Pineapple Express: More Than Meets The High

This weekend I had the opportunity to watch the film Pineapple Express, a movie entirely about marijuana. Director David Green seamlessly ties together both the comedy and action genre in this original film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. In Pineapple Express, Dale Denton (played by Seth Rogen) and Saul Silver (played by Franco) are pursued by a notorious drug dealer and corrupt cop who Dale saw commit a murder. From the start the of the film all the way through the last few moments, viewers are likely to be at the edge of their seats with an endless supply of fight scenes, weed, and, most importantly, jokes.
In Pineapple Express, Seth Rogen, Dale, holds steady to his typical goofy marijuana loving self that viewers have come to know and love. Rogen successfully executes this part and gracefully brings this persona into the film, creating a character many people can relate to. Rogen’s character, the movie’s protagonist, Dale, works a normal job, has a girlfriend, lives in small apartment, and most of all loves smoking marijuana, like many people who are in their 20’s do. Throughout the film, no matter what the current situation was, Dale tackled problems the same way any other person would; in fight scenes, he got tossed around clumsily and fought for about 10 hot and sweaty minutes before coming out on top, just as any regular person would if they were to win a fight. Dale defeated his opponents without the use of an AK-47 or a double backflip roundhouse kick but simply got lucky. Just as most people would.
Another sizable part of this movie was that it has no major special effects or CGI in the action scenes, everything that was going on was realistic and could happen in the real world. Because of this, some viewers could relate to Dale in terms of maybe buying marijuana and not wanting to be caught by the cops, not necessarily witnessing a drug related murder.
Paired with Dale is his goofy friend Saul, played by James Franco. Franco does a terrific job of portraying a generic weed smoker at first glance, but in hindsight, valiantly shows viewers a new breed of stoner like they have never seen before. Throughout the film, Saul would make comments as ignorant as referring to smoking weed like, “killing a unicorn”, to things that are the polar opposite such as, triangulating phone lines, and wanting to become a civil engineer. Even though, Saul is under the influence of the marijuana for the entirety of the film, he makes claims that are viewers are not expecting to hear from him since he certainly doesn’t act the smartest. Another example of one of Saul’s surprising reveals is when he says that he only began selling weed in the first place to put his granny in a retirement home. Though this is unexpected from Saul since he presents himself as such a careless person, Green is able to continue developing characters relationships between the viewers and characters.
Furthermore, another element of this film that greatly assists in making it appealing to viewers are the theories of comedy. Whether it’s the incongruity theory and questioning why Dale, a 25 year old man is dating an 18 year old girl, or the relief theory seen when Dale and Saul sell weed to the middle schoolers, the film is littered with examples supported by said theory. Because of this, Davis was able to have a sure shot at creating comedic content that was destined to be a hit. Granted, people can perceive different things as comical as opposed to others, Davis focused on comedy viewers could really be interested in.
Part of this movies goofy charm can be accredited to how laid back it is. At its roots, Pineapple Express is nothing more than a movie about a couple guys who get on bad terms with the wrong people, but luckily, it had characters who were silly, lighthearted, a bunch of goofballs, and most of all relatable! Moreover, the films storyline was completely ridiculous, and was loaded with a variety of jokes to make viewers laugh.
As for the films take on the arts, Davis certainly didn’t waste a second in terms of putting his own artistic viewpoint on the film. Pineapple Express is a unique film that in many ways can be seen as symbolic. In the entire movie, though it is not explicitly stated, light is being spread on the potential harms of marijuana. Whether it’s getting shot, arrested, or even worse, death, the film covers all of the more common happenings tied to marijuana use. More specifically, the film highlights how quickly someone can get into drug related problems. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the movie also inadvertently clears up any speculation that marijuana can cause health issues, none of the characters seemed unphased no matter how much weed they had smoked. This is shown transparently in the random intelligent comments made by Saul. By Saul mentioning his dreams and aspirations as well as his affection for his grandmother, viewers can see that marijuana doesn’t change who you are as a person. On top of that, it shows viewers that not all people who smoke marijuana are complete bums.
Pineapple Express certainly did not disappoint and took a refreshing take on a comedy film by adding a whole lot of depth to its characters and storyline. For these reasons I would give this movie a GOOD GOOD rating. If you haven’t already, check out this movie, I HIGHly recommend it!

Hitman Agent 47: Why Video Game Movies are the most subjective genre

Let me start off by saying that I personally enjoy video game movie adaptations. While it doesn't give the same feel of exploration or achievement, some do have a genuinely intriguing narrative, and a good set of action sequences that rival some of the best in combat gameplay, cutscenes, and quick time events. Hitman: Agent 47 is one of those movies. It completely separates itself from the game, which is all about stealth, subterfuge, sabotage, and timing, by being a guns-blazing action fest. It has a good cast performance, while a little dry, and a plot that is taken loosely from the game's lore, but with more of a focus on a single set, rather than the action and stealth seen in any of the Hitman video games.

I think this movie is a fun, action packed romp, with ties to a popular game franchise that makes fans simultaneously cheer and groan. With all this in mind, I proudly give Hitman: Agent 47 a Bad Good. Bad, because video game movies unanimously suck in terms of quality, but Good, because they vary in terms of personal subjective enjoyment. It doesn't matter how well it is made, or how much money is poured into it, some movies are just destined to suck straight from the drawing board, but they can make up for the quality with the cliche.

Hitman: Agent 47 follows the adventures of Agent 47 (Played by Rupert Friend), a genetically enhanced super soldier, who is trained and used as an elite assassin. He is assigned a contract for a young woman named Katia Van Dees (Played by Hannah Ware), who is the daughter of the man who created the Agent program. 47 is assigned to hunt her down, clashing with John Smith (Zachary Quinto), a man working for a group known as the Syndicate. He reveals that she is one of the most advanced agents ever made, and uses her to track down her father, so that the Syndicate can use his research to make a super soldier army. It is up to Katia and Agent 47 to stop them from making this army, because the plot demands that they be the only competent characters.

