Movie Guru Corey

This week is a surprise with only one wide release this week. We get the sequel to the huge 2014 faith film "God's Not Dead" This time the a school teacher (Melissa Joan Hart) is taken to court over her discussion of Jesus in her class. The original opened in the high triple digit theater count. This time it will be opening in the range of 2000 theaters.

With the release of "Batman vs Superman" Warner Brothers decided to drop the trailer for the "Lego Movie" spinoff. It once again has Will Arnett as Batman. This time he is joined by Alfred, Comissoner Gordon, Batgirl, and the Joker. The movie drops Febuary 10, 2017

    Hollywood lately has made a habit of pushing out sequels after their relevant time. This time we get a sequel to the 2002 "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"     This time around Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (Jon Corbett) now have a daughter that is about to graduate from high school. The fact that her family is overbearing and wants to break free from the hold they have. While that is going on Toula's parents find out their marriage license was never signed hence another "Greek Wedding".     I think that the problem that lies with the film film is that it is more of the same of the first movie. With a sequel, one hopes to expand on what you have, which this did not. Having said that I loved the first film and it is hard not to enjoy the charm of the follow up. GRADE:C+

    With the continued success of Christian films comes more and more, and at a frequent basis. This time we have "Miracles from Heaven". This is one that is based off the real life story.      Kristy Beam (Jenifer Gardner) and her family have lived happy in Texas and holding onto their faith. It is soon discovered that her daughter, Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare condition that paralyzes the bowels. This turns the family's whole life arounf. How could they possibly keep their faith now?     Overall, the best tow things about this film was the performances by both Jennifer Garner and Kylie Rogers. Very much highlights when it comes to this film. The issue I had with this, and it does not seem to be as bad as some religious films is, how many times can you try to push a point across to your audience. To, me that is the problem with most faith films. Shoving a point down your throat kills what could be good. GRADE:C

    Now this is a film I just happen to notice when I was driving through the town of Charleston. Personally, working in movie theaters for so long, it's a thing I do.    This movie surrounds David (Ben Dickinson) and his team that acquires the rights to market what is something similar to google glasses. Part of his job is to know the glasses like the back of his hand. Through the course of the use he finds out th that he can create avatars to look like real people. So he makes one to look like his best friends girlfriend and essentially has an afair with it. What could go wrong?    This is a great example of how things can unwind so fast. Someone starts with essentially the perfect life and by the end it's not. To me it did a decent job of telling us what it is like to be obsessed with technology and what that can do. What was interesting was the character development for David was well done, other charaters, not so much. GRADE: C+

This week has the big action sequel.        "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice". Everyone's question is who win's the battle? And could it be as bad as everyone thinks it will be?     The other film of the weekend is another long awaited sequel "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2". This brings the original. This time it's been at least 17 years later and now the daughter, wants to get away from her over bearing Greek family.

      This is the first time I have felt a trailer from Netflix. This film written and directed baby Ricky Gervais.     The film has two foreign correspondents Frank (Eric Bana) and Albert (Ricky Gervais). They are supposed to be corresponding in Ecuador, but are hiding in New York. What's the worst that could happen?     The film drops April 29th.

       When it comes to the young adult genre films are either big or they arent. There a films like the "Harry Potter" or " Hunger Games". Many have come and gone in an attempt to be big. The "Divergent" series is something that lands somewhere in the middle.      This time around the faction system is gone. The people that put them into Chicago invited them to the outside. The new leader Evelyn (Naomi Watts) insists no one leaves. This does not stop Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James). When they make it out, they came across the scientist studying them, lead by David ( Jeff Daniels). Now the question is can they be trusted?       There were several things that were interesting about this. This movie relied heavily on computer generated imagery, almost too much. There were times in it were it seemed that it was difficult for them to blend the actors in with the scene. There are incredible similarities between the last book in the "Dive

This week there is only one true wide release with "Alliegant". It is the start of the final chapter of Tris and Four. One limited release I will be able to see is "the Bronze". It's the story of what happens when a bronze medalist can't get over that competition is done for her.

  Now, before I start this, this trailer has salty language, so watch of your own accord.     When it comes to my trailer of the week post, I go for what is compelling to me, or in some cases controversial. This week the animated comedy "Sausage Party" has taken it.  To start out with it, it is an R rated animated comedy which is intriguing it self. The story it self is about what happens when a sausage finds out what humans do with food. To top it off the cast is good for a comedy, including Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Ed Norton. We will all get to see. We will all get to see when the film drops August 12.

