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Having reached for the stars and managed to pull down a miracle, thirty something new parents Mac and Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) seem to be off to a great start together in a great neighborhood. But, when the local chapter of Delta Psi Beta moves into the palatial home next door, red flags are raised and immediate concern for family and property is raised to a new level. Before long Teddy (Zac Efron), Pete (Dave Franco), Scoonie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Garf (Jerrod Carmichael) and the rest of the frat are in an all out war for neighborhood supremacy with the Radner family. Only one can survive, family or frat, and what about graduation?Written and directed with a potpourri of humor angles, there’s something for everyone based on the “throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks” mode of operation; however, this approach comes with the expense that not everything ends up being funny– but when the film works, it really works well. Tempered with quality acting from this now seasoned group of young humorists one could certainly do a lot worse. Meanwhile, production levels remain high and cameo value makes for at least a fun matinee this weekend. Neighbors is rated R.

Still troubled by his parents mysterious disappearance years ago, a now college bound Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) attempts to put the pieces together once and for all. Meanwhile an old school friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), finds himself in a bit of a quandary, he’s just become heir to the throne of Oscorp, the highly experimental and scientific development company; but, Harry also has a debilitating genetic flaw that will take his life at an accelerated rate. Examining Oscorp’s files Harry discovers the key to his survival might exist with Spider-Man. Co-incidentally, electrical genius and mega fan of Spider-Man, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), has come into super powers of his own. Making matters worse, Peter/Spidey is faced with the emotional strain that girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) has put in place. How to keep all parties appeased, it might be too much for Peter to keep unstuck, what will the costs be? Shoehorning what feels like 10 plot lines into one film there are plenty of moving parts to keep track of– story arcs which start with the best intentions, meaty, and rich. But, for all the lengthy setup Director Marc Webb pains himself with on the outset, the film’s pacing seems to lack guidance and comes to an all too tidy bow finish. On the flip side, the cast members are all still strong choices, well considered, and well played. And, special effects look sharp in 3D IMAX technicolor explosions. Even more interesting, Hans Zimmer’s scoring along with assistance from Johnny Marr and Pharrell Williams stands out as a fine blend of contemporary and classical, a cooking method Zimmer has been working at for years, the soup is great chef, nicely spiced! All told, maybe a matinee, and remember this plays out just a few minutes shy of two hours and thirty minutes, go easy on the thirsty two ouncer eh? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is rated PG-13.

With modern technology speeding towards “the singularity,” the turning point where humans become obsolete as computers meet and exceed our intellect, Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) are in pursuit of the same dream, but instead refer to the phenomenon as the mildly friendlier term “transcendence.” But, despite the most noble intentions, a reasonable fear from an underground organization known as R.I.F.T. has elevated to action, the move towards transcendence must be stopped and Dr. Caster must be killed. Conveniently, before his untimely demise a major breakthrough allows Dr. Caster to preserve his intellect via computer, transcendence is reached, now the battle for humans vs. Dr. Caster’s software is on. It’ll take former colleagues Max and Joseph (Paul Bettany and Morgan Freeman)to stop development, but it may already be too late. Oh, I get it, a man creates his own god, instead of a God (Zeus) creates a man (Castor), there’s a blatant little twist on Greek mythology going on here….Caster is Castor, I see what you did there. Meanwhile, what starts as classic interesting sci-fi and philosophy quickly becomes muddled textbook procedure and action with limited creativity or innovation– so much for transcending greatness. A stoic, flat, and uninspired performance from Depp comes across as a bit bland from what we’ve come to expect, mind you, the rest of the cast seem to fit nicely, just can’t win ’em all. But, as it would happen, Director Wally Pfister, no slouch when it comes to cinematography, consistently composes interesting shots making for good art. Scoring is also well thought out as Mychael Danna’s music achieves its intended and appropriate result. So, bittersweet it is, what could have been doesn’t entirely materialize, but you could do worse. Matinee worthy, maybe more, Transcendence is rated PG-13.