The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days

            The Next Three Days was directed by Paul Haggis, releasing this 19 November 2010.  The tone of this film is crime drama and romance. The prominent actors included in the film are: John Brennan( Russel Crow), who is a simple teacher who is struggling to declare the innocence of his wife. Playing Laura Brennan is Elilzabeth Banks.  This film is set in a recent time setting, in Pittsburg.

            The film begins by showing us Laura Brennan, we catch a glimpse as she bumps into a homeless lady, while simultaneously leaving a crime scene.  The next morning we see Laura scrubbing blood off her trench coat, a little later that morning she becomes apprehended by the police. This is because her finger prints were found on the murder weapon of her boss. Her husband John, struggles to deal with her absence, as he continues to look after their child alone. He also truly and fully believes in his wife’s innocence.  One visit to the prison where his wife is being contained is plenty to riddle John with the guilt as he must continue to watch his wife and son suffer. Laura has even attempted suicide at the thought of not being with her son, even when she is with him it is clear he is dealing with things. Her son loses his connection with her, every family member is deeply affected by her presence in prison.  However we also see that Laura has a strong willed personality. It resonates compared to her husband, who continues to become withdrawn and  stay humble. Finally John cannot resist the option of escape. He encounters with a man who has fled prison several times and has written a book on it.  This is where he begins devising his plan to free his wife.

            We see John travel to local drug spots around town, trying to find fake passports; he quickly feels the reality of consorting with crime. We see him fight for his life, and even kill, all to free his wife. We see a twist as his wife confronts his weak spirit, after John blames himself for their son’s poor academic life. His wife is outraged, and asks John if he ever even considered that she might be guilty. John Leaves, but then decides he will stay true, and believe that she is totally innocent. It is unclear whether she is innocent at the point, but John continues to build his character and proceed with his plans of escape.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1

            The Deathly Hallows has the tone of action, adventure and fantasy, directed by David Yates, releasing this film 19 November 2010.  Daniel Radcliff as the pure hearted Harry Potter. Ema Wattson as Hermione, Rupert Grint as the awkward, Ron Weasley, best friend to Harry and love interest of Hermione. Alan Rickman playing the slithering turned dark side, professor Snape, Helena Bonham Carter as the despicable witch Bellatrix Lestrange.   Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley, love interest to Harry. Playing the Evil, “He who shall not be named” Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort. 

            Harry, Hermione, and Ron continue Dumbledoor’s effort to retrieve and destroy the Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort. Serevus snape reports the departure and replacing of Harry Potter, to Lord Voldermort. We see the new group of dark leaders meet at  the Malfoy Manner.  Harry Potter is left alone on Privet drive, as his family must leave him. This is because the Ministry of Magic has been killing Muggles. Harry Potter is soon received by a number of friends, ready to mask themselves as Harry. This should help with the slipup of finding the actual Harry Potter. As they proceed with their departure, Hedwig, Harry’s bird, jeopardies her life to shield him. Ending fatally for Hedwig, Harry is further isolated from loved ones.

            Harry and his friends return safetly, in the midst of all the danger the group attends a wedding for Bill and Fleur. At the wedding all is met by death eaters. This is where Harry, Hermione, and Ron become separated from the rest and move forward to find the Hocruxe’s.  They are able to find one and destroy it. They also uncover the story of the deathly hollows, and this is there key map to continuing onward.

            This film was very entertaining. Visually, there were a lot of dark tones, stormy skies, gothic architecture, and green New Zealand pastors. The movie possessed a dark morbid tone. I felt like there was something lacking, a lot of action is not going to happen until the second part. I really enjoyed the humor, when the group were disguising themselves as Harry, Fleur told her fiancé not to look at her she was disgusting and handed him her bra, all as harry, hairy chest and all. I really enjoyed the connection between Ron and Hermione, it was passionate, and there was a twist of jealousy created by the Hocrux.  I am very excited to see the next one.  

Due Date

Due Date

            Due Date was directed by Tod Phillips, releasing this film 5 November 2010.  The tone of this film is a comedy. Featuring the comedic crew of: Ill tempered, fast paced Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.), the lovable and simple Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), Peters’ friend Darryl, (Jamie Foxx) and playing Peters wife is Michelle Monoghan.  This film is set in a recent time setting. Peter is an architect trying to make his way home from an airport in Atlanta to LA for the birth of his child.

