Friday, June 17, 2011

Green Lantern (3D)

After watching the latest trailer, I had a feeling this movie would be bad. Turns out... I was right for the most part.

The movie starts out with the history of the Green Lanterns. Basically they are a group made up of different aliens/species that protect the universe and defend justice throughout the galaxy or something like that. Anyway, this big evil creature thing that sucks the souls/fear out of people (and as we later learn can apparently read minds)ends up killing a few of the Green Lanterns. So they need some replacements and then they'll try to stop the creature. So in comes this odd looking purple alien (who looks like he came out of an old episode of Power Rangers that I watched as a kid). He's sent to Earth with one of the Green Lantern rings so that it can choose someone worthy.

Of course, it chooses a guy named Hal (Ryan Reynolds), a fighter pilot. As with a lot of movies, they decided to toss a tragic family element into this. And then for the next hour and fourth five minutes it's basically him learning to becoming a Green Lantern & trying to fight off the bad guys. One of which is a scientist (I can't remember the actors name) who ends up getting infected by the evil creature and strange things begin happening to him. One of which is his brain swells up so big that he looks absolutely ridiculous. Seriously, everytime he came onscreen I couldn't help but laugh hysterically, earning some strange looks from the people sitting around me I'm sure.

This movie was pretty bad (although not the worst I've seen this year). There were several cringe worthy scenes and the dialog was extremely cheesy even for a superhero movie. Blake Lively is in this. Although she serves no purpose other than to be Hal's love interest. The whole plot of the movie was pretty stupid and some scenes left me really disappointed.

There were some good things about it however. The biggest (surprisingly) was the 3D. It was actually good! I give the director a lot of credit for filming it in 3D rather than converting it in post production. The other thing was Ryan Reynolds. He's easy on the eyes and in a few moments in the movie his acting wasn't too bad.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend this movie. I guess if you like Ryan or you enjoy movies that are nothing but eye candy.

My stating: 5.5/10

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Super 8

I was really excited to see this movie. I'm a huge JJ Abrams fan. He directed the 2009 version of Star Trek (which is one of my favorite movies). I wasn't disappointed.

This movie was basically one big tribute to Stephen Spielberg. I grew up watching his movies so this one was refreshing to see. Brought back a lot of good memories. They don't make too many movies like that anymore. Spielberg was actually an executive producer on this one.

The movie takes place in 1979. The story is basically about a boy named Joe, who (along with his Dad, the town deputy) is dealing with a huge tragedy. At the same time Joe and his friends are making their own zombie movie to submit for a film contest. One night while they are filming a scene, a train derails nearby. Of course, there's more to it than that as the military gets involved and tries to keep what's really going on a secret. Meanwhile, several people in town go missing as well as a bunch of dogs. Joe's Dad tries to find out what's really going on.

I'd say more but then I'd really be spoiling the movie. I really enjoyed it though. The action scenes and special effects (considering the film's low budget) were great. Just to warn you, there are a couple of jump scares. I nearly had a heart attack during them. The music that played during the movie I thought fit perfectly.

This movie features a cast almost entirely of unknown actors. The only ones I recognized were Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning's younger sister. She was in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and the guy who played Joe's Dad. I can't think of his name but I know I've seen him in other movies and/or tv shows.

I only have two minor complaints. First, some of the acting was not so good in a few scenes. But considering this is some of the actors first movie (that I know of) I'm willing to let that slide. The only other thing was some of the scenes felt a little long and dragged out. But not too bad.

I'm not sure if Super 8 will make a lot of money. It's not for everyone. But it could become a cult classic. Who knows. But I def recommend this if you like 80's/Spielberg movies.

My Rating: 8/10

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Pros & Excons (DVD )

NEW SAM MOVIE!! NEW SAM MOVIE!! *runs around the room squealing*

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll try and do my review.

This movie was originally titled Fink! (why they changed it I don't know). It was actually made about 6 years ago. It's one of those indy, straight to DVD (for the US anyway) movies that never would have seen the light of day if Sam hadn't have been in Avatar.

