The Beaver Review (2011)

The Beaver Review (2011)

  Mel Gibson gives a solid performance as his character in The Beaver, showing a darker side of himself that is very different, but not exactly in a good way. 

  Anton Yelchin, Jodie Foster, and Jennifer Lawrence also give solid performances, though there isn't much for them to work with.

  The Beaver is hardly a flawless movie and it isn't for everyone, but I admired it's bravery. Jodie Foster really balanced the film with some amusing humor and dark tones, while keeping it somewhat realistic within the world.

  Foster does an excellent job of telling multiple stories and keeping it interesting, though at times the audience must suspend belief about what is happening. I will give this very mediocre film a 2 out of 5 stars. (It's Okay)

Warm Bodies Review (2013)

Warm Bodies Review (2013)

 
  Honestly, I didn't expect very much going into this film even though a lot of the critics raved it.  

  Unfortunately, it was exactly what I thought. It seemed like they were trying to do far too much with it. At some moments it was trying to be a comedy, other times it was trying to be a drama, different times it was going for horror. In the end, it all just played together in a quirky, but convoluted way. 

  The acting performances from Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer were solid, but they didn't have much to work with. I continually found myself wondering when it would end and how much stranger it could possibly get. It was very hokey and the action scenes were the most boring parts. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't find the comedy to be as amusing as everyone said. It was generic and overall didn't work in the slightest. I am going to have to give this one a lousy 1 out of 5 stars. (Hate It)

Mama Review (2013)

Mama Review

 
  There were a lot of things that really worked for this movie. Guillemero del Toro found ways to recreate the cliches of your typical horror film and make the experience fresh.
  Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse were excellent as Lily and Victoria. I was surprised at how these young prodigies stole the show. It is always exciting when you discover good child actors and these girls were no disappointment.
  Jessica Chaisten also nailed this role beautifully, keeping us all on the edge of our seats with suspense. Her character's development was great to watch and she actually made us care about what happened to her. 

  The camera work was good and so was the cinematography. It didn't rely on cheap scares to keep it going which is also a plus and it was very elegantly executed.
  Unfortunately, I found the third act to be quite lazy. Once they showed us what was behind the curtain, it ceased to be as frightening as it was before. The ending was a bit hokey and not satisfying enough for me. For that reason, I give this film a 3 out of 5 stars. (Rent It)

The Hunger Games Review (2012)

The Hunger Games

 
  Being a HUGE fan of the books, I was very very excited for this movie. Was it everything I wanted it to be? To a certain degree. What I really liked about this film was Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. She gives a really strong performance and is very memorable in this role. 

  The script was great and the music was quite lovely. They kept the movie a lot closer to the book than most film adaptations do, but it was missing just a few things. I felt Josh Hutcherson's line delivery as Peeta wasn't the best and that some of the characters (Cato for instance) were portrayed more shallow than they actually were in the book. 

  Because of reading the books before seeing this movie, I saw the places where they could have taken it up to the next level and didn't and for that reason it was somewhat disappointing. Is this a bad film? Absolutely not! It manages to portray the powerful moments beautifully but just needed work on some of the less powerful. Katniss and Peeta's relationship seemed forced at some points in the film, but maybe that is how they intended it in order to show how Katniss doesn't love Peeta the way he loves her. It's hard to tell considering the fact that we were in Katniss' mind the entire book series and she explains everything to us. 

  Overall, this movie was a big success and I give it a 4.5 out of 5 rating. (I'd Buy It)

The Amazing Spiderman Review (2012)

The Amazing Spiderman Review (2012)

    There were several things that I liked about this movie and several things that I disliked about this movie. Let me start off with the things I liked.    

  Andrew Garfield did an excellent job as Peter Parker. Even with the not so impressive script, Garfield highly succeeded in making Peter endearing, relatable, and even funny at parts. Emma Stone, who had the potential to be the annoying girlfriend that most of these superhero movies typecast, was surprisingly delightful and I really bought her relationship with Peter. The chemistry of both actors was great and I really liked the first two acts of the film in which they were developing the story. 

  Now for what I didn't like about this film. The villain, played by Rhys Ifans, has the most cliche' storyline in the history of cliche' storylines. Not only have we heard and seen this story before, but the CGI on the giant lizard was extremely sloppy. I absolutely hated the villain in this movie and his goals never made any sense to me. To make matters worse, the screenwriters seemed to get lazy by the third act. That, or they never changed it from the first draft. It felt rushed and the stakes weren't high enough to make the climax fulfilling. If I had gone to see just the first two acts of the film, I would have really liked this film. Unfortunately, the ending was messy and let's face it, not so amazing. 3 out of 5. (Rent It)

Parental Guidance Review (2012)

  My Parental Guidance Review!

  Parental Guidance stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as the grandparents and do they do a good job? Yes they do. However, between the somewhat cliche' moments and the verging on annoying children, this movie is more irritating at parts then it is funny. Is it as bad as I thought it would be? Surprisingly not. It did actually have some good humor in it and I did laugh at certain parts, unfortunately, the youngest boy was annoying and ruined a lot of it for me.
  So is this movie worth seeing? If you have kids or you are a grandparent yourself, you will probably enjoy this movie. It had it's moments that were really good and moments where you just want to spank the kids yourself. Overall, I give this film a 2 out of 5 stars because I feel they actually did try.  (It's Okay)

Warrior Review (2010)

My review of Warrior (2011)

 

  Warrior stars Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte. The performances by all three of the actors deserved nominations and were absolutely wonderful. The story is deep and and the script is powerful. Not only will MMA sports fans enjoy this, but anyone who enjoys a good movie about family relationships and forgiveness.
  The fighting scenes are brutal and entertaining but what I enjoyed most about this film was the dialogue. The characters were developed extremely well and little by little, through the dialogue, we are allowed peices of each characters history.
  This film is fantastic and moving, fillied with a lot of heart.  I have really no gripes at all with this film and the only thing  I can really do is recommend you watch it, if you haven't already! Warrior really sets a high standard for fighting films and is so emotionally involving that the characters all seem alive and breathing. I give this film a 5/5 stars! (A Must See)