Hereditary - The Modern Exorcist

For those who know me, I am a sucker for any kind of horror movie. I consider myself a horror connoisseur. When I first saw the previews for this movie back in February, I was hooked. Hereditary gave me The Exorcist vibes with a touch of an M. Night Shyamalan twist. Reading other critiques beforehand, my standards were set pretty high. My expectations were exceeded. Our story begins with an average family who has recently lost their grandmother. Charlie (Milly Sharpiro) is a thirteen-year old girl and her grandmother's favorite. Charlie seems to have signs of some mental illness although it is never stated directly. She tends to keep by herself with strange ticks and makes dolls. After coping with the loss of the grandmother, the family loses Charlie in a car accident. The son, Peter (Alex Wolff), tries to rush Charlie to the hospital after Charlie goes into anaphylaxis at a party only for her to put her head out the window and get decapitated. The whole scene is as messed up and disgusting as it sounds. Toni Collette (Annie) gives a stunning performance as a grieving mother who wants to do anything to bring her daughter back. In a last ditch effort she tries to be a medium and contact Charlie directly. While this is a horror cliche, a major pet peeve of mine, director Ari Aster succeeds in a tasteful way. Aster orchestrates a horror masterpiece with predictable concepts by the us of artistic camera angles and subtle horror sequences. Annie, for example, designs miniatures (i.e., doll houses) of her life. Many of the scenes and transitions are depicted from the view point of the miniature on which she is working. Perhaps what made this movie so disturbing is how different grief was portrayed. Peter seems to try to live normally while being numb and breaking down in private. Steve (Gabriel Byrne), the father, is just trying to make things normal in the household. Meanwhile, Annie is falling apart. These contrasting coping mechanisms create conflict both externally among characters and internally as well. If halfway through the movie you are not convinced that this movie is truly terrifying, the ending is worth the wait. The ending is predictable but is executed well because of its disturbing factor. I found myself mouthing "WTF" at least three times at the end.  Jump scares and showing scary scenes abundantly can change a great horror movie into a B-rated film. Ari Aster manages to create a horrific movie without the use of either. The horror scenes are so subtle that the suspense messes with your head. Many of the horror scenes take place in the periphery of the focal point creating a haunting and unsettling atmosphere. I don't want to give any spoilers away for those who haven't gotten the chance to see it, but the ending messed me up completely. I came out of the theater satisfied but with the same sense of uneasiness as the first time I saw The Exorcist. I tried my hardest to admit that I was not terrified after watching the movie, but I found myself sleeping with all the lights on and checking the backseat of my car repeatedly on my way to the gym at the break of dawn. While I would place Hereditary under a psychological thriller rather than horror, it definitely sets the standards high for future horror movies in this decade.

We Need To Discuss the Series Finale of Breaking Bad

   We really need to talk about this. Last year my boyfriend and I started Breaking Bad and we watched all the way up to the second to last episode of season 5. I had heard some mixed reviews about the series finale so we put it on hold until last Sunday. I still feel very conflicted over it. Warning: If you haven't watched Breaking Bad, a) who are you and b) this post will contain a lot of spoilers.
   The series finale left me feeling very unsatisfied, but also feel like the ending made a lot of sense. However, killing off our beloved Walter White was very unnecessary. Had we just ended on season 4, everything would have been fine and dandy. Then again, I think that was the point of season 5. To me, I felt like seasons 1-4 dealt with Walter's struggles of providing for his family and being able to afford nice things compared to his other friends. During that time Walter was a family man and he was somewhat unsure of his drug business and tried to keep his family out of it. That's what made it so interesting to me. A simple chemistry teacher has this secret life that no one would expect from him. Let's be honest here, Walter White did not appear to be intimidating at all. If you saw him on the streets, you would think he was they typical family man. But as we see him progress, he gets so much cooler. When he shaves his head for the first time, you know things are about to get real.
   Season 5 Walter is a completely different character. This is the corrupt Walter. The family man we loved before is gone. I feel like season 5 was all about Walter's internal struggle between what's right and what he actually wants to do. He says it all in the series finale. Everything he has done was for him. It shows just how much this business has corrupted him. He has lost everything and it is all because he wanted the money and he was really good at cooking meth. It doesn't justify the ending, but how he communicates to Skyler and devises this plan to set things right and put an end to it redeems him. Not to mention how awesome his plan was. Only a truly brilliant man like Walter could come up with that neat little gun contraption. I do understand how the show couldn't have ended happily. With that being said, Vince Gilligan, you should have stopped the show at season 4 so I could feel more at peace. I have several complaints. For starters, I wish Walter and his son would have had some resolution. Walter Jr.'s last words to him were "just die already." Well good news, Walt Jr., he does. At one point Walt Jr. looked up to his father which shows when he discovers the truth about Walter. He's angry and upset and in disbelief. Truly heartbreaking. Also, I would have liked to see Jesse and Walter make amends. I get that the whole "I watched Jane die" thing is a set back on their friendship (if you can call it a friendship), but they have been through so much together and it made me sad to see that all come to an end. Plus, Jesse could have showed a little appreciation seeing as Walter saved his life in the end. Now my third and final complaint: what happened after Walter's death? Walter's death broke my heart, but I really want to know what happened to his family after they find out. Were they sad? Did Walt Jr. regret everything he said? What did Jesse do? Did the Schwartz's actually give Walt Jr. the money Walter gave to them? I need answers.
   All in all though, Breaking Bad was easily one of the best shows I have ever watched. Even the series finale was iconic. You don't come along very many shows like this one, so it was nice getting to enjoy it. If you haven't watched it yet, they have all the episodes on Netflix and I promise it's binge worthy. Just be warned because I definitely wanted to cry after the series finale. It changes you.

