Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

After just over a year, the Twi-nomenon has returned in all of its twi-glory.  Twi-hards can be heard rejoicing all over the en-twire world.  The twi-series is back to earning to some major twi-bucks.  Okay, that’s enough of that.  Love it, hate it or just not really caring much about it at all (I place myself in the latter), TWILIGHT is guaranteed for at least one thing; complete Box Office dominance.  It did not disappoint earning itself a spot behind the very epic DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 that premiered back in July for the second highest grossing opening weekend this year.  Not bad, but there is a line to be drawn between quantity (ticket sales) and film quality. 

For those of you who follow my writing you might remember my mini-adventure involving ECLIPSE.  If not, you can read it here.  Those of you who don’t should hang your head in utter shame.  Since I put time and effort into that film, I figured I might as well attempt to do the same for this one.  Only I didn’t, I was simply invited and figured ‘why not?’, if anything I’ll earn myself a free 2 hours of sleep.  But while I actually felt that BREAKING DAWN’s predecessor was a semi-decent film, I don’t really feel like I can say the same for the latest chapter however.

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Review BLOOD: Re-cap of Ep. 43

Episode 43 and counting…“Cold Grey Light of Dawn”

The full moon evening that took us to the end of the last episode also opens the beginning of this one.  Sookie and Eric must really have been pretty backed up because they’re love fest lasted an awfully long time.  Beginning in the forest and ending in Sookie’s bed with different stops in-between, they made sure they satisfied their sexual desire.  They also enjoyed a nice cuddle session afterwards which got a little cheesy for my tastes.  Still seeing Eric act like a perfect gentleman is very strange, and a little sickening at times.

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

We know how we all feel about the previous X-Men films. And, well, that feeling is not too good. Personally, I felt part 1 was decent but weak at the same time. I honestly really enjoyed the first sequel. The action, introduction of new characters and overall plot was great. Then we were introduced to the third installment and we wanted to cry. Cry due to mourning over a franchise which seemed to have such great promise. Then news dropped of several possible spin-offs depicting our favorite mutants and the telling of their origins. First up, arguably the most popular X-Man, Wolverine. Our tears from the last movie were followed by the laying of black flowers on the franchises’ grave after that project. It did wonderful at the Box Office, despite being leaked prior to its release, but the quality of the movie was pretty subpar. We removed our funeral clothing at the end of the day and prepared ourselves for no more X-Men movies. Well at least we hoped.

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Try a sip, you might like it (True Blood)

Unless you happen to be dead yourself, you should know about the undead craze that is blanketing our planet.  By undead I by no means am speaking of anything that slid out of the creative mind of one George A. Romero.  I am, however, referring to a certain race of supernatural beings that are called vampires.  Yes, the other undead.  They are immortal, super-strong, very fast, drink blood, have skin that literally pales in comparison to a humans, and can apparently fly in some story variations.

Perhaps my most fondest memories of the fanged blood-lusters are from one of my most coveted television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I mean yeah, I initially watched it because of the high degree of hotness that was Sarah Michelle Gellar.  I thought she was extremely “purty”.  But the drama powered storylines as well as the comic relief and surprising relation to real life teenage angst despite the fictitious characters forced me to continue coming back for more.  I then gravitated on over to Angel, its spin-off, when it finally debuted.  Joss Whedon happens to be something of a genius.  Since those very classic good times, different ideas and variations of vampires have been slung upon us to hopefully accept and eventually love. 

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Black Swan (2010)

Met with critical acclaim after it was first released at the 67^th Venice International Film Festival in September of 2010, Black Swan has since gone on to gather even more fame and hype.  Mostly due to its’ combination of elegant dance and the deep psychological portrayal of a person under pressure to simply be perfect.   Natalie Portman headlines a film filled with sex, drugs, emotional & physical stress and just plain paranoia.

Nina (Natalie Portman), an aspiring and paralyzingly-timid ballet dancer, competes and is ultimately chosen to dance the lead role in an upcoming production of the classic Swan Lake.  In order to completely pull this role off, she must take on the duties of portraying two characters.  The first persona that she must accept is that of the White Swan, a role in which the ballet director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), finds her perfect for.  Her desire to be perfect in every move and motion plays directly into what is needed to be a great White Swan.  The White Swan’s evil twin, the Black Swan, is slightly more difficult for her to grasp.  She isn’t used to dancing with the recklessness and abandon that is encouraged to dance this role.

