The Town

This was probably the best movie that I have seen all year! Once again Ben Affleck successfully directed another Great movie. It is actually based on Chuck Hogan's novel, "Prince of Thieves". The Town is full of everything you need to make a great movie. It’s full of great action scenes, along with a twisted love story. Not only that, but you will also get a good laugh out of it from time to time in the movie. The movie is about four best friends who were born and raised in the same town in Massachusetts, known as Charlestown, a suburb of Boston. Charlestown is known for being full of families of bank robbers. Just like these four best friends, their fathers too were bank robbers and the tradition is just passed down from generation to generation; "like father, like son".  The names of this team of four friends are Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) who is the leader of the group, Jem Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Gloansy Magloan (Slaine), and Dez Elden (Owen Burke). Carrying on that tradition, they rob a Cambridge bank where they successfully get away with the money. However, they found out that some had pulled the silent alarm, so they are forced to take the bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) as hostage, just in case they get in trouble with the police. Fortunate for them, they are able to successfully get away, so they take Claire's ID, and drop her off at a beach, seeing as though she was no longer useful.

Instantly after their successful robbery, the cops begin to investigate. The FBI realizes that they knew exactly what they were doing and had the whole robbery planned down to the tee because they had no evidence on who did it. They also questioned the hostage, Claire Keesey, but she couldn't tell them anything seeing as though they were wearing masks and she was blind folded. She did notice that one of them had a tattoo of an Irish leprechaun on his neck, but she decided not to tell the police because she knew that the bank robbers had her ID, with her address on it, and that they would probably kill her if she gave the police the information.  However, after further investigations, they realized that one of the burglars had tapped into the phone lines; from there they were able to figure out one of the guys involved because he had previously worked at a phone company in that area, with a criminal record. However, their evidence was not strong enough to support their case. Seeing as though Doug MacRay and his friends were close to getting caught, Doug decided it would be smart to find out more about this Bank Manager, Claire Keesey, without her knowing who he actually was. After a while, he comes to befriend her, and they soon fall in love with each other; for the most part, this just makes matters worst. The Team of four friends continues to get involved in a couple of other robberies and the movie begins to get really interesting from this point on. Without a doubt, I know you’re going to love this! If you still haven't seen this movie, you're crazy! Go to this link to watch the preview: "The Town". Now stop reading my amazing blogs, get off your butts, and go to the movies!

The Terminal

This is another great movie that I watched this weekend. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, so that alone tells it has to be good, at least in my opinion. The terminal stares Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Tom Hanks plays a man by the name of Viktor Navorski and Catherine Zeta Jones plays Amelia Warren, a flight attendant. The movie begins with Viktor's arrival to JFK International Airport in New York City. However, the same day that Viktor arrives at the airport, his home country of Krakozhia starts a revolutionary war. Due to the civil war, the United States no longer recognizes Krakozhia as a nation and denies Viktor's entrance to the United States since he technically has no citizenship. At the same time he is not allowed to leave the airport to go back home since his country is at war.

This obviously is a very weird incident that forces Viktor to have to live in the Airport terminal until he is either somehow accepted into the United States of America or until the war ends in Krakozhia. He advised by the Immigration Officer, Frank Dixon (played by Stanley Tucci), that he is not allowed to leave the airport. But Frank was counting on him to try and escape and even gave him the chance to at one point because he wanted to get rid of him. However, frank didn't fall for it and decided to stay at the airport until he could legally leave. After months of living at the airport terminal Viktor begins to make several new friends who are staff members at the airport. Many of them help to guide him and feed him at the airport. He ends up getting a job at the airport as a building contractor there as well. This comedy soon turns into a romance between Viktor and a flight Attendant named Amelia Warren who sporadically meets with Viktor whenever her flights arrive at JFK International Airport. This is a must see movie for sure! If you have not seen it yet than definitely go out and rent it. Here's a quick preview of the movie: "The Terminal". Trust me, you will really enjoy it!

Invictus

This is one of my favorite films that came out last year. The movie is a true story about the country of South Africa and its political and social system of apartheid. This system segregated the majority of the population which was black, from the whites, who dominated the governmental system in South Africa. The movie begins with Nelson Mandela's release after decades in jail. He was an inspirational civil rights protester in South Africa who was put in jail for it. After his release he immediately did everything in his power to bring an end to the apartheid which initiated the first democratic election in South Africa. This allowed the black majority to vote, leading to Nelson Mandela becoming the first African American to be President of South Africa in 1994. In the beginning of his term as president, he helped to resolve some of the problems in South Africa such as unemployment and high crime rates.

Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) still knew that he had to do everything he could do to unite the whites and blacks in the country. After attending a Rugby Union Game played by their mainly white rugby team known as the Springboks, he realized how the predominantly Black viewers at the game all cheered against their own team. After finding out that South Africa was scheduled to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup, that upcoming year, he knew he had to take advantage of that moment and talk to the Captain of the team, Francois Pienaar (played by Matt Damon), to discuss how his team can help him unite their country through rugby. Mandela does not tell Francis Pienaar the true meaning behind their meeting, but he soon figures it out for himself. He also shows him a poem called "Invictus" which he says helps to give him the strength to "stand when all he wanted to do was lie down”. What Nelson Mandela was trying to emphasize to the captain was that if the Springboks can gain the support of Black South Africans and succeed in the upcoming Rugby World Cup, the country will be unified and inspired to exceed its expectations. The movie escalates from here so I won't ruin the rest for you. If you haven't seen Invictus yet then you better go out and rent it. Here’s a little preview of it for you to watch:"Invictus Movie Trailer". Trust me, you'll love it!

The Crucible

Seeing as though we read the book in class, I thought it would be interesting to watch the movie about it. It follows a pretty close storyline to the book itself, so I was quite happy to see that it stayed on point to the actual storyline. It takes place in a small town called Salem in Massachusetts Bay colony in 1692. It is a puritan based society that inflicts the worship of Christianity on all who live in the town. One night a group of town girls go out into the woods fooling around, dancing naked and roasting a mysterious pot of stew over a fire. The Minister of the town, Reverend Parris, catches these girls in what looks to be the practice of witchcraft which was highly forbidden during this time. Most of the girls run off and are later on asked to explain what exactly it was that they were doing.

Reverend Parris questions his niece Abigail if they were practicing witchcraft and she insures him that they were not. Upsettingly, Parris's daughter Betty would not speak and slept for days until one day she woke up and started freaking out about the Devil and witchcraft. Parris decided to call in an expert on this subject who could further evaluate the situation to figure out if the town's girls have been influenced by the Devil. This man’s name is Reverend Hale who soon comes to believe that many of the girls are haunted by the Devils spirit after Abigail and the other girls come out blaming several people whose spirits were with the Devil. This allowed them to cover up themselves and to use take advantage of some of the town’s power and get rid of people they disliked. Abigail had an intermarrital relationship going on with John Proctor, a local Farmer, until she was fired by his wife Elizabeth. In order to get back at his wife she tries to kill Elizabeth by accusing her of Witchcraft as well. John Proctor from there on does everything in his power to protect his wife's life. Now I know most of you already know what happens from here but I still think it is well worth seeing. Here's a little preview of the movie for you to watch: "The Crucible Trailer". In the long run this move might actually help you understand the book a little clearer.

Zombieland

Once again I’m blogging about a bit older of a movie but it still fairly new to video store. To begin I was actually surprised that a comedy about zombie killing would be as funny as it actually was. I was expecting it to be a cheap knock of Dawn of the Dead but really it was its own movie and I liked it probably just as much, if not more! In fact it actually was more successful than “Dawn of the Dead” grossing up to $60.8 million in 17 days. Now this movie star’s Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. Each of them plays the very few last survivors of a zombie apocalypse. After bumping into each other they become good friends. Together they take an extended road trip in an attempt to find a sanctuary free from zombies. Now this disease seemed to have come from a mutated strain of Mad Cow Disease in which people got from either eating the bad meat or by just getting bit one of the infected.

 Actor Jesse Eisenberg plays a College student named "Columbus" who is on his way to Columbus, Ohio to see if his parents are still alive. After losing his car in an accident, he into the star Woody Harrelson who plays the character "Tallahassee" who is on a quest to find Twinkies. Knowing that Twinkies do indeed have expiration dates, it scares him to death that he may not be able to ever have one again. Columbus and Tallahassee decide to travel together and when they stop at a grocery store, they meet two sisters, "Wichita" who is played by Emma Stone and "Little Rock" who is played by Abigail Breslin. The sisters trick them into handing over their weapons and then steal Tallahassee’s Catty or truck.  Later, the two of them find another a Hummer loaded with weapons, however when they meet the girls again, the girls attempt once more to steal their truck until Columbus proposes a truce and suggests they travel together. After their agreement the whole movie climaxes from there leading to several new hilarious adventures. If you like comedies, then I think you really like this one. Click "Zombieland preview" to see for yourself. It’s a great movie for the whole family to watch together!

