Easter Candy Movies 2016

GODS OF EGPYT

ACTION/FANTASY

PLOT:    Two gods fight for Egypt while the humans are in the middle.

                Horus (Nikotaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones) god of air and Set (Gerald Butler, 300) god of darkness determinted to rule and Set have a violent, hostile takeover and it is up to a human young man Bek (Brenton Thwaites) to help Horus.  You have seen this story a dozen times.  The film is very vivid and very LOUD.  The bad part of the film is the casting.  People were complained with that title there should have been actors of Egyptian descent.  Most of the stars are English, Australian or Scottish!  Maybe the entire lead cast should have gotten a tan.  The cast was good even though Butler Scottish accent slips a few times.  It is not doing well in theaters but it will do well on video.

ZOOTOPIA

ANIMATED

PLOT:  Career driven bunny wants to be a cop.

                Judy Hopps, a cute young rabbit always doing what you can’t do goes to Zootopia (against her parents) to become a cop.  They police force do not take her seriously and she gets involved with a case with the help of a fox, Nick Wilde that reaches all the way to the top of authority.  Pretty intense for an animated movie but it is as good as a live action cop thriller.  It is funny and clever too.  Adults will love it as well as children.

LONDON HAS FALLEN

ACTION

PLOT: The sequel to Olympus Has Fallen.

                Mike Banning (Gerald Butler) is still President Archer’s top security body guard so when the Prime Minister dies off they go to London and all hell breaks loose! A terrorist named Aamir Barkwi (Alon Aboutboul) knows powerful leaders all over the world will pay their respects and he and his men killed them all except the US President, they want him killed  live for the world to see .  You have seen it all before just the body count is bigger.  If you enjoy action you will love it despite all the madness that could never happen.

Post Oscar-time Oscar Roundup

CAROL

DRAMA-2015

PLOT:  Two women fall in love in the 50’s.

                Cate Blanchett is Carol Aird, a very blonde, rich, elegant woman and Rooney Mara is Therese Beilvet is a working woman and the two fall in love but there are problems.  Carol has a husband and a lovely young daughter.  The word lesbian is never said and it is very subtle how the relationship grows.  Blanchett is fantastic for she wants to be the perfect wife and mother but longs for her lady lover.  Mara is good too as a mousey young woman trying to find her way.  If you see the movie get some sleep for it is very slow moving.

STEVE JOBS

DRAMA-2015

PLOT:  The man who started the digital revolution.

                It is really not a bio in the usual sense but it tells a surrealistic backstage craziness before he goes on stage to sell the latest product.  This is a dialogue drive movie written by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network and TV series The West Wing) and there are emotional explosions-not physical explosions. Michael Fassbender are great as Jobs, he is arrogant, amazing and few times compassionate.  The movie tells a little bit why he is that way.  Kate Winslet is very good as Joanna Hoffman, his assistant who as to deal with his annoying pettiness on a daily basis.  Who really stands out is Seth Rogan!  I don’t think he is funny in his comedies but in this dramatic role as Steve Wozniak he is outstanding!

SPOTLIGHT

DRAMA

PLOT:  The true story of a team of reporters who investigate priests who molest children and how far the cover-up goes.

                Everyone involved with the movie is outstanding acting (Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci), writing direction(Josh Singer Tom McCarthy).  It is so scary that we have to be worried about people in authority-police, priests and doctors and when journalist tell their story they better be right! It also shows that even the best reporters are not perfect and take pride in their work.   It is hard to stomach as victims tell their stories of how pastors abused them so be warned.

JOY

BIOGRAPHY COMEDY-DRAMA

PLOT:  A loosely base true story about Joy Mangano , who invented the Miracle Mop.

                The trailer for this movie is so misleading.  You think it is a comedy about a young woman named Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) and her whacky family.  It is not.  It is about Joy who created the sensation the Miracle Mop and horrors of having it patented and be successful.  Lawrence is very good.  She is driven by debt and to prove to family and friends they were wrong that she can achieve to be a profitable entrepreneur.

TRUMBO

BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA

PLOT:  The true story of Dalton Trumbo who was the top screenwriter then labeled a communist.

                Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad) was one of the popular screenwriters in Hollywood in the 40’s until they found out he was a communist.  He was blacklisted, went to jail, could never use his real name in Hollywood and for a while wrote B-movies to support his family.  Trumbo never played the ‘victim’.  He adapted to every bad situation with humor and creativity.  The cast was very good including Helen Mirren as gossip columnist Hedda Harper, comic Louis C.K. as Arien Hird and John Goodman is truly amazing as Frank King who makes B-movies for living and proud of it!  He plays the most outrageous characters so well he deserves a special Oscar.

