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I Still Believe

I Still Believe is a true life story of Jeremy Camp, a Christian singer. The story highlights his love story once he gets to college. It is created by the creators of the hit Christian movie “I Can Only Imagine” which tells the life story of the band MercyMe. This film will hit theaters on February 13th.

This movie is based on a Christian singer’s life and a story of faith and the love of God. So if you are religious, this will be a great movie for you. But on the other side, this movie is not a religious movie that “shoves Christianity down your throat,” so if you’re not religious, I still recommend this movie. It is a great love story even diregarding the religious aspect. Age-wise, this movie is rated PG and I truly believe this is a good movie for any age, 10-100. Viewers interested in love stories, faith movies or movies about people who become sick, this is a movie for you.

PLOT: This movie is similar to the movies I Can Only Imagine and The Fault In Our Stars if the two movies had a child together. Jeremy Camp goes to college with his guitar in hand with aspirations of becoming a signer. He snuck backstage to a John Loo concert and met John himself. John took Jeremy under his wing as a new artist. Jeremy takes a glance into the crowd and sees Melissa in the crowd and instantly falls in love. Melissa happens to be one of John’s good friends and also his love interest. When Jeremy and Melissa meet and start to enjoy each other’s company, the situation is sticky as they don’t want to hurt John. The relationship is very up and down until Melissa becomes sick. Melissa gets diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. Jeremy’s life is instantly changed as he must decide if he wants Melissa to be the number one priority of his life. The rest of the story is their journey through Melissa’s illness and their relationship along with Jeremy’s music career and their faith for God through it all.

CAST: I Still Believe is set-up for success with the two stars playing Jeremy Camp and his love-interest, Melissa Hennings. Jeremy is played by the Riverdale star, KJ Apa and Melissa is played by the For the People Star, Britt Robertson. KJ did an extremely good job of playing the college-kid and rising star along with the emotional side of the “family-man.” He also had a great voice to star as the breakout Christian singer. Britt did a great job acting as a college student, but being nearly 30 years old, it was very clear that she was not college age. It was much less evident of her age once she became sick, and she did an incredible job in every other aspect of playing Melissa Hennings. She made you love her very quickly and made everyone in the theater root for her the first second she was on screen.

Other notable names in the movie: Melissa Roxburgh had a very minor part playing Melissa Hennings’ sister. Her role was very similar to her leading role in the TV show Manifest, so the role was a very good fit for her. Shania Twain played the role of Jeremy’s mom, she also had a minor role. Stranger Things and Sabrina star Abigail Cowen was featured at the very end of the movie as another musician following Jeremy’s act. And Forest Gump’s Gary Sinise played the supporting role of Jeremy’s dad.

I will repeat myself as I said, I think this a good movie for all ages, religions, and all different types of movie lovers. You can see I Still Believe in theaters March 13th. You can check out the trailer here.

RATING: 77%

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Okay this movie was probably the most hyped movie following its release, and let me just say, there was definitely good reasoning for that. I have never gotten excited about a Marvel/DC or action movie, and a motion picture comic book? No thanks. Well I am incredibly glad I listened to the reviews and went to watch it.

It was INCREDIBLE.

The animation was BEAUTIFUL! the incredible thing about it was that there were three to four different types of animations in the movie! It of course was mainly the animation seen in the previews, but it also included anime, old time hand drawn animation, and comic book animation. It was beautiful all of the way around, perfectly drawn. It more than definitely deserved to Golden Globe for Best Animation.

I really didn’t understand why everyone was saying the story was so good before I saw it. In the first five minutes of the movie, I was growing disappointed, because it seemed to be like every other superhero movie ever. But around minute six, I was on the edge of my seat and never laid back. The whole movie was upbeat, captivating, and it honestly got me emotionally invested. There were just enough plot twists and turns and it wasn’t predictable at all. It was the perfect balance of love, action, and everything in between. But fair warning, water works may be existent in this movie

I typically hate the antagonists in every movie, especially superhero movies. And I’m not talking about the type of antagonists you love to hate, no. I genuinely get annoyed when the villains are introduced. The villains in this movie were not that bad though! They had good reason to be villains, and that is usually why I get annoyed, when movies have villains that have no motives. These villains were good villains! Of course not good good villains, but they were the type of villains that I loved to hate!

This is a perfect movie for the whole family, not just the kids. It does not have any older kid content or anything like that. It is genuinely a movie that the whole family will enjoy.

