Men in Black 3 – Movie Review

MEN IN BLACK 3

Who’s in it:

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement and Emma Thompson.

Who made it:

Barry Sonnenfeld – Director

Walter Parkers and Laurie MacDonald – Producers

What’s it about:

The Men in Black are back, and this time Agent J (Will Smith) must take a trip into the past in order to save both the future and his taciturn partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) in the third installment of the hit sci-fi comedy series. After 15 years of working with aliens from all across the cosmos, Agent J is sure he’s seen it all. But just when he’s getting the hang of the game, he learns that history has inexplicably been rewritten. In this new timeline of events, Agent K has been dead for 40 years, and Earth will soon come under attack from an extraterrestrial force with the power to claim the entire planet. Now, in order to set the past straight and head off an invasion of epic proportions, Agent J must travel back to the year 1969, when Young Agent K (Josh Brolin) was just a fresh new face on the force. But Agent J only has 24 hours to find the source of the coming catastrophe and discern how his longtime partner ties into the situation — should he fail he’ll be stuck in the past forever.

6/10 – Back in Black

Dark Shadows – Movie Review

DARK SHADOWS

Who’s in it:

Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley.

Who made it:

Tim Burton  – Director

Johnny Depp, Richard D. Zanuck and Graham King – Producers

What’s it about:

Transformed into a vampire and entombed for 200 years after betraying vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), 18th century fishing magnate Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) returns to Collinwood Manor in 1972, only to find his once proud estate in ruins and his family plagued by macabre secrets.

1.5/10 – Should have stayed buried

Battleship – Movie Review

BATTLESHIP

Who’s in it:

Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Liam Neeson, Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker

Who made it:

Peter Berg  – Director

Peter Berg, Brian Goldner, Duncan Henderson, Bennett Schneir, Sarah Aubrey and Scott Stuber – Producers

What’s it about:

Milton Bradley’s enduringly popular strategic board game makes the leap to the big screen in Hancock director Peter Berg‘s epic sci-fi adventure pitting an international naval fleet against an army of invading aliens. When the two forces find themselves evenly matched, each must rely on strategy and cunning in order to emerge the victor. Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard head-up a cast also featuring Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, and Tadanobu Asano.

4.5/10 – More explosions than acting

Project X – Movie Review

PROJECT X

Who’s in it:

Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown

Who made it:

Nima Nourizadeh  – Director

Todd Phillips – Producer

What’s it about:

The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips produces this outrageous comedy from writers Matt Drake and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), which follows three undistinguished high-school students who attempt to achieve popularity by throwing the ultimate party

5.5/10 – Party out of control!

Marvel’s The Avengers – Movie Review

MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS

Who’s in it:

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson.

Who made it:

Josh Whedon  – Director

Kevin Feige – Producer

What’s it about:

Marvel Studios delivers the ultimate comic-book film, which ties together such characters as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) for a big-screen franchise team-up like no other. Taking center stage this time is Nick Fury (played once again by the note-perfect Samuel L. Jackson), leader of the peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury, along with former Russian spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), recruits a super team to combat Thor’s ever-deceptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) after he brainwashes ace archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) while stealing a cosmic cube from an underground base. Thus the heroes must learn to work together alongside outlaw scientist Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who can track down the artifact’s gamma signals when he’s not hulking out into a giant green monster.

9.5/10 – Action, Suspense, Comedy… Assemble!!!

The Vow – Movie Review

THE VOW

Who’s in it:

Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Jessica Lange, Sam Neill and Wendy Crewson.

Who made it:

Michael Suscy  – Director

Jonathan Glickman, Paul Taublieb and Gary Barber – Producers

What’s it about:

A husband endeavors to win back his new bride’s heart after she loses her memory in a tragic car accident in this romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

5/10 – Chick Flick. That’ll be all!

The Vow stars Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum as newly weds Paige and Leo, who seem to have the perfect young couple life – they laugh at their jokes, stare into each others eyes and can even fart in a car with the windows up. All this changes, however, when they’re involved in a car accident, which causes Paige to lose her memory. Well most of it, she can still remember growing up and all that, but she has no idea who her new hubby is, why she has short hair or why she lives in the city – of all places.

This leaves Leo in a dilemma. He has to win his wife’s heart all over again, and try he does, since, well he did it the first time, so why can’t he do it again. Unfortunately for him, this time he has to deal with Paige’s annoyingly overprotective parents, and still in love ex-fiancé, as well as the fact that Paige seems to believe that, due to her amnesia, she thinks all the great things right in front of her face are terrible things, and she doesn’t want to remember just in case she doesn’t like what she sees. She conveniently ignores the fact that it is pointed out to her, time after time, that she’s married to a loveable and soulful hunk, as a kickass apartment in the city and is a very successful artist.

