From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. Lucy also stars Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman.
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An alien race, undefeatable by any existing military unit, has launched a relentless attack on Earth, and Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) finds himself dropped into a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage is thrown into a time loop, forced to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again and again. Training alongside warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), his skills slowly evolve, and each battle moves them one step closer to defeating the enemy in this fun action thriller.
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Taking place over 24 hours, the story centers on Will Fletcher, a passionate musician, and Eve Fisher, a beautiful, free-spirited woman who works in the local bar.
This film is wonderfully written and beautifully performed. It is very intimate, and revolves around two characters that meet, spend a night getting to know one another, falling in love, revealing their innermost selves, and maybe even saving each other. All of this action takes place against a stunning London backdrop, with some lovely music included. It’s not too heavy, but not too light.
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Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson bring to life the untold true story about the origins of one of the most treasured Disney classics of all time. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) directs this acclaimed film that reveals the surprising back-story behind the making of Mary Poppins.Determined to fulfill a promise to his daughters, Walt Disney (Hanks) tries for 20 years to obtain the rights to author P. L. Travers’ (Thompson) beloved book. Armed with his iconic creative vision, Walt pulls out all the stops, but the uncompromising Travers won’t budge. Only when he reaches into his own complicated childhood does Walt discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together, they set “Mary Poppins” free.
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After a Bizarro makes a disastrous attempt to save kids on a playground who don’t need saving, Superman decides to take Bizarro to a new world he’s discovered which he has named Bizarro World. Flash forward one year and an attack on Lex Corp brings the Justice League to investigate, only to discover that Bizarro has stolen the duplicate ray and makes twins of the entire League. Now the heroes and their twisted twins must team up to defeat Darkseid and save Bizarro World.
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Sticky doesn’t begin to describe Gru’s new life: the ex-supervillain has given up his villainous ways and he and Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) have settled into the legitimate business of making jellies and jams with the help of his army of minions. Parenting is no less sticky, and the fact that Gru will go to any length to ensure the happiness of his adopted girls Agnes, Edith, and Margo is evident by the elaborate birthday party he’s throwing for Agnes that includes a live unicorn and a princess named Gruzinkerbell. Anti-Villain League operative Lucy Wild (Kristen Wiig) kidnaps Gru after the party, using an arsenal of spy gadgetry that would make James Bond jealous, and the agency solicits his help in apprehending a criminal who’s made an entire secret lab disappear from the Arctic Circle and stolen a dangerous transmutation formula. The lure of excitement tempts Gru, and he and Lucy set up an undercover operation in a bakery in Paradise Mall, the minions start cranking out cupcakes, and Gru and Lucy begin investigating their fellow business owners.
Meanwhile, Agnes pines for a mother, Margo finds her first boyfriend, Dr. Nefario takes a more exciting job, a slew of minions go missing, and Gru staunchly refuses to enter the dating scene. Little does Gru know that his whole life is about to change once again. The minions and their antics are quite funny in this second film, and, for the 10-and-under crowd, they completely steal the show. For the older crowd, the film does a decent job of further developing Gru’s character and provides lots of comedic material in the exaggeration of the many challenges of parenthood as well as through the wacky exploits of the minions.
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The Roosevelts: An Intimate History chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, 14 hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962. Over the course of those years, Theodore would become the 26th President of the United States and his beloved niece, Eleanor, would marry his fifth cousin, Franklin, who became the 32nd President of the United States.
Together, these three individuals not only redefined the relationship Americans had with their government and with each other, but also redefined the role of the United States within the wider world. The series encompasses the history the Roosevelts helped to shape: the creation of National Parks, the digging of the Panama Canal, the passage of innovative New Deal programs, the defeat of Hitler, and the postwar struggles for civil rights at home and human rights abroad. It is also an intimate human story about love, betrayal, family loyalty, personal courage, and the conquest of fear.
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In the year’s most action-packed sci-fi adventure, Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) stars as a futuristic soldier who crash lands on Earth with a hellish, fire-breathing monster in a time of warring Viking tribes. Fusing advanced technology with Iron Age weaponry, he must unite the fierce Vikings and hunt the bloodthirsty beast before it kills them all. Featuring Ron Perlman (Hellboy films), Sophia Myles (Underworld films), and John Hurt (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull), Outlander is “visually spectacular” (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Daily Herald), combining stunning special effects, fast-paced action, and a fantastic story to explosive effect.
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This time the story revolves around Winter and her need for a companion. Clearwater Marine Hospital has now become a full fledged Aquarium and is attracting thousands of visitors. After a painful loss to the staff, and their only hope for a companion is healed and released, she becomes the only bottle nosed dolphin in their captivity. All the while Winter’s best friend, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble), gets the opportunity of a lifetime to go on a college credited voyage at sea.
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The extended edition for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug will contain 25 minutes of new scenes, in contrast with An Unexpected Journey’s 13 minutes. It also has over 9 hours of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, detailing the monumental task of bringing the incredible world of Middle Earth to the screen.
SMAUG is darker, moodier, and more mature than any Middle Earth film we’ve seen thus far. Evil hangs over our heroes like a black pall (literally). Beset on all sides by revenge-seeking orcs, wargs, terrifying spiders, pale creepy-crawlies, double-crossing elves, treacherous humans, a growing Evil in a ruined Elvish citadel, and a huge, vain, fire-breathing dragon…both the heroes and the audience are plunged into a terrifyingly new world. And there’s a lot of new stuff to feast your eyes on along the way.
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