AlexProductions

Upon looking at the cast of Escape Plan, it seemed like another type of Expendables 2 or Red 2 type movie restating that "old guys are cool." We all have seen one these types of movies with no such plot or storyline, just 80ish minutes of action. Just seeing that the movie was 115 minutes and that Arnold Shwarzenegger was in it didn't seem right so I had to go see it. Escape Plan is the story of Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) whose job is to test the security of prisons around the world. When asked to test a prison that makes criminals certain people "disappear" he accepts the offer and is taken to the prison. After soon learning that the whole thing was a setup, he meets Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Shwarzenegger), and together they attempt a breakout. To me it seemed like another scheme just to get the two men back on screen together but it turned out to be much more. I enjoyed watching the chemistry on screen between characters and it seemed effortless (probably because they've been doing these roles for 35+ years). The prison (picture one and two) was very unrealistic compared to the regular prison the movie started off with. The mix of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and soundstage filming turned out nice, but the overall concept of the cells was a little too imaginary. The guards (picture two) were all dressed in these black suits and cheap party masks. Though it seemed unnecessary at first, I realized that this was done so that the prisoners couldn’t tell who the guards were, make friends with them, know their patterns or know when the guards were actually looking at them. The movie felt like someone said "here's an idea, now make it a movie and release it next month." Don't get me wrong, the clever things Stallone did on screen must've taken some top writers to think up and wowed me. It was clear that they rushed the filming in some scenes though. For example, when a supposedly large helicopter was flying over the ocean, it actually looked like a toy helicopter on a wire over a lake. Overall, it was easy to tell that Shwarzenegger and Stallone didn't make the movie for the money, but more to show that they're still making movies. I did enjoy Escape Plan for the 115 minutes it ran, but I probably won't remember it a few weeks from now.

This fall came a movie that will change the course of how CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and special effects are looked at in a movie. Alfonso Cuarón's newest masterpiece, "Gravity" is guaranteed to be a game changer in the film industry. The film features only three people on screen, two of which being the main characters, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Bullock’s character Dr. Ryan Stone has had a bad life with her four year old daughter dying, and her husband leaving her. What she doesn't know is soon, her life is about to get a lot worse. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) is a middle aged man who we know very little about, only early learning that he is a hilarious laid back character. We watch them spend the first sixth of the movie repairing the Hubble in space, which soon comes to a halt when Russian satellite debris comes toward the astronauts faster than the speed ****. Sooner than later Bullock is left floating on her own in space, and now we have our movie. With trailers releasing as early as the start of July, the brilliant film took more than four and a half years to make, most of which was the production and editing. With the opening scene, we have that awkward silence in the theater as the film has no audio demonstrating not a single sound in space. This is another impressive move by Cuarón, most viewers don’t pick up on. He used the quietness of space and put in near heart-pounding scenes. At these times, you could literally hear your own heart beating rapidly during the truly intense times which happened to be the majority of the film. I did happen to take note of a few slow points in the film though. A couple times in the movie would be one camera angle of the earth, or a shot of Clooney smiling. These shots would last for over a minute. Just a single of these would've been fine, but there was at least three, with the film just barely reaching its 90 minute length. I think that if in a few years someone would ask about Gravity, I hope that no one talks about the acting or story. With this said, I think that the fact that the movie was shot on earth with gravity is the amazing part. It’s breathtaking view and real feel is what people will be talking about. The over 470 person effect crew could've easily made any movie extremely realistic. The fact that it was about space with stars, and the (three person) cast floating, took my respect for them up a large notch. The plot wasn't unique, being just another film where we watch a character try to survive, like 127 hours. I don't think it would get even close to the score it has been receiving if it took place on earth, or with lower quality effects. There were times that Bullocks acting wasn't very realistic, or there was a flaw in the writing, but other than that I was overly impressed and surprised with the turns the film took, that the trailer didn't show. Gravity is a must see, but only for its flawless effects in IMAX 3D. Don't even bother seeing it on a regular screen because it is nowhere close to the visuals experienced in 3D. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Gravity, and think that Alfonso Cuarón just earned the respect, and awards he deserves.

