Here we go again. For the second time this year, Hollywood is giving us an action flick that revolves around a group of terrorists easily seizing the White House and the lone hero trapped within trying to stay alive, save the president and, in essence, save the world. Although the concepts of the two movies are exactly identical, the two couldn’t be any more different in executed style and tone.

Olympus Has Fallen placed Gerard Butler in the heroic Die Hard-esque role, but White House Down has given it to Channing Tatum. Olympus took a dark, gritty and very R-rated approach to the story, but that of White House Down is campy, comedic and fluffy, perfect for PG-13 blockbuster appeal. While Olympus went for mouthy John McClane laughs, WHD employs cheesiness, over-the-top unbelievable action and a constant tongue-in-cheek vibe.

At this point, director Roland Emmerich is no longer trying to make movies that are actually good. He appears to be caught up in his own stereotype of making big-budget nonsensical action movies. Just as Sam Raimi did with his first Evil Dead sequel, Emmerich is now intentionally adding layers of campiness in an attempt to drive out the laughs.

Even ...

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Interested in joining us for a special IMAX 3D advance screening of PACIFIC RIM being held on Monday, July 8 at 7PM in Sandy, Utah? Click here for your chance to download a printable pass for you and a guest! Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY!

In theaters July 12, 2013 in 3D, 2D and IMAX
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim.

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end.

To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge ...]]>

Interested in joining us for a special IMAX 3D advance screening of PACIFIC RIM being held on Monday, July 8 at 7PM in Sandy, Utah? Click here for your chance to download a printable pass for you and a guest! Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY!

In theaters July 12, 2013 in 3D, 2D and IMAX
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim.

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end.

To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge ...

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Do you want the chance to see an advance screening of DESPICABLE ME 2 in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 27 at 7:00PM? Text the word GRU and your zip code to 43549 for your chance to win an admit four pass to see the film! (Example text: GRU 80221) Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! DESPICABLE ME 2 opens in theaters everywhere on July 3!

DESPICABLE ME 2 (Universal)
Rated PG for rude humor and mild action.
Genre: 3D-CG comedy adventure
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Elsie Fisher, Dana Gaier, Moises Arias
Directed by Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin
Written by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio
Produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainments worldwide blockbuster Despicable Me entertained audiences around the globe in 2010, grossing more than $540 million and becoming the 10th-biggest animated motion picture in U.S. history. In summer 2013, get ready for more Minion madness in Despicable Me 2.

Chris ...]]>

Do you want the chance to see an advance screening of DESPICABLE ME 2 in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 27 at 7:00PM? Text the word GRU and your zip code to 43549 for your chance to win an admit four pass to see the film! (Example text: GRU 80221) Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! DESPICABLE ME 2 opens in theaters everywhere on July 3!

DESPICABLE ME 2 (Universal)
Rated PG for rude humor and mild action.
Genre: 3D-CG comedy adventure
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Elsie Fisher, Dana Gaier, Moises Arias
Directed by Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin
Written by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio
Produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainments worldwide blockbuster Despicable Me entertained audiences around the globe in 2010, grossing more than $540 million and becoming the 10th-biggest animated motion picture in U.S. history. In summer 2013, get ready for more Minion madness in Despicable Me 2.

Chris ...

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Didn’t make it last week’s advance screening? No worries! The Reel Place is excited to offer you passes to a second advance screening of WHITE HOUSE DOWN taking place on Tuesday, June 25 at 7PM in Sandy, Utah.

Click here to download a printable pass for you and a guest. Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! No cell phones or small children will be admitted to the screening.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN
Opens Friday, June 28, 2013
www.whitehousedown.com
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, James Woods.

Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nations government falling into chaos and time running out, its up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

Didn’t make it last week’s advance screening? No worries! The Reel Place is excited to offer you passes to a second advance screening of WHITE HOUSE DOWN taking place on Tuesday, June 25 at 7PM in Sandy, Utah.

Click here to download a printable pass for you and a guest. Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! No cell phones or small children will be admitted to the screening.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN
Opens Friday, June 28, 2013
www.whitehousedown.com
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, James Woods.

Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nations government falling into chaos and time running out, its up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

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World War Z was supposed to be released in 2012, but was pushed back to 2013. It’s known that Paramount was dissatisfied with the second hour of the film and that Damon Lindelof was brought in to clean it up prior to massive re-shoots. Nearly every movie requires re-shoots – but not half of a movie’s worth. You’d think that this “mulligan” would ensure that World War Z was truly a satisfying and strong movie – after all, how many bad movies get the opportunity to try again? – but it’s not. If the second half of the theatrical cut is this bland and boring, I can only imagine how bad the original ending was.

One of the weakest aspects of WWZ is the lack of characterization. There are literally three things that we know about our central character (played by Brad Pitt): he’s a father, he’s a husband and he’s a former U.N. investigator. That’s it. After the briefest of introductions, we’re thrown right into the action that’s shown in the trailer. Pitt and family are stuck in the middle of big city traffic when the zombie outbreak kicks off just a few blocks ahead of them. While this ...

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]]> Zombie disease develops… it spreads… WORLD WAR Z!

Having heard good things about the book but seeing rubbery mountains of zombies in the trailer, I went into World War Z truly at neutral; I guess these various bits of input cancelled each other out. Thankfully, Neutral is where I try to be when seeing a movie, anyway, and WWZ was enjoyable… for the most part. Unfortunately, much of its ground has been covered before.

It boasts great acting all around, but WWZ focuses on Brad Pitt as we experience the events through his character, United Nations ex-employee Gerry Lane. Much of the movie is genuinely intense and well-done. It treats what could be a silly subject with all the heft of an actual news event, or documentary. But the rubbery-looking masses of zombies dont help in that regard; perhaps it was best to show that in the trailer so you know its coming? A better idea might have been to fix it before release, since some of the zombie effects elicit laughter instead of inducing fear. Then again, maybe some of the zombiesque ticks were purposefully there, and subject to interpretation to allow the audience a tiny bit of comic relief in an otherwise pretty tense flick.

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I love Pixar’s 2001 film Monsters, Inc. Just like the majority of Pixar’s early films, it’s creative, unique, extremely well made and undeniably loveable. Unfortunately, director Pete Doctor, who further showed his ability to knock it out of the park with Up, is nowhere to be found with Monsters University – and it’s painfully obvious.

All of the great elements from Monsters, Inc are absent in Monsters University. Inc set up this great world from the viewpoint of the monsters who believe that children are deadly, but because their world is powered by the contained energy of the screams of children, they have to scare children in the night. This genius perspective creates a brilliant initiative to help children not be afraid of monsters. The camaraderie of the two central characters, Mike and Sully, is purely entertaining. When the human child “Boo” enters their world and gets them into a great amount of trouble, the film only gets better. Sadly, the key elements that make Monsters Inc are missing from Monsters U.

Monsters University is a prequel to Monsters Inc. You’d think that seeing the creation of Mike and Sully’s friendship would be solid entertainment, but it’s not. For the ...

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]]> Being a die-hard movie lover, I’ll do just about anything to get my hands on swag for a movie that I love. I have more movie paraphernalia than I know what to do with. Those of you that are like me know exactly what I’m talking about – and if you’re excited for WORLD WAR Z, then you’re going to want what we’ve got to give.

In theaters now is Brad Pitt’s 3D blockbuster zombie thriller WORLD WAR Z. Enter to win a pair of Limited Edition WORLD WAR Z RealD 3D glasses by emailing your name and address to Denver@43KIX.com for your chance to win! Experience WORLD WAR Z in RealD 3D in theaters June 21! Winners will be notified by Monday, June 24.