Movie Review Report

I really didn’t know what to think of this movie when my friend told me to watch it but I was very pleasantly surprised!

Plot taken from imdb.com:

The passage from this world to the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold is through a breech in a wall by an English village. In the 1800s, a boy becomes a man when he ventures through the breech to prove his love for the village beauty by finding a fallen star. The star is no lump of rock, but a maiden, Yvaine (Claire Danes), and Tristan (Charlie Cox), the youth, is not the only one searching for her: three witches, led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), want her heart to make them young. The sons of the dead king of Stormhold want her because she possesses a ruby that will give one of them title to the throne. Assisting Tristan are his mother, the victim of a spell, and a pirate of the skies (Robert DeNiro).

That’s actually kind of a lame plot description but there’s so much going on in the movie that it’s hard to explain in one tiny blurb. I have to say though, I think this movie is a must see. Which really surprised me because it was so poorly publicized and marketed that I had no idea what it was about and hadn’t heard of anyone even seeing it at the theater let alone liking it.

Whoever was in charge of that should be ashamed because this was actually an awesome movie! It reminded me a lot of kind of a Princess Bride kind of movie. Very fantastical and intriguing; it was a fairy tale for adults. Kids would actually really like it too but unfortunately there are some very scary scenes and a lot of other things that definitely make it inappropriate for young kids.

It had such an interesting plot, great characters, great actors, fun to watch, I really can’t say anything more than you should definitely check this movie out. I’ve always been a fan of Claire Danes so I loved her in the movie. And the main guy, Charlie Cox was just adorable. Robert DeNiro also has a small part in it and he is absolutely hilarious!
If you liked The Princess Bride, Willow, or even Enchanted, I would bet you’ll probably love this one.
I would give it a higher rating but I think this is one of those movies that you have to watch over and over again so considering I only saw it once; it’s not bad.

My Rating:

Really Liked it

Review: Enchanted

Stardust, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, movie review, The Princess Bride, Willow, Enchanted

I had never even heard of this movie before, but my friend rented it and let me borrow it; otherwise I would have never noticed it.

Charlie (Michael Douglas) was just released from the mental institution and reunited with his 15 year old daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) who’s been living on her own since he went in the hospital. During his stay, he realized from an old diary he was reading that a buried treasure may still be buried in their home town. His daughter went along with it to appease his delusions at first, but slowing started paying attention to his rants and creating a father-daughter bond that had been missing all her life.

This is a very quirky, fun comedy that was screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Michael Douglas’ character is hilarious and his performance is really great; very different from any character he would usually play. Evan Rachel Wood has always kind of annoyed me despite the fact that I loved Across the Universe, which she also starred in. She is OK in this movie but she seems to always be playing an angst ridden teenager… even in real life. I would say this movie is worth watching but it can be a little contrived and boring at times. The last half hour or so made up for all that and it ended up being an enjoyable movie. Not my favorite, probably wouldn’t watch it again, but glad I came across it.

My Rating:

It was OK

Review: Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe

King of California, movie review, Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Across the Universe

After watching American Gangster I realized that I hadn’t seen The Departed in a long time. When The Departed first came out I was obsessed with it. I think I honestly watched it like 7 times in a very short period of time so I had to give it up for a while. Now, I finally just watched it again for the first time in over a year, and I still love it just as much as the first time I saw it.

Short plot outline from imdb.com:

Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy’s identities.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. The acting in this movie was just so awesome and there were so many great actors. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, they all gave amazing performances as well as the rest of the cast. I have to say though, my favorite character is definitely Billy Costigan; I loved the way Leonardo DiCaprio played him. He had so much depth and was such a vulnerable character.

I remember watching the Academy Awards for 2006 and I had to make sure that The Departed won for Best Picture because it was just such and amazing movie and it deserved to win, for sure. And I was also very happy that Martin Scorsese finally got an Oscar for Best Director. I was a little surprised though that there weren’t more nominations for the actors (Only Mark Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor). The Departed had everything you could ever want in a movie. Even though it was over 2 and a half hours long, it never once dragged for felt like it was too long.
Great cast, great acting, great story. Doesn’t get any better than this.

Review: American Gangster
Review: Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond

My Rating:

Absolutely Loved It

The Departed, movie review, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Academy Awards, Best Picture, American Gangster