Top Gun (1986)

Genre: Action, Drama

Rating: It was rated PG, but it should have been at least PG-13 for all the cursing, romance (like when Maverick [Tom Cruise] walked in to the Women's bathroom to follow Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood [Kelly McGillis]), deaths, and all the shirtless guys in the locker room.

Storyline:

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and Nick "Goose Bradshaw" are on a F-14A Tomcat sailing on the USS Enterprise trying to intercept MiG-28s over the Indian Ocean. They are flying with "Cougar" (John Stockwell), and "Merlin" (Tim Robbins). When one of the MiG's lock in on Cougar, he is frozen with shock, even though he didn't have much fuel left. Against orders, Maverick helps Cougar land safely. CAG "Stinger" (James Tolkan), is furious of Maverick's act. However, he does send Maverick and Goose to Top Gun, a school to train the best pilots in the U.S. During one training run, Maverick and his teammate "Iceman" (Val Kilmer) are pursuing their targets when both Iceman and Maverick fight to target the other aircraft. When Iceman moves away, he creates a phenomenon known as "jet wash," which is some sort of severe turbulence. Maverick and Goose are caught in the jet wash, and spin out of control in mid-air. When Goose tries to eject, he ejects right into the cockpit hatch, instantly killing him. Maverick's life changes dramatically after. He constantly argues with his new Co-Pilot (Whose Nickname + Actor I cannot remember), and wants to be alone. I don't want to tell you the ending. Because its that good. 

Review:

It is one of the best movies I have seen. You should watch it if you're a Tom Cruise fan, want to see a good movie from the 80's, or just bored. But watch it. Please. (And If you want, you could try watching the 3D one i hear)

Upcoming Anticipated Movies in 2011 (Part 2)

Conan the Barbarian

Releasing on August 19, 2011

Rating:  Rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexuality and nudity

Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Storyline: A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil. 

The Smurfs

Releasing on July 29, 2011
Rating: Rated PG for some mild rude humor and action
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy
Storyline: When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours -- in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down. 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Releasing on August 5, 2011
Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence
Genre:  Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Storyline: During experiments to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, a genetically-enhanced chimpanzee uses its greater intelligence to lead other apes to freedom.

Final Destination 5


Releasing on  August 12, 2011
Rating: Rated R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, and some language
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Storyline: Survivors of a suspension-bridge collapse learn there's no way you can cheat Death. P.S. It's just a bunch of people dieing.

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie


Releasing on August 12, 2011
Rating: Rated PG for thematic elements, brief language and some sensuality
Genre: Documentary | Music 
Storyline: A concert documentary shot during the Glee Live! In Concert! summer 2011 tour.

The Twilight Saga: 
Breaking Dawn Part 1

Releasing on November 18, 2011
Rating: Probable Rating: PG-13 for sequences of prolonged action violence and frightening situations, some sexuality/partial nudity, and bloody images.
Genre: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance
Storyline: The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven.

Upcoming Anticipated Movies in 2011 (Part 1)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Releasing on December 16, 2011.

Rating:  N/A

Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Storyline: Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty. 

Puss in Boots

Releasing on November 4, 2011

Rating: N/A
Genre: Adventure | Animation | Comedy | Fantasy
Storyline: A story about the events leading up to the sword fighting cat's meeting with Shrek and his friends.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Releasing on December 16, 2011
Rating: N/A
Genre:  Action | Adventure | Thriller
Storyline: The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Paranormal Activity 3 




Releasing on October 21, 2011

Rating: N/A
Genre: Horror | Mystery
Storyline: It has something to do with the two women from the previous movies. It takes place in the past when the two sisters were growing up together and the hauntings started.

The Three Musketeers



Releasing on October 21, 2011
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure action violence
Genre: Action | Adventure | Romance
Storyline: The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I accidently watched the second part of Deathly Hallows without watching the first. So I'll post the review as soon as I watch the first part (In about 2 days).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction, and for language, some sexuality and innuendo.



