REVIEW: Crazy, Stupid, Love

MOVIE
Crazy, Stupid, Love

CAST
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 29, 2011

DIRECTOR(S)
John Requa, Glenn Ficarra

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 58 minutes





STARS
****










REVIEW:

Everybody in life falls in love with someone really special to them. Whether it's an older or younger indivitual, a high school sweetheart, or a person of the same gender, everybody will one day find their soulmate. Love is the obvious theme for 'Crazy, Stupid, Love,' a funny, yet sometimes deep romantic film starring funnyman Steve Carell. With names like Steve Carell and Emma Stone on the poster/in the trailer for this movie, you would probably be expecting another dumb but funny romantic comedy. I'm not saying that this movie isn't funny, because it is indeed. I'm saying that this movie has no idea what genre it wants to be categorized in. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? That's what I thought was great about this movie: the fact that, like reality, it has no idea what genre it wants to be. 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' is that rare romantic film that can make you laugh, and make you sad. For that reason alone, this movie is quite possibly the best romantic movie of the year.

Cal Weaver, a man who believes that he has the perfect life, has just found out that his wife has been cheating on him, and therefore wants a divorce. Desperate and lonely, Cal goes to a bar every night and mopes about his wife and what she did to him. But alas, along comes Jacob Palmer, a smooth talking gigelo who helps Cal find a bit of happiness so he can win his wife back. At the same time, much other romantic subplots occur, all eventually colliding into one another into one big pile of Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The best thing about this movie is the cast. Steve Carell knows when to be awkward, funny, and dark at the same time when being Cal. In my opinion, this is Carell's best role since Brick Tamland in the hilarious 'Anchorman.' Steve definately made the right choice leaving his hit show 'The Office,' as long as he keeps making movies as good as this. If you saw 'Dinner for Schmucks' last year, you may agree with me that the best character in the movie was the artist Kieran, played flawlessly by Jemaine Clement. This year, I believe that the best character in 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' is the suave Jacob, played by Ryan Gosling. Like Clement last year, Gosling's character is awesome because he is. He is what most people would call a "womanizer," mainly because he can score with hot women in a bar every single night. This character is funny, charming, an just plain cool to begin with. I hope that Ryan Gosling is in more mainstream movies opposed to artsy films, because he could make it very far with regular moviegoers. The rest of the cast, including Julianne Moore and Kevin Bacon all play their parts well and we actually come to care for them, despite the fact that they're not very likeable characters in reality.

The story is witty and original, the cast is fantastic, and the film's directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, who are best known for co-writing 'Bad Santa' and co-directing last year's 'I Love You Phillip Morris' certainly knew what they were doing when making this movie. Of all of this weekend's releases, this one has to be my favorite one. It's not just because this movie is laugh out loud hilarious that I consider it THE movie to see this week. I believe that with enough laughs and enough heart, you can certainly make a worthwhile film. It's not something that you must go see in theaters, unlike 'Cowboys & Aliens,' but how ever you see this movie I can guarantee that you will enjoy it. If you have ever fallen in love and/or have had your heart shattered into pieces by your "soulmate," then you might have a strong, yet funny case of 'Crazy, Stupid, Love.'



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

The Change-Up

The Help

30 Minutes or Less

Contagion

What's Your Number?

New Year's Eve

REVIEW: Captain America: The First Avenger 3D

MOVIE
Captain America:
The First Avenger

CAST
Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 22, 2011

DIRECTOR
Joe Johnston

STUDIO(S)
Paramount Pictures,
Marvel Studios

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 4 minutes



STARS
***1/2







REVIEW:

In 2011 alone, four superhero films have been released, with three of them coming from Marvel. We started out the superhero summer with 'Thor,' which was enjoyable, but I didn't enjoy is as others did. Then came 'X-Men: First Class,' which is still one of my favorites of the year. Then DC decided to step into the spotlight with 'Green Lantern,' failing miserably at making a good movie. Now as the month of July is quickly coming to a close, most are "Potter"ed out from last week and are looking for the next big summer flick to see. This week's summer flick was born in America, rather in the U.K., and its name is 'Captain America: The First Avenger.'

The reason why this movie has "The First Avenger" in its title is because ol' Cappy was the start of S.H.I.E.L.D./the whole Avengers team. 'Iron Man' was the start of the Avengers franchise, and both of his movie were possibly the best superhero movies in the past decade. Then we got 'The Incredible Hulk,' which was also an outstanding movie. Although I enjoyed 'Thor,' I felt that it could've been much more. I was a bit worried about this movie, despite director Joe Johnston being the director of films like 'The Rocketteer' and 'October Sky,' and the lead actor Chris Evans being the best things in films like 'Fantastic Four' and 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.' Needless to say, 'Captain America' is a spectacular summer flick, and an awesome comic book movie. While I did like it much more than 'Thor,' it's not as sublime as 'X-Men: First Class.'

Steve Rogers is the ultimate patriot, with a bit of a disadvantage. Despite having the courage to defend his country from Nazis, Rogers has been declined from the U.S. Army due to his weak physical body. However Rogers is given the opportunity to be recruited by the army and become the first of many "Super Soldiers" that will help defeat Hitler. As it turns out, the real villain of the world is Johann Schmidt, better known as Red Skull, who wants to destroy the entire world, including Hitler and his German army. So Steve becomes the famous "Captain America," posing as a publicity toy by day and kicking serious German ass for the last hour of the movie.

