Justin Bieber : Never Say Never

The tagline for this movie :  Find Out What's Possible If You Never Give Up. The inspiring true story and rare inside look at the rise of a street performer in the small town of Stratford, Ontario to an internet phenomenon to a global super star culminating with a dream sold out show at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Justin Bieber is the multi-talented pop sensation, but it took years of hard work to get to the point of sold out stadium shows. Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun is the manager of Justin who noticed his performance on the internet and saw his untapped potential. Usher Raymond IV is Justin's idol and one of his inspirations for performing, so it should come as no surprise that having Usher take him under his wing in the music label he is part owner in in a dream come true.

The documentary goes for the underdog angle of the building of a popular culture phenomenon that can be looked at as inspiring. I did not go into this movie wanting to like it, but I can say that after watching it I feel that it was worth seeing. I'm not a pre-adolescent so I do not see exactly what they get out of the music, but I do see the void that it seems to fill in those looking for something to call their own. The 3 D effects in this film were actually fun and at certain points blended perfectly with the scene they were used in. Congratulations are in order for director Jon Chu for delivering a documentary in 3 D that was part biopic and concert film. I rate this movie a Rated T.

Just Go With It

One of the taglines for this movie: Sometimes A Guy's Best Wingman... Is A Wingwoman. A plastic surgeon, romancing a much younger schoolteacher, enlists his loyal assistant to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant's children become involved, and everyone heads off for a life changing weekend in Hawaii.

Dr. Daniel 'Danny' Maccabee is a plastic surgeon who thinks he has found the love of his life, but when she finds his fake wedding ring that he uses to women into sleeping with him he must create a false ex-wife to cover up his past ways. Katherine Murphy is Danny's faithful assistant who goes along with his deception and plays the fake ex-wife, but due to a lapse in thought her own children become involved in the ruse and the situation becomes more complicated. Eddie Simms is Danny's cousin and best male friend who has gotten into trouble with some people he would not like to mention and joins in on the lie as Katherine's lover in order to get out of Los Angeles for a few days. Palmer Dodge is a sixth grade school teacher who has fallen head over heels for Danny, but when she finds his wedding ring after being with him the night before she assumes the worst and he does his best to convince her otherwise.

I really don't know what to say about this movie. It is based upon the French play Fleur de cactus and is the safest movie Adam Sandler has ever been apart of and it feels like something that would debut on ABC Family. The is nothing special about the film apart from its Hawaiian scenery and it seems to be a throwback to when that was all you needed in a romantic comedy was an exotic locale. The music used in the soundtrack were mash-ups of popular songs which did not work in most of the scenes they were used in and I found it a bit annoying. I rate this movie a Rated C. When it comes on basic cable, you wont even notice the commercials.

I Am Number Four

This movie does not have a tagline. An extraordinary young man iis a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. In the small Ohio town he now calls home with his guardian he is masking his true identity and passing as a typical student to elude a deadly enemy who has killed three like him already and he is number four.

John Smith aka Number Four is an alien with the powers of telekinesis and energy manipulation which manifest itself in a glow from his hands, but must keep his legacy gift a secret as he struggle to evade other aliens who wish to kill him. Henri is John's guardian who comes from the same planet but has no extraterrestrial abilities apart from the skill of a battle hardened warrior and is has been charged with the job of training John while keeping him off the radar of their enemies. Number Six is like John with the ability to teleport and shield herself from fire who has decided to take battle to her pursuers instead of running from them. Mogadorian Commander is the leader of a cadre of Mogadorian soldiers that are looking to kill 9 special children who are destined to fee their planet from the Mogadorians who have invaded it.

I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. I know it is based on the book of the same name, but I have never read it. I found the story engaging and even though it did remind me of the tv series Roswell, it was still a fun ride. DJ Caruso has delivered a solid sci fi movie and I am looking forward to whatever else he directs for Dreamworks SKG. The break out star for me in this movie is Teresa Palmer as the feisty Number Six, but it was interesting seeing Timothy Olyphant in a mature supporting role as Henri. I am looking forward to seeing where they go next in the sequel and what secrets will be uncovered. I rate this movie a Rated T.

Big Mommas : Like Father Like Son  

The tagline for this movie: Momma's Got Back-up. An FBI agent must become his deep-cover alter-ego again and his joined by his teenage stepson. When his stepson witnesses a murder they both go undercover at an all girls performing arts school to find the evidence the killer wanted before he finds them.
Malcolm Turner aka Hattie Mae 'Big Momma' Pierce is an FBI agent who uses his alter-ego to become a den mother at the dorm of a female only private performing arts school to find evidence hidden there and protect his step-son. Trent Pierce aka Charmaine Daisy Pierce is the wanna be hip hop artist who must disguise himself as the niece great niece of his step-father's alter ego in order to stay hidden from the man looking to kill him but while undercover he falls for a student at the school. Haley is an insecure girl who could be a great singer and songwriter, but when she befriends Charmaine she has no idea the journey she is about to take. Chirkoff is a Russian gangster who, with his thugs, want to kill Trent to prevent him from telling what he saw.

