The Avengers

The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Stellan Skarsgård, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, and Samuel L. Jackson. It is based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name created by Stan Lee.

 When Loki, the god of mischief, steals an artifact known as the Tessaract, it is up to Nick Fury and a team consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to prevent the world from coming to an end     

The Avengers is the ultimate summer movie. Never have I been this excited for a movie. This movie had everything you would want for a perfect action movie, gteat acting, right comedy timing, and some sweet action scenes.

First, I will touch on the acting. Imagine 6 superheroes all coming together and saving the world. I was a little skeptical on the whole concept. I thought it would be an average summer movie. When Joss Whedon gave each of the heroes a moment to shine, it was just movie magic happening. The performances were great. Robert Downey Jr. once again shows us why he is the perfect man to play Iron Man. Chris Evans was a good choice to play Captain America, as was Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner were good as Black Widow and Hawkeye,  respectfully. However, the big standout of the whole film was Mark Ruffalo as Hulk. Coming into the role after Edward Norton’s great performance as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, I was a little confused as why they would give the role to a different actor. He surprised me very much in his performance. His lines and how he portrays the Hulk is just amazing.

The comedic timing in this film was hilarious. It was funny seeing the avengers make fun and badmouth each other. There were some very memorable one liners in this film. Whenever an action  scene happens or something builds up, the script just blows us away with some funny lines.

The Avengers is a great film. I just have to say that The Dark Knight Rises has some competition into which film will be the biggest summer film. Stay after the credits!

42

Jackie Robinson was one of the most inspiring men in baseball.

He overcame adversity, racism, and hardship to become the first colored man in baseball history. He was an excellent base runner, stole a lot of bases, and hit some home runs.

42 tells the legendary story of that famous ballplayer and how team executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) signed him into the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and though racism was in the air, Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) never gave up, and he was able to cross the colored barrier.

The performances are great in this film. Chadwick Boseman proves that he is an up and coming actor playing Robinson. He captures the integrity and tenacity of Robinson by standing up for what he believes in. In an almost unrecognizable performance, Harrison Ford delivers an exceptional performance playing Rickey, who didn't give up on Robinson.

The film was very good, and one of the better films of the year so far.  In the end, I kinda wanted a more satisfying ending, but I was happy with how the film played out. I would say check it out.

The Artist

When reviewing films that have no line of dialogue, some movie lovers might find it boring. Being someone who hasn't seen that many silent films, I was still fascinated by the concept of films with music but no speaking parts. That is why The Artist had caught my attention from the first time I had heard of the film.

It was the “Golden era” for pictures: 1929. The epoch of the soundless movies that have both dazzled and humored audiences.

Hollywood, 1927: As silent film celebrity George Valentin (Golden Globe winner Jean Dejadin) wonders if the entrance of talking pictures will cause him to die away into oblivion, he sparks in the company of Peppy Miller, a youthful artist set for a huge break.

The Artist has gotten great reviews and it won so many awards, so I just had to check it out, and what I got was a superb masterpiece.

The acting in this is amazing also. Jean Dejardin produces one of the best performances of the year playing Valentin. Considering he doesn't speak one line of dialogue makes his performance more memorable. Berenice Bejo also does a marvelous performance playing the love interest. We also get some American actors here such as John Goodman as the immaculately stereotyped cigar-chomping, braces-pinging studio boss, and James Cromwell delivers a great performance as Clifton, Valentin’s butler. The stealer of the show is not the actors, but the dog. Who knew a dog could be this brilliant?

The cinematography in this is fantastic. The way Hazavanavicus uses the camera work makes for a amazing film. The score uses some of Bernard Herrman’s work in Vertigo, which is a downside to this brilliant piece of art.

The Artist is the best film of 2011 in it’s own right. It is a groundbreaking, fantastic, amazing, brilliant piece of work.

 

Red Tails

Red Tails is directed by Anthony Hemingway, and stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrance Howard. It also stars a bunch of fresh new talent to portray the flyers.


In 1944, after enduring racism throughout their recruitment and training in the Tuskegee airmen training program a crew of young African American USAAF (Army Air Corp) fighter pilots are finally sent into combat in Italy, while Colonel A.J. Bullard
(Terrance Howard) and Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.) face a military bureaucracy still resistant to accepting black pilots as equal.

Going into this film I wasn’t looking forward to it, since it was produced by George Lucas who directed the Star Wars prequels and produced the Indiana Jones films. It did have a good storyline. Lucas, of course, delivers a mediocre hit.


Anthony Hemingway was the unit director for such films as Ali, and the remake of The Manchurian Candidate. He hasn’t actually fronted the film before. His directing was fine. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t
bad.



The main problem that I had with this film was the acting. You get some top-notch performances by Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrance Howard, and you get some flat performances by the flyers. (Interchangeable)

Even though Lucas only executive produced it, the dialogue is so cheesy. It was like the film was made by a 5 year old. In fact, the writer of this film, John Ridley wrote Undercover Brother and Three Kings.

There were some good special effects, but you have seen it all before in Michael Bay films, and the director seems to follow in Bay’s footsteps, delivering non-stop action and horrible dialogue. It seemed a bit CGI-ish.
Lucas in an interview stated that he wanted the film to be true to the Tuskegee Airmen, and while I enjoyed the 1992 release (separate movie; don’t mix reviews) of The Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails sadly, did not do the Airmen justice.


All in all, if your looking for a true Tuskegee airmen WWII film, check out the 1992 film starring Lawrence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr. However, if your looking for an all around mediocre action flick, I say check Red Tails out, but as a rental.


 

GoodFellas

Goodfellas is directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Brasco, and Paul Sorvino. It is based on a book called “WiseGuy” by Nicholas Pellaggi.

Goodfellas tells the story of Henry Hill, a small time gangster who with his friends, James Conway and Tommy Devito, slowly work up the hierarchy of the mob business. Hill soon lands in the Witness Protection Program.

From the opening scene where Hill says in a narration, ”I always wanted to be a gangster, I knew I was in for a great film.

And what a film it was.

The acting was great. Ray Liotta is Hill, a Irish-Italian boy who adored the gangsters in their cool cars, bribed police to let them pass, and Hill wanted to get in on it. Though Robert De Niro isn’t in the film much, he does fine. Not one of my favorites from him though. Lorraine Brasco is great as Karen Hill, who, at first, doesn’t like Henry, grows to love him later on. Paul Sorvino was good too, as the gangster who gets young Henry to the mafia.

 

Now, let’s go on to Joe Pesci and his nearly scary performance as Tommy Devito, who is a Italian man who is a fast-talking killer. He has a deadly sense of humor, and steals all the scenes he is in. One particular scene he just completely flips out, and it is just movie making genius.

Scorsese is the master at making gangster films. He writes the script very well and commands the directing. He does a lot of great one-shot scenes, like the nightclub scene that is one of the most memorable scenes for me.

Goodfellas is the film that defined gangster films. It has great performances from the cast, and a stellar script.