Taken
By Krissy Boxell
May 11, 2009

In stores on Tuesday, May 12, Taken is one DVD you don’t want to miss. Available on Blu-ray and regular DVD, as well as an extended-cut option, Taken is action-packed and will have audiences on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Liam Neeson plays Brian Mills, a retired spy, who hesitantly allows his teenage daughter to take a trip to Paris with a friend. Upon arrival in Paris, the two teenagers are targeted and “taken,” as the movie title portrays.

Throughout the movie, Mills is forced to think back to his days as a spy in attempts to track down and save his daughter from the foreign kidnappers.

The movie is packed with tension, a fair amount of violence, and a dramatic plotline that leads you through a shocking portrayal of what happens when one is kidnapped.

If you’re up for a suspense movie, be sure to get your copy before they are all “taken.”

Rated PG-13

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

By John Boyer
May 11, 2009

Casting Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and employing an Oscar-winning director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) sounds like the recipe for a successful, well-received movie. Released on Christmas last year, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button fared moderately well at the box office and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

It is the story very loosely based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald of a man named Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) who inexplicably ages in reverse. Born in 1918 as a withered, old man, he slowly aged into a younger body, and along the way met a few people, such as Daisy (Cate Blanchett). It was nominated for several Oscars this year, but Benjamin Button comes in at a grueling 165 minutes.

It is available on DVD and Blu-Ray, including a special two-disc edition, and it offers a few special features, most of which are making-of videos, such as a video about the makeup and costumes, one about the special effects, an interview with the director, a production photos gallery, and an interview with the composer of the movie’s score.

By Kaleb Broadstreet
May 7, 2009  

X-Men Origins: Wolverine came to theatres last weekend and made quite a bit of money, but it’s the movie that comes out this week that is going to start the summer movie season, Star Trek.

Pretty much everyone has heard of Star Trek and its loyal followers who call themselves “Trekkies.” The original aired on TV in 1960 and since then it has been made into many movies and many remakes of the show have come to surface. This new Star Trek, directed by Lost creator J. J. Abrams, looks nothing like the old series and that’s probably why it’s going to be successful.

Star Trek tells the story of a group of crew members on the USS Enterprise ship led by Captain James T. Kirk in far off future. Other crew members include classic Star Trek characters such as Spock, Sulu and Uhura.

With the special effects of this movie looking top notch and new actors in the classic role, this movie looks like it’s going to bring big money to the box office and start the summer movie season off right.

Another movie coming out this month is Angels & Demons, the prequel to The DaVinci Code starring Tom Hanks. That comes out May 15. Following that, Terminator Salvation starring Christian Bale hits theatres May 21. Then Ben Stiller is back in Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian on May 22. Also coming out May 22 is Dance Flick starring the Wayan brothers. And finishing the month of May is a movie from the company Pixar (producers of Finding Nemo, Wall-E, etc.) called Up.

Bride Wars

by Kaleb Broadstreet
April 27, 2009  

Anne Hathaway has put together a string of movies that are made specifically for girls to enjoy. Hathaway shot to stardom after the success of The Princess Diaries and she has continued to make the same genre movies. Here she offers another movie for her girl fan base, Bride Wars.

Hathaway plays Emma who, as a young girl, dreams of the perfect wedding and while visiting the luxurious Plaza Hotel meets Liv, a girl who wants the perfect wedding at the Plaza as much as Emma does. Liv is played by Kate Hudson. The two friends grow up and continue to have the same dreams of the perfect wedding.

So when the two get engaged on the same week they both rush off to meet a wedding planner to book the Plaza for their wedding. But when the Plaza only is able to have them on the same day things get messy. When neither bride is willing to move to another venue, a feud between the two brides begins.

Emma and Liv begin to try to sabotage each others weddings by pulling crazy pranks on each other and things like that.

This DVD contains no special features.

Rated PG for suggestive content, language, and some rude behavior

Seven Pounds
By Kaleb Broadstreet
Mar. 30, 2009 

Will Smith is an actor that is recognized by different movie fans for different movies in different genres. To some he may be known for his romantic comedy Hitch, to others he may be known for action movies like I, Robot and Hancock. Smith is also known for dramatic movies like The Pursuit of Happyness, and now he adds another to that list with the emotional Seven Pounds.

Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent who has something tragic happen in his life and he tries to deal with it in a very strange way. He picks seven strangers who are in need and he decides that he’s going to help them. This movie has a big reveal at the end and I cannot say much more about the movie without giving it away.