This movie is strange, but fun. In a purely subjective sense, it is a great movie. Terrible quality, but fun to watch, a few memorable scenes, and all around a genuinely good time. It uses many different, almost cliche, tactics that draw the viewer in, and it makes sure that you know exactly what you paid to see. It is nowhere near the video game, all it shares is the name and the characters. It is not the first adaptation of the franchise, the first attempt at a Hitman movie coming out around 8 years earlier, in 2007. The movie has a bunch of neat action scenes that make the movie akin to Fast and Furious or some sort of gung ho cop flick, but swears it is basing itself off of a game that is made for stealth.

From a more objective perspective, this movie is a pile of flaming garbage. The acting is mostly flat with one or two good characters giving a halfhearted effort, and it is an action movie based off of a stealth video game franchise. Take into perspective how bad video game movies have been. Doom, Tomb Raider (All three of them), and god forbid we speak its name, Super Mario Bros. The time is just not ripe for this level of adaptation, we do not have the ability to offer a similar experience to how a game is played through the magic of cinema. With the problem of being a video game adaptation, and a halfhearted effort on behalf of everyone in that movie, it is just objectively not a good film.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. I would recommend checking it out, but it is definitely not for everyone. If you find it to be a pile of crap, then good, you never have to watch it again. If you do enjoy it however, you have a new movie that you can quote and recommend to your friends. Who knows, you might also even check out the games that the film was based on, and enjoy playing those too.

Green Book is definitely a page-turner

Recently I decided to see the Oscar award-winning film Green Book. Green Book is a road based film were famous African-American piano player, Don Shirley, decides to take his talents out of New York, and embark on a concert tour through the deep south. Let me remind you that this isn't the deep south in 2019, but in 1962. You can instantly see the problem here, and so did Shirley, so he decided to hire the recently jobless bouncer Tony Lip. As the story sets sail you can constantly see the racial tension surrounding Shirley and Tony. Tony, while not being unabashedly racist, but still harbors prejudice ideas. Although, Tony previously showed a dislike to Black people, his inability to keep his mouth shut help Tony and Shirley to create an early bond that we will see evolve through the movie.

So once that bond is formed we begin to see the creation of many subplots that we will see throughout the movie's subplots, that although may seem ridiculous, have a massive impact on the film. For example, Shirley being so famous and high class, he refuses to eat the fried chicken Tony buys when they enter Kentucky. This leads to the Shirley actually enjoying something without a knife or fork and the audience starts to see Shirley slowly open up to things that he never has before. Ultimately ending in a great bond that viewers can see lasting a lifetime.

Green Book doesn’t take on racism with a confrontational approach the way recent films such as BlacKkKlansman have. Instead of challenging white viewers it more aims to appease them, making Green Book a very “feel good” film. Don’s success allows him to live comfortably in New York, but when the tour obligations have him leaving his familiar surroundings, he is forced to confront the loneliness he deals with. These challenging circumstances allow his friendship with Tony to develop and for the film to emphasize the necessity of empathy and connection. This leads to many truly touching moments between Don and Tony that feel nothing but genuine.

Of course, there is the question every viewer was wondering but didn't get the answer to until the end of the film. That question being, why did Don embark on this tour through the south if he is already rich and famous? That question was answered in one line, “It takes courage to change people’s hearts.”  Don embarks on his tour believing that his exceptional talent and commitment to his craft will offer those he encounters an opportunity to see African Americans in a different light. Green Book may not be revolutionary, and it does often play it safe when it could have dug deeper when it comes to the film's themes, but this is a movie that champions courage and does a remarkable job at it.

I spite of the fact, I could see why this film was not everybody's cup of tea. I can see why people are saying, ”it's just a film to make white people feel good about themselves”, and how the movie plot is just Oscar-bait. Although, there may be many things to criticize and critique this film about. There is no denying that every person who watches this film was moved. The way they tackled the sensitive topic of racism from an angle never done before, while still having a ton of comedic moments. leading to a great overall viewing experience.

Overall, I would give Green Book a GOOD/GOOD rating. The director's approach to racism is cleaver and different, leaving the audience feeling refreshed and satisfied. I would recommend this film to anyone who has the time to watch it.

"The Killing of a Sacred Deer"

Yorgos Lanthimos has been getting the praise he deserves with his latest film "The Favourite". His work, prior to this Academy Award nominee, is none-other than unique. "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" is not any different. Having had won There will be no spoilers ahead and the plot will no be discussed in depth but rather kept superficial because watching this movie with as little information as possible is the way to go.

With that being said, Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell), a charismatic surgeon, is to make a decision that will ultimately lead to the death of his wife (Nicole Kidman), his daughter (Raffey Cassidy), or his son (Sunny Suljic). It's a horror movie that explores a family's way of trying to find the best solution to dead-end problem. The story is based on the Greek tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis, a tale about "an eye for and eye". This Greek play is crucial to the understanding of this movie as Yorgos Lanthimos transplants this story into a 21st century version of it. And even though the characters, the setting, and the plot are different, the entire concept is still the same.

The characters are very well developed and given a sense of purpose, especially Martin. Barry Keoghan does an incredible job portraying this damaged teenager who seeks revenge on his father's killer. Not to mention Nicole Kidman's performance, which gained her a nomination at the AACTA International Award. Very actor belonged to their roles and even though every character fits in the puzzle perfectly, Martin's mother (Alicia Silverstone) felt rather a little undeveloped. For the short time Silverstone was on screen, her perfomance also felt true to her character. Lanthimos should've given her characterr more layers and perhaps a heavier, more believable impact on the story. Nevertheless, this is just a minor observation that in no way jeopardized the movie.

As of the artistic choices: they're great. Every shot in this movie feels as if it had a purpose. With its perfect symmetry showing the clear subject and beautiful imagery. As well as the long takes with a steady cam through the hallways of the hospital, the cinematography manages to create a feeling of uneasiness. Not to mention the distant camera shot, leaving the subjects in a safe distance, trying to never be obtrusive. The raw sounds combined with the suspenseful soundtrack form a crude effect. In the same way, the dialogue is something very distinguishable because it's different. Some characters talk in a very robotic manner, very direct. Not only does this add to the unfamiliarity but also to the tone. All of these factors- the cinematography, the sound, and the dialogue- they all make the tone pretty clear from the start of the movie to the end.

As much as this movie shows the audience how crazy the Greek director's mind is, it might be a good thing for some but also bad for others. This movie is very dark in the way that it's physiologically messed up. The topics that occur in this movie may just make some people feel too uncomfortable. But then again, this is the same director that did the sci-fi romance "The Lobster", another original, mind-boggling masterpiece, so anything could happen. However, unlike "The Lobster", this film does not contain the subtle, ongoing comedy. No, like said before, this is a horror movie.

This is a very unpredictable movie, it's not like other movies and that's the reason for this review to be spoiler-free. With other movies, some things are predictable and one kind of has an idea of where things are going, but not with this one. "The Killing of a Scared Deer" literally grabs the audience's brains and plays with them. And that is why this movie is worth the watch. Not into horror because of the jump scares or scary looking creatures? This is not that type of horror. This is horror with a purpose. With a lesson to teach. A horror about revenge.

If you enjoyed this review, make sure you go follow my instagram page, where I post daily short-reviews of student films. You may also use my code "MAR" to get yourself a discount at any film store.

Orange is the new Black season 6 review

Jenji Kohan’s Orange Is the New Black gives voice and body and tenacious, reckless spirit to a panoply of women whose narratives don’t resemble much else on television. The show is decidedly messy in its sociological exploration and outreach, too often going for the cheap joke or the irreverent digression at the expense of character. And yet, as its season long narratives take shape, those unfinished edges and unnecessary embellishments are forgiven. O.I.T.N.B. arrives at its points after much meandering, but those points still land, hard and salient. It’s one of the most shameless political shows on television, and I’ll probably always love it for that.

Season 6 begins in disarray, both narratively and structurally. The just-barely-successful experiment of the last season, 13 episodes covering a few days of story, has passed, and now many of the show’s characters find themselves in post-riot maximum security, caught in the tumult of crackdown and consequences, navigating a new ecosystem bristling with threats. Maybe we can relate to that experience at the moment: these women suddenly finding themselves somewhere half familiar, only with more sinister stakes, a hopeless new basement below what they already thought was pretty bad.

It’s one of the soapier seasons, focusing on a conflict between two cell blocks, guided by rival longtime convict sisters, Henny Russell and Mackenzie Phillips. It’s fun having true Big Bads again, just as it was fun when Lorraine glided so malevolently through Season 2.This intra-prison civil war entangles itself with the opioid crisis currently ravaging America, and further highlights the indifference of the prison system, particularly the for-profit prison system. It’s serious, immediate real world stuff, which the show handles with a resigned mordancy that’s comforting some of the time, and really depressing the rest. Whether that’s a useful tone at this current juncture is, I suppose, the question.

But that’s not necessarily a burden that the show has to assume. Something I’ve always admired about the series is that it doesn’t seem all that fussed by the onus to be soothing or therapeutic in its prodding. The show has its axes to grind, its causes. But it maintains a defiant idiosyncrasy, a penchant for anarchy, that can, yes, get the show into trouble; is offenses are often lame and crass, rather than the vitally transgressive provocations the writers seem to think they are.

Still, it’s satisfying when O.I.T.N.B.’s purview suddenly, strikingly aligns with some sense of the current moment. There’s a scene at the very end of Season 6 that is somehow both a gut-punch and a sly joke, a mix of outrage and irony that is this series at its insistent best. How could we not have noticed that, of course, this other looming threat was there all along, waiting to pounce? When it wants to, O.I.T.N.B.is keen to remind us that it’s been paying attention to everything, even if it’s spent a lot of its time making shit jokes.

I don’t mean, like, bad jokes. I mean actual shit jokes. There’s a whole eschatological plot in this season, as the feud between cell blocks escalates and the women use whatever guerrilla methods they have available to them. What starts silly, though, soon becomes deadly, as Russell and Phillips’s performances darken in intriguing ways. Nicki gets some great suspense scenes to play this season; her character, Nicky, is one of many minimum-to-maximum transfers who has to scramble to find alliances in a new environment. Taystee faces the harshest charges related to last season’s riot, gets maybe the heaviest lifting of the cast. Though a lot of her monologues have the tinny rattle of the writers speechifying. Taystee’s enduring best friend Cindy, who’s stuck in an ethical quandary, an anxiety that manifests itself in physical form.

Past them, the cast gives committed and compelling performances. A lot of familiar faces are either entirely absent from the season or only given a little to do, as the show has to make room for the maximum-security ladies. I love the addition of Phillips and Russell, but I’m less enamored of a pesky character called Badison, a sadistic bully. Past a wobbly Boston accent that is nails on a chalkboard to this Oak Square native, Fuller gives a fine performance. But the character really only exists to serve in pathetic contrast to our nominal lead, Piper, something that’s been done more subtly on the show before. Ultimately, Badison’s (ugh) threats are rendered neutral, and we’re left wondering what value she really added to the show beyond rote antagonism. As if everything else going wrong wasn’t enough.

By the season’s biting, bittersweet final scenes, I was completely re-committed to the show’s mission. Whether that means wading through the first half is worthwhile to a viewer who doesn’t get paid to watch television is a trickier matter to assess. But I’ll cautiously say that it is. O.I.T.N.B.’s depiction of oppressed women organizing themselves under the twin crushes of capitalism and patriarchy is full of fascinating risk and insight. Maybe you’ve gotten the point already, and don’t need it reiterated for 13 more hours, with a heaping dose of everything’s-fucked despair to boot. If you’ve had enough, I understand. But there’s still a lot of value to be mined from this jumbled American collage, as profane and clumsy and poignant as life in the world can sometimes be.

Unifying Through Football

Recently I rewatched one of my favorite football movies of all time, this movie happens to be Remember the Titans. This classic has Denzel Washington starring in the movie as the head coach (Herman Boone), and many other famous actors like a young Ryan Gosling playing a football player. This movie took place in 1971, at T.C. Williams High School the same year white and african-american students integrated schools. The team had to figure out how to bond and fight through racial adversity while trying to figure out how to play football with one another at the same time.

Early on in the movie we see star linebacker Gary Bertier and his fellow white teammates have a hatred towards his new african-american teammates. Because of the fact that the two groups could not seem to get head coach Herman Boone took charge and made the two groups start to create friendships. By the end of the team’s training camp the team was unified and the boys acted like there was no difference between them.

