Reviews

Somebody hand over another well deserved Oscar to Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts for their respective roles in August: Osage County, based on a play by Tracy Letts of the same name. I know it's too early in the Oscar race to predict but these two women give a powerhouse performance that deserves recognition. A wonderful cast has been put together to display how a dysfunctional family has been brought back together by tragedy and how Violet (Streep) treats her daughters after they've been gone for a long time. Every one has a good reason why they don't want to be here and as the movie progresses we realize why they all left and want to live this place again. Read the full review on my blog (warning: includes some spoilers) but know that here's the movie that kicks off the Oscar race, along with The Butler. Let the award season movies begin!!!

I don't know if I've lost my sense of humor. I never thought seeing people sadistically torturing, beating up, smacking people across their face was supposed to be funny. I might have missed the memo. There's a fine line between great and way over the top and I believe the new comedy The Family, produced by Martin Scorsese, is more the latter than anything else. Robert De Niro stars as the head of household in a family of former mobsters that have fled to a foreign land in Normandie, France to escape their mafioso family they have turned in to justice. Apparently, this family has learned how to survive every place they've been to and we get a glimpse of how they deal with their new surroundings. Let's just say that this is not your typical family who would normally be terrified of their situation. They seem to fit right in to any circumstance and they face their frustrations with vandalism, violence and even murder. Michelle Pfeiffer is the wife: a determined, charming, great cook with a twisted way of dealing with bad customer service at the local supermarket. Her daughter Bella, played by Glee's Dianna Agron, has a bigger issue with anger management and doesn't miss the chance to beat anybody at the new school for hitting on her, for not borrowing their cell phone when she needs it, for looking at her funny or just for fun. The son Warren (John D'Leo) is a little more likable and resourceful, a bit of a nerdy type but he is so streetwise that he can tackle the bullies and become the new drug dealer at his new school in practically no time. Meanwhile, back at their temporary house, an old, charming European home with a run down greenhouse that could really use a little watering, DeNiro has found inspiration and has begun to write his memoirs in an old typewriter. They're being closely monitored by Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones), an FBI agent whose sole purpose is to check De Niro's every move. Even though The Family is a comedy about misfits in a foreign land trying to survive in their new surroundings, the movie loses precious momentum by exploring every family member's individual struggles instead of focusing on the main characters, or spending too much time following the romantic misadventures of a precocious teenage girl who has a crush on a school tutor and gets her heart broken once the guy goes on with his life (as he should, she's a psychopath, if you ask me). Am I really supposed to believe that this bully, violence-driven, vengeful girl has "feelings"? The plot is too predictable and been done a hundred times before. The only exchanges I enjoyed were whenever De Niro, Jones and Pfeiffer were on the screen. I remembered why I love coming to the movies and it's because we're infatuated with these movie stars and their likability. But that's not reason enough to buy a movie ticket and sit through a film that seemed to last an eternity. Several times during The Family I felt like getting up and going to the bathroom, getting popcorn and soda at the concession and take my time coming back to my seat, just to kill the time. You shouldn't have to wish that a movie be over, right? So take it for what it is: The Family is a cheesy, mediocre cable movie that should have never been done, doesn't anybody in Hollywood recognize a flop when they read the script anymore?

Lee Daniels, director of The Butler, has done an outstanding job at displaying the ugly side of American history, a piece of history filled with racism and hate that African Americans endured through in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Meet Cecil Gaines, portrayed by Forest Whitaker in an Academy caliber performance, a man who has seen many injustices for any person to endure: first, his mother gets raped by the owner of a plantation where his parents work at, then he witnesses his father being shot for defending her honor and now he must survive in a world that seems to close in on him. Cecil learns how to serve as a butler and, pretty soon, gets the chance of a lifetime: to work at the White House during the Eisenhower's administration (Robin Williams) all the way through Reagan's (Alan Rickman), seeing all the commotion of the civil right movement, the assassination of Kennedy (James Marsden) and Nixon's (John Cusack) downfall. This butler takes much pride and joy in his work, sometimes getting too wrapped up on what's happening inside the White House and neglecting to see what's going on at home. His wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) gives a great performance as a complex character who loves her man but at the same time resents how much attention he pays to the presidential's affairs instead of her own extra marital affairs. But the one character that really stands out in Lee Daniels' The Butler is Cecil's son: Louis Gaines (David Oyelowo) who joins the Black Panthers movement and fights for his rights to be treated as an American. In a time when America was divided by the color of the skin, where segregation was commonplace, these brave men and women took so much abuse from the white supremacists that there are scenes that are still very hard to watch, let alone comprehend. It's a side of American History that should be taught in school, a side of history that is necessary to see in order to appreciate how far we've come. I can easily see The Butler will get its share of nominations for Best Actor (Forest Whitaker), Best Supporting Actor (David Oyelowo) and even Best Director (Lee Daniels). I know it's still a long shot but I think the message and the powerful performances make The Butler the movie to beat come next year at the Academy Awards.

After seeing the success of Despicable Me, I had a few reservations for the sequel which I caught yesterday... Oh, trust me, it's still playing in theaters, the best medium to see it on, especially with minimum number of kids in the audience... I think there were only 2 kids in the whole theater... And it was 2 kids too many, if you ask me... I'm such a Gru, ain't I? The concept for the original was phenomenal: a super villain named Gru, voice by the talented Steve Carrell in his most intriguing and strangely foreign English accent, whose evil master plan was to steal the moon. Quite a feat, right? By the time Despicable Me is over, I couldn't help myself but fall in love with the grouchy character with a heart of gold who adopts three adorable little orphans, much against his will, and learns how being a parent matters more than accomplishing his evil act that would make him the most accomplished villain that ever was. Suddenly, stealing the moon doesn't seem to fulfill Gru anymore and being a parent becomes his priority. In the sequel, we meet Gru and his orphans right as he is organizing a birthday party for his little princess Agnes. Everything is doing well until he learns that his "princess" will not be showing up after all and so he must please his adopted daughter by dressing up as a princess himself in what's possibly the funniest scene of the entire movie. The scene is so funny and endearing that it summarizes what the rest of Despicable Me 2 is all about: the importance of having a family. Speaking of family, I happened to catch up this movie with old friends, the same ones that came to see The Happening (how can I forget The Happening?) as well as Gnomeo & Juliet. It's great to meet these wonderful friends that, regardless of how long some of us have been apart, feels as if time has not passed by at all. Funny how I consider these friends more than I consider some members of my own family and I'm proud to say that I can really call them friends, without hesitation. Especially after what I've gone through lately at work, it's nice to know that I can still count on these friends, that I can rest assured that whatever I tell them will be kept among us. It's taken this long to realize who my real friends are, and who are just trying to take advantage. Back to Despicable Me 2, I have to say that it's Gru's minions that really bring the comic relief in an otherwise ordinary and predictable film: Gru takes a jive at dating, with disastrous results, until he realizes that his new partner in crime Lucy (voiced by Bridesmaids' Kristen Wiig) is really the one that completes him, the only one that gets him and admires him. There are plenty of laughs thanks to the yellow, mischievous minions that end up dressing up as French maids, as firefighters, as Hula Hula dancers and many more outfits that will keep everybody laughing. Many jokes are geared towards the adults as well, as a matter of fact a big chunk of the movie will have the kids abay. The plot involves another villain who abducts his or her victims through a spacecraft that resembles a giant magnet. I noticed how the "experimental" kids that were in the audience were oblivious to this whole plot (although they also suffered from a severe case of ADD anyways) and could have cared less if there was a plot. They had come to see the minions, that's it. I never would have thought that having a plot could ruin the momentum of a movie but this was the case with Despicable Me 2. I believe that having less plot and more laughs would have help this movie soar, especially when you are trying to please your targeted audience. My favorite moment came when the minions, dressed up in their white suits, performed "This I Swear" by Boys 2 Men. I was literally in tears watching these minions belting it out and I will look forward to seeing that scene again when it comes to cable (not too far out, I assume). I will definitely look forward to seeing Despicable Me 3, their animation is always phenomenal, script is always funny as well as having Steve Carrell who has made of Gru into a villain that everyone can relate to and loves to love. Maybe not what a villain wants to hear, right? Oh and can't forget about those minions: yellow, purple or in any outfit they will breathe life and laughter into any Despicable movie.

