Doubt
Opens December 12, 2008
Cast: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams,Viola Davis
Director. Screenwriter: John Patrick Shanley
Genres: Drama
OVERVIEW :
John Patrick Shanley brings his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play to the screen as a gripping story about the quest for truth, the forces of change, and the devastating consequences of blind justice in an age defined by moral conviction.
It’s 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A vibrant, charismatic priest, Father Flynn (Academy Award® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman), is trying to upend the schools’ strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep), the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James (Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams), a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence.–© Miramax
WHY WATCH IT : Are you kidding, why wouldn’t you watch this movie?? Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep? You can’t get better than that.
It is a film that will at least get 1 Oscar, make my words.
Besides starring Philip and Meryl, the film looks amazingly shot and it has an unique storyline. Its a “guess you did it” film. Its one of those films that you are ROOTING for the character to film the person responsible. They know the person did it, even if they have no proof. When there is no “DOUBT” about it, they just know.
Who would not want to watch this film? I know I do.
Twilight is a 2008 romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.
GRADING :
Visual: A
Content: C (1st hour: B / 2nd hour: D)
Acting: D
Dialogue: F
SYNOPSIS : Seventeen-year-old Isabella “Bella” Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie. There, she finds herself drawn to a mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen, who is revealed to be a 108-year-old vampire, but is physically seventeen. Although Edward discourages the romance at first, they soon fall deeply in love. When the arrival of three nomadic vampires, James, Victoria, and Laurent, puts Bella’s life in danger, Edward and his family, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, put their lives at stake to save her.
REVIEW : This film is about Bella, a young girl that moves to a small town in Washington to live with her father. Because she is so clumsy, pale, awkward and NEW, everyone wants to be friends with her (sure). And of course every boy in school wants to date her (again, sure they do). Nonetheless, the most common and normal thing that happens to new kids in school, the HOTTEST (apparently, he is) GUY in school secretly wants her, although in a way that no other boy would WANT her, he wants to drink ALL of her blood because obviously, he is a vampire (did not see that coming, did you?). Well, if you think you know where this is going, think again. This is not you typical VAMPIRE movie, trust me. Its is just a LOVE story (if you can see that, accounting that the actors do not look in love) that HAPPENS to include Vampires.
Don’t worry, I will tell you why. In this film, being a vampire means:
- They look FREAKING pale for no reason (they do have sunlight exposure)
- Go to school and sit in the cool table
- They can actually read minds (some others can see the future)
- Their eyes change color when they are hungry
- They SPARKLE in the sun, instead of having a painful death
- They play Baseball
- They RUN really really fast
- See, didn’t I tell you they were different
But, taking away all this, these are not the reasons why this movie BLOWS.
PROBLEMS: The movie its actually okay, your typical teenager film with really bad acting. Don’t get me wrong, not every teen film has bad acting, its just the majority. The movie itself has a great beginning, the 1st hour its amazing, it gets you hooked. A person that has not read the book, can also enjoy it. Nevertheless, everything changes when she goes into the woods with him (the 2nd hour), its starts going DOWN HILL. At the beginning you think that the bad acting is just result of the awkwardness that the actors feel toward each other before THEY FALL IN LOVE. Nevertheless, you realize that is NOT. The actors do not progress along with the characters, they actually make it worse.
Plus, the DIALOGUE do not help either. Although the dialogue its suppose to be a little cheesy (teen girl novel), they over do it.
SIMILAR FILMS :
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (teen vampires)
Romeo and Juliet (forbidden love)
Hello Everyone!! (jajaja)
I hope you guys are having a great thanksgiving day.
I bet you think you have everything ready or at least accounted for. But guess what, you are WRONG.
You need a movie, and what other movie other than:
MRS DOUBTFIRE
This movie came out 15 years ago on Thanksgiving Day and what else to watch in this day than this film.
It has everything that that you would want today in a film
FAMILY
COMEDY
LOVE
and FOOD
What else do you want???
That’s what I thought :)
GRADING :
Visual: A
Content: A
Acting: B+
SYNOPSIS : The chilling tale of Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis), an obsessed psychology professor who commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old autistic girl, Annie Wheaton (Kimberly J. Brown), to literally wake up a supposedly dormant haunted mansion - Rose Red. Their efforts unleash myriad spirits and uncover horrifying secrets of the generations who have lived and died there.
