Monsters film review

Since Netflix sorts everything by genre I decided to look through the Horror/Thriller section. I decided to watch Monsters because I had heard good things about it.
The movie starts off as one of those hand held camera movies, which I wasn’t crazy about. The camera belongs to someone on a military truck and is cut off when an explosion blows the truck (and camera) up. After that the movie switches between regular filming.
The remainder of the film follows two American’s trying to get back into America to escape an Alien invasion that have taken over most of Mexico. The Aliens reproduce in the trees so the large forest provides the perfect place for them. The main character Andrew is sent to pick up Samantha, the daughter of a wealthy businessman because she is engaged to be married. Even though he is just a photographer he agrees to bring her back. Unfortuantly, the two of them miss the last boat out of Mexico. The two decide to go through the forest with a small group of guides to try and cross into the U.S. by foot. After having several near death encounters with the aliens the two finally make it to the boarder, only to realize that it’s been destroyed and the aliens have moved into the United State. Once in the U.S. they take refuge in a gas station convenient store. By this time a love interest has sparked between the two so they’re sort of forgetting about the whole alien invasion causing them to walk right in between two very large aliens mating. They finally find a phone and call 911 who say they’re sending a military truck. Right afterwards Samantha tells Andrew she doesn’t want to go home to her fiancé and they finally share an over dramatic kiss. Shortly afterwards the army picks them up and the screen fades.
Now I was very disappointed with the ending because I thought they had left me hanging for a sequel. Turns out the opening scene on the military truck is really them with the soldiers that picked them up and that they die along with the rest of the soldiers. So basically the whole movie is just how they came to be with the soldiers and die. If you like being confused and a bit disappointed I would definitely recommend this movie.

Twilight Parody

This is a parody of the book I read, the parody is created by Ryan Higa, one of the most popular YouTubers. Enjoy!

Twilight Book Review

Twilight is a pretty interesting romance book I will say. At first it didn't sound like a romance book at all in the beginning, it was slightly confusing knowing what kind of book it is at first. What makes it not sound like a romance book is that it talks a bit about vampires and werewolves. Which is something an average romance novels wouldn't have.

Twilight started off with Isabella Swan, Bella for short, moving into her father's home in the town of Forks, and she attends a high school there. Her first day wasn't so bad for her as she made a few friends, she also met Edward Cullen, one of the major characters in the book. Edward seems quite mysterious to Bella and she wants to know more about him. Edward and Bella later becomes somewhat friends but Edward warns Bella that they are better off not being friends. Which makes Bella even more confused about him. Later when Bella goes to La Push with many other kids, she meets Jacob Black, another major character in the book, Jacob and Bella heads off somewhere away from the group of kids to talk. Jacob tells Bella some legends about werewolves and vampires. Soon everyone had to leave as it was going to rain, later at home Bella had a dream about Jacob being a werewolf and Edward being a vampire. She then later wakes up from the dream and looks up vampires.

Overall, Twilight is more of a romance fantasy with all those supernatural creatures like werewolves and vampires. It quite interesting how the characters are characterized in a way that it makes the reader very curious about the character, take Edward for example, Edward is characterized as a nice looking guy and is quite mysterious in a way as he doesn't say much about himself. I will say that Twilight is a good book for anyone who likes romance with some fantasy in it.

What makes a good horror story?

http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/scary.html

So I'm starting my senior project and my genre it horror so just for fun I typed "what makes a good horror story" into google, and I found this link pretty helpful (and true according to the things I've read).

The Shining Movie Review

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a great film adaptation of Stephen King's book. Stanley Kubrick sets the mood and tone of the film showing a some what torn house hold. Also Danny has a friend call Toni. Toni shows Danny things that he can't normally see. Jack is a the hotel being interviewed for the caretaker of the overlook hotel. The role of jack is played by Jack Nicholson. he perfectly fits this part because as watching it jus the vibe you got from him along with his facial expressions tell you that he can't be trusted and that he has a hidden past. The way he treats his family tells you that he is a family man but yet at times likes to distance himself from them. Also there is just that rage that jack is suspose to have built up inside that Jack Nicholson is able to portray very well. The hotel setting is done very well and you could tell that the director wanted to put his all into the movie.The hotel has everything from the narrow halls that create that closed in feeling a character can have during a horror story. Also it has the spaced out rooms where it leaves you with a feeling that the character has a chance to escape with out being harmed. It provides the echo feeling that someone is coming after you and you can hear every move made by any person in the hotel.The way Danny begins to speak REDRUM and write it on the door tells you that things are going to get worst. The anger Nicholson portrays in the famous scene "here's johnny" is excellent. He gives you that feeling that nothing is going to stop him and from killing his family and it also gives him that vibe that he is possessed by the spirits of the hotel. The ending photo shows how jack's anger and alcoholism led to him being possessed by the spirits of the hotel due to his weakness to fall into temptation.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I just finished reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and I wanted to conclude that this book was extremely hectic. It was confusing at first because it switched narrator to narrator. It jumped to letters from Oskar Schell's grandma written to him to his grandfather writing letters to Oskar's dad who died in the World Trade Center. The book revolves around Oskar, a nine year old boy, trying to find what relevance a key has to do with his father. He gets closer and closer to finding out and once he does, he finds that the key had absolutely no relevance. He meets his grandfather for the first time since he was born because his grandfather becomes present in their lives. The book talks about the horrid events in Dresden and the lack of love the grandmother felt when she was married. It talks about the different lives of the different characters, especially the protagonist and how he came to be.

