Category: Movies

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26th Annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar Party

On the biggest night in Hollywood, Oscar’s Night, past and current Nominees gather for a night of dinner while watching the 88th Annual Academy Awards.  There are a variety of celebrities as well as models, musicians, and more who walked the red carpet in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and they all had their own predictions as to who would be the newest inductees into the Oscar’s family.

Watch now now to hear the predictions as well as thoughts surrounding the “Oscars-so-white” controversy.

The 88th annual academy awards aired live from Hollywood on Sunday February 28 at 5 p.m and in a surprise turn of events, “Spotlight” took the best picture.  Leonardo Dicaprio finally won his first Oscar for his performance in “The Revenant” and Brie Larson took best actress for the movie, “Room.”  For a complete list of Oscar winners, click here.

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“Spotlight” Review

One of the Oscar nominated films, Spotlight is still drawing a small number of viewers to theaters across the nation as it brings in over half a million, the last week before the Oscars, bringing its told number up to 57 million worldwide since it opened back in November.

The Independent Newsroom drama stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams as the team of investigative journalists from the Boston Globe uncover the scandal of the century and fight to be the first to break the news in “Spotlight“.

Overall, it’s a film that is packed with powerful performances by Ruffalo, McAdams, and Keaton that show the struggle that real journalists face in dealing with touchy topics in order to get the story and uncover the truth and is definitely worth the consideration for best picture at this year’s Oscar.

In addition to its nomination for best picture, Spotlight also has 5 other nominations, including best supporting actor, best supporting actress, film editing and original screenplay.  The 88th Annual Academy Awards will air on Sunday February 22, 2016 at 7 eastern/ 4 pacific standard time.

Spotlight is currently available to own Tuesday February 23, 2016.  See it.  It’s clearly another classic in the genre along with Citizen Kane as well as All the President’s Men.

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Live: A “Grease” exclusive TV review

It was a performance unlike any other and at moments, it felt like the audience was watching John Travolta, Stockard Channing or Olivia Newton John in the original Grease movie, but there were some elements that told of the times, such as riding back and forth in golf carts and of course the use of cellphones in the opening credits.  There was also where Sandy was from, Salt Lake City, Utah as opposed to Australia, which was different, but it wasn’t that much of a problem to distract from the performance.

That being said, Grease Live, airing on Fox on January 31, 2016 was an exceptional 3 hour performance that had audiences both live and on the east and west coasts, cheering and singing along to the familiar hit songs by an entirely new generation for an equally new generation.

Grease live stars include Julianne Hough as Sandy, and the pink ladies, Vanessa Hudgens, as Rizzo, Keke Palmer as Marty, Carly Rae Jepsen as Frenchy, and Kether Donahue as Jan.  The T-Birds were played by Carlos PenaVega as Kenickie, Jordan Fisher as Doody,  David Del Rio as Putzie, Andrew Call as Sonny and Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko.

One familiar from both the original Grease as well as Grease 2, Didi Conn came back as Vi, the waitress in the diner who helps “Frenchy” find her way back.  Also another familiar face, Eve Plumb from The Brady Bunch series, played Mrs. Murdock which was a good selection for the role.

There were also special guest singers including R&B group Boys to Men performing, Beauty School Drop out, pop super star Jessie J opened with Grease is the Word and Mario Lopez both hosted the performance as well as “Bandstand”.

Overall, every solo performance was exceptional, like watching the original.  Audiences in particular, awaited the iconic song sung by Stockard Channing in the original and they were not disappointed.  Vanessa Hudgens, in spite of her recent loss of her father to cancer, hit every note of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” and Twitter went crazy as audiences were encouraged to comment with the hash tag #gogrease throughout the live performance.  It was clear that all the actors, studied their counterparts in order to channel and perform to do justice and pay homage to the original Grease that came out June 16, 1978.

For more information including when the soundtrack and DVD will be released go to Fox’ homepage.

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“Concussion” REVIEW

The true story about the mysterious deaths of nearly an entire football team is still drawing crowds to the theaters nearly a month after it came to the big screen Christmas weekend.

