Titanic 3-D

When I was seven years old I remember seeing the Titanic for the first time.  It left me feeling terrified for the people on board the great ship yet I was awe struck by the massiveness of the unsinkable ship.  Seeing the Titanic 3-D was an entirely different experience. 

As images of Jack (Leonardo Dicaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) on the bow of the ship move across the screen I felt as if I was on the ship too.  This 1997 movie is a classic and one Americans will never forget.  It is a tale everyone knows the ending of but, somehow we are all still fascinated by a ship that sank when everyone said it couldn't. 

The Titanic 3-D is an entertaining experience that you will not be able to forget.  If you saw this motion picture when it first came out and loved it you will love it even more after seeing it in all its glory!

Dramatic & Suspenseful

PG-13

3 hours 15 minutes

The Lucky One

Some people would say Nicholas Sparks' books can never be real; it just doesn't happen in real life.  However I would have to disagree with those pessimists and say anything is possible if you just believe.  I believe if you never give up love will find you, its only a matter of time.

The sun reflects on a fallen image lying on the ground of the hot Iraqi desert.  Logan (Zac Effron) a U.S. marine is drawn towards the lightened image.  As he walks over to pick the image up he discovers it is a photograph of a beautiful blonde-haired woman.  Suddenly, a bomb goes off behind him where he had stood.  Could the picture of the beautiful stranger have saved his life?

Logan wants to find the woman in the picture, but he has no knowledge of where she lives or even her name.  As Logan journies on his quest across the country he just happens to find her in Louisiana when he applys for a job at the dog kennel.Elizabeth (Taylor Schilling) has no idea that Logan has a picture of her and Logan has no idea how to tell Beth.  As the two fall deeper in love the situation becomes more intense.

If you love Nicholas Sparks' movies you will love the Lucky One.  It is a beautiful romantic tale and I believe an extrodinary example of finding true love.  Sparks' books might be fiction, but they happen in real life.  I hope this movie inspires you to keep believing and keep waiting for the person you were destined to be with because when it does happen you realize it was worth waiting for.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1327194/

Romantic & Dramatic

PG-13

101 Minutes 

Mirror Mirror

Her skin was as white as snow and she was the king's daughter, but after her father's disappearnce her evil stepmother mistreated the beautiful princess, Snow White.  The queen hated Snow and made the people of the kingdom pay high tariffs because of her wicked nature. 

 On Snow's 18th birthday a palace worker told her she was the one to break the queen's spell over the land.  Snow for the first time in years, went out of the palace to see the devestation the queen had on the people.  As she was traveling out of the palace she ran into the handsome prince who became captivated by Snow's beauty. 

This romantic fairy tale with a strong feminist point of view by director Tarsem Singh was witty and creative.  Nathan Lane (Brighton) was histerical as the queen's brainless assistant who is always getting into trouble.  Julia Roberts (the queen) was brilliant playing an evil, jealous stepmother and at the same time very funny.  And of course Lily Collins (Snow White) played a very intelligent, strong female role model. 

The movie was excellent and stuck very close to the original Grimm's fairy tale version of the story.  I recommend seeing this movie whether young or old, it is something all ages can appreciate.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667353/

Witty & Enchanting

Rating: PG

106 minutes

The Lucky One: by Nicholas Sparks

Before heading out to theatres on April 20th read the book, The Lucky One.  It is one of the best romantic novels I have ever read.  Sparks' brings you through an experience of love, destiny and war that will change your perspective on life.
Logan Thibault is a strong, loyal man who is searching for his long lost love, however he does not yet know the reason for his walk across the country.  Thibault has gone through three tours in Iraq with his best friend Victor and one day by chance he comes across an image that will change him forever.  Thibualt found a photograph of a woman one day as he was running in Iraq.  He thought it might be another marine's so he hung it up on the bulletin board in their office.  No body claimed the picture.
"...You found that picture for a reason.  No one claimed it for a reason.  You took it today for a reason.  Only you were meant to have it..I'm happy for you luck will be on your side from now on," Victor said.
The words of a man who believes in destiny.  Everything happens for a reason however the purpose is only revealed in small steps.  Thibault had a greater purpose that is why he survived three tours in Iraq.  The woman in the photograph was helping him find his destiny, whatever that may be. 
You will not want to put this book down.  I wanted to keep flipping the pages to find out what happens next.  I do not want to give anything away so you will have to read it to find out every detail of this beautiful romantic novel written by America's beloved Nicholas Sparks. Enjoy!  Heres a link to buy it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lucky-One-Nicholas-Sparks/dp/1455508977/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333466104&sr=8-1

The Hunger Games

What would you do for someone you love?  There is no greater form of love than giving your life for someone else.  Sacrifice is often talked about, but how many have ever faced death willingly?

