A quest for love and breaking free from your comfort zone can be found in 'Paper Towns'

     There are few movies that have been adapted from movies that make me excited. I mean, honestly, how often does Hollywood get it right when adapting a great novel, teen adventure book, or literary classic into a big-budget film. There are exceptions like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games. A more recent example is the premiering The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Definitely on my movie docket for this weekend).

     Lately, it seems that Hollywood has gone down the route to really connect with audiences, both young and old. Mostly young with the adaptions of teen novels. Many teen novels are starting to tackle real issues that could possibly be in the forefront of their minds as they prepare to go into this big, crazy world. One of the best young adult authors of this generation is John Green. Having read all of his novels from Looking for Alaska to An Abundance of Katherines and the best-selling The Fault in Our Stars, his style pulls no punches and reveals the realness of life to teens while also appealing to adults in their mid-twenties and on.

    This summer, another one of John Green's novels will come to theaters in Paper Towns.

     Paper Towns tells the tale of Quentin "Q" Jacobson (Nat Wolff) and his neighbor and crush, Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne). After drifting apart from childhood, they reconnect during one night when she recruits him into a all-night road trip of revenge. The morning after, she doesn't come home and is declared missing. Finding clues that are seemingly left behind for him, Q decides to go and find her. But as he goes deeper into the mystery of Margo Roth Spiegelman, he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for.

     After the success of The Fault in Our Stars, this adaptation is sure to be a decent success in the box office. This film might help establish John Green's ability to make his audience experience "the feels". This won't be as much of a tear-jerker but it's sure to pull at the heartstrings of the audience on some level.

     Paper Towns is set to be released on July 24, 2015.

Disney brings us the ideal future in 'Tomorrowland'

     Disney will always find big money in classic fairy tales and animation. Every now and then, they bring out a live-action movie and it could be a hit or miss. Recently, Walt Disney Pictures have enjoyed the success of adapting fairy tale classics into live films with Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and current box office champion, Cinderella.

     This Memorial Day, Disney looks to bring the idea of one of its famous theme parks to the silver screen.

     In Tomorrowland, grizzled inventor Frank (George Clooney) teams up with optimistic teen Casey (Britt Robertson) to embark on a dangerous mission to unearth the secrets of a place within time and space known only as Tomorrowland where their actions affect the world and themselves.

     In this new trailer, you can see images of the future when Casey touches the mysterious pin: flying vehicles, bright spires of that reflect the sun, everyone seems happy. Utopia. But as we have learned, things are never as they seem. This is why you call Clooney in to help save them. With this film, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2, San Andres, and Mad Max: Fury Road, the early part of the Summer movie season looks bright.

    Directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), Tomorrowland is scheduled for release May 22.

Movie Review - Will Smith's movie resurgence comes into view with Focus

     With the quick success of Fifty Shades of Grey dying quickly, any movie with star power had the opportunity to overtake the romantic drama's throne of dominance. It turns out a former box-office king was in the right place in the right time with his own romantic crime drama.

     Focus is the story of Nicky (Will Smith), a veteran con artist in his latest scheme, who encounters a woman from his past, Jess (Margot Robbie) - now an experienced femme fatale - who throws his plans out of sync.

     There is more to the story, of course. If you have watched the trailer, you hear Smith's voiceover "There is no room for a heart in this game." It's obvious that Jess gets under his skin, a look of surprise crossing Nicky's face when he sees her descent from the stairs in a stunning red dress. When it comes to a movie about con artists, you know it will be filled with twists and turns. Focus had a bit too many but the star power of Smith and Robbie's chemistry and the glamorous setting is enough to help the film along and not lose the story along the way.

 
     This movie is Smith's first starring role since After Earth (Who wants to be reminded of that?). While it's not his typical big-budget type of film, working with a smaller budget seemed to work better for Smith. His character was smooth and fully believable that someone like this could exist in the world. Robbie's Jess was funny and adorable to watch but displayed that her character can handle her own against Nicky with some experience under her belt after leaving from under Nicky's wing.  I couldn't think of a better female lead for Smith than Robbie's Jess. Still coming off the success of The Wolf of Wall Street, teaming up with another A-lister will only help Robbie in the long run.

     Honestly, I think this film benefits Will Smith than Robbie because he needed a good film. Even though the opening weekend did not produce that much financially, Smith needed a mid-level film to help show that he is still a box-office draw. He might have rested on his past experience and that hurt him but Smith displayed that he still has some magic left. With the announcement of joining 2016's Suicide Squad, Will might be showing that former Fresh Prince can still ascend to the throne of the Box Office.