The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

Hey everyone! Today I'm here to review the new Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie, the follow up to the successful 2012 movie, based off the popular book series. Check it out after the jump.

My biggest worry with the original Hunger Games movie was how faithful they could be toward the book, and I was pleasantly surprised to see just how accurate they were, and it was no different with this movie. Besides a few details that had to be cut for time constraints (I mean, the movie was 2 1/2 hours long, something had to give) the plot isn't in anyway distorted, and follows the book almost exactly. The change of directors was another worry for me, but proved to be a change for the best, as overall the direction of this film was a lot smoother than its predecessor. The editing sharper, effects more vivid,  everything about the film as a whole, overall ran better.

Another plus to the movie was the acting. While I had no complaints with the wonderful acting in the 1st installment, once again, the sequel triumphed over its predecessor. With all the actors portraying their book counterparts flawlessly, while Lawrence constantly keeps your eyes drawn towards her. New additions to the cast such as Sam Claflin and Jena Malone also excelled, and really added to the already great cast.

Overall, I really loved this movie, and thought it was a huge improvement over its predecessor (which was also a great movie), and I can't wait for the sequels. Tell me what you think in the comments below, and I'll see you guys soon!

Gravity Review

"If you're looking to have six heart attacks in the course of an hour and a half, this is the movie for you."

I just saw Gravity. My brain still hurts. That's pretty much my entire review. In all honesty, this is one of the best movies of 2013 in my opinion. About 5 minutes into the movie we already have parts of the high action trailer occurring, and it doesn't stop there. If you're looking to have six heart attacks in the course of an hour and a half, this is the movie for you. The entire movie is incredibly high action, at some points exceeding the intense trailer's action. In short, this movie is pretty much Sandra Bullock flying around space screaming.

This movie pulls every emotion I've ever had out of me. At one point I was close to tears, at another I was in my friend's lap screaming, and in another I was laughing. This film is layered with a wide array of emotion jerker moments, along with a sense of suspense, stressfulness, and helplessness through out the entire movie. Honestly, watching this movie were the most stressful moments of my entire life ever.

Honestly though, this is a wonderful, strikingly beautiful, tear-jerking, suspenseful, and overall great movie. The only downfall to this movie is the 3D. Throughout almost the entire movie 3D would work incredibly well, but most of the time the feature falls short, adding nothing to the movie. The only points where the 3D stands out is when you can't concentrate on the movie because in layman's terms, you're trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. The 3D aspect is showcased the best in the opening IMAX screen before the movie. But other than that, this is a wonderful movie that I recommend you definitely go see.

The Conjuring Review

On Friday one of the most hyped horror movies of the year, The Conjuring was released to audiences worldwide.  Was the months worth of the hype really worth it? Find out here.

The Conjuring is a low budget horror film that doesn't rely on digital effects seen in most horror movies today, similar to the Paranormal Activity series. However, in the PA series, where every installment's formula is the same, start out slow, start throwing in minor scares, build up to the final night where everything is a huge clusterf**k of everything happening, The Conjuring immediately starts out with a bang and only continues to build from there. As I said before, The Conjuring doesn't rely on digital effects to garner its scares, nor does it rely too heavily on gore. The film holds multitudes of old school psychological scares, rather than phoned in cheap scares found in many horror movies today.


         
Overall, most horror films today don't hold a candle to The Conjuring. This film doesn't rely heavily on any gimmicks, can mentally scar you forever in ways many horror movies can't, and honestly, is an incredible movie. While this movie isn't incredibly innovative in the plot lines of horror movies department (it's honestly the same plot as every horror movie) it delivers a huge amount of genuine scares, and I definitely recommend you go see this movie.

Now You See Me Review

The first time I saw the Now You See Me trailers I thought it looked well... incredibly stupid. And I thought that up until today, when my friend finally got me to go see it. And actually, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. However, this may have been because of the low expectations I had for it walking in. This movie has many positives, however, those positives are coupled with many negatives. Let's jump right into the review.

The movie is able to benefit the most off of well, the theme of the movie, the magic. The magic tricks (along with the robbery, intrigue, and everything else that goes along with it), besides a few odd tricks that would have been impossible to do in real life (illusions or not) weave flawlessly into the plot, which makes for a very suspenseful thriller that had me guessing what would happen next at every turn. 

