Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writer: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Aislinn Derbez, and Anthony Mackie
Miss Bala (Spanish: Miss Bullet) is an upcoming action thriller film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer. It is based on the 2011 Mexican film of the same name. The film stars Gina Rodriguez, Ismael Cruz Córdova and Anthony Mackie, and follows a woman who trains to take down a drug cartel after they kidnap her friend.
Director: David Yates
Writer: JK Rowling
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Zoe Kravitz, and Johnny Depp
Newt Scamander finds himself embroiled in a manhunt once again. A troubled young man Credence whom he thought was dead is quite alive and being pursued by dark forces. The young man has the dark gift of turning into an Obscurial, a fearsome beast of wind and smoke. The power of the creature could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. Propelled into action by his former professor, Albus Dumbledore, Scamander sets off on yet another quest to get the Obscurial before it ends up in the hands of Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who hopes to use the troubled beast to further his desires for world domination.
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Fred Dekker
Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, and Trevante Rhodes
After making contact with an alien Army, sniper Quinn McKenna sends a souvenir home for proof of his encounter. While being detained and evaluated by Army personnel, His young son finds the items and inadvertently sets off a beacon that draws the Predators back down to Earth, to wreak havoc.
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han and Noah Taylor
After years working hostage negotiations and fighting terror Will Sawyer gave it all up to finally settle into life as a family man. He traded in his gun and badge for his wife and twins, and never looked back. His domestic bliss is interrupted when a madman sets fire to the worlds tallest building, with Will’s wife and children inside. Will must rely on his wits and tactical training to save his beloved family from the towering inferno.
Director: James McTeigue
Writer: Ryan Engle
Cast: Gabrielle Union, Ajiona Alexus, Billy Burke and Richard Cabral
After the murder of her father Shaun Russell is forced to uproot her children and travel to her childhood home. Surrounded by acres of forest and equipped with a state of the art security system, the remote estate is a fortress. Not long after their arrival, the high-tech security system is breached leaving Shaun outside and her children inside held hostage by a band of thieves searching for a hidden safe. With her children held captive and their lives at stake, she will stop at nothing to save her babies. The odds aren’t in her favor, but this mother isn’t going down, without one hell of a fight.
Breaking In is an exciting new role for Gabrielle Union. Known mostly for romantic comedies and cable drama, this is Union’s first foray into the lead in an action thriller. Tapping into her some serious maternal instincts, she is a force to be reckoned with. Shaun Russell is a ferocious character, sharp-tongued and fierce, she is a fighter. At one point she even taps into her Spidey sense dangling precariously from a banister hiding in plain sight. Though much of the film shows Shaun as a bad ass, her movements and skill set aren’t farfetched or improbable. She’s not a navy seal, for heaven’s sake, she’s a desperate mother trying to save her kids.
Union’s familiarity and thrilling action sequences breathed life into a lackluster script. The one-liners and few jokes barely hit the mark. There are also a few major holes in the story. For instance, the robbers basically tear the place apart searching for hidden treasure but somehow miss the most obvious room in the house. The safe was literally in the first place we would have looked. Also, why would someone go through the trouble of hiding millions in an impenetrable fortress just to tell their assistant?
The thieves were a motley crew of ex-cons just thrown together for this one heist. Why four people are needed for what is clearly a two-man job is not clear. The crew is a predictable bunch, featuring the four basic criminal types: A tech guy, a weakling, a psychopath, and a mastermind. The psychopath was player by Richard Cabral who served up crazy cholo realness. He’s hot-headed and careless, the biggest threat to the children, especially the daughter. While he was perfectly creepy, he wasn’t the “muscle” one would expect. He’s scrawny but mean and aggressive like a stray pit bull. We’re pretty sure the kids could have taken him out given the right circumstances. The leader of the thieves was portrayed by Billy Burke. Twilight fans will remember him as Charlie Swan, Bella’s dad. As a mastermind, he leaves much to be desired. He was cool and calculated but the script didn’t give him any good lines. We were happy to see him finally get what he deserved, but not nearly as happy as we were to see the psychopath go.
Breaking In may have had a few holes in the script but it delivers pulse-pounding action in nearly every scene. The fights scenes are intense and impactful, keeping us thoroughly entertained throughout the nearly 90-minute film.
Since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, take your mom out to see this film.
Breaking In hits theaters this Friday!
Director: Pietra Brettkelly
Screenwriter: Pietra Brettkelly
Cast: Guo Pei, Philip Treacy, Wendi Murdoch, Godfrey Deeny
Guo Pei has been designing in China for more than three decades, but the western audience may only know her as the woman who created the stunning garment Rihanna wore when she owned the 2015 China: Through the Looking Glass Met Gala red carpet. In Yellow is Forbidden, Pietra Brettkelly follows the designer after that time as she moves through every detail to become an invited member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture – a society so exclusive only twenty-one members currently exist today. In this documentary, Brettkelly intended to tell the story of loss through the decline of haute couture, but the more powerful storyline that is quietly unearthed is the duality that exists within the designer’s world.
Director: Brad Peyton
Writer: Ryan Engle
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Ackerman and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Davis Okoye is a gentle animal loving Primatologist who finds himself battling government forces in an attempt to save his best friend George an Albino Gorilla he adopted. A failed genetic experiment causes George to mutate into an aggressive 30-foot beast. Ordinary means are unable to contain George as he and several other altered beasts wreak havoc on Downtown Chicago. To save his friend and the innocent people of Chicago, Davis must join forces with the most heinous beast of all, man.
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Writer: Jillian Jacobs and Michael Reisz
Cast: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane and Sophia Ali
Celebrating their last night of Spring Break, a group of friends engages in an innocent game of Truth or Dare. Their fun takes a creepy turn as the game morphs into a life or death struggle. Armed with only their wits, the friends are forced to play the game that pits them against one another or face a grisly death.