Review of Premonition

While she may not had seen it coming we ALL did.

Sandra Bullock must be having some sort of intense interest in time travel at the moment seeing as her last two big movies were The Lake House and now Premonition. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis thing. Who knows? Any who, Premonition is her newest flick where she lives the days of one very traumatic week out of order, and it (of course) really freaks her out. It takes until the middle of the movie to really understand what is going on, but by the end you don’t even really need to finish watching the movie because it so obvious what’s going to happen.

The overall flow of the movie I thought worked really well. While there were of course lot’s of things that didn’t make much sense (a characteristic of almost ANY time traveling movie) there were also a lot of details, and really interesting plot elements that kept the audience interested and that were obviously planned very intricately by the writers and filmmakers. I can certainly say that I was never bored while watching this movie.

While the supporting cast was most certainly lacking, I think Sandra was really good I totally bought her as the mom, and the crazy person. I tend to like her in almost anything. She’s not very dynamic as an actress (at least I haven’t seen her in any out of the mold roles) but I think she knows that so she stays in her comfort zone and that works for her.

I wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed with this movie; unrealistic movies just don’t usually awe me much. Although I must say I like the out of chronological order kind of movie because I think they are a tribute to the power of movies. The ability to tell this kind of story in this way is a strictly unique ability of the cinema and that is why it continues to inspire the masses. *steps off the soapbox* It was a pretty silly movie overall, a lot of over dramatics and the ending was WAY too predictable. It takes the same turn as many other time travel movies out there. I prefer to see new things in my movies.

Go ahead and see it. It was entertaining enough, not topping the “greatest movies of all times list” anytime soon but watch able nonetheless. I hope you are able to figure it out.

Overall (out of 10):

Review of Black Snake Moan

Creative story outdone by cheap thrills.

A sex addicted Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson with…issues; and a complete ensemble cast where each character comes with their very own unique problems creates this interesting but just short of “good” film. This is the story of a lonely god fearing Lazarus who tries to turn Rae’s life around by chaining her up in his house and breaking her of her urges.

I felt this movie had great potential and basis, I think the idea and basic story are really good and could have gone many beautiful places, but I thought they went the cheap route and drug people in to the theater with numerous sex scenes and a naked Christina Ricci. I believe the idea for this movie was really creative and new, but I think it was executed poorly.

Christina and Samuel did pretty well, but I don’t think Ricci’s accent was very well done, as a matter of fact I think she’s done it before and I didn’t like it then either, she will never outlive Wednesday for me. However I think both of them probably only took these roles because it gave them a chance to sing, actors like that sort of crap. Jackson was very interesting as an older man; not playing someone with a gun where every other word has four letters and starts with an F is very refreshing. Please don’t confuse this at all with Snakes on a Plane, it has almost NOTHING to do with snakes and there is very little gun action, this one was actually respectable.

Which brings we to another point that I think there was a bit too much singing in the movie. I probably should have paid a bit more attention to the words they were singing but I just got distracted. The songs were pretty and showed us a lot about Jackson’s character but slowed down the film at parts.

There were some really great parts in this film, the relationship between Lazarus and Angela was touching, and I thought the conversation Laz had with the young boy was really cute, but the sexual nature of this film over powered the grass roots feel I felt this movie could have portrayed quiet well.

Overall, I wouldn’t want to watch this again. The beginning middle and end had a depressing cloud hanging over it that was never really resolved and I don’t like movies that are depressing the whole time, it just drags me down. If you are fans of Jackson, Ricci or even Justin Timberlake you will probably enjoy this movie more than I, so give it a chance. It does have a really interesting and neat title!

Overall (Out of 10): and 1/2

Review of Little Children

A Typical Human Struggle with a Very Atypical Ending.

Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson star in this film about the constant fight between temptation and duty. This film is a portrait of the never-ending human struggle to do what one knows is right while trying to resist the lure of rebellion.

This film was full of fascinating characters that added many layers to the tale. Sarah the heart broken housewife, Brad the emasculated househusband, Larry the lost and confused ex-cop, and Ronnie the unreformed pedophile just trying to please his mother. I found all the actors to be very believable and they were able to convince me of the story they were telling. Kate Winslet was brought back to her Heavenly Creature days, certainly not anything like Rose from Titanic or that character in The Holiday. I also found Jackie Earle Haley the man who played Ronnie to be really creepy in a good way. Just as we began to feel bad for this social outcast, he turned out to be just as creepy as we were hoping he wasn’t.

