50/50

50/50

                50/50 is about a young man named Adam, played by Joseph Gordon- Leavitt, who finds out he has a rare form of cancer, that only has a 50% survival rate.  The movie follows Adam as he begins his treatment and starts living life with cancer.  It also shows how his friends and family deal with his sickness in their own ways. 

                The story was well written and while some people might not like how light hearted it was about a very serious illness, I thought it did a nice job of breaking up the sadness with a little levity now and again.  I thought that the movie did a very nice job of mixing the sad moments that Adam had to deal with and mixing them in with the more lighthearted moments spent with his best friend Kyle, played by Seth Rogan.  The two seemed to work very good together on screen and played off of each other very well.  I also enjoyed the interactions between Adam and his very young working on her Doctorate therapist, played by Anna Kendrick, she was very awkward but you could also tell that she meant well and the two had chemistry together.  I also want to give acting credit to Anjelica Huston who plays his mom in the movie.  She is a little bit over protective at times but you can tell that she loves her son and only wants to be there for him when he needs her.

                I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone who is looking a good story with decent acting or anyone who likes a good drama/comedy.

I give 50/50 3 out of 5 paw prints just a good movie.

My next review will be over the 2011 family drama We Bought a Zoo

And now as always, “you don’t’ have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!” 

Drive

Drive

                Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt man by day and getaway driver by night.  He does this and gets along just fine until he befriends he next door neighbor Irene and her son Benicio.  Everything is fine until her husband gets out of jail and Driver, that’s what the credits call him, has to help him with a heist to repay some men from his time in prison.  Of course everything goes wrong and graphic violence and crazy amount s of blood ensue as Driver tries his best to protect Irene and Benicio at all costs .

                The movie had a good story with a decent amount of action mixed in.  It was not a high speed chase every five seconds like you would expect with a movie called drive, in fact there was very little driving involved.  So this is not a movie for guys who want to see good looking cars going really fast.  If that’s what you want get the Transporter.  The acting was very good Ryan Gosling was just excellent as the main character.  He was this quiet man that his boss just called the kid, yet when it came time to throw down he was kicking ass and taking names.  I was pretty disappointed that they did not do more of a back story on him so you could find out about his past and how he came to be this way.  I guess that is the fun of the movie for some people because they get to make up their own back story.  As far as other actors go Bryan Cranston was good as his boss Shannon, and Carrie Mulligan did a nice job playing his conflicted neighbor Irene.   I will also give and acting shout out to Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman for playing the wise guys in the movie.

                I overall liked the movie it was not what I expected for the first hour and then it was exactly what I had heard it was which was pretty graphically violent.  I recommend this movie to most guys who like action movies especially actions movies with and actual story to them.

I give Drive 3 out of 5 paw prints, good but not great.

My next review will be over the 2011 dark comedy/drama 50/50

 As always” You don’t have to go home but, you have to get the hell out of here”

The Avengers

The Avengers

                The avengers tells the story of six incredible individuals who come together to save the planet form the evil plans of Loki, the god of mischief, and the alien army that he has control of.  The movie starts with Loki gaining control of the tessaract, an otherworldly cube that can be used as a weapon, self sustaining energy source, or a gateway to the other side of the universe.  Loki plans on using the cube to create a gateway to bring forth his alien army and take over the world.  Of course Shield has different ideas and begins the avengers initiative.  The initiative brings together earth’s mightiest heroes, Captain America, Ironman, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, to stop the plot and save the earth.

                The movie starts off fast and doesn’t let up too much the whole way.  The action was great and it was not just large explosions and cool looking fights for the sake of large explosions and cool looking fights.  All the explosions and cool fights were there to build the story.   The story itself was well written taking directly from the previous movies.  They did not have to go back and explain a whole lot because all the single hero movies had been building to the point when all these heroes could be put together in the same place.  I also enjoyed all of the humor coming out of the characters some of it was expected but every once and awhile something would happen during an intense scene that would just crack me up.  I also felt like the cast all worked really well together there was several big names in the movie and they all worked great together on screen with everyone contributing at least one memorable moment.  There were so many actors/actresses that did a good job in the movie I will just list them.  They were Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Ironman, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlet Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/ Hawkeye.  I thought all of them held their own very well in the movie and that they all stood out at one point or another. 

                I will also tell you to stay tuned until the end of the credits for one scene during the credits that sets up the villain for the next movie (ask me if you can’t figure out who it is), and at there is another scene at the very end of the credits that is just a little more silliness for you to enjoy.

                I absolutely loved this movie and I recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants to see a good movie.  It has already made over 200 million and it will make a lot more before it’s done.  I also recommend getting there early because it will be the hot movie for the next couple of weeks.

I give the avengers 5 out 5 paw prints, simply one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

My next review will be over the 2011 drama/crime movie Drive.

And as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Hugo

Hugo

                Hugo is the 2011 movie based on the book titled The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  The story follows young Hugo Cabret as he lives in a French train station during the 1930s.  Hugo is trying to repair an old Automaton that his father found left in the back of a museum.  It also so happens that this mechanical man is the only thing left after his father dies in a fire.  As Hugo steals the parts he needs from the local wind-up toy shop he befriends the shop owner’s goddaughter Isabelle.  The two embark on a journey of discovery at comes full circle and revolves around this fantastic drawing Mechanical man.

                I liked everything about this movie from the story to the acting to the vividly colored setting.  The story itself I thought was very creative and had a way of drawing in to the movie making you wonder what was going to happen next.  He had the right mix of mystery and humor that I really liked.  The two young actors who were feature in this film will both have bright careers ahead of them.  Asa Butterfield who plays the title character does a great job of bring his character to life, and Chloe Grace Moretz who plays Isabelle is equally as good and these two can hold their own with the adults who they share the screen with.  Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen also are in the film and both do a wonderful job playing their parts.  The sets and where also pretty incredible looking they brought the train station and Paris to life.  They were very bright and while they were realistic looking they a fantastic quality that I just can’t seem to place.  The movie was well received critically receiving five Oscars, as well as being nominated for another six including best picture.

                I overall really enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone young or old looking for a story to get lost in.  I did not think there was anything that would be objectionable for littler kids around six and up.

I give Hugo 5 out of 5 paw prints just a fantastic movie.

My next review will be over the 2011 Ryan Gosling movie Drive.

As always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”