Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Rating: 70%
Ah yes the ever use-to-be-super-popular Napoleon Dynamite...well here's the review for it.

Plot: Napoleon is a high school student who lives with his older brother, Kip and grandmother who is often bullied at school and often daydreams in class drawing fantasy creatures. When his grandmother break her coccyx, his Uncle Rio come to look after Kip and Napoleon while she's recovering. Meanwhile at school he becomes friends with a girl named Deb and a Mexican kid named Pedro who eventually run for student president.

Alright show of hands, who remembers adoring this movie the point of wearing "Vote for Pedro" shirts, trying to do Napoleon's dance and trying to remember every single line from the movie and stuff like that back in the day? *a whole crowd raises their hands under the exception of a couple of people* Yep that's what I thought. I myself use to impersonate Napoleon a lot, do some of his dance moves during actual dances and wear a "Vote for Pedro" throughout a fair portion of the 8th grade and the first 2-3 years of high school. In fact the whole deal in my blog where my cursing is really a couple of different way to say 'frick' in a fair amount of ways, Napoleon Dynamite was my inspiration for that. Why was this the case for plenty of people like me back then Napoleon Dynamite was very in? Well, it was just entertaining in some of the most unique and silly ways. I mean under maybe a couple of exceptions, it really came to the point that it seemed like anything any of the main characters would say or do would be amusing if not completely hilarious. I mostly rate it a 70% despite all of that being said because A) It's hardly for everybody; many people like my mom or this one girl from high school would either find it a kind of "I'm glad I saw it and I don't ever want to see it again" kind of thing or just hate it with all their hearts because they think it's just the stupidest thing they ever saw in their lives. So for people who are reading this review and haven't seen it, bear that in mind if you want to see it. Because this is kind of the sort of movie where you either like/love it or just hate it with all your might and it's very rare where it's somewhere in between for people who've seen it. And B) similar to what I said when I reviewed Lilo & Stitch almost a year ago, I feel like I've grown out of Napoleon Dynamite. It's not that it's bad, but it feels like I've given the film all the love I can muster when it was so popular and eventually just moved on to bigger and better things. But never the less it can still be a very fun movie to enjoy.

Music: This movie had an awesome soundtrack. I mean I wouldn't say that much for the score exactly because I feel like I'm over that as well as the movie in general, but this film did introduce me to some lovable song that I had never heard of until I saw this film like "Forever Young", and "Time After Time", and I thought it was cool that they had "Larger Then Life" in it. (Yeah I know that's Backstreet Boys but so what? I like the song.) And yes, the song that Napoleon dance too is very memorable if you're someone who liked/loved this movie back in the day.

And that's my review for Napoleon Dynamite. Many people love it, some people hate it, really the style of the film and just the all around story and choice of comedy is set in a way where it can go either way for anybody. But for most of us, Napoleon Dynamite is a hilarious movie that is well worth remembering giving us plenty of laughs whether you still love of the movie or are well over it like I am.

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Rating: 25%
Well I guess I had to get to this film eventually when it comes to reviewing Best Picture winners. So here's my review for The Broadway Melody.

Plot: Hank and Queenie are two sisters who do a sister act that they intend to use to end up on Broadway through Hank's love interest, Eddie who is a song-and-dance man for a Broadway theater. They manage to get in, but then Queenie who is the younger sister starts dating a wealthy man that Hank and Eddie don't want her to have anything to do with because he's a playboy. So while they are all working on the show, Hank and Eddie try their best to convince Queenie that she shouldn't date him for her own good.

Yeah I'm sure this was a big deal back in its day, but it's not that grand to me. Sure you get some nice songs about Broadway that you might enjoy if your a Broadway or musical in general geek, but when it comes to the story, it's just about a couple of people trying to become stars and then the rest of it is about one of them doing something she shouldn't and the rest of the main cast telling her not to time and time again throughout the film. So you may have some music to enjoy, but at the end of the day, it still gives us a story that you're probably not going to enjoy today.

Music: Now the actual song "Broadway Melody" was okay, but this movie did introduce the song "You Were Meant For Me" which is a nice song and I can understand why it has gotten many versions of it many times from artist and movies like Singin' In The Rain.

And that's my review for The Broadway Melody. If you like any movie that's about Broadway that then moves to a story that's not all that grand, then here's your movie, otherwise it's roughly just good for some of the music and maybe the story if you're into that simple kind of story.  

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Rating: 85%
So this is a review I've wanted to do a while but haven't really gotten to until now. So here's my review for While You Were Sleeping.

Plot: Lucy is a lonely collective token collector for the Chicago Transit Authority who wants to travel. Everyday there's a handsome commuter named Peter that comes to her station to take the train that she has a secret crush on. On Christmas day, Peter is pushed onto the train tracks by a mugger and Lucy saves him from being hit by a train. He falls into a coma and so she accompanies him to the hospital but the doctors wont let her see him because she isn't family. But then a nurse overhears her saying to herself "I was gonna marry him" and allows her to see him thinking she's his fiancee. But then Peter's family comes and are lead to believe that she is his fiancee. So she's panicked about the lie at first but then when Peter's godfather finds out about the situation, he suggests that she keeps the secret because of how she has brought the family closer together.