            Peter has five days to get to LA, but in Atlanta he finds himself accompanied by the promising actor and un wanted co traveler Ethan Tremblay. Ethan is completely out of touch with reality. He believes that his talent will make him big in Hollywood, and that the perm in his hair is still up to date. Also Ethan is on the journey to spread his late father’s ashes. Ethan and Peter become copilots, as Peter has no choice, because he is without an id or wallet. As Ethan tries to let go of his father he cannot bring himself to spread his father’s ashes.  Ethan being an avid marijuana smoker ends up landing him and Peter in a border patrol station. After this Peter calls his friend Darrell to finally pick him up. Lucky Ethan comes along once more as well. Darryl unknowingly makes some coffee with the extra ingredients of Ethan’s fathers’ ashes. This is due to the fact that Ethan put the ashes In a coffee can an aspiring actor. Throughout the film Ethan is compelled to show his acting ability through role playing. In one scene, Peter gets Ethan to improvise as a coach rallying up a football team at half time. Peter adds to the scene telling him his wife just died. This is a pivotal part in the movie because Ethan having just lost his father, his rock, begins to breakdown, all while still playing the devastated football coach. Here Peter begins to learn patience.  The two fall into many mishaps together, and conquer them somehow. 

            I enjoyed that this film captured many countryside settings. It gave the road trip feel; it was very cool seeing the bridge in Las Cruces. I thought the comical value was extremely low. I don’t find cussing and angry lash outs amusing at all. It felt like I was watching the MTV music awards, where everyone just cusses to be funny. I don’t understand why Robert Downey Jr. takes on so many great roles, and then does these family comedy movies.  I also did not like that Ethan annoyed Peter the whole time, and that Peter would become increasingly angry. It irritated me, and I thought the film could have created different options to make the audience laugh. I did not enjoy his character at all. Ethan Trembley was slightly funny but that is only because of his dog sonny, and his flamboyant attitude. I could see how people would find it entertaining, if a family is expecting a child themselves. This film would feel relevant to them.

           

Megamind

***Spoiler***

Megamind

            Megamind was directed  by Tom McGrath, the film was released December 5^th 2010. The cast overview includes: Will Ferrell as the voice of megamind, Brad Pitt as Metroman, Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchi, Jona Hill as Tighten, David Cross as Minion, Ben Stiller as Benard.  This film, being animated, took place in Metro City; it could be futuristic or perhaps present time.

            In the beginning of Megamind we see him narrating as he is falling to his death. Then the film takes us back to when he was first sent to Earth. Megamind is not an earthly figure; as Metro Man both. Both started their expedition to earth as infants. Megamind and Metroman find themselves as each other’s competitors. As they are both initially orphans, Metroman finds his way into a prosperous home. This paves the way for a successful life. Megamind is brought up under different environments. Megamind lands in a prison, and is taught many criminal tendencies. He gains his moral insights from the prisoners surrounding him. He is never taught right and wrong.  Even though his conditions are rough he is unaware of the matter. We see that Megamind is innovative and very intelligent from early on. As he is sent to school, he begins to create by his knowledge of science.  He is faced with Metroman once more adding to the already existing rivalry.

  Megamind does not grow up with the same love from any authority figure, as Metroman. Megamind has only his minion to protect him. His Minion does a good job as a supportive friend but he is no parent. He finds himself creating demonstrations for the students, but mostly things go wrong. Megamind is soon deemed the outcast by his fellow classmates, while Metroman who understands that being good gets you noticed.

We see Megamind tire of this and he then begins to mimic the morals of his fellow roommates at the prison. He wants attention just as Metroman as, he concocts a creation to show his lack of concern of the rules.

