Allen_The-Shep_Shepherd Reviews

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Shep Reviews Alien Covenant

[4/10 · 16 May 2017]

Is Alien Covenant another Prometheus or does it harken back to Alien and Aliens? Find out by clicking the link below and checking out my review on YouTube.

Check out my review on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/f2bMwNRY8os

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Shep Reviews King Arthur Legend of the Sword

[6/10 · 16 May 2017]

Is King Arthur Legend of the Sword the new King Arthur movie we have been waiting or or is it another flash in the pants retelling? Is Guy Ritchie back in the saddle giving us the movies that we have become used to? Checkout my review on YouTube by clicking on the link below.

King Arthur Legend of the Sword Review https://youtu.be/8IUGret9XR8

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man Review

[7/10 · 17 July 2015]

My Thoughts:

The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ant-Man. Again, Marvel is taking a risk bringing in another property that many people do not know anything about ah la Guardians of the Galaxy which turned out to be the sleeper hit for Marvel last summer. Sadly, Ant-Man does not compare to Guardians of the Galaxy and how good it was, but that is not to say Ant-man is bad--far from it--but, unlike Guardians that had me wanting to go see it again as soon as I could, Ant-man gives us a stand alone movie sort of.

What we get is pretty much the origin stories for a lot of new players going into Phase III next year, and whenever you are introducing new characters, you always have the difficult time of balancing their introductions and telling the main story. Ant-man has this problem at the beginning of the movie because they are trying to introduce Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and give us his motivation for doing the things he does, and it really falls short (maybe not "fall short" per se, but after seeing the reasons, you really don't feel for Scott and his plight). Scott was an employee for a big corporation that stiffed their costumers out of the money that they were due, and so Scott breaks in and steals the money back for the people. In doing so, he gets caught and sent to jail and his wife divorces him; at this point in the story, he is getting married to someone else. So, yeah, he had good intentions, but does that really make him a superhero?

Then, we get Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who, in the comics and in the MCU, is the original Ant-man, and we are introduced to him as a man that does not want his tech to be used for nefarious means. Now, the man he groomed, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), has taken over Pym Industries, found the old files of the Ant-Man project, and is doing exactly what Pym was afraid would happen.

So, much of the story could have been solved if the people in it had been honest and up front with those closest to them. Hank Pym pushed his daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), away from him when his wife died and kept her at arms length with a story that Hope knew was a lie. For the story purposes, I can understand why they did it; it lets us see a character that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Secondly, his protegee, Darren, had heard hints about the Ant-Man project but was constantly told by Pym that it was just a myth. If Pym didn't want anyone finding out about his suit, why keep the files at his company instead of somewhere safe.

Now this might seem like I didn't enjoy the movie cause I am nit picking; and that is true, I am nit picking, but that is what we reviewers do, right? Paul Rudd, though, still doesn't feel like a superhero to me; he was good on screen and his humorous personality had me chuckling. Michael Douglas is great in his role as Hank Pym, and I was always looking forward to seeing him on camera. Evangeline Lilly had a few moments where she shined, and by the way it ended, we will be seeing some more badass moments from her. I am sorry to say the villain they gave Corey Stoll to play is just another one-dimensional bad guy that they throw at the hero so he has someone to fight against. Honestly, tough, I don't know the villain gallery for Ant-Man, so I don't know who else they could have brought in that might have been a bigger, better baddie. I wish Marvel would stop with these one-and-done villains. I know they are trying that with Thanos, but he is the only one they seem to be doing that for. Well, I guess Loki could be looked at in that light as well.

Like always, there are a ton of Easter Eggs to watch out for in this movie. You also get a mid-credit and end-credit scene, so make sure you sit through all the credits, and I will say that both of them were very good and leave you asking a lot of questions, especially for those that do not know a lot of the comic lore that is coming out in phase III.

My Recommendation:

See It.

For More Reviews Check out WWW.Shepfromtamp.com

Trainwreck (2015)

Trainwreck Review

[6/10 · 17 July 2015]

My Thoughts: Trainwreck is brought to us by Amy Schumer who wrote and stars in the movie, her first big screen role jumping from the small screen. What this movie basically is a romance/comedy movie with Amy's brand of humor thrown in, so if you are looking for some new take of the romantic comedy you will be disappointed. This movie is pretty by the number movie girl doesn't want a committed relationship, finds a guy that is actually pretty decent and falls for him, has a fight with him and pushes him away, and then has a big make up scene. I am sad to say that a lot of the reviews that I have seen claiming great things for this movie is I think giving Amy Schumer a pass due to either liking her comedy and making the jump to the big screen. The movie is okay and yes some of the jokes are hilarious but some are just either flat or go over the top, but that is Amy's humor. Even outside this movie Amy is a hit or miss for me she likes to push the boundaries and sometimes it just goes to far and no longer becomes funny.

Now don't misconstrue that I didn't like the movie, it is a good movie. And I have to say LeBron James and John Cena steal the scene when they are on camera. Like one of my other movie buddies has stated you will never look at John Cena again after watching him in this movie and he performs it great. LeBron James I didn't know what to expect from him and seeing him play this version of himself just had me laughing all the time whenever he was on the screen.

When Amy's comedy is on point she is hilarious and you are laughing so hard it hurts but I just can't agree that this is the greatest comedy of the year maybe the summer but that is only cause there have not been a lot of great comedies out this year. On a side note the women should love this movie for the amount of eye candy Amy puts on the screen which is fair in my opinion since Hollywood seems to love using women as eye candy for most of their movies.

My Recommendation: See it, if for nothing else than to see John Cena and LeBron James performance.

For more reviews check out www.shepfromtamp.com

Self/less (2015)

Self/less Review

[5/10 · 10 July 2015]

My Thoughts:

There are movies that you see the trailer for and think to yourself that is a very interesting concept I wonder if they will delve into the deeper aspects of this and then you get to the movie and go nope not even close. Self/less is a movie that I wanted them to delve deeper into the struggles inside and outside of taking over a new body.

We get a very little taste of that with memories that seem to force themselves on the new "person" taking over the body but they really side step all that with magic red pills that they seemed to have developed before knowing really that they would need them. So you really do not get a struggle for control because if you continue to take your little red pills then the memories will dissipate. The only reason this is an issue in this movie is because the company doesn't bother telling the people that they are moving into the new body that they body really isn't brand new but slightly used. And that brings me to the outside portion of the struggle I wanted them to show more.