I personally did not enjoy the book in the beginning because I was confused as to what was going on. The author has a very different style of writing and sometimes it feels like his writing is all over the place but he explained a lot dramatic events pretty well. I started enjoying it later on because I started understanding what the letters in between were and what the author was trying to explain. All in all, it was an original story about 9/11 which I thought was very different from a lot of the other stories. It did not only talk about one event but how the character dealt with death and fear of losing someone and it talked about other events in history as well.

Action Film: The Mechanic (SPOILER)

The movie "The Mechanic" came out in 2011, a pretty recent film. As traditional action movie there are some unbelievable actions in here. The protagonist in this movie is a hit man name Arthur Bishop. Called himself mechanic instead. He is not just ordinary hit man, but the top one in the organization he is working for. The main conflict begin when he was ordered to kill his contact/ friend who said to betray the organization. So as professional killer, Arthur didn't let his feeling go in the way and kill his teacher. At this point a new character come into the scene, the son of his teacher name Steve Mckenna. Steve don't have a job and after his father died, he give up his life. Arthur push by his personal guilt force himself to help Steve. He train Steve to become a mechanic a professional hit man. During a mission he learned that he was used to kill his friend. At around the same time Steve found a pistol from Arthur's hideout that belong to his father. Leaving his some suspection to his father's death. Arthur and Bishop both fight into the headquarter and kill Dean Sanderson the one who used Arthur. The movie might just ended here, but the second betrayal is coming up. Steve decided to revenge for his father and attempt to kill Arthur. However Arthur noticed this and kill Steve afterward in an explosion. Yes, Arthur kill both the father and the son. I think he might just let Steve go after he think he kill him (Arthur).

Film Review 2 - Phone Booth

The movie that I have watched is Phone Booth. It is a mystery, suspense and a thriller movie. The film is about Stu Shepard, and what at first seems to be a normal day in his life. When the movie starts, he calls his girlfriend from a payphone, and a deliveryman tries to give Stu free pizza, which he declines. After hanging up, while Stu is still in the phone booth, he receives a call from a man. The man doesn’t tell Stu his name, only that he likes to watch him. Stu, thinks the same that I was, this is a prank call and hangs up. Moments later, Stu receives another call from the same man, and tells him not to hang up. He insists that Stu tells his two girlfriends tat he is cheating. Stu now knows that this caller knows about him, and is frightened.

The situation escalates when the man on the phone reveals that he has a sniper rifle, and he shoots a man that was harassing Stu, on Stu’s command. The police are on the scene, and Stu is the suspect for the shooting. The police demand that Stu gets off the phone, but the man tells him he cannot hang up. The police later go up to get the caller, when the caller tells Stu that he will kill him and his girlfriend Kelly now. Stu runs out the booth, with his gun when the cops shoot him, with rubber bullets. The police find the sniper rifle and a body. The body is the pizza deliverer. A man approaches Stu going into the ambulance, and tells him he is the sniper. I did not expect that the sniper will reveal himself. He tells Stu to be honest or he will hear from him again. The movie ends with another call, with a man answering saying “Hello?”

The film to me was packed with a lot of events happening at once. I did enjoy the movie, and it had a unique storyline. I did not think that the sniper would make it to the end of the movie, without being either arrested or killed by police. This movie made me think about payphones, and how I will never answer one that rings near me. I didn’t know you could call payphones until I’ve seen this movie. Also, throughout the whole movie until the end, you didn’t clearly see the caller, which really keeps the audience in suspense, because seeing a person’s face can change your opinion of them. The way that the film set the setting as mostly inside a small phone booth is difficult, using a small space for blocking until the end where the action takes place.

Mulan 2: Film Review

Mulan 2 is the continuation of Mulan, General Shang in the beginning of the film proposes to Mulan, which she accepts. However, before their wedding ceremony can start, they had a task from the emperor to bring his three daughters Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su to another kingdom Qui Dong for arrange marriages with princes there to make an alliance. Mushu, Mulan's guardian is happy for Mulan to get married, but he is told that if Mulan gets married Mushu would lose his job as guardian. Mushu, determined to not lose his job plans to break General Shang and Mulan on their journey to the Kingdom of Qui Dong.
To start their journey, Mulan bring three warriors that were on first film to help her, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. On the way to the Qui Dong, the princesses and warriors fall in love creating tension between Mulan and General Shang because of their beliefs. On the top of that Mushu had already created tension by tricking Shang by making a show outside of Shang's tent which shows Mulan telling bad things about Shang to the princesses. You have to watch the movie to find out how it goes.
My favorite part of the movie is when Shang sacrifices his life for Mulan even though they were fighting before. Everything at this point seems to go wrong. I thought at one point Shang is gone and Mulan will remain single for the rest of her life.

Titanic

The 1997 film excellence Titanic was an epic action and adventure movie. Throughout the film numerous encounters occurred between "Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater" who began to establish feelings for one another. Both living entirely different life styles knew the tragedy that would occur if Rose's family would discover the secret affairs of her and her lover Jack. This brought forth many complications between the two lovers. It lead to sneaking around all over the ship as well as avoiding at all cost getting seen by one of Roses family's friends. The film's setting is located on a vessel. Throughout these devious meeting's Rose goes on behind her Family and fiances back her and Jack wonder the ship from head to toe making sure they are never in plain sight. This film portraits an outstanding example of a Romantic Adventure. The film contains an incomparable plot, this is what gives the film its distinguishing outlook. This movie contains all sorts of action such as right before the ship sinks Jack is currently in a dilemma as he cant escape from the room he was being held captive in until his beloved Rose appears to rescue him from his decease. Films such as this one are movies of the decades and I highly recommend to take up some time to watch it. In my opinion this movie is an outstanding example for my genre and even if I have seen it a million times I do not mind watching it another million times.

