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The LEGO Movie

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  • Title: The LEGO Movie
  • IMDb: link

The LEGO MovieThe LEGO Movie isn’t the first animated feature to be developed after a toy line but it’s hard to imagine someone doing one better. Centered around the misadventures of construction worker Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) and his new friends who take on the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), The LEGO Movie is a clever tale that not only delivers one of the most fun movies of the year but leaves the audience with a nice message for both children and their parents.

Filled with some amazing GCI effects crafting a world made entirely of LEGO Bricks which don’t necessarily need 3D to be effective, the movie holds up to multiple viewings. In the true definition of a family film, Emmet’s journey from lifeless drone to the most important character in all of LEGO creation is the kind of story which should play just as well for children and adults. For more on the movie check out my original review.

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2004 – DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

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  • Title: DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
  • IMDb: link

“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood!”

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

On or around this date ten years ago DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story opened in theaters. Centered around a slacker gym owner (Vince Vaughn) and group of likable misfits (Justin Long, Stephen Root, Joel David Moore, Chris Williams, and Alan Tudyk a man who dresses as a modern-day pirate) fighting against a ridiculously over-the-top rival gym owner (Ben Stiller) by entering a dodgeball competition, it’s lightweight fare to be sure but surprisingly one of the more entertaining movies of either Vaughn or Stiller’s careers.

Throwing in Christine Taylor as a love interest for Vaughn, Rip Torn as an insane dodgeball coach, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman as the tournament’s announcers, and camoes from the likes of David Hasselhoff, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and Lance Armstrong, writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber‘s first feature delivers its share of memorable scenes and lines which gets the most out of its premise and has aged fairly well over the past decade.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

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  • Title: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
  • IMDB: link

Jack Ryan: Shadow RecruitPulled from it’s plumb Christmas Day scheduled release date to be dumped in the middle of the graveyard of January and February, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit came and went without much fanfare. Although pulling in more than $135 million worldwide the movie underachieved based on its original planned release and met with mixed reaction from both critics and fans.

Rebooting the long-dominant Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit cast Chris Pine in the role of Jack Ryan. I enjoyed the film, and found it more memorable than either of Harrison Ford‘s offerings or the Ben Affleck 2002 attempt to reboot the franchise.

Bringing in Keira Knightley as Ryan’s girlfriend, Kevin Costner as his CIA mentor, and Kenneth Branagh to do double duty both as the film’s villain and director, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit offers a solid cast for an old school thriller.

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Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

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  • Title: Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
  • IMDB: link

Journey to the West: Conquering the DemonsCo-writers and directors Stephen Chow and Chi-kin Kwok‘s comedic take on one of the four classic novels of Chinese literature stars Zhang Wen as would-be Buddhist demon hunter Tang Sanzang on his road to enlightenment. On the road he meets a far more experienced demon hunter (Qi Shu) who begins to fall for the goofy Sanzang.

Offbeat, humorous, and more than a little uneven, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is a bizarre horror-comedy with subplots ranging from a love story to Buddhist enlightenment to the intelligence of using fairy tales to fight monsters. Featuring battles involving pig-monsters and giant fish, the movie features an odd collection of characters in the Monkey King (Bo Huang) and rival bounty hunters with the strength and speed of a tiger (Yu Xing), a giant foot (Chaoli Zhang), and telekinetically-powered swords (Show Luo). More of it works than not, but at times it’s thoroughly engaging and at times it’s just plain weird.

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Graceland – The Complete First Season

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  • Title: Graceland – Season One
  • wiki: link

Graceland - The Complete First SeasonSet in an undercover beach house in Southern California used by the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Customs, the First Season of Graceland follows the house’s newest member Mike Warren (Aaron Tveit) fresh out of the FBI Academy and installed in Graceland not only to replace an agent (Clayne Crawford) whose cover was blown in the first episode but also to secretly investigate the house’s leader, Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata), who Mike’s superiors feel may have turned.

Highlights from the season include Mike getting his first taste of undercover life and meeting Paige (Serinda Swan), Charlie (Vanessa Ferlito) working with a Federale (Vincent Laresca), Mike being hired by Bello (Gbenga Akinnagbe) to train his soldiers, the house helping Lauren (Scottie Thompson) finish her last mission, Mike’s handler (Pedro Pascal) taking matters into his own hands to uncover Briggs’ secrets, the revelation of the true identity of the drug smuggler Odin, and a mission goes horribly wrong for Charlie forcing Briggs to try and hide her rash actions from the house.

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