Star Wars: Just a Remake?

   Everyone has been talking about the new Star Wars movie. In fact, Star Wars: The Force Awakens surpassed both Titanic and Avatar in box office earnings (my boyfriend told me that, so I am not entirely sure how accurate that fact is). However, despite popular opinion, I was not too crazy about it. 

   The movie begins with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) helping Finn (John Boyega) escape from the First Order. After a space ship crash, Finn is left to find BB-8, a droid who has come in contact with our heroic lead, Rey (Daisy Ridley). *Spoiler alert* Rey and Finn come across the Millennium Falcon and meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca. Long story short, Rey learns she is the new master Jedi and must team up with the Resistance to defeat Kylo Ren and the rest of the First Order. This whole plot does sound oddly familiar though right? That's because this movie is none other than a remake of the old ones. Now don't get me wrong, I am happy that we are establishing a new version of Star Wars for the new generation. But I would appreciate a new story with a new plot. The equivalent is making a movie about Harry Potter's son going to Hogwarts only to find that Voldemort's heir is hunting him down. 

    Now this movie did have some pretty amazing aspects to it. The effects were amazing. My boyfriend and I watched the first six together before we saw this one together and the difference from a visual stance is significant. I actually felt like I was in the galaxy fighting the First Order with the Resistance. Plus how can you not love BB-8? He is almost as cute as R2D2. 

   However, I was slightly disappointed by Kylo Ren, or Darth Vader 2.0 I should say. He even has his own helmet and everything. First of all, he is Leia's and Han Solo's son; so naturally, I assumed he would be a very attractive man. When he took off his helmet, I was expecting a darker more mysterious Zac Efron type of guy. But, I was very wrong. All I got was a huge nose staring at me from the screen. Now don't get me wrong, Adam Driver did a very nice job of portraying his character, but he was no Anakin in anyway shape or form. I did not feel the passion of Kylo Ren like I did with Darth Vader. In the older movies, I felt Darth Vader's conflicted feelings. Kylo Ren just made me mad. That is the honest truth. Darth Vader and I had some ups and downs. There were times where I thought I was done with him. We were on and off through the whole series, but in the end I learned to like Darth Vader. I am not so sure about Kylo Ren. There are a lot of things we still do not know about him; but after the stunt he pulled in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I'm not so sure I will ever like him. 

   In conclusion, if you are a Star Wars fan, then I highly do recommend this movie. It was definitely not my favorite and it doesn't even really compare to the originals. However, it is still incredibly entertaining and just an overall fun and flashy movie. 