When A Stranger Calls: Film Review

When A Stranger Calls was a scary movie. This movie is about a babysitter. After she put the children to sleep, she got random, anonymous phone calls through out the night. The phone would ring and the person on the other end would say nothing except “Have you checked the children?”. She didn’t think much of the calls at first but she started to get nervous once they continuously came. When she finally checked on them, she found them murdered in the bed room with blood everywhere. The man that kept called murdered the children and haunted her from then on.

I think this film scared me mainly because I babysit a lot. For a while after I saw this movie I was scared to babysit alone. I was scared the events in the movie were actually going to happen to me. If a horror film scares you and stays with you for days after you see it, I think that’s how you know the film did its job.

The scariest part of this movie, along with the majority of the horror movies I’ve seen, was the music. The music was so powerful and aggressive it gave me chills. Before something scary was going to happen the music would intensify and get my heart racing. It would also build slowly making me even more frightened. I would recommend this movie if anyone is looking to get scared, but it wouldn’t be the best idea to watch it if you have to babysit soon after.

Carrie Film Review

I re-watched Carrie as my other horror film. Carrie is a film adaptation of another Stephen King book of the same name. Although I have never read the book, I really love the movie.

Carrie is about a teenager named Carrie who is really sheltered and raised under the guidance of her religious fanatic mother. Carrie has supernatural powers that are tapped in to when she gets mad. She is tortured by her classmates due to her lack of social ability and even her own mother believes she is the devil.

At Carrie's high school prom, a group of kids decides to pull a prank on her. Her date for the prom is one of the "popular" boys in her class. They decided to make the two of them prom king and queen and when they get up on stage to accept their titles, red paint is dropped on her from the ceiling. Carrie's supernatural powers kick in killing everyone there except for one classmate, Sue, who is left to live with the guilt of knowing that everyone she loved was killed because of her.

When Carrie returns home after the prom rampage, her mother is there waiting to perform a sacrifice on her in order to get rid of the devil inside of her. Carrie narrowly escapes but she then kills her mother in order to save herself. Carrie does die in a fire caused by all of the candles lit around her house as part of her mother's sacrifice.

One of the scariest parts of the movie, I read, is coincidentally not part of the book. It is the scene at the end where Sue goes to pay respects to Carrie at her house after it has burned down, and as she kneels down at her grave, Carrie reaches up from the ground and grabs her arm, waking Sue up from her dream.

Lord Of War

The movie i have recently watched on Netflix is "Lord Of War." It is a political Action/war film released in 2005. This film describes how war actually becomes a war. Nicolas Cage stars as the Protagonist; Yuri Orlov, the gun runner. He is an American Gun Runner of a Ukrainian Origin. The movie starts off with him standing in the middle of a sea of spend shell castings. He states that with over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulations, there is about 1 fire arm for ever 12 people, now his question is . . . how to arm the other 11. The movie is based off of a real even that happened from the 1980's to the 21st century. The gun running business has ever so demanded more guns to be sent to over sea country to fuel war. Through out the movie the protagonist travels threw several different places and sells his arms to the fighting Nation. He gets his guns from the break down of the former Soviet Union. Yuri Orlov had to live several different lives and still come back to his family after selling guns that kill. The accuracy of this movie is close to it as it can get. Yuri Orlov is a fictional name composed of 2 names of real gun runners the movie is based on. Yuri Orlov had a partner to sell his arms, his brother Vitaly. The plot is on the illegal arms market and the wars that his arms were used in. During the invation, he sold his weapons to the Taliban that were being helped by the united states. Iraq wars, Cold War and the small proxy wars are where guns were bought by this man who is fictional. The production of this movie actually used real ak-47's. The production team bought 3000 real ak-47 rifles because they were cheaper then prop guns. Also in the scene where Yuri Orlov is in the car driving past the Russian Tanks, those were bought by the production team and then sold after the movie to Libya. Food for thought.

Witness

Another one of Harrison Ford's classics is the famous late 20th century 'Witness' starring Ford along with other famous actors including Danny Glover and James Earl Jones. After a young Amish woman and her son get caught up in the murder of an undercover narcotics agent, there is only one detective they can turn to, John Book. Harrison Ford was the perfect fit for his role because he is the definition of an action/adventure actor. The movie is very unique too because it has scenes that don't involve that much action, even to the point where it can be called a romantic movie. However, the overall plot proves that it is in fact a action/adventure movie. Any Ford fans out there if you haven't already seen this movie, it is definitely one of his bests. From a young Amish boy witnessing a murder, to the extended romanticism included along with all the action in between, this film is a must see.

The Shining Review

After seeing several posts and trailers about the movie "The Shining," I decided to take a look at it.It is considered to be a horror movie, it started out with the usual horror music to introduce the type of story it will be to us. The story starts out with a family of three. In my opinion they all look very strange. So the father lands a job somewhere in a hotel secluded away in the forest and mountainous area outside of Denver, Colorado. He is asked to look after the place for five months while the hotel is closed off to guests during that time. The father, Jack, brings his wife and son along with him. Before starting off the job, Jack and a few others were aware of a particular situation that had occurred years back. A man just like Jack was in the same situation, and went insane from being so secluded for months, he killed his whole family and in the end himself as well.Jack was not concerned about this. However, with time Jack's own mind began to go crazy like a psycho. Eventually you can guess that he's out to kill his family as well. Strangely enough, he does not end up murdering them as you would expect in a horror, instead he ends up dying on his own.

