Braveheart

I absolutely loved this movie! Braveheart may be gory and violent but it was awesome. Mel Gibson, who directed, produced, and starred in it did a wonderful job with this epic historical film. It's about the legendary Scot, William Wallace who's wife was murdered because along with Wallace, she fought off would be rapists who were English. The English killed her to get to him. He unwillingly started a rebellion against the English who had suppressed Scotland for years when he got his revenge. Along with his Scottish buddies, they eventually managed to get there freedom from the English. Along the way this movie gives you drama, action, and even some comedy. One of the best quotes to tell of William Wallace's comical disrespect of the English was when he said, "Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse." There were many memorable quotes in this movie but I think the best one was, "Every man dies, not every man really lives." I believe we can all learn from that one.

Transformers

Transformers is a movie I had been wanting to see for quite a while and finally saw this weekend. Many of my friends had given it great reviews so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I have to agree with my friends that this was a good action-packed movie. It was about how an alien cube with the capacity to grant infinite power was hidden on earth by the Autobots (the good guys) and is now being searched for because the Decepticons ( the bad guys) are after it. The Decepticons want to kill all humans and take over earth so it is imperative that the Autobots find it first. The information on the cube's whereabouts was hidden long ago in teenage Sam Witwicky's great-grandfather's glasses. Sam is played by Shaia LeBeouf who I think is a great actor. Sam becomes an unlikely ally to the Autobots in their quest to fight for humankind's survival. Even if you're not a sci-fi fan, it's an exciting movie to watch with great action scenes.

Bad Bad Movie

I'm going to tell you about a movie that was so boring and stupid, that I'm not even going to put up a picture of the movie poster. The Miracle at St. Anna had great promise because it had decent actors, a good sized budget and it dealt with some racism which could have given it an edge. It was also set in Italy during World War II which could have given it great cinematography. But, no. The movie is about four soldiers from the army's all-black 92nd Division. During a gun fight they find themselves behind enemy lines. They end up in a small Tuscan village called St. Anna di Stazzema where they try to figure out how to get past the enemy and back with the rest of their army division. The movie was confusing and disappointing. USA Today said, "It tries hard to be inspiring, but it has jarring tonal shifts, stereotyped characters and a lack of narrative perspective." In other words, Spike Lee, your movie sucked!

Million Dollar Baby

A really awesome movie came out in 2004 called Million Dollar Baby. If you like drama, this is the movie to watch. I had recently caught a glimpse of it on TV and went ahead and rented it a few days ago, even though I had already seen it. The movie is long and filled with drama and since I was feeling a bit under the weather, it was the perfect flick to sit back and watch. This film, which won multiple Oscars is about a determined female boxer who convinces an older trainer to train her. Frankie Dunn played by Clint Eastwood is depressed over a painful estrangement from his daughter when Maggie Fitzgerald played by Hilary Swank walks into his life and finally convinces him to train her. With the help of Dunn's assistant, Scrap, played by Morgan Freeman, they help Maggie get to the top. They go through trials and tribulations along the way but they manage to stick together and stick it out. I have to warn you that the ending is sad so if you can't stand unhappily ever after endings don't watch it. But if you like a well written movie with strong actors, please don't miss this one.

Juno

Juno MacGuff is a 16 year-old girl who has a one time sexual encounter with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker and ends up getting pregnant. She decides to get an abortion but then changes her mind and instead wants to put the baby up for adoption. She finds parents for her baby in the PennySaver personals. The movie Juno takes you over the entire period of her pregnancy and after. I liked this movie because it was quirky and comedic even though it was about a serious issue. All the characters in this movie were characters themselves and Michael Cera, the actor who played Bleeker is one of my favorite actors. His movies are always funny.

Twilight

I know that some people were a little disappointed with Twilight, but because I never read any of the books and didn’t really know what to expect when I saw it, I liked it. It wasn’t your typical vampire movie which is refreshing. Even the violence and gore that comes along with vampire movies wasn’t so bad at all. And I liked that they had very good-looking people which is a great tactic for drawing people in. I wouldn’t say that I want to go buy this movie but I wouldn’t mind watching it again and I would like to see the next part. This film is geared more for people between the ages of 11 and 17 but it’s still a good movie to watch for anyone older. As far as the books go, Stephen King said that Stephanie Meyer couldn't write unlike J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. King said, “Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that J.K. Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.” I can’t say much about that since, like I said before, I haven’t read any of the books.

Kung Fu Hustle

Once in a while a movie comes along that you wouldn’t ordinarily see or are even interested in that type of genre but you’re forced to watch one day because a very pushy and enthusiastic person insists you watch it with her. You finally sit down and sigh and reluctantly watch as your friend energetically slides the DVD into the DVD Player, pushes play and happily comes and jumps on the couch next to you in an Indian style position. As the starting credits begin you see all these Chinese words and unfamiliar music and you begin to slouch down and cross your arms as your eyes glaze over, expecting boredom. But then a miracle! Even though the movie is in Chinese with English subtitles, it is one of the funniest movies ever! Kung Fu Hustle is a very different type of comedy than I’m used to seeing but it was none the less fantastic. It’s about these two misfits trying to be bad so they can get accepted into a gang. The more they try, the more they fail. In the end

they find out what they’re really made of

and who they really are.

Super Bad

The producers who brought you the 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up decided to come up with Super Bad and it was super funny! It is Rated-R because there is a lot bad language and sexual connotation. The movie is about these three teenage losers looking to lose their virginity before college. I know there are many movies with similar themes but this one is hilarious. Jonah Hill plays Seth who is awesomely funny as well as Michael Cera who plays Evan. Cera also came out in Juno and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Christoper Mintz-Plasse comes out as Fogell or better known as McLovin. Also very funny!

He's Just Not That Into You

Today was the premiere of He's Just Not That Into You which I went to go see. It was a chick flick so the majority of the audience were female. Their ages ranged from teenagers to late 50s. I liked the movie but it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be. It did give you insider tips on how men think and what they really mean when they say things like "it was nice meeting you". Overall it was a fun movie to watch with a bunch of friends. I don't know if guys would be into this movie or not but they did give men tips about women too so it wouldn't do them any harm to go see it.

Under The Same Moon

Under The Same Moon was a phenomenal movie which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival where it received a standing ovation. The story is about 9 year old Carlitos’ journey from Mexico to the United States. After Carlitos’ grandmother dies, he decides to make the dangerous trek to find his mother who is working as a maid in the US. He enters illegally which makes his course treacherous and risky, especially for someone so young. On his way he meets some interesting good-hearted characters along with some who have more sinister things in mind for Carlitos. This movie was very interesting and I can actually say it made me laugh and cry. The one thing I didn’t like was the ending. I wish they would have added just a little more to it. You’ll know what I mean when you see it. The movie is in Spanish but it does come with subtitles and it was loosely based on “Enrique’s Journey”, an ethnography by Sonia Nazario. They very loosely based it on this true story because the journeys some of these children have to make are too horrific and depressing so they had to change many things for the movie. All of the actors did an awesome job but I was particularly impressed with Adrian Alonso, the little boy who played Carlitos. He is such a great actor for someone so young. Some of you may have already seen him in his first American film The Legend of Zorro. America Ferrera also makes a short appearance in the movie.