Name: justopinion2013
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As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he discovers an old book marked "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince." He also begins to learn more about the dark past of evil Lord Voldemort by viewing memories owned by Professor Dumbledore who is the headmaster at Hogwarts. But that's not the only thing that's going on within the gates of the school. There are many romances that intertwine with each other at Hogwarts as the three main characters are becoming adults.
Not only is this the best Potter yet, but it is also one of the best movies of the year. There is a very intriguing creepiness that lurks within the film and with that creepiness comes a compelling, deep, heart-wrenching story. The look and texture of the film is great. The camera work is fantastic and the special-effects are very good and have almost become a gimme for the series. This goes for the three charming lead actors as well. They've sunken deep into their roles give performances that make our jaw drop. Everyone in the film gives it their all, even the new stars. Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn makes his character funny and believable at the same time.
Besides the annoying kid that was sitting next to me, there wasn't much to dislike about the film. I did find myself a little confused during certain moments. The movie almost assumes that the entire audience has read the book and could have made things more clear. I wasn't confused at all with major plot points. It was more so the reasons for certain occurrences.
But you can't fit everything from a book into a movie. I actually haven't read all of the books and i don't plan on doing so because I don't want to be paranoid because of the fact that the writers of the movie didn't include certain things from the book, like my cousin Katie says. The film is two and a half hours and paces itself perfectly. It doesn't drag on at any point in time and doesn't rush itself either. The sets are great and could be a movie by themselves. J.K. Rowling has created a dramatic, intelligent story here. The third act especially had me pinned to my seat. You should definitely see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I love this movie!
Based on a true story, the film tells the tale of John Dillinger who was a notorious American gangster during the 1930s along with Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and their top agent, Melvin Pervis, have the job of catching Dillinger and bringing him down.
Johnny Depp is one of the greatest actors of our time. He can play so many different roles and make his performance perfect every time. He does it again here and shows more of his gritty side. Depp really captures the essence of John Dillinger and adds to the feeling of the whole film. All of the supporting actors are great as well. Christian Bale showed that his character could be innocent yet confident at the same time. But the supporting actor that shined the most was Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson. There were traces of James Cagney's great acting abilities from the 1930s in his performance.
Does the story sound fairly simple to you? That's because it is. The plot is good but there's not much of a side story. With Michael Mann directing the movie, I was expecting it to go deeper. When the side story does start, all that becomes is a slow romance between John Dillinger and Billie Frechette, played by Marion Cotillard. The entire first half is drowned out by slow conversation. Also, I was disappointed by the bank robbery scenes. There are only two of them and they're too short. The first half lacks the tension that the second half does have.
There's an incredible 90 minute masterpiece packed inside this two and a half hour film. I thoroughly enjoyed the second half, especially the amazing shoot-out in the woods. The action scenes are well shot and very well edited. Although the first half drags on, the film is worth seeing in the theatre due to the top notch acting and the sounds of guns blazing during the very well made second half.
Sandra Bullock plays a demanding editor who is a Canadian immigrant. When she is about to be deported back to the north, she decides to marry her assistant to prevent this from happening. The assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds, slowly agrees to this but adds another element to deal. He says she will have to come to his family home for their pre-marriage. While the two fly to Alaska to tell his family about the news, everybody has to get used to the soon to be member of the family.
Ryan Reynolds starred in one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time. It's called "Definitely Maybe." This film isn't nearly as good but Ryan Reynolds performance is well done. He plays his character cool, he's funny, and he's just a good actor. Reynolds shines here; in fact he is about the only actor that shines in the movie.
All of the other actors in the film seem to be just there for the sake of being there. They're only in the production so the audience can say, "Hey! I recognize that person!" or "That's the lady from Golden Girls." None of the supporting characters are believable and Sandra Bullock seems too uncomfortable in her role. She switches her personality unrealistically. The things that Betty White says are only meant to be funny because she's an older woman and that's not right.
"The Proposal" is just as formulaic as many other chick flicks we've seen recently. There are many other romantic comedies out there with the familiar plotline when a character (particularly an uptight female) is put in an unfamiliar environment. "New in Town" is another example of this terribly clichéd storyline. Even the girls can skip this movie.
The Decepticons return to earth to take Sam Witwicky as prisoner in this sequel to the 2007 film, "Transformers." After Sam learns the truth about the Transformer's ancient origins, Optimus Prime and his fellow Autobots have to protect Sam and decide to make an alliance against the Decepticons with the help of the U.S. army for a second epic battle.
