THE PLOT:
When teenager Mary Katherine (M.K.) (Amanda Seyfried) arrives to live with her father, she is disappointed to find that he is still distracted by his ridiculous theory that little people protect the forest.
Yet, when their dog escapes the confines of their home, M.K. chances upon Queen Tara (Beyoncé), the heart of the forest.
Dying, she passes her power into a flower pod and asks M.K. to keep it safe – launching her into an adventure that will see two worlds collide, pit good against evil and life vs. death.
KENT’S TAKE:
“Epic” is a poor title for this charming animated feature, for it doesn’t really describe the... Epic – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
THE PLOT:
When teenager Mary Katherine (M.K.) (Amanda Seyfried) arrives to live with her father, she is disappointed to find that he is still distracted by his ridiculous theory that little people protect the forest.
Yet, when their dog escapes the confines of their home, M.K. chances upon Queen Tara (Beyoncé), the heart of the forest.
Dying, she passes her power into a flower pod and asks M.K. to keep it safe – launching her into an adventure that will see two worlds collide, pit good against evil and life vs. death.
KENT’S TAKE:
“Epic” is a poor title for this charming animated feature, for it doesn’t really describe the... Star Trek Into Darkness – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
THE PLOT:
When James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) is relieved of duty and loses his command of the Starship Enterprise, doubt begins overtaking his confidence. After Starfleet is attacked by a rogue agent, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), Kirk is reinstated and sent to the border of the Klingon Territory to kill the terrorist.
But Kirk’s decisions upon arrival set into motion a series of miscues, that could start a massive war and destroy Starfleet’s best crew.
KENT’S TAKE:
“Star Trek Into Darkness” is a sci-fi drama attempting to mix humor, action and nostalgia from director J.J. Abrams.
Dressing the film with themes of... Midnight’s Children – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
Carol’s Take:
Salmon Rushdie’s second novel, “Midnight’s Children” won the 1981 Booker Prize and solidified his reputation as a writer of note. Director Deepa Meta’s (“Fire,” “Earth,” “Water”) ambitious interpretation of the book begins telling Saleem Sinai’s (Satya Bhabha) story in India in 1917, 30 years before he is actually born.
We learn of his grandfather – a doctor – who woos and wins the daughter of a wealthy man. We meet the three daughters of that union, set against British India’s transition from a colony to an independent republic. We see something of the difficulties surrounding the partition of... ‘The Great Gatsby’ — By Mathew DeKinder (Mat’s Entertainment.com
Books everyone is forced to read in high school rarely make good movies. Not only do we bring all our personal baggage to the story (which basically hinges on how much we hated our junior class English teacher), but the book itself has been deconstructed, reconstructed and over analyzed for decades.
These novels are the picked-over corpses on the pop culture landscape and only a filmmaker with a screw loose would even think about adapting one of these into a movie.
Enter Australian director Baz Luhrmann, a man without a tight screw to be found anywhere in his body, to take on the bane of 17-year-old stoners everywhere: “The Great...
The Great Gatsby – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
THE PLOT:
When Midwesterner Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire) moves onto Long Island, New York, he finds himself embroiled in a love triangle between old money Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), new money J. Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the debutante they love, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) amidst the extravagant backdrop of the Roaring Twenties.
Kent’s Take:
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel “The Great Gatsby” has never looked so good and appealed to so many as director Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic jewel.
Paralleling “Citizen Kane” in its epic quality and story of unrequited love, “The Great Gatsby” whisks audiences... ‘Iron Man 3′ — by Mathew DeKinder (Mat’s Entertainment.com)
Superhero movies have become very serious business, not only in the hundreds of millions of dollars that are at stake every time one of these suckers opens, but in tone as well.
Now I am certainly not opposed to the genre taking on some weightier issues and I still consider “The Dark Knight” to be the finest superhero movie ever made. But even still, thank goodness we have Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man to lighten things up.
It’s hard to imagine a better marriage of actor and character than Downey as billionaire-industrialist-turned-iron-clad-hero Tony Stark.
How hard of a pitch is this, “Hey, Robert, we want you to deliver rapid-fire...
‘The Angels’ Share’ — by Mathew DeKinder (Matsentertainment.com)
The title of the film “The Angels’ Share” comes from a term coined by whiskey distillers. Apparently as whiskey ages in a barrel, two percent of the liquid evaporates into the ether every year, and that two percent is charmingly referred to as “The Angels’ Share.”
Much like its title, the movie is perfectly pleasant and compelling, yet it is so slight that it drifts off leaving no trace after the credits roll.
The hero of our story is Robbie (Paul Brannigan), a Scottish thug short both in stature and temper. Robbie is serving the Gaelic equivalent of probation with community service for randomly beating the snot out of some...
Iron Man 3 – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
THE PLOT:
Reeling from his last adventure with the Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) finds himself suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
As terrorist “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley) begins blowing up various targets in order to create U.S. unrest, Stark takes the bait, inviting Mandarin to find him – and does he ever, destroying his home/laboratory.
Now without his lab, his girlfriend and metal suit, Tony Stark must figure out if he is a man or machine.
Kent’s Take:
“Iron Man 3” continues this strong franchises run of fun, frenzied adventures.
Stark is troubled, shouldering the weight of the world. He... The Angels’ Share – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
THE PLOT:
Robert “Robbie” Emmerson (Paul Brannigan) sees his recidivism as a lifestyle as he continues an ongoing feud with a local hood. Yet, the courts see his behavior as hooliganism at its worst. However, because his fiancee’ is pregnant and has no record, instead of sending Robbie to jail, they sentence him to 300 hours of community service.
While serving his time, he befriends Albert (Gary Maitland), Rhino (William Ruane) and Mo (Jasmin Riggins), who are also serving community service sentences.
On a weekend trip to a local distillery, Robbie discovers that he has a nose for discerning whiskey. Excited about his newfound skill,...
MUD – Reelworld (Kent Tentschert/Carol Hemphill)
Carol’s Take:
In Arkansas, two 14-year-old boys pilot a dinghy across a formidable river to an unpopulated island. Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) plan to claim a larger boat that they heard was lodged in a tree during high water.
When they find the motorless boat, it is already occupied by a guy named Mud (Mathew McConaughey). He is in hiding from the law and from the family of a man he killed while defending his former sweetheart.
The boys become Mud’s compatriots, helping him get food, smokes and parts for the disassembled, disabled craft.
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, “Mud” begins as a coming of age... Bookmark Us
