After seeing Oblivion, Tom Cruise’s newest foray into the futuristic sci-fi genre, there is definitely a lot to talk about. Like Andrea Riseborough’s pupils! Read on to see just what Lauren and Zac deem worthy of discussion. [Read more...]
Dissecting Oblivion
04/22/2013 by 6 Comments
Film Review: Oblivion
04/18/2013 by 1 Comment
You probably think you have a good idea about how Oblivion is going to go, or at least a good idea about the basic premise. Chances are, you don’t even know that much. [Read more...]
Dissecting The Dark Knight Rises: Ending Nolan’s Batman
07/23/2012 by 2 Comments
Zac: The Dark Knight Rises supposedly brings us to the end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and the reactions to it have been fairly positive for the most part (Zac’s Review). Still, the latest Batman film leaves a lot to be discussed and Lauren and I have decided to get into spoilers to see what really worked, and what didn’t, for the film.
Lauren: That’s right; feel free to read this in your Batman voice. [Read more...]
Review: The Dark Knight Rises
07/19/2012 by Leave a Comment
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises concludes his Batman series with a wonderful finale as Christian Bales delivers his best performance of the trilogy.
Review of B.o.B.’s ‘Strange Clouds’
04/29/2012 by Leave a Comment
B.o.B blew up a couple of years ago because of the power of two tracks; “Nothin’ But You (feat. Bruno Mars),” and “Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams).” These two songs catapulted the ATL rapper into the pop music stratosphere, creating quite a big tear between hip-hop fans in the process. Some enjoyed him because of his energetic flow and his overwhelming success, while others ignored him as a rapper because of the immediate success and his weird collaborations (who else would put Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo on a track?). [Read more...]
Review: Red
10/15/2010 by Leave a Comment
Red makes DC Comics two for three this year at making fun action pictures come alive from their pages and neither of them included a character anywhere near being their A, or even B, tent pole characters.
R.E.D.’s, Retired Extremely Dangerous, are ex-CIA operatives that are no longer operating in the field but are still dealt with extreme caution as they were the best of the best in their time. Frank Moses is definitely a R.E.D. and as he wrestles with retirement the only connection he has to anyone seems to be his pension agent, Sarah. Frank has developed a thing for her though and he is tearing up his checks and reporting them lost for the opportunity of talking to her over and over again. It’s when an attempt to take out Frank puts himself and his hopeful lady friend into danger that our story really kicks in.
Review: Invictus
12/11/2009 by Leave a Comment
Clint Eastwood’s latest is an unoriginal and uninspired affair, that while holding a fine performance from Morgan Freeman and some rewarding moments, is too flawed in too many areas to really excel.
The story revolves around the work of Nelson Mandela from the end of South Africa’s apartheid and through the first year or so of his presidency of the country. More specifically his work with the national rugby team, the Springboks, as a way to bring blacks and whites together to bond while trying to put years of oppression behind them between the once white controlled minority government in the predominantly black country.
As the native population finally achieves an equal status in the country, they instantly want to change things to their tradition and ridding themselves of any British ties. Mandela knows this is not possible if they are to succeed, and his strategizing and posturing to keep the peace and bring people closer together rather than father a part are the highlights of the film. These actions are even more powerful as this story and this man are real, making the work he does truly remarkable and inspiring. Morgan Freeman and most of his work and scenes in the film are what makes the film viable and one of the only real reasons to see this film; luckily he is in a lot of the picture. [Read more...]
Archival Review: Batman Begins
07/28/2008 by Leave a Comment
Christopher Nolan reboots and revitalizes a dying franchise that takes the source material seriously and creates one of the better comic book origin films to date.
Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne who has purposefully got himself thrown into prison and entered a life of crime to train and learn how to get back at evil and strike fear into their hearts. While in prison he is approached by Henri Ducard (Liam Nesson) speaking on the behalf of Ra’s al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), who leads an organization called the League of Shadows who wishes to, rid the world of the scum of the earth. The league trains Wayne into a skilled master of fighting, stealth, and combat tactics, before having to pass the final test of executing a proven criminal. Refusing to kill the man, Wayne is forced to defend himself, kills Ra’s al Ghul, and destroys the league’s hide out along with many of it’s members; with Wayne saving Henri Ducard before it’s all said and done, yet has to leave him behind.
Upon returning to Gotham, Wayne, along with the help of Alfred (Michael Caine) the family butler begins to re-establish his name in both Wayne Enterprises and the city. He begins to work secretly with Alfred creating Batman while also enlisting the help of Lucius Fox at Wayne Enterprises for the high tech gadgetry needed to become Batman. [Read more...]
Review: The Dark Knight
07/18/2008 by Leave a Comment
Christopher Nolan returns with his follow up to Batman Begins and has crafted one of the finest comic book adaptations in film history.
Batman’s (Christian Bale) presence in Gotham is driving down crime, driving the Mob mad, and inspiring people like Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make a tangible difference in the city. Enter The Joker (Heath Ledger), a psychotic madman, who gets off on anarchy, social distortion, and pure mayhem. He convinces the Mob to entrust him with the task of taking down the Batman and returning the status quo of criminal activity in Gotham to its once great order.
In the meantime, Bruce Wayne, Batman’s real life persona, is using his Wayne Enterprises to investigate a Chinese accountant who handles the mob’s money in an attempt to help bring down the Mob threat in Gotham with the assistance of Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) and his Charmin of the Board Locus Fox (Morgan Freeman). If his life was complicated enough, Wayne’s dream girl, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is dating Dent as Wayne struggles with his desire to support Dent and his cause while longing the fact that he longs for Rachel, with his alter ego of Batman getting in the way of them being together. [Read more...]
Review: Wanted
07/10/2008 by Leave a Comment
Timur Bekmambetov brings Mark Millar’s graphic novel to life in a visually stunning and entertaining film that comes off a bit rushed and short changed on material.
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is going no where in life. His girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, he hates his job, and he hates his boss all while having no direction for the future at all. This is in contrast to a member of the Brotherhood, one of which is his father who we see killed after leaping out a window taking out a number of would be assassins as he jumps out one building to another (he makes the jump, it’s a bullet that gets him). Wesley is quickly finds a brash change in his life when he is approached by Fox (Angelina Jolie) who is both recruiting him to the brotherhood as well as protecting him from his fathers assassin Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). The two go on a whirlwind chase around Chicago as they are chased by Cross performing super unrealistic, but stylish, moves in Fox’s corvette all while Wesley is nearly shitting himself. Upon escape, Wesley is introduced to Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the leader of the Brotherhood, who says Wesley has inherited all of his father’s assets and is destined to be a hit man of the Brotherhood. Upon Wesley’s release he awakes as if from a dream but quickly realizes his reality and begins down a path to a life he never thought he had. [Read more...]
Review: Feast of Love
03/12/2008 by Leave a Comment
An interesting look at love that dissects a number of individuals’ lives that are all closely connected and the consequences and effects love has on this group of individuals.
Morgan Freeman serves as a mediator and father figure for all of these individuals as he deals with his issues with his family while trying to protect those that he still can. Greg Kinnear is the other lead and we follow him through his mis-steps and successes in relationships as well that spans over the course of three women. [Read more...]
Review: Gone Baby Gone
10/31/2007 by Leave a Comment
Another movie dealing with the loss of a child, this one excels on pretty much every level. Gone Baby Gone is an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane(Mystic River) novel by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. I have always been a fan of Affleck and I am glad that he does a great job here which is supported by his great cast. [Read more...]