This is a very good romantic comedy. One of the few among the last couple of decades. I mean yes you have it set very much like any other romantic comedy, but this movie gets away with it buy being completely entertaining with a cute story, very lovable characters (I mean one of them was played by Peter Boyle for crying out loud (rest in peace)), and you can't help but love the actual romance and comedy that comes along with it. Honestly, I feel like all the romantic comedies around our time or at least the ones between 1995-2000 ish if not even a fair bit of romantic comedies around our time have all tried to roughly try to outdo While You Were Sleeping. I probably feel this way since this was the first romantic comedy I've seen ever and I feel like this might the first where it have the whole supporting case being the family of either person from the love couple and stuff like that, but it's such a good movie to have been the first romantic comedy I've seen that I think it gets away with that cause I have yet to find a .

Actor/Character:
Sandra Bullock/Lucy: Adorable. Plain and simple. I mean you really have to love this character from the moment you see he secretly expressing her crush on Peter. It-it's just cute straight off the bat. I mean this film is an example of how big of a difference her acting was when she did The Blind Side a couple years ago. (I have yet to review that one but it totally recommend it.)

Music: Now I know that the score is roughly styled very similar to pretty much any romantic comedy from that decade, but I honestly think this one pulls it off. I think it's just the way the songs are styled just really worked in bringing what was happening to life. Especially that song that was kind of the theme for Peter's family.

And that's my review for While You Were Sleeping. It's a very cute and lovable film that I think is just one of the best romantic comedies that I've seen that is styled in a way that you're very familiar with, but it feels like that this is where that style originated and even if it isn't, it brings out a certain charm that you just have to love.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Rating: 100%Yeah. This is one of those awesome comedies that had my praising coming eventually. So without much left to be said, here's my review for Young Frankenstein.

Plot: Fredric is the grandson of Victor Frankenstein who was a famous mad scientist that tried to bring the dead to life. One day a solicitor comes to him to tell him that he has inherited his family's estate in Transylvania after the death of his great-grandfather. So he comes to Transylvania where he meets his hunchbacked, bulging-eyed servant named Igor, his assistant Inga and estate's housekeeper Frau Blücher *horses panic* OH KNOCK IT OFF!!! *cleares throat* Anyway, he eventually finds his grandfather's secret laboratory where he finds his grandfather's private journals and becomes convinced that he could bring the dead to life. So he robs the grave of an executed criminal and sends Igor to collect the brain of a dead scientist. But when Igor does so, he accidentally destroys the scientist's brain and so takes an abnormal brain instead. So Fredric, Igor and Inga work together to give the corpse life only find out they created a monster with the brain.

This is a hilarious movie. I mean I've only read the book to actual Frankenstein and I haven't seen the movie (maybe I should) but this is definitely my favorite version of the story being much more light and funny and all that jazz...well it's an understatement to say that it's funny. I mean how they did the acting, or maybe just the design at some points and just the dialogue is just so gosh darn funny! I mean all these jokes...I mean...they're just...some of them you have to rewatch dozens of times, they make you laugh so hard. They where clever, they were witty and you have to love every single one of them. I mean it's just little wonder this got #13 on AFI's list of top 100 funniest films.

Actors/Characters:
Gene Wilder/Dr. Fredric Frankenstein: I really enjoyed this character. Just how he tried to avoid being a Frankenstein, and yet changes his mind and all that jazz was just extremely well done.
Marty Feldman/Igor: Igor was a lot of fun. He was mysterious, silly, energetic, and it's just sad that Feldman didn't live very long after this film.
Peter Boyle/The Monster: He. Was. AWESOME AS THE MONSTER!!!! He displayed being an actual monster so well but just how he expressed some of the things happening to him - especially during the scene with the blind monk (loved that scene) - was just hilarious and extremely well done.

Music: Well that violin theme can get stuck in your head after watching the movie. But what everyone probably remembers most is the classical number of Fredric and The Monster singing and dancing to "Puttin' on the Ritz". Why? Well go watch the movie and find out yourself if you don't know. I'm not going to tell you if you if you haven't seen the movie, do you take me for a monster!?!?!...*clears throat* pardon the pun.

And that's my review for Young Freankenstein. It's a clever, well made hilarious film that will leave you laughing your heart out and altogether finding it an unforgettable film plain and simple.

Holes (2003)

Rating: 75%
I remember when I was reading the book back in the 5th grade and I enjoyed it a lot. So I was excited when I heard they were doing a movie based on the book. So I decided it's high time I finally time that I see this movie again and finally review it. So here's my review for Holes.

Plot: Stanley Yelnats IV is a teenager who is born into a family that believes that they are cursed because his "No-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather". One day a pair of shoes falls on him that turns out to be the shoes of a famous baseball player. The police arrest him believing he stole them and rather then sending him to jail, the judge sends him to Camp Greenlake: a detention camp at a dried-up lake where the detainees have to dig a hole on the lake everyday. While at the camp we are also learn more about his great-great grandfather and also a story about a teacher who feel in love with a black man a century before the events of the film in a town at the same place shortly before the lake dried up.

