Rating: 4/5

Cast: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess

Plot:

Anne and Mary Boleyn are sisters, and though Mary has been married recently, both are after King Henry VIII.  Mary eventually falls in love with Henry, and Anne was to secure her social status. Since Henry’s wife, Catherine of Aragon, has not been able to provide him with a son, the girls’ father is in hopes that they will bear a son for him and raise the family’s social status.

Anne is sent to France after she causes a disturbance by marrying somebody who is already set to be married to another woman. Mary becomes Henry’s lover, and she gets pregnant.

Mary has to stay in bed through her pregnancy, since she was having health issues. During this time, Anne returns to the castle. Anne is supposed to distract the king, however she decides to attract him to herself.  She will not have sex with him, however, she tells him that if he does not ever speak to her sister again, he has a chance with her. Mary gives birth to a son, whom the king ignores.

Henry obtains a divorce from his wife, Catherine, and Anne will finally marry him.  Anne is now the Queen of England, and she is pregnant. She gives birth to a girl, Elizabeth. This does not settle well with the king, and when she gets pregnant again, she has a miscarriage. She is desperate, and asks her brother George to impregnate her. They do not follow through with it, however a rival of the girl’s tells the king that she saw them.

Anne and George are beheaded, even though Mary tries to save them both. She ends up raising Elizabeth, as well as her own son. Elizabeth eventually grows up to become the queen.

My rating: 5/5

Plot: A 16 year old student, Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers that she is pregnant with friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera).  Though she briefly considers abortion, she later decides to have somebody adopt her baby. While looking though the Pennysaver, Juno finds the perfect couple, Mark and Venaessa, played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.

Juno becomes friends with Mark, as they share the same taste in music, movies, and general personality.  Juno has feelings for Paulie in the meantime, but has trouble expressing it.

Mark begins to develop somewhat of a crush on Juno, and says that he is leaving Vanessa. They divorce.

Juno gives the baby to Vanessa anyway, without ever setting eyes on it. It is obvious at the end, that Juno and Paulie are back together.

My opinion: I absolutely love this movie with my entire heart and soul, and both Ellen Page and Diablo Cody are my heroes.

 Rating: 2/5

Background: This is a remake of the original Amityville Horror movie, made in 1979.  The novel that the original film was based on is said to tell the tale of a true story, something that happened in 1974.

Plot: Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George play the lead characters, George and Kathy Lutz.  George is the stepfather to Kathy’s three children, and they are looking for a new home in Long Island, NY. The house that the family chooses previously belong to a family by the name of DeFeo. Allegedly, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and brothers and sisters, shooting them to death, in the house.

Soon after the family moves into the house, the Lutz’s start seeing and hearing strange things, especially George.  SPOILER: At the end, George tries to kill the rest of the family, but they escape from the house unharmed.

Inconsistencies: There is a character in this movie named Jodie, who was supposed to have been killed by Ronald Jr. In the 1974 shootings, Jodie did not exist.

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My rating: 2.5 / 5

Information: Karla is based on the true story of two of Canada’s most notorious serial killers – husband and wife team Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

I found out that the movie was originally called Deadly, but it was renamed. Another thing that is pretty awesome about the movie is that it is based on actual transcripts, interviews, and video.

My thoughts: I thought that the movie was a good portrayal of the serial killers, however, it is very partial to one of them. I’ll let you guess. Laura Prepon is the big name in the movie, Donna from That 70s Show if you didn’t already know. It’s interesting, but totally cheesy.

My rating: 3.5 / 5

General Information:

2000 drama and romance starring Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. It’s based on a novel written by Billie Lets. The movie begins as Novalee Nation, a pregnant teen from Tennessee, sets out for California on a trip with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend abandons her at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma, with only a few dollars. She secretly moves into the Wal-Mart, and ends up giving birth there. She sets up a new life, raising her child and meeting new people.

My thoughts:

I love this movie. I love everything with Natalie Portman, or at least so far, and I was not disappointed here. I was surprised by how much I actually liked this movie, I typically don’t like movies set in the midwest. This movie is pretty unique and original, much more so than I thought it would be.

Rating: 1 / 5

General overview: 2001 American film that is a remake of the 1997 movie “Abre los ojos”. It was directed by Cameron Crowe.

Plot: Tom Cruise plays David, who is in jail. His psychologist, Curtis, reveals to the audience that David has been charged with murder. He does not seem to remember it, however, and he is wearing a strange mask.

David meets Sofia (Penelope Cruz), who he really likes, however a girl that he often sleeps with, Julianna (Cameron Diaz), does not like this. The next day, Julianna makes David feel guilty, and it is apparent that she is obsessed with him. He is in the car with her, and she drives off the bridge in an attempt to kill both of them.