In the movie, the music and sounds made give off the greatest feeling of horror, making you anticipate something. Along with that the film did contain ghosts, some of which turned to become very disgusting, for instance the woman in the bathroom. Eww. Then there was the man running around with the ax trying to kill.

Now would I recommend this movie, I'm not quite sure about that. The movie is over two hours long, and it took over an hour for some horror to appear. So it's a very slow pace movie. There are some scary factors, but at times it seemed to get boring, and the family was just creepy.

The Da Vinci Code

Over the weekend I watched The Da Vinci Code. This movie is based off of the famous best seller by James Brown, and is part of a trilogy (The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and The Lost Symbol). Although this movie was out before the movie Angels and Demons, the book Angels and Demons came before The Da Vinci Code. Because of the connection, many parallels can be drawn between the two plotlines. Some of the parallels that I saw were how a woman was the sidekick in movies, secret society or brotherhood, clues with sculptures, and etc. This movie was almost exactly the same as Angels and Demons, only it has nothing to do with the Church.

The movie begins with the Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, receiving a request to help solve the mystery behind the recent death of the art curator of the Louvre. Upon accepting this request, he learns of the involvement of the Priory of Sion and their secret. The Priory of Sion is an ancient brotherhood created for the purpose of protecting the Holy Grail. With this secret hidden within the works of the renowned Leonardo Da Vinci Langdon goes all over Paris finding hints in art, history, and religion.

Some of the mystery tropes that I saw in this movie were the friend did it, hidden in plain sight, confesses in confidence, and saying too much. There’s always that evil character that think they are so smart, that their plan will work out and no one will ever find out but the good guys always win because when the good guys are capture, the evil character will expose all that they have done.

This movie was okay, I liked it better because there weren’t as many deaths compared to Angels and Demons but then again all those deaths was what kept me at the edge of my couch waiting for the next big thing to happen.

Batman Begins Film Review

Batman Begins is one of the greatest movies in the way that the origin story does not become ruined or ruins the experience. basically it tells the story of how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, it shows how the death of his parents and his training with the League of Shadows turns him to the Dark Knight. There are great cinematic moments in the film such as when the part where Bruce is in the opera and his fear of bats is affecting him. His fear bothers him so much that he asks to leave with his parents early. This key moment is what sets up the death of his parents, and the reason why he chose a bat as his symbol. One of the other great moments is when he is training with Ra's Al Ghul, and he teaches him how to mind his surroundings, this becomes a focal point in the confrontation between he and Batman in the final fight. There are other great moments such as when he is driving through Gotham and the police are chasing him but fail. This part was pretty cool because it is a huge vehicle moves fast and has the capability to go into stealth mode, kind of like a James Bond car. There are some other great moments where he is flying through Gotham going through all of the citizens who are under the hallucinogenic drug because when they look at him, he looks a genuine bat-like demon in their eyes. The cg effects is such a great visual image and that is used a couple more times throughout the film such as when Batman himself is under the drug. The other great moment is when the incident regarding the water supply releasing the drug to the other citizens of Gotham is over, and Batman is talking to Commissioner Gordon. That scene was interesting besides the fact that it's like the Batman cartoons where he thanks him but disappears but the way that they reveal that the Joker is around the city causing some minor problems leads viewers to watch the next film.

Lady and the Tramp Film Review

Lady and the Tramp is considered one of the best classic romantic Disney movies mde. The story of the relationship between a couple from two different worlds is a similar theme that appears in most romance movies except in this film, it is an animated and the protagonists are dogs. This movie is great for all ages and teaches people about friendship, love, loyalty, and family values.

Lady is a well-brought up Cocker Spaniel in an "upper class world" who belongs to a couple who she knows as "Jim Dear" and "Darling". After they have a baby, Lady feels lonely and left out because they pay more attention to the baby then her. However, the couple lets Lady know that they still love her and care for her just as much as they do with the baby. The couple goes away, and Aunt Sarah arrives to babysit, along with her Siamese cats. The cats destroy the living room and Aunt Sarah blames Lady. She puts a muzzle on her, and Lady runs away from home. She then meets Tramp, a stray dog who helps her with the muzzle, and they go on romantic adventures with each other.

The most famous scenes in cinema history, and my close favorite, is the scene where Lady and Tramp are sharing a plate spaghetti and meatballs on their first date. It is the cutest scene when they stare into each others eyes as the music is played by the chef and they are eating by the candlelight. They both eat the same piece of spaghetti, without knowing, and they almost touch noses. Because of this scene and movie, it has been imitated again and again because it is such a classic.

The romance between the two dogs is heartfelt and the music playing makes it just as cute and romantic. It is a very classic, warm and delightful film to watch. Of course, Lady and Tramp is the perfect example of a couple who come from opposite worlds with perfect chemistry which is genuine. Eventually, there will be a time where one or the other will have to change the way they live to live happily ever after. So in the end, Tramp is adopted by Jim Dear and Darling and is happily together with Lady.

