A Million Ways to Die in the West

I love Seth MacFarlene to death but I have to admit this felt like his weakest project. I was so excited when I heard about this and the fact it was his follow up to Ted, which is really funny if you haven't checked that out. I found many things that held this one back and not as great as Ted.

Seth co-produces, co-writes, directs and stars in this spoof-ish western tale. The one thing I like about Seth's directing is that he can set tone very well and this is no exception. In terms of the western feel and setting, I believed he nailed it, however, this is a comedy so you judge it but it's humor and jokes and how they hit or miss with you. I have to say, overall, I enjoyed myself and about seventy-five percent of the jokes hit and twenty-five percent missed with me. For the most part, I was laughing a lot an sometimes crying from it. But some of the humor was to juvenile for me and was raunchy for the sake of being raunchy. I am all for raunch and I liked most of it in the film, it's just some didn't work for me.

The acting is good from the supporting cast but what you are really focusing on is Seth. He has never put himself in front of the camera before as a leading character. Ted doesn't count because it was his voice and body movements and he wasn't physically there. I have to say I bought him as a main character sometimes. At points, I saw just Seth and at others I saw a character. I think if he goes down the path of being in front of the camera, he can do it he just needs to practice. Like I said the supporting, including: Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris etc, do a great job filling the comedic voids. Seth is a funny guy and he delivers his lines well but the problem was escaping into his character more consistently.
The cinematography is really great to look at. They captured the Wild West with gorgeous wide landscape shots and rustic, dirty look of the town.

The editing is where another problem lies. The movie is about two hours long and it doesn't need to be. If it was chopped by twenty minutes that would have been perfect. I felt it dragging towards the end but the jokes kept it going for me.

The music was really upbeat to listen to as it captured the west in a fun, satire feel. It was actually one of my favorite parts.There are a lot of cameos and references to other films which I enjoyed.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It ran a bit to long, Seth needs to work at being a lead role and some of the jokes didn't hit for me, however I still had a fun time watching it and was crying laughing in some parts. If you like Family Guy or Ted I would say check it out. If you hate them please go hide in your home and lock the door. 6.5/10
(Review by Chase Lee)

Maleficent

The new Disney feature is beautiful to look at thanks to the visual effects expertise of the debut director Robert Stromberg. The retelling of the evil villainess of Sleeping Beauty from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton is based on La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm. Spinning an alternate view from the perspective of Maleficent as the Broadway play did for the green skinned witch in Wicked. The message to children is that not everyone starts out bad. Sh*t happens and things get turned around, but redemption can also save the day. Blah, blah, blah.

In this world there are two kingdoms. One of humans with their greed and artifice. And the Moors, the land of magical creatures. Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy as a child, then Angelina Jolie) is a faerie. She looks like a normal young girl but with horns and huge bird wings. She seems to be the Alpha in her world so when a young human comes trespassing in their kingdom taking a stone from their waters, she confronts him to return the treasure. They develop a friendship over the years culminating in a kiss. However Stephan (Sharlto Copley) becomes an ambitious adult. The current King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) of the human kingdom wants the Moors, bringing his army he attacks. Under the leadership of Maleficent with her deadly wings, and the magical trees quickly defeat the king. King Henry dying from his injuries vows that whoever can defeat Maleficent will be made his successor.

Stephan ends up betraying Maleficent by cutting off her wings in order to become king. Both end up going a little nuts. Maleficent turns her magical rage into making the Moors a dark and forbidding forest. The king is filled with greed and guilt. When the Princess Aurora is born the pixie fairies (Leslie Manville, Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple) come to bestow the princess with gifts of beauty and kindness. But then Maleficent shows up to curse the child with the infamous pricking her finger on a spindle and sleeping until awakened by true love's kiss. It's a ode to the the early Disney movie with the costume and the evil speech. The king orders the pixies to hide her in the woods until the day after her 16th birthday, then proceeds to get increasingly paranoid.

The film is eye candy for viewers with the magical kingdom, the fanciful fairies, and Angelina's sharp cheekbones that is like the animated version. The viewer is invited to understand her anger over betrayal and detest the king whose madness makes him the villain. Elle Fanning as the teenage Aurora is full of beauty and light that melts the edge of Maleficent. The amusing banter between Maleficent and her shape shifting raven Diaval (Sam Riley) keeps the story from being too much of a downer. The retro plot of a woman scorned seems to be a little too obvious, and her response to curse a baby seems to be overkill. That's what fairy tales are all about. The funniest bits are the inept pixies in charge of taking care of Aurora. Would love to see a movie with just them.
(Review by reesa)

Movies scheduled 5/25-5/31

Happy Memorial Day to all the Vets and thank you for your service!


