The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake
Jay Braruchel as Dave
Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath
Theresa Palmer as Becky Barnes



Nicolas Cage plays Balthazar Blake,a sorcerer that has been looking for Dave,who becomes his apprentice, for hundreds of years.  The two must stop Maxim Horvath,an evil sorcerer who wants to take over and wreck all havock.


This was a very fun and entertaining film with alot of laughs.  The special-effects were also very well done.
The actors did a great job,as far as their emotion they put into the characters,as well as the humor they put into them,especially Dave's character.  Knowing nothing about being a sorcerer,going through training for him was hillarious.

The magic done in this film was alot of fun,it was a tad bit diferent then Harry Potter magic,but was still fun.  Another great thing about The Sorcerer's Apprentice is that it is a movie that kid's and adult's can both enjoy. 

Nicolas Cage has played many roles,and he has done great in all of them,including this role.  Jay Braruchel is more of a comedy actor and is hillarious no matter who he plays;in this film,he was again,hillarious.

Entertaining action,fun magic,romance,and very funny moments make The Sorcerer's Apprentice very entertaining.

Eclipse

Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen
Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan
Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black



Eclipse is the third installment of the Twilight Vampire Series. 
As Bella Swan is being chased down by a clan of evil vampires,she must be protected.  She is having more problems as well,deciding between Edward,her star-crossed lover,and Jacob,her child-hood friend.  Bella knows though,that whichever decision she makes,it's going to hurt someone,and she must decide who is more important.

The Twilight saga has become extremely popular over the last few years.  Some may say that it is a little bit too popular.  All-in-all though,they are very entertaining films.

This is the most controversial twlight film so far,by which Bella must chose over Edward and Jacob.  As the tension grows,it makes it even more intense.  It is also has the most action,which makes it even more exciting. 

Eclipse is the best so far out of the Twilight movies,the most exciting,and the most entertaining.

Some personal preferences that were not great about the film is the teenage drama between Bella,Edward,and Jacob.  On the other hand though,that is how the books go,and if the films strayed any more from the books then they already do,the Twilight fans would be very disappointed. 

Over-all though,this is a very entertaining film that does not have have many,if any,dull moments.  The action,the romance,and the suspense make Eclipse worth the watch.

The Basketball Diaries

Leonardo Dicaprio as Jim Carroll

Mark Whalberg as Mickey

James Medio as Pedro

Bruno Kirby as Swifty

The Basketball Diaries is based on the true story of Jim Carroll.  A normal teenager who get's caught up in drugs and ruins everything it has going for him.  He get's kicked off the basketball team,and gets suspended from school,not to mention getting kicked out of his house.  This interesting,rough story takes us through that time in his life,and shows us how he redeems it.

You really have to feel for Dicaprio's character in this film.  When he is forced to lay off of the drugs he goes through an incredible withdrawal,and man does he put emotion into it.  Whalberg's character never grows up,he is a huge hard ass and doesn't like to take anything from anybody;especially from their friend Pedro.

There are so many people now-a-days that are extreme drug addicts,and this film really put it in perspective of what happens when they do get addicted,which was great.  Leoanardo Dicaprio plays an academy award worthy performance. 

Life in the city is rough,and what a great job in showing a struggling teenage life in it.  The temtations such as prostitution,and drugs were very vividly shown here.

All-in all,a great true story with great performances make The Basketball Diaries earn a medal.

 



The Aviator

Leonardo Dicaprio as Howard Hughes
Cate Blanchett as Catherine Hepburn
Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner
John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich
Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe
Ian Holm as Professor Fitz
Jude Law as Errol Flynn


  What can be said about Howard Hughes.........Aviator?  Airplane designer? Emotionally distraught?  Physcologically unstable?  Mathematician?  Director?  Genius?  How about all of the above!

  Leonardo Dicaprio plays Howard Hughes a very succesfull film director and a brilliant airplane designer/aviator.  Hughes decided to make an airplane called,"The Hercules";the biggest plane in the world at the time,that takes off on water. 
  When Hughes becomes physcologically unstable he starts to lose him fame,but,when he finally gains control,he is able to pull himself back out of the water.

  What an intruiging film!  This is a film that cannot possibly be put down.  The work that each character puts into their roles is fantastic.  What emotion and phenomianl portrayals of each character.  Director Martin Scorsese has done so many masterpieces, and this film just adds another one on.  What about Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio working together that makes them so great is a mystery,but every film that they have done together has been sensational.

  Howard Hughes is not someone that was ever taught about in the schools that I attended,and that is an absoelute shame.  Hughes did so much for the aviation buiness which is a huge role in todays society that he would be a great person to study about in schools.  This film shows us what he accomplished and the heartache and the success that he saw.  Which was very fascinating.

