Legend

Legend is based off of the book written by John Pearson about the Kray brothers. The film is written and directed by Brian Helgeland. It stars Tom Hardy, Taron Egerton, Emily Browning, and David Thewlis.

Summary: The story is told by Frances Shea (Emily Browning) about Reggie and Ronnie Kray (both played by Tom Hardy), identical twin brothers who become two of the most notorious criminals in English history. It takes place in the 1960s in the East End of London. The story revolves around the relationship between Reggie and Frances; they meet and fall in love but she must come to terms with how she feels about the terror and violence Reggie and his brother are exacting into the city. Throughout the film Reggie and Frances fall in love and get married, despite Ronnie's objections. Frances learns of Ronnie's mental health issues and hoe aggressive and violent he can be. When their marriage starts to fall apart Frances moves out and in with her brother. When Reggie goes over to apologize to her he finds that she has committed suicide.

Review: I really appreciated the artistic vision behind this movie and how every last detail was true to the time period. Each actor gave a fabulous performances and I think Tom Hardy deserves more recognition for taking on the roles of TWO characters and plays them to where they are so different that you have to remind yourself that it is the same actor. The script was very well written and the chemistry between Emily Browning and Tim Hardy was felt. I recommend this movie to those who appreciate gangster movies and even if you don't this movie has romance that gives perspective to those watching.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is based off of the children book written by Rudyard Kipling. The screenplay was written by Justin Marks and was directed by Jon Favreau. It stars Neel Sethi (as the only human main character), Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Christopher Walken.

Summary: Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a a human boy found by the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and is raised by a pack of wolves. When drinking from the water hole the animals of the jungle are confronted by the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) who thinks he is going to kill them all when he becomes a man so he wants to kill Mowgli to stop that from happening. The wolves defend the boy and that night they discuss whether or not he should leave the pack and go to a man-village. Mowgli says he wants to leave so that no one gets hurt; he is lead by Bahgeera into the jungle. As they are crossing a field of grass Bagheera senses something wrong, Shere Khan jumps up from the grass and Mowgli flees. Bahgeera and Mowgli are separated and soon the boy finds himself hypnotized by the snake Kaa (Scarlett Johnasson) and the bear Baloo (Bill Murray) saves him. When Mowgli wakes up Baloo tells him what happened and asks for a favor since he saved the boys life. He sends Mowgli up the side go a cliff to retrieve honey for him. When Mowlgi is done he starts to leave for the man-village; Baloo tells him that they can team up and be themselves together and have fun. Mowgli decides to stay until winter. Bagheera finds Mowlgi and finds out that the boy wants to stay with Baloo. Bagheera and Baloo talk and they decide that it is best if Mowgli leaves to the village. Ball lies to Mowgli and says that he doesn't want him there anymore, which causes Mowgli to take refuge in a nearby tree. Monkeys whisk the boy away and Baloo and Bagheera pursue them. Mowgli finds himself at the home of King Louie who says he wants Mowlgi to make him fire but Mowgli doesn't know how. Bagheera and Baloo enter and all of the monkeys attack them as Mowgli is try to escape King Louie. King Louie tells Mowgli that Shere Khan killed the leader of the wolf pack, the "father" of Mowgli, and then the palace of King Louie collapses on top of him. Mowgli runs away from Baloo and Bagheera and heads to the man-village where he takes fire from them. He is running through the jungle and gets to where the wolf pack and Shere Khan are and tells him that he isn't afraid of him and that he won't turn out like the men Shere Khan talks about. As he says that Shere Khan tells Mowgli to look behind him and the jungle is on fire. Mowgli throws the touch into the water and Shere Khan tell him that was stupid of him to do. Baloo attacks Shere Khan and is bitten on the neck, the wolf pack charges at Shere Khan and Mowgli runs into the jungle. Where Khan fights through the wolves and pursues the boy. Mowgli gets a vine and a tree branch and ties them together all the while keeping an eye out for Shere Khan. The tiger finds him and they run through the branches; Mowgli walks across a dead branch and Shere Khan tries to follow him but Mowgli jumps to the branch tied to the vine and swings out of the way as Shere Khan falls to his death in the fire below. Mowgli returns to the other animals and they greet him as a hero. The elephants put out the fire and peace is restored to the jungle.

Review: This movie could not have been more perfectly cast. I absolutely loved Neel Sethi and was impressed by his acting skills since this was his first film. This is very true to the animated film and to the book more so. It was aesthetically stunning and the animals were very real looking, they weren't cheesy looking and they blended well with the human boy. I highly recommend this movie for anyone who loves and grew up with the animated film because it does not disappoint!

