Movie Review: Man of Steel (2013)

Warner Brothers Pictures
Runtime: 2 hours, 23 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action, and
destruction, and for language)
Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: David S. Goyer
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Director Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300, Sucker Punch) jumps up to ambitiously bring us Man of Steel. But having recently been branded as a hit-or-miss wonder, his latest project brings with it a lot of good and a lot of bad.

Independent Film Review: Dead in France (2012)

Breaking Glass Pictures
Runtime: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Rated: No MPAA rating
Director: Kris McManus
Writers: Brian A. Levine, Kris McManus
Starring: Brian A. Levine, Celia Muir, Darren Bransford, Lee Chaney, 
Kate Loustau
Comedy | Crime | Thriller

In Dead in France, a romantically and socially inept assassin hires a cleaning lady and entrusts her with his nice retirement home before heading out on his final job. What he doesn’t know is that his cleaning lady has a loser boyfriend who is granted access to the house by her. This boyfriend has two thuggish Brit friends who will get in his way more than once—all this while a rival assassin is hot on his heels.

Drive Thru Review (2013) - (1)

Fast & Furious 6: Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
Action | Crime | Thriller
Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries.

A “tuned up” continuation of the series, the new film features Toretto and team recruited by special forces agent “Hobbs” (Dwayne Johnson) to stop a rogue terrorist organization from wreaking havoc in America. Facing a virtually identical set of opponents in skill to themselves, the stakes are higher, but the reward of success means full pardons for all members.

It suffers some of the same issues of juvenile nonsense mixed with the usual dose of car porn from the previous movies, but they are much less noticeable this time around, thanks to more action and solid humor. This is the best movie of the series yet.
B+
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Movie Review: After Earth (2013)

Columbia Pictures
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writers: Gary Whitta, M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo
Action | Adventure

With Will Smith in the background and young Jaden Smith now taking the lead, After Earth takes place 1,000 years in the future when an alien race has taken over, one that can literally smell your fear through pheromone secretions. This strange race of a fiercely predatorily nature sets in motion a biological evolution on earth, rendering it uninhabitable to humans.

Movie Review: The Hangover Part III (2013)

Warner Brothers Pictures
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Rated: R (for pervasive language, including sexual references,
violence, drug content, and brief nudity)
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Philips, Craig Mazin
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong
Comedy

Trailing behind the previous films is The Hangover III, which gets going on the same tracks as before, but somehow ends up at a different station.

Documentary Review: History of The Eagles – The Story of an American Band (2013)

Director: Alison Ellwood
Rated: No MPAA rating
Starring: Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit

History of the Eagles chases down the full story of one of the all-time greatest and most celebrated bands in history—and in so doing, puts in perspective chart-topping rock 'n roll hits from not just the 70s and 80s, but right up to the present time.

Movie Review: Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Paramount Pictures
Runtime: 2 hours, 12 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana
Action | Adventure | Sci-fi

Despite all of the atrocious adulterations and meat-headed melodrama of the 2009 Star Trek movie, director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8) is back at it with Star Trek Into Darkness, a second movie that takes the finely recreated crew members and puts them into something more credible.