Director:
Robert Stromberg
Cast:
Angelina Jolie
Elle Fanning
Sharlto Copley
Rated: PG
Angelina Jolie stars as the title character “Maleficent,” which explores the background and supposed true story of one of Disney’s most famous villains.
The film explores a romance that she had with a man who would eventually betray her, how she became a cold hearted being, and her involvement in the spell put on sleeping beauty, AKA Aurora, played in this film by Elle Fanning.
The Other Woman: 1 out of 5
There are so many flaws with this movie, and listing them is probably the easiest thing to do. The humor is all below average and offers nothing really clever, Leslie Mann’s character is annoying and comes off as unbelievable, Kate Upton’s character is a waste of time and probably could have been written out of the whole picture and Nicki Minaj can’t act. Unlike “The First Wives Club,” this is just a dumb comedy without any charm.
Director:
Jon Favreau
Cast:
Jon Favreau
John Leguizamo
Emjay Anthony
Sofia Vergara
Rated: R
After a string of high budget blockbusters, Director Jon Favreau has returned to the smaller screen in the indie comedy “Chef.”
Not only does Favreau direct the picture, he writes and stars as the main character, too. Favreau plays Carl Casper, A chef who has had a relatively good career working at an upscale restaurant in Los Angeles. While his career has gone somewhat smoothly, the same cannot be said for his family life.
Director:
Bryan Singer
Cast:
Hugh Jackman
James McAvoy
Michael Fassbender
Jennifer Lawrence
Peter Dinklage
Rated: PG-13
So many X-Men characters, so little time, but plenty of time travel.
The seventh film in the “X-Men” franchise and the first to return some of the characters from the original trilogy, “Days of Future Past” starts off in a “Terminator” like atmosphere. The film takes place in the not so distant future with much of the mutant race either dead or in hiding and the human race not doing too well either.
The reason for the devastation is summed up in an opening expository dialogue by Patrick Stewart playing Charles Xavier. It’s explained that some time after the events of “The Wolverine,” robots, titled Sentinals, were unleashed to hunt down mutants with the ability to adapt to any power they are faced with.
Director:
Gareth Edwards
Cast: PG-13
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Ken Watanabe
Bryan Cranston
David Strathairn
Rated: PG-13
Yes this movie needed more Godzilla. Scenes with fins sticking out of the water don’t count.
The second American take on “Godzilla” starts with the character Joe Brody (Cranston), a worker at a nuclear power plant in Japan. On what seems like just another average day, the power plant is devastated by an unknown force, and in the destruction Brody’s wife, who also works at the factory, is killed. This sets off Brody into a truth finding search for answers which ends up leading to a strained relationship with his son Ford (Taylor-Johnson).
Fast forward 15 years into the future and Brody’s quest for the truth leads him, along with Ford, to uncover a powerful creature which pose a massive threat to humanity. Things get more interesting as the military gets involved to stop the creature that has awoken and meanwhile, the King of the Monsters starts to make his presence known.
A good science fiction idea can only go so far without a good story.
Will Caster is the main character of “Transcendence,” played by Johnny Depp.
Caster is a brilliant computer technician who has designed his own artificial intelligence programming. His life and much of the technology industry is shattered, though, when a terrorist attack occurs by a group who fears artificial intelligence.
Disaster strikes when Caster learns the attack has left him terminally ill and he only has a few weeks to live. In response, Caster’s wife, Evelyn, played by Rebecca Hall, and friend and colleague, Max, portrayed by Paul Bettany, use the artificial intelligence technology to place Caster’s consciousness into a computer program.
Director:
Ivan Reitman
Cast:
Kevin Costner
Jennifer Garner
Chadwick Boseman
Josh Pence
Denis Leary
Griffin Newman
Rated: PG-13
Why do good concepts in movies always have to be dragged down by useless subplots.
“Draft Day” takes place on the most important time for the National Football League offseason. Players from college are evaluated, ESPN and NFL Network have round the clock coverage of mock drafts and quarterback mechanics are analyzed. The film itself follows Sonny Weaver (Costner), a general manager for the Cleveland Browns, and any football fan knows that’s not the best job to have.
The movie picks up the morning of the first round of the draft with Sonny questioning what he will do. The team needs to be rebuilt but it will take some trading and dealing on Sonny’s part to get it done. On top of that, the main character is also dealing with a turbulent relationship with co-worker Ali (Garner) and is mourning the death of his father who was previously the coach of the Browns.
Director:
Carlos Saldanha
Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg
Jamie Foxx
Jemaine Clement
Andy Garcia
Anne Hathaway
Rated: G
Does an animated movie about birds need this many sub plots?
“Rio 2” carries on the story of Blu, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg. Blu, who formally lived in Minnesota during the first movie, now lives with his wife Jewel (Hathaway) and their children in a forest sanctuary near Rio, being kept safe as they are the only birds of their kind.
That is until more of their species is discovered by an expedition conducted by the film’s lead human protagonists. Blu’s family and friends eagerly travel to the Amazon where the rest of the species lives and he reluctantly tags along. When they arrive they find out that their species is led by Jewel’s long lost father Eduardo (Garcia).
Marvel has made its best super hero film to date, by not playing out like a super hero movie.
“Winter Soldier” is the sequel to the premier film, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” in 2011. The film takes place after the events of “The Avengers,” with the Captain, aka Steve Rogers, adjusting to his life in the 21st Century. He lives his life as an agent for SHIELD and works together with Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson.
Rogers follows orders from SHIELD Director Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and carries out those orders on missions. However, Rogers begins to have issues with how SHIELD is operating.
Director:
Scott Waugh
Cast:
Aaron Paul
Dominic Cooper
Imogen Poots
Scott Mescudi
Harrison Gilbertson
Rated: PG-13
Video game fans will have to wait for another adaption if they want to see something good.
“Need for Speed” follows the story of a mechanic named Tobey (Paul), who is facing some financial hardships when it comes to his repair shop. That doesn’t stop him and his friends from enjoying some leisurely street racing from time to time, though.
One night after a race Tobey gets a visit from his old rival and professional driver Dino Brewster (Cooper). Dino makes a deal with Tobey and the shop crew to fix up a car in exchange for a large sum of money. After the job is finished, though, Dino challenges Tobey and his younger friend Peter (Harrison Gilbertson) to a street race. The race turns out to be deadly as Peter loses his life in an accident and Tobey is sent to prison. Upon his release him and his crew decide to enter an underground race competition that Dino will also partake in to get revenge.
Matthew Liedke on Film 