Saturday, May 31, 2014

The Silence of the Lambs - Pieces Connected = A Whole

Before watching this movie, I found out that Jonathan Demme was the director of this film, once again a film from the director's project that our class had to do.

Never knew that Anthony Hopkins has an acting career before.

The Silence of the Lambs tells the story of Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster, an FBI agent who must deal with Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, in order to solve the case of Buffalo Bill, relating to the heinous murders of several women.

The one thing I especially like about this movie is the use of symbolism to really get the audience on their feet. We have to be investigators in a way as well, almost helping Clarice to get to her ultimate goal: to crack the case and figure out the riddles that Hannibal Lecter is feeding her.

The opening scene features Clarice Starling going through a course in the FBI, giving the idea that she is already being pushed to go through a journey that she must climb over.

Clarice is a sort of character that seems to have a strong feminist presence in the film, clothing separated from every other FBI agent training alongside her in the opening shot. Already off the bat, Clarice appears to be independent and apart from everyone else.

Clarice has to go toe to toe with Hannibal Lecter in a mental game of chess in order to get any sort of information about Buffalo Bill. Even with Hannibal taking stabs at the new sort of bait before him, Clarice responds with a mind willing to combat that of Hannibal Lecter.

A key lesson that this movie teaches is that although pieces of the whole don't seem to make sense when seen as pieces, the conjoining of those pieces causes a realization of what to do. Hannibal Lecter never tells Clarice exactly what she wants to hear. She has to put things together in her mind in order for those subtle clues to make sense, and that is what makes this movie powerful.

Every single moment of this film was motivation for me to watch more.

I give this movie a 5/5.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Powerful Film About Family

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio were in this movie together.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape tells the story of the Grape family in a small town world, where

The opening scene features Arnie Grape trapped in his own little world under the shadow of a tree with Gilbert Grape under it. Arnie gets excited when a team of vehicles comes up over the horizon, and Gilbert tries to keep Arnie under control. There is a really close-knit relationship between Arnie and Gilbert, brotherly and almost fatherly. Arnie could be having a good time then crying the next, but Gilbert is under control. This sort of juxtaposition of characters doesn't seem compatible, but they love each other like any set of siblings would.

I guess that divides are a big deal. The divide between the little sister and the brothers. The divide between Food Town and the small shop where Gilbert works. The divide between Gilbert and Ken Carver, played by Kevin Tighe.

The symbols and foreshadowing of certain things doesn't really sit well. There are looming things that happen around Arnie: the hearse the cricket: that mean that death is near, but we just don't know exactly when. I guess this isn't a spoiler since 5 minutes in, Gilbert tells you that sooner or later Arnie will die, but I guess the anticipation of this death is what drives the movie.

Arnie has this routine mindset of getting himself in trouble because of his condition that forces Gilbert into a more fatherly role. Gilbert gets really defensive whenever someone tries to pick on Arnie. The connection between Gilbert and Arnie makes me wonder about how their relationship will change throughout the movie.

After watching the movie, I have to say that this movie surprised me by the turn that it was taking. It's really powerful. Really emotional. Intense. I love this movie. It's great.

Everything from the character development to the symbols really got me in the end. I feel that you have to see the entire movie to feel the sense of closure. There is so many things that hit in the end that truly make this a cinematic masterpiece.

I give this movie a 5/5.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - Can the UNSC Be Trusted?

Before watching this movie, I knew that the brother of Grace Helbig, a famous YouTuber, had something to do with this film.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn tells the story of Thomas Lansky, played by Tom Green, a freshman cadet at Corbulo Academy who is portrayed as a sort of rebel, against the idea of structure and deemed to be one of the troublesome cadets in the squad.

The opening scene features a run-down of all of the cadets working to win a war against a people known as the Isolationists. They all have different viewpoints of the military academy and their mission, each aware that they must be in a clear mindset ready to kill. I feel that this movie already gives a feel as to a divide between the squad.

I feel like Tom's character is someone we can really root for. The conflicted cadet who is torn between following the norm and achieving success by his own means. We feel sorry for Thomas Lansky who has to endure the struggles of being a cadet, shamed by his own fellow peers. However, we congratulate Thomas for his efforts at achieving success.

This movie reminds me of Ender's Game, a sci-fi story of Ender Wiggins who goes off to Battle School to fight off the aliens in the upcoming war. I am excited to see what turns this movie takes to further interest me in this world of space cadets fighting for a better tomorrow.