I really enjoy this move and the story to it. It may have it's parts where some of the things in it sound unrealistic, but that's not that big of a deal since you should bear in mind that it is based off of a kids book. But what a good book it was and I honestly think this is one of those rare times where I felt the movie was better. It displayed a very interesting and unique world while giving us all these interesting stories that came together very well with characters that were fun to watch and it was a creative film through and through. I mostly say that it's better then the book because I think it did a better job then the book did with the story because I think the way they organized the stories and explaining how they all connect with what's happening to Stanley and his friends and some of the differences from the books I think helped with that a fair bit.

Actors/Characters:
Shia Labeouf/Stanley Yelnats: This is where I've been particularly sad at what has been happening to Labouf ever since he became Sam Witwickey in the Transformers movies. Because LaBeouf gave us a very enjoyable character that you just had to enjoy and he acted very well to bring us it. I stand by my opinion from when I was reviewing Transformers: Dark of the Moon that I really hope things change for the better with Labouf now that his Transformers days have ended. Maybe things roughly have already with Lawless, I don't know for sure because I haven't seen it yet but from what I hear he's pretty good. I'll just have to hopefully see someday.
Signourney Weaver/The Warden: She was very enjoyable as The Warden with the catchphrase and everything. Then again maybe it's my biased opinion to say so since it's Weaver...aw who cares!?! It's fricking Ripley for heaven sakes!!!

Music: I really like the soundtrack to this film. I mean you have that short version of "Down In The River to Pray" and songs like that, that where nice. But then you get that song "Dig it" I've always wanted to get that song on a CD or on my MP3 or something like that with no success which SUCKS because it's a totally awesome song that's just catchy as FRICK!!!

And that's my review for Holes. It gives us a very creative and imaginative world that tells a clever kids story a little better then the book that it's based off of that is definitely a very enjoyable movie to watch.

Hitch (2005)

Rating: 70%
Another Will Smith film that I just recently saw and now am reviewing called Hitch...also nuff said.

Plot: Hitch is a professional "date doctor" who helps men woo women. His current client, Albert is trying to get a date which a client in his investment film named Allegra who is also a celebrity. Meanwhile Hitch is falling for a gossip columnist named Sara who eventually is also trying to discover who is the "date doctor" is after her best friend had a one-night stand with a guy who claimed to be one of his clients.

This would definitely be one of those actually decent romantic comedies. It had a good concept, the characters where lovable and the romance and the comedy especially was fairly clever. Will Smith -being Will Smith - gave us a character that was very fun and also clever and whether you agree with at least most of his motives or not, you have to really care and respect on how he's one of those guys that really cares about love and how to help guys find it. Which is part of why I like this movie. It focuses a little more about trying to fall in love or with how to talk to women and stuff like that and that's a serious matter to look at and I liked how they did it with this story concerning not just Hitch but the rest of the cast while also giving us some pretty cute comedy along the way.

Music: I personally liked the soundtrack to this film. It just had some memorable ones like "She Drives Me Crazy" and there were some others that were fun to listen too like "Now That We Found Love", "Ooh Wee" and "Yeah!" (man that last song remind me of high school dances back in the day)

And that's my review for Hitch. It has a decent concept that may not make it the best romantic comedy you've seen but it's still has some clever and unique charm for you to have a nice time watching.
   

Top Gun (1986)

Rating: 55%
After hearing the tragic death of this movie's Tony Scott (Requiescat in pace (rest in peace in italian)) I figured it was time to finally review what seems to be his most famous piece. So here's my review for Top Gun.

Plot: Maverick is a pilot that flies a F-14 Tomcat along with his Radar Intercept Officer and best friend Goose for the USS Enterprise. One day during while intercepting MiG-28s, Maverick's wingman Cougar becomes too shaken to land his plan afterwords so Maverick disobeys orders and helps him land. Later Cougar retires and so Commander Stinger unwillingly sends Maverick and Goose to Top Gun school which is meant for the "best of the best" and was also meant for Cougar and his Radar Officer before he became shaken and retired. So Maverick and Goose start going to Top Gun where they developed a rivalry against another pilot named Iceman who is the top student of the school and Maverick falls in love with a woman named Charlie who turn out to be one of their Top Gun Instructors.

Now I know this is meant to kind of pay my respects to the director, honestly, it's just eh. The story was just alright, the characters where nothing unique and the action was okay.  I guess the problem is that I've roughly heard the concept to some of the story many times before. And some of the things that happened I thought where a little ridiculous. *WARNING SPOILERS* I thought it was stupid that Iceman and Maverick became friends the way they did. I mean personally I agree with howitshouldhavended.com that Maverick should still be pissed at Iceman over what happened to Goose. *END OF SPOILERS*

Actor/Character:
Tom Crusie/Maverick: Yeah he was just okay. I mean he acted his character fine but the whole dead parents and the something of a bad boy attitude has been done before...that's kind of all there is to it.

Music: To the movie's credit it did give us a pretty enjoyable soundtrack. I mean "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin" and "Great Balls of Fire" goes without saying, and my word does "Danger Zone" get really fricking catchy to listen to.

And that's my review for Top Gun. I'm sure there's plenty of reason to love and remember it but really it's just eh for me and the best part to remember from it are generally are certain songs from the soundtrack

I,Robot (2004)

Rating:65%
My review for I, Robot. Nuff said really.

