**Warning – If you read the review, there are some spoilers in it. It was hard for me to explain my thoughts without giving away some key pieces of the storyline. Please skip the review if you do not wish to know bits and pieces from the movie.
Title: The Kids Are All Right
Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, Six Feet Under)
Major Players: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis: A brother and sister who were born from artificial insemination search for their birth father and bring him into their lives. The movie focuses on how they build a relationship with him and how he fits in with their two mothers.
I think you should: Sleep instead – I rented this movie from Netflix after hearing so much buzz about the movie from the Golden Globe awards, however I found myself fast forwarding though parts of it and checked how much time was left in the movie every five minutes.
Review: The Kids might be "All Right," but I'm beyond bored. When I heard the storyline of this movie, I thought the movie might be interesting since it was described as a comedy where two children search for their father because the children’s two mothers used the same donor to conceive both children. Sadly, this movie left me bored and I don’t even think I laughed once during the movie.
The storyline was slow and seemed a bit predictable to me. You know, the two kids find their donor father and figure out how to fit him into their life. There wasn’t much of a struggle to find their donor father, they just called up the donor bank and basically that was it. The kids didn’t tell the mothers that they were meeting him and, when the mothers found out, they weren’t happy. Eventually they meet him and he sort of becomes part of their lives. Eventually a very bad thing happens that involves Paul (Ruffalo), the donor father, and it causes a fight between Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore), the two mothers of the children. Then the final portions of the movie deal with if should they let Paul continue being a part of the family and if the two women will stay together. In the end, I didn’t really care. I just wanted the movie to end so I could return the movie to Netflix and get something I thought was more entertaining.
As time has gone on, I have sadly come to expect some sort of nudity/sex scene in popular movies. However, I also didn’t enjoy all of the sex scenes throughout this movie. Just too much for me and they were a bit uncomfortable to me as well. In my opinion, I don’t need to see half of the things they show in movies these days and this movie was not short of these scenes that made me uncomfortable and I fast forwarded a lot of times in these moments.
I also found that I didn’t really care what happened to most of the characters. This isn’t to say that the acting is badly done in the movie, but I didn’t feel like the characters were very deep and I didn’t feel connected to them. In fact, there were times that I hated all of the characters. This movie had a great cast, but I felt that the writing didn’t give these actors much of a range to work with and so we didn’t get to see the actor’s capability.
Notable Performances: The acting in this wasn’t my favorite, however, again, I don’t believe that this is necessarily the fault of the actors themselves. I do feel that Annette Bening, who played one of the mothers, Nic, had to play the more dominant woman in the relationship. She succeeded in making me believe that she was overbearing and powerful in the relationship. This also made me grow to not like the character and I think that was part of the point. Make the audience not care too much for Nic and so we felt a bit sorry for Jules. If this was the point the director/writers wanted, then Bening did a great job making this happen. It was a bit difficult to feel badly for Nic when the movie called for it. I felt like saying “well, you kind of did this to yourself in the way you acted.”
Memorable Lines:
Jules: “Marriage is hard...So, sometimes, you know, you're together for so long, that you just... You stop seeing the other person. You just see weird projections of your own junk. Instead of talking to each other, you go off the rails and act grubby and make stupid choices...”
Thing I liked the most: Not much that I liked about the move except when it ended.
Thing I liked the least: The sex scenes.
Where I saw the movie: In my room
Who I saw it with: Just by myself
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Some tortilla chips and Godiva chocolate
What I was wearing: Ultra Comfy - Pajamas
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Inception
Title: Inception
Date: Thursday, January 6, 2011
Genre: Action/Mystery
Directed by: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Momento, The Prestige)
Major Players: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page
Synopsis: Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a talented thief. However, he is not after your physical possessions, he is after your subconscious secrets that are only available to him when you are in a dream state. Through the art of extraction, he steals important secrets for corporate espionage. Because of this, he has lost everything he has loved – his home, his children and his wife. He is offered a job that could help him gain his life back, however this job requires him to do something considered impossible – inception. This requires Cobb not to steal a secret or idea, but instead to plant one in someone’s head. Will Cobb and his team (including Gordon-Levitt and Page) succeed, or will they be foiled and lose everything to the enemy that only Cobb might suspect?
I think you should: Watch on the couch – I only say this because this movie is not currently in the theaters anymore and is available for rental.
