Flimmaker's reviews

[Flimmaker1473]

*** and a half
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Spiderman is by far my favorite Super Hero. I grew up watching him swinging in New York. Tobey MaGuire has practically become family.

So naturally when I heard that there would be a Spiderman film without him in it I was skeptical. And when I found it that it was pretty much going to be a reboot I was kind of pissed.
I didn't go into this film with the highest of expectations. But I was excited nonetheless. To see my favorite super hero for the first time since Spiderman 3(which failed on many levels) was going to be a treat. And I am glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.

We all know the story of Spiderman. His real name is Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield). A skinny kid that has been picked on for most of his life. What this film does is add storylines that were never explored. Like what about his parents?

Well his dad Richard Parker (Campbell Scott) is a scientist. Which explains where Peter gets his love for science. And ends up having to leave town. He leaves Peter with uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and aunt May (Sally Field). His partner Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) is not seen again by the family.

We go back to where Peter is an awkward teenage. In this film they switch out Mary Jane for Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who provides the best performance in the film. I got a lot of love for Kristen Dunst. But Emma Stone blows her performance out of the park as far as being Peter Parker's love interest. Emma Stone is simply Gwen Stacy.
Gwen has an interesting story that will be shown in the sequels coming up for sure. But for now she is a girl that Peter wants to get with. But doesn't know how.

In his room he is given information from his uncle Ben about Curt Conner. He googles him and his father. He decides to pay a visit to Oscorp where Connors now works. There he finds out that Gwen is a tour guide there much to his surprise. He also gets that famous bite from that radioactive spider.

Then you know how it is. He finds out in a strange way that he has power. He isn't sure what to do with them. Then he loses his uncle Ben to some robber. And realizes that he should use his new powers to help people.
Twist are the villain for starters and Gwen Stacey's dad who is a cop named George Stacy (Dennis Leary). Leary provides a good performance as Captain Stacy who is looked to lock up Spiderman who he believes has an agenda and is not a vigilante. But he will realize what Spiderman truly is.

Andrew Garfield may not be Tobey Maguire. But he gives a solid performance and Peter Parker/Spiderman.
The films does away with a good bit of what is shown in the original spiderman films and the comic book. But that doesn't make it a lesser movie. There were a few things that I was frustrated with. But with a reboot you must only judge the film on it's merits and not on the merits of the other films.

I know these characters really well. I know them inside and out. It was a fun ride to be on. I hate 3D and I am so happy I don't have to pay the extra money for it. But in a few scenes the 3D actually shows it worth.
The Amazing Spider-Man isn't the best Spiderman movie. But it is always entertaining and in the end gets the message that Spidey always has for us across.

[Flimmaker1473]

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most wanted. ***
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This is the first of the Madagascar films that I have watched. I just never got around to watching them. I am more of a Disney and Pixar guy you see.

I work at a movie theater and there was no one watching the late showing of Madagascar (it is a family movie and it has been out for weeks). So a coworker and I had a private screening.

I was surprised by the humor and beautiful animation in the film. I was wondering if I had been missing out on something.

The film starts with the story continuing from the events of the second film. Alex (Ben Stiller) has a nightmare about himself and his friends still stranded in Africa and finding they have all gotten old. Awaking from his dream, Alex suggests to Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) that they should go to Monte Carlo to get the penguins to fly them back to New York City, which they agree to.
In Monte Carlo, the penguins and the two chimpanzees, Mason and Phil (disguising as the King of Versailles), keep winning in gambling until Alex's gang's attempt to reach them blunders and sparks chaos in the Hotel De Paris. Hotel security calls Monaco Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) to deal with the animals. But rather than capture them live, DuBois desires them, mainly Alex, dead as trophies. During a high-speed chase between the relentless DuBois and the animals in a truck driven by the penguins to reach their aircraft, the animals barely manage to elude her.

In the skies of France, the plane's engines fail again and the plane crashes into a suburban rail yard as the authorities close in. Seeing their only chance of escape is on a circus train, the four larger animals desperately claim that they are circus animals themselves, which convinces circus mates Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short) and Gia the jaguar (Jessica Chastain) to let them in despite the protests of Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston). The animals soon learn from Stefano that they are performing in Rome and London, where they plan to impress a promoter to get them on their first American tour. Before the zoo animals' claim is discredited, the penguins suddenly appear with a deal to purchase the circus themselves, resulting in the pleased departure of all the humans. Meanwhile, Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) falls in love with Sonya the bear (Frank Welker) and goes on a city tour across Rome while the others prepare for the performance at the Roman Coliseum. To the zoo animals' horror, the circus proves so inept that the angered audience demands refunds to the point of chasing the circus to the departing train to London.

En route to London, the zoo gang is in despair of having wasted their money on the failing circus and not being any closer to getting home. Stefano soon reveals to Alex that Vitaly was once their inspiration. Once a professional ring jumper who used to leap through flaming hoops of fire to excite crowds and was always pushing himself to the limit, his attempt at an impossible jump through a flaming pinkie ring ended in disaster when he burned his fur, which he had coated in extra virgin olive oil, which turned out to be flammable, in order to slip through the narrow opening, destroying his confidence in his talent and the whole circus suffered by his example. An inspired Alex then has the train make a stop in the Alps and convinces the performers to rework their act to become the opposite of the successful human-only Cirque du Soleil as an animal-only circus. Heartened by Alex's vision, the zoo animals and the circus animals develop sophisticated acts together and become closer friends in the process, and Alex and Gia find themselves falling in love during their time together.
Meanwhile, DuBois is detained in Rome after causing problems with the local police officers while chasing the animals out of her jurisdiction, but escapes and researches Alex on the Internet, learning he was missing from the zoo in New York. Once free, DuBois recruits her injured men and heads toward the Alps, forcing the animals to proceed to London despite their incomplete rehearsals. In London, the troupe prepares for the promoter in the audience, but Vitaly is discovered packing to leave. Alex convinces Vitaly to stay by reminding him of how he enjoys performing the impossible and suggests that he use conditioner shampoo as a safer lubricant to perform his flaming ring jump. As a result, Vitaly's stunt is performed perfectly, which proves to be the opening of a spectacularly successful Cirque du Solei-esque show. After the impressed promoter arranges for an American tour, DuBois shows up with a paper showing that Alex was missing. Though the penguins are able to foil DuBois's plan to capture Alex, Alex is forced to confess that the four of them are just zoo animals trying to get home, disappointing the others who feel used and lied to.

And what happens next is typical movie ending. But it doesn't mean it isn't nice.

I have to now wonder if I have been missing out. I now want to see the first two Madagascar films. And I want a Circus Afro.

[Flimmaker1473]

Moonrise Kingdom *** and half
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Moonrise Kingdom is the type of film that you describe in just one word: lovely. Wes Anderson has created a world where lovely characters inhabit and act in a way that is just like real life. It is almost a mirror to reality.

I was a boy scout from first grade to sixth grade. So this film interested with that as well. Knowing how sometimes scouts can be mean or join together I wondered what path this film would take.

I went to a stadium theater to watch this film. As there were only six theaters in my state of Maryland that were showing this particular film. Only one was an AMC. AMC has made a commit to show more independent films (which are better than most studio films). So I guess they felt one theater was enough.

The story begins with a lovely classical tune. Then we jump to see Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton. He is smoking a cigarette and making the rounds checking on his scouts. He makes his way to Sam (Jared Gilman). Sam has a big hole in his tent and Scout Master realizes that Sam has escaped.

He goes to the police where he informs Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) that Sam has gone missing. Captain Sharp calls Sam's parents and finds out that they are actually his foster parents. Furthermore he is shocked to find out that they do not want him anymore.

It turns out that Sam's parents are dead and he is an orphan. That he is emotionally troubled. This comes to a shocker for Scout Master Ward.
Captain Sharp goes to home of Walt Bishop (Bill Murray) and Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand). He informs the couple that Sam is missing. You later see Laura ride her bike to Sharp. She smokes his cigarette and holds his hand in a loving way. There is clearly something going on. Little does she know that her daughter Suzy (Kara Hayward) is watching.

Suzy is the oldest of four children and her siblings are boys. She is a troubled kid much like Sam. Only that she has a family. Yet she remains troubled.

Turns out that Suzy and Sam met each other a year earlier when he went into a dressing room for a Church play Suzy was in and took an interest in her. Ever since then they have been pen pals and plotted their escape. Suzy and Sam have no friends. The other boy scouts pick on Sam. The other girls hate Suzy. They understand each other in a way no one else does. They are troubled to others but to them they are special.

Gilman and Hayward give excellent performances not just for child actors, but for any actors. They don't let the star studded cast bring them down. Their performances add more love to the film as the chemistry is clear. They act like kids and learn like kids.

Wes Anderson's direction is brilliant. He takes a simplistic story and makes it into something that you can't look away from. He has created something that most directors don't seem to care for. A realism that makes a movie relate able.

Moonrise Kingdom is a film that just focuses on it's characters and their quirks. Real human being traits. And with it's humble approach it scores on so many levels.
The boy scout in me smiled the whole time in this movie. I wasn't the most popular kid in my troop. Not as bad as Sam. But not as popular. If only I had met a girl like Suzy.

[Flimmaker1473]

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid: *** and a half
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I haven't watched many 40s or 50s films. I am a kids kid. The oldest films I watched are usually from the 80s with a few 70s and 60s films. Minus the Disney Animated classics of course.c

Dead men don't wear plaid is a tribute to those films. Made in Black in white it looks just like a Alfred Hitchcok movie. Only instead of being on your seat, you are laughing the whole time.


In the opening scene, John Hay Forrest (George Gaynes), noted scientist and cheesemaker, dies in a single-vehicle

car accident (represented by the car wreck scene from Keeper of the Flame). In the next scene, private investigator Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin) is reading a newspaper when Forrest's daughter, Juliet (Rachel Ward), enters his office and faints when the paper's headline reminds her of her father's death. Upon coming to, she hires Rigby to investigate the death, which she thinks was murder. In Dr. Forrest's lab, Rigby finds two lists, one titled "Friends of Carlotta" and the other "Enemies of Carlotta", as well as an affectionately autographed photo of singer Kitty Collins, whose name appears on one of the lists. His search is interrupted by a man posing as an exterminator (Alan Ladd, in This Gun for Hire), who shoots Rigby in the arm and frisks the lists from the supposedly dead investigator.


Rigby tracks down alcoholic Sam (Ray Milland, from Lost Weekend) and gets Dr. Forrest's dollar, which has "FOC" (Friends of Carlotta) names scrawled on it — including Kitty Collins and Swede Anderson (Kitty's boyfriend). Rigby tracks down Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner, from The Killers) at the Brentwood Room. He asks if she's one of Carlotta's friends, which causes her to leave abruptly. He trails her to a restaurant, where she ditches her brooch into her soup. Rigby subsequently retrieved brooch contains an "EOC" list, on which all names are crossed out, except Swede Anderson's. Rigby visits Swede (Burt Lancaster, from The Killers) but while Rigby prepares a "java", Swede is killed.

Rigby is also shot, causing Juliet to suck out another bullet. Rigby calls Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart, from The Big Sleep), his mentor, for assistance. Juliet hands over a key from Dr. Forrest's desk, a key to a train station locker. The accompanying note, "most recent rat", tells Rigby to look for locker 1936, the last Chinese Year of the Rat.[1] Upon exiting, she asks Rigby to call with any progress. "You know how to dial, don't you? You just put your finger in the hole and make tiny little circles," a nod to To Have and Have Not. Marlowe arrives, and picks up the EOC list to check against unsolved murders.

This film has that feel of a 50s classic. It never gets away from that. At the same time it is able to have jokes that make sense and land laughs. This is a satire that works well because it isn't trying to get your attention of how funny it is or when you are supposed to laugh.

This could have been made poorly. But with Steve Martin he makes sure it isn't. His performance drives the film. He has his usual charm and comedic timing.

Dead men don't wear plaid is a film that is pretty easy to watch. If you are older and looking for some nostalgia I suggest you watch this. You will get some and laughs as well.

[Flimmaker1473]

Panic Room: *** and half
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David Fincher is a director that knows how to get down right creepy. Even in a movie that you wouldn't expect it he always pulls it out. You look at Panic Room and you don't think it will go there. But it does and well.

Panic Room is a film filled with suspense, tension, and you truly wishing that the mother and daughter will just be able to get out alive.

Recently divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her 11-year-old daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) have just purchased a four-story brownstone on the upper west side of New York City. The house's previous owner, a reclusive millionaire, installed an isolated room used to protect the house's occupants from intruders. The "panic room" is protected by concrete and steel on all sides, a thick steel door, and an extensive security system with multiple surveillance cameras and a separate phone line. On the night the two move into the home, it is broken into by Junior (Jared Leto), the grandson of the previous owner; Burnham (Forrest Whitaker), an employee of the residence's security company; and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam), a ski mask-wearing gunman recruited by Junior. The three are after $3 million in bearer bonds, which are locked inside a floor safe in the panic room.

Now there is a issue here. Junior and Burnham really don't want to hurt anyone. Especially Burnham. They just want the money and to be out. For Raoul it could go either way.

Soon enough Meg realizes that someone is in the house. That three men are there to be exact. She rushes to grab her daughter and runs into the Panic room just getting it closed as Burnham gets there.

Now inside they can't make a call to 911 as their phone line has been cut off. Meg is worried for Sarah. Why? We don't know yet. But it is very serious.

The robbers now have an issue on their hands. Try as they might they cant get them to come out. Burnham who has made Panic rooms informs them that "they are made to keep people like us out".

Meanwhile Meg and Sarah try to get help. Even using a flashlight to send a Morse code message. But it didn't look like it worked. It is revealed that Sarah is a diabetic. That she could potentially die from this. Now the situation is up a notch.

What is so good about this film is that there is no cop outs. Nothing happens conveniently. And everything is plausible. Yet it remains a thriller. The movie's suspense just grows and grows.

Jodie Foster is one of my favorite actresses and is like the girl next door. She puts on a wonderful performance as the mother would do whatever it takes for her daughter to survive. Kristen Stewart is able to hold her own with Foster and even at times out shine her. The two's chemistry as mother and daughter is able to hold the film.

If you don't end up just wishing even if it ends the movie that Meg and Sarah just get out safe and sound. Well I can't help you. Maybe it isn't the movie for you. I know I did.

[The Rodent]

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid... awesome movie, thanks for the review :)

[Flimmaker1473]

Memento: ***
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What if you had short term memory loss? You couldn't remember anything after a certain event. You really wouldn't be able to know your own life. And what if the last real memory you had was when you found out your wife was raped and murdered?

That is what is faced in Christopher Nolan's Memento. A film that makes you think one thing, and shows you the events that lead to that events and makes you think another.

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is this story's protagonist. He uses photographs and writes things on them to remember things, people, and piece things together.

Leonard killed the attacker who raped and strangled his wife (Jorja Fox), but a second clubbed him and escaped. The police did not accept there was a second attacker, but Leonard believes he is called John with a last name starting with G. Leonard conducts his own investigation using a system of notes, Polaroid photos, and tattoos. As an insurance investigator, Leonard recalls one Sammy Jankis, also diagnosed with the same condition. Sammy's diabetic wife repeatedly requested insulin injections to try and trigger his memory, hoping Sammy would remember the previous dose. He did not and as a result she fell into a coma and died.

The color sequences are shown in reverse chronological order. Leonard gets a tattoo, based on instructions to himself, of the license plate of John G. Finding a note in his clothes, he meets Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), a bartender who resents Leonard as he wears the clothes and drives the car of her boyfriend, Jimmy. After understanding his condition, she uses it to get Leonard to drive a man named Dodd out of town and offers to run the license plate to help his investigation. Meanwhile, Leonard meets with a contact, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano). Teddy helps with Dodd, but warns him about Natalie; however, Leonard has written on a photo of Teddy to not trust him. Natalie provides Leonard the driver's license, which shows a John Edward Gammell, the real name of Teddy. Confirming Leonard's information on "John G" and his warnings, Leonard meets Teddy and drives him to an abandoned building, killing him as shown in the opening.



Christopher Nolan create a psychological thriller that doesn't just feed the audience. We see things and think it is the end of it in this movie. But he shows us the events that lead to the situation and allows us to view things a different way.


The pacing is quick, but it never truly gets confusing. And you feel for the guy from the start. He is just trying to piece things in his life together one step at a time.


The twists in the end provide a great surprise and just increases what is good about this movie.


Psychological thrillers can be hard to make in Hollywood. But in this star making film for Christopher Nolan and Guy Pearce they are able to create something that is memorable. And Nolan has gone on to create even better movies.

[Flimmaker1473]

Field of Dreams: ****
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Baseball can be a special thing. It can form a bond. It is after all America's pastime after all. Many fathers and sons have connected through it.

Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is a farmer with a wife and kid in Iowa. He was born in New York where he and his dad would watch the Brooklyn Dodgers play baseball until they left New York. Ray ended up growing distant from his father and going to Berkly University. That is where he met his wife.

Ray is just a normal guy. He does the normal thing. And is a good father and husband.

While walking in his cornfield, novice farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice that whispers, "If you build it, he will come", and sees a baseball diamond. His wife, Annie, is skeptical, but she allows him to plow under his corn to build the field.

Nothing happens, and Ray soon faces financial ruin. Ray and Annie (Amy Madigan) discuss replanting the corn, but their daughter, Karin (Gabby Hoffman), sees a man on the ballfield. Ray discovers that he is Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), a dead baseball player idolized by Ray's father. Thrilled to be able to play baseball again, Joe asks to bring others to play on the field. He later returns from the cornfield with the seven other players banned in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Ray's brother-in-law, Mark, cannot see the baseball players, and warns Ray that he will go bankrupt unless he replants his crops. While in the field, Ray hears the voice again, this time urging him to "ease his pain." After attending a PTA meeting involving a resolution to ban books by author and activist-turned recluse Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones), Ray decides the voice is referring to Mann. Ray finds a magazine interview about Mann's childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and his heartbreak when the team moved to Los Angeles, and convinces Annie that he should seek out the author after they both dream about Ray and Terence attending a baseball game.

Mann denies making the statement in the magazine, but Ray persuades him to attend a baseball game at Fenway Park. Ray hears the voice again, which urges him to "go the distance." The scoreboard shows statistics for a player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, who played one game for the New York Giants in 1922, but never had a turn at bat. Mann eventually admits to sharing the vision, and they travel to Chisholm, Minnesota where they learn that Graham became a doctor, but died 16 years earlier.

This is a film that works so well because they decided not to attempt to make sense of these phenomenons.

They could have made the whole bankers thing corny with some payoff. But they decided not too. All thanks to director Phil Alden Robinson and W.P

Baseball is their passion. You can tell everything in this film is from the heart. They remember the old days of baseball when everything is so pure.

This one particular speech in the film about baseball is so beautiful. You will find yourself reduced to tears. It is all centered on why do they come back from Heaven and play baseball in this man cornfield? Because the game was there life.

This a film that could have gone wrong. But Costner and Madigan gave such excellent and believable performances as a married couple keeps it in tact. They show what it is like to truly have your significant others dream be your dream.

Field of Dreams is not for those who are cold hearted and are not in tuned with their emotions. It is a nice, fragile film that jumps from one fantasy to another.

Field of Dreams for people who have emotions and are willing to cry over a beautiful a movie. No lofty goals. Just modest.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Help: ***
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The Help is a a safe little film that is based of the book written by Kathryn Stockett. It is about black maids in Mississippi during the 1960s.

As a black man I was very interested in how this movie was going to be. Was it going to be edgy and real? Or safe? It was safe. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good.

Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) is a middle-aged black maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son. Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) is another black maid whose outspokenness has gotten her fired a number of times; she has built up a reputation for being a difficult employee, but she makes up for this with her phenomenal cooking skills.

Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) is a young white woman who has recently moved back home to her family's plantation after graduating from the University of Mississippi to find that her beloved childhood maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), has quit while she was away. Skeeter is skeptical, because she believes Constantine would not have left without writing to her.

Unlike her friends, who attended university to find husbands (and are now all married and having children), Skeeter is single, has a degree, and wants to begin a career as a writer. Her first job is as a "homemaker hints" columnist in the local paper. With Constantine gone, Skeeter asks Aibileen, the maid to her good friend Elizabeth (Ahna O'Reilly), for her help in answering domestic questions. Skeeter becomes uncomfortable with the attitude her friends have towards their "help," especially Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her "Home Help Sanitation Initiative", a proposed bill to provide for separate bathrooms for black help because (as she puts it) she believes that black people carry different diseases from white people. Amidst the era of discrimination based on color, Skeeter is one of the few who believe otherwise, and she decides to write a book, The Help, based on the lives of the maids who have spent their entire lives taking care of white children.

The maids are at first reluctant to talk to Skeeter, because they are afraid that they will lose their jobs or worse. Aibileen is the first to share her stories, after she overhears Hilly's initiative, and realizes that the children whom she has been raising are growing up to be just like their parents. Her friend Minny has just been fired as Hilly's maid as a punishment for Minny using the bathroom during a thunderstorm (revealed by Aibileen to have spawned a tornado and killed eighteen people: ten white, eight black), instead of going to use the separate outdoor toilet. Hilly poisons all the other families against Minny, making it impossible for her to find other work, and her daughter is forced to drop out of school to find a job as a maid. Minny initially declines to participate in Skeeter's book research, but later agrees to share her stories. Aibileen helps her find work with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who is married to a rich socialite (Mike Vogel), but is an outcast from the other society ladies, because she was born into a working-class family and her husband is Hilly's ex-boyfriend. Also, unlike Hilly, Celia seems to treat Minny with respect.

Skeeter writes a draft of the book, with Minny and Aibileen's stories in it, and sends it to Miss Stein (Mary Steenburgen), an editor for Harper & Row in New York City, New York. Miss Stein thinks there may be some interest in it, but requires at least a dozen more maids' contributions before it can become a viable book. Believing that the book will only be publishable during the Civil Rights movement, which she believes is a passing fad, Stein advises Skeeter to finish the book soon. No one comes forward, until Medgar Evers is assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi, and Hilly's latest maid is brutally arrested (for attempting to pawn one of Hilly's rings, to pay for her twins' college tuition, after Hilly had refused to give her a loan).


Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) is a middle-aged black maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son. Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) is another black maid whose outspokenness has gotten her fired a number of times; she has built up a reputation for being a difficult employee, but she makes up for this with her phenomenal cooking skills.

Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) is a young white woman who has recently moved back home to her family's plantation after graduating from the University of Mississippi[4] to find that her beloved childhood maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), has quit while she was away. Skeeter is skeptical, because she believes Constantine would not have left without writing to her.

Unlike her friends, who attended university to find husbands (and are now all married and having children), Skeeter is single, has a degree, and wants to begin a career as a writer. Her first job is as a "homemaker hints" columnist in the local paper. With Constantine gone, Skeeter asks Aibileen, the maid to her good friend Elizabeth (Ahna O'Reilly), for her help in answering domestic questions. Skeeter becomes uncomfortable with the attitude her friends have towards their "help," especially Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her "Home Help Sanitation Initiative", a proposed bill to provide for separate bathrooms for black help because (as she puts it) she believes that black people carry different diseases from white people. Amidst the era of discrimination based on color, Skeeter is one of the few who believe otherwise, and she decides to write a book, The Help, based on the lives of the maids who have spent their entire lives taking care of white children.

The maids are at first reluctant to talk to Skeeter, because they are afraid that they will lose their jobs or worse. Aibileen is the first to share her stories, after she overhears Hilly's initiative, and realizes that the children whom she has been raising are growing up to be just like their parents. Her friend Minny has just been fired as Hilly's maid as a punishment for Minny using the bathroom during a thunderstorm (revealed by Aibileen to have spawned a tornado and killed eighteen people: ten white, eight black), instead of going to use the separate outdoor toilet. Hilly poisons all the other families against Minny, making it impossible for her to find other work, and her daughter is forced to drop out of school to find a job as a maid. Minny initially declines to participate in Skeeter's book research, but later agrees to share her stories. Aibileen helps her find work with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who is married to a rich socialite (Mike Vogel), but is an outcast from the other society ladies, because she was born into a working-class family and her husband is Hilly's ex-boyfriend. Also, unlike Hilly, Celia seems to treat Minny with respect.

This film is told too much from a white person's point of view. When in reality the stars are the African American women. Which is the safe approach.

What makes this film really work are the performances. Octavia Spencer kicks ass in this film and gives the best performance. She is able to embody everything that Minny is. Bryce Dllas Howard was amazing as Hilly as well. You end up just really hating her character. And that was the goal. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, and Allison Janney all provide wonderful performances.

There have been more films on this topic far more edgier than The Help. But this a film that can be shown in history class. Don't expect to learn anything new. But you will be entertained and leave satisfied.

[TylerDurden99]

Memento and Field Of Dreams are two of my favourite films.

[Flimmaker1473]

Ice Age Continental Drift: ** and a half
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There is a trend in Hollywood. It seems like every computer animated movie has to be a trilogy or have four installments. Ice Age is no exception.

Ice has been around for ten years. I have gotten to know these characters very well since then. And the animation just keeps improving.

This a movie that the kids will really enjoys. Adults not so much. When I went in the theater was packed with kids. Kids screaming everywhere has their parents tried to control them.

But I give Blue Sky credit. They actually used the 3D in this movie. It actually works. And it looks beautiful.

As in the previous films, the protagonists are the mammoth Manny (Ray Romano, the sloth Sid (John Leguizamo), the sabre-toothed cat Diego (Denis Leary), and, in a parallel storyline, the saber-toothed squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge). Scrat's hunt for acorns triggers the break-up of the Pangaea landmass into the continents as we know them today.

In the meantime, Manny and his wife Ellie (Queen Latifah) deal with their 14-year-old daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) who has a crush on Ethan (Drake). Peaches' best friend, a molehog named Louis (Josh Gad), appears to have a crush on her. When Manny catches Peaches hanging with Ethan after he told her not to, Manny and Peaches have a falling out. Soon after, the breakup of the continent separates Manny from his family. Manny gets stuck on a floating ice raft with Sid, Diego, and Sid's annoying grandmother Granny. A large moving landmass drives Ellie, Peaches, Crash and Eddie, Louis, Ethan, and a herd of other animals towards a land bridge, where they hope to reunite with Manny.

The good parts in this pretty can be pretty funny. The bad parts however are really and corny. It relies on 3D perhaps to heavily to make up for it's dialogue and how it glosses over a few things. As I stated the animation is beautiful. That never seems to issue these days. Just wish they would focus on story telling more now. Though it is better than the second Ice Age installment. Barely.

Kids will love this movie. They will be entertained. I myself was just barely entertained. But then again this movie wasn't made for someone who is almost 20. More like someone who is almost ten.

[Flimmaker1473]

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: ***
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Con men. They have a set of rules. And one goal too. And there is just something intriguing about them. And a good question is can two con men coexist in one town?

This movie gives us that answer.


Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine) is a cultivated and suave British con artist who operates in the deluxe hotels along the French Riviera with the help of his manservant Arthur (Ian McDiarmid) and corrupt local police officer Andre (Anton Rodgers). His signature con is seducing wealthy and morally suspect women and stealing their money. His only concern is a mysterious, anonymous con man known only as "The Jackal" who has been preying on other wealthy victims of late.

When small-time American hustler Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) decides to search for easy marks in Beaumont-sur-Mer, Lawrence's home base, Lawrence believes that the Jackal has shown his face. Worried that Freddy's clumsy antics will scare away his prey, Lawrence has Freddy arrested and put on the next train out of town. However, Freddy meets one of Lawrence's former marks and deduces that the older man is also a crook. Returning to Beaumont-sur-Mer, Freddy forces Lawrence to take him on as a pupil in exchange for his silence. Lawrence attempts to teach the boorish Freddy about high culture with limited success. He also involves him as a subordinate player in his cons, making him play the mentally challenged and socially inept Ruprecht in order to scare away their female targets after their money has been acquired. Freddy, tired of not getting paid and tired of the humiliating part he has to play, decides to strike out on his own.

Since Lawrence believes that there is not enough room in Beaumont-sur-Mer for both of them, the two agree to a bet in order to decide who stays. The first one to con $50,000 out of a selected mark will be allowed to stay, while the other must leave and never return to Beaumont-sur-Mer. The two select Janet Colgate (Glenne Headly), a naive and wealthy American heiress, as their target and embark on their separate strategies while at the same time ruthlessly sabotaging each other. Freddy poses as a psychosomatically crippled soldier who needs to borrow $50,000 for treatment by a celebrated Liechtenstein psychiatrist, Dr. Emile Shauffhausen. But when Lawrence discovers this scheme he pretends to be Dr. Shauffhausen, insisting Freddy's condition is one he can cure with the stipulation that Janet pay the $50,000 fee directly to him.

The plot is used to basically showcase a series of funny events that occur. All of which were very funny to watch. I love the whole Ruprecht thing. It was done really well.

Michael Caine and Steve Martin make an excellent comedic duo. Caine plays more of a straight man, while Martin uses his normal charm, charisma and humor to win us over.

This is a straightforward movie. Not complex at all. But it has a nice redeeming quality with Caine and Martin's chemistry that it works just fine.

[Flimmaker1473]

Ghost World:****
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Teen films are very hit or miss. When the miss they can be really bad. When they hit, they can be just lovely. Ghost World is all hits and then some.

The film follows the lives of best friends Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) during the summer after their high-school graduation. The girls are both social outcasts, but Rebecca is more popular with boys than Enid. Enid's diploma is awarded on the condition that she attend a remedial art class. Even though she is a talented artist, her art teacher, Roberta (Illeana Douglas), believes art must be socially meaningful and dismisses Enid's sketches as "light entertainment".

Shortly after graduation, the two girls see a personal ad in which a lonely man named Seymour (Steve Buscemi) asks a woman he met recently to contact him. With Becky at her side, Enid makes a prank phone call to Seymour, pretending to be the woman and inviting him to meet her at a diner, and when he goes there, the two girls secretly watch and make fun of him. However, Enid begins to feel sorry for him, so a few days later they follow him to his apartment building, where they find him selling vintage records in a garage sale. Enid buys an old blues album from him, and they gradually become friends. . One of her favorite activities is trying to find women for him to date.



I just want to cuddle with this movie. There is so much that is just awesome about it. It is a crazy adventure there never goes in the wrong direction or stops being funny.


Thora Birch and Scarlett Johanasson are perfect. Their chemistry as best friends flows just like in the comic book. Steve Buscemi delivers an excellent performance as well. Here is a man who has been hit hard by life. And see no way out. He makes us for this guy in every scene.


This movie does what every movie should do. It doesn't try to overachieve. It uses the tools it is dealt with and shines. It created this lovely atmosphere.


Ghost World is the example of what Teen films can be when they are made properly. Hopefully more people who make teen films with watch this before they make theirs. We could use more films like this and less films like She's all that.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Shinning: ****
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Isn't it funny that the Shinning is being recognized now after all these years for the great film that it is? Isn't it a shame that Stanley Kubrick isn't alive to see his film great the credit it deserves?

Yes people when this film came out did not give it good reviews. But after many years (Like even 2001 A Space Odyssey) people re evaluated and realized how great of a film it is.

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) arrives at the Overlook Hotel to interview for the position of winter caretaker, with the aim of using the hotel's solitude to work on his writing. The hotel itself is built on the site of an Indian burial ground and becomes completely snowed in during the long winters. Manager Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson) warns him that a previous caretaker got cabin fever and killed his family and himself. Jack's son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), has ESP and has had a terrifying premonition about the hotel. Jack's wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), tells a visiting doctor that Danny has an imaginary friend called Tony and that Jack has given up drinking because he had hurt Danny's arm after a binge.

The family arrives at the hotel on closing day and is given a tour. The African-American[7] chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) surprises Danny by telepathically offering him ice cream. He explains to Danny that he and his grandmother shared this telepathic ability, which he calls "shining". Danny asks if there is anything to be afraid of in the hotel, particularly Room 237. Hallorann tells Danny that the hotel itself has a "shine" to it along with many memories, not all of which are good. He tells Danny to stay out of Room 237.

A month passes; while Jack's writing project goes nowhere, Danny and Wendy explore the hotel's hedge maze. Wendy becomes concerned about the phone lines being out due to the heavy snowfall and Danny has more frightening visions. Jack, increasingly frustrated, starts acting strangely and becomes prone to violent outbursts.

Danny's curiosity about Room 237 gets the better of him when he sees the room's door open. Later, he shows up injured and visibly traumatized, causing Wendy to accuse Jack of abusing Danny. Jack wanders into the hotel's Gold Room where he meets a ghostly bartender named Lloyd (Joe Turkel). Lloyd serves him bourbon on the rocks while Jack complains to him about his marriage.

Wendy later tells Jack that Danny told her that a "crazy woman in one of the rooms" was responsible for his injuries. Jack investigates Room 237 where he encounters the ghost of a dead woman, but tells Wendy he saw nothing. Wendy and Jack argue about whether Danny should be removed from the hotel and a furious Jack returns to the Gold Room, now filled with ghosts having a costume party. Here, he meets the ghost of the previous caretaker, Grady (Philip Stone), who tells Jack that he must "correct" his wife and child.

This could be the great horror film ever. Tense, chilling, creepy as well. The Shining achieves all that. Jack Nicholson is a masterful actor we all know that. But here he subtly goes from a normal guys with his issues to an insane person who wants to kill his family. The character development is "insane"

I am so glad this film is getting the credit it finally deserves. Maybe in heaven Stanley Kubrick is looking down and saying "finally".

[Flimmaker1473]

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: ***
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Argh! Pirates everywhere. The Pirates of the Caribbean series is based on a ride that originated at Disneyland. The ride is one of Disney's most popular attractions. So some thought "hey lets make a movie of it!"

I am glad someone did. These are some of the most funnest pirate films ever made. And At World's end continues the trend.

Okay so we know that Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in Davey Jones's locker and is basically dead. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) go to save Jack Sparrow. But they get help from non other than Captain Barbarossa (Geoffrey Rush).

To control the oceans, Lord Cutler Beckett kills anyone associated with piracy and uses Davy Jones to destroy all pirate ships on the seas. Condemned prisoners sing "Hoist the Colours" to compel the nine pirate lords comprising the Brethren Court to convene at Shipwreck Cove; however, the late Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate lord of the Caribbean, never appointed a successor and pass on his piece of eight. Captain Barbossa leads Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) and the crew of the Black Pearl to rescue Jack from Davy Jones's Locker. Sao Feng, pirate lord of the South China Sea, possesses a map to the Locker, where Jack is imprisoned. Will bargains with Feng for the Pearl in exchange for Sparrow, so Will can rescue his father from Davy Jones' ship, The Flying Dutchman.

Meanwhile, Davy Jones - under the control of Lord Beckett - destroys several pirate ships and leaves no survivors. This leads to Beckett confronting Jones to announce his decision to place the Chest of Davy Jones on board his ship and place Royal Marines to guard it under the command of the very man who stole Jones' heart, Admiral James Norrington.

The crew journeys into the Locker and retrieves Sparrow. As the Pearl seeks an escape route, dead souls float past, including Elizabeth's father Weatherby Swann, who was murdered by Beckett. Tia Dalma reveals that Davy Jones was appointed by Calypso, his lover and goddess of the Sea, to ferry the dead to the next world; in return, Jones could step upon land for one day every ten years to be with his love. When she failed to meet him, he abandoned his duty and transformed into a monster.

After returning to the living world, the Pearl is ambushed by Sao Feng, who reveals his agreement with Will. Feng betrays Will, handing over the crew to Beckett in exchange for the Pearl. Beckett takes Sparrow bargains with Barbossa to release the Pearl in exchange for Elizabeth, who he believes is Calypso trapped in human form. Feng's ship attacks the Endeavour, allowing Jack to escape. Feng tells Elizabeth that the first Brethren Court trapped Calypso in human form so men could rule the seas. When Davy Jones attacks Feng's ship, the mortally wounded Feng appoints Elizabeth as his successor, and she and the crew are imprisoned in the Flying Dutchman's brig. Bootstrap Bill Turner reveals to Elizabeth that the person who stabs Davy Jones' heart becomes the next captain of the Dutchman. Admiral Norrington, regretting betraying the crew of the Pearl, frees Elizabeth aboard his vessel, the Endeavour, although Jack refuses to divulge where the Brethren Court will convene. Instead, Jack offers to lure the Court out in exchange for Beckett protecting him from Jones. Feng and her crew. They escape to their ship, but Norrington is killed by a crazed Bootstrap Bill.


Action packed is the word to describe this movie. It throws things in and makes sense of it. It is just one fun ride to the next.

But the redeeming quality in this movie is Johnny Depp's performance as Jack Sparrow. He showed us how naturally cool he was in the first two movies. And he continues to just be so cool. He is the best part of the movie and somewhat carries it.

I enjoyed the first film the most and I would put this on par with the second film. Not a ton of Pirate films in Hollywood. But Pirates of the Caribbean will be the film series about Pirates that stands the test of time.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Guard: *** and half
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I have wondered how police operate in different countries. Is it the same? Is it different? More harsh? More lenient?

The Guard may not be the best movie to judge that. But it is a funny one and would be cool to think that police in Ireland were like that.

An unorthodox Garda (Irish policeman) named Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) joins forces with a straight-laced FBI agent (American special policeman) named Everett (Don Cheadle) to take on an international drug smuggling gang in Ireland's Connemara Gaeltacht.

A murder which appears to be the work of an occult serial killer is the first incident, the relevance of which is then revealed by Boyle in a briefing by an FBI agent, sent to liaise with the Gardai. A web of bribery, blackmail and killings ensues. Boyle and Everett form an unlikely alliance and bring about a bloody climax.

The Guard has such a nice easy going flow to it. Irish actors are very interesting. They act as if they are in a bar. What I mean by that is that they are just relaxed. All the Irish actors were confident and delivered believable performances. We all know who Brendan Gleeson is. No surprise at his great performance. He is able to show us a man who just goes through the motions. But is smarter than you think. Done Cheadle gives an excellent performance as well.

Gleeson's and Cheadle's chemistry when they work together is wonderful to watch. Gleeson's character is either racist or just plain ignorant. Also he is a straight shooter And Cheadle's character is all business but a nice guy. They complimented each other really well.

The Guard is a film with the perfect length. It tells us a story and gets out while it is on top. And always remains entertaining Yes films outside of the USA can be very good.

[Flimmaker1473]

Bottle Rocket: ***
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Have you ever just been down? Not sad. But down as in little to no money. And there appears to be no way out. What are your options? 1. Get a job. 2. Go on Wel Fare. 3. Become a robber.

Well those are the options for the characters in Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. Written by Wes Anderson and co written by Owen Wilson one of the movie's stars. This a film that is filled with characters that all have good intentions. But their own agendas.

Dignan (Owen C. Wilson) "rescues" Anthony (Luke Wilson) from a voluntary mental hospital, where he has been staying for self-described exhaustion. Dignan has an elaborate escape planned and has developed a 75-year plan that he shows to Anthony. The plan is to pull off several heists and then meet Mr. Henry, a landscaper and part-time criminal known to Dignan.

As a practice heist, the two friends break into Anthony's house, stealing specific items from a list. Afterward, critiquing the heist, Dignan reveals that he took a pair of earrings, not specified on the list. This upsets Anthony, as he had bought those earrings for his mother. Anthony visits his little sister at her school so she can return the earrings. Dignan recruits Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) as a getaway driver because he is the only person they know with a car. The three buy guns and return to Bob's house to plan their next heist, a local bookstore. The group bickers as Dignan struggles to describe his intricate plan.

The group steals a small sum of money from the bookstore and "go on the lam" at a hotel. Anthony meets Inés (Lumi Cavazos), a maid, and the two spark a romance despite Inés's lack of English

Bottle Rocket is just flat out funny. Owen Wilson is wonderful as Dignan. He gives him a redeeming quality that makes the audience just like him despite him being an obvious loser.

Bottle Rocket doesn't take itself too seriously. It tells a story and nothing more. It doesn't play up for laughs either. It is left the scripts and the actors. This is one of Wes Anderson's earlier films. And he has been developing his world since to create since great movies like Moonrise Kingdom.

I found myself laughing a bit at this movie. A comedy that jokes land! Imagine that!

[Flimmaker1473]

The Social Network:****
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This is my second viewing of the Social Network. And I loved it even more. Social networking has been making up for real human interaction for a long time now. This forum is a social network for example. Social Networks are so addictive though. They allow us something that we can't get in real life: instant gratification. Which only the internet can really supply us with.

First there was Myspace (I haven't logged into mine since 2007), and Friendster. Now it is all about Facebook and Twitter. Tumblr is also making a run. Yet Facebook is still #1. Why? Mark Zuckerberg of course.

The Social Network is a film that explains (in a very entertaining and smart way) the events that lead to facebook during Zuckerberg being in the middle of two lawsuits.

In 2003 at Harvard Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) after having a date gone wrong is dumped by his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). After this in a somewhat drunken rage, Mark blasts his ex in a blog. Then he creates something called facemash and even compares pictures of girls to farm animals. He hacks into the school's database.

The school is furious and gives him six months of academic probation. Every girl at Harvard hates him. But Camerson and Tyler Winklevoss (both portrayed by Arnie Hammer) and their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) feel like they could use Mark for their social network idea called "Harvard connect". They decide to approach Mark and Mark agrees to join them.

This gives Mark a better idea. Why not create his own social network? He decides to go to his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and show him the idea. He hopes that Eduardo will invest in it. Sure enough Eduardo loves it. They go into business with each other. Thing is though is that Mark is ignoring the Winklevoss brothers calls and emails. He is leading them on making them think that he is working on their site. They find out the hard way after "The Facebook" was launched what Mark was really doing.

This film shows two really interesting story lines. The whole Winklevoss brothers situation. And what happens later with Eduardo. I thought that Winklevoss brothers were just sore that Mark went and created something way better than what they had in mind. And as for Eduardo, I thought he genuinely screwed his best friend over. I guess that i what happens when money is involved.

The Social Network is sharply written. David Fincher is my favorite director. His direction is so wonderful that even in a film like this he puts the Fincher touch. The acting is very impressive. Jessie Eisenberg is able to transform himself into Mark Zuckerberg and gives us an idea of who he could potentially be.

Mark Zuckerberg is the a multi billionaire. Yet if you go by the film he lives a sad and lonely life. So consumed by work that he puts relationships to the wayside and just continues to work on what makes facebook better.

The Social Network was the best film of 2010. Everything about it was done with excellence. And a funny thing. I went on facebook after this second viewing.

[Flimmaker1473]

Monster:****
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Based on a true story Monster is a gripping tale about a hooker who's life goes down the tubes slowly by a turn of events.

A hooked named Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) truck breaks down she enters a gay bar. There she is approached by Selby Wall (Christina Ricci). Selby offers to buy Aileen a drink. At first she is put off my this and claims that she isn't gay. But after feeling bad for Selby who claims that she just wants to talk, they talk over some beers.

Aileen ends up going home and spending the night with Selby. Though nothing sexual happens. Aileen has taken an interest in Selby. She wants to hang out now. She is starting to think that she could feel something for her. They meet up at a roller skating rink and sure enough they kiss. They end up making love that same night. Where the problems start (other than the people that Selby is staying with and her father don't want her to have anything to do with Aileen). Is that Aileen was doing her job when her patron decided to rape her, beat her, tie her up and was about to kill her. She got herself free and killed the man in self defense.

She in that process missed a date with Selby. She goes to Selby late at night and makes up a lie and convinces Selby to go and stay with her for at least a week and just parties. That eventually turns into Selby moving in with her. Aileen tries to give up being a hooker and get a real job. As you can imagine it is hard for an ex hooker to get a job.

She has to go back to being a hooker. Selby is starving. But now something has happened. She doesn't want these men to have their cake and eat it too. She decides to become a serial killer. And she does.

Charlize Theron delivers a once in a lifetime performance. I looked at a picture of Aileen Wuornos and Theron (who is a beautiful woman) was able to transform herself into Wuornos. She showed how Wuornos killed people in cold blood. But also made us pitty her for what kind of life she choose. Christina Ricci gave a great performance as well. She made us feel for Selby (who is based on Aileen's real life lover but has a different name). She allowed us to she how this young struggling lesbian was lead astray.

I love movies because they can be about life. I love it when a movie takes real life events and makes it into art. It also allows people who would have never known this had happened otherwise. Monster uses these real life events and creates this tragic tale. Tragic indeed.

[Flimmaker1473]

Insomnia:*** and a half
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Insomnia is a film that is more than a popcorn movie. It is chilling, smart, with very fast pacing. With the amount of thrillers that are out there, this film stands on it's own legs.

Christopher Nolan makes films that are exciting to watch. But he somehow makes each of them different from the next.

In the small fishing town of Nightmute, Alaska, 17-year-old Kay Connell (Crystal Lowe) is found murdered. LAPD detectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are sent to assist the local police with their investigation.

Concurrently, an intense Internal Affairs investigation in Los Angeles is about to put Dormer under the microscope; Eckhart reveals that Internal Affairs has offered him an immunity deal in exchange for his testimony regarding one of Dormer's past cases. Dormer tries to talk Eckhart out of it, but Eckhart, apparently complicit to some degree in Dormer's misdeeds, says that he has no choice but to accept the deal.

Focusing on the Nightmute case, Dormer comes up with a plan to lure the murderer back to the scene of the crime; however, the stakeout attempt is blown, and the murder suspect flees into the fog, forcing the police to spread out and search for him on foot. During the pursuit, Dormer sees a figure through the fog, which he believes is the armed murder suspect. He fires, and the figure collapses. When Dormer approaches, he discovers that he has mistakenly shot Eckhart. Dormer then runs to help his partner, who believes Dormer shot him intentionally and recoils from him before dying of his wounds. Given the nature of Eckhart's impending testimony, Dormer knows that Internal Affairs will never believe that the shooting was accidental; panicked, he alters the crime scene before crying for help. Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), a young police officer and Dormer's biggest fan, is put in charge of the investigation of Eckhart's shooting. Dormer uses his influence and reputation to try to mislead her into believing the suspect killed Eckhart.

Over the next few days, Dormer begins losing his grip on reality, plagued with guilt over killing Eckhart and tormented by the resultant insomnia (which is further exacerbated by the perpetual daylight). Dormer then starts receiving anonymous phone calls from the suspect, who claims to have witnessed Dormer kill his partner, and knows of his attempts to cover it up. Dormer is aware that Kay was a fan of a crime writer named Walter Finch (Robin Williams), and books autographed by him were found among her possessions; this then leads Dormer to believe that Finch is somehow involved. After finding his town of residence from a dust jacket, Dormer looks up Finch's address and breaks into his apartment to gather evidence, only to be discovered by Finch himself, who gets away. Finch contacts Dormer, who agrees to meet him in public; Finch then offers Dormer a deal, where Dormer is to frame Kay's abusive boyfriend Randy Stetz (Jonathan Jackson) for the murder in exchange for Finch's silence about the Eckhart shooting, forcing Dormer to choose between destroying his own reputation and allowing an innocent man to be sent to prison.

Al Pacino's performance as the cop who makes a costly mistake sets the tone for the film. He keeps the film in his more than capable hands and makes us interested in his struggles with it. Robin Williams is like Dennis Hopper in this role. He is creepy and convincing.

You would think a movie like this would be directed by David Fincher. But that is how good Christopher Nolan is. He experiments with different genres and it works.

The rest of the film is very good to watch of course. And the ending is very surprising. That is also what I liked about this film. It will continue to surprise you until the end.

[Flimmaker1473]

Batman Begins: ****
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This is my second viewing of this film. I am trying to get myself pumped up for the Dark Knight rises which comes out this weekend.

After watching this I remembered just how underrated Batman Begins is. It is just as good as the Dark Knight. Yet it was overshadowed due to Heath Ledger's performance as the joker.

As a child, Bruce Wayne falls into an abandoned well filled with bats, causing him to develop a phobia, and later witnesses his parents' murder at the hands of mugger Joe Chill, leaving him to be raised by the family's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Years later, Chill is granted parole in exchange for agreeing to testify against crime boss Carmine Falcone.

Bruce, now a young man (Christian Bale), goes to the courthouse intending to shoot Chill, but one of Falcone's assassins does so first. Bruce confides in his childhood friend Rachel Dawes, now a Gotham City assistant district attorney, who is disgusted by Bruce's desire for vengeance. Bruce leaves Gotham to learn the ways of the criminal underworld, in hopes of learning skills that will allow him to return to Gotham and free it from the crime and corruption that threaten to consume it. In a Bhutanese prison, he meets Ducard , who offers to train him as a ninja of the League of Shadows led by Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson). As he completes his training, Bruce learns of the League's true intentions: to liberate Gotham from the evils that plague it by destroying the city. He burns down the League's temple, killing Ra's in the process, while saving the life of Ducard.

Bruce returns to Gotham. While publicly posing as a reckless playboy, he takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, a technology and defense conglomerate run by the unscrupulous CEO William Earle, who intends to take the company public. Bruce meets Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who introduces him to several of Wayne's experimental prototype technologies, including an armored car and protective bodysuit, which Bruce uses to form his crime-fighting persona, Batman. As Batman, Bruce intercepts an illegal drug shipment, empowering Sgt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the Gotham police to arrest the previously untouchable Falcone. Meanwhile, a Wayne Enterprises cargo ship is raided and an experimental weapon is stolen, a "Microwave Emitter" that uses microwaves to vaporize an enemy's water supply.

Back in Gotham, Falcone and his henchmen are declared mentally unfit for trial and transferred to Arkham Asylum by the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), who had been using Falcone to import a dangerous hallucinogenic drug that causes severe psychosis. Crane exposes Falcone to the toxin while wearing a burlap mask, driving Falcone mad with fear of the "Scarecrow." While investigating Crane, Batman is also exposed to the drug and is rescued by Alfred and given an antidote by Fox. Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) goes to Arkham, where Crane reveals that he has been dumping the toxin into Gotham's water supply before dosing her with it. She is rescued by Batman, who exposes Crane to the toxin and interrogates him. Crane reveals that the toxin is harmless in liquid form and only dangerous if inhaled. Batman inoculates Rachel and gives her two vials of the antidote, one for Sgt. Gordon and one for mass production.

This is the film that brought Batman back into the lime light. And we can thank Christopher Nolan for that. He is able to please the hardcore batman fans and the fans of actions movies with this film.

Batman begins along with it's sequel The Dark Knight, Spiderman 2, Iron Man, and the Avengers have set the standard for what superhero films should be. The amount of action, suspense, and even a little depth.

I can hardly wait until the Dark Knight rises. It is currently at a 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. If it is half the movie that Batman Begins is, then I will be happy.

[Flimmaker1473]

You can count on me: ****
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You can count on me is one of those simple films that simply overachieves. It takes simple characters and simple situations and makes them touching and entertaining. Everything about this movie seems so real. Family life can be difficult in situations where you are the only parent and both our your parents are gone. Many people have this issue in their real lives. What You can count me does is take that and depict it in a very realistic way.

As children, Sammy and Terry Prescott lost their parents to a car accident. Years later, Sammy (Laura Linney), a single mother and lending officer at a bank, still lives in her childhood home in Scottsville, New York, while Terry (Mark Ruffalo) has drifted around the country, scraping by and getting in and out of trouble.

After months of no communication with his sister, Terry is desperate for money, so he comes to visit her and her son Rudy (Rory Culkin) who are excited about reuniting with him. Sammy lends him the money, which he mails back to his girlfriend. After the girlfriend attempts suicide, he decides to extend his stay with his sister, which she welcomes.

For a school writing assignment, Rudy imagines his unknown father as a fantastic hero. Sammy only gives him vague descriptions of the truth while Terry lets his feelings be known about Rudy Sr.'s abandonment. Sammy rekindles a relationship with an old boyfriend, but is surprised when he proposes to her after a short time. She needs time to consider it.

At the bank, Brian (Matthew Broderick), the new manager, tries to make his mark with unusual demands about computer color schemes and daily timesheets. He is particularly tough on Sammy, requesting that she make arrangements for someone else to pick up her son from the school bus rather than leaving work. After some minor arguments, they end up having an affair, despite Brian's wife being six months pregnant.

Mark Ruffalo is a very underrated actor. His performance as this stoner is a great one. He brings a redeeming quality to this burn out. We see that Terry has pretty much abandoned all hope and is just a drifter. Laura Linney's performance as Samantha is just as if not more impressive. She embodies this woman who takes whatever life throws at her.

What I liked about this film is that I feel like I could go to some small town and meet these people. And that is a very big compliment to the movie. It never tried to hard. It stuck to it's guns. It is quite and nice. And that is one of it's biggest assets. This is a storyline that can hard to cover. And I don't think they could have done a better job.

Sometimes the simple approach is the way to go. Sometimes it works. It worked here. And it just a beautiful human story.

