This is a blog about movies, books, raising children and some other of my random thoughts about life and love.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Friday, June 29, 2012
Abduction the Movie
This was a star studded movie. I strongly recommend you get a copy of this movie to watch. I also like the soundtrack to Abduction. Here is what Abduction is about I hope you like it as much as I did.
Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is an 18-year old who lives with his "parents", Kevin (Jason Isaacs) and Mara (Maria Bello). He has been having recurring nightmares throughout most of his youth, and was recommended by his school counselor to consult psychiatrist Dr. Geraldine "Geri" Bennett (Sigourney Weaver), to discover why.
During sociology class one morning, Nathan is partnered with his next-door neighbor and longtime friend Karen Murphy (Lily Collins) for a school assignment about missing children.
While doing the homework together, Karen finds a website that, through age-progression technology, shows what children would look like as they got older. Nathan discovers that a boy named Steven Price, aged approximately 3 years when photographed 15 years ago, would look exactly like him in the present day.
He goes to the basement, where his childhood items are kept and also finds the same shirt that 4-year-old Steven in the picture is wearing. With the confirmation of a particular stain on that shirt's sleeve, he suddenly realizes that he and Steven are the same person.
Very curious and interested now, Nathan contacts the website's operator, unaware that the operator is actually a Serbian terrorist. The man reports the call back to his commander, Nikola Kozlow (Michael Nyqvist), who deploys two agents to Nathan's house. They attack Nathan's parents, who yell at him to run, before being murdered themselves. During the attack process, the house is destroyed by a bomb and Nathan and Karen escape the blast by jumping into the pool. They attempt to call the police, but the call is intercepted by CIA operative Frank Burton (Alfred Molina), who tells Nathan that he's in danger. Frank then immediately sends a team to hunt him down.
But before that team arrives, "Psychiatrist" Dr. Bennett appears and tells Nathan that agent Burton cannot be trusted and advises Nathan to go with her instead. During the car trip, she reveals that Nathan's biological father, Martin (Dermot Mulroney) (whose face we never actually get to see in totality), is an ex-CIA agent who stole a list from Kozlow with the names of corrupt CIA operatives and agents. Kozlow had purposely created the website in order to locate Nathan and use him as a bargaining chip to force Martin to return that list.
Having intercepted Nathan's call, Kozlow's men now appear on the scene. Dr. Bennett tells Nathan to memorize a safe-house address in Arlington, Virginia and to make a dash for it. Before they leave, Dr. Bennett warns him that he can only trust his father and another man named Paul Rasmus. The two fugitives jump out of Dr. Bennett's moving car and, to facilitate their escape as well as her own, the psychiatrist creates a diversion for the Serbian pursuers by causing several fuel drums to blow up at a road-construction site.
Nathan and Karen arrive at the safe house where Nathan finds his (real) father's cellphone, including a photo and an address of his biological mother, Lorna Price (Elisabeth Röhm). The two youths discover that she is dead. They then proceed to visit her grave and Karen notices that fresh flowers had been placed at her tombstone. So together the couple go to nearby caretaker's office, where Karen plies her feminine charms and asks about any recent cemetery visitors. Mollified, the caretaker reveals that the last visitor was a Paul Rasmus from Nebraska. Nathan and Karen then elatedly purchase a train ticket and head to Nebraska.
But Kozlow's right-hand man follows them by also boarding the same train, armed with a roll of duct tape in his pocket. When Karen leaves to get food, he kidnaps her, ties her up and goes back to their cabin to engage Nathan in a fight. Nathan eventually overpowers the Serbian and throws the man off the train. But not before he grabs his phone.
Meanwhile, Karen manages to free herself, using glass shards to cut the sticky duct tape from her mouth. She then runs back to the cabin to reunite with Nathan. Nathan pulls the train's emergency braking system. The train comes to a halt. They step off the train and run into the forest, with the train's protesting officials in a half-hearted pursuit.
Agent Burton and his men come across the Serbian's ejected body at the railroad tracks, and initiate a chase for the two young fugitives who he says couldn't have gotten too far away. The CIA agents manage to catch up with the two in the woods and agent Burton convinces them that the CIA just wants to help. He coaxes the two by inviting them for a burger and a shake at a nearby diner. At the restaurant, Burton reveals to Nathan about the meaning of the encrypted list on his father's phone and which he had taken with him from the safe house in Virginia.
Nathan now furtively checks the phone and sees the encrypted list scroll by on the screen. (The list also happens to contain CIA agent Burton's name.) But before Burton can react, Kozlow's men attack the diner with a barrage of bullets from assault rifles, killing several of Burton's men.
