Food & Travel

Plot:    The continuing adventure of Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.  

Cast:   Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly

Rating: PG-13    

Bottom Line:  ***1/2  

 

By Laurence Washington

 

Two recipes in one column….  

Ricky Valenz from Lansing, Michigan is 

making waves in the Tejano music industry.

 

Courtesy photo

 

Studio:     Fox Searchlight (96 minutes)

Plot:     A single flight attendant embarks on a thirty-thousand-mile expedition mission to find a potential suitor.

Cast:     Paula Patton, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Boris Kodjoe, Adam Brody, Trey Songz

Rating:     PG 13

Bottom Line:     ****

 

Left:  Jazmen Darnell Brown is a screenwriter born and raised in Lansing, MI with his mother, Dawn Brown at the screening of his feature film, “The Citizen”.    Courtesy photos

 

By Deborah M. Walker

 

LANSING, MI — For the past five years, Jazmen Darnell Brown a 2003 J.W. Sexton High School graduate had been waiting anxiously for what would be his inauguration into the world of feature film writing. Since 2008, Brown had been working on his project trying perilously to explain his cinema venture to friends and family who were perplexed as to the extent of his work. Brown tried countless times to clarify and the grand scale of his work and now he can finally reveal the result of his endeavor. 

By Samantha Ofole-Prince

 

Studio: Raising Kane Films (112 minutes)

Plot:   An aspiring poet in a troubled marriage starts a new relationship with a new man who helps her find her artistic voice.

Cast:  Shanola Hampton, Elimu Nelson, Omari Hardwick, Tamala Jones, Dorian Missick, Michael Beach

Rating:   R

Bottom Line:     ****

Studio: Universal Pictures (1 hr. 49 min)

Plot: Two crooked undercover officers unknowingly lead investigations on each other.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Paul Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden

Rating:     R

Bottom Line:     **1/2

Studio:     Universal (2 hrs. 10 mins.)

Plot:     Agent Luke Hobbs enlists Dominic Toretto and his team to bring down former Special Ops soldier Owen Shaw, leader of a unit specializing in vehicular warfare.

Cast:     Vin Diesel, Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Luke Evens, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and a Souped-up 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger.

Rating:     PG-13

Bottom Line:     ***