Well we have now had two reps notice how much people cut in line. I do realize maybe your plus one is in traffic or working late. But it is getting so bad they may start to only give you one wrist band.

Just a fyi they changed up the group page and if you to look at the movie calendar, so now just click the number icon and it will pop up.

Make sure you reply to the sender and not the group. Otherwise you won't get a chance to get the pass to the movie you want.

As always you can email me with questions about something and not tell me what movie you want to see. I normally don't get six tickets like someone did for X-Men. Please make sure not to get more passes than you need.

Send questions to damitdaina@hotmail.com


Sunday May 25th


Monday May 26th


Tuesday May 27th

A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 p.m. AMC Northpark


Wednesday May 28th

Edge of Tomorrow 7:30 p.m. TBA
A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 p.m. AMC Northpark
Maleficent 7:00 p.m. AMC Northpark

Thursday May 29th

A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 p.m. TBA
Deliver Us from Evil 7:30 p.m.

Friday May 30th

Saturday May 31st

X-Men Days of Future Past

The mutants are back. In the seventh film in the X-Men series, which is based on the 1981 Marvel Comics Uncanny X-Men storyline “Days of Future Past” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. The screenplay was adapted by Simon Kinberg and directed by Bryan Singer who also directed the 2000's X-Men and 2003's X2. The new movie acts as a sequel to 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011's X-Men First Class. It brings together the older versions of Magneto and Professor X with their younger 70's counterparts, with Wolverine thrown in for good measure. Plus a whole new crop of mutants and their unique powers. The number of characters cameos, the convoluted story that is too complicated and references made from other films makes for a movie that may be appreciated only by die hard fans. But will attract anyone looking for some cool scifi action/adventure.

Time travel devices in movies are always interesting as long as the paradox is treated with respect. The plot for the new X-Men involves the world in a dark grim apocalyptic chaos after the human/mutant war. Mutants are being wiped out by the Sentinels, a giant Gort like police robot whose main purpose is to defeat the mutants by countering their powers from the shape shifting DNA harvested from Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) has figured out that the war started from Mystique killing Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) the military scientist that created the robots back in the 70's. Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat has the mutant ability to phase through solid objects as well as to move through time. She had never tried it longer than a week's travel and she's afraid that it would tear apart Professor X's mind. That means it's up to the indestructible Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to inhabit his 70's self (including his hot naked backside shot), find Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to join together and stop Mystique from her single minded mission.

The early Charles has lost his powers from taking the drug developed by Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) that keeps their mutant powers in check. It also has the side effect of making it possible for him to walk. It takes some effort convince the depressed professor and with the help of Pietro/Quicksilver (Evan Peters) they go to break out Erik from the cement prison under the Pentagon. Which turns out to be the best and funniest sequences in the film and probably the only scene that works well with 3D. Charles and Erik come to an understanding, but Erik still has an agenda which of course doesn't make their ultimate goal easy.

The story of the past is predominat as we are given glimpses of the future getting ready to be totally wiped out by hundreds of Sentinels. There's also Wolverine dealing with his pre-adamantium self which makes one want to revisit the other movies. In fact it's probably a good idea to watch the earlier films just for reference. If Wolverine is successful in stopping Mystique, then all the events in the previous movies will have ceased to exist and only he will be able to remember it. This may be like the alternate universe of the Star Trek reboot and favorite characters will be able to inhabit future films. The next in the series is called X-Men: Apocalypse (watch for a preview at the end of the credits), which sounds like even more mutant mayhem. Maybe you can't change the future after all.
(Review by reesa)

The Love Punch

One would think that the combination of Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson in a “wacky” comedy would endear and delight and you couldn't be too off the mark. Their expected star power manages to overlook the poor script and direction by Joel Hopkins (Last Chance Harvey). It's the kind of movie that will make you smile then quickly forget about as soon as you leave the theater.

