The Hunger Games

PG-13
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Toby Jones, Jack Quaid and Amandla Stenberg
2 Hours and 22 Minutes

The Hunger Games take place somewhere in the future in the totalitarian North American nation of Panem. The people of Panem have a great life, they live in extreme wealth and have very futuristic high tech lifestyles. There apparently had been a rebellion of some sort in the past and the people of Panem have jurisdiction over the people of the 12 outlying districts. The district people have very little to eat and they live in poverty. The districts are required to send two teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18, both a boy and a girl to compete in "The Hunger Games" each year. These young people are called "Tributes" and it is considered to be and honor and an accolade according to the Panem people.
The Hunger Games only have one winner and that person is heralded as a "hero" to the people of Panem! Just one problem with this-these youngsters battle for survival, food and ultimately, their lives!!! They begin to turn on each other and some join together to form packs. This is a very disturbing story!
The main character is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteered to be a tribute after her younger sister had been chosen. Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) a strange looking woman from Panem pulls their names out of a glass bowl. Katniss could not bear to see her sweet gentle younger sister taken away as a tribute. Katniss is a very strong-willed, confident young lady who is fiercely independent and she is amazing with a bow and arrow. She is the very first tribute ever who volunteered for The Hunger Games. That in itself had set her apart from the others.
Also in her district is the young man named Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) who was chosen. He was terrified! They had encountered each other briefly once before.
They were brought up on the stage before all of their district people and then allowed a couple of minutes with their family members to say good-bye and then quickly whisked away with Effie Trinket on an ultra high-speed train to Panem.
When they arrive at Panem, they are overwhelmed at the city and the incredible lifestyle they encounter, it was completely foreign to them. They are introduced to the people in charge of The Hunger Games and eventually paraded around with the other tributes before all of the nation of Panem.
After being counseled by an alcoholic former winner, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) of The Hunger Games, they are released into the wild to fend for themselves! That is when the bloodbath begins!
All of this is being televised for the entire nation of Panem to watch, a reality show for their barbaric entertainment. They have a computerized scale where they can interject fireballs at the tributes and they also make giant wolf/hippopotamus looking creatures to attack them as well. She also encounters some horrible deadly wasps. There is no end to their corrupt ideas of how to torture these young victims thrown into this awful situation!!! It reminded me of the old Roman Gladiators. They have a loud speaker where they give them instructions and the also have a cannon go off each time a tribute dies.
Young Katniss is determined to fend everything off. She finally teams up with Peeta Mellark from her district after they announce they have decided to change the rules and allow for two tributes to win as long as they are from the same district. Which they later rescind. They become close and rely on each other for survival.
I found this movie to be very disturbing and dark and yet it was riveting to watch the story play out. I am giving a strong caution to parents on this movie! I think it would even be disturbing for young teens as well. I know they will all want to see it, especially if they have read the books by Suzanne Collins. I took my 24 year old daughter with me and she felt it was very dark too!
Please be advised that there is a lot of graphic violence and has some difficult situations to watch. What I found the most disturbing thing was that these people of Panem had no compassion whatsoever for these children. They were cavalier and they acted as if they were simply game pieces on a game board there for their personal entertainment! "May the odds be forever in your favor"!!!
I am giving "The Hunger Games" two and a half bags of popcorn!

John Carter

PG-13
Starring: Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins
2 Hours and 12 Minutes

John Carter has finally arrived! I'm sure many in Utah know that this was a movie shot here in Utah, Southern Utah to be exact.
I had no idea what to expect from this movie after seeing all of the trailers and the TV commercials. This movie is based on the books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the John Carter: Adventures on Mars series.
John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a confederate Army veteran who has lost his family and does not want to comply with the Army officers. He only wants to go to Arizona and find gold in a special cave.
When he finds the cave along with his superior, he has a strange encounter with a different kind of being!
He finds himself transported to the planet Mars!!!
There he has no gravity and he can jump up in the air very high. He encounters many strange and unique beings and because he can jump he is hailed as somewhat of a hero to them. He is especially looked up to by a cute little character named Woola that is extremely loyal to him, such as a dog is to it's owner.
He then encounters the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who is being forced to marry the enemy by her father and she turns to John Carter for help.
I found this to be an interesting movie but I also found it to be really jumpy and somewhat hard to follow. I got lost on several occasions but the special effects and and the characters were fun to watch and it reminds me a little bit of Star Wars.
I would recommend this movie for kids around 12 and older just because it is somewhat hard to follow.
I am giving " John Carter" two and a half bags of popcorn!