The Martian

The Martian is a Sci- Fi Drama book by Andy Weir adapted into a movie, the screenplay is done by Drew Goddard. This space adventure is directed by Ridley Scott and has an all-star cast made up of Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wigg, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Summary: A space team is sent to Mars to gather samples and see if life could one day be possible on the planet. The team consists of Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) the Commander, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) a botanist, Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara) an IT expert, Rick Martinez (Michael Pena) pilot of the space craft, Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) the flight surgeon, and Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie) the navigator and chemist. They learn that a severe storm is approaching so the Commander aborts the mission and everyone heads to the space craft. Debris is flying around and they make it to the ship but Watney gets struck by a large piece of debris and is knocked out of the sight of the others. The Commander searches for him while the rest of the crew is aboard the ship but fails to find him. They all agree that he is dead and decide to leave. The next day Watney wakes up to find that his crew is gone and that he is now stranded on Mars by himself. The rest of the movie consists of Watney coming up with ingenious ways to survive and make contact with NASA to let them know that he is alive and well. Once he makes contact with them they have to figure out a way to get him back before he runs out of supplies. The crew finds out that he survived and although the trip from Mars to Earth is long they decide that they will go back and try to rescue him. The crew is able to retrieve Watney and head towards Earth safely. A year later Watney is teaching a class to aspiring astronauts and he tells them of his struggle on Mars. He then tells the moral of the story: if things should go south, you either accept your fate or you start solving problems, because thats how you survive- by overcoming one problem after another. It cuts to scenes of the other crew members: Martinez is going back into space, Lewis is watching the launch at home with her husband, Vogel is with his family, and Johanssen and Beck have gotten married and are in the hospital with their new baby watching the launch on TV.

Review: If you liked Interstellar and Gravity then you will love The Martian. It is a testament to how powerful the human will is and that by solving one problem at a time you can achieve great things. All of the actors carried their weight and when delivering their lines they seemed to really know what they were talking about, even when it came to the math and science portions of the film. Matt Damon was funny and relatable, he was a fantastic pick for the lead and he did not disappoint. It was so awesome to see a female as the Commander of a space mission and who was so incredibly knowledgeable about science and math. The only thing that threw me off about this film was Kristen Wigg playing in a dramatic role, it seemed strained and forced. Other than that I think this movie was top notch and the effects were nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend this movie and I know I will be watching it many more times.

Deadpool

Deadpan is written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, its is directed by Tim Miller. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin, and T.J. Miller. This movie is NOT for children and it isn't the typical super hero movie and there is heavy violence, cursing and sexual content.

Summary: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is ex Special Force and turned into a mercenary. He meets a prostitute named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and falls in love with her. Wade proposes to Vanessa but he faints shortly after and then finds out that he has cancer all inside his body. When he goes to the bar he usually goes to his friend (T. J. Miller) tells him that a man is looking for him. When Wade goes over to the man the guy tells him that he can heal him of his cancer and turn him into a super hero. Wade laughs in the mans face and leaves the bar. As his girlfriend is sleeping he leaves and calls the man who approached him earlier at the bar. Wade is strapped to a hospital bed and Ajax (Ed Skrein) the doctor of the facility and tells him that they are going to put him under sever stress in order to get his mutant genes to react and come through. Wade is tortured but maintains his humor and wit. Ajax hates Wade and puts him in a chamber that takes the oxygen out of the air and makes him suffer for the weekend. The chamber dehydrates his skin leaving him terrifying to look at. When Ajax returns he says that he is going to leave him in for a few more days. Wade sets the facility on fire and is "killed" by Ajax. When the ash settles Wade comes out from them fully healed. The rest of the movie is Wade becoming Deadpool and hunting Ajax down so that he can fix his face so that he can get back to his girlfriend. Vanessa ends up getting kidnapped by Ajax and Deadpool and the two X-men who have been trying to recruit him have to go save her. Deadpool kills Ajax and saves Vanessa who he shows his face to and she tells him that she will get used to it and that it doesn't matter.

Review: I absolutely loved this movie!! It isn't a superhero movie that we are used to seeing, there is extreme violence and the cursing makes it more realistic to me. Ryan Reynolds plays the perfect antihero and the movie is so witty and incredibly sarcastic. I think most people need to understand that this movie is not a typical superhero movie and that it doesn't uphold the same super hero values and ethical standpoints.

The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl is adapted from the novel written by David Ebershoff and the screen play was written by Lucinda Coxon. It is directed by Tom Hooper and stars Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Amber Heard. It is loosely based on the lives of Einar and Gerda Wegener.

