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Category: movie reviews

Doubt

Doubt ***/***** After seeing Streep’s nomination for best actress for this movie, I definitely wanted to see it. She’s truly one of those actresses who gets more incredible at her craft with age, because I never gave her much credit before. But recently, she’s been on my radar for movies to watch. With that said, Doubt was an intimate movie, specifically crafted for a stage play, but translated well into a tension filled film. I liked it for its subtlety, for its need for you to really listen and close your own built theories. The movie still leaves some room for doubt. So to the point: Nun accuses priest of abusing a student during the 60’s.  Confronts a lot of issues such as morality, authority, gender, sexuality, etc…  The acting in the movie is superb, even the ever so innocent Amy Adams (although, not really superb, just good…). Philip Seymour Hoffman was convincing also for his ambivalent nature of nurturing and creepy. But the oscar definitely should have been written out to Meryl Streep. Believe me, I saw Rachel Getting Married, and Anne Hathaway didn’t deliver that worthy of an Oscar.

Death Note 2

Desu nôto 2 (Death Note: The Last Name) ***/***** Let me start by mentioning that I haven’t seen Part 1. With that said, watching the sequel made it a little slower to understand, since reading all the rules in the beginning of the movie were a little overwhelming. Basically, it’s almost a death game, with death gods assigned to whoever carries the Death Note-book. The main character, Light, is the infamous Kira who kills for justice, but is the main target for the police, particularly "L", who is a teenage detective, who is set on proving that Light is "Kira." Have I lost you? Anyway, with that said, it really was a cat and mouse game, with the death gods being traded here and there, people transferring the Death Note, different motives, and a sub-agenda of romance, friendship, and social responsibility. I actually was drawn into the movie after 20 mins. of head scratching…and wanted eagerly to finish the movie. Then came the disappointments. One being the ending…which was like eating a tuna sandwich from a school cafeteria (I don’t even like tuna). And two- the hokey 3D computer generated death gods. But the characters were pretty varied, unique, and […]

Wall-E

WALL-E ***/***** The eye candy was delicious and the character Wall-E himself was refreshingly charming as a vintage-like robot. He really was an exceptional character, minus the dense discernment sometimes, which made him, at times, annoying (to Eve). But he was obviously the hero, so big Yay to Wall-E (1980’s #5’s probable 5th cousin, twice removed). But as charming as some of the parts were, overall, the excitement was just not there…it was for most times, boring. I did, however enjoy the fate of mankind, and the logical result of our complete dependence on technology, added with our disrespect and neglect to the earth. But as a consolation to the movie, my nephew adores this movie and so does my 3 year old toddler. So much so that she even wanted to read the book.

the day the earth stood still

The Day the Earth Stood Still */***** Wow, this was an annoying movie. And it wasn’t even about high school teeny boppers acting like they’re in their late twenties who have no curfew, dancing and singing during gym class. The acting was horrible and completely stale. The premise didn’t even make sense because a whole human race would have been wiped out if not for a single dialogue with the microbiologist. I would have imagined a master intelligence species could find a way to reach humanity and its leadership some other way than sending one "man" to make one personal encounter with a woman who is forced to become the ambassador for global change. That’s a lot of pressure. She can’t even handle her annoying "son." A lot of it just didn’t make sense…except the mechanic locust plague. That was a good touch.

monsters vs. aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens  **/***** We took our 3 year old to watch this when it came out, and although she somewhat enjoyed it, there weren’t too many laugh out loud moments. The characters could have been better, more importantly, the monsters. And there was really only one alien…who probably shopped at an outer-galactic Joyce Leslie where they sell tight glitter jackets.  The adventure and struggle was pretty much forgettable, and I felt like Facebooking during the whole two hours.

Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married  Sometimes irritatingly overindulgent, with the weirdest over the top wedding emotions and practices that was ironically contradictory of a realistic documentary style taping. Even though the characters were eclectic, they were irritating and I wished they focused more on the extremely strong under currents of the movie, which was kym’s addiction, her brother’s death, and familial dynamics, rather than the boring wedding preparations and over zealous excitement. Overall, I really wasn’t impressed. But I do admit, Anne Hathaway was great, but not Academy Award worthy…

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan Looked mildly interesting but after commenting on the long boring start of the movie, you find yourself tricked into having watched a long boring movie. The special effects were an overstatement, not being special at all. The characters were stiff, common, and even the cameos were unexciting. And the all the hummus jokes, oversexed jokes, and even hairstyles were far from being humorous. Even terrorists probably thought this movie "bombed."

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