Storyline: Tranformers Dark of the Moon started with a flashback to the 60's and the apollo 11 mission. Apparently the moon missions were started to investigate a mystery object crashing on the moon. The object was the Ark- a giant Cybertronian spaceship that crashed on the moon during the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots. It held the key to winning the war for the Autobots.

Astronauts discovering the Ark

 

A couple of the autobots go on a mission in Chernobyl where they discover a fuel cell from the Ark. Apparently, the Soviets found it and tried to use it, resulting in the Chernobyl explosion. They accidentally awaken Shockwave who tries to take the fuel cell. Luckily, Optimus Prime comes in and manages to get it back. 

Bumble Bee

The autobots learn that the Ark is on the moon from the U.S. government. They decide to go to the moon to find the Ark. They come back with Sentinel Prime and five pillars. Optimus explains to U.S. National Intelligence Director Charlotte Mearing that the pillars make a bridge between two points. It's basically a teleportation device. Optimus also revives Sentinel Prime with his matrix of leadership.


Sam Witwicky is frustrated that he isn't allowed to work with the Autobots. He is also jealous of the relationship between his girlfriend Carly Spence, and her boss Dylan Gould. He manages to get a job after trying to get one for a long time. At his job, he is contacted by his co-worker Jerry Wang who tells Sam about the Ark before getting killed by a Decepticon.

The Wreckers (subgroup of autobots)

Sam contacts the now-retired Seymour Simmons, and they figure out that the Decepticons are murdering people connected to the American and Russian space missions to the Ark. They meet two Russian cosmonauts who show them pictures of hundreds of pillars on the dark side of the moon. 


Sam realizes that the Decepticons went to the Ark long before the Autobot mission and intentionally left Sentinel and five Pillars behind to lure the Autobots into a trap. Sentinel was the key to activating the Pillars and the Decepticons couldn't revive him so they let Optimus Prime revive him. The Autobots rush to return Sentinel to their base for protection but Sentinel betrays them and kills Ironhide, revealing he had made a deal with the Decepticons. 

Sentinel Prime

Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the moon to Earth. Carly is captured by Gould, who is revealed to work for the Decepticons. The Autobots are exiled from Earth at the demand of the Decepticons to avoid war. As their space ship leaves Earth, it's destroyed by Starscream,  killing the Autobots. 

The Decepticons, led by Megatron and Sentinel Prime, take over Chicago as their forces place Pillars around the world. Gould reveals to Carly that the Decepticons want to transport Cybertron to the Milky Way and use the resources and enslaved humans of Earth to rebuild their world. Sam teams up with Robert Epps to go into Chicago and save Carly, but they are nearly killed by Decepticon forces before the Autobots come and save them. They hid themselves in the booster rockets during the launch of their ship then disconnected and fell back into the Atlantic before Starscream could attack their ship. 

Topspin (One of the wreckers)

Together the Autobots and the humans manage to save Carly and kill the Decepticons.



Review: Tranformers Dark of the Moon is filled with amazing special effects. It has an amazing 40 minute long Chicago fight scene which was pretty epic. I thought the movie was really long (it was 157 minutes long). The ending was kind of rushed and it was hard to tell who was killing who because all the robots looked the same. It had a straight forward plot and the ending was predictable. I recommend watching this movie for the special effects.

Men In Black 3 Spoilers

So I was at New York the other day and I saw part of the filming for Men In Black 3. So I figured out that they go back in time to the 50's of 60's. The movie is coming out in 2012.

Old car on the set

Another old car and a 60's style lady

Monsters (2010)

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rating: Rated R for language

Storyline: The movie starts six years after NASA discovered that there was alien life forms on one of Jupiter's moons. They sent a probe to collect samples, but it accidently crashed over Mexico upon re-entry. The aliens started to appear in Mexico and half of Mexico was quarantined as an "INFECTED ZONE". The American and Mexican militaries try to contain the creatures but to no avail. America even builds a giant wall to try and keep the aliens out. Hmmmm... where have I seen that before?