Pink Panther 2 Film Review

Pink Panther 2 is a sequel to Pink Panther and both of them are considered a comical mystery. I like the way the film started about with showing the missing historical pieces from around the world. This gives the audience an idea that this mystery is going to be related to finding the theft and the missing masterpieces. We also know this is a mystery because in the beginning, there were already hidden tape recorders and technology that detects these hidden machineries. Inspector Clouseau is a very silly detective but because of his unique way of thinking, he is able to solve the mystery. He is always asking why The Tornado would start stealing again after decades of inactiveness and make up ridiculous possibilities. This shows that even though it might seem ridiculous, Inspector Clouseau is not letting go any possibilities of the crime.

Inspector Clouseau said a quote that I think applies to all mystery “The crime scene is like a code, you decipher it and it will lead to the criminal.” This is why all detectives start investigating at the site of the crime to look for initial clues. Inspector Clouseau also uses a technique that is similar to what is commonly used which is to put himself in the shoes of the criminal retracing steps and seeing where they might leave a clue. However, since Inspector is somewhat silly he put himself in the shoes of the victim and retraced his steps instead.

Personally, I find this movie kind of boring because of the slow pace. The Inspector is funny but it does not seem like he is accomplishing much. He is always joking around, which is entertaining, but the mystery is being solved very slowly. He does make racial and stereotypical jokes like “that dumb blond” or the way he refers to the Japanese detective as “my yellow little friend.” At the end, thanks to one small observation, the mystery was solved.

2012

The movie 2012 goes on the basis of the Mayan calendar and prediction that the world is going to end on 2012. This movie is full of excitement and portrays the things that might happen that day. The adventure part is a bit more thrilling because the world is having climate changes and they need to go through those obstacles to get to where they need to be to live. Also this film is about the world but the movie is about a family that needs to get to safety to survive this day. Even though some of it is not entirely true, most things you can see happening in real life. International leaders from all over the world choose to make arks for a selected group of people, the actual number is 400,000, which the government sells tickets that are set at the price of 1 billion Euros each. The point to where they needed to get was the Himalayas where the ships were. Also many things help them throughout their journey like the weather which creates paths for them to walk through to other countries. . The main character is not a billionaire and is just a regular person. He and his family are not chosen to make this trip and also don’t have money for that. But they the father doesn’t want his family to die because they aren’t rich or weren’t chosen. When they get to the arcs there is trouble as many people go there but they don’t let them in. When the Arcs leaders see the people suffering and crying to get in, they let them all in because it’ll be unfair for just a certain group of people to be able to come in. So this movie shows more than just the action and adventure and, the big picture in my opinion is that everyone should have a chance of living no matter what.

The Dark Knight - Movie review

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero drama and action-adventure movie  directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role.

The Dark Knight is jammed with tricky underworld conspiracies, obscenely oversize tank-cars, and action scenes that teeter madly out of control, all blanketed by the psycho-anarchic musings of a villain so warped he turns crime into a contest of Can you top this? Batman, a snake-hiss-voiced vigilante who plays out the vengeful fantasies that Bruce Wayne can only dream about, has now gone a good way toward cleaning up Gotham City; he has even inspired copycat Batmen. The woman Bruce loves, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), has been driven away by his moonlight escapades; she's now the squeeze of the lantern-jawed, shining-knight DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). What's more, thanks to Batman's crime-fighting spree — which the honorable lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) winks at under the table — a void has opened up. Into that space steps the Joker (Heath Ledger), a sick puppy in smeary clown makeup who wants to make the world feel his pain.

Heath Ledger's mesmerizing, scary-funny performance begins with the creepiness of his image: the greasy long hair, the makeup that looks as if he'd drawn it on with crayons, then messed it with tears. That ghostly rotting paint job covers his scarred smile, and the disturbing feeling occurs when Ledger's Joker talks, with those ''Ehhh, what's up, Doc?'' vowels; he uses his attachment to those scars to fuel his sadistic whims. He turns slaughter into a punch-line; he's a homicidal comedian with an audience of one — himself.

It's also not a Joker story, despite all of the attention paid to Ledger's maniacal interpretation of Batman's soulless foe. The Joker is but one card in Nolan's very stacked deck. The Dark Knight is an amazing superhero-adventure movie.

No Strings Attached (movie review)

I watched No Strings Attached with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and it introduced the dramatic events and emotions that come with friends with benefits. I thought it with into the category of Romantic Drama. The movie is about two young characters named Adam and Emma who're both emotionally confused and figuring out what they want from life. Adam's father is dating his ex-girlfriend and Emma does not like relationships because she is afraid to be hurt. These characters try to be friends with benefits but one falls for the other and there's a lot of tension and drama in their relationship and where it's going. There are questions raised and concerns about whether they can manage to have more than what they have.

Emma wants to keep their relationship strictly physical but Adam ends up wanting much more than that which Emma cannot give because she is confused and doesn't know what she wants. Adam gets his heart broken and decides he does not want to see Emma anymore because he's going to want more than just a physical relationship. He wants to put forth his emotions and make an effort to have an actual relationship with her. Emma agrees that they should not see each other but later on regrets the decision once she sees that Adam has "moved on." Adam tries to make Emma jealous and it becomes even more dramatic because it's more than just sexual tension.

I liked the movie a lot because it shows how dramatic "friends with benefits" can get and how emotions clash. The movie was pretty predictable though because in a dramatic romance movie, the couple almost, always ends up together...I suppose it's one of the rules of a romantic drama movie. But I liked it and the story made sense because a lot of this happens in real life and there are so many young people dealing with this kind of drama and tension. It was quite interesting.