REVIEW : THIS IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. This film is an example of the genius mind of Stephen King. It is an amazing movie about a haunted house, something that has been done many times before, but with a twist. It has everything that you could ask in a horror film, which is a great story and GREAT, and I mean great scares. Its too bad that it was not made as a actual film but a miniseries, but I guess that was the only way they could make it as long as it was. The best part about this film is that you do not know what is the deal with the house. It grows and builds itself and the ghosts are more than your ordinary ghosts.
The film starts with the introduction of Annie and her amazing powers. Then we are shown the psychologist, who was to study the haunted house and prove that she can bring it to life with a “psychic” power shock. Even though she hires 5 different people with psychic powers, the most important component is Annie. Everything looks as if it working according to plan until the people in the house start to disappear.
Nevertheless, it is not just the disappearing that its troubling, but what they become after.
WARNING: This is a miniseries, so its 240 minutes long (4 hours)
SIMILAR FILMS :
The Shining (haunted)
Opens December 25, 2008 | Runtime:2 hr. 47 min.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng
Director: David Fincher
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Drama
OVERVIEW :
“I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. The film tells a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.(source: Fandango)
CONTINUE FOR TRAILER
WHY WATCH IT : It looks like a great movie. Great cast and amazing performances, it appears.
Even though you cannot say that this is an original story (based on book), it is an original film. At least something different to what is on theaters lately.
The reasons why I want to watch it are:
It looks interesting
BRAD PITT (what else can I say)
Love story
An old baby (you have to admit, that’s COOL)
You know that it will get Oscar BUZZ, that’s for sure.
GRADING :
Visual: A
Content: C-
Acting: B
SYNOPSIS : Shia and Michelle, portray a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out the plot of a corrupted artificial intelligence system.
The United States armed forces have a lead on a suspected terrorist in the Middle East, the DOD’s computer system recommends that the mission be aborted because they cannot obtain a possible ID and it appears that the man is in a burial ceremony. The Secretary of Defense (Michael Chiklis) agrees with the abort recommendation, but the President orders the mission to be carried out. This turns into a political backlash when they realize that they were all civilians.
Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is the main character, who after finding out that his twin brother is dead, realizes that he has $750,000 in his account for no reason. When he returns home he finds his apartment filled with weapons, explosives and, forged documents in HIS name. He receives a phone call from an unknown woman, that tells him that he has 30 seconds to get out of there, because the FBI is coming for him.
Jerry only wants to know the answer to 4 simple questions: WHAT, WHY, WHO, WHEN.
WHAT is going on?
WHY him?
WHO is responsible?
And WHEN is this going to end?
REVIEW : This is a okay movie. It was great action sequences but for some reason it does not cut it.
I am not going to lie to you, I watched this movie because SHIA LABEOUF (have you seen him, SO DREAMY) and it was produced by freaking STEVEN SPIELBERG. And it would not surprise me that a lot of people watched this movie for at least one of those reasons (if you can call them reasons).
The story is your typical police thriller with lots of cars chasing, FBI, questions, reasons and conspiracies.
The only thing that makes this movie different is the REASON why and WHO is responsible.
I loved the first half of the movie, I am not going to lie. Come on, a freaking person in the phone telling you what to do and KNOWING your every move, that’s good stuff.
Even at the moment you find out why this is happening, it is still good, but not as much.
It is 118 minutes long (about 2 hours)
Nevertheless, the way they beat the responsible does not make sense and it is too FAST. Once you find out everything they rush the movie to a conclusion. And because it is DREAMWORKS, you get a happy ending. Even if it was not what you would had wanted (I know, I didnt).
So, if you like action movies, you might like it
If you like thriller, you might like it
But if you believe that a GREAT movie should be a movie that it is not just good at the beginning but at the END as well, this is not a movie for you.
PROBLEMS : Rushed ending. It takes a lot of time for you to find out what is going on and at the end, they try to cram everything before the film ends.
The main characters do not have chemistry. I do not think is Shia’s fault but Michelle’s (the same happen in Made of Honor). Do not get me run, she is good, she just does not have good chemistry with the actors she has performed with.
Finally, the biggest problem is that the END is not believable.
SIMILAR FILMS :
The Game (the thriller)
The Net (paranoid high-tech nightmare)
GRADING :
Visual: A
Content: C
Acting: D
SYNOPSIS : The film is comprise of four parts, like in the novel of the same name.
