Begin Again Rated: R

Cat Says:

So I'd seen the trailer for this movie and I was lukewarm in going to see it but my Mom wanted to see it so what the heck...good Girl's Night Out movie? Yes, yes it was!

The film begins with a girl, Gretta (played by Keira Knightly) being forced up on stage at an Open Mic night by a friend. She sings a little folk song that is not too well received...except by one very drunk washed up music industry producer, Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo) who doesn't just hear her song but also the full arrangement he could bring to it and make it a hit. If only Gretta would let him. 

Gretta is on her last night in the States, heading back to the UK after her relationship with her up and coming rock star and co-songwriter boyfriend, Dave (played by Adam Levine) crashes and burns when he ends up breaking up with her after dragging her on his whirlwind journey to stardom. So she's broken-hearted and just wants to get the hell outta Dodge and away from how much her life sucks and the last thing she wants is to deal with some drunk guy who wants to make her a star. 

But the thing Dan needs most in life is to make her a star and save his own life. He's lost his wife and daughter, and on that day his job too, to his failing career and his dive into the bottle so he really needs this motivation to rejoin the human race and his life. 

So he talks Gretta into his dream, talks his old partner at their music label to give it a chance, and he and Gretta put together their own album. And save each other. 

It's a wonderfully sweet movie. It doesn't make anyone an angel or a devil, not even the cheating boyfriend Dave. Everyone has a heart, everyone is dealing with how fast life changes and how quickly you can get lost. And I loved it. This one I will own when it comes out on DVD type loved it. I loved the music so much I went out and bought the soundtrack that day. I really like Keira Knightly's voice and the music here but a word on that. Go to Amazon or just look up one of the songs on YouTube before going to see this. If you hate this music then you'll hate the movie since it's in just about every single scene. But if you like the music then chances are you will love this movie. I give it a 9.5 out of 10. 

Maleficent Rated: PG

Barbara Says:

Disney films....I am a real fan.  Always have been and always will be.  When  I saw Maleficent the first time (twice,so far) I said this is Disney`s best.  I really like the way they are turning the fairy tales on their heads.  Giving us a new view on them and thus a new life for them to new generations.  The love story of a young fairy who is betrayed and turns vengeful is very well done.  But the master piece here is Maleficent played to a high art by Angelina Jolie at her very best.  But the real love story turns out to be between her and the child she cursed.  The battles between her and the King are fantastic and colorful and very well done.  The whole movie is beautiful and moving.  If you do not know the story of Sleeping Beauty..where have you been living????  Bad fairy puts curse on new born babe and says she will never awake till kissed by a true love when she turns sixteen.  That does not even begin to do this movie justice. I would not spoil this film for you by too much detail.  That is best left for you to see with your  own eyes.  Small children around us were spellbound and so were the adults.  I will own this one.  Out of 10 I will give it a 10 for it deserves no less. The actors in this film were fitted to their roles. The acting was at it`s best.  Give your self a break from the everyday world and go visit fantasyland for two hours.


Cat Says:

We are HUGE Disney fans in this family so it was with great anticipation that we waited for this one to come out. I was doubtful about Angelina Jolie until I saw the first preview and heard her laugh. Perfection! And that is the word for this whole movie and her acting...PERFECTION. 

The movie fleshes out a back story to this very popular Disney villain. How she started out as a fairy, met the future King Stefan and why she would come to hate him and all he loves so very much. But this isn't just a story of revenge. This is a story of young love, betrayal, abuse, revenge, parental love and redemption. Beautifully crafted, beautifully acted, beautifully filmed.
With so many movies relying upon the special effects to really carry the show, this one hands over that responsibility to the actors, namely Jolie, and it couldn't be in better hands. I was riveted by her portrayal. Totally riveted.