Plot: It's the year 2035 where robots have been created to serve human under three laws: 1) a robot must never harm a human or allow a human to be harmed, 2) robots must obey every command from a human unless it violates the first law and 3) robots must protect themselves unless they violate the other laws. Del Spooner is a police detective who has a distaste for robots and believe that robots aren't to be trusted. One day he's sent on a case where the main roboticist, Dr. Alfred Lanning of U.S. Robotics falls several stories off the U.S. Robotics. His death is declared suicide but Spooner thinks that it's otherwise. So he comes into Lanning's office to investigate what happened with the company's robopsychologist Susan Calvin. At the office, he finds a rouge robot that calls itself Sonny and captures it. His boss wants him to drop the case but he wants to investigate believing there's more going on then just Sonny.

Yeah it's has a share of your everyday cliche's when it comes to action films, but it's still very enjoyable. The futuristic world looks pretty cool, the graphics with the robots especially I thought were pretty awesome. The story is at least roughly decent for what it's worth and the acting is alright and the action is enjoyable and some of the camera movement to be a little cool. So yeah it's not that big of an action film but you can still enjoy.

Actors/Characters:
Will Smith/Spooner: Well he was a bad-a who had a couple of cute moments and and alla round enjoyable attitude...in other words, he was good ol' Will Smith.

And that's my review for I, Robot. It has it's fair share of cliches but with will smith and some decent story and action it can still be a fun film to enjoy.

Carnage (2011)

Rating: 65%
So for the past few months I heard about this movie and how it was said to be a particularly good movie. So naturally I decided to eventually borrow it from the library and check it out for myself being particularly curious about Christopher Waltz (I mean who wouldn't? I mean it's Hanz Landa for crying out out!) So here's how it turned out for me with my review for Carnage.

Plot: Two grade school boys get into a fight that results in one hitting another with a stick. As a result the parents of the one who had the stick, Alan and Nancy, come to the apartment of the one who got hit to discuss the matter with his parents Michael and Penelope. They all originally intend to make their meeting short to just agree to step up a time for Alan and Nancy's son to apologize Michael and Penelope's. But then problems start when Michael and Penelope convince Alan and Nancy to stay longer, Nancy starts to vomit, Alan has numerous call phone conversions which leads to them all starting to argue at each other.

This was and okay kind of movie. It did give a very interesting beginning, and the acting was well done. But as the story went on it started to reveal its roots if you will of being based on a play with talking about life in a philosophy kind of way which makes the movie kind of drag too much after a while. You can enjoy it anyway, but before long it gets a little old and you'll at least still enjoy a couple of jokes and characters from some lovable actors.

Actors/Characters:
Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet/Alan and Nancy: They played of their characters very well. They really displayed what these character are and what they do so it was just nicely done.
John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster/Michael and Penelope: They did a good job too. And I will saw after this film and also Chicago, knowing that John C. Reilly is a good actor deep down which kind of is comforting to know with Wreck-it Ralph coming (if you want an explanation, feel free to ask me via messaging)

And that's my review for Carnage. It drags on and shows it's natural based-on-a-play roots but you can still have a nice time with a decent story all around while watching some enjoyable performances from actors that you may enjoy.

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Rating:75%Man I've been trying to watch this movie for a while. It looks just interesting just with the fact alone that it was another Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film (though he didn't direct it) so when I saw the trailer for it when i went to see a movie in theaters earlier this year...maybe longer then that, I wanted to see it ever since. So now that I finally have, here's my review for The Secret World of Arrietty.

Plot: Arrietty is a borrower - these little people who borrow things that people won't miss - whose family lives lives in this little house buried deep inside the house of this old woman and her maid, Haru. One day Arrietty's father  allows her to go on an expedition to borrow a couple of things for the night but when they do they are spotted by the old woman's great nephew, Sho. Her father forbids her from seeing him again, but she secretly comes to see him anyway and they form a friendship. But Haru become suspicious of Sho and starts he own investigation in finding the borrowers.

This was...just okay. I mean it still has some of the Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli charm with the story and some of the characters and of coarse, animation and stuff like that, but it doesn't quite have the same magical feel about it. Maybe I'm only thinking that because there aren't any spirits, wizards, witches or heaven knows what, but I guess that's why. Sure it's a little magical with there being little people and all but it guess it didn't have as much of a unique and complex world and story to it as I'm roughly use to when it comes to most of their films. But I enjoy it anyway with some of the adventure it brings along with the whole friendship between the guy and the girl and all that with a little twist that I found interesting so while it wasn't what I'm use to, I enjoyed it all the same.

Characters:
Sho: He was nothing special at first, but once he revealed to Arrietty what was happening to him, that's when the film became much more interesting, and made me care about him so much more. I mean my friend and I kept talking about his over what was happening to him and he just really did it for this film to me.
Arrietty: She was a very nice character. I thought it was cool how she came up with all these ways to using things like pins and earrings to travel around the house and stuff. And her relationship with Sho was just easy to cling onto.

And that's my review for The Secret World of Arrietty. It may not have as much uniqueness or complexity that I usually enjoy in a Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film, but the story and the characters make it interesting enough that it's still a very enjoyable film all around.

