Review: Devil

Devil is the first movie in the planned Night Chronicles series. The basic premise is that five people get on an elevator. The elevator stops on its way up, but not due to any sort of mechanical or electrical failure. We soon learn that a supernatural force is tightly controlling the situation. Things start to take a turn for the worse as one of the passengers get cut/bitten when the lights flicker. Soon things become increasingly worse for those stuck in the elevator and those who try to assist them. As the film's tag-line says, "Bad things happen for a reason"

Devil is a first rate suspense movie from the mind of Mr. What-A-Twist himself M. Night Shyamalan. The acting was excellent. When the different characters needed to convey a certain feeling to the audience it was conveyed well. The story itself is gripping and interesting. It has some tense moments, especially towards the end.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and how good it was, even if it falls short of my mandatory 90 mins or more time limit. The best part is the fact that you know the twist well in advance so there is no last minute where did that come from feeling.

Overall, Devil is a good suspense movie that should be given a chance. If you have the opportunity you should....

GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review: Resident Evil Afterlife

Resident Evil Afterlife is the fourth installment of the long running franchise that is based upon the even longer running video game series. This installment of the series has us yet again following Alice (Milla Jovovich), the only surviving character from the original movie, as she fights to survive and tries to find Claire Redfield(Ali Larter) and the group of survivors she led from the first movie. Along the way she confronts the Umbrella Corporation and the series ultimate baddie Albert Wesker. Can she finally put Umbrella's sinister plans to rest? Only time will tell.....

REA is not the best of the RE franchise, but it is far from the worst. The acting was par for the course. The CGI and special effects were excellent, but I don't necessarily know if it was worth 3D being added. The story was alright, but there was no real resolution to the main conflict. At this point I am to far invested into the series to not have conflict resolution. It's not necessary to have the story overall to come to the end, but [SPOILER ALERT] we basically have a similar set up for the next movie (Yes it has been confirmed that they are making another one) that Resident Evil Extinction had for this movie. What makes it worse is that the cliffhanger they leave us with is so much more larger.

Overall, Resident Evil Afterlife is okay, but it is not worth the 3D. If you can see it in normal definition do that. If not you can wait and ......

RENT IT.

The We're SOOO Behind Review

The AJ Movie Review's No We Haven't Quit and Yes We Are Behind Review

This will be a set of movies that we have seen but have not reviewed because we were busy. The reviews will be one to two sentences and won't contain plot elements or character names. We will try to be as concise as possible.

First up is Machete:
Machete is a heartwarming tale of death and revenge. It's not original but it is very entertaining. If you liked the Grindhouse movies you'll like this one. GO NOW!!!!!!

Takers:
Takers is a mash up of many different heist movies, except those movies are much better. No new ground is broken here. RENT IT.

The Last Exorcism:
TLE is possibly one of the worst mockumentary movies I have ever seen. It is seldom scary and the ending is simply dumb. The beginning and middle were fine but the end ruined it for me. FX/TBS IT.

Scott Pilgrim VS The World:
Scott Pilgrim is one of the best comedy movies of the year. Full of small video game references and fun action sequences SP is a can't miss movie. If it is still playing you should GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There that should catch everything up. We want to thank all of our supporters and we will try to be on the ball next time.

Eat Pray Love

We've all had a moment where we eat from sorrow, happiness, depression, etc., you name it. There have been moments where you come to a crossroads, and all you can do is pray about it. Sometimes, after all is said and done, all you can do is love. Julia Roberts does an excellent job portraying Elizabeth Gilbert, in the movie based on Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. Gilbert hits an all time low in her life: realizing that she is not getting what she wants out of life, personally or professionally. Overseas on a literary assignment, she visits a medicine man, who makes predictions about her life. Once she comes back home, she is unable to get his prophecies out of her mind. She decides to get a divorce, and then goes away for year, searching for the zeal for life that she seems to have lost. She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life (Eat). She spent four months in India, finding her spirituality (Pray). She ended the year in Bali, Indonesia, looking for "balance" of the two and came upon someone who kept her interest (Love). Although I did not read the book prior to viewing the movie, I totally enjoyed it. There were times when I believed that the word Cry should have been added to the title, because I definitely did my share of crying also. As Julia goes through Elizabeth's journey, you will find yourself going through a journey also. A wonderful journey of self-discovery. I believe that if you have read the book already, you may be alright with waiting until it comes out on DVD. If you haven't I definitely say.........

GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Salt

Salt is a new action thriller staring Angelina Jolie as CIA agent Evelyn Salt. It tells the story of Agent Salt and the accusation by a Russian defector that she's a Russian spy that's gonna assassinate people. Through out the movie she's on the run. And while she runs there are alot of twists and turns. Salt also features performances by Cotton Weary, aka Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The best thing about this movie was the convincing acting performance by Angelina Jolie. I consider this possibly her best performance since Girl Interrupted. The quality of the other actors was good but hurt by some awkward writing and editing. Sometimes what they had to say didn't really fit the scene. There are some good action scenes but most of them aren't that believable. But I guess that's true in most movies.

The main problem I have with Salt is I was able to figure out what was gonna happen and who the bad guy(s) were gonna end up being. That really hurts a movie based heavily on plot twists. Overall, Salt is not a bad movie but it's not that great either. I would definitely give it a watch but save your money...

...FX/TBS IT.

INCEPTION

Inception is the latest movie from acclaimed director Christopher Nolan. It's a drama suspense film with some high quality action scenes. It stars Leo DiCaprio as the main character named Cobb. It also features a high quality supporting cast of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Ellen Page (Ariadne), Tom Hardy (Eames), Ken Watanabe (Siato), Dileep Rao (Yusuf), Cillian Murphy (Robert Fischer, jr.), Marion Cotillard (Cobb's wife Mal) and other great actors that pop up like Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.

The basis of the movie, put simply, is Cobb and his partners Arthur and Araidne are able to get into people's dreams and steal info. This largely done as espionage . But this is not the story really being told. Cobb has been falsely(?) accused of murdering his wife Mal. During the course of the movie she only exists in his dreams. Cobb wants to be able to get back into the US so he can see his 2 kids. But how to get past customs at the airport? Do a job for Siato against Fischer in which Siato agrees to make a 'simple phone call' on the plane to get past customs with no problem. This movie gets deep. Dreams within dreams within dreams deep.

I loved this movie! Inception has one of the most original and interesting stories I've seen. And it has acting through the roof performed by everyone on the screen. Chris Nolan knows how to get the best out of his players. It was wonderful for me to see DiCaprio and Murphy on the screen at the same time. I really enjoyed seeing Gordon-Levitt in a serious role. My main image I still had of him in my mind is from '3rd Rock from the Sun'. The way the movie feels makes it easy to tell this is a Nolan film. There are some specifics you can compare to his Bat-movies. The story changes quickly so try not to get up and go to the bathroom,etc while watching it because when you come back you won't know if what you're seeing is real or a dream or a dream within a dream. Furthermore I must state this film has one of the best final scenes I've ever seen! I think this is the best movie of the summer.

GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Predators

Predators is the latest movie based off the original classic 1987 film Predator. It stars Adrien Brody alongside Alice Braga. A key thing about this movie is that it ignores all the other sequels that have been released since the original film. AJ MR team member Jared saw the new movie on opening weekend, his review follows:

Predators is a top notch sequel to the long running franchise. The thing that sets this one apart from the drab and unnecessary sequels of the past is this one was especially made to be a sequel. You can tell that time and effort was put into making this a good Predator movie. The cast performed well and they were a good ensemble. You could really feel the tension between the different characters. The CGI was good and never unrealistic. Even the Predator's thermal vision got a new upgraded look which just added to the authenticity of it all.

The main thing that I was pleased with was with the way the first film was constantly referenced. Now, when I say that I don't mean that the characters talk about the original film every five minutes. There are subtle references that are sprinkled in along the way. Thebackground music is the same as the original and even some of the character's lines and actions are throwbacks to the original. And for those of you who have payed close attention to the original, stay for the beginning of the end credits, you should be in for a surprise.

Overall, Predators was a long needed jump start to the franchise that captures the magic of the original movie. If you have the time you should definitely..... GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!