The whole ambiguity of duplicity is what drives this movie. With each secret that is unlocked for us, the more questioning we are of how the academy runs and what sorts of true conflicts exist between the Isolationists and the UNSC.

Having seen everything, all I got to say is wow. Nearing the end, I felt a shroud of doubt that the movie could go beyond the whole idea of the ambiguous common enemy. But I felt like it was a pretty good movie. A good sense of closure.

I give this movie a 4/5.


Sunday, May 25, 2014

Drinking Buddies - Anticipation Sucks

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie.

The opening scenes introduces us to Kate, played by Olivia Wilde, a young woman who works at a brewery, alongside Luke, played by Jake Johnson, constantly hanging out together and going out for drinks. The workers all seem to love each other, both while working and while hanging out. However, Jill, played by Anna Kendrick, and Chris, played by Ron Livingston, seem oblivious to the fun in the world that Kate and Luke share both at work and at the bar.

Already off the bat, I can tell that the conflict will occur between the relationships of Luke and Jill and Kate and Chris. There is this disconnect in each of their relationships that seems will bring these relationships farther apart, leaving space for a possible new relationship to arise.

Within minutes of the group of buddies meeting each other, I could already tell that Luke and Kate tended to be the pair of people I would consider to be the funnest together and that Chris and Jill seem to be a bit more bland but together in their own blandness. Parts of me just want this sort of switch to just happen, but the chemistry between the characters is there. I like this movie somewhat already.

The anticipation of what Kate and Luke will do is too much. I feel that the movie has put forth too much running time to not even present the idea of Kate and Luke being together. Each of them still look at each other in a sort of brother and sister vibe, but really, we are all waiting for a kiss or something.

This story seems to basic and not full of life. I would root for Kate and Luke to get together, but there isn't a lot of instances where I'd say that they need to be together. I wish that the characters would be a bit more vivid that they appear.

After everything that has happened happened, all I have to say to close out this review is that the film does a good job of portraying something fun with little detail, but it is not something that I would watch over and over again.

I give this movie a 3/5.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Every Teen Should Watch This

Before watching this movie, I saw the Super Bowl commercial featuring Matthew Broderick skipping out from his travel agent. I personally didn't get the joke, but my parents did and suggested that I watch the movie from their childhood.

It was pretty cool. One of my favorite movies.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off tells the story of Ferris Bueller, played by Matthew Broderick, a young boy in his senior year of high school who decides to fake his sickness in order to skip school with his buddies Cameron Frye, played by Alan Ruck, and Sloane Peterson, played by Mia Sara. Together they have fun in the city of Chicago, free from responsibility and school.

I felt like each character was there for a reason as opposed to a lot of the other teen movies that I see. Ferris Bueller, the protagonist, becomes this inspiring and witty teen who convinces people that life should be lived to its fullest because life goes by fast, as he says in his quote, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

The thing about this is that you don't really know the characters until Ferris explains them to you. Of course, we can already get a feel for who the characters are based on how they act in their various situations. However, Ferris gives a clear cut image of who that person is and explains their situation in very direct and vivid detail.

Whether it is Cameron, who suffers from a dysfunction life in his family, or Sloane, who feels sad that Ferris will be gone off to college while she has to stay behind the gates of school, Ferris does a great job establishing pathos within us for each and every character.

We root on Ferris as he goes through the city with his best friend and his girlfriend. We see that the entire city encourages the well-being of Ferris, often times leaving flowers for Ferris on the Bueller's doorstep and even leaving phone calls.

I guess the big take away from this movie would be this idea of living in the moment. No matter how cheesy it is, I feel that this movie does a good job of sticking to the moment rather than worrying about the consequences all the time.

I give this movie a 5/5.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Boyz n the Hood - Impacting Movie I Barely Discovered

I hardly knew a thing about this movie until some of my friends and I, as a part of that director's project, decided to watch this one movie.

Wow. I can understand why it was so impacting for them.

Boyz n the Hood tells the story of Tre Styles, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr, a boy who lives with his father Furious Styles, played by Larry Fishburne, in a hood of California. Furious teaches Tre that although his friends may be experiencing the troubles and struggles of the hood, Tre should not succumb to the temptations of the hood because it will backfire on him.

I felt that the authoritative nature of Furious Styles convinces us that he will be the sort of wise man of the movie. Although cliched, we do believe it because of Furious' direct and eloquent speech.