When it comes to superhero movies we've had more than a decent share in recent years: Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Avengers, Thor (and the upcoming Thor 2), Dark Knight, Man of Steel, you name it, it's been done, sometimes overdone and overkill if you ask me. Still, no word about Wonder Woman... We've come to expect the greatest in CGI effects, settings and graphics, state of the art 3D effects that will make the audience come back for more. The one thing that I have gotten pretty tired of lately is such overload of special effects that almost takes over the story instead of enhancing it, leaving us without much substance and fulfillment. Such is the case with Man of Steel which I had expected it would bring something new to Superman that I hadn't seen before, a side of weakness and humanity that will make us relate to the hero everyone already knows and loves. And, although it brought us the familiar story of a boy sent to Earth after his home planet Krypton was destroyed and gave us great eye candy to look at with Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, it lacked something, the side of Superman that we yearn to see: ourselves. In order for any superhero to grab the audience's attention is that it should be relatable and, quite frankly, I could not relate much with a man in tights with a giant S on his chest without having a strong actor and a great, smart script that will make me believe in him. Luckily, Superman is not the only man made of steel in theaters this year: Wolverine has come to the rescue. Once again, Hugh Jackman comes to reprise his role as Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, for the eighth time (that's right, boys and girls, eight times!) and he is better than ever. This time is the story of just Logan, a man that has left the mutants league and is found living in the woods, away from civilization yet close enough to gather whatever he may need, like batteries for his FM radio. The image of his lost love Jean Grey (reprised by Famke Janssen) haunts him and tortures him to the point where there's not a day that goes by when he doesn't blame himself for her death. A struggle that makes Logan very vulnerable by the minute. Soon Logan is summoned by an old friend from Japan, a man he saved from the atomic blast of the bomb thrown to Hiroshima right after the Pearl Harbor attack. The man is an honorable and noble businessman who looks to live forever and proposes to turn Logan into a mortal, to end his curse that is to live forever. I am glad that The Wolverine doesn't tap much into the X-Men universe and we never get to see Logan step into his tight superhero suit, although the ladies (and some gentlemen, too) will be glad to know that Hugh Jackman shows his ripped body quite a bit throughout the movie, an intense workout routine and a diet that consisted of eating six whole chickens a day has really paid off for the 44 year old and even landed him in Fitness magazines everywhere. I never thought of Logan as a comic superhero here but a man cursed with steel claws, the ability to heal and his immortality. And there is a difference. Specially when his powers get taken away and all we have left is a man that hurts, bleeds, gets tired and is vulnerable like the rest of us. Someone we humans can relate to. I also enjoyed the Japanese settings, the hustle of Tokyo, the scene atop the bullet train that kept me at the edge of my seat, the cheap motel with different themes to choose from, the serene setting near Hiroshima, the Japanese costumes like the beautiful kimonos the heroine wears (Mariko played by Tao Okamoto), the samurais with their fight choreographies, the Japanese warrior and everything else that elevated The Wolverine into an unexpected and, why not, artistic side that I didn't expected to see in a movie inspired by a comic book. Expect to see even more Wolverine when X-Men: Days of Future Past comes to theaters in 2014. In the meantime, make sure not to miss The Wolverine, arguably the better Man of Steel we'll see this year. Sorry, Superman!

I had been waiting to see another Almodóvar movie since The Skin That I Live In patiently. I knew he'd always come around and deliver another great movie as it's been expected off him. So when I heard of his newest production "I'm So Excited" (originally titled "The Lover Passengers"), I was intrigued and wanted to see it as soon as I could. I'd heard that he managed to get Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, two actors that Almodóvar has used many times in the past: Banderas 7 times and Penélope 5, although this marks the first time they star together. Also more of his favorites are featured: Javier Cámara (Talk To Her), Cecilia Roth (All About My Mother) and Lola Dueñas (Volver). In other words, this movie had everything to take flight... Except for a good script and a mediocre story about a Spanish plane bound for Mexico City that never quite makes it there due to a failure in the landing gear that forces the crew to make an emergency landing. The problem with "I'm So Excited" is that it relies too much in the campy, the silly, the sexual jokes, the word fagot that gets thrown quite a bit throughout the film, big bulges, the sexual orientation of the characters that I could care less about by the time they crash land. Was I supposed to care if a womanizing actor reunites with his ex girlfriend? Was I supposed to care if a hit-man kills his target? Was I supposed to care if the pilot comes out of the closet and to his wife and kids? Was I supposed to care for anybody in the economy class at all? I will say that there were a few times that I laughed, like the musical number led by Javier Cámara that attempts to cheer the passengers in first class with Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited" (hence the title). The moment is short lived and the dialogue that follows is as mundane and mediocre that breaks all comic momentum. There are a few more gags here and there, relying that the audience will laugh upon seeing the characters getting high after drinking "valencias" loaded with alcohol and smuggled drugs that make everyone horny and get in on the Mile High action. By the time that the plane crash lands and I see the "lover passengers" slide down the emergency exits I have already tuned them out and look forward to stepping out of this theater and move on with my life. If somebody had told me how bad the movie was, I wouldn't have believed it, so I am quite sure that people will still be curious to see it, regardless of the reviews. All I can say before you sit down in the theater to watch "I'm So Excited!": you may need to know your nearest exits sooner than you think...

I must be the only one sucker that actually thought that Magic Mike should have had a good plot and actually brought substance to an otherwise ordinary story of a stripper who is trying desperately to make it big in Miami. I must have been crazy... I mean, I thought the cast alone is phenomenal headlined by Sexiest Man Alive Channing Tatum, True Blood's hunky Joe Manganiello (who can't quite dance), pretty boy Matt Bomer and an aging yet still ripped Matthew McConaughey. Their characters making a living off dancing and stripping for women every weekend without any plans for the future whatsoever. I was counting on Steven Soderbergh to direct this movie and make it compelling and relatable as he's done in the past with movies like Ocean's 11, Eric Brokovich, Traffic and, most recently, Side Effects starring Channing as well. So it's no surprise that I was expecting a bit more than just a plain story where Channing's Mike (his stage name is Magic Mike) takes an unknown boy (Alex Pettyfer as Adam) and turns him into a sensational stripper overnight. And that's about it for Magic Mike, not much more than that plot, with the predictable love story that develops between Mike and Adam's sister Brooke (newcomer Cody Horn) and, obviously the stripper performances which fill up the empty blanks (which are quite a few). I will give credit where credit is due and it goes to Matthew McConaughey for portraying Dallas, a seasoned stripper with more ambition than everyone combined. He shows up in this tiny Speedos to the gym and shows the new boy how to take off his clothes like a man, having sex with the mirror and standing uncomfortably close to the straight boy in order to get his sexy on. And he finally delivers, just like Dallas. McConaughey makes moving sexy easy which I suppose it's no easy task. Same can be said for Channing whose presence on the stage is unparalleled in comparison to the rest of the group, but he's been down that road before so it's no surprise that he's still got those moves in him.