The Secret Life of Bees

Secret life of bees

This movie is about a young girl named Lily who grew up with her father in the south. At the age of four, Lily began witnessing her father and mother fighting. This was a daily activity Lily had to endure. She found a gun on the floor during a fight and she tried to help her mother defeat her father, she pointed the gun and shot. Killing her mother by accident, Lily was forced to grow up with her abusive father who constantly reminded her of her mothers tragic death. During this time segregation was in play. Rosaleen is one of the main characters, her job was to clean the house and babysit Lily. One day they decide to run away after finding a honey jar with a black Woman on it. Lily feels as if she finds out who this person is, they can unlock the secrets of her mother’s life before her death. After many long nights, they reach their destination. The honey belongs to an elder woman named August. She has two sisters, May and June. They accept Lily and Rosaleen into their home. Rosaleen and Lily lie about who they are so they are provided shelter and a job. Later on in the movie Lily tells the truth about who she is and August tells her she already knew. Lily finds out that the reason her mother and her father were arguing the day of her mother’s death was because she wanted to leave Tj. He was controlling and abusive. August becomes a mother figure for Lily and she adopts her. The movie is beautiful and it's based on the book, the ending is a great one. This is one of my favorite movies because it’s inspiring for young children battling with abusive parents. As well as being brave and standing up for what is right.

Textuality Film Review

Textuality is a film made in 2011, its about two people who wants to get in a relationship while exiting many relationships they were managing through their Blackberries before meeting each other.

Simone, one of the main character a part-time artist and a full time blogger, is busy juggling several casual relationships while trying to get something more from her bed buddy Clive, whom is married.

Breslin, the other main character, whose heartbreak over being dumped by his true love. Then he he goes through his own revolving door of female friends, and one of them happens to be Simone's art teacher.

Simone and Breslin literally crashed into each other on the street. Breslin decides that he kind of likes her. But for them to be together, they need to disengage from six others that they are having relationships with. The film features some conversations in multiple places like in the supermarket, at a dinner party, in the bath, etc. And of course some of these conversations takes place over BlackBerrys, hence the punning title of the film. Although the texting doesn't add anything to the drama in the film.

Overall I find this film quite interesting as it revolves around the two finding who they really want to be with.

The Pink Panther film review

The Pink Panther 2’ kicks off with by-the-book Inspector Clouseau played by Steve Martin. This movie is a mystery that incorporates things not noticed by an untrained eye and humor. Things you wouldnt notice that would be right in your face the inspector notices it. Most of the time Steve ( clouseau) who was clinging to a speeding car, from which he is catapulted straight into the first of many hilarious sequences. The story, such as there isn’t, revolves around a ‘dream team’ of international detectives charged with capturing the thief of the Pink Panther diamond. Against his superior’s wishes Clouseau is assigned to the task and he figures it out because the movie was made so that the inspector of the good guys always win. But on the other hand i watched the ones before the remake and they were alot better. Some times like the example whenan American dialogue coach tries and fails to teach him to pronounce the word 'hamburger,' Martin wisely curbs the temptation to impersonate Sellers. But he also fails to offer anything new, any reason to recreat the character, beyond the desire to scare up a few laughs and, I guess. Martin's careful, at times funny, but utterly unnecessary rendering of Clouseau raises the question that haunts every remake. I personally feel he could have brought more of himself into the film instead of recreating movies multiple times. We already have an original we do not need a bootleg.

The Strangers

"The Strangers" was made in 2008, and because of what goes on throughout the plot, it is characterized as part of the horror genre. The plot can be described as simply as the story of a couple that gets terrorized by masked assailants. The entire movie takes place over the course of one night and ends in the morning when the assailants reveal themselves to only the couple, not the audience, and then take turns stabbing the couple in their stomachs. A pair of Mormon boys discover the couple's house shortly after the killers leave and enter to make what will be the last horrific scene of the movie. This scene set the mood by using silence and "slow motion." I would give more detail as to how and what I mean, but since I really liked this scene, I would not want to ruin it for others who have yet to see the movie. Throughout the rest of the film silence is constantly used to set the mood because it signals that something is about to jump out and scare "the living crap out of you."

This movie also does a good job in reflecting the concept of "token stupid" meaning the actors do a lot of stupid things which a normal human, with any bit of common sense in their mind, would instantly flag as a bad idea. For example, when the assailants are trying to break down the front door, instead of shooting the door with the shotgun that the couple has in their hands, they put it down and start dragging some sort of structure (cannot remember it clearly) to block off the door. Nevertheless, this movie will still have you jumping out of your seat until the very end, literally.

Angels and Demons

I watched Angels and Demons and although it wasn’t in the top 100 mystery movies like Inception, it was a really cool movie. I haven’t read the book before this movie so I’m not exactly sure how it compares with the movie but people have said that they left out some important parts that told about the past. This movie started out with a lot of priests breaking the pope’s personalized ring and stamp, because the pope just passed away. They can’t allow those items to get in the hands of other people who might do something in the name of the pope.

The movie takes place in Vatican City, Italy so when the pope passed away; it was a major event that almost everyone grieved about. The next four cardinals in line for the pope position were very important and the mystery begins when a mysterious person sends an Illuminati symbol and the police have to ask help from Harvard professor, Robert Langdon. The Illuminati was a secret society of scientists that opposed the religious society a lot because they started killing scientists for what they thought was going against religion. So the four cardinals are captured and killed every hour before the final light that will wipe out Vatican City. Langdon follows all these signs for the four elements and he’s able to save the last cardinal while almost able to have saved two more. The murderer planned to kill the four cardinals with the four elements (water, fire, air, earth) and he would brand them with the Illuminati element symbol too. The light that he said would wipe out Vatican City was an vial of antimatter that he stole from the laboratory right as scientists have just successfully proved it. There’s a mix of science inventions with religious stories which goes with the whole Illuminati versus Church thing.