The company that does this "shedding" as it is called in the movie first lie and state that the bodies were grown in a lab but we come to find out that that isn't really true they had issues with the growth process. Instead of being up front and telling the new owners that the body they are purchasing was used but the previous owner gave up all rights to the body due to "x" circumstance they throw the new person into the body and then try to lie once again about the memories they are seeing and that take these little red pills and they will go away.

Usually when I watch a movie even when I think it is bad I can usually find something good about at least a portion of it. This one I can't even say is a good popcorn movie. There are too many movies out during blockbuster season that I would recommend over this movie, maybe if it came out in the January through April time frame I could give my recommendation to check this movie out in the theaters but I can't do that now. With the three movies that are coming out today if you had to see one in theaters it would have to be Minions at least you would be entertained.

So let me ask you if you were dying and a company came up to you and said they could extend your life and were completely honest about the procedure, would you go for it?

My Recommendation:

Rent It

Minions (2015)

Minions Review

[6/10 · 10 July 2015]

My Thoughts:

Where to start with Minions? This is a pure, kids movie, though they do try to add a few scenes in there for the adults to laugh at, and I will admit that I did chuckle at a few of the jokes. However, I think the one downfall for this movie is that we enjoyed the minions in Despicable Me because they were side characters and weren't the main focus. Now they are front and center, and yes, they are cute and adorable but really do not sustain a full-length movie.

For a group that is supposed to follow the biggest and baddest, evil boss out there, you really don't understand why they are so driven to do so. All of their actions make you look at them as sweet, innocent minions who really do not have an evil bone in their yellow bodies. The movie glosses over telling us why they are so driven to find the perfect evil boss and why they couldn't work for a superhero instead. Although, by the time of Despicable Me 2, they really are working for a hero instead of a villain.

Overall, I was not disappointed by this movie--it was cute and enjoyable--but I would not pay full price at the theater for it. The kids are going to love this, and it will most likely drive the parents crazy.

There are mid-credit and end-credit scenes.

My Recommendation:

Matinée It.

The Gallows (2015)

The Gallows Review

[4/10 · 10 July 2015]

My Thoughts:

Oh, horror movies, you try so hard sometimes and sadly, usually fall short. The Gallows falls short on a few different levels. First and foremost, they made it a found-footage movie--why hasn't this type of movie died yet? Seriously, it was a great gimmick like ten years ago; now, it is an annoying gimmick that makes me not want to pay attention to your movie.

The whole premise of the story is that in 1993, a student of the play The Gallows was killed during the hanging scene. Now, twenty years later, one of the drama kids wants to resurrect the play to complete it, and for some reason, a couple of football jocks decide that even though they suck at acting, they will join the drama class. Well, they convince themselves that the only way not to either bomb or disappoint the class is to sneak in the night before the opening day and destroy the set. Needless to say, things don't go down the way the kids thought they would.

The scare tactic of choice for The Gallows are jump scares. Don't get me wrong, they have some inventive ways to get you, and I will admit, some of them did get me, but like with most horror movies (at least for me), once you figure out which horror tactic they are employing, you can be on the lookout and prepare yourself for them.

If you are paying attention during the movie, you can pretty much figure out the who-done-it, though they do throw in a twist towards the end which I thought was pretty good. However, it does not make up for the rest of the movie.

There are no mid-credit or end-credit scenes.

My Recommendation:

Rent it.

check out more reviews at www.shepfromtamp.com

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Magic Mike XXL Step Up for Adults

[7/10 · 1 July 2015]

My Thoughts:

I really had no expectations when I went into this screening. I had screened Magic Mike when it first came out and wasn't really impressed with that movie. So when the credits started to roll for Magic Mike XXL I was surprised to find myself pleasantly entertained. I would go and put myself out there and say that the sequel is better than the original.

The whole premise for the movie is pretty much a Male Entertainer road trip to Myrtle Beach for one last bang before they retire and move onto other things. Along the way the boys stop in Tampa to hang out with Mike who decides to join the boys as they head north.

I will say the ladies will not be disappointed in this movie one bit for the eye candy that they will receive. Though I will have to say that no one goes full monty in this movie there is still plenty for ladies eyes to devour. I will say for the men that they do add more ladies in this movie but we do not get the types of views that we received in the first one but it is still very enjoyable for all to see.

And my god the cameos. Like I said in my previous review ( Ted 2) this is the summer of cameos and if used well cameos can be a good thing in a movie. And I have to say there is one cameo in particular that once I realized who it was and what he was doing I was totally amazed by his moves.

And then of course you have everyone's favorite dancer tWitch who has seemingly been on everything. While watching this movie and seeing both tWitch and Channing Tatum on the screen doing there thing I was like this is the adult version of Step Up. I don't care if you are male or female that last dance scene if you aren't enjoying yourself (not that way) while watching it than you have an issue.

My Recommendation:

This is an enjoyable movie with eye candy for both sexes and you will be entertained. If nothing else take your girlfriend/wife to see this movie and I am sure you will be much appreciated.

Inside Out (I) (2015)

Inside Out Review

[5/10 · 26 June 2015]

My Thoughts:

When I first saw the trailer for Inside Out I had high hopes and who wouldn't Pixar is a studio that really hasn't let me down. I don't mean that all there movies are great but at least they were entertaining. But I am sad to say that era has ended for me. Inside Out just doesn't live up to its former predecessors.

I told one of my fellow screeners last night this was a mediocre rehash of Toy Story just with the toys now being inside the child's head. Riley's family move from Minnesota to San Fransisco and of course nothing is going as it should be the house doesn't live up to the hype Riley dreamed up, the movers are lost and keep pushing back the delivery date, and of course the dreaded new school.

Then we have the emotions inside Riley's head who instead of coming together and getting Riley through this they are in conflict with each other which leads to Riley losing focus on who she is and what made her her which leads Riley down a dark path.

Now why do I say that this movie does not live up to the Pixar movies that came before? Pixar is usually good at balancing adult and kid humor making it fun for the whole family to sit down and watch the movie and sadly I feel that Inside Out did not do this. There were certain scenes that I was sitting there bored with. Some scenes just didn't make any sense whatsoever, making it feel like they threw stuff in there so they could pad the run time. Don't get me wrong there was some humorous scenes that I enjoyed in this movie, especially some of the end credit outtakes but overall I just feel this movie lacked anything really new to the scene. Like I stated before I feel we have seen this storyline in some form or another just this time they are using emotions as the point of view vice toys, etc.