Concussion stars Will Smith as Dr. Omalu Bennet, an accomplished pathologist, who through a series of autopsies, discovers that repeated concussions during normal football play has resulted in brain damage.  It’s a story of perseverance as Bennet (Smith) faces resistance from the NFL as he continues to uncover the truth  and prevent more players from falling.  Concussion also stars  Alec Baldwin, as Dr. Julian Bailes, one of the lead NFL physician, who goes from fighting against Bennet to realizing the reality and fighting for truth.

At just over two hours, it’s an emotional drama that has viewers routing for science rather then an all American pastime called football.  Smith’s and Baldwin’s performances are exceptional, and will hold your attention right away.

Concussion, opened in theaters December 25, and to date has earned over 33 million domestically.  It’s currently playing in a theater near you.

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Drama Gives Lucasfilm Run At Box Office

The latest drama based on true events has movie goers racing to see it opening weekend and rightfully so.

20th Century Fox’s The Revenant stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, in an exceptional portrayal of a frontiersman as he battles nature, weather and ultimately each other in a survival of the fittest action adventure film.   When DiCaprio finds himself on the verge of death after being viciously attacked by a giant mama bear, he is eventually left for dead and finds refuge and aid in a few friendly natives as he fights to get back to the base camp.   The movie also stars actor Tom Hardy who plays alongside DiCaprio as fellow frontiersman who ends up being DiCaprio’s worst nightmare, when he turns on Glass and his native American son, ultimately stabbing the to death.  As revenge for his son’s murder, DiCaprio has a new will to survive in his son’s honor.

The Revenant came out in limited theaters Dec 25 and everywhere January 8 and it’s first full weekend debut brought in an estimated 38 million, just barely behind Star Wars.

In addition, The Revenant took home three Golden Globes on Sunday night for best drama, best actor for Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio and best director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

See The Revenant in a theater near you.  It’s a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seats with anticipation and wonder and though it’s not a movie for everyone, those that see it will not be disappointed.  At 2 hours and 36 minutes, it’s one of those movies that time doesn’t matter.

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“Sisters” Review

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are back at it again this time as “Sisters” in the latest film by Universal Pictures.

The Ellis sister’s, Kate and Maura are out to throw one more killer party before their parents sell their childhood home, but with one difference, mild mannered, Maura (Poehler) is the one to have a wild night while Kate (Fey) is the party mom.  It is full on, Ellis Island reunited as they invite all of their class of 89 friends and foes in what is sure to be the party of the year and reek havoc on the dreams of the new owners, but things change when Maura and Kate’s parent show up with a bigger surprise for Kate.

At just under a two hour run time, Sisters is a hilarious comedy that will have everyone laughing from the first scene on.  The film also stars  James Brolin and  Dianne Wiest as the ‘Sisters’ aging parents as well as  John Cena,  John Leguizamo, Madison Davenport and Heather Matarazzo.

Sisters came out in theaters December 18, and thus far has earned over nearly 70 million worldwide.  See it now in a theater near you.

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Two Movies Attract Audiences Christmas Day

Paramount’s Comedy, Daddy’s Home and 21st Century Fox’s Joy are giving Star Wars Fans relief from the epic blockbuster and bringing in enough to claim the number 2 and 3 spots at the box office for its opening weekend.

The drama “Joy“, starring  Jennifer Lawrence as the young girl with an ambition to create nearly anything she could imagine.  Though as she grows up, her life doesn’t exactly become what she had envisioned, with having to take care of a divorced mother, who all she does is sit in her room watching her soap opera, to her ex-husband musician, who ends up becoming more of a friend as Joy strives to create an immersing family business enterprise, known as the home shopping network, despite the challenge that her father (Robert De Niro) and sister tries to hold her down by saying she will never make it.

At 2 hours and 4 minutes, Joy is an inspirational tale for anyone who has dreams that they hope to one day accomplish, and all of the acting including Lawrence’s performance as Joy are exceptionally and definitely worthy of Oscar recognition.  If you want a inspirational film based on the inspiration of several brave women, see Joy in a theater near you.

The other comedy film, teams Will Ferrell as Brad Whitaker and Mark Wahlberg as Dusty Mayron in 21st Century Fox’s Daddy’s Home.  It’s the tale of step dad meets dad as Wahlberg comes back to try to be a part of his children’s life, just as Farrell, is finally starting to become accepted by his step kids. So what will happen next?