After the team got back home from training camp they were woken back up to the real world. School was just beginning, meaning that racial tensions were at its highest making it even harder for the team to function. Coach Boone felt the pressure when he received threats that if he lost a game that he’d be fired since he was african-american. The players did the best they could to keep themselves unified, but people around them didn’t  make it easy to do so. For example, after a game some of the players wanted to get food in town. Since some of them were black, they were refused to eat causing them to get upset.

One of the most interesting relationships I found in the movie was between Gary Bertier and Julius Campbell. The two played defense together so naturally they started to get along after long summer practices. Gary was the captain of the team so he had to lead by example, Bertier and Campbell helped the Titans have one of the best defenses in the nation. I admired these two because without them I believe the team would not have been as successful. The team looked up to the two and felt they had to follow their lead so the team would win games. If the team did not come together then the team would not have won as many games and their would be no movie about them.

After winning their semi-final game, the team gets back to town and most players decide to head home when star player Gary Bertier is paralyzed in a car accident. The team is heart broken and are very upset for Gary. We can see how far the two groups have come since the beginning of the movie when Julius walks into Gary’s hospital room, and Gary states “ Alice, Are you blind? Can’t you see the family resemblance? That’s my brother”. This is a pivotal point in the movie because we can see that the two sides are totally unified as we see Gary considering Julius his brother.

The scene emphasizes the message of the movie that if a group of people want something bad enough, they will work as a group and be able to stop at nothing in order to get it. The boys in this movie could have easily given up when they were presented with problems throughout the season. But since the boys were very strong, they decided to ignore all the problems and help unify the town by playing football together. Overall I would rate this movie GOOD GOOD because it has so many good messages throughout the movie, and because of how good the acting was in the movie.

How to Train your Dragon 3: Lost World

Last night I went to the movies and saw How to train your Dragon 3: Lost world. I was extremely excited about this movie and had the release date marked on my calendar so that my mom and I could make time to go and see it. I am so invested in the series that I have seen the first two movies multiple times and have watched every season of the TV show so I have an incredible amount invested in this series. I was also extremely excited to see this movie because the reviews that I have heard of said that it was excellent and the perfect end to the trilogy.
The movie uses the perfect combination of music, camera angle, and lighting to set the mood for a scene and is a treat to watch. In the beginning the only information you are given is that five years have passed before you are suddenly viewing fog covered ships with an ominous lantern moving around on the deck. This is accompanied by slow music that adds and almost spooky underlying tone. The camera as pans in from a far off shot were you can't really see anything except for the outline of the ship and the moving light. This leaves a lot up to the imagination before it zooms in on the guard patrolling the ship and teasing the caged dragons. The are many other scenes that exemplify these qualities but they are to obvious are don't leave as much up to the viewer in the terms of imagination and curiosity. 
The plot its self is also fantastic in the fact that all the human villains in past have just wanted to capture and either sell the dragons or harness their power, but in this movie the villain is the first that just wants to kill dragons for the ideal that it will bring peace. It is also revealed that he is the reason that Toothless is the last male Nightfury as he had hunted all the other ones aiming for their extinction. This had been one of the unsolved mysteries of the series and had plagued viewers because there was no real information given. The villain is also extremely smart and ruthless leading to the hero being outplayed numerous times until the end of course. When watching it was incredibly interesting seeing how the villain set traps because they were planned so far in advance that it was something that I couldn't reason and figure out before it happened.
My only real problem with the movie were some of the glaring issues involving the lore of the world. In this movie when Hiccup reaches the lost world they come across a flock of these tiny glowing orange dragons. They the stick their hands up, while they are flying, into the flying flock of these dragons making a reference to other movies when the hero flies for the first time and puts their hand into the clouds.  This is a very beautiful shot and looks amazing with the animation and art style but the problem arises when these tiny dragons burn as hot as the surface of the sun  as said in the TV series. Another problem was that Hiccup had lost his toy dragon when he was just a baby when his mom was taken by a dragon, but in the flashbacks he is shown to have it when he is around 4-5 years old still. And the last big one isn't really a huge problem but rather just lazy writing. The last one is that in this movie near the beginning Hiccup tells the story of the lost world and that it is past the world's edge were ships can't go. When they find the lost world, the entrance is just a smallish hole in the ocean that creates a waterfall on all sides and leads to a cave system. They could have made it extremely large or something but in the movie you can literally see the other side and just sail around in a few minutes.
Over all I agree with movie critics and give this a good good rating despite some lazy writing involving the lore of the franchise.

Be reel blog: Love, Rosie

Love, Rosie, a 2014 romance movie directed by Christian Ditter and written by Cecelia Ahern. The movie takes place mainly in the United Kingdom but also goes to north America for a portion of the film and it is what you expect in a romance movie. It follows the same plot as a usual Romance movie in people feel a connection at the beginning but face a problem which prevents them from being together but in the end they figure out a way to be together. This movie in Particular expands off of that, where it has numerous problems the characters face.

The Main characters in the film are Alex(Sam Claflin) and Rosie(Lily Collins) and from a very young age they became best friends and they grew up together and did everything with each other. As kids they would lay next to each other holding hands and sharing their dreams with each other. Alex’s dreams were odd and she was the only one that thought they were normal. That little detail will come back into play later on when Alex is dating Bethany and he shares a dream that he had and she responds with you can’t be an object so why dream about it. But going back to their childhood they both wanted to stay with each other in college. Alex’s father wants him to go to harvard but Alex wants to go to Boston university with Rosie. Alex wants to major in medicine and Rosie wants to go for Hotel Management. Rosie got a letter in the mail saying she got accepted and she was so excited and she ran to Alex’s house to him having sex with Bethany and Riley ended up getting sick and throwing up. She decides to go to the pharmacy and to get medicine but the person working their said she might be pregnant so she gets a pregnancy test and she ends testing positive.

That whole scene created the main problem because they had their dreams set but the baby ruined that but Rosie was keeping it from Alex because she thought he was gonna be upset over it. The plot worked well for it being a romance movie but it was nothing out of the ordinary and it lacks content. I honestly found the whole plot confusing at times because it was so mixed and things would just come out of nowhere and they were unrelated to the main plot. Like when Rosie’s dad died, it was so unexpected which in a sense was a good thing but Rosie’s response to it was dule and left us confused. Shouldn’t she have been more upset and in mourning? Those little things can make such a huge difference in this movie being a great romance movie.

