30 Rock

The night of January 12th marked the highly anticipated return of my other favorite TV show: "30 Rock" and it came back better than ever! Instead of starting a season anew we get dropped into the middle of a regular season season. Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is doing outstanding and no one knows why or how. They think she's taking something and by the end of the show we and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) learn the real reason behind her happiness.

Trying to sum up five seasons of a television show isn't easy and I'm not going to try to do that here. So a short synopsis of "30 Rock" is what I'll give: following the misadventures of Liz Lemon and the people who work on her show: "TGS with Tracy Jordan" a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live.

The humor of this show relies heavily on the immense variety of characters. And every character is unique. Liz is a single woman stressed under the pressure of her job with many problems. Jack is the head honcho of the show and makes decisions and helps Liz with her problems. Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) is the crazy, off-the-wall character who, despite his stupidity, has a heart under it all. Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) is the self-absorbed, beautiful, "does-it-all" actress and Liz's best friend. And the last main character is Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) the NBC paige who loves television and is oblivious to the fact that he is used by everyone on the show.

A great thing about "30 Rock" is its use of current events to propel the humor. It makes a witty show even smarter, which could explain the strong, small community of followers. Using current events, whether they are political or NBC Universal related "30 Rock" does a great job using people like Kim Jong Un to create very humorous situations.

It is very similar to "Arrested Development" another very smart comedy that didn't get the big following it deserved. Luckily now it is getting another season and a movie in the coming years. As people get older and smarter they appreciate the humor in "Arrested Development" more and more. "30 Rock" has been able to get a larger following with more appreciative fans.

Either way "30 Rock" is an incredibly smart comedy that has me in tears of laughter every week. Just a joy to watch!

10/10

The Grey

The will to survive. Everyone worries if they have it or not and hopes they never have to find out. Sometimes life has different plans. On board a small plane an oil-drilling team crash-lands somewhere in the middle of Alaska. The seven survivors struggle to survive while a pack of wolves, who sees them as intruders, hunts them.

Opening with a bang, The Grey, grabs hold right away. Sprawling scenery, captivating characters, and "sweaty-palm" scenes keep the story moving. Unfortunately, just as the story begins to peak, the momentum comes to a screeching halt and crawls to the finish line. Everything leading up to the halt is exciting and great fun to watch. Being a pretty straight-forward plot the character conflict had to be high.

Seven men, led by Ottway (Liam Neeson, "Unknown"), must band together to survive this pack of wolves. Ottway becomes the leader and is the most knowledgable. Liam Neeson gives a believable performance and creates an onscreen character with courage and strength. Though all the men are important the most notable other is Diaz (Frank Grillo, "Warrior"). Too proud to admit his fear, Diaz provides much character conflict and even brings some humor along. He and Neeson work very well together and make the conflict look genuine. Who knows? Maybe it really was!

An interesting way to show what the characters used to stay tethered to their survival was the use of flashbacks or anecdotes: different for each of the men. The one flashback that continually appears throughout is Ottway's. No explanation is given, but it seemed that whenever he closed his eyes he would lose himself in that reality and have to be yanked out of it by his predicament. It came up in places where it didn't make sense sometimes and really detracted from the story.

Overall, The Grey is a worthy first-month-of-2012 movie, and will keep audiences enthralled in the coming weeks.

6.5/10

Hugo

Winter in Paris in the 1930's. An orphan boy lives in the walls of a train station and keeps the clocks working and fixes the machines. He sees something that needs fixing and that is all he can think to do: fix it. Holding his own philosophy ("The world is one big machine and machines never come with extra parts, so he had to be on Earth for a reason"), he tries to figure out his purpose in the world.

An incredible spectacle utilizing 3D technology to its fullest, Hugo takes the story of a young orphan and creates a magical mystery. This was hands down the best 3D usage ever seen. Much better than 2009's Avatar. For Martin Scorsese's ("Shutter Island") first foray into 3D he tells a story in a way only he can: providing the right amount of thrills, twists, and heart making a movie worthy of the 11 Academy Award nominations it received.

The little things make the 3D effective. One big thing was having people or other pieces of scenery passing in front of the camera, which increases depth perception and makes it feel more real. Using other techniques the camera follows young Hugo (Asa Butterfield, "Nanny McPhee Returns") into the walls of the train station, but the 3D immerses us into the story. We follow him through tunnels and crowds of people and end up feeling almost claustrophobic, but it works beautifully!

