Valkyrie

Title: Valkyrie
Year: 2008
Director: Bryan Singer
Lead: Tom Cruise
Rated: PG-13 for violence and brief strong language.

Based on true events. The plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler takes place during WWII.

This film is great, I really enjoyed it, Bryan Singer did a great job capturing the intensity of the moment, and made you feel it. I don't talk about this ever because its never good enough to notice, but the costume design in this film was really well done. The cinematography was awesome, many cool shots, and Tom Cruise (I don't care what anyone says about him, he's a great actor) does so well in this movie. I really liked the opening scene of the film when Tom Cruise' character is speaking in German, and it transitions from German to English, it really makes you believe everything more, it kinda brings you into their state of mind. This film is based on true events, you'll be asking yourself during this film, "did this happen", yes it did. It is a great film, YOU SHOULD SEE! 8 1/2 out of 10

Dirty Harry

Title: Dirty Harry
Year: 1971
Director: Don Siegel
Lead: Clint Eastwood
Rated: R

A San Francisco Police officer tracks down a killer.

you've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk? This movie is SO cool, Clint Eastwood is such a (for lack of a better word) badass. The villain in this movie is so weird, the creepiest, scariest villain Ive ever seen in a movie. Clint Eastwood, enough said, he makes this movie. He has no regard for the rules, and hes a jerk, but you love him, BECAUSE he has no regard for the rules AND he's a jerk. Every Clint Eastwood fan (big or small) should see this film if you haven't already, in fact, everyone PERIOD. should see this film, its awesome, really cool. 9 out of 10

Chaplin

Title: Chaplin
Year: 1993
Director: Richard Attenborough
Lead: Robert Downey Jr.
Rated: PG-13

The story of Charlie Chaplin. This is his life in a spectacular 2 1/2 hour film

This was great, very interesting. One of the catchphrases for this film is "Everyone has a wild side, even a legend." this is so true, Charlie Chaplin was one interesting man. This film does a great job on touching every aspect of his life, and telling the story from Charlie's point of view. This film was required watching for my film class, and for good reason. It gives a lot of background on some of the big directors, producers, and actors from that era. I felt really bad for Charlie at the end of this; he did do it to himself, but I still felt bad for him. This film is fantastic, and this is (in my opinion) Robert Downey Jr.'s best performance, He does so well! This really is a star studded cast, Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Kline, and Diane Lane, to name most of them. Charlie Chaplin's Daughter in real life, plays Charlies mom (her own grandmother) in this film, which is really cool. This film will give you great insight to the man behind "The Little Tramp". Chaplin was nominated for 3 Oscars including, Best Actor, Best Art Direction- Set Decoration, and Best Original Score. I give this film a 8 1/2 out of 10.

Everything is Illumintaed

Title: Everything is Illuminated
Year: 2005
Director: Liev Schreiber
Lead: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Leskin
Rated: PG-13 for disturbing images/violence, sexual content and language.

A young Jewish American travels in search of the woman that saved his grandfather. With only a photograph and a name, he and his "guides" go on an emotional journey to find her.

This film is a masterpiece. Perfectly put together, perfectly casted, perfectly filmed. Super well written from the novel to the screen. "Everything is Illuminated" is based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. I felt so good watching this movie, its a great emotional ride, very heartfelt. Its also cool to see two cultures come together in a humorous way, like when Elijah Wood's character says he's a vegetarian, and the chef brings him out a peeled potato by itself on a plate, very funny moment. Plus the cinematography is really amazing, I think that the shot when they find Augustine's sisters house in the field of sunflowers, is one of the best shots in a film. Period. Liev Schreiber took Safran Foer's novel and turned it from a masterpiece on paper to a masterpiece on the screen. I saw the preview for this movie in 2004 and really wanted to see it, forgot about it, found the novel in 2007, read it, then watched the film today, and was blown away. Its on my list of favourites. "Everything is Illuminated" won several awards at several festivals around the world, you should go on Amazon.com, and buy it for $8.99 and watch it several times, and keep watching it, because it is near perfect. Oh I forgot to talk about how awesome Elijah Wood plays Jonathon Safran Foer? (yes the main character in the film/novel is the same name as the author) Elijah plays him so well! The way he talks, walks, dresses... he pulls it all off perfectly! Its a great film. 9 out of 10

Vertigo

Title: Vertigo
Year: 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Lead: James Stewart, Kim Novak
Rated: G

A retired acrophobic detective gets hired to investigate a friends wife's strange activities, and becomes obsessed with her.