Tre Styles is, respectively, a good serving apprentice, hoping that some of the knowledge bursting from Furious can rub off of him in a way. Tre gets himself into situations where temptations are all around him. While everyone else gets their story of their interactions with these temptations, Tre struggles to keep himself under his own leash to fully indulge himself in these temptations.

Everything in this film is justified in terms of John Singleton's choices. We do see a better future over Furious Styles' head as he speaks out against the people who essentially placed blacks in ghettos in California. We see the stop sign at the beginning, being warned that this story is raw and life-changing. We see the split path that Tre Styles and Ricky Baker, played by Morris Chestnut, are each on.

Boyz n the Hood is definitely a film that I would see over and over again. John Singleton deserves the attention that he gets from this movie. Not only is this genuinely a good movie in terms of the various emotions that we feel from the situations in this movie, but the movie does a very good job of portraying the idea of choices and how the wrong choices, no matter how appealing, can cause a falling spiral staircase to appear.

I give this movie a 5/5.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Rift In The Franchise Plot

I've seen the majority of the films from this franchise and know what happens to each of the characters from this franchise. I know that X3 and X-Men Origins screwed everything out of whack, but I did like The Wolverine.

The major problem with this film is the whole line that this movie crossed out for the sake of the franchise.

X-Men: Days of Future Past tells the story of a future where mutants are hunted by sentinels, robots that attack mutants, based off of the DNA of Raven/Mystique, played by Jennifer Lawrence. With the unlikely combination of the latter Professor Xavier and Magneto, played by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen respectively, Logan/Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, must travel back in time to a time before the capture of Raven/Mystique to prevent the sentinels to ever attack mutants in the first place.

The cast was phenomenal. Of course, Jennifer Lawrence was amazing with her acting here, but I did prefer her acting in First Class than this one. She really can pull off this sort of murderous villain bent on the ideals of the earlier Erik Lehnsherr, played by Michael Fassbender.

Hugh Jackman of course was great as he always is in the X-Men movies. I felt there was a good balance between Wolverine and the X-Men in terms of the point of view. There was no skew, and I felt that everything looked good overall.

The action was great. I mean, this could have been the best X-Men movie, but one thing really changed my opinion of that.

I may have said too much, but there is something about the second half of this movie that caused me to think that the X-Men that we know is not the X-Men that we know now. I really did like the action and the power of the first half of the film, and I felt that if Bryan Singer would have followed the direction where the movie was going, it would have turned out great.

The theme of the middle of the movie was hope, provided by Professor Xavier in the future talking to Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy, of the past. I loved that part because of Xavier's tying in of hope to be the basis of civilization and revitalization. But I guess it wasn't enough whenever the film took a drastic turn in the franchise's plot.

I really want to say 5.

But.

I give this movie a 3/5.





Sunday, May 18, 2014

Kick-Ass 2 - Ahh! Violence = Wow.

Before watching this movie, of course I watched the first Kick-Ass. That was pretty nuts.

Just as much intensity. I think both are pretty fun movies.

Kick-Ass 2 tells the story of David Lizewski/Kick-Ass, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, a teenage boy who gets caught up in the crazy life of superheroes alongside Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz. While David wants to look for a sort of alliance among superheroes, Mindy wishes to live an ordinary life as a high school teen.

The opening scene features Mindy back at it with David, shooting him down, testing a bulletproof vest in the same fashion that Big Daddy, played by Nicholas Cage in the first film, did with Mindy. Of course, this is when we all get excited that the duo is back in the superhero business, with multiple training techniques and such.

The one thing I didn't like is how they dropped the whole story-line with David and his girlfriend, but hey I did like how they picked up other possible love interests for David to tackle on. Miranda Swedlow/Night-Bitch, played by Lindy Booth, was an interesting love interest.

Of course, the one thing that I didn't like was that David's friends had to be involved with the whole hero frenzy, but I guess I kind of accepted that as well.

I liked all the new superheroes like Doctor Gravity, played by Donald Faison, and Colonel Stars and Stripes, played by Jim Carrey. I was expecting more of a leadership conflict between Colonel Stars and Stripes and Kick-Ass, but I felt like the story-line was alright enough.

The good thing that this movie had that the first movie didn't was more of an emotional tie to characters. I felt like the characters in the first film were really solid in a lot of parts while this movie made you feel like the characters were real in a sense: more human.

The action was great. The actors are awesome. It was just as explosive as the first Kick-Ass was. The humor was on point. I was expecting it to be worse, but it turned out pretty good.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Stealing Harvard - Stupid But Ok

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie.

