Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

 "I spent my entire life in your shadow.  And now, you spend the rest of yours living in mine." -Jakob Toretto After finally capturing cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron), Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) is attacked by a powerful force on his way back to the United States.  He manages to get a message out to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his team and they spring into action.  Unfortunately, they find themselves up against a master spy and assassin, Jakob Toretto (John Cena), Dom's estranged brother. Spoilers Below for F9 .  If you like these movies, go and see this one before you read any further.  In short, I think this is the weakest film in the series, but it has one moment that is so awesome that I have to talk about it below.  It's still an ok movie and if you like the rest of the series, you'll probably like this one just fine.  SPOILERS AHEAD! What Works: The best part about these movies has always been the car related action sequences. ...

 "How was your trip?  I figure flying can't be too much fun for you." -Tom Friendly "Meet Kevin Johnson" picks up at the Barracks, where Locke (Terry O'Quinn) explains to his people that the freighter team is here to capture Ben (Michael Emerson) and kill everyone else on the island.  Miles (Ken Leung) does not refute that.  Ben also tells them his spy on the boat is Michael (Harold Perrineau).  Ben secretly tells Alex (Tania Raymonde), Karl (Blake Bashoff), and Danielle (Mira Furlan) to go to the Temple, the last safe place on the island.  They leave, but on the way, Karl and Danielle are killed by unseen attackers, while Alex is captured when she declares herself to be Ben's daughter. On the freighter, Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) confront Michael who tells them his story.   In an extended flashback, we learn that Michael and Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) made it back to New York City, but Michael told Walt about the murders he...

 "Take cover, child!" -Big Daddy Nerdy high school student Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) decides to become a crime-fighting superhero and calls himself Kick-Ass.  He discovers he is not very good at it and gets mixed up with the mafia and two other superheroes, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloё Grace Moretz), before he realizes just how in over his head he really is. What Works: Hands down, the best part of this movie is Chloё Grace Moretz as Hit Girl.  She's definitely one of the greatest superheroes of all time.  She's like 11 years old, but swears like a sailor and has no problem horrifically murdering anyone who gets in her way.  I know a ton of people were offended by this character, but she's actually the best.  She has one of the greatest introductory scenes of all time, where she is repeatedly shot in the chest to test out a bulletproof vest. Hit Girl's father is no slouch either.  Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors and...

 "I need the panda." -Jin Soo-Kwon "Ji Yeon" picks up on the freighter.  Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) receive a mysterious note telling them not to trust the captain.  When they are finally taken to see him, they witness Regina (Zoё Bell) jump into the ocean while wrapped in chains.  Captain Gault (Grant Bowler) stops anyone from going in after her to avoid losing anymore clue.  Gault explains that the crew have been experiencing "cabin fever" and as soon as the engines are fixed, they are going to move to safer water.  He also tells them Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) owns the boat and that their mission is to capture Ben (Michael Emerson) because Gault believes Ben is behind the fake Oceanic 815 crash.  Later, Sayid discovers that Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) is among the crew under the name "Kevin Johnson." On the island, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) tells Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) about the events of the ...

 "There's nothing left." -Emmett After the events of the first film, the surviving members of the Abbott family are forced to leave their home.  Even with their discovery of the aliens' weakness, the world is still a dangerous place.  Running into more humans, with a wide variety of intentions, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) becomes determined to show the rest of the world how to fight the creatures. I have to warn you, there will be spoilers ahead.  This movie is good, but nowhere near the heights of the first film.  It's entertaining, but frustrating at times.  I do say it's worth seeing thought.  Okay, SPOILERS! What Works: The movie kicks off with a flashback to the first day of the alien invasion.  These sequences are always some of my favorite parts of apocalypse movies.  This sequence is great and I honestly could have watched a full prequel from just day 1.  Watching these characters survive their initial encounters with the aliens a...

It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if one was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award! This time we'll be taking a look at the 2007 Oscars, which was a field of movies that were a bit all over the place.  Most I liked, but not all, and it wasn't exactly a tight race in the end.  The nominees were: Babel, Letter from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen with the winner being The Departed .  Did The Departed deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Let's find out! #5. The Queen This is the story of how the British government reacted to the death of Princess Diana.  I really did not care for The Queen .  I can appreciate the performances across the board, especially from Helen Mirren and James Cromwell and the music is excellent, but mostly I fo...

 "I think I hurt someone." -Arne Johnson While assisting with the exorcism of his girlfriend's little brother, Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor) invites the demon to take him and leave the kid alone.  Soon after, the demon possesses Arnie in order to commit a murder.  With Arne facing the gas chamber, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) have to find evidence of demonic possession to save Arne's life and soul. What Works: As is always the case with The Conjuring movies, both Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are excellent and have wonderful chemistry.  This story is far more focused on them than the first two movies were and this is a good thing.  All of these movies are less interesting when the Warren's are not involved and that was probably my biggest criticism of the first two movies, so this was a welcome change. John Noble is the best new addition to the cast.  He plays Father Kastner, a retired priest who is a ...