THE DARKEST HOUR (Dec 25, 2011)

Starring:  Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, and Joel Kinnaman

Director:  Chris Gorak

Rated: PG-13  -  Runtime:  89 min

Genre:  Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

I found this film to be a bit disappointing only for the fact that I had greater expectations for it and more than likely because there wasn’t any interaction with the aliens. You've gotta have interaction with something you can see in order to make it a good alien movie!  What movies placed the bar so high you ask?  Why would you need to look any further than “ALIEN” not to mention “COWBOYS AND ALIENS” and of course the one that took the bar to the top “AVATAR”.  

Now we are engaging in a fight with a invisible alien drawing it’s life source from the earths minerals..  Really?  Ok, but if it’s action and excitement you are looking for, please pass on this one.  If you’re a Sci-Fi junkie, you might like this to a certain extent, but once you have the desire to view state of the art animation I believe this will leave you somewhat wanting more when you leave the theater.

My Rating: 1 1/2 Mugs of Guinness - aka; 1 1/2 Stars for those not enjoying the better life with Irish Ale.

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AZ-Tom

WE BOUGHT A ZOO (Dec 23, 2011)

Starring:  Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, J.B. Smoove, Angus Macfadyen, and John Michael Higgins

Director:  Cameron Crowe

Rated: PG-13  -  Runtime:  124 min

Genre:  Comedy | Drama | Family

I need to say this is probably the best family movie I have see this year.  In the short synopsis that IMDb gave the film fell far short of what this film is actually about.  It is most definitely more than a man moving his family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.

This film is based on a true story, and the cast chosen to portray the actual individuals involved is perfect!  The cast, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), Duncan Mee, (Thomas Haden Church), Dylan Mee (Colin Ford), Rosie Mee (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), and Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) play out the story of a man and two children who had recently lost their mother/wife to cancer.  With that said, the story line could have been one of a dark saga but instead it is a great comedy/drama which takes the family through some rough times, but at no time was it dark and shadowed.  

You will fall in love with Rosie from the beginning and never fall out of love with the antics and drama that unfolds throughout.  Their father (Damon) is simply trying to do his very best to make a family atmosphere for the children.  The stumbling stone that was placed in their path is that the house they fell in love with was at one time a ZOO.  This is as far as I want to go with the movie, more will simply spoil your movie going enjoyment.  

Trust me when I offer this one up for a “MUST SEE”

YOUNG ADULT (Dec 09, -2011, Ltd Rel.)

Starring:  Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, and Patton Oswalt

Director:  Jason Reitman

Rated: R  -  Runtime: 94 min

Genre:  Comedy | Drama

Finally it opened up in this area, I guess they decided to take it off the Limited Release market and let the rest of us to try to minimize their losses... Read on, you will understand.

After looking forward to seeing this one, "yikes", I was not that impressed with the movie, even though it has a decent story line it wasn’t carried out in a manner that is going to make it a big box office draw.  Granted, it has Charlize Theron playing the part of a struggling writer, Mavis Gary and plays the part well.  After receiving an e-mail from her high school boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) notifying her of the birth of his daughter she is tossed into a state of mind believing that destiny has brought them back together.  Through the birth announcement she believes that he is reaching out to her in desperation by e-mailing her this message.  The movie actually went fairly well upfront, but as the story continues it becomes rather hum-drum and ends up being quite slow and meaningless towards the end.

I am certain that given the time and budget this movie could have been much better, but that’s hollywood for yah.

Note:  This film was written by Diablo Cody which was the same writer of Juno, and I’m sorry to say that this one doesn’t quite make the same impact that Juno did!  I am going to go out on a limb here and say I don’t think the casting or writing will win any acclaim in this film.  Having a total $12 million budget and only 30 days to film