Tuesday's With Movies: 11/12/13

Man of Steel: I never got into the Christopher Reeves version of Superman, so technically this is my first real experience with him - and I liked it. See review here. Looking forward to checking it out again - and for the next films in the series.

Turbo: Saw this along time ago in the theater and just finally wrote my review. This was a surprise for me - not a spectacular film, but much better than I thought it was going to be.

Prince Avalanche: I saw the trailer for this film, and I like both of the stars, however I just didn't see the draw to the film itself. I might actually check it out, though, eventually. It got some pretty decent reviews.

Paradise: A conservative woman renounces her faith after she is severely burned in an accident. She sets out to experience the world. Don't think I will look into this one.

Ambushed: Dolph Lundgren stars - yeah you read that right. I liked him in the Expendables films, but not sure I want to watch a full film with him in the starring role.

Tuesday's With Movies: 11/5/13

Grown Ups 2: I know Adam Sandler gets a lot of hate, and honestly he did not come across as a great guy in the original Grown Ups, but I actually liked the first film. And, so did my son. I am not sure if the second can be as good - they usually aren't - but I definitely want to give it a shot.

White House Down: This is the second White House film to be released - the first was Olympus Has Fallen - and I have not seen either yet. I will definitely be watching both at some point - looking forward to seeing which is better.

Girl Most Likely: Kristen Wiig did a pretty decent movie awhile back called Bridesmaids. But, the last few films I have seen from her being released on DVD, I had never once heard of being in the movie theater. What is up with that? Bad selections by her?

Parkland: The day that John F. Kennedy was shot. Not sure if I will check this one out - it's been told so many times.

Lovelace: The story of Linda Lovelace, the porn star mostly known for her work on Deep Throat. Will probably check this one out at some point.

Syrup: A guy gets a million-dollar idea and he must learn to trust his female counterpart to help see his idea through. Maybe on cable.

Fitzgerald Family Christmas: Now adults, the children of the Fitzgerald family await for the return of their father, who walked out on them 20 years ago. I will probably check this out.

As I Lay Dying: Story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family trying to honor her wish to be buried in a neighboring town.

Passion: A manipulating boss and her protege have a large rivalry that goes way too far.

Theater Review: Turbo

I am so far behind on my reviews again. I had to at least sit down and get this theater review out - especially since the film is dropping on DVD next week.

Anyway, I definitely was not expecting anything when I went to see Turbo. My parents came up to visit and took my son to see it - and I tagged along.

But, I really came away surprised - I really enjoyed it.

Turbo (Ryan Reynolds) is a snail that has the need for speed. He stays up at night watching videos of his favorite race car driver, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader) and dreaming of being a racer himself. For a snail, he might actually be one of the faster ones - but he is still a snail.

During the day, he works in a tomato garden with a lot of other snails, including his brother Chet (Paul Giamatti), who is sort of in charge of the garden crew. On his breaks, instead of eating, Turbo pretends to be fast - and it is beginning to wear on his brother, who wants him to grow up.

Turbo leaves the tomato garden for a walk one night and wishes on a 'star' to be fast, and he gets sucked up into a super charged car - and he gets soaked in nitrous oxide that gets sucked into his DNA. And, you guessed it - Turbo becomes super fast.

So, he goes to show off for the garden crew - and manages to crush most of the garden, which gets himself and his brother fired. As they fought, Chet is scooped up by a crow - and Turbo heads off to rescue him.

Both of them are soon picked up by Tito (Michael Pena) and taken back to a forgotten strip mall where he works with his brother Angelo (Luis Guzman) at a taco stand. Tito likes to race snails, and uses some souped up shells to make the snails faster - however, everyone is blown away but what Turbo can do.

Tito soon comes up with an idea to rescue the taco stand - and the strip mall. He decides to enter Turbo in a race with actual race cars - including racing against his ideal Gagne.

As I said, I went into this not really expecting much - but I found myself pretty entertained. No, it isn't the greatest animated film, heck it probably isn't even the best of the year. But, I was definitely entertained throughout, so it gets my vote of approval.

The interaction between the brothers, both Tito and Angelo, and Chet and Turbo is pretty good. The strip mall crew: Paz (Michelle Rodriguez), Bobby (Richard Jenkins) and Kim-Ly (Ken Jeong) were also pretty fun to watch. Then there were the other snails that get raced: Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson), Burn (Maya Rudolph), Smoove Move (Snoop Dogg), Skidmark (Ben Schwartz) and White Shadow (Michael Bell) - a lot of laughs during their scenes.

Again, not breaking new ground here with this film - but for a film that I really didn't even think about seeing, I really enjoyed it.

Grade:

Tuesday's With Movies: 10/29/13

Monsters University: Each year for many years in a row Pixar has released a film, and it is pretty much appointment viewing for me and my family. So, of course this one was on my list to see this summer. Review is here. I definitely look forward to seeing it again.

R.I.P.D.: This took some hits from the critics - it looks a lot like Men in Black which I happen to really like. So, of course I will give this one a try. I try my hardest not to listen to critics - or even what the public says - I like to my my own decisions. Perhaps this might be decent - at least to me.

Byzantium: Wow, even with just three movies releasing this week they still manage to sneak in a 'horror'-type flick. Honestly, for the week of Halloween I was expecting a ton more

Tuesday's With Movies: 10/22/13

Conjuring: This apparently got some pretty good reviews and a lot of people enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, will not be checking it out.

Internship: Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are together again. There last comedy project together (as the two main stars) was a major hit in Wedding Crashers. But, this one seemed to fizzle at the box office. Doesn't mean I won't give it a try.

Way, Way Back: Kid goes on a summer vacation with his mother, his mother's asshole boyfriend and the boyfriend's daughter - and doesn't really fit in with them. So, he finds a new friend in a manager of a water park. Looks like it might be pretty good - I will look at it.

Before Midnight: I have heard some good things about this trilogy, but I have yet to see any of the films in it - and I don't think I will rush to check them out either, maybe at some point. For now, no point in seeing this one without the others.

Only God Forgives: Ryan Gosling is a drug-smuggler in Bangkok - and after his brother's death, his mother pleads with him to track down who did it and return the favor. Gosling has done some good work as of late, I think I will give it a try.

I Give It a Year: A couple that are complete opposites find love and are completely happy - and they get married. Their friends and family don't think the marriage will last - and as the one-year anniversary approaches, the couple faces temptations. Might be worth a look.

As Cool As I Am: A young girl, whose parents had her when they were teenagers, begins to believe that their marriage isn't as solid as she believed. Not really sure I will look into this one.

Dead in Tombstone: Anything with Danny Trejo has to be good, right? This one reminds me of a television movie I once saw called Purgatory. I probably liked that one more - perhaps I will see this at some point, just not right now.