Rat Race

Title: Rat Race
Year: 2001
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy



Summary:
Six keys, twelve people, one wild ride. Wealthy multi-billionare Donald Sinclair has devised a strange and entertaining game: place two million dollars in a bag in the middle of nowhere and see who can get there first. Greedy, eager-to-spend, powerful men come together and bet to see who arrives first. Actually, they just bet on ANYTHING. Through a wild twist and turn of events, each of the characters is faced with his or her own conflicts: a successful lawyer, too afraid to get caught doing anything illegal is paired up with a off-her-chain female pilot; two brothers, with IQ barely greater than their shoe sizes; a football coach who was notorious for his poor call in the most important game of the season; a Jewish father and his OBNOXIOUS family; looney Whoopi Goldberg and her crazy daughter she just met; and an Italian man who suffers not only from cultural barriers, but also narcolepsy. An instant classic if I ever saw one.

Plot:
Get the key, go to New Mexico, get two million dollars. It's as simple as that, right? Think again. Constant plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat the whole movie, despite the fact that I've seen it a handful of times before. 4/5

Characters:
The fact that each was COMPLETELY original and different than the other is a DEFINITE plus for this one. I could tell Seth Green had his hands all over this. All star cast, spot-on acting. 5/5

Aesthetics:
Given that it's a comedy, the shots and angles were not as important as they were in say, Ultraviolet. That said, I couldn't complain about any of it, though. 4/5 to be fair.

Cast:
As before mentioned, great cast. All A-list to B-list. Ones that stuck out in my mind: Mr. Bean and Seth Green. 5/5

Grade: 90, A

Afterthoughts:
Yes. This was a major-hit with me. I would highly recommend it. There wasn't a lot of "adult humor" but by the same token, there wasn't a lot of slap-stick. The perfect balence.

The Spirit

Title: The Spirit
Year: 2008
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action



Summary:
Here I go again into the realm of comic books. I don't know why I keep coming back to these (possibly because they're awesome). Help! There's a cry in the middle of the night. His city screams. Off goes the Spirit dawned in a Dick Tracy rip-off of an outfit (Ha!). The movie begins in the all too familiar fashion of "I have no idea what's going on". There's a beautiful woman, a gunshot, and a death. The Spirit is off to the scene of the crime. When he arrives, he is confronted with his arch-nemesis, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). In an INCREDIBLY strange fight, the two go at it biff-and-zoom style: punching and throwing objects at one another. Finally the police arrive and causes the Octopus to leave, giving the Spirit one final parting thought: maybe the Spirit and him were something different than everybody else. The Spirit quickly returns to the scene of the crime where a locket tips him off as to who the murderer might be: an old flame, Sand Saref. The next good portion of the movie is set in a flashback (all told to a cat, mind you) where the Spirit reveals his background. In an old film noir town, Central City, we see a boy (presumably the Spirit before he becomes what he is) and a young girl. The two are inseperable best friends. It's not soon before long when emotions set in. They connect and begin dating. All is well until a death in the family causes Sand to go evil. The pivitol point for her is when she tells a reporter that she hates cops. The two break up because of this and never see each other again. Through a long chain of events, we find that Sand returns to Central City to do dealings with the Octopus. The whole thing boils down to the Octopus' desire for eternal life and Sand's great greed and desire for shiny things. After learning more backstory, we find that the Spirit was actually brought back to life and is tied to the Octopus. Again, another film that I would hate to spoil the ending.

Plot:
The plot was on for me in this one. It had a lot of really strange humor, as well (Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johanson dressed as nazis?). I liked the way things fell into place, unfortunately (it always seems like there's a 'but' with me), it was too stereotypical superhero film for me. I have to give this one a 3/5.

Characters:
Flat is the word I can immediately think of. Too many characters that didn't change. In a way, the Spirit changed, but he went back to being a loose-cannon detective. Way too stereotypical. Sand Saref was the only one who really underwent true change. Sadly, 2/5.

Aesthetics:
So what's going to save this one is the art. By far one of the most beautiful films I've seen (I guess I'm a sucker for the black, white, and red). 5/5

Cast:
I generally have a biased for Samuel L. Jackson. He was spot-on in here. Eva Mendes (Sand Saref) was also amazing. She was tantilating and sexy. Very nicely done. 4/5

Grade: 70, C

Afterthoughts:
I actually really enjoyed this film, despite its subpar grade. The art was what did me in, though. It's a pretty movie, for sure. I'd recommend it for a casual date. Hell, I took my little brother to see it and he LOVED it.

The Family Stone

Title: The Family Stone
Year: 2005
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama



Summary:
So it's that wonderful time of the year, again, Christmas (I'll give you your fair warning, this is not a Christmas flick, but it does make some refrences, so you might get a little fuzzy inside)! The movie starts and spares no time in introducing us to the two main leads: Meredith and Everett. The two are a young couple, in their prime and about to get married, spending the first holiday with the in-laws (his family). Little does poor Meredith know, his family is absolutely out of their minds. The father and mother (played by Craig T. Nelson and Diane Keaton, respectively) raised each of their children in a highly open and educated enviorment, so Meredith is confronted with plenty of awkward situations throughout the length of the movie. While she is challenged by her's and the family's differences, she slowly discovers each member's struggle: The deaf and gay brother, seeking to have a child with his boyfriend/husband; the pothead, troublemaking slacker who takes her out and shows her what having a good time is all about; the lonely daughter who seeks to make Meredith's life hell in an attempt to push her away; and the expectant mother-daughter facing her second birth. In the midst of this hodge-podge of happenings, there is a side plot developing: we find that Diane Keaton's character is slowly dying of breast cancer. Her last wish is to see her son Everett give away her mother's ring, and through a wild twist of events, she does when he proposes to Meredith's sister. I won't ruin the ending because it was actually interesting to see everything play out.