The Disney animated tale simply pulls you into christening day, the curse and the implementation of that curse and breaking it. This Disney live action tale goes into Maleficent's childhood, teen years when she meets Stefan, the betrayal and abuse that leads to his ascending the throne at her expense, her anger and revenge the day of the christening (which is one of the highlights of the movie!!! SUCH a great scene!), the child Aurora and Maleficent watching this child grow up and getting to know her and then the spell and breaking of the spell. The tweaks to the story we all grew up with are not huge ones. Prince Philip does arrive and he does seem to be the one for Aurora but his part isn't as big as the animated tale led you to believe. The end will bring the Dragon we all know and love and you won't be disappointed in that animation!

Aurora, played by Elle Fanning, is as light and insipid as the "blessing" by one of the faeries makes her to be but she is also fearless. She is not the main character here, just a chess piece, so her role is to be guided and used as needed. Elle does light and insipid very well but there is no real depth to this Princess. She is a full out ingenue. This bothered our 13 year old a lot and she was his least favorite character. But in the end it's Aurora who saves the day so she's deeper than you may expect from the earlier scenes in the movie. 

Stephan, played by Sharlto Copley, is a fish out of water in his own kingdom...a very ambitious fish. Copley plays this character very subtly so that you get to see how this ambition colors every move Stephan makes...even the truly evil ones. Even in the animated tale you were never very sympathetic to Stefan because you just KNEW he did something to deserve the wrath of Maleficent. Now you get to see what it was and how awful he really was to her. 

A word about that. In social media there has been some talk that the abusive scene that leads to the change in Maleficent is a "rape" scene. It is NOT. What it is IS assault and battery. You don't actually see that onscreen but you do see the aftermath. There is NO love scene, there is NO sex scene, there is NO indication of anything sexual happening between the two characters at ALL. So while Stefan steals her innocence on just how cruel humans can be, even to those they "love", he doesn't steal her sexual innocence. So there is no rape scene in this movie.

In this version you get to see more of the faerie world and that is a lot of fun but these "down" times are the only true weakness of this film. However that is being really, really very picky for just such a great film. We highly enjoyed our time there and would gladly go see it again immediately! 9.5 out of 10 for me.

Parental guidance here: some of the faerie creatures are quite dark and scary. You may want to go see this one yourself first before taking kids under the age of 7 to go see it. No worries, you will want to go see it again anyway! 


Tory Says:

Thanks to my awesome parents, my hubby and I got to see this on a much needed date night. (Our anniversary!) We both have been excited for this movie from the very first poster release…and it did not disappoint.

I have ALWAYS been a huge fan of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty but not really all that interested in Maleficent. She always just seemed like a cool villain and nothing more. This movie changed all that. She was SO much more. This film starts with her as a younger child and continues until past Aurora’s 16^thBirthday.

Angelina Jolie shines as Maleficent. She is in a word perfect! I don’t think there has ever been a more perfect casting in a Disney film. She has the perfect blend of all that Maleficent is! I didn’t find Elle Fanning as convincing but Jolie more than makes up for that. She was born to play this role!

I have never felt that people are either good or evil. I think we all have a bit of both in us but usually more of one than the other. There was so much I adored about this movie but I’m having a hard time putting it into words without giving too much of the story away. I love the connection between Maleficent and Aurora. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, which was a good thing.

I know it sounds like “oh she just liked the movie” but in reality, it is in my top 10 of all-time favorite films…not just Disney movies but all films. I want to see it again and again. I can’t wait to own it! I feel like all of the things I loved about it, give too much away. The story is wonderful and touching, the graphics are spectacular and if you have teenage kids, I think the whole family would enjoy it. I know of friends who have taken their little ones to see it but I think it would be too scary at parts for them and they won’t really understand the film anyways. My husband loved it as well. I fully give this a 10 out of 10. All I can say is take my word for it. GO SEE IT!     