Emma plays Kate Jones who has been divorced from Richard Jones for a number of years. When they see each other at a wedding, they speak to each other in those short clipped snide comments from knowing someone for too long and know where all the bodies are buried. Their best friends Jerry (Timothy Spall) and Penelope (Celia Imrie) assume hopefully they are getting back together. And despite their denial, there's still a brief spark of chemistry between them. (or maybe because the script is so transparent you know that's exactly whats going to happen). Richard discovers that the new owners of his company have filed for bankruptcy and everyone’s pensions are gone. Kate goes with him to Paris to see the CEO of the takeover company by helping him sneak into his office before the smarmy young executive (Laurent Lafitte) has them thrown out. They discover that he had gifted his fiancee (Louise Bourgoin) with a huge diamond called the “Eye of the Rainbow” which is worth 10 million dollars. Kate suggests that they steal it at the rich couples' wedding in the south of France. Yeah, ok.

Using their college son's hacking skills they research information on the CEO about the wedding. They do their own recon with Kate pretending to be relative of the husband to be to get close to bride. She is having doubts regarding the wedding and bonds with Kate's honesty about marriage. With the help of Jerry and Penelope they fabricate a fake diamond, snorkel in scuba suits, rock climb up the cliff and pose as Texans that were invited to the wedding. This is after they knocked out the real Texans in their hotel room.

There are several running gags through out the movie like Kate and Richard Skype'ing visuals of their son's roommate doing odd things, Jerry's revelations about his colorful background that were completely unknown to his wife of 35 years, and Kate and Richard's allergies to flowers and cats. The movie starts like a decent British comedy of mature adults and quickly falls into slapstick which escalates into outrageous farce. The film is saved by the charming foursome that keeps the film romantic. It would make a good DVD rental.
(Review by reesa)

The Purge: Anarchy Interactive Escape Experience

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
BRING THE PURGE: BREAKOUT INTERACTIVE ESCAPE EXPERIENCE TO THE DALLAS IN ANTICIPATION OF THE UPCOMING FILM
THE PURGE: ANARCHY

WHAT: THE PURGE: BREAKOUT is an immersive escape-game experience traveling throughout the United States in the summer of 2014 that is based on the world of Universal Pictures’ THE PURGE film franchise. It’s the annual Purge Night, when citizens across the country exercise their right of anarchy. Your group is being held captive by a demented psychopath, 30 minutes before The Purge begins. Trapped in his house, groups must work together—solving a series of increasingly complicated, mind-bending puzzles and clues—to breakout from captivity and survive the most terrifying 12 hours of the year.

Based on popular escape-room adventures taking Asia and the United States by storm, this mobile attraction will be set up in unique locations across America, fully immersing visitors into a horror experience like no other.

WHERE:
Downtown Dallas Parking Lot
2001 N Griffin St
Dallas, TX 75202

WHEN:
Thursday, July 3rd beginning 5:00pm through Sunday, July 6th

FOR TICKETS, HOURS AND MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT
www.thepurgebreakout.com


The New Founders of America invite you to celebrate your annual right to Purge. The Purge: Anarchy, the sequel to summer 2013’s sleeper hit that opened to No. 1 at the box-office, sees the return of writer/director/producer James DeMonaco to craft the next terrifying chapter of dutiful citizens preparing for their country’s yearly 12 hours of anarchy.  Returning alongside DeMonaco to produce The Purge: Anarchy are Blumhouse Productions’ Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity and Insidious series), alongside Sébastien K. Lemercier (Assault on Precinct 13, Four Lovers) and Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay (Pain & Gain, Transformers franchise), Brad Fuller (The Amityville Horror, A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Andrew Form (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th). www.blumhouse.com/film/thepurgeanarchy  


****

THE PURGE: ANARCHY opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, July 18, 2014.

Movies scheduled 5/18-5/24

I'm back. I had a wonderful vacation!

Okay back to business. Now to the ones who are asking about Edge of Tomorrow passes. Come on you have to wait until the contests are over. Yes for the ones who didn't get into Godzilla they got guaranteed seats to EoT. They didn't get passes their names got put on a list. So they don't have passes to trade.

Raymond had a good point this week when he said people should be in line when bands are passed out. So please be in line otherwise get at the end of the line. You can always put your chair in the car after you get your band.

