The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Official Site: www.breakingdawn-themovie.com
Director(s): Bill Condon
Writer(s): Melissa Rosenberg, Stephenie Meyer.
Producer(s): Wyck Godfrey, Stephenie Meyer, and Karen Rosenfelt.

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Sarah Clarke, and Peter Facinelli, (IMDb). PG-13.

Admittedly, this film was engaging. Like the previous films, it dealt with family, love, and the conflict between the werewolves and the vampires that is showcased in other popular films. The twilight franchise has always been a soap opera featuring pale skin and fur. With a strong focus on the emotions involved in familial and amorous relations, watching these films seem to induce the same feeling one may experience while watching a soap opera. With many eagerly curious to know what will develop in the following film, the Twilight franchise has been successful in attracting a large audience predominantly consisting of teenage girls, well according to the lobby in my theater at least.

OK. The honeymoon scene. It dragged. Possibly by design. The last part of this franchise was split into sequels, so there may have been an incentive to prolong the film longer than necessary. With the anticipation this latest release was likely to generate more than three dollars and fifty cents at the box office, prolonging the film was probably not done to showcase editing talent. In any event, if your a guy, who was dragged to see this film by your girlfriend, you probably had to get in touch with the teenage girl deep, deep,deep, deep, deep, deep inside of you to enjoy this film. Deep inside of you, very deep.

According to metacritic.com the film received mixed reviews, and rottentomatoes.com rated the film with 33 fresh tomatoes to 95 rotten ones, but on average, 92% of the audience gave it a rating of 4.6 out of 5. I was not fond of the film, but I liked it more than the previous films. It was OK. The teenage girl in me sort of liked it. Yes. I have a teenage girl in me. Her name is Bella. I'll give it 75. Stay tuned movieporium.blogspot.com.

Due Date: Check Yo self, Before You Wreck Yo self

Official Site: duedatemovie.warnerbros.com
Director(s): Todd Phillips
Writer(s): Alan R. Cohen
Producer(s): Daniel Goldberg, Todd Phillips,
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx,
Juliette Lewis, Danny Mcbride, RZA (IMDb). Rated-R.

Ethan Tremblay is a mixture of idiocy, bravery(somewhat), gratuity, and a strangeness that is so unprecedented that it borders the paranormal. Tremblay seriously believed the Grand Canyon was man made, causing one to think there is no way he could be so misinformed, but he was. This character was annoying and on the precipice of being unbearable, and if Tremblay was not traumatized with any familial issues, and if he was not so generous, it would have been easy to dislike him, and also to feel , Peter's (Downey) treatment of him was justified at times. 

Although Tremblay was annoying, he's redeeming qualities won me over, and they won Peter over as well. Peter possessing common sense, and being better informed certainly did not like Tremblay at first, but after much yelling they eventually developed an understanding. Peter and Tremblay did not share much in common, except that both had issues with their father.

Downey and Galifianakis had awesome chemistry on screen, and It was a lot of fun watching those two. The scene in Mexico was the turning point in the characters' relationships, because at that juncture it appeared they were truly becoming friends. Due Date was funny and semi hilarious. The humor was witty and knowledge driven, for one would have to possesses a basic education to understand some of the jokes, especially the joke about the Grand Canyon.

 Maybe there are some people who truly believe the Grand Canyon was man-made. Overall it was funny. A little weird, but funny. According to metacritic.com the film received mixed reviews, and rottentomatoes.com scored the film 49 fresh tomatoes to 78 rotten ones. I'll score it a 76. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

Let Me In: Going Steady

Official Site: www.letmein-movie.com
Director(s): Matt Reeves
Writer(s): Matt Reeves, John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producer(s): Alexander Yves Brunner, Guy East, Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Simon Oakes, Nigel Sinclair

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Cara Buono , Elias Koteas(IMDb). Rated-R, 115 min.

Owen is a reclusive 12 year old boy, who spends most of his days avoiding bullies, and eating candy. On an ordinary night, Owen was looking out of his window, and he noticed a young girl, Abby, about his age accompanied by an older man. When Abby and Owen first met, Abby warned Owen, that they could not be friends. Despite this warning, Abby and Owen developed a strong bond that was questionable in sanity.