Julianna dies in the crash, however David does. Sofia is starting to feel uneasy around David after the crash, so she kind of snubs him. David ends up passing out on the sidewalk, and Sofia wakes him up, saying she will stay with him if he gets his act together. David also gets his face restored due to plastic surgery.

David begins hallucinating. One night, he wakes up next to Julianna, who insists that she is actually Sofia. He grows violent, and ends  up killing Julianna. Everybody else, however, keeps calling her Sofia.

The movie goes on with this type of confusion, and somehow we come back to David in the jail cell talking to his doctor.  David convinces the doctor to take him to a cryonics company that is involved with life extension.

David visits the company and realizes that he has signed on as a client. He was allowed an unending custom-made life with no memory of his death.

David is given the choice to either be reinserted into the lucid dream or to be awakened in the present time.  He chooses to be awakened into the present time.

Other interpretations:

1. David has really gone to the future and has been woken up.

2. The whole movie is a dream.

3. The movie is actually a novel that David’s friend is working on.

4. The entire movie after the crash takes place while David is in a coma.

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My thoughts: 

I really didn’t care for the movie too much. I thought it was way too confusing, even for somebody who understood the movie.

Rating: 1 / 5

 General Information:

The Brown Bunny is an American indie film written, produced, and directed by Vincent Gallo, also the lead, in 2003.  Gallo plays a motorcycle racer who is on a road trip, and is haunted by memories of a lover he once had, Daisy. At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Gallo’s film was booed, and Roger Ebert called the film the worst film in the history of Cannes.

Plot:

Bud Clay is a motorcycle racer who is driving from New Hampshire to California to race. Along the way, he is haunted by memories of a past lover, Daisy.   On his trip he meets many women, but does not show any emotional concern towards them. Violet is the first woman he meets at a gas station in NH, and he convinces her to join him. When he stops by her house to get her to grab her things before leaving, he takes off without her.

Next, Bud goes to Daisy’s parent’s home. This is where we find the film’s namesake – Daisy’s brown bunny.

Bud then runs into a woman, Lilly, at a rest stop, who is crying. He comforts and kisses her, but then leaves  her.

In Vegas, Bud drives around and is approached by prostitutes. He asks one to get lunch with him, but then he leaves her at the curb.

Bud stops at Daisy’s home which seems abandoned, and leaves a note for her on the door. He then checks into a hotel, where Daisy appears. She goes to the bathroom twice during the visit to smoke crack cocaine, and suggests that they get some alcohol. Bud says that he no longer drinks, due to things that happened last time they were together.

They get into an argument about Daisy being with other boys. He then undresses her, and she performs fellatio on him.  Afterwards, they lay in bed and they talk about what happened before. He asks her why she hooked up with boys at a party, and she said that she was being friendly and got high with them. Bud gets upset because she was pregnant and whatever happened caused the baby to die at the party.

Through visual cues, it is evident that Daisy was raped at the party, and Bud did not intervene. He left the party, came back, and saw Daisy in an ambulance. She explains to him that she is dead, having choked to death.

Controversy:

Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder were both supposed to be involved in the film, however they both dropped their names. There is speculation that they dropped due to the fellatio scene.  Chloe Sevigny, the actress who performed in that scene, had been intimate with Gallo before, and decided to take the role. She was also dropped from the William Morris Agency for it.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding a billboard in Hollywood, Ca in 2004 that featured a black and white image taken from the fellatio scene.  It was not explicit, but it was removed.

My Thoughts:

I thought there was too much driving and not enough plot. There was no attachment to Daisy for the viewer, and I really didn’t feel like I walked away impressed.

1. Vantage Point
2. Be Kind Rewind
3. The Other Boleyn Girl
4. 21
5. Sex and the City Movie
6. Saw V
7. Austin Powers 4
8. Harry Potter

Anybody else want to share theirs?

I saw Little Miss Sunshine last week and was very pleasantly surprised. I was most surprised to see that a lot of the film’s ending was actually filmed close to my town. I loved the acting, loved the characters, and was not at all disappointed. I wouldn’t recommend it for the kids, but if you like dark humor, I would definitely go for it.

I love Netflix because it’s so convenient and easy to use. I have always had a problem getting movies back to Blockbuster on time, but with netflix it’s so easy all I have to do is drop the movie back in the mailbox. I also love the queue system, you can have up to 500 movies in line to be sent to you. Also, I get movies within one day of me sending back previous ones. Great job Netflix!