I went to a screening of this movie at an indie theater in Santa Monica. There was a Q and A after with some of the cast and crew. I got to meet Michael McGrady who has the daunting task of playing Kathleen Turners husband. He handles that with ease. (Oh and PS his is UNBELIEVABLY humble and nice in person.)

I LOVED this movie. This movie deals with a Catholic woman who is about to receive a MAJOR award but she has to pass muster with the higher ups and they have to meet and approve of her family. Normally I am sure this would be fine, but her family is less than perfect and she is PANICKED about how this will affect her chances.

This movie could have been about any religion or culture because none of us are perfect. This was a touching movie with fantastic performances from a dynamic cast.

I had BEYOND high hopes for this movie, for a YEAR before it’s release. All the teases for it at the End of THOR, IRON MAN 2 and CAPTAIN AMERICA. I was counting the days and this movie did NOT disappoint! I thought that they took the best elements of the other movies and made them even better. Mark Ruffalo FINALLY got Bruce Banner/ HULK spot ON! And thank you to Joss Whedon for FINALLY getting the correct HULK out there.

The cast was brilliant and the story was well put together. Of course the special effects were dynamically AWESOME but that is to be expected. If you are a fan of the comic genre RUN and see this movie, BUY it on Blu-ray and watch it as much as you can. It is THAT good!

I went into this movie purely for fluff/action/mancandy purposes. I mean, Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard, ummm YES please! So I had UNBELIEVABLY low expectations for this film. And knowing the Rhianna had a role just made it a bonus fluff experience.

I was shocked at how much I LOVED this movie. It had a decent storyline, except of course WHY the aliens were in the ocean and WHY they chose that day to appear, but the bad boy turned hero thing always does it for me. The special effects were crazy good and the movie moved well. Even Rhianna was decent.

If you want some mancandy with your action and some Human victory over Aliens then definitely see this movie!

The answer to this question would be a quote from one of my all time favorite movies, “Heather’s” “Because you’re an idiot. Ohhh yeah. That’s it.”

I have a wordpress app on my phone! Why don’t I use it? See above!

Well the Hunger Games is finally upon us. Yes I read the book. I REALLY loved it. It is a biting commentary on where we may be headed as a nation and as a world if we continue on our blind path of greed.

As a woman I found it refreshing that, for once, the reluctant and unexpected hero was a girl. Not a magical girl, or some bio created super machine, or a girl from another planet who has super powers. No just a girl. A girl who stopped being a kid at an early age and was a fighter and survivor on levels beyond what I could imagine. She was a reluctant heroine who found her true self and even love during the worst possible time, the Hunger Games. It is a delicate story, woven carefully and fantastically by Suzanne Collins. She captures everything that goes on in EVERY 17 year old girls mind and puts it into a literal life and death situation which only magnifies the significance of that time in all our lives. This is a powerful look at Humanity and how survival can test even the best of us. But how, the few of us will rise to a height not even imagined when in that situation.

Katniss Everdeen, as written in the book, is someone to look up to. Someone to emulate.

The movie, however, is something else entirely.

Obviously Hollywood, particularly the TWO men who wrote this script with Suzanne Collins, clearly couldn’t have a STRONG, SMART, EXTRAORDINARY woman on the screen. I am severly disappointed in Suzanne for allowing this truly watered down, cliff notes version of her revolutionary story to come to the screen. Yes I am calling you out Suzanne. Shame on you for selling out on a true heroine. The problem wasn’t Jennifer Lawrence. She did the best she could with what she had. She was good. She always is. But you took Katniss and made her the ever typical damsel in distress. She is tied to a tree sleeping more than anything else in this movie. WHAT?? What happened to the girl battling and scheming? What happened to the warrior that was fighting, not only for her sister and family, but in the end for love?

FOR SHAME. Read the book. Wait for this on HBO if you must.

In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote “A Princess of Mars”. This Science Fiction Novel was truly revolutionary for its day. Just imagine the time that Edgar lived in while he was writing this. 4 Years earlier Ford had produced the Model T. The first production car. 11 Years earlier the Wright Brothers took their first flight. We knew very little about the moon or really any of outer space, yet Edgar imagined, not only life on Mars, but calculated out what John Carters abilities would be on that planet based on the gravitational differences. He imagines ships that flew in the air powered by light. We don’t even have that now.

So when I see people critiquing this movie as a ripoff of “Star Wars” or “Avatar” or ANY modern Sci-Fi movie I have to remind these critics of the mere fact that perhaps, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, dare I say it, STOLE from Edgar Rice Burroughs??? I think there is an argument that could be made for that. But I am sure he would be proud of all the great stories that he inspired. But to criticize this movie and belittle it is just beyond me. The concepts in this movie are not new to us now, but they were FANTASTICALLY new at the time. And if they had had the special effects technology they that we have now to bring them to life it would have been done.

The cast was wonderful and the world of Mars was something to behold. This movie made me look into the sky and at the tiny dot that is Mars and wonder, maybe there is something more there. Go see this movie and have an adventure!

I LOVE this book by Dr. Seuss. I saw the preview for the movie and I thought, “UGH! Once again Hollywood has taken a great childhood story and RUINED it with some abstract interpretation.” That is really the clean version of what my first thought was. Gotta keep this a family friendly blog!

I vowed that I wasn’t going to see it at all because I was convinced that they had taken a great story and ruined it. But of course I couldn’t stick with that once my boys, Landon age 6 and Nicolas age 3 saw the same ad and started jumping up and down yelling that they wanted to see it. So, reluctantly, I took them to the movie.

I figured at least I might get a nap. Well I was beyond delighted to find that they took the story and didn’t ruin it at all. They took it in the right direction. I think that Dr. Seuss would be proud of what they put up on the screen. The best part wasn’t how I felt about it but seeing the twinkle in my boys eyes as they watched the magic on the screen. They loved every minute of it. So I would say definitely bring your kids to this movie. They will love it and you will like it as well!

I went and saw this movie because I pretty much see everything that Denzel does because he is, well DENZEL! I wasn’t expecting really much in terms of plot or even dialoge. But I was BEYOND surprised at the real awe inspiring action and intrigue that was going on in this movie.

It really was non stop action from about the 10 minute mark. Just keeps you guessing and your hands gripping your seats the whole movie. Denzel is of course wonderful and scary and amazing all at once and Ryan Reynolds holds his own on the screen next to him.

They make a great reluctant duo in this movie and it is well worth watching in the theater. If you miss it there definitely rent it as soon as you can. You won’t be disappointed!