Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Young Messiah

Released: March 11, 2016

Starring: Adam Greaves-Neal as Jesus
Sean Bean as Severus
Sara Lazzaro as Mary
Vincent Walsh as Joseph

Directed By: Cyrus Nowrasteh

Written By: Betsy Griffen Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh

This the the story of a one year in time of the life of Jesus when he was young. This particular point in time is Jesus's life is when His family and Him are traveling out of Egypt and back to Nazareth around the time when Jesus was seven years old.

I am not 100% sure about how accurate this story really is. I have not studied the Bible in length enough to even begin to try and say anything about it's accuracy. However, this movie was good at making you think. When we normally talk, or think, about Jesus we usually go right to His birth or His death not about what it was like for Him as a young boy. It did make me think of did Jesus know what He was to do before His parents told him? Did Mary and Joseph explain anything to Him about how God was His father? If so was He younger or older than seven years old? This movie was beautifully shot, and well written. Going in I thought it was going to keep me in the same place, just following Him and His family, but it covered  some history or the land (through storytelling) and it had a few other sub plots in there that keep you thinking and entertained at the same time. This is one of those movies that you already know what the real ending of the story but it fascinates you to see what happened on the parts you might not know as much about.

Zootopia

Released: March 4, 2016

Starring: Gennifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps
Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde

Directed By: Byron Howard and Rick Moore

Written By: Byron Howard, Jared Bush, Rich Moore, Josie Trinidad, Jim Reardon, Phil Johnston, and Jennifer Lee

Judy Hopps is a young bunny living this off skirts of the mainland Zootopia. She dreams of one day becoming a police officer. Not just any police officer, but the first Bunny Cop. For years she trained and worked her way up to be the top of her graduating class. When she graduates she is given assignment at precinct one in the heart of Zootopia. We learn there have been several different animals that go missing and instead of assigning her to a case, they make her a meter made. Willing to prove that she can do more, she works hard and does the honorable thing to find a missing Otter. The Chief gives her two days to find him or she must quit. Her clues end up leading her to a con artist, a fox named Nick Wilde. They join forces, against his will, to find the otter and end up uncovering a much more deviant plan that they were expecting.

This is one of the best Disney films that I have seen! It's got all the classing Disney storytelling but with all the goodness of Modern day animation. It's funny and charming and everything you expect from a Disney Animation Film. It's entertaining if you are fives years or 100 years old! It has the basic lessons of "don't judge a book by it's cover" but with loads of humor. Even if you are part of the "Older" crowd to go and see this movie there are references that you might get that other kids might not. I don't mean anything dirty I mean like they make a reference to "The Rat Pack" in here. Well worth going to see this movie!


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Eddie the Eagle

Released: February 26, 2016

Starring: Taron Egerton as Eddie Edwards
Hugh Jackman and Bronson Perry

Directed By: Dexter Fletcher

Written By: Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton




Eddie has been an underdog all of his life. He didn't have very many friends and had a condition when he was younger that required him to wear a brace until he was about 10. However, he had big dreams to be an Olympian. He tried all of the summer sport that he could. He trained as hard as he could until his dad made him go to work with him one day, the day that changed everything. Eddie was introduced to winter sports that day and changed his mind of being a Summer Olympian to a Winter Olympian. He trains to be apart of the 1988 UK Ski Team but he gets kicked off right before the team gets sponsored to go. With just a handful of months left until the 88 Olympics, Eddie turns his eyes to Ski Jumping and travels to Germany to train. There he meets Bronson Perry, an almost one time Ski Jump Olympian, and he finally agrees to train Eddie to qualify in the Olympics.



This is totally a feel good movie! It really is just a sweet story about a boy who has a dream and grows up to accomplish it! It was funny, but it was also dynamic. What I mean by that is that Eddie was kicked off the team for being different not because he was bad at skiing. When he goes into Jumping the only thing that he needs to do to go to the Olympics is just land one jump on the 70 meter jump to qualify. However, when he lands this jump is asked to the UK Olympic Commissions Broad and he told that they changed the rules. That he has to jump a certain amount of feet in order to qualify. They did it only because he was different not because he was not good. I shows his endurance, even after being told no by cheating him out of his qualification, but instead of throwing in the towel he goes on to pursue his dream. If this movie is about anything it's about hope.
 

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Race

Released: February 19, 2016

Starring: Stephen James as Jesse Owens
Jason Sudeikis as Larry Snyder

Directed By: Stephen Hopkins

Written By: Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse


Jesse Owens is an aspiring track and field athlete in the early 1930's. He has just been invited to attend the University of Ohio in 1933. When he gets there he meets Coach Larry Snyder, a coach who has not had a winning season in some years, think he found the missing piece to his team in Jesse. They soon start dreaming of the Olympics in Berlin that are coming up in 1936. during these few years, however, that American Olympic Comity is talking about pulling out of the Berlin Olympics because of the "purification" of Germany by Hitler that is taking place at the time. That is when Avery Brundage is sent as an ambassador to Germany to make sure the German Government will allow Jews and blacks to compete in the games. However, a scandal is soon set up when Avery agrees with the German Olympic Commissioner that america will support "Germany's Cause" if they allow these rules to happen. When the Olympics do come around, and Owens wins every event he competes in, the Germans are embarrassed because "a lesser race" is beating the pure German race.


This is by far the best movie that I have seen so far this year. When I first was going to see the movie I knew it was going to be about the life of Jesse Owens but I did not know it was going to only be only his college and Olympic years. I learned a lot about tensions during the Olympic Games during that time frame and how they made agreement for everyone to participate. The biggest highlight in this movie was the acting. Stephen James was excellent as Jesse Owens! I mean didn't over play or anything. However, my biggest surprise was Jason Sudeikis! We all know him from comedy movies like Horrible Bosses but I did not expect to see him in a drama and I did not expect him to be that good!