Sinister 2:Just As You Expected

    Usually I am a huge fan of Blumhouse Productions. I loved the Conjuring, Insidious, and even the first Sinister. However, Sinister 2 was definitely a typical horror movie sequel. Now I will not go as far to say that this should have been a straight-to-DVD film, although I can definitely see how it has straight-to-DVD potential.
   Our story begins exactly how you would expect. Just like the first one, a family moves into a home with a dark past. A family had been murdered there just like the Oswalts in the first movie. Yet, this sequel took a different direction. In the original film, we get to see the point of view from the adult's perspective. The children, although very important to the movie, are not seen very often. This movie was all about the children. We get to see the point of view of Courtney Collins' (Shannyn Sossaman) sons, Dylan and Zach. The Deputy from the first movie also makes an appearance, but this time he is burning down houses to put an end to Bughuul's antics. Zach and Dylan see the dead children who have been succumbed to Bughuul's ways. Bughuul, in case you do not know already, is a demon which we know to be the boogeyman. His goal is to take children because he feeds on the corruption of innocence. The pattern involves one child being chosen, that child murders the family, and then Bughuul takes the child into his realm. Furthermore, the child must film the murder because Bughuul requires an offering. Well we get to see those children who specifically target Dylan. Dylan is this young boy whose brother, Zach, beats up and bullies. Dylan must watch all the films that the children give him in order to make his own movie. Now these films made by the children are no joke. I would be lying if I said I wasn't horrified when I saw them.
SPOILER ALERTS: Dylan finally watches one last film entitled "Sunday Service." Now if you thought the films in the first movie were bad, this one takes the cake. This little boy drugs his family. He ties them all up in a circle and covers their stomachs with a bucket. Underneath the bucket is a rat. You can see where this goes and yes, you get to witness all of it. As if that wasn't enough, he then watches the blood poor out and makes the symbol of Bughuul with it. I was so done with the movie after that. We then find out from the Deputy that the first disappearance ever was from Norway. Someone picked up this radio signal of a child's piano playing. Later on they heard the sounds of a child murdering her mother. Now that actually gave me chills. But the whole movie fell flat after that. Zach finishes the deeds of the children because Dylan refuses and he starts to film this murder he wants to commit. Well, the Deputy will have no part of that because he loves kids and he also loves Courtney Collins. The Deputy saves Courtney and Dylan in the most anticlimactic way possible: he breaks the camera in Zach's hand. You think he is going to kill Zach because Zach has a scythe in one hand and a camera in the other. No, he takes a candlestick and breaks the camera. After that, Zach runs to the basement in disappointment only to be taken by Bughuul. Bughuul never receives his offering and it turns out all they had to do was break the camera the whole time.
  Overall, I would give this movie a 4/10. The film itself is well made despite a bad story. Also, I got the chance to meet the actor who plays Bughuul, Nicholas King, so I am a little biased here on the rating. If you like scary movies, it is definitely worth watching. However, I recommend you wait for this to come out on Redbox or even just TV because it is not worth the $7.00+ to watch it in theaters.

A Touch of Sass

   I have found a new love of writing. Therefore, I have decided to create a personal blog apart from my movie reviews. Yes, I will continue to write on this blog as well to keep people from wasting their time on lousy movies (new review coming soon heads up!). My blog is entitled "A Touch of Sass" and found at this link: atouchofsass2015.blogspot.com
   Everyone feel free to view my blog. I will be talking about a variety of things, so you do not want to miss out!

Forrest Gump - A Truly Memorable Story

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." This quote is something we have all heard. Whether it is through a friend or even through the film Forrest Gump, we all recognize it.
   My boyfriend was out of town and my sister was busy, so naturally my instinct was to watch Netflix all night long. I chose the timeless film Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Winston Groom (novel) and Eric Roth (screen play). I have seen this movie countless times. In fact it will remain as one of my favorites. However, I decided it would be a great idea to write a review on it especially for those of you who have not seen it. Now even if you have no idea what this movie is about, Tom Hanks is the star. Everyone can agree that Tom Hanks is a phenomenal actor. He is arguably one of the best of the generation. I cannot think of a movie in which Tom Hanks poorly executed a character. Therefore, this movie was destined for greatness, greatness bestowed by Tom Hanks.
  Our story begins with a young Forrest Gump in a small town in Alabama. He is different. He is not smart like the other kids and he has what his mama calls "magic legs" which is just a fancy way of saying he has a disability. Although every kid treats him poorly, Jenny Curran treats him as a human being. In fact, they become best friends. If you haven't seen this movie, here is my warning to you right now: do NOT be deceived by Jenny's sweet face and southern accent. She is not the southern belle that you expect her to turn out to be. Robin Wright did a fine job playing Jenny. I am sure she is a wonderful person but she played one of my most despised characters.So Forrest and Jenny go through life as best friends, but after high school they go separate ways. Forrest makes history and Jenny gets into a lot of bad situations like drugs and alcohol. Yet, here is the saddest plot line in the whole movie: Forrest achieves so many things to win the heart of Jenny Curran who runs away from him every chance she gets. Unfair right? SPOILER ALERT: after about thirty years of running away from Forrest, Jenny reveals that Forrest is the father of a child and that she is ready to marry him. Here is the plot twist though: she has AIDS. Just when you get closure and think everything is okay, everything falls apart. Jenny screwed up in my opinion. Most of us are guilty of friend-zoning a person whether we realize it or not. Yet, here is this guy who is standing in front of her doing absolutely everything he can to win her heart and he is never good enough. She had a troubled life and I will give her credit for that, but she had so many chances to turn her life around. He gave her so many chances. Although, Jenny is not all that bad. Forrest ends up a millionaire and she still won't date him after he makes his money. Kudos to you Jenny Curran for loving him in the end for his personality and not his money.
   Now I did learn some things from this movie. We can create our own destinies. No one believed in Forrest Gump and he turned out to be an incredible human being. Then again, I am biased seeing as Tom Hanks played him. It is really difficult to hate a Tom Hanks character. Maybe if Justin Bieber played the role of Forrest Gump my opinions would differ a bit. The second thing I learned is somewhat sad. Here we have a man with so many people he impacted and so many accomplishments and the one person who impacted him the most is Jenny Curran who did not care about him until the end. It is really sad to think that you can love a person with all your heart and they don't feel the same way back. You can dedicate your whole life to one person and they will not return the favor. But then again life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. I guess we have to take risks in life because we'll never know how it all ends.
   I would rate this movie 10/10 stars. Tom Hanks, you are a treasure. This movie will forever remain timeless with a phenominal cast and phenominal story. There are many historical aspects to the movie as well. Even if you don't like love stories, history enthusiests will have a party with this film. Miracles happen as Forrest Gump once said and this movie is one of them.

