Funny People

Title: Funny People
Year: 2009
Director: Judd Apatow
Lead: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann
Rated: R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality.

A legendary comedian gets horrible news that he might die, he takes an upcoming comic under his wing and tries to find some meaning in his life.

This movie had its funny parts, and certainly had its not so funny parts. Its an Apatow film, naturally, he goes too far to get a laugh and comes up empty MANY times. Yea I laughed, there were some really funny parts, but it was dirty throughout, in my opinion, his dirtiest, nastiest films yet. I felt unsatisfied, it had a good story to it, and it was kind of touching I guess but it was SUPER nasty. go see it if you have some extra bucks on you that you wanna throw away. your not going to get your money's worth. Plus, this movie is really long, you feel like you just got out of a 5 hour movie. Bottom line... its funny, but its not THAT funny. 5 1/2 out of 10

Killing Santa

Title: Killing Santa
Year: ----
Director: Kris Hixson
Lead: Huyen Thi, Kieran C. Baroody, Mike Ferrell, Pam Calci, Gilly Conklin, Rudy Greene
Rated: F for Funny (haha)

This poor guy is traumatized throughout his lifetime because he never got boxing robots from Santa Clause as a kid, so in his adult years he plans to kill him. Their description is better so here it is
"Conner Creech hates Christmas. More specifically he hates Santa Claus. Ever since he was a kid he's only wanted one thing for Christmas, Boxing Robots. Now an adult and tired of being shafted year after year, Conner has decided to take matters into his own hands and rid the world of the judgmental, selectively generous St. Nick. His plan is fool proof. While his overly enthusiastic parents, sensible wife and sex deprived brother all eagerly await the holiday bliss, Conner remains focused on snuffing out the most beloved symbol of his most despised holiday."

This was the funniest short film Ive ever seen, Ive seen a few short comedies and this one takes the cake. Theres not a lot to it, no jokes that you have to think about for awhile, its straightforward humor, and its funny. The film was written by my dads co-worker, thats how we got the copy. Killing Santa was nominated for best comedy at the Cape Fear Indepepndent Film Festival. It was funny.

Collateral

Title: Collateral
Year: 2004
Director: Michael Mann
Lead: Tom Cruise, and Jamie Foxx
Rated: R for violence and language

A cab driver gets the fare of his life. Transport a contract killer around Los Angeles while he makes five hits.

This is an extremely tense film, there are some great shots, I particularly liked the shot where the wolves cross the road, it was really cool. Michael Mann did a great job not making any mistakes, for instance, when Jamie Foxx's character shoots through the glass door at the end, he doesnt know how to use the gun, he looks at it, and plays with it, and is then able to fire it. There are movies where the average joe guy saves the day and turns from a normal guy to some super killer, in this film, Jamie Foxx's character is jumpy and inexperienced, and I like that, hes not a killer, but is forced to be. Collateral was nominated for two Oscars; Best editing, and best supporting actor in Jamie Foxx. It was a great film. 8 out of 10

The Departed

Title: The Departed
Year: 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Lead: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg
Rated: R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material

This story twists and turns and ends dramatically. Its about a cop on the inside of the mob, and a mob inside of the cops and how the two cross paths trying to hunt eachother down.

Amazing film. Its insane, brutal, funny, dark, everything. You wont expect the ending, it keeps you guessing. This is not a movie you would watch with your kids, its brutal, the language is brutal, and mildly excessive, but somewhat necessary, they're from Boston... nuff' said. The parting shot in this film is the best parting shot I've ever seen, it is so fitting for the whole plot of the film. The Departed won 4 oscars, best directing, best editing, best writing, and picture of the year.
One thing that really bothers me (not in a bad way) is how there are a couple loose ends that i would have rather been tied up. But it gives you something to talk about the day after. haha. Anyways, this is probably the best mob film since The Godfather. 9 out of 10

There Will Be Blood

Title: There Will Be Blood
Year: 2008
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Lead: Daniel Day-Lewis
Rated: R for some violence

This film is loosely based off of Upton Sinclair's novel entitled "Oil!". Its about a greedy oil man and his son buying up land in to drill for oil.

This film is very dark. The score is very creepy, and there always seems to be trouble coming. We see Daniel Day-Lewis' character go through a giant transformation through this film, he gets crazier and crazier until the breaking point. This film won 2 Oscars, best actor and best cinematography, and let me say, the cinematography in this is an absolute work of art, they found fantastic places to shoot, and they caught everything just right, the setting is perfect, and Day-Lewis' performance is spot on, he does absolutely everything right... and let me say, this is my favourite film, I could watch it over and over again, it has everything. 9 1/2 stars out of 10

Capote

Title: Capote
Year: 2006
Director: Bennet Miller
Lead: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Rated: R for some violent images and brief strong language

This is the story behind author Truman Capote's defining work "In Cold Blood" which is an account about a quadruple murder in Kansas. Truman befriends the murderers while researching his book.

What I really liked about this movie is that Miller was able to perfectly balance the dark and light in this movie. This is a film about a brutal crime and the research to write a book about it, and I expected it to be a lot darker. It was not. This film is a must see, it won an Academy Award for best actor and was nominated for best picture. Another really great aspect about the screenplay, is that it isnt a biography sort of thing, its a story, its not something you would watch to learn about Capote, but rather something you would watch to enjoy the story behind his work. Its a GREAT movie, 8 out of 10 stars.

What is this?

This blog is devoted to film consumers everywhere. People who love to watch and analyze movies. I will try to post a review at least once a week. Im really looking forward to this. Thank you and enjoy.
-tod