This movie is awesome! So many twists and turns, it had me talking out loud by myself. Tons of weirdness! This truly is an Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece. I love how Hitchcock always gets himself into his movies, its really funny. This could be the best Hitchcock movie I've seen to date. James Stewart is SO awesome, he acts so obsessed its crazy. The cinematography is so cool, lots of cool, vintage special effects, I love it. This movie is fun, if you watch it closely, you can try and figure out the twists on your own. I think the ending is one of the craziest endings I've seen in a movie in a very long time... you need to watch this movie. Vertigo was nominated for two Oscars including Best Art and Best Sound. 8 1/2 out of 9

Casablanca

Title: Casablanca
Year: 1943
Director: Michael Curtiz
Lead: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
Rated: PG for mild violence.

An American bar owner in Casablanca during WWII meets a former lover that complicates his life.

This is one of the great American films. Its got a great story, its really good to watch and it keeps your attention. A little tough to follow at times, but it all comes full circle at the end. It shows that there is inherent good in all people, no matter how cold their outward behavior may be. Humphrey Bogart is fantastic in Casablanca, and plays his part to perfection. This is an American classic, the acting is great, and the story is great, its even pretty sad. Kind of a heartbreak tale, but its very good. Casablanca won 3 Oscars for Best Writing, Best Director, and Best Picture. 8 1/2 out of 10.

Amelie

Title: Amelie
Year: 2001
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Lead: Audrey Tautou
Rated: R for sexual content

A girl decides to start helping the people around her, and finds love along the way.

This movie was good, very odd, and interesting. The narration at the beginning was very weird, but pretty funny. This movie is in French with English subtitles, I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but I'm not a huge fan of subtitles, they get kind of irritating, but the movie was good enough to keep it interesting. I really liked this movie, it showed that if you do good, good will happen to you, like karma. The cinematography was really cool, bizarre shots, there were some pretty cool shaky shots. All in all this was a good movie, it has a very cool story, and they don't forget anything they tell you, for example, at the very beginning of the film, the narrator tells you that Amelie likes to skip rocks, the whole film she is seen picking up good skipping rocks, its very cool cause you say to yourself "Oh yea, she skips rocks!" Amelie was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Writing, and Best Foreign Film. 8 out of 10

Lost in Translation

Title: Lost in Translation
Year: 2003
Director: Sofia Cappola
Lead: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson
Rated: R for some sexual content

The story of how two people come together and develop a friendship that they will remember forever.

This film is fantastic! So awesome, Sofia Cappola makes a masterpiece. Lost in Translation was shot on location in Tokyo, Japan, and the cinematography is amazing, absolute eye candy. Its also really really funny, the experiences that Bill Murray and Scarlett J's characters have are hilarious. This movie is very emotional too, its sad, funny, and a little angry all rolled up into one film. Its a great lesson on life too, sometimes the small things in life are the ones we remember most. Scarlett and Bill play their parts perfectly, Bill is hilarious and Scarlett does a fantastic job making you feel bad for her. Its really awesome to watch two people come together and basically complete eachother, they both wanted someone to listen to them and they found it in eachother, and had a lot of fun along the way. Its a great lesson in cultures and life. Lost in Translation won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and nominated for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. See this film! 9 out of 10

3:10 To Yuma

Title: 3:10 To Yuma
Year: 1957
Director: Delmer Daves
Lead: Glenn Ford, Van Heflin
Rated: PG

You may be saying, "You already reviewed this." Well, yes, but at the same time, a very resounding no. This is indeed 3:10 To Yuma, but the original. Its still about a rancher who is hired to take a criminal to Contention to get on the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. That has not changed

This is the better version of 3:10 To Yuma. Granted, the 2007 version has more action and has more adventure, the 1957 version ends better and leaves you feeling more satisfied. And Glenn Ford plays Ben Wade better than Russel Crowe played him. In my opinion, the two films should stand alone, because I really enjoyed both, The ending really changes the whole plot of the movie. And in the 2007 film, there is more time for you to get to know Ben Wade then there is in the 1957 version. 2007 makes Christian Bale's Dan Evans seem more desperate for the money than 1957. The end fight scene in 2007 is much more dramatic that 1957 but 1957 still does a fantastic job with cinematography and imagery, body language is pretty important in 1957. In my whole hearted honest opinion 1957 slightly edges 2007 on meaning and emotion, but if we were judging solely on special effects and cinematography, then 2007 is the clear winner. Each film has a little bit of all 4 of those things, so you will no doubt be able to find what you need in this film. 3:10 To Yuma won a 2nd place price at the Laurel Awards for Best Action Drama. You should find this movie and buy it, it would go great next to your 2007 version. P.S. if you have Time Warner Cable, its free in the "free movies on demand" under TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I dunno how long it will be there, but go watch it there, its free! 3:10 To Yuma, 8 out of 10

A Trip to the Moon

Title: A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune)
Year: 1902
Director: Georges Melies
Lead: Uncredited
Rated: NR

The first sci-fi film ever. Frenchmen build a rocket and travel to the moon, where they encounter another race.