High School Musical 2 (2007)

Rating: 10%
Ugh. Well I had to get with this particular part of the trilogy eventually. I just hope I don't have to ever again after this. But anyway, here's my review for High School Musical 2.

Plot: Summer break has started for East High School so all the students are getting excited to get started on their vacation and also looking for summer jobs. Sharpay intends to use her summer to continue pursuing Troy why having her family's country club, Lava Springs, hire Troy for the summer. Troy being unaware of her intentions agrees on the condition that they also give jobs to Gabriella and all of his friends. Sharpay is upset about Gabriella working there so she goes through all these attempts to get her fired while pursuing Troy by having the manager continue promoting him and getting him to meet these college basketball stars.

Now I have this friend who is a big HSM geek and one of the main things we never agreed on when it came to it was that she thought the third movie was the worst while I believe that in fact this one is COMPLETELY the worst. I mean under a couple of exceptions that I will get to, most of the singing numbers are between forgettable to nothing out of the ordinary from the soundtrack from the last film, the choreography is generally non-existant as far as I"m concerned when it's not "I Don't Dance", "Work This Out" and in a debatable sense, "Fabulous." I mean after that, most of the choreography is just jumping up and down and acting all energetic and or just standing around. And the story and some of the characters are just about the worst part of it. I mean Vanessa Hudgens was a little better but some of the other characters - which I will get to - and the story was just cheesy, unrealistic and just all around stupid.

Actors/Characters:
Zac Effron/Troy Bolton: Now this is where I really began to hate this character. I mean feel free to skip this if you don't want any spoilers but it's just that this guy realized that Sharpay is still pursuing him and that she's giving him what he wants so she could get to him, but what really gets me is that eventually he falls for the act and actually deep down begins to care more about his dream about basketball and stuff then he does about Gabriella and his friends. I really don't care that he changes in the end it's just the way that it's all because of Sharpay and that should go without saying and yet he willingly falls for it. I'm sure not everyone feels that way, but that's how I feel deep down.
Ashley Tisdale/Sharpay Evens: Well obviously she's a cheesy and annoying character and I just want to get it out of the way to say that how she changes during the end was just because she knew things where not gonna go her way.

Music: Okay no I'm not 100% right about my little philosophy that there's three kinds of ways to rate a song from HSM. I mean I do have Bland But Guilty Pleasures: which would be "You are the Music in Me" and "Bet on It", and I do have my Bland and Forgettable which would definitely be "What Time is It?" "Fabulous", the "You are the Music In Me" reprise, "All For One", and "Everyday" And I have "Work this Out" for Annoying but so Fricking Catchy. Instead I have two new ones. First there's the case for "Bet on it" and "I Don't Dance" which I would rate as actually catchy and all around good songs. The points to them are not original, but even then I would actually consider them to be actual decent songs rather then being rated as bland but is a guilty pleasure. Plus, "I Don't Dance" in my opinion had actual choreography that was much more big and complex then what we would usually get from these songs. But then there's also tragically the song "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a". Now everyone has their own opinion over what they consider to be the worst song ever heard. I mean my younger siblings hate this one song from a musical adaption of the Jungle Book (that wasn't Disney mind you) that we did once, and some of my fellow bronies find "At the Gala" to be just horrid. But  "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a", to me, is without a doubt the worst song I've ever heard. It was weird, over the top, just about came right the frick out of nowhere and was just plain stupid and irritating. If you think it's a good song then more power to y- actually no. Not even that. You HAVE to hate it. If you don't then you fail at life for all I care. This may sound super extreme but honestly, it's just so fricking bad to me straight and true and the sooner I for one forget it ever existed the better.

And that's my review for High School Musical 2. It had a couple of songs to enjoy and things like that but the story was horrible, some of the main characters where just terrible, and it all around gave us a song that I think is the worst song ever. So if you haven't seen it, I'd obviously avoid it and skip to the third movie or something like that if I where you. 

Chicago (2002)

Rating: 85%
We now come to another film that has to do with both my focus on Best Picture winners and also going through musicals to sort of prepare for Les Mes. So with that said, I decided to review Chicago as my 325th review.

Plot: Roxie Hart is the wife of a mechanic named Amos who sleeps with her lover Fred in believing that he will use his connections to help her get a vaudeville gig. But Fred eventually reveals that he lied about having any connection so he could sleep with her so she angrily shoots him three times and convinces her husband to tell the police that he did it because he was a burglar. But when the police reveal Fred's name to Amos, he tells the truth and so Roxie is arrested. At the Cook County Jail, Roxie tries to get a famous lawyer to take her case but is in competition against star Velma Kelly who murdered her sister and husband.

This was a very well done musical adaption. I mean to be fair I don't know what are the certain differences between this and the actual stage musical, but as far as I know, this is a very well done adaption of it. The story was good, the acting was well done, and the choreography from "Cell Block Tango" and the "All That Jazz" reprise in particular was memorable. The only issue I would really have is that it kind of toned down once we were getting through most of the second half of the film. Not that any of that was bad necessarily, but it felt like almost all of the really classical and big numbers were already done by the time we actually got to the trial most of the other numbers like Billy's tap-dancing part where just there for the sake of having some imaginary stage thing to happen during the trial.

