‘Guardians’ will make you a true believer

With the holiday season right around the corner, a lot of the same old shows getting aired again.  Shows like ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer’ are all good and fun but kids need something new.  If there was only a movie that would team up all your favorite holiday characters and turn them into heroes.

‘Rise of the Guardians’ starts with Jack Frost waking up in a frozen lake just discovering his powers for the first time.  Not really knowing why he’s who he is and why people can’t see him.  Fast forward a few hundred years to present day and the world is a couple days away from Easter.  Up at the North Pole, Santa Claus is hard at work looking at the globe he has and see’s a black mist cover it.  He realizes something bad is coming and summons the other guardians.

The Tooth Fairy, the Easter bunny, the Sand Man are all summoned to find out what they can do to save the world from the Boogie Man.  The moon informs Santa that their only hope is Jack Frost.  Santa sends for Jack and tells him of everything that is happening.  Jack is still struggling with people not recognizing him and doesn’t really understand his purpose in the grand scheme of things.  With the boogie man gaining more and more power, Jack decides to help out the other guardians on their mission.

So that you know, I only saw this in 2D so I can’t say how good this was in 3D.    The movie looked really good and the story minus the whole “moon told us” it was pretty good.  Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher did a great job as the voices of Jack Frost, Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.  Unfortunately the Sand Man didn’t have a voice and talked through his sand images.

Like I said, the story was great except for the whole “moon” talking to the guardians and telling them what to do.  You never hear the moon throughout the entire movie.  The intro of Boogie Man was a great choice because I couldn’t think of any other holiday or any other character they could have came up with.  He did kind of look and feel like Hades from Disney’s ‘Hercules’.  Overall it’s a great holiday film for the family with every holiday character and a couple extras to cheer on.  If they don’t believe anymore, this movie will make them start believing again.

‘Red Dawn’ remake is not too far fetched

If you’ve been reading my reviews you know how I feel about remakes.  I’m not a big fan of them but there are some that prove me wrong.  For instance ‘Let Me In’ with Chloe Grace Moretz was a great movie.  I was very skeptical of ‘Red Dawn’ after I heard it was being made again because the original was made when I was a kid.

‘Red Dawn’ takes place in Washington State where a local high school team is playing football.  The mascot for the team is ‘The Wolverines’.  During the game you find out that Jed just made it back home for a bit from the Marine Corps and his brother Matt is the high school quarterback and their dad is the sheriff of the town.  After the game they go to a local restaurant and hangout when the power goes out all over town.  After the two brothers get home, their dad is on his way out to protect the city against looters.

The next morning they wake up to what feels like an earthquake.  Matt steps outside and see’s planes flying over with a ton of soldiers parachuting out.  The brothers grab what they can and start to drive and find their dad.  They end up running into him and he tells them to go to their cabin outside the city.  On the way there they pick up other friends and people to take to the cabin.  They hear from a report on the television that North Korea has invaded the United States.  To make matters worse, the Koreans made intermittent camps on the high school football field where they are keeping anyone they feel is a threat.  With the help of the kids and friends, the brothers decide to start a war with the Koreans in their city.

First off, I understand they could not bring in the Russian’s because at the moment they are irrelevant, the Korean army was a good decision.  In the opening sequence they show you news talking about the rise of Korea as of late.  Their choice for Chris Hemsworth as Jed to replace Patrick Swayze was also justified.  If Mr. Swayze was still alive he could have been cast as their dad and that would have been awesome.  Thank you for not casting Charlie Sheen which would have made this movie a joke.

With Josh Hutcherson off his big Hollywood movie ‘The Hunger Games’ and Adrianne Palicki who made it big in the TV series ‘Friday Night Lights’ they made great additions.  Also, Mr. Connor Cruise makes his second appearance in a movie.  Who is Connor Cruise you might ask.  He is the adopted son of a Mr. Tom Cruise.  Overall with the update on technology and the update on the new enemy, ‘Red Dawn’ is relevant again.  Sure it isn’t as good as the original, but for the people who haven’t seen it, I was told it was excellent.  Hemsworth did a good job as a replacement for Swayze.