If you have any questions please contact me at damitdaina@hotmail.com


Sunday - May 18th


Monday - May 19th

Blended 7:30 p.m. AMC North Park
Mama Mia 7:30 p.m. Angelika Dallas


Tuesday - May 20th

X-Men: Days of Future Past 7:00 p.m. AMC Northpark
Cold in July 7:30 p.m. Modern Art Museum


Wednesday - May 21st

A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 p.m. Hollywood Theaters MacArthur Marketplace 16 Irving
A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 p.m. UA Galaxy
Blended 7:30 p.m. Cinemark 17 Webb Chapel
The Love Punch 7:00 p.m. AMC Northpark
Think Like a Man 2 7:30 p.m. Studio Movie Grill Royal Lane
The Fault in our Stars 6:00 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Richardson


Thursday - May 22nd

Blended 7:30 p.m. Angelika Dallas


Friday - May 23rd


Saturday - May 24th

Godzilla

Everyone's favorite monster is back. Godzilla is so embedded in worldwide pop culture since the 1954 Japanese film by Toho Co., Ltd and the 28 other Godzilla films they produced. Gojira, a combination of two Japanese words: gorira, meaning gorilla, and kujira, meaning whale which somehow equals Godzilla. His appearance resembles a Tyrannosaurus rex, with the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal plates of a Stegosaurus. It's size varies from film to film but in this newest adventure. It's more like a small island that for once does not destroy New York, but levels Maui and San Francisco. Directed by Gareth Edwards (who did the amazing Monsters in 2010)with a screenplay by Max Borenstein, the film lives up to his King of the Monsters status.

The classic premise is that Godzilla was caused by the nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific, but it turns out that may not be the case. The government has been keeping it a secret until they find a collapse cavern with some humongous bones and tracks of something huge breaking out on the other side of the mountain down into the ocean. Bryan Cranston plays Joe Brody, a nuclear engineer working at a Japanese power plant that suddenly is besieged by earthquakes and something is draining the power from the plant. The accident kills his wife (Juliette Binoche) and he becomes obsessed with finding out why. Fifteen years later his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), now a Navy Lieutenant and an explosive ordnance disposal technician, has to fly to Japan to bail out his dad who was caught trespassing at the plant that has been declared a radioactive zone. He ends up going back to the plant and they find themselves caught into something they were not expecting. Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) are part of the government team investigating the radioactive creatures they are sourcing for power when suddenly it goes live.

The new creature is called M.U.T.O – Mutant Unknown Terrestrial Organism. It needs to absorb radiation and drain the power of everything around them, basically causing EMPs (electromagnetic pulse). The creature looks like a big spider/cockroach that flies. Brody was investigating some audio that the creature may be talking to something out there, which of course is in some secret lab in the States. MUTO is on the move and it hits Hawaii before heading to San Francisco, eating power plants along the way. Ford who was with his dad, is now returning to his doctor wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) who in typical wife waiting for husband is in the path of the monsters. Ford is supposed to change planes in Hawaii, but he ends up in the thick of things He gets a ride with the military who are gearing up for the attack in California. Not only are the two MUTO's converging, but something older and bigger is heading their way too. The military powers that be, Admiral William Stenz (David Strahairn) has this plan to tempt the radioactive hungry creatures to a spot and blast them to kingdom come. Dr. Serizawa thinks it's a bad plan because they feed on radiation. No one listens to him, because what does he know, he's Japanese and has only studied Godzilla for years.

Besides the CGI mayhem that you would expect from this massive production, the movie manages to maintain a sense of urgency and excitement. People are not running around doing bone head things. You get the scope of how big Godzilla is from the way his back plates are exposed when he's swimming in the ocean causing destroyers to rise on huge waves that create a tsunami drowning parts of Hawaii. At least Godzilla is not a guy in a zip up suit knocking down cardboard miniature cities. There's some nods to Alien and Aliens in this, Transformers, Pacific Rim and of course the original Godzilla movie. The battles are to be expected mostly shot in haze and falling debris. The clouds of smoke and fog help keep the suspense in the scenes, especially on the train bridge. The best scene is during the Halo insertion when Ford is falling by parachute in the middle of Godzilla battling a MOTO. Very cool. At least this is not the 1998 Godzilla version which was plain annoying. This will hopefully reboot the franchise. It's worth seeing again.
(Review by reesa)

Chef

Damn you Jon Favreau for making me so hungry while watching this. I will say off the bat this is my favorite Jon Favreau directed film. Let's break this down. The film is directed and written by Favreau and he also directed Iron Man. Well this is a big departure but it works. Favreau writes this simple, yet very touching and inspiring, story about father and son bonding, doing what you love and cooking good looking food. I am a filmmaker but after watching this I was inspired to have my own food truck. Overall the directing from Favreau felt fresh and original and that's the best compliment you can give a film. The acting is very good and Favreau gives a good performance but I actually liked all of the supporting cast more. John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johannson, Sofia Vergara, Oliver Platt and, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. Everyone brings humor and heart to each of their characters and that also credits Favreau for a good script. The cinematography is good but it is great when they show close-ups of all the food they make and prepare. It makes the food look delicious and, quite frankly, those shots are sexy as it is like food porn. The change of scenery going from locations like Texas, Louisiana and California is nice and just adds another great layer to this film. The pace is good, however, people may get tired of it towards the end because it is two hours long but that didn't bother me. I was having a good time with it to where the length didn't bother me. This is a fretting, original film that is great to see in the midst of the blockbusters. If you like the cast, Jon Favreau or food, I think you will enjoy this nice little gem. 8.5/10
(Review by Chase Lee)

