Oblivion (2013)

Synopsis
It's the year 2077 and Earth has suffered an alien attack that started a war, and the only way the humans could win was to use nuclear bombs. Now the humans are getting ready to leave Earth for good. Jack (Tom Cruise) is a tech that fixes the drones that protect the remaining humans from the Scavs, the alien race still roaming the Earth. Jack lives with his partner/lover Victoria (Andrea Riseborough). All seems to be going well but Jack is having visions of a woman and doesn't know why. On top of that, a mysterious ship crashes and when Jack goes to check it out he realizes there are human survivors. He's only able to save one who just so happens to look like the woman in his visions. This starts a sequence of events that make Jack question what really happened when the aliens attacked.

My Verdict
It's going to be hard to talk about without spoilers but I'll try. For those who've seen it or don't mind spoilers, we'll talk more below.
I'm giving 7/10 and here's why. I loved the tech, and there are so many twists and turns that it will screw your mind. I mean, I counted and there were about 5 and I saw none of them coming. Everything was fine until the very end. I didn't really like it. Plus, it was a little confusing. I think this is one of those movies that you have to watch twice or read a full movie synopsis to completely understand it.
The movie was good and much better than what I expected. I just wished it didn't end the way it did. I think the twists saved it.

Spoilers
Okay let's talk about these twists. First, the aliens aren't really aliens. Which brings us to the second twist, Jack is actually working for the aliens. The movie would've been fine with just these twist but they didn't stop there.
Twist number three was that Jack was a clone. In fact he and Victoria were both clones! This was a little confusing for me. I thought that he was seeing things at first because he went to the area of radiation, but he wasn't.
Let's talk about the ending twist. I was really pissed when it seemed like Julia would be the one to sacrifice herself and I wasn't any happier when it was really Morgan Freeman's character! I didn't want him to die! And the very end when Jack's other clone came and knew who Julia was and had visions of her too. What was with that and how was that? How do these clones share memories? I watch Orphan Black and all the clones are different and I think that's more realistic than this. I also want to know who the originals were? I just didn't like that part. There were too many unanswered questions. If it just ended with Julia and the other humans reuniting I would've been happy.
What did you guys think of it?

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Summer Premieres!!

It's that time again. New and old shows are coming back for their summer seasons. Here's a list of what I'll be watching. It's not much but with my busy schedule, it's perfect. New shows are red and bold retuning show are just blue. Shows that premiered earlier that I'm still watching and live tweeting are included.

Monday
Switched at Birth - June 16th, ABC Family, 8pm
The Fosters - June 16th, ABC Family, 9pm
Under the Dome - June 30th, CBS, 10pm
Hit the Floor - VH1, 9pm

Tuesday
Haves and Have Nots - OWN, 9pm

Wednesday
Extant - July 9th, CBS, 9pm - This is Halle Berry's show. It's about Molly Watts (Berry), an astronaut who returns home after a year long mission in space that she spent alone, but she comes back with something that will change her life forever. Watch the trailer here.
The Divide - July 16th, WE, 9pm - This is the series that Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) produced. It's about a sase work who starts investigating the case of a man on death row that she believes is innocent. Watch trailer here.
Graceland - June 11th, USA, 10pm

Friday
Girl Meets World - June 27th, Disney, 9:45pm - Boy Meets World fans get excited. If you don't already know there's a new series about Cory and Topanga's daughter. Apparently, you can already watch the premiere online but I'm going to wait to watch it on my TV. Watch trailer here.
Orange is the New Black - June 6th, Netflix

I'll be watching the Tony's on June 8th and the Emmy's on August 25th.
I'm also doing a Sleepy Hollow rewatch starting with the Pilot on Monday June 16th at 10pm. To join me on Twitter and/or Tumblr click the links below.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KiaCherise
Tumblr: http://iamanotacar.tumblr.com/

What are you guys watching this summer?

The Jacket (2005)

Synopsis
Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) is a Gulf War vet who gets sent to an insane asylum after a string of bad luck while trying to hitchhike. He is sent there because he was found guilty of murdering a cop. There, Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) put him through this insane experimental treatment which includes putting Jack in a straight jacket and then sticking him in a morgue drawer for hours. In that drawer Jack has visions of the future and finds out that he will soon die. With the help of Jackie Price (Kiera Knightly) and Dr. Beth Lorenson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Jack tries to find out how he died.

