Tag: Movies

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74th Annual Golden Globes RECAP

Hosted by Jimmy Fallon and airing live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills and exclusively on NBC, the opening scene of the 74th Annual Golden Globes paid tribute to one of the best picture nominees, La La Land, with a satire skit intro, by Fallon.  The following list of awards and who took them home are below.

  1. Ryan Reynolds and Emma stone presented the first award, for best actor in a motion picture drama, awarded to Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals.
  2. The best actor in a TV series drama went to Billy Bob Thornton for his role in Goliath.
  3. Hugh Grant introduced his movie and the first nominee for best picture, Florence Foster Jenkins.
  4. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Elephant presented the Best Actress in a TV Series Musical or Comedy, won by Tracee Ellis Ross for Black-ish. and the Best TV Series Musical or Comedy went to Atlanta accepted by writer, actor and director Donald Glover.
  5. Vince Vaughn introduced the first movie nominated for Best Picture, Hacksaw Ridge.
  6. Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon presented the award for Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie and Sara Paulson won for her performance O.J. Simpson American Crime Story.  The People vs. O.J. Simpson also won for best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
  7. Annette Bening introduced Twentieth Century Women which is nominated for Best Picture as well.
  8. The Best Actor in a Limited Series or Made for TV Movie went  to Hugh Laurie for his role in The Night Manager.
  9. Sting and Carrie Underwood presented the award for best original score to Justin Hurwitz for La La Land as well as the best original song to “City of Stars” from La La Land.
  10. John Legend introduced the best picture musical or comedy nominated, La La Land.
  11. Michael Keaton presented Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Drama to Viola Davis for her role in Fences.
  12. Kristen Bell and Cuba Gooding Jr presented the award to Olivia Coolman for best actress in a TV Limited Series or Made For TV Movie, though she wasn’t able to appear to accept the award.
  13. Dev Patel introduced his movie nominated for best picture, Lion.
  14. Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer presented the award for best actor in a motion picture comedy or musical to Ryan Gosling for his stunning performance in La La Land.
  15. Damien Chazelle won the best motion picture screenplay for his latest movie La La Land.
  16. Kristin Wigg and Steve Carell presented the best animated motion picture to Zootopia.
  17. And jimmy Fallon also introduced a touching film montage tribute for mother daughter team Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds who passed away just days before the end of 2016.
  18. Casey Afflict introduced his film nominated for best picture, Manchester by the Sea.
  19. the Best foreign language motion picture is Elle, from France.
  20. Tom Hiddleton won for best actor in a limited tv or made for tv movie.
  21. The Crown took best tv series, drama.
  22. Viola Davis awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Maryl Streep as she intro a video tribute to before she took the stage to accept the honor.
  23. Chris Pine introduced the next nominated best picture, drama, Hell or High Water.
  24. Damien Chazelle won best director for La La Land.
  25. Danny Glove won Best actor in a TV series comedy or musical for Atlanta.
  26. Emma Stone received the Best Actress for a motion picture, comedy or musical for La La Land.
  27. Pierce Brosnan introduced the last nominee for best picture, in a musical or comedy, Sing Street.
  28. And Brad Pitt introduced the last nominee for best picture, drama, Moonlight.
  29. And Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmaine awarded the best motion picture, musical or comedy to La La Land.
  30. The best actor in a motion picture drama goes to Casey Afflict for his role in Manchester By the Sea.
  31. Leonardo DiCaprio awarded Isabelle Huppert the best actress in a motion picture drama for the French movie, Elle.
  32. And Carl Weathers and Sylvester Stallone awarded the best motion picture, drama to Moonlight.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees for the 74th annual Golden Globe Awards.  The Golden Globes are determined by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association prior to the awards show.

 

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“Figures” Expands Box Office

The Fox Drama about the silent women who made our voyage to the moon a success is bringing even more people to the movies as it expands its reach to even more theaters this weekend.

