Movie Review: X-Men: First Class

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

I must say that this is the best X-Men movie to date. I enjoyed the original trilogy, but this movie had it going on.

Honestly, I'm not even sure I can criticize this movie in any way.

I loved that they were able to tie a real historical event in America and X-Men together perfectly. I learned about the Cuban Missile Crisis in 8th grade, but I never really understood it. The only this I remembered about it was that it was called "The Cuban Missile Crisis" but the conflict was actually between the US and Soviet Russia. This movie, while being laced with fiction, helped me get the gist of what my 8th grade teacher was trying to explain. See… movies can be educational.

At first I wasn't sure about James McAvoy as Professor X, but he definitely grew on me. In fact, they did a great job with this cast, including Kevin Bacon. I must comment on the range of accents and languages that Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Kevin Bacon had to pull off for their roles. I understand that Fassbender is in fact German, but he did have to speak Spanish during his scene in Argentina and he did it perfectly. I also enjoyed Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Nicholas Hoult's (Beast) performances.

My one disappointment was that Xavier was paralyzed in this movie. First off, I should say that they did it in a great way. I looked up how it was actually done in the comics and that was stupid. Something about an alien dropping a rock on his legs. In the movie, Moira (who is a human) gets upset and begins shooting at Magneto with Xavier standing somewhat behind him. Magneto deflects her bullets. One of which ricochets and hits Xavier's spine. What's great about this is that we know Magneto deflected it and it happened to hit X. To Magneto, human Moira shot him, which makes him despise humans even more.

Now, why am I disappointed that he was crippled? Because by the end of the movie, I was hoping for a sequel and hoped that if they didn't cripple X, then they'd be somewhat obligated to make another to depict that.

Now, if you've made it this far into the review and you've seen the movie, I hope you'd agree with my thoughts on the movie. If you haven't seen the movie and you've gotten this far… WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? Go see this movie!!! It's amazing and I want it to make money so they realize they need to make another!!

Fun fact: the movie makes two cameos; neither of which are creator Stan Lee who normal appears in all movies based off his comics. One of which is obvious and I absolutely loved but will not spoil. The second is while Mystique is lying in bed for Magneto. Magneto tells her that she is too young so she changes her appearance to that of her older self played by Rebecca Romijn, who appeared as Mystique in the original trilogy.

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

I have so much to say about this movie and I don't even know where to start or how to organize what I want to say so I'm sorry if my writing about this movie is a little bi-polar.

The movie was good. It had good action, a lot of Johnny, and the Pirates supernatural-mentality that we've all become accustom to.

Let's start with the story. Basically it picks up some time after Pirates 3. It is unclear how much longer, but long enough for Barbossa to become part of the Royal navy. And before you ask

there was absolutely no reference to Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley) in this movie.

Jack travels to London to find the person who has been impersonating him in order to find a crew searching for the Fountain of Youth. He finds Gibbs and rescues him before being brought in front of Uncle Vernon King George and finds out that Barbossa is working for King George and is in search of the Fountain of Youth. The King requires that the English find it before the Spanish. Jack escapes from the King and employment from Barbossa and finds the impersonator. It turns out to be a former love of Jack's, Angelica played by Penelope Crúz. She turns out to be the daughter of the evil pirate Blackbeard who is searching for the Fountain of Youth to prevent some dumb prophecy about being killed by a one-legged man. Oh, that reminds me, Barbossa now has one leg and lost the Black Pearl to Blackbeard who shrunk it with magic and put it in a bottle. How ironic.

Jack is now aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's ship which he controls telepathically with his sword, as a member of his crew. They're in search of a mermaid whose tears are required for the ritual that coincides with the Fountain of Youth. They manage to catch one and it falls in love with a rebellious member of Blackbeard's crew which creates a cute little side story. In the end, they all make it to the Fountain - Barbossa's English crew and the Spanish included - and a fight begins. Barbossa stabs Blackbeard, taking Blackbeard's sword, while Jack is preparing the chalices for the ritual. The plan originally is for Angelica to give her life for her father to survive, since the ritual requires a sacrificed life. Jack tricks them into drinking the wrong chalices killing Blackbeard while Angelica survives. The End. Oh and then Jack abandons Angelica on the island that he was left on by Barbossa.

