Frankenweenie

Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s newest film is nominated for animated feature film. Tim Burton returns to stop motion animation similar to his well-loved Nightmare Before Christmas. I have heard several people not like this film simply because it’s in black and white, which I agree lost some younger viewers just because they don’t like black and white films(which I don’t find to be a good enough sole reason to not like a movie). I think the decision to make Frankenweenie black and white added to the film’s more dark feeling of death and science experiments gone wrong (or right).  Victor who is voiced by Charlie Tahan, which some may know from Charlie St. Cloud, loses his dog Sparky and brings him back to life like Frankenstein. Frankenweenie is a great family film (PG-13 rating) and for the dog owner’s out there, I’m sure you’ll see parts of your dog throughout the movie. To win the animated feature film Oscar, Frankenweenie will have to beat out Brave and ParaNorman both of which have been winning animated awards across the board.

Frankenweenie is now available on Redbox.

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty is directed by Catherine Bigelow, the same woman who brought you The Hurt Locker.This two and a half hour film is nominated for best picture, film editing, sound editing, and original screen play. Actress Jessica Chastain who plays Maya, the films main character, is nominated for lead actress. There were two things that really bothered me about this movie, the first being the title. As anyone who grew up in or around the military knows, the saying is Oh dark thirty not zero. The second is that the film is broken up into labeled sections where at some point in that section a character will say the label that appeared on the screen minutes before. In my opinion, the movie would have been just as good if each segment wasn’t labeled and they just let it flow continuously. Other than those two reasons, Zero Dark Thirty is a pretty good movie. The beginning can be a little slow and there is way more talking than action but the last thirty minutes or so are intense. Chastain’s performance definitely earned her the Oscar nomination but throughout the movie I kept remembering her role in The Debt where she played another intelligence officer. For those of you who saw Act of Valor (available on Netflix instant watch) one of the main Navy Seal’s is the leader of Seal Team Six, which isn’t very surprising. Zero Dark Thirty is a great movie but I doubt it will win the best picture award against Django.

Zero Dark Thirty was recently released in theaters so you have plenty of time to go see it.

Django Unchained

      I haven't posted anything in a long time but I've decided to do an Oscar Nominee thing this year. So far I have prepared five reviews of movies that have been nominated for several Oscars. I will post them throughout the coming weeks and continue to write more reviews of the nominated movies as I see them and as always feedback is appreciated. First up is Django!

      As many of you have heard or seen, Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino, is one of the best movies of the year. Django has been Oscar nominated for best picture, cinematography, sound editing, original screenplay and actor Christoph Waltz had been nominated for supporting actor. Django is not only a great revival of western movies but it also makes you laugh at silly one-liners and once again brings attention to slave life. While Jamie Foxx is the main character in this southern western about slavery, Christoph Waltz steals the show with his quirkiness and portrayal of Dr. King Schultz. Jamie Foxx plays the slave Django (the D is silent) who is on a quest to save his Broomhilda from a large plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio), with the help of bounty hunter Dr. Shultz. As can be expected from a Tarantino movie, Django gets rather gory throughout the movie although not as gory as say, Pulp Fiction or most other Tarantino films for that matter. Django Unchained is definitely worthy of its best picture Oscar nomination, as is Christoph Waltz for is supporting actor nomination. If you haven’t already seen Django in theaters, I highly suggest it as it definitely won’t be the same on your TV.

     You can still see Django in theaters.

Running Scared

                I’m finally back! I know it’s been a long time and a lot has been going on but I have still made time to watch plenty of movies so you’ll start seeing some reviews soon! I’ve decided to start back up with one of my all time favorite movies, Running Scared.

                Running Scared was made in 2006 by Wayne Kramer and stars Paul Walker as Joey Gazelle and Cameron Bright as Oleg Yugorsky, who some might know as “the cure” from X-men: The Last Stand. This movie definitely is not for those who don’t like blood, violence or excessive use of the F-bomb. This is perhaps the movie with the most F-bombs I have ever watched with a total of 315 uses which in a 122 minute film averages about 2.5 uses per minute, that’s a lot of F-bombs! Bad words aside, the story of Running Scared is about the Russian mafia and a drug deal gone bad where Joey Gazelle has to get rid of a unique gun used in the shooting of undercover cops. However, Joey’s son’s neighbor friend, Oleg, takes the gun to try to stop the abuse of his Russian mobster step-dad. Along the way, Joey’s wife Teresa Gazelle (Vera Farmiga) must fight to protect her son and save Oleg from highly dangerous serial kidnappers and “Mac daddy pimps”. One of the last scenes, and by far the most disturbing, features a hockey rink where the Russian mob has one final shoot out that is so bloody they had to use black lights to make it not seem as bad.

                Wayne Kramer’s way of filming Running Scared was very precise and artistic. He had the whole film drawn out with the specific camera angles and designs he wanted portrayed in the movie. The end credits showcase some of the artwork while taking you back through key parts in the film. The soundtrack for Running Scared by Mark Isham, is filled with dark, mysterious tones that get your blood pumping and make you feel that there is an increased sense of danger. If you would like to hear the main theme for the movie you can click here.

