Journey to the Center of the Earth, 2008

 Journey to the Center of the Earth (also promoted as Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D or Journey 3D) is a 2008 American 3D science fantasy action-adventure film directed by Eric Brevig and starring Brendan Fraser in the main role, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem, and Seth Meyers. Produced by New Line Cinema, it is an adaptation of Jules Verne's 1864 novel (which had previously been adapted multiple times, most notably in the 1959 film of the same name), and was released in 3D theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 11, 2008.

TRAILER

PLOT

In 2007, Trevor Anderson is a Bostonian volcanologist whose 13-year-old nephew, Sean, is supposed to spend ten days with him. Trevor learns at work that his brother's lab is being shut down because of a lack of funding. Trevor has forgotten that Sean is coming until he receives several messages from Sean's mother Elizabeth. When Sean's mother drops him off, she leaves Trevor with a box of items that belonged to Max, Trevor's brother and Sean's father, who disappeared 10 years before. Sean suddenly takes interest in what Trevor has to say after he tells him about his father, whom he never really had a chance to know. In the box, Trevor discovers the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Inside the book Trevor finds notes written by his late brother. Trevor goes to his laboratory to find out more about the notes. There he realizes that he must go to Iceland to investigate for himself.

He intends to send Sean back to his mother, but relents at Sean's protest and brings Sean to Iceland with him. They start by looking for another volcanologist. When they get to that scientist's institution, they meet his daughter Hannah, who informs them he is dead. She also tells them that both her father and Max believed that Jules Verne's books were factual accounts. However she offers to help them climb up to the instrument that has suddenly started sending data again. While hiking the mountain, a lightning storm forces the three into a cave. The cave entrance collapses, trapping them, so they have no alternative but to go deeper in the cave, which turns out to be an abandoned mine.

Trevor, Sean, and Hannah investigate farther into the mine until they fall into a deep hole, taking them to the "Center of the Earth". They all continue until they discover a cave-dwelling that Max lived in. Trevor and Sean find Max's old journal. Hannah and Trevor discover Max's dead body and bury him. Trevor reads a message from Max's journal that was written on Sean's 3rd birthday (8.14.97). Trevor continues to read Max's journal until he realizes from his notes that they must quickly leave, as the temperature is steadily rising.

Trevor figures that they must find a geyser that can send them to the surface. They must do this in 48 hours or all of the water to create the geyser will be gone. They also figure that they must get out before the temperature rises past 135 degrees. They start building a raft to cross the underground ocean, and then the two adults become separated from Sean. Sean's guide is now a little glowing bird who has been present since the trio entered the center, and it takes him towards the river. However, he encounters a Giganotosaurus, and Trevor – who desperately is searching for him – saves him. When they arrive at the geyser it is all dried up. All the water is on the other side of the walls.

Trevor uses a flare to ignite the magnesium in the wall and causes a geyser to shoot them through Mount Vesuvius in Italy. When they destroy the home of an Italian man, Sean gives him a diamond that he had found earlier. Trevor sees that he has many more in his backpack, and he uses them to fund his brother's laboratory. Throughout the adventure, Hannah and Trevor gradually become so attached to each other that they share a kiss. On the final day of Sean's visit with Trevor (and now Hannah), he is leaving their new home, which was purchased with some of the diamonds Sean took from the cave, and Trevor hands Sean a book titled "Atlantis", suggesting they could maybe hang out at Sean's during Christmas break.

Rating: 10 Stars

Love Again, 2023 - Romantic comedy on Netflix

“Love Again” is a 2023 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and written by James C. Strouse. The movie is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film “SMS für Dich”, which is based on a novel by Sofie Cramer . The movie stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion, in her first feature film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself . The movie was produced by Screen Gems, 2.0 Entertainment, and Thunder Road Films and was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

TRAILER

Cast

Priyanka Chopra as Mira Ray

Sam Heughan as Rob Burns

Celine Dion as Herself

Sofia Barclay as Suzy Ray

Russell Tovey as Billy Brooks

Lydia West as Lisa Scott

Steve Oram as Richard Hughes

Omid Djalili as Mohsen

Nick Jonas as Joel

Celia Imrie as Gina Valentine

Arinzé Kene as John

RATING: 10 STARS

Love in the Villa, 2022

Love in the Villa is a 2022 American romantic comedy film written, directed and produced by Mark Steven Johnson. It stars Kat Graham, Tom Hopper, and Raymond Ablack.

