Epic

IMDb writes, "A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world -- and ours." Colin Farrell (Phone Booth) is the head of the good leaf men. Aziz Ansari (Parks & Recreation) plays a slug that helps the good guys. Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games) plays the young soldier that needs to find a reason to fight. Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) is the bad guy out to kill the forest. Is was cute. All in all, I say: SEE IT. I did not see it in 3D and my 5 year old nephew couldn't sit through it - just FYI

The Great Gatsby (2013)

I was super excited to see Baz Luhrmann's rendition of this book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I loved Strictly Ballroom and Romeo & Juliet. Visually and musically it was amazing. The clothing, the color, the new age songs - fantastic. I did not like Tobey Maguire (Spider- Man) as Nick Carraway. Although I though Carey Mulligan (An Education) did a good job, I did not like how Daisy was portrayed - I hated her in the book for being an "air-head". I thought Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception) did a good job, I did not like how he was portrayed - he seemed weaker in the movie than in the book. It has been awhile since I read the book, so I could be wrong. Tom Buchanan was played by Joel Edgerton (from Australian - Zero Dark Thirty) - he was perfect, I like how he was portrayed. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty also from Australia) was good as was Isla Fisher (from Oman - Rango). Random trivia: Joel was in Warrior with Tom Hardy and Jason was in Lawless with Tom Hardy. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Backwards

IMDb writes, "When a fiercely competitive 30 year old rower fails to make the Olympic boat for the second time, she takes a coaching job at a school but struggles to adjust to life off the race course." All in all, I say: RENT IT - I rented it from Netflix. Der Beek from Dawson's Creek does a good job as the ex-boyfriend that hires her at the high school. Glenn Morshower from Moneyball plays the coach. He has made a zillion movies and I was surprised to see him in this independent film. Margaret Colin Independence Day plays the mother of the athlete.

Star Trek & Star Trek: Into Darkness

Chris Pine (This Means War) is Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) is Spock, Karl Urban (RED) is Bones, Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) is Scotty, Zoe Saldana (Avatar) is Uhura, John Cho (Harold & Kumar) is Sulu, and Anton Yelchin (Fright Night) is Chekov. Spock (Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek) is attempting to help and is seen by Nero (Eric Bana from Hulk), a Romulan captain of a mining ship, as causing the destruction of an entire planet. Nero's ship and Spock ship are thrown back in time. This causes Kirk's father (Chris Hemsworth from Thor) to die instead of live like in the TV series - his mom (Jennifer Morrison from Once Upon a Time) takes a spot on another ship and dies leaving Kirk with an uncle. This leads to a whole new time line - throw most of what you know from the tv show and movies out the window. Nero takes the device Spock was going to us and destroy's Spock's planet, killing his mother (Winona Ryder from Black Swan). It was well written, funny, well acted, and the special effects were amazing. All in all, I say: SEE IT

 You already know the movie with Khan - this is spectacular. Remember the timeline is slightly off - things will be a little backwards. That's the only hint I can give. Still well written, well acted, funny, and the special effects are awesome. I saw it in 2D. All in all, I say: SEE IT - I was so excited during and after I could barely contain myself.

Interview with a Hitman

Luke Goss (Red Widow) grows up in poverty in Bulgaria. His step-father beats his money and gets into debt with a local mobster. With all this anger inside him, the mob is the best outlet. They train him to become an enforcer - a hit man. His first kill - an innocent man & women with two girls - will come back to haunt him in the end. I guessed the ending about halfway through the film when the hit man falls in love. The story line wasn't very interesting, but the brief action scenes were. Goss is quite accomplished - and not bad to look at.

He is British and has a twin brother who is a musician. He's got about nine projects in the works, so even though he's been killed off Red Widow we haven't seen the last of him. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - I watched it on Netflix and it really wasn't worth it.

A Whisper to a Roar

A documentary that examines activists for democracy in Egypt, Malaysia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. There were stories of torture, poisoning, libel, threats, and intimidation. The camera shows the voting violations, the altered news stories, and the real work taking place. All in all, I say: SEE IT. It' snot everyday people can be witness to the birth of new democracies.

The English Teacher

A high school English teacher (Julianne Moore from Game Change) runs into a former student (Michael Angarano from Haywire) who has recently left New York City after trying to get his plays on Broadway. The former student is a liar and a manipulator - he leads his father (Greg Kinnear from Little Miss Sunshine) to believe one thing and his teacher to believe another. All the while the school is attempting to put the student's play on their stage. Some insanity ensues. The high school drama teacher is behind most of the drama (Nathan Lane from The Birdcage). I liked the narrator (Fiona Shaw from Persuasion) - it was a clever touch - the narrator turns on  the teacher at the end which is comical. All in all, I say: SEE IT (I saw it on Directv).

About Cherry

Story about a high-schooler that is tired of dealing with her alcoholic mother and perverted step-father. She tries taking nude photos which leads to video and eventually she is behind the camera. It focuses on her relationship with two men. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - I was bored to death.

Biltmore

I've been going to the Biltmore since I was a teenager. Every year or so it gets even better. Every time I go I see something I haven't seen before. Recently, I got to see the house at Christmas, for the Tulips, and a behind the scenes tour. I have eaten at the new Cedric Tavern and the Carriage House - both good. If you like history, scenery, and architecture - this is the place to go. You can go on a one day trip or more. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Iron Man 3 - 3D

Oh yeah, baby!!! This was awesome. The best of all 3 in my opinion. It was clever, funny, ridiculous, fun, and had tons of special effects. Stark battles the Mandarin - or does he. The previews before this film were also epic. Add to the original cast were: Pearce (The Hurt Locker), Kingsley (Gandhi), Dale (The Grey), and Hall (The Town). Shane Black directs. I love this guys stuff. He did Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and one of my all time favorites, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. All in all, I say: SEE IT NOW!!!!!! You have to stay until literally the very end of the credits to see the extra scene - which is cute.

Price Check

IMDb writes, "Peter, a family man who works for a failing supermarket chain finds his life shaken up by his new boss, Susan, who starts to groom him for an executive position. Money and opportunities are within his grasp, but at what price." Parisse (The Following), Mabius (Ugly Betty), and Posey (House of Yes) star in this. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - boring