'Straight Outta Compton' Might Turn Out Being as Groundbreaking as N.W.A.

Straight Outta Compton is the surprise movie of the year.  No one was expecting this movie to be this much well received.  I also like the movie, but probably not as much as the general acclaim that it’s currently receiving.This movie is a biographical film about N.W.A., the revolutionary hip hop group that originated from Compton, California.  It chronicles events from how Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella formed the...

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Strong Performances Help 'Southpaw' Overcome a Hackneyed Plot

Southpaw is a boxing drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Billy “The Great” Hope, the undefeated junior middleweight champion of the world.  With his loving wife (Rachel McAdams) by his side serving as his chief adviser, Billy enjoys a successful career, the love of his family, and a lavish lifestyle.  However, tragedy strikes when a brawl breaks out during a charity event and his wife is accidentally shot in the chaos.  Broken down,...

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'Magic Mike XXL' Offers the Same Stuff from the First Movie

The thing I liked about the first Magic Mike movie is that it wasn’t just an excuse to have a feature-length show of male sexy dances that women can go gaga for (as how it was being promoted).  It has that aspect, of course, but it’s more than that.  It surprisingly has dramatic depth, an actual well-thought plot, and great performances from the cast.  I love how Rotten Tomatoes worded its evaluation of the movie: “[it allows] audiences...

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Instead of ‘Minions’, It Would Have Been Infinitely Preferable to Have a ‘Despicable Me 3’

The immense popularity of the Minions from the Despicable Me movies led them to star in this spin-off movie.  The plot of Minions is basically a prequel – set years before they met and got employed by Gru.  The movie shows us the Minions’ passage through history as they seek to serve the baddest of the bad.  However, from a T-rex to Napoleon, they continuously fail in keeping a master.  The Minions, unable to accomplish the purpose...

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‘San Andreas’ Is Solid in the Spectacle, Shaky in the Storyline

The premise of San Andreas is pretty simple: the shifting of the San Andreas Fault causes a massive, vicious earthquake across western USA, and Chief Ray Gaines (Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson), a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department, has to fly amidst all the chaos and destruction to rescue his teenage daughter (unbelievably played by 29-year-old Alexandra Daddario) and estranged wife (Carla Gugino).San Andreas has a...

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LeBron Made Me Curious About 'Trainwreck', but It's John Cena That Surprised

Trainwreck is not the kind of movie I usually go see.  But I got intrigued of it because of LeBron James.  There were some praise being thrown regarding his performance, and it really got me curious.   I wanted to verify the hype.The plot: after her reprobate father impressed on Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer) as a young girl that monogamy isn’t realistic, she lives her life as an adult boozing, partying, getting high, and sleeping...

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'Inside Out' Rivals 'Toy Story' Movies As Pixar's Magnum Opus

If I will be writing now my list for best movies of the year, Inside Out will take the number one spot.  Of course, it is possible that I would still get to see a movie this year that I will deem better.  However, if I’m rating movies, I will give Inside Out a perfect score – an A+, or a 100%, or five stars out of five.  So it would take something so awesomely flawless to unseat Inside Out.  And looking at the movies left this...

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