Zoolander 2

Released: February 12, 2016

Starring: Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander
Owen Wilson as Hansel
Penelope Cruz as Valentina Valencia
Will Ferrell as Jacobim Mugatu

Directed By: Ben Stiller

Written By: Ben Stiller, Justine Theroux, Nicolas Stoller, and John Hamberg

Derek and Hansel have been out the modeling scene for fifteen years, when they get invited to the biggest modeling extravaganza in history. While the modeling business is not something that Zooland wants to be a part f anymore, he decides to do it so he can try and win his son back. So they go off to Rome and discover that Mugatu is trying to kill his son to become ageless. Derek and Hansel work as a team with Interpol Agent Valentina Valencia, an ex-swim suit model, to save the world and his son.




Truthfully I was expecting a lot more from this movie. I mean who doesn't love the first Zoolander movie? The first movie was way funnier and very whimsical, however, this one was lack luster at best. I mean it had some of its moments, like about how Zoolander and his son meet again and Hansel's face after the fire. Other than that however it left you with a void that it was missing that special something that made the first Zoolander really good.

Deadpool

Released: February 12, 2016

Starring: Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/ Deadpool
Ed Skrein as Ajax
Morena Baccarin as Vanessa

Directed by: Tim Mller

Written by: Rhett Resse and Paul Wernick Based off of the Deadpool Comics


Wade is an ex-soldier for hire to "take care" of people. He is working his way through life, and occasionally betting in the dead pool at his favorite bar, when he meets a prostitute named Vanessa. They fall in love, move in together, and Wade proposed. This seemingly happy, blissful moment turns catastrophic very quickly. Wade collapses and is taken to the hospital to find out he has cancer. All starts to seem lost when Wade is given a card from a man who says that he can get him the help that he needs. Wade finally agrees to undergo this experimental treatment and lease Vanessa in the middle of the night totally clueless. When at the treatment facility, Wade meets Ajax and learns that the treatment is going to give people powers and he will not be able to leave. He is tortured for weeks to undergo this "change" and when he does he has a plan to escape. After he is free he soon learns that he can't actually die, that he can now regenerate. Because he was forced to become this monster he vows his revenge on Ajax and the next year is spent hunting him down to get his revenge. In the process of all of this he is trying to Vanessa to get her back and figure out what his next move will be after Ajax is dead.



This move was very funny in a delightfully dark way. Ryan Reynolds  was born to play this role is nothing else! He was wonderfully sarcastic throughout the whole thing. However, I think that this movie did so well was because, not only did Ryan Reynolds steal the show and the comics are what got most people excited about it, but it was because I think Wade Wilson did what most of us would do in the type of situation that he was in. No, not leave everyone behind and exact revenge, but he got angry. He got angry to the point of where nothing else seemed to matter. He reacted to the news of cancer in the same way I my gut would want me to do. Run. Run away don't put anyone else through this misery it will be easier on you if I left. That is how I would feel. Wade reacts that same way most people would initially do when it comes to that type of news. I mean Wade really is just an average person when all of this came upon him. He was not trying to be a "hero" or a "somebody". I mean think about it would Captain America would do or say if he were in Wade shoes? Steve Rogers always wanted to be a type of hero and he would have never thought about running. Again, Steve Rogers does not have the spirit of an average human being.  Yes, Deadpool is not your average, take care of the world superhero, actually he says that he is not really a hero to begin with. He is just angry. Wade Wilson story is the first Marvel movie that I have seen where the "hero" takes on anger and makes him slightly crazy. It also shows just how the most random people come into your life to help you out.

Hail, Caesar

Released: February 5, 2016

Starring: Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix
George Clooney as Baird Whitlock
Scarlett Johansson as Deeanna Morgan
Tilda Swenton as Thora/Thessaly Hacker

Directed, Written, and Edited by Ethan and Joel Coen





Hollywood in the 1950's is not as easy as the movies make it out to be. No one knows this more than Eddie Mannix, a Capitol Studios Fixer in the golden Days of Hollywood. Eddie's job is to help make the studio's stars look, and behave, as great as they do in the movies. During one of the biggest movie shoot they have ever produced, Hail, Caesar!, the star goes missing. On top of all of that the rest of the studio's stars lived are going crazy too! Between a secretly pregnant star, actors doing different roles than normal, a gossip columnist lurking around the set, and Actors having secret meetings regarding the Communist Party, Eddie must decide if he would like to keep his job or take a new "standard" job that he has been offered.




As I have stated before I am a lover of all thing early Hollywood. So, when I found out that this film was coming out, and the time period it was set in, I was really excited to see the film. However, what I was not expecting was how funny this film turned out to be! I mean you have Channing Tatum tap dancing, and George Clooney getting slapped in the face. However, when I went to go and see that movie I realized that the Coen Brothers made a huge spoof of old Hollywood in that of it's self. The movie is about the making of a fake movie called "Hail, Caesar". However, that movie is really the plot like of the movie Ben-Hur that was a real movie made in the 1950's-1960's. They made fun of everyone and everything. From the fake adoption that Loretta Young did, to the life of the fixer himself E.J. Mannix. Mannix was a fixer for MGM back in those days and tried to keep all the stars from making a fool of themselves, and do discreetly. I would have to say if you just want a good laugh you need to see this movie, However, if you love old Hollywood and know some of it history this movie is going to be way funnier to you than to the average movie goer!