[Flimmaker1473]

Zodiac:****
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Zodiac is based on a real life investigation of a serial killer who was never caught. Why was he never caught? Not enough evidence. Though some cops do think they know who it is. There is not enough evidence to arrest the man.

Director David Fincher, screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and producer Brad Fisher spent 18 months conducting their own investigation. They used to create a gripping, horror filmish tale.

The film opens on July 4, 1969, with the Zodiac killer’s second attack, the shooting of Darlene Ferrin (Ciara Hughes) and Mike Mageau (Lee Norris) at a lovers' lane in Vallejo, California. Mageau survives while Ferrin dies from her injuries.

One month later, a letter written by the Zodiac arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle. Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a Chronicle crime reporter. Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a political cartoonist there. The newspaper receives encrypted letters that the killer sends, taunting the police. Because of Graysmith's status as a cartoonist, he is not taken seriously by Avery and the editors and is excluded from the initial details about the killings despite his interest in the case. In particular, he is drawn to the encrypted code that is included with the letters and is given access to one. When he is able to crack one of the codes and makes several correct guesses about the killer's actions, Avery begins sharing information with him. While at a bar together drinking Aqua Velvas, which Avery initially makes fun of Graysmith for, they discuss the coded letters.

The Zodiac killer attacks again, stabbing Bryan Hartnell (Patrick Scott Lewis) and Cecelia Shepard (Pell James) at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Shepard dies as a result of the attack, while Hartnell survives. Soon afterward, San Francisco taxicab driver Paul Stine is shot and killed in the city's Presidio Heights district. San Francisco police detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are assigned to the case, liaising with other detectives such as Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas) in Vallejo and Ken Narlow (Donal Logue) in Napa. The killer, or someone posing as him, continues to toy with authorities by speaking on the phone with celebrity lawyer Melvin Belli (Brian Cox) when he makes an appearance on a television talk show. Avery and Graysmith form an alliance, delving deeper into the case.

David Fincher is the king of griping and disturbing movies. He has put that in all his films like Fight Club, Seven, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Panic Room for examples. In this film he knows he is dealing with a real life story. Something that he conducted his own investigation on. He is able to give us a glimpse of what it must have been like for the people who were involved in this case.

The film is two and half hours. But somehow continues to be gripping. All the actors do a superb job. It was just amazing to look at them. I just felt like I was following the people these actors were playing.

Did the guy that was the number one suspect do it? In the end there I don't think there is enough evidence to convict him of this crime. Since we rather have a guilty man on the street than an innocent man in jail everything will remain the same.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Dark Knight Rises: ***
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Batman is a hell of a super hero. No super powers. Just strength, wits and some cool gadgets. I have seen every single Batman movie. I have different versions of this character. I have seen different directors different takes. None more different than Christoper Nolan's take on Gotham's greatest hero.

We are introduced to Bane (Tom Hardy) In a very interesting way. The scene is action filled and sets the tone for what kind of villain Bane is. Meanwhile Meanwhile we see Harvey Dent's funeral. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) wants to say what really happened. But he feels it isn't time.


Batman (Christian Bale) has been gone for eight years has the movie starts. We all know he took the fall for Harvey Dent's death. This also means that Bruce Wayne has been living in solitude for years too. The city sees the Dark Knight more as a villain rather than the hero he really is. He feels as if the city doesn't need him anymore.

He gets a visit from a lady named Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). She is wearing something that belongs to him that she stole. She isn't just Selina Kyle. She is Catwoman.

There is a a new officer on the force too. John Blake (Joesph Gordon Levitt). He seems strangely intrigued by the Batman. He ends up revealing his past later and a connection to Batman. Blake and everyone thinks Gotham is okay. But Gordon knows it isn't. He just doesn't know what is brewing.

Bane has a plan. A plan that could leaves the whole city of Gotham in ruins. Bane is just an average villain. He isn't terrorizing. But he is tough and complex And Tom Hardy did his hardest to show that. We don't really know at first why Bane is doing what he is doing. Or what makes him tick. Bane also gets just as much screen time as Batman does.

Joesph Gordon Levitt really stood out in this film. He stole every scene he was in. Michael Caine as Alfred was great despite limited screen time. And Morgan Freeman as the genius inventor Lucius Fox delivered.

With all this the first half of the film is a chore. You see these characters all go into different directions. But the second half makes it worth the while. But I do wonder where Bane imprisons Batman.

This like the other Nolan Batman films are dark and heavy. Maybe more so. It goes full steam ahead on what a superhero movie is. It is inspiring and admirable that Nolan is able to combine anarchy, total destruction and a new Batman flying device all together and no 3D gimmick. The movie could have benefited from being more straightforward and also a better villain. But as finales go it is a proper send off to one of my favorite superheros.

[Flimmaker1473]

Brokeback Mountain: ****
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Brokeback mountain on the surface is a joke between people. Two gay cow boys. There is a Family Guy joke in there somewhere. Even that failed Friends spinoff Joey made a joke about it.

But Brokeback mountain is a film that beautifully shows the relationships of two men who are in the closet. Never has this issue been discussed in this way before. And done this way before too.

In 1963, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are hired by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) to herd his sheep through the summer in Wyoming. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a sexual pass at Ennis, who is initially apprehensive but then succumbs to Jack's advances. Although he warns Jack that it was a one-time incident, they develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Shortly after learning their summer together is being cut short, they briefly fight, and each is bloodied.

After Jack and Ennis part ways, Ennis marries his longtime fiancée Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and fathers two children. Jack returns the next summer, but Aguirre, who witnessed Jack and Ennis on the mountain, does not re-hire him. Jack meets, marries and starts a family with rodeo rider Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). After four years, Jack visits Ennis. Upon meeting the two kiss passionately, which Alma accidentally witnesses. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life together on a small ranch, but Ennis, haunted by a childhood memory of the torture and murder of a man suspected of homosexual behavior, refuses. He is also unwilling to abandon his family. Ennis and Jack continue to meet for infrequent fishing trips.

The marriages of both men deteriorate. Alma and Ennis eventually divorce. Ennis sees his family regularly until Alma finally reveals her knowledge of the nature of his relationship with Jack and has a violent argument with Ennis in which she makes homophobic remarks about Jack. Ennis subsequently severs his ties with Alma. Lureen abandons her rodeo days and becomes a businesswoman with her father and expects Jack to work in sales. Hearing about Ennis's divorce, Jack drives to Wyoming hoping they can live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children. Jack finds solace with male prostitutes in Mexico. Ennis meets and has a brief romantic relationship with a waitress, Cassie Cartwright (Linda Cardellini). Jack and Lureen meet and befriend another couple, Randall and Lashawn Malone, and it is implied that Jack and Randall begin an affair behind their wives' backs.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall provide great performances. They are able show these mens struggles with their double lives without deeming it all. It was really great acting.

Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway also gave great performances. As the ex wife and wife to these men they both had to show a sense of doubt over who their husbands really were.

Everything is done so subtly, it feels as if this was based on a true story and not a work of fiction.

So before you continue to make your brokeback mountain jokes. Why don't you give it a watch? You will end seeing that great films can have gay main characters too.

[Flimmaker1473]

Whip it:*** and a half
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I used to roller stake and roller blade. It was for fun. I did go to a few roller skating rinks when I was in summer camp though. Those were fun. We saw who had speed and who didn't. Who had balance and who didn't. I had both speed and balance. I wonder sometimes if I missed my calling.

Drew Barrymore's Whip is a tale a young lady who doesn't know where to go in life. But gets smitten by roller staking. It is a story about finding your calling.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a misfit in the small town of Bodeen, Texas, with no sense of direction in her life. Her mother, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), a former beauty queen, pushes her to enter beauty pageants despite her lack of interest. Bliss and her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat), dream of escaping. Pash plans to attend an Ivy League school in a big city, but Bliss is uncertain as to what she wants for her future. During a shopping trip to Austin with her mother, Bliss encounters three roller derby team members. Intrigued, she and Pash attend a roller derby bout under the pretense of going to a football game, where they see the Holy Rollers defeat the Hurl Scouts, a perennially unsuccessful derby team. Bliss tells the Hurl Scouts that they are "her new heroes" and is suddenly drawn to the idea of being a roller derby skater herself when one of the Hurl Scouts, Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) replies, "Well, put some skates on. Be your own hero."

Returning to Austin, Bliss lies about her age and tries out for the Hurl Scouts, discovering her natural skating abilities in the process. After realizing she needs to be ruthless in roller derby, Bliss sees she needs to take charge in other aspects of her life, revealed through various subplots. One involves Bliss' love interest, a lanky young rock guitarist and singer named Oliver (Landon Pigg) whom she meets via her exposure to roller derby. They enjoy a whirlwhind romance and an underwater lovemaking session before Oliver leaves for a tour, taking a T-shirt Bliss gave him to remember her by. She later finds a picture of him at a gig with another girl, who is wearing her t-shirt. She breaks up with him following his return, although he vehemently denies that anything happened.

Another sub-plot examines Bliss' relationship with her parents, a loving but controlling mother and an amiable but clueless father (Daniel Stern) who seldom opposes his wife's parental decisions. Although, eventually, Bliss' father convinces her mother to let Bliss out of a pageant (which is at the same time) and convinces the Hurl Scouts to come get Bliss for the bout. Various other sub-plots include her relationship with Pash, and confrontations with a stuck up snob at school.

The roller skating scenes are done extremely well. You can sense the competitive nature of the game. Ellen Paige is a great actress. She always displays range. This film is no exception. She shows her vulnerability as a young girl who seems lost. And her confidence when she fins her passion.

Drew Barrymore's first foray into directing is a successful one. She is able to create a fun film that also separates it from a Disney Channel Original movie.

Whip it is Drew Barrymore and Ellen Paige getting together to create something that is fun and free. It may not be a women empowerment film a few thought it would be. But it has balls, charm, and is sweet until the end.

[Flimmaker1473]

Attack the Block:*** and a half
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Attack the Block pays tribute to all those classics alien invasion films. Adding a bit of comedy in there as well it is goes through the normal steps of a film in that genre so well that I am sure ten years from now it will be considered a cult classic.

Walking home on Bonfire Night, nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is mugged in Brixton by a small gang of teenagers: Pest (Alex Esmail), Dennis (Franz Drameh), Jerome (Leeon Jones), Biggz (Simon Howard), and leader Moses (John Boyega). The attack is interrupted when an object falls from the sky into a nearby car, giving Sam the chance to escape. As Moses searches the car for valuables he is attacked by a small creature; the object which fell from the sky. Together, the gang chase and kill the creature. Hoping to gain fame and profit they take it to drug dealer Ron (Nick Frost) to gain advice.

Moses asks Ron and his boss, Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter), to keep the creature in their fortified "weed room" while he decides how to proceed. More objects begin to fall from the sky. Eager to fight more of the creatures, the gang arm themselves and go to the nearest crash site. They find new, larger aliens with huge claws and multiple rows of luminescent fangs. Fleeing the aliens, the gang are intercepted by the police and Moses is arrested, identified as a mugger by Sam. The aliens kill the police and attack their van, leaving Sam and Moses trapped inside. Dennis reaches the vehicle and drives the van away, only to crash the van into Hi-Hatz's car. Sam runs away while the rest of Moses' gang catch up and confront Hi-Hatz. Enraged about his car, Hi-Hatz threatens them with a gun, refusing to believe their story of aliens - until his henchman is attacked by one, allowing the gang to escape.

The gang attempts to flee to the Block, their council estate, but are attacked en route by the aliens, forcing Biggz to hide in a rubbish container and mauling Pest's leg. They discover Sam lives in their building, force their way into her flat, and persuade her to treat Pest's leg. An alien bursts in and Moses kills it. Sam reasons it is safer to stay with the gang than on her own and joins them. The gang move upstairs to the flat of some neighbourhood girls believing their security gate will keep them safe. The aliens instead attack from outside, smashing through the window and killing Dennis. As one alien is about to kill Moses, Sam stabs it through the head, saving him.

The girls note that the aliens went straight for Moses and kick the gang out, believing them to be the focus of the creatures. In the hall, they are attacked by Hi-Hatz and more henchmen. The gang escapes while an alien pursues Hi-Hatz and his henchmen into a lift. Hi-Hatz kills the alien, though his henchmen perish, and continues his search for Moses. Making their way upstairs to Ron's weed room, the gang again encounter aliens. Using fireworks as distractions, they get by, but Jerome becomes disoriented in the smoke and is killed by an alien. Entering Ron's flat they find that Hi-Hatz is already there. Hi-Hatz prepares to shoot Moses but hordes of aliens smash through the window and kill him. Moses, Pest and Sam, joined by Ron's weed customer Brewis (Luke Treadaway), retreat into the weed room while Ron hides in the flat.

Biggz, still trapped in the bin by an awaiting alien, is saved by Probs and Mayhem, two children, using a water-gun filled with petrol and a flame to torch the creature. In the weed room, Brewis notices a luminescent liquid on Moses' jacket under the ultraviolet light. Brewis theorises that the alien which Moses killed was a female, and left a pheromone on him that the aliens have been tracking. The gang form a plan for Sam, who has not been stained with the pheromone, to go to Moses' flat and turn on the gas oven. Before she leaves, Moses forces Pest to return the ring they stole from her, feeling guilty for having mugged her.

Attack the block's success really stems from the performances given. John Boyega in particular. He shows amazing character development in Moses. He takes him from being this punk kid. To being a sensitive hero. That is quite phenomenal. All the characters go through some sort of change.

The aliens were clearly cheaply made. However they still worked. It was still creepy. It did it's job. It made us feel they were actually going through an alien invasion.

I love these types of films. Usually the same storyline. But the great ones are able to take it, make it their own and it becomes something wonderful. And that is what Attack the Block did.

[Flimmaker1473]

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides:**
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The Pirates of the Caribbean film series has been a fun one. The first three films are ones that I liked very much. Exciting and fun. And who doesn't love Jack Sparrow? Here in the fourth installment of the series they try it again this time differently. Gone are Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley who wisely said they felt their characters have been explored as far as they could be.

Pirates of the Caribbean on stranger tides lacks something the first three films had. It is really just too much. Though there are a few positives that I will get into.

After a failed attempt to rescue his first mate, Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) in London, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is brought before King George II (Richard Griffiths), who wants Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish locate it. Heading the expedition is Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now a privateer in service to the Royal Navy after losing his leg and ship, the Black Pearl.

Jack escapes, but his father, Captain Teague (Keith Richards), finds him and warns Jack about the Fountain's tests. He also reveals that someone is impersonating Jack. The impostor is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), Jack's former lover and daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who practices voodoo magic and wields a magical sword that controls his ship.

Jack is taken aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and forced to lead the way to the Fountain and find two silver chalices that once belonged to Juan Ponce de León, both believed to be aboard his lost ship. The Fountain's water must be drunk simultaneously from the two chalices. The person drinking from the chalice containing a mermaid's tear has their life extended, while the other person dies, their life drained from their body and their remaining years 'donated' to the other. Meanwhile, Gibbs, having memorized and destroyed Jack's map, barters with Barbossa to guide him to the Fountain.

Blackbeard seeks the Fountain's power to circumvent his predestined fatal encounter with "a one-legged man,"(Barbossa) and sets a course for Whitecap Bay. There they are attacked by a vicious horde of mermaids, but Blackbeard captures one (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey). Philip Swift (Sam Claflin), a captive missionary, falls in love with the mermaid and names her Syrena. Blackbeard then sends Jack to retrieve the chalices from de León's ship.

And trust me a lot more happens. A LOT more. Penelope Cruz was an excellent choice. Sexy and talented she works well. But this movie just seems to go on and on and not be interesting as well. I like long movies. But there has to be a reason. What is the reason for this movie?

At this point it feels like Johnny Depp is just making these movies for the cash (he was paid $55.5 million as Disney admitted there would be no films without him). Why? He doesn't even want to do them anymore. Here is one of the best actors of this generation doing films for a paycheck? Should have went the Bloom and Knightley route.

There could be a fifth installment. Is that necessary? What more needs to be explored? Does Jack Sparrow go to the Americas and helps George Washington in the revolutionary war? Either way they are doing it for the almighty dollar

[Flimmaker1473]

American Gangster:****
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Frank Lucas did something that the Italian Mafia couldn't do. He was able to cut the middleman. He was able to go to Vietnam and get pure heroin. And he made a fortune doing it too. Lucas's case study is interesting enough to look at. A film about him and this whole situation is simply a treat to watch.

American Gangster shows us the way only film does perhaps how everything seemed like during this situation. Not only from Lucas's side, but from Richie Roberts side.

Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) just watched his mentor Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (Clarence Williams III) die. Frank now is pretty much left alone. He could go work for someone else and make a decent living. But he decides to go out on his own. He wants to cut the middle man and work for himself. He goes to Vietnam and he some how makes it happen.

Mean while Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe) has a failing marriage, is taking night law classes, and has a police career. When Richie and his partner, Javier Rivera (John Ortiz), discover nearly $1 million in unmarked bills in a car, Richie resists temptation and turns the money in. His rare honesty makes him a hated member of his precinct, causing his partner to be exiled from the force, while Richie's rampant womanizing behavior and undercover double life leads his wife to seek a divorce and custody of their son. After his exiled partner dies from overdosing on "Blue Magic", a relatively new and powerful type of heroin being sold for less money than its drug competition, Richie's honesty catches him a break when his superior Captain Lou Toback (Ted Levine) puts him in charge of a newly created task force to stop major drug trafficking in Essex County, New Jersey by going after the actual supplier, rather than the middle-men. Richie handpicks honest cops and gets to work on finding who is supplying Blue Magic. When Richie and his partner, Javier Rivera (John Ortiz), discover nearly $1 million in unmarked bills in a car, Richie resists temptation and turns the money in. His rare honesty makes him a hated member of his precinct, causing his partner to be exiled from the force, while Richie's rampant womanizing behavior and undercover double life leads his wife to seek a divorce and custody of their son. After his exiled partner dies from overdosing on "Blue Magic", a relatively new and powerful type of heroin being sold for less money than its drug competition, Richie's honesty catches him a break when his superior Captain Lou Toback (Ted Levine) puts him in charge of a newly created task force to stop major drug trafficking in Essex County, New Jersey by going after the actual supplier, rather than the middle-men. Richie handpicks honest cops and gets to work on finding who is supplying Blue Magic.

Blue Magic is being supplied by Frank Lucas, who took over Bumpy's gang. After hearing a TV report referring to the cheaper drugs supplied to servicemen in Vietnam, Lucas decided to cut out the middle-man and buy his drugs directly from the producers in Thailand. By cutting out the middle-man, Frank is able to provide a higher quality product at a cheaper price than his rivals, eventually wholesaling drugs to most of the dealers in the New York area, while making his tracking by the authorities more difficult. He smuggles his drugs into the country by way of the US military involved in the Vietnam War. He creates a brand drug “Blue Magic” and with a great monopoly on quality product, Frank quickly makes a fortune and buys several nightclubs and apartments. He moves his family from North Carolina to New Jersey, where he purchases a large estate for his humble mother. His five brothers are enlisted as his gang lieutenants in the drug trade – forming “The Country Boys” - who work together to traffic and sell dope on New York area streets. During his rise, Frank meets and falls in love with Eva, a Puerto Rican beauty queen. Through his discipline, intelligence, organization, power, and willingness to kill everyone who stands in his way, Frank quickly rises to the top of the Harlem drug and crime scene as the biggest gang leader and drug dealer.

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are top actors. Each are truly great at what they do and never give a bad performance. Washington and Crowe took these real life figures and became them in every sense of the word. Their contribution to the movie is endless.

American Gangster not only benefits from it's performances. But also it's slick script, it's pacing, and direction by Ridley Scott. He focused on making these characters seem as human as possible. So as an audience we could feel what they are feeling just truly understand them.

This movie is told so smoothly without a hitch. Everything is covered so well. Everything works. Which makes it so interesting to watch.

[Flimmaker1473]

Hackers:***
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People hack into computers everyday. Some people have the intention to really mess things up. Others want to just have fun. They are like cowboys of the the internet (as said in the movie). Hackers is a film about young hackers who just want to do that. Have fun.

But it didn't start out that way. In 1988, Dade "Zero Cool" Murphy (age 11) is arrested and charged with crashing 1,507 systems in one day and causing a single-day 7-point drop in the New York Stock Exchange. Upon conviction, his family is fined with $45,000 and he is banned from owning or operating computers or touch-tone telephones until his 18th birthday.

Shortly before Dade (Jonny Lee Miller) turns 18, his mother (now divorced) takes a job in New York City. Upon turning 18, Dade calls a local television station, dupes the security guard into giving him the modem's phone number (a tactic known as social engineering) and successfully hacks into the station's computer network, changing the current TV program to an episode of The Outer Limits. However, Dade is "attacked" by a hacker (handle "Acid Burn") on the same network. During the conversation, Dade identifies himself by the new alias, Crash Override, to hide his old alias as Zero Cool.

Dade enrolls at Stanton High School, where he meets Kate Libby (Angelina Jolie), who is assigned to take him on a tour of the school. After Dade learns that Kate is "Acid Burn", a feud erupts between them, fighting to who is the better hacker.

The real trouble begins when Joey Pardella (Jesse Bradford), the novice hacker of the group, successfully breaks into an Ellingson Mineral Company supercomputer (called "The Gibson", in homage to cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson) to prove to the rest of the group that he is an elite hacker. To validate this feat, he downloads part of a garbage file. Unfortunately, the company's IT employee Hal (Penn Jillette) detects this unauthorized entry and summons computer security officer Eugene "The Plague" Belford (Fisher Stevens) to deal with the problem. He realizes the file being downloaded can prove that The Plague is stealing from the company via salami slicing. The Plague enlists the U.S. Secret Service to recover the file by claiming that it is the code to Da Vinci, a computer virus that will capsize the company's oil tanker fleet and he needs that code to destroy the virus.

This is smart and entertaining film. The key to this movie is to not take it too seriously. I didn't take it seriously at all. Hackers is able to sustain itself and get it's message across.

[Flimmaker1473]

Drive:****
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Neo-noir (English: New-black; from the Greek neo, new; and the French noir, black) is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.

art film (also known as art movie, specialty film, art house film, or in the collective sense as art cinema) is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience

Drive is both of those types of films. I watched Drive when it came out. I decided that it was time for a second viewing. I loved it even more. Everything about Drive is done so artistically well.

The Driver (Ryan Gosling) lives alone in a low rent apartment. He is a part time stuntman and works in a garage for Shannon (Bryan Cranston). But he has another job. He is also a getaway driver.

One day at the market he sees his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) who he met in an elevator before. He sees her with her son Benicio (Kaden Leos). They are having trouble. So he offers them a ride. She invites him inside to have a glass of water. He sees a picture and she explains that it is her husband who is about to get out of prison. Meanwhile Shannon is trying to persuade Bernie (Albert Brooks) to invest in a race team that he wants the unnamed hero to be the driver of. This is when we know what kind of person Bernie is and the kind of person Shannon is. Bernie's business partner a Jewish man named Nino (Ron Perlman) once broke Shannon's pelvis when Shannon overcharged him on a job which explains his limp.

Irene's husband Standard (Oscar Issac) is now out of a jail. But he owes money for having protection during his prison sentence. He is beaten up by his debt collectors. Irene and Benicio are next. He explains to the Driver that he has to rob a pawn shop for the debt to be forgiven. The Driver wants Irene and Benicio to be safe. He has grown to care for them. So he agrees to help Standard.

Drive is just pure art. Long pauses, long screen stares, beautiful shots, an awesome 80s soundtrack, slow scenes, yet quick pacing. Ryan Gosling's performance is the center piece of the film. I don't think anyone else could have played the driver. He gives a performance that is so quiet and in control. Yet as the film develops shows the Driver to have many different layers to him. He enters Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood status with this performance.

Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks also gave very solid performances. Both were essential supporting actors. In reality everyone was spot on. Carey Mulligan didn't have too many lines (no one had that many lines) but she was beautiful and graceful.

Drive is just art. That is the best thing to call it. It uses a genre that isn't used enough. It doesn't just show a defined goal off the bat to please audiences. It has respect for it's writing and realism. It respects the audience. It uses different platforms effectively and in the end created a work of art.

[TylerDurden99]

I love both Zodiac and Drive, two brilliant films.

[Flimmaker1473]

Ruthless People:*** and a half
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It is a daunting task to play the loveable villain. You have to be evil and yet have a redeeming quality. Danny DeVito does that oh so well in Ruthless People. He plays a disgusting man, yet we somewhat feel bad for him and want him to come out strong in the end.

Millionaire Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) absolutely hates his wife Babara (Bette Midler). He is planning her demise to gain control of his $15 million in family fortunes so that he can run off with his mistress Carol Dodsworth (Antia Morris). Only thing is Babara has just been kidnapped by Ken and Sandy Kessler (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater). They have put her up for ransom. The thing is these guys are not criminals. They are new at this. They have a hard time handling an overwhelming Babara.

Carol, having learned of Sam's plan to kill Barbara, secretly intends to blackmail Sam, with the help of her handsome but dim-witted boyfriend Earl (Bill Pullman). Knowing Sam plans to dump his wife's body in the Hollywood Hills at night, Carol has Earl lie in wait with a video camera. He mistakenly films a rendezvous between a prostitute and her client performing noisy sex in the front seat of a car. Earl, hearing the woman's screams, thinks the murder is happening right in front of him. Without watching the tape, Carol sends an anonymous copy to Sam, who sees the sex act and thinks Carol has sent it to him as a tittilating birthday present. Carol sends another anonymous copy to police chief Henry Benton (William G. Schilling) — who happens to be the prostitute's client. When Carol calls him, Benton, thinking that he is being blackmailed, asks for her demands and she tells him to arrest Sam Stone for murdering his wife.

Ruthless People benefits from a smart script, and exceptional performances. As I have stated Danny DeVito did a masterful job playing the loveable villain. We really should hate him. But there is something about him. Bette Milder was also charming as the bitchy wife.

Ruthless People's ability to somehow show that all the characters involved in one way or another does some despicable is done really well. They are not made to be cartoony evil. But as everyday people who do things that will benefit themselves.

I watched Bette Milder on inside the actors studio. She said that her and Danny DeVito thought the movie was awful and were shocked at how many liked it. I guess they are were nitpicking too much. Ruthless People is a good comedy that never runs out of steam.

[Flimmaker1473]

Inception:****
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I watched this back in 2010. I loved it instantly. It's surprising depth, intelligence, and how they integrated action. In my second viewing I loved it more and understood it more. Christopher Nolan brings his imagination to the big screen in a big way.

Former architecture student Dominick "Dom" Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and business partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon Levitt) perform corporate espionage by dreaming and using an experimental military-developed machine to infiltrate the subconscious of their targets and extract information, their latest target being powerful Japanese businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe). Tiered dream within a dream strategies are used and dreamers awaken by a sudden kick or by dying in the dream. Each extractor carries a totem, a personalized small object whose behavior is only predictable to its owner, that serves the purpose of identifying dream-state or reality-state: in the different states, the totem behaves differently. Cobb's totem is a spinning top that perpetually spins in the dream state. The extraction fails due to Mal (Marion Cotillard), Cobb's deceased wife, whose memory projection sabotages his missions. Saito reveals that he is in fact auditioning the team to perform the difficult act of inception: using dreams to implant an idea.

Saito wishes to break up the energy conglomerate of his ailing competitor Maurice Fischer (Pete Posltewaite), by planting this idea in his son and inheritor Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Should Cobb succeed, Saito will use his influence to clear a murder charge against him, so he can return to the U.S. and his children. Cobb accepts the offer and assembles his team: Eames, an identity forger; Yusuf, a chemist who concocts the powerful sedative needed; Ariadne (Ellen Paige), a young architecture student tasked with designing the labyrinth of the dream landscapes; and Arthur. Saito accompanies as mission observer.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, due to the effects of heavy sedation and multi-layered dreaming, death during this mission will result in entering Limbo, unconstructed dream space where the dreamer could be trapped indefinitely. Elapsed time in each dream level is, on average, roughly twelve times greater than in the level above it; in Limbo, the deepest level of all, 24 hours of outer-world time would be experienced as about half a century there. Cobb reveals to Ariadne that he spent "50 years" with Mal in Limbo constructing a world out of their shared memories whilst seemingly growing old together. After waking back into our outermost world, however, Mal remained convinced she was still dreaming and committed suicide, trying to persuade Cobb to do so by retroactively incriminating him in her death. He subsequently fled the U.S. and left his children behind, ostensibly in the care of his father-in-law.

When the elder Fischer dies in Sydney and his body is flown back to Los Angeles, the team share the flight with Robert Fischer and Cobb sedates him, bringing him into the shared dream. At each stage, the member of the team generating the dream stays behind to initiate the kick, while the other members sleep within the dream to travel a level deeper. In the first level, Yusuf's rainy downtown dream, the team abducts Fischer. However Fischer's antibody-like trained subconscious projections attack, severely wounding Saito. Eames temporarily takes the appearance of Fischer's godfather, Peter Browning, to suggest Fischer reconsider his father's will. Yusuf drives the team in a van as they are sedated into Arthur's dream, a hotel, where the team recruit Fischer, convincing him his kidnapping was orchestrated by Browning. In the third dream level, a snowy mountain fortress dreamed by Eames, Fischer is told they are in Browning's subconscious, but they are, in fact, really going deeper into Fischer's. Yusuf, under assault by trained projections, initiates his kick too soon by driving off a bridge, sending Arthur's dream world into zero-gravity and causing an avalanche in Eames' dream. Arthur is forced to improvise a new kick using an elevator that will be synchronized with the van hitting the water, while the team in Eames' dream races to finish the job before the new round of kicks.

Inception is smart, daring, brave, and electrifying. Some may have written if off as a popcorn film. But it is so much more. It goes into about dreams and the depths into dream.

In Inception, Nolan wanted to explore "the idea of people sharing a dream space...That gives you the ability to access somebody's unconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?" The majority of the film's plot takes place in these interconnected dream worlds. This structure creates a framework where actions in the real or dream worlds ripple across others. The dream is always in a state of production, and shifts across the levels as the characters navigate it.

It explores reality. Haven't you ever been in a dream that felt so real that when you woke up you didn't know what was real? Inception is the closest thing that can describe that feeling.

Nolan himself said, "I tried to work that idea of manipulation and management of a conscious dream being a skill that these people have. Really the script is based on those common, very basic experiences and concepts, and where can those take you? And the only outlandish idea that the film presents, really, is the existence of a technology that allows you to enter and share the same dream as someone else." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception#cite_note-Boucher-31)

Inception is all about process. Navigating our way through panels of reality and dream. Reality within dreams and dreams within reality. It is absolutely breathtaking.

[The Rodent]

You've been busy... last time I looked, TDKR was your last review.

Nice work matey!

[Flimmaker1473]

More like I have been lazy on my days off :p. But thanks! :cool:

[Flimmaker1473]

L.A Confidential: ****

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L.A Confidential is a smart, sleek, smooth, intense, neo-noir film based on John Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same name. Period Pieces are hard to do. This one nails everything. It is seductive and beautiful and the twists are done so sharply.

Against the backdrop of Los Angeles in 1953, three LAPD officers become caught up in corruption, sex and murder following a multiple homicide at the Nite Owl coffee shop. Their story expands to encompass organized crime, political corruption, narcotics, pornography, prostitution, tabloid journalism and institutional racism.

Sergeant Edmund Exley (Guy Pearce), the son of a legendary LAPD detective, is determined to live up to his father's reputation. His intelligence, insistence on following regulations, and his cold demeanor contribute to his social isolation from other officers. He exacerbates this resentment by volunteering to testify in a police brutality case (based on the real-life Bloody Christmas incident), insisting on a promotion to Detective Lieutenant (which he receives) against the advice of Captain Dudley Smith (Cromwell). It is revealed that Exley's consuming ambition is fueled in large part by the murder of his father by an unknown assailant.

Officer Wendell "Bud" White (Russel Crowe), whom Exley considers a "mindless thug," is a plainclothes officer violently obsessed with punishing woman-beaters. White comes to dislike Exley after his partner, Dick Stensland, is fired due to Exley's testimony in the "Bloody Christmas" scandal. White is sought out by Capt. Smith for a job intimidating out-of-town criminals trying to fill the void left in L.A. following the imprisonment of Mickey Cohen, the city's most successful and notorious gangster. The Nite Owl case becomes personal after Stensland is found to be one of the victims.

Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a slick and likable narcotics detective who moonlights as the technical advisor on Badge of Honor, a popular Dragnet-type TV crime program. He is also connected with Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), publisher of Hush-Hush magazine, receiving kickbacks for tipping Hudgens off to celebrity arrests that will attract even more readers to the magazine. When a young actor winds up dead during one of these schemes, a guilt-ridden Vincennes is determined to find who did it.

I love movies like this. This is an allstar cast. Though at the time Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce were unknowns. All of the actors and actresses were top notch. They are helped by a brilliant script. Everything about is so intriguing, so engaging. You just can't look away.

It is able to make itself different from all other time pieces. It never runs out of steam, never cops out of anything. It is more than entertainment, it almost feels like a documentary.

L.A Confidential was one of the best films of 1997 easily. The twists toward the end are intense and shocking, and the ending scene is wonderful. It covers a time period of the LA police department like no other has or will.

[TylerDurden99]

Love L.A Confidential, Inception & Ruthless People.

[Flimmaker1473]

Never Been Kissed:***
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Never Been Kissed is about a 25 year old woman named Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore). A highly intelligent but socially inept copy editor for the Chicago Sun Times. She has never had a real relationship yet, she hasn't quite gotten out of her awkward faze yet. She dreams of being a journalist but her boss Augustus "Gus" Strauss (John C. Reilly) doesn't think she is cut out for it. But one day during a meeting, on impulse their boss Rigfort (Garry Marshall) decides to give her her first story. She is to go undercover as a 17 year old at a high school.

Josie tells her brother Rob (David Arquette) about the assignment, and he reminds her that during high school she was a misfit labelled "Josie Grossie", a nickname which continues to haunt her. Her first day at South Glen South High School is miserable. Josie reverts to the old geek that ruined her first high school career. She also has an unfortunate run-in with Gibby, Kirsten, and Kristen (Jordan Ladd, Jessica Alba, and Marley Shelton), three mean, popular girls, and Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan), the most attractive, popular student at South Glen South. Upon discovering that Guy and his friends have hidden her car, Josie loses hope, but is warmed when a kind-hearted, intelligent girl named Aldys (Leelee Sobieski) befriends her. Aldys dislikes Guy and his gang, referring to them as "lemmings", and they in turn view her as an uncool geek. Aldys suggests that Josie should join The Denominators, a group of intelligent students. Josie does but fails to get her story.

Josie becomes enamoured with her English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan), who is a fan of Shakespeare, as is Josie, and she becomes the top student in his class. After reciting a romantic excerpt from Shakespeare to Sam, Josie has horrible flashbacks to where she read a romantic poem aloud in class to her high school crush, a popular boy named Billy Prince (Denny Kirkwood), who made fun of her for it.

One night while out driving with Aldys, Josie encounters Guy Perkins and his gang at a local hangout called "The Court" where promiscuity and underage drinking takes place. Guy is nasty to Josie and Aldys, who claims that nothing exciting happens in Guy's court, but Josie knows from experience that Aldys secretly longs to be popular. Gus loses patience with Josie after a rival paper exposes the truth on The Court, and orders Josie to become friends with the popular kids. He arranges for her to wear a hidden camera that will report back information to Gus, and soon the whole office becomes obsessed with Josie's story. Josie's co-worker Anita (Molly Shannon), after hearing Josie's recital of Shakespeare, grows unhappy with her promiscuous lifestyle and develops an attraction towards Gus, and he reciprocates.

Josie goes home and confides in Rob about her fears. She tearfully tells him that South Glen South is simply a repetition of her old high school days and all she wants is to be accepted and not abused. Rob - who was the most popular guy in school in his youth - insists that if Josie can get one cool person to like her, then no one will dare question her. He urges her to let go of her old self and start anew. Determined, Josie goes to school the next day and overhears Guy telling his group about a cool band that are playing in a bar that night. Josie follows and meets Sam and his uptight girlfriend, Lara (Maya McLaughlin). However, she is tricked into eating a hash brownie and makes a fool of herself onstage by dancing wildly in front of Guy, the girls, and Sam.

The next day, Josie oversleeps and is late for school. As her hand was stamped "loser" the night before at the club, the ink prints the word "loser" on her forehead, unknown to her. She merrily goes to school and is horrified to find everyone mocking her. She runs to the bathroom, sees the mark on her face and vomits in the toilet. She breaks down in tears and remembers the night of her prom. She was overjoyed at the thought of Billy Prince taking her to the prom and waits outside for him in her prom gown. But when Billy arrives in his limo, he has another girl with him and the both of them hurl eggs and insults at Josie, who collapses in tears. As she runs through the school hall, she encounters Rob who has enrolled as a new student and schemes to help her be popular. He becomes an instant hit with Guy Perkins and the other trendy kids, and spreads incredible stories about Josie, convincing the others that she is not a loser. Much to the anger of Aldys, Josie becomes popular and hangs out with the cool crowd.

Sam and Josie grow closer but Sam struggles with his feelings as he thinks that she is a student and therefore off limits. Josie begins dating Guy and she recommends that the theme for the senior prom should be "Meant for Each Other", famous couples throughout history.

Never Been Kissed is one of those movies that you sit down and watch and afterwards you say "that was sweet". Drew Barrymore is an underrated actress. She has a vulnerability in her eyes. She was able to perfectly play this awkward girl. She never tried to make Josie more than who she was. She stuck with the character and made us all feel for Josie.

There is someone in this movie who ended up becoming a big star (academy award nominated actor now). His role was not significant at all. But he provided some funny moments. And that was James Franco.

The ending to Never Been Kissed was nice. The last scene somewhat cliche. But so what? Doesn't make it bad. I quite enjoyed it.

[Flimmaker1473]

Man on the Moon:*** and a half
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Man on the Moon is a biopic about the late Andy Kaufman. A comedian who doesn't think he is one. More of a song and dance man. He was an interesting character for sure. He was an oddball. Which is why a biopic on hmm so interesting to watch. Here is a man quirks and all was probably a genius.

Andy Kaufman's (Jim Carrey) "foreign man" character appears in black-and-white, declaring that (due to massive editing), this is actually the end of the film, not the beginning. He plays a phonograph record alongside the credits before walking off. Kaufman then comes back, and, in his normal voice, claiming he "had to get rid of the people who don't understand me, and don't want to try," he proceeds to show the story of his life on a film projector, starting with his childhood home in Great Neck, New York, circa 1957.

Kaufman is a struggling performer whose act fails in nightclubs because, while the audience wants comedy, he sings children's songs and refuses to tell conventional jokes. As the audience begins to believe that Kaufman may have no real talent, his peculiar "foreign man" puts on a rhinestone jacket and does a dead-on Elvis impersonation and song. The audience bursts into applause, realizing Kaufman had tricked them.

He catches the eye of talent agent George Shapiro (Danny DeVito), who signs Kaufman as a client and immediately lands him a network TV series, Taxi, much to the dismay of sitcom-hating Kaufman. Because of the money, visibility, and promise that he can do his own television special, Kaufman accepts the role on Taxi, turning his foreign man into a mechanic named Latka Gravas. He secretly hates doing the show, however, and exasperates co-stars with his behavior.

Invited to catch a different act at a nightclub, Shapiro witnesses a performance from a rude, loud-mouthed lounge singer, Tony Clifton, whom Andy wants to guest-star on Taxi. Clifton's bad attitude is matched by his horrible appearance and demeanor. But backstage, when he meets Shapiro in person, Clifton takes off his sunglasses and we see that he is actually Kaufman. Clifton is a “villain character” created by Kaufman and his creative partner, Bob Zmuda (Paul Giamatti). Once again, the gag is on the audience.

Kaufman's fame increases with his Saturday Night Live appearances, but has problems with his newfound fame. When he travels to college campuses, audiences dislike his strange sense of humor and simply want to see his more famous TV characters, so he deliberately antagonizes them by reading The Great Gatsby aloud from start to finish. Kaufman shows up on the Taxi set as Clifton and proceeds to cause chaos until he is removed from the studio lot. He relates to Shapiro that he never knows exactly how to entertain an audience “short of faking my own death or setting the theater on fire.”

Kaufman decides to become a professional wrestler -– but to emphasize the “villain” angle, he would wrestle only women (hired actresses) and then berate them after winning, declaring himself "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion." He becomes smitten with one woman he wrestles, Lynne Margulies (Courtney Love), and they begin a romantic relationship.

The wrestling Kaufman enjoys getting a rise out of the crowds and feuds publicly with Jerry Lawler, a professional male wrestler, who challenges Kaufman to a "real" wrestling match, which Kaufman accepts. Lawler easily overpowers and seriously injures Kaufman, resulting in the comedian wearing a neck brace. Lawler and an injured Kaufman appear on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, theoretically to call a truce, but Lawler insults Kaufman, who throws a drink at the wrestler and spews a vicious tirade of epithets. It is revealed that Kaufman and Lawler were in fact good friends.

Andy pays a price when he is banned from Saturday Night Live by a vote of audience members, weary of his wrestling antics. Shapiro calls to inform him that Taxi had been canceled. An appearance on a live TV comedy show, ABC's Fridays, turns into a fiasco when Kaufman refuses to speak his lines. His television special also is a flop.

Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman is seemless. I looked up pictures of Andy. Just amazing. He nailed everything down right to a tee. His performance and devotion to this character puts him in the same class as Robert De Niro. He is able to seem as nuts, funny, and a loose cannon just like Kaufman was.

Man on the moon like any good biopic just follows Kaufman. It shows what potentially made him tick. What he set out to do. What he was all about. Here was a man who had all the talent in the world. But he was such a loose cannon that you never knew what to expect from him.

Man on the moon is engaging, funny, heartfelt and sad all the way to the end. We get to see the rise, fall rise and demise of a man. The ending though is genius and leaves you questioning something. The answer? I don't know. But that is the point.

[Flimmaker1473]

Assassination of a High School President:***

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I love Neo-Noir films. Especially ones set in High School. Assassination of a High School President is one clearly set in high school. On the outside it seems somewhat similar to another good neo-noir film called Brick. But Brick had no adults and had a more serious tone to it's unrealistic but fun premise. Assassination of a High School President seems more like a satire somewhat similar to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It embraces it's unrealistic but fun premise.

by Funke (Reece Thompson) is a less than popular high school sophomore with a dream to get into Northwestern University's summer journalism program. Although Bobby claims he's a great writer, he's never finished an article for St. Donovan's School Newspaper. The editor-in-chief Clara, (Melonie Diaz), assigns Bobby to do an article on Paul Moore, the student body president. Bobby attempts to get an interview, but is unable to get a story out of Paul and is bullied by Paul's friends. Paul is the star of the basketball team and on a game night, Paul takes a fall and injures his knee. The next morning Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis) discovers the SATs have been stolen from a safe in his office. Kirkpatrick rounds up his "usual suspects" of high school misfits along with Bobby to question them. The group is innocent but Kirkpatrick warns them all to watch their step.

When senior Francesca Facchini (Mischa Barton) solicits Bobby's help tracking down the set of stolen SATs, Funke uncovers a story. He sets on a large scale investigation and links Paul Moore to the crime. He writes an article pointing the finger at Paul. Kirkpatrick forces Paul to open his locker and the SATs fall out. As a result of his sleuthing, Funke becomes one of the most popular kids at St. Donovan's. Clara decides to submit Funke's article to Northwestern which earns Bobby a scholarship to the summer program. Funke wins the respect of everyone from Principal Kirkpatrick to the kid that farts on him in Spanish class and Francesca takes Funke to homecoming. As Funke's popularity grows so do his suspicions. Paul confronts Bobby, proclaiming his innocence, stating that he got into Cornell but decided to take the test again to see if he could get a better score. Funke begins to wonder if the president really stole the SATs or if he's just a pawn in a conspiracy.

Assassination of a High School President has many twists. There are more towards the end of the film that you didn't really see coming. It's writing is surprisingly smart. Recce Thompson does well in the starring role. His character development of Bobby is fun to watch. He shows up Bobby going from think and approaching things one way to doing it another way. Bruce Willis is also funny as the principal. Could be his best comedic role yet. Mischa Barton has taken a lot of heat for her acting abilities. She is beautiful no question. But her performance on the OC was one that people felt brought down the show. Here she did a good job. She was captivating, interesting, charming. She acted well.

Brick was more in line to classic neo-noir. This film is paying homage, but adds comic relief. I laughed quite a bit. I was entertained. This is a movie that goes though hoops a lot of things. But doesn't take time to explain it. It just keeps going with it.

It isn't groundbreaking. But as teen films go, it is one of the quality ones out there. The film had been scheduled for limited theatrical release on February 27, 2009, but that release was postponed indefinitely following the bankruptcy of its distributor, Yari Film Group's releasing division. It was instead released on dvd. Shame more people weren't able to see this film. It is a nice watch.

[Flimmaker1473]

Failure to Launch:*
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I came home drunk after a party. And I wondered what is a movie that is the least common denominator that I could watch? And what movie could I stare at Zooey Deschanel? Failure to Launch came to movie. And it provided both. Mindless entertainment to a tee, and the definition of bad acting with the exception of Deschanel is shown in Failure to Launch. Someone gets bit my a chipmunk and lizard, a 35 year old who is successful is living with his parents. That is this movie.

Tripp (Matthew McConaughey), a 35-year-old man, is still living with his parents Al (Terry Bradshaw) and Sue (Kathy Bates), in Baltimore, Maryland. Tripp's best friends Demo (Bradley Cooper) and nerdy Ace (Justin Bartha) are also still living in their parents' homes and seem proud of it. Al and Sue are not happy, and are fascinated when friends whose adult son has recently moved away from home reveal that they hired an expert to arrange the matter.

The expert is Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), who theorises that men continue to live at home out of low self-esteem. Her approach is to establish a relationship with the man to build up his confidence and transfer his attachment from his parents to her. Her step-by-step process is deceitful; while avoiding physical intimacy, she allows her subject to fall in love with her, pretending to like what he likes, allowing him to help her through a (false) crisis, obtaining the approval of his friends, and giving him the opportunity to teach her something: he then moves out to become more independent.

Tripp is soon discovered to not fit any of Paula's previous profiles, having normal social skills and no problems with self-esteem. He does not commit to long term relationships, and uses his living with parents as a dumping mechanism. After an awkward encounter with his parents, Paula thwarts his attempt to dump her, stays for the night, all the while developing real feelings for him. They find themselves sailing unfamiliar waters and confide with their friends.

Paula's vocation exasperates her terminally-hip roommate, Kit (Zooey Deschanel), who believes that Paula's own breakup with a live-at-home man is the unhealthy motivation behind the job to which she has given over her whole life. Paula, on the other hand, is shocked when the true reason for Tripp's situation is revealed to her: His life essentially collapsed when the woman he was engaged to suddenly died, leaving him emotionally devastated, and his family has been his source of solace ever since. She read her mark all wrong.

Entrepreneurial Ace discovers what is going on and blackmails Paula for a date with Kit; although Kit is more attracted to slacker Demo, the pair wind up bonding over a problem and fall in love. Ace spills the beans to Demo, who in turn ultimately reveals all to Tripp, leading to the film's crisis. Tripp confronts both his parents and Paula, who split in bitterness and guilt, and Tripp moves out, possibly never to speak to his parents or trust a woman again. Wracked with guilt, Paula refunds Al and Sue's money, but can't escape being scathingly dressed down by Kit for essentially being an arrogant con artist.

After an awkward confrontation (due to his father's new interest in naturism), Tripp manages to forgive his parents despite not understanding why they couldn't be upfront with him. Still, he can't forgive Paula for her manipulations.

Failure to Launch is so unbelievable in every aspect. The flow of this film is off very much. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Mconaughey have zero chemistry. Their scenes in particular were horrible to watch. But to be fair to them, it isn't as if they had help with the writing. Who wrote this script? It is so awful.

The lone bright side of the film is Zooey Deschanel. Her performance is excellent. I am a fan of hers and she shows why. She is funny and charming. The other actors could have taken lessons from her on what to do. Then maybe they would have made up for how lame the movie was.

Failure to Launch attempts to be a good comedy. But instead with it's plot and the majority of its acting just falls flat. It isn't funny, nothing other than Deschanel works. It is just rather stupid. Is it worth a watch? Nope not really. But I will say if you a drunk then maybe it is worth a watch.

[Flimmaker1473]

Death at a Funeral:*** and a half
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Funerals are usually very solemn. I have been to a few myself. Death at Funeral throws that all away and shows perhaps the craziest funeral that you will ever see. I am sure. A comedy with tons of laughs. It is funny from the start to the end.

The film revolves around the funeral ceremony for the father of Aaron (Chris Rock) and Ryan (Martin Lawrence). Aaron, the older son, lives with his wife Michelle (Regina Hall) at his parent's home. Aaron and Michelle have been trying to buy their own home and have children but have been unsuccessful. Aaron envies Ryan because Ryan is a successful writer, while he has not had his novel published, and resents his brother because he would rather spend money on two first class tickets (for himself) from New York to L.A. than help him pay for the funeral expenses.

Aaron and Ryan's cousin Elaine (Zoe Saldana) and her fiancé Oscar (James Marsden) are on their way to pick up her brother Jeff (Columbus Short) before heading to the funeral. To ease Oscar's nerves, she gives him a pill from a bottle labeled as Valium. Jeff later reveals to Elaine that it is actually a powerful hallucinogenic drug he's concocted for a friend. Chaos ensues when Oscar hallucinates that the coffin is moving; he knocks it over, and the body falls out of the coffin.

Aaron is approached by an unknown guest, a dwarf named Frank (Peter Dinklage, reprising his role from the original film), who reveals himself to be the secret lover of his deceased father. Frank shows Aaron photos as proof and threatens to reveal them to Aaron's mother unless he is paid $30,000. Aaron tells Ryan, who suggest Aaron pay the money because Ryan claims he's buried in debt. While Aaron and Ryan meet with him to pay him, Frank starts to deride Aaron's ability as writer and Aaron refuses to pay. Frank begins to turn violent and puts his hand in his pocket (hinting he may have a gun) and tries to leave the room; Ryan attacks Frank and both Aaron and Ryan tie Frank up to prevent him from leaving. Norman (Tracy Morgan) comes in and sees what happened. He gives Frank several doses of what he also believes is Valium to try to calm him down, before Jeff tells them it's actually the same hallucinogen Oscar took earlier.

While Jeff and Norman, who are supposed to be watching Frank, get distracted by Uncle Russell (Danny Glover), Frank frees himself from his bonds, jumps off the couch, and hits his head on the coffee table. With Aaron, Ryan, Jeff and Norman believing Frank is dead, they plan to put him in the coffin. While everyone is outside watching Oscar, who is now naked on the roof, threatening to jump because he saw elaine's ex-boyfriend Derek (Luke Wilson) kissing her, Aaron and Ryan put Frank in the coffin.


Death at a Funeral is one of the funniest films in the last ten years. It ranks right up there with the Hangover and Ted for comedies in bad taste but just makes us laugh. What is impressive is that it never runs out of steam just like those two films. Jokes are never lame, the acting is solid. It benefits from a really smart script.


Death at a Funeral has much in bad taste. There were some scenes you go "Oh my". Real crazy things. For the prudes that could turn them off. For the over sesensitive well that could also turn them off. Me? I found the parts in bad taste to be the best and funniest parts.

[Flimmaker1473]

(Second viewing) 127 Hours:****
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Everyone knows the story of Aron Ralston story. The guy goes mountaineering without telling anyone. And he literally gets trapped between a rock in a hard place. He gets himself out only after have to severs his arm. It is a story that was inspiring and got much publicity. I remember it like it was yesterday. 127 Hours is about that whole situation. And it covers it extremely well. So well that Ralston said that it is "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama," and added that he thought it is "the best film ever made."

Aron Ralston (James Franco) is taking a trip. He tells no one as he wants to be alone and not be disturbed. The next morning after he crashes trying to cut 45 minutes off of his guide book's estimated time given to reach his destination while riding his mountain bike he meets two girls named Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn). They are apparently lost. Ralston convinces the girls that he is a tour guide and offers to take them through a more interesting route. He leads them through Robbers Roost narrow canyons where a underground pool is. The three record themselves jumping into the canyon repeatedly. After that the girl invite him to a party they are throwing. He promises to attend. But the girls doubt he will show up. They feel Aron seems like the kind of guy that is in his own world.

Ralston continues into Blue John Canyon, through a narrow passage where boulders are suspended, wedged between the walls of rock. As he descends, one boulder is jarred loose, falling after Ralston to the bottom of the canyon and pinning his right arm against the canyon wall, trapping him. He initially yells for help, but the extreme isolation of his location means that nobody is within earshot. As he resigns himself to the fact that he is on his own, he begins recording a video diary on his camera and using his pocket multi-tool to attempt to chip away at the boulder. He also begins rationing his water and food.

