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There is something about Baseball that is fascinating.  Perhaps it is that duality in it since it is a sport to be played in teams and as such it relies heavily in teamwork, but it also needs "individualities". Quite often the strokes of genius that only gifted players come up with make the whole difference between a loss and a victory. What is also appealing about Baseball is how its own history is so deeply connected to the history of the United Sates to the point that it is difficult to understand one without the other. That relationship is shown in movies such as 42, in this case the number given to the first African-American who played in the Major League, the legendary Jackie Robinson. This 2013 film tells a vital episode in the history of the U.S. when there was a color barrier that prevented African Americans from participating in the MLB (Major League Baseball). In 1947 segregation was a commonplace in the U.S. and there were services exclusive to the Whites

Percy Jackson again Very entertaining movie. The adventures of Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) continue now that he is fully integrated into the life of a demigod and struggles with the permanent challenges he faces when being in Half-Blood Camp. Besides  his friends, Grover Underwood ( Brandon T. Jackson ), a satyr, and Annabeth Chase ( Alexandra Daddario ), Athena's daughter, Percy is surprised to find out that he has a brother named Tyson (Douglas Smith), a cyclops. He also has a rival, Clarisse La Rue ( Leven Rambin ) who is Ares's daughter. The movie begins with a flashback revealing how Annabeth and other kids arrived at Half- Blood Camp chased by a group of cyclops. One of them, Thalia Grace ( Paloma Kwiatkowski ) sacrifices so the others can reach the gates of the Camp. Since Thalia is the daughter of Zeus who transforms his daughter into a tree before she dies and with that he also grans a gift so no other demigod child dies like Thalia. The new tree extends an i

This 2006 film looks like a historical flick but it is not. Really, it is fictional work that focuses in Beethoven's  last years after having finished his most perfect work: the Ninth Symphony. The story begins with the arrival of one of the fictional elements of the story: in 1824, Anna Holtz  (Diana Krueger) has recently arrived in Vienna to find a position as  a copyist for Beethoven (Edward Harris) who is about to finish his ninth symphony and needs help getting other copies of th ready for the premiere in only four days.  Holtz is a young composer in a time where women were mostly relegated to be housewives and raise kids. She admires Beethoven tho is famous for being despotic, impatient and even rude but who also is the greatest composer of all Austria. And she secretly wants Beethoven to check her work but before she will have to get to know Beethoven not only as the great genius he was but as the human being with all of his flaws and frailties. As I said this is mo

The Groom and Bride aren't laughing for a good reason . One thing that is certain about this movie is how predictable it is. Though it tries to be original it fails to do so and the only thing the audience gets is a production that is supposed to be hilarious when it is only mildly amusing and that just a very few times thanks in no part to the the individual talent of the amazing actors it has but whose abilities are sadly wasted here. The cast is indeed one of the high points of this movie. I have rarely seen an ensemble with the likes of Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon, Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton all together in the same film, but then again is not that any of them is in the pinnacle of their careers. Quite the opposite and because of that they cannot really be picky.  The story is about Don (De Niro) who is currently living with Bebe (Sarandon) who happens to be Don's ex-wife's best friend. Don's ex- wife, Ellie (Keaton) visits them since one of the thr

Pacific Rim is a 2013 Sci-fi  film  directed by  Guillermo del Toro, the same as  The Devil's Backbone  (2001) and  Pan's Labyrinth  (2006), and also action flicks, such as  Blade II  (2002),  Hellboy  (2004).  Pacific Rim  was written by del Toro and  Travis Beacham , and has an interesting cast mixing relatively new faces with more seasoned performers such as  Charlie Hunnam ,  Idris Elba ,  Rinko Kikuchi ,  Charlie Day ,  Robert Kazinsky ,  Max Martini , and  Ron Perlman . The film is set in the near future, more specifically the 2020s. Suddenly, those countries around the Pacific are under attack by  Kaijus immense  monsters which have emerge from a  portal  between dimensions that opened up on the floor of the  Pacific Ocean . To combat the monsters, humanity makes an effort to create Jaegers: gigantic robots  controlled by two pilots whose minds are connected by a neural device. The story does not tell the origin of everything but what happens on what is the last day