So like I said, the movie had great action scenes, but that was most of the movie. Many of the scenes were unnecessarily long on top of being unnecessary. Sadly there was no action scene as epic as the Kraken in Pirates 2 or the Maelstrom in Pirates 3. I found the action similar to that of the first one, so it wasn't terrible. The fight at the King's Palace killed me though; how he found while trying to get a hold of the pastry. Kind of lame and pointless.

I am not a fan of Penelope Crúz so even before the movie was released, I was worried. She didn't really do anything for me. AND it really didn't help that she was pregnant. We hardly ever saw her body and when we did, it was a stand-in played by her sister. So a lot of the movie was close-ups of actors meaning above the stomach which is very unlike Pirates movies.

I didn't like that Barbossa's leg was cut off and I hate that the trailers for the movie steered us wrong. They cut the trailer together to make us think that Blackbeard was the one-legged pirate. Now, if Barbossa's character returns for future films, he'll always have one leg which I don't care for.

I loved the missionary, Phillip, but I'm disappointed he didn't have a larger part. I also loved the little love side-story that was going on between him and the mermaid. I wish they had embellished that a little more. They also didn't really give them an ending.

I was disappointed that the Black Pearl wasn't a huge part of the movie. And why the hell was it in a bottle? And why the hell did this movie have zombies?! I'm sorry I'm being so picky. I just had very high expectations for this movie and I tried going in unbiased and open-minded. I'm sorry if the negatives are outweighing the positives.

I also really had a problem with Richard Griffiths being in this movie. If you don't know he plays Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter series and I just thought it was bizarre to take a iconic character from one series and stick him into another movie filled with iconic characters. For some reason I found it weird and didn't much care for it.

As a stand alone movie, I thought that On Stranger Tides was pretty good. If I were compare it to the other Pirates movies, I would say that if the original trilogy were the American Pie trilogy, then On Stranger Tides would be the Naked Mile or Band Camp. Why? Because something felt… off. It didn't feel like a regular Pirates movie; it was missing something and I haven't yet decided what that something is.

How would I have made this movie differently? Made it longer, included the Black Pearl, no zombies, no behind-the-scenes pregnant leading lady, larger love story, and no cheesy 3D shots. That's just a start too. I could be way more pickier.

So yes, On Stranger Tides, is a good movie although you think I'm lying based on my pickiness. It had its flaws, but it was still very entertaining. Could you wait for it on DVD? I suppose. If you do see it in theaters, don't see it in 3D. I didn't, but I can imagine it would be hard to tell what's going on. Besides 3D sucks. :) Do I want to see more Pirates movies? Yes, I do. I can't live without them at this point and now I know to be more open-minded. They could also do a better part on their end though. ;)

I do recommend seeing it however, but just enjoy it and take it as it is.

Movie Review: Scream 4

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

I'm not kidding when I say there will be spoilers. I WILL reveal the killer.

I always say it takes a series to take a break for it to be on top again. It has been 11 years since Scream 3 and when I heard Scream 4 I got extremely excited. And then when they said it would possibly begin a new trilogy, I just dropped dead.

What's great about the Scream series is that it's funny while being incredibly scary. The movie is about the cliché horror movie and basically makes fun of it and the sequels all spoof the original in a way by making a movie within a movie.

I was so happy to hear that the original cast was returning: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. And I loved some of the new cast: Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts.

The storyline was generic for a movie that takes place so long after the previous film. But it makes sense for a movie that's based around the generic scary movie. It worked.

Last chance to stop reading before I reveal the killer...

To be 100% honest, I had no idea who the killer was. I had ideas and theories, but they were the most cliché, but sometimes it is the most obvious ones. I thought it was just one of those times. I thought it was either Dewey's deputy, Judy, or Jill's ex-boyfriend Trevor. Wrong. I did not suspect Jill to be the killer whatsoever. Rory Culkin's character I kind of get. But not Jill. I figured she would be a survivor along with Sydney.

I'm not sure yet how I feel about Jill being the killer. A flaw is that ghostface is always played by someone who is tall and Jill is very short. Had Emma Roberts actually dressed up in the Ghostface outfit when her character was meant to be killing, we probably figured the killer was one of the shorter petite girls.

I would also complain about her character's sudden 180 in personality when she is revealed to be the killer. Like talk about psychopath and she's supposed to be a high schooler? But… all the other movies have characters that do 180s as well, so I must accept this somewhat unrealistic behavior.