As he realizes his efforts to chip away at the boulder are futile, he begins to attempt to cut into his arm, but finds his knife too dull to break his skin. He then stabs his arm, but realizes he will not be able to cut through the bone. He finds himself out of water and is forced to drink his own urine. His video logs become more and more desperate as he feels himself dying. He begins dreaming about relationships and past experiences, including a former lover (Clémence Poésy), family (Lizzy Caplan, Treat Williams, Kate Burton), and the two hikers he met before his accident. After reflecting upon his life, he comes to the realization that everything he has done has led him to this ordeal, and that he was destined to die alone in the canyon.

After five days, Ralston sees his unborn son through a premonition. He gathers the will to apply enough force to his forearm to break it and eventually severs his arm with the dull knife, fashioning a crude tourniquet out of the insulation for his CamelBak tube and using a carabiner to tighten it. He wraps the stump of his arm and takes a picture of the boulder that trapped him as he leaves it behind. He then makes his way out of the canyon, where he is forced to rappel down a 65 ft rockface and hike several miles before, exhausted and covered in blood, he finally runs into a family on a day hike. The family sends for help and Ralston is evacuated by a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter.

James Franco performance is the film as he is the only actor here who gets a real amount of screen time. He carried the whole film. He conveyed to us what Ralston must have been going through. He showed fear, pain, sorriness, acceptance, and strength. He also suggest two things about Ralston. 1. He is cocky and a bit selfish, like to do things his own way, and takes risks. 2. He is logical and bloody minded enough to cut part of his own arm off to save his life. One aspect gets gets him into this issue, the other resolves it.

Aron Ralston the way the film described him seemed to be a guy who felt like he could do whatever he wanted to in a way. And after he gets stuck started to reflect and see the error of his ways. He sees that perhaps that he should have been more open to people and not selfish. That is real life person development. And the fact that Franco was able to convey that is astounding.

Is it watchable? Yes. But it's pacing is very interesting. And it gets gory. The blood and him breaking off his arm was also done so well. It looked very real. The makeup artist earned their pay on this one. It was so hard to watch. Each time he did something you felt his pain. 127 Hours is an accomplishment to make a film out something that perhaps was impossible to do.

127 Hours is not about a hero. It is about a guy who gets himself in a bad situation because of himself. A guy who had to make a choice to live or die. A choice that cost him part of his arm. A choice that most people might have a hard time to make it they faced it. He did what he had to do. And anyone of us could have done the same. I really and truly believe that.

[Flimmaker1473]

Chaplin:**
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Charlie Chaplin was perhaps the great comic actor of all time. I remember when I got to watch one of his silent films Modern Times in History class. Everyone was cracking up. That is how timeless his films were. His Biopic Chaplin tries to show his life and career. I was excited to watch this. I love biopics when they are done right. Raging Bull, Casino, The Aviator, and The Pianist examples of some great biopics that I love. Sad to say that I was disappointed with Chaplin. You expect something fun and meaningful going in. But get over dramatic.

Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr) is now elderly and is now living in Switzerland with his wife Oona O'Neil (Moria Kelly) and children. He is being interviewed for his biography by George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins). This sets up flashbacks on how he got started in the entertainment industry as a kid. How it fascinated him.

The film continues to show his growth in age and acting. He gets more serious about it. He is now a big time stage actor. He surrounds himself with good people as well. When he moves to the United States his career really takes off. This is when he started making the 81 films that we know and love.

The film also shows many of the scandals and relationships he had with women like Mildred Harris (Milla Jovovich), Lita Grey (Debroah Moore), And Paulette Goddard (Diane Lane). Also the whole ordeal between Chaplin and Joan Barry (Nancy Travis).

Robert Downey Jr as Charlie Chaplin is rather remarkable. He turns into him. He looks just like him. He embodies his whimsical attitude. Shows Chaplin for the serious performer he was. He for sure deserved his academy award nomination. He flows like Chaplin, he acts just like he did. He doesn't try to hard. He just let it happen. His acting is sometimes taken for granted. But Downey Jr is truly a great actor. No bones about that.

But the film over dramatized everything. I know it is a biopic. But not everything is the Aviator where the source had a dramatic life. I wasn't there. But surely it wasn't like this for Chaplin. He wasn't a drunk or addicted to drugs. He just had a few wives and was involved with a crazy girl. Also the film feels restrictive. Chaplin's life was amazing. He did so many things, it was just so vast and varied. The movie doesn't cover all that. It tries to hard to cover all it's bases that ends up feeling rushed. It doesn't give it justice.

Chaplin is a film that could have been great. Should have been to. Robert Downey Jr and everyone involved gave great performances. But alas it is simply an over glossy biopic instead of a true look at the life at someone who was larger than life.

[Flimmaker1473]

40 Year Old Virgin:*** and a half
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40 Year Old Virgin is a movie about a man who has lived a very mediocre life. His name is Andy Sitzer (Steve Carrell). He is a nice guy. Hecollects little action figures, works on them, makes a perfect breakfast, he rides a bike, and works at Smart Tech. Only thing he is a virgin. This is discovered when his co workers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogen) invite him to play poker. He tells a ridiculous lie about having sex and they realize that they have been avoiding him for a reason and his lifestyles makes sense.

Now they all try to get him some. He is 40 years old. One would think he would have done it at least a few times by now. But alas Andy tried and failed when he was a young man, and kind of just gave up. He goes through trails like his co workers taking him to a club. Andy was going to get laid too by a girl named Nicky (Leslie Mann) but she nearly kills him, vomits on him and even though she says he can still have sex with her, he declines. Things seem hopeless for him. Then after he gets promoted to the floor he meets Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener). She owns a store but really gets stuff and sells it on ebay. They hit it off and connect and she gives him her number. He wants to call her. But his friends say no because he would suck at sex and he wouldn't want to suck at sex with a girl he likes. That he should have sex with "hood rats" first then give it a go with her so he is at least mediocre.

Andy tries this and even meets a attractive girl named Beth (Elizabeth Banks). He starts to understand how to hit on girls more and more now. But he still wants Trish. He ends up calling her. And they set up a date. And they were about to have sex when her 16 year old daughter Marla (Kat Dennings) walked in. This starts a relationship that gets rather interesting.

40 year old Virgin. Is very funny. All the jokes land and make sense. What surprised me about the movie is how nice, sweet and wise it is. And after you watch and the more you think about it, 40 Year old Virgin becomes a better movie in your head. This was a star making performance for Steve Carrell. He doesn't act goofy. He plays it very straight and very well. He shows Andy as a nice guy, who is scared. Who means well and just wants to be happy. It is a very nice performance. And Catherine Keener was performance for the role of Trish. There is a scene at the end of the film that I am not sure anyone else could have done.

40 Year Old Virgin is a funny, sweet and smart comedy. It doesn't make fun of virgins. It doesn't even promote pre marital sex. If you can take anything away from the movie that 1. If you want to hae sex, just go and put yourself out there it will happen. And 2. Saving yourself for marriage is also a good thing.

[Flimmaker1473]

What's Your Number?** and a half
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What's Your Number is a romantic comedy based of the book 20 times a lady by Jennifer Crittenden. It has a simple premise and is easy to follow for the most part. The characters themselves are nice for the most part. But the comedy itself seems to fall flat as it feels like something you have seen before.

Allison "Ally" Darling (Anna Faris) just broke up with her boyfriend who refuses to attend her sister Daisy Anne (Ari Granyor) wedding with her. She is different than most girls. She seems like a bit of a mess. That is confirmed when the minute she walks into work her boss Roger (Joel McHale) fires her. Now she is single and unemployed. On the train with her box of belongings from work she reads in a magazine that the average woman sleeps with 10.5 guys. She thinks that is too low and wonders how many guys she has slept with.

Ally realizes after some research that she has slept with 19 guys. She feels somewhat embarrassed by this. That same night after a party celebrating her sister's engagement her, her sister and their friends go out. She sees Roger at the bad and he pays for her drinks. She finds this somewhat sweet. My question with this was why isn't she more mad at Roger? Anyway she goes to drink with her sister and her girlfriends. She wants to see how many guys each girl has slept with. One girl has slept with 13 guys. She tries to lie about her number but it is discovered that it is 19. She talks about the magazine she read. One of her friends inform her that if the average woman sleeps with 20 men that she will never get married. This scares Ally. So much that (while drunk) makes a pact to not have anymore sex and the next guy she has sex with she will marry. Of course the next morning she wakes up next to Roger. She almost wants to give him a chance before she sees him sniffing his fingers after shoving it down somewhere.

Now she wants to get rid of him. He wants to make conversation and has interest with her. Her neighbor Colin (Chris Evans) comes over. It is revealed that he is a player. He is trying to avoid a situation with one of his one night stands. He helps Ally avoid having to go out with Roger. I will say that in his short time on screen, Joel McHale's performance is memorable. Now this is where the ground work for Colin and Ally's relationship starts. He says he saw a youtube video of her proclaiming her pact. She asks him how he saw it so quickly. He said he family is full of police officers and he has it in his blood.

Ally while talking to Daisy comes to the conclusion that if Daisy is able to get back together and marry her ex boyfriend (who cheated on her), she could find an ex and make it work with one of them. She then remembers what Colin said and convinces him to dig up dirt on the other 19 people that she has slept with. During this time we see Ally and Colin grow closer. Ally is so blinded by her search that she doesn't see it. But Colin starts having feelings.

Anna Faris did a excellent job as Ally. She was real, funny, full of pitty, charming, and strong. Chris Evans was funny as Colin. Though in the dramatic scenes I was less than impressed (he is better in the Avengers). But what bothers me is how predictable this film is. I could see everything coming with a mile start. And the comedy is the same. The source is a solid one. It is a shame they weren't more clever.

What's Your Number? Could have been better if it went against the norm like the book it is based off did. Instead it falls into the same trap a lot of romantic comedies do. It feels like what it's doing is enough and it doesn't need more substance.

It is a film that is barely watchable. The performances are fun. It worth multiple viewings? Nope. Is it worth one? I am not sure about that.

[Flimmaker1473]

Ever After A Cinderella Story:***
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Ever After A Cinderella Story is a lovely film with a slightly different take on Cinderella's story. The Grande Dame Marie Thérèse Charlotte de France (Jeanne Moreau) summons the brothers Grimm to set the story straight about the tale of Cinderella. There was a girl named Danielle de Barbarac who was eight and lived with her father Auguste de Barbarac (Jeroen Krabbe). She had just lost her mother when Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent (Angelica Houston) comes in to marry Auguste with her children Marguérite de Ghent and Jacqueline de Ghent. As he is going on a trip he has a heart attack and dies, leaving Danielle an orphan.

Fast forward years later Danielle (Drew Barrymore) is now all grown up. So are her step sister Marguérite (Megan Dodds) and Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey). Her step mother Rodmillia has forced her to be servant now that her father is dead. Danielle does so without a complain. She holds her tongue. Her life has turned completely upside down but she remains very graceful about everything. Meanwhile prince Henry (Dougray Scott) is having a few problems. His father King Francis (Timothy West) wants him to get betrothed via an arranged marriage. Henry has other plans. He wants to fall in love.

So Henry runs away from home. He steals of of the horses at Danielle's home. Danielle spots him and mistakes him for a theft as he is wearing a cloak. When he takes that off, she realizes that he is the prince and bows down and asks for forgiveness. He isn't mad, he understands and he is intrigued by her will. He gives her gold coins to not say anything and he leaves. On his way out he even sees Leonardo Da Vinchi (Patrick Godfrey). Later Danielle dresses up and goes to see the prince. She decides to go by her mother's name the Comtesse Nicole de Lancret. He is instantly intrigued with her just like he was when he say her earlier. Only he doesn't know it is her. They have secret meetings. At first she doesn't like him. But she grows to see that he is more than what meets the eye and falls in love with him just as he does with her.

Rodmilla finds out about this when the Queen (Judy Parfitt) asks her about the Comtesse Nicole de Lancret living with her. She lies to the Queen and tells her that she is engaged and is about to leave to get married to a Belgium. This gets Danielle in trouble. Later events lead to her mother's book of writing getting burnt up in a fire. Now that Henry also thinks that Danielle is gone to be married he decides to go get married. He now has nothing to lose. The events after this are true to the classic story and provide it's own little twist.

Ever After A Cinderella story is such a nice film. The strong point is the romance as it is so passionate. Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott have such amazing chemistry. Speaking of Drew Barrymore, when I came into this movie, I thought it might just be another kiddie version of Cinderella. What I got was something so passionate and filled with romance and zest like The Mask of Zorro. Also it reminded me what a great actress Drew Barrymore is. How she has the ability to dissolve into a role, grab the screen and allow us to indulge into her characters. This was truly one of her best performances. She nailed the accent, was stunning, passionate, sad, happy, cheerful, and gave us so many reasons to cheer for him. And that is Cinderella.

What makes this film different from other Cinderella live action films in that it makes it it's own. It doesn't just relay on it's source. It comes up with it's own ideas and merge it. The script was very well done. The setting was beautiful too. I felt I was transformed into another world.

Ever After A Cinderella story is everything all the other live action Cinderella films are not. There have been a few other good ones. But not as good as this. It is passionate, has great acting, a good script, beautiful setting, and is a treat to watch. It makes the classic proud.

[Flimmaker1473]

Seabiscuit:****
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Seabiscuit was the little horse that could. He went against all odds and won races when no thought he would even be a factor. It it the ultimate underdog story.

Three men, Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), Charles S. Howard (Jeff Bridges), and Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) come together as the principal jockey, owner, and trainer of the championship horse Seabiscuit, rising from troubled times to achieve fame and success through their association with the horse.

Red is the child of a wealthy family that is financially ruined by the Great Depression. In desperate need of money, the family leaves Red with a horse trainer. Red eventually becomes a jockey, but makes extra money through illegal boxing matches which leave him almost blind in one eye. Howard is a clerk in a bicycle shop who gets asked by a passing motorist to repair his automobile, a technology which has recently been introduced. As a result Howard becomes knowledgeable enough with automobiles to increase their performance and sell them as a dealer, eventually becoming the largest car dealer in California and one of the Bay Area's richest men. However, his son is killed in an automobile accident while driving the family car, which sends Howard into a bout of deep depression, which eventually results in his wife (Valerie Mahaffey) leaving him.

On a trip to Mexico to obtain a divorce and to drown his sorrows, he meets Marcela (Elizabeth Banks). Marcela helps Howard overcome his depression, mainly through horse-riding. After marrying Marcela, Howard acquires a stable of horses and later has a chance encounter with the skilled and kindly horse trainer and drifter Smith. Howard hires Smith to manage his stables after Smith, who specializes in rehabilitating injured and abused horses, explains to Howard "You don't throw a life away, just because they are banged up a little". Smith convinces Howard to acquire the colt "Seabiscuit", who comes from noted lineage but had been deemed "incorrigible" by past handlers and was later broken and trained to lose against better horses.

Smith is unable to find a jockey willing to deal with Seabiscuit's temperament, but after witnessing Red Pollard brawling with other stable boys, he sees in him a similar temperament to the feisty horse and decides to appoint him as Seabiscuit's jockey. Seabiscuit and Pollard become close and they begin to race. After overcoming early difficulties, such as a dismissive media and Pollard's anger issues and blind eye, Seabiscuit begins to earn considerable success and becomes an extremely popular underdog for the millions affected by the Great Depression. Inspired, Howard tries repeatedly to provoke a race with the mocking New York tycoon Samuel Riddle and his fearsome stallion "War Admiral", the top race horse in the country. Riddle eventually relents to a match race on his terms between War Admiral and Seabiscuit, but while the date approaches, Pollard is injured in a riding accident, fracturing his leg. When the doctor reports that he will be unable to ride again, Red suggests that Howard get an old friend, the successful jockey George Woolf (Gary Stevens) to be Seabiscuit's new rider.

Red teaches Woolf about Seabiscuit's handling and mannerisms. At the match race, Seabiscuit upsets the heavy favorite, War Admiral, partly because of a secret that Pollard relates to Woolf, instructing him to hold him head to head with the other horse so he gets "a good look at the Admiral." Later on, Seabiscuit is racing at Santa Anita when he is injured and has to stop. Red helps him to recover and get fit enough to race again. The last race is again at the Santa Anita, and Red rides him this time after putting a special self-made brace on his own leg to keep it stable. Woolf is on a different horse. Seabiscuit drops to last place and trails the pack, but Woolf holds back to be alongside Red. After a short conversation, Seabiscuit surges and wins the race.

Seabiscuit uses it's real life source for the majority of it's storytelling. That is what makes this story so great. In real life it had a Hollywood ending. It is inspiring, tragic then inspiring. Jeff Bridges is such a great actor. He is the one of the best character actors out there. No matter what role he goes into he gives it 100% and plays it so well. It's astounding to watch.

Tobey Maguire is also great. We all know him as Spiderman. But here he shows range. He is able to really dig in and become this jockey. He makes us feel that he is really an underdog. Elizabeth Banks is also good her role, same with Chris Cooper. It is a movie where all the actors dive in, believe in the story, and gave amazing performances.

Not a big horse racing fan. But I have always respected the sport. It is intense and almost pure chance. So when a horse comes along and can win a lot of races especially against all odds it is something special. Seabiscuit did that. He showed that we should never give up.

[Flimmaker1473]

Knight and Day:***
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I was waiting for the day Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise starred in a film together. Thought it might be a romantic comedy. But a action comedy film? Indeed. That is Knight and Day. And it works too.

The film follows the adventures of Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), a spy on the run, and June Havens (Cameron Diaz), a car refurbisher. Miller is seen watching Havens, and he bumps into her a couple of times as they go through security at Wichita Airport. Havens is making her way back home to Boston from Wichita, Kansas after picking up spare parts for her deceased father's classic Pontiac GTO car, that she is restoring for her sister as a wedding gift. Even though she has a confirmed reservation for her flight, she is told at the gate that it is overbooked. Miller, able to board, whispers to her that "sometimes things happen for a reason". Unbeknownst to Havens, Federal agent Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) is monitoring Miller's movements and, believing she is working with Miller, puts her back on the flight list.

On board the flight, Havens notices that there are only four or five other people present. She relaxes with a drink, and chats about her dream of someday driving to Cape Horn while Miller checks out the other passengers. She is charmed, and goes to the restroom to freshen up. While she is occupied, Miller is attacked by the remaining passengers and crew. Miller kills them all, including the pilots. After she emerges from the restroom Miller calmly informs her that everyone onboard is dead. Thinking that he is joking, Havens plays along until Miller enters the cockpit. In a spell of turbulence, she notices the dead bodies falling over in their seats, and spilling into the aisle. Miller lands the plane on a highway, but skids off the road into a corn field trying to avoid a semi-trailer Truck. Miller gives Havens a drink, and explains that she may be questioned by various officials. She is not to get in any vehicle with them, nor accompany them if they suggest taking her away to a "safe" place. Havens passes out due to a knock-out drug he gives her, but awakes at home amongst clues that Miller brought her there, ensuring her safety.

Havens struggles through the day trying on bridesmaid dresses for her sister, April's (Maggie Grace) wedding. Talking over what to do with their dad's GTO car Havens is shocked to learn that April wants to sell it. She is lured out of the shop and is accosted by a group seeming to be FBI special agents who, with assurances that she will be safe, drive her away. She is shown some files pertaining to Miller, and is questioned by the agents to determine if she is working with him. Suddenly, Miller shows up, and with much shooting and acrobatics, "rescues" Havens.

Havens doesn't know who or what to believe and flees to the firehall, where her former boyfriend, Rodney (Marc Blucas), works as a firefighter. Upon hearing her story he thinks she is merely stressed from the wedding, and takes her out for pie. While they are chatting, Miller arrives and kidnaps Havens. He handcuffs her and shoots Rodney in the leg, telling him this will all turn him into an overnight hero and virtually guarantee his desired promotion to lieutenant.

Miller explains that Havens is safer with him; and Havens agrees to follow him as they go to pick up Simon Feck (Paul Dano), a genius inventor who created a perpetual energy battery called the Zephyr. They arrive at a safe house in Brooklyn where he left Feck. He is missing, but has left clues that he can be found on a train in Austria. The two are immediately ambushed by men belonging to Antonio (Jordi Mollà), a Spanish arms dealer. After Miller again drugs Havens, she drifts in and out of consciousness between their capture and escape from Antonio's men. Miller brings her to an island that is off the grid, which he calls his home. After leaving Miller in frustration to wander the island, Havens notices a message on Miller's cell phone with a Boston address. While studying this, her cell phone rings, showing her sister's caller ID. In answering the phone, she accidentally leads Antonio's group to the hideaway. They try to kill Miller and Havens with a remote drone.

Again knocking out Havens, this time with a neck pinch, Miller transports them to a train heading through the Alps. Havens awakes alone and, missing a message from Miller, leaves to get breakfast in the dining car where she encounters Bernhard (Falk Hentschel), a German assassin whom she believes is Feck. When she finds the message stuck to the bottom of her shoe, she realizes that Feck is with Miller, and Bernhard is someone else. Using tricks learned from Miller, Havens manages to survive, and Bernhard is eventually knocked out of a window by Miller and killed by a train coming from the opposite direction.

Miller puts Havens and Feck up in a hotel in Salzburg, Austria, and heads to a meeting with a mysterious beautiful woman. Havens follows him, and hears him make a deal to sell the Zephyr to Antonio. Havens is picked up by the CIA and meets the director of counter-intel, who confirms that Miller is a rogue agent, and gives her a pen transmitter to signal them when she is with Miller and the Zephyr. Miller meets her back at the hotel, and shows her the Zephyr, which is now showing signs of overheating. Havens uses the pen to notify the agents, which Miller notes "hurts more than I thought it would," but Miller escapes to the roof-tops. After leading the CIA agents on a chase, Miller is apparently shot and falls into the Salzach River. His body is not recovered, nor is the Zephyr.

Havens is sent home by the agents in time to stand at her sister's wedding. When Havens hears the song that Miller used as his ring-tone, she heads to the address she remembered from his iPhone. She meets the people at the address, and realizes that they are Miller's parents. Havens learns that Miller's real name is Matthew Knight and the couple believe their son, a former Army Ranger Captain and Eagle Scout, is dead, and they are fabulously wealthy from winning lotteries and sweepstakes they don't remember entering. They mention that their son was an excellent swimmer who could hold his breath for an amazing length of time, which leads Havens to realize Miller is still alive.

Knight and Day is just a film movie to watch. It almost plays on a satire on these action films. You know what is going to happen and the guy always gets the girl. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have great chemistry. Both play their roles deadpan which even adds to how good the film is.

Knight and Day comes close to being that light charm for a action comedy. Only thing is it is relentless with it's action. I think it would have been even better if it focused more on the relationship between Cruise and Diaz instead of the action. But the action scenes were done rather well though.

Knight and Day is a nice film to watch on a rainy day. It is fun, action pack and even has something for the chick flick lover. But it is action packed enough for us guys.

[Flimmaker1473]

Cyrus:*** and a half
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Family Dramedies are rather hit or miss. Cyrus is all hits. Cryus is a film by Hollywood's new brother director duo Jake and Mark Duplass. They could be the next Coen brothers. Cyrus is very, very funny, yet has that dark and dramatic side to it.

The film opens as Jamie (Catherine Keener) walks in on her ex-husband John (John C. Reilly) as he is masturbating. She had come to his house to tell him that she is getting married. Even though they have been apart for seven years, the news still devastates John, who is already in a depression. Jamie insists that John accompany her to a party the following night and try to cheer up. At the party, John tries various conversational tactics with different women, failing to spark a connection each time. He gets progressively drunker until he ends up urinating in the bushes, where Molly (Marisa Tomei) compliments him on his penis and strikes up a conversation. Molly goes back to John's house and leaves during the night, after they have had sex.

Molly returns for a second date the next night, and once again, she leaves after they have had sex. John follows her to her house and falls asleep in his car. The next morning, he warily approaches the house, where he is surprised to meet Molly's son Cyrus (Jonah Hill). Cyrus invites John inside and makes friendly conversation with him. Molly is startled to see John in her house when she returns, but the trio have dinner together. John is slightly unnerved by evidence that Molly and Cyrus are closer than normal for a mother and son.

The next morning, John cannot find his shoes, which he had left in the living room. As the day wears on, he is increasingly disturbed by their disappearance and starts to worry that Cyrus has been messing with him the whole time. He ropes Jamie into meeting Molly and Cyrus, in order to appraise his paranoia. Jamie finds Cyrus sweet, if a little overly intimate with his mother. Relieved, John returns for another night at Molly's home. As they begin to have sex for the first time in her house, Cyrus screams in his room, and Molly runs to comfort him. She does not return to John, who goes out looking for her in the middle of the night. Instead, he encounters Cyrus who is holding a large kitchen knife. Cyrus explains that he had a night terror, and that Molly has gone to sleep. He then counsels John to back off on the relationship, because he is scaring off Molly. John leaves a note for her and returns home.

In the morning, Cyrus sits Molly down and tells her that John had confessed to him that she was coming on too strong. When she presses Cyrus for more information, he explodes in a tantrum and storms off, checking through the window to make sure he has upset his mother. Molly calls John and begs him to come over, while she waits for Cyrus to return. When Cyrus finally comes home, he explains that he has rented a room and will be moving out. After a few days alone together, John decides that he wants to move in with Molly.

After one date, they return home and begin to have sex, while Cyrus sits in the darkened kitchen. He surprises them both and explains that he has had another panic attack and wants to return home. In private, John finally confronts Cyrus about everything, and Cyrus admits that he has been deliberately sabotaging his mother's relationship. He moves back home, and John remains wary of him. The night before Jamie's wedding, he warns Cyrus not to screw up the day, because it means a lot to him. At the wedding, however, Cyrus is hurt when he sees how the event stirs romantic feelings between John and his mother. He confronts John in the bathroom and attacks him, yelling that John will not take his mother away from him. As John defends himself, the two spill out of the bathroom, into the view of the other guests. Cyrus makes it look like John attacked him. John advises Molly to open her eyes, then he storms off, furious at Cyrus.

Cyrus works because of it's writing. Nice jobs by the Duplass brothers too. They directed and wrote this. The acting is done well. John C. Reilly is excellent as John. He is a man who been broken. He is down in the dumps. He finally finds a woman, but there is something or rather something in the way like there always seems to be. Marisa Tomei is quietly nice as Molly. She is soft spoken, yet her point gets acrossed. She is a nice character in between the crazier characters. Jonah Hill as the title character is also excellent. He went from a nice guy, funny, to crazy, to sad and emotional with a click of an eye. Funny the next year he would be in Moneyball which got him his first academy award nomination for best supporting actor.

Cyrus's laughs are genuine. The dramatic moments come naturally. The flow feels just right. Nothing seems forced. It is a genuine family dramedy. And the ending is realistic. Do they get back together? I don't know. But they are going to work it out by the looks of it.

[Flimmaker1473]

Trading Places:*** and a half
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Whose ever idea it was to have two stars from Saturday Night Live star in a satire together is a genius. Trading Places is a classic satire with many, many laughs. It has been called the modern take on Mark Twain's classic the prince and the pauper.

Duke brothers Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer (Don Ameche) own Duke & Duke, a successful commodities brokerage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holding opposing views on the issue of nature versus nurture, they make a wager of the "usual amount" and agree to conduct an experiment switching the lives of two people at opposite sides of the social hierarchy and observing the results. They witness an encounter between their managing director—the well-mannered and educated Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), engaged to the Dukes' grand-niece Penelope (Kristin Holby)—and a poor street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy); Valentine is arrested at Winthorpe's insistence because of a suspected robbery attempt. The Dukes decide to use the two men for their experiment.

Winthorpe is publicly framed as a thief and drugs are planted on him when he is arrested. He is fired from his job, his bank accounts are frozen, and he is denied entry to the Duke-owned town-house where he resides. He befriends a prostitute named Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) who allows him to stay at her apartment on the condition of receiving a reward once he re-establishes himself in society. Winthorpe soon finds himself ostracized and abandoned by Penelope and his former friends. Meanwhile, claiming to operate an assistance program for the underprivileged, the Dukes bail Valentine out of jail, install him in Winthorpe's position at the company and give him use of Winthorpe's home. Valentine quickly becomes well-versed in the business and acts well-mannered, even applying his street smarts to the job.

During the firm's Christmas party, Winthorpe is caught planting drugs in Valentine's desk in a desperate attempt to get his job back. After Winthorpe flees, Valentine hides in a bathroom stall to smoke a joint he took from the desk. The Dukes enter the bathroom and, unaware of Valentine's presence, discuss in detail the outcome of their experiment and settle their wager for $1. Valentine overhears this exchange and seeks out Winthorpe.

Winthorpe attempts suicide by overdosing on pills. Valentine, Ophelia and Winthorpe's former butler Coleman (Denholm Elliott) nurse him back to health and inform him of the Dukes' experiment. On television, they learn of a Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason) transporting a secret report on orange crop forecasts. Winthorpe and Valentine recall large payments made to Beeks by Duke & Duke and realize that the Dukes are planning to obtain this report to corner the market on frozen orange juice. The group agrees to disrupt their plan as revenge.

Learning of Beeks' travel plans, the four get aboard his train to switch the report in Beeks' possession with a forgery. Beeks uncovers their scheme and attempts to kill them. He fails and is knocked unconscious by a gorilla, and the group dress him in a gorilla costume and lock him in a cage with a real gorilla. The forgery is then delivered to the Dukes. Valentine and Winthorpe subsequently travel to New York with Coleman and Ophelia's life savings to carry out their part of the scam.

Trading places is a rare satire. It is so funny that it doesn't seem preachy at all. The great thing here is it is wrote not in a way that they are playing for laughs. It is deadpan with a few eccentric moments. It works so very well. It is a good satire on social life back then. How social classes were and how some people still had racial hangups.

Trading Places reminds me of a lot of classic comedies. It develops these quirky, yet normal characters who are funny simply because of who they are. The character development is great to watch as the leads get placed into abnormal situations and act just as the other did in their territory. Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd are perfect for their roles. Each are able to act their different version of eccentric and are fun to watch operate. They play their characters with intelligence.

This is great comedy. The writing was spot on from start to finish. Nothing was out of place. The pair of Bellamy and Ameche in the roles of the Duke brothers was great. It was great casting on their parts. They played the Duke brothers perfectly. They are rich brothers who pretty much think they can do what they want to who they want to and get away with it. Because they have. It is simply great acting.

Trading Places surprised me when I watched. I have heard a little about it. Know I know it is one of Eddie Murphy's best film. It is funny from start to end and doesn't get sappy or even real dramatic. It is a great satire on social living.

[Flimmaker1473]

About a Boy:*** and a half
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About a Boy has that coming to age story feel. It is a coming to age story though. One for an actual teenage and one who is an adult who needs to grow up. Based of the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby (another novel of his was made into a film called High Fidelity) it is a nice film with simple goals and a simple subject.

Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) doesn't work. Yet he is rich. That is because his father made one hit song and he lives off those royalties. He spends his days pretty much just hanging out. He watches t.v, goes out to lunch, plays pool and occasionally picks up women. Honestly he lives the life a lot of guys wouldn't mind to live. He is a loner and only cares about himself. When Will's friends Christine (Sharon Small) and John (Nicholas Hutchinson), ask him to be the godfather of their second child, Will bluntly refuses, insisting that he "really is that shallow"

On the opposite end there is Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) a 12 year old boy the son of Fiona (Toni Collette) who is miserable. How do they meet? In an attempt to avoid spending time with the couple, Will meets Angie (Isabel Brook), a single mother, but the two only share a brief relationship which, to Will's surprise actually ends amicably. Afterward, Will comes up with the idea of attending a single-parents group called "SPAT" (Single Parents Alone Together) to meet potential female partners. As part of his ploy, he claims to have a two-year-old son named Ned. His plan succeeds and he meets Suzie (Victoria Smurfit)

Will's pursuit to court Suzie takes him to one of the group's functions — a picnic — where he meets Marcus. During a picnic Marcus accidentally kills a duck when he throws Suzie's loaf of bread into the water. Will helps him out when a police officer comes by. As they return to Marcus's home his mother Fiona is on the couch after an attempted suicide attempt. This gives Will a red flag and he doesn't want to see them again. But Marcus started to like Will. He doesn't want him mom to be sad and lonely, so he pays will a visit and tries to get him to date his mother so she won't be lonely. After the date fails, Marcus follows Will around and discovers that he actually has no child. He uses this to blackmail Will to hang out with him.

Will at first detests Marcus spending time with him. But as time goes on, he starts to like to kid. He learns about the kid. He sees that Marcus is a good guy, mature beyond his years. He starts to help Marcus fit in school and becomes somewhat of a fatherly figure to him. He even buys him shoes (that end up getting stolen). There comes the saying that you can learn something from kids. Marcus starts making Will a better person. More of an adult. He got lucky because of his dad, but his life has no meaning. He just does what he wants. And it is empty. Marcus brought him meaning.

About a Boy is such a resonate story because the characters like in High Fidelity feel like I could see them on the street. I relate to Will in a way. He has it pretty easy and only has to care about himself. He thinks all is good, but in reality he is missing out. He isn't fully grown. Marcus is a kid who is kind of alone because of his mother's issues. When these two meet, they both change each other for the better.

Hugh Grant's performance is brilliant. He should have been nominated for an academy award. He gave Will great character development, going from a selfish rich kid, to a caring man. Grant is a effortless actor. He simply becomes each role he plays. Ever see him in an interview? He talks the same way. This is rather hard to do. He grabs the screen and allows us to interested in the characters he plays. He is also a charismatic actor. He uses his character's boyish charms to his advantage and it works.

This is a film that only one real extra dramatic thing happens. And even that is an everyday situation (sadly). Otherwise it is comprised of everyday situation and works. More things happen in the film like Marcus developing a crush on a girl and Will having a girlfriend. The drama there is real life drama and is executed well.

About a Boy is a nice little British film with a worth while lesson. Sometimes as people we live on our own island. We enjoy it. It can be cool being alone and only having one person to care about. But we have to think about other people and care about them. It is a good thing. And people can change us.

[Mysticalunicornfart]

Chaplin:**
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Charlie Chaplin was perhaps the great comic actor of all time. I remember when I got to watch one of his silent films Modern Times in History class. Everyone was cracking up. That is how timeless his films were. His Biopic Chaplin tries to show his life and career. I was excited to watch this. I love biopics when they are done right. Raging Bull, Casino, The Aviator, and The Pianist examples of some great biopics that I love. Sad to say that I was disappointed with Chaplin. You expect something fun and meaningful going in. But get over dramatic.

Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr) is now elderly and is now living in Switzerland with his wife Oona O'Neil (Moria Kelly) and children. He is being interviewed for his biography by George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins). This sets up flashbacks on how he got started in the entertainment industry as a kid. How it fascinated him.

The film continues to show his growth in age and acting. He gets more serious about it. He is now a big time stage actor. He surrounds himself with good people as well. When he moves to the United States his career really takes off. This is when he started making the 81 films that we know and love.

The film also shows many of the scandals and relationships he had with women like Mildred Harris (Milla Jovovich), Lita Grey (Debroah Moore), And Paulette Goddard (Diane Lane). Also the whole ordeal between Chaplin and Joan Barry (Nancy Travis).

Robert Downey Jr as Charlie Chaplin is rather remarkable. He turns into him. He looks just like him. He embodies his whimsical attitude. Shows Chaplin for the serious performer he was. He for sure deserved his academy award nomination. He flows like Chaplin, he acts just like he did. He doesn't try to hard. He just let it happen. His acting is sometimes taken for granted. But Downey Jr is truly a great actor. No bones about that.

But the film over dramatized everything. I know it is a biopic. But not everything is the Aviator where the source had a dramatic life. I wasn't there. But surely it wasn't like this for Chaplin. He wasn't a drunk or addicted to drugs. He just had a few wives and was involved with a crazy girl. Also the film feels restrictive. Chaplin's life was amazing. He did so many things, it was just so vast and varied. The movie doesn't cover all that. It tries to hard to cover all it's bases that ends up feeling rushed. It doesn't give it justice.

Chaplin is a film that could have been great. Should have been to. Robert Downey Jr and everyone involved gave great performances. But alas it is simply an over glossy biopic instead of a true look at the life at someone who was larger than life.

I was also disappointed by this, and I agree with a majorly with what you said. Robert Downey's performance was definitely the best aspect

[Flimmaker1473]

Dolphin Tale:***
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Animal stories usually always touch me. Free Willy and stuff like that. I like aquatic animals a lot too. Dolphin tale is based off a book that is based off true events. It is a truly inspiring story.

Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) is biking along the beach when a fisherman (Richard Libertini), calls for help after finding an injured bottlenose dolphin tangled in a crab trap. The two call for assistance, and rescue workers from the Clearwater Marine Hospital, run by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.), take the injured dolphin for treatment. Clay's daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) names the dolphin Winter, as two prior dolphins, Summer and Autumn, were successfully returned to the ocean, and believes that using seasons as names will continue the streak. She allows Sawyer to see Winter. Clay initially does not like the arrangement since Sawyer is not trained in marine animal care, but after noticing that Winter responds well whenever Sawyer is around, he is allowed to visit. Soon Sawyer, who was enrolled in summer school due to his failing or nearly failing all his classes during the year, starts skipping classes daily to visit Winter. Sawyer's mother Lorraine (Ashley Judd) finds out about Sawyer skipping classes, but after seeing that Sawyer's interaction with Winter has improved his moods and well-being, something Sawyer had not shown since being abandoned by his father who disappeared five years earlier, she withdraws him from summer school and allows him to volunteer at the hospital.

Unfortunately, Winter's tail is damaged and thus must be amputated. Winter learns to swim without a tail by developing a side-to-side motion, like a fish, but after an x-ray Clay notices that the unnatural motion is causing stress on her spine; if continued the motion will eventually kill her. Meanwhile, Sawyer's cousin Kyle, a champion swimmer, returns from the military with a damaged right leg from an explosion. Sawyer wants Kyle to meet Winter and excitedly anticipates seeing him at a welcome-back party thrown by his aunt, but is devastated to learn that Kyle has skipped the party, preferring to stay at the local Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Sawyer and Lorraine go to visit Kyle who is working with Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) in the facility's prosthetics lab. To Sawyer's surprise, Kyle is embarrassed to see them and even asks them to leave, which infuriates Sawyer. Kyle takes him on a walk and talks to Sawyer about his leg. Sawyer then asks Dr. McCarthy about a prosthetic tail for Winter. He agrees to work on the project during his upcoming vacation, and convinces his prosthetic supplier (Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, which supplies Winter's real-life tails) to supply the parts at no cost. Dr. McCarthy manufactures a "homemade" model tail while waiting for the real one to arrive; however, Winter destroys it by banging it against the pool wall.

Shortly thereafter the hospital, already in financial peril, is seriously damaged by Hurricane LeRoy, whereupon the board of directors agree to close the hospital, sell the land to a real estate developer, and find homes for the animals, except Winter, who due to her condition is not wanted by anyone and may have to be euthanized. However, after a chance encounter with a mother and daughter (who also had a prosthetic limb) who heard about Winter's story and drove all the way from Atlanta to see her, Sawyer comes up with a last chance plan ("Save Winter Day") to save the facility. Clay is not sold on the idea, but reconsiders after talking with his father, Reed (Kris Kristofferson). Kyle agrees to a race against Donovan Peck, the current local swim champion who followed him at high school and broke nearly all his prior swim records, and enlists a female friend at Bay News 9 to promote the event.

Dolphin Tale is like movies of old. I had no idea they made movies like this anymore. It is a nice family film. Dolphins are rather remarkable creatures. They are smart and understand humans very well. And they are fighters. This was a great story to bring to the screen. Winter is a disabled dolphin that gave up to disabled kids who saw them. It is truly amazing what animals can do when given a fighting chance.

In a way this movie reminded me of Field of Dreams with how people came to see Winter. But then it started to remind me of Seabiscuit. Both were animals who had injuries that should have gotten them put down. But both fought back and were as good as ever. This is a good movie for kids to watch. It has actual purpose and meaning and can teach them something valuable. Sawyer fell in love with Winter and wanted to help her and keep her home. It is amazing what an inspired kid can do. It is also of course like Free Willy. The boy learns and grows because of the sea mammal. It is touching.

Dolphin Tale is a nice inspiring story about a dolphin who never gave up because a kid around her never would. It is nice to sit and watch movies like this. Something the whole family can enjoy. The actual scenes of Winter getting saved rehabilitated at the very end are so sad but nice to watch.

[Flimmaker1473]

Scream:***
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Scary movies have become so predictable. Same storylines, same dumb bimbos. Same endings. And they are not scary. Scream is a satire of scary movies. It doesn't have a bimbo girl for a lead, and it doesn't try to be scary. But there is a ton of blood.

High school student Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) receives a flirtatious phone call from an unknown person (voiced by Roger L. Jackson), asking her, "What's your favorite scary movie?" The situation quickly escalates out of control as the caller turns sadistic and threatens her life. He reveals that her boyfriend Steve (Kevin Patrick Walls) is being held hostage. After failing to answer a question correctly about horror films, Steve is murdered. When Casey refuses to cooperate with the caller, she is attacked and murdered by a masked killer, and her body is hung from a tree.

The following day, the news media descend on the town and a police investigation begins. Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) struggles with the impending one-year anniversary of her mother's murder by Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber). While waiting at home for her friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan), Sidney receives a threatening phone call. After she hangs up, she is attacked by the killer. Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) arrives and offers support, but after he drops his cell phone Sidney suspects him of making the call. She flees. Billy is arrested and Tatum takes Sidney to her house.

Billy is released the next day. Suspicion has shifted to Sidney's father Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht), as the calls have been traced to his phone. School is suspended in the wake of the murders. After the students have left the school, Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler) is stabbed to death in his office. Billy's friend Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) throws a party to celebrate the school closure. The party is attended by Sidney, Tatum, their friend Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), and several other students. Reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) attends uninvited to cover the situation, as she expects the killer to strike. Tatum is killed during the party after having her neck crushed by a garage door. Billy arrives to speak to Sidney privately, and the two ultimately consummate their relationship. Deputy sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale investigate a nearby abandoned car. Many party attendees are drawn away after hearing news of Himbry's death; Randy, Sidney, Billy, Stu, and Gale's cameraman Kenny (W. Earl Brown) remain.

After having sex, Sidney and Billy are attacked by the killer, who seemingly murders Billy. Sidney escapes the killer and seeks help from Kenny, but he gets his throat slit by the killer. Sidney again flees. Gale and Dewey, having discovered the car belongs to Neil Prescott, return to the house. They believe Neil is the killer and has come to the party to continue his spree. Gale attempts to leave the scene in her van but drives off-road and crashes to avoid hitting Sidney. Meanwhile, Dewey is stabbed in the back while investigating in the house. Sidney takes Dewey's gun. Stu and Randy appear and accuse each other of being the killer. Sidney retreats into the house, where she finds Billy, wounded but still alive. She gives Billy the gun; he lets Randy into the house and then shoots him. Billy has feigned his injuries and is actually the killer; Stu is his accomplice.

Scream makes fun of years and years of scary movies. Even a movie that Wes Craven the director of Scream directed (Nightmare on Elm Street the one with Jamie Lee Curtis) it exploits everything. I enjoy how a lot of the characters are in on the joke. How they know what is going on. But it meant to defuse how much violence there is? Or is it just there? They use the satire, yet keep the same amount of gore found in a normal scary movie.

I like the Sidney Prescott character. They made her not to be the norm of the female leads. She is beautiful of course. But she is smart. She doesn't do the normal shtick. And the romance between Dewey and Gale is cool to watch. This is how now ex husband and wife David Arquette and Courtney Cox met. Their real life chemistry is evident. It adds a lot to the film.

Scream is a pretty smart film. A lot of violence. It isn't your typical scary movie that you would watch on Halloween. It doesn't attempt to scare you. It attempts to be a little more comedic and still gory. It is perfect for people who kind of go against Halloween and scary movies. And if you are a scary movie fan, you'll still like it too.

[Flimmaker1473]

Cedar Rapids:***
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Ah the town of Cedar Rapids. Beautiful and quiet. You would think that what this film is about. No it is a about a few dirty, funny people all coming in for a Insurance convention. Did I mention funny? It is about Tim Lippe (Ed Helms). He is a naive and idealistic insurance agent. He has stuck to his small town roots and has experience much outside of it.

At the beginning, he is shown welcoming a former teacher into his home, addressing her as Mrs. Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver), and promptly having sex with her. Afterwards, he reminisces about his experiences as her student. In his position as an insurance agent, he is sent to represent his company (Brownstar Insurance) at a regional conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lippe is sent as a replacement for his co-worker, Roger Lemke (Thomas Lennon), who dies in an auto-erotic asphyxiation accident. Tim idolized Roger, believing that his death was merely an unfortunate accident, and that he embodied all it was to be decent, honest, caring to the community and most importantly Christian, as these are the key criteria used to judge the winner of the coveted "Two Diamonds" award, which Roger had won 2 years in a row. Tim is under pressure from his boss, Bill, to ensure they win again and keep the small company afloat.

Lippe meets fellow insurance agents Ronald Wilkes, Dean Ziegler and Joan Ostrowski-Fox, or "Ronimal", "Dean-Z" and "O-Fox" respectively. He also meets Bree, a prostitute who works the parking lot in front of the hotel. She affectionately calls him "Butterscotch" after he offers her a piece of butterscotch candy. Initially wary of almost everyone at the conference, he spends more time with Ron, Dean and Joan, and starts to develop genuine friendships and even a crush on Joan. All the insurance agents participate in a Scavenger Hunt, with Tim being paired with Joan, and although no one manages to complete the final task, they come farthest and thus win the contest and a gift card to a local restaurant. Tim, Joan and Dean become rather intoxicated through the night and end up in the hotel swimming pool, Tim and Joan's sexual tension builds to a head and, after making out in the pool, they make love (later, in Joan's hotel room). Regrettably, they were all seen in the pool by ASMI president Orin Helgesson.

The next morning, Tim is guilt-ridden and calls his older girl friend (and ex-teacher) Macy to confess, before desperately asking her to marry him, she takes this opportunity to explain that as a recently divorced woman she just wants to have fun, so she too has been sleeping with other people and tells him that perhaps "it's time for him to fly away from the nest and start a new life". Tim returns to Joan, who attempts to comfort him by telling him what Roger Lemke (the man he idolizes) was really like: that she was his lover but left him after his sexual appetites became a bit too twisted for her, and that he bribed Helgesson for each one of his Two Diamond awards. Tim refuses to believe this, and flees Joan's room, accusing her of being a "prostitute" sent to destroy his life.

He runs into Dean and accidentally lets it slip that Lemke had bought all of his Two Diamonds. Dean swears to not tell anyone, it becoming apparent that he already sees Tim as a true friend. After some words of advice from Dean, Tim goes to Helgesson for his assessment: it does not go well, and under the pressure he ends up also bribing Helgesson for the award, leaving him penniless and ashamed. He later comes across Bree and accompanies her to a party, which ends up with Tim getting high on crystal methamphetamine and inadvertently starting a fight. Ron, Joan and Dean show up just in time to rescue him, as well as Bree who claims she is in love with Tim. The night ends with Bill appearing at Tim's door to inform him that with the successful acquisition of another Two Diamond award, he has received a generous offer for the company and despite it meaning the branch's closure, he has chosen to sell. The day of the Diamond awards comes and while Bill is formally announcing the sale, Tim bursts in and takes over the podium; this when he reveals that his company has unethically acquired the award every year by bribing Helgesson and confesses to doing so himself. Helgesson flees the room, his reputation in tatters. A furious Bill confronts Tim, his revelations having cost Bill the sale of his company. Tim responds by announcing his intentions to leave the company and start another with his clients from Brownstar, 17 of which have agreed to stay with him. Bill storms off, dumbfounded.

Cedar Rapids is filled with raunchy comedy. Yet it has a endearing sweetness to it. It is so funny to watch. But we understand and relate to Tim. He is a nice guy, finally getting out of his shell. And he experiences things that he was never close to before. He is a good guy, but gets swept up into corrupt things. He doesn't want to do it. But he just wants everything to turn out right. You watch Tim and you just hope things turn out good for him.

The encounter between Tim and Bree is fun to watch. Bree is a character that I wish was explored more. Alia Shawkat is a naturally attractive woman. She is playing perhaps the best looking prostitute that I have ever seen. She is young and just trying to get out there. When she sees Tim she sees a nice guy. The scenes where she was basically drugging him up are my favorite. And the whole I love you thing was hilarious. I just wish that wasn't how things ended. But it still worked.

John C. Reilly as Dean is great. He is probably the most funny character in the movie. Each scene he is in you wait to see when he is going to do something insane. It was a great portrayal of a wildcard. The writing was well done, giving a good look at Tim and adding a good amount of raunch to it.

Cedar Rapids is funny, dirty, yet sweet. It is something that we don't think of Insurance companies for sure. One last thing, I really liked how Ed Helms transitioned from high to sobriety. I haven't seen a transition like that.

[Flimmaker1473]

Phone Booth:***
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I remember hearing about phone booth ten years ago. It wouldn't get released because of the sniper attacks in my area. Now after all those years I can watch a movie that got delayed because of the events that happened. Phone Booth is a smart and suspenseful psychological thriller. It is the standard time for a film. But from a certain point it is intense all the way to the end. Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) is a publicist in New York. He is arrogant, cocky and selfish. He has been having affair with another woman named Pam (Katie Holmes). Though they haven't had sex yet. He is married to a woman named Kelly (Radha Mitchell) and they have been growing distant.

After calling Pam in a phone booth (that is how he has his affair since Kelly checks his cell phone bill) and blowing off a guy offering him a free pizza, the phone rings. He picks it up and there is a creepy caller on the other end (Keifer Sutherland). He instructs Stu not to leave the phone booth. He says he will say hello to Kelly for him which indicates Stu that he is in real trouble.

The caller tells Stu that he has tested two previous individuals who have done wrong deeds in a similar manner (one was a pedophile, another was a company insider who cashed out his stock options before the share price collapsed), giving them a chance to reveal the truth to those they wronged, but in both cases, neither agreed and were killed. To demonstrate the threat, the caller fires at a nearby toy from a vendor with a silenced sniper rifle, the damage unseen by anyone but Stu and the caller himself. The caller demands that Stu tell the truth of his infidelity to both Kelly and Pam to avoid being killed. The caller contacts Pam, and puts her on line with Stu, who reveals that he is married. The caller then hangs up, telling Stu to call Kelly himself.

As Stu hesitates, the booth is approached by three prostitutes demanding to use the phone. Stu refuses to leave, having been warned by the caller not to make a public disturbance. Leon (John Enos III), the pimp for the prostitutes, joins his charges, and starts to smash the side of the booth. The caller offers Stu to kill Leon for him, to which Stu agrees. Leon is shot and killed, causing a panic in the streets. Soon, police and newscrews have arrived to cover the story.
Captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker) outside the booth negotiating with Stu (Colin Farrell).
The Caller (Kiefer Sutherland) after having talked to Stu in the ambulance.

Police Captain Ed Ramey (Forest Whitaker), already suspecting Stu of being the killer, corners the streets with police roadblocks and he starts trying to negotiate with him to leave the booth, but Stu rejects, telling the caller that there is no way they can incriminate him; the caller proves him wrong, pointing to a handgun that was planted in the roof of the phone booth. Both Kelly and Pam soon arrive on the scene. The caller demands Stu tell the truth to Kelly, which he does. Stu is then told by the caller that he must choose between Kelly or Pam, and that if he chooses one person, the other is going to be killed.

Phone Booth has so much suspense and is just the start. It shows a man who isn't different from people in the world. A cocky person who basically cheats on his wife (or wants to). In this situation he has someone call him out in a deadly matter. Stu isn't a terrible person. Just kind of a bad person who needs to be steered in the right direction. In his own crazy way the caller/sniper sets him straight. But of course he causes chaos.

This movie is on Colin Farrell's shoulders. His performance is what drives the film. He has the energy and intensity that works perfectly with this film. He slowly and slowly loses implodes as the situation escalates. With each crazy thing the caller says, Farrell starts to lose it a bit more. The character development shown is also done well. He takes Stu from a guy who didn't realize nor cared how he was hurting other people, to a person who was reduced to tears while pouring his guts out on national t.v

Phone Booth is a cool movie to watch. After I was over I somewhat understood why they held off on the release date. Still it is entertaining to watch because you don't know what will happen next and there is a little surprise waiting at every turn.

[Flimmaker1473]

Small Time Crooks:***
http://cinemafanatic.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/2000_small_time_crooks.jpg

Woody Allen is always coming up with new and wonderful ideas for his movies. Some amazing (Annie Hall) but the majority are pretty good. Small Time Crooks falls into that category. Not amazing Woody Allen, but pretty good Woody Allen.

Ray (Woody Allen) and his friends want to lease an old restaurant so they can tunnel from the basement of the restaurant to a nearby bank. Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) covers what they are doing by selling cookies from the restaurant. The bank robbery scheme is a miserable failure, but after they franchise the business, selling cookies makes them millionaires.

In the film's second act, Frenchy throws a big party and overhears people making fun of their decorating taste and lack of culture. She asks a man named David (Hugh Grant) to train her and Ray so they can fit in with the American upper class. Ray hates every minute of it, but Frenchy likes their new culture.

What Ray and Frenchy don't know is that David is really just using Frenchy to get money for art projects he wants to do. Ray finally gets fed up and leaves Frenchy. David and Frenchy go to Europe for more cultural enlightenment and while there, she gets a call and finds out she's been defrauded by her accountants. She's lost everything including her cookie company, home, and possessions. David immediately dumps her.

Small Time Crooks has that normal Woody Allen formula. And it sticks to that formula the whole entire film. The characters are the normal New Yorkers that he uses, with the exception of Grant's obviously. It has a modest plot and and things happen kind of swiftly. To me it shows an example of how two average Americans (one happens to be a crook) react to becoming rich. It is a transition for sure when you start making money and enter a higher class. It is interesting to watch Allen and Ullman showcase it.

Allen and Ullman made an unlikely but good couple. Allen as the neurotic one as usual, and Ullman as a bit more confident yet still crazy. They had rather good chemistry. The character May was the funniest character. She is saying the wrong things at the wrong time perfectly. How she carried herself was funny to watch. Nice person, just a bit off by the looks of it. Hugh Grant's performance was also good. He wasn't in the movie for too long, but he had a strong presence each time he was on stage.

This isn't one of Woody's best films. But it is a solid. It is funny and charming. It is entertaining. And that is what Woody is all about. Putting on a show.

[Flimmaker1473]

Shakespeare in Love:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.cinetropic.com/shakespeare/four.JPG

William Shakespeare is a legend obviously. I had to read it in high school. Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade, Caesar in tenth grade, Macbeth in 11th grade, and Hamlet in 12th grade. I had to read a Midsummers night dream in middle school too. All classics. Though the English was annoying to have read. Shakespeare in Love isn't one of his plays. But a fictional story of the man himself.

William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is a poor playwright for Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), owner of The Rose Theatre, in 1593 London. After learning that his love was cheating on him with his patron, Shakespeare burns his new comedy, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter, rewriting it as the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Suffering from writer's block, he is unable to complete the play, but begins auditions for Romeo. A young man named Thomas Kent is cast in the role after impressing Shakespeare with his performance and his love of Shakespeare's previous work. Kent is actually Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter of a wealthy merchant who desires to act but, since women are banned from the stage, she must disguise herself.

After Shakespeare discovers his star's true identity, he and Viola begin a passionate secret affair. Inspired by her, Shakespeare writes quickly, and benefits from the advice of playwright and friendly rival Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe (Rupert Everett). Shakespeare and Viola know, however, that their romance is doomed. He is married, albeit long separated from his wife, while Viola's parents have arranged her betrothal to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), an aristocrat who needs money. When Viola is summoned to the court of Queen Elizabeth I (Judi Dench), Shakespeare dons a woman's disguise to accompany her as her cousin. At court, he persuades Wessex to bet £50 that a play cannot capture the nature of true love. If Romeo and Juliet is a success, Shakespeare as playwright will win the money. The Queen, who enjoys Shakespeare's plays, agrees to witness the wager.

Edmund Tilney (Simon Callow), the Master of the Revels, the Queen's official in charge of the theatres, learns that there is a woman in the theatre company at The Rose playhouse, and orders the theatre closed for violating morality and the law. Left without a stage or lead actor, it seems that Romeo and Juliet must close before it even opens, until Richard Burbage (Martin Clunes), the owner of a competing theatre, the Curtain, offers his stage to Shakespeare. Shakespeare assumes the lead role of Romeo, with a boy actor (Daniel Brocklebank), playing Juliet. Viola learns that the play will be performed on her wedding day, and after the ceremony secretly travels to the theatre. Shortly before the play begins, the boy playing Juliet starts experiencing the voice change of puberty. Viola replaces him and plays Juliet to Shakespeare's Romeo. Their passionate portrayal of two lovers inspires the entire audience.

Tilney arrives at the theatre with Wessex, who has deduced his new bride's location. Tilney plans to arrest the audience and cast for indecency, but the Queen is in attendance. Although she recognizes Viola, the Queen does not unmask her, instead declaring that the role of Juliet is being performed by Thomas Kent. However, even a queen is powerless to end a lawful marriage, so she orders "Kent" to fetch Viola so that she may sail with Wessex to the Colony of Virginia. The Queen also states that Romeo and Juliet has accurately portrayed true love so Wessex must pay Shakespeare £50, the exact amount Shakespeare requires to buy a share in the Lord Chamberlain's Men. The Queen then directs "Kent" to tell Shakespeare to write something "a little more cheerful next time, for Twelfth Night".

Shakespeare in Love is something else. I remember in 11th grade honors English my teacher was talking about this movie and showed an interview with the actors involved. I didn't know if I wanted to watch this film or not. I have seen Shakespeare movies before. But something about him, fictional? And a romantic comedy? It won best picture over Saving Private Ryan so I figured it would be damn good. I wasn't disappointed. It is a great. It exceeded all my expectations. It is so interesting to watch that I could never take my eyes off of it.

The contemporary humor in this movie (like Shakespeare's coffee mug, inscribed "Souvenir of Stratford-Upon-Avon") makes it a mix between a Mel Brooks film and something that you would see on masterpiece theater. Added with the juicy love story, the backstage politics, the natural intrigue of the story, and some great moments when they were performing Romeo Juliet and it is something just really original and really good.

What is Shakespeare in Love? What is it though? It could be many different things. I don't know. And I don't care. The wit, the smart writing, the energy and sweetness of this film was enough for me.

[Flimmaker1473]

Scream 4:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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Hot big breasted girls trying to get away from the slasher. That sounds like a horror film to me! The first Scream started a series of satires about the genre that have a certain wit to them being that the characters are somewhat aware. It's humor is also subtle though the amount of violence is interesting. Scream 4 adds to the series using the same satire format. This time it makes fun of remakes.

On the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders, high school students Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson) are attacked and brutally killed by a new Ghostface.

The following day, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book with her publicist Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie). Sidney becomes a suspect in the murders after evidence is found in her rental car, and she must stay in town until the murders are solved. Her cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts), who is dealing with the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella) gets a threatening phone call from Ghostface, as does her friend Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe). Jill and Olivia, alongside their friend Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), are questioned about their calls by Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who is now the sheriff of the town, and one of his deputies, Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton). Meanwhile, Dewey's now-wife, Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox), is struggling with writer's block.

Sidney stays with her aunt Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell). Later that night, Olivia, who lives next door to Jill, is attacked and murdered by Ghostface as Jill and Kirby watch in horror while Sidney was interrupted by a scream while reading her book. Sidney and Jill were injured in their attempt to save Olivia, and are taken to the hospital, where her publicist Rebecca is murdered in the parking garage. Gale, trying to solve the murders, enlists the help of two high school movie geeks, Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) and Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), who explain that the killer is using the rules of movie remakes to murder. Charlie concludes that the killer will likely strike at a party being held that night.

Gale goes to the party to investigate, but is attacked and injured by Ghostface, who flees as Dewey arrives. He takes her to the hospital, and shortly afterwards, at Jill's house, policemen Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson) and Ross Hoss (Adam Brody) are found dead. Sidney discovers that Jill has left and gone to Kirby's house, and goes down to tell Kate, but the killer arrives and chases them, where Kate is killed. After Deputy Judy Hicks arrives, Sidney rushes to Kirby's house to save Jill on her own.


Jill, Kirby, Charlie, Robbie and Trevor are at Kirby's house when Ghostface appears and murders a drunken Robbie. Sidney arrives at the house. Kirby is forced to answer horror movie trivia to save Charlie, who is tied up outside. Sidney goes upstairs to find Jill, promising to return to Kirby. Kirby answers Ghostface's questions, and, believing she has won the game, goes outside to untie Charlie, but he stabs her in the stomach and reveals himself as Ghostface. Sidney is confronted by Charlie and a second Ghostface, who is unmasked as Jill. She explains that she wants the attention Sidney got, and that the pair want to become famous for surviving the murders, intending to frame Trevor as Ghostface; she then pulls Trevor out of a closet and executes him with a shot to the head. Jill then betrays Charlie and kills him too, to pin him as Trevor's accomplice, making her the sole survivor. Jill stabs Sidney in the stomach twice and mutilates herself to make it seem as if Trevor attacked her, while Dewey, Judy, and the rest of the police stumble upon the carnage.

Scream 4 maintains the comedy the first one did. And exploits cliches similar to the first one. The funny thing is there are people like Sidney Prescott in real life. People who go through crazy and horrific experiences. And they get famous off of it too. It isn't that person's fault. America will allow anyone to get famous or in some people's cases infamous. Sidney became that person in a way. Neve Campbell just is great at playing Sidney. Never makes her act like the victim. But the strong heroine.

The relationship between Dewey and Gale is also interesting to watch. They have been married for ten years so one could imagine their marriage would have gotten stale. Perhaps the reason it was done so well because in real life David Arquette and Courtney Cox were splitting. Sad to think about and makes it kind of sad to watch. But it might have added to the performances. Emma Robert's performance was a nice one. She is a regular teenage out shine by her cousin. But turns out to sick and the one behind it all. It is a rather good twist and she did a good job taking care of it. She has talent.

This movie's take on remakes in hilarious. It appears this genre in particular is hit the most with those. It openly jokes about the cliches of remakes and doesn't care if you are laughing at it or with it. Some people might find that bad. I find that bold.

Scream 4 could be the last of the Scream 4. Would make sense. What else could they explore? And it would be awkward for Arquette and Cox to work with each other. But Scream 4 stays true to the series is a nice addition and perhaps finale.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Brothers Grimm:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/1436/211952_949.jpg

The Brothers Grimm created many of the most beloved fairy tales of all time. So I wonder who's idea was it to create a film like this about them? The Brothers Grimm is an imaginative film that rhythm. It good aspects to it that work, but it put together all wrong.

Will and Jake Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) arrive in French-occupied Germany during the late 18th century. They go to Karlstadt to rid the town of a witch's ghost. After killing the "ghost", it is revealed that the Brothers Grimm have actually set up a fake witch to trick the town. Afterwards, as they are celebrating, Italian torturer Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) takes them to the French General Delatombe (Johnathan Pryce). Delatombe forces them to solve a mystery: the girls of the small village of Marbaden are disappearing and the villagers are convinced that supernatural beings are responsible. The Grimms are charged with finding who is responsible and they soon discover that it is the work of a real supernatural force: a beautiful, yet dangerous 500-year-old Thuringian queen stealing young girls to restore her own beauty. Will and Jake have a complicated relationship, since Jake is the smaller, younger, more sensitive one that Will feels he needs to protect. Will is often very hard on Jake (dating all the way back to their childhood, when Jake spent their money that was to be used for medicine for their dying sister on "magic beans") and orders him around. Will is somewhat of a womanizer and wants to make money, while Jake is more interested in fairy tales and adventures. Jake feels that Will doesn't care about or believe in him, but Will is just frustrated about the way Jake acts so spontaneously, therefore making it hard for Will to protect him.

Long ago, King Childeric I came to the forest to build a city while the queen experimented with black magic to gain eternal life. A plague swept through the land and she hid in her tower, while her husband and everyone below her perished. Her spell granted her immortal life, but not the youth and beauty to go along with it. Her youthful appearance now only exists in her mirror, the source of her life, as an illusion and nothing more. She needs to drink the blood of twelve young girls to regain her beauty; ten have already been reported missing. The queen is working an enchantment to regain her beauty with the aid of her werewolf huntsman and his magic axe, crow familiars, and various creatures in the forest. The Grimms, with the help of Cavaldi and Angelika (Lena Headey), a knowing huntress from the village, intend to destroy The Mirror Queen. After another girl goes missing, Cavaldi takes the Grimms and Angelika back to Delatombe. Because they have failed, Cavaldi is ordered to kill both the Grimms, but after convincing Delatombe that the magic in the forest is actually caused by German rebels, he sends them back. While Cavaldi stays behind with Angelika in the village, the brothers attempt to get into the tower. Jake succeeds and discovers the queen and the power of her mirror. Meanwhile, another girl named Sasha is captured despite Angelika and Cavaldi's efforts to save her.

Jake rides into the forest alone after a spat with Will, who follows him. After mistaking a dummy that is smashed into the tower for Jake, Will realizes that Jake needs him to believe in him, and assists Jake in climbing up the tower. On the roof of the tower, Jake notices twelve crypts in which the twelve victims must lie. When Sasha's body comes up from a well, the werewolf takes her to a tomb. After rescuing Sasha and taking the werewolf's magic axe, the Grimms return to the village. Delatombe captures the brothers and believes them to be frauds. French soldiers begin burning down the forest and Cavaldi represses his sympathy to the brothers, but they are eventually saved by Angelika. The werewolf is revealed to be Angelika's father, who is under the Queen's spell. It turns out that he is only able to keep on living due to an enchanted spike that is lodged into his chest and without such, the spell is broken. Angelika is drowned by her father, becoming the 12th victim. The Brothers reach the tower while the Queen breathes an ice wind which puts out the forest fire. Delatombe notices that the Grimms have escaped and goes after them with Cavaldi. When Cavaldi refuses to kill the Grimms, Delatombe shoots him, but is later impaled by Will.

The goal is in the right place for this movie. But the thing is, it doesn't mesh. Like I stated it lacks rhythm. It is chasing itself the whole time on the screen without any real plot. The movie has a decent style. But it lacks meaning. And it may have a story that we don't really care about.

The performances by Matt Damon and the late Heath Ledger were great. Each took to their characters and tried their best. But they simply didn't have much to work with. The chemistry was there between these two. You can look and feel like they were actually brothers. Embracing roles like these are hard to do. Yet they were able to embrace them very well. They let themselves go into another world.

The Brother Grimm is a film that could have been so much more. It could have been fun to watch. But it tried to be more a comedy and it's plot is rather misguided. I bet the Brothers Grimm actual lives were more interesting to watch than this.

[TylerDurden99]

Scream 4 was definitely a fitting finale to the series, despite having a pretty weak ending (the twist was unexpected, but the resolution overall was subpar).

[Flimmaker1473]

Senna:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://grandprixchampion.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ayrton-senna-champion-of-the-world-fromfootbasket-com2.jpg
Senna is a documentary about the great Formula One driver Ayrton Senna life's a ultimate death. It isn't like most documentaries that show a bunch of people talking about the person and then clips. It is comprised of video of his life with voice bits of other people. Even if you are not a race fan you will enjoy it. I am a huge racing enthusiast. I want to be in big time auto racing. Watching Senna I felt like I got to look at one of the greatest drivers who ever lived and how he approached things. How faith driven he was. And how many people he helped.

Ayrton Senna was on March 21st 1960 in a privileged family in Brazil. He fell in love with racing at a young age and his parents got him a go kart. He raced and raced, he paid extra attention in school so he could mess around with his go kart after school instead of studying. In 1981 he moved to England to race single seater cars. He won championships in Formula Ford 1600. But he didn't believe he would actually continue racing in motorsports. But right before he left England, Senna was offered to move up a class to Formula 2000 for ten thousand pounds. He continued to win more championships moved up to British Formula Three and won a championship.

When Senna actually got a chance to go race in Formula One, it was for a small team called Toleman. In only his second race he finished sixth with muscle spasms. His talent was evident at the start. It didn't matter what car he was in. He was just that damn good that he was going to succeed. His best finish in his first year was a second. In his second season he teamed up with Lotus. This was the year that he won his first career grand prix. He showed once again what he was able to do with a lesser car. He was destined for great things.

He spent two seasons at Lotus (1985 and 1986) won two races in both seasons and placed fourth in points in both seasons. Everyone knew if he had a top car that the skies were the limit for him. Then McLaren came knocking. This is the team that he experience the majority of his success with. He won three championships there, 35 races and never finished worse than fourth in points. But it wasn't smooth sailing. He and his teammate Alain Prost had issues. They butted heads often. There was once situation that cost Senna the championships. Second to last race of the season, Senna must win to win the championship over Prost. The two go into a corner, make contact and crashed. Prost was done form the race, Senna continued , pitted and won the race. Prost protested to the fellow French president which ruled that Senna got back on track illegally. He took the win away from him which gave the championship to Prost and suspended Senna for six months. This was huge blow to Senna. Rather than give up, he stuck to it.

His last season with McLaren was interesting. He won and finished second in points. But he wanted to win championships. He was a perfectionist. He didn't want to settle for second. He finished second to his now friend Alian Prost in points that year who retired and he took over his ride. Which new rule changes, they struggled off the bat, he never finished another race in his career when that season started. That season a driver died and the sport was getting more and more dangerous. Then came the race where he had his fatal crash. The actual video footage was shown and what a horrific crash it was. He had died at 34 years of age.

He had read the bible that day to comfort himself with the dangers in the sport after his doctor suggested that he should retire. He read that God's best gift is himself. The only way to be 100% with God is to die. It was like he knew he was going to die. And he was okay with that. He accepted it. It is interesting to think about. He knew his morality well being he was a racecar driver. And was a devout Catholic. He never lost sight of that.

It is also documented how much he gave to people. How big of a heart he had. How generous he was. He was hero in his country of Brazil. Everyone loved him. And for good reason. He didn't forget where he was from and took care of them. There really isn't anyone like that in any sport today. It was amazing.

Ayrton Senna was one of the greatest race car drivers to ever walk the earth. He just had flat out raw talent. He knew how to drive a racecar and on the edge. Even if the cars weren't there, he found a way. There are not many drivers who's skills come close to his. He was truly touched by God.

Senna is a documentary that does a great job telling us about Senna's life. It is inspiring and in the end sad. Not just for race fans. But any movie watcher.

[Flimmaker1473]

Following:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://thereservoirblogs.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/following21.jpg

Every great director has to start from somewhere. This is where Christopher Nolan started from. Following. A cool and memorizing neo noir film that set him up to make the movie that was his first real big success (Memento).

A struggling, unemployed young writer ( Jermey Theobald credited as "The Young Man") takes to following strangers around the streets of London, ostensibly to find inspiration for his first novel. Initially, he sets strict rules for himself regarding whom he should follow and for how long, but soon discards them as he focuses on a well-groomed, handsome man in a dark suit. The man in the suit, having noticed he is being followed, quickly confronts the Young Man and introduces himself as "Cobb" (Alex Haw). Cobb reveals that he is a serial burglar and invites The Young Man to accompany him on various burglaries. The material gains from these crimes seem to be of secondary importance to Cobb, who takes pleasure in rifling through the personal items in his targets' flats, and doing things such as drinking their wine. He explains that his true passion is using the shock of robbery and violation of property to make his victims re-examine their lives. He sums up his attitude thus: "You take it away, and show them what they had."

The young man is thrilled by Cobb's lifestyle. He attempts break-ins of his own, as Cobb encourages and guides him. At Cobb's suggestion, he alters his appearance, cutting his hair short and wearing a dark suit. The young man assumes the name "Daniel Lloyd" based on the credit card Cobb gives to him and begins to pursue a relationship with a blonde woman (Lucy Russell) whose flat he and Cobb burglarized. The blonde turns out to be the girlfriend of a small-time gangster (known only as the "Bald Guy") whom she broke up with after he murdered a man in her flat. Soon, the blonde confides that the Bald Guy is blackmailing her with incriminating photographs. The Young Man breaks into the Bald Guy's safe, but is caught in the act by an unidentified man. The Young Man bludgeons the man with a claw hammer and flees with the Bald Guy's money and photos. Upon returning to his flat, he finds that the photos are innocuous modeling shots.

Confronting the blonde, the Young Man learns that she and Cobb have been working together to manipulate him into mimicking Cobb's burglary methods. Cobb had recently discovered a murdered woman's body during one of his burglaries, and is attempting to deflect suspicion from himself by making it appear as though multiple burglars share his MO.

Following showcases early what Nolan is all about. He used some of the plot devices that he uses here in Memento, Batman Begins, and The Prestige. It was like his test film. A test film happened to be very good. He also wrote it all himself. The writing like in a lot of Nolan's films is top notch. The dialogue means something. It is engaging. It is intriguing.

Following has some nice performances. Jeremy Theobald gives a solid performance as the young man. He is reserved and interesting. He keeps the character in his comfort zone the whole film. Never really losing focus after following Cobb.

For a first film it is rather good. For a film period it is rather good. And now Nolan is this big time blockbuster celebrity. Any chance he will make a film like Following again?

[Flimmaker1473]

Scarface:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.watchscarfaceonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/37290-1-re-estreno-scarface.jpeg

Scareface is a riveting film about a man who went from being a Cuban rebel/ political refugee to a huge drug lord. This 1983 film written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian DePalma is a remake of the 1932 film. They put their own spin on it and released it at a time when Italian mafia films were all the rage. And they show that the Italians were not alone in this game.

In 1980, Tony Montana (Al Pacino), a Cuban refugee, arrives in Miami, Florida during the Mariel boatlift. He and his best friend, Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer), along with friends/associates Angel (Pepe Serna) and Chi-Chi (Ángel Salazar), are sent to a refugee camp named Freedomtown. They are promised release and green cards when Manny makes a deal with wealthy Jewish Cuban drug dealer Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) for killing a former Cuban government official named Emilio Rebenga, who murdered Lopez's brother long ago. Tony kills Rebenga during a riot in Freedomtown. Following the assassination and their release, they languish in a small Cuban sandwich shop across from a popular nightclub while they await more work from Lopez. Insulted by the small job originally offered by Frank's henchman Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham), they gain a job for $5,000 to buy cocaine from Colombian dealers led by a drug lord named Hector The Toad. The deal quickly goes bad, with Hector dismembering Angel with a chainsaw in order to get the money without delivering the cocaine. Before they can do the same to Tony, Manny and Chi-Chi storm the apartment and kill the Colombians. Hector tries to flee but is killed by Tony in the street. Suspecting a set-up by Omar, Tony and Manny insist on taking the money (which Tony had instructed Manny to leave in the car until he and no one else came to retrieve it) and cocaine (that they took while leaving the bloodbath) to Frank personally. Frank likes their style and hires Tony and Manny to work for him. This is when Tony first meets and develops a romantic interest in Frank's girlfriend, Elvira Hancock (Michelle Pfeiffer). Frank then extends a job offer to Tony and Manny and asks them to accompany him to dinner at a club like the one they recently worked across from. It's there that they are introduced to the drug commandments, which are to "never underestimate the other guy's greed" and to "never get high on your own supply".

Months later, Tony visits his mother, Georgina (Míriam Colón), and younger sister, Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), of whom he is fiercely protective. Gina is excited to see him again, but his mother is disgusted by his life of crime and throws him out. Manny, who is waiting in the car, comments about Gina's beauty, but Tony angrily warns Manny to stay away from her.

Frank sends Tony and Omar to Bolivia to make a transaction with cocaine kingpin Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). The tension between Tony and Omar peaks when Tony agrees to take more of a shipment than they had been authorized to. Omar agrees to head back home to talk with Frank personally, while Tony is asked to stay behind with Sosa, to "keep him on ice". After Omar's departure, Sosa discloses to Tony that Omar is a police informant who caused some of their known associates to be incarcerated. Tony's gaze is directed upwards, to witness Omar being pushed and hanged from a helicopter. When asked if the rest of Frank's organization can be trusted, a disgusted Tony states that he never liked or trusted Omar, but vouches for Frank. Sosa and Tony part ways with a business understanding, but not before Sosa warns Tony never to betray him. Upon returning to Miami, Frank is infuriated not only with Omar's demise, but the much larger deal Tony struck that Frank is afraid he cannot deliver on. When Tony offers to do whatever is necessary to come up with the money owed, Frank questions his loyalty and methods, then comments that the Sosa deal is "stalled". Tony then establishes his own operations and informs Elvira of his intentions to marry and have children with her.

Soon afterward, Tony openly pursues Elvira and gets into a tiff with Frank, in which the shifted balance of power is shown by Tony's remaining in the club Frank introduced him to instead of leaving as instructed. Next, Tony is shaken down by corrupt Miami detective Mel Bernstein (Harris Yulin), who proposes to "tax" Tony on his transactions in return for police protection and information. Gina has taken Tony's advice and gotten out to have some fun with a low-level drug dealer. Tony follows them to a restroom stall, where Gina is snorting cocaine. Tony throws the man out of the bathroom and slaps Gina after she angrily confronts him about trying to be a brother this many years later. Manny, sympathizing with Gina, takes her home. Gina reveals her attraction to Manny, but he wards her off, fearful of Tony's wrath should he catch them together. Back at the club, Tony is attacked and wounded by two gunmen but manages to escape, killing both of them in the process. He calls Manny to inform him of the attempted hit and instructs his men to call Frank's office at a specific time with the message, "He got away". When they enter Frank's office, they catch him off-guard since Tony is merely wounded and not dead. Frank accuses the Diaz brothers of the hit and is promising to avenge Tony when the pre-arranged phone call comes in. Tony then reveals that he knows Frank sent both Bernstein (who is in the office as well) and the hitmen. Frank begs for his life, offering $10 million in cash and even Elvira. Manny shoots him dead on Tony's order before Tony then kills Bernstein, who tries to save his own life by offering to clean up Frank's murder. On his way out, Tony hires Ernie. Now having vanquished his last enemy, Tony retrieves Elvira as well, having taken all that once was Frank's.

The business with Sosa grows, Tony marries Elvira, opens a beauty parlor for Gina, and attains all he has wanted since his arrival. Yet over time, Tony's idyllic life begins to crack: Elvira's already strong cocaine use intensifies from loneliness, the banker who launders his money is demanding more to do so, and Tony starts to take credit for all of his and Manny's success since they arrived, leaving their once strong brotherly relationship broken. Tony is eventually charged with money laundering and tax evasion after police stage a sting operation that he insisted on handling over his friend. He is arrested and makes bail, but his lawyer explains there will be a huge fine and up to three years in jail, which Tony said he would never return to.

Scarface is in part anchored by what is just another amazing and effortless performance by one of, if not the greatest character actor ever Al Pacino. Pacino evokes everything about this character and embodies everything this character is. He does it so well that we can see what a disgusting person he is. Yet also see another side of him. Pacino's greatest strength is how he can turn into a character in each of this films. When we watch Scarface, we don't think of him. We think of Tony Montana. That is magic.

DePalma and Stone in this movie created an amazing assortment of individuals who all have something interesting about them. This isn't a crime film. It is a film about the criminals behind the crimes. How they were at the start. How they got started. What it was like when they got started. And what it did to them. It is really some amazing character study.

Tony Montana is a man who maybe wasn't evil. But confused. He did what he thought was right at first by killing communists. He did what he thought was okay by selling cocaine. He did it so he could make money. He shows basically what big time drug lords think. They don't see and think that they are doing anything wrong. They do it because they don't see that.

Scarface is a classic. One of the best films that I have ever see and one of my favorites. Just everything about it is great. The Mafia was huge around these time periods. And it was art imitating life at it's best. The violence is crazy which is why it received what was then an X rating (now NC-17). But it a wonderful piece of filmmaking and if you are old enough I'd recommend you to watch it ASAP.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Exorcist:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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When you go back and look at horror films there is a few that stand out as the ones that changed the game. The revolutionary ones so to speak. Like Nightmare on Elm Street. The Exorcist is one of those films. Some even consider this one of the films in that genre that can be actually scary. That could be much true.

At an archaeological dig in Northern Iraq, archaeologist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) visits a site where a silver Roman Catholic medallion along with a small stone amulet resembling a grimacing, bestial creature are found buried together. In the first of the two exorcisms in the film, Merrin battles the demon, Pazuzu.

Meanwhile, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a young priest at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's illness. A friend, Father Joe Dyer (William O'Malley), tries to advise and console him.

While making a film near her temporary residence in Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior of her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair). Chris initially believes Regan's changes are related to puberty; however, doctors suspect a lesion on her temporal lobe. Regan endures a series of unpleasant medical tests. When X-rays show nothing out of the ordinary, a doctor advises that Regan be taken to a psychiatrist, whom she assaults. Paranormal occurrences continue, including a violently shaking bed, strange noises, and unexplained movements.

A film director, Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran), visiting the MacNeil home is violently killed, possibly by the young girl. A police lieutenant named Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) investigates. Chris is brutally attacked by her daughter, left with facial bruises.

When all medical explanations are exhausted, doctors recommend an exorcism. In desperation, Chris consults Karras, who is both a priest and a psychiatrist. During a period in which Karras observes Regan, she constantly refers to herself as the Devil. Karras initially believes her to be merely suffering from psychosis, until he records her speaking in a strange language which turns out to be English spoken backwards, and he is later shown Regan's abdomen where the words "help me" rise in relief in the form of Regan's handwriting. Despite his doubts, Karras decides to request permission from the Church to conduct an exorcism.

Merrin, an experienced exorcist, is summoned to Georgetown to assist. He and Karras try to drive the spirit from Regan. The demon threatens and taunts both priests, both physically and verbally (including the demon using the voice of Father Karras' mother). Merrin requests that he and Karras take a break, whereby he administers to himself the viaticum, a sign of his impending doom at the hands of the demon. Merrin excuses the younger priest and begins the exorcism, once more on his own.

The Exorcist uses something that gets to us and is down right terrifying. It is scary to think about having the devil come inside you and being possessed. In this film it showcases that very well. It's doesn't get cartoony with it. It gets down right creepy with it. And that is why it works so well.

The technical achievements in this film speak for itself. Especially for 1973. It is just stunning to watch the young girl's head turn backwards. It is for sure a woah moment and a yikes moment at the same time. The scariness of this movie isn't played up. It just happens naturally. They don't slap you with it. It just happens.

The Exorcist has stood the test of time and is considered one of the greatest horror films of all time and one of the greatest films of all time period. And rightly so. It is that standard of what horror films should be, what they should evoke, and a technical achievemtn.

[Flimmaker1473]

Total Recall:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half (1990)
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Total Recall is a classic Arnold Schwarzengger film. He is a likeable actor for whatever reason. He a classic action hero. He was able back then to get involved in these revolutionary films. Total Recall is a wonderful film with great visual achievements. It has such a complex and interesting story it goes right up with a lot of science fiction movies.

In 2084, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker on Earth, who is having troubling dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman there. His wife Lori (Sharon Stone) is dismissive, pointing out how life on Earth is perfect compared to the ongoing conflicts between rival factions on colonized Mars, in part due to actions by the governor of Mars, Vilos Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), with rumors that an alien artifact has been located in the mines on the planet. Despite warnings from his co-workers, Quaid visits "Rekall", a company that uses memory implants to give its clients experiences of fabulous vacations. Quaid opts for a trip to Mars (a program entitled "Blue Sky On Mars") including an optional espionage facet. As he is put under but before the technicians can implant the memories, Quaid violently reacts, claiming they have blown his cover. The company re-sedates him, wipes his memory of the visit to Rekall, and sends him home in an automated taxi. Waking up at home, Quaid is soon cornered and attacked by his coworkers, forcing him to kill them to escape. Lori also turns against Quaid, claiming that their marriage is a fake created by memory implants. Quaid leaves her and escapes into the city before armed thugs arrive, led by Richter (Michael Ironside), Lori's real husband and Cohaagen's subordinate.

Quaid is contacted by an unknown man that warns him he is being tracked, and leaves him with a suitcase. Quaid takes refuge in an abandoned building and investigates the suitcase, which contains money, gadgets, and a video. The video is of himself, apparently called "Hauser"; Hauser explains that he used to work for Cohaagen but has learned something about the artifact, and underwent the memory wipe to protect himself. The video instructs Quaid on removing the tracking device, and then to get himself to Mars and meet "Kuato". Quaid makes his way to Mars and follows clues left by Hauser to a bar in Venusville, the colony's red light district populated by a number of people who are mutants due to poor shielding from radiation. There, he meets Melina (Ticotin), the woman from his dreams and Hauser's former lover. She refuses to have anything to do with him, believing that Quaid is still working for Cohaagen.

Returning to his hotel, Quaid encounters Lori and Rekall's President, Dr. Edgemar. Edgemar insists Quaid is living out the implanted memories, and offers Quaid a pill that would wake him from the dream. Quaid is about to take the pill when he sees Edgemar sweating in fear, and kills him instead. Richter's forces capture Quaid, but Melina arrives to rescue him, with Quaid killing Lori in the process. The two race back to the Venusville bar, and with Benny, their taxi driver, escape into tunnels hidden behind the bar. Unable to locate Quaid, Cohaagen isolates and shuts down the ventilation to Venusville, slowly suffocating its citizens. Quaid, Melina, and Benny are taken to a resistance base, and Quaid is introduced to Kuato, a deformed humanoid conjoined to his brother's stomach. Kuato reads Quaid's mind and learns that the artifact is a reactor that, once activated, will create a breathable atmosphere for Mars. Suddenly, Cohaagen's forces burst in, led there by Benny, and kill most of the resistance, including Kuato; Kuato, in his final words, instructs Quaid to start the reactor.

Total Recall doesn't take itself too seriously. And that is the genius of that. It lets the story flow and with that allows the complexity of it to come out. The narrative is so interesting that your never looking away. The twist and turns happen just about perfectly and work so well.

The special effects are astounding. This is why it won a special achievement academy award. For 1990 it is rather amazing. Arnold is a big key to this film. He plays it straight and that adds a little humor to it. He uses his charisma to his advantage and delivers a nice subtle performance. I don't think there was anyone else more perfect for the role than Arnold. He made it believable.

Total Recall is now a classic. There is a remake for this movie that came out a week ago. Doesn't look nearly as good as this one. I will watch it one day to compare. But why a remake? This a classic. This one is enough for me.

[Flimmaker1473]

Hope Springs:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.hopesprings-movie.com/images/home/home-2-960x577.jpg

A relationship is work. Especially a marriage. Especially one where you have been married for 31 years and has gone kind of stale. And that is what Hope Springs does. It takes a situation that many people have and face, and somehow accurately shows it on screen. This is a good movie. Not a great one. But good. It is lead by it's performances of the two stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. Steve Carell is also solid in his role.

Kay and Arnold Soames (Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones) have had a 31 year old marriage as I previously stated. But they don't have sex. They don't really talk to each other. They have dinner and make small talk, Arnold will fall asleep watching the golf channel. Kay will wake him up and the two will go to bed in their separate bedrooms. Kay wants her marriage back. But she doesn't know how. But then while in a book store she stumbles on a book about marriage by Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell). She reads it and watches a video of him talking about his week long session on marriage.

Here Kay sees her chance to revitalize their marriage. She tells Arnold about the trip. But he isn't interested. He just wants things to stay the same. Change can be a scary thing and take us out of our comfort zone. She has bought tickets anyway and she will be going with or without him. He comes at the last minute. When the arrive the first few days are somewhat rough. Arnold obviously doesn't want to be there. And Kay is just trying to make things work. While Dr. Feld is the calm person throughout trying his best to help the couple.

Things that happen in this film feel so real. I won't spoil them, but just little things and everyday things give it that nice feel. Meryl Streep scares me every time I see her act. She is scary good. She goes into a role and just disappears in it. She always does with every character she plays. That is why she has been nominated for 17 academy awards. And that is why I think she will also get nominated for her performance in this movie.

Tommy Lee Jones usually doesn't take on roles like this. Not that it matters. He too delivers an academy award performance. He is able to play a man who has settled and is stuck. A man who is kind of lost. And he does it oh so well. He and Streep have amazing chemistry. You really do believe they have been married for 31 years.

Hope Spring is a nice and somewhat safe comedy with a modest goal. And it reaches that goal. This is a great example of character acting as you will ever see. If Streep and Jones don't get nominated for the academy awards for this then that will be a shame.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Godfather Part Three:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
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The Godfather Part Three is supposed to be the conclusion of the legendary film series. But it isn't. According to Francis Ford Coppola. He and the creator of the Godfather Mario Puzo wanted it to be called "The Death of Michael Corleone". But of course Paramount said no. Coppola says it is more like an epilogue. Either way it is a pretty great movie. It fits into the series rather well. While also being different.

In 1979, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is nearing 60 and wracked with guilt for his ruthless rise to power, especially ordering the murder of his brother Fredo. By now, he has mostly retired from the Mafia, leaving the Corleone family's criminal interests in the hands of enforcer Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna), and is using his tremendous wealth and power to restore his reputation via numerous acts of charity. Michael and Kay (Diane Keaton) have been divorced since 1960, and Michael gave her custody of their children, Anthony (Franc D'Ambrosio) and Mary (Sofia Coppola).

At a ceremony in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, Michael is named a Commander of the Order of St. Sebastian. At a party following the ceremony, Anthony tells his father that he is going to drop out of law school to pursue a career as an opera singer. Kay supports his choice, but Michael disagrees, wishing that his son would either finish law school or join the family business, but Anthony refuses to have anything to do with his father's "legacy". Michael and Kay have an uneasy reunion, in which Kay tells him that Anthony knows the truth about Fredo's death.

Meanwhile, Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate son of Michael's late brother Sonny, shows up at the party. He is embroiled in a feud with Zasa, who has involved the Corleone family in major drug trafficking and turned Little Italy into a slum. Michael's sister Connie (Talia Shire) arranges a "sit-down" between Vincent and Zasa in Michael's study. The discussion erupts into a fight, in which Vincent bites Zasa in the ear. That night Vincent has a one-night stand with a journalist named Grace Hamilton (Bridget Fonda). Two men armed with knives and a gun break in and try to kill him. Vincent kills them both, but not before learning that Zasa sent them. Michael is troubled by Vincent's fiery temper, but is nonetheless impressed by his loyalty, and agrees to take his nephew under his wing.

Meanwhile, Michael busies himself with the biggest deal of his career: He has recently bought up enough stock in International Immobiliare, an international real estate holding company known as "the world's biggest landlord", to become its largest single shareholder, with six seats on the company's 13-member board of directors. He now makes a tender offer to buy the Vatican's 25% interest in the company, which will give him controlling interest. Knowing that Archbishop Gilday (Donal Donnelly), who serves as head of the Vatican Bank, has run up a massive deficit, he negotiates a deal to pay $600 million to the Bank in exchange for the shares. The deal is quickly approved by Immobiliare's board. However, it must be ratified in Rome by Pope Paul VI, who is gravely ill. Without his word, the deal is in limbo.

Don Altobello (Eli Wallach), an elderly New York Mafia boss and old friend of the Corleones (as well as Connie's godfather), soon visits Michael, telling him that his old partners on the Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael, however, is adamant that the deal shall be untainted by Mafia involvement. A meeting is arranged, and Michael appeases most of the Mafia bosses with payoffs from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings. Zasa, however, gets nothing and declares that Michael is his enemy and storms out. Altobello tells Michael that he will try to reason with Zasa and follows close behind. Minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and sprays it with submachine gun fire. Most of the other mob bosses are killed, but Michael, Vincent, and Michael's bodyguard, Al Neri (Richard Bright), escape. Back at his penthouse in New York, Vincent tells Michael that those mob bosses who escaped the massacre made deals with Zasa. Michael knows that Zasa was not the mastermind of the massacre due to Zasa's being "muscle" and not having the cunning to organize such a scheme. Vincent wants to kill Zasa, but Michael refuses. As he considers how to respond to the situation, he suffers a diabetic stroke and is hospitalized, but not before realizing Altobello is the traitor.

As Michael recuperates, Vincent begins a romantic relationship with Mary and plots revenge against Zasa. Neri and Connie give Vincent permission to act. During a street festival hosted by Zasa's Italian American civil rights group, Vincent's men gun down Zasa's bodyguards. Vincent, disguised as a policeman on horseback, shoots Zasa dead. When Michael discovers this, he berates Vincent for his rashness. Michael also insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary, because Vincent's involvement in the family's criminal enterprises puts her life in jeopardy.

The family takes a vacation to Sicily in preparation for Anthony's operatic debut in Palermo. They stay at the villa of Corleone family friend Don Tommasino (Vittorio Duse). Michael tells Vincent to speak with Altobello and tell him that he is planning to leave the Corleone family. Altobello supports the idea of Vincent's switching his allegiance, and introduces him to Don Licio Lucchesi (Enzo Robutti), a powerful Italian political figure and Immobiliare's chairman. Michael realizes that the Immobiliare deal is an elaborate conspiracy among Lucchesi, Archbishop Gilday, and Vatican accountant Frederick Keinszig (Helmut Berger) to swindle him out of his money, and visits Cardinal Lamberto (Raf Vallone), the man favored to become the next Pope, to speak about the deal. Lamberto convinces Michael to make his first confession in 30 years, in which he tearfully admits to ordering Fredo's murder. Lamberto tells Michael that he deserves to suffer for his sins, but that his life could still be redeemed.

Shortly after the meeting between Vincent and Lucchesi, Altobello travels to the small village of Montelepre, where he hires Mosca (Mario Donatone), a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. A few days later, Mosca and his son Lupe, disguised as priests, attempt to kidnap Don Tommasino and force him to allow them entry to his villa. Tommasino refuses, and Mosca kills him. While touring Sicily with Kay, who has arrived for Anthony’s operatic debut, Michael asks for her forgiveness. As they both admit that they still love each other, Michael receives word that Tommasino is dead. At Tommassino's funeral, Michael swears over his old friend's coffin to sin no more.

The Godfather Part Three has just about all the elements the first two had. Just not the perfection. But how many films have that kind of perfection? The fact that it gets this close is an accomplishment. It says how great a director Francis Ford Coppola is. And how great at writing Coppola is and Puzo was. It maintains that tone the films before held and never strays from them. Which makes it so important to see the first two before you see this one. It is nearly impossible to watch this movie without seeing the first two. There are movies in trilogies that you can just hop on too. But this isn't it.

But no worries. It is still just fine. I enjoyed it very much. Seeing Michael Corleone grow old. Him now old and bitter. He wanted to legitimize his family. But instead he became the thing he didn't want to become: his father. And that annoys the hell out of him. How they weave the real life events of the pope dying were done very well. It was amazing. They somehow got it in there without making it seem fake. Maybe I am saying this because I wasn't even born when this movie came out. But I was impressed.

Al Pacino once again is great. He grows with Michael. He feels what Michael feels. It is as stunning as usual. Amazing as usual. I was rather impressed with Andy Gracia's performance. He came the closest you could to being like how Al Pacino was as a young Michael Corleone. He has a calm demeanor. But he has fire in his belly. This balancing act is done really well. And it is hard to do. Sofia Coppola's performance was criticized. And I have to say it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was criticized because Winona Ryder was supposed to be in the role until having some personal issues. Ryder is a great actress and would have been amazing in the role. But Sofia does a solid job. She brings a certain feel to the character, is beautiful, and it works.

The Godfather Part Three isn't the masterpiece the first two films were. But so what? It is a great movie. I enjoyed every bit of it. The acting and story were great. It is a proper ending to the greatest film series of all time.

[Flimmaker1473]

Scream Two:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://i2.listal.com/image/953695/600full-scream-2-screenshot.jpg

After Scream there was Scream 2. And Scream is in a lot of ways similar to it's predecessor. But also in a lot of ways different. The satire of slasher thriller keeps it's wits, and even brings in more emotion than usual. A horror movie with a little heart? I didn't think that was possible. But it happens with this movie.

While attending a preview of the film Stab, a film within a film based on the Woodsboro murders depicted in Scream, college student Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) and his girlfriend Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett), are both killed by Ghostface, though the onlookers at the theater witness Maureen's death and believe it to be a publicity stunt until she dies before them. The following day, the news media, which includes local journalist Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), descends on Windsor College where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) now studies, alongside fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy (Jamie Kennedy), her boyfriend Derek (Jerry O'Connell), classmate Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), and best friend Hallie (Elise Neal). Sidney, who receives prank calls, is oblivious to the killings while nervous and paranoid of the release of Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber).

Two other Woodsboro survivors arrive: officer Dewey Riley (David Arquette) to help Sidney, and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to cover the case and make Sidney talk to Cotton Weary - who is attempting to gain fame from his exoneration for the murder of Sidney's mother. Sidney unwillingly goes to a party with Hallie; at a sorority house, Ghostface murders fellow student Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and again targets Sidney and her friends, as he crashes the party and attempts to murder Derek, though Dewey appears causing the killer to flee.



Scream Two is as good if not better than Scream. It makes fun of the classic horror genre so well. Here it is all about sequels. And what they say about sequels are oh so true. And they instead decide to go a different route. I guess Wes Craven has Scream to kind of voice his thoughts on the genre that he works in very much and very well. The comedy is always subtle. And the violence is really gory.


The violence was done better in this one. The scenes where there was violence looked more well done, more calculated and more daring. It was really engaging to watch some of these go down in all honesty. The blood wasn't excessive like in the first one. But it was enough to get the point across like the first one manged to do.



Neve Campbell is always the charmer. She gives Sidney this vulnerability. Yet she gives her this strength. The ability to rise above. She makes Sidney more than a one dimensional character. I think her acting is underrated in these movies. She always gives a nice performance.


Scream Two will please fans of this series. It has everything the first one had a more. The story is more developed even. It isn't just a good horror movie. It is a good movie period.

[Flimmaker1473]

Sideways:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://cache.trustedpartner.com/images/library/PalmBeachIllustrated2010/News%20&%20Blogs/GlobalGourmet/1512_sideways_wideweb__430x267.jpg

Sideways is one of the best human comedies to come out in the last ten years. It is funny and sweet. Somehow it is charming. I don't know how but it is. Alexander Payne has gone through many different story lines in films that he has created. Each one of them have worked so well because of his amazing attention to detail. He could be the most underrated director out there.

Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) is an unsuccessful writer, a wine-aficionado, and a depressed middle school English teacher living in San Diego, who takes his soon-to-be-married actor friend and college roommate, Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), on a road trip through Santa Ynez Valley wine country. Miles wants to relax and live well. However, Jack wants one last sexual fling.

In the wine country, the men encounter Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress at Miles's favorite restaurant, The Hitching Post, and her friend, Stephanie (Sandra Oh), an employee at a local winery. They arrange a double date without revealing that Jack is to be married. Jack has an affair with Stephanie while Miles tries to connect with Maya.

What happens in these seven days adds up to how great this movie truly is. How funny it is and surprisingly touching it is. Paul Giamatti is just a great character actor. He plays a man who hasn't gotten as much out of life that he had hope to get. He is somewhat a failure. Failed marriage and can't get a book published. He is able to really make Miles this everyday guy who is facing everyday problems. This character is so easy to relate to. Who hasn't felt this way before? Who hasn't felt like the world is crashing down on them? And how he behaves drunk is very interesting. I haven't seen it done quite like that before.

Thomas Haden Church also does well as Jack. He plays a guy who is this modest success. And he is finally settling down. But now he wants to live a little. That is totally understandable. Not good. But we get it. Church walks this fine line. His character does bad things. But his character isn't necessarily a bad guy. Church is able to make this guy likeable to the audience. We even feel bad for him a few times during the movie. He just wants to experience things and get it out of the way before tying to the knot. In the end we must ask ourselves if given the same situation, would we do the same?

Alexander Payne is a great writer and director. The writing is excellent. Things are said that I feel a real person would said. Things happen that I feel like would actually happen. He doesn't stretch anything to get laughs. We laugh only when we see something happen that has happened to us before or feel like it could happen. There is his gift. He is excellent at creating everyday characters. When I watched this movie I thought of Election a little and the Descendants. And that Payne creates these real life characters that go through real life things. He does the ultimate human stories.

Sideways is a movie that will make you laugh. Maybe even tear up. It is moving and a joy to watch. The acting is great, everything is great. Not a lot of movies like this these days. But when they do come out, aren't they a treat?

[Flimmaker1473]

Cinderella Man:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://www.reneesfansite.com/images/Renee_Zellweger_Cinderella_Man.jpg

Cinderella Man is a boxing film based on a true story about James J. Braddock rise to success and fame. It is an inspiring movie directed by Ron Howard. Howard who holds the skills to take real life events (Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind) and make them very entertaining. There have been many boxing movies made that are meant to inspire people with some amazing stories. This story goes right up there.


James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) is an Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender, who is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. This is both a relief and an upset to his wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger): she cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet knows they will have no good income without his boxing.

As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even after badly breaking his hand. Unfortunately, he cannot get work every day. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), offers him a chance to fill in for just this one night and make a little money. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin (Art Binkowski).

Braddock, however, stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Against his wife's wishes, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife also have been devastated by hard times.

With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer(Craig Bierko) a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man", and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression.

A title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring. He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston, forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against.

Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, she becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She cannot bring herself to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio.

On June 13, 1935, in one of the biggest achievements in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Cinderella Man uses it's strong source in it's script to it's advantage. It doesn't really stray away to create fictitious drama. It takes the story that is already riveting and shows it as art. It is super well done. It feels very authentic too. James J. Braddock had an amazing rise to fame. He worked hard to get to where he went and never game up. He was the blue collar worked who realized the American dream.

Russell Crowe is an excellent actor. Each role he has he takes on by the horns. Here he takes this real life figure again. And he plays him so wonderfully. He really shows what this man must have been going through professionally and personally. He makes it easy for us to understand and root for the guy. Renee Zellweger's performance is also note worthy. She is perfect as Braddock's worrisome. But supportive wife. And Paul Giamatti is such a great character actor. Each role he takes he makes a difference between all of them. He is a very underrated actor.

Cinderella Man is a great boxing movie. It reminds me of the fighter in a lot of ways (or should I say the fighter reminds me of Cinderella Man?). It's story is pure, and very touching. We as people just love seeing success stories. Rags to riches. And this is one for the record books.

[Watch_Tower]

I'm not a fan of Godfather Part 3 at all. It is a stain on the legacy of Coppola, Puzo, Pacino, Brando, De Niro and everyone else involved. The conclusion is poorly shot, the ending is lackluster and although Garcia and Pacino deliver as usual, the rest of the cast is average at best, weak and wooden at the worst of times (Michael's son :()

[Flimmaker1473]

Barney's Version:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2011-01/58909466.jpg
As we grow older we begin to look back and reflect on our lives. Even me. And I am about to turn 20. We look back and see events that we regret, caused heart ache and ones that made us happy at that moment in time. It is simply human nature. That is who we are. In Barney's version we get to watch a man do just that. And oh how interesting is it. Barney's version is a movie that shows a man who has grown to an old age and has lived an interesting life. Full of events that have all the things I mentioned.

Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) is living with his best friend Boogie (Scott Speedman) in Rome. He marries the mentally disturbed and unfaithful Clara Charnofsky (Rachelle Lefevre) after she tells him she is pregnant with his child. Barney later finds out the child is not his, and he demands they separate. Clara commits suicide, and a devastated Barney decides to return home to Montreal.

Barney soon gets a job back home and meets what becomes his nameless second wife (Minnie Driver), the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family. At their lavish wedding, Barney meets Miriam Grant (Rosamund Pike), and immediately falls in love. He tells Miriam his feelings for her that night but she rejects him. Despite his marriage, Barney sends Miriam flowers and gifts. Barney later picks up Boogie, who is in the middle of detox therapy, for a few days at Barney's lake house. He eventually finds Boogie sleeping with his wife. Barney is at first overjoyed that he has an excuse to divorce her and pursue Miriam, but questions Boogie's integrity. The two argue, firing rounds from Barney's gun into the air before Barney collapses onto his dock and passes out, and a drunk Boogie falls back into the lake. When Barney awakens, it appears that he has shot Boogie. An abusive detective (Mark Addy) tries to beat a confession out of Barney until Barney's father, Izzy (Dustin Hoffman), intervenes. Barney is let go when they cannot find a body. Barney continues to believe that Boogie ran away and throughout the movie waits for him to reappear.

With his divorce finalized, Barney asks Miriam out on a date. He travels to New York City to meet her, and they finally begin a relationship. They marry and have two children as Barney gets a job producing a television series. Izzy later dies in a brothel, causing Barney to laugh and cry and call his father a "King". Barney and Miriam live happily until, on another vacation to the lake house, Barney meets Blair (Bruce Greenwood), who is trying to get a job in Miriam's line of work. Both Blair and Miriam travel to the city to try and use Miriam's contacts. Barney gets drunk at a bar and ends up sleeping with a former actress on his show. Miriam finds out about her husband's infidelity and the two divorce. Miriam later marries Blair, which contributes to Barney's mental deterioration.

Barney's Version is a funny yet sad movie. It seems like Paul Giamatti likes to do those types of films. In this we see once again the funny moments come from situations that happening during the course of the film. Though I would say there are far more dramatic moments in this one. It doesn't have the self pity that Barney has. It just tells us a story of this normal man who has made some normal mistakes and is living his life the way he is because of it. And his mind failing on him at the same time.