Stealing Harvard tells the story of John, played by Jason Lee, an average guy who gets himself into an economic conflict when he wants to satisfy both Elaine, played by Leslie Mann, in the purchase of their new home and Noreen, played by Tammy Blanchard, a young teen whose acceptance to Harvard University means John's payment for her to go.

The opening scene fades into an outline of the human body into the heart, meaning that this story comes from John's heart in a sort of way. John starts going off about fate and destiny and how he didn't believe those things happened until something in his life turned his thoughts around. He appears to be going to the horse races alone, looking ahead towards a sort of new-found destiny.

Already, the conflicts seem too exaggerated. The faces too much on the smiles. The exaggeration all to exaggerated. The movie tries to be funny when it really isn't. We do start to see the conflict mess John up in a sort of way, but it could be too much, even for a comedy.

So stupid. So cheesy. Too much. Ugh. The stupidity!

Everything from Duff's, played by Tom Green, character to the mirror scenes to Mr. Warner, played by Dennis Farina, is utterly stupid. I cannot believe I'm watching such a stupid movie. I laughed maybe 2 times out of all the stupid jokes that the movie had.

The one thing I do agree with is this theme of truth. That's the only thing. Of course, you shouldn't hide things that are important from other people, but sheesh. Such a stupid movie. Ugh. I thought that maybe someway: this movie could turn itself around. It just got spoiled more and more throughout the movie.

Okay. The end is pretty hilarious, but I feel like overall the movie is just a joke.

I give this movie a 3/5.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Thanks For Sharing - Addiction = Terrifying

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that Marvel characters Hulk and Pepper would be making out in this movie, which is interesting given that Iron Man and Hulk are sort of sharing the same girl.

Thanks For Sharing tells the story of three main characters all having come into contact with a sort of sex addiction. Adam, played by Mark Ruffalo, a man who has gone off sex addiction for quite some time trying to find a date, Mike, played by Tim Robbins, an older man also off sex addiction who is dealing with family struggles at home, and lastly Neil, played by Josh Gad, a younger man who still struggles with sex addiction and lies to the program that he needs to get off court regulations.

Right off the bat, I think that this whole sex addiction thing is sort of believable in the sense that it virtually could be any addiction. Watching the trailer, I thought that this sort of thing was a joke, but I believe because of the emotions that mainly Adam and Dede, played by Alecia Moore, convey through their actions.

Progressing through the movie, we see how each of these situations change, more relationships causing more feelings between the three. We start to see Mike's situation get better when family collides with influence. We start to notice Adam's progression in his relationship with Phoebe, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Plus, we start to see Neil seeking a sort of haven with the group.

The story starts to seem less about the whole sex addiction thing and more about addiction in general. How gruesome the addiction can take over people and force them to tick. I feel like there is a lot of imagery about the burst of something. The music as Neil is heading to the support group. Adam being secluded in his room with the need of the removal of the TV, refraining from telling Phoebe about his addiction. Also Mike's constant back and forth with his son Danny, played by Patrick Fugit.

I really like Tim Robbins' character Mike, the man who knows all and is one because of his experience behind almost everything. He is the savior for all of the addicts that he comes into contact with every day, the main pipeline between Adam. He is the wise one who gets caught up in this serenity of a newly-formed family.

One of the wisest things I've heard about addictions is that to get rid of one habit, you have to adopt a new habit in order to rid yourself of that latter habit. I think that this is clearly shown in this film, that Adam needs Phoebe to make sure he can regulate his sex life in the way that he likes, Neil needs Dede in order to build a friendship that he can finally be proud of, and Mike needs his son in order to build a relationship and finally be at peace.

The tensions feel real in the movie. When circles come into contact with other circles, things can get pretty tense. I feel like the only safe havens can happen when everything is in order; when this order is out of whack, that is when the tensions begin to escalate.

On the flip side, I do have to say that the character that Neil is is very static. I mean, I feel that he's only in this movie for that sort of comedic element. While the other conflicts may be occuring, there is some happiness on Neil's side. This sort of drama element tries to be in contrast with the comedic element, which sometimes isn't appropriate for the sake of the movie.

I have to say that Mark Ruffalo does not express a true emotion in my eyes. Even when his conflict goes off the fritz, it seems that Mark Ruffalo looks like the same Mark Ruffalo, minus the music and dark shades of clothing. That imagery towards the ending regarding Mark Ruffalo doesn't hit home like I'd like it to.