If you need a good action flick for the Thanksgiving weekend, this should be on your list.  It had some great action and it was a decent remake with alright acting.  I was surprised at how many people are heading to the theater after their Thanksgiving.  It was pretty packed!  If you have some time you should check this out!

The ‘Twilight’ saga is over and I’m happy to admit I’m not sad

Since 2008, I’ve had the roughest five years of my life.  I’m not talking about being homeless or starving, though I’m not saying those aren’t hardships.  I’m talking about the five movies that are ‘The Twilight Saga’.

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer we have been introduced to a new kind of vampire.  I guess it was time since we now have full on running zombies instead of the ones that just walk around.  Stephenie has changed the game forever with her vampires in her ‘Twilight’ saga.  Many of you know and the lucky few that do not know, her vampires sparkle when they are in the sunlight instead of bursting into flames.

Like J.K. Rowling, Meyer decided to split the last movie of the series into two parts.  My thought process was telling me she wanted more money but Hollywood says it was because it was a longer story that needed to span two movies.  One year ago we were able to see ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’.  For those not in the loop, it ended with Bella giving birth and being turned into a sparkle vampire.

Part two picks up right where they ended with Bella wide awake and ready for fresh blood.  Edward teaches her how to use her senses and to be the voice of reason when she might have the urge to feed on humans.  The new addition to the Cullen clan is their daughter Renesmee.  Thanks to Bella being human while being pregnant, Renesmee is half human half vampire.  I’d say think of her as Blade, but I’m sure she will never wield a sword and since in this series vampires can walk in the sun, “Day Walker” means nothing.

A vampire was on her way to see the Cullen’s when she spots Bella and Edward with Renesmee.  She thinks that they turned a little girl which is frowned upon in the vampire world.  She rushes back to the Volturi to inform them of this travesty.  Aro, the head of the Volturi, leads them to the Washington to confront the Cullen’s.  Thanks to Alice, she informs the Cullen’s that they are coming and to be prepared.  With the help of Carlisle and his wife Esme, they ask their friends to come and help them and show the Volturi that Renesmee is half human half vampire.

For those out there that think I’m going to completely bash this movie, I’m not.  Out of all five of these movies, it was not the worst one.  On that note, you will never hear me say that this was a good movie or a good series.  Kristen Stewart is not the greatest actress in the world and she still has problem showing emotions in the last film.  Robert Pattinson also shows a little more emotion than he has in the last four movies.  There was really no break out performances in any of these movies.  On a side note, the battle was pretty sweet.

Overall, regardless of what I say, this movie will probably break all records and be the best movie since sliced bread for a lot of tweens.  There was clapping and some cheering at the end of the movie but I failed to see any crying eyes.  If I had to rank this movie in the series with the others, I would it would be two on my list in the saga.  I might suggest buying tickets early and getting to the theater at least 20 minutes earlier than usual if you plan on fighting the crowd this weekend or any time soon.

Kevin James makes a great fighter in ‘Here Comes the Boom’

Since Kevin James’s TV series ‘The King of Queens’, he’s tried to make a name for himself in Hollywood.  He joined Adam Sandler’s crew in ’50 First Dates’ to their most recent collaboration of ‘Hotel Transylvania’.  This time around, he’s going out on his own and has brought along Henry Winkler to help him out.

Scott Voss is a biology teacher who has lost his inspiration.  Ten years ago he was teacher of the year but since then he wakes up late and falls asleep in class.  While on break he hears the music department and decides to go down and check it out.  Marty the music teacher lets Scott know that he and his wife are expecting and to keep it quiet.  Right after their talk the principal has a meeting with the teachers informing them that they have to lay off some people.  One of those people is Marty.  Scott tells the principal that he will raise the money, with some help, to keep the music program going.

During their first meeting, Scott, Marty and Bella are the only teachers that show up.  Scott’s only plan is to work more outside of what he’s already doing.  His second job is helping people become US citizens.  Niko, one of his students, asks him if he’ll help tutor outside their class.  Scott agrees and heads over to Niko’s house to teach him.  Niko and some of his friends are watching the UFC fight which gets Scott thinking.  He finds out from them that the guy that loses still made $10,000.  Scott now has a way to get the money for Marty.

