This is Where I Leave You review

Director:
Shawn Levy
Cast:
Jason Bateman
Tina Fey
Jane Fonda
Adam Driver
Corey Stoll
Rose Byrne
Rated: R

Jason Bateman plays Judd in “This is Where I Leave You,” a down on his luck man who lost his job, finds out his wife is cheating on him, and learns that his father has died all within the same short time period. This brings him back to his home town where he has to once again interact with his two brothers, sister and mother.

He soon finds out that his father’s last wish was for everyone to live together under one roof for a week and interact. Through that, the family begins to learn that they each are living with their own problems.

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2014 Summer Movie Awards

It was a good summer for science fiction, with “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “Edge of Tomorrow” both having a lot of success. “Edge” earned three awards while “Dawn” won six, including Best Movie.

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Ranking Marvel Movies (as of September 2014)

10: Thor: The Dark World
Released in 2013, “Thor: The Dark World” is Marvel’s weakest entry into their universe. While it included some good banter between the hero Thor and his brother Loki and an ending fight scene with an interesting teleportation concept, the rest of the movie was lacking. An overuse of secondary comic relief characters and an uninteresting villain with no personality resulted in a plot that was difficult to get invested in. Hopefully, Thor can rebound in future films.

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The November Man review

Director:
Roger Donaldson
Cast:
Pierce Brosnan
Luke Bracey
Olga Kurylenko
Rated: R

He may not be James Bond anymore, but Pierce Brosnan is the best part of this spy action thriller.

“The November Man” follows a character by the name of Peter Devereaux, played by Brosnan, an ex CIA agent who is called in for a special mission. Things take a deadly turn when Devereaux finds out he will be squaring off against Mason, played by Luke Bracey, who is an agent he trained.

As the plot thickens, Devereaux learns his espionage mission has more sides to it than he originally thought and the amount of enemies in his way grows larger.

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When the Game Stands Tall review

Director:

  • Thomas Carter

Cast:

  • Jim Caviezel
  • Alexander Ludwig
  • Michael Chiklis
  • Laura Dern
  • Matthew Daddario
  • Rated: PG

The film follows Bob Ladouceur (Caviezel), a coach of a high school football team which achieved the longest win streak in football at any level. The movie begins with business as usual for the team. They win another state championship and everything seems to be going fine.

In the offseason, though, tragedy strikes on more than one occasion. Ladouceur gets a heart attack from pushing himself so hard and one of the teammates set to graduate and go on to the University of Oregon football program is shot and killed. To make matters worse, at the beginning of the next season, the team loses… TWICE!

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What if review

Director:
Michael Dowse
Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe
Zoe Kazan
Adam Driver
Rafe Spall
Rated: PG-13

Daniel Radcliffe plays Wallace in “What If.” A guy who is fed up with love and relationships after a not so great break up, Wallace finds himself just stumbling through life with no real direction. His life brightens up, though, when he meets a woman named Chantry (Kazan) at a party one night.

The two have an instant connection and develop a friendship, the problem for Wallace, though, is that Chantry is already in a relationship with her boyfriend Ben, played by Rafe Spall. This leads to the dilemma of Wallace getting close as a friend while keeping his romantic interest a secret.

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The Giver review

Director:
Phillip Noyce
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Meryl Streep
Brenton Thwaites
Odeya Rush
Rated: PG-13

Based on a 1993 novel of the same name, “The Giver” follows the story of Jonas (Thwaites), a young man living in a society with no war, pain or suffering. This is made possible because there is no emotion or feeling. On the day when he finds out what he will do for a career in the dystopian future, Jonas learns that he will discover the history of his people from The Giver (Bridges).

As Jonas begins to learn from The Giver, he discovers emotion and passion in life, and he looks to share it with those around him. This is forbidden, though, and he becomes a target of the Chief Elder of the community (Streep).

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Let’s Be Cops review

Director:
Steve Quale
Cast:
Matt Walsh
Sarah Wayne Callies
Richard Armitage
Max Deacon
Nathan Kress
Rated: PG-13

Ryan (Johnson) and Justin (Wayans) are a couple of guys pushing 30 who are trying to make it living in Los Angeles, but don’t appear to be going anywhere in life. Justin isn’t making progress as a game developer and Ryan is still trying to ride the success of a commercial he starred in.

One night when the two are preparing to go to a costume party, they decide to dress as cops. It all comes off as fun to the two buddies as people actually believe they are from law enforcement, however, things take a turn for the worse when real officers and the mob think they are police, too.

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The Expendables 3 review

Director:
Patrick Hughes
Cast:
Sylvester Stallone
Jason Statham
Mel Gibson
Wesley Snipes
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rated: PG-13

The novelty has worn out on this franchise.

In “The Expendables 3,” Sylvester Stallone once again returns to the role of Barney Ross, the head of a mercenary group which goes on some of the most dangerous missions that can be given. Despite his crew being experts, though, during one particular mission, an old foe of Ross appears which turns out to be the most deadly opponent a person could face.

The enemy named Stonebanks, is played by Mel Gibson. After Stonebanks injures one of Ross’ teammates, the gun-for-hire decides to let his old crew go and hire younger mercenaries to take down his greatest enemy yet. However, the older warriors still want a piece of the action.

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Robin Williams’ death: A loss that spans generations

One of my first experiences at a movie theater was watching “Aladdin” on the big screen in 1992.

It was great not only because it was a fantastic movie to watch, but also because it opened the door for me to Robin Williams, an actor who would make some of the best movies that I would see in my childhood.

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