Mother (Madeo)

Last night I saw the Korean film Madeo (Mother) with my friend Mark. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was intense, and thrilling, and held my attention until the end. I really enjoyed the questions it raised, not so much about life, but just about what exactly happened. There were many mysteries left unanswered. You get to write your own ending. The acting was superb, which surprised me because I tend to find that foreign film acting disappoints me. This is not because the acting is "bad", it is just set against different standards in the home country. Good acting in Japan is different from good acting in France is different from good acting in America. Still, I usually avoid foreign films for this reason, but Mother had accrued such a buzz that I could not pass it up. I was not disappointed. The story was totally believable and the cinematography was beautiful and built suspense very well. The editing was clever, and I appreciated the inner struggle that came to life within the actors. It was one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen all year, far better than Chloe. I would recommend it to anyone who does not mind reading subtitles for two hours. :)

KICK-ASS

WOAH! There aren't words to describe this film. It had everything I like and THEN some. It was like a mix of Sin City, Kill Bill, and Superbad. Totally awesome. And it was also super heartfelt as well. The best thing this movie did was not take itself too seriously. It's what made it enjoyable. If it was trying to be this bad-ass movie it would have been laughed at. Instead, we laughed WITH the movie the whole way through. The actors really had a handle on their characters and the humor involved, especially Chloe Moretz (as seen previously in 500 Days of Summer and Diary of a Wimpy Kid). This is a super talented young actress who is like a more quirky, sarcastic version of Dakota Fanning. In fact, I totally doubt that Fanning could pull off the role as well. Nicolas Cage surprised me by actually doing a good acting job and making me laugh. And Mark Strong delivered a (sorry) strong performance. And so did Christopher Mintz-Plasse! He can be someone other than McLovin! Granted, the character was not TOO far away, but at least I know he has some potential. And the other guys weren't too bad either. The art direction was simply superb. They did a good job of making it look like a comic book without resorting to cheesy bright colored backgrounds and cutting the scene in half all the time. Instead, they made the background almost look animated. But the real reason I could tell it was a good movie? It seemed to go by quickly and slowly at the same time. It was getting toward the end, and I thought to myself, so much happened, but it can't be over now! And the ending puts a nice button on it, cliffhanger and all. Can't wait for the sequel! (Maybe I'll dress up!)

How to Train Your Dragon

This is the best animated film I've seen since Finding Nemo. It was better than Up, better than Shrek, better than most animated movies. This is because it was smart, original, and touching. And it wasn't touching because of a formula that the company has worked up to make families sit in the theaters with tears in their eyes (*ahemPixarahem*). The voice actors genuinely made me care about the characters. And I haven't seen that since Finding Nemo. Sorry, Pixar, but something is just... a little too cutesy about your films. There wasn't a cliché line in this one. The animation was another thing. Absolutely fantastic. In 3D, with all the flying, I felt myself being lifted out of my seat. I would recommend this movie to anyone, kid and adult alike. Pixar, watch your back, Dreamworks is gaining on you. You got some serious competition next Oscar season.

Chloe

I went to see this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it. I usually never do this, not as a principle or anything; I am in the habit of reading Entertainment Weekly, so I usually pick up brief synopses about the movies whether I am intending to or not. But of this movie I had only heard a whole lot of buzz. I knew Amanda Seyfried was in it, along with Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson. So I went to see it with an open mind, thinking that at the very least it would be something to talk about afterward, even if it turned out to be a disappointment.

I still don't know how I feel about it! I don't know whether to be confused or amazed; entranced or disgusted; impressed or repulsed. Overall, the acting performances were strong and it was a very clever script. The plot had lots of delicious twists and turns (but I admit, I saw a lot of them coming). It was super edgy, and because of that I was taken out of the movie at times. It was almost designed to shock. It didn't seem natural. It was as if the director was rubbing the scandal in our faces. I enjoyed the movie a lot up until the end where the main character (Chloe) did something quite (in my opinion) out of character. It just didn't gel with what her character had been known to do up until that point. The film also had quite an abrupt ending. I think it was meant to make the audience think, but it really just left me with a blank stare on my face as the credits rolled.

I talked about the film afterward with my friends Eric and Michael. We all agreed that the problem was there was no character arc in the whole film. All the characters remained in one place, exactly how they were at the start of the movie. We see no change in any of them. It is the plot that winds its way around the stagnancy of the characters. This was disappointing, as many of the characters were very intriguing, but when examined closely they were either boring or underdeveloped (to no fault of the actors; they simply weren't written to have anything beneath a curious surface). It's funny; the movie was interesting, yet completely boring at the same time. Once we riddled out the plot, there was no meaning to it at all! A strange film...

Dejá Vu

Just saw The Runaways again last night it was so good. Like I said, GO OUT AND SEE IT. You will NOT be disappointed.

Mostly I just watched Kristen Stewart more, because Dakota Fanning really steals the show the first time you watch it. This time I focused on Kristen Stewart and was blown away by what I saw.