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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

American Hustle

American Hustle” is a great movie with fantastic performances by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence. The movie goes behind the scenes to tell a story that has surprising twists and cameo appearances in this look at theft and underworld activities.

I think this film was amazingly directed by David O. Russell, who really seems to know how to interact with the movie cast, much as he did in his award-winning movie, “Silver Linings Playbook.” The cast is terrific in this unforgettable film.

Bale should be nominated for an Oscar for his performance. His interaction with Adams was phenomenal and she deserves an nod as well. As does Jennifer Lawrence as best supporting actress.

I give this movie four out of four stars. 

Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks” is one of the best movies of the year, in my opinion. It is the story of Walt Disney, who in a promise to his daughters spent twenty years trying to attain film rights to the popular novel, “Mary Poppins.” The novel's author, P.L. Travers flies to Hollywood from London to discuss a movie deal, and Disney finds out about the real people behind her novel's beloved characters. One of those being her father, a banker who, whose untimely death has a profound effect on Travers and inspired her novel. 

Tom Hanks is incredible as Walt Disney, and I think that his portrayal is convincing. Emma Thompson's character is complex. She is protective of the memory of her father during the negotiation and production of the Disney classic, “Mary Poppins.” Thompson's performance was solid, and I believed every word she said on camera.I think this is the best performance of her career.

I gave “Saving Mr. Banks” four out of four stars.

Monday, December 30, 2013

The Smurfs 2

Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs with him all reunite teaming with their human friends played by Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays to rescue Smurfette from the clutches of the evil wizard called Gargamal.

First of all not a huge fan of the Smurfs but my daughter thought  this movie was okay I gave it 2 1/2 out of four stars and my daughter gave it three out of four stars.

The Smurfs 2 gets two out of four stars.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

The seemingly ordinary teenager discovers she is possessed by an outside force that controls her life. She is possessed by half the Angel Warriors called the shadow hunters, who project humanity from evil forces.
I thought this movie was really good, it stars Lily Collins. Yes that's Phil Collin’s daughter, and Jamie Campbell Bowler are both quite good in this movie that really didn’t make that much money at the box office. But maybe they'll get a second life here on the Blu-ray and DVD format, I love this movie and I highly recommend.

I give this movie three out of four stars

Out of the Furnace

Out of furnace stars Christian Bale as Russell Baze whose looks are suspect but he is a dedicated family man. His younger brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) who is an Iraq war veteran who is trying so hard to go to regular civilian life. Now Russell is taking care of and is gambling debt when he thinks that everything is okay.

But now Rodney is getting shadier deals with an event organized by Harlan (Woody Harrelson) who is the villain from back East. Once Affleck is murdered and everything  gets out of control because Russell Baze is out of control and just wants to punish whoever murders his brother.

I went into this movie with high hopes and I was horribly disappointed. This movie stars Forest Whitaker, Sam Shepard, Zoe Saldana and William Defoe and all of these roles are not positive to their characters.

This movie is not good and I gave it 1 1/2 stars out of four.

Frozen

Frozen is an outstanding movie where the whole family can just go in and enjoyed it, there's nothing in this movie that the family can't discuss and apply to their own life.

Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) with his loyal  reindeer Sven, they live in a magical kingdom whose ruled by Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) who can conjure up snow and ice at any time even when they least expect it. Now Elsa has a younger sister named Anna (Kristen Bell) to she is fearful of accidentally harming her. Once Elsa decides to go out and play with Anna they are having a great time and suddenly an accident happens. Anna is just fine, but her sister goes in to hiding in the palace because she doesn't want any problems to occur with their parents or her sister.

Once the King and Queen load on to a ship and say that they will be back in a few weeks their oldest daughter is in charge of her younger sister. The girls are about old enough to take care of themselves after they find out that their parents had passed away during a boating accident. Now Queen Elsa is in charge of everything and once she goes to greet all the visitor the Queen once again has problems because all of a sudden she is providing ice that covers all city. The Queen runs to cover their presence inside a huge ice house that protects her from any outside dangers.

Elsa decides to find her sister and she takes Kristoff along with her because he has his reindeer Sven.  Also there's a cute snowman voice by Josh Gad who is terrific along with the moose who are all very funny. So they go on a journey to locate her sister who has run off.

I think this movie is very funny and I like how this movie looks terrific in either 3-D or regular version. I thought all the characters were lively and exciting to watch.