All in all, this movie makes you feel good. It's not exactly the best movie of all time, but it's a good place for the director to start.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Four Brothers - Suspenseful Action Movie with Emotional Ties

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that John Singleton directed this movie. We're doing this director's project with my English teacher, so our group chose John Singleton, director of this movie and Boyz N' the Hood and others.

Never thought I'd like this sort of lost gem.

Four Brothers tells the story of the Mercer brothers: Bobby Mercer, played by Mark Wahlberg, Angel Mercer, played by Tyrese Gibson, Jeremiah Mercer, played by Andre Benjamin, and Jack Mercer, played by Garrett Hedlund all trying to find out what happened in the tragic murder of their mother Evelyn Mercer, played by Fionnula Flanagan.

Throughout the movie we mourn, laugh and live through the same perspective as the four brothers. We see a number of conflicts that occur within the brothers' scope of life. Detective Green, played by Terrence Howard, tries to catch up skeptically with the brothers and their actions throughout the movie, cutting them off when the brothers try to play detective. Jeremiah, from the beginning, already starts to distance himself from the other brothers, indicating a divide from the rest. Even the characters Sofi, played by Sofia Vergada, and Camille Mercer, played by Taraji P Henson, have their supporting roles exemplified by these conflicts.

The cold blood sensations of the movie are illustrated by the amazing snowy Detroit, further freezing us into our seats. All of the decisions played out from the torn down church to the apparitions of Evelyn Mercer to Evelyn Mercer's house all bring us further and further into the plot the way we want.

Victor Sweet, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and his ring seem truly fearsome, especially with their intimidating nature in the sweetest of places. Vic is the main antagonist of the film, going toe to toe over a curtain against the four brothers. Trying to keep in the background, the four brothers inch closer and closer to the truth, tearing down this curtain.

The things that I didn't like about Four Brothers was how static the characters seem to be. They all seem to go back to their original ways. Bobby still is violent and impulsive. Angel still tries to trick his way out of situations. There seems to be little to no way that the Mercers are even remotely changed.

Also, the whole confrontation at the end seemed anticlimactic considering that we know what was going to happen and who will win. I feel like a movie that cuts off suspense at the end isn't really something that would truly hit home.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Vertigo - Bad Detective; Interesting Plot Twists

Before watching this movie, my English teacher warned us that this movie would change our lives (not as much as I think that The Fault in Our Stars will change my life, but that's beside the point).

Well I did like the recurring motifs; plus, I felt like the ending sort of needed to happen for the sake of the plot.

Vertigo tells the story of John Ferguson, played by James Stewart, an ex-detective who suffers from acrophobia assigned to tackle on a case concerning his old friend Gavin Elster, played by Tom Helmore, and his wife Madeleine Elster's, played by Kim Novak, psychological condition.

The one thing that I did not like was the plot holes that the movie had. For one, it is so obvious that John is following Madeleine to the point where it is ridiculous that she does not see him. The other thing about this character is that we see him to be a bit more creepier with his tone that he needs to be. There are instances where we are not supposed to laugh but we do because of the way this actor acts.

Then again, given that this is an old movie, I can't say that the humor of the time period shouldn't affect my review of the film too much.

Furthermore, the movie seemed to drag on a lot because of certain emotions needing to be conveyed for some reason. Some scenes could have been shortened on the account of how long the entire film was.

Once again, the movie could have been designed that way because of the norm of the time period. For right now, teens will probably not like the length of the movie because of how it stings along.

Also, there wasn't a lot of development with Midge Wood, played by Barbara Bel Geddes. I mean I did like the character and her attitudes, but I think that she could have been crucial to the plot than she appeared to be.

Other than this, all I have to say is that the metaphors and the motifs are on point. The necklace. The clothing. The portrait. It all seems believable up until the plot twist. And even the plot twist was surprising. I wasn't expecting it, but I think that movies that give me a surprise are good movies.

The ending was necessary. I'm not sure what my peers thought of the movie, but I think that the ending was the best way to wrap up the movie. I would not have been satisfied with anything else now that I think about it.

I give this movie a 5/5.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

As I Lay Dying - Family Caught In Whirlwind

I read the novel by William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, and my teacher insisted that this movie was worth absolutely nothing. He wasn't too clear, so I decided to watch it myself.

I can see why some things may be confusing or bad about this movie, but it wasn't too bad.

As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundren family preparing for Addie Bundren, played by Beth Grant, to die. Anse Bundren, played by Tim Blake Nelson, motions the family to go to Jefferson, the place where Addie Bundren came from, in order to fulfill their mother's wish. 