Now the kids that were in the audience seemed to enjoy this movie overall. As I said before it does go a little dark, kind of like Toy Story 3 but I think they went a little further. So at least if you are taking your kids out to see this they should be entertained I can't say the same for all the adults out there. Also there is really no point in the 3D glasses nothing really jumped out at me making me glad to see this movie in 3D. Heck 3/4ths of the way through the movie I remembered that I was actually wearing the glasses.

I know that this is the first really kid movie of the summer and families are probably going to flock to it. And most likely those that love Disney and Pixar are going to see it as well. I hope that they find more enjoyment in it than I did.

My Recommendation:

Rent It.

Ted 2 (2015)

Ted 2 Review

[6/10 · 26 June 2015]

My Thoughts:

Seth MacFarland movies are always a hard one to critique in my opinion, he tries to walk that line between crass jokes and the ones that make you think. And we get that in Ted 2 but there are times where you just go "wow Seth that definitely went further in one direction than the other". Fans of Seth MacFarland will understand what I am saying we either get a Ted movie that everyone seemed to love or we get A Million Ways to Die in the West which people seemed to not enjoy.

And lets face it Seth is not that great of a story teller and Ted 2 is another example of that. He rehashes some of the somethings he used in the first Ted, Giovanni Ribisi is pretty much doing the same story in this movie but just in another setting. We also get a rehash of some of the stories he did in Family Guy. Not saying this is all bad it just shows that when he loves an idea he sticks with it and uses it multiple times. Seth is using the story to get to the next joke and not vice verse and that is something we can overlook as long as the jokes that are being told are worthy of it and I will say for the majority of the movie they are but there are times where the jokes do fall a little flat or you just wish they would move along in the story. There is one scene where they are traveling down to New York and one of the scenes just drags, I was sitting there thinking man they could have cut this scene out and it really wouldn't have hurt anything.

This seems to be the summer of cameos in movies, first with Entourage and now with Ted 2, and also for Magic Mike XXL (review to come). Cameos in my opinion are not bad if they are used well and Ted 2 uses them well and doesn't. There is a great one that happens at the grocery store that Ted works at that just had me laughing. But then there is one that happens at a convention center where at first I was like "OMG they got these guys to do this, Awesome!" but then they took it in a direction that I thought was stupid and really not that funny in my opinion.

Ted 2 is a fun ride with a few bumps along the road.

My Recommendation:

It is a funny movie to see as long as you like the crass controversial humor.

Jurassic World (2015)

Jurassic World Review

[6/10 · 11 June 2015]

My Thoughts: So let us delve into the latest sequel to Jurassic Park, as the summary states this takes place twenty-two years after the first movie, and some how, they got the park up and running without any incidents so far. I would love to go to a place where dinosaurs roam, but I can just imagine the cost of a family vacation to Isla Nublar; you have to fly down to Costa Rica and then take a ferry over to the island. So not only is there no other place to stay if you want to be close to the park then whatever hotels the Park has allowed on the island, but now they have you over the barrel because there is no other choice in hotels, food, or any other amenities.

But that is all just a side thought, really. So, we get introduced to Jurassic World by--yep, you guessed it--two new kids, Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson), who happen to be related to the Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who seems to run the day-to-day operations of the park and nothing else. At the beginning of the movie, Claire is such a one-dimensional character that you ask yourself why she would ever be put in charge of such a grand park. She has no passion for what they are doing there; all she cares about are the numbers and making sure the park is making its money. Even the owner of the park, Masrani (Irrfan Khan), who was willed the park by Richard Hammond after his death, tells her she is too uptight. Due to Claire being so focused on her job, she entrusts the care of her nephews to her assistant who, of course, the kids ditch within a matter of minutes. Oh, and the assistant, instead of telling Claire that she lost her nephews on Dino island, disappears until the sh!t hits the fan and Claire contacts her looking for her nephews.

So how does Jurassic World get to the point that we are at now with this new big, bad dinosaur about to wreck havoc on the park? Just like any park, people get bored with it after awhile unless you add a new attraction, and Jurassic World is no different. There are only so many times you can pay such a high price to go see the same dinosaurs over and over again. This hasn't been too much of a problem due to them being able to find new dinosaur DNA around the world, but that just doesn't satisfy everyone; they want a dinosaur that is big and bad and scary, and the only way they can figure out to do that is to splice together all kinds of different dinosaur and other DNA together to create Indominus Rex.

So, needless to say, all of the precautions the park has taken to keep Indominus Rex safely isolated from the rest of the park do not measure up, and she escapes her confinement, and that is when all h3ll breaks loose. She isn't really trying to find a way to escape; she is trying to figure out where she fits in the hierarchy of the island, and for most of the movie, there isn't anything or anyone that is able to stop her.

One of the things that had me thinking during this crisis was "where were their procedures for handling the public during break outs like these?" First, they knew what befell the first park as they are on the island where it all began; plus, they discuss it in the movie. So, when they call all of the park visitors back to the central area, all of the visitors are sitting in the open, unprotected. I get it that the park believes that they can handle anything that happens and that no dinosaurs will ever make it to the central area, but if I was the one designing a new park over the ashes of the original, I would have put in place an evacuation protocols as well as shelter areas that could withstand a head on dinosaur attack, but it seems the writers didn't really care that much. I get it--it adds to the action and tension when you see the public panic when, of course, the dinosaurs make it to the central area.

Were there plot holes and annoyances with this movie? Yes. I, for one, think we could have done without the kids in the movie. If you cut them out, it would not have hurt the movie one bit; they did not really add any value to the movie except to show you around, which was pretty much done whilst following Indominus Rex as well as from the viewpoint of those chasing her. Bryce Dallas Howard's character seemed to find her inner family heart halfway through this when she, all of a sudden, remembers that she has two nephews on the island, and I just didn't buy any of it. I do have to say, I did enjoy Chris Pratt's character; he is one that I haven't gone into too many details about because I want people to see it and have their own opinion of him and the Raptors.