There were a lot of the mystery tropes in this movie such as the obvious murderer and mastermind behind all this (I wouldn’t say, just if you want to watch it to find out), evidence scavenger hunt, hidden in plain sight, serial killing specific targets, and more. I liked this movie a lot although there were some times that I was scared because of how they portrayed the deaths.

Dracula FIlm Review

I watch Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. It was made in 1992 and it was based on Bram Strokers Dracula. In the film, Jonathan Harker is assigned to a village in eastern europe and he is captured by dracula. When Jonathan is gone for over three months, Mina ( Winona Ryder), begins to get worried. Lucy, her best friend, is also worried because she had been planning their wedding. SHe also started her habit of sleepwalking again and she notices that every time she sleep walks she returns very pale. Dr Seward, the doctor who began looking after she began to notice that something wasnt right, thinks that she is anemic. But, he cant find any cause for it. Van Helsing begins a blood Transfusion on Lucy and places garlic around her bed. At the same time, Mina meets a man who introduces himself as prince Vlad of Szekely. But he is Dracula. THen Mina tries to go find Jonathan and Dracula takes Lucy as his bride. Mina and Jonathan then return to London to find that Lucy has "died". Then Jonathan, Van Helsing and his friends set out to find Dracula and to kill him. Mina ends up killing him by stabbing him by stabbing him in the heart with a sword and cutting off his head. I thought this movie was very good. I would give it a 9 out of 10.

paranormal activity film review

I do not really watch horror films all that often. I can barely remember the last horror movie I have watched, and the majority of so called “horror movies” usually ends up in stupid comedic terms. Well one movie I can remember seeing in the theaters was “Paranormal Activity.” Everyone was highly anticipating it to be the scariest movie of the year. Now was it the scariest? No, it definitely was not. The movie took place in a suburban area, with a couple living in their own house alone. Well technically they were not allow for there were demonic creatures that haunted them mainly at night. As the audience, we were anticipating horror scenes, but did we really get that? Not so much.

This movie was made on a very low budget, costing only a few thousand, but it still brought in several millions of dollars of profit, which was surprising for in my opinion I do not think the movie was that great. I actually did not think the movie was good at all, a second and third part came out, I did not hesitate to see it.

“Paranormal Activity” did not scare many people when I looked around the theater the majority seemed to be fine, with having a low budget I don’t think the movie makers were able to produce such strong effects of horror.

However, they did depict some typical horror, like the door screeching and other scary noises that make you go paranoid. The demon would make sounds, even though he was invisible footprints were left on the floor. He would also physically engage, by pulling the girl out of bed and around the house.

In the end I would not recommend this movie for it was not interesting at all, it seemed to never end and was just boring.

Enter the Dragon film review

The film Enter the Dragon is a fantastic example of an action/ adventure story. It has all sorts of tropes that make it into the movie. It has an evil drug dealer who runs the island that Bruce Lee has to defeat. There was a slow statrty at first after introducing Lee's character in the movie to introduce the other characters in the film. There is a tournament in which Lee will find evidence of drug dealing where he fights many opponents as become alllies with a man named Roper who tries to win the tournament. There is a giant subordinate to the ruler Han named Bolo who is a cruel dispatcher of his enemies. There are many great parts such as the well choreographed fights made by Bruce Lee himself and the dialogue as well as the viewpoints of the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. The scenes where the ruler makes his presence known by the women who are owned by him and the rich amount of resources and the entertainment that he can afford. The last fight scene between all of the people of the island is very epic because it shows Lee and Roper take on antire army of Karate fighters and you can see the sheer speed, agility and strength of Bruce Lee and Roper's great techniques. When Han finally shows up to fight Lee and they take their fight to Han's throne room, you can see the great epuic fight that emerges with Lee victorious and Han's forces completely defeated while the military comes to arrest the rest of the villains on the island. This film honestly is the example of an action/adventure film that has everyone tries to make.

RED- Retired Extremely Dangerous (Spoiler)

CLICK the title to see the Trailer

The movie "RED" directed by Robert Schwentke is considered the best action comedy-adventure movie out last year in 2010. The movie is full of incredible movies, including fist fight, gun shooting with rockets and machine guns. Comedy is a huge element in this action film. It soften the situation and make the viewer laugh. Like how a person got blow up by a RPG in one vs. one dueling in Midwest cowboy style.
This story was pretty attracted. Begins with our protagonist a mid age man Frank Moses, who was retired special ops and he on a phone. It turns out he is talking to a girl Sarah Ross that he met during customer service. Yup that is romance element that all action adventure should have. The whole problem started, with Frank getting attack by well equipped agents in his house. Frank senses and reacts fast, and kill the invaders without a scratch. However from his experience he kind of know they are sent by the government and will come back for him.
Right at the moment he then realize the promise he made earlier to meet Sarah. The thing is the bad guys might phone tap him and will kidnap Sarah. So over that night he drive over to Sarah's home to met her for the first time. However this don't really turn out to be romantic, it's rather funny. Sarah came home and found a stranger in her house and try to fight him out. Frank is just there trying to explain. When Sarah notice the stranger is Frank she said "I though you had hair". Then they heard some man coming up to the apartment, of course well armed. Sarah still don't understand the situation and refuse to go with Frank, so he have no choice but to kidnap her.
While Frank and Sarah move about, Frank contact some of his friends with he is still in service. Those friends of his are all specialize in fire arms one way or the other. And like Frank is retired extremely dangerous. (...Last thing, the head antagonist is the vice president of US)

Film Review: The Orphan

Although I thought The Orphan wasn’t a particularly good movie, I was definitely scared and entertained by it. This was the first rated R film I ever saw in theaters and I remember covering my eyes, closing my ears and screaming at some scenes in the film.