Million Dollar Arm Rated: PG

Barbara Says:

Real human interest stories are a favorite of mine.  Make believe is great but when something takes place that warms the heart and makes you feel for others, then that's a good movie. Million Dollar Arm is just such a film. Sports agent J B Bernstein in Los Angeles was on the verge of losing his new business and his co-owner was fearful of it too.  While watching the London talent show where he watched some one who looked nothing like what a singer was supposed to look like blow the judges away he was struck with an idea how to save his company of signing sports players .  He couldn't stand cricket but his friend and co worker watched it a lot (he is Indian) and he watched how fast the guys playing it threw the ball. What if they could throw a baseball that fast? So he came up with an idea to go to India and have young people try out to win a million dollars throwing a baseball. Now this is a land of cricket and no one played baseball at all.  JB is played by Jon Hamm doing an awesome job of a man who needs to save his very well off way of living (super model girlfriends and Jag) and completely over looks what he is really doing here.  He finds out of thousands only two young men who can throw at the speeds in the 80`s.  He takes them out of their lives which are nothing like the one they find in America.  JB was driven crazy by bumper to bumper traffic and everyone honking their horns all the time. But think what it would be like for two young men dropped into a life of elevators, swimming pools, room service, smoke alarms, etc. He just abandons them at the hotel with a man he picked up in India who is working for free just because he loves baseball. Of course, trouble comes along when they set off smoke alarms and panic.  So JB is forced to take them home with him.  Alan Arkin plays a scout way past his prime who sleeps most of the time but can hear how fast a ball is traveling even when asleep.  Everyone thought this idea was laughable to begin with but JB had gotten some millionaire to back him. It is very funny watching these guys learn to speak English and try to understand the ways of learning to really play baseball.  It was not an easy road and at times looked to be an awful idea that was not going to work.  But JB learns something about caring for someone other then himself.  The young men, Dinesh and Rinku were eventually signed by the Pirates.  Rinku stills plays for them but Dinesh went back to India and helps with the contest which is still carried out every year.  The man who worked for free coaches baseball players in India now.  It is a film well worth seeing and money well spent.  Out of 10 I give it a 10.

Cat Says:

Whenever I hear that a movie has been "Based on a True Story" I have to go look that story up. What I found is that this is actually fairly close to the real story for these two boys. I also found out what happened after the contest! 

Anyways, Barbara covered the story line so I won't repeat it. However, I will say, as a baseball fan (read: freak) I was thrilled with this film. Yes, it's told from the perspective of the agent but knowing what I do about baseball it was fun to watch this process unfold. Now, having said that, Barbara doesn't like baseball...at all. But she loved this film too. So even if you don't like the game don't let that stop you from getting out and seeing this.

The highlights of this film are the wanna-be Indian Scout who starts to work for JB for free (he's now working for real in India with the sport of baseball as a coach!), the retired coach, played by Alan Arkin, who is simply hysterical but amazing at his job and, of course, the two boys, Rinku (currently out for the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery but still part of the Pirates organization) and Dinesh who still works with the contest back in India teaching kids baseball. 

The fact that this sport, which I love so much, is now being enjoyed by a whole new country is fantastic, but the fact that this man found out that there is SO much more to life than just money is what Disney is always trying to teach us. This is a 9 out of 10 for me. Not perfect since it does get a bit melodramatic from time to time but very close!

The Other Woman Rated: PG-13

Tory Says:

Need a good comedy to see with your girlfriends? Need a comedy that both you and your husband could sit through? Go see The Other Woman!!! I went with a girlfriend of mine and we laughed and laughed and laughed (we may have even shed a few tears because of how hard we laughed!) and had a fantastic time!

The plot is a pretty simple one. Carly (Cameron Diaz) is a gorgeous and successful woman who discovers that her “perfect” boyfriend is actually married. She is approached by his wife, Kate (Leslie Mann), one day and confesses to her that she didn't know he was married but that she has in fact been sleeping with Kate’s husband. After a night of sharing stories and too much alcohol, the two begin to develop a friendship. After they discover that he has been cheating on both of them with Amber (Kate Upton), the three girls become very close and begin a plot of revenge.

