Guest Blogger: Kelli 1

The Notebook is definitely a character driven movie that is centered on a young couple, Noah and Allie. Allie is a young wealthy girl played by Rachel McAdams, who is living in North Carolina in her family’s mansion. Rachel McAdams plays this role perfectly because her bubbly personality really brings out the emotion that is shown throughout the movie. Noah, played by Ryan Gosling, is a small town boy who works at the local sawmill but is smart and talented. Ryan Gosling also plays the part really well because his long hair and narrow face makes him look more like a country boy in the movie and brings out the character. The couple meets at the county fair where he is hanging from the Ferris-wheel and refuses to get down until she says she will go out with him. Allie’s parents who are not supportive of their relationship tell her that Noah is trash and no good for her. Her mom tells her the story of a young man that she claims she was in love with who is also working in the saw mill. However, this does not stop Allie from breaking her parent’s rules to see him. She claims that she does not want to turn out like her parents and she is convinced that they do not love each other even though her mother says they do. The couple ends up splitting up and seeing different people for a while but that is not the end and they both knew deep down that it was not over. The theme in this movie is to follow your heart and don’t let other people/things stop you from doing what you want. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun Tribune says, "...it is a tearjerker, it's just that it's a good one." I agree with this statement 100%. This movie is definitely a tear jerker whether you are some tough guy or a sympathetic person. I would say that if you’re into sad movies and good love stories it is worth the money & time!

Guest Blogger: Kelli 2

One awesome movie that probably everyone has seen that never gets old is Forrest Gump. Forrest, played by Tom Hanks is a boy who really has little brain activity. He has one friend, Jenny, played by Robin Wright. Forrest’s mom who he calls ‘mama’ teaches him a little bit about life and leaves him to follow his own dreams. He decides to join the army and fight the war in Vietnam. While he was over in Vietnam he meets a couple guys who become his best friends where Forrest achieves a countless number of things like getting everyone involved with ping-pong, donating to many people, writing bumper stickers, etc. he even got to meet the president a few times. However, while he is doing all of this he can’t get his mind off of his childhood lover, Jenny. One thing that he was extremely good at was running. He even got all of his friends to jog with him and he used his legs to his advantage. Tom Hanks does a phenomenal job playing his character because the way that he can show the disability of Forrest by changing his voice and the way that he only focuses on one thing shows his dedication to this character. The theme of this movie is to really follow your heart and not give up. Forrest did this exact thing with Jenny. Although she didn’t take the right path and make very good decisions, he knew that anything could happen and believed that anyone can love anyone. I agree with critics that Forrest Gump is “a comedy, I guess. Or maybe a drama. Or a dream.” Says Roger Ebert from Sun Times. I think that anyone of any age would love this movie. And I think it’s worth every minute of time.

Guest Blogger: Eric 2

The Incredible Hulk was a very good movie. It is about a guy named Bruce Banner. He was part of a science experiment and he experiment changed his life forever. The experiment turned his life into a roller coaster. Whenever his adrenaline would get to high his body would transform into a green giant. He would be very strong and able to jump hundreds of feet. In the movie he would only turn into the “Hulk” whenever he was in danger. Bruce you find out in the movie lost his girlfriend because he had to leave the USA because the army was trying to catch him to get the serum and make more people like him for war. He didn’t want that so we catch up with him in Brazil. Long story short the General of the Army brings a guy in to try and turn him into a monster. The man gets crazy for it and you will see quite a fight. Bruce is played by Edward Norton. I think he played the role perfectly. He looks very into the movie and while watching you can really feel his love for Betty Ross played by Liv Tyler. Liv Tyler also did a very good job. Again you can feel her love for Bruce. The catch with her though is she is the General’s daughter. This really helps you see her love because she is fighting her dad to keep Bruce safe. Bruce is a small and skinny guy. He doesn’t have much muscle. He is a very work related and calm after the experiment. He hates turning into the hulk because it is very hard for him to control his actions. Betty Ross is very loving and organized. She was on the brink of marriage until Bruce came back to the US to get help from her. She fights for what’s right and that is to keep Bruce alive because he has done nothing wrong. I think a theme in the movie would be fight for what’s right. I also think be happy with who you are is another theme. Fight for what is right is a theme because of what Betty does to keep Bruce alive. She is putting her life on the line to keep Bruce safe. The theme be happy with who you are is because Bruce hates who he becomes but instead of killing himself he is finding ways to keep him from turning along with trying to control when he can turn. I think the movie was very good. The special affects and battle scenes were really fun to watch. The movie also keeps you wanting more

Guest Blogger: Kai 2

The Dark Night (directed by Christopher Nolan) is a sequel to the movie Batman Begins. It starts off with a group of clowns robbing a bank; one of the clowns is known as The Joker (Heath Ledger). Batman finds out about the bank robbery and helps investigate it further. During the investigation he finds that the mob is behind it. The Joker presents a few very complex ethical decisions throughout the film. At one point in the film the joker sets up two massive cruise ships with a remote to blow up the other boat before theirs blows up. The Joker seems to be a mindless criminal after only one thing, to disrupt the forces of good and reveal Batman’s secret identity. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is running for mayor of Gotham and his new girlfriend is Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). When The Joker demands the revealing of Batman’s secret identity Harvey Dent takes it upon himself to pose as Batman until Batman can stop The Joker. The Dark night is clearly about good versus evil and Heath Ledger does an excellent job in playing the evil Joker. Christian Bale as Batman also does an excellent job in playing the role of Batman as he goes through some very tough ethical decisions. Harvey Dent also plays the role as a man who sees Batman as much more than just a vigilante trying to help, but as a hero, to hating him for what he let The Joker do to Rachel and himself.
I agree with the overall criticism of The Dark Night as it is all positive and I think the movie is an excellent example of good versus evil. This film is most definitely worth all 152 minutes and whatever it may cost to view it.

Guest Blogger: Abdul

Apocalypto is a 2006 America movie directed by Mel Gibson. They made the film in the Mexican jungles of Yucatan. It all starts off when the Maya civilization is hunting a hog for food. They catch the animal and eat it and bring it back to the village so they can all feed there families. Usually the men go hunting and the women stay home and take of the kids. Well that all changed one day as they were all sleeping. A group of enemies came to their village and attacked them. They killed dozens of people and they mainly planned on slaving the captives. Jaguar paw’s wife is pregnant so he puts her in this deep hole. They burned down the village and took a lot of Maya people captive. They took them far away from there village and into the enemies land. There were a lot of disturbing scenes as they enter the city. They chopped off the heads of some of the captives for religion purposes and they also took out the heart. They continued to do that till the sun went down. So the remaining people who were captive was taking to this hunting arena. They let them go 2 at a time so they can shoot them down with spears and arrows. Well the main character jaguar paw was let go and he escapes the brutal battle as he was hit with an arrow. They chase him through the rest of the film. There s a lot of crucial scenes on how some of the people chasing jaguar paw die. His main mission is to returned to the hole before its starts to rain and drowns his wife in that hole. Well he accomplishes at the end of the film and they have a wonderful son. As they seek a new beginning there are a lot of British colonist coming to their land.

Guest Blogger: Michelle 2

The Movie Mean Girls is about this girl (Lindsey Lohan) that has been homeschooled ever since she was a little girl. Her parents had moved from the other side of the world to America and decided that she wanted to go to public school her freshman year. Cady was her name. Cady’s first day of school was alright she felt alone and didn’t know what to do and during lunch she ate in the bathroom in the stall. But her life got better as the days went on, Cady got to meet new friends and relies who her real and true friends where and she got to meet people that were rude and mean (the plastics). Because Cady had a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend Regina tried to make Cady’s life hell. After everything had happened like Regina kissing Aaron after talking to Cady about talking to him for her at the Halloween party he was throwing. Cady and her friends decided to get back and her because she had done the same stuff in the past to Janis, Cady’s friend. So home coming was coming up and Cady and her friend decided it was the perfect time to get her back so they took these nutrition bars Cady’s mom had that made the people in Africa gain weight and they told Regina that they make you lose weight like crazy. So they kept hanging out like nothing was going on. I really like this movie because it shows that there is people out there that don’t care who they hurt and that the only person you can trust is yourself. I recommend this movie to anyone because it is a very funny interesting movie that anyone could see over a certain age though. And they end up getting along in the end.

Guest Blogger: Jessa 2

In this science fiction adventure of human vs. artificial intelligence, a boy named Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) buys his first car that turns out to be an alien robot. Sam is a typical teenage boy in high school who’s just trying to fit in and impress his long time crush, Mikaela (Megan Fox). When Sam finally convinces his dad to buy his first car, he gets an old beat up yellow Camaro. When he finds out that his car can transform, Sam discovers a whole new world. He is taken on an action packed thrill ride to find the Allspark and save the human race. Bumblebee, the robot personality of the yellow Camaro, calls in his team of Autobots to help with the search. However, they aren’t the only ones searching for the Cube. The Decepticons, evil Autobots from the planet Cybertron, are also trying to find the Allspark so that they can destroy the human race and take planet Earth for themselves. The Autobots target Sam to help with the search and he agrees when he learns that his great-grandfather, Captain Archibald Witwicky, was the one to discover Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, after he crash-landed somewhere in the Arctic Circle. In his review, Roger Ebert claims the film uses too much CGI to give the audience its feel of intensity and is where the film lost its fourth star. However, I have to disagree with this review. Transformers is an exciting, action-packed thriller that has you on the edge of your seat and curious to see who will win in the end. It’s a typical good guy vs. bad guy plot but with a little extra spin. It adds excitement with airplanes, helicopter, and semi trucks transforming into 10-story tall robots and duking it out in deathly battles all for the good of mankind.