Phantom of the Opera (2004)

   Let me start by saying that I have actually seen this movie more than once. The first time I saw it, I was about nine years old. Because of my young age, I did not remember much. All I remember is crying at the end. My sister and I were having a movie night and wanted to watch a musical. We both love the music in this production to begin with, so naturally Phantom of the Opera was our first choice. I remembered this movie being very sad, but I was not aware of the downward spiral my emotions would take.
   This movie stars the always attractive Gerard Butler playing the mysterious and handsome Phantom. Emily Rossum plays the beautiful Christine and to my surprise Patrick Wilson plays Raoul. Even if you hate musicals, this movie is enjoyable because the acting is superb. Christine is a very understated character in the beginning. The Opera House treats her as a background character. The "star" however, is a mean, spoiled woman named Carlotta (Minnie Driver). Although she can sing she does not match up to Christine's standards. When Carlotta backs down Christine assumes the throne as star performer. When asked who her teacher is, she says it is her angel of music. Just as the phantom says Christine makes his soul take flight, the phantom's appearance made my emotions take flight. I immediately fell in love with Gerard Butler's character. Call me insane, but I love the mysterious, attractive "bad boy" so to speak.When he sang Music of the Night my heart melted. I was enthralled by his vocal dynamics followed by a sweet symphony playing in the background. Honestly I would not care to stay in his dark dungeon forever because he gets paid a salary, he's handsome, and he has tons of little trinkets that would provide entertainment.
   As the movie progresses the phantom develops feelings for Christine. However, Christine has her eyes on another, her childhood friend Raoul. Although Patrick Wilson executed his role as Raoul very well, I still will never like this character. I tend to analyze movies very distinctly. My sister will even tell you the same because I notice everything: facial expressions, background scenery, etc. What I grasped from this is that Raoul fell in love with Christine's voice which made him fall in love with Christine as a person. Not to mention that Raoul thinks she is insane for having this "imaginary tutor." The Phantom in contrast sees her potential from the get-go. He loves her sweetness and most of all he loves her because she is not frightened by him. Honestly though if Gerard Butler tells you to stay with him why would you not? That is the real question I have for Christine. And as the play and movie both go, Christine chooses Roaul over the Phantom. Yet is this the whole story?
   SPOILER ALERT: The end of the movie got to me more than any movie I've watched in a while. He kidnaps Christine and says her fate is to stay with him. Raoul runs after her. The Phantom says that he loves her and blames his face for the fact she does not love him back. Yet Christine says it is his actions that really drove her away from him. At this realization he lets Raoul have her. He loves her but he realizes that his actions have consequences. His actions lost him Christine. But there's a twist here. Christine loves him too. When Raoul and Christine ride on the boat back to safety she looks back at him longingly. At the end older Raoul is visiting Christine's grave. He brings her the Phantom's music box. On the grave is a single rose with the ring the Phantom presented her. Christine isn't as bad as I thought she was. She chose the Phantom in her heart and that is enough happiness for me.
   I encourage everyone to watch this movie at some point. It is more than a musical. It is very entertaining and the music is beautiful. Plus there is some really awesome dance numbers, fights, and attractive men serenading the audience. What more could you want?

