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Showing posts from May, 2013

GIVEAWAY: The Purge prize pack, in theaters 6/7

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Universal Pictures presents The Purge in theaters everywhere on June 7! Would You #SurviveTheNight? The Purge is coming! The Purge follows one family over the course of a single night... From sundown to sunrise, for 12 hours, all crime is legal. Four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the danger of the outside world invades their home. I saw the trailer for this film a while back, and it has a unique premise: for one night, 12 hours only, you can do whatever you want. All emergency services shut down and I believe the government does as well. What would you choose to do? Would you commit a crime, or even watch while others do? Would you steal? Maim? Even murder? Official synopsis: If, on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In an America wracked with crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activit

After Earth

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It might have helped going in to After Earth knowing that the director is M. Night Shyamalan, because the movie ended up being a lot scarier than I thought it would be. M. Night likes to keep his audience on edge sometimes, and this was evident in this movie as well. The film ended up being a cross between The Grey and this book series I like, Across the Universe , which made for an interesting combination, and it's crazy to think that Earth may some day be as uninhabitable as it is in this movie. Cypher Raige (Will Smith) is a commander of the Rangers, kind of like the Army. They hunt down Ursas, which are aliens that want to kill humans, and children train to become Rangers, if they wish. Kitai (Jaden Smith), Cypher's son, very much wishes to be a Ranger; however, although he does well in the academic part, he freezes up when "in the field." Cypher is also skilled at Ghosting, which means not having any fear - the Ursas track humans based on the pheromones they

Now You See Me

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A few years ago, it seems there was an influx of "magic" movies, but then the trend disappeared. Now You See Me tries to be both a magic film and a mystery thriller, and in that it succeeds; however, the movie wasn't quite as good as it could have been, with that all-star cast it possesses. The movie starts out with four independent street magicians: Henley (Isla Fisher), J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Jack (Dave Franco), and Merritt (Woody Harrelson). Each of these magicians have their own tricks that they perform, and each of them receive a mysterious card with only a time and place listed, which ends up being an apartment in an old, rundown building. Henley used to be J. Daniel's assistant, but other than that, the four do not know each other, for the most part. Flash-forward a year later, and they are performing in Vegas as The Four Horsemen, where they do something extraordinary: they pick someone out of the audience who actually robs a bank, in Paris, n

GIVEAWAY: win a $25 gift card to Whole Foods!

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                  Welcome to the Whole Foods Market #Detroit Swagbag(s) Giveaway!                                       This Giveaway is hosted by Detroit Mom & Her Views  For the first time in many years Detroit will have a major chain grocery store, Whole Foods Market. The store is located right near the heartbeat of the city. Whole Foods Market prides themselves in using and showcasing local farmers and vendors including, Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company , Avalon International Breads , and giving you an opportunity to try: EXCLUSIVE NEW FLAVORS BY YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL SUPPLIERS... Beau Bien Fine Foods : Cranberry Apple Chutney Bon A Rose Pickled Beets Germack Coffee Roasting Co : Germack Motown Mix And Eastern Market Blend The Gluten Free Bar  Coconut Cashew Crunch, Chocolate Cherry Almond & Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites Naturally Nutty : Cherry Toffee Peanut Butter Streat Eatzz Detroit Foodie Sauce      Mcclures Sweet & Spicy Slice Cut Pickles Simply Suza

GIVEAWAY: Win a Star Trek (2009) digital download

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Fellow movie blogger Billy at Mind on Movies is giving away a digital download (iTunes) of 2009's Star Trek  - a great way to catch up on the series before seeing the recent Star Trek Into Darkness ! I didn't write a review on Star Trek Into Darkness , but I definitely enjoyed it. You don't need to have seen the first movie before seeing this one, but it does help with characters and back stories. The 3D was fantastic, too, and I highly recommend seeing it in 3D if possible. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Contest ends on June 9th at midnight  (EST). Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

