Review:     3.5 Stars     Rated:     R

Good cops, bad cops, undercover cops, rookie cops, and dead cops.  Director Antoine Fuqua shoots his way through the dark side of police work in Brooklyn’s Finest.  Staring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes (who, BTW,  is back after a 5 year break).

Plot: Three New York police officers take us into their lives as we see them struggle against the streets of Brooklyn.  Eddie (Gere) has seven days left until he retires; life and 22 years on the job has already killed him.  Tango (Cheadle) is an undercover cop who wants his life back because he’s forgetting who the enemy is.  Sal (Hawke) is a narcotics officer who needs money and is desperate to support his three kids and sick pregnant wife.  He risks his job and life trying to pocket drug money after police raids.

As expected this was a slow character driven movie.  In saying that, all the actors played their parts incredibly well and this made it easy to connect with each of the different characters.  The story line was a little loose, there wasn’t much of one until the end of  the movie where all three cops end up in the same location.  Not the best cop movie but over all it was a half decent film.  Final verdict …. Not worth spending full price at the theater, Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Review:     4 Stars     Rated:     PG

She’s back, and bigger than ever!  Or is she small, after all?  Tim Burton returns to the big screen with Alice in Wonderland, telling the story of Alice’s (Mia Wasikowska) return to Wonderland many years after her first adventure.  Although mostly CGI a bevy of famous actors play parts, including two of Burton’s favourites in Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) and Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen), with those two stealing the show as always.

Plot: Alice is now grown up but keeps having strange dreams of blue caterpillars and other strange creatures.  While at a party she follows a rabbit, wearing a waistcoat, and falls down a rabbit hole!  Those familiar with the original story will know what is coming for the next few minutes, but then the new adventures begin as Alice is whisked from place to place, meeting all the colourful characters again but without any memory of them, before finally reaching her destiny as the saviour of them all.

The start of the movie was a little slow, but, the scene did have to be set for what was to come, but it still did not feel to me that the movie really started until Alice fell down the rabbit hole.  From then on the story flowed fluidly and quickly, with humour, both dark and light, mixing well throughout.  As with most of Burton’s movies almost all the imagery throughout was a little surreal, but as always it worked.  Once Alice went down the rabbit hole it is just hard to find fault with this movie!

I saw it in 3D but there were few scenes were the 3D stood out (pun intended) and I think it would be just as good in 2D.  This movie is definitely Worth a Ticket to be sure you get the full effect.

-Andy Hughes

Review:     3 Stars     Rated:     R

Therapy and medication is not going to help these folks get better.  A remake of the 1973 classic film by George A. Romero finds a way back to infect the big screen again.

Plot: A small farming town’s water supply is contaminated and causes irrational thinking and behavior among the community. We follow Sheriff David Dutton, his wife Judy, and deputy Russell Clank, as they try to escape this plagued town that the military is trying to lock down and contain.  The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, and Joe Anderson, and was directed by Breck Eisner.

You are either going to like this film or view it as a waste of time.  It’s a slow paced movie with a few good jump scenes and a little bit of that horror movie gore thrown in.   It wasn’t too bad for a remake, but, the in between scenes really played out the drama role in the movie and it was a little boring.  I think the main problem, for me, while watching this movie was the lack of intensity needed to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next.  I did like the film but the big screen offers very little for this movie, Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Not Yet Reviewed:     4 Stars     Rated:     14A

Here comes the bacon with a side order of ham, pork, and a few knock-knock jokes in this crazy cranked-up comedy cop caper film called Cop Out,  directed by Kevin Patrick Smith

Plot: Nine year NYPD partners get themselves suspended when a set-up goes south.  Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges, played by Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, track down a thief who stole Monroe’s rare baseball card.  This then leads them to a Mexican drug dealer and more trouble.

While I really enjoyed Cop Out it comprises two distinct genres that are seemingly incongruous, but, in this case they work together pretty well.  The story follows the two mismatched cops while they battle a drug cartel and handle a wisecracking thief (Sean William Scott).  The two main characters play off each other very well and while not a pairing you might expect to see it definitely worked.  Watch out for Sean William Scott who did, in my opinion, steal every scene he was in.

The movie had the entire audience in peals of laughter many times, but this was tempered by some pretty brutal scenes; there is no real gore or hard core violence, but you know what is going on without it being shown.  The comedy and the ‘hard’ violence are mostly kept separate, and I think this is what lets them work together, the movie makers didn’t try to make the violence funny.  If they had I don’t think I would have enjoyed it so much.  The comedy does come and go, but there were two scenes where it was hard to breathe from laughing.  I would say that the first 5 minutes alone definitely makes this Worth a Ticket so that you can experience the laughs with others.  Make sure you stay into the first part of the credits!

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-Andy Hughes

Review:    4 Stars     Rated:     14A

There’s no shortage of straitjackets on Shutter Island.  It’s a cold, dark, damp tale brought to life based on a 2003 novel by Dennis Lehane, and directed by old timer, Martin C. Scorsese.

Plot: Leonardo DiCaprio is a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels, called to investigate a patients disappearance on Shutter Island. Teddy and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) find out that this hospital for the criminally insane is more than what it appears.