Who says that only Hollywood can make great movies or that you need an impressive budget to do so? Well, Alazraki films demonstrates again that this is so untrue. With a limited budget this 2013 Mexican movie grossed more than 26 millions which makes it the most successful film of all time. It tells the story of Germán Noble (Gonzalo Vega) a millionaire and a widower that realizes a bit too late that his soon-to-be grownup children  Javier (Luis Gerardo Méndez), Bárbara (Karla Souza) y Carlos (Juan Pablo Gil)  are  nothing of what he wanted them to be, so he plans to teach them a lesson and pretends he has suddenly lost all his money so all  their cars are taken away, plus their cell phones are cut off and credit cards are cancelled. They all go to the abandoned house of Germán´s father that he never sold out of nostalgia and thus forces his children to get jobs and leave the shallow lives they had behind. Javier becomes a bus driver, Barbara a waitress and Carlos and office worke

e This is in a way another origin story. It tells us the origin of Wolverine's ties with Japan. Logan or Wolverine) has been unable to feel guilty after killing Jean Grey, and now lives in a forest somewhere in the Yukon. In his sleep he experiences nightmares where  Jean grey appears and talks to him telling him to "come to him", also repressed memories of being a prisoner of war in the 1945 Japan precisely the day the atom bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. He saved the life of a young compassionate soldier, called Yashida. One day a young Japanese girl introduces herself and says her name is Yukio. She tells him that Yashida has sent her to meet him again before he dies. Feeling intrigued Logan follows Yukio. She reveals that her employer and benefactor, Yashida, runs a multinational technology corporation. Acceding to the dying Yashida's request to say goodbye to him, Logan accompanies Yukio to Japan. Unbeknown to him there will be a lot of fighting when Logan

This is a 1996 movie that shows U.S. patriotism at its best. Aside from as sci-fi flick I would say it's not so bad. It is a classic alien invasion story. Enormous round starships descend from the skies and set above the main buildings in every important city in the world as though they were expecting something. Only one scientist, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), discovers what the alien ships really mean by being floating over the cities. Levinson  tries to warn everyone but his warning is not heeded. Soon each starship shoots beams of destructive light that tears apart not only the buildings below them but most of the cities causing the annihilation of millions in just instants. What is left of the governments of the world flee to secret bases. The U.S. president (Bill Pullman) is alive and with the rest of the military they try to coordinate a world counterattack though they know that all their weapons cannot even scratch the surface of any of the alien ships and drones whi

This must be the best animated JL movie to date, though really is more a Flash movie than a JL film.  It all begins with a flashback (no pun intended) which allows to see how happy Barry Allen was when his mother was alive and how in the little time they spent together she made a difference in the kind of person he was destined to be. But then on her birthday she is murdered by a mysterious figure that, at least in the movie is unrevealed. Next we are taken to the present when a team of criminals known as The Rogues, invades a museum dedicated to The Flash who appears and nullifies them with ease but then it turns out the mastermind behind this attack was Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash, a scientist from the 25th century that managed to replicate the experiment that gave Barry Allen his powers. Professor Zoom who originally admired The Flash now hates him at unimaginable levels and has set bombs all over Central City and the detonators are attached to the Rogues' bodies who

Fast and Furious 6, or just Furious 6, has to be one of those movies that are mega popular just because of the amazing amount of action they offer. Action, action and action but very little in terms of story.  Furious 6 is a 2013 film that continues with the adventures of a group of professional criminals led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) who has retired following the events in Fast Five (2011). They are all now millionaires but cannot return to the States because they remain wanted felons. An agent of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) called Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, the Rock) offers them complete amnesty  and the chance to return home in exchange of their help. Hobbs knows that he needs special help to take down a quite efficient mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). Toretto is at first uninterested especially considering that in the past his crew faced only gangsters but not anything or anybody at that level. He changes his mind when  Hobbs shows him

