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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

My final recommendation for Movies to watch that worth your movie to watch during the in the early weeks of December 2013 would still have to be some old released movie in November. Although the beginning weeks of December does have a few films scheduled to premiere, i feel these few titles are not really worth the price of admission of $14.50. However, i do have to say the there are a few anticipated movie i would recommend for December but they are not release until second half of the month. So unless you are going to avoid going to the theater and movies I would suggest a few November titles.

This time would be the sequel the first Hunger Game movie that was released in 2012,  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which was released on November 22, 2013 is the adaptation of second book part of the science faction novel trilogy by  Suzanne Collins. The Movie feature almost all of the cast reprising their role from the first movie. Jennifer Lawrence is once again reprising her lead role as Katniss Everdeen, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark. (more information regarding the cast can be found here :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951264/) The only exception that would not make a appearance in the second movie would be the “cat” buttercup that belong to Primrose Everdeen(played by Willow Shields) Katniss ‘s sister. The recasting of Buttercup was insisted by the author and the director of the movie so that the cat in movie would better be portray by how  Collins described.

The movie i felt started out a bit slow in the beginning half however it did pick up the pace during the second half of the movie where the death tournament actually occurred and where most of the action begin. I did feel the first part of the movie was a bit drag on but they was probably necessary to set up for the Third and forth movie which is based of the last book but spit in to 2 movies.  However, I didn’t read the book so i can’t compare how much of it is cut out already. But, i have to say the second movie is a lot better than first like you are able to see the bigger budget put in to this movie. The picture and graphic was better and the action scene was indeed improve. However, i do have to say the movie did a really good job setting up for the third film by leaving the ending of this movie as a cliffhanger making the audience wondering and wanting more.

Overall, I think this movie is a good watch provide plenty of content for the audience with a run time of over 2 and 1/2 hours i would have to say that is indeed worth the price of admission just for the duration of the movie. However, if you cant stand long film this might not be the best choice for you. I would have to say this movie is worth the investment  so i would recommend this movie it has interesting story.

Thor: The Dark World

The premiere for Thor: The Dark world in the United States was November 8th while in London they had it about a week earlier on October 22nd. I was finally able to see this movie about on the 10th with some friends. This movie was my top choice for movie to see during the month of November because I might be a little bias to superhero and comic book movies or because I’m a huge fan for these kind of things. Despite that i manage to broke my own rule regarding to watching 3D movies . . . again.

Thor: The Dark World or Thor 2 is the sequel to the Marvel’s superhero movie Thor (2011) which follows the events of Norse God Superhero Thor. In this sequel the movie setting starts about a couple of months after another Marvel’s movie “The Avengers”(2012) which features two of the main cast from the Thor movie franchise.  One being Thor himself played by Chris Hemsworth and villain turn anti-hero Thor’s brother Loki played by Tom Hiddleston some how a fan favorite despite not being the hero.  In the Thor sequel it feature all the main cast from the first Thor stand alone movie; with Natalie Portman reprising her role as Jane foster Thor’s love interest and even Sir Anthony Hopkins playing all father Odin again. More information of all the cast member of the movie can he found Here.(Total Cast list)

My impression for this movie although being the sequel it turn out to be a lot better than the first film it had stronger story line a lot more action and best part is that despite being a stand alone Thor movie it still connects to the whole Marvel universe franchise leading in to something more grand in the upcoming marvel movie projects. My guess Avenger 3.

Some positive aspect to the movie was this time Thor look more natural in this sequel then in the first movie, by natural I mean Hemsworth this time actually grew out his hair for the role of Thor while in the first movie he was actually wearing a wig. This make a lot of sense since i always thought he looked sort of off in the first movie.  The story line was stronger in this movie because it had a more in depth plot where it suppose to give the back story to the mystic item called the Aether  which what the main villian (dark elves)  wants during the whole film. Another good part to the movie was there was more action this time, through out the whole movie there was more destruction and fight this time around and even a space ship chase scene.

For negative aspect I really didn’t notice much may be partially due to my bias toward the movie but it would have probably been the lame humor they try to add in the movie for a quick laugh. Aside from that i would have to say there were some scene that made the movie looked off because Portman’s character height varies from scene to scene because Portman real height is 5’3” where as Hemsworth is about 6’3” so when they are in a scene together you can notice the difference since they made a special ramp for Portman to stand on this wasn’t really  a negative but instead more like a interesting trivia.

So Thor: The Dark World should you pay to watch this movie in theatres? My answer to that is Yes, if you enjoy the Movie The Avengers 2012  or a comic book super hero fan you would probably in enjoy this movie as well since it kind of a back story to the build of something grand. The reason i say this is that like all Marvel movies they like to leave something special to the viewer who sat through all the ending credits.

Spoilers . . .  This time  is is no exception about the one fourth in to the ending credit, it show a scene where the Aether (super powerful item that bad guy been fighting to get) is being turn over to a person known as the collector which he states he is still missing 5 items. Which to all comic book fan is known as the Infinity Stones being part of the 6 item to form the Infinity Gauntlet which belong to Thanos (evil guy at the ending credit for the avenger movie) leaving it an open for a sequels.  And finally to all the audience who managed to sat through all the credit they get reward with a reunion scene between Thor and Jane and a post comedic scene of a strange beast that was forgotten.