There are so many words I could use to describe the ending of this film, powerful, shocking, disgusting, depressing, poetically just…I was not at all expecting the violent ends to which Ronnie reacted to his mothers powerful words, I was sad that no one really got what they wanted out of life in the end, but mostly I enjoyed the hidden honorableness to the ending. While it may have been against their will, everyone ended up doing the right thing when it was all said and done. Sarah and Brian stayed with their spouses and their children, Larry got to be the hero he once was, and Ronnie did what he had to do to make sure that he would never hurt anyone again. The right thing was done, no matter how much it hurt.

The whole movie had this weird narration, which I found to be rather annoying, but it added to the “here are some characters in a book” vibe which I think the movie was going for. There were also some sex scenes that I didn’t find totally unnecessary, but I do think they took away from a potentially higher level of dignity and class that this movie could have had.

This movie was very interesting to say the least. I prefer my movies to be slightly more upbeat, but this one was thoughtful and suspenseful enough to keep me enjoying it, and the hidden “poetic justness” of it all really made me like it even more. Little Children is certainly not for everyone, but if you’re looking for something different, then don’t hesitate to take a look at it.

Overall (out of 10):

Review of Breach

People aren't always who they appear.

An ultra-conservative turns out to be the biggest spy in the history of the FBI in this suspense movie really that packed a punch, but needed still a bit more oomf. While Breach was certainly not a waste of my time, there was still something lacking in its presentation. I think it didn’t have enough of the “love/emotion” part to really appeal to women; neither did it have enough action or ultra-suspense to appeal to men. It was overall just “pretty good” and achieved a “pretty good” response from the audience. The story was good, but I think everyone was either expecting a bigger twist, or more shooting/running/explosions, which there was very little if not none. Overall I liked it, but don’t go in to this expecting The Bourne Identity or anything, after all it is based on a true story, and they can only push it so far.

I did find Chris Cooper wonderfully troubling and creepy, his character was a very Christian, straight-laced guy from the outside but was really trading secrets with the Russians underneath it all. Maybe it was because I haven’t seen many of his films but I totally believed him as the bible thumping Robert Hanssen. I hated him, but understood him at the same time. The look in his eyes was always convincing and never wavered. He was dead on.

Ryan Philippe on the other hand was… acceptable. He’s good to look at, but I felt like he was trying a little too hard. He played the “go get em’” FBI clerk very well, but the troubled husband was less believable. He was good, but I found him a bit boring. Not much else to say.

I was a little upset that they left some things unanswered, like why he was sending tapes of his wife to other people, or what exactly he was telling the Russians, but as far as movies these days go I felt the ending was quite just. They caught the bad guy and the good guy realized what was really important in life. This was a lovely movie with heart and suspense, which almost anyone can enjoy. It wasn’t confusing, it wasn’t too long, it didn’t drag all that much, and it wasn’t overly graphic or gruesome, a decent movie that was fun to watch and kept my brain on its toes. Go see it. As Robert Hanseen might say, gosh golly why the heck not?

Overall (out of 10):

Review of Music and Lyrics

Sing Along with this Romantic Comedy (but maybe less laughing).

Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore take us on the romantically comedic ride of their coincidental meeting and accident-ridden relationship.

I can only describe this movie, and the millions of other films like it, as cute and delightful, but not in an overly enthusiastic way. A cute story with fun characters and an up beat atmosphere, but certainly not cinematic gold. However, I am perfectly aware that this was never the intended goal of the filmmakers, so when reviewing movies such as this I’m always hesitant. Do I look at it completely critically and grade it on par with all other movies ever, in which it would never come close or do I take it for what it was intended to be by the filmmakers, just a fun two hour date movie, and give it a thumbs up for completing it’s goal? I don’t know. All I know is that I feel much better about myself after watching stupid comedy’s than I do after watching some deep meaningful drama, just physically, I don’t need an aspirin afterwards. I wont make a definite decision now; I’ll just go with the flow I suppose. But I can’t ever completely deny the small place the romantic comedy holds in my heart.

I found the plot base to definitely be unique, I never knew how people went about writing songs, and after watching this I can at least pretend like I do, even if that’s not actually how it happens. Otherwise though, I felt it had the usual romantic comedy plot twists and I didn’t find myself ever totally caught off guard, which I must say is something I happen to enjoy in a film once in a while, so no points there for Music & Lyrics.

I found most of the characters to be charmingly entertaining. Kristen Johnson’s character as the Popz obsessed fan was great, and I really wish she would do even more acting, I think she’s great. Brad Garret also played a perfectly depressing talent agent. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore were there usual romantic comedy-selves. Drew’s character was a very small stretch for her and there was absolutely ZERO stretch for Hugh Grant (Playing the stuck-upish character who is brought back down to earth by the love interest…nothing new for Hughie). They were entertaining nonetheless.

