The movie 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson, first African American in the major league of baseball. It starts with Jackie getting asked to the Brooklyn Dodgers. They started him at first base on April 15, 1947, breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. 42 shows the kind of racial hate present at the time in scenes like the game against the Philadelphia Phillies, where manager Ben Chapman taunts Robinson with many racial slurs, causing Robinson to go back to the dugout and smash his Read more [...]

Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The movie explores how the wizard came to be the king of Oz. The Great and Powerful Oz, also known as Oscar Diggs, is a traveling circus magician and a con man. Trying to escape a girl’s “strong man” boyfriend in a hot air balloon, he ends up being pulled into a twister and thrown into the Land of Oz. It’s there he meets Theodora, a good witch, who believes him to be a wizard, prophesied to overthrow the Wicked Read more [...]

It is Oscar season, and I’ve seen about half of the Best Picture Nominees. I thought if I had to see a genre of movies I don’t normally enjoy (romance/date films) it could be one up for an award, it has to be good then! Silver Linings Playbook is a movie about a man named Pat (played by Best Actor Nominee Bradley Cooper) who was just released from a mental institute where he was being treated for Bipolar. Throughout the movie he attempts to re-kindle his marriage. Unfortunately, because of Read more [...]

The only thing I knew about this movie going into it was that it was about a boy and a tiger lost at sea. That’s what I got from the poster at least. Life of Pi is an adventure movie following the story of Pi. The movie is a reiteration of events that happened to him from his childhood, up to his big adventure. Pi is actually a grown man, telling his life story to a writer who was told to seek out Pi in Canada and hear his story. The beginning talks about his upbringing, how he got his name Read more [...]

HE SAID  I am divulging my guilty pleasure for our readers, so here goes everything! My inner tween comes out when there is a new release of the Twilight saga and this latest movie release was no different. I may have seen the movie twice already (please, no judging). I have read all the books and this movie, out of the four already released, is by far my favorite. It has been awesome to see the characters I pictured in my head come to life on screen. I was worried, considering there was rumored Read more [...]

No diggity, no doubt that this "Glee" for grownups is a fun flick. Woah, I just went there. But seriously, I didn't have high expectations. Brandished with a small soda and popcorn, I settled in expecting a semi-annoying,coming-of-age musical. Instead, I got a hefty dose of laughs, chuckles and — I have to admit — even that feeling of elation one gets from hearing good voices making good music. Pitch Perfect follows the story of college freshman Beca (played with lots of angst by Anna Read more [...]

I love a complex movie. But it’s no fun when a movie about literature can’t decide what genre it’s supposed to fall into. The Words tries to be a romantic drama, fantasy and thriller, though falls flat in all of these realms. Thank goodness both of the leads are extremely nice to look at. Bradley Cooper plays unsuccessful author Rory Jansen. One day Rory has the good fortune to find an anonymous manuscript (a really good one) and submits it as his own work (a really bad idea). The novel Read more [...]

Sometimes movies just get a pass. I’ve been hard on movies since I was a kid, and ask me 10 years ago? I wouldn’t have said anything like that. A critic at a young age — famously citing Ben Hur as “pretty but too long” at the tender age of six — I’ve since learned to let movie-going become more about the experience. Sparkle, a tame and slightly tired remake of a 1976 film starring the fabulous Irene Cara, strives to create such an experience. Reminiscent of the recent hit Dreamgirls, Read more [...]

I was five when I first saw Tim Burton’s Batman. At that age, I had no idea that the film was based on a comic book, or that it was meant to be the antithesis of a campy ‘60s TV show. All I remember is the score and the funny guy who played the Joker. To this day, Batman and its slightly campier but still enjoyable sequel Batman Returns remain high on my favorites list. Maybe that’s why I found The Dark Knight Rises so strange — namely because it closes out a trilogy that is supposed Read more [...]

Rock of Ages, a comedy based off the Broadway musical of the same name, is all about big hair and rock and roll. Those folks nostalgic for the ‘80s will likely get a kick out of the action. However, with the exception of a couple of good cover songs and a few funny scenes, the translation from stage to screen may leave audiences with a less-than-memorable movie experience. Rock of Ages begins when Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough), a small-town girl comes to Hollywood to find her fame Read more [...]

When it comes to What to Expect When You're Expecting, what you end up failing to expect is how bad the whole affair turns out to be. Based on Heidi Murkoff's bestselling 1984 self-help book of the same name, the thing about this fictional adaptation is that even the title is a sham. This doesn't even begin to prepare expecting mothers at all for what to expect when they're expecting. Unless their life is, well I don't know, a Hollywood movie. Director Kirk Jones seems to be channeling his inner Read more [...]

Don't let anyone ruin this one for you. Not even the TV spots and trailers for The Cabin in the Woods can prepare you for what's coming. Screenwriters Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Drew Goddard (who penned Cloverfield — who also served as first-time director), two long-time collaborators, take the slasher flick genre and turn it absolutely on its head. They take every trope you can imagine, chop them up, throw them in a blender, mix them all around and serve them to us in Read more [...]