Underworld: Awakening Review

I just got back from seeing Underworld: Awakening on January 25, 2011. This is the fourth installment in the series and in my opinion along with the original is the best one by far. This movie was beyond awesome!!! I was thoroghly entertained throughout the entire movie. The plot of the movie is very interesting from the start as we learn that humans have sent forces to purge the world of the vampires and the lycans in what is known as The Cleansing. They sent two purges over the course of 12 years. They basically made it look like genocide of both species through extreme amounts of silver nitrate and ultraviolet light as well as dragging vampires into the sunlight. Kate Beckinsale returns as the vampire warrior Selene and is shown fighting off the attacks with Michael played by Scott Speedman from the original and Underworld: Evolution. What occurrs during the battle is Selene is taken into captivity and for 12 years is taken to a research facility. Selene breaks out and through amazing visuals and action she fights her way through orderlies and scientists even breaking a guy's arm so his bone goes through and basically dominates everyone. Another vampire named David played by Theo James joins her in a quest as they want to find out what is going on in this facility. They encounter a girl in an alley who is being chased by Lycans. What occurs next is beyond awesome as we find out this girl named Eve (played perfectly by India Eisley) is actually a hybrid born child which makes her stronger than everyone. Charles Dance who plays Thomas, basically a leader of the vampire cult and who also appears in Game of Thrones as Tywin Lannister (excellent casting choice in my opinion in both instances) wants to know what the deal is with Eve. I will not delve into the details of that as its an awesome plot twist and I predicted it from the outset but when you actually hear how she came to be it's awesome. One of the most epic battle scenes I've ever witnessed occurs between vampires and lycans and I was extremely impressed at how much they put into it. They really went all out with the battle scenes and I'd say they're the best of the series by far. The original story is still the best, but the occurrences in this movie are by far more entertaining to me. Then we find out that humans aren't even behind what has been happening at the research facility led by Dr. Jacob Lane played by Stephen Rea. I will not delve into that either, but I loved the twist and we find out that Selene and Eve were Subjects 1 and 2 at the facility and had been used to find a way to make a certain species stronger. With the help of Detective Sebastian played by Michael Ealy who I immediately recognized from Californication (interestingly the humans that Selene is originally led to believe are behind the whole research facility) assists her in getting into the research facility where she makes a discovery of somebody she thought was dead 12 years ago. The new leader of the Lycans Quint played by Kris Holden-Reid is awesome, but I was wondering what Lucian would think of this. I am sure that if he was the leader certain things wouldn't happen in this and he would bond with the vampires in this instance. The second best battle scene is when Eve finally realizes her strength and takes it right to the chief villain of the movie and its beyond epic. Absolutely loved this movie. They set it up for a 5th one at the end, but these movies rake in cash and the original and this one definitely deserve recognition in my opinion. A couple other notes: I absolutely loved India Eisley the girl who played Eve. She was just awesome. It reminded me of Chloe Moretz in Let Me In. Both were extremely bad ass in their respective movies and definitely showed how amazing you can make these stories. Also, Kate Beckinsale always rules the screen in these movies. I love Selene because she is a strong female character which is a nice refresher from male action movie characters and personally I like female characters better, but hey that's probably just me. I'll give this movie a 4/5. It's definitely worth a watch. I know I'll be getting this one on DVD.

Haywire Review

Justin and I just got back from seeing Haywire on January 22, 2012. I loved this movie. I thought it was bad ass!!! Gina Carano is my favorite woman on the planet and it was just awesome seeing her as an action star on the big screen. Mallory Kane is one of the best agents that a private company has run by Michael Douglas's Alan Kolbenz character. They send her and Aaron played by Channing Tatum to rescue a Chinese man by the name of Jiang in Barcelona. They move through different cities other than Barcelona such as Dublin (my favorite part of the movie) and of course states like California and New Mexico. The whole mission ends up being a set-up as Kenneth played by Ewan McGregor arranges an intricate plan with Rodrigo played by Antonio Banderas to use her as a scapegoat. Paul played by the awesome Michael Fassbender gets involved with the plan and Kenneth arranges it so that Fassbender will kill Jiang and Kenneth gives Mallory a pin that will give her away. What ensues is Mallory literally fighting through obstacles by beating the hell out of everybody she comes across. It's so awesome to see as she is a legitimate fighter, so all the fighting you see is 100% her. The battle in the hotel room in Dublin with Paul is one of the best scenes I've ever seen. The choreography of the fight was excellent and they destroyed that room and beat the hell out of each other in the process destroying flat screen tvs, lamps, glass tables, etc. Mallory's story is told mostly through flashbacks as it opens with her awaiting a meeting with Kenneth. What she gets is Aaron who is sent to take her to Kenneth. Mallory disposes of him after a hard fought battle in the diner and goes with Scott to try and find him. There are some great driving sequences through the woods as well. She did a great job going through the course they set up for that. Scott added a nice comedic element. Bill Paxton had a small part but a good one as Mallory's father John who knows what Mallory did for a living. I loved watching Mallory go through the pecking order to find out how the plot started and she gets to it at the end. She beats the hell out of Ewan McGregor which was awesome. I love the last line as Banderas sees Carano and utters a certain four letter word beginning with s. The intricate plan to set up Mallory was well thought out and the fight scenes were amazing. I give the movie a 4/5. Gina Carano is awesome and honestly hope more great things happen for her.

The Iron Lady Review

Here is my first review for 2012. I just got back from seeing The Iron Lady on January 17, 2012. I was extremely impressed with this movie. I thought the acting was incredible and its a film centered around one of my favorite political figures in former Prime Minister of England Margaret Thatcher. The movie dances between her current life battling with dementia and seeing hallucinations of her deceased husband, Dennis (played wonderfully by Jim Broadbent), but does an excellent job of portraying her political career as well. One thing I found interesting is my art teacher from kindergarten to 8th grades name was Dennis Thatcher, so I found that to be pretty cool. I absolutely feel that this is Meryl Streep's best performance and feel she more than deserved her Golden Globe win. As much as I want to see Michelle Williams win the Oscar, Streep winning it would be more than fine with me. I really loved her portrayal and how they showed her rise the political ranks through guidance, but also her own ambitious desires. They show how she rose from the Secretary of Education to the Leader of the Conservative Party (also showing us poll numbers and the pie graphs on how votes are sorted out) and finally the longest serving Prime Minister in the 20th century. Thatcher is known for her hair and her strict conservative political ideologies such as free market economy. I have heard alot of people tell me I won't like this because they paint her in a bad light. To be honest, I feel the exact opposite. Yes, they show her battle with dementia and yes they show moments where she becomes angered at meetings towards the end of her run, but honestly it was well portrayed because Streep was on her A game. They also showed how she had a voice and she had to rise above all the chauvinist members of Parliament who weren't impressed to have a woman invade their turf. Through her own merits she was able to rise the ranks, because she found her voice. As I said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and look forward to getting the DVD. I was completely engulfed in the story and really liked the way it was shot, showing Thatcher and some of the tough decisions she had to make during her 11and1/2 years as the Prime Minister as well as showing how she had an amazing memory for most of her life. I thought the last shot of the movie was great because a line she says when she was younger makes the last scene even better. Its tough to make these political biopics, but I feel this was very well done. There were some pretty good English actors in this as well. I am not sure of some of the names but I recognized Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lewis Prothero from V For Vendetta, and David Mycroft from the House of Cards series (actually from my favorite one in the series, To Play The King) which I actually viewed in a Politics and Film class with fellow movie geek blogger buddy Jacqui Cohen!!! Overall, I realize that some people haven't looked at this in a positive light, but I can't stress enough how much I loved this movie. I give this an easy 5/5 for me. I really enjoyed it!!!

"Carnage" Review

Hello All!
Its me Jacqui. I am sorry I have been away. I started a new job a few months back and I have been trying to get used my new schedule and fitting my movie habit into my new "life". Well, we'll just say the past couple weeks I have gotten some more movie time in.. This is review 1 of 3!



First up on the Jacqui magical movie tour is "Carnage". This is Roman Polanski's newest film starring Christophe Waltz, Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster and John C. Reily. The movie is based on the french play, "Le Dieu du carnage" aka "God of Carnage".

The movie begins with group of kids fighting on a playground in Brooklyn. All of the sudden, one grabs a stick and strike another. The next scene (and the rest of the movie) is a meeting at the home of Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Foster and Reily) with the Cowans (Waltz and Winslet).  What started as a reasonable conversation about getting one boy to apologize to the other turns into an exploration of life, values and the relationship of the two couples.


This rarely happens with me and movies so get ready... 5 Stars. Yes, I give this movie my highest rating. There is no fancy special effects. Just four actors doing their craft and a great script. Fans of one liners and zingers, will love this movie. But again, don't go in expecting anything extraordinary besides the acting. I would highly recommend this movie be seen in theatres.

The Artist Review

Justin, Dad and I saw The Artist today on December 31, 2011. What an excellent movie!!! I loved it because it was something different and the acting was incredible!! The storyline was great in its own right basically highlighting the transition from silent film to the "talkies." This movie literally was shot as a silent movie, and I couldn't believe how amazing the finished product came out. George Valentin is a big shot movie star in Hollywood circa 1927 right around the time where the transition was about to be made. He was played by Jean Dujardin and I am going on the record right now and saying I am 100% in favor of him picking up the Golden Globe and the Oscar. He is the most deserving candidate. As much as I'd love to see Leonardo DiCaprio get it, Dujardin gave one of the best performances I've ever seen. He was on top of the world highlighted in newspapers and the women loved him. He has a signature mustache and he resorts to action and physical comedy in his movies to entertain the audience. The theater is packed at his movies. The audience applauds and loves him. He always has a smile on his face. After walking out of one of his premieres he stumbles into a beautiful girl in the crowd named Peppy Miller, who was played by Berenice Bejo, yet somebody else I am in favor of winning a Globe and an Oscar, as she did very well in her role as well. George is looking for dancers for his next picture and Peppy gets a part as a dancer. During the production of the picture, Al Zimmer the manager of the movie studio that George is a part of is planning for the future telling George that the silent film era is ending and the talkies are the future. George laughs at him and thinks this fad will never take off. Peppy is attracted to George and vice versa, and you really couldn't blame him when his wife ignores him and doesn't respect him at all. He gives Peppy a drawn on mole as a signature. He tells her you need something that sets you apart. All of a sudden, we watch as the talkies and Peppy's career skyrocket while George and his silent films barely have half a theater. He resorts to alcohol and refuses to get involved with the talkies. We watch as he basically hits rock bottom. One of my favorite scenes is when he talks to a shadow of himself on the projection screen saying he's a loser and nobody cares about you. He destroys his films, but grasps onto one as his career burns down around him. Peppy is trying to revive George's career by encouraging Al to put him in the movie with her or she walks. Really awesome stuff!! Peppy is a great female character: strong, confident, and insightful. She feels that if you can combine the stars from the two eras into one picture it will be amazing. George is at the end of his rope and is about to take drastic measures, but she arrives in the nick of time and helps him to realize that people still love George Valentin. The ending shows us that George agrees to this. Peppy never forgot who got her the big break and I loved how she kept trying to pick him up and help him out. I really enjoyed this movie and feel it is definitely one of the best films in a long time. This movie deserves to win Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress at the Golden Globes and The Oscars. I like alot of the nominees, but I am 100% in favor of this winning the awards as I feel its the most deserving movie on the ballot and Jean Dujardin was phenomenal as I said. This earned a 5/5 for all the hard work put into it and the amazing acting fueling an amazing story!!!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Review

Justin and I just got back from seeing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on December 21, 2011. This was an excellent movie that pretty much followed the book of the same name quite accurately. David Fincher put together a pretty incedible film with an excellent cast, and some intense scenes. Daniel Craig plays Mikael Blomkvist, who is a publisher for the Swedish political magazine Millenium. He had been sued for libel after failing to prove allegations against Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. He was sentenced to three months in prison. As a writer, he is selected by Henrik Vanger, the CEO of the Vanger Corporation (played by Christopher Plummer) to write the life story of the family. There are five generations of the Vanger family and they all share different characteristics. Since Blomkvist's main goal is to take down Wennerstrom as he knows he is guilty, Henrik actually offers him monetary compensation and the hard evidence he needs to write this book. Mikael takes it. Let me just say that Daniel Craig is a complete badass. I can't begin to tell you how intense some of his scenes get, but he takes it as only he can. I feel like he has written in his contracts I must have the crap kicked out of me. Henrik believes that his great niece Harriest was murdered by a member of the family, so this basically becomes a criminal investigation. Automatically, I am invested in the story as there are all different types of obstacles that will emerge thus explaining my Daniel Craig feels no pain philsophy. We are introduced to Lisbeth Salander, played wonderfully by Rooney Mara. I can't say enough about how much I loved her in this role and wish she was being nominated for a Golden Globe at least. Lisbeth works for security companies and is really intelligent at getting information and how to track people. She is such an amazing character. As most people know, I love strong female characters. She is a ward of the state since she was considered incompetent as a child and was awarded guardians. Her first guardian ends up suffering a stroke. However, her second guardian ends up being one of the lowest forms of life somebody can be. There are some sexually explicit scenes that result as Nils (the name of the guardian) has his way with her. I was yelling at the screen for the coward he was. However, she does get him back and the other people in the theater including myself were loving every second of it. Some of the punishments she places on him are just great. She really drives the point home "Don't screw with me!!" Lisbeth Salander rules!!! She eventually is tracked down by Mikael to help him "find a killer of women" as they are attempting to track down a serial killer within the Vanger family. Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig had such amazing on screen chemistry. The characters trust each other (which is something that Lisbeth really needs in her life and I liked seeing that) They study photographs from certain events as well as study family trees. Stellan Skarsgaard was really good in his role as Martin Vanger. He had great chemistry with Daniel Craig, as well. Joely Richardson being a major part of this movie was awesome for me as I loved her as Julia McNamara in my all time favorite show Nip/Tuck, and she did a great job in her role as Anita here. She actually has a really important part in this movie, however, I will not spoil it. I also have not written alot about Martin as I don't want to ruin some key plot points. They filled their parts very well. The case does get solved, and then Lisbeth helps Mikhael with his other goal as she uses disguises to deal with the illegal activities of Wennerstrom. As I said, I thought the movie was excellent and Justin really liked it as well. I really loved Rooney Mara in this movie, and thought she really made the character of Lisbeth Salander her own. I give this a definite 5/5. I've really been enjoying the movies I've seen lately. I just love all the mystery involved and the interesting characters interacting on the screen.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.. No its not that Christmas is coming up.. Hardly! Its Golden Globe Nominee time!!

Below are my choices. Italics are my personal choice, bold are the ones I think will win.  After the my selections, you’ll find the movies I think got screwed by the Hollywood Foreign Press.

—    Picture, Drama:

o   “The Descendants,”

o   ’The Help,” ‘

o   ’Hugo,” ‘

o   ’The Ides of March,”

o   ’Moneyball,”

o   ‘’War Horse.”

—    Picture, Musical or Comedy:

o   “50/50,”

o   ‘’The Artist,” ‘

o   ’Bridesmaids,” ‘

o   ’Midnight in Paris,”

o   ‘’My Week with Marilyn.”

—    Actor, Drama:

o   George Clooney, “The Descendants”

o   Leonard DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”

o   Michael Fassbender, “Shame”

o   Ryan Gosling, “The Ides of March”

o   Brad Pitt, “Moneyball.”

—    Actress, Drama:

o    Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”

o   Viola Davis, “The Help”

o   Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

o   Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”;

o   Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”

—    Director:

o   Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

o   George Clooney, “The Ides of March”

o   Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

o   Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”

o   Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”

—    Actor, Musical or Comedy:

o   Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

o   Brendan Gleeson, “The Guard”

o   Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50”

o   Ryan Gosling, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”

o   Owen Wilson, “Midnight in Paris.”

—    Actress, Musical or Comedy:

o   Jodie Foster, “Carnage”

o   Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”

o   Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”

o   Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

o   Kate Winslet, “Carnage.”

—    Supporting Actor:

o   Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”

o   Albert Brooks, “Drive”

o   Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”

o   Viggo Mortensen, “A Dangerous Method”

o   Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”

—    Supporting Actress: 

• Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”

o   Jessica Chastain, “The Help”

o   Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”

o   Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

o   Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants.”

—    Foreign Language:

o   “The Flowers of War,” ‘

o   ’In the Land of Blood and Honey,” ‘

o   ’The Kid with a Bike,” ‘

o   ’A Separation,”

o   ‘’The Skin I Live In.”

—    Animated Film:

o   “The Adventures of Tintin,”

o   ‘’Arthur Christmas,”

o   ‘’Cars 2,” ‘

o   ’Puss in Boots,” ‘

o   ’Rango.”

—    Screenplay:

o   Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”;

o   George Clooney, Grand Heslov,

Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”

o   Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

o   Alexander Payne, Nat Faxwon, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”

o   Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, “Moneyball.”

—    Original Score:

o   Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”

o   Abel Korzeniowski, “W.E.”;

o   Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”;

o   Howard Shore, “Hugo”;

o   John Williams, “War Horse.”

—    Original Song:

o   “Hello Hello” (music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin), “Gnomeo & Juliet”; 

“The Keeper” (music and lyrics by Chris Cornell), “Machine Gun Preacher”; “Lay Your Head Down” (music by Brian Byrne, lyrics by Glenn Close), “Albert Nobbs”;

o   “The Living Proof” (music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr., lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas), “The Help”; “

Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E