OBLIVION may have kicked off the Summer 2013 season, but it is not as amazing as I hoped it would be! The visuals were really good and the action did kick-ass, but it's really the story and the twists that drove me off. Instead of being one of those "turn off your brain and enjoy" action blockbusters, it's just another thinker. The alien species called the "Scavs" aren't really aliens, it's another mystery thriller about clones like THE 6TH DAY and THE ISLAND, and sometimes it's more of a romance story than a sci-fi thriller. Once you see this movie, you'll understand what I'm talking about! The trailers and commercials did a good job hiding what "the truth" and "the lie" is, though some of the acting is good. Before this, the only Tom Cruise movie I liked was WAR OF THE WORLDS and this is second time that he and the legendary Morgan Freeman have teamed up after said movie. What I also liked about the cast is that it includes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from HBO's epic fantasy drama series GAME OF THRONES. This is the second feature film from director Joseph Kosinski after his debut with TRON: LEGACY, which also confused me at times, but that was because I didn't watch the first TRON before that! In conclusion, even though this isn't one of 2013's groundbreaking adventures, I still enjoyed seeing this and it's a stunning sci-fi with an eye candy scope!!!!

How does the last caveman family on Earth become the world's first modern family in history? In reality, we'll never know, so DreamWorks Animation tells us how in a colorful, fun, adventurous, and sometimes in a annoying way! The cast isn't much for my taste because we got one of my favorite actors Nicolas Cage, the usually gay-and-girly Ryan Reynolds, the extremely-talented Emma Stone, the chubby-and-geeky Clark Duke, and lesser-known actresses Catherine Keener and Cloris Leachman. Other than that, the animation is great, but the 3-D wasn't all that good. The prehistoric creatures are confusing because I don't remember there being crocopups, flying turtles, or piranhakeets back then, but at least Douglas didn't die when he fell off as we assumed in the commercials. Also, the youngest daughter in the family named Sandy is very ugly and annoying. Plus, there is lack in adult humor and no major antagonist like we get in most animated movies. However, Belt the sloth was the movie's ultimate scene stealer who made the film more entertaining while the story itself has both laughs and emotion for the whole family. Let's also not forget Grug's wish for Gran to die, but when it seems like she does, she dosen't and Grug sighs! So, even though THE CROODS isn't one of DWA's greatest movies ever made, it tried really hard and worked as a good movie, especially since this is the first DWA movie distributed by 20th Century Fox!!!!

The prequel to one of Hollywood's biggest classics, THE WIZARD OF OZ, is just an okay fantasy! While it is "the next ALICE IN WONDERLAND" with James Franco and Sam Raimi (both who brought us the original SPIDER-MAN trilogy) instead of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, this movie apparently isn't as good in comparison. It does have good visuals and action, but there are a lot of things that disappointed me. There are 3 sexy witches played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz....but 2 of them are Wicked Witches. Since the first trailer premiered, I always thought Evanora would be the Wicked Witch, but she really is "the Wicked Witch of the East". The one that becomes the green "Wicked Witch of the West" is Theodora. Watching her become that left me upset because she was so nice and beautiful when we first meet her. Someone like her doesn't deserve to be evil! Of course, there is also Glinda the Good Witch who was framed for poisoning the King of Oz, but at least she lives in her bubble domain where her army of Quadlings, tinkers, and Munchkins love her. Another flaw is the China Girl being so whiny and childish....that was annoying! All this is why most people, like me, aren't that big on prequels: they tell sad stories of how a certain someone becomes an iconic villain in the original stories like how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader in the STAR WARS prequel trilogy. Sequels and continuations are much better! Other than those flaws, OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is still a fun and worth-seeing film with a nice story. Knuck, the herald and fanfare player, is very funny and probably my favorite character of the movie. There are also really clever references to Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wicked Witch's weakness to water. So, when the sequel comes out, hopefully it'll improve especially if (yeah, as of now, it's "if") Dorothy finally drops in! Overall, this is a visually-stunning and decent 3-D experience!!!!

