Contagion.

When you think of a disaster movie, what comes to mind? Is it a giant monster destroying a city? Or perhaps a horde of zombies? Or maybe you fancy the world being destroyed by flashy special effects? Contagion forgoes all of the options for a much more believable look into the genre.

It was brilliantly directed, all of the actors gave fine performances, the music was fittingly somber, and it was a welcome change of pace from the cgi/explosion fests that have plagued cinema for the past few months

Contagion tells its story through the eyes many individuals and their plights during a serious viral outbreak. We follow the head of disease control as well as his affiliates in different parts of the world, an online propagandist reporter, and a father who is doing everything he can to protect his daughter. These different angles are where the movie absolutely shines. Following each of these individuals, we get a different look at human nature and how different people will act during an outbreak of this nature.

As mentioned above, the strongest point of the film is the characters. However, we wouldn’t have these great characters without some great acting to back them up. Laurence Fishburne plays Ellis Cheever the head of disease control. Matt Damon plays Mitch Emhoff, the concerned father. Fishburne didn’t bring anything new to the table, but he was still fantastic. Matt Damon was great as a struggling dad. Early on we learn that he is immune to the disease but his daughter may or may not be immune. This brought some great intensity to scenes in which they’re scavenging for supplies. Even the simple act of making snow angles with the neighbor’s worries Damon’s character and we get to see an inner struggle. He wants to protect his daughter from this disease, but he also wants to let her have a life outside of a closed up house. Finally, we have Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede as the propaganda reporter. While all of these individuals were fantastic, Jude Law stole the show in my opinion. Even to the end of the film, it was hard to gauge his intentions.

If there was a viral outbreak, would you act selfless? Or would you succumb to the primal instincts of survival of the fittest? This film is able to explore these themes and proves that you don’t need mindless violence and gore in order to tell a mature and moving story. There are many scenes that are difficult to watch, not because of the violence, but because you will begin to question human nature as a whole. There was never a moment of peace in the film, as the content and pacing of the film will keep you on your toes at all times. One of the strongest themes that the film touched on was herd mentality and our inability to think when pushed into a crisis.

This was one of the scariest films I have seen in years, and it did it without violence and/or jump scares. Because of this, and the film’s gritty realism, I highly recommend this it. It’s one of the year’s best so far.

Cowboys & Aliens.

Like most people, when I first heard about this movie, I had no idea what to think. It sounded like it could be either the most idiotic movie you'll ever see, or the most fun. It's most definitely the latter. It was incredibly stupid, but in a good way. It never tried to do anything extremely serious with its absurd premise. It had its flaws, some major ones even but I never felt like they took away from the movie. This is a movie that I can easily put on at anytime and have a good time.

The basic premise is that a man named Jake Lonergan (played by Daniel Craig) wakes up in the middle of the desert with no recollection of his past or name with a strange device attached to his wrist. After warding off a few slave drivers/scalpers, he steals one of their horses and rides off to Absolution. Once there, he catches the eye of Ella Swenson (played by Olivia Wilde), a local girl who seems to know something about Jake's past. Soon after, he runs into trouble with the local bandit Woodrow Dollarhyde (played by Harrison Ford) after getting his son arrested. Suddenly, aliens attack the town and capture many of the townspeople including Dollarhyde's son. They then form a ragtag group and venture off to rescue everyone.

My favorite part about the story is how silly it is. It's full of cheesy dialogue, and plotholes the size of Texas (no pun intended), but it all fuels the classic Western B-movie feel the creators were going for.

The ragtag group is filled with your typical cliche heroes. Your typical amnesia hero and love interest (Craig and Wilde), your gruff anti-hero (Ford), your local village idiot who is always looked down upon (Doc, played by Sam Rockwell), a kid who wants to prove himself (Emmet played by Noah Ringer), and your motivational speaker/priest (Meacham played by Clancy Brown) who's only purpose is to die heroically and give the main heroes a motivational speech about not giving up. Finally, you can't have a western without an Indian tribe who despise the heroes but eventually learns to trust them and fights by their side. All of the actors did a fantastic job. Much like the story, you could tell that everyone had fun. Craig and Ford stand in particular because they play well of each other. Wilde was the only weak point, but that's only because of the other actors she was up against, and not due to bad acting.

The score was fantastic. Harry Gregson Williams skillfully combines the sound of your classic Westerns with the heavy and fast paced score of sci-fi flicks. The main theme is a combination of fast paced violins with some guitar riffs thrown in.

Despite complimenting the plot holes earlier, there a few that stood out as being bad. But they never hurt the movie as a whole and it was easy to look past them. The aliens themselves are getting lots of criticism for their designs, but I really liked it. I laughed at first, but they were unique and original.

I recommend this movie. It's the perfect brainless action flick.

Captain America, Punching Hitler in the face since 1941.

I had my fair share of worries going into this movie. Johnston has done some good movies in his career, but for the most part he's not a great director. My second worry was Chris Evans as Captain America. He's not a bad actor by any means, but he's mostly been cast as comic relief. His first "Serious" role was in Sunshine, and he was fantastic in that. The problem was, I still didn't see Captain America in him.

This film had a great acting, a fitting score, and great style.

The story here, for those that don't know Captain America, is that the skinny and asthmatic Steve Rodgers is a true patriot and wants to fight for his country. However, due to his health issues (and height), he's not allowed to join the military. His enthusiasm catches the eye of a scientist who gives him the chance to become the first supersoldier. Thus Captain America is born.

