Parents, Gravity, and Machete Kills

PRISONERS
CRIME DRAMA/THRILLER

PLOT: Two little girls are kidnapped and the parents and the police search for them.

OMG!!! This is not a pleasant experience at the movies!! It stars Hugh Jackman; Maria Bello is one couple and Terrence Howard and Viola Davis another couple who are friends. They have two daughters and find out their daughters are missing. It is an intense, frightening journey what lengths parents will do to save their children. It gets a little melodramatic but good regardless. Jake Gyllehaal is fantastic as Detective Loki (!) a determined but demented cop. Hugh Jackman proves he is just not Wolverine but a talented actor!

GRAVITY
SCI-FI/THRILLER

PLOT: Two astronauts are lost in space!!

I saw the trailer for this movie and thought nothing of it. I knew it was well made but when I saw it, WOW!!! If you see one movie in 3D and one the big screen this is it!! Director Alfonso Cuaron (The Little Princess, Children of Men and Harry Potter The Prisoner of Azkaban) does an amazing job of you the viewer watching the beauty and the horror of space and what can go wrong in a split second! Sandra Bullock does a good job as Ryan Stone but I enjoyed the performance of George Clooney as Matt Kowalski. He sounded like an astronaut who knew his job and was very funny.

MACHETE 2: MACHETE KILLS
ACTION/ADVENTURE

PLOT: Machete is needed by the government to kill an arms dealer.

Machete (Danny Trejo ) is back and now he trying to save the world from Mendez (Demian Bichir, A Better Life) and Voz (Mel Gibson). Man, this is a guilty pleasure movie. It has enough sex and violence for a fine exploitation movie and Machete is more James Bond this time around. I don’t know how director Robert Rodriguez hires talented actors for this film. Watch for Marko Zaror Mendez’s tall and handsome henchman. He could be the next big action star. It is better to enjoy it as a rental, Blu Ray or DVD.

Monsters, Snails and Supernatural Love

RIDDICK 3: RULE THE DARK
FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

PLOT: Richard B Riddick in another sci-fi adventure.

Riddick (Vin Diesel) is back. Left on an unknown planet he finds
the ruins of an outpost and presses the emergency button to be
saved by bounty hunters but on the planet are killer monsters in
the dark. Story is not really important. It is like a repeat of
Pitch Black. What is important is how bad-ass cool Diesel is!!!
What also amazing are the ratings of Riddick. The first Pitch
Black is rated R, then Chronicles of Riddick rated PG13 now the
 latest one rated R. The last film was big budget but didn't do
 well and I don't know why. This is made for less but you don't
 like this character you shouldn't see the movie.

TURBO
ANIMATION

PLOT: Snail wants to be faster!!

Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) a garden snail wants to be in the
Indy 500!!! His worried brother Chet (voiced by Paul Giamatti)
always tells him he will never do it. In these fantasy movies he
always does it and we are cheering for him. It is a cute family
film. The story tells us we can do anything if we put our minds
 and hearts to it. It will fare better on video.

MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES
SUPERNATURAL/ROMANCE

PLOT: Teenage girl finds out she is a Shadow Hunter.

Based on the novels by Cassandra Clare it is about Clare Fray a
pretty teen played by Lily Collins whose mom has been kidnapped
and finds out she is a Shadow Hunter which kills supernatural
creatures. Since the Twilight movies Hollywood is searching like
mad for another successful franchise like it. Hunger Games is
close. It has a brooding immortal, a smart heroine and a love
triangle. It is okay but it does have promise. They are
grudgingly doing a sequel. The first one did not make the money
they wanted.

TV: Fall or Fail Fantasy Premieres

SLEEPY HOLLOW
DRAMA/FANTASY
MONDAYS AT 9:00 PM
FOX CHANNEL 5

STORY: Ichabod Crane in 2013 to stop the Headless Horsemen.

Tom Mison is not the Ichabod Crane we are used to telling the plot of Sleepy Hollow but a scholar and soldier in 1781 who manages to survive and getting used to modern living. Abbie Mills (Nicole Behaire, American Violet, Shame) is a police lieutenant seeking who or what killed her partner pairing with Crane. It is great a black, female lead! The creators of the show are Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci (who updated Hawaii 50) and Len Wiseman, the director of Underworld movies. This show has a talent behind it but how does it last a few seasons?

AGENTS OF S.H.I.EL.D
ACTION/FANTASY
TUESDAYS AT 8:00 PM
CHANNEL 7

STORY: The further adventures of the spies of SHIELD.

Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is alive!! In the premiere episode and he tells you why. If you watched the Avengers you would know why Coulson being alive is important. In this series they find people with mutant powers either to recruit them or save them from being used. It seems to be a good series but will any of the Avengers make cameos?

FANGASM
REALITY SHOW
TUESDAYS NIGHT AT 10:00 PM
SYFY

STORY: Seven geeks live in the same house and work for famous comic book icon Stan Lee.

I don’t like reality shows but I saw this one because it is about movies and comic book nerds so I had to watch the first show. I like the show because the cast seem sincere. They love what they love and not shamed about it. The highlight of the show the gang meeting George Takei (Sulu) and one of them cry afterwards because he was his idol. I do hope it is a success.

Black Servants, White Heroes

THE BUTLER
Historical Drama

PLOT: Cecil Gaines who works in the White House sees major events that affect his life. It is inspired by a true story

The movie is very well done; Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo WILL be nominated for Oscars this season. My trouble with the film is that why did the main character have to be a servant!! It could have been about a black family going through decades of change. Hollywood loves to show black people as slaves, servants. Knock it off! Blacks know their history, so try to show them in a better light.

2 GUNS
ACTION/COMEDY

PLOT: A DEA agent and a navy intelligent agent to infiltrate a Mexican cartel with funny and violent results.

It is a typical buddy-cop movie. Denzel Washington is the DEA and Mark Wahlberg is the navy intelligence. So many betrayals it’s hard to keep up. Why is Washington in a movie is beyond me and Wahlberg is so funny. The action is not so bad either but if you can wait until video or cable.

KICK ASS 2
ACTION/COMEDY

PLOT: The further adventures of Kick Ass and Hit Girl.

Alan Taylor Johnson (Kick Ass) is a few years older along with Chole Grace Moretz (Hit Girl) who have to adjust to being normal high school teens instead of real life superheroes. The movie is light for most part and near the end it becomes a serious graphic novel comic book!! It is amazing!! Jim Carrey is in it and you almost don’t recognize him as Colonel Stars and Stripes. The battle between Hit Girl and Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) is epic!!!

PERCY JACKSON SEA OF MONSTERS
FANTASY/ACTION

PLOT: Percy Jackson must go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece.

Not as good as the first one but still very entertaining Percy must save his school by using the Golden Fleece. Like I said before it is myth and modern storytelling. The first one should have come out in the summer and this one in the fall. If you can wait for video or VOD wait but it is worth the wait.

Mid-Summer 2013 Scraps and Smurfs

SMURFS 2
ANIMATED/COMEDY

PLOT: The evil but comical Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette to make the formula to make his brand of Smurfs-The Naughties into real Smurfs.

                The story is really not important as the cute, whimsical tale of Poppa Smurf and group and human friends trying to save Smurfette.  It is funny, sweet and it’s a moral tale how important family is.  Not as good as the first but still entertaining.  It didn’t make much money as the first but it is not bad.

FRUITVALE STATION

DRAMA

PLOT:   New Year’s Eve 2008, Oscar Grant III, a 22 year old black man was killed by a white officer.

                The tragic event is told from the morning until the end of his life of Oscar Grant played by Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle).  He is a young man who served time now trying to find work to support his girlfriend Sophia (Melonie Diaz) and his daughter.  He loves his mom too played by Octavia Spencer (The Help) and she loves his son but doesn’t want him in jail.  The film is very sad so beware what you’re getting into.  All the actors are amazing.  What also is amazing is that the film is color-blind to the romance. Oscar is black and Sophia is Latina not emphasized at all which is very good.  Director Ryan Coogler did a good job on his first movie.  I hope he does more films.

           

DESPICABLE ME 2

ANIMATED/COMEDY

PLOT:  Gru an ex-villain is hired to help a secret organization to stop a new super villain.

                This animated film is just hilarious!!!  Gru is trying hard not to be a bad guy and raise his adopted three daughters when he is needed to stop a new super criminal.  The film is funny and his minions are even funnier!!  The only bad thing is the stereotyping of Latinos.  It has made millions and when you see the movie you can see why.