Matthew Liedke

Out of the Furnace review

Director:
Scott Cooper
Cast:
Woody Harrelson
Christian Bale
Casey Affleck
Zoe Saldana
Rated: R
Trailer

Woody Harrelson was such a bad guy in this, I really wanted Bale to throw a Baterang at him.

“Out of the Furnace” follows Russell (Bale), a man who seems to have things going fairly well for him. He’s honest, hard working and tries to do the right things. His brother Rodney (Affleck), though, is a bit more troubled. Rodney is an Iraqi war veteran who has been on multiple tours because of the stop loss system.

Instead of looking for a steady job, Rodney enters into underground fighting rings. This gets him into more trouble, however, especially with ring leader Harlan DeGroat. After some issues Rodney ends up going missing and Russell, who’s life is going in a downward spiral, has to start thinking of making a decision on whether he should take the law into his own hands.

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The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug review

Unfortunately, it looks as if “The Hobbit” trilogy won’t be as great as Director Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“Desolation of Smaug” picks up a short time after the events of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, is continuing on his quest with a traveling group made up of dwarves lead by Thorin, played by Richard Armitage and the wizard Gandalf, played by Ian McKellen.

The group is being chased by a pack of evil orcs who are trying to stop them on their quest to reach the caverns where the dragon Smaug resides. The group is on a quest to kill Smaug and retake the land back for the dwarves, which in the process would make Thorin king. Along the way they are met by enemies and allies, and some who fall in between.

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Homefront review

Director:
Gary Fleder
Cast:
Jason Statham
James Franco
Kate Bosworth
Winona Ryder
Rated: R
Trailer

Movie rednecks sure are scary.

Jason Statham is Phil Broker. Just your average single dad raising a young daughter out in a rural area. Oh, and he just happens to be a former DEA agent with knowledge of how to use powerful weapons, as well as having detective and martial arts skills. One average day, Broker’s daughter gets into a school ground fight with a boy who happens to be the nephew of a local criminal.

The criminal is called Gator, played by James Franco, who is trying to start a drug ring in the local community. At first, Gator just tries to scare Broker as a revenge tactic for his nephew and sister. However, the stakes are raised when Gator learns about Broker’s past as an agent with the DEA.

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Nebraska review

Director:
Alexander Payne
Cast:
Bruce Dern
Will Forte
Bob Odenkirk
June Squibb
Rated: R
Trailer

Alexander Payne returns in a great way with his new film “Nebraska,” which examines the dynamics of a family like his previous film, “The Descendants” did.

“Nebraska” picks up with the character Woody (Dern), an old man who believes he won $1 million and is trying to leave his home in Montana and get to where he can claim his prize in Nebraska. His wife, Kate (Squibb), is set against the trip, believing the prize to be a hoax. However, his son David (Forte), despite not fully believing that his father has won a prize, thinks that a road trip could do Woody some good.

The two set off on a trip that goes through the American heartland, but before getting to their destination, they end up stopping in Woody’s old town, where he meets with former friends and family he hasn’t seen in years.

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Delivery Man review

Director:
Ken Scott
Cast:
Vince Vaughn
Chris Pratt
Cobie Smulders
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

“Delivery Man” isn’t actually an original film, it’s a remake of a French-Canadian comedy.

Vince Vaughn plays David, a man who is just sort of coasting through life. He works as a delivery man for his dad’s meat store and owes a lot of money to some bad people. Early in the movie, he also learns that his girlfriend Emma (Smulders) is pregnant.

As if his problems weren’t enough, he finds out that he fathered over 500 children by anonymous sperm donation 20 years ago. A law suit is filed by 142 of the children to reveal his identity. To deal with the situation, David turns to the help of his friend Brett (Pratt), who is a lawyer. As he does this though, David discovers he may actually want to get to know some of the children he fathered.

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire review

If you liked “The Hunger Games,” then you will love “Catching Fire” because it is an improvement over the first one in nearly every way.

The film picks up not long after the first movie. Both Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, are on a victory tour after winning the Hunger Games. Although it is all smiles on the outside, inside, both characters are conflicted.

Katniss is troubled both by post traumatic stress disorder from the first games along with the fact that her relationship with Peeta is actually fake. She has feelings for the character Gale Hawthorne, played by Liam Hemsworth. Peeta is troubled by the same fact that the relationship doesn’t exist.

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Frozen review

Director:
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Cast:
Kristen Bell
Idina Menzel
Jonathan Groff
Josh Gad
Santino Fontana
Rated: PG
Trailer

Disney’s has made another classic in “Frozen.”

The movie is built on two intertwined character arcs, with the story following the sisters Anna (Bell) and Elsa (Menzel). The plot begins by showing that Elsa has the power to create and manipulate ice. Because of the lack of control over her abilities, her parents decide it’s best for her to hide them from the world, including her sister. After the death of their parents, the movie moves forward to the day of Elsa’s coronation as queen.

Everything seems alright at the coronation for a while, that is until Anna, being the more free spirit that she is, makes a bold announcement that doesn’t sit too well with Elsa. The whole ordeal causes Elsa to reveal her power and flee the kingdom. In the process of running away she freezes the entire land in the middle of summer. To end the cold spell, Anna decides to confront her sister and get her to end the winter that now exists. Along the way she is joined by an ice seller named Kristoff (Groff) and his reindeer as well as a living snowman named Olaf (Gad).

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The Best Man Holiday review

Director:
Malcolm D. Lee
Cast:
Morris Chestnut
Taye Diggs
Terrence Howard
Monica Calhoun
Sanaa Lathan
Rated: R

So much drama in one movie.

Director Malcolm Lee helmed “The Best Man Holiday,” the sequel to his 1999 film “The Best Man.” The film starts with following the main character Harper (Diggs), an author who is having a case of writer’s block right around the time of the Christmas season. When the festive holiday finally arrives, Harper and his wife are invited for a big Christmas party weekend at the home of his former friend Lance (Chestnut).

The first movie revolved around the drama of Harper and Lance and Lance’s wife Mia (Calhoun) and it picks up again here. On top of that, are the many subplots surrounding the rest of the other friends of Lance and Mia’s who are invited to the party. From there, hi-jinx ensue.

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Blockbuster closing and video rental memories

I grew up in a small Midwestern town with a population between 5,000 and 7,000 people. A blockbuster store never showed up in that town, instead we had small community video rental stores. No matter what type of rental store was in any community, though, mine or yours, from huge corporate to locally owned rental spots, the memories remain the same.

To start off with, some have discussed how they are happy to see Blockbuster go down. The fact is, many local video rentals were in fact forced out by the large video rental chain. However, this isn’t what this column is about. In the end, Blockbuster was fighting the same battle that every video rental store is fighting. And with the latest blow, the remaining blockbuster stores closing, it represents the last of a group of warriors falling in battle.

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About Time review

Director:
Richard Curtis
Cast:
Domhnall Gleeson
Rachel McAdams
Bill Nighy
Rated: R

For once we have a time travel movie that isn’t all that confusing.

Tim (Gleeson) is the main character of “About Time.” On his 21st birthday, Tim finds out from his father (Nighy) that his family has the ability to travel backwards in time, but only during one persons life, not being able to travel to a time before the person was born.

Tim soon grasps the opportunities he has with the ability, and it helps him through life as he starts working as a lawyer in London. As time goes on, Tim also meets his true love in Mary (McAdams) and helps the relationship along with his power, however, as he does he learns that he can’t make everything perfect.

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