Review: Have you ever wondered if your life was real or simply a dream? Inception might make you think about this question even more. This movie will confuse you in the beginning and then leave you questioning in the end. Inception is an action/mystery movie that had me captivated and wondering what would happen next. I have heard a ton about this movie and was excited to finally be able to watch it. It did not disappoint me.
The opening scene of this movie was my least favorite part only because I felt confused and frustrated trying to figure out what was going on. It made me wonder if I missed something or if I was just not smart enough to understand. Luckily, this is cleared up not long after and gave me my mental confidence back. Part of me understands why the director did the opening this way, but part of me wanted to stop the movie and ask friends who have watched it to explain it to me.
Once I had an idea of what was going on, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The acting was very well done (as to be expected by the caliber of talent in the movie), but for me, the special effects were my favorite. When the characters entered the dream sequences, it was interesting to see how the characters could manipulate the dreams and change them along the way. The first time that Ariadne (Page) stages a dream and changes even the direction of the sky, it is fun to not only see what that world would look like, but also to see how the people in the dream react to Ariadne as she changes things. The effects were also interesting as the dreamer was awoken from the dream. Many times, water was used to wake the dreamer up and the use of water in the dream sequences was intense and bit beautiful at the same time.
The sound editors should be mentioned as well with the special effects. As the effects would happen, the sound matched seamlessly whether it was the water as mentioned before or a random train the would pop up in the dream sequence, the sound was matched perfectly and made the scenes even more intense. The combination of the special effects and the sounds take you on a thrill ride in this movie and, even though you know some things are coming, makes you jump or brace yourself in anticipation.
The storyline and theme were fascinating. Dreams open up the door to almost anything that your mind can imagine and so it is interesting to see how other people’s minds might work. However, I wish the story had a bit more character development. I felt a connection to Cobb, the story’s main character, but would have enjoyed getting to know some of the other characters as well. It seems like some characters were used a great deal in this movie, but we never really learned who they really were as people. We knew what there role on the team was, but without knowing more about them, it was hard to build a connection to them.
This movie had a little bit of everything – action, romance, mystery and a little sadness. It also gave you the ability to choose your own conclusion. Is this real life? Or is this merely a dream sequence?
Notable Performances: I am a big fan of all three of the “major players” in this movie and, I thought all three did a great job as I expected they would. However, if I had to pick out one performance that stuck with me, I would say it was the haunting performance of Marion Cotillard who plays Mal, the wife of Dom Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio. From the beginning of the movie, we don’t quite understand who Mal is or why she is a villain. She is beautiful and we know she is connected to Cobb, however she does things only an enemy would do. Cotillard plays the character beautifully – she is chilling as the enemy and yet beautiful as Cobb’s wife in other scenes. To me, of all of the characters, Mal was the one who I think back on the most.
I wanted to also mention Leonardo DiCaprio as he played a character who had qualities that made him brilliant, manipulative, romantic, ruthless and more, however I found myself liking Cobb and feeling for him. His character was very likable and I wanted him to succeed so he could get back to his children. DiCaprio did a great job portraying this character so the audience wouldn’t hate him for doing bad things to people’s minds, but like him and hope he can complete the mission.
Memorable Lines:
Cobb: “Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.”
Mal: “You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together.”
Ariadne: “Why is it so important to dream?”
Cobb: “Because, in my dreams we are together.”
Thing I liked the most: The special effects in the dream worlds. The ending – do we really know what happens at the end?
Thing I liked the least: To me, the beginning of the movie is very confusing. The movie begins and you are not sure what is happening until it is explained a little later. I was just confused and frustrated for the first few minutes, but later understood what was happening.
Where I saw the movie: Tucked under several blankets in my bed :)
Who I saw it with: All by myself
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Lunch – A can of Progresso “Italian Style Vegetable Soup”
What I was wearing: Ultra Comfy - Pajamas :)
Date: Thursday, January 6, 2011
Genre: Action/Mystery
Directed by: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Momento, The Prestige)
Major Players: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page
Synopsis: Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a talented thief. However, he is not after your physical possessions, he is after your subconscious secrets that are only available to him when you are in a dream state. Through the art of extraction, he steals important secrets for corporate espionage. Because of this, he has lost everything he has loved – his home, his children and his wife. He is offered a job that could help him gain his life back, however this job requires him to do something considered impossible – inception. This requires Cobb not to steal a secret or idea, but instead to plant one in someone’s head. Will Cobb and his team (including Gordon-Levitt and Page) succeed, or will they be foiled and lose everything to the enemy that only Cobb might suspect?