The Lone Ranger has returned but perhaps not for good. In my opinion it is not because of the film. I watched it already and I can say it's worth your time and money. Sure it is not perfect and sure this is not the Lone Ranger that perhaps some segment of the audience (the older audience) expected to see.  We have to understand that Depp, as Tonto, has already an overpowering presence and thus he receives more screening time than perhaps he should be (and it's true that at times he acted as Jack Sparrow and not a Comanche Indian). Besides Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger is not a bad actor but still is relatively a newcomer  and does not really look "heroic". On top of all the rights for the movies of this character were purchased by Walt Disney and that was not necessarily a good thing to happen. All in all the product is consistent: they offer almost two hours of fun and that is what you get. You want action, there is action; you want humor, there is humor; you

There is one thing that could be said about this film: if September 11 had not happened this movie had never been made.  The problem with that attack is that in many ways it opened every one's eyes to the fact that all of us are vulnerable to be attacked if there are people with intentions evil enough to do that. Of course they must have the necessary tactical and technical expertise to set and launch such attack and the ammo to back up the whole operation.  attacking the White House is of course a crazy idea, but crazy as it is that is the premise of this 2013 film. Olympus is a code word that refers to the White House. In order for Olympus to fall a North Korean terrorist group that is secretly helped by a traitorous American agent  (Dylan Dermott) attacks the day a South Korean emissary visits the House. The operation has been carefully planned and there are also terrorists among the security guards that accompany the visiting minister. When the attack begins chaos reigns

Eight players, each one with a different role. Four magicians, a debunker, a millionaire and a police detective will move themselves as one moves pawns in a chess board.  The Eye is an secret organization made up by magicians who work following their own agenda One day four talented magicians played by  Jesse Eisenberg , a street  m agicia n,  Woody Harrelson , a  m entalist, Isla Fisher   as Henley Reeves , an  e scape artist , and  Dave Franco   as Jack Wilder , a street  m agician are contacted by this mysterious organization to assign them a mission. They will be The Four Horsemen and their mission seems at first to become modern Robin hoods but really is another, one the audience will find out as the film progresses. The film director (Louis Leterrier) makes sure to set false clues to what is happening and thus deceive the audience. One of those falsoe clues is making the viewer assume that the benefactor is the millionaire Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) who actually is spons

I rarely make comments on films from countries other than the United States or Ecuador because not many of those are brought to be offered to the Guayaquilean audience. And also I  must confess I don´t know much about other countries' film industry so as to venture an opinion. But Le Chef  is different. This 2012 French comedy is truly worth your time. With Jean Reno (Alexander Lagarde) in one of the two leading roles and Michael Youn (Jacky Bonnot) in the other.Lagarde is a famous chef who works for a company whose new CEO is unkind to him is looking for a good excuse to replace him. Lagarde feels intimidated and is anxious because soon important critics will visit his restaurant and if there is nothing extraordinary to impress them he will lose his job. Jacky is a talented but hard luck chef who is obsessed with cuisine and is a perfectionist to the point of exasperation which has caused him to lose one job after another regardless of his obvious talent. In  order to sabotag

One thing about this movie is how unpredictable it can be. Danny Boyle, the director of this movie has made every possible effort to make this film as unpredictable as possible. It begins with an auctioneer called Simon (James McAvoy) an auctioneer who has met another man called Franck (Vincent Cassel)  and together have planned to steal a picture by Goya whose value in the black market is extremely high. During the carefully planned heist several things happened that were not planned. Simon who took the painting, hid it somewhere but because he he was hit on his head he forgets where exactly he put it. Franck gets furious and threatens to kill Simon aided by his henchmen but Simon has truly forgotten. In despair Franck tells Simon that he has heard hypnosis might help him remember and puts under his consideration several specialist. Simon chooses, apparently at random, Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson). Elizabeth is indeed the one who can help Simon remember where the painting is hi

