My Review of Mechanic: Resurrection

        So I recently watched Mechanic: Resurrection and I'm here to bring you my review. So without further ado...







        Living under cover in Brazil, master assassin Arthur Bishop (played by Jason Statham) springs back into action after an old enemy (played by Sam Hazeldine) kidnaps the woman (played by Jessica Alba) he loves. To save her life, Bishop must kill an imprisoned African warlord, a human trafficker (played by Toby Eddington) and an arms dealer (played by Tommy Lee Jones), all while making the deaths look like accidents. When things don't go exactly as planned, Bishop turns the tables on the people who forced him out of retirement.

       

        This is the best comedy of the year and that's not a good thing. When you have an action film and you rely heavily on that you have to make sure it's entertaining and in this film it just isn't. Jason Statham is a phenomenal actor, but this is just a huge pile of garbage that he never should've agreed to. The film also has one of the weirdest casting combinations to date with the aforementioned Statham, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones and non of the actors have any chemistry whatsoever and the dialogue is just cringe worthy between the characters. Look the film isn't serious in anyway, but when a studio mis-markets a film like this it becomes very misleading and it's just a bad advertising tactic. In a year where there haven't been very many action films let alone very good action films, this film had that opportunity and it squanders it. Now while the film is actually a tongue in cheek comedy action film, there are a few good jokes that point out some obvious film flaws, but the rest just seem out of place and over-the-top. Overall this is just another pointless film it was has been a fairly mediocre year for films. I give Mechanic: Resurrection a 0.5 out of 10.

        So ladies and gentlemen what did you think of Mechanic: Resurrection, what would you rate it and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                           Jonah Sparks

My Top 10 Favorite Baseball Films of All-Time

        As we enter the final month of the Major league Baseball season, I thought it would be fitting to give you my top 10 favorite baseball films of the year. So without further ado...





10. The Pride of the Yankees


        I may hate the New York Yankees with a passion, but to be honest this film makes me cry and actually like them for a split second. This moving biographical drama follows the life of revered baseball player Lou Gehrig (played by Gary Cooper). Championed by sportswriter Sam Blake (played by Walter Brennan), Gehrig eventually gets recruited by the New York Yankees, joining a team of heavy hitters that includes the legendary Babe Ruth (played by himself). When Gehrig marries his spirited sweetheart, Eleanor (played by Teresa Wright), things look up for him, but he is soon sidelined by a terrible illness that he bravely tries to battle. The Pride of Yankees was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Writing-Original story, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing whil winning the award for Best Film Editing and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.





9. Little Big League


        Out of all of the films with kids playing being the main characters in baseball films throughout the 90's, this is my favortie of those films. When his grandfather (played by Jason Robards) dies, 12-year-old Billy (played by Luke Edwards) suddenly becomes the heir to the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It's a dream come true for the baseball fan, who believes he can get the Twins out of their current slump by managing them personally. Of course, managing a pro baseball team is a lot of work, and some of the players aren't crazy about taking orders from a pre-teen, but Billy's honest approach and love for the game could be just what the Twins need. Little Big League has a rating of 33% on rottentomestoes.com.





8. Hardball


        This might be one of the more emotional baseball films you'll evr see as well as a great dramtatic performance from Keanu Reeves. Conor (played by Keanu Reeves) is a ticket scalper, gambler and, now, Little League coach for a rag-tag team of kids in one of the toughest part of Chicago. He's no role model, but his buddy Jimmy won't help him pay off his gambling debts unless Conor coaches Jimmy's corporately sponsored team. Surprising even himself, Conor becomes attached to his players -- and to their attractive schoolteacher (played by Diane Lane) -- and drawn into their tough and sometimes tragic lives. Hardball has a rating of 39% on rottentomatoes.com.





7. Moneyball


        This is a really fascinating look into the behinds the scenes part of baseball we never really see and it's a great story about a theory that almost worked. Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential. Moneyball was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.





6. Bad New Bears (2005)


        While the original film may be a better overall film, this film by far more funnier. Morris Buttermaker (played by Billy Bob Thornton) is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer (played by Marcia Gay Harden) arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees. Bad News Bears (2005) has a rating of 48% on rottentomatoes.com.





5. A League of Their Own


        This film is absolutley funny and very groundbreaking and it should be a model for all future films that a film with majority female cast can be very successful. As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey (played by Garry Marshall). Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (played by Lori Petty) spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino (played by Jon Lovitz) and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) on their way to fame. A League of Their Own has a rating of 77% on rottentomtoes.com.





4. Bull Durham


        This film is just an absolutely hilarious look at the antics that go on in Minor League Baseball. In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (played by Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (played by Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball. Nuke also receives guidance from veteran player Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches him to follow the catcher's lead. Bull Durham was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.





