Showing Tag: " "elizabeth banks"" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: Real or Not Real, The Mockingjay's Nightmares Come to a Turbulent Conclusion in the 76th Hunger Games

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, November 21, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine 
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2





Directed By: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland

We're just two weeks out from having witnessed what may have been Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 in Spectre, and now we are witnessing Jennifer Lawrence's final outing as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mo...

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REVIEW: Love & Mercy Is All About the Beach Boys' Paranoid Schizophrenic Brian Wilson

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, June 14, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Love & Mercy





Directed By: Bill Pohlad

Starring: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, and Paul Giamatti

I would be lying if I were to say that am a huge fan of the Beach Boys.  I'm familiar with their discography, and I respect what they accomplished in their day.  However, I'm not exactly rocking to their tunes on Amazon Prime.  That being said, this doesn't mean that I can't appreciate Brian Wilson's tale.  After all, there's a rich story to be told here.  A musical heavyweight whose career...
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REVIEW: In Pitch Perfect 2, The Barden Bellas Riff Off With Junk From Das Sound Machine, the Green Bay Packers & Snoop Dogg's Christmas Album

Posted by James Brown on Friday, May 15, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine 
Pitch Perfect 2





Directed By: Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Ester Dean, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Hailee Steinfeld, and Chrissie Fit

The best critics should have the wisdom to acknowledge when they're wrong.  Well, it's time to acknowledge that I got it wrong with regard to the 2012 sleeper hit Pitch Perfect.  I saw the original as an earnest but not-so-funny affair.  Looking back, I have to disagree with my 2012 self and say that the film bursts with a b...

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REVIEW: In The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Katniss Gets the Burning Districts to Come to the Tree Singing So That the Capitol Burns With Us

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, November 22, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine 
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1





Directed By: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland

"Miss Everdeen, it is the things we love most that destroy us."
-President Snow (Donald Sutherland)

The consequences of Warner Bros. decision to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two theatrical installments still echo today as ot...
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REVIEW: Everything Is Awesome in The Lego Movie When the Special Master Builder Emmet Finds the Piece of Resistance to Stop the Kragle Before Taco Tuesday

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 8, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
The Lego Movie





Directed By: Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Starring: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman

Wonder Woman has finally arrived on the big screen.  No, Gal Gadot hasn't picked up her lasso and gotten an early start before Batman Vs. Superman arrives in 2016.  No, there isn't some new animated Justice League film.  Voiced by How I Met Your Mother's Cobie Smulders, the Amazonian warrior princess arr...
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REVIEW: Tick Tock, Tick Tock... Remember Who the Real Enemy Is in Catching Fire Despite All the Moves and Countermoves in the 75th Hunger Games

Posted by James Brown on Friday, November 22, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire





Directed By: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland

May the odds be ever in Jennifer Lawrence's favor.  Her rise to stardom has been meteoric to say the least.  Just three short years ago in 2010, Hollywood's new golden girl was debuting in the indie Winter's Bone.  In 2011, she had a couple of suppo...
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REVIEW: What is Movie 43? A Series of Ridiculous Shorts About the iBabe, Leprechauns, and a Cat Named Beezel

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 26, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor 

Movie 43





Directed By: Peter Farrelly, Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Patrik Forsberg, James Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, Brett Ratner, and Jonathan van Tulleken

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Chloë Grace Moretz, Gerard Butler, Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Naomi Watts, Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Kate Winslet, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Duhamel, Leslie ...


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REVIEW: The Details is a Disastrous Series of Bad Dreams About Raccoons

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, December 20, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor 
The Details





Directed By: Jacob Aaron Estes

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Kerry Washington, Ray Liotta, Laura Linney, and Dennis Haysbert

I'm rarely at a loss for words when it comes to churning out a movie review.  For Jacob Aaron Estes's The Details, I find myself in this fairly unfamiliar position.  This movie is just so strange and uninteresting that I don't quite know where to begin writing.  However, I do know that this indie comedy-drama is not something you should find yoursel...
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REVIEW: In People Like Us, Sam Leans Into It Despite the Fact That He Has a Certain Talent for Running Away From His Family's Drama

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 30, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
People Like Us





Directed By: Alex Kurtzman

Starring: Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mark Duplass, and Jon Favreau

You don't see too many mainstream family dramas coming out at this time of year.  With films like Ted, Magic Mike, and The Amazing Spider-Man getting all the buzz, a good family drama is likely to be a flop at the box office.  People Like Us is an interesting choice for release on 4th of July weekend.  It's a great movie.  Sadly, it's also a film that's ...
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REVIEW: What to Expect When You’re Expecting — Pregnancy Sucks

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, May 19, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
What to Expect When You're Expecting
SoberFilmChick




Directed By: Kirk Jones

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison, Rodrigo Santoro, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Brooklyn Decker, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Chace Crawford, and Cheryl Cole

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I read the best-selling book What to Expect When You’re Expecting and it really was a pregnancy “bible.”  So I was excited to see what the film would do with the topic of pregnancy and preparing for ...
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REVIEW: The Girl on Fire Has a Promising Start in The Hunger Games

Posted by James Brown on Friday, March 23, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
The Hunger Games





Directed By: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland

There's been a lot of hype around The Hunger Games over the last couple of months.  In no small way, that's due to some strong marketing.  Lionsgate's tagline for the film is "The World Will Be Watching".  That's big talk for the first installment in a series even if it's based on a bestselling book.  It's been...
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REVIEW: The Man on a Ledge Should Go Ahead and Jump Off. It Would Make My Day.

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 28, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
Man on a Ledge





Directed By: Asger Leth

Starring: Ed Harris, Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Bell, and Génesis Rodriguez

In any heist flick, there's a certain amount of crap that filmmakers pull that will just never be believable, but we as moviegoers let it slide.  We suspend our disbelief.  In Fast Five, did you really think Toretto and O'Conner were able to swap vaults with their team members while they were all driving at 80 to 90 miles per hour?  In the Ocean's flick...
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