A movie that is six movies at the same time. A visionary and quite ambitious project that transcends the ages and even the stars in order to be told. All that and much more is what you get while watching this groundbreaking 2012 film. It is six movies because it is told in the form of six different stories told throughout six different moments in history, past, present and future. The stories overlap so the audience can understand how the six stories are related. One action in the past has its consequences in the present which in turn affects the future and none of the stories can not really be understood unless you put them together. The message it seems to me is the past is still happening in our present since its consequences are here with us and the future is now not tomorrow because it is our actions what build the future. This is not a Hollywood production, is in fact a German production and in many ways looks like a personal effort though really many people were involved. T

Another zombie movie.  Another Brad Pitt movie. I was not really thrilled before this film began. Brad Pitt in action films has in my opinion been disappointing and also there is so much material about zombies out there that frankly I find the concept overrated already. But then again... This film begins with the "attack" of an unknown virus that spreads in an onslaught that cannot be contained. Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) who used to work for the United Nations and is now a retiree and has a wife and two daughters sees how his idyllic life is abruptly interrupted when the virus spreads in his city. Lane and his family have to find shelter in the apartment of other people because they find themselves unable to return to their home. Soon most of the entire population has been zombified. It is not that they die: once someone is infected the victim becomes extremely violent and has this ceaseless and insane desire to attack and bite healthy people thus spreading the infection

Is there a crazier movie than this? I dont think there is a crazier character in all filmography than this green-faced man that turns up whenever someone decides to put on that mask.  Apparently the Mask is an ancient relic that gives extraordinary powers to whoever is wearing it. Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey), a hard-luck young man finds this wooden mask and becomes this almighty character called The Mask. The truth is that the mask used to belong to Loki the the trickster god of the Norse mythology, hence its incredible abilities. Ipkiss accidentally meets and falls in love with  Tina (Cameron Díaz), a voluptuous woman who is involved with gangsters. It will be thanks to The Mask and his reality bending powers that Stanley will overcome his inhibitions, help the Police get theb gansters and obtain Tina's affections, but not before a lot of craziness (emphasis in craziness). What a great fantasy comedy this is! In its time it was so successful it helped boost Carrey's and

If you had high expectations about this movie maybe they are not really founded. This is just an average sci-fi film that tells the story of Kitai, a young boy (Jaden Smith), who gets stranded with his father, some sort of legendary figure, General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), in a planet that is full of deadly creatures. Cypher's legs are broken and the star ship in which they were traveling broke into two pieces after going through a meteor shower in space. It turns out that Cypher is bleeding and in order to save his father Kitai has to go look for the tail section of the spaceship that landed kilometers away from where they ended up. Luckily Kitai has received heavy military training and is somewhat ready for the challenges ahead in a planet full of threats, a planet that used to belong to mankind and has remained abandoned for a long time. That planet is called Earth (so predictable!).  It turns out that the once overcrowded planet had to be abandoned for a planet in anot

Have you planned to go anywhere on the weekend? Yes? No? Well, in both cases I recommend you to go to the nearest cinema theater and watch this film because it is really awesome. Where should I begin? Krypton is a good starting point. The planet that is doomed to die is full of life, much more interesting visually speaking than the Richard Donner's version. Jor-El played by Russell Crowe looks far more interesting than Marlon Brando's impersonation and definitely Ayelet Zurer as Lara is by far the greatest interpretation of the character ever made.This is a new Krypton more vital but still troubled by a government that has failed in keeping the planet safe and neglects hearing Jor-El warnings.  I loved the science fiction feel of the movie. Alien technology really looks "alien" and it is dark and unpredictable as it should be. Also the reasons given for the imminent destruction of the planet and the fact that Kryptonians long ago had abandoned the colonization