This film is awesome! Its the first sci-fi film, first film with real effects. They are horrible compared to what we have today, but theres something about this film that makes you want to watch it over and over again. Its historical, its a glimpse into what was cool back at the begining of film. This film is so influential that directors today still use some of the techniques that Melies used. The band "Smashing Pumpkins" copied this film in their music video for "Tonight Tonight". Virtually every scene in their music video is a scene from Melies masterpeice, at the end notice the name of the ship;) S.S. Melies. Thats the only credit they gave him, their music video went on to win 6 awards at the MTV awards including best video. Anyway, this film is awesome. Heres a link to watch it.

Rear Window

Title: Rear Window
Year: 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Lead: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey
Rated: PG

A photographer is stuck in a wheelchair, and is subject to watching his neighbors through his rear window, he soon becomes convinced that one of his neighbors is guilty of murder.

This has been my favourite movie since I was 13 or so, its so simple. I love that the whole movie takes place in one neighborhood. It keeps you on edge throughout, and you never get bored. It has alot of interesting characters, Hitchcock does a great job of giving us a little bit of a story on each neighbor. This is a film that everyone needs to watch at least once. Theres some cool shots, and theres Grace Kelly... that basically speaks for itself, she is beautiful and sweet, and fits her character so well. I love the ending, it seems like the neighborhood is so much better after the murder is solved, everybody in the neighborhood is better off, the lonely lady gets with the musician, the dog lady gets a new dog (her old one is killed) and James Stewart's character has two newly broken legs. But my favourite part is when Grace Kelly looks to have changed her persona to try to fit in with Stewart's character's profession, but when he falls asleep, she pulls out the fasion magazine. I love this movie. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Director, Cinematography, and Sound. Again, this movie will hold you throughout, you are interested from the begining to the end, Alfred Hitchcock legend grows. I dont do this often, only for the great films...... 10 out of 10

Citizen Cane

Title: Citizen Cane
Year: 1941
Director: Orson Wells
Lead: Orson Wells
Rated: PG

After the death of a publishing tycoon, a reporter struggles to find out the meaning of his final word.

This film is ranked on AFI's top 100 films as number 1. Let me say, it absolutely lived up to that ranking. everything about this movie was perfect, every shot was perfect, Orson Wells did not cut one corner with this movie. The way he aged in the movie was so believable. I specifically loved the meaning of almost every shot, like the shot where the reporter is interviewing one of Kane's former colleagues, and he starts reflecting on his life, and the shot pans so you can see the mans reflection in his desk along with his face. Or when Kane and another one of his colleagues are talking in his office, and the camera shoots from below to make Kane look more threatening and ominous, one of my favourites is the montage that shows Kane with one of his wives, and it shows them growing apart, at the begining they are sitting close to eachother at the table, and each shot they move further and further away until the end, they are on opposite sides of eachother and she is reading Kane's rival newspaper, Wells is brilliant. This film really shows that no matter how much money you have and whatever you buy, its the little things in life that matter. It won an Oscar for best writing. This film is not only one of the greatest American films ever made, but it also influenced a song written by The White Stripes, the song is titled "Union Forever" and includes lines and melodies from the film, I was watching the movie and I started hearing things that sounded oddly familiar to the Stripes song, really cool stuff... 10 out of 10 easy....

Burn After Reading

Title: Burn After Reading
Year: 2008
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Lead: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt
Rated: R For Pervasive Language, Some Sexual Content and Viloence

Two gym employees try to sell a disk containing an ex-CIA agent's files.

This movie is pretty funny, its very serious in a hilarious way. Every character is intertwined with the other, and to see how they kind of come together is funny. It reminded me of "The Departed" except way more funny. Lots of situational humor, like the way brad pitt talks, he could say anything and its funny. George Clooney is really a weird guy in this movie, its kind of strange how he gets into everything. The ending is really funny too, it was like a huge conflict throughout the whole movie, then at the end it kind of showed how insignificant everything really was on the scale of things. This was a good, short, comedy, with some big actors. It was nominated for 2 golden globes. 7 1/2 out of 10