This is a really low budget Austrailian movie. I'd tell you the plot, but I'm still not sure what it is even though I just watched it. From what I can tell Sam (who is the only recognizable actor in this) plays a guy who's hired (along with another guy by some gangster to assassinate someone. And then for the next hour and a half all they really do is go around from place to place shooting a bunch of people.

There are several unintentionally (or maybe intentional who knows) funny moments in this. For instance, there's a scene where a guy is being tortured and ends up getting his fingers cut off. I don't know why, but when this happens I was laughing hysterically. Maybe it was the way the guy screamed. I'm weird I know. The blood looked really fake too. But for such a low budget movie, the picture quality is actually pretty decent.

Now let's move on to the most important part of this review- Sam's performance. You guys know me- Sam could read names out of a phone book for two hours and I'd think it was amazing. Seriously though, I think Sam does a great job with the material he was given. He's technically a bad guy but you can't help but root for him. He looks great too of course ;)

Would I have watched this if Sam wasn't in it? Probably not. I'd only recommend this if you are a huge Sam fan or you like watching low budget movies.

My Rating: 10/10 (this is purely based on Sam's performance)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

My writing

I know this isn't a movie review but it falls under the category of entertainment. Plus it's my blog and I'll post what I want.

About a year or so ago I had this really odd dream. Normally when I wake up I forget about my dreams within a few minutes. But not this one. I couldn't stop thinking about the people in it and what would happen to them. So I decided to write it down. The following scene is pretty much the dream that I had. It's a really rough draft. Only the two main characters have names at the moment.

I'm still not sure about posting this. I've only shown this to one other person. Please let me know what you really think. Be honest. If it sucks tell me. I promise I won't get mad.

Well, here it is-


The snow was beginning to fall more heavily on the ground. Despite this, as Natalie looked out of the large bathroom window, she could see countless people stepping out of limos and other expensive cars and into the mansion for the annual Christmas party. They were all smiling as if they didn't have a care in the world. A far cry from Natalie right now.

As if on cue, the timer went off. Natalie turned around and took a deep breath. As she walked foward, her eyes avoided the small white stick next to the timer.

Was this really happening? She was only nineteen. Plus she'd only been with Patrick for a couple of months.

After several seconds, she finally picked it up.

Even though deep down Natalie knew what it would say, she still felt a moment of shock as she stared down at the blue plus sign.

Pregnant.

Despite everything, she felt happy. She'd always wanted to be a mother. Granted this was happening a lot sooner than she'd expected, but there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted this baby.

Natalie looked down at her stomach, which was still flat underneath her dark green dress. She placed her hand gently on it. As she did this, a small tear trickled down her face.

She stood like this for awhile until she was brought out of her moment by the sound of someone banging against the door.

"Excuse me!" a woman's voice said loudly. "Could you hurry up in there?"

Natalie sighed, wiped the tear from her face, and placed the pregnancy test in her purse. After straightening out her dress she stepped out into the hallway. She briefly glanced at the woman who banged on the door, but did not speak to her. She had more important things to do right now.

"I have to find Patrick and tell him what's going on." Natalie said to herself.

Natalie had last seen him when they arrived twenty minutes earlier. No sooner had they stepped inside than Patrick's father glared at her and then asked to speak with Patrick. He nodded, told Natalie he'd be right, and then walked away.

"Where did they go?"

She walked two floors down to the ballroom, where people were starting to gather. She looked all around but she couldn't find them. Finally she spotted one of the maids and asked her if she'd seen them.

"They went into his father's study." the maid told her. "Do you know where that is?"

Natalie nodded, thanked her, and headed up towards the study.

Before Natalie even reached the door, she could heart Patrick and his father yelling. She saw that the door had been left open ajar. Slowly, she walked over and peaked through.

Patrick stood there by the fireplace with his father and three men she didn't recognize. She assumed they were friends of his father.

She leaned in closer, trying to hear their conversation.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to bring her here!" hiss father said. "What were you thinking?"

"She's my girlfriend!" Patrick told him. "I've been seeing her for months. Of course I'd bring her."

