IMDb 
Title: Shutter Island
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer(s): Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Staring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo
MPAA Rating: Rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.
Running Time: 138 min
Synopsis: Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. .
What Others Are Saying?Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 66% (Fresh), Top Critics: 62% (Fresh), RT Community: 87% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 62 out of 100, Users: 7.1 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 71: (26.3% A, 46.3% B, 20.9% C, 5.0% D, and 0.0% F)
Yahoo Movies: Critics: NA Users: BMy Review
Source Material: Baed on a book with the same title by author Dennis LehaneEntertaining Value:- Action Elements: There are some action sequence but this film is more dramatically driven.
- Comedy Elements: Maybe a few cleaver lines but not much of a comedy.
- Dramatic Elements: Highly dramatic with great acting
- Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: Some dream sequence have some neat effects but that about it.
Cinematic Value:
- Acting and Dialogue: A-: The acting was very believable and Leonardo DiCaprio dose a good job even thought I am not a fan of his work generally.
- Art Direction: B+: The art direction it was a very colorful movie, which contrasted the dark content. I have to say great make-up
- Cinematography: A-: They had some very cool shoots, with a good amount of verity
- Direction: A: The movie felt a little long but over all Martin Scorsese knows what he is doing for sure.
- Editing: B: It was cut together in away that kept you thinking, and on the edge of your seat.
- Screenplay: B: It was a decent story. most people will guess the plot twist but it dose a very good job going back and fouth on the guessing game.
- Sound and Music: B: Brought an effect dark felling to the film
- VFX: B: Some of the dream sequence where neat...but it's the make up that take the cake...great make-up
Moral and Ethical Value:- Themes: "Crazy is a normal thing here"
- Moral of the Story: The mind is a beautiful thing to waste.
- Take Home: Maybe I should get a physic test, just kidding, but really I may be crazy.
Overall: A-: I enjoyed this movie, I think you should give a chance.
IMDb
Title: Cop Out
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Fox
Director: Kevin Smith
Writer(s): Robb Cullen (written by) & Mark Cullen (written by)
Staring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality.
Running Time: 107 min
Synopsis: A comedy about a veteran NYPD cop whose rare baseball card is stolen. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his partner to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.
What Others Are Saying?
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 20% (Rotten), Top Critics: 21% (Rotten), RT Community: 63% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 32 out of 100, Users: 4.0 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 37: (0.0% A, 10.2% B, 46.7% C, 31.5% D, and 11.5% F)
Yahoo Movies: Critics: C Users: B
My Review
Source Material: Original screenplay written by brothers Mark and Robb Cullen
Entertaining Value:
- Action Elements: With being a comedy about cops their is some action sequence but they more slapsticky cause the comedy aspect of the film.
- Comedy Elements: There are a few one-liners that got the whole theater laughing but these happen mainly in the opening credits .
- Dramatic Elements: Umm not so much, they actually make fun of melodramatic moments in movies.
- Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: No shiney Sci-fi elements this time.
Cinematic Value:
- Acting and Dialogue: B-: The strongest actor was Bruce Wills but the strongest comedic performer was Sean William Scott. Tracy Morgan wast as annoy as he usually is in movies. There some great one liners, and pop culture references
- Art Direction: C-: Nothing too fancy here
- Cinematography: C-: Agian nothing too fancy here
- Direction: B: Kevin Smith is very good at asembling a good comdey, this was good but there was some chemistry missing. Maybe that because he not using his normal comic players
- Editing: C: Nothing special
- Screenplay: B: The story wasn't half bad, a bit cliche but it work for a comedy
- Sound and Music: C: I wasn't the biggest fan
- VFX: NA not enough to commit on
Moral and Ethical Value:
- Themes: Friendship, "A Couple of Dicks"
- Moral of the Story: Friends stick up for each other together even in the hard times, I got your back
- Take Home: A couple of laughs, that's about it.
Overall: C: Even thought I liked this film for it comedy aspects it relay suck every else.
IMDb
Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Director: Chris Columbus
Writer(s): Craig Titley (screenplay), Rick Riordan (novel)
Staring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin McKidd
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language.
Running Time: 119 min
Synopsis: A teenager discovers he's the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods.
What Others Are Saying?
At The Movies: A.O. Scott: NA, Michael Phillips: NA
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 48% (Rotten), Top Critics: 35% (Rotten), RT Community: 69% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 48 out of 100, Users: 6.7 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 50: (0.0% A, 25.8% B, 54.1% C, 18.0% D, and 0.0% F)
Yahoo Movies: Critics: C+ Users: A-
My Review
Source Material: Based off a book with the same title written by Rick Riordan. How does it match up to the book? I just started to reading the book cause I enjoyed the movie. So far the biggest difference I saw between the book and movies is Percy Jackson age. In the book he is twelve and in the movie he's a junior higher, if not older.
Entertaining Value:
- Action Elements: Its an adventure so Percy and his friends are away in a state of peril, which lead to many action sequence
- Comedy Elements: Being a kiddish type film it has some cheesy line and some decent slapstick.
- Dramatic Elements: The drama comes mainly from the fact that all the demigods come from broken homes aka "daddy issues" and "abandonment" I think these iusse may hit home with the youth today, especially with the divorce rate rising daily.
- Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: Well, we are dealing with Greek mythology so yes it jammed packed with all kinds of sci-fi/ fantasy elements.
Cinematic Value:
- Acting and Dialogue: B+: I think the children actors did a fine job since most of them it there first acting job especially on the big screen. I like there were some big named actors to play small roles and cameos. It helped to balance out the amature actors. As far as the dialogue it did get a bit cheesy but I am willing to bet that's because it meant for a younger audience.
- Art Direction: B: High fantasy movies like this one shine in the artistic categorizes. some of the different worlds they had to create like The Underworld were cool and beautiful in away.
- Cinematography: B+: This film capture the fun qualities of an adventure. This was done mainly in the fact that the action sequence where shot properly.
- Direction: B: It has that child friendly style that Chris Columbus has mastered in films like Home Alone and the first two Harry Potters. But I will give him props on know how to do put together a fun adventure that both kids and adults can enjoy...This is the man who wrote the Goonies, can you say CLASSIC.
- Editing: B: The film was easy to follow, no real unique editing style.
- Screenplay: B: The story was good but I maybe saying that out of bias toward being a huge fan of mythology especially Greek mythology.
- Sound and Music: C: I am going to say it was way to cliche, example some says "If you see my dad on the highway to hell kick his ass for me" cue in Highway to Hell music by AC/DC.
- VFX: B+: It has the same wow factor that the first Harry Potter's had. After seeing Avatar its going to take a lot to blows me out of the water with its visual effects. But at the same time this is the first movie that is VFX based that I have seen since Avatar, which is like comparing apples and oranges, you just can't do it.
Moral and Ethical Value:
- Themes: Friendship, Coming of Age
- Moral of the Story: Always strive to do the right thing.
- Take Home: Always stand-up for what you believe in even if others don't agree with you.
Overall: B+: Even with my bias to Greek mythology it's a good movie. I hope it get an enough money to finish the rest of the books. The first movie excited my interest.
IMDb
Title: The Book of Eli
Distributor: Alcon Entertainment (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Writer(s): Gary Whitta (written by)
Staring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis
MPAA Rating: Rated R for some brutal violence and language.
Running Time: 118 min
Synopsis: A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
What Others Are Saying?
At The Movies: A.O. Scott: Skip It, Michael Phillips: See It
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 45% (Rotten), Top Critics: 50% (Rotten), RT Community: 82% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 53 out of 100, Users: 7.8 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 55: (5.0% A, 40.1% B, 34.9% C, 15.3% D, and 4.4% F)
Yahoo Movies: Critics: NA Users: NA
My Review
Source Material: Written by Gary Whitta
Entertaining Value:
- Action Elements: This film is fairly action pack with some pretty cool hand-to-hand combat scene with Denzel Washington in a lack of better terms kicking ass.
