Super 8

Super 8- PG-13

By Jonathan Goodsell
This movie was pretty epic. The trailer was nothing like what the movie ended up being. Starring Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler, this movie was a mix of many things. It's about a group of kids that like making movies and one night while filming they witness a massive train crash. This train was carrying top secret government equipment and the air force quickly moves in to recover the stuff before the local enforcement can get it. The rest of the show is... well... I can't really say without spoiling it. The show is a little horror, like the trailer hinted, but is also a drama, comedy, and slightly romance. It was really good.
I was a skeptic going into it, I'll admit it. The trailer made it look like a cheesy alien film, but it being a Spielberg film, and J. J. Abrams for that matter, I was willing to give it a try. I ended up loving it. It was hilarious. All the main actors were kids, and they all did rather stunning jobs. I was impressed; it was reminiscent of The Goonies in both acting and humor. The directing was also really well done. The film was full with the perfect mix of emotionally connecting characters and intense sequences. However the originality of the film... well I won't go there.
The only problem I had with the film was, just like The Goonies, it swore, a lot. In fact, i'm not sure it missed a single foul word. That was really the only grudge I held against it. There is a little bit of sci-fi violence, but very minimal blood if any. Parts of the movie were rather intense and almost a little frightening. This is NOT a movie for your little ones. But frankly, if you could take out the language, anyone would absolutely love this movie.
So yeah, I pretty much loved it. I found this film very entertaining and rather enjoyable. It was a good mix for a good movie. Spielberg just knows how to make a good film. If your looking for a good film to watch, I'd recommend this one. So in my reviewer opinion, Super 8 earns a frighteningly good 8/10

Battleship

Battleship- PG-13

By Jonathan Goodsell

I was extremely skeptic going into this film. I heard how bad it did in the box office and had read all the bad reviews. But I wasn't about to shoot down one of my favorite childhood games, so I gave it a shot; especially when I heard my dad was buying the tickets. However, I'm sorry to say it lived up to it's reputation. Battleship is just another alien invasion film but with a naval side instead of army. The U.S. creates a communications satellite to bounce signals into deep space to a planet believed to be inhabitable. The aliens that receive the signal follow it back to earth and then all heck breaks loose. Starring Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, and Liam Neeson, this Michael Bay reminiscent film was better than most, but still not great. 

I'll give it the credit of being a lot better than the trailer made it out to look. The plot was actually a lot better than I expected, better then most of it's type. It wasn't just pumped full of CGI alien attacks like I was led to believe. They actually put a good deal of thought and wove the plot into the effects pretty well, making it watchable. The acting was decent I guess, a little cheesy at times. It wasn't anything spectacular. What I found almost... pathetic was the attempt to live up to the board game's name. It was only like a two minute scene. Granted it did play a major role in the battle against the aliens, but I think they could have stretched it out. So was the film bad? Not really, they could have done a whole lot worse. Did it leave a lot to be desired? Definitely. But I wouldn't rule it out, it's worth seeing once.
As expected, there was a quite a bit of destruction. Both alien and human ships were destroyed, and attacks on cities caused for many buildings and structures to be destroyed. However, the action wasn't really that bad. It was mostly explosions. You never really saw any deaths or blood or anything really. There was no hand to hand combat or close range gun fire, it was just cannon fire back and forth between alien space ships and the naval battle ships. There was some mildly strong language throughout, but that was completely expected from this type of film. I mean, it's a war movie. But other than that, the film wasn't to bad.
Did I like this movie? Sure, it wasn't to bad. I mostly enjoyed a five minute segment in the beginning, but the rest wasn't that bad. I wouldn't say this is a must see. But it wouldn't hurt to see once. So in my reviewer opinion, Battleship gets a hard earned 5.5/10

Thor

Thor- PG-13

By Jonathan Goodsell

Thor is the second film in the build up towards The Avengers. Starring Chris Hemsworth as the warrior Thor who gets banished from the heavenly realm of Asgard for his arrogance. While stripped of his powers and trying to survive on earth, his brother Loki plots to take the throne away from his banished brother and dying father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of Asgard.
This is the only superhero film I've actually enjoyed. Cliches were down to a minimum and it actually had a good plot. The acting was also really well done. Chris Hemsworth did a brilliant job playing the arrogant Thor and Tom Hiddleston did a great job playing the confused and conflicted Loki. Anthony Hopkins also once again pulled off a great character in Odin. The introduction of Natalie Portman as the love interest Jane Foster was rather entertaining as her and Thor awkwardly meet, him getting hit by a car, and then them falling for each other though their personalities are separated by a universe. The effects and designs of the heavenly Asgard were stunning and very beautiful. The thing I probably loved the most about this movie though was the lack of explosions and CGI effects ever so prominent in other hero flicks. They focused strongly on the plot, which was excellently simple and well done. The script was rather clever and there are several lines that were instant classics to me.
The whole movie was rather clean. You see the rather chiseled Hemsworth walking around shirtless for a couple minutes. There is also a rather passionate kiss between Hemsworth and Portman near the end. Language was at a very low minimum with only a small handful of words. The violence was actually rather low for a superhero flick too. In the beginning scene, there is a lengthy battle with Thor and his friends against the Ice Giants. There is also a battle at the end with Thor against Loki and a scene when Thor tries to break into a S.H.I.E.L.D facility to retrieve his hammer. There is very little noticeable blood throughout though, you almost have to be looking for it to see it.
This was a rather entertaining film and I would recommend it to anybody. So in my reviewer opinion, Thor is getting a very well deserved 7.5/10