  The soundtrack in this film was great as well.  All of the music that was played was music of the era that the film takes place in, which is the 1920's to the 1940's.  Which made it even more so realistic.  Fabulous performances,intense and intruiging storyline,great cinemotography and wonderful direction make The Aviator achieve such great entertainment.

   
 

Whats Eating Gilbert Grape

Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape
Leonardo Dicaprio as Arnie Grape
Mary Steenburgen as Betty Carver
John C. Reilly as Tucker Van Dyke
Crispin Glover as Bobby McBurney


Gilbert Grape has alot on his hands.  Working,providing for his family,and taking care of his mentally challenged brother,Arnie, and his obese mother.  Arnie is a lovable,sympathetic character who always means well,but is sometimes not seen that way.  When Gilbert meets a woman and falls in love,Gilbert must balance between his family and the woman he cares about,which for him,is not very easy.

This film is an emotional journey through the lives of a very dysfunctional family.  There are parts that will make you teary-eyed;such as when Gilbert get's very frusterated with Arnie and hits him,there are also parts that will make you smile and laugh,becuase Arnie is such a lovable character.

Dicaprio's portryal of Arnie Grape was phenominal.  He did a wonderful job showing the emotion and the playfulness of Arnie.  Depp did a great job in showing the stress and the fun of taking care of a mentally challenged sibling,and the care that needs to go into that.  They could not have picked better actors to play each of those characters.

This very enjoyable film was definetly worthy of an academy award in every way shape and form.  While it had excellent acting,a great storyline,and very lovable character.

The Usual Suspects

Stephen Baldwin as Mihcael McManus
Gabriel Byrne as Dean Keaton
Benicio Del Toro as Fred Fenster
Kevin Pollak as Todd Hockney
Kevin Spacy as Roger Kint (Nicknamed Verbal)


When 5 random men are arrested and questioned and sent to prison for a crime that none of them committed,it gets them a little frazzled.  When they are realeased,they decide to get back at the cops and uncover the cops taxi-driving drug deals.  When word get's out about what they have done,they are asked to do another job,and end up making the perfect team.

The five main criminals each did a wonderful job.  Each of them had their different personalities,and were all intelectual,especially Kevin Spacey's character.  His character,Verbal,was nicknamed by his teammates "The man with the plan",as he was the one who organized the plan of uncovering the cops taxi-service drug deals.

The intensity and the twists and turns of this film are a couple of reasons of what made this film so enjoyable.  When they did their first job,they said no violence,and there was none.  On their second job three people were killed,which was unexpected because of how they did their first job.  Many things are also found out about of Dean Keaton,which adds to the twists and turns.  The action itself was also intense,along with each job that they did.

The Usual Suspects over-all chills,thrills,and grabs you unexpectedly.  The intense action,the laughable quotes,and the memorable characters make the film enjoyable.

World's Greatest Dad

Robin Williams as Lance

Daryl Sabera as Kyle



  World's Greatest Dad is categorized as a Dark Comedy;but,within the premise and story line of the film;it seems like more of a drama.

  Robin Williams plays Lance,a poetry teacher who is trying as hard as he can to reach out to his teenage  son,Kyle.  Kyle is a very unpopular pervert who wants nothing to do with his father.  When Kyle acidentally commits suicide,Lance covers it up as a suicide and writes his sons suicide note for him.  Kyle's school is astonished by they way they think that Kyle felt, that they are very deeply moved.  As Lance see's how deeply this is effecting everyone,he decideds to write and publish Kyle a journal.  Little does Lance know how popular it will get.

As you have read above,this story is about redemption,reaching out,and trying to make a differnt person out of someone who was nothing.  Which is why this film is more of a drama then a comedy.  There were many funny parts in it,but,it did not make up for the more drama portion that it is.

Robin Williams does a great job no matter what role he is in.  Whether it's a sadistic maniac as he was in "Death To Smoochy",or a caring therapist as he was in "Good Will Hunting".  In every film,he overshoots his boundries.  The work that Williams puts into his character in this film is unbelievable.  As a high school poetry teacher,he works so hard to keep his class going and then has to deal with his jerk son,and then the loss of his son,and he does a great job in showing the emotional stress,and the livliness of this. 

Daryl Sabera is great in this film as well.  Sabera's role in "World's Greatest Dad" is alot more of a mature role for him then "Spy Kids" was,and is definetly not made for kids.  It show's that he can handle a more mature role though.  Granted,he was an absoelute pervert in this film,but,he still put the necessary emotion into his character,which is definetly a trait to be admired.

"World's Greatest Dad" is great in showing how a loving father can change things about his sons life after his death to make him more loved by other people then he was.  His son deserved none of it,yet his father felt he did;which is absoelutly great.  The raunchy jokes make by Kyle in this film were not meant so much for laughs,but were made more to be disgusted at the kid,and show how much of a jerk he was.  This film is very funny,sad,and emotional.

