Update for Hiatus

This is an update- something that I hope to continue to keep people on the interwebs up to date.

Anyway, I, again, apologize for the hiatus- shit happens in life and it has bogged me down. Nevertheless, the blog shall continue to thrive in its greatness (not really great, but decent).

I recently got a job at a movie theatre- which means I will see more movies, more often. In a few days time, the posting will commence with: The Great Gatsby. After that comes Star Trek: Into Darkness. More movie reviews will, of course, follow these.

At any rate, that is the end of this update. As I stated before, the posting will commence on the day or the day after Gatsby comes out.

So, thank you for reading this, whoever you are, and keep visitng The Movie Goers.

I shall end with a Star Trek/ Dark Knight related meme.

The Dark Knight Rises

                                                 
Christopher Nolan is a genius. I was blown away by this movie when I saw it on opening day. This movie has to be the best movie I have ever seen; the best superhero movie by far. Tom Hardy captures Bane perfectly, along with Anne Hathaway nailing her Catwoman role. This movie is a ride worth taking.

The movie is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Batman, Bane, Catwoman, Comissioner Gordon, and Officer/Detective John Blake respectively.
In the movie Batman has not been seen since the death of Harvey Dent. The city is in a time of peace. But a villain named Bane aims to create havoc in Gotham City, which brings Batman out of hiding to face his most challenging oppenent.

The movie is nothing short of amazing. It is sad that the "legend" has to end though. I give it 4 out of 4 stars. It is a must see.

                              

Prometheus

Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, and Michael Fassbender
investigating alien ruins.

What an amazing movie! This was the perfect non-prequel to a great franchise. The movie is a non-prequel to the Alien franchise. For those of you who have not seen the movie Alien (1979), I recommend you see that before seeing this for the plot can get confusing if you have not seen Alien. By the way, I say non-prequel because it is not exactly a prequel, but it shares certain traits from the original Alien.

The movie is directed by Ridley Scott, director of: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down, and stars Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender.
Noomi Rapace plays archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw who, along with her character's boyfriend Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green), discovers ancient drawings that lead to a planet that could possibly show where we (humans) came from. However, things go awry when a crew member becomes sick with an unknown parasite.

The spaceship Prometheus.

This movie blew me away when I saw it. Granted, there are some things from the original Alien that aren't there, but at any rate this is such a great movie. The movie was written by Damon Lindelof who was the executive producer and the co-creator of the television series Lost and the co-writer of the latest Star Trek movie. Kudos to Damon though for excellent writing.                                                                              

Lockout

 

This movie was pretty good for what it was. This is just as ambitious as The Fifth Element (1997). In fact, the man who directed The Fifth Element, Luc Besson, hepled write and produce this movie. The visual effects were mediocre in some scenes, while in other scenes they were spectacular.

This movie was directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and stars Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace as Agent Snow and Emilie Warnock, the U.S. President's daughter.
Agent Snow is convicted of killing his partner and is supposed to be going to prison when Emilie Warnock is suddenly taken hostage on MS One, a maximum security prison-space station. Snow is then sent up to rescue her.

Guy Pearce has some of the best one liners that I have ever heard in this film. He plays the cocky, sarcastic agent perfectly; his character definitely reminds me of Bruce Willis' character in The Fifth Element.
This film has a decent story and visual effects to a point where I give 3 out of 4 stars.

                                                                              

Beyond The Black Rainbow

                                                                                 
One word can describe how this movie felt to me: psychadelic and a mind trip. Sorry, I lied, it takes 5 words. When I first saw this movie, I was being reeled in by Michael Rogers and what he was doing to this mute, yet tame woman.                                                
The whole time I was watching the movie, I was in a trance. The red lighting in some scenes gives off an almost evil and sinister aura; a foreshadow of the events that Michael Rogers' character was about to do.

A sort of caretaker of Elena, called a sentionaut.

This movie was directed by Panos Cosmatos. Cosmatos is the son of director George P. Cosmatos (director of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Tombstone). This movie stars Michael Rogers and Eva Allan as Dr. Barry Nyle and Elena respectively. The movie is basically about Elena trying to escape the evil clutches of Dr. Nyle within the confines of the Arboria Institute (created by Mercurio Arboria who is played by Scott Hylands).

Elena making her escape through a ventilation shaft

The interrogation room

The visuals in this movie are spectacular. The movie also has a vintage feel to it. The sets are very reminiscent  of 2001: A Space Odyssey while also giving off a tainted Tron look. The soundtrack is very noteworthy. With a mix of synth and electronic organs, the soundtrack is a perfect fit for the movie.

