There Will Be Blood: Em

“If I say I'm an oil man you will agree,” states Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). And yes, I do agree. Daniel Plainview is a greedy character, looking to drill for oil and make himself millions. He’s doing everything and anything to get it done. The oil industry is booming; its investors are all quickly becoming rich. Daniel Plainview is a top oilman, and we watch as he makes deals on different plots of land. His intension is to make himself as much money as possible, and cares little about others. The movie was nominated for eight Oscars (two of which it won), nominations that I’m not sure it deserved.

The movie contains some beautiful imagery, and the camera angles enhance the film greatly. But, the plot was rather flat and predictable, and some parts were rather boring. Daniel Day-Lewis does a good job portraying the filthy oilman- but not good enough to win the Oscar for Best Actor. I would have rather seen the award go to George Clooney for Michael Clayton, or Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd. To me, Daniel Day-Lewis is one of those quality actors who only produces a film once in a great while, and so when he does, the awards wash in. If anyone in this film deserved an Oscar, it was Paul Dano, the crazy (possibly schizophrenic) priest. Though, I have to say this film has the best closing scene you will ever witness.

I would recommend this movie to an older audience, I have a feeling this crowd would appreciate it more. The movie is rated R for the violence the movie entails (though personally I didn’t find it that bad). Overall, I would give it about three out of five stars.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King {Shell}

“I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!” The small Halfling cries, crouching down. His arms lift down to pick up his friend and companion that he has been traveling with to the ends of Middle Earth and back. Frodo Baggins is lifted onto the back of Samwise Gamgee and they begin to climb Mount Doom. Based off of the series by J.R.R. Tolkein, Lord of the Rings never ceases to amaze me.

The story of Lord of the Rings is anything but simple. On a quest to destroy an evil Ring of power, a group of nine companions set out from an Elvin city to travel into Mordor, and do just that. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is the final concluding piece of this story. Beginning with a flashback of the day Smeagol/Gollum found the Great Ring, the story unravels in a number of different place, from the plains of Mordor, where Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) travel, to the city of Minas Tirith, where Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and others work to defend Middle Earth. Aragorn, more the main character in this movie than any, must now realize his destiny as the King of Gondor and take it by the reins; Middle Earth depends on it. The story unravels in a tale of war and peace, finally concluding with a few surprises no one would expect.

Though Lord of the Rings: RotK is relatively long (lasting an entire three hours and forty minutes) the story continues to entertain you throughout. With the many different settings and conflicts going on at the same time, the story never ceases to not bore you. From the brilliant acting of dozens of actors, whose talents never die down to the amazing special effects, in which giant elephants that are not really there can come to life so realistically, the Lord of the Rings, takes you on a ride that doesn’t even really feel like near four hours. The only thing that I can really find wrong with the movie was the music was not as entertaining. It did not completely take you into the movie and take you on the ride that you need.

Overall, the movie was amazing. The brilliant work of Peter Jackson and the excellent performances by the actors take viewers through one of the best movies of all time. I give this movie a five out of five stars and recommend it to anyone who is willing to sit through four hours of time before time-esc, twisted plotted, action packed cinematography. Most definitely my favorite movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button {Shell}

“My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While everyone else was agin', I was gettin' younger... all alone.” Says the writing Benjamin Button as a young woman in a hospital opens a diary. This quote explains, in full, the story of Benjamin Button in his curious condition.Thus creating the Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The story begins in the room of a Hospital in the beginnings of Hurricane Katrina where an old woman is dying. Her daughter looks upon her when the woman beckons to a trunk in the corner of the hospital room. Inside is a journal, where the story of the life of a man named Benjamin Button is. A man that ages backwards, inside is his story about finding love, life, and the will to find both of these.

Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett star in the heartbreaking story of Benjamin Button. Between the amazing prosthetics and the superb acting, the less than original idea for the movie runs its course as one of the best movies of the year. Despite the less than subtle ways that Daisy (Blanchett) displays to Benjamin

(Pitt) that she loves him and her flamboyant way of living, the love between the two shows better than many movies I have ever seen. They chance love despite Benjamin’s deficiency to age backward, and make it.

Overall, this movie was very well done. It took something that would not normally happen and turned it into a three hour long ride that both entertains and touches. I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars for the excellent job.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: Em

“My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While everyone else was agin', I was gettin' younger... all alone.” This line alone captures the happenings of the new movie The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The movie is based of a short story by the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The movie starts in a hospital room, where a daughter is watching over her dying mother. The mother begins to tell a story about a blind clock maker who makes a clock for a newly opened train station. There’s one catch though, the clock has been made to run backwards as a symbolic reference to Benjamin’s unique case. The remainder of the movie is narrated by Caroline (the daughter in the hospital room) as she reads to her mom from a mysterious journal that entails the life of Benjamin Button.