That's where I saw it...

     The movie is about a U.S. journalist the agrees to escort a tourist through the infected zone to get her to the safety of the U.S. The movie is just about their travel through Mexico.

Picture of the infected zone

Review: Monsters is a decent movie considering it was made by a group of five people and a budget of only 800,000 dollars. I don't really recommend watching this unless you enjoy watching B-grade movies (Some people do). I guess you should watch this if you had to choose between Justin Bieber's movie or Monsters. It's kind of creepy how you never actually see the monsters till the last twenty minutes of the movie but you can always feel their presence. I sensed the movie eluding to the illegal immigration problem. 

127 Hours

Genre: Adventure | Biography | Drama | Thriller


Rating: Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images.

James Franco with his arm stuck under the boulder.

Storyline: 127 Hours is an inspiring true movie about mountain climber Aron Ralston's (played by James Franco) remarkable attempts to free himself from under a boulder that fell on his hand while he was journeying through Blue John Canyon in Utah. Over the next five days, Ralston examined his life and survived the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the determination to rescue himself by any means necessary. He ends up breaking his own arm and then cutting it off with a really dull pocket knife. He then continued to scale a 65 foot wall (with one arm),  and hike over eight miles before he was rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalled friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident.

Picture of James Franco and Aron Ralston

Review: This is a wonderful movie that tells about an incredible true story. It was an amazing fast-paced adventure throughout, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The only bad part was that I already knew what was going to happen due to the media hype. The part that unsettled my mom's stomach was when he cut his arm off with a pocketknife. They showed everything. Every bloody, dirty, grimy moment of when he was cutting his arm. I suggest that people watch this movie, just watch out for the "scene". 

The Sandlot

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Sport


Rating: Rated PG for some language and kids chewing tobacco. (I think it should be PG-13)


Storyline: Scotty Smalls (the main character) moves to a neighborhood with his mom and his step dad. He wants to play baseball but he doesn't know how to play. He doesn't even know how to catch or throw a ball. He also can't seem to make any friends, until he meets local baseball star- Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez (Benny). Benny takes him under his wings and teaches him how to play ball and he introduces Scotty to his baseball team. Together they all have a wonderful summer of adventures involving baseball, tree-house sleep overs, the lifeguard at the local pool, and the snooty rival ball team. One day, Benny hits a ball so hard, the ball rips open. The team can't afford to buy another baseball, and is forced to stop playing. However, Scotty  runs to his step dad's trophy room, and steals an autographed baseball, in hopes of preserving the game. The team is impressed with Smalls gesture, and they allow him to bat first. He then hits the ball out of the sandlot, and is shortly enveloped by fear once he realizes that he has lost his stepfather's ball. The situation gets even worse when Smalls realizes that the ball was autographed by Babe Ruth, and is almost irreplaceable.

Scotty Smalls got hit in the eye by a ball and got a black eye.

Review: This movie is truly a classic. The ending scene where the narrator (Scotty Smalls) tells the stories of how everyone eventually left the sandlot it is kind of sad (my friend actually cried at the end). One of the greatest movies for kids and parents alike.

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The Last Excorcism

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Rating:  Rated PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material.

Storyline:  In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus was raised by his father to be a preacher. He agrees that the filmmaker Iris Reisen and the cameraman Daniel Moskowitz make a documentary about his life. Cotton tells that when her wife Shanna Marcus had troubles in the delivery of their son Justin, he prioritized the doctor help to God and since then he questions his faith. Further, he tells that exorcisms are frauds but the results are good for the believers because they believe it is true. When Cotton is summoned by the farmer Louis Sweetzer to perform an exorcism in his daughter Nell, Cotton sees the chance to prove to the documentary crew what he has just told. They head to Ivanwood and they have a hostile reception from Louis's son Caleb. Cotton performs the exorcism in Nell, exposing his tricks to the camera, but sooner they learn that the dysfunctional Sweetzer family has serious problems.

