Garden State

Zach Braff's film Garden State was an interesting movie. Not the typical movie you see. I'm not quite sure to describe it but I guess I'll try. The movie is about a young man whose goes back home after being away for nine years due to the death of his paraplegic mother. While there, he meets a young girl who is a chronic liar and who has epilepsy. Then he goes with the girl and his best friend on a search around the town for his going away present.

Not only was Braff the director of this film, but is also played the main character. And he did a surprisingly good job too. His character was a very calm, quiet, hurting man and Braff portrayed all of his emotions so well. It was almost beautiful. While watching him on screen, you could see the hurt and distress in his eyes. Natalie Portman, who plays, Sam, also did a fantastic job with her part. She was bubbly and giddy and exciting and fun to watch. You could feel her happiness coming through the screen and you could feel her pain when she was hurting. The two also had a strange yet intriguing on screen chemistry. They were a strange couple, not just the actors but also the characters, but they worked. Their relationship seemed realistic and they seemed like they truly enjoyed each other's company and that they truly had feelings for each other. Their chemistry made for a very interesting movie.

The movie was very strange. The plot was not the normal movie plot and for being a movie with such famous actors it all felt very indie. And there was also a strong resemblance between Portman's character and Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which came out the same year. And I think that's one of the reasons I enjoyed the movie so much. It had a very indie and artistic vibe that made it really interesting to watch. It was artsy but not to the point where it didn't make sense or wasn't enjoyable. It was just artistic enough to really have a point and to hit close to home. It's just one of those movies where you know that it has some meaning behind it. Even if at first you don't know what that meaning may be. And it took me a little while to figure out what I think it means, but now I think I know. I think the meaning behind the movie is life is too short. You must do what makes you happy and reconnect with the ones who you love and who love you. And that's why I really liked this movie. Most movies these days don't have any true meaning, but Braff's Garden State is different. It means something and it's interesting and entertaining too.

-H

Dear John

With Valentine's Day just a few days away I thought I'd write a review for a movie many couples will probably be seeing this weekend: Dear John. Dear John is about a young man in the military who meets a girl. The two fall in love and spend an amazing time together before he is deployed to Iraq, right before 9/11. The movie is based loosely on the Nicholas Sparks book by the same title which I haven't read, however, I've heard that the book and movie are a little different and many people who have read the book do not like the movie as much. I can't comment on that because I haven't read the book, but I did enjoy the movie.

I'm not usually a chick flick lover, but I have a special place in my heart for Nicholas Sparks books and movies. Dear John is no exception. The movie was extremely sweet and romantic and I'm sure most women will enjoy it. Men, on the other hand, may not like it so much. The movie is made for women. It's sappy and so romantic that many men will probably just sit and role their eyes while their girlfriends cry their eyes out: at least that's what happened when I went to see it. But, anyway, the movie itself was not amazing. But it did have so redeeming qualities. The plot was actually very interesting. Many romance movies are very predictable and at first glance this one appears predictable too. But Dear John actually surprises with a few twist and turns that will make almost anyone cry.

Another redeeming quality was the chemistry between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. The two were just amazing together. The way they looked at each other and the way they delivered their lines seemed so real, as if they were really a couple. The chemistry between the two whenever they were on screen together was just incredible. They both performed so strongly. They truly played their characters. They showed emotion and gave a tear-jerking and wonderful performance.

The thing I didn't like about the movie, however, was the ending. While it was realistic, it just left you without any answers. It made me feel almost like I had just wasted an hour and a half even though I loved the rest of the movie. The ending was just not fulfilling. Everything else about the movie was pretty good though.

Guys, if your girlfriend wants to see this, don't whine and complain. Take her. The movie isn't just a romance movie. It shows some cool scenes with the military and you even get to see a pretty cool explosion. And, also, if you take her to see this you'll definitely gets some brownie points because it is a real chick-flick.

Happy Valentine's Day!

