Nic Cage is back to reprise his role as treasure hunter Ben Gates in the follow-up to the 2004 hit. During a presentation Ben Gates and his father are confronted with information that could link their family with John Wilkes Booth and the assassination of President Lincoln. After doing research Ben and his team are taken on an international hunt to find the clues that lead to clearing their families name and even discovering a lost golden city.

When you can’t get Indiana Jones for the job done then the second guy in line I imagine would be Nic Cage as Ben Gates from National Treasure. Its been awhile since I last saw the first National Treasure, but I do remember watching it think how much of a Indiana Jones wannabe it was. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t think the movie was half bad, but come on when you watch it you can’t help but think it.
My one real problem with the movie was how long and slow paced I thought it was. It took forever just for the “Book of Secret” to finally appear on screen. There was a lot of running around finding all these clues and time of them planning on getting to the clues, I thought it should have been cut down either the scenes themselves or they should have reworked the script and not put as many treasure hunting element. Cause in the end they find what they were really looking for but it just took too long that I almost gave up on the movie and turn it off. Other then that I really don’t have that much to complain about other then Nic Cage couldn’t have been anymore cheesier with the one liners. Or that sporting that haircut doesn’t hide the fact that your actually bald.
But the film does contain it’s share of the action and chase scenes from start to finish. I was sometimes on the edge of my seat  trying to figure out the clues along with Nic Cage’s character. I did enjoy the storyline and the idea of why they were going on another treasure hunt of the sorts. And that they decided to include Helen Mirren as the mother. Plus they pretty much brought back all the important characters that everybody liked from the last movie as well.
If it wasn’t for my dad who enjoys both movies I probably wouldn’t have bothered watching this movie at all. It’s no Indiana Jones but it the end it is still fun to watch. And it a movie that kids and adults can watch together.

I should first start off by saying that I’ve only seen one full episode of Sex in the City and that was the very first episode. Other then that I have seen bits and pieces of different episodes here and there. From what I have seen from the show itself I don’t really care for it. But that is to say that I was only twelve when the show first appeared on HBO. And even though that I am older now and fully well understand the plots and characters I still have no interest like when I was twelve.

Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and the rest of her gang have all returned for a full screen adaptation of the highly successful HBO series. Starting off right where the series left (I’m guessing?) Carrie and Mr. Big decide to take the plunge by moving in together, and maybe even getting hitched? All the other girls seem to have their own problems going on as well but they more so swirl around Carrie and all the drama that seems to follow with her and Mr. Big. (This is all I’m going to give cause I don’t really know how much people want to know of the plot.)

I have no doubt in my mind that Sex in the City fans are probably loving this movie and have been waiting a long time for it to come out. On the other hand people who aren’t fans and have never watched the show (like me) most likely will not really care at all. It wasn’t really hard to understand the storyline, it wasn’t like you had to see every single tv episode to fully get everything. But I’m sure there are a few tidbits hidden in there just for the fans to truly understand. And in the end it seemed like each character’s story is tied up that fans will be pleased.

But the thing about the storyline for me was as if it was an alternative ending for the very last season that they decided to ditch. In my mind it was just one giant 2hour long series ender. They could have just had this as a special on HBO instead of putting it as a theatrical release. But then again money making was probably the real reason for it every getting made in the first place. And the humor that they put into the movie really just fell flat on its face with me. It wasn’t like it was really funny quick witted humor, more so like potty humor which was really surprising for this type of movie. Did they even have potty jokes on the show?

I really don’t see the appeal of any of these women or the reality of the show itself. Why would anybody want to watch a show about four self centered women who fuss about not finding Mr. Right and spending hundreds of dollars on over priced clothing? Did I also mention a hint of sexist as well. I’m sure that all of those things that I list were probably reasons that got people to watch the show in the first place. I can’t stand people like that in real life (and I know you are out there) let alone a  tv show or movie. The reason they can’t find “the one” is that no real good guy out there in their right mind would ever want to date one of these women. That is unless they are just as much into themselves or they just want you for your money.

In the end I didn’t really care one way about this movie, and I’m sure the writers and makers of the film don’t care either. This movie was made for the fans of the show or to get people interested in the show and to check out the dvds. And thats all that really matters. Its one last final love letter to all those who had watch and prayed for a Sex in the City movie to make its way to the theater. From what I have heard from the fans opinion it doesn’t disappoint and it great. So all I can say is that if you are a real fan of the series you wouldn’t want to miss this at all. If you’ve never see the series then I would just forget about it cause this movie wasn’t made for you. It you happen to get curious about it later down the line watch one or two original episodes then check it out once it comes on dvd.

