Rated: R

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Runtime: 162 mins

Released: March 6, 2009

Director: Zach Snyder

Cast: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino

I finally saw Watchmen this weekend directed by Zach Snyder (300, Dawn on the Dead), which was originally a really graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The Movie is set In 1985, Richard Nixon is about to serve his third term as president of the United States and the world stands on the edge of destruction as the world’s two superpowers vie for nuclear supremacy. The only thing stopping the USSR from launching a doomsday attack is America’s Dr. Manhattan (played by Billy Crudup) a being with enough power to destroy planets and much else.

I never read the novel Watchmen nor am I familiar with the characters because I’ve never even heard of Watchmen before, that might be why this movie was “just ok” to me. I think there were too many characters to get familiar with; usually the audience is introduced to 1 or 2 main characters, but when you are trying to get them to care about 5 or 6 characters it starts to get fuzzy and boring. Not to mention the acting was just average.

The movie is also way to long, with flashback after flashback in the first 2 hours, by the time we hit the climax there is only 30 minutes left. With too many subplots (which come from out of nowhere) I think the only people who will enjoy this movie are fans of the novel, people who are already familiar with the characters.

Jenn Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr. 30 min.

Release date: July 24, 2009

Genre: Action, Adventure, Animated, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Cast: Bill Nighy, Zach Galifianakis, Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Nicholas Cage

Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer

G-Force is the first 3-D film to hit the big screen for Jerry Bruckheimer, who teamed up with Disney to produce this combination of live action and well-done animation. These exceptionally natural-looking Guinea Pigs each have a distinct personality and are to be trained by a covert government to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws.

tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of Sam Rockwell), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of Tracy Morgan), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of Penelope Cruz), a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of Nicolas Cage), the computer and information specialist.

I was quite impressed with the 3-d action, the humor is consistent and enjoyable, the story and special effects all work together to boost the overall effect of this film. G-Force is cute and fun and suitable for any age. I Suggest it to all, you will leave the theatre with a nice big smile!

Jenn Action, Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi 3-D, Animation, Disney, G-force, Guinea pig

Rated: PG

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Release Date: 15 July 2009

Runtime: 153mins

Director: David Yates

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Dave Legeno, Jim Broadbent, Bonnie Wright, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

In the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Volemort and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledor persuades Horace Slughorn, back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Professor Snape receives long awaited news. Harry Potter, together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis. (Source: IMDB)

carole Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Release Date: June 24, 2009

Runtime: 2 hrs 27 mins

Director: Michael Bay

Cast: Megan Fox, Shia LaBeouf, Hugo Weaving, Rainn Wilson, John Duhamel, John Turturro, Isabel Lucas, Tyrese Gibson

There is going to be another battle of big screen sequel hits this summer, with the release of Christian Bale’s Terminator Salvation which opens this May and Shia LaBeouf’s Transformers: Revenge of the fallen, which opens in June 2009.

It seems that most Transformers 2 fans are hoping that the plot is better this time around, to go with what could be an awesome sequel, possibly even beating out T4 this time in Box Office Grosses. The first Transformers which most fans claim was the best summer flick of 2007 grossed a whopping $70,502,384 on opening weekend and was nominated for 3 Oscars.

Revenge of the Fallen is the sequel to 2007’s Transformers, which was the first live action Transformers film. Shia LeBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, a human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots return in Revenge of the Fallen, but this time around the film introduces many more robots. When Sam Witwicky discovers the Transformers origins and their history on earth, the Decepticons must capture him for information. Also returning to the role of Mikaela Banes is super hot Megan Fox. That highlight alone is reason enough for young men everywhere to check out the movie.

The First movie surpassed most people’s expectations; a lot of fans are hoping the sequel will be just as good as or better than the first. The second Transformers movie is apparently much darker than the first one. Will T2 live up to fan’s expectations, or will it be a failure?

Jenn Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Release Date: May 21, 2009

Run time: 1 hr 54 mins

Director: Joseph McGinty Nichol

Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin

The highly anticipated fourth installment of the Terminator franchise, Terminator Salvation lands in theatres on May 21st. I just saw the newest trailer for the film and I must say I’m quite impressed with the special effects and the Nine Inch Nails track in the background is the perfect song for that the trailer. It kind of gets you pumped and wanting to see more.

I’ve seen the other Terminator movies, but for some reason I’m more excited to see Terminator Salvation. Could it be because Christian Bale is in Salvation? He happens to be a great actor who already played action hero Batman in the 2005 Batman Begins, and might I say he did a slamming job playing that role.

Box Office Sales for the opening weekend is making predictions of $80.1 million or more. I’ve been reading about some of the predictions out there and it seems that fan comments are leaning towards the new Star Trek movie making more money than Terminator Salvation, already grossing over $93 million dollars. Also coming out this summer is Transformers 2 (Directed by Michael Bay), another movie about robots but with a bigger budget and bigger storyline.