The suspense in this movie was overwhelming and frightening. The music was dramatic and made every scene even more suspenseful. I knew that something bad was going to happen as soon as I heard the slow, quiet music start. There were a lot of teaser scenes in this movie. The suspenseful music would play as a door opened, or a mirror closed but nothing would be behind it. The fake out suspense scenes made me more scared because I didn’t know whether something scary was actually going to happen or if it was just a trick.

Along with being suspenseful, this movie was also gory. The orphan child killed her first victim by bashing their head with a hammer. She injured her second victim by pushing them off a jungle gym which caused them to snap their leg in half. She killed another character in the movie by stabbing them. There was a lot of blood. Gory scenes don’t scare me as much as psychologically thrilling scenes do. The blood and murder grosses me out more than it frightens me.

The ending of this movie was shocking. I thought it was well done in how the secret of the villain was revealed. Unfortunately I knew what was wrong with the orphan child before I saw the movie so the ending wasn’t super shocking but had I not known, I would have never seen it coming.

Overall, I think the film was successful in frightening an audience. I was definitely scared and the people in the theater were scared also. I could tell by their shrieks and screams. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking to be entertained and I think it’d be best to watch with some friends. Having company while watching a horror film always makes it more fun to watch.

Finding Nemo... An Epic Adventure.

Marlin, a protective clown fish father because a shark ate his wife and all of the eggs, takes care of his only child Nemo. Nemo ends up going to his first day of school and is treated special because of a scarred lateral fin from the shark attack. Nemo goes investigating a boat, even after Marlin told him not to travel off the reef because of the dangers that might be lurking around. Reef divers from this boat end up taking him away from the ocean and his ends up in a fish tank in a dentist office with other sea creatures. This leads to Marlin having to go on an adventure to find where his only son has gone. He meets a friend along the way named Dory, a blue tang fish with severe short-term memory, which drives him to go into waters he had never been to before.

Deadly jellyfish, hazardous sharks, sea turtles, and seagulls are just some of how Marlin’s adventure is like to save his son. The characteristic from these characters are comedic as they seem to prove the light-heartedness that a children’s movie has, but this doesn’t mean adults won’t enjoy the humor as well. The humor is for the whole family to enjoy.

The movie is great for all ages and is a most see if you haven’t seen this already; Great animation with vivid colors as he travels around action-packed ocean. The struggle of a father to son relationship to rescue what he loves the most is truly an epic tale. Finding Nemo might be one of the most unforgettable movie created by the Pixar company. Though it might not be a movie that has explosions or intense fight scenes, you still get a sense of adventure for all of what the ocean has to give him.

One Missed Call

"One Missed Call" is the 2008 remake to the 2003 Japanese horror film titled "Chakushin Ari". The story is about a supernatural force that leaves voicemails for its victims detailing the date, time, and method of their death by playing them a recording of the actual death. The horror begins with the deaths of the protagonist's two friends. Beth, the protagonist, attempts to notify the authorities about what happened, however, the way she described it, led all but one to believe that she is crazy. One detective, Jack, overhears the story and notices a relationship between the deaths of Beth's friends and the death of his sister whose death also did not have a traditional explanation for. As the two begin to try and unravel the answer to the situation at hand, Beth receives the call.

Over the course of this film, I would say the director did a good job setting the mood. If I remember correctly, all the horrifying parts occurred when it was dark, except for the death of that one guy who got hit by the vehicle in broad daylight. The movie also managed to set the mood by using a very "innocent" ringtone for the mysterious call. Whenever the phone would ring the childish ringtone would play loudly while everything else froze and the surrounding world was dead silent. A reoccurring figure was also seen throughout the movie for split seconds. Once it was seen the viewers instantly knew that someone was about to die. In addition to the above, the movie, I would say, used the western "trope?" of silence to cause tension and build suspense. The silences always felt like they lasted forever and were always broken by a frightening event causing you to jump out of your seat, which in reality is the purpose of a horror film.

misery movie review

The movie I saw was misery and was made based on the book misery by Stephen King. The movie did a good job on making a movie that was based on the book. There were a few differences though. In the book, Annie had used a axe and chopped off Paul's leg in order to stop him from escaping her house. In the movie, Annie uses a sledgehammer and hits breaks Paul's ankle. In the book, Annie also gets her finger chopped off while in the movie, there wasn't anything about it. Also in the book, there was a officer who got killed by Annie after he went to Annie's house and asked if he knew where Paul was. I did not see an officer go to Annie's house and get killed before two other officers came and rescued Paul. The movie was good and had a many similarities with the book. There were just a few differences and the book had more violence and bloody scenes that were described than the movie. The book had more details and you were able to picture the vivid images while the movie has more generalized and did not have the details that were put into the book. Even though you read the book and then went to see the movie, there are definitely somethings that you don't really expect and the movie and as well as the book also builds a lot of suspense in order to make it scary and exciting.