Ender’s Game

An Elite group of talented and gifted children are selected to train for a potentially very catastrophic War.

Ender Wiggins, shy but a strategically brilliant young leader, is recruited to join the elite group.

Once at the Battle School, Ender quickly masters the increasingly difficult challenges and simulations that are presented to him.
Ender soon gains that attention of Graff who is one of the schools Commanders who ordains Ender as the military’s next great hope. Ender is soon promoted to Commander School where he is trained to lead and given his own team of soldiers to lead into the next epic battle. The story unfolds from there…
If you read the NY Times best-selling novel you won’t be disappointed. It’s definitely a must see in IMAX to get the full effect. The special effects, cinematography and camera angles are fabulous. There is a small lull in the film, but it arrives at the end respectfully. Although this is a first chapter, “Ender’s Game” will lead to a blockbuster franchise.

The Counselor

Please do not waste your money! “The Counselor” is one of the worst movies of 2013!
What an utter disappointment. The movie is all over the map. There are long sex scenes that don’t make sense and have no real place in the movie. I am not sure what Ridley Scott was thinking when he was directing this.
The movie is supposed to be about an attorney who gets in too deep in the drug trafficking business. The story and plot are not obvious and everything is all over the place. The movie is brutally bloody. The previews are extremely miss-leading. I totally expected action, intrigue, drama and a bit of fun given the cast. There is none of that in “The Counselor”.
I have to say that I am not even sure that “The Counselor” warrants a look even when it comes out on DVD or Blueray. I can’t see spending any money on this film at all.

“The Counselor” should have been left on the cutting room floor.

Escape Plan

Sylvester Stallone is Ray Breslin, a respected authority on Structural Security. He agrees to take on a high-risk job of breaking out of an ultra-secret high-tech facility that is located in parts unknown called “The Tomb”.

At this ultra-secret facility things go awry and Ray is falsely imprisoned. He is then forced to recruit a fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) to help him devise a plan to escape. The story unfolds from there…

The story starts off ok, but loses its way through most of the movie to regain some footing toward the end. Sly and Arnold are good together and that’s what makes “Escape Plan” interesting. It was also great to see Vincent D’Onofrio from Law & Order Criminal Intent fame.

If you are a Sylvester Stallone fan then “Escape Plan” is worth a look.

Captain Phillips

“Captain Phillips” is an extremely well executed movie. It’s like waiting for a rose bud to bloom. It happens slowly, but oh very much worth the wait.

“Captain Phillips” is based on the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. Container Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The movie is meticulous in its execution. Showing you every layer and angle of the story as it unfolds from the relationship between Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi) to the U.S. Navy coming to the rescue.

As the events occur you will be on the edge of your seat. There is no pause or “dead space” in this movie. Director Paul Greengrass is excellent at providing you a scintillating thriller with “on the edge of your seat” intrigue. Remember Paul Greengrass is the director of all of the Bourne movies that Matt Damon starred in. Tom Hanks is masterful in his portrayal of “Captain Phillips”.

“Captain Phillips” is definitely worth a look.

Runner Runner

Sometimes the paid critics do get it right! This is the case with “Runner Runner”. It’s not good!!

Believing that he had been swindled by an online gambling site, a Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake) makes his way to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the gambling site a multi-millionaire by the name of Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Ivan thanks Richie for bring the error to his attention. Ivan of course checks Richie out and uncovers that he is a grad student in need of money.
Ivan dangles the idea of making millions in front of Richie. Richie decides to take Ivan up on his offer, but quickly finds out that he could be in over his head and the FBI (Anthony Mackie) have been closely watching Ivan Block and are hoping to use Richie to get him. The story unfolds from there…

Yawn…I was bored out of my mind. Been there done that!! There are some similarities between “Runner Runner” and another movie centered on gambling and casinos that opened in 2010 call “21”. “21” was a lot better movie. It was more exciting and had more intrigue.
I found “Runner Runner” to be flat and uneventful. Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) is boring. The movie is a fast-paced thriller that has no real direction and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. There is no reason to hurry to see “Runner Runner”.

“Runner Runner” is from the director of “The Lincoln Lawyer”. “The Lincoln Lawyer” was an excellent movie. Too bad I can’t say the same of “Runner Runner”.

Gravity 3D: An IMAX Experience

This is a movie that I will provide a split decision on my review because while the movie is very well executed and the cinematography is breath-taking I did not enjoy the movie. The movie receives 1 star for stressing me out and 5 stars for Execution, Cinematography and Direction.

