Reviews

After seeing and loving The Wrestler, which is also directed by Darren Aronofsky, and hearing all the hype around this movie, I finally decided to watch it. I can say that after seeing the film, all the stories floating around it are true. It is one of the most intense movie experiences I have ever had in my life.

Requiem for a Dream, based on the novel by Hubert Shelby Jr., follows Harry (Jared Leto), his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and his lonely mother (Ellen Burstyn) as they each realize there dreams of money and happiness, only to have them transformed into horrific nightmares by drugs and narcotics.

Darron Aronofsky definitely shows his directing skills in Requiem. Every scene is torn down frame by frame, and then cut back together to give a strange psychedelic feel to the movie. It's a little like Pink Floyds The Wall, except there are actually characters and a plot that we can follow. The editing and directing is definitely the best aspect of Requiem, because it is so imaginative. The music is another brilliant piece that adds to the suspenseful and disturbing vibe.

The overall plot of the movie is isn't very deep, and leaves a slight feeling of being let down, like there was more potential there. Also, there could have been a little more character development because even the main characters seemed a little flat. But other than that, everything else was brilliant. All the actors are in top form, especially Ellen Burstyn who gives a truly amazing performance as a drug addicted old lady. Even Marlon Wayans shows his unique range in the film.

The most famous part of Requiem by far is its reputation for being intense. And the film definitely lives up to its name. This was the first time I have ever felt like walking out of the movie before it was over not because it was bad, but because it is almost too much to take in at once. It accomplishes what horror movies try so hard to do, by creating a truly chilling atmosphere as the characters fall into a living hell. It is this intensity, however, that makes watching the movie so unique that everyone should experience at least once. Requiem grabs your heart as the characters find happiness but doesn't let go as it drags you and its characters into the disturbing and sinister reality of addiction.

Overall, Darren Aronofsky is once again able to create a very unique movie experience with Requiem through great visuals, music, and acting. I recommend that everyone see this movie at least once, because it leaves such a lasting impression on anyone who sees it.

The Moon has always been a source of wonder and mystery. It is so far away, yet much closer than the stars. Man has reached the Moon, but there is still so much that is unknown about it. It is a bridge between mystery and fact, and director Duncan Jones uses it as a brilliant setting for his science fiction film Moon.

The movie stars Sam Rockwell as a lunar astronaut also named Sam stationed alone on the Moon for three years. He isn't entirely alone, because the AI computer GERTY (Kevin Spacey) is constantly following him. Energy companies have discovered vast amounts of Helium on the Moon, and they now mine that Helium in order to power the Earth. As Sam begins his last two weeks stationed in the mining facility, his mind begins to break down and he soon realizes he just might not be able to make it back.

It is quite obvious that the main intention of Moon was to pay respect to the older science fiction movies like Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it is a great homage to the genre indeed. GERTY is possibly one of my favorite AI computers ever in a movie, because it constantly shows its mood through a series of different smiley faces, and has Kevin Spacey's voice. The overall story of Moon is pretty good, and it definitely tugs a bit on your emotions because the main character Sam is so real and relatable. It is a bit more of an art film, but I have found that the mixture of art and Sci-Fi is a brilliant combination.

The absolute key ingredient to making Moon was finding a capable actor because it is essentially a one man show, and they picked a winner with Sam Rockwell. Rockwell gives one of his best performances to date, and while it might be a little early to predict I can see him getting an Oscar nomination for his role. The other great thing about this picture is the special effects. Since the budget was so low this could have been a disaster, but the shots of the Moon Rovers and Harvesters were astonishingly realistic, and a typical movie goer would think this had at least a 40 million dollar budget. It is amazing how much more was accomplished with this tiny budget compared to the $200 million dollars poured into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Overall Moon is a complete film. It isn't groundbreaking, but it accomplished everything it set out to be, which are a great homage and a chance for Sam Rockwell to really show his acting prowess. I found myself leaving the theater with a great feeling of satisfaction that I have only received from a couple movies this year so far.

9/10

The problems with all of the Harry Potter movies so far have been that the director hasn't had complete control over the project because not all the books were out, so the complete story wasn't known. That meant that should a detail that becomes important at the end be left out, massive problems could be caused. This gave the Potter films a very rushed and very complex plot, which alienated audiences. Half Blood Prince is the first movie out since the final book was released, so director David Yates had complete creative control, and let me be the first to say the improvements are incredible.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, and now that Lord Voldemort has announced his return to the world, war has broken out. The movie starts with the Death Eaters (Voldemort supporters) attacking a muggle (non-wizard folk) bridge, killing many people. Harry then returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and must struggle with two different things: Malfoy (Tom Felton) plotting something against Hogwarts after joining Voldemort, as well as what all 16 year old boys struggle with, women. Harry and Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) also explore Voldemort's past in order to try and find out his weaknesses.