This Means War

PG-13
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Chelsea Handler
Running Time: 1 Hour and 38 Minutes

This story is spy pitted against spy. It is about two CIA operatives who work together and they fight international crime rings to help keep the world a safer place.
It stars FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) as the two spies. Tuck is divorced from his wife (because of his double life) they have one son and he is looking for love. He reluctantly decides to try online dating. FDR is a ladies man and has no interest in any long term relationships or commitments.
When Tuck arranges to meet a young lady through online dating, he meets up with Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). She was also reluctant to meet men through online dating and after her good friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) encourages her to do it, she signs up. She meets up with Tuck for a short date and then directly after runs into FDR at the video store where he notices her and won't take no for an answer when he wants to take her out. She finds herself going from dating no one after a break-up with a long-term boyfriend to dating two really incredible guys.
She has a fun job as a consumer tester in Los Angeles, testing new products for companies before they are released to the public.
When the two spies find out they are both interested in the same young lady, they try to out do each other with their dates and the time they both spend with her. She on the other hand has no idea that they know each other. She finds herself in a real dilemma. She is starting to fall for both of them!
Chelsea Handler was great as the friend married with children and living vicariously through Lauren's life giving her advice on the two guys and how to handle her relationships.
I really enjoyed this movie. It was just a lot of fun and a good escape movie. They had some fun action scenes with the spy sequences and the romance was fun and uplifting.
Parents be advised that there were some sexual innuendos, some profanity and adult humor. I would recommend this movie for youth 13 and older.
I am giving " This Means War" three bags of popcorn!

The Vow

PG-13
Starring: Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams, Jessica Lange and Sam Neill
1 Hour and 44 Minutes

This is a movie inspired by the true story of Kim & Krickett Carpenter.
It is about a young married couple who were married in an impromptu wedding ceremony that they performed themselves with their close friends. They had both written their wedding vows on menus from their favorite restaurant. They got into a car accident on a cold snowy night in Chicago when they were hit by a snow-plow. Paige (Rachel McAdams) is thrown through the windshield after she removes her seat belt and suffers traumatic brain injury. After coming out of a coma, she has amnesia and has absolutely no memory of her life with Leo (Channing Tatum).
Her memory goes right back to her life prior to Leo.
She comes from a wealthy family and she had a fiance and was attending Law School. Her family shows up at the hospital and wants to take her back to live with them so they can help nurse her back to health. As time goes by they try to get her to leave Leo and resume her former life. She decides to take their advice and go back to law school.
Leo is fighting for every second he can find to help her to regain her memory and the life they shared together. He struggles to keep his work going and figure out what he can do to win her back.
While she was with Leo she was a sculptor and had been commissioned for work for some businesses in Chicago. She was much more of a free-spirit with Leo.
After finding out that her father had had an affair with a friend of hers, she confronts her mother to find out what had happened to cause the affair.

After struggling to put her past back together, she finally comes back to Leo at the end of the movie and it looks as though they are going to try and make a go of it.
This movie is rated PG-13 for some sexual references, infidelity and Channing Tatum appearing nude from the back-side for a bit.
I found this movie to be way too cheesy and predictable. It wasn't the story that I had hoped for.
I was disappointed and let down with the story. I would recommend this movie for youth 13 and older.
I am giving " The Vow" two bags of popcorn!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Pg-13
Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock
2 Hours and 9 Minutes

This movie is loosely based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Johnathan Safran Foer.
I knew when I went to see this movie that it was going to be a tough movie to watch. The sensitivities to the 9-11 tragedy and the impact it has had on all of our lives, all of the changes that we have had to endure and just the heartache of it all.
This is the story of a young boy named Oskar (Thomas Horn) who has lost his loving father Thomas (Tom Hanks) whom he idolizes and he is extremely close to in one of The World Trade centers that was decimated on 9-11.
Oskar is haunted by several phone calls that his father leaves on the message machine reassuring his family that he will be okay. His father has always played a huge part in his life and has played with him and challenged him with puzzles and games to entertain him. He is an only child and after his fathers death he is left alone to live with his mother Linda (Sandra Bullock). His paternal grandmother lives in the building across the street from him and he is somewhat close to her as well. She has a man living with her who never speaks and keeps to himself. He later finds out that he is his grandfather with a sad history of his own.
Young Oskar is left heartbroken and devastated after losing his father! He is confused and lost at the prospect of never having his father in his life again. He has rage and anger and he is at a loss of being consoled by anyone because of his extreme heartache!
He has a cold and uncaring relationship with his sweet mother who is dealing with her own heartache.
A year after his death, Oskar finally goes into his fathers closet where everything is just the same as it was when he was still alive. He is hoping, searching for some kind of clue to help him solve the mystery of where his father is now. He reaches up on a high shelf and knocks down a blue vase that breaks, inside of the vase was a small envelope with a key and a paper with the name "Black" on it.
He maps out and devises a plan to go and search every household with the name "Black" in all of New York. He is trying desperately to find the lock that fits "the key" that was left in the envelope that he found.
He is absolutely obsessed with finding the right fit for the key! He takes a lot of risks and it proves to be somewhat scary. He befriends his grandfather who helps him until he can't take it anymore and leaves Oskar. He is saddened again at losing his grandfather but continues his search.
He finally contacts a woman whom he had previously visited and she helps him to find the man who has the lock for his key. He finally has found the acceptance and the peace that he needs to go on with the rest of his young life!
This was a riveting movie! It was especially close to my heart. I literally felt his heartache and his passion, his rage and his anger, I lost my own father when I was just twelve years old so I could totally relate to young Oskars deep pain! The sadness of this movie really is that there are so many young children who have been left fatherless and motherless by our 9-11 tragedy!!!
Parents be advised that it is very emotional and Oskar gets very angry, he yells and screams he also drops the F-bomb. Young Thomas Horn does and amazing job playing Oskar. This deals with real serious heartache so I would recommend this for youth 10 and older.
I am giving "Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close" three and a half bags of popcorn!