As I Lay Dying was a work that William Faulkner declared was a tour-de-force, in the sense that it would require countless revisions to finally produce a work of such caliber. The novel uses a grand amount of narrators from which the story takes place, driving the narrator to take in so many narrators to paint out the puzzle of the story. 

James Franco, both the director and the actor that plays Darl Bundren, sought out to do the exact same thing, converting the novel into a film. 

As a reader, I do appreciate the use of the many symbols that the novel has translated into the movie. All of the quotes that spell directly verbatim into the movie caused me to feel a sense of nostalgia when I was first reading the novel. 

However, as a movie-goer, I did see that there were many instances where some things did not correlate or I was expecting something more. For example, the buzzards were not as exaggerated as I thought they were. We did get some close ups of buzzards, but I felt that the buzzards were much bigger of a symbol than other things in the movie were. 

Also, I felt like the very last line of the movie should have been a bit more powerful than it was delivered. There were so many powerful things that happened at the end of the movie only to be cut off by this need of more power at the very end. 

The balance between the beginning and the end was a little off. I think that more power could have been given towards the beginning.

Furthermore, the split screen was effective in portraying the difference in perspective of each person, but it was not effective because it was too much visually to take on. I know that some things about the split screen were clear, but a lot of the split screen kind of took away from what was really going on.

In all, As I Lay Dying was not a bad movie, but it could have been a bit more clearer to movie-goers out there. If you really want to tackle on the story behind the movie, just read the novel. Make sure to read the novel then watch the movie.

I give this movie a 3/5.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Don Jon - Porn Maniac's Search For Love

Before watching this movie, I did not know a single thing.

Don Jon's got a lot of sex scenes in it, naturally.

Don Jon tells the story of Jon, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a player in New Jersey who decides that his porn outweighs his women. He tries and tries again to find the perfect woman that would finally surpass porn until he sees the beautiful girl of his dreams, "the perfect 10" named Barbara, played by Scarlet Johansson. Barbara then proceeds to let Jon more and more into her life to the point where Jon has to change the way he is.

Scarlet Johansson is hot in this movie. If you thought the tight things that she wore in the Avengers was arousing, everything that Scarlet Johansson does in this movie just make guys go "Wow. I wish she could kiss me instead of Joseph Gordon-Levitt". The other thing I like about Scarlet Johansson is this different sort of Jersey girl role that I never thought I'd see Scarlet Johansson playing.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt also does a good job in this movie, getting across that Jon loves his little routine that he has and sticks to it strictly.

The one thing I didn't like about the plot was the whole idea towards the end of the movie about getting lost with the person you are with. I just don't like where Jon was going with that one. Him, sleeping with all these girls who are amazing, having to resort to the end of the movie. I'm not sure that sits well with me.

Anyway, Don Jon is a good movie for guys, not sure for girls, mainly because of the appeal of guys to pornography and girls. I feel like the movie took a turn in the end for some feminine realistic perspective at last, but I mean: this movie is really more for the guys out there.

I liked the movie, but not to the point where I'd make this the best movie ever.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Click - Live In The Moment, Don't Fast Forward

I watched this movie as a child, but I did not get a lot of the references that this movie had to offer. Now with teenage eyes, I can see the stupid but funny jokes in Click.

Almost cried again. Wow. Movie stays true to myself.

Click tells the story of Michael Newman, played by Adam Sandler, a man who works hard in an architecture firm and hardly gets any time to spend with his family. Michael then falls upon a Bed, Bath & Beyond to find Morty, played by Christopher Walken, a behind the scenes worker who gives Michael a universal remote that controls life. 

The comedy of this movie was on point. All the times that I was expected to laugh because of a joke, I did. It all seemed really funny because of the recurring images of the next door neighbors and the dog humping the duck and so forth. Everything fit well with this movie.

The other thing that was on point was the time travel complex of Michael controlling his surroundings therefore controlling his life. Michael knew that he was digging himself deeper and deeper into this hole. In truth, no one can go back to the past to solve things. Michael takes the easy way out, and I think that it is shown here that life must be used to every possible limit or else time will slip away.

Time seems to be the ultimate enemy against Michael. Not Morty, not that creep guy from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Time forces Michael into a trap that he cannot get out of. Time is the ultimate factor in all things living. 

This movie really stuck in my mind because of course it seems futuristic, but also because of the truth that time is irreversible. Love it. One of my favorite movies. 

I give this movie a 5/5.