After almost twenty years Indiana Jones(Harrison Ford) has finally returned to the big screen for another non-stop action adventure. The last time we saw Dr. Jones he was riding into the sunset after stopping the Nazis from stealing the Holy Grail. This time around a few years have passed and it’s the late 50’s, America is at war with the Soviets. Indiana Jones, much older now, is still a part time teacher/ treasure hunter. The Soviets lead by Irina Spalko (Blanchett) are in search of the crystal skull and the mysterious powers it possesses.
I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time. It had been at the top of my list of movies to see this summer. Its been something like 27 years since the very first Indiana Jones movie first appeared on the big screen, I wasn’t even born yet. And I was only four when The Last Crusade was released. It was kind of funny cause I went to see this movie with my father who was the same age I am when Raiders of the Lost Ark came to the theaters.
When the film was being made I tried to ignore any little leaked info that was being released about the plot. Luckily the makers of the film were tight lipped as it was about any little details getting out all at once. But then I heard one rumor that I just couldn’t ignore, that the plot may center around aliens. WHAT!!!…..no this cannot be!! If I want to watch a sci-fi movie made by Spielberg or Lucas I’ll watch E.T or Star Wars. I want a good old action adventure movie just like the last three movies were. But to my dismay when I went into the theater after about 20 minutes into the film I realized that the movie very well indeed had to do with some sort of alien lifeforms.
First, let me start off by listing what I did like about the movie. Number one would have to be all the action. Out of all the previous movies this one contains the most out of all three combined. From beginning to end thats all you get is non-stop action sequences. Sure a few were a little over the top, (LaBeouf swinging through on vines like George of the Jungle was a little ridiculous and cheesy) but what do you expect out of an Indiana Jones film. The car chase in the jungle, warehouse fight, the three water falls, and the killer ants were all memorable action moments in the film that everyone will enjoy. Some were skeptic that Ford in the age that he is would even be able to live up to the same Indy expectations. Yes, Ford has aged a bit from the last Indy movie but for a guy who is in his mid-60’s he’s in pretty good shape. There is a scene where he is shirtless that proves my point. So I was able to believe that a 60 something year old in tip top shape could still get away with kicking some ass and getting his own ass kicked at the same time without dropping over dead. The filmmakers reference several times about the time that has passed and the old age. So the characters aren’t delusional about time and what they can and cannot still do. Now that you have all the good point in the movie, lets go on with what I didn’t care for. When did Spielberg get so lazy as a film maker that he decided to do some of the simplest scenes in the movie with green screens and CGI. What was so great about the previous films was the grittiness and realistic approach. That was sort of lost here in this movie. The producer Frank Marshall supposable had said previously before the film was made that their wasn’t going to be a bunch of special effects. Well I guess he lied cause there were a lot, and about 85% of the movie was filled with them. If a movie opens up with digital groundhogs and you know for a fact that they are CGI, I might just get a little worried. Even though the other previous movies were made before all the advances in special effects they are still good for todays standards. I understand that they want to pull out all the stops for an Indiana Jones movie made now, and there were some really great scenes that you just can’t do without SFX. But it was just a bit overwhelming to me. My other problem with the movie was obviously the storyline. Some, like my own father, will like it. I on the other hand was a little turned off by everything. And let me just make it clear it was the whole crystal skull origin and conclusion that I didn’t like. Everything involving Indy and his relationship with Marion (Allen) and Mutt (LaBeouf) I thought was fine and worked really well. I was really glad that they decided to bring back the Marion character, but she really didn’t have that big of a part that I wish she could have had. She really was there to move the storyline along and to be arm candy for Indy. LaBeouf character was ok as well, you kind of see where the storyline is going with his character after a few minutes of him interacting with Ford. He fit in nicely as the comic relief and sidekick which is always needed in every Indy movie. At the end of the movie there is a scene of almost the passing of the hat to his character. I hope that doesn’t happen, even though he was good in the movie he was good in a sidekick manner. Ford is Indiana Jones and thats what people want to see not somebody else. I wouldn’t mind if they just leave this as the last film, it ends in a appropriate manner that I could deal with. Plus I just could believe that Ford could do some of the stuff at the age of 65. I don’t think he can be fighting and whip swinging around at the age of 70. For a summer blockbuster this is a perfect movie to kick everything off. And Indy fans will still enjoy it either way.