Interstellar

We have all heard of Matthew McConaughey's new movie hit Interstellar. If you haven't, here is a brief overview: basically Matthew McConaughey is this once engineer turned farmer, Cooper, who sets out on a mission to find a new planet to inhabit humans. I am not normally one for sci-fi movies, if this can be considered one, but this was a different type of sci-fi movie. For example, when I think "future," I normally think of hover cars and teleportation devices. I don't normally think of a world that has completely used up its new technological devices and that is paying the price for its many years of pollution  and wastefulness. Yet, that is how Interstellar is. Here we have a future that is completely based upon how we used our resources in the past. It really makes you think. Very rarely do I watch a movie that impacts me or really sticks with me. However, this was one of those movies. I could not believe that I actually loved a Matthew McConaughey movie. Don't get me wrong; the man is handsome. I personally am not a fan of his acting, although I'm sure many people will disagree with me. However, he was perfect in this movie. Another plus to this whole film was the special effects. I actually felt like I was in space with the crew. I felt lonely out in space while Matthew McConaughey and his group were there; and it honestly made me miss my family even though I was only 10 minutes away from them. It is very hard for a movie to grasp such emotions given the genre. Furthermore, I learned so many things. For example, time is relative. I was completely on the edge of my seat the whole time. Cooper (McConaughey's character) has to leave his family behind in order to help on this space mission. Yet time on earth is completely different from time out in space. I think the line that really just made my heart break was the scene in which Cooper is saying goodbye to his daughter Murph. He says that when he returns Murph might be just as old as him (keep in mind, his daughter is like 10 years old here). Immediately I knew that this was not going to be an easy journey. Of course Anne Hathaway's character, Brand, had a lot to lose too. Her father was the head of the mission and he was elderly (you can see where this is going). Each individual on the mission had so much to lose, yet so much to gain. Not to mention Brand's father quotes the poem by Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight," which happens to be a poem my old English teacher read to us. It is a powerful poem and fit perfectly with this powerful movie. Yet just as the poem is so dark, this movie has several dark elements. So here our characters go. They have communication with the secret base of NASA (NOTE: all military and governmental programs were cut due to the money needed for drones) in which Cooper can still receive messages from his son and daughter and Brand still receives messages from her father. Well, Cooper's daughter is not on speaking terms with him because she did not want him to leave. She decoded a message prior from a gravitational signal that decoded the phrase "stay." Long story short, they come to this planet in which 1 hour on this planet = 7 Earth years. Time is relative remember? SPOILER ALERT: Because of such strong gravitational pull, this planet has massive waves; so high they resemble mountains. The ship gets struck by a wave and although it does not damage the ship, the engine gets flooded. They're stuck for a long time. By the time they get back, they realize they've been gone 4 hours or 28 years on Earth. Here is where your heart will break: Cooper gets a message from his family. His son is married and has a child. Next message: his son's child just died due to  lack of pure air. Next message: Cooper's father-in-law died. Then the worst message: his daughter Murph finally speaks to him. After 28 years of silence, she speaks to him. She is finally his age when he left for the mission. Mind blown right? Let's not forget how Murph is now working alongside Brand's dad. After Brand's father, Dr. Brand (Michael Caine), passes, Dr. Brand reveals that the mission was never for the group to return. Rather, they would find a planet and stay there. This brings us to the idea of altruism which they discuss in the movie. I learned this in my Biology class. It's the evolutionary concept of someone risking their own fitness to save their own species. In other words, instead of fixing the issues on Earth, he sent the strongest and bravest humans out on a mission to save the human species. Again, my heart was breaking. If that isn't enough we can fast forward to the end. Remember how Cooper has been gone for a very long time? Well he finds his way back. Happy right? Wrong. His daughter has apparently found a way to create a base on a neighboring planet of Saturn and has set up a whole civilization there. Cooper is still the same age as he was when he left, maybe a couple of years older but not by much. He returns to his daughter who happens to be dying of old age. That's right. She finishes up her line with a twist on the line Cooper told her in the very beginning "No parent deserves to see their child die." Crying yet? I wanted to. This movie was amazing though. The cast did a phenomenal job and kudos to you, Christopher Nolan, for creating an absolutely spectacular visionary masterpiece. I couldn't keep my eyes away from the screen. My only regret is that I didn't see this one in theaters. I highly recommend Interstellar to anyone who enjoys sci-fi movies.