Plot:
Plot was definitely something that was right about this movie. It had its funny parts, but I still consider it a straight drama. Extremely well written. 5/5

Characters:
If I had to pick one strong point about this movie, it was the well-developed characters. Each one had its own struggle and each bettered in the end. UNFORTUNATELY, I didnt care for Parker's character, Meredith. She was WAY too flat, with very little development. Also way too easy to dislike. She didn't progress until near the end of the story, and by that time I were so into the other characters I was left asking "Meredith who?" 5/5

Aesthetics:
Given that this was more story-based than it was special effects-based, I'd say it was a little missing on the visual aesthetics. But its HUGELY bohemian style left me wanting more. 4/5

Cast:
I'll make this one easy: Parker (Meredith), very yes. Wilson (Ben), yes. Keaton (Sybil), very very much yes. Diane Keaton's performance in this movie was the one that stuck out for me. In the end I was left frustrated that they actually killed my favorite character. I could really feel the pain with her. 5/5

Grade: 95, A

Afterthoughts:
This movie was very much a hit with me. Other than Sarah Jessica Parker's character (which I found to be annoying, bland, and flat), I loved it. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who's not afraid to get pulled into a good story. I'll give you another fair warning, though, it is pretty sad at the end. Might cause a few tears, I know.

Ultraviolet: The PG-13 Theatrical Cut Edition

Title: Ultraviolet
Year: 2006
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action



Summary:
So we're put into the realm of movies based on comic books, yet again. The movie begins with Violet (Jovovich) giving a long introduction to the back story. In the future, there is a long-standing civil war between your average, everyday human and a special race known as "Hemophages". Hemophages are humans who were infected with a special virus. They quickly adopt traits similar to those of your traditional vampire: sensitivity to light, super-speed, super-strength, and the need for precious blood. We are quickly put into the eyes of Violet, a middle aged woman and a key player in the revolt against the humans. At a young age, Violet was infected with the Hemophage virus and was quickly put into quarentine. She spends her childhood and much of her early adult life in this prison. Eventually, (as the way it goes) she becomes pregnant. In a Red-China fashion, the government forces her to have an abortion. She grows with rage, escapes the facility, and joins the rebellion. Her first act, as we know, is to infiltrate a government agency. She takes on the role of an agent and enters without a hitch. She is to deliver a "weapon" within a limited amount of time. She is eventually discovered, lots of action, and finds that the "weapon" is a child, learns the child is the antagonist's son/clone, and fights to protect him. Big happy ending.

Plot:
Yes, this was definitely an original story, BUT, if you pick out all the fancy special effects, you get your traditional fight-the-man sci-fi. There were a few plot holes (like when she confronts the antagonist for the first time, gets shot to hell only it was a hologram, then cuts to a scene RANDOMLY). Also, and these were little things that probably only I would've picked up, but there were a few holes in the fighting style. Overall? Not SUPER captivating, but interesting, nonetheless. 3/5

Characters:
Violet, to be summarized in one word, was a mother. All the way. And that's the way the writer intended her to be. Continually the story would harp on her forced abortion and her new-found love for the boy, Six. Six was your run-of-the-mill boy genius. He continually causes Violet to get caught in a mess of baddies. The antagonist ended up proving that he could hold his ground in a fight, despite the sissy outer shell. Eh? Sure. 3/5

Aesthetics:
If there's one thing this movie had going for it, it was the colors. Wow, was it beautiful at some parts. Everytime Violet stepped into a new scenario her outfit would change to match it. Lead to some incredibly beautiful fight scenes. Which brings me to another plus: the fighting. Yes, as I before mentioned, there were some gaps in matching the styles, but DAMN. I guess that's the testosterone-infused-man deep down inside. 5/5

Cast:
To answer Jamie's question: No, Milla Jovovich was a miss for me in this movie. She just didn't grasp the character as well as she could've. The boy who played Six, whom at this time I cant think of his name, was spot-on. Usually, it's the other way around (due to the fact that I dont care for child actors). Not a super all star cast, but they held their own. 3/5

Grade: 70, C

Afterthoughts:
Yeah, I liked it. It was entertaining, but at a measly 85 minutes, it seemed short. Too many cuts in storyline and back-plot. Good for what it was, a movie to enjoy with my little brother. I'd recommend it to the artist in you.

Introduction

So I came up with this idea recently: ideally, I want to write movie reviews for a living, so why don't I get a leg up and start now for no money? Here I am. Instead of doing my homework for my English class in the morning, I'm pecking away at, yet another, blog of mine.

As you probably could've guessed, this is going to be a series of movie reviews. There's no specific order, they're just the movies I watch at any given time. Ideally, I want to review them right after I watch them, that way I can get the most accurate ratings. But, life has a way of steering us off course, so I get to them when I get to them.

They will be reviewed like this:
After printing the name of the movie, year, etc information, I'll give a brief summary of the plot. Secondly, I will rate four sections on a scale from one to five (one being terrible, five being phenomenol). The four sections will be as follows: Plotline/Story, Characters (in depth and development), Aesthetics (music, camera angles, colors, etc.), and Cast (what I thought of the acting/what I disliked about the acting). Finally I will take a total of the score, multiply it by five, and produce a final, overall grade. Wash, rinse, repeat.