Paul Giamatti takes Barney and plays a guy who is much older than him and a guy who is much younger than him. The amazing thing is that he makes it believable each and every time we see this. We believe he is the age that is shown. It is great work. Dustin Hoffman was also great in his small role as Barney's dad. He comes in and steals the scenes he is in. Barney's Version isn't about Barney having regrets and wanting to it up. It is about Barney having these regrets and knowing there is nothing he can do about it other than try to get his wife back.

Barney's Version is a movie that went under the radar in 2010. Shame too. It is a great movie. Great performances and great writing. It takes a subject that everyone as they age deals with and shows it quite nicely.

[Flimmaker1473]

Boys Don't Cry:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://image.toutlecine.com/photos/b/o/y/boys-don-t-cry-1999-03-g.jpg
Love is an interesting thing. It can be very awesome and beautiful. Love can also be blind. It can also be tragic. Things happen that seems forbidden and lead to bad things. That just happens. And as in society we can't seem to accept things or people for what and who they really are. Boy Don't Cry is a film based on the real life tragedy about Brandon Teena.

Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) is a young female-to-male non-operative transgender man, whose birth name was Teena Renae Brandon. When Brandon is discovered to be anatomically female by the brother of a woman he once dated, he becomes the target of physical threats. Not long after, he is involved in a bar fight and is evicted from his cousin's trailer. Brandon moves to Falls City, Nebraska where he cultivates friendships with ex-convicts John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom Nissen (Brendan Sexton III), and their friends Candace (Alicia Goranson) and Lana Tisdel (Chloë Sevigny). Brandon becomes romantically involved with Lana, who is unaware of his biological sex and troubled past. The two make plans to move to Memphis, where Brandon will manage Lana in a karaoke career.

Brandon is detained for charges that arose prior to his relocation and placed in the women's section of the Falls City prison. Lana bails Brandon out. After Lana asks why Brandon was in a women's prison, Brandon lies to her, saying he was born a hermaphrodite and will soon receive a sex change. Lana declares her love for Brandon, "no matter what he is." Tom and John become suspicious after they read a newspaper article about Brandon that refers to him by his birth name, Teena Brandon. Tom and John force Brandon to remove his pants, revealing his genitals. They try to make Lana look, but she shields her eyes and turns away. After this confrontation Tom and John chase Brandon to an isolated location, where they beat and rape him. Afterward, they take Brandon to Nissen's house. Though injured, Brandon escapes through a bathroom window. Having been threatened by his assailants and told not to report the attack to the police, a distressed Brandon is nonetheless convinced by Lana to file a report.

One evening, John and Tom get drunk, and decide to kill Brandon. Despite Lana's attempts to stop them, John and Tom drive to Candace's remote house where they find Brandon, who has been hiding in a shed on Candace's property. John shoots Brandon under the chin, and Tom shoots Candace in the head while Lana fights them and screams for them to stop. John stabs Brandon's lifeless body and Tom attempts to shoot Lana, but is stopped by John. John and Tom flee the scene, while Lana lies with Brandon's dead body.

Boys Don't Cry is one of the films that has actually made me cry (no pun intended). It could have been just one of those movies. But instead shows a free spirited person who got into the wrong situation and sadly sees her demise. We get to watch Brandon go through life trying to be they way she wants to be. And that is a male. This is tough clearly. Homosexuals have a hard enough time being accepted by society. But I would imagine that transgenders have it worse. Much worse.

This movie reminds me of Romeo and Juliet ad even Brokeback Mountain. It is forbidden love. Love is when we love someone without caring about their flaws. When we love someone we love the illusion that they have created. Here Brandon and Lana's love is forbidden. And they are in the country of all places. Which makes it even worse. But they really do love each other. But they can't really do what they want once word gets out. It is tragic. What makes it even more tragic is that it is true.

Hilary Swank puts on an amazing performance of course. She is a great actress and a fine woman. She transforms herself into Brandon and looking at a picture of the real Brandon it is seamless. I was truly touched by her performance. She became a guy for a month to prepare for this role. That is some amazing dedication. She put herself in Brandon's shoes somewhat trying to see and feel what she must have saw and felt. She doesn't try to make Brandon look like a sad person. But like an optimistic person who hopes she can fit in. But ultimately can't.

Boy Don't Cry is another example of art imitating life. The story is sad and one that shows how society can be towards people who are different. It is so brave and so daring. It doesn't do things for entertainment. It shows some really raw things. That to me makes makes this movie so great. Hopefully people have learned from this. It is another example why film can be so much more than entertainment.

[Flimmaker1473]

Million Dollar Baby:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.impulsegamer.com/dvd/milliondollarbaby02.jpg
It seems like a lot of boxing movies kind of end the same way. Small and modest beginnings. Then a rise to fame, a big fight, then a triumphant win. A lot of these are real stories. Some not. Million Dollar Baby is based on a short story. And it is like Raging Bull in the sense that it is different. That is it's greatest strength. Clint Eastwood takes this story and turns it into some great. I would even call it a masterpiece. It is a masterpiece plain and simple. It it heartfelt and moving. All done so smoothly.

Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) owns a boxing gym and is a trainer for "Big" Willie Little (Mike Colter). Willie is a great fighter and seems ready to go fight for a title. But Dunn wants him to wait. Dunn wants him to have two or three more fights. But Willie signs with a manger named Mickey Mack (Bruce MacVittie). He says that Mickey has the connections to get him what he needs and that leaves Frankie without a fighter.

During all this Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman) a former fighter himself who after getting blind in one eye is now a janitor has taken notice on a female fighter. Her name is Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank). She is a southern waitress who lives in a trailer and saves all of her money. She has big dreams. She aspires to be a fighter. And she wants Frankie to train her. But Frankie doesn't want to train a girl. But after seeing her enough at the gym and seeing her improve, he agrees, but will only teach her from behind the scenes and will get her another manger.

Frankie starts training Maggie. It is clear that Maggie is just a really good boxer. She is a natural. In her first fight after she has some trouble Frankie finally decides to commit to her fulltime and not let someone else mange her. She wins that fight. She gets so good that no one will fight her because she knocks people out in the first round. She has to get moved up. And she does and she still is very good at that.

Meanwhile Maggie and Frankie begin to develop a relationship. Frankie's daughter won't speak to him. And Maggie's dad is gone. They are sort of filling a void for each other. And they get closer. Frankie had been a closed kind of guy before. Now we get to see a side of him that we haven't previously seen.

Million Dollar Baby is a movie that has this story line and then before you know it, you get slammed. I won't say what it is. But it is something else. And even more character development occurs. The screenplay is amazing. Timing is perfect, the lines are great. There are some genuine funny scenes in this movie. And some touching scenes in this movie as well.

Clint Eastwood just knows how to create some great films. He is a great director and great director. Here he brings this short story and turns it from one art form into another. And does it masterfully. He is able to get right to us where we feel the most and make it last. He really gets down human behavior too. I was impressed. These characters just feel like real people. He is among those directors that has that ability. And it is a special one. His performance was underrated too. He plays this man who has been in boxing his own life. He has known nothing else. And his belief system has been the same for a while. Then he meets the female boxer and it changes him forever.

Hilary Swank. What can you say more about her? It is like she doesn't act. She just is. She is right up there with the Meryl Streeps and Kate Winlets. She is one of the best actresses out there and she shows that once again with this role. She is Maggie. She embodies who enthusiasm and spirit. While getting int he correct shape and look to make us believe it is her. It is an astounding transformation once again. She is really just phenomenal.

Morgan Freeman is great as usual. He is also the narrator here and his voice is obviously perfect for that. He is able to shine and make us care about this character, though the story is really about Maggie and Frankie's relationship. He has his own situation and living with it. And he doesn't try to out shine anyone. He just uses the space provided to him and excels at it like always.

Million Dollar Baby is about how people can come into our lives and change us forever. It is something that is cool in a way. But if taken away from us can be painful. People do pop up in our lives once in a while. And they make an impact. Ad we remember them for the rest of our lives.

I put this movie close to Raging Bull. One of the best movies that featured boxing in my life. Thought like Raging Bull it really isn't about boxing. It is about something bigger. It was the movie of 2004 and a masterpiece. And that is a fact.

[Flimmaker1473]

Armageddon: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://hopkins.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451db8d69e20128769e857e970c-800wi

You know what Armageddon is? The first 151 minute trailer. For real. What is this? Why is a movie like this made? Why? What is the point? And why was am I watching this? What am I doing with my life? That is precious time that I will never get back. I could have done something productive. Something else other than this. Michael Bay is the same guy who directed the Rock a great movie. I guess he just wants to direct these loud nonsensical films.

The film opens by describing (narrated by Charlton Heston) the extinction of the dinosaurs by a 6-mile wide asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago. In the present day, a massive meteor shower destroys the Space Shuttle Atlantis and bombards New York City, the East Coast and Finland. NASA discovers that a Texas-sized asteroid will collide with Earth in 18 days, creating another extinction event. NASA scientists, led by Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) plan to bury a nuclear device deep inside the asteroid that, when detonated, will split the asteroid in two, driving them apart so that they both fly safely past the Earth. NASA contacts Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), considered the best deep-sea oil driller in the world, for assistance and advice. Harry returns to NASA along with his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) to keep her away from her new boyfriend, one of Harry's young and rambunctious drillers, A. J. Frost (Ben Affleck). Harry and Grace learn about the asteroid and Harry explains he will need his team, including A. J., to carry out the mission. Once they have been rounded up and the situation is explained, they agree to help, but only after their list of unusual rewards and demands are met.

As NASA puts Harry and his crew through a short and rigorous astronaut training program, Harry and his team re-outfit the mobile drillers, named the "Armadillos", that will be used on the asteroid. When a large fragment from the asteroid wipes out Shanghai, NASA is forced to reveal its plans to the world and launches two military space shuttles (U.S.A.F X-71s), named Freedom and Independence. Once in orbit, the shuttles dock with the Russian space station Mir manned by Lev Andropov (Peter Stormare) to refuel. A fire breaks out during the transfer and the station is evacuated just before it explodes, with Lev and A. J. making a narrow escape on Independence. The shuttles slingshot around the Moon in order to land on the backside of the asteroid. Traveling through the asteroid's debris field Independence's hull is punctured and crashes onto the rock. Grace, watching from NASA headquarters, is distraught by A. J.'s apparent death.

Freedom lands safely, but misses the target area by 26 miles, so the team must now drill through an area of iron ferrite rather than the planned softer stone. When they fall significantly behind schedule and communications are about to fail, the military initiates "Secondary Protocol"; to remote detonate the nuclear weapon on the asteroid's surface, which apparently will not have any effect. While Truman delays the military at Mission Control, Harry persuades the shuttle commander to disarm the bomb so they can complete the drilling.

Distracted by "Rockhound" (Steve Buscemi), who is having a mental breakdown, the Freedom crew loses their "Armadillo" when it strikes a gas pocket and is blown into space. World panic ensues as the mission is assumed lost, just as another meteorite destroys Paris. Suddenly, A. J., Lev and "Bear" (Michael Clarke Duncan), having survived the Independence crash, arrive in their "Armadillo" in time to complete the drilling.



This one of my least favorite movies. I mean really. It is an assault on every sense we have except for smell and feel. It is an assault on our brains to and our intelligence. It tries to just be entertaining by being this big show. But instead it is just stupid and annoying. It is a big mess really.


The action scenes seem just there to fill in between the useless dialogue. There is romance in there is makes me go "are you serious?". That goes back to me saying that it just wants t be entertaining. Okay so there is romance. But the way it was done couldn't have been done more cornier. It was ridiculous. The cast is talented. So I must wonder if they thought what they were doing was good or they all just wanted a paycheck? Because who thinks this is good?


I wouldn't let my worse enemy see this movie. That is how bad it is. It fails on every level. And the ending is rather stupid. And the whole movie is predictable. It is an embarrassment cinema.

[Flimmaker1473]

Postcards from the Edge:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://content9.flixster.com/photo/12/26/57/12265799_gal.jpg

Celebrities who are drug addicts. There have been many. What is new there? What is interesting is watch how a celebrity goes from a drug addict to a recovering drug addict and the obstacles they face. Postcards from the Edge somewhat shows that. It is more for laughs and a good story though than the recovery process.

Actress Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) is a recovering drug addict trying to pick up the pieces of her acting career and get on with her life after being discharged from a rehab center she entered to kick a cocaine-acid-Percodan habit. When she is ready to return to work her agent advises her the studio's insurance policy will cover her only if she lives with a "responsible" individual such as her mother Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine) who was the reigning musical comedy star of the 1950s and '60s. Suzanne loathes to return to the woman she struggled to escape from for years after growing up in her shadow. The situation is not helped by the fact that Doris is loud, competitive, manipulative, self-absorbed and given to offering her daughter unsolicited advice with insinuating value judgments while treating her like a child.

Unaware that producer Jack Faulkner (Dennis Quaid) is the one who drove her to the hospital during her last overdose, Suzanne agrees to go out with him. During the course of a passionate first date, he professes intense and eternal love for her and she believes every word is true. She learns from Evelyn Ames (Annette Bening), a bit player in her latest film, that Jack is sleeping with Evelyn as well. Still dressed in the costume she wears as a uniformed cop in the schlock movie, Suzanne drives to Jack's house and confronts him. As their argument escalates, Jack implies that Suzanne was much more interesting when she was trying to function while under the influence.

At home, Suzanne learns from Doris that Suzanne's sleazy business manager Marty Wiener has absconded with all her money. This leads to a verbal brawl between the two women, and Suzanne storms out to go to a looping session. There the paternalistic director Lowell Korshack (Gene Hackman) tells her he has more work for her as long as she remains clean and sober.

Postcards from the Edge has excellent writing. It is very funny. The jokes here are subtle. But they kind of just come jumping right at you. It has heart as well. We feel a bit for Suzanne. She is struggling to stop using drugs and have as normal a life as someone in Hollywood can. She isn't a bad person. Just a person who has made mistakes and is trying to learn from them. She is trying to find direction a bit.

The acting is top notch. Another amazing performance by Meryl Streep that nabbed her one of her 17 academy award nominations. She doesn't act. He reacts. She lives. She just is. She becomes Suzanne. Take away the issues and Suzanne is a talented actress much like Meryl is. And it is funny how Meryl is the standard for good acting and if an actress does bad one day and does good the next sometimes the director will refer to the person becoming Meryl Streep. That is how good she is.

What this movie lacks is really digging into the recovery process. It kind of glosses over that. It doesn't want to be a drama really. And this would add a real dramatic element. It wants to stay as light as it can dealing with a subject like this. It does. But that is kind of a shame. They could have shown more rehab scenes and more A.A scenes. I think there would have been even more great moments with Meryl and it would have just added to the movie. It is more about talk and it does make us wonder how Streep and McLaine are like their characters Carrie and Debbie Reynolds.

Postcards from the edge is funny and has too many great performances for the lack of attention to the recovery process not to be a good movie. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But it could have been great if it had went there. Only if it did.

[The Rodent]

Nice reviews on Million Dollar Baby and Armageddon.
Agree with your ratings too.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Piano:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.verdensteatret.no/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/piano-2.jpg

The Piano is a misleading title. The movie is much, much more than the title suggests. It is as haunting as a film as I have ever seen. Mainly because it isn't about just one thing. It is about a lot of things. It is a movie not only about the story and it's characters, but the feeling that is surrounded by it. It almost puts you in the trance if you will.

The Piano tells the story of a mute Scotswoman, Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), whose father sells her into marriage to a New Zealand frontiersman, Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill). She is shipped off along with her young daughter Flora McGrath (Anna Paquin). The voice that the audience hears is not her speaking voice, but her mind's voice. Ada has not spoken a word since she was six years old, expressing herself instead through her piano playing and through sign language for which her daughter has served as the interpreter. Ada cares little for the mundane world, occupying herself for hours every day with the piano. It is never made explicitly clear why she ceased to speak. Flora, it is later learned, is the product of a relationship with a teacher whom Ada believed she could control with her mind, making him love her, but who "became frightened and stopped listening," and thus left her.

Ada, Flora, and their belongings, including the piano, are deposited on a New Zealand beach by the ship's crew against her angry objections. As there is no one there to meet them, they spend the night alone, sheltering under a tiny tent made of a hoop skirt frame. The following day, Alistair arrives with a Māori crew and his friend Baines (Harvey Keitel), a fellow forester and a retired sailor, who has adopted many of the Māori customs, including tattooing his face and socializing with the Māori instead of his own race (save Alistair). There are insufficient men to carry everything and Alistair abandons the piano, again eliciting objections from Ada.

Alistair proves to be a shy and diffident man, who is jokingly called "old dry balls" by his Māori cohorts. He tells Ada that there is no room in his small house for the piano. Ada, in turn, makes no effort to befriend him and continues to try to be reunited with her piano. Unable to communicate with Alistair, she goes, with Flora, to Baines and asks to be taken to the piano. He agrees, and the three spend the day as she plays tunes on the beach. While he socially aligns himself with the Māori, Baines has steadfastly refused any sexual activity with Māori women. But he clearly finds Ada attractive due to her passion for music. Baines eventually retrieves the instrument and suggests that Alistair trade it—and lessons from Ada—for some land that Alistair wants. Alistair consents, oblivious to the budding attraction between Ada and Baines. She is surprised to find that he has had the piano put into perfect tune after its rough journey. He asks to simply listen rather than learn to play himself, and then offers to let her buy the piano back, one key at a time, by letting him do "things he likes" while she plays. Ada reluctantly agrees, as she is attracted to Baines. Ada and Alistair have had no sexual, or even mildly affectionate, interaction even though they are betrothed to marry.

Baines is sexually aroused by Ada's playing to the point that he openly approaches her. Finally, she yields to her own desire one afternoon, and she and Baines have intercourse. Alistair finally begins to suspect the love affair and after discovering them, he angrily boards up his home with Ada inside when he goes off to work on his timberland. After that interlude, Ada avoids Baines and feigns affection with Alistair, though her caresses only serve to frustrate him more because when he makes a move to touch her in return, she pulls away. Before Alistair departs on his next journey, he asks Ada if she will go to see Baines—she shakes her head no—and he tells her he trusts that she won't go to him while he's gone.

The Piano is an extraordinary, haunting and ultimately beautiful movie. You go in not really sure what to expect, and then you come on going through an amazing experience. It's so smoothly written and everything is done so precisely. The are not many films like this out there I am sure. You end up just starring at the screen in awe. It is truly art and shows how filmmaking is a real art form. Some of the shots are just beautiful, and the slow timing of scenes just works really well.

Anna Paquin in her first role is brilliant. She doesn't try too hard. She acts her age, only scottish. It is amazing that she was only 11 at the time and she was able to deliver a performance better than most adult actors and actresses. She was right on par with Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Sam Neil. Her performance in particular was my favorite. She was playing a girl who acted her age. But at the same time was matured beyond her years being her mother's voice. It is an amazing balancing act that was done to perfection.

Holly Hunter's performance is also very noteworthy. Her character is mute. Only lines she has are when she is narrating. She gives an amazing performance nonetheless. She is expressed as much feeling as I have ever seen anyone do. Her performance was so subdued and calm.

The Piano is about this whole dimension of feeling. Feeling something. Just feeling. It's depth is incredible and is done so beautifully. Jane Campion is able to write and direct something that evokes so much emotion from just very little things. The power behind this movie kind of shocked me.

The Piano is a movie that is different. It has a (I hate to repeat myself) haunting feel to it and yet is calm. It is a great movie with great writing and great performances. It is much more than about a piano. Though that scratches the surface.

[Flimmaker1473]

Transformers:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://onmilwaukee.com/images/articles/tr/transformers3/transformers3_fullsize_story1.jpg

Michael Bay can make a good movie outside The Rock? This I didn't know. I mean really? Well yes he can. Transformers is a good movie. It is an epic action flick with decent dialogue and it is actually very entertaining to watch. It is a fun and vibrant film for sure.

Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), leader of the benevolent Autobots, narrates the collapse of the Transformers' home world, Cybertron. It was destroyed by war between the Autobots and the malevolent Decepticons, lead by Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) in his quest to get hold of the AllSpark. The Autobots want to find the AllSpark so they can use it to rebuild Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons want to use it to defeat the Autobots and take over the universe. Megatron had managed to locate the AllSpark on Earth, but crash-landed in the Arctic Circle and froze in the ice. After stumbling upon his frozen body in 1897, explorer Captain Archibald Witwicky accidentally activated Megatron's navigational system and his eye glasses were imprinted with the coordinates of the AllSpark's location, an incident that left him blind and mentally unstable. Sector 7, a secret government organization created by President Herbert Hoover, discovered the AllSpark in the Colorado River and built the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy emissions. The still-frozen Megatron was moved into this facility and was used to advance human technology through reverse engineering.

In the present day, the Decepticon known as Blackout arrives in a U.S. military base in Qatar to find the location of Megatron and the AllSpark. He tries to hack into the files of the computer base, but is stopped by Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and his team. Back in the United States, Captain Witwicky's descendant Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) buys his first car which turns out to be the Autobot scout Bumblebee (Mark Rya), who tries to help him woo his crush Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). Later, Sam catches a glimpse of Bumblebee's true form when he signals the other Autobots.

On Air Force One, another Decepticon named Frenzy (voiced by Reno Wilson) infiltrates the plane and tries to hack into the network again, only this time is more successful until he is stopped by the US Security Defense before he can retrieve all of the file information. Frenzy is then picked up by his partner Barricade and they go after Sam after learning he has the glasses needed to find the AllSpark. Sam is rescued by Bumblebee and Mikaela also learns of the Transformers' existence. Bumblebee fights Barricade and manages to subdue him while Sam and Mikaela decapitate Frenzy, but he still survives.

Meanwhile, Scorponok, who was sent by Blackout, goes after Captain Lennox and his team, murdering one of them and injuring another. During the battle, Scorponok is forced to retreat when he gets injured by sabot rounds dropped him by the Air Force. Sam and Mikaela soon meet Optimus Prime and his other Autobot partners Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet. They explain their origins to the two humans and insist on the urgency to get to the Allspark first before the Decepticons, knowing that the Decepticons plan to use it to turn all of Earth's technologies into a new army of Transformers and render humanity extinct. The Autobots bring the two humans back to Sam's house to find the glasses, and they nearly reveal their existence to Sam's parents. However, Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons and his team find Sam and take his family away to a classified location after learning Sam came into contact with the Autobots. However, Sam and Mikaela are rescued by Optimus and the Autobots, but Bumblebee ends up getting captured. The Autobots get the glasses and use them to find the AllSpark's location so they can destroy it so the Decepticons cannot get to it. Sam and Mikaela along with two hackers named Maggie and Glenn arrive at Hoover Dam, where Maggie and Glenn (Rachel Taylor and Anthony Anderson) got arrested by the FBI for trying to decipher the information Frenzy stole.

Transformers is a movie that is okay to watch. It is okay to see this movie as smart and being dumb at the same time. Because it is just fun. It doesn't try to be anything more. Nor does it claim to be anything more. And it doesn't cross the line to being mindless. It is just very fun to watch.

Shia LaBeouf does a nice job as Sam. He brings a comedic, yet heroic feel to his character. He makes him an every day teenager. And still gives him that hero quality. He acts like anyone his age would act if they were put into that situation. Can Megan Fox act? Well I don't know. But she wasn't too bad here. She is mostly here for eye candy. And she is pretty nice eye candy. But she plays her role the way it should be played. The hot girl the guy gets.

Michael Bay has made some really bad movies. Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, you name it. But here he does his job. He directs this movie with the right amount of energy. He makes it his best film since the Rock. He revisits and gets some of that lightning in a bottle. He gets a bad rep for his bad movies. But here he shows he is capable of making a good movie. I'd like to see more movies like this from him

Transformers is a movie that you should watch if you are in the mood to just a have a good time. It isn't thought provoking, it isn't deep. It is just fun. And sometimes with a movie that is what I am in the mood for.

[Flimmaker1473]

War of the Worlds:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2005/06/war-of-the-worlds-20050211033409689-000.jpg

War of the Worlds is loud, exciting, and smashing. Based on the novel by H.G Wells it updates the story into modern day and with the normal Steven Spielberg style is able to succeed. It has elements that are similar to ET in a way. War of the Worlds doesn't stray away from it's source. It embraces it while adding something new to it.

The Narrator (Morgan Freeman) quotes the original novel by H.G. Wells, stating that "No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, *they* observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us."

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a container crane operator at a New Jersey port and is estranged from his children. He is visited by his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), who drops off the children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin), as she is going to visit her parents in Boston. Robbie takes Ray's car out without his permission, so Ray starts to search for him. Ray notices a strange wall cloud, which starts to send out powerful lightning strikes, disabling all electronic devices in the area, including cars, forcing Robbie to come back. Ray heads down the street to investigate. He stops at a garage and tells Manny the local mechanic, to replace the solenoid on a dead car.

Ray reaches the place where multiple lighting bolts struck the ground and witnesses the ground heaving up as a massive machine with three long legs climbs out. The Tripod gives off a loud blaring sound before opening fire with heat-rays, vaporizing bystanders and destroying everything in its path. Ray manages to barely escape; he packs up his kids and leaves in the vehicle Manny repaired as the Tripod destroys the town. He drives to Mary Ann's house to take refuge that night. Loud explosions occur all night. The next morning he discovers a crashed Boeing 747 in the street outside the house. He meets a news team stealing the flight's meals and surveying the wreckage. The reporter shows him footage of Tripods all over the Earth, with the unknown pilots entering the machines through the lightning strikes. She speculates that the machines were in places for thousands of years meaning the invasion was being planned for a long time.

Ray decides to take the kids to Boston to be with their mother. Robbie, vying to join the fight against the aliens, tries to leave with the U.S. military, but Ray and Rachel stop him. They are forced to leave their car after a mob surrounds them and takes the vehicle by force. They later survive a Tripod attack which causes the sinking of a Hudson River ferry. The family then ends up in the middle of a battle between the military and the Tripods. Realizing Robbie's determination to join the fight, Ray lets him go with the soldiers. Immediately afterwards the Tripods destroy all military resistance, presumably also killing Robbie. The Tripods are shown to be protected by an energy shield that makes them invulnerable. While escaping, Ray and Rachel are offered shelter by Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), who vows revenge on the aliens after his family was killed by them.

While hiding in Harlan's basement, they witness the Tripods spreading a strange red weed substance everywhere. They all hide from a snake-like probe and a group of four aliens who explore the basement. The next morning, Ogilvy suffers a mental breakdown while witnessing a Tripod harvesting blood and tissue from a human. Concerned that Ogilvy's yelling and ranting will attract the Tripods, Ray reluctantly kills Ogilvy to silence him. The basement hideout is exposed when a second probe catches them sleeping. Ray cripples the probe using an axe, but Rachel runs outside and is caught by the Tripod. As he chases after the Tripod and Rachel, Ray finds a grenade bandolier with several hand grenades in a destroyed Humvee and detonates one of them to attract the Tripod's attention. He is captured as he planned and placed in the same basket with Rachel and several other prisoners. Ray discovers Rachel is in shock after she witnesses a captive being sucked up into the ship to be harvested. As Ray finally calms her down, the aliens select Ray to pull him inside for harvesting, but the other prisoners manage to pull him back. The bandolier he was wearing was left inside the Tripod and Ray was able to pull all of the pins, causing a massive internal explosion, destroying the Tripod and freeing the captives.

War of the World is an epic for epics. It doesn't have the fun underline. It is very serious. And it uses these huge scenes to illustrate the seriousness of the movie. Some of these sights are truly breathtaking. The Aliens looks amazing. You kind of get to feel the true sense of danger that these characters must be feeling. You get sucked in to it and won't let go before it feels like you are hanging on for dear life.

Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning are the highlights of the film for sure. Cruise playing a man child who finally learns responsibility. And Fanning a normal little girl. They compliment each other really well in this movie. They make us believe that they are actually father and daughter. We cringe with them each and every time. And Tim Robbin's brief appearance was great. He kind of showed the whole tone of the movie with his performance.

Only complaints would be is character development. There was some. But not a lot. I feel like Cruise's character could have used a little work. Why should we care for him? He seems like a bad father and a guy who doesn't care about him family and only cares about himself. He really didn't have a redeeming quality. Only thing that saves this is the action that takes place and the whole story. Steve Spielberg always delivers with a movie you can always count on that. He takes a story and brings it down to earth. These kind of movies are his specialty.

War of the Worlds is a good solid movie to watch. It actually kind of flies by. But it is rather engaging and a sight.

[Flimmaker1473]

American Splendor:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://scarletsculturegarden.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/american_splendor.jpg

Life is a funny thing. You do one thing for a long time. Then you suddenly find something that you love, do it well, and it works. It happens. Sometimes it doesn't. But when it happens it can be a wonderful thing. American Splendor is about Harvey Pekar a man who was a VA file clerk, who found something he loved. Writing comic books. His comic books resonated with people so much because it was his life. It was a day or week through his eyes.

Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) after being shown as a kid is this middle age man who has been married twice. His second wife just left him. He has a dead end job at the VA as a file clerk. He is lonely too. He wants more out of life but can't seem to find it. He sells some of his bad records on the side to make an extra buck or two. He meets Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak). Robert is a guy who draws comic books. Harvey sees this and insist that Robert shows this to other people. He does, Robert moves, gets signed, and now he is famous. He sees a friend become an overnight success right before his eyes.

Harvey is still living his normal everyday unsatisfying life. One day at the grocery store and after thinking in his head how getting in the right line is an art and standing in line behind an old Jewish woman, Harvey leaves the line inspired. He realizes that he has great material to create a comic book. And he starts writing it. Since he can't draw he uses stick figures instead of actual drawings. He puts his everyday life like him going to work, out and just waking up. And he shows it to his friend Robert. Robert likes it and says he wants to illustrate it.

Now after the comic book has been released, Harvey starts to become a bit of a celebrity. Everyone he knows wants to be in his comic book. People love it. It has become a huge underground comic book success. He still doesn't make enough to quit his day job though. And he still isn't very happy. Then one day a fan named Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis) writes him. She owns a comic book store and her partner sold the last copy of American Splendor and she is asking if she can get a copy direct. This sparks up a pen pal relationship that grows further into them meeting in person, and then getting married.

American Splendor is funny, sweet, and even touching. It showcases the life of an average joe who's life was much bigger than he thought. It shows how we go through our everyday life without thinking it is special. Wishing we had better lives. But in reality, all of our lives are interesting in their own way. We all have things and do things that are interesting. It is just realizing that we do is the problem.

Paul Giamatti gives a Woody Allen type of performance. He is this neurotic guy who just feels like a schmuck. But gets to show to himself and everyone that he is more than capable of going something special. Giamatti doesn't make him too eccentric. He gives him a perfect level of discomfort, and makes him feel like a person that we know very well. His performance set the tone for the whole movie. He just gives a performance that is so subtle that it works.

The writing is also very well done. Again it feels like a Woody Allen movie. The dialogue is so lovely and charming. It is so funny. The scenes are all so nice to watch. They are so rich. I was so engaged when I was watching this movie.

American Splendor is a funny and touching movie. It shows the life of a common man who did uncommon things. It is the American dream.

[Flimmaker1473]

Breaking Away:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://blog.eastmanhouse.org/wp-admin/images/BREAKING-AWAY-2.jpg

Being that I graduated High School in 2011. I know the feeling. There is excitement. Your done! Your ready to do what you want to do! Don't have to worry about high school and those teachers! But then you realize something. Sometimes you don't know what you want to do. It is easy to get a little lost after you graduate. And there is a time period where you are kind of just doing whatever. Some go to the military. Some just work. And some go to college. I am in college and working. The question is what will these guys do in Breaking Away. Breaking Away is a great coming to age dramedy that shows a great portrait of how it is to be a high school graduate. Especially in that time period.

Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are four working-class friends, living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Now turning 19 years of age, they all graduated from high school the year before and are not sure what to do next with their lives. They spend much of their time together swimming in an old abandoned water-filled quarry, but also often clash with the more affluent Indiana University students in their hometown, who habitually refer to them as "cutters", a derogatory term for locals stemming from the local Indiana Limestone industry and the stonecutters who worked the quarries.

Dave is obsessed with competitive bicycle racing. Particularly the Italians because he recently won a Masi bicycle. His down-to-earth father, Ray (Paul Dooley), a former stonecutter who now operates (sometimes unethically) his own used car business, is puzzled and exasperated by his son's love of Italian music and culture, which Dave associates with cycling. However, his mother Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) is more understanding.

Dave develops a crush on a university student named Katherine (Robyn Douglass) and masquerades as an Italian exchange student in order to romance her. One evening he serenades "Katerina" outside her dorm, with Cyril providing guitar accompaniment. When her boyfriend Rod (Hart Bochner) finds out, he and some of his fraternity brothers beat up Cyril, mistaking him for Dave. Though Cyril wants no trouble, Mike insists on tracking down Rod and starting a brawl. The University president (then-University president Dr. John W. Ryan) reprimands the students for their arrogance toward the "cutters" and over their objections invites the latter to participate in the annual Indiana University Little 500 race.

When a professional Italian cycling team comes to town for a racing event, Dave is thrilled to be competing with them. However, the Italians become irked when Dave is able to keep up with and even speak to them in Italian during the race. One of them jams a bike pump in Dave's wheel, causing him to crash, which leaves him disillusioned and depressed. This is a major turning point in the movie because earlier he was upset with his father for his unethical business practices. He now realizes everyone cheats.



There are few films that accurately show what the transition of being a high school graduate to a college student or just someone who works is like. It's writing is done so well. These kids say what people my age would say. They sound like their age! They act their age. It is cool to see how everything is set up. It is all normal. Kids out of school, kids trying to make a plan that will surely not go through, one kid finds loves, kid loses love, kid then realizes that the world isn't so kind and pure as he once thought. I think we all go through that.


These are people I hung out with. These are people I know. They are such rich characters. There is nothing cooler than a high school senior. They come out with huge amounts of confidence. Then after getting hit in the face with reality a few times they are still none the wiser. Then one more dose of reality and they then and only then realize what the world really is. The world is a big place. It can be scary. But there are opportunities out there. These kids see that. And they are more than ready to do what the want.


Breaking Away is a great movie about a group of people during a time period. It feels so real. The People feel so real. The underdog story at the end is wonderful. You go along experiencing what these characters do. And it leads to some big time nostalgia.

[Flimmaker1473]

Ali:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://hollywoodjesus.com/movie/ali/17.jpg

Muhammad Ali is a legend. A house hold name. He is perhaps the greatest boxer to ever fight. When he was fighting, he was electrifying. He would say he was going to kick your ass. Funny thing is he would do it too. With all the boxing movies made it was only fitting that this larger than life Boxer got his own movie. And Ali very well shows a portion of Ali's career and even bits of his personal life.

The film begins with Cassius Clay (Will Smith) before his championship debut against then heavyweight Sonny Liston, in the pre-fight weigh-in Clay heavily taunts Liston (Michael Bentt) (such as calling Liston a "big ugly bear") but Liston vows to "F**k him (Clay) up". In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match, but halfway through the fight Clay complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue. However, his trainer/manager Angelo Dundee gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, therefore making Cassius Clay the youngest heavyweight champion at the time. (Mike Tyson would later beat this record).

Cassius Clay then changes his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to the Nation of Islam, and travels to Africa with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles). Ali continues to dominate as champion, until he is stripped of the title and sent to jail for his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War. His conviction is later overturned, and attempts to regain the Heavyweight Championship against Joe Frazier (James Toney). Frazier wins, giving Ali the first loss of his career. After Frazier loses the championship to George Foreman, Ali fights Frazier again, this time winning. Ali goes to Zaire to face Foreman for the title.

Ali all hinges on Will Smith's performance. And what an amazing one. He embodies what Ali was. His attitude, his style, his way of life, how loud he was back then. And how much enthusiasm he had for boxing. Smith does a lot of these blockbuster films and he usually is a charming character. Here he goes down deep and gets into the grit and plays Ali with such passion and such force. His performance was very breathtaking.

The movie itself did a decent job with following Ali's doings during the time period it covered. Ali was an interesting man. He stood for what he believed in. He didn't want to fight in the war. So he didn't. And he fought for his rights. And won. He loves boxing. And he was so good when he played. He was mythological. Yet wild. Like he would say, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. He would practice what he would preach. And he is devoted to his Muslim beliefs. He is an interesting person and so talented too.

Jon Voight's was note worthy clearly. Jamie Fox's performance was also well done. He had a decent size. But took advantage of it and was a scene stealer in every scene he was in.

Ali is a good film about the greatest boxer ever. It could have been great if it had a few more elements. It wasn't perfect. The amazing performances make this a good movie.

[Flimmaker1473]

Blue Valentine:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://wearemoviegeeks.com/wp-content/blue-valentine3.jpg

Marriage is very hard work. You may start out loving the person. But keeping that love isn't easy. Not at all. The divorce rate in America is 50%. That is sad. Here in Blue Valentine we get to see a struggling marriage. And boy is it hard to watch. In a good way if that is possible. It shows in depth a struggling marriage between two people named Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams)

Dean is a young high school dropout, working for a New York City moving company. Cindy is a pre-med student living with her unhappy parents and caring for her grandmother in Pennsylvania. Cindy and Dean meet by chance and rush into marriage after discovering that Cindy is pregnant, possibly from her previous boyfriend Bobby (Mike Vogel). Dean agrees to raise Cindy's daughter, Frankie, as his own. Before the wedding, Bobby, unaware of Cindy's pregnancy, finds and assaults Dean at his job.

This narrative of their courtship is intercut with that of a weekend some five years later regarding the dissolution of their marriage. By this point, they live in rural Pennsylvania and Dean works at painting houses while Cindy is a nurse. Though Dean is content with their life, Cindy believes he drinks too much and lacks ambition. In the hope of resurrecting their troubled relationship, Dean brings Cindy to a motel, but they fight, and Cindy is called away early in the morning to work at the clinic. Angry that Cindy departed without telling him, Dean shows up at the clinic drunk, leading to an intense argument and violent altercation with a doctor, who fires Cindy over the incident.

Blue Valentine is so tragic. Because it isn't over the top. It is real stuff that we have either gone through or have seen people go through. The trials and tribulations of marriage are very, very tough. And things can seem to just get worse. But then you remember that there was a time when things we easier. When you were truly in love with that person. When you were in that honey moon stage. But things got complicated over the years at one stage. And then after a while things seem to have just gotten worse. Then you are where you are.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are perfect for the roles of Dean and Cindy. Each brought something strong to the table. They went into the dark side emotionally and produced some real tragic scenes. It felt so awkwardly real that is was crazy. It is truly art what these two created. The script given helps too. It puts these characters in real situations. With them having real dialogue. I was impressed. These two characters felt like couples that I know. Couples that have went through the same thing.

Blue Valentine is not for the faint of heart. And it leaves you a bit sad. But it is a great movie and truly art. It paints a picture of a struggling marriage better than most movies I have seen do.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Color Purple:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PjETEQ8gO7M/ShsZOE-F6_I/AAAAAAAAAWI/7TwMZYhpJR8/s400/Color+%235.jpg

The Color Purple is a masterpiece. It is an American time period piece that shows a time as good as any movie out there. Filled with amazing performances and amazing writings it is easy to tell why it is one of my favorite. Steven Spielberg is known for creating the modern day Hollywood blockbuster. He has gone out of that a couple times. This was one of them. And each time he went out of that he was amazingly successful. It reminds us how well Spielberg can make these thought provoking and touching films. Nothing is wrong with Jaws, Close encounters of the third kind, ET, and etc. Those are great films and classic. But here he goes straight to the grit. No flare. It is all drama. And it all feels real.

Taking place in the Southern United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) during the early 1900s to mid-1930s, the movie tells the life of a poor African American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American) woman, Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopi_Goldberg)), whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces the young Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a wealthy young local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Glover)), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_%28film%29#) her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's sister Nettie (Akosua Busia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akosua_Busia)) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, however; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by Albert, Nettie promises to write to Celie.
Albert's old flame, the jazz singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_%28film%29#) Shug Avery (Margaret Avery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Avery)), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially regards Celie (wearing a face mask) as "ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie also enter into an affair (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_%28film%29#) (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in the film).[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_%28film%29#cite_note-2) Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey)), who marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_E._Pugh)). Sofia has also suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, however, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.
Nettie, meanwhile, has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often. Unbeknownst to her, Albert confiscates Nettie's letters, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She almost slits his throat while shaving him, but is stopped by Shug. During a family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. During that time, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving, and that Celie and Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rae_Dawn_Chong)) are coming with them. Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Before she leaves him permanently, she tells him that until he does the right thing, everything he does will go wrong. After seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also encourages Celie not to follow in her own footsteps, as Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat.


The Color Purple is spectacularly excellent. The portrait of these African Americans is done so beautifully. Instead of like other films like this that will be focusing on the white people and by that making the black people secondary. This film brings them to the fore front. It tells their story and makes sure it is clear who this movie is about. It is about as good of a portrait of African Americans during this time period as I have ever seen that isn't really dealing with racism.



Whoopi Goldberg gives an amazing performance. She gives one of the best performance of a first time actress in film history. Only to be rivaled by Edward Norton and Anna Paquin later on. She becomes Celie and lets us in on what this woman is going through. What she is feeling. And who she is. She lives a hard life. But she is quiet. And she is hopeful. Not many veterans could have given a great performance with a character of the nature of Celie. But Goldberg not only gave a great performance. She excelled at it.


Orpah Winfrey's performance is also noteworthy. I swear this woman can do it all. Her performance was excellent. She goes through a bit of a transformation and plays it convincingly. She doesn't let fully go of her character's traits. But learns along that way. It is a shame that she didn't act in more films. And Danny Glover's performance was underrated. He plays a man that is oh so rotten. He is a pretty bad guy. And he makes us really believe he is a bad guy. And then he even shows growth.


Steve Spielberg here uses his talent to create a world were there characters live deep int he south. A world that feels very real and something that we have been to or are apart of. Something that gets imbedded into our imaginations. It is really excellent filmmaking. He doesn't do anything flashly. He shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of everything in this movie. And everything with these characters. He shows how these characters really and inside and outside.



The Color Purple is a work of art by a legendary director. It takes a simple story and turns into something amazing. The ending of this movie is great. It is so joyous and it brings us tears and happiness at the same time. And it earned them very much.

[Flimmaker1473]

Home on the Range:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://beyondmediaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/range.jpg

Home on the Range is a typical animated film. It has a typical plot, nice. But typical characters. And yes a nice. But typical ending. It is one of the weaker Disney animated films among a list of some of the greatest films ever made animated or not.

Maggie (Roseanne Barr) is the only cow left on the Dixon Ranch after Alamida Slim (Randy Quaid) (a cattle rustler capable of stealing 500 in a single night) stole all the rest of Dixon's cattle. Mr. Dixon sells Maggie to Pearl (Carole Cook), a kind and elderly woman that runs a small farm called Patch of Heaven.

The local Sheriff arrives to tell Pearl that her bank is cracking down on debtors. Pearl has three days to pay the bank $750, or her farm will be sold to the highest bidder. Hearing this, Maggie convinces the other cows on the farm Grace, a happy-go-lucky character (Jennifer Tilly), and Mrs. Calloway (Judi Denc), who has had leadership gone to her head) to go to town to attempt winning prize money at a fair.

While the cows are in town, a bounty hunter named Rico (Charles Dennis), who Buck, the Sheriff's horse (Cuba Gooding Jr) idolizes drops a criminal off and collects the reward. Stating he needs a replacement horse to go after Alamida Slim while his own horse rests, he takes Buck. When Maggie find out that the reward for capturing Slim is of exactly $750, she convinces the other cows to try to capture him to save Patch of Heaven.

That night, they hide among a large heard of steers, when Alamida Slim appears. Before any of them can do anything, Slim begins a yodeling song which sends all the cattle (except Grace, who is tone deaf) into a trance that causes them to dance madly and follow Slim anywhere. Grace is able to bring Maggie and Mrs. Calloway back to their senses just before Slim closes the path behind him with a rockslide to stop Rico and his men from chasing him.

As Rico discusses with his men what his next move will be, Buck starts talking with Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway as old friends and miming actions. This causes Rico to believe Buck is frightened by cows, and sends Buck back to the Sheriff. Buck escapes, determined to capture Slim for himself to prove his worth. Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway are left behind, but they meet a peg-legged rabbit named Lucky Jack, who leads them to the Slim's hideout mine.

Home on the Range has it's heart in the right place. The voice acting is well done. Roseanne Bar is just a funny person. She was perfect for Maggie. Cuba Gooding Jr pretty much is the best part of the movie. And the story is nice. But it is too formulaic. I feel like while watching this movie I have seen this story someone else in another Disney movie and done better too.

The animation is decent. But it looks a bit rush. It wasn't Disney's best work. This at the time until The Princesses and The Frog was Disney's last traditionally animated film. I feel like they were trying their usual Disney best. They they just threw this together and didn't care if it failed or not. If they did care, well they certainly did fool me.

Home on the Range isn't a bad movie. It isn't good either. Kids may enjoy though. It will entertain them. And I wouldn't call it boring. And maybe if it wasn't Disney I might consider it good. But this is the same studio that made Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Tarzan. They can do so much better.

[Justin]

I thought Blue Valentine was vastly overrated. It's good, just not that good.

[mark f]

I didn't even think Blue Valentine was anything approaching good. It didn't reveal enough for anyone to be able to give a damn. I take that back. It apparently resonates with some but not with this heartless S.O.B.

[Flimmaker1473]

Galaxy Quest:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2009/11/gal1.jpg

Galaxy is funny science fiction movie that parodies all those science fiction movies that we all know and love. I am not a Star Trek fan. But if you are, chance are that you will love this film. Being that I am not one I like this film very much. And fellow fans of the Star Wars and Alien films will enjoy it. Especially Alien fans as it's star is in it. It's comedy fits in perfectly and works with all the situations thrown in the movie.

Galaxy Quest is a once-popular television space-drama series starring Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) as the commander of a spaceship called the NSEA Protector, Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) as the ship's alien science officer, Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) as the chief engineer, Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver) as the computer officer, and Tommy Webber (Daryl Micthell) as a precocious child pilot. Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell) played a security officer who was quickly killed off in his only appearance on the show, in Episode 81.

Eighteen years after the show was cancelled, at a Galaxy Quest convention full of costumed fans with Guy as the MC, Jason is approached by a group of people whose leader, Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni), says that they are aliens called "Thermians". Jason goes with them to what he assumes will be an amateur filming session, but the Thermians really are aliens, octopoidal creatures using Appearance Generators, a device that makes them appear human. Technologically advanced but having no concept of fiction, they have mistaken broadcasts of Galaxy Quest for historical documentaries and modelled their society on the ethos presented in the episodes. They have invented and built real versions of the technologies portrayed in the show, including the Protector.

The Thermians transport Jason onto the Protector to negotiate a surrender with Sarris (Robin Sachs), a reptilian humanoid warlord waging a genocidal war against the Thermian people, and Sarris demands the Omega 13, a device used at the very end of Galaxy Quest's final episode. Still believing the situation is fictional, Jason orders the Thermians to attack Sarris and then insists on returning home, but when they send him through space to Earth, he finally realizes the events were real. The Thermians then come back to Earth and ask for more help negotiating a surrender with Sarris. Jason, believing Sarris is the one to surrender, asks his co-stars to join him, and they agree, believing that the mission is just an acting job. Once the actors are onboard the Protector, they finally realize the truth, but Sarris prevents them from leaving, so they assume their television roles in order to save the Thermians, who have very little concept of deception, or the art of acting/theater.

Sarris chases the Protector into a space minefield, which damages the beryllium sphere that powers the ship's reactor. The actors acquire a new sphere from a nearby planet after battling various alien creatures, but when they return to the ship, Sarris has boarded it and taken control. Sarris interrogates Jason about the Omega 13 and forces him to admit the truth about Galaxy Quest to Mathesar, who is heartbroken after learning that Jason and his crew are make-believe. Sarris's men activate the ship's self-destruct sequence, but Jason and Alexander use a gambit from one of the show's episodes to kill the aliens guarding them.

Not knowing how the ship works, Jason contacts an avid Galaxy Quest fan named Brandon (Justin Long in his film debut) in his suburban home on Earth, using a Vox communicator that he accidentally swapped at a promotional store opening, and Brandon and his friends use their extensive knowledge of the ship to help Jason and Gwen abort the self-destruct sequence. When Jason asks Brandon what the Omega 13 does, Brandon says that while some people believe it was a bomb capable of destroying all matter in the universe in 13 seconds, he and others believes it is a time machine that sends its user 13 seconds into the past.

Galaxy Quest works because it doesn't try to be more than what it is. And that is a movie that parodies all these great science fiction movies and t.v shows. It embraces it. And that is it's goal. And it fun the whole entire way. There are some surprisingly serious and touching scenes. And it all blends in well with the tone. And it remains comedic. The jokes work because you are like "oh I have seen this done else where but differently". That is where the funniness of this movie comes from. From jokes like that.

It was genius getting Sigourney Weaver to be in this movie. This got her rise to fame with this genre and can play it better than anyone perhaps. It is cool looking at her in this situation and how she makes her character act. And you can't help but try to look and bring comparisons between her and her character. She plays it straight. As does everyone. They don't try to get laughs. It just comes naturally. Tim Allen being he is Buzz Lightyear also is good as the star of the movie. He is used to kind of parodying this genre a bit with Buzz. And his voice is perfect for a commander.

Galaxy Quest is a solid comedy that has now become a cult classic. Star Trek fans have accepted it and adore it. And for good reason. It is funny and even a tad sweet.

[Flimmaker1473]

As good as it gets:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzewnwM0DU1qzftcho1_500.jpg

As Good as it gets is a great movie with characters as rich as they come. With great performances, great dialogue (which is always the most important part of a great movie), and a nice little premise, it has everything needed to make a great film. Jack Nicholson is a great character actor. He makes these characters seem so real. He has this innate ability to just become these characters and make it seem like he isn't even acting. He is the master quite simply. Him and James L Brooks make a perfect pair to bring this movie to life.

The story is about a man named Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson). He is a misanthrope man who lives alone in a New York apartment and is a New York times best selling author. He also has obsessive compulsive disorder and tat paired with his misanthropy makes him a hard human being to get along with and a pretty solitary man. He eats at the same restaurant everyday, using disposable silver ware, and having the same waitress serve him everyday.

That waitress's name is Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt). She is the only server who can tolerate Melvin's behavior. They have interesting banters. One day Melvin's gay neighbor Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear) is robbed and assaulted. Simon's agent Frank Sachs (Cuba Goodling Jr) forces Melvin to take care of Simon's dog. Melvin at first doesn't want to do this. But he end sup taking a liking to the dog and shows a different side to him that hasn't been seen yet. But when Simon comes back from the hospital and takes the dog back, Melvin is unable to cope emotionally over losing the dog.

The make matters worse, Carol has stopped coming to work. Her son Spencer (Jesse James) is having a really tough time with asthma. Melvin doesn't want another waitress. He wants Carol. So he hires a doctor for Spencer and pays for the medical bills just to have her back. This touches Carol. She just saw a guy who she may be attracted to who was an ass. Then all of a sudden she sees someone who is actually a nice guy. Someone who isn't as bad as they first seemed. It confuses her at first though.

Simon throughout his assault and rehabilitation, along with his dog's preference to Melvin over him. Simon has now lost his creative muse and is now struggling. This causes him to start approaching bankruptcy. Frank then convinces Melvin to take Simon to New York to ask his parents for money in Baltimore Maryland. Simon agrees to do this. Then he convinces Carol after she gives him a thank you/ sorry note (sorry for many things that include her saying that she would never sleep with him). And they go. The trip includes a touching scene where Simon confides to Carol why he and his parents have had issues. Once they get to Baltimore after Carol receives a call from Spencer who is playing soccer she wants to go out. She and Melvin go on a date and get closer. They even share a kiss. But Melvin says to her when she asks why he wanted to to come that he wanted her to have sex with Simon. This of course offends her and she marches off. But at the same time she and Simon get closer when as she is getting ready to take a bath Simon starts sketching her.

As good as it gets is very and sweet. It works because of many things. The characters feel so authentic and sweet. Melvin feels a bit like people I know. Carol too. Even Simon and Frank. They are all characters that are very easy to relate to and resonate with. No one here is a bad person. They are all normal people. Normal people who have issues that occur and all come into each others lives at interesting times. And you know what is so cool about that? How normal it is. It almost becomes like your not watching a movie.

Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt are the keys to this movie. They perform their characters so well. They become them and not acting and get real. It is masterful for both of them. Their chemistry is beautiful and we forget these are A list celebrities. But we think we are just following two people in New York City. They don't go over board or get theatrical. They follow certain guidelines and never break them. They stick to a certain plan and follow through. Of course with James L. Brooks at the helm all of this is possible. Brooks creates these rich characters and never loses base. He gives us plenty of reasons to care about them and gives them a redeeming quality too.

