Tag: Music

REVIEW: ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Falls Apart Because Of Scattered Story, Lack Of Focus

Director/Writer Warren Beatty took audiences to 1950s Hollywood in this period piece with a focus on billionaire Howard Hughes.

The film tells the story of two young residents of Los Angeles, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) who works as a driver for Hughes and Maria Mabrey (Lily Collins), who the billionaire has hired as an actress in Hollywood.

As the film develops, both characters meet Hughes (played by Beatty) and the movie displays how the billionaire influences the directions of their lives and their relationship.

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REVIEW: ‘Arrival’ Is A Remarkable Sci-Fi Epic Thanks To Its Wonder And Intrigue

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we like to call a thinker.

“Arrival” stars Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, a professor who is the leading world expert on language studies. Those skills are nearly immediately put to the test in the film’s first act when multiple space crafts come into Earth’s atmosphere and land in random places across the planet.

In response, Banks and another scientist, Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), are brought in by the military to establish communication with the aliens. However, as the two researchers begin doing just that, tensions from world armies begins to increase on how to deal with the UFOs.

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REVIEW: Musical Scenes Are Greatest Feature Of ‘Trolls’ Movie

It’s nice to see something with the name Trolls and have it not be related to the internet in any way.

Instead, it’s the latest animated feature to hit the big screen and it’s based off the old toys with wild hair. As the name suggests, the film tells the story of Trolls, a race of happy-go-lucky beings who live in harmony, that is when they’re not under attack from the Bergens, giant creatures who only find joy from eating trolls.

Fortunately, at the film’s outset, the Trolls haven’t had to deal with the Bergens for two decades. One day they’re discovered, though, and a number of Trolls are captured by a vicious Bergen Chef. As a result, the Trolls Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and a rather grumpy Troll named Branch (Justin Timberlake) go on a rescue mission/adventure.

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Rock the Kasbah review

Director:
Barry Levinson
Cast:
Bill Murray
Bruce Willis
Leem Lubany
Kate Hudson
Rated: R

“Rock the Kasbah” tells the story of Richie Lanz (Murray), a music talent manager who has fallen on hard times. In an attempt to get back on his feet, Lanz travels to Afghanistan for a USO show with his singer Ronnie played by Zooey Deschanel.

Things take an immediate downturn in the country, though, when his act practically abandons him. To get things back on track, Lanz seeks out talent for an Afghanistan TV series titled “Afghan Star.”

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Jem and the Holograms review

Director:
Jon M. Chu
Cast:
Aubrey Peeples
Ryan Guzman
Juliette Lewis
Stefanie Scott
Rated: PG

Jerrica (Peeples) is a young girl living with her aunt, sister Kimber (Scott) and two cousins Shana (Perrineau) and Aja (Kiyoko). While Jerrica is shy, she does have great musical talent and one day, under the disguise of Jem, records herself playing an original song.

After Kimber uploads the Jem video to Youtube, Jerrica’s alter ego becomes a sensation in the music industry. But the situation gets complicated when she has to start dealing with Erica Raymond (Lewis), the head of a huge music label.

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Ricki and the Flash review

Director:
Jonathan Demme
Cast:
Meryl Streep
Kevin Kline
Mamie Gummer
Rick Springfield
Rated: PG-13

“Ricki and the Flash” tells the story of the title character, also known as Linda, played by Meryl Streep. Ricki is an aging musician who had dreams of hitting it big as a rock star but as the movie begins she is only able to get work doing covers of songs at a local bar in California. To help make ends meet, she also works at a local grocery store.

The story picks up when Ricki gets a call from her ex-husband Pete (Kline), who informs her that their daughter Julie, (Gummer) recently had a bad break-up with her husband and has fallen into depression. Ricki then flies out to Indianapolis to try and help her daughter, even though she has become distant with her family.

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Straight Outta Compton review

Director:
F. Gary Gray
Cast:
O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Corey Hawkins
Jason Mitchell
Neil Brown Jr.
Aldis Hodge
Paul Giamatti
Rated: R

“Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of the N.W.A., a west coast rap group that caused a monumental shift in the whole genre. Founding members of the group included Andre “Dr. Dre” Romelle Young (Hawkins), Eric “Eazy E” Wright (Mitchell), O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson (Jackson Jr.), Lorenzo “MC Ren” Patterson (Hodge) and Antoine “DJ Yella” Carraby (Brown Jr.).

The film follows their rise, from creating their first album to going on tour and the eventual group break-up that occurred in the early 1990s.

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Pitch Perfect 2 review

Director:
Elizabeth Banks
Cast:
Anna Kendrick
Rebel Wilson
Keegan-Michael Key
Brittany Snow
Hailee Steinfeld
Adam DeVine
Rated: PG-13

In “Pitch Perfect 2,” the three time defending acapella national champion Barden University Bellas are riding high. Led by Beca (Kendrick) and Fat Amy (Wilson), now seniors, everything seems set up for more greatness for the group.

That all changes after a completely humiliating performance in front of the United States President which results in the Bellas being suspended from competition. To regain their status, the team enters an international competition, bringing along freshman newcomer Emily (Steinfeld), with the hope of winning a world title.

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Whiplash review

Director:
Damien Chazelle
Cast:
Miles Teller
J.K. Simmons
Paul Reiser
Rated: R

Miles Teller plays Andrew in “Whiplash,” a young college student with aspirations of being a highly successful musician, more specifically, a great drummer. Opportunity eventually comes knocking when he is brought into a skilled jazz band taught by a man named Fletcher (Simmons).

Andrew soon finds out, though, that Fletcher is one of the toughest instructors he has ever gone up against and it will take all of his will power and talent to meet the massive expectations placed upon him as a member of the band.

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Into the Woods review

Director:
Rob Marshall
Cast:
Anna Kendrick
Daniel Huttlestone
James Corden
Emily Blunt
Tracey Ullman
Meryl Streep
Rated: PG

Based on a Broadway musical of the same name, “Into the Woods” is a crossover of sorts which features characters from the stories of Cinderella (Kendrick), Jack (Huttlestone) and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood (Crawford) and Repunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy). The stories are all brought together by a couple, the Baker (Corden) and the Baker’s Wife (Blunt), who are trying to lift a curse that was set on them by the local Witch (Streep).

To do so, the couple needs to collect items from all of the famous fairy tales. The film tells the story from multiple angles and much of the plot is told through song.

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