Music: Now I've enjoyed listening to the soundtrack since before this movie came out on DVD. SO naturally I enjoy the music a lot. My favorite number sound have to the be the "Cell Block Tango" and "We Both Reached for the Gun". Because they both are a lot of fun to listen too with the way all these stories are told in Cell Block Tango (though I really wish there were subtitles or something for  Hunyak), and that "We Both Reached for the Gun" just has a fun and silly kind of setting to it that made it fun to sing to whenever my family and I would play the soundtrack. I also really like "Mr. Cellophane" which is depressing for the character but it's just well made and also very fun to sing to.

Editing: Now when the Nostalgia Critic brought up "Cell Block Tango", the thought the editing to the climax of the song felt like dance in itself. And I would agree to that. I mean we timing with the way that they cut it felt roughly similar to just the all around rhythm of the chorus of the song made it enjoyable. Would I say that this film deserved best editing all around? ...eh, maybe. I guess the thing is that i'm a little torn between the editing here along with the editing for The Two Towers, but I'd still agree to say that it was one of the best of that year as far as I know.


And that's my review for Chicago. It's a well done film that may not have had a grand climax with the music and  stuff but still gave us a very well done adaption of the musical and just a very enjoyable film to win Best Picture. Do I have a biased opinion that totally says that I think Two Towers should've won instead?...no comment. 

December Boys (2007)

Rating: 20%
Well after David Copperfield, I thought I should try to take a look at Daniel Radcliffe's other films besides Harry Potter. So here's my review for December Boys.

Plot: Four orphan boys that name themselves Maps, Misty, Spark and Spit live in a Roman Catholic orphanage in Australia who called themselves the December Boys because they are all born in December. For their birthday the pastor that runs the orphanage sends them to a holiday at the beach living with a couple that are friends with the pastor. When Misty learns that the couple's neighbors have considered adopting and reluctantly tells it to the others, he and Spark and Spit instatly try to become closer to the neighbors, but Maps becomes distant he becomes more interested in spending time with a teenage girl named Lucy.

Okay this was not that good of a movie. It was nicely acted and the story did roughly get better around the second half of the movie, but unfortunately it's mostly predictable in the sense that you know what mostly these characters are like especially with this mostly being a sort of coming-of-age film, so you can figure out what will happen. Even then, it just had a couple of stuff that was...weird. Mostly with the horse trying to catch fish or just appearing at random times and also the imaginary nuns and stuff that Misty daydreams about.

Actors/Characters:
Daniel Radcliffe/Maps: I think he did a nice job. He wasn't spectacular, especially since he was very quite and kind of just standing there during the first half of the movie, but I think the did a nice job displaying what Maps was going through in the more teenager/young adult. So this wasn't his best film, but at least he gave us a character to care about at the end of the day.
Lee Cormie/Misty: He was...okay. I guess the thing was that in some ways, you can care for this character with him always trying to be good and innocent and really wanting to find a family, but at the same time you may find it a little weird with his daydreams and stuff like that like I did.

And that's my review for December Boys. It had okay acting and at least a couple of things you may enjoy if you like the kind of coming-of-age story, but other then that, it's very predictable, and even weird at some point that at best you should watch if you are a fan of Harry Potter fan that wants to see practically anything with Daniel Radcliffe like me.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Rating: 90%
This one I mostly wanted to see because I wanted to know what was it about that film that made it beat Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I mean I thought it should not have happened, my brother who's the bigger best picture expert then me has seen both and though Lord of the Rings should have won. So with the plan to start focusing more on best picture winners for my reviews, I figured it was about time that I watch the movie and see whether or not I agree or disagree with that choice. So here's my review for A Beautiful Mind.

Plot: John Nash is co-recipient at Princeton University who has a roommate named Charles who often tries to get him out of his studies. One day he comes up with a brand new idea on Governing Dynamics which leads him to end up having an appointment with MIT. Years later he is hired by the pentagon to crack encrypted enemy communication, but he eventually is sent to a psychiatric facility that he thinks is secretly run by the Soviets despite the fact that the people int he facility and even his wife claim that the whole Soviets communication and even his roommate are not real.

This was actually a rather well done movie. The characters were good, the acting was interesting, and the story was more interesting as the movie went on. Now, without saying anything, I thought that what happens during the second half of the film was something of a drag but eventually they made up for it by making the goal for the characters into something that made each of them much enjoyable and also made me care much more for them. Now would I say that it deserved to win Best Picture against Lord of the Rings? In my biased but slightly reasonable opinion, no. But now that I've seen it, I at least know that at least Fellowship lost to an good and respectable movie... unlike some OTHER movies *glares at Out of Africa and Shakespeare in Love*

