The Social Network

David Fincher is one of the most popular directors working right now. Almost every movie he's ever directed has been great(Except for Alien3) and his latest movie, The Social Network is another classic. The story is centered around a young Harvard college student named Mark Zuckerberg(Jesse Eisenberg) who decides to create the social networking website, Facebook, after his girlfriend(Rooney Mara) dumps him. But for Mark, creating a website comes with a price as he faces several lawsuits from not only the Winklevoss twins(Both played by Armie Hammer), but also his best friend, Eduardo Saverin(Andrew Garfield). What I like about this movie is that it goes back and forth from the creation of Facebook to the several lawsuits settlements so it keeps you interested. Jesse Eisenberg, who was previously well known from such movies as Adventureland and Zombieland, gives a excellent performance as Zuckerberg and I think he's in for a great career. Andrew Garfield, who's recently been cast as the new Spider-Man, delivers an excellent performance as well and I think with this role, he will make an excellent Spider-Man. Justin Timberlake, who's known for his music career, proves he can act with his excellent portrayal of Sean Parker, the Napster founder who helps Mark make Facebook a bigger sensation. Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones and Brenda Song do a great job as well and Rooney Mara, who has a tiny role as Mark's ex-girlfriend, does as excellent job with her small scenes and I think she will make a great Lisbeth Salander in Fincher's american version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. David Fincher does an excellent job directing this movie and Aaron Sorkin's script is fantastic. This movie has been sweeping the Best Picture Awards(Except for the Producer's Guild) and it got nominated today for a total of 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actor(Jesse Eisenberg). Overall, this is one of the best movies of the year and I think it will be one of the great movies to watch again and again. This Movie gets

5 out of 5 Stars

*****

Inception

This was in my opinion the best movie of last year directed by visionary director Christopher Nolan this movie was a work of true imagination. (Leonardo DiCaprio) gave a fantastic performance as Cobb the leader of a team that plants ideas in people’s minds. He is offered a proposition by Saito (Ken Watanabe) if he can get Watanabe's rival to think he thought of a new perspective for his company Watanabe will allow Cobb to return to the United States forgoing a crime that he has been accused of. The supporting cast is stellar in this movie with great performances by Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy. Levitt has been doing great the last few years and his performances in this and 500 days of summer were my favorite in each of the movies. The screenplay by Nolan is an original idea that is thought provoking and just visually stunning all around. I anticipate it winning a few techs the movie has been nominated for 8 Oscars Including Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. It’s also worth noting that the Academy Awards shifted to the ten Best Picture nomination system once The Dark Knight got snubbed for all major categories at the Academy Awards, Except for Heath Ledger winning Best Supporting Actor. So Christopher Nolan is probably the biggest reason for the change after all the backlash the Academy received for snubbing Dark Knight. Inception is one of those movies you look forward to showing to future generations it will be remembered for years to come.

5 out of 5 stars

*****

We are back!

After a 55 week break we have returned on the day of the nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards, in the next few days we will review the films nominated for Best Picture.

Avatar

12 years after the release of Titanic, James Cameron is back. And I've got to say his new film, Avatar is amazing. The story is about a paraplegic former marine named Jake Sully(Sam Worthington) who is sent to a moon called Pandora to fill in for his murdered twin brother as an Avatar Operator. His mission, given out by General Quaritch(Stephen Lang), is to use his avatar to get close to the Na'Vi tribe and learn about the culture since the military is after a valuable mineral called Unobtanium which rests under the tribe's Hometree. Jake soon not only becomes accepted by the tribe as well as becoming warrior, but he ends up falling in love with the tribe leader's daughter, Neytiri(Zoe Saldana). Sam Worthington, who was last seen in Terminator: Salvation, gives a great performance as Jake and I can see him having a long career. Zoe Saldana gives another knock-out performance in a sci-fi blockbuster following Star Trek, even though her performance is manly CGI, and like Worthington, I can see her becoming a huge star. Another knock-out performance comes from the legendary Sigourney Weaver(The Alien Quadrilogy) as Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program. With this role, Weaver proves she's still one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood. Stephen Lang(Quaritch), Michelle Rodriguez(Trudy), Joel David Moore(Norm) and Giovanni Ribisi(Parker) also give good performances as well. For this movie, Cameron not only spent 12 years making the movie, but he also developed stereoscopic cameras that simulate human sight. And I got too say it was definitely worth the wait. The effects in this movie looked incredible and when the actors were in their avatar forms, you could really tell it was them. For those who have yet to see the film, I suggest you see it 3D because it looks really incredible and it makes you feel like your actually in that world. Overall, this film is definitely one of the best movies this year with great performances, direction and visual effects. This movie gets our first

