Matthew Liedke

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation review

Director:
Christopher McQuarrie
Cast:
Tom Cruise
Jeremy Renner
Simon Pegg
Ving Rhames
Rebecca Ferguson
Sean Harris
Rated: PG-13

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the “Mission Impossible” film series and this time, he’s looking for a syndicate of spies that is causing chaos around the world.

It seems like Hunt has met his match with these new enemies, and on top of that, his agency, the IMF, gets shut down for the events of Ghost Protocol (Part 4). This once again leaves Hunt without many resources at his disposal, making the challenge that much greater.

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Pixels review

Director:
Chris Columbus
Cast:
Adam Sandler
Kevin James
Michelle Monaghan
Peter Dinklage
Josh Gad
Rated: PG-13

Kevin James plays Cooper in “Pixels.” Cooper is the President of the United States but he has been a more or less a bumbler in office. He has to step up his performance, though, when he finds out that aliens are attacking the Earth using 80s arcade video games.

After learning that the military is ineffective against the invaders, Cooper decides to turn to friends and rivals from his childhood that were fantastic at video games to fight off the threat.

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Paper Towns review

Director:
Jake Schreier
Cast:
Nat Wolff
Cara Delevingne
Austin Abrams
Justice Smith
Halston Sage
Rated: PG-13

In “Paper Towns,” Nat Wolff plays Quentin, a high school student who is nearing the end of his senior year. As he goes through with his day-to-day routine of going to school, he still hopes to reconnect with his childhood friend Margo (Delevigne), a girl next door who has become one of the popular kids.

Quentin eventually gets his chance to spend time with Margo, who invites him out for a night of mischief. To his surprise, though, the next day Quentin finds out that Margo has gone off the grid and has seemingly disappeared. The vanishing sets Quentin, with the help of his friends, off on a road trip/adventure to find clues as to where Margo is.

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Southpaw review

Director:
Antoine Fuqua
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Rachel McAdams
Forest Whitaker
Oona Laurence
Rated: R

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope in “Southpaw,” a boxer who holds a title belt and is undefeated. Hope is a fighter that isn’t afraid to get bloody and he often takes a beating in the ring. With his undefeated record, Hope has experienced a great adult life, however, after a tragedy happens, he is sent into a downward spiral.

To get his life back on track, Hope relies on the help of trainer Tick Wills (Whitaker), not just to improve as an athlete, but as a person.

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Trainwreck review

Director:
Judd Apatow
Cast:
Amy Schumer
Lebron James
Bill Hader
John Cena
Rated: R

In “Trainwreck,” Amy Schumer plays Amy (really a stretch), a good writer for a popular magazine who happens to live a promiscuous lifestyle. Her life begins to change, though, when she meets an athlete doctor named Aaron for an assignment.

After meeting for a few interviews, the two start to hit it off and for the first time, Amy seems to be able to hold on to a steady relationship. Old habits die hard, though, as Amy finds it difficult to leave her party lifestyle behind which results in some drama.

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Ant-Man review

Director:
Peyton Reed
Cast:
Paul Rudd
Michael Douglas
Evangeline Lilly
Corey Stoll
Rated: PG-13

In Marvel’s Ant-Man, Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang, a man who has just been released from prison for breaking into a high security business in which he used to work for. At the same time, Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas), a brilliant mind who invented a suit which can adjust size and strength, finds out his old company is going to use that technology to make a new, dangerous weapon.

As Lang finds himself falling back into his ways of theft in order to make enough money to be a better father to his daughter, Pym decides to give Lang a better opportunity. With the help of Pym’s daughter, Hope, the old scientist mentors Lang to use the suit to steal and dispose of the weapon to create a safer world.

“Ant-Man” had a bit of a rocky road in getting made since the project had to change directors along the way. The result is a movie that for the most part is good, but still had some noticeable areas that felt a bit disjointed.

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Minions review

Directors:
Kyla Balda
Pierre Coffin
Cast:
Sandra Bullock
Jon Hamm
Michael Keaton
Allison Janney
Rated: PG

“Minions” is a prequel to the “Despicable Me” movies showcasing the origin story of the villain helpers as they travel the globe in search of a leader.

Their adventure takes them to various points through history, but without much luck. Eventually, three of the minions, Stuart, Kevin and Bob decide to go on a new journey to save their race by finding a great villain to follow. Their quest takes them to the mighty Scarlet Overkill (Bullock), however, even when they start working for her, things might not be as good as it seems.

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Terminator Genisys review

Director:
Alan Taylor
Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jason Clarke
Emilia Clarke
Jai Courtney
PG-13

“Terminator Genisys” is the fifth installment of the evil machine franchise, however, this movie largely ignores the events of the third and fourth films.

“Genisys” starts off in the late future with the leader of the human resistance John Connor (Jason Clarke) finding out that the machine program Skynet has sent a terminator back to 1984 to kill his mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). To stop the terminator, John sends Kyle Reese (Courtney) back in time also to bring the machine down.

Up until this point, the plot mirrors that of the original “Terminator.” The similarities end, there, though, not only because this film lacks any of the suspense of the original, but also because it turns out, Sarah has been aware of Skynet since her childhood and has her own Guardian terminator (Schwarzenegger).

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Magic Mike XXL review

Director:
Gregory Jacobs
Cast:
Channing Tatum
Kevin Nash
Joe Manganiello
Matt Bomer
Adam Rodriguez
Rated: R

The first “Magic Mike” released in 2012 was a complete surprise. Instead of simply being a movie focused on the male stripping, Director Steven Soderbergh actually made an interesting character study of what it’s like for a person in that life style who wants to take a different path in the future.

It’s sequel… Not so much. This time around, the male stripper Mike (Tatum) finds out that his friends still in the industry are going on a road trip to a stripping convention and he decides to tag along. The movie follows their trip as they get into various shenanigans.

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Ted 2 review

Director:
Seth MacFarlane
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Seth MacFarlane
Amanda Seyfried
Jessica Barth
Rated: R

In the sequel to 2012’s film “Ted,” the titular named bear (MacFarlane) that magically came to life is now (somewhat) happily married and continues spending time with his best friend John (Wahlberg). Problems arise, though, when Ted and his wife try to adopt a child.

Ted soon learns that the government doesn’t recognize the stuffed animal as an actual person and it throws his whole life in jeopardy. In response, Ted and John hire Samantha (Seyfried), a lawyer to fight for the toy’s civil rights.

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