I was not particularly impressed Kevin Hart’s latest movie The Wedding Ringer. Don’t get me wrong, there were funny moments but in between I was kind of bored. The premise of this movie is that a successful nerd can land the woman of his dreams and live happily ever after. He’s been great at making money but he doesn’t have a clue about social skills. This man has no friends. His big dilemma is how to obtain said friends when his wedding is in two weeks.

I don’t know where to begin with this one

The opening scene finds Doug Harris (Josh Gad) frantically calling every guy he is acquainted with to see if they’d agree to be his Best Man. He calls and calls and calls, gets hung up on, calls some more, some don’t even know him well enough to remember his name. He loses his balance and falls into his large glass desk (this was so not funny to me).

The gay wedding planner Edmundo (Ignacio Serricchio) overhears the fact that Doug is in need of fake groomsmen and gives him the name of someone who can assist him, Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart). Jimmy owns Best Man Inc, and helps men find “The One.”

Doug follows Jimmy to a few of his wedding gigs to see how well he does. I did not like it when he went to the Jewish man’s funeral. He starts cracking lame Jewish jokes and imitating Sammy Davis Jr. (so not funny!). I enjoyed the wedding party that Doug danced at. The crowd started cheering when this oversized white male started jamming to “Teach Me How to Dougy.”

I find it funny that Edmundo is really not gay but he feels his business became more successful once he took on the persona of a gay man instead of being a straight Hispanic male. After taking a sit down with Doug and Jimmy, he agrees to help out. Edmundo puts an interesting twist to the song “You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up” to “you put the weed in the coconut and light it all up.” This definitely had me and the whole crowd laughing!

This is where the story is supposed to start getting funny and it does somewhat. Jimmy rounds up his rag/tag group of misfit friends to play the 7 groomsmen. I like the Asian man Endo, played by Aaron Takahashi. He is really funny. It was absolutely hilarious when he pulled out his wiener and a dog ran up and bit it and wouldn’t let go. They had to rush him to the hospital.

I also liked when the wedding party got together to have brunch to get to know one another. Cloris Leachman has a cameo appearance as a crotchety old woman. She curses and repeats filthy things then accidentally catches on fire. They try to put the fire out with some of the wine that’s on the table and the fire spreads. This part was “Shut the front door” hilarious.

Another funny scene was the friendly old timers/youngsters football game. The old timers are all ex-football players like Joe Namath and they crush the youngsters for a greater part of the game. The young team all end up covered in mud, but they recover and triumph in the end.

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting plays a convincing gold digger, Gretchen Palmer. She is so tired of the losers that she has dated and decides to settle on someone who would take care of her. Doug gave this woman everything she wanted and then some. Was she marrying for the right reasons?

This movie gets an okay rating from me. I’m so glad that Hart didn’t do short jokes this time around. He’s a good comedian with a pinch of actor in him. Let’s have him do more serious rolls then we will know if he can really act.

Refreshing! That’s the first word that came to mind as I walked out of the movie theatre after seeing the new movie musical Annie. Annie isn’t a new story, it’s an old story revamped with a funky fresh point of view. The story takes place in modern day New York City, and you’ll see a lot of changes; changes you can live with. There’s a diverse cast, Annie is no longer an orphan but a foster kid, she lives in a row house instead of an orphanage in the present instead of The Great Depression, and Daddy Warbucks is now William Stacks.

Annie follows a ten year old foster kid (Quvezhane Wallis) through her day-to-day interactions with fellow foster kids and foster mother all while in pursuit of her real parents. Annie tries to have an upbeat attitude, making the best of each situation even when she’s often disappointed by her lack of parental love. Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz) doesn’t make life any easier for her or the other girls in her care.

Wallis is an adorable Annie with just pinch of sass! She has a sweet voice and I especially like her singing “Opportunity.” I like that the writers connected the old with the new by having Annie do an oral book report on Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At times I thought her acting was a bit one-dimensional, that she should have had more facial expression and a little more zing; other times she seemed to nail it!