3. Feild of Dreams


        This is just an absolutely fantastic film that is more just about baseball and it is a very emotional film. When Iowa farmer Ray (played by Kevin Costner) hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying "If you build it, he will come," he feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a baseball diamond on his land, supported by his wife, Annie (played by Amy Madigan). Afterward, the ghosts of great players start emerging from the crops to play ball, led by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (played by Ray Liotta). But, as Ray learns, this field of dreams is about much more than bringing former baseball greats out to play. Field of Dreams was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.





2. The Sandlot


        This is an amazingly fun and great coming-of-age film that'll make you laugh, cry and just make you absolutely love the game of baseball with a lot of memorable lines. When Scottie Smalls (played by Thomas Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood, he manages to make friends with a group of kids who play baseball at the sandlot. Together they go on a series of funny and touching adventures. The boys run into trouble when Smalls borrows a ball from his stepdad that gets hit over a fence. The Sandlot has a rating of 59% on rottentomatoes.com.





1. Major League


        This film is just crazy on so many levels and the humor is so spot on and really fun look at Major League Baseball. The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton), has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. But to break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket sales have to plummet. So Phelps hires the most incompetent players available, including near-blind pitcher Rick Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) and injury-prone catcher Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger). But her villainous tactics accidentally foster a can-do team spirit, turning the Indians into potential winners. Major League has a rating of 82% on rottentomatoes.com.

      

        So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite baseball films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                           Jonah Sparks

Weekend Box Office Review 8-26-16 to 8-28-16/ Weekend Preview

        Here are the weekend domestic box office results for the weekend of 8-126-16-16 to 8-28-16 as well as my 5 key takeaways, as well as my predictions for the top 5 films at the box office this weekend. So without further ado...

Box Office Totals courtesy of boxofficemojo.com

TW	LW	Film	Studio	Weekend	# of Theaters	Total Domestic Gross	Weeks
1	-	Don’t Breathe	Screen Gems	$26,411,706	3,051	$26,411,706	1
2	1	Suicide Squad	Warner Bros.	$12,248,439	3,582	$283,021,066	4
3	4	Kubo and the Two Strings	Focus Features	$7,844,822	3,279	$24,856,200	2
4	2	Sausage Party	Sony Pictures	$7,525,655	3,135	$79,869,165	3
5	-	Mechanic: Resurrection	Lionsgate	$7,456,525	2,258	$7,456,525	1
6	5	Pete’s Dragon	Walt Disney Pictures	$7,441,458	3,244	$54,874,836	3
7	3	War Dogs	Warner Bros.	$7,022,257	3,258	$27,524,944	2
8	8	Bad Moms	STX	$5,573,833	2,565	$95,267,068	5
9	7	Jason Bourne	Universal Pictures	$5,141,045	2,445	$149,268,280	5
10	6	Ben-Hur (2016)	Paramount Pictures	$4,560,825	3,084	$19,583,702	2

 

1. Don't Breathe was able to knock off Suicide Squad for the number one spot and it had a solid opening weekend making over $26 million.

2. With the help of a lot of strong opening weekend reviews, Kubo and the Two Strings was able to jump up from the number 4 spot to the number 3 spot this weekend.

3. Ben-Hur is going to have a tough time making back it's money and with it dropping so significantly, it may lose Paramount quite a bit of money. 

4. The biggest loser of the weekend was Ben-Hur (2016) as it made 59.3% less than it did last weekend and there was no biggest winner of the weekend.

5. I went 0 for 5 on my predictions.

Predictions
1. Don't Breathe $15 Million
2. Morgan $13 Million

3. Kubo and the Two Strings $6 Million
4. Suicide Squad $4 Million

5. Sausage Party $ 3 Million

        So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of this weekend's box office totals and what are some of your takeaways? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                           Jonah Sparks

My Review of Hands of Stone

        So I recently watched Hands of Stone and I'm here to bring you my review. So without further ado...







        At age 72, legendary trainer Ray Arcel (played by Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement to coach world-class Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by Édgar Ramírez). Arcel becomes a mentor to the ferocious fighter, convincing him that winning ultimately comes down to strategy. After scoring knockout after knockout, Duran prepares for a bout against Sugar Ray Leonard (played by Usher Raymond IV), the undefeated lightweight champion. Five months later, on Nov. 25, 1980, the two titans meet for an infamous rematch that makes boxing history.



