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JadeIslandReviews
Birthday: October 19
Location: US
Age: 23
Nationality: American
Sign: Libra
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish, English, Welsh, Dutch, Wampanoag Native American
sexual orientation: Bisexuality
Hair color: Brown with natural red highlights
Eye color: Chocolate brown
Skin tone: Pale
Favorites: movies, history, shakespeare, musical theatre, classical art, photography, food and much more.
I love movies and I worship cats and Disneyland. My favorites are the Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Amadeus and the Sound of Music.
Lists
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Harry Potter Films: From Best to Least
Star Trek Television: From Favorite to Least Favorite
Best Films of 2011
2013: Movies I Want to See!
NOTE: These films are in NO particular order!!
Best Films of 2012
Worst Films of 2012
Star Trek Cinema: From Favorite to Least Favorite
My Top 10 Favorite Actresses
Reviews
Wonder Woman (2017)
Good for Comic Fans, Painful for Historians
Wonder Woman (2017) is the best DCEU film since the Dark Knight Rises. Having said that, it is not great but it is a good comic movie that will satisfy 2 hours. It's not as good as the Nolan films but not nearly as bad as the other recent DC movies. The acting from the leads is solid. As a lifelong Wonder Woman fan, Gal Gadot is my new favorite Wonder Woman by far. She's not perfect acting-wise, but her beauty, confidence and strength sells it. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is believable and you care about him. The story is simple (bad guy wants to destroy humanity and the heroes stop him) but very focused. The comedy is a lot similar to Thor's but still enjoyable and does its own thing.
With all that said, my main issues with the film are with some of the characters (and how they are driven) and the time capsule of the film. Wonder Woman is great but for much of the film, she often feels like a supporting character in her own movie. While not intentional, Trevor is the one that drives the plot and kind of takes over the film. While I like his character, the film is called 'Wonder Woman'. She should've been allowed to make some more decisions for herself. I also want to add that the side characters are passable but could've been better. I honestly didn't really remember them after the movie was over.
My other issue is the film being set during WWI. The comics are set during WWII. This made sense since the Nazis ideologies were evil and this was when chemicals were really being advanced (Holocaust anyone?). WWI was a lot more politically complex and was basically the clash of empires. No side was completely innocent. I get this is just for entertainment but, as someone with a history degree, it is distracting. Captain America: the First Avenger worked well with WWII and think Wonder Woman would've made more sense too in that time period. I mean the Germans they're describing are Nazis, not Kaiser imperial soldiers. The film just felt more WWII-ish than WWI. Watch War Horse (2011) to compare. I just wonder (haha) what happened when WWII started for Diana. I guess that was just "Ares" too and that'll be the sequel? If so, then what will have been the point in this film or Trevor's fate?
There is not much else to comment on. The film looked really good, even beautiful at times. The music was pretty forgettable (no memorable theme that Wonder Woman deserves).
Overall, I give the film a B-. It wasn't great but wasn't bad either. I think it is a step in the right direction for DC. I would recommend the film for at least one viewing.
The Possession (2012)
I'm Shocked...I Liked It A lot!
"The Possession" was not one of the most anticipated films of the year, nor is it going to get a million Oscar nominations. In fact, the idea of a young girl getting possessed by supernatural forces is far from new. "The Excorist", "the Excorism of Emily Rose", and "The Last Excorism" are only a few of the excorism films that have preceded this film. "The Excorist" is not only one of my favorite horror movies, its one of my favorite movies in general. No possession film has come close to this film, until now.
Now, don't fall for the "based on a true story" marketing tool. Both "the Excorist" and "the Excorism of Emily Rose" used this technique of marketing, as do other horror films such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "American Psycho" and "Wrong Turn". Its a great tool but I'm relieved that film audiences are getting smarter and are not falling for it like they use to. I'm not one to say if excorisms/demonic possessions are true, but I know for a fact, this story is not true. Knowing this doesn't take the intensity and heart out of the film, instead it reinforces it in my mind. The film doesn't need the "based on a true story". For me, just the story with good character development and smart scares is all I need.
Pros of "the Possession"
*The acting: this is some of the best acting I've seen in a horror film in a while. While none of the performances are "Oscar gold", they contribute a lot to why I liked the film. I especially enjoyed the performances from Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick (whom I'm not a fan of but enjoyed her here as the loving mother) and newcomer Natasha Calis. The father-daughter chemistry between Morgan and Calis really shined in a few scenes.
*The effects: for a low-budget horror, the effects were great and the filmmakers were very smart in their decisions. They weren't unique decisions but they were smart decisions.
*The plot: overall, the plot was great. It was very basic but thats what made it work. I love that the film took its time for the "possession" to happen and I love the interesting decision of the girl befriending the demon BEFORE she gets possessed. I also liked seeing a Jewish excorism rather than the clichéd Catholic one. True, the Unborn also had a Jewish possession, but this film really did its research and made smarter decisions.
Cons of "the Possession":
*Timing and pace: as much as I loved the movie, I felt it was too short and felt rushed at time, especially at the end. The first half really took its time to build up to Em's pending possession. By the second half, the film felt very rushed. The beginning was a great build up but then the ending was boom-boom-boom. I wanted the the film to slow down a little bit.