So I guess only time will tell which movie is going to be the biggest smash hit of the summer. We will have to wait for the Box Office Battle in autumn, but the predictions for Terminator and Transformers seem to be pretty much a tie at this point.

On another note there are rumors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton will be making cameos in Salvation. Now these are obviously just rumors, I don’t see how they would work these two into the story line. I guess it would make sense to have Schwarzenegger and Hamilton cameo in the film; after all they were the original stars in this franchise. But sometimes less is more. When Batman Begins and The Dark Knight came out we didn’t see Michael Keaton or Adam West appearing in the films and those films we smash hits. If Schwarzenegger does make an appearance do you think it will make or break Terminator Salvation?

Jenn Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Watch Trailer On You Tube

Rated: G

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Release date: May 8, 2009

Runtime: 126 min

Director: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Winona Ryder, Karl Urban

Finally it is here, the day Star Trek is released. Fans and non-fans alike across the country, and the world, have been waiting for this one for a while. Currently all I can picture is people over crowding the theater, dressed up as Spock and Kirk and other Star Trek characters, standing in line hours before the showing, making sure they get to be one of the first to see the movie. Will this movie live up to the hype or will this movie be another one of those over talked about films (like The Guru and Spiderman 3) that get built up too high only to disappoint in the end? Surprisingly after looking around the Internet it looks as though the director J.J. Abrams and Paramount are low balling their weekend box office predictions, estimating the movie will make $45-$50million on its first weekend, possibly so they are not let down if for some reason Star Trek does not break records. However the rest of the world, myself included, expect much higher numbers. I guess we will have to wait until Monday.
The latest addition to the Star Trek saga remains true to the epic story we are all familiar with. Being the prequel to the movie series it tells the story of how a young crew that controls the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise, came to be and how each of the characters found who they were as part of that crew. The story tells of James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine), a natural-born leader in search of a cause and reason and Spock (Zachary Quinto), who grows up on the planet Vulcan, an outcast due to his half-human background, who will become the first of his kind accepted into the Starfleet Academy.
Kirk, driven by a burning passion in any given situation and Spock driven by nonindulgent logic, could not be more different. As a competition between one another builds up they become noncompliant, combative adversaries, each equally unimpressed with the other, each going all out to be among the special few chosen to join the crew of the most advanced starship ever created.. The crew faces an excruciating first test that will set in motion the allegiance, camaraderie, daring and good humor that will bind them forever, an evil being that is set on threatening the existence of humanity.
So will this movie live up to the hype? I believe so, and in my opinion watch this movie as soon as you can because I am pretty sure you will be hearing a lot of spoilers once the first weekend is over.

carole Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Watch The Runningman Online

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Release date: November 13, 1987

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura

Originally released in 1987 and now finding new life on iReel.com, The Running Man is an action packed, steroid pumped satire of today’s entertainment landscape. Opening with the words, “By 2017 the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources and oil are in short supply,” the film leaves no doubt that it was not only prescient about the state of the world today, it was also way ahead of its time in describing the decay of the 20th century’s true opiate of the masses: television.
Loosely based on the novella by Richard Bachman (a.k.a. Stephen King), Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards, a good man wrongly accused and sentenced to compete on television’s most bloodthirsty reality show, appropriately named The Running Man. Winning brings freedom, but losing will cost him his life. Of course, well on his way to becoming the biggest movie star on the planet, my money is on Arnie to come out on top in a battle with futuristic hunters dressed in hockey gear and Lite Brite.
1987, when the movie was released, was an era when Cosby and Macgyver were two of the top rated shows on television and The Running Man’s portrayal of “reality” shows like Climbing for Dollars (where contestants are eaten by ravenous dogs if they lose their grip) and The Hate Boat was perceived as being farfetched. In today’s media climate of shows like Fear Factor, Survivor and the grand-daddy of them all, American Gladiators, the satire of The Running Man becomes a bone-chillingly apt indictment of audience’s ever increasing hunger for violence and the network’s escalating desire to feed that hunger. If anything, The Running Man is a far better film today than it was when it was released.
Of course, there’s no getting around the fact that, at its core, The Running Man is all about the action. The movie isn’t as gory as modern audiences have come to expect, but that’s not to say that it is in any way tame. Blades and bullets fly as fast and as furious as the many cheese-filled one liners Arnold serves up, and there are plentiful helpings of gruesome deaths; from impalements and exploding heads to one man who dies in a way guaranteed to make every Y chromosome in the audience to squirm. If I tell you that this is a movie where the hero fires machine guns one-handed, launches three classic one liners and has already piled up a body count of 20, all before the opening credits, you’ll know that this is a movie that eats dynamite and drinks gasoline.
Both Schwarzenegger and his co-star Jesse “The Body” Ventura went on to become governors, but in The Running Man they showcase a much more direct form of diplomacy, the kind that only an 80’s action movie can deliver. Watch The Running Man now, anywhere, only on iReel.com

Justin Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller