Defiance

well hello james bond! well, ok, he isn't james bond in this movie, but he's just as tough. this movie came out in 2008 so we're a couple years late at watching it, but i'm glad we did. this is basically a holocaust movie, but not of the typical variety. also, it is based on a true story. [like a legit true story, not some fake "true story" like the strangers or the fourth kind]. Daniel Craig plays Tuvia, the oldest of four brothers. the nazi's kill his parents, and him and his brothers flee to the woods to hide. more and more jews come into their camp, and everyone has to figure out how they are going to survive. this movie is about their struggles as jews, as family members, as leaders, and more.

like the caption on the movie poster reads, "Freedom begins with an act of defiance." watch how they maintain their freedom in this movie, and you will be amazed at the story. even though there were times when josh and i were going, "wait, who is that? whose side are they on? what?!?" it was still good to watch [i guess maybe we need to brush up on our history? haha]. you will grow to love and respect the characters, and become engrossed in their story. i even cried a little, i won't lie. so go watch this movie to be both inspired and entertained.

what do we give this movie?

B/B+

TiMER

hello, jess here! so, random fact about me. i like watching random movies sometimes. like indie films or smaller known movies. before netflix i would just walk around blockbuster and look at almost every new release, especially if i hadn't heard about them before. sometimes this just results in watching duds, and other times you find some quality randoms (gigantic, love and other disasters, pheobe in wonderland, lars and the real girl, factory girl, etc). now that i have netflix i get to do this online and it's so much easier. so the other day i strolled upon the movie TiMER. it had an interesting concept so i watched it:

there is this company that produces a product/service that you get installed in your arm and it will tell you down to the day that you will meet your one true love. there's all this scientific stuff that proves that it always finds your soulmate. when you get your timer, if your "one" doesn't have a timer yet then your timer will be blank and it will be the waiting game. if your "one" does have a timer, it will tell you how long you have until you will meet them. and when you do cross paths, your timers beep. so you know.

so the main character Oona, Emma Caulfield, is turning 30 soon and is stressing that her timer is still blank. every guy she dates and feels like it could be serious: she brings to get them a timer. obviously, it always turns out that he's not the "one." her quirky step-sister (and best friend) has the attitude of dating anyone for fun, regardless of what their timer says. after a rough day oona is at the grocery store and gets hit on by a cute younger guy, and decides to take a walk on the wild side. the rest of the movie is how she deals with the problems of falling in love with someone who isn't the "one," finding the "one," and worrying how much faith she really should put in the timer. it's pretty interesting, and even delves into some ethical dilemmas and interesting social situations.

the ending is kind of abrupt, and doesn't answer every question (which some people hate), but i don't really mind that so much. i would recommend it if you want to watch an interesting and fun comedy/romance/drama. the grade?

B-

It's Complicated

Oh, it most certainly is. Hi.....yikes. Okay, where to begin? First off, this is definitely not a movie I would normally watch. But, since Meryl is in it, I decided it might be worth our time. Oh dear....

Meryl Streep plays Alec Baldwins ex wife. The premise of the movie is this: 10 years after getting a divorce, Alec is re-married and Meryl is still single. After they see each other for their sons college graduation, they end up having an affair with each other. It all becomes a jumbled mess after that. It was previewed as a comedy, but it really wasn't that funny. Don't get me wrong, Meryl was excellent in it (she always is and I would never say anything bad about her), but still, this movie was ALLLLL wrong. And no offense to my older readers, but It just creeps me out to see old people flirting with each other. Nothing is more fun to watch than Alec Baldwins hairy chest/man boobs.

........................................

excuse me while I clean up the vomit off my computer.

Anyways, this is one of the only times I'll tell you to miss a Meryl Streep movie. Pass.

D+

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Let me just say this....if you don't have Netflix....get it. It's cheap, and it has a million movies to choose from. That's all. [You're welcome for the plug Netflix. I'll accept my check please]

This is an older movie from the early 90's (older?) starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. I've decided that Leo is my favorite male actor. He plays a mentally handicapped brother in this movie, and it's scary how believable he is. Johnny depp plays the older brother in this semi-disfunctional/loving family. Set in a small town in Iowa, this drama shows that even in bad circumstances, your family can still be there for you in the end. Wait, is that the real message? Okay, so I didn't really get the message, and I didn't love it. But I enjoyed watching it the whole time, and I would recommend it.

All the acting is excellent and the story really pulls you in, so you shouldn't be disappointed. Anyways, go ahead and get Netflix and then you can stream it instantly from your computer or PS3. You're welcome.

B

Salt

...needed a little pepper. (ba dum cheeee) Ha ha ha. Tacky? mehh. Anyways, what to say, what to say?

I've been looking forward to Salt for a long time now. I've grown to like Angelina as an actress, and this movie looked like it had the prospect of being amazing. Word is the role was originally written for a guy. (Tom Cruise actually. Thank goodness Angelina got the part instead. She's a better actor and much more manly) But I digress.

Angelina plays Salt, a CIA agent who is accused of being a russian spy. She's pretty much running the whole movie and easily fighting off every bigger, stronger guy that gets in her way. The movie has great action, and extremely cool stunts. Here's the problem though. I wanted this movie to be a lot darker and more complex. It was just missing something. They try to trick you and confuse you, but there really is no mystery to this movie. It's obvious "who salt is" from the minute she starts running. It was a fun ride anyways. Go check it out. If you like the Bourne movies, you'll like Salt.

B-