Splice

Adrien Brody as Clive Nicoli
Sarah Polley as Elsa Cast
Delphine Chaneac as Dren
Brandon McGibbon as Gavin Nicoli


Clive and Elsa are two married scientists that have the job of splicing two species together.  They are told by their boss that they cannot mix a human DNA with another species DNA.  They do not listen to their boss and end up making Dren,and get in way over their heads.

This intriguing sci-fi thriller is a fascinating story.  It was a new story,which was one of the reasons why it was such a great film.  It showed the repercussions of what happens when people try to mix human DNA; it just doesn't work out.

Some things that made this such a great film are that like I said;it's a new idea.  A lot of films today have different story lines,but are they same run of the mill action or chase movies they are exciting but nothing new.  This film was totally new,and it was extremely interesting to watch what was going to happen to their experiment.

The only thing that it could have had a little more of was action;at the same time though,it really didn't need much more then it had.  It surprised you with the action and the ending gave the film a more horror feel to it.  More action would've made the film just a little more thrilling then it already was.

Splice is an exciting motion picture that not only keeps you guessing,but envelops you,and keeps you intrigued throughout the whole film.

The Town

Ben Affleck as:Doug MacRay
Jeremy Renner as:James Coughlin
Rebecca Hall as:Claire Keesey
Blake Lively as:Krista Coughlin
Chris Cooper as:Stephen ManRay


Ben Affleck is a great actor.  He has shown us this on multiple occasions such as:Pearl Habor,Dare Devil and Armageddon.  As far as his directing goes,he overshoots his boundaries.  He has proved to be a fabulous director,as he did also in Good Will Hunting.
The Town portrays the criminal lives of Doug MacRay and James Coughlin.  They are bank robbers, and are very good at it.  After MacRay meets one of the girls that they held up,he falls in love with her.  Little does she know what he actually does.

I cannot even begin to express how great of a movie this is.  The acting,the directing,the phenomenal action sequences,everything about this movie thrills.  The way that the actors portray their characters and they emotion they add to them is incredible.  This is by far,the best movie of the year.

The Hunted

Tommy Lee Jones as L.T. Bonham

Benicio Del Toro as Aaron Hallam


Aaron Hallam is an ex-military officer.  He has been trained to survive and to kill.  He,unfortunately,has used these training for the wrong purposes.  After Hallam kills two deer hunters in the woods,L.T. Bonham,who has taught Hallam everything he knows from the military, is sent to track him down.

The unfortunate things about this film are that it was not as exciting as it could've been.  It is a combination of other movies such as;"The Hitcher",and "The Fugitive".  Which were both very intense movies.  This one,not so much.  It tries to be intense,but doesn't quite grab you like it should.

On the other hand,the action sequences were great.  Tommy Lee Jones showed us that he's still got it,and can still play an excellent cop.

Fine performances though from Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro,who.on screen,have excellent chemistry together.

Pineapple Express

Seth Rogen as Dale Denton

James Franco as Saul Silver

Danny  McBride as Red

Gary Cole as Ted Jones

Craig Robinson as Matheson




Pineapple Express is a hilarious action/stoner comedy starring the always funny Seth Rogen and Spider-mans James Franco.
Dale Denton is a processed server and a major pot head.  Dale witnesses a murder committed by the infamous drug lord Ted Jones.  When he runs to his dealer's,Saul Silver's, house he realizes something.....
He had thrown his roach out of his window outside of Ted's house,and didn't realize how rare the pineapple express weed was,and that his dealer was the only dealer in the market who had it.
Now Paul and Saul are on the run for their lives.

Pineapple Express is a laugh-a-minute comedy that does not disappoint.  It stars a fantastic,hilarious cast,and proves,even as the popularity of it,to be a great comedy.  The drug humor mixed in with the raunchy jokes mixed in with the stupidity of Rogen and Franco's characters makes this a hysterical film.

Going The Distance

Drew Barrymore as Erin

Justin Long as Garrett

Charlie Day as Dan

Jason Sudeikis as Box

Chritina Applegate as Corrine

Jim Gaffigin as Phil

Garrett and Erin live two separate lives.  They unexpectedly meet in a bar and start to see each other.   Erin is a news journalist from San Francisco and is visiting New York for a six week job working at the sentinel.  Before she flies back to San Francisco the two realize that they cant live without each other,and form a long distance relationship.

This film shows that a long distance relationship is hard and needs a lot of effort,but,it does good job in showing that in the end,it's well worth it.

One negative thing about this film is that it is not as funny as expected.  Not that the film wasn't funny,because it definitely was.  In comparison to more recent comedies,though,it didn't quite match up.

But still,this is a funny satisfying romantic comedy with a lot of heart and is well worth the watch.