A pyramidal device that controls Elena; her therapeutic regiment.

At any rate, this movie has intrigued me ever since I saw the trailer for it. After that, I had been itching to see it. Now that I have seen it, I give a perfect 4 out of 4 stars. Panos, you are a genius!

The Hunger Games

                                                                             
The Hunger Games

First off, I apologize for not posting any reviews for nearly a year, I have just been too busy trying to improve the quality of the content I put on the blog. Now, for the review.

This movie was pretty cool. I had read the book before seeing this and I have to say that there are definitely some scenes in the book that I wish that they had kept in the movie. While the book was better than the movie (obviously the books will always be better than the movies), the cast, crew, and director did a very good job with what they were given.

The movie is directed by Gary Ross and stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, two teenagers living in a post apocalyptic United States, that are drafted into a televised event, known as The Hunger Games, in which kids between the ages of 12 and 18 kill each other.

Just from the above paragraph, it sounds like a brutal movie, which it is in some scenes. I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I saw this four days ago. It is the last in the trilogy and I have to say the best out of all three.
The film is directed by Michael Bay and stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, Patrick Dempsey, and John Malkovich.
The plot line is somewhat different, but maintains the same theme: the autobots trying to save the earth from the decepticons.
The performances by the actors are phenomenal. The gags are funnier and the dialogue is clever. I have seen a lot of horrible reviews for this film and I don't totally agree with them. Sure, not a lot of people want to go see robot carnage and I can understand that. Its just senseless action. Which brings me to the point of Real Steel; I don't know how people will react to robots boxing each other via their human controllers. However, to the hardcore Transformers fan, it will seem visually awesome. Although the theme is always going to be the same, Michael Bay ramped up the action so much that you will nearly forget the dialogue and just watch the characters nearly die, which is a good thing. It keeps your eyes on the screen.
3 1/2 out of 4.    

Super 8

Hands down J.J. Abrams best film to date. I left the theatre wanting to see it again.

This film is directed by the man stated above. It stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning ( Dakota Fanning's sister for those of you who don't know), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), and Noah Emmerich. This movie is about Joe Lamb, a 13 year old kid who is trying to cope with the loss of his mother at a steel mill. One night he and his friends are filming a zombie movie when a truck derails an oncoming train, unleashing an alien that the air force was transporting.

This film was produced by Steven Spielberg and as what you can expect, this movie pays homage to the films that gave Spielberg the rise to fame (Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extraterrestrial). This is a movie that many, like myself, will enjoy watching again and again.

4 out of 4.

Hanna

I know this one came out a while ago, but I haven't had the chance go see anything new.
Hanna is directed by Joe Wright (most notably known for directing the movies Pride and Prejudice and Atonement) and stars Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana.
This movie is about a 17 year old girl named Hanna who was being trained by her CIA father and how she is being hunted by Marissa Wiegler, a rogue CIA agent who wants Hanna and her father dead.
This is a great espionage/ spy thriller. It has clever script writing and outstanding performances. The story is unique. I haven't seen a story like this since Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (which, by the way was an okay adaption of the book). Joe Wright does an amazing job with this movie and is a great pick for anybody who is a fan of spy films.
3 1/2 out of 4.

Tron Legacy

I saw this one two days after christmas. All I can say is wow. I had seen the original Tron before this and it wasn't bad for what they had to work with. But this sequel was better, visually and the storyline was also better.
This movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Jeff Bridges (reprising his original character), Michael Sheen, and Beau Garrett, along with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his original character.
The sequel is about Sam Flynn (Kevin Flynn's son) who gets accidentally transported into the world of Tron and how he finds his dad (Jeff Bridges) who has been trapped in the Tron world for twenty years by C.L.U.
I totally loved this movie. I did not find anything bad about it. I know that many people did not like the original, but this is better than the original. Although it retains some key concepts from the original, it is ultimately one of the best sci-fi films that I have seen.
3 1/2 out of 4.

Battle: Los Angeles

I saw this one recently too. I have to say that the storyline is the usual alien invasion story. So, there is nothing new about that, however, this movie was a special effects extravaganza.

This film, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, stars Aaron Eckhart who plays Staff Sergeant Nantz. He just about to retire when the aliens begin to take Los Angeles. This film co-stars Bridget Moynahan, Ramon Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ne-Yo.

I give 2 1/2 stars out of 4.

