This movie was okay. Jessica Lange was really good playing Jim Bennet's mother. She was my favorite in this movie. I also liked Amy, Frank, Dexter, and Lamar. Jim gambles himself into debt where he has to pay back everyone he owes within a certain amount of days. Who puts themselves into this kind of problem? I think gambling is serious and you should get help if you have a gambling problem. Shouldn't a professor be fired for having a relationship with a student? I didn't think that was okay at all. A teacher should never have a relationship with a student. This movie made me feel bad for Jim. He has a gambling problem and it causes so many problems in his life and hurts his mother. I did think Frank was funny and cared about Jim even though he said he'd kill Jim if he didn't pay him back on time. 

2 1/2 stars

I love these movies so much. All of them have been funny, but this one is the best! My favorite characters were Jed. Octavius, Rex, Eastern Island Head, Teddy, Sacagawea, and Tilly. My top favorite though is Dexter. He's an amazing and you gotta love that monkey! I also like Larry. I'm a little disappointed that Rex wasn't in it that much. I'm really sad this is the last one. These movies are fun and good for family friendly movie time. I enjoy watching Night at the Museum. I like to picture what it would be like if all this happened in real life. Wouldn't it be fun to play fetch with a dinosaur? Feeding gum to an Eastern Island head would be great. It's easy to imagine talking to Egyptian Pharaohs. This movie makes me want to ask a real museum night guard if this really happens. These movies made going to museums fun. I think you should see this movie. I will miss Robin Williams playing Teddy Roosevelt. He was the character that held everyone together. Rest in Peace Robin Williams.

5 stars 

This was an amazing movie! Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, and Lilla Crawford were fantastic. I have never heard Meryl Streep sing before, but she has an incredible voice. My favorite song was Agony with Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen. It was really funny. The movie had many funny parts in it. Johnny Depp was the perfect wolf! He played the character so well it was creepy. He's good in everything, but he was perfect as the wolf. I found it funny that Lucy Punch got the part of the evil step sister because that was the part she played in Ella Enchanted, and she was great both times. I liked that her name was Lucinda because that was the name of Ella's fairy godmother. Into the Woods is really worth seeing. I haven't seen it on Broadway, but did see the play once at Rowan University. I want to see it on Broadway. My favorite characters were Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, the witch, the baker, and the baker's wife. My least favorite were the giants because their voices were hard to understand and they were so big and blurry. You couldn't really see the girl giant's face until Jack was in a tree throwing rocks at her. You should see this movie.

5 stars

The movie was better than I thought it would be even though the story was changed. I liked how they tied the old movie into the new movie. Although he was nothing like Daddy Warbucks, I really liked Mr. Stacks. Jamie Foxx did a really good job with his character. Hannigan was different, but still the same. She was mean but also deep down had a good heart. Deep down, but it was there. I don't think Cameron Diaz was very good for this part. She seemed kinda awkward. Annie was great! She still had the half locket and was fun and sassy. I loved her voice and she seemed like a really cool person to know. Sandy was cuter than ever! I loved the new Sandy! I also really liked this group of foster kids. One of my favorite parts of the new story is how many people around the city cared about Annie. It was nice. I really enjoyed the modern music, and loved when Stacks said a line from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I loved the way they updated the songs and added a fresh beat to them. The movie had a lot of funny references and moments in it. I thought it was cool when they used modern technology to find Annie after they found out those people weren't her real parents.

4 stars

I thought it was a really cute movie. Paddington lived in a beautiful giant beehive in the darkest part of Peru with his aunt and uncle. They had a beautiful life in Peru until something happened, and Paddington was sent on an adventure to London. He meets a strange family who agreed to help him find a home. Paddington is an unusual but funny bear who is easy to fall in love with. Throughout the movie he learns how life in London is different than his old life, in a funny way. There are a few sad and scary parts, but it makes you love Paddington even more! I believe everyone needs a beary best friend, even if it's not Paddington.

Maymay was very fortunate to take part in an interview with Kevin Macdonald, the director of Black Sea. He is extremely funny and very generous with his time. It was a true pleasure to speak with him.

What drew you to the script?
Well, I had the idea long before the script. In 2000, there was a Russian Na
vy Sub, the Kursk, that had an accident. The explosion and sinking of the submarine, there were people trapped and died because the government was more concerned about keeping its secrets than saving the sailors. All I could think was how horrifying...and it could be a movie. I wanted to make a movie without the military, more like Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I gave all my ideas to the writer, Dennis Kelly.

You did much of the filming on an actual submarine. Are you claustrophobic? 
No, I'm not claustrophobic, but I've also never been under deep sea. The submarine is kind of like a spaceship. There is something both terrifying and amazing. The sub we used had a crew of 85 and only 12 bunks. There were planks all over for them to sleep. It's very tight quarters. There is also a smell. Diesel. There is also the smell of everyone.  Water is used for the diesel engines first, crew second. But the over powering smell of diesel is everywhere. That smell just sticks with you. Jude Law spent five days on a nuclear submarine. He slept in the bunks with everyone, and was most surprised by the exercise bike right next to the missiles. 

Are you planning a sequel?
(laughed for a minute) No...but, I did have a thought of Jude Law and a shark...

What type of movie is this? It's not a typical submarine movie.
This is sort of a caper movie where the caper doesn't come off. There is also the horror of being stuck at the bottom of the ocean.

Is there anyone in the cast you feel we should keep our eye on?
Obviously Jude Law is a huge actor, but we get to see something new. He becomes a character actor and you see him like never before. No one in this cast was fussy or annoying. This was a cast of amazing characters who were a real joy. The Russian actors are well known actors in Russia. They don't typically do international films because they hate being typecast as the Russian bad guy. When they read the script and saw the Brits were equally bad, they agreed. It is true that Russians like their vodka.