Review: Ambiguity is a powerful tool for a writer, filmmaker, or any creative person. But there's a fine line between ambiguity and lazy storytelling. The Last Exorcism, unfortunately, makes use of the latter. The film poses many questions but doesn't feel the need to answer most of them, meaning at the end of the film, the audience isn't so much pondering the themes of religious doubt and the adverse effects of shame so much as wondering what the heck just happened.

That's not normal.

The lack of clarity is only made more frustrating by the overly shaky handy-cam cinematography. I normally enjoy this mode of film making, and it was proved to be effective for horror films the phenomenal movie Paranormal Activity, but Daniel (the cameraman) has a bit too shaky of a hand for the style to work well here. I actually got a headache from some of the later, jumpier scenes.

It's a shame the film has such a laughable conclusion, because it starts with such promise. The first half hour or so is surprisingly funny, effectively parodying the genre (specifically exorcism-based horror films) and presenting a religious slant to the proceedings that makes things interesting initially but ultimately seems cheap and even stupid. Two fine performances from Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell are wasted as the material goes from subtly self-reflexive to blatantly generic. The horror that unfolds along the way rarely generates any real scares, settling instead for bursts of weirdness, cheap jumps, and ultimately, an unattractive mixture of stupidity and discomfort.

P.S: I found something wrong with the movie.In the scene when Mell is in the barn getting exorcised. Her shoes change. First she is wearing brown rag shoes. In the next scene, she is wearing red boots.

Cujo

The movie poster. It doesn't really show the crazy dog

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rating: Rated R for graphic violence, language and brief sexual content.
Cast:

•      Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton

•      Danny Pintauro as Tad Trenton

•      Daniel Hugh-Kelly as Vic Trenton

•     Christopher Stone as Steve Kemp

•      Ed Lauter as Joe Camber

•      Kaiulani Lee as Charity Camber

•      Billy Jacoby as Brett Camber 
•     Frank Welker was credited for doing vocal effects for Cujo.

Storyline: Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) is a frustrated suburban housewife whose life is in turmoil after her husband Vic learns about her having an affair. Brett Camber (Billy Jacoby) is a young boy and a son of a mechanic, Joe, (Ed Lauter) whose only companion is a St. Bernard named "Cujo." Cujo is bitten by a bat with rabies and his behavior begins to change. While the dog begins to succumb to the disease, Brett and his mother leave for Connecticut to visit his mother's sister. When Donna and her young son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), drive out to the home where Cujo and the Cambers live, the gentle Cujo has been driven insane by rabies and has killed Joe and the Cambers' neighbor. Worse, their car gives out near the Camber's house and Donna and Tad are trapped inside while the massive dog waits outside, attacking repeatedly, all while Vic is out of town on a business trip.

          Cujo brutally kills anyone and everyone who comes to the house, including the local Sheriff. Eventually Donna makes an attempt to dash for the house but is attacked by Cujo, the only safety being the car. After a brutal struggle between the desperate mother and the relentless animal, Donna takes advantage of a momentary distraction and beats Cujo with a baseball bat and then stabs him with the handle when the bat breaks. As Donna attempts to revive her son, who has passed out due to the extreme heat, Cujo tears through the kitchen window and launches himself at the two. 



Trivia: (I was going to put trivia for some reason but I didn't want to put it all on the same page so here's a link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085382/trivia)
 

Review: I think of Cujo as "realistic horror" because it is something that could really happen. People really do get killed by rabid dogs...this film just exaggerates the truth a bit. It's a very good film - well acted, well directed, suspenseful and emotional. One of the problems is that it is pretty predictable. It starts off with the dog getting infected, and from then on tension is built up slowly as you sense the dog is getting angrier and angrier (He also gets dirtier and dirtier).

         Eventually it snaps and starts killing people. The bulk of the film focuses on when Donna and her son are trapped in the broken down car because Cujo attacks whenever they try to leave. You can feel all the desperation, pain and isolation of Donna and her son as they lay trapped inside. It makes you think twice about dogs and certainly what you would do in such a situation. Would you run, attack the dog, or wait until help arrives?

