FAST & FURIOUS 6

Plot:


Dominic Toretto (Diesel), Brian O' Conner (Walker) and the rest of the crew fresh off their last job that made them millionaires, able to retire and live their freedom in a country free from extradiction. Life is good for them until Hobbs (Johnson) visits Dominic requesting the services of him and his crew to help in catching a high tech criminal named Shaw (Evans) who along with his crew are highjacking military convoys stealing weaponary worth billions. Toretto is not interested until Hobbs shows him a picture of Letty (Rodriguez) who he thought was dead, but appears to be running with Shaws crew. Together again Dominic and his crew joins Hobbs in what will be their most dangerous, yet fast and furious mission ever.


Reel Talk:


WOW....we are into the 6th installment for this series, they beat out the Die Hard series (LOL). They should install seat belts to the theater seats for the Fast & Furious movies because they are action intensed and will jolt you from your seat. From beginning to the end this movie is fast paced action non-stop, which is good but then it does go over the top with some of the scenes action on some occassions. Thank goodness though for the action because the dialog is some of the cheesiest you will find in a movie. Diesel, Walker and Johnson have some of the corniest lines that you just can't help but laugh at these big action stars. Still this is one to catch as a bonafide action film for action seeking junkies.

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Ludacris and Luke Evans
Directed by: Justin Lin
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 corn dogs.

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler

THE HANGOVER PART III

Plot:


The Wolfpack is back for another wild and crazy adventure! This time Doug (Bartha), Stu (Helms) and Phil (Cooper) set out to take Alan (Galifianakis) on a getaway to help him cope with the passing of his dad, but the quartet is eventually abducted by crime boss Marshall (Goodman) who needs them to get to their old friend Chow (Jeong) who stole gold bars worth millions from him. With Marshall holding Doug as a ransom the others set out on a wild goose chase to find Chow, even to the point that they have to return to where it all started....Las Vegas!


Reel Talk:


This movie is billed as the 3rd and final installment to Hangover series, don't know if that's a good or bad thang. I mean the chemistry among the Wolfpack is good and they can definitely carry on a few more movies granted they get some good written scripts. These guys are hilarious and with Ken Jeong getting some more character material as the hard partying drug using Chow, he adds tremdously to the comedy that makes these movies work. So with that, this film although not as good as the 1st one which is and will always be a classic but much better than the 2nd which was just thrown together based off the success of the 1st one. Taking the guys back to Vegas also probably was a good thing because it was the origin to their wacky trials and tribulations. Worth checking out if you need a good laugh.

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, John Goodman, Melissa McCarthy and Mike Epps
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Rated: R

I give it 4 corn dogs.

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Plot:


When Capt. Kirk (Pine) returns from a successful but very risky mission that jeopardized their U.S.S. Enterprise status, he is demoted from captain to first mate. But it is not long before he gets reinstated again to captain when a mysterious lone mercenary name Khan (Cumberbatch) starts attacking the top commanders of the Star Fleet and then takes refuge on a planet that is off limits to Earthlings. Kirk and crew are assigned to seek out the terrorist on the planet and terminate his existence which in turn could cause a possible war with the planet's specie until he realizes that everything is not as it appears from his commander Marcus (Weller) and he soon engages into his own investigation regarding Khan.


Reel Talk:


Sometimes it's hard to have a sequel that can followup off the success of a previous box office hit. Well this movie does not fail, it is just as good as the first one. The entire Enterprise crew is back together for another action packed thrill ride to places that no man has gone before. Trekkies will continue their love for all things Star Trek related and if you are not a Trekkie but just an action junkie you will enjoy this film. Director J.J. Abrams holds no bars when it comes to delivering a good balance of action and special effects, not over saturating either. This is a must see movie that promises to do swell at the box office as well.

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood and Peter Weller
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Rated: PG-13

I give it 5 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler

THE ICEMAN

Plot:


The Iceman is inspired by the actual events involving the life of Richard Kuklinski (Shannon) who up until his arrest in 1986 led a very interesting yet deadly double life. He was a loving husband to his wife Deborah (Ryder) and father to two beautiful daughters who were unaware of his employment as a hit man for the mob, being responsible for anywhere from 100 to 250 murders. Initially he started out as the hit man for crime boss Roy Demeo (Liotta) but ended up as a free lancer which eventually is what led to him getting caught and convicted. He was nicknamed The Iceman because of his no hesitation to terminate a life and his lack of any remorse regarding it.


Reel Talk:


I remember seeing some interviews by the real "Iceman" Kuklinski and he was truly menacing and unmerciful, so they needed an actor who could display those character traits and it was a good choice in Michael Shannon who always comes across menacing on the screen in his movies. The performances across the board were good with Ray Liotta and Robert Davi who both it seem were designed to play mobster roles. Good movie worth checking out but not for the kids.

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, David Schwimmer and Robert Davi
Directed by: Ariel Vromen
Rated: R

I give it 4 corn dogs.

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler

PEEPLES

Plot:


Wade Walker (Robinson) is truly in love with his live in girlfriend Grace Peeples (Washington) and the weekend he gets the nerve to propose to her she is set to go spend the weekend with her family without him. Upon feeling spited and still having the need to profess his love to Grace he drops by the Peeples' family home unexpectedly. But was it a mistake? He soon realizes that Grace never informed her family about him, mainly her overbearing father Judge Virgil Peeples (Grier) who feels no man is good enough for his daughter and has instilled to his family the importance of being honest. But while Wade continues to yearn for Grace's affection and win over her dad's blessing, it appears that he is the only honest person in the home as the entire Peeples clan has secrets and lies that neither of them wants out.


Reel Talk:


It might be hard to see Kerry Washington in roles like this after Scandal...LOL! No but seriously this movie starts out kind of flat but picks up the pace about 20 minutes in and sort of continues with the humor from that point on. The entire cast lends their moments of comedy to make this a funny movie from Robinson, Grier, Washington  to the young Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris), they are all hilarious.  So despite the slow start it is a movie worth seeing especially if you need some laughter in your life.

Starring: Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Tyler James Williams, Melvin Van Peebles and Diahann Carroll
Directed by:Tina Gordon Chism
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler

THE GREAT GATSBY

Plot:


Back during the 20's, Long Island was the playground for the rich and famous, offering shining fast cars and luxurious lavish mansion at their leisure for pleasure. Young Wall Street broker Nick Carraway (Maguire) while there to spend some time with his cousin Daisy (Muligan) and her millionaire husband Tom Buchanan (Edgerton), becomes fascinated with a nearby neighbor J. Gatsby (DiCaprio) known for his high profile lifestyle and plush style parties. As Nick becomes better acquainted with his new found friend he begins to wonder the origin of the wealth that Gatsby has acquired and his real reason for befriending him. It's not long that Nick realizes that the darkest secrets run deep with the rich and at some point they are revealed costing grave consequences.


Reel Talk:


This is a remake to the 1974 version that starred Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Sam Waterson which I did see as a teen but can't really remember anything about it. With that being said I guess not having the knowledge to compare the two I sort of appreciate the directions that the new one went, with regards to the 3D version. It allows the characters and their colorful outfits to pop out at you. Director Baz Luhrmann who is no stranger to colorful time period outfits from his work with Moulin Rouge makes it work with this film. The cast puts in good performances with DiCaprio giving one of the best performance that I have seen from him recently. I gotta also mention that they did a great job meshing the soundtrack done by Jay Z along with the film, it did not seem misplaced according to the scenes. This is a good movie worth checking out for performances and for the visual treat that it offers.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Muligan and Joel Edgerton
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 corn dogs.

By: Corn Dog - The Reel Hustler