At 96 minutes, Daddy’s Home will have you laughing from the first scene on as the comedy style of Farrell and Wahlberg resonates throughout the script and on the big screen in traditional slap stick comedy.  It’s a good clean film about the role of fatherhood and in moderation is good for mostly the whole family.  It shows the importance of compromise when dealing with someone else’s children and the performances make it entertaining overall.  If you want a wise cracking movie see Daddy’s Home in a theater near you.

Both movies opened Christmas day and brought in a combined 50 million between the two films at the box office: 38 million for Daddy’s Home and 17 million for Joy.  Of course they were no match for Star Wars which has now reached 1 billion world wide in just its second week.

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Lucas Has Done it again

From the creativity of Lucasfilm, comes an epic sequel that was long overdue for Star Wars fans and thus set an all time record for its opening weekend debut.  Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens brought in over 238 million domestically with another 279 million Worldwide making it top grossing of all time and knocking Jurassic World to the number 2 top grossing spot.

It was expected as fans began to line up weeks ahead in anticipation and they were not disappointed.  The Force Awakens picks up three decades after Episode Six.  The Republic has fallen into the control of The First Order who attempts to control the entire galaxy, but the resistance fights back while trying to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the last of the Jedi.

The cast reunites  Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Chewbacca ( Peter Mayhew) as they lead a new generation including Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger from Jakku, who knows very little about her past, but is destined to hold the coveted Jedi sword as she battles the new dark apprentice, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in order to destroy the new “death star”, with the help of her new friends, a defected storm trooper, Finn (John Boyega) and a resistance soldier, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), but will she be able to save the galaxy and find Luke Skywalker?

With a runtime of 135 minutes, The Force Awaken, will truly be a pleasure for all Star Wars Fans as old friends reunite with new ones with just one goal to save the galaxy and restore order amidst chaos.  It’s packed with hours of adventure through the galaxy as well as a bit of romance that in true fashion will have everyone sitting on the edge of their seats as they discover the secrets and truths of their most beloved characters.

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens is playing exclusively at any theater near you.  Don’t be the last to see it.  You’ll regret it.

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“The Chipmunks” Are Back

In their fourth installment, the chipmunks return to the big screen with one goal, as always to save Dave, this time from proposing.  With the voice talents of Jason Long as Alvin, Matthew Gray Gubler as Simon and Jesse McCartney as Theodore, as well as  Jason Lee returning as Dave Seville, Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, will have you laughing, crying and cheering for those lovable Chipmunks from the first minute on screen to the last heart warming scene as Dave is faced with a life changing decision that no one sees coming.

The film also brings back, their female counterparts, the Chipettes voiced by Christina Applegate (Brittney), Kaley Cuoco (Eleanor) and Anna Faris (Janette) though this is truly a journey for the Chipmunks as they try to keep dave from proposing to his new girlfriend, Samantha (Kimberly Williams- Paisley), in order to keep from gaining a terrible step-brother (Josh Green).

Overall, The Road Chip is full of family friendly laughs, adventure and of course great musical performances as they travel from Hollywood to Miami, on the greatest trip of their lives that will ultimately be the best decision that Dave has ever made.

At 1 hour 26 minutes, it’s a great movie for families and anyone who wants to get away from the mob of Star Wars Fans this weekend.   Though Star Wars: The Force Awakens is expected to take top at the box office this weekend, it’ll be a close race to see if Fox will beat Universal for the number two spot.

Nonetheless, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip is playing at a theater near you.

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Netflix Movie World Premiere

A New Western Comedy Satire made its debut at the AMC Citywalk theaters on November 30, 2015 and all the actors came out to watch it with a limited crowd.

.The Netflix Film called The Ridiculous Six, written by and starring Adam Sandler as Tommy, White Knife, an orphan taken in by an Apache tribe, after his mother is killed in the old west.  Tommy, engaged to an Apache girl, runs into his biological father, a thief, who wants him to go with him to dig up a fortune at the singing wishing wheel.  Through the course of hilarious twists and turns, Tommy finds himself on a western adventure that leads to shocking revolution and unforeseen partnership of misfits, called the Ridiculous Six, as they fight to save their father.

In traditional Sandler form, it is a comedy with a crude nature that will have audiences laughing from the first scene on.

The Ridiculous Six will be released Dec. 11 exclusively on Netflix.

See the trailer below, courtesy of Netflix and Happy Madison Productions.