American Sniper

     Okay, so I know it has been a while since my last post. Believe me, I have seen a ton of movies in the past month or so since I've posted something; however, none of the movies I have viewed previously have been remotely good enough to even write about. Yet, one move I saw just last weekend really stuck with me. I am sure we have all heard of Bradley Cooper's new movie American Sniper. Kudos to you, Clint Eastwood, for directing one of the most horrific yet terrific movies I have seen in a while.
     I watch a lot of movies. Therefore, my standards on movies are relatively high. It takes a lot for a movie to truly stick with me. This movie did just that. Bradley Cooper did such a phenomenal job of portraying Chris Kyle. I am not one for war movies. My boyfriend makes me watch a lot of them and most of the time I try to stay in my own perfect world where war is dramatized and fictitious in movies. American Sniper was so gripping that it was impossible to go into my happy place. The movie encompassed every aspect of war: what happens to the families when a family member is out at war? What is going on over seas? What happens after a tour? Why do people want to fight in war? All of these questions were answered. Nothing about the movie was remotely settling. The happy scenes were something the viewer had to treasure because the rest was so sad and horrifying. I can't lie and say I didn't tear up in this film. This movie made me want to go out and personally thank every single veteran in the war. I have so much respect for people who want to join the military because I know it is a difficult job, but this movie made me open my eyes to it a little more. These people put their lives on the line every day and witness these horrifying events just to protect our country. That's a big deal.
     SPOILER ALERT: The violent scenes were so real to me, that I actually cried while watching them. This guy they call the butcher is shown drilling a hole into a little boy's head and all you can hear is this little boy screaming. Bradley Cooper's face said it all in the film. He could only sit there and watch. His first kill is that of a little boy and a woman. I mean to realize that this stuff is happening in our world is absolutely disgusting. I wanted to keep my eyes shut. The whole ordeal was disturbing. This was definitely one of Bradley Cooper's most memorable performances to me. He did a phenomenal job of portraying a man who is human just like us but loses himself once he experiences all of these tragic events. He dehumanizes into  a killing machine where he no longer has to think about who is the bad guy and who he is willing to save. I have never been to war, but I imagine that happens to many soldiers. My old history teacher used to tell me war stories of when he was in Afghanistan. He even admitted that it changed him.
      I saw this movie with my boyfriend and the first words I said to him as we left while I was in a puddle of tears were "please don't join the military." As horrible as that sounds, I have concluded that there is no way I could be an army wife. I applaud all of those who are capable of sustaining that kind of relationship, because I would be a mess. This movie just changed me in some way. I saw a whole new view of the world I never imagined I could. I would recommend this movie to anyone. It was horrifying and sickening, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Fight Club

First rule about fight club: you do NOT talk about fight club. Some may automatically feel that this movie is not for them because it is all about fighting. False! This movie is highly existential. On the surface we see Tyler Durden and the narrator and all these different characters who have nothing in common. There is violence. Oh there is TONS of violence. However, this movie is far from all fighting. The movie is based around the idea of fighting "the man." I saw this movie once when I was a kid, but I watched it recently completely forgetting how compelling this movie is. Tyler Durden seems like the bad guy throughout the movie, but in actuality we, the viewers, are the villains. He puts the brutal truth in our faces (my favorite idea). He says "You are not the car you drive. You are not the contents of your pocket." He is saying that the material things we own do not define us as a person, yet we always view this. The wealthy are treated better than the poor, but we are all God's children. He also says "Reject the basic assumption of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions." The entire movie represents how society has all fallen to the material world and no one is able to overcome it. Hence why Tyler Durden creates fight club. He allows people to feel something. When they fight they are no longer numb to the world. SPOILER ALERT! We are all Tyler Durden. The narrator creates Tyler Durden as his own persona because he is tired of his condo selling life. We all have the person in our minds that we strive to be. That person is who Tyler Durden represents. Plus let's be real here. Who doesn't want to see a young, shirtless Brad Pitt? I rate this movie 10/10 stars. It is a personal favorite of mine. However, it is hard to appreciate until you fully analyze the symbolic features throughout the film. Seriously, everyone should watch this.

The Fault In Our Stars

So I realize that technically the movie The Fault In Our Stars has not yet been released; I just want to discuss the book. I just finished reading it today. I decided upon this novel because I refuse to be a heathen who sees a movie before reading the book. I am not sure whether to be happy or sad about it. There are two sides I've taken to this book: one is that it is a love story about a girl and a boy with a tragedy at the end (basically every cliché romance novel) or two that it is a representation of death that no one wants to admit. The book was relatively pessimistic, but I guess that makes sense because it is about cancer. Then again the focus is far from a cancer novel. In fact, I was very impressed by the metaphorical aspect of it all. The character Augustus Waters was the type of character I have longed to see for a very long time. I have not loved a character so much since the Harry Potter books. He is the charming, charismatic type of character that everyone just wants to read about more and more. Yet he represented the brutal truth of death. The book tells us that we are all a statistic in the greater scheme of life. Time screws us all over eventually. All of us have a set number of days left on this earth (some more than others). However I think the scariest idea represented in the book was that all of us strive to make a mark on the earth before we die. We want to believe that when we die, people will remember us forever that it will be this great tragedy. Yet this is not true. It is such a pessimistic view but it is merely the truth that all of us hate to admit. When we die the world keeps moving. People mourn but eventually we are nothing but a forgotten memory to most. The sad reality is that all of us have this moral duty to treat the dying better than the living. Not to ruin the book, *SPOILER ALERT* but when one character is dying he sees people who have not talked to him in three years. They act like his best friend but no virtually nothing about him. Nevertheless, I have to say that I enjoyed John Green's pessimism throughout the novel. Not that I am a pessimistic. I have quite the optimistic view on life. John Green forces the reader to see beyond a cliché love story. He wants us to realize that we cannot live our lives until we can accept that one day we will die. I highly recommend everyone to read this book. After all the movie is coming out in about two weeks.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...to depression