I've never seen a movie with so much action and so many explosions. This film is definately a guy movie as it has robot battles and hot girls everywhere you turn. Yes, Megan Fox is even better looking in this sequel and gives the film a significant boost. But it's not just eye candy here. We get some very funny humor from Sam's parents, especially his mom who is hysterically played by Julie White. The performances are well done by all and Shia LaBouf has gotten very good at screaming through action scenes while saying, "Go go go go go!"
Michael Bay directs the film like a five year old. The action scenes are excessively long as goes for the entire film. It's two and a half hours and just when I thought the final battle sequence was over, it kept going and going. It's like Bay was saying, "Well, I want this to be a summer blockbuster so let's add about thirty more minutes of robots beating the crap out of each other."
But, about half way through the movie, I decided to accept the film for what it was and just tried to go along with the fun. Is it going to win an Oscar? No. Is it a summer blockbuster? Yes. I enjoyed the film before the action scenes got too long and the hot girls, hilarious humor, and good special-effects make "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" an o.k. film.
Four friends head to Vegas for a bachelor party before one of the buddies has a wedding. After a wild night, they can't remember anything. Eventhough there is evidence of a good time throughout the hotel room, they soon realize that the groom is missing. The three must retrace their steps to find him and get him back to his wedding on time.
Funny funny funny! The writers really do a great job with the script. Almost every comedic line throughout the entire film had me laughing out loud. There have been great lines in comedies that people have recited over the years. Of course I'm referring to movies like "Airplane" and even the more modern "American Pie." In "The Hangover" there are at least a dozen of those lines that audiences will be reciting for years to come.
The cast adds even more laughs to the film. Everyone has perfect comedic timing and Zach Galafanakis makes his charecter original as he plays a guy named Alan. His walk, his voice, and facial expressions help make his charecter his own.
Towards the end of the film, the story looses its humor. The final scene feels forced and seemed like an excuse to give the movie a happy ending. There could've been more to the way the film was resolved instead of just a happy wedding scene.
But the film isn't meant to be perfect. It's meant to be absolutely hilarious and thats exactly what it is. The story is told in a way that leaves the audience wanting to find out what happens. This was a smart move on the director's part because it adds a real mytery feel to the film which I love. "The Hangover" is the best comedy of the year so far and is definately worth seeing.
Washington plays a civil serviceman named Garber working as a dispatcher for the New York City subway station. While he is on the job in the middle of the day, a group of gunmen decide to hijack the train of Pelham 1 2 3. This group is led by a brutal man who calls himself Ryder, played by Travolta. As the two converse, Garber finds out that if Ryder doesn't get ten million dollars from the government in one hour then he will start executing passengers every minute after that.
The first hour of the film is quite good. Once the interplay between the two leads started the film had me pinned to my seat. Both of these men give great performances in the film but especially Denzel. He has played many wise characters in his past films, ones that know the answer to a conflict. But here, he plays more of a reluctant character and gives depth to Garber. Washington doesn't make himself seem like a big time movie star, but instead a flawed man which really adds to the drama of the film.
But then the movie evolves into its third act and boy does it become a mess. Its moves from the subway station up to the streets and becomes less and less intelligent. Part of this is due to the fact that there is a car chase that feels forced from director and was just a silly excuse for the film to have more action. In the end, there is no twist and the film is straight forward which feels like a bit of a let down after all of the tension that goes on within the first two acts.
That said, Denzel Washington and John Travolta are two very talented actors and hold the film in place along with John Turturro (the guy that likes feet from Mr. Deeds) as a hostage negotiator. The chemistry is so good between Washington and Travolta that I think the film is worth seeing.
Dr. Rick Marshall is sucked into a time warp with his scientist friend named Holly and a wealthless redneck named Will. The three meet many different creatures in the alternate world including a crazy monkey named Chaka, a group of Sleestak (otherwise known as lizard people), and a T-Rex that the trio decides to name Grumpy. As the main characters are amazed at what happens, they run into a conflict which involves them trying to find a way back home
This is one of the weirdest movies I've seen this year so far. The target audience is adults but it was advertised as if it was a kids film. The special-effects are very good as goes for the sets. The landscapes have a goofy and colorful look to them and the dinosaurs are nicely incorperated as well. The comedy here is not strong but there is one hilarious scene that had me laughing out loud for all to hear. I won't spoil it but the scene involves the main characters making fun of the singer, Cher.
