"More than meets the eye..."

Another Cinderella Story

"A guy who danced with what could be the girl of his dreams at a costume ball only has one hint at her identity: the Zune she left behind as she rushed home in order to make her curfew. And with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of him, he sets out to find his masked beauty."

I talked about this movie a little bit the other day as I reviewed the Hilary Duff movie "A Cinderella Story."  Well, here I am after watching the sequel again.  What I like best about this movie is how it focuses around a lot of dancing, and the fact that there are kind of two Cinderella's in this adaptation.  The main Cinderella-esque character, Mary Santiago (played by Selena Gomez) and her best friend, Tami (played by Jamie Kennedy).  While Mary ends up with a Pop star Prince Charming, Tami ends up with the Pop star's Manager.  There is a mirror dance sequence near the beginning that is one of the best scenes in the entire movie.  It's a MUST SEE kind of thing.

I give this movie 5 stars!

With my sister spending my birthday week visiting me, last night she came home from going around town with a couple b-day presents for me.  We opened them up and watched them last night.  They were:

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

"The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets."

There were so many intense action sequences in this movie that I wondered how much the actors were getting paid for it because it's probably not enough.  I wasn't sure if I'd like Megan Fox's replacement as Sam's girlfriend (played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), but she turned into this power house character that really held her own under the circumstances.  I was taken aback when I saw a couple new faces to the franchise: Patrick Dempsey and John Malkovich!  I'm still scratching my head and wondering how the heck they landed in a "Transformers" movie.

John Malkovich plays Shia LaBeouf's boss, and Patrick Dempsey plays Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's boss who also helped Sam (Shia) get his job working for John Malkovich.  My favorite part is when Bruce Brazos (Malkovich) ends up doing Sam's bidding by providing him with whatever he needs to help the Autobots.  It's funny seeing Malkovich grovel to a 20-something kid right out of college.  Don't even get me started on the jalopy that's Sam's replacement car while Bumblebee is out on missions with the other Autobots.  LOL!

I give this movie 3 stars!

and

Fast Five

"Dominic and his crew find themselves on the wrong side of the law once again as they try to switch lanes between a ruthless drug lord and a relentless federal agent."

I wasn't sure if I'd like Dwayne Johnson joining the "Fast and the Furious" team, but he added some great elements to the movie and was a great match for Vin Diesel.  It was pretty even during a fight scene, but then again they both were wrestlers at one time.  Dwayne Johnson still wrestles every so often.  Vin Diesel comes out on top during the fight, of course.  Cars didn't seem to be in the forefront of this action packed movie as in the previous four installments.  They were still there, but most of the movie focused more on the chase between the FBI and Dom's crew.  In the end, the FBI ends up helping Dom and the Team capture a mutual person of interest.  Johnson is still going after Dom in the end, but graciously gives him and Brian a 24-hour head start for their cooperation in bringing down one bad dude.

I give this movie 5 stars!


SPOILER ALERT: Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson are already signed up to do "Fast and the Furious 6!"  And Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) returns from the dead!  She died in the fourth movie, but it turns out she faked it.  That's all I know for now.