My Ratings

Network- 5/5

Central Station- 5/5

The Matrix- 4/5

The Exorcist- 4/5

My Best Friend's Wedding- 4/5

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- 4.5/5

Inception- 3.5/5

Toy Story 3- 4/5

Faces- 4/5

Shrek 2- 4/5

Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith- 2/5

Spider-man- 3/5

Gladiator- 4/5

Titanic- 4.5/5

King Kong (2005)- 2/5

War of the Worlds (2005)- 2/5

Finding Nemo- 4/5

The Incredibles- 5/5

The Notebook- 3.5/5

Mean Girls- 4/5

10 things I Hate I About You- 3/5

50 First Dates- 3.5/5

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial- 4/5

Kill Bill: Volume 1- 4/5

Pretty Woman- 4/5

La Vie En Rose- 4/5

Jurassic Park- 4.5/5

The Lost World - Jurassic Park- 3.5/5

Jurassic Park 3- 2/5

Close Encounters of the Third Kind- 4/5

The 400 Blows- 4/5

TLOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring- 4.5/5

District 9- 3/5

TLOTR: The Two Towers- 4/5

Avatar- 3.5/5

Terminator 2: Judgment Day- 4/5

Aliens- 4/5

Taken- 4/5

The Gonnies- 4/5

Inglourious Basterds- 4/5

Kill Bill: Volume 2- 4/5

A Streetcar Named Desire- 5/5

Running Scared- 4/5

Ordinary People- 4.5/5

Closer- 4/5

Batman Begins- 4/5

The Dark Knight- 4/5

The Blair Witch Project- 4/5

Scream- 4/5

Scream 2- 3/5

Scream 3- 2.5/5

Scream 4- 2/5

Star Trek (2009)- 3.5/5

Toy Story 2- 4.5/5

Toy Story- 4/5

Aladdin- 3.5/5

Aladdin and the King of Thieves- 3/5

The Godfather- 5/5

The Godfather, Part II- 4.5/5

The Bourne Ultimatum- 4/5

Brokeback Mountain- 4/5

Antz- 4/5

I Know What You Did Last Summer- 2/5

There Will Be Blood- 4/5

Where The Wild Things Are- 3/5

Moulin Rouge!- 4/5

Doubt- 3.5/5

The Reader- 3/5

The Hours- 3.5/5

Lucky Number Slevin- 3/5

Ratatouille- 5/5

Up- 3.5/5

The Rescuers- 4/5

The Rescuers Down Under- 4/5

Cats Don't Dance- 4.5/5

My Neighbor Totoro- 4.5/5

Spirited Away- 4/5

Frequency- 4/5

Citizen Kane- 5/5

Do The Right Thing- 4.5/5

Dog Day Afternoon- 4/5

Boys Don't Cry- 4/5

Milk- 4/5

Wild Tigers I Have Known- 2.5/5

The Boondock Saints- 4/5

The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day- 3/5

HP and the Sorcerer's Stone- 4/5

HP and the Chamber of Secrets- 3/5

HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban- 4/5

HP and the Goblet of Fire- 3/5

HP and the Order of the Phoenix- 3/5

HP and the Half-Blood Prince- 2/5

Grindhouse (Death Proof & Planet Terror)- 4/5

Pineapple Express- 4/5

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)- 3/5

The Family Stone- 4/5

The Secret Garden- 4/5

Fly Away Home- 4/5

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81- 4/5

Explorers- 3/5

Batman- 3/5

Sleepy Hollow- 3.5/5

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street- 3/5

M*A*S*H (MASH)- 2.5/5

No Country for Old Men- 4/5

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back- 4/5

Star Wars: A New Hope- 3.5/5

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace- 3.5/5

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones- 2.5/5

Stardust- 3.5/5

Selena- 2.5/5

Don Juan DeMarco- 3.5/5

The Departed- 4/5

Babel- 3.5/5

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- 4/5

Life is Beautiful- 4/5

Son of Rambow- 4/5

Armageddon- 3/5

Sophie's Choice- 3.5/5

Kramer vs. Kramer- 4/5

Empire of the Sun- 3/5

The Passion of the Christ- 4/5

Signs- 4/5

The Happening- 1/5

Walk the Line- 3/5

Saving Private Ryan- 3.5/5

The Matrix Revolutions- 2/5

The Matrix Reloaded- 3/5

Cinema Paradiso- 4/5

Malena- 3.5/5

Julie & Julia- 3/5

Crash- 2.5/5

Bonnie and Clyde- 3/5

The Graduate- 4/5

Shakespeare in Love- 4/5

Million Dollar Baby- 4/5

Taking Woodstock- 3/5

Cloverfield- 3.5/5

Scarface- 4/5

Alice in Wonderland (2010)- 2/5

Machete- 4/5

Forrest Gump- 4/5

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)- 4/5

Beauty and the Beast (Disney)- 4/5

Chicago- 3/5

The Silence of the Lambs- 4/5

Pan's Labyrinth- 3.5/5

Rudo y Cursi- 4/5

Children of Men- 4/5

Before Night Falls- 4/5

Boyz n the Hood- 4/5

Speed- 4/5

The Prince of Egypt- 4/5

Premonition- 3/5

Pearl Harbor- 2.5/5

Forces of Nature- 3/5

Spider-man 3- 2/5

X-Men- 2.5/5

X2: X-Men United- 4/5

X-Men: The Last Stand- 3.5/5

X-Men Origins - Wolverine- 2/5

My Beautiful Laundrette- 4/5

My Left Foot- 4/5

Gangs of New York- 3/5

The Aviator- 3/5

Little Children- 3.5/5

The Holiday- 4/5

Revolutionary Road- 4/5

Atonement- 3/5

Pride and Prejudice- 4/5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer- 3/5