As good as it gets is one of the best comedies that I have ever seen in a while. It is so funny, so sweet, so nice and has great writing and great acting. It's modest goals and settings don't stop it from overachieving. And boy does it ever.

[Flimmaker1473]

Die Hard with a vengeance:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.moviebuy.org/image/index/10697550-15429.jpg

You gotta love the Die Hard movies. Some of the coolest action films out there. Die Hard was one of the best action movies of all time. Here with Die Hard with a vengeance you get what you usually get out of this series. And interesting plot, with an interesting supporting character, and John McClane trying to save the day. And he always saves the day.

On a summer morning in New York City, a bomb detonates destroying the Bonwit Teller department store. Later, a man calling himself "Simon" phones Major Case Unit Inspector Walter Cobb of the New York City Police Department, claiming responsibility for the bomb. He demands that suspended police officer Lt. John McClane (Bruce Willis) be dropped in Harlem, wearing a sandwich board that says "I hate Niggers". Harlem shop owner Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) spots McClane and tries to get him off the street before he is killed, but a gang of black youths attack the pair, who barely escape. Returning to the station, they learn that Simon is believed to have stolen several thousand gallons of a bio-chemical agent explosive. Simon calls again demanding McClane and Carver put themselves through a series of "games" to prevent more explosions.

McClane and Carver are instructed by Simon to travel to Wall Street station 90 blocks south, within 30 minutes to stop a bomb planted on a Brooklyn-bound 3 train. McClane succeeds in locating and throwing the bomb off the train but it detonates, causing the rear car on the train to derail, demolishing many of the station's support columns. FBI agents tell McClane that Simon is Simon "Peter" Gruber (Jeremy Irons), brother of Hans Gruber, whom McClane killed in the first film. During the debriefing, Simon calls again claiming that another bomb is planted in one of the city schools, and is sensitive to police radio signals. As McClane and Carver are forced to complete more riddles to identify the school, the police organize a citywide search of schools, and shut down the police radio band.

After overhearing a chance remark by a passerby, McClane realizes that he and Carver are being distracted to keep them away from Wall Street; Simon is actually planning a heist. Returning downtown, he finds Simon's men, disguised as cops, businessmen, construction workers, and guards, have raided the Federal Reserve Bank and made off with $140 billion of gold bullion in 14 stolen dump trucks.

After killing Simon's henchmen at the bank, McClane trails the dump trucks to an aqueduct in the New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, capturing one of the trucks, but Simon destroys a cofferdam flooding the tunnel; McClane is thrown clear and regroups with Carver. They continue to follow the dump trucks to a tanker, but are captured attempting to board. The police locate and attempt to evacuate the school they think the bomb is in (which is the one Carver's nephews attend). As timer reaches zero, the police discover that the bomb is only a decoy. Meanwhile, McClane and Carver find that Simon has instead used the remaining explosive to rig the tanker to explode, which would send the gold to the bottom of the sea. Simon leaves the tanker, leaving McClane and Carver tied up next to the bomb, but they manage to escape the doomed ship just before it detonates.

Die Hard with a vengeance is loud, crazy, and action packed. That is what I love about this series. It always keeps the same elements. It stays true to them. And excels at them. They don't try to be this complex thing. They let it be. They are okay with being this blockbuster that it is for sure. And you know what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We need movies like this sometimes. Movies that we can just down and watch. Movies that we can sit down and after we are done say that was fun.

The action scenes are of course done very well. Everything feels very cool. The stunts and the blood feels as if Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are really going to this. Those two by the way have great chemistry in this movie. They compliment each other. With Willis being his usual John McClane and Jackson being someone who can actually match McClane in attitude. Yet they are able to get along and and together and their given task.

Die Hard with a vengeance is a fun movie to watch. The effects are great. It is what you expect from Die Hard. The first two are for sure better, and the last one was better too. But this is good fun also. And there is nothing wrong with that.

[Flimmaker1473]

Dave:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-szLTiGtCUTk/Te1IcseXiMI/AAAAAAAAATU/GdfnOxndSDE/s1600/kevin-kline-as-dave.jpg
Dave is a film with an odd plot about someone who owns a staffing agency who is suddenly thrust into pretending to be the president of the united states of America. The plot is so odd and different that it creates something that really works. Ivan Reitman creates a story that is out there, yet is feel good and feels in reach. I was surprised with this movie. How good it was, how funny it was, and how nice it was. It really was nice.

Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs a temporary employment agency in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and, as a side job, makes appearances impersonating President Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline), whom he resembles, at events such as automobile dealerships and supermarket openings.

He is requested by Secret Service agent Duane Stevensen (Ving Rhames) to make an appearance as the President at a hotel where he is making a speech. Dave assumes it is a matter of security, but it is really to cover up Mitchell's extramarital affair with a White House staffer (Laura Linney).

Mitchell suffers a severe stroke during the liaison, leaving him in a coma. White House Chief of Staff Bob Alexander (Frank Langella) and Communications Director Alan Reed (Kevin Dunn) convince Dave to continue impersonating the President. They tell him that Vice President Gary Nance (Ben Kingsley) is mentally unbalanced, but in actuality Bob does not want the Vice President in power because it will prevent Bob from achieving his own agenda. Only Bob, Alan, the Secret Service, and the medical staff tending to Mitchell know of the switch. First Lady Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver) lives a mainly separate life, seeing little of the President.

The public is notified that Mitchell has had a "minor circulatory problem of the head." With Dave established as president, Bob and Alan send Nance on a goodwill tour of Africa and implicate him in a savings and loan fraud that Bob and Mitchell perpetrated. Once Nance is forced to resign, Bob plans for Dave to nominate him as vice president, whereupon Mitchell will have a more serious stroke and Bob will ascend to the presidency.

Dave's enthusiasm revives Mitchell's popularity, as commented on by numerous media personalities and Congressmen who make cameo appearances. Dave visits a homeless shelter with the First Lady, who does not understand why he has taken a sudden interest in her project. Bob falsifies Mitchell's veto of a funding bill that includes the shelter, ostensibly for budget reasons. After the First Lady confronts Dave about the veto, Dave confronts Bob who coldly tells him if can cut $650 million from the budget, he can keep the shelter. Dave has his friend Murray Blum (Charles Grodin), an accountant, help him rewrite the federal budget so that the project may be reinstated.

The First Lady suspects that the current Mitchell is not really her husband, and tricks Dave into revealing the truth. When Dave and Duane shows her the real Bill on life support in the White House basement, she and Dave decide to secretly leave the White House. However, after a night out, they realize all the good they could do, and decide to return.

Dave is funny and very charming. It doesn't allow it's plot to disrupt it from being a great movie. The writing was done so well and is what really kept it following. If the writing was off this whole movie wouldn't have worked. It had to be believable. It had to seem like it could actually happen. It had to make sense. It just had to seem like it was real.

Kevin Kline's performance seemed effortless. He didn't act this role. He just put himself in Dave's shoes and lived. He did was a great actor does. He acted as he might have acted if he had this situation thrust upon him. He made Dave look like a nice guy, sweet and just had good intentions. And that is who Dave is. He just wants to help. He doesn't want to do anything wrong. He wants to make a difference. And he did.

Ivan Reitman is a great director. His son has followed in his footsteps. He takes these characters that feel like our neighbors, puts them in interesting situations, and then lets us watch these characters in those situations. He puts them in odd situations. Yet at the same time we could see ourselves in those situations. We even start to see ourselves in those characters. That is lightning in a bottle. That is magic. And Reitman always catches it.

Dave is a great movie. It's writing is excellent. The acting is excellent. Reitman's direction is excellent. A story like this doesn't come along everyday. And when it does we are left in awe of what we saw. It is one of those movies that you sit down and can watch with anyone. And when your done you say to yourself "what a great experience".

[Flimmaker1473]

Bug:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-emy_JjEBAMg/TpMKKmlalbI/AAAAAAAAAO4/3XkcdGymq_U/s1600/bug2.jpg

Bug is an intense and manic horror/thriller movie. It is an intriguing movie not because of it's stars Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon. But how strange and creepy it is. The plot is pretty out there. The characters are pretty out there. It is just kind of out there. But it all comes to together and becomes a movie experience that leaves you wanting more in a sick kind of way.

Agnes White (Ashley Judd) is a waitress living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on from the disappearance of her son some years previously, she engages in drug and alcohol binges with her lesbian friend, R.C (Lyn Collins). Her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Goss (Harry Connick Jr), has recently been released from prison and she is receiving silent telephone calls which she suspects are from him. R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans (Michael Shannon), a drifter who says he is a recently discharged soldier. Agnes and Peter reach out to each other out of loneliness, and start a relationship.

The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.

Peter is, in fact, mentally ill, and believes he was the subject of biological tests by the U.S. government while he was in the military. He starts to draw Agnes into his delusions, persuading her that the silent telephone calls are the government trying to track him down and when he starts seeing bugs in the motel room, Agnes says that she can see them too. Jerry arrives at the motel and attempts to throw Peter out and restart his relationship with Agnes, but Peter persuades Agnes that Jerry is working for the government and she rejects him. Agnes also rejects R.C. when her friend tries to warn her away from Peter.

Peter comes to believe that a nest of bugs has been implanted under one of his teeth, so he pulls it out. He fills the room with flypaper and bug zappers and his movements become increasingly twitchy as he slaps at invisible bugs, as does Agnes.

Bug is a film that just gets more intense and more strange as the film goes on. Director William Friedkin the master mind behind The Exorcist somehow is able to create the strange and creepy atmosphere. Bringing us into a place where the character are just a bit off. And the introduction of one really off character just sets it all off. He used Agnes as a normal character at first though. She is just lonely. She lives in her motel. Then she meets Peter and that sets off the whole chain of events.

The camera angles and shots are terrific. Good close ups,blood is shown well, the bites look extremely real. The cinematography is a big part of while this movie is great. It just looks really well. It has the creepy feel and exterior right off the bat. The tone is already set. So everything is just going up after that. It doesn't really try to scare you. It tries to freak you out. Make you go wow. And some the shots are for sure wow factors. It is rather beautiful filmmaking.

Bug is a movie that has kind of gone unnoticed. It is a shame. It is a great movie. It is great for the horror and thriller genres. It covers the essence of those genres very well. It is strange, creepy, and thrilling. The ending is also very creepy and thrilling. It leaves you with an interesting movie watching experience.

[Flimmaker1473]

Hit and Run:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://www.picktainment.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/hit-and-run.jpg

I love movies that involve some sort of racing. Those classic films like Smokie and Bandit. They have these cool car chase scenes and are just cool to watch. Hit and Run now goes in that category. Written and co directed by it's star Dax Shepard, it uses the classic racing comedy formula to it's advantage. It makes it work. And the jokes work as well. It's one of the best comedies of year right after Ted.

Charlie Bronson/Yul Perkins (Dax Shepard) is in the witness protection program. He has been there for four years. His girlfriend is Annie (Kristen Bell) is a teacher who made her own major (conflict resolution) and they have been together for a year now. U.S Marshal Randy (Tom Arnold) Annie is getting an opportunity to gave a job in L.A where Charlie "witnessed" a bank robbery. At first Charlie was just going to let her go. Then he decides to take his 1967 muscle car and picks Annie up to go to L.A. Thing is Annie's ex boyfriend Gil (Michael Rosenbaum) is jealous and knows Charlie hiding something. But he thinks he is worse than he really is. He gets his plate number after Annie comes to get her teaching certificate from his house.

As Charlie and Annie are on their way to L.A. Gil after calling his brother who is a gay cop, finds out Charlie's real name is Yul Perkins. He googles Yul and finds out his past. He also facebooks Alex Dimitri (Bradley Cooper). He messages him that he can get him to Yul. Alex is revealed to be somewhat of a hot head. While at the grocery store with his girlfriend Neve (Joy Bryant) he assaults a man who buys his dog bad dog food and takes his dog with him. And is still mad at Yul for what he did. After getting a message on facebook from Gil he and his girlfriend go off to get Yul.

So Charlie/Yul and Annie after getting away from Gil who has been following them in an incredible car chase that included Randy crashing are now at a motel. After they accidentally open the room door to a lemon party they find their room. Charlie reveals to Annie after her questioning what Gil was yelling at him as they were leaving that his real name is Yul Perkins. Annie isn't upset with this as she knew his name wasn't Charlie Bronson and is somewhat touched that he picked that name. The next morning trouble comes. A trucker that Yul had met at a gas station and wanted to buy his engine has stolen his engine. Then Gil shows up and hits Yul with a golf club. But Yul knocks him out. Then as he is go to the front desk to ask for a tow truck for his car, he sees Alex and Neve. He now has to rush Annie out and even steals a car to barely get away from them in another awesome car chase scene.

Hit and Run is very funny. I was laughing the whole time. And the story is very well put together. It took ten weeks for filming to be finished for this movie. For a comedy that is long time so there was a lot of attention to detail. Dax Shepard creates a story that is simple. But he added elements that are fun, crazy, funny, and even at times sweet. We all have done thing we aren't proud of that we want to hide. That right there connects with the audience.

The car chase scenes are so well done. Shepard does all his own stunts. That is impressive. As a race fan and a driver, I must say he does have skills. These car chases are as good as anything from the fast and furious. They are done really well. Later on there is a scene where Shepard drives an off road car. He first off all drove it amazingly well. He looked like Robby Gordon. Second of all, how cool is that? That there was an off road truck? That was awesome.

The jokes work. There are some scenes that will make you just burst out with laughter. It is a funny little script. These characters except for Shepard's and Bell's are so crazy and out of the ordinary that you just can't help but laugh honestly. It is a great modern day movie of these classing racing comedies. It stays true the classics very much. Does do vulgarity for vulgarity's sake. The timing is great and makes sense.

Hit and Run will surely rank among one of the year's finest comedies. And an excellent second directing job by Shepard and David Palmer). Much better than their first too. I'd like to see these two do more movies. If they can make them like this then they have a great future as directors. And it looks like after all these years that Dax Shepard is finally a true big screen talent. This is a star making turn for him. And well deserved.

[Flimmaker1473]

I'm Not There:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://thenuge1.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/im_not_there_blanchett33000893.jpg

Bob Dylan is an amazing person and musician. As I am writing this review I am listening to his music. His music is that good. So many classics. And if you smoke the herb, you know you love it. So it was about time they make a movie that is about him. I'm Not There is about Bob Dylan. But in a weird way. It is using six characters that are inspired by Dylan to tell a story about him. And there is even a film within the movie. It is quite an experience to watch this movie. And interesting one for sure. Things go rapid.

After Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett) dead we go and see Woody Guthrie (Marcus Carl Franklin). He is an 11 year old African American boy who plays a guitar. His guitar case says on it "the machine that kills fascists". He travels the country in hopes of becoming a folklore singer. Woody befriends an African American family. They are the Arvins. They welcome him into their home. They feed him, and show him great hospitality. In return for their kindness, Woody performs Bob Dylan's 1965 song Tombstone blues with Richie Havens (who is old man Arvin). At dinner Mrs.Arvin tells Woody to "Live your own time, child, sing about your own time".

There is more that happens with Woody. He even meets the real Woddy Guthrie. But there is one character that has some importance. Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw) is someone who shares the same name of the 19th century poet. He is only in the interagation room giving some very interesting answers. To me those parts kind of just continued to set the tone of the movie. You had this one guy who wasn't in anything other scenes but the ones in that room. And he said all kinds of things. What an interesting character. What an interesting thing to do.

Jack Rollins (Christan Bale) is a young folk singer who's story is told in a documentary style. It was told by interviewees like fictional folk finger Alice Fabian (Julianne Moore). People love Rollins. He is praised by fans for his songs that are anthems of protest. Jack though. He just calls them "finger pointing song". That's it. After Rollins receives the Tom Paine award from a civil rights organization, a drunken Rollins insults the audience and claims that he saw something of himself in JFK's alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. (Rollins's speech quotes from a speech Dylan made when receiving the Tom Paine Award from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee in December 1963.) Bale also plays Pastor John. That is a character who Jack Rollins become several years later when he becomes a born again christian and a ordained minister. While preaching he performs pressing on, a song on Dylan's 1980 gospel influenced album, Saved.

Robbie Clark (Heath Ledger) is an actor who is starring in a biopic about Jack Rollins. The film is the film within the film I mentioned earlier. It is called Grain of Sand (which is a reference to Dylan song every grain of sand). We watch how Robbie met his french wife who is an artist Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in a Greenwich village. They fall in love. (The scene in which Robbie and Claire run romantically through the streets of New York re-enacts the cover of the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan which depicts Dylan arm in arm with his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo walking down West 4th Street in Greenwich Village). When they attend the premier of his movie, Claire is disappointed with the film, along with the audience. After this their marriage starts to fall apart. First she sees Robbie touching another woman at a party, and is offended by his comment that "chicks can never be poets). They end up getting a divorce and have a custody battle. She wins. But Robbie ends up taking the kids on a boat trip. (Bob Dylan was divorced from his first wife, Sara Dylan, on June 29, 1977 and the divorce involved legal wrangling over the custody of their children.) In the film, the relationship between Robbie and Claire lasts precisely as long as American involvement in the Vietnam War.



So much, much more happens in I'm Not There. What a movie. It is vast and compelling in a strange and different way. That perhaps it it's biggest quality. The movie itself feels pretty trip. Like you should do shrooms before watching this movie. The stories all are supposed to tie into something bigger. They are supposed to tie into who Bob Dylan is. Who he really is. What possibly could be going on in his head.


Like Billy the kid (Richard Gere). We see him throughout the whole movie. The scenes with him just come and go. What is his purpose? Why is he there? Does he matter. But it doesn't disrupt the movie. We then have to ask ourselves, "does it matter if he has a purpose?" "Is he apart of Dylan's thoughts?" "A character perhaps in Dylan's songs?". It is kind of hard to say really. Though like the rest of the movie it is certainly interesting.


This film is a movie that is very enjoyable just as far as movies go. But here is the thing. It never seeks out or tries to show answers to the enigmas of Bob Dylan's life and his music. After I finished watching I'm Not There, first off we must remember that we heard some excellent music (Amazing that Dylan allowed his uses to be used and his performances too). We saw six great actors play different aspects of one whole man. We have seen a biopic like no other. We can't help but wonder why the hell Richard Gere was a cowboy in this movie. Scenes that don't even seem to know why they are there. And we leave not knowing anything more about Dylan than we did when we came in. And that is the point.

[Yoda]

Such a weird movie. I couldn't finish it. But I liked the idea and the performances, and I dig your review. :) Particularly this part:

We can't help but wonder why the hell Richard Gere was a cowboy in this movie.
:laugh:

[Flimmaker1473]

The Right Stuff:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMib5EqC_bI/TdiP503eaxI/AAAAAAAAAKE/GuVwCHTCyis/s1600/l_etoffe_des_heros_the_right_stuff_1983_reference.jpg

Space exploration is something that just started in the 1950s. Today it's something that we still do and have improved since then. It may be the only epic adventure that us as humans can go on that isn't made up. Astronauts are viewed as heroes and they truly are. In this film The Right Stuff, we get to watch the first explorations by Americans from space. It is a rather breathtaking movie and for 1983 is something that we have never seen. We have seen some great space movies come our way like 2001 A Space Odyssey, A New Hope, Close Encounters of the third kind, and The Empire strikes back. But back then nothing about just regular human beings trying to do something that used to just be dreams.

It's effects are just amazing. We see these blast offs that look just like a real spaceship taking a real blast off. It is exhilarating to see these happen. Like when Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) become the first man to reach space on the 15 minute sub- orbital flight of Mercury-Redstone 3 in May 1961. The flight take off was just incredible. We feel the excitement that Shepard, NASA, and everyone back then watching this live or on t.v. To see something like that right in front of your eyes must have been amazing. A this movie is somehow able to so this.

Also there are interesting subplots and relationships in this movie that go on. Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) and his wife Glennis Yeager (Babara Hershey) have one that is very interesting. They have been married for a while now. She has known what he does for a living for a while now. And that does bother her. She is all too aware of the dangers and risk of his job. He is apart of the Air Force and is a pilot. He loves it and it is a huge part of his life. We get to see how this relationship is the whole movie. It is a real strong one. Also there is the marriage between Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid) and Trudy Cooper (Pamella Reed). They are a relatively young couple compared to the rest. They are nice little couple and Trudy is still just getting used to what her husband does. And there is Alan Shepard and his wife Louise Shepard (Kathy Barker). Louise can't talk well. But they have the sweetest and probably the strongest relationship in the film. It is wonderful two watch these two communicate. It feels so nice and so well done. We get to see what astronauts wives must bee feeling and going through while their husbands are about to go to space.

The dialogue is rich and the action is top notch. I was just blown away by everything in this movie. Phillip Kaufmann takes Tom Wofe's 1979 best selling and award winning novel of the same name and and brings it to screen just how we could only envision it. It is like transferring our dreams and thoughts and showing them on screen. It just makes everything seem epic. And really seems realistic. It is an astounding piece of film. It is one of the best movies that I have ever seen to be completely honest.

There is only a short list of films that can be considered as experimental American epics: films with ambitious and ambiguous plots. Thing that seem real. But are also things that we don't see happening. This that seem so far out of reach and really just plain impossible. That go freely with special effects and different locations. As at the same time while watching all of this, we have to The Right Stuff is on that short list.

The Right Stuff one of the best films of the last thirty years. Not only is it a great film because of the historical accounts that it uses and make explains. But the transitions that go on and the feel that it creates.

[Flimmaker1473]

Premium Rush:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://cdn.backstage.com/media/uploads/zinnia/premium_rush.jpg.644x591_q100.jpg

Premium Rush is an exciting and no nonsense popcorn flick. I call it a popcorn flick only because it's star Joseph Gordon Levitt (who is quickly on the rise as on of the A lister and leading men in Hollywood.) called it a popcorn flick. It isn't deep. But that doesn't matter. It has a plot and it actually makes sense. And it sticks to it and jumps right in from the start. Instead of guns, we get bikes. That is right there are no guns. But the bikes work well.

Wilee (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is a New York city bike messenger. This job is rather dangerous. You can easily get killed if you choose the wrong path. And it doesn't really pay that well. So why do people do it? Because they love riding bikes. And if you can get paid to do something you love, well why the hell not? Wilee is a dare devil in a way. He has no brakes and no gears on his bike. His way of life has caught up to him as his girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) is mad at him for missing her college graduation.

Wilee gets an order from his boss Raj (Aasif Mandvi) to go pick up an envelope from a law school. Wilee of course does not care what is in it. He is just happy to have another job. And is even somewhat grateful that he is going to be paid $30 for it. Vanessa's roommate Nima (Jamie Chung) is the one who gives the envelope to Wilee. She has an agenda of her own. It is somewhat clear at first. What that is will be revealed later.

As Wilee is eating he gets approached by Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon). He begins to act strange to Wilee. He says he is Nima's boss and request for the envelope back. Wilee of course is weary of this and doesn't give it back to him. Which ensues the first chase scene of the film. The chase scene is rather cool to watch. It shows how fast you can really go on a bike that is for sure. Not too much longer after that while at a police station trying to report Bobby with his license plate he finds out that he is a detective for the NYPD blue. And finds out the real reason he wants that envelope. Which sets up the rest of the movie.

Premium Rush works because it doesn't use it's action in place of logic and a plot. It still has all this. It isn't scared to explain itself and often does very well. And it isn't scared to look realistic. And it often does. It is just able to stay in this zone where everything makes sense. Yet at the same time everything looks so cool and slick that we say to ourselves that there is no way that we could do this.

The bike scenes make this movie this breakneck action film it is. Stunning chases, real nice close ups. It is honestly nothing like we have ever seen before. Most movies don't focus on bikes you see. They don't see how they could put it in an action film. This film does see that. And it did do that. And it works so very well.

Joseph Gordon Levitt is a star. He is a great actor. His performance so embodies the movie. He allows himself to feel and live the way Wilee does. He gives off his attitude with just one look at him. And Michael Shannon's performance was very well done. He is a very real and dangerous villain.

Premium Rush is for sure for bike lovers. But it doesn't stop there, It's non stop action, no nonsense script, and great performances make it a movie that is very much deserving of a viewing. A late summer movie, it is one of the better action films of the year.

[Flimmaker1473]

Signs:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.signsmovie.co.uk/img/signs023_disk2.jpg

Signs is a movie that may appear to be like something we have seen before. But like a lot of M. Night Shyamalan's films it is more than what meets the eye. Shyamalan does not try to strike fear into people when he makes films like this. Instead he tries to make people feel and experience something. Because that is quite frankly what movies are: an experience.

The film is about Graham Hess (Mel Gibson). He was a priest. A very respected one at that. People even still call him father. But ever since his wife Collen (Patricia Kalember) is killed in a traffic accident by a man named Ray Reedy (M. Night Shyamalan), he has lost his faith in God and leaves the Church. Graham's younger brother Merill (Joaquin Phoenix) a former minor league baseball player, comes to help run the family farm and help raise Graham's kids Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abagail Breslin). Bo has an interesting thing about her. She leaves glasses of water around the house because she says they "taste funny".

They have a quiet and rather uneventful life for the most part. Same old same old. But then one day a mysterious crop circle is found in their cropfield. Graham writes this off thinking that it is a hoax. Perhaps a prank by someone. Later at night Bo wakes up saying that there is a monster outside her bedroom. He also writes that off as a nightmare and tucks her back into bed. But this time he sees the silhouette of something. He and Merill go and try to scare it away. When they go out and do this, it jumps from the barn into the field. Neither got a good look at it.

After Sheriff Paski (Cherry Jones) comes by to investigate their issue, she admits to them that unless they have a clear picture of who it was that was there that night, that she can't help them. Then Bo interrupts them as she sees on t.v that there are reports of other crop circles in other cropfields. Now it is becoming something that isn't just happening to them. It is spreading. This is when the idea of aliens come in. And Morgan is the first one with that thought among the family to really act on it. He uses his walkie talkie and is able to hear the aliens speak.

More and more weird things occur. Like when Graham's dog is barking at the middle of the night. First Graham comes and tells the intruders that they are wasting their time. And when he is walking back hears something a spots a thing green leg in the cornrows. And then after he runs inside his house terrified, he sees on t,v that there are unidentifiable hovercrafts in New Mexico. It is clear that something is out there. And the choice is wither to believe it is a sign. Or to believe it is just by pure chance. At first only Merill believe it is a sign. Graham with his lost in faith doesn't believe so. But as we come to find out, sometimes it just takes one thing to give us faith.

Signs shows how natural a filmmaker M.Night Shyamalan is. He is able to create a film that doesn't just feed us. It nurtures us. It makes us think and feel. He creates this situation and all these surroundings and gives us chills. When we watch this movie we love at it and see something else. We seem something deeper than what it may appear. We see something that is unlike anything out there. Something that is so engaging to us because it is something that we have thought about.

Like with the sixth sense Shyamalan has this talent to bring chills and uses actors that we may not have expected. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in this kind of film? They are both great actors. Shyamalan knows this. So he used their talents and created characters that could work for them. Make them believable. That is one of the strengths of this movie. It is believable. The characters are down to earth regular people.

Signs is a movie that is just an experience. It makes us feel and be apart of the movie. I couldn't help but smiling after this movie. Shyamalan doesn't give us this cliche Hollywood ending. He gives us something realistic. The ending is softly touching in a way. Because you know somehow that everything is going to be okay for everyone involved. That is is masterful filmmaking.

[Flimmaker1473]

Beetlejuice:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://petewarden.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/31/beetlejuice.png

I grew up watching Beetlejuice. I watched the cartoon series for a long time. Then I saw the movie twice. The first time it scared me for whatever reason. Then I saw the comedy in it. The comedy that makes Beetlejuice the classic that it is today. What makes it a classic? I mean it is a Tim Burton film with Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Alec Baldwin. How is that not going to be a classic?

Babara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) are spending their vacation decorating their idyllic New England home. While doing this they get into a car accident. They don't survive this and die. They don't know they are dead because they end up at their homes. While in their home they see the handbook for the recently deceased. This makes them suspect that they might in fact be dead. Adam tries to leave the house to retrace his steps. But as he leaves he is transferred into this world with sandworms referred to as Saturn.

Back inside their home, they are not alone for too long. A new family moves into their house. The Deetzes who are from New York. This family consist of Charles (Jeffery Jones), Delia (Catherine O' Hara) and Charles's daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) a gothic girl. With their interior designer Otho (Glenn Shadix) their home becomes a huge piece of modern art. The way things are changing upsets Babara and Adam. They don't like these people moving in and want to scare them out.

So the Maitlands go and seek help in the afterlife from their casework Juno (Slyvia Sidney). She informs them that they must remain in the house for 125 years. And if they want the Deetzes out, they must scare them out. They first attempt to scare them out. But they are very ineffective. And while the Maitlands remain to be invisible to Charles and Delia, Lydia can see them and befriends them. But the Maitlands still want them out. Against Juno's wishes, they enlist Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) aka Beetjuice.

He is a freelance bio-excorist ghost and the Maitlands want him to scare the new family away. But at first Betelgeuse offends them with his crude behavior and they reconsider hiring him. But it is too late to stop him from causing havoc and scaring the Deetzes. They used claymation for a lot of the scenes that Beetjuice causes havoc. It is kind of cool to look at it. The film doesn't have a big budget and it uses with it can. It it works with the style of the movie.

Beetlejuice will appeal to anyone who like supernatural things. It has a dark, yet fun premise. It is intriguing. And light. It was the one of the earlier classics from the mind of Tim Burton. Burton uses a normal couple who just got killed, a girl who is gothic, her funny dad and step mom, and a crazy ghost and mixes them all together to create this movie that is lightning in a bottle. It is all thrown into together and it works because they all meet at the same place.

Picking Winona Ryder was perfect. She is just an intriguing actress to begin with. And giving her a character like this was great. She was able to give Lydia this redeeming quality and at the same time vulnerability. And she disguised herself well enough that we are only thinking of Lydia. Makes sense why the cartoon series centered around her. She gave that character so much charisma. And Michael Keaton is unrecognizable as Beetlejuice with all those tons of makeup. He creates this character and gives him the craziest characteristics. He makes him the oddball in every scene he is in.

Tim Burton's Beetlejuice is fun to watch and a funny genre movie. I don't remember why I was scared of this movie the first time I watched it. I was at my uncle's house late at night so maybe that was it. Maybe I felt Beetljuice was so real and that was why I was laying awake at night. Watching it again and again I see how original and funny it is.

[Flimmaker1473]

Tower Heist:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/tower-heist-eddie-murphy-be.jpg

Lately we have had a lot of people in wall street people go down because of fraud and ponzi schemes, We hear about how people lose their life savings and even how some celebrities lose their money. Well the celebrities will not go broke. What about the common men? The innocent men? The men who don't have millions to fall back on? Where do they go? In Tower Heist we get to watch four men who have been screwed by a fraud and one crook go after the man behind everything. It is funny and somewhat insightful movie about something that is going on right now. And even a return of Eddie Murphy's 1980's form.

Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the building manger at The Tower. The Tower is basically The Trump Tower minus the name Trump. Employees that work there include Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is expecting a child with Josh's sister. There is Enrique (Michael Pena) who is a newly hired elevator operator. Lester (Stephen Henderson), the doorman nearing retirement; Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), a Jamaican maid on a work visa; and receptionist Miss Iovenko (Nina Arianda), who furtively studies for her bar exam at work.

One day Josh sees what appears to be a kidnapping of The Tower's wealthy tenant and businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). But in reality it is a get away. Arthur is then arrested by the FBI by agent Clarie Denham (Tea Lenoni). Arthur is charged with running a Ponzi scheme. Josh informs his employees of Shaw's arrest and how he gave him all their pension fund to invest, and that all this money is gone. After Lester nearly commits suicide by trying to get hit by a train, Josh, Charlie and Enrique go to Arthur's apartment. Josh ends up beating on his car that was owned by Steve McQueen. All three are subsequently fired.

Josh meets up with Clarie at a bar to give her evidence. But she already has it. So she invites him to get drunk with her. Here she puts the idea in his head to go and try to steal from Arthur when she reveals that Arthur has $20 million of "safe money" hidden somewhere. Arthur shows his plan to Charlie, Enrique, and former Tower tenant Mr. Fitzburgh (Matthew Broderick). At first they are weary. But they ultimately sign on. This is when Josh goes and bails out his childhood playmate and petty criminal Slide (Eddie Murphy). Slide trains them to be able to be thieves as Josh comes up with their plan.

Eddie Murphy is easily the best part of this movie. Most of the laughs are from him. This film brings back a lot of nostalgia from seeing him. He acts like he did in 48 hrs, trading places, and etc. He is loud and he is funny. He goes right back to that. And it works perfectly in this movie. This is a serious situation. Yet it supposed to be a comedy. So Murphy is able to bring in huge comic relief in this movie with every moment that he is on screen.

Matthew Broderick and Michael Pena were also funny in their roles. And Ben Stiller gives the second best performance of the film. He is a great straight man for whatever reason. He and Murphy have amazing chemistry as well. The script that was provided to the actors was a decent one. It was straightforward. Though the way they want to steal the car is really unrealistic. But here is where it works. They don't care. They don't try to use logic for that scene. And I guess that is okay. And it is funny how these mostly white characters have to enlist a black criminal from jail to help them with a crime. But I guess social sensitivity was thrown out of the window.

Tower Heist is funny, but at the same time the plan is so unreasonable that it keeps it from not being a great film. If the plan was more realistic it might have been great. And it isn't as smart as it should be. But it is funny in a screwball sort of way, Murphy adds a lot to this as well. So overall it is a good movie and a decent view on how ponzi schemes affect the everyman.

[Flimmaker1473]

Clueless:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://cdn.thegloss.com/files/2011/08/cher-clueless.jpg

There are so many teen films out there. And only a few actually paint a good portrait of what it is life to been a teenager in high school. I graduated from high school in 2011 so it is still fresh in my mind. Clueless is one of the best teen films that have been made. It is one of the few that accurately show what it is like to be in high school. It is a satire that makes fun of high school and even the place that it is based on: the glamorous Beverly Hills. Loosely based on the novel Emma, Clueless is a huge treat to watch.

Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a good natured, but superficial, attractive, wealthy, and popular 15 year old girl. Coming on her 16th birthday, Cher has become the popular girl at school, the go to girl if you will. She represents the average girl who is obsessed with fashion. She lives in a mansion with her father (Dan Hedaya) a blood sucking $500 an hour lawyer. Her mother has been long dead having succumbed to complications while undergoing liposuction. Cher's best friend is Dionne Davenport (Stacey Dash). She is rich, pretty, hip has a boyfriend named Murray (Donald Fiason) and popular too.

Only a few people don't see Cher as the perfect person that she thinks she is. One of those people is Josh (Paul Rudd). Paul is her socially conscious ex stepbrother who comes to visit during a break from college. Josh and Cher have a lot of banter and back and forth between each other. Though there is no ill will and no malice. She says he has "granola breath" and mocks his idealism. While he says that she is selfish, vain, and superficial. And that the only direction that she goes into is "the mall".

Then it is illustrated that Cher's selfishness is innocent and harmless. She plays matchmaker to two lonely, nerdy, hard grading teachers. Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) and Miss. Geist (Twink Caplan). She at first only does this to help herself out and get better grades from those teachers. But after seeing how they are with each other, she then realizes something. That she enjoys doing good deeds.

She decides to befriend and take on Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy). She is a new girl who seems a bit out of touch. Cher shows her the ropes, gives her advice, and a full makefover. All this does improve Tai's social status. She also tries to squash a romance between Tai and skateboarding slacker/stoner Travis (Breckin Meyer). She points her into the direction of Elton (Jeremy Sisto) a rich snob. That doesn't really play out very well though, as Elton has feelings for Cher. Things kind of start to unavel too. Tai starts to become the most popular girl in school. Cher who has a strict no high school boys policies, starts trying to break that, but has mishaps. And she is even confused about her feelings about Josh. She is truly clueless.

Clueless is a funny satire on high school. It got so many things right. I looked at the way Cher described social status and I was like the whole time "yup, yup, and yup". The dialogue is funny because it is kind of what comes out of teens mouths. When Tai was talking with Cher and Dionne as Cher says she has a mystery about her and Tai says that she is not a virgin is an example of that. She is basically talking about how sexually active high school students can be.

Alicia Silverstone is a big part of the success of this movie. She becomes this self absorbed teen with a heart of gold. She has all the charisma needed. She is a very attractive girl. She brings this cocky attitude too. But she has enough vulnerability that it works well when we see that Cher is a good person. The way she looks we have no problem at all believing that she is the most popular girl in school.

Clueless has this feel about it. It is just fun all the way to the end. Why it is great is because it doesn't get preachy. It does have something to say. It says it loudly. But in this a nice way. What a great look at high school. It is a movie that I think all teenagers should watch to be honest. It doesn't relay on what is used today in these types of movies. It just uses it's good script and works off of that.

It took me too long to see this movie. I have heard of it. But I have never gotten the opportunity to see it. It was worth the wait. With it's wit, humor, talented cast I fell in love with it. And I was a little upset that it ended.

[Flimmaker1473]

Sling Blade:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/sling_blade_blu-ray/large/large_sling_blade_blu-ray6.jpg
Sling Blade is a film from the mind of Billy Bob Thorton. Thorton wrote and directed the film. It is based on the short film that Thorton made called Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade. With only a $1 million budget, Sling Blade is held with an amazing performance by Thorton, and great writing by Thorton. It uses a story and setting that isn't used much anymore. But was used around this time. There was Rain Man and Forrest Gump. Sling Blade is different though.

Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thorton) is a mentally disabled man. He has been in the state mental hospital since he was 12. He killed a man and his mother. He is now just getting out after completing an interview which he tells the story of how and why he killed a man and his mother. He reveals that he thought the man was raping his mother when they were really having sex. The interviewer asks him if he would killed again. He says to her "I reckon I don't have any reason to".

Now out of jail, Karl goes around town. He brings a few books with him. After getting some french fires he meets a young boy named Frank Wheatley (Lucas Black). Frank's father is dead and his mother Linda (Natalie Canerday) is left living with a man named Doyle Hargraves (Dwight Yoakam) who is abusive towards her and mean towards him. He later tries to go back to jail since he has no where to go. His father is briefly mentioned but is ruled out as an option. So the stays with the head of the jail for the night. He even gets a job working at a small engine shop.

They both become friends as Karl helps Frank take his laundry home. He goes to his mother's place of work which is a convenience store where she and her gay coworker Vaughan Cunningham (John Ritter) are. After talking to Frank, Linda asks Karl if he wants to live with them. Karl accepts this. This angers Doyle however. He is the classic ignorant redneck. Angry, stupid and drunk. He doesn't like kids, he doesn't like homosexuals, and he doesn't like mentally challenged people. Karl is accepted by Linda who wonders why he was in a mental hospital. But he reveals it to her. Frank and Karl get closer. Even Vaughan and Karl become friends. But we see how much an ass Doyle really is and this will prove to be a problem.

Billy Bob Thorton's Sling Blade is a movie that is so great and on top of modest settings. We see this man at the beginning and wonder what the deal is. Then we learn about what he has done. We want to dislike. We think we should dislike. But then we see him throughout the rest of the film, and realize something. 1. He isn't a bad man. 2.He is a simple easy going man. 3.He only has good intentions.

Thorton gives an amazing performance as I previously mentioned. He creates a voice that is so unique even for a southern accent. He gives this man also very interesting mannerisms. I have seen different people play mentally challenged people different ways. And it is a touchy thing to do. And it is hard to get it right. And he gets it right.

The script he wrote which won him an academy award along with his best actor nomination, serves this movie a great deal. The dialogue is so rich. The scenes are so rich. Some are close to tear jerkers. We watch this man who is not a bad person go through so many things. It is a rather sad life. But he doesn't seems to upset about it. He just keeps going on.

Sling Blade made Billy Bob Thorton a star. Makes sense. It's a great film with a great script and great acting. You are sucked into this situation which is a cliche one. But it doens't matter because it grips us anyway.

[Flimmaker1473]

Saturday Night Fever:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/saturday-night-fever-image.jpg

Do you remember when Disco was all the rage? I don't either. But I was born in the 90s so Disco had been long dead. Saturday Night Fever embraces the disco era with a very good subplot. It is a movie that is more than meets the eye in a lot of ways. It's story is what works really well in this movie. The story is pretty rock solid and resonate that it's hard not to like this movie.

We have Tony Manero (John Travolta) who is a 19 year old Italian American who loves to chase tail. He lives at home with his parents (Val Bisogilo and Julie Bovasso) and works a dead end at the local hardware store by day. But on Saturday nights Tony is practically a king. He rules the dance floor with his smooth moves. He is the envy of everyone. He dances at 2001 Odyssey with his four closest friends; Joey (Joseph Cali) Double J (Paul Pape), Gus (Bruce Ornnstein) and Bobby C. (Barry Miller). Another member of the group albeit informal is Annette (Donna Pescow) she longs for a permanent and physical relationship with Tony. Tony's brother Frank Jr (Martin Shakar) has long been the family pride since becoming a Catholic priest. That changes when he leaves the priesthood.

Tony agrees to be Anette's partner for the local dance competition much to her delight. But this is short live as Tony spots Stephanie Mangano (Karen Lynn Gorney) at the dance studio and dumps Anette for her. She agrees to dance with him. But that's it. Just dance. And nothing more. They practice and practice and clearly have chemistry.

Other things that happen is that Bobby C. is faced with trying to get out of a relationship with his devoutly Catholic girlfriend who is pregnant. He is facing pressure from her family to marry her. Advice from Frank Jr to dump her doesn't help especially after Frank Jr tells him it is highly unlikely that a priest would grant a divorce and an abortion. That is a storyline that should be followed among other.

Saturday Night Fever is a movie that embodies the time it was created it. It shows characters that are as real as anyone was probably at that time. It doesn't just make itself about dancing. It expands and makes itself about so much more. It tells us about ugly situation and faces them. Which is interesting because coming in you just expect this fun movie. But it isn't all fun and games. Even Tony has his moments where you question who he is.

John Travolta's performance was great. He gives Tony this charisma. And that is needed because he gives Tony this dick attitude. But he is a dick only because he wants to be on top. He wants to get what and who he wants. He wants to be respected. And Travolta showcases all of Tony's feelings and emotions throughout the film quite well. He takes him from this happy go lucky kid who didn't care that he had a crap job. That didn't care if all he did was dance. To this guy who sees something more to life and gets angry at what his life is.

The concept was well thought out. The writing was done well. It is uplifting at the same brings you down. But picks you back up. Several scenes are somewhat tough to watch. But that is whole other part of the movie that makes it great. It doesn't limit itself. It goes out to make it more. It allows itself to be more. It isn't really about dancing is the conclusion that I came up with. It is about life as a young man in the 70s in a way. Or just life in general.

Saturday Night Fever is a classic. It is a great film. It is different than any film that I have ever seen in a great way. Everything works well and the ending is satisfying. John Travolta's performance is the glue that holds this movie together and the dance moves don't hurt.

[Flimmaker1473]

Cold Mountain:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cwiSCTS2ZKQ/TdSii4XD18I/AAAAAAAAAAw/XEvmIxlMQOU/s1600/coldmountain5.jpg
Cold Mountain shows us the civil war in a way that I have never really seen before. A side that I have never even though of before. Based on the novel on the same name by Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain is told two differently ways. One is through flashbacks, the latter is through what another character's point of view is.

The story is told with a series of flashbacks from the viewpoint of W.P. Inman (Jude Law). Inman is a quiet, keeps to himself kind of guy from a provincial town in North Carolina. He ends up meeting Ada (Nicole Kidman). They develop a strong relationship, despite only knowing each other for a little while. But as the Civil War begins, Inman has to go along and fight.

The film actually opens up in July 1864 at the siege of Petersburg. After receiving a serious injury he is sent to a Confederate military hospital. He is with other soldiers, who like have himself have become disaffected by the war. They have been in it so long that and have seen so much violence and destruction of war. He faces going right back into the war when he receives a letter from Ada. This convinces him to leave the army and start a journey home.

Inman's journey to Ada is filled with danger. Also with unexpected encounters with individuals who are nearly as desperate as he is. One is Reverend Veasey (Philip Seymour Hoffman). He meets this man as he is trying to throw a female slave into a river because she is carrying his unborn baby. Another one is Sara (Natalie Portman) a widow and single mother who allows Inman to come into her home. He faces starvation, extreme weather and constant brutality from the Confederate Home Guard lead by Teague (Ray Winstone).

Another viewpoint of this movie is from Ada's. She gets aided from a young woman named Ruby Thewes (Renee Zellweger) who is strong willed and does everything she can to help Ada, her farm at the Black Cove survive the worsening condition of the that war the war has created in the south.

Cold Mountain is a movie that starts off rather slow. But it keeps gaining and gaining and gaining. And then we are at the end and we feel very happy with the outcome. It's story is good because it is so different. No civil war film has touched on this subject. This hasn't really got any attention. That element also makes it rather intriguing to me.

All the performance were great. Zellweger's especially. She plays a woman who is rough around the edges, but is very likeable. She somehow keeps her charisma with the way she shows her. She doesn't make her mean. She instead gives us this strong character, who has a it of a back story, who isn't afraid to get dirty, and just keeps pluging away. Zellweger is a great actress. And this could have been the best performance of her career.

Cold Mountain is a movie that brings great performances. It brings a level of intensity. It shows a rare level of beauty during the Civil war time with a host of great and interesting supporting characters. The story is nice, but you will leave happy because of the beauty it brings.

[The Rodent]

Just catching up on your reviews.
Agree with most of your ratings but I'd have Transformers and Spielberg's War Of The Worlds a lot lot lower than 3/4 stars.

Nice reviews though matey.

[Flimmaker1473]

^ Really? Not even War of the worlds. I think Transformers overall just was a fun movie. And war of the worlds captured classic Spielberg.

[The Rodent]

It's a remake of a movie that's already massively removed from the source material.
Spielberg's War Of The Worlds is so far removed from the book it really isn't worthy of the title.

It's simply just an alien invasion movie... and not a very good one at that.

[Flimmaker1473]

About Schmidt: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://www.soliloblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Jack-Nicholson-as-Warren-R.-Schmidt-in-About-Schmidt-2.jpg

About Schmidt brings two different types of talents together. Alexander Payne a great director and writer, and Jack Nicholson who is one of the best actors ever. Together they tell a story of a man who is without qualities and somehow make it out to be a rather charming film. And it is very charming.

Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is just retiring from his position as an actuary with an insurance company in Omaha Nebraska. Warren is given an impersonal farewell dinner. Warren is finding it hard to adjust to his new life of retirement. He is beginning to feel useless. Then he spots on ad in the newspaper about sponsoring a kid from an African nation called Plan USA. He decides to do it and gets paired with a kid named Ndugu Umbo who is from Tanzania. Warren relates his life to this boy through letters.

Warren pays a visit to his old office to see his younger successor and offers ti help him. But he turns him down. As he is leaving he sees his old belongings out and waiting for the garbage collectors. Later after he describes his alienation from his wife of 42 years, she suddenly dies of a blood clot in her brain. Just after his retirement and buying a rv. Family and friends come to console Warren including his daughter Jeannie (Hope Davis). They have a memorial service. After that Jeannie berates Warren for never fully treating her mom with quality things after she points out that he bought her a cheap casket. Warren asks her to move i with him for a while to take are of him, but she refuses as she is going to prepare for her wedding to Randall (Dermot Mulroney). Randall tries to convince Warren to get into a Pyramid scheme.

Warren decides to drive the r.v to Denver. First he wants to go out early to go and see Jeannie. But she tells hm to just come when he is supposed to. He then embarks on a journey looking at sites and meeting a few people. He even kisses a man's wife. After this adventure he has, he comes to stay at Randall's mother's home. Her name is Roberta (Kathy Bates). She is nice, but very redneckish woman. She welcomes Warren into her home. After a few things it has been pretty clear that Warren doesn't feel that Randall who sells water beds for a living, it suited to marry his daughter. And that becomes the big issue. That was the reason he went on his trip he wanted to come and convince her not to marry him.

About Schmidt is a movie about someone who is so emotionally detached and is baffled by others emotions. It is about an old man who is somewhat lost over a series of events. Someone who is just trying to make sense of life. He lacks happiness. He is lonely now that his wife is gone. He has been lonely for longer than that however. He is angry too. And we get to see all these different emotions played out on screen.

Jack Nicholson shows once again why he is a legend, such a gifted actor. He plays a man who is completely different from his in every way, and yet makes it extremely convincing. He transforms himself into the role again. It isn't like he acts. He makes himself feel the same way this man feels. Think the same way that this man thinks. He embodies this whole man's issues. Another actor might have made Warren seem too pathetic or too sad. Nicholson does this balancing act and makes us get interesting in Warren.

Alexander Payne movies are all filled with rich characters with some sort of dilemma. And they are are dilemmas that are actual dilemmas. Things that everyman often face. And that is why his films are great. He has normal characters and it creates something for us to relate to. It makes it easy for the audience to feel for Warren or at least understand what he must be dealing with.

About Schmidt is a fine film. Another example of great filmmaking from Alexander Payne. Another example of great acting from Jack Nicholson. It takes a simple story and for whatever reason, just makes us care about. Because it's quality over quantity.

[TheUsualSuspect]

War of the Worlds is rubbish.

[Flimmaker1473]

Unforgiven:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://images.askmen.com/entertainment/movie/1249487872_unforgiven_1.jpg

Clint Eastwood is a natural flimmaker. His movies always seem to leave me feeling differently emotionally when it ends. No director touches emotions in a strange kind of way like Eastwood does. And the crazy thing about it is that he is also a fantastic actor. And he attracts other fantastic actors to come along. He has a story and he turns it into a masterpiece sometime. I would say Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River are masterpieces. Unforgiven is also one too. It is so griping and charging.

A group of prostitutes in Big Whiskey Wyoming, with Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher) leading the way offer a $1000 reward to whoever can kill Quick Mike (David Mucci) and Davey-Boy Bunting (Rob Campbell). Those are two cowboys who disfigured the face of Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Levine) who is a prostitute herself. This does not sit well with Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman) who is the sheriff. He was a former gunfighter and now is obsessed with keeping peace in his town. Despite the crime, he has shown leniency toward the two men.

In Kansas the Schofield kid (Jaimz Woolvett) is a young and proud man who visits the pig farm of William Munny (Clint Eastwood). He comes to him seeking to recruit him to go with him, kill the cowboys and collect the reward. Back when he was in his youth, Munny was known as a vicious, cold blooded murder who didn't care who person was and killed. And was quite good at it. Now he is a repentant widower who takes care of his two kids. At first Munny refuses as he doesn't want to go back to his old ways. But his farm is failing and he wants to be able to take care of his kids. So he accepts.

He enlists another retired gunfighter, his old partner and friend Logan (Morgan Freeman) who reluctantly leaves his wife (Cherrilene Cardinal) to go along. At first the kid doesn't want him to come along and have to split the money. But after Logano and William almost leave, he accepts it. Back in Wyoming gunfighter English Bob (Richard Harris) and his biographer W.W Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) arrive in Big Whiskey also seeking the reward. Little Bill and his deputies disarm Bob, and then Bill proceeds to beat him savagely, hoping to set an example. He sends Bob out of town and he is to never return.

Munny, Logan and the kid later arrive during a vicious storm and settle into a saloon whorehouse to go and find out the cowboys location. During the tri, Munny has gotten sick. And as he is sitting on his table Little Bill comes. He has no idea who he is, takes his gun because of his no gun policy, and beats him as well. While Logan and the kid are upstairs getting "advances" on their payments from the whores, they escape from the back window and the three later regroup at a barn just outside of town. Munny is also nursed back to health.

The thing with Unforgiven, is because of it's length it just continues to build up. It is great from start to finish no doubt. But it starts out as one kind of movie. Then becomes a different kind of movie. You see Clint Eastwood as this quiet man who wants to leave his past behind him and just take care of his kids. And later we see a glimpse of who he really is, or at least who he was as this badass, cold blooded killer. And the action also cranks up with each and every scene. You sense the seriousness of the movie ramping up.

Eastwood's performance was fantastic because of many things. He starts out playing this quiet gentle guy. Then shows how cold blooded, vicious and tough he can be. This is amazing to do all this in one movie. It could be his best performance ever. It feels so natural of him. He plays this character with so much focus and so much passion. We never see this character get off balance or off focus. He knows what he needs to do. And he is always able to do it.

Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman also provide excellent performances. Hackman is this man who thinks he is doing the right thing. But in reality he is bad, scary man who goes to far. He strikes a level of intensity in every scene that he is in. He makes sure that this character stands out all the kind. Freeman is a great supporting actor much like Hackman. He plays a true friend to Munny. He is there for him and understands him because he is the closest thing to him. Eastwood and Freeman are friends in real life, so it bleeds over.