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Blue Valentine (2010)

During the 26th Annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2010, many films were introduced to the world. Many films that went on to do well among public audiences. Films such as Winter’s Bone, Waiting for Superman & Happythankyoumoreplease. Another film, directed by Derek Cianfrance, entitled Blue Valentine also seemed to get a lot of attention due to its deep drama induced story about a married couple played by Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams. After a good showing at Sundance as well as other festivals, Blue Valentine finally found its way into theaters nationwide.

The story begins with the couples’ daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka) looking for her dog, Megan, who has gotten out of the yard. After not finding her, she wakes up her father, Dean (Ryan Gosling) who playfully disturbs the slumber of his wife, Cindy (Michelle Williams). The audience is then introduced to the occupation of both; Cindy is a nurse while Dean is a painter. Like every other married couple, they go through their trials and tribulations as we are taken through a routine day in their life. The story is filmed in such a way that shows the two as they are in the present while flashing back to tell the origin of how they came to be.

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Takers (2010)

With all of the films chronicling the schemes and usually well thought out plans of bank robbers and thieves, the introduction of Takers didn’t really have me too excited.  The only difference that I could really see judging from all of the trailers and sneak peeks were that these particular robbers were very well dressed.  The John Luessenhop directed project takes us into the lives of a pretty close knit bunch living the high life and reaping the benefits of their chosen illegal career field.

            The team of takers consist of a rather ensemble cast headed up by Gordon Cozier (Idris Elba).  His second in command and best friend, John (Paul Walker), helps to run their crew of determined heister's.  The film begins with the group about to pull off another job on an unsuspecting banking establishment.  They are crisp, fast, strategic and downright perfect in their execution of obtaining their goal without managing to hurt any innocent patrons or employees.  Detectives Jack Welles (Matt Dillon) & Eddie Hatcher (Jay Hernandez) are the police officials assigned to the case.  Both cop with their own personal story among the many sub-plots included in this film.

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The Girl who Played with Fire (2009)

The famous Lisbeth Salander has returned along with all of the complicated character attributes that her personality carries. Stieg Larsson’s second installment in his Swedish Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire, continues the intriguing story of Salander and her criminal-journalist friend, Mikael Blomkvist. After the opening chapter, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, proved to be so successful, audiences couldn’t wait for this equally compelling sequel.

After Blomkvist is released from prison and Lisbeth takes up an indefinite absence from the world, she continually checks in on her rapist parole officer Nils Erik Bjurman (Peter Andersson). She threatens him to make sure he keeps up his role of their agreement to continue writing positive reports about her. Having had enough, Bjurman hires an unknown figure to “take care of her” for him. As this shady deal is coming together, a new journalist who has been recently welcomed onto Blomkvist’s team at Millennium, is found murdered along with his girlfriend. The two were planning on writing and releasing an expose about illegal sex trafficking along with all of its orchestrators and participants.

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True Grit (2010)

Filmmaking brothers Joel & Ethan Cohen take up the reigns of their latest film to put out their adaptation of the 1968 novel, True Grit, written by Charles Portis.  The first film adapted from the novel shares the same title and stars western film vet John Wayne himself in the lead role of  U.S. Marshall Rueben Cogburn.  The Cohen Brothers have made it clear that their goal with this film was to make as close to the original story contained in the novel as possible.  Steven Spielberg also shares producing duties on this project. 

                Jeff Bridges takes up the role of old, fat and usually drunk U.S. Marshall Rueben “Rooster” Cogburn who is chosen by 14-year old Mattie Ross (Hallie Steinfeld) to pursue and catch fugitive Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) who murdered her father.  During her search for a suitable lawman to take up this task, she comes across Texas Ranger LaBoeuf who is in his own hunt for Chaney to obtain an award that is up for his capture. 

After consistently being turned down to accompany Cogburn on his quest for Chaney, Mattie sets out after him only to find that he has made a deal with LaBoeuf to split the reward money.  They reluctantly allow her to come with them as they search for her father’s killer.  On

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The Tourist (2010)

Two of the mega-stars of our time combine their talents with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck to bring us a remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer.  The Tourist apparently follows its’ parent feature accordingly but lacks something for me.  I can’t exactly place my finger on it, but I went into it thinking that it was something that it was obviously not.  Nonetheless, I exited the theater a little disappointed in my evening purchase.