I absolutely LOVED the soundtrack for this movie. The songs they made up for the “80’s pop group” were perfect and the music video was spot on with the “creepy makes no sense” style of the 80’s music videos. The end song I also found to be really cute, and definitely appropriate, it made me feel warm and fuzzy which I suppose is the ultimate goal of any movie like this. I tried to download to some of the songs because they were just that catchy; I’m still working on it. Let me know if you can find them.
Overall a very cute movie, as far as Romantic comedies go it was one of the better ones. Not a complete waste of my time, and if you want an un-depressing, relaxing evening why not check it out, you might get a great song stuck in your head too.

Overall (out of 10):

Review of The Last King of Scotland

A terrifying gloabl issued prestented through the eyes of a terrified individual.

Uganda is in turmoil and as we follow the life of young Dr. Nicholas Garrigan in his interesting life progression as Idi Amin’s personal physician during his stay in the unstable country. We get an insiders look at the brains and brawn behind the corrupt government of the time. Films depicting the chaos in Africa never get old; it’s such a drastic change from anything we are used to seeing in the United States that even to begin to fathom that things like this movie showed happened only a few years ago (1970’s) automatically leaves the audience enraptured. This movie was astounding and emotionally beautiful. It gave us a look at the complete global devastation going on in Uganda but from an individual perspective, something I believe is often a recipe for success, this film was above and beyond successful.

Forrest Whittaker was brilliant as Idi Amin, he was more than deserving of the Oscar. He was able to capture the personal compassion that Amin clearly believed he possessed, while at the same time showing us the eerily terrifying persona those around him experienced. He certainly scared me, not only in his violence, but also in his uneasy kindness, we never knew what he was thinking, and that can often be the most terrifying thing of all.

While Whittaker was outstanding I don’t think the gentleman who played Dr. Garrigan has been given enough credit for this movie. Can you even tell me his name without looking it up? I’ll give you a minute…. It’s James McAvoy, but either way, it is through his eyes the story is being told and I believe that it is really him that this movie is truly about. However he unfortunately doesn’t even appear on the DVD box cover. What is that about? Not only did I find him very attractive (Who wouldn’t.) but also I found his acting enticing and very believable and I really felt for him throughout the movie. By the middle of the movie I was earnestly hoping things would turn out good for him, and I winced with every strike he received from the brutal guards of Amin. McAvoy deserves much more credit and recognition from the public for his brilliant portrayal of the young and naïve doctor.
This movie has most certainly been added to my list of favorites. It has all the elements of a fantastic movie. The plot, the characters, the setting were all perfectly mixed together to produce what I believe was cinematic gold. It address social issues, but not in a drab documentary sort of way, sometimes it is necessary to put these sort of statements into narratives such as these in order to be able to reach a larger, sometimes less cultured audience. This is a movie that all people, from everywhere, from all walks of life should see. It can give you a new perspective on global issues and possibly enlighten you to some of the tragedy that has (and still is) occurring in third world countries. While I’m sure much of it may not be historic fact, it is eye opening nonetheless. Make everyone and your mother see this film; I don’t think you will regret it.

Overall (Out of 10):

Review of Freedom Writers

C+, Needs Improvement.

The true story of a young teacher, Erin Gruwell played by Hillary Swank, in an inner city school who learns to be a better teacher by inspiring her students to be courageous, happy, and to see the error in their violent ways by teaching them to express themselves through writing. A touching and socially important message that has unfortunately been told millions of times before and was unable to bring anything new to the audience watching it. We are only truly touched by this story when we are reminded that it is based on actual events, otherwise it seems like old news that has been pumped out over and over again by Hollywood.

Hillary Swanks performance could only be described as “meh”. Apparently she is only truly talented when it comes to playing boys or socially awkward people. Her performance reminded me a lot of my teachers in high school: ambitious and important but overall pretty boring and dull.

The back-stories and the performances of the students I found to be quite interesting. April Hernandez was beautiful as Eva and I really believed the transformation that her character went through. There were some parts of the plot that bothered me though, I found the situation with her husband predictable in a bad way and I felt like it was an aspect of the story that was not totally seen through by the filmmaking team. They put it in for the sake of putting it in and it did not get the respect it deserved. They should have left it out completely or better developed the idea and the emotions surrounding it.
It was overall a decent story, but I wasn’t thrilled or moved to tears. The acting was good but the characters were way too typical, each one was very classic and had been done before thousands of times. It would definitely be good for children (maybe middle school aged) to watch and it wasn’t a total waste of my time so if you feel like being entertained for a little with a good ol’ fashion “inner city kids get their lives turned around” movie, then this one should get added to your list of ones to watch.

Overall (Out of 10): & 1/2