Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne

Oh my goodness! This will be short and sweet and to the point so that I may keep the secrets. This was, of course, a wonderful addition to the story. However, I am finding it difficult to consider this an official part of the series. I must see the play in person now!

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Poster for "X-Men: Apocalypse"

The third installment of Bryan Singer's X-Men prequels is here. James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender return to reprise their roles. New characters are introduced to the series making fans of the X-Men excited for the possibilities.

While there are some good elements to the film, it fell flat in other areas. The hype was high for this film, but once it premiered, nothing was said about it. "X-Men: Apocalypse" was not a bad film. The group of people I went to watch it with, all enjoyed it and they are fans of the characters and comics albeit they are not hardcore fan boys. I know nothing about the comics and while I do enjoy superhero films, if you've read my previous reviews, you know I'm not enthusiastic about them either.

This film was not memorable. Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was okay, but most of his screen time was spent talking about how great and powerful he was. Isaac has proved to be capable of much more. The prequel trilogy had a good start, a powerful middle and an ending that didn't seem sure of what to do with itself. Overall, I found the film to be okay.

I promise I'm not bashing on the film as it did keep me entertained. However, the film was easily forgotten as it had none of the controversy (since that can be a good thing) of "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice", although this film is the superior of the two. "Captain America: Civil War" was an outstanding film and there's no way this film held a candle to its Marvel rival. This film's biggest crime was premiering when it had to compete with a hyped up DC film and an awesome (but different) Marvel film. It was easy for it to fade into the shadows.

Once again, Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender), switches from good to evil to back again just as he has done in the previous two films. Erik is living in Poland ten years after his failed attempt to take over the world. This film does introduce a lot in a short period of time and it does feel rushed. Anyway, it's while he is living in Poland that Erik experiences something that makes him go from good to bad. There are cool elements to the film, but small details like this make Bryan Singer's trilogy tiring.

The main thing the film does is introduce new characters and re-introduce the audience to old ones. It's cool to see new characters interact with fan favorites and think about the possibilities of future collaborations. In this film we are introduced to Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and we get more acquainted with fan favorite Quicksilver (Evan Peters). With so many characters to meet it's easy to see why Singer skips over their backstories and even quickens Erik's transformation.

Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) is back in this film, although I had forgotten she was ever in the series at all. Singer makes sure to show flashback to "X-Men: First Class", but those didn't help. Angel (Ben Hardy) and Psylocke (Olivia Munn) are in this film as well and they were disappointing additions to the film. This brings us to the main problem of the film: the villains. The only reason Magneto isn't as lame as Apocalypse and the other "horsemen" is because he's been in the series since the beginning with Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).

At the beginning we see Egyptians succeeding in destroying the pyramid where Apocalypse is transferring himself into a new body. When he reawakens, he seems terrifying as the first act of evil we see him do is decapitate people with sand and bury them into walls of buildings. After that though, Oscar Isaac is only left to talk about how powerful he is. Isaac is talented and does it well, but it makes for an uninteresting villain. There was a lot of buildup for this guy as he had been around since the time of the ancient Egyptians and nothing exciting happened.

The Wolverine cameo was cool. The film was too, but it suffered from rushed character development and boring villains.

Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016)

It's been 12 years since the last Barbershop film, but the latest installment manages to bring back the majority of the actors from its predecessors. The titular barbershop is located in Chicago's Southside, and as a father Calvin (Ice Cube) must deal with the escalating violence and the possibility that his son may join one of the city's gangs. Director Malcolm D. Lee handles the subject with grace while also promoting the idea that many strides can be made for social progress by the average individual wanting to see change. Of course, the main heart of the story comes from the barbers and their clients as they discuss race and sex in poignant but funny ways.

Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Producer: Robert Teitel, George Tillman Jr., Ice Cube, Malcolm D. Lee, Becki Trujillo, Ronald Muhammad, and Jeff Kwatinetz
Cast: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Regina Hall, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Anthony Anderson, Jazmin Lewis-Kelley, JB Smoove, Common, Nicki Minaj, Lamorne Morris, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Margot Bingham, Deon Cole, Troy Garity, Michael Rainey Jr., Diallo Thompson, Tyga, Jamal Woolard, and Renell Gibbs

Miracles From Heaven (2016)

Genre: Drama, faith
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Queen Latifah, Martin Henderson, John Carroll Lynch, Brighton Sharbino
Director: Patricia Riggen
Release Date: March 16, 2016
Runtime: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG

Miracles From Heaven is the latest faith-based film starring Jennifer Garner as Christy Beam whose daughter gets cured from an incurable disease by a God given miracle. Based on true events, Beam's daughter fall 30 feet down a tree and the trauma heals her intestinal disease.

