“MaXXXine” REVIEW
“Easter Sunday” REVIEW
“Rise of Gru” Review
“Mortal Engines” Review
“First Purge” REVIEW
It’s time to go back to the beginning and see just how the yearly ritual got started in the Universal Film that is becoming a anthem for its Halloween Horror Nights.
The First Purge stars nearly a predominant African American cast as it shows typical stereotypes for the race as well as anger that the government seeks to control through its purging ritual. Using relative unknown actors is a challenge but for the film sake of it, it showcases the fact that anyone can “purge” so to speak and it doesn’t take big name actors to drive people to see this film. That aside, let’s talk about a few break out stars including Rotimi Paul who played Skelter, the individual who all throughout the story followed as one understands the anger and frustration that he feels as the President first announces the experiment. Over all Paul has a way of using his nonverbal acting skills to portray his feelings emotionally leading up to the “12 hour purging” and although I’m not a huge fan of killing for the sake of killing, I must say his acting captivated my attention and made me want to watch to see just how he was going to retaliate.
The other break out star was the subtle romance of Isaiah (Joivan Wade) with his girlfriend Nya (Lex Scott Davis) which ultimately helped drive the need for survival as everyone else is trying to just kill mercilessly. The dynamic of the characters made the audience grab on to someone for fear that the next moment would be their last as the couple tried desperately to get to the safe haven of the church. In the end, only time would tell if they made it or not.
Overall, at an hour 38 minute run time and with a “R” rating, The First Purge is not a movie for all but for those select few who have a urge to see a good old fashioned blood bath, then perhaps, this is the movie for you. It allows everyone to “witness the birth of an American Tradition” and fully understand just where the annual “purging” came from.
The First Purge came out in theaters July 4 and is currently playing in a theater near you. See it and get ready for the “purging” happening at Universal Studios this year.
“Dog” Battles for Number One
Universal Picture’s latest movie about the many lives of one dog is bringing controversy as a video surfaced more than a week prior to its world premiere that caused the company to cancel it and spark protests for its opening debut weekend.
Despite the bad press, the author and producer assured the dog was never in any danger and A Dog Purpose opened in theaters this weekend, with packed to nearly packed audiences as everyone came out to see Bailey transform and touch hearts. The film stars the voice talent of Josh Gad as one dog, living the lives of Bailey, Ellie, Tino and Buddy as he discovers the meaning of life as a dog. Throughout he learns lessons along the way that ultimately helps him reunite with his original owner, Ethan, played by Dennis Quaid and helps him to be happy once again like he was when Bailey first came to him as a puppy.
A Dog’s Purpose will have you laughing, crying and ultimately sitting on the edge of your seat not knowing what will happen next. At an hour and forty minutes, it’s a movie that the whole family can enjoy as they watch each dog transform each human’s life in the most common way possible.
It’ll be interesting to see who takes the number one spot at the box office this week as two Universal films, one of which Split that took number one last weekend, will be going up against each other this weekend. A Dog’s Life is rated PG and is currently playing in a theater near you.
Audiences “Sing” To Theaters
The animated musical comedy with a heart for entertainment is continuing to draw crowds to theaters with great music and an even better story about never giving up and doing what you love to do.
Universal’s Sing, starring a long list of big names including, Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, the business savvy Koala who desperately wants to save his family’s theater from foreclosure by putting on one last performance, ‘a singing competition’, but through a mistype of the flyer, it appears to be more of a disaster for everyone. But will Moon be able to save his theater, especially when everything seems to be going wrong.
The animated movie also includes the voice talents of Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, the mother pig, who wants more then just being a housewife, her partner in the competition, Nick Kroll as Gunter, the pig with the dance moves, Scarlett Johansson, as Ash, the porcupine with the dream to break free of her boyfriend and just Sing, Taron Egerton as the Soul singing gorilla who wants more then the “family business” and Tori Kelly as Meena the shy elephant with the mighty set of pipes.
Overall, Sing will have audiences laughing, inspiring and thoroughly enjoying all the songs of the entire movie as you go on a journey with a few different kinds of animals that have to band together to just do what they love to do and that’s ‘Sing’.
Sing came out in theaters Dec. 21, the same week as Rogue one and has been trailing the Star Wars film at number two consecutively, bringing in close to 200- thousand to date. It’s a movie that is good for all ages and is highly recommended to all. It’s still currently playing in a theater near you.
“Minions” Are On Top
Universal’s done it again with another number one at the box office. The voice talent of Pierre Coffin introduces you to the Minions, before Gru came into the picture. In this early prequel, its a history of the minions with one objective, to find the baddest villain to serve. Each new villain that they find, end up having a some sort of problem that leads to their demise.
But that is when Kevin gets the idea to form a search party, though he’s not entirely happy with the volunteers who go with him, one being Bob, the youngest and Stewart the one that thinking of food all the time. The three end up in Orlando at Villian Con, where they find Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock). Not realizing her true motive, the minions go on a mission that ends up turning into a epic battle that ends with a shocking turn of events.
The Minions, with a run time of 1 hour and 45 minutes is a hilarious movie for all ages. Kids will love it for the cute little minions that are running on the screen with their unique language and adults will find it entertaining with all the historical references that they tie into the fun loving movie.
See it now, it’s playing in a theater near you and it’s the perfect way to tie the movie into the Despicable Me franchise.
“Jurassic” Returns to Big Screen
After over a decade of anticipation, Universal Studios has done it again and brought dinosaurs to back to the big screen for one more adventure of epic proportion. Steven Spielburg’s Jurassic World had fans flooding the theaters for a prescreening at the local AMC on Universal Citywalk even before officially hitting the big screen for the public on June 12 and it’s sure to break records its opening weekend.
The fourth installment brings an all new cast as Jurassic World replaces the park with an amusement park complete with rides, shows and interactive experiences. Dinosaur trainer, (Chris Pratt) is perfecting his latest experiment of taming the vicious raptors and while scientists, headed by Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are trying to lure more visitors to the park with the latest creation of a hybrid species of dinosaur, while getting close to her nephews, Gray and Zach, but when the hybrid dinosaur decides to take a dangerous turn, and put the whole park in danger, it’s up to Pratt and Howard to team together and save the day as well as realize they work better together as a team.
With a runtime of 2 hours and 4 minutes, Jurassic World is packed with action, thrills and everything the Jurassic Park franchise is known for. It opens June 12 in theaters everywhere and is well worth the anticipation.
Fans Go ‘Furious’
The seventh installment
of the Fast and the Furious franchise hits theaters Easter weekend with vengeance as fans of blockbuster showed up in droves to watch the latest sequel and ultimately pay respect to the late Paul Walker, who died over a year ago in a street race up in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The film reunites the characters in a final race as Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham) seeks revenge on Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) and his family. Meanwhile Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) begins to regain her memory as the group battles Shaw in a fight that is purely fast cars and big explosions as Toretto’s Team tries once and for all to silence Shaw for the sake of everyone. Furious Seven also stars Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson as Hobbs, Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, Jordana Brewster as Mia, Tyrese Gibson as Roman and rapper, Ludacris as Tej.
Furious seven is a movie for the records, with surprises around every turn as Toretto and the gang thrills us for a final time and concludes with a fitting tribute that reminds fans of what they loved most about the Fast and the Furious saga. It’s a movie that will delight crowds, as it brought in over 143 million for its opening weekend debut, making it the second all time grossing movie for its opening day total and is currently playing in a theater near you.