My Review: This Means War

I only went to see this movie because it had Tom Hardy. I thought it would be a mildly entertaining movie and I was curious to see Tom Hardy in a comedic role. I ended up really liking this movie! It was really funny and I was laughing all the way through. Not just giggling, but my ugly loud laughing! The story is that these two CIA agents played by Hardy and Chris Pine (who are both just crazy good looking) end up dating the same girl. They make a gentleman's agreement to not let her know that they know eachother and to just let her make her decision of who to be with. They also agree not to get in eachother's way, but they start sabotaging eachothers dates using their CIA resources. While the love story plot is cute, the best scenes are the scenes with Pine and Hardy together and the scenes with Reese Witherspoon and Chelsea Handler. The friendship scenes were far better than the romantic scenes, and the romantic scenes were pretty darn cute. This would definitely make a great date movie because in the theater I was at both men and women were laughing their asses off during the movie. A scene that I found particularily funny was the scene when the two men are listening to a conversation the Witherspoon and Handler are having about the two of them and discussing the flaws that the men have. My rating: 9/10

My Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

What a brilliant cast! This movie is filled with some of my favorite British actors, including the always amazing Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt with his great speaking voice. Anyways, this is a movie that I am going to have to watch again. I think that I have a pretty good idea what was going on, but it was a little hard to follow at times. To put it simply, this movie is about Gary Oldman's character George Smiley (great name!) trying to figure out the mole in "the circus", which is another name for British Intelligence. There are just so many subplots in the movie that you have to keep straight, like Tom Hardy's character who got information from this Russian girl who he fell in love with, and Mark Strong's character getting shot in the beginning. For the majority of the movie I thought that he was dead and the stuff at the school and with the kid in the glasses was a flashback, but I guess it wasn't. Like I said, I kind of got what was going on in the movie, but if I had to explain it to someone I don't think that I could. I'm definitely going to have to give it another go. Anyways, I thought that Gary Oldman's performance was amazing. It was a very subtle performance, but was just brilliant. I can not believe that this is his first Oscar nominated role!! He is has several brilliant performances (some far better than this even!) but this is the first time that he is being recognized by the Academy. My rating: 7/10

My Most Anticipated Movies for 2012 (Part 1)

I'm going to this this three months at a time because my list always gets too long and I end up forgetting some. So... here are the movies I plan to see in January, February, and March of 2012.

JANUARY

The Devil Inside

Its been a while since I've seen a movie in theaters that actually scared me, and I'm hoping that The Devil Inside will do just that. Although I'm getting sick of all these exorcism movies, this movie does look pretty freaky. The first time I saw the trailer it did give me a bit of a fright. Of course, so did the trailer for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and that movie was kind of shitty.



Underworld: Awakening

I still haven't seen Underworld: Evolution all the way through, but I have until January to watch it. This movie actually looks pretty cool. I'm loving the little werewolf/ vampire hybrid girl, and Kate Beckinsale looks awesome as always in her black leather suit.



Haywire

This really isn't my type of movie at all. I think that the plot of this movie is something that has been done a million times before and it doesn't really look all that interesting to me. Why do I want to see it then? Well for starters it has Ewan McGregor and Channing Tatum...definitely some eye candy. And oh yeah...MICHAEL FASSBENDER. If that handsome Irish actor is in a movie, you know my ass is going to be in those theater seats.



We Need to Talk About Kevin

This is a book that I was planning to read because I heard that it was both really good and really disturbing. Now I guess I don't have to because I can go see this movie.(And all the literary snobs cry...) From what I have read about the plo,t the trailers that I have seen haven't really given too much away about what this movie is really about. I guess it is about parents dealing with the fact that their teenage son shot up his high school.



Albert Nobbs

I saw the trailer for this movie when I went to see Like Crazy and thought that it looked really interesting. Glenn Close plays a woman who pretends to be a man called Albert Nobbs.



FEBRUARY

The Woman in Black

I love me a good ghost story! This movie looks really cool and the fact that it is produced by Hammer makes it that much better.



W.E.

What make this movie neat is that it is directed by Madonna. This story is about Edward VIII and how he gives up the throne for the woman he loves. We got a hint of this story in The King's Speech, though that movie focuses on his brother. I am curious to learn more about Edwards story with this movie, because in The King's Speech I really didn't care so much for his character. Plus, maybe seeing Abbie Cornish and Oscar Isaac in this will make me forgive them for Sucker Punch.



