Star Trek Into Darkness is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek movie franchise.  This is the sequel to the 2009 box office smash Star Trek which were both directed by J.J. Abrams.  Abrams is a hero of sorts to fan boys everywhere as he revived the Star Trek franchise and is also taking the reigns for the new Star Wars film scheduled for release in 2015.  Abrams is also responsible for creating hit television shows such as Lost, Fringe, and Alias.  The majority of the cast from the first film remains intact with Chris Pine reprising the role of Captain James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock.  The rest of cast includes mainstays Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, and John Cho along with newcomers Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller.  The film is being released in both IMAX and 3D.

The crew of the USS Enterprise is back and after a blatant disregard for the rules and careless leadership, Captain Kirk has been demoted and is no longer in charge.  Shortly thereafter, there is a viscous terrorist attack on the Starfleet from someone within the organization.  Following these events, Kirk is reinstated as Captain and is sent on a mission to the Klingon homeland of Kronos in order to find and kill this terrorist.  On this mission, the Enterprise is armed with some new weaponry that is top secret and extremely dangerous.  Once the crew has this terrorist in their possession, the truth about the attack and weaponry on board is revealed and the lines of who is good and who is evil are blurred.  It is now up to Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew to find the real truth and save the lives of everyone involved.

Star Trek Into Darkness is everything you could want in a big summer blockbuster; huge special effects, a great story with some humor mixed in, and some really great performances.  Right of the gate the movie begins with a huge action sequence and never slows down.  This is truly brilliant movie-making with its use of CGI, its amazing to me how far technology has come.  The audience is transported to another time and place for a couple of hours.  Speaking of the performances, I’ll get to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in a minute, but if you don’t know who Benedict Cumberbatch is now, you definitely will soon.  This guy steals every scene he is in and has such a huge screen presence, and you will be seeing a lot of him in the very near future.  As for Pine and Quinto, they have such good chemistry as Kirk and Spock and both give excellent performances here.  The other standout is Simon Pegg, the hilarious Brit isn’t on screen as much as the others, but leaves just as big of an impression.  Star Wars fans can breathe a sigh of relief because your franchise is in very good hands.  J.J. Abrams is one of the best in the business today and he’s got another winner on his hands with Star Trek Into Darkness.  Even if you’re not a Trekkie (which I’m definitely not), there is something here for everyone and it should be seen on the big screen.

Grade: A

Star Trek Into Darkness open on Thursday, May 16.

The Great Gatsby is the latest film from writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann, the famed director of the Oscar nominated Moulin Rouge!.  The film is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of the same name, and the filmmaker has put his stamp on the classic story with his own visual interpretation.  The film is being released in 3D and its scheduled to open the 66th Cannes Film Festival next week.  Leonardo DiCaprio headlines a top flight A-list cast along with Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton.  Another interesting note about the film is that the musical score was produced by Jay-Z and The Bullitts.  Not your typical musical choice for a classic novel adaptation.

Nick Carraway (Maguire) is an aspiring writer who has moved from the quiet Midwest to the roaring 1920′s New York.  He moves into a small guest house across the lake from his cousin, Daily (Mulligan), and her husband, Tom Buchanan (Edgerton), which also happens to be next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio).  Gatsby is known for throwing huge, elaborate parties for New York’s elite and Nick gets swept up in his whirlwind.  No one seems to know much about Gatsby, but Nick is quickly finding out that there is more to him than meets the eye.  Nicks learns of a love affair between Daisy and Gatsby that ended because of the war, a love in which Gatsby is determined to rekindle.  As things spin more and more out of control, the lines blur between love and deceit.  In Gatsby’s attempt at recreating the past, his true identity will be exposed leaving everyone else to pick up the pieces.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this movie going into it.  The trailers didn’t excite me and the use of a hip hop soundtrack seemed strange with this genre (I guess that’s the point).  That said, I came out feeling pretty much like a did going in, sort of “blah”.  That’s not to say that its a bad movie, but there just wasn’t anything to get excited about or even really care about.  On a positive note, it is a very beautiful film with gorgeous sets and amazing costumes, which is Luhrmann’s signature.  There are a number of very fast driving scenes in these vintage cars that reminded me so much of a Looney Tunes cartoon.  Strange to say, but the movie also had a Roger Rabbit feel.  By that, I mean that it felt like it was part animation mixed in with real performances, which made the whole thing feel very fake.  Speaking of the performances, Leo was spectacular as always and Tobey Maguire was perfect for his role.   The rest of the cast was solid, but not great.  I saw the movie in 3D which I would definitely not recommend.  Outside of adding some depth to the beautiful scenery and the car sequences I mentioned above, the 3D wasn’t even noticeable.  I wouldn’t spend the extra money.  Actually, I don’t think I’d spend any money to see this on the big screen.  Another problem I had with the movie was the 2 hour 23 minute run-time.  It felt extremely long and I found myself checking the time quite frequently.  With that, if you’re a fan of the book or the original film, then you might want to give this a shot because it is definitely a fresh take on the story and is visually gorgeous.  For me, there just wasn’t enough there to care about it one way or another.