Million Dollar Arm

The real life JB Bernstein was amazed how accurate the new movie portrays the events, the good and the bad. Director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) with a screenplay by Tom McCarthy (Win Win) captured the feel good formula sports movie that has unique themes of culture shock, family, redemption and baseball. Disney scores a home run with a good family film in this time of superheroes and giant monsters.

Mad Men's Jon Hamm plays JB Bernstein, a once successful sports agent who is trying to do business on his own but is scoreless in the ninth. His business partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) thinks that his new idea of combining a reality game show like Britain's Got Talent with a search for an athletic wonder in a country that only plays cricket is not the best idea. But the desperate JB manages to talk his investor Chang (Tzi Ma) into funding the project. Coming straight from Los Angeles, working in India is a rude awakening. With the help of baseball fanatic Amit (Pitobash) who asks to work with him without pay becomes his interpreter. They go from village to village testing out cricket bowlers but no one seems to be able to throw a ball faster than 55 mph. The ancient coach flown in on their small budget is Ray (Alan Arkin) who sleeps during most of the pitch contests. But he knows the sound of a fast pitch. They eventually find Rinku (Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi) and Madhur Mittal – Slumdog Millionaire) who win the reality show contest and the chance to go to America to train and try out for the major leagues.

The second act follows the young men as they try to adjust from living in a small village where TV, cellphones, and the Internet is not common. They end up staying at JB's house, which grates on the single playboy. His neighbor Brenda (Lake Bell) a med student takes the boys under her wing and manages to dispense some words of wisdom to the myopic JB who is too focused on business and not seeing his clients as people. The fish out of water concept has been done to death, but it's handled really well here due to the performances by Sharma, Mittal and the scene stealing Pitobash. The young men are taken to USC to train with Tom House (Bill Paxton) who advise JB that it is improbable to create major league class pitchers in nine months, especially when they have never seen a baseball before.

The final part of the movie has the young men trying out without success after JB puts on hype filled event. Of course JB must have an emotional and revelatory catharsis when he finally accepts the responsibility he took on when bringing the young men to the States. Thanks to Brenda who tells him that she likes the JB that shows a human side and not the one who only cares about business. This may be be a Jon Hamm movie, but his character takes too long to see the light. The ending is the feel good moment that was promised and the ending credits show the real life young men with a mention of what they are doing today.
(Review by reesa)

Fed Up

Wake up America. You have been lied to. Got your attention? Good. Everything you’ve been told about diet and exercise for the past 30 years is dead wrong. This 99 minute doc and official selection at Sundance, is billed as the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. Produced by Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar-winner AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH), directed by Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP should provide you with enough facts and data to change the way you eat forever. And it is a shocker, even if you are aware of the bad things in our diet as most of us are.

It is jam packed with facts. The fifty five plus forms of sugar that has been added to our foods, exercise and why is doesn't work, about what is in our food and school lunches as well as what big industry, our own government (USDA, FDA, Surgeon General) and the insurance folks are doing to subsidize the fast food industry to keep those medical bills rolling in. The role of advertising (TV, print, etc) and junk food marketing in general (store displays, easy and cheap access all around us) has set up our children for failure in the name of the almighty dollar.

According to Fed Up, we are eating ourselves sick and spreading our horrible diet to the rest of the world. It attempts to answer why diabetes and a myriad of other health problems is on the rise, even as gym memberships have increased and the diet industry take in billions of dollars each year. The United States is over 51 percent at risk of obesity related diseases, with around 20 percent of these people being thin. Those diseases commonly associated with obesity include heart disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, stroke, cancer, dementia.

Ms. Couric began to notice that she was covering more and more storied about childhood obesity as her career advanced, and felt compelled to convince Ms. David to work with her to make the film. A generation or two has followed commonly accepted dietary guidelines that have produced sugar and carb addicted progeny who are more obese and overweight than any American generation before them. The film states that we should be eating real food and cook and buy food that isn’t packaged and processed with a huge number of ingredients, preservatives and a lot of hidden sugar.

