ayhmie’s thoughts’

A prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter named D’Leh’s journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe. When a band of mysterious horse-riding warlords raid the Yaghal camp and kidnaps his heart’s desire - the beautiful Evolet along with many others, D’Leh is forced to lead a small group of hunters south to pursue the warlords to the end of the world to save her. Driven by destiny, the unlikely band of warriors must battle saber-toothed cats and terror birds in the Levant.

In a tree farm, three musically inclined chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, find their tree cut down and sent to Los Angeles. Once there, they meet the frustrated songwriter David Seville, and despite a poor house wrecking first impression, they impress him with their singing talent. Seeing the opportunity for success, both human and chipmunks make a pact for them to sing his songs. While that ambition proves a frustrating struggle with the difficult trio, the dream does come true after all. However, that success presents its own trials as their unscrupulous record executive, Ian Hawke, plans to break up this family to exploit the boys. Can Dave and the Chipmunks discover what they really value amid the superficial glamor around them?

Taken is a 2008 French action thriller film starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. It is based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and was directed by Pierre Morel. Neeson plays a former Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary operative who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped by slave traders while traveling in Europe.

Decorated and highly-skilled CIA Special Activities Division officer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has recently retired. Though his frequent absences led to his divorce, he remained a loving, albeit distant father to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). Hoping to bond with Kim, an aspiring singer, Bryan buys an expensive karaoke machine for her 17th birthday. But his gift is upstaged by Kim’s wealthy stepfather, Stuart (Xander Berkeley), who gives her a horse at her party.

Later, Bryan’s former CIA colleague, Sam (Leland Orser), hires Bryan for a one-night job with him: bodyguards for the famous singer, Sheerah (Holly Valance). After fending off an armed attacker, Bryan earns Sheerah’s gratitude and a promise to help with Kim’s musical aspirations. Kim invites Bryan to lunch the next day, but before he can share his good news, he discovers his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), is also there; the lunch is actually a set-up to persuade Bryan to sign a parental consent form allowing Kim to travel to Paris with her 19-year-old friend, Amanda (Katie Cassidy), who is visiting relatives there. Lenore is angry when Bryan refuses to sign, and Kim, upset, tearfully rushes out. Wanting to win back his daughter’s favor, Bryan reluctantly agrees, but is outraged when he discovers later the girls are actually following a U2 concert tour throughout Europe, and irate that Lenore dismisses the dangers. Unfazed, Lenore guilts Bryan into letting Kim go.

In Paris, Kim and Amanda meet an attractive stranger named Peter (Nicolas Giraud) who suggests sharing a taxi, and also invites them to a party. But events soon turn sinister when, after Kim and Amanda are dropped off, Peter calls someone on his cell phone, giving them the apartment’s address and information about the girls. Kim, meanwhile, learns that Amanda lied—they are actually staying at the apartment alone—a fact Amanda revealed to Peter.

While talking to Bryan on her cell phone, Kim witnesses Amanda being abducted in another room. Bryan warns that she will be taken as well, and instructs her to shout out information about the kidnappers as he tapes the call. Sam analyzes the recording and determines the kidnappers are the Albanian Mafia operating in Paris who largely deal in sex slaves (Human trafficking). On average, these kidnapped girls have 96 hours (four days) before never being found again.

At the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Bryan locates Peter as he lures another victim into a taxi. Attempting to escape, Peter is hit and killed by a truck. Bryan contacts an old friend, Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin), who works for French Intelligence. Though doubtful Kim can be found, he provides information on where Albanian pimps and their prostitutes operate. Navigating his way through Paris’ seedy underbelly, Bryan eventually locates a house where Kim might be. He bluffs his way in, and, identifying a gang member’s voice from the phone recording, kills nearly everyone there. Amanda is found dead from an apparent overdose, but Kim is already gone.

Mindful of the 96-hour deadline, Bryan tortures the surviving gang member, Marko, into revealing that Kim was sold to Patrice Saint-Clair (Gérard Watkins). At Jean-Claude’s apartment, Bryan confronts him about his illegal Albanian dealings and threatens to kill Jean Claude and his wife to obtain Saint-Clair’s address.

At Saint-Clair’s, Kim is being auctioned in a darkened room. Before Bryan can rescue her, he is overpowered and Saint-Clair orders him killed. Bryan escapes, killing Saint-Clair’s henchmen, then forces Saint-Clair to reveal Kim’s whereabouts before fatally shooting him. Bryan boards the yacht belonging to the Arab sheikh who bought Kim, killing him and his guards. Bryan and Kim return to the United States, and, shortly after, Bryan surprises Kim with a visit to Sheerah’s house to help Kim launch a singing career.

The plot is loosely based on the story of Special Forces Colonel William Hillar.

A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she’s hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah’s teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school’s spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah’s ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah’s best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah’s life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya’s permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson’s 1993 biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It.