-H

The Piano

A few days ago I had the pleasure of watching Jane Campion's The Piano in class. It's not the kind of movie that I normally watch, being more of the action frame-of-mind, but I very much enjoyed watching this gem of a film. Ada McGrath(Holly Hunter) is a mute woman in 1850s Britain who is sent off to savage New Zealand along with her daughter Flora(Anna Paquin), as a mail-order bride to a land-owner there, Stewart played by Sam Neill. Once there, her new husband, in a bid to increase his land holdings, trades Ada's most prized possession, her piano, to his neighbor, Baines(Harvey Keitel). Ada is naturally upset, but when visiting Baines in order to give him lessons on how to play his new piano, he makes her an offer: sexual favors for the return of her piano.
The Piano is a success on many different levels. Jane Campion, the writer and director of the film, crafted one of the rare films that works as both an accessible story, as well as a layered, meaningful work of art and literature. Watching the film once will be entertaining merely for the well written story, but watch it again and you will see the layers that it has. Jane Campion began her college life with art school. Once there, she realized that she was trying to tell stories with her artwork and that film school would be a better fit for her. With that background in the arts, Campion has a special way of placing the scene in front of the camera(what film students call mise-en-scene) that creates an artistic image to be interpreted by the viewer. The film is a joy to watch because the placement of the scene and of the camera has meaning and beauty all of its own. The story that Campion wrote also is many-layered, portraying gender issues of the nineteenth century, family relationships, and exchanges of power. Many of Campion's films include a tactile quality to them, emphasizing the sense of touch and what it means. Some of the most powerful emotions in The Piano are conveyed by the feel of a piano key.
The writing and direction were not the only good qualities of this film. The acting done by Holly Hunter as the mute Ada is some of the best I have ever seen. Jane Campion, when she made this film, wanted her heroine to have a piercing gaze that seemed to reach down into one's soul. I don't know how Holly Hunter managed to pull that one off, but she did. Though her character is mute, she portrays more emotion in the performance without a single word than ninety percent of actors more well known. Holly Hunter really carries this film with her perfect emotionality. Harvey Keitel also does an above-average job as the at-first lecherous, later not so much Baines.
Overall, The Piano is a film that I would give both of my thumbs-up to, as well as a recommendation to anyone I know.

-J

New Moon

This weekend, J being an amazing and wonderful fiance, took me to see New Moon. Before I begin, I want everyone to know that I'm not a big fan of the books. Yes, I have read all four of them )and the 12 chapters of Midnight Sun that were released last year). And yes, I have seen the first movie. And yes, I realize that they changed some things about the books in the movies. And no, that does not upset me. Because the books needed changing. However, this is not a book review so I will leave it at that and begin my review of the second movie in the Twilight series: New Moon.

For those of you who have lived under a rock for the past few years, Twilight is the story of a young girl named Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, and a guy named Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, who turns out to be vampire. Well, Bella and Edward fall in love and begin the most forbidden romance since Romeo and Juliet. New Moon is the second movie in the series. It begins with Bella's eighteenth birthday party. While opening a present, Bella cuts her finger and bleeds. Chaos ensues as Edward's vampire brother, Jasper, tries to attack Bella. After this Edward decides that it would be safer for Bella if he left her. So he leaves and then she begins hanging out with this guy named Jacob,played by Taylor Lautner, who happens to be a werewolf. And that's basically the whole plot: Who does she love more, Jacob or Edward?

The plot isn't the best ever written, but you can't really blame the director or screenplay writer for that because the book didn't give them much to work with. However, you can blame the screenplay writer for the terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE, dialogue. Honestly, every sentence was completely cliche and unrealistic. No one in the world talks like these characters. And did I mention the melodrama? Everything is so over the top that it ends up being horrifyingly cheesy.

The acting, however, wasn't terrible. Lautner and Pattinson both did very respectable jobs with their characters. The did the best they could with the dialogue and lifeless characters. However, the best actor in New Moon was, by far, Dakota Fanning who plays the horribly evil vampire Jane who can inflict pain on anyone with just one glance. Unfortunately, Fanning only appears in one scene and has very few lines, but she did great with what she had. That being said, I cannot say that all of the acting was good. Because Kristen Stewart was absolutely terrible. She is unconvincing and cannot deliver any of her lines with the same power that Pattinson and Lautner do.

If you are looking for something deep and meaningful then New Moon is definitely not the movie for you. But it is a lot of fun. The scenery is beautiful and the leading men are even more beautiful! Director Chris Weitz did the most he could with the story, and I feel, that he made it even better than the book. New Moon is not the best movie of the year, but it was very enjoyable.