The story was just magnificent. Slowly introducing the characters one at a time instead of bombarding the viewer with every main character at once, the story ropes you in and doesn't let go. Wonderfully adapted for the screen the plot has some, but very few parts that just don't fit. Hugo could have simply said a few words in two different scenes and he would have gotten much different, faster results.

Scorsese has a way of pulling out outstanding performances from nearly every actor/actress he directs and this movie is no exception. Asa Butterfield, probably most well-known for his role in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," give a decent performance in the title role. For a 14-year-old it was good and he will only get better from here. Chloë Grace Moretz ("Let Me In") as Isabella gave a quality performance, at times she was a bit bland and expressionless, but overall it was good. Ben Kingsley ("Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time") was perfect as George Méliès, the mysterious toy shop owner.

Hugo became a movie for any dreamer or anyone who thinks they are here for a bigger purpose, Hugo teaches to never give up on your dreams. A very rewarding journey if you are willing to take it. Succumb to the story and let it take you on a ride you won't soon forget.

9/10

Underworld: Awakening

Selene is back and better than ever (in 3D too!) in this third installment of the Underworld series. Rise of the Lycans doesn't count because of its' prequel status. This was the first 3D movie I saw since seeing Step Up 3D and to be honest a movie like this doesn't need to be in 3D. Most movies don't. Avatar excluded. I am curious to see how Titanic in 3D will be only because of James Cameron.

This time around the vampires and lycans are in hiding after two separate purges of the species. The remaining survivors are doing just that: surviving...barely. 12 years have passed since Underworld: Evolution and the hybrid Michael is missing. Humans are searching for him so they can create a cure to the "disease" of vampires and lycans.

The story is good. In true Underworld fashion it's a story full of action and twists and turns and excitement. One big twist in the story really got me. Maybe I was too distracted by the 3D to see it coming, but I had no idea it would happen. However, much of the story seemed to be dumbed down for audiences. Many things could have been more developed and improved upon, but I can't say much more without spoiling the movie.

Obviously the action sequences were fantastic! Good, bloody fun. Creatures' heads being blown off and up, hand-to-hand combat, and the special effects make every part of the action incredible! If you like ridiculous action scenes and David vs. Goliath fights this is a movie for you!

The acting is as expected. Okay. Kate Beckinsale in all her leather clad glory continues her role as Selene with style, energy, and sex appeal (mainly through her leather suit). She always brings a believable performance to a less than believable overall story. Her "badassery" shines in this series of movies and it's always fun watching her kick some lycan butt.

My biggest qualm with the movie was the length. This should have been about 30 minutes longer. The story would have developed more and allowed more time for characters to develop as well. The fights could have been less choppy and a little cleaner too.

Overall, this was another good movie in the Underworld series. Despite a few problems it was a lot of fun to watch.

6.5/10

We Bought A Zoo

A theme rampant throughout movies this year is the death or incapacitation of a parent. Usually the "wrong one" died. In We Bought A Zoo Benjamin Mee's (Matt Damon) wife passed away and his children seem to be dealing with it quite well. Except for his son's acting out. Dylan Mee (Colin Ford) is expelled from his school. Life seems to be dumping on the Mee family. Benjamin decides it's time for a change and ends up purchasing a house with a rundown zoo attached to it. Instead of writing about the adventures as he had done for most of his life, he finally chooses to live the adventure and renovate the old zoo.

The story sells itself in my opinion. Who wouldn't want to live with exotic animals and on a zoo? It's like living on a farm, but much more exciting! It was a very fun story to watch unfold. And following Benjamin who had never done anything with animals in his life, we got to learn some ins and outs of how to treat the animals. Much like human babies/children you have to talk to the animals like they are adults.

Matt Damon shines in an abnormal performance for him. He's most well-known for being Jason Bourne and a co-writer of Good Will Hunting, but here he shows his softer side. Whether it's dealing with family matters or growing closer to the animals Matt Damon gives a performance with a lot of heart. His daughter, played by Maggie Elizabeth Jones, is adorable. She adds a lot to the movie based solely on her cuteness. Benjamin's teenage son, Dylan, adds the teenage angst to the movie and does a splendid job with it. And of course Scarlett Johansson as zookeeper Kelly was outstanding!