Initially Beam is told her daughter is lactose intolerant or having a bad case of acid reflux, but Beam isn't convinced and pushes for additional testing. When the real problem is revealed, she and her daughter Anna, travel to Boston to meet with the best pediatric gastroenterologist in the country. Dr. Nurko treats Anna until she is miraculously cured. The circumstances in the film may be hard to believe, but that is the main message.

Overall the film is one that makes the audience feel good. Jennifer Garner delivers a strong performance as a mother desperate for answers as she sees her daughter suffering.

This film is certainly meant for a specific audience. It is a feel good film meant to tell a true story. Whether it is believable not is up to the audience to decide.

4/5 stars

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Charlize Theron reprises her role as Ravenna, the evil queen from the film Snow White and the Huntsman. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Eric the Huntsman. Joining them in the film are Jessica Chastain as Sara, Eric's wife and fellow Huntsman, and Emily Blunt as Queen Freya, an Elsa wannabe. With a cast this good, there were high expectations for this film.

Plans for a Snow White and the Huntsman sequel had been announced, but the whole lead actress/director cheating scandal were revealed and Rupert Sanders was immediately fired from directing its sequel. While nothing was ever said of Kristen Stewart being fired from the project, her Snow White is only mentioned and seen briefly in this prequel/sequel. Whether the scandal changed the nature of the sequel may never be known, the film focuses solely on the Huntsman. In fact, the Huntsman is the only character from the original film to get majority of the screen time. Ravenna is reduced to the beginning and ending the film with the new characters getting more of the focus.

The Huntsman: Winter's War is a prequel and a sequel as it tells the story of the huntsman getting his training years before helping Snow White defeat the evil queen. He and the other huntsmen were child soldiers enlisted by Ravenna's sister, Queen Freya. While Freya is cool, her powers are overshadowed by Disney's Elsa. Elsa is still on audience's radar and any ice queen to come after Elsa will be given unfair comparisons. It's a shame as Emily Blunt does a fine job as the ice queen, but her powers seem like a gimmick to draw fans of the Disney queen into this film.

Eric and Sara (Chastain) fall in love and after years of fighting for the queen decide to leave her kingdom together. Freya hates love and decides to kill Sara and exile Eric. After the exile, we fast forward seven years. Ravenna has been defeated and Snow White rules the South. Freya decides to steal her sister's mirror in order to be all powerful and able to conquer Snow White's kingdom. The film should have stuck to being either a prequel or a sequel, not both as this added unnecessary plot elements.

The film constantly has to explain loose threads in the story to keep it cohesive. It's an interesting story, but one that does try hard at times to be cool.

The Huntsman: Winter's War is directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. While he makes the film visually interesting, there are other things that needed to be fixed. Charlize Theron is a wonderful actress, but she seemed stuck in playing evil and nothing else. Other great talents, namely the dwarves, were reduced to nothing more than comedic relief when it's obvious they could have added more overall fun to the film.

It is possible this is not the sequel the filmmakers planned to make when they wrapped Snow White and the Huntsman. The story could have worked better had the cast had more material to work with and had the storytellers decided to focus on one thing or another. As it is, the film tries too hard to keep the story tied to the original instead of focusing on the Huntsman's story no matter where it led.

Stonehearst Asylum (2014)

Rating: 3/5 stars

Based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, we are taken to "Stonehearst Asylum" in Scotland where no one is as they seem.

Dr. Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at Stonehearst Asylum to complete his medical training. The residents of the asylum are happy and aren't treated as one would expect. Dr. Lamb (Ben Kingsley) cares for his patients. Dr. Newgate is immediately taken by Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) and when she warns him to leave, he realizes life at the asylum may not be as perfect as it seems. He begins to question the work of Dr. Lamb and caretaker Mickey Finn (David Thewlis) especially when he discovers a man by the name of Salt (Michael Cane) who claims to be the actual doctor for the asylum.

Director Brad Anderson does a wonderful job in keeping the audience questioning the characters and their intentions. The cast is awesome and all the performances are note worthy. The film itself is great as it makes one think as to what really is the best way to treat someone who is deemed a mad man.

The film is aware of the plight of those that are mad and the ways in which they were treated in the past. When the twist is revealed it did catch me off guard, but the overall reveal of who was sane and who was not could have been better. Intriguing and clever, the film is able to keep you guessing.