            The story begins in France and eventually takes us to Italy where it turns somewhat interesting.  Elise (Angelina Jolie) is a quite mysterious woman who literally turns the heads of every male, and even some female, patrons as she walks down the street.  We discover rather early on that she is being persistently tagged by a group of authorities from the International Police.  This mini-squad of investigators and followers are led by Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany) who seems rather obsessed with apprehending her very elusive and absent boyfriend, Alexander Pearce.  Through a, in my opinion, not very clever way of slipping her a note, Pearce instructs Elise to board a train and meet him in Italy.

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Unstoppable (2010): Might stop you from working for a freight train company...

So what do you get when you take an arguably incompetent locomotive engineer, an unmanned freight train dangerously hurtling towards a highly populated Pennsylvania town and two train workers just trying to do their jobs? Pretty long question huh? Well the answer is much shorter…you get another film starring acting vet Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott which deals with trains. The two also worked together on last year’s remake, The Taking of Pelham 123. Known for his rapid fire sort of film making utilized in movies like Man on Fire and Domino, Scott puts together another action drama, Unstoppable.

28-year freight train veteran, Frank Barnes (Washington), finds himself partnered up with newcomer Will Colson (Chris Pine) for another day of hauling freight via Pennsylvania railway. The two’s initial relationship is questionable with expected errors by the young rookie conductor which are corrected with some added animosity by his much more experienced driver. They eventually get to know each other before discovering that a train headed in their direction is traveling without anyone at the wheel.

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Keith (2008)

           Not your typical romance chick-flick, Keith directed by Todd Kessler, poses a different spin on the outlook of teenage high school romances.  Although still about love and trying to find one’s self, it dives a little deeper into the fact that you simply cannot control what turns your feelings take.  No matter how hard you may try. 

            Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois) is a high school senior who pretty much has her hand in just about everything.  Star tennis player, straight-A student and year book editor, her schedule is kept pretty full in order to give her that edge in acquiring a scholarship to Duke University.  Not really having much time for herself, she meets and takes an interest to a transfer student named Rafael (Ignacio Serrichio).  They begin to spend time with each other and eventually become a couple just when she is paired up for a chemistry assignment with a care-free, rebellious unorthodox student named Keith (Jesse McCartney).  At first, he is quite un-cooperative with her in completing their project which annoys her and she tries to get out of working with him but to no avail. 

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The Social Network (2010)

         Unless you have simply had something against the internet for the past 6 of 7 years, you know what Facebook is.  You also know what MySpace and many other social networking sites are and for.  Want to find a long-lost relative, let everyone know your phone number has changed, publicize the end of a relationship, brag about the start of a new one or just keep in touch with a friend who lives across the country?  Facebook has served as an easy way of doing all of this.  Even more so than the traditional and now too common way of basically picking up the telephone.  Constantly adding friends, changing relationship statuses, and letting other Facebook members what you might be doing this weekend are just some of the basic features that can be utilized.  The Social Network, directed by David Finchers, gives an inside look at the creation of the site. It is based on the novel written by Ben Mezrich titled The Accidental Billionaires published in 2009 which tells the story of the founding of Facebook.   

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The Town (2010)

           A more than proud New York Yankee fan myself, I am supposed to be geared to hate everything Boston.  From their sports teams down to their way of life.  But I can’t, I must give credit where it is due, even if it is owed to a city who houses the despised Red Sox (who missed the playoffs this year might I add).  They are a loyal bunch, they stand by their teams and stick with their own no matter what happens.  I happen to occasionally root for the Boston Celtics, only because I like Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo and yes, although slightly on the older side, they are a very good team and will hopefully do well this upcoming season.  I must also give credit to their films. 

Some of the best movies ever placed on a big screen have taken place in, around, or near this city.  Many of the individuals who are linked to these films are from the Boston area and have done well to entertain us.  Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and one of my ultimate all-time favorites The Departed have come out of Beantown.  The latest and perhaps one of the greatest, The Town, directed by Ben Affleck a Cambridge, Massachusetts native, carries on that legacy.  But yes, I still retain my loathing for the Red Sox.  I have to, as a New Yorker; it’s just the right thing to do.

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The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Hurt Locker delivers in ways and areas that other war films don’t touch on.  Not only focusing on the action, killing and death facets of war, it shines a light on the human side of soldiers and those involved in the violent result that comes along with it.  Director Kathryn Bigelow puts us right in the middle of present-day Iraq to tag along with a U.S. Army bomb-unit who only has a little over a month left before they can go home.

            Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) takes over a bomb containment squad after its former leader, Staff Sergeant Matt Thompson (Guy Pierce), is killed while trying to neutralize an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) left in the middle of an Iraqi town.  The team, Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), is left to learn to take on and deal with James’ reckless and unorthodox tactics.

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Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it yet again; Tyler Perry sure can write a drama-filled story. His latest black-opera (black soap opera) is no different. Why Did I Get Married Too? continues the telling and going-on’s of four married couples and lifelong friends from its 2007 predecessor. The entire cast returns to try to answer that question that almost everyone who has ever been married or even engaged may ask themselves: “Why?”


Terry and Diane (Tyler Perry & Sharon Leal) are the first couple that we meet and it seems they have recovered from their episode in the first film quite well now with two children and seemingly more in love than ever before. Marcus and Angela (Michael Jai White & Tasha Smith) are still the ever arguing and constant bickering duo that they were before and the audience wonders how they haven’t managed to split up yet or kill each other for that matter. Troy and Sheila (Lamman Rucker & Jill Scott) are still together after Sheila’s disastrous marriage to Mike (Richard T. Jones), have moved to the south and have come across some financial issues. Gavin and Patricia (Malik Yoba & Janet Jackson) seem like they might be fine but are obviously concealing some possible issues from the rest of their friends.

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The Lovely Bones (2010)

The director that brought us the epic trilogy dubbed The Lord of the Rings makes an attempt to put another novel on the big screen. Unfortunately, the success from Peter Jackson’s previous project did not transfer over onto this film. The Lovely Bones originally written by novelist Alice Sebold which was published in 2002 tells a tragic tale of a teenage girl who was murdered during the 1970’s in Pennsylvania.

Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is a 14-year old aspiring photographer who lives in Norristown, Pennsylvania with her family; her father Jack (Mark Wahlberg), mother Abigail (Rachel Weisz), and her brother and sister, Buckley and Lindsey (Christian Thomas Ashdale & Rose McIver). One day on a walk home from school she takes a shortcut through a cornfield and encounters her quiet but odd neighbor George Harvey (Stanley Tucci).

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Remember Me (2010)

For those of you who have faithfully followed my film critiques, you might be aware of my struggles with un-bias and giving credit where it is due to certain genres and film styles. Styles that in my pre-critic life I would not have taken a liking to. I felt like I was making wonderful progess in this plight after seeing and giving reviews on certain movies with no favoritism whatsoever. Well, if I made it over a hump with those previous films, then this one surely puts me over the mountain. Remember Me easily fits into the romance-drama category. A category that, although I do possess a “hopeless romantic” side, I don’t usually find myself enthralled in a story that fits within this class of film. Somehow, someway I found myself doing just that with this movie.

The story begins in a part of Brooklyn, NY; which I am very proud to say is my hometown, born and raised. However, the story also begins in tragedy. One of our main characters, Ally (Emilie de Ravin), witnesses firsthand the death of her mother at a very young age. This leaves her father, Neil (Chris Cooper), an NYPD police officer, to raise her alone. Fast forwarding to the future, Ally now attends college in New York City and still lives with her very protective father. Unbeknownst to her, she shares a class with Tyler (Robert Pattison), who also has his own family demons.

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Sex and the Cities (2008 & 2010)

- This is dedicated to my good friend Sally-

thank you for your sometimes

harsh but honest

opinion and support

As an aspiring film critic, I realize that I can’t solely see movies that I would normally be interested in or even excited about. I also realize that I can’t be biased, positive or negative, toward a certain film based off of whether or not it’s my kind of movie. Thus far, I have also realized that I haven’t really seen any movies that I wouldn’t normally see unless I was with someone else. Namely, the ever so popular sub-genre of “chick flicks”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve see plenty of girlie movies in my time but it was always with an actual girl. Since I don’t have that luxury at this current moment, I really haven’t taken an interest in them.

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The Karate Kid (2010)

With all of the remakes that are descending down upon us, I try to see the original versions before I see what present day Hollywood has to offer. Unfortunately I am not always able to. I am actually quite disappointed this time more than others that I was not able to see the initial film to this remake. I know, I know, just like not seeing other movies such as The Godfather franchise and Scarface, not seeing the original three or at least the very first Karate Kid is seen as a mortal sin in the world of classic movies. But I promise I will get to it and much sooner rather than later now that I’ve seen the revamp.

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