Actor/Character:
Russell Crowe/John Nash: Surprisingly, He actually did a very commendable with his acting. I mean maybe it's because of the fact that most of the movies I watch with him in is mostly him in action film where he's all serious and kind bad-a an- no wait, that's completely the reason why. But seriously, Crowe was much better with playing a different character, and I enjoyed him much more because he started to become someone I can roughly relate to. How is that so, well I'm going to have to do a spoiler alert on that so if you haven't seen it, go watch it before you read this explanation. *WARNING SPOILERS* Well I mostly relate because, for those of you who don't know, I have High-Functioning Autism, and through a fair portion of my childhood I was roughly similar to John Nash. I didn't have that big of a social life, I was more focused on the stuff I wanted to do, and I had imaginary friends and altogether, an entire world in my mind to daydream about. It wasn't as bad as it was with Nash with thinking that the stuff in my mind was real or anything but in certain aspects, it was roughly the same thing. And also similar to John I was able to eventually grow out of it and started to focus a little more on real things which lead me to make more close friends, have a better social life and I was more able to overcome things with my autism as a whole. Are things perfect? No.  I mean I have yet to do anything close to have a good career and have a wife and kid(s), like John Nash, there's still stuff I have to work on with my autism,  and also like Nash, the memories or ghosts or whatever come back at times, but in the long run we have both managed to eventually overcome the world that we created in our mind for ourselves and eventually focused more on the real world and that why i really like this character. *END OF SPOILERS*

Editing: I thought it was nicely done, I don't know if I agree with it being nominated for Best Editing for that year as well, but it was still well done.

And that's my review for A Beautiful Mind. While it's not as worthy to win as Fellowship of the Ring, it still gives us a well made movie with a good story and a character I enjoy and can roughly relate to personally.  

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Rating: 95%
Alright so since I"m starting to try to focus more on Best Picture winners with a lot of franchises and stuff covered, I thought that I would start with some that I have seen and really enjoy, and there's few of the early ones I've enjoyed as much then All Quiet on the Western Front.

Plot: The movie starts in Germany where World War 1 is happening and the teacher of a boys high school influences his students to sign up for the army and fight "for glory and for the mother land". So they sign up but soon discover the terror and hardships of war and with fighting for your own survival.

This is a memorable movie considering its time. It may not exactly be Saving Private Ryan, but you can tell that it would turn out roughly as affective in this film. But unlike Private Ryan, which is think is where it's more descriptive, it doesn't focus on one particular mission live saving some particular soldier. It just shows roughly what happens through pretty much all of war during that time with different  kinds of battles, surviving situations, and ways that soldiers take on with what is happening all around them whether it's on the battlefield or if it has something to do with any of their friends in the army. But what I do like that it's not always serious. In fact it has a bit of comedy roughly more then halfway in that my brothers and I really enjoyed when we first watched this film. The only things I will say is that I don't entirely like how we could really focus on any particular character that was from that school throughout most of the film. I mean it makes sense that we start to later on, but it they meant for any of the guys from the school to be noticed and kept a sharp eye out for right away during the beginning, it didn't really work...at least for me. But that's my only real issue with the film.

Actor/Characters:
Lew Ayres/Paul: of all the guys that where from that high school, Paul was my favorite. He was really well acted with everything he was going through from things like losing some of his friends, to watching that french soldier slowly die, to how he sees everything differently once he got to go home. It was a very well done performance and I really enjoyed him for that.
Louis Woldheim/Katczinsky: I also really enjoyed Katczinsky. He was kind of the guy everyone had to look up or the one that had to make sure everyone sticks together and yet also had a more friendly side eventually and was pretty funny whenever there was comedy in the film.

And that's my review for All Quiet on the Western Front. It's a very well displayed film that was well acted and really hit it good with showing us the things troops went through during the time of World War 1.  

Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004)

Rating: 90%
Kill Bill Volume 2. Nuff said really.

Plot: After defeating Cottonmouth and Copperhead, The Bride sets off to kill the next person on her list before attempting to kill Bill; Sidewinder, who is other wise known as Budd and is also Bill's brother. But right as she attempts to attack him, Budd shots her straight in the chest with a double-barreled shotgun blast salt, sedates her, then buries her alive when she comes to. As she tries to escape, we get a set of flashbacks where we understand more about how The Bride came to be and how she knows Bill.

Now I rated this movie to a 90% just like the last one because... well they're both equally good and  it's hard to say which one is better. It's kind of like how it is for some people over the matter of The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers; they're totally different kinds of movies. It's all apples and oranges, and both Kill Bill films are roughly in the same boat as that. The first movie is where it's all crazy, awesome action with a cute sense of comedy while this one is more dramatic and also character and story development heavy. But while we may not get as much of the comedy and action that we all love from the first movie, that doesn't mean this movie wasn't just as awesome. Because the character and story development does make the story much more interesting and helps you care more for The Bride with what happened to her and how she became the bad-a she came to be. We still get some of the particular types of comedy and stuff like that just the way so many of us love it when it comes to Quentin Tarantino, but I think what really makes this a good movie is all the depth it give while bringing everything to a conclusion.

Actors/Characters:
Uma Thurman/The Bride: She really hit off all the really dramatic and serious stuff that happened in this film. I know that's roughly what I said when it came to the first film, but that doesn't mean that she didn't do just as swell of a job when it came to the different things she went through here. Anyway, I also liked how this way, we got more background of who she use to be before the massacre and what led her to do all that in the first place.
David Carradine/Bill: I really enjoyed Carradine's performance as Bill. Especially with his monologue with talking about superheroes and how it all has a point he wanted to make about The Bride. I just like hearing that monologue every time because it was just so cleverly written and I just love that.