However, with all that being said, Jurassic World is a summer blockbuster popcorn flick; you are not going to this movie because you want to see a great script, you are going to see majestic landscapes and dinosaurs walking the Earth again. And, of course, dinosaur fights, which this movie delivers to you in spades, especially the end battle event. Even though the end was quite predictable, I still enjoyed watching it on screen.

My Recommendation: This is a fun movie to be enjoyed on a hot summer day when you want to sit in the A/C theater and watch dinosaurs on the big screen.

Entourage (2015)

Entourage Review

[8/10 · 4 June 2015]

My Thoughts: Alright I am going to be upfront I am a big fan of Entourage when it was on HBO. I have watched it a few times since it left the airwaves and when I heard that a movie had finally gotten green-lighted I was excited. So if I can of fanboy it up some it is cause I am a huge fan.

I will say right up front this movie does not disappoint. One of the things I was worried about was that with so much time passing since the end of the series to finally getting this movie done that the group chemistry wouldn't be there anymore, or that the writing would be lacking, or a million other things would make this movie not live up to my expectations. But I am very happy to say that is not the case, it surpassed all my expectations.

The movie is of course set 10 years later Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is a movie superstar having starred in 15 movies but now he wants to do more than act he wants to direct and with his old agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) heading up an agency it seems like a match made in heaven or is it? Just like the television show maybe a little bit more since it is a big movie we get bombarded by cameos. Some are just back ground cameos and some are for lack of a better term skits. And don't get me wrong a lot of them have funny moments and had me laughing. But some might say that it distracted them from the movie and I really didn't get that watching the movie.

E's (Kevin Connolly) storyline is of course dealing with him and how he is in relationships. E hasn't changed in ten years he still likes to be in an emotional relationship than the one night stands or flings the rest of the boys enjoy. Though we do get a different side of it this time and things get complicated or maybe a better term for it is Hollywoodized and it is just a fun ride to see E deal with it.

Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) is now slim down and sitting pretty well with his investment in the tequila company he started in the show. Turtle's story deals more with his infatuation with Ronda Rousey. Which has some great moments.

Now if you are reading this and going "but wait I didn't watch the show how will I understand any of this?!" Well Entourage knows this and in Hollywood fashion through interviews and side dialog they bring the audience up to speed on where the crew left off and what they have been doing since we last saw them. So you don't have to go binge watch the TV show before watching this movie. I would recommend it because there are easter eggs for us that have seen the show that general audience members will probably not get. But that does not mean you have to.

My Recommendation: I am going to say if you are looking for a good time and lots of laughs then Entourage is the movie for you.

Furious 7 (2015)

Furious 7 Review

[8/10 · 2 April 2015]

My Thoughts:

First, let me say, I am sorry for the long break in material on the site. It has been slow for movie screenings, and I've been quite busy in real life. I will do my best to keep the page up to date, but I will be moving at the end of April, so I might be a little down until I get internet in the place.

But back to the movie review...

I have to say, I have loved the Fast & Furious franchise since the beginning (yes, even Tokyo Drift). And Furious 7 delivers everything and more. Dom and family are now back in LA where it all began so long ago, but things are now different. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) still does not remember any of her past. Brian (Paul Walker) is trying to settle into married life, and he finds it a little chaffing. All of this quiet and walking down memory lane doesn't last long due to Deckard Shaw coming out for revenge for his now-crippled brother. At the beginning, it looks like he is just going to work his way through the Fast crew, but Dom gets some help from Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and his black ops group who has been looking for Deckard Shaw. Before Mr. Nobody can help them track down Deckard, however, Dom and his crew need to do him a favor. There is a hacker named Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) who has wrote a program called God's Eye that can pretty much track anyone in the world; once Mr. Nobody has that, then he will help Dom find and take down Deckard.

This movie was excellent; if you are a fan of the franchise, you will not be disappointed in Furious 7. With them going back to Los Angeles, we get a trip down memory lane from seeing old sets that were in the first one as well as a few cameos from some of the cast that was there too. We also get to see how Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift now fits into the franchise, and we get a few cameos from that movie as well. I find it great that Vin Diesel and crew are taking the time to try to make all the movies and cast fit into the Fast & Furious lore that now exists instead of pushing them to the side and forgetting about them.

The action--oh my god! When you think that they have done everything they could have done with cars and action sequences, Fast & Furious proves you wrong, be it dropping out of airplanes or jumping buildings. Usually, I am one for nitpicking things that defy logic or physics, but for some reason, with these movies, I just buckle up and enjoy the ride because I know I am going to have one helluva good time. You will not be disappointed.

The fighting (which I think has now become a stable to the franchise since the addition of The Rock in Fast & Furious 5) is awesome to watch. This time, they have added Ronda Rousey and Tony Jaa to the list for some great, over-the-top fight scenes that you will not be disappointed in. One of the only negatives I can say is that Ronda Rousey looked a little stiff delivering her lines, but she makes up for it 100% with her fight scene.

Even though the last two movies had easter eggs during the credits, there is not one in this movie, so there is no need to stay to the end.

Last but not least: Paul Walker. I am not going to spoil it for people. It is an emotional time watching this movie as a big fan of this franchise to see them pay tribute to Paul Walker and give him such a beautiful send off. They were definitely tugging on my heartstrings towards the end of this movie, and one of my friends was actually crying.

My question to you guys: should they make a Fast & Furious 8? Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson have both come out saying that they want to do a Fast 8, but with the loss of Paul Walker, would the franchise be the same? What are your thoughts?

My Recommendation:

If you are looking for a movie that offers you high octane action and some great fight scenes then you will want to see this movie.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Fifty Shades of Grey Review

[5/10 · 12 February 2015]

My Thoughts:

So first off the story/plot. The first thing at least I noticed is the pacing is very slow. The main story really revolves around will Anastasia Steel (Dakota Johnson)/won't she sign the Dom/Sub contract that Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) gives her. Anyone going into this movie thinking that she is an innocent and controlled woman is sadly mistaken. Yes at the beginning of the movie Christian pretty much stalks Anastasia until she agrees to go out with him but she has a lot more control and she knows it and uses it to her advantage over Christian multiple times throughout the movie, even demanding they sit down and have a business meeting to negotiate over the contract. Yes she is innocent in the terms that she is not very sexually experienced and Christian makes mistakes by instead of being by her side and educating her in what he desires he provides her with a contract that has a lot of scary and intimidating wordage in it as well as telling her to "Google it" I don't know about you but if you put in the word Bondage in Google that is likely to scare anyone away.

