Hangover Part II

The entire "wolfpack" is back in Hanover Part II but only this time they are off to Thailand so that Stu can marry the girl of his dreams. Only for this group nothing can be that easy and they wake up in Bangkok with no idea how they got there and a whole lot of other questions. Add in a crazy monkey, a strange missing finger, and a tattoo and you know you will be laughing. I actually liked # 2 as well as the first and if you saw the first one you won't be shocked by the language an crude humor.

Fast & Furious

The original gang is back for this 4th Fast & Furious movie about the return of Dominic who has been hiding out in another country but returns to avenge the death of a beloved friend. He joins up with the old gang and a "fast and furious" adventure begins. I enjoy anything with Paul Walker in it so of course I liked it...throw in Vin Diesel and it is always a hit.

Taken

When retired government spy Bryan Mills' (Liam Neeson) daughter gets kidnapped while on vacation in France and sold into a prostitution ring it is up to him to get her back. What follows is a dad who will do anything to bring his daughter home. A very violent and disturbing movie and one action junkies will love.

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail

Madea is back in Tyler Perry's newest movie Madea Goes to Jail. In this newest movie Madea's mischievousness finally catches up with her when after trashing a rude lady's car she is sent to jail. At the same time the movie follows a troubled prostitute and a lawyer that have a past, but now have to work together to keep her from going to jail for an unjust amount of time. If you like Tyler Perry's movies you will like this one even though it spends more time on the other characters than it does on Madea.

Rachel Getting Married

As Rachel (Rosemary DeWitt) is preparing for her wedding her sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) has to leave rehab to join the festivities, and in doing so brings with her some darkness and drama. As the events unfold you realize there is some past family trauma that has caused Kym's downward spiral that still has to be dealt with. A different role for Hathaway but one I thought she did a great job on. A dark and disturbing movie.

Charlie Bartlett

When Charlie Bartlett gets kicked out of another private school and is finally forced to join public school he just can't seem to find his place. Then he joins forces with the local thug and dealer to sell prescription medications and give some minor therapy to all the other screwed up teens and quickly he is famous. Soon a battle is waged between the teens and the school administration let by Principal Robert Downey Jr. This was actually a really good movie that I almost passed on because I had not heard of it...I'm really glad I didn't.

Pineapple Express

While trying to score some good drugs two potheads stumble into a dangerous drug war when one of them accidentally witnesses a murder. Now they must fight for their lives while as the bad guys try to kill them and each other. Seth Rogan and James Franco make a great pair in this violent comedy that is really pretty funny.

No Country For Old Men

When a broke hunter (Josh Brolin ) is out hunting one he stumbles across a drug deal gone bad and $2 million dollars in cash. He takes the money but then has to quickly flee the area because the folks who lost the money want it back. The guy they send to find the money (Javier Bardem) will stop at nothing to get it back, and Brolin is trying to stay one step ahead of him. This is a violent, but very good movie. It is obvious why it won so many awards including Best Picture.

American Gangster

Denzel Washington, usually such a typical "good guy", shows a different side when he plays Frank Lucas a Harlem Gangster who rules the streets with his pure heroin and his vicious enforcement. Russell Crowe takes on the role of "good guy" by playing Richie Roberts the cop leading the unit trying to take down the key drug lords. I thought this was pretty good. It has kind of a small plot twist in the end that I thought really made the movie enjoyable.

We Own the Night

In this film Joaquin Phoenix plays a man torn between his life, which is intertwined with some shady characters, and his family full of police officers. When his family wants his help gathering evidence against the people he considers friends he is torn between the 2 groups. I was really excited to see this movie with all the great actors in it (Phoenix, Robert Duvall, & Mark Wahlberg) but was really disappointed. I found it very slow and hard to make it through.

Side Effects

In this movie about pharmaceutical sales, Katherine Heigl plays Karly Hert who even though she has no medical training successfully sells drugs to doctors. In the process she gets seduced by the money she makes even though she questions the ethics behind putting profit before patient care. This is a really good movie, because it talks about a real issue in an entertaining way.

Knocked Up

A one night stand ends up just like the movie title says with successful TV personality Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) knocked up. The interesting part is that the daddy-to-by is broke loser Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). To very different people who barely know each other try to see if they can make something work. A very funny movie but definitely not one for the easily offended. The movie is filled with lots of language, sex, and drugs but will make you laugh often and out loud.

Bobby Z

Paul Walker plays Tim Kearney who agrees to help the DEA by impersonating Bobby Z (a major drug dealer) in exchange for getting out of prison. He quickly realizes there is a lot more going on than he originally thought and fights to stay alive. I happen to be a huge Paul Walker fan so I don't know if I liked this simply because he is in it or because it might actually be a decent movie...probably because he is in it.

Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls

This is a movie about Monty, a struggling father of 3 who loves his children, but has to fight the judicial system to try to keep them away from their horrible mother and her drug dealing boyfriend. This is not the best acting, but the plot is cute.

Half Nelson

This is the story of an inner-city 8th grade history teacher who has a horrible drug problem. One day one of his young students catches him smoking crack and they begin a journey of trying to help each other, while both of them are dealing with their own problems. Even though this is another harsh drug film it is really good. You feel for both characters and desperately want them to survive the tough life they are living.

Sherrybaby

This is the story of Sherry, a newly paroled drug addict determined to get her life back on track. Her main goal is to re-connect with her 6-year old daughter who has been living with her brother and sister-in-law. She goes through some major emotional ups and downs when she realizes reintegrating back into society and staying clean is not as easy as she hoped. This is a very sad look at what life for an abused drug addict is like. There is a lot of nudity in this movie, but it was a sad but good movie.

Alpha Dog

Young drug dealer Johnny Truelove gets tired of junkie Jake Muzursky owing him money and decides to get even by kidnapping his younger brother Zack. Based on actual events this movie is about small crime turning to serious crime with one bad decision. Filled with a lot of language, drugs, and sex, this horrible story is well made and I am sure very real to today's life in the city.