Jurassic World Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera (Condensed Podcast)

http://soundcloud.com/user197631536/jurassic-world-movie-review-by

Click the link to listen to a slightly different version of my review of Jurassic World! 

Watch the Goosebumps International Trailer

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/458027-goosebumps-international-trailer-features-more-footage

Click the link to watch the Goosebumps International Trailer!

Holy crap! This movie looks insanely awesome! 

The Giver Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera

Stars:
Brenton Thwaites - Jonas
Jeff Bridges - The Giver
Meryl Streep - Chief Elder
Katie Holmes - Jonas's mother
Odeya Rush - Fiona
Alexander Skarsgard - Jonas's father
Cameron Monaghan - Asher

Director: Phillip Noyce
Release Date: August 15, 2014
Genre: Action / Fantasy / Drama
Rated PG-13

The Giver could be likened to movies like The Hunger Games and Divergent but that would be an over simplification.

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) appears to be an ordinary teenager living in a somewhat dystopian community set sometime in the distant future. His friends, Fiona (Odeya Rush) and Asher (Cameron Monaghan), look just as ordinary as him.

In fact, everyone in his community looks pretty ordinary. They all dress in the same drab clothing and are completely devoid of all emotion. By which I mean they were all genetically engineered and modified to the point of no longer being able to feel any discernible emotions.

The sole purpose for doing this is to ensure the propagation of a completely gullible and non-rebellious race of people. Oh and in addition to not feeling emotions they also cannot see colors. They only see in black and white, even though they have no concept of black and white.

Then the day comes for Jonas and his friends to graduate and be assigned their lifetime careers. Asher is assigned the position of pilot, Fiona is assigned the position of nurturer and Jonas is assigned the position of Receiver. As in receiver of memories. The collective memories of all mankind throughout all of history.

Luckily, Jonas is trained to receive these ancient memories by the current Receiver (Jeff Bridges) who can now go by the title The Giver.

The Giver shares many wonderful memories with Jonas but he also shares some very hateful and violent memories with him. Jonas finds it hard to stomach them all but he is still grateful for being shown a forgotten yet important aspect of being human.

The more memories he receives the more he evolves into a distinct individual. Of course, this is considered to be very wrong by the elders of the community. The Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) eventually notices Jonas becoming individualistic but the only thing she can do to try to get him to stop is threaten his friends and family with uncertainty.

This movie has a great story, great performances by each actor, great special effects and great cinematography.

On a scale of 1 tamale to 10 tamales I give The Giver 8 tamales!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! My twitter handle is @buddhkist

:-)

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The Science of Sleep Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera

Stars:
Gael Garcia Bernal - Stephane Miroux
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Stephanie
Emma de Caunes - Zoe

Director: Michel Gondry
Screenplay: Michel Gondry
Release Date: September 22, 2006
Genre: Fantasy/Drama
Rated R

Dreams and reality become one in The Science of Sleep.

Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) reluctantly moves back into his mother's French apartment while she is away on business. He is promised a job as an illustrator at a calendar producing company. Of course, the job turns out to be more monotonous than he was led to believe.

Upon returning from his first day at work, he notices some movers moving a piano up to the apartment of a new tenant. They struggle to lift the piano up the curved staircase.

Stephane then attempts to help them but as soon as he grabs one end of the piano one of the movers loses his grip. Stephane's hand is then crushed by the piano.

His new neighbor, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), then appears and scolds the movers for losing their grip. Luckily, Stephane's hand is not broken. But it is bruised.

Stephanie then invites him into her apartment so she can render first aid. She also introduces him to her friend Zoe (Emma de Caunes). Stephane is immediately attracted to Zoe and attempts to impress her with one of his "inventions".

In addition to being an illustrator he considers himself to be an inventor. His inventions include, but are not limited to, 3D reality glasses, a mind reading helmet and a time travel device that only allows the user to travel back one second into the past.

He eventually gives up on pursuing Zoe but he also struggles to accept the notion of having any kind of romantic relationship with Stephanie.

In between all of this, Stephane frequently retreats into his own dream world. These are the scenes that are the most vivid and elaborately designed.
Stephane's dreams have a very child-like quality to them.

Unfortunately, he often has trouble differentiating his dreams from reality. It seems to be the main source of his frustration and inspiration.

I've yet to see another movie with the same look and feel as The Science of Sleep.

On a scale of 1 tamale to 10 tamales I give The Science of Sleep 8 delicious tamales!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! My twitter handle is @buddhkist

(I post mini reviews and pearls of wisdom on Twitter.)

:-)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera

Stars:
Megan Fox - April O'Neil
Will Arnett - Vernon Fenwick
Alan Ritchson - Raphael
Noel Fisher - Michelangelo
Johnny Knoxville - Leonardo
Jeremy Howard - Donatello
Tony Shalhoub - Splinter
Tohoru Masamune - Shredder

Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Release Date: August 8, 2014
Rated: PG-13

I've been a TMNT fan since the age of 9. I owned several dozen TMNT action figures, posters, boxes of trading cards, tshirts, pajamas, sweaters, pencils, stickers, bath products and so much more. I also owned the first official board game and the first videogame cartridge for the original Game Boy.

Naturally, I had my doubts when I first heard about a TMNT movie reboot. The original 1990 movie was done well, considering the technological limits back then.

But I must admit… I like the reboot! Specifically, I like all the scenes with the turtles. Now, I know Megan Fox has a certain amount of sex appeal but that's not really a necessity in a TMNT movie. That’s just my opinion.

If Megan Fox had portrayed April O'Neil with a little more fervor then maybe I would've liked her performance.

All the scenes with the turtles are awesome! Especially the scene in which they are sliding down a snow covered mountain/hill atop a semi-truck. That one is pure CGI gold.

The only other qualm I have with the movie is the fact that their origin story was changed. Though, I suppose it makes more sense since there have been so many technological advancements since 1990.

The final fight scene with Shredder is also pretty good. The entire movie is full of great CGI eye candy.

I can only hope the sequel, due to be released June 3, 2016, will include twice as many action packed scenes with the heroes in a half shell.

On a scale of 1 tamale to 10 tamales I give this reboot 7 tamales.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! My twitter handle is @buddhkist

:-)