Guest Blogger: Bryce 2

For my second movie blog I chose The Fast and the Furious. This is the very first movie, not to get confused with the fourth movie in the series, Fast and Furious. In this movie, undercover cop Brian (Paul Walker) tricks a notorious street racing family into letting him into the crew. The whole reason is to figure out who is stealing large truckloads of very expensive electronics from semis while the semis themselves are still in motion. When he is fully accepted into the family, he becomes friends with Toretto (Vin Diesel) and falls in love with Toretto’s sister. As he spends his time with them, investigating other families of street racers, he starts trusting them. But as time goes on, he starts to realize that Toretto is the one he is after for. In the end, Brian is torn between arresting Toretto or letting him go. Throughout the whole movie are crazy, sleek racing scenes, and some fighting scenes. In my opinion, I believe all the actors were casted just as I would like them. It also helps to watch the other movies in the series because you kind of get used to the cast and look forward to seeing them in their usual role. Some of the themes I saw in the film were stay true to your own beliefs, or maybe even do what you think is the right thing to do. Something the audience could take away is, before you start trying to figure out who other people are, you have to figure out yourself first. When looking at critics reviews I was very surprised to see that most of the reviews were very negative. They mostly said that there was lack of a plot and just a ton of racing scenes, but no heart. I disagree with that completely. The entire point of the film is to have gearheads drool over fast cars and watch epic race scenes, the love story and Brian’s relationship with Toretto is just an added bonus to help make it feel more real. Overall, this is one of my favorite movies ever since it was released, and with each sequel it only makes the series as a whole much better.

Guest Blogger: Travis 2

One of my favorite movies of all time would have to be Coach Carter. This movie is based off a true story when Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) turned a losing team into winners not just on the court but off it as well. The movie starts out with Coach Carter accepting a job to coach at Richmond high school. After watching a preseason game almost turn into a brawl on the court he realizes that these kids need leadership. When he becomes coach he makes the players sign contracts that say the players will maintain a 2.3 GPA and sit in the front row of all their classes. This doesn't go over too well at the first practice, and Carter loses a few players right away. This doesn’t change how the coach thinks though instead he has the players begin working on their fundamentals and have them running up and down the court. The team started off great going undefeated for the first 16 games, but then Coach Carter receive the progress reports and found most of his players were failing so to fix that problem he locked the gym and made his players study instead of practice. The team even forfeited games because of the players’ grades. But after they realized how important it was to get good grades and go to college they took it upon themselves to get the grades. And even though they didn’t win the state tournament 5 players went to college from that team and they came from a school that only graduated 50% of its students. I agree with critic Mark Dujsik that sports movies inspire us especially ones like this that are actually based off something real. This movie does a great job showing not just game reels but actual life situations but it doesn’t show this for every player only a select few which is a shame. I think that the theme of the movie is that no matter what the odds are you shouldn’t give up cause you always have a chance.

Guest Blogger: Yasmin 2

The second movie I’m doing a blog about is also personally one of my favorite movies. The movie is called Blind Side it’s based on a true story. The movie is about a homeless African American teenager (Michael Oher) that hasn’t been in school for years, which had it, rough in his childhood. Then one night a woman (Sandra Bullock) saw the Michael walking in the middle of the night which was really cold outside. So after seeing he has no home she decides to give him a place to sleep for the night. That one night eventually turned in the rest of his life. She became his legal guardian and basically raised him. Michael's tremendous size and protective instincts made him a great force on the football team, and with help from his new family and devoted tutor, he realizes his potential as a student and football player. Though this Michael Oher truly had a rough lifestyle like coming from a broken home and all those sleepless night had was a head tuner. However, becomes a famous football player thanks to a mother that had a good heart and actually believed in him. In this movie the blind side won an Oscar for the Best Motion Picture. Sandra Bullock won also won an Oscar and Critics Choice Award for best actress. This heart filed movie touched thousands for mothers, foot players and most of the teenagers, and to show them how Michael Oher became a football star. Knowing he came from nothing and also is a person who didn’t have a home, slept in the most terrible places any kid doesn’t deserve to sleep at. No family, but still he had hope and strived for excellently. So I recommend this movie to anyone who has a dream or has thoughts of giving up on hope.

Guest Blogger: Kai 1

Michael Tomlin’s award winning movie Radio is about a handicapped individual (Cuba Gooding Jr.) that is homeless and has an obsession with football. He shows a sweet and innocent side of human nature. Ed Harris (Coach Jones) sees that the man everyone calls Radio needs somewhere to stay and protection from some of his players abusing him, so Coach Jones takes Radio under his wing and lets him help out with the football team. Radio starts out a shy and tormented man and transforms into an inspiration for his community and the South Carolina High School.
When Radio is first seen he is walking around town with a shopping cart filled with his belongings in it. One day a few of the football players lock him in a shed by the field and throw footballs at it to frighten Radio. After Coach Jones rescues Radio he makes it an obsession to involve Radio with the team in any way he can. Coach Jones has Radio hold pads for drills and dress up as the team mascot. However, everyone doesn’t agree with Coach Jones’ decision, one of the star player’s dad’s thinks of Radio as a distraction and Coach Jones’ wife and daughter show signs that they just want Radio out so Coach Jones can focus on and spend more time with his family. Towards the end Coach Jones faces a tough decision; what he should do about Radio.
Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the role of Radio better than anyone else I could think of. He makes the character loveable and doesn’t go over the top with it. Ed Harris plays the role of Coach Jones very well. He gives the film a sense of authority and also shows that he is a kind man. This film is an excellent example of what really happens to some handicapped individuals and shows that there is always a benefit for helping other people out.

Guest Blogger: Bory 2

I think that the classic Disney 3D animated movie Finding Nemo is a great example of a character driven movie. I think that one character I want to focus on particularly happens to be Dory. Dory is a very bright and outgoing fish who has short term memory loss. She meets Merlin, who lost his son and is desperate to find him wherever he is, and joins along in search for Nemo. Throughout the movie we see that Dory has many struggles with her short term memory loss and even bumps heads with Merlin. Merlin is more of the serious and on task kind of character and is not there for the fun and thrills. Dory on the other hand loves adventure and loves meeting new aquatic animals on the way there. In one particular scene, Dory makes herself very useful because not many fishes can read but her and when they find out where they Nemo may be held captive, she reads off the address. She redeems herself and is still asked to be a part of the search for Merlin’s son. I think she is a perfect example of me because no matter how serious and negative an event may be, I try finding a way to make myself more positive and try finding the bright sides. Being positive is a very important characteristic to have and I think Dory is the perfect example of it. Other than just having our names rhyme, I think we both are similar, besides the fact that I don’t have that much of short term memory loss as her. The voice of Dory is Ellen DeGeneres and she is a very inspirational person to me. She focuses on equality and other very important issues in society and that may be another key reason as to why I like Dory so much.

Guest Blogger: Caitlin 3

As a kid, Mulan was my version of a Disney princess. Since Anastasia was from FOX and I didn’t like any of the other Disney Princesses I watched Mulan a lot. I agree that Ming-Na Wen did a great job as Mulan, I also liked B.D. Wong’s acting for Shang. Though Eddie Murphy is one of the more unforgettable humorous characters in Mulan, I did think Chien-Po, Ling, and Yao added a lot of humor too, especially during the songs. As for a theme I would agree that one of the themes would be brains over brawn, but I don’t think it would be the main thing. If you look at the cultural history in China, women had no power (and still really don’t). I thought Mulan was more about showing kids that women are just as capable of breaking social norms and saving the day as men are. Even though it’s a fictional story and a lot of things are exaggerated, I think the film did a great job of illustrating what would happen if a woman did break the norm. Mulan will always be one of my favorite films, I also think it’s worth the money and time to see it if you already haven’t (though most 90’s children grew up with it). –Caitlin M.

Guest Blogger: Travis 1

“It has been a good long while since I have felt the presence of Evil so manifestly demonstrated,” states Roger Ebert as he is referring to the performances in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs. We meet Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a man who is not only an incredibly talented psychiatrist, but a murderer who is known as Hannibal the Cannibal, because he eats his victims. FBI agents consult Dr. Lecter in their search for another murderer, Buffalo Bill, who skins his victims, in hopes that he might be able to help them with ideas on how to catch him. Hannibal Lecter being so brilliant, and having Ebert describe, “His speaking voice has the precision of a man so arrogant he can barely be bothered to address the sloppy intelligence of the ordinary person,” often rejects the agents that are sent to work with him or messes with their heads for his own amusement. It is not until a trainee agent, Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster,) is sent to work with him that he finally starts to open up, in exchange for pieces of Clarice’s own painful childhood and background. Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Lecter amazingly. His acting truly creates what I think of as the epitome of evil but we find that there is some compassion within the man as he helps out Clarice. A theme to be taken from the movie would be not judging people because of their past/present situations; it is possible to find good in everyone. I have found that critics like the movie an Anthony Hopkins performance very much and had very few downfalls to the movie that hardly even important to the movie. All in all, I would highly recommend watching this horror movie, it has been one of my favorites for a long time!

Guest Blogger; Lauren 2

“It has been a good long while since I have felt the presence of Evil so manifestly demonstrated,” states Roger Ebert as he is referring to the performances in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs. We meet Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a man who is not only an incredibly talented psychiatrist, but a murderer who is known as Hannibal the Cannibal, because he eats his victims. FBI agents consult Dr. Lecter in their search for another murderer, Buffalo Bill, who skins his victims, in hopes that he might be able to help them with ideas on how to catch him. Hannibal Lecter being so brilliant, and having Ebert describe, “His speaking voice has the precision of a man so arrogant he can barely be bothered to address the sloppy intelligence of the ordinary person,” often rejects the agents that are sent to work with him or messes with their heads for his own amusement. It is not until a trainee agent, Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster,) is sent to work with him that he finally starts to open up, in exchange for pieces of Clarice’s own painful childhood and background. Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Lecter amazingly. His acting truly creates what I think of as the epitome of evil but we find that there is some compassion within the man as he helps out Clarice. A theme to be taken from the movie would be not judging people because of their past/present situations; it is possible to find good in everyone. I have found that critics like the movie an Anthony Hopkins performance very much and had very few downfalls to the movie that hardly even important to the movie. All in all, I would highly recommend watching this horror movie, it has been one of my favorites for a long time!

