09 February
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THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE Director: Chris McKay Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Slate I would never have expected The LEGO Movie to be a runaway hit when it came out in 2014. It was wildly creative even for someone who barely played with Legos as a kid. One of the best parts of that movie was its depiction of Batman, voiced by funnyman Will Arnett doing his best Christian Bale impression. Now Lego Batman has his own movie, and it not only lives up to the expectations of the first film, but also succeeds at being better thanRead More →

03 November
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TROLLS Director: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohrn Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Christine Baranski, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, James Corden, Kunal Nayyar, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, John Cleese, Quvenzhané Wallis I honestly would not have expected a full-length movie about the toys I used to play with as a kid to be so much fun. Then again, The LEGO Movie was wildly imaginative. Trolls has a fairly simple premise, but it’s pretty creative at the same time. The trolls are known to be the happiest creatures throughout all the land. All they know how to do is sing, dance, and hug. Their rivals, the Bergens, areRead More →

23 August
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KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS Director: Travis Knight Starring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei I’ve seen quite a few animated films this year, and Kubo and the Two Strings ranks as the very best of that list. A young boy named Kubo (Parkinson) lives in a rocky cliff above town. He wears a patch over his eye, which was taken by his grandfather, Moon King (Fiennes) when he was a little boy. His father perished while trying to protect him, and now his mother keeps him in hiding from his grandfather and two aunts (both voiced by RooneyRead More →

11 August
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SAUSAGE PARTY Director: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon Starring: Seth Rogen, Krsiten Wiig, Jonah Hill, Edward Norton, Bill Hader, James Franco, Salma Hayek, Anders Holm, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, Nick Kroll, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your groceries had a personality? What would they say as they are sitting on the store shelves and how do they feel once they are released into the Great Beyond, aka the real world passed the store doors? No, you haven’t thought that? Me neither. Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill came up with this premise and took a Toy Story-like approachRead More →

10 July
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In Movie Reviews

MINIONS Directors: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin Starring: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Katy Mixon The scene-stealers from the Despicable Me movies have received their own movie, and it’s a prequel! The minions are continually in search for a proper master that they can work for which ends up being a harder task than they had envisioned. Centuries pass taking them from dinosaurs to world leaders, but none of them work out. Without a master, they feel like they have no purpose. After spending time in frozen tundra, Bob, Stuart, and Kevin (all voiced by director PierreRead More →

20 June
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In Movie Reviews

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 Writer/Director: Dean DeBlois Starring: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington Dreamworks Animation has made some fantastic animated franchises like Madagascar, Shrek, and Kung Fu Panda. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel to Chicken Run. They have another successful one under their belt with How to Train Your Dragon 2. In the Viking land Berk, the Vikings and dragons are friendly and peaceful. For many of the characters, their dragons are their best friends. Our favorite Viking Hiccup (Baruchel) has grown up a bit sinceRead More →

19 June
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In Twin Cities Live

TWIN CITIES LIVE June 18, 2014         It’s a day of sequels, animated movies, and Jonah Hill.  It’s the first time one actor has been a part of all three movies I’ve talked about.  Here they are: 1. 22 Jump Street, starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube 2. How to Train Your Dragon 2, starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, and Craig Ferguson 3. The LEGO Movie, starring Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, and Will Ferrell Here’s the video: Video courtesy of Twin Cities Live/KSTP You can find all of my past segments HERE. As always, thank you so muchRead More →

12 February
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In Movie Reviews

THE LEGO MOVIE Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller Starring: Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Alison Brie, Will Forte, Jonah Hill, Dave Franco Yes, it is true. The Lego Movie is AWESOME. Eyes may have rolled when it was first announced that there would be a movie based on Legos. The trailers looked pretty funny, so I had hope that it would actually exceed the low expectations that were originally set in place. Boy, did it ever. Emmet (Pratt) wakes up every day as excited as he can be. Everything is awesome in life. He is just your ordinaryRead More →

30 November
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FROZEN Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee Starring: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana, Ciarán Hinds, Alan Tudyk As little girls, Princesses Anna and Elsa are as close as two sisters can be. Elsa has been graced with a special power to turn things to ice and snow with a simple touch. They love playing around their castle in Arendelle when Elsa creates a snowy play area for them to have with inside the castle. One day the playing gets out of hand when Anna accidentally gets hit with a blast of ice by Elsa. In order to protect both of them,Read More →

18 March
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WRECK-IT RALPH Director: Rich Moore Starring the Voices of: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer “Fix-It Felix, Jr.” is a popular arcade game celebrating its 30th anniversary. The classic villain of the game is Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) who must destroy a building before its hero and main character Fix-It Felix (McBrayer) has a chance to fix the wreckage. When the doors of the arcade close at the end of the day, these characters and worlds come alive. They can go in and out of their games through the Game Central Station as long as they are back to their game when theRead More →