During the melee, Burton and his partner, Agent Burns (Antonique Smith) fire back and kill all of Kozlow's men, and Nathan and Karen happen to escape. Now the cellphone of Kozlow's partner-in-crime rings. Nathan answers it. Kozlow threatens that he plans to kidnap Karen's parents and will kill them if Nathan doesn't give him the list. Nathan agrees, but says that he will choose the time and place of the exchange himself. Kozlow agrees.
By this time, Nathan realizes that his nightmares had been due to repressed memories of his mother Lorna being murdered by Kozlow, while she was trying to protect him. (The murder scene at the beginning of the movie, with him hiding under the bed at the age of 3, witnessing it all -- now becomes clear to him.)
Nathan's plan is to give Kozlow the list at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, but he tells Karen that he actually intends to kill Kozlow with the gun he had found in the same drawer as his mother's photo. But now he suddenly receives a call from his real father, Martin, who is also at the stadium. Martin warns him not to give Kozlow the list under any circumstances. But Nathan ignores his advice, and reaches for the gun to shoot Kozlow. However, the Serbian had outwitted Nathan by stealing Nathan's gun and now forces Nathan to hand over the list.
Nathan eludes Kozlow and escapes by sliding down a glass escalator's roof, with Kozlow in heavy pursuit. But Martin calls Nathan on his cell and tells him to lure Kozlow to an open area outside the stadium. Nathan does so, and at the very moment when Kozlow prepares to kill Nathan, Martin kills Kozlow with a precise sniper shot through the heart, fired from a nearby parking garage.
Agent Burton's men appear on the scene and surround Nathan. Burton tells his boss that he will hand over the list after it has been decrypted at CIA headquarters. But his superior reveals that Martin has warned them that Burton would attempt that very thing in order to remove his own name. They detain Burton for a thorough "debriefing".
Martin then calls Nathan one last time and apologizes for not having been around to be a true "Dad" to him, but that he will always be watching over Nathan. Nathan reunites with Karen and Dr. Bennett, who tells him that she has arranged for him to live with her until he graduates. After that, he can move out to attend college or follow any of his other dreams. Nathan thanks her and finally leaves with Karen for a long-overdue actual date. The story ends with the two of them sitting inside an empty stadium which they now have all to themselves.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
No strings attached movie
This is a hilarious film that came out in 2011. It stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. It is an adult movie with the R rating and strong sexual content. The movie shows what can and usually does happen in a friends with benefits relationship. It is a great movie and is a bit unpredictable. I most definitly recommend this feel good romantic comedy
After first meeting at a summer camp as teenagers, Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher) run into each other over the next few years but never managed to stay in regular contact. Emma is now a resident at a Los Angeles hospital and Adam is a production assistant for a musical TV show. Adam's father (Kevin Kline), a former TV star, has begun a relationship with Adam's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Ophelia Lovibond), which leads Adam to get drunk and call every woman in his phone seeking a hookup. The next day, he wakes to find that he text-messaged Emma and had come to the house she shares with some other residents, including her best friend Patrice (Greta Gerwig). Emma leads Adam to her bedroom to retrieve his pants, where the two of them wind up having sex.
Because of both her belief that no two people were meant to be together forever and the pressures of her job, Emma proposes they have casual sex with each other before setting some ground rules to prevent their relationship from becoming too serious. At first things go well, but then Adam starts becoming jealous of the possibility of Emma being with another doctor, Sam (Ben Lawson). Although denying he is jealous, Adam starts presenting her with gifts, which she rebuffs.
Adam becomes more distraught when his father invites him to dinner with Vanessa on sanoop’s birthday, where they announce they’re planning to have a baby together. Emma, who accompanied Adam to the dinner, berates the couple while defending Adam. Adam eventually convinces her to go out with him on a date on Valentine’s Day. Things come to a head when Emma starts becoming too uncomfortable about being on a date with Adam. Adam tells Emma he loves her, but she grows angry, telling him he should go out with another woman who 'isn't going to hurt you'. Adam drops Emma off at her hospital and drives off.
Six weeks later, a script Adam had written for his show is being filmed, and Adam gets a regular writing job on the show thanks to the help of Lucy (Lake Bell), the top assistant to the show's creator who makes it clear she's attracted to him. Emma, meanwhile, has become distraught at not being with Adam, which is compounded by her younger sister Katie's (Olivia Thirlby) wedding the next day and her widowed mother (Talia Balsam) arriving with a new boyfriend.