I think you should: Watch on the couch – I only say this because this movie is not currently in the theaters anymore and is available for rental.
Review: Have you ever wondered if your life was real or simply a dream? Inception might make you think about this question even more. This movie will confuse you in the beginning and then leave you questioning in the end. Inception is an action/mystery movie that had me captivated and wondering what would happen next. I have heard a ton about this movie and was excited to finally be able to watch it. It did not disappoint me.
The opening scene of this movie was my least favorite part only because I felt confused and frustrated trying to figure out what was going on. It made me wonder if I missed something or if I was just not smart enough to understand. Luckily, this is cleared up not long after and gave me my mental confidence back. Part of me understands why the director did the opening this way, but part of me wanted to stop the movie and ask friends who have watched it to explain it to me.
Once I had an idea of what was going on, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The acting was very well done (as to be expected by the caliber of talent in the movie), but for me, the special effects were my favorite. When the characters entered the dream sequences, it was interesting to see how the characters could manipulate the dreams and change them along the way. The first time that Ariadne (Page) stages a dream and changes even the direction of the sky, it is fun to not only see what that world would look like, but also to see how the people in the dream react to Ariadne as she changes things. The effects were also interesting as the dreamer was awoken from the dream. Many times, water was used to wake the dreamer up and the use of water in the dream sequences was intense and bit beautiful at the same time.
The sound editors should be mentioned as well with the special effects. As the effects would happen, the sound matched seamlessly whether it was the water as mentioned before or a random train the would pop up in the dream sequence, the sound was matched perfectly and made the scenes even more intense. The combination of the special effects and the sounds take you on a thrill ride in this movie and, even though you know some things are coming, makes you jump or brace yourself in anticipation.
The storyline and theme were fascinating. Dreams open up the door to almost anything that your mind can imagine and so it is interesting to see how other people’s minds might work. However, I wish the story had a bit more character development. I felt a connection to Cobb, the story’s main character, but would have enjoyed getting to know some of the other characters as well. It seems like some characters were used a great deal in this movie, but we never really learned who they really were as people. We knew what there role on the team was, but without knowing more about them, it was hard to build a connection to them.
This movie had a little bit of everything – action, romance, mystery and a little sadness. It also gave you the ability to choose your own conclusion. Is this real life? Or is this merely a dream sequence?
Notable Performances: I am a big fan of all three of the “major players” in this movie and, I thought all three did a great job as I expected they would. However, if I had to pick out one performance that stuck with me, I would say it was the haunting performance of Marion Cotillard who plays Mal, the wife of Dom Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio. From the beginning of the movie, we don’t quite understand who Mal is or why she is a villain. She is beautiful and we know she is connected to Cobb, however she does things only an enemy would do. Cotillard plays the character beautifully – she is chilling as the enemy and yet beautiful as Cobb’s wife in other scenes. To me, of all of the characters, Mal was the one who I think back on the most.
I wanted to also mention Leonardo DiCaprio as he played a character who had qualities that made him brilliant, manipulative, romantic, ruthless and more, however I found myself liking Cobb and feeling for him. His character was very likable and I wanted him to succeed so he could get back to his children. DiCaprio did a great job portraying this character so the audience wouldn’t hate him for doing bad things to people’s minds, but like him and hope he can complete the mission.
Memorable Lines:
Cobb: “Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.”
Mal: “You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together.”
Ariadne: “Why is it so important to dream?”
Cobb: “Because, in my dreams we are together.”
Thing I liked the most: The special effects in the dream worlds. The ending – do we really know what happens at the end?
Thing I liked the least: To me, the beginning of the movie is very confusing. The movie begins and you are not sure what is happening until it is explained a little later. I was just confused and frustrated for the first few minutes, but later understood what was happening.