I really enjoyed the music. From the original score pieces to the inclusion of Bon Iver's Holocene every part of the music fit the mood. Sometimes it did overshadow what was going on in the story and almost felt like the music was pleading with us to feel what was happening. Instead of just adding to the emotion.

Overall this was a great family/feel good film of the year! Teaching you to live your adventures and not just wait for them to happen. I'll leave you with this quote from the movie: "If you had to choose between people and animals. Really quick. Who would you pick?"

7/10

The Help

After writing my Oscar Nominations post, I realized that I hadn't reviewed The Help yet. So here it is. This is the endearing story of a college educated white aspiring writer who decides to write a book from the perspective of the help. She sees what they go through and wants to understand their feelings.

A surprisingly compelling and entertaining (at parts) movie that was both heartwarming and heartbreaking The Help is a wonderful tale from a terrible time in America's history. The story was great! The writing made me really hate Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) and obviously was supposed to make us side with the help and Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone). The characters were vivid and well imagined from the book I'm sure was great. Luckily I watched this with my mother who had just finished the book before we watched it. She said some of the characters were exactly how she imagined them and one or two were nothing like she pictured. But that's what happens in adaptation from book to movie.

The acting from every person is outstanding! Emma Stone brings a quirky lovability to her character. Being a college student I could see how going to school would change her character's opinion on how the help is treated. Aibileen Clark, played beautifully by Viola Davis really brings a large chunk of the heart of this movie to the screen. She brings the pain and strength felt by many of the help of the time and makes it look easy. But the standout performance from this movie has to go to Octavia Spencer for her role as Minny Jackson. She easily has the win for supporting actress in the bag without question. Just a perfect role for her to play and she blew it out of the water. Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote was also great. An outcast from the bridge-playing club the other women were a part of she shows us the torment and torture her character feels and made a great mark on the movie!

Not only was it a great story and full of great acting, but I learned some things too! I learned that the help were responsible for raising the white-folks' children while their children were at home being taken care of by another child or another family member (if they were lucky). The white children spent so much time with the help that they thought of them as their mothers. Went to them with problems, questions, and help on various things. This was best evidenced in the relationship between Aibileen and Mae Mobley Leefolt.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

8/10

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

A story about loss in the tragedy of September 11th 2001. How many times have we seen something like this? This time it's a young boy who lost his father in the twin towers. I thought it would be much much better than it was. The book it's based on, I'm hoping, is much better. Parts of the movie were good, but they were few and far between.

The story is about a nine-year-old boy who goes on an adventure to find what the key his father left him is for. And it's a good story. Had it not been overshadowed by 9/11 I think it would have made an even better story, but the story was drowned out by the persistent referrals to "the worst day."

The main character was the biggest problem with this story. He is petrified of nearly everything, yet when he's wandering around a huge city like New York he seems totally fine. Maybe that's because he has his tambourine with him. Incessant noise while he is roaming the city. He is afraid of being in places he could get stuck, yet he locks himself in the bathroom at one point. The character had too many problems for me to like him. Then the actor who portrayed Oskar Schell, Thomas Horn, was far too articulate. No nine-year-old living in New York talks that properly. Every single syllable was enunciated far beyond what it should have been.

Tom Hanks didn't really bring much to the movie. He wasn't in it very much except for some flashbacks. When he was, he and Sandra Bullock brought some emotion to the screen. Sandra Bullock's performance was a good followup to The Blind Side, but nowhere near as good as that was. I was expecting award worth performances from everyone (with the hype the movie was getting) and I got less than average acting on the whole. Thomas Horn not only articulated too much, but some of his mannerisms were just too out there for me to want to follow him. Maybe that's just the character again, or maybe it's because this was his first movie.

I went into the movie openminded and ready for anything. Unfortunately, due to the over articulation of the main character and a strange overall plot with no surprises I lost interest a little before the halfway mark. Another thing that always bothers me with certain movies around this time is the obvious plea for nominations. "Let's take this award winning actress and this award winning actor together with this 'no-name' kid, put them in a life-changing situation, and add some tears. We've got some nominations and wins in the bag!" Ridiculous. That's not to say that everything was not up to par for this movie.

Overall, this was exquisitely put together. Beautiful shots following young Oskar through New York made the movie interesting and were the only things holding my interest. I truly think that had the movie not revolved around 9/11 I would have enjoyed it much more. Instead I found myself thinking about that day and where I was and what I did when I should have been paying attention to the movie.