This Means War

Totally going to see this just because it has Tom Hardy. He always plays such super serious characters, so it'll be nice to see him to a comedy. Also, I love Chelsea Handler, so it'll be cool to see her in this as well.



MARCH

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

There is not a poster or a trailer for this movie yet, but with a title like that, how could you not want to see it?

The Raven

I have never read anything by Edgar Allen Poe, with the exception of a few poems (including The Raven) but that is something that I plan to fix in the future. This movie stars John Cusack as the famous writer, and is about a series of murders that are inspired by his novels.



Mirror Mirror

I'm actually still debating whether or not I really want to see this movie because it looks corny as hell! I might still see it so that I can compare it to Snow White and the Huntsman which comes out later in the year.



21 Jump Street

This movie actually looks pretty funny. I think that Channing Tatum is much better in his comedic roles than his dramatic ones. Plus...I read somewhere that Johnny Depp is going to have a cameo!!



The Hunger Games

I'm really not a fan of YA novels, but from what I've read about this movie it seems like an interesting story. A part of me is curious and wants to read the books, but another part of me just wants to wait to see the movie so that I can be surprised.



Wrath of the Titans

While I am still irked that they replaced Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, I am curious to see this movie. It actually looks pretty cool, and I'm always up for seeing Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes!

My Review: Warrior

This movie starts out a little slowly, and just lets us get to know the characters a bit. Tommy and Brendan are brothers who are both MMA fighters. They don't have a good relationship with eachother or with their father because their father was a drunk and their mother died after she left their father. Tommy went with his mother and Brendan stayed with his father, so at the time the movie begins they haven't seen each other in a while.  They go to different gyms and have different trainers, and they both end up in a MMA tournament called Sparta. Brendon is a high school teacher with a wife and kids who enters the tournament because he needs the money so save his house. Tommy is a former marine who we find out saved the lives of a bunch of fellow soldiers. He wants the money so that he can send it to the widow of one of his fellow marines. Like I said before, the movie starts out a little slowly, but it really gets going once Sparta starts. All of the fight scenes in this movie were really cool. Tommy's fights go by really quickly because he just knocks them out right away then leaves the cage. The best ones to watch were Brendon's fights. I'm not going to lie, I actually cried after he won one of them. So anyways, the movie ends up with Tommy and Brendon in the last round of the tournament together. What makes this different from most fighter movies is that it has two protagonists instead of one. I really couln't decide who I wanted to win. I really wanted both of them to win, so during the last fight scene I was just a wreck. I was sitting there with the fists over my mouth all bug-eyed...it probably didn't look very cute. What can I say though, I love fighter movies! I ended up liking this movie even though there were parts where I was getting a little bored during the beginning, and I loved the ending shot of the two of them walking out together. I loved both Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as the fighters, and Nick Nolte was good as their drunken dad. My rating: 8/10

"I cannot live without my life..."

"I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul"

Wuthering Heights in Film

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights is one of my all-time favorite love stories. I love it because it is not your typical romance. It features deeply flawed and somewhat unlikable characters, has revenge as a major plot point, and has an unhappy ending. Despite of this, or maybe even because of this, Wuthering Heights is a very beloved novel and has been adapted for the screen over a dozen times. While I haven't seen every version, these are the versions that I have seen.

(1939)

This was the first version I had seen, and was the film that made me fall in love with this story. It gets a lot of criticism because it only covers half of the book, but I really don't care. If it did cover the whole book it would have either been twice as long, or it would have had to cut out a lot of stuff and I wouldn't change a thing about this film. Merle Oberon is great as Cathy. When I first saw this movie I thought that she was a total bitch, and that is basically what Cathy is. She is completely selfish, and I think that Oberon does a great job portraying her that way. Geraldine Fitzgerald is also great as Isabella. I love how you see her go through such a transformation. She goes from foolish lovesick girl, to broken and sad, and thinking that it would benefit her if Cathy dies. The reason why this film is so great, however, is because of Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff. He plays the different sides of Heathcliff perfectly, both the heartbroken side and the vengeful side. The shot of him looking down when he overhears Cathy say that it would degrade her to marry him was enough to break my heart and make me burst into tears. So, even though this isn't the most accurate adaptation of the novel, it will always be my favorite.