Behind The Candelabra  Why shouldn't you date Liberace? First of all, you'll be dating a dead man, so that's creepy. But, seriously, there are more than just ten reasons not to date Liberace, portrayed with eerily accuracy by Michael Douglas as the aging piano virtuoso that entertained Vegas audiences for decades in the latest HBO Films' Behind The Candelabra (Available now on HBO On Demand). When I first heard about this film being done, I had my doubts about Michael Douglas and Matt Damon (as Scott) playing lovers, I had my reservations that they'd be perfect for each other. Last night I was proved wrong. Not only did Michael Douglas do a great job but Matt Damon as well, two people that couldn't be any more different than each other and whose torrid love affair, if you could call it that, was told until Liberace died victim of AIDS back in 1987. If Liberace ever saw this movie, he would certainly die all over again. He was, first and foremost, a pianist, a showman, an entertainer. He would have never been of his closet or caught in the scandal of having a boy toy whom he could call his own. And Scott was one of many boy toys that Liberace wanted to play with. Little by little, Liberace took Scott under his wing and allowed him to see the man behind the curtain, the flawed man who clinged on to his youth as if reclaiming his own, as if he could, somehow, stop time and live forever. So why not date a old millionaire, you ask? Well, there are 10 main reasons why you shouldn't date Liberace, starting with:

 Reason #10 Don't date an old man for money. No matter how much money, Rolls Royce, jewelry, one hundred dollar bills and bling-bling he throws at you... He will take it away from you in a New York minute. He had lawyers that will screw you into the ground so do yourself a favor and get out while you still have your young looks and charm... They won't last you forever...

 Reason #9 Don't let him change you. Even if Liberace wants to pay for all the procedures for you to endure, don't do it. Here is one of the funniest scenes of Candelabra: we get to meet Dr. Rob Lowe, a plastic surgeon who can barely close his eyes after having so many surgeries himself. This surgeon is so hilarious that I wonder how Michael Douglas and Matt Damon control themselves while filming his scenes. So take my advice, don't allow Liberace to change your looks... Especially if he wants you to look like a younger version of himself.

Reason #8 He'll always find someone younger and more beautiful than you. There are too many eager fish in the sea. They include sharks, stingrays and barracudas that will stop at nothing to replace you just like when he met you. You got competition, honey!

Reason #7 You are his property, whether you like it or not. I haven't seen such decadence than over a Liberace house. It seems as if Scott had been trapped inside a glass cage, unable to get out. Liberace was very particular with his lovers and didn't want Scott to have friends of his own. He was property of Liberace, whether he liked it or not. It reminded me of Hotel California: you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. 

Reason #6 If Liberace dumped somebody else to be with you, don't think he won't turn right back around and do the same to you. You're just as replaceable. 

Reason #5 Make sure that you check the merchandise for wigs, dentures, prosthetics and other signs of aging. Nothing is ever as good as it appears on the surface.

Reason #4 You become invisible. You know how people can disappear in a relationship to the point when you're no longer yourself but an image? That's exactly what happened to Scott. He hadn't found himself before he met Liberace and easily lost himself in the shuffle. He could have been his boyfriend, his chauffeur, his son, his lover, his pet... Anything that Liberace wanted, Scott was.

 Reason #3 If you don't find Liberace attractive to begin with, trust your instincts. I couldn't help but to feel squeamish whenever I saw Liberace crawling in bed behind Scott, as a rattlesnake crawls onto its victim, ready for the kill. You saw Scott's first impressions of the man and he found him hideous. Yet, after turning into Cinderella overnight, everything seemed different, everything seemed more tolerable. If I were Scott, I'd had gone with my instincts. 

Reason #2 Never fall in love with Liberace. Liberace will not fall in love with you... He loves himself above all things.

 Reason #1 Never date someone who's ashamed of his sexuality. Liberace was, in the public eye, a straight man. Maybe a little extravagant or sophisticated but still a straight man. If someone said the contrary, that person would have been sued. His sexuality was as ambiguous as the person himself. Even after watching Candelabra, I still don't know much about the artist who remained in the closet until the day he died.

You still have your doubts and want to give it a try? Go right ahead, be my guest... Don't say later that I didn't tell you so...

I have got to call it now: Ryan Goslyn deserves an Oscar nomination for his turn in The Place Beyond the Pines. No question about it. He's a daredevil that defies gravity in a traveling circus stunt and doesn't know he's got a child with Eva Mendes who's come to see his performance. Upon seeing him, she realizes what a mistake she's made and doesn't tell him of his son. This is the beginning of the incredible story that will unfold over the next 2 and a half hours of intense, deep and poignant drama from the same director that shot Ryan Goslyn in Blue Valentine. Watching Ryan transform into Luke, or "The Heartthrob" as his stage name and tattoo reads, you would never believe this is the same dude from The Notebook or Crazy Stupid Love. Something about the way he stares, something about the way he approaches his bike, something about his tattoos that tell a different aspect of his character without any words, something about the way he looks at his son that cannot possibly be written in the script but yet he nails it right from the first moments you see him on screen. There's a scene in which Luke follows Eva and her husband into a church where they're baptizing his son, Jason, and he breaks down in tears. Even though there's no dialogue, you know precisely what's going through his head and you see a transformation right before your eyes. It's almost excusable what he does next. Seeing that he can't support his child, Luke turns to robbing banks and fleeing the scenes as fast as a bullet on his Heartthrob bike that is his lucky charm and a character of its own. You almost wish he would make it. A third, a fourth, a fifth time. Pines has such a great script that is so well-layered and complex that it feels as if you're watching 3 dramas unfold: first there's Luke and his bank robberies, then there's Bradley Cooper's cop who stops Luke in his tracks, and much later in the film 2 characters destined to meet and crash. I won't go into much more detailed but I will say that The Place Beyond the Pines better be in people's minds come time to nominate actors and movies for every award show in town 'cause it certainly deserves recognition for acting, script and directing. Two thumbs up!!!

Jordin Sparks really sparkles. That's about the only thing that elevates Sparkle from a wannabe "Dreamgirls" to what it is: a star vehicle for Jodin. To promote the movie they cast Whitney Houston in big bold letters but it's really Jodin Sparks who shines as a girl from Detroit in 1968 that breaks all the molds, including her mother's, in order to become Motown's new shining star. I don't mind that her sister named Sister (Carmen Ejogo) steals the spotlight. Sister is, after all, the one that drives every man in the club insane as rabid dogs (and I mean dogs, literally) as she puts on the heat with her sensual performances. All the while, Sparkle is the talented one, the one that pens and inspires the wonderful and original music. The movie is a delight to watch for the great outfits, the club scenes, the live music that you can almost feel and makes you feel part of the audience. Frankly, I enjoy Whitney's last performance as a stern, religious mother who oppresses her daughters to be good Christian, church going women that don't get to experience life and feel forced to sneak out of their home whenever they want to go out and have a little bit of fun at the club. Other performance I enjoy is Derek Luke's (from Antwone Fisher) as Stix, the man who sees Sparkle's potential, and bends over backwards to make her the star that she's destined to be. However, not all is peaches and creme in Sparkle. There's a goofy comedian named Satin (Mike Epps) who pokes fun at his fellow black folk in his stand up routines and makes sure to flash his bling-bling around Sister, who is as pretty as she is dumb to not realize what a jerk he is. The problem I had with their toxic relationship is that they fail at capturing the severity of domestic violence and turn it into an almost comical, over the top note that should never be. How predictable is this story when it tries to imitate Tina Turner? Had anybody seen What's Love Got To Do With It? Sparkle tries to borrow many used ideas from girl group films that might have worked well in the past but bring nothing new to the table, no mystery that Sister and Satin don't get a happy ending. And what's up with those names? Really, who sits and think of naming their kids Sparkle, or Sister, or Stix, or Satin... Really, who?

What happens when you gather all the great songs from the 80's and plaster them into a musical that aims to show a raw look at rock and roll in all it's facading glory? Sounds like a great premise for Rock of Ages, right? I thought the same thing, too. As I watched the same trailers that everyone else did and heard those great songs from Journey, Pat Benatar, Twister Sister, Joan Jett and every head banging rock band that I grew up listening to and still enjoy till this day, I thought to myself: why didn't they think of this before? Unfortunately, at the end of the credits I also thought to myself: how could anybody mess it up this much? I must give Tom Cruise props. I mean for a man his age (he's 50 in case you were wondering) he's never looked better. You can see how much he prepared physically for his role as Stacee Jaxx, a rock legend who returns to the Bourbon Room to honor everybody with his presence 'cause he is a God. Or is it just God? Meanwhile, we must endure watching Sherrie Sister (the lovely Dancing With The Star's pro Julianne Hough) getting all gooey eyed with Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) who works as a bartender at the Bourbon Room which is conveniently located in the heart of Hollywood, I imagine it was inspired after the Viper Room, perhaps? Alec Baldwin is Dennis Dupree, the owner of the club who is assisted by a bozo named Lonny played the God-he's-so-annoying' Russell Brand who keeps getting job in Tinseltown, which is beyond me for he lacks talent, charisma, looks and everything else. Who hires this clown? Did I mention I hate every scene he's in along with Alec Baldwin? There's one scene in particular where they both realize that they're in love with each other and they hold in each other's arms in the most puke inducing kiss I've ever seen on screen. It's just awful. And I haven't even began to talk about Catherine Zeta-Jones turn as mayor's wife Patricia Whitmore who rallies up in front of the Bourbon Room to boycott Stacee Jaxx performance as she's so Christian and rock and roll is such an abomination. Another predictable, senseless plot that brings nothing new to the film. To be fair, I thought that Tom Cruise did the best he could with the role. He is as bit vain and clueless as his character but, when he's on stage and the lights and music turn on, he really puts a rocking great performance. I just wouldn't pay money to see this movie in the theatre and now I am glad I didn't fork $100 or more into seeing this piece of crap on Broadway. I'm placing my bet on Kinky Boots, thank you very much.

If I had to describe Oz: The Great and Powerful with one word, I would choose colorful. From the very pages from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, to the classic 1939 The Wizard of Oz and now the spanking new movie produced by Disney and directed by Sam Raimi, one common denominator is how colorful and beautiful the land of Oz really is. Oz: The Great and Powerful begins with Oz (James Franco) in a black and white, cropped and confined screen where we learn what a phone this magician really is. He certainly is a smooth talker but, beneath the surface, he's just a regular guy who plays a few tricks from his bag that startle his audience if only for a few moments. His assistant is the key ingredient to his act and, without his help, there would really be no act. I found the opening black and white sequence quite frustrating since we are limited to see half of the screen instead of the whole widescreen effect. Not only was I waiting for the monotonous dialogue to be over and done with, I was also counting the minutes until I could see the whole picture after Oz makes it through to the incredible land of Oz where rainbows, beautiful landscapes and splashes of color filled my eyes. It's like watching a Zoloft commercial. I was marveling at the details of the fantastical world where he would be destined to became the Great and Powerful despite his lack of magic powers. He meets with Theodora (Mila Kunis) who is immediately enchanted by his looks and his goofy charms, then her manipulative sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) back at the Emerald City palace and much later Glinda (Michelle Williams), the good Witch of the North. Along the way he meets up with a winged monkey named Finley (voiced by Zach Braff from Scrubs) and a China Girl (Joey King), a porcelain doll that he finds along the Yellow Brick Road. I particularly loved China Girl. I think that the real wizards are the special effects team that created such a perfect little character that everyone immediately falls in love with: she's so fragile and innocent yet so feisty and full of courage that makes her so compelling to watch. I hope we get to see a spin off story solely based on her and her China Town, destroyed way before Oz finds her. Of course what everyone is hoping to see is the Wicked Witch of the West, that iconic character that we've grown to respect and fear. When she makes her appearance in Oz The Great and Powerful, I could hear all the kids in the audience gasp in awe and sheer joy of finally meeting the meanest villain of them all. If you ever doubt this, just read my previous entry on 13 Evil Villains and you'll see what I mean... Unfortunately, I wished I could say the same thing for Oz. I read that Robert Downey, Jr. had been considered for the role of the Wizard before Raimi approached Franco to fill in those big shoes. It's not that he didn't learn his lines or that he didn't do what he was told to do. There's a certain unscripted charisma to the Wizard that cannot be taught. James Franco lacks charisma. He's merely getting by and delivering his lines as best as he can but that's not enough. It would have taken Robert Downey, Jr., Johnny Depp (also considered for the role by the director), or Christoph Waltz, or Hugh Jackman to really deliver the lines of the Wizard who lacks magical powers but has so much personality to spare. I also had a problem with the lack of musical numbers that made The Wizard of Oz such a classic film. We had a short glimpse of a musical number by the Munchkins until someone ruined it for us... Oh, yeah, that was thanks to the Great and Powerful Oz himself. I tell you, Oz kept ruining it for me and I wished he had less and less screen time. The only moment where I actually didn't mind him so much is when he puts a show to defeat the witches and allows everyone to help him become Great and Powerful. No matter what I say, everyone wants to see the film and judge it for themselves. Go right ahead, your inner Munchkin will have a heckuva good time. Whether you catch it in 3D or in 2D, you will agree that the wizardry is really the people behind the curtain that made this Land of Oz as colorful and magical as we could ever hope for.

Feeling lonely? Trouble sleeping? Your sex drive slowed down or came to a complete stop? Having any suicidal thoughts? Not to worry, they have a pill for every little symptom that you may think of. This entry should be subtitled: "Side Effects: What Your Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To See".

That's the premise in Steve Soderbergh's latest and, possibly, last movie Side Effects starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

I initially thought that the director that brought us Contagion was going to bring us another sociology lesson about pharmaceutical addiction in an ensemble cast but I'm glad that was just the backdrop for the main plot (SPOILERS AHEAD): Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) comes to the aid of Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara), a troubled woman who tries to commit suicide by driving her car onto a concrete wall. And she has good reason to be depressed: her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) has recently been released from jail after 4 years and, even though he is out of a job, he is trying to bring money back in as soon as humanly possible.

Something in Emily's changed, she's not the same woman that Martin married before serving his sentence. She suffers from deep depression and has a hard time dealing with life in general. So she starts taking different anti-depressants and goes to therapy on a weekly basis to report her progress or, should I say, lack thereof. Apparently, every pill that she's taken doesn't seem to do the trick: Prozac, Zoloft, some other names thrown in the mix until Emily suggests a new pill called Ablixa.

Apparently, Ablixa is a wonder drug that brings back her confidence, her sex drive, her life... until she begins having odd side effects. And does a terrible, terrible thing. I won't go much into detail here since that's the fun of Side Effects: a twist and turn ride that will have you guessing throughout the entire movie. Reminds me of Hitchcock's caliber scripts like Dial M For Murder, Rear Window or Psycho.

Side Effects ponders what kind of a person lives like Emily, going from one pill to the next, hoping to solve everything with chemistry (and I know quite a few of those pill poppers, I'm afraid). How many doctors and psychiatrists like Jonathan Banks are so willing to prescribe anything under the sun, manipulating people and creating dangerous addictions?

We are a Prozac Nation and this film goes to show to what extent people are tricked into thinking that they can solve everything by popping pills. Nobody is except from this and, unfortunately, we are dependent on drugs for every symptom when it's just our body that's trying to tell us what's wrong so we can fix it, whether is a change of habit, diet, therapy, meditation and other natural ways to treat our illnesses.

Side Effects is certainly a movie every pharmaceutical companies don't want you to see. Side effects to watching this movie may include, but are not limited to hot flashes, suicidal thoughts, blurry vision, migraines, nausea, tingling sensation, depression as well as being intellectually stimulated and entertained. Take on an empty stomach... and a bucket of popcorn.

I caught Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream last weekend on HBO Zone where they showed encore after encore after encore of this documentary so there was no way I could miss it, followed by an interview with Oprah over at OWN on the same night of the cable premiere.

The documentary was produced, directed, promoted, starred and edited by Beyoncé herself so there are many details that she's left out so we get to see probably a small percentage of the "real" Beyoncé that we've expected to see. It's one thing to allow cameras to come into your home, film endless hours of every single thing you do and have an unbiased director edit the movie to show this or that aspect of her story.

Don't get me wrong, I like Beyoncé. I believe that she's a perfectionist when it comes down to her live performances and appearances. Her father, also acting as her former manager, has taught her well and has made her be the superstar that she is today. Ever since she was a teenager and formed her all girl band, followed by Destiny's Child, then her solo career Beyoncé has played all her cards very well and has landed her on the top of the music world. There is no denying her talent and showmanship.

When it comes to revealing all in front of her laptop camera, which she carries everywhere she goes, is a different story. There's nothing engaging or much revealing to see in Life, it's more of an outlet for Beyoncé to talk about her frustration, creative stumps that come along the way, her father whom she had to "fire" as her manager since there was no differentiation between work and family. All I have to say is Beyoncé suffers from a "poor rich girl" syndrome. Are we supposed to feel sorry for her?

Among many other scenes, Beyoncé is lying in bed, baring no make-up, and says in a grave, deep voice "there's so much going on" before turning her lamp light off, leaving us wondering "what is going on?". Later, in her interview with Oprah, she says how it was so difficult to choose what to reveal and what not to reveal in the documentary yet she doesn't reveal much. Kind of contradictory, don't you think?

One thing that she makes absolutely clear is that she carried her daughter's pregnancy instead of using a surrogate mother. I always believed that to be true and I did sense that she was hurt when she realized how a "harmless" gossip gets started and messes with an artist's head, much like Michael Jackson. She also reveals how she lost her first baby two years prior and her latest album carries a song where she pours her feelings about her loss, which I thought was real and heart breaking.

In general, I thought Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream borrows from many other documentaries like Madonna: Truth Or Dare, or U2's Rattle and Hum, Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter or everything we've seen on MTV over the years. Nothing new, something we've come to expect already. I feel Beyoncé was really careful with how much she revealed but in the process left many questions unanswered. I guess that's what happens when you're the director of your own documentary? What should be the title to my documentary? The Many Faces of Italo? Hmmmm… Let me start working on that

What makes a good rom-com? Is it the sappy scene where Tom drops down on one knee and proposes to his girlfriend Violet on the rooftop of a romantic restaurant overlooking the Golden Bridge near midnight on New Year's Eve? Is it the awkward moment when they first met at a costume party where Tom (Jason Segel) meets Violet (Emily Blunt), or Easter Bunny meets Princess Di? Or is it when their wedding plans keep getting postponed, facing unforeseen circumstances that force them to always leave it for another time when it's more appropriate and, of course, that perfect time never comes?

Overall, The 5 Year Engagement is a decent romantic comedy that has its funny moments as well as the good, serious moments that make the story compelling and believable, with predictable elements from Hollywood such as the rushed ending where Tom and Violet finally get to rush through their "I do's". Great cast, too, by the way, with Chris Pratt (Zero Dark Thirty) as Tom's best buddy, Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) as Violet's mom, Mindy Kaling (The Office) as her classmate and Rhys Ifans as her teacher. Two thumbs up!

How would you feel if you had to work for a company that you know is corrupt? Would you be willing to do whatever it takes for the money? Are you ready to bust down your own principles in order to keep your job? Matt Damon's character Steve Butler works for Global Crosspower Solutions, a natural gas company, and has been sent to this small farm town in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania to convince its residents that they're sitting on a mine of gold and they're willing to pay a lot of moolah to have the rights to extract natural gas in their neighborhood. Nothing wrong with a little cash, right? That's the initial premise in Gus Van Sant's Promised Land. On the surface, Steve (Matt Damon) and his partner Sue (Frances McDormand) are doing this town a favor by proposing to exploit their land and they get all these millions so it's a win-win, right? Not so fast… See, beneath the surface, Global's real intentions are not so benign and they are both faced with strong opposition from one man: Frank Yates (played by Hal Holbrook), the local science teacher who has really done his homework and sees the real danger that the company's method of fracking will have over their land. Fracking, he explains, will make the soil infertile and, as proved in another case where Global took over another farming land to extract natural gas, kill cattle. Global is really a wolf disguised in sheep's clothing. Steve and Sue haven't anticipated any opposition from the moment they set foot in this town so they must change their strategy and quickly. They must get to know the people by going to their local bar and mingle with the locals. That's where Steve meets Alice (United States of Tara's Rosemarie DeWitt), a charming school teacher, and almost immediately something awesome sparks between them. Their relationship is crucial to the story because Steve's attitude towards the land changes in the process and he learns to appreciate this community that reminds him of his own childhood. As much as he fights it, deep inside he feels the farmers' reasoning for his family went through the same thing many moons ago. In his eyes, money buys everything, he doesn't yet comprehend how much the land means to these farmers who live off the land, how many generations of farmers have taken them to get to where they are today. Even as they struggle to live by, even if their hard work doesn't pay what they deserve, even when they break their backs working the land, to them, this is their sole purpose in life. Even if you gave them all the money in the world, they wouldn't know what to do with it. They really love their community and their way of living so there is nobody from the big city that can come and dictate that they should live this or that way. I really commend Matt Damon and John Krasinski for penning such a great script originally meant for Matt Damon to direct but was given to Gus Van Sant instead who, by the way, also directed Good Will Hunting. So I'm looking forward to more smart and gripping scripts from Matt Damon, John Krasinski and the younger generation of writers that entertain us at the same time that they move us and make us think, for a change.

You either love or hate Anna Karenina. Set in the late 19th century, Anna Karenina is one of the most elite and astonishing young women of Russia's high society and married to Alexi Karenin (Jude Law), a well to do gentleman with kind eyes yet an old fashioned, stern demeanor towards her. Everything is fine and dandy until Anna to visit her brother and sister-in-law in Moscow and stumbles upon Count Alexi (Nowhere Boy's Aaron Taylor Johnson), dressed up in a dashing white officer uniform that leaves a lasting impression.

Up until that point I'm with Anna. I understand that she's a young, pretty lady feels trapped in a cold, loveless marriage so some flirting is excusable. As the story develops, Anna comes back to her husband without falling into any sexual escapades, just harmless stares and chance encounters with the young officer. However, Count Alexi won't give up until he gets Anna, one way or another and that's where things get really complicated.

I love the way in which Joe Wright sets every scene inside a theatre, as if we are witnesses of a stage play in motion. We see sets being lifted, crew moving props left and right, changing the whole scenery in a split moment right in front of the camera, making you feel part of a live audience. And I loved every minute of it. I felt as if I was part of the production and had me anticipating where they would take us next.

I'm particularly fond of the waltz scene during a ball in which Anna and Count Alexi engage in dance, in front of dozen of wondering eyes, until the crowd disappears. It's such a powerful and intimate performance, such an explosive chemistry that we understand why Anna does what she does next and gives in to her desires that cost her her marriage, her home, her reputation. I give the movie props for originality and great costumes, I hope we get more directors as bold and artsy as Joe Wright who, by the way, directed Keira Knighley before in Atonement and Pride and Prejudice. There is a bit of an obsession with Keira and her director though, almost overkill, to the point where it seems as if we're watching another of her lush Chanel commercial in motion.

Where the story falls for me is when Anna Karenina gets way too obsessed with her lover to the point that she loses all self control and regard for anyone but herself. Not only does her poor husband learn about the affair but he also forgives her and gives her numerous chances to fix her cheating ways. He warns her that being a divorcée in this society is unforgivable and she's pretty much signing her own death sentence. Yet she keeps the affair going until she gets pregnant and pretends that she can have both her husband and her lover hold hands, you heard right, hold hands, people!!! Sorry, Anna, but you cannot have your cake and eat it, too!!! That's where I drew the line with her. I could care less whether she later gets dissed by everyone while attending a horse race featuring Count Alexi as one of the riders. Everyone stares at her with disdain and disapproval. I ended up rooting for Mr. Karenin from that moment forward and could really care less about his selfish wife.

The story, written by Leo Tolstoy, has been heralded as the most beautiful love story ever written and I must agree with that statement. Love has so many faces that we see here as in the love profused by two passionate lovers, the love in Karenin's eyes when he watches over his children, even if one of them is not even his, the love in the parallel story of Levin and Kitty whose love grows as Anna Karenina's deteriorates. The love of a lover. The love of a parent. The love of a friend. Love that conquers all obstacles, a love that is blind, a love that is pure.

Sometimes the truth is ugly. Depending how you look at it: this is the story of how Americans tortured, spied, spent millions of taxpayer's dollars in the hunt of a very elusive Osama bin Laden. It's also about attaining closure, the tenacity and the courage that it took for a Navy Seal team to go on a hunch and risk their lives to capture the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks that affected every American since and the way we live today. The truth is never one sided and that's why Zero Dark Thirty is a great film. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty was originally about the failed attempt to find bin Laden until the news about his death broke out in May 2011. What she did in such little time is short of incredible. Along with screenwriter Mark Boal, with whom she also co-wrote The Hurt Locker, had to go back to their drawing board and finish writing the eclectic finale. She managed to get us inside the compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden hid for a very long time and gave us a glimpse of the operative that almost never happened had it not been for Jessica Chastain's character Maya. Maya is based on a real CIA officer and her investigation leading up to bin Laden's location which took a decade to find. Fresh out of high school, Maya is sent to Pakistan to gather information from several prisoners that are being tortured to get leads to find bin Laden's location. The job is not easy. She is witness to how brutal are the means to get any information from these prisoners, borderline inhumane. Maya cringes at the sight of an informant drowning under a wet towel as gallons of water are poured over his mouth. Maya is clearly not comfortable with the methods, a look at her frightened expression is enough to place ourselves in her shoes. Still, she knows that this is the only way to get any information that will lead to capturing a murderer blamed for killing more than 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks to the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The lead takes her team nowhere. Meanwhile we see attacks at the Marriot Hotel in Pakistan that kills 54 people while Maya and Jessica (Jennifer Ehle) are having a casual dinner. Maya barely survives another attack when she dodges bullets aimed at her car. Ultimately, her friend and fellow officer Jessica gets killed in a terrorist attack at Camp Chapman when a suicide bomber, claiming to be an informant, gets close enough and detonates, killing seven officers and injuring others.

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty Maya is sent back to the States for her own safety. However, she is determined that she's found the location to bin Laden's compound in Pakistan although there's no visual proof. Now it becomes her sole purpose to tantalize everybody and urge to send a team to hunt bin Laden down against political opposition. A very risky mission that pays off at the end. Zero Dark Thirty chronicles the operative of the Navy Seal team with such military precision that we feel as if we were wearing those night vision goggles. We become part of the operation and we get a clear idea of what it was like to get into bin Laden's compound. The following scenes are so nerve wrecking that you could almost hear a pin drop inside the movie theater. No history book or documentary is as detailed and truthful as Kathryn's account. She may get criticism for what she's accomplished with Zero Dark Thirty. The probably claim that she divulges too much information in such a secretive operation. I believe that we deserve the truth, as much as it may hurt. We deserve to know what happen to bin Laden. We needed closure and that's what we get with this film. On my part, Kathryn has gone where no other director, let alone a female director, has gone before.

The Impossible is the incredible true story of the Belón family who are vacationing on this beautiful resort in Thailand along with their 3 boys: a 12 teenager named Lucas, another 7 ½ and a 5 year old. They wake up the morning after Christmas ready to enjoy another beautiful day at the beach resort when disaster strikes. The first few minutes after the giant waves come crashing down palm trees, cars, debris, people and everything in their path, I kept clutching onto the armrests bracing for impact. Even after seeing Hereafter and Tsunami: The Aftermath, including the real footage from that fateful day, the horrible images from the tsunami still send chills down my spine. Not only do I have to endure seeing people disappear under the waves but then I get a look under water which is even more frightening than what's afloat. If you've ever been dragged by a giant wave while boogie boarding then you can just imaging what that felt like and multiply it by a hundred and you'll begin to understand how your body gets crushed, mutilated, scraped under the violent current underwater. No detail is spared in The Impossible and, as much as you try to look away, the noise of desperation deafens you and you just can't help but feel helpless. Both Maria (Naomi Watts) and her oldest son Lucas try to hold onto each other against the violent waves. Here lies the heart of the movie and the unforgettable struggle to survive is what drives this movie, gets a hold of the audience and doesn't let go. The images are so real that I felt as if I was being hit by the waves and the debris that they carry within. What director Juan Antonio Bayona accomplished with this recreation of the devastation that unfolds with the most powerful tsunami recorded in modern history is unparalleled. What's more unparalleled is the miracle that Henry (Ewan McGregor) and his 2 youngest sons have also survived miraculously the first impact of the tsunami and are now in search for Maria and Lucas which is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I believe that Naomi Watts's Maria really held on to life for her oldest son since they had lost faith in seeing the rest of the family. Lucas confronts her mother and tells her, without hesitation, that they're all dead and they only have each other to survive. As hard as it is to accept, she must accept that her son may be right and she sort of make him in charge since her condition gets worse by every moment. Lucas (played by Tom Holland) must make the decisions that would either save them or cost their lives so he must grow up and fast. Luckily they are found by villagers that take them to safety.