Grade: C

The Great Gatsby opens on Friday, May 10.

The Company You Keep is the new political action thriller from director/producer Robert Redford.  The screenplay, written by Lem Dobbs, is based on the 2003 novel of the same name.  Along with directing and producing, Redford also stars alongside a massive all-star cast which includes Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, and Brit Marling just to name a few.  The film has its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2012 and is being released stateside by Sony Pictures Classics.

The story follows Jim Grant (Redford), a single parent and former anti-Vietnam War militant who is wanted for murder by the FBI and has been in hiding for over thirty years.  His cover is blown when Ben Shepard (LaBeouf), a young and arrogant beat reporter, exposes his true identity.  Grant must go on the run and re-visit his past in order to clear his name before the FBI tracks him down.  In doing so, he is forced to leave his daughter behind which serves as motivation to have the truth revealed.  At the same time, Shepard is also trying to track down the truth, but with different intentions.  If he breaks this story, it will finally give him the recognition and notoriety he feels he deserves.  As both men get closer to the truth, they are forced to make some life-changing decisions.

The Company You Keep isn’t exactly an edge-of-your-seat thriller; it’s more of a slow-burn thinking man’s thriller.  I don’t say that as a bad thing, because the screenplay here is really good and it kept me guessing throughout.  This is an intelligent movie that requires some thinking from the audience.  That said, the pacing of the second half of the movie was pretty slow which in turn made the whole movie feel a little too long.  As for the cast, I found it pretty amazing the level of talent that was assembled.  It was nice to see Robert Redford back on the big screen; this was his first acting role since 2007′s Lions for Lambs.  Even with all of these talented actors, Shia LaBeouf was the real standout for me and my only complaint would be that he didn’t get even more screen time.  He is very charismatic and commands attention whenever he’s on screen.  Also, keep an eye on Brit Marling, she is excellent here and should see her big break come with this summer’s The East.  The Company You Keep is a well-made, well-acted movie with a compelling story, but one that doesn’t necessarily need to be seen on the big screen.

Grade: B

The Company You Keep opens Friday, April 26.

Pain & Gain is the new movie from director Michael Bay.  This is his first movie since completing the Transformers trilogy, and he is best known for big action blockbusters such as Bad Boys, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and The Rock.  This movie is based on a true story that was published in the Miami New Times back in 1999 about a group of bodybuilders that went on an unbelievable crime spree.  The movie boasts a very nice cast in Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, and Hollywood “it” girl Rebel Wilson.

This is a true story of chasing after the American dream no matter the cost.  Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) and his friend Adrian Doorbal (Mackie) are bodybuilders who work as personal trainers at the Sun Gym in Miami, Florida.  Lugo dreams of a better life, but doesn’t quite know how to make it a reality until he starts training Victor Kershaw (Shalhoub).  Kershaw is a wealthy businessman that is arrogant and annoying, and Lugo wants to take everything he has from him.  Lugo and Doorbal, along with their new ex-con friend Paul Doyle (Johnson), concoct a scheme to kidnap Kershaw and force him into signing over all his money and possessions.  After torturing Kershaw and forcing him to sign over all his belongings, the Sun Gym Gang finally having everything they’ve dreamed of, except for the fact that Kershaw is still alive after failed attempts to murder him.  From here, everything goes into a downward spiral for the gang until it all blows up in their faces.

I’m convinced that Michael Bay made Pain & Gain to prove a point to all of his critics.  He’s always being referred to as a sexist without any real talent; which he throws right back in their face in this movie.  The movie is definitely sexist in a Michael Bay sort of way and he definitely takes full advantage of his R rating.  Its almost as if he has made a parody of himself.  This story is based on true events that are almost too idiotic to be real.  I kept thinking to myself that there is no way this could happen in real life, but I guess it did.  As they say, they couldn’t make this stuff up.  To give you a better idea, there’s a point towards the end of the movie where the words “This is still a true story” pop up on the screen.  It was almost painful for me to watch these guys make one terrible decision after another.  I couldn’t help but be reminded of the movie Compliance; it was also based on a true story that felt too unbelievable to be true.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out and you’ll know what I’m talking about.  IMDB lists the genre of Pain & Gain as “Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller” and I’m not sure I agree with any of those besides maybe Crime.  Ultimately, I think this movie wants to be a comedy, but I didn’t find it the least bit funny.  Unless you can find humor in the misfortunes and demise of others, you probably won’t find it funny, either.  On the positive side, the filmmaking is gritty and raw and there are some really cool camera shots which Michael Bay does really well.  The cast is quite good; Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie play the three buffoons and they actually have really good on-screen chemistry, but Tony Shalhoub stole the show for me.  He best known as TV’s Monk, but he’s a whole different beast in this movie.  Pain & Gain seeks out to prove that the old cliché still holds true that bodybuilders don’t have any brains, and I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time or money on it.

Grade: C-

Pain and Gain opens Friday, April 26

Evil Dead is a new horror flick from writer/director Fede Alvarez.  This is Alvarez’ feature film debut, whereas, he first gained notoriety by directing a short film on YouTube.  Evil Dead is the fourth installment in The Evil Dead franchise and comes 32 years after the original film hit theaters.  The original trilogy includes The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness, which were all written and directed by Sam Raimi.  Raimi moved on from these films to direct the Spiderman trilogy starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.  This film stars some young Hollywood talent in Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elisabeth Blackmore.

The story follows five friends that meet up at a remote cabin in the woods in an attempt to detox one of the girls of a drug addiction.  Little do they know that the cabin had been used for a Satanic ritual years before and some of the remnants remain.  The group finds a strange book in the basement that is wrapped in plastic and tied shut with barbed wire.  Of course, one of the boys opens up the book and strange things begin to happen.  Demonic possession ensues and all Hell breaks loose so to speak.

The tagline for this movie that is plastered on all the posters and marketing is “The Most Terrifying Film You Will Ever Experience”.  That is a bold faced lie!  To be fair, I’m a tough one to please when it comes to horror films because I generally don’t get scared easy, and because of that, normally don’t care for the genre.  I actually thought Evil Dead might be different because it had Sam Raimi’s name behind it and I admire his work.  I was wrong!  This had every horror cliché you could imagine.  As I was watching, I kept asking myself; “people aren’t really this stupid are they?”  There are a number of jump scares which I guess is standard in horror movies today, but I feel is pretty lazy.  The other thing about this movie is that it takes way too long to get off the ground, and by the time it does, I was already over it.  They’ve already announced that a sequel to this film is in the works, it’s safe to say that is not one that I’ll be looking forward to seeing.

Grade: D

Evil Dead opens in theaters on Friday, April 5.

Stoker is latest film from renowned Korean director Park Chan-wook.  The script was penned by former Prison Break star Wentworth Miller.  The film boasts an excellent cast made up of stars Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, and Matthew Goode.  The film had its big red carpet premiere at this years Sundance Film Festival back in January.

India Stoker (Wasikowska) is a strange young girl who is an outcast at school without any friends and has just recently lost her father in an automobile accident.  A strange man that India has never met before shows up at the funeral, who she finds out is her deceased father’s younger brother, Uncle Charlie (Goode).  Both India and her mother Evelyn (Kidman) are intrigued with Uncle Charlie, so he decides to move in with them for a while.  India’s relationship with her mother is already strained, but things get much worse now that they have a new house guest.  Strange things start happening at home and around town and it seems that there might be more to Uncle Charlie than meets the eye.

