In Theaters: May 1, 2015

There is only ONE wide release this weekend.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Not to be confused with last week's Age of Adaline.

I literally cannot remember the last time I went to a movie theater to see a movie and hadn't seen an ad or watched a trailer for the movie I saw.  When the first teaser for this came out about six months ago I decided to make this movie my experiment.  I have successfully avoided all trailers, commercials, and internet video ads.  Tomorrow I will go see it and I will be going in completely cold.  I actually walked out of the theater a few weeks ago because they were playing a trailer for Avengers and I caught the first three seconds without knowing what it was.

Fortunately for my readers I know a thing or two about Ultron from the comics.  Basically he's a robot designed to protect people, but he multiplies and attacks.  He's also very dangerous.  I believe traditionally he shoots lasers out of his robot mouth.  He was created by Tony Stark and Hank Pym (Ant Man) I believe.

Anyway, it's the Avengers sequel.  It doesn't matter what I write.  Everyone will see this movie.

This release also officially kicks off the summer movie season of 2015!  That means big blockbusters most weekends from here until mid August.  Bottoms up!  In the coming months we have dinosaurs, future cities, killer robots, mad Aussies, impossible missions, and minions just to name a few.

Oh, and Avengers: Age of Ultron is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 24, 2015

There are TWO wide releases this weekend.

The Age of Adaline

I was lucky enough to see an early screening of this movie last week.  If you scroll down in my blog you'll actually find a full review!  Bottom line: it was quite good.

The Age of Adaline - not to be confused with Avengers: Age of Ultron which is released next week - is about a woman who stops aging in 1937 at age 29.  It follows her story from there on - especially focusing on the emotional and relationship cost for such a person.

Like I said, I saw it and it's good.

The Age of Adaline is rated PG-13 for a suggestive comment.

Little Boy

Little Boy is yet another in the recent march of Christian, faith-based films.  The last few have really been hit and miss with audiences and critics (mostly miss with critics, but we don't care).  The last really successful one was God's Not Dead last year.

This movie focuses on (you guessed it) a little boy during World War II.  His dad went off to war and he wants his dad to come home safe.  It's hard to explain, but I guess some miracles happen in the movie, because of the little boy's faith.

And Kevin James co-stars.

Little Boy is rated PG-13 for some thematic material including violence.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 17, 2015

There are THREE wide releases this week.

Monkey Kingdom

Let me get one thing straight.  I don't like monkeys.  But if you do like monkeys, this is your weekend.

Monkey Kingdom is DisneyNature's latest.  Does that mean it's Earth Day soon?  I don't know.  But if the label is DisneyNature instead of normal Disney that means it's a documentary.

I believe this movie follows the exploits of one monkey family as they go around doing monkey things, like bothering tourists and stealing their food.  Welcome to Indonesia!  Or wherever this was filmed.

Monkey Kingdom is rated G for . . . actually it doesn't even give a reason.  The MPAA does not feel the need to warn you about a single thing in this movie.  So it's rated G because there's nothing lower than G.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

Paul Blart is back after six years and I really don't know why.  The first one was alright and pretty funny at some points, but let's be honest, it was riding the line between real movie and made-for-TV movie.

The ads don't really say what this is about, but one can safely assume our hero must rise to the occasion somewhere to stop bad people from doing bad things, and it's all probably pretty funny.  Paul Blart was a very likable character in the first one.  And some people thought Observe & Report would be the mall cop movie that would be remembered.  Ha to them!  I bet almost none of my readers even remember that movie!

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is rated PG for some violence.

Unfriended

Just when you thought we were going to have a totally kid-friendly weekend.

I'm gonna be straight with you here too.  The idea of this movie makes me laugh.  It's a horror movie marketed to teens and it's called Unfriended.  Because, well, you know, what could be more horrifying than someone deleting you on facebook, right?  Hahahahaha oh I think that's hilarious.  Does that make anyone else laugh?  Does it sort of sound like that's the direction they're going with this to anyone else?  Let me know in the comments.

Okay I didn't think this was possible but I just watched the trailer and frankly my idea was better.  You all know I don't like horror movies - this is why.  So a teenager commits suicide after someone posts an embarrassing video of her online.  Two years later her old friends (who are still in high school I think) are having a Skype chat (because hanging out in person is so 2014) and they are joined by an anonymous user . . . who haunts them.  From their Skype chat they are haunted.  Honestly the trailer was embarrassing to watch.  We may have reached a new low in the horror genre.  And that's saying something.

Unfriended is rated R for violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality, and drug and alcohol use - all involving teens.  I'd rather see Monkey Kingdom.

      Big Shot Critic

Review: The Age of Adaline

The Age of Adaline

      The Age of Adaline is a love story the same way Forrest Gump is a love story.  It's really about the title character, but the central part of that character's story is falling in love.

      The Age of Adaline is about a woman who stops aging at 29 years old (in 1937).  The movie draws a lot of attention to the emotional cost of her gift: afraid to tell anyone her secret, she avoids lasting connections with people.

      I was able to attend a special advanced screening for the movie last night and I enjoyed it like I thought I would.  In my opinion the movie did have minor tonal issues (every time the narrator spoke I felt like I was watching Unsolved Mysteries), but this was very minor.  I didn't actually feel like I was watching Unsolved Mysteries.  I am just of the opinion that this particular narrator is better suited to criminal profiles on TV than love stories.

