Alright, so Leah Vaughn (Sanaa Lathan) breaks it off with her boyfriend Dave (Morris Chestnut) because they don't see eye to eye when it comes to their future. She meets Carter Duncan (Michael Ealy) and they hit it off. He's sweet, her friends love him, her parents love him, he really is the perfe help until the moment they can and from there they want nothing more than to throw him in jail. He ruins her life and she is finally able to get her revenge.
There is nothing new here. If you've seen any films concerning a person obsessed with another to the point of stalking/threatening/ruining their lives, you've seen this one. This doesn't add anything new to that story line. It's predictable. It's not thrilling and at times, it's funny and trust me when I say it's not meant to be. The script was horribly written. There was nothing for the actors tow work with.
4 Stars
The final installment begins where the last one left off. Katniss has a bruised neck and vocal cords after Peeta strangled her. Seeing Peeta hijacked awakens a new thirst for revenge in her. She wants blood. Specifically Snow's blood.
Katniss is shipped off to District Two, where the final resistance before the rebels can even attempt to overthrow the capitol can be found. The district is overthrown, Katniss films the final propo and is ready to join the war from the front lines. When President Coin prevents Katniss from joining the soldiers in battle, she sneaks off to District One and joins the ranks on her own. Her plans are derailed with the arrival of Finnick, Cressida, Castor, Pollux and Peeta, but while she is not in the front lines she still experiences the horrors of war first hand.
This film could not have come out at a more perfect time. Of course, the studio upon choosing the release date had no way of knowing the events that would transpire in the weeks leading up to it, but it worked out. While my intention is not to make this into a political post, especially given the events that have happened recently, this film is a great reminder that war is sometimes necessary, but it does come at a cost to everyone involved.
One of the things I admire about this series is that it is not afraid to have beloved casualties. We have grown to love the characters in this series and a few of them do die in the war. I admire an author that is not afraid to kill off the characters, no matter how beloved. After all that is life.
I still do not think Mockingjay needed to be divided into two parts, though. The first part was slow much like the first part of the book. They stretched it into two unnecessary hours and thus this last installment felt rushed at times. In spite of this though, Mockingjay part two was a great way to end the series. Those who have read the books knew what was coming, and the cast and crew did a great job in making these deaths as painful as reading them. Visually it was hard to see what happened to these characters and the acting kept the pain going when we would see others mourn the loss of their friends and loved ones. While this does have what I heard called "a Harry Potter ending", there is enough pain and sadness throughout to remind you that life is not always bright and happy.
Directed by: Francis Lawrence Written by: Peter Craig and Danny Strong Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and Julianna Moore Classification: PG13 Genre: Adventure Country: USA Language: English
There isn't much I can say about this film in terms of a review without giving too much away. I can say that this film was made with all the love and admiration in the world. Kurt Kuenne initially made this documentary in order to learn everything he could about his closest friend Andrew Bagby. Despite having known him for twenty-two years, he realizes that there is still so much he doesn't know about his friend. This tribute to his murdered friend changed course when it was discovered he was going to be a father. Kurt instead decided to make the film for Zachary, Andrew's son, so he could know his father in some way. No one could have guessed what would happen next.
This documentary tears at your heartstrings. It's poignant and beautiful and everything a tribute to a loved one should be, but it is also infuriating and awful in the worst possible way. That's all I will say. Please take the time to watch the film. It is worth it and be prepared to cry. A lot. Although it was interesting to me to see my reaction versus my boyfriend's. I was more of a Kathleen and he was a David. You'll understand if you watch. But seriously, I still feel empty and even just watching the trailer I tear up. It's definitely worth the watch.
I was not looking forward to this film. I know, I know, is there any film I was looking forward to? Anyway, I was not looking forward to this film. A superhero that can shrink to the size of an ant sounded like an incredibly lame film. Especially considering that there are more interesting superheroes out there that are still waiting for their moment to shine.
Scott Lang is finally free from prison after three years for burglary. He has a daughter and wants to be straight edge for her. Due to his imprisonment, it's hard for him to find a job. As long as he has no apartment and no way to pay his child support, he cannot see his daughter. Desperate for money he turns to his friends for help. They tell him a rich man who is out of town and has a promising safe in the house. The safe holds nothing but the suit and the rich man is none other than Hank Pym, the original ant-man, who planned the break in all along. Out of options, Scott agrees to help Hank.
Hank was the original ant-man, but stopped after personal tragedy. One of the people he used to mentor, Darren Cross, is fascinated with the shrinking technology and since Hank won't share his secrets, Cross decides to figure out how to make his own suit. He is close to discovering it and he cannot be trusted since he is doing it recklessly and for profit. Scott must steal the yellow jacket suit in order to foil his plans.
Hank and his daughter Hope train Scott for this mission and when he is ready they put the plan into place.
Despite my reservations about the film, I ended up enjoying it. I thought it had its witty moments and I enjoyed seeing Scott change sizes in order to fight. I also enjoyed the ants. I found them quite cute and I promise not to step on them anymore. At least as long as they stop invading my house.