I gave this terrific movie three out of four stars.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire takes place where Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and fellow victor/fake boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) come back together again to visit the towns that they dominated during the last competition.

She is under the menacing presence of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who is directly threatened to kill her friends and family if she doesn't participate as the government spokesperson. President Snow also has other plans to kill Katniss by using one of the hidden Hunger Games rules, both Katniss and Peeta undrawn back into the next games.

Director Francis Lawrence did a outstanding job of being in charge of this movie and taking the reins of this terrific film. Jennifer Lawrence was once again terrific and even better than she was in the last movie, and Josh Hutcherson was outstanding in his role as well.  Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Liam Hemsworth and Elizabeth Banks and many others are very solid in the roles.

I give this movie 3 1/2 out of four stars.

Keith the Critic's Best and Worst Movies of 2013

BEST MOVIES OF 2013
  1. 12 Years a Slave
  2. Dallas Buyers Club
  3. American Hustle
  4. Nebraska
  5. The Wolf of Wall Street
  6. Inside Llewyn Davis
  7. Gravity
  8. Saving Mr. Banks
  9. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
  10. Star Trek Into Darkness
  11. Fruitvale Station
  12. Mandela
  13. The Hunger Games
  14. Her
  15. Mud
  16. The Worlds End
  17. The Conjuring
  18. August: Osage County
  19. Good Enough
  20. In a World...

WORST MOVIES OF 2013

  1. RIPD
  2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
  3. Hangover III
  4. Movie 43
  5. Love is All You Need
  6. The Great Gatsby
  7. Pain and Gain
  8. Elysium
  9. The Lone Ranger
  10. Scary Movie 5

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

9th Annual ‘Slash & Bash’ 2013



Join Country Legends 1069 and our movie critic Keith for a real Halloween treat! The 9th Annual ‘Slash & Bash’ is a Halloween film festival featuring some of the original horror movies that’s fun for everyone. The event is free to the public but there’s limited seats. Enjoy a tour of the Historic Jayhawk Theater in downtown Topeka before heading upstairs to The Upstage Gallery for the movies.
100% of sponsor proceeds go to help the Honor Flight Network

MOVIE SCHEDULE:
11: 30am  “The Mummy” (1932)
1:30pm “Frankenstein” (1931)
3:30pm “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)
5:30pm “The Wolfman” (1941)
7:00pm “Nail Biter” (2013)
Director Patrick Rea will be in attendance for presentation and Q&A.
8:45pm “Dracula” (1931)

SPONSORS
Country Legends 106.9
Keith The Critic
The Jayhawk State Theater of Kansas
19th Street Saloon & Spa
Big Time Bail Bonds
Vintage Stock
Kansas Audio Video
Reeser’s Fruit Farm
CD Tradepost

Monday, August 26, 2013

Elysium

Matt Damon and Jodie Foster are two of the biggest stars on screen and they are two of the biggest stars outside the big screen. You would think putting these two huge stars together on screen would be make a no-brainer first-rate hit movie, but Elysium is an okay but not an excellent movie.

Neil Blomkamp who brilliantly directed District 9 is now back to direct Elysium. He did a magnificent job with District 9, but in this movie I don't think he did enough to satisfy the audience.

It's 2154 and all the wealthy citizens have left an overpopulated Earth to enjoy a life of leisure. They enjoy luxury on a circular space station called Elysium.  The population is consistently under control by the annoyance of this secretary of defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster).

Max played by Matt Damon is also in charge of taking care of childhood friend Frey (Alice Braga) and puts himself in charge of taking her to Elysium to cure her terminally ill daughter of Leukemia.

This is an okay movie but it just didn't blow me away. I think with stars like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster this should've been an excellent movie.

2 of 4 stars

Grown-ups 2

I have always been a huge fan of Adam Sandler, and while he doesn't always have great films, you sure have to respect some of the choices he made. I think that Punch Drunk Love is one of the best movies that he has ever made. I also thought that Click was terrific, then of course movies like Big Daddy, and his standup are hilarious to watch as well. And Grown-Ups 2 I thought was one of the best movies he's made in a long time because he Sandler also has made quite a few horrible movies.

Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Selma Hayek and many others all star in this movie that I think is as funny as the original. Sandler and Hayek moved back to their hometown because they think that it's a better location the raise the kids. So Sandler is reunited with all of his classmates.