The acting was great all around. Chris Evans really surprised me here. Not only did he nail the "pre Captain America" Steve, but also as Captain America. He had great charisma. Evans really proved that he's not just a comedic actor. I'm hoping this part will land him some more serious roles. Hayley Atwell played Agent Peggy Carter, a tough as nails heroine and love interest for Steve. One of the strongest points of the film was their chemistry. Of course, there was a few scenes with cheesy dialogue, but I actually enjoyed those. Despite these great performances, Tommy Lee Jones stole every scene that he was in as Colonel Chester Phillips. He had some fantastic one liners and a powerful screen presence. Unfortunately, I felt Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was the weakest link. He was fine as a villain, but his German accent was just hokey.
There was a huge supporting cast here and they were all great. I loved all of the Howling Commandos. I do have to mention Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man. I loved his performance because it really felt like a 1950s version of Tony.

The music was very good and suited the film well. Alan Silvestri scored the film and I love the main theme. It really feels like the theme song of an American superhero. The best part about the music was it was never intrusive when it didn't need to be. There were a few scenes where the music was intentionally cheesy. There some incredibly touching moments backed up by music.

It really felt like a retro/film noir type film with its visual style. It also felt like a parody of the WW2 propaganda films. It had a very surreal visual style. The writing was very good as well. Much like visual style, the writing also acted as a parody of "American" hero cliches.

The action was well shot as well. Like the above mentioned visual style, it had the touch of retro style film making combined with hints of modern action films.

All in all, I can easily recommend this movie. Not only to Marvel fans, but to fans of retro style film making and old school adventure films.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I'll say this before I begin the review. I enjoyed the first Transformers. Sure it was stupid, but it was an enjoyable Summer popcorn flick. I HATED Revenge of the Fallen though. It completely destroyed any and all of my childhood memories of Transformers. It was loud and noisy (not in a good way), had an over abundance of humping and dick jokes, and the "comic relief" were two blatantly racist and unfunny robot twins. Naturally, this caused me to despise the possible sequel before it was even announced. I had zero expectations for Dark of the Moon because of this.

Now for the big shocker, I really enjoyed this movie. The plot was a laughable, but good attempt at a darker story. The acting was just ok, but the voicework for the transformers was pretty good for the most part. The new female (I'm not including her under "Actors" for a reason....) was abysmal. She was so bad that I wanted Megan Fox back...which should never happen. Also, like the other films, the humor was just not funny and offensively stupid at points. It made up for these shortcomings with some great action sequences, and phenomenal music, and I'm not just talking about the score.

The story was bad like all the other films. However, I do have to give Bay credit for trying to give us a darker and more serious story this time around. The Decepticons are attempting to take over the world...again... This time around, they want to activate an ancient teleportation device in order to bring their allies to Earth in order to enslave humanity and create a new world. It wasn't anything special, but it was leagues above the other films. Like I said before, I have to give Bay credit this time around. There were few times where I honestly got teary because of things that happened. Teary during transformers? shocking I know!

The acting was competent but nothing special. Shia Lebeouf was...meh, although I do have to give him credit for trying to put more emotion into scenes when they mattered. The only problem is his character is still an annoying twat. All of the other humans did their job, but John Malkovich was just wasted. The only exception to the "good acting" was Ken Jeong (who I normally love) as an Asian nerd named Jerry Wang...(I'll get to this later...) Any comedian will be painstakingly annoying when put into a Michael Bay film. All of the voice actors for the transformers did a memorable job. Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving return as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively. My only complaint is that Megatron was barely in the film. The other major transformer was Sentinel Prime, Optimus' mentor (voiced by Leonard Nimoy). I loved him, for both his design and his role in the story.

Now for the new female lead. You might be wondering why I'm not including her in the acting section. This is because being called an actor/actress implies that you have some sort of ability to act. This person had none...She was dreadful...she was abysmal...she made me want to gouge my eyes out. And she needs to seriously relax with the botox. A barbie doll looks more realistic than she did...and barbie dolls don' have huge fish lips.

The comedy...was terrible. There were one or two moments where I chuckled, but it was, for the most part, toilet humor. Fortunately, none of the humor involved John Turtoro's butt. Unfortunately, it did involve a few dick jokes and more racial stereotyping. Nothing as bad as the twins, but equally unfunny and childish. The twins were replaced by the Brooklyn accent mini transformer from RotF and a new sidekick who is basically Butthead, from Beavis & Butthead, in robot form and not nearly as funny. Now for the worst part...Ken Jeong as Jerry Wang who wants to be named Deep Wang. I honestly wish I was kidding when I said that that was his last name. An Asian man named Deep Wang...since this is a Michael Bay film, do I need to explain what kind of jokes were involved with this character? Good, because I won't. My biggest complaint with the humor is how it completely killed the serious tone set by previous scenes. This doesn't just happen once or twice..it's consistently doing it.

The action sequences were incredibly well done this time around. I could actually tell, for the most part, what the hell was going on. There some amazing set piece action sequences in this film. The only problem was that most of them were pointless when the next scene happens. I can forgive them though because of the thought and detail that went into them. They were incredibly memorable.

Now for the music. Naturally, Steve Jablonsky's score was outstanding. All of his music fit their respective scenes very well. He updated the main theme, and it sounds fantastic. The score used for the final battle/climax has the proper oomph that it should and never feels overbearing. Now for the part that surprised me. I don't hate Linkin Park, but I'm not the biggest fan in the world. Their songs for the first two films never felt out of place but they always felt like free advertising more than anything. Not this time around. While the heavier parts still felt out of place, the beginning of the song was used to amazing effect. It created some amazing atmosphere for the darker moments of the film. I honestly don't want to spoil it.

Overall, I can recommend this film. The acting is so so, the humor is unfunny and racist, but it more than makes up for it with its attempt at a darker story, expertly filmed action sequences and some fantastic music.

I've never done this before in one of my review...but there is something else that needs to be mentioned. There are possible spoilers ahead, but they need to be talked about. There were a few scenes that were disgustingly offensive. The area of the climax was named "Ground Zero." There were many occasions of crumbling buildings and enemy planes running into the sides of buildings. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but these immediately made me think of 9/11 and the horrors of that day. The other scene, while making sense in the story's plot, felt really out of place for a film like this. Megatron blows up the Lincoln Memorial and sits on the remnants like a throne, while a smaller decepticon crushes Linclon's head. The other big thing was a scene that made me think of the failed Challenger space shuttle mission that resulted in the death of 7 brave men and women.

X-Men First Class

How exactly does one create perfection? I'm still not sure myself, but you might want to ask Matthew Vaughn because with First class, he has somehow done it.

I had incredibly high hopes for this movie going in, and they were met and exceeded. Matthew Vaughn has always been a master of blending genres. A Romantic comedy with fantasy adventure in Stardust, superhero with some drama and comedy thrown in with Kick Ass. In First Class, he is able to intelligently blend your typical superhero movie with a political thriller and a sort of James Bond style film making.

First Class was brilliantly directed, had a great score by Henry Jackman, and all of the actors perfected their roles. To be honest, its only weakness was something that couldn't be helped. It's a prequel, which takes out many of the twists and surprises. Charles had to become paralyzed and wheelchair bound by the end, Erik had to give in to his hatred of humans and become Magneto, Mystique joins Magneto etc.

I really enjoyed the story, mainly because of the genre blending. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the basis of the film. We learn that this whole fiasco was actually created behind the scenes by Sebastian Shaw in order to create a new world for mutants. He is joined by Azazel, Riptide, and Emma Frost. In response to this, Charles teams up with Erik to create their own team of mutants to combat Shaw and stop the crisis from getting out of hand. They are joined by Angel, Darwin, Havok, Beast, Banshee and Mystique. The best part about the story was that it wasn't a "good vs. evil" thing. It was more a clash of ideals. One of the film's strongest points was that, at times, you could see where Erik was coming from and you could even agree with the points he makes.

The acting was phenomenal. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender both nailed their parts as Charles and Erik, respectively. Fassbender in particular had some amazing scenes. He was aggressive and arrogant but also held deep respect for Charles, which are all traits that I can see leading up to his eventual transformation into Magneto. McAvoy on the other hand played a slightly more comedic Charles at times, yet also played him very seriously when the scene called for it. Kevin Bacon did a surprisingly good job as the film's villain, Sebastian Shaw. He was very chilling at times, and had this incredibly aggressive tone to his voice which I loved. He was very much a Bond villain to me. He never had any real "allies." He merely used everyone to further his cause...and he spoke a variety of different languages, so I have to commend Bacon for learning them all. I also have to give credit to Fassbender for the same reasons. I should mention Rose Byrn as well, who played CIA agent Moria MacTaggert. She wasn't a mutant but helped Charle's cause. She played the part very well, and played the role of the human negotiator so to speak.

All of the younger actors did fantastic jobs as well. Lucas Till stood out in particular as Alex Sommers/Havok. He played an honorable smart mouthed character very well. He was the "jock" of the group, so to speak but was trustworthy. Nicholas Hoult played Hank McCoy/Beast. Hoult really played the Jekyll and Hyde character extremely well. The only other character with significant screen time was Raven/Mystique played by Jennifer Lawrence. She was one of my personal favorite because, like Beast, I could really see the inner struggle she was going through. January Jones, for what it's worth, played a good Emma Frost but I felt she was a last minute addition to the cast because of her screen time, and lets face it...she was terrible. I hate saying this because I love her in Mad Men. All of the other mutants were in the movie simply for the hell of it, but they never detracted from the movie. Jason Flemyng played Azazel, the shape shifting father of Nightcrawler. Zoe Kravitz played Angel, a mutant with the ability to fly and spit acid. Edi Gathegi played Darwin, a mutant with the ability to adapt to any environment. Alex Gonzalez played Riptide, a mutant who has the ability to create whirlwinds with his hands.

Now I come to my absolute favorite part of the movie, the score. Anybody who knows me should know I'm obsessed with how perfect the Kick Ass score is, done by John Murphy and in part, Henry Jackman. Jackman returns as the main scorer for First Class, and manages to one up Kick Ass. The main piece of music is the perfect fit for the film. It is the musical version of the X-Men so to speak. I can picture every single X-Men when I hear this theme. The other main theme of the film is Magneto's, which is used in a variety of different scenes. It is a mix of traditional instruments with a very hard guitar/bass riff in the back. It is used to show Erik's sadness, but is also used to great effect during some of the film's more intense scenes. I'm not trying to sound cheesy here, but the mixture of Magneto's theme and the film's main theme during the sub scene (you'll know it when you see it) is one of the most uplifting pieces of music ever created for a film. This song flawlessly portrays how far along Magneto has come in learning how to properly control his powers.

The movie's visuals were petty good, but were definitely the weakest point. I can't blame Vaughn though, because he had a schedule of 9 months to complete this film. This doesn't mean they were bad though. Vaughn did a better job than anyone else in his position could of done.

All in all, this movie is the very definition of perfection and it comes at my highest level of recommendation. Even people who don't like superhero films will find something to like in this film. It has the perfect balance of action, comedy and drama and none of it ever felt forced.