Hidden Figures stars Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae as the first African American women in NASA, who ultimately aided the United States to be the first to get to the moon successfully, despite racial tendency that they faced as being the first of their kind in the program.

Set in the historic 1960’s, Hidden Figures captures the real life struggles of African American women during that time and all three actresses were stunning in their portrayals, powerful and delivered what is sure to be award winning performances.

Hidden Figures also stars Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst as side line characters who ultimately adds to the tension and makes the movie all it can possibly be.  The real life drama came out on Christmas Day to a limited audience and henceforth has already topped 2 million domestically,  expanding to even more theaters near you beginning this weekend.

See it this weekend, or next for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend.  You won’t be sorry.

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“La La Land” REVIEW

There’s an original musical that is bringing crowds into the theaters for the month of December and trying to bring back the old time jazz and live stage performance to the big screen.

La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as two star cross lovers who are drawn together by their own unique passion.  Gosling a struggling jazz pianist whose ultimate dream is to bring back the iconic jazz scene to a new age audience.  He encounters Stone, a ambitious actress whose current repertoire is a series of rejections, but as they keep running into each other, a spark is ignited in each of them as they fall passionately in love, giving them extra passion to drive their dream, but is the love enough to hold their relationship when their dreams begin to become reality or will they be pulled apart by distance to achieve what they really want in life.

Set in traditional Hollywood, La La Land is the journey of one couple through an entire year and how fast life, love and work moves in the Los Angeles timeline.  At just over two hours, it’s the perfect movie to end the old year and ring in the new year with hope.

La La Land came out in theaters December 9th, 2016 and has already brought in over 27 million in revenues at the box office and has received seven Golden Globe Nominees for best director, cast nominees for Miss Stone, Mr Gosling and J.K Simmons as well as writer, score and song.  The Golden Globes are set to air on Sunday January 8, 2017.

La La Land is currently playing in a theater near you.

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New “Princess” Tops Box Office

Coming out on top for the extended Thanksgiving weekend at the box office is a Disney’s Newest Princess, Moana which topped the charts with the second highest total for a five day release weekend bringing in over 81 million domestically and sending WB’s Fantastic Beasts to the number two spot.

Disney’s Moana is the story of a young girl, the daughter of a chief, who is drawn to the by the love of the ocean from early on.  Her father however fears anything beyond the reef and discourages Moana from venturing past, but when the island begins to die, it is up to Moana to discover her true calling and voyage far past the island in order to find the demigod, Maui and return the heart, that was stolen, to its rightful place.

Moana stars Dwayne Johnson as the wise cracking, yet lovable Maui, Rachel House as Gramma Tali and introduces Auli’i Cravalho as Moana in her first ever feature film role.  Set in ancient Polynesia, the movie follows after one of the ancient legends and brings it to life on the big screen with notable songs that will have you singing along even if you don’t know the words, as well as stunning 3D animation that will have you truly engrossed and intrigued in every moment of the movie.

Coming out Thanksgiving day weekend, it’s a movie for the who family to see in theaters everywhere.

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Family Comedy Takes Two

Warner Brothers is on top with its two movies taking the first two spots for its opening weekend.  Magnificent 7 of course brought in over 35 million while Storks claimed second with just over 21 million.

WB Animations, Storks stars Andy Samburg as Junior the top stork who dreams of being the BOSS of Cornerstone Delivery Service especially when Hunter (Kelsey Grammer) promises to turn that dream into a reality.  But that dream is put on hold as Orphan Tulip (Katie Crown), a young girl who never got delivered to her family, on the verge of her 18th birthday, encounters the vacant Baby factory where she creates a baby for a little boy, who wants a baby brother.

Now it’s up to Junior, with the help of Tulip, to get that baby to her family before Monday morning when he is supposed to be made.

Storks is a fun adventure for the whole family with laughs for the children and heartfelt moments for the adults as Tulip and Junior both discover that their true family is closer than one thought.

At just 87 minutes, Storks will have you laughing, crying and rooting for the baby to get to her family.

