Tag: movies

Big Miracle review

Director:
Ken Kwapis
Cast:
John Krasinski
Drew Barrymore
Ted Danson
Dermot Mulroney
Rated: PG

It’s like the Free Willy genre is making a comeback lately.

Big Miracle is a movie inspired by the true events that happened in Alaska in 1988. Three whales became trapped by ice and had no way of getting to the ocean since there was only a single hole for them to get a breath from.

Because of this, news reporter Adam Carlson (Krasinski) does a story on it and attracts many volunteers and attention from the media from across the United States, however with so many coming together disagreements begin to arise. So they have to come together in whatever way they can to stay on task and save the whales.

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Chronicle review

Director:
Josh Trank
Cast:
Dane DeHaan
Alex Russel
Michael B. Jordan
Ashley Hinsaw
Rated: PG-13

It’s very rare that I can see a movie which I will consider one of my favorite of the year as early as February but, “Chronicle” did it.

“Chronicle” tells the story of three teenage high school boys, Andrew (DeHaan), Matt (Russel) and Steve (Jordan). At first, Andrew is a bit of an outcast. Early in the film he decides to start filming everything around him. Eventually he goes to a party with Matt and Steve and the three come across a cavern with a mysterious rock which gives all three of them the power of telekinesis.

After this the three start hanging out more and become very good friends while learning to strengthen and better control their new found powers. During this time they pull some pranks and have some fun however they soon learn about how dangerous they can be as well and Andrew unfortunately begins going down a bad path.

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Man on a Ledge review

Director:
Asger Leth
Cast:
Sam Worthington
Elizabeth Banks
Anthony mackie
Jamie Bell
Genesis Rodriguez
Ed Harris
Rated: PG-13

“Man on a Ledge” follows the story of escaped convict Nick Cassidy (Worthington), who tells everyone he was wrongfully framed for stealing a diamond from rich CEO David Englander (Harris). Because of this, Nick devises a plan to prove his innocence.

He stands out on a ledge of a high building to attract all the attention he can making it seem like he’s going to leap off the edge, meanwhile, his brother Joey (Bell) and his brother’s girlfriend Angie (Rodriguez) break into Englander’s compound to find the diamond and prove Nick’s innocence.

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The Grey review

Director:
Joe Carnahan
Cast:
Liam Neeson
Dallas Roberts
Frank Grillo
Nonso Anozie
Rated: R

The characters Liam Neeson plays just can’t catch a break.

“The Grey” follows a group of men who work for an oil company in Alaska. The main character, Ottway (Neeson), a trained wolf hunter for the company, seems to be one of the outsiders at the oil company and keeps to himself. Eventually, the crew of the company is to be flown back to a major city for a break however during the flight the plane goes down.

Upon regaining his bearings, Ottway begins searching for survivors and finds a handful, he also finds that they are surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. Ottway soon establishes himself as the leader of the scared group of survivors and begins a journey to try and bring them back to civilization.

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Haywire review

Director:
Steven Soderbergh
Cast:
Gina Carano
Channing Tatum
Michael Angarano
Michael Douglas
Antonio Banderas
Ewan McGregor
Rated: R

It was almost surprising not seeing Angelina Jolie in this.

“Haywire” is the latest film from director Steven Soderbergh, it follows the character Mallory (Carano), a spy for hire who is on the run after being betrayed by the company she works for, in particular, her boss Kenneth (McGregor). Because of this she is forced to leave a small diner abruptly with a young man by the name of Scott (Angarano). During their get away she begins to go into flashbacks about how her life got turned upside down.

The first hour of the film is devoted to telling the flashbacks where the second half goes into how she will try to set the record straight. During this time she continues to be hunted and has to be careful and watch her step.

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The Iron Lady review

Director:
Phyllida Lloyd
Cast:
Meryl Streep
Jim Broadbent
Alexandra Roach
Rated: PG-13

I wonder if this film was made because Meryl Streep made a call saying she wanted another Oscar.

The Iron Lady follows the life of Margaret Thatcher in her later years after her time as Prime Minister of England. The focus was on her dealing with loss of her husband and wanting to still be the strong woman that led England through the 80s.

As the film goes on, it has many flashbacks to her as a young woman getting into politics to eventually running to be the Prime Minister. It then shows times of her running the country including many moments including the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Top 10 Movies of 2011

1. Midnight in Paris
2. The Artist
3. The Descendants
4. Drive
5. The Ides of March
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. Crazy Stupid Love
9. 50/50
10. The Lincoln Lawyer

Honorable Mentions:
Warrior
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
X-Men First Class
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Kung Fu Panda 2

The Artist review

Director:
Stephen Daldry
Cast:
Jean Dujardin
Berenice Bejo
John Goodman
James Cromwell
Rated: PG-13

This film, takes audiences back to the 1920s in every way possible. Not only is the story told about an actor in this time period, it’s also shot and stylized the exact way that a silent film would be in that time. The film follows George Valentin (Dujardin), a major actor with great success in the silent era of film-making.

Things take a turn for his career, though, as films with sound begin to be released and new movie stars, including a beautiful girl he once worked with, Pepper Miller (Bejo), take the spotlight away. This starts a downward spiral for not only Valentin’s career, but his life in general.

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Contraband review

Director:
Baltasr Komakur
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Ben Foster
Kate Beckinsale
Giovanni Ribisi
Caleb Landry Jones
Rated: R

Maybe the main character in this story was cousins with Wahlberg’s character in “The Italian Job.”

The story of Contraband follows the character Chris Farraday (Wahlberg), a former smuggler who has now turned to making an honest living and having a family.

Unfortunately, his younger brother-in-law Andy (Jones) didn’t quite get the message and decides to try smuggling himself, this goes wrong though as Customs catches him in the act and he has to get rid of the drugs he was bringing across.

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The Devil Inside review

Director:
William Brent Bell
Cast:
Feranda Andrade
Simon Quarterman
Evan Helmunth
Ionut Grama
Suzan Crowley
Rated: R

Oh goody, another exorcism movie, and even better, it’s found footage.

“The Devil Inside” tells the story of Isabella (Andrade), a young woman who has come to the Italy to see her mother. When Isabella was a young girl her mother Maria (Crowley) killed three people who were trying to perform an exorcism, after the event Maria was taken to a hospital near the Vatican.

Because of the mystery surrounding the event, Isabella has a documentary filmmaker named Ben (Quarterman) go along to capture footage. During their time in Italy, they meet two young priests who do a type of vigilante exorcism service, unfortunately they don’t have a Commissioner Gordan at the Vatican. At any rate, the two priests become interested in Isabella’s story and decide to see if Maria’s possession is real or not.

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