Reviews by kgbelliveau

Ryan Bingham: If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life... were you alone? Life's better with company.

Ryan Bingham is the one guy as a worker you never want to meet, because it means your life is about to go down the drain. Bingham is the guy that gets hired to tell people they are out of a job. Bingham is good at what he does and likes what he does. He is not interested in settling down and raising a family, he likes being on the road. He meets Alex who seems to be interested in the same things he is, so they hit it off and begin to fall for one another. All the while Ryan must train newcomer Natalie Keener who has a new philosophy that will keep them grounded. She is trying to introduce a new idea about letting people go via video conference.

Ryan Bingham: All the things you probably hate about travelling -the recycled air, the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap sushi- are warm reminders that I'm home

Ryan Bingham likes his disconnection from society. He likes that he isn’t tied down and he likes that his life constantly has him on the go. All that changes for him when he meets Alex. She is the first person that understands his way of life, who does not want him to be someone other than who he really is. Alex and Ryan really begin to connect and they actually begin to like each other, and he even invites her to his younger sisters wedding. Ryan begins to genuinely care for Alex she isn’t just someone he wants to have in his life on a part time basis. The love story that blooms is honest and real. Farmiga and Clooney have such awesome chemistry and that is what makes this film so real. Despite the negativity that surrounds the character of Ryan Bingham the times he shares with Alex have this upbeat feel to them, much more then you get from watching the trailer. The trailer only shows you little glimpses of how Farmiga and Clooney are perfect when on screen together.

Anan Kendrick is so awesome in this film; she sheds the image she built herself when she starred in the Twilight films. This is Anna Kendrick, she is fiery full of passion and energy and she will do awesome things in the future. I would not be surprised to hear her name called within the next 5 years at the academy awards. She brilliantly played her character and keeping up with Farmiga and Clooney is no easy task.

This film was ultimately a commentary on society. How the corporate downsizing has affected America, and I liked Reitman’s touch on having real people in front of the camera and allowing them to express their views on losing their jobs. Reitman is a fantastic filmmaker; he is also a brilliant screenwriter, who makes films that don’t dwell on things that have already happened but things that are still happening things we as a society need to see as prominent issues.

I like that this film was just an everyday film and Bingham’s life does not change or nothing out of the ordinary takes place. He doesn’t get wrapped up in some major conspiracy; he just goes about his everyday life and wonders about the future of his industry. Reitman does bring a surprise ending into the picture, one that plays to the tune of the depressing atmosphere which is created in the firing scenes. Reitman wonderfully moulds a film that’s ending is somewhere out of the ordinary from the beginning. This is probably the best film I have seen that keeps these people’s lives ordinary. These people are all enjoying their lives as they currently are, which is good to see the struggle of these characters as things around them seem to be changing. Especially Ryan as he finally begins to let someone into his life. Alex was the only characters whose everyday life seemed a bit of a blur right up until the end and there is a reason why Reitman keeps it this way. Nathalie and Ryan are the two characters affected most by the events that transpired in this film.

I really felt connected to these characters and that is the best thing about a Jason Reitman film. Clooney just seemed so natural, Farmiga was great and this film made me a fan of Anna Kendrick. Good role for Jason Bateman as well, I will forever like that guy because of Arrested Development. I am excited for future Jason Reitman projects which may have Jason Bateman in them.

Arlington Steward: I have an offer to make. If you push the button, two things will happen. First, someone, somewhere in the world, whom you don't know, will die. Second, you will receive a payment of one million dollars. You have 24 hours.

Arthur and Norma Lewis are the average married couple who are working pay check to pay check spending more than they have. They get an offer from a man named Arlington Steward who offers them one million dollars but somewhere someone has to die. Norma and Arthur contemplate the issue and ultimately accept which sends them on a journey which no one expected.

The first 40 minutes or filled with deciding what was right and what was wrong I felt like I was reading a self help book on how to feel like I made the right choice morally. They went back and forth, tossing the idea of someone else’s death like it meant nothing. They discussed the fact that they don’t know the person, but Arthur looked at it from a different view saying it could be anyone, the neighbour from across the street, their own parents, a family friend. In the end after weighing these options and seeming like a genuine family Norma still pushed the button. So much for the back and forth Moral discussion, throw that book out the window. What happens next is clearly not what anyone expected. I was thinking it was some sort of creepy test but in the end in the grand scale of things it would just be one man working to make a point. How wrong was I?

They went way beyond just trying to convey a simple message of what is right and what is wrong. They brought into a whole lot of other things that drew away from the original “Box” test and threw the family for a whole other ride. In the end the film does make sense, it is just that Richard Kelly took the long way around and ruin his original idea of this just being a moral test.