You don't have to be a parent to experience the fright that comes from watching the new film Prisoners. On my usual strut out of the theater I am asked how I liked the movie, and I give my usual answer "eh, pretty good" until my review gets posted and that person sees what I really thought. With Prisoners, I came out of the theater a little shaken, and as most people probably did, made sure everything was alright every time they heard a noise in their house that night. The film stars Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, but the true star is Detective Loki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Prisoners is the story of Hugh Jackman's family, and Terrence Howard's family, having a fun thanksgiving dinner. The parents stupidly agree and let their children play outside, and that’s where we get the title Prisoners. The trailer is a little deceptive on how this scene plays out but ultimately ends up with the same idea that the kids were kidnapped by someone in an RV. They find that Alex Jones (Paul Dano) was the driver, and that he basically has the IQ of a ten year old who speaks in this really high pitched mutter. As stupid as they think he is, he manages to quietly drop hints to Jackman that he has his child. Loki, a young detective, is assigned to the case and works mainly with Jackman to uncover what happened. The movie takes some serious turns that make you share the emotions of the characters. Some of the minor cast members instantly become huge, and new characters are introduced on screen and join the flow of the movie easily. This single film had the best acting so far in 2013 with a very strong cast. Hugh was the parent that is willing to do anything for their child, which for a lot of parents was very relatable to. It's funny though because if he cared so much about his daughter, than he wouldn't have let her essentially run around unattended, in a creepy neighborhood in the first place. Despite the almost two and a half hour duration, I was almost off my seat on the floor the entire time waiting to hear the dialogue from every character. I cringed many times during the disturbing scenes (there were many), and they even managed to add in a couple jump scares. This is definitely not a movie to expect to half watch and whisper with friends in; because you will miss way too many details that you realize tie in later. Even after thinking deeply about Prisoners, I was left with too many plot holes, which led to a lot of unanswered questions, especially with the ending. It felt a little bit like Director Denis Villeneuve thought that it wasn't worth adding even more time to the film length to fill in some details, but it might have made the movie worth its longer time. Though most of the events in the film will probably not happen when you think about it, you are convinced during the film. There would be an unrealistic scene followed by a disturbing one, and you would be more focused on the suspense and disturbance, then the actual facts. Despite the negatives, Prisoners will entertain you whether it's through the edge of your seat thrill, or the relation to your own family. The film has already won two awards and has only been out nine days, and I won't be surprised to see it earn many more in the future.

Let me just start off by saying that I am not a fan of scary movies. Jump scare scenes freak the crap out of me, but I managed to make it through Chapter 2, without peeing myself. That's both a good and bad thing, clean boxers, but a sub-par movie. Not seeing the first installment, I can tell you that the movie made full sense to me, and others in the same scenario. The film managed to switch between present, past, and future, which made for a touch I usually don't see in movies, especially without a lot of plot. I felt more like I was watching the cast walk through a haunted house, then a scary movie. Let’s be honest here, when you see a house in a scary movie, it looks nothing like a “real” home, especially for a family. The acting in the film was absolutely terrible, and it was more funny then scary, because you could tell the cast was "trying" on screen. It also did not help that the script lacked creativity too. Most scenes had a false sense of urgency, which made the characters show fake emotions. All of these factors added together, made for an extremely predictable, overhyped movie. Along with the acting was the same exact song track that would start every time like 10 seconds before a jump scare, so it was obvious to be ready for someone popping out of something. The scary part for me was the editing flaw. I would see a metronome, or a plant in one scene and a minute later when they would cut back it would be gone, or a Macbook Pro sitting next to an old tube TV, and film camera. It reminded me of a Paranormal Activity, more then as if it was its own film series. Picture two for example, was already done in Paranormal Activity 3, and the main actress (Rose Byrne) reminded me of Julie (Lauren Bittner in Paranormal Activity 3), all the way down to the hairstyle. (SPOILER) What no film critics seem to be talking about in their reviews was how main character Parker Crane as a child was a reluctant transvestite. Portrayed as a little girl in aspects of the film, he ends up pulling a wig of his head. His room filled with girly items, later reveals that his mom (picture one) wanted a girl named Marilyn. (END SPOILER) After discussing with others who have now seen both films, many were disappointed with the lower amount of scary scenes shown. I think they wanted to make it more about the family in this film, and (LITTLE MINOR USELESS SPOILER) as all scary movies do; we were left with something to think about, obviously letting us know of a Chapter 3. Basically, if you are a fan of the Insidious', then go see Chapter 2. Other than that, it was a crap movie, with a bad script, terrible acting, and predictable scenes. Definitely save your $9.50 on this one and borrow the DVD from your friend in a few months, when you’re looking for a scary movie to watch a year from now.

When I heard that Vin Diesel funded the whole film with his own money, I felt that he was the only one wanting to continue the Chronicles of Riddick. The newest film out of the trio features Richard B. Riddick, who we follow as he is being hunted by the "dead Riddick" team. The movie took so many different turns that I wasn't quite sure what genre film it was. From thriller, to drama, to science fiction, Riddick definitely appealed to a large audience, especially with its PG-13 rating. With so much potential in the film, it seemed to me that director David Twohy did the least of his directing abilities to quickly make a "sloppy" film. He made it in such a way that it was part of the series, but it easily could've been a standalone film. The first half of the movie was completely useless and left me bored stiff. There’s a presentation etiquette skill saying to always start with something engaging to put the viewers in the right mood. Riddick did the absolute opposite. After a good 40 minutes of basically no one saying a word on the screen, I was about ready to feel I wasted both my time and money, when the film suddenly picked up. I recognized that all of the little sea monster critters seemed like a bad rip off of the sea monsters in Prometheus. A lot of the movie was quite predictable, especially when Riddick would be hiding somewhere. It was easy to know that he was somewhere in the scene, and the camera would pan to a corner where he would be, which bugged the crap out of me. A lot of other film critics tended to disagree with me on my harsh comments, saying "how good it was," but it really did nothing for me. The last 35 minutes or so were entertaining, and I thought that overall Vin Diesel did a good job in the main role. There was one scene that impressed me, when Riddick was chained and flipped a knife in the air, kicked it, and cut a man’s head off. That was probably the only thing that was original for me. Whatever, I won't remember the movie in a week, but that head scene will be what is shared with some friends tomorrow. I think that if you’re a fan of the other two (painful to watch) films in the series, definitely go see Riddick to get your full fill of Vin Diesel's movie (in IMAX 3D). Other than that, I was truly disappointed with the film, and for sure won't be recommending it. But still, that head scene was cool!

