Super 8

I'm not the sort to wallow in nostalgia about the good old days about when Spielberg and Lucas were in charge of Hollywood entertainment.  I think Super 8 is still a good flick though.  Its packed with a lot classic thrills.  The film is directed J.J. Abrams (Mr. Lens Flare) and Stars Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, and Joel Courtney.

The film is about a group of kids who are making a zombie film on a Super 8 camera in 1979.  When a train crashes in their hometown which contained a monster that the air force has been hiding.  The kids manage to capture it on their camera, but it takes three days to develop the film.  The film also has romance angle between the two of the kids by Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney.  The film slowly gives away information about the monster as the kids watch their situation deteriorate in their town.

The film has problems, the kids can be annoying, with real obnoxious dialogue at times.  I also think the films are referencing are flawed and it carries over some of the flaws.  However, I had a fun time with this the visual effects, and Michael Giacchino also gives a good score.  Elle Fanning also gives a good performance too.  So above all I recommend this film even with its flaws.  Especially for kids, this could be their generations Goonies or Gremlins.

Rating = 74%

X - Men Series

This has been one weird film series, it has produced some of the best superhero films and some of the worst.  It has created stars, and it has seemed to ruin some peoples career.  However it is definitly is one of my favorite film series.

X-Men (2000)
The first X-Men film was a pretty good starting film for the series.  It is not a great film but does have a sense of campy fun to like about it.  The film is important though, because before this it seemed that audience were giving up on superhero films because of what Joel Schumacer did to the batman films.  This film was the first comic book superhero film of the decade, and seemed to get the genre on the right path (god knows last decade was dominated by superhero films.)  The film is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian Mckellen, James Marsden,  Famke Janssen, and Halle Berry.
Rating = 77%

X2: X- Men United (2003)
X2: X- Men United to me was the first great superhero film since Superman II at the time it came out.  It has some of the most memorable action sequences of the series, for an example we see in the opening scene with Nightcrawler a teleporter trying to assinate the president.  The reason why I think this film is great is because it is the most serious of the original films, and it was also back when we thought Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was really cool.  The film is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian Mckellen, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Alan Cumming, James Marsden and Brian Cox.
Rating = 91%

X - Men: The Last Stand (2006)
X - Men: The Last Stand is a very disapointing end to the trilogy.  It acts like it even did not watch the last two films and what they where trying to accomplish.  It has some meorable action sequences but what was been building up in my opinion was a final battle between Magneto and Proffessor X but that is not really happens at all.  Instead at the final climax of our battle we see Pyro vs. Iceman.  Who cares?  The whole conflict is not about them, it should be about the head of the two different idelologies.  Plus it has way to many characters and does poor time trying to juggle them all give us any charater development with them at all.
The film is directed by Brett Ratner and stars Hugh Jackman, Ian Mckellen, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry and Patrick Stewart.
Rating = 38%

X - Men Orgins: Wolverine (2009)
X - Men Orgins: Wolverine is an even bigger slap in the face of the audience then the previous one.  It has no sense of what makes the X - Men special.  This is a problem with this franchise is that the studio thinks what makes the X - Men films great was that the audience love to see Wolverine and they love to see all the crazy mutations. No the eaudience expects a story to make since and for some emotions .  This has none at all.  It was just a quick paycheck for Marvel and Fox.  The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman, Liev Schrieber, Danny Huston, and Ryan Reynolds.
Rating = 21%

X - Men: First Class(2011)
X - Men First Class is probably the best Marvel superhero film so far.  It goes to a level of depth where a lot of the Marvel films just failed to go.  The movie is directed by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake and Kick-Ass) and stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones and Kevin Bacon.

The film starts out with Eric (Magneto) as a young child in the Holocaust and how this Nazi mutant Sebastain Shaw who wants to exploit Eric power as a mutant.  Then after the Holocaust Eric is out Nazi hunting to revenge for what they end up doing to him.  Also at the beginning of the film we are introduced to a young Charles Xavier (Professor X).  Xavier is a real cool guy, hes using his super powers to pick up women.  However when a CIA agent played by Rose Byrne contacts him and says she needs his help to stop a Sebastain Shaw because he wants to start World War III by using The Cold War.  She and Xavier form a mutant team compiled with characters like Magneto, Mystique, Beast, Havoc, Banshee, Angel, and Darwin.

As much as I Love this film it has its problems.  I think January Jones is attractive but is a terrible actress.  Then some of the dialogue is also at time kind of bad.  Another things is that it has so many characters in  this film that a lot of times some of them get lost in the mix. However most of these things I think are kind of nitpicks.

What works for this film really works, Michael Fassbender as Magneto is incredible in this.  When he is out Nazi hunting it is amazing, if you thought he was good confronting Nazis in that Bar scene in Inglorious Bastards wait till you see the scene where he is confronting Nazis in a Argentinian bar in this.  Whenever Fassbender and McAvoy are on screen together it is acting gold on screen.  Matthew Vaughn early James Bond style of editing also really works here too.  The ending climax to this is so amazing if its Magneto pulling a submarine out of the water, Banshee's flying sequences, or Beast and Havoc fighting off the enemy it is amazing.

The Bottom line is this film is great even with its flaws and has brought some respect back to this franchise after the studio produced two pieces of shit the last two times out.  It has made me care about the first two films again.  This series works best when have the two different mutant ideologies going head to head with each other.  Not just when we are showing off mutant powers or looking at Wolverine making growling yelling sounds when kills another man.  So go check it out.
Rating 93%

Thor (Hammer Time)

Thor, the Norse god with the hammer turned superhero, is a good popcorn summer film.  It has its flaws all right, but still it makes up for it.  The film stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins.

Thor is about a God who is banished to Earth for being blamed by his father for starting a war, which was really created by his brother Loki to screw Thor out of becoming king of his realm. When sent to Earth he becomes a mortal and falls for some local tail played by Natalie Portman.  However Loki knows Thor will receive help to return so that will lead to an epic conflict at the end here.

The things that do not work for Thor is my opinion is first off the romance angle is boring. Then second off some of the super hero stuff does not work either for me.  Plus some of the smaller parts I thought were really corny here too.

Whats works here is the fantasy production design, the cgi renderings of the realms, the fish out of water comedy and most importantly the Shakespeare angle.  Kenneth Brannagh knows how to direct actors when it comes to Shakespeare.  Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins all do an excellent job here.  Especially Tom Hiddleston this guy knocks the character Loki out of the park, I cared more about what that guy was doing then what was happening down on Earth.

So I say go see this movie, its a good way to start off the summer movie going experience.  This also made excited about the three other superhero films that will be released this summer.  Those films got some good competition here.

Rating 77%

Bin Laden Bio-pic

With Bin Laden dead, after the greatest manhunt in the history of the world.  From a movie perspective who do you want to see play him and who do you want to see direct the movie.

 Cliff Curtis would be a good Osama in my opinion

He did a good job in Three Kings, although he isn't middle eastern he seems to be able to play every ethnicity.

For my director I would say either Kathryn Bigelow because of The Hurt Locker, Doug Liman because The Bourne Identity and Fair Game, or Spielberg because of Munich.

P.S.
America Fuck Yeah!!!:  The Evil Douchebag is dead.

The Green Mile

  
The Green Mile is film director Frank Darabont second film adaptation of a Stephen King prison novel.  The movie stars Tom Hanks, David Morse, Barry Pepper, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bonnie Hunt and James Cromwell.  The film is about a miracle worker who is sentence to death row after being falsely convicted of the murder of two young girls.  It also deals with the state of the death penalty back during the time of the depression in America and how the death row guards have to deal being executioners.
    Paul Edgecomb is an old man in a retirement home.  He tells a story about when he was prison guard on a death row called the Green Mile to another elderly in the retirement home.  He talks about how he had an inmate named John Coffey who is, a gigantic black man who at first sights comes across quiet and mentally challenged.  Paul talks about really bad urinary track infections he has, and how Coffey was able to fix it by just touching him and sucking out his breath.
    Coffey does more healing miracles while on thhe mile.  Soon Paul figures out that how could god gives Coffey this gift if he was not innocent.  Coffey's gift is also burden, he sees the worst in people.  He can see all the terrible things they have done.  So Coffey wants to die, he wants to get his life done with.  So, Paul and his fellow gaurds in all their sadness knowingly kill an innocent man.
    However when Coffey touches Paul part of the gift is passed on to him.  He was given the gift of unusal long life.  Paul ends up looking at this as a burden instead of a gift, because longer then usual lifespan means that he has to see every one that he loves in life die.
    The Green Mile goes into to detail about other inmates and guards too.  Most of the guards are good people except for one, Percey.  Percey is spoiled rich kid whose uncle is the governor.  He is a sadist, the only reason why he works at the mile is so he can watch people die.  He ends up hating one of the inmates after he befriends a mouse, he tries to kill it several times.  At the moment of this inmates execution he purposefully messes up the execution so its more painful, and the inmates ends up being set on fire by the electric chair.
    The film also shows us the scum that are some inmates, which is Wild Billy.  Billy is a psycopath, who we find out committed the crime that John Coffey is a convicted of.  Coffey sees the worst in both Percey and Billy, and ends punishing them both by having Percey shoot Wild Billy to death.  This sends Percey to the mental institution promptly.
    The Green Mile is well acted.  Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan are both fantastic in this.  However the film is runs slightly too long.  I feel that over three hours is way too long to tell this story.  The parts where we see Paul as an old man felt unessary.  It is never boring though, and the last thirty minutes of this film are almost guarantee to make the audience cry.  The cinematography and the music are also well done. The look of the film feels like the depression era with the sets and costumes.
    This is a film that is anti-death penalty.  Shows that putting someone death is cruel, and also with states there is a good chance of executing an innocent man.  The film shows executions as a way of revenge.  Whenever there is execution the victim's family and friends are all there with a sneering and hatred look.  The film makes the audience feel very sorry for whenever someone is executed too.
    The idea is about retribution, Percey the guard takes this idea to the extreme.  He wants to see these men suffer, after one of the men was executed we see him aroung the corpse saying something like hope you enjoy hell.  Then we see another guard come up to him and say leave him alone he has paid back his debt.
    Something that the film did do well is the brutality of the electric chair.  The electric chair in most states if not all has been states as cruel and unusal punishment, which is unconstitutional.  It really shows the pain, and the scars left over by it.  Also one can argue that having the victim's loved ones there to watch him can be painful on the person.  If there is a mess up in the electric chair it can turn really bad.
    If I was to do something different to this movie is I would show the inmates as a little more violent.  There is only one extreme inmate which Wild Billy.  John Coffey is innocent so its understandable why he is violent, however the other the two inmates where the most part very hospitable, which makes the audience think why are these guys so deserving to die. 
    Above all The Green Mile is a good not great, but still highly recommendable.  It is another successful adaptation that Frank Darabont did of Stephen King prison novella.

Rating 86%

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a dramatic prison film adaptaion of Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by film director Frank Darabont.  It stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, who play two inmates.   This movie is wonderful, it is great on how it shows frienship of two men.  Its also a great exmaple of how inmates can become institutionalized by being in a prison.
    The film is about a banker named Andy Dufrain (Robbins) who is convicted for murdering his wife, and the man she was having an affair with.  He comes to a prison called Shawshank where he meets Red (Freeman), where the two of them form an incredible friendship.  While at prison Andy experience hardships of brutal prison guards, bull queers, and a corrupt religious prison warden.  Andy  ends up helping the Warden by doing finacial crimes by ripping of the tax system. 
    Soon we come to find that their is evidence now that Andy has been innocently convicted of murder. The Warden refuses to let him go, becauses Andy leaving will means less of tax return for him.  He removes his chances to get another trial.  So Andy gets back at him by escaping and by letting information out about what illegal activities the Warden and the prison staff has been doing. 
    Red alone now without his friend, has been stuck in prison for so long that he has become institutionalized.  Soon Red gets a parole approval and has a hard time adjusting to the outside.  However, he knows the only way to survive is to find his friend Andy.  The film ends with Red and Andy reunited at the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
    The Shawshank Redemption is well directed and written for screen by Frank Darabont.  The dialogue is good, and the two main characters are well defined.  The  leading performances are also good, and Morgan Freeman ended up getting an Academy Award nomination for his performance.  The look of the film is good too,  they capture the time and the feel of a prison over the span from the 40s to the 60s.
    One of the main the themes of film is prisonization (institutionalization is what they call it in the film.)  The character Brooks is an old man in the film who has been behind bars most of his life.  He had become so use to prison life, when finally set free he became depressed because he lost all of his friends.  Now he was just a nobody and meant nothing on the outside, so he kills himself.  Red dreads this is what is happening to him that when he is finally released that this feeling will overcome him.  However Andy has hope about his life like the quote he gives "It is either get busy living or get busy dying."
    Prisonization seems to be the current theme of the modern day American prison inmate.  The average age of the prison population is increasing.  With California's Three Stikes Law this feeling is now becoming on to more criminals.  Criminals are now only committing crimes so they can come back.  The only answer to this problem is to give the offender once release on the outside something to live for once released.
    In my opinion, prisonization is one of the main problems for recidivism. The Shawshank Redemption makes us ask can really rehabilitate a criminal, or is prison just warehouse to put criminals at.  The film says that rehabilitation is a made up, "Its a politicians word."  The only thing that can change a man is hope that ex-convict can find something worth living for. 
    Shawshank touches on many others ascpects of prison politics.  For example the using of prison labor.  The Warden did not care about if this help the prisoners, he only cared about all the new revenue he would be bringing in.  Prison labor cuts away work from law biding citizens, it forces people out job because prison labor is so cheap to hire.  In the movie there is a scene where one contractor is scene bribing the warden so he would take his contract away.
    The idea of educating prisoners was also brought up.   When Andy wants to build an library he ask the warden for funding.  The warden says the only way to get funding is by state funding, and the only time the state cares about funding prisons is when more guards, more bars, and more walls are needed.  Education is one of the key components to preventing higher crime rates.  So the film states that the government simply just does not care about helping make criminals better people. 
    One thing I would of added to this movie is more depth to the prison guards.  They all seemed to be stereotypically bad people.  It would been nice to show a prison guard that cared about corrections.
    The Shawshank Redemption is a great film. Its strongly recommended to a general audience, and to people who have stong feeling toward the correction institutions.

Rating - 90%

R.I.P Sidney Lumet

One of the greats has died today, sad day indeed.  He brought us so many classics like 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network.  He may of been a short man but damn was a great one.
Godspeed