Rango

It may be too early in the year for such a brash prediction, but I think Rango deserves best animated feature. It was a great movie with some great voice work, comedy, story, and music. One of the biggest surprises to me was how adult this movie was.

The story was my favorite part because it’s basically Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but with a lizard. Rango is a lizard who doesn’t know what his purpose in life is and after an incident leaves him stranded in the desert, he goes on a journey of self discovery. It almost felt like a parody of western/adventure films.

The voice acting was incredibly strong. Johnny Depp stole the show as Rango. I think Depp has a strong future in the world of voice work. He perfectly portrayed a lost in life lizard. The love interest Beans, played by Isla Fisher, also does a great job. She’s a very strong willed lizard. The villain Rattlesnake Jim, played by Bill Nighy, was one of the best villains I’ve seen in awhile. I honestly got a tingle in my spine every time he delivered a line. Think of a deep menacing voice responding to “Go to Hell!” with “Where do you think I came from?” I wish I could mention the rest of the supporting cast, but there are just too many of them. Needless to say, they were all fantastic.

I went into the movie knowing I would love the soundtrack, and surprise! I loved it. Hans Zimmer never disappoints. For Rango, he uses a great mixture of western and modern music and has some throwbacks to the classics. Music is an ongoing “joke” as the story is told by a band of fourth wall (talking to the audience) breaking mariachi owls. Overall, the music was appropriately action packed and westerny. Plus, you get to hear a banjo based version of Ride of the Valkyries, do you really need anything else?

Overall, this was a great movie. It has something for people of all ages and wonderfully animated.

The top 5 movies of 2010.

Well, all of the other cool kids (film critics) are doing it so here’s my list of the top 5 movies of 2010. Bear in mind that I haven’t seen every single movie that’s come out this year. If I saw True Grit and/or Black Swan, I can guarantee that those would be on this list.

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World- I’ve never had this much fun watching a movie before. Scott Pilgrim was incredibly energetic, had some great acting, a great soundtrack, and fantastic directing from Edgar Wright. Instead of trying to be something different than a video game, like most video game movies do, it revels in both the lore and culture of the gaming world.

4. Let Me In- This was one of the best horror films to come out in years, and I’m surprised to hear myself say it, because it’s a remake of a fantastic Swedish movie. I’m also surprised to hear myself say that it surpasses the original. It was beautifully shot, had a chilling orchestral score to accompany it, and was incredibly well acted. Chloe Grace Moretz continues to impress me as an actress. It wasn’t a perfect adaptation of the original, but it had subtle homages that never felt out of place.

3. Leaves of Grass- I think that Inception is not the only movie that will make you think about thinking about things that you probably don’t think about in everyday life and no I did not use “think” enough. Leaves of Grass is a philosophical, prophetic, racist, sexist, action comedy drama about finding out what it means to be yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be shocked at the racism, and you’ll have a good time doing it. This movie had two amazing performances from Edward Norton who plays two twins who are drastically different in every sense of the word. One is a big time professor and philosopher who likes to play by the rules while the other is a redneck marijuana dealer who lives life without any rules. They play very well off of each other.

2. How to Train your Dragon- This was one of the biggest surprises I’ve had all year. I didn’t go into the movie wanting to hate it, but my expectations weren’t exactly high. This movie combined great acting and story with fantastic cinematography and an amazing orchestral score. It’s one of the few movies that uses 3D right, and I personally thought it was better than Avatar in that aspect. While Avatar had more impressive technology to use, I never felt immersed in the world. With How to Train your Dragon, the flying sequences made it seem like you were on top of a dragon and soaring across the sky. The acting was pretty incredible in this movie. Each of the characters were played perfectly by their actors and actress’.

1. Kick Ass- I know that putting Kick Ass as my #1 movie of the year will cause some controversy, but quite frankly it deserves it. I have never been this amazed with a movie before. Sure if you look at it from the outside, it’s just a bloody over the top action movie. However, if you look at it deeper, you’ll see a great story about what justice really is backed up by fantastic acting and a near flawless score. I don’t think I can praise the soundtrack enough. Every piece of music fits its respective scene near perfectly, whether it needed to be comedic or dramatic. It’s one of my all time favorite movie scores. All of the characters were very well developed and were relatable. Although they all had their flaws, some more so than others, they were likeable. This really helped the movie during the more intense scenes because you genuinely cared for them. Although this movie can be extremely violent, I think it’s a movie that everyone should see. I could honestly go on for pages about why this movie was so good but this explanation is already becoming too long for a top 5 list.

And there you have it! My top 5 movies of 2010!

Power Rangers.

This will be a very difficult movie to review. This movie united the world under one flag. People left their prejudice at the door and watched this film united! It changed an entire generation’s world view, and helped to end world hunger! I am of course talking about Power Rangers: The Movie! Ok…maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but my point still stands! What’s my point exactly? That Power Rangers rock and Kimberly is hot.

Before I begin the review, I have to admit that this movie is a huge guilty pleasure for me. Sure, it sucks when looked at with any standards whatsoever, but I was a huge Power Rangers fan when it first came out.

The basic plot is that an ancient evil named Ivan Ooze has been unleashed and the Power Rangers have to stop him. It’s the basic stuff…nothing special here.

To be perfectly honest, the acting isn’t that bad when you think about it. It’s full of corny one liners and cheesy dialogue sure…but that was one of the highlights of the show. There are a few cast changes. Instead of an Asian yellow ranger and an African American black ranger, we now have the opposite. The creators realized that racism wasn’t in at the time. British actor Paul Freeman plays the villain, Ivan Ooze, and while he is a terrible villain/actor, he’s just so over the top and cliché that it’s impossible not to love him. Bulk and Skull, the two bullies, are back in the movie but their roles are so small that it’s hard to talk about them.

