Collateral Beauty

PG-13

                                                                         Starring: Will Smith, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, 

                                                              Michael Pena,Naomie Harris, Keira Knightly,

                                              Kate Winslett and Jacob Lattimore

                                                      Running Time: 1 Hour and 34 Minutes

I was always intrigued by the previews of this movie and I thought it looked like it would be a good story, so I really wanted to see it. I had no clue how the story would play out, but once it started, I was hooked. Will Smith stars as Howard, he works for a high-powered advertising agency in New York City. He finds himself retreating from his duties after he is overwhelmed by personal tragedy. He had always worked closely alongside his team members which include; Whit (Edward Norton), Claire (Kate Winslet) and Simon (Michael Pena). They really love one another and they were more like family than co-workers.They are all trying desperately to keep up with the game when Howard is getting more and more lost trying to deal with his own issues. As time goes by, he is becoming incapacitated with his grief and completely shuts off from his team and the outside world as well.

Each of the team members are having their own personal issues as well, but they are still trying desperately to hold it together and win more accounts to keep their jobs.

Whit is suffering because he was unfaithful to his wife and his young daughter wants nothing to do with him and it is tearing his heart out. Claire is becoming frustrated because her biological clock is ticking by and she wants desperately to fall in love and have a family of her very own. Simon is working hard to take care of his wife and child when he receives devastating news about his own  health and is trying to cope the best that he can.

Howard  writes three letters, one to Love, one to Time and one to Death, trying to receive answers to his heart wrenching dilemma.

He comes into contact with three individuals, Brigitte/Death  (Helen Mirren)., Amy/Love (Keira Knightley) and Raffi/Time (Jacob Latimore). When he is finally able to connect his letters to these three individuals, he begins to understand how these three actually do connect and work in harmony together. Every one of these characters were dynamic. They all had a great story of their own!

I found this movie to be so intriguing and so interesting that it just consumed my every emotion. There is so much depth and beauty to this story. I have to admit, this was a tough movie to watch and I think it would be difficult for anyone experiencing any kind of tragedy or or the loss of a loved one recently.

Parents be advised: This movie is rated PG-13. I don't believe children under the age of 13 should go to this movie. I think the subject matter is too intense and the grief sequences are difficult to watch. Much better left to older teenagers and adults. There was nothing objectionable outside of the fact that there was one F-bomb dropped.

I am giving "Collateral Beauty" four bags of popcorn.

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.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

PG-13
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot
Running Time: 1 Hour and 41 Minutes

Take a regular suburban couple just living their  traditional lives and interject an international espionage "super-couple" who just happen to move in right next door to them and all chaos breaks out.
Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifiianakis) works as a human resources officer in an aeronautics firm. His wife Karen (Isla Fisher) is an interior designer and they have two sons that they had sent away to summer camp when the Joneses move in. Karen notices things happening that don't seem to be adding up in her opinion. Jeff just thinks she is making too big of a deal out of it all and she is feeling uneasy with the kids gone.
When the Joneses, Tim (Jon Hamm) and Natalie (Gal Gadot) come over and introduce themselves, they give the Gaffney's a gift. It is a sculpture that just happens to have a bug planted into it.
 Jeff invites them over to the big neighborhood summer party "Junetoberfest" to get acquainted with everyone. When the Joneses show up at the party, they are the talk of the town! Natalie swoons all the men with her stunning beauty and her dart throwing accuracy and Tim gets inside the Gaffney's home to search for information about Jeff's work.
One thing after another starts to add up and Karen finally convinces Jeff that things are not as they appear to be. When they get caught in the middle of a bad situation, the Joneses just happen to be there to save them and things really take off from there.
This movie is a comedy and it really was a lot of fun. They have been advertising it on TV as a diversion to all of the seriousness of the nation and the election at hand. There were so many fun and just downright silly scenes that you couldn't help but laugh. If you do need a lift and an escape from all of the election craziness, this movie will fill that bill.
Parents be advised: This movie is rated PG-13, this is not a movie for children. I wouldn't allow children under the age of fourteen. There is discussion of sex, partial nudity, lingerie, and adult themes. There is also violence, language, plus the infamous F-bomb is dropped once.
I am giving "Keeping Up with the Joneses" two and a half bags of popcorn.

Pete's Dragon

PG

Starring: Robert Redford, Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Wes Bentley, and Karl Urban
Running Time: 1 Hour and 42 Minutes

To be completely honest, I was not a fan of Disney's 1977 original movie "Pete's Dragon".
That was the movie starring Helen Reddy and I did not enjoy it at all, so I was very skeptical about how this new version was going to play out.
I was actually pleasantly surprised. This was a sweet and sentimental movie with a magical touch.
This story takes place in New Zealand where young Pete (Oakes Fegley)  has been orphaned since he was five years old. He survives by living in the forest where a giant dragon named Elliot befriends him and takes him under his wing. The two of them form a unique and loving bond living in a very isolated area.
There is a legend among the local townspeople of a very large and mythical dragon who lives in the forest! A man named Meacham (Robert Redford) claims to have actually seen the dragon in the forest. All of the people are reluctant to believe his story.
When the local loggers start to cut away at the forest, Pete and Elliot encounter humans for the first time. When Pete is discovered by a woman named Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her boyfriends daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), they take the bedraggled young boy into town with them where they try to figure out who he is. They discover that he is the lone survivor of a car wreck where both of his parent's were killed six years ago. They take Pete to the hospital for an evaluation where he escapes and they set out to try and find him.
I enjoyed this movie and found the magical relationship between Pete and Elliot the dragon to be heartwarming and touching. This is a great movie about imagination, determination and love.
Parents be advised: This movie is rated PG. There a a couple of scenes that might be difficult for young children to see, especially if they have pets and love animals. I think children over the age of seven are are appropriate to see this movie.
I am giving "Pete's Dragon" three bags of popcorn.