I didn't think there was anything left in this franchise and I think I was right. I like that they tried to change the setting a bit and it is obvious that the youth market is the intended audience for this third installment. I miss Nia Long's character in this movie, but I did like the part played by Jessica Lucas. I'm still surprised that Big Momma can now be called a trilogy and that this did not go straight to dvd. I rate this movie a Rated D.

Unknown

The tagline for this movie: Take Back Your Life. A man awakens from a coma after a car accident in Berlin, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity. No one, not even his wife, believes him  but with the help of the taxi driver who saved him in the accident, he sets out to prove who he is.

Dr. Martin Harris is in Berlin for a biotechnology summit but when he is involved in a car accident he wakes up to find that everyone seems to have amnesia, but him. Gina is the young woman who was driving the taxi at the time of the accident and also saved Martin from drowning when the taxi crashed off of a bridge and into a river, but she doesn't know why no one remembers him. Elizabeth 'Liz' Harris is Martin's wife, but she seems to have no recollection of him as her husband as she is with another man claiming to be him. Martin B. is the man now claiming to be Dr Harris and since he has all the credentials to prove who he is there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he is who he says he is.

The movie is based on the 2003 novel Hors de Moi by French novelist Didier van Cauwelaert. If you have read the Bourne Identity or watched Total Recall you can figure out the plot of this film, but Liam Neeson gives a performance filled with intensity and raw emotion that makes it feel new. Dark Castle Entertainment has ventured from their usual horror driven movies with this thriller and having Jaume Collet-Serra, who last directed Orphan, was an inspired choice. I rate this movie a Rated T.

Drive Angry 3D

The tagline for this movie: All Hell Breaks Loose. A vengeful father escapes from Hell to chase after the men who killed his daughter and kidnapped his granddaughter. He is joined on his mission by a young woman who lends him the use of her ex-boyfriend's car and they are tracked by a supernatural entity looking to return the man to Hell.

Milton is the man who escaped from Hell to rescue his granddaughter and exact revenge on the man who killed her mother with the aid of the Godslayer weapon, which he stole from Hell, that can utterly destroy a soul to the point that there will not be enough of it to have an afterlife in Heaven or Hell. Piper is a waitress who gives Milton a ride closer to his destination, but due to a chain of event winds up accompanying him on his vendetta to stop the man and his cult that absconded his infant grand child. The Accountant is an agent of Hell whose only purpose is to maintain the order in the prison of souls and to do this he must bring Milton back with the item he has removed despite the chaos he causes on Earth while trying to retrieve his quarry. Jonah King is the leader of the cult that has Milton's baby granddaughter and intends to sacrifice her in a ritual that will bring Hell on Earth and grant him unimaginable power if done at the right time and at the right place.

If you have been waiting to see the first modern 3 D grindhouse film then your wait is over. This movie wears its cheesy premise as a badge of honor and revels in its schlocky dialogue. The soundtrack is unapologetically full tilt rockabilly and 70's style rough and tumble road rage action is so strong you can practically smell the burnt tire tracks on the pavement. It is so committed to its own reckless abandon that sometimes it feels tasteless for the sake of being tasteless and any hipster can tell you that being hip for hipness sake is just not cool. It is one of the best best B movies to be shot in 3 D thus far though. I rate this movie a Rated B.

Rango

This movie doesn't have a tagline. A household pet goes on an adventure to discover its true self when he finds himself left in the middle of a highway in the middle of a desert after his terrarium falls out of his owner's swerving car.

Lars aka Rango is an ordinary pet chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, which happens to be a lawless out in the untamed West in desperate need of a new sheriff and someone to believe in. Beans is a desert iguana who may lose her family's farm if she is unable to solve the mystery of the town's water shortage and somehow link it to the water of unknown origin being dumped in the middle of the desert. Priscilla is a young cactus mouse who forms an antagonistic friendship with Rango and hops that he is the answer to the trouble all the adults in the small western town have been having lately. Tortoise John is a desert tortoise and Mayor of Dirt who has little concern for the plight of the towns people has he buys up the land of those who leave because of the water shortage to bring his own plans to fruition.

If you like Westerns then you will like this movie. If you like animated movies, then you will like this movie. If you like fish out of water tales, then you will like this movie. I just want to get the point across that this movie is worth watching for whatever reason you can find. For me I have seen a lot of movies that set a western in sci fi space, but this movie kinda set a sci fi space movie in a western setting if you look at the the different characters as belonging to an alien world that the main character is new to. This movie works on both level for adults and kids and is not afraid to borrow from comedic westerns of the past like Blazing Saddles, the Shakiest Gun in the West, Rustler's Rhapsody and The Three Amigos. The voice acting is flawless and the animation by Industrial Light & Magic is beautifully rendered with bursts of creativity that can be seen as nods to their day job as a special effects company. I rate this movie a Rated T.