It took me a while to warm up to Jamie Foxx playing Will Stacks, the cell phone billionaire. At times the acting seemed stiff, especially at the beginning when he was handing out free phones and being a germaphobe; the spitting mashed potato scene was absolutely horrid! I slowly but surely warmed up to his character. Jamie Foxx can carry a tune though. Yes girls, he can really sing and bust-a-move too!

Diaz seemed a little miscast in this role as Miss Colleen Hannigan. This role has always been tailored for a crotchety older woman; Cameron came across as trashy and vapid instead of cranky and cantankerous. Her voice is not robust but she can carry a tune. I liked that Miss Hannigan had been a lost soul; she eventually found that she did care about Annie’s welfare. She was like the Grinch whose heart grew three times its size that day!

Rose Bryne played the attentive assistant, Grace, to billionaire Stacks. I liked when Grace joined Annie outside the restaurant showing so much compassion in such a simple act of waiting to see if her parents showed. Just being there talking and waiting with a little girl who hadn’t dared to give up hope of one day being reunited with her parents was one of the more heartfelt moments of the film.

Annie kept true to the original score with these important, milestone songs: “Tomorrow,” “Maybe,” and “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” The movie added an updated cool twist to “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and “Little Girls.” More importantly, they came up with new original tracks like “Opportunity,” “Who Am I?” and “Moonquake Lake.” I personally loved “Who Am I?” and “Opportunity” the best!

I genuinely enjoyed Annie. It was musical; it was light, and also educational. It was a movie for the whole family. The storyline had a decent flow to it; the musical numbers were enjoyable with lively dance routines, plus there were cool guest appearances by Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, and Rihanna! It was educational, because it helped to redefine today’s definition of family. There were also posters and Discussion Guides available so parents could open up a dialogue with their children on important issues facing today’s youth and families. Some valid question they asked were “How can you build a better tomorrow in your community?”, “What lessons did Annie teach her friends?” and “How do you handle life’s hard knocks?”

Kudos to the Annie cast for going above and beyond entertainment, for opening the door to something relevant!

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”B00O8NWDEG” cloaking=”default” height=”159″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514G2nG-vkL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”160″]

Writer/Director Chris Rock scores a home run. I am a sap for love stories, even R-rated love stories. I don’t like the simple love stories where boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after. I like the complicated ones where everything isn’t perfect, where everything doesn’t go as planned. Where nothing is what it seems and where you always need to be ready for the next twist and turn. Chris Rock seems to have accomplished that goal with his campy, nothing is out of bounds, no-holds-barred comedy on love. Top Five is one weird, twisted fairy tale.

Packaged in a stupid bear costume, a comedian tries to take on a serious role as a Haitian Revolutionary but no one will take him seriously. With such a weird storyline, I didn’t think it would capture my attention even with its star-studded cast. I was wrong … dead wrong. Underneath all the famous comedian bullshit is a guy, a regular guy who gets typecast as an incredibly stupid, but funny talking bear named Hammy. He achieves the stardom, the money and the fame but he is somehow empty. He finally reaches a point in his life where he’s tired of all the bullshit: the drinking, the endless days on the road. He wants to settle down, get married and take on more challenging, serious acting roles. He wants his life to have meaning.

That would be a normal movie. This is a Chris Rock movie and nothing he does is normal! Shit breaks loose and everything that can happen does happen, all in one day with a little flashback magic added in for good measure. From the moment you sit in your seat ‘til you get up to leave you’ll be laughing. Some of it stupid laughing, some of it laughing that you know you shouldn’t but you do anyway, and the rest is “laughing ‘cause this shit is funny” laughing!

Andre (Rock) tries to promote his movie Uprising by going all over New York City doing appearances. He comes across a New York Times writer, Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson), who wants to do a piece, “A Day in the Life of Andre Allen.” He doesn’t want to do this but needs the publicity. No one seems interested in Andre in a serious role, so he is convinced to do this by his manager (Kevin Hart). The rest of the movie follows the crazy, bizarre things that happen when a drunk comedian tries to go sober and legit. But does Andre need to be drunk to be funny?