My Verdict
I thought that the plot was very interesting and I didn't want to stop watching. I was tired while watching and did everything I could to stay awake because I didn't want to miss anything. I was a little confused in the beginning but that didn't last long.
First, I was mad because these people put Jack in this asylum and it clearly wasn't the best place for him. It didn't even seem like they diagnosed him. It was like they thought he was crazy so he was crazy, but they didn't have a real doctor diagnose him. Then, when he got to the asylum the doctors were awful, except for Dr. Lorenson. There was this whole reality v. fantasy thing going on. At times I had to remind myself what was reality and what wasn't.
I'm giving this movie an 8/10. Adrien Brody did a great job and I also really liked the music. It did a good job of setting the atmosphere. There was also a but of romance between Jack and Jackie which was a little odd because he met her as child. That was just weird to me, but other than that it was a good movie.

Spoilers
Just a couple spoilers which are really questions I had while and after watching. First, Jack got shot in the head in the beginning and they never talked about how he survived that. I'm guessing that was just put in to add to the list of things they used against him in court but I really want to know how he survived. I'll never know the answer and it's going to drive me nuts.
My other questions is does he stay in that future time forever now or not? They got him to the drawer in just enough time for him to make it back to the future but he does die in that drawer. I guess I'll never know the answer to this either.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Synopsis
This is the story of Caesar (Andy Serkis), the ape, how he came to be and how he broke free from being held captive by the humans. Will Rodman (James Franco) created a drug that's supposed to help cure Alzheimer's, and he was using apes to test this drug. Caesar's mom was one of the test apes. The drug ended up making the apes super smart and she passed the drug on to Caesar and it made him even smarter. Unfortunately, Caesar's mom was killed and the testing stopped. Will took Caesar home with him and it wasn't long before Caesar ended up being captured by an animal shelter. The movie goes on to tell the story of Caesar's escape. This can serve as a prequel to "Planet of the Apes" but it's not. officially.

My Verdict
I liked this movie. It really served it's purpose as an original story of "Planet of the Apes" even though it's part of a separate series. I seriously can't wait to see "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" which comes out July 11th. I actually want to go and watch the original movies that came out way back when.
While watching this movie I was basically on the side of the apes and felt the humans deserved everything they had coming to them. I think the only human I did like was Will and he didn't treat Caesar the best either. I did grow a little more fonder of him by the end. I also can't help but say that his relationship with Caesar wasn't awful. It was like a father and son relationship and you could tell that Will really cared for Caesar. Sure he made his mistakes but the love was still there.
Let's talk about how crazy good the graphics/CGI was. I mean, they really did a good job with this. Those apes looked real. Real, like they took them out of the wild and used them for the movie and we all know that really didn't happen. I was really impressed, but then again it should look good. This is movie is about a bunch of apes. If it didn't look good I'd be like "what the heck were they thinking," especially since it was made in 2011.
So, I'm giving this movie a 9/10. It's really good as a stand alone film but I still wanted more. If I didn't already know about "Dawn..." then I would be campaigning for them to make it. Oh and on warning don't turn it off when the credits roll. Think of it like it's A Marvel movie.

Spoilers
Just a couple spoilers. First off, I knew that the apes would eventually end up talking but I didn't know if they would show that in this film and they did! I was so excited that I screamed when Caesar talked for the first time.
Also, there was a map during the credits and I can't help but think that it's showing how that virus spread from human to human. It's really the only logical explanation. I mean, it could be the spread of the apes, but considering "Dawn..." is coming out I don't think they would have them spread that fast. I mean, we need to see how they took over the earth. Well, I want to see how they took over the earth and I wouldn't like if they skipped that. That's one of the things that I really want to see.

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Glee - The Untitled Rachel Berry Project