Plot

A third-grade teacher Julie is fascinated with Verona because it's a setting for William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. As she is getting ready for her long-awaited trip to Verona, her boyfriend Brandon abruptly ends his relationship with her and now Julie must therefore travel alone.

On arrival at the reserved villa, she finds the villa has been double-booked and she must share the place with a wine expert named Charlie. As they spend time together, they begin to fall in love.

Cast

Kat Graham as Julie Hutton

Tom Hopper as Charlie Fletcher

Raymond Ablack as Brandon

Laura Hopper as Cassie

Sean Amsing as Rob

Emilio Solfrizzi as Silvio D'Angelo

Vincent Riotta as Carlo Caruso

Saverio Sculli as Amore Airline Passenger

Rating: 8 Stars

Before we go 2014 starring Chris Evans helping Brooke get home

“Before We Go” is a 2014 American romantic drama film directed by Chris Evans in his directorial debut. The film stars Chris Evans and Alice Eve as two strangers who are stuck in Manhattan, New York City, for the night. The film had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the 39th Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2014 . The plot of the movie revolves around a woman named Brooke Dalton who misses her train to Boston and is left stranded in New York City. She meets a street musician named Nick Vaughan, played by Chris Evans, who helps her during the course of the night and the two form a romance . The movie was released on video on demand on July 21, 2015, and had a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 4, 2015.

TRAILER

PLOT

While busking in Grand Central Terminal, Nick Vaughan (Chris Evans) sees a woman, Brooke Dalton (Alice Eve), drop her phone while running to catch a train. She misses the train and returns to the station where Nick returns her broken phone. When he finds her standing outside the terminal she confesses that she has just been robbed and is trapped in the city. He offers to pay for a cab to take her to Boston but his debit card is declined and his credit card has expired. When he tries to call a friend to come lend him the money he finds his phone has died. Nick offers to try to pay for a room for Brooke for the night, but she insists that she needs to reach Boston by morning.

Nick decides to help Brooke find her missing purse. They are able to track it down at a sweatshop that deals in stolen purses. Nick heads inside to retrieve the purse while Brooke uses a payphone to call her husband. After using the phone, she then gets a couple of police officers passing by to investigate the building Nick is in. The sweatshop owners get spooked, punch Nick, and run out along with the bag. Nick and Brooke then head for the wedding of a friend of Nick's, hoping to borrow money. Along the way, Nick and Brooke open up more about why they're in New York. Brooke had just sold a painting and was going to surprise her husband by coming home early. Nick has an audition for a band that he has wanted to play with for a while. Instead of ending up at the wedding, they stumble upon an event where they are mistaken for members of the band. Nick and Brooke perform "My Funny Valentine" and flee when the real band shows up. After their last-ditch attempt to get a bus to Boston fails for lack of funds, Brooke borrows a man's phone, calls a friend, and begs her to retrieve a letter she has left for her husband that she does not want him to read.

Elated that her problem is now solved, Brooke offers to go to Nick's friend's wedding and pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his ex, Hannah. At the reception, Nick sees Hannah, but after being introduced to her new boyfriend, he leaves abruptly. Outside, Nick tells Brooke that this was the first time he had seen Hannah since she rejected his marriage proposal and broke up with him six years ago. At Brooke's insistence, Nick goes back to speak to Hannah and discovers that she is pregnant and that their relationship is truly over. Wandering around the city, the two find a psychic who is still open. After he reads her future, he allows Brooke to use his phone and she learns her friend could not get into her home to retrieve the letter.

After they leave the psychic, Brooke reveals to Nick that she discovered that her husband was cheating on her. Though he ended the relationship, she discovered that he was going to see his mistress again. Devastated, she wrote him a letter ending the marriage and went to New York for work. However, during her trip she received a phone call from her husband saying he was coming home early, and she realized that he had ended the relationship with his mistress for good.

At a restaurant, Nick tells Brooke that her husband will most likely understand why she wrote him the letter and that if he doesn't, that's that. Brooke, worried about the possible end of her marriage, sneaks out the back of the restaurant and tries to hail a cab to the airport to fly to her mother's in Indiana. Nick appears, frustrated that she tried to bail on him, and they argue about their relationships. They then go to Nick's friend's hotel room. Together, they unwind from the night's adventures. They then share a kiss, write on the back of paintings in the room (a reference to an earlier encounter with a painting with erotic writing on the back of it) and reflect on their night.