   JJ Abrams wants to keep films a secret it stays a secret! Before the release of "13 Hours", close to nobody knew about this film. Then there was the question on could this be the sequel to the 2008 hit. Abrams came out and said it was a "blood relative" to that film, but what does that mean?   I will not be putting in any spoilers because to me, this film works because of the mystery surrounding it. Anyway, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), has just broken up with her boyfriend when she gets into a terrible car wreck. She wakes up in a basement bunker of Howard (John Goodman). Howard says there has been an attack and the land above is not habitable. Questions begin to arise on whether Howard is being truthful or not. So the question is does she stick it out with Howard or go and face the possibly destroyed world on her own?     This movie was only going to work of you were able to suceffuly build tension the whole way through, which it does. There Are amazi

  When it comes to Sasha Baron Cohen films you either like them or you don't there is no in between.   This time around we have "Brothers Grimsby". Nobby (Sasha Cohen) is a man that was separated from his brother Sebastian (Mark Strong). After 28 years he finds him and surprise he's a spy.   The absolute biggest problem with this film is the jokes just go past the point of being funny. Some of them were not horrible, and some just did not need to be in the movie at all.   My follow up issue is with the spy element. It was marketed as a spy film when it wasn't the case. It seemed to be more of a side show for the jokes.  In the end if the jokes were taken back a bit it would have been better. GRADE:C-

    This week brings us three movies that could not be anymore different.    First we have the movie that has been hidden for most of its production, "10 Cloverfield Lane". It revolves around a women that is saved from a car wreck just before a chemical attack.      We then have a comedy about about a man's search for his brother.      Finally, we have Young Messiah. It is about a year in the life of young Jesus.

  Tina Fey is at it again with a film that is not not necessarily something she would do.   Kim (Tina Fey) works at a network where she types the scripts of the news read on TV all day every day. When the war in Afghanistan breaks out, there is an opportunity for her to break out in front of the camera, she takes it.   First of all the biggest thing is the film is viewed as a comedy which I don't really agree with. This film has comedic parts that aren't horrible but, there were many parts I was hoping that it would be serious instead of going for the joke.   Another thing was it seemed that the film went off on many different directions instead of focusing on a single perspective, which threw me a bit.  In the end it is hard to write a good wartime journalism movie because most what we see now has been done and doesn't come off as fresh. GRADE:C

This is a bit late so I do apologize. This week brought us two trailers from the reboot of "Ghostbusters". This film has brought about a bit of a stir because the cast has women this time around. The cast this time around includes Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. The movie drops July 15.

    I honestly was one that thought "Olympus has Fallen" was one that needed to be a stand alone film. Here we are in 2016 with a sequel.     The story brings Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) to England with President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) to the funeral of the British Prime Minister. This of course is a trap for all of the world. The initial attack takes out many of them, except for Asher. The terrorist now focus all the tactics on him so they can execute him on live tv.     This movie is something that goes straight for the action, with no real story. The character Mike Banning says so many corny lines after doing something action packed that one could make a drinking game out of it. GRADE:C-

     I have always been a big Jason Bateman fan, so watching this was never out of the question. When I actually sat down and watched it, it was much more than I expected.     Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) is a fox that lives by his own rules. He has been hustling people since he was twelve years old, out of their money, for popsicles. When new officer Judy Hopps (Ginifer Goodwin) catches wind of this she tries to arrest him with no prevail. Later that day she is handed a missing person case, where Nick, could be the only one that knows where he went. Hopps tricks Nick into helping her go to the back allys of Zootopia.     This movie is a huge move in the social commentary department when it comes to racism. There has been a lot of flare ups in the recent years and the movie plays to that perfectly. It also seemed like they put in a Trump like character, which was erie. Overall, best Disney film I've seen in a very long time. GRADE:A

   This week has a film that should finally have something to take "Deadpool" off the top spot.    "Zootoptia" is a Disney film that is without the Pixar stamp. With the success of.   "Frozen" and "Wreck it Ralph" they are expecting something big.    Tina Fey is also back this weekend in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot". The film is the auto bigraphical experience of Kim Baker during her time in Afghanistan.     Finally we have "London has Fallen", the follow up to "Olympus has Fallen". This time has Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) attempting to thwart a terrorist that is bent on killing all world leaders.

     When it comes to cop films, for the most part, I tend to be a huge fan. When this came out, I was not very sure what to expect from it because there was such little press for it.     A professional group of thieves lead by Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) does the biding of Irina Vlaslov ( Kate Winslet). The guys want out of her buiding, but her being a big player in the Russian mafia, she gets what she wants. She drags the crew into a final heist with a huge payoff, what could possibly go wrong?        The biggest thing that hurt this film was the scope was so huge for this film with how many characters it has. It is hard to care or, for that matter get to know any Of the characters when the time spent with them is so short. On top of that, this film does not go in any new directions for the crime thrillers. I feel like if they may have added twenty to thirty minutes to get to know all the characters it may have added an edge it doesn't quite have. GRADE:C

   This week was a tough choice in terms of trailers. Today the trailer for "Nina" released about the late jazz singer Nina Simone. The controversy lies in lead actress Zoe Saldana to be wearing what has been called "blackface". Come watch and judge for yourself! The film drops April 22.