WATCHMEN

SUMMARY: WHY ARE MOVIES GETTING SO GOOD??!? This  director, Zach Snyder, captured the dark side of superhero movies and comics perfectly.  When life doesn't have happy endings and the truth is hard to see.  Touching on the topics of whose right is it to judge and if you have the power to do something, anything, should you use it?  Powerful stuff.

ACTING: A lot of people rate The Dark Knight as the top superhero movie because of the incredible acting done by Heath Ledger (RIP).  Yet, I argue this tops it because of the amazing acting done the whole crew.  Everyone goes all out on this movie and the emotions can be felt.  Each superhero is given his/hers own background that intertwines with the others.

SCRIPT: The same type of monologue like in 300, Sin City, and The Spirt let you know this is still a comic book. The superhero Rorschach likes to talk to himself, lucky we can listen. Letting you inside the main characters head, and letting the viewer think he/she is seeing everything... but the main character can get tricked.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:  In the beginning credits there is a slow moving camera shot that I have never seen for a long period of time.  A type of still shot that must have only lasted for 5 seconds or less, but because of the slow moving shot it takes on a longer scene.  Taking you through the years of the superhero and how when the world evolves, so do the heros.  It gave a brief history of real events and fake ones but that were related to the movie.

RE-WATCHABILITY: Is a long movie no doubt but I reeeeeeally want to see it again. So what does that say?

PLOT: The setting of the movie was set during Nixon, Carter, and Reagan during the time of tension between the United States and Soviet Union.  Although, in the actual movie Nixon is president for 5 terms.  It gives a alternative perspective on history about wars. Yet, I think what offsets this movie from not only any other comic movie, but any movie in general, is the humor.  This movie is a pitch black dark comedy, that is sad but funny.  It takes you into the psychology of people, and what the human race really is.  It holds a mirror to your face without you even noticing it, and has you look upon yourself.  Life is a cruel joke, but try and be the last one laughing.

Bonus:FIGHT SCENES: No kung fu movies have come out in America in a while. So its nice to see some fight sequences done correctly.  With the sound effects done at full throttle and made amazing your almost grimacing at every sound of a face punched in.  Along with special effects, there is no nice fighting happening in this movie. Graphic novel would be the correct term with out a doubt.

RATING: ☃☃☃☃☃

CORALINE

SUMMARY: This new Tim Burton production, Coraline, is a new visual masterpiece and an unsettling story-line. The movie is about a bored girl who has just moved into a new home and has to leave her old friends and life behind.  School has yet to start so she searches her apartment complex for different things to preoccupy her.  While searching her own family's apartment she stumbles across something odd that changes her boring day to a more exciting one.

ACTING: Dakota Fanning, playing Coraline, has had experience in voice overs before so she does an excellent job.  As I was watching the movie I had no idea whose voice was Coraline's, which made it all the more enjoyable.  From the cats to the parents, each voice brings a uniqueness that keeps the characters in your memory.

SCRIPT: There are many different nationalities, ethnicities, and dimensions in this movie, yet the dialogue changes with each change in scene.  There is a feel of a horror film sometimes but still the movie has the qualities of a children's movie.  Adults will find the movie just as thrilling as the children will, even though though its still a cartoon.

CINEMATOGRAPHY/ARTWORK: The artwork and digital design of each frame can be a canvas in itself. With the array of colors and wierd creatures, the imagination is once kicked into gear.  The type of animation the Tim Burton uses also brings a real aspect to the cartoon that only he can capture.

RE-WATCHABILITY: Kids love repetition so they can watch movies over and over again no problem. Unfortunately, they don't like scary movies so this might be one they can only handle once.  On the other hand, adults can appreciate this movie more and can see all the little things it has to offer when scene from different angles.

PLOT: Tim Burton always has crazy twisted ideas that slightly disturb the viewer but are riddled with morals.  Horror Children movies is his specialty and he does it better then anyone probably could.  Some animated movies show how love overcomes all, others tell about how unlikely allies can survive an adventure together , but this movie scares kids into dealing with the situation there in and making the best of it.

RATING: ☃☃☃☃

CHAPLIN

SUMMARY: Chaplin is a fictional biography about the life of Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest Slap Stick comedians. This comedy about a comedian brings his personal life into the story and lets you see the complexity of who he was. The movie showed Chaplin's weakness for women and his strength for sticking up for truth. Something about this comedian wasn't funny.

ACTING: Robert Downey Jr., playing Charlie Chaplin, does an excellent job portraying the beauty of his comedy and the passion he had for his craft. Downey Jr. has to play different ages as well and is also good at different dialects. The many females that he plays with have amazing personalities and each bring their own feel to their role. The viewer laughs with each joke and sees Chaplin not Downey.