The Silence Of The Lambs

Genre:  Crime, Thriller, Suspense,

Rating:  R for Disturbing Grisly Images and Violence, Strong Language, and Some Sexual Content.
 

Storyline: A psychopath known as Buffalo Bill is kidnapping and murdering young women across the Midwest. Believing it takes one to know one, the F.B.I. sends Agent Clarice Starling to interview a demented prisoner who may provide psychological insight and clues to the killer's actions.  The prisoner is a respected psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lector, a brilliant, murderous cannibal who will only help Starling if she feeds his morbid curiosity with details about her own complicated life. Clarice must first try and gain Lecter's confidence before he is to give away any information. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to confront her own psychological demons, but leads her to face with a demented, heinous killer, an incarceration of evil so powerful, that she may not have the courage -- or strength -- to stop him!

Review: The Silence of the Lambs, having accomplished the rare feat of winning all five of the major Academy Award categories, is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking. Gruesome, pulpish material was transformed by dedicated participants on all levels of production, and a film that would have failed in the hands of many others wound up becoming a modern masterpiece. Taut direction and a superb screenplay might be the best arguments for the film's power, but the flashiest are certainly delivered in the bravura performances of Hopkins and Foster. Their interplay -- and remember, they only share a handful of scenes together -- is nothing short of riveting.

 

Oscars

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right

WINNER: The King’s Speech

The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

WINNER: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

WINNER: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network

WINNER: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST SONG
“Coming Home,” Country Strong, Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light,” Tangled, Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
“If I Rise,” 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman, Dido, Rollo Armstrong

WINNER: “We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST EDITING
127 Hours, Jon Harris
Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter, Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech, Tariq Anwar

WINNER: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland, Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter, Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell

WINNER: Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Iron Man 2, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic

WINNER: Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynley

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
The Confession, Tanel Toom
The Crush, Michael Creagh

WINNER: God of Love, Luke Matheny

Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name (Nominees TBD)
Poster Girl (Nominees (TBD)

WINNER: Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

Sun Come Up, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors of Qiugang, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lenno

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

WINNER: Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

I Am Love, Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech, Jenny Beaven
The Tempest, Sandy Powell
True Grit, Mary Zophres

BEST MAKEUP
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Eduoard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, Yolanda Toussieng

WINNER: The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING

WINNER: Inception, Richard King

Toy Story 3, Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
TRON: Legacy, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit, Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable, Mark P. Stoeckinger

BEST SOUND MIXING

WINNER: Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick

The King’s Speech, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen, and John Midgley
Salt, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan, and William Sarokin
The Social Network, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten
True Grit, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, and Peter F. Kurland

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat

WINNER: The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WINNER: Christian Bale, The Fighter

John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)

WINNER: In a Better World (Denmark)

Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year, written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; 
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

WINNER: The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

WINNER: The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist

WINNER: Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Day & Night, Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let’s Pollute, Geefwee Boedoe

WINNER: The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary), Bastien Dubois

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

WINNER: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan, Matthew Libatique

WINNER: Inception, Wally Pfister

The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION

WINNER: Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
The King’s Speech, Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
True Grit, Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

Invictus

Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Sport

Rating: Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
Storyline: The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

Review: Invictus is an enjoyable film, Morgan Freeman is great as Mandela and it's an inspiring story. The movie revolves around the 1995 Rugby World Cup and Mandela's attempt to unite South Africa behind its rugby team. Mandela develops a relationship with team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon)playing the role of mentor and motivational coach. It's well-made and worth watching.

South Africa had not been allowed to play in previous world cup tournaments and the years of isolation had left the Springboks uncompetitive. They were seeded ninth coming into the tournament but exceeded expectations by reaching the final. The action focuses on the final match with New Zealand.

Overall it's nice for rugby to finally receive some recognition from Hollywood, because it's a major global sport. It's a good film.

