Rating: Full

 

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgard, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jocobi and Helena Bonham Carter

 

Director: Kenneth Branagh

 

Writer: Chris Weitz

 

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Allison Shearmur and David Barron

 

Music by: Patrick Doyle

 

Song: Strong

Performed by: Sonna Rele

Music and lyric by Patrick Doyle, Kenneth Branagh and Tommy Danvers

 

Rated: PG for mild thematic elements

 

Quote: “Have courage and be kind.”- Ella’s Mother

 

Fun Fact: There’s a scene at the back of their house where Cinderella is feeding the animals while she’s humming the song “Sing, Sweet Nightingale”. The song is also sung by Cinderella while doing her chores in the animated film Cinderella (1950).

 

Favorite Part: When

 

Favorite Character: Kit

 

Synopsis: Ella has a happy childhood but her mother died. Her father then married Lady Terrence and Ella had a stepmother and stepsisters Anastasia and Drazelle. But soon her father died and Lady Terrence dismissed the household, causing Ella to do all the chores. When she rode into the forest to get away from her cruel new family members, she meets Kit but doesn’t even know that he’s a prince. Can’t stop thinking about Ella, Kit’s dying father declares that all maidens must attend the royal ball. But Lady Terrence forbids Ella to go. But a fairy godmother transformed her and her animal friends and she is finally off to the ball but must be back at midnight which she leaves without telling Kit her name. Having a great time, Kit demands to find her and hopefully marry her.

 

The Review: It looks like the fairy godmother had transformed the tacky costumes and sets and made them so gorgeous. A 1950’s Disney film with twists. We’ve got Robb Stark in children’s film. The beginning goes from one story to another. The way Cinderella meets the Prince is charming. Cate Blanchett’s stepmother makes the animated one look nice. Cinderella is full of magic!

 

 

 

Rating: Overflowing

 

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, and Rosemarie DeWitt

 

Director: Damien Chazelle

 

Writer: Damien Chazelle

 

Producers: Fred Bergner, Jordon Horowitz, Gary Gilbert, and Marc Platt

 

Music by: Justin Hurwitz

 

Song: City of Stars

Performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

Music by Justin Hurwitz

Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

 

Quote: “City of stars. Are you shining just for me?”- Sebastian

 

Fun Fact: Emma Watson turned down the role of Mia due to scheduling conflicts with Beauty and the Beast (2017), while Ryan Gosling turned down the role of the Beast in that film to appear in this one. Coincidentally, both are musicals.

 

Favorite part: when Mia and Sebastian went to the observatory.

 

Favorite Character: Mia Dolan

 

Synopsis: Mia is a so-called actress who fails auditions so her roommates took her to the party to cheer her up. She then goes to the restaurant and meets Sebastian, a jazz pianist who is also struggling. They soon meet and fall in love with each other, but it could mean effecting their dreams.

 

The Review: Chezelle has hit it greatly for his second time directing a great film. Whiplash may be tremendous but La La Land, who would fall asleep while watching it? Like Whiplash, this will make part of your body dance (basically, your feet) when you hear music. A great chemistry and performances by Gosling and Stone. The ending is realistic and emotional. The traffic jam number is a great way to start with a bang! La La Land is pure Hollywood magic.

Rating: Overflowing

 

Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk and Shakira

 

Director: Byron Howard and Rich Moore

 

Writers: Jared Bush and Phil Johnson

 

Producer: Clark Spencer

 

Music by: Michael Giacchino

 

Song: Try Everything

Performed by Shakira

Music and lyric by Sia Furler, Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen

 

Quote: “It’s called a hustle sweetheart.”- Nick Wilde

 

Fun Fact: Duke Weaselton is a reference to Duke Weselton from the 2013 disney movie Frozen, and they are both played by Alan Tudyk

 

Favorite Part: When Judy discovered that Nick and his “son” are actually con foxes.

 

Favorite Character: Judy Hopps

 

Synopsis: For thousands of years, animals envolved and the predators and prey come together of harmony in the city of Zootopia. A bunny, Judy Hopps, had dreamed of becoming a cop of Zootopia, but everyone is saying she’ll never be one. But somehow, she graduates from police academy and ends up as the meter maid when the 14 mammels went missing and needs to be found. While on the job she meets Nick Wilde, a con artist fox. The chief of police then, gives Judy 48 hours to solve a mystery and she will solve it, even if it means working Nick.

 

The Review: As the best animated movies come from Disney, Zootopia is no exception. Highly entertaining with great characters. Who could not forget the DMV with the sloths, that is so true! The thick plotline really connects the dots. This film will make you keep on guessing!

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron

 

Director: Ridley Scott

 

Writers: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof

 

Producers: Ridley Scott, David Giler and Walter Hill

 

Music by: Marc Streitenfeld

 

Rated: R for Sci-Fi Violence including some intense images and brief language

 

Quote: “The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.” David

 

Fun Fact: The Orrery was one of the most complex visual effects, containing 80-100 million polygons and taking several weeks to render as a single, complete shot.

 

Favorite Part: When the crew members explores the caverns

 

 

 

Synopsis: In Scotland in the future, a group of explorers discovered what they believe that will explain the origin of human civilization. So, they and other people aboard the spaceship “Prometheus” and went to sleep so that when they wake up, they will be close to the edge of the universe. They found the planet and explore hoping to get some answers. But the storm causes the crew to run back to the ship, leaving two members behind. The next day they find two of those members dead and realized that they may find more than what they’re looking for.

 

The Review: Ridley Scott does it again! With incredible set of the caverns and the hologram of the galaxy, the space crew members seemed to have found the sci-fi of this generation. You take the Alien franchise and add a cup of mythology and you get this movie. Too bad the alien doesn’t have enough screen time.

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio Del Toro

 

Director: James Gunn

 

Writers: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman

 

Producer: Kevin Feige

 

Music by: Tyler Bates

 

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language

 

Quote: “I am Groot.”- Groot

 

Fun Fact: Vin Diesel recorded all his lines in several different languages, including Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French so that they could use his real voice in the film around the world.

 

Favorite Part: When the team escapes from prison.

 

Favorite Character: Peter Quill

 

Synopsis: Peter Quill, an earthling, was exploring an abandoned planet, looking for some stuff and he had stolen a mysterious orb. But as he tries to sell it, four other creatures try to steal it from each other causing them to get arrested. They teamed up to escape from prison but they learned that Ronan is going to use the infinity stone to destroy the Xander planet with the infinity stone now the band of misfits must team up to stop them.

 

The Review: A excellent marvel version of Star Wars. Love the soundtrack (which is peter’s mix tape of music from his home planet). The impressive make up on Bautista turned him into Drax the Destroyer. Let’s not forget the unforgettable grooving Groot. And Rocket…let’s say you do not want to try to be friends with him. An incredible Marvel picture!

 

 

Rating: Overflowing

 

Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto

 

Director: Ridley Scott

 

Writer: Dan O’Bannon

 

Producers: Gordon Carroll, David Giler and Walter Hill

 

Music by: Jerry Goldsmith

 

Rated: R for Sci-Fi violence/gore and language

 

Quote: “This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.”- Ellen Ripley

 

Fun Fact: Harrison Ford turned down the role of Captain Dallas.

 

Favorite Part: When Ripley tries to flee Nostromo as it self-destructs.

 

Favorite Character: Alien

 

Synopsis: On the ship of Nostromo, are the crew. They received the transmission that they believed is the SOS signal. While exploring the planet, one of the crew members found the eggs of an alien but then the creature became attached to him and was putted in quarantine. When he got out, he was joined by the crew members at the dinner table. But then the baby alien burst out of his stomach, killing him and running away. The rest of the crew then must find the alien and kill it before things get worse. But the alien had grown so quickly and is soon hunting down crew members one by one.

 

The Review: What do you get when you mixed a horror film with Star Wars? You get Alien. With such useful gadgets and stuff, this makes a great spaceship. Ripley is certainly an icon heroine. Love the creature itself as it’s scary and Sci-Fi looking at the same time. Not to mention the iconic alien burst of the stomach scene. The Sci-Fi hit is a gas tank which you need to fill up the Sci-Fi vehicle.

 

 

 

Rating: Overflowing

Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie and Chiwetel Ejiofor

Director: Ridley Scott

Writer: Drew Goddard

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaffer, Aditya Sood and Mark Huffam

Based on: A novel by Andy Weir

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams

Rated: PG-13 for some strong language, injury images and brief nudity

Quote: “I am definitely going to die up here…if I have to listen to any more god-awful disco music.”- Mark Watney

Favorite part: When Mark was gathering up the food in the hab.

Favorite Character: Mark Watney

Synopsis: On Mars, a group of astronauts are strolling through the storm but astronaut Mark Watney, has been knocked off and claimed dead. The rest of the astronauts abandoned mars, not knowing that Mark is still alive. He woke up and found out he is alone and he is gonna have to adapt in order to survive on a planet where nothing grows. Back on earth, NASA discovered that Mark is still alive and they really gonna have to think big if they are to rescue him.

The Review: People always say they want to go to Mars, well The Martian is the closest thing they’ll get. It’s filled with hopes, science and survival. The Martian is Gravity’s (2013) twin. There is no Mark Watney like Matt Damon. His comedic performance is out of this world (literally)! This film will take you to Mars!

 

 

 

Rating: Half-Full

 

Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Noel Fisher, Johnny Knoxville, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Tony Shalhoub and Alan Ritchson

 

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

 

Writers: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Evan Daugherrty

 

Producers: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Galen Walker, Scott Mednick and Ian Bryce

 

Music: Bryan Tyler

 

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence

 

Fun Fact:

 

Quote: “Come with me, I gotta safe place for you to hide. And if you’re thirsty I got a secret stash of orange crush behind the fridge. Don’t tell Raph.”- Michelangelo

 

Favorite Character: Michelangelo

 

Favorite Part: When the turtles fought Karai at the subway station.

 

Synopsis: April O’Neil is a news reporter in New York City and is desperate to find a big story. AS she witnessed the hostage at the train station, she notices strange creatures saving them. She shortly notices that those creatures are four turtles. She soon later discovers that those turtles were her pets that she thought died in her father’s lab fire. Nobody believes her except for a rich scientist, Eric Sacks, who is Shredder’s pupil and is planning on releasing toxins in the whole city. Locating and captured three of the turtles, Raphael, April and her partner, Veans must save the turtles and New York.

 

The Review: If you are a true TMNT fan, I probably wouldn’t recommend this movie. This film focused mostly on April when it is supposed to be more focused on the turtles. They are pretty realistic though and it is an average explosive film.

 

 

Rating: Half-Full

 

Cast: Adam Scott, Toni Colletie, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen and Krista Stadler

 

Director: Michael Dougherty

 

Writers: Todd Casey, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shelds

 

Producers: Thomas Hill, Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia and Michael Dougherty

 

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of horror violence/terror, language and some drug material

 

Fun Fact: The entire opening sequence was filmed in a single day, at the department store in New Zealand.

 

Quote: “Like he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish. Not to give, but to take.”- Omi

 

Favorite Part: When the evil toys attacked the adults in the attic.

 

Favorite Character: Howard

 

Synopsis: Max Engel wanted to have a nice Christmas but it wasn’t the way he wanted. His relatives came and the whole family is turned upside down. Upset, Max lost his Christmas spirit, tears up the letter to Santa Claus and threw it out the window. But what he doesn’t know is that he just unleashed the evil version of Santa Claus, Krampus. With everyone trapped in the house with no heat, no power and no cell service, their Christmas is about to get worse. Beth heads out to check on her boyfriend and vanished. The German grandmother, Omi tells them that Krampus is coming out to get them, just like it happened to her family when she was a little girl. One by one the family member gets picked off, the family must try and survive the holidays (literally!)

 

The Review: As people wanted scary Christmas movies, this is one of the few. It is basically like “The Conjuring” celebrating the holidays. A Christmas movie that just came out of the oven with the comedy crispy on the outside but the special effects was a little too chewy on the inside. I just wish they’ll hire Rick Baker to do the make up on Krampus and his minions instead of them having masks. But still, this is one of the great fright holiday films that you’ll watch when you want to spend time away from your family.

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Rowin Atkinson and Martine McCutcheon

 

Director: Richard Curtis

 

Writer: Richard Curtis

 

Producers: Duncan Kenworthy, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner

 

Rated: R for sexuality, nudity and language

 

Fun Fact: When ABC Family aired the film, the entire plot of John and Judy (the porn stars) is completely cut. But even with that cut, it still runs 3 hours with commercials.

 

Quote: “Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don’t buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free.”- Billy Mack

 

Favorite Part: When Sam rushes through the airport to reach the girl of his dreams before the plane takes off for New York.

 

Favorite Character: Billy Mack

 

Synopsis: In the United Kingdom, there are 10 stories about love that is linked to one another (except for Billy Mack’s story). There is the Prime Minister who falls for his secretary, an aging Rockstar who recorded “Christmas is all around”, a widower with his step son who is looking for love, a young man who is desired to visit America just to get some babes, a writer who falls for the foreign woman, an acting couple who is filming an erotic film, and more.

 

The Review: Families may enjoy watching Christmas movies, but this is one of the few that only parents can watch. A holiday romantic comedy with such coordinates that you gotta be smart or way into the film to piece it all together. More romantic than comedy is what this is. Billy Mack’s version of “Love is all Around” is very well done! Be prepared to be with someone special after watching this film.