The 2015 Lineup

Here it is. The final 2015 Summer Legendary Movie Review List. 

This year we are jammed packed. With 21 movies, 4 double weeks, and 11 sequels, we have our biggest summer lineup ever.  #SMS2015 is our official hashtag.  


April 3 - Furious 7

May 1 - Avengers: Age of Ultron

May 15 - Mad Max: Fury Road / Pitch Perfect 2

May 22 - Tomorrowland

May 39 - San Andreas

June 5 - Entourage

June 12 - Jurassic World

June 19 - Inside Out

June 26 - Ted 2

July 3 - Terminator Genisys / Magic Mike XXL

July 10 - Minions

July 17 - Ant-Man, Pan

July 24 - Pixels, Poltergeist

July 31 - Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

August 7 - Fantastic Four

August 14 - The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

August 28 - Hitman: Agent 47

Next week we start with our warm up movie.... Furious 7!!!

Spring Cleaning

Hello..., is there anybody out there?

If you've been here before you probably have an idea what is going to happen next. Soon the list will be posted. Soon you will know task ahead for the team that has come to be known as the Summer Movie Squad, #SMS.

What started 8 years ago with two friends having a crazy plan to watch every summer movie released, has turned into a group of devoted movie lovers who never miss an opening night. Sure at first we were maybe a bit over ambitious, and we probably skipped a few movies that first year, but now we all have it worked out. I am proud to say that we completed our entire list last year.

As the group continues to grow with new members each year, the 5 core members remains the driving force.

Kashius, Jipmix, CassandraG, DPW, and the fighter Jay Cruz #Jaystrong.

With our enthusiasm, we have encourage many to follow us weekly into the theaters, and not just by joining our group. There are some that wait all week to see what is posted on this blog. I know because I see it in the analytics that spike each week. It surprises me that so many people are interested in my ramblings about the movie of the week. At first, I started this blog for fun. I just wanted to tell our stories. I never intended this blog to be a serious review site. If I wanted to be known as a movie critic, I would pretend to be one on Rotten Tomatoes or some other site.

So on this blog you will find posts about the SMS going to movies and what we may have encountered along the way. You will not get a synopsis of the films, or breakdowns of scenes. You will get just honest opinions about whether or not to waste your money at the theater.

We do this every year because we love movies. We enjoy the theater experience, and most importantly we have fun. Hopefully you all also enjoy this blog.

So this year, I am planning on getting the posts up promptly. Opening night starting at 8pm Thursdays has helped a lot. There was a time I tried to write posts at 3am after the midnight showings. Those attempts were complete garbage.

The List will drop soon. There is more to come. Enjoy the ride.

Expendable 3

ACTION!

FIGHTING!

EXTREME EXPLOSIONS!

WELL DELIVERED ONE LINERS!

Expendables 3 is exactly what you expect it to be. But you should already know this going in.

Watching all the greatest action stars of the 80's and 90's getting together for the biggest action film of the summer is a thing of beauty. Even better when it's for the 3rd time!

I wouldn't expect much of a story here. All you need to know that there is a bad guy (Mel Gibson), and the good guys lead by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) are going to kick his ass.

The two best things about this newest addition of the Expendable franchise are the newly added characters and their simplistic names. Names like Mars, Luna, Smilee, and Galgo.

Wesley Snipes and Antonio Banderas are great additions. I like Antonio's character the most. Also Ronda Rousey may need to work on her acting skill, but she can sure as hell perform an excellent fight scene.

It gets an e - Entertained

A great DVD rental in the distant future if you don't want to splurge on the theater.

BTW did you see my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles review?

Next up and last on the list Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Who remembers this?


The cartoons of the 80's were awesome! TMNT was one of the best, which spawned countless action figures and three feature films that for the time were also pretty awesome. (at leas the first one)

Now let's fast forward to the present, 2014.

From the man who brought you Transformers, comes another larger than life CGI movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This time the Turtles are bigger, badder, and bullet proof!

The story takes some time to get rolling. It is slow at the beginning, and too much time is spend setting up April O'Neil character played by Megan Fox. I wanted to see the turtle action sooner. Then once into the action, there is so much going on the screen that it is hard to see it all. Also as the turtles make their appearance the story seems to run out of control. Characters are added with very little development. The plot is just thrown out there. And the resolution comes too quickly, making you wishing for more.

