REVIEW: ‘Her’

Director:
Spike Jonze
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix
Rooney Mara
Amy Adams
Scarlett Johansson
Rated: R

Good science fiction is all about creating a world that is different or perhaps farther in the future than our own, yet still is able to make strong social statement about our society and keeping it centered around a well structured story. “Her” manages to capture all of this and is the reason it’s one of 2013’s best.

The film follows a the character Theodore (Phoenix), who is in the going through the final stages of a painful divorce and now finds himself all alone. On one of the days that he is on his way home from work, Theodore finds out that a new operating system with fully functioning A.I. has been put out on the market.

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Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom review

“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” turns out to be a very long movie as it encompasses a huge portion of the political figure’s life.

The movie begins with Nelson Mandela, played by Idris Elba, as a young attorney and follows his path to becoming an idealist and eventually a revolutionary leader. The movie also chronicles his personal life, including his marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who was played by Naomie Harris.

Eventually, the movie also goes into detail about the 27 years Mandela spent in prison which was followed by his election as president of South Africa.

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Top 10 Worst Movies of 2013

10. 47 Ronin
Well, before coming to an end, 2013 just had to shove in one last bad movie. “47 Ronin” was a poor excuse for a fantasy samurai adventure movie. The acting was bland, the characters weren’t worth rooting for and the movie played itself way to seriously for taking a more fantasy approach to a really interesting Japanese legend. It’s a shame because the story the movie is based on could make for a great picture.

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The Wolf of Wall Street review

Director:
Martin Scorsese
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Jonah Hill
Kyle Chandler
Margot Robbie
Rated:
Trailer

Wall Street execs throw crazier parties than the guys from “Old School” and “Animal House” combined according to Scorsese’s latest flick.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” is based on the true story of stockbroker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio). Belfort, with the assistance of his eventual friend and business partner Donnie (Hill), open a firm called Stratton Oakmont. The firm becomes a billion-dollar company quickly and with that Belfort has easy access to drugs, alcohol and everything in between.

As the movie progresses, Belfort, Donnie and the firm gets richer and richer and the lifestyles become grander and more outrageous. The only problem is that what Belfort is doing at the firm isn’t considered legal and it doesn’t take long for the FBI to start an investigation.

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American Hustle review

Director:
David O. Russell
Cast:
Christian Bale
Bradley Cooper
Amy Adams
Jeremy Renner
Jennifer Lawrence
Rated: R
Trailer

With this great of a cast, I was hoping for a really great movie. What I got was simply an OK one.

“American Hustle” follows the story of two con artists named Irving (Bale) and Sydney (Adams). The two seem to have a good thing going together as they are making money through their various schemes. This changes, though, when they are found out by FBI Agent Richie (Cooper).

Instead of putting the two behind bars, however, Richie allows them to assist him in a corruption scandal case which involves a mayor (played by Renner), congressmen and the mafia. As the case goes on, more drama is added to the situation when Irving’s wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) comes into the equation and threatens to mess with the whole operation.

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Lone Survivor review

Director:
Peter Berg
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Taylor Kitsch
Ben Foster
Emile Hirsch
Eric Bana
Rated:
Trailer

“Lone Survivor” really puts the phrase “war is hell” in your face.

The film dramatizes the events of a true story, based on the accounts from Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell (played in the film by Wahlberg).

The movie introduces Luttrell and three other Navy SEALs, played by Kitsch, Foster and Hirsch, who go on a mission to possibly take out a Taliban leader in Afghanistan.

During that time, the mission goes wrong as they come across some herders who inform the Taliban of their whereabouts.

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47 Ronin review

Director:
Carl Rinsch
Cast:
Keanu Reeves
Hiroyuki Sanada
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

The movie “47 Ronin” says that it was inspired by a true story, although I doubt the real thing included dragons and witches.

Keanu Reeves stars in “47 Ronin,” portraying the character Kai. As a young man, Kai is found in a forest and brought in to live in a land filled with samurai. The samurai, however look down on Kai as they feel he is unworthy of any good treatment, in particular, the lead samurai Oishi (Sanada).

The situation changes, though, when the lord of the land is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to take his own life to reclaim honor for his family. This is followed by the samurai under his guide becoming masterless, making them “ronin.” In response, Oishi seeks out the help of Kai and the other samurai to avenge the death of his master.

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Grudge Match review

Director:
Peter Segal
Cast:
Sylvester Stallone
Robert De Niro
Kevin Hart
Alan Arkin
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

Stallone drinks eggs and tries to punch meat in this movie. Could the jokes be anymore obvious?

“Grudge Match” tells the tale of two boxers, Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp (Stallone) and Billy ‘The Kid’ McDonnen (De Niro). Thirty years ago the two fought a pair of fights against each other, with both of them taking a win. When it came time for a third bout, though, Sharp decided to retire and get out of the boxing world.

This film suffers from simply having far too much going on. If it was just a story of two old fighters wanting to lay it on the line to prove who was better it would have been fine. The problem is that there are so many sub-plots that it makes a person’s head spin.

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty review

Director:
Ben Stiller
Cast:
Ben Stiller
Kristen Wiig
Adam Scott
Rated: PG

Ben Stiller takes zoning out to a whole new level in this movie.

Stiller both directs and stars as Walter Mitty in this film. The lead protagonist lives in what he feels is a rather dull life, working a day job where he processes negatives at Life magazine. Mitty also would like to approach a coworker named Cheryl (Wiig), but is to shy to do so.

Because his life is unexciting and he isn’t able to approach Cheryl on his own, he often fall into fantastical daydreams where he can escape the realities of life.

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Saving Mr. Banks review

Director:
John Lee Hancock
Cast:
Emma Thompson
Tom Hanks
Colin Farrell
Paul Giamatti
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

Walt Disney Pictures gives you a behind-the-scene look at how Walt Disney Pictures acquired and made “Mary Poppins.”

Despite the film taking place at the Disney studio, the focus is completely on the original author of “Mary Poppins,” Pamela P.L. Travers (Thompson). The movie goes into detail about how she traveled to California to meet with Walt Disney (Hanks) himself to work out a deal to let Disney take the rights for a movie adaption of her beloved novel.

Travers, for much of the movie, is absolutely reluctant to have her book be made into a film adaption, however Disney, his film crew, and even flashbacks from the past help her become more comfortable with the idea as the film moves along.

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