V/H/S

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 31 Aug 2012 (Straight to Video)
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Staring:  Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Adam Wingard
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 5.8 of 10
MY RATING: 7 of 10

STORYLINE
When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS Tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

MY REVIEW:
There is no in-between for this movie. You will either find it interesting and delightful or a sack of crap.

I was reluctant to watch but decided to go ahead. First of all, it was not the typical movie that you come across. It was new and interesting. Odd maybe. But it works.  It definitely feels that it doesn't have a storyline or a plot, but it seems to work in this case. A bit too much shaky cam for me, but I have never been a big fan.

It was different and enjoyable and unique.

The Awakening

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: USA- 17 Aug 2012
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Staring:  Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton..
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.5 of 10
MY RATING: 7 of 10

STORYLINE
In 1921, England is overwhelmed bu the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost. Everything she believes unravels as the 'missing' begin to show themselves.

MY REVIEW:
A horror story this is not. Thriller, yes. Creepy and flawed ghost story, yes.

It's fairly original for an old ghost story. I like the settings and the traditional feel. It's effective in its use of creaking doors and mysterious sounds as well as the use of light and darkness to set the scene in this gloomy English countryside mansion. Most of the plot twists were a little obvious to me, the fanatic horror movie watcher.

What sold me on this movie was the use of traditional scares and very little reliance on special effects. This is a good old English film with a good old English cast that gives insight to the frailty of fear and makes up for the few flaws with character development and understated tension.

What I did not find effective was the underdevelopment of  the finale. Could have used some good old-fashioned thriller magic.
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Total Recall

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 3 Aug 2012
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Staring:  Colin Farrell, Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Kate Bekinsale, Jessica Biel
Rating? PG-13
SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.3 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 30% Audience: 47%
MY RATING: 5 of 10

MY REVIEW:
I am not a huge fan of remakes and in general feel that if the original wasn't broken, there is no need to mess with it! I think this was a pretty decent case of exactly that!

We get some of the same ideas from the original Total Recall from 1990, but the pieces that were the integral portions were missing for me. Mars? Where is the idea of Mars? No Doug Quaid played by Collin Farrell saying "Get your ass to Mars." No three booked aliens in the mutant sector? No mutants in general.

So, the earth is decimated and Douglas Quaid can't get the idea of his adventurous dreams out of his head. He gets his ass to Recall where they implant vacations. Same plat as before. Lori Quaid was Sharon Stone and is now Kate Beckinsale. I was saddened to have Melina not the leader of the mutant rebellion, but not to see Jessica Biel.

The missing pieces of the original plot to free Mars creates some very unwatchable edits. I was missing a big reason for me to care about the rest of the people. I miss the original. This was good. Not great, but good.

The Haunting of Whaley House

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 31 July 2012
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Staring:  Alex Arlea, Arielle Brachford, Graham Denman
Rating? Unrated????
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 3.9 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 0% Audience: 12%
MY RATING: 2.5

STORYLINE
A girl who works as a tour guide in Americas Most Haunted House breaks in with her friends to get a fright.

MY REVIEW:
Okay, this was bad. Not pile of poo bad, but bad. This movie looks and feels like it was made by some sophomore movie school kids and they just picked up a few friends to act in the damn thing! Worst acting I've seen in a while! There were so many things wrong with this movie that I just can't really spend the time to write it all down. It's just not worth the time. It's fairly lame. It might scare a 12 year old.

Magic Mike

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 29 June 2012
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Staring:  Channing Tatum, Olivia Munn, etc
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.1 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 80% Audience: 60%
MY RATING: 5 out of 10

STORYLINE
A male stripper teaches a young performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money.

MY REVIEW:
Yes, you read that right, I gave this movie a 5 out of 10. Yes, a 5. It was less than average and more than mediocre solely based on the dancing men. I recommend turning the sound down and fast forwarding through all the talking parts because the storyline and the acting could have been better if they  sent these guys to acting school for a few years. SKIP the talking!! The lead female character was about as emotive as a soggy noodle. 

Ted

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 29 June 2012
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Staring:  Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 7 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 67% Audience: 74%
MY RATING: 6

MY REVIEW:
I didn't hate this movie. I can't say that it was overly impressive either. It seemed more hype that containing actual substance. It was a pretty generic Romantic Comedy except for the bumbling best friend being played by Seth Rogan, it was played by a teddy Bear.
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Yes, there were some decent laughs and while they weren't exactly the absurdly funny or unique, they were funny. I did manage to watch the whole thing.