I did not buy into Cameron Diaz’s acting. Her accent was terrible, her mannerisms were equally as terrible and her words seemed forced, like someone said she either did this film or her career was over. She didn’t even try hard at all, her lines that were supposed to solidify her character were flat, her decisions were not something we all couldn’t see coming before hand. Her character was nothing original and neither was the acting job she put forth. Not a good role for her to have taken on.
Arlington Steward: There are always consequences.

I was also heavily disappointed with Fran Langella. He also came up flat, his voice sounding dull and lifeless, when his character of Arlington Steward was the center of the whole mystery. Langella was the key piece to making this film come off as realistic and when he teetered on the brink of being that cheesy shadowy figure I began to laugh at the events that took place in this film.

There is much debate amongst fans on forums debating about what this film actually means, who Steward was, what the box represents and why he is playing this game. In the end I don’t think any of these debates matter, this film is an over developed mess of moral decisions weighing heavily in ones heart. The ultimate message of this film is that when we make a wrong decision we must be able to live with the fallout not anyone else. We cannot blame our choices on anyone we need to take responsibility and own up for the mistakes we make. This movie should have stopped after about 60 minutes and I really think it would have made a better short film then a feature length film that runs at almost 120 mins. Because what this movie should have done, which it failed to do is make us think about what our decision would have been in the same situation. It failed to do this when Kelly threw in all the back story of Arlington Steward, leave him as the creepy figure that shows up at the door, and focus on how the ultimate decision would have driven these people crazy without the added bits of the supernatural. The reason behind Stewards game doesn’t matter, he is testing these people and the moral message could have still been delivered if Richard Kelly could have at least made us connect with his characters.

Really not a good film, not at all what I was hoping it would be.

Frank(Dicaprio) and April (Winslet) are a married couple with two children, and they have a house, Frank works for a major company makes enough money to keep them both well set for the rest of their lives. April doesn’t like the life they lead, and she wants out. Frank tells her that they should make the move while the kids are still young. The decide to go to Paris and start over, but something gets in the way and that one thing is called Money. Continuing to live this life, means they still have all the money that Frank makes, without the happiness to go along with it. They have friends who they hang out with and they try and help John Giving’s (Michael Shannon) regain his sanity while they begin to lose their own.

To sum this film up in a few words, I know it’s early in the review to be doing this, but I feel like this is as good a spot as any. This film is real life like to the point that it could reflect any one person that could be at the theatre. Some will share the ideas of Frank and some of April. Neither is really wrong, the both love each other they just can’t seem to agree on what their life should be. Frank wants the big house, children, friends, a job, money, everyday life. April wants the thrill, something new, different, a challenge, a change, a life. They cannot seem to agree and they come face to face with explosive feelings on the matter. The arguing scenes in this film are so deep, intense, and relatable. Often time’s people can easily pick a side when arguing and disagreements are major in a film. But in this one, the problem is that you cannot pick a side. There is no clear cut right and wrong, they both have their beliefs and different people will see it from a different point of view. This film needed to be this way to avoid being sexist in any way. The men could see Franks views. The women could see Aprils. The challenging part was being able to see both. Being able to agree with the hurtful words they both slung at each other. Being able to identify with the words, feel their pain, feel it all, let it take you and let it consume you. With this film it will ruin your evening. The emotions will hit you, break and make you sad and not really want to talk to anyone, and just wallow in your own brain and weigh out your own life before you begin to criticize the life of another human being.

When talking about the leads it is so easy to write separate paragraphs and talk about each character and dissect the role. These characters were Undecided from phrase to phrase, thinking, pondering, hoping to decide the right thing. There is really no question after this one, Winselt and Dicaprio were both 100 times better than they were in Titanic and both should be winning Oscars in 2 weeks time, but unfortunately that won’t happen. Dicaprio and Winslet were astounding, were heart wrenching. They threw words at each other like they were married, they didn’t act, and they lived this film. They took over those lives and it was amazing. This was more than just two performances, it was real life, this stuff happens, it really does, and it is hard to see it on screen, you cannot predict the ending, you can see them for who they really are as characters and that is the problem that is what makes this film to sad and to heart breaking. This film will make you want to cry, yes it will.

A little side note, when I watched this film and the sad awkward moments came up and people didn’t know how to react they turned to laughter. I would like to point out I didn’t really find any one scene from this film particularly funny in any way. I didn’t really think that was a laughable film and that was a judgement made way before I even went to see it. So please people don’t turn to laughter, it’s ok to be sad and let it make you sad. It is more than just a film, it is the depiction of how real life can be, and that is sad.

