Movie Review Thread

Sorry for the triple post guys, but it takes more than 30 minutes to watch a movie I'm afraid...

The Three Musketeers (1993) - 53%
30: Minutes or Less - 64%
The Ides of March - 65%
Mission: Impossible II - 68%
Jurassic Park III - 68%
Pirates IV - 72%
Mr. Popper's Penguins - 72%
Star Wars: Episode I - 73%
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - 73%
-------------------------This is the "entertaining enough to recommend" line---------------------------
Fast Five - 75%
Contagion - 76%
Ironclad - 77%
Mission: Impossible - 78%
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - 78%
Tangled - 79%
Seven Pounds - 79%
A Little Romance - 79%
Eat, Pray, Love - 80%
The Beaver - 81%
50/50 - 81%
Thor - 82%
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 82%
Drive - 83%
Shutter Island - 85%
Mission: Impossible III - 86%
District 9 - 86%
Book of Eli - 87%
I am Legend - 87%
Super 8 - 88%
Zombieland - 89%
Jurassic Park - 90%
Chronicle - 90%
Moneyball - 92%
The Sting - 93%
Fight Club - 94%
The Help - 96%
The Tree of Lie - 98%

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A Little Romance (1979)
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Written by: Allan Burns (screenplay)
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, & Thelonius Bernard

After just finishing up The Sting I decided to take a stroll through another of George Roy Hill's films, and landed on a fun looking romantic comedy called "A Little Romance". What separates this from all the moronic Adam Sandler and/or Jennifer Aniston movies (besides a decent director and a legend like Laurence Olivier), is the focus on romance between two young children. How often do we see either a forgettable date-night comedy for adults, or barely passable Disney channel movie for the kids? It's rare, if at all, that we see a kid-oriented romance actually MADE for adults!

I'm pretty hit-and-miss when it comes to child actors. I used to outright hate them, figuring there was a reason old English plays used men to portrait both the women and children in their productions. But over time greats like the recent "Tree of Life" warmed my heart of stone, and I've given the kids a fighting chance. Diane Lane has made a pretty good name for herself in the film industry, despite never truly being a top-teir talent, so if you're interested to see where she first got started check this out! The other child actor, Thelonius Bernard, only ever did one more film before walking away from the industry. I don't want to see that was for the best - he truly wasn't terrible - but without Diane Lane and Laurence Olivier to back him up this movie would have tanked. Lane was charming, and almost adorable at times in her young role as Lauren King. Mr. Olivier was fantastic as usual, although this time around his character fell prone to a few rather...creepy moments.

Time hasn't been overly nice to this 1979 classic. There's already a slight culture barrier, being that "A Little Romance" was filmed in France, featured French actors, and had a lot of French culture mixed in. But overall it had a very western feel and if you gave it a chance it wasn't hard to adapt. Certain cheesy moments that almost took me out of the moment still remain though, and I think I would have liked this one a bit more if there wasn't 33 years of time between me and this film. Thelonius' character was an avid Western film buff who had an obsession with Robert Redford, so I did love the nods to past classics, including a few clips from the aforementioned "The Sting" thrown in, likely as winkey-face to the director. Overall, a fun piece of work with a couple laughs and some heart-felt scenes between two young kids in love. The plot is a bit far-fetched, but what romantic comedy isn't? Rating: 79%

Aside: I love that no matter what era a film takes place, there are still elements of classic motifs. How many times have we seen a movie centered around kids where all the adults involved are practically failures at raising kids, doing their jobs, or having an upstanding code of ethics? You see it in pretty much every kids show on television since the year 2000. If there's one thing modern TV shows want to push, it's that adults are stupid and have no idea what they're doing... Good to see some things have always been the same!

At least 90's kids shows taught us how to respect our parents... Boy Meets World anybody?
 
Cry, the beloved country(1995)
Director: Darell Roodt
Starring: James Earl Jones, and Richard Harris

This premises is what you would come to expect from anti-apartheid, but that's not a bad thing. It revolves around A father(Jones) searching for various family members in 1946 Johannesburg South Africa. He finds that his son is being tried for killing a white man, whom's father is the secondary character of the story. I think that James Earl Jones is awesome here with his majestic voice (Like with Mufasa in the Lion King). Harris here plays the emotional discomfort of loosing he son here very well and believable. There isn't as much action per say as other anti-apartheid films which causes it too move at a rather slower pace but it tells the story slightly better that way. It's a great film to check out if you are in the mood for a touching drama. 8/10

Puss in Boots(2011)
Director: Chris Miller
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Zack Galifianakis

I went into this film with absolutely horrible expectations. When speaking about the Shrek films that this movie is a spin-off from I loved the first 2 and despised the last 2. Naturally speaking from experience I wasn't depending on Dreamworks to churn out something better. Shockingly I had a ton of fun watching this. It's really different from Shrek as not only is the animation fantastic but it's actually an interesting story. Puss is awesome, however every other character at one point I get annoyed by especially Humpty Dumpty. There are some hilarious laughs as expected from a Dreamworks animation film. I also like how they portray the setting Spain, in the dessert rather than in the urban areas. A very fun movie to watch with your kids so it gets: 7/10

A Time to Kill(1996)
Director: Joel Shumacher
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, and Matthew McConaughey

This movie is about a rape in Mississippi that is racially motivated by White psycho looking guys, on a black girl. The father (Jackson) proceeds to murder them prior to a fair trial getting himself arrested, jailed, and put up for trial at the same time. This has to be one of my favorite ever, everything comes together to create this epic courtroom style feeling. There is emotions all over the place from everyone. Jackson and Bullock are terrific as usual. McConaughey is very calm but always says something smart where you need it. The involvement of the Klu Klux Klan brings it over the top a bit but it's enjoyable to see them fail for most of the movie. This will keep you on the edge of your feet I bet. 9/10
 
The Three Musketeers (1993) - 53%
30: Minutes or Less - 64%
The Ides of March - 65%
Mission: Impossible II - 68%
Jurassic Park III - 68%
Pirates IV - 72%
Mr. Popper's Penguins - 72%
Star Wars: Episode I - 73%
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - 73%
-------------------------This is the "entertaining enough to recommend" line---------------------------
Fast Five - 75%
Contagion - 76%
Ironclad - 77%
Mission: Impossible - 78%
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - 78%
Tangled - 79%
Seven Pounds - 79%
A Little Romance - 79%
Eat, Pray, Love - 80%
The Beaver - 81%
50/50 - 81%
Thor - 82%
The Change-Up - 82%
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 82%
Drive - 83%
Shutter Island - 85%
Mission: Impossible III - 86%
District 9 - 86%
Book of Eli - 87%
I am Legend - 87%
Super 8 - 88%
Zombieland - 89%
Jurassic Park - 90%
Chronicle - 90%
Moneyball - 92%
The Sting - 93%
Fight Club - 94%
The Help - 96%
The Tree of Lie - 98%

The Change-Up
Directed by: David Dobkin
Written by: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, & Olivia Wilde

Pleasantly surprised - moderately entertaining. Two phrases I think perfectly fit "The Change-Up", and those involved should be proud of what they've accomplished. They succeeded in putting together a fantastic crew of actors and actresses that played out their parts with excellent chemistry - much more than your average "dumb comedy" can say for itself. In fact it was the performances that brought this one about C-level for me ("see" what I did there?).

The plot is a basic one with a goofy twist thrown in to make it all come together: Mitch and Dave (Reynolds and Bateman, respectively) are two lifelong best friends on opposite ends of the life spectrum who, upon urinating in a "magic fountain" together after a night of heavy drinking, switch lives. The obvious "success/failure" dichotomy is ever-present here, and outside of the strange plot device the writers follow a pretty standard series of events. Mitch has to figure out how to be a big-shot lawyer a few days before the biggest deal in his firms' history goes down (of course...), while Dave finally gets the time to lay around, smoke some pot, and have sex with the girl of his dreams. Dave also has a wife, three children, and a slowly decaying marriage to bring to the table, adding in that family drama aspect that actually gives the story a bit more flavor than I had expected.

The secondary characters are all wonderful. Leslie Mann plays Dave's wife, and does a well-above-average job in the role. Olivia Wilde continues to impress me as she pays the secondary love interest (the aforementioned "girl of his dreams"), who also happens to work for Dave... Gregory Itzens's tertiary role as Dave's boss was just icing on the cake for me, as I happen to be a huge fan of his work in 24! I was also impressed that they were given time to get the story out there, as most "funnies" are rushed...or Adam Sandler runs out of recycled comedy devices and they have to call it short. The full 118 minutes allowed them to take their time, work a bit more on character development, and resulted in one of the better-produced comedies of our time.

The thing that almost tanked this film for me was that it seemed lost in its own genre. Normally with funny movies you end up with either a family comedy, an adult "dromedy", or a campy teenage train wreck. "The Change-Up" kind of dwells in each of these categories, sticking within the teenage-to-adult range for most of its time. At times it tries really hard to speak to the adult men with their families, full-time jobs, and kids. It speaks to those people who remember having a "fun" life at one point, but are now relegated to going to sleep early, changing diapers, and picking the kids up from soccer practice every evening. And when it does that...it's really good! Unfortunately, every few minutes it descends into that place where campy summer flicks like "American Pie" go to die... What we get is this incredibly well-done comedy with WAY too much vulgarity, an over-emphasis on sexuality, and a whole lot of big fake boobies. I want to say it's kind of a hybrid, but it turns out more like that creepy chimera from "Fullmetal Alchemist" instead... (+10 points to Gryffindor if you got that reference).

Rating: 82%

NOTE: The "Unrated" version of this movie contains a good amount of nudity. View at your own discretion, and please don't come complaining to me when your mom catches you going to town during Olivia Wilde's "side-boob" scene.
 
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012) 4/10- Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) struggles to cope with the tragic death of his father, Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks). Oskar’s dad was killed in the September 11th attacks, and he refuses to give his mother (Linda Schell) a chance as a single parent. Linda’s (Sandra Bullock) relationship with Oskar just gets worse as time goes on, but Oskar decides to go on a journey, that might cheer him up, and he could find the answers for a missing part of his father’s life. Oskar finds a single key in an envelope one day, and he is determined to find the original owner, but Oskar’s search for answers is filled with some painful setbacks.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close did receive a nice amount of Oscar buzz, and I wanted to give this one a try. This was a very tough rating for me, because I really didn’t know how to feel about this film at first. This film does provide some emotional moments, but I just can’t go with a favorable score here.

Thomas Horn could have a bright future in Hollywood, and he could become a recognizable face in Hollywood’s group of talented child actors and actresses. I was always on the fence with the Oskar character, but Horn did provide a believable performance, and he did give a nice effort here. Oskar was a young child, who had lost his father and his best friend. Also, Oskar could be a strange and awkward child, who didn’t want to fit in. Oskar’s eccentric personality could feel unique at times, but there were times, when the Oskar character drove me nuts. He could be so annoying, and his dreadful humor didn’t bring any laughs out of me. Yes. I know. This was a child, who struggled through a tough situation, but Oskar just reminded me of some hyper kid, who ate way too much sugar in one day. The Oskar character might suffer from a social anxiety disorder, so this could be the reason for his bizarre behavior. But they never confirmed this in the film, so either way, you really can’t be too sure. Oskar could be an annoying and disrespectful brat, but this character was able to provide some emotional moments in this film. Most of the time, Oskar drove me absolutely nuts, but there were times, where I could feel sympathy for him, because this character has to deal with a lot of emotional trauma here.

This film’s controversial subject matter has brought a lot of anger out of some critics. You really can’t ignore the 9/11 stuff here, because they reference the attacks throughout the entire film. You will see a CGI replica of the burning Twin Towers in this film, they do show real life news footage of 9/11 (the chaos in New York City, the collapse of the Towers, etc.), and September 11th is mentioned in every other scene. Also, the Oskar character constantly refers to 9/11 as “that bad day.” Sure, he doesn’t directly come out and say “the September 11th attacks” or “9/11,” but you still know what he’s talking about. A lot of people have mixed feelings on this, but I think Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close used 9/11 to pull some shock value reactions out of the audience. They tried to use the attacks to provide some emotional moments, and for me, this was the main distasteful flaw in this film. Slight references towards the tragedy is one thing, but I just got this “Hey don’t forget. This film is about 9/11” feeling throughout this one. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close consonantly reminds you of 9/11, and this did become very annoying after a while. It felt like they were trying to force a bunch of tears out of the audience, and I didn’t like this approach one bit.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tries to be this moving and emotional drama, but I just couldn’t get into this most of the time. There are some emotional moments in this film (mainly the scenes, where Bullock‘s character tries to bond with Oskar), but most of the time, everything just feels so forced. As I said before, it felt like they were trying to force tears from the audience, while everyone in the theater shared one giant group hug. Most of the sentimental stuff in this film felt so fake and unconvincing, and a lot of the drama really didn’t do anything for me. Also, the plot can feel confusing at times. Is Oskar trying to complete an extravagant and impossible scavenger hunt? Or is this film supposed to be about the troubles of two people (Linda and Oskar), as they struggle to move on in the aftermath of a tragedy? These two questions always popped in mind throughout this film, and I couldn’t find a clear answer to both of them. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close can feel so dull most of the time, and this film did not take me on an inspiring and emotional journey. I really can’t understand the favorable praises for this film, and I wish I would’ve skipped this one.

Sandra Bullock deserves a lot of credit, because she was fantastic here. She did provide a very convincing performance, and Max Von Sydow was excellent. Sydow portrayed Oskar’s silent companion, who wanted to help him during his search for the owner of the mysterious key. I could feel sympathy for this character, Sydow did a good job of showing some real emotions, he was very believable, and I don’t have a problem with his Oscar nomination. I wish I could’ve seen more of Tom Hanks (his character is only shown in flashbacks), but the majority of the cast was very enjoyable. Viola Davis’ role is pretty limited here, but she still delivered a solid performance.

Good acting prevented me from giving this one a lower score, but still, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a mediocre film at best, and I really can’t understand the Best Picture nomination for this. The Academy always makes some questionable decisions every year, but they snubbed 50/50, The Ides Of March, and Drive for this? Really??? I guess a lot of people were touched by the “strong and emotional journey” this film tried to offer, but I wasn’t one of them.

The Woman In Black (2012) 5/10- Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is a young lawyer, who is forced into a tough situation. His wife, Stella (Sophie Stuckey) died shortly after giving birth to their young son, Joesph (Misha Handley). Although, Kipps doesn’t have to raise Joesph alone, because he does receive some help from the nanny. But the overdue bills start piling up fast, Kipp’s job is in danger, and he needs to make more money. Arthur must leave Joesph behind for a short time, as he travels to another town to handle the estate of Alice Drablow. Arthur isn’t welcomed by the townspeople. They want him to leave, but Arthur decides to stay, because he NEEDS to keep his job. But Arthur might regret his decision soon enough, because Alice’s ghost begins to reek havoc. Arthur freaks out, as the old house begins to show signs of a haunting, and Kipps slowly learns about the mysterious legend of The Woman In Black. Alice’s (The Woman In Black) “son” died in a tragic accident years ago, and her ghost terrorizes the other kids in town. This is her way of seeking vengeance. The young children begin to die in a series of gruesome suicides, and the ghost of Alice could be the cause of the tragic deaths, that continue to plague the quiet little town. Arthur is running out of time. His son Joesph is traveling to meet him, but Arthur tries to stop his son’s arrival, because Joesph could be the next target of The Woman In Black.

I really tried to get into this, but for the most part, I just couldn’t. The scare tactics did become tiresome very quickly, and after a while, the spook moments really didn’t do anything for me. “Hey! Let’s just have The Woman In Black randomly appear out of nowhere, because it’ll be SCARY!” Well, this formula could’ve worked, but they really went overboard with the “surprise” appearances from the main ghost in this film. The first couple of appearances from The Woman In Black can provide a few jump scares, but the pattern of having her randomly appear, while screaming does become very predictable as time goes on. The Woman In Black quickly loses her shock value in this film, because you can clearly see her “unexpected” appearances coming from a mile away. “The Woman In Black should pop up out of nowhere. It’s going to happen any minute now…again.” This is the feeling I had halfway through the film, and the constant pop up appearances from The Woman In Black do become very annoying after a while. You’ll also see a bunch of dead children/ghosts, who appear out of nowhere, and these moments did bring a few facepalms out of me. The having “dead people stand around with emotionless looks on their faces” routine didn’t provide any scares for me. In fact, this routine just becomes boring after a while. Again, this sort of scare tactic loses its shock value QUICKLY, when you overdo it, and they did run this particular routine into the ground. For fuck’s sake, a group of flying pigeons provided a better and more unpredictable jump scare than the dead people/ghosts in this film, and that can’t be looked at as a good sign.

As this film progressed, The Woman In Black really couldn’t provide anymore scares for me, but this wasn’t a horrible film. The acting is pretty solid, and this film did feature some good tension at times. Also, Eel Marsh (the haunted house of The Woman In Black) did provide a creepy and chilling atmosphere. Eel Marsh did have this genuine spooky feeling, and the scenes that featured the haunted house could provide some nail biting moments. The Woman In Black isn’t anything to brag about, but this was a decent enough horror flick. They do show a little blood here, and you will see a few dead bodies, but overall, the gory stuff in this film is very tamed. Although, this was a PG-13 film, so you can’t expect a gruesome and bloody horror flick. This is not a memorable film by any means, and this one does have its dull moments, but you might enjoy this, if you lower expectation levels for anything good or great.

The Woman In Black does have a strong average feeling, but Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t bad as the lead man. His post Harry Potter career is in full swing, and this was an okay start for him. Radcliffe did give a good effort here, and he did provide a solid enough performance. Radcliffe is still very young, so he has plenty of time left. Most people will always think of the heroic young wizard, when they look at Radcliffe, and he could suffer an identity crisis for some time. But Radcliffe did receive a lot of exposure from the Potter films, and he is still young, so he does have plenty of time to emerge from Harry Potter’s shadow.
 
I'm liking the whole thing with putting a picture before the title pattern. ;) Excuse me for going with the flow.

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Oh this story tore at my heart. I had read the book years ago but I decided to watch the movie with my Sister since I've heard a lot about it being good and all. It made me cry like a baby. At first I wondered how they'd show things from Bruno's point of view as good as it was done in the book, but I was impressed. I soon found myself deeply attached with the characters. The story made me (rarely) smile at his innocence through my lame tears. I am quite the sentimental person but I know that it wasn't just me who was moved by the movie. Little details throughout the movie are accurate and it's actually a good movie to show to students learning about Nazi Germany in my opinion. It takes place during World War II and is about an eight year old boy named Bruno, the son of a commandant of a concentration camp, who develops a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy of his age who's imprisoned in the camp. The movie itself began with a wonderful quote -

“Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.” -John Betjemen.

Rating: 9.5/10
 
Joyful Noise (2012) 2/10- During the performance of a church choir from a small town, the choir director, Bernard Sparrow (Kris Kristofferson) suffers a sudden heart attack. Bernard dies shortly after the performance. Pastor Dale (Courtney B. Vance) chooses Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) as the new choir director, and this doesn’t sit well with Bernard’s widow, G.G. Sparrow (Dolly Parton). G.G. desperately wants the honor of becoming choir director, but Pastor Dale doesn’t approve of her hip and cool style. G.G. and Vi don’t get along at all, but they’ll have to put their differences aside. The “Joyful Noise” gospel choir competition is in full swing., and another loss could cause a lot of trouble for the town choir. The future of the choir is in serious jeopardy, and Pastor Dale will pull the plug, if the choir suffers another loss in the big competition. Entering the competition costs money, and the small town choir has built up a noticeable losing streak. Pastor Dale has lost faith in them, and constantly spending money on a losing effort is starting to hurt the church. G.G. and Vi must work together and put aside their differences, if they want to win the competition and save the choir‘s chances to compete in the future.

I couldn’t get into this at all. I really tried, but I quickly began to lose interest in this film. Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah did share some good chemistry, and their bitter rivalry throughout this film was very believable. Also, the musical performances are enjoyable, especially towards the end, but I just can’t give this film a positive score.

Keke Palmer (Olivia Hill) has always showed some promise as one of Hollywood’s young actresses, but she was very disappointing in this film. Her performance felt so contrived, and she just went through the motions the entire time. I’ll give Queen Latifah the credit she deserves here, because she did deliver a very dedicated and convincing performance in this film. Latifah was very believable as the strict and overbearing mother, and most of the time, she carried this film on her back. Dolly Parton was okay at best, but her rivalry with Latifah helped make her presence tolerable, because her acting didn’t help elevate this film in any way.

Queen Latifah and the musical performances are the only few highlights of this film, unfortunately. Overall, the acting is VERY mediocre, and the story is so dull. Joyful Noise is a very bland and predictable film, and this one painfully goes through the motions the entire time. The emotional moments do feel overwhelmingly cheesy. The sentimental and touching moments feel so forced, and I couldn’t buy into any of the “heartwarming” scenes in this film. Joyful Noise could’ve worked as a respectable feel-good family friendly film, but they really dropped the ball with this one.

Joyful Noise should’ve debuted on the Lifetime or Hallmark channel, VH1, or ABC Family (yeah, it’s not even worthy of the main network), because this film didn’t deserve a run in theaters at all.

Also, Dolly Parton needs to lay off the plastic surgery. I know this might sound mean and cruel, but most of the time, I couldn’t stand to look at her. I’m sorry, but this woman’s face is just hideous in every way. Parton’s character actually tries to poke fun at her real life cosmetic surgeries. "Who cares if I've had a few nips and tucks? God didn't make plastic surgeons so they could starve!." She actually said this during an argument with the Vi Rose character, and I couldn’t laugh. Parton’s attempt to make fun of her plastic surgeries just brought this “Wow. You can’t be serious.” reaction out of me. Parton looks like a mangled wax figure. Her tits didn’t help take the focus off of her face, and they couldn’t cause the much needed distraction for me. Please lay off the surgeries, Dolly, because the constant procedures really aren’t helping anymore.

Breakdown (1997) 7/10- Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are taking a trip to San Diego. Everything is calm at first, as they drive across a deserted highway, but a near collision with the angry driver of a pickup truck changes everything. After a brief stop and a nasty encounter with the driver of the pickup truck, Jeff and Amy decide to get back on the road, but their car quickly shuts off. Jeff and Amy are seemingly stranded in the middle of nowhere, but a truck driver offers some help. Red Barr (J.T. Walsh) gives Jeff’s wife a ride to a local diner, and at first, Red seems like a nice and harmless guy, who wanted to lend a helping hand. Amy leaves with Red to call for help, but shortly after his wife’s departure, Jeff makes a startling discovery: someone intentionally rigged his car. Jeff fixes the problem quickly, but his troubles are far from over. Amy has gone missing, and for Jeff, finding a helping hand won’t be so easy.

I have always LOVED this film, and I can still remember seeing this one in theaters for the first time as a kid. Breakdown has always been one of my favorite thrillers, I’m a big Kurt Russell fan, and I can always watch this one over and over again.

Jeff and Amy are two characters, who you can really care about. At first, they’re just two innocent travelers, who stumble into a life threatening situation, and Jeff has to fight impossible odds, if he wants to stay alive and rescue his wife from danger. I always root for these characters to survive, when I watch this film, and Kurt Russell does a fine job with the lead role. He did deliver a very believable performance in this film, and the Jeff character does have his moments as a bad ass. Jeff is forced to rise to the challenge of fighting the kidnappers, his manhood is tested throughout this film, and Russell really did bring life to his character. Also, the antagonists in this film do provide some believable feelings of anger. The kidnappers are these lowlife and cold-hearted scumbags, who will stop at nothing to put Kurt Russell through hell. The performances from J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy, and Ritch Brinkley helped take everything to the next level, and you can truly despise the bad guys in this film.

Breakdown might feature a familiar story, and the plot might feel kind of ordinary and predictable, but this can still be a very enjoyable suspense/thriller. This film features some good acting, and the constant twist and turns will keep you guessing until the very end. Breakdown is a crafty thriller, that features some excellent tension, and the final moments are packed with suspense and action. This film has always been one of my favorites. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen this one, but Breakdown can always entertain me.
 
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The Pianist

Superb biographical movie of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish Jewish Pianist who struggled to survive in and out of the Warsaw Ghetto of the Second World War. According to IMDb, the film has won 3 Oscars, another 47 wins and 43 nominations and totally deserved it. It's honestly worth the watch. The only issue I faced was that the German conversations that went back and forth throughout the movie had no subtitles and got me a little lost. But it wasn't that hard to understand what was going on. Honourable mentions go to those good looking Nazi soldiers. :p

Rating: 9.5/10
 
Man On A Ledge (2012) 3/10- Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an ex-policeman, who is looking for justice, and he will do anything to clear his name. Nick was framed for a crime he didn’t commit. David Englander (Ed Harris) is the wealthy and ruthless businessman, who set him up. Financially, Englander had fallen on hard times, he wanted more money, and he didn’t want to lose his powerful and respected image. Englander hatched a plan to steal his own $40 million diamond, because Englander could easily return to prominence, once he collected the insurance money. Unfortunately, Nick was chosen as the fall guy. Nick’s career and reputation were ruined. He became the disgraced cop, who nobody wanted to trust. But one day, Nick managed to escape police custody during his father’s “funeral.” Nick has become a fugitive on the run, and Nick only has a select few allies that are trustworthy.

Nick didn’t have any luck in courts, so he comes up with a plan of his own. Nick decides to create a massive diversion, as he teases a suicide jump, while standing on the ledge of a hotel. Meanwhile, his brother, Joey (Jamie Bell) and his girlfriend, Angie (Génesis Rodríguez) break into Englander’s jewelry vault across the street. Angie and Joey try to steal the “stolen” diamond, but finding it won’t be easy, because Englander went through extraordinary measures to conceal his prized possession. While on the ledge, Nick desperately tries to gain the trust of Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks). Lydia is a troubled negotiator, but she could be Nick’s only hope. Angie and Joey must steal the $40 million diamond, if they want to clear Nick’s name, and falirue is not an option, because this is Nick’s last shot at freedom.

I wanted to get into this, but Man On Ledge really did disappointment me. I wasn’t expecting anything great here, but I thought Man On Ledge could be a solid suspense/thriller. Well, I was wrong.

Suspension of disbelief is something you must have before you prepare to watch certain films. “Well, this IS a movie, so I guess anything could happen.” This is the mentality most of us have, when we see something ridiculously over the top on-screen (wild car chases, presumed dead characters, who come back to life, flashy final showdowns between the main characters, etc.) Well, I tried to have this mentality with Man On A Ledge, but they pushed everything way past the limit.

I actually laughed out loud a few times, as Angie and Joey tried to steal the precious 40$ diamond. Engladner is supposed to have this state of the art security system, and nobody should have a realistic shot of breaking into his concealed jewelery vault. Yeah, I get it. Angie and Joey are supposed to be these highly skilled and crafty thieves, they’ve studied Englander’s vault, and they know how to work around the advanced and elaborate security systems. Still, I couldn’t feel the tension during the robbery scenes at the jewelry vault, because I couldn’t buy into the elaborate heist. At one point in the film, Joey actually covers himself in a white sheet, while gliding across a skateboard. Joey needed to sneak past the cameras without being seen, and this was his best plan. I wanted to facepalm during this scene, but the ridiculous and unbelievable material didn’t stop here. Joey and Angie needed to sneak past a bunch of heat sensors, so they decide to spray them with a fire extinguisher. Joey sprays the heat sensors, and the happy couple runs past the last set of hurdles before they reach the grand prize (Engladner’s jewelry room).

I’m sorry, but the scenes that involved Angie and Joey just felt so far fetched and unrealistic, and I couldn’t loose myself in this particular fantasy world. Englander’s vault is supposed to have one of THE most high tech security systems around, and Angie and Joey are able to break through it with a few strokes of luck? Please. Also, I can’t forget about Sam Worthington’s “leap of faith.”

Towards the end of the film, Nick has ran out of options, and Englader has regained his precious diamond. Nick needs to retrieve the diamond, if he wants to regain his freedom, so he decides to leap off of the hotel building. Nick actually runs across a different ledge on the hotel, and he miraculously lands on an air mattress, that was set up by police earlier in the film. Nick fights his way through a large crowd of people and police, but the cops eventually catch up to him. Engladner begins to taunt Nick, but Nick’s chances of freedom are still alive, because he receives help from a crazy homeless man? That’s right, a crazy homeless man, who is shown throughout the film helps Nick, and Nick eventually grabs the diamond from Englander. Nick clears his name, and he becomes a free man again.

Yeah, I wish I could’ve made that whole story up, but this actually happens in the film. Worthington’s character takes this impossible leap off of the hotel building, and he PERFECTLY lands on the air mattress. The jump on to the air mattress was bad enough, but they took everything to another level, when they decided to give Nick an assist from the unknown and crazy homeless man.
Having suspension of disbelief is one thing, but everything will start to feel ridiculous and silly, when you decide to push the envelope too far, and Man On A Ledge really didn’t have any limits, when it came to unrealistic and far fetched plotlines.

Solid acting saved this one from a lower score, because the majority of the cast did deliver some very solid performances here. I’m not a fan of Sam Worthington, but he was believable, as the man, who desperately wanted one last chance, and I really wanted to feel for his character. And Ed Harris was just excellent as the main antagonist in this film. Englander was the cold and ruthless businessman, who was willing to do anything to stay on top, and Harris did provide the necessary convincing performance. Elizabeth Banks and Jamie Bell also deserve a good amount of credit for the solid acting in this film. Anthony Mackie was another nice addition to the cast, and he was able to provide a decent performance. As far as Génesis Rodríguez goes, It’s hard for me to say anything positive about her. Rodríguez was able to shed a few tears here, but overall her acting really didn’t help elevate this film at all, and she was just eye candy for the most part. Hopefully, she’ll do better in Casa de Mi Padre.

I thought Eagle Eye was the most far fetched suspense/thriller I’ve seen over the past couple of years, but I was wrong. Man On A Ledge is a preposterous suspense/thriller, and I just couldn’t take this film seriously most of the time. This film painfully goes through the motions the entire time, and I always believed Worthington’s character would get the last laugh here. The lame swerves didn’t fool me at all, and the laughable conclusion for this film was just awful. “Hey let’s see how many ticks we can pull out of are asses! The audience probably won’t care or notice, because after all, this is a movie!” This had to be the mentality of the writers, directors, and producers for this film. As I said before, they really took advantage of the “this is suppose to be a fantasy world” stuff. The very solid acting really is the only real highlight of this film, but I was expecting more excitement from this one. This was supposed to be a suspense/thriller, but Man On A Ledge can feel very boring most of the time.

Sam Worthington should desperately cling to his one hit wonder fame from Avatar, because he isn’t the type of guy, who can carry a film on his back, as the lead man. He just doesn’t have that attraction as a true lead star in Hollywood. He couldn’t stand out in Clash Of Titans, he had a lot of help from Christian Bale in Terminator: Salvation, and he couldn’t carry Man On A Ledge as the leading actor, because he did have a good amount of help (Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell, Titus Welliver, Edward Burns) in this film.

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (2012) 3/10- Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is still trying to fight the dangerous curse of the Ghost Rider. Blaze is constantly moving from one place to the next, and for him, living a normal life isn’t an option. But a mysterious man named Moreau (Idris Elba) could have the answers to his problem. Moreau can help lift the curse, but Blaze must use his powers to help him, if he wants his freedom. Danny (Fergus Riordan) is the Devil’s son, and Roarke/The Devil (Ciarán Hinds) needs him to complete a ritual. This ritual will enhance Roarke’s powers, and if this ritual is completed, The Devil could become unstoppable. Danny has been kidnapped, and his mother, Nadya (Violante Placido) needs help, if she wants to retrieve her son. Blaze has one shot at lifting the curse. He must save Danny from Roarke, and return him to his mother, or the curse of The Rider will stay with him forever.

Ghost Rider (2007) was horrendous. It was an awful film, and I was expecting something better from the sequel. Well, Spirit Of Vengeance is better, but still, it’s nothing to brag about.

The horrible CGI effects really bothered me in the first film. The CGI effects in the 2007 version were atrocious, and the Ghost Rider was just laughable most of the time. He didn’t inspire fear, and he didn’t provide an intimidating presence. Seriously, I shouldn’t laugh at a man with a flaming skull and superpowers, but the Ghost Rider from the 2007 version provided way too many unintentionally funny moments for me. Also, his cheesy sinister laugh and his weird voice made everything much worse. But they did make some improvements in the CGI department for this film. The Ghost Rider did look like a dangerous and unstoppable force, and for the most part, Cage could look pretty intimidating, during his scenes as The Rider.

The Ghost Rider is supposed to be a bad ass, and I’m sure everyone in the audience can see this. After all, The Rider has a skull, that’s always on fire, and he’s pretty much invincible. The Rider is a destructive and frightening force, but The Rider just dominates his opponents throughout this film, and the constant beatdowns did feel tiresome after a while. The Rider rarely faces any true challenges in this film, and you have to watch Nicolas Cage constantly tear through the bad guys, with chains wrapped in flames, possessed vehicles, and his fire breathing barrage of bullets. You might enjoy Cage’s path of destruction in this film, but the constant beatdowns just started to bore me after a while.

And I can’t forget about Nicolas Cage’s performance. Look, I know Blaze is supposed to lose his mind here. After all, he does have powerful and angry force inside of him, and The Rider can pop out at any moment. It’s a tremendous burden to live with, obviously. But Cage could’ve toned down the “psycho guy, who could snap at any moment” persona. Most of the time, Cage’s performance was so over the top. He wasn’t funny, and he wasn’t intimidating. Cage just looked like a guy, who needed some serious psychiatric help and medication. “The Rider could come out any minute! So don’t mess with me, because bad things will happen!” This was the thought process of Cage’s character throughout the film. His wild tirades do become annoying VERY fast, and I was just waiting for Cage’s transformations to happen, because once he became The Rider, he wouldn’t have to talk so much. Cage’s crazy guy act was painful to watch in this film, and he almost killed the Ghost Rider character for me.

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance features a better supporting cast, and there is a noticeable upgrade in the acting department. The CGI effects improved a lot, and unlike most people, there were times, when I actually enjoyed the directing in this film. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor did provide a thrilling and fast paced experience during the action scenes, but they’re directing couldn’t save this one. Spirit Of Vengeance features some very cheesy dialogue, the numerous attempts at providing humor didn’t make me laugh at all, and the comedy in this film is just dreadful. Also, Spirit Of Vengeance does feature a few entertaining action scenes, but most of the time, this film can feel so boring and bland. I’ve picked a few bad movies this year, and I've made some horrible choices, but Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance is near the top of my “mistakes” list for 2012.

I was prepared to go with a zero, but the 3D effects did deliver, and I really enjoyed the supporting cast. Also, Neveldine and Taylor did give a good effort on the directing side of things, and some of the action scenes are enjoyable. Still, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance is a pretty bad film. Although, this one was doomed from the start. Ghost Rider (2007) was such a massive piece of trash, the chances for some redemption were almost impossible, and the embarrassing box office numbers for this film’s opening weekend prove this. A lot of people haven’t forgotten about the awful 2007 version, and who could blame them? It really was a bad film, and Spirit Of Vengeance didn’t have any realistic chances for a successful run at the box office. Spirit Of Vengeance could’ve been the perfect action/fantasy film, and moviegoers would still avoid this one. The original film has ruined any chances for a successful Ghost Rider film series, and this should be the end of the Ghost Rider franchise. But anything can happen in Hollywood, unfortunately.
 
First review on here so thought I'd go with the film I last watched. And ohhhhh dear that was an error...

The Green Lantern (2011)

Upon it's release I held very little confidence in this film from what I'd read about it. It seemed there was very little positive about it to look forward to. And thats a shame, as Lantern is a character I've always been intrigued in. It also had a bit of a tall order coming out, as it was being released into a period dominated by Marvel (and Marvel-related) titles; X-Men First Class, Thor and Captain America. Tall order.

Plot: Basic plot; An imprisoned Alien, Parallax, escapes and tracks down Abin Sur, the Lantern that imprisoned him. Upon being fatally wounded, Sur sends his power ring to find a successor, leading to Hal Jordan becoming the first human Green Lantern, and becomes the only person that can stop Parallax from destroying the Earth. The Lanterns are a space-police-of-sorts.
The basic premise of the film isn't bad. In fact, it's fairly safe and quite good. Excpet for one main thing. Hal Jordan is meant to be fearless. Not very brave, but actually fearless. That's the quality that sets him apart from other humans and makes him the choice of the Ring (Any Lantern experts feel free to correct me; I'm not an expert on this). For most of his tenure as Lantern, he admits how afraid he is and is mocked by the other Lanterns. And by just being brave, he suddenly has the power to overcome what other, more experienced Lanterns (in multiple numbers) couldn't. Seriously, John Cena hasn't got shit on this guy.
Also, the inclusion of the Yellow ring of fear...why? I get that it ties in with Parallax, and I get that the Lanterns need a weapon before Hal saves the day, and I understand that it's in the comics somewhere but it serves no purpose other than the mid-credits scene (I'll get to that soon). It just seems to be there for no reason, and doesn't really do much for the film.
Rating: A generous 5/10

Performance: Ryan Reynolds. I like him. He's funny. He is/would be PERFECT as Deadpool if the ever get round to making it. But as Hal Jordan? Everytime he was on screen, I forgot the main characters name and referred to him as Ryan. To me, that is a huge problem in a film, and a failure in characterization. Reynolds never grabbed my attention as the leading hero, not once. He did the best he could, of that I'm sure, but the lacklustre script did him no favours whatsoever. Mark Strong did an okay job as Sinestro, but again, all he could do was the best with what he had. And what he had wasn't any good. Peter Sarsgaard is the other bad guy, Hector Hammond, and I can't find anything positive to say about his performance. Every time I saw him on screen it felt dull and monotenous, and drained all life out of whatever little energy there was. Other than these three, the rest of the cast is forgettable at best, and doesn't support Reynolds anywhere nearly enough, and he can't hold this film together on his own.
Rating: 5/10 (mostly for Reynolds)

The Script: Clunky and unengaging dialogue, a piss-poor final fight with the bad guy, and a mid credit scene (yeah, fuck you Marvel) that made ZERO sense in context of the film. Not only is it a blatant rip-off of what Marvel have done with their films, but it makes no sense as to what happens in the film, other than to a. accomodate an equally all-but-useless plot point, and 2. to set up a sequel that could easily never happen.
Then there are some of the ideas that just make me want to break my laptop. Now, I get that Lanterns use their imagination and willpower to fight, but...HE BUILDS A FUCKING RACETRACK. I can live with a sword, I can live with a gattling gun, I can even tolerate the planes (edit: no I can't) but...a racetrack??? Well, at least it's creative...But seriously, whoever wrote that in deserves to be shot. Stupidest idea ever. (apologies for the rant.)
The first half an hour of the film, before Jordan gets the ring, isn't bad. I can't say it's good, but it's bearable, with a dash of humour. But after that, other than the small in-joke at Nolan's Batman's ability to maintain his identity via a mask and a growly voice, it just falls flat and lets the film down BIGSTYLE.
Rating: 4/10

Visually: The primary visual aspect of this film was, of course, the Special Effects. My main concern was that they were using CGI for the suit, but, actually, I came around to it as I was watching it. It's far from perfect but seeing as the suit is manifested from the ring, it makes sense that it doesn't look entirely real. To be perfectly honest, the look of the film is probably the best thing about it; it did look pretty, though a lot of the other Lanterns (far too many, in fact) looked like crosses between fish and birds. I'm willing to look past this. But even here, the SFX weren't anything special, which is a real shame considering they played a prominent role in so much.
Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: I don't hate this film because it's a bad film. I don't hate it because it let me down. I don't even really hate it as a film; it's what it does that I hold disdain for. The problem is, I don't care about it. Take a universally recognised terrible film, like Batman and Robin from the 90's. I know it's terrible, but it's so bad, it's a guilty pleasure, and I can enjoy it, and subsequently care about it. Green Lantern is not a terrible film like that. It's bad, but it's plainly average, and very forgettable in all areas. And because of that, it fails to make me invest emotionally into it, and for a film, that is one of the worst crimes of all.

Final Rating: 19/40
 
Big Miracle (2012) 6/10- This story takes place in 1988. Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) is a struggling TV news reporter from a small town in Alaska, and he’s looking for a big story to jump start his career. Adam reluctantly agrees to help a young friend one day, and he accidentally finds the big story he’s been looking for. Three California grey whales are trapped underneath the ice of the Arctic Circle. Adam’s big break quickly gains international attention, and dozens of news stations flock to the small town to cover the story. Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore) is a fearless and passionate environmental activist, who helps lead the rescue mission for the whales. She’s also Adam’s ex-girlfriend, and there’s still some bad blood between these two. Adam‘s news career slowly starts to take off, and he quickly joins forces with a more successful news reporter. Jill Jerard (Kristen Bell) does have a nice amount of popularity, Adam has a huge crush on her, so he’s more than willing to form a team with Jerard. Rescuing the whales should be the main priority, but Rachel is the only one, who remains focused and determined, and she will do anything for the safety of the whales. But the massive amount of publicity brings a lot of unwanted attention from politicians, who have their own personal agendas, a shady oil executive, and Jill will stop at nothing to further her own career. Everyone wants to capitalize off of the whales, but time is running it out, as the ice continues to harden and freeze over, and the massive thick wall of ice, that blocks their path to freedom must be cleared. The rescue efforts from the US National Guard fail, but will the US accept some last minute help from Russia?

Big Miracle is very predictable, and this film just goes through the motions the entire time, but still, I enjoyed this one. Big Miracle does feature some genuine heartwarming moments, and the entire cast did provide some very believable performances. Also, Big Miracle didn’t go too over the top with the sappy stuff, and I really did enjoy this approach. They didn’t try to force the drama in this film, and I never got the “This is just wayyyy too cheesy” feeling.

Big Miracle might have a strong simplistic feel to it, but this can still be a very satisfying, feel-good family friendly film. The acting is solid, Big Miracle features some very likeable characters, who you can root for, and Drew Barrymore did deliver a dedicated performance. She did put a good amount effort into her character, you can really see it, and she was very convincing here. Also, this film does feature some good humor. Rob Riggle and Michael Gaston were hilarious, and Big Miracle did provide plenty of laughs for me. Big Miracle doesn’t set the bar for family friendly dramas, but this wasn’t a bad film at all, and I really did enjoy this one.

One For The Money (2012) 1/10- Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) has fallen on hard times. She can’t find a job, she’s almost out of money, and her fancy sports car has been repossessed. Stephanie doesn’t want to be forced into a situation, where she might have to move back in with her parents, so she needs to find a job, and she needs to find one fast.

With no other available options to choose from, Stephanie turns to her cousin Vinnie (Patrick Fischler). Vinnie is the boss/owner of a bail bonds operation, but he doesn’t want to hire Stephanie at first. Vinnie only wants tough bounty hunters, who can hold their own in the most dangerous situations. Stephanie isn’t too bright, and she really isn’t qualified for the position at all. But Stephanie eventually blackmails her way into a job, and she has her eyes on the big prize. Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara) is an ex-cop, and Stephanie could earn a $50,000 paycheck, if she brings him in. Stephanie doesn’t have any experience in bounty hunting, but she does receive some help from Ranger (Daniel Sunjata), the only true expert bounty hunter in this film. Stephanie needs the money, and she is more than determined to capture Morelli, because she still has some bitter feelings towards her ex-boyfriend. During her high school years, Morelli seduced Stephanie, took her virginity, and quickly dumped her afterwards. Stephanie is still pissed, and she won’t let anyone get in her way, as she tries to capture her ticket for a new life.

Well, Katherine Heigl was the star of this film, so I guess I couldn’t expect anything good or decent. Heigl was awful as usual, but One For The Money is just a bad film overall.

First of all, One For The Money is supposed to be a COMEDY, but I couldn’t laugh at all. The humor in this film is just dreadful, and the barrage of corny jokes almost gave me a headache. I really did try, but I just couldn’t laugh at anything in this film. The humor felt so forced, and the highly annoying characters didn’t help anything.

And then there’s Katherine Heigl. I’m not a fan of this woman at all, and this is no secret. She is a terrible actress, and she always portrays the same type of character in all of her films (the annoying, pompous, stuck up, self-centered, pretentious bitch). Heigl has starred in some very bad romantic comedies over the years, but she still receives a good amount of work every year. She’s been the leading lady in a handful of mainstream films, but for some asinine reason, Hollywood refuses to pull the plug on her. Heigl CAN’T ACT, she’s not funny, and she has to have one of the most annoying on-screen personas I’ve seen in years.

The Stephanie Plum character does have the backstory of someone, who you would want to feel for. She lost her job, she’s facing some hard times, and she seems like an innocent person, who wanted a chance. But I lost any sort of sympathy for Stephanie pretty quickly. Stephanie is a real klutz throughout this film. She constantly puts other peoples lives in danger, and she is somewhat responsible for one man’s death. They wanted Stephanie to be the loveable screw-up, who you could root for, but for the most part, I despised this character. Of course, Heigl just made everything worse. She delivers the same type of persona, that you will see in her terrible romantic comedies, and Heigl‘s brown hair is the only real change you‘ll see in this film. Heigl really doesn’t have any range at all, she’s not funny, and her performance really drags this film down a lot.

They tried to throw in a shocking surprise at the very end, but I had already given up on One For The Money at this point……

Jimmy Alpha (John Leguizamo) is the real murderer, but Joe Morelli was suppose to take the fall. Alpha is the owner of an MMA/boxing gym, and he’s about to kill the only two people, who could connect him to the murder (Stephanie and Joe). But Stephanie manages to kill Alpha with a series of gunshots, and Morelli becomes a free man. Still, Stephanie needs the money, so she decides to capture Morelli. She turns him into the police, and Stephanie collects her $50,000 payday.

Umm, yeah, this might’ve worked for some people, but One For The Money had already pissed me off enough, and I didn’t care about the attempted jaw-dropping surprise. I just wanted this to be over, and for me, nothing could save this film. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Jack Nicholson could’ve all made surprise cameos at the same time, and I still would’ve hated this film. Leguizamo did do a good job with his character, and this surprise did feel unexpected, but this particular shocking effort at the end did have this strong “too little, too late” feeling.
One For The Money should be an early contender for one of the worst films in 2012, because this was a complete train wreck. One For The Money couldn’t provide any laughs for me, and there are way too many annoying characters in this film. The majority of the characters in this film did bring legit feelings of anger out of me, and I felt like punching a hole through something most of the time.

Katherine Heigl will probably receive more starring roles in the future, but one day, I’m hoping the powers that be in Hollywood will realize this woman truly has no talent at all. One For The Money has been a box office flop so far, so Heigl’s reign of terror might come to an end soon enough.
 
The Artist (2011) 9/10- George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a popular star in the silent film era. George is on top of the world, and he takes some time to help a persistent and determined up-and-comer. Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) begins to rise as an actress, but George’s career takes a turn for the worst. Sound has come into play, but George still clings on to the past, and he refuses to give into the new era in Hollywood. Peppy slowly gains a nice amount of fame, but George won’t give into films that feature sound. The silent film era slowly fades away, and George’s life is caught in a downward spiral, as he begins to lose everything.

I had some high hopes for The Artist, but could this film live up to the hype? This was the big question on my mind, because this film has received tons of praise, and The Artist did rack up a nice amount of Oscar nominations. Well, this one did surprise me, and I really enjoyed The Artist.

The Artist does a wonderful job of paying tribute to the silent film era, because everything felt so authentic here. The actors and actresses don’t say anything for the majority of the film, and for the most part, you won’t hear any dialogue, but they still managed to tell a compelling story without words. The entire cast was just excellent, but Jean Dujardin and Bejo stood out among the rest. Dujardin was excellent, but Bejo was able to deliver a very enjoyable performance, and she did provide a charming presence for her character.

The Artist does feature some nice humor, and I could believe in the drama. I wanted to feel for Dujardin’s character, when he finally hit rock bottom, but Peppy‘s rise to the top does provide some joyous moments. The Artist features an emotional rise and fall experience, Bejo and Dujardin were very believable, and I wanted to care about their characters. The Artist does feature some impressive visuals, the acting is just superb, and Michael Hazanavicius was able to provide the magical touch with his directing, because he really did capture the essence of the silent film era. The Artist can feel so refreshing, and this film did give me a break from the usual Hollywood production. I didn’t have to worry about a formulaic and predictable screenplay, flashy and unnecessary special effects, and 3D wasn’t shoved down my throat. The Artist is an old school treat, that can please anyone, who loves movies, and this film did provide a memorable experience for me.

I wasn’t sure about The Artist’s nomination for Best Picture at first, but I wouldn’t have a big problem, if this film won the big prize at the Academy Awards. The Artist is a well made film, and I really can’t think of any true flaws for this one. The Artist wouldn’t be a bad choice for Best Picture, and it would be a real travesty, if Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close won. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close doesn’t deserve a Best Picture nomination at all. It’s a mediocre film at best, but this one has become a sentimental favorite for some critics. The Artist wouldn’t upset me as the Best Picture winner, but I really hope this award won’t go to Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Please, anything but that.

Contraband (2012) 5/10- Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) was a crafty smuggler, but Chris eventually left the “life” behind him. He decided to become a family man, who installs security alarms. He married Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and they have two children together. Chris enjoys his quiet and calm life, but Kate’s brother, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) changes everything. Andy tries to smuggle drugs for Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi). Briggs is a dangerous gangster, and Andy is supposed to deliver the drugs without any problems. But Andy runs into some trouble (a surprise inspection by US customs) during the drug run. Andy doesn’t want to go to jail, so he decides to dump the drugs in the water. Briggs gives Andy a deadline, and Andy is forced to pay up, because Briggs will kill him, if he doesn’t receive the payment. Chris must do one more job as a smuggler to save Andy, but his wife and his two sons quickly become targets, and Briggs won’t hesitate to pull the trigger, if he doesn’t receive his money on time.

Ugh, I am so tired of the “I have to do one last job” storyline. It’s been done to death, I’ve seen it in so many other Hollywood crime/action thrillers, and the story ALWAYS goes through the same motions: The main character must do one last job to save someone else, something ALWAYS goes wrong during the “job,” the main character is forced back into his illegal and risky lifestyle, the main character must clean up the mess, and eventually, they return to their normal life. I usually despise action/thrillers, that feature this storyline. The entire movie will feel incredibly tiresome, because as I said before, this same type of storyline has been done to death. Well, Contraband does follow this pattern, and the lame swerves in the “I have to do one last job” story didn’t fool me at all, but still, Contraband wasn't a horrible film.

Yeah, this film features a formulaic story, this one just goes through the motions the entire time, and everything feels so predictable, but Contraband is a decent enough action/thriller. The action scenes are very enjoyable, and the story does move at a nice pace. The acting is solid, and the overall cast did give a good effort, but Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi were the stand out stars here. Wahlberg and Ribisi did provide the two most enjoyable performances, and they were very convincing throughout this film. Contraband isn’t anything to remember. I could see the “happy ending” coming from a mile away, and this one will land on a long list of forgettable films this year, but Contraband does provide some entertainment every now and then. This isn’t the best Mark Wahlberg film. Hell, it doesn’t deserve a spot in his top ten, but Contraband does deliver as the standard Hollywood action thriller. Although, don’t expect anything epic or mind-blowing, because you will be very disappointed.
 
A Dangerous Method (2011) 8/10- Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology, wants to cure a troubled patient. Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) could be Carl’s greatest challenge, but during their therapy sessions, Carl begins to develop feelings for Sabina. Meanwhile, Carl forms a relationship with Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Freud and Jung eventually form a bond, but Carl is a married man. His affair with Sabina breaks too many moral and ethical barriers. His friendship with Freud begins to crumble, and the affair could destroy his marriage.

The subject matter for this film might be too dry for some people, and the lengthy conversations about philosophy might bore you to tears, but I loved A Dangerous Method. I enjoyed the philosophical duels between Mortensen, Fassbender, and Knightley, and most of the time, this could be a very thought provoking film. Also, this film does features some high quality acting. The performances from Knightley, Mortensen, and Fassbender were just excellent, and the rest of the supporting cast was very solid. A Dangerous Method is an engaging drama, that features an emotional and heartbreaking love story. A Dangerous Method is a very intriguing historical fiction film, and this one is high up on my list of underrated films in 2011.

The acting in this film was great, but Keira Knightley really did steal the show here. Knightley’s passionate and dedicated performance can provide some genuine uncomfortable feelings, and Knightley was very believable, as this disturbed and mentally ill person, who needed some serious help. But Knightley’s character did change after the numerous therapy sessions with Freud and Jung, and Knightley was able to pull off the civil and cured side of her character with ease. For me, Knightley’s performance was the major highlight of this film, but you probably won’t have any sort of middle ground, when it comes to judging Knightley’s performance, if you decide to watch this film. You might enjoy Knightley’s passion and intensity, and her incredible transformation was something to admire, or Knightley’s performance could give you that “Whoa! This lady is trying wayyy too hard!” feeling. A lot of the critics have pulled the “too over the top” card for Knightley’s performance in this film, but I loved every second of her presence in A Dangerous Method. Knightley deserved an Oscar nomination for her performance in this film, and the Academy should’ve made some room for her this year. Meryl Streep is a legend, but The Iron Lady wasn’t something to remember.

On a side note, if you’re a fan of Vincent Cassel, don’t expect anything great from him in this film. Cassel does a fine job with the acting, but his character really doesn’t receive too much screen time, and he’s regulated to cameo appearance status here. Although, the story does revolve around Knightley, Mortensen, and Fassbender. Their characters receive 90% of the spotlight in this film, so Cassel’s character really didn’t have the necessary amount of time to fit into the story and have a meaningful part.

This Means War (2012) 3/10- FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck Henson (Tom Hardy) are best friends, and both men work together, as highly skilled and dangerous CIA agents. Henson and FDR are sent to Hong Kong on a mission, because they must stop a powerful and feared international criminal. Heinrich (Til Schweiger) wants to acquire a deadly weapon of mass destruction, and after a secret meeting at a party, he almost walks away with the powerful weapon. But Henson and Foster spring into action, and Heinrich loses his deadly weapon. Henson and Foster derail Heinrich’s sinister plans, the weapon of mass destruction won’t cause any damage, but during the chaos, Heinrich’s brother, Jonas dies. Heinrich blames the death of his brother on Henson and Foster. He wants revenge in the worst way, and Heinrich will stop at nothing to kill Henson and Foster.

Foster and Henson eventually return to the US, but Heinrich isn’t their main focus anymore. Both men are infatuated with Lauren Scott (Reese Witherspoon), but Lauren begins to date both men at the same time, and this causes some obvious problems. Lauren is a perky product testing executive, who wants to give up on dating, but Tuck and FDR change everything. Neither man is willing to back down, and both agents are willing to fight for Lauren, as they engage in a deadly “Who’s the better man?” battle.

Ugh, I really wanted to like this film, but I can’t give This Means War a positive score. Hardy and Pine do form a very likeable duo, and Reese Witherspoon does provide an enjoyable performance, but This Means War fails miserably as a romantic action comedy film.

This Means War tries to be one of those awfully good movies, that are fun to watch, but there’s one huge problem: This Means War IS awful, but for the most part, this film is not fun to watch. This Means War is a very preposterous film. Tuck and FDR constantly abuse their powers, as they try to gather more information about Lauren’s life, and both men will do anything to sabotage each other’s dates with Lauren. Tuck and FDR constantly use CIA technology (wiretaps, surveillance cameras, etc.) to track Lauren, and somehow their boss, Collins (Angela Bassett) NEVER notices any of this. This Means War is loaded with a good amount of far fetched scenarios, that caused a few facepalms for me, but everything just gets worse towards the end.

Towards the end of the film, Lauren is stuck in a tricky situation. She’s having lunch with Tuck, but FDR shows up, because Heinrich was recently spotted in the US. Tuck and FDR know their dating the same woman, but Lauren isn’t aware of their friendship. Lauren starts to panic, but she goes to the bathroom to calm down, and she tries to figure out an exit strategy. Meanwhile, Tuck and FDR start throwing insults at each other, and eventually, they get into a fight. Tuck and FDR completely destroy the restaurant during their fight, and they actually cause a fire. Lauren walks in after the fight, and she accidentally learns the truth about Tuck and FDR’s relationship. Lauren now knows both men are friends, and for some asinine reason, this upsets her, as she leaves the restaurant? Ummm, YOU are dating two guys at the same time, but that’s okay? The Lauren character has no right to pull the morality card, and she really can’t point the finger at anyone, because she’s just as bad as Tuck and FDR. Oh, and Lauren’s character is completely oblivious to her surroundings in this scene. The restaurant is in ruins, there’s a small fire behind her, but she doesn’t seem to notice any of this, because she’s still upset about the whole “two friends dating her at the same time” stuff. :rolleyes:

The restaurant scene is bad enough, but things get worse during the final showdown with Heinrich.

Heinrich has taken Lauren and her friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler) hostage. During a car chase, FDR manages to free Trish, as he shoots one of the tires on her car, and Trish’s car miraculously lands in a lake afterwards. Trish is safe, Tuck and FDR quickly rescue Lauren, but Heinrich still wants revenge for his brother’s death. Tuck, FDR, and Lauren are stuck at the end of an unfinished highway. They’re out of road, there’s nowhere to run, and Heinrich is speeding towards them with his car. Death seems inevitable, but the very knowledgeable product testing executive has one solution: shoot out the headlights? Lauren recognizes the model of the car, and damaged headlights will trigger the airbags. Tuck and FDR shoot out the headlights, the airbags deploy, Heinrich’s car flies off of the highway, and he dies in a fiery explosion.

This Means War features way too many over the top moments, but the final showdown was just ridiculous. The bad guy is about to get his revenge, but headlights cause Heinrich’s downfall? Are you serious? The big battle at the end was incredibly lame and silly, and I just couldn’t get into it.

Having suspension of disbelief is one thing, but This Means War doesn’t know when to let up. They pushed everything too far, and the far fetched and over the top moments just get worse, as this film progresses.

Also, the plot for this film can feel confusing. Are Tuck and FDR actually trying to locate and capture Heinrich? Or is this film supposed to be about a whacky and wild love triangle? They really don’t put any focus on the “we need to stop Heinrich” storyline, and Schweiger’s character just becomes an afterthought, as the story progresses. Heinrich is supposed to be this cold-blooded and dangerous criminal, and he is trying to kill Tuck and FDR, but they put so much focus on the Lauren situation, and I actually forgot about this character at one point. Heinrich is supposed to be an important piece of the puzzle here, and he was the main antagonist in this film, but this character didn’t receive enough screen time. The Heinrich character is mentioned every now and then, but still, the love triangle gets an overwhelming majority of focus here, and this storyline really did overshadow Heinrich. Were they actually trying to make the audience forget about Heinrich? I couldn’t escape this feeling, and the story for this film is a complete mess.

This Means War wanted to be that fun and mindless romantic action comedy, but this film didn’t provide any fun for me. This Means War is a ridiculous mess, and the over the top action scenes almost gave me a headache. Hardy, Pine, and Witherspoon did deliver some very solid performances, and they did bring some laughs out of me, but they couldn’t save this film. It’s a shame, because their performances did provide the majority of the highlights in this film. And Chelsea Handler deserves her fair share of credit, because she was hilarious, as Lauren’s pushy and obnoxious best friend. As far as Til Schweiger goes, he wasn’t bad, but Heinrich is just your typical foreign villain with a heavy accent.

I thought This Means War could be something unique. Well, I was wrong. Very wrong.
 
Randomly I had the urge to watch films with plots that include the overcoming of racial prejudice and the struggles of immigration. What resulted where the some of the best films I have ever seen (sorry Inception).

Heavens fall(2007):
Director: Terry Green.
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Bill Sage.

This was certainly an explosive start to my enjoyment of 4 consecutive movies based on the fight to overcome prejudice and discrimination based on race and ethnicity. The plot revolves around the trial of the Scottsboro Boys who were a group of nine black teenagers arrested on the charges of rape in Alabama in 1931. The acting here is superb on all parts especially from Hutton who plays a northern lawyer determined to get a fair trial for the boys. There is a bunch of twists and turns which often come from courtroom dramas here, which is always a good thing. There is some funny dialogue involving the silly theory that northerners were communist (seriously it was hilarious). That aside the overall tone is very serious and moving considering we don't get the brightest conclusion. I'd say check it out, it's definitely worth it. 8.5/10

Blood Done sign my name(2010):
Director: Jeb Stuart
Starring: Ricky Schroder, Oman Benson Miller, and Micheal Rooker

Well I'd say this was on par with Heavens Fall.The story is based on the murder of an African American veteran in the pre-civil rights south. Unlike the last films you get to see plenty of violence from the Black side including some fantastic dialogue ridiculing and mocking Jim Crow's laws. Once again like any other film based on a trial including a Black man's oppression in the south the outcome is not favorable story wise. The acting is great, maybe not as much as the previous film, but the plot makes up for it. If there is one thing done in superb fashion is the villains ability to make you loathe him. He's a heartless racist old man that brutally murders the veteran with the help of his cocky son and his friend. You also get to see the kids that are taught to hate which really gets to you after awhile. There is also a sub-plot where a priest crusades for civil rights but it isn't as wildly captivating as the main plot. The only problem I say it has is that it moves a bit too slow at times.I say this is worth a viewing. 8.7/10

Mississippi Burning(1988):
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe

This is just completely entertaining and fun to watch. It has much more action scenes and over the top emotions than either the above 2 making it all the more engrossing. It is based on the real life deaths of 3 civil rights workers by the Klu Klux Klan (you knew they where coming sooner or later) and the FBI investigation following it. At times this film feels much less serious than the other 2, and yet much more emotional at other times. It has sort of a bigger feel than the others, anyway onto the components which make it so good. The acting is fantastic, bit off toned down seriousness that is replaced by more jokes and more realistic emotions. There is also a love story in here which normally gets on my nerves but it serve well to work with the plot. Another thing to mention is that this quite a long films at 128 minutes (2 hours and 8 minutes. It also has a better visual aspects budget wise seeing more burning and explosions. Definitely far more fun to watch which is a refreshing contrast from most civil rights movies. 8.9/10

My Name is Khan(2010)
Director: Karan Johar
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, and Kajol Devgan

Damn, sweet Jesus what this epic. Moving on from civil rights this is more about immigration and overcoming both Aspergers and being a post 9/11 Muslim in the United States. The plot is huge, an Indian (or Pakistani) Muslim born with Aspergers must deal with being different from most kids in his home country. He is mentored by a genius who teaches him to think critically which turns to be a massive success. Once his Amini/ guardian dies he is forced to follow his brother to the Untied States. There after adapting to city life in San Francisco he meets a girl, settles down, and supports her and her son. 9/11 happens, the father of his now step-son's best friend is killed in Iraq, which results in Khan's step-son being murdered by a hate crime for having a Muslim step-father. Enraged, his Hindi mother tells Khan to go find the president and tell him that he is not a terrorist. Khan being strange and having mental disabilities follows her orders and embarks on a journey.

Massive plot aside, everything just feels..epic. The journey, the situation, the build to it, the relationships, the dialogue, the music and the emotions just gives it a larger than life feeling. The acting here especially from Khan is phenomenal and extremely believable. Whilst all of the films I've reviewed on this log are moving, this one is more uplifting, it pulls you into the main character because of everything he's been through. It portrays post 9/11 issues perfectly and has you sympathize both sides. The ending with "the newly elected president" is sort of corny but then is made up by Khan finally winning over the American public despite being a Muslim. I truly am contemplating whether this has replaced Inception as my favorite film but for know I say it's just slightly below it. 9.8/10
 
HUGO

Was not a bad movie all around. Jude Law's role was minimal but still relevant enough, I enjoy Jude Law aswell as Sacha Cohen who plays Borat..whom I felt had a good role in the movie. I have never really been too big on the kid themed movies but I thoroughly enjoyed it, would have been actually cool to see it in 3D.

I am giving it the same rating as IMDB- 8/10
 
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) 8/10- Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his “source,” Bogdan (Miraj Grbic) are freed from a prison in Moscow. The IMF team (Benji Dunn and Jane Carter) successfully extracts Hunt and Bogdan from the prison, but Hunt must lead a mission with Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Carter (Paula Patton) at the Moscow Kremlin. The IMF team must locate files about Cobalt. This should’ve been an easy task, but the IMF team is sabotaged during their mission. The files on Cobalt are missing, and security quickly becomes aware of their presence. Hunt and Dunn escape before security can catch up with them, but a large explosion destroys the Kremlin, and the IMF agents become instant suspects for the bombing. The IMF team takes the fall, as the president activates Ghost Protocol. Ghost Protocol is a contingency that disavows the entire IMF, and the team must find Cobalt, if they want to clear their names. Cobalt or Kurt Hendricks (Micahel Nyqvist) is responsible for the bombing. Hendricks is a nuclear strategist, and he plans to start a deadly nuclear war. Derailing Hendricks’ plans will save the world, and the IMF team must succeed, because this is their last shot at freedom.

As usual, Tom Cruise delivered a very solid performance as Ethan Hunt, and Cruise really has fallen into a comfort zone with this character over the years. The Mission Impossible films always feature a strong supporting cast, and nothing changes here. Benji Dunn was the anxious new guy, who wanted to prove himself. Simon Pegg delivered some enjoyable comic relief in this film, and he really was able to provide some good humor throughout this film. Paula Patton was able to bring some sex appeal, but her character wasn’t limited to just eye candy. Jane Carter was fearless, and she was ready to fight, when the situation called for it. William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) was willing to do anything to help the IMF team, but he was protecting a secret. You could tell this character was hiding something for the majority of the film, and this big mystery always surrounded Brandt. All of these characters had a nice amount of depth, and their personalities were unique in their own way.

Kurt Hendricks does seem very similar to other MI villains. He’s cold-blooded, crafty, intelligent, and he can throw a handful of surprises at you, as he executes his master plan. Still, I enjoyed Nyqvist’s performance, and he was believable here.

Ghost Protocol is a stylish and fast paced action/espionage film. Visually impressive, non-stop thrills, great tension, and tons of exctiement. Ghost Protocol has it all, and this one does pack one powerful punch. Ghost Protocol is a highly entertaing big money blockbuster, and this film really does rise above the standard Hollywood popcorn flick production. MI: 2 is my favorite Mission Impossible film, but Ghost Protocol deserves some serious consideration as the best film in the entire series.

Oh, and Ving Rhames’ cameo did provide the mark out moment of this film for me. Luther Stickell is one of my favorite characters from Mission Impossible film series, and Rhames could always deliver an enjoyable performance.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011) 8/10- Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) reunites with Dr. John Watson (Jude Law), and with the help of Madame Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace), they try to stop Professor James Moriarty’s (Jarred Harris) numerous assassination attempts and terrorist attacks. Madame Simza is a Gypsy fortune-teller, and her brother might be the assassin for Moriarty’s next big target. Holmes, Watson, and Simza try to derail Moriarty’s plans, but the crafty Professor is always one step ahead of them.

For some odd reason, I could never get into the 2009 film. The acting was good, and I always LOVE Guy Ritchie’s style of directing, especially in that film. It really wasn’t a bad film at all, but I just couldn’t get into it. Well, Game Of Shadows was real treat for me, because I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this film.

A Game Of Shadows provides an excellent mix of action and humor, and this film does feature a good amount of twists and turns every now and then. And Guy Ritchie really did deliver with directing in this film. Ritchie’s stylish directing did provide plenty of thrills and excitement, and the mesmerizing action scenes were very enjoyable. The abuse of witty dialogue did annoy me a little bit, but I still loved this film. A Game Shadows is filled with laughs, and this can be a very fun action/comedy.

Jarred Harris was superb as Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty is a devious and intelligent villain, and he’s always one step ahead of Holmes throughout this film. Moriarty is a crafty villain, and Harris was very convincing here.

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law still have some excellent chemistry together, but I really missed Rachel McAdams here. McAdams does reprise her role as Irene Adler, but as far as on-screen time goes, she’s just regulated to cameo appearance status in this film. Her character doesn’t last long, and I wish I could’ve seen more of her in this film. McAdams’ character always played both sides in the Sherlock Holmes’ films. She was a crafty thief, and she did work for Moriarty, but McAdams could still bring a charming presence to this character. Noomi Rapace replaced McAdams as the prominent female in this one. Madame Simza did have more of an edge. She was tough, willing to fight, and Rapace did a fine job with the acting. Rapace was a suitable replacement for McAdams, but the absence of the Irene Adler character did leave a noticeable void in this film. Adler did have a strong connection with Sherlock Holmes. These two did have feelings for each other, and Adler could always be Sherlock Holmes’ Achilles heel.

A Game Of Shadows did receive mixed reviews from critics. Some of them really enjoyed this film, but a lot of critics have decided to bash this one, because it doesn’t “live up to the original.” A Game Of Shadows has fallen on the long list of disappointing sequels for some people, but I really enjoyed this film. A Game Of Shadows was a nice box office success, and Warner Bros. really does have something special with the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Robert Downey, Jr. is the perfect choice for Sherlock Holmes. He always nails this character, and he really has fallen into a comfort zone, as Holmes over the years. Constantly producing high quality films shouldn’t be a problem. They just need to keep Robert Downey, Jr, Jude Law, and Guy Ritchie together. The Sherlock Holmes franchise will be fine, if they can keep these three together, and I’m really looking forward to the third film.
 
Haywire (three and a half out of four stars)

This is how I want each year to start! A slick, cool, sexy, dazzling and kick-ass film to come out in the bowels that is January to rock the big screen. It may be one of the earliest films to be released this year but I'm sure it will remain on my personal top ten list for quite a bit.

Steven Soderbergh has an ease to filmmaking. The guy knows what he's doing behind the camera. Over the past few years he's decided to use two woman in leading roles who have little acting skills. Sasha Grey starred in his The Girlfriend Experience and she won me over to her hopeful acting future. Now Soderbergh recruits (in every sense of the word) MMA fighter Gina Carano to star in his spy like thriller. She plays Mallory, a black ops contract worker. She works for Kenneth (Ewan Mcgregor) who out of the blue decides to frame her and send an assassin to kill her. Mallory isn't just going to lay down and die.

Soderbergh brings his smooth style to Haywire and has a lot of fun too it. It's the tight film making people look for when going to the movies. Something interesting and ultimately cinema gold. The film has a jazzy flow to it (The Ocean series had it too). Gina Carano has some tough and brutal fights in this movie. It feels and looks genuine and is a breath of fresh air in action movies. Of course the plot is too familiar for it's own good but Soderbergh brings the best out of it. Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, Bill Paxton, and Michael Douglas make this supporting cast something to marvel at. Haywire is worth the trip to the movies in this cold time of the year.

Contraband (two and a half out of four stars)

I can give some credit when it's due for Contraband was better than I thought. That doesn't it make something great. It's however some fun while it lasts. Mark Wahlberg plays a retired smuggler. He's called back into the business to protect his wife's (Kate Beckinsale) little brother. The film offers just the moderate amount of suspense and action called upon when making a Marky Mark action movie. Too bad it's been done to death before. Haywire it managed to add something new with tight filming but Contraband feels too familiar. Giovanni Ribisi, J.K Simmons, Lukas Haas, and Ben Foster offer some more fun each bringing something special to the plate. It's actually quite decent, but nothing worthy to remember a little ways down the road.


Man on a Ledge (two out of four stars)

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is framed for a crime he didn't commit. He can't get an appeal and prison just isn't for him. So he and his brother Joey (Jaime Bell) come up with a plan. I wrote that word "plan" with some hesitation. If there was ever a more ludicrous heist/prove I'm innocent plan out there please tell me. I'd be really interested in watching that. The plan requires Nick escaping from armed guards when released to attend his father's funeral. Then he checks himself into a hotel room that has a ledge 52 stories up. Nick will stand on this ledge and provide a distraction for Joey who will sneak into the building across the street. That building has a safe that supposedly holds the diamond Nick supposedly stole. The diamond never left real estate tycoon David Englander's (Ed Harris) hand.

I have a problem with the plan amongst other things. Why stand on a ledge? He wants negotiator Lydia (Elizabeth Banks) specifically to talk him down but her role in the actual plot seems minimal. What if Nick falls? Well he keeps saying he's ready to die, but that doesn't include falling prematurely before the heist is finished. It's a good possibility considering his situation. Also may I say when called upon, Nick can run like he's straight out of Mirrors Edge across this ledge. It just does't seem possible (not as bad as jumping perniciously on a safety ballon and immediately get up to chase a guy). The next thing I would like to address is Joey's story. He and his girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) break into a state of the art vault with a plan that seems thrown together on a whim (not like a year which Joey says). The two take time to lovingly banter. The audience I saw it with quite liked the humor in the film. It doesn't match the tone at all. The jokes have no place here. Some of the most useless dialogue I've ever seen. Genesis Rodriguez runs around in a push up bra and of course strips down to her underwear at one point in order to switch gear. My god is she pretty but the scene is childish. Michael Bay called and wants his mindless and random sex appeal back. We all know this is going to end on a happy note. So what suspense can there be. No way will Nick fall abundantly and Joey fail early because the film still has so many minutes left. When the audience knows more or less how a story will end, we need intrigue to see how it happens. We want to see how the characters get to this conclusion. I didn't care enough to hope the bad guys would win. No personal involvement is a dreadful thing.

Sam Worthington what happened? You starred in Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, you showed great talent in Somersault and now we have this. I had high hopes for Wrath of the Titans but I'm not so sure. Jaime Bell and Ed Harris you two are better than than this as well. The rest of the cast are fine actors as well but let's be honest, anytime they star in feature films isn't a bad thing. This is an easy movie to watch, with actors I enjoy (not so much here) to replace for interesting characters. It could be worse. Actually I'm not to sure about that. You won't hate but you'll find it very dumb. Films should engage the audience intellectually to a degree, not have you leaving stupider if you gave your self to it.

The Grey (three out of four stars)

The Grey I'm sure will have the same effect that Jaws had on some people. Just instead of fearing sharks and water, we'll fear snowy wildernesses and wolves now. I had a dream the night after seeing this film. I awoke to a shock having a dream that the alpha wolf from the film was in room. Lurking in the shadows, eyes colored in crimson red, teeth bared for me to fear. I couldn't move and he let out a roar that woke me in a fright. The fact it had such a positive affect on me shows how special this film truly was.

Liam Neeson stars as Ottway in this harrowing film. A man employed at an oil rig to shoot threatening wild life. On his way to Anchorage his plane goes down and only six riggers (Dermot Mulroney, James Badge Dale and Joe Anderson among other fine actors) and Ottway are left alive. Not only is the environment (freezing cold, daunting cliffs etc) a extreme danger. Enter a deadly pack of wolves. They're large, dangerous and know exactly how to hunt. The audience tenses up anytime somebody falls behind, a howl is heard in the distance or odd shape appears in the darkness. Besides the chills from the wolves there is some heart here. Ottway sees these men as scum, drifters, convicts (who else decides to work on oil rig). These are just men who all have had problems and like Ottway are trying to escape the pain. There is a scene involving some wallets near the end that really touched me. I didn't expect that in a movie I called "Wolf Puncher" before going in. Please more surprises like this in films. Liam Neeson gives a tremendous performance here. He throws his all into the movie. He's fierce, threatening, inspiring and above all else real. Liam Neeson over the past few years has not only established him as one of the greatest action stars working today, but of all time. He brings weight to any role and makes films electric. Imagine Taken with somebody else. I don't even want to attempt it. Liam Neeson shows us once again that when given the tools (sometime even without them) can make any movie something to be reckoned with.

Safe House (two and half out of four stars)

For some reason it feels like every other action movie since The Bourne Ultimatum has been trying to be like it in some way. It's the crazy editing, brutal fights, C.I.A monitoring that we see far too often. Safe House is another one of those films and while it's not great, it isn't too bad either.

Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a C.I.A operative that sits in a "safe house" all day long. Twelve months and no visitors until the day Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is brought in. Tobin is a rouge agent that has worse enemies than the county he betrayed. Those villains attack and Matt must bring Tobin to the next Safe House, of course it won't be that easy.

The film is a mix of good and bad. There are two thrilling action scenes and about three confusing ones (the editing makes it unclear what's happening). Like Matt, the audience is not sure whether to trust Tobin, it's fun for a while but in the long run it isn't great. The villains follow a predictable formula (I called the ending after ten minutes). There's nothing truly wrong with this film, but nothing to make memorable. One day later and I feel unaffected by viewing it. Props to Denzel for actually getting water boarded in the film.

Chronicle (three out of four stars)

I fooled myself into thinking that the shaky/personal camera angle was both dumb and done. I was wrong. It took the rather fantastic film Chronicle to show me the errors of my way. It takes that concept but instead of relying on it as a selling point, the film uses it just as tool for a bigger picture. Other pieces that almost finish this puzzle is its thrilling story, funny jokes and best of all; characters you can actually stand behind.

Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) is a outsider in high school with a drunk and abusive father. The basic tough upbringing we've al seen in movies before, so let's spice things up. But before talking about that, let's finish out the cast. Matt (Alex Russell) is Andrew's cousin, their friends but not very close. Matt is kind and popular but also pseudo intellectual. Those pricks that learn solely to impressive others. In real life you hate these people but in film they make interesting characters. Then there is Steve (Michael B. Jordan) the live wire popular kid running for class president. Andrew has decided to film everything (a barrier between life and himself) so hence the shaky camera angle is introduced. The three boys at a party find a hole in the field and climb in to discover something. With out going into too much detail (better to see for yourself), they gain the power of telekinesis.

For the first hour they discover the limits of their powers and have fun. This part of the film is so delightful I never wanted it to end. It felt like the audience too had the power and was experiencing all this joy with our trio. It won't be all fun and games in the end. I'd imagine if you gave the average person telekinesis they would abuse the power for their own gain (lots of stealing). I actually looked forward to the eventual change I thought was sure to come. One of the leads does turn (I'm sure you already know but I won't say) to darker sides but in a shallower way. Instead of going crazy I'd have like to see a character that even when doing something wrong still seems so right. That fact (among other things) makes the final act a tad outlandish. A shame because I had loved everything up until this point. There are some minor flaws in logic outside of the ending, but the finished product is still too strong. Chronicle is one not to miss. It is far to much cinema fun.

The Secret World of Arrietty (three and a half out of four stars)

A problem many face when watching films these days is immersion. Often it becomes very apparent one is watching a film just to pass time. Everyone does it so there's no shame in it. However think of the times when you were so entranced with the story and images on screen it felt like your standing right by the characters in their struggle. The Secret World of Arrietty is one of those rare films that simply being in its presence is a treat.

Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) is a borrower along with her parents. Borrowers are little people (about the size of a finger) that live under the floor and in the walls of homes. They borrow small things, items people won't miss (a cube of sugar, a tissue etc). They live in the crawl space of a country house in a darling miniature home. Arrietty's parents are Pod (Will Arnett) and Homily (Amy Poehler), Pod goes into the house to borrow the supplies they need and Homily stays at home and worries about him getting squished. A young kind boy arrives at the house to rest before a heart sugary. The boy is Shawn (David Hernie) and one night he sees Arrietty in the house. The borrowers worry that when a human sees them that their curiosity will consume them to destroying these tiny people's lives.

Studio Ghibli films are always spectacular (with the exception of Tales from Earthsea). They contain a wondrous imagination with youthful tales to entertain children. However adults too can take the sophisticated stories and beautiful colors/music to heart. The Sercret World of Arrietty is blessed with a lovely soundtrack, majestic colors and interesting characters. There are never true villains in films Hayao Miyazaki films (He wrote this film but decided to let a friend Hiromasa Yonebayashi to take the helm in directing it). Just characters that have conflicting interests. Here is another example in how human these characters seem. This is an engrossing film for all ages. It's only February but I feel that this will be one of the highlight films of the year. I hope you'll see it and think so too.

Wanderlust (two and a half out of four stars)

Paul Rudd's charm is almost a curse. He's so damn likable that any movie he's in increases it's enjoyability tenfold. However even a movie that isn't particularly moving, good, or memorable gains elements of those qualities simply by having Paul Rudd grace the film with his presence. Normally I'd say I'm exaggerating the actor greatly (for example I believe any film with Peter Sarsgaard can't be that bad) but even the general public who views Paul Rudd movies seems to think this way. Paul Rudd makes Wanderlust worth your time but not something to run out and see immediately.

George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) are typical classy New Yorkers but after some bad financial problems are forced to leave their beloved city. After plans with working for George's brother (Ken Marino) fall through they end up deciding to give a welcoming commune a try. It's like a cult but instead is just friendly and carefree hippies. Wanderlust has some laughs (one giant continuos one involving Paul Rudd and dirty talk) and never gets too serious for it's own good. It's fun for awhile but need does it feel enriching watching the film. Here's your standard Paul Rudd comedy of the year and it's actually not half bad.

PS: Bonus points for a big screen "Stella" reunion

Act of Valor (one and a half out of stars)

I feel it's obligatory to start this review with saying that Navy Seals are heroes. That's a genuine idea I have and really the entire general public too. It's however not a nice way to honor them with such a terrible film.
The film stars active duty Navy Seals who are just as uncomfortable in front of the camera as an actor would be in a firefight. These soldiers must stop a ploy by a terrorist organization that plans to work with a drug cartel to smuggle suicide bombers across the border. Maybe I'm being a cynic but that plot just just screams stupidity. It's like they took everything the government fears and threw it together in a crude movie. That silly plot actually eats up about an hour and fifteen minutes of the film. For a movie that is about Navy Seals in combat, they sure did include as many cliche plot points as possible. Act of Valor is not so much a film as it is a very long infomercial. It's just as tedious of a film as that idea sounds.

John Carter (two and a half out of four stars)

"A Princess of Mars" was written by Edgar Rice Burroughs nearly 100 years ago. The book inspired sci-fi and fantasy franchises from Star Wars to Avatar to Flash Gordon. In some ways it was the birthplace of elements both genres would later immortalized as classic story telling. It is a interesting tale, but making the film now might have been a mistake. We've seen it before and just because this story was first, doesn't erase our memories.

John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) fought for Virginia in the Civil War and is quite the leading character. It's lucky they got Taylor Kitsch for the role, his eyes seem to speak for his soul. Carter has had a hard life and it gets harder on Mars. Describing how he got there isn't the point but what he does there. Carter's body isn't use to Mars's gravity and allows for him to jump unimaginable distances and pack a powerful punch. Carter gets involved in a war between the city states of Helium and Zodanga (yes the names only et more confusing) as well as a tribe of twelve foot tall green martians. John Carter involves some fun action scenes, impressive visuals and interesting characters. However it's lack of emotion and too much familiarity brings the film back down. Waiting for the visual effects to be this glorious wasn't abad thing, too bad people have been taking from the story so as to leave John Carter as a run of the mill blockbuster when it could have been more.

Silent House (three out of four stars)

Horror films need something special to work now a days. Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project worked for so many (personally not me) because it used a technique (hand held camera) to create a sense of realism. Recent films such as Insidious and Don't Be Afraid of The Dark used imagination to draw in audiences to their tales of woe. So why not try a bit of both? In comes english remake Silent House a film that succeeds in a bold attempt at filmmaking.

Silent House takes place in real time for 88 minutes. What's even better is that the film is done in one single shot. So the film in a sense is a startling play. No quick cuts nor any jumping to other perspectives. The camera is a fly on the wall in this grueling tale. Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) is helping her father and uncle fix up a run down lake house. However when Sarah says she hears somebody walking around up stairs, shit hits the figurative fan. Elizabeth Olsen is a blessing for this film. Only two films I've seen with her in them and both times she tears the walls down. Here she creates the right amount of hysteria without it ever seeming fake. Great stuff there. The ending I'm sure will divide some but don't let that stop you from trying something new. In terms of scares I wouldn't say it is phenomenal but one particular scene I personally heard the loudest gasps/screams in a theater to date. Silent House does something fresh and success tremendously.
 
Gone (2012) 0/10- Jill (Amanda Seyfried) is still trying to recover from the traumatic experience that changed her life. One night, while sleeping, Jill was snatched out of her bed. She was kidnapped by an unknown serial killer, who eventually threw her down a dark hole in the forest. Jill managed to escape, but the kidnapping would continue to haunt her thoughts.

One year later, Jill has found a steady job as a waitress, and she lives with her sister, Molly (Emily Wickersham), who happens to be a recovering alcoholic. Everything is calm in Jill’s new life at first, but a big tip from a regular customer begins to raise some suspicions. Jill questions the generosity of the unknown customer, but she’ll have to deal with bigger problems soon enough. Molly is missing, and Jill begins to panic. Jill suspects the unknown serial killer, who abducted her one year ago, but the police don’t want to believe or help Jill. The police couldn’t find any evidence from Jill’s kidnapping one year ago, and Jill did spend time in a psychiatric institution. The police don’t believe her wild story, but Jill is armed with a gun, and she will have to do everything she can on her own, if she wants to save Molly, because the serial killer will stop at nothing to get his revenge.

Ugh, I always want to have some hope for Amanda Seyfried’s career, but she has a bad habit of starring in some really awful films, and Gone doesn’t break her streak of stinkers, unfortunately.

This was supposed to be a suspense/thriller, but Gone just bored me to death the entire time. This film slowly goes through the motions, and the painful boredom almost put me to sleep. Gone was building towards a shocking surprise at the end, but the BIG twist was so disappointing….

Jim McCoy is the mysterious customer, and he is the abductor, who kidnapped Jill one year ago. McCoy is the man, who kidnapped Molly, obviously, but where is she? Where is he hiding her? Is she still alive? This was the big mystery, that kept you guessing throughout the film. It felt like they were building towards a shocking surprise at the end, but Molly’s whereabouts just brought a facepalm out of me.

Well, Jill wasn’t as crazy as everyone thought, because her sister was abducted. Jill’s search and rescue mission was a failure, and the police couldn’t find Molly, because all of them didn’t look in one special place….. Jill and Molly’s house. That’s right. McCoy broke into Jill’s home, abducted Molly, and then he had the bright idea of hiding her under the house? Really? McCoy is supposed to be this elusive and smart serial killer, and he hides Molly under the house? Also, Jill and the police never thought to look around the outside area of the house? Are you serious?

Yeah, I know, I get the whole idea of the “Molly was at home the entire time” twist. They were going for a clever and shocking twist, and predicting Molly’s location or status (dead or alive) was a pretty tricky task. Molly was underneath the house the entire time, and nobody could’ve seen this coming, because why in the hell would McCoy hide the victim at their own house? It’s the last place you would think of, but still, this shocking twist didn’t do anything for me. “I just had to sit through this piece of shit for over an hour, and she was at the house the entire time. Wow.” This is how I felt towards the end of the film, and for me, the big shocking surprise was incredibly lame. Having to sit through this boring and lifeless thriller was bad enough, but the “she was at home the entire time” stuff just made everything worse.

Discovering Molly’s location was disappointing enough, but Jill’s final showdown with the killer was just laughable…..

So we’re in the final moments of the film, and Jill knows McCoy’s identity. Through a series of preposterous circumstances, Molly acquires McCoy’s phone number. McCoy is still bitter about Jill’s escape one year ago, and he wants to punish “the one, who got away.” Jill talks McCoy into giving her Molly’s location….but only under one condition: Molly must meet him face to face first. Jill agrees, and this might sound stupid, but you have to remember, this was a woman, who wanted to save her sister’s life, and she was willing to do anything for her safety, so I can understand the sense of urgency here.

Now keep in my mind, Jill still DOESN’T know Molly is safe at home during the phone conversation with McCoy. She still believes Molly’s life is in danger, and McCoy could kill her at any minute. Anyway, while following McCoy’s instructions, Jill drives through the same forest she escaped from one year ago, and the deep, dark hole that was her prison just happens to be the final stop. Well, this whole set up was a trap. McCoy suddenly pops out of his hiding spot, and he throws Jill into the hole. McCoy tries to finish what he started one year ago, but Jill takes out her gun, and shoots him in the chest. Jill climbs out of the hole, and McCoy reveals Molly’s location, as he begs for his life. But Jill isn’t so sympathetic, and she hasn’t forgotten the abduction, so she decides to burn McCoy to death.

…Wait. So Molly’s abduction was just one giant diversion? It was just a distraction, so McCoy could have another shot at killing Jill? This was his big plan? Really?!?!? Ummm, If McCoy was able to sneak into Jill’s house so easily, why would he waste time taking Jill’s sister? He could’ve easily grabbed Jill again, and Molly’s abduction was very unnecessary, when you stop and think about it.

Okay, so McCoy is dead, and Molly is safe. Jill should do the right thing and tell the truth, right? After all, she has nothing to hide. McCoy is dead, and she’s the only one, who knows the location of the body. Well, Jill should’ve told the truth, but after her reunion with Molly, she simply agrees with police’s earlier assumptions about the “whole thing being in her head.” Apparently, McCoy was just apart of her imagination, and the kidnappings never happened in the first place. :shrug:

But wait, it gets better!

An anonymous tipster (gee, I wonder who this could be) sends pictures of McCoy’s victims to the police station, and of course, these pictures include a shot of Jill. The incompetent Lieutenant decides to re-open the case, and Gone FINALLY ends.

I had already given up on Gone at this point, but the ending was so ridiculous. Jill knows, who the killer is, she has the proof, that could help the police, knows the location of the body, but she decides to hide everything from the cops? And to top it off, she submits the proof, as an anonymous tipster? That doesn’t make any sense at all. Jill had no reason to hide ANYTHING, and Seyfried’s character could’ve easily helped the police. The anonymous tipster stuff was a poor attempt at trying to be too crafty, but just like Molly’s location, this final twist fell flat. It wasn’t smart or crafty, and I couldn’t feel the shock value at all.

So in the end, Molly was under the house the entire time, McCoy really isn’t this smart and clever serial killer, because if he was, he would’ve just taken Jill in the first place, and the Lieutenant re-opens the case for a dead guy. Great. Just great.

Story wise, this film was atrocious, and Gone almost gave me a headache. The police don’t want to help Jill find her sister, but when she turns into the lone woman on a mission with a gun, they try to arrest her. But still, they don’t make the slightest effort to find her sister? And Jill’s path to McCoy’s identity was completely ridiculous. Seyfried’s character constantly tells these wild lies (which include a thief stealing her grandmother’s bicycle) and preposterous stories, as she tries to gather information about Jill’s whereabouts and the serial killer’s identity. You can only push the suspension of disbelief stuff so far. Bottom line, Jill’s path to McCoy wasn’t believable at all. “Nobody can be THIS stupid. It’s impossible.” This is how I felt, as Jill lied her way to the truth, and watching other characters buy into Jill’s obvious lies did bring a good amount of laughs out of me.

As usual, Amanda Seyfried tried her best, and she did give a good effort here, but she couldn’t save this one. Gone is a bland and dull suspense/thriller. This film features way too many unintentionally funny moments, and at times, Gone did feel like this bizarre comedy. I couldn’t take this film seriously, and the overload of preposterous material (mainly the scenes that involve Jill’s wild lies) didn’t help anything. Overall, the acting is mediocre at best, and the twists at the end didn’t provide that satisfying payoff I was looking for. Gone does feel like straight-to-video material, and this one really didn’t deserve a theatrical release.

Amamnda Seyfried might have that one memorable film in the future, but her career has already taken a turn for the worst. She has starred in a handful of bad films over the years, and Gone could be that one potential career killer on her resumé.

Project X (2012) 0/10- Thomas (Thomas Mann) is a shy and quiet teenager, but he’s about to turn seventeen, and his friends, Costa (Oliver Cooper) and J.B. (Johnathan Daniel Brown) are planning a wild birthday party. Thomas’ parents are taking a little vacation for their anniversary, so Thomas will have the house all to himself. Costa tries to bring Thomas out of his shell, and he doesn’t hold back anything, as he prepares for Thomas’ big birthday bash. Drugs, alcohol, women, and inflatable castles. Costa’s madness doesn’t have any boundaries, as he plans Thomas’ party. Costa wants to throw the birthday bash of a lifetime, but Thomas’ wild birthday party quickly spirals out of control.

** Deep Sigh**

For a little while, Chronicle did give me some hope for the found-footage era in Hollywood, but Project X has ruined everything for me. This film has no structure, no plot, and a coherent story is pretty much non-existent in this film. Project X features all of the major problems I have with the “realistic” style of filmmaking, and films like Project X give me a reason to despise the found-footage craze in Hollywood.

Project X wants to be this raunchy and shocking found-footage film, that gives you an inside look at the wild birthday party for a seventeen year old kid. Well, you will see plenty of tits in Project X, and the dialogue does feature a good amount of graphic sexual content. Also, you’ll see lots of drug and alcohol abuse here, as everyone goes crazy during Thomas’ epic birthday party. And it felt like they were going after the world record for a film that most frequently uses the word “pussy.” But I really couldn’t feel the shocking moments in this one. Here’s a list of the jaw-dropping moments in Project X.

A high school girl takes a piss outside on the driveway.

Ummm, yeah. A woman peeing outside on a driveway. That’s shocking. :rolleyes: This scene didn’t make me laugh, and it didn’t leave me speechless. It was just there.

Dogs have sex.

Again, nothing shocking about this. This might’ve pulled some laughs out of other people in the audience, but this scene didn’t do anything for me at all.

A dwarf gets thrown in an oven, and a group of bullies/wannabe tough guys lock him inside. When the dwarf escapes, he decides to blow off some steam, as he punches random people (including a woman) in the crotch area.

The dwarf is still pissed off. The random crotch shots weren’t enough, and he wants revenge for being bullied earlier in the night, so he decides to take the Mercedes (this car belongs to Thomas’ dad by the way), and he drives it into the pool.

Yeah, they constantly showed this scene in the trailers, and watching the Mercedes plunge into the pool loses its shock value once you’ve seen it so many times. Of course, you didn’t know who drove the car into the pool, but they constantly showed this scene over and over again in the trailers, and this particular scene just bored me, when I finally saw it in the film.

And for the grand finale, T-Rick(Rick Shapiro) torches Thomas’ house and the entire block with a flamethrower.

T-Rick is a drug dealer, and earlier in the film, Costa bought some pot from him, and at the same time, he stole a lawn gnome. Well, this particular lawn gnome is filled with ecstasy. During the party, the lawn gnome is broken open with a baseball bat, and the kids at the party decide to get high for free, and of course, this doesn’t sit well with T-Rick.

I’ll admit, I did chuckle a few times during this scene. Rick Shapiro really did look like a guy, who completely lost his mind, and T-Rick’s violent rampage was kind of funny, but T-Rick and his flamethrower couldn’t save this film for me.

I also could’ve done without the “boner” scene in the locker room (you’ll know what I’m talking about, if you decide to watch this film).

Project X wants you to enjoy the mayhem, but I couldn’t, because the shocking moments in this film were very lame. Also, Project X wants you to lose yourself in a world of wild partying and half naked high school girls, but Project X didn’t give me any kind of adrenaline rush, and the party scenes just started to bore me after a while.

The acting from the majority of the cast was mediocre at best, and Costa has to be one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever seen in any type of film. Costa is one of those delusional losers, who tries way too hard to be cool. Costa was supposed to be the cool and hip livewire in this film, but I just felt like punching this character in the face most of the time. Oliver Cooper didn’t provide any enjoyable comedy. He was VERY annoying, but he couldn’t pull any laughs out of me. I could tolerate the rest of the cast, but Cooper’s obnoxious performance did help drag this rating down to a zero for me.

Project X is utter shit. This film will only appeal to the average horny male teenager, who fantasizes about throwing wild and epic house parties, that are filled with pot, alcohol, other drugs, and orgies with the hot and popular girls, he never had a chance with in the first place.

Also, the thought of seeing a bunch of half naked and attractive young women might lure you to this film. I’m telling you right now, don’t let yourself get suckered into Project X because of this. The constant showcase of “BOOBIES!” really isn’t worth it at all, and you’ll probably find more enjoyment and thrills from internet porn, or a Playboy magazine.

The mean spirited nature (the popular and cool bully flexing his muscles, making fun of and picking on a dwarf, because of his size, fat jokes, referring to the average high school girls as “ugly bitches,” etc.) of Project X didn’t bother me too much, because I’ve seen and heard a lot worse in other films. Still, Project X is a pile of trash. The movie poster for Project X promises to show you “THE PARTY YOU‘VE ONLY DREAMED ABOUT,” but Project X didn’t take me into this exciting and crazy fantasy world, and I didn’t dream about the party of a lifetime after I watched this film.

At first, The Devil Inside was my pick for the worst found-footage film in 2012, but Project X does give this film some strong competition., and Project X also deserves some recognition as one of the worst films in 2012.

There might be a sequel for Project X in the future, unfortunately. This really doesn’t surprise me, because like all the other found-footage films, Project X was a low budget production, and Project X is currently enjoying a profitable run at the box office. Warner Bros. wants to milk this one for all it’s worth, and moviegoers will take a chance on the second film, if it happens, because the found-footage genre does have its fair share of supporters.
 
Romeo + Juliet - 1996.

Rohan's Rapid Recap: If you don't know the premise of Romeo and Juliet then you really don't deserve the luxury of having a computer to even read this on. Seriously.

Anyway, on to the movie. I really didn't enjoy this one. Having recently read the play after deeming myself mature enough to understand it without screaming ''what is dis long wird in this complex langwich'' everytime I saw the word thou. I actually enjoyed the play and felt the urge to watch the movie just to see how Baz Luhrmann would interpretate a few scenes that I couldn't imagine myself. Needless to say, I'm still shocked. Three little letters have never served better in my opinion; WTF.

I really dig the concept of Romeo + Juliet. At the time, it made sense to produce a modernized, light-hearted version of Romeo + Juliet (which the director and in particular, the editor captured the essence of, perfectly), but the execution was all wrong. Shakespearian being spoken in gun-wielding shoot-out in gas stations with explosions is beyond comprehension, and that is the main problem with Romeo + Juliet.

Everything else about it is fantastic. It's so cleverly done, that some of the scenes are extremely powerful and well thought-out to an extent where they become memorable. The shot with Mercutio yammering on about dreams during a firework show is perfect in everyway. The casting was excellent with Leo DiCaprio (Romeo), Claire Danes (Juliet) and Mr. Ekko (Mercutio) knocking their roles out of the park. Paul Rudd as Parris was a little off, though, I must admit. And like I mentioned before, the director did a fantastic job of visualizing a modern update but, I just wish someone (yo', mistah screenplay) would have done the same with the script.

I just can't grasp why they'd do it. Did they want to stay true to the original somehow, by changing everything else but Shakespeare's actual work?! I mean, if they were worried about staying true to Shakespeare's loyalists then they totally ruined that when they completely changed the ending of it! I just don't get it. A near perfect adaptation ruined. I was luck that I had just read the play a few days before or else I wouldn't have had the foggiest of what they were on about. I can't imagine that many paying customers did understand the dialogue, seeing as it's hard to understand on paper but, when you mix it in with accents and quickness in certain scenes, you have as much compression as a shark does at seeing tinned cat food.

All in all, Romeo + Juilet could have been a classic, talked abotu for years but, the screenplay really let them down. Fine acting, great editing, directing and producing and most of all great imagination. If I were to give numbered ratings, it'd be lucky to get a 6/10, really.
 
The beauty of Netflix. Giving me movies that they'd think I'd enjoy as soon as I log on. Moving on....


Pharaoh's Army19995
Director: Robby Henson
Starring: Chris Cooper, Patrica Clarkson and Kris Kristofferson

I can safely say that this is the first Civil War film I've watched that sympathizes with the South. Regardless of that I found this to be mildly enjoyable but it does loose my attention at time, that however is mostly due to the setting.

The plot is centered around a northern Tennessee poor family who's patriarch has gone off to fight for the Confederacy in the civil war. Union soldiers (called "Yankees" for the majority of the film) show up on orders that she has to led them search her home for supplies. During this search one of the clumsy Yanks injures himself and keeps the group stranded with family until he recovers. Of course the soldiers and the family (consisting of mother and son) have problems to start with until the leader of the group of men starts to get closer to the mother(Clarkson). The surrounding community does not approve of federal soldiers staying there and towards the end they take action.

What really bothers me about this is the middle of story. This is set on a bland farm where it's mostly gray and lifeless. While the beginning and end are filled with many important events to progress the story, the middle is very slow paced. It's hard to enjoy endlessly watching a man plow land again and again. The acting is pretty enjoyable from most of the cast, nothing mind blowing but not bad. The ending is where it gets good and we see the conflicts come to a climax but it doesn't make up for the tiring middle portion. I like how it shows that in war both sides can be evil regardless of the common misconception that if you are on the other side, you are evil no matter what. I wouldn't say this a great or even very good movie, it's decent and check it out when bored. 6/10



Lifted(2010)
Director: Lexi Alexander
Starring: Uriah Shelton, Thad Mickler, and Rubben Studdard

Good god was this good. This is one of the most heartwarming and emotional movies I have ever been privileged to watch. It ranks up there with Inception for me and that is saying quite a lot.

The plot is one big "I miss you" story embezzled with hope. dreams, and talent. A child Henry Matthews(Shelton) and his father are quite into pop and R&B music despite living in the rather rural south. The living father (Mickler) is called up to Afghanistan for service, leaving behind a scared child, and a struggling former drug addict wife. They have their house evicted and the boy befriends a pastor(Studdard) who informs him of the "Alabama Teen Star Quest". They eventually move in with her father who has to be one of the cruelest, heartless, son of bitch villain I have ever seen. Part of what makes him so hate-able is his racist attitude towards Henry's taste in music calling it "Damn N*gger" music and constantly reminding you of an old confederate. He beats Henry for playing hip hop and Henry decides to run away and go for the Teen star prize. His father returns from Afghanistan and helps him with a set of incredible music performances and fantastic scenes during the contest. A twist that I don't want to give away turns things around and that old grandfather almost gets Henry kicked out of the competition. Of course we get a comeback (a genius one at that) and the emotional roller coaster continues to the satisfying conclusion.

The acting by everyone is just fantastic. While I am not a fan of usual sob stories or even dramas, this moved like most others have failed to do. I have to say that even the relationship between father and son, and the old grandfather;s ability to make you want to hit him is outdone by the musical numbers. This kid has a ton of talent is and is gorgeously exploited throughout the course of climax and the rising action. Everything comes so close together to make an extremely satisfying film that I can't recommend enough. 9/10
 
A Thousand Words (2012) 2/10- Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) likes to lie his way through life. McCall works as a successful literary agent, and Jack is a master of his craft. He’s cocky, confident, and a great talker, but McCall’s meeting with a potential client could change his life. Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis) is a New Age guru, he’s the flavor of the month, and McCall wants to sign him to a deal, that will publish his new book. Jack is able to persuade Dr. Sinja, and a handshake officially closes the deal.

Although, Jack’s glorious moment doesn’t last too long, and his brief interaction with a magical Bodhi tree could be deadly. Jack suffers a lethal curse, when his blood stains the tree, and after his meeting with Dr. Sinja, this same tree appears in his backyard. The Bodhi tree contains 1,000 leaves, and the leaves share a bond with Jack’s most valuable weapon: his words. The tree will lose a leaf for every word Jack speaks, and when the tree runs out of leaves, Jack dies. Jack will have to choose his words carefully. He needs to communicate with his wife and the mother of his child. Caroline (Kerry Washington) is frustrated with Jack’s ego and behavior, and Jack’s voice is an essential tool for his job. Jack must work with Dr. Sinja, if he wants to save his life, because the magical tree continues to lose leaves at a quick pace, and Jack is running out of words.

NO! NO! NO! NO!

Look, I understand the business side of Hollywood. Tower Heist was a nice box office success, and a lot of people (myself included) were excited about the return of the old school Eddie Murphy. Murphy’s comeback was in full swing after Tower Heist. Sure, the controversy with the Oscars and Brett Ratner did cause a little bump in the road, but Tower Heist still gave Murphy a nice amount of momentum. And then A Thousand Words had to come along and ruin everything.

For those of you who are unaware (and I didn’t know this until I researched it), A Thousand Words was actually filmed in 2008. This film was suppose to have a 2009 release date, but the release date for A Thousand Words was repeatedly delayed over the years. A Thousand Words was lost in the shuffle, as DreamWorks Pictures separated from Paramount and Viacom. The future of this film was uncertain for years, but Paramount eventually gave A Thousand Words a January 2012 release date…..but Murphy was chosen to host the Oscars around this time. Paramount announced ANOTHER release date, and A Thousand Words should’ve hit theaters on March 23, 2012. Eddie stepped down as Oscars host, and after Murphy removed himself from the Oscars, Paramount announced another release date for April 20, 2012, but of course, this release date changed. A Thousand Words suffered another setback, but this film finally hit theaters on March 9.

The studios wanted to capitalize off of Murphy’s success in Tower Heist, and they saw an opportunity with A Thousand Words. Well, their little get-rich-quick scheme failed miserably, because A Thousand Words has been an embarrassing box office flop so far.

Ugh, I wanted to believe in a comeback run for Eddie Murphy, and Tower Heist did give me some hope, but this film might derail any successful future plans for Murphy‘s film career, because A Thousand Words just reminded me of Murphy’s LONG streak of awful films (the vast majority of his work over the past eighteen years). “THIS is why I try to avoid anything with Eddie Murphy now a days.” This is how I felt during this film, and A Thousand Words will only bring back some painful memories for any Eddie Murphy fan.

As I said before, this film was shot in 2008, so you have to expect some dated material, when it comes to the jokes. For the most part, the 2008 material didn’t annoy me too much, but the “Lollipop” ringtone drove me nuts. Jack’s cell phone is a crucial tool for his job, and he uses Lil Wayne’s Lollipop as a ringtone (Tha Carter III was released in 2008). Yeah, I get it. McCall is supposed to be this cooperate businessman, but he uses a rapper’s song as a ringtone. They tried to force some laughs out of the audience with the Lollipop ringtone, but this wasn’t funny, and I couldn’t laugh. Using this ringtone ONE time for some cheap laughs might’ve worked, but they really ran the Lollipop ringtone gag into the ground here.

Also, DO NOT BELIEVE THE TRAILERS FOR THIS FILM. Dr. Sinja is the man, who cursed Jack McCall with the magical tree. This is what the trailers want you to believe, but this doesn’t happen in the film.

McCall touches the magical tree, while visiting Dr. Sinja. Jack accidentally cuts himself on the tree, and his bloodstain fuels the curse. The magical tree mysteriously appears in Jack’s backyard, and he immediately accuses Dr. Sinja….but Sinja didn’t send the tree to McCall’s house? That’s right. Sinja didn’t send the tree to Jack’s house, and he didn’t place the curse on him. Sinja is innocent. Still, he does offer his help, and Sinja promises to find some answers.

You know something, Sinja sending the tree to Jack’s house would’ve made a lot more sense. After all, McCall is a habitual liar, who needs to be taught a lesson, and Sinja is a spiritual guru. They could’ve made a “Sonja cursed McCall” storyline work, and this would’ve been more believable than what actually happened in the film. A nice sized tree just randomly appears in Jack’s backyard with no real explanation? Are you serious? The magical tree’s journey to Jack’s backyard felt so incredibly far fetched and silly, and the Bodhi tree’s sudden appearance in Jack’s backyard did bring a laugh out of me, but not for good reasons, though.
The trailers for A Thousand Words are VERY misleading, and you really shouldn’t buy into the “Dr. Sinja cursed Jack McCall” stuff.

Eddie Murphy’s voice IS his greatest asset, and Eddie Murphy can be funny, if you give him a chance to talk, but the screenplay for A Thousand Words takes Murphy‘s best weapon away from him. You have to watch Murphy’s character play a very long and tiresome game of charades in this film, and his silent act just drove me nuts. After he learns about the serious nature of the curse, Murphy’s character does speak a few words here and there, but for the most part, Murphy doesn’t have any major dialogue after the curse begins take its effects. The Jack McCall character had some real potential, as the fast-talking and cocky literary agent, and Murphy was the PERFECT choice for this character. He could’ve easily pulled off another enjoyable and hilarious performance in this one, but A Thousand Words really dropped the ball with the “HE’LL DIE, IF HE TALKS TOO MUCH!“ stuff.

The acting in this film really isn’t bad at all, but still, A Thousand Words is a pretty awful film. A Thousand Words features a very formulaic story, and this film painfully goes through the motions the entire time. Murphy’s character needed closure. He had to let go of the past, he needed to reconnect with his family, and he eventually realizes what’s most important in life. But did Jack McCall really need a magical tree to figure all of this out? This is the big question I asked myself at the end of the film, because I couldn’t ignore A Thousand Words’ silly screenplay. This film is unfunny, predictable, and the REAL premise is incredibly stupid.

Also, Kerry Washington can be a very solid actress most of the time, but her talents are wasted in this film. Washington portrays the typical whiny housewife, who wants change, and her character can be annoying at times. I also like Clark Duke. He can be a funny guy sometimes, but he tried way too hard in this one. For some asinine reason, Clark’s character decides to develop this cocky hip hop persona during a business meeting. Aaron Wisenberger (Duke) has to fill in for McCall during this meeting, he wants to make an impression, and the hip hop persona was his best idea? Clark’s transformation in this scene might’ve worked for some people, but the “cool hip hop guy” couldn’t pull any laughs out of me.

And I really don’t want to see another Eddie Murphy/Brian Robbins collaboration. Robbins was the director for this film, and he also directed Norbit and Meet Dave. Both of these films also starred Murphy, and these two really don’t go well together. They’ve produced three atrocious films as a duo, and I hope they never feel the urge to work together again, because the final product will be something horrendous.

A Thousand Words wastes talent in the worst way, and this film is a waste of time. Tower Heist almost gave Eddie Murphy’s career a much needed boost, but A Thousand Words will just throw him right back into that deep hole of shit, he’s been in for years.


Thin Ice (2012) 7/10- Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) has hit rock bottom. Mickey is one of those sneaky con-man/insurance salesman, who makes a living off of unsuspecting and gullible clients. But Mickey’s life has taken a turn for the worst. Jo Ann (Mickey’s wife) is tired of Mickey’s lies, so she kicks him out of the house. Mickey is having a hard time finding clients, past due bills continue to pile up, and Mickey desperately needs money. Mickey is struggling, but Gorvy Hauer (Alan Arkin) could be his ticket to freedom.

Gorvy is Mickey’s new client. He’s an innocent old man, and Mickey eventually suckers him into buying some insurance for his TV. But closing the deal isn’t Mickey’s main priority. Gorvy is the owner of a valuable violin, and Mickey plans to steal it. Mickey really needs the money, and pawning the violin could solve all of his problems. Mickey can be a real scumbag, but he eventually earns Gorvy’s trust. Mickey waits for the perfect opportunity, and he gets some help from the man, who installed Gorvy’s alarm system. Randy (Billy Crudup) installed the alarm. He knows the code, and Randy can disarm the system, and Mickey decides to blackmail him for some help. Mickey almost escapes with the valuable violin, but Gorvy’s friendly neighbor shows up. He instantly suspects something fishy. The friendly neighbor immediately picks up a phone, but as he tries to call the police, Randy freaks out, and he bashes his head in with a hammer.

The friendly neighbor is dead, and Mickey must help Randy dispose of the body. Randy is an ex-con, he doesn’t want to go back to jail, but if he does, he promises to take Mickey with him. Mickey tries to fix his relationship with Jo Ann (Lea Thompson), but at the same time, he must work with Randy to cover up the murder, and the stolen violin doesn’t help his messy and complicated situation.

I was ready to give up on this film at first. I HATED the first twenty minutes of this one, and Thin Ice felt so incredibly boring. Thin Ice starts out very slow, but everything really picked up, as the story progressed, and the constant twists and turns did hook me in.

Thin Ice can feel so ordinary most of the time. The story takes place in a small and simple Wisconsin town, the characters are just struggling Average Joes, who are trying to make a living, and the wintertime atmosphere of Wisconsin always feels so calm and peaceful. But the excellent screenplay and the very solid performances from the entire cast did bring life to Thin Ice. These elements really did enhance Thin Ice’s simplistic setting, and the Sprecher sisters (Jill andand Karen) deserve a lot of credit for the writing, because the screenplay is just superb.

The acting in this film is very solid, and as usual, the Back To The Future fan inside of me marked out for any appearance from Lea Thompson, but Greg Kinnear was fantastic as the lead man. The Mickey Prohaska character is a scumbag. There’s no doubt about it. Mickey is a sneaky con-man, and he targets weak-minded people, because he sees them as easy targets. But at times, I could feel for Mickey. He was just a desperate guy, who wanted a second chance, and he was stuck in an impossible situation with no escape. Mickey was drowning in debt, and his wife hated him. Mickey’s troubles were caused by his own foolish mistakes, and he really did burn the bridge with his wife, but I still wanted to feel sympathy for this poor sap sometimes, and Kinnear was very convicting.

And I can’t forget about Billy Crudup. Crudup was hilarious, and his energetic performance did provide the majority of laughs here. Randy was this angry ex-con, who could snap at any moment, and he was a nervous wreck throughout this film. As far as the acting goes, the rest of the cast really did pull their weight, but Crudup’s performance was the highlight of this film.

Thin Ice starts out slow, but I was hooked in, once the story began to evolve. This film is filled with some very solid acting, the humor is enjoyable, and the incredible jaw-dropping twist towards the end is just great. The big twist for this film did feel genuinely shocking, because I really didn’t see it coming, and the big surprise did help raise this score for me.

Thin Ice is a low budget film, and besides Kinnear, this film really doesn’t have any recognizable mainstream actors or actresses. Thin Ice will fly underneath the radar this year, but I really did enjoy this film, and I’m happy I took a chance on this one.
 
R.J. MacReady said:
Hobo With A Shotgun (2011) 7/10- Extreme and disturbing. These are the two words I would use to describe this film. Hobo With A Shot Gun is filled with some very graphic and gruesome gore, and the violence in this film is unreal. This film does have nice fast pace, because the story does progress pretty quickly, and this film doesn’t have too many dull moments. The majority of the acting in this film is kind of bad, but Rutger Hauer (The Hobo) does a great job with the lead role here. He carries this film on his back, and he really nailed The Hobo character. Hauer is very believable as the righteous and wise old man, who wants to clean up the violence and crime in Scum Town (the setting of the story). This film does feature tons of gruesome violence and pervasive language, but underneath all of the chaos, there is a touching story. Abby (Molly Dunsworth) is a young prostitute, who doesn’t believe in herself. She thinks she is worthless, but Abby begins to change her outlook on life after The Hobo saves her from a deadly situation. The Hobo inspires Abby to believe in herself, and these two forge a friendly bond as the film progresses. This was a nice little storyline, and I really did enjoy it. Hobo With A Shotgun packs a powerful punch, and this was a very fun action exploitation film. Also, the characters in this film are very over the top, especially the villains. Brian Downey (The Drake) gives a solid performance as the main villain in this film. The Drake is a very evil and twisted person. He was psychotic, and Downey did deliver with this character. Hobo With A Shotgun can be an entertaining film, but I will warn you, if you’re not into violent and over the top exploitation flicks, you should stay away from this film, because you will HATE this. This film is extremely violent and gruesome, and these type of films won’t appeal to everyone, because Hobo With A Shotgun is targeted at a very small fan base.
Click to expand...

The bolded part I basically put on facebook when I watched it this past Sunday. It's so awesomely gore-y/graphic that you either love it or it makes you cringe. I'll agree with a 7/10 rating. It took me a little bit to really get into the movie, and because you are just waiting for the hobo to get the shotgun, the beginning is kind of just a tidy over. The stuff with the Drake and his boys was solid enough, but the other scenes were kinda meh for me. I will say though, Slick (Gregory Smith) certainly stood out to me in the movie. He was the more careful but seemingly sadistic of the brothers. Ivan (Nick Bateman) was more in your face kind of crazy, not the careful kind like Slick.It certainly picks up after he gets the shotgun, as you can imagine, and in my head I was thinking "Shit got real!". Talking about it with coworkers made my left arm hurt though, you know why.
 
CH David said:
The bolded part I basically put on facebook when I watched it this past Sunday. It's so awesomely gore-y/graphic that you either love it or it makes you cringe. I'll agree with a 7/10 rating. It took me a little bit to really get into the movie, and because you are just waiting for the hobo to get the shotgun, the beginning is kind of just a tidy over. The stuff with the Drake and his boys was solid enough, but the other scenes were kinda meh for me. I will say though, Slick (Gregory Smith) certainly stood out to me in the movie. He was the more careful but seemingly sadistic of the brothers. Ivan (Nick Bateman) was more in your face kind of crazy, not the careful kind like Slick.It certainly picks up after he gets the shotgun, as you can imagine, and in my head I was thinking "Shit got real!". Talking about it with coworkers made my left arm hurt though, you know why.
Click to expand...

Ah, I guess you're talking about the scene that involves Abby, The Drake, and the lawnmower towards the very end, right? If so, I know what you mean. Hobo With A Shotgun is LOADED with scenes that feature sickening gore and brutal violence, that will make you cringe. But this particular scene really did stand out among the rest, definitely one of the more shocking and graphic "HOLY SHIT!" moments I've ever seen in any type of film.

Funny thing about Hobo With A Shotgun is I didn't fall in love with this film the first time around. I really enjoyed it, and I couldn't enough of Rutger Hauer's performance, but I didn't fully embrace it. Maybe I was just too tired, or maybe I wasn't paying close attention, but Hobo With A Shotgun has become one of my all-time favorites. I've probably seen this film about twenty times or more, I NEVER get tired of it, and I actually bought the two disc special edition DVD a few months ago. The Plague's killing spree at the hospital, The Hobo's first bloody rampage with the shotgun, and Abby's heroic rescue mission for The Hobo at the end. All of these moments are burned in my memory. Although, the extended footage for the ending was a bit of let down for me. It doesn't last long, but the extended ending does provide a nice little cliffhanger.

Hobo With A Shotgun is an outstanding exploitation/thriller, this film has an authentic old school feel to it, and they really did a great job of paying homage to the 70's/early 80's action exploitation films, that featured vigilante justice.
 
21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street is exactly what you think it will be. A heart, laugh-a-minute flick with no real grasp on reality.

That said, I found it to be a very good movie. It's sad to think that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will probably not get the recognition they deserve for this film for different reasons. Primarily because the money will never be an Oscar-winning movie. Additionally, Channing Tatum is always seen as a Rom-Com orientated actor and Jonah Hill will forever be seen as the fat guy from Superbad et al.

However, I found this movie to be very unique. It took an old premise and made it funny again. How many of us wouldn't like to go back to High School and really learn from our mistakes? But then, what if that experience had completely turned on it's head and left you feeling confused and left behind? That's really what this movie is all about. It challenges some of the stereotypes that we have all come to know about the High School movie genre and really turns it on it's head. I particularly enjoyed this movie and found it to be, not only funny, but interesting too.

It was never going to be a movie that would have critics falling over themselves to heap praise on it. But, for what it is, it is an exceptionally good movie. There is many laughs and many twists and turns that will have you reeling. If comedy is your thing, then I definitely recommend checking this film out.

***​

The Hunger Games​

I hated this movie.

My girlfriend was really excited about this movie and, hesitantly, I trudged along with her on he day of the UK release. But fuck me, was it ever boring!

Now, don't get me wrong, I've sat through my share of her choices. We seen Crazy, Stupid Love and The Vow not too long ago and I always found something to latch onto and at least want to see the resolution. This film just stinks of pre-teen enthusiasm. It has every single cliché in the book and I, for one, hated every single moment of it.

However, I can see that it is going to make it's money. It is going to ride the same pre-teen, hopeless romantic horse that Twilight did and will continue to do for many a year. It's going to be one of those films that our girlfriends are always going to want to see and one of those films that we're always going to have to see... For their sake.

So, for whatever failings this movie has, you just better get used to pretending to like it. It's either that or a damaged relationship. Take your pick.

*​
 
Take Shelter (2011) 10/10- Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) can’t escape the haunting visions of an approaching apocalyptic storm. During his dreams, Curtis is threatened and attacked by people, who are close to him, and Curtis’ strange behavior in real life begins to raise some serious questions. Fearing the worst, Curtis frantically begins to work on a storm shelter in his backyard. Curtis wants to protect his family, but his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain) doesn’t like the idea of “wasting money on a stupid tornado shelter.” Curtis seeks psychiatric help, but at the same time, he continues to gather supplies (canned foods, gas masks, lanterns, etc.), because in Curtis’ mind, the threat of the devastating storm is still a realistic possibility. Ensuring the safety of his wife and their young, deaf daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart) is Curtis’ main priority. Curtis will risk everything for their protection, but first, he must convince Samantha to believe the serious nature of his dreams.

I had some high expectations for this film, and Take Shelter did deliver. Taker Shelter provides an excellent mixture of terror and drama, and you can really feel the impending doom throughout this film. This film delivers a powerful emotional punch, the awe-inspiring visuals are breathtaking, and Take Shelter is easily one of the best films in 2011.

The acting in this film is superb, and Michael Shannon was fantastic as the lead man. I first noticed Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road, and I’ve been a big fan of his work ever since. Michael Shannon is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, and his outstanding performance really was the driving force behind this film. Curtis LaForche is a disturbed man, who’s losing his mind. Curtis was alone. Nobody wanted to believe his warnings of the dangerous storm. Curtis was afraid of what might happen, if the storm actually hit. He was afraid of himself, and his fears destroyed the relationships with those closest to him. Curtis endures a serious downward spiral, and I really wanted to feel for this character, because he didn’t have any control over his terrifying dreams and hallucinations. Curtis might have lost his grip on reality, but you could also see a caring father, who wanted to protect his daughter, and Curtis didn’t want to lose Samantha. And Shannon was able to bring intensity to this character, and he was able to show some real rage during his temper tantrum towards the end of this film. Curtis’ internal struggle was the focal point of Take Shelter, and Shannon was very convincing here.

Also, I can’t forget about Jessica Chastain. Chastain delivered another very solid performance in this film, and this woman should’ve won some sort of award for the best breakout star in 2011. Chastain received an Oscar nomination for her work in The Help, and Chastain did deliver a handful of impressive performances last year. Chastain continues to surprise me, because she seemingly came out of nowhere. Chastain has become a recognizable face, she’s one of Hollywood’s more talented young actresses, and she does have a very bright future.


The cast did a fine job with the acting, and Jeff Nichols directing was just great. Nichols also wrote the screenplay for Take Shelter, and he was able to provide the perfect unsettling atmosphere for this film. Nichols was able to enhance the dread and terror, and his precise directing did provide some excellent tension and intensity for this film. I’ll admit, I’m not familiar with Jeff Nichols, and this is the first film I’ve seen from him. But I loved every second of Take Shelter, and I will follow this man’s work from now on.

Also, and I don’t usually do this, but David Wingo deserves his fair share of recognition for Take Shelter’s soundtrack. Wingo did create some outstanding scores for this film, but the main score used throughout this film is just amazing. The main score for Take Shelter can bring out feelings of wonder, and this score did make every other scene feel more captivating. The “Take Shelter” score is frequently used throughout this film, but it never annoyed me. The moods constantly change, but the “Take Shelter” score always fits within the context of the different scenes in this film. Wingo did create a memorable score for Take Shelter, and this score has been stuck in my head for days:

[YOUTUBE]xWmB9lDE7_w[/YOUTUBE]

The Academy gave Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close a Best Picture nomination, but they snubbed this? Really??? Take Shelter was more than worthy for a spot in the Best Picture category, and Nichols wouldn’t have been a bad choice for the Best Director category. And no Best Actor nominations for Michael Shannon? As I said before, Shannon is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, and he did deliver a great performance in this film. I won’t complain about a Jessica Chastain snub, because she did receive recognition at the Oscars for her work in The Help. She nailed the Celia Foote character, and she did deliver the better performance in this film, so there’s nothing to complain about. Still, Take Shelter deserved a few Oscar nominations. I might have been able to understand a few snubs here and there, but Take Shelter didn’t receive ANY Oscar nominations. Not one. It’s asinine, and Take Shelter deserved better. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was not an Oscar worthy film, but this melodramatic piece of trash became a sentimental favorite for a lot of critics. Take Shelter could’ve been a legit Best Picture contender, and Michael Shannon could’ve provided some serious competition in the Best Actor category. I have a short list of films that didn’t deserve the snub treatment at the Oscars this year, and Take Shelter is one of them.
 
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