I am not a huge Captain America fan, but I do respect him for being the king of the Marvel universe. This king can really kick some serious ass! Chris Evans, best known for playing the wise ass Johnny Storm in the 'Fantastic Four' series plays Cappy to perfection, as he shows patriotism, courage, and fear quite well. I actually think that the song 'Don't Stop Believin' by Journey was inspired by Captain America's courage and bravery. As good as Evans was as 'The First Avenger," the majority of the supporting cast was much better than their lead. The best character in the movie is the sarcastic and bossy Col. Chester Phillips played by the always awesome Tommy Lee Jones. If Jones' character from Men In Black was a sarcastic agent, then he might be the colonel in this movie. We also get Hugo Weaving as the cool baddie Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as the badass love interest Peggy Carter, and in a small role, Stanley Tucci as the creator of the Super Soldier serum, Dr. Abraham Erskine. All of the characters in this movie help make Captain America the best superhero film since 'X-Men: FIrst Class.'

SPOILER PARAGRAPH:
Director Joe Johnston had a big task to complete, and that was to tie this movie in with every other Avenger related Marvel movie to come out. He does that very well, as we get our 'Iron Man' and 'Thor' references throughout. The biggest reference to the Avengers is the character of Howard Stark, Tony Stark's daddy. This character helps design the chamber where Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. Without him, there wouldn't be any Avengers. Red Skull possesses a magical cube that helps power his deadly machine. For those who stay after the credits of these movies or read their comic books would know that this cube, called the 'Cosmic Cube' is one of the most important aspects of The Avengers movie. These aren't spoilers as much as they are pointers to the Marvel universe references. Plus with every Marvel movie we get our Nick Fury appearance, which is always nicely played by the fantastic Samuel L. Jackson. Johnston knows how to hold the Marvel universe in his hand, and I hope Marvel will let him take on more superhero films soon.
(END OF SPOILERS)

If you were disappointed in films like 'Thor' and 'Green Lantern' earlier this summer, then you may want to get yourself to see 'The First Avenger.' This film in my opinion is what Sherlock Holmes was back in 2009. The week before Holmes came into the spotlight, James Cameron's Avatar had exploded onto the scene, destined to become the highest grossing film of all time. Last week the final Harry Potter film came out and also exploded onto the scene. This film is a great follow up to the fantastic movie weekend that was last week. This film isn't nearly as good as Potter, but it is still a worthwhile superhero film. I doubt that this will be ranked amongst superhero classics such as 'The Dark Knight,' 'Iron Man,' or 'Spider-Man 2,' but for what it is, it is a fun and sleek superhero film that is almost as good as 'X-Men: First Class.' If you are looking for another fun superhero film to see this year or are trying to get out of "Potter"mania, then you might want to get your time traveling instincts ready and travel to the era of Captain America, The First Avenger.


PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Cowboys & Aliens


Rise of the Planet of the Apes


Contagion


Abduction


Mission Impossible:
Ghost Protocol


The Adventures of Tintin


The Amazing Spider Man


The Avengers (After Credits)

VIDEO REVIEW: Winnie The Pooh (With Guest Critic Chris Fyfe)

MOVIE
Winnie The Pooh

CAST
Jim Cumming,
John Cleese (NARRATOR)

RATING
G

RELEASE
July 15, 2011

DIRECTOR(S)
Stephen Anderson, Don Hall

STUDIO
Walt Disney Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 3 minutes




STARS
****




STARS (CHRIS)
****










MINI-REVIEW:

Aw that silly old bear from the Hundred Acre Woods is back on the big screen for the first time in six years. Pooh and his gang have been resurrected from the Disney Channel graveyard by directors Steven Anderson, of Meet the Robinsons fame, and Don Hill and given the hand drawn 2D animation treatment once more to tell us a brand new story. I've grown up with Pooh, Tigger, and the rest of the gang, so just the thought of being able to see them on the big screen gave my inner 5 year old self some pure joy. After the trailer was released, I was completely sold on the film, since it just looked like pure fun. After seeing the film, I must say that both my 5 year old self and my 14 year old self are completely satisfied by what our eyes saw. Winnie the Pooh is the best family movie out there, possibly the best family movie of the year so far.

In a time where people have to rely on fart and bathroom jokes to get a good laugh, this movie abandons that and gives the audience the most innocent movie to come out in the past 6 years. Even if you're an adult, you should go see this movie, despite the film only being 63 minutes long. This film will give adults a flashback to when they were kids and possibly watching Winnie the Pooh or playing with G.I. Joe's/Barbie's. I was watching a couple of little kids in the row in front of me jumping up and down and getting excited when the movie started. I talked to the family after the movie, and found out that it was the kids' first movie. I was surprisingly not annoyed by it, because I saw myself as a kid, getting all excited when Pooh or Rugrats would be on TV. That's why people should see this movie.

Even if there are little kids there to see the movie, you have to remember that it may be their first time seeing a movie in theaters. That alone should make you smile. The characters in this movie are funny, the jokes are very clever, and there's nothing that will scar the kids for life. I guarantee you now that this will be the very first movie for my kids to see, because there's nothing to be afraid of, both kids and adults. Parents won't be offended by anything or be tempted to walk out of the theater, plus get a few laughs in there. An added benefit is that the film is only 53 minutes without credits, so kids won't be as antsy when they get out of the theater as they would in some other kids movie out there. For the kids and kids at heart, Winnie the Pooh is the must see family film of the summer. Oh and here's some quick food for thought: what do you think Pooh puts in his "hunny" that makes it so divine? I think weed, but I want to hear your thoughts, so put your ideas in the comments section below. And as always, keep bloggin' nerds!



