The Expendables 2

Now this movie is bad ass! It brings together The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), The Universal Soldier (Jean Claude Van Damme), The Transporter (Jason Statham), Lt. John McClane (Bruce Willis), Jet Li, a Lone Wolf (Chuck Norris), Dolph Lundgren, and new comer Liam Hemsworth in this action packed film. It's full of the cheesy one liners found in many of these 80's kung fu, shoot'em up film stars early careers. It also references many of their famous film roles and almost makes fun of them in such a way as they are making fun of themselves. It is just as good as the first one that came out in 2010.

I enjoyed this movie thoroughly and will definitely be seeing it again in theaters! I would recommend this to any guy who loves over the top action packed films! The only thing this filmed didn't have was Jack Bauer!
Definitely go out and see this movie in theaters to get the full affect of what went into making this movie. The stunts were awesome and you didn't go long without laughing your butt off! Can't wait to buy this one on DVD.

Budget:
$100,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross to date:
$28, 591,370 (USA) Opening Weekend
$52,313,944 (USA)

Snow White and the Huntsman

Now I thought this movie was going to be about a dark romance with the evil queen looming in the darkness but it wasn't that at all. Now don't get me wrong, it is a dark twist to the classic Snow White story but there really wasn't much romance going on. The Queen played by Charlize Theron, who was amazing in this role, asks the Huntsman played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth to go into the dark forest and bring back Snow White. The huntsman decides to side with Snow White along with the seven dwarfs they come across in their journey to the Duke's castle. 

When I first found out that Snow White was to be played by Kristen Stewart I was a little worried about how the part was going to turn out. Let's be honest, she's no Oscar winning actor and even though this isn't an Oscar worthy film (at least not in my opinion) I didn't want her bad acting to sink this film. I was glad to see she didn't too bad of a job in this role. The one thing I could have done without was the queen's creepy brother...now he was cringe worthy for sure. I would recommend this for family as I don't see it being bad for children to watch. I thought that it was well done and the cinematography was amazing! 

Budget:
$170,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$56,217, 700 (USA)
$309,394,227 (Worldwide)

Moonrise Kingdom

Oh my how I was laughing so hard during this movie. It is definitely one of those movies where you are laughing without realizing exactly what you are laughing about. It's got so many random moments throughout the movie but is so well done. 

It is set on a small island off the coast of New England where two young 12 year old kids fall in love with each other. It has an all-star cast which includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton , Bruce Willis, and Francis McDormand. The young couple, played by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, hatch a plan over a one year period to run away together. Sam (Jared Gilman) writes to Suzy (Kara Hayward) while at Camp Ivanhoe to give her the details on where and when to meetup. When the camp, along with Suzy's parents, figure out they are missing they pull together a search party to find them. The humor is the norm for Director and Writer Wes Anderson who also directed movies such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling Limited, and Life Aquatic to name a few. If you enjoyed those movies you will definitely enjoy this one. A movie I'd definitely recommend. It's being added to my "Buy" list for sure!!

Budget: 
$16,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$40,779,127 (USA)(Aug. 5, 2012)

The Bourne Legacy!

Now to start off if you haven't seen the first three movies I'd recommend that you did. This new edition to the Bourne movie family ties into the third one especially. Jeremy Renner brings a new type of agent into the trilogy as Aaron Cross, a genetically enhanced CIA operative who helps keep Dr. Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz, safe from the rest of the CIA whose main focus is shutting down the rest of the Treadstone operation. Edward Norton is brought in to rid the remaining Treadstone operatives after Jason Bourne's disappearance.

It's got a great government conspiracy story line along with great action and fight scenes. There were a few similarities between some of the scenes found in the earlier trilogy such as a motorcycle chase through the streets of a poverty stricken country and of course there's gotta be a damsel in distress. It also has flashbacks to Bourne Ultimatum to help tie this movie in with the others. I would definitely recommend this to families and those of us who enjoy a good conspiracy based movie!