      All the actors did a fantastic job.  The heavy emotion was mostly left to Blake Lively and Harrison Ford (or maybe they just handled it better) but the new face, Michiel Huisman, also had his moments - it's just that the movie wasn't really about him.

      What director Lee Toland Krieger really does best is draw out these performances from his cast (again, especially Lively and Ford) that put you right in their shoes.  As an audience you know exactly what they're feeling, and you're feeling it with them.  This coming from a man talking about a love story.  Pretty impressive.

      Special mention should go to the entire art department and production team for really making the period scenes feel totally believable, and for making Adaline look more and more timeless as the decades passed.

      The Age of Adaline is about hope.  What can a woman hold on to when she knows everything around her will pass but she will not?  I think that's the question at the face of this movie.  I could be wrong.  But whatever the question was I had a good time watching the movie and getting the answer.  Tell me what you think on April 24th when the movie is released.  I recommend it.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 10, 2015

There is only ONE wide release this weekend.  I would be surprised if it took the top spot from Furious 7.

The Longest Ride

Okay by now we should all have a pretty good idea of what to expect from a Nicholas Sparks novel adaptation.  You'll get a love story with some (at least) slightly imaginative source of conflict.  Here a bull rider falls for a city girl.  It's not completely clear what the conflict is, but it has something to do with the danger of bull riding I believe.  Also, in traditional Nicholas Sparks style, another love story from decades earlier is layered into the story.

There are two casting notes here that are of interest, at least to me.  The leading woman is Britt Robertson.  She's played small roles or supporting roles all over the place in the last fifteen years, but this is her first leading role, and you might say it's a warm up to Tomorrowland later this year - a major tentpole she leads opposite George Clooney.  So this is similar to The Cold Light of Day being released several months before Man of Steel.  Henry Cavill led The Cold Light of Day (with an American accent).  It was like a Superman audition for the viewers.  Look for Britt Robertson to become a bigger name in the next couple years.

On the other side of this, the old man in this movie (a part of the decades-old love story) is none other than Alan Alda!  One could imagine he is brushing the cobwebs off of his acting skills before appearing in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies later this year.

Even with all this I don't know if I'll see this movie.  Love stories aren't my favorite.

The Longest Ride is rated PG-13 for some sexuality, partial nudity, and some war and sports action.

      Big Shot Critic

Review: Furious 7

Furious 7

     Furious 7 is the latest installment in what has become, in my mind, the ultimate American movie franchise.  The bad guy from the last one has a bigger and badder brother who is out for revenge.  This time their adventures take them everywhere from Tokyo to the Middle East to Los Angeles.

     I have one major complaint so I'll just get that out of the way.  Iggy Azalea was in the movie - which was great - but it was just a cameo.  I wanted a role!  On the other hand Kurt Russell is the other big time addition to the franchise this time around and he did great.

     Newcomer to the franchise, director James Wan, does his best Justin Lin impression (director of the previous four) but the producers were wise enough to let Mr. Wan run with a bit of his own visual style, and franchise vets will see the differences.  This is not a bad thing.

     The stunts were bigger than ever for Furious 7, and that's saying something with this franchise.  If I'm honest, it didn't produce the ear-to-ear smile for a straight fifteen minutes at the end the way Fast Five did, but this movie still had its glorious moments, and loads of action.

     There comes a point where even I get tired of Vin Diesel going on about family, or fist fights that seem to last for hours (look me in the eye and tell me one solid punch from Dwayne Johnson wouldn't knock you out), or gun fights where the first hundred shots fired are misses, but if any movie has license to commit these tropes it's this one.  And it works because Furious 7 never takes itself all that seriously!  If you don't believe me just listen to Tyrese Gibson's lines.

     Unfortunately the movie did have some restructuring issues in the wake of Paul Walker's death.  It is apparent that they had to make do with what they had in a lot of ways, but all is frankly forgiven.  The tribute to Paul at the end is really something.

     After Paul died, they changed things around and decided to continue some of his scenes using a tricky combination of existing footage, existing audio, several body doubles, Paul Walker's own brothers, and full digital face replacement.  The result is VERY impressive.  You can tell when Brian O'Connor is fake or real on screen, but the only reason you can tell is that his lines are suddenly off screen and they don't show his face as much.  There is one shot near the end that must have been fake, but it looked one hundred percent real.  The work they did is truly amazing.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 3, 2015

I was born in April and I get an early birthday present this year.  There is only ONE wide release this weekend.  None dare compete against . . . 

Furious 7

I'm pretty excited for this one.  To be honest, I'm more excited for this than I am for Age of Ultron.  There is also a tragic and sentimental X-Factor to this release, as The Fast and the Furious was Paul Walker's big break, and this is the last movie of that franchise to star Paul Walker.

That's not the only wild card.  Justin Lin directed 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this franchise.  James Wan took over for 7.  He's untested in the action world (albeit he is a very big name in horror these days).  Even so I'm very excited for this movie.  It should be good.

Also worth noting - the action sequence that people are already talking about - the one with the cars going out the back of an airplane - that was filmed in the great state of Arizona.  And they really dropped cars from a plane.  They did it for real.

As for the plot, the brother of the villain from Fast & Furious 6 is out for revenge.

Furious 7 is rated PG-13 for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language.

      Big Shot Critic