In the middle of the story we get lots of twists that make it hard for the character like Greg coming back into her life to raise Katie with Rosie. Rosie falls in love with Greg all over again and they end up getting married. This was at a time Alex realized he and Rosie were made for each other. Alex had to end up accepting the fact that he could no longer get Rosie so he leaves with frown on his face but with a plan. A few weeks later he ends up getting back with Bethany and they end up getting married. However at that point Rosie finds out Greg has been cheating on her so she goes out and finds him at a party and ends it by slapping him. She goes home and teres the house apart. She later discovers a shut drawer and when she opens it she finds letters from Alex which said how he felt and she then realized that she needed him. That whole thing leads to the dramatic ending.

You can probably guess what happens in the end cause it happens in every romance movie. Alex and Bethany move away for good and Rosie is left to herself. She begins to flourish in the hotel industry and she is living happily. She then gets word that alex and Bethany have split so Alex comes back and they kiss and then live happily ever after.

I would give this movie a rating of bad good. It could have been thought out a little more to make the plot less confusing and more interesting. It could have went a little extra in order to surpass the typical love story. It could have done that by having a different ending or changing the plot around. I found enjoyment in watching this movie, because it had points in it where it left me sad and also entertained. There was a little bit of comedy which kept me laughing throughout which was nice. The type of comedy was relief theory because when I laughed it was because it was something sexual. So if you are looking for a sad movie with a few laughs I would recommend this movie.

The Titanic movie review (Be Reel Blog)

One of the highest grossing movies of all time, this enthralling film is often referred to as a classic and guilty pleasure for romantic junkies. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, its the best recipe for making the greatest love story of its time. Director James Cameron frames the story the Titanic in the late 1990s, when a high-tech underwater Mission uncovers Hidden Treasures from the legendary ship. This includes a nude drawing of a beautiful girl where It leads the person who is searching for the ¨heart of the sea necklace¨ to find a nearly hundred-year-old woman (Gloria Stuart). She reveals that she's the woman in the drawing, and the audience is then immersed in the events on board the ship from her point of view. The old woman was Rose ( Kate Winslet), a lovely young woman engaged to one of the richest men on the ship, the handsome and manipulative Cal (Billy Zane). Unhappy with her first engagement, Rose briefly considered throwing herself overboard but is saved by the Witty and Charming Jack ( Leonardo DiCaprio), a third-class passenger who won his ticket in a poker game. The two form a bond and grow closer as the trip goes on. Jack is Roses freedom and allows her to be free from her Society's standards. As Jack and Rose get more intimate Cal starts to pick up on their behaviors. In an act of jealousy Cal frames Jack for stealing, while the ship hits an iceberg. With not enough boats to carry all the passengers to safety of land more than half of the passengers riding on the Titanic died,  sadly including Jack. No one can forget their last scene together when Rose finally let's Jack go. I certainly cried at this part and probably not the only one when people first saw this particular scene.

There's an irresistible Love Story starring two of the best actors of their generation; dazzling visual effects that involve the most famous ship disaster of all time; a possessive rich villain so easy to hate that he should be sporting an evil, twirling mustache. The films choice of heartfelt soundtrack with Celine Dion's ¨my heart will go on theme song¨ turned on the waterworks. The directors choice of using this particular song has made this film memorable. In the film it circled around a romantic relationship led by a strong central female character and a poor male character. Between the visual effects, action scenes, and love story plot allowed both male and female audiences to enjoy the film.

A theme in the film Titanic would be love. The love affair between Jack and Rose is the central Narrative of the film. in the film, the upper class shows love is not as important as money. For instance, Rose's mother Ruth would prefer that her daughter enter into a Loveless marriage with Cal so they may stay among the rich club. It's not until Rose meets Jack but she truly understands the meaning of love and believes it is more valuable than money. To narrow down the theme, all the money in the world cannot buy you happiness. Money made Rose feel trapped, but love set her free. Another theme in the film would be about social class. The Titanic ship was divided into three different classes ( first class, second class, third class). First class was filled with the rich, second-class was filled with people making a decent living, and the third class was made for the poor.  Rose was from the first class while, Jack was from the third class. The director of the film really makes a statement with the use of dialogue and tone used by the characters to really show the hostility between the rich and the poor. Cameron uses characters from the upper class and divides them into ¨ old money¨ and ¨ new money¨ (Molly Brown).  The boat is divided where the lower class would not interfere with the upper class. To narrow down the theme, it could be Society conforms people to certain standards.

Overall, I would rate this film a GOOD GOOD. Down to the plot, visual effects, and actors I fell in love with the film. I was sad about the ending and it broke the typical romance film ¨ happily ever after¨  tone, but I was satisfied about how the whole movie came together.

Remember to write your Be Reel Blog by 2-28-19. - A

Based off the books by I. Marlene King, and then adopted into a television show, Pretty Little Liars was instantly a hit TV show for Freeform. Sadly, on June 27, 2017, the show ended with having accomplished seven seasons and one hundred and sixty episodes. However, the new spinoff show, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists premieres on Freeform on March 20.

When Alison DiLaurentis suddenly disappears, Spencer, Emily, Aria and Hanna must band together to find their best friend, while also dealing with an anonymous foe who threatens to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets. Over the course of the show, the writers keep the audience hooked, desperately wanting to know who the mysterious A is. At the end of every episode, the audience sees a figure in a black hoodie and gloves, and gives a clue as to what is to come from A in the future episodes.

Now throughout the show, the audience might think that they have discovered the twisted A, but in reality, A lures in the background, and is not revealed until one of the later seasons of the show. The reveal of A is shocking, yet satisfying for the audience, and will lead to a sudden closing of that part of the show.

It isn’t until the next episode, where the girls return to their hometown of Rosewood five years later, to discover that there is yet another mishap - and a new A who titles themself as AD- is out for revenge because of that mishap. This puts the girls in a whole new position, and will leave the audience shocked at the bigger secrets that they have to keep the second time around. However, to the final episode of the whole show, there are two different endings, so you don’t know which one you are going to get - and they are both so different that each ending means totally different things when it comes to the plot - the ending of the show will change the whole perspective for the show entirely for the audience.

