Author: moviewarrior

I am an IT Professional who has loved the movie going experience since Kindergarten. My favorite Genres are Action, Suspense/Thrillers, Drama, Sci-Fi, Animation, Art House and Romantic Comedies.

Annie (2014)

“Annie (2014)” is yet another take on the classic Broadway hit with a more contemporary look and feel.

“Annie (2014)” is a charming and delightful movie for the younger set.

The adult actors seemed off balance in a lot of the scenes. The singing was strained on some of the songs. Most scenes that contained Cameron Diaz were disjointed. She seemed out of her element.
Jamie Foxx is an excellent R&B singer, but not show tunes. Jamie appeared as if he were embarrassed in some of his scenes.

“Annie (2014)” is best left on Broadway where it belongs.

This is a 1 1/2 Star Movie!

Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

“Night At The Museum: Secret of The Tomb” was more like “Chaos and Confusion at the Museum”.

Larry (Ben Stiller) embarks on a wild night-time epic adventure to try and save the magic before it’s too late.

There were a few funny, crazy scenes, some great music and it was great to see a lot of the familiar museum pieces from the previous installments and there are even a few new pieces, but this installment is clearly lacking and disjointed.

I am sure the stars had fun making this film, but it’s time for the museum pieces to go back to the “Still Life”.
The magic has clearly run its course.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Top Five

“Top Five” plainly stated is Chris Rock “Stand-up in the Raw and on the Move”.

“Top Five” is about the “Show Business” bed being unmade. Chris Rock and his star studded cast blend comedy and seriousness with politics and everyday life situations from alcohol and drug use to romance, marriage and sex.

If you like Chris Rock in his stand-up comedy shows, you will like “Top Five”.

This movie is definitely not for anyone under the age of 17. There is strong profanity, strong sexual content, explicit nudity and crude humor throughout the movie.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

Exodus: Gods and Kings: The IMAX Experience

This epic adventure from Ridley Scott does not live up to the big shoes it has to fill from the classic source.

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” is a story of the leader Moses (Christian Bale) who dares to try and take on an Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton). Moses will eventually lead over 600,000 slaves on a daring journey from Egypt. The story unfolds from there…

The cinematography is breath-taking. The camera angles are great. The visual effects are very good. Unfortunately that’s about as good as it gets. The dialog is a bit lacking. The story falls short of really gaining your complete attention.

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” just doesn’t live up to the classic source.

This is disappointing as I expected better.

This is a 1 1/2 Star Movie!

Fury (2014)

“Fury (2014)” is intense and definitely not for the weak at heart. You get war violence at its finest.  

It’s 1945 and there’s a Sherman Tank on the move behind enemy lines being commanded by Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) with his 5 man Platoon that contains a rookie. They are out manned and out gunned but that is not going to stop Wardaddy from making a final push at trying to bring the Nazi German Regime to its knees. The story unfolds from there…

“Fury (2014)” is gritty, grimy, brutal and very well crafted. This is a serious war movie with serious war violence. See it if you dare.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie!

Horrible Bosses 2

“Horrible Bosses 2” is nowhere near as funny or comical as it’s 2011 predecessor.

In this installment, Nick (Bateman), Dale (Day) and Kurt (Sudeikis) attempt to go in business together making a shower head that produces soap along with the water as you shower. They find what they believe is a backer for their business, but these guys have no business savvy. They hire people and get an assembly line going and make 4300 shower heads. When they go to meet their presumed backer he balks. The story unfolds from there…

“Horrible Bosses 2” is only slightly funny and only mildly entertaining. It’s more stupid than funny. Black Friday shopping would provide more entertainment and be more stimulating.

Jamie Foxx makes an appearance and while he is in the scenes everything is hysterical after that nothing.

I would suggest waiting for “Horrible Bosses 2” on DVD or Blue-Ray.

This is a 1 1/2 Star Movie.

The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay PT1: The IMAX Experience

The third installment of The Hunger Games franchise is long on intrigue and suspense, but very short on action.
Picking up were the previous installment left off Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself in a hospital ward in District 13 after she had destroyed the Hunger Games forever.
President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore)of District 13 wants Katniss to be “The Mocking Jay”, but after a brief conversation with her changes her mind. Katniss along with other convince the president that she can and will.
District 13 is tries to get all of the other districts to join together to take down the Capitol, but as they are mounting a charge it is determined that Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is more in need of being rescued from under President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) watchful eyes as it appears he is being forced to say and act as if everything that Katniss has done is wrong. The story unfolds from there…

The newly added cast members give this installment a shot in the arm, but it still falls short of being as good as its predecessors.
“The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay PT1” is long on intrigue and suspense, but the action you have come to expect just isn’t there.
The end sets up nicely for the fourth installment.

This is one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last movies. To say the least the situation is very tragic. Philip Seymour Hoffman was an excellent actor. He will truly be missed.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

Beyond The Lights

“Beyond The Lights” is a story about the latest music super star known as Noni. Everything is not as it seems. The pressures of super stardom start to get to Noni. She meets the young police officer Kaz (Nate Parker) who is assigned to her security detail. He “sees” the real Noni. They get to know each other and soon fall hard and fast despite the discouragement of others.

Kaz has political aspirations and is encouraged to pursue them. But ultimately it’s Kaz and his love for Noni that help her find her true voice. The story unfolds from there…

“Beyond The Lights” is very well done. The movie is very enjoyable. Most of what you see is a true picture of the entertainment world and how music superstars often live and how they are treated.

Both Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker look great together!!

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

Interstellar: The iMAX Experience

“Interstellar” is way too long and it attempts to reach beyond its concepts.

It’s believed that mankind is coming to an end, so a team of scientists and astronauts search for life on other planets in the hopes that mankind may continue to exist beyond the stars.

“Interstellar” is a visual splendor. It will blow your mind. The cinematography and special effects are off the charts. It’s definitely a must see in IMAX so you can get the full effect.

Now for the bad news…the movie drags, its way too long and at times does not make sense. I could not wait for it to be over. I practically ran from the theater because I spent most of my afternoon there. Personally I did not like the subject matter. All that aside…Director Christopher Nolan delivers thrills and chills.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie!

For all you “Fast & Furious” Fans…I saw an awesome trailer of “Fast & Furious 7”. It looks really good…it opens 4/3/15

John Wick

Bloody is the order of the day for “John Wick”. This vehicle serves as a great comeback to action for Keanu Reeves. 

“John Wick” is an ex-hit man who comes out of retirement when shortly after his wife’s funeral he is beaten and his little puppy dog is killed all for his high performance Ford Mustang that he refuses to sell. Little do the thugs know who they are dealing with or what they have gotten themselves involved in. The story unfolds from there…

“John Wick” is gritty, bloody, action-packed and a throw-back to gangster style movies, but with a fresh take.

There is a plot and story; you just have to give the movie time to formulate everything into a nice neat package.

If you like Action/Assassin type movies, “John Wick” is your movie.

This is a 3 1/2 star movie