There are another few bits in the film that got a few belly laughs out of me but most of the humor is typical slapstick and the movie is not as much a remake of the 70s T.V. series as it is making fun of the show. I've watched the original show before and the film turned a kids series into an adult oriented comedy. Will Ferrell does nothing special, he's just being Will Ferrell with the same humor he has done in the past with "Semi-Pro." Also, the film tries to make itself look smart with a subplot thats just complicated and does not redirect the wrong turn that the film takes when it decides to rely on poor humor.
This is not a film for 5 year olds. Its truly meant for adults because they would be the the only ones that would understand what its making fun of unless you've seen the show before. "Land of the Lost" is lost on what type of movie it is so unless you're a die hard fan of the original series you can save your money by not going to see this film.
Skynet and its terminators have already begun their annihilation of mankind and John Connor is the one to lead the last humans of the resistance against Skynet. Connor, with the help of a man from the past named Marcus Wright, go into the heart of Skynet's operations to not only save themselves but also the rest of the world.
There are a few good action scenes in the movie with great speacial-effects and interesting looking props. McG is a good action director and shows it again here as the scenes are fun to watch and well shot. I found it amazing yet creepy that Hollywood was able to digitally put on Arnold Schwarzenegger's face during his cameo. Apparently the govenator was too busy to truly be in the film.
But the story is horribly executed. The only element that the production cared about was the eye candy which caused the film to have no substance. The acting is not of any help either especially when the cast is given corky one-liners from the first two films such as "I'll be back" and "Come with me if you want to live."
These films are not the same without Arnold. He added the true atmosphere to the franchise and was a much better lead as than the Terminator than Christian Bale is as John Connor. Bale used an understandble deep voice in "The Dark Knight" but he does it again here and it becomes relentlessly obnoxious. You can save your money by not going to see "Terminator Salvation" because it is pure visual noise and can be described with one word. Ridiculous.
In this this new installment of the franchise, the film tells the story behind the story. It gives us what we barely got to see in the t.v. show, in a clever way too. All of the charecters return including Kirk and Spock as the two leads, renacted by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto while they embark on adventures upon the U.S.S enterprise.
A usual film has three main parts to it. A plot, a few charecters, and a side story for those charecters. This film is definately charecter driven. They are played very well by a cast in which I have never heard of. The best scenes in the film are the ones with the main charecters on the enterprise as they simply are exchanging cleverly written dialouge. The chemistry works between every single actor here and everyone gets their moment to shine. Abrams took over a clever plot and put great actors into it rather than trying to make an add-on seqel. "Star Trek" has the best ensemble cast I have seen all year.
Now, heres what doesn't work. The side story for the charecters in unclear as it deals with the future and during about a quarter of the movie I was saying to myself "Does this side story even make sense?" Also, the villain is poorly written and the atmosphere of that charecter is boring. Everybody knows that this villain is the same kind as almost every other villain in a sci-fi epic who wants to "take over the world" and kill the "good guys."
But luckily that is only the side story. Just about everything else in the movie works. The action scenes are intriguing and don't drag on as much as one would expect. In addition, the cinematograpghy is suprisingly good and there are some well crafted shots of the Enterprise in battle.
You DO NOT have to be a fan of the original series to like this movie. You should definately go to the movie theatre and pay your money to go see "Star Trek."
Based on a true story, Nathaniel Ayers is a homeless schizophrenic who one day meets a Los Angeles journalist named Steve Lopez. Ayers is a gifted violinist and dreams of playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Lopez tries to help him accomplish this dream while also trying to write the first good story that he has had in a while.
The acting is about as good as it gets right here. Jamie Foxx (Ayers) is given a tough role to play and plays it extremely well as he shows us that he can go from being happy to sad in less than a second and Downey Jr. (Lopez) is fantastic as he acts out his charecter with intelligence and helps create depth to the chemistry that the two leads share.
But the film is all over the place. Being nearly two hours, it is poorly executed and the screenplay is not well put together. The scenes do not flow correctly and the music, which is in almost every scene, lasts excessively long. The story wasn't interesting enough to be as long as the movie was.
The film made me feel bad for these wonderful actors because they are really giving it their all here but the movie doesn't give back. Unfortunately, Foxx and Downey Jr. are the only elements holding this project in place. So, unless you would like to see the right actors in the wrong movie then save your money and don't go see this film.