I liked the movie because it made me laugh a lot! I liked the movie because there were so many layers to it. The movie begs the question why do people get married, or better yet should someone marry another because of obligation? Andre is engaged to the beautiful reality star Erica Long (Gabrielle Union). She’s planning her fairy tale wedding for the world to see. She says the kisses aren’t real unless the public sees them. Her 15 minutes of fame are almost up. Does she care more about the wedding or the man? On the surface everything is wonderful, underneath the relationship is only held together by threads of obligation. Will Andre marry Erica? Should he?

I also like the strong but uncertain Chelsea. She asks Andre to open up and be real with her but she’s hiding behind a wall of secrets. She has to balance being a single mom with a fast-paced writer’s job in the city that never sleep, along with having a wealthy boyfriend who she feels is way out of her league. Is she good enough?

I love the strong writing of Chris Rock. With every twist and turn I’m drawn further into the fairy tale I wanted to have nothing to do with. While Andre and Chelsea are being “rigorously honest” with each other, they are still hiding behind masks that won’t let them be true to themselves or each other. They have fallen for each other like The Prince and Cinderella. Will they see the truth before it is too late?

I really enjoyed this movie. There were so many hilarious scenes. One of my favorite scenes is when DMX starts singing “Smile.” Boyfriend can’t sing but what makes this scene funny is that he punctuates each sentence with “Motherfucker!” Another favorite scene is when Andre goes home for a visit. The family starts “Joaning” on each other. There are so many cameos in this scene I wish I could push the rewind button to see everybody again! My most favorite scene is when Andre decides to leave. He starts going through a swag bag and comes across a golden shoe. I am quickly reminded of my favorite fairy tale and am left wondering if this fairy tale will come true for Andre.

Rosewater is the true story of resilience. It is about a little boy who grows up in Iran, a world filled with love of family, strength of character and danger. Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) grows up in a family of activists. At the early age of nine, he witnesses first-hand the atrocities one must endure when one wishes to be free and to have their voice heard. His father, Baba Akbar (Haluk Bilginer ), and sister Maryam (Golshifteh Farahani) were both imprisoned and tortured for speaking against the government of Iran and the “Supreme Ruler.” As a man, he stands on the precipice of a new world where 75% of the people of Iran are under the age of 35 and knowledgeable of the freedoms of the world thanks to cell phones, the internet and mass media. They are ready for change.

Bahari, the reporter from Newsweek, covers the elections of 2009 between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hossein Mousavi. He objectively films both sides in the election. The election appears to be rigged when he receives a call from Ahmadinejad’s headquarters claiming victory way before the polls are closed. He knows there will be trouble, and he is supposed to go back home to his pregnant wife, but he decides to stay. Maziar covers the protests and witnesses the shooting of several protesters, both men and women. He releases the tapes to Newsweek and naïvely thinks he will be okay. The next day he is awakened by two men who arrest him and take him away. Will Mazair Bahari make it out of captivity alive or will he meet the same fate as his father and sister — an early death?

Rosewater at its simplest form is about media suppression and to what lengths a country, a people, will go to suppress the truth. Atrocities are happening all over the world and Rosewater brings to light the degree to which a country will go to keep the truth from its people and the world.

The film has so many layers to it that it’s hard to digest them all in one viewing. It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion ‘til you get to its core, or picking one rose petal at a time ‘til there are none left. It captures you, enraptures you so you want to stay put ‘til you see the very last bit of it. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the land and the simplicity of a people goaded by a common cause. To fully capture the essence, the subtle nuance of all that is occurring, you need to see this movie several times.

I was totally unprepared for the beginning of Rosewater. Me and my spoiled American ways, I am used to sitting back and enjoying the movie I’m watching with no work involved. Rosewater did not let me do that. The beginning of the film was breath-taking but it was in Farsi, the language of Iran ,with English subtitles. I always find movies with subtitles taxing because you often miss things going on in the movie while you are reading the text, or you miss something important a character says because you are looking intently at what’s going on on the screen. I did both, wishing I could hit the rewind button so I could see what I missed. Jon Stewart did a fine job on his directorial debut.

