Man On A Ledge

In the thriller, Man on a Ledge, Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) makes a desperate and life-threatening move to prove his innocence after he is framed for the theft of a rare, prized diamond. Recently escaped from prison and with nowhere else to go, Nick climbs onto the ledge of a towering skyscraper, inviting the eyes of New York City to anxiously watch as one wrong step could mean plunging to his death. But as one police negotiator soon learns, Nick's daredevil stunt, captivating the eyes of the public and media, masks a dangerous ploy to reveal the truth about his tarnished name.With the help of his brother and with time running out, Nick's intricate plan must work perfectly, but when you're on the 25th floor ledge of a building, going down takes on an entirely more hair-raising meaning.

I really enjoyed this movie. Sure, you really need to shut off your brain to enjoy it because they pretty much tossed reality out the window. But the characters were interesting, the pacing was great, and the story played out well.

I would reccomend people checking this out. It's not a must see at all but was the most enjoyable movie I've seen in the movie release cesspool that is January.

Gone

In the thriller Gone, Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, having escaped from a kidnapping a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back and taken Molly. Since the killer leaves no trace, the police don't have any evidence and can't help her. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sunrise, Jill sets out alone on a nail-biting chase to come face-to-face with the killer. Will she have enough time to find and outwit him, expose his secrets and save her sister?

Ugh. This was like going to a movie theater to watch one of those lame made for tv movies on lifetime or some other random cable network. The story is dull. Everyone overacts. You know how it's going to play out and you really don't care at all before the first twenty minutes are over.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this like I did. It's pretty much a big pointless turd.

Goon

Goon is the story of Doug Glatt (Scott), a dumb but loveable bar bouncer plucked from obscurity to be the enforcer for a minor league hockey team. In the tradition of great sports comedies like Slapshot, Goon delivers bone crunching action and laughs in equal measure.

This was a simple and funny sports movie. I've never really been a big hockey fan but this was still enjoyable. The pacing was good, the characters were a little over the top but still funny and as always in sports movies you get to root for the underdog.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's not a must see by any means but a decent watch if it opens up in your area.

Coriolanus

Caius Martius 'Coriolanus' (Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman General is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus's anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city.

This movie was absolutely awesome at the beginning. I was completely not understanding how this got a quiet and limited release. The action was great. There was awesome tension build up between the two main guys. And then all of a sudden they started talking. And it was like really long, ancient Roman speeches with big words and seemed to go on forever kind of like this sentence. It pretty much destroyed the movie for me. Either have it be an Ancient Rome movie or have these two generals battle it out in modern times. Doing a mashup of the two - not so good.

I wouldn't really recommend that anyone bother watching this. I honestly couldn't take it anymore and pulled the plug halfway through.

This Means War

The world's deadliest CIA operatives are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman. Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever - each other.

This was a really fun movie. It was short and tightly paced. The three characters played awesomely off of each other. The action was good. The laughs were huge. Chelsea Handler's one liners were perfect with the supporting friend character she played to Reese Witherspoon and both Chris Pine and Tom Hardy continue to get better with every role they are in.

I would definitely recommend people watching this movie. It's a fun, simple, forumla movie with great characters and banter.

The Woman In Black

The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client's papers. As he works alone in the client's isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.

This was pretty good for one of those PG-13 creepy movies. It took a little while to get there and the ending was a little bit eh, but the part with all the fright/creeps was more than good enough for me to enjoy the movie. And it needs to be said how completely weird it is watching Harry Potter not play Harry Potter. I give him kudos for picking a role to completely break out of that typecast, but it's going to take awhile.

I would definitely recommend this movie to people into creepy/scary movies like this. It has a decent story and the scares are good.

Red Tails

1944. World War II rages and the fate of the free world hangs in the balance. Meanwhile the black pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program are courageously waging two wars at once � one against enemies overseas, and the other against discrimination within the military and back home. Racial prejudices have long held ace airman Martin "Easy" Julian (Nate Parker) and his black pilots back at base - leaving them with little to do but further hone their flying skills - while their white counterparts are shipped out to combat after a mere three months of training. Mistakenly deemed inferior and assigned only second-rate planes and missions, the pilots of Tuskegee have mastered the skies with ease but have not been granted the opportunity to truly spread their wings. Until now. As the war in Europe continues to take its dire toll on Allied forces, Pentagon brass has no recourse but to reconsider these under-utilized pilots for combat duty. Just as the young Tuskegee men are on the brink of being shut down and shipped back home, Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) awards them the ultimate chance to prove their mettle high above. Undaunted by the prospect of providing safe escort to bombers in broad daylight - a mission so dangerous that the RAF has refused it and the white fighter groups have sustained substantial losses - Easy's pilots at last join the fiery aerial fray. Against all the odds, with something to prove and everything to lose, these intrepid young airmen take to the skies in a heroic endeavor to combat the enemy and the discrimination that has kept them down for so long.