In terms of the show as a whole, in seasons one to five, every thirteenth episode is special, and is either Christmas or Halloween themed, yet it still applies to the show’s main plot. There is also an episode in the fifth season, in which the town of Rosewood and its inhabitants are all stuck in an old classic Hollywood noir film. Again, with the different style of the episode, it still revolves around the main plot.

Now the original author of the books that inspired the whole show, I .Marlene King has provided the writers with great source material, but that doesn’t mean that the writers wrote down the actual text and surprises word for word. The writers did end up shifting some of the details from certain characters to others, keeping the fanbase who has read the books still be shocked at some of the surprises that the writers have up their sleeves.

Of course, while every season has it’s main conflicts, and it is the liars (Spencer, Emily, Aria, Hanna and Alison) that are the glue to making the show successful. Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson and Sasha Pieterse are the reasons why this show is so successful. They are the reasons why there is a spinoff coming out on Freeform next month. The show was successful because of them.

Pretty Little Liars is such a great show and has such a strong following/fanbase. There is absolutely no doubt that the show is a GOOD GOOD show that is definitely the next biggest thing that you should binge-watch on Netflix. But take a word of advice, never look this show up on the internet. It could give you spoilers to the show which did ruin some surprises for me. It is a show that you can get hooked to pretty fast, and it will drive you crazy trying to figure out who the mysterious A is, what exactly happened to Alison, and what the dangerous A will be planning next. A thing to remember, never trust a pretty little liar; she could be hiding a dark secret that could change everything. (shhh…)- A.

Not So Scary: Scary Movie 3 Review

Scary Movie is know for the way it cleverly parodies horror movies and even movies such as 8 mile, The Matrix, and even The Lord of the Rings. Scary movie 1 and 2 were of course better because the first movies are usually the better made ones, and the more that are made, the worst they get. This is exactly what happened in the "Scary Movie" franchise. Scary Movie 3 is when the series took a massive u-turn because this is the first movie made without the Wayans Brothers and the only two characters to return are Cindy and Brenda from the past two movies. This film and the following film were both written by Pat Proft and also written and directed by David Zucker. These two people are very significant in the genre of parody movies because they were making some of the first and greatest comedies of all time including Airplane and The Naked Gun. It is strange how the two people who essentially created parody movies returned to the genre to watch it die. I am not saying that I hate Scary Movie 3, I just feel that all the other parody movies got worst after these. There are new parodies such as Superhero Movie and The Starving Games that absolutely suck. Another difference from the first two movies is that instead of being an incredibly rude r rated movie, it is rated pg-13. This change affects the feel and credibility that the first two films created and makes the new movie feel like less of a parody.

I will begin on what is wrong with the film. This film is a parody of many films, mainly being The Ring, Signs, The Matrix, and 8 Mile. As you can see, only one of these films are a horror movie, which in the end makes the film feel more of a sci-fi than an actual horror parody. The plot is very unfocused and in the end feels like 3 movies being mixed together to make a less than decent movie. Because of this, the film is not very good, but it is funny. The thing about the jokes in this movie though is that they are either hit or miss. There are some jokes in the movie that are laugh out loud funny and other that are just stupid and are used as filters between the more funny scenes.

The best aspect of the film is really when they are poking fun at the different films that they are parodying, not when people are being hit by cars or the President is punching people in the face. When they are making a joke about the original films or even make making fun of the massive flaws in them, such as when they make fun of the scene in Signs when the Aliens cannot get through the pantry door. I also enjoyed Simon Rex portraying "Eminem" and showing the social and racial differences of a white boy trying to become a rapper. I also enjoyed the scene with the rap battle with Simon Cowell as a judge and after saying their club was absolutely pathetic, gets shot by at least 15 people, and the audience erupts. Another one of my favorite scenes is when Brenda was making fun of the evil girl from The Ring. As she crawls out of her TV and stands up as Brenda is eating popcorn, she leans to the side to pour a good amount of water onto Brenda's floor. She proceeds to punch the evil girl in the face multiple times until she fights back and Brenda dies.

There are many cameos in the movie from famous actor and actresses, but my favorite one is Leslie Nelson as the exceedingly stupid President of the United States. He makes the movie that little bit better and improves the end of the movie. Another good cameo was in the very first scene of the film, where we see Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson playing the two teenagers from the opening scene of the ring. This scene is especially funny because it is two adults portraying two dumb teenage blonde girls that are the perfect targets for a horror movie villain. The strangest casting call this movie used and wasted was Charlie Sheen. He has been in good comedies before such as Hot Shots and Two and a Half Men but is not used to his full potential in this film. Micheal Jackson also gets an appearance in the film, but as a child predator and gets into a dance fight with Charlie Sheen.

The superiority theory was very overused in this film. The superiority theory is the general idea is that a person laughs about misfortunes of others, because these misfortunes assert the person's superiority on the background of shortcomings of others. Because of this, I rate Scary Movie 3 as a Bad Good. Scary Movie 3 is technically a terrible movie, but similar to the second film, if you are willing to shut down your mind and just enjoy the jokes and parodies of the film, you'll hopefully find it very humorous and worth the watch.

The Departed review

Tyler Kilby

In the movie The departed it is a Crime movie with two of my favorite actors Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Also Jack Nicholson. Leo is a cop in training who gets put into an undercover agency and becomes close with Frank Costello The head honcho in this mob gang, On the other hand Matt Damon has been raised by Costello like his own son and they became very close, so he was told to go into the police academy to also go undercover but for the mob. So in this movie we have two people who are both undercover in each others line of work, Throughout the movie as an audience is waiting for the two to meet it feels like forever but they eventually do and you will not be disappointed when they do. I would definitely say this is the climax of the movie when they do meet. But it's everything that happens before they meet is so much hype and makes the climax so much better.

This movie has tons of twists and turns that will leave you feeling a little confused but then it will definitely leave you feeling satisfied until the end which has a crazy plot twist and will blow your mind. Me personally i was very emotionally involved in the movie and i was actually stuck between who the heck to root for at some points because you have been following both Leo and Matt Damon the whole movie and you just hope they both make it out a winner but in this movie that can't happen one of them has to come out the victor whether it be the Mob or the Police. This movie has you guessing and hoping for who will win.