- Comedy Elements: The comedy in this film come primary from the raw brutality of some of the scenes, Schadenfreude, pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
- Dramatic Elements: There are a few moment between Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis characters but nothing that impacting. The film is mainly action based.
- Sci-Fi Elements: There are some sci- fi element only because this film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. How we live has adapted to our surroundings therefore bring some sci-fi elements.
Cinematic Value:
- Acting and Dialogue: B+: Gary Oldman is by far the strongest actor on screen, with Denzel Washington being a close second. Mila Kunis is eye candy with some acting talent. So overall the acting wasn't that bad.
- Art Direction: B: The new post-apocalyptic is believe which is always a good thing which may point more toward the effect team, than the art department, either way it was decent.
- Cinematography: B: The one thing that I noticed was this film was one of those few films that knew how to capture action on film without it being to shaky.
- Direction: B: It seem co-direction movies have a slightly better advantage and that shows in this film. The pace of the film was good, not to long but maybe a bit short, on the fact they could explained some things better...(read on in screenplay section)
- Editing: B: The film was easy to follow, no real unique editing style.
- Screenplay: C+: I mention in the direction section about the lack of story to explain some of the mysterious things like the power of the book during this post-apocalyptic time, and what cause the world to turn out the way it is in the film.
- Sound and Music: B-: I enjoy the score.
- VFX: B+: There were more particle effects that CGI effects which in a film like this it worked better than most VFX movies.
Moral and Ethical Value:
- Themes: Religious, Betrayal, Hope
- Moral of the Story: Strive for determination, and always finish race even if your last.
- Take Home: Diligence will get you far in life.
Overall: B: This seem like is going to be one of those movies you either going to like it, mainly because of the action or you going to hate it because of the holes in the story. Personal I recommend it because I liked I but its hard to tell.
IMDb
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Title: To Save A LifeDistributor: New Song Pictures (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Director: Brian Baugh
Writer(s): Jim Britts (written by)
Staring: Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel, Steven Crowder, Sean Michael, Bubba Lewis, Kim Hidalgo
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking, some drug content, disturbing images and sexuality.
Running Time:
Synopsis: After a childhood friend's death, Jake Taylor, an all-star athlete must change his life - and sacrifice his dreams to save the lives of others.
Other Reviews
Critics:
Roger Ebert: NA
Michael Phillips: NA
EW: NA
Other Sites:
At The Movies: NA
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 27% (Rotten), Top Critics: 20% (Rotten), RT Community: 88% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 17 out of 100, Users: 8.1 out of 10
MRQE Metric: NA
Yahoo Movies: Critics: NA Users: A
My Review
Source Material: Written by Jim Britts
Acting and Dialogue: B-: Randy Wayne who portrays the protagonist Jake Taylor in the film is puts up a good performance, probably the best out the entire cast. A close second would have to be the guy who played the youth-pastor, Joshua Weigel. Not only did he reminded me of my youth-pastor but he created a believable charismatic youth leader that young people will be willing to follow and trust. The character that was the most unbelievable was Jake's girlfriend, Amy. The actress who play her, Deja Kreutzberg, but way to much melodramatic acting into her role.
Art Direction: C: Shot from a teenagers perspective so alto of hallways and house backdrops, and church since this was a Christian based film. But nothing to get excited about.
Cinematography: B-: The cinematography was fairly decent. it had some shot and light that were interesting and cool but over all just like the art direction not to exciting.
Direction: B-: This film does have a "after school special" feel, and that it's main weakness, well besides the fact that the general audience will call it "too preachy" because of it Christian based storyline. Besides these negatives I think the new comer director, Brian Baugh did a decent job, yeah it may have been slow in parts to some people, but that to be expected.