Now let us explore Mr. Grey some more. This guy is a walking contradiction. We are at first given the image that this guy is a over the top controlling personality who has the ability to read a person and then get them to operate at peak performance. But it seems that Anastasia is his kryptonite. And I want to make something abundantly clear Christian Grey is up front with Anastasia Steele the whole time with what he desires hiding nothing. He goes so far as to provide her with a multi-page contract explaining everything in detail about what he expects. He doesn't force her to sign it and as previously mentioned he wants her to make changes to the contract. But he is also very confusing as he tells her that he doesn't do normal relationships, he doesn't sleep in the same bed as the girl, and a number of other things and then completely does them, which would confuse the hell out of anyone in a relationship. He also doesn't do anything to Anastasia that she didn't tell him to show her. There is one scene where he tells her that he wants to punish her but again he doesn't make a move to do so until Anastasia tells him to do his worse and let me tell you folks I have had worse punishment as a kid then what he did to her.

Lets talk a little bit of Anastasia Steele. As stated earlier she is not a complete innocent going into this situation with Christian. Yes she is not sexually experienced especially with the idea of a Dom/Sub experience but hell unless you are into that or have friends that are into that and open with telling about their experience not many people know that part of the sexual experience. But she is manipulative as well in this movie. She knows Christian wants her to sign that contract and be his Sub and she dangles that repeatedly over his head to try to change him. And that is another thing, Christian is very up front with her about what he wants and throughout the movie instead of taking him on at face value she goes out of her way to change him into what she desires. And I talked this over with a friend last night that it is a running storyline in Hollywood were we fall in love with someone for what they are showing us be it the dangerous bad boy or the angelic beauty and then doing everything in our power to change that person to fit what we desire to be our perfect companion and that just doesn't line up with real life. Yes people do change over time and in relationships there is a give and take but we have to accept our significant other for who they are not who we think we can change them into and that is what Anastasia is trying to do in this movie, she wants Christian to conform to her ideas of a relationship. Now I am not saying that she should conform to his either but if you both have two different philosophies on what a relationship entails you might want to think about dating someone else.

My review ran over the 1,000 words allowed on IMDb so if you wish to see my full review please head over to www.shepfromtamp.com

My Recommendation:

Rent it.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

[8/10 · 6 February 2015]

My Thoughts:

First off I will admit that I loved the comic book Secret Service that this movie is based off of and when I first heard that Matthew Vaughn was making it into a movie I was super excited. I liked his take on Kick-Ass and couldn't wait to see what he did with this comic book. And boy he does not disappoint with this movie. Yes people will notice that there are some changes from the comic book to the big screen but I do not think the changes they made really have that much of an impact on the movie. People are calling this a James Bond movie on steroids and I will have to agree. To me this kind of reminds me back to the older Bond movies that weren't always grounded in the real world like the newer Bond movies have become and I grew up on those Bond movies and love them.

Samuel L. Jackson is Samuel L. Jackson he really doesn't change up his acting in his movies but he really doesn't have to cause we just love his over the top style he does. Some people might call me out cause I do have some issues with actors that seem to do the same shtick over and over again but for me Samuel L. Jackson just seems to bring it whenever he is on the screen and doesn't seem like he is beating you over the head with it.

I could talk or type paragraphs on the outstanding cast that is in this movie and everyone hits there mark in this one. Even semi newcomers Taron Egerton (Gary 'Eggys' Unwin) and Sophie Cookson (Roxy) shine in their roles as Kingsman trainees.

I do say that some of the action shoots and how they filmed them had me dizzy at times do to how they were jerking around the camera that sometimes you lost track of what was going on. But with that said the action scenes are over the top and ridiculous fun to watch. If you don't enjoy all that great action then you might as well lose your head.

One thing I will call out that during one action scene they do have the unlimited ammo gun syndrome and I always call those type of things out. The thing I find funny about is that up until that point they were good at showing people changing out their clips and or running out of ammo. But it really doesn't detract for how awesome the scenes are.

Now if you are not into these movies that are not truly grounded in reality then this movie will not be for you, which is sad because you are missing out. With the number of crappy Winter Block movies we are getting this is a shining gem.

My Recommendation:

Hell I am probably going to go watch this movie again, so if I am going to pay for it then you need to go out there and watch this movie.

Seventh Son (I) (2014)

Seventh Son Review

[5/10 · 5 February 2015]

My Thoughts:

This is your standard February movie, meaning that if it was placed in the blockbuster block it would definitely be a bomb. I still do not think that it was a great movie or even a good movie at its best Seventh Son is an okay movie.

A running theme with some of the past movies I have reviewed is that the special effects and action scenes worked really well and looked good but the writing and even some of the acting just falls so short in the movie that you are going really?! i say this because we are getting these I will start calling them the Winter Block movies that have these big named actors that you know can act but seem stuck with either how the director or the writers lock them in.

Take Jeff Bridges, we all know this man can act but it seems when he got chosen for this character he went "oh I know the perfect character for this guy" and dusted off Roy from R.I.P.D (see our review here). Though Jeff Bridges does have a bar fight scene that I thought was really well done and was fun to watch. But that is what you get from most of the cast through this movie, you will get these flashes of good acting but then they seem to get sucked back into the abyss and continue on with what they were given us before. Oh and if you are looking for a big performance from Jon Snow aka Kit Harington you will be disappointed. I was hoping that we would get to see him redeem his big screen acting chops and make us forget that crap of a movie Pompeii (review) he gave us the year before.

This is a pretty standard by the numbers fantasy movie with nothing really new to offer the audience. You have a knight who belongs to an order that back in its heyday was a great and respected group but now is barely respected. Darkness has returned to the land and it is up to this Knight along with his new apprentice that he has to train in the time it takes to journey to where the darkness is gathering. We get that whole the bad guys have to wait until a certain time to gain ultimate power so they can take over the world but throughout the movie you see them beating up and taking on Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) and his Apprentice Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) when they could have pretty much killed them at anytime. They also take on and destroy a whole city, I mean what more are you waiting for if you already have that kind of power before your ceremony that is going to give you greater power? I get this is a movie and it would be over quickly if they did this but then do not put them in situations that they are facing off against these enemies and you are showing us that they are more powerful then the good guys and could easily defeat them at will but don't for some strange reason.