VIDEO REVIEW:





PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Dolphin Tale


Puss in Boots


The Muppets


Alvin and the Chipminks:
Chipwrecked


Chimpanzee

REVIEW: Another Earth

MOVIE
Another Earth

CAST
William Mapother,
Brit Marling

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 22, 2011 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Mike Cahill

STUDIO
Fox Searchlight Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 32 minutes





STARS
***1/2








REVIEW:

Have you ever wondered if there was another form of life out there, just waiting to be discovered by us humans? What if these extra terrestrials were humans like us on a planet considered to be identical to our own? That is only the backdrop of the recent Sundance hit, Another Earth. The movie may seem like a full blown sci-fi spectacle, but it really is a drama with a sci-fi element in it. Fox Searchlight, who won an impressive distribution competition between other well known indie studios decided to get director Mike Cahill and Brit Marling to go on a six city tour and hold special screenings of this movie, with Q&As immediately after. Philadelphia was one of the six lucky cities chosen to hold one of these six screenings, and I was lucky enough to attend the event. I am very happy to report that this movie is very well acted, intriguing throughout, yet can also be disturbing and complex during parts. Another Earth is a well conceived drama promising a strong future for lead actress Brit Marling and director Mike Cahill, plus giving the audience the best interpretation ending since last year's Inception.

On the eve of the discovery of a new planet identical to our own, the lives of Rhoda Williams and John Burroughs quickly became intertwined. Rhoda is a bright young woman who has just been accepted into the astrophysics program at MIT. John is a brilliant composer with a loving wife and son, and is soon expecting a second child. Tragedy strikes between the two and Rhoda is sent to jail for what she did. Four years pass, Rhoda is free from jail, and the new planet, now being called "Earth 2" is close enough to our planet where we have the ability to communicate with and travel to it. Rhoda wants to apologize to John for the crime she committed, but things soon get complicated as both of their lives become parallel to one another.

If you're going to see this movie because you want a science fiction movie, you will probably come out of this being very disappointed. There is only one thing about this movie that's science fiction related, and that's the fact that there's an identical Earth floating around our Earth. This movie is really a drama, and with a drama comes a dark and disturbing nature to it. If you can't handle that you will be disturbed and sad by the outcome of the characters in this movie within the first 10 minutes of the film, then you might as well buy a ticket for something else. The disturbing nature of this movie is only supported, not just the excellent/original concept of this film, but by the astounding cast put into these characters dark situations.

I have to say that the best thing about this movie is the excellent cast portraying these disturbed characters. William Mapother, possibly best known for his role on 'Lost' is excellent as John. You really do get to know this character after his accident, and he does deliver some funny lines, one in particular involves clever product placement use involving the Wii. He is the heart and soul of this movie, no doubt. But even this well known actor couldn't match the soul of newcomer actress/co-writer of the film Brit Marling, who plays the main lead, Rhoda.

Despite being the cause for the tragedy of John and his family, you still care for her and feel the pain and emptiness that has been bubbling inside of her for the four years she spent in jail. Do you remember last year when a little movie called 'Winter's Bone' came onto the scene, and made Jennifer Lawrence a big star? I believe that this movie may pull off a 'Winter's Bone,' and make Brit Marling a huge star. Marling give a powerful performance that will shock you and please you throughout the movie's hour and a half long running time. If there is any reason to see this movie, it is to check out one of the many up and coming new stars of 2011. I mentioned earlier that I got to meet Marling after the screening, and if she's reading this, I hope I get to meet you when you become an even bigger star than you are currently.

If you're looking for a sci-fi classic like Inception or District 9, then you might as well go see something else. The science fiction aspect heavily shown in the trailers is just the outer shell of this movie. The core of this movie is a drama, and that's all you're going to get in this movie. Sure there may be a couple of light hearted moments in this movie, but make sure you're going into this movie knowing that it's a drama. If you know that you're going into a dark, sometimes disturbing drama instead of a sci-fi, then you will enjoy this movie. The acting is superb, the cinemaphotography is great, and director Mike Cahill should become a household name after this movie is released. I will be very shocked if Brit Marling isn't even considered to be an Oscar contender, both for acting and co-writing this movie with director Mike Cahill.

The one thing that I didn't care for in this movie was that the relationship between Rhoda and John could never happen in real life. I was sort of cringing in my seat every time they were with eachother, because you have to remember what Rhoda did to John's family. Other than this plot malfunction, the movie still soars over other indies to come out this year, probably because Mike Cahill is a great storyteller. This may be the most compelling original story that you will see this year. However like Inception, I still have many questions to ask the director and star of the movie that I wish I thought of asking them when I met them. I want your interpretations of the movie and its ending if you happen to go, so please leave them in the comments section of this review below. If you want a compelling drama disguised as a sci-fi with a great original story and sublime acting, then you just might want to travel to Another Earth.