The Muppets

PG
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and The Muppets
2 Hours

It has been twelve years since there has been a "Muppets movie" made. Jason Segel, co-writer and co-executive producer is a die-hard Muppets fan and he stars in this new movie as well.
This movie takes place in Smalltown, USA. Gary (Jason Segel) a really sweet and innocent guy who grows up and his younger brother Walter (a muppet) stays the same and never changes. They are very close, the best of brothers and love each other dearly. They love the Muppet shows and watch the re-runs over and over.
Gary has a girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) who is a very sweet and naive girl that has patiently been dating him for ten years.
They decide to go to Los Angeles with Walter and celebrate their ten year anniversary with a special dinner. They also take Walter to Hollywood to find the Muppet Theater in hopes of helping the Muppets to perform "just one" more time at the Muppets theater.
When they arrive there they are very disappointed to find it in shambles and a greedy mean man, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) trying to buy it so he can drill underneath it for oil.
Gary and Walter are on a mission to save the theater and locate Kermit the Frog to help them. They want to save the theater and restore it to its former glory days. They have to raise ten million dollars to save the theater. They need to locate all of the former Muppets who have all moved on and are living their own individual lives. They travel all over with Kermit trying to convince the Muppets to join in with them. When Kermit gets back together with Miss Piggy, it was adorable! In order to raise the money they decide to host a fund-raiser at the theater. Tex Richman tries every way he can to undermine all of their efforts. It is successful and everyone is happy. Mary and Gary finally get to have their anniversary dinner and he proposes to her. There was a big song and dance scene at the end that was great!
They also have several cameo scenes from actors including Mickey Rooney, which was a lot of fun!
I absolutely loved this movie! I was so impressed that they stayed true to the original Muppets storyline. The songs were sentimental and very touching. It took me right back to the original TV series. I would recommend this movie for children of all ages. The parents will appreciate it and enjoy returning back to the Muppets they remember.
I am giving "The Muppets" four bags of popcorn!

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

PG-13
Starring: Robert Pattinson,Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner
1 Hour and 48 Minutes

Ok-here we go again! The last movie Eclipse, left off where Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristin Stewart) have decided to get married. So, that is where Breaking Dawn begins. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and Bella looked as radiant and gorgeous as any bride could hope to look on her wedding day. Edward looked dashing and seemed to be happy and excited as well. Jacob (Taylor Lautner) showed up and Bella spent some private time with him thrilled that he would come and see her on her special day. It was absolutely picture perfect. Then they left for their honeymoon. Edward whisked her off on a private jet to Brazil where they honeymooned on the Cullen family's private island escape.
It was a spectacular, romantic setting and things were a little awkward for the new bride Bella.
They consummated their marriage and with Edwards vampire strength, he broke the headboard on the bed. She also had some bruises on her body as well.
She immediately became pregnant (which was not suppose to happen, Edward was not suppose to be able to father any children because he is a vampire).
When Jacob became aware of the pregnancy, he was furious and went to the Cullen home and confronted all of the Cullen's. Bella reassured him she wanted the baby and for everyone to please accept it.
The pregnancy was very fast and taking every ounce of nourishment from Bella. She was starving and they came to the conclusion that she needed to drink blood (and a lot of it) to stay alive and also keep the baby alive. Bella became stick thin and very sickly! The baby was breaking her ribs from the inside out and she was very weak.
When she went into labor Jacob was also there and he helped Edward to deliver the baby. They had to perform an emergency C-section on her. This was a really graphic scene that went on for a long time. There was a lot of blood and it was hard to watch. Edward kept shaking her trying to get her to wake up. They were able to save the baby. Jacob went and saw the baby and he imprinted on the baby! Bella went unconscious and basically died. The only way for her to stay alive was for Edward to bite her all over and transform her into a vampire. Jacob was devastated and the wolves (Jacobs brotherhood) came to get and kill the baby. They had a big confrontation with the Cullen's and finally honored Jacobs wishes to leave them in peace.
After a long time, Bella finally woke up looking beautiful and healthy and had the standard vampire eyes that the vampires are known for.
This movie was extremely intense! This is definitely adult material. I know that a lot of young girls will want to see this movie, but I advise parents strongly that it is very graphic and intimidating. It made me squeamish and feeling a little overwhelmed. There was a lot of sensuality, brief nudity and sex, violence and a graphic C-section scene.
It definitely deserves its PG-13 rating! I would recommend it for youth 13 and over.
I am giving " Breaking Dawn part 1" two and a half bags of popcorn!