It's the season 5 finale and of the New Yorkers are heading in different directions. Let's start with Rachel. 
The writer of her TV show came to town to observe her life and write the pilot for her show. This lady was weird. I mean she pulled an Oreo out of nowhere at one point and started to eat it. She also stuffed a donut in her bra. Talk about strange. Well anyway, the first draft she wrote was terrible. I mean, she had Brittany and Blaine sleeping together and Kurt walking around in a dinosaur suit. But, she got it together once Rachel sang for. In the end, the show got picked up for a pilot and Rachel is heading to LA. She's all excited because she's going to, (well, might) be on TV. 
Now let move on to Samcedes. Mercedes is about to go on a mall tour to promote her new album and brought on Brittany as a background dancer. Sam's modeling career is taking off and he finally got his face on the side of a bus. So what became of their relationship ... they broke up. I mean, I saw this coming and it was for their own good. Mercedes was leaving town and she can't expect Sam to wait for her. The thing that I didn't see coming was Sam going back to McKinley. His dream was to get his face on the side of a bus and he did that so back home to his family he went. I'm assuming that next season he'll be what links us back to McKinley. I just wonder what he'll do there. 
Blaine's showcase is right around the corner and I was anticipating ish hitting the fan when he told Kurt that Jane didn't want him in it, and that's what happened. Well actually lunch hit the floor but you get the idea. Luckily, these two were able to work things out. I'm starting to think they're the best relationship on the show. Actually, they are the only relationship on this show. In the end, Blaine went against June and had Kurt sing with him in the final song of his showcase and it turned out great. 
So in the end, Sam, Mercedes, and Rachel are leaving New York. Arty, Blaine and Kurt stay because of school. I think them being apart is a good idea. It will be a true test of their friendship. Distance should not dictate whether you can be friends or not. 
Overall this episode was great. I loved all the music in. I knew that it only a matter of time before one them sang "All of Me" and wouldn't have wanted anyone else but Blaine to sing it. The only thing that would have made it amazing was if Santana was there. Well that's the end of that season. The 6th and final season starts in 2015! I know, the wait will be long but we will make it. Until next season!

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Strange Days (1995)

Synopsis
Lenny "the loser" Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is an ex-cop who now sells recordings of people's memories (porn mostly) that he has people make for him using this "playback" device. This device was created for good and made it's way on to the black market. Lenny's life changes when a playback disc is left for him, and on it is the murder of his friend/prostitute. Now, Lenny and his good friend Lornette "Mace" Mason (Angela Bassett) have to try and solve this case that ends up being bigger than just a random murder. The entire movie takes place December 30th 1999 to January 1st 2000 in Los Angeles, CA.

My Verdict
Angela Bassett is in this and that's enough for me to watch! The film took almost an hour to get to the point of Lenny finding the disc and that was a little too long for me. I almost stopped watching but I'm glad I didn't because when it got to that point is escalated quickly. The movie really takes you a crazy twisty turny ride. By the end of it I was saying "that was a trip, that took me on a trip!" I loved it.
Now there's always a deeper message in films like this and I saw two. The first was the LAPD and their police brutality. The whole time there was this 'police aren't our friends' vibe. I mean, it wasn't even a thought to take the disc of the murder to the police. I'll talk more on this with specifics in the spoilers section below.
The other deeper message I saw was reality v. playback/fantasy. Lenny spends half of his time watching old discs of his old life and the other half of his time getting discs and selling them. He's basically addicted to playback. On the other hand, his friend Mace will have nothing to do with playback. She's never watched and when she does, it's because she has to. She's there to help Lenny face reality. She is reality.
I'm giving this movie an 8/10. The beginning was a bit slow but, thankfully, it sped up. I didn't see the ending coming at all! I was completely shocked. The ending was one where you think it's over but more great stuff keeps happening and I love those.
Also, Angela Bassett kicked some major but in this film. It was also directed by a woman and that makes me very happy.

Spoilers
Okay so let's go back to the LAPD stuff. It really reminded me of Rodney King when the two police officers killed that rapper, for no reason, and the way the cops were beating Mace at the end. It gave off this vibe of that time when the police were the enemy, mostly by the way it was shot. There were many bird's eye view shots, like helicopter cameras looking down at all this mayhem in the streets. Also, the cop ended up being the murderer. If that doesn't scream "cops are bad" than I don't know what does.
I also like the ending when the cop was charging at Mace and Lenny with all the blood on his. It was crazy but I really liked the look of it.
Lastly, Lenny and Mace's kiss. Usually, I don't like it when movies are action packed all throughout and then get all romantic at the end, but I liked this. You just knew it was going to happen so you're just waiting for it. And when it did happen, it was like the ending of 'The Bodyguard.' Just great.