I did not at all think this movie would live up to my expectations or the reviews, but it definitely did and more! It is definitely a must see for this year! Bring your mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, uncle, dog, and your pig. This movie is that good! It’s definitely a feel good movie– once you get past the water works BUT NO SPOILERS DON’T WORRY! But for sure. Go see it. Right now.

RATING: 94%

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Ralph Breaks the Internet

Since Wreck it Ralph came out six years ago, it has been one of my favorite Disney movies ever created. So you can imagine how happy I was to see a sequel was being created! I’m extremely surprised that this movie wasn’t talked about more after its release date, I really loved it.

Sequels are usually a hit or miss, this one definitely was not a miss. Although I am still biased toward the first Wreck it Ralph, I would still call Ralph breaks the Internet a hit!

So of course, all of the characters were the same as before- Wreck it Ralph, Vanellope Von Schweets, Fix it Felix, and all of the other fun arcade characters! One of my favorite things about the movie was all of the new characters- mainly all of the Disney princesses. The princesses were DEFINITELY the highlight of the movie for me at least! I loved getting to see all of these princesses in the Vanellope Von Schweets kind of light! By that I mean that they were not the perfect princesses that Disney has always made them out to be! They are HUMAN! I think this is an AMAZING message to send young girls! The princesses weren’t in their perfect dresses with their perfect hair do’s for the whole movie! It showed them in t-shirts, drinking coffee, and acting like normal human beings! I love that girls can have THAT as their role models! I love that this helps little girls realize that they actually CAN be princesses like Vanellope! You can love racing, you can sing, you can sleep for a hundred years and STILL be a princess, because being a princess means being confident and staying true to yourself, not having a rich daddy or living in a castle!

Of course there were other messages in this movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, but this one takes the cake. I love how real this movie is- of course not animation wise- but the messages they send! A lot of the movie’s message is about the friendship between Vanellope and Ralph. It’s not all daisies and roses! They fight, a lot! They have differences, a lot of them, but they work them out and stay friends- even when the distance gets hard! Why? Because that’s what friendship is all about! Making compromises! And no matter what life throws at you, loving your friend! I love that message!

I also love how they enter every aspect of the Internet into the movie! From social media to viral cat videos to cyber bullying to advertisements to viruses, it hits it all! It didn’t sugar coat anything on the internet! It told it how it truly is! This is a really good star to a conversation to a child that is curious about the internet!

Now Wreck it Ralph is better that Ralph Breaks the Internet (why it isn’t called Ralph Wrecks the Internet… I don’t know, but I’m a little disappointed), BUT I still believe this is a must see for children for the messages themselves! This is a must see movie in 2018/2019 and you won’t be disappointed. There are not that many family movies currently out or coming out soon, so this is perfect!

I don’t really know how to rate this one, due to comparison to the other movie. The animation was great, as always, the message was phenomenal, loved the story line, but I just loved the originality of Wreck it Ralph more! Also minus a couple percentage points due to the horrible name choice!

But I love this movie and your whole family will too!

RATING: 88%

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You can’t remake a classic, right? Wrong! Although this was not my favorite movie of the year by any means,

This was the best version of The Grinch I have seen

So I’m guessing that we ALL know the classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” storyline. This movie is no different, the only thing it added (or only major addition) was adding the reindeer, Fred, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also enjoyed that the Grinch wasn’t quite as mean and horrid as he typically is written to be. Don’t get me wrong, he was definitely mean, but before he has a change of heart (sorry if that was a spoiler, haha) he shows moments of having a heart!

This movie is exactly what you would expect it to be. I as a millennial teenager, didn’t laugh too hard at this movie. I thought the entire movie was cute, sweet, and I maybe gave a few chuckles here and there, but nothing that made me laugh out loud. Now my friend that I went with was laughing her socks off, along with my mother who was still laughing about scenes in the movie the next day. So maybe it’s that I have a completely different sense of humor, but I did enjoy myself during the movie.

CHARACTERS: I already mentioned some of them already, but I’ll talk about them a little deeper.

The Grinch: I really enjoyed the character, not too mean (other than the grocery store scene, if you know, you know), but still was true to the character. The baby Grinch was absolutely adorable and the older grinch had the same sense of humor that you would expect. But I really enjoyed the minor changes they made to the Grinch’s personality.