Eastwood's direction is of course masterful. He gives this beautiful camera angels and shots. He gets the shots to be able to evoke something. He gives the movie this certain feel that is hard to describe. Being a classic Hollywood western hero himself, he knows the whole genre. He is able to create one that stands right with any classic he has been in or, or anything that John Wayne has been in. He takes a story of revenge and turns it into something that can affect us on an emotional level. And that is genius filmmaking.

These characters are all different in their own ways. One is just a boy who wants to be somebody. One is just there to help out his friend. One thinks he is doing the right thing when in reality he isn't. And one is just someone who just wants to help out his family. And they all collide somehow.

Unforgiven is not just a great western. It is a great film. It is one of Eastwood's masterpieces and is something that represents Eastwood's work the best out of all his films. It is stunning and engaging. It's a story that is something that we see in westerns. Yet it is so rich. And that is what sets Unforgiven apart from a lot of westerns.

[The Rodent]

Nice review mate. Unforgiven is a top movie.
One of only 20 movies I've rated 100%.

[cricket]

Thanks for the review of Saturday Night Fever. It's one of my favorites and I was starting to wonder if anyone else remembered it.

Unforgiven is also exceptional.

[Flimmaker1473]

Lawless:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/84/5e5530a1db11e1bcc4123138165f92/file/lawless_shia_labeouf-620x435.jpg
Lawless is one hell of a movie. I can't say I loved it. But I can't say I disliked it either. It is a movie with tons of violence. Drowned in it. And I think that movies with tons of violence are overrated. But here I like it because it is equipped with great characters and interesting subplots. So it is somewhat the best of both worlds. It celebrates violence and gives us a reason to care about the characters.

The movie begins with us seeing a kid kill a pig. Then we fast forward a bit and we see that Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy) and Howard Bondurant (Jason Clarke) are now moonshine runners during prohibition. While their younger brother Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf) watches them. They meet Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain). She is from the city and the brothers well her in. Specifically Tom Hardy.

They at first have a decent relationship with law enforcement. Then Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) comes giving new demands to the brothers. Forrest does not like this and declines to work with them. And this upsets Charlie. This is the start of what would become a war and the violence really ramps up after this. At first we get to see some violence early when someone pulls a knife on Jack trying to steal from him. Then Forrest comes in and punches the man in the throat. So that right there shows what the movie is going to be about.

And later we see Charlie brutally beat Jack. And I mean brutally A bunch of gun slinging goes on too as you might have expect. Jack is a character who after getting beat up by Charlie starts to resort to violence. While his older brother Forrest seems to be against it. Forrest is a tough man and the most interesting character of the movie. He should have died at least twice and brutally. But survived. And there is a love story going on between him and Maggie.

Lawless is filled with violence nearly for violence sake. And I must say it looks cool. The characters are all for the most part brutal. Nearly everyone in it is capable of killing someone by the looks of it. I would compare this money a bit to Public Enemies. Why it is cool because we get to see well developed characters who all make us care about them in a way. And that is what makes it a good movie.

The film is filled with performance. This might be the best performance of Shia LaBeouf's career. He does great as Jack. He gives him this "too much fire in the belly" persona. Guy Pearce's performance as also great. He makes Charlie this evil down right despicable guy. Someone who is just awful. He does a greta job playing the bad guy. But Tom Hardy's performance was the best. It is because it was so subtle. He once again shows how great a character actor he is. He becomes another character so convincingly well. Gets the sound and attitude down pat.

Lawless is also interesting because it is based on a true story. It's filled with so much violence. Yet it is rather pleasing. It is interesting enough to keep you focused on it through the whole movie. That is what makes this movie cool.

[Flimmaker1473]

Home of the Giants:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/homeofthegiants.gif

How did this movie get swept under the rug? And why was this movie swept under the rug? In a world where a good teen thriller is hard to find we ignore this one? It is a real shame. Home of the Giants is a quality coming to age thriller with quality actors. One we all know very well. And two we know from the Disney Channel. It seems like a movie that could have been a Disney original movie. But it breaks away from that and becomes very quality entertainment.

Based in Riverton Indiana, Robert Gartland (Haley Joel Osment) is a huge basketball fan and a writer for the school paper. His best friend Matt Morrison (Ryan Merriman) is the star player for the Riverton Giants. There is a girl that Robert likes. Her name is Bridgette Bachman (Danielle Panabaker). He wants to talk to her. But like every regular high school boy, lacks the confidence to do just that.

Matt's older brother Keith (Kenneth Mitchell) is just released from jail. He isn't very welcomed by his father. But Matt loves him and looks up to him very much. Keith convinces Matt to help him out with a "job" that he has to do. Then Matt convinces Robert to come along. At first Keith doesn't like this. But after proving himself by getting into a bar and drinking a beer Robert is in as the getaway driver. The job is to go and steal from a small time drug dealer. Things don't go all according to plan.

What happens is that the drug dealer knows who Matt and Robert are. And now he is out to get Matt. Matt starts to have to watch his back and starts to get really paranoid. During this Robert starts talking to Bridgette more and more as he starts to woo her a bit. Things start to amp up a little bit now as the drug dealer follows Robert and Matt. He threatens to cut Matt's hands off if he plays in the basketball game coming up. And that is a big game for him.

This movie is smart because they have created teens who act like teens would if they were in this same situation. They reason like teens too. It is nice to see a movie about teens who act like they are actually teens. The plot is pretty solid. These guys get into a situation and get way in over their heads. That is something that happens to all of us. And that is part of what makes the movie work. Nothing out of the ordinary happens. It is very logical.

This may have been the first time I have seen Haley Joel Osment not as a young kid. He is just as good as when he was a child actor. He gives off this vulnerability and realism that only a few actors can do. And has charisma to go with it as well. It is great to see Osment in a role like this. He can for sure do work in thrillers. He can really do anything.

Home of the Giants is solid entertainment. It doesn't let up until the end and has a surprise twist.

[Flimmaker1473]

Kill Bill Volume One:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.buncee.com/files/uploads/image/kill-bill1.jpg
Quentin Tarantino is the king of creating these weird worlds and at the same time can make them plausible and very entertaining. Kill Bill is both. And it exploits Tarantino's love of violence. Blood is everyone in this flick. But not without reason. And it is done beautifully. It makes violence seem like an art. Tarantino's talent is with dialogue and the way he is able to shoot a scene. And that is evident several times in this movie.

The film opens with the proverb "Revenge is a dish best served cold". So we know right off the bat what this movie is about: revenge. We see a pregnant woman known as "The Bride" (Uma Thurman) she lies badly wounded in her wedding dress. She is telling Bill (David Carradine) who is out of sight that she is carrying his baby. He then proceeds to shoot her in the head. She miraculously survives the shot to the head. But she was in comatose for four years.

The Bride wants revenge. And the Bride's second revenge killing is sown a while after her recovery. She is able to locate Vernita Green (Vicia A. Fox) at her home and then fights her in an epic fight. But then her daughter shows up so they calm down. It is revealed that both women are former members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, elite assassins under the employ of Bill. Bill and the Deadly Vipers had attacked The Bride and her wedding. While in the kitchen both women start to fight again, this time The Bride kills Vernita.

We get to go back to her coma and see that another member of the deadly vipers a one eyed woman named Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) enters and plans to inject something in The Bride's I.V that would kill her. She is about to do this, then she receives a phone call. It is from Bill who instructs her not to kill her in her sleep as they "don't want to go down to that level". She leaves her be. Later we see a hospital worker named Buck (Michael Bowen) has been been raping her in her comatose state. He has also allowed people to do the same. When someone is doing this, she is awake and bites his tongue. She then later kills Buck, steals his clothes, and leaves to go seek revenge.

Kill Bill Volume One is the ultimate revenge movie. Period. It shows a woman who has some serious enemies and has been subjected to some very bad things. She is angry and is ready to get her revenge. And we see it in her eyes. We hear it in her voice. We say to ourselves may God have mercy on those souls. Because she is determined. And Tarantino's writing shows that the best. He gives us a reason to care about her. And we do care about her.

Camera angle are wonderful. It is really an arthouse film. The fight scenes love beautiful. See Uma Thurman having to fight about twenty people all at once. Imagine the choreographing it took to do all that? Every second looks incredible. Every fight scene looks very real. The blood works because it isn't over done. There isn't any senseless blood. The blood makes sense. Tarantino pairs up his vision as a writer and his vision as a director up and is able to make something that is a great piece of filmmaking.

Uma Thurman is who Tarantino called his muse. Her performance is great because of how subtle she is. How focused she is. Her character doesn't get distracted. She is solely focusing on killing. Solely focused on getting her revenge. She never loses sight of that. Thurman is pretty enough to give The Bride natural charisma. And at the same time she looks tough enough for us not question a woman like this is capable of doing the things that she does.

Tarantino in all of his films shows us something that deals with violence. Each different. And at the same time after all these movies we leave in awe of what we just saw. His movies don't really have lesson. They just are. And that is why they are art.

[Flimmaker1473]

Awakenings:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://chasingcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/temps.jpg

Awakenings is based on a true story. And the story is one that is filled hope and tragic things. No one dies in the normal sense. But, at the same time they are dead in a different sense. Being catatonic is something that must be awful. You are stuck in this one state and there seems to be no where to get out of it.

In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated and caring physician at a local hospital in the New York City borough of The Bronx. After working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball thrown at them, hearing familiar music, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by using a Ouija board.

After attending a lecture at a conference on the subject of the L-Dopa drug and its success with patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Sayer believes the drug may offer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. A trial run with Leonard Lowe yields astounding results as Leonard completely "awakens" from his catatonic state; this success inspires Sayer to ask for funding from donors so that all the catatonic patients can receive the L-Dopa medication and experience "awakenings" back to reality.

Meanwhile, Leonard is adjusting to his new life and becomes romantically interested in Paula (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of another hospital patient and begins spending time with her when she comes to the hospital to visit her father. Leonard also begins to chafe at the restrictions placed upon him as a patient of the hospital, desiring the freedom to come and go as he pleases and stirs up a bit of a revolt in the process of arguing his case repeatedly to Sayer and the hospital administration. Sayer notices that as Leonard grows more agitated battling administrators and staff about his perceived confinement, a number of facial and body tics are starting to manifest and Leonard has difficulty controlling them.



Awakenings is a movie that serves the actual story it uses well. It doesn't carried away with normal holiday things. The actors don't act too flashly. Instead we are given this story and that is it. And it is cool because we are intrigued by the whole subject. We get to see people who have been catatonic for a long time suddenly be able to be able to move, talk and eat by themselves again. It must be depressing at first. But then you get to see people who are just truly happy to be alive. And we don't see that must often.


Robin Williams and Robert De Niro hold the movie together on their performance. Williams by being able to play it straight. He plays a doctor who doesn't allow himself to live his life. Someone who is just devoted to his work. But he does so much good and cares about his customers. De Niro is able to play someone convincingly who is talking, walking, and eating for the first time in years. De Niro just added to his legacy with this movie. He can play just about anything. And he just is able to make it feel real. And that is his job.


People do take for granted living. It is a hell of a thing. Being able to breathe, eat, walk, talk, and write. Awakenings shows someone who after not being able to do all this just wanted the chance to. And someone who has the chance to do this isn't doing this. In a way Leonard changes Dr.Sayer. He makes him see all this. He gives him his awakening.


This movie makes me appreciate life more now. It allowed me to see what it is like to not be living at all. It was my awakening I guess.

[Flimmaker1473]

Kill Bill Volume Two:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nHgOvAem_fE/T5bDQ1kOZQI/AAAAAAAACjE/0fDOOmLMMhk/s1600/killbill2.jpg

Kill Bill Volume Two picks right up where Kill Bill Volume One ends. In a flashback, the Bride (Uma Thurman) — visibly pregnant — and her groom (Chris Nelson) rehearse their wedding. Bill (David Carradine), her former lover and the leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, arrives unexpectedly and wishes her well, and it is revealed that the Bride had retired from assassination and left Bill in order to give a better life to her unborn daughter. Moments later, the other assassination squad members arrive and attack the wedding rehearsal on Bill's orders.

In the present, Bill warns his brother Budd (Michael Madsen), a former Deadly Viper and now a bouncer, that he will be targeted next. The Bride arrives at his trailer and bursts through the door, expecting to ambush him, but Budd is expecting her, shooting her in the chest with a double-barreled shotgun blast of rock salt, then sedates her. Budd calls Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), another former Deadly Viper, offering to sell her the Bride's Hanzō sword for a million dollars cash. He then seals the Bride inside a coffin and buries her alive.

A flashback shows Bill taking the Bride to be trained by legendary martial arts master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). She eventually gains his respect and learns a number of techniques, including the art of punching through thick planks of wood from inches away, and a technique, taught to nobody else, of killing using apparently non-lethal touches to pressure points. She uses the former skill to break out of the coffin and claws her way to the surface.

Elle arrives at Budd's trailer for their transaction but has hidden a lethal black mamba with her money, which kills him. She then tells Bill (by phone) that the Bride has killed Budd by putting a black mamba (the deadly viper that was the Bride's assassination squad code name) in his trailer, and that Elle has killed the Bride. As she exits the trailer, she is ambushed by the Bride, who had arrived there soon after Elle. In the middle of an all-out battle in the trailer, Elle taunts the Bride with the news that Elle had poisoned Pai Mei in revenge for his snatching out her eye when she called him a 'miserable old fool'. The Bride then plucks out Elle's remaining eye and leaves her screaming and thrashing about in the trailer with the black mamba.

The Bride travels to Mexico to query an elderly gentlemen about Bill's whereabouts. The man, who is the proprietor of a brothel, was purportedly a father figure to a younger Bill. Regardless, the man divulges Bill's location.

After finding Bill deep in the Mexican countryside, the Bride is shocked to find her now-four-year-old daughter B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine) alive and well.


Kill Bill Volume Two like the first one is a movie with much action (though not as much as the first one) slick dialogue, and everything is just really cool. Tarantino uses what made the first film so successful. He somehow is able to transfer the whole story like we never stopped watching. Some might me mad it has less action. But true movie fans will love how satisfying the ending is.


Uma Thurman once again is one of the principal keys to this movie. Her performance is angery, yet cool. She is ready for revenge, yet is even somewhat zen. She continued to keep her focus and that is what made her character work. We believe she knows martial arts that well. We believe that she is wants revenge. We believe that she is capable of killing. And we don't want to mess with her.


The thing about Kill Bill Volume Two is that is celebrates martial arts. It jokes around with, plays with it, exploits it, and just goes crazy with it. These movies are really just one whole movie. We just get it split into two parts. And the second part wonderfully completes it and we get one excellent whole movie.


Quentin Tarantino makes movies that are so interesting to watch. So stunning, and filled with art. His movies are just too hard to ignore. And these films prove it once again. No wonder the Kill Bill movies are his most commercially popular movies.

[Flimmaker1473]

Sin City:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png

http://www.stockphotoguides.com/files/images/sin_city.jpg

Robert Rodriguez was excited back in 2005 to get to work with some new technology to work on a movie called Sin City. Frank Miller's Sin City to be precise. It is a graphic novel and Rodriguez wanted to bring to life. But only the proper way. And he does. Sin City is a beautifully made film that looks just like a comic book. It's characters feel like they have just came out of a comic book. It is a film like no other pulp noir film out there.

The film is split into three parts. The first part shows The salesman (Josh Hartnett) walking onto a balcony over Basin City. He later then kills The Customer (Marley Shelton) after a passionate kiss with a gun that has a silencer. He says he’ll never know what she was running from but that he’ll cash her check in the morning. See this sets the tone for the movie perfectly. We get this beautiful scenery with a bloody conclusion. And that is the movie in a nutshell in a way.

Then we have soon to retire police officer John Hartigan (Bruce Willis). He attempts to stop serial child killer Roark Junior (Nick Sthal) from raping eleven year old Nancy Callahan (Makenzie Vega). Junior is the son of senator Roark (Powers Boothe) who bribes the police to cover up his sons crimes. He saves Nancy by shooting Roark in many different places. But gets shot by his partner Bob (Michael Madsens) who he had knocked out earlier. He ends up going into a hospital.

Another story is after a one night stand Marv (Mickey Rourke) awakens to find Goldie (Jamie King) standing in front of him. She says that she wants him. Just by looking at him you can tell he doesn't get this option handed to him by a hot girl for free so he takes it. But the next morning she is laying dead next to him as the police are on their way. He was set up. And after an awesome scene of him fighting off the police he goes to find out who killed Goldie.

Another story is Shellie (Brittany Murphy) a waitress who is being harassed by her ex boyfriend Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Her current boyfriend Dwight (Clive Owen) violently warns him to leave her alone. Jackie Boy flees and leaves for Old Town and Dwight follows him. Old Town is a place where the police are not the law. But the prostitutes who run the town are. Like Gail (Rosario Dawson) who is apparently Dwight's ex. And young girls like Becky (Alex Bledel).

We even go back to Hartigan. He has to serve eight years in jail and is convicted for raping Nancy and shooting Roark. Nancy is forever grateful. After getting out he traces Nancy down knowing that she is in danger. She has grown up quite a bit and finds out that she is now a stripper (Jessica Alba).

So imaginative and creative. Sin City is so engaging and rich to watch. We get to watch this graphic novel unravel through our eyes. Rodriguez works with Frank Miller to get his true vision across on the screen. I don't know how they did it. But they did it. And they did it so well. The animation and the graphics fit in so well. The action works so well. The camera angles exploit all these qualities that happen. It is innovative filmmaking in a way. We get sucked into these stories and because the narrative is so good and it looks so good that we can't look away.

Quentin Tarantino guest directed one day and was able to even put his touch into the picture. And it feels a tiny bit like him. Him being a good friend of Rodriguez's. What is able to happen here is that the technology is taken and it doesn't look fake. It just looks like another world. Not many people can do that. It is an extraordinary thing that happens here. Each piece of film is done to the best detail. Each scene looks and fits in perfectly.

When Rodriguez directed Spy Kids, I knew he was on the doing bigger and better things in genres that have been limited. Spy Kids was a great film because it was so different from all the other kid films out there. It made adults care about it. With Sin City he transcends the neo noir genre. Somewhat like how Tarantino transcended the martial arts film genre with his Kill Bill movies. Here he uses his art and puts a setting out there like no other. So once we see it we are in a bit of shock. He puts out something that isn't singular and focuses on one thing. But has several different plots. All of which we care about.

Sin City is a visualization of neo noir imagination coming to fruition. It is uncompromising, mesmerizing, distinct, explosion and extreme. And it very brilliant. It's boldness and beauty both go together so well. It takes something and turns into something that is so different.

Rodriguez is making a Sin City two. I can't wait. I just hope it it is half the film Sin City is. That would be good enough for me. Because this one is a hard one to follow.

[Flimmaker1473]

Rushmore:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://omahype.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/site_28_rand_57810547_rushmore_pub_6271.jpg
Rushmore is Wes Anderson's second film. Bottle Rocket was good. Rushmore was great. Bottle Rocket was pretty much all comedy. Rushmore is structured like a comedy. But it has darker tones. It is almost a black comedy I guess. It is a movie with characters feel very unique. Yet feel as if they are real people. This is really where Anderson got into his groove of how his characters are. It is rather apparent here and it is how he made his way to his masterpiece Moonrise Kingdom.

Rushmore is a private school that a 15 year old boy named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman). He is an eccentric and somewhat ambitious student. He has a full scholarship at Rushmore. He doesn't really care about his classes and his grades. Where he excels and has his fun in in extracurricular activities. He is the head of many clubs (I think it is like 12 or something like that) and that makes his grades suffer so much that the head master Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox) tells him that if he fails one more class that he is out.

After seeing Herman Blume (Bill Murray) give a speech about how if your not rich that you should basically beat up the rich kids, Max is intrigued by him and they become friends. Herman even offers Max a job. But Max declines out of pride. He says his dad Bert Fischer (Seymour Cassel) is a surgeon. When in fact he is actually a widower barber. His wife/ Max's dad died of cancer.

Max is also smitted by his chapel partner's mother Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). They become friends too. But Max wants to be more than friends. And Rosemary obviously wants none of it. This seems to distract Max even more. He has a girl that clearly wants to be with him. But he is so focused on Rosemary that he ignores her. His grades begin to be so bad, he starts to rebel a little bit with his clubs and does get kicked out of Rushmore.

Rushmore is a movie that has a lot of things that are easy to imagine and relate to. Who hasn't liked a girl when they were young that they absolutely had no chance to? This makes us feel for Max. He likes this girl because she is matured mentally and physically. She is also interesting. Clearly different from the other girls. But there is no way that he could have her. It would obviously not be right. And that kills Max. He just doesn't understand.

Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson write a script with such distinct writing. The characters are so well thought out. The dialogue is rich. It is a magnificent script. They use the characters quirks to their advantage and are able to create this humanity and humility about them. Makes us feel about the characters and are interested in these characters too. They are shown as people who are have something bigger going on than we thing.

The set off is a little weird. I went in thinking it is a comedy. But it really isn't. I mean there are funny moments. But It is dark comedy if anything. They are darker tones. They are serious moments. And there are serious acting. Jason Schwartzman is serious the whole time as Max. He doesn't make him goofy. His eccentric behavior is more intriguing rather than funny. He is just a great character to watch. He remains focused the whole time. And Bill Murray adds a great element to the movie. Playing a man who lives a certain life. But is clearly not happy with it. He plays this problematic characters better than anyone.

Moonrise Kingdom was the first Wes Anderson film I watched. It was great. Now seeing how he got to that point is great. Anderson has set up a world 15 years ago and we are still watching this world today. Rushmore is a quality teen movie. Anderson doesn't use vulgarity. He uses quality storytelling. And how many people do that these days?

[Flimmaker1473]

Face/Off:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.mbpgsu.ca/mbpblog/files/2010/06/face_off_cap_311.jpg
Face/Off starts with FBI special agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) on a merry go round with his young son Michael. Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage) is hiding in the bushes and shoots his gun off planning to kill Sean. But instead he kills Michael. This starts a personal vendetta against Castor for Sean. Six years later Sean learns that Castor's brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) is making arrangements for a private jet. He then sets a trap to capture Castor and Pollux.

During all this, Castor is gloating about a bomb that he planted somewhere in Los Angles. But he is knocked out and goes into a coma during the firefight. Even though both Castor and Pollux are captured and the plans of the bomb are found, Sean has no idea where the bomb is located. He then agrees to go through an experimental face transplant that gives him the appearance of Castor's face. Only his immediate supervisors and Dr.Walsh know of this.

Sean then goes to a high security offshore prison to meet Pollux. He then gains his trust and confidence to find out the location of the bomb. But during all this Castor wakes up from his coma. He then discovers that Sean has had a face transplant and the rest of Sean's plan. He then has his agents force Dr. Walsh to give him a face transplant of Sean's face. Then he kills her and Sean's supervisors. So now only they know what is going on.

Castor goes to the prison. He starts to taunt Sean in revealing that he has taken over his life. This includes Sean's wife Eve (Joan Allen) and his teenage daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain). So they have now basically switched lives. As Castor frees Pollux "locates" his bomb and deactivates it, earning praise from the FBI, Archer escapes from the prison, and soon locates Castor's old hideout. There, he meets several of Castor's gang, including Castor's ex-girlfriend Sasha Hassler (Gina Gershon) and her son Adam, whom resembles Michael at that age. Though initially believing that Adam should be sent to child services, Archer finds Sasha to be a caring mother trying to raise her son in rough conditions.

Face/Off has a very unique plot. Something that I have never even thought of being possible to do. John Travolta said on inside the actors studio that it could either be brilliant or stupid and that it was brilliant. This idea in particular was rather brilliant. We are put in this situation that seems very unrealistic. And then we are starting to believe what is going on. Every step of the way as things get more weirder we starts to get more engaged.

Using two movie stars was a genius move. We get to see these two behemoths together and acting in a very theatrical way. They truly become each other's character and begin to act and use their other character's mannerism. It is really intriguing to watch this. That helps us buy into the plot of this movie. We honestly believe that these two have switches faces are really the same character that they started the movie with.

It gets more action packed as the movie goes on and focuses more on that. Maybe that is way I didn't give it an even more higher rating. But is is still a good movie with a brilliant idea. Something very unique. It is still a movie that you must watch. Not many movies make me buy a plot that is so unbelievable.

[Flimmaker1473]

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Bill-and-Teds-mv04.jpg

So when Keanu Reeves started he was a comedic actor huh? And now he is this serious actor and action star. Interesting. Personally outside of a few films, comedy seems to be his best skill. In Bill and Ted's excellent adventure we get a story of two slackers who have a crazy time travel adventure. Sounds stupid? Well maybe. But here is the thing. It is stupid as it is funny and entertaining. It precedes dumb and dumber. But it is dumb and dumber with time travel.

In 2688, humanity exists as a utopian society due to the inspiration of the music and wisdom of the Two Great Ones: Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and "Ted" Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves). Rufus (George Carlin) is tasked by the leaders to travel back to San Dimas, California of 1988 using a time machine shaped like a phone booth to ensure that the Bill and Ted, then dim-witted high school students, successfully pass a history class. Should they fail, Ted's father, police captain Logan (Hal Langdon), plans to ship Ted to a military academy in Alaska, ending Bill & Ted's fledgling band, the "Wyld Stallyns", and altering history.



Rufus finds the two teenagers struggling to finish their history paper, which tasks them to describe how three historical figures would view San Dimas of the present, trying to obtain help from customers at a local Circle K convenience store. Rufus initially has difficulty convincing the two of his help when a copy of the phone booth time machine arrives, and versions of Bill and Ted from some hours in the future step out. They are able to convince their earlier selves that Rufus can be trusted by correctly guessing the number the two were thinking of, sixty-nine. The future Bill and Ted briefly discuss their situation with Rufus before disappearing.

Rufus offers the pair a demonstration of the time machine, taking them back to 1805 where they find Napoleon Bonaparte (Terry Camilleri) leading his forces against Austria. As Rufus, Bill and Ted depart back to the present, Napoleon is thrown by a cannonball explosion into their wake, and is dragged through the time circuits to the present. Rufus takes a moment to explain that time will continue to progress normally for Bill and Ted and they cannot miss their class presentation the next day, and then departs, leaving the empty time machine for the two. As Bill and Ted discuss where to go next, they discover Napoleon stuck in a nearby tree. This gives them the idea of kidnapping historical figures as to bring them to the present to complete their report. They leave Napoleon with Ted's younger brother Deacon (Frazier Bain) before travelling.

The two are able to successfully befriend Billy the Kid (Dan Shor) from 1879 and Socrates (Tony Steedman) from 410 B.C. (whom they refer to as "So-crates" (English pronunciation: /ˈsoʊkreɪts/)), before stopping in 15th century England, where they become infatuated with Princesses Elizabeth (Kimberley Kates) and Joanna (Diane Franklin). This leads to them getting in trouble with their father the King, but Billy and Socrates rescue the pair, and they escape, though the booth is partially damaged on their departure. They end up in the far future, discovering the society based on their influence, and are inspired to complete their report with "extra credit" by kidnapping additional historical figures: Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis) from 1901, Ludwig van Beethoven (Clifford David) 1809, Genghis Khan (Al Leong) from 1209, Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin) from 1429, and Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron) from 1863. After a brief stop in prehistoric times to repair the booth, Bill and Ted program the machine to return to the present, but end up outside the Circle K on the night before, where Rufus was introducing himself to them. Bill and Ted convince their earlier selves of Rufus' trustworthiness, and then are reminded by Rufus of how to get to the next day.


Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure works because of the enthusiastic writing and the enthusiasm of the lead actors. With other actors it may have not worked. It may have seem too goofy. It would have been too stupid. Here we have two dumb, but loveable characters who make us care not only care about them and their mission. But also not care about the lack of realism.



Can Keanu Reeves act? Well in this he can. He is funny and walks that fine line of goofy and walks it very well. He and Winters have amazing chemistry. It was dare I saw excellent casting to have these two as the lead actors. With their charisma that they both added, it makes the film go to another level.



The humor and color in Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure makes it stand out. The actors too. It is funny, stupid and extreme. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Freshman:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DnPwaEn8aGE/S9zn9er85rI/AAAAAAAAJZ8/H7IleOB_Cz8/s400/freshman.jpg

There are few movies with a running gag that can really work. Most make us go what? Why? In the case if The Freshman it works really due to what the running gag is and who is acting it. Legendary actor the late Marlon Brando who is playing a character that he has played before made it so famous. Only the character has a different name and a different setting. A

Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) is embarking to go to New York University to study film. He leaves behind his mother (Pamela Payton Wright) and his environmental activist step father Dwight (Kenneth Walsh). While wandering around lost in Grand Central Terminal he is approached by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby). He at first offers to carry Clark's bags. Then he offers to give Clark a ride to school in his car. As soon as Clark steps out of the car, Victor drives off with his luggage.

Clark informs his professor, Professor Fleeber (Paul Benedict) who uses his book about losing books he wrote as a required study. Clark then notices Victor out of the window and gets out of the window to go after him. After Victor tries to put him off with an accent after he confronts him, Victor brings Clark to the roof of his apartment where he reveals that he bet and lost his money on a horse and he isn't quite sure it was a horse. This makes Clark angry. But Victor offers him a job.

The next day Clark goes to the address that Victor sent him to. He walks in and sees Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando) who bears a striking resemble to the Godfather Vito Corleone. This sets up the running gag when Clark first says that he looks like him. Carmine offers Clark a job "that he can't refuse". At least $1000 a week $500 a job. So Clark accepts. He goes to Carmine's home and meets his daughter Tina (Penelope Ann Miller) who gives him the keys to a car.

He then takes his college roommate Steve Bushak (Frank Whaley) with him to help. They go to JFK airport to pick up a Komodo Dragon. After a few hijinks they take it to Larry London (Maximilian Schell) and his assistant Edward (B.D Wong) who have a host of exotic animals. After calling his mother and telling her about this, his step father eavesdrops on the phone call and calls two government officials from the Department of Justice to come in. Clark then finds out after a kiss from Carmine that he in for life. And he is to wed Tina. And then the government officials approach him telling him that those animals that are for the gourmet club. That they will be eaten for his prices. He either becomes an informant or goes to jail for two years.

The Freshman is such a clever story. It could have easily been a one note movie. But instead became something that felt original and was entertaining from start to finish. It makes us engaged in this story and we see it more than a running gag. There is a plot and it works. The writing in a big part of this. The dialogue was so good and rich. If the dialogue didn't work that would have significantly hurt the movie. But instead it helps it a ton.

Also what helps are the performances. Matthew Broderick is charming as the star and narrator. He plays a honest young man and acts like an honest young man. Helps us watch someone who only has good intentions get swept up into something that he didn't want any business in. Broderick is a stage actor and he shows his skills here. He is always able to make himself the prime focus in almost every scene he is in. His performance was effortless.

Marlon Brando as the only one who could steal a scene away from Broderick. Brando's performance was splendid for many reasons. It gives us the nostalgia about the Godfather. It makes us laugh because we are envisioning how the Godfather in all these situations. And the genius here is that Brando plays it straight which makes it work even more. Brando was the greatest actor of all time. He was just a natural actor. This film added to his legacy showing just how rare a talent he was.

The Freshman benefits from a talented cast and a clever story. It's humor is somewhat subtle at times. And that adds to it. It is a crime film with comedic undertones. And that is why it works.

[Flimmaker1473]

Drugstore Cowboy:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://screenday.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/drugstore-cowboy-dillon.jpg

Drug addiction is a pretty serious issue. Something that is hard to get over. Something that while your in every seems to make sense. Yet everything seems harder. Perhaps it is also running into the law that makes it harder. Now imagine being someone who breaks into pharmacies. A Drugstore Cowboy. That is what the title of this film is. And that is what it is about. Drugstore Cowboy is a great film that takes something that happens that isn't talked about and turns it into something so intriguing to watch.

Bob (Matt Dillon) is a Drugstore Cowboy. He has a crew. It includes his girlfriend Diane (Kelly Lynch), his friend Rick (James LeGros) and his girlfriend a young lady named Nadine (Heather Graham). They are all young for the most part as Bob is 22. They go and steal from pharmacies and hospitals and do drugs. They travel across the Pacific Northwest to support their habit. Dope is their drug of choice. They shoot up with needles of course. They use other drugs like morphine. Being a drug addict is a way of life. And they sure as hell live that way of life to the fullest they possibly can. They all have each other. Yet they really live in isolation. Even when people come in to purchase drugs, they reluctantly come in and are rudely sent away.

This of course makes them have issues with the law. One night at their home police officers come and tear their home apart for drugs. Bob has had run ins with the law and has been in jail for felonies. His life is the example of someone who decided to go for the burnout scene. His mother (Grace Zabriskie) is clearly disappointed with the way her son and his girlfriend has turned out to be. In this situation they are the perfect couple. They both like what they do and support each in it. Both have these weird superstitions. Like not to mention dogs and not to have hats around.

After getting a cop shot when he realizes that he is being watched at a new residence, one of the same cops who was at his old home when he was raided and clearly knows him well advises him to leave town forcefully. They do leave town and they get a truck and stay at a motel. They even rob a pharmacy their first night. Nadine was loud and a bit slow and this upsets Bob. Which upsets Nadine. They score a big amount of drugs including basically powdered dope. After going to rob a hospital goes really wrong the next morning Nadine is found dead with a hat on her bed. She had ODed.

Everyone is a bit shocked by this and taken aback. This clearly bothers Bob the most. Though he tries to hide it. To make matters worse he has to check out of the motel as a Sheriff convention is coming in. Bob fears that he is going to go back to prison. They barely make it out as they put Nadine's body in a big blue bag after keeping her inside the attic of the motel. Bob decides that he wants out. That he wants to get clean and he is tired of his life. Diane doesn't want to go with him. So after burying Nadine's body, they all go their separate ways. Bob goes back home and joins and 21 day methadone program and even gets a job. But he has a tough time adjusting back to life without drugs.

Drugstore Cowboy is a great movie about great character study and character development. It starts out with this drug addict who is also a theft who doesn't want to give up his life. And ends up with someone who realizes that he can't live his life like this anymore. Some who has a great awakening after seeing someone was close to them die. The character development is so realistic. It is not a magical transformation. It just makes sense.

Matt Dillon was the only actor that I could see for this role. He has enough of a street look to pull it off. Yet he has the vulnerability to also make us see another side of this character. The movie falls completely on Dillon's performance. And he more than excels in his performance. It amazes me that he didn't receive an academy award nomination. If you have one and only one reason alone to watch this movie it is to watch and see what great acting truly is. Because Dillon exhibits this every time he is on screen. He shows Bob's flaws and what he is all about. Yet he makes us care about him. That is hard to do. Not once do we want to dislike him. Dillon's natural charisma comes through.

What is unique about this film is the shots and some things that were shown. The film was filmed beautifully on a small budget at that. With the shots provided we get a real sense of certain scenes. We get a real sense of some of these characters. These characters represent people who are real and actually do these things. It is sad. But it is true. And that is what makes this film art. It uses that as it's base and sets off to go to greater lengths. It doesn't let it's somewhat modest story hold it at one point. It goes past it.

This movie has kind of gotten more popular now. Because we now see how great it is. It has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes who an excellent reason. It is tragic, revealing, and so engaging. Every second of it. We at the end feel like we have an better understanding who people who are addicted to drugs and want to talk about it. This is a movie that should be shown in health classes to show what road some people go down when they do drugs. That's how close it gets.

[Flimmaker1473]

Crimson Tide:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
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There is an early scene in Crimson Tide where Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington) were discussing horses. It was short. But it interesting. It kind of seemed like something with an easy going tone you know? Something that wasn't to serious. But in reality had this serious undertone. That sets up the whole movie.

Lieutenant Commander Hunter is just starting out. He seems smart enough and capable of achieving success as a high ranking officer and one of the few commanders in the Navy left with any actual fighting experience. Captain Ramsey has been in the military for a while. Being a submariner all his life he has taken personal hits for it. His wife has left him and all he seems to care about other than submarines is his dog. These two are paired together on a patrol mission. The submarine that is being used is called the USS Alabama. It is to be available for a preemptive strike.

Early on it gets rather apparent that Hunter and Ramsey have tension developing between them. Hunter prefers to think things through. He is more calculated about things and wants to be absolutely sure about something before he does it. Ramsey on the other hand is very impulsive. He sees something he wants to strike. Figuratively and literally. They both slowly start to show each other just how different their approaches are from each other.

The Alabama eventually receives an Emergency Action Message from the National Command Authority. They are ordering a launch of ten of it's SLBM missiles on the Russian nuclear installation. This is because based on satellite information that the Russians' missiles are being fueled. Before the Alabama can launch, a second message arrives but is cut off by the attack of a Russian submarine friendly to Radchenko. The radio is damaged in the attack and is unable to decode the second message. With the last confirmed order being to launch, Captain Ramsey decides to proceed with the launch. Hunter refuses to concur as is procedurally required to launch, because he believes the partial second message may be a retraction. Hunter argues that the Alabama is not the only American submarine in the area, and if the order was not retracted, other submarines will launch their missiles. Ramsey argues that attack submarines may have destroyed any other American submarines and that they can't rely on someone else to carry out the order for them.

Crimson Tide is such a smart film. The writing is so well done. We get to be right smack dab in these extraordinary situations like these people were put into in this movie. We get to see morals in question. We get to see what someone may see right and what someone may see is wrong. An it is an action film without useless violence. That is a strength of the movie in my opinion. It doesn't go for tons of violence. Instead it uses tension to get it's point across.

Denzel Washington's and Gene Hackman's performances were great as usual. Both actors are have something to give in their performances. Washington gives Hunter this regular guy feel. He makes him seem like one of us. Only pushed into an impossible situation. One that he has to make a choice that could be right or wrong. Hackman makes a character who seems like a jerk, a character that we can feel for. Also a character that has dignity and power. It is simply another display of both of these actors talents.

Mutiny later ensures on the ship. The Navy didn't want it to be shown a certain way. So they came up with another plot idea. And it works. The late Tony Scott uses this and creates as some Navy sailor put it "his own Navy". He masterfully employs what he wants to do, puts in the great music by Hans Zimmer, and pieces together one hell of a movie that some how is able to keep us on edge the whole way through. If it isn't his best movie it is awfully close.

Crimson Tide is a very intense movie. And a movie with morals. Not to mention thought provoking. After we finish watching we want to discuss what happened and what we would have done if we were in the same shoes. That is something many movies set out to do. But only a few achieve it. This does.

[Flimmaker1473]

Tape:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://magnoliaforever.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/tape2.png
Tape is a movie that is in real time. So how long the movie is is how long the events that happen take to actually happen. Imagine what Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman must have felt having to be stuck inside that small tiny motel for hours with cameras and a crew around them. This is a movie that is about people and their perceptions and how those perceptions their play out.

Vince (Ethan Hawke) is in his motel room drinking beer and messing around. From the start of the film we see that there is something off about this character. He just looks off. Then he receives a knock on the door. It's his old high school buddy John (Robert Sean Leonard). John and Vince have traveled for the premiere of John's new documentary.

There are a few conflicts here. John feels that Vince is wasting his potential. Vince's girlfriend has just broken up with him and that surprises Vince. He says that she told him that he has "violent tendencies". Look at him after a while that doesn't really surprise you. Vince is a volunteer fire fighter. See how much money that makes him. The way that he makes money is by selling drugs. He sells to the chief of the fire department too. He kind of just does what he wants to do and doesn't care.

They are both planning on going out to dinner. But there is a back and forth between the two. To the point where they bring up Amy (Uma Thurman). Amy is a girl from their past that they both dated. John had sex with Amy. But Vince thinks it wasn't just that. That it was something sinister. After smoking a joint they begin to talk more And Vince begins to badger John about what happened between the two of them. He thinks that John date raper her. And John admits to doing that.

Well Vince not only gets his admission on tape. But he has asked Amy to come over for dinner. Amy actually lives in the area. And Vince wants to "catch up". It is obvious that this has been hanging with him for years. He is mad at John. He wanted to have sex with Amy. But when Amy reveals that they broke up, there was so chance. But Vince is somewhat a delusional person. His character isn't 100% defined. But we get a glimpse. John is just someone who wants to put the past behind him. Amy is the same.

Tape has this human element with it that adds to it a lot. It is a very intense movie for what the setting is. Using real time was a great movie. It allowed for the tone of the movie to be more intense and have a more great meaning. Seeing these character react and their emotions. We get these real people in a pretty normal situation and a character that just does not want to let go.

Ethan Hakwe's character wasn't too defined. But he does a lot with Vince nonetheless. Vince is actually rather complex. He doesn't seem to let things go. And is in pain. Hawke allows us to feel this and understand this character as much as we can given the limited information. Robert Sean Leonard gives a great performance as well. You can kind of see where he based his character of Dr. Wilson in House M.D from. And Uma Thurman the last performer in this movie also shines.

Perception is an interesting thing. We think one thing, someone thinks another, and then there is the truth. This movie explores all this in an interesting way. It is all in one room. So everything is out in the open. Everything in this movie leaves you cold in the end. We don't get any elaborate. But instead we get something rather modest that is bigger than what it intends to be.

Tape has some very artsy camera angle. It is a really Independent film. It cost only $100,000 to make. Yet has a pretty high caliber cast. No wonder they signed on to do a movie like this. It is so rich and different.

[Flimmaker1473]

48 HRS:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwWklCIMs5k/T0Muz8Ed4PI/AAAAAAAABiY/5qpumQtBf5o/s1600/48-hrs.jpg
48 HRS is Eddie Murphy's first movie. He was paired with Nick Notle. What a hell of a first movie to have. 48 HRS is action packed. Yet it is filled with laughs. It is one very entertaining movie to watch. It is unique. It was the first buddy cop film at the time. It was a movie that was the first time people got to see how Murphy was on the big screen. And how much he really belonged there. Classic Eddie Murphy is amazing. He is funny. And he is so raw and real too. That is a big part of this movie's success. Sometimes an actor becomes a star after one movie. Their star making turn if you will. This was Eddie Murphy's.

Convicted robber Albert Ganz (James Remar) is working as part of a road gang in California, when a big Native American man named Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) drives up in a pickup truck and asks for water to cool off his truck’s overheating radiator.

Ganz and Billy exchange insults and proceed to stage a fight with each other, wrestling in a river, and when the guards try to break up the fight, Billy slips a gun to Ganz, and Billy and Ganz kill two of the three guards and flee the scene. Two days later, Ganz and Billy kill Henry Wong (John Hauk), who was one of their partners.

Later that same day Jack Cates (Nick Notle) who is a Sans Fransisco cop after having a disagreement with his girlfriend, joins his two friends and co workers Detective Algren (Johnathan Banks) and Detective VaZant (James Keane). They are at the Walden hotel to check out a man named G.P Polson who is in room 27. They are looking for the theft who stole Polsons credit cards and used one of them to check in. As Jack waits down stairs the theft turns out to be Ganz. Ganz kills VanZant and shoots Algren. Billy is attending to some the business. Jack hears the shots and rushes upstairs, where Algren tells him to go downstairs and find Ganz and Billy. Jack confronts Ganz and Billy downstairs. When Algren makes it downstairs, Ganz takes Jack's .44 revolver and uses it to kill Algren, and then Ganz and Billy escape with Jack's gun.

Jack goes back to the police station where he is issued a new gun. A fellow cop Ben Kehoe (Brion James) tells him that Ganzs former partner Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) is about to finish up the last six months of a three year sentence. Jack tells his boss Haden (Frank McRae) that he wants to work alone. But then goes to get Reggie out for 48 hours to go and find Ganz and his crew.

48 HRS is so cool and edgy. It could be my favorite Eddie Murphy movie. It has this level of edge and seriousness to it. But because of Murphy and Notle it is funny. The two make a great unlikely pair if you will. They compliment each other. Notle plays this no nonsense attitude character. Murphy plays this crook who just wants to get laid. Then when it is all said and done, they understand each other and actually get along. And work well.

Murphy's performance was great. He is funny at all the right times. He is also serious when need be. He gives this character a certain level of vulnerability that makes him genuine. There is something in his eyes that gives off this vulnerability. He makes Reggie into someone that we actually care about. Someone who is funny, cool and sympathetic. Someone who is more than meets the eye.

The writing in 48 HRS is wonderful. Everything is written with such grace and precision. That is the other part of this movie that makes it successful. Michael Esiner was worried that this movie wasn't going to funny enough. So the writers worked hard to make it right and make these character fit Notle and Murphy's personalities well. I guess it worked.

48 HRS is now 30 years old and is a classic. Murphy has went on to do many things and even win a golden globe and be nominated for an academy award. He was nominated for a golden globe for this film. It was a great first time performance. And a taste of the future. 48 HRS was a film that was one of a kind and has set the standard for buddy cop movies. Only a few has met that standard.

[The Rodent]

Loved 48 Hours. Could have been very easy to make it the typical odd couple buddy movie but they really made it well.
Definitely Murphy's best role.

[Flimmaker1473]

Grease:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0musbBRa3zc/Te24I2JiTDI/AAAAAAAAaPk/wNCWsdr3_nE/s1600/Grease-27.jpg
Grease is a movie that celebrates the nostalgia of the 19050s. It uses the style, it's up beat nature and the setting for it's movie. But there is something about Grease that is apparent. It isn't anything special. It is a good film don't get me wrong. But isn't great. In fact High School Musical (a t.v movie that is basically my generation's Grease) has a much better plot. Grease is still a musical that is generic and plastic.

The film is about two high schoolers Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton John). Sandy is vacation from Australia. As you can expect they have a nice summer fling. Filled with "summer loving". But this clearly has to come to an end as summer ends. Sandy is a normal girl for the most part. So she has the normal feelings of never seeing her "summer love" again. But Danny reassures her that their love is "only the beginning".

Danny returns back to school. He has friends are the T- Birds. They are all greasers (term sound familiar any). Their names are Kenickie (Jeff Conaway), Doddy (Barry Pearl), Sonny (Michael Tucci), and Putize (Kelly Ward). There is also a group of girls named the "Pink Ladies". That group consist of Betty Rizzo (Stockward Channing), Frenchy (Didi Conn), Jan and Marty (Jamie Donnelly and Dianh Manoff).

Now Sandy is no going to the school which is unknown to Danny. Her parents decided to stay rather than return to Australia. They both don't know each other is there. So Danny tells the greasers about her, and the Pink Ladies befriend her and Sandy begins to tell them about Danny. When they find out that each other goes to that school they reunite. But Danny upsets Sandy by still using his nonchalant badboy attitude in front of her. Sandy sees him as pretentious.

There is quite a bit that happens at this. Like a sleepover where Sandy gets sick after Frenchy pierces her ear. Betty and Kenickie have sex in his car. And more songs as you can imagine. And the songs are pretty good. Obviously some are rather memorable. But it somewhat becomes a movie that we are waiting for the songs. Because the songs are done so well. When you have Olivia Newton John your job is easier though.

The performances are good too. John Travolta was that era Zac Efron I guess. His performance got out what Danny represents. He plays a cocky character with is a ladies man. But is his own worst enemy at the same time. A character that he would get more familiar with in Saturday Night Fever. Here he is rather convincing. He has fun with it. He makes it seem like we could actually see Danny just suddenly breaking into song.

The movie is very colorful and up beat. And the songs are good. But the thing about the movie that doesn't make it great is that the plot is some what thin. And even a bit sexist. A stronger plot would have made it more interesting. Here instead is a nice movie to pop in and sit a watch. I guess nothing is wrong with that though.

Grease is now a classic. It has been around for 34 years so I guess it has that right. It a good nice movie. It is fun to watch. But nothing really sets it apart from other musicals. But I am sure back in the day it was groundbreaking. And a nice blast from the past.

[Flimmaker1473]

21 Jump Street:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/03/15/21-Jump-Street_320.jpg

Okay so bear with me now I am drunk. Watching this movie drunk was awesome. Nearly as cool as it was watching Lawless high (on weed of course). 21 Jump Street is a legit comedy. The jokes work and the chemistry is there. I found myself laughing quite a bit throughout this whole movie. It is based off of the t.v series that made Johnny Depp famous. But it is completely different in it's own way. Which is why it is good.

Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) are former high school classmates who meet again at the police academy. Morton was the usual nerd in high school. A nice guy. But no hot or popular would date him. Also very smart and o the honor roll. But he couldn't get a date to the prom. Greg was a jock. Popular and beloved. But he did do poorly in school that he wasn't allowed to go to the prom. So they had that in common. At the academy after seeing that Greg is good with the physical part of being a cop and Morton is good with the knowledge neededto be a cop they become best friends.

After arresting people with drugs. But failing to read them their Miranda rights, Captain Hardy (Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation) decides t put them in an undercover program for people who looks young. It is called 21 Jump Street. That is because they meet up at 21 Jump Street. They arrive and their boss is Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) who is a bit of a hard ass to say the least. They place them in a high school to go bust suppliers and dealers of a new psychedelic drug.

They go into high school and are supposed to resume their normal roles. They are now brothers and Morton is Brad and Greg is Doug. But after a mix up when Greg punches a black gay kid, they accidentally switch places. So Greg is Brad and Morton is Doug. Greg is taking AP chemistry and Morton is taking drama. But they both surprisingly fit in very well. Morton quickly gets a long with a girl named Molly (Brie Larson) who clearly likes him. They find the drug dealer. He is Eric (Dave Franco, yes James Franco's brother).

Morton fits in with the popular kids very well. While Greg fits in the nerds very well. So compared to high school they basically have switched [places. Many hijinks happen while all this is going on. They take the drugs that Eric is selling to gain his trust. And they have a crazy trip which is very funny. Morton tries to stay focus. But he can't help enjoying being popular. That is natural. He was a nerd in high school. It must be cool to be on the other side.

21 Jump Street is funny because they try to use every opportunity they can to get a laugh in. They don't slouch at all. The chemistry is also another reason why this movie works. Hill and Tatum are a great pair. Both just hit it off and make it appear like they are actually best friends. We never question this. This could be the new buddy cop team. They work together so well. It is impressive to watch them act with each other.

Hill co wrote the script. He does a good job with it. He adds a lot of good humor to it. The characters are written with funny traits. Yet it feels like something that is close to us. The jokes work really well. He wrote a very funny cameo for an A lister that I will not mention. All I will say is that it rivals the cameo that Bill Murray did in Zombieland. It fitted in perfectly and only made the movie better.

21 Jump Street is going to have a sequel. The way it ends suggests that it will have one. I am looking forward to a sequel. It should be rather funny. This movie works because it is nearly anything goes comedy. And it has a nice buddy aspect to it.

[Flimmaker1473]

Five-Year Engagement:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/409d/FiveYearEngagement.jpg

Some people get engaged and get married very quickly. Some people get engaged and don't get married for a few years. Some people get engaged and never get married. Which one does this movie cover? Well the title is Five-Year Engagement so it is your guess. Jason Segel co wrote this film with his buddy and director Nick Stroller. Here he makes a lovely story about two people who go through some very real situations.

Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) is a sous chef at a very fancy restaurant. Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt) is a psychology PH.D graduate. They are a very happy couple and live in Sans Fransisco. They have just became engaged in what was supposed to be a romantic way but things don't work that way in real life. Nonetheless they are now engaged. And they are very happy of course. They look like a nice couple. Very happy together and free spirited. What could go wrong?

While planning for their wedding day, things get interrupted when Tom's best friend Alex Eilhauer (Chris Pratt) and Violet's sister Suzie (Alison Brie) have sex at Tom and Violet's engagement party. This leads to their marriage and what a beautiful wedding it was. Violet gets accepted into the University of Michigan's psychology program. She at first isn't sure she should go. She doesn't want to take Tom from his job and him become mad at her. But he convinces her to take the job that "it will just be two years". So she takes it and delays their wedding.

Tom quits his job (and the worst part about it is that his boss was just about to have him be the head chef of her new restaurant) and moves with Violet to Michigan. Violet settles into her new job well. Her professor is Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans) a charismatic professor. She bases her main thesis on people opting to eat stale donuts versus waiting for fresh donuts, associating impulse-control problems with personal and professional instability.Tom goes everywhere trying to look for another high quality restaurant to work at. But no one is willing to hire him. He eventually gets hired as a sandwich artist at Zingerman's.

They delay their wedding even further when Winton receives NIH funding with Violet's help, enabling him to extend her program. In the meantime, grandparents of both Tom and Violet die. While Violet is thriving in Michigan, Tom isn't. He is clearly very unhappy. He has become disillusioned with his life in Michigan and becomes quite a hunter. He even eventually grows a bread. It really gets clear to Violent when Tom eats one of her old dounts. They are starting to grow just a little apart. There is one scene where Tom gets it out in the open how much he hates living in Michigan. Which is just the start of their issues.