 Megamind is soon deemed the outcast by his fellow classmates, while Metroman who understands that being good gets you noticed. This continues into adulthood for both men. Megamind and Metroman have developed their roles to the town of Metro City. Megamind is now the villain and Metroman is the heroic savior of Metro City. The city itself becomes the class room full of kids, that Metroman and Megamind must continue to compete for. Megamind usually captures the lovely reporter Roxanne Ritchi. He then devises a plan to kill Metroman. Metroman usually wins and the cycle continues. No one really fears Megamind untill Metroman fakes his own death. Megamind is now forced to create Tighten. Tighten is Megaminds’ prodigy and is created to be a superhero.

            I thought that the comical value of the movie was very entertaining. It was very funny that Megamind did not say Metro City, but Metrocity. This of course was due to the fact that he was not originally an earthling. I enjoyed the twists of the film. It was interesting that Megamind usually failed at all of his experiments, including Titan. The only thing Megamind was successful in was his ability to problem solve. The animation was very good quality. Some parts of the film appeared life like. Sometimes the characters bodies looked real. I enjoyed the music, the AC DC, gave you the feeling that Megamind was cool. This was great because I just wanted Megamind to find acceptance and to be happy. I laughed through the whole movie; all the characters were very funny. Will Farrell and David Cross were very funny. Their characters had a dumb wit.

            I did not think this movie was bad. I think that people might consider it a little grown up for children. There were a couple of adult jokes. I cannot remember them. I thought that the music was redundant and repeated itself.  If parents were taking their children to see it, they may enjoy the music choice because it was played in their generation possibly ( AC DC).I enjoyed the comedy the most, and I liked that the film had a good and bad aspect. I also enjoyed the moral “ to be yourself”.

Catfish

***Spoiler***Movie Review: Catfish

            The Directors of Catfish created this film in  2007, they are Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. They released this film in September 10^th 2010. Their inspiration was sparked by Aieral Shcumans real life brother Nev Shculman. Also this movie captures the real life happenings of Megan Faccio and Melody C. Roscher. This film starts in the area of New York, and then travels to Michigan, to capture the truth behind Abby and her family.

The movie begins with technology, we see the directors of the movie filming Nev, who starts by introducing the audience to Abby. Nev uses facebook to connect with Abby as well as her older sister Megan. We see that Nev is a photographer. This is the connection between him and the eight year old girl. Through Nev’s pictures, Abby is able to create art. Nev becoming amazed, as Abby begins to send him paintings, tries to get more involved. His brother Rel focuses on filming Nev. As Nev becomes suspicious of Abby and her family, we see a major turn in the story. Nev uses U tube to unmask Megan. He is sure that she and her mother are lying about her musical talent. As Nev further investigates, he agrees they should travel to Michigan. They begin by going to Megan’s as they quickly realize she does not live there. Next Nev and everyone else decide to go the home of Abby.

            As they meet Angela she is obviously not the same person as her profile showed on facebook. Neither is Abby’s father. It does not faze Angela that her identity has been exposed to Nev. I was surprised to find that Abby actually did exist at all. As Nev meets her for the first time, he is thrilled, Abby is not that motivated. It is apparent that she has not been collaborating with Nev herself. We see Nev make a connection with the family anyway, so it was hard for me to believe he actually had the courage to face Angela. I can see why any real person would do this however. He became so involved through the communication and paintings, he felt lied to and that he was. I commend him for his courage; he knew someone needed to confront Angela’s behavior. We finally see the film close after Angela reveals her version of the truth, this happens as she paints a portrait of Nev.

            I really liked that this was all based on actual events; however I did not always believe what I was seeing. Sometimes the characters came off as made up, like Angela. When she told Nev that he had beautiful eyes as he was confronting her, it seemed like something a normal person would not usually do. However it could be considered a good thing because it shows how connected Megan, Angela, and Nev really were before the truth was revealed. This would help people understand why Nev would drive over there and do this in the first place. Instead of just the sake of the production of the film, there was an emotional connection between them. I did not like watching Angela, I felt like the movie made her the antagonist. I mean she was in fact that, but I would not want to embarrass someone like this.

