Last Ounce of Courage

If there is one movie that you should see this year its Last Ounce of Courage. Its a Christian movie which may turn some people off but this movie is fitting for the time of year it is. Have you ever thought that the government is taking away some of our rights? I have at one point or another but this movie is such a powerful movie that it really makes you think. The hero, literally, of the movie is Bob Revere played by Marshall Teague. If he looks familiar just think about the movie Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze and he was the bad guy's right hand man. I won't go into detail but most of us who have seen the movie remember the fight scene with Patrick Swayze. Jennifer O'Neil plays his wife. Bob has lost faith after the death of his son during the war and fourteen years later his son's widow and grandson come back to town. Grandson asks why they don't celebrate Christmas and this has Bob thinking and decides to decorate the town. Fred Williamson plays a powerful head of a group that keeps trying to shut him down. But this is so much more than celebrating Christmas, this is about our freedom to be able to celebrate Christmas and to understand what our military is fighting for. I give this five out of five popcorn tubs. This is a must see and make sure your bring lots of kleenex.

2016 Obama's America

Since this is a presidential voting year we see political ads since the end of last year going back and forth between Republicans and Democrats and by this time we can't wait for the voting to be over. We all have our opinions but whether or not you have made up your mind, you need to see 2016 Obama's America. It is a documentary based on a book and it simply states facts. Nothing to sway one way or the other just the facts. When you come out of that movie it definitely opens your eyes to the direction that this country is going. I am not a documentary kind of person but this is a must see.

Expendables 2

Want a good old fashion 80's action movie complete with some of the biggest action starts of then and today then check out Expendables 2. Sylvester Stallone is back as Barney Ross along with Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen, Jet Li as Yin Yang, Terry Crews as Hale Caesar, and Randy Couture as Toll Road. Back for an extended visit is Bruce Willis as Church, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench and Charisma Carpenter as Lee's girlfriend Lacy. Now if that wasn't enough they have added new characters such as Chuck Norris as Booker, Liam Hemsworth as Bill the kid, Nan Yu as Maggie and Jean Claude Van Damme as Villain. Guess which one was the bad guy. There are classic one liners that reference different movies by the stars but the big part was the action. If you want a movie with a lot of plot this not the movie for you but if you want to sit and watch some major butt-kicking then this is the movie for you. I am a huge action fan so this movie rocked. I give it 4 popcorns out of 4 just because of the action and the cast.

Bourne Legacy

When I first heard that they were making a Bourne movie without Matt Damon I swore I would never watch the movie. But the more I saw of the previews and found that Jeremy Renner was playing a different character my interest was aroused. I am so glad that I went and saw this movie. The movie is called Bourne Legacy and Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, another participant in Treadstone and he sets out to get more medication that he needs and finds that they are trying to eliminate him along with other members of this program. He teams up with Dr Marta Shearing played by Rachel Weisz as they are trying to kill her too. Edward Norton plays Retired Colonel Eric Byer, USAF and Stacy Keach plays Retired Admiral Mark Turso, USN and they are the ones that are trying to eliminate Aaron and Dr. Shearing. In the background of this movie is the Bourne Ultimatum with characters that over lap both movies. Tony Gilroy directed this movie and he also wrote this movie along with the first three. The beginning was a little slow but it quickly picked up the pace. It was action packed and dare I say maybe just a little better than the first three. I would give this movie 3.5 out of 4 popcorns.

Dark Knight Rises

I have gotten a little behind so will try to get up to date. The first movies is The Dark Knight Rises. This is the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Christian Bale is back as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Gary Oldman is also back as Commissioner Gordon and Michael Caine is also back as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Fox. The new characters are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Officer Blake, Tom Hardy as Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selena Kyle/Catwoman, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda. This was a good end to the trilogy and it doesn't disappoint those fans who are very critical. There are some twists that I won't divulge but they through me for a loop. I would give this 3.5 popcorns out of 4.

Amazing Spiderman

I was a little apprehensive about watch The Amazing Spiderman because I liked the originals with Tobey Maguire so I was pleasantly surprised that this version was really good. Andrew Garfield takes over the role of Peter Parker/Spiderman, Emma Stone is Gwen Stacy who is Peter's first love, Dennis Leary plays Gwen's father, a police Lt., Martin Sheen plays Peter's uncle Ben and Sally Field plays Peter's Aunty May. Rhys Ifans is the villain playing Dr. Curt Conners/Lizard. The added back story of when Peter came to live with his aunt and uncle and what happened to his parents was great. This just wasn't an action movie but there was comedy mixed in along with action. I give it 4 out of 5 popcorn kernels.