-H

Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions is a very interesting movie. Normally I don't like dramas but Cruel Intentions was an exception because it was very much a drama and I liked it very, very much. The plot was extremely intriguing and sexy. Cruel Intentions tells the story of Sebastian, played by Ryan Phillippe, who is extremely attracted to his step sister, Kathryn who is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The two come from a very wealthy family and they are very prominent figures in the New York social scene even though they are only seniors at a prep school. Sebastian is also very popular among the young ladies of New York and has quite a reputation of sleeping around then breaking the girls' hearts. Then Sebastian sees an article about a young virgin who wrote an essay saying that she plans to wait to have sex. Sebastian and his sister Kathryn then decide to make a bet: If Sebastian is able to sleep with this young virgin, then Kathryn will willingly give herself to him and if not she gets his Jaguar. This little bet turns into one of the most interesting movie plots that I have ever experienced.

Let me make this clear, the acting in Cruel Intentions was not amazing. The plot was incredible so the actors had a lot to work with. The dialogue, however, was not and therefore the actors had to work extra hard to make it come off as realistic. Which it never quite did. But that didn't really matter in the end. The entire plot was not very realistic, but both Gellar and Phillippe did a respectable job of being sexy and alluring. They portrayed their characters as realistically as possible and the insanity of everything just made the movie even more interesting. One thing that I must compliment Gellar and Phillippe on is their on-screen-chemistry. The two just play off of each other's strengths and create an amazingly sensual atmosphere.

The smaller roles in the movie are also played my well-known actresses. Annette, the young virgin, is played by Reese Witherspoon. While Cecile, another young woman that Sebastian is trying to seduce, is played by Selma Blair. Blair shows of a somewhat quirky side, while Witherspoon becomes a very romantic and down-to-earth young woman. Both actresses portraying their characters very convincingly and help to enhance the outrageous plot.

Cruel Intentions is a sexy thriller about betrayal and lust with an incredibly depressing and shocking ending. But it is incredibly fun to watch. However, I would only recommend this movie to mature audiences because of it's overtly sexual themes.

-H

Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is a Swedish film about a young boy,Oskar, and his love for his neighbor, Eli, who ends up being a vampire. The film is very interesting and different from most horror movies. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a horror film. Despite the violence and mild gore, there was nothing remotely scary about the film. It was more of a love story than a horror film. However, the lack of scariness doesn't make the film any less enjoyable.

The movie is one that many people may find boring. However, I feel that the way everything is drawn out really adds to the suspense of the film. Nothing is really in-your-face and nothing will make you jump, but seeing a young girl brutally attack a man and drink his blood is in itself completely terrifying. The scenery also adds a eeriness to the film. The movie is set is Sweden in the winter, so the entire film takes place in white snow. All the colors, especially the red of the blood Eli drinks, stand out brilliantly against the white background.

However, the blood, the murders, the woman bursting in to flames, and all of the other intense sequences are not what made the film. The acting was incredible. Not the acting of the adults in the film, but the acting of the children was incredible. Both of the children were around 13 when the film was released which means they were even younger during the making of the film. However, the acted as if they had been acting for years. The movie was so intense and passionate, the love between Oskar and Eli so deep and hard to portray, but the two children truly made the film believable. They both out acted the adults and I think if anyone else had been chosen to play either on of these roles the entire film would not have been as good. The bond between Eli and Oskar was shown beautifully by the children and the audience will truly believe that these children are in love.

Let the Right One In is a deeply moving movie. It is not only a film, however, it is a work of art. I would recommend this movie for horror fans but also for fans of romance movies. Just be prepared to witness a very unconventional romance.

-H

Audition

So, lately my boyfriend and I have been watching quite a few foreign horror movies. Audition is a J-Horror movie that is a strange combination of romance and thriller and drama and horror and even a little bit of comedy. Released in 1999, it had a record number of walk-outs at the Rotterdam Film Festival and even caused one viewer to faint and be sent to the emergency room because of it's shocking images and ideas.