Limitless

I just recently saw this one. This film, directed by Neil Burger, stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Mora, an unsuccessful writer who, one day, takes a drug called NZT-48, that allows him to access 100% of his brain. It co-stars Robert DeNiro, and Abbie Cornish.
This movie literally surprised in many ways. It was full of twists and turns and, most of the time, I didn't know what to expect next. This movie is a perfect example of clever script writing.
I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Inception

This movie was an awesome movie. One of the best movies I have seen to date. Wally Pfister does a phenomenal job at Cinematography, he even won the Academy Award for it. This movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominic Cobb, a man who goes into peoples dreams and steals ideas. He is then hired by Mr. Saito, the manger of a global energy company, to perform an inception on Robert Fischer.
The film co-stars Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Wantanabe, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine. Inception was also nominated for Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards.
I give it 4 out of 4 stars. 

The Losers

Believe it or not, I actually went out and bought the graphic novel of this movie the same day I saw Prince of Persia. Let me tell you, what's mostly in the graphic novel is not in this movie. However, the director, Sylvain White, did use some elements of the graphic novel. Anyway, I don't want to ramble on about how much I love this movie. The plot line is about a group of soldiers who are betrayed by a person named Max. Max tries to kill them by blowing their helicopter up. However, they weren't in the helicopter. Now with the help of a CIA agent by the name of Aisha, the group will try to find Max and take him out before he decides to strike again. The cast for the movie is as follows: Clay: Jeffery Dean Morgan, Aisha: Zoe Saldana, Jensen: Chris Evans, Roque: Idris Elba, Cougar: Oscar Jaedena, Pooch: Christopher Short. I am giving it 3 out of 4 stars. I think the director could've put in more things from the graphic novel.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I just recently saw this movie at the theater. I thought it was a pretty good rendition of the 2003 video game of the same name. The plot of the movie is about a man named Dastan who is adopted by the king of Persia. One day, after taking over the holy city of Alamut, his father, the king, was killed. Now his own brothers want his head. So with the help of Princess Tamina and a mystical dagger that can go backward in time, he finds out who framed him. Jake Gyllenhal does a really good job with his character. Gemma Arterton does a good job of representing the princess. Overall, I give 3.5 out of 4 stars.

The Hurt Locker

I was very surprised when this won Best Picture over Avatar. This film is directed by Kathrine Bigelow. When this won best picture, she was the first female director to win Best Picture. Anyway, this film is about a Staff Sergeant named James who defuses bombs in Iraq. I don't know how this won Best Picture, but Katherine deserves it. The special effects used in the film are very good and it feels like your sitting in a humvee watching all the action from inside it. Out of 4, I give it 4.

Star Trek

This film is by far the best reboot of a cult classic. This 2009 reboot of Star Trek is directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Peg, Karl Urban, Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Greenwood. First of all, I didn't even see this in a theater. I had wanted to see it in a theater but the budget was tight. So when I had gotten $20.00 for my birthday, I bought it on DVD and loved it the first time I saw it. The special effects for the U.S.S. Enterprise were amazing. Even though they were awesome, they were not better than the special effects for 2012. But I do have to say that J.J. did a very good job with this one. I give 3.5 stars out of 4.

Moulin Rouge

Even though this movie is 9 years old, it is still labeled as a classic romance story in my book. Moulin Rouge is a 2001 film directed by Austrailian director Baz Luhrman who also directed William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. This film stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. This is labeled as a classic love story to me because it is about a writer named Christian who falls in love with cabaret actress Satine who works at the Moulin Rouge. When the movie came out in 2001, it got mostly positve reviews. At the Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture. It currently holds the record for the first musical to be Nominated for Best Picture in 22 years. Out of 4 stars, I give it 4 stars. The performances by McGregor and Kidman are powerful and believeable especially when McGregor breaks down and cries at the end when Satine dies.

2012

2012 is the latest movie from German born director Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Thandie Newton. Out of 4 stars, I give it 3 1/2 stars. The special effects are groundbreaking and the storyline is more than typical. Roland has a gift for sci-fi disaster films. For example, Roland directed the film The Day After Tomorrow. In that film, instead of the world ending, the earth was going through another ice age. So back to the plot for 2012, the film is about Jackson Curtis (Cusack) who is an author and a limo driver. When L.A. starts to sink into the Pacific Ocean, Jackson and his family try to survive the end of the world by going to China and getting in these ships that are called "Arks". In the behind the scenes featurette on the dvd, Roland says that the whole movie is basically a modern retelling of Noah's Ark. So all in all; 3.5 stars.