But I can tell you that this movie is definitely worth seeing. Smith plays Thomas with sensitivity, and you can definitely tell that something very tragic has happened to him.

This is from the director of The Pursuit of Happyness, Gabriele Muccino, and if he and Will Smith continue to collaborate and make movies as good as this then an Oscar should be coming their way soon.

Transporter 3 DVD Review

By Kaleb Broadstreet
Mar. 9, 2009

Jason Statham may be known to many teenagers as the king of action movies. With movies such as Cellular, The Italian Job, and the first two Transporter movies, Statham has continued to make movies with lots of action and little plot. He continues that trend with this third movie in the popular Transporter series.

This time Statham’s super driver character, Frank Martin, gets blackmailed by a villain named Johnson. Martin must drive a girl named Valentina from Marseilles to Odessa along the Black Sea. There’s a catch though, both Martin and Valentina have exploding bracelets on and if either of them get beyond 75 feet of the car it will explode.

But of course, nothing goes smoothly as the bad guy’s thugs come out of nowhere to try to stop Martin from delivering Valentina. Then comes mindless action scene after mindless action scene as Martin continues to do feats that are impossible and things we have seen in the other two Transporter movies.

This is a movie with a very unbelievable plot, but I’m fine with movies that don’t have a good plot as long as it’s fun. Transporter 3 is not fun at all. There are some action scenes that are fun to watch and the villain is played very well by Robert Knepper, most famously known from the hit show Prison Break. But if you want to get your action movie fix, go see the far superior action movie now in theatres, Taken.

Australia DVD Review

By Kaleb Broadstreet
Mar. 2, 2009

After the success of the musical Moulin Rouge! Nicole Kidman and director Baz Luhrman are back together for this romantic epic in the style of the classics like Gone with the Wind and Casablanca. It’s a movie that is over 2 hours and 45 minutes. It covers many topics of Australia in the 1930’s, including the great cattle drive and the bombing by the Japanese.

Nicole Kidman plays an uptight British woman by the name of Lady Sarah Ashley. Ashley’s husband owns a cattle business down in Australia so she goes to the land down under to meet up with him. There she meets her husband’s head drover, played by Hugh Jackman. When she arrives at her husband’s farm, Faraway Downs, however, she finds that her husband has been murdered. Instead of deciding to return to Great Britain though, she decides to stay and help the drover drive the cattle to the ships in Darwin so they can supply beef to the Army and receive their payment.

While at Faraway Downs she befriends an Aboriginal boy by the name of Nullah, played by newcomer Brandon Walters, and he ends up joining them on the drive. When they reach Darwin though, the movie is only half over. Then comes the middle of the movie, which focuses on the relationship of the drover and Lady Ashley. Then comes the climax, the Japanese bombing of Darwin.

Kidman and Jackman both do a good job in their parts and they make a convincing couple, but it is Brandon Walters who steals the show. His character, Nullah, provides the movie with many of its tear jerking scenes and also the comic relief early in the movie.

If you love sweeping, epic, romantic movies then Australia will not disappoint you. This movie could also appeal to the western movie fan for its first hour, the romantic movie fan for its middle, and the war movie fan for its final hour.

The 81st Academy Awards
By Kaleb Broadstreet and Kristen Kimmel
Feb. 23, 2009  

The 81st Academy Awards were held last night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California and it was definitely a night of entertainment. The red carpet was full of celebrities such as Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus, Meryl Streep, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams, Brad Pitt and many more.

The night kicked off with the host, Hugh Jackman, beginning the show with a musical parody of all the Best Picture nominees. Jackman then continued with a series of jokes that had the audience laughing and enjoying themselves. Jackman had a strong stage presence the entire night and was very effective as this year’s host.

The entertainment throughout the awards show came from various videos and performances, such as Hugh Jackman performing a musical melody with Beyonce Knowles, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Amanda Seyfried. Judd Apatow, the producer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express, showed a video he made with James Franco and Seth Rogen playing their characters from the movie Pineapple Express.

Slumdog Millionaire was the top movie of the night with 8 wins out of its 10 nominations. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won 3 technical awards and the box-office king The Dark Knight won 2 awards.