I was very worried when I read an article that said “The Other Woman is the new Bridesmaids” because honestly, I was one of the only women on the planet that didn't like Bridesmaids…actually if I’m being truthful, I kind of hated Bridesmaids. So I had so much trepidation about this one. I’m so glad I took the chance because I haven’t laughed like that in a long time! There were some parts where you have to just “roll with it” and realize it is just a movie. Some things just weren't believable. During the film, Carly falls for Kate’s brother, Phil. I felt that they didn't take enough time with this relationship. I would have liked to see more about them. The one thing that really bugged me was that they made Kate Upton’s character Amber “the dumb, big boobed blonde”. She isn't a stupid person but they made Amber seem stupid and juvenile. I think it would have been better if she was like the other two: hot and smart! Besides the fact that they would get to stare at three beautiful women, I think husbands would think it was funny as well. Although I did enjoy a Girls Night Out! I got so many great laughs out of this one I think I will give it an 8.5. Even thinking about it now, I’m laughing! 

Cat Says:

Let me say, first off, that I was a bit wary of this movie because of the "low humor" history of Leslie Mann and Cameron Diaz. And while there is some of that in this movie it is tamed down and fairly brief. So if you were also worried about that in this film you can relax. 

The story, as stated above, is about 3 women who find out that the first woman's husband is cheating on all of them. The role of the charismatic cheating husband is wonderfully played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (of Game of Thrones) and he does an incredible job of it. He is, indeed, very handsome, charming and he truly gives the performance of a single guy who is devoted to the one he is seeing. So it's no surprise that finding out he was cheating on each woman was shocking to them.

Leslie Mann plays the wife of this cheating man and she is truly sweet and wonderful. But her safe haven home is just too boring for this man who wants his cake and eat it too. In fact, the lawyer he cheats with, played by Cameron Diaz (who is FINALLY looking like she could be in her 30's even though she is now in her 40's) is still not enough for this guy. He chooses to add to his plate the young, curvy and beautiful girl, played by model Kate Upton, that both wife and girlfriend find intimidating...at first. The wife talks the girlfriend into helping her nail her cheating husband and then they pull the younger girl into the mix as well for the final sting.

This is a very fun movie for girlfriends to go see. Unfortunately there are parts that are just too far fetched because of choices they made in the script as well as in the editing. There could have been some very quick fixes placed here or there in the script that would have tied the movie together much better, tighter, than they did. The two low humor spots could have been left out of the movie and not missed. The second of these spots had a set up that was too quick to make it believable so that didn't help that issue. Characters are not quite given the fleshing out they should have and the character of Kate Upton's bimbo is just a little too young and dumb for you to truly believe that this guy would be with her. 

Two characters I would have loved to have seen more of and had more story line about were Don Johnson as Cameron Diaz's father and Taylor Kinney as Leslie Mann's brother. Johnson was absolutely great the brief time he was on screen and you will love the twist with him at the end! Kinney is set up as a love interest but then the idea isn't fleshed out in the script (one of those things that would have been VERY easy for them to do) and you are just supposed to believe the depth of the connection come the end of the film. 

Because of the issues I've mentioned I give it a 7. Go see it with a bunch of girlfriends but it's not one you will watch over and over again. 

Barbara Says:

I will admit right up front that this is a chick movie...BUT..I feel men could get a real kick out of it too.    The guy in it so deserves what he gets.  It is the getting there that is so much fun. Cameron Diaz is a lawyer who gets swept off he feet by what seems to be a great guy. Well, until she finds he has a wife.  She does this by showing up at his house after he says he cannot keep their date because a water pipe broke.  Wifey shows up at her office the next day and after some very funny times they form a loose friendship.  Then they learn there is another one he is sneaking off to see.  At first they are just leaning on one another, then comes the real anger.  That's where the good fun begins.  The revenge they extract is golden. They get help from Cameron`s father, played by Don Johnson as an aging hound with a liking for twenty something women.  But at least he is honest about it.  Just good fun to watch. No earth shaking messages or even life lessons to learn. Just a laughingly good night out with the friends. I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Rio 2 Rated:G

Tory Says:

We went to see Rio 2 on Easter Sunday. My husband and I took our 3 year old son and our friend took her almost 5 year old son. The kids LOVED it! It has so many bright colors and wonderful music that it held their attention 99% of the time! Even we as parents liked it. I always say the mark of a good children’s movie is when they combine humor for both the kids and adults. Rio 2 did that wonderfully. If you saw the first one and liked it, you will most likely like the second one.