I am trying to think of some good points that I can make about this movie that I haven't already commented on but it is difficult. The cinematography I thought was pretty good over all. Some of the actions scenes are really well done as well. Story/Plot fails in its execution. Acting just seems like most of them phoned it in or where not allowed to let their acting chops fly.

My Recommendation:

You know I was on the fence with what I was going to recommend for this movie but the more I wrote up my review the more I came to realize I could not tell you guys to go pay money for this at the theaters. So my recommendation is to Rent It.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Jupiter Ascending Review

[4/10 · 4 February 2015]

I know I put the warning at the top but I am going to say it again in more certain terms. I will probably be spoiling things about the movie in my review below.

I went into this movie looking for something that would be entertaining and occupy my mind for the 2 hours and 7 minutes that this movie runs. Sadly that did not happen. I know we are in that January to April time frame where most of the movies we are going to see are not going to be great but if we are lucky we might get OK to good movies.

One of the major fails for me is the story, we are told at the beginning of how Jupiter Jones's (Mila Kunis) parents meet and all the time you are wondering which one of them is going to be the alien that passes on the royal genes to Jupiter but we come to find out that none of that matters because none of her parents are really aliens and that the reason that she is considered some royal alien is that some sort of genetic hocuspocus has happened and she is the reincarnated Matron Abrasax. Who along with her three kids run a very large processing company that supplies the Universe with product that helps them maintain their youth.

So in another miracle the Abrasax family have monitors on all the planets that they administer so that way if this genetic reincarnation does happen they can find it. And of course since they are all money grabbing power hunger people instead of embracing the newly found reincarnated royal they instead try to kill her or manipulate her. And Jupiter keeps falling for this every time she meets another Abrasax. I guess Jupiter didn't remember the saying "Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me...".

Then we get Caine (Channing Tatum) this legendary Legionaire Hunter that got kicked out for murdering an Entitled. We are never told why he committed this act all we are given is that since he is a splice between human and wolf that it was in his nature. So we get a really lame excuse that really has no bearing on the on going story whatsoever. But he is a legendary fighter armed with gravity boots and a energy shield he takes on all comers and only every gets a scratch. I mean some of the fight scenes were good and well choreographed but Caine seriously is one unstoppable force which just becomes so over the top you are watching the screen going "come on, really?!". It does give the girls some eye candy though until later this year when the ladies will get Magic Mike XXL.

And then poor poor Eddie Redmayne who plays Balem Abrasax. After coming off The Theory of Everything and then seeing him in this generic bad guy role you are like really Eddie? How did they get you into this role. And yes I realize with the delay of this movie he shot this movie before the other one. But Balem speaks in so soft a voice for most of the movie that if you are not paying close attention you will miss some of the things he says. And really all we get are these one dimensional characters that really have no depth to them, Balem is all about the money, Titus (Douglas Booth) is all about enjoying the pleasures in life and Kalique Abrasax (Tuppence Middleton) is all about staying young.

In the end Jupiter doesn't really change anything. Two out of three of the Abrasax siblings are still out there running the planets the way they were running Earth prepping them for use. As well as the other Families they tell us are out there doing the same thing. The only thing Jupiter does is save Earth but pretty much says screw the rest of the Universe they are on their own.

I will admit the cinematography is really great and have some great open and beautiful scenes. And the biggest spoiler of all is that Sean Bean survives the whole movie!

My Recommendation:

Rent it.

The Boy Next Door (2015)

The Boy Next Door Review

[2/10 · 23 January 2015]

My Thoughts:

Where to begin with The Boy Next Door. If you are going into this expecting anything different then your standard obsession movie you will be disappointed. The only thing this movie tries to do differently is that instead of having it be a female obsessed over a man they switch it up. For the ladies you will be more than happy with Ryan Guzman on this he is there for eye candy and you definitely get your monies worth out of him. Guys you will be slightly disappointed. Yes we get some hot and steamy scenes from Jennifer Lopez but we really do not see anything we haven't seen in any of her music videos or other commercials. And to tell you the truth since we have a lot of cut scenes I would not be surprised to learn that some of those scenes were a J-Lo body double.

But back to the movie at hand. It is a by the number obsession movie. You get a boy that moves next door to a separated mother of one. Boy becomes close to the family and one thing leads to another and boy and mother hook up. Boy believes there is something more between them, mother believes it was a one night mistake. And then comes the crazy.

They did skirt the issue of an older woman sleeping with an underage kid by having Noah (Ryan Guzman) be a 19 year old kid who had a few setbacks and have to finish his senior year of school. But even with that there tons of holes in this movie if you sit down and think about it for just a minute. If I posted them I would give away a lot of the movie for those that are still planning to see this movie. This is a movie that is asking you to shut off your brain and not really think to hard on this movie and the plot.

This movies pace is very quick as well, meaning that things happen very quickly and doesn't really give you a chance to get everything together by the time they are done with one scene they throw the next situation out at you and wonder why they reacted so fast when they just got done with the previous scene.

This is what I categorize as a true January movie. The studios wanted to make it but know that it isn't that great of a movie so they place it in January where usually there is not a lot of great movies out there during this time.

My Recommendation:

Wait for DVD

Mortdecai (2015)

Mortdecai Review

[7/10 · 23 January 2015]

My Thoughts:

Wow where to begin with this movie. When I first started seeing the trailers for this movie I was intrigued and worried. I was intrigued cause this looked like an unusual but interesting movie. My worry came from seeing Mr. Johnny Depp playing another character role and this worried me because in my opinion Johnny Depp has been cashing in on his Jack Sparrow character from the Pirate of the Caribbean movies for the past what 10 plus years now. But I am glad to say that the Mortdecai character stands on his own, yes you could see little flares of Sparrowness in him but over all this character stood on its own.

Let me tell you that all the actors in this movie did a fantastic job. But I have to say that Jock (Paul Bettany) was great to watch. Jock is Mortdecai's Man Servant and jack of all trades and without him Mortdecai would not survive a day on his own. Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow both shine in their roles as well and think they did a wonderful job in the supporting roles.

Another thing I loved about this movie was the little travel scenes between cities. It kind of reminded me of the old school Indiana Jones plane cut scenes but updated. I also loved a lot of the cinematography in this movie as well, there was bright colors and sweeping wide screen shots that complimented this movie really well.