Screenplay: C+: The main criticism of this film is the fact that it is a Christian base story. I don't know why people get so offended by Christian movies but don't care about another movie with another religion. If we were to replace the Christian message and undertone in this film with another religion's message and undertones would the story be good? I am going to say yes because this film highlights some pretty heavy stuff that happens in teenage life today. That's the positive things about the story, were as the negative thing shine a way different light. The bad supporting characters, acting wise, and the "after school special" feel overshadowed the positive things in this film.
Sound and Music: C+: Hmm, there was some inspirational music from the sound track, but that common for a movie with Christian undertones.
VFX: C: Dramatically driven, little to no visual effects.
Overall: C+: If I was a youth-pastor I would take my youth-group because the film brings out some very valid points that teenager need to hear. I challenge all teens to see this film just on the fact that it dose highlight things that are very possible in their life's, especially in today's society. As an over film it going to do horrible cinematically, as I highlight above but do decent at the box office especially in small "Christian" based towns. Film is subjective.
After the BFCA Critic Choice Awards this weekend I here by Update my prediction / contenders. Anything highlighted in red won an award at the BFCA Critic Choice Awards.
Best Picture
Statistically
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Up In The Air
3. Inglourious Basterds
My Picks At This Point
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Avatar
Actor in a Leading Role
Statistically
1. George Clooney, Up in the Air
2. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
3. Colin Firth, A Single Man
My Picks At This Point
1. George Clooney, Up in the Air
2. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
3. Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
Actor in a Supporting Role
Statistically
1. Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
2. Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
3. Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
My Picks At This Point
1. Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Actress in a Leading Role
Statistically
1. Carey Mulligan, An Education
2. Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (She Tie with Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side)
My Picks At This Point
1. Carey Mulligan, An Education
2. Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Actress in a Supporting Role
Statistically
1. Mo'Nique, Precious
2. Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
My Picks At This Point
1. Mo'Nique, Precious
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Statistically
1. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
2. Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
My Picks At This Point
1. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
2. Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Statistically
1. Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
2. Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
3. Scott Neustadtler & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
My Picks At This Point
1. Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
2. Scott Neustadtler & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Directing
Statistically
1. Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
2. Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
My Picks At This Point
1. Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
2. James Cameron, Avatar
3. Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Film Editing
Statistically
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Avatar
My Picks At This Point
1. Avatar
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Inglorious Basterds
4. Star Trek
Wild Card: (500) Days of Summer
Cinematography
Statistically
1. The Hurt Locker
2. The White Ribbon
3. Nine
My Picks At This Point
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Avatar
3. Nine
Wild Card: Inglorious Basterds
Visual Effects
Statistically
1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
My Picks At This Point
1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. 2012
Wild Card: District 9
Art Direction
Statistically
1. Avatar
2. Nine
3. Inglourious Basterds
My Picks At This Point
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Nine
3. Avatar
Costume Design
Statistically
1. The Young Victoria
2. Inglourious Basterds
My Picks At This Point
1. The Young Victoria
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Nine
Makeup
My Picks At This Point
1. District 9
2. Avatar
Sound Editing
My Picks At This Point
1. Star Trek
2. Avatar
3. The Hurt Locker
Sound Mixing
My Picks At This Point
1. Star Trek
2. Avatar
3. The Hurt Locker
Music (Score)
Statistically
1. Michael Glacchino, Up
My Picks At This Point
1. Michael Glacchino, Up
Music (Song)
Statistically
1. Crazy Heart
2. Nine
My Picks At This Point
1. Crazy Heart
2. Nine
Animated Feature Film
Statistically
1. Up
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
My Picks At This Point
1. Up
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Coraline
Wild Card: Ponyo
Short Film (Animated)
TBD
Documentary Feature
Statistically
1. The Cove
2. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
My Picks At This Point
1. The Cove
2. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Documentary Short
TBD
Foreign Language Film
Statistically
1. Sin Nombre
2. Summer Hours
3. The White Ribbon
My Picks At This Point
1. Sin Nombre
2. Summer Hours
3. The White Ribbon
Short Film (Live Action)
TBD
