Hit - Starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianikis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Carlos

The Hangover takes place the morning after a bachelor party in Las Vegas. The only problem is, the groomsmen seem to have misplaced the groom and now must retrace their steps to find him.

I would like to preface this review with this: I saw this film the day before it opened at USC. At the end of the film there was a question and answer session with Todd Phillips which was a treat. The audience at USC was a great audience. There was constant laughter throughout the film.

The next day, I decided to take my husband to see the film at a matinee that had roughly around 25 people in the theatre. The experience was not the same which made the movie less comical. While I still loved this film, I found that something was lost with the audience - therefore, an audience can change the opinion that you have of the film.

That being said, I still find The Hangover to be one of the best rated R comedies I have ever seen. It may even be the best.

Here are a few points from the director that I would like to share with you:

Todd Phillips decided to use actors that were less known in terms of Hollywood because he felt that casting people like Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, or Vince Vaughn would bring a stigma to the film. He says that most of the jokes wouldn’t have worked with those actors because the audience brings their own bias when it comes to known actors. He wanted to make this film more about the comedy aspect and less about the actors.

There is one part of the film that I disagree with the director on and it has to do with one line of dialogue. Early in the film Zach Galifinakis’ character says he is not allowed to be within 200 feet of a school or a Chuck-E-Cheese. Todd Phillips says that the reason for this was that he felt the character would go crazy around a school because he likes to skateboard or play in the bounce houses, etc. But, to the audience, this line made us believe that the character was a pedophile. Which, in turn, caused a scene that was meant to be comedic (involving the baby doing something crude) was not received in the comedic manner that it was meant. Instead it gave it a more creepy vibe.

Overall, I found this movie to be quite hilarious but I must warn you that this is not a movie for children. It is what I would consider to be a “hard R,” film.

Bottom Line: Join the wolf pack.

Comedy

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material.

Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Miss - Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin

Skynet has come to power and has destroyed most of mankind following a nuclear holocaust. For those who have survived, they must ban together to bring down the machines. They are led by John Conner.

It only took 10 minutes or so into the film when I realized how easy it was for Christian Bale to go crazy on someone who worked on the film. The reason being is that his character is intense, making it easy for him to yell at someone while still in character. Creepy, and yet amazing.

The main downfall of this film was the idea that we were going to see the link between the first film of the series and this film. Sadly, they decided to give us more background of the saga instead of tying it all together into one nice completed package. Because the original started in 1984 the graphics and CGI were not impressive. Now that we have the technology to make it more impressive, I find that going that route keeps the film from being true to itself.

Bottom Line: Why can’t this be the point of Termination for this series?

Action

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language.

Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes.

Hit - Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto

The back story of James T. Kirk and other crew members of the USS Enterprise.

I might actually see this movie for a second time in theaters which is a huge deal as I have never seen a movie in theaters twice (at least from what I can remember). Although I have never seen a Star Trek episode, or a Star Trek film, I found this to be a spectacular introduction to the phenomena that is Star Trek. This is a Star Trek for the next generation (I am proof of that).

Bottom Line: A better action film than Wolverine.

Action

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes.

Hit (however see below) - Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins

The story of how James Logan became Wolverine. The movie answers the question of why Wolverine does not know where he came from.

While this movie had an interesting concept and execution I have one, really large complaint about it…

I think that Final Cut Pro was used for the post-special effects for the film. I have never seen such horrible special effects in a film in the 21st century. This is a big budget movie that has no excuse to have such poor filmmaking. I digress…

So, what makes this movie a hit (I might consider it a base-hit)? The discovery of Wolverine’s beginnings give an informed background to the first film. It shows how the young mutants get in contact with Professor X, how Wolverine got his name, and how he has no memory about where he came from.

I personally like how Silver Fox (Collins) has a similar look to the Jean Grey character. Other than special effects, this film had a steady pace and interesting action scenes. The end sequence with Weapon XI was a slightly over-the-top. I also felt that Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) could have had a larger roll in the film. Where has he been anyway, why don’t we see him in later films? I found this character to be quite interesting. However, I would have like to see that character played by either Josh Holloway, or Merrill Capps.

Bottom Line: As entertaining as the previous X-Men films (better than the third film), but the special effects were worse than any of the other films.

Action

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity.
I know they really wanted a PG-13 rating, but some things look ridiculous without blood.

Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Hit - Starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon

17+ years after getting married too soon, Mike (Perry/Efron) wishes that he could go back to high school to make different choices. He gets his wish of being able to go back to high school but ends up being a teenager in the current year - causing him to be in classes with his own children.

I have long enjoyed age reversal movies and 17 Again provides an interesting plot point of having the character reverse in age but not in time. Having the father go to high school with his own children provides an interesting comedic outlet for the film. This film is entertaining to all ages and Zac Efron is also entertaining for women of all ages. It is a movie to be seen, but it is not necessary to see the film in theatres.

Bottom Line: The age reversal movie of the High School Musical Generation.

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying.

Running Time: 1 hour 42 minutes.

Hit - Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Federal Agent, Brian O’Conner (Walker) joins up with Dominic Toretto (Diesel) to help bring down a heroin importer from Mexico.

The fourth installment of the popular franchise brings us back to the main characters who made it a success in the first place. This movie is exactly what it sets out to be and that is a continuation of the original film. While it is not a fantastic piece of filmmaking, it is entertaining and visually stimulating in terms of cars. Most people who will see this film are people who are interested in cars, racing, or drifting. Those friends will enjoy the racing scenes (although the racing in the tunnel is not great), the car talk, and the various vehicles that are used in the film (including stunt vehicles that they replace the real vehicles with).

Bottom Line: Fast and Furious.

Action

Rated PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references.

Running Time: 1 hour 39 minutes.

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Your thoughts?

Eva Mendes - original spelling: Mendez

Hit - Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy

After she quits her last job, Rebecca must find a new one to meet the needs of her shopping habits. Her goal is to be a journalist for Alette magazine. In order to obtain a coveted job with Alette fashion magazine, Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) must first find a job within the publishing company that produces Alette. She finds herself as a journalist for a financial magazine.

This is a sappy girl movie that is nothing special in terms of film. It is, however, highly entertaining and it will satisfy the needs of those looking for a girls night out.

Bottom Line: Cliche but cute.

Comedy

Rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements.

Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes.

Miss - Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Connolly, Jennifer Connolly, Bradley Cooper

He’s Just Not That Into You is based on the book which was inspired by a line in the hit television show Sex and the City (not to be confused with the movie version). This story follows the lives of young singles as they survive the dating world.

While I thought there were funny parts to the overall story, I found that there were too many characters that I didn’t like. I didn’t like the story between Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper which involved infidelity. I also didn’t like Jennifer Connolly’s character, however, I found that she played the character very well. Her performance was very detailed and well executed. The direction for her character was also well thought out, but I found that the character herself was not very like-able. Ben Afflecks character really sucked too. All - in - all the only interesting stories focused on Gennifer Goodwin/Justin Long, and Drew Barrymore/Kevin Connolly.

Bottom Line: If you really need to see this film, rent it.

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language.

Running Time: 2 hours 9 minutes.