        This might be the worst boxing films ever made. Most are bio-pics and some of them are actually pretty hard to tell for various reasons, but this films really just tried too hard to make things work. The biggest thing is that Usher takes you out of the film. Even if you didn't know Usher was in the film going in, there are times where you keep asking yourself if it is him and that takes your focus off of the film. Besides that Usher does a really great job of portraying Sugar Ray Leonard. Edgar Ramirez is absolutely wonderful and he does a great job of making an unlikable characters into a likable one by the end of the film. Robert DeNiro is a great addition to the cast, but honestly it looks as if he just doesn't care that he's in the film. The films story is very interesting and it's one people should see for the varying messages it tells, but it's really predictable and nothing really stands out from a story perspective. Also when you get into the back story of Roberto Duran, you see a lot of the struggles he went through, but often times it comes off as melodramatic. Overall this is just a plain and bland boxing film that doesn't add anything to the genre. I give Hands of Stone 3 out of 10.

        So ladies and gentlemen what did you think of Hands of Stone, what would you rate it and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                         Jonah Sparks

My Review of Don't Breathe

        So I recently watched Don't Breathe and I'm here to bring you my review. So without further ado...







        Rocky (played by Jane Levy), Alex (played by Dylan Minnette) and Money (played by Daniel Zovattoare) three Detroit thieves who get their kicks by breaking into the houses of wealthy people. Money gets word about a blind veteran (played by Stephen Lang) who won a major cash settlement following the death of his only child. Figuring he's an easy target, the trio invades the man's secluded home in an abandoned neighborhood. Finding themselves trapped inside, the young intruders must fight for their lives after making a shocking discovery about their supposedly helpless victim.

        This film is absolutely terrifying. The main problem with a lot of horror films today is that they rely way too heavily on cliches that have been seen over and over again and this film uses them in such a way that it makes the film a breath of fresh air. It's one of the most suspenseful films of the year and it just keeps you guessing the entire time. The performances are outstanding and Stephen Lang as a horror villain may go down as one of the more iconic villains portrayed on the big screen in a long time. The film is gory in a nice and subtle way to where it doesn't overshadow the story and make itself bigger than it should be. A lot of the aspects in this film are just absolutely creepy and while you've heard a lot of hype about the twist, it's all true as it may be the best twist in years. While Fede Alverez didn't do that well with the Evil Dead remake, he rebounds nicely with this film and he should probably stick more to original films than remakes. While the film is terrifying, some of the scares are cheap and you can predict them, but the scares are placed perfectly throughout the film to where you're not overwhelmed by it. Overall this film is one of the scariest films of the decade and it has everything you need for a tremendously solid horror film. I give Don't Breahte a 9.5 out of 10.

        So ladies and gentlemen what did you think of Don't Breathe, what would you rate it and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                           Jonah Sparks

Actress Spotlight of Jessica Alba

        In Hollywood there are a numerous amount of very talented actors and actresses that have great performances in just about every movie they are in. One of those Actresses is Jessica Alba and today I'm going to spotlight her career by listing the movies she has been in, my 3 favorite films she has been in, list of notable awards she has one as well as any future projects she has in the works. So without further ado...

Jessica Alba's Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1994	Camp Nowhere	Gail
1995	Venus Rising	Young Eve
1999	P.U.N.K.S.	Samantha Swoboda
1999	Never Been Kissed	Kristen Liosis
1999	Idle Hands	Molly
2000	Paranoid	Chloe
2003	The Sleeping Dictionary	Selima
2003	Honey	Honey Daniels
2005	Sin City	Nancy Callahan
2005	Fantastic Four	Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
2005	Into the Blue	Sam
2007	Knocked Up	Herself
2007	Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer	Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
2007	The Ten	Liz Anne Blazer
2007	Good Luck Chuck	Cam Wexler
2007	Awake	Sam Lockwood
2008	The Eye	Sydney Wells
2008	Meet Bill	Lucy
2008	The Love Guru	Jane Bullard
2010	Valentine’s Day	Norley Clarkson
2010	The Killer Inside Me	Joyce Lakeland
2010	Machete	Special Agent Sartana Riviera
2010	An Invisible Sign	Mona Gray
2010	Little Fockers	Andi Garcia
2011	Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World	Marissa Wilson
2012	A.C.O.D.	Michelle
2013	Escape from Planet Earth	Lena (voice)
2013	Machete Kills	Sartana
2014	Sin City: A Dame to Kill For	Nancy Callahan
2014	Dear Eleanor	Daisy
2014	Some Kind of Beautiful	Kate
2014	Stretch	Charlie
2015	Barely Lethal	Victoria Knox
2015	Entourage	Herself

 

Top 3 Favorite Films

1. Sin City

2. Entourage

3. Camp Nowhere


Future Projects
2016-The Veil
2016- Mechanic: Ressuerection

        So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of Jessica Alba's acting career? Let me know in the comments section and let your voice be heard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Jonah Sparks