A smart and interesting movie.  I am happy to say that the trailers give nothing away to the mystery of the story.  I was not that interested in going to see this film because DiCaprio is not my favourite actor  but  I was quite surprised at how much I really enjoyed it.  There are good supporting roles by Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow.  The only critical thing  I would have to say is this;  the ending was drawn out a little too long even though I do understand why.  Definitely Worth a Ticket

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- Dan Kersey

Review:    3.5 Stars     Rated:     R

An updated remake of the film that virtually started the whole horror film genre, while staying true to the classic look of the original move directed by George Wagner way back in 1941 (source: Wikipedia).

Plot: Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father, Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline has come to investigate.

This movie was good, not great, but not bad either. The special affects, a-la An American Werewolf in London, were well done but stayed true to the original look of the classic movie, something I found very appealing in the movie. The movie also stayed centered around character and plot, relying little on special effects (also refreshing). However, there is a revelation about the middle of the movie which makes the rest of the movie virtually predictable. It has a good cast, notably Anthony Hopkins who plays his role to his usual eccentric characterization. Additionally, while the warewolf scenes are notably grotesque, there is really very little of it. Lots of jump at you shock value, but little else. If you are a horror afficiando, then this movie is worth seeing on the big screen, but if are a casual horror fan or if this movie only interests you for its cast, then Wait For The DVD.

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-Carl Constantine

Review:     3 Stars     Rated:     PG-13

Ahhh, love is in the air, especially on Valentine’s Day where a bouquet of  lovely film stars, hand picked, washed, and well dressed, can frolic around in this romantic comedy.  Director Garry Marshall known for comedies and love stories gives us his look into Valentine’s Day.

Break-down: Love, romance, and heartbreak are all a part of this story that focuses on several people and their lives over the course of Valentine’s Day.

This movie has a big cast Including Julia Roberts,  Ashton Kutcher, and Jamie Foxx but is, unfortunately a big let-down.  This is not to say that I didn’t smile or laugh when watching Valentines Day, but it was far from any real comedy.  In fact I’m not exactly sure what the main agenda was, or what the story was trying to bring to the audience.  Take out the Valentine’s theme and the movie was really just a big Moorpark.

I liked the idea of this movie, following the different people around, it wasn’t  hard to follow and worked well.  However, it jumped around so much that you didn’t get to know the characters well enough to feel anything for them.   No doubt it will be a good renter so Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Review:    2.5 Stars     Rated:     PG

Unlike a Greek salad;  there’s some good fun in store in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief .  A mythological adventure awaits in this story of young Percy Jackson, born 1/2 human, and 1/2 god.  This movie is based off a book series by Rick Riordan.

Plot: (Logan Lerman) is not just your average teen going through rough times, he’s got bigger problems.  Born the son of Poseidon Jackson has been blamed for steeling Zeus’s Bolt.  Zeus wants his toy back and if he doesn’t get it soon its going to be trouble for earth.

This movie was OK,  not that great and not that bad.  A good supporting cast, but not a lot of action in this film.  It was manly driven by the story of three friends venturing off on their quest.  It has a few good laughs and even better special effects.   I’m quite confident  it will be popular with the teens but unfortunately this movie didn’t have enough to warrant money well spent, and book readers will probably be disappointed as well, Wait For The DVD.

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-Dan Kersey

Review:    2 Stars     Rated:   PG-13

Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks and director Lasse Hallström, who is better known for music videos, bring this love story to the big screen

Plot: on leave, John Tyree, a young soldier, meets a girl named Savannah on Spring break and they fall in love.  John’s military career takes him away on many dangerous postings and the two love birds are only able to see each other sporadically.  The two keep in touch by writing passionate letters to each other.

Dear John: The Notebook it is not.   This film is an attempt to pull at your heart strings where the chemistry of the characters in the Notebook left you needing more.  Unfortunately it fails.  It leaves you feeling cold and confused, and was extremely typical.  This movie also became overly sugar coated quickly so you’re better off to Wait for the DVD, it will make a suitable breakup movie to watch with your girlfriends !!!

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-Nicole West-Blanchard

Review:     3.5 Stars     Rated:     14-A

Boom, Pow, Wack, pew-pew-pew, look-out below, Bang-splat.  These are some good words to look for while watching this action packed movie.  Director Pierre_Morel, (Taken, 2008), puts us on a fast moving ride inside the jobs of special agents, there here to save the world by stopping the bad guys.

Plot: Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has a job with government intelligence but feels he isn’t working to his potential.  Then one day;  Reece’s hard work finally pays off as he gets a new assignment and is partnered up with Charlie Wax (John Travolta).   Wax is much more then Reece anticipated as he struggles to get a grip on Wax’s methods.

This was a fun action packed movie that never let up.  Everything moved along quickly without any need of explanation to why or how.  Wax had all the right moves, all the right tools and knowhow to get the job done in each situation.  Two things I didn’t like;  the bad guys were stupid and real pushovers and  Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s acting was a bit cheesy in some scenes.  An easy movie to follow with good action sequences finds Did It Suck ranking it,  Mostly Worth A Ticket.

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-Dan Kersey