Is it wrong of me to say I loved this movie? Not because of the horrific atrocities Maziar Bahari had to endure for 118 days in solitary confinement, but for the triumph of the human spirit. In the midst of all this man’s suffering, he could find humor in his captors taking interest in his sexual practices; that they could find comfort in admission of his wrong-doing and give him a reprieve from torture. Shear madness to you and I, but to his captors they thought they were breaking him, making him conform to their ways.

Silencing the freedom of human expression robs the entire world of its voices. Rosewater would not let the voice of the people of Iran be silenced thanks to Mazair Bahari and the many people who fought for his freedom. Jon Stewart got it right. I’m already excited to see it again.

At first, I avoided seeing Beyond the Lights because I thought that it would be like all the other love stories: The Way We Were, A Star is Born, and The Bodyguard. Been there done that! You know the cliché kind of love that’s not meant to be: two people from different worlds that somehow come together but don’t work out in the end kind of love. Boy was I wrong, dead wrong! All these love stories were popular in their own right in the past. I wasn’t interested in another sad, melancholy story that’s been told so many times before. Beyond The Lights was completely different. Writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood and her talented cast elevated the film and gave it more of a modern, edgy, in your face tone that will have you cheering at the end! It was new, it was edgy, it was passionate, and it was funny!

From the very beginning I liked the scene of Noni, the shy little girl being dragged into a black beauty shop, her white mother not knowing what to do with her Black daughter’s hair. I know people like that who’ve married outside of their race and don’t know how to lovingly deal with their bi-racial child. I enjoyed hearing the little girl sing “Blackbird.” It was sweet, beautiful, gentle and strong. Noni always did what she was told, from the little girl who had to throw away her second place trophy, to the young lady who had to be the woman every man desired and every woman wanted to be. Gugu Mbatha-Raw convincingly plays shy, demure Noni, who must act bold, sexy and carefree. She is often unsure of herself, looking to her mother for guidance. On the outside, it looks like she’s living the American Dream, but on the inside she is lost. Will she be able to handle stardom?

I also liked Minnie Driver’s portrayal of the gritty, edgy Macy Jean, the teen who had a black child out of wedlock. She is hard, she is cold, unapologetic and driven. She pushes Noni to be the woman every man desires. Nothing is out of bounds for her, even her daughter’s happiness. She’s a stone-cold “b” in my eyes!

Nate Parker’s portrayal of the hard working policeman, Kaz Nicol, is electrifying! He is driven to serve the public, to make the world a better place. My heart was pounding as Officer Nicol races to the railing trying desperately to save Noni from jumping off the 12th floor balcony. He only catches one hand and he’s frightened she will drop. He yells for her to give him her hand. As she whispers, “Nobody sees me,” he says to her, “I see you.” This moment touched me as well as many audience members who pulled out the tissues. He too is being groomed to become what his father wants him to be. Not lost but never deterring from “the plan.” Will he live his father’s dream or his own?

This story, this love story, was not like the others … yes interfering parents tried to keep Noni and Kaz apart. That did not work. Other love interests tried too. That also didn’t work. What made this love story work was that these two lost souls found each other and they found love. The scenes were raw and passionate and you couldn’t help but be moved by them. What a touching and popular scene when Noni was upset; started tearing down wall art and hitting the glass in the frame. Her arm was bleeding profusely; Kaz pulled her back and ripped off his shirt to use as a bandage. The female audience went wild. Nate is a hottie! I definitely did not mind seeing taught sinewy muscles rippling as he helped the love of his life.

What I liked most about the movie was the strength that writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood gave her characters. Each character seemed to touch so much of the audience. Many women in the audience could identify with Noni the dutiful daughter who always did what she was told by the strong, domineering single mother Macy. The men too were equally moved by Kaz: the strong Black policeman who acquiesced to his father’s (played by Danny Glover) dream of running for public office. Both the men and the women seemed to be equally moved by the strong, poignant acting, the funny make your belly hurt jokes, as well as the moving soundtrack. The little girl singing “Blackbird” at the beginning brought many audience members to tears, and the revamped “Blackbird” sung by Noni at the end had people cheering for it was a song of overcoming, a song of perseverance, a song of finally being free. I enjoyed these two songs the most but there were so many songs to love like “Worthy” and “Extraordinary Love.”