6/10

Haywire

Haywire had me hooked. The preview made it seem like an action-packed movie with a decent storyline. The preview, as many have been recently, did not prepare me for the movie I saw. What I saw was a slow-moving plot, with some often short action sequences. Similar to last year's The Debt, only The Debt did it with style and energy. And the plot was thick and interesting enough to keep us involved. Unfortunately for Haywire, the plot was not as thick or interesting as Soderbergh had hoped. This caused the movie to seem like an indie take on the Bourne series. And it turned out exactly as it sounds: weird and pretty pointless. Why would anyone want to try and take on something that was near perfection like the Bourne series and mess with it?

Beginning in the middle of the story of a black ops agent, Mallory (Gina Carano), seeking retribution after she is betrayed the movie had potential. I was ready to be taken on a roller coaster journey to figure out why she was betrayed. The flashbacks were great. Everything about them fit and moved the plot along. Even the way the flashbacks were presented was interesting and pretty fresh and fun to watch. However, once we catch up to "present time" the story loses a lot of what it had going for it, surprise and some mystery. Luckily I wasn't expecting the plot to blow me out of the water, but I did expect a lot more action.

Gina Carano, most notable as an MMA fighter or in her role on "American Gladiators", was a decent actress for starring in her first feature film. Obviously a fighter-turned-actress won't be a perfect actress, but for who her character was she did the character justice. She's really the only character worth noting. Aside from Kenneth: Ewan McGregor who, as always, gave a good performance. Mallory is the only character we see more of 5-10 minutes on the screen, which was strange because this was supposed to be a revenge thriller, which needs a plethora of well developed characters to be compelling.

While her acting might not have been up to par, her fighting in the few hand-to-hand action sequences was exquisite, though sometimes it felt over-choreographed. Like the actors had rehearsed it one too many times. This could have been because Carano could probably have easily taken any of the stuntmen or actors and not thought anything of it. Her fighting at times looked as stiff as Christian Bale's Batman in the opening of The Dark Knight, but when it didn't it was amazing to watch what she could do.

Another thing to note was the music. It tried to evoke feelings of film noir and other movies similar to that genre. The only problem: this wasn't film noir. It was a revenge story lacking much of the substance its' colleagues normally bring to the plate. The music could have added a lot here, but instead it only played over montages and some chase scenes. The music did cut out during most of the fight scenes as did most other sound effects besides the contact, which made them seem more intense.

Soderbergh tried too hard to turn Mallory into a new Jason Bourne and it didn't work the way he wanted it to. He made a decent movie, not action-packed, and slightly slow-moving. Haywire wasn't a complete loss though: the fights were fun to watch, though there could have been more of them, and until we catch up to "present time" the movie is awesome. Those things don't make up for the rest of the problems in this movie.

Worth seeing once.

5/10

Contraband

For Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) life is good. He has a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two sons, has a great best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster), and a blossoming new business. He has gone legit, no more running drugs, money, cars, anything from Panama into New Orleans. That is until he has to jump back in the game and run millions of counterfeit bills to protect his wife's brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) from druglord Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi).

A fantastic last 45 minutes of this movie made up for the first 65 minutes. The plot in the beginning was ridiculous. So many holes and not enough character development. The interactions amongst characters were limited to 1-2 minute clips here and there. Once the plan Farraday and his crew thought up is set in motion the movie starts to pick up, but still there is too much jumping around for me. It's not hard to follow, but it gets a little annoying to have to jump around so much.

But the last 45 minutes are incredible. This is where the jumping should occur. We should see some characters doing one thing and others doing another and never see the end of what they are doing. Then as the it begins to wrap up questions are answered and it's just great fun to watch.

It was hard to judge the acting at first, but as the characters have more screen time together the acting just gets better. (This, again, did not happen until late in the movie). Mark Wahlberg gives an emotionally charged performance, but the only emotion seen is his anger with his brother-in-law. Ben Foster is great, shining in a role he is used to playing. Kate Beckinsale, though we don't see much of her, brings some acting chops, just not enough for this action-drama. No one fit the role better than Giovanni Ribisi. He notoriously plays the sleazy evil character who always screws with everyone, but he does it very well. Except for his oddly mousy voice. That really bothered me.

