The Man With The Iron Fists Review

Justin and I saw The Man With The Iron Fists on November 3, 2012!! This movie was very entertaining and had a great mix of martial arts and a decent story to it. This movie was shot very much like an old kung fu movie you'd see being made in China in the 1970s-1980s. The movie centers around plots to conquer kingdoms, gain gold, and ultimately gain revenge on those who have wronged. Silver Lion takes over a kingdom by betraying his father and his brother Zen Yi who would be next in line. Silver Lion wanted the power now so he kills his father Gold Lion, and begins to take over a village in feudal China. Silver Lion was a great villain from the start. RZA plays a blacksmith who created weapons that were then used to take over Gold Lion's kingdom, which he regrets. He is now looking for ways to redeem what he has done. All the storylines from the rogue British soldier Jack Knife (which Russel Crowe definitely had fun with) to how RZA would become the Man With The Iron Fists and Zen Yi's revenge on Silver Lion come to a crescendo at Lady Blossom's brothel. The thing about this movie that really sticks out is the awesome action sequences and weaponry involved. I personally loved a scene in the middle of the movie with the Gemini vs. Silver and Bronze Lion. The martial arts were so well choreographed mixed in with some great camera work to create something special. I thought the usage of Batista as Brass Body was well done. Batista is somebody that has a big presence so the way he was used is natural. I thought RZA's back story was interesting and it is very important in terms of connecting the action to the stories. I think the usage of weaponry mixed in with the larger than life characters created a fun movie. The main battle at the conclusion wraps up each storyline nicely and creates an amazing visual presence. From the Black Widows in Lady Blossom's brothel revealing themselves as warriors; to Jack Knife squaring off with the man he had an issue with in Dagger; to Zen Yi and Silver Lion squaring off; to RZA vs. Brass Body, each sequence ended on a big note. Through gold, blood, amazing characters, and interesting stories, this movie created an amazing cinematic experience that will certainly result in me buying the DVD. I give it a 4/5!!

Here Comes The Boom Review

Justin and I saw Here Comes The Boom on November 2, 2012!! I am a fan of Kevin James and this movie was a great example of why. It shows the importance of how much difference a teacher can make whether it is with the students or fellow teachers. The movie follows high school biology teacher, Scott Voss, who seems to have initially lost his passion for the education profession over ten years. He had won Teacher of the Year and was enthusiastic about educating students. Now he shows up to work late, acts like teaching students isn't important, and basically treats the periods like study halls. At the faculty meeting at the beginning of the year, we find out that to meet budget, the school is going to cut all extra-curricular activities, which includes the music department. Scott doesn't agree with this, and I automatically see where he is coming from. It's cutting a school's ability to allow students to express themselves in a creative way, and provides avenues for students who may not be academically motivated. He assures Marty Streb (played by Henry Winkler) that he will help get the money for the school and the students. They need to raise $48,000 to save the extra-curricular activities. The assistant principal and Voss don't see eye to eye. Scott also teaches a citizenship class to earn extra money on the side. He is also trying to figure out a way to help Marty. He realizes it might be a failed effort based on the amount of money he earns. One of his students in the citizenship class, Niko (who was hilarious) wishes to get extra tutoring for the test. Scott sees UFC on television and hears that the fighters earn certain amounts of money, $10,000 if they lose, $50,000 if they win. Scott sees this as the opportunity he has been looking for. As a former amateur wrestler, he thinks this will be easy. After several beatdowns and pulled body parts, as well as frequent trips to the school nurses office, he begins to get serious about his training as the goal is to make the money and give it to the school. I like the chemistry between him and Salma Hayek's Bella Flores character as well. He has been trying to go on a date with her for years, but he either came across as too cocky or other circumstances came to light. With the new training and drive to fight for something, it ignites his passion for the students and his interactive lessons bring him back to how he was ten years ago. With this new passion, his attitude with Bella changes and leads to a nice conclusion to the romantic arc building between them. Salma Hayek is beautiful!! It's great to watch Scott change over the course of the movie. A meeting with Joe Rogan allows Scott to qualify for a UFC fight. Now he literally is in for the fight of his life. He is fighting for more than himself. There is a twist with money he has already raised that had me and the audience flipping out, but Scott manages to bounce back and in an intense battle is able to reach the school's goal. It's an amazing story of fighting for what you believe in. I give it a 3/5 for a good cast, legitimate comedic parts, and an overall positive message of determination to meet goals.

Cloud Atlas Review

Justin and I saw Cloud Atlas on November 1, 2012!! I thought this movie was visually impressive with a phenomenal cast. There were some great storylines connecting past, present, and future that had me invested from the beginning. From Tom Hanks to Halle Berry to Jim Broadbent to Jim Sturgess to Hugo Weaving to my favorite part of the movie Doona Bae, I was into everything. It carries over six different worlds from the 1800s to 2145 in New Seoul. Each character is somehow connected in some way whether its by relation or causes that a particular character is fighting for. The storytelling followed the book pretty well and resulted in a cinematic experience that the Wachowski Brothers and Tom Tykwer turned into something special. The different worlds such as the futuristic New Seoul with Sonmi-451 to the post-apocalyptic world were great. It had a nice blend of storytelling, acting, action sequences, and great dialogue scenes. It is a movie that you should see multiple times just so you can keep making connections with the characters. It's interesting to me that Doona Bae was actually the most important character. Her world actually connects each piece of the movie in some way. I think the concept is interesting, and something that many people might actually agree with. It's a belief that we are here in our present form, but we existed in the past, and will in the future. The way we are is shaped by actions from the past, and what we do in the present will impact how we will be in the future. Even when we pass away, we will still continue on in the some form as somebody else in the future. It might not be the same name, but it will us in a different form. I really like that deep meaning and connection. Natalie Portman gave the Wachowski Brothers a copy of the book to read on the set of V For Vendetta. They read the book and instantly began creating this. I believe they did an excellent job of adapting the book into movie form. It's a complicated book to turn into visual form and through the amazing visuals combined with the characters and messages of connections through time, it resulted in a successful effort. I will give this a 4/5. Tremendous movie that certainly did an excellent job of making me care about each character's obstacles and ability to overcome them.