Men In Black III by Blaze

I saw this movie last night and I laughed my head off. This movie lives up to the Men in Black reputation. Will Smith was funny as allways but he wasn't the only one, the new face of young Agent K (Josh Brolin) was verry funny in a solem sort of way. All in all the plot was strong, intracate and understandable. The special effects were the same as the other movies. Humor was clean and complete throughout, language moderate but all in good humor, sexuality none, and the acting was off the charts. All in all, the rating I give this show is 7.5/10. It is truely a must see if you need a laugh.
-Blaze

The Avengers By Blaze

The Avengers.

Now for all those action loveing fans who havent seen this movie, all I can say is shame on you. This movie is one of those action big boom kind of movies. So if your girlfriend is takeing you to see chick flick after chick flick, I can honestly say there is no shoes and hair or drama in this movie. This testosterone packed movie is a continueation of marvels newest movies: Captain America, Iron Man 2, and Thor. The cast in this movie is a good mix; I mean, what other movie does Robert Downy Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth duke it out in a super power slug fest! This movie does not have the most intricate of plots, in fact its rather cliche. Aliens come down from the sky and the super heroes must fight to save the world; but the special effects and humor placed without make up for it in my opinion. I will rank this movie 8.5 out of  10 stars. I would say this movie has something for everyone; if your a guy looking for some action or a girl just looking at Chris Hemsworth's pecks, I can say you will enjoy this movie.
- Spencer Price (Blaze)

Armageddon

Armageddon- PG-13

By Jonathan Goodsell

Armageddon is a Jerry Bruckheimer production and is directed by Michael Bay. It stars Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, and Ben Affleck. Armageddon tells the story of a meteor the size of Texas careening towards earth. If the meteor were to hit, it would be a "global killer" and "not even bacteria would survive". NASA comes up with this plan that would prevent the meteor from colliding with our beloved planet. The plan: drill a hole into the center of the meteor and drop a nuke in it. They call upon the help of Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his famous oil drilling team to help. Stamper and his crew agree and go through astronaut training in a matter of days to prepare for the mission of lifetime.
Seeing it was directed by Michael Bay, I was skeptic to watch this at first. As famous as the name is, it's not necessarily for good reasons. His latest hits, the Shia LaBeouf starring Transformers series, has left a lot to be expected and has shown Bay's love for over explosive, CGI filled and plot lacking film. But hey, with Bruce Willis starring I had to give it a try. Yet Michael Bay gave me everything I was expecting, painfully long scenes of chaos while asteroids were hurtling through sky scrapers or spaceships were flying through debris. However I was fully surprised by the acting, the only thing that made the movie enjoyable. The ever present humor as Bruce Willis attempted to prevent the love interest between his daughter, stunningly played by Liv Tyler, and ever fun to watch Ben Affleck. All the other members of Willis's crew also provided constant humor as the red neck oil drillers they were. The stressful and ever pressured NASA director played by Billy Bob Thornton also did a fantastic job pulling off character and bringing us back to earth (literally) to the drama of the situation.
I'm not saying the plot couldn't have used a bit of work, but for a easy-going end-of-the-world movie, you can't ask for a lot more. The script and story line were alright, you got a good laugh when you needed to, you felt the drama and suspense of the problem, and the love interest wasn't to mushy for guys but still loving enough for the girls. Armageddon was a lot more enjoyable then fellow end-of-world films like John Cusack's 2012.
It was a fairly mild PG-13, at least it could have been a lot worse. The scenes between Tyler and Affleck are very sensual but not explicit. You sit there and wonder if your going to need to press the fast-forward button on your remote, but it never quite gets there; though some may choose to still skip them. There is a brief scene in a strip club though that I did fast forward over. The language wasn't terrible but still worthy of the PG-13 rating. It's what you'd expect from people facing the end of the world. The destruction scenes are very tense and painfully long. You see a satellite explode, asteroids hitting and destroying cities, and there are several tense scenes up in space as they try to destroy the asteroid. There was very little blood at all though. I can only recall it in one scene at all, and even then it wasn't gruesome or terribly disturbing.
So all in all, I rather enjoyed the film. It wasn't a guns a blazin'  action thriller, nor was it a chick flick or a drama. It was just a fun filled ride.Michael Bay didn't completely overdo his ever present terror and CGI and the acting was marvelous to watch. I wouldn't recommend for little kids as it is tense and would frighten them at scenes. But teens and adults alike would enjoy the film, it could even make a good date night movie. So in my reviewer opinion, I am giving Jerry Bruckheimer's Armageddon a well deserved 7/10