Summary: The Danish girl follows the evolving lives and relationship of Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and Einar (Eddie Redmayne) Wegener. They are a married couple who are both artists, Einar is more well known than his wife Gerda. When Gerda and Einar are supposed to go to an event Einar states that he doesn't want to because people gush over him being an artist. Gerda has an idea to disguise Einar as a woman, Lili. As the movie carries on Einar expresses that he wants to be a woman, that he has always felt more himself as Lili than he did as Einar. This confession is destructive to their relationship as husband and wife their relationships as a woman and a person who identifies as one evolves. Gerda begins to paint Lili and gets incredible feedback and becomes very well known for these portraits. Towards the end of the movie Lili has an operation done that is the first step of the process to becoming a full fledged woman. However, this operation takes its toll on her health wise and Gerda begins to worry that she is moving too fast. The next operation rolls around and Gerda is there with Lili when she wakes up. The operation almost killed Lili before it was even done. Gerda and Lili are sitting outside talking to each other when Lili passes away.

Review: This movie was good but I feel that it moved forward too quickly. It seems that Lili dressed up once and then was determined to become a woman right away. I think that if they had showed flashbacks of his childhood and teenage years where it was seen that he had feminine tendencies then it would have made more sense. I do think that Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne were amazing and deserved the nominations. It was a very heartfelt movie that showed the love between two people even if they weren't meant to be together as husband and wife. This is a "watch once" kind of movie for me but I do recommend that people see it because it provokes compassion and sympathy for both parties involved.

Spotlight

Spotlight is a movie based off of true events. It is written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy and directed by Tom McCarthy. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian D'Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci make up the amazing cast.

Summary: Spotlight is about the uncovering of the massive scandal of child-molestation in Catholic churches primarily within Boston. The Boston Globe has a section called Spotlight and it is where Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfieffer (Rachel McAdams), Matt Carroll (Brian D'Arcy James) , and Walter 'Robby' Robinson (Michael Keaton) work. The Boston Globe gets a new boss (Live Schreiber) who meets with the heads of each department and tells Robby to do a more in depth investigation on an article by Eileen McNamara about the Geoghan case, which is about a Catholic priest molesting children. In order to do a proper investigation the paper will have to go to court to get the seal lifted off of the Geoghan documents; it is pointed out that people would consider this suing the Catholic church. Robby tells his team about the investigation; Mike says he will meets with the lawyer who defended the victims in the Geoghan case. When he visits the lawyer, Mr. Garabedian (Stanely Tucci), he is told that he can't even take notes of their conversation because the church is trying to disbar him. Mike asks is he could speak to some of the victims and Mr. Garabedian says he will think about it. A brings old newspaper clipping to the Spotlight office on past reports of the case; Sacha finds out through the clippings about an organization for survivors of priest molestation called S.N.A.P. Matt finds another clipping that talks about how a priest in Ohio was caught molesting children and moved to a parish in Boston where he did the same thing. They found a pattern, when a priest was discovered molesting children from his parish they would move him to another. Spotlight later meets with the leader of SNAP to figure out why the victims never told anyone. Mike goes back to Garabedian who says his clients don't want to be in the press but once Mike tells him its a Spotlight sorry, a bigger piece, Garabedian tells him to come back later that week. Sacha gets in tough with some of the victims and talks to them about their experience with the abuse in the Catholic church. When the Spotlight team meets to compare notes Mike states that the priests target kids from low income families with absent fathers who are in need of attention. They target mostly boys because the priest's actual sexuality has no basis on molesting kids; its a form of control. Mike and Robby make their way to the basement where Matt is looking at the annual directories of the priests in Boston; they say where each one is at any given time during the year. They notice that when a priest has been accused of molestation it will say "sick leave" or "emergency response" when in fact they are being moved to another parish to cover up the scandal. The team discovers that at least 6% of priests will molest a child, and out of 1,500 priests in Boston that means that there are 90 who have or are doing so. The tam compiles all their data together and have 87 priests in Boston that have molested a child. They are able to verify that all 87 priests have sone the crimes they were accused of. After more investigating and hoops to jump through the team is able to write the article and expose the Catholic church and the priests it was protecting. The morning after the article is sent out to be sold Matt and Sacha go into the office to see if they will get any calls about it even though it is a Sunday and they have off. Mike and Robby walk into the office a little bit later to find Matt and Sacha running around answering phones. Matt tells them that they are getting almost all positive responses and even some victims who have tips for them. The ending titles indicate that cover-ups were revealed all the way to the Vatican. Dozens of countries are listed where victims have come out about experience sexual abuse from Catholic priests.

Review: THIS IS A MUST SEE MOVIE!! I cannot stress this enough. It doesn't matter what religion you are because this type of abuse can happen in any type of church. I know some people who are Catholic and say that they had trouble watching this film because this is the religion they were raised in and to see it in such bad lighting shook them to their core. However, I must say that sticking your head in the sand about this issue will not help solve this problem. As a film in itself it was gripping and intense throughout. Close attention needs to be paid because the names and dates can get confusing. The actors mastered their characters and did subtle things to remind the audience of how human they are. I give this film nothing but positive reviews. If you have not seen or heard of it watch it as soon as you can and become more educated about this issue as a whole.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is written and directed by Burr Steers that is based off of the novel by Jane Austen. It stars Lily James, Same Riley, Suki Waterhouse, Douglas Booth, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, and Sally Phillips. The basic plot of the story remains from the novel but a zombie outbreak is added.