Hollywood has turned 2 classic fairy tales into dark fantasy feature films with Warner Bros. RED RIDING HOOD in 2011 and Universal's SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN in 2012....and they both sucked! That was why I wasn't interested in this movie at first until I watched the theatrical and restricted trailers. The premise of a grown-up Hansel and Gretel with a witch-hunting career taking place 15 years after the end of the original fairy tale is not only clever, but it answers a lot of questions everybody's been asking since the story was first published. Those questions include: What happens to Hansel and Gretel now? Why did their parents abandon them? What will they do for a living? All that is answered in a fun and gory adventure! Jeremy Renner is in a good movie for once after starring in a bunch of shitty movies everyone else likes. It's good to see Gemma Arterton back in fantasy movies as we all remember her from CLASH OF THE TITANS and PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME. The witches are scary and awesome with Famke Janssen as the main villain named Muriel. Of course, a lot of movies have their own douchebag and the winner of this movie's biggest douchebag definitely goes to Sheriff Berringer played by Peter Stormare. Why? He thinks that every female ginger is a witch! HOW BULLSHIT IS THAT? It should come as no surprise that he and his men do get what's coming to them and they do get it! Though, another character to talk about is a troll named Edward. At first, we all think is an ogre, but everyone in the movie says he's a troll! The difference between the 2 fantasy creatures are their size: a troll is small and a ogre is huge. Tommy Wirkola, it's no wonder why critics are calling this a "weak script"! Though, this one flaw I do have is this one unanswered question: Will Hansel and Gretel ever find true love? Even though Hansel made love to the accused witch named Mina, she dies in the end, but at least we get to see her breasts and ass. I know they are brother and sister, but Hansel and Gretel can't just live with each other all the time! Another flaw is the fact that parts of the ending were shown in the trailers and TV spots....and some of the witches we do see in the TV spots aren't in the actual movie like the one who's covered in blue fire. Plus, if some of the posters and the TV spots show a winter setting, how come we don't see that in the movie? Anyways, as to why one of my favourite comedians Will Ferrell and his Gary Sanchez Productions partner Adam McKay produced their first horror movie is that they believe it is a freakin' franchise and it could be made into a trilogy. So, now that it's already a box-office hit, sequels must be on the way! Bottom line is that this movie is a great combination of horror, fantasy, action, comedy, and sometimes drama. Plus, we get a GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS porridge reference and awesome 3-D as bonus! Overall, HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is a fucking good ride!!!!

This is coming from someone who isn't big on gangster movies, but this movie is a fun all-out shoot-em-up gangster flick with amazing old-style L.A. settings, a talented cast, a good story, and hard violence and blood! A lot of critics didn't like it and why it didn't have a big audience is because it felt like it was mimicking all the other gangster movies, but like I said, I haven't watched a lot of gangster flicks. Well, so much for being "the gangster movie of this generation" as the cast and crew hoped....and I guess I was wrong when I said it's going to be "THE GODFATHER in this era of movies". Anyways, before I saw the removed and the revised trailers, I thought this movie wouldn't be good cause the Gosling-Stone romance from 2011's annoying CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE was being used again, but it's actually worth it since they are part of the big cast. It also included Josh Brolin who received praise for playing the young Agent K in MEN IN BLACK 3, Nick Nolte from a lot of movies, and the man I don't know a lot about but is really talented....Sean Penn as the legendary Mickey Cohen himself. It's very rare for a true story-based movie to have a good vs. evil story, but Sean's performance as the villain is very impressive and entertaining. The movie would've been better if it mentioned Mickey's life after being defeated by the LAPD, but he is the main reason why this movie is also sometimes hilarious. Believe it or not, it's not just Mickey saying some of the best lines in the movie, but there's other characters who have said some funny stuff. In conclusion, GANGSTER SQUAD is "definitely the movie to kick-off 2013"!!!!