Max: The Grinch’s side kick and best friends was as cute as always! I love Max in the animations much better than the live versions, because he is able to have better facial expressions and more of a personality, rather than just a side kick, typical dog. Max was cute, and I enjoyed that he stood his ground to the Grinch and didn’t take anything from him, but was still the sweet and loving best friend that would do anything for the Grinch.

Cindy-Lou Who: I really love how Cindy-Lou was portrayed in this version. Cindy-Lou wasn’t just the quite, petite, cute little girl. In this version, Cindy-Lou was a little more of a tomboy, or at least much less of a girly girl. She was extremely adventurous and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty to get what she wanted, which was also precious in itself.

Fred: Fred was the newest addition to The Grinch story. Fred was the very large reindeer whom the Grinch found to hopefully guide his sleigh. Fred becomes close to both the Grinch and Max become very close to. Fred is silly and very sweet and very comedic, even though he can’t speak. I thought he was a perfect addition to this classic story.

The animation was as incredible as always for a Sony Production. I always look for the hair in animation to see how it moves when the characters move and how it moves in the wind. The Grinch is a hairy character and I was just absolutely infatuated with his fur throughout the entirety of the movie. The whole movie was nothing less than perfect speaking in terms of animation.

I very much enjoyed myself at this movie, and you and your whole family will too. This is a great movie for the holiday, considering the lack of them that will be coming out this holiday season, and it’s the perfect addition for the whole family in all of you holiday festivities. This was by no means the best movie of the year, but it is definitely one of the best family movies of the year.

RATING: 68%

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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

This is a fun, last-minute Halloween movie for the whole family.

Goosebumps 2 was very enjoyable and a fun movie to watch. This movie is obviously geared toward the younger audience, but the whole family would enjoy their time watching this movie together.

The special effects in this movie was definitely the most entertaining part and the movie’s best quality. The inanimate objects kept coming to life in this movie, and the transformation was incredible to watch. For a kid’s movie, the special effects really surprised me!

This movie would definitely be a fun, sorta-scary movie to go take the kids, or anyone that isn’t a fan of horror films, but still wants a little Halloween scare! Along with it’s  scary storyline, the plot of this movie also includes a cute side story about the family.

PLOT: Goosebumps 2 is just another Goosebumps story, specifically Haunted Halloween. It’s about a family- a son, Sonny (played by Jeremy Ray Taylor), his friend, Sam (played by Caleel Harris), and an older sister, Sarah (played by Madison Iseman). Sam and Sonny work a “job” where they go clean-up unwanted junk from houses. They get a job to clean up a house that happens to be R.L. Stein’s house.

SLIGHT SPOILER (NOT REALLY): They find a ventriloquist dummy named Slappy and use a spell to accidentally bring him to life. Slappy has the power to bring anything to life that he wants to and has a lot of special powers. He just wants to be part of the family and to be Sonny and Sarah’s brother. But that’s kind of weird right, so after some freaky stuff Slappy pulls in attempts to please Sarah and Sonny, they try to get rid of him.

ACTUAL SPOILER: So, obviously, you can’t get rid of Slappy, so he turns against the family and turns evil instead. He decides to bring all of the Halloween costumes and Halloween toys in a store to life. Thus creating the storyline of the book “Goosebumps: A Haunted Halloween,” a book that R.L. Stein wrote, but didn’t finish. The rest of the movie is about the kids trying to make their own ending to the book and them trying to stop all of the Halloween chaos. SPOILER OVER

ALL-STAR CAST: The three kids: Sonny, Sarah, and Sam were all really cute and did well. But Sony Pictures had to but some big-wig names in the movie to let the older crowd be prompted to see this with the family.

WENDI McLENDON-COVEY as Kathy, the mother: It was almost hard to recognize her without the classic Goldberg mom hair. She had a pretty big role in this movie, being the typical, clueless mom that doesn’t believe her kids when they say there’s a doll that’s alive. She’s funny as always, well as much as the part allowed her to be, but she seems to be the highest-paid cast member, so Goosebumps was definitely looking for a big name.

KEN JEONG as Mr.Chu, the next-door neighbor: Jeong plays the geeky, over-the-top next-door neighbor from the main family. He’s a Halloween fanatic, which causes some problems, but he is ultimately the one who prompts the kids the end the story. He’s funny as always and this role was more than likely specifically written for Jeong.