In the morning, they return to the train station where they are about to part. Nick picks up a phone from a phone booth and, like an earlier joke, uses it as a "time machine" and pretends to call himself in the past, saying that he will meet a woman and "you will need her more than she needs you". They share one last kiss and finally depart. On her way home, Brooke finds a guest service paper that she and Nick filled out at the hotel. On the bottom it says, "Turn over". After reading what was on the back, she smiles.

Rating: 10 Stars

Demolition, 2015 starring Jake Gyllenhaal

 Demolition is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Bryan Sipe. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, and Judah Lewis. The film opened the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically released on April 8, 2016, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

TRAILER

PLOT

Davis is a successful Private Equity Investor at a firm founded and run by his father-in-law Phil. His wife, Julia, is driving them when they are struck by another vehicle, killing Julia. Recovering in the hospital, he attempts to purchase some candy from a vending machine which malfunctions. Davis drafts a complaint to the vending machine manufacturer that includes some venting of his personal experiences. This leads to a series of conversations with a customer service representative, Karen Moreno, in which they end up sharing details of each other's life burdens. Karen appears to be the only one he talks to, though he tells his stories in an understated and unemotional style. He brings this same unemotional process to work, which he has returned to much earlier than anyone expected. Davis does tell one other person, a fellow commuter train rider, that he realizes that he didn't love Julia because he doesn't feel "...sad, or pain, or hurt...". When the commuter prompts the question, "What do you feel?" Davis abruptly stops the train.

Davis's changing emotional state causes him to behave erratically. He notices that he is being followed by a green station wagon. The only thing Davis seems to connect with is trying to understand what's inside things, using a small toolkit to dismantle his household appliances, his work computer, a bathroom stall—eventually telling Phil that he has an urge to dismantle a 120-year-old grandmother clock in Phil's office.

Karen follows Davis, talking with him on his commuter train without revealing her identity. She mistakenly leaves some identification, and Davis is sufficiently moved to track her down at home, where she lives with her boyfriend and boss, Carl, and her 15-year old troublemaker son, Chris. When Carl goes on a long business trip, Davis bunks at her house, where they develop a deep platonic friendship. Chris initially dislikes Davis, but later grows not only to like him but to help Davis cope, while Davis becomes his mentor in return.

Davis joins his in-laws in funding a foundation in Julia's name that will award an annual scholarship; during interviews, Davis behaves disrespectfully towards one of the award candidates, and Phil asks him to sign a transfer of his beneficiary rights in Julia's $2.6 million life insurance policy to the scholarship fund in her name. Davis purchases demolition tools from a hardware store (and, later, a bulldozer) and, with Chris's assistance, destroys his house. When Davis finds an ultrasound of Julia's from the previous year, he is devastated that she failed to inform him.

A climactic night impacts everyone. Davis brings Karen to the party for the scholarship winner, greatly troubling Julia's parents. A young man makes an inappropriate advance on Karen, and she later laughs out loud when he is introduced as the scholarship winner. Davis announces to everyone that Julia had been pregnant and kept it secret. Julia's mother tells him his wife was seeing someone else, the child was not his, and she had an abortion. Returning to Karen's house, Davis finds Carl has returned and is reading the letters Davis wrote to Karen. Carl assaults Davis, while Chris receives a brutal group beating after coming out as gay.

Davis visits his wife's grave and the green station wagon arrives; a man carrying flowers gets out of the car. He turns out to be Michael, the driver of the car that killed Julia. Davis forgives Michael and he experiences flashbacks of his wife and him together and he finally cries, bringing closure.

Davis has turned a corner. He reconciles with Julia's parents, asking Phil to contribute to refurbishing a carousel – destined for demolition – as a memorial for Julia.

Davis receives a letter from Chris saying that he is recovering from his beating, his mother has left Carl, and Davis must be at Pier 54 at a particular time, which results in Davis witnessing the demolition of some waterfront buildings across the Hudson River. Chris watches Davis through binoculars from a nearby vantage point. In the final scene, Davis joyously joins a bunch of kids running as he races ahead accomplishing his childhood memory and desire for winning a race since he always used to lag behind in his childhood.

Rating: 10 Stars