Inception

Genre: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Suspense
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.
Review: Inception is a well-made movie, filmed in about 6 locations all over the world. The directing was outstanding, there were only about two moments, maybe three seconds in total, where i noticed that visual effects were being used (of course defying gravity is pretty difficult).

The plot was very pleasingly intricate, with a twist-and-turn, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type feel.  It's great to see a movie with a thick and emotional plot and not just grenade-throwing action heroes who achieve greatness in the end.

Inception also has a very well-composed score, which to me was the finishing touch to a perfect movie. If you're thinking about seeing Inception, definitely go! Even though i was fortunate enough to see a free show, it is worth every penny you pay.

Truly unique, like nothing I have ever seen before. Christopher Nolan certainly covered new ground with this film and wasn't afraid to leave us hanging with a spectacular ending. Although a lot of people said that it was confusing I did manage to keep up with all the dream levels.


Storyline:  Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

Recommendations: I recommend this movie to everyone because it was really great.

It's Alive

Genre: Horror
Rating: Rated R for some violence including bloody images, language and brief nudity.

Review: It's Alive is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name except that beyond the killer baby motif absolutely nothing is the same as the original.

Directed by Josef Rusnak (The Thirteenth Floor) and written by Larry Cohen (Q, It's Alive III, Phonebooth), Paul Sopocy and James Portolese (JCVD's Until Death) this is a re-imagining of a film that really didn't need to see the light of day. It's Alive would have to work very hard from the off to justify it's existence.

Just before the end of her semester at college, Lenore Harker (Bijou Phillips) leaves to have a baby with her architect boyfriend Frank Davis (James Murray) at his remote log cabin in the woods. After discovering the baby has doubled in size in just a month they have to extract the baby by a cesarean section, without Frank being present. As the doctor cuts the umbilical cord all hell breaks loose, with the baby killing every doctor and nurse in the operating room. When we cut back to the new mother, the baby is asleep on her stomach and the room is painted a lovely shade of blood red.

After questioning by the police, Lenore is allowed to go back home with her baby (after all, a baby killing people would be ridiculous!) and is left to get on with her life while they organize a psychologist to help her try to remember what happened to the doctors. It's not long before Death Baby bites Lenore when she's feeding him and his taste for blood is revealed.

Gradually the baby gets the taste for rats, cats and weird bird things that look like penguins before progressing to killing fully-grown people. As Lenore refuses to accept her baby is seriously messed up it comes down to wheelchair bound kid Chris Davis (Raphaël Coleman) and his uncle Frank Davis (James Murray) to save the day.

Recommendation: I don't recommend this movie to anyone. It was really stupid and it wasted 80 minutes of my life. "It's Alive" is a stupid remake of the 1974 movie. The story is too imbecile and predictable without any surprise. There is no fun, no scare, only gore and this film does not deserve spending time writing a review.

Toy Story 3

Genre: Animated, Fiction
Rating: G because it had no violence or language (anything else)
Review: This movie was really good because there was a lot of emotional and entertaining scenes. It was awesome. At the end, it was a little violent (for young children). I don't want to spoil it for people that haven't seen it, so watch this movie to understand what I'm talking about.
Recommendation: This movie is for people that like the Toy story series and like animated movies

Avatar

Genre:  Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13 because of language and blood and killing (not suitable for young children) 

Review: This movie was good. I liked it because it wasn't as long as the other James Cameron films. It was about this guy named Jake, who works at a place that wants to take over a planet named Pandora so they can mine some special ore. They create an avatar for him to go around Pandora. The rest is yours to find out (don't get the collector's version)
Recommendations: I recommend this movie to people that like Sci-Fi and 3D movies

The Hurt Locker

Genre:  Drama, Thriller, War
Rating: Rated R for war violence and language.

Review: I liked this movie because it was full of action and it showed the trauma experienced from the war. It was nicely made and the story is very emotional. It shows a person who is very emotionally disturbed. The main character is an EOD(Explosive Ordnance Disposal) officer addicted to adrenaline from his everyday close shaves with death.
Recommendations: I recommend this movie to people that like action movies.