The Doc follows several families living primarily in the south who have young children who struggle with weight and deal with generational obesity issues. Originally feeling it was due to heredity and culture, the families learn the real reasons as to why they are struggling. One young teen even undergoes bariatric surgery in an attempt to help him become healthy again. The World Health Organization states that no more than 10% of our daily calorie intake should come from sugar but what is shown is that that is exceeded before most breakfasts are consumed.

The film includes the testimony of at least six doctors who are experts in the field, two public policy makers, nutritionists and several politicians, including Sen. Tom Harkin and former President Bill Clinton, who himself was forced to deal with health and lifestyle changes post presidency. The film intends to be compelling, yet produce an outpouring of moral outrage as well as present the issues in simple, understandable ways. It is successful on all counts. Time to get Fed Up.

I would call Fed Up a must see, if you are responsible for anyone's diet, including and most importantly your own. It is not overly preachy and has been written to be presented clearly for every man and woman to be able to hear the reality, learn the need to explore options and make healthy lifestyle changes.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)

Movies Scheduled 5/11-5/17

I will be away from the internet for most of the week so Reesa will be watching the group for me. Please play nice.



Please make sure that contests are over before asking for passes. I saw someone already wanted to trade tickets for X-Men. Come on now, they have not even announced the contests yet. So no one has passes yet. Kind of hard to trade then. Plus we don’t just grab passes to trade for something we want more.



I don’t know about y’all but I am excited to see Godzilla this week!! It brings me back to my childhood.


Please contact me if you have any questions at damitdaina@hotmail.com


Sunday - May 11th


Monday - May 12th

Godzilla 7:30 pm Cinemark 17
Million Dollar Arm 7:30 pm AMC North Park


Tuesday - May 13th

Chef 7:00pm AMC 7:30 pm Northpark
Million Dollar Arm 7:30 pm Cinemark Rave Ridgmar Ft. Worth
X-Men: Days of Future Past 7:30 pm TBA
A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 pm Cinemark West Plano


Wednesday - May 14th

A Million Ways to Die in the West 7:30 pm Cinemark 17 Web Chapel
Blended 7:30 pm TBA
Godzilla 7:30 pm AMC Mesquite 30


Thursday - May 15th

Chef 7:00 pm AMC 30 Mesquite
Chef 7:00 pm AMC Grapevine Mills 30


Friday - May 16th


Saturday - May 17th

Neighbors

“Neighbors” as directed by Nicholas Stoller is about a young couple, Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) who attempt to live in a nice quiet community to raise their baby girl. They get excited when they see the empty house to be soon be occupied by future neighbors. But to their surprise, the new neighbors turn out to be a hand full of youthful frat guys-Teddy (Zac Efron), Pete (Dave Franco), Christopher Mintz-Plasse and other friends.

The couple is surprised to see a bunch of frat young guys moving into the home, they go over to meet their new neighbors. They appeared to be friendly but in all truthfulness they wanted to get their point across about keeping the music down when they have their parties. Of course nothing goes as plan and as soon as the couple tries to sleep the music gets loud. Fearing that it will wake their daughter, the couple goes next door intending to stop the noise but easily get suck in to the party scene. One thing leads to another and the couple ends up spending the whole night partying with the neighbors.

Troubled by their lack of behavior the couple reiterated their stand on the loud music the next morning and Teddy promised that if the music gets out of hand for the couple to call him first, not the cops. But then second night repeats itself with the loud music. Again, the couple can’t sleep so they call Teddy to turn down the music. Teddy never answered the phone. The couple debated in whether the neighbors would know if it was them who called in on them. But they give in and call the cops. Just as predicted the cop comes out and spoke to Teddy regarding the loud music and the partying. When Teddy asked the cop in who called in on them the cop readily rat out their neighbors. Needless to say, as the story unfolds the couple breached the honor code (calling the cops). They became the enemies with the neighbors.