Did you see how long winded that synopsis was? The movie was equally long winded. For something that was as simple as this movie basically is - there was no need for it to be 2 plus hours long. They put so much time in to character development but there was not a single character that I cared about at all. This was basically a chance for George Lucas to have actual planes in action scenes instead of the flying machines of the Star Wars universe. And he's "been working on this for years". Really? Because the plane fight scenes seems to have the exact soundtrack as any space battle in Star Wars. The bad guys sounded just like Tie fighters from the Empire. I was basically waiting for the Red Tails leader to yell "Keep on target. Stay on target".

No - you should not see this. Just like you pretty much shouldn't see any movie that is released in the month of January. It was poop. It was a very long poop.

The Secret World Of Arriety

Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to "borrow" scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (voice of David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty's family from the home and straight into danger.

This was a pretty enjoyable movie. Sure, it was Japanese animation which isn't really everyone's cup of tea. Yes, the voices were not completely in line with the mouth movements of the characters throughout the film. But the bottom line for me was that it was a good story - reminded me alot of the cartoon Monchichis from when I was a kid. You care about the characters and are invested enough to want to see how it plays out.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's not a must see by any means but it was a pretty enjoyable watch for me.

Chronicle

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to them developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities, and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

This was a surprisingly entertaining movie. I say surprisingly because most of these catchy/home video camera type movies end up being great trailers and then garbage movies. This movie definitely delievered. It was super short, had a super simple story and the effects were awesome because of - again - how simple they were. Imagine an X-Men movie without the crazy over the top explosions. I really enjoyed it.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It's a surprisingly fresh and short take on "superpower" movies.

The Devil Inside

In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists (Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth) to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria.

This movie was not what was advertised. It was not a Paranormal Activity of exorcist movies. It wanted to be. It was advertised (very creepily well) as being so. But it absolutely was not. It was pretty much garbage. It was three creepy or exorcist scenes - which were all in the trailer - and a couple of people running around with a camera. There was pieces of a story thrown in there but they pretty much stopped following that after a while. And the movie just sort of ends. The theater I saw it in was packed and I can't remember the last time that an audience was so out loud pissed at a movie. I've never been happier to not be working at a theater anymore than being able to not deal with the backlash from people dropping money on this.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting 90 minutes of thier life on this. Ever. The crowd was near rioting at the end of this. That's how bad it was.

The Grey

In The Grey, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt before their time runs out.

This movie was a pretty decent watch. I have to be honest. This is one of the most overadvertised movies I can ever remember and I'm so relieved that it's finally in theaters. I feel like I have seen the trailer for this movie before every movie I've seen in the last 2-3 months. As you can tell from the blog - that's ALOT of trailer views. There were many, many times throughout the movie where I felt like I had already seen it because of how many times I viewed the trailer. And the fact that it was one of those "you see the trailer - you've seen the movie" type of movies didn't really help either. Regardless of my rant, the movie was definitely watchable from that struggling to survive type of mentality. It was too melodramatic though and way too long. If they could have cut this down to 90 minutes and more tension instead of the day dreaming stuff, I probably would have liked it a lot more. 

I would somewhat recommend this movie. Again, it wasn't a necessarily bad watch, but if you've see the ads - you have seen the movie.

One For The Money

A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum's got plenty of attitude, even if she's been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company... as a recovery agent. True, she doesn't even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn't stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny's biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli - yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school. Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback - and a hefty payday - but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who's the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn't airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself... well, suddenly Stephanie's new job isn't nearly as easy as she thought.