Natalie could see the scars on Patrick's face were becoming more red and prominent with each passing second. This was something that seemed to happen only when he was very angry.

His father sighed. "I hoped you would've given her up by now. She's just..."

"She's what?"

"She's a child. For god's sake, she's nineteen! You're thirty five."

Patrick shook his head. "Her age has nothing to do with this and you know it!"

His father's friends interrupted and spoke calmly, telling Patrick that they would gladly find him a woman his own age.

"I don't want anyone else." Patrick said, sounding irritated. "I love Natalie."

"She's not like us."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"She's trash! Do you hear me? Trash!"

Those words stun Natalie so much that she had to turn away. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying her best not to get upset. It was only when Patrick started talking again did she turn around and open her eyes.

"You don't even know her. If you did you'd know that she's been through hell. Yet she's still the kindest, most compassionate person you could ever meet. And not once has she ever looked at me like I'm a monster."

"You've been out with other women." his father's friend said. "They didn't look at you that way."

"Yes they did. They were just with me because of the money. They couldn't even look me in the eye most of the time. Anyway it doesn't matter. I love her and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Just how far are you planning to go with this? Are you going to marry her? Have children?"

"Maybe." Patrick said.

His father started yelling. "That's out of the question! I will not have someone like her in our family. Besides, you shouldn't be having children anyway."

"You know your condition is genetic." his father's friend said. "What if you passed it on to your child? And then there's Natalie. She could die in childbirth."

"Just like your mother." his father stated coldly.

Patrick didn't say a word. The look on her face was enough to tell her that he feared what everyone just said to him.

What would this mean though when Natalie told him? Would he not want the baby? She knew she did. Natalie didn't care if the baby ended up having the same condition as Patrick. She would love him or her no matter what.

Suddenly, the tears Natalie had been trying to fight back came pouring down her face. Because of this, she didn't realize that she had been standing too close against the door. It creaked all the way open. Everyone looked at her.

"Natalie!" Patrick said, shocked. "How much of that did you hear?"

Natalie couldn't answer him. Instead, she turned her back and began running down the hallway.

Not even a minute later, Natalie could hear Patrick's voice coming somewhere from behind her."

"Natalie! Natalie wait!"

But she didn't. Instead she only ran faster. Finally, she reached the elevator and got in. She just had to get out of that house.

After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator finally stopped on the first floor. Natalie quickly got out, took her car keys out of her purse, and ran out the front door.

The cold air shocked her body for a few seconds and it was then that she realized that she had forgotten her coat. Natalie continued walking towards her car though. There was no way in hell she was going back in there now.

When Natalie finally reached her car she quickly got in and wiped the tears from her face. In her head she could still hear Patrick's voice calling out to her. She felt bad for running off on him l

Friday, June 3, 2011

X-Men: First Class

Going into this movie, I wasn't expecting much. Don't get me wrong, I like X-Men. I remember watching the cartoons and even reading the comic books when I was a kid. But I'm more of a Batman girl. Sorry. Anyway, I've seen pretty much every movie that's out right I thought I'd give this a chance... I'm glad I did.

While this is not the best superhero movie I've ever seen, it certainly isn't the worst. This is a prequel to the previous films. It shows us the origins of Professor X & Magneto. It's about 2 hours & 20 minutes long but it didn't feel like it. I thought it was really interesting.

First, the good. James MacAvoy was well cast as Xavier/Professor X. He's a brilliant actor. The guy who played Erik/Magneto (can't remember his name at the moment) was good as well. The special effects as far as the mutants go was well done for the most part. The action (while out there) kept me entertained.

Now for the not so good. January Jones (who plays Emma Frost) couldn't act if her life depended on it. She has this deer in the headlights look all the time that drives me insane. And while we're on the subject of acting, Kevin Bacon appears in this. I like him, but his performance was way too over the top even for a movie like this. The dialog was bad at times and there were a couple of untentionally funny moments. Maybe it was just me. I think I was the only one laughing at certain points.

But overall, I would recommend this. It's a fun summer movie that'll keep you enteertained.

My Rating: 7/10