THOR

Plot:

In the distant galaxy amongst the stars is the planet Asgard, which is the residing place for Thor (Hemsworth) a mighty and fierce warrior as well as arrogant. When he defies the wishes of his father Odin (Hopkins) the king of Asgard and disrupts a truce between their main rival, setting off a war, Odin banishes Thor to Earth without his powerful hammer. While on Earth he is befriended by Jane Foster (Portman) a young scientist that is trying to figure out his connection to some of the strange occurrences that are happening among her small town. With Thor banished, his father becomes ill and his planet’s rulership now falls into the hands of his evil brother Loki (Hiddleston), who plans to hand it over to the enemy and sets out to destroy his brother while on Earth.

Reel Talk:

Thor being the latest installment from the Marvel Comic’s catalog to become a movie is a smash. Visually enticing and lots of action, this proved to be a very good movie. My only gripe is why hype this as a 3D movie with no 3D effects. In that area 3D freaks will be truly disappointed. Chris Hemsworth as Thor put in a worthy performance for his stellar role as the main actor. This film is worth checking out.

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Clark Gregg and Idris Elba
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

JUMPING THE BROOM

Plot:

When the beautiful Sabrina Watson (Patton) finally meets her knight in shining armor in Jason Taylor (Alonso), the two decide they are the ones for each other after 6 months of dating and so let the marriage take place. Things are going well until the weekend of the wedding when the families of the two love birds meet for the first time, with Sabrina’s shrimp and caviar eating parents meeting Jason’s neck bone and greens eating mother and uncle. With devastating secrets revealed and constant debates, the main debate being about whether the couple will honor the tradition from his side of the family regarding jumping the broom at the wedding, the two may not even make it down the aisle.

Reel Talk:

This T.D. Jakes production about the union of two and their families of urban and suburban differences is the reel deal. With a star filled cast with everyone getting in on the fun, this was a hilariously funny movie. Mike Epps continues to show why he is one of the funniest in the game with his silly performance as Uncle Willie Earl. A good cast, good story, good messages, good laughs, a just all around good movie.

Starring: Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, DeRay Davis, Valerie Pettiford and Mike Epps
Directed by: Salim Akil
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

FAST FIVE

Plot:

Fast Five immediately picks up where the last Fast And Furious movie ended, with Dominic Toretto (Diesel) getting caught and sentenced to jail. While in route to jail he is busted from the prison bus by his sister Mia (Brewster) and her boyfriend, the now ex FBI agent Brian O’ Connor (Walker). Now outlawed in the states they relocate to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and hook up with old friend Vince (Schulze) from the first movie and return to their old trade of boosting cars. But when a heist goes bad and DEA agents are murdered, Dominic is framed and is now the target for the stone cold, merciless FBI agent Hobbs (Johnson) who has no boundaries or limits to how he gets his man. On the run again he puts together a plan to rip off the wealthiest and most ruthless man in Rio, who just also happens to be the man who set him up. In order to pull off this caper they enlist the services of some friends from the previous four Fast and Furious movies and take Rio for one wild ride.

Reel Talk:

All I can say about this movie is "WOW"!!!! Action junkies beware, because you will overdose on this movie. From the beginning to the end this movie will have you on the edge of your seat with some breath taking stunts and action from the cast of stars from the Fast series. Dwayne Johnson also brings a new punch to the Fast installments. You can bet he will be in the next one. This is a must see movie that will not dissappoint!

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Dwayne Johnson, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang and Joaquim De Almeida
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corndog – The Reel Hustler

SUCKER PUNCH

Plot:

While trying to prevent her pedophile step father from sexually assaulting her younger sister Baby Doll (Browning) accidentally shots and kills her sister causing her step father to have her admitted to a mental hospital. During her wait to be lobotomized she is forced to join a small group of girls organized by Dr. Vera Gorski (Gugino) who perform erotic dances for clients arranged by the corrupt head orderly Blue (Isaac). Realizing that when she does her supposedly provocative dance it takes her into a dream world of sword battles and shoot outs, giving her incite to how she and the other girls can escape from their imprisonment.

Reel Talk:

Don’t get sucker punch by this movie! I mean it has all the makings for a good movie, director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) at the helm, action with fights and shoot outs by scantily clad women in high heels if that’s your thing, but it falls flat with the story. The one thing that really got me was that we never saw her supposed seductive dances, I thought I was going to see her drop it like it’s hot, but nope, didn’t happen. Of course Snyder adds his special blended visual effects, it just was not enough to give this movie the punch needed to be a good movie. Even the action was just par at best. This one you can wait for the DVD, not one to rush out and see.

Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm and Scott Glenn
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

Plot:

Mick Haller (McConaughey) is a hot shot criminal attorney that prosecuting attorneys can’t stand to see in the court room. He’s a wheeler dealer who has it on the ball until he takes on a high profile case of a rich kid played by Ryan Phillippe who is being accused of brutally assaulting a prostitute. This case proves to be one of his toughest yet as it takes him back to a previous case that may have had him send his earlier client to jail wrongfully as well as jeopardizing the lives of his love ones.

Reel Talk:

McConaughey has done some cheesy movies recently, but he has certainly redeemed himself with this one. His portrayal of the witty and deviously charming fast track attorney is superb! This was a great suspense thriller with a great cast. From beginning to the end you will be glued to the screen. This is a must see movie, one of the best so far this year.