GIVEAWAY: Win an Acer Netbook - ends 6/18

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Welcome to the Train Online! Acer Netbook Giveaway hosted by Stay at Stay at Home Mom with cohosts Mew Review , Budget Earth , and Mom to Bed by 8 , and sponsored by MTACC . This Netbook would be perfect for watching movies or for traveling! About our Sponsor: MTACC is a completely online Medical Transcription school designed to train you to work from home as a Medical Transcriptionist. Whether you currently work full-time, or are a stay-at-home mom, our course is designed with your schedule in mind! Begin working from home in as little as six months You can earn over $40k a year as a Medical Transcriptionist Qualified Military spouses are eligible for zero out of pocket expenses* Free Netbook laptop with enrollment** Convenient payment plans available *Eligible military spouse tuition is paid in full by MyCAA. Zero out of pocket expenses for qualified military spouses minus $20.00 membership plus fee **Netbook laptop included with paid in full courses. Netbook lapt

Review and GIVEAWAY: The Confession on DVD

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So what I did NOT know before viewing The Confession  is that it is the second book in a trilogy, by Beverly Lewis, and the first book, The Shunning , has already aired as a Hallmark Channel movie (this one aired on Hallmark as well). After I watched The Confession , I noticed that Netflix happened to have The Shunning  (for once! Netflix usually never has what I want to watch ...), so I went back and watched that as well. My conclusion is this: you can watch The Confession  before watching The Shunning , but if you do, make sure to educate yourself about the events from the first movie - or else you will be very confused. Official synopsis : Raised by an Amish family, Katie Lapp (Katie Leclerc, TV's "Switched at Birth") always felt the call of another life. Now, her quest to find her birth-mother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett (Sherry Stringfield, TV's "ER"), has drawn her into world of the "Englishers." Along the way, two very different men try to

GIVEAWAY: Space Warriors Blu-ray combo pack, premiering 5/31 on the Hallmark Channel

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Walden Family Theater is proud to announce the Space Warriors Blog App & a chance to Win a Family Trip to Space Camp! Watch Space Warriors on Hallmark Channel May 31st at 8/7C for your chance to win a trip for the whole family to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Space Camp. Keep an eye out for the secret keyword for a chance to go on location where Space Warriors was filmed and train like a real astronaut! About the movie: Six highly skilled teenagers are handpicked to be part of a summer space camp competition at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. As the competition heats up, the kids have no idea that their ultimate challenge will be to solve a life or death crisis aboard the International Space Station as the world anxiously watches. Starring: Thomas Horn, Danny Glover, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Mira Sorvino and Booboo Stewart. Space Warriors is the second film in the Walden Family Theater original lineup featuring great family enterta

Fast and the Furious 6

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I'll let you in on a secret: I've never seen any of the other Fast and the Furious movies. But here's another secret: you don't have to have seen ANY of the movies in the series to enjoy Fast and the Furious 6. It's got fast cars, action, and some eye candy to boot, for both men and women - what more do you need in a summer blockbuster? I've been told that in the other movies, Luke (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock) had been chasing Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his gang. In this movie, however, Luke and Toretto team up to take down the bad guy, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), in exchange for full pardons for Toretto and his friends. Toretto is also looking for his former girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who was supposed to have died while undercover in a previous movie, working for cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), now a part of Toretto's team, but recently photos of her had surfaced; turns out (SEMI-SPOILER) she had lost her memory, and has no rec

The Hangover Part III

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I was a little wary of seeing The Hangover Part III , because Part II  was very formulaic and pretty much followed the first Hangover movie to a T; only the location was different  (Thailand, instead of Vegas). Diehard fans of the series may complain that Part III is very different from the other two movies and aims to be more narrative-based (ie, like a "real" movie) than going for "shock value," but I was pleasantly surprised with how the movie turned out, and it manages to keep funny moments throughout. Alan (Zack Galifianakis) has been off his meds and out of control lately. He buys a giraffe and drives it home on the freeway ... but, sadly, giraffes are tall and there are a few low-hanging bridges, so that was not the best idea. His father (Jeffrey Tambor) then dies of a heart attack shortly after, and Alan's sister (Sasha Barrese) and the Wolfpack (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Justin Bartha) decide to stage an intervention, in the hopes of convincing

GIVEAWAY: Copperhead movie ticket + signed poster

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Copperhead  will be in select theaters on July 28, and I have a prize pack from the movie to give away to one of my readers. First, a bit about the movie: (synopsis credit: movieinsider.com ) Copperhead is the story of Abner Beech, a stubborn and righteous farmer of Upstate New York, who defies his neighbors and his government in the bloody and contentious autumn of 1862. Far from the Virginia battlefields whose names etch our history, the war of Copperhead visits the devastation and unimaginable loss of a civil war upon a family and a community whose strength and very existence are tested by fire, rope, knife, and betrayal. This is the Civil War come home. With Copperhead , director Ron Maxwell, who with Gettysburg and Gods and Generals established himself as our foremost cinematic interpreter of the American Civil War, takes on the War from a stunning and unexpected and richly, unforgettably humanist angle. - 2013 is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the Battle of