Guest Blogger: Monique 2

Precious is hands down the most emotional, yet powerful movie I’ve seen in a long time. In this film, precious is a black pregnant teenager in Harlem in 1987. She lives with her abusive, self-esteem destroying mother. All though her life she is invisible to everyone. Precious has to struggle daily between her imagination of being a movie star and having fortune and fame with her harsh reality of being a young mom with no help from others besides herself. Precious goes through a lot of ups and downs but she is stronger than you think. Precious is played by Gabourey’s Sidibe. She does a breath taking performance. Gabourey’s acting makes you feel as if you are truly apart of her life. She’s a typical teenager, very moody with low self-esteem on a journey to find herself. Her main motivation is to be on her own and escape her mother. Her terrible mother is played by the one and only Mo’Nique’s. She has this sense of acting that makes you feel her feelings. This was one of her first roles as the bad guy and I have to admit, she did a pretty darn good job at it. She makes you want to just jump though your television and smack her! Mo’Nique’s characteristics are rude, abusive, negative and degrading. Her motivation in this film is to bring her daughter down anyway she can. Precious has many themes but, I think the main on would be that you make grow up with nothing and have the worst family but if you hope in yourself and determination you will come up from it on top. Betsy Sharkey from The Los Angeles Times states “Precious is a rare blend of pure entertainment and dark social commentary”. I highly agree with this critic. At times it shows what some people really go through but it also has some very deep and dark moments that make your heart break for this girl. Over all, I would defiantly take time to watch this movie. It will change your perspective on life and make you truly thank god for what you have in life.

Guest Blogger: Dylan 2

Nicholas Cage stars in this 2004 movie about American history and treasure hunting. Cage, who plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, grew up in a household full of treasure hunters. Ben was about eight years old at the start of the movie, and the scene showed a young Ben looking through some old books. Then Ben’s grandfather came in and told Ben the story of the Knights Templar Treasure, a story that would’ve interested any young kid. Then the movie fast-forwards 20 years or so to a frozen wasteland. Ben and his “crew” are searching for the first of many clues that will hopefully lead them to the treasure. The group finds what they were looking for: an old American Revolution-era ship. They search the ship, and find an old frozen skeleton holding a keg full of gunpowder. In the gunpowder is an ivory pipe, which signifies that the treasure is real. Unfortunately for Ben, some of the group members got greedy and decided they wanted the clue for themselves. Keeping Ben, Riley, and Abigail (the other two main characters) at gun-point, the thieves fled the ship, lighting it on fire in the hopes of escaping. The thieves then made their escape, while the ship containing the other three group members proceeded to explode. The three survived, and from then on, they faced a never-ending quest to catch the thieves and regain the clue to the puzzle. They eventually catch up to the thieves, but then are essentially kidnapped and held prisoner, forced to continue the adventure in search of the treasure. Nicholas Cage does an excellent job acting throughout the movie. Justin Bartha and Diane Kruger do as well, playing Riley Poole and Abigail Chase well, respectively. Unfortunately, Stephen Holden bashed the three in his New York Times article, saying that “Accompanying Ben are his techie sidekick Riley, whose fizzled wisecracks add up to the year’s lamest movie dialogue, and Abigail Chase, a blonde, motor-mouthed National Archives conservator.” I’d have to disagree with him, as Riley had some very comical moments throughout the movie. The main theme from National Treasure is that life may always hit you when you’re down, but if you keep at it, you’ll achieve your goals eventually. All in all, National Treasure is an eight out of ten movie, and I’d recommend seeing it if you enjoy history, adventure, and most of all, treasure!

Guest Blogger: Sufi 2

AWWW!!! I JUST GOT STABBED!! Screaming, that is what you will hear when you watch the movie Scream 4. Yes the horror collection film is back for the fourth time. Earning the number two spot in the top ten box office list in the week the film came out. Scream had bought back most of the characters from the original and made the movie more intense. Scream in my opinion was a really funny scary movie. Although there were some parts that made me scared but overall the movie was not that frightening to me. Critics have said that since it has been almost a decade since the other Screams were made that this one was to be a bit scarier and intense. There were many actors and actresses in the film as they portrayed the original characters in the film. The film starts with a film within a film and repeats that process until the fourth time and then starting the movie. Although Scream is not that really scary in my opinion it is rated R for its stabbing and usage of killing and language. The movie does have funny characters in it. Basically the movie’s theme is the original cannot be broken. The movie does have a surprising twist and ending which makes you want to know what’s going to be happening the next scene. Basic word of quote in the movie is don’t trust nobody when a killer is on the loose. The movie is enjoyable by teenagers and up. I really wouldn’t recommend this movie kids. Children might get scared watching this movie I know I would. My overall stand on the movie is that the movie is a perfect movie to take your date on a date, if your date of course likes horror or funny scary movies.

Guest Blogger: Shermarke 2

Arthur was one of the most anticipated movies to come out this year. Arthur Bach is the name of character which is played by Russell Brand, who, in my opinion, is the perfect fit for the theme of this movie. It is about a wealthy England man who demands on only two things, money and his nanny Hobson. Helen Mirren is plays his nanny, and she basically does everything for him because he always acts like hes a little kid. Hobson reads bedtime stories, and she has to look after him because he brings a lot of unknown women to his. So makes sure those women dont take advantage of him by stealing from him. Arthurs mom Vivienne, (Geraldine James) is fed up with her son because he does not take himself seriously. So she decides to make a deal with him. Vivienne tells him that either hes going to have to marry or he will get cut him off for life. Since he cant do nothing without money, he decides to get married even he has no love to the woman his mom wants him to marry to. That woman is Susan (Jennifer Garner.) Soon he realizes it what a big mistake he made because he falls in love other women. Naomi (Greta Gerwig) loves art, and he has a big dream of becoming a children book writer. Arthur tries to buy her love by acquiring a company that could hire Naomi and publish her books. But when Naomi finds out what he did, she leaves him. Arthur loses everything hed ever known, especially his nanny Hobson who was there for him every since he was a kid. Plus Arthur decides not to marry Susan, and because of that, his mom Vivienne cuts him off for good. Will he ever get the woman he truly loves him? Well youre going to have to watch it and find out for yourself. This movie is pretty funny and a great love story. So hit the movies and watch it because at the end of day, you will be satisfied and it is worth the money I guarantee you for that.

Guest blogger: Ellie 2

500 Days of Summer starts out with Tom working at his job, he works as a person who creates greeting cards. Tom sees the new assistant Summer and it was love at first sight for him. Summer and Tom spend time getting to know each other and they became more than just friends. Through the trials and tribulations of Tom and Summer's relationship, Tom could always count on the advice of his two best friends, McKenzie and Paul. Tom’s little kid sister try’s giving him plenty of advice but Tom doesn’t always listen. This movie is about how Summer and Tom falling in and out of love because Summer says she doesn’t believe in love. Summer has issue’s committing and tells Tom many times “we should just be friends”.
Tom played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the main characters. I thought Tom’s character was acted out very well. At times his character got a little annoying because he was super needy and clingy towards summer but that was the point of his character so it was well played out. Summer acted by Zooey Deschanel is the other main character. At times I didn’t like her character because she was the heartbreaker. Tom and Summer had the perfect relationship at times but because Summer didn’t believe in love she would always back out and never commit, and that made me upset because I thought they were a great couple together. Her character was frustrating at times but she was supposed to be acted out as the stubborn girl who didn’t believe in love so I’d have to say she did a very good job at that.
A theme that I take away from this movie is that there are always more fish in the sea. I got this message from the movie because Summer and Tom had a great relationship but, always a relationship that had its ups and downs. In the end it didn’t work out for the two, but Tom was devastated and couldn’t get over Summer. Tom didn’t realize that it’s never the end and that there always plenty of more people out there that he hasn’t met yet. And you never know that person could be the love of your life.
“We laugh, cry, sigh and sympathize with Tom and Summer because we've all known a Tom or dated a Summer at one point in our lives. And let’s face it: We're suckers for movies we can relate to.” Review by Erik Davis. I agree with what they said in this review and that’s why I liked this movie is because I could relate to it. “It bristles with energy, emotional and intellectual, as it flits about the dizzying highs and weeping-karaoke lows of a passionate entanglement. The film's many virtues include an unusual storytelling conceit, a sharp sense of music, a lover's-eye view of Los Angeles and on-the-money performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.” Review by Michael Ordona. I also agree with what this review said. I liked the movie because it was something different; it wasn’t like most typical love stories. I appreciated its uniqueness.
Overall I thought this movie was pretty good. It’s a love story but not your average love story and it was unique. Because it’s unique and not your average love story I think that’s why people will like it. I’d have to say it is worth the money to go watch. People may be turned away because the plot of the movie is different and jumps around a lot and is different from other movies.