REVIEW: Zookeeper

MOVIE
Zookeeper

CAST
Kevin James, Rosario Dawson

RATING
PG

RELEASE
July 8, 2011

DIRECTOR
Frank Coraci

STUDIO(S)
Columbia Pictures,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 44 minutes




STARS
**







REVIEW:

Of all of the movies out there, my grandparents, my sister, and I all had the willpower to choose 'Zookeeper', the latest Kevin James vehicle run by Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison crew. Why exactly did we choose 'Zookeeper' over other films out there? Because I promised a friend that I would see 'Winnie The Pooh' with him, and my grandparents already saw 'The Tree Of Life' and have since loathed it, plus my sister had no interest in seeing 'Tree Of Life' at all. And now here I am, writing about if Adam Sandler's latest attempt to help a buddy out was any good. While this movie had its funny moments, it overall was a crappy movie. Hell, I knew that this was going to suck the minute I saw the teaser trailer that tried to knockoff 'Night At The Museum.' Imagine if "Night At The Museum' had a bastard child with Adam Sandler, 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop,' and every cliché ever put into a romantic comedy. That is the result of 'Zookeeper.' Despite a few chuckles, there is no reason to see 'Zookeeper' at all. However, I can admit that I did enjoy this movie more than Mr. Popper's Penguins. But overall, 'Zookeeper' is just among the line of crappy kids movies to come out these days. We might as well get a third Alvin and the Chipmunks movie to top it all off. Oh wait a minute...

Griffin Keyes has been trying to get over the fact that his girlfriend Stephanie dumped him five years previous because of the fact that he is a zookeeper. Now she is back in the picture and Griffin wants to leave his job as a zookeeper and get a cooler job so he can be with Stephanie once again. The animals of the Franklin Park Zoo don't want Griffin to leave, so they decide to break their one rule at the zoo, and that is to not talk to the humans. Griffin, horrified but cool with it, decides to take dating advice from the zoo animals in order to win Stephanie's heart.

This movie is very disappointing, mainly because this film comes from the same director as 'The Wedding Singer,' a personal favorite of mine, and "Click,' a funny Adam Sandler movie. It's also disappointing to see Kevin James, best known for 'The King Of Queens' and 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' have to be trapped in this family friendly/Adam Sandler breed that is unable to live amongst its surroundings. They might as well have had Adam Sandler direct and star in this movie, because it seems that he does that with all of his recent movies. Believe me, I have no beef with Adam Sandler at all. His earlier films, like "Happy Gilmore' are hilarious, but he hasn't made a fantastic comedy in almost a decade. He is like the white Tyler Perry, though Perry knows when to do something good for his career ('Precious') instead of always relying on dumb comedies. I believe that, despite enjoying his movies sometimes, Adam Sandler is the one to blame for making this a bad movie. However, his role as Donald the Monkey, who like to brag about his opposable thumbs was actually a little bit funny.

Kevin James is a very funny man. From 'King Of Queens' to 'Hitch' to 'Paul Blart,' he is someone to rely on when it comes to physical humor and fat jokes. Despite being the saving point of this movie, his talent is still wasted in this movie. All you get out of Kevin James in this movie is him trying to be hip with the kids, trying to win a bitchy girl, and getting hurt in almost every scene he's in, both physically and emotionally. I wish Mr. James could step out of the Sandler shell and smell the fresh, comedic air, and be able to find a better movie to be in. The rest of the live action, including the gorgeous Leslie Bibb as the bitchy Stephanie, and Rosario Dawson as the kind hearted Kate all play their parts for the paycheck, and they were just so so. What do you expect from a movie about talking or annoying animals. The voice cast for the animals, including Adam Sandler, Nick Nolte, and Sylvester Stallone have their funny moments, but are overall just as dumb as their live action counterparts.

Coming out of this movie, my grandfather told me that I could write a much better story on the back of a napkin than this film. This is just one of the many stupid stories that always end in a predictable way to come out this year alone. There is no life in the story, just talking animals, a bitchy girl, and Kevin James getting hurt. If you're looking for anything but the three things I just mentioned, then you're screwed out of your money. Sure kids won't see the movie for having a bad script and storyline, they'll just see it for being a movie with talking animals and a fat man getting hurt all of the time. Parents will be bored and annoyed by how bad the story and script are in this movie, but they may be glad that their kids will enjoy it.

I recently had a brief Facebook conversation with acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert. No, I'm not messing around with you, I actually had a conversation with Roger Ebert. He gave this movie three stars out of four, mainly because this is a movie for families, he said. If you're reading this Mr. Ebert, though I doubt that you'd remember our conversation, I understand where you were coming from, and I admit I did laugh a couple of times. However, this movie had too many sexual references and dumb cliche's that it couldn't exactly be considered a family movie. There is no reason to see this movie at all, even as a rental. Sure you'll get a couple of chuckles, and Kevin James is a funny comedian, but any family can pass this movie up.

Even if this movie is the only thing playing at the time your kids want to see a movie, do yourself a favor and go to a real zoo and meet a real zookeeper instead of watching this zookeeper hurt himself constantly while communicating with animals. Not only will your kids have a better time than you would sitting in a movie theater for nearly two hours, but you as parents would as well. Kevin James, you're a funny guy, but you don't need this type of movie to make money. Do yourself a favor next time and don't rely on your friends to hook you up in movies. Do you want to become like Allen Covert, Rob Schneider, and David Spade? As for Mr. Sandler, please do the world a favor and make a movie that everyone, including critics, will enjoy. To all families in the world, in case you didn't quite understand the previous paragraphs in this review, do yourself a huge favor and save $30-$40 by not visiting this 'Zookeeper.'