12 pubs, 12 pints; one night. The World's End is the story of Garry King (Simon Pegg) and the old school gang, who re-tackle the 5280 feet of alcohol on the Golden Mile in their hometown. As Garry is reaching 40, this pub crawl is all he basically has to live for. I usually personally judge a movie based on if I was bored at all during the run time, and with The World's End, I was constantly entertained with the British humor and witty comments, coming from Simon and the entire cast. The only character in the film I didn't like was Rosamund Pike (Picture 1). Her role was just minor and I feel that the film would've been better without it. I walked into the film just for some laughs and a humor, and received much more in the end than expected. The movie took some completely unexpected twists and turns that neither me, nor the rest of the audience were expecting. I think that The World's End is the summer blockbuster film I never got. When I think back on this year’s break, I never really could remember a movie I actually left the theater satisfied with. Pegg's acting was the best I have ever seen from him, and I think that this single August release promotes his ability and range of all the parts he can play...WELL. The Sci-Fi aspect of the film weaved together nicely with the mix of comedy in an un-awkward way. When the sci-fi aspect did come about, I did feel the film began to become more unrealistic. I didn't like how these regular drunks, were able to change into mini Jackie Chan's all of a sudden. Through the many fight scenes, there was really never a time where any one of the characters was in a close to life or death situation. I think that even though I thought this was a problem, The World's End is a movie that you go into knowing everything won't make perfect sense when you’re leaving the theater. Being the third film in the series of Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz, I feel that The World’s End felt more like a sequel to Paul than the others it was billed against. Overall, The World's End is a movie you will feel like you got your money's worth out of, in the long run. It's one of those films that seems like it would be more fun to watch when you’ve had a few pints yourself, but either way it is an easy film to enjoy.

I'll be honest, I went into Wreck It Ralph thinking it would be a cheesy kids movie with little plot, just 90 minutes of childish humor. I admit that I was way off. After seeing this movie four times, I can say that I still laugh and enjoy the film. Our main character is Ralph (John C. Reilly) who belongs in the arcade game Wreck It Ralph. Ralph's home is moved and replaced by a complex full of people knows as "NiceLanders." Ralph upset by this wrecks the building and it is fixed by Felix (Jack McBrayer.) That is the game that the arcade users play. On the games anniversary, Ralph is not invited and wrecks the building for real this time because all he wants is a medal and to be a good guy for once. He decides to leave his own game and try to win a medal in others. He meets Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) in one game (Heroes Duty) and takes accidently flies a space pod into a candy racing game, (Sugar Rush) where he meets a girl named Vanellope von Schweetz. (Sarah Silverman) We first meet Vanellope when she takes Ralph's medal. Throughout the movie we see her character evolve into a better person. Ralph starts to show emotion toward Vanellope which we can clearly see especially when Ralph teaches her how to drive a racecar. Vanellope usually gets picked on because she is called a glitch. She isn't allowed to race because if she crosses the finish line the entire game resets so she used Ralph's medal to enter the race. The movie takes a very unexpected turn and has a powerful ending. I loved Wreck It Ralph enough to see it multiple times with friends and independently and have had great reactions from friends who watched it. Disney/Pixar really got this movie right and I am hoping for a sequel in the future.

Premium Rush really demonstrated that a low budget movie can produce more entertainment than some big budget Paramount films. The movie jumps from future to past to present, all following main character Wilee, (Joseph Gordon Levitt) an NYC bike messenger weaving his way through Manhattan with no breaks. We follow Wilee as he picks up a package that changes his life. He picks up an envelope containing a ticket leading to a large amount of money. As he is leaving the building with the package, we meet an N.Y.P.D. cop named Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon) who has a crazy gambling problem. Just to prove that, in the movie he spends $50,000 in fourteen minutes. The movie takes place mostly in Chinatown and was actually filmed with regular New York traffic going on. Bobby needs more gambling money and in order to pay off his debt to Mr. Lynn, he needs to intercept the delivery of a ticket Wilee needs to deliver. We see Wilee during the entire film getting followed and injured by Bobby. I am not a spoiler website, but I will say that the movie has a great ending and has some interesting twists. Michael Shannon was perfect for this role and I do not think that anyone could've played it better. Re-stating my point in the beginning, low-budget Premium Rush, blew some big budget action movies out of the water this year with its clever storyline and great cast. I recommend the movie highly and after first reading about it, The film turned out nothing like what I read, it was much better. Sometimes even if what you hear portrays the movie as terrible, still go ahead and see it because sometimes it turns out being a great film.