Don't get me wrong, I love Quentin Tarantino. I believe he's a very gifted screenwriter and director who comes up with great material back to back to back. Ever since I saw Pulp Fiction I thought that he is the greatest thing to happen to movies and inadvertently forced every movie since to be better and better as people tried to match his genius and quick wit. So when I went to see Django Unchained, his latest opus set in the wild, wild west, I immediately jumped at the chance to see it. I know I had to prepare myself for the gore and the violence that have dominated his movies. Also, I had to prepare to sit through almost 3 long hours (in Unchained's case, 165 minutes) of film. Nowadays, every single movie I see seems to get longer and longer and it's getting harder and harder to sit through them whether it's because the theater seats are uncomfortable, or the audience is restless, or the previews and commercials take about 20 to 30 minutes in addition to having to wait 30 minutes in line to get into the theater so by the time the movie opens my expectations are pretty damn high. Sometimes I have to remind myself what is it that I came to watch in the first place. Now, Django Unchained starts pretty strong actually. And I mean that in a good way. The premise is set early by a group of slaves, chained together, transported through rocky mountains and beautiful, harsh landscapes and guided by two cowboys riding on horseback. We see them walk long days and endless nights for miles on end. Among them is Jamie Foxx as Django, a quiet and beaten down slave who bears the marks of a brutal slashing on his back. Right there, without saying a single word, Quentin has managed to set the mood early on and indicated clearly who is the protagonist of the story. Without a single word, we learn that he's got a hard past, a past that will undoubtedly be revealed later in the film, a past that we are ever so curious to find out. His mission has been accomplished, he's got our attention. Then we're introduced to Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and Quentin's script comes to life. It's a real treat as an aspiring writer and screenwriter to hear such great scripts and Unchained doesn't disappoint in that department. Christoph Waltz, who's been in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, plays his character with gusto and gives another unforgettable performance. He plays a bounty hunter that talks with such eloquence that you would never believe what he does for a living. Both Django and Dr. Schultz form an unlikely team, he teaches Django to what extend he can stretch his rights as a bounty hunter and a former slave. Django, now a free man thanks to him, has one purpose and one purpose only: to get his wife back. She has been sold to a plantation owner named Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). So far, so good, I'm all ears. The problem begins when Django and Dr. Schultz meet Calvin Candie. Mind you, Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job at portraying a man whose ambition and mischievousness can be seen in his eyes. He has finally abandoned his cute boy looks and trade them for those of a man with an evil purpose that can be seen and felt in his performance. However, the problem that I have with the script at this point was the excessive use of the N word. Now I understand that was part the lingo to refer to an African American slave at the time, however it comes a point when the word is heard so many times that it becomes tedious, heavy, almost uncomfortable to hear. In my personal opinion is a matter of taste more than accuracy. There is a difference between being accurate to being offensive, which was Quentin's intention here. Not only is this word uttered countless times in the script by white folk but we also have to hear this from Samuel L. Jackson's character, too. His character, Stephen, far from being compassionate towards Django's wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), is really an ill-tempered curmudgeon that will stop at nothing to see her tortured for trying to escape the plantation that he runs for Calvin. That's not what bothered me about the character as much as his constant use of the N word. Coming from an African American, the word takes on a different meaning and maybe Quentin wrote this purposely to make a point. I could see many in the audience trying not to laugh whenever the word was said on screen, even if it meant to be funny. It made me wonder whether his intention was to entertain an audience or to make them uncomfortable. I believe that the latter was accomplished with Django Unchained.

The story begins when a young boy named Albert Narracott (played by newcomer Jeremy Irvine) who takes on the care of an admirable horse he names Joey and struggles to keep this horse in spite of his family economic struggles.. One day Albert and his horse are put to the test when the landlord comes to collect the overdue rent or take the horse away from the Narracotts. Albert has to teach his horse to plow a field and get it ready for next harvest but, after a few times that the horse attempts to pull the plowing equipment through the dry soil, they fail terribly as everybody begins to walk away in disappointment. When everything seems to be a lost cause it suddenly begins to rain facilitating Albert and his horse to plow the field, and restoring the family's pride and honor.

Unfortunately, the Narracotts are unable to come up with enough money for their mortgage (it sounds like the average American's story right here) and World War II is about to begin so they begin to look for horses to serve in the war. When Albert finds out about his father's intentions to sell his precious horse he runs over to town to stop this trade. His father is devastated as well but they're paying him top money for Joey and, during times of war, that's the best chance they will get to sell their horse. It's sad watching Albert being separated from Joey and, as much as he begs to join the infantry to be together with his noble horse, he's too young to join the military yet.

From this point on the story takes us from one owner to another as the horse is first seen in a battlefield where his rider gets killed in combat; then we see him go behind enemy lines and meets another black horse, at first they challenge each other at first but they begin a "friendship" of sorts. Our horse (I should call him Joey, just to make it easier) always comes through for his friend and saves him many times from doing strenuous work that Joey's been used to doing before and, by doing so, saving his friend's life. Suddenly, I began seeing Joey, his friend and the other horses as equally engaging as their human counterparts. It's incredible but you can't help but care for whatever happens to this horse while the war develops, it's like you've become attached to him somehow and you fear for his life every step of the way.

SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD There are some scenes in the movie that mad me question: how inhumane we humans can be? These noble animals are so loyal and smart that they deserve as much respect and admiration as any other soldier fighting WWI. There was a moment in the movie when Joey watches his friend, the black horse, die from exhaustion. It sparks something in Joey that cannot be describes in words, I just needed to watch on the screen and see Joey run run through the battlefield, taking barriers of barbwire along the way until he could run anymore. It was as if the war had finally claimed his life.

Somewhere in the trenches there was also Albert, who had also joined the military and was fighting the war, always looking for his horse Joey. Albert, as his horse, also loses a friend in the line of combat and we get a glimpse of the nightmare that is the war in all of its gory and nightmarish nature as only a sensible Steven Spielberg could ever do. As I was watching the scenes of war it reminded me of Saving Private Ryan and the symbolism that it represents for the director whose own father was a war veteran himself.

At the heart of War Horse, there is a scene that will have me crying along with most people in the audience that day. The scene finally reunites Albert and his best friend Joey after four years of war in one of the most heartbreaking scene I've ever recalled to see in film before. It's a reunion so touching that it brought tears to my eyes; a reunion of two friends broken up to be brought back together by destiny, against all the odds. It's a scene that I would have never thought it'd be so touching yet it was. Now I understand why the stage play, in which they use puppeteers to give the horse live on the stage every night, is such a hit as well as this movie is.

I was reading the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly where they announce the Entertainers of the Year 2012. I glanced through the pages to find Ben Affleck, the cast of Homeland including Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Anne Hathaway… until I came across Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He's a peculiar kind of actor that came out of nowhere until I noticed him in movies like Inception and Dark Knight Rises where he's gotten momentum and noticeability, luckily not the wrong kind of publicity that we've come to expect from other young actors (see Lindsay Lohan) but a good recognition for their good work instead of their personal lives.