Do you ever just get into a mood where you just need to cry? This is the movie for that moment. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was one of the most touching dramas I have seen in a while. Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, and Sandra Bullock give very powerful performances as the Schell family. The entire movie takes place after 9/11, so it is already set up for devastation. Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks) and his son Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) are the epitome of a father-son relationship. They are like best friends. Oskar is autistic, but he is so smart and adventurous. The son comes home early and hears the phone ring. It is his father repeatedly saying "Is anyone there? Hello? Is anyone there?" This is a huge theme throughout because the son is trying to go on the adventure that his father had originally set up for them to go on together. After 9/11 Oskar's mother, Linda Schell (Sandra Bullock), tries to pick up the pieces of her newly shattered family. Oskar asks everyone why someone who did not know his father would kill him. If that is not heart wrenching enough already, this innocent child goes around helping people because his father had always helped people. He travels to every place his father had taken him across New York City. Throughout the entire movie there are flashbacks to Oskar and Thomas Schell spending time together and sharing a very loving father-son bond. I literally cried like a baby throughout the entire movie. The saddest part is when Oskar talks to a lawyer whom he meets along his adventure. Keep in mind that Oskar is only a little boy. Oskar tells the lawyer of his guilt over his father. He says how the phone rang six times and he heard his dad say "Is anyone there?" The saddest part ever is seeing Oskar cry and say that he could not pick up the phone but he wanted to so badly. Oskar says that his father must have known he was there because he said "anyone" and anyone only means one person. I don't want to spoil anything else but this movie deserves 10/10 stars by my standards. I cried through the entire movie and continued to cry afterwards. It is not only a story of sadness but a story of happiness. You see how even through tough times that there can be happiness and joy. It is definitely a must see by everyone.

Blue Valentine: A Truly Blue Movie

So I just got done watching the movie Blue Valentine. This movie made me want to cry, smile, and flip tables all at the same time. I am a huge fan of the very attractive Ryan Gosling, so naturally I am always willing to sit down and watch any movie with his performance. He is the only actor that I know of that can make a balding middle-aged man look attractive. If you have not heard of this movie, it is about a woman named Cindy (Michelle Williams) and a man named Dean (Ryan Gosling). It is truly tough to look past Ryan Gosling's great look and maybe that is why I had such a hard time trying to rationalize Cindy's actions. There may be a few spoilers in this so be prepared. Dean meets Cindy unexpectedly which is just the perfect set up for the perfect love story. Well this story is far from perfect. They are complete opposites. Throughout the entire movie you see flashbacks of how they first met and see how much they were truly in love with each other. However, the main plot to the story proves otherwise. It is so sad because Ryan Gosling does an incredible job at showing how much he wants to change for the love of his life, but he just cannot seem to do it. At the same time, you can see how much Cindy wants to stay in love with him, but she is falling apart in the process. Michelle Williams did a splendid job in portraying what a woman will put herself through to stay with her man. You could really see how she did love him at one point but somewhere along the way their love fell apart. It was hard for me to understand seeing as I'm still young and it's also Ryan Gosling. If Ryan Gosling says he loves you, you should not test it. Yet, it is easy to see why she does what she does. Cindy is a very patient woman clearly. Dean drinks every morning and he has no ambitions towards his future. Cindy, in contrast, is very studious and has lots of ambitions. So maybe they were never destined to be for each other, but I was rooting for them the entire time.  Now how can we make this movie more depressing? They have a daughter together. If it is not sad enough seeing to people fall out of love, a daughter crashing and burning from it all comes into the mix.
I don't want to give any more spoilers away, but I will say this: if you expect happy endings in love stories, do not watch this movie. The ending was the most frustrating ending imaginable. It ends exactly the way you wish it didn't. However, overall it was a very enjoyable movie. I was so involved with it within the first ten minutes. I would rate this title 8/10 stars. It is definitely something people should watch.