(1967)

If you're looking for a movie to entertain you, this probably isn't the best version to choose. It is very dated and the film quality isn't that great. This is the version that is closest to the novel, however, so I guess this is the one to watch if you're too lazy to read the book for a class or something. Probably the biggest difference was pushing the entire frame story to the very end. I was getting quite annoyed with Cathy in the first part of this, but Cathy is supposed to be a brat. I thought that Ian McShane's portrayal of Heathcliff was a bit odd until he came back after getting his riches. He was much better as rich Heathcliff than stableboy Heathcliff. This version also has both generations, which is cool. They have the same woman play Cathy and Catherine (also done in the 1992 version), which I suppose they did to give they actress more screen time even though Catherine isn't supposed to look like her mom. It took me a while to get into this one, but I did end up liking it.

(1970)

This is another version that covers only the first half of the book. While I do like Timothy Dalton (he has that great deep voice), he is really not my favorite Heathcliff. I suppose its more the screenwriter's fault, but basically all he does in this movie is cry or not say anything. He also does this thing where he pushes Cathy whenever they start to have a tender moment. Like their faces will get close, so you think that they're going to kiss, and then he pushes her against a wall, or pushes her on the ground. It's somewhat odd. There was one part in this movie that didn't really shock me, but surprised the hell out of me, because I really wasn't expecting it. It's the part when Heathcliff is kissing Isabella and I forget what word he used but he basically asks her to have sex with him. I was like "whaaaaaat???!?" It was out of nowhere... One thing that really bugged me about his was that they didn't really have the two big speeches from the novel. Both the "I am Heathcliff" and the "I cannot live without my life" speeches were really cut short, and the latter wasn't really said at all. Lame. It also doesn't have the frame story at all. No "let me in!" Hmm...



(1992)

This one really plays up Heathcliff's grumpy side. Yes, Heathcliff treats Isabella like shit, but in this one he smacks her around and is a really big shithead. I do think that Ralph Fiennes makes a great Heathcliff though, and does his brooding side justice. This movie crams both generation stories into a two hour film, so it does leave out a lot, and Nelly is pretty unimportant in this film. What I love about this movie is that even though Juliette Binoche is all giggly and that is kind of annoying, she does say the entire "I am Heathcliff speech."




(1998)

This is my least favorite (normal) version that I have seen. A part of me thinks that it has something to do with me being shallow because this version has the worst looking Heathcliff, but I also just didn't care for this movie in general. Even though Robert Cavanagh is around the same age as several other actors who have played Heathcliff, he just seems way too old. I also didn't really care for the fact that he shouted the beginning of the "I cannot live without my life" speech. Probably the best thing about this movie was Matthew Macfadyen as Hareton.



(2003)

This was an odd one to see. It's MTV's modern day sort-of musical version of Wuthering Heights. It wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be, but it is still not that great. They've updated all the names so Heathcliff becomes Heath, Edgar becomes Edward, Hindley becomes Hendrix (wtf?), and so on. This movie was just really corny, and the songs were not good at all, and pretty much the only plus side is that Mike Vogel is really nice looking. It is a good think that they didn't update both generations because at the end they have Cathy's/ Kate's baby daddy be Heath instead of Edward. So Heath would be trying to set up half-siblings instead of cousins. Eeeeeew. There is only one part that has any hint of writing from Emily Bronte, and that is when Kate says "I am Heath." While there have been good modern-day versions of classic literature like Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You, the MTV version of Wuthering Heights does not make that list.



(2009)

Even though I do have a lot of criticisms of this version, it is my second favorite adaptation. Tom Hardy is awesome as Heathcliff, and it also features Andrew Lincoln as my favorite Edgar from any Wuthering Heights film. He is so handsome and sweet, and makes you almost understand why she would leave Heathcliff and marry him. My one major criticism of this movie is that they make Cathy too nice!!! Cathy is supposed to be a selfish brat, and she doesn't come across that way at all in this movie. They even change one of the most important parts to make her feel more sympathetic. Instead of Heathcliff overhearing her tell Nelly that Edgar asked her to marry him, they have her tell him instead. Then, when she is telling Nelly about it, she seems all bummed out about it as if she is being forced to marry Edgar, which just doesn't make sense at all. Other than that though, I do really like this version. It has my favorite cast for the second generation of characters, and I like it enough to forgive that it excludes the frame story.