Told from the point of view of Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), an aspiring writer 13-year-old from a new rich English family. From the beginning, it is obvious that Briony has crush on Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the son of their housekeeper. He likes Briony's older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley). Lola Quincey (Juno Temple), their cousin is raped by a man outside the house in the woods. Briony sees the man but because she is angry and jealous of her sister, she insists that she "knows who did it"; that is, who raped Lola, and that that man is Robbie.
The rest of the movie is about three and a half years after, during the Second World War. Everything being about the obstacles that Robbie and Cecilia have to over come to be happy, since they are in love with each other.
Briony tells the story of all that they suffer to be together during the War.
CONTINUED...
REVIEW : The movie is your typical love story against all odds. The rich girl falls in love with the poor boy. They love each other, but cannot be together because of a problem or "family". Someone get in between them and they go separate ways. Nonetheless, they never forgot about each other and are still waiting to see the other once again thinking that things might be different after years have passed. They see each other again and are happy again, but not for long until the end of the film, were they are connected in a deeper sense.
As you can tell, I did not like the film
I do not understand why it was so big and critically acclaimed.
If you liked the NOVEL, you might like it. If you like a predictable love story, you might like it.
The film is 123 minutes long, so it is not as easy to watch it and then find out you do not like it.
It is up to you if you want to watch it, consider yourself WARNED
PROBLEMS: I wanted to love this film, I really did. Nevetheless, I did not like the acting. I am a fan of James McAvoy's work, but this film was not for my taste.
I will that the biggest problem with this movie was the acting. I found Saoirse Ronan fake and annoying. I just hated the way that the actress performed. Nonetheless, the worse, in my opinion, was the relationship between Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. I did not buy that they were in love. I bought the fact that they were attracted to each other, PHYSICALLY, SEXUALLY, but not EMOTIONALLY.
For a love story to work, you have to see the chemistry between both actors. Even if you have a great script, at the end what matters in the ACTORS that make you believe that story.
SIMILAR FILMS :
Pride & Prejudice (because of the story)
Charlie Wilson's War (chemistry between actors)
REC (or [●REC]) is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.
GRADING :
Visual: A
Content: A+
Acting: A
SYNOPSIS : The film revolves around television reporter, Ángela Vidal, and her cameraman, Pablo, who are covering a the night shift of the fire station for a fictional documentary series. Everything seems normal and actually a LITTLE boring, until they get an emergency call from a apartment building about a woman who is trapped in her room. It is there that the film starts to turn into something that you would never expect.
REVIEW : I will not go into detail about what happens in the film because I WANT YOU TO WATCH IT.
The movie is filmed from the perspective of the cameraman, Pablo, who is holding the camera (sadly, they never show his face). If you are thinking, WAIT A MINUTE, I have seen something like these before in Quarantine and Cloverfield, you are not wrong, at least not completely. This movie is not like Cloverfield because it is film by a cameraman, who has a steady hand, not the motion sickness ride that you get in Cloverfield. And if you say, what about Quarantine, that sounds a lot like it, well, the US version its actually a remake of [REC].
CONTINUED...
Well, anyways, we are talking about how awesome is [REC].
The film is sorta like a ZOMBIE movie, but not quite because the people are actually infected with a POSESSION that became contagious from a scientific error. Everything seems to start from an old lady, Mrs. Izquierdo, who infects a cop that was at the scene and someone else, who I am not going to tell you. When they find out of what is going on, they try to get out of the building, but unfortunately, the outside authorities have place them under "quarantine" until a health inspector can assist them with the 'problem'. One by one, everyone starts to get infected and the survivors have to fight them in order to find a way out ALIVE.
You will not believe the ending, unless you saw QUARANTINE.
If you like non-stop thrill, you will like [REC].
So, do not be scared of subtitles, if you are, once you are inside the movie, you will not stop watching.
If you will that you are not convince, yet, take in account that the film is only 75 minutes long. Think of it like watching three episodes of a show, without the commercials.
PROBLEMS: The only problems that I have with this film is the way that people get infected sometimes. There is a part in the movie, when the person gets infected too soon after being attacked whereas some other one, it takes a really long time. I know that they explain that the period of infection has to do with the blood type of the person, but still, I do not buy it.
Another problem is that Angela get a little annoying sometimes with all the screaming.
WARNING: This film does not have any score whatsoever, so you will not hear any background music throughout the movie.
So, you will hear every scream, which is AMAZING, but a little annoying sometimes.
SIMILAR FILMS :
Quarantine (obviously)
28 Days Later (infection)