North America toppled after severe war, drought and famine.  She has been rebuilt into one country known as Panem.  There are 12 districts and in each district a male and female's name is chosen randomly in an annual hunger games event.  It is the 74th annual Hunger Games and Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) is terrified at the thought of her name being chosen to compete. 

Every time a citizen wants food, the government will provide for them on one condition, their name gets added to the list of people chosen for the hunger games.  Each time someone gets food, their name gets added again.  Primrose has never taken much food so the odds of her name being picked for the games are very small.
In the games, a total of 24 participants are selected to fight to the death.  It is a game of survival and only one male or female can win.  As the announcer goes over to the jar full of names tension is rising, she opens the piece of paper and says, "Primrose Everdeen."  There is silence as Primrose slowly walks towards the stage, the guards surround her and all of a sudden her sister Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) shouts, "I volunteer!"

Katniss makes her way to the stage and a male is selected, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson).  Mellark has a crush on Katniss since 'forever' so how will he compete to the death against his childhood love?  Once Katniss learns of Mellark's admiration she is immediately torn between him and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), her first love.  The chances of either of them winning are slim since district 12 has only won the hunger games once. 

Director, Gary Ross, delivered the sense of fear, hope and love to the audience using visual effects such as a bleak background while filming district 12 then changing into colorful costumes and hair as Katniss and Peeta made their way into the Capitol city.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, routing for Katniss.  I loved that it kept you guessing the whole way through to the end, even the end was surprising.  I throughly enjoyed the suspenseful nature of the film as well as the eccentric costumes.  It is hard to pick apart this movie since every actor, even the villians, did an amazing job.  Go see The Hunger Games you will be throughly entertained!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxb28j5C1w&ob=av3e

Suspenseful

Rated: PG-13

142 minutes

Jump Street 21

High school is the best four years of your life.  A phrase so commonly used by the people who were responsible for singling out the nerds, the band geeks, the goths and the general outcasts leaving the genetically gifted ruling the halls.

So many people hate high school. Why? Because it is in high school where you are either sentenced an aristocrat or a measly peasant.  The jocks and cheerleaders hurl insults and laugh at those beneath their social ladder.  And the nerds gather together brainstorming over the piece of legislation they will one day enact to "pay" back the people who were dumb enough to make fun of them.

In a time where "The Real Slim Shady" was the theme song of every teenage boy Eminem want-a-be and paroxide bottles were sold out in pharmacies across the country was an insecure boy named Schmidt (Jonah Hill) desperate for the approval of his peers.

 Jenko (Channing Tatum) is the stereotypical jock.  He lives for high school, but to his demise high school is a finite institution, eventually it ends.  He tries to pick up the pieces and move on as a cadet in the police academy.  There he meets the man who he constantly made fun of in high school.  Jenko is forced to ask Schmidt, his counter part, to be his friend due to Jenko's highly inadaquate test scores.  And so it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Together Jenko and Schmidt graduate from the academy leaving them with the job only given to new guys, park patrol.  But the story makes a surprising twist when Jenko and Schmidt get themselves thrown off park duty and tossed into Jump Street 21. 

The movie started out hilarious.  I have not laughed at a movie that hard in a long time, however as the movie progressed it became increasingly more vulgar.  The constant obscene sexual references as well as the constant use of the F-word was extremely distracting.  It took away from the humor and I walked out disappointed that the rest of the movie was disgusting instead of funny. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k0mo_oJfn4

Sophmoric & gruesome

Rated: R

109 minutes

Coming Soon to Theatres: The Lucky One

                                                http://screencast.com/t/nQGMwDPma9

The 84th Annual Academy Awards

"Nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic situation like watching millionaires present themselves with golden statues," Billy Crystal said.  It is Crystal's ninth time hosting the Academy Awards and he did it again.  His jokes were funny and he had a few burns on some actors without being all Ricky Gervais.   Jonah Hill's recent weight loss was poked fun at when Crystal made a Hill reference and then joked, "Their serving cupcakes after the show."  Poor Jonah and Moneyball didn't even win one award.