This movie was one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time (out of the mainstream at least, long live the IFC). The story was touching as Benjamin tried to get closer to his love, Daisy, but their physical ages kept them apart. The acting was very convincing, and the use of prosthetics was simply unbelievable. It amazed me that you could make an actor like Brad Pitt look so incredibly old; though I must admit at certain points in Benjamin’s childhood, he did look a little like Smeagol/Gollum from Lord Of The Rings. Also, Pitt’s accent (the movie takes place in New Orleans) did seem to fade in and out from time to time, as well as becoming incredibly heavy towards the end of the movie, which made him sound like Elmer Fudd.

I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. It is rated PG-13, for things do get a little sexual between characters at some points. I would give The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button four out of five stars. Bravo.

Doubt --Shell

Father Flynn stands, clothed in his robes, in the front of the church, giving a sermon. It is 1964, and President Kennedy had recently been assassinated. He is speaking to the group, sitting quietly in the seats, with an understanding, soft face. “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.”

One belligerent nun, who paces the side of the church, scolding children, looks upon him with a look different than all the others—suspicion. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams play the two nuns, who suspect Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting a young black boy—coincidentally the only black boy at their school. Sister Beauvier (Streep) is the stern, rigid woman who is intent on proving that the Father did what she believes. Sister James (Adams) is the naïve young history teacher, who starts off believing the accusation, yet by the end, her mind has much changed. Over the course of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, the issues of religion, morality, trust, and certainty are brought up and targeted.

Based off the play, also written by John Patrick Shanley, it can be determined that Doubt makes a better play. Not much happens in the movie, which could only be pulled off on stage in this case. There were many symbols throughout the film, also, including a bird, an eye in the window of the church, and the wind. It can be noticed, also, that every time something new was introduced, and doubts were held, the winds would change. The symbolic elements would really be more beneficial on stage, where they can be better appreciated. The acting, however was superb. Meryl Streep did an outstanding job of not only being the intimidating nun that scares those around her in the film, but also those in the audience. Amy Adams plays the innocent nun nicely and Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays the priest with excellent talent.

Overall, I would recommend Doubt (PG-13) to anyone who is into theatre. It was a production of the work of a brilliant writer and the talents of brilliant actor. I give the movie four out of five stars, for it kept me engaged throughout the entire story of lies and doubts.

Doubt Review: Em

“Where is your compassion?” Father Flynn shouts. “No where you can get at it,” Sister Aloysius Beauvier snarls at the accused priest.

Amy Adams and Meryl Streep have teamed up in the new movie Doubt as the innocent Sister James (Adams) and the stern Sister Beauvier (Streep) are accusing their priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting one of the students in their school. The movie takes place in the halls of a strict Catholic school which doubles as a church in 1964 and in the heart of the Bronx. The movie is a montage of the trio arguing relentlessly, as well as a slew of symbolic references.

The plot of the movie begins to rise when Sister James excuses one of her students to meet with Father Flynn in the rectory, and returns with the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. She goes to her superior, Sister Beauvier with the news, and the two conspire to make Father Flynn confess to his sins. The movie continues as the characters start to have their “doubts” about what is really going on.

The movie was adapted from a popular play, and was directed by the play’s author, John Patrick Shanley. Though the acting in the movie is brilliant-Meryl Streep’s character is not only feared by the pupils of her school but by the audience itself- I feel as though it should have stayed a play. Not much happens during the duration of the movie, something that can only be pulled off on stage where limited costume and set changes are available. Also, the beautiful symbols scattered throughout the film are an aspect that I believe to be more appreciated by the theater group.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys theater, being one of these people myself allowed me to visualize the entire movie as if it were on stage. I can recommend this film to just about anybody; it is rated PG-13, for some parts can be rather intense, and the subject matter is rather mature. Overall, I give Doubt three out of five stars.

Valkyrie Review: Em

“We have to kill Hitler,” stated Colonel Operation Stauffenberg emotionlessly about thirty minutes into the film Valkyrie. This one line alone can sum up everything that happened in Valkyrie’s two hour duration. What was advertised to be a thriller about an attempt on Adolf Hitler’s life turned out to be a slow paced, confusing movie with two unsatisfying climaxes.