The music is surprisingly not bad. It’s hard not to hate the main Power Rangers theme. If you do, you should be ashamed! The movie has an orchestral theme that is pretty good, considering that it’s Power Rangers and 1995. Not much more I can say here.

Now onto the meat of why everyone watched this show; the action. Kimberly comes in at a very close second. It’s a very well choreographed movie. Sure some of the stunts are over the top, but it’s just good cheesy fun. You can clearly tell that they’re using wires, but that just adds to the charm in my opinion. You really can’t go wrong with over the top karate.

Now comes the part where I give a recommendation. Since it’s a guilty pleasure of mine, I do recommend it. It’s nostalgic, has Kimberly, and it’s just a fun movie overall. If you have a bunch of friends over, stick this movie in and you’ll have a great time.

Let Me In...to the theatre so I can watch this movie again.

For the most part, I despise American remakes of foreign horror movies. They always dumb down the source material to make it PG-13 in an effort to sell more tickets and destroy the essence of the original. Let Me In is the very rare exception, and it came close to surpassing the original. The film was a near perfect adaptation. The two leads were both fantastic, the setting was very surreal and foreboding, and the music was top notch.

The basic plot for the movie is as follows. Owen (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee of The Road) is a 12 year old boy who is going through hard times. He is neglected by his mom and has bully problems at school. He soon meets a young girl named Abby, (played by Chloe Moretz Grace of Kick Ass fame) and the two form a relationship. The catch is that Abby is a vampire. My only real nitpick is the addition of religion to the plot. I felt like that took away from the story, because it focused less on a relationship between two different people and more on a “good and evil” tone.

The acting was great. Kodi and Chloe had great chemistry together and the both continue to show that they have some real acting talent. Chloe’s creepy yet romantically cute portrayal of a vampire played very well off of Kodi’s abused/borderline psychotic yet lonely and sympathetic young boy. They both perfected their given roles and gave the originals a run for their money. The only other “main” character in the film was Abby’s father/protector (played by Richard Jenkins). Elias Koteas (Casey Jones from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) has a “hey, it’s that guy” role as the police officer and he did a great job as well. The other bit of acting that needs mentioning are the bullies. Like the two leads, their personalities played well off of each other. I can’t spoil it but needless to say, they are some of the better “villains” in recent memory because you can sympathize with them.

One of the strongest points of the movie was the musical score. Michael Giacchino (Star Trek, Speed Racer, and many Pixar films) has crafted an amazing score. When the movie needs tension, Giacchino uses slowly paced hard drum hits and loud trumpet blasts. When the movie calls for a more creepy/romantic turn, he uses a slow piano and a slow paced violin. I’m normally not a huge fan of horror soundtracks, but this one that I will be purchasing.

This is a very easy movie to recommend. I know I say this a lot, but this is coming from someone who hates remakes.

Scott PIlgrim vs. the World

I’m not sure a simple review can show anyone just how amazingly epic Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is, but here goes nothing. It was a fantastic movie, and one of the most fun times I’ve had at the theaters in ages. Everything, down to the absurd plot, was flowing with artistic creativity. The only “negative” aspect of the film is that you really have to understand gaming culture. If you don’t, many of the film’s jokes won’t make any sense. For this reason, it’s a very hard movie to review.

The basic plot of the movie is this. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is madly in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Edward) and wants to date her. Normally this would sound like a romantic comedy, but there’s one small catch. In order to win her heart, Scott must fight and defeat her seven evil exes.

It’s hard to touch on every single actor in the film individually, but they all did great jobs. I’ve never been a Michael Cera fan, but he did a fantastic job here as Scott Pilgrim. The standout would have to be Kieran Culkin as Scott’s gay roommate, Wallace. He stole the scene every time he was on screen.

It’s literally impossible to talk about this movie without mentioning the sound effects and visuals. The moment the Universal theme and logo appear in 8-bit, you know you’re in for a treat. The movie was filmed like it was a video game. During fight scenes, everyone would have health bars and they would flash red when “low” on health. The best effect, however, was “vs.” sliding onto the screen right before a fight would begin. When a character died, they would explode into coins and numbers would appear in their place, symbolizing points. The fights were also very stylized and fast paced, like a fighting game.

The music was also very stylized and “gamelike” in nature. Nigel Godrich has made the perfect score for this movie. He did a remix of the “Fairy Fountain” theme from Zelda for the dream sequences. The “boss battle” music is great as well. It uses a mix between 8-bit and 16-bit style music mixed with fast paced drum and violin scores.

All in all, this movie was amazing and it’s an easy recommendation. It's just pure, unadulterated fun.

Reqiuem for a Dream.

Requiem for a Dream is a truly horrifying experience, yet it is one of my favorite movies of all time and is worth experiencing. It is a terrible movie about the effects of drug addiction and how it can ruin your life. So why do I love it so much? Because it’s beautifully shot, very well acted, has one of the greatest soundtracks of any movie ever made, and it is a great learning experience.

The movie follows four people; Ellen, her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and his best friend Tyrone. Ellen has an obsession with a particular tv program and dreams of being on tv herself one day. Harry and Tyrone are drug dealers who want a better life and Marion is young woman who wants to be a fashion designer. They get connections and soon are raking in the cash, so to speak. However, this wealth is short lived and soon everything goes to Hell.