Budget:
$125,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
Not updated yet

Total Recall

Now this is more of a movie I enjoy. Not only did I have good company while watching this movie but I got some good eye candy. I will have to be honest and tell you I haven't seen the original version with Arnold Schwarzenegger so I won't be able to tell you  how they compare. 


It's set in the future when the world has essentially been destroyed by nuclear war. The only two places left are Great Britain and The Colony (or essentially Australia). They even have a pretty cool way of traveling half way across the world to get from one to the other. Douglas Quaid, played by Colin Ferrell, is just an ordinary guy working in a factory in GBR while living on "The Colony" and is married to a beautiful woman Lori, played by Kate Beckinsale, who works for the police. Jessica Beal fits in there as well later on in the movie but I won't give any of that away.  He decides that he wants to add in some memories that weren't really his by going to "Total Recall". Total Recall is a techonological device to help implant memories of things that didn't actually happen in real life. So if someone wants to be a vet or a teacher, or wants to full-fill a fantasy of theirs they can go to Total Recall and they'll implant that memory into the persons brain. Douglas Quaid goes in as the person he thinks he is and doesn't quite make it out as that same person. 

This movie is definitely one for someone who likes some good fight scenes and special effects. There's a bit of politics along with a small love story in there as well. *Oh! Again, don't forget the eye candy as well! Not just for the guys but for the girls too!* One of these days I'll see the original version and write a comparison review. :) There is a slight nudity scene so be careful when taking kids but other than that I'd recommend it! 

Budget:
$138,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$26,000,000 (Roughly)

Prometheus

So my dad decided to drag me to this movie last week and because I love him I went with him. It was one of the longest two hours of my life. I've never seen any of the previous Alien movies, as this is the prequel to them, and I'm glad I haven't. There were parts in the movie that made me look at my dad with the "you seriously brought me to this movie?" look on my face. He was even disappointed in it, especially with it being a Ridley Scott movie.

It is set in 2089 and is about two archaeologists who find the same image on walls at different archaeological sites throughout the world that date at different times. From 35,000 years ago to 3,000 years or so. They take it as a sign from "The Engineers", which is what they have chosen to call the race they believe left Earth behind after creating the human race, to come and find them. Idris Elba plays the captain of the ship that takes the archaeologists, along with other scientists from various fields, to the galaxy they believe the "Engineers" are from. Charlize Theron is the representative of the company that paid for the space travel. Guy Pierce plays Peter Weyland, an old man and owner of the company, who wants to know if this alien race created humans on Earth. Michael Fastbender's character was created by technology Weyland invented. There are some cringe worthy moments found throughout this movie and the rest of it is just ridiculous. If you want to give it a try I'd recommend you go the RedBox route before going out and buying it on DVD without seeing it.I definitely wouldn't recommend it to young kids. Not one of my favorites for sure.

Budget:
$130,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$302,741,018 (Worldwide) (July 30, 2012)

Rock of Ages


So my friend Julie went to see this movie on her own and didn't really enjoy it so I was just going to save it for the red box. We got talking last night on what movie we should go see and realized we've seen pretty much everything that is out there right now. So we checked out the $3 theater to see what they had playing. It became a toss up between this and Battleship (which I still don't feel like seeing until Red Box) so we went with this one. She thought maybe she would like it more going to see it with someone else. I will have to admit I enjoyed it! It is a musical about 80's rock bands! 


It has an entertaining cast of actors as well. Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Julianne Hough, Catherine Zeta Jones, Paul Giamatta, Tom Cruise, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, and a new face Diego Boneta. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I heard that this group of people would be taking on singing but I wasn't disappointed. Tom Cruise didn't do a bad job as rocker Stacy Jaxx who is the epitome of the 80's drunk rocker who is difficult to work with. Julianne Hough is brought in as the young Sherrie from Oklahoma who hops a bus to L.A. to find her singing career when she falls in love with a young wannabe rocker named Drew who bar tends at the Bourbon Room. The Bourbon Room is the venue owned by Alec Baldwin and in which Russell Brand helps run with him and is also the place where Stacy Jaxx made his debut 20 some years earlier! There is a moment in the movie where Alec and Russell have a singing moment together that brought me to tears of laughter.I don't think I've laughed that hard in ages! Catherine Zeta Jones plays the mayors wife who wants to shut down the Bourbon Room because it promotes "sex, heavy music, and...sex".  This movie is about love, music, friendships, and finding yourself!  It's got it cheesy moments of course and Julianne Hough has good vocal moments and bad vocal moments but you'll still enjoy it! If anything I'd recommend the soundtrack for sure!!! :) I wouldn't recommend it to children but if you want to enjoy a good musical filled with Journey, Styx, Poison, Twisted Sister, and many more than you'll love his film.


