Warm Bodies

On a Scale of 1 to 10, 10 Being the Best

7

Plot: It is a post-apocalyptic world sometime in the future. The main character is a zombie nicknamed R. R is lonely and intelligent although unable to express himself due to you know...being partially dead. He lives in an airport with other zombies and "bonies" which are creatures that were zombies but have decomposed to the point of being rabid animals. The world seems pretty drab for R until he goes out hunting and sees the girl of his dreams, a girl who is alive, and decides to save her. The movie deals with issues like hatred, growth, hopelessness, and love. Pretty good movie overall! It is based off a book and I've heard it doesn't ring true with it so keep that in mind.

Characters/Actors of Note:

Nicholas Hoult playing R: Mr. Hoult played a very interesting character. This zombie hates being undead as he can't communicate intelligently. He's also quite bored with his life of walking slowly, grunting, and hunting. He has no memory of who he was before he died or how he truly died. The slow growth that we can both see and hear with R is enjoyable to watch. This character is well thought out. He is sad without being angsty and annoying, he is funny without being a humorous character, he is urgent without having to yell. For being a zombie, Mr. Hoult was one of the best humans I've seen! 

Teresa Palmer playing Julie: Ms. Palmer played her role well as a stern and loving character. Julie had to deal with a post-apocalyptic world, losing her mother and boyfriend, and having a control freak father. It is hard for those in this world to show emotion and that has all to do with the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. These people need to focus on survival before love. Although Julie tries to show her affection for her father and boyfriend but gets pushed to the side. Her relationship with R has to build from the bottom of downright fear to acceptance of the new. Again this character was well thought out and I enjoyed how she was not over the top. She was the character that we could rely on to be the same but also keep the story moving.

Music: As I stated in this blog before, if you notice the music then it was probably a good movie. I liked the music in this film quite a bit! They had music from Guns N' Roses, Bob Dylan, and Scorpions. The music added to the humor, the drama, and the even to the embarrassing moments.. You might want to download all the songs after you watch the movie, they were good jams.

Camera Work/Cinematography: The look of this movie was appropriate. The most used color was grey, which would make sense for a world run by zombies and everyone living on the edge of a knife. At the end of the movie it was brighter. I loved the flashbacks and the running scenes. I could do without some of the computer made things like the bonies (I did like the heart effects though). ADDED NOTE: The make-up was excellent as well. The zombies looked dead enough without being gory. The bonies though were almost all computer made which disappointed me. Mostly because I know that in a few years, they will look pretty cheesy. I feel that the make-up department could have made the bonies as well.

RECAP: 

The movie had a good tone throughout. It was funny, scary, dramatic, and romantic. The cinematography worked well as did the music. The acting was just what this film needed. The reason it isn't a 10 is because it is kind of predictable. There are some parts that border line on being cheesy, including the bonies and the dialogue. A nice movie to watch for Halloween without being scared out of your wits. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Want me to critique a movie? Comment below!

Million Dollar Arm

On a Scale of 1 to 10, With 10 Being the Best

8

Plot: A sport's agent named J.B. Bernstein finds he, and his small company, is running out of money and can't find a new athlete to represent. One day, J.B. is flipping through channels and on the TV there is a game of cricket going on. He thinks of having a contest to change these cricket players into baseball players and again make it on top. On another plot line, two poor boys from India see posters and flyers for this contest titled, "Million Dollar Arm" and sign up to get their families out of poverty. This is based on a true story. This story is wonderful and full of heart. What else can you expect from Disney?

Characters/Actors of Note:

Jon Hamm playing J.B.: J.B. is a person who is selfish and uncaring towards others. He doesn't understand that this contest is helping two boys out of poverty, or that they have culture shock, or that he can care for them. It takes him a long time to really learn that lesson. Jon Hamm does an excellent job of being selfish without being carried away. He also balances his own interest with others and you understand the slow growth that he undergoes. 

Madhur Mittal playing Dinesh: Dinesh was a hardworking boy who wanted to make life better for his father. When he wins the contest he just wants to donate the money to his family and buy them a new vehicle and such. He wants to practice hard and not disappoint anyone. I loved the depth of this character. It was easy to empathize with Mr. Mittal's portrayal. Nice job. 

Suraj Sharma playing Rinku: Rinku was more of the fun character in this movie. He was very relaxed and could go with the flow. Even when he thought he might be sent home, he always tried to see the positive side. Mr. Sharma also had a funny quirk (which was true) and it was so fun to see him on screen. It was a nice change from the overworking and over-analyzing Dinesh.

Lake Bell playing Brenda: This character was much needed and much adored. Brenda was sassy, in-charge, and loving. I would love to meet this lady and be her friend! She cared for the two boys like they were her own kids and got J.B. to realize how dumb and selfish he was. I loved Miss Bell's acting in this. A+

Music: The music in this film would bounce between American rap and Bollywood which was very in your face and loud. It gave the impression of being overwhelmed. There were multiple times that the characters were being overwhelmed, so perhaps the music was there so we could empathize better. I personally didn't like how loud it was but it was perfect for bringing about empathy. I wouldn't download the music to my own Ipod though.

Camera Work/Cinematography: I almost feel the cinematography was similar to 42. It had moments of yellow and a feeling of "dirty." Grant, they were in the impoverished part of India for half of the movie. I feel more crisp colors could have been used. Otherwise I thought it was fine.

RECAP:

The film had a yellow look to it, for most of the movie but it was so fun to watch. The acting was just A+. The plot was original, fun, and full of love. I liked how there was growth and movement in the film. I highly recommend it and hope that you guys will go see it. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Want me to critique a movie? Comment below!