G.I. Joe Retaliation featuring Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, and Bruce Willis, is the third movie of the series, and the most hyped about. After seeing the trailer a year before it came out, I thought that they did this because the film was not as good as the crew thought, and Paramount still wanted to make their money. Turns out, Paramount just wanted their money. Director, Jon M. Chu really made some big mistakes. Read the full review to learn why. Retaliation begins with the infiltration of a North Korean base. I wasn't really sure what the outcome was because out of nowhere the G.I. Joe movie intro begins. It seemed to me that they spent more time on the intro then the actual movie. Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson) and Duke (Channing Tatum) are great friends in the film as shown by their friendly bets on their shooting accuracy, and Call of Duty matches. Within the first ten minutes of the film, Duke is killed by an enemy chopper that just completely wipes out their base while Roadblock, Jaye, (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint, (D.J. Cotrona) are underwater in a small tunnel. They escape and try to figure out what is going on, when we learn that Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) is in the presidents disguise while the real president (Jonathan Pryce) is captured, and Snake Eyes (Ray Park) has been captured and imprisoned by Warden James. (Walton Goggins) What I noticed about Retaliation is that about half of the movie is just fight scenes which though it is entertaining, it is just filler. The three Joes meet with General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis) at his house, whose entire first floor has trapdoors to weapons. It started to get excessive after the fifth drawer was opened containing more grenades. Again, their goes two more minutes of the film. My favorite part of the movie is when Zartan, (still disguised as the president) is meeting with all the world’s leaders telling them to give up their nuclear weapons. As they continue to call him crazy, he releases America’s nukes at all of the countries in the room. As the leaders fight back, they all have given up their weapons and are now in a nuclear free world like Zartan wished. Then he released one missile from his master weapon called Zeus, and wipes out most of London. As there is a short time before the rest of the weapon is deployed, Roadblock is the only one that can stop it. I will not reveal the ending but the movie was so predictable, a nine year old could have figured it out. While watching the movie, I wrote down a few of the things that really bugged me. The gunshots to start off. They looked like a crappy low budget film effect, and I can say that a $130 million dollar budget is not even close to low. I even recognized that in one of the fight scenes, the there was no sound effect when a kick to the face was thrown. One of our main characters Duke was killed within the first ten minutes which I mentioned earlier. I thought this was a big mistake because if the crew knew he was going to die this early in the film, they shouldn't have taken the precious movie length and added the pointless times in which they were together playing Call of Duty and having bets on babysitting each others kids. When I say precious run time, I am talking about the film being exactly 90 minutes. To compare, in this franchise, Rise of the Cobra was 118 min and directed by Stephen Sommers. I'm not sure if director Chu went into the film with a great idea and then realized that the idea only lasted half an hour on screen or what but they really messed up Retaliation. When I talked about spending most of their money on advertising, they started playing the trailer in theaters over a year before it came out and it really paid off. Retaliation made $371 Million. This obviously tells me Paramount got what they wanted and Chu knows what he's doing. Though the movie made an outrageous amount of money, It wasn't worth the $13 dollars a ticket or even half that. G.I. Joe Retaliation was so short it had me out in time for lunch and I will not be recommending it to anyone. I think the franchise again gets a new director and maybe puts some thought into the film, instead of whipping the cameras out and realizing at best, they can call it is a short film. When this happened, they added the useless fillers so they could actually call it a movie. As this is my biggest review so far, I hope you can tell I put a lot of thought into it and that my score reflects that.