This movie is not going to be for everyone though it is a strange quirky comedy and has some ludicrous moments. But as one of my friends said when we walked out of the screening this has that sort of Pink Panther feel and I have to agree this movie follows along those same lines.

My Recommendation:

Looking for a different change of pace and a quirky movie then this is for you.

Still Alice (2014)

Still Alice Review

[6/10 · 16 January 2015]

My Thoughts:

Still Alice is one of those movies that gets you thinking. In this case it gets you thinking about what would you do if you started to lose your memory and two what would you do if one of your family members started to lose theirs?

In the case of Still Alice, Alice played by Julianne Moore is a middle aged woman who has a great career and loving family when she starts to notice that she is forgetting things and gets diagnosed with early onset Familial Alzheimer Disease. So not only does Alice get hit with it she now has to let her family know that there is a good chance that they have the disease.

Its scary to think that one minute you have everything you want going for you and in the next you aren't going to remember most of your life. Julianne Moore gives us a beautiful performance of what it must be like to go through this terrible disease.

But what we also get in this movie is we are shown the different family members and how they deal with what is happening to their mother and wife. And we see how this puts them all under stress and how they deal with it. Some start off strong and are full of hope and help but lose it later down the line. While others are not there at the beginning but are there later on giving the strength that Alice and the rest of the family needs.

Everyone says they that will be there till the end but sometimes you can never be sure until you are put to the test and that is what this movie shows you. Even the strongest of us can falter.

My Recommendation:

Watch it on DVD

Blackhat (2015)

Blackhat Review

[4/10 · 16 January 2015]

My Thoughts:

I am not going to lie I am probably going to drop spoilers about this movie in the following review. So if you have an inkling of seeing this movie without being spoiled I would just skip this review and move on.

I went into this movie nervous about how I was going to review this movie, most people don't know but I do have a degree in Cyber Security so my major worry was am I going to be able to catch all the hacking references they put in this movie. I shouldn't have worried. This movie isn't really a hacking movie, yes there are two hacks at the beginning of this movie you don't see the code but some make believe this is how pathways work in the digital world that goes on too long that I was getting bored I can just imagine people that don't really care that much about computing were thinking.

So we get the Chinese who just had one of their reactors hacked pair up with the U.S. due to the U.S. having the same type of hacking happen against them earlier but were able to stop it. So both governments decide to work together to try to figure out who is doing this and why. Oh but wait the Chinese Captain Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang) decides they need his old M.I.T college roommate Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) who is supposed to be a master hacker but now resides in jail. Which okay it could happen since supposedly part of the code the blackhat ( in case people don't know black hat is a term meaning a person hacking with malicious intent) is using was co written by Hathaway and Dawai back when they were in college. But the simple fact that afterwards there is very little hacking in this movie or that they really show you. It turns into a detective movie with them trying to track this black hat down, oh and Hathaway goes with them everywhere and sometimes without his mandated U.S. Marshall. There is no reason to have a hacker consultant following or taking point into crime scenes.

Then lets talk about the acting and editing of this movie. This movie is more of a B rated movie than the A rated movie that they try to spin it off as. The editing is bad in this movie from a lot of clip scenes to the pace of this movie is slow. And don't get me wrong I could understand the slow pacing of this movie if it was more focused on the true aspects of hacking instead of trying to be a gunfight/police drama. Then they make the old Hollywood mistake of the guns never run out of ammo. You never once see or hear a gun empty, you never see the people have clips on them or changing them. Also Hathaway the hacker is not just a hacker but great at hand to hand as well as shooting. And then the dialogue in this movie, not talking about the hacker speak they got most of that correct at least the most I caught, even the coding though I am not a coder looked to be correct but the rest of the dialogue just seemed over the top or just thrown together. I don't know if I should blame the writers or the way this movie was edited. Oh and then with everything else this movie has added they decided what they really needed was a love story, so when at least you will get some eye candy with Thor/Hathaway out of his clothes for some of this movie. But it is an element that didn't need to be in this movie.

Spoiler here we get to see really two hacks in this movie and don't get me wrong these two types of hacks are used a lot and have a lot of success. But the first hack we see is a phishing attack on an NSA Cyber Security person. Hathaway sends the man an email from his supervisor telling him he needs to change his password due to him having dealt with the U.S./Chinese team and the email has a short cut to change his password. Guess what he does? Yep. Clicks the link which happens to be hiding a keylogger in it which grants Hathaway access to the system the team needs to put some information together. Yes phishing is a successful way to get information from users but with all the things that have been happening in the world with unauthorized access and hacking attacks it is very unlikely that an NSA Cyber Security person is going to click on that link. The second attack that they use is a social engineering attack which is always very successful in the world. The use Dawai's sister who is also Hathaways love interest in the movie to get a guard to attach a thumb drive into his computer which then grants them access to the systems. This I really do not have a problem with it is a good way to get your code into a system and happens a lot.

With the amount of movies coming out on January 16th I can't recommend this movie. Go see American Sniper instead it is a much better movie and you won't be disappointed. Or go see the Wedding Ringer if you are looking for a good comedy.

If you have seen the movie leave a comment below let me know what you thought. Did you think they got this movie right?

My Recommendation:

Wait for the DVD.

American Sniper (2014)

American Sniper Review

[9/10 · 16 January 2015]

My Thoughts:

You would think that we would get tired of these war movies depicting life over in Iraq and Afghanistan but when they come together in a movie this good it is easy to see why we keep coming back for more. This is easily one of Clint Eastwood's best directed movie. And then we come to Bradley Cooper, he has always been a face in Hollywood but I think this movie shows that he has some serious acting chops. I know he was a Hollywood A lister before but this movie shows that he is more than just a pretty face to look at when he is on screen. I would like to see him in more of these drama type roles. Even though I did like him as Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy.

We follow Chris Kyle's life starting with a brief glimpse of how he grew up and what he did before joining the Navy and the SEALs. We then follow Chris through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs (BUDs) training. To him finding and marrying Taya (Sienna Miller). But what this movie really focuses on is the time Chris Kyle spends between four tours of duty in Iraq to the time spent between them at home. Chris seems to thrive while over in Iraq, he is in his element and knows what needs to get done. Chris is in a war between himself and an Iraqi Sniper that wants the glory of taking down the Legend that Chris Kyle has become over there. When at home though he is faced with a family he barely knows and trying to get reacquainted with them, too dealing with the mundane day to day life.