 The first two awards went to Hugo for cinematography and Artistry, presented by Tom Hanks.  Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Help.  Once she was finally able to crawl up on stage because of her awkward gown dimensions she gave her emotional speech and then said, "I'm freaking out," and left the stage the best she could.  Crystal gave tribute to the film addressing the problem of slavery in the south: "After watching The Help I wanted to hug the first black lady I saw, which from Beverly Hills is about a 45 minute drive."
 
Best Supporting Actor was Christopher Plummer in Beginners and Crystal couldn't hold back from commenting.  "The average age of the (Oscar) winners has now jumped to 67," Crystal said after Plummer gave his speech. 

In the middle of the biggest award ceremony "on the planet," as stated by Crystal, the Cirque Du Soleil gave an incredible performance.  Acrobats were swinging from the ceiling in every direction they even stood on chairs, on their hands of course, in the audience.  The back handed flips were done so gracefully and at the end of the grand performance everyone watching had their jaws dropped. 

Meryl Streep won her third Oscar after being nominated 17 times it was finally her time once again.  Perhaps it is the golden gown that brought her the good luck.  In 1982 when Streep won her first Oscar she also wore a similar golden gown. 

And Best Leading Actor goes to...Jean DuJardin (The Artist)?  For real Brad Pitt couldn't win an Oscar bummer, but there's always next year.

The Descendants

Why is it that when someone is on their death bed or actually dead we then feel the need to make things right with our families and friends? 
  

Matt King, Scottie and Alexandra with friend Sid



 Life can happen in an instant.  One minute you are about to cross the street and then the next minute you are plowed down by a tractor trailer.  A little graphic, but it makes my point.  Our time on this earth is short even if we live to be a hundred, it all happens instantaneously.  Why not live as if our time on this earth was up.  No body is perfect, but we should at all costs cherish the moments that we have with our loved ones now and forgive as if our life depended on it.  You never know when you might say good-bye to someone for the last time.

The Descendants is a story about a husband and wife who lost each other somewhere down the road of life.  George Clooney (Matt King) became too busy to make time for his wife and two girls until his wife went into a coma from a tragic boating accident.  The family especially little Scottie (Amara Miller), Clooney's youngest daughter, waits in anticipation for their loved one to awake until they discover her dying wishes.  She does not want to be plugged into a machine just to be kept alive, but she wants to die. 

At this moment Clooney realizes his daughter who is away in an institution needs to come see her mom so she can say good-bye.  While Clooney tries to reunite with his daughters he finds out his wife was cheating on him before the accident.  As she lies dying in a white hospital bed Clooney goes and confronts the man who helped ruin his marriage. 

For me this was all too close to the crap that happens in real life.  I watch movies to be entertained and maybe laugh a little, but this movie was emotionally painful to watch.  When I go see a movie I like to forget about life's problems for just a little while not driven to depression.  Director Alexander Payne filmed The Descendants in a very unique way by showing each characters personal struggle with losing their wife, thier mom, their friend and their daughter.  But I'm not sure who really wants to go watch somone dying for 115 minutes.  I left the theatre feeling drained and hopeless I do not recommend this film to anyone unless you like to watch people suffering, that's your call.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033575/

Artistically depressing

Rated: R

115 minutes

The Vow

It is impossible to know where life will take you.  Destiny is something we are often afraid of because we don't know what the future holds.  But life and destiny have a way of working themselves out; they bring you to the future you never imagined.

 It is in "moments of impact," as stated by Leo (Channing Tatum) that define who we will become.  The moments that leave you in tears or the moments you laugh so hard you cry and forget everything, for a moment. 

Love is powerful.  It changes everything.  People search forever just trying to find the one person who they were destined to be with.  The Vow is a story about two people who were destined for each other.  No matter what obstacles get in the way, their love for one another ultimately determines their future.