SCRIPT: The dialogue is elegant and fits the time period. There is a playboy feel to Chaplin and how his weakness for women hurt him that is seen through his facial expressions more then his words. The different time periods also made the story-line more complex, letting the depth of the characters show from different times of their lives.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: The footage that was made to look old was very authentic and had the feel of film when there wasn't any speaking. The transition from old film to new was good and camera angles were agreeable with the scene.

RE-WATCHABILITY: A good movie that is nice to see again but is long too.

PLOT: Biographies are usually boring but Charlie Chaplin lived such an amazing life that it was movie material to the fullest. No one could leave this movie without enjoying at least some parts. The film celebrates what Chaplin represented but grieved what he had to go through. An old movie that can be appreciated.

RATING: ☃☃☃☃

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

SUMMARY:  Slumdog Millionaire is a beautiful romance between two childhood friends, but also shows how money can come between brothers.  The story follows two Indian orphans, Jamal and Salim Malik.  The movie begins with Jamal on the hot seat in the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  Jamal answers the questions by recounting his childhood memories and telling how he hustled, scraped, and survived to this point in his life.  

ACTING:  Most of the action and lines were done by the two younger actors who must have been at the most nine years old.  These kids gave a convincing role about how it must have been to live in the slums of India at a young age.  They showed fear, anger, jealousy, and playfulness with amazing skill.  The older version of the brothers also gave a persuasive performance - continuing the feud that was started at the young age.  The love that is shared between Jamal and his love interest, Latika, is apparent and heartfelt.

SCRIPT: The writers of this movie developed very funny dialogue between the two brothers, making them seem playful towards each other while offering a hint of problems to come.  The way the story is set up has the viewer off balance and wondering what's really going on.  This helps keep the romance interesting to ALL movie goers.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: The placement of the cameras provide interesting view on what happens in the story.    The camera views give a slightly confusing angles so that everyone's off balance.  Not many stand still shots, but more movement instead.

RE-WATCHABILITY:  A romance can always be watched again for a "warm and fuzzy" feeling but usually thrillers don't have the same "thrill" the second time.  Yet, since this movie encompasses something more passionate, it gives the film a new feeling every time it's watched. 

PLOT: Using a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" theme to tell a story sounds very tricky, and would be if the writer wasn't confident and good.  This idea, given to the wrong person would probably turn out to be corny and unimpressive.  But, the way the story is woven together in this film, makes the movie so much better and gives little chapters in between the story.  This movie brings the concept of a game-show and life together, providing an interesting look on what fate can bring and love can accomplish.

RATING:  ☃☃☃☃☃ no doubt.

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

SUMMARY: This romance movie (first a novel) is about getting past denial and facing the truth about how the opposite sex feels about you.  When it comes to love and relationships there are many signals that get misinterpreted, and this movie has most of them figured out.

ACTING: The acting was not the best I've seen in a romance but there were some good performances.  Jennifer Aniston did an amazing job with bringing emotion as well as comedy to the scene.  Ginnifer Goodwin also was a shinning star in the film, naive and stupid as she was, it was apparent that her role was to show the fairy tale version of love.  Yet, the person I was most displeased with was Drew Barrymore, it seemed that she had learned her lines about ten minutes before filming.  Besides her though, everyone else did a fair job.

SCRIPT: The script was quite entertaining.  There were hits and misses for the comedy but the emotion was in the right place. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Normal camera views.  Sometimes the fade to black was kind of random and transitions needed work.

RE-WATCHABILITY: If you've watched this movie once the twist wouldn't amuse anyone again but its still a sweet and lovely film.  Not on the same level with The Notebook but the romance is still there and could bring a tear to someone's eye.... somewhere out there...

PLOT: Quite a genius topic because of how current the dating situations are today.  A lot of the twists were easily figured out but with the huge amount of characters there were still good surprises at the end.

RATING: Started off ☃☃ but got bumped to ☃☃☃.

TENACIOUS D: THE PICK OF DESTINY

SUMMARY: The comical masterpiece which is, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny, might be held as the most lyrically acclaimed comedies.  The adventure begins when two strangers who love rock, JB and KG, meet and start their own band.  They discover the key to becoming a great Rock & Roll group and set off on a quest. The movie has many songs from their album (which came first) and keeps the movie historical.

ACTING: Jack Black is a comedic genius, his actions speak much louder then his words (or lyrics).  The way Black presents himself in his movies, differs from any other actor and he makes each role his own.  Kyle Glass also brings in a more perverted side of comedy and helps as the foil character.

SCRIPT: The songs in the movie have extremely creative lyrics.  The script flows with each individual character so well that the comedic timing is effortless.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Normal, nothing spectacular.

RE-WATCHABILITY: Good for a laugh anytime no matter how many times watched.  The jokes are made to last and the songs will have you humming after you turn the TV off.

PLOT: Not an amazing plot but wasn't a film that was made for its story line.  All in all the movie has its twists and turns but it can be predicted.

RATING: ☃☃☃