Audition tells the story of a widower, Shigeharu, who is looking to remarry. One of his colleagues sets up a fake movie audition where the two man are truly looking for a woman for the widower to marry. Upon reviewing the resumes and interviewing the girls, Shigeharu takes an instant liking to a young woman named Asami. The two begin dating, but after learning of the strange deaths and disappearances of everybody connected to Asami, Shigeharu starts to realize she isn't who he believes her to be.

This movie is truly one of the most shocking movies I have ever seen. At the beginning, my boyfriend and I weren't even sure that we had gotten the right movie. Going into it, I knew Audition was a horror movie, but the beginning felt like a drama or a nice romance movie. However, there was something creepy about it the entire time. Maybe it was because I went into the movie knowing what Asami truly is, but it was very disturbing to see how sweet and romantic she appears to be in the beginning of the film. Ehih Shiina does a brilliant job portraying the psychopathic Asami, starting the role as a friendly and angelic sweetheart and transforming into the most merciless and terrifying killer to ever star in a horror film.

Because the movie is Japanese, I had to watch it using subtitles. I feel that I may have lost a little in translation, but the dialogue was still quite captivating. It truly works because it tells the terrifying story in bits in pieces that leave the viewer wondering what is really happening until the end of the film. And even now I'm still left wondering what the film actually means. I'm sure it all means something. And I believe it has to do with caging your emotions inside of you and how freeing it is to release them. I say this because of one key plot point: as a child Asami was sexually assaulted by her step father. *(Spoiler)*This abuse led to her losing her sanity which caused her to decapitate him with a piano string. And many of her other acts of violence were also caused by provocation. However, this does not excuse her from being considered a complete psychopath for many reasons, mainly the final scene.

When I read about the person who fainted at the screening of Audition I was positive that it happened during the final scene of the film. It was described by Rob Zombie as being one of the hardest things he's ever had to watch and made me, a gore-hound, flinch and close my eyes. I have never seen such raw and terrifying evil in a movie. Sweet, gentle Asami, with her angelic voice becomes a demonic evil who will terrify viewers for years to come. This may be a spoiler but because it has been ten years since the release of this film I feel that I can discuss the final scene. The final scene of the movie is a disgusting torture scene. Asami takes acupuncture needles and says that it has taken her forever to learn to make it hurt. Then she sticks the needles into Shigeharu's stomach and eye sockets. Then she takes a piano wire, and with the biggest smile on her face, she saws off Shigeharu's foot. It was the most terrifying, disturbing, and disgusting scene I have ever seen.

It took Audition a while to get good. To be honest, my boyfriend and I almost turned it off. But for some reason we decided to keep watching and I'm so glad that we did. The ending of Audition makes up for the boring hour and a half you have to watch before you get there. But be warned, this movie is NOT for the squeamish.

-H

Bart Got a Room

Bart Got a Room is the story of a young man at the end of high school. Told by everyone around him that the only point of prom is to get a good picture with a good looking girl, Danny goes in search of a date. Having already rented a room for after prom, he must choose between the hot, blonde cheerleader, or his best friend for eight years.

I went into Bart Got a Room with high expectations. I saw the trailer some time ago and thought it looked like a lot of fun, kind of a mix between American Pie and Juno. Finally I was able to see the movie and I was very disappointed. While the movie’s writers tried to make it quirky, it fails. The jokes fall flat and the quirky “imagination scenes” are annoying and invasive. The most annoying part of the movie is the ending. Of course we all know where this movie is headed as soon as we read the description. The hero is going to realize that he really loves the girl he’s been friends with for so long and they kiss and live happily ever after. This movie however, changes that. While the hero and his friend do end up together, there is no romance or spark or chemistry of any kind between the two. While the two main actors are very endearing, the writing takes no advantage of them. The two barely have any scenes together and the ones that they do have are boring. We want so much to have these two end up together, but there’s no spark, nothing.

There are two redeeming qualities to this movie however. There is one sequence toward the end of the film that had me laughing out loud. The hero has no date and he calls his father to help him find one before he has to get to the prom. The jokes come quick and the action moves fast, it was the funniest scene in the movie. The other good part of the movie was the acting. Alia Shawkat is an excellent actress who I loved in Arrested Development and wish I could see her in more movies. I’m looking forward to seeing her teamed up with the also excellent Ellen Page in the upcoming Whip It. Even better is the performance by William H. Macy. I think he is one of the best underused actors working today. His performance as Danny's father made up the bulk of the funny parts of the movie. I especially enjoyed his simulated sex noises in one scene.