While it was predictable, it could have definitely used some more mature pieces for a rated R movie. Overall, it was good, not great.

Rock of Ages

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 15 June 2012
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Staring:  Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, etc..
Rating? PG-13
SPOILERS? NOPE

REVIEWS
IMDB: 5.9 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 41% Audience: 54%
MY RATING: 8 of 10

STORYLINE
A small town girl and a city boy meet on the sunset strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

MY REVIEW:
What else is there to say other than this was a pretty good movie. 8 of 10 on my scale is pretty decent since I am a very critical critic!

It's musical comedy at its best... love, rock, absurdities, aging rock gods, excellent casting! This movie is definitely worth a second look. I grew un in the 80's and 90's and THESE WERE MY SONGS! I sang along with every word and enjoyed the mash-ups.

Prometheus

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 8 June 2012
Running Time: 2 Hours and 3 Minutes
Staring:  Michael Fassbender, CHarlize THeron, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 7.0 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 73% Audience: 69%
MY RATING: 8.5

STORYLINE
This film is set in 2093 and takes place in the same universe as the 'Alien' movies. A group of explorers, including some archeologists, are on an "undisclosed: mission. They arrive at a planet millions of miles away from Earth. The team spot what they believe to be signs of civilization. They go to investigate and find more than just signs, they find conclusive evidence. Some of them have an ulterior motive for being there, including Weyland Corporation. They believe that is where the human race came from. Things soon turn from excitement to survival once inside the discovery.

MY REVIEW:
I was anticipating this movie for a while. I was not dissapointed. I was impressed with the cinematography. Fantastic. I was expecting amazing things with the way the trailer looked! The entire movie is filled with visions of glorious grandeur.

Let's beginning with Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace. Her acting was real and flawless. Convincing with her real emotions. She's impulsive and insecure and so very feminine. She's endearing. Michael Fassbender playing the humanoid robot David was ridiculously intriguing. He played this like a pro! Then one person that I didn't feel the love for was Charlize Theron's portrayal of Meredith Vickers.

Plot gives me heartburn in some ways. I was not impressed with some of the writing choices taken. The science-y speak used by some of the supposed scientists in the cast. Not impressed. The build up was much too long and too climactic for the ending to be so short and lacked the atmosphere that I was really waiting for.

Most of the scenes were disturbingly awesome  and some were even shocking, however, if the idea was to scare me, it was not successful. It was impressive most of the time and had a few pieces of just too much. Definitely a solid 8 on it's way to a 9.

Chernobyl Diaries

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 25 May 2012
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Staring:  Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski, Olivia Taylor Dudley..
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 5 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 19% Audience: 28%
MY RATING: 2

MY REVIEW:
First thing: I really only wanted to see this movie for one reason. Jesse McCartney. Ever since I saw the video of his song Leavin'. (LINK TO THE VIDEO)

I was infatuated with this guy! He's freaking adorable!! So basically, I wanted to see it because he was in it... That was likely not a wonderful choice, since he was not really an actor. He tried. :) I have to give him
credit for that!!

Second thing: I think this movie was a horrible insult to the victims of the Chernobyl Disaster.

It started off pretty decent however, my pet peeve was present with the dreaded hand-held- shaky-cam crap! I hate that stuff! As soon as they get lost at the site, you know it's not going to end up a happy time for these guys!

The timeline is horrible. One minute they are in the sun and five minutes later its dark as midnight. Five minutes to get away from the truck and hours to get back. No sense.

The moment with the mutant zombie things come out, I am absolutely done with this movie. What the hell?!?! This is just a dumb idea.  I thought it was a pretty decent pile of garbage. I love Jesse McCartney, but that was just enough to get a 2 instead of a 1.

Avengers

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 4 May 2012
Running Time: 143 Minutes
Staring:  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, etc.
Rating? PG-13
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 8.2 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 92% Audience: 91%
MY RATING: 8 of 10

MY REVIEW:
This was a good movie. a really good movie. Yes, I was surprised. I was not a comic book fan-girl growing up and I really have no idea of the origin stories of 90% of these Marvel characters, but even with that, It was good. I must admit that this was directed by Joss Wheedon, I generally love everything that his hands touch!

It's clever. Tons of action. Mystery. Excellent effects. Good job!