                Overall, Running Scared is a really good movie if you like violence, blood, mobsters and Paul Walker (Running Scared is probably one of his best films). If however, you don’t like any of the above then this definitely isn’t the movie for you and if you just like Paul Walker you’re probably better off seeing one of the Fast and Furious movies.

“Don’t nobody know nobody!” – Tommy from Running Scared

127 Hours

127 Hours directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco is a truly inspirational and emotional film about outdoorsman Aron Ralston. Everyone remembers turning on the news in 2003 and hearing about a guy that was out hiking and had to cut his own arm off in order to survive. After reading many articles and watching dozens of videos 127 Hours sticks to the true story in terms of what Ralston experienced and how he dealt with his predicament. The movie also made sure to include specific details in the crucial scene; such as, the nerves he has to get through and the smile when he breaks his arm so he can cut through it.

Subject matter aside, 127 Hours as a whole is a fantastic film. It opens up with video of the world around us, cities, sports, people, all edited together in three side by side shots to make the impression that it’s a lot bigger than we think. The music throughout the movie is incredible, it makes the feelings you already feel just by watching it so much more intense with triumphant sounds, acoustic guitars that match the landscape or electric guitar to symbolize the intense pain Ralston endures (if you would like to listen to some of it without watching the movie this is an example of the triumphant, remembering type of music and here is one that makes you feel kind of sad and desperate just listening to it). James Franco is quite amazing in this movie obviously; he got nominated for Best Actor. His facial expressions and emotions that he portrays are so spot on, he just sucks you into the movie and you feel like you are there.

I feel a little bad about not being able to write a longer review for such a great movie, but everyone already knows what happens and all I can really say is how good a job they did on making the true story come to the big screen. 127 Hours is a fantastic film that everyone should see for one reason or another. I highly recommend this movie if you’re sitting at home with nothing to do and want something really good to watch.

Adam

Adam (2009) directed by Max Mayer and staring Hugh Dancy (some may know him from Confessions of a Shopaholic) and Rose Bryn. Hugh Dancy plays, Adam, a twenty nine year old man who has Asperger’s Syndrome and struggles to find another job so he can keep his New York apartment. Shortly after his father dies he meets his neighbor that lives above him, Beth, played by Rose Bryn. He immediately starts talking to her about outer space and the rest, you’ll have to see for yourself.

From what I know from experience and research, the Asperger’s syndrome in the film correctly portrays actual Asperger’s. Adam has difficulty socializing in large groups of people he doesn’t know and often talks too much when he gets excited about a topic. Adam also struggles to keep eye contact and has trouble figuring out what other people are thinking. Hugh Dancy makes his role very believable and charming. By the end of the movie, I was a little surprised that it didn’t follow the tradition Hollywood ending; although, maybe not so surprising since it wasn’t a main-stream film. If you are interested in Asperger’s or are just in the mood for a good romantic drama Adam is the movie for you!

Let Me In

Let Me In(2010) directed by Matt Reeves and starring Kodi Smit-Mcphee as bullied twelve year old, Owen, who befriends vampire girl Abby, played by Chloe Moretz (the girl from Kick-Ass), who looks about the same age but states she has been twelve for a very long time. The original was a Swedish film called Let the Right One In made in 2008; both are based off the book referred to as either title.  Owen is frequently bullied by other boys at his school and when Abby moves into the apartment next to his, he immediately tries to be her friend. The acting of the children, I thought, was rather good for what they had to do. The role of Abby was quite different from Chloe Moretz’ Kick-Ass, and required her to be more mysterious yet still deadly. I also thought Kodi Smit-Mcphee’s Owen was believably scared, confused and brave when needed but, there aren’t any movies I know of to compare his performance to.

The one thing the instantly caught my eye as soon as the movie started was the special effects.  The snow fall in the first scene looks completely fake and as the ambulance drives through it, it looks like the ambulance is just driving through normal air. The vampire movements; however, are very vampire-like except I feel like they made the CGI version of Abby too small and thin to match what she really looked like. Along with some of the special effects I had a problem with a few of the camera angles. Whenever Abby or Owen were in the corner of the screen, back to the camera, it would focus on them instead of what they were looking at which took up the majority of the screen. What they were blurring wasn’t anything that would raise suspense, in both cases it was just other people such as Owen’s mom.

        Despite the animations and camera views, I did like how close it stuck to the original movie and book. The play ground where they first meet and frequently hang out looks almost identical to the original with nothing more than a small jungle gym. Let Me In also stays true to Let the Right One In in that the girl is very sheltered and protected by her “father” who hangs people upside down to collect their blood for her. I also like the fact they stuck in the Morse code communication between the two kids, although they used it more often in the original.

        So, without giving away the ending, Let Me In is a pretty good movie that stays close to its origins. If you like vampires, cold wintery nights, blood and violence, then check out this movie. Let Me In and Let the Right One In are both definitely worth watching and I suggest watching both of them to see the differences and similarities for yourself.