Summary: Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) is a wealthy zombie killer and goes to the home of a wealthy family to see about a zombie sighting. When no one states that they have been bitten he realizes flies because they are attracted to decaying flesh. When they land on the man who owns the home he tries to attack Darcy, which leads Darcy to decapitating him. One of the girls gets frightened and runs upstairs where another zombie, a female, is found and attacks her. The movie is then narrated by Mr.Bennet who explains how the outbreak happened and it is shown through animation. The audience is then introduced to the Bennet family which is made up of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their 5 daughters, Jane, Elizabeth (Lily James), Kitty, Lydia, and Mary. They all were sent to China when the outbreak first happened to study the art of hand to hand combat and sword fighting. Their mother wants them all to be married off to wealthy men and she hears of a ball being held in town, they attend. Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) and Mr. Darcy walk into the ball and Bingley is instantly dran to Jane Bennet. Elizabeth overhears Mr. Darcy make an insulting remake about her to Mr. Bingley and runs outside where she sees a woman she knows who turns out to be a zombie. The woman is about to tell Elizabeth something but her head gets blown off by Darcy. A bunch of zombies start attacking the party and the Bennet girls spring into action and Darcy witnesses the awesomeness of the Bennet sisters. Jane is sent to Bingley's house on a rainy day to have dinner there when she encounters a zombie and is attacked. She is confined in a room in Bingley's home due to fear that she could've been bitten. When Elizabeth gets there she sees Jane and inspects the wound, which is when Darcy walks in and releases flies into the room to see if they'll land on Jane. Elizabeth catches them all and gives them back to Darcy after she crushes them. After Jane gets better they attend a ball held by Bingley. Elizabeth meets a soldier named Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) and he tells her of his past with Darcy. The ball gets attacked by zombies and Bingley gets knocked out and Darcy and Elizabeth fight the zombies together. The Bennet's cousin, Mr. Collins, comes to visit and he tells Mrs. Bennet of his intentions of marrying one of her daughters. He later proposes to Elizabeth and tells her that she will have to give up fighting once they get married, she refuses his offer. Mr. Collins ends up marrying Elizabeth's friend Charlotte. Elizabeth visits Charlotte once she is married and they have dinner at Mr. Collins patronage's house, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (who is a well known fighter). Darcy is there and the audience finds out that she is his aunt and wants Darcy to marry her daughter Anne. Elizabeth goes with Mr.Wickham to a church in the In-Between and discovers that the people inside are all zombies who are staying alive by feeding off of pig brains. Wickham wants Elizabeth to help him help the zombies but she isn't sure how she feels about it. Darcy persuades the Bingleys to move away and then goes to propose to Elizabeth who is furious at what he's done and fights him. Later Darcy writes her a letter explaining why he told Bingley to move away as well as the past he had with Wickham. Lady Catherine goes to the Bennet's house where her body guard attacks Elizabeth while Lady Catherine explains that she doesn't want Darcy to marry her but her daughter, Anne. Elizabeth fights of the guard and he gets crushed by bricks; Lady Catherine states that she respects Elizabeth and leaves her alone. The zombies head towards London and Elizabeth joins Darcy in the In-Between. Darcy and Wickham fight and when Darcy impales Wickham it is revealed that Wickham has a zombie bite meaning he was undead all along. Before Wickham has the chance to kill Darcy Elizabeth rides in and chops his arm off and knocks him out. Darcy and Elizabeth are riding across the bridge that is about to be blown up to keep the zombies out of London. The bridge is blown as they are riding across and it knocks them off the horse, injuring Darcy. During this time Elizabeth confesses her love for him. Later, once Darcy has recovered, he finds Elizabeth and tells her that he heard what she said on the bridge. They kiss and agree to get married. They have a joint wedding with Jane and Bingley and live happily ever after; until after a few of the credits role the couples see in the distance a zombie army being lead by Mr. Wickham.

Review: I liked this movie but I feel that it could have had more action sequences. The ones that did happen were really well done. The makeup and costumes were fantastic and all of the actors did a good job. I must admit that the voice of Darcy was irritating and the woman who played Mrs. Bennet was annoying. It stuck to the story line of the original "Pride and Prejudice" pretty well but I feel that the bonds between the sisters weren't as prevalent. All in all it was a very entertaining movie to watch and I hope they make a sequel because they left it open at the end!