Although there were some good scenes and some excellent actors, the writing of the movie took poor advantage of its resources to make a flat and tired comedy.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

Vicky Christina Barcelona is the first Woody Allen movie I’ve ever seen. What I saw here makes me want to see more by him. The movie, written and directed by Woody Allen, is about two American tourists to Barcelona, Vicky and Christina. They both have very different views of love, Vicky seeing love as stability, Christina preferring a wild, passionate definition of love. The two encounter Juan Antonio in Barcelona, who shows them that they may both be wrong about what they think of as love.

The movie appealed to me in more ways than one. I have never had a personal definition of love for myself. I believe that I feel it for H, yet I could never define what it is that I feel. I’m not that kind of person. So a movie about defining what love is, makes me think. Christina, played by Scarlet Johannson, says it best early in the movie, describing a student film that she made. “It’s about why love is hard to define.” And I think the movie answer that question. The final answer to why love is hard to define is that love is indefinable; that it is different for every person. What Vicky thinks is love for her, really ends with unhappiness, and what Christina thought was the perfect man and woman for her, ended up being not enough. Every person has their own form of love, like Javier Bardem’s Juan Antonio and Penelope Cruz’ Maria Elena, whose love can never work without a third person. We all have a different kind of love that we need, yet we can never choose what that love is. We are born with it, unchangeable.

Sorry to ramble there, obviously the movie made me think about life and love, and that’s what the movie does best. It makes the viewer really think about things. Someone could watch it and not think at all and they would hate the movie, because it would seemingly have no point; the only way to enjoy the movie is to really think as you’re watching and after you watch. Ask yourself, what is this movie trying to tell me?

The acting and the writing and directing are all unassuming in this movie. Everything appears natural, as though they are not acting, but living. You feel like a voyeur looking into a little private drama, it feels so real. There is nothing stilted about the acting or the dialogue, it is masterfully played; it sounds like something you would hear yourself or your friends say.

This is an excellent little movie that really makes you think about things. Don’t watch it is you don’t want to think.

Seven Pounds

A beautiful mix of romance and mystery, Seven Pounds is a love story unlike any other. Will Smith once again proves himself to be any amazing actor by portraying a young man overcome with guilt and grief after a tragic accident. To deal with his emotions, he searches for people who he can help through life threatening situations. His perseverance and strength are truly inspiring and make this film beautiful.

With some mildly disturbing scenes, this movie provides the viewer with suspense and a little mystery that you can try to solve while watching. The dialogue adds to the mystery by being very vague, allowing the viewer to draw their own interpretation of what is being said.

However, what truly makes this movie amazing is not the mystery or even the dialogue: the romance truly makes this movie. It is a love story unlike any other love story ever filmed. It shows how much love can influence a person in their life and their decisions with a very dark twist. It brings up many questions about how much a person is willing to sacrifice for the ones they love and how far a person will go to atone for their sins.

-H

Confessions of a Shopaholic

A truly entertaining movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic tells of a young woman, deeply in debt, who takes a job as a columnist in a financial magazine. She is "stalked" by a debt collector and is finally exposed for what she really is: a shopaholic. After this exposure, she must turn her life around if she wants to fix all the problems she has created.
The great thing about this movie was its use of humor. It sometimes used a very subtle humor and other times was in-your-face funny. Very rarely do I laugh out loud at movies that are considered to be romantic comedies, but this movie was very different. The humor was very deep, well-thought out and mature without using "mature" (inappropriate) subject matter. It was a very refreshing movie that could be enjoyed by people of all ages, especially people who can relate to the main character's love of shopping.
Confessions of a Shopaholic was also a very inspiring movie. It showed how a person can change their life no matter how bad things may seem. That no matter how much trouble a person is in, they can always make things better if they set their minds to it and don't give up. It is hard to find a newer movie with a moral but Shopaholic teaches a lesson that all shoppers must learn: possessions can't make a person truly happy. Finding love and being with friends and family are the things in life that mean the most, not money or clothes.

-H