The main improvement made to Half Blood Prince is definitely the writing. Writer Steve Kloves returns to the series with much improved dialogue and this time around the jokes are actually pretty funny. The characters are much more real this time, for example Helena Bonham Carter as the cynical Bellatrix Lestrange seems much creepier this time around since she has more screen time. Yates uses his creative control as he shifts the focus mostly onto the love triangles and adolescence instead of Voldemort and Malfoy like the book did. This isn't a bad thing at all, since Yates has added scenes to really flesh out every character which causes the audience to actually care about the story. While the pacing faltered a bit at the ending, it did succeed in producing a similar feeling of hopelessness and mystery which reminded me a lot of Empire Strikes Back. Let me warn you now, not that it's a bad thing, the movie ends with a big TO BE CONTINUED? Michael Gambon also makes a dramatic improvement to his acting in Half Blood Prince. His last attempt to play the quirky but brilliant headmaster was a disaster, as he failed to capture the lightheartedness and warmth that Dumbledore conveys in the books, fans went as far as dubbing him Angrydore. Gambon is in much better form this time around, as well as all the other actors. Unfortunately Radcliffe gets overshadowed in most of his scenes, but it's hard to shine with a cast like Gambon, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and newcomer Jim Broadbent who plays the new Professor Slughorn. The special effects have also improved with this film as the spells and magical objects look even better, and when our characters explore the Weasly twins wizard joke shop the visuals are astounding.

While many of the flaws of previous Harry Potter movies were fixed, like the plot is actually understandable to non book readers this time, Half Blood Prince is not flawless. Most of story that Yates changes or leaves out are great improvements for the movie, there are a couple that he definitely should not have touched. The climax in the cave is brilliant, but instead of leading to an even bigger climax like the book did with an epic battle, the movie completely leaves this part out. There was a lot of build up for a massive battle, but it seemed to be for nothing.

Overall Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is leaps and bounds ahead of all the other Potter films, but what stops it from true greatness is the anticlimactic ending. It is ¾ of a great movie, which makes it still worth while. Since the next and final Harry Potter book is being split into two movies (which allows more time to connect with characters and subplots), I expect more great things from David Yates with this series.

7/10 + 2 for trolls = 9/10

The 1920s/30s would be an exciting time period to live in if you're involved in crime. It was a time full of gangsters like Al Capone, Baby-face Nelson, Pretty boy Floyd, and of course John Dillinger. These criminals were more famous than celebrities and lived like kings, if only for a short while. This was also the birth of the FBI, and the police weren't afraid to use brutal tactics to punish lawbreakers. So brutal that folks like Dillinger were revered as heroes to the public, a modernized Robin Hood.

Director Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice) tries to do this time period justice with his new film Public Enemies. It focuses on the most famous bank robber, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), and the FBI agent charged with hunting him, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). This film covers only the last year of Dillinger's life, but it is by far his most interesting year. Dillinger escapes from jail, twice, and commits dozens of bank robberies with the likes of Baby-face Nelson and John "Red" Hamilton.

I'll go ahead and get this out of the way, Public Enemies is not as good as other gangster movies like Scorsese's various films or Mann's own Heat, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Johnny Depp is once again brilliant in his portrayal of Dillinger, and it also helps that he looks spookily similar to the man. It is quite obvious that Mann chose not to make this yet another romantic legend of Dillinger, but instead it's almost a documentary focusing on showing what the famous robber was really like. An example of this is that unlike the urban legend of the "lady in the red dress", she was actually wearing a simple white shirt with an orange skirt. He wasn't a peoples' hero stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but a cunning thief and a cold blooded killer. Mann also quickly establishes that Dillinger cares about nothing except what is happening at that moment, like he says in the film, "We are having much too good of a time today to even be thinking about tomorrow." Michael Mann continues to show his prowess at creating extraordinary gun fights, and there is a shootout about every 15 minutes. The sound mixing is so well that it feels like they are shooting old Thompson machine guns right next to you. The sets are also extremely detailed and accurate, and Mann even filmed the famous gunfight in the Wisconsin forest in the exact spot where Dillinger fought off and escaped the FBI, but it's hard to see these things because the movie is paced like Dillinger's life, fast and loud. It's also worth noting that the entire cast does a great job in this movie, especially Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard.

It's almost like a double edged sword for Mann, focusing on the facts and not the legend, because he had to sacrifice good character development and script. Almost all the other characters and their relationships in the movie seem really frail, since they lack scenes that help set up who exactly they are. The main relationship between Dillinger and his girlfriend Billy (Marion Cotillard) seems really forced and is difficult to connect with. As accurate as the movie is, it does change a few famous deaths around to fit in the movie (since in real life they were killed after Dillinger), and this doesn't work well. At the end it makes Dillinger seem a little weak and all alone, instead of the powerful criminal mastermind he actually was.