Teddy and his housemates staged a war to do everything from trashing their lawn, leaving condoms on the grass, cutting up their hedges in provocative displays, tearing out the airbags in the car, etc. When the couple tries to apologize they become the outcast with the neighbors. They attempt to reach out to other neighbors for assistance but Teddy and his housemate bribed the other neighbors towards their side. The couple goes to the University’s Dean to get assistance but the Dean failed to help. Feeling frustrated of their lack of support in the community and with the HOA, The couple gets back at them by staging a series of problems to get the neighbors to leave. The couple finally succeeded in getting the young frat guys out of their neighborhood.
S. Rogen and R. Byrne play their roles well as a frustrated parent could do, although some of the things were a bit excessive and unrealistic. It was interesting that the writers never included complaints by other neighbors. There are no police complaints or paper filed of being harassed. The writer tried hard to pull this movie together but the storyline just seem too unrealistic. It was hard to find the couple believable when they were doing things that most couples or neighbors would never do to get rid of their neighbors.

I find that Rogen plays in a lot of the comedy roles which are never funny and at times hard to take him serious as a parent in this role. For the average Seth Rogen’s fan this movie falls in to the weak comedy category.

Zac Efrom has played in a variety of roles but he lacked the character to make him stand out. More time was spent showing off his physique and his macho arrogance than anything else. His character failed to make that great impression. This movie had some funny moments. The couple’s little girl stole the movie. She was entertaining and more times than once brought out the natural side of the movie.

This movie is not suited for minor due to the nudity and the sexual content. For the fans of Seth Rogen and Zac Efron this movie falls into the category of a weak-comedy movie. The acting was a bit over the top and it lacked substance. I rate this movie a C-.
(Review by Dr. Dwanna Swan-Ary)

Neighbors

I love Seth Rogen and pretty much every movie he touches or is in. I enjoy his presence in comedies and he is really good at improv. This isn't the best Rogen movie nor is it his worst. I though it was good just not great. Nicholas Stoller, director of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall and "Get Him to the Greek", directs his actors to have fun and if they want to improv they can. You can tell a lot of these actors had fun on set and really enjoyed themselves. The one thing I have wrong with this movie is that some jokes felt forced or raunchy just to be raunchy. I am all for raunchy and when the humor hits in this it hits me hard but other times I shrugged my shoulders or had no reaction. Maybe I have seen way to many comedies in my life and I am desythesized to most raunchy humor. Seth Rogen is as funny as ever while Zac Efron, surprisingly gives depth to his character and, at times, is really funny. I have always said Efron will be a big actor one day he just needs to keep practicing and, I believe, he will be of McConaughey status post romantic comedies. The supporting cast is also great from, the beautiful and funny, Rose Byrne to Dave Franco a.k.a. James Franco's brother. McLovin even makes an appearance, I mean Christopher Mintz-Plasse and he always adds a charm to every movie he is in. The cinematography is good but its nothing to jump up and down about, however I will say the party scenes were filmed very well. The editing is good and paced well with the comedic timing being pretty consistent for the most part. Most of the jokes worked for me and some fell flat. I always love raunchy comedies and Seth Rogen. This movie is another one to add to his roster of enjoyable, entertaining comedies. All the Zac Efron haters out there, its ok he is good. He will only continue to get better. 7/10
(Review by Chase Lee)

Blue Ruin

I’ll admit the pre-screening buzz on this one was mighty impressive. Some big wigs in the reviewing biz were sparking pretty brightly about how awesome Blue Ruin was to experience. One even went so far as to say it is the best film of 2014 by far. It runs 92 minutes and was written, directed AND photographed by Brooklynite Jeremy Saulnier (MURDER PARTY). It was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize in the Director’s Fortnight program at Cannes 2013 and has won a handful of film fest awards since. The making of the film was a family effort which included friends and relatives. Grass roots at its best, it even involved the use of the director’s parent’s home and beat up old Bonneville, both essential parts of the film. It was filmed in 30 days and across four different states. This film is about the story and with four pages of post-production personal thank yous, it is indeed birthed of collaborative effort.

I think everyone at one point in their lives has imagined a revenge fantasy for a perceived wrong done to them so every viewer should have an identity link to the plot. This story centers on a revenge plot focused on the murder of protagonist Dwight Evans’s parents. Dwight is homeless, turned inward over loss, and has emerged so traumatized that he can barely function in society anymore. He has chosen to live away from the fray in eastern Delaware on the shore near Rehoboth Beach, in his car. He forages for needs and the locals know and tolerate his presence. Eventually other facets of his character emerge to show the viewer that he really could have been any one of us after a PTSD inducing incident. The murderer (Kevin Kolack as Teddy Cleland) has been released from prison which sets Dwight into action and an emotional transformation that we feel he has just been biding his time for. His chance to get even.