The visuals in this movie are simply amazing. Whenever someone in the movie takes a shot of cocaine or snorts crack, the camera does a close-up of their eye and you see the effects of the drug. All of the environments are very realistic yet very surreal at the same time. When two characters are talking, the camera will “split” in two, and you’ll see both people.

The soundtrack is one of the movie’s strongest points. Just search “Requiem for a Dream” on youtube, and you’ll find the music is used in many different movie trailers, and has lots of remixes. It conveys fear, hopelessness, and the refusal to let go even when staring into nightmare. It does this without feeling overbearing on the movie.

The acting was top notch and also very surprising. I hate the Wayan brothers, but Marlon did a very good job. It makes me sad that he showed promise then went back to starring in his brother’s terrible comedies. Jared Leto played Harry very well. He was a loving son, but at the same found himself succumbing to the effects of drug use. Jennifer Connelly played Marion who was, in a way, the exact opposite of Harry. Ellen Burstyn is the standout though as Ellen, Harry’s mom. You can tell she’s scared for where her son is headed, but she never stops being his mom.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is very difficult to watch, but everyone owes it to themselves to see it at least once in their life.

Splice

Splice was a great movie held back by an incredibly flawed and cliched ending. The acting was great, the creature effects were cool. and the music was eerily appropriate.

The basic plot is this; two dating scientists, Clive and Elsa (played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley respectively)create a male and female version of a new species in the hopes of discovering a universal protein to cure diseases. Due to this new species not being human, they worry about the protein being unusable in hospitals. They then set out, disobeying orders from their superiors, to create a human/animal hybrid. They create Dren, a creature who shows vast intelligence in many fields and ages rapidly. My main complaint with the movie is besides the three stars (Clive/Elsa/Dren) none of the other characters served any real purpose other than a body count for the cliche ending.

The big plus of the plot was the various ethical and religious morals playing off of each other. Does Dren have the same rights as a human? Should she be treated like a human? Is splicing DNA "playing God?" etc.

The acting was very good. The two leads had great chemistry and were likable, which already puts the movie above the majority of the horror movies to come out lately. They both had different ethical standards that played well off of each other. Dren, despite being the "monster" had a lot of personality, and you felt emotions for her. When she is first born, she is treated differently than when she starts developing human features. The other characters, as mentioned above, were very forgettable.

The visuals were pretty amazing. Although Dren starts out as CGI (I don't think you can make a blob with legs with an actor...) her humanoid forms are played by Abigail Chu, for the young Dren, and Delphine Chaneac,for the older Dren. They do use some CGI on her, but it doesn't look fake. She grows wings, has a tail, and only 4 fingers. My favorite part about the visuals was the lack of blood. There were one or two scenes that were extremely gory, but the film didn't rely heavily on them. It was bloody when it needed to be and not when it didn't.

The music was your typical horror fare, but it was enjoyable. It wasn't anything I would buy and listen to, but it worked well.

All in all, I can easily recommend this movie. It's a huge breath of fresh air in a genre full of slasher/gore movies.

Prince of Persia.

I'll go ahead and say it...PoP is not a bad movie at all. Was it some mind blowing masterpiece? No. But for being a cheesy action movie based on a cheesy action video game, it succeeds.

The story, like most video game movies, was pretty bad. It follows the story of Dastan, an adopted prince. During the movie's first big fight, he comes across a dagger that allowed him to turn back time. The catch? every time the dagger is used, the gods get pissed off and want to destroy the world. He then meets a princess who turns out to be the dagger's sacred guardian...and they set off to hide the dagger so it can't be used for evil.

The best part about this movie were the visuals and action. The effects used for when the dagger is used were great. It was this mixture of a sand storm like effect and dissolving skin. The action sequences were very acrobatic in nature, much like the game. It was all very well choreographed.

The acting, for the most part, was competent although nothing spectacular. Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty good. He had this roguish charm that I loved. The love interest, Gemma Arterton, of the film did as good a job as anyone could of. My big complaint was the utter lack of any chemistry between the two. Unfortunately, Ben Kingsley was awful as the villain. The fact that he was a villain was not hid very well. Evil grin, black clothing=not very subtle.

The music was pretty good. Harry Gregson Williams did a mix of desert music(Not sure what else to call it...) minor guitar riffs for the Hassansins, and fast paced violins.

I think I can safely recommend this movie to most people. It is the best video game adaptation out there, although the bar wasn't very high in the first place.

Iron Man 2

I went into this movie with average expectations. Not because I thought it would be a bad movie, but because I didn't think it could live up to the original. In the end, it didn't. It was still a great movie though, with some improvements. My main complaint of the movie was the plausibility of some of the events. There's genius inventor and then there's a fucking miracle worker. My other complaint is that it felt more like an Avengers prequel than it did an Iron Man sequel.

The story was the weakest part of the movie. It just didn't flow together very well like the original. Some of the scenes felt forced. Minus one scene, I never sensed an alcohol problem with Stark. I was hoping it would be explored more and they could do the story arc where War Machine takes over.

The acting was great for the most part. Robert Downey Jr. was born to play Tony Stark/Iron Man and continues to show this. The movie has a long list of supporting cast so I can't really go through them all, but the villains, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell, were great. Gwyneth Paltrow was great, once again, as Pepper Pots. The director himself even has a bigger role than he did in the original. The other person worth mentioning is Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. She was the perfect femme fatale .

The action has vastly improved since the original. There are more action sequences overall, and they were shot much better. The climatic battle was a little disappointing considering the huge buildup throughout the movie. The sequel also had a few aerial battles which were very impressive and well shot.