This was a decently action packed movie, which I predict will do fairly well amongst the sometimes stuffy award nominees. Could have used more character development so we cared more about the people and what was happening to them and shouldn't have jumped around so much so early in the movie. Worth watching, but not necessarily in theaters.

6/10

Jersey Shore

Most of my posts have been about the movies and show I love, but here is one about my guiltiest of pleasures: "Jersey Shore." I didn't start watching this series right away because I thought it would be terrible, but then winter break freshman year happened and I picked it up immediately.

"Jersey Shore" purely exists for entertainment. It's a terrible show overall, but I have to admit that I am addicted and always love the situations the gang and "the Situation" get themselves into. Seeing as how today marks the second episode of season 5 I figured it an appropriate topic.

There are only two characters on the show I actually care for and want things to work out for and they are Jenny (J WOWW) and Vinny. Part of it is because they are the most normal, but another part is they are the most level headed. Everyone that knows I love "Jersey Shore" almost immediately questions why and I can  only respond with "I don't know. It's one of the worst shows I've ever seen, but I CAN'T STOP WATCHING!" As much as I love fantastic television and movies. I've recently (through my years of college) realized how much I love watching trashy reality TV and terrible movies.

The most recent terrible movie was (aside from the ending of Brüno...)My Soul To Take, unfortunately directed by one of my favorites: Wes Craven. It could have been awesome! Had the acting been way above par. But overall terrible media can be just as entertaining as the outstanding media.

"Jersey Shore" is just a testament to how well people can do from trashy reality. The characters get paid up to $100,000 an episode. Very ridiculous. Especially when you think that each season so far has had 12 episodes. Terrible. But people, like me, keep watching just to see the awful drama they all make amongst themselves. As bad TV goes, this is one of the greatest. Obviously a terrible show and idea, it makes money and keeps a total viewership more than most primetime television shows. So if you're looking for an escape from your life and to just witness 8 people's lives collide like the old school "Real World" watch "Jersey Shore"

Trashy reality TV at its' finest!!

Community

Because it is winter break and I spend time catching up on old TV shows and picking up even more I decided to dedicate a few posts about some of my favorite TV series.

I'm often asked what my favorite show is and more times than not my answer is a tie between "Community" and "30 Rock." The humor of both is quite similar, but in light of "30 Rock" being off the air for longer than usual I will begin with "Community."

"Community" is genius. Plain and simple. It is pure comedic gold and of course NBC and audiences alike do not recognize this so for now it is on hiatus. Often the last step before shows are cancelled. I see no reason why "Whitney", with its' bland humor and chemistry-lacking cast, can last. Maybe it's the fact that it's full of simple humor making it more accessible. "Community" is smart, referencing different famous shows, movies, and characters. Sometimes the references are too obscure for the average viewer and that's its' only downfall.

Taking place at Greendale Community College in California an incredible cast of characters propel this masterpiece of television to great heights. We meet a single-middle-aged mother (Shirley), an old person keeping their minds active as they circle the drains of eternity (Pierce), a remedial teen (Troy), and four other "losers" Jeff, Brita, Abed, and Annie. These are seven of the best characters on TV today. The relationships amongst them is there and so is the chemistry.

Abed and Troy played by Danny Pudi and Don Glover respectively are my favorite characters. Abed has Asperger's syndrome and Troy is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but they are hilarious! Some of my favorite moments of the series comes from the last 30 seconds of every episode when Troy and Abed usually give the last laugh. Spontaneous beatboxing/rapping, their fake morning talk show, or seeing how many pencils they can fit in each other's mouths the last 30 seconds are some of the funniest parts of the show.

Starting at the first episode is the best way to start watching it, though each one has a standalone theme or plot, every episode is connected too and builds on the previous ones. Don't let that turn you away though. Watch every episode you can and help bring "Community" back on the air. You won't regret it!

10/10

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

For the first time in a long time I was at a loss for words about a movie. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was nothing like what I had expected, which turned out to be a great thing! It was almost exhausting watching this movie. From the thick plot to the multitude of characters be ready to think when you see this.

There's a mole in British intelligence giving vital information to a Russian known as Karla. The plot jumps from present story through memories and flashbacks. Instead of tons of twists and turns we learn quickly that we can only sit back and enjoy the ride. All the while trying to figure out who the mole is alongside George Smiley (Gary Oldman).