A Night at the Roxbury

On a Scale of 1 to 10, 10 Being the Best

4

Plot: Two brothers try to get into a club (The Roxbury) or start a club of their own. They are middle-aged men still living with their parents. Their father wants them to take over the fake plant business and also for Steve (Will Ferrell) to marry the girl at the neighboring business. This movie deals with a falling out, coming together, and overall success. This movie is based off of a popular Saturday Night Live sketch but I felt it wasn't thought out well. Seemed like a cliche comedy to me and did not find it that amusing.

Characters/Actors of Note:

Will Ferrell playing Steve Butabi: Unlike most of Mr. Ferrell's characters, this one is completely clueless. Steve Butabi is often confused and forgets where he is which would be very comical but I felt I missed out on the chance to hear some ridiculous Ferrell lines. Steve is also passive, shy, and easily influenced. He never outgrew this, so I never felt this character really grew which most characters in comedies do. If you want to watch a funny Ferrell movie I suggest, literally any other of his movies. 

Chris Kattan playing Doug Butabi: If you are familiar with that adorable fun loving character in Saturday Night Live then prepared to not recognize this guy. Kattan usually plays a more dim-witted character that is easy to love and in this movie, Kattan plays a sarcastic ignorant man who is easily jealous of his brother's relationships with his dad and girlfriend. I think that Will and Chris should have switched roles to better suit their acting strengths. They both did well, but it could have been better.

Music: If you watched the clip above then you will already guess that they use the song, "Baby, Don't Hurt Me" in the movie. They do and they use it often. Looking back, it was a good way to tie the movie together but during the film it was just annoying. They try to fit it wherever it can go. You can also tell that this movie was made in the 90's from the dance club music, which I enjoyed but it also made me think that the movie is dated.

Camera Work/Cinematography: I liked the filming in this movie. One of the two directors, Amy Heckerling did movies like Clueless and Look Who's Talking and her style was great for this movie. I was unfamiliar with the other director John Fortenberry and found that he only directed on episode of anything, so he must not have been that great. I do wish that the look wasn't so cliche but then again, it was made in the 90's so that directing style was new for back then.

RECAP: 

This movie was alright but will not be a favorite anytime soon. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan should have been playing each other's roles, the music and the camera work was alright but cliche, and the plot was lacking. Also, this movie has Richard Grieco show up and I didn't understand why. Was it for comedy relief? As the movie may have needed it as it wasn't that great. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Want me to critique a movie? Comment below!

Dorian Gray (2009)

On a Scale of 1 to 10, 10 Being the Best

2

 

Plot: First of all, I read the book (Picture of Dorian Gray.Written by Oscar Wilde) and I was furious on this adaptation. There were a lot of sex scenes and opium smoking in this movie while the book vaguely referenced those, at best. Also the main character, Dorian Gray, had brown hair and brown eyes when the book states at least 100 times that he is blonde and blue eyes. Now, for the actual plot. The story is about a young man who wishes to stay young and beautiful forever after seeing a painting of himself. What he discovers is that his soul is now trapped in the painting and it will carry all his sins and physical deformities (such as age). He eventually becomes corrupted by one of his "friends" Lord Henry and while the painting becomes more hideous, Dorian Gray stays the same. It sounds interesting and it is...the book that is. The movie tries to sell itself off as horror and it doesn't work.

Characters/Actors of Note:

Ben Barnes playing Dorian Gray: I was severely disappointed in the way Dorian Gray was portrayed. Dorian Gray is supposed to show how unaffected he is by his sins and acts like a sociopath. In this film, Ben Barnes shows a very angry person who is constantly blaming others. The ones that wrote the script added in a story line of abuse which, in turn, created a vengeful and sulky person. He came off angsty and annoying. I am not familiar with other Ben Barnes movies but if he plays all his characters as sulky angry people, I am not interested.

Colin Firth playing Lord Henry Wotton: I have actually never seen Colin Firth play the bad guy before so this was a little interesting for me. Although the character in the book is perfectly horrible and was in this movie, I was upset that Colin Firth seemed to steal the show. Don't get me wrong, Lord Henry is a large part of both the book and movie but I felt that instead of the movie being focused on Dorian Gray's soul they focused way to much on Lord Henry corrupting him. I wish that Mr. Firth would have backed off his crazy so Ben Barnes would have been more of an upfront character. 

Rachel Hurd-Wood playing Sybil Vane: This former Peter Pan star has grown up and I was quite excited to see her in this movie...only to be disappointed. I found Ms. Hurd-Wood to be so soft spoken that it was hard to believe the actions she later took. When she got angry it seemed unreal and it appeared she was trying hard to be angry. I feel a more charismatic person should have been cast.

Music: Like horror movies? You should like this music then. If you thought you were watching a drama, then you won't like this music. There was too much heaviness in the music that made you suspicious the entire time you watched the film. At times it fit but other times I thought it was too much of a scary tone. Like Mr. Firth, it should have backed down.

Camera Work/Cinematography: I can't state enough how much the cinematography annoyed me in this film. This isn't a horror movie but the director tried to make it seem that way. The painting would hiss and groan, the angles made you think "someone was watching," and the overall greens and whites were overused and overdone. This is a drama, this is isn't scary, stop making it look like a two-bit horror film.

RECAP: 

This movie was dark and tried to convince the audience it was a horror movie. Guess what? Not buying it. I am frankly a big scardy cat and this movie just made me mad with its all the sex scenes, the horror music, and the acting. Mr. Firth was too big, Mr. Barnes was too angsty, and Ms. Hurd-Wood wasn't enough. Put those all into the book being butchered, count this as a no go. 

Courtesy of Pinterst

Want me to critique a movie? Comment below!