Guest Blogger: Patrick 2

Shark Tail is a movie about one little fish named Oscar that works at the car wash and lives in the slums of his town in the ocean. All he wants in his life is to become someone so that all the other fish in the ocean look up to him. As the movie goes on, he finds a dead shark and made it seem to be that he “slayed” the shark to everyone else. So then, everyone in the ocean looks up to him and he gets big and famous. Will Smith and Robert De Niro are the two most important actors in the movie and they do a great job with their roles. Will Smith won the award “favorite voice from an animated movie” in the 2005 Kids Choice Awards. Oscar is the main character in the movie (Will Smith) and all he wants is to be famous. He doesn’t realize the things around him that he already has are important too, like the girl that he grew up with, Angie (Renee Zellweger), and how she has been in love with him forever. Oscar is too focused on trying to become famous that he doesn’t even notice her. The theme of the movie is that you should never try to be something/ someone that you’re not. The point of the movie is to show that theme and how to learn to live by it too, they wanted people to take that lesson home and make sure that it teaches kids how to behave. I didn’t really find very many reviews on the movie Shark Tail itself, but all of the reviews that I did find seemed like they liked the movie and they liked the themes and lessons that came out of it. I agree with these critics because I loved the movie and I still watch it all the time, it’s a lot of fun and the whole family can enjoy it. Overall, I think that people should pay for the movie, it’s well worth it.

Guest Blogger: Jessie 2

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Lion King. This movie is an animated adventure about a young lion, Simba, and his life as he grows older to one day become king. Simba and his friend Nala get into all sorts of trouble, starting when they wander into the forbidden Elephant Graveyard. Scar, Simba’s evil brother, has his group of hyenas attack the young lions. Luckily, they got away safely. However, the cubs’ escape makes scar mad because Simba is the only thing in the way of him becoming king. He then kills Simba’s dad, Mufasa. After Mufasa dies, Simba feels out of place and runs away. Scar then became ruler of the kingdom. Later, the then mature Simba finds his old friend Nala. Together they try to make a plan to regain control of what should be Simba’s kingdom. When Simba is young, his voice is given to by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who was 13 at the time. Simba’s adult voice though is given by Matthew Broderick, who has been in many movies including Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think both of the actors’ voices really made Simba come to life. I also think it was a good idea to have one person do the voice of young Simba and another do the older Simba. Simba was my favorite characters in the movie. I liked how he was so determined and how he was really motivated to follow in his father’s footsteps. One of the main themes in the movie was the theme of growing up. I think the audience is supposed to take away that bad things may happen in your life, but it’s up to you to determine how it will affect your future. All the reviews I’ve read have said that this movie is great for kids because of the excellent animation, but also great for adults as well because of the more mature themes. I think that The Lion King is definitely worth your time and money to go see because it’s one of those movies that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

Guest Blogger: Cait 2

Out of all the alien themed movies in American cinema, I would say District 9 is one of the most unique. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture in 2009; District 9 is a great example of a movie that makes people think in a different way. The film starts out as mockumentary about a strange aircraft floating above Johannesburg. When the spacecraft finally opened; thousands of emaciated creatures were found onboard. The movie then jumps 20 years into the future (present time) and shows the aliens in a shabby, fenced in ghetto named “District 9”. People of every race in South Africa degrade them and coin the derogatory term “Prawns” to address them because of their crustacean like appearance and nature. The company that keeps them contained and out of the city is a company called M.N.U. that secretly carries experiments on the aliens for profit reasons. You are then introduced to the main character, Wikus van der Merwe, a soft-spoken, nervous man who is put in charge of M.N.U.’s biggest operation by his father in-law; who happens to be head of the company. The operation is to move all of the “prawns” to a new and smaller district so M.N.U. can keep them away from the city and continue their inhumane, genocidal experiments on them. When Wikus goes to help move the aliens out of their homes he faces a confrontation with one of the aliens and is injected with something strange. After the substance starts to kick in, he realizes he is actually turning into a prawn and becomes the first alien-human hybrid known to man. M.N.U. tries to imprison and experiment on him until he escapes and hides in the old District 9. The movie ends with an interesting cliffhanger leading a possible second movie. The main character Wikus, is played by Sharlto Copley who happens to be from South Africa like his character. I think he did an amazing job playing Wikus and illustrating Wikus’s journey from a nervous, dull man to someone who is fast to react and emotionally interesting. Despite the obvious theme of aliens coming to earth, there is actually a second theme in the movie. During the same time period as the movie, Apartheid was going on in South Africa and a lot of things done to aliens in the movie, happened to anyone who wasn’t “white” in South Africa.I thought it was interesting how the writer made a story about what we would do to the aliens rather than another movie about aliens coming to earth and destroying us. A.O. Scott had a good point when he said “In the midst of it all you almost take for granted the carefully rendered details of the setting, the tightness of the editing and the inventiveness of the special effects. Not the least of these are the aliens themselves, who are made expressive and soulful without quite being anthropomorphized” the meaning was profound but the critics was completely right when he said the special effects, camera work and editing are nothing to shrug off. I would certainly agree that this movie is completely worth the time and money.

Guest blogger: Zach 2

Mr. Deeds is a Happy Madison production film about an average guy living in a small town that owns his own pizza shop. Everyone in the town is one big happy family. Until, one day he finds out his very wealthy uncle; that was head of a very big corporate in New York, dies and inherits $40 Billion to Deeds. As he is in New York he meets a girl that he really is interested in. At first she is going behind his back to get information for Mac; who is a TV program host about fake news stories. So she gathers film from Deeds and gives the film to Mac and he changes the film and embarrasses Deeds on a widely watched TV network. Babes; who is the girl that he meets and likes, starts falling for him and ditches Mac and decides to be with Deeds. In this movie Adam Sandler plays as Mr. Deeds and I think he does a great job with the acting. I would say he is probably one of my more favorite actors. Another character “Babes” is played by Winona Ryder and I think she also did a pretty good job acting out the many scenes she was in. You could tell when her thoughts changed about Deeds. Mr. Deeds in the film is a very optimistic kind of guy. He never really is in a bad or depressed mood. He is always doing something kid like or something that makes people laugh. Babes in the movie is pretending to be a small town girl but really she isn’t. She changes her moods quite frequently and she is more of a serious girl never really does anything out of the ordinary like slide down stair rails like Deeds. The main theme in this movie is that although money has the power to change things, it doesn’t have to change the type of person you are. Critics say “This movie is not like what were used to seeing with Adam Sandler in it, not as much comedy.” I would disagree with this statement as I thought the movie was actually pretty funny for being a more love story type of movie. I would definitely say it’s worth both your time and money to watch Mr. Deeds because it has the Adam Sandler comedy in it as well as a good story line to follow.

Guest blogger: Nate 2

The movie I chose is Billy Madison, directed by Tamra Davis. This movie is basically about this guy who is lazy and his dad owns a bunch of hotels and is rich and his dad wants him to inherit the hotel empire but he’s too lazy to work for it. So he makes a bet with his dad that he will go back and finish grades 1-12 in a matter of weeks. If he completes them and passes, he will inherit the company. But if he loses, his dad’s partner will win and his dad’s partner isn’t a very good guy. So he tries to complete every grade in the matter of time and he has struggles on the way. He makes new friends and meets a very attractive girl in the process as well. The silly thing is, she is one of his teachers. The main character “Billy Madison” is played by Adam Sandler. He has to play a slow guy who makes his way back through school again. Darren Mcgavin plays the role of “Brian Madison” which is billy’s dad. He has faith in his son but he is also a little nervous as to whether billy can do it or not. The theme of this movie is that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. You just have to work hard and not mess around that much and good things will come as a reward of the back breaking effort you put forth towards your goal. I agree with a review who says that this movie is funny and stupid at the same time but hey, everyone needs a little sense of humor in their lives. Overall I would say this movie is a good pick-me-up film. Just rent it and you will laugh, I did.

Guest Blogger: Alex N1

One character based movie that I am a big fan of is 21. It is a true story about a student at M.I.T. named Ben, looking to go to Harvard Medical School. He does get accepted but the amount of money needed is a huge issue. He needs $300,000 but has absolutely nowhere near that amount, so he joins a math club at school. It isn’t just any ordinary club however; it is a team in which they count cards while playing black jack to ensure easy winnings; the people in it and the coach spend their weekends in Las Vegas counting cards, betting big and winning thousands and thousands of dollars. His phenomenal math skills first get noticed by his math teacher who is also the coach of the card counting team. After Ben explains to his teacher and class the physics of variable change, and shows he is able to keep his cool under pressure and think with his head instead of his emotions, the coach knows he has found the perfect counter for their team. Everything is going great at first, he has scored the girl of his dreams and has enough money for Harvard, but after one mistake at a casino he loses all of it; that doesn’t stop him though, he is dead set on earning it all back. Ben, who is played by Jim Sturgess, was a perfect actor for this role. I think he did a great job; he was good at playing it cool when needed and then also showed he could be emotional. Mickey, the team coach who is played by Kevin Spacey, also did a very fine job. His character is more of a serious person and his facial expressions and tone of voice do a great job of showing that. Kate Bosworth also played a role in the movie as Jill, one of the teammates and Ben’s dream girl. Most reviews I have seen people have been negatively talking about this movie, such as the review on Entertainment Weekly gave this movie a D, I strongly disagree, this has easily become one of my favorite movies and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Guest Blogger: Yasmin 1

The movie I’m doing a blog about is Hotel Rwanda. It’s inspired by a true story, were two tribes Hutu and Tutsi are having extreme hate towards each other that drives them to kill each other. The Hutu militia broke the peace of the country as they started killing any Tutsis in their sight as they called them "cockroaches". This all goes back to when Belgium took the country and sorted out the Rwandan people by shades of color. Actor Don Cheadle was the main actor in the movie and the role he played was from the tribe Tusis also a father helping his family, trying to make living. By helping his family he owned his own hotel business. But in order to have your own business is if your tribe was a Hutu, so that being he pretends. So he housed over thousands of Tutsi refugees during their struggle against Hutu militia in Rwanda. So this courageous man is putting him and his family in danger so he can give a helping hand to his tribe. Also two other amazing actors in this movie are Jamie Foxx and the supporting actress Sophie Okonedo . What some critics had to say about Don’s performance was “Definitely an astonishing, breathtaking performance, which is one of the best of the year. Chile’s performance is so moving, emotional and so remarkable that he is at his absolute best ever and truly did a magnificent job for a supporting role”. I strongly recommend that all should view this masterpiece as it educates everyone on the disasters that occurred back in '94 that’s happens in these countries. If you like drama and truly believe and have faith, the extraordinary can be accomplished and the movie Hotel Rwanda proved this to us.

