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
****

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Over the past decade George Clooney has become a movie icon. He first hit it big on ER and has since made several successful projects including (Out Of Sight, O Brother where art thou, Oceans Eleven, Good Night and Good Luck, and Michael Clayton). This time he again picked an interesting script about a reporter from Michigan who hears of a secret military force who call themselves Jedi. His costar Ewan McGregor (Star Wars I-III) plays the journalist the movie also features Kevin Spacey as the antagonist Larry Hooper. The movie has some extremely funny scenes and dialogue, Clooney plays Lyn Cassidy the most gifted of the Jedi and he teaches McGregor there ways the obvious joke being he played one in the Star Wars films. The biggest problem is I think it could have been better it suffers from a similar problem that plagued the popular film Napoleon Dynamite very funny at times but also kind of boring at certain points. In this case however I think the actors find a way to make it work I just feel that the movie had the potential to be great and it ended up just being a good movie.

3 Out Of 5 stars
***

The Stepfather

I recently viewed the movie The Stepfather, and I have to say it was a disappointment. Dylan Walsh actually at times was quite creepy but the sinister stare that works the first couple of times becomes a tad repetitive on the 3,857th time. The director went to that technique far too often. Amber Heard (Pineapple Express) Is a fantastic young actress who gave a decent performance in this picture however I think the costume designer failed miserably Don’t get me wrong she has a great figure but in almost every scene the girl is in a bikini or panties and I didn’t mind but it seemed like a waist of her abilities. Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl) Has potential to be a terrific young actor but I think he doesn’t really challenge himself enough the great actors always seem to try something new to improve there range and it in some ways felt like he just phoned it in with this performance he was ok but I think if he wants to have a long career post hit TV show he needs to find better material and grow as an actor. The story isn’t a complete failure but it falls into a similar formula which most horror movies suffer from its far to cliché and it doesn’t really have any surprises that shock you. I will say however that the chase sequence was actually really good it’s a shame there were not more action sequences like this one throughout the movie and there is a moment when I actually was startled which does not happen to me often when I watch a scary movie. If your in a mood for this kind of movie you could possibly enjoy this but I think this film is far too uneven to recommend Heard, and Walsh gave good performances but the script was weak and the director was lazy with elements throughout the film.

2 out of 5 stars

**