I thought they should have named the movie Blackbird. They alluded to the blackbird theme numerous times throughout the film. The main character, Noni, felt caged and she wanted to be free. At first she thought the only way to free herself was suicide. Kaz also felt trapped into becoming a politician, his father’s dream. There were three songs that intimate the blackbird theme: “Blackbird,” “Fly Before You Fall” and “Blackbird 2.” This convinced me they should rename this movie “Blackbird”!

I was pleasantly surprised in the end. I loved Beyond the Lights. It was new, fresh, funny, serious, and engaging all at the same time. Boy meets girl. He saves her life. They fall in love. Yes the movie was a love story, and one of the best love stories I have seen by far with a killer soundtrack to boot! Loved it!

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”B00OLF0U3M” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51p0zKUu1rL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”160″]

In May 2013 Laura Poitras, award winning director, producer and cinematographer, began receiving encrypted anonymous emails from someone calling himself Citizenfour. She became intrigued by allegations that the NSA along with other government entities were monitoring communications worldwide. US communications giants like Verizon and AT&T were also involved by giving access to their customer records. Was there risk in finding out the truth to these allegations? Yes there was. Was Laura Poitras willing to take these risks? Hell Yes.

Citizenfour tells the incredible true story of Edward Snowden, the infamous whistleblower who blew the lid off of the United States’ covert monitoring operations, and the journalists, including Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, who risked everything to verify and report the story even as Snowden was being labeled an enemy of the United States.

The film follows the journalists as they travel the world to obtain the proof of Snowden’s monumental allegations, and while some viewers may find these moments tedious, I found it fascinating to see what someone on the run does (the same every day things we do but with a large target drawn squarely on each of their backs), the near paranoia of thinking at any moment someone will burst in the door with guns drawn. I could feel the intensity of it all.

We also learn that government of the United States had publicly supported a policy of transparency all the while carrying out various covert and dangerous activities in the name of “national security.” When Snowden leaked classified NSA documents, Poitras, Greenwald and fellow journalist Jeremy Scahill were instrumental in getting many of them published on their on-line media venture called The Intercept. I found it interesting that these people were willing to put their lives on the line to stand up for what they believed in. Their perfect use of mass and social media made sure that they could not be silenced nor discredited.

I liked the way the director laid out the movie. It was strong, it was gritty, it was in your face. This man had to make a life changing decision to report to the world the secret surveillance of the American public and the rest of the world. Poitras had to comb through hundreds of hours of footage to get it just right without taking away the real nature of what it was like to be on the run from the United States of America while trying to pursue truth and justice. She achieved that goal.

Prior to seeing this movie I was of the opinion that Edward Snowden was a traitor to the United States of America. Now I am not so sure. Snowden couldn’t live with the fact that this atrocity was happening and sit by and do nothing. He felt the American public and the world had a right to know. Watching the film, I saw strength of purpose and integrity in the man they called a traitor. Instead of hiding behind the pseudonym Citizenfour, he wanted his name put front and center so the journalists could not get in trouble for withholding information from the US government. You could hear the strain and fear in his voice and the voices of the others who put themselves in harm’s way to get the story out. Would I have the courage to stand up for what I believe in if it meant jail time or never coming back to the shores of the land I love? To lose it all to stand up for your principles, I know this decision Snowden made was not an easy one. I call this man a hero. After viewing this film, you will never look at using your phone, credit cards, Facebook, and Twitter the same way.

As a bonus, at our screening a non-descript elderly man was wheeled into the auditorium. Little did I know the importance of this man till the end of the film. He was a very important man in the NSA, William Binney. I was happy that he came to support the film. After Laura Poitras introduced him, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Gave me goose bumps! I was in the midst of a hero!

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”162779073X” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kyUVgelLL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”107″] [easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”1568589549″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51r4W6kgcgL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”106″]