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

The Smurfs



Spy Kids:
All The Time In The World


Johnny English Reborn



Jack and Jill


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Happy Feet Two

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 3D

MOVIE
Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

CAST
Daniel Radcliffe,
Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 15, 2011

DIRECTOR
David Yates

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 10 minutes



STARS
****









REVIEW:

Alas, my muggle friends! We have come to the end of the Harry Potter phenomenon with the final film, harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Going in, you already know that this movie is going to be an Armageddon for wizards, meaning tons of action and deaths and a whole lot of magic. My buddy Chris and I oh so dearly were begging our parents to let us go to see the movie at midnight, like every other Potter geek. However their answer was no, so we unfortunately had to settle on the next best thing: 9:45 in the morning on opening day. That meant that the theater wasn't nearly as crowded as it was the night before, and instead of Potter geeks there were just regular moviegoers. This meant that the cheering during famous parts from the book or the opening titles was thrown in the trash, so when I did it it only created embarrassment upon myself. Putting that aside, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is not only the best of the Potter franchise, but it also is the best movie of 2011 so far. This may also be the first Potter film where instead of talking about how great the film was, my friend and I were only talking about one particular scene that just made us two laugh out loud, despite not trying to be so funny.

In case you never saw HP7 Part 1, (you may want to rewatch it before seeing Part 2) the basic story is that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are searching for the missing Horocruxes in order to destroy Lord Voldemort once and for all. I can't tell you much more, because that would only spoil this movie. Do you guys remember back in June when I said that Super 8 was the best movie of 2011, and nothing, not even Harry Potter could top its awesomeness? Well, I probably shouldn't have said that, because it is 100% a lie! This may be the most epic fantasy conclusion movie since Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. Actually to be honest, I'm not a big Lord of the Rings fan, so I didn't like them as much as I love the Potter series.

For those that disliked Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows (I personally loved it) because of its lack of action, then you may want to get your butt into a theater seat as fast as you can. Once this movie starts, you suddenly get caught up in a full scale World War 2 like battle that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The action is very intense, but totally spectacular, especially in 3D, which isn't exactly needed here, though it adds something to the movie. You will be sad when others fall, and you will cheer when the good guys are winning. Speaking of good and bad guys, let's get into how the cast was in the final Harry Potter film.

This movie has the best acting seen in any of the previous installments. It gets very emotional when you see the characters we've grown up with for a decade have to act like adults in this final installments. Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson are at the top of their game in this movie. Unlike Part 1, where we only focused on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, this movie focuses on everyone doing their part to fight off Voldemort and his crew of Death Eaters. The best part about that is that everyone has a shining moment in this movie, including Molly Weasley, who says her infamous line, and Neville Longbottom, who has clearly become a badass over his years at Hogwarts. The best actor portrayed in this movie is in fact Alan Rickman, who plays Severus Snape, in case you have no knowledge of the series.

Rickman gives his best performance in any of the Potter films, and might actually give the best performance in this movie, period. I can't exactly see "Academy Awards" in his future yet, but that happening wouldn't be a surprise to me, because he undoubtedly deserves it. Another possible Oscar contender in my opinion is Daniel Radcliffe. To be able to pull off playing the same character for a decade is quite an impressive feat, and I believe that Mr. Radcliffe deserves some recognition for playing Mr. Potter for so long. Everyone else was just fantastic. Even the small characters in this movie are very good. That's why people get emotional when some of the characters die in combat. I don't consider that a spoiler since I'm not mentioning who plays victim to "Avada Kedavara."

The Harry Potter series has always been a huge part in my life. It's sad for me to see the series end as I'm going into high school, but like the cast of the franchise I too will move on with my life and achieve great things. Everyone who has grown up on this series will be bawling their eyes out at the end. Who wouldn't, the Harry Potter franchise is over! This movie has some light hearted moments, but this is a hardcore fantasy action movie. Once this movie starts, you're almost instantly sucked into the battle of Hogwarts, just waiting to see the epic showdown between Harry and Voldemort. The action is amazing, the acting is superb, and this movie is completely acceptable as the end of the Potter franchise. Be warned though that this movie is the shortest Potter film in the franchise, coming in at around 130 minutes.

While book fans will believe that this is very short for a Potter film, you have to remember that this is the second part of the Deathly Hallows book. Put Part 1 and Part 2 together, and that comes to a 4 1/2 hour movie. I felt that this was the perfect length for the movie, as it does two things that the other films didn't do. A.) This movie didn't give you a butt-ache. B.) This movie doesn't move as slow as the previous seven. I didn't find any problems with this film at all, as well as my friend who came with me to the movie. This really is the perfect ending to a sublime franchise. So just like the tagline of this film says, It All Ends, and it couldn't have ended in a more perfect way. Goodbye Harry Potter, the world will miss you.



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Cowboys & Aliens


Happy Feet 2


Contagion



Arthur Christmas

Sherlock Holmes:
A Game Of Shadows

John Carter


Hugo


The Pirates!
Band Of Misfits

The Dark Knight Rises

REVIEW: Larry Crowne

MOVIE
Larry Crowne

CAST
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 1, 2011

DIRECTOR
Tom Hanks

STUDIO
Universal Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 38 minutes






STARS
***












REVIEW:

It's hard to deny watching a Tom Hanks movie. It's also hard to deny watching a Julia Roberts movie. Put these two in a movie together and it's a match made in cinema heaven. Their latest film together, Larry Crowne tells a delightful story that offers laughs, heart, and a lot of charm. Tom Hanks directed, wrote, starred, and produced this movie using his production company, Playtone. The name Playtone comes from the recording company in Tom Hanks' directorial debut, the 1996 film 'That Thing You Do.' This movie is only Hanks' second directorial effort. As a sophomore effort, it's better than other directors' second movies. However while this movie may be good, it is not as good as 'That Thing You Do.' The first half of the movie is worthy of a four star rating. However the second half of the movie unfortunately deserves a **1/2 star rating, because the movie just got pretty boring towards the end. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are sublime actors, but this movie just didn't have the same effect as movies like 'Big' and 'Pretty Woman' had. The story is original and the supporting cast is hilarious, but I expected more from the two leads. Even so, I would highly recommend taking your date out to see Larry Crowne, because I can guarantee that you will be laughing quite a bit throughout the movie. Just be prepared to get serious during the second half.