The trailers for this movie didn't begin to show what an engaging plot this movie actually had. Now You See Me has a very immersive plot that continues to grow and develop until the movie's end. However, this is also a drawback. As the movie starts to come to a close there is a large amount of unnecessary plot twists that just make the movie harder (than it already impossibly was) to follow. This leads to many of the movie's key plot points being left unanswered, and while this could have just been to leave room for a possible sequel, from my perspective and from what I heard as I was leaving the theater, it just made for a very frustrated audience.

Another bonus of this movie is the cast. The star studded cast is able to deliver the humor, drama, and intensity that is all packed into the overall great dialogue. While it's incredibly obvious that the movie highlights Jesse Eisenberg as the main star, each star has a chance to shine, and they all capture it perfectly.

Overall, while I was expecting very little out of this movie, I actually found myself really enjoying it, and besides from a few weak plot points, this is an enjoyable summer flick that I recommend fans of suspenseful movies to go check it out!
                   
                                                                                                               -Colby

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

  "Simply put, this is as close to perfect as a movie can come."

Star Trek Into Darkness is an incredible follow up to the 2009 film Star Trek. The sequel is able to live up to its predecessor and more. This entry into the series intentionally set out to be much more action packed than the first entry, and as shocking as it may seem, it accomplished this goal. While there were ups and downs (in regard to action) throughout the movie, there truly never was a dull moment, and through the majority of the movie I was literally on the edge of my seat (and 99% of the time spent on the edge of my seat was spent crying), trying to comprehend what was currently happening and what was about to happen.

In the 2009 entry, multiple plot lines were set up, allowing new elements to be added to the story, some comedic, some serious, but all of them were able to bring something new to the story, however subtle it may have been. The new installment was also able to set up multiple plot lines, and without giving away spoilers, JJ Abrams will have multiple paths to choose from when he sets up the next entry's plotline.

Another great feature of this film was the story. While there were very few, the first entry had some plot holes that didn't make any sense, but in this entry, plot holes were 100% eliminated. The movie was able to manage being packed with a huge amount of action, while at the same time be able to maintain its great story, something not all movies are able to accomplish.  This movie had an airtight, plot hole free story that was tear jerking, action packed, comedic, and had something for everyone.

Although this didn't appeal to everyone, there were multiple references to the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the film that this installment is loosely based on. In fact, some scenes are extremely similar, and without giving anything away, every true Treky will be very pleased with the many references along with the entire film overall.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with this movie, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I'd say this installment was on par with it's predecessor  In fact, I'd say it was better. Simply put, this is as close to perfect as a movie can come.

                                                                                                                                       -Colby

Scary Movie 5 Review: Is it as bad as critics say?

"Let's just say fans of the franchise won't be disappointed."

Scary Movie 5 recently came out, 7 years after its latest predecessor, Scary Movie 4. While none of these movies ever tend to get good reviews, the 5th installment received the worst reviews in the franchise, getting only a 5% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. However,  I really don't know why, let's just say fans of the franchise won't be disappointed. While it's true the movie does make some pop culture jokes that just don't hit the mark, for example, Honey Boo Boo popping out of a box saying "A dolla makes me holla Honey Boo Boo" and everyone screaming, but for the most part, the movie kept up the stupid humor the whole series has had that its fans have come to love. So the humor was pretty consistent with its predecessors. The casting for this installment was also great, too. This installment brought back series veteran Simon Rex, who jumped back into his role perfectly. One of the main reasons I was very apprehensive to see this movie was because this installment didn't feature Anna Faris, who has starred in every Scary Movie yet, and while I'm still not sure why she was replaced, Ashley Tisdale took the role perfectly, and she didn't miss a beat. The trailer really didn't show the best parts of this movie, in fact it showed some of the most dull parts of the movie. The trailer also made it seem as if Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan were a major part of the movie, which was not true, as they were only in the movie for about three minutes. Along with them, a huge list of celebrities made cameos, which actually did add to the movie and brought a few extra laughs. Overall, unlike most critics out there, I really did enjoy this movie, and I encourage you all to go see it.
Trailer:

                                                                                                                        -Colby

My Favorite Horror Movies: The Paranormal Activity Series

                                                                      Credit: Paramount Pictures

Hey everyone, so I feel like lately this page has been totally neglected, so I just wanted to give you guys a little review. Today I'll be talking about my favorite horror movie franchise, and how they've had so much success. If you haven't guessed yet, just look up like 5 inches, I'm talking about the Paranormal Activity series. The series well, never actually intended to become a series. The first film started as a very, and I mean like, I could pretty much afford it, low budget movie, but after being shown to a few collages in the states, it received a huge amount of praise. I don't know the exact story, but somehow it ended up being greenlit to be shown in theaters, and ended up making a huge amount of money, exactly $193,355,800. But, the series only got bigger and better from there. Still having a relatively low budget, the second installment brought in almost as much money, $177,512,032 to be exact. And rightfully so, because the second movie brought up even more scares. And it was the same story with the 3rd installment, bringing the scariness to a whole new level, along with ticket sales. It brought in a massive $207,039,844 at the box office! Then came movie number 4, which received a much more lukewarm response than the last 3, bringing in $140,706,358. This is probably because everyone expected this one to be bigger and better than 3, but was on the level of 2. The directors said this was because they purposely took a step down. Let's just hope they bring it back up with number 5. Another huge draw for these movies, besides the scares, is the story. These movies are always extremely well written, and no matter how scary the movie is, they always tremendously build upon the story, but always leave enough mystery that always keeps you thinking, but mainly, always keeps you coming back, movie after movie. The way they make these movies is also very unique too. The use of cameras, and only cameras, always adds another level of suspense to the movies, as you never know what you'll see next. That is also why these movies are so scary, suspense. While there are lots of big scares throughout the movie, the biggest part is always the slowly building suspense, because the end is always, as a poet might say, sooo f*cking  scary! Well anyways, I hope this compelled you to check out some of the Paranormal Activity movies, and I'll see you soon!

                                                                                                            -Colby

The Croods

I saw a screening of this film last Saturday and I must say: I was quite disappointed. The animation was gorgeous but I think they could've done a much better job with the actual film itself. The comedy was too cutsie, which I did kind of expect. The directing and staging of the whole thing was kind of off. I liked the setting and the premise though. I just don't like how Kirk DeMicco (director of Space Chimps) executed it. I did, for once, kind of enjoy Nicholas Cages performance. Although it wasn't the best of the film, I personally would have nominated Cloris Leachman for the best voice and best performance of this movie. I also enjoyed Emma Stone's character. So basically, the story goes as follows: "Surviving in a volcanic world is tough enough, but caveman Grug gets a rude awakening when an earthquake forces him to leave behind the only world he knows. With his family in tow, he ventures out into the volatile world in search of a new home. The situation becomes even more complicated when Grug's family — in particular his oldest daughter, Eep — falls for a nomad named Guy they encounter on their dangerous journey. This quirky, imaginative stranger's search for 'tomorrow' is at odds with Grug's reliance on the traditions of yesterday." This description was taken from Wikipedia.
                                                                                                                                            -Ethan

Beautiful Creatures Review

Picture Credit: Movieeverything.com

Hey guys! Today I'm here to review the new movie Beautiful Creatures!  This movie was great..... if you haven't read the book.  I'm going to be honest with you, if you haven't read the book, this was a fun, entertaining movie.  If you haven't read the book, you can stop here.  If you have, keep going.  The instant, I mean the INSTANT this movie started, they had gotten something wrong.  Ethan's voice in the movie was wrong.  I am not exaggerating at all, the first 5 minutes had at least 15 things wrong with them.  Throughout the whole movie, they got things wrong.  In the beginning I wanted to count how many things they got wrong, but I just couldn't keep count.  One of my friends wanted to leave, and the other was so angry she stopped watching and started making those hand bird things.  I'm not lying at all, they got at LEAST one thing wrong per every 2 minutes.  I wanted to write everything they got wrong, but unfortunately, that's not what this review is for.  So here's what to take from this, Richard LaGravenese is my worst enemy, if you love the series you may cry after you see this, and if you haven't read it, this is a pretty good movie!  Finally, you won't believe how many times you'll find yourself screaming at the screen.

                                                                                                      -Colby

The Toxic Avenger

Created by Lloyd Kaufman in 1985 (starring Mitch Cohen as the Toxic Avenger) this movie follows a janitor that works at a gym and he gets picked on numerous amounts of time throughout the beginning of the of the film. When one prank goes horrible, the janitor is thrown into a vat of toxic waste and is full of deformities. Soon after he falls in love with a blind woman.Okay, this happens to be probably one of the strangest movies I've ever seen in my life. This movie may have really terrible (B) special effects, but it happens to be one of my favorite movies from the 80s. Definitely put this one on your list of movies to watch when you have nothing to do. I would give this film probably a solid 4.5/5 stars.

                                                                             -Ethan