Not only does the ending of this movie have you thinking, ¨wow i just wanna start this over and watch it again because it was that good¨ but also will have you thinking about it for the rest of the day. Yes it's one of those movies, and who doesn't love one of those. In conclusion if you haven't already seen this movie, you haven't lived, so hop to it.

5/5 stars

A Night At The Opera, Featuring Freddie Mercury

Recently I watched the new movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" that is now an Oscar Award winning film and for great reason. The film takes its audience behind the scenes of one of the greatest band of the '80's and of all time, Queen. Queen, which is from Britain, Began to spread rapidly into the United States once their new lead singer, Freddie Mercury joined the band. The film stars Rami Malek who plays Freddie Mercury and the film shows how his life went from a regular kid who loved music, into one of the most powerful and influential singers in the history of music.

Bohemian Rhapsody was the name of the bands hit song that fans loved. Malek goes through many hardships during the movie such as being made fun of for the way his mouth is and also has a hard time with his love life as he had a girlfriend but then found out he was bi sexual. Because of this he becomes very confused and it is evident that he is somewhat uncomfortable. There are also many other tough times that mercury has to face as him and his band have a brief break up where Mercury becomes frustrated with the band members ad wants to pursue music going solo. Later he apologizes to the band and find out that he has aids and will not live much longer. Mercury make the most of his time and has one last concert.

The way this film was put together was unbelievable from the character resemblance to their real life counterpart to the concerts and tours that the band went on. The director did a great job with the setting as the people and everything around them was definitely not modern and was absolutely from the 1980's.  Malek received an Oscar for best actor for this film and it was well deserved. Malek played Mercury to the best of his ability and did a great job to replicate the kind of person Mercury was. In real life, Freddie Mercury's mouth allowed him to reach notes that most singers could not get to, therefore his note range was far superior to most singers. Of course, when Mercury was a kid, he was made fun of for this but it eventually helped him out with a great deal in the end.

One of the better things this film does is take the audience in depth of how the famous Queen hits were created. By doing this, the audience learns the songs and can see how famous musicians create their great beats and songs. Queens songs always had great instrumental play, and although the singing was unbelievable, the beat is how most people know the songs and the film did a great job at showing how these tunes were made. Other members of the band such as Roger Taylor and Brian May were musical geniuses and were brilliant on the guitar and drums. Of course Freddie believed that he was the only reason that the band blew up so fast but Roger and Brian know that they have been with the band since day one and that without them, Freddie would not have had a chance to be a part of such a great band. Freddie of course made the band what it was and was the face of the band but he should not have been so arrogant to the band members who made him who he is today. Eventually, the band makes up and Freddie recognizes that he needs the band to be as successful as he was while he was with them.

This was a great film that I definitely recommend. Bohemian Rhapsody was put together fabulously and is a film that can be watched several times over. The characters were represented the best they could have and the acting was superb. There were very minimal bad things about this movie and I believe it was one of the best films of 2019. One day I recommend everyone to take two hours to appreciate this amazing film and get to learn more about the unbelievable band from the 1980's, Queen, I'm sure it will not be a regret. Congratulations to Rami Malek and the entire Bohemian Rhapsody cast on their recent success with the film.

Attack of the Killer Paintings - Velvet Buzzsaw Review

The Nightcrawler (2014) trio Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, and director Dan Gilroy came back last month in the new slasher drama Velvet Buzzsaw. The film takes us into the lives of art critic Morf Vandewalt (Jake Gyllenhaal), punk star turned gallery owner Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo), kamikaze curator Gretchen (Toni Collette), and desperate employee Josephina (Zawe Ashton) as they break loose the ultimate karma.

Each of these characters never appreciate art as it truly is, only using it to make as much money as possible (cool side note, the song used in the trailer is Five Knives' Money and is literally about that). Morf abuses his critic power to ruin the integrity of his enemies, Rhodora left the artistry in her punk band to run a corrupted gallery, Gretchen becomes a private curator to help her friends sell artwork at ridiculous prices, and Josephina sleeps with different artists to get their artwork published at the gallery. These are the reasons each of the characters are killed by the artwork of Dease, a man who brutally murdered his father and spent his life in an insane asylum.

Velvet Buzzsaw has such an intriguing premise and strong cast that it's a shame it was executed and shown in such a poor way.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays his character very well, capturing both the stress of his work and the stress of knowing his demise. However, due to his sympathetic, knowing-he's-about-to-die character, the audience feels bad about his death. While watching, I wanted to see him somehow pull through. Although this kind of feeling is created a lot in dramatic films, this tone does not correspond to the theme talked about above. The audience needs to feel as Dease did, betrayed and vengeful. The audience needs to enjoy watching the gallery crew get what they deserve.

In addition to poor script writing, some parts of the screenplay needed to be explained more. All that the audience knows of Dease is that he is a pscho artist who's only dieing wish was to destroy the art he made. This raises questions like... Did he know his art could kill people and if so how did he make it? What made his art want to kill the people who don't truly respect it? Is it magic? Is it voodoo? If the film took more time explaining the backstory of Dease and his artwork, the premise could be more respected, helping the audience truly enjoy the film.

Although this film does lack in some parts, it definitely has the pieces needed to make a great film.

In order to make a great slasher film, you need gore which this movie 100% provides. The scene that I always think of when someone mentions this film is when Gretchen gets her arm torn off in the mirror ball, but when people see her body the next day, they assume it's apart of the sculpture and allow kids to play in the "fake blood". These bone chilling, downright disturbing scenes are what makes a great slasher movie.

Velvet Buzzsaw also has the pieces needed to make a great dramatic film. The themes of money can't buy everything are constantly flowing throughout the conversations between characters. Romances and love triangles make debut appearances to create sympathy and suspense in the audience. The scene played while the credits roll gives the audience a Coen Brothers ending, leaving the audience neither fulfilled and starved.

In addition to the outstanding acting and the well-written scenes, the cinematography and editing of Robert Elswit are excellent. The artwork gets mashed into the real-world seamlessly and without error. In a slasher film where the artwork literally needs to be alive, it needs to look real enough to scare the audience. Although this movie does fail in some other parts, I will never look at the painting in the front hallway of my house the same ever again.

The slasher scenes and the dramatic dialogue gives Velvet Buzzsaw the intricacy and enjoyment of a great all-around film. The casting of both the lead and supporting roles was amazing and the film just looked good on screen. I wish that the movie could have taken its time more, unveiling certain plot points to create even more suspense and excitement. Although Velvet Buzzsaw is not a perfect film, it is such a fun watch that any slasher fan needs to see.