There are special moments in this film are quite cool to watch but also there's a lot of nonsense, but it's a lot of fun to watch. The kids have grown up a lot even though Adam Sandler and the guys all cut out from work and run around and have a good time. The movie also stars Shaquille O'Neil, Colin Quinn, Steve Buscemi, and Stone cold Steve Austin as Adam Sandler's nemisis, but those are just a few of the stars the main entrances in this movie.

Grown-Ups 2 is an excellent movie where people act crazy and out of control and a great script makes it work. Sandler, Rock, James, Spade and the rest of the cast are all that is needed for a good time on screen. I think this movie is just as good as the first one because once you get in, just check your brain at the door and enjoy it.

3 of 4 stars

The Conjuring

I have seen many scary movies over the years, but I found The Conjuring more frightening than many other films released recently. This is as true story starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine. They come in to help the couple who moved into a haunted house.

Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) and their kids all moved into a peaceful, out-of-the-way house outside of town. Despite the haunting, they must stay in the house because they can’t afford to even think about moving. Unusual and frequent violent occurrences take place, and Carolyn discovers marks all over her body. The family’s dog is killed and their two girls are taken over by a violent spirit.

Ed and Lorraine are brought in to investigate all on the strange occurrences that are happening in this house. They discover there are evil spirits that are in the home, and these two individuals plus their friends join together to rid of the house of this evil that has invaded.

The Conjuring is a fantastic horror film that has spectacular, complex scenes that I thought made the film very complete. Wilson, Farmiga, Taylor and Livingston are all fantastic in their respective roles. I most like Taylor because she perfectly portrays the tormented person possessed by the Devil. I've always been a huge fan of hers I just wish he would make more movies that I like the fact that everything she performed in this movie she is fantastic.

4 of 4 stars

Red 2

In this movie, Frank (Bruce Willis) is living the easy life with Sarah (Mary Louise Parker). They are living a quiet, private life when suddenly Martin (John Malkovich), who comes along and they  are being chased by underworld figures. But Frank in turn changes his plan suddenly Marvin is assassinated in the parking lot of the lumberyard. Frank doesn't believe that Martin is actually dead, so he volunteers to speak on his behalf at the funeral. Frank begins to say that Martin all over his body but because lies there live and actually dead.

This adventure takes place all over the world with sharp shooter played by Helen Mirren, a Russian spy played by Catherine Zeta Jones, and Anthony Hopkins plays a prisoner who has been locked up for 30 years.

Red 2 I think is just as good as the first movie. The cast is all terrific led by Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Catherine Zeta Jones, Mary Louise Parker, Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins, who plays a man who has been in jail for over 30 years. All of these people are just outstanding and very entertaining in their roles. Dean Parisot did a great job of directing all these talented characters and brought them all into one movie. But he directed direct galaxy quest and I think that movie had a big cast well.I thought this movie was really good.

3 of 4 stars

We're the Millers

David (Jason Sudeikis)is a small-time drug dealer who wakes up every morning and waits for his phone to ring because there's always a customer on the other end of the line. He really doesn't have a job except for selling drugs. He has no family and no responsibilities.

One day, he gets home and he's approached by Kenny (Will Poulter) who asks him if he can have a job delivering drugs around the neighborhood. Suddenly he sees Casey (Emma Roberts) who is being attacked by the kids in the neighborhood. David finally decides to interfere and try out Kenny, and then he is attacked by the kids and taken up to his room. They steal all of the drugs that he has stored up as well as the cash.

Suddenly David is hiding away from those he owes money -- his old college buddy who is now the kingpin in the drug industry named Brad (Ed Helms). He kept with a plan for David to speak in Mexico agreeing the drugs act to the United States, but actually he has no choice but to go over the border to pick up the contraband.

David crafts a plan to move with a false family comprised of three other strangers down to Mexico to retrieve the drugs. He enlists Kenny and Casey to play his fake children, but he still needs a wife.

Rose (Jennifer Aniston) is a stripper that David meets and he invites her to go to Mexico in the guise of being his wife. She doesn't even think about going with this group to Mexico til she gets home and discovers that her apartment has been locked up and she can't even get into it. So she decides to surprise the family by showing up at the airport.

We're the Millers is one of the funniest movies that I've seen all year. The whole cast is hilarious and the directing is fantastic. You should go see this terrific movie. By the way, this movie is rated “R” because there is lots of bad language and nudity.

3 of 4 stars