obviously pass.

Aloha

A celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs – the US Space program in Honolulu, Hawaii – and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. In play is a complex satellite system being launched by an enigmatic billionaire with suspicious intentions (Bill Murray).

I have always been a huge fan of Cameron Crowe.  He does such a great job with relationships in all of his movies.  He is able to develop characters so quick and well and create attachments to them for the audience.  This movie was no different and had an amazing cast.  Emma a Stone is awesome as always and there is a scene between Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski that was priceless.  The only thing that took away from this movie was that there was too much of the Hawaiian politics going on.  I get that it was an important part of the story but it was so far secondary to the relationships in the movie that it took away from the good stuff of the movie.

I still enjoyed the movie very much.  I would definitely recommend any fans of Cameron Crowe's previous efforts checking this out.  The cast really is worth the price of admission alone.

Tomorrowland

From Disney comes two-time Oscar winner Brad Bird's riveting, mystery adventure Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as Tomorrowland. What they must do there changes the world--and them--forever.

The reason I fell in love with going to the movies was because I loved getting caught up in what was going on onscreen and being transported to a different world or going for an amazing ride.  Sure there are plenty of movies that you can go to an incredibly enjoy nowadays but they are all adaptions of well known material, sequels or rehashings.  It's so rare that anything that feels original comes along anymore.  It's even rarer that a studio will commit to a movie so much that they don't give you the whole movie in the trailer.  I went into this movie not really knowing what it was about.  I was afraid that they didn't show you a lot because the movie wouldn't be that good, but I was beyond pleasantly surprised.  This movie was awesome.  The storytelling, the score, the action, the chemistry between the actors, all of it. 

I give this movie the stamp of must see.  I am shocked at how much I loved this movie and really wish that Hollywood would have the creativity to make more old school movies like this.  

Poltergeist

Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi and director Gil Kenan contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.

Holy disappointment.  I thought that this movie was going to be creepy as hell.  Especially the damn clown and tree parts that made me lose massive amounts of sleep when I was younger.  However, this was another shining example of how the crazy abilities of special effects that exist today do not necessarily translate into making movies scarier.  The simpler way of showing things way back when made the original scary as hell.  Like lose sleep kind of scary.  This one had zero effect on me like that.  

I wouldn't really recommend people rushing to check this out.  It's very disappointing.  It's very rushed.  And it's all about the effects instead of the slow build of fear and then the real scares.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Haunted by his turbulent past, Mad Max believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa. They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe, from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.

Wow!  Just plain wow!  This movie was nuts.  Like straight up adrenaline on the screen.  I think there was maybe a total of ten minutes out of the two hours where the movie wasn't amped up and going 100mph.  The action was insane.  The casting was perfect.  I love Tom Hardy more and more every movie he does.  This movie was done so well that you feel like you are there in that world.  I had that same feeling from when I used to play GTA III after watching this where leaving the theater I was ready to drive like they were.  

I absolutely loved this movie and recommend everyone check it out.  It is super violent but is one hell of an awesome ride and excellent filmmaking for the kind of movie it was.

Pitch Perfect 2

The Barden Bellas are back in Pitch Perfect 2, the follow-up to summer 2012’s smash hit. The comedy will be helmed by Elizabeth Banks, co-star and producer of "Pitch Perfect," and produced by Paul Brooks, Max Handelman and Banks. Writer Kay Cannon returns to the team to pen the next chapter.

Pitch Perfect is probably one of my favorite movies ever.  To say that my expectations for this were sky high would be an understatement.  And while there was no way this could have been better than the original, this movie was a great sequel to it.  They took what made the first movie funny and gave you more of it.  They continued to mock themselves.  The random one liners were still hilarious.  And how can you ever go wrong with more Fat Amy?  

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It's a great sequel with tons of laughs.  I think I liked the music better in the first but they still delivered greatly in this one.

Ex Machina

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company's brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test—charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined.

This movie was very well done from an artistic filmmaking perspective.  There was a great build towards the climax and Oscar Issac continues to shine as an actor.  This was exactly what psychological sci-fi should be.  The only knock is that it definitely dragged at points and hurt the overall momentum.