Five-Year Engagement is just another film on Jason Segel's resume of writing. Look at some of the films he has had something to do with the writing. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get him the Greek, and the Muppets. All were wonderfully written films. And had characters that we could relate to. We get to see that again here. He uses characters that he feels are like real people, puts them in a situation that has happened to many different couples, and lets them free. It is really good writing.

The chemistry between Segel and Blunt is very good. They actually act like a couple. They seem very sweet together. Segel is a talented actor. And he is a likeable actor and person too. Blunt is a very talented actress. She seemed very much at ease and comfortable around Segel each time they were together. Which is probably why there were rumors of them getting together as an actual couple. Only a few times do we see that kind of chemistry. We surely see it here.

It is a shade over two hours. And some have criticized that. I don't see what the big deal is. It really doesn't feel that long. Maybe it could have been shorter. But that is okay. Segel's writing, and his chemistry with Blunt make this a very nice and worthy movie.

[Flimmaker1473]

Mission Impossible:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://chi11ax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/missionimpossible-hanging.jpg

Mission Impossible is a fast pace and electrifying spy movie. It is a spy movie that is no nonsense with non stop action. I found myself while watching this move very engaged. There is something about it very interesting. The way it was filmed was great for sure. The plot was pretty interesting too. I have never seen the t.v series. So I wonder how true they stayed to the show and how much the decided to add.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is a member of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), an unofficial branch of the CIA, and part of a small team of agents. Led by Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the team assembles for a mission in Prague to prevent Alexander Golitsyn, an American diplomat, from stealing the non-official cover (NOC) list, a comprehensive list of all covert agents in Eastern Europe, from the US Embassy. The mission goes hopelessly wrong, apparently resulting in the deaths of the entire team except for Ethan. Technician Jack Harmon (Emilio Estevez) is impaled in an elevator shaft, Jim is shot on a bridge by an unknown assailant, Hannah Williams (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) and Jim's wife Claire (Emmanuelle Béart) are both killed by a car bomb and both Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Golitsyn are stabbed to death by an unknown assailant.

After fleeing the scene, Ethan meets with IMF Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) at a café where they discuss the events of that night. Eventually, Ethan realizes that a second IMF team was watching his team during the failed operation. Kittridge then discloses that the operation was a setup meant to draw out a mole in the IMF. The mole has made a deal to sell the list to an arms dealer known as "Max" as part of an operation called "Job 314". As a result, the NOC list taken in the mission was a fake and the computer disk it is on is rigged with a tracking device. After Kittridge informs Ethan of his suspicion that Ethan is the mole, Ethan blows up the floor-to-ceiling aquarium with a stick of explosive chewing gum in the café and flees.

Ethan returns to the IMF safe house where, realizing that "Job 314" refers to a Bible verse in the Book of Job (and presumably the mole's codename as well), Ethan begins email correspondence with Max (Vanessa Redgrave) over a biblical correspondence web site and warns Max about the fake NOC list. Ethan then encounters Claire and discovers that she has survived the mission, having gotten out of the car in which she was waiting before it exploded.

Max arranges a meeting with Ethan where he offers to deliver the real NOC list in exchange for $10 million and a face-to-face meeting with the real Job. Max agrees and she and Ethan then escape moments before a CIA team, alerted by the tracking device, arrives in search of the fake NOC list. Ethan assembles a team of disavowed agents: computer expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno). Ethan, Luther, Krieger, and Claire infiltrate the heavily fortified CIA headquarters in Langley and successfully steal the full NOC list before escaping to a safe house in London.


Mission Impossible is a movie that needs to be watched different. It is all about things being instant. And we much appreciate that to enjoy the movie. The movie swiftly moves on and one thing sets up another thing. The plot is an interesting plot and is played out pretty well. This isn't your normal Tom Cruise movie. We see some adversity here. We see a different kind of strength. It is rather wham and bam for a lot of the movie.

The film is beautifully filmed. And it looks to be very tightly scripted. The stunts are really wonderful. It is a movie where each action sequence out does the next one. And not a lot of action films can say this. Why it works is because a lot the plot may be serious, it doesn't take itself too seriously. This allows the film to feel more fun and be more willing to go along with everything. The music is clearly very legendary. That just adds to the movie and it's tone.

Mission Impossible is a good movie. It is loud, action packed, and exhilarating. Each scene is filled with something interesting. And it is somewhat a different way to tell a spy movie. I found myself liking this a lot more than I thought. It is well done spy film.

[Flimmaker1473]

American Reunion:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/american-reunion-movie-image-01.jpg
When I was growing up American Pie was coming out. When the first one came out it was huge. Then spawned the second films. All of which I liked. I even watched Band Camp (which I liked too). Here in American Reunion, we get to see all the characters that we know and love back after years and years and catch up a little bit. This is a movie that stays true to the classic America Pie formula that has always worked.

It has been thirteen years since the gang has graduated high school. Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have been married for a while now. They have a kid too. And they are going through a bit of a rough spot. So rough that Jim masterbates every chance he gets and Michelle is gets a thrill from a certain shower accessory. So they decide to go down to their high school reunion and stay at Jim's father's Noah (Eugene Levy) home. Noah is a widower as his father and Jim's mother have passed.

Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) who is now a sports broadcaster who will dance in something similar to dancing with the stars has a new girlfriend. She is a model named Mia (Katrina Bowden). He is still getting used to his girlfriend. Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is now happily married to Ellie (Charlene Amoia) and works from home as an architect. Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) says he has been traveling and living it up.

What about Steve Stifler (Sean William Scott)? Oh yes Stifler. The Stifmister. He is a temp at an investment term. Still lives with his milf of a mom Jeanie (Jennifer Coolidge). He is one of those people who hasn't quite moved on from high school. One of those people who really enjoyed high school a lot and didn't realize that that isn't really life. His friends know this and when they all come in for reunion they all don't tell him. But they bump into each other.

While in town Jim sees Kara (Ali Corbin). She is a girl that he used to babysit. She is just turning 18 and has a crazy birthday bash. She has clearly grown up physically since he has last seen her. And she is very attractive. But Jim just wants to be a good husband. He wants to please Michelle. He knows their marriage is close to being on the rocks. And with Stifler pushing him it isn't helping. He is going through something a lot of married couples go through. It is interesting how he gets through it. Chris sees his ex Heather (Mena Suvari) and that brings up old feelings. Kevin sees his ex Vicky too (Tara Reid) and he starts to freak out.

American Reunion maintains the type of humor that has made this whole series what it is. It is full of raunchy moments. Very insane moments. And lots of laughs. It is a movie that takes things that get us interested in the human element and then puts some very crazy characters in the mix. The result is something crazy and funny and different. And that is what this film series represents.

Sean William Scott's Stifler is always a highlight to these movies. He is a bit of a man child. He has never fully grown up. And he lives in the past. Don't you know someone like that? Someone who lives in the past? High school in particular? I do. None quite as crazy as Stifler. Scott adds a whole different element to the films with Stifler. Stifler is an ass. But he deep down is a good guy who just wants to have fun.

The charm from American Pie was the youth and exuberance of these characters. Everything is happening for the first. They were all just focused one thing and that was having sex. American Reunion feels like deja vu. But it provides a lot of laughs still. Most of which are due to Stifler. If you are a fan of the earlier films this is a must see. If you are no then I don't know what to say.

[donniedarko]

I don't see the point o fcopy and pasting plots from
Wiki. And I haven't seen you give credit anywhere or let alone wrap those section around in quotation marks. Flim that's plagiarism

[Flimmaker1473]

Only one I did it for were Bill and Ted and Mission Impossible. So don't you dare accuse me of doing it for all of them good grief.

And it is a public forum. 1. I don't have all the time in the world. 2. I don't get paid to do this. 3. I don't care.

Your welcomed to read my reviews if they offend you though. Don't worry you won't be missed.

[donniedarko]

B.S you did it for 48 HRS too. I didn't check all of them but they soun like wiki plots. I've plus rapped a few but paid for it or not you can't clailm it as your own.

[Flimmaker1473]

Now that is B.S. Go to 48 HRS wiki and read it for yourself.

[donniedarko]

"Convicted robber Albert Ganz (James Remar) is working as part of a road gang in California, when a big Native American man named Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) drives up in a pickup truck and asks for water to cool off his truck’s overheating radiator.

Ganz and Billy exchange insults and proceed to stage a fight with each other, wrestling in a river, and when the guards try to break up the fight, Billy slips a gun to Ganz, and Billy and Ganz kill two of the three guards and flee the scene. Two days later, Ganz and Billy kill Henry Wong (John Hauk), who was one of their partners.

Later that same day, San Francisco cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) joins two of his friends and co-workers—Detective Algren (Jonathan Banks) and Detective VanZant (James Keane) -- at the Walden Hotel to check out a man named G.P. Polson, who is in room 27. It's a way of finding the thief who stole Polson's credit cards and used one of them to check into the hotel."
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/48_Hrs.#section_1

That's not what's in your review
Word by work

[Flimmaker1473]

^That's all I am saying. Your acting like all of what is written about the plot is taken from there. I really don't see the issue. It isn't like it is a term paper. It is just a forum. You are taking this too seriously. Good thing I couldn't care less.

[donniedarko]

Plagerism is a crime, and you were obviously trying to make it your own since you haven't even cited your source. It doesn't matter if its a forum or not you can't copy and past published work and claim it as yours

[Skepsis93]

Hey, just wait a sec, will you?

http://markreads.net/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/popcorn.gif

[Flimmaker1473]

Plagerism is a crime, and you were obviously trying to make it your own since you haven't even cited your source. It doesn't matter if its a forum or not you can't copy and past published work and claim it as yours
LOL. Okay. I am waiting for my arrest or fine from the internet police.

[donniedarko]

Here's shat could happen according to plagiarism.org

Copyright laws exist to protect our intellectual property. They make it illegal to reproduce someone else's expression of ideas or information without permission. This can include music, images, written words, video, and a variety of other media.

At one time, a work was only protected by copyright if it included a copyright trademark (the © symbol). According to laws established in 1989, however, works are now copyright protected with or without the inclusion of this symbol.

Anyone who reproduces copyrighted material improperly can be prosecuted in a court of law. It does not matter if the form or content of the original has been altered -- as long as any material can be shown to be substantially similar to the original, it may be considered a violation of the Copyright Act.


Did you get consent?

You probably won't be arrested but I think this thread should be closed

And here is what could happen if you're prosecuted
Most cases of plagiarism are considered misdemeanors, punishable by fines of anywhere between $100 and $50,000 -- and up to one year in jail.

Plagiarism can also be considered a felony under certain state and federal laws. For example, if a plagiarist copies and earns more than $2,500 from copyrighted material, he or she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years in jail.

And here's a proper citation
Works Cited
"Plagiarism.org." Plagiarism.org : Learning Center : Plagiarism Definitions, Tips on Avoiding Plagiarism, Guidelines for Proper Citation, & Help Indentifying Plagairism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_plagiarism_faq.html>.

[Flimmaker1473]

Wow your really going out of your way for me huh? And the funny thing is none of that will happen to me. 1. No one knows who I really am. 2. how will they find me? 3. I doubt anyone really cares.

This thread was for me to just put my thoughts on a film I have just watched. I sometimes use synopsis if I am feeling lazy, or just don't have the time to write it out. You are really making way, way too much of this. Again I will ask, who cares? Wiki isn't even considered legit by most people. But hey I will do this if that makes you happy.

Hey everyone! Just to say there are a few reviews here that I took a synopsis wiki because I didn't have time to write it myself because I have a life. I hope this didn't affect your life at all in any shape or form or health wise.

Is that acceptable DonnieDarko ?

[donniedarko]

Good! Now do the neat citation think I showed you

http://easybib.com/

[Flimmaker1473]

Good! Now do the neat citation think I showed you

http://easybib.com/
LOL. Your a piece of work. And that is my last comment to you about this.

[TheUsualSuspect]

American Reunion was garbage. Not funny, nor was it really nostalgic. What a big disappointment.

[Flimmaker1473]

American Reunion was garbage. Not funny, nor was it really nostalgic. What a big disappointment.
Did you like the first three? Because this one pretty much falls in line right behind those. Same Stifler too. Reunion really is a movie though that you either found nostalgia and liked it, you didn't and didn't like it.

[donniedarko]

LOL. Your a piece of work. And that is my last comment to you about this.

Rage Quit!!!!

[TheUsualSuspect]

I've seen every single American Pie film, including the crappy ones (Band Camp, Naked Mile, Beta House, Book of Love). While reunion was better than the direct to dvd crap, it's the worst one of the original 3.

And Oh My God, Chris Klein cannot act himself out of a paper bag.

[Powderfinger]

The first one was alright, than it fell downhill about that. I suppose it's a money spinner for the Studio's and that's why they keep making them. Don't we love Studio's? lol! :rolleyes:

[Flimmaker1473]

Love Actually:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://jadekeller.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/love-actually-christmas2.jpg

So many romantic comedies cover just one type of romantic comedy. There are the ones where you fall in love with a co worker, a subordinate, get lustful, find love in another country after someone breaks your heart, love someone you can't have, two long friends, and child love. Why not a movie that has all of this? Love Actually is the first movie to portray all of this. And it does it so very well. Not shy with it's length, Richard Curtis uses that to his advantage.

We first see Billy Mack (Bill Nighly) singing a Christmas version of one of his songs. And it sounds like a lot of crap really. He seems like a bitter old man. He used to be all the rage. Singing hit after hit. And now he is trying to make a comeback and be number one with his Christmas song. And song that he really hates. But his long time manger Joe (Gregor Fisher) thinks that it is best for him to do this. Billy doesn't have any love in his life. Joe is the only person that he sees on a daily basis. And he makes fun of him constantly, calling him ugly and fat.

Another story here is a wedding of Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter (Chiwetel Eijofor). They have a lovely wedding that was orchestrated and filmed by Peter's best friend and best man Mark (Andrew Lincoln). Peter thinks that Mark does not like Juliet. And tries to get them to be closer to each. He normally behaves distant and uncomfortable towards her. He is just doing it for self preservation. Could you imagine being in a situation like this? You love someone that you can't have? Someone your best friend is married to. That is tough.

Harry (Alan Rickman) is a director of a design agency. He has a new secretary named Mia (Heike Makatsch). He loves his wife Karen (Emma Thompson). But he is confused. Mia constantly is making advances at him. He really doesn't know how to handle any of this. And he doesn't handle it too well actually. At the same time Karen's friend Daniel (Liam Nesson) is mourning the lost of his wife. His step son Sam (Thomas Sangster) seems sad. But he is actually love strucked. And he needs his step father help to get the girl.

At the same design agency Sarah (Laura Linney) is in love with her coworker Karl (Rodrigo Santoro). And everyone knows it. She first appears at Juliet's and Peter's wedding. She is very nervous around Karl and seems to lack the guts to ask her out. And she has so something going on as she is always answering the phone for someone. There is also John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page) who meet as body doubles for a sex scene and hit it off. A coordinator at the shoot Tony (Abdul Salis) friend Colin Frissell (Kris Marshall) is going to go America after getting rejected by many girls including Mia. He thinks American girls are easier. Well he may be right.

There is also a new prime minster David (Hugh Grant). Natalie (Martine McCutheon) is a new junior member of the household staff at 10 Downing Street. She serves tea and biscuits. David and Natalie immediately take a subtle interest in each other. You can just feel it. But when the President of the U.S.A (Billy Bob Thorton) tries to seduce Natalie, this upsets David. So much that he decides to take a stand against the bullying President's polices. And then has Natalie moved to a different division.

And there is Jamie (Colin Firth). He is a writer and we first see him preparing to go to Juliet and Peter's wedding. His girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) misses the ceremony and decides to sleep with his brother instead. Crushed by this Jamie decides to spend some time at his French Cottage where he meets Portuguese housekeeper Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) who only speaks her native language. They instantly have an attraction towards each other that is more than puppy love.

Love Actually is a great movie. I found myself deeply engaged and interested in all these characters and their issues. The way it is made it that we get to taste all these types of situations and what goes on. You would think it is an art gallery in way. Everything is on display with the great cast provided and the performances that they provided. It never gets too much about itself. It stays the same tone the whole movie that just makes it better.

The writing is also a big part of this. Curtis doesn't use the typical cliches of a romantic comedy. He stays away from that. Instead he puts a realistic spun on the genre. Showing real people in real situations. And how he thinks that they would react. How he envisions things would happen. And that is a great thing. Because in return we get a work of art that leaves us feeling good. It leaves us saying to ourselves that this could happen to us. Or remembering how this has happened to us.

Love actually just builds upon layers and layers. Then keeps going. There are some surprises. The characters are likeable even with some of them doing things that we wouldn't probably do. We see the imperfections and we don't mind. We see the struggles some of the characters have and we feel for them. We see a character in a tough spot and we understand. We end up rooting for a few of them too. And that is a part of what makes this a wonderful film.

Just over two hours Love Actually is a movie that uses it's length to tell stories that all could have been their own movie. And if there is one flaw, it is that it appears to servings at a five star restaurant. But really it is an all you can eat buffet. But that is okay. It still is lovely actually.

[Flimmaker1473]

My Cousin Vinny:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.the-ush.com/gallery/data/media/13/__mon_cousin_vinny_-08.jpg

My Cousin Vinny is a dumb comedy that works because of the charismatic performances involved. With lesser actors I might not have liked this movie. The plot is okay but has a lot of loop holes. But the acting is hard to ignore. I can only admire it for the strong performances and that laughs it gave. There were a few times that I found myself laughing pretty hard. It is a movie that is hard to ignore.

While in Beechum County Alabama (a fictional county) two New Yorkers named Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and his best friend Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield). After going into a convenience store they are tailed by police. Then they are pulled over. Now they both just think it was because Bill had forgotten to pay for a can of sardines. But it isn't for a simple misdemeanor. Oh no. It is for murder. Bill is being charged for murder and Stan for accessory to murder.

As Bill and Stan slowly realize that they are not just being messed around with they figure out they need a lawyer. Bill calls his mom. His mom tells him to go and enlist his cousin Vinny. His full name is Vincent LaGuardia "Vinny" Gambini (Joe Pesci). He comes to Alabama with his fiance Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei). They are very much New Yorkers and we can tell that very easily.

Soon we learn that Vinny does not have a lot of experience. None at all really. He has only been practicing for six weeks. He has never had a case. And he has failed the bar six times in six years. This clearly shakes Bill and Stan's confidence. He doesn't do anything to make them have their confidence restore. It takes him several minutes to enter his plea. This causes the judge Chamberlain Heller (Fred Gwynne) to hold him in contempt (and this isn't the only time that he is held in contempt).

Vinny blunders a little more and more. He is clearly in over his head. He tries to find advantages. But ends up accomplishing nothing. He doesn't want Mona Lisa's help who is more than eager to help him. He wants to do this all on his own. But Bill and Stan's confidence keeps shaking. So much so that Stan gets a public defender. And Bill is about to get one too. While Bill is telling Vinny about that, Vinny convinces Bill to give him one more shot.

My Cousin Vinny has a lot about it that is stupid about it. Why is there a character named Mona Lisa? But you see that is funny. Another is how the boys got caught. And hijinks that go on after that. The point I am making is that it may be stupid. But it works because it is still funny. All these things made me laugh. The movie kind of decides to throw a few things out to make it more of a screwball comedy. And it gets to that point.

The performance that shines is the one from Marisa Tomei. She won the academy award for her performance. And with good reason too. She could have easily made her character a very one dimensional one. But instead she really makes her come alive. Makes her entertaining. She makes her the best character in the movie. Every scene she is in scene steals. Tomei uses her attractiveness, her comedy skills, and charm in this role and creates something that with another actress probably would have not been there.

My Cousin Vinny is a good movie to go and just pop in to watch for fun. The humor will make you laugh. You just have to watch it and throw some logic out of the window and you will have a good time.

[Flimmaker1473]

Natural Born Killers:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/19300000/Natural-Born-Killers-natural-born-killers-19319565-900-506.jpg
Natural Born Killers is quite a movie experience. When I decided to watch it I couldn't believe how different it is from anything from Oliver Stone. It is a movie that different visual, strange quirks, and strange charms. The best way to describe this movie I guess is it is like taking peyote. It is a rather crazy movie. A strange satire. But when it aims it doesn't miss it. The point gets across.

Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis) are a couple. They are different from any other couple that you know. And in the first scene of the movie they show. They kill all but one person in a cafe after someone starts to sexually harass Mallory. They leave one person behind. Why do they leave just one person left behind? Simple. They want someone to tell the tale of them. That is their thing.

As Mickey and Mallory are now in a desert, they start to reminisce about how they met. We get to see in flashbacks who they used to be. Mallory used to live with her family. She had a sexually abusive father (Rodney Dangerfield), a neglectful mother (Edie McClurg), and her young brother Kevin (Sean Stone). Mickey meets her when he delivers meat to her home. They fall in love and Mickey steals Mallory's dad's car. He arrested for grant theft auto. But during a tornado Mickey escapes and returns to Mallory's home. They kill Mallory's parents and spare Kevin. They leave and get married and celebrate by taking a hostage. After Mickey wants to do a threesome with the hostage, Mallory is upset and leaves. She starts to have sex with a mechanic. But after he recognizes her she kills him. Mickey rapes the hostage.

The two lovers go on a killing spree. They end up killing up to 52 people. This makes them very infamous. They have Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore) hot on their heels. He saw his mother get shot and killed by Charles Whitman when he was eight years old. On the outside side he looks like a heroic guy. Someone who just wants to do the right thing. But in reality, he is a psychopath who once strangled a prostitute.

The two killers are profiled by journalist Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr) on his show American Maniacs. This makes these two unswervingly right in the public eye all the time. It elevates them into cult status. People now are getting more intrigued by them. People even say if they were mass murders that they would like to be Mickey and Mallory. They do get caught at a drug store after getting snake bites and are separated in a prison head by warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Le Jones)>

Natural Born Killers is a movie that probably needs to be watched more than once. The first time you watch it, you are in awe of the visuals. The over all look of the film. It is filmed fantastically well. Oliver Stone's direction is amazing. Camera angles, shots, different colors being used. Stone uses all these to put him film into greater effect. It makes it more intriguing from that standpoint. It becomes very crazy eye candy.

And for the second time you watch it, you have to watch it for the meaning of the movie. The movie's meaning is talking about how we as a society glorify violence. The media in particular. We see Wayne Gale put these two killers in the forefront of the media. He makes them famous. That has some parallels to what goes on today. We see that everyone time there is a mass murder that goes on it seems like the media just never stops talking about it. Like they like them or something. It is because they see a story.

Where did this story come from? It was written by Quentin Tarantino. He sold the screenplay. It feels like a type of film he would have came up with. Stone takes it and them makes it into his own. He knows how to make a political film really well clearly. Natural Born Killers could be his most ambitious political film. Maybe even more so than JFK. The plot is so bold. The violence is so crazy.

The thing about this movie is the experience it gives you. After you are done you start thinking about what you just saw. The way the movie flows it doesn't feel like a movie. It feels like we just went on a ride. A ride of peyote. It is insane and it is that insanity that makes it so great. It makes it a work of art really. Because nothing like this about this has ever been seen. It offers you that shock factor. No wonder it received such mixed reviews.

Natural Born Killers is a movie that isn't for the faint of heart. It is just one trippy movie with quite a message. In the middle of all the violence and koas the message is one worth while too.

[Flimmaker1473]

Flirting with Disaster:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/050826/112714__arquette_l.jpg

Flirting with Disaster deals with a man who goes out in search for his biological parents. Usually a movie like that would have a more serious tone. It would be straight drama probably. But this is not the case. Instead of the cliche type melodramatic film, we get a very funny movie from David O. Russell. This a movie that keeps the laughs coming without trying to hard. It benefits from an excellent script, excellent acting and a sweet undertone to it all.

Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) is a man who just had a child with his wife Nancy Coplin (Patricia Arquette). It is a boy. But here is the thing: they have yet to have named their child. Why is that? Mel you see has some unresolved issues. He was adopted by Ed and Pearl Coplin (George Segel and Mary Tyler Moore).. And he wasn't exactly happy with the way that he was raised by them. He wants to go and meet his biological parents.

He enlists Tina Kalb (Tea Leoni). She is very sexy. But she is also a very incompetent adoption agency employee. She finds his parents in the adoption database. Now Mel, Nancy and the baby are off to go and look for his parents. Tina decides to come along too. They go to a woman name Valarie Swaney (Celia Weston). They mistaken her for Mel's mother. This scene was pretty awkward. Mel and Valarie were actually bonding. When Mel and Tina were wrestling ( I know) and Mel knocks her glass down, she forgives him and even gave him a glass rabbit.

They are off to Michigan where Tina gets a lead that Mel's dad is there. They go to see Fritz Boudreau (David Patrick Kelly). At first they are attacked and then Mel says he is his son. Things look promising. But as Fritz is teaching Mel how to drive a big rig, Fritz puts it together that he isn't his son. That his father is Richard Schlichting (Alan Alda) and is still with his mother Mary (Lilly Tomlin). They are in New Mexico. After wrecking the big rig, Mel, Nancy, and Tina are taken into custody by two federal agents Tony Kent (Josh Brolin) and Paul Harmon (Richard Jenkins) who are a gay couple. They get tangled along into the story too as Nancy went to high school with Kent.

This are starting to get rocky between Mel and Nancy. They are not having sex much at all. Nancy was not happy that Mel was wrestling with Tina and senses that he is attracted to her. Mel is very much attracted to her. But he doesn't want to act on it. He kind of does a couple time with kisses. But they never go the full distance. And Nancy and Tony are getting closer. Tony is actually bisexual and seems to be trying to get with Nancy. That is where the near disaster comes in.

Flirting with Disaster is very because the near disaster is at every single corner. Something at any minute could ruin Mel and Nancy's marriage. But they both just barely miss it each and every time. There isn't some that happens. He just doesn't go have an affair. This character has a conscious loves his wife. He doesn't want to just let the temptation over come him. That is what is good about the character. He does his best to be good.

The character is somewhat the typical Ben Stiller character. But it is okay. The Ben Stiller character is an everyman character. A character that we are used to seeing. A character that we also like seeing. Here he is put in these situations of choice and finding his real parents. Even his adoptive parents come in and cause chaos. But Stiller's character pays dividends here. It keeps him and the movie pretty even keel and doesn't go over the edge.

David O. Russell in this film uses his comedic directing abilities to his full advantage. He keeps a sane aspect to this movie. And at the same time provides many, many laughs. He not only directed this film, he also wrote it. And what a wonderful script. It is so smart and well thought out. Each word that comes out of the character's mouth is pure and funny and makes sense. Each scene has something in it that is funny. He makes this movie work.

Flirting with Disaster is really about two things. Someone who wants to meet his real parents. And someone who doesn't want to cheat on his wife. Two things that could carry their own films. Meshed into one create a great one that is very entertaining to the end. The ending is a rather nice one. I say nice but it is a rather crazy situation that they have just gotten out of. But that fits great with this movie.

[TheUsualSuspect]

Natural Born Killers to me is what a film would look like if a studio gave an arty film student a big budget. The film gave me a headache.

[Flimmaker1473]

Dead Man Walking:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/dead-man-walking.jpg

Dead Man Walking is based on a true story. The nun's name is Sister Helen. That is what makes Dead Man Walking very interesting right off the bat. That this actually happened and wasn't fabricated (well not completely). Tim Robbins decides to step out of the step out of the spotlight and write and direct this wonderful film. It is filled with emotion and a truth that is not really seen in a lot of other films.

Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) is on death row. He murdered a couple one night with his buddy Carl Vitello (Michael Cullen). Carl has received a life sentence instead of being on death row. He has been in prison for six years awaiting his fate. He like anyone else in his situation wants to get out of it and badly. So he begins to beg Sister Helen (Susan Sarandon) for her help.

Sister Helen is a nice nun who genuinely cares about people. She somehow sees the good in people and doesn't believe that everyone is just pure evil. Which is perhaps why she decides to help him. I think she sees someone who needs help in more ways than one. When she first meets him he comes across as arrogant, sexist, and racist. He doesn't even show any remorse for what he has done. In fact he keeps on claiming his innocence saying that it was only Carl who killed the teenage couple.

Yet Sister Helen stays with him. She is hoping to convince him to own up to what he has done and see his ways. Mostly so that he could die with dignity. She convinces an experienced lawyer to take Matthew's case pro bono. Sister Helen tries to obtain a life sentence for Matthew instead of death row.

As she visits more and more, she begins to have a special relationship with Matthew. They seem to connect. She sees him than being more than a murder. She sees a side of him that most don't care to see. But at the same time, she starts to get to know Matthew's mother (Roberta Maxwell). Also the victims families. The victims families start to not like Sister Helen. They start to say that she is on his side. Is she on his side? Or does she just want to do what she thinks is right?

Dead Man Walking is a movie built solely on it's performances and the story. Nothing else. Tim Robbins wrote a very captivating script that keeps us engaged all the way to the end. He doesn't spare anything. He keeps it real and keeps it hard and hitting.
That is a big part of the movie. It feels easy to watch. I could never really look away at this movie. It is so well done in every aspect.

The performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon were fantastic. Penn plays a man who just won't admit to what he has done. Someone who needs to wake up and take responsibility. Yet he may not be a bad guy. But someone who has done bad things. Penn gives him this hard edge. He also gives him enough vulnerability to make us interested in someone who has done such a thing.

Sarandon is excellent as Sister Helen. She plays the nun very well with such grace a skills. Each time she is on screen she has this awe about her that is something that can't be fabricated. She plays her with a sense of right that she wants to accomplish. She doesn't make her too preachy. But gives her a good amount of self righteousness. She is playing three different emotions all at once and excelled at it.

The script is so fine combed. The scenes flow like water. Nothing is too long and doesn't make sense. Nothing is there that doesn't need to be there either. We see the very dramatic scenes and are moved by them. The acting clearly helps this. Even surprises by Jack Black who plays one of Matthew's brothers. He gives a nice performance with the short amount of time that he was on the screen.

Dead Man Walking is a great film. It was filmed and acted with excellence. Everything about it just works. It a movie that touches your emotions and makes you think about a few things when it is over. And that is what a movie should strive to do.

[Flimmaker1473]

Charlie Bartlett:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png and a half
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2008_Charlie_Bartlett/2008_charlie_bartlett_021.jpg

You know how in Juno how Juno told Paulie that he was so cool with out trying? And then Paulie told her that he actually tries really hard to be cool. Well the magic with that character Paulie that if he was truly trying hard to be cool that he wasn't showing it. And that should have been what all other teen movies strive to be like. But the title character in Charlie Bartlett tries too hard to be cool. And that is one o the downfalls that affected this film.

Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has just gotten kicked out of another private school. This time for making fake IDs. His depressed, but willful mother (Hope Davis) who's husband in in jail for tax evasion decides to enroll Charlie in a public school now to see if that helps him. The principal is Nathan Gardner (Robert Downey Jr) who is a new principal who is struggling to gain any respect.

At first Charlie does not fit in well with the other kids. And gets beat up by Murphy Bivens (Tyler Hilton). He does see a girl that he likes though. Her name is Susan (Kat Dennings). But he is currently such a loser that he can't imagine asking her out. After seeing a psychiatrist he gets Ritalin. He takes more of a dose one night per to his psychiatrist's instructions and gets really high off of them. I will admit those scenes were funny.

Then the police shows up after he makes an ass out of himself, the police officer and his mother begin to talk about how teens do these drugs to get high. The idea strikes into his head to sell these drugs. He decides to strike up a partnership with Murphy and sell these drugs. Charlie obtains other drugs such as xanx by faking other symptoms.

This has made him the most popular kid in school. And he begins to give people advice after Kip Crombell (Mark Rendall) a depressed kid comes to him asking for drugs. He actually starts to make a difference and becomes more than just a drug dealer. He and Susan even have sex and become boyfriend and girlfriend. But at the same time he has friction with principal Nathan who just happens to be Susan's father.

Charlie Bartlett is not a bad movie. Maybe if I were in a funnier mood I might have liked it. But I couldn't bring myself to like it. It is probably because I have seen films in the teenage genre so much better than this. And the talent is squandered so much in this movie. Kat Dennings is an attractive and very talented actress. But her character isn't given enough of a chance to really shine. Robert Downey Jr could be the best actor of this generation. He gives a great performance. But his character could have had more juicer scenes.

I think if they had gone and made this movie a satire kind of like the Assassination of a high school president, the movie might have been better. It would have been an interesting look at high school, been easier to laugh with, and probably far more entertaining. Even if they had gone the American Pie route it probably would have been better. It would have made us feel ad care about Charlie more. Instead I don't care about him and see him just trying to be cool.

I mentioned Juno at the start of this review. That is a great movie and a great example of what teen movies can be with great detail. Charlie Bartlett is far from the worst teen movie. But it is a step backwards. It could have been better with a few adjustments. But instead falls short.

[Flimmaker1473]

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.pajiba.com/assets_c/2011/12/Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Spy-Review-thumb-500x339-35163.jpg

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy starts out in October 1973 when Control (John Hurt) the head of the British Intelligence ("The Circus") has agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) to Communist Hungry to meet a Hungarian general who had promised to sell information.

However Jim is shot ad captured by Soviet agents. During the international incident that follows this Control and his right hand man George Smiley (Gary Oldman) are forced into retirement. Control who is already ill soon dies after their retirement. Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) gets the job as the new Chief of the Circus. He has Bill Haydon (Colin Firth) is his deputy and Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase (Ciaran Hinds, and David Denick).

These three have somehow have been successfully in getting new high grade Soviet intelligence material from a project that they are partaking in called "Witchcraft". Control and Smiley don't trust the project. Witchcraft material is currently being shared with the Americans. But in exchange for this, the Americans are giving valuable U.S intelligence.

George is then brought out of retirement by Oliver Lacon (Simon McBurney). Oliver is the civil servant in charge of intelligence. He is to investigate a claim by Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) who is an MI6 agent that there has been a long-term mole who is in a senior role in British intelligence. Before Control has passed he too had held this fear. George all the while working outside of Circus decides to get a few men and start to interview people who have left Circus the same time that he did.

Tinker Tailor Solider is a slow pace french espionage film that uses every ounce of the genre to it's advantage. It makes it feel a bit more dragged out. But it works well because the story is so intriguing that we can't help but watch. That is what makes it entertaining. It's paces fits in well too because we get to sense the feel going on and the seriousness of it as well. This is something that the film really focused on clearly and achieves.

The performances were a big part of this movie. The acting is great. Colin Firth as always gives a great performance. Giving his character an edge about him and maintaining something interesting about him. Tom Hardy has become one of the best working actors out there right now. Every role he plays he makes the character so believable and something so honest about him. But this movie belongs to Gary Oldman. What an actor. He is once again able to go into a character and make it his. He owns it. And gives this electrifying performance. Could be the best of his career.

It is a film that is beautifully. Shots and camera angles all look amazing. Director Tomas Alfredson makes sure that the film doesn't only have the pace and feeling right. But that it looks it too. And that is all apart of this movie experience. It feels like we are transformed into this world where we get to see something that we would never get to see. It feels like a treat in a way. Like secret information is being handed out. And that was the goal.

To watch Tinker Tailor Solider you must suspend yourself in a way of where things are not as they seem and live in the moment that the film is currently in. That is how you have to watch it in order to enjoy it. Each scene is done with such grace and such detail to the standard of truth that the film is trying to convey. It is that which makes this film interesting. Not just the story. But how it is being told. The script was written so well. It is the realization of novel's daunting complexity.

Tinker Tailor Solider is a movie that is pieced together with great skill by Alfredson. AHe directs a movie that is such a puzzle and is filled with anxiety and paranoia. It is a movie that filmed with such grace that I don't see quite a lot.

[Flimmaker1473]

RED:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://witneyman.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/willis-and-parker-in-red.jpg

RED starts off relatively normal. We see Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) in his humble abode. He is a lonely guy so he often will go and call up Sarah (Mary Louise Parker) who is a customer service agent that works at Frank's pension office in Kansas City. To have an excuse to talk to her he will rip up the pension checks and just tell her that they never arrived.

But one night a hit squad comes in and tries to kill him. He masterfully kills the three people that have invaded his home. Here is when we really start to know what kind of business he was in before he retired. He realizes that his phone calls have been taped. He goes to Kansas City to go and save Sarah. Sarah as you can expect is a bit freaked out when Frank just shows up at her apartment. As he starts to explain himself and that he is in the CIA she still doesn't believe him.

He has to duct tape her mouth and and ties her hands and feet together and sticks her in a car as another hit squad comes along to attack Sarah and him. He takes her to New Orleans where he goes to see his terminally ill mentor Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman). He is 80 years old and has cancer. Joe informs Frank that the same hit squad that went after him are the same one that went and killed a New York Times reporter.

William Cooper (Karl Urban) is the CIA agent who is assigned to hunt down and kill Frank. After saving Sarah who broke out of the motel that he tied her to, Sarah and him while avoiding William, go and seek clues that have been left behind by the late New York Times reporter. This leads them to a hit list. They then decide to track down Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) who is like Frank a former Black Ops agent. He is also a paranoid conspirator. This is probably due to the government feeding him LSD every day for 11 years. Marvin informs them that all the names on the list are all connected to a 1981 secret mission in Guatemala that Frank and Marvin both were involved in.

RED has a great star studded cast. Helen Mirren and Richard Dreyfuss are also in the film. RED is a good action comedy movie because it has a singular plot that is interesting enough to sustain all the way to the end. It is quite the popcorn movie. There is never a dull moment and action is everywhere. There is no over the top stuff in this movie. They use the talented cast to their advantage, create an interesting plot, and lets them run wild.

To watch and enjoy this movie you have to suspend yourself from reality and then enter into a world that instead is filled with craziness. If you do that then you will like the film. It becomes a quest into something that we will probably never experience. Something that we see talked about though. We all know what the CIA is. We all also wonder what it is exactly that they do. This movie gives their look at with great pacing and style.

One reason to admire this movie is the craftsmanship. The explosions look wonderful. The style is a big part of this movie. It goes for the normal violent action film thing. But at the same time there is so much wit to this movie that gets itself from under that and turns into something more entertaining to watch than your average action film. It becomes something that is really fun to watch every moment that it is on and allows us to indulge as an audience.

RED is a good action comedy. The chemistry between Bruce Willis and Mary Louise Parker is a big key to that. Kind of like how in Knight and Day Tom Cruise's and Cameron Diaz's chemistry was a big part of the movie. It may have a few things that shows it flaws. But the action, the cast, and the plot are too good to ignore.

[Flimmaker1473]

Match Point:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://a1.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/131/95e96442ef704a44ac1b7a1bb6ac1218/l.jpg
Match Point is a very interesting thriller. Also it is a movie that is different from a lot of things that Woody Allen has made. One thing that is in a lot of his films that is in this one though. There aren't many characters in Match Point that are good people. In fact the two stars of it are bad people. So it isn't good versus bad. But instead it is two bad people and ones shows that they are worse than the other.

Chris Milton (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) has just retired from playing professional Tennis. He becomes a Tennis instructor at an upmarket club in London. This is where he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) who is a wealthy pupil and quickly strikes a friendship with him. After finding out that each other is quite a fan of opera, Tom invites Chris to come to the opera with him.

At the opera he meets Tom's older sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Chloe quickly becomes interested in Chris and the two start to go out with each other. Chris meets Tom's fiancee Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). Very quickly, nearly instantly they are attracted to each other. Tom's mother Eleanor (Penelope Wilton) does not approve of Tom's relationship with Nola. Nola is a struggling American actress and Eleanor is not impressed. This is the cause of tension in the family.

Chloe convinces her father Alec (Brian Cox) to give Chris a job as an executive at his law firm. He has now been accepted into their family and even goes on to marry Chloe. But not before he starts to get Nola more. They wonderfully hook up in a wheat filed in the rain. But Nola does not want to rock the boat. Eventually though Nola and Tom do however break up.

Tom tells this to Chris while playing Tennis. He tells him that he fell in love with another woman. While at a art gallery, Chris sees Nola. Nola has just returned to town. Much has changed and Tom is now married to the woman that he left Nola for. This ramps up their new affair. And what a passionate affair it is. Chris does all the while he is trying to have a baby with his wife.

I mentioned how Match Point is different from a lot of Allen's previous films. It is written differently and just goes in such a different direction. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much. He decides to show something that is rather dark and something that real people do experience and make it into art. He puts all these bad people together who are normal. But his point is that a lot of normal people are bad.

His writing is a pleasure. He doesn't have a scene out of place. The pacing is just perfect. Not to fast nor too slow. These characters are written to seem to be normal in everyday life. But one is capable of something that we totally didn't see coming. There is a bit of a twist. It is sudden. But very satisfying. Which is a big part of why this movie works.

Scarlett Johansson's performance is wonderful. She plays such a bad person. She cheats on her ex fiancee. Then has an affair with a married man. But we still feel sorry for her. She is a struggling actress who seems to not be able to catch a break. She hasn't had a life that she wanted to have. Johansson is able to play her hard, tough, sexy and cool. But at the same time show a lot of vulnerability.

Allen is such a wonderful director. All his actors and actresses have hailed him. Here he gets the best of all of his cast. He allows them to give these characters a certain edge and mystique about them. And at the same time he can go with his own vision and create his own art.

Match Point is one of Allen's best films to be honest. It is so pure, natural and stunning to watch. I loved watching every second of it. It allows the audience to be engaged by feeding of a storyline that has such bad intentions. It makes for a horrible fascination that keeps us going all the way to the end and after it ends we want more.

[Flimmaker1473]

The Grifters:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
http://www.milibrary.org/sites/default/files/eventslistings/previewpics/aug_07_-_221pm/the_grifters.jpg?1345241004

The Grifters has that Martin Scorsese feel to it. Perhaps it is because he produced the film. Nope he didn't direct it. He hired on Stephen Frears to direct the film. The Grifters is a movie that thrives on it style and its setting. All the while creating a really great story with really great characters. All of which are actually rather complex.

Lilly Dillon (Angelica Houston) is a a con artist or "grifter". She has been all her life. Might I add that she does it rather well. Well she begins to rethink this lifestyle when her son Roy (John Cusack) suffer a near fatal injury. He was hit from the blunt end of a baseball bat after failing at a scam.

Roy is a small time grifter who is not fully into the game. His girlfriend Myra Langtry (Anette Benning) is a bit more experience. She uses her body a lot in her cons and it works out very well for her. They are though at first not really aware of what each other does and thinks that the other is legit. Lilly does not approve of Myra. And she does not want Roy to be a grifter. She clearly knows the lifestyle all too well and doesn't think that her son literally has the stomach for it.

Lilly works for a bookmaker. Bobo Justus (Pat Hingle). She handles playback at the horse racing tracks. What she does exactly is make large cash bets that will lower the odds of longshots. After she goes and sees Roy in the hospital (that was the first time by the way that they have seen each other in eight years) she misses a race where the winner pays 70-1. This causes Bobo to be very mad. He burns her hand with a cigar.

After Roy gets out of the hospital he takes Myra for a weekend down to La Jolla. On the way there in a train as she is doing her thing she notices Roy conning some sailors. She then confronts him during a dinner that she knows. He first tries to play it off. But she says that she is not square. She wants them to be working together on jobs. She even explains her past. It is tempting. But his mother doesn't approve. And it is starting to get more dangerous.

The Grifters is a great movie. The pacing, the acting, the way it was filmed, the writing. Everything in this movie is wonderful. It flows so swift with such ease to it that it makes sense. Scorsese could have directed it himself. But he intrusts Frears and Frears does not disappoint. He is able to direct with such style and allow some great performances to come out.

Cusack is probably the most natural actor out there. He hgave a great performance that got snubbed. His character is a complex one. He seems like a good guy who has had a strained relationship with his mother. Someone who has struggled throughout life and just trying to take care of himself. But he is also this guy who does these bad things. Someone who seems a bit cold. This makes him interesting to watch enough. But Cusack adds something to him to make us understand more.

Angleica Houston and Anette Benning also gave great performances. Both were nominated for academy awards. These two woman were both so strong in their own right. Houston has a mother who wants to do the right thing. But she is not capable of that. And Benning who is beautiful. But is fully into the way of life that she is currently tangled in.

The Writing in a big part of this. Having each and every scene flow the way it did was no easy task. And the dialogue being able to sound authentic in a way is a great feat. Accompanied by great direction it is put together and turned into a film that not only expresses what the point they are trying to get across is. But also what kind of people they are.

The Grifters is a great stylish film. It is riveting film with riveting performances. From start to finish it is engaging and even though it is nearly two hours you really don't feel it. One of Cusack's best movies.

[Flimmaker1473]

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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I played dodgeball in school. Mostly elementary school. But nonetheless I played it in school. It is a fun, yet very competitive game. I was pretty good at it. I could knock out a player pretty easily. Not sure if I could have played in a dodgeball tournament though. In Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story we see this happen. It is a movie with the same goals a lot of sports movie have with a cool kind of humor.

Peter LaFelur (Vince Vaughan) is the owner of Average Joe's. Average Joe's is a gymnasium that is failing. After he defaults on the gym's mortgage payments, the gym is purchased by his rival White Goodman (Ben Stiller). White owns Global-Gym which is an ultra successful gym which is worth way more money than Peter's gym. White is planning to close down Average Joe's and turning it into a Global-Gym.

Attorney Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor) is working on closing the foreclosure for White. White has been smitten by Kate. But she does not want anything to do with him. He is a creepy work out freak who has apparently lost 600 pounds and is very health conscious. Kate meets up with Peter in his office and tells him the only way to save his gym to pay off the debt of $50,000.

Peter and his employees Dwight (Chris Williams), and Owen (Joel David Moore). Along with members Steve "the Pirate" (Alan Tudyk), Justin (Justin Long), and Gordon (Stephen Root) decide to come up with a way to raise the $50,00. After a failed car wash they are about to give up. But then after seeing an ad for a dodgeball tournament with the prize being $50,000. They decide to give it a shot.

They begin to train for dodgeball. They watched an old dodgeball training video from Justin's high school. They have to play a regional dodgeball game to get into the national in Las Vegas. They play against girl scouts. And they loose very, very badly. But after one of the girl scouts fails a drug test they are in. Patches O Houlihan (Rip Torn) sees them and decides to train them. Kate even decides to join the team after White gets into the tournament.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a movie where the jokes land really well. But at the same time it is a rather feel good story. The story is nice and pure. We end up rooting for these characters to be successful at what they are trying to achieve. And that is a big credit to the movie That we actually care about these people and want to see them succeed.

It uses two comic stars Vaughan and Stiller together and both work very well together. Vaughan more as the straight man who seems like a rather calm guy. Stiller usually plays a straight man. But this time here he shows like he did in movies like heavy weight how much he can disappear into a character and make a character be truly crazy.

Dodgeball A True Underdog story is a funny and nice movie. It is fun to watch because we like these characters. Like I said we want these guys to win the game and be successful. It is a truly an underdog story.

[Flimmaker1473]

Rampart:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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Rampart is memorizing and brutal film. It is a ruthless with what goes on and is ruthless with what it tries to get across. Things that go on in Rampart go on a lot where the movie is set: the LAPD. And it has happened many, many times. I think that is one of the aspects that made this film so interesting. The other is of course Woody Harrelson. But I will sing his praises later.

Officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) is an interesting person. He has been on the force for several years. He may or may not have killed a rapist. He also has two ex wives who get this are sisters and he cheated on both. And there is even more to add on to this. He has a daughter from each marriage. And on top of that they all live together. Now you can only imagine the friction that causes.

Dave is a police officer some would consider dirty. He does not consider himself to be a dirty cop though. But instead just someone who gets it. He feels that he is probably more fair than other police officers. He drinks on the job quite a bit. And he is an interesting drunk. He plays by his own rules to to himself they are effective. But not to everyone else.

After getting rammed into while driving one day, he brutally beats a Spanish man. This is caught on camera and becomes one of those police brutality things that we see on the news from time to time. The station clearly does not like the bad publicity. And with his checkered past it is understandable. He just kind of starts to pile on to himself more and more.

He is also involved into a suspicious shooting. All of this puts him a very bad position. He tries to talk to the assistant District Attorney (Sigourney Weaver). But she isn't really willing to help him. He starts to see that the station really doesn't care about him. But they care about their reputation. They want to get away from what name that he is giving them. And his personal life is tumbling as his ex wives want him to move out and his relationship with his children are strained.

Rampart is a movie that is all about character study. We get to watch and study Dave. Someone who is an alcoholic, someone who has done bad things while on the job. Someone who has cheated on his wife, someone who just does what he wants to do. I never really started to like the character. But I never started to dislike the character too. Which is a credit to Harrelson.

Harrelson's performance here is one of the best of his career. He is able to submerge himself into the role of Dave. He allows us to follow this man through his struggles and get to know him more and more throughout the movie. Harrelson is just an interesting person. And he puts that into his character. He makes Dave someone who has something that is more than meets the eye. I don't think another actor other than Harrelson could have played this character. He just was this character.

The LAPD has had issues like these. Which is another credit to this movie. They take something that could have happened in real life and they turn it into art. That is the beauty of movies. Take something that happens, and then bring more attention to it. And that is what makes it a great movie as well. It is done so well with this real and gritty feel to it.

Oren Moverman's direction and co writing with James Ellroy is the back bone of the movie. He gets these beautiful camera shots and camera angles to show L.A in such an interesting light. He wants to show L.A for what he thinks it really is. And that is a great goal.

Rampart is a 2012 movie that should not go un notice. What a great movie. Great craftsmanship and writing. If there is only one reason to watch this movie it is to get to see what real great character acting is from Harrelson. Ice Cube being in it doesn't hurt either.

[cricket]

Rampart on my to see list and would like to give The Grifters another watch.

Love the variety in the films you review!

[Flimmaker1473]

End of Watch:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png
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End of Watch is perhaps the best movie of 2012 so far. It is a brutal film with brutal details and an amazing look inside what the LAPD might be. It has action from the start to the finish of the film. Yet has at times great humor. But at the same time, it is a rather personal film. It shows the human aspects of these characters. It is a one of a kind movie in this genre. Probably one of the best Buddy Cop movies of all time.

Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhall) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) are both police officers for the LAPD. They also happen to be life long best friends. They work really well together patrolling the streets. No they are not detectives. But they are the cops that come to domestic violence things and drug busts. Drugs and Guns are the LAPD's top two money makers. And those two are great at collecting those. But they do go by an interesting set of roles.

We get to see some of the things that they do in a documentary style at times. This is because Brian is recording with his camera for his class. This gives the film an even cooler look. It is not like we are just watching a movie. It becomes at times like we are watching real life. And that becomes stunning. Mike is somewhat gangster. He fights and beats up an ex con after they assaulted a mailman. He took him in. But he let him go.

Brian and Mike are both romantically linked. Mike has a wife named Gabby (Natalie Martinez) who he has been married to since he was 18 years old. Brian hasn't as a much fortunate in the love department as Mike. That is until he meets Janet (Anna Kendrick). He and Janet start to take a liking to each other. It is interesting to watch these characters and their relationships. This is what I meant by personal. It just gives them more a human aspect.

Things get more intense in the police force. They start making some serious busts. These serious busts are not exactly what they are looking for. Or maybe rather what they should be looking for. They are seen as the king of the streets by their fellow police officers. This leads to so many dangers. Some real crazy dangers. And it gets more and more exciting.

End of watch is a fantastic movie. Great craftsmanship, great writing, and great acting. David Ayer writes and directs a movie that never holds back, never runs out of steam, and never holds back any punches. That is kind of what makes this movie the experience that it really is. Fun the start it gets up on to this idea and it keeps on going. It doesn't fall into any of the cliches that other movies in this genre. But instead becomes original.

The acting is phenomenal. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are on top of their game. Both give these really full and detailed performances. We become so invested into these characters and it feels like we know these characters. And says something about their performances. They were both just stunning. Anna Kendrick and Natalie Martinez both also gave great performances. They were what they needed to be for the movie and it works to perfection.

Gylllenhaal and Pena trained for five months with the LAPD for this movie. They would go on 12 hour ride alongs for up to three times a week. That is amazing commitment to their roles. They are able to portray a good look at the LAPD. And what they have to go through on a daily basis. The photographic look and feel to it is great too. These different styles used in the film only add to the intensity of the movie in every way possible.

Ayer wrote Training Day. Training Day is a good movie. End of Watch is a great movie in every way possible. Here we see his writing coexist with his vision and not someone else. He creates something so different, so brutal and so real and so engaging. It is an amazing work of filmmaking.

End of Watch should get consideration for best picture. The wiring flows like water. Not only is it gritty. But it has humor too. The actor is a tour de force. The craftsmanship is wonderful. So many other movies like this don't work. But this one avoids those pitfalls and goes into a world where the revolutionize the genre.