After hearing little about Snitch in the media, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a movie worth two hours of my life. As I was typing this review, I learned that the movie only made 42 million dollars in the box office. I was rather surprised by this considering Grown Ups pulled in a whopping roughly seven and a half times more than that. (300 Million) Snitch began showing John Matthews' (Dwayne Johnson) son, Jason Collins,(Rafi Gavron) who is agreeing to get shipped some illegal drugs and "hold them" until his friend can come pick them up. When the package comes, he opens it and then sees a tracker in the bottom of the box. When cops arrive he is already running away and then gets captured and goes into custody. By this time I already liked the movie because we learned what the movie was about and the problem that would try to be fixed, within the first ten minutes of the film. After meeting federal prosecutor, Caroline Keeghan (Susan Sarandon), John learns that he can try to bust other drug dealers to reduce his son’s sentence. After getting beaten up, money stolen, and his truck almost hijacked all on the first try, he goes back to meet with Keeghan. John meets with a former gang member Daniel, who works for him at his company. Daniel agrees to help and they go to a bad part of town to begin. They meet Malik, (Michael Kenneth Williams) who does not know he is being recorded. If he gets Malik and the drugs, she will reduce Jason's sentence to two years, one year suspended. Daniel thinks this who thing is real and does not recognize John's agents trailing them. After John gets home for the night he has a stressful conversation with his wife Analisa. John says that "Every move I make, or don't make, Jason will have to live with for the next ten years of his life." I thought this was the most powerful part of the movie. I thought about this quote for a while and think it was very important. John basically said that if he doesn't do anything, his son will be in prison for ten years of his life. If he does do something, though he is risking his life, he is helping his son get out faster. What John does impacts how Jason's life turns out. John makes an even bigger deal with Keeghan that will assure instant release of Jason with the arrest of "El Topo" and the drug money. Without giving away the rest of the movie, though I correctly predicted how it would end, I still thought it was a solid film and was very underrated. To me, it does not make sense that an Adam Sandler comedy made so much more than a high end action thriller with a 35 million dollar budget. I thought that Dwayne's acting was top notch in this movie and he was the perfect person to play the father. I was reluctant to see Snitch but am glad I took the time and thought the film paid off.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was a very odd movie and did not seem anything like the trailer. Steve Carell delivered a very convincing "Burt Wonderstone and made the audience believe he "was" the role. Jim Carrey, though he was playing a character, seemed like he was playing himself, with a wig on. Steve Buscemi really looked like he enjoyed his role and he and Steve had great chemistry on screen. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone began showing Burt, who was inspired as a kid to first do magic by Rance Holloway. (Alan Arkin) Burt bought his magic kit as a kid and performed for a school mate named Anton Marvelton. The movie cuts years in the future to show Burt and Anton performing at the Bally's hotel in Vegas for large audiences every night. After doing the same show every night with the same music and tricks, Burt and Anton's excitement is decreasing and so is their audience. They are losing their audience to a street magician named Steve Gray. I think the movie over dramatizes the fact that Steve is basically trying to kill himself with danger acts, when the audience is calling it amazing "'magic." To try to regain their audience, Anton hatches an idea. We see a large glass box that Anton and Burt will stay in, hanging high in Vegas. There is a large crowd already forming until within twenty minutes Burt can't take it and shakes the box to the point that Anton falls out getting severely injured and the group breaking up. When Burt realizes he has no money, he gets jobs such as performing at a department store and an elderly home where he meets up with his childhood inspiration, Mr. Holloway. As they rewrite the magic show together, Burt, Anton, Rance, and Jane, (assistant) put on their greatest show yet featuring a trick called the disappearing audience. Will they pull it off? You'll have to see the movie to find out. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was not terrible, but it certainly was not good. Though the movie was meant to tell a story, they could have easily cut the 90 minute film in half and still have the same effect. There were many times I felt I was watching empty movie fill that Don Scardino (Director) put in just to make it a respectable run time. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is not a movie you should even spend the $15 and buy the DVD for. My opinion? Borrow it from a friend if you want it see it that badly. It's a wonder they made it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

White House Down starring John Cale (Channing Tatum) and President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) is a current events type movie making you think what the country would do if really put into a situation of the president being killed. The movie starts with Emily Cale waking up due to a breaking news alert on her phone and see's helicopters out her window (containing the president.) She is upset with her dad (John Cale) because he missed her performance at the talent show. Her talent was flag twirling and by this time we learn that she is a "White House know it all." John is going to an interview for the head of security and invites his daughter to come to make it up to her. John basically blows the interview and on their way out a man asks if they are there for the White House Tour and he says yes to make his daughter happy. Without revealing too much, Emily goes to the bathroom on the tour and the White House is taken over, given the name of the movie. White House Down is the fight for John to both save the president, and his daughter. At the screening, the audience, including myself were laughing constantly at little bits of humor such as President Sawyer changing into his Air Jordan shoes when he knew he would need to fight. Again, I will say that White House Down was one of the most entertaining action movies I have ever seen. Though other critics over thought this movie saying the president looked too much like Obama, being a teen reviewer, I focus on the actual movie and not the political aspect. In closing, I definitely recommend the movie to anyone looking for an entertaining action film. I would definitely see it again with friends and think White House Down is a clear choice to anyone wanting a mix of action and comedy in a movie.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Grown Ups 2, features the same original cast (with the exception of Rob Schneider) as the original Grown Ups with some new faces such as Taylor Lautner and Shaquille O'Neal, but still the same childish humor, just a lot more of it. The movie begins with Lenny Fador (Adam Sandler) and Roxanne (Selma Hayek) waking up to a deer in the house that then pees on him during Roxanne's spas attack. Again, childish humor within the first 60 seconds of the film. We then see the Lamonsoff family. Sally (Maria Bello) is quizzing her son on math problems and though he is missing every question, she and Eric (Kevin James) are celebrating like he is getting all of them right. Their daughter also feels like expressing herself on the last day of school by wearing her homemade bedazzled light up boots. Kurt Mackenzie (Chris Rock) is back with Deanne (Maya Rudolph) and their hilarious little baby Ronnie, who has an overstuffed diaper which has a necklace in it that Kurt set up to give his wife for their 20th anniversary which Deanne forgot about. The movie has random acts of comedy every minute. For example, things such as David Spade rolling down a hill in a tire, bus driver Nick (Nick Swardson) using the toilet at K-Mart in one of the display bathrooms, Shaq sleeping in a dog house and chocolate ice-cream squirting in-between employee’s legs. The last 20 minutes at least of the movie was Lenny's last day of school party which I think strung all of the characters and humor together. Without ruining the ending, Lenny becomes friends again with some of his long time foes and one family will be having another child. I was constantly laughing out loud at the theater especially with Eric's (Kevin James) burbsnorts, (burp, sneeze, fart) simultaneously. I found the sequel more entertaining and hilarious then the original. The one thing I noticed was that Grown Ups 2 had much less storyline and plot then the Grown Ups. Will it be pulling in even close to the 310 million the initial Grown Ups racked in? I don't think anywhere close but either way, we can clearly tell that the cast has great chemistry both on and off the screen. I personally have enjoyed many of Adam Sandler's 56 films including Jack and Jill also bringing in just one star along with Grown Ups. Being a comedy and not a Pacific Rim box office smasher, it really does not matter whether you see the movie at the theater, or in your living room. Either way, Grown Ups 2 is guaranteed to produce some laughs for you, and the whole family.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

