Category: Reviews

Director:
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Hailee Steinfeld
Matt Damon
Josh Brolin
Rated: PG-13

Jeff Bridges does it again.

True Grit follows the young girl Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) who has recently lost her father to a criminal named Tom Chaney (Brolin). Ross is very strong willed and does not plan on ending her hunt for Chaney. She comes to a larger town where she looks to find a man with “real grit” to go after Chaney and bring him to justice.

Ross eventually meets Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) who is a U.S. Marshall who is quite good at gun battles, having shot many criminals in the past. She also meets a cocky Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Damon). After some convincing the three set out after Chaney, but they have a difficult time with the man hunt since the three don’t exactly get along.

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Director:
Darren Aronofsky
Cast:
Natalie Portman
Mila Kunis
Vincent Cassel
Barbara Hershey
Winona Ryder
Rated: R

Ballet is now officially scary because of this film.

Black Swan follows the character Nina Sayers (Portman). Nina is a ballet dancer trying to make it big in her career and she gets her chance when the then best dancer Beth (Ryder) is released from the production. Because of this, Nina is given the lead role in the ballet’s production of Swan Lake. This causes her to become excited, yet at the same time nervous, especially with her overbearing mother.

She is also made nervous because of a new dancer named Lily (Kunis) who comes on the scene and is made to be her backup. Because of this, Nina begins to lose her mind and her grip on reality setting up for a very chilling thriller.

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Director:
Joseph Kosinkski
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Garrett Hedlund
Olivia Wilde
Bruce Boxleitner
Rated: PG

TRON Legacy is the sequel to the original cult classic 80’s film Tron. In this adaption, the main character is Sam Flynn (Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), the protagonist of the first film. The film begins with Kevin leaving Sam to deal with work however he never comes back home leaving Sam alone. The story pics back up with Sam as an adult. He owns the majority of his father’s company ENCOM, but isn’t part of the staff.

So instead of trying to stop the other members of Encom’s board from doing bad things with his Father’s company as the CEO, he instead uses James Bond methods to sabotage their work… for some reason. However, before Sam can do anything more he gets a page from his father’s old arcade. Upon arriving he is transported into the cyber world known as the grid which has been turned into a sort of police state with the program ‘Clu’ as the ruler.

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It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2/5
This film was about a teenager who tried killing himself but failed. After this he goes to a psychiatric ward where he meets many different characters. The film was just OK. The story was a bit of a miss, mainly because the protagonist didn’t seem to require being at the psychic ward, rather, he just chose to admit himself in there for a week. While there, he just seemed to wander, rather than get sufficient treatment. So instead of being a movie about studying a depressed teen, it came off as more of a standard coming of age story in a different setting.

Some of the characters were at least interesting. Zach Galifnakis actually delivered a strong, emotional performance and the rest of the supporting cast do provide for some interesting sequences. Ultimately, this is just one to rent.

Life as We Know It 1/5
I have to say the plot of this film sounds like a nightmare. Basically after an accident that kills them, a couple leaves their baby in the hands of their friends who already hate each other.

The dilemma in the picture is certainly one of the more original attempts at a story, but this flick quickly devolves into a standard romcom pretty quickly. It’s the typical tale of two characters disliking each before realizing they were meant for each other. There are some nice family moments in this movie, but as a whole, it’s cliche ridden and forgettable.

Director:
Nathan Greno, Byron Howard
Cast:
Mandy Moore
Zachary Levi
Donna Murphy
Ron Perlman
M.C. Gainey
Rated: PG

Despite the name, Tangled is actually based on the Brothers Grimm tale “Rapunzel.” The film has the original idea, but massively expands on it. In this version, Rapunzel is born as the princess to a kingdom, but during birth, her mother comes down with an illness.

People of the kingdom find a magic flower that immediately heals anything and the mother takes it and the power transfers to Rapunzel’s hair after she is born.

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Director:
David Yates
Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe
Rupert Grint
Emma Watson
Alan Rickman
Ralph Fiennes
Rated: PG-13

Well folks, we are almost to the finish line.

The first part of the seventh installment begins not too long after the ending of the sixth film. Our three heroes are all preparing for a long journey of being on the run and in battles. At first, the three have some help from the Order of the Phoenix, but after some dangerous battles the three are forced to go out on their own and fend for themselves.

The three begin to travel around the magical world searching for Horcruxes, seven objects where Voldemort (Fiennes) put pieces of his soul in. Meanwhile, the villain himself is busy taking over the magical world, infiltrating the Ministry of Magic and searching for Harry to put an end to him. They are also looking to eliminate muggle born witches and wizards and the way this happens is similar to Nazi Germany.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1’”

Director:
Roger Michell
Cast:
Rachel McAdams
Harrison Ford
Diane Keaton
Jeff Goldblum
Rated: PG-13

Morning Glory follows the character Becky (McAdams), a 28 year old television news producer who, after a rehiring, has to find a new job. After some searching she lands a spot as the executive producer of the television news show Day Break. However, she soon learns the reason why she got the job is because it is nearly impossible to be successful.

The show Day Break is behind the other morning shows on the networks and the staff just can’t seem to get it together. Becky sets out to change that, first by taking complete charge of her staff to get in line, and then hiring a new anchor, Mike Pomeroy (Ford). The problem, though, is that Pomeroy is an old school news man and doesn’t care about any of the fluff pieces that overwhelm the morning news shows these days, plus he can’t get a long with the co-host Colleen Peck (Keaton).

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