DVD Patrol: What's New For The Summer Season?
Published: May 23rd, 2014
By: Todd Campbell

By Todd Campbell

Correspondent

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Theater, Patrollers! Just as we've been promising, the Toddster has been busy catching the newest movies that have started off the summer movie season. Some have been pretty good and not so much. Here we go with the latest Toddster's Takes.

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Transcendence – There are those in the World that are always trying to make the World a better place. However, there are also those who may not like the way someone goes about it. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) was one of the leading authorities in computer science and artificial intelligence. During a seminar, he's speaking about the latest advances and just how far we should go with them. Will is shot by someone attending but isn't injured seriously. At least not at first. The person who shot him was a member of an organization that wants to stop Artificial Intelligence before it can go too far. The bullet Will was shot with was laced with a radioactive tag and now he's suffering from radiation poisoning. His wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and his friend Max (Paul Bettany) think they have a way to save him by uploading his mind into their A.I program. They are shocked when their work is successful and now Max isn't sure they if should keep going. Evelyn doesn't care because she just wants Will back. Later, Max is kidnapped by Bree (Kate Mara) who's the leader of the people who hurt Will. How far will Evelyn go to bring Will back and or will it be too late?

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The Toddster's Take – This was a movie that wasn't hard to follow and does make you think a little bit. But the story was too bogged down with all things like just how far should we go with machines and should we save the man? Movies are supposed to be escapes and not so much to see something that makes your brain hurt. I've never been a big Johnny Depp fan but if you like him, see it.

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Draft Day- Everybody can be fussy about how you do your job. Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) was the man when it came to putting a football team together and he's got the Number #1 draft pick to add to Cleveland. His love life has also been made a bit tricky when his lady love Ally (Jennifer Garner) tells him he's going to be a Father. It's definitely going to be one of those days. He has his doubts when questions start coming up about the draft pick he's got and he knows he has to do what's best for the team. He decides to trade him and go after players he knows that will make Cleveland great again. Everyone he works with starts to wonder if Sonny has lost it. Will Sonny be able to make the right choices for his life and his team?

The Toddster's Take - Another great Costner sports movie! This one has something for the ladies and the guys too. Costner still has that sense of magic that he brings to this sort of movie just as he has for films like "Bull Durham" or "Field of Dreams." They always talk about actors making comebacks but I always wonder where did they go in the first place (Just Wondering). Costner has come back in a big way. I liked this movie!

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The Amazing Spider Man 2 - Being a hero has never been an easy job. Just ask Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield). A lot has changed since he was bitten by a radioactive spider and he became Spider Man. Getting his powers has cost him a lot after he lost his Uncle Ben. Right after he started being the web slinger, his first major battle cost him the Father (Dennis Leary) of his lady love Gwen (Emma Stone). He made Peter promise to stay away from Gwen so she wouldn't get hurt. That wasn't a promise he could keep but he's haunted by it. Now Gwen and Peter have graduated from high school and now wonder where they go from here. Their relationship is about to be tested. Harry Osborn (Dane Dehaan) has returned to take over Oscorp and learns he's dying. One of Harry's workers Max Dillon (Jaime Foxx) becomes exposed to high volumes of electricity to become Electro and now wants to destroy the City. The two team up to go after Spider Man who they want to use and take down. Is Peter going to be able to stop them and find some type of balance with Gwen?

The Toddster's Take - Going into this I wasn't sure what to expect. There were some comic book aspects that the fans knew were coming and we got it. I won't reveal them but this will make you want to see Spider Man in all his glory. Garfield and Stone bring a real thrill to their relationship for the film and really have embraced these parts really well. Foxx was sizzling as Electro and there are also upcoming elements to make Spider Man's job even harder. Can wait for the DVD.

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Godzilla (2014) - A monster's work is never done. Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) was a nuclear engineer working in Japan trying to get a nuclear plant online. Suddenly disaster strikes and something causes a major meltdown. This haunts him for years with his wife being killed and questions going unanswered. Fifteen years later, his life has changed drastically with him being estranged from his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Ford has his own life now working for the military stopping bombs and enjoying life with his Wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam (Carson Bolde). Joe is caught in Japan trespassing and Ford has to go get him out of trouble. Joe knows he's right but Ford just wants to forget the past and move on. Ford starts to learn that there might be something to his father's theories. Joe and Ford meet Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) who thinks Joe's theories might help him prove the existence of Creatures living in the Earth. One of the creatures Dr. Serizawa thought might be around attacks them and has now attracted the attention of a giant lizard that was thought to have been killed. What will happen next for Joe and Ford and can the Monsters be stopped?

The Toddster's Take - You sometimes learn there is too much story. The makers of the movie took too much time building the story with the family elements and kind of ignored what the Movie was really about. Everyone's favorite monster wasn't in the Movie as long as he should have been. It could have been better but I always like a good Godzilla movie with this one being no. 32. If you think this looks good, take a look.

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There you are, Patrollers! The summer is just getting started with "X-Men:Days of Future Past" opening today. The Toddster will be going to look at it and it will be featured in a future Toddster's Take. More DVDs await next time. We'll be back!




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