The Artist NR #20

I'm so happy I finally got to see this Oscar baited..... I mean highly acclaimed film because it gives me a chance to do something creative! In honor of this week's film, I'm going to do my entire review SILENTLY! 3. 2. 1. GO!















Well I just checked the preview for this post and it looks like this can't work over text.  So I guess I'll have to actually put some effort into this review (siiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhh). Without further ado, this is my review of...

Let's Begin

PLOT

The time is 1929 and Charlie Valentin is the biggest silent movie star, with the only bigger star being his dog. His on top of the world, until a revolutionary technology in movie making is discovered. Sound. While everyone else is quick to embrace it, Charlie is not. He see's this as a passing fade and that everyone comes to the movies for him, it doesn't matter if he can talk, all that matters is his good looks. Well he is sorely wrong as his movies soon start losing business to the new faces of film, one of which being Peggy Miller, who Charlie helped to get to the top.

PROS

This is a true silent film, it's not just a gimmick. The director obviously loves silent film, and the film making business itself. He made a silent film in modern day. It's black and white, there is little to no sound, and what sound there is is used sparingly, they even have title cards to tell you what the people are saying, but only when it's impossible to tell what's going on.

Jean Dujardin does an amazing job as Charlie Valentin. He has some much charisma and presence that it seems as if he was born to play in a silent film.

Speaking of great acting, everyone here does a great job, they're all very expressive and lively. While that may not seem like much, it really is a big deal. Since this is a silent film, you need exaggerated people who get the point across with only there body movements and faces, and everyone pulls it off.

The score is, thankfully, brilliant. It fits so perfectly to whats happening on screen, so much so that you almost entirety forget it's there!

CONCLUSION

Yes I skipped the CONS section, why? Because I honestly can't think of anything bad to say about this movie. This movie pulls a Midnight in Paris where it's just nice. Even when things seem bad, Charlie gives that smile and you know everything's gonna be all right. While it does get pretty heavy in the third act, it ends with such an amazing dance number that it leaves you feeling good. I originally was going to give this an O.K. score, but on further thought, I realize that this one of the biggest risk anyone could have token and that it was pulled off flawlessly. If your some Micheal Bay lovin' ignorant idiot who can't read, stay away. But if this at all sound interesting to you, by all means hunt this movie down.

RATING

RUN TO

P.S. I'm writing this the day of the 2011 Oscars, so I have no idea how they turned out. If your wondering, that's why I never mentioned it in this review.

    

   

This Menas War: NR #19

Once again, sorry for the miss last week. Believe me I tried, but I just ended up seeing Chronicle again. Also, last weekend a HUGE event happened in my family and I needed to be there. So I'm just going to assume you forgive me. Anyway, this weeks movie is a spy-romantic-comedy with two of the hottest names in Hollywood. This week's review is of...

Let's Begin...

PLOT

FDR and Tuck are the best agents the FBI has to offer, and we're told that they are best friends. They're so close that they talk in a public area about how they would take a bullet for each other. Until they found out that they are dating the same girl. Lauren is her name and they both love her too much to give her up. So Tuck and FDR decide to put their egos first and have a competition over her with ground rules that are broken immediately. May the best man win.

PROS

 I like all of these actors, so it's impossible to get mad at them. That's the best I got.

CONS

This movie commits the biggest comedic film sin, the jokes are tired and not funny. Comedy is all based on the unexpected, and you can tell the punch line right when the scene starts.

The whole conflict of the movie could have been avoided if Reese Witherspoon wasn't so cocky. I'm serious, the conflict could have been avoided if she just stayed home.

Characters do things completely against what that character would have done. For example, Reese Witherspoon's friend, who has been portrayed as the drunk friend who says vulgar things just to be vulgar and not that intelligent, gives the big message of the movie out of nowhere and it makes no sense!

 Reese Witherspoon is a boring character. While this may not seem like a big deal, it is. The reason being that since she is nothing special, it makes very hard to believe that these two people would fall for her.

There are a ton of scenes that don't make any sense, like when FDR and Tuck put surveillance equipment in her house (which is extremely creepy) they do it WHILE SHE'S IN THE HOUSE! I'm sorry but there is probably a time when she's not at home.

I almost forgot,there is a side plot about a guy who is the most wanted at the CIA. Why? I don't know. I can't even remember what his name was, what he did. He's only there so they can have a reason to force Reese Witherspoon to choose a guy.

FDR and Tuck's friendship is told to us, not shown. It's very difficult to believe that they have been friends for life.

CONCLUSION

This a bad movie, not a terrible one mind you, but definitely not worth your time. The worst part is that this could have been a much better movie, and I heard a great way that it could have been improved. So through out the whole movie, FDR and Tuck act like they have a secret affection for each other. So it would have been a great twist if at the end they came out and became a gay couple. I'm not joking, I would have given this movie huge props for that. But sadly we were given this.

RATING

RUN AWAY!   

     

Chronicle NR: #18

I just realized something, this is a super hero movie not based on anything. Yes, this weeks movie is not based on any comic book, movie, game, even song, it's all original. It's also a concept I'm surprised no one else has thought of it before, found footage with super heroes... GENIUS! Well, I'm sure by now you've guessed what I'm reviewing. This week's movie is...

 

Let's Begin

PLOT

Andrew's life sucks. He's a shy nerd with no friends, the girls think he's a creep, he's bullied constantly, his mom is on death's door, and, worst of all, his dad is a drunk who beats him. Andrew suddenly on whim decides to film everything he does. Mat, Andrew's cousin and closest thing to a friend, gets him to go to a rave party one night. Andrew is once again bullied and leaves to go outside and cry, until Steven, the big man on campus and school president, starts talking to him. He invites Andrew to see this weird alien spiky ball with him and Mat. When Steven touches it, some force pushes them back and the camera goes dark. Cut to the next couple of days and the teens find out they have telekinetic powers and do what most would do in this situation, have fun. They can move cars, build Legos, even play football in the sky! But Andrew soon starts to think about what he can do with these powers, vengeful things.

PROS

They find creative ways to use the found footage style to their advantage. One example is that Andrew floats the camera around him in a lot of scenes and it creates a lot of cool shots

The actors are mostly unknowns, but should become more known. They do an amazing job, they have a lot of charisma and seem like real teenagers and do things real people would do.

 The special effects are amazing and look very realistic.

This movie brings the wonderment, awe, and fun back to film. They left some of the more awesome moments out of the trailer.

They make Andrew an extremely sympathetic character, even when he becomes evil. I especially love how they do it without being cheap about it.

The ending fight is very cool and fun to watch. The theater was actually shaking is was so epic.

CONS

While they do have creative ways of getting camera angles, they also have obvious ways. They introduce a female character just to have another camera and show somewhat pointless scenes.

CONCLUSION

This is an awesome movie, I had some much fun watching this. It's a very original film that has three-dimensional characters and awesome action that also brings a new spin to the found footage genre. Overall this is the first must see movie of 2012, let's just hope the other superhero films can live up to the expectations this movie set. 

RATING

RUN TO