Atonement is a mesmerizing romantic drama that keeps your attention to the very end. It contains great performances by Keira Knightley, James McAvoy , and newcomer Saoirse Ronan.
Taking place in England during 1935, a young 13 year old Briony (Ronan) and her older sister Cecilia(Knightley) are staying at there family’s large country estate for the summer. Also visiting is the housekeeper’s son Robbie(McAvoy) who is back from college. Briony has a crush on Robbie, while Cecilia and Robbie both have a sexual attraction to each other that neither have acted on. Robbie decides to tell Cecilia in a letter his true feelings for her, after several drafts he gives the letter to Briony to give to her sister. It is only moments afterwards tha Robbie realizes that the wrong draft was given, and instead a very steamy and inappropriate letter was given. Before giving the letter to her sister Briony reads it a is clearly jealous and fluster at what is in the letter. She comes to the conclusion that Robbie must be a sex addict.
During a dinner party Robbie and Cecilia express their true feelings for each other in a very passionate scene taking place in a study, but only to be interrupted by Briony. Also during the dinner party a rape occurs and Briony accuses Robbie of the attack. He is eventually arrested and is sent to prison. A few years go by and an older Briony must comes to terms with the mistake of her false accusation that has changed the lives of herself and everyone around her.
One thing that really stands out in this movie is the great performances by all the actors. Knightley impresses with her turn in a much more mature role then audiences are used to seeing. She gives one of her best performances and mostly likely memorable. Both James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan are a breath of fresh air as two new talents that we haven’t seen the last of. But behind every great performance and movie is a great director and that is Joe Wright.
Wright can be considered on of those directors that you have to watch with this being his only second feature film. His first was 2005 Pride and Prejudice which also starred Knightley. The film is beautifully shot and you can tell each scene was carefully planned out to every last detail. I look forward to what his next project will be.
The film for me was one of my favorites from 2007, the storyline just right a way captured me and kept my attention until the climatic end. It is so well done in every aspect its hard not to like it. It’s also not what I had expected at all when first going into it watch it. It’s not your typical love story, in fact its more of a tragic romance in the lines of Romeo and Juliet. If you like those type of films then I don’t see why you wouldn’t love this movie any different. It’s an instant classic that shouldn’t be taken for granted, and is one of the best films that came out in 2007.

Iron Man is a non stop action packed thrill ride that will keep all the fanboys out there at ease. Robert Downey Jr. is in the role of which he seemed born to play billionaire playboy Tony Stark/Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges rounds out the rest of the cast.
Billionaire Tony Stark (Downey) has made his living chasing after women and inventing defense weapons for the government. During a test weapon demonstration in the Middle East Stark is kidnapped and wounded by terrorists. The terrorist demand him to make them one of his biological weapons to use in one of their attacks. Instead he builds a defense suite made entirely of iron and manages to escape. When he returns home Stark has a new perspective on life and improves his suite to become Iron Man.
One of the things that really made this movie was Robert Downey Jr.’s performance. He was perfect in every aspect of the character. And one of the main reason to see this movie. The other reason is simply the amazing special effects. Every action scene was so cool and awesome to watch, it’s just a shame that they didn’t have more of it. For director John Favreau I had my doubts at first if he could pull off a superhero movie, I’m used to him doing something with Vince Vaughn. But in the end he successfully pulled it off.
Everybody is giving the movie great reviews and calling it one of the best superhero movies, I agree to a certain aspect. I understand that there will be a trilogy of sort with this franchise and that the first movie really is an introduction to the character of Tony Stark. But I really do wish that there was more screen time of Iron Man in action. Sure we get to see him do battle in the end which I kind of think could have been a little bit better, and there is some stuff in the middle as well. But the movie kept me wanting more, I guessing thats what the filmmakers were wanting anyways. I look forward to the next installment of this franchise. The character Tony Stark seems the most real out of all the superhero’s they are putting out. He is a believable character with real issues , and not just some alterego personality disorder. If your a fan of the comic I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to see this movie.