The Town

Movie Review of The Town

            The actors featured in this film include Ben Afflek, who directed the film.  Other cast members star ; Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Slaine, Owen Burke, Pete Postlewaite Peter Craig was the screen writer for this crime drama, that takes place in a current time setting in Charlestown Boston, MA. Ben Affleck plays Doug, who is connected to a stream of bank robberies. The film starts off with showing us a monument; maybe it is depicting justice, or injustice. The film shows the audience, four men plotting a bank robbery, while you assume they are not going to rob the bank, but they do. As Doug makes his first connection with Claire, he has an epiphany that he is no longer interested in crime.

            We see that Clair lies to the FBI, and already we the audience can tell the FBI seem to be the antagonist, instead of the bank robbers. As Doug becomes interested in Claire he offers himself to follow her. We see them meet at the laundry mat, Claire breaks down, but is not about to let anyone see why, she is strong. Doug is the only one aware of her painful reality. We see the movie continue, with many high speed chases, and we see comedy along the way. One scene reveals the bank robbers as they have just evaded the cops. One single cop car is next to them, because he is out numbered he lets them leave. The Crime scenes were great; they kept me interested by the strategy of the robberies. I liked the backstory of Doug, it showed the environmental influence, of his decision to take part in crime. I thought it was very interesting how he did not claim the child from Crystal. The child had dark hair like him. It was funny and realistic that he represented this further by; placing the child outside of the hotel room, and domestically abusing crystal. I enjoyed the mention of the organization “The Boys and Girls Club”. I loved this aspect of giving back to your community, along with showing the real side of people and their intentions, good or bad. Everyone in this movie made you feel compassion for them, except the FBI. The relationship between Doug and James, the brotherly bond was portrayed through one scene where; Doug asked him to help beat someone up for him, and essentially for the girl they had just kidnapped (Claire). You see the two beating a man, Doug and James have ski masks on. James reveals his face, and asks the man what did you do to piss my brother off?

            I thought the cinematography and music of the film, was dramatic and depicted the action seems fittingly. I enjoyed this film, and I think Ben Affleck did a great job, better than his old comrade Brad pit could have done. I liked that the costumes of the film were realistic. I liked the sweat pants and Crystal looked cheap but still pretty.

The Social Network

Movie Review The Social Network

The actors of this film were: Jesse Eisenberg Armie Hammer Andrew Garfield Justin Timberlake. I would say that this film is a biography and drama. The director of this film is David Fincher, who has directed films like: Fight Club and Zodiac. This film dealt with a viewpoint, where success may be reached without college. Mark became an entrepreneur based on his own innovation and enthusiasm. However the film did mention Bill Gates and Bill Gates did attend college for some time.  Another important factor to Marks accomplishments was financial support. Without the help of Eduardo, Mark may have never had the ability to create Facebook. I thought Mark was very intellectual but people may not have respected him more, because of his attitude. Mark created Facebook with the collaboration of his roommate, and from the inspiration of viewing pictures. The targeted audience in this film is college students, and anyone who uses Facebook.

 The setting of the film took place in both New York and Los Angeles. Some of the bands featured in the music of this film are: Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross. The music went well as the attitude altered throughout the movie. The story line begins in Boston, Mark and his girlfriend, and then it flashes to him sitting in court. We see Mark being sued by his friend Eduardo. The movie switches back and forth from court to the creation of Facebook. The film mostly deals with the competition between the men. We rarely view a lot of pleasurable moments, Mark becomes too involved with Facebook, as well as himself, he does not care for people who are not at the same level intellectually as him. He loses many things along the way, like friendship, money and possibly love.  I thought it was interesting the twins had the idea first, but that Mark was able to shape it and was socially aware of ways to make it better. He could tell that simple ideas like relationship status, and being able to view a person’s pictures would draw any one curious into the website. It was interesting that not only Mark appreciates the intelligent person but also an independent free spirited person like Shawn Parker. Mark liked him because he succeeded slightly with the same innovation that Mark himself possessed. It was really funny that Shawn eventually screwed up his chances with Facebook for drugs. The film really spoke to the world because the idea of Facebook is that any one can keep in touch with new and old friends. You can become familiar with people you have never met, and you can show the world who you are. I really liked the idea that Facebook was once only for people involved in Ivy League Schools. The film gave me a new interest in Facebook, and now I would like to create my own. This is interesting, I think that after people have viewed this film they will have a new interest and understanding of the film.