*The ending: I'm not going to give spoilers but I was not the most satisfied with the ending. Yes, I liked that it was different but I felt there was more they could've done with it.
In conclusion, this film is one of the better horror films I've seen in a while. Is it as good as "the Excorist"? Of course not. But its way better than a lot of other excorism films. The film really concentrated on the characters and thats what I liked. I felt for these characters and I found myself rooting for them. I was pleased I saw this and may even buy it on DVD. Is is perfect? No. But it was still well done!
8/10 stars
Magic Mike (2012)
Magic Mike: Needed More Magic and Less Mike
Magic Mike is one of those many films that I could guess the plot exactly before I saw it. I don't know if its because its super predictable or if I've seen too many movies. Anyways, here is how I predicted how the film would go down before I saw it: Popular guy with pretty good life turns into a Disney princess because he wants "something more" in his life than what he's use to. He meets girl, falls in love with girl but is torn between his life and girl. He (shockingly) picks girl with limited personality instead of pretty good life and they all live happily ever after. That was my prediction BEFORE I saw the movie.
I won't spoiler the actual film but here's what its about: Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) is a construction worker by day and male stripper by night. He meets pretty boy Adam (Alex Pettyfer) who lives with his sister, Brooke (Cody Horn) at work and gets Adam a stripping job at the strip joint owned by Dallas ("I see a lot of law breakers"...must a say HIS name?). Romantic fireworks explode between characters and Adam gets into trouble along the way.
Here's how I'm going to analyze:
Story: All I can about the story is that it is your typical romantic 21st century Hollywood film. You can predict the whole movie and ending very easily.
Characters: These characters were walking cardboards. Mike, Adam, Brooke, Joanna, Norah, even Tarzan, etc HAD NO PERSONALITY! The character that was somewhat interesting was Dallas and he stripped the least (sorry ladies). I could've cared less what happened to these characters because there was no depth to them and I didn't feel attached to them at all. We've seen these clichéd characters a million times.
Acting: I hated to judge this part because there isn't much to judge. The acting is...mediocre at best. Channing Tatum plays the role he plays in every film of his: the good guy with little personality. I feel Tatum CAN really act but he needs to expand his range like Johnny Depp does or Heath Ledger use to. Adam Pettyfer has tried to expand his range (like in "Beastly")but the kid, as good looking as he is, just can't act. Cody Horn was the weakest link. She'll probably be the next Julia Stiles, meaning she'll be cast in the same role in every film (good films probably) next to good looking guys even though she can't act.
These are the only things to critique on. The directing, music, editing, etc are not focused on at all. The only song in the film I could remember was "Its Raining Men". The directing had some shaky camera. I remember that. The visuals were...okay. If you like naked men.
Overall, the film was..."eh". I was bored through most of it and I left the theater with no intentions to ever see it again. I gave the film three stars out of ten. The film needed more "magic" in storytelling and originality then "Mike" just being your typical Hollywood dream guy that doesn't really exist.
Dogfight (1991)
Definitely In My Top 5 Favorites of All Time!
"Dogfight" is one of my favorite movies and I am a picky movie watcher. Its one of the only films about the Vietnam War that doesn't actually take place in the actual war. Instead, the focus is right here and how its effecting us here. The film stars River Phoenix and Lili Taylor in my favorite roles of theirs as Eddie Birdlace and Rose Fenny, respectively.
The film takes place in 1963, specifically the day before John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Eddie Birdlace (Phoenix) is one of four soon-to-be-shipped-out marines who is looking for a date for a marines' night out. After searching all day, he comes across Rose Fenny (Taylor) who works at her mother's diner. She agrees to go with him but later discovers that it is a "dogfight": a competition where the ugliest woman the marines can find is the winner.
The reason I truly love (and I mean LOVE) this film is the simple romance. There is no kissing in the rain, no fireworks, no chasing the woman at the airport before her flight takes off or any of that lame and cheesy stuff Hollywood does now. Its just Eddie and Rose talking and laughing and having a good time together. Sometimes, just showing people live their lives is enough. Life as we know it IS interesting. You don't need the "...you complete me" or the "public proclamation of love" to be interesting. I enjoyed seeing Eddie and Rose's love evolve naturally and realistically.
Phoenix and Taylor have unique chemistry. The viewer can tell they want to fall in love but don't know how. They see the bridge, but don't have the courage to cross it. That's powerful and you can see that through the acting. There is a lot funny moments and well executed dramatic moments. The end (which I won't spoil) is one of the BEST endings to a romantic film I have ever seen.
The acting is amazing. The story is simple yet so beautiful and realistic. The characters are relatable and real and likable. The directing is perfect. The atmosphere is perfect. The music selections are great and represent the times perfectly. The dialogue is great; the characters say things that we people say in real life.
There are absolutely NO WORDS to describe how much I love this movie. Its a shame its not more well known and I wish more people knew about it. This film puts recent romantic films and romantic comedies to shame. Forget about Jennifer Aniston, Katherine Heigl or Sarah Jessica Parker romantic films. Watch "Dogfight"...you won't be sorry and you may look at life a little differently.