Blu and Jewel now have three kids and while Jewel tries to teach the children to live off the land, Blu lives like he did in America with all the human luxuries. Newlyweds Linda and Tulio are in the Amazon re-releasing a bird they nursed back to health into its natural habitat. While there, they find evidence of other birds like Jewel and Blu. So they go on TV and say they will find them and when they do, it will help get the area declared a preserve. But a greedy logger doesn’t want that to happen so he tries to stop them! Jewel begs Blu to take the kids on a “family vacation” to the Amazon to see the other birds and reluctantly Blu agrees to make her happy. While there, they discover hundreds of birds like them including Jewel’s entire family! Although Blu tries to impress Jewel’s father, he just doesn’t fit in. Meanwhile, Nigel (from the first movie) is alive and keeps trying to get his revenge on Blu!

It really was a cute movie and I love that it deals with so many issues: addiction to technology, saving the rainforest, family coming first and the importance of compromise. There are plenty of new characters and the of course, phenomenal voice talent! I will happily own this one and my son is still asking to go back and see “the dancing birdies!” Fun, heartwarming and makes you want to dance! A solid 8 out of 10 for me!

Barbara Says:

Even if you did not see the first film RIO you will enjoy this second one, RIO 2. I liked the first one quite a lot but I loved this one even more.  It was such fun for the children but it was delight for the adults too. The story is based on the Blue Macaw in Brazil having gone extinct but for one owned by a young woman in the U.S.  The first film deals with her finding a second one in Brazil and herself a boyfriend  as well.  The two Macaws have an adventure with bird trapping villains and then they form their own family. 

In this second movie they discover there are more Macaws living far into the jungle of Brazil who are being driven out of their home by a tree cutting thief and his band of cutthroats. It is everyone to the rescue which includes several different birds they met in Rio and a English bulldog.  The Macaw who lived in U.S. named Blu (played by Jesse Eisenberg), is so citified that he does not eat things birds eat and is horrified when his lady love, Jewel (played by Anne Hathaway) eats a fly that's bothering him.  He eats pancakes, eggs, etc. for breakfast.  He does not sleep outside in trees.  So going deep into the jungle where he has to do all those things that he feels are beneath him makes for some very funny lines.  When he meets the leader of the Macaws ,which turns out to be Jewel`s father, (played by Andy Garcia) he is completely undone. Father thinks he just does not measure up to what he wants for his daughter, but feels her old boyfriend Nigel does.  So the battle is on to outwit the tree thieves and prove to Jewel`s father he is the better bird. We had a lot of fun with this one.  So bring out the child in yourself, when you don`t have one to take with you, and go see this very delightful movie. I know you will have a wonderful time.  Out of 10 this one gets a 10 for just plain fun.

The Lego Movie Rated:PG

Tory Says:

I wish my almost 3 year old son could write this review. Of course if he wrote it, it would be a very short one that said “I love blocks!” and that’s it.

Who hasn’t played with Legos? Even if you didn’t play with them as a kid then I’m guessing your child, niece , nephew, cousin or grandchild plays with them. Even though I played with Legos as a kid, I will admit, I wasn’t as excited to see this movie as my husband and son were. I thought it looked a little silly. It was nice to be pleasantly surprised.

 

We all liked it. Actually my husband LOVED it! We laughed at most of the jokes and by the end of the movie, were not only dancing but singing the theme song “Everything is Awesome.” I really enjoyed the little nods to the old Lego characters but there were some parts I found a little slow.

 

I don’t think I would rush out to buy this movie but if it was one a movie channel one day, I would watch it. I liked it but didn’t love it. Usually by about an hour into a film, my little guy is getting restless but I think all the bright colors and music kept him extremely entertained. He sat through the whole film without a peep!