Larry Crowne, a divorced middle-aged man/Navy veteran absolutely loves his job, and has been employee of the month eight times in a row. Everyone loves him, and he loves life. That is until the day he is fired from his job due to his lack of a college education. Despite being on the verge of foreclosure, Larry decides to go to college and take a couple of classes. One of his classes, Speech 217, is taught by Mercedes Tainot, a woman who drinks and gets hung over almost every day due to her, pardon my foul language, douchebag of a husband. As Larry is falling in love with Mercedes, he joins a scooter group, with one of its members being Tahlia. Tahlia is a free spirited girl who helps Larry see life in a whole new light.

Let me just point out that this movie may be one of the most unrealistic movies of the year. That is really saying something because we are in a summer filled with superheroes and special effects and explosions everywhere we look. In no way would Tom Hanks ever be in a scooter gang, who do a slight homage to 'West Side Story' upon our introduction to the group. Tom Hanks would never end up with Julia Roberts, because for a full quarter of the movie, we see her either drinking or being hung over. The only real things in this movie involve adults taking community college and the subplot involving a foreclosure. However, this unrealistic aspect of this movie adds a quirky side to the film that helps give it some charm and humor. The movie has a nice premise, but just remember that most of this movie would never happen in the history of human existence. That is unless you know someone who is in a scooter gang and snap their fingers like the Jets and the Sharks.

Even though they were pretty good in this movie, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts were not at the top of their game in this movie. Hanks knows how to play the nicest and most socially active person in existence, which was clearly shown in this movie. However at some moments it seemed that he was too nice of a character. I wanted to see Larry just get pissed off at someone because of all of the problems he has. Julia Roberts plays one of the worst movie teachers in recent memory. Think of her role this way: if Cameron Diaz in the recent hit 'Bad Teacher' didn't swear as much, was in her mid to late 40s, and was much nicer to her students, then you would have Julia Roberts in this movie. There seemed to be no reason for Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts to even begin a relationship, despite their ages.

I thought that Tom Hanks would've rather been better with the cute scooter chick Talia, who's played by a fantastic newcomer named Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She and the rest of the supporting cast, including Cedric The Entertainer and Wilmer "Fez" Valderrama make the first half of the movie a very comedic environment. The only supporting actor in this movie who was just there to be a jerk is Bryan Cranston as Dean Tainot, Mercedes' husband. This guy spends every day looking up pornography to satisfy himself. I know that I'm using this foul word a lot, but it's best to describe Cranston's character this way. Dean may possibly get my award for biggest douchebag of the year. He argues with his wife, looks up porn thinking that Mercedes doesn't know when in fact she does, and tells her that he does it to make up for the breast size of Mercedes. That is possibly the most inhumane thing I've ever heard a man say in a movie before. He is a vile and despicable person, and I think the audience will like him for that. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts may not be at the top of their game in this movie, but the hilarious supporting cast makes up for that.

Larry Crowne is far from being an Oscar contender despite its leading actors. However, this movie does exactly what it was made to do: to make you feel good inside. Tom Hanks clearly knew that this movie wouldn't be award worthy. I think that he just wanted to make a movie to make people feel good about their lives. Audiences will love this movie because of its quirky humor and the nice life messages in it. I am betting that this film will end up being hailed as "the feel good movie of the summer." I can agree, but there are many rom-coms out there that may be better than this movie. We don't get any of the magic that was in 'When Harry Met Sally' or 'Sleepless in Seattle,' but we do get something that will be passed on as a charming and quirky movie. I don't think that you should rush out to see it, but you will enjoy the movie whether you see it in theaters or on DVD. This movie is like 'The Art Of Getting By:' a feel good movie that you don't need to rush out to see. To the folks out there who want to go on a date with that special someone, this may be the best thing out there if 'Bridesmaids' or 'Midnight in Paris' aren't playing anywhere locally. So if there's nothing else out there and you and a date just want to go see a movie, you may just want to pay a trip to go see 'Larry Crowne.'




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REVIEW: Midnight in Paris

MOVIE
Midnight in Paris

CAST
Owen Wilson,
Rachel McAdams

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
May 20, 2011 (LIMITED)
June 3, 2011 (WIDE)

DIRECTOR
Woody Allen

STUDIO
Sony Pictures Classics

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 34 minutes



STARS
****







CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT! Read Review At Your Own Risk.

For those who want a summarized review, here it is:
A new timeless classic filled with laughs, romance,
and the magic of one of the most beautiful cities in the world





REVIEW:

Magic can happen anywhere, even in the most magical of places. I'm not talking about Disney World in this situation, I'm actually talking about Paris, France, the setting of the latest movie for me to review, Midnight in Paris. Midnight in Paris is the latest directorial effort of the controversial Woody Allen. Allen's more recent movies, other than Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point have all been negatively received. However Cannes was still willing to give Allen a chance and make his latest movie the opening night film for the world famous festival. Praise came from the French festival, and critics loved it worldwide upon its release. So now it's my turn to review this movie, which also happens to be my first Woody Allen movie. From what I saw, I saw a movie that is funny, magical, and most of all, timeless. Midnight in Paris is an excellent movie overall, and one of the must see movies of 2011. I am positive that those who aren't fans of Allen's previous two movies (You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger and Whatever Works) will absolutely adore this movie, and may be tempted to go see it again. Well, I know that I am surely tempted.