Guest Blogger: Josh Pi2

Limitless is a great character driven movie that is directed by Neil Burger. Limitless is a thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Edward (Eddie) Morra is a writer in the big apple. Life is not going to good for him right now, his girlfriend had just broke up with him and now he has failed to meet the deadline on his book. Eddie was out one day and accidentally bumped in to his ex-girlfriends brother, Vernon. Surprisingly they seem like best buddies. Vernon is a drug dealer and offers a drug NZT-48 to Eddie that lets your brain function 100%. Eddie is skittish about the drug until Vernon tells him that it is FDA approved. Eddie takes the drug and is able to finish his story within a day. Eddie wants more NZT so he goes and works as an assistant for Vernon. That doesn’t last long after getting back from getting them food he finds Vernon dead. He found the stash of NZT and gets out before the police arrive. He takes the pill and is finding out some of the side effects and notices that he is being watched. Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Abby Cornish are the main characters in this movie. They all play their roles perfectly and they were all a perfect fit for their roles. Brad who plays Eddie is unorganized, filthy, lazy until he takes the pill which turns him into a totally different person. He wants his girlfriend back and he thinks that if he goes big she’ll come back to him. Robert De Niro who plays Carl Van Loon is a business mogul who is always worried about business and is trying to make his business bigger. Abby Cornish plays as Eddies ex and is trying to help Eddie by telling him to stop the drug and warn him but Eddie does not listen. That you have to be careful of what you do cause everything you do has an effect on you. The critics gave it good feedback and I agree it was a good movie and I have nothing but good comments to say about it myself. I think that this movie is worth your money it tends to start out slow but it definitely gets interesting.

Guest Blogger: Alex Z2

The fighter is a great character driven movie directed by David O. Russell. The Fighter is a great true story that is one of a kind of the fighting world. The main character in this movie is named Mickey Ward “Mark Wahlberg” a boxer out of the low life living neighborhood with his family. Mickey has training his older brother Dickey Ward “Christian Eklund”. Mickey’s older brother is kind of well a big trouble maker he is doing drugs and is just a pathetic piece of crap. Dickey is never on time to the gym or Mickey’s fights. Mickey loves the sport of boxing but figures out real soon that his family is his enemy basically. Mickey’s family sets his fights up and they are always unfair. Until one day a big name trainer from Las Vegas tells him he can fight for him and make it big. Mickey turns down the offer at first and then Mickey and his family go down there and Mickey and dickey have to train hard for a series of fights so Mickey can have a shot at the world championship for his weight class. Mickey blows through a couple of the fights and now its time for the championship fight. Mark Wahlberg does not have a bad movie at all he always does a great job at what he does. I think if you love sports this is the best boxing movie of all time. You wouldn’t waste your money or time watching this movie even if you don’t like sports. It’s a great come together family movie also.

Guest Blogger: Nicole 2

Nicole Henning
Cinderella Blog #2
Cinderella is a popular Disney movie that was made in 1950 for many children. The story is about a girl named Cinderella that lives happily with her mother and father until her mother dies. Then her father remarries a cruel woman with two ugly daughters and they treat Cinderella horribly. They make her do all the dirty work around the house and she has to wear tattered rags because they are jealous of her beauty. Meanwhile, the Prince in the kingdom must find a bride so they put on a royal ball where anyone is invited. Cinderella wants to go to the ball more then anything but her mother refuses to let her leave the house. As her step mother and sisters leave, Cinderella quietly cries to herself until her fairy god mother comes along and makes all of her dreams come true. When Cinderella gets to the ball people stop and stare at her beauty and the Prince falls for her instantly. The clock is about to strike midnight and Cinderella has to go before everything goes back to normal. She is running out of the castle and she leaves her glass slipper behind and the Prince is determined to find the girl who wore the slipper. In this movie, Cinderella is determined to go to the ball and she kept hoping, therefore her dreams came true. If you are cruel to people then the things you want won’t happen but if you have a sweet nature like Cinderella, more then likely your dreams will come true. The main theme in the movie is to be a kind person and to keep your hopes up. Critics like the movie because it shows that Walt Disney knows how to make the best fairytales. It is great for children and sells well because of how good the stories are written. I agree with the critics because to this day Cinderella is a popular movie, along with all the other Disney movies, and it is worth our time and money to watch these movies. I think these movies bring out the “little kid” in all of us.

Guest blogger: Chelsey 2

I chose the new movie Fast Five that just came out in theaters last week. I love all of the Fast and Furious movies but this one is by far the best one yet. It’s about former cop Brian O'Conner who is played by Paul Walker partners with ex-con Dom Toretto played by Vin Diesel but in this one they are both on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto played by Jordana Brewster broke Dom out of custody, they've been traveling across many borders to get away from the authorities. Now forced back into Rio de Janeiro, they must pull off one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble the best team of top racers, they know their only shot of getting out of the mess they are in is confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on that has been tracking them. The tough federal agent Luke Hobbs played by Dwayne Johnson never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, him and his team get together and think of a way to capture them. But as his team and him search through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must only rely on himself to corner Dom and Brian before someone else runs them down first. I think the characters did a great job playing there roll it is an action movie and there is always so much going on and I can see that they all keep up with the craziness. The critics and reviews have been so far so good. They love the movie and think it’s worth 5 stars and is the best one yet. And I agree it is a very great movie and it might be a long 2 hours and 45 minutes but I can honestly say that I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was a job well done to the producers and directors. Does Hobbs catch Dom and Brian or does someone get to them first? Watch the movie to find out!

Guest Blogger: Lindsey 2

When I was a young child there was only one movie that I liked to watch and that was Hook. I would watch this movie every single day! This movie is similar to Peter Pan but it isn’t animated and the plot is slightly changed. In the beginning of this movie Peter Banning’s two children, Jack and Maggie are taken by Captain Hook and taken to Neverland. Tinkerbell comes to Peter’s mothers’ home and takes him to Neverland. Captain Hook tells Peter if he ever wants to see his children again he must learn how to be Peter Pan again in just three days. By learning how to be Peter Pan again he must learn how to fly. Peter doesn’t remember how to fly so Tinkerbell takes him to the Lost Boys. The Lost Boys become friends with Peter and try to help him get his kids back. The two main actors in this movie are Robin Williams, and Dustin Hoffman. Robin Williams plays the role of Peter Pan. A few character traits of Peter Pan are hard working, easily frustrated, and acts like a child. He is hard working because he is dedicated to his job. He misses his son’s baseball games, and doesn’t want to miss work to go on a family vacation. He is easily frustrated when he can’t learn how to fly, because he remembers it being easy for him as a child. He also acts like a child because in one scene he is having a food fight with The Lost boys. In this movie, his motivations are to learn how to fly so he can get his children back. Robin Williams is one of my favorite actors and I wasn’t disappointed at all. He did a great job of making the flying look real, and he had excellent facial expressions making me truly believe what he was feeling. Another character in this movie was Captain Hook who was played by Dustin Hoffman. A few character traits of Hook were that he was mean, jealous, and cruel. Hook was mean because he made Jack and Maggie believe that their parents didn’t care about them. He also made Jack smash a watch that his father had given to him as a gift. Hook was also very jealous of Peter Pan. He didn’t want Peter Pan to leave NeverLand and he wanted to continue to fight him. Hook was also a cruel man. He and his fellow pirates would hurt The Lostboys. This movie was the first time that I’ve seen the actor Dustin Hoffman. I was very impressed with how he played the role as a pirate. What I found most impressive is how he managed to act great with just using one hand, since the other hand was a hook. The major theme in this movie is to never grow up. I see this theme in multiple scenes. When Peter Pan was a boy he told Wendy that he never wanted to grow up. That he wanted to always be a kid and live in Neverland forever. In another scene, The Lostboys try to convince Peter Pan to stay in Neverland so he can always be a kid. One more scene is when Hook also tried to convince Jack and Maggie that they should stay in Neverland with him, so they don’t grow old like their father. One critic mentioned that Hook was “My favorite Peter Pan movie ever! This movie is a great kid’s adventure, it furthers the story of the classic play, and the actors are fantastic. I highly recommend it.” I completely agree with this critic. They are right on how it’s a great kid’s movie, because I did watch it as a young child and loved it. Also it has great actors such as Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts. I also think that it is very different than the other Peter Pan movies because it isn’t animated and it has a different plot! I think that everybody should watch this movie at least once and if you like it buy it! It will be worth your money I guarantee it!