The relationship Abby and Owen developed was cute and disturbing; cute, two prepubescent kids forming a bond that is apparently innocent; disturbing, Abby is a vampire, who kills people for their blood. In some of the scenes where they hug each other, there is so much innocence there, but when deeply considered, Abby's nature presents itself, and thus the disturbing aspect of their relationship sets in. Owen is arguably disturbed himself. He is timid and frail, but he has dark tendencies. The actors chosen for the roles of Owen and Abby, were perfect, because both Mcphee, and Moretz seem so harmless in appearance.

Overall, the film had a slow pace that could have rendered it boring, but it did not, because there was something interesting occurring in every scene. Some of the camera angles were effective, and creative in their use. A historical explanation of Abby's vampirism would have been nice, but it seems this was deliberately kept a mystery. According to metacritic.com the film received generally favorable reviews, and rottentomatoes.com granted the film 96 fresh tomatoes to 16 rotten ones. I liked it, it gets an 82.

Toy Story 3: The Claaaaw

Official Site:disney.go.com/toystory
Director(s):Lee Unkrich
Writer(s): Michael Arndt, John Lasseter
Producer(s): Darla K. Anderson

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn,
Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson,(IMDb). G, 103 min.

Andy is all grown and he is on his way to college, so The Cowboy and the rest of the gang are worried about what will happen to them once Andy leaves. Already feeling lonely and abandoned because they rarely get played with, the toys are afraid Andy's departure to college means they will be thrown away. However, Andy decided to store them in the attic, but the toys never reached that destination due to a slight confusion on the part of Andy's mom. The Cowboy and the gang end up at a day care, seemingly perfect at first, until they learned more about Lotso.

Toy Story 3 was not one of the films on my to see list this summer, but Pixar's reputation for great stories motivated me to see this film. Again Pixar created another beautiful animation picture, that had a plot within a plot, which was exciting, suspenseful, and funny.

The most interesting character in the film was Lotso. There was a Machiavellian element to Lotso's mode of operation that seemed to have developed on account of his unfortunate past experience. Lotso understood resource management in how he related to his minions. He was a well crafted antagonist who was equably duplicitous. According to metacritic.com the film received universal aclaim, and rottentomatoes granted the film 182 fresh tomatoes to 3 rotten ones thus far. Awesome. It earns a 95. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

Jonah Hex : Eli Whitney Jr.

Official Site: jonah-hex.warnerbros.com
Director(s): Jimmy Hayward
Writer(s):Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Producer(s): Akiva Goldsman, Andrew Lazar,

Starring:Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett,(IMDb). PG-13, 80 min.

The past transgressions of Jonah Hex(Brolin) came back to haunt him through the vindictive might of Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich), who took away everything Hex loved in one unforgettable night. Turnbull and his crew left Hex to die, but fate preferred to keep Hex alive, and he was rescued and treated by Indian medicine men. Subsequently, Hex was endowed with, what could be described as purgatorial powers of communication. Hex could talk to the dead, and he would use this power to seek vengeance on the man who took everything that was valuable to him.

The writing was exclamatory, bold, and insightful. Using Eli Whitney's creation as a key driver of a very important element in the plot, made the film more significant in a rather ominous manner. Eli Whitney was involved in weapons manufacturing, but not to the extent the film suggested. This bit of realism, may induce one to question, did Whitney secretly invent such a weapon for the government?

The production was excellent, as it managed to present the film in a soiled, colorful, but stylish manner. Dirt laden costumes, grungy wooden buildings, and shacks were constitutive of praise worthy production . All the weapons were very cool. I believe there was even a submarine in one scene.

A good pace, good action scenes, and no lag, Jonah Hex was entertaining. While the action was good it was not mind blowing. The PG-13 rating may have hurt some of the action scenes. Also the editing was not excessive, but awkward. One of the main contributors to the entertainment value of the film was John Malkovich. He was an awesome villain. According to metacritic the film received generally unfavorable reviews, and rottentomatoes granted the film 13 fresh tomatoes to 76 rotten ones. Not a bad action flick, I'll grade it a 79. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.