Hit The Gas.

Drive: One of Ryan Gosling's numerous films that are sweeping the nation and every female American; let's hope the other movies are kicked into a higher gear. Intense, gripping driving scenes. Shady foul play. And more latex skin and fake blood than you would ever expect in a Gosling film. Playing a kid mechanic/free-lance driver, Ryan Gosling is very quiet and reserved, or is he? A rather upbeat beginning, bland middle (with the exception of crazy fight scenes), and strange ending; Drive gets your heart going then puts it on cruise control for the rest of the movie. On a higher note, it does give a new and interesting spin on a Fast and Furious-like flick that really surprised me. Is it worth seeing? I guess, just be ready for a lot thrown at you. And if you're into typical Gosling-heartthrob films you may be in for a rude awakening. Grade: C

It's Only A Game

Summer has passed and now it is time to kickoff the Fall 2011 movie season!

Moneyball: America's past-time is not all that meets the eye. There's coaches, players, scores, home runs, and saving the best for last, money. Lots of it. What happens with all the profits a baseball team has? Why are some franchises wealthier than others and why must we focus so much on the almighty dollar just to play a sport? All this and more with Brad Pitt heading up this cast as Oakland A's general manager, Billy Beane, who is looking to change a game in more ways than one. Supporting here is Jonah Hill (Superbad) as Beane's right hand man and Philip Seymour Hoffman. This film is very well done in taking us back a decade and reliving all the twists and turns the Oakland A's take in a majorly rebuilding and groundbreaking baseball season. A dramatic movie with perfect comic relief and Pitt hits a home run in a role one doesn't normally see him play. Highly recommended for any baseball fan; even if you aren't a pro the journey of Beane's Oakland A's does not disappoint. Grade: A

E.T.: The Paranormal

Hello. With me being a huge fan of the Space program and a once wannabe astronaut, it was pretty much a given that I was going to see the newest movie with my old dream as the focus. Hope you like it!

Apollo 18: Paranormal Activity + Apollo 13 + Signs + Alien + Hollywood = Apollo 18. Are there aliens on the moon? Was there an 18th Apollo Space Shuttle mission? Does the government keep secrets from us? (haha) This film answers them all. The year's 1974 and we are briefed with small background checks on our three stars but the rest is left to the imagination and screams of the girl sitting behind you. Giving the audience a one-on-one look at what it is really like to walk on the moon, the astronauts set up motion sensor cameras on the surface and inside the module to make the suspense grow more for what awaits them. This film had some very spine-chilling moments with its extraterrestrial visitors and caught myself off guard here and there. One thing I did take note of was how it took the paranormal and moon movies from before and "Hollywood-ed" things up; the face-huggers from Alien in particular and some minor "cuts and bruises" here and there. Overall it was creepy and unsettling at times but gives one the uncomfortable sense of being stranded and not in control. Great for a first date. Grade: B- 

Summer 2011: An Overview

The summer is pretty much over now and so I saw it fit to compile a list of the best movies I saw in theaters throughout this summer starting in late May until late August (#1 being the best and so on). Your thoughts! Enjoy!

1. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 2
2. Super 8
3. Larry Crowne
4. Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon
5. The Hangover Part 2
6. Cowboys and Aliens
7. Source Code
8. Friends With Benefits
9. Rise of The Planet of the Apes
10.Horrible Bosses
11. Fright Night
12. Captain America
13. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
14. Bad Teacher


That's a Wrap! Thanks for reading and as always I'll keep you posted!

Note: This list is going to be based on what I liked the most and least; not what other critics said or the general population and does not go by how I originally graded them.

Vampire Movie #1000

Fright Night: This was the first time I ever spent money on a ticket to see a "vampire flick". To my surprise it was not a complete disappointment. Starring Anton Yelchin (Alpha Dog) and Colin Farrell as two neighbors that lock horns when Yelchin is suspicious of Farrell's strange manner. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) and Toni Collette were pretty entertaining as a worried best friend and free-loving single mother too. While this movie did have it's share of scary and gory parts, it was 'creepily funny' as well with a few one-liners and some british humor thrown in by David Tennant (Harry Potter 4). Fright Night sure does have its ups and downs but is worth a watch. Don't expect Bella or Edward to be making a cameo appearance. Grade: C+

Planet of the...Apes?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: This was a movie that I let the commercials for it really get to me. After first seeing one before a movie a coupe months ago I was not impressed at all so as you can imagine my hopes were not high walking into the theater tonight. James Franco is a scientist finding the cure for Alzheimer's while doing periodic tests on different chimpanzees. One chimp is different (smarter) from the others being raised by Franco himself and becoming more of a human than an animal. There's the plot and the movie just takes off from there. The supporting cast was headed up by John Lithgow and Tom Felton ( aka Draco Malfoy). Throughout the movie I took note of how modern this movie is for being a prequel of a franchise that was started 40 years ago. The whole movie-making technique of "taking a concept that cannot happen, making it seem plausible, then convincing the audience that it could happen" could have been executed better by this production team and I felt some of the special effect of making the primates were too human-like. But nevertheless the ending did come in strong and was not what I, or anyone else possibly, was expecting. Grade: C

The First Avenger

Captain America: Here we have Spider-man on steroids. Literally. This is simply of turning the common man into super-man. Starring Chris Evans as Steven Rogers, our hero, and Tommy Lee Jones as Rogers' hard-nosed commanding officer during WWII. Going into this movie I was never much of an Avengers fan but it was cool how they incorporated Tony Stark's (Ironman) father as a weapons designer and big helper to Captain America himself. Since I grew up as a DC Comics reader I do not know how accurate the movie was to the original comic book but it was entertaining for the most part and could have used a better ending but I guess that's why he's only the FIRST Avenger. Grade: C+