Recently I went and saw RIO with my little sister and I was pretty impressed with the movie. I came into the movie not expecting too much except bright colors and hearing birds sing. I was really impressed with the colorful backgrounds and characters in the movie. Even though this movie is for kids, adults can come too and not leave bored out of their minds. There’s something for everyone.

Other than the vibrant backgrounds, the characters are Eisenberg, Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Will i Am are just some of the very funny characters to make this movie even more funny for the whole family.

After watching, the movie kind of made me want a Macaw exactly like Blu but then I realized I’m not a big bird fan. haha! This is for sure a family movie, kids and adults alike! A+

The Plot:
Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) is a rare macaw that is almost instinct.  He has lived all his life in Minnesota with his doting owner and best friend, Linda.  When a scientists asks the two to come to Rio to mate with another blue macaw, Linda agrees and brings Blu to Rio to help save his species.  Blu quickly meets Jewel (Anne Hathaway), who is a feisty and independent bird longing to escape her life in captivity.

-Andrea Palasi

11:21 pm  •

Oh gosh where do I start!

Before I watched the film on Imax, I was quite intrigued and excited. Who can’t be excited about a film with scantily clad women wielding swords and guns versus Goblins, Robots, Zombies, Samurai’s, and Dragons? 

Well maybe now I know why this movie is called Sucker Punch because that’s what it exactly did when I watched the film.  Urban Dictionary defines Sucker Punch as:

Easily confused with a punch defined as a “bitch move” a true sucker punch is quite a bit more complex than a simple unanounced attack.

The reason I bring this up is the movie was a big let down.  I was blindsided by all the cool trailers with all the imagery of what every fanboy/nerd finds appealing and sexy.  Zack Snyder thew a Sucker Punch for the masses! 

This movie wasn’t all bad because the visuals where amazing but unfortunately the plot ruined it!!  You can have great visuals for a  movie, but if its lacking a plot and/or substance then your movie is going to suck.  I felt bad for all the people who had to pay $15 to watch the film on Imax.  It was such a waste of money and time.

This movie caught me way off guard because I’m a big fan of Zack Snyder’s films.  I know he understands what fanboys want, but this one makes me worried about him helming the next Superman film.  I’ve lost total faith in him as a film maker and hope that he can redeem himself with Superman: Man of Steel.

Sucker Punch gets a 1 out of 5 stars.  It would have gotten a 0 but the girls were hot!

-Jerry Blank

12:30 am  •

Battle: Los Angeles is another film that reminded myself of any other “saving the world against aliens” type of movie. The entire movie revolves around two or three days of events, that lead up to the invasion. In the beginning we were introduced to each solider one by one into their personal lives before leading up to the climax of the story.

NOTE*SPOILERS AHEAD*. In the beginning of the film we watch as it’s the middle of the battle and the aliens have finally reached earth and everyone is running all over the place in chaos. Then the shot moves to 24 hours before the attack began and we meet Staff Sgt. Nantz (Aaron Eckhart). He’s a marine man who’s gone through many years of combat and is ready to hang up his boots. Just when everything is set in stone, he gets called back in to help solve the alien invasion. With a team of soldiers with him they are located to Santa Monica to evacuate any civilians, However they become ambushed with the aliens right in their way and that’s when the battle beginnings.

Throughout the movie there were a lot of different parts that reminded me of past war type movies such as Black Hawk Down, and Independence Day. If you saw those movies to be entertaining then you may like this movie. BUT! If you’re one of those movies that gets motion sickness easily and don’t like the shaky camera movements then I don’t suggest you watch this.

Even though I wasn’t too impressed with the camera movement, I personally thought it was overdone and a little too dramatic I was impressed with all the special effects that came into play. All of it was done really well, I do applaud them on that. As for the actors, Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez both did a great job a usual.

So far, its not on my favorites for 2011 but it kept me entertained.

-Andrea Palasi

11:03 pm  •

First off let me just get his out in the open that I’m a big fan of fighting games! 

Unfortunately Marvel vs Capcom 3 has left a somewhat dry taste in my mouth.  Although for the past year, we’ve been covering this title from our journey in e3 to Pax and now to the gaming console platform, it seemed very promising and exciting. 

Overall I’m giving this game a 8 out of 10.  That maybe a high rating, but to me on a personal level, it didn’t deliver as I expected.  The first thing is the controls of the game.  It is an unfamiliar layout and takes a little to get use to.  It’s not cut and dry from the previous version.  Why they changed it up, I have no clue.  Maybe it’s to make the gameplay easier for newcomers, but the hardcore fighting fans will no doubt make a fuss over this.  Its not a big deal because it is relatively easy to master the moves once you get accustomed to the new layout. 

The second gripe is the lack of characters.   I was expecting more.  It necessarily doesnt have to be playable characters, but I was looking forward to the “assist” characters back from the first 2 MVC games.  Those had a plethora of “assist” characters.  I do understand that it would be quite difficult to have this in the new format, so its understandable.   What concerns me are the other characters sorely not present in this version.  Where is Venom?!!!  Capcom has managed to bring new characters to introduce but has sorely missed the demands of the gaming community. 

I think most people will be happy with the title and many more will be playing it for months to come.  What do you guys think?

6:53 pm  •

This film is the private story of a famous public man, King George VI (Colin Firth), the woman who loved him and became his queen (Helena Bonham Carter), and the clever Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who helped him control and come to terms with the stammer that had tortured him since childhood.

The story of prince becoming a king (King George VI) the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother steps down from the throng. George assumes the throne however plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, He engages the help of an unconventional speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected ways of teaching and as a result of unlikely friendship, George is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.

This was one movie that left me with a smile, I can see why this movie was nominated for so many awards. The director Tom Hooper took the story of a royal family’s private life and made it public and had it enjoyed by audiences all over the world. I believe this movie was designed to be one of those feel good movies with a history lesson in between. This movie left you something to think about at the end.
-Andrea Palasi

1:13 pm  •