McIntosh Trail Online

Movie madness takes over the holiday season

Friday, December 09, 2011 By Tristan Trussell

Over Christmas break, high school students sit and pond er what to do with their time and how to unload the stress of a whole semester. Being at the movie theater instills one with the power to let the imagination work to its extreme, as if one were playing a part in the movie. The movie theater will be a popular place for escapism during the holiday breaks, and as usual, the holiday season brings a plethora of blockbusters to the big screens. Here is a list of a few movies that will be showing during the two-week break. Tower Heist is the number one thriller this holiday season. It involves the hard-core crime of stealing back what belongs to you, with humor lingering around every corner. Tower Heist is the act of an epic group of men who perform a devious crime. This epic group of employees work at a five-star condominium in downtown New York City. Putting all of their minds together, they launch a scheme to steal back their pensions from a dishonest entrepreneur billionaire, with the help of a financial guru Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). Arthur is set under house arrest in his pleasant estate in the outskirts of the city away from the spotlight, due to his knowledge of the stock exchange and banking systems of many high class billionaires, With just the average American pay, Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) earns a humble living as the manager of this luxurious condo called The Tower, which is exactly where their target dwells. Upon learning that the billionaire con-artist has taken their retirement money for his own, the condo employees put every weapon on the table. Josh, who is in charge of Shaw’s security, believes his client has stashed a million dollars somewhere in his wealthy penthouse. The determined employees believe that they can take back their hard earned money, so they attempt the scheme and have prepared to make it past anyone in their way. Josh is accompanied by the dull, brainless concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck), under-educated engineer Enrique (Michael Peña), the safe-cracking-maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), and a depressed old tenant Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), and lastly Josh is able to gather the devious swindler Slide (Eddie Murphy) to help guide the group to success. With Josh being the determined leader of the group, he commands his work force to attack and swindle the hot shot billionaire out his money. Josh and the employees get a chance to retrieve their belongings and finally make the rich man suffer. From November 2 until December 1, Tower Heis t has hit $70,598,755 in the box office worldwide, according to the website Box Office Mojo . They expect the movie’s grossing to increase by several million over the Christmas holidays, possibly making a record at the box office. Viewers who enjoyed the movies Oceans 11, 12, and 13 and Having Fun with Dick and Jane are likely to enjoy this movie as it falls into the same genre of humor. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 , which was released on November 18, is part one of the two-part Twilight finale, which completes the four-movie saga. Twilight fans have been eagerly waiting to experience only half of the series finale. The second film comes out almost a year later, no doubt creating an excruciating waiting period for the film franchise's extremely dedicated fans. Breaking Dawn Part 1 brought the climax of the exciting love affair between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) with a romantic wedding scene that finally unites their love. The marriage creates turmoil in Jacob’s (Taylor Lautner) heart. Jacob, a family friend, werewolf, and enemy of the vampire clan, stands alone once again watching Bella and Edward’s love spiral all the way to a wedding. The newlyweds escape to Esme Island to ultimately consummate their love and vows, not knowing what lies ahead. As the weeks go by, Bella soon discovers that her life is about to change forever in a way that neither she nor Edward had anticipated. The couple is amazed that Bella has conceived a child. With this new development, they seek the aide of Carlisle, the patriarch of the family, as they abruptly return home. Saga fans have been anticipating the war between the Cullen Clan of vampires and Sam’s Werewolf Pack. Jacob decides to leave the wolf pack and follow his heart to fight for Bella even against his own family. Bella’s baby grows and drains the life from her, and Jacob fights his inner emotions to fight for Bella. All the conflicts move the drama to an all-time high. The saga thrills moviegoers and leaves the audience drooling for more when the final scene brings about another major development for its main character, Bella Swan. Breaking Dawn Part 1 replaced Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on the list of the Top 5 highest-grossing movies ever for 3-day domestic weekend totals. The movie brought in 138,122,261 million dollars that first weekend. Critics say that Breaking Dawn Part 2 will surpass both New Moon and Part 1 on the charts. Jack and Jill, released November 11, received a positive humor rating from all ages. Jack and Jill , a comedy, stars Adam Sandler as both Jack Sadelstein and his identical twin sister Jill. Jack Sadelstein is an executive who has everything on his wish list. He has a great wife (Katie Holmes), great kids, and a multi-million dollar home in Los Angeles. Life goes on as normal until the holiday season arrives and Jack’s twin sister Jill comes to town, who is neurotic and has passively-aggressive personality. Jack, who is used to his high-life standards and morals of the big city, is embarrassed by Jill’s rowdy behavior in front of co-workers and family. Jill’s schemes affect everyone around her, especially when the romantic times of her past come to the surface. Jill convinces herself that she can’t find true love, so she sets up an online dating page to see if she gets any offers. When none comes, Jill rants about the site and her zero comments and turns the house into a war zone. With a desperate heart full of hate now controlling her behavior, Jill has no hope of love. Jack, trying to return his house to normal, places a false Craig’s List ad for a hot bodied woman, ready for dating. With over 100 comments, Jill attempts the dating experience and once again she comes up unsuccessful and empty handed. One of Jack’s big clients who is ready to drop his contract, Al Pacino, has a part on their commercial. Al works a deal with Jack and tells him that he will only star in the commercial if Jack forces Jill to go on an extravagant date with him. With Jack’s job on the line and Jill ruining his persona and reputation among his co-workers and clients, Jack has to find away to impress all parties on his list, including his kids, clients, and the intruding burden of a sister, Jill. The Descendants , released November 16, is an adaptation of a book written by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The Descendants, which is set in Hawaii , has been on the top five list at the box office ever since. Matt King, (George Clooney) a husband and a father to kids Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), has to deal with his two daughters after his wife gets in an accident on a boat, and then gets put on life support. Mustering all of his strength, he tries to give his daughters a happy and normal lifestyle like they had with their mom. As Matt tries to handle the family’s multi-million dollar estate and the fact that his wife is in intensive care, he is also trying to help his daughters with the drama in their lives Matt inadvertently learns from his oldest daughter, Alexandra that his wife was cheating on him. With this news Matt tries to figure out his wife’s hidden love-life while parenting his two tough daughters. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - will be released on December 25. Stephen Daldry, director, intends for the viewers to experience a story which will improve their relationship with their parents, by helping them relate better. This movie illustrates the journey of nine-year old boy (Thomas Horn) who loses his father (Tom Hanks) to the terrorist attack on September 11. After two harsh years of mourning for his dad, he and his mother (Sandra Bullock) find an answer as they come across a hidden key in his father’s closet. Finding this key opens all kinds of doors of his imagination. He starts to wonder what this key unlocks and why it was left there. His journey takes him through obstacles a nine-year old boy should never experience. As he searches for answers, he comes close to what his father intended for him to unlock. With a week of finals and a full semester of dedicated work, the movie theaters are a great place to sit down, relax, and contemplate thoughts as the second semester is just right around the corner. Having three movie theaters, NGC Cinemas, Tinsel-Town, and Cinemark, within 25 miles of McIntosh, buying your ticket online might be a good option. Seats will be full during the holiday movie season. Whether going to the movies to get the average sum of popcorn entertainment or casting votes for the next great film performance, viewers should enjoy the movies offered during the 2011 holiday season.