Review and GIVEAWAY: Ghostly Manor - Sandusky, Ohio

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credit: ghostlymanor.com This past weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the Ghostly Manor in Sandusky, Ohio. I've been to Sandusky 10+ times over the years, but always to visit Cedar Point, and I had never even heard of Ghostly Manor before visiting it. However, I found that there's actually quite a lot to do there, and the activities will appeal to all ages. My friends and I - all in our mid-20s - set out early Saturday morning from the Detroit area, and it was only about a 2-hour ride to Sandusky. Our first stop was Ghostly Manor, and we then had to decide which of its four activities we wanted to experience first. Wizard's Journey 3D mini golf Ghostly Manor offers: Wizard's Journey 3D mini-golf (yes, you read that correctly - 3D! ) XD4D Motion Theater Skating Rink Haunted House Bounce House  Ghostly Manor is a "thrill center" and is known in the area for its haunted house. I hate scary movies  and am not a huge haunted house fan either,

The Iceman

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I didn't know much about The Iceman going in to it, except that it's based on the true story of Richard Kuklinski, a contract killer, whose wife and daughter didn't know his true profession until he was arrested in 1986. However, fantastic acting performances make this a great movie that is definitely worth seeing. Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) works as a dubber for porn movies, although when he meets his girlfriend, Deborah (Winona Ryder), who will later be his wife and the mother of his two daughters, he tells her he's a dubber for Disney cartoons. When the porn shop gets invaded by gangster Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta), Roy tells Richard that if he wants to, he can work for him as a contract killer. Earlier in the movie, Richard killed someone he was unhappy with, just because the guy made him angry, so we know that even though he appears to be mild-mannered, he's definitely got a dark side; the money is good, too, so Richard accepts the job. When he leaves a teena

The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby has lived as many previous incarnations, but its newest is directed by Baz Luhrmann, known for such lavish spectacles as Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet (1996), which Leonardo DiCaprio also starred in. I really liked Luhrmann's version, however, and it brings a certain amount of glitz to the story that was previously missing in film adaptations. Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio) lives in West Egg (Long Island) and is known for throwing fantastic parties. But the man himself is a mystery; not many people have met the host behind all of these fabulous soirees. Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a writer-turned-stock-broker, lives in a tiny cottage next to the Gatsby estate, and one day receives a handwritten invitation to Gatsby's next party. He arrives at Gatsby's with his invitation in hand, only to find out that he was the only one who received an invitation - everyone else from the area knows to just show up. He meets Gatsby, and later in the film Gatsby has a re

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

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I'm a little surprised that in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, The Reluctant Fundamentalist 's release date wasn't pushed back a few months, as it tells the story of terrorists kidnapping an American professor in Pakistan. It was definitely interesting to see America's prejudice towards Muslims and other people of color through a Pakistani's eyes, post-9/11, but others may not particularly feel like seeing a movie like this with the events in Boston fresh in our minds. The movie is worth seeing, but runs a little on the slow side, which may deter some people from enjoying it; I in particular sometimes have issues with slow-paced movies. Changez, pronounced "Chan-GHEZ" (Riz Ahmed) is living the American dream. He moves to the U.S. to pursue a Princeton education, and then snags a coveted spot as an analyst at a top New York firm, where he works for Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland) who quickly promotes him to an associate. He meets and falls in lov

Iron Man 3

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We last saw Tony Stark in The Avengers , but he's now back in an Iron Man -only movie, Iron Man 3 . Although the film makes repeated references to events that happened in the previous movie, this film can definitely be on its own without seeing the others; for those that are familiar with the series, however, it may just be its best movie yet. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) now lives with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has recently moved in with him to his California mansion. A new "bad guy," called The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), has been bombing the U.S., however, and soon he goes too far: one of Tony's friends and his former bodyguard, Happy (Jon Favreau), is injured in one of the blasts, and Tony Stark vows vengeance on the Mandarin on live TV, going so far as to giving his address and challenging the Mandarin to seek him out. Needless to say, that wasn't a smart idea, and Stark and Pepper soon find themselves struggling for their lives