ROOM

DRAMA

PLOT:  A young woman is kidnapped, has a son and they are trapped in shed.

                Joy (Brie Larson) is a kidnapped woman who has a son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and they live in a small squalid shed.  Joy loves her son very much so she pretends that Jack is dead so her kidnapper has to remove the body and that’s how Jack escapes.  It sounds very exciting but it is very slow, very real, and very scary.  The two are saved now Jack has to adjust to modern life.  Larson won an Oscar for her performance but Tremblay should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for it was his story.

50 Shades of Sex and Violence

RIDE ALONG 2

ACTION/COMEDY

PLOT:  The squeal to Ride Along.

                Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) is now a rookie while James Payton (Ice Cube) is the tough detective still teaching Ben the ropes.  They team together again to stop a crime lord in Miami.  The comedy provided by Hart is great and the action is not bad either.  This is a movie you will enjoy if you like Kevin Hart if not do not go.

THE 5^TH WAVE

SCI-FI/ACTION

PLOT:   Aliens try to kill the humans on Earth.

                Okay it is a timeless tale of aliens trying to control the earth but it is shown through the eyes of a 16 year old girl named Cassie Sullivan (Chole Grace Moretz, Hit Girl from Kick Ass movies) then the “waves” come and the earth is in turmoil and when the army takes her younger brother, she is determined to find him.  Moretz is great and she is an up and coming action babe!   The attractive Alex Roe is romantic interest. If you like Hunger Games, Divergent you will enjoy this.  The trailers didn’t impress me but the movie did.

50 SHADES OF BLACK

SPOOF

PLOT:  A comedy about the erotic romance sensation 50 Shades of Grey.

                Hannah Steel (Kali Hawk) meets Christian Black (Marion Wayans) as she interviews him for her paper and begins the kinky, sexual relationship.  The film is actually more vulgar than the film they are making fun of.  The movie feels very long and it is not because of the gross humor.  The picture has potential-some parts are very good as Florence Henderson, yes that Henderson who was the mother in the Brady Bunch, as the woman who got Christian into bondage.  It was a shocking stretch for her and she is funny! Hawk is more shapely than her white counterpart Dakota Johnson.  Jenny Zigrino as Kateesha, Hannah’s white roommate who is so stereotype black is hilarious.  Wayans wrote the film and if more comedy than crude was it would have much better.  It didn’t make much money in theaters but will be better on video.

KUNG FU PANDA 3

ANIMATION

PLOT:  The further adventures of Po, the panda and friends.

                Po (voice by Jack Black) must teach his friends more martial arts, he meets his panda father, learn chi and stop an evil adversary.  It is a lot for a panda but Po is up to the challenge.  If you enjoyed the other two you films you will enjoy this one.  It s great for children and kids!

DEADPOOL

ACTION/FANTASY

PLOT:  The origin of the superhero.

                Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who used to be in Special Forces now is a mercenary.  He falls in love with an escort Vanessa ( Morena Baccarin, TV show Gotham).  Life is good then he finds out he has terminal cancer so he leaves her and goes to secret lab to get better.  His cancer is cured and he has superpowers but his faces is disfigured and he wants the person responsible Ajax(Ed Skrein, Game of Thrones) to fix him. 

The movie is funny and action packed.  Reynolds was born to play Deadpool!  If you seen him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine he is much better in this one.  He is foul-mouth with non-stop wisecracks.  After this sequel maybe he should do a solo film about Hannibal King, vampire slayer.  The movie is a hit and it is rated R so don’t be surprised if more superhero movies are going to be more violent and lots of sex. 

TRUTH

POLITICAL DRAMA

PLOT:  True story about anchorman Dan Rather had to step down for false documents about George W. Bush in his life in the service.

                OMG!  Journalists in the movies catch hell!  If you blinked you would have missed this well-acted movie about Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and his producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) who tells the public George W. Bush had special treatment in the military.  The aftermath was destructive, people were fired, forced to leave their jobs and characters smeared.  The film focus mostly on Mapes who got the story and caught all the trouble that came with it.  I am usually not political in my reviews but if you watch this film (and believe it) this is why Jeb Bush didn’t make it as president-this time.