 

Not my favorite movie so far this year but a good one. I would give it 7 out of 10. There is nothing in it that kids can’t see and I think even adults will appreciate some of the humor and references!  Prepare to be singing that song for all of eternity…and then again whenever someone says “Everything is awesome.” I bet that if you’ve already seen the movie, you just sang that sentence, huh?

Cat Says:

Being a "Lego Family" we were all really excited to see this when we saw the trailers for it. Then we started to hear from friends that it was SO good. Critics loved it too. But by the time we got around to being able to see it our 12 year old son was hearing bad things about it from his friends and almost didn't want to go see it anymore. That made me nervous. But then family went to go see it and loved it so we were still hopeful. What we ended up with was definitely a "mixed bag".

The 12 year old thought it was dumb. And the part I loved the most, the ending, was the part he liked the least. Huh. Mind you, we are the "middle" generation here at the Blog, so I wasn't surprised at our reaction to the film but shocked at the kid's reaction! I was sure he'd love it. But there appears to be a generation gap in place here.

What I did like about the movie is easy. That silly song gets stuck in your head..it really is catchy but in a funny good way. I loved how they used the different "play sets" from Lego as their backdrops and I loved the ending. My thing about the ending is that it would have set up the movie even better if they had begun with that bit of information at the beginning. Nope, not gonna tell you what it is since the movie chose to make this their "twist" at the end. 

And there's Batman and GoodCop/BadCop. These two characters made the movie for me. Will Arnett is hysterical as Batman and one of my favorite parts of the movie has to do with GoodCop/BadCop (Liam Neeson) that got a big laugh from me (and still makes me chuckle when I think about it).

But here is the main story. Emmett (Chris Pratt) is a construction worker who builds only within the plans and, indeed, gets his whole identity out of his routine. Then, suddenly, everything goes wonky on him and he's thrust into the spotlight as a hero thanks to the efforts of a prophecy delivered by a wizard (Morgan Freeman) and a master builder (Elizabeth Banks) who is the girl of Emmett's dreams. The are all sure that Emmett is THE master builder they have been waiting for to save their world from the evil overlord Lord Business (Will Ferrell) who wants to freeze the world and everyone in it and only Emmett has the piece that can do it. It is the job of GoodCop/BadCop to track Emmett down and stop him before he saves the world.

The overall message is a good one. That everyone is special no matter who they are or what they do and that you can act badly and then realize that it's something you can change if you want to do so. The laughs were, for us, more chuckles than laughs. But if you are a Lego person then you will find something to love about this film. We gave it a 6-3/4 out of 10. Don't regret seeing it but don't need to see it again.

Non-Stop Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

I have been waiting to see a movie in the Extreme-D theater at Greenback for a long time now. Finally got my chance today and the movie was Liam Neeson's new one called "Non-Stop''. The theater was perfect for this movie as it has a huge screen and a great sound system.  Also, great leather seats.   But for the movie review. Really liked it a lot. So did my friend. It is a fast action movie (of course.  This is Neeson, after all) and it is a "who done it''. It has Julianne Moore as his seat mate on this flight from New York to London.  He is an air marshal by the name of Bill Marks who has a drinking problem and hates to fly. He receives a message on his phone right after take off that someone will die every 20 minutes if he does have 150 million transferred into an account.  He goes to the head flight attendant (Michele Dockery of Downton Abbey) to enlist her help.  Needless to tell you it all goes down hill fast.  Turns out the account the money is to go into is in his name. His life starts to fall apart with everyone but the woman seated next to him.  The last person he should trust is the first person to suspect.  Do not want to give anything else away because even for me (I read..a lot) there was a surprise.  But as I said, I enjoyed this movie because I like action thrillers with a good story line.  This one has all that.  Out of 10 I give it an 8.  One point I made to my friend is that flight attendants do not wear 6 inch heels. They would break a leg if they did. And while I love the actress as Mary on Downton Abby I was not impressed with her in this movie. Otherwise, good movie...go see.