Guest Blogger: Jennie 2

The Blind Side based on a true story portrays a young black male that comes from a broken home. The name of this young man is Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) but many know him as “Big Mike”. The family that this young man comes from is far from perfect, sadly he does not know his own father and his mother has become a drug addict who cannot provide even the simplest things in life such as a roof over his head. Michael also has little to no education or even skills to help him throughout life. On the bright side he is a very good natured and respectful young man despite the bad lifestyle he is forced to live in. Michael is soon enrolled into a private Christian school by one of his friends fathers and that is when he finally meets Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and his life then begins to get better. Leigh decides to take Michael under her wing and bring him into her home. Later in the movie she realizes his passion in football and begins to push him accidemically so that he will be able to play on the football team, she even hires a tutor to help in him in the subjects that he was really struggling in. Eventually he gets recieves multiple scholarship to many different colleges for his extrordanary tanlent in football. In my opinon Quinton Aaron had played the role of Michael remarkably, even though he had come from a bad world he had come out on top and made something of his life. The emotion just in the eyes of Quinton helped show the struggles that he had gone through in the past and gave the audience a different perspective on things, contrasting in other movies where the actors do not show as much emotion in which they do not appeal to the audiences attention. Also Sandra Bullock’s performance was incredible there is no doubt in my mind why she was given 2010’s Academy Award of Best Actress. The way that she had taken charge of the family and also took Micheal into her home showed the independence that so many women now a days are striving for. in addition to the emotion that Quinton had showed the audience Sandra had done the exact same, she had almost put the audience right in her shoes with all the smiles to even the tears that she had shed throughout the movie. I believe that the theme of this movies is "no matter who you are, what background you come from, what religion, what ethnicity it doesn't matter you can do whatever you want to do as long as you work hard to achieve it", Micheal is a prime example of this theme because he was given nothing in the beginning of his life but then when given that little push and support he had made it so very far in his life. I totally agree with most of the critics on their reviews of this movie “Overall, The Blind Side is an excellent movie that manages to be about football without ever being a "football movie." The performances are truthful and you're left fully invested not only in Michael, but in the Toughy's in general. It really does overcome all it could have been to be a subtler, smarter film than one might expect” said by Christopher Monfette. In my opinion this qutoe had taken the words right out of my mouth. The movie in itself was amazing in my eyes and I do still tend to watch it over and over again. With that being said I can confidently say that this movie is well worth anyones time and money. There’s not a doubt in my mind that someone would not like The Blind Side.

Guest Blogger: Monique 1

The pursuit of Happyness is a heart warming and motivational movie. The plot of this movie takes place in San Francisco where Chris Gardner the main character is forced to take care of his 5 year old son Christopher when, his long time girl friend Linda walks out on him. Now being a single parent, Chris has to find enough money just to get by. In the mean time they are staying in the streets, homeless shelter and at one point they sleep in the bathroom at a train station. Chris Gardner is determined to have a better life for him and his son so; he enters stock-broker intern program hoping to land the job. It's a moving story on how he and his son overcome the imposable. In this film Chris Gardner is played by Will Smith. Wills does an amazing job as Chris in this movie. He portrays his characteristics of being determined, understanding and hopeful perfectly. The main motivation for Chris is the movie would be his son Christopher. Christopher is played by Jaden Smith, Will’s Smith’s son in real life. The bond that they have really shows into the movie how close they really are. I think it helps that they are playing a father-son roll it makes the bond very powerful. Christopher’s roll in this movie is played out very well, even though he's not actually five in the film you couldn't tell the difference he was or wasn't. They both are very good actors and really make this movie special. The main themes to this movie are no matter what life throws at you, if you have the will to do something it will happen. Todd Gilchrist with IGN Entertainment States “The Pursuit of Happyness is all about - setting goals and accomplishing them" I Agree with that statement 100 percent because in the end everything works out eventually and Chris is always there for his son no matter what. It's defiantly with your time and money, it gives you the sense of hope and determination After you watch it. It's simply breath taking.

Guest Blogger: Eric 1

“Due Date” is a recent movie that came out starring Robert Downy Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. It is about to strangers that just met and are traveling across the United States to get to Los Angeles. Robert Downy Jr. plays Peter Highman and he was on a business trip in Atlanta. Peter’s wife Sarah Highman, (played by Michelle Monaghan) is pregnant and due in a couple of days. Peter was dropped off at the airport by a taxi and had a rude bump in with Ethan Chase (played by Zach Galifianakis.) After their brief bump in Peter walks to his plane and sits down when he hears Ethan is sitting right behind him. Of course Peter is not happy about this but keeps to himself until he hears the words bomb and terrorist. Ethan was saying he was and had neither of those but Peter told him to keep quiet and never say those words. Next thing you know they are both kicked off. Peter is put on a no fly zone and he has to be in LA in 5 days. Peter looks around for cars to steal because his wallet was sent on with the plane. Ethan drove by him in a car and asked him if he had a ride because he was going there for acting. Peter tried and wanted to refuse but he had to join him so he could see the birth of his first child. When he sat down in the car their wild journey to LA begins. Both Robert and Zach did excellent jobs acting. I have a very hard time believing them not laughing at some parts. They worked very well together and they brought the movie to life with such great acting. Peter is a hard worker and very much in love with his family. He does anything he can to get back to LA. Although his feelings toward Ethan are harsh in the beginning of the movie they actually become good friends after Peter gets to know him. Ethan is a very goofy guy but like Peter he is very in love with his family. He didn’t have a wife but he did carry his dad’s ashes with him. He loved his dad very much and has a very hard time letting him go. I thought the theme in this movie is don’t judge people before you meet them. Peter hated Ethan at the beginning of the movie but as they began to bond and experience some bumps on their trip Ethan actually saves Peter so he can see his baby. This movie was pretty good. From the trailer of the movie I thought it was going to be funnier. There were some really funny parts but some spots kind of made me bored but overall I would watch it again and buy it.

Guest Blogger: Alex 2

Never Back Down is a character based movie that I became a big fan of after the first time I watched it. It is about a high school kid named Jake Tyler that is first living in Iowa who is living with the guilt of his father’s death after he let him drive home drunk instead of taking the keys; his father crashed the car which killed him, but Jake came out unharmed. After this incident he begins to get into trouble with fighting and the altercation that causes his mother to lose it is when he starts a brawl in the middle of his football game after a kid from the other team was giving him a hard time for letting his father drive that night. Shortly after this Jake, his mother and his younger brother move to Olando, Florida in hope for a new start but that didn’t quite work; a video of the brawl with the explanation of why it occurred was the big thing at his new high school, this led to more fights, Jake joining a mixed martial arts gym with one of the world’s greatest fighters, the involvement in an underground fight league and a rivalry with the area’s top fighter, which involves more than just their fists and feet. Jake Tyler who is played by Sean Faris, definitely gave me a good first impression. The anger held inside his character stayed noticeable and very constant throughout the whole movie, he did a great job of keeping the same emotions without being cheesy or making it obvious that it was all just acting. Jake’s rival, Ryan McCarthy who is played by Cam Gigandet, played the role as the feared bully of the high school due to his great skills in mixed martial arts and the fact that he wasn’t afraid to beat up on someone just for fun. One theme that is present is hard work can get you to your destination. The audience can take this away from the hard work and dedication Jake puts into his fighting to get ready for an underground fighting tournament. This movie received a 6.2 out of 10 rating from over 25,000 voters on the Internet Movie Database website. I do not agree with this as I would probably rate this movie around and 8.5 out of 10, but I do understand that it is fairly violent and is probably more popular among teens, which is why I probably wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. Anyone who is a fan of violence or fighting should give this movie a view, those who don’t like movies like that should probably keep away from it.

Guest blogger: Andrew 2

Secondhand Lions, a story with many feelings and emotions. A boy sent off by his mother to go and live with his 2 uncles that he had never knew existed. The boy who had never really fit into any group of people and was very shy, never came to be himself was about to get his world changed 180 degrees. When his mother “mysteriously” got accepted into a college to get this degree and star over she drove the boy out to his uncle’s land in the middle of absolute nowhere. Owning over hundreds of acres with pretty much everything you could ever ask for, they were not very outgoing, happy go lucky guy! They loved there space and had many death threats on their miles long driveway to not go any farther. But when the boy gets dropped off, they treat him and his mother like any other person who rolls up, yelling screaming and even pointing guns at the car to scare them. By now the boy is lost and very scared. After his mother talks with the uncles, they agree to let him stay after she promises to come pick him up after she gets done with her “degree”. Does this really go as planned? That’s for you to watch! The boy is lost when he arrives and does not warm up real fast, but after time he comes out of his shell, helping his elder uncles and listening to their wisdom, advice and crazy stories they have as kids. As the movie progresses, you find him really getting to be himself and family values is to follow. This also a theme and probably a major them, family is everything to this kid and even to the uncles but other members don’t see that and its really to sad to see. I agree with the critics, that this is a good movie to watch and learn family’s values. Also they say it’s a good show on how family’s can become tight even if they don’t have a father or mother. Someone else can take that role in a child’s life! I personally give this a 9 out of 10 stars! This movie is good in many ways and is touching! In a guys kind of way that is! It makes you get to grasp of family and for me to want may family someday look like this! If you ever want a movie night, pick this one up, Secondhand Lions!

