THE REVIEW CORNER

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Natalie Dormer, and Donald Sutherland Directed by: Francis Lawrence Screenplay by: Peter Craig and Danny Strong Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins     Goodness, that's a lot of people in this cast!     The Hunger Games themselves may not be an annual tradition, but it now seems as if film releases based on the series has become one.     At the end of the last movie, Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) destroyed the arena where the 75th Hunger Games, otherwise known as the Quarter Quell, took place.  The resistance in District 13, thought to be destroyed in the original rebellion, rescued her and a few of the other tributes from the games, but not all of them.  Now in District 13, it is up to former game master, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and president Alma Coin (Julianne

Starring:  Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodina, and Dimitri Leonidas Directed by: Jon Stewart Screenplay by: Jon Stewart Based on the book " Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival" by Maziar Bahari      Remember last summer when Jon Stewart took three months off from hosting The Daily Show  leaving it to John Oliver?  This film is the reason.      Maziar Bahari is a journalist for Newsweek who is on assignment in Tehran, Iran for the 2009 election.  The election is between the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.  When Bahari first arrives in Iran, the polls show that it is likely Mousavi will win as he is gaining a rather large lead against Ahmadinejad.  Ahmadinejad is backed by the Supreme Leader and there are fears that the election will be rigged in favor of Ahmedinejad.  Well, that's exactly what happens.  There are protests in the streets, and Bahari's story has changed.  He first was coveri

Starring: Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones Directed by: James Marsh Screenplay by: Anthony McCarten Based on the book, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen , by Jane Hawking     It seems that all people are talking about with this movie is the fact that Eddie Redmayne is incredible in it.  And he is, but don't forget about Felicity Jones, people!     This is the story of one of the biggest names in the scientific community today, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne), and his relationship with his wife, Jane (Felicity Jones).  The story begins at Cambridge University in England in 1963.  Stephen Hawking is only a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in physics.  That's where he meets Jane, the woman he ultimately marries.  It takes us through the stages of Stephen's life from then until after his divorce from Jane (not seen in the movie, so it's not a spoiler, but it is still true).  Not too long after the movie begins, we see that he has been diagnosed with AL

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, and John Lithgow Directed by: Christopher Nolan Screenplay by: Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan     Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to have your minds blown, again?  Christopher Nolan is here to do it again!     It's sometime in the future, later in the 21st century.  Blight has destroyed earth's food supply and therefore decimated the population.  Humanity is dying on earth.  It looks like there is not going to be a way to save the earth and the apocalypse is slowly setting in.  As Professor Brand (Michael Caine) puts it, "we must confront the reality that nothing in our solar system can help us".  The agency Professor Brand is working for, an agency thought to be extinct called NASA, is preparing for a mission to save the people of earth; to find a new world for people to settle on and colonize.     Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a farmer i

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton Directed by: Dan Gilroy Screenplay by: Dan Gilroy      Something tells me that the main guy in this film is a little desperate for a job.      Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is looking for work.  He's kind of socially awkward and can be creepy at times.  Why?  He's a little obsessed with what he finds that he is going to do.  One night, he stumbles upon a fiery car crash on an LA highway and watches as a freelance news film crew, headed by a guy we later meet named Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), arrives to film officers pull a woman from the burning wreckage.      This event makes Lou decide to be a freelance crime scene videographer so he can sell footage to local news stations for profit, becoming Joe Loder's competition.  Within a few days, Lou has a basic video camera, police radio, and a partner, Rick (Riz Ahmed), and is out filming crime scenes at night.  He starts selling the footage to Nina Romina (Ren

Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, and Edward Norton Directed by:  Alejandro González Iñárritu Screenplay by:  Alejandro González Iñárritu and  Nicolás Giacobone       Yes.  That is the official name for this movie.  But let's just stick with  Birdman  for now.       Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) used to be a big Hollywood actor whose name everyone knows.  Fortunately, everyone still knows him from his hugely successful Birdman films.  But it's been a while since he's made a movie and he needs to reinvent himself.  So, he's off to Broadway to put on a show; an adaptation of a short story by Raymond Carver called What we Talk About when we Talk About Love.   Riggan hates one of the actors and thinks he's not doing a very good job, so he wants to get a replacement.  Enter Mike (Edward Norton).  Mike is a much better actor, than even Riggin, and ends up stealing the spotlight that Riggan is so desperately

Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman,  Michael Peña, and Jon Bernthal Directed by: David Ayer Screenplay by: David Ayer "Ideals are peaceful.  History is violent."       It's April, 1945 and WWII is almost over.  The Americans are campaigning through Europe trying to defeat the Nazis.  German tanks both out man and outnumber American tanks.  American casualties are incredibly high because of this, but they are still pushing through.  This story follows one group of men who drive one of the American tanks, a tank they call "Fury".  Led by Sergeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt), these men are at the forefront of a great deal of violence and are witnesses to many atrocities.  The tank's main gunner, a character we do not see in the film, has been killed in battle, and upon their return to base, they need a new gunner.  That's where Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) comes in.  A fresh recruit, he's not trained to shoot the tank

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, and Tyler Perry Directed by: David Fincher Screenplay by: Gillian Flynn Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn      For those of you who are married, don't let your relationship get to this point.  It's just not healthy for anybody.      Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is an unemployed journalist.  He is in a difficult marriage with Amy Elliot Dunne (Rosamund Pike), a trust fund woman upon who's life the best-selling book series written by her parents, Amazing Amy is based.  Together, they lived in New York, where they first met.  But now, they have relocated to Nick's home town of North Carthage, Missouri, mostly to take care of Nick's sick mother.  While there, Nick and his sister, Margo (Carrie Coon) open a bar, appropriately named The Bar, using Amy's trust fund money.      It is the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary and Nick goes to The Bar for a few ho

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Will Poulter Directed by: Wes Ball Screenplay by: Noah Oppenheim, T.S. Nowlin, and Grant Pierce Meyers Based on the novel by James Dashner      Is this an aMAZEing film?  Sorry, pun intended.  Read on to find out.      Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is thrown into a group of boys that are trapped inside a maze.  They have no memory either.  They're trapped in a part of the maze they call "the Glade".  Each month, a box shows up with another boy and some supplies for the boys already in the Glade.  There are enough of them that they have been able to form an order.  The "runners" are part of this order and their job is to spend each day mapping the maze in order to find a way out.  The maze keeps changing every night, making it quite difficult to find a way out.  There are also creatures called Grievers they have to contend with.  Runners who don't return at the end of the day usually don't survive the n

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, and David Harbour Directed by: Scott Frank Screenplay by: Scott Frank Based on the novel by Lawrence Block     There are movies about disturbing people who do disturbing things to others.  This film takes it to an uncomfortable new level.     New York City, 1999: Matthew Scudder (Liam Neeson) is a former cop now turned private investigator.  He "does favors for people, and in return, they give [him] gifts."  A high profile drug trafficker named Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens) needs Scudder's help.     Kristo's wife has been kidnapped.  She's been killed even though he paid the ransom.  Kristo needs Scudder to find these people who killed his wife.  So, he will travel all over New York City trying to find these people, but what he finds will prove to be very disturbing.     These men have found a new target and it is up to Scudder to stop them before they do something bad to another innocent victim.     When we think of recen

Starring: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, and Charlotte Le Bon Directed by:  Lasse Hallström  Screenplay by: Steven Knight Based on the book by Richard C. Morais      A word of advice, don't see this movie on an empty stomach.  I've never been made so hungry by watching a movie until I saw this film.      The Kadam family has just moved to a small town in France from India to start a restaurant.  They want to introduce the people there to the delights of Indian cuisine.  Across the street from where they open the restaurant is the best restaurant in town, owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren).  Her restaurant is known throughout France and specializes in fine French cuisine.  She is confident that the Kadam family's restaurant will fail and fail miserably because the people will not want to try Indian food.  The family thinks otherwise.       As time passes, the Indian restaurant becomes more popular and the Kadams are able to stay in business.  Eventually, Mad

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, and Ethan Hawke Directed by: Richard Linklater Screenplay by: Richard Linklater      A film 12 years in the making.  Now, that's a long time to make a movie, and yes, it is worth seeing!!      This is the story about a young boy, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), and his life as he grows up until he goes away to college.  The film follows his whole family from the time he is about six years old to the time he is about 18 years old.  He must navigate a life with his sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), his divorced parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke), while his mother remarries twice and his father comes in and out of his life.       For the two hour and 45 minute duration of the film, we watch as everybody grows up, even the adults.  We watch as everybody matures over time and grows both individually and as a family unit, even though the family units change throughout the film.       I don't know if Richard L

Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, and  Zoë Soul Directed by: James DeMonaco  Screenplay by: James DeMonaco       " Blessed be our New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls. Blessed be America, a nation reborn."       In the not too distant future, America has changed quite a bit.  A new government has come to power known as the New Founding Fathers, and has basically turned the American government into religion.  People are constantly saying the quote above.  The NFFA has established a new annual holiday called the Purge, where all crime, including murder, is legal for 12 hours.  Supposedly, the Purge has made America a more productive society and it does more good than harm.        The first film in the series came out last year, and follows an affluent family who lives in a gated community and their attempt to survive the purge inside their home.  This year, the Purge moves to the streets of downtown Los Angeles,

Starring: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Pierce Gagnon, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin, and Jim Parsons Directed by: Zach Braff Screenplay: Adam J. Braff and Zach Braff      Here's Zach Braff's decent movie about a rather unlucky guy.  Some might call him a loser, others might simply see him as unlucky.      Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff) is a struggling actor who's married and has two kids in Jewish day school, thanks to his father, Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), who is nice enough to pay for them to attend school.  Gabe is dying of cancer and needs the money used for putting the kids through school for his treatment.  His wife, Sarah (Kate Hudson), works but doesn't make enough to pay for private school.  While Aidan and Sarah decide whether or not to put their children in public school, Aidan does his best to homeschool them while he navigates various auditions.  Aidan must navigate a lot that is going on in his life.  On top of all that, he has a Comic Con obsessed brother, N

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Toby Kebbell Directed by: Matt Reeves Screenplay by: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver      A second movie to tell us how the Planet of the Apes really began.      At the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a disease broke out.  It killed off most of the human race and made apes into rather intelligent creatures, now led by Caesar (Andy Serkis).  By the time the story of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starts, the remaining humans in San Francisco have joined together and live in a survivors colony inside the city.  But they need power that only a specific dam can provide, and that requires going into ape territory, just across the Golden Gate Bridge (the posters you see around town; they lie.  The Golden Gate Bridge is intact in the film, not destroyed, like the posters show).  Until now, the humans and the apes live in harmony and it seems as if there may be a chance at peace between them.  Caesar is

Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ed Harris, and Tilda Swinton Directed by: Joon-ho Bong Screenplay by: Joon-ho Bong and Jaques Lob !!!!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!!  THIS IS THE REVIEW CORNER SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM!!!!!!!!  IF YOU INTEND TO SEE THIS FILM, DO NOT READ ON!!!!!!!!!      It's no secret that we are dealing with climate change in this day in age, so here's what it looks like in the long run if we fail to do anything about it.      The world has addressed climate change in this not too distant future world.  A cooling agent called CW-7 was released into the air with the hopes that it would return the earth's surface back to normal temperatures before climate change became a problem.  It cooled the planet, but to the point where all life went extinct, with the exception of the lucky few who boarded the train, Snowpiercer; a train that constantly travels on a railway that circles the globe.       It's been 17 years since the train departe

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brendan Gleeson Directed by: Doug Liman Screenplay by: Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth Based on the novel, All You Need Is Kill  by Hiroshi Sakurazaka     If you like things to be on repeat, like your music for example, this just might be the movie for you.     Humanity is at war with an intelligent alien race that has been on a conquest of Europe for the last five years.  Many countries have joined together to fight off the aliens, known as Mimics, but humanity has lost nearly every battle since the war began.  All the nations are coming together now to plan the final battle, Operation Downfall, a D-Day-like military operation.      Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), has just been ordered to fight on the front lines in France during the invasion.  He has been deemed a deserter trying to impersonate an officer.  It's not totally clear why this has happened, but it may have something to do with him refusing the order

Starring: Scarlett Johansson Directed by: Jonathan Glazer Screenplay by: Walter Campbell Based on the novel by Michel Faber      Be careful folks, Scarlett Johansson is an alien!      She calls herself Laura.  She has fallen to Earth and has assumed the form of a human.  There isn't a whole lot of a story here, but basically she goes around Scotland preying on young, hitch-hiking men.  She picks them up in her van.  If you're one of these guys, you don't want to get in that van.  Creepy and strange things happen.  There's also a guy who's on a motorcycle, riding around Scotland, whose role isn't exactly clear.      There is very little dialogue throughout the film and most of the story is told through silence.  There is almost no action in this film either, and when something is happening, it usually isn't that interesting.      Scarlett Johansson delivers a strong performance even though she plays a pretty boring character.  The other characters, th

Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, and Morgan Freeman Directed by: Wally Pfister Screenplay by: Jack Paglen       Ah, the joys of technology...       Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is on the verge of something huge.  He is the leading scientist in the field of artificial intelligence in this not too distant future.  His goal; to create a sentient computer whose intelligence and "analytic power [are] greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world".  He's already created a computer that's part of the way there, called PINN.  With the help of his wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), and fellow researcher and friend Max (Paul Bettany), it looks like they could be on the verge of creating this superhuman computer hybrid very shortly.       The problem is that Will is dying.  He's been shot by someone in an anti-technology group called RIFT (Revolutionary Independence from Technolgy).  Th