The Reader

Kate Winslet as Hannah Schmitz

Ralph Finnes as Older Michael Berg

David Kross as Younger Michael Berg



The Reader is the story of Hannah Schmitz and Michael Berg;who shared a sexual relationship when Michael Berg was a young adult.  Years after they separate,Michael goes to overlook a court case for his college course.  Hannah is on trial and Michael finds something out about Hannah that he did not expect.

This film was a new kind of story.  As it may be morally wrong,there is no denying that this film is a masterpiece.  It is an intense story that involves no violence or action;it is intense by nature.  Some may think that it is odd that an older woman would share a relationship with a young adult,but it is greatly shown how it would be possible and what it would look like.  Also,it shows the repercussions of having an intimate relationship with someone that you don't know much about at all,which was great.

The Reader is an incredible story that has a great cast,great story and will keep you interested through the whole film.

Titanic

Leonardo Dicaprio as Jack Dawson

Kate Winslet as Rose Dewitt Bukate

Billy Zane as Cal Hockley

Kathy Bates as Molly Brown

Bill Paxton as Brock Lovett



This story of titanic involves two young adults who find out that living two different lives cannot stop from love.  Jack Dawson is a poor street-living boy who wins a ticket on the ship the Titanic in a games of poker from minutes from departure.  Rose Dawson is a rich girl who is engaged to a horrible money loving jerk Cal Hockley.  Jack and Rose meet on a suicide attempt and their relationship just goes up from there;but,they will soon find out their unexpected fate.

The acting in this motion picture is unbelievably fantastic.  Leonardo and Kate Winslet have great chemistry together.  They are both greats actors and them working together is gold.  The soundtrack in this film is also incredible,very epic music.

This film is very exciting and adds equal amounts of romance and thrills; an absolute masterpiece.

The Social Network

Jesse Eiesenburg as Mark Zuckerburg

Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Severin

Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker

Brenda Song as Christy



Facebook is used by thousands of people everyday.  If anybody has ever thought about how this world wide popular site came about is another story. 
The Social Network is the story behind the creators of the very popular site Facebook.
Mark Zuckerburg creates facebook with his friend Eduardo Stevens.  A man Sean Parker comes into play as the creator of Napster,and helps Mark and Eduardo make more money then they ever imagined.

This very interesting,intriguing film is up for a lot of discussion and is extremely fascinating.  The director starred the perfect actors for this film;and they do a phenomenal job.  The second best film of the year.    

Goodfellas

Gooodfellas

Goodfellas is a 1990 crime drama/action/thriller film directed by the brilliant Martin Scorsese.

Goodfellas follows the life of Henry Hill; played by Ray Liotta, as he says in the beginning of the film, "I always wanted to be a ganster."

The film starts with him as a child and trying to be a ganster.  When he gets older he gangs up with Jimmy Conway; played by Robert DeNiro, and Tommy Devito; played by Joe Pesci.

The three of them are completly notorious gang in this film.  They are hit men, and their families know nothing about their true professions, they don't ask.

Once things get rough Henry Hill starts to move his money making to selling cocaine,which for a while, works very well.  But, after a while, nips him in the bud.

Goodfellas is a great ganster action film, and Martin Scorsese again, doesn't disappoint.

Goodfellas is Rated R

The Departed

The Departed

 The departed in an action/adventure/crime drama starring Leonardo Dicaprio,Mark Whalburg,Jack Nicolson,and Matt Damon. 


Jack Nicolson plays Frank Costello,a very dangerous,very well-know gangster in South Boston.  He has brought up Matt Damon into his gang since he was a little boy.  Matt Damon goes undercover as a police officer for Costello.
Leonardo Dicaprio is found out by the FBI that he was pretending to be a cop,but,the FBI decides to keep him and send him in under-cover to go into Costellos gang.
But,as things get going for a while,and new turns come up,both the FBI,and Costello are coming to realize that there is a rat in each nof their departments.
With twists and turns you won't see coming,The Departed is an incredible action/suspense film.


The Departed is Rated R for Strong,Brutal Violence,Pervasive Language,Some Strong Sexual Content,and Drug Material.

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 action/adventure/thriller/crime drama
It stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.
Gerard Butler is a lovinf family man who,in the blink of an eye,had his wife and daughter murdered before his eyes.  He becomes enraged with the justice system,and their lack of harsh punishment.
He decides to take things into his own hands.
Murdering his wife and child's murderer,he goes to jail.  Little do the authorities know,he is killing off members of the congress,and police department that had anything to do with the trial of his families murderer.

This movie is a great action-ere,with a lot of suspense!
Definetly worth the watch.
You will want to see it again,and again!

Law Abiding Citizen is rated R for Strong,Bloody,Brutal Violence and Torture,a Scene of Rape,and Pervasive Language.