My one other problem with the movie was the gore. I understand that most horror movies today depend a lot on gore because audiences are now used to movies like Saw and Hostel, but I feel that the gore in this movie was unnecessary. People go and see Scream movies for 3 things: the comedy, the jumpy and thrilling scenes, and the mystery as to who it was. They expect blood but not full on guts. That one shot of their friend on her bed with her intestines spilled all over the bed was a little much. It was unnecessary. The stabbing Anthony Anderson's character in the forehead was also a little much as well as Jill shooting her ex-boyfriend's penis with a gun. Although that could just add to her psychoticness. Still, I think every member of the audience with a penis cringed inside and covered their own dicks. It was brutal to watch that.

As far as Scream movies go, I would have to agree with the commercials where critics claim its the best since the original. I haven't seen the second or third ones in a while, but I recall that they were not any better than the first. This movie, however, is right back up there. Can't wait for 5CREAM and SCRE6M! Lol.

Movie Review: I Am Number Four

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

Believe it or not, I actually read the book prior to seeing the movie. THAT NEVER HAPPENS! Only for Last Song and Harry Potter! Crazy.

The movie was, for the most part, pretty close to the book. However, they did a lot of cropping to make the movie an hour and 44 minutes long. It wasn't bad cropping, it was actually kind of impressive cropping. Basically, they made what was a week or so in the book mushed down into one night. You think that would be terrible, but it really wasn't. They just cropped out the house-burning scene, which I was really looking forward to seeing.

I do feel the movie was rushed. Why they wanted to make it less than two hours long, I don't really know. The movie had a lot more potential for action, characterization, and a deeper story. Don't get me wrong, I still really liked the movie, but the movie so far has flopped with critics and the box office… and I'm just trying to identify what they could have done differently to make it more liked.

I thought the actors were great. I loved Timothy Olyphant. I'm biased to love Dianna Agron. I liked seeing Miss Prissy-Queen-Bee from Glee as the quiet girl in an action movie. But most of all, I really liked Teresa Palmer as Six. Although she is only in the last part of the book, they tried to give her more screen time and I liked that they did. Her character is so fun to me.

Because it flopped at the box office and with the critics, I'm nervous about it's sequel. The book, The Power of Six, is due out in August and so far there's no news of a movie version. With a production budget of $60 million, I Am Number Four has only grossed $90 million worldwide giving them only a $30 million profit. Yes, it's still in theaters, but I don't think it'll hit the $100 million mark. I'm going to remain optimistic. The movie left it open for a sequel, so we'll see.

Movie Review: The Kids Are All Right

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

This was a very interesting movie for me. It was great insight into the world of gay parenting and I think everyone should see it because it just shows that everything is (somewhat) normal. As expected, the children are perfectly normal and comfortable with their situation. And they're straight which debunks the 'gay parents raise gay children' crap.

I believe this movie deserves its Best Picture nomination, but it doesn't deserve the win.

The story was normal and interesting at first, but then when Julianne started to swing the other way and screw her children's biological father, it got kinda fucked up. I love Julianne, but it was hard for me to watch her be the unfaithful one in the relationship.

It was really disappointing to see Mark Ruffalo's character have a sad ending with no closure. Although, looking at the situation, how could things return to normal with him? They'd have to cut him out of their lives. Poor bastard.

My favorite characters, though, were the kids. Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson are really talented and will go really far in their careers.

The films was nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actress (Annette Bening), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Best Original Screenplay. I'm really upset that Julianne Moore was snubbed (along with Mila Kunis for the Black Swan). Sadly, I don't think that they will be taking home any Oscars, but to be nominated while on conjuring up $20 million at the box office is pretty big.

Movie Review: The Social Network

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

Interesting film. You learn a lot about the history of Facebook through this movie.

I liked how the movie kept going forward and backward in time as they covered certain subjects. And they way they switched between the lawsuits.

Jesse Eisenberg was great and perfectly cast. Although I feel as though that's how he is in real life. He's a lot like Michael Cera that way. Regardless, he deserves his nomination.

Andrew Garfield was snubbed. He deserved a nomination and the movie, for some reason, campaigned for Justin Timberlake to receive an Oscar. Why? Justin is a terrible actor, that's indisputable. And I feel like his character in the movie is exactly how he is in real life. I'm not saying I hate JT. I love his music, but not his acting.

My one, one, one problem with this movie is its lack of climax. I really, really hate movies that do that. You're watching the movie and loving it and loving it and then the credits start rolling. Like WTF? They answer all of the questions and everything but nothing huge happens at the end. Justin's character gets caught in a drug bust but that's hardly a climax (at least they way the showed it, it wasn't a climax).