Paige (Rachel McAdams) has lost her memory after surviving severe brain injuries that has caused her to forget her husband or any memories of her present life.  She is searching for her identity, but she didn't know that in order to find herself she needs to let go of her past. 
This movie teaches an important lesson:  The future can be brighter than we ever dreamed of, but it comes at a cost, we must let go of the past.  An amazing true love story based on a real life event that leaves you inspired to keep believing for your dreams. 

A great movie to see for Valentine's Day! I think for a first date this movie may be a little heavy, but for those who have been together through good times and bad can appreciate the beauty of this love story. The Vow is romantic, but the brevity of Paige's struggle to regain her memory after a car accident is very depressing.  In the end this fairytale comes together and you are left captivated by Leo and Paige's story. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606389/

Tear Jerker

Rated: PG-13

104 minutes

One for the Money

Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigel) is looking to start a new life.  Her lingerie managing days are over as well as her married life and her dream car has now been repossessed.  Only six months of procrastination and Plums ready to get a job.  The only job available where she can make a lot of money upfront is working for her cousin vinny as a bounty-hunter.

As Plum thumbs through the records of wanted people she comes across a report on Joe Marelli (Jason O'Mara) who's now worth $50,000 on wanted charges.  Of course Marelli is the same man that left Plum high and dry after a one time trist in high school.  She wants the $50,000 and she wants revenge on Marelli.  Only time will tell for these two, so the love story goes.

Katherine Heigel did an awesome job playing a tough as nails bounty-hunter yet mainting her femininity.  As a born- and- raised jersey girl I can personally tell you she played the part flawless.  To the accent, to the attitude and even the wardrobe she was 100% jersey.  If your a woman who loves a good romantic comedy you'll enjoy One for the Money.  It's cute and witty and Heigel's character is someone almost every girl can identify with you don't even have to be from jersey to understand, although it helps. 

I thought the movie could have been better with more background information to Plum's life before she was a bounty-hunter, but over all it was a good solid chick flick.  A movie both mom and daughter, friends, or sisters can go see and get a good laugh.

Cute & Witty

Rated: PG-13

90 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJRuU1-lU8&noredirect=1

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

What happens when you put Tom Cruise up to the challenge of running down the tallest building in the world?  He does it with impeccable grace and makes the bone chilling scene appear less intimidating with some colloquial humor. 


The IMF has made too many errors and the last one has left Russia and the United States as enemies.  The Kremlin mission turned into a perfect booby trap after a successful terriorst attack by an unknown source,  has left the IMF's fingerprints plastered all over it.  The President has decided to eight-six all affiliation with the team.  The Ghost Protocol has left the agents with no back up and no means of contact with a support system.

Now, the Russian politican behind the original terrorist attack is still making plans to end the world with nuclear warfare.  Everyone left of the IMF is now proceeding to stop the nuclear launch alone.  It's stop the terrorists or join the world in mass destruction for Ethan Hunt and his unjustly labeled infamous team.

From seduction to skyscraping leaps to fatal 'cat' fights to comedic relief Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol has left out no ingredients for pure entertainment.  Jeremy Renner (William Brandt) and Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn) work well together to form a unique partnership that keeps the audience laughing.  And then Paula Patton (Jane Carter) shows the men up as she fights the bad guys with one advantage her male partners lack: She can trip up the bad guys by seducing them and then kicking their a#$.

Slightly long, this movie creates the whole action package.  No one does it better though then Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt) leading the IMF as they journey together to stop the earth's fatal prophesy with one technological malfunction after another.  Benji the computer brains of the IMF is sure of all the capabilites of the technology he must use, but one thing also remains sure: He cannot completely control the enviornment in which they are used.  A couple near death experiences due to technical failures leaves the audience on the edge of their seat.

And to tie it off Cruise's jail mate and friend include a hairy Russian man, Bogdan (Miraj Grbic), just to keep things interesting.  Even if you have never seen any version of Mission Impossible, you can still see Ghost Protocol and be fully enthralled.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, 2011

Two- thumbs up

Rated: PG-13

133 minutes

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2866585113/