Mark Vahradian Movies
A poor but ambitious young man strives to make good in one of the most competitive institutions on Earth in this military drama. Jake Huard (James Franco) is a young man from a small Maryland town who grew up in a blue-collar family with few opportunities. Wanting to make something of himself after completing high school, Jake set his sights on attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he narrowly makes the cut and becomes one of the 1,200 applicants selected for the freshman class. Jake finds that life as a "plebe" is intellectually challenging and physically punishing, and he soon develops a powerful adversary in Midshipman Lt. Cole (Tyrese Gibson), his training commander, who pushes Jake to the limit to see if he has what it takes. Standing on the razor's edge of failing as both a student and a soldier, Jake makes a brave but dangerous gesture toward proving himself by entering the Brigade Championships, a Naval boxing competition where he'll go into the ring against the best fighters in the Navy -- including Lt. Cole. Jake soon has one person on his side when he strikes up a friendship with Ali (Jordana Brewster), a pretty young officer who believes Jake has what it takes to go the distance. Annapolis also stars Donnie Wahlberg, Chi McBride, and Vicellous Shannon; the film was directed by Justin Lin, who debuted with the acclaimed independent feature Better Luck Tomorrow. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, (more)
A resourceful teenage super-sleuth finds her investigative skills put to the ultimate test as director Andrew Fleming and screenwriter Tiffany Paulsen revive the character originally made famous by author Carolyn Keene. Upon leaving her quaint hometown of River Heights and arriving in Los Angeles with her father, Carson (Tate Donovan), precocious small-town teen Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) enrolls in Hollywood High and discovers just how different life on the West Coast really is. A true original in the land where Rodeo Drive dictates what's "in" at any given moment, Nancy stands apart from the pack as much for her penny loafers as for her sincere, non-acerbic attitude and keen study skills -- all of which make the non-ironic goody two-shoes an object of scorn for fashion-conscious mean girls Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz). Concerns about how to fit in soon take a back seat to more pressing issues, however, when Nancy, having previously promised her worried father that she would give up sleuthing, stumbles across a series of clues that may lead her to find out what caused the death of beautiful Hollywood movie star Dehlia Draycott -- who perished years ago under particularly mysterious circumstances. Upon discovering that she and her father are currently residing in the very same mansion that Draycott once called home, the prospect of solving one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries simply proves too tantalizing for the brilliant young detective to resist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, (more)
- 2010
Warren Ellis' acclaimed Wildstorm comic series is adapted in this Summit Entertainment production starring Bruce Willis as a retired government hitman who gets targeted by the same outfit he once worked for. Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren co-star, with Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler's Wife) directing from a script by the Whiteout writing team of Erich and Jon Hoeber. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 2010
Director Phillip Noyce teams with screenwriters Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) and Brian Helgeland (Mystic River) to craft this thriller starring Angelina Jolie as dedicated CIA officer Evelyn Salt, who is accused by a defector of being a Russian spy. With each attempt Salt makes to prove her innocence, her mentor, Winter (Liev Schreiber), only grows more suspicious of her true motivations. The longer she eludes capture by ambitious CIA agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the higher the stakes get. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, (more)
The interstellar battle between the Autobots and Decepticons rains destruction down on planet Earth as director Michael Bay adapts Hasbro and Takara's popular Transformers franchise into a big-budget, live-action summer tentpole extravaganza in this ambitious sci-fi action feature starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Bernie Mac, John Turturro, Jon Voight, and, of course, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Long ago, on the planet of Cybertron, a massive, powerful alien race divided into two factions, the noble Autobots, and the devious Decepticons. They fought for the sole access to a talisman known as the Allspark, a cube with the capacity to grant infinite power, and eventually the Autobots smuggled it off the planet's surface, hiding it in an unknown location on Earth. Now, hundreds of years later, the Deceptacons have come looking for it, and if the Autobots don't find it first, the Earth will be enslaved or destroyed by the evil aliens' use of its massive power. The Autobots don't know where the cube was hidden, but the information may be stored in the most unlikely of sources, as a gangly young Earthling named Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) who's just picked up his first car, has a strange connection to the Allspark's history, making him the unlikely ally of these enormous creatures, as they fight for humankind's survival and the chance to return home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, (more)
- 2009
- PG13
- Add Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to QueueAdd Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to top of Queue
Michael Bay returns to helm the sequel to the highly successful big-screen adaptation of the Transformers toy line for DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. Much of the original cast returns for the second installment, including Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro, with Rainn Wilson joining in the fun as a college professor. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, (more)