The winners of the major awards were:

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
• Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
• Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
• Best Animated Film: Wall-E

Nights in Rodanthe - DVD Review
By John Boyer
   Feb. 9, 2009

A film adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel The Notebook and its success likely played no small part in some filmmakers’ decision to adapt another Nicholas Sparks novel, Nights in Rodanthe, for the big screen last year. Despite starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane and James Franco and succeeding at the box office, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics.

Nights in Rodanthe will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on two-discs. One will contain the movie, and the second will have special features that include deleted scenes, director commentary, a video about author Nicholas Sparks, and music videos by Emmylou Harris and Gavin Rossdale (of Bush fame).

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist - DVD Review

By Kaleb Broadstreet
Feb. 2, 2009

 Michael Cera continues his roles of awkward yet likeable high school students in Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Cera plays Nick, an indie rock lover who plays the bass in a band and has just been dumped by his girlfriend. On one fateful night his band is playing at a nightclub, and it is there that he meets Norah.

While at the club Norah asks Nick to be her boyfriend for five minutes as she tries to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. Then begins a night that changes both their lives; with nothing in common except the music they both love, they embark on a journey around Manhattan to find a band called, “Where’s Fluffy.”

As the title implies, this movie is all about music and how it can bring people together. Cera is always good playing the awkward kid and he continues that streak here. Kat Dennings, who had a small role in the adult comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin, plays Norah and this could possibly be her breakout role. She brings a certain charm to the character that makes her very likeable.

For any person that loves music or loves movies about high school kids, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is the movie for you.

• Available on DVD: Tuesday, Feb. 3
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 89 minutes

The Rocker DVD Review
By John Boyer
   Jan. 26, 2009

Every so often a music-themed movie will be released in theatres that will break all commercial expectations, stun critics, and ignite a passion in the public for a certain type of music or musician. The Rocker was not one of these movies, which is a shame, considering that although it is nothing out of the ordinary, it has sporadic moments of hilarity.

Robert “Fish” Fishman (Rainn Wilson) is the “heart and soul” of the rising hair metal band Vesuvius, in the words of bandmate Lex (Will Arnett), but that didn’t stop them from firing their star drummer to get signed with a major label. Crushed, Fish drifts aimlessly for the next 20 years lamenting what might have been, until a spot in his nephew’s band A.D.D. opens up, and the rest is predictable, albeit pretty funny.

Along with Wilson, the cast includes pop singer Teddy Geiger as Curtis, the band’s introspective songwriter, Josh Gad (21) as the band’s keyboard player, Emma Stone as the bassist, and Christina Applegate as Curtis’s mother.

The Rocker is available on DVD on Tuesday, Jan. 27. On the special two-disc “Born to Rock” Edition, there are special features including deleted scenes, commentary, gag reels, and, most uniquely, an interview with original Beatles drummer Pete Best.

The Dark Knight (2-Disk Special Edition)

By Kaleb Broadstreet
December 15, 2008

“Why so serious?” This is a phrase made famous by a movie that grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, The Dark Knight. It was released in July and broke all sorts of box-office records in a matter of days.

The Dark Knight takes place a few months after Batman Begins ended, with Batman fighting evil and things better in Gotham than they have ever been before. For the first time, villains are running scared, and with a new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, taking a stand against organized crime, it seems like Batman may have come to the point where he can hang up his cape and mask.

Then Batman begins to face the psychologically disturbed clown known as the Joker. With his creepy smile and his maniacal laugh, the Joker has no rules; and therefore, makes him a tough villain to defeat. The Joker first announces that if the Batman does not turn himself in and admit who he is then people, including cops, lawyers, judges, etc., will die.

And this begins one of the greatest movies of this decade, definitely the most popular. There are those who saw this movie up to ten times in theaters, and it was definitely worth every penny. The Dark Knight isn’t just the best Batman movie ever made; it could be one of the greatest movies ever made.

The Joker is the character that holds this movie together and that is partly because of the way Heath Ledger plays him. This is not the smiling nice guy as played by Jack Nicholson in the original Batman. This Joker is crazy and insane and will not hesitate to kill hundreds of people to get what he wants. He is also very funny in a dark comedic way. Heath Ledger will definitely win many awards for this performance, including maybe an Oscar.

Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins as well, directs this movie as a true epic with long, sweeping shots and slick camera movements. This is definitely one of the better looking movies of the year. In Batman Begins the fight scenes seemed very confined and sometimes you couldn’t tell what was happening, but in The Dark Knight he has definitely solved the problem with the fight scenes being very well choreographed.

