Moana

PG
Starring: The voices of: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison and Jemaine Clement
Running Time: 1 Hour and 43 Minutes

This is such a beautiful movie! I loved everything about it. This is a showcase of the incredible Polynesian culture.
This is the story of a young woman, Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) who is fiercely independent and is the daughter of The King. She refuses to refer to herself as a princess however. She finds that she is the only person who can save their island from devastation and must take drastic action to do so.
She sets out by herself to save her people. She must journey over the reef into uncharted waters. When she finds herself in a terrible storm and washed up onto a strange island she knows she must depend on her intuition and strength to survive.
Along her journey she encounters the ever-so-daunting Maui (Dwayne Johnson). A self-absorbed megalomaniac. He feels threatened by her drive and determination to succeed. They join together and set sail on the open waters. They come across several enormous obstacles and yet they still seem to survive.
This is such a wonderful movie in every aspect! The story was interesting and Moana was a great and inspiring character. The movie in and of itself was spectacular! It was truly a feast for your senses. The animation was authentic and the colors were truly mind-blowing! Just a beautiful movie to watch, and the music was outstanding! I am going to go out on a limb here and I predict that this movie will surely rival the ever-so-successful "Frozen"!
Parents be advised: This movie is rated PG. There are a few scenes that are a little scary and might be intimidating to young viewers. There are some scary instances with a couple of new and unusual characters that could frighten young viewers. I think children of all ages will be fine with this movie.
I am giving "Moana" four bags of popcorn.

Free Screening of "SING"

To all of my friends and family, I am happy to offer you a free screening of the new movie "SING" on this Saturday morning November 26th at 10:00AM at The AMC Layton Hills 9 Theater.
This is a new animated movie rated PG and set to be released to the public on December 21st.
 This is going to be on a first come first served basis, so get there early!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the movie.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

PG-13
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Samantha Morton and Jon Voight.
Running Time: 2 Hours and 20 Minutes

Some of you might be surprised to find out that this is actually a prequel to the ever so infamous
 "Harry Potter" series by famed author J. K. Rowling.
This story takes place seventy years before young Harry Potter reads about the amazing adventures of
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) who is a Magiczoologist. Newt is transported along with Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) an aspiring baker and they find themselves in the middle of a secret community of wizards and witches in New York.
Young Newt always carries with him a very prized briefcase full of his very, very special magical creatures that have escaped from him. He gets help from Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), and Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) to help him locate them. While searching for them, they come across MACUSA, the Magical Congress of the United States, which just happens to have the same significance as Britain's Ministry of Magic.
The MACUSA believe that magical creatures endanger the Statute of Secrecy. Therefore, Newt is seen as a criminal to MACUSA.
Without divulging to much of the intriguing plot, there is not a definitive villain in this movie like Voldemort in The "Harry Potter" series. But, there is a twist in the plot at the very end that I certainly did not expect or see coming.
I found this movie to be interesting, intriguing and very enjoyable. There were a lot of fun characters, I especially got a kick out of Jacob Kowalski and the beasts were most definitely "fantastic"!
The Computer generated images were honestly off of the chart! The special effects were second to none. It was a great escape movie and totally entertaining.
Parents be  advised: This movie is rated PG-13. There were some dark and scary parts to this movie. As usual in these J. K. Rowling movies, there is magic and some intimidating dark magic. I think children over the age of ten will be fine with this story, especially if they are familiar with the "Harry Potter" movies and I think they will be wishing for even more movies to follow.
With that being said, "Fantastic Beasts 2" is rumored to be set in the city of love...Paris and set to be released on November 16, 2018, (only two years away)!
I am giving "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" three and a half bags of popcorn.

Dr. Strange

PG-13
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelsen
Running Time: 1 Hour and 55 Minutes

I had no idea what to expect to from this movie not being familiar with this character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is the story of Dr. Stephen Strange a world-renown Neurosurgeon with an impeccable reputation! He is sought after throughout the world for his incredible ability. He also has a somewhat love interest with a nurse who assists him with his surgeries, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).
 He is loving his jet-set life and the fruits of his hard earned labor when he gets into a terrible car wreck and his hands are severely injured! He feels hopeless becomes extremely discouraged.
Christine is devastated when she hears of his tragic accident. She does all she can do to help him, she tries to keep him upbeat and positive about himself.
His world is turned upside down and he is desperate to find some way to get any kind of help he can.
When he hears about a man, Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt) with a similar physical circumstance, he hunts him down to see how he had miraculously been cured. Pangborn refers him to a person in Nepal.
When he arrives in Nepal, he has to find this person and try and convince them to help him!
This person is "The Ancient One", (Tilda Swinton) who has the secrets of an undercover world of alternate dimensions. He has to learn to develop these so-called secrets to develop his own powers to encounter and defeat the evil and very destructive Kaecilius (Mads Mikkeksen).
Dr. Strange becomes very adapt at his powers and he also inherits a red cloak with magic powers all of its own.
I really enjoyed this movie! It has a bit of a "Harry Potter" feel to me as well.
The CGI was totally off the charts! The graphics were simply astounding! It was a total feast for the senses! It was unlike anything I have ever seen before.
I would definitely recommend this movie. The combination of Cumberbatch and the special effects are just the best!
Parents be advised: This movie is rated PG-13. I would recommend this for children over the age of ten. There is some pretty incredible CGI violence combined with the evil Kaecilius that might be intimidating for the young ones.
I am giving "Dr. Strange" four bags of popcorn.