R.I.P.D. Ridiculous. Idiots. Producing. Dreadful. Films. I went into R.I.P.D. (Rest in Peace Department) expecting to truly enjoy the movie being a teen and all. I figured that the adults “over thought” and “misunderstood” Robert Schwentke’s “true meaning” for the film. Being the director of the original Red, he couldn’t mess it up right? Wrong. R.I.P.D. features Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker, A cop killed by his own partner Hayes (Kevin Bacon) who he worked with for five years. After time being stopped and his body rising into the office of Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker) Nick is offered the choice of a job at R.I.P.D. or to face judgment. He quickly takes the job to reconvene with his wife and go back to earth until he meets his new partner Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges). On earth, people see Nick as an old Chinese man (James Hong), and Roy, a young lady (Marisa Miller). Nick and Roy are issued to catch monsters who have managed to reappear on earth. Their job is to send them back to the R.I.P.D. prison, where they will stay for the rest of their lives. As Hayes has a plan to bring all the deceased back to earth, it becomes Nick and Roy's job to stop it and save earth. The movie really never made it clear whether it was attempting to be a comedy, action movie, or something completely different. Barely reaching 90 minutes, R.I.P.D. is quickly earning itself “Worst Movie of 2013” which I completely agree with. Jeff Bridges is receiving publicity for all the wrong reasons. Ryan Reynolds did not deliver and his acting was not very good…at all. His role could have been played by anyone from Josh Peck to Liam Hemsworth. The idea was not original either. We have already seen the same concept and character layout in Men in Black (who actually did it right). The film had the tired older man with the Texas accent, and his younger partner. I was quite surprised that the audience seemed to actually enjoy this movie! From the cheesy humor, to the unrealistic fight scenes, they were both laughing, and clapping during this film. The term “A 96 minute episode of Scooby Doo” has also been thrown around about this film. Mr. Bridges had much more potential and I feel the script was written sloppily and quick. It seems Universal Pictures took the lazy way out on this one and I think it really showed in both the films performance in the box office (36 Million), and on the screen. I think Reynolds should stick to the voice of Turbo racking in 70 mil instead of these low ball summer disasters. If you still want to see R.I.P.D. after reading this review, I think it is smart to borrow it from a friend who made the mistake of buying it on DVD. I will definitely be recommending this movie to someone I don’t like, but no one I actually care about.

I was not sure what to expect when walking into Smurfs 2. Knowing the target audience was for little children, I didn't feel I was bound to enjoy the little blue critters for 100 minutes. Though I still wasn't a fan of the film, I did find myself laughing a few times, and seemed to be entertained with the story. Smurfette; the main character in the film, was originally captured by Gargamel, is caught again by his Naughties. As Smurfette bonds with them and becomes closer to Gargamel's family, the other Smurfs, Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris), and Grace (Jayma Mays), try to save her. Writing this review, I have mixed feelings about Smurfs 2. I actually enjoyed the story, but they really simplified it, so that kids would understand the movie. It was blatantly obvious throughout the film that the children did not have to think about what they were watching. Something would happen, and then a character would explain what just happened on screen. I thought that Hank Azaria (Gargamel) really enjoyed his time in the movie and he became his character for Smurfs 2. Neil Patrick Harris also did as good a job as he did in the first film. I did not like that all the characters would add "Smurf" to a lot of the words that they would say, and could tell that some of the scenes were just filler, and didn't really add anything to the movie or storyline. After thinking very hard about this review, and re-watching some scenes to get a better understanding, I have come to the conclusion that I actually enjoyed the film. I thought that it was funny at some points for me, even though I’m not the target demographic and had a few good plot turns I was not expecting. I truly felt that the kids really had a good time watching it. Overall, I’d actually recommend The Smurfs 2, and think you will have a good time watching it, even if you are not the right age group. If Alvin and the Chipmunks took a big step forward in quality, with a more “advanced” script, we would have Smurfs 2. After looking online, it got an average of two stars, and I think that this is one film that you should ignore the ratings for, and go see.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is the sequel to the original movie "Lightning Thief," and just as lame. With a different director than the previous film, Sea of Monsters follows the series written by Rick Riordan. By comparison, I read the first book and the matching movie satisfied me, answering questions I had about the novel, on screen. As for this film, I felt that the combination of bad acting, and false drama, really just ruined my experience watching Sea of Monsters. As Percy (Logan Lerman) learns he has a Cyclops brother (Douglas Smith), he is forced to put up with him as they travel to Florida to find his friend Grover (Brandon Jackson). Captured by the half-blood Luke (Jake Abel), who has plans to betray his father and bring back Kronos using the Golden Fleece. It is up to Percy and the gang to save their friend, and the whole Camp Half-Blood. I went in to Sea of Monsters not really sure what to expect. The trailers couldn't seem to interest me and I did not hear much in the media about it. I wasn't sure whether I was more interested in the movie, or the guy smoking an e-cigarette in the row in front of me. Between the phoned-in, bad acting, and false sense of urgency in the film, I was definitely not a fan. I could tell the story line was meant to be scary and keeping you on the edge of your seat, but it really did not have that effect on the crowd. The movie was overly predictable and overall I was just very unimpressed. Also, I could tell that Sea of Monsters was really trying to make an action fantasy (much like Harry Potter) for kids, and just flat out failed. I noticed that Percy never actually used his Riptide sword on humans in the movie. When he would fight, he would hit the person with the butt of the sword so they could keep the film “PG”. I never knew that slashing a human was way too inappropriate for a child! The false sense of danger never worked for me as no one was ever really in danger. Overall I was just as bored with Sea of Monsters as the actors, and felt like it wasn't worth my 110 minutes. Wait for it to air on ABC or HBO and watch it then. As the first movie aired like every other week when it was released, you will have no problem catching it. Following the series, when the next movie is made, I really hope they again change directors, and produce a film worth seeing. Read the books and see the movie in your head as imagined by the writer, and you will have a much better experience.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

"How does somebody know what they want if they haven't even seen it." This one sentence really explained to me why Apple was created. JOBS, is the biography/film recreation of Steve Jobs' (Ashton Kutcher) life. Being founder of Apple, we follow him and Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad), as they create the company and watch it flourish. The film starts in 2001 (picture two) as Steve introduces the first iPod, and then it jumps back to mid 70's when the company first started. Starting the company in his parent’s garage with the other Steve, we follow him through his hard work in Apple. We could tell that Steve really was a jerk after starting his company, but we also saw how he cared about his good friends and about the association. The movie really gave me an understanding on how his life changed the world. I learned that words did not affect Steve; he never gave up with hundreds of people hanging up on his phone pitches, and in live demos. The film JOBS really showed how great of an actor Kutcher is. Throughout the film, I was convinced that he was Steve Jobs. He had got everything right even down to the walk Steve actually carried. Being an Apple fan, I really enjoyed JOBS. I think that any viewer would enjoy the film, but I feel like the movie will only attract people who care about the history of Apple. It's more of a selective audience for this film, because there is no point in seeing it if you are not an Apple fanatic. I think Josh Gad also did a great job as Wozniak, and I still think he and Jonah Hill have the same voice. Even in the 130 minutes the film ran, JOBS did not cover the last decade of his life when Apple really took off. Sequel, maybe? I wasn't sure if Open Road Films (which I've never heard of) had to pull the plug on the ending. After thinking about the film, my only idea is that they did not need to continue the film because we can just pull out the device in our pockets. They did not need to cover the next decade, because we already know what happens. The company expands so greatly that Steve gets his wish of changing the world with over 25% of American adults, owning iPhones. I felt the film started to drag on, even though some scenes were rushed. For example, Steve's wife and children came into the picture at a time that didn't seem appropriate. Overall, I think Jobs really defines Steve’s life, and the start, and growth of the company everyone knows about. If you own an iDevice, or want to learn more about Steve; JOBS is the movie for you.

I went in to City of Bones thinking it was going to be a terrible movie, but it turns out I was wrong, it was worse. Before we get too far into the review, I will say that I have not read any of the books so there will be no comparison at all in this review. The film straight out rips off Twilight, Harry Potter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all at the same time. You would think that with all these good ideas already existing they could put together a pretty good movie, but I found myself already tired ten minutes, in with another 90 minutes to go. City of Bones is the story of Clarissa Fray (Lily Collins) who learns that she has special powers and is a shadowhunter. She meets Jace (Jamie Bower) who has a British accent, and together they fight monsters in New York, that only they can see. It's impossible not to see Twilight in this film because there are just so many similarities. A couple hours ago I checked the Rotten Tomatoes score of the film and it reminded me of MySpace. A couple years ago it would've been hot, but today no one likes it or should see it. Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was just cheap. Cheap special effects that weren't impressive, cheap acting, and a lot of extra false drama incorporated into the film. For example, there was a scene within a few minutes of the start, where Clary's mom picked up a creepy note on the table and the whole family freaked out, like three times slower than a regular persons reaction. From that time, through the rest of the movie, I felt like I was watching a bad soap opera. The romance felt fake and was at the most random times. Since Twilight had romance, this film had to have a poor copy of romance too. I mean seriously, at least Twilight’s romance was more convincing and made sense. Oh and by the way, Jace was also in all three Twilights and Harry Potter. REALLY?! When I found this out, it reminded me one of those shows where the employee works at their competitors company so they will get all the secrets. Except it didn't help, City of Bones was still crap. With the colon in the title, it hints the production of another film in the series, which kills me. Hopefully viewers will know the quality of this film, and won’t waste money with the next installment. I felt like this movie belonged more on Nickelodeon, then on the big screen. With no originality, false drama, bad acting, even worse special effects, and soap opera qualities, it’s a no brainer that City of Bones is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and will obviously not be recommended.

Getaway really had me thinking on the way out of the theater, was it an ad for GoPro, or the Mustang? I have to say, the biggest star in the film was the beauty. Not Selena Gomez, but the Shelby GT500 Super Snake. Getaway features Ethan Hawkee, Selena Gomez, and Jon Voight, which was the original reason for my interest in the film. With such an interesting cast I wondered how the film would perform on screen. Getaway is the story of Brent Magna (Ethan Hawkee) former pro racecar driver, whose wife is taken. To get her back, Magna has to steal a car, and basically crash whatever Jon Voight tells him to. Many people at this point would consider me listing Jon Voight a spoiler but when you see the movie, you’ll immediately know it’s him even with his face partially obscured. Getaway truly wasn't a bad movie; it just was a struggle to get through. The more the film went on, the more pissed, me and other film critics became. Director Courtney Solomon made some big mistakes with the film, such as shooting 75% of the movie with GoPro's. I'm pretty sure there’s a rule in the Producing for Dummies about that. It was cool for a few minutes and then my head started to hurt watching the film switch from regular movie quality, to whatever lower quality the GoPro records at. Their must've been at least 15 of them on the car and that was the majority of the footage used in the film. It was funny to see all of them disguised in these cheap black tubes, and when you see them, you just know their GoPro’s, such as in picture one. Whoever decided to cast Selena Gomez, should also be fired, and banned from any job related to movies. She was just so bad it was amusing, and embarrassing at the same time. Let's face it, she's not a tough person, and I think the funniest part of the film was her aiming a gun at Ethan Hawke. It seemed out of place, and there are tons of actresses I could list, who could've taken her place, and done a better job in the roll. There's a scene when "the voice" (Voight) tells Hawke to kill "the kid" (Selena Gomez), and he refuses saying he's not a killer, and Voight says "good, because you will need her help." At that point I felt like it was our cue to take a bathroom break and get some more popcorn. What I’ve picked up in a lot of action movies lately is the unnecessary jump-cuts, and Getaway makes no effort in an attempt to prevent them. No doubt, a few of the car chases, and crashes were eye pleasing to watch, but when its nonstop camera angle cuts, and shaky scenes, the film loses some of my respect. I just felt that with an 18 million dollar budget, they could've hired some better editors, so the high end car scenes could've been better appreciated. Another flaw in Selena Gomez's role (other than that she is Selena Gomez in an action movie), is that all of the "computer hacking" she does is on a iPad. I'm not sure who on the crew thought it was a good idea, but they too deserve to be eliminated from the film industry. No hacker can be taken seriously doing their work on an iPad unless of course they are Face timing another hacker. I will say that despite all of the negative things I’ve explained about this film, there is an amazing car chase at the end all in one take, in first person, for two minutes. Also, I think Ethan Hawke did a phenomenal job in the film, convincing me he was the character. I feel the film would’ve been much better if I saw the trailer, and just the last ten minutes. Overall if you’re a fan of car crashes (especially at the end) I highly recommend Getaway. I would see it over Mortal Instruments: City of Bones any day, but other than that, it is a movie with much potential, held back by a crappy script, and Selena Gomez. I am sad to say that the film owned up to its title, and literally makes you want to “Get Away,” from the movie.