Bad/Good

The Umbrella Academy: A Rainfall of New Super Heroes

The Umbrella Academy is a 2019 Netflix Original TV show, produced by Steve Blackman, Mike Richardson, and others. The show starts off with a supernatural event occurring one day in 1989: 43 infants were born at the same time when their mothers were not pregnant at the beginning of the day. This is a great way to start the series because it hooks the readers and makes them question what just happened. A billionaire by the name Sir Reginald Hargreeves adopted as many of these infants as he could, and managed to adopt seven of them. He created the Umbrella Academy and trains these kids to be heroes.

The show is built upon the idea that an apocalypse is coming that threatens to destroy the world, and the Umbrella Academy must work together to stop it, except there is one problem: everyone hates each other. We see a group of characters that never see or talk to each other grow as characters throughout the first season. Whether it's going from being a drunk to sobering up or going from being a murderer to settling down with a loved one, nearly every character, good or bad, experiences some type of character growth and makes the end of the season more impactful.

The special effects and set this show were spectacular. Whether it was the talking ape, the aftermath of the apocalypse, or teleportation and time travel, every part of this show had great detail and realism. The directors didn’t go overboard with the sets and CGI, which added to its authenticity. Many of the same sets are used throughout the film because a lot takes place in the same area, which allows you to get familiar with areas and get a sense of your location within the universe of the show. The fact that it's not over the top, in general, makes this seem like a better-layied out show.

The actors of this series played their roles very well and convincingly.  Robert Sheehan, who played Klaus was especially excellent in the film. He was kind of the clown of the film and acted as the comic relief and brought humor even to the most serious scenes of the show. Nearly everything he did and said could make the audience laugh and keep them wanting more. What made him funny was his stupidity and carelessness throughout the show. Yet another character that took things to new heights with their acting was Aidan Gallagher, 15, who played Number Five. In the show, he plays a boy, who is supposed to have the mind of a 58-year-old, and with his acting skills, you could believe it. Since he plays someone who is mentally old, he has to act as such and does a great job at staying in character and speaking with meaning.

The show strategically places very good cliffhangers at the end of each episode. After seeing an episode, it ends with an unsolved problem or scenario and leaves the audience with unanswered questions that they want answers to. This causes viewers to watch episode after episode, always wanting answers to the past one. Whenever Netflix releases a new original show, they release all of the episodes all at once. What Netflix is encouraging people to do is to binge watch, and by having these cliffhangers, they are creating increased views of their show.

The ending of the season is a great cliffhanger and ending to the first season of the series. It leaves you with so many questions and makes you eager to see the next season. Having cliffhangers at the end of a film or show is very important to keep the audience wanting more and will increase the number of viewers that watch the following ones. After a whole season of anticipation, the one event that the characters were trying to prevent happened anyway, no matter how much they tried to avoid it. This just comes to show how no matter how hard you try, your fate is sealed and unchanging. There were numerous outcomes where they could have succeeded in their mission but managed to make the wrong decision at every turn, showing the fact that you cannot change your fate, no matter how many times you try to change.

Overall, this is a great show and is highly recommended. Its great for lovers of science fiction and mystery genres. From talking apes, teleportation, action scenes, androids, to time travel, this show has it all. If you got some time to spare, you will not be disappointed.

Be Reel Blog; A Look back in time to the original Catfish

         Catfish (2010) is a real life documentary in which the very popular MTV reality TV show 'Catfish' is based off of. Unlike the reality TV show everything shown in this documentary is real and in no way staged, everything shown in the film is genuine. This film was created way before the TV show was even created and this film is actually the inspiration behind the TV show.
        This film not only features but is created by MTV's own Nev Shulman. The film is completely homemade and you can definitely tell just by watching. Although, this does not take away from the documentary in any way as the film still feels like a very well made documentary and the story is easy to follow and understand. There are often cutaway transitions showing pictures, messages accompanied by music. This is not only very reminiscent of the MTV show but it also serves to give more context and information but also set the mood throughout the film. Each scene is meaningful to not only the story being told but how bizarre the entire documentary is. This all makes the film very watchable and enjoyable despite the homemade footage and feeling.
          'Catfish' follows Nev Shulman in a peculiar love story of sorts but takes a new modern twist on it. This film made a huge impact back in 2010 when released and while looking back at it as a viewer of both the show and movie you can clearly tell why. The concept of a catfish did not have an official name or definition before this film, this film actually invented the term 'catfish' in what I believe to be one of the best scenes in the movie. Other than that the documentary is incredibly interesting and downright bizarre. This film is also able to build tons of suspense for a homemade documentary. The climax of the film occurs when the masters behind the fake facebook family and Nev's love interest is revealed. The result is not something anyone expects but the dialog and analysis is what really makes the film. This documentary isn't just for entertainment or shock value, it somehow forces the viewer to take back something more meaningful. Crying and downright emotional scenes are plentiful by the end of the movie and although, sometimes it is hard to watch with the lack of music it does serve a very clear purpose. Simplistic somber music plays occasionally after each emotional scene which exaggerates the emotion. This film not only completely creates the definition of what a Catfish is (which was completely unheard of in 2010) it also exposes the mind of someone who catfishes online.
      One of the films final scenes is particularly outstanding where the Catfish's husband explains the meaning behind his definition of a catfish. Even though this movie is a homemade documentary some of the husbands words can be taken as a theme behind the film. He compares people who pretend to be someone else online to catfish since they are often mixed with cod when transporting overseas to keep the cod fish agile, he states that internet catfish keep life interesting and keeps other people on their toes.
        Surprising emotional, entertaining, and transformative are just some of the words to describe this film. Although, it doesn't come without it's flaws. 'Catfish' has not aged well and even though it is a great film to watch in 2010 the same cannot be said for the current time. The internet and media has changed dramatically and now in 2019 the movie does not have the same effect or shock value. That is of course not the films fault but it is something to take into consideration. In conclusion, the documentary 'Catfish' is very well made and worth the watch for what it is but over time the film has lost most of the spark it had with time but that doesn't mean if you should not watch it. This film may not be for everyone though.