Reviews

"Knowing" starts out with an intriguing premise: a girl accurately predicts the horrible happenings of the world until...???? Questions ran through my head as I watched the movie, how? why? what? who? huh?, but I soon began to feel confused, angry, depressed, dissatisfied...the list continues on and on. "What the crap is going on" was the most frequent thought that my friends and I conjured up, and, by the end, most wanted to leave the theater...and call their mom, for comfort from enduring this movie.

Now, don't get me wrong, the movie was decently made, I suppose. The brutality of the deaths of innocent people was unnerving. Seeing hundreds killed in burning wreckage left me with a feeling of despair, which was, perhaps, the intention of the filmmakers. The downright creepiness of some of the parts had me clutching onto the sides on my chair and desperately wanting the scene to end. Yes, it was intense.

However, there was plenty wrong with the film. The graphics for the most part were sub-par, except for at the end, when they were decent.

Acting overall was just OK. Many laughable moments or...."OK...what was weird/odd/completely ridiculous" moments. Nicolas Cage as a lead character with a strong emotional role did poorly. He is, apparently, unable to act in an emotional role without evoking laughter from the audience. I guess it is up to the individual to decide how annoying he was throughout the film, but...Wicker Man, anyone??

Also, this is not a feel-good movie...at all. As mentioned before, the brutality and creepiness of it all will most likely get to you or at least cause some discomfort. I guess the question is, should someone spend ten bucks and two hours and ten minutes of their time devoted to this film? My answer: Heck no. But your curiosity, much like mine, will likely get to you, and you'll spend it anyway.

Heard of Neo Ned? Not too many have. I, in fact, discovered it last night while I was working the closing shift at the movie theater in my town. As it turns out, the producer of the film is from here and decided to offer a free showing with a Q&A at the end. My opinion: this movie should not have been free. In fact, I wouldn't have minded paying $10.00+ to view it. I would even dare to say that it far surpassed every other film in our theater, and possibly every film that we've had for the last six months. So, to shorten and conclude my rant: It was amazing.

Neo Ned is a story about love, or as a previous audience member mentioned "anti-hate". Ned is a neo-Nazi who grew up in an array of torn homes and who witnessed his father's arrest, which tore him away from his son for many years. As an adult, he ends up in a psych ward, only to meet a black woman, whom he falls in love with.

This is certainly not your traditional love story. In all actuality, it quite possibly breaks many, if not all, of the rules of tradition. But who really cares? Overall, the writing, directing, and acting were superb. Hollywood: stop giving us your half-baked movies and start putting real movies with real stories in our theaters. Neo Ned would be a great way to start.

I would write about the plot here, but seeing how there isn't really one, I find that pointless. This movie is basically about one thing: Awesome dancing. If you walked into this movie expecting anything else, then you walked out severely disappointed. I, thankfully, expected this movie to be a strenuous two-hour music video, and, it having gone above and beyond my expectations, walked out completely satisfied (in fact, I saw it twice).

Step Up 2 presented some of the most amazing street dancing sequences that have ever appeared on film. The final dance literally had me leaning forward in my seat, as if I were watching a high-intensity fight or chase scene.

And come on. I've heard a lot of complaints about the acting. I thought the acting was not too bad, especially since they initially had to find really good dancers...that happened to act. Comparably speaking, I wouldn't say it was any worse than, say,the acting in Jumper, which was fairly horrendous at times *cough*Jamie Bell and Hayden Christenson.

Basic summary:

Highlights: The video that the new crew makes for the streets.

The characters Moose and that hilarious Asian chick.

Latino dance scene

And, of course, the final dance scene.

I gave this movie a 6 out of 10 because this is a film quality grade, and, as a film, it wasn't spectacular. However, Step Up 2 accomplished just what it intended to do: create an awesome excuse to show off amazing dance moves for almost two hours. In fact, it passed with flying colors.

I received the pilot episode for free from itunes and watched it this afternoon. During the 22 minutes of Farrelly directed comedy, I chuckled, maybe twice. Basically, Unhitched is about four friends who are all newly single and find themselves in ridiculously awkward dating situations. The actors are unlikable, the dialogue is strained and filled with done-before gags, and the situations made me glad that I was watching alone so I wouldn't have to share the awkwardness with anyone else. Overall, I don't see any future for this show. Sorry Farrelly brothers, you had a run awhile back, but you can add this one to your growing list of bombs.

I've been watching a lot of movies lately; I work at the local theater and get to view them for free. Trust me, I've seen a lot of flops over the past few months. Most of them have been entertaining in their own right yet lack a certain depth to the script.

While watching Fred Claus, I saw the previews for August Rush and decided to give it a try.

I walked into the theater and saw only two other people; apparently, nobody goes to the movies on Wednesday nights here, but that's fine with me because I like to watch movies by myself; watching movies is a personal experience for me.

We are immediately introduced to Freddie Highmore's character, Evan, as he "conducts" the wind sweeping throughout vast fields of wheat. From this moment on, we are surged into a story filled with beautiful music and a character we have no choice but to root for.

Evan lives in an orphanage and will do anything to find his parents (and by anything, I generally mean play music: he believes that if they hear him, they will find him) Lyla(Keri Russell) and Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) are two talented musicians who live completely separate lives but can't forget that night they spent together 11 years ago. Both feel burned out and hate their lives, feeling that something wonderful is missing, but what?

From here we are swept into a marvelous story of love, family, and, of course, music.

I thought this movie was amazing. I actually wanted to cry several times, and was on the edge of my seat for about the last 30 minutes, despite the fact that this is not an action flick, like, say, Kerri Russell's previous movie, MI3. However, I did feel that there were parts in the beginning that were a bit slow, and some scenes were shot so that I felt like I was on acid. Kerri Russell had a few cheesy moments at the beginning as well, which I thought were poorly acted. I must say, though, that all of these things were forgotten as the story progressed. When it ended, I felt like running or crying, or picking up a guitar and strumming away. I truly felt inspired which reminded me why I liked movies so much, after all.