Stoker is a very aesthetically beautiful film with very dark subject material.  Park Chan-wook is one of the most acclaimed and famous filmmakers in South Korea.  He is most recognized for his series of films that are known as The Vengeance Trilogy, with Oldboy being the standout in my opinion.  Stoker is Park’s first venture into English language film and he doesn’t hold anything back.  His shots are beautifully brutal and he is masterful in building and sustaining suspense.  The film also does a good job of keeping you guessing as to what is actually going on.  The characters in the story are cold and creepy, but are brought to life by the excellent cast.  Nicole Kidman is great as always, but it’s Mia Wasikowska who steals the show.  Stoker is definitely not a movie for everyone because of the controversial nature of the material, but it is a good piece of cinema nonetheless.  I’d recommend checking it out.

Stoker opens on Friday, March 15.

Grade: A-

West of Memphis is a new documentary written and directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Amy Berg (DELIVER US FROM EVIL) and produced by Damien Echols and Lorri Davis.  Peter Jackson of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and his partner Fran Walsh also served as producers on the film.  The film tells the untold story of the West Memphis Three through their own eyes as two of them serve their life sentences in prison and the other awaits his execution.  The documentary itself came to be as an attempt for Damien Echols to save his own life by uncovering the truth from behind prison walls.

The story begins in 1993 with the murders of three, eight year old boys Christopher Byers, Steven Branch and Michael Moore in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas.  Three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were arrested and convicted of these shocking murders and became known as the West Memphis Three.  The West Memphis Three were profiled by police because of their prior records and the suspicion they belonged to a satanic cult.  The murders were declared a satanic ritual killing in court and the boys were found guilty.  Once in prison, Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis began a searing investigation into what really happened on that day in 1993 and after 18 years in prison, the truth was finally revealed.  This story is an in-depth examination of the police investigation, the State of Arkansas law system, and the innocence and guilt of all those involved.

Going into this film, I really didn’t know all that much about the West Memphis Three.  I had heard of them and knew there was some controversy surrounding their case, but didn’t really know the story behind it.  On top of that, I’m not usually a huge fan of documentaries.  With that said, this is an amazing piece of filmmaking that took me on a journey I definitely wasn’t expecting.  Not only does the film uncover a number of holes in the case against the Three, it offers up a theory on what actually happened.  This is truly an instance where the truth is stranger than fiction, and just when you think that it can’t get any crazier, something else tops it.   This is a very entertaining and intriguing look at some of the problems facing our society today.  I loved it!  Whether documentaries are your thing or not, I’d highly recommend seeking this one out.  It is well worth making the trip to the theater.

West of Memphis opens at the Keystone Arts Crossing theater on Friday, March 8.

Grade:  A

Safe Haven is the latest film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel.  Along with Safe Haven, there have been seven other of Sparks’ novels adapted to film, including Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, and The Lucky One.  There is a definite theme when it comes to his work, sappy romance.  This film stars Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough of Dancing with the Stars fame and is directed by academy award nominated Lasse Hallström.  I have a personal interest in Hallström as he directed one of my all time favorite movies in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Katie (Hough), a mysterious young out-of-towner, arrives to a small town by bus and is persistent to keep everyone at arms length.  She meets Alex (Duhamel), who owns the local convenient store and has some initial chemistry but is persistent to not let him get close.  Alex’s wife passed away years ago and he’s left to take care of his two children on his own.  As time passes, Katie begins to let her guard down and in turn let Alex get close to her.  As this happens, some of her past secrets begin to come to light which will affect everything she’s worked so hard to build.  Katie must now choose if she should walk away for the safety of everyone involved, or will love trump all.

Safe Haven is exactly what I thought it was going to be, a love story between two beautiful people in a beautiful place where everything is not quite as it seems.  This is your typical cookie-cutter romance that falls right in line with all of the other Nicholas Sparks adaptations.  If you like his other ones, you’re probably going to enjoy this one.  For me, I felt that most of it was way too obvious and a lot of the characters were overly exaggerated   The story takes over an hour to even get off the ground and by that time I pretty much had everything already figured out.  On a positive note, the scenery that was shot in Southport, North Carolina is absolutely gorgeous.  I really wanted to go on vacation once the movie let out.  Also, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for the release of this film being Valentine’s weekend.  Many boyfriends and husbands will be forced against their will to see this movie this weekend, which I guess is just a part of being in a relationship on Valentine’s Day.  For those of you that aren’t forced to go, I’d recommend seeing something else.