I would recommend people check this out.  It's absolutely not a mainstream movie, but it is a good watch for those able to appreciate these kinds of movies.

Hot Pursuit

Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is a second generation police officer who is known as a bit of a screw-up, but when a federal witness and his wife Daniella (Sofia Vergara) need to be moved into witness protection, she’s called upon to guard Daniella as they go on the run from a crime boss and corrupt cops.

This movie was pretty disappointing.  The trailer looked really funny and I thought that this would be a good pairing for a comedy.  Unfortunately, it just kind of missed its mark.  There were a couple of laughs here and there but without the hook to get you fully into the movie there were not nearly as many as I had hoped for.  

I would very lukewarmly recommend this movie to people.  It's not the worst thing I've seen but it's not nearly as good as I expected it to be.  It ends up being a somewhat decent watch with some scattered laughs.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure. 

I went into this movie worried that this would be like the Transformers sequels with a ton of crap thrown on the screen with little to no substance.  Thankfully I was wrong.  The movie was very entertaining.  Good but not too much action.  Great banter between the characters.  Good character development of the ones that don't have their stand alone franchises.  And lots and lots of fun.  I would only make two knocks against this one.  First, a lot of the story was super rushed.  As great as Ultron was, it was like you blinked and there he was hating the world.  Second, there was some major lacking of continuity from Iron Man 3 to this movie.  Tony Stark went from being done with being Iron Man and destroying all his robots to being with the Avengers and having newly developed robots.

Regardless of those two knocks, I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It is a great  summer popcorn movie.  I would have it somewhere in the 4-6 range if ranking all the Marvel movies since Iron Man.

The Age Of Adaline

After miraculously remaining 29 years old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents (Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker) threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.

This was a beautifully told story.  I realize how wussy that sounds but it really does apply to this movie.  I loved the way that the first ten minutes had a narrator going over what was happening.  It felt perfect.  Then the narrator would return a couple of times throughout the movie and again it just felt so right from a storytelling format.  The love story definitely hooked you and Blake Lively did a great job of showing the several different emotions involved with her not aging.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a great story with an excellent way of it being told.

The Gunman

An adaptation of Jean-Patrick Manchette's "The Prone Gunman." Sean Penn stars as Jim Terrier, an international operative who is betrayed by the organization he worked for, and must go on the run in a relentless game of cat and mouse across Europe.

This movie was a really good watch.  How did this not get a wider a better promoted release?  Sean Penn was great in the Liam Nesson Taken-ish role and Javier Bardem is awesome in anything he does.  The fight scenes were great and they would go from 0 to 60 so fast.  There might have been a little too much dramatic talky talky at times but it was still enjoyable.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's a good action movie.  Unfortunately it was in and out of theaters pretty fast after minimal advertising.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

After six years of keeping our malls safe, Paul Blart has earned a well-deserved vacation. He heads to Vegas with his teenage daughter before she heads off to college. But safety never takes a holiday and when duty calls, Blart answers.

If I'm being realistic, this is definitely on the list of sequels that will surely be questioned for being made forever.  Is it stupid?  Yes.  Is it formula?  Of course.  That being said, if you find Kevin James funny and you liked the first one despite its same level of stupidity and formula - I'm sure you will like this one too.

Again, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first one.  Same kind of laughs and same kind of corniness.  If that one wasn't for you, then you shouldn't touch this one either.

Unfriended

Ushering in a new era of horror, Unfriended unfolds over a teenager's computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure who seeks vengeance for a shaming video that led a vicious bully to kill herself a year earlier.

It was a decent idea and shown well using social media and an absurd amount of computer attachment and usage of the current generation.  Honestly - it made me feel really old because of the massive a.d.d. that it seems the whole generation has.  Anywho - the problem with the movie was that there really wasn't much of a fear element.  You just kind of watched it play out in a completely formula way.  It was a very short movie so it ended up being okay.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It might be more entertaining/scary for this generation since they can probably identify with it all more. Otherwise, it was a decent premise but not too scary.