Magic Mike

I have two words for you. Eye candy. That is what you get when you watch Magic Mike! Put Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Rodriguez (CSI Miami), Matt Bomer(White Color) and Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer and Kevin Nash are the male dancers in this movie. Based loosely on Channing Tatum's early years before acting. McConaughey is the owner of a club that is based in Tampa and wants to hit the big time and move to Miami. Channing Tatum is the title character of Magic Mike who takes a new guy under his wing but wants to be more than just a male dancer. There is not much plot or story to this movie but I really didn't care because the dancing was fantastic. It is worth the price of admission.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

When I heard that they were taking my favorite president and turning him into a vampire hunter I was a little skeptical but I went to see Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and it was really pretty good. Normally I don't go to vampire movies but I was curious about how they would take our sixteenth President of the United States and make him a vampire hunter and would they change the history to do it. The answer is no. The history of Abraham Lincoln was all there but they just added back story to how some things happened to include vampires. It was well cast and well done. I highly recommend this movie even if you don't like vampire movies.

Rock of Ages

Today I am going to review the movie Rock of Ages. I think what drew me to this movie was first the soundtrack because it has all these great songs from Journey, Twisted Sister, Starship, Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses and more. It is about this rocker Stacee Jaxx played by Tom Cruise (who was very convincing and not a bad singer). Paul Giamatti plays his manager, Julianne Hough plays Sheri (small town girl), Mary J. Blige plays the owner of a strip club called the Venus Club, Catherine Zeta Jones plays Patty the mayor's wife and Bryan Cranston plays the mayor. Alec Baldwin plays the owner of the nightclub called the Bourbon Room, and Russell Brand plays a worker at the club and there is a newcomer names Diego Boneta plays a would be singer who gets his big break. The movie moved along and all the characters sang their own songs. It is great to see the eighties fashions again along with the hair. I recommend this movie. It is a great way to spend an evening. I think its worth the money.

Madagascar 3

Today I am going to write about the movie Madagascar 3. This is the third installment and the originals voices are back. Ben Stiller as Alex the lion, David Schwimmer as Melman the giraffe, Jada Pinkett-Smith as Gloria the hippo and Chris Rock as Marty the zebra. They are trying to get back to New York City Zoo and they end up in Monte Carlo trying to find the penguins. They are again on the run from a french captain who loves to kill animals and hang them up on her wall and she needs a lion so she decides to go after Alex. Now the runaways try to hide from this captain by trying to blend in with a circus. This is a disaster waiting to happen but it all ends well. This movie was by far the best of the three. Little kids will love it and so will the parents. Definitely worth the price of admission. Next I will review Rock of Ages.

What to Expect When you are Expecting

You guys are lucky today because I am going to now review What to Expect When you are Expecting. I know I got a little behind on my movies so this should get me caught up until next week. This movie has a pretty good cast with Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Matthew Morrison, Chris Rock, Brooklyn Decker and Dennis Quaid with other great supporting cast members and a brief cameo of Megan Mellaly (from Will and Grace) as herself on a fictional dance competition. There is adoption, miscarriage, miracle, twins and surprise pregnancies in this movie. I thought it was charming and when all the pregnant women seem to go into labor at the same time it is a hilarious look at birth. I laughed and I cried. I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars so its worth the price of ticket. I must say though that I have never seen so many pregnant women come to one movie in my life.

Men in Black 3

Today I am going to give a review on the movie Men in Black 3. This movie stars Will Smith as Agent J, Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, Josh Brolin as a young Agent K and Emma Thompson as the new leader.
At first I was a little skeptical about making a third installment of MIB 3 but this movie had the same energy as the other two. When people ask me how it was, I simply tell them that it is not as good as the first but better than the second. Which is mostly true of any trilogy (not all though). This movie is worth the price of admission. I give it a 3 out 5 stars.