On the two disc special edition DVD you will get two featurettes that really aren’t worth your time. The two disc special edition also has some scenes from the movie in the IMAX format which has a bigger screen on your TV, and it is very cool to view the action scenes that way. But even though there’s a lack of good special features, this movie is definitely a must-buy - just save your money and buy the single disc and enjoy this spectacular movie.

Twilight

By John Boyer
November 17, 2008

Twilight, the incredibly popular novel by Stephenie Meyer, has been made into a film of the same name to hit theatres midnight, Nov. 21. The Roar decided to hear the reactions of various Ponder students to the release of the movie and their opinion of the book.

WALL–E

by Kaleb Broadstreet
November 17, 2008  

The geniuses at Pixar have given us many great animated movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille and now they give us another movie that is cute, fun, and has a good story.

Wall-E takes place in the distant future and tells the story of a little robot who has been assigned to clean up Earth after humans have deserted it. Wall-E’s job is pretty simple; he picks up trash and has been doing so for hundreds of years. There is a problem though; Wall-E is very lonely. He has been alone for all these years and he longs for a companion.

He gets one in the form of a robot who comes to Earth named Eve. Wall-E soon finds himself in love with Eve. So when Eve’s ship comes back to reclaim her Wall-E hitches a ride on the ship and goes the adventure of a lifetime.

This DVD is single disc but still has many bonus features worth your time. There is a Pixar animated short film called Burn-E, deleted scenes, a look at how the sound was created and commentary from the director Andrew Stanton.

Kung Fu Panda
By Parker Brooks
November 5, 2008

Kung Fu Panda was a summer hit that featured many celebrity voices including Jack Black and martial arts superstar, Jackie Chan. The movie centers around a panda named Po who is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior even though he is completely inexperienced in Kung Fu.

Po , voiced by Black gets the opportunity to join his long time heroes the Furious Five, who are the famous protectors of the city. The Five, featuring stars Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and David Cross, learn to trust Po when a dangerous criminal escapes and interrupts the peaceful lives of the villagers in the valley.

The movie scored major points with young children as well as with older audiences The film opened to great success at the box office. The dialogue was witty and catchy, leaving many fans saying “Skadoosh” for weeks afterward. The plot, while somewhat predictable, still left the audience in stitches as they laughed throughout the movie.

The major cast of actors in the film certainly gave the movie some of its appeal, as the chance to see action star Jackie Chan working alongside comedy giants Jack Black and Seth Rogan is too great to pass up. Overall the movie is a great watch for anybody who enjoys comedy.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
By Keeley Woods
October 27, 2008

Teen heart-throb Zac Efron was the reason for many hoops, hollers and cat whistles on Thursday night’s premier opening of the last installment of the High School Musical trilogy. This small unexposed Disney Channel movie production that started two years ago has now turned into a world wide phenomenon. It is now the theme of many sleepovers, parties, and also very popular around Halloween time, when one can see little Troy’s, Gabriella’s, and the rest of the HSM cast going from door to door. It is a movie full of memories with captivating story-line for all ages.

Like many high school seniors, the cast of HSM3 struggles with departure of the familiarity and have many hopes and many fears about their future. The plot revolves around the characters’ next step in life and dealing with the difficulty of leaving high school, friends and memories behind, mixed with energetic singing and extravagant dancing. They strive to find out the answer to the eminent question of many seniors, “What happens next?” There are tearful goodbyes as the characters stand on the brink of adulthood, but also many happy endings and exciting plans for what is to come.

The director, Kenny Ortega has grown to be a “musical genius” in the eyes of a teenage girl, over the past few years, and he just keeps on getting better. This film is definitely the best of the three, and Ortega did a great job of making the usual, “predictable” Disney-tween movie, but still accompanied with a delightful twist at the end. Many may approach this movie as “cheesy” and “lame,” but it is heart-felt, a movie that defines our decade and it is something to be a part of. The dancing was fantastic, the special effects were fascinating, and the chemistry between the cast makes you want HSM to go on forever. It is sad to see the cast separate since they’ve all been in this together since 2006, but it is done in an impressive way, giving “happily ever after” a new meaning.

High School Musical 3 definitely finished off the trilogy on a high note. By the end you will have fallen in love with the characters all over again, and you will be the Wildcat’s number one fan. After you see this movie, you will leave the theatre humming one of the catchy melodies such as “Can I Have This Dance” that is stuck in your head, with a smile on your face, and wishing for more.

High School Musical 3 poll questions: