The Perks of Being a Wallflower Review

Justin, Dad, and I saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower on October 4, 2012. I absolutely loved this movie. Justin and I were still discussing it for ten minutes after we saw it. He thought it was good as well. He normally doesn't come out and say if he thought something was good right away, but on this occasion he did. Now, I first found out this was going to be a theatrical release early last year and was immediately excited. I have read the book three times. I read it back in 2001 when I was at North. I read it junior year at Elmira College. I read it this past summer to refresh myself and delve back into one of my favorite books. In my opinion, the book is a must read, especially for those that may be close minded. Stephen Chbosky definitely opens your eyes with this. I was really glad to see that he directed and wrote the screenplay for the movie. That meant an accurate portrayl of his work. The casting for the movie is excellent and each actor/actress fits their role perfectly. The book and movie follow the life of Charlie, played perfectly by Logan Lerman, as he transcends from a tumultuous year of dealing with his friend's suicide in 8th grade to the sometimes tumultuous world of high school. He is an academic, but suffers from mental disorders and inner guilt about certain events, such as the loss of his Aunt Helen. He is a loner, but soon is befriended by the seniors at his high school, namely Sam and Patrick, who are step siblings. Emma Watson is young, beautiful, and extremely talented. Alot of scenes with her as Sam, especially the one on one conversations with Charlie had me crying at certain points, especially the climactic one dealing with the importance of love between them. I loved how well the tunnel scene was portrayed. Definitely well done. Ezra Miller was excellent as Patrick. He really did a great job of balancing the character's comedic side and dramatic side with Brad. Justin and I loved how the Rocky Horror Picture Show scenes came along. I loved how both sequences looked. Creature of the Night with Sam and Charlie is so cute to watch honestly. Emma and Logan had a fun time shooting that, and it allowed Emma to show a sexier side. I saw that she has three projects lined up which is awesome. I also thought the Don't Dream It, Be It sequence was well done. Ezra Miller really looked the part of Frank N' Furter in that scene, which he should have. Mae Whitman continued the pattern of perfect casting as Mary Elizabeth. As I was re-reading it over the summer, I had known the cast members by then and I kept seeing her in the role. I liked Paul Rudd's portrayal of Mr. Anderson as well. Rudd fit nicely into the role and worked off of Lerman's Charlie pretty well. Catcher In The Rye is actually my favorite book, and I always liked how that is one of the many books Mr. Anderson gives to him for pleasure reading. Perks explores how a person can lie about who they are, but deep down they know who they are. It's about looking within oneself to realize we are all wallflowers. We are all infinite-this is the basis for my brother Jake's tattoo. It is insightful, thought provoking, emotional, captivating, character identity, the ability to feel proud of who you are. as well as knowing you love the people that matter, and they love you back. Charlie has that with his sister Candace (good cameo by Nina Dobrev of The Vampire Diaries-who reminds me a little bit of my cousin Tiffany in the way they look. Tiffany just gave birth to a baby girl name Lila Raechel Christenesen on Wednesday. It's very exciting), Sam and Patrick, and Mr. Anderson. I have that with my brothers, my best friend Jennifer Turner, my father, my mother (who is looking at me type this from somewhere). We all need to have that acceptance. This book and this movie will show you that it is okay to be who you are. The people that accept you for you are the people that matter. Screw the rest!!! This is in my top ten movies, just like its in my favorite books. On a sidenote, really cool to see Emma Watson represents two of my favorite books. This movie had great acting from young actors that I can't wait to see more from adapted from one of the best books I've ever read. If you couldn't figure it out, this is a 5/5 for sure!!! Loved this!!!

Hotel Transylvania Review

Justin and I saw Hotel Transylvania on September 30, 2012. I had been interested in this movie since I posed for a picture with people dressed up like the characters at Comic-Con!!! I thought the movie was funny, had a good plot, and had some great animation/special effects. The movie follows the life of Dracula and his daughter Mavis. The hotel was constructed in order to save Mavis from the human world. The humans caused a major tragic event in Dracula's life and he doesn't want to see this happen to Mavis. That is why the hotel is constructed: protection. Only monsters are allowed!! Dracula is preparing for Mavis's 118th birthday and a huge party is going to take place. Mavis wants to experience the world, but Dracula keeps doing everything to keep her from moving from the hotel: He even sets up a mock town with zombies acting as humans to keep Mavis from going. I personally thought the Dracula plot blended a nice dramatic element to some fun physical comedy bits from characters such as Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman-and his 30 kids, and other great monster friends. I think my favorite character in terms of overall look was Mavis. A human named Jonathan (who can get annoying at times) infiltrates the hotel. It is interesting to watch the progress made by Dracula. He notices that all humans aren't bad. We witness some fun scenes including a Monster Comic-Con which was great. I thought this was great to show as people have become more accepting of monster culture. There are some subtle messages in there in terms of current social landscapes, and I like the way they approached it. The voice talents of Selena Gomez, Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Fran Drescher and David Spade were excellent. Rob Schneider was missing, which baffled me. I am picky on animated movies, and I have to say the combination of placing the Universal Monster troupe in a more family friendly environment, along with great animation/visual effects-with great usage of color especially, and a good plot mixed with dramatic and comedic elements made this enjoyable for me. Everything meshed well together in my opinion. I give this a 4/5, and besides Grown Ups this is the first Adam Sandler project I've liked for a while.

Looper Review

Justin and I saw Looper on September 29, 2012. This was an intelligent movie with good writing, an interesting plot, and a good cast. The subject of the movie deals with the element of time travel, but also the idea of choosing your fate. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a Looper who is designed to basically clean up the past and erase people from memory that cause a problem in the future. Every once in a while, a Looper has to "close the loop" or take themselves out in order to end their contract with the organization. Bruce Willis plays the older version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Both did an excellent job acting off of each other. The future and the past are tied between two characters. I won't reveal how Willis transports to the past, but he does it in order to gain revenge, which the trailer doesn't really let you in. I like when that happens. Willis is coming to avenge the death of somebody from the future, and in the past the person that ended up killing this person is actually a child. It makes it more intense as the movie becomes a race not only of survival with both Levitt and Willis, but one of protection in some ways. People also have the ability of telekinesis, especially the main kid that the whole movie revoles around, Sid. Sid will eventually grow up and cause major problems for the whole Looper organization, but primarily Joe. I normally dislike Emily Blunt, but her role as Sarah was well done here as the protector for Sid in order to help him quell his Level Five mutant abilities-reminded me of X-Men a litte bit which was cool. This movie is mostly about furthering the plot and really looking at the characters. There are some great action scenes, such as a brawl in the diner between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, a huge battle with Bruce Willis battling through Looper thugs, and Levitt taking on a force of Loopers. There are great cameos from Paul Dano (who really is important in shaping the premise of what the movie will be) and Jeff Daniels (who actually is from the future-pay attention to dialogue he says-it gives us some subtle hints about the Joe character in the future.) I liked how this movie focused primarily on character building. If one combines X-Men, Back To The Future, and The Butterfly Effect, that would combine all the plot elements of the movie. Very well done-good acting, fun action scenes, and great writing made this a 5/5 for me.

Moonrise Kingdom Review

I watched Moonrise Kingdom on September 22, 2012. I had been interested in seeing this for some time and finally got around to seeing it. I thought this was an incredible movie. Wes Anderson did a great job with this movie. It had a great mix of being hilarious and insane at the same time with a great story of young love and the wanting of more in life. Each story of the characters is linked to the other in some way and it provides for some great storytelling. There is a great cast including: Bruce Willis as Island Police Captain Sharp, Edward Norton as Scout Master Randall Ward, Bill Murray as Mr. Bishop, Frances McDormand as Mrs. Bishop, and some small cameos that still added a great deal to the plot in Tilda Swinton as Social Services, Jason Schwartzmann as Cousin Ben, and Harvey Keitel as Commander Pierce. Each of these characters has secrets and are isolated in their own little worlds in the year 1965, however, as I said they are all connected to one another in some way. It makes the movie even more fun to watch. Though this stellar cast of amazing actors does a great job, the standouts in this lies with the young love storyline of Suzy Bishop and Sam who is an orphan because both of his parents are deceased. They met a year ago and eventually agree to run away together a year later. Their first meeting scene was so well done and really tied in nicely with the finale. I like when movies tend to return to a crucial scene. It makes it special. I was extremely impressed with Kara Heyward, who played Suzy. Her performance was excellent showing a troubled teenager with a dark side, longing for something more than normal. She has a home life that shows the family is well to do with both of her parents being lawyers and three bratty brothers, but she longs for adventure. She is a loner and likes to do her own thing. The same can be said for Sam, who is tired of the same old routine in the Khaki Scouts. Jared Gilman also did a fantastic job in his role. These young actors clicked very well. Suzy and Sam protect each other from other scouts. Their bond is really strong. The adult characters care for the two young characters as it is evident from the search party. Society turns upside down, which actually is needed. A major storm is used to show this. Secrets come out regarding Captain Sharp and Mrs. Bishop and Scout Master Ward. I loved following the adventures of Suzy and Sam. Suzy always has a fantasy book and as we follow Suzy and Sam, they seem to be writing their own fantasy book. This movie combines fantastic performances (particularly by Heywood and Gilman), good dialogue, good musical scores, great camera work and an all around impressive movie. I am giving this a 5/5 because I found it to be that good. I am very glad I finally got a chance to see this.

Resident Evil: Retribution Review

Justin and I saw Resident Evil: Retribution on September 15, 2012. We both thought this was an awesome movie!!! Before I get into discussing this, I have to point out that I love that all of the main characters are female characters, and they're all strong characters. It's really cool to see honestly. We need a female version of the Expendables. We follow the battle of Alice played by Milla Jovovivh against the Umbrella Corporation. I thought it was great that Alice did an introduction before the movie starts explaining what happened in all of the other movies prior to this one. It helped to establish background information for people that might not be familiar with the video game or the previous movies. We get different scenarios playing out in Alice's life...or so we think it is Alice. The trailer illustrates that Alice is now happily married with a daughter and living in a suburbia. The movie took this in another direction and everything is basically a simulation. Alice is battling Jill Valentine (played by Sienna Guillory), Albert Wesker, and The Red Queen. This whole movie basically takes place within the Umbrella complex amidst different training scenarios which Justin and I loved. They go through New York City, which is one of the best action sequences I've ever seen, Moscow, and an Arctic environment. Amazing scenes!! They also introduced us to a new character in Ada Wong played by Bing Bing Li, who looked amazing in the red dress, and she also has great fighting skills. The whole thing about Umbrella is it is a testing facility and they inject subjects with the T-virus which increases strength and agility. They established the point that each scenario uses cloned subjects, even showing an assembly line similar to Terminator to illustrate this.It also has great healing powers. My favorite part of this movie was Michelle Rodriguez's Rain character. Rodriguez had two very diferent characters-one the bad ass action star we're used to seeing, and the vegan, gun control version which worked really well. The action is non-stop in this. The fights were intense and created a pulse pounding energy that kept you on the edge of your seat. Jill Valentine's memory is restored, as this was something Alice had been attempting to do. Rain went ballistic on everybody, including stopping a guy's heart, and basically dominating inferior male characters. Jill almost takes out Alice during their battle prior to her memory being restored-really intense. Rain actually does defeat Alice which I cheered, but I knew something was going to happen to Rain, and they creatively took her out. The ending set up a sequel with a unit prepared to stop Umbrella. Alice has assistance in her resistance movement with Jill and Ada. I am giving this movie a 4/5 for the usage of strong female characters, intense action scenes, and a fun story. Definitely getting this on DVD. Justin and I compare the Resident Evil movies to Underwolrd, because we like all of them and they're just fun to watch. It's not about acting, it's all about the scenes and the action, so the high rating is indicative of what the genre entails.

Ruby Sparks Review

Justin and I saw Ruby Sparks on September 8, 2012. This was an interesting movie with a brilliant cast, and great writing. Calvin Weir-Fields, played perfectly by Paul Dano, is a young novelist. He is searching for a new topic to write about as he has been suffering from writer's block. He also is in therapy dealing with the death of his father, as well as problems with his ex-girlfriend Lila. He dreams about a girl named Ruby Sparks, and instantly begins writing about her. As he is writing a new novel, the story he is writing is actually coming to life before his eyes. His imagination created the girl into a real world entity. He controls her actions/decisions as well as her emotional state. It leads to some great scenes, which really create some nice dramatic elements. Ruby is played by Zoe Kazan, and I was really impressed with her performance. She also wrote the story, and it shows a great level of creativity. The cast also features Chris Messina, as his brother Harry, Annette Benning as his mother, Gertrude, Deborah Ann Woll as Lila (great scene between the two of them about their break-up), Antonio Banderas as Mort (seems to be a step father type role), and Steve Coogan as Langdon Tharp, an author in his own right. The movie has some good comedic parts, but the story overall of the creation of a real life entity through imagination captivated me. The Ruby book begins to take a negative toll, leading to a great scene showing his depth of control over her. He realizes something has to change. The ending was really well done, and I thought it wrapped up everything positively to counter-balance some of the consequences of his novel. This movie was really well done with great acting from Dano and Kazan, good writing, and a great plot. 4/5!!!

Lawless Review

Justin and I saw Lawless on September 1, 2012. This was an impressive movie with some intense scenes and decent performances. Three brothers played well by Shia Lebeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jason Clarke are bootleggers in Prohibition era America. It's 1931, and they are getting threats from all sides: mostly from law enforcement, thus defining the title of this movie. Nobody truly plays by the rule. This is actually based on reality with the Bondurant family, which is who the brothers portray. They team up with Gary Oldman's Floyd Banner character to make more profit on their moonshine business. Lebeouf really did a great job as Jack and I feel this is what he should stick to. He was great balancing comedy and drama trying to impress Mia Wasikowska's Bertha character (a preacher's daughter), but at the same time trying to do more with the bootlegging business. He's the youngest member of the family and Forrest and Howard want to protect him. Tom Hardy was an absolute badass in this. He would not stay down. I was impressed at how much he took. Howard is underrated as Clarke was also in Public Enemies and it really helped to shape his role here. He had cold eyes, but he cares about his family and lashes out when his family and business is threatened. Forrest is the most reserved, but when he has to he'll take you down. Beware his fists, especially when they have brass knucks on them. Jessica Chastain was the only part I didn't like. She was just kind of there. They needed to put a love interest for Forrest, but she did nothing and was unecessary. However, the overall feud between the Bondurant family and the main villain of this movie in Guy Pearce's Charlie Rakes character is what was awesome about this. You just loathe Pearce's character here. There are some intense beatings that Jack takes. I do think that Rakes character was actually the best one because of how villainous he was. Great action and storylines made this a good movie. I'll give it a 4/5. I was impressed with everything else in this movie. All the male leads did an excellent job which is what kept the movie going. Beware that this movie has extreme violence, but it was necessary for this story. It made things more personal. Interestingly enough, the Boundurant's abide by more laws than the actual law enforcement. I am definitely glad I checked this out. I was interested initially from the trailers and cast.