The music was very good this time around. I actually felt intimidated by the villains theme, thanks to some amazing guitar work by Tom Morello. It had a very heavy guitar riff to it along with some great choir work.

Overall it wasn't as good as Iron Man, but it was still a very fun movie and I highly recommend it. oh, and stay through the credits.

Kick Ass

Pardon the cliché but Kick Ass was kick ass. To my surprise it was actually a very well done movie. It’s hard to say exactly what genre this is because it blends parody and action drama so well. If Quentin Tarantino made a superhero movie, it would be Kick Ass.

In a nutshell, this movie follows a high school comic book nerd Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson) who one day decides to dress up like a superhero, donning the persona Kick Ass, and fight crime. He soon meets father and daughter crime duo Big Daddy (a surprisingly good Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl (played by Chloe Moretz). They are soon joined by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). They join forces to stop the evil drug lord (played by Mark Strong).

The acting was top notch. I wasn’t expecting much from Nicholas Cage after his last few performances but he did a fantastic job. The easiest way to explain his performance is if William Shatner and Adam West had a baby. Aaron Johnson was also fantastic as the title character. At times he was comedic, but during certain parts he showed that he could be serious. Without spoiling his performance, Christopher Mintz-Plasse was great too. He showed that he could do a serious role when needed. The person who stole the show though was Chloe Moretz. She had so much charisma and youthful energy.

The story itself was actually pretty good. At times it was very comedic, but at the same time it had a deep passion to it. I was not expecting a movie like this to make me cry, but it did. There were some legitimately heartwarming moments. There are certain scenes that are downright hard to watch, because of the attachment you feel for the characters.

The humor was pretty good too. I despite sex humor for the most part, but it worked here. Mainly because this is a movie about high school kids. The other laughs mainly came from the over the top action scenes, mostly with Hit Girl. The action scenes were also well done. The charm came from how over the top each scene was. This film also had one of the greatest and most heart wrenching action sequence in years. The scene takes place in a warehouse and you see it unfold from two perspectives. The first comes from a character using night vision goggles, so you get a first person perspective, sort of like an FPS video game. The second perspective is a wide-shot of the area(a dark warehouse). The entire scene is shot with flashing strobes.

The music is very hard to rate, because, for the most part it borrowed from other movies/composers. They used much of John Murphy’s previous scores, and Murphy also contributed to the films original score. In particular, the scores from 28 Weeks Later and Sunshine were used. They were integrated into the movie extremely well. Other music includes the Banana Splits theme and Bad Reputation by Joan Jett. The main original score was perfect for the overall theme of the movie. It was very dramatic and heroic, and felt like the kind of theme a kid would dream of in a a daydream about being a hero.
I highly recommend this movie. It may be hard for some people to watch due to the violence and gore, but it truly is a great film.

How to Train your Dragon.

When I first saw the trailer for How to Train your Dragon I was skeptical. It looked liked your average kids film. Boy was I wrong. This movie was amazing. The voice acting was great, the music was great, and the story was surprisingly deep. Everyone, including adults, will find something they love about this film. The only drawback is that it can get a little intense and scary at points, so I would recommend not taking children under the age of 6-7.

The film follows a young Viking named Hiccup who, unlike the other Vikings, is scrawny and more brains than brawn. Due to this, he is never allowed to help fight the dragons whenever they attack. One day, he builds a contraption to shoot dragons out of the sky and as luck would have it, it works. After seeing the injured dragon that he took down, he has a change of heart and lets it free. Thus a new friendship begins. Not to spoil anything, but this is one of the few movies that has made me cry.

The voice work was phenomenal. Hiccup and his father (voiced by Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler respectively) are both great. With Hiccup, you get the feeling that he’s an out of the ordinary and not respected young man who wants to make a name for himself. Although he has minimal lines, Butler shows he has a knack for a more serious role. America Ferrera plays the love interest Astrid. She is portrayed as a tough character who wants to be the best, and she does a really good job of it. The comic relief is done very well, and never overstays its welcome. Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse/McLovin) and the fraternal twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut (TJ Miller and Kristen Wiig respectively). The humor is mostly physical, which works well in the Viking setting.

The cgi and camerawork were phenomenal, especially in 3D. I’m mostly against 3D in films, but the flying sequences (along with the accompanying music) were breathtaking. At one point, Toothless narrowly escapes a crash by pulling sharply up. When he pulls up, you can actually see the wind trailing behind his wings. The 3D was used to great effect and was not the gimmicky “throw stuff at the screen” type. It made you feel immersed in the universe. During one of the flying sequences, Toothless glides across the water and it “splashes” you. It's hard to explain, but it was a great immersive experience.

One of the movies strongest points was the music. John Powell has crafted an amazing score. The music that plays during the above mentioned flying sequences is some of the best I have heard in ages. It really makes you believe you’re flying too. I have had the main theme blasting on my computer for more than 2 hours. That alone should tell you how much I loved it.

There is really not much else I can say other than go see this movie. Make sure you see it in 3D. You will not be disappointed. It’s one of Dreamworks best movies in a long time.

The lack of updates lately.

One of the least fun things about being an independent critic is the fact that I have to pay for all the movies I see out of my own pocket. Shitty movies rank in a very close second. As of late, I haven't had the money necessary to see every new movie that's coming out. My next one SHOULD be How to Train your Dragon, and it should be posted on Sunday. Until then, continue to watch good movies. oh and continue to not support the ones that deserve a spot in the deepest reaches of Hell!

Alice in Wonderland; a huge visual treat, but lacking in the other departments.

