Predators (2010)

My Rating : 3.5/5 STAR
MovieStudio Quote >> “The movie is a heartstopper,  and the graphics could have been better!”

“Predators” follows a group of elite warrior-types who are being hunted by members of a race of merciless alien trackers called Predators. Adam Brody is a man who ends up inheriting the mantle of leader and is known as a hunter of men.

Topher Grace would play an accountant-type whose unassuming facade masks a dangerous serial killer. Alice Braga is the tough female killer.

Mahershalalhashbaz Ali is a man not afraid to die, Walton Goggins is the loose canon of the group and Oleg Taktarov is a former Russian special ops agent. Danny Trejo is Cuchillo, a hardened warrior with twin uzis strapped to his back.

Five Fingers (2008)

My Rating: 2.5/5 STARS
MovieStudio Quote >> “A wonderful suspense, but plot gets confusing and pointless in the end!”

A shattering look at the shifting morals of terrorism and covert torture, Lionsgate’s Five Fingers stars Laurence Fishburne and Ryan Phillippe in a startling cat and mouse thriller that turns recent prisoner abuse scandals on their head. An idealistic, Dutch pianist, Martijn (Ryan Philippe) travels to Morocco at the behest of his girlfriend to start a food program for malnourished children. But within moments of his arrival, Martijn and his British guide, Gavin, are abducted by terrorists who mistrust Martijn’s altruistic motives and proceed to interrogate him in an abandoned warehouse. Enduring unimaginable torture, Martijn desperately tries to prove his innocence to the group’s ruthless leader, Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne). Forced to question everything, and everyone, that brought him to Morocco, Martijn has only one choice: Solve the riddle of his captivity…or die trying.

An ingeniously constructed thriller, Five Fingers stares unflinchingly at the searing drama and ruthless politics that lie at the heart of global terrorism. The film is written by Chad Thumann,and Laurence Malkin, directed by Laurence Malkin, produced by Adam Rosenfelt, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, Malcolm Petal, Dolly Hall, Josh Kesselman, Kelley Feldsott Reynolds, Laurence Malkin and Stavros Merjos, Executive Produced by Sam Nazarian, Peter Block, Jason Constantine, Marc Schaberg, David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and stars Laurence Fishburne, Ryan Phillippe, Gina Torres, Touriya Haoud, Said Taghmaoui and Colm Meaney.

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

My Rating: 5/5 STARS
MovieStudio Quote >> “A brilliant mix of drama, literature and love!”

Following in the fine tradition of inspiring inner-city underdog tales like STAND AND DELIVER, and TAKE THE LEAD, Doug Atchison’s AKEELAH AND THE BEE is a story of overcoming odds that never… Following in the fine tradition of inspiring inner-city underdog tales like STAND AND DELIVER, and TAKE THE LEAD, Doug Atchison’s AKEELAH AND THE BEE is a story of overcoming odds that never descends into empty formula. The narrative centers around the character of Akeelah (Keke Palmer, in a star-making performance), a charming yet insecure 11 year old girl from Los Angeles’ gang-ridden South Central district.

Upon flipping channels after school one day, she lands on ESPN’s coverage of the National Spelling Bee. Having recently become aware of her innate talent in this area, Akeelah cannot help but fantasize about the prospect of being a star of the bee circuit. The tragic problem — intelligence of this kind is not valued in her community, where skills of athleticism and rapping are coveted far more than school smarts. Though Akeelah attempts to hide her academic acuity behind a rebellious attitude, she cannot resist the temptation to enter her school’s spelling bee, at which her stellar performance attracts the attention of her idealistic principal, who pairs her with a mentor, a former professor named Joshua Larabee (the always riveting Laurence Fishburne, who re-embodies the wise iconoclast character he played so well in the chess movie SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER).

Meanwhile, Akeelah’s strong, practical mother, (played by Angela Bassett, who worked with Fishburne on the Tina Turner biopic WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?) while always supportive of her talented daughter, does not necessarily see the point of spending such time and energy on what will likely amount to a fleeting hobby. Perhaps taking its cue from the surprising popularity of Jeffrey Blitz’s quirky documentary SPELLBOUND (2002), which explored spelling prodigies from diverse classes, races, and geographic locations, this drama makes what could be a narrow niche into a universal tale of triumph over adversity.

Armored (2009)

My Rating: 3.5/5 STARS
MovieStudio Quote >> “Great heist storyline, there are holes in plot but not very bad ones!”

Armored is a drama thriller movie starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno and Laurence Fishburne. The story is about a crew of officers at an armored transport security firm, who found themselves in the middle of the ultimate heist against their own company.

When $10 million on stake they willing to risk their lives. Armed with a seemingly fool-proof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none.

But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and hell breaks loose; all bets are off and each man must fight to survive on a dog-eat-dog battleground made of steel.