FIRST IMAGE: The Lone Ranger

First image of Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp as the Lone Ranger and Tonto - something to look forward to in 2013!!

MOVIE REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

It has been a weird time for me at the movies lately,I still haven't seen Bad Teacher, Larry Crowne and Transformers: Dark of the Moon but I saw both Zookeeper and Horrible Bosses days before the actual opening day and make that 3 with the last chapter in the Harry Potter series; Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night.

What a fitting ending to one of the biggest moneymaking film franchises of all time since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The first part of Deathly Hallows clearly set up on what was to be the ultimate duel almost a decade in the making; Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. After all the anguish that Harry had been too in the other books and the first part, he is now edgier and ready to finish it all, this is Daniel Radcliffe's best performance in the series and rightfully so in the last one.

Those who weren't able to read the book or maybe skipped a book, film or both can still catch up while watching the film. It gave a good backgrounder from Harry's parents to even his mentors Professor Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

This is epic filmmaking at it's best. I saw it in the 3D version but save your hard earned money. Seeing it on a regular screen is well worth it.

MOVIE REVIEW: Horrible Bosses

Gross, unpredictable and very funny, these are the words that describe Horrible Bosses; the new film by Seth Gordon, who also directed Four Christmases, a movie that will always have a place in my heart.

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live and Charlie Day of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia play buddies who all have stable jobs but with HORRIBLE BOSSES!!

Bateman's boss is played by the great Kevin Spacey (wickedly funny and evil), who slaves him to work, not granting him his promotion and sees the minor small detail that can get people fired.

Sudeikis' is Colin Farrell (with a hideous hairpiece), the cokehead son of his former boss, who wants to drain the company's bank account.

Jason Day plays an engaged dentist assistant, who's boss Jennifer Aniston, is giving him all the sexual innuendos possible to him borderlining on sexual harrassment.

Together, with the help of a hired killer mastermind (Jamie Foxx), they all conspire to murder their bosses who makes them miserable in life.

Among the three leads, it is Charlie Day who steals the movie. He has the best lines in the film and I'm pretty sure that after this movie, he would be a household name in the same way that Zach Galifianakis become in the first Hangover.

Brutally dark comedy but very very funny. Horrible Bosses, joins Bridesmaids as the funniest film of 2011.

REVIEW: A Better Life

All of us want a better life for ourselves and our loved ones. In these modern times,to some it means living the American dream. We have seen and heard countless stories about people coming to the United States, whatever means possible to leave behind a country they lost hope at and make it in the US.

A Better Life, tells that story, from the Latinos point of view. It's about a father named Carlos Galindo, excellently played by Damian Bichir, who came to California illegally, raising single handedly his only child, his son Luis (Jose Julian). Living as a gardener while trying to get his son out of joining gangs and him being caught by authorities.

Director Chris Weitz (About A Boy and New Moon) created a Los Angeles that we never saw before. It seems like in the movie, LA is a city in Mexico. I was even surprised that there was even a rodeo stadium right in the heart of the city that does not look like LA with sponsors with banners such as Tecate Beer. LA turned into Mexico City right into our very eyes.

Surprisingly unsentimental, A Better Life doesn't fall in the melodramatic found in Spanish Telenovelas. It shows the power of a father's love for his child is universal.

REVIEW: Friends With Benefits

I was fortunate enough to watch a screening of the new film Friends with Benefits starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis exactly a month before it's actual release date here in the US (July 22). My verdict: One funny and highly entertaining and notches above the earlier film released this year about the same premise: No Strings Attached.

Kunis plays a headhunter, who just broke up with her boyfriend, who hooks up with Timberlake's character, a graphic artist who moved to New York City, who also just broke up with his girlfriend.

Traumatized by their failed relationships, the two became friends without commitment. Just sex.

The ending is predictable but the movie's best assets are the cast. Justin Timberlake, after all those famous guestings in SNL is really born to be a comedian. Mila Kunis, who proven herself to make people laugh in That 70's Show and Forgetting Sarah Marshall has perfect comic timing. The two have great chemistry.

They are ably supported by excellent actors: Woody Harrelson, who plays Timberlake's co-worker, Richard Jenkins as his father and Patricia Clarkson as Kunis' promiscuous mom. There is a combined four Oscar nominations between these 3 actors.

Cameo appearances also abound in this film. I won't spoil it for you guys. Good, highly entertaining funny film.

MOVIE REVIEW: Fast Five

Finally saw Fast Five and critics and moviegoers were right: this is the best so far among the Fast and the Furious series. Who would have thought that the fifth installment would be up there with Ocean Eleven and the Italian Job (which are both remakes) as the best heist movie of this young century??

Series regulars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster all give commendable performances. As sequels go, most especially the fifth, there must be an impression that they're tired but no, due to a commendable script and lines that are not cheesy and lousy, an example of which is Transformers 2.

Looking forward to a sixth installment of this series.

TRAILER : 127 Hours

Danny Boyle, the director of such films as Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days and Sunshine comes his follow up to his Oscar winning masterpiece Slumdog Millionaire. This is the amazing true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston portrayed by James Franco. Oscar buzz is already building on this film.