"Big Miracle" (Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell) in Theaters on July 4, 2012

Big Miracle (2012)

Audience
Rating: 3.4/5
Liked the Movie: 63% (n=29,488)

Critics
Rating: 3.1/5
Liked the Movie: 74% (n=95)


Reviews:

"Big Miracle uses real-life events as the basis for a surprisingly satisfying family drama." - rottentomatoes.com

""Big Miracle" gets off to a shaky start, but once revved up, it becomes an involving work-against-the-clock-and-the-odds action movie." - Rachel Saltz, New York Times

"Cold War-era bonding over whales? It would sound utterly absurd if it weren't based on fact. And that's part of what makes this movie fun for adults." - Stephanie Merry, Washington Post

"It is a whale of a comic tale, if also one overly crowded with characters and incidents." - Peter Howell, Toronto Star

""Big Miracle" might be subtitled, "How Hollywood Turned a Real Story Into Bogus Fiction." - Rafer Guzman, Newsday

"If you think it's absolutely not your kind of thing, you might be surprised." - Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies


Movie Info

Inspired by the true story that captured the hearts of people across the world, the rescue adventure Big Miracle tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (John Krasinski) and an animal-loving volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. -- (C) Universal

Rated: PG

Running Time: 1 hr. 46 min.

Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Romance, Comedy

Directed By: Ken Kwapis

Written By: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler

Distributed By: Universal Pictures

Cast
John Krasinski (Adam Carlson)
Drew Barrymore (Rachel Kramer)
Kristen Bell (Jill Jerard)
Dermot Mulroney (Colonel Scott Boyer)
Ted Danson (J. W. McGraw)
Tim Blake Nelson (Pat Lafayette)

Source: rottentomatoes.com

Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler) in Theatres on January 18, 2012

Coriolanus (2011)

Audience
Rating: 3.7/5
Liked the Movie: 70% (n=2,544)

Critics
Rating: 3.6/5
Liked the Movie: 91% (n=57)


Reviews

"Ralph Fiennes makes Shakespeare modern and bloody brilliant." - Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter

"Fiennes directs theater on the grand scale, burning his characters down to expose the terrible beauty of the human soul." - Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies

"The play has been significantly but artfully trimmed by John Logan's screenplay, which preserves Shakespeare's language." - Jake Coyle, Associated Press

"Fiennes takes one of the playwright's lesser-known works, originally set in the 5th century B.C., updates it to current times and imbues it with a gritty blood-spattered fierceness." - Claudia Puig, USA Today

"In attempting to update the play to a buzzing CNN world, Ralph Fiennes proves that as a director, he makes a fine actor." - Kyle Smith, New York Post


Movie Info

Caius Martius 'Coriolanus' (Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman General is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus's anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city. -- (C) Weinstein Co

Rated: R

Running Time: 2 hr. 2 min.

Genre: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Ralph Fiennes

Distributed By: The Weinstein Company

Cast
Ralph Fiennes (Caius Martius)
Brian Cox (Menenius)
Vanessa Redgrave (Volumnia)
Jessica Chastain (Virgilia)
Gerard Butler (Tullus Aufidius)

Source: rottentomatoes.com

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol (Tom Cruise) in Theatres on December 16, 2011

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)

Hazel's
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: The gadgets were cool especially the IPAD-controlled hallway image... Breathtaking scenes during Tom Cruise's dangling outside Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building... highly action-packed and entertaining movie. Though Tom Cruise is growing old... Nooooooo! =)

Audience
Rating: 4.1/5
Like the Movie: 87% (n=64,495)

Critics
Rating: 3.8/5
Like the Movie: 93% (n=184)


Reviews

"Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works." - rottentomatoes.com

"[Bird's] fresh touch gives breathless energy, tremendous excitement and, above all, humor to what could have been a wearying genre exercise." - Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"There's a good chance you'll get so caught up in what they're doing, you won't even notice how stiff and inhuman the actors appear." - Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

"As usual with the series, the movie combines a plot line a toddler could understand with gadgets that would baffle an engineering Ph.D." - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

"The real mission is to renew a stale franchise, and here Ghost Protocol largely succeeds, on the strength of good action scenes - including an IMAX-enhanced Dubai skyscraper dangle by Cruise - and the good humour of a well-chosen cast." - Peter Howell, Toronto Star

"Ghost Protocol is a very good thrill ride and Cruise is better than he's been in a long time." - Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), whose first stab at a live-action feature preserves the buzzy exhilaration and carefree absurdity of a cartoon." - Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

"A largely successful attempt to reboot the moribund franchise that turns out to be probably the most entertaining installment since Brian De Palma's series opener from 15 years ago." - Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is easily the best of the lot." - Claudia Puig, USA Today

"I'm thinking it, so I might as well say it: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is no Fast Five." - Richard Corliss, Time Magazine


Movie Info

This is not just another mission. The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Ethan Hunt and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization's name. No help, no contact, off the grid. You have never seen a mission grittier and more intense than this. -- (C) Paramount

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 2 hr. 13 min.

Genre: Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Brad Bird

Written By: Josh Applebaum, André Nemec

Distributed By: Paramount Studios

Cast
Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt)
Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn)
Jeremy Renner (William Brandt)
Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell)
Vladimir Mashkov (Anatoly Sidirov)
Paula Patton (Jane Carter)

Source: rottentomatoes.com