The English Patient- 4/5

Kick-Ass- 3/5

Cabaret- 4/5

Black Hawk Down- 3.5/5

30 Days of Night- 3/5

The General- 4.5/5

Peter & the Wolf- 3/5

The September Issue- 3/5

The Devil Wears Prada- 3.5/5

The Others- 3/5

The Other Boleyn Girl- 3.5/5

Hannibal- 2/5

The Birth of a Nation- 3.5/5

Birth- 3/5

The Grand Illusion- 5/5

American Beauty- 4/5

Can't Hardly Wait- 3.5/5

City of God- 4/5

Hero- 4/5

Casper- 3.5/5

Nicholas Nickelby- 4/5

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs- 4/5

Lost in the Barrens- 4/5

White Fang- 3.5/5

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf- 2/5

Bowling for Columbine- 5/5

Cast Away- 4.5/5

LOTR: The Return of the King- 3/5

Happy Feet- 3/5

The Brave One- 4/5

Bring It On- 4/5

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus- 3.5/5

A Christmas Story- 4.5/5

Norma Rae- 4/5

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York- 3/5

Home Alone- 4/5

American Movie- 4/5

Predators- 2/5

The Celebration (Festen)- 4/5

Bronson- 2.5/5

Living in Oblivion- 3/5

Sex, Lies, and Videotape- 4.5/5

Blood Simple- 3.5/5

La Ciudad (The City)- 3.5/5

Stranger Than Paradise- 4/5

Friday the 13th- 3/5

Life on Film, Blog #1

I am not a writer. I am trying to be but sometimes I feel like it's just not meant for me which is a shame because I want to write my own movies one day because one day I want to make movies for a profession...for life.

I am watching Julie & Julia right now and I must say it's giving me a lot of confidence with the blogging and all. Sometimes I wish I had Julie's determination.

Anyway, I am currently writing a screenplay. So far I have three pages, well, two and a half. The title right now is "Idea #3" because it was my third idea for a story. Oddly enough, it is the first one I am actually writing out. The other two are far more complicated and require a heck of a lot of research on science and stuff and right now with my full time job I just don't think researching can fit in. But I know I must get to it soon. I mean, it's not like "Idea #3" doesn't require any research it's just that I feel like it's a subject that I already know. I mean, I don't know it by personal accounts it's just something I've grown up with, like, knowing. So, I will continue writing out this screenplay because it is what I want to do! I am twenty two years old and I feel like my life is passing me by! I am not doing enough to get me on the get go. I need to write more. I need to videotape more.

Long sigh....

I need to get going. Anyway, I feel like this was comforting. I shall do it again just to give me confidence in my writing. And by that I mean more practice at actually writing...something.

I shall keep you posted. Whoever you are. Now, I shall get back to Julie & Julia and then do some laundry and then go to sleep 'cus tomorrow is Thursday and I did not get the day off!

-Jesus

Brave But Not Original

The Brave One, directed by Neil Jordan, is the story of a woman who takes matters into her own hands after the love of her life was brutally beaten to death by the common criminal that roams the streets of New York.

This story is one we are very familiar with, but perhaps will never get tired of. It is the "Vigilante" film, the story of a, presumably, youngish man who goes through a severe physical and psychological disorder in his life that nearly kills him but nonetheless doesn't. Therefore given him the strength required to take action against the evil aspects of society.

In the case of The Brave One, the vigilante happens to be a woman. Now, this is something that is not new to the history of vigilante films. Female defendants of society and/or dominatrices have become more often or better said, popular than before. We've got Trinity from The Matrix, The Bride from Kill Bill and the most recent- Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass. With The Brave One, however, we see a different type of heroine. She is not a superhero. She is not an expert at the martial arts. She is just a regular person, with a regular job and regular life. And that's what differentiates her from all the rest. And we identify with her because of that.

Nonetheless, it is still a vigilante film. No rules are changed. But for some reason it still manages to entertain you and I would have to say it's all in big part by Jody Foster who plays Erica Bain, or what some may call the female Travis Bickle, a radio host turned dark knight. Foster is simply superb. She is deeply within this character. She is transformed into a vividly scary persona that only comes from a scarred situation. Jodie Foster is a veteran of Taxi Driver so she clearly understands the realm of this world. A world not to far away from our own neighborhoods but unfortunately too familiar to us to surprise us.

The Brave One was directed by Neil Jordan the man behind Interview with the Vampire a film i'm very passionate about but nevertheless find it kind'f dull. The reason to that is that Jordan's casting is 99% appropriate only to be fallowed by a unfortunate predictable story. The Brave One is like that. The acting, mainly Foster's performance, is adequate and great but the story sadly falls short.

***