Where was the movie filmed?
Pinewood Studios. We did most of the film at Pinewood using a tank 8 meters deep. We lowered some of the set into the tank. We did use some CGI, but also used some old ways. Do you know how you get the water to look murky with seaweed? Broccoli. We floated cut up broccoli in the tank. I don't know why it works, but it does. We also spent six weeks on the sub. Two weeks were shot underwater. In all, about 1/3 of the movie was shot on the sub.

Is there any historical significance, or is the movie purely fictional?
Yes. Both. Shortly before World War II broke out, enemies Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. Hitler forced the pact, and then attacked anyway. We took what was true and made it fiction.

Why did you make Jude Law Scottish?
Well, I'm Scottish. (we all laughed for a moment) I wanted to make him someone completely different, to become someone else. We changed his appearance, he lowered his voice, and we researched different Scottish dialects. We settled on a rare, unusual accent.

Did you run into any issues while filming?
Yes. The Crimea crisis. Putin invaded, made things a bit dangerous. Studio wouldn't allow us to continue getting the shots we wanted due to safety issues.

I enjoyed this movie very much. I really thought Reese Witherspoon did an amazing job. She was very believable. I did not like the beginning of the movie. That was really gross. I liked that almost everyone she met on the trail helped her and were nice. She did meet some creepy people, but mostly nice. I also liked that she thought about her family to keep going. It was really cool that her family and friends were sending her boxes of supplies on the way. I felt it was a dangerous journey but she learned a lot about herself on it and that is pretty cool. She seemed like a brave woman.

4 1/2 stars

It was a really well done submarine movie. I liked how Jude Law's character, Captain Robinson, was very fatherly towards Tobin, and was kind and encouraging to him. When there was so much anger, he was protective of Tobin. I liked that. I didn't like that the only American in the whole movie was really mean. I did think someone was going to get eaten by a shark, but there wasn't a shark in the movie. I learned a lot about submarines, and found it interesting. I never knew that when the lights on a submarine explode it can cause a fire. Submarines look more dangerous than a normal boat. I liked that they made Jude Law Scottish instead of British. I liked his accent. It was cool. I also thought that submarines had windows in the front so you could see all the fishies and other cool creatures in the ocean.
4 stars

Maymay had the opportunity to interview actor/writer/director Alonzo Jones about his awarding winning short film, Eli's Liquor Store. Mr. Jones was extremely generous with his time, and his consideration and kindness towards Maymay is greatly appreciated. Here is the interview:

1.) What are you hoping people will get out of watching your film?

     We hoped that people would get an understanding that, even though sometimes they don't stand out, problems do exist; i.e. stereotypes, misconceptions, etc. and the first step in avoiding conflicts such as what we're dealing with right now, is taking preventative measures. 

2.) How did you come up with the story for Eli's Liquor Store?

     Well, At the time we, me and my co-writer/co-director Arnold Chun, were primarily working as actors. I'm black and my co-writer/co-directer is Korean and we felt that the roles that were available to us were the stereotypical black and Asian roles, so we decided to start writing materials that we would prefer to act in. In the midst of working on an action/comedy script we began to talk and realized A LOT of similarities and differences in our races. That sparked conversations on things we dealt with like and subtle and blatant racisms. So we decided to deal with the stereotype of Asian's opening liquor stores in the 'hood' and flip it, where an African-American opens a liquor store in Korea-Town L.A.   We then started jotting down some scenarios and Eli's Liquor Store was born.

3.) Did you have a real life experience with this situation in the film?

     All of the scenarios in this film are based off of things that we have witnessed or been a part of. 

4.) Your movie showed me that no matter what you do or where you go there will always be ungrateful people.Was that the message you were trying to send?

     We weren't trying to say that people are "ungrateful".  Basically, those situations were a metaphor for ALL bad situations and attitudes. The message that we were trying to convey was that no matter how hopeless things feel, you HAVE to acknowledge and deal with these situations and attitudes in a positive way. That is the ONLY way to achieve the change that we all want. 

5.) With everything that has been going on in the news do you think civil rights has taken a step backwards?

     I believe its taken a hit, but I'm hopeful that things will get better.  Its VERY unfortunate that people have to lose their lives before these issues are put in the news. And at the risk of sounding too political, PEOPLE of ALL colors are victimized, but only a select few are publicized. 

6.) Is there anything you would like to share or add that I didn't ask about?

     Basically, we would like to simple like to emphasis the last line in the movie.. " We all need to wake up.. I believe people can change.. and I hope for all our sakes, that it happens soon."

I liked this movie. I liked it a lot. I liked the action in it. I didn't think the dragon was gonna die that fast. I only counted four armies though. The men, the elves, the dwarfs, and the orcs. Where was the fifth army? I'm confused. I still think Gandalf looks too much like Dumbledore. I like Tauriel, Legolas, Bilbo, and Kili the best. Thorin was just to selfish. I got to say those elves got some skills. Serious skills. The orcs are ugly and creepy looking. I don't like them. Why is everyone after that gold anyway? Gold doesn't make anything better. Thorin said he was king under the mountain in the last movie didn't he? Wouldn't it be his decision to give it away if he chose? The dragon has a real deep creepy voice. Benedict did a good job with making that dragon scary. I am pretty sure that dragons don't talk though. I don't know for sure, they might. I just don't think they do. I wish there could be more adventures.

5 stars