And that's my review for Kill Bill Volume 2. It may be a drag that we don't get as much action as we did with the first movie, but I think the drama and the development of the story along with bringing things to a conclusion is done well enough that it can be equally as good. 

Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003)

Rating: 90%
Well Django Unchained is on it's way and since the only Tarantino film I've reviewed so far is good ol' Inglorious Basterds (love that movie), it's high time that I tackle all of the other films. So why not start with Kill Bill.

Plot: A blonde woman known only as The Bride was a pregnant lady before she was wounded after being attacked by a group of people lead by the mysterious Bill. After a shot in the head, she is unconscious for 4 years until she wakes up and swears revenge against Bill and all his associates. So she begins a quest to kill all four of Bill's companions to eventually work her way to kill Bill himself.

This is a very clever and interesting movie. I mean you have the more noticeable things that Tarantino takes from other films, (the most interesting to me was the Klingon quote during the beginning) you have your comedy that was pretty nice, some action that kick rear with all of your cutting off head/ limb and all around blood and gore pleasures, the brief scenes of animation are deep and intense, and it has some enjoyable characters and a pretty good story. The only thing that I find off is *WARNING SPOILERS* Is how the beginning is set with The Bride killing Copperfield after killing Cottonmouth. I think it makes more sense to say that Copperfield was the first one she killed because that seems a little off to make her the second one The Bride killed while making everything else  in flashback....or the first scene is in flash-forward...  I guess it's all a matter of how you look at it. But that's the only thing I have with the story with this film. *END OF SPOILERS*  

Actor/Character:
Uma Thurman/The Bride: She did an excellent job with her acting when it came to all of the really dramatic moments that she goes through and even then she gives us a really awesome character with just how much of a bad-a The Bride is. She's just a well done action hero that you have to enjoy what she's doing.
Lucy Liu/O-Ren Ishii a.k.a.Cottonmouth: I also liked this character and found it pretty deep when they showed her reaction to witnessing her parents (but really her mother's) deaths. And I did enjoy her monologue that she was giving to that group of Mafia leaders. 


Music: This movie became more interesting music wise when I came to noticing how Tarantino takes music from other films. I never noticed with Inglorious Bastards because...well the music wasn't as familiar as it was with that one. The most noticeable that I liked was Battle without Honor or Humanity.

Editing: Now I know the whole changing the color to black and white during the fight against the crazy 88 is a reference to another movie, but I wasn't too big on it. But understand that's just from my totally biased point of view.

And that's my review for Kill Bill Vol 1. It's an excellent movie with awesome action, characters that were very well acted especially in the really deep parts that happen to them, some good comedy and just gives us a very good story to tell all around.

Ghost of Girlfriends Past (2009)

Rating: 10%
Okay I'm going to be completely honest; I only bothered to watch this movie JUST because of Emma Stone. I guess I just wanted to see more of her looking at some of her best films like Easy A and Crazy Stupid Love again that I just wanted to see a little more or something like that. So I'm going to do my best not to talk to her a lot of the time with this review.

Plot: Connor Mead is a photographer and known womanizer who comes to his brother's wedding as his best man. But after making a drunk speech during the wedding rehearsal dinner, he sees a ghost of his Uncle Wayne who was the man who taught him how to become a womanizer. The ghost tells him that three other ghost will come to look at his romantic past, present and future.

Now I'm sure many of you think that this is a total Christmas Carol knock-off. So is it? Of coarse it is!!! I mean sure it's more about changing the life of a total womanizer rather then some old guy the night before Christmas, but that hardly means anything. It's predictable down to the core, the characters are nothing special, there was one, kind of two jokes that I liked but after that the comedy is not that good.

Actors/Characters:
Matthew McConaughey/Conner Mead: Yeah I just didn't care for this character. Because much like the movie itself he was pretty much predictable all the way to the point that you practically knew all about him long before you saw the movie. McConaughey did do a nice job in displaying this character, so he wasn't bad, but the real problem at the end of the day is that while he wasn't horrible as an actor, that didn't stop the case ending up being the same with the character Conner Mead.
Emma Stone/Allison Vandermeersh a.k.a. the Ghost of Girlfriends Past: Well she did have to be mentioned since she's the real reason why I bothered with this movie in the first place. But even then it would make sense because I would consider her to kind of have the real second biggest role in the movie. I mean I know Jennifer Garner officially has the second biggest role, but to me, she was just there for what happens later in the film and nothing else. Stone on the other hand was shown the longest among all the other ghosts and in a way was more developed not just because of her acting (Though that is true. I mean it's Emma Stone for heaven sakes) but through her character, she gave the movie the most development - primarily development when it came to focusing more on how Connor's a womanizer then just continuing to allow the movie to be an utter Christmas Carol knock-off. ...but yeah seriously, she was the best part of the movie. I mean she was awesome plain and simple just the way we love her.

And that's my review for Ghost of Girlfriends Past. There's one or two okay jokes and Emma Stone does comfort the fact that you're watching this movie, but other that it's just a terrible christmas carol knock-off that's not worth your time.