Battleship

Today I am going to review the movie Battleship. There have been a couple of movies that I have seen that I can't believe they could make a movie about a guy in a phone booth for instance or a man stuck in an airport terminal but they did and both of those movies were great. But this movie is not based on a single place or even on action figures or video games. This movie is based on a popular board game and when I first heard about this concept I had my doubts but it just took a couple of actors and the United States Navy to change my mind. When I saw this movie I was amazed that they actually pulled off making this movie. The stars of this movie are Liam Neeson as Admiral Shane, Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, Alexander Skarsgard as Alex's brother Commander Stone Hopper, Brooklyn Decker as Alex's girlfriend/Admiral Shane's daughter, Rihanna as Petty Officer Cora "Weps" Raikes and Gregory D. Godson as Lt. Colonel Mick Canales who is a real life war hero who had his legs lost during battle. Rihanna does an good job as a weapons control and all the actors along with all of the Navy personnel that was in this movie was very good. The enemy this time were aliens and the use of real Navy ships like the John Paul Jones and U.S.S. Ronald Reagan which is an aircraft carrier was fantastic because you got to see how these ships actually worked. They have even added aspects of the board game into the movie but I won't tell you what they are and we will see if you can figure it out. There is battle on land and at sea and without telling you the end I just want to say that a "battleship" does appear to do battle. I highly recommend this movie. It is not your typical alien movie but you will be cheering at the end. Well worth the price of admission.

The Avengers

Today I thought I would review the movie The Avengers. I can't tell you how much I have anticipated this movie and the closer that opening day approached, I couldn't wait any longer and the movie did not disappoint. From the first moment that you see Loki, to incorporating each character that creates the Avengers was a total thrill ride. Seeing Tony Stark/Ironman, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Bruce Banner/Hulk and Thor getting together, fighting each other and then coming together for a common cause is totally awesome. The actors and their characters/alter egos work well together. Robert Downey Jr is as always charming as Tony Stark and Iron Man, Chris Evans was great as Steve Rogers and Captain America, Mark Ruffalo was very convincing as Bruce Banner and The Hulk(The best one by far) Jeremy Renner was equally convincing as Clint Barton and Hawkeye and the chemistry that he had with Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff and Black Widow. The fight at the end was on the edge of your seat and I was holding my breath the whole time. If this is your first time seeing the movie make sure you stay til the end of the credits and if you have seen it before you already know. Since I work at the movie theatre this is the movie I go to on break because I just can't get enough. I would have to give this five out of  five stars.

The Lucky One

Today I thought I would give my views on movies that are already in theatres. My first review in on the movie The Lucky One. This is a movie that is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. It stars Zac Efron, Blythe Danner and Taylor Schilling. This is a story of a Marine who spots a picture and while he admires the picture is kept safe from a bomb that went off where he was sitting. Trying to fit in back in the U.S. and suffering from PTSD, he sets out to find the woman he claims saved his life. He finally finds her and he becomes attached to her little boy and helps her deal with the loss of her brother who was a Marine. She has an ex-husband who threatens to take her son away unless she stops seeing Logan(Zac Efron) and when that didn't work the ex-husband breaks into Logan's pad and finds the picture. She then asks Logan to leave and that is when the climax starts which I won't give away.

Zac Efron did an amazing job in his transitional movie from teen to man, Blythe Danner was good as the grandmother, Taylor Schilling was convincing as Beth but Riley Thomas Stewart who played her son Ben stole the scenes. This movie is a must if  you love romance. I highly recommend this movie.

Dark Shadows

This is my first review and I wanted to tell you about the Dark Shadows. This is a movie based on the soap opera of the same name back in the sixties.  The main character of Dark Shadows is Barnabus Collins. In the TV show, the character was played by Jonathan Frid (who sadly passed before the movie opened. He did have a cameo in the movie.) and he was a frightening character. In the movie version  of Dark Shadows, the character of Barnabus Collins is played by Johnny Depp. I went to this movie because the trailers(previews before the movie) were funny and I thought that they had made this one more comedic since most movies that were television shows went from being serious to funny. I was very much mistaken. Barnabus is a vampire and unlike the vampires of the Twilight movies, he kills people for their blood, sometimes dripping down his mouth. The movie itself was very weird with the girl being a werewolf, the witch who turned a boy into an orphan and it was also too sexual for a PG13 rating. If I was you I would spend my hard earned money and watch The Avengers again. Wait til this movie comes out on DVD where it will be cheaper to walk out.

Next will be the reviews for Battleship and What to Expect When You're Expecting.