Monsters University

Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a Scarer—and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike's plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan, "Sulley" (voice of John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer. The pair's out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University's elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right.

Redemption for Pixar. After Cars 2, I was afraid that part of Pixar had kind of mailed it in and they would start churning out less than par sequels just to make money off of their characters. In this prequel, the story was just as rich. It gave you even more depth to characters that you already loved from Monsters Inc and besides the entertainment value - it taught younger moviegoers that would see this so many important life lessons. And did I mention how funny it was? Just as great as the first entry with the monsters.

I would absolutely recommend everyone check this out. It was easily one of the best "origin" movies ever and Pixar has gotten back to their roots of great story and great laughs for both the children and the adults that take them . . . . . or go see it by themselves.

R.I.P.D.

Veteran sheriff Roy Pulsifer (Bridges) has spent his career with the legendary police force known as R.I.P.D. tracking monstrous spirits who are cleverly disguised as ordinary people. His mission? To arrest and bring to justice a special brand of criminals trying to escape final judgment by hiding among the unsuspecting on Earth. Once the wise-cracking Roy is assigned former rising-star detective Nick Walker (Reynolds) as his junior officer, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork. When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, two of R.I.P.D.'s finest must miraculously restore the cosmic balance...or watch the tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the very wrong way.

This movie is exactly what you would expect from the trailer. It is a wannabe Men In Block with the dead instead of aliens. Pretty much exactly the same story throughout. The effects were decent. The action was decent. The characters were decent. Really not much more to say. It was just a decent, wannabe Men In Black.

I wouldn't recommend anyone rushing to see this. There are much better options out there. You could pretty much just wait for this to show up on television for when you are just chilling and don't have anything else to do.

The Conjuring

Before there was Amityville, there was Harrisville. The Conjuring tells the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), world renowned paranormal investigators, who were called to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most horrifying case of their lives.

This movie was just as creepy as advertised. There was great build up of suspense throughout so you never knew if you were going to jump out of your seat or laugh at how they messed with you. I will say I was surprised that I wasn't terribly terrified (except for the stupid creepy ass doll). Scared at points? Absolutely. Terrified or losing sleep? Not so much.

I would definitely recommend people checking this one out. It was a great watch and definitely scary enough for any fans of these type of movies.

The Internship

Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) are salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital world. Trying to prove they are not obsolete, thet defy the odds by talking their way into a coveted internship at Google, along with a battalion of brillian college students. But, gaining entrance to this utopia is only half the battle. Now they must compete with a group pf the nation's most elite, tech-savvy geniuses to prove that necessity really is the mother of re-invention.

This movie was a decent watch. Totally formula across the board. Most of the funny parts were in the trailer and you pretty much have seen the movie just by seeing said trailer. But all that being said, I still enjoy Vince Vaughn. Even though I didn't laugh nearly as much as I would have liked to, I was still entertained by him, Wilson and their misfit group underdog story.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend people checking this movie out because its not great or even really a good movie. It was a decent and sometimes entertaining movie only if you are a fan of Vince Vaughn.

Only God Forgives

Julian (Ryan Gosling) is a former kickboxer and gangster living in Bangkok. When his brother is murdered by a ruthless Thai police lieutenant, Julian is forced to seek vengeance or risk his own death.

This was a strangely filmed movie just like Drive from a few years back by the same director/actor. There was a lot more closeups on people's faces or them thinking instead of actual dialogue. However, it was done in such a way that the intensity and anticipation bar for what was going to happen was pretty awesome. The Thai police lieutenant totally kept you dialed in every time he was on screen (kind of like Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men) and Ryan Gosling's back and forth between intensity and deep thought was awesome as always. Besides the filming style and the score build up in the background, there were parts of the movie that were so violent, I had to look away.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out. It's pretty violent at times and very artistic/not mainstream, but I was surprised by how dialed in I was to this movie and enjoyed it alot.

Before Midnight

In Before Midnight, we meet Celine and Jesse 9 years on. Almost 2 decades have passed since that first meeting on a train bound for Vienna, and we now find them in their early 40's in Greece. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story.

How is this a three movie deep franchise at this point? I loved the first one and actually felt like you were there with the two of them while they were talking. I liked the second one to see what had become of them and them catching up. This one kind of lost the magic from the first two and it was a little too forced and strained when compared to the other two. Perhaps that was the point that the director was going for, but it just failed to hook me.

I wouldn't really recommend people checking this movie out. It's not nearly as enjoyable as either of the other two.

The Heat

Uptight and straight-laced, FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a methodical investigator with a reputation for excellence--and hyper-arrogance. Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), one of Boston P.D.'s "finest," is foul-mouthed and has a very short fuse, and uses her gut instinct and street smarts to catch the most elusive criminals. Neither has ever had a partner, or a friend for that matter. When these two wildly incompatible law officers join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected: buddies.

