3 (2010) review

(6/10)

I see a lot of potential here, but the film doesn't seem to know what it wants.

PLOT:Anchorwoman Hanna (Sophie Rois) and engineerng artist Simon (Sebastian Schipper) have been in love for at least 20 years and living with each other. They're real, down-to-earth, childless people that have been through a lot as a couple. Things are going pretty well with their romance until they each meet stem cell doctor, Adam (David Striesow) and fall in love with him. It's a intersting plot executed artisicly, but it is has a few development problems which I'll get to later on.

ACTING:The acting was pretty good throughout. I believe the best performances came from Sophie Rois as Hanna and David Striesow as Adam, but disagreeabley, I thought Sebastian Schipper was kind of bland as Simon. I didn't see true emotion come out through him as I did with Sophie and David.



SCORE:The score was made up of a few calm, mood-setting peices and a few notable songs. It was good, I'd say.

EFFECTS:I don't know if the effects were done in real time, considering this is an indie film, or if they were done through make-up and such, but they were good because they looked real and were even cringe-worthy, which I'll explain in the next section.



OTHER CONTENT:I am new to Tom Tykwer's films and direction styles, but I can already see a lot of pontential in his style. He starts off the film with a passing car and a voice explaining the life of Hanna and Simon, along with an interpretive dance of the film's main events. It also had multiple screen shots at one time, a brief animation, and the notable scene of the three main characters lying naked fading against a white background. He has earned my respect with his unique direction and editing style for sure, but this had a couple major problems. The plot isn't real well developed; some of the events (such as Simon's mother's death and his testicular operation) have so little to do with the plot that it distracts from the main idea of the plot. It really just ends up as unneeded. Also, the character development as a small problem. Tykwer tries to incorporate accurate character development by filming that little scene in the beginning with the passing car and putting those unneeded events in the film, but it doesn't make up for how we see their personalities shine. They end up looking like karma-stricken victims in a horror film due to the problems. This film wasn't really my cup of tea, to be truthful. At times it grossed me out and made me want to stop watching. I think that's another reason why I didn't favor it due to the wonderful direction...

OVERALL,an ok indie film with an intersting and artistic plot, pretty good acting, just good score, real-looking effects, and a visionistic direction by Twyker, but the plot isn't real well developed, the character development has a few problems, and the film just wasn't my type.

The Lovely Bones (2009) review

(8/10)

Upon second viewing, my rating nearly stays. I've noticed a couple flaws. 

PLOT:Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is a happy-go-lucky young girl that likes to take lots of photos and has a crush on this British boy at her school. One day as she's walking home from school, she's stopped crossing the cornfield by her neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) who shows her an underground clubhouse full of toys and games galore. Susie starts to enjoy this, until Mr. Harvey starts to get forcible. When things start to get a little too creepy for her, Susie tries to run, but to her surprise she doesn't make it. Now she's trapped in between Earth and Heaven, trying to decide whether to stay connected to her Earth life through spirit, or ascend into Heaven with all the others. It's a very unique and creative plot (based on the book) executed very well, but with a major flaw that I'll get to later.

ACTING:The acting in here is pretty good. I loved Ronan's performance as Susie. For a young actress, I could feel her emotions and I appreciate that. Tucci did a very good job as the creepy killer, George, but his performance grew annoying in some parts. The other shiners in this film were Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon and Rose McIver as Lindsey Salmon. I didn't think Rachel Weisz did her job as the mom well enough, and Susan Sarandon ruined her performance by acting as the comic relief.



SCORE:The score was brilliant. It was composed of some classic rock tracks, a couple beautiful, spiritual songs, and some nice mood-fitting score. My favorite song from this film would have to be This Mortal Coil's "Song to the Siren" which is played in the scene with all the kids joining Susie.

EFFECTS:Peter Jackson always does a great job with his visuals, and this film falls nothing short of that. The colorful backgrounds and visionistic depictions of "the in-between" were made wonderfully and beautifully.



OTHER CONTENT:The film was mainly very touching, artistic, beautiful, surreal, and creative, but it had a few deterring flaws which I noticed upon second viewing. The shift between artsy, emotional drama and family comedy didn't work well. Some of the emotion and creativity about the film got lost in the mix, which is also why I didn't like Susan Sarandon's comic performance in here. Another flaw I found was that there was a significant amount of melodrama. There are times where tears came to my eyes, and there were also times where I wanted the sad moment to just end for the good of the film. I don't know how I went along with that in the first viewing.

OVERALL,a great film with a unique plot, pretty good acting, brilliant score, colorful and visionistic effects, with many touching, beautiful, and surreal moments, but the tonal shifts were too uneven and there was a little too much melodrama.

Dazed & Confused (1993) review

(10/10)

Remember the 70s when drugs could only bring you higher, music had a guitar instead of generic drumbeats, and everyone wanted love and peace amongst themselves?

PLOT:It's the last day of school in 1976 and everybody's going wild! The seniors beating the snot out of freshman, getting the beer and weed for parties, and riding out into the night looking for a good time. There are several storylines here. There's Pink (Jason London) looking to the future and what he wants to do with his life, Mitch, a freshamn partying with the seniors, Sabrina, a freshman also partying with the seniors, several other freshman running from the one asshole senior that wants to beat the snot out of them, a group of nerdy seniors looking for something to do, and Slater just getting high. It is a very widespread plot, filled to the brim with 70's nostalgic glory.

ACTING:Decent. Everybody did a good job, even the bland Milla Jovovich. This is probably her best role (XD). The shiners were Jason London, Wiley Wiggins as Mitch, Matthew McConaughey's character, Sasha Jenson as Don, and Rory Cochrane as Slater.



SOUNDTRACK:The best movie soundtrack ever, IMO. Every song on here I either knew or have on my iPod. The 70s rocked in music.

OTHER CONTENT:I loved this movie. It is now one of my favorites of all-time. One of the speeches said in here is the anthem of my little, one-horse town. "I just want to look back and say that I did the best I could while I was stuck in this place, had as much fun as I could while I was stuck in this place, played as hard as I could while I was stuck in this place...." That is my town's anthem for our generation. Also about the lines, every other line in here was either hilarious or deep. The script was written very wisely for comedy taking place in the 70s. This movie is perfect in every way it was made to be.



OVERALL,an epic coming-of-age film with a nostalgic, widespread plot, decent acting with some shining performances, one of the (if not the) best movie soundtracks I've ever heard, and a finely written script. The 70s have NEVER rocked harder!

The Fairly Oddparents: School's Out! The Musical (2005) review

(4/10)

I've always been a fan of the Fairly Oddparents cartoon, but this tv special was kind of a bad idea on the creator's part.

PLOT:After having another of their 37-year plans thwarted, the dreadful Pixies (Ben Stein) decide to use the newfound, abandoned son of a couple clowns to make their plans of ruling Fairy World and making life boring come true. 37 years later, summer's just getting out in Dimmsdale and all the kids, including our main character, Timmy Turner (Tara Strong), are going crazy and wrecking the town. When the parents don't know where to turn, Flappy Bob of Camp Learn-a-Torium (who's also the son the Pixies found) comes and suggests the idea of putting the kids in an educational summer camp until it's over. Now it's up to Timmy and his fairies, Cosmo (Daran Norris) and Wanda (Susan Blakeslee), to stop the Pixies plan, destroy Camp Learn-a-Torium, change Flappy Bob's heart, and save summer for all kids all accompanied musically. It's a basic Fairly Oddparent plot executed weaker than the previous Oddparent specials.

VOICES:The voices in general verge on the edge of unique and cartoonish, to annoying and earsplitting. Strong's voicing of Timmy I was never fond of, but it's worse in here considering she's SINGING, but I'll get to that later. The same goes for Blakeslee, but not for Norris. I've always liked his voicing for Cosmo. I liked Stein's voicing for the Pixies because it was the perfect voice choice for a couple of dull businessmen. Honorable mentions go only to Rob Paulsen as Chester.



SCORE:Since this is a musical, you can expect there to be singing. The songs sound much like a cat choking on a shovel, by comparison. This was a bad idea from the start to make an entire Fairly Odd-musical. The voices weren't even good. SPONGEBOB could have done better. There were a couple highlight songs, however: "We're Pixies" (rapped creatively by Redman and Method Man) and "Where is the Fun?"

ANIMATION:The animation, without asking questions, is unique and distinctive. I've lived with this cartoon animation for years and years of my childhood.



OTHER CONTENT:This is far from the best Fairly Oddparents movie ever; in fact, I believe it's the weakest. This was a bad idea put together, with screechy songs, a basic plot, and no emotional impact. Even the "Channel Chasers" special had an emotional impact! This was right before the show started going down the drain, though I wasn't a huge fan from the start. Aside from all I've previously mentioned, there were a few good parts. The song lyrics and script were cleverly written at points with some clever rhymes, multi-genred song ideas, and some actually funny visual jokes.

OVERALL,a tv special that's not too bad with a basic plot,annoying and cartoonish voicing, bad score, distinctive animation, and no emotional impact, but it has clever writing, multi-genre music, and funny visual jokes.

The Muppets (2011) review

(7/10)

A sweet treat for fans and newbies alike, but not the best Muppet film out there.

PLOT:Walter (Peter Linz) and his brother, Gary (Jason Segel) have always been there for each other through thick and thin and have always been devoted fans of the Muppets. One day, when Gary and his girfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) plan to go to Las Angeles on vacation for their 10-year anniversary, they invite Walter and go to the Muppet Studios. It's all broken down and abandoned nowadays and the Muppets have gone their separate ways. Walter sneaks into what used to be Kermit's office and finds an evil oil baron named Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) who wants to tear down the studio to mine for oil. The only loophole in the contract binding the Muppets to their names and studios is that they would have to raise the $10 million available to save the studio. Now it's up to Walter and his friends to get the Muppets back together and save the studios. It's a very good modernized plot idea executed with the same Muppet charm as the other films have.

ACTING/VOICES:The acting is suprisingly pretty good. I thought it'd just be naive actors performing a simple job, but Segel and Adams both pulled off a charming performance. Cooper even did well, though not the best. The voices of the Muppets weren't too different either. Kermit was still Kermit, Miss Piggy was still Miss Piggy, Gonzo was still Gonzo, Beaker was still Beaker and so on. I have to give credit to those who voiced the Muppets for mimicking Jim Henson well enough. I would also like to mention the great performance of Jack Black as himself along with the various cameos of Sarah Silverman, Mickey Rooney, Alan Arkin, Ken Jeong, and Zach Galifinakis.



SCORE:The soundtrack is full of musical numbers and Muppet-worthy parodies of popular songs. The musical numbers were performed well, sung with strange harmony, and even written clever lyrics. The Muppets also parodied a few famous songs, such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Forget You", and they did it cleverly in the way only the Muppets could.

OTHER CONTENT:This film breathes new life into the long-asleep characters known as the Muppets with charm, cleverness, and just overall fun for everyone. The only problems I have with this film is that I believe it's a little overrated and cheesy. I've seen a better Muppet film than this, so I just don't think it would qualify as the best Muppet movie ever. Also, the jokes and musical numbers can sometimes go a little overboard to the point of being considered cheesy. I mean, the Muppets are supposed to be silly and goofy, but there is such a thing as too much.



OVERALL,a good Muppet film with a charming, modernized plot, good acting, great voices, and plenty of camoes, well-done musical numbers, clever song parodies, and overall fun for everyone, but it isn't the best Muppet movie and it can get a little cheesy at times.

Thor (2011) review

(8/10)

This is true summer entertainement for all Marvel fans to see.

PLOT:In the otherworldy realm of Asgard, there's a powerful hero named Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who's son of the current ruler, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Thor is chosen of Odin's two sons to be kind of Asgard, but Thor's arrogance and recklessness gets in the way when he revamps an age-old war with the Frost Giants. Due to Thor's mistake, Odin banishes him to Earth to live amongst the mortals and puts a spell over Thor's hammer making it only available to the one worthy of its power. When Thor gets to Earth, he is "run into" by star-studying Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her family. When the government gets involved on Earth and the war escalates in Asgard, it's up to Thor to find himself as a true hero and put his lesser self behind. It's a well-adapted plot executed quite well for a superhero movie.

ACTING:The acting in here was actually pretty good. Hemsworth did a worthy job as Thor, but I don't think he could have been the best person to play him. Hopkins is a great actor, and even in his old age it shows. He did a wonderful job as Odin. Portman was good too, but this wasn't her best role. The other shiners were Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Colm Feore as Laufey, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Kat Dennings as Darcy.



SCORE:The score is pretty epic and well done, but then again, the superhero films always have good score.

EFFECTS:The effects for this movie are pure eye candy. The way they made Asgard, the Rainbow Bridge, and even the Frost Giants look was great. This is one of those movies that mainly relies on effects to get through, like that of "Avatar". It works well here though.

OTHER CONTENT:This is one of the better superhero movies in my opinion. The storyline, character development, effects, and overall action work together to make a worthy hero film. The only problems I found with the movie that sealed its fate as more for entertainment are the fact that it relies a bit too much on humor and the formulaic "find your worth and then you'll be a hero" plotline. Basically, it's nothing too refreshing, but still great summer entertainment.



OVERALL,a great superhero movie with a well-adapted plot, good acting, epic score, well done effects, worthy storyline, character development, and overall action, but it relies a bit too much on humor and the formula.

Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) review

(5/10)

Really Jim Carrey? Really?

PLOT:Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) is just a normal, successful business man with somewhat of a broken family. One day, his life changes when his father sends him a crate that contains penguin, whom he names Captain. He later calls his dad back saying that he wants to send the penguin back, but through a miscommunication, he sends him 7 more penguins! Now Mr. Popper must struggle to work his way around all 8 of the goofy penguins, his business, and his family. The plot's a basic childlike idea executed generically.

ACTING:The acting wasn't horrible, but it wouldn't win an Academy Award either. Jim Carrey did a decent job with his usual brand of comedic overacting, but not even that could save him from such a screenplay. The other decent performances were from Angela Landsbury as Mrs. Van Gundy and Ophelia Lovibond as Pippi.



SCORE:The score was as generic as the movie itself. Nothing to shed a tear about.

OTHER CONTENT:This movie was one of Carrey's worst endeavors, and this is coming from one of his devoted fan. I mean, what was he thinking? The title initiates something odd, so maybe he went for it. It's almost as bad a mistake as Bill Murray in Garfield (though he at least played the part distinctly). The words I could use to describe this movie aren't great: dreadful, generic, stupid, etc. This isn't the worst I've seen, however. This movie did have some clever moments, it did have a decent emotional impact, and the penguins were actually pretty cute. This movie's pretty bad, but it isn't the worst thing by far.



OVERALL,a neutral-feeling movie with a generically childlike plot, decent acting, horrible screenplay, and generic score, but it did have some clever moments, a decent emotional impact, and cute animal moments.