Owen Wilson plays Gil, a Hollywood screenwriter who has come to Paris with his fiance Inez and his in-laws to write his novel. Gil wants to permanently move to Paris so he can write his novel, but Inez thinks otherwise. Wanting to escape his privileged life, Gil every night at midnight hops into a car and escapes into his "golden era": the 1920s. There Gil encounters his literary idols, including the Fitzgerald's and Ernest Hemingway, as well as Picasso's mistress Adriana, whom Gil tends to be very attracted to. Gil must decide to himself whether he should stay in Paris and finish his novel or go back to Hollywood and marry his privileged fiance, who may or may not be attracted to her friend Paul, a pseudo-intellectual who tends to show off his supposed strong artistic knowledge.

Since this is my first Woody Allen movie, I can't compare it to his early work. I have yet to see Annie Hall or Bananas, but I have heard that they are classic movies, so I definitely will check those out in the future. When my accompanist and I got out of the movie, she immediately compared this movie to Woody Allen's 1985 film, 'The Purple Rose Of Cairo.' In that movie, a fictional movie character Jeff Daniels climbs out of a print of his movie and into the real world, where he falls in love with Mia Farrow. I can see the comparison between the two movies, because each movie's main character fall in love with their biggest fantasy, as Rachel McAdams says at the beginning of this movie's trailer. Compared to the characters in each of those movies, I've also fallen in love with a fantasy: this movie. This movie is every aspiring person in the world's fantasy. Props to Woody Allen for making such an original and unique story that really struck a chord in my mind. The story will make you laugh out loud, give you some awesome old school French music, and make you care about or hate the characters in this movie. Speaking of the characters...

The cast in this movie is sublime. Owen Wilson has the best performance of his entire (Ben Stiller filled) career in this movie. He is funny at times, and you really feel for him when he's stuck in the movie's big dilemma. Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen are among the group of characters from the priviliged Hollywood background. These characters are self centered jerks who are clearly missing Owen Wilson's vision of Paris. These characters are the type of characters whom you love to hate. In a movie with hardly any antagonists, these characters would probably fall in that demograpic. Once Owen Wilson steps into his 1920s paradise, you get introduced to the best characters in the entire movie. These characters are as magical as Paris in both time settings. Some of the supporting characters include Marion Colltiard as Adriana, Some of these characters add depth to the story, and some of them are just there to give the audience a few bellylaughs. Either way, the characters in this movie add even more magic to this dazzling movie.

Woody Allen has made a triumph of a film that will soon be considered an instant timeless classic. If you know who T.S. Elliot, Picasso, and all of the other historical characters in this movie, then you will surely enjoy this movie. The cast in this movie is terrific, and the story is great. Woody Allen knows how to be a great storyteller at the best of times. His previous two films might not have shown his artistic abilities as his earlier films did, but Midnight in Paris strikes every chord possible on the great movies' harp. Every moviegoer in the world, and every die hard Woody Allen fan will fall in love with this movie. No matter how you get to see this movie, I still strongly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to get away from all of the big budgeted blockbusters coming out this summer. If you want to escape from rampaging robots in Chicago or superheroes kicking ass on our home planet, then you may just want to hop into Woody Allen's crazy mind for an hour and a half and discover what happens when you spend a magical, fantastic night with Owen Wilson and company in Midnight in Paris.




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REVIEW: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon 3D

MOVIE
Transformers:
Dark Of The Moon

CAST
Shia LaBeouf,
Rosie Huntington-Whitley

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
June 29, 2011

DIRECTOR
Michael Bay

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 34 minutes





STARS
***1/2












REVIEW:

It's been two years since worldwide moviegoers were exposed to the the terrible piece of crap that is 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.' I was one of the few who actually liked the movie back in 2009. But that was 2009, and I actually have come to despise the movie and laugh at how bad it is. After that piece of crap was released in 2009, it seemed almost impossible for Michael Bay to regain his respect from Hollywood and the rest of the world. However, Paramount still had respect for Mr. Bay, so they greenlit a third Transformers, and Bay told the world that his final Tranformers movie, 'Dark Of The Moon' would be his final Transformers movie. So Bay polished his shoes, fired Megan Fox and that annoying college kid from the second movie, and got rid of those racist twin robots who were just as annoying as Jar Jar Binks. Moviegoers have been on the fence to see this movie after 'Revenge,' but two impressive trailers shined some light on this movie and gave us hop on a better third film. I am here to tell you that with the power of 3D, Michael Bay has made the mother of all robotic destruction movies, with intense action, fun bellylaughs, eyepopping special effects, and one hell of a movie experience. Transformers: Dark of The Moon is not only the best of the franchise, but one of the best action movies of the year.

SYNOPSIS: (Courtesy of Fandango.com)
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), join the fray when when the evil Decepticons renew their longstanding war against the Autobots. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) believes that resurrecting ancient Transformer Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy), who was once the leader of the Autobots, may lead to victory. That decision, however, has devastating consequences; the war appears to tip in the Decepticons' favor, leading to a climactic battle in Chicago.