The characters were referred to by first names, last names, and code names all at varying amounts and times. It was hard to keep them straight and know who was being referenced at different times. Once I got the characters straight the next thing was the plot, which is where the most thinking is needed. The way the story is presented is confusing. Jumping between flashbacks and other character's perspectives the story became convoluted. Sometimes there seemed to be too much detail and unneeded scenes that just made the story harder to follow.

Despite the complexities in storytelling and character development the cinematography was perfect for this movie. A feeling of anxiety follows much of the film especially with the shots of Gary Oldman and other characters simply looking of screen presumably thinking. The very monotone color scheme of grey adds to the tension throughout the movie. Both the color scheme and thinking characters build up a lot of stress and makes an exhausting film even more taxing. The exhaustion, however is not unwelcome. It fits the plot and really gets you into the movie.

The acting here is just incredible. Sometimes the most powerful performances are the ones where actors say the least. Drive proved that with Ryan Gosling and now TTSS proves it again with Gary Oldman. The first hour of the movie I don't think he has more than 30 lines. He gets more as the movie progresses, but still never has too many. He was very powerful as the silent all-knowing spy. The other notable performance here is the British Sherlock reboot star Benedict Cumberbatch. Just outstanding as Peter Guillam. He played opposite Oldman with true skill and great conviction.

In spite of the complicated plot this movie shines. Unlike the novel I don't think this redefined the spy thriller for movies, but it holds true to its' predecessors. Even with the exhaustion and haze I felt leaving the theater I definitely think it's a must see during awards season if you're looking for something that may be overlooked for many awards. Just make sure you are wide awake when you see it!

7.5/10

The Descendants

This was a pleasant surprise. I had heard good things about it, but nothing came close to doing this movie justice. I heard it was Clooney's best performance of his career, but I don't think it was. He was way better in The Ides of March in my opinion.

Following a man whose wife is in the hospital from a boating accident who reconnects with his daughters, The Descendants could have been more hard hitting and brought more to the table, but as movies go it was decent.

The plot is very straightforward and doesn't really surprise much. This is due to a large part of the "surprises" being shown in various previews and trailers. I thought this was going to revolve a lot more around a man reconnecting with his daughters, but instead I found myself focusing on Sid a lot more than either of the daughters or Clooney. I also expected this to be a much heavier film, but found it to be very funny without losing any of the meaning.

Just because the plot didn't keep me invested in the daughters or Clooney doesn't mean that the acting was great. Shailene Woodley was endearing and incredible as one of Matt King's (George Clooney) daughters. A spot-on performance from her, which would have stolen the show had Sid (Nick Krause) not been as prominent as he was. She gave the best performance of the movie outshining Clooney. His performance as a father with two estranged daughters was good, but not good enough. Again, he is much much better in Ides of March.

Overall, it was a good movie, not great, but was much more entertaining than I thought it ever would be.

6.5/10

War Horse

A roller coaster of emotion, War Horse captivates and entertains the way Steven Spielberg knows how. Following a young man and his horse, we are brought through the last war where horses played a real role in battle.

The start of the movie is drawn out, but this was to build the characters and their relationships. The characters are nothing we haven't seen before, an alcoholic father who hides his emotions, a hardworking mother, an evil landlord, and our young hero: Albert played by Jeremy Irvine. Albert's father buys a horse and Alberts works at raising him, naming him Joey.

Irvine really brings his character to life. Incredible in his movie debut, he makes us love his horse the way he does. He truly takes us on the journey of ups and downs. He does have some inconsistencies, but not enough to really take away from his performance as a whole. Emily Watson, as his mother, is spectacular as always. Even with her minimal lines and screen time she brings power to the family. I can't talk about the acting without mentioning Niels Arestrup who played Emile's grandfather. He played his role with such sentiment it was impossible to not like him.

While the human actors do a great job propelling the story, the war horse Joey steals the show, as he should. Spielberg gives him personality and makes him seem like a human being. He becomes attached to others, holds strong bonds, and fights for what he wants.

Steven Spielberg does a wonderful job with this movie as he does with nearly every movie he touches. This is in his specialty area in my opinion: war movie. He takes a plot, that honestly didn't really appeal to me, and makes it into a great war movie. He makes the war scenes feel real and puts us right in the action. Using a few techniques he perfected in Saving Private Ryan's opening scenes, the camera shakes as bombs drop and shots are fired and makes us feel like a part of the action.