As far as this story goes, it is simple, it is greatly written and it can be described as truly realistic. Some people might even go as far as to say this film is boring. It wasn’t for a moment boring, it just really isn’t a film for everyone, it really isn’t a film that everyone will enjoy, it has a rather sad ending, which I will not give away until maybe later in the review. It has a lot of heart stomping, mind racking, true to real life dialogue. This film has the best dialogue in a film that came out in 2008. It was a great film, in every sense of the word great.



Frank Wheeler: I want to feel things. Really feel them

April Wheeler: Just because you've got me safe in this little trap, you think you can bully me into feeling whatever you want me to feel!

From this point on there will be some spoilers. I feel the need to keep talking and keep writing, so I advise anyone who really wants to see this film not to read anymore.

1.Frank and Aprils relationship- Their relationship had its ups and downs, like most relationships, but why did they let it get out of hand like that. Right from the beginning it was evident they were on the wrong road, so did they let it get out of hand. To give my opinion the matter, I think it was because as much as they couldn’t live together and make it work, they wouldn’t have been able to live without the reassurance that every night the other would be there to help the other out if something went wrong.

2.Friends and Family- Frank and April had friends, but it always seemed like their friends were mocking them and that they were mocking their friends. That could have just been my young mind working this movie for more than it was, but I really did see the same reflections off of April and Frank that people still do today with their friends. We always talk about people when they arent around.

3.Cheating- Both Frank and April cheated, but when Frank was open with her and eventually told her, why didn’t she tell him. She had the chance, he wanted her to know that his cheating was something has had done. I am not trying to pick sides here, but from my vision it looked like he was trying to clear the demons and she wasn’t. It looked like he was ready to make nice and she wanted to rehash all the memories and suffering they had.

4.Even if you have read to this point and still haven’t found a spoiler that is major, then this one will be. The abortion argument- Frank was really harsh with April and he shouldn’t have been. His views on the issue weren’t wrong, but she wanted out and he couldn’t see that. He didn’t think she was right in any way and that if he had money she would be fine.

5.Franks Outcome- Franks outcome was probably the saddest thing in this entire film. He only moved to the city after April dies and he shouldn’t have. He should have stayed right where he was on Revolutionary Road because he drove her to death over that house. He pushed her until she snapped and then he just up and abandons his life because she is dead.

6.Final Scene- Helen and Howard Giving’s are the couple that introduce the Wheelers to Rev Road, and at the end they are talking about how they knew it wouldn’t work, and that there was something odd about the wheelers the whole time. I found this scene really sad, because after all that she sat there and said she could see it all the time. It is easy to see that once it happened.

7.Millie and Shep- Shep believed that April might have been pregnant with his kid, that is why he acted so badly when Millie was telling the new young couple. When he walked out and looked at the house and how the colors had changed, it signalled a new beginning on Rev Road with the same old haunting for the one man that maybe did care about their well being, or Aprils at least.

This film was brilliantly created, masterfully acted and is a great sad film.

The MacManus brothers have been living on small farm in Ireland when they get news that their beloved priest Father McKinney has been killed in their trademark style. The boys decide it is their time to return to Boston and seek vengeance on those who framed them. With the help of Romeo they are back at their old habits in no time, seeking justice and doing what the police seem to be unable to do.

Noah 'Il Duce' MacManus: Peace, they say, is the enemy of memory. So it had been for my boys. For some time now, their past had felt like a dream. Then, suddenly, it was back.

Troy Duffy’s original film was a masterpiece, it has originality, it had flare, it had comedy and it had good acting. I will admit being a huge fan of the first film I was sceptical when they announced a sequel. I was curious as to how they could create a new story since the brothers left Boston. Then as news broke about this film and a trailer was revealed it looked decent, still though the one question remained how could they bring back all the old characters and make it all work, how could they live up to the legendary status of the first flick. What Duffy did this time was he focused more on the humour from the beginning. Romeo was supposed to come in and be the comic relief as well as the cops being drawn into Eunice’s quirks.

Rocco: Theres two kinds of people in this world when you boil it all down. You got your talkers and you got your doers. Most people are just talkers, all they do is talk. but when it is all said and done, it's the doers that change this world. and when they do that, they change us, and that's why we never forget them. so which one are you? do you just talk about it, or do you stand up and do something about it? because believe you me, all the rest of it is just coffee house and bullshit.