Ender’s Game

As one of the anticipated movies to watch for the month of November. I saw Ender’s Game on the opening weekend and as expected the theater was pretty much packed so a bit of suggestion is always arrive a least  a hour early at the theater to get preparations done  like getting tickets or snacks ready and by that time you should be on line waiting to enter the screen room being he first few groups with a choice to pick the best seats available.

The movie was based on the book of the same name  Ender’s Game 1985; although I didn’t read the book and i can’t compare which was better. I would say that the Movie was fairly decent , it has actions since this was a science fiction military genre. So the movie revolves around the main character a boy name Ender play by Asa Butterfield who is talented in strategic combat. He is then recruited Colonel Graff played by Harrison Ford to combat against the alien race the “Formics” and to preserve man kind.

The movie overall had okay story line but there were some parts where it was’nt very intriguing like how Ender lost himself and need a few scene before to can movie and realize what he had to do. Aside from that the movie have good picture and pretty cool graphics. For the Movie to watch for this month i would give Ender’s Game as my second choice,  since Marvel’s Thor sequel  would be coming out later this week. Ender’s Game would still be a good choice for a dvd rental if your unable to check it out in the theaters.

Gravity 2013

As a active moviegoer, it been a quite a while since I actually paid the premium and watched an I-MAX 3D movie; usually I try not to fall for such gimmicks and only watch the regular 2D version of the film.  However, this time base on all the anticipation and it’s performance at the box office I decided to go all out and pay the 20.50 for the whole  I-MAX 3D experience. After the 1 hour and 31 one minutes I started to question myself, was this movie worth it for me to break my only one rule of being an economical moviegoer (to avoid the over priced 3D movies with some mediocre pop up effects)?  For the most part I say this movie was indeed worth the price for the 3D admission.

But  overall my feeling toward the movie is positive since the movie had very strong actor George Clooney and actress Sandra Bullock. In the movie Clooney play a veteran astronauts with the strong desire to set the record of longest space walk before he retires but fall short of breaking the current record. And while Bullock’s character is an medical engineer on her first mission.  The plot of the movie is what is causing me to have a second opinion for it. I feel the story line could have been stronger and there were parts in the movie that made it feel really unrealistic. Near the end of the movie i feel the script of the movie was wasting the talent of Bullock.

I would still say that this movie was worth the expensive 3D price ticket because of the beautiful stunning visual effect in had in it. The graphic were amazing and it had great actors. I would recommend gravity as the best choice of movie for the month of October since nothing upcoming within the month seems to be as strong as this movie. This time I would say watch it in 3D even though that goes against my own rule i have to say the Visual effect is what make this movie worth not the story line. And I would recommend the I-Max 3D for a extra 2 dollars more over the Real Digital 3D version. (less expesnive 3D Version of the movie).

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2?

The sequel to the hit  children and family film  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is almost here with the premier date being this coming Friday September 27th 2013. The main question here  is should you go watch it at the Theater for price of 14.50 for the standard non 3D version of the film or (8.50 with baruch student discounted AMC gold ticket). Judging from the trailers online at

:http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-2/

This movie does look like a pretty solid choice for the family film this weekend. With many of the original cast reprising their role from the original first movie but, with the absence of Mr.T who will be replace by the Old Spice commercial sensation Terry Crews for the role of Officer Earl. This I will still consider a positive point for the movie since it has continuity for the original cast. which include Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood and Anna Faris as Sam Spark as the two main leads. And the role of the sidekick monkey Steve by recent Emmy Host Neil Patrick Harris and many more talents in the film where you can get a detail list of cast here: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cloudy_with_a_chance_of_meatballs_2_2013/

With many positive comments from from the trailers and a 96% want to watch rate from rotten tomatoes of 33,000 user, this film so far is an excellent choice for those who want to see the next chapter of Flint Lockwood’s  crazy adventure to save the world from the new threats his food making machines and set upon the world, the Food Beast.

Overall, I would have to say for now that this movie so far judging from the trailer and positive expectation i would have to say it is worth the 14.50 to the theatre to watch the movie if you want to watch a fun animation comedy. However, i would definitely not recommend the 3D version of this film at least not in New York even with the student discount tickets the 3D version i would still consider it a highway robbery.  If your like me an adult but still in to children animation and plan to go watch it with some friends i would suggest a later night showing to avoids the loud children screaming in the theatre.

 

Special Promotions

And for those who happen to missed out on the first movie and plan to watch the second movie Cloudy 2, You are in luck by purchasing your ticket through Movie ticket service Fandango you qualify for a free digital download of the first movie Cloudy with a chance of meatball(2009) from itunes which is currently a $ 12.00 value.

More Detail can be found here :http://www.fandango.com/cloudywithachanceofmeatballs23d_161300/movietimes

and: http://images.fandango.com/r90.6//images/MasterRepository/promos/fd-CLOUDY-MLP.jpg

 

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