For those who love non-stop action, a hot lady, and some comedy bits here and there, then you might just be in movie heaven with the supposedly final Transformers installment. Michael Bay promised us a better movie than the last one, and he without a doubt delivers that. The action sequences, especially the hour long climatic battle in the ruins of Chicago are the best action scenes shown in the entire series. I can guarantee that they will blow your mind of of your head and into the Pacific Ocean. If you're reading this in the West Coast, then it'll blow your mind into the Atlantic instead. There is so much action in this movie that it will give you a headache you will not regret getting. Some of the stunts in this movie are so unbelievable, but they just look so cool to watch. There is one scene where some of the human characters are sliding down the edge of a falling building, so they break the glass underneath them to get inside the building where they keep sliding down, waiting for their doom. This was possibly the most incredible 3D action sequence in recent history, and we can only get it from Explosions Bay. The action in this movie was even cooler watching it in 3D.

The 3D in this movie I swear was the best use of 3D since Avatar. Yeah, the 3D in Pirates and Tron looked really cool, but only Michael Bay could make fighting robots in 3D look really spectacular. Come to think of it, the only way to fully experience this new Transformers movie is in 3D. The colors look more crisp, there aren't too many gimmicky moments, aside from Ken Jeong's hilarious gimmicky moment, and there is as much depth in certain scenes as there were in Avatar. You really feel that you're in the destruction and ruins of Chicago seeing these huge robots kicking eachothers asses. The Chicago ruins shown in this movie look so real, that I could barely tell the difference from real Chicago and CGI Chicago. Chicago is possibly my favorite city in America, and I loved seeing it being blown to smithereens by these badass robots. To see this in 3D was breathtaking to me. If you love Transformers or the city of Chicago dearly, you must go see this movie in 3D. I guarantee that you will not regret paying the $3-$5 surcharge.

I thought Megan Fox was pretty good in the first Transformers. However I thought that she was awful in Revenge Of The Fallen. It was smart for Bay to fire Fox, mainly because there was very little chemistry between Fox and LaBeouf. However I was skeptic of Bay to hire a Victoria's Secret model for the new lead, because I got the feeling that Bay is just an old school pervert. But all of those thought went down the drain, because the newcomer hot model can actually act. I believed that she and LaBeouf actually had chemistry together. She actually may become a very good actress/extremely sexy model. Shia is always good in the movies he's in, and this movie is no different either. I just wish that he would do things during the action scenes other than scream "OPTIMUS!!!" or "BUMBLEBEE!!" He screamed those same lines in the last movie. Talk about recycled lines. Patrick Dempsey gets my award of biggest douchebag of the year. Pardon my language, but that is the absolute truth. I don't want to say how he's a douche since it will spoil a lot of the movie for you, but he plays a douche very well. Hard to believe that this type of character can come from the same guy from Grey's Anatomy and Enchanted.

I don't understand why John Malkovich and Shia LaBeouf's parents are in this movie, but for the time that they're in the movie, they are hilarious. Even though they just disappear from the movie about an hour into it, they use their time wisely and are clearly the comedic part of the movie. John Turturro is also the funny guy in the movie, and he nails his role as always. He isn't needed in the movies after the first one, but he is always a really funny character. The best character of the whole movie, in my opinion comes from the very small role that comes from Ken Jeong. This guy, who you may remember as Mr. Chow from The Hangover movies, steals the scenes that he is in. I just wish that they didn't kill him so abruptly, because they could've taken his character to great lengths in Chicago. This isn't exactly a spoiler, because Jeong's role only lasts about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, that's not the worst thing to come from this movie.

As I mentioned before, this is a hardcore action movie. If you're going into this movie expecting an equal blend of comedy and action, go see something else. The comedy really stops about halfway into this movie. After the end of the first act, there is non-stop action throughout the second act of the movie. During the hardcore action in the second act of the movie, I was hoping for a little comedic moment to give the audience a light chuckle. Instead, we got tons of sci-fi action that almost seemed endless. Bay isn't afraid to show that this is war, but I just wanted a brief break from all of the action. This sort of explains why all of the funny characters were eliminated from the second half of the movie. The comedic characters were very brief in the first hour of the movie. When Sam is about to go to the final battle, he tells his parents that he loves them, and they are gone from the rest of the movie. What happened to them? Did they survive the robot war? I don't know, and I will never know. The same thing sort of goes for John Malkovich, who has an unnecessary scene where he meets Bumblebee for the first time. How did he even know that Sam knew the robots? Just a very unnecessary scene in a very fun movie. My final problem comes from Optimus Prime's dialogue in the movie. Why does he always talk like he's giving an important speech to someone? At least give him some dialogue that we could actually believe coming from an alien robot. Despite these problems, the movie still rocked.

Despite the many flaws clearly present here, Transformers: Dark of The Moon is a spectacular action movie with great plot twists and spectacular visual effects in spectacular 3D. The action is awesome, the stunts are unbelievable, and the movie uses the 3D element so well. The action scenes, which take up about 70% of the movie will blow your mind away, especially if you see it in 3D. The stunts in this movie may be unbelievable, but so are the ones in Fast Five, and that movie was also badass. The acting is much better from the previous two movies, and Michael Bay heard your cries about the comedic elements of the second movie. While the comedy is toned down in the second act, I still wish that Bay had thrown in one of two little chuckles that could give us a brief break from the chaos happening in Chicago. Still, this movie was just an awesome experience, and a nice end to this trilogy. If you want to see the alien robots' lives without Megan Fox being there, then do yourself a favor and end this trilogy on a high note in your mind with Transformers: Dark Of The Moon.

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