I wanted to love this movie. It seemed like the perfect match for Tim Burton's visual and storytelling style. Unfortunately though, it lacks in everything but the visuals.

The story was good, back when it was American McGee's Alice. I would have loved to see Burton tackle that, but instead he pussified it to make a more family oriented film. In doing so, it lost much of the charm it originally had. Now that I have bitched about stealing the story, it would probably be wise to explain what it actually is. Alice is all grown up and is forced into an arranged marriage (her family died in a fire and she became suicidal in the game) but during the ceremony she runs away to follow the White Rabbit (played brilliantly by Michael Sheen). Soon after, she finds herself in a Wonderland taken over by the Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter). The interesting thing about this movie is that it seemed to focus on he Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp). This is more than likely for marketing reasons. What better to sell a movie than to focus on the big name actors! This may come across as harsh, and I don't apologize for it. The story was fucking awful To end this, the pacing was just rushed. It barely had any development.

The actual acting was all over the place. Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice, was just bad. Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp were good as usual, but they didn't do anything different form their usual Burton Characters. The big standout was Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar. Christopher Lee was also good, and I won't spoil who he plays.

The music, for the most part, was competent. It was refreshing to see Danny Elfman do a good job after the horrid Wolfman soundtrack. It was creepy and foreboding, but also fast paced and heroic when it needed to be.

Now for the cream of the crop; the visuals. There were a few a black sheep, like the completely cg creatures. They just didn't mix with the live action actors, for the most part. My personal favorite was the Jabberwocky. It was very faithful to Lewis Carol's original concept art for it and my god it was awesome. Wonderland itself was well done. It really fit Burton's style for mindfuck moments. This is one of the few movies that I can recommend solely based on visuals.

There's really not much else I can say about this movie other than go see it if you're a fan of great visuals. If you're expecting an amazing story or acting, go see Shutter Island instead.

Shutter Island, an early contender for film of the year? You bet your ass.

It may still be early in the year, but Shutter Island is my early contender for film of the year. Everything about it was fantastic. The acting, the visuals, the brooding music and visuals…it’s hard to find a flaw in this film.

The acting in this movie was just amazing. Leonardo Dicaprio continues to show he’s more than just a pretty boy on top of the world…no pun intended, I love that movie. He plays Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels who is constantly having nightmares about his troubled past. He’s accompanied by Chuck Aule, a “newbie” to the marshals, played brilliantly by Mark Ruffalo. You can tell he cares greatly about Teddie’s well being while dealing with his own problems. The Dr./headmaster of the island, Dr. Cawley, is played by Ben Kingsley who’s always at the top of his game when he’s in the role of creepy/foreboding people. As good as they were though, I really have to give the best acting “award” to Jackie Earle Haley, who some might know better as Rorscharch, as the prisoner George Noyce. I won’t talk any further, because it would be an injustice to spoil this performance.

The visuals were top notch. I loved that they didn’t do overdo it with the blood and gore, yet still used it graphically to depict certain events. Whenever Teddy and Chuck were inside the actual asylum, you always had this sense of dread which was aided by an amazing music score. There hardly was any, and you never knew what to expect around each corner. Throughout the movie, Teddy has dreams of his past, and this is where the movie really shines. These dreams WILL stick with you.

The thing I love most about this movie was that it wasn’t “scary” when you watched it, but it leaves you with a chill in your spine. This is one movie that will stick with you due, in no small part, to its atmosphere and superior directing of Martin Scorsese.

There’s nothing left I can say without spoiling the movie, so go see it. You will not be disappointed.

The Wolfman lacks any real bite...no pun intended.

Ever since I heard about a Wolfman remake, I had my doubts. My first worry, which came true in the end, was an R rating with copious amounts of blood. You don’t need gratuitous gore to make an effective movie, but I digress. My other worry was the obscene amount of changes in the script/director throughout the years. Overall they went through about 3-5 directors before deciding on Joe Johnston.

My first big complaint is the music. Don’t get me wrong, I love Danny Elfman and think he's a friggin genius but his score was just way too loud and obnoxious in this movie. I could barely understand what was going on half the time because I was distracted by the music. The same can be said about the rest of the sound effects too. The Wolfman howl was also incredibly lackluster.

The acting was all over the damn place. Sir Anthony Hopkins was top notch as usual. His creepiness really fit the gothic nature of the film. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast though. Benencio Del Toro was surprisingly bad in this movie and I had very high expectations for him. He just couldn’t get the feel of the original down. I never felt like he was a character fighting with his inner beast, but just an overall depressed guy who doesn’t give a damn about anything. Hugo Weaving, despite having almost no screen time, was decent but I felt the script brought his character down. I did love his character reference though, which I won’t spoil. The other “lead” Emily Blunt was just awful. For being the love interest, there was a huge lack of chemistry between her and Del Toro.

The one thing this movie did extremely was the visual style. It really felt like an 1800’s Victorian Gothic town. The night scenes were fantastic due to a nice fog effect. If this was a silent movie, it would be easy to feel the “presence” of a stalking werewolf. The look of the actual Wolfman was fantastic as well. I could actually tell there’s a bit of human in the beast, unlike that other shit that shall remain unnamed. The big selling point was that the Wolfman was not cgi at all, but traditional costume and makeup. The transformation process was cgi, which disappointed me a little bit. I’m still waiting for another cgi-less transformation like in an American Werewolf in London. Interestingly enough, the makeup was done by the same guy who did London.

Overall, this was a disappointing movie and it’s very hard to recommend. The positives just don’t outweigh the negatives.