Guest blogger: Ellie 1

The Town is set in Boston. Ben Affleck plays a character Doug. Doug and a group of his friends rob banks in the town. In one robbery the character Jem, Doug’s good friend and sidekick takes the bank manager hostage her name is Claire. After the robbery Doug follows Claire and gets to know her. Doug wants her to talk to the FBI, all the while Claire has no idea who Doug really is and doesn’t know that Doug was the main person in the robbery. Throughout the movie Claire and Doug develop feelings for each other. This movie is really about how when Doug develops a relationship with Claire it makes Doug realize that what he’s doing isn’t right and how he wants to better his life and how he wants to do that is to start a new life with Claire.
Ben Affleck is the main character in the film and also the director. In this movie I felt he did a very good job of acting and directing the film, I really enjoyed watching his character. I normally don’t like action movies but Ben Affleck made it interesting.
An important character in the movie is the main character Doug. Doug has many traits as a character. Doug‘s traits include caring (which isn’t shown until he meets Claire) Doug is also very sly, hard worker, smart. Doug’s motivation’s in life at the beginning of the movie are money and crime but change when he realizes he is leading a bad life. Claire is another important character in the movie that had many traits and motivations. Claire is a sweet girl, shy, timid. Claire doesn’t seem very trusting towards men. Claire’s motivation is to find someone that won’t betray her in life and someone she can trust. A last character that sticks out to me is Jem. Jem is a master criminal, and that’s the only thing that is important to him in life. He’s deceiving, sly, mean, and selfish. Jem’s only motivation in life is to rob banks and live a life of crime just to get as much money as he can.
A theme I take away from this movie is if your life is headed in a bad direction, then change it. In this movie Doug knows what he is doing is bad and he knows he needs to change. I think Doug having Claire in his life gave him some sort of motivation to change and better himself. I think that is the important message that you have the power to change anything in your life if you want it bad enough and you put your mind to it.
“So no, The Town isn’t original in any sense of the word, but Affleck does a marvelous job executing all of the pieces. Affleck also gets to wear multiple hats – he shows off his directorial and writing skills here.” Review by Michelle Alexandria. I agree with this review, I really did enjoy the movie but the only thing I didn’t like about it that it was a typical crime movie with a love story twisted into it.
Overall, I think this movie was great. For someone who normally doesn’t like crime type of movies it was very good. I also liked that it had a love story in it. I say it would definitely be worth the time and money to watch it, it has something for all types of movie goers.

Guest blogger: Kyle 1

The movie Fast Five which is in the Fast and The Furious movie series which is suppose to be the best one yet. This is an action packed movie with actors such as Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, And Dwayne Johnson. Paul Walker And Vin Diesel are back together in this movie again since the first Fast and the Furious that was released in 2001. The critics gave this movie a B+ on ew.com saying “Ohhhhhh!'' Now, that's entertainment. It's what keeps so many of us coming back to the Fast/Furious franchise”. This movie is about Paul Walker who is tryin to get Vin Diesel out of jail by crashing the bus with all the convicts on it. They then are on the most wanted list after they had been accused of setting this up. The get another job and try to steal cars from a train and they successfully get a car off. They don’t follow the plan Vin Diesel Tells his sister that somethings up and to go the opposite way of what the crew there with wants. Then the guards on the train see there being robbed by them and the go back to see what happens. The guards get shot and Vin Diesel And Paul Walker escape from the train but as they go the fall off a cliff into the water to a ton of Brazillian Police Officers waiting for them. They are then questioned where the car is and wouldn’t tell them. They were accused of shotting the guards even though they didn’t shoot them. They then get a team of there own to do one last job and that was to steal all the money from Brazils governor and they go through a lot to get through that. Paul Walker find outs that he is having a baby with Vin Diesels sister in this movie so its for sure the last time he does any of this. I believe this is the most action packed and star packed movie by this series I thought it was pretty cool and that its definitely worth the money to go see it. It’s the best Fast And Furious movie out and I believe its that last one.

Guest blogger: Shermarke 1

When the movie I am a legend, I was very excited to go see it because will smith is most definitely my favorite actor, and I have seen almost all of his movies. The one I enjoy watching most are Bad Boys I and Bad Boys II, Independent Day, and also The Pursuit of Happiness. Especially the movie I am a Legend, which is a fiction story based on a man named Dr. Robert Neville (Will smith) who is the only human survivor left in Manhattan, NY, due to a deadly virus spread. The story of this movie is adapted from previous sci-fi novel called The Last Man on Earth, and Omega Man. At the start of movie, it shows Dr. Neville and his wife and child being evacuated along with other people whom some are infected and some are not. Dr. Neville is a U.S army so his duty is to stay back and make sure everybody is being evacuated. But he also wants to stay because he doesnt want to leave that area, which he calls it ground-zero. The only thing that keeps Dr. Neville company is his dog Samantha. They are both alone but not exactly because at sunset, the infected people who turned into zombies come out to look for food. So the only thing that keeps them save is their house. The house is protected by heavy steel shutters. They only go out during day time when the sun is high, and they have to come back before sunsets, so the zombies dont track them down. But one day Dr. Neville runs into a trouble when he falls into a trap that the zombies made, which blacked him out for hours before he heard Sams barking and woke up. The only problem is that he is hanged upside down with a rope. Later he manages to free himself. Soon after that two infected dogs attacked because the sun was going down. Sam was bite by one of them. So I really thing that this is movie is a must see movie if you havent seen already. Will Smith is the perfect character to play this movie along with his dog Sam. There is humor in this movie and it is very tense. A lot of critics have mix feelings about the end. Some may think it was a bad ending, while say it was great ending, but recommend you see it for yourself and see how you feel it about it. And I can assure you that you will leave the movie theater somewhat satisfied if not fully, so go and see it ASAP!

Guest blogger: Abdul 1

In 1971, at the desegregated T. C. Williams High School, African American head coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is hired to lead the school's football team. Coach Boone takes the coaching position from current head coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) who has been there coach for a while and who has been nominated for the Virginia High School Hall of Fame, and who also later decides to move on to other coaching opportunities. In a show of respect, Remember the titans is a good movie, it has to do with segregation in the south between black and white people. They allow blacks and whites to be on the same team. Then coach boom takes them to camp where they train for awhile. They play many teams and they don’t lose. Before the last game, there captain
“Gary” gets injured in a car accident. Even thought they need him to win, they managed to stick together and win the championship. There are many crazy scenes that happen. It’s mainly about blacks and whites getting along. Team titans were a very powerful and loving team at least most of them. Even though there town was still hating each other, this team inspired a lot of people. I knew that there were a lot of problems with races in the 70’s but I’m glad that it’s over today.

Guest Blogger: Heaven 1

Ever After is a Cinderella type story. It starts off with the queen of France telling the ‘true’ story of Cinderella to the grim brothers. She tells the story about a young eight-year-old tomboy named Daniel whose mother died before she could remember and was very close to her father who both shared a love for books. When he came to see young Daniel he gave her a gift, the book of Utopia, and started reading it to her a little. Her father told her that he had married a baroness named Rodmilla and that she was going to have two step sisters. Daniel was a little worried that they wouldn’t like her and was nervous about it but she was kind of excited at the same time. The step family came right before the father had to leave again for work but on his way he ended up dying right when he got to their gate. Daniel was then forced to grow up in a life of a servant in her own home for her step family. One day the prince went onto their property and ended up stealing a horse to run away from the guards chasing him. Daniel mistook him for a thief and threw an apple at him and then became very apologetic when she realized who it was. The prince paid her for the trouble he caused and for her to keep quiet about him. Daniel took the money and dressed up as a countess so she could go into town and free her friend from a debt collector. She meets up with the prince when she does this and the prince recognizes her but does remember where he’s seen her or that she was even a servant. He looks all over the kingdom to find her and she tries to avoid him because she was scared what would happen when he realizes she was a servant. He finds her a few times and the two kept meeting up in secret, but when the step mother and oldest daughter find out they try everything they can to sabotage her doing anything with the prince and they lock her up when the prince is having his royal ball to announce who he will marry. Leonardo de Vinci (friend of the prince) helps free her using science (he unlocked the door) so Daniel can go to the ball and tell the prince that she loves him and that she was really a servant (something she’s been trying to tell him along but was never able to). When she was about to tell her stepmother interferes and tells the prince that Daniel was a servant of hers. He getting upset (because he was judgmental about that kind of thing) stormed out of the castle. You’d have to watch the movie to see what would happen next.
The critics seemed to have liked the movie; it stayed true to the actual story but had a nice twist to it making it very refreshing. The language some of them said was more I the 1900s then the 1500s where the story takes place and that it could have been a little better for a few things. Personally I disagree with it the rating it got, it got about 3.6/5 and I think it should have been rated in the 4s. I think it would be a good idea to spend our money on this movie because it was really good and entertaining. I would not recommend this movie to people who don’t like fairy tales (or Cinderella in general) or if they don’t like a romance story otherwise I would strongly recommend this movie.

Guest Blogger: Katie F2

Dear John is a true love story that will capture your heart. John, who is in the army, comes home on his leave when he meets Savannah Curtis. He sees Savannah and some of her friends hanging out on the pier when all of a sudden her bag falls off the edge and into the water. John, a bystander at the time, jumps into the ocean and grabs her bag from under the water. Savannah then comes over to thank him and invites him over to her house for a grill out with her friends. He stays for awhile and they hit it off. They start to hang out every day and before you know it they are in love. John has to leave to go back to his base but promises he will write to Savannah every day and come back to marry her. A year goes by and they are still together, but the Twin Towers have now fallen and John must reenlist in the army for two more years. Savannah is upset but they promise each other they will still write to each other. Savannah’s life is changing dramatically while John is oversees, and she makes a big decision that will change her relationship with John forever. She must decide between John and her new life. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate love more than you ever have. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried are perfect together in this romantic story. Channing plays John as the soldier while Amanda is his girlfriend, Savannah. Without these two, the movie wouldn’t be the same. John is a hard working man who always tries to do the right thing in life. He is also a strong and tough soldier who is willing to fight for his country. On the other hand, Savannah is a soft spoken, gentle women who does everything she can to help other people. Her kind heart is what sometimes makes things complicated for her. One of the main themes in the movie is that you should always do the right thing no matter what the outcome might be. John decided to reenlist after 9/11 because he knew it was the right thing to do even though he knew it meant being away from Savannah for two more years. I agree with the critic from the New York Times that “This is one of Nicholas Sparks’s best movies. The love between John and Savannah is undeniable.” The movie is one of the best love stories I’ve seen and you can feel the connection between the two. I would recommend this movie for anyone if you like love stories because it’s captivating and will make you want to watch it again and again.