JACK BLACK as R.L. Stein: Surprisingly, Jack Black is not even credited if you look up the movie on IMDB. I would have thought that the movie would have advertised the presence of Jack Black in the movie more in the previews, considering he is an extremely well known actor for all generations. He played the author of the story, obviously, and had a fairly large role, especially toward the end of the movie. It wasn’t a funny role for him, more on the serious side, but Jack Black still put his own twist on this well-known author.

If you enjoy the Goosebumps book series, you will love this movie. It’s a cute last-minute Halloween film to go watch with the family in the days before of after Halloween night. I was eagerly waiting for “goosebumps” by Travis Scott to play in this seemingly modern-day movie, which never came, but oh well. I enjoyed myself at this movie and I think any movie-goer would as well.

RATING: 68%

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Hotel Transylvania 3

Let’s start out these reviews with a fun, loving kid’s cartoon threequel. I went to see this movie with my boyfriend, and I’ll start out be saying this is not just a children’s movie, this movie is incredibly enjoyable for all ages. With a celebrity heavy cast, the first movie of this trilogy was a hit before it even premiered. Adam Sandler as Dracula, as always, is knee-slapping hilarious, and you don’t need to see his face in order to laugh until your stomach hurts. Selena Gomez’s role of Mavis is kindly and perfectly voiced along with her funny boyfriend, Johnathan, voiced by Andy Sandburg. Other big names stars: Kevin James as Frankenstein, Mel Brooks as Vlad, Steve Buscemi as Wayne and special guest voices from Chrissy Teigen as Crystal and we get to Joe Jonas as the Kraken in the finale song, “I See Love”.

The best quality of a good cartoon trilogy is whether or not it is necessary to have seen the previous movies in order to enjoy the new one. In this case, it is absolutely not necessary to have seen Hotel Transylvania 1 or 2 in order for the 3rd to be enjoyable. They make a few jokes that refer to past movies such as the classic “Bleh Bleh Bleh” joke from Dracula, but all of the other jokes are fresh and have no prerequisites. This movie is filled with one-liners that make you laugh for minutes after they are said. Containing goofy kid jokes along with adult humor, this movie is a hit. Wayne and Wanda, the two werewolves in the movie have over 100 children or “pups” with the main pups being Adam Sandler’s children. Besides the point, Wayne and Wanda discover “child care” on the cruise ship and are able to leave their 100+ pups with the cruise ship workers, whom are fish. This is one of the many relatable jokes for the older crowd as they finally are able to enjoy themselves and release the burden of handling their children to the cruise ship fish for a while.

Here’s the SPOILER ALERT section. I would not say that this movie is the predictable cartoon ending at all. Dracula is feeling lonely, after years of the passing of his wife. Mavis, his daughter is attempting to cheer him up and relieve him from work stress by taking him on a surprise monster’s cruise. Ironically, the cruise director, Erika, who is by the way a human, is the great-granddaughter of Dracula’s archenemies, Abraham Van-Helsing. Erika plans to kill Dracula while he is on board the cruise ship in order to avenge the legacy of her family. Her great-grandfather devised a plan in order to kill all of the monsters, specifically Dracula, on board. Erika becomes eager to kill Dracula and makes many attempts, but none of them work because, Dracula falls in love with her. Dun Dun Dun. With her pleasing looks, her fake perfect and kind personality, mixed with Dracula’s undeniable feelings of loneliness, Dracula falls in love at first sight, or what monster’s call it, having a zing. The plan reaches the last step and Abraham V.H. is revealed to be on the ship. Abraham is near a cliff when blasting music causes him to fall off. As he is falling to his death, Dracula surprisingly turns into a bat in order to save his foe’s life. Both Abraham and Erika have a change of heart realizing that Dracula, along with all of the other monsters, aren’t too bad. Erika begins to take a liking to Dracula and despite having wanted to kill Dracula for the entirety of the movie, they become engaged. Happy ending!

The movie sends out a great message for all ages at this time: We’re all different, but what’s the point of acting as if we are? Dracula uses this as a way to explain why he saved his arch-nemesis’ life. He says that monster or human, it doesn’t matter. If we are all different, doesn’t that make us all the same? It’s a great message for the young kids to teach them to treat everyone kindly, no matter what they look like. This is also a very nice reminder to the older crowd, especially in our society today.

This movie is a hit, from the cast to the current and modern top 50 hits, to the fun and playful storyline. This third movie was exactly what all audiences were expecting and during its 2nd week it is number three in the box office. If you’re looking for a family movie to see and already saw The Incredibles 2, this is the movie for you.

RATING: 78%