(2011)

This movie is supposed to be released in the UK in September, and yet I have not found a trailer or even a production still from this movie. It is directed by Andrea Arnold, who directed a movie I really liked called Fish Tank, and stars a bunch of actors that I have never heard before. The cast has actually changed quite a bit since it first started being made. The first I heard about it was when it was supposed to star Ed Westwick and Gemma Arterton, which would have been great! Even better would have been Michael Fassbender and Abbie Cornish who were set to star even before that. Natalie Portman was even in talks to play Cathy Earnshaw at one point. What makes this version so intriguing is that Heathcliff is going to be played by a black actor named James Howson. In the book, Heathcliff is described as dark skinned, but that is because he is a gyspy, not because he is black. Regardless of this, I do think it is cool to have a not-white actor in a film like this because you rarely ever see that. Hopefully there will be a trailer for this movie sometime in the near future because I am super anxious to see it!

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OGM OGM OGM OGM OMG OMG!!!!!! Finally there is a teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. I read about it on twitter a few days ago and I rushed to my computer to watch it on the The Dark Knight Rises Facebook page. I am somewhat disappointed that we don't see Catwoman at all, we do get a few glimpses at Bane. This movie is going to be so cool!!! Why can't it be July 2012 now???

My Most Anticipated Movies for 2011 (Part 2)

My last list only went up to July, so here are the movies that I plan to see from August through December.

August

I am a huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes movie with Charlton Heston, and I didn't think that the Tim Burton version was as bad as everyone says it was. Also, I adore James Franco, so this is a movie that I am really excited to see. What I am really curious about is how the timeline of this fits into the timeline of the original film.

I really like all four of the leads in this movie, and after seeing the trailer, I think this movie looks really funny.

I loved the original Fright Night, and am really curious as to how they will update the story, since the orginal was very 80s. Plus, what beats Colin Farrell as a sexy vampire?

I had this movie on my first list because it was supposed to come out a long time ago!!! I was pissed when they changed the release date, but now it is only a month away!! It is a rarety that a movie trailer can scare the hell out of me, and this one made me scream the first two times I saw it. (Once on my laptop, and once before I saw Let Me In.)



September

Two reasons I want to see this. 1. I'm a sucker for boxing/ fighter movies. 2. Tom Hardy

This is another movie that was supposed to come out a long time ago. I think that this movie looks super cute, and I really like Mia Wasikowska. Plus, I'm curious if Henry Hopper is as good of an actor as his father (who is one of my favorite actors)



I actually haven't seen the trailer for this movie (and can't watch it right now because my speakers are broken), but the cast alone is enough to make me want to see this movie. I heart Joseph Gordon-Levitt!



October

This is supposed to be a prequel to The Thing, so I don't know why they would give it the same title. I guarantee that this is going to be nowhere near as good as the original, but I plan to see it out of curiousity. I'm hoping that it's not all CGI, and that they use practical effects like they do in the original.

I've read both good and bad things about this movie, but I like Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy is one of my favorite movies!), and I am curious about how he does directing a film in my favorite genre...

I am really excited to see In Time, which looks like a modern day version of Logan's Run. Justin Timberlake plays a man who tries to run away from a society where you can't age past 25. Interesting...

You put Johnny Depp in a movie, chances are that I'm going to go see it. Here he is starring in The Rum Diary, which is another Hunter S. Thompson story, which is really cool since I love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

November

My Week with Marilyn should be pretty good, I think that Michelle Williams will be a great Marilyn Monroe. What I am most curious about is how Kenneth Branagh will be playing Laurence Olivier. 

Hugo is a Martin Scorcese film. 'Nuff said...

Love The Muppets!! My favorites are the Swedish Chef, Professor Honeydew and Beaker, and Animal. I know I'm just going to love this movie! Plus, it was co-written by Jason Segal, so it should be good!!

December

I thought that the first Sherlock Holmes movie was just okay, but I still want to see the sequel. I'm curious to see Noomi Rapace in something besides  the The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies...

Speaking of the The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movies...This is my number one most anticipated movie that I want to see for the rest of the year. It looks amazing! While I was skeptical about Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander at first, I have decided that I think she is going to be great. Can't wait until December!!!

Photo of Tom Hardy as Bane!!!

Finally something cool from The Dark Knight Rises!!! Although I am not too jazzed about the casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, I was psyched about seeing Tom Hardy as Bane! Here is the first look of Hardy in character. I must say that I am pleased that his mask does not cover his whole face...This movie is going to be awesome!!!!

Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar Love Triangle

One way that is sure to add drama to a romance film is to have a love triangle. My favorite kind of love triangle is what I call the Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar Love Triangle, named after three characters from Wuthering Heights. This type of love triangle involves two men and one woman. The woman has to choose between marrying the rich man and living a life of luxury and security with the Edgar character, or being with the man she loves, who is usually poor and better looking like Heathcliff. Sometimes the Edgar character is a good man who truly cares for the woman, or other times he is a bastard who only wants a pretty wife. One of the major themes you see in this kind of love triangle is a theme of jealousy. Here are a few examples of the Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar Love Triangle in film.

Wuthering Heights (1939, 2009) Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar

While there have been at least a dozen adaptations of Wuthering Heights, these two are my favorite. In Wuthering Heights, Cathy is in love with Heathcliff, but chooses to marry Edgar because he is "handsome and pleasant to be with" but also because he is rich. This of course breaks Heathcliff's heart, but he gets even by marrying Edgar's sister.

Camille (1936) Armand/ Marguerite/ Baron de Varville

In Camille, Margeurite is in love with Armand. She abandons being taken care of by Baron de Varville to go away with him, but unfortunately for her, Armand's father doesn't approve of their relationship. He threatens to take away all of Armand's fortune if she does not leave him. So, in order to try to make him stop loving her, she leaves him for the Baron.

Room With A View (1985) George/ Lucy/ Cecil

In room with a view, Lucy has to choose between George, the man she loves, or Cecil, the stuffy aristocrat whom she is supposed to marry. Unlike the previous films, this one does have a happy ending for Lucy and George.





The Princess Bride (1987) Westley/ Buttercup/ Humperdinck

This version of the Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar love triangle is a little different. Buttercup only gets engaged to Prince Humperdinck because she believes that Westley is dead. When she finds that he is alive, however, she wants to break off her engagement with Humperdinck. He makes an agreement with her, however, that she will marry him unless Westley comes and stops the wedding. This is a really shitty video, but I couldn't find a good version that could be embedded...



Titanic (1997) Jack/ Rose/ Cal

In Titanic, Rose starts off the movie already engaged to the rich Cal, but then falls for the poor Jack while on the "unsinkable ship." We all know that she chooses Jack over Cal, even making the stupid decision to jump back on the sinking ship to be with him.



Shakespeare in Love (1998) Shakespeare/ Viola/ Lord Wessex

In this film, Viola falls in love with William Shakespeare, even though her parents have arranged for her to marry Lord Wessex. Obviously she chooses the famous writer...



Shrek (2001) Shrek/ Fiona/ Lord Farquaad

In Shrek, the title character rescues Fiona from the fire breathing dragon so that he can bring her back to Duloc and she can marry Lord Farquaad. On the way, Fiona and Shrek fall for eachother, but Fiona intends to marry Farquaad because she thinks that only he can break the spell. Luckily, Shrek stops the wedding (even though he was a little late) and Farquaad gets eaten by a dragon.



Moulin Rouge! (2001) Christian/ Satine/ The Duke

Along with Shrek, Moulin Rouge is an example of when the Edgar character is a bastard. Satine and Christian fall in love, but Satine has to charm and seduce the Duke so that he will finance turning the Moulin Rouge into a theater. This film is actually a lot like Camille and deals a lot with jealousy. There is even a similar plot element to Camille where Satine has to make Christian believe that she doesn't love him.



Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Will/ Elizabeth/ Norrington

In the first Pirates of the Carribean movie, Elizabeth must choose between Will, her childhood friend, and Commodore Norrington who has asked her to marry him. She agrees to marry Norrington, but chooses Will in the end.



The Notebook (2004) Noah/ Allie/ Lon

Noah and Allie are together for one summer and fall in love. After she leaves to go back home and then to college, she thinks that they are never going to see eachother again. So, she gets engaged to a handsome guy named Lon. Before her wedding, however, she sees Noah's picture in the paper and goes to visit him. It is then that she realizes she still loves him.



Tristan and Isolde (2006) Tristan/ Isolde/ Lord Marke

In Tristan and Isolde, Isolde is in love with Tristan, but is forced to marry Lord Marke. Marke is a kind man, so Isolde does not hate him, which leads to Tristan getting jealous. Isolde does love him, though, so she sneaks out to see him. When the guy is James Franco, how could you not love him?



Red Riding Hood (2011) Peter/ Valarie/ Henry

In Red Riding Hood, Valarie is in love with Peter, but is arranged to marry Henry. In this film, Henry actually gets a clue that Valerie doesn't love him and he breaks off the engagement. That is something that you don't usually see in these kinds of love triangles.