Tom Cruise plays the eye patch wearing Colonel Stauffenberg (who also happens to be missing a hand, as well as two fingers on his other hand); a determined military official who yearns to stay true to his country instead of the man he swore an oath to, Adolf Hitler. As an act of devotion to his country, he plots to assassinate Hitler and put Valkyrie in effect. Operation Valkyrie is the plan that must go into effect if the Führer were ever to die during the war. Colonel Stauffenberg ensures that once Valkyrie goes into effect, it will benefit him, and his colleagues.

Most of the characters in this movie seemed rather stoic and emotionless in their efforts to save the Germany they loved and believed in. Their impassionate approach to their duties as well as the audiences’ lack of knowledge of their families made them seen inhuman. Not until the very end, when you learn about one of the characters wife, did I feel any compassion for the man. The lack of explanation about the events in the movie tends to leave the audience in the dust, and makes the events in the movie forgetful. Bryan Singer (director) even makes the mistake of giving Stauffenberg fingers when he is suppose to have none. He also shows the wrong eye as missing in the one scene we see Stauffenberg without his eye patch or false eye. Though these aspects of the movie were disappointing, several things were done well and enhanced the movie greatly. The use of a musical score stood out to me; without the music this movie would have amounted to absolutely nothing. The music created a suspenseful feeling whose absence would have made the movie empty. Singer had good intentions, but without the thrilling fight scenes of an X Men flick, or the epic screenshots from Superman, Singer seems to have gotten a little lost.

All in all, I would give this movie two out of five stars. If you are interested in learning more about World War II, this movie offers an interesting view on the war, for it does not touch on the devastating concentration camps, or horrors of the war that most films do. The movie is rated PG-13, so if you’re not ready for loud, slightly graphic war scenes, stay away.

Valkyrie Review {Shell}

“We have to show the world that not all of us are like him. Otherwise, this will always be Hitler's Germany.” Major-Colonel Henning von Tresckow says, staring straight into the eye of Tom Cruise’s character, Colonel Staufenberg. They must protect sacred Germany, not the corrupt country that Hitler is turning it into.


Valkyrie (PG-13), a 2008 film finally released after months of discretion, displays the classic plot of betrayal for the greater good. Director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie display the conspiracy story of one of the fifteen attempts on Hitler’s life during World War II. Colonel Staufenberg and a group of other politicians and military officials see what injustice is being done by Hitler during the war and they make a move to stop it.

In the thrilling idea of Valkyrie takes you through World War II in the eyes of the German military that decides to take action against Hitler. The issue with this movie, however, was that they did fully accomplish turning this idea into reality. Without stunning action scenes, compelling romance, and character development, this inspiration has hit the floor. What’s more, all the characters are very stoic, unemotional, and impassionate. They speak with one tone throughout the entire movie, their eyes fixed straight ahead as they emotionlessly deploy their plan. Their movements are controlled; their eyes blank. There is no feeling, nothing to keep you engaged and attached to the characters. The actual plan also confuses the view if they do not have a sense of what is historically going on. Also, the actors are not German, which made me think that Tom Cruise was playing the American spy trying to get to Hitler by the American government. If it were in German perhaps, or if they were actually German, it would have been a lot more believable. The music, though, I will say, helps throughout the movie to create suspense and, in confusion, clarify whether an event is “good or bad”.

Overall, the movie was poorly done. A true story turned into a robotic acting mess that confuses the reader and leaves them with nothing but an empty feeling at the end. The IDEA, was good, as I have said before, but Singer seems to have taken this brilliant conspiracy idea and turned it into something I do not recommend watching.

The Academy Awards: A History

In 1927 the idea for the Academy Awards was thought of, and then put into action by MGM and Associates. The major categories include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, and Best Supporting Actor/Actress.

In Academy Awards history, several names appear more than once. The three movies to have won the most Oscars are Ben Hur, Titanic, and Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King (which all won 11 awards). Two actors with multiple Best Actor wins are Spencer Tracy(2) and Jack Nicholson(2). Katherine Hepburn managed to snag 4 Best Actress wins! But, Meryl Streep has the lead in most nominations with 14. The most Supporting Actor awards have been won by Walter Brennan(3), and the most Supporting Actress awards have been won by Shelly Winter and Diane West(2). The most screen writing awards have gone to Billy Wilder(3), and the most directing awards have gone to John Ford(4).

Academy Awards Fun Facts!
1. The youngest award winner was 10 years old (Tatum O'Neil for Paper Moon)
2. The Academy Awards became well known as the "Oscars" because an academy personal stated the trophy resembled her Uncle Oscar.
3. The only X-rated movie to win Best Picture was Midnight Cowboy.
4. In 1974 Robert Opel ran across the Academy Award stage naked.