I am sure there is some things that the movie doesn't portray correctly be it due to the missions still being classified or to wanting to protect some of those people that are still active and out there protecting us. But the movie does capture what it is to be a man going off to fight a war in another country and then trying to come home and dealing with not only with your day to day life but also trying to put behind the war. Luckily in this day and age Veterans do have avenues to get help and work through it. And Chris once he got his feet under him was an advocate of trying to help those returning Veterans get a hold on reality and get back to living that normal life they had before going of to war.

This movie is an emotional roller-coaster and is going to take you on a journey. So be prepaid to have your heart strings pulled and maybe a Kleenex or two with you when you see this. Especially if you are like me and did not know Chris Kyle's story before seeing this movie.

My Recommendation:

A Must See.

The Wedding Ringer (2015)

The Wedding Ringer Review

[7/10 · 16 January 2015]

My Thoughts: From the moment I saw the trailer I knew I wanted to see this movie. Though I will admit I was a little worried. Kevin Hart has been pumping out movies like crazy and sadly not all of them have been good or all that funny. Sometimes he seems to focus to much on height jokes and it gets overused.

But that is not the case in The Wedding Ringer, yes there are a few height jokes in there but only a few and then we move onto other jokes and gimmicks. I was also worried because I was not the first one of my friends to screen this movie and all I kept hearing was how great this movie was, how funny it is, and that they couldn't stop laughing. And this always worries me because now my expectations are set higher than if I just go into a movie blind. I have to say I didn't laugh throughout the whole movie but it is a very funny movie.

Josh Gad and Kevin Hart have a good chemistry together and work well together on the screen. I wouldn't mind seeing them in something together again. And oh my god there are some scenes with them together that have you just rolling out of your seat laughing.

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting plays the over the top beautiful bride to a tee. This wedding is not about the bride and groom but all about the bride and she makes that very obvious to those around her. Any Dredd fans will recognize the name Olivia Thirlby but might be caught off guard with her brown locks in this movie. She doesn't have a big role in this movie but is definitely a great add in my opinion. Then another great surprise addition to the cast was Alan Ritchson aka Thad Castle from Blue Mountain State, if you have not seen him in BMS or any of the other shows he has been in go look them up he is such a good actor and great eye candy for the girls. And if you are a big football fan there are some great cameos to be on the look out for.

There are not many great comedies out right now but this one will not disappoint you and if it does than there is something wrong with your funny bone!

My Recommendation: See it.

Into the Woods (2014)

Into the Woods Review

[5/10 · 24 December 2014]

My Thoughts: First and foremost, this is a musical, people. I know there are some people that hate musicals, so I am giving you fair warning. I remember coming out of a screening of Rock of Ages and overhearing someone say "I didn't know it was a musical!" I just shook my head and kept walking.

Second, if you are going to this movie and are expecting to see period-type garb, do not go–you will be disappointed. You ask me why I bring this up? I have friends that do look at the costumes that are worn by the actors and will critique them. I say this again because there are some costumes that are over-the-top, but this is based on fairy tales.

I will come right out and say it: two-thirds of this movie is good, then we go come to the third act. I am serious when I say that there were people that got up and started walking out of the screening because they thought that the movie was over. There is a point in the movie that warps up everything nicely and "happily ever after," and then it keeps going and gets darker, slower, and weaker. And all the time I kept thinking are we done yet?

The best part of the movie? No, it wasn't Emily Blunt or Anna Kendrick, and that is very hard for me to say; people that know me will understand. But the best part is the scene with Cinderella's Prince (Chris Pine) and Rapunzel' Prince (Billy Magnussen) they have one song that I swear to god had the theater in stitches (Jen's note: it's "Agony"); and their acting was just great. I think I could have watched that scene over and over. If you go see the movie you will know what I am talking about, and I hope you come back and let me know if I was right.

And let me tell you this movie goes from musical, to fairy tale, to dark tale, to comedy, etc. I don't mind the darkness; many people don't know that the old fairy tales weren't all happily ever after.

Also, I don't know what the budget was on this movie, but everyone seemed to be in it, and I mean everyone. I feel sorry for Lucy Punch; she seems to get typed cast as the evil step sister; I swear she was playing the same role in Ella Enchanted. Oh, Meryl Steep did an outstanding job as The Witch; if you need someone to play that evil, corrupted character, then you should cast her.

I guess I should talk on the music in this since it is a musical. There are some great pieces in here that had me getting into the music, then there are pieces that just fall flat and you wish they would hurry it up and get over it.

So, if I could just pay to go to the first two-thirds of this movie I would love it, but include the last third, and eh!

My Recommendation:

Catch a matinée.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Review

[7/10 · 19 December 2014]

My Thoughts:

I have always enjoyed the Night at the Museum series. I was a volunteer at the Air and Space Museum shortly after the movie was released, so it was fun interacting with the visitors that came in and asked about all the things they saw in the movie. Yes, they are not completely accurate, but they are still fun to watch.

This time, there is something wrong with the tablet that brings the exhibits to life and the only one that can help them out is Ankmenrah's father, Merenkahre, played by acting great Ben Kingsley. The problem? Merenkahre is in the British Museum.

We get to see what it is like for the exhibits when they are brought to life for the first time and how confusing and disconcerting it can be for them trying to figure out what is going on. We get to see this most prominently from Sir Lancelot's (Dan Stevens's) point of view as he helps out the New York visitors get through the museum.

Now, for all intents and purposes, this is the last Night at the Museum movie (at least, it seems that way for Ben Stiller). However, they did kind of set it up for Rebel Wilson who plays Tilly, a security guard at the British Museum. I will probably get flack for this, but I hope this isn't so. I am not a big Rebel Wilson fan. I think she is good as a secondary actress, but I don't think she can really hold her own in the primary role. She, like Melissa McCarthy, are one-trick ponies; they do the same shtick over and over again and never seem to bring anything new to the table.

This movie is not an all-time great movie, but it is a cute, funny movie that will take your mind of the real world for 90 mins. So, this holiday season, if you are looking for something funny to watch, you can't go wrong with choosing a movie such as this.

My Recommendation:

Fans of the series will enjoy this latest installment in the franchise. Others, if you haven't seen the first two, you should and then watch this one.