I will say some of the characters were one dimensional such as Darren Cross and Paxton. The actors did well with what they were given and it wasn't much which is a shame. I had the pleasure of seeing Corey Stoll in a staged reading over the summer in Williamstown. He was brilliant and I think had he been given more to work with, his villainous yellow jacket would have been cooler. Not Loki cool. No one will ever be that cool, but cool at least. I can't complain and say that he's the lamest villain I've seen because he's not, but he had no story arc.
I may not have wanted to see this film, but I'm glad I did. It was funny and there were some cool action sequences. If anything it was all worth it because of Michael Pena. He was hilarious and he's also a great actor. I hope we can definitely see more of him in future films.
A Man for All Seasons is a politcal play that deals with the common man. It was published in 1960 and while it takes place in England during the reign of Henry VIII, the themes still ring true today.
Sir Thomas More is a man who sticks to his morals despite the threat of alienation and death. He believes that morals are the thing that make a person who they are and they should never be compromised. To compromise them is to lose a bit of who you are.
Every man believes More a fool for not saying what he has to say to stay alive. More's main argument is that morals are what keep people from becoming bad. By sticking to your guns no matter what you become closer to God than doing something you don't truly believe in and asking for forgiveness later. While there are religious themes in this play, even if you are not a believer, the circumstances in which More finds himself in are what make this play relatable.
You can find a brief history of the play in the preface written by the playwright, Robert Bolt. Henry VIII was to wed his brother's widow, but Christianity forbade them from doing so as Christian law stated that it was a sin to marry your brother's widow. As England and Spain wanted to keep their connection, they turned to the head of Christianity, the pope, for help. The pope agreed to dispense of the Christian law and allowed them to marry. When it was found the Catherine was barren and Henry VII had his sights set on Anne Boleyn, he once again turned to the pope to have his marriage annulled. He was refused and he began saying that the pope was nothing more than a Bishop of Rome and not the actual representative of God. Since bishops were under his rule he appointed an Archbishop who began the Church of England.
Thomas More refuses to accept the king's acts and decides to stand by what he knows as the law of God. While people try to get him to say that he accepts Henry VIII's while not actually believing in them, he sticks to his guns saying that would be a worse offense than going against the king.
This is an extremely political play and one of its main characters is the common man. He takes on the roles of different common men and serves as the narrator to the audience. His main purpose is to show the audience what can happen if commoners don't speak up for what is right.
A Man for All Seasons follows Thomas More as he stands by beliefs regardless of the outside pressures and threats he faces. He is a great example for the audience as to what the playwright thinks we should do in our day to day lives. We should stand up for our beliefs despite what others say and we should never sacrifice those beliefs as to do so would be to lose a piece of our identity.
If anyone else has read this play feel free to comment below and let me know what you think! I would love to discuss the events of the play in more detail.
Before I say anything else... Yes, I barely saw this film! Don't judge me... Speaking of judging, time for the review! I am going to be honest. I can be harsh when it comes to the films I watch especially if it's a sequel to a beloved film. (Let's forget the existence of Jurassic Park 2&3. For all of our sakes.) Not only that, but in this day and age I believe there should be no excuse for lazy script writing. I also don't believe we should excuse films for such as being "just an action film made for entertainment", or "just another chick flick", etc. We should demand more. That being said, this film had a lot of potential, but there were too many plot holes that I, personally, can't ignore and the sad thing is they could have been fixed with minor changes to the script. We know the I-Rex is smarter and stronger than anyone anticipated. I would have believed it escaped from its enclosure more than the stupid humans (and the human characters in this film are INCREDIBLY stupid) actually aiding its escape. There was no need for the divorce plot line. It added nothing to the story. The arc of the characters were none to, really?! There has been some debate as to whether Claire's character is a strong female role model. My take on it: no. Sure she is a strong, powerful, business woman, but how is that represented? She is stuffy, cold, and uptight. Her arc goes from that to suddenly being more open because of a guy. She sees what her sister has and she wants it for herself now. That's fine. Some women go from not wanting families to wanting them, but I felt the relationship between her and Owen was forced and it's obvious the film believes all women end up wanting the same thing. In a conversation with her sister, the sister says "when you have kids" to which Claire says "IF I have kids", her sister replies, "WHEN". Seriously, NOT EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO BE A MOTHER! Get that through your skulls, please. Claire sees the dinosaurs as assets, I think her arc would have been more interesting if the realizes these are living, breathing creatures. It's hinted at, but her main story arc is still. "I'm stuffy I don't need a man. I'm not stuffy anymore because I have a man." The only characters I felt for were the dinosaurs and that one park attendant dude who is in charge of the gyro spheres. I feel you man! Customer service is a whole other beast. Speaking of which, whose bright idea was it to have the gyro spheres able to be driven by park attendants without the aid of a track or trail? It takes one person to prove this is a bad idea... Oh, right. Someone did prove that. *sigh*
My rating: 3 stars Official Site: www.jurassicworld.com Director: Colin Trevorrow Producer: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Steven Spielberg and Thomas Tull Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, B.D. Wong, Judy Greer, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Tee, Katie McGrath, Andy Buckley and Eric Edelstein
TL;DR All my problems explained in this little clip