Overall, Public Enemies isn't perfect, probably won't get an Oscar best pic nomination like some were hoping for, but its still a good flick. Unlike the other hyped summer movies like Terminator Salvation and Transformers, this is actually one film that I want to see again.

7/10

There is definitely a bunch of controversy surrounding American History X, and not just because of the racial theme. Director Tony Kaye tried and failed to get his name pulled from the movie, because Edward Norton supposedly changed a lot of scenes in the movie and had final cut. The truth about how much Norton changed will probably never be revealed, but it doesn't matter. Whoever wants credit, Kaye or Norton, made an incredibly layered and brilliant film.

American History X shows the fall of Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a bright and persuasive young man, into the blame and hate of neo-Nazi skinhead gangs. After a few years in prison, Derek has seen the error in his ways and he tries to cut his ties with his former gang, keep his family safe, and he must keep his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) from walking down the same path of anger.

As soon as the film began, I was drawn in and taken for an emotional roller-coaster. It is an intricate weave of family, brotherhood, redemption, and anger all stitched together with racism and culture. Maybe it's because I have an older brother, but the relationship between Derek and Danny is incredibly realistic and touching. Derek is Danny's hero, just like my older brother was my hero growing up, which makes it hard to watch as Danny follows in his brothers footsteps of hatred. The damage of Derek's involvement with the neo-Nazi on his family is also documented very well throughout the movie, and it makes you wonder when is it to late for redemption and what happens when your past sins finally catch up with you? Edward Norton is an incredible actor, and he gives his absolute best performance here. It is chilling just how convincing he is when he justifies his racism. The entire supporting cast does a great job as well, especially Ethan Suplee who plays a fat, stupid, and incredibly racist skinhead. This film is cut and put together extremely well, highlighted by great shots of Venice Beach and slow motion capturing all the emotions felt by the characters. This is all topped off by an incredible score composed of a great orchestra and choir.

It is almost impossible to find anything negative about this movie. Maybe a couple of lines from small characters like a prison guard aren't delivered too well, but that's about it. This film is perfection. It is so incredibly emotional from beginning to end, and is just put together so well, that this is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I don't say that a lot. I highly recommend American History X to anyone and everyone. This is one of the only times I have ever given out a perfect score for a movie.

10/10

There are very few directors out there who are able to make a sequel to a movie and have it take the audience on another unique adventure that outshines the first. James Cameron can do it, George Lucas (I know he didn't direct Empire Strikes Back but he wrote it), and just last year Christopher Nolan proved he could do it too. With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, director Michael Bay (Bad Boys, Armegeddon) proves that he definitely cannot do it.

The film is set two years after the first ended, where the US Army and the Autobots have combined to form a unit called NEST. It is NEST's job to hunt down the evil Decepticons left on Earth. It appears that Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons in the original, is actually just a peon and The Fallen, an extremely old robot, is the leader and begins another assault on our world. Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) meanwhile leaves his family and his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) behind to attend Princeton University, which appears to have become populated with the hottest girls on the planet and is now an insane party school. Sam once again becomes hunted by the Decepticons because he holds the key to their past in his brain, and he teams up with NEST to destroy them.

The first scene is by far the best part of the movie, which isn't saying much. NEST tears through Shanghai as they hunt Decepticons, which leads to some spectacular robot fights and shows off the new and improved Autobots. Like the first movie, these robots have pretty creative designs, especially a trio of motorcycles. Finding any other positives in this trash heap is a chore. There is a good fight scene in a forest, and the girls in the movie are definitely easy to look at. especially Fox, but that's about it. Let me remind you this is a two and a half hour movie, so it becomes real boring real quick.

The writing, plot, and characters are so bad it makes the movie near unwatchable. This time around it is absolutely impossible to make any connections with the leading characters, whether they are human or robots. The plot is even worse. It is so random, full of plot holes, and boring that most of the audience had no clue what was going on, they were just hoping there would be a robot fight soon, and there wasn't. The climactic battle is a big joke. The humor is nothing more than surprisingly graphic jokes, like a college professor hitting on the girls in his lecture like its no big deal, or some stereotypical black robots complete with gangly ears and gold crooked teeth.

Even if you loved the first movie, it would be hard to like this one. Megatron, who was the biggest baddest robot that destroyed everyone else in a fight, gets turned into nothing more than a sissy little henchmen, which will leave many fans disappointed. The diversity of the robots in the first one is completely gone, and by the end of the movie the Decepticons are nothing more that generic silver robots with a gun.

Overall, this film takes an extreme fortitude to be able to get through. It is like a boring class lecture, where minutes seem to take hours to pass. It absolutely fails to grab the audiences attention and hook them into the characters, making it impossible to focus on the confusing plot. If Bay took two steps forward after making the first Transformers, and he took 100 steps back with this sequel.

3/10