Safe Haven opens Friday, February 15.

Grade: C-

By Dustin Heller

Identity Thief is the new comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  The movie is directed by Seth Gordon, who directed other such comedies as Four Christmases and Horrible Bosses, and was written by the same guy that wrote The Hangover II and III.  Aside from the two leads, the movie also stars Amanda Peet, John Cho, John Favreau, and rapper T.I.

Everything seems to be looking up for family man Sandy Patterson (Bateman), he is finally getting out of his ho-hum job and has just been hired as the vice president of a new company.  That is, until his identity is stolen in Florida and he now has a criminal record and is being questioned by police.  In order to save his job and prove his good name, he must fly from Denver to Florida and bring back the identity thief.  The person pretending to be Sandy is actually a woman named Diana (McCarthy).  The problem is that Sandy isn’t the only one after her as she has been stealing identities her entire life.  Once Sandy has Diana in his possession, they hit the road to Denver and hi-jinks ensue.

There are definitely some laughs to be had in Identity Thief.  Bateman and McCarthy are both very funny and they really played well off each other.  Most will recognize McCarthy from her breakout role in the hit Bridesmaids which has made her one of the most sought after comedic actresses working.  The downside of the movie is the fact that the entire premise is ridiculously unrealistic, which personally I had a hard time moving past.  At one point a semi-truck slams into a car on the highway in broad daylight almost like it was at a monster truck show with no explanation.  I also think the movie had a hard time finding its identity.  It’s no doubt a comedy, but there are some solemn moments that definitely tug at the heart and bring down the vibe.  I’m not sure it necessarily gelled together all that well.  Aside from the two leads, the rest of cast is pretty dreadful.  I’m not sure why anyone would hire the rapper T.I. for an acting gig, he was terrible.  If comedy is your thing, then Identity Thief is probably worth the trip to the theater.  For me, it is nothing more than a rental.

Identity Thief opens in theaters on Friday, February 8.

Grade:  C+

Zero Dark Thirty is the new action thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow which is based on the search and eventual killing of Osama Bin Laden.  The film is described as “the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man.”   Bigelow’s previous film, The Hurt Locker, was Oscar’s Best Picture winner and also earned her the award for Best Director.  She is teaming up once again with the same writer from The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal.  The film stars Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, James Gandolfini, Mark Duplass, and Edgar Ramirez.

The film centers around Maya (Chastain), a young CIA officer who is assigned the task of searching for al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.  The story begins with the aftermath of 9/11 and sees Maya travel to Pakistan a few years later for the interrogation of a number of high profiled al-Qaeda associates.  The American government is looking for any information they can get their hands on as to the whereabouts of Bin Laden as the world is still under al-Qaeda attack.  After years and years of failed searches, Maya and her team locate the head courier for Bin Laden, Abu Ahmed.  Ahmed leads them to a fortress in Pakistan where Maya believes Bin Laden is living.  Without any physical proof of his actual existence at the compound, the American government is not willing to risk an attack.  Maya is convinced Bin Laden is there and must do everything in her power to prove it and set the mission in motion.

One would be hard pressed to find a more thrilling and intense film than Zero Dark Thirty.  Kathryn Bigelow has delivered another masterpiece and I loved every minute of it.  Even though the first two hours is centered around the search for Bin Laden instead of the actual raid on the compound, it is still every bit as exciting.  Jessica Chastain delivers a knockout performance and is the best of the year in my opinion.  I think its good enough to win her the Oscar for Best Actress.  Speaking of the Oscars, Zero Dark Thirty received a total of five nominations yesterday morning including Best Picture.  The outlier to me was the exclusion of the Bigelow for Best Director, she has turned in a brilliant film.  This is a movie that should be seen on the big screen and I’d recommend going out and seeing it this weekend.  It is that good!

Zero Dark Thirty opens Friday, January 11.

Grade:  A+