Guest Blogger: Jacob 2

This movie takes place in New York City, New York in the year 2012. After a biochemical disease was released and spread infecting the whole world and turning everyone into zombies, only one person was survived and was immune to the disease Robert Neville. Robert Neville is an ex-military scientist and is the last hope for mankind. Robert and his dog live in a New York house and try and try to do anything they can to survive. As Robert tries to figure out why he is immune to the outbreak and how he can cure the infected the infected try to kill him. The infected cannot go out in the sun so during the day they hide in dark buildings and Robert is free to room the city. At night though he has to hide in a locked house hoping the infected do not find out where he lives. At night infected also set up traps for Robert to fall into during the day, but for the most part he avoids them. The only main actor in the movie is Will Smith who plays Robert Neville. I think that Will Smith has a very good performance in this film. He used his personality to make his character interesting despite any other characters to support him. A theme for I Am Legend would be the destruction of man due to try to fix everything and make it perfect. Another theme I would say would be determination. Robert in the movie never gives up trying to find a cure despite there being little hope. I would with most critics who like this movie and say Will Smith had a good performance. I would give this movie a 8 to 9 out of 10 and would say that it is defiantly worth peoples time and money to watch the movie.

Guest Blogger: Alex 1

Ever since I’ve seen the Dirty Harry movies I just had to see more of Clint Eastwood’s films. Heartbreak Ridge is a very great movie starring Eastwood as the main character Tom Highway (nicknamed “Gunney”). Highway is an experienced soldier in the Marines who has just about worn out his welcome in the millitary. He had lost his kids to his wife who devorced him because of his drinking problems and because she never saw him. After being released from a “drunk tank” the millitary assigns Highway one last mission, he is to train a group of young soldiers who at first he dislikes but learns to respect each of them. Clint Eastwood plays a good Tom Highway because he is good at playing the role of a tough guy who at first may not seem to care, but usualy we find he has a heart. Marsha Mason plays Highway’s ex wife, Highway sees her throughout the movie trying to win her back letting her know he is leaving the military. Highway being the tough and mean man he is realy only being hard on his recruits because he doesn’t want them to be killed in a real combat situation. He tests them, wears them down and makes it look like he hates them, but eventualy they catch on and start to respect Gunny Highway. A theme from this movie is that no matter how hard your superiors are on you they are realy just trying to make sure you learn an important lesson. Roger Ebert says in his review “Heartbreak Ridge doesn’t aim as high as most current high-tech action movies, but it hits the target.” I agree with Ebert in the fact that it hit the target. He says it doesn’t aim high because it was a low budget film and was only shot for 8 weeks, but even with that it was a great movie. Over all I would definatly recommend that you pick up this movie and won’t be dissapointed by another great Clint Eastwood film.

Guest Blogger: Josh Pa 2

UP is a funny, cute, and sad movie that everyone can love. The film was directed by Pete Docter and Bob Petersen, the voices were Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, and John Ratzenberger. The movie begins with a couple of kids who are going into this old rickety house to explore; they find a girl in the house exploring also, one of the two boys is our main character. Him and the girl begin exploring together, they start doing everything together, and they get married and grow old together, but she has recently passed away and now the grumpy, bitter old man Carl Fredricksen is alone in his house with all of his memories. He and his wife put together this book, about what they were going to do and where they were going to go but she had passed away before they got to fulfill their very last dream going to South America. In the next scene there is a knock on the door it is Russell a young wilderness explorer who is very nice and good hearted who is trying to get his help the elderly badge, but Carl does not want any help so he sets him on a journey he can never fulfill by telling him to find a Dodo bird, as Russell has been looking high and low for the bird, Carl has been collecting tons of balloons and he finally gets the last few that will bring his house to life, not knowing that Russell is still in his house looking for the bird he takes off on his very long journey to South America, and he is surprised to see Russell. They start getting low after days and days of traveling, and suddenly a balloon pops and they start going downward and more and more balloons get popped they see land, so they land the house and come to find out that is where he has been wanting to go, but life in paradise isn’t all that it seems, there is trouble about to come their way, to find out what happens to Carl and Russell you will need to watch the movie. The theme of this movie is pretty much doing what makes you happy and that friendship is always the best. The critics gave this film an 8.4 out of 10 and I agree because this is a great film with a lot of good values, when I first saw this film I thought it was going to be a kid’s film and yet after watching it I wanted to keep on watching it over and over again. I think it’s worth anyone’s time and money I mean I would buy it if I had any money, probably because this is one of the best animated films I have seen in my life.

Guest Blogger: Cati 2

“About a Boy” is a enjoyable comedy about life and love, and how you need them both. The story begins with a 38 year old bachelor named Will. He’s never had a job or a real relationship, and he lives off of the royalties of his deceased father who wrote a holiday song “Santa’s Super Sleigh”. He soon finds that he needs a new strategy to meet the right kind of women, women who won’t want a long relationship. He thinks he found the answer in two simple words: single moms. At first it works, and he meets a beautiful woman named Suzie. However, Susie soon introduces Will to her manic depressive friend Fiona and her bullied son Marcus. Marcus sees Will as someone who can help his mother, who can’t seem to make herself happy. Pretty soon, Marcus is spending all his time with Will, who is starting to finally see what it means to have real relationships in his life, and the things they can change. Will is played by Hugh Grant, who is perfect because of his charming nature. Marcus is probably my favorite character though, because he is so awkwardly loveable that you can’t help but relate to him and sympathize with him. The theme of the movie is based on the importance of relationships and shows the human need for love and acceptance. I agree with critics opinions that the way the characters are developed and react makes this cute love story a comedy. I would recommend this movie to anyone that wants a good laugh and a happy ending.

Guest Blogger: Kendra 2

Tarzan is about a boy who grows up with gorillas. When Tarzan is at the age of adulthood a professor along with his daughter go to study the gorillas. When they see the gorillas with a man they start to wonder and try to get him to come with them. He falls in love with the woman teaching him English, and she also falls in love with him. He realizes that another man that came with the professor is trying to kill him family of gorillas. Tarzan is unique in that he knows he is different but loves the gorillas the same you would your own family. He tries to get along with everyone and is friendly. Tarzan does his best but sometimes slips up and messes up, being clumsy or just a boy (when he was younger). The way Tarzan is is because he wants to make his family proud and prove he is actually not that different from them after all. A theme in this movie would have to be courage. This is a theme because when he is younger the little gorillas try to get him to do dangerous stuff that they think he can’t do. He ends up doing it even though they are very dangerous and he doesn’t get hurt but ends up making a big mess and causing trouble for the alpha gorilla. The actor’s voices in the movie are energetic but serious when they need to be. I think it is hard to speak for a cartoon instead of acting it out. I agree with the reviews that say this is an exciting movie. It is supposed to be fun and entertaining or else they wouldn’t have made it. I think everyone should watch this because it has good themes and at the same time its entertaining, fun, exciting, everything you look for in a good movie. It has stuff to please everyone meaning action, comedy, even romance, all into on movie that everyone should see.

Guest Blogger: Pierre 1

Apollo 13 is a movie based on the true story of the Apollo Space Program supposed to reach the Moon in 1970 for the third time.
En route to the Moon, the Apollo 13 crew, led by the famous astronaut Jim Lovell, found out that the oxygen tank of the spacecraft had exploded, prompting Mission Control to abort the Moon landing, and forcing the crew to hurriedly do their best to fixed it, so it can keep them alive for the return home. At approximately 200 000 miles from the Earth, the three men had to deal with many technical problems and were in lack of oxygen, while their families at home were watching the news and hoping they would survive.
The three main characters, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, are the crew members of Apollo 13. They all play very well their role. Indeed the actors were taught about each command of the spacecraft and recorded some scenes in a special aircraft in order to simulate weightlessness in outer-space. That makes the movie more realistic, which is a point that I actually appreciate.
I agree with many critics that say that this movie has a dramatic impact on its audience. The author uses the drama of whether they live or die as the crux of the movie. He used a true story but concentrated on aspects of it that those of us outside that world never would have thought about. The pressure of the media, the wive's lives, and the psychology of the astronauts themselves made that movie unforgettable. The value of this movie is simply it's documentation of memorable event in U.S. space travel history.
Apollo 13 totally deserved its nominations for many awards and most notably for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture. We can see through this movie a lot of historical facts that happened in the US during the early 1970’s. Therefore I would truly recommend it to anybody willing to learn more about the most amazing challenge in the Human history : the Race to the Moon.

Guest Blogger: Bryce 1

I am reviewing the movie “Transformers”, a Michael Bay film that released in 2007. The movie starts with Shia LaBeouf being picked on in class for being nerdy and not having a car. He is working very hard for good grades so that his father will help pay for his first car. When he decides on a curious yellow junky Camero, his world is flipped upside down. He meets the girl of his dreams (Megan Fox) and is propelled into the middle of an intergalactic war of transforming robots which are fighting over the “Allspark”. The Allspark cannot fall into the hands of the “Decepticons”, or the bad guys, because they will use it to destroy earth. So the “Autobots”, or the good guys, have to find it first to save earth. It is a very action-packed movie with a decent storyline, but it’s mostly just crazy awesome special effects and fight scenes. Shia LaBeouf in my opinion is a very spot on actor for this character, slightly nerdy but with an adventurous side, which he portrays very well. Megan Fox, or the dream girl who is also a gear-head, was a much liked character in this movie by most of the guys who saw it, mostly because she’s good looking, but she does fit the role as well. As far as what the critics say, I would agree with Roger Ebert’s review except for the fact where he bashes the movie for having the ending fight scenes take far too long. In my opinion that’s what the movie is all about, super crazy drawn-out fight scenes with exploding buildings and transforming robots! As far as a theme, this movie wasn’t particularly created around one central theme, but just strictly a jaw-dropping action flick. Overall, this one of my favorite movies and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys high levels of extreme action, fighting, and robots.