Sex and the City 2

The continuing story of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha as they struggle to manage their love lives, friendships and careers in New York City.

My Review: The story has been sucked dry out of the franchise. The story wasn't there at all and the one-liners were not funny for the most part. The first film is a lot better because there was substance and humor. Even though the sequel is about ten minutes shorter than the original, it felt a half-hour longer. The part of the film that took place in the middle east was boring and drawn out. It is called "Sex and the City" because the story takes place in the city. All in all, do not go in expecting a great sequel because it was not. However, it still did not fail to get the theater full of fans laughing and feeling satisfied that their favorite girls were back. 1 and a half out of 4 stars.

Letters to Juliet

When a young American (Amanda Seyfried) travels to the city of Verona, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter from 1957, she inspires the woman who wrote the letter (Vanessa Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love.

My Review: "Letters to Juliet" is a typical romantic comedy that caters to the female population looking to watch something fluffy. The film had no real substance and an unrealistic story but once again, it is almost required to get large female audiences because of the fairy tale story. If stories like this existed in real life, my review blog would have been published a year and a half ago. That would be a fairy tale for me. Amanda Seyfried is a decent actress that is typecast into playing the cute and innocent twenty-something girl that has it all. The silky blonde hair blowing through the wind can only satisfy us for a short time until people realize that the "Mamma Mia" star stars in films with no substance. She has the chops but has not been able to show them. I predict that at some point she will become the next Anne Hathaway who also started as a Disney actress and eventually got her career going with "Rachel Getting Married". 1 and a half out of 4 stars.

Iron Man 2

The world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the super hero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands. With Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Tony forms new alliances and confronts powerful new forces.

My Review: "Iron Man 2" was without a doubt of the most astonishing superhero action films that I have seen in my life and it was arguably better than the 2008 Iron Man. What made it better was the action and new alliances that Stark forms to take on Whiplash (Mickey Rourke). The humor in the sequel was funnier and the story was more together. Also, it lets us in on something that Marvel is doing with all of its superhero films. They are making it look like their movies take place at the same times but in different parts of the country. Now, I am no Marvel or DC nerd, but this piece of film was intriguing enough to keep my attention for two hours. Moving forward, the acting of everyone in the film was superb and made the story and vigilantes seem no less than authentic. 3 and a half out of 4 stars.

The Last Song

Estranged father (Greg Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant and rebellious teenaged daughter (Miley Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York. He tries to reconnect with her through music.

My Review: The Last Song had as many flaws as is did successes. Nicholas Sparks' films always include a fair share of tears. The sad aspect of the film is as predictable as Cyrus' attempt to be an emo teenager. Kinnear plays the most touching role in the Sparks tearjerker which once more solidifies his range of acting chops given the circumstances. Miley Cyrus has a ways to go before she sets her place as a big-time actress, but this film is a start for her as she quite convincingly (later in the film) goes through the various emotions that makes her performance more believable. Except for the beginning, the movie is not a bad piece of work but it is immature.  2 and a half out of 4 stars.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid

The family flick follows the travails of wise-cracking middle school student Greg Heffley over the course of an academic year.

My Review: "Wimpy Kid" is one of those movies that I originally have no intention of seeing but ends up being charming and fun. The characters made the film enjoyable and the acting of the child stars makes the film charming. The wit that some of the children are able to display makes me think twice about today's young actors turning into wash-ups by 20 years old. Cute story accompanied by convincing acting by all. 3 out of 4 stars.

Lack of Updates

I apologize for not updating in some time. March and April are generally months that I don't watch many new films in simply because they are usually not worth watching. Also, with mountains of school work I don't get a lot of time to see the films that look bad but I still want to see. I will be preoccupied with work and school-work until late April at which point, I will begin to watch movies again. Thank you to those of you who read my reviews. Bear with me as a focus my time on important assignments for school and such. I am looking forward to reviving this blog in May for all the highly anticipated films of the summer!!

MikeTheMovieFanatic

Alice in Wonderland in Disney Digital 3D

19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

My Review: Alice in Wonderland was an overall catastrophe. The story was nothing more than snippets of the original mixed with Tim Burton. Lately his films have been less than pleasing. With Johnny Depp being such a unique actor, I was expecting him to bring something to the table. I was extremely disappointed. I usually praise acting in many of the films I review but sadly, this was just $150 million thrown down the rabbit hole-literally. Johnny Depp in this role reminded me of his work in the Willy Wonka remake. He was awkward and pale. Anne Hathaway was pathetic at attempting an English accent. It is very unlike her to take a role that doesn't show her as the vulnerable girl that finds her way. The one thing this film had plenty of was graphics! The scenery and tone of the film fit to the characters stories. Much like Avatar, Alice in Wonderland was a hyped film that turned out to be a disappointment. It still won't stop it from grossing hundreds of millions. 1 and a half out of 4 stars.

Official Academy Award Predictions

BEST PICTURE: THE HURT LOCKER



ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"



ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"



ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"



ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"



ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: "Up"



ART DIRECTION: "Avatar"



CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Avatar"
 


COSTUME DESIGN: "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"



DIRECTING: "The Hurt Locker"


FILM EDITING: "The Hurt Locker"



VISUAL EFFECTS: "Avatar"



FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "The White Ribbon"



MAKEUP: "Star Trek"



WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): "Up In The Air"



WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): "The Hurt Locker"



SONG: "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart"



SCORE: "Up"

Crazy Heart

Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be.

My Review: Jeff Bridges was fantastic of playing a man who is down on his luck and has nothing to live for. The authenticity of the role made it feel like it was a story being told of a loved one. It succeeds at doing so by showing the landscape of how the person lives (i.e. his broken home and failed relationships in the past). A big surprise was seeing Colin Farrell play the role of a successful artist which is ironic in a sense because Farrell typically takes roles that show him in a "bad-boy" position. The situations that the characters faced in the film are simplistic but they nail them down to a tee so that you feel that it is something that you can relate to at some point in your life. Oscar worthy performances sprinkled with a sensitive story and sobering story. 3 and a half out of 4 stars.

Valentine's Day

An ensemble film about 10 people in Los Angeles whose lives intersect on Valentine's Day.

My Review: Despite seeing the movie yesterday, I thought it would only be appropriate to publish a review today for obvious reasons. The two main problems I had with the film were the script, which was poorly written for everyone except Julia Roberts- and the length of the film. Even while watching the movie I pinpointed certain cast members whom were not needed for the film. With a smaller cast, more time may have been devoted to writing each part with hardly any flaws. However, when faced with an all-star cast the script more times than not, is lacking that spark. The film was filled with two hours of bad jokes and cheesy situations which made it even more of a drag. The only parts I enjoyed were those with Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper. Their chemistry made the film what it attempted to turn out to be. Ashton Kutcher also did a good job. He is a talented actor that is usually handed an awful script. For his next film, Garry Marshall should try cutting down the size of the cast and focus on a few actors' scripts. 1 and a half out of 4 stars.