Not to ruin too much for you but he learns to fight and makes some money.  Kevin James does a great job when he’s put with some great actors.  Surprisingly enough, Bas Rutten who plays Niko was pretty funny.  Sure James does a great job and is in basically doing the same comedy he does in all his movies but I thought Bas Rutten was the top guy.  I’m not sure how much Dana White helped out with the film since his organization was all over the movie but I liked seeing some of the UFC fighters in the movie.  Bas Rutten being one, Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller, Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva, Brian Stann and Rich Franklin.

Overall the movie was good but not overly good.  It was probably due to me seeing ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ a couple of days before.  If you like Kevin James, this movie will be right up your ally.  It’s funny and entertaining and has everything for a good family movie.  ‘Here Comes the Boom’ is rated PG so you can take the family to it.  If you get a chance during the holidays and need something to watch, then check it out.

‘Skyfall’ takes its seat as one of the top Bond movies

The name James Bond is a name you haven’t heard from in awhile.  It has been four years since we last heard from Bond and MI6.  With the bankruptcy of MGM and the four years being off, let’s see if Daniel Craig has what it takes in the 23^rd Bond movie.

Unlike Craig’s last two movies, ‘Skyfall’ takes place in the future.  What I’m referring to with his last two films, ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’ seemed almost like one big film.  ‘Skyfall’ start with Bond in a hotel room where multiple people are dead and a hard drive has been taken out of a laptop.  M informs him that the hard drive contains all information of undercover agents in MI6.  Bond quickly follows a man from the street to rooftops to a train trying to recover the device.  Bond’s partner named Eve is given the order to take a shot at Bond and the unknown killer.  Her shot takes Bond down and the killer survives.

Fast forward a couple of months and MI6 has come under fire for the loss of the hard drive.  Their system gets hacked while M is out and an explosion happens in her office.  Bond comes out of hiding and tells M that he wants reinstated.  He wants to also find out who put out the hit on M and get his hands back on the hard drive.  His first stop is Shanghai where he finds the guy he was fighting with at the start of the movie.  He uses his detective work and makes his way to Macau then to find the man behind the whole thing, Raoul Silva.

That’s all you’re going to get out of me on the plot because I don’t want to ruin anything.  As for the reports that it’s the best Bond movie ever…it’s very close.  Out of all the Bond movies in my era, it is the best.  I’m still partial to ‘From Russia with Love’ where you meet SPECTRE for the first time and the one and only, Number One.  I’m completely sold on Daniel Craig as Bond though.  After ‘Casino Royale’ I was very hopeful for his career until ‘Quantum of Solace’ came out.  In my opinion the second worst Bond movie.

Being a pretty big Bond fan, you have to understand that when Craig took over as Bond, the whole franchise did a reboot as some call it.  If you look at Ian Flemings books, ‘Casino Royale’ was the first Bond book and from what you could see in the film, he was just getting his 00 status.  He had his first kill and everything.  A lot of people just thought it was a continuation, which it was, but not in the world of Bond.  With Craig, they restarted everything from the exploding pens and missile launching cars to just using guns and cell phones.

Judi Dench makes her seventh appearance as M and delivers a great performance.  The movie by name is a James Bond movie but this time around focuses more on M.  Javier Bardem is one of my favorite villains in the Bond world.  Instead of having a Bond villain take on the entire world or some country, they have the villain attack right to the heart of MI6.  Ralph Fiennes also made his first appearance in the film as Gareth Mallory and you finally get to meet Moneypenny at the end of the film.

Overall the ‘Skyfall’ was very good and did not disappoint.  Since ‘Casino Royale’ they have tried to incorporate Bond into the new age of technology and try and fit in him to today’s world.  It’s not an easy task with where he has come from but they keep doing a really good job.  I’m not sure how many more films Craig has but as long as he’s Bond I’m going to the theater to check him out.  This movie does a great job at getting us all ready for the winter movies.  Go see this!