Budget: 
$75,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$37,966,459 (USA) 

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

First off I want to address the tragedy that occurred in Denver after the midnight showing and just say it is sad that someone would do such a horrific thing. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Due to the tragedy many of the large production companies held off announcing box office numbers until Monday out of respect for the victims and their families.

This film definitely lived up to the hype. Chris Nolan completes yet another epic film. It beat out Avengers in the first weekend box office numbers and now holds the record. If you haven't seen it yet I suggest you watch the first and second one again but if not it does a great job of flashing back to the important parts. In an interview I read the other day it addressed Heath Ledger and his character the joker. There is no mention of Joker in this new film but only due out of respect for Heath Ledger's memory.

This film brings in the part of Bruce Wayne's past with the League of Shadows and how it comes back to haunt him. Eight years after the death of Harvey Dent crime is at an all time low. Christian Bales, Batman, has been banished from Gotham because he is seen as Dent's murderer. While the cities been busy cleaning up the low life's of the community the newest villain Bane, played by Tom Hardy, has been building an army. With the help of a "cat burglar", Anne Hatheway,  a young cop played Joseph Gordon Leavitt who still believes in Batman and what he stands for, and police Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman, work together to help bring Batman back to the city in order to save it.. It is action packed and introduces more gadgets and futuristic vehicles from Fox's arsenal. There's a bit of romance in there as well and Alfred is hesitant to see Wayne go back into the field. Be ready for some twists and turns throughout the movie and even though it is 3 hrs long it doesn't feel like it. I would recommend this film to families or that special someone. 


Budget:
$250,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$537,000,000 (Worldwide)

Seeking a Friend for the end of the World


This movie was better than I expected for sure. The world is going to end in a matter of 3 weeks due to an asteroid no one could stop. This movie has a Dan in Real Life feel to it so if you liked that movie you'll like this one. Steve Corell plays a middle aged man, Dodge, whose wife literally runs off, I mean she opened the car door and took of running, while Kiera Knightley's character, Penny, recently breaks up with her unemployed musician boyfriend...not to mention the dog Sorry. Now that's a funny story. Penny decides to help Dodge find his love from 18 years earlier if he helps her get to her family back in England before the world ends. These two actors have great chemistry in the quirky comedy about two strangers coming together to in  the last days of their lives. I will have to warn you that the "F" word is used quite a bit throughout the movie but if you don't mind that than I'd recommend this movie for one of those rainy days when you're just looking for a feel good romantic comedy! 


Budget: 
$10,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$6,619,173 (USA)

MEN IN BLACK 3


Now MIB has been one of my favorite films from my late elementary/junior high days. Yes the first one came out 14 years ago making me 10/11 when it came out. I love it. I love the alien creations they came up with in both the first and second films and so I was curious as to what kind of villain they would come up with in this one. Vincent D'Anofrio did an amazing job as the Bug in the first film and as much as I loved this newest addition to the MIB family, I still love his role best. What I enjoyed most about this recent MIB is that it went back in time. I thought that concept of having to go back in time to stop something from changing the course of the future was interesting and I liked it. Josh Brolin did a great job as young K and I couldn't have pictured anyone else who could have played a young Tommy Lee Jones. We also learn something about Will  Smith's character, J, that we never would have known about when it comes to his and K's relationship. It is the second best film this summer and has made double the money spent to make it...which to me is well deserved! For a good family film with comedy and action I would recommend this movie for sure! 


