Room (2015)

I just got back home after watching this incredibly moving film about such a sensitive subject. Room stars Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen and William H. Macy, which follows the story of a young woman and her son Jack, who are held prisoners in a solitary 10x10ft room. Abducted as a teenager, Joy "Ma" Newsome has endured a traumatic seven years as the sexual captive of a deranged man and through creativity, kindness and pure love, she has shielded her son, born in captivity, from the horrors of their situation.

The performances by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are hard to separate. They are part of a symbiotic acting partnership. Without Jack, there is no Ma and without Ma, there certainly is no Jack. Brie Larson poured herself into this role and shows the strength of her character through circumstances that are both abnormal and traumatic. Her son is not aware of life outside of Room and confuses what he sees on their small TV as something fictional. All he knows is this room and the life they have created under the tightly controlled watch of their captor, Old Nick.

I cannot end this post without commenting on the tremendous performance of nine-year-old Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay (who just last night won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer). There is a depth to his performance that shows not only the lighthearted tendencies of a young 5 year old, but also the emotional connection he shares with Brie Larson. There are several touching scenes and they are truly carried by Jacob's talent and his dedication to his role. The fear, curiosity, boldness and kindness of Jack are wrapped into such a powerful performance, that Jacob certainly deserves all the nominations that have been pouring in for his role as well as Brie's.

I highly recommend going to see this film. The director has handled this subject matter with sensitivity, tenderness and depth that solidifies this film as a strong contender for Best Picture this year. I give this film a 9.0/10 skylights.

Back in the game and just in time for Awards Season

Hi everyone!

I've been asked to revisit writing reviews for the constant stream of movies I've been watching lately. Since the last post, a lot has changed. I've graduated from Rice University, moved to NYC and I currently work as a marketer for a global newspaper that focuses on international news, politics, business and more. All those changes came at a price to my film reviewing, but I think it's time to bring it back from a state of dormancy.

Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the list of nominees for the 88th Academy Awards. This year we've seen many sequels, inventive storytelling, familiar characters and heightened mastery of cinematography.

The contenders for the top award for Best Picture are:

• The Big Short 
• Bridge of Spies 
• Brooklyn 
• Mad Max: Fury Road 
• The Martian 
• The Revenant 
• Room 
• Spotlight

For the top acting spots, we see a familiar array of incredible talent that has been around for some time: DiCaprio, Winslet, Damon, Blanchett, Rampling mixed with other seasoned and fairly new nominees like Ronan, Redmayne, Fassbender, Lawrence and Larson.

For me this year, it was a true delight to see two of these nominated films at The New York Film Festival (Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn) with a special Q&A sessions with the cast of Brooklyn. 

While I believe there have been some very overlooked performances like Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Benicio del Toro (Sicario), Jason Clarke (Everest) and Will Smith (Concussion), that does not take away from the incredible performances of the other nominees this year. I applaud the discussions surround diversity in film and having better representation of talented work done by actors and directors from various backgrounds. Any time we can come together to discuss ways for the world of film to honor the creative passion and drive of diverse groups of people is always a step in the right direction. 

Over the past three months, I have watched several films that I will be reviewing including The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Sicario and Concussion. 

Stay tuned for my commentary on this packed season of award-worthy cinema. 

Hiatus ends with Bridesmaids!

Hello to all!

Sorry for the extremely long hiatus. As you all know, I was in Madrid for the fall, then I focused all my energy on getting back into the swing of things at Rice. I have seen a number of films over the past year, so I'll get to them eventually but the movie I really want to review is...Bridesmaids!

If you haven't seen this movie by now, close out your browser, grab your car keys and head to your local movie theater to go and see it (after you read this review, of course)! This movie is definitely one of my favorites of the year. When I heard that Judd Apatow was giving full reign to Kristen Wiig (who I absolutely love from SNL and other comedies) to co-write this movie, I was so excited. Kristen's writing really shines in the movie about two best friends, one who is getting married and the other who is trying to deal with that fact, as well as getting her life together. There were countless moments in the movie that had me laughing so hard, I could barely breathe. **Slight Spoiler** I think the funniest scene of the movie was definitely the dress fitting mixed with food poisoning. I didn't think they were going to take it as far as they did, but they sure went there. The whole airplane fiasco was just classic and once again, it was another moment where laughter abounded in the theater.

There were some really great moments in the film, that stem from the great mind of Kristen Wiig and her co-writer. There's the fear we have as women about getting older and thinking we'll never find Mr. Right, the tendency to choose a string of bad guys, or feeling like a friend who has been replaced by a newcomer to the group. This movie really makes the main character hit rock bottom, to show us that once you're at the bottom, that is the only way you can start picking yourself up and climbing out of the hole you've made. This film really speaks volumes about true friendship, dedication, love and taking responsibility for one's life. I am so glad that we can watch a female comedy that has both depth and laughs that will make you double over.

I give this movie a 8/10 bouquets!

So, this weekend, grab your girlfriends Go see Bridesmaids!

Hiatus

Hello all!

As many of you know, I am on my way to study abroad in Spain. I do have one review to post on SALT, but I will do so once I am in Madrid. I'm not sure how long it will be until I see another movie, but I think I have a pretty good chance, with oh...6 theaters within a 2 minute walk from my dorm. There are quite a few Original Version films with Spanish subtitles so that could be a fun experience but we'll see. I need to make some new friends first to go with me haha. Alright, goodnight, sleep tight and I'll talk to you all in Madrid.

Hasta luego!

Inception

OMG! This movie was incredible. Leo does it again!! This is another one of his psychological thrillers. I saw Shutter Island earlier this year but this was hands down one of the most complex and interesting movies I have seen all year. I had my doubts when the first trailers came out. I didn't understand it at all but after seeing this movie, I'm so glad I went with my gut and bet on Leo to produce another amazing movie.

Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard was a mind-bending thriller where the mind is a powerful tool. DiCaprio plays Cobb, a man who has built his entire life on being able to enter a person's dreams, to find their deepest darkest secrets and extract them. This has kept him away from his two young children and has made his reality more difficult to live with. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plays his partner Arthur who is just as skilled as Cobb in extraction. A huge part of Cobb's job has cost him his relationship with his wife that as the movie goes on, has a deeper meaning than initially thought. Cobb wants to return to his children but can't go back to the States because he is under suspicion for murder, the only way for him to get back is by the help of a Japanese businessman named Saito (Ken Wantanbe) with connections. The only problem is that Saito wants something in exchange, not an extraction but something called Inception. He wants Cobb not to steal a thought from someone's mind but to plant an idea which would in turn change the person's whole being to conform to that idea. It is next to impossible but Cobb assembles a team including Ariadne (Ellen Page), a college student who is a gifted architect, the one who assembles the dream world.

There are many layers into what constitutes a dream, with the subconscious playing a big part in filling the dream with things with projections of people, places etc. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish was it real and what is a dream. That's why the character carry totems with them, little items to remind them of what state they are in, a dreaming state or in reality. The only way to get out of a dream is to wake up, wake up to a kick (see the movie to understand) or kill yourself in the dream. It seems kind of straightforward, but as the movie goes on, it gets more complicated, with more layers, and dreams upon dreams. Cobb struggles with his past, and with his relationship with his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) and this takes a toll on him.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. It really made you think about dreams, my subconscious, what is real, what isn't real and the price a person are willing to pay to discover those truths. The acting was superb and some of the dream sequences and fight scenes were incredibly well done. The timing and complexity of this movie is spot on and I'm going to see it again. Such a fantastic movie with a steady pace and the director Christopher Nolan has done it again. This is my favorite movie of the year so far. I honestly can't think of anything wrong with this movie, so this deserves special recognition.

Overall, I give this movie 9.0/10 totems! Go See It!

Predators

Predators starring Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne and Topher Grace was a movie that honestly I would have been better off not seeing. My mom and I just wanted to watch a movie, and by this point we had already seen Eclipse twice, so I wasn't going to push her on that. We decided on Predators. I liked the original Predator movie and the Alien v. Predator movie which brought together two of sci-fi's greatest creatures for a major battle. The movie started out abruptly with Adrien Brody falling out of a plane into a jungle with a parachute and he happens upon other people in the jungle who were in his same predicament.

The main idea of the movie is that they were the prey and this was a game, a hunt. Very simple, although it took the characters a while to figure that out. There were killer dog-like predator creatures as well as the Predators themselves. Then there were a few weird moments with a random appearance by Laurence Fishburne as a survivor of one of the Predator's hunting seasons, who was kinda crazy but had survived long enough to know a few things about the hunters. There were numerous fight scenes that were classic Predator style with cloaking devices and heat vision camera shots.

The one thing I did take away from the movie was about humanity and how humans for the Predators were the most exciting prey. But also, how for some, losing their humanity made them just like those Predators, cold and heartless and Topher Grace's character brought up some interesting points along that line about how even the monsters at home, the murderers and other killers, would feel normal among the Predators.

Overall, I give this movie a 5.1/10 Predators.

It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great either. It's more of a filler movie or a wait to watch on DVD.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Warning** This is a movie for the fans. If you haven't read the books, you may not understand everything that's going on right now. If you are a fan, go see it (if you haven't already) and if not, then maybe this isn't the movie for you. If you are willing, open your mind, put away your preconceived notions of vampires and just sit back and enjoy. I am a fan of True Blood, which is much more conventional, so really it's more about how much you are into that sort of genre.

Also, before I start this review, I must take a position on this post that may be different for those who are outside of the world of Twilight. I am a fan, but let me specify. I am a fan of the books by Stephenie Meyer. I think they are such a fast and entertaining read and Eclipse was my favorite of the four books. There is a distinction that people must make about this series, that it is a love story with vampires, not a vampire love story. The main focus is on the love between Bella and Edward (and at times Jacob), but the fact that Stephenie changed the perception of what it is to be a vampire, is a daring move.

Some might balk at even considering the Cullens as real vamps when compared to Lestat or a vampire from an Anne Rice novel. Stephenie was bold enough to create a new spin on a pretty cliche supernatural subject, and for that I think that the books deserve to be read for what they are, a story of young love. The image one has from reading a book is very very difficult to translate into a movie. It is rare to find a movie that hold true to your perceptions of the characters.

I believe that David Slade did capture a great deal of the third book in his movie that was lacking in the two previous movies. For those who don't know the plot (even if you aren't a fan, I'm sure you get the gist), Bella Swan is a normal, clumsy and awkward high school girl who finds herself living in Forks, Washington with her father, Charlie, the chief of police. She becomes attracted to a mysteriously pale yet extremely intriguing vampire named Edward Cullen. Edward is part of a family of vampires that are "vegetarians" who choose to live above their carnal natures and only feed off of animals. In the first books, Bella became the target of an unrelenting vampire hunter named James, who wanted to kill Bella just for the sport of it, but he was killed by the Cullen clan. New Moon brought about the most difficult part of Bella and Edward's relationship, when Edward leaves Forks to give Bella a normal life. It nearly kills them both and brings Jacob, Bella's best friend (who happens to be a werewolf/shapeshifter) into her life in a more meaningful way than she originally intended. Also, this movie sets up the revenge plot of Victoria, who wanted to avenge her mate's death (James) and in the vampire world, if you kill the mate of a vampire, they NEVER give up the fight to return the favor.

Eclipse is a delight for fans, after a mediocre adaptation of Twilight and a slow, filler that was the second movie. I can honestly say that Eclipse is the BEST of the three Twilight movies, not the Best movie ever made as some younger fans may say, but it was definitely filled with fun action scenes, and a few memorable scenes that really got to the love triangle between Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Victoria is back (though with an actress change to Bryce Dallas Howard, who I think did a good job) and with a newborn vampire army lead by Riley, her right hand vamp.

One of the scenes that I just loved, was the proposal scene and so did my friend Kelly. She is Team Jacob and I am Team Edward and after watching that scene she leaned over to me and said, "I might have just changed teams." That's what I love about Edward's character, that in his simplicity and honesty, his love for Bella is truly unmatched by anyone including Jacob. David Slade, the director of the vamp flick 30 Days of Night, is a horror master who had to tone it down a bit for the PG-13 rating but still there were scenes where he didn't hold back, with limbs and heads being torn off in fight scenes and the great opening that was fast and suspenseful. The CGI wolves were much better than New Moon, so hopefully they will get better in the next two movies for Breaking Dawn (so excited!). The acting....oh the acting. The quality of acting has yet to reach great heights with the Saga, but they have all improved. Keep in mind that quite a few of these actors either had small roles before Twilight or none at all, so I give them credit for doing the best with what they had.

I know there are a lot of Kristen Stewart haters saying she can't act or she only has one blank expression on her face, but I felt like she was more herself, more comfortable in this third movie. I've seen her other indie movies such as Panic Room, The Cake Eaters, Adventureland, Speak, and The Runaways, so I know she can act. All of the actors were more comfortable with themselves and that helps with the chemistry. The movie was quite fast paced compared to New Moon's slow pace but still there was a choppiness to the movie that unless you have read the books, you would feel a little lost. I just have to give a shout out to Dakota Fanning who is such a great actress, who chose such a small but powerful role of Jane, the small yet completely commanding vampire guard of the Volturi, the vampires who are considered the upholders of law in their world. With a look, Jane can make a person feel pain like they've never experienced before and Dakota just slips into that role so well.

So far, I have seen Eclipse twice and I plan to see it again before it leaves theaters. After seeing it the second time, it made me like it even more. Also, if I can say anything positive about the Twilight films that even those who can't stand the films would agree with, is the strong quality of the soundtracks. They had such a great soundtrack for this movie with Muse, Vampire Weekend, Bat for Lashes and the Black Keys. So far, Eclipse has made over 300 million dollars worldwide, which shows the dedication of the fans to the franchise no matter what.

Overall I give Eclipse, 6.8/10 newborns.

Knight and Day

Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz was a mildly entertaining spy movie, that left me with a few chuckles but other than that was another B list movie with A list actors. Tom Cruise is quite funny as Roy Miller, the slightly zany yet dashing rogue agent, who after a crazy cross country flight finds himself in the company of June Havens, a woman on her way to secure her sister's wedding gift. After June gets involved with Roy, they go on a series of events including car chases, gun battles, train fights, all while being hunted by the CIA and other government entities. Roy's mission is to protect an energy source (the Zephyr) at all costs and June finds herself on the ride of her life. Both Cruise and Diaz have great chemistry on screen and they seem to charm their way through a mediocre plot that could have had slightly better draw with more resources on the editing and budgetary parts. Half the movie, June is drugged and we go from a desert island to Spain or to the mountains of Austria. Even with those minor issues, I still loved all of the locations, the humor, the adventure and how easily Tom and Cameron clicked. The movie does leave you with a few valuable lessons, like how to maneuver out of a behind-the-back attack grip across your arms or how to change someone's clothes without looking (see it to understand).
Overall, I give this movie 8.5/10 Zephyrs.

Tons of Movies and Tons of Reviews!

I have taken a slight break from blogging due to my change in jobs but now I'm back. I have 4 movies to review that I've seen since the end of June.
First, Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner.
Predators 2, with Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, and Topher Grace.
Finally what I just saw tonight, Inception, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Cillian Murphy.
All of these movies range from wildly entertaining to dreadfully predictable, so I'll tell you what I think you should see and what you should avoid investing precious time.

Coming up next in the review pool

I've been a bit busy with work but I will be doing reviews on Knight and Day as well as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse! I will see Toy Story 3 next month due to a commitment I made to my brother not to see it without him. He's in a summer program at Princeton. So this weekend look forward to some new reviews!!

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

I got a special request from Whitney to review Dreamworks' new movie "How to Train Your Dragon". Off the bat, I'm going to say go see it. I loved this movie. This has been the best Dreamworks movie for me since Shrek. HTTYD has a very interesting assortment of cast members ranging from Jay Baruchel as the misunderstood yet clever Hiccup, Gerard Butler as Hiccup's dad Stoick, to America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig as the band of young dragon slayers. The story is set in a small Viking community near the sea, which is constantly harassed by dragons who come to steal their livestock and most of the time, wind up burning down half the village. In this village, Hiccup, the son of the village chief Stoick, is everything a Viking isn't. He's clumsy, he's not very strong and he doesn't have much of a talent for fighting. The one talent he does have, is the ability to understand dragons and befriend them, in particular Toothless, a very rare and curious dragon (a Night Fury). Hiccup and Toothless eventually form a strong bond which is contrary to the very nature of a Viking, whose natural enemy is the menacing and deadly dragon. Hiccup struggles to find acceptance in the village, among his peers and also with his father.

This high flying adventure is full of action, magic and a tiny kid sized portion of romance. There is an epic battle between the dragons and the Vikings, which is well done. I loved the different kinds of dragons and the dragon fighting school scenes. The ingenuity of Hiccup shows throughout the movie and what he lacks in physical strength, he makes up for in smarts and sincerity. I thought that his transformation from beginning to end was in some ways cliche; the young boy who desperately wanted to fit in, finally finds acceptance by standing out. In that respect, I think if you must have a script with an over-arching cliche, make it interesting, make it fun and make it memorable. How to Train Your Dragon hits all three points. The ending (which I won't spoil) caught me off guard but in a good way. It showed that just because it is a kids movie doesn't mean they have to make the ending overly fluffy. There are some good lessons to be learned in this movie, such as don't be quick to judge someone (or something) before you get to know them, be true to yourself, stand up for your beliefs and you'll never regret it.

I'm going to rate this movie 8.0/10 dragons.

Go see it!