Fun Size Review

Justin and I saw Fun Size on October 31, 2012!! We saw movies five days in a row due to power issues at home, but it was great to get caught up on some movies we wanted to see from the prior weekends, and the newer releases we had anticipated for some time. We were automatically interested in this movie because we are big fans of both leads: Victoria Justice and Jane Levy. They star on the shows Victorious and Suburgatory respectively. It was produced by Nickelodeon films, but had many more adult themes which I liked. Wren played by Victoria Justice is planning on attending a party with her best friend April at Aaron Riley's house. April really wants to fit into the social ladder. Attending Aaron's party is the ticket. It's even called the party of the year. Wren is automatically a character you like. She is determined to attend college at NYU and create a great life for herself. She lives with her mother played by Chelsea Handler (who is worried that Wren will leave and she will be alone) and her little brother, Albert. The father had died a year ago, and each member of the family has been grieving in their own way. The mother is going through a phase of seeing younger guys, which bothers Wren. Albert doesn't speak since their father's passing, and he is also quite bratty. Wren's plans are shot when she has to baby-sit Albert and take him trick or treating. This is where the movie really gets exciting. Wren and April get separated from Albert and each character has their own adventures. The thing about all of these adventures is they all end up connecting together, which is something great to see. Wren is good friends with Roosevelt (played by Thomas Mann), who like Wren has more nerdy qualities, and natural chemistry. I like the innocent young love storyline. He has a crush on Wren, and ultimately you see she does as well. Levy is one of the prettiest girls in Hollywood in my opinion. She was completely opposite from her role on Suburgatory in this, but still showed a nice parallel between the two main leads, with Wren being more of the sweet side and April being the sour side. Roosevelt's friend Peng was hilarious as well dressed like Aaron Burr. I thought the adventures the characters get in whether it was Wren, April, Roosevelt, and Peny dealing with bullies from the high school, Roosevelt's very liberal parents, or a duel at the chicken restaurant to Albert's adventures with convenience store worker Fuzzy (who was pretty funny). There's a nice subplot with Johnny Knoxville, who is a major enemy of Fuzzy, and this leads to a rescue mission from Wren to protect Albert. I really liked the Wren character. I thought a scene at the end after the chaotic adventures had ceased where Wren and Albert go to visit their father's grave was emotional and had me tearing up a little bit. I am not going to lie about that one. The characters, adventures, intertertwining stories, and plot twists you wanted to see happen made this an enjoyable experience. I will give this movie a 3/5. Justin commented on the movie: "It was a good movie. I don't know why it's getting such bad reviews." It balanced family entertainment with young adult themes that gave it a very realistic quality of the importance of family and what real friendship is.

Argo Review

Justin and I saw Argo on October 13, 2012. This was an excellent movie displaying the importance of cooperation between international governments to quell international problems. The events in this movie are inspired by a true story around the time of the Iran Hostage Crisis. This movie focuses on taking six American ambassadors out of Iran amidst a cover-up of a mock science fiction movie called Argo. I liked how the movie begins with a brief history lesson of how Ayatollah Khomeini came to power and how it affected Iran. The six ambassadors are taken in by the Canadian Ambassador, so the C.I.A. creates identities that they are a Canadian film crew. The movie definitely leaves you on the edge of your seat and you're invested in the characters from start to finish. It's up to Tony Mendez to extract them from Iran. With a team of C.I.A. personnel and Hollywood film makers, he is able to formulate his plan. Ben Affleck did an excellent job in the role of Tony Mendez as he is constantly battling to get his plan to succeed. I think the ensemble cast was awesome all around. In recent years, Affleck has had some great movies. The Town is one of the best movies I've seen from the last five years. He hit another homerun with this movie. Just like The Town, he also directed this. The rest of the cast is awesome: Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Clea Duvall, Tate Donovan, and Victor Garber to name a few. The scenes at the airport were amazing. These six ambassadors show what real fear would be like. Being in that situation will definitely cause emotional scars. The theater was packed. We were all wrapped up in the story and rooting for Mendez and the American six to escape the terror. The audience erupted into applause at the events and I even heard a few people crying which was awesome. Powerful movie!!! I also felt there were some legitimate comedic moments particularly with Goodman and Arkin. They had some great scene in Hollywood that blended nicely with the extreme dramatic nature of the Iran scenarios. The bottom of the screen also kept giving updates on what was going on with the hostage crisis in conjunction with the events of this movie, which actually happened. Now, I am sure there were some things that were done to make it more Hollywood, but this was a real event. That's what made this so powerful in my opinion. Also, it's great to see Clea Duvall in this. I have always been a fan of her and I feel she is a good actress that doesn't get enough credit. I have liked everything she has been in to date. I definitely feel this movie deserves a 5/5 for the excellent cast, great story with historical events, and brilliant dialogue.

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.