See Storks in a theater near you.  It’s worth it.

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“Star Trek” Review

Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana are back in the latest adventure of the U.S.S Enterprise to voyage even deeper into space, but this time, the crew finds themselves stuck on a faraway planet where their fight to get back to Earth is limited.   Meanwhile Captain Kirk (Pine) is offered an admiral position with the fleet, pending their return from their last voyage, but is he willing to give up command of the enterprise and freedom of traveling anywhere to stay put in one place.

At 2 hrs, Star Trek- Beyond pushes its boundaries with a unique story line, based in part on the original, but with enough creative freedom to let the new franchise thrive on its own.  Star Trek fans will not be disappointed and specifically with the loss of one of the original cast members, Leonard Nemoy, the film did an exceptional job of paying homage to him as well as the original cast in the story line.  The film of course concluded with a dedication in the credits which read, “In Loving Memory of Leonard Nemoy” in addition to “For Anton”, for the young actor, Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, that passed away just last month after being pinned by a car outside his driveway.

Star Trek opens in theaters Friday July 22, 2016 and is expected to be one of the top picks at the box office this weekend.

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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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“Monsters” Come to Life on the Big Screen

From the creative mind of R.L. Stine, comes a tale that will give anyone “Goosebumps.”

Jack Black stars in Columbia’s Goosebumps as R.L Stine himself, who has secluded himself in the town of Greendale, Maryland with only his daughter and manuscript monsters to keep him company, but when Zach, played by Dylan Minnette, moves in next door to him and his daughter, (Odeya Rush) takes a liking to the mysterious boy next door, well it’s up to daddy Stine to put things back in there place, especially when the teenagers unleash the dangerous of monsters that he has ever created.

Goosebumps, at just under two hour runtime, is an action, adventure, comedy that will have true fans of the young adult horror genre on the edge of their seats in tradition R.L Stine manner.  The blockbuster opened October 15, 2015, right around the time of halloween and is currently playing at a theater near you.  See it today, you won’t be sorry.

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“Straight” to the Top

Universal does it again with another number one at the box office, but this time it’s a documentary that’s drawing crowds to the theater and bringing in over 60 million for its opening weekend.

“Straight Outta Compton” is the true story of the early pioneers of the hip hop movement that started it all and follows the life of five teenagers (Dr. Dre, Eazy E, Ice Cube, The D.O.C, and M.C Ren) from the mean streets of Compton, as they move from mistaken gang members to hip hop legends.  At two hours and twenty one minutes, the filming is action packed as it clearly shows the drive of the hip hop movement as these five young men deal with corrupt law enforcement that in evidently fuels the inspiration behind some of the biggest hits of the rising group called N.W.A as well as a money hungry producer that offers them a chance of fame, but ultimately is only there for one reason.  It’s a documentary that clearly defines what happened in the 90’s from the riots to the backlash of hip hop music and eventually leads to the break up of N.W.A as the five musicians begin their solo careers and break away from their money hungry producer, Jerry Heller.

Ultimately, it’s a movie for any fan of the genre and is highly recommended.

“Straight Outta Compton” is currently playing in a theater near you.  See it, you won’t regret it.

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“Terminator Genesis” Starts Over

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in the latest installment of the Terminator Franchise, but with a different twist.  The movie starts out similar to the original with Kyle going back in time to protect Sarah Conner, except something has changed.  Sarah Conner is not the same Sarah Conner as she leads the charge against Skynet to protect the future and for the first time meet her adult son.

At over 2 hours, the movie does have a lot of action and comedy to hold your attention.  The special effects are tight.  The story on the other hand, has the audience thinking how could this be when the young Kyle and Sarah go ahead in time, thus altering the future and yet still running into adult John Conner, but how does it end?  Well you’ve just got to see it to believe it.

It’s a movie that true Terminator fans should see and make the decision whether they believe or not.  It came out July 4th weekend and brought in 68 million to date.  See it in a theater near you.