Instead of retelling the origin story of TMNT, this movie would have been better to just bust out of the gate with turtle action, and let the audience fill in the blanks as the movie progresses.

TMNT is a fun movie that brings back our childhood nostalgia, but watching it at home on DVD would be just as good as seeing it in the theater.

It gets an e - Entertained

Guardians of the Galaxy

It is no secret that I am a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each new movie released becomes the best one so far. Guardians of the Galaxy is no exception. It was the most anticipated movie of the summer and it did not disappoint. 

In fact, it exceeded all my expectations. 

In 2008, Marvel took a huge risk by making a movie about a "B-list" character from their super hero catalog, Iron Man. It was a very successful film that turned Iron Man into an A+ super hero and paved the way for The Avengers.

Now in 2014, Marvel wants to do it again with D-list super heroes. Even for an avid comic book reader like myself, these characters are far down my list of titles that I would read. Well, get ready for them to be blasted up to the top.

Some how the filmmakers of this movie will get you invested into these rarely known characters. Your new favorite Marvel character will be a walking tree named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Your second favorite will be Peter Quill/Star Lord played brilliantly by Chris Pratt. This movie will help bust Chris Pratt into the next level of his acting career. You will be seeing him everywhere pretty soon. Along with Pratt, the other actors did great as well. Dave Bautista's character Drax really surprised me. I was not expecting his deadpan delivery of humor. It was great. Of course, Zoe Saldana kicks ass, and Bradley Cooper plays Rocket Raccoon with a great sense of seriousness.

This film was more than entertaining. It was funny, at times crude, and of course action packed. The humor was smart and witty. Drawing the type of laughter that causes you to miss the next line of witty dialogue. There is also a bit of playful cursing that is perfectly fine for an adult. I enjoyed this banter, but I'm sure a lot of people will probably take their children to see the fun loving raccoon and tree-man characters. And they will be surprised when those kids leave the theater quoting 'dick' and 'a-hole' lines. Parents please leave your kids at home.

Marvel has been on a roll ever since they started with the plan to interconnect their cinematic universe. The question has always been, when will they miss? I am not sure that will happen anytime soon. With Avengers 2 coming out next year, and more characters getting their own stand alone films, I am excited as a comic book fan to watch all of them. 

Make Mine Marvel!

Guardians of the Galaxy get an E - Exceptional

It is definitely worth watching in the theater. Go Now!!

Next up..... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles

Lucy or Hercules?

This week the Summer Movie Squad had a tough choice to make. Which movie to see together, Lucy or Hercules?

The vote was split even 2 - 2. No one would budge on their position, so it came down to a last minute executive decision.

Lucy was the winner!

It also seems that we weren't the only people making this decision. Lucy topped the Box Office this weekend beating out Hercules by $15 million.


Lucy is a movie that has a very interesting premise. A women somehow gets kidnapped to become a drug mule with drugs surgically placed inside her abdomen. Then, the drugs leak into her bloodstream giving her the ability to access more capacity of her brain. The movie quickly becomes an action thriller with some great action scenes, and great visual effects as Lucy transforms her world with her new super human abilities. Yet it lacks any real plot.

The beginning of the movie was quite entertaining in the way it was edited together, and Scarlett Johansson plays a great terrified hostage. She makes you believe what a person would actually go through being unexpectedly kidnapped. Although as the movie progresses it loses a bit of steam. Johansson is still acting great. As her character advances quickly into a emotionless superior life form, the story gets watered down and becomes quite predicable. As if I've already seen this movie sometime before, i.e. Limitless, Matrix.

Lucy is G - Gratifying

Scarlett Johansson is starting to pack a lot of star power punch. I think audiences are ready for her to start become a leading role, and by beating The Rock (who is supposed to be the next great action star) in the Box Office proves it. You can go see it in the theater but it would play just as well at home.

I will try to see Hercules sometime in the next week, but the SLMR is going to get intense in the coming four weeks.


Next week Guardians of the Galaxy!!

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I can't believe it took me so long to write out a review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

It is the best movie of the summer. Right up there with X-Men.

Go see it NOW!!

It is Legendary!!!

More later....maybe. I need to go to another movie first

Also give it up to David for having the most fun at the movies this year!!