I read the article expecting to see his work on 50/50 which came out in 2011 but they only focused on The Dark Knight Rises and Looper (with Bruce Willis). Then I realized the title: Entertainers of the Year 2012. I prefer him in smaller films like 50/50 and 500 Days of Summer where his performance shines through. In 50/50, he plays a young man who discovers that he's got a rare life-threatening tumor and has a, you guessed it, 50/50 chance of surviving it. What I like most about the story is that, instead of being melodramatic and depressing, it turns out to be rather uplifting and, dare I say, funny. Based on the true story by Will Reiser, the film sees Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dealing with his cancer treatment on his own. His father suffers from Alzeihmer's and his mother (played by the always wonderful Anjelica Houston) is so overbearing and protective of him that he chooses to deal with his battle with cancer alone with little to no help from his detached girlfriend Rachael (played by Bryce Dallas Howard). His best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) tries his darnest to be very supportive of him but he doesn't realize that his friend is slowly but surely slipping away and he doesn't know how to cheer him up. His therapist (Anna Kendrick) is not very experienced on the matter either (she only has 2 other patients under her belt) thus Adam becomes very defensive and brutally honest with her: he's sick and tired of everyone telling him that whatever he's feeling is "normal" , his attitude and mood swings "understandable" under his condition. He's tired of everybody being so "nice" when they learn about his condition yet nobody is really honest and upfront with him (except for Kyle who seems rather oblivious to the fact that his best friend has cancer). He wants somebody to have the guts to tell him that he may not be okay, that there's a chance that he may not make it and help him cope with that fact. I am glad that these movies gets made and they don't always have a Hollywood ending. I especially like the raw performance from Joseph Gordon Levitt that is deserving of an award or just recognition. He really holds the movie together by inviting us to look at how fragile one's life really is. There's a particular moment when we see Adam going for the eminent surgery that may either cure him or kill him quicker and, for a brief moment, he loses faith and needs somebody there for him. Luckily his mother is there and the moment is so brief yet so powerful that sends chills down my spine. I literally saw the fear in his eyes at the uncertainty that lay ahead of him. It's one of those moments that don't make it to the script but are worth 1,000 words.

Aaron Johnson stars as the young John Lennon who is always causing trouble for riding on the roof of a bus, getting into brawls with bullies, or flashing girls in school, or missing class and never paying attention in class whenever he decided to attend class (it sounds a lot like me, actually LOL) and lives with his Aunt Mimi (the wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas in a superb supportive role here). Little did I know about his troubled childhood and I was taken aback when I saw what unraveled during Nowhere Boy: John didn't actually know his mother and grew up thinking that she was somewhere far, far away along with his father and was left to Aunt Mimi's devices to raise this rebellious yet lovable character. I love how the film star never tries to imitate or glorify John Lennon in any way, there are some acts that John does to his Aunt Mimi, his friends and even his mother during this film that made my jaw drop.

Speaking of his mother Julia, in his search for her it's a friend of him (or was he his cousin, I can't quite remember) that tells John where she is, his cousin shows him that Julia is actually at walking distance from where he's always lived, a few blocks from Aunt Mimi's home. The first meeting John ever had with Julia was awkward: a sixteen year old confident boy suddenly becomes very sheepish and vulnerable in front of your very eyes, it was touching watching John melt in the sight of his real mother whom he had given up on, the thought of seeing her was beyond belief and was more than a dream come true, it was as if the boy had hit the jackpot and was suddenly in the presence of his other half, a part of him that had been ripped from him when she was out of his life for 12 years or so and suddenly he felt the urge to catch up with Julia.

Julia, as it turns out, had remarried and had 2 daughters and lived her life as if she had never had a son before. Upon seeing John at her door you could tell that a dark episode in her life had returned to haunt her yet she didn't let it show to John and they began a strange and wonderful bond where they would go on dates to the movies or buying records or out and about. She also introduced him to music and her love to play music. It was Julia that awoke a part of John that was always there yet he never knew it until he met Julia.

The real drama begins on John's 17th birthday when Julia decided to throw a party in his honor. The drunken teenagers playing rock'n'roll music while John was being his bad self in spite of his mother, he started to resent the fact that she pretty much abandoned him without a trace and the fact that they had lived so close all this time and never had bothered to be part of his life when he needed his mother the most. Aaron Johnson does a great job in containing all that anger and rage inside John for as long as he could in order to explode in front of the camera when he finally confronts Julia in her front yard and demands that she tells him what was the reason she abandoned him with his Aunt Mimi and never looked back.

And that is probably the most heart breaking moment when, upon coming back home with his Aunt Mimi along with Julia, that he learns the awful truth that he was seeking all his life: when John was a little boy, around 5 or 6 years old, he'd watched his parents get in a huge argument that turned a bit violent and John was given a choice: You want to go with mommy or daddy? Just thinking of the scene bring chills down my spine, how can you have a young boy make such a horrible choice? What kind of parent would ever do that to their child? Having come from a broken home myself, I had to make that same hard decision but it was my own decision to go with my mother. Nobody had sat down and explained what was wrong with my family but I wasn't five years old trying to make an adult decision. To think that John had to make this hard decision at such a tender age was just too much to bear. Then we get to see how Aunt Mimi came to John's rescue when she witnessed Julia and her husband get into a heated argument and took it upon herself to get this innocent boy out of harm's way and hid him in her own home where she would raise this kid as her own. It's the ultimate sacrifice that a woman can ever make, a sacrifice of love for a young boy who has no knowledge of what's happening in front of his very eyes. John's father apparently took off to Germany to never return again while Julia came to see John at Mimi's house. That was the haunting image of Julia knocking on their door, the image that will forever be stuck in John's memory and one that will keep coming back as if it were a horrible nightmare, a troubling dream that John can never quite put together until this very moment. It's a scene so emotionally charged and performed quite well that I needed a few moment to contain my own tears, it's certainly the best scene in NOWHERE BOY.

The other day I started watching a movie from 1957 called Witness For the Prosecution starring Charles Laughton, Tyrone Powers and Marlene Dietrich in an adaptation from a novel by Agatha Christie and directed by Billy Wilder who had previously directed Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch and Gloria Swanson in the classic Sunset Blvd. Although I had never seen Marlene Dietrich in a film before I knew that she is quite a name in the glamorous old Hollywood movies of an era that shall never come back again, when real movies had really good scripts and when you really had to pay close attention to the story and just enjoy the great performances . Witness For the Prosecution is as complicated and multi-layered as mystery movies ever come: a man (Tyrone Powers) has been wrongly charged of murdering an old lady and is seeking legal advice from a famous attorney (Charles Laughton) who happens to recently come back home after having a heart attack. He's not supposed to take on any stress that may jeopardize his health but as stubborn as they come, this old man won't give up his cigars, take on this murder case while fighting with his nurse that insists he shouldn't be doing any of it. I love the way this movies present these characters in a comical, multi-layered yet simple way and allow them to take shape.

When the accused man's wife (Marlene Dietrich, as stunning as ever) comes to the lawyer's home to supposedly defend her husband and give him an alibi in court but, it turns out, shes as devious and mysterious as they come. That's when the real mystery begins and everybody seems to be a suspect.

It was a real joy to watch all these characters and see what unfolds in the courtroom, especially a crucial moment in which Marlene Dietrich takes the stand, as a witness for the prosecution nonetheless and breaks down while being questioned by the defense lawyer. At first I wasn't sure if that was her voice since they don't focus on her right away while she's delivering her lines but then it becomes clearer, and clearer, and clearer: "Damn you, damn you, Damn you! Damn you! Damn youuuuuuuuu"... I didn't know what to do so I started laughing since it's just like one of those lines that are always featured in the vignettes for the Awards Ceremonies as the pivotal scene of the movie yet it becomes instantly classic and her deliverance certainly deserves an award of some sort (unfortunately no such luck for Marlene that year) and I had to stop and rewind and rewind it just to get my fix.

There are certain movies that I can quote line by line such as Mommie Dearest , or The Birds, or Sunset Blvd and now I have a new classic Hollywood line that I already started quoting to my boyfriend and always get him to laugh (in guttural deep voice:) "Damn you, damn you, Damn you! Damn you! Damn youuuuuuuuu"

Ahhhhh, they don't make movies like this anymore...