Zero Dark Thirty

In her previous film, Kathryn Bigelow captured modern warfare unlike any other director. While others had made fast paced, action packed, gun blazing films, Bigelow focused on the slow, tension building, patient driven action that defines the state of modern war. She also was rewarded for her efforts by dominating awards season and winning the Best Director and Picture oscars over her ex-husband James Cameron. Needless to say when the news was released that Bigelow and  Mark Boal, who also wrote The Hurt Locker, were working together again I was excited. Add to the mix that the film was about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and you have cinema gold in your hands. Featuring a stellar cast including Jessica Chastain, Kyle Chandler, Chris Pratt, and Joel Edgerton and it seems that it is almost impossible to fail. With the potential through the roof, Bigelow has the potential to make an instant classic and capture one of the most important manhunts in recent history.


Zero Dark Thirty follows the driven Maya, a young recruit into the CIA after September 11, 2001 who has been assigned to the case of finding Osama Bin Laden. Starting at 9/11, the film follows the hunt and the long road to capturing the mastermind behind the attacks. Covering everything from detainee tortures to following bad leads, the hunt pushes Maya to her limits as she has to fight back doubters and her leaders working against her. After losing friends through the war and almost losing hope, after almost a decade of looking, Maya believes she has found the house holding Osama Bin Laden. Maya must now work fast to get the facts to back up her beliefs and to convince the bureaucrats in Washington that she is correct in hopes to capture Bin Laden before it is all too late.

Run Lola Run

 Just when you start to think that the recent rapid increase in speed of Hollywood’s editing is a bad move for film making, a film comes along to show you how that editing can be done right. With 1,581 edits and an average shot length of 2.7 seconds, Run Lola Run is an absolute fun thrill ride that sucks you in immediately into a roller coaster of a film. Multiple timelines, loads of interesting characters, a suspense filled plot, and ultimate superior filmmaking at its finest make Run Lola Run an unforgettable cinematic experience that few movies can offer. Its a kick to the balls that cinema needs while also giving a nod to the classics of the past.





The film follows Lola, a red headed high pitch screaming girl, who receives a phone call one day from her boyfriend, Manni, who has failed to complete a 100,000 marks gangster deal and will be killed if he cannot collect the money by noon. Giving Lola 20 minutes, she must figure out how to collect the money and save Manni before things turn from bad to worse.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

One of my favorite things about watching independent films is that we get to see creativity and imagination not suppressed by the studio system. I’m not necessarily critiquing the studios at all just nothing that independent films have a certain freedom that creates some of the best films we have ever seen. I think of Blue Valentine, Little Miss Sunshine, Shame, Hunger, and many more as just a few examples of how much power a film can have when art is prioritized above money. This becomes much evident in Beasts Of The Southern Wild as another great example of independent film having all the power and story that studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild follows Hushpuppy, a young girl in Louisiana, who lives with her father Wink in Bathtub, an island off the coast of New Orleans. Bathtub is wild and energetic community full of bright characters who live each life to the fullest with plenty of food to go around. Wink tries to help grow Hushpuppy into a strong person and be able to take care of herself when he passes away. Things seem good in Bathtub until a horrible storm passes through and floods the entire island. With their home destroyed and resources quickly depleting, Hushpuppy must learn to grow up and take care of her dying father all while confronting her fears and dealing with the absence of her mother.

The Dark Knight Rises

There are very few directors like Christopher Nolan in my personal opinion. There are not many directors that get me so pumped for a film like Nolan does. Unlike people like Almodóvar or Wes Anderson who bring out the film analyzer in me, Nolan brings out the true fanboy in me. With stuff like Memento and Inception, Nolan has become an icon among film lovers and one of my all time favorites, I've even begun saying "In Nolan We Trust". Nolan also is notable for doing something unlike any other director I have seen in my life time. Nolan was able to combine the film fanatic fan boys with the mainstream crowd to create a franchise that brings together just about anyone that has been to a theater to enjoy a film all together. It all started with Batman Begins and then followed up with The Dark Knight which is probably one of the greatest movies ever made. When I learned that Nolan would be back to finish the trilogy I was excited but nervous. How could Nolan possibly follow up The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's legendary performance? Even for Nolan it seemed far from possible. Still pieces started to fall together, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and even Anne Hathaway were announced to be casted and the new villain would be Bane. I was still skeptical but was very interested to see what Nolan was up to. "In Nolan We Trust". Then after years of waiting, we got to see the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. I was awe struck as the images in front of me confirmed my hopes, could Nolan possibly pull it off? Could he possibly make a film that was worthy of following up The Dark Knight? Well I made sure to get a front seat to the IMAX midnight premiere and after meeting and talking with some fellow movie maniacs, the lights went down, the previews played, and I got to sit back and watch The Dark Knight Rises. Read on to see what I thought of the finale to the epic trilogy from Christopher Nolan...

The Dark Knight Rises starts a few years after the last film ended. Harvey Dent's death has caused a new act to passed which helps the cops keep criminals in jail and a annual Harvey Dent day is held in his honor. Bruce Wayne has gone into isolation in his mansion with Alfred by his side. Little does Bruce know, a new villain is on the rise in Bane who has set his sights on Gotham. Bane, slowly but surely, lets his plan come together with his army of followers. Bruce decides its about time to come out of hiding, as the man and the bat, but quickly learns that things has changed since the last time he was out. Bruce must find a way to rise and protect Gotham from Bane while also getting his life back together. Will Bruce be able to protect Gotham as Batman or will Bane overpower him? Go see the movie to find out!!!!