This was a pretty crappy movie. I didn't expect much but I thought that the characters wouldn't be this cliche. I mean it was like drowning in lame dialogue and puns. And the slow pacing just made it that much mire painful. This is just another log on the fire of Katherine Heigl sucking.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with the movies. I never read any of the books but I can't imagine them being this lame/cliche across the board.

The Vow

Paige and Leo (Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum) are a happy newlywed couple whose lives are changed by a car accident that puts Paige in a coma. Waking up with severe memory loss, Paige has no memory of Leo, a confusing relationship with her parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange), and an ex-fiance (Scott Speedman) she may still have feelings for. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.

This movie was not nearly the massive waa-waa tear jerker that I thought it would be. Honestly, I don't think that anyone got choked up at any point. It was more of a character drama that is textbook predictable and somewhat watchable. Wasn't great . . . . wasn't bad . . . . . it was decent and watchable - mostly because I like Rachel McAdams I guess in these types of roles.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's a decent watch but nowhere near the level of must see stature of other chick flicks like The Notebook.

Underworld: Awakening

Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

This movie is nothing more than another entry in a franchise that has made it's entire existence during the month of January because they know that there is nothing else out there. The funniest part of this movie is that they had to do a "previously on" type of segment to remind us viewers what the story was from parts 1 and 2 since the last entry had nothing to do with it at all. Like I said - it's just more of the same. There are vampires. There are Lycans (aka - werewolves). They fight each other and the humans. The end.

If you like the first two entries - this is just as watchable. If you didn't or didn't see them - why in the world would you start watching these now?

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.

This was literally the same thing as the movie Valentine's Day from a couple years ago. Most of the cast is the same too. It's a bunch of seperate somewhat interesting stories that culminate together on the titled holiday.

I would lukewarmly recommend this movie. It's not great. It's not bad. It's just sort of there. Watchable but not a must see by any means.

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise is a story of music, hope, love and renewal. The small town of Pacashau, Georgia, has fallen on hard times, but the people are counting on the Divinity Church Choir to lift their spirits by winning the National Joyful Noise Competition. The choir has always known how to sing in harmony, but the discord between its two leading ladies now threatens to tear them apart. Their newly appointed director, Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), stubbornly wants to stick with their tried-and-true traditional style, while the fiery G.G. Sparrow (Parton) thinks tried-and-true translates to tired-and-old. Shaking things up even more is the arrival of G.G.'s rebellious grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordan). Randy has an ear for music, but he also has an eye for Vi Rose's beautiful and talented daughter, Olivia (Keke Palmer), and the sparks between the two teenagers are causing even more friction between G.G. and Vi Rose. If these two strong-willed women can put aside their differences for the good of the people in their town, they--and their choir--may make the most joyful noise of all.

This movie is the dictionary definition of just there. I can't even really say it was terrible or ok because I honestly didn't care. The version I saw had the last 20 minutes cut off and again - I didn't care. I'm sure it all works out in the end since the movie was textbook from beginning to the end part I saw. The only thing that I kep saying was Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in a movie together? Really?

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this movie. It's another pointless January release.

Haywire

In Haywire, a female covert ops specialist (Carano), who works in the deadly world of international operatives, strikes back after discovering she's been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency.

I was very excited to see this movie. There was a lot of good buzz about it and the trailer made it look pretty kick ass. Maybe my heightened level of anticipation ruined it. Maybe the game of hilarious commentary with me and my two friends ruined it. Or maybe the movie actually was that bad. I don't know why everyone loves Steven Soderbergh so much. It's like because the cast of Ocean's 11 loves him so much, everyone wants to work with him. There really is no reason for Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and even Channing Tatum to be in this movie. It's pretty much a direct to dvd quality of movie. The timeline was ridiculously choppy and pretty much destroyed any ability to really get in to the movie. The fight scenes were supposed to be very genuine/real. Well, apprantly I need to see some special effects in fighting because the fight scenes were boring as hell and seemed to be in slow motion. And for my final rant - what is the deal with Soderbergh loving yellow tint. He does this in almost all of his movies. It's as if he either has a sheet of yellow cellophane over the camera lens or has actually peed on the lens and is shooting throught it after. Everything is tinted. It got to a point where I started pointing it out the whole time. I was literally pointing at the screen non-stop.

No - you absolutely should not see this. It's garbage and a total waste of time. Unless you are a huge fan of the color yellow. If that is the case - this is the greatest movie of all time.