Saturday, March 26, 2016

"Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)

Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams
Written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer
Directed by Zack Snyder
Rated PG-13: Violence, language, frightening images
Running Time: 151 Minutes
Trailer

After the battle against the forces of General Zod in Metropolis, the world is divided over how to respond to Superman (Henry Cavill). Some see him as a savior, others as a potential threat. Two men in particular, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) fall into the latter group. For months, Wayne, as his alter-ego Batman, has been tearing apart Gotham City's underworld looking for someone or something called the White Portuguese. At the same time, Lex has been manipulating Wayne, the US Government and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) in a plot to discredit and demoralize Superman.

As Batman gets closer to his goal, his methods grow more brutal and disturbing. Superman decides he's gone too far, and delivers a warning for Batman to stop or be stopped. Lex decides to take advantage of this rivalry, steering the two heroes toward a confrontation that he hopes will leave Batman dead and Superman disgraced in the eyes of the world.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

"10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)

Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr.
Written by Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken and Damien Chazelle
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Rated PG-13 — Violence, language, frightening images
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Trailer

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) hits the road, running from her potential marriage for reasons unknown. But after night falls, a pickup truck runs her off the road and she awakens chained to a wall in a fallout shelter built by Howard (John Goodman) who insists that the world outside has been decimated by some kind of attack.

The third member of their little group is Emmett, a former high school track star who helped Howard construct his shelter. But Emmett and Michelle start to notice the cracks in Howard's story. And Howard's behavior grows increasingly unhinged, despite his protestations that he's simply looking out for everyone's best interests.

Michelle and Emmett hatch a plan for escape, but can they outwit Howard? And what kind of world is actually waiting for them outside?

Thursday, March 3, 2016

"Justice League: War" (2014)

Starring Jason O'Mara, Alan Tudyk and Michelle Monaghan
Written by Heath Corson
Directed by Jay Oliva
Rated PG-13 — Animated violence, language
Running Time: 79 Minutes
Trailer

Green Lantern (Justin Kirk) heads to Gotham City to investigate a series of kidnappings being blamed in the media on the Batman (Jason O'Mara). Instead, he discovers the culprit is an alien creature from the dark world of Apokolips attempting to plant some kind of device — a Mother Box — in the city's sewers. After totally flubbing his encounter with the parademons, Batman saves him and the two head for Metropolis, hoping to question Superman (Alan Tudyk) about the device's alien origins.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, Wonder Woman (Michelle Monaghan) is frustrated at having to wait for a meeting with the President when she encounters parademons attempting to breach the White House. In Central City, scientist Silas Stone (Rocky Carroll) and his son Victor (Shemar Moore) are having an argument while Silas investigates a dead parademon captured by the Flash (Christopher Gorham). An ensuing explosion from the creature's Mother Box infects Victor with an alien energy, forcing Silas to transform him into Cyborg to save his life.

Soon enough, the Mother Boxes open more boom tube portals between Earth and Apokolips, allowing Darkseid's (Steven Blum) army of parademons to assault various cities. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg and Captain Marvel (Sean Astin) realize they must join forces to protect the entire planet from a full-on alien invasion.

They just don't like each other all that much.