The infamous pair of Spielberg and Williams strikes again. In all the movies I've seen that John Williams has scored, I have loved all the music and this score is no different. Almost forcing the audience to feel a specific way at different parts of the movie, this score does what it is supposed to.

Overall, War Horse was a good movie deserving of nominations, but no wins. The original score category will be a tough one this year with Howard Shore, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, and John Williams most likely in there. Not to mention the incredible score in Drive, my personal favorite of the year. War Horse is definitely worth checking out if you like Spielberg, Williams, or war movies.

7/10

The Artist

A pitch perfect Hollywoodland love letter, The Artist takes modern day movies and takes them back about 80 years tossing us into the world of silent film. Following a slightly similar plot as Singin' In The Rain we follow George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) through the evolution of film from silent to "talkies."

George Valentin is a silent movie star in no small sense of the word. People would flock to the theater to watch him on the screen. Enter Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a young dancer, poised for a big break. As the movies start to shift to all sound pictures George worries that he will become obsolete.

The acting, expectedly, is incredible! The only way a silent film could be pulled off was if the acting was stellar and in this case it most certainly was. We can actually identify more with the characters in this movie than in traditional comedies because we don't hear them. They have to be much more expressive than just use their voice to act. Jean Dujardin brings life to George in a way only silent movie stars were capable of. And Bérénice Bejo's Peppy is the perfect counterpart to Dujardin. We can feel the chemistry between them ebb and flow as the movie moves along.

Even John Goodman and James Cromwell, as Al Zimmer and the driver/butler Clifton respectively, were great. Giving their characters personality. The people in the movie were great, but an honorable mention has to go to the dog (named Uggie offscreen). This dog brought a lot of humor and heart to the movie. This dog deserves something other than just treats on set!

While I do think the acting was fantastic I see it as almost a cheap ploy to get the actors award nominations and probably wins. Comparing the acting from a silent film to a sound film is like apples to oranges in my mind. One needs much more expression than the other and one often uses the actor's voice to get the point across. On one hand the actors in the sound films who are nominated alongside Jean Dujardin should be very proud that their performances are being equated to his, but on the other hand I don't think anyone comes close to the acting chops he brought to this movie. Look for him to pick up awards left and right this awards season.

The screenplay was entertaining, paced perfectly, and just a joy to follow. Even with the limited similarities to Singin' in the Rain, which was really only the idea of a silent film star making a transition to films with sound. The directing was outstanding as well! Though this could be due to the director being married to Bejo and having worked with Dujardin many times before.

Overall this and Drive so far are my favorite films of this award season and both deserving of every nomination and win they receive. No doubt they will both see great success in the coming weeks.

9.5/10

Midnight In Paris

Woody Allen is back and better than ever! His most recent romantic comedy Vicky Christina Barcelona was funny, but seemed to me to be much more of a chick flick than I think he was going for. Midnight in Paris however was so much more than that! It was very much in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MInd, with a bit of time travel and lot of heart.

As with every Woody Allen movie we get a very interesting cast of characters. We start of following Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams) an engaged couple on a trip to Paris with her parents. We soon learn that Gil is truly in love with the city of Paris and Inez is not in the slightest, but rather is in love (like her mother) with money and expensive things.

The comedy takes a little while to get used to with the time jumps, but is much more explicit than ESotSM. The time jumps aren't the only source of humor though; enter Paul, the "pedantic pseudo-intellectual." He will get under the skin of anyone who doesn't like a know-it-all, mainly because he seemingly knows it all about everything French...Or so he thinks.

The acting, as in nearly every Woody Allen movie is outstanding! I found myself actually believing that Owen Wilson was in love with Paris, not just his character. An incredibly genuine performance deserving of his recent Golden Globe nomination and any other nominations and awards he will receive. Rachel McAdams was great at making you hate Inez and just want to slap her. She only wanted things her way, had no imagination, and was blind to the beauty of Paris through Gil's eyes.

The screenplay, written by Woody Allen of course, was great too! His awkward comedy shines with the actors in the situations he created. And the dialogue fits very well and never feels odd or out of place. In the end, this time traveling nostalgic story teaches us to appreciate the era we live in, and to not forget the past.

Great movie once you get used to Woody Allen's humor. Definitely a must see for any Allen movie fan and fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

8.5/10