Green Zone

Now I know this isn't a new release to theaters but it is a new release to video stores and I thought I'd blog about it this week. I was very fascinated throughout this movie. I learned things that I had never known about, dealing with the Iraqi War between the USA and Iraq after September 11, 2001. This movie stars Matt Damon who plays Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller. Miller is given a heads up by a local that Iraqi General Mohammed Al-Rawi is hiding out in Baghdad, and is currently at a meeting with his aids nearby. Miller right away grabs his squad and boots over there, but General Mohammed Al-Rawi gets away. At the meeting though, they discuss the Invasion of the Americans and General Mohammed Al-Rawi decides they will wait until the Americans arrive and perhaps make his army an offer to join their forces. General Mohammed Al-Rawi was believed to have direct connections Saddam with Hussein, who is believed to be behind the terrorist’s attacks of September 11.  Other than that Millers Main purpose for being in Iraq was to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Our government’s main reason for being in Iraq was to find the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction. In actuality, there were no Weapons of any kind and really our army was wasting their time and risking their life’s to be in Iraq for absolutely nothing. In fact, at one point in the movie General Mohammed AL-Rawi tells General Miller that he spoke to a high ranked government official of the USA and told them that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and gave him his word. But for some reason the US government ignored him and decided to invade Iraq anyways because according to their made up "Intelligence", they had inside information on there being Weapons of Mass Destruction from their main source who was named Magellan. This Magellan was a made up character who was used as a fake source for where the different locations of the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were supposedly. Now the real reason we were there was to mainly get payback on Saddam Hussein and Iraq for what happened on September 11, which was later found out that Iraq really wasn't involved. After Miller begins to figure this all out he knows he can't let this go on without the world knowing the truth. It really was a great movie and I recommend it to anyone who might be interested in this. It’s one of those Movies that you'll actually learn something from while being entertained at the same time. Go to this link "Green Zone Preview" to watch a short clip of the movie. If I haven't convinced you to watch this movie yet, than this will!

The Switch

The switch just came out last week starring Jennifer Aniston as Kassie and Jason Bateman playing as Wally in the movie. These two play best friends who use to go out but you can still tell they still have a certain "energy" when they are together. In the movie Kassie is now 40 years old and still has not found that special someone. Tired of waiting any longer she decides she is going to do everything she can to find the right sperm donor for her before it's to late.

Wally feels that she should not go through with it because you never know when you might meet someone special who you might marry and have kids with. Ignoring his opinion, she decides to through with it. On the night of the ceremony to initiate the fertilization of Kassies soon to be child with her desired sperm donor Wally gets very drunk at the party. Having to go to the bathroom, Wally wasted out his mind, spills the soon to be used bottle from the original donor. Not know what to do he refills the bottle with his own. By the next morning Wally forgets everything that happened that night. Soon after Kassie decides to leave New York to more suitable place to raise her child until 7 years later when she moves back with her son Sebastian. Soon after meeting Sebastian, Wally's memory slowly starts to come back to him and everything climaxes from there. All in all it was quite a good movie and I won't ruin anymore for you. I think anyone interested in seeing it after this review will quite like as I did too.

Inception

This weekend I just saw the new movie Inception which is still in theaters. This film is about the idea of being able to go into someones dream and experience it as if it is reality until you're woken up again. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, he plays in the character Cobb in the film who is known as the "Extractor". In other words, when everyone goes into these dreams it is his dream that they are in and he unconsciously creates the thousands of perceptions of people in his dream. Then you have people in particular roles like “The Architect”, “The Forger”, and “The Chemist” who will all help to pull of "the job."

Now I bet your wondering what "the job" is? Well in any case, a powerful company shareholder wants to change another powerful competitor's view on his own company so that he decides to give up his own shares and follow a different path in life because of this one idea. In doing so this would be called changing his "inception", where the name of the movie derives from. The reason "Cobb agrees to this is because he believes the man asking him to do this has the power to get him back home to America legally to live with his Children once again. Anyways, I don't want to ruin anymore for you guys, but I highly suggest you go see it if you haven't already. It is by far one of the best movies I have seen in a while and with no doubt I know you all love it to!