5 out of 5 stars

*****

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

There are two types of people who have an opinion on the Twilight series. Some say they love the series(Example: They love the books and the movies or they never read the books but love the movies). Others hate the series(Example: They liked the books but hate they way it was adapted into film or they just hate the series in general). I'm proud to say that I'am a huge Twilight Fan and not only did I liked the last movie, Twilight, but I really enjoyed the sequel, New Moon. The story begins as Bella(Kristen Stewart) is celebrating her 18th birthday, but she's actually not happy about it. The reason is because she fears that she's getting too old for her vampire boyfriend, Edward(Robert Pattinson), but nonetheless she has a birthday party at Edward's house hosted by Edward's bubbly sister, Alice(Ashley Greene). Things soon go terribly wrong when Edward's brother, Jasper(Jackson Rathbone) tries to attack Bella after she gets a paper cut while opening presents. Soon afterwards, Edward thinks it would be best that he leaves Bella so her life would no longer be in danger. Bella soon goes into a deep depression for several months until she starts hanging out with her old childhood friend, Jacob(Taylor Lautner) who later becomes a werewolf. Kristen Stewart does an excellent job once again playing Bella especially in the scenes in which Bella is depressed. Robert Pattinson does a really good job at playing Edward again, despite being in only a few scenes. The biggest surprise however comes from Taylor Lautner. Some of you may know that he almost lost the role of Jacob because of the changes that happens to the character in between films. Lautner had to gain 30 lbs of muscle in order to keep the part. He also read the books and studied his character. And I've got to say he delivered an excellent performance and he deserves to be part of the successful franchise. Other good performances in the film come from Ashley Greene(Alice), Peter Facinelli(Carlisle) and Anna Kendrick(Jessica). Dakota Fanning who's a talented young actress delivers a short memorable performance as Jane, a sinister member of the Volturi, a royalty-like vampire coven led by Aro(Michael Sheen, who like Fanning, has a good short performance). I know that they are some people who don't really care about seeing the Twilight movies(cough, cough, Miley Cyrus, cough, cough), but I really think you should give them a chance. If you like the films that's cool, but if you don't, that's okay, but to me there are worse films than the Twilight series. Overall, is New Moon going to get nominated for an Academy Award anytime soon?(probably not unless we're talking techs). But is it a fun, good movie to watch? Absolutely.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars
****

Twilight

I think it’s safe to say this was one of the biggest movies of 2008. The story is about a girl named Bella played by the talented Kristen Stewart (Adventureland, Catch that Kid) is transferring from her home in Arizona to live with her father in Seattle, Washington. She instantly becomes popular with the other kids in school but a young man who is more then what he appears Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire) is who catches her eye. He saves her in the parking lot when a car is about to hit her and she discovers that he is a vampire. The story is a traditional star crossed lovers story that we have seen in many other films and books. It’s a supernatural element that makes it a unique tale. Other characters include Jacob Black played by Taylor Lautner he is one of Bella’s childhood friends. My biggest problem with the phenomenon that is this series is the praise he has received for a 6 min performance which while good is nowhere near the performance that Chris Pine delivered in Star Trek (Scream Awards). While not as powerful as Buffy the Vampire Slayer this story gives a new generation a pop culture icon. Bella is our character she enters this world with our perspective and Stewart delivers a knockout performance in this role. She turns what could have been a three star movie into a four star movie. The movie could not have worked without her and she is shaping up to be one of this generations most talented performers.

4 Out Of 5 Stars

****

Couples Retreat

Vince Vaughn is currently one of the most popular comedic actors right now. He's been in such films as Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers and Four Christmases. And in his new movie, Couples Retreat, in which he co-wrote the script, he as well as the movie are very good. But this time, the movie is more of an ensemble story whose cast includes Kristen Bell, Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman. The story is about 4 very different couples: Dave and Ronnie(Vaughn and Malin Akerman), Jason and Cynthia(Bateman and Bell), Joey and Lucy(Favreau and Kristin Davis) and Shane and Trudy(Faizon Love and Kali Hawk) who decide to go on a vacation to a couples therapy retreat called Eden in order to help Jason and Cynthia save their marriage since their are considering on getting a divorce because of the fact that they having trouble conceiving. They think that only Jason and Cynthia are doing the Couples Skill Building while everyone else is just there for the fun activities. However, they soon discover that everyone has to do the Skill Building as well as one on one time with therapists to every one's dismay and the real drama begins. What I liked about this movie is that each of the 4 couples has a different background and the actors really do a good job making us believe their chemistry as friends and as couples.
Vince Vaughn and Kristen Bell are my personal favorite performances in the movie and Vaughn and Malin Akerman were my favorite couple in the movie since they seemed like the most normal couple out of all of them. Jean Reno, who's best known from the excellent underrated film, The Professional, has a funny supporting turn as the resort owner Marcel. Peter Serafinowicz, who's not really a well known actor, delivers an excellent comedic performance as the hotel manager, Sctanley. Jon Favreau who had great year in 2008 due to the success of Iron Man(which he directed) not only delivers a funny performance, but he was also a co-writer(along with Vaughn) on this really funny script. Overall, I thought this movie was really heart-warming, funny and entertaining and to me it's the perfect date movie to go see with your loved one.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars
****