Regardless it's a great movie. I'm sure either this one or The King's Speech will take home the Oscar, but I'm still praying for Black Swan! We shall see.

Movie Review: No Strings Attached

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

You know what's funny? After an actor has a movie where they play a gay character, they push out a extremely heterosexual movie right afterwards to redeem themselves. After Heath and Jake did their thing in Brokeback Mountain they both starred in Casanova and Jarhead, respectively. Now, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis each have a movie come out that actually had the same title at one point. Natalie came out with this one and in a month, Mila will be releasing Friends With Benefits starring her and Justin Timberlake. Hmm… I just find it interesting.

Moving on.

Before you blow this off as another lame romantic comedy, remember that this is rated R and is 100% about sex. That means that this is real. There's no fluffy bullshit, just realness. It was kind of a mix between The Ugly Truth and Knocked Up.

I'm not that big of a fan of Ashton Kutcher, but he was somewhat enjoyable in this movie. Natalie though, was amazing. It was really interesting to see her in a romantic comedy. She's a lot like Leonardo DiCaprio where she typically only does movies that are serious and dramatic. So I just found it interesting.

I definitely recommend this movie. It really is funny.

Movie Review: True Grit

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

This is one of the very few westerns I have seen. What happened to this genre? Westerns define American cinema! We don't see a lot of these anymore and it makes me sad.

True Grit is actually a remake of the 1969 film of the same name starring John Wayne. I have yet to see that one.

In this movie, a young girl is on a mission to hunt down her father's killer and hires a U.S. marshal to help her find him.

Jeff Bridges plays the U.S. marshal and delivered an Oscar-worthy performance. It was kind of the same as Heath Ledger performance in Brokeback Mountain, where you can barely understand what he is saying half the time. And newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, who plays the young girl, rightfully earned an Oscar nomination as well for Supporting Actress. Her character was a strong, confident girl who had some pretty difficult lines and she did them with such ease. This is the movie that will launch her career and I know it will be an amazing one.

Matt Damon and Josh Brolin were also great in this movie. I'm very surprised that Josh Brolin didn't have a larger part or, to rephrase, more screen time. You spend the entire movie talking about him and you only see him for about 20 minutes.

One scene in particular that freaked me out was the snake scene after the young girl, Maddie Ross, falls into a hole or cave. If you have a fear of snakes like I do, then watch this movie with caution.

Movie Review: The King's Speech

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

Believe it or not, this movie was amazing.

I wouldn't say that it's for everyone, but I'd say it's for a true movie lover. There's no action, there's no punching, no guns, no explosions, and no sex.

The story is about King George VI and his fight to overcome a stammer. Seriously, that's it. But yet, it's such an amazing film. The movie takes place in the 1930s and we see King George's rise to the throne and how he must deal with the threat of Adolf Hitler.

The cast was phenomenal. Colin Firth deserves the Oscar, hands down. I even tried pulling off a stammer myself and I just couldn't do it compared to him. He was brilliant. Geoffrey Rush played the King's speech therapist and he also did an amazing job. This is the first movie I've seen him in where he wasn't fighting Captain Jack Sparrow. And the always lovely Helena Bonham Carter was amazing in this movie too. She played the King's wife and stood by her husband's side through it all.

I believe that all three of the actors deserve their Oscars. I wouldn't mind if this movie won Best Picture, but I'm still backing and hoping for Black Swan.

Movie Review: Black Swan

Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

(out of four stars)

This movie was flawless. It was absolutely perfect.

It's nominations for the Golden Globes are well deserved all around.

Now normally, movies such as this (psychological thrillers which involve hallucinations and such) scare the crap out of me and cause me not to sleep, but this one was not like those at all.

Natalie Portman deserves an Academy Award for her performance as the lead actress. Her performance was dead on and perfect.

Mila Kunis, whom I love and adore because she's just so gorgeous, was phenomenal as well. If she doesn't deserve an Oscar, then she at least deserves the nomination and recognition. Who thought Meg from Family Guy was such an amazing, dramatic actress?

The entire ending to the film is the greatest part. Her final performance as she transforms into the Black Swan is breathtaking.

I'm trying to see all of the movies that I believe will be nominated for Best Picture before they come out so I can now check this one off the list. I definitely (so far) want this one to take the Oscar. It's just that perfect.