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo and Michael Pena
Directed by: Brad Furman
Rated: R

I give it 5 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

LIMITLESS

Plot:

In a person’s lifetime I think it’s been said that only around 20% of the brain will be used. Well what if you could take a pill and use 100% in a matter of hours? In Limitless Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra a burned out writer that has hit rock bottom and when it seems he’s about to wither away he runs into his ex brother in-law who gives him a mysterious pill that when taken gives you limitless brain access. Now with his new found power he becomes a major power broker for Carl Von Loon (De Niro) who is planning a huge corporate takeover. But unfortunately there are devastating consequences behind the drugs potential like its deadly side effects and the attention it lures to the menacing men that are following him.

Reel Talk:

If this drug was really available, man oh man, but if only ifs and buts were candy and nuts. This movie was refreshingly good, with what’s lacking in most movies that have been dropping lately, this one offers an original plot. While the role of Eddie seemed custom made for Cooper it was just a paying gig for Oscar Award winner De Niro who doesn’t have a stand out performance in the film. Still this movie is worth checking out, so get your snacks early and enjoy the ride.

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth
Directed by: Neil Burger
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES

Plot:

Just coming off a tour of duty, SSgt. Nantz (Eckhart) a hard nosed soldier with a horrid past, turns in his resignation letter so as to put the wars behind him and try for a civilized life. That idea is put on hold when Los Angeles along with other cities are soon attacked by aliens from outer space. Nantz and a group of soldiers must go into Santa Monica to retrieve some civilian survivors and get the to an F.O.B. site for safety, but the soldiers are soon in for a battle like no other as the aliens have them out numbered and out gunned.

Reel Talk:

Ok this movie was most definitely entertaining because it is an action movie but it truly lacked originality. It was like watching Independence Day, Transformers, War Of The Worlds and Black Hawk Down all rolled into one movie. But as I stated earlier the action is fast paced and will keep your attention focused on the screen. If you’re fans to any of the before mentioned movies you will certainly like this movie. Worth checking out.

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ramon Rodriguez, Cory Hardrict, Ne-Yo, Michael Pena and Michelle Rodriguez
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

RED RIDING HOOD

Plot:

Amanda Seyfried plays Valerie a young girl whose small village is being terrorized by a werewolf. In the midst of the beast’s brutal attacks she is torn between her love for a young villager that must remain a secret and the lad that she has been arranged to marry. Things become chaotic when werewolf slayer Solomon (Oldman) and his men search the village in an attempt to find the man behind the beast, killing anyone that stands in their way.

Reel Talk:

What can I say? All while I watched this movie I kept thinking that this was a cross between Twilight (a good movie) and The Village (a terrible movie), which brought this movie to a mere mediocre point. With huge focus on Valerie’s love interests, it had a lot of dull moments that easily have you forgetting this is suppose to be a horror movie. The only real good point about this movie was the mystery about the identity of the werewolf. Not exactly a movie I would say rush to see, you can wait for the DVD release.

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Virginia Madsen and Lukas Haas
Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

MOOZ-LUM

Plot:

Tariq (Ross) has just begun college and he tries so hard to hide his Muslim upbringing and escape the brutal hardships that it brought him as a kid by way of partying and dating which he was never allowed to do. But when Muslims are accused for the 9/11 terrorist attacks that has taken place on American soil, he is forced to make hard choices regarding his religious background, whether he should stay quiet or stand up for what he believes and was taught?

Reel Talk:

Mooz-Lum was based on the true story surrounding director, producer Qasim Basir’s life. This young filmmaker from Detroit has put together a powerful movie with a great cast that touches some hard topics, and it makes for a dynamic movie. Evan Ross’ role as the troubled young Muslim Tariq was very compelling alongside the charismatic star powered veterans of Glover, Long and Smith. This is a must see movie that you will not regret seeing!

Starring: Danny Glover, Nia Long, Roger Guenveur Smith and Evan Ross
Directed by: Qasim Basir
Rated: PG-13

I give it 5 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

BEHIND THE SHALLOW MIND

Plot:

When local thug Drake (Jason Wimberly ) and Terri (Sharmaine Nicholson) a street numbers runner have a random encounter and eventually begin to date, everything seems to be going good for the two until one of Drake’s longtime friends Lovell (Iken B. Jackson)who is on the run from the police for a murder charge, makes matters worse by allowing his shallow mind to put his focus on robbing Terri, compromising the friendship between the two pals. With everything on the line they all must make hard decisions that will change their lives forever as two hard nose homicide detectives played by LaDonna Graham and Sherman Eaton close in to catch the fugitive murderer.

Reel Talk:

This suspense drama is the reel deal that was filmed and used all cast members entirely from Detroit. This is the second film made by local filmmaker Steve Horn who brought us the 2006 street drama The Route. With a plot that is so different than most surrounding movies made in Detroit, Behind The Shallow Mind shows what happens when one’s mind is shallow and the consequences that will continue to compile as a result. Horn , already at work putting together his next project is a very talented filmmaker who doesn’t know the meaning of rest hence the name of his company Stevenotsleep Films LLC, shows that hard work does pay off as he was the recipient of the 2010 Trinity Film Coalition Emerging Filmmaker Award. We look forward to future films from this gifted movie maker as he stated he has more to come, with a few spin offs from this film.

Behind The Shallow Mind is available and can be purchased at AMAZON.COM or downloaded at FILMBABY.COM


Starring: Jason Wimberly, Sharmaine Nicholson, Iken B. Jackson, Dashanta and Deshaun West, Ian and Gibron Kinnard, Sherman Eaton and Ladonna Graham
Directed by: Steve Horn

I give it 3 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corndog – The Reel Hustler