Baby Mama stars two of the funniest women on tv, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. But sadly this movie doesn’t measure up to how funny these women can truly be.Kate (Fey) is a very successful single business women, after putting her career before everything Kate is ready to become a mother. But after several attempts at getting pregnant herself she finds out that she just can’t have one and the adoption agency has denied her. So she decideds to go a different rout and gets a surrogate named Angie (Poehler). Angie is wild and unpredictable compare to conservative Kate. When Angie shows up at Kate’s doorstep with nowhere to go she takes her in and prepares for the unpredictable upcoming nine months.
I was really hoping that this movie would have been better then it ended up to be. From the trailer it looks funny but all the funny parts in the movie were featured in the trailer. Fey and Poehler were good in the material that they had to work with, but I can’t help to think that it could have been better. They should have given the script to Fey to see if she could have made it better.
The other thing that really bothered me about the movie was the directing. In several scenes you can cleary see the boom mike that hangs over the top of the actors heads. I don’t know if this was a first time director, but you figured you would say cut if you see anything out of sorts in a shot. Being that I’m going to school for film I squirmed in my seat everytime I saw that mike.
The movie really isn’t worth seeing in the theaters, and I’m suprised that it went to number one at the box office its first week. There were other films that were much better to see. I really do wish that this movie was better then it was but sadly it wasn’t. The chemistry between Fey and Poehler is the only thing that kept me going till the end, and they’re probably the only thing thats really good about this movie. This film basically comes down to being a rental when there is nothing else to watch.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a hilarious romantic “disaster comedy” written by and starring the very funny Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother). Segel plays Peter a music composer for a television crime show and an aspiring play write. Peter’s girlfriend is Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), an actress and star of the same show Peter works for. After being in a very long term relationship, Sarah tells Peter that she has found someone else and is breaking up with him. Completely devastated by the break-up Peter is encouraged to take a vacation and try to get over Sarah. Peter decides to go to Hawaii and is surprised when he runs into Sarah and her new rock star boyfriend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) at the same resort. Mila Kunis stars as Rachel the spunky customer service girl that begins to help Peter forget about Sarah Marshall. Jonah Hill (Superbad), Paul Rudd (Knocked-Up), and Bill Hader (SNL) all have comedic supporting roles.
The movie was again brought to us by the same team who created the “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and last years hit “Knocked Up.” In my own opinion I believe that this movie is probably the best out of them all so far. And that mostly to do with the funny script that Jason Segel has written. Audiences have seen many movies about break-ups on screen, not to long ago “The Break-Up” with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. But most of them are light hearted chick flicks and very rarely are they good or original. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is all that and more, not to mention funny. It was much more raunchier then I had expected with some very unexpected frontal nude scenes featuring Segel and his member, not once but twice. Even with this type of humor that we’re all used to seeing this movie has more meaning and reality to the characters. And not ones thats that were just made to be put in unrealistic situations just for laughs. Their is a depth and realness to most of the characters that the audience is able to relate to them. Thats what I really liked about the movie and probably why I liked it more then Knocked-Up and Superbad.
I really was looking forward to this movie from the first time I saw the trailer. It looks like it will be the funniest movie that has come out this summer, even though it’s not really summer. I probably would have waited to release it later on in the summer when all the summer blockbuster had battled it out. I think then it would have managed to make it number one at the box office. But either way even if it is not number one don’t think that this movie isn’t worth checking out in the theaters. Granted it has gone on my list as one to buy when it come out on dvd.

From the warped minds of the Wachowski Brothers comes Speed Racer a dizzy mind bending experience based on the popular cartoon series. Hollywood’s “It Boy” of the moment Emile Hirsch is the title character Speed, while Christina Ricci plays his girlfriend Trixie. Matthew Fox, John Goodman, and Susan Sarandon round out the rest of the cast.
Sadly this movie was just not made for me. In fact I don’t think it really was for anyone above the age of 8 years old. Maybe fans of the cartoon series will like it, I really don’t know cause I’ve never seen an episode myself. For the Wachowski Brothers this was a weak attempt at an adaptation of a cartoon series. With all their success in the whole Matrix trilogy you think they would have decided on a much better movie. To be honest I didn’t even care for the last two Matrix movies, the original is the best of the three. But again this movie is clearly for kids and nobody else. It’s flashy and colorful with a simple but not that great storyline, which is all the makings of a kids movie.
If there is one thing that is positive about the movie it would have to be the visual effects. It seriously is like one big giant acid trip. Ok, so maybe only young kids and those who like to drop acid will be the ones to really enjoy this movie. But the effects were something to look at and I’m sure it probably would have been an interesting time in the theater for some who saw it in IMAX. It could be just me but it was a bit overloaded with visual effects. I understand all the crazy car racing sequences, but do you really have to have every scene seem like it’s shot in front of a green screen?
Again the movie really isn’t my cup of tea but I’m sure that my 9 year old cousin would just love it. Your probably wondering, well if it wasn’t that great why give it a 2 1/2 out of 5 rating? Cause kids will like it and it clearly was made for them. And for a kids movie it’s not horrible and will keep there attention from start to finish with all the flashy visuals. And its probably a better experience to watch it on the big screen, then wait till you have to watch it on dvd on a regular tv screen. The movie was clearly over hyped and not what everyone was hoping it would be, unless your young at heart or like to drop acid.