A weekend with a mixed bag of films to choose from: a comedy, an adventure-sci fi, and a crime thriller. Check out what we had to say about them.
The Night Before, I Really Liked It!
By Sandra Olagues
I thought they succeeded in making a Christmas movie that was both funny and somewhat heartfelt, especially for an over 21 audience. Typical of Seth Rogan movies, he does a bunch of drugs throughout the movie, but it produced a lot of laughs with the audience. My hands down, favorite scene is, when they go to a FAO Schwartz; and reenact the scene of Tom Hanks, playing the giant keyboard in the Christmas movie Big, but instead play a Kanye song.
L-r: Seth Rogan, Anthony Mackie
and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
I also appreciated that they had a good balance of girl comedians in the movie, like Ilana Glazer (Broad City), who has the best cameo and is hilarious. I would say this movie is good for guys and girls. Since most comedies are filled with men only. Miley Cyrus was a surprise to see in the movie but throwing in famous singers is getting tired in my opinion—because they’re never really funny.
Director Jonathan Levine (50/50) brings us three longtime pals, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) who have been getting together for a decade, for a Christmas Eve reunion. Now that they’re entering adulthood, the tradition is coming to an end, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball–the Holy Grail of Christmas parties. And that’s when the adventure starts.
Overall, good movie!
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2—The Franchise Comes to an End
By Kelly Stewart
The last installment of the Hunger Games franchise is here, Mockingjay 2. I’m familiar with the books and I’ve been a fan of the movies. And below is my take on Mockingjay 2 that opens on November 20.
We cannot control the circumstances in our lives but we can decide how those circumstances will shape us.
In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself in this reality. The movie opens reminding us of Peeta’s (Josh Hutcherson) attempt on her life and she begins to recognize that she is in another form of the games. True to the other films. Katniss finds the advice and explanation from the leaders unsatisfying, which in turn leads us all down a dark and somewhat unpredictable journey.
Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence
For those unfamiliar with the book series, you are left on the edge of your seat as each decision Katniss makes comes with a cost. You find yourself wondering if anyone will survive President Snow’s schemes and the plot twists keep you from writing off the end of the film.
The message that the film carries holds true to the end and we are reminded that the only way to survive the brutality of this world is to look for the good done by others everyday. It may be a tiring game but as Katniss tells us, “There are worse games to play.”
Starring Liam Hemsworth, Natalie Dormer, Mahershala Ali, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Jeffrey Wright, and Donald Sutherland.
Secret In Their Eyes is NOT El secreto de sus ojos
By Angela M. Ortíz
I’ve come across two descriptions about this film to see if it would help me in my writing about it. Because I’ve had a hard time at it—one: Secret In Their Eyes is an intense, powerful, haunting thriller, it should have been. Two: miscast, misguided and misbegotten, and I agree.
Julia Roberts
The film is about a tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered. The film is a remake of the 2009 Argentine thriller that won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film, but it just wasn’t working for me.
It has a great pedigree, written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games), and produced by Academy Award® winner Mark Johnson (Rain Man, Breaking Bad), and starring Academy Award® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Academy Award® winners Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts. It even has, Alfred Molina, Dean Norris, Michael Kelly, and Lyndon Smith.
One good thing I can say about the film is Julia Roberts is very good in it. Now, we’ll have to see how it opens in theaters.