Where I saw the movie: Tucked under several blankets in my bed :)
Who I saw it with: All by myself
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Lunch – A can of Progresso “Italian Style Vegetable Soup”
What I was wearing: Ultra Comfy - Pajamas :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Black Swan
Movie Title: Black Swan
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Genre: Drama/Psychological Thriller
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, Pi)
Major Players: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
Notable Performances: Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for their ballet skills. Both actresses had prior ballet experience when they were little, however it only took Kunis three months, five hours a day for seven days a week to learn to dance en pointe. Portman had 9 years of ballet experience when she was little and spent a year before filming training for the role. Both women are beautiful dancers in the movie. Portman did have a double for some of the more complicated dance scenes, but both Portman and Kunis should be commended for their training and abilities.
Synopsis: Nina is a ballerina who is selected to be the new leading ballerina in the New York Ballet’s Swan Lake. She finds herself easily falling into the role of the beautiful and pure “White Swan,” but has difficulty getting into the character the “Black Swan” who is the dark, evil twin of the “White Swan.” The movie follows her journey in becoming the Black Swan.
I think you should: Run To See It if you are not offended by any sexual content or if you are a dancer.
Review: When this movie concluded, I felt like the best way to describe it was “intense.” Black Swan is a psychological thriller that has you watching a beautiful ballet sequence one minute and shielding your eyes from blood or other chilling aspects the next. I am not a fan of “scary” movies and refrain from seeing “horror films” but, although Black Swan is considered a thriller, I would say that there were more “normal” parts of this movie than scary/thrilling. I did notice that I must have been holding my breath a lot during the movie because when the movie ended I felt like I needed to breathe more.
This movie was very well written so it corresponds, in some ways, to the ballet Swan Lake. The storyline is easy to follow, however some parts are hard to understand as to why they are happening until the end. Some of the more confusing things are the self-mutilation and the bleeding “rash” on Portman’s shoulder during the entire movie. The movie shows Nina’s life at the beginning as she strives to be perfect and then throughout the movie, we see Nina’s real life get cloudy and confused as she begins to lose a grip on reality.
The music used in the movie is a mix of beautiful classical pieces to some classical sounding pieces that just seem to be a bit off fitting well into Nina’s struggle between reality and dream. Overall the music was well done when used.
The acting and dancing were both well done. There are characters in this movie who are very real – people like Nina’s mother who was a former ballerina, Thomas Leroy who is the director of the ballet as well as the other ballerinas who are jealous of Nina. As a dancer, I have seen similar people in real life and so it made the characters seem very believable. Everything from the dedication the ballerina’s have to their need to be “perfect,” the movie from a dancer’s standpoint was very believable. From a slightly jealous mother to a ballet director who is very egotistical, this movie is filled with characters that you find yourself questioning their motives.
Memorable Lines:
Erica (Nina’s mother): “What happened to my sweet girl?”
Nina: “She's gone!”
Nina: “It's about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl so she kills herself.”
Thing I liked the most: The ballet performances and the storyline being set up like Swan Lake
Thing I liked the least: The sexual scenes – I understood why some of them were used, however I don’t feel like some scenes/shots were altogether necessary. I know - I'm a bit of a prude, but I am who I am! :)
Where I saw the movie: AMC 30 at the Block at Orange in Orange, CA
Who I saw it with: Two friends – Suzie and Allison
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Popcorn (because it is free every Wednesday for Moviewatchers at AMC) and Gummy Characters from Disneyland.
What I was wearing: Comfy clothes - Black sweatpants and a green fleece shirt.
First movie done - now on to movie number 2! :)
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Genre: Drama/Psychological Thriller
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, Pi)
Major Players: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
Notable Performances: Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for their ballet skills. Both actresses had prior ballet experience when they were little, however it only took Kunis three months, five hours a day for seven days a week to learn to dance en pointe. Portman had 9 years of ballet experience when she was little and spent a year before filming training for the role. Both women are beautiful dancers in the movie. Portman did have a double for some of the more complicated dance scenes, but both Portman and Kunis should be commended for their training and abilities.
Synopsis: Nina is a ballerina who is selected to be the new leading ballerina in the New York Ballet’s Swan Lake. She finds herself easily falling into the role of the beautiful and pure “White Swan,” but has difficulty getting into the character the “Black Swan” who is the dark, evil twin of the “White Swan.” The movie follows her journey in becoming the Black Swan.
I think you should: Run To See It if you are not offended by any sexual content or if you are a dancer.
Review: When this movie concluded, I felt like the best way to describe it was “intense.” Black Swan is a psychological thriller that has you watching a beautiful ballet sequence one minute and shielding your eyes from blood or other chilling aspects the next. I am not a fan of “scary” movies and refrain from seeing “horror films” but, although Black Swan is considered a thriller, I would say that there were more “normal” parts of this movie than scary/thrilling. I did notice that I must have been holding my breath a lot during the movie because when the movie ended I felt like I needed to breathe more.
This movie was very well written so it corresponds, in some ways, to the ballet Swan Lake. The storyline is easy to follow, however some parts are hard to understand as to why they are happening until the end. Some of the more confusing things are the self-mutilation and the bleeding “rash” on Portman’s shoulder during the entire movie. The movie shows Nina’s life at the beginning as she strives to be perfect and then throughout the movie, we see Nina’s real life get cloudy and confused as she begins to lose a grip on reality.
The music used in the movie is a mix of beautiful classical pieces to some classical sounding pieces that just seem to be a bit off fitting well into Nina’s struggle between reality and dream. Overall the music was well done when used.
The acting and dancing were both well done. There are characters in this movie who are very real – people like Nina’s mother who was a former ballerina, Thomas Leroy who is the director of the ballet as well as the other ballerinas who are jealous of Nina. As a dancer, I have seen similar people in real life and so it made the characters seem very believable. Everything from the dedication the ballerina’s have to their need to be “perfect,” the movie from a dancer’s standpoint was very believable. From a slightly jealous mother to a ballet director who is very egotistical, this movie is filled with characters that you find yourself questioning their motives.
Memorable Lines:
Erica (Nina’s mother): “What happened to my sweet girl?”
Nina: “She's gone!”
Nina: “It's about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl so she kills herself.”
Thing I liked the most: The ballet performances and the storyline being set up like Swan Lake
Thing I liked the least: The sexual scenes – I understood why some of them were used, however I don’t feel like some scenes/shots were altogether necessary. I know - I'm a bit of a prude, but I am who I am! :)
Where I saw the movie: AMC 30 at the Block at Orange in Orange, CA
Who I saw it with: Two friends – Suzie and Allison
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Popcorn (because it is free every Wednesday for Moviewatchers at AMC) and Gummy Characters from Disneyland.
What I was wearing: Comfy clothes - Black sweatpants and a green fleece shirt.
First movie done - now on to movie number 2! :)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The Movie Project
Hello!
My name is Lisa and I'm your normal, everyday twenty-something movie fanatic. I decided to put together this blog to begin reviewing the movies I am watching and keeping a record. Then I thought, why not make this a project to set a goal about watching a certain number of movies in a 1 year span?
So I have decided - 2011 for me will mean watching and reviewing 100 movies or more. These movies can be brand new in the theater or classic movies rented or owned at home.
I'll be using a scale of:
"Run to see it" - This means it is a great, can't miss movie you need to see asap
"Walk to see it" - Meaning I suggest seeing it at some point in the theater
"Watch on the couch" - This means better to wait and rent it
"Sleep instead" - Meaning skip it because the movie isn't worth the time
My goals are not to spoil anything about a movie and, if I have to, I will give you warning before I do so.
Please leave comments if you read a review or if you have seen the movie. Let me know your thoughts.
Anyway - I'm excited to being this journey! I bought my first Blu-ray player today (the Sony S570) so now i'm prepared to begin and the movie watching will commence in a couple days!
<3 Lisa
My name is Lisa and I'm your normal, everyday twenty-something movie fanatic. I decided to put together this blog to begin reviewing the movies I am watching and keeping a record. Then I thought, why not make this a project to set a goal about watching a certain number of movies in a 1 year span?
So I have decided - 2011 for me will mean watching and reviewing 100 movies or more. These movies can be brand new in the theater or classic movies rented or owned at home.
I'll be using a scale of:
"Run to see it" - This means it is a great, can't miss movie you need to see asap
"Walk to see it" - Meaning I suggest seeing it at some point in the theater
"Watch on the couch" - This means better to wait and rent it
"Sleep instead" - Meaning skip it because the movie isn't worth the time
My goals are not to spoil anything about a movie and, if I have to, I will give you warning before I do so.
Please leave comments if you read a review or if you have seen the movie. Let me know your thoughts.
Anyway - I'm excited to being this journey! I bought my first Blu-ray player today (the Sony S570) so now i'm prepared to begin and the movie watching will commence in a couple days!
<3 Lisa
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