At this point I think that it is pretty much official that nobody makes me laugh harder than Melissa McCarthy. She was beyond hilarious in this movie with her obnoxious bad ass character. Even the points in the movie that were supposed to be touching or heartfelt, she still managed to make you laugh your ass off a split second later. The combination of her with Sandra Bullock as the straight arrow is casting excellence. I literally laughed from the beginning to the end of this movie.

I strongly recommend everyone see this movie. Easily the funniest movie of the year. It's a must see for huge laughs.

Pacific Rim

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

This was a straight up throwback summer blockbuster. Crazy special effects. Insane action scenes. It pretty much oozes testosterone. The futuristic story is developed enough that you are hooked. Sure there isn't much deep substance to the story at all and there are a bazillion cliches but you enjoy those things in a movie like this. The characters are totally developed enough and it was awesome to finally see Jax from Sons Of Anarchy (favorite show on tv, people!!!) in a movie. And Charlie Day was perfect in the Rick Moranis from Ghostbusters kind of role.

I enjoyed this movie very much. I think that some of the over the top hype that went nuts the week before it was released may have set expectations too high. But it was still a very entertaining and enjoyable summer blockbuster type of movie.

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain captures the laughter, energy and mayhem from Hart's 2012 concert tour, which spanned 10 countries and 80 cities, and generated over $32 million in ticket sales. Hart's "Let Me Explain" tour was one of the most successful comedy tours of all time, with more than 540,000 tickets sold. Both of his shows at New York's Madison Square Garden and his performance at London's O2 Arena sold out, as well as his appearances in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Amsterdam. The tour concluded this past New Year's Eve in Los Angeles by selling out the Staples Center and grossing over $1 million in revenue in one night. Only five other comedians – Andrew Dice Clay, Dane Cook, Chris Rock, Russell Peters and Eddie Murphy – have sold out Madison Square Garden where Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain was filmed.

I think that Kevin Hart is hilarious and his story telling on stage completely destroys me. This movie did not fail to do the same. There were numerous parts where I was laughing so hard I was in physical pain.

I absolutely recommend anyone looking for a laugh check this out. It's unfortunately only an hour long but it is one very funny hour.

The Hangover Part III

The Hangover Part III is the third and final film in director Todd Phillips' record-shattering comedy franchise. This time, there's no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off.

This movie franchise has officially passed Transformers as the one that I would give anything for no sequels to be made. This movie was pretty much awful. They made Chow basically the main character. And Zach Galafanakis has gone from awkward/silly funny to just blatantly dumb not funny. They didn't even have the wild night thing from the first two movies. The few times I so much as giggled (since there really were no good laughs), it was at Bradley Cooper or Ed Helms who really didn't even seem to have major roles.

I would not recommend anyone waste their time with this. After the disappointment of the second one, my expectations were really low for this entry and it was still crappier than expected. So sad because the first one is one of the funniest movies of all time and everything since has been garbage.

After Earth

A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.

I don't really know how to review this movie. I enjoyed it for what it is (a sci-fi survival of the fittest movie with dramatic family elements added in) while I was watching it. It wasn't a great movie. But it wasn't bad either. I didn't really have any expectations for it. Don't know if that made it more watchable. I will make one major knock against it though - Jaden Smith is no Will Smith.

I would sort of recommend people checking this out. Basically, it's just kind of one of those movies that is just there.

The Croods

The Croods is a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world's first family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed. Traveling across a spectacular landscape, the Croods discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures - and their outlook is changed forever.

This movie was great on so many levels. The animation was awesome. The family dynamics were so portrayed in both comedic and dramatic ways. The cave people seeing and learning about things for the first time was well scripted and hilarious. The whole family of characters was very well developed. This is definitely one of those movies where the adults can enjoy it just as much if not more than the kids that they are taking to see it.

I fully recommend that people check this out. It's easily one of the better movies to come out so far this year and was very entertaining and enjoyable for all ages.

This Is The End

The comedy This is the End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Once they discover that they are experiencing the Apocalypse, they must come to terms with why they were left behind. Eventually they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.

I thought for sure that the premise of all these actors "playing" themselves would get old 15 minutes into the movie. However, I was dead wrong and this is one of the funnier movies that has come out in a while. While the movie was pretty raunchy at times (whether it be the dialouge or the physical stuff shown on screen), the comedy was based in that they were all famous people reacting to the situation and just blatantly making fun of each other. What made it even funnier was the random pop ups of the celebrities NOT in the poster above. Michael Cera totally stole every scene he was in. You can completely tell that all these guys are friends and really enjoyed making this.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out if you are looking for some great laughs. It's such a simple concept but handled in the right way that delivers the laughs throughout the movie.