Leo, to his credit, does everything he can to prevent Paige from falling back into her former uptight sorority girl life – where she still does what her dad wants her to do (go to law school) and is willing to marry/date corporate drones to the detriment of her life time happiness – and the questions always remain, will he succeed? Will she give him a chance? Will he give up? And when will this movie end?

The point here isn’t whether the movie is good or bad – because if you’re a lady or a fan of things like The Notebook, I’m sure what I say here is irrelevant and you’re going to see it anyways -, the point is whether you can bear just under an hour of this predictable tear jerker. People who already know they can’t stand stuff like this will rightly avoid it, and it will feel like a spa treatment to everyone else.

The Hunger Games – Movie Review

THE HUNGER GAMES

Who’s in it:

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz.

Who made it:

Gary Ross  – Directors

Jon Kilik and Nina Jacobson – Producers

What’s it about:

Based on the best-selling young-adult novel by author Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games tells the dark tale of a 16-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who is selected to compete in a vicious televised tournament in which 24 teenagers from a post-apocalyptic society fight to the death for the entertainment of the masses. In the future, North America is no more. In its place has risen Panem, a divided nation split into 12 districts. Every year, each district selects a teen of each gender (called “Tributes”) to test their worth in a competition known as the Hunger Games, which are broadcast across the nation as entertainment, and to reinforce the government’s total power. When her younger sister is selected as District 12’s latest “Tribute,” Katniss volunteers to take her place, and trains under hard-drinking former Hunger Games champion Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) to sharpen her killer instincts. Now in order to survive the game and emerge the victor, this young combatant must put all of her skills to the ultimate test. Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth co-star

9/10 – Eat your heart out!

21 Jump Street – Movie Review

21 JUMP STREET

Who’s in it:

Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggie and DeRay Davis.

Who made it:

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller  – Directors

Stephen J. Cannell, Neal H. Moritz and Jonah Hill – Producers

What’s it about:

The television series that shot Johnny Depp to stardom makes the leap to the big screen in this reboot starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) have the kind of faces that could let them pass for teenagers. Eager to prove themselves as effective policemen, the pair join the Jump Street program and go undercover to investigate a high-school drug ring. Now, the only thing more daunting than the prospect of taking on violent adolescent dope slingers is the possibility of experiencing the torture of their teenage years all over again. Ice Cube, Brie Larson, and Rob Riggle co-star.

8.5/10 – Not for everyone, ridiculous fun nonetheless

Phone Swap (Nollywood) – Movie Review

PHONE SWAP

Who’s in it:

Wale Ojo, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Lydia Forson, Joke Silva and Afeez Oyetoro.

Who made it:

Kunle Afolayan  – Director

Kunle Afolayan – Producer

What’s it about:

Akin (Wale Ojo) and Mary (Nse Ikpe-Etim) meet for the first time at an airport where they accidentally bump into each other and mistakenly swap their identical mobile phones. This leads to a destination mix up after they receive one another’s text regarding a travel destination. Consequently, Akin ends up traveling to where Mary is supposed to go and vice versa.
Neither knows about the swap until they have reached their opposite destinations and “the phone” stops ringing (In Mary’s case) and “Won’t stop ringing” (In Akins’s case).
As a result of the phone swap, they agree to help carry out each other’s missions, armed with the information and data on each other’s phone.
But it’s not as easy as they both think as new obstacles and complications arise at every turn as they both struggle to adapt to their alien environment and situation.
Mary has to walk in Akin’s shoes and represent him in a company meeting while Akin has to represent Mary in her family meeting. This they do with hilarious results…

8/10 – I LOVED IT!!!

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Movie Review

DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX

Who’s in it:

Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggie and Betty White

Who made it:

Chris Renaud  – Director

Christopher Meledandri and Janet Healy – Producers

What’s it about:

Dr. Seuss’ classic, environmentally themed children’s book comes to the big screen in this tale of a young boy who encounters a cantankerous forest creature after venturing outside of his artificial city in search of a tree. Ted (voice of Zac Efron) lives in a town where nothing is quite as it appears; everything is plastic, including the plants. Hopelessly smitten by the beautiful Audrey (voice of Taylor Swift), who dreams of one day seeing a real tree, Ted boldly leaves the city determined to find the flora and grant her wish. Along the way, the young adventurer crosses paths with the Lorax (voice of Danny DeVIto), a diminutive, mustached defender of nature who doesn’t take kindly to human intruders. The better Ted gets to know the Lorax, however, the more he learns that his newfound friend has good reason for being a bit surly.

6/10 – The kids will love it