The film is a director’s piece as it attempt to combine art house films of shock violence and the good old fashioned suspense drama, with a family tie. Director friend Macon Blair, from school days in Virginia, stars as Dwight. He did many of his own stunts and prepared for this character, through discussions over the course of a year. Saulnier describes Dwight Evens as a “kind hearted assassin who is thrust into a violent situation and comes face to face with his own ineptitude.” He says, “Compelled by love, fear and a distorted sense of justice, Dwight is a lost soul.” But one we can all relate to and come to care about. Hell hath no fury once Dwight’s sister Sam (Amy Hargreaves- HOMELAND) and her family become ultimately threatened. He is aided by high school friend Ben (Devin Ratray- HOME ALONE) who just happened to have an arsenal at his house.

The title caused me to watch closely at the cinematography and I have never seen such a creative use of the color blue in virtually every scene in the movie. Far beyond the requisite blue sea, sky and painted wall. Blue, in a small way, is in virtually every scene. The car, Dwight’s clothing, a small glow in the background, a prop, a curtain….. It not only references an emotional state of being, it haunts each frame. Dwight is not a war vet or retired cop, adept at warring. He is an everyman, who doesn’t plan things out and occasionally messes things up. And we do care about him as the sympathetic character that he is. He is the outsider to the Cleland family gang that we come to meet. The murdered has a large posse of friends and relatives….ones that could be your neighbors, shades of “Arlington Road”. The violence that ensues is not gratuitous but methodically portrayed, much as an artist would construct a canvas piece. Make up and effects man Toby Sells (THE WALKING DEAD, ZOMBIELAND) provided what was said to be the most expensive line item in the budget, the effects. They claim there is also computer generated enhancement but they dare you to spot it.

In the climactic ending, Eve Plumb (Jan from the Brady Bunch) makes a cameo as the Cleland family mom, Kris. So if you have ever wanted to see Jan shoot someone with a gun, here is your chance.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)

The Hornet's Nest

Carlos Boettcher couldn't understand why his father Mike Boettcher an award winning war journalist was never at home. He decides the next time his father ships out, that he would go with him. For nearly 2 years, father and son were embedded as ABC news correspondents with the 101st Airborne divisions as they engaged in Strong Eagle 3, one of the most intense battles in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. History. Culled from over 500 hours of raw footage that was left over from their Emmy award winning coverage, the only father/son news team brings the real life of our service men/women and the sacrifices they make everyday.

The Boettchers produced Hornet's Nest with directors David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud of HighRoad Media. John Brenkus and Mickey Stern executive produced for Base Productions along with a mile list of co-executive, associate and executive producers. The battle to bring this to the screen was a hard fought journey. Using their network of friends that included SMU buddies of Tureaud and football players, the funds were raised to bring the film to finish. Testing it across the country, the final film had it's debut with a local celebrity opening at the Angelika Theater, including a live performance by five time Grammy winner Wynonna Judd and her husband Michael “Cactus Moser”. They contributed to the outstanding soundtrack of the film featuring “Follow Me”.

The Boettcher's camera give a POV perspective to the daily life of the soldiers on patrol. They are sent out on various missions that require them to secure the movements of supplies, track Taliban snipers, clearing areas of IED's, searching and clearing compounds, and eventually being surrounded in a Taliban stronghold while helping extract another platoon pinned down and suffering casualties. The camera doesn't lie. The sound of real bullets whizzing by are picked up by the video cameras as well as the sound of bullets hitting flesh. The resulting film is and up close and extremely personal representation of what our soldiers experience.

Mike Boettcher spent many years covering the front lines but this is the first time that it became more dear with his son caught in the fray. For once he is not seeing from a newsman's eye, but as a father. Over 22 journalists have died since the beginning of 2014. After his son left, Mike went on the cover the Strong Eagle 3 objective. We share the friendship and respect that the soldiers have for each other. That whatever idealistic reason they may have joined the service is on the back burner over the reason they stay now which is for each other. The voices, the stories are more emotional and heartbreaking when lives are lost. The honor they show to the fallen and their families will not leave a dry eye in the house.

This is not Lone Survivor. This is not Act of Valor. These are not actors with choreographed action scenes. This is real life and an important and necessary film that should be seen by everyone (except for kids).
(Review by reesa)



The Hornet's Nest Trailer


Pictures from the red carpet and concert at the premiere screening of The Hornet's Nest at the Angelika Theater, 5/5/2014 (Click on picture to enlarge)