Evil Dead (2013)

I had mixed feelings about this movie. If you've seen the original, you would too. The movie was not as scary as it could've been, and it definitely was not as great as I had anticipated. IMDB rates it a 7 out of 10 but I have to completely disagree. The gore factor for the movie was way over done. It legitimately has a scene where it is raining blood. The images, however, are terrifying; I cannot argue with that. The transformation done for the character Mia was shocking. If you haven't seen or heard of this movie, it is about a group of friends who go to a cabin to have an intervention for their friend Mia. Some idiot finds a book and reads the incantations despite the fact that it says "don't read it. Don't write it. Don't say it," on the page. All the happiness crumbles from that point on. Although you never truly see a demon, you can definitely see the possession part. I cringed in my seat a few times and definitely jumped out of my seat a few times. There is no down time though after Mia gets possessed; so don't expect any time to collect your thoughts. I would probably rate this 5.8 out of 10 stars. It was not the best.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Where do I even begin to discuss this movie? It was ridiculously great. Scott Fitzgerald would be proud to see his book displayed in this way. What can you expect with a great cast: Leonardo Dicaprio ( Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), Isla Fisher (Myrtle Wilson), Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway), etc. If you've ever read the book, your expectations would be pretty high for a movie such as this one. Compared to the 1974 version, this movie captured way more of how  I had imagined while reading the book. Leonardo Dicaprio delivered quite the phenomenal performance. He really captured the essence of who Gatsby was with the whole idea of dwelling in the past. You could just see his passion for Daisy and how much he wanted her to change her mind. There were some differences from the book, such as Nick Carraway writing the story called the Great Gatsby to deal with depression. This movie truly revealed the carelessness of people and how disturbing New York was towards drugs, alcohol, and the treatment towards people. My sister even cried in the movie, because it was that powerful. Every bit of the book was exaggerated to how it should have been. The different parts of New York looked how they should have been and you could fully see the contrast between West Egg and East Egg. Each character was fully identified to how he or she should've been. For example, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) was exactly I had pictured he'd be in the book. He was very athletic and very self centered. Gatsby (Leonardo Dicaprio) had the mysteriousness that he had in the book. It was like I was almost reading the book. I would definitely highly recommend this to anyone whether you read the book or not. This movie gets 8.9 out of 10 stars on my movie scale.

Sinister

If you love scary movies, you need to watch this movie. I am a huge scary movie fan. I cannot get enough of them, and I was not disappointed by this movie in the least bit. Most scary movies can make you jump, but the scare factor is generally ruined by a lack of character development and stupidity of the characters and ideas. However, this movie was different. Sinister is about an author (Ethan Hawk) who is trying to make his next big hit. His books usually uncover some type of truth of a crime that was overlooked by authorities. He comes across a rather strange case when he tries to figure out the mystery of a missing girl. He uncovers a box of tapes from his attic after moving into a new house with his family. He soon realizes that by watching these tapes that he is in way over his head. Strange events start occurring and he ultimately releases a demon named Bagul. Things go from bad to even worse throughout the movie. Director Scott Derickson definitely knew what he was doing. The movie had a great ratio of pop out scenes to plain out weird scenes. After a scary scene, the audience had down time to just recover, but one would be completely clueless as to when the next scary scene would occur. The entire movie was filled with surprises and terrifying images. I honestly was terrified and shaking in my seat. I may have even screamed a few times. Overall I would rate this a 7 out of 10 on my movie scale. It was definitely one of the better scary movies I've watched.

Dreading Dredd

Recently I watched a movie called Dredd. If you have not heard of it, it is an action flick about Megacities and drug lords. Now I for one greatly enjoy action movies; however, this movie, although quite entertaining, was not what I had hoped for. The movie is about a group of people called judges who provide order to the Megacities in the post apocalyptic wasteland of the world. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) protects one block that has been over run by the Mama Gang. Throughout the movie you see several uses of drugs and lots of violence. It had its moments; I will give it that. I thoroughly enjoyed the psychic, Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), and the cyborg. Plus all the action was such an adrenaline rush. It was a  pretty cool movie, however they could not pull the plot off as well as imagined. Overall on my movie rating scale, I'd give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Gleek to Shriek!

Okay so I just watched the latest episode of Glee (best show ever!). I'm happy about it but let me tell you I am mad! Very mad! In season 1 I always wanted Rachael to be with Finn and when they finally got together I was very very happy! Well once they broke up in Volume 3 I was not too happy. When they got back together in Season 2 I couldn't believe it. Well if you haven't seen the episode don't read on....
RACHAEL AND FINN FREAKING BROKE UP!!! I was soooo mad! Like okay Rachael cheated on Finn so yeah that's pretty bad but I mean Finn lied to Rachael about Santana! It kind of cancels out. I think Rachael will go back with Puck *cough cough looked it up in spoilers* but I don't think they will last. I love Finn but right now I'm mad at both of them haha! So anyways I do have to say I loved the Warblers! Hey, Soul Sister was a really good choice and I'm really happy they sang it (: I do have to say I did like the way Quinn and Sam sang however I would've like to hear a solo done by Rachael. I'm kind of upset that Kurt did not get a solo, because let's be honest he's got an amazing voice (:
That's all I have to say and if you haven't seen Glee you NEED to watch it!