Budget: 
$225,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$580,740.086 (Worldwide)

The Amazing Spider-Man


So I'll have to admit...I'm not really into Spider-man. I mean the Toby McGuire trilogy wasn't too awful, well maybe the second and third were awful but I still saw them both. So when I saw the preview for this latest one I wasn't interested in seeing it to be honest. So after Julie told me it wasn't too bad I decided to give it a try. I went to see it at the drive-in (which was the first time I'd been to one believe it or not) and it wasn't too bad. I actually liked it better than the other ones. I liked that it he told Gwen (Emma Stone did a good job, although I don't know about the blonde hair) in the beginning of the movie and it wasn't this whole drama of keeping it from her but wanting her to know at the same time. In this one he didn't naturally shoot web out of his wrist like the other movies but created something to help him do that. I wasn't so sure how that was going to go when Julie told me about it but it was actually pretty cool and it worked. Later I found out that in the original comic books that is how he had done it...so they had it wrong in the other movies. If you're looking for a superhero action film this would be a good one! :) 


Budget:
$230,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$137,022,258 (USA) 

Brave


This animated film is great for kids. It has a "How to Train your Dragon" feel to it and the graphics are amazing. I enjoyed much of this movie. It's story line was good and somewhat surprising for me because I didn't know her mother played such a key role. Merida is a teenage girl whose next in line to the throne and her over bearing mother tries to set her up for a marriage that Merida doesn't feel ready for. The mother and daughters relationship is put to the test in this humorous and heart warming film about family and tradition. The three younger brothers give the movie comedic energy and there are even adult jokes throughout the movie. I would recommend this movie to all ages and seeing it in 3D is always good. :)


Budget:
$185,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$173,969,341 (USA)

The Avengers! 

What couldn't I say about this movie? I've seen it 6 times since it came out (don't worry Julie's seen it 10 so 6 isn't that any!). This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's got action, good looking men, and I'll have to admit Scarlet Johansson looks pretty damn hot playing the part of Black Widow. It also brings together the rugged good looks of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Robert Downy Jr.'s witty charm as Iron Man, the angry nerd of Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Jeremy Renner good aim as Hawkeye and of course we can't forget about Chris Evan's vintage personality as Captain America! This group of elite superhero's comes together with the help of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury to fight of an alien army force headed by Tom Hiddleston's character Loki. Now I'll have to admit he was looking good in the suit he wore to the party in Germany, although I could do without the helm he wears. This group of talented actors came together to star in one of the best movies of all time. Not only did it get rave reviews and millions of people paid out to see it but it sank the expectations of every movie that's followed so far this summer. It's just that good!! I would definitely recommend this movie! 

Budget: 

$220,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$1.5 Billion (Worldwide)

Think Like A Man


I wasn't sure about this movie at first but only because I hadn't heard of it before. My friend Julie asked if i wanted to do a $3 movie and she had heard this movie was pretty funny. It has a Tyler Perry feel to it and even had lines in it about his movies. It's a movie where Steve Harvey writes a book called "Think Like A Man" to help women get what they want in their relationships based on what a man would do. These women start using the techniques, each one has a chapter that describes them, to either get a date or get their other half to take the next step in the relationship. When the men get wind of this they start using the techniques to get what they want. It has great comedy and the story line is well put together. I would recommend it to anyone who's in the mood for a feel good romantic comedy!


Budget:
$12,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross:
$91,547,202 (USA)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter


       I originally went into this movie with no expectations because I hadn't really heard many reviews about it since it's release. I also wasn't sure what to think when it comes to picturing Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter. It was better than I expected for sure and I plan on buying it when it comes out. I thought the story line was very interesting and the effects were really cool. It is also based on a book which I have added to my list. When I get to it I'll update this status with my comparison for sure! It is definitely a movie young kids should not watch due to the effects. It can have a bit of blood and guts moments but overall it wasn't sickening. I would describe it as: yes it's gory but at the same time you're so intrigued by the actors movements that you don't really focus on the blood flying. The fight scenes are really well done graphically as well. I would recommend this movie for sure!


Budget: 
$69,000,000 (Estimated)
Gross: 
$34,050,910 (USA)