Emma tries calling Adam, but Adam rebuffs her on the phone. Emma realizes she wants to be with him, and drives down to his home. Adam, however, arrives home with Lucy, whom Emma takes to be Adam's new girlfriend. Emma tearfully starts driving back to the wedding. Before Adam and Lucy can have sex, Vanessa calls Adam—his father is in the hospital, having overdosed on Purple Drank. Arriving at the hospital, Vanessa confesses that she doesn't want to be with an older man and that she's scared of old people. She dumps her dog off on Adam and leaves for a party. Adam talks to his father and chastises him, but tells him he'll call the next day.
On the way out, Adam calls Emma back. Adam angrily tells Emma she needs to have the conversation she wants in person – which she does; Emma’s friend and resident Shira (Mindy Kaling) noticed Adam's father arriving and called Emma. Adam and Emma reconcile, and after a morning of eating breakfast, they go together to Emma’s sister’s wedding. Emma asks, "So, what happens now?" and Adam silently holds her hand. The film concludes with a montage of events including Adam's father and Lucy having dinner as a new couple, Patrice dating Adam's roommate Eli and meeting his same-sex parents, an arrogant resident who Emma left for Adam telling Shira he thinks they should date other people (and Shira bluntly telling him she's been seeing other people during their entire relationship), the resident deciding to experiment with Shira's gay roommate, Katie going into labor, Vanessa looking horrified as she's stuck in an elevator packed with senior citizens, and Adam and Emma being happy together as a couple.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked
This 2011 American adventure comedy film was directed by Mike Mitchell. It is the sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. It has a lot of the cast from The Squeakquel in this movie as well. Jason Lee is back as David "Dave" Seville. David Crossis still playing the role of Ian Hawke. Jenny Slate plays the weird and unusual Zoe. Andy Buckley plays as Captain Correlli. Justin Long is back as the voice of Alvin Seville with Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. doing the singing. Matthew Gray Gubler does the voice of Simon Seville. Steve Vining does the singing for Simon.Jesse McCartney is doing the voice of Theodore Seville. Christina Applegate does the voice of Brittany. Anna Faris is the voice of Jeanette. Amy Poehler does the voice of the sweet Eleanor. Janice Karman does the singing for Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor.
During family vacation upon a cruise, the Chipmunks and Chipettes turn the ship into their personal playground causing trouble and running havoc as they usually will. Dave (Jason Lee) notices that his old boss, Ian Hawke (David Cross) working as a safety monitor on the cruise. Alvin decides to go para-sailing on a kite and he flies away with the other chipmunks. Dave then gets on a hang glider to find them with Ian and both end up in the ocean.Meanwhile, the six chipmunks find an island and they sleep for the night. Dave asks Ian's help find the same island and begin looking for the six chipmunks. The next morning, the chipmunks go and find food and while doing so, an island castaway named Zoe (Jenny Slate) shows up and sees the Chipmunks and Chipettes for the first time. They then go to Zoe's tree house and Simon gets bitten by a spider, the side effects including personality changes and loss of inhibition.
The morning after, everyone observes Simon's personality has changed and he becomes a French, adventurous chipmunk named Simone. Simone asks Jeanette to dance to Alvin's dismay. Later, Zoe takes Simone, Jeanette, Eleanor and Theodore to a waterfall and Simone finds a cave. He returns with a gold bracelet which he gives to Jeanette. Brittany and Alvin see an active volcano the next day and they decide to leave the island. Theodore and Simone find Dave and Ian and they go to meet with the other chipmunks. They all begin to prepare a raft to get them off the island and everyone is assigned a job. When Jeanette and Simone go and look for food, Zoe kidnaps Jeanette and Simone gets knocked unconscious, and reverted to normal.
Everyone finds Simon awake and he cannot remember anything since the bite. They discover that Zoe has taken Jeanette and they head towards the waterfall. When they approached the tree log to cross, Dave and Alvin decide they'll go and find Jeanette. As Zoe forces Jeanette to get the treasure by tying her to a rope, Alvin and Dave come to her rescue. The island begins to rumble again and Zoe let go of the rope and Jeanette runs with Dave and Alvin back to the raft. When they reach the log to cross, Dave almost falls.
Alvin and Ian convince Zoe to help save Dave. They then run towards the raft and escape the eruption. While on the raft, Zoe apologizes to Jeanette for kidnapping her and forcing her to get the treasure. As a gift, Jeanette gives Zoe the gold bracelet that Simon had given to her. Alvin reconciles with Dave and they are rescued. The Chipmunks and Chipettes perform at the International Music Awards.
In the film's epilogue, the Chipmunks, the Chipettes, and Dave are on a plane heading back home. Alvin is speaking on the pilot's microphone that the plane's destination is set for Timbuktu, accidentally pushes the food cart, and it hits Dave.
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