Devil's Due

After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. While recording everything for posterity, the husband begins to notice odd behavior in his wife that they initially write off to nerves, but, as the months pass, it becomes evident that the dark changes to her body and mind have a much more sinister origin.

I'm officially begging Hollywood to stop with the found footage movies. Paranormal Activity was an original and very well done and the formula has now been beyond beaten to death over the course of four years. This movie is no different than the others. It's only 90 minutes long but pretty much NOTHING happens for the first hour. Its the same occasional sound, occasional appearance in a doorway cheap scare tactics. Its a bunch of character build up that you really don't care about. And then there is some creepy stuff for about 10 minutes and total chaos for the last 5 to 10 minutes and the credits come on. Oh wait - they then have to of course set it up for another one because these stories are never complete.

I don't recommend anyone bothering with this. There are much better options out there and this is not worth your time or money.

The Legend Of Hercules

In the origin story, The Legend of Hercules, Kellan Lutz stars as the mythical Greek hero - the son of Zeus, a half-god, half-man blessed with extraordinary strength. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom. Through harrowing battles and gladiator-arena death matches, Hercules embarks on a legendary odyssey to overthrow the King and restore peace to the land.

This is pretty much the exact piece of poop that you thought it would be from the commercial. They mixed in a knockoff action scene from 300, a knockoff arena scene from Gladiator and a big knockoff speech from Braveheart together and put it through the 3D machine so that they can get extra money out of it and released it in the beginning of January where nothing good ever gets released.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time or money on this. It's a joke that this was even released in theaters and criminal for anyone to pay in the ballpark of $15 to watch it.

Ride Along

For the past two years, high-school security guard Ben (Hart) has been trying to show decorated APD detective James (Cube) that he's more than just a video-game junkie who's unworthy of James' sister, Angela (Tika Sumpter). When Ben finally gets accepted into the academy, he thinks he's earned the seasoned policeman's respect and asks for his blessing to marry Angela. Knowing that a ride along will demonstrate if Ben has what it takes to take care of his sister, James invites him on a shift designed to scare the hell out of the trainee. But when the wild night leads them to the most notorious criminal in the city, James will find that his new partner's rapid-fire mouth is just as dangerous as the bullets speeding at it.

I love Kevin Hart. I find the guy absolutely hysterical. I will gladly watch him rant/babble on and on. It never gets old to me. Pairing him with Ice Cube was perfect and they played off of each other very well. The movie is pretty much a formula buddy cop type of movie but I still enjoyed it throughout because of Kevin Hart.

I'd recommend this movie to people. It's not a must see but it is very entertaining. And if you are a fan of Kevin Hart, you will like it that much more.

The Nut Job

The Nut Job is an action-packed comedy in fictional Oakton that follows the travails of Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a mischievous squirrel, and his rat friend Buddy, who plan a nut store heist of outrageous proportions and unwittingly find themselves embroiled in a much more complicated and hilarious adventure.

I really have next to nothing to say about this movie. It is definitely not one of the animated movies that adults will like as much as the children. It's basically a weak and should have been direct to dvd attempt at an Over The Hedge rip off. And if it wasn't for the randomness of Psy's Gangham Style (how does this song not get old for me!?!), we would have left the theater annoyed. Instead, my friend and his daughter left cracking up about a song that is a year old and animated characters dancing to it.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this. I know that there really isn't anything fresh out there for families to go check out, but you are much better off waiting for whatever the next animated entry will be.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

I really enjoyed this movie. I like that they kept it artsy and simple instead of making it all cartoonish and over the top. Ben Stiller actually kept this movie real, simple and down to earth while visually stunning with the daydreams and then Walter Mitty's actual travels. For anyone who has zoned out into daydreams and has a great imagination, this is a great movie. I was so invested in the movie that the ending really hit me and sent me into a daydream about my life and realizing the daily rewards and what not.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It's a great ride in the life of an imaginative daydreamer. Please be advised that the movie is done in a very artsy style and that it is not a textbook mainstream movie.

Philomena

Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, Philomena focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son.

Right from the start I thought this was going to be a blatant heart string pulling movie. I kept laughing about how they thought that they would pull the wool over the eyes and the big reveal would be that the reporter was her son and how telegraphed it ended up being. However, I was dead wrong. I guess the swerve was that the movie did not play out like that. It ended up being a very touching story with two amazing characters and how they were on this journey together for very different reasons and both came away from it for the better. As much press as Judi Dench gets just like always, Steve Coogan put forth an awesome acting performance in this movie and was so beyond believable/relatable for me.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out. It was a very good watch and had a great hook into making you fully care about the travels of these two characters.

Black Nativity

In a contemporary adaptation of Langston Hughes' celebrated play, Black Nativity follows Langston (Jacob Latimore), a street-wise teen from Baltimore raised by a single mother, as he journeys to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett). Unwilling to live by the imposing Reverend Cobbs' rules, a frustrated Langston is determined to return home to his mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Langston embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.

This is a textbook heart string pulling holiday drama about family. The characters work out all their issues since its holiday season and through the trials of the son/grandson. The music was actually pretty good but outside of that, it was just overdramatic blah blah.

I wouldn't really recommend people watch this. Its not that its awful, but more that you have seen something very similar to this 1000 times before. This time there is just singing involved.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all - a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself - the Dragon Smaug.

This is as tough of a movie to review as the first part of The Hobbit last year. It's an excellent movie. Visually amazing at all points. The dragon was pulled off masterfully by Peter Jackson. The addition of Legolas and the female elf brought a lot more action into the movie. Comparing it to the first part, I definitely enjoyed this one more because it didn't have the massive amount of development in the beginning that part 1 had. However, just like the first part there was NO REASON for this movie to be almost three hours long. And the majorly difficult part of reviewing this is that is nowhere near the league of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Those movies are second only to the original Star Wars trilogty for me and these movies seem so much below par compared to them. Yet, they are still very enjoyable and incredibly well made movies.

I would definitely recommend this movie just like I would recommend the first part. Its a great ride and an awesome movie just expect it to be on par with the first part of the Hobbit and you will be satisfied. If you are looking for Lord Of The Rings level, it is still not there.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

This spin-off from the "Paranormal Activity" series focuses on a Latino family.

As you can tell from that joke of a synopsis, this was pretty much just another Paranormal Activity movie. It had the same home video look/filming. It had the same slow but creepy build. It had the same rapid set of scare shots at the end. But then they did some weird thing with a mystery door that somehow brought you back to the first movie and then the movie quickly ended after that. Rarely have I heard a theater say what the hell out loud like they did at the end of this one.

Although anyone who is a fan of these movies is going to see this regardless, I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering to waste their time with this. It was just more of the same with a very annoying and nonsensical ending that didn't have anything to do with the overall story.

Grudge Match

In Grudge Match, De Niro and Stallone play Billy "The Kid" McDonnen and Henry "Razor" Sharp, two local Pittsburgh fighters whose fierce rivalry put them in the national spotlight. Each had scored a victory against the other during their heyday, but in 1983, on the eve of their decisive third match, Razor suddenly announced his retirement, refusing to explain why but effectively delivering a knock-out punch to both their careers. Thirty years later, boxing promoter Dante Slate Jr., seeing big dollar signs, makes them an offer they can't refuse: to re-enter the ring and settle the score once and for all. But they may not have to wait that long: on their first encounter in decades, their long-festering feud erupts into an unintentionally hilarious melee that instantly goes viral. The sudden social media frenzy transforms their local grudge match into a must-see HBO event. Now, if they can just survive the training, they may actually live to fight again.

This movie is pretty much exactly what you saw in the trailer. There are age jokes and assorted laughs. The movie is incredibly formula in every way and they go out of their way to pull every possible heart string that they can. However, the movie is still enjoyable across the board and you care about how it's going to all play out knowingly for the characters and you find yourself rooting for everyone.

I'd somewhat recommend people checking this movie out. It's a decent watch but there are definitely better choices.

August: Osage County

August: Osage County tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

This is one of the most melodramatic/soap opera like movies I have ever seen and I would probably have hated it if it wasn't for the awesome acting by everyone involved. Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts were awesome in the two leads and they all contributed to portray family disfuntion at its finest. It was also great to see how this was turned from a play to a movie. When watching it, you start to realize that almost every scene in the movie happened around the dinner table which was probably the focus of the play on stage. There were also lots of huge laughs that I wasn't really expecting going in and the movie as a whole would have been much more enjoyable with those along with the excellent acting if the drama wasn't so heavy.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out. Like I said - it's a very well acted story about family but there is barely any major subject matters that this family doesn't deal with on some level and its just a bit too much all together.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

With the 70's behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Also back for more are Ron's co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won't make it easy to stay classy while taking the nation's first 24-hour news channel by storm.

This is pretty much more of the same from the first one. The funny thing is that I left the theater after the first one thinking it was stupid and so not funny. It wasn't until repeated viewings that I realized how damn funny and quotable it was. That whole experience helped this movie to be more funny at first viewing. But like I said, it's pretty much more of what was funny in the first. That material combined with the mocking of news casting evolution provided lots of huge laughs.

I'd absolutely recommend this movie for anyone that enjoyed the first one. The characters are all still great and you will be laughing throughout the movie.

47 Ronin

In 47 Ronin, after a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their kind, 47 leaderless samurai vow to seek vengeance and restore honor to their people. Driven from their homes and dispersed across the land, this band of Ronin must seek the help of Kai (Reeves), a half-breed they once rejected, as they fight their way across a savage world of mythic beasts, shape-shifting witchcraft and wondrous terrors. As this exiled, enslaved outcast becomes their most deadly weapon, he will transform into the hero who inspires this band of outnumbered rebels to seize eternity.

I went into this expecting an either hit or miss movie. It could end up being a wannabe Kung Fu movie with a horribly miscast Keanu Reeves or it could end up being a well told story with great action. Happily it was much more of the latter. I really liked this movie. The characters and their relationships to each other were very well developed and the action scenes were great. The most shocking part of it all was that Keanu Reeves was not remotely miscast and was perfect for this role.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out. It was a very enjoyable movie in every way. Very surprising. Probably one of the bigger ones of the year.