If you've seen this movie, let me know what you thought in the comments below.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Glee - Old Dog New Tricks

This episode centers around Kurt and Rachel. Kurt is trying to find something great he can do with his life because all his friends seem to be doing these great things and he feels like he isn't. Rachel is trying to save her career after the disaster she created last week was leaked online.
Everyone around Kurt is doing something amazing with their life but him. So when Maggie Banks, a retired Broadway performer, comes in to the diner and asks if she can advertise her home's production of Peter Pan, he takes it upon himself to check it out. When the Peter of the musical dies, Kurt ends up taking her spot. All of this seemed too perfect for him. I mean, he fit right in at the old folks home. The sad thing (other than someone dying) was that none of Kurt's friends seemed to have the time to support him, except Blaine but that's obvious. I was sitting there like, I'll be your friend Kurt, I'll support you. I just felt really bad that no one had the time for him. But, luckily, they got some sense knocked into them and showed up for the performance. 
Now as for Rachel, I didn't feel too bad for her and her situation. She desperately needed some good press, so Santana came up with the idea for her to take up a cause and she chose helping the animals; sheltered dogs to be exact. Santana set up all this press for Rachel and they even held this event that was kind of like a grand opening of Rachel's charity organization. Of course Rachel made it all about herself in the beginning, but soon realized that it's not all about her and that she should do things for other people. 
In other news, Santana as a publicist is brilliant. She's so good at it. And she was inspired by none other than thee Olivia Pope herself. Oh I love all the Scandal references but doesn't Fox know that show doesn't come on their network? But hey, they can publicize it if they want, I'm not mad. 
There was also a little thing between Sam and Mercedes. Sam adopted a dog from the shelter, without telling Mercedes, and the dog ended up destroying her house. The thing that brought Mercedes to her breaking point was when the dog got into her hair. Yes, her hair. It just had to be the hair that pushed her over the edge. They ended up having to give the dog away because neither of them would be able to keep taking care of it. 
Overall, I really liked this episode. This was the one that Chris Colfer wrote and he did a good job. Oh, and Billy Dee Williams was a guest star! That is a huge deal, to me anyway. Next week is the season finale! I feel like this season has been going on for forever. Well, until next week. 

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Timeline (2003)

Synopsis
Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly) is a professor of archaeology. His son Chris (Paul Walker) and his students Kate (Frances O'Conner), Andre (Gerard Butler), Josh (Ethan Embry), and Francois (Rossif Southerland) have to travel back to 1357 France, through a wormhole, to rescue their professor who got stuck there. They only have 6 hour to find him and bring him home and their only way to get home is by pressing a button on a marker they wear around their necks. They get through this wormhole by a machine at the ITC company. This machine is accidentally destroyed and the scientists left there have to fix it in time so the students and their professor aren't stuck in 1357 forever. 

My Verdict
This is your typical 'race against time to save lives' type of movie, but I enjoyed it and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The movie starts out a little mysterious because the archaeologists aren't the first people we see. We are introduced to this ITC company first. This got me intrigued from the very beginning because it got me thinking how this company and the archaeologists are connected. 
I thought it was interesting that they wanted to send these archaeology students to find their professor instead of a group of scientists from the company. They actually wanted people that knew and cared about the culture they were stepping into instead of people that were there for the sake of science. I thought it was cool because instead of seeing people caring about scientific discovery, you saw people that cared about preserving the history of the time period that they were in. 
These people were literally in the middle of a war and went back on the day of a huge, epic battle. They spent so much time on them in 1357 that I almost forgot about the people in present day. There was some back and forth but most of the focus was on the students in 1357. 
I'm giving it a 7/10. I really like sci-fi stuff that has a tie in to history, like National Treasure and Sleepy Hollow (TV show) so I really enjoyed this movie. It entertained me, but the general storyline was like movies I've seen before (race against time to do something or your lives will change forever). There wasn't anything extremely different that made it stand out against the others, but it was still a great way to kickoff my Sci-Fi series of reviews. I read that this movie was based on a book and I wish I read it before I watched, but I hope it stayed true to the book. If it didn't, than I wouldn't be too happy but I haven't read it so I can't really say. If you've read the book but haven't seen the movie than I recommend you watch it and then let me know if the movie did a good job or not. 

Spoilers
Some specific things, so if you haven't watched yet don't spoil it for yourself. Stop reading!
I knew that Andre would end up being that guy with the missing ear from the moment he started liking Claire. I screamed when he got his ear chopped off and figured it out. I just knew he was going to fall in love with her and would either end up staying or almost get left there.
That ending "they made their own history, together" line was kind of cheesy, but I was still almost in tears when they went back to the sarcophagus.  

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