Jacqui's take on the oscars

BEST PICTURE:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

I am going with the "The Help" as my will win and  "The Artist" as my should win. Both of these movies stand out for me because they were both had something unique to offer the audience. "The Help" shows a time in US history when race relations was complicated but the movie does it without being preachy or being political. It was very refreshing to see.



"The Artist" is a silent movie. Do I need to say more? There hasn't been a movie like this since 1950s is my understanding. Along with a cast of amazing ensemble actors, I am hoping this one gave the CPAs a couple long nights. 

BEST ACTOR:
Demian Bichir-A Better Life
George Clooney-The Descendants
Jean Dujardin-The Artist
Gary Oldman-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Brad Pitt-Moneyball

Sorry Gary Oldman gets this one hands down. This was a nomination for body of work. This is a guy who can play anything and everything. The movie itself was a ensemble piece where it was hard for him to truly standout.  The other actors up there aren't what I would call "Fantastic" in their roles.



BEST ACTRESS:
Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis-The Help
Rooney Mara-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams-My Week With Marilyn

Viola Davis for the Win. Rooney Mara for the should. Both were amazing in their roles. Davis gets a slight edge for me because she played a central role.




BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Kenneth Branagh-My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill-Moneyball
Nick Nolte-Warrior
Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Max Von Sydow-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

See Gerard's review. Pretty much, he is amazing in a very complicated role. The movie itself had issues but he anchored it.



BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Berenice Bejo-The Artist
Jessica Chastain-The Help
Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer-The Help

In agreement with Gerard.


BEST DIRECTOR:
The Artist-Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants-Alexander Payne
Hugo-Martin Scorsese
Midnight In Paris-Woody Allen
The Tree Of Life-Terrence Malick


Again, "The Artist" is truly unique. Has to win for the vision of the movie.

Midnight in Paris was also great. Its my underdog. For the love of god, don't give it to Malick.

84th Academy Awards Preview

This Sunday February 26, 2012, it will be the return of an event that I look forward to each year for the dedication to cinema and the pageantry and tradition of what the event has meant since 1927. This will be the 84th installment of this event and it should be an interesting night. What I will do is post the main awards nominees: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director-these are the six I feel are the important ones, though I am always interested in Best Costuming, Best Score/Original Song, Best Visual Effects and Best Make-Up, they aren't necessarily the most important ones-just ones that interest me. I will post the ones I THINK/FEEL will win in bold. I will post the ones I WANT to win in italics. Keep in mind in one or more of these categories they may be one and the same for think and want. Then I will provide some commentary on my thoughts on the nominees involved.

BEST PICTURE:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Now it's no secret how much I loved The Artist!! This is definitely the one I can see picking up the golden man and the picture I truly would like to win. I loved the silent movie aspect mixed in with incredible performances and a great story of change and adapting to it. If you read my review it received a 5/5 from me in the initial review I did, however, I did really enjoy some other pictures this year namely The Help (which certainly still has a great shot at winning), Hugo (loved the story and the usage of 3D was excellent), Moneyball (I personally enjoyed this and I am not even a huge baseball fan haha), and War Horse was alright (definitely had some great scenes and dialogue), but not one that I want to win. Midnight In Paris, while I first saw it and wasn't really into it a couple of months ago, I've grown to actually enjoy it a little more and its probably Owen Wilson's best outing and I love that Rachel McAdams is reunited with him in it. NOW, the flipside of the coin for me. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was really not that good of a movie and really tried to cash in on the emotional aspect of 9/11, yet the overall movie really has nothing to do with it. I honestly don't feel this should be on the list. Jacqui would say that Moneyball shouldn't be on the list and I can respect her opinion, as she liked it, but at the same time didn't haha. Oh don't get me started on The Descendants. I absolutely loathe this movie!!! Alexander Payne's Sideways was a great movie, but I just did not like this one at all. The only thing I liked about it was Shailene Woodley's role as Clooney's eldest daughter. It was one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. Tree of Life has been universally panned as being a bad movie and though I haven't watched it, Jacqui has informed me she didn't even stay to finish it. When Jacqui walks out of a movie, it's probably really bad. The synopsis seems interesting, but I don't think it's going to win anyway as I've pointed out in how I selected. I would have liked to see Drive on the nominee list as that was an excellent movie with a very unique style and great performances all around. I also feel that Water For Elephants (one of my favorite movies) deserved to be on the list for Best Picture, Best Actress for Reese Witherspoon and Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz. It definitely was snubbed this year which is a shame as it is a quality movie.

BEST ACTOR:
Demian Bichir-A Better Life
George Clooney-The Descendants
Jean Dujardin-The Artist
Gary Oldman-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Brad Pitt-Moneyball

Jean Dujardin was absolutely incredible in the role of George Valentin. My dad commented on how he thinks he should win as well and he usually doesn't comment on things like that, which should tell you how good the performance was. I definitely feel he has the best chance of winning and he is my personal pick to win as well. Now, let's look at the other nominees!! Demian Bichir is a favorite actor of mine mainly for his role as Esteban Reyes in Weeds. In this movie, he basically is trying to ensure his son has as the title says A Better Life. He was great in the performance and for some reason he reminds me of Alberto Del Rio, which is interesting as Del Rio is one of my least favorite wrestlers but Bichir I actually like. If you ever see his performance as Esteban and you watch wrestling, you'll see how I draw the comparisons between him and Del Rio. George Clooney shouldn't be on this list at all. He wasn't really even acting in this movie and as I said it was just depressing and nothing I particularly enjoyed. I am not a Clooney fan to begin with so if you're a fan of Clooney and you like The Descendants don't let this deter you. I just didn't like the performance at all. Gary Oldman is a surprising nomination in my opinion. I mean I like Oldman, just not this performance haha. Jacqui did enjoy this movie, but I didn't really like it. I mean he is very cerebral in the movie and that is what the role asks for, but I mean I didn't really get into the performance. I tried so many times throughout Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but I never got into it. Brad Pitt's performance in Moneyball was fun and I don't mind him being on the list. He is a favorite actor of mine and this is a movie that I really liked. However, Dujardin is where my support goes this year and where the Academy most likely will...at least I hope so. One thing I am not happy about was the blatant snub of Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar. It was an incredible performance by my favorite actor today. The guy just knows what to do in front of a camera and he's the best actor never to win an Oscar. He hasn't missed a beat since 2002 in my opinion. He at least deserved to be on the nominee list. He could be on there instead of Oldman, just saying haha. That's not a direct shot at Oldman, as I normally do like his performances, just not this one.

BEST ACTRESS:
Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis-The Help
Rooney Mara-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams-My Week With Marilyn

Okay this is the category I am VERY interested in. There are at least three possible wins in this category and as you can see from what I noted, I think Streep picks up her first Oscar since 1982 in Sophie's Choice for her amazing portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of England. Remember this would be her 15th nomination, and as I pointed out in my initial review of this, I gave it a 5/5 as it is one of my favorite performances of the year and hers in general. However, I am 100% in support of a new woman winning an Oscar and that woman is Michelle Williams. I absolutely love this girl in general, but her performance as Marilyn Monroe was so excellent (also gave this movie and her performance a 5/5 ). She is beautiful in general (really cute look), but she looked sexy as Marilyn which is what the role would call for. She naled the voice, the mannerisms, the general attitude of how we portrayed her. I really want her to pull off the surprise upset, but I am prepared for Streep to get this. However there is also that really surprise win that you don't see coming and that lies with Viola Davis in The Help. She was absolutely incredible in this role. This movie in general provided some great acting (some of the best I've seen as I noted in my initial review yet another 5/5-remember there are alot of movies I've seen that I just really enjoyed) and Davis absolutely nailed her role. Now, I like the other two nominees as well. Glenn Close is an awesome actress, yet my favorite role of hers is a television role-that of Patty Hewes in Damages. I won't say anything bad, but Close can really make herself look like a man especially in the role she is nominated for here in Albert Nobbs haha, so I guess you could say she really met the requirements for the role. She was basically trying to disguise herself as a man to further herself independently as it was tough for women in 19th century Dublin (the setting) to get ahead. Also, Rooney Mara is up for her amazing performance in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (another 5/5 for the initial review of this movie). What I found out about this movie is that Rooney Mara was NOT the first choice for this movie. It was actually my favorite actress Ellen Page (oh man she would have owned this role so well-I already know that's a given though-she'll be on the list again one day). I still maintain that if Marion Cotillard wasn't on the Best Actress nominee list in 2007 she would have picked up the award for Juno. At least I can say that my favorite actress has been nominated for an Oscar. Anyway, not to discredit Mara who was incredible as I noted and really did a great job of transforming herself from her normal attractive self to slightly less haha. You can tell she has a fun time portraying the Lisbeth role-which was initially filled by Noomi Rapace who will be appearing in one of the summer's biggest anticipated movies, Prometheus (a prequel to Alien) and was recently the main female lead in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. TEAM MICHELLE WILLIAMS!!! I am aware that Streep has the best chance, but if Williams wins, I will mark out and know a really deserving performance won. I also read that she is playing Glinda in a new Oz movie-looks like Wicked but it can't be as its from the wizard's point of view.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Kenneth Branagh-My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill-Moneyball
Nick Nolte-Warrior
Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Max Von Sydow-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This is a very interesting category this year!! Christopher Plummer easily is winning this and it was a great performance in which he portrays a gay man with terminal cancer. He is usually a really good actor in general and a personal favorite of mine and Jacquis but he was just excellent in this role. I watched it a while back and it was a very good performance. I did also really enjoy Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Laurence Olivier and he played well off of Michelle Williams. Branagh is a great actor in general as he has portrayed several Shakespearean roles in the movies. One of the best ones in particular would be Iago in Othello. Also, he had a role in Harry Potter for all my muggle friends who are as big a fan as me of the Potter literary/theatrical world: that of Gilderoy Lockhart. I feel that Max von Sydow was one of the only good parts of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but it still isn't a role that he should be on the list for which I will delve into momentarily. He didn't say anything during his entire time on screen but Sydow is a good actor. His best role is Lamar Burgess from Minority Report without a doubt. Jacqui would most likely agree with this haha. However, his performance in this movie basically consisted of him raising his hands to show the words yes or no and nodding his head, so though hes on the list and hes a good actor this isn't a role he should win for. Warrior was a very good movie and had great performances throughout: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison, and of course Nick Nolte. He did a great job as Hardy and Edgerton's father who was a recovering alcoholic and trying to get a second chance with his sons. Good performance no doubt, but I am definitely in favor of Plummer 100% and I am sure he will win it as well.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Berenice Bejo-The Artist
Jessica Chastain-The Help
Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer-The Help

This is also a category I'm VERY interested in!!! Naturally, best actress and best supporting actress usually are for me as I am a fan of female characters. Of course, I love alot of male characters but I tend to like female characters more. This year, I think is similar to Mo'Nique's year when she won for Precious as Octavia Spencer pretty much has this in the bag at least I think this. She has won all the other major awards and it was a universally liked performance. I did enjoy it and really have no problem with it winning as she was great in the role portraying great dramatic and comedic sides combining it to create a great character overall. Though, Spencer is most likely winning this, she actually is the third one on the list I'd want to win. As I am a big supporter of The Artist and loved everything about it, I feel Berenice Bejo is the best part of this category. Peppy Miller was a great role that Bejo made her own. You could tell she enjoyed portraying it. It also showed how actresses in that era gave way to creating a signature look that people would follow. This still happens today and I like that they show how it has been a prevalent part of cinema since the silent movie era (which The Artist portrays). One of the most interesting aspects of this category is the inclusion of a primarily comedic performance (though Marisa Tomei DID win in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny-mostly a comedic performance) of Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids. It's kind of a random part of the list, but it was definitely a funny performance. I don't think she'll win obviously, but its just interesting to see that McCarthy's performance (most people's favorite part of Bridesmaids) is part of the nominees. My favorite part of that movie is obviously Rose Byrnes Helen character. I love Rose Byrne and hope to see her up there one day getting her own award. Going back to my commentary on Glenn Close, Ellen Parsons from Damages is one of my personal favorite tv characters of all time. Byrne is beautiful and talented. Janet McTeer, much like Glenn Close, did a great job of disguising herself and portraying herself as a man in 19th century Dublin. It worked very well and it was a pretty decent performance. As I said, Spencer definitely will most likely win this, but its interesting because I enjoyed Jessica Chastain's role of Celia Foote much better and I'd pick her over Spencer as well. Will I be mad if Spencer wins? Absolutely not. Do I want her to win? Not necessarily, but as I said it won't bother me. It was a fun performance and a good one as well.

BEST DIRECTOR:
The Artist-Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants-Alexander Payne
Hugo-Martin Scorsese
Midnight In Paris-Woody Allen
The Tree Of Life-Terrence Malick

This category has had some great wins over the years for some great movies. This year I am in favor of and I feel he will actually win is Martin Scorsese who last won for The Departed (a personal favorite movie of mine). I feel he will win this because of how well he used 3D and the idea of history of cinema as his main focal point in this movie. I saw this movie twice in theaters and loved it even more the second time. Plus, Chloe Moretz has a prominent role in the movie. I hope she stays in the acting profession as she is very promising. I read she was considered for Katniss Everdeen before Jennifer Lawrence (which would have been awesome), though Lawrence is a good actress as well in her roles in Winter's Bone and recently as Mystique in X-Men: First Class. I would also obviously not mind if The Artist won either. It is difficult to create a movie such as The Artist with the filters and the cinematography needed to portray it. Along with the zoom-in techniques and the way the camera pans in certain scenes it's more than deserving of winning. It's very groundbreaking, but Scorsese just nailed this category I felt. Alexander Payne should not win at all, but I have a feeling he has a dark horse chance as the academy does like his style. Woody Allen's style is usually pretty good and I am looking forward to his newer one which features Ellen Page in a prominent role. It was originally callled The Bop DeCameron, but was changed to Nero Fiddled so I will be checking this out when it comes out. He did a great job with the camera work and capturing the emotions of the characters in Midnight In Paris though. As I said, I haven't seen Tree of Life so I can't truly comment on Terrence Malick's directorial acumen (or perhaps lack thereof), but we'll see what happens.

Now that I have covered the six major categories I hope the readers of this blog will enjoy this look into the 84th Academy Awards. I enjoyed writing this and hope you enjoy reading it. As I said, there are other categories that I like as well such as Best Costumes (Anonymous is my choice for this), Best Make-Up (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II is my choice for this), and Best Visual Effects (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II is my choice for this as well). I also like examining the scores and original songs for movies. Now, I am not really sure what score I like best from the ones picked but I would have to say Adventures of Tin-Tin is probably my favorite of all of the ones chosen and Man or Muppet easily for Best Original Song. Be sure to catch the Oscars this Sunday!! The red carpet premiere starts at 7:00 P.M. and the main show starts at 8:00 P.M. Let's sit back and enjoy this cinematic celebration!!!

This Means War Review

I saw This Means War on February 22, 2012. Now, I had heard from several people that this wasn't a really good movie and critics didn't particularly enjoy it, but I was thoroughly entertained throughout this movie and it honestly was one of the best comedies I've seen in some time. It follows the lives of two best friends in the CIA FDR (played by Chris Pine-who looks alot like Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) from The Vampire Diaries in this movie, and Tuck (played by Tom Hardy-whose a very talented actor and will be appearing as Bane in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises movie in the summer). They both are on a mission to take down a terrorist organization led by Heinrich played by Til Schweiger. FDR and Tuck team up to take down Heinrich and end up killing his brother in the process, but Heinrich escapes for the time being. He vows he will get his revenge on them. We enter into the life of Lauren played by the beautiful and talented Reese Witherspoon. She appears to have a job where she assesses products on the market and looks for flaws in the design by taking surveys and things of that nature. Each main character is interested in finding that one special love and settling down. Tuck had previously had that with his ex-wife Katie who he has a son with name Joey. What's interesting to me is that Tuck and Katie are very civil with each other which leads you to believe that there will be a reconciliation at some point. FDR is one of those different girl every day guys. Lauren had moved to Los Angeles (where the story takes place) to be with a guy who ended up cheating on her with somebody else and then proposed to that girl. Lauren's friend Trish (played by Chelsea Lately-and man is she hilarious-I really think she's one of the funniest people today) suggests she does online dating. Tuck also creates a profile, but FDR doesn't. Lauren and Tuck meet, but what's interesting is that FDR is in the same building at the same time and after Lauren had the first introduction with Tuck she decided to go rent a movie for later that night where she encounters FDR. At this point, Tuck and FDR aren't aware they're dating the same girl until they reveal the picture to each other. However at first it's really civil between them and realize there isn't a problem. They'll both date her but approach things differently. One scene in particular that I found really funny was when they both go into Lauren's house from opposite sides and are doing intelligence gathering to see what her likes and dislikes are. Of course they also have CIA underlings helping them out along the way seeing what the other is going to do with Lauren. The paintball scene with Tuck was great as he basically showed off his CIA operative skills and Lauren looking completely baffled as to how good he was at it. At this point, she is under the impression that he is a travel agent and FDR is a cruise ship captain. The tactics get more intense as the movie goes along and there is even a scene with Lauren and Tuck that I just smiled at because it made me think of Water for Elephants (which prominently featured Reese Witherspoon) as they shared a scene at the circus. The main theme of the movie is trust in relationships as FDR has a problem with trust as does Lauren. Over the course of the movie, Lauren becomes more enamored with FDR. I personally wanted Lauren to end up with FDR anyway as I knew Tuck should end up with Katie again. As all the personal relationships are occurring, Heinrich is back and ready to wage war on both agents. After an intense battle in a restaurant between FDR and Tuck over Lauren's affections (they then realize their friendship is important), Heinrich kidnaps Lauren and Trish. FDR and Tuck are on the attack and it leads to some great action sequences. Lauren assists them in defeating Heinrich by giving them intelligence on the vehicle he is in which I found pretty cool to watch her have a hand in the demise of the villain. The scenarios I wanted for the relationships eventually play out in the end and as the credits rolled, I truly felt it was entertaining, legitimately funny, action-packed, and also engaging in some good drama aspects. I'll give it a 3/5, but I recommend it as you will be entertained.

Safe House Review

Justin and I saw Safe House on February 11, 2012. This movie was exciting, intense, and had a great plot. Tobin Frost played perfectly by Denzel Washington (in my opinion one of the best actors of all time) is public enemy #1 by the CIA and organizations such as M-I6. However, he is a rogue agent that knows something is up within these organizations designed to help keep the citizens of the world safe. We also explore the young career of Agent Matthew Weston (played amazingly well by Ryan Reynolds), who is called in when Frost is apprehended by other agents for suspicious activity and perhaps he may even be a terrorist threat. I have to point out that Ryan Reynolds showed how good he can be in this movie. He was absolutely amazing in this role and completely revamped himself after terrible outings in The Green Lantern and the horrid movie, The Change-Up. He has to guard him in the safe house that they put Frost in. However, following an attack on the house Weston has to transport him to another safe house. His mentor David Barlow, is played by Brendan Gleeson and I felt the casting was great in this instance as well. They really nailed all the casting choices. Vera Farmiga plays Catherine Linklater who believes that there is a traitor within the CIA. She suspects that Matthew is in cahoots with Tobin to bring about something that could be dangerous for everybody. What's interesting is through the violent exchanges that occur between Tobin and Matthew, there is a level of respect there and Frost is always giving Weston advice that he needs to be careful of who he trusts and how he can't ever have an honest relationship especially with a woman. Tobin has a secret file that will expose a big threat to the security of the world. Frost transports the file to Weston. Both men are also trying to fight their way through the men that attacked the safe house and the camera work used combined with the realistic fighting really helped make the action look good. Meanwhile, in the administrative portion of the movie, a traitor is revealed that I predicted early on, but when it actually happens it still works great because its believable. The ending scenario with Frost busting his way through the hospital where Weston is being held (after a showdown with another man he thought to be an ally) comes in shooting everyone and saving Weston, because Frost (even though he is seen as this fugitive who is a threat to national security) is really the one trying to help save national security. Washington is really on top of his game in this one and the dialogue scenes he has with Reynolds are excellent. Very top notch movie revealing that it was in fact the men that lead the organizations like the CIA, MI-6 etc. that contain high levels of corruption and are a dangerous threat. This all went back to that file that Frost had acquired at the beginning of the movie and passed on to Reynolds. Good action movie with good acting and a good plot make this worth the watch. I'll give it a 4/5. I was truly impressed and feel that Washington and Reynolds really had some of the best on screen chemistry I've seen in a while.

The Grey Review

I saw the Grey on February 7, 2012. When I saw the previews for this movie, I really had no interest to be honest. However, I try to give most movies a try and I decided to with this one. I am glad I did, because I honestly thought it was pretty decent. The driving force was Liam Neeson who I believe is a legit badass. People can talk about Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, and people like that all they want. When I hear Neeson talk and watching him in his movies, you just get that vibe. However, he is such a nice person through different interviews I've seen as well and I actually have a ton of respect for him. I also know that he probably takes these movies where he is beating the hell out of people and in this case animals, because he is coping with the loss of his wife Natasha Richardson (the skiing incident a couple of years ago). The plot of the movie deals with an oil drilling team that is being sent on assignment. This a predominantly male cast and each has their own personality. On the way to their assignment, the plane freezes due to the low temperatures and crashes in Alaska. Most of the crew and the pilots are killed on impact. John Ottway (Neeson) and six of the crew members who actually all are very different and do not get along have to find ways to survive from this crash. Some other notable members of the crew were Talget (Dermot Mulroney-who played Dr. Simon Ward in Georgia Rule), Diaz (Frank Grillo-who played Frank Campana in Warrior), and Hendrick ( Dallas Roberts-who played Sam Phillips the recording studio manager in Walk The Line). The other two were Flannigan and Burke. The terrain of the environment they were in was constant snowfall, extreme wind, below below 10 degree weather, and wolfpacks. The nWo Wolfpack theme from WCW came to mind throughout the movie due to the presence of the wolves who were the chief villains of the movie. The Man vs. Nature motif was very well done. I really liked how the men realized that in order to survive, they would have to put their differences aside and team together. Diaz and Ottway butt heads constantly, but the tension between the two is very well done and gets some great lines out of Neeson such as telling Diaz he's going to beat the you know what out of him in exactly five seconds. The wolves were extremely huge. Perhaps tbey were direwolves. That's a shoutout to all my friends who love Game of Thrones like myself. The action is intense and the battle between man and beast gets bloody. I like that they portrayed the wolves as intelligent, because in real life they are hunters and they know how to approach the situation. Neeson knows how wolves operate because he is a sniper that is sent to kill the animals that may interfere with job performance when they are drilling for oil. Throughout the movie, the battle with faith is also prevalent. Religious people are not going to like this movie for the sole reason that they paint the men as ones that believe in luck and not in God. It's very powerful. It's one of those movies with the concept of Last Man Standing. Good acting, great dialogue, good action with the wolves and a fun ending where Ottway finds himself standing across from the Alpha Wolf. I give the movie a 3/5, but highly recommend it for how well they approach the ideas of man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. faith, and man vs. himself.

Man On A Ledge Review

I saw Man On A Ledge on Monday January 30, 2012. I was impressed with the movie. What I enjoyed about this movie was the ledge scenario honestly has absolutely nothing to do with the movie plot. It is used as a diversion for what the real plot is. Nick Cassidy played perfectly by Sam Worthington had been framed a couple of years prior to the events of the film. He was a cop who was arrested for stealing a dimaond from a man named David Englander played by Ed Harris (not a favorite actor of mine but the parts he usually plays actually work out very well), which he never stole. He is attending the funeral of his father while his brother and his brother's girlfriend watch on. Nick tries to get away as the police chase him. He had a decision to make: It was either go to prison for 25 years for a crime he never committed, or what the plot of the movie actually will entail which I will get into in a few sentences. He gets away and brings us to present day where he is on the ledge of a tall building telling people: "I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!!!" He requests the presence of Lydia Mercer (played very well by Elizabeth Banks) to help him in the situation. She has a past as well with trying to talk down jumpers, some of which ended tragically. When she arrives, she believes that something is up right away. The thing is her intuitions were right. Across the street at Englander's Diamond Exchange, his brother Joey and girlfriend Angie are attempting to get the diamond. Nick is using this whole ledge scenario to fool the public so he can actually get the diamond so that Englander won't have the satisfaction of getting off for setting him up. However, there are also people within his own police department that have assisted Englander and Nick has to figure out a way to deal with them as well. It's a race to get the diamond with Joey and Angie being helped via mics between them and Nick and Lydia dealing with the crooked cops across the street. The scenarios with Nick are all taking place at a hotel, and a mysterious bell hop played by the awesome William Sadler who played The Grim Reaper in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey keeps assisting Nick. Joey and Angie have some funny romantic exchanges. Englander knows something is up too though so he tries to transport the diamond as well. The bell hop who is known as Frank take a bag that Englander has with the diamond it and tells him he'll take it off his hands. Meanwhile, he hands it to Nick and leads to a nice twist at the end. Good action, decent plot, and a good cast were factors in making this a fun movie. It reminded me a little bit of a personal favorite movie of mine and fellow movie blog buddy Jacqui Cohen: Inside Man. It was a smart movie and I really like how the ledge was such a minimal part to the overall basis of the movie. I'll give it a 3/5, but it is entertaining and worth a watch.

One For The Money Review

I saw One For The Money on February 6, 2012. I thought it was a decent movie and it actually ended up being better than I thought. It was a hell of a lot better than that ridiculous movie The Bounty Hunter with Gerard Butler and one of my least favorite actresses of all time, Jennifer Aniston. The movie is based off a series of 17 books about a character named Stephanie Plum, who had recently been laid off as a lingerie sales woman in Newark, New Jersey at Macy's and was scrambling to find a job. That job ends up being a bounty hunter. She works for her cousin Vinny and is asked to bring in a former high school romance named Joe Marelli (played by Jason O' Mara). What follows is an adventure connecting Stephanie's job of finding Joe (who she has some funny interactions with, along with tracking down a big drug ring operating out of a UFC type gym run by Jimmy Alpha (played by John Leguizamo) with each person filling out a specific role. What's interesting is I thought that he kept saying his name was Jimmy Hoffa. Of course, he plays the whole thing aloof as if he doesn't really know anything about what his fighter Benito Ramirez is doing about a man named Ziggy that had been shot. This is the same guy that Joe is accused of killing. There's also the matter of a witness named Carmen that has mysteriously disappeared. Katherine Heigl plays the lead role here and does a great job of evolving over the course of the movie and is a great female character. She becomes more knowledgable about her predictions with the help of Joe. You can see the tension between them based on their past, but you can see the trust between them as well in the heat of the missions. As I said, both of their missions cross and they have to rely on the other one in order to bring down the operation. Stephanie's only weapon is usually pepper spray and has been training with her gun in order to be a more prolific bounty hunter. The ending scenario with the meat truck and the showdown with Jimmy Alpha was awesome. Stephanie's gun training pays off and it was an awesome sight to see as Plum gains more confidence in her new profession and shows that she can pull off the tough job. She also helps to clear Joe's name through this meat truck scenario since she was wearing a wire and captured everything. I think Katherine Heigl is honestly one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood. She looked especially amazing in this movie and I feel the dark hair looks better on her. She actually reminds me of a friend of mine I went to school with from 5th grade to senior year of high school named Carissa. Overall, I'd say the movie was pretty entertaining and I was into the plot for the most part, whereas in The Bounty Hunter it should be considered one of the worst things ever made. I'll give it a 3/5. It's worth a watch due to the major storyline of the mission and Heigl's portrayal of the character.

The Woman In Black Review

I saw The Woman In Black on Friday February 3, 2012. I thought it was a really interesting movie. It was a very good thriller with a pretty decent story to it. It was set in the 1800s. The opening really sets the pace for a good thriller. You see three girls having a tea party and all of a sudden as if under a trance walk to the windows and jump out of them. It was a good introduction, as it leads into the life of Arthur Kipp played very well by Daniel Radcliffe. He is a solicitor sent to Crythin Gifford to deal with a funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow. He has a four year old son and his wife died in child birth. He is sent to the house at Eel Marsh which is a huge house pretty secluded from the rest of the town. As he settles into the house, he notices a strange woman wearing all black with a pale face. He knows he saw something, but many people including Daily played by Ciaran Hinds thinks the house just plays tricks on you with the stories you hear. We find out that his son mysteriously died at a very young age and the mother feels like Nicholas (their son) speaks to them through sketches. He encounters several of the townspeople and notices that the children are all acting strange whether it be boys or girls. They glance at him through windows and locked doors, but he doesn't understand why. The children then all die gruesome deaths and the townspeople are enraged that all of these deaths happened mostly around the time he showed up. Kipp wants to get to the bottom of the mystery. He looks through chests in the house and discovers letters showing that Alice Drablow's son is actually the son of her sister Jennet Humphrey. Jennet Humphrey is an important part to the plot as she feels that her son was wrongfully taken from her as she was forced to give her son to Alice. Also, her son mysteriously died at age 7 near the marshlands. Due to the fact that Jennet feels she was wronged and lost her son, this morphs into the woman in black. Jennet is seen by the children before their deaths as it seems her spirit forces them to kill themselves and also to show the parents of Crythin Gifford that their children aren't safe and each child that dies joins her side as if each one helps to make up for that son Nathaniel that she had to give up. It gets very intense and really plays tricks with you. That's why it was a good thriller. It didn't really have cheap scares. Each one meant something. Arthur and Daily come up with a plan as Arthur feels if he can reunite Nathaniel and Jennet, things will get better. He goes into the marshlands and digs up the body with the help of Daily and it leads to a big face off with Jennet and Arthur. They place Nathaniel in the casket with her mother and Arthur believes everything is at it seems. One interesting dichotomy I enjoyed was that whenever he feels his deceased wife's presence she is wearing all white which counteracts the evil nature of Jennet's black attire. The ending is intense and a great twist that I enjoyed. I won't spoil it and I'm not sure if it is in the book, but if it is you know what's coming. Good ending to a pretty good movie. I'll give it a 4/5.