The Skin I Live In

As a "movie maniac" I try to watch all kinds of movies for loads of different reasons. Sometimes I want to watch a classic in film history to understand its place and history and have a better appreciation for films today. Other times I want to watch a film to just have fun and enjoy myself. Then I have two reasons that are the main motivations for choosing a movie to watch. The first is directors that are either challenging or doing stuff different than everyone else. Directors who do this are Wong Kar-Wai or Wes Anderson who are very unique in their filmmaking and do stuff other don't dare do. Then I like to focus on international directors to see the stories that are being told all around the world. I would dare say that international film beats American cinema on any day. While some might disagree I think there wouldn't be filmmakers like Martin Scorsese or Christopher Nolan without German or Italian cinema to lead the way. So with that said we come to one of my all time favorite filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar who has made such films as All About My Mother and Broken Embraces. When The Skin I Live in was announced I was very excited to learn that he was going to be working with Antonio Banderas. When trailer came out I knew we were in for another fantastic ride from Almodóvar's brilliant mind. Then I finally got to see it after months and months and waiting and what did I think? Read on to see my thoughts...

The Skin I Live In stars Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, and Marisa Paredes in an erotic thriller directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film follows Doctor Robert Ledgard who after some depressing events in his life is on a search to create an artificial skin that would be impervious to fire, mosquito bites, and more in order to help others. Though more is under the surface of Dr. Ledgard as we soon learn that he is keeping a woman hostage, one in a weird tan suit that smokes opium all day. Needless to say there is something going on that we need to discover. As the film continues we learn more about this mysterious woman and the doctor with the horrible past.

Lars And The Real Girl

Tolerance. Tolerance has always been an interesting subject in my opinion. There are so many different ways to look at it. For one there is the big issue of not judging others for skin color, ethnicities, or what makes us different. Tolerance is a vital virtue for the world to have for us to survive. We need to have people that are willing to accept others with open arms. Then we can look at it as an individual issue. When it comes to family and friends, how far are we willing to go to accept others for who they are? What faults do people have that we look over because we love each other. So then we come across one of my all time favorite movies, Lars And The Real Girl. In my opinion a great movie that everyone should watch and talk about. One of the movies that really hits home for me because I think its message is incredibly important for the world. It was an early experience with Ryan Gosling and an interesting one at that. It is certainly one of the most unique movies you will ever see, but also one of the most challenging, at least if you see it like I do.

Lars And The Real Girl stars Ryan Gosling as Lars, a social awkward man, who has ordered a realistic sex doll, Bianca, as his girlfriend. Using the doll as i gateway to the real world, Lars creates a delusion and the people around him must decide to either put up with it or reject him from the community. Lars' brother Gus has trouble not only understanding but dealing with Bianca while his wife works hard to accept Lars for who he is. Lars must learn how to interact in the real world while at the same time the real world learns to deal with Lars.

The Amazing Spiderman

I remember when I was about 10 years old and I got to see the trailer for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. It was a great heist scene at a bank but as the burglars tried to escape in a helicopter they get caught in a gigantic web between two buildings (fun film fact that trailer was shot before 9/11 and afterwards the teaser was pulled). Nevertheless I was so excited and stoked to finally see my favorite comic book character on the big screen! Then it finally came out! and it was AMAZING! I LOVED it! Green Goblin was awesome, Spider-Man was badass and hilarious, and Franco and Dunst didn't do a half bad job. I was so happy with the output and watched it 4 times in theaters. Then we got a sequel and just when I thought things couldn't get better, Spider-Man 2 blew my expectations by being even better! Doc Ock was INCREDIBLE! The story great and the film the best so far. Then we got the 3rd one and it was awful, I mean horrible. There was no excuse but I blame the studio's pressure and control on the film for that one. It seemed that hope was lost and the ride was over. Then Amazing Spider-Man was announced and while I did have my doubts it did seem possible. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone seemed perfect casting and I was a HUGE fan of (500) Days Of Summer so I had faith in Marc Webb. While I wasn't excited for The Lizard or the fact that it was a reboot but I still hoped that it was going to be at least somewhat decent. So what did I think of The Amazing Spider-Man? Read on to find out...

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, a teenage nerd living with aunt and uncle after his parents disappeared at an early age, who is trying to reconnect with the mysteries connected with his parent's life. This trail brings him to Oscorp where he meets Curt Conners, one of his father's co-workers. While at Oscorp Peter does some sneaking on his own and accidentally gets bitten by a spider. This is no ordinary spider though as Peter immediately begins to feel the changes inside of him as he gains the powers of a spider. As Peter tries to get a grip on his new power while also trying to balance his life, his Uncle Ben is shot by a burglar. Peter goes out to seek the murderer for justice and along the way dons the costume and names himself Spider-Man. At the same time Curt Conners is being cut off by Oscorp and in a desperate move injects himself with a new serum, thanks to the help of Peter, and changes into the gigantic Lizard. All the while Gwen Stacy has come into Peter's life as a love interest. So Peter must find a way to accept his new role of protector all while stopping the Lizard before he can harm any more people.