Sandra Bullock is Dr. Ryan Stone a brilliant medical engineer on her very first NASA Mission in Space. She and veteran Astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) are on what seems to be a routine space walk repairing parts of a satellite when disaster strikes, destroying their space shuttle and leaving them stranded in space. The story unfolds from there…

There are breath-taking views. The cinematography is great. The story is very well executed and the camera angles you get are fabulous!!
The story just did not interest me, but that doesn’t mean that the movie wasn’t good. I found the story to be stressful.

If you like Sci-Fi Suspense, you will like “Gravity”.
The movie is definitely worth the 3D price tag.

Prisoners

On the edge of your seat suspense” is what “Prisoners” brings to the party. The movie will hold your attention!

“What would you do if your child went missing? How far would you go to get your child back? A Parent’s worst nightmare is what two sets of parents face in “Prisoners”.
On Thanksgiving Day Anna and her friend Joy go missing. As minutes turn into hours which turn into days and weeks everyone associated with the situation starts to panic. The only lead is a dilapidated RV and Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests it’s driver, but his intense questioning for hours and days of the suspect yields nothing so when the suspect is released by the police department Keller Dover(Hugh Jackman) takes matters into his own hands. The story unfolds from there…

“Prisoners” is an extremely well executed movie. It’s very realistic in its emotions and events that occur. There is plenty of edge of your seat suspense and intrigue. The movie will definitely hold your attention. While I did not like the subject matter, that doesn’t mean the movie was good. It’s a definite must see if you can handle the subject matter. The movie is long in its execution at 2 hours 33 minutes, but worth every minute. There are a few surprise twists that bring everything together toward the end.

As an additional foot note Mark Wahlberg is an executive producer on this movie.

The Family

I found “The Family” to be mildly entertaining with its “Slapstick Wit” and “All out Stupidity and Silliness”.

“The Family”, The Manzonis a notorious Mafia family, are on their way to witness protection. They have been relocated to Normandy France. They go about trying to fit with daily check-ups from their FBI Handler (Tommy Lee Jones), but soon find themselves doing things “their way”. Each family member has some sort of run-in during their first full day in the little sleepy town of Normandy. Soon they settle in, but back in the US, there are mobsters still trying to find them. The story unfolds from there…

The problem with “The Family” is there is no foundation and you are left to make your own determinations about the reason The Manzonis have been relocated. You are shown snippets of days and events long past, but even then the picture isn’t quite set. I see “The Family” as more of a “Dark Comedy” that doesn’t quit come together. The bright spot is the cast.

I would wait for “The Family” to come out on DVD, Blueray or Cable.

Riddick: An IMAX Experience

In this fourth installment “Riddick” (Vin Diesel) finds himself left for dead on a sun scorched planet amongst alien predators. These Alien Predators appear to be a cross between the monster from the movie “Alien” and the “Cracken” monster from the movie “Clash of the Titans”.

The only way off this horrific planet is to activate an emergency beacon, but to do this would bring mercenaries to the planet looking to place Riddick’s head in a box and collect the bounty. Two ships do arrive each jockeying for how they are going to capture Riddick and collect the bounty, but Riddick appears to have the upper hand. He starts to single handedly pick off his adversaries one by one. The story unfolds from there…

Big issue…There doesn’t seem to be any relationship between this installment and any of the others. It’s pretty obvious that the movie is low-budget. It’s a piece of Sci-Fi fare that should have been left on the cutting room floor. The gore and bloodiness are off the charts. I found myself looking away several times. There is tons of action, violence and a bit of nudity, but there isn’t much else. The story sort of rambles on with no meaning and is complete utter nonsense. Some of the dialog isn’t understandable. I think that if the story were more gripping the movie would be tolerable.

“Riddick” ranks up there with “The Lone Ranger” that came out earlier this summer. Neither of these movies should have been made. What a waste… The Rotten Tomatoes rating for “Riddick” is one point from being fresh. I found that to be a laugh. I like Vin Diesel, but he should stick to the “Fast and Furious” franchise.

Lee Daniels ‘ The Butler

Based on a true story, Lee Daniels’ The Butler tells the story of a White House Butler who served eight American Presidents over a 30+ year period.

The story is excellently told and very well depicted. The movie at times is very emotional, but none the less it’s very good. It will hold your attention.

If you can tolerate the reenactment of 1926 thru the late sixties and how African American people were treated during this time period, then by all means do see “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”. There is a star studded cast that portrays history beautifully.