There were two major things missing in this film, one being Rocco who was perhaps the best character in the first film. He makes an appearance through a dream sequence but that does not seem to cut it. The second notable factor is Willem Dafoe has been replaced by Julie Benz (who ultimately tries too hard to have the same mannerisms as Smecker did in the first film). As much as the new additions may have not lived up to the first film, the three cops were back, and Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Connolly all reprised their roles in this film. Had any of those three been replaced or left out, any real fan would have passed on this film. But let me make one thing perfectly clear, I don’t want another Boondock Saints film. These two stand as something unique and special on their own, and to create a franchise would ruin the cult classic many have come to love over the years. The ending revelation was a bit of a letdown, it is not how people expect the Saints to be viewed, however Duffy still needed a sufficient way of possibly ending his series.

Connor MacManus: You ready for this shit, my dear brother?
Murphy MacManus: Let's do some gratuitous violence.

The MacManus brothers may have a flare for going all out during the execution scenes, there may be those unbelievable action scenes where they manage to pull through and no one else does. Still there is something real about the religious beliefs of these characters. It struck me back when I watched the first one, that even though they are doing gratuitous violence they are executing those who are in the wrong. The MacManus brothers don’t execute good people, they go for those who have killed, and who are cold and ruthless.

The Boondock Saints remains one of the purely original series I have seen. In a time where people have difficulty coming up with plots and original stories, Troy Duffy doesn’t seem to have an issue with plot ideas. At the end of the day this film falls short of its predecessor while still managing to be an entertaining film. There has been plenty of hate on the internet for this film. Yes it is over the top, yes there is tons of violence, but remember folks these characters aren’t your average do it by the books type characters, and my advice is if you weren’t entirely pleased with the original this one won’t do it for you either. Skip this one if you found the original ok, and only watch this one if you the original is on your favourites list.

Sal (Hawke) is a struggling family man who has 4 kids and his wife is expecting twins, he knows that the house they live in is not big enough to support a family of 6, so he is looking into purchasing a brand new property. Throughout the film he is constantly on the phone with what is assumed to be a real estate agent saying that he will soon have the money. Sal believes he can confiscate money at a bust. His friend Ronny Rosario (Brian F. O’Byrne) warns him against doing so. Tango (Cheadle) is an undercover cop who has gotten himself involved personally with those he is supposed to be taking down. One of those people is like a brother to him, Tango wrestles with his emotions about bringing down local drug dealer Casanova Philips (Wesley Snipes). Eddie (Gere) has Seven days left on the job, and he just wants them to go buy as fast as they can. Eddie has depression issues and as his last seven days unfold we see that Eddie is willing to let things go unseen because he just does not want to have the hassle of being involved.

Antoine Fuqua creates 4 lead characters. Four people we can all relate too. Sal just has it rough, he needs the cash. He is not a bad man he just takes for granted what he already has. At times Sal just needs to take a step back and realize his family may not be in the perfect situation but putting himself at risk may not solve any of their issues. Tango is probably the one that we can identify with the most, he has loyalties in the police force, laws he swore to uphold, but Cass saved his life, and we all know that when someone saves your life you owe them one. Tango is trying to find a way of getting Detective first Grade without having to throw Cass off the bridge so to speak. Cass has a tough life to live, we all know that morally drug dealing is a terrible profession, but one can understand that growing up on the streets of Brooklyn would not have been easy at times. Eddie is an older cop who has been around the block perhaps many more times then he would have liked, and the images and the cases he has worked are going to stay with him for the rest of his life. Eddie just knows the ins and outs of the job to well to know that they will not be able to save everyone, and being a hero can at times get you killed. You could easily feel the life in these characters as they marched across the screen. Antoine Fuqua wonderfully paints their emotional lives all over a canvas.

This film was exactly the type of film that really shows the ins and outs of humanity, these were Brooklyn cops struggling to keep up with everyday life and what did he see in this film? The lies the corruption that they are involved day in and day out. This film is dark, it is real. The lives, the situations were ones you could easily read in your local news paper or see on the evening news. It seemed more like a reality TV series more than a film and that is because Fuqua masterfully told three separate stories with Sal, Tango and Eddie barely intersecting in each other’s life.

There wasn’t any really scenery that stood out except an aerial view of the Brooklyn Bridge. There were a few flashy bar scenes but you could tell through Cheadle’s brilliant display of facial expressions that for Tango it was all a hoax. Cheadle was the best of the four main stars, and his chemistry with Wesley Snipes was perfectly in synch that you felt these two were like brothers. These two could easily own a much better script as this script was the first screenplay written by Michael C. Martin. This film will not be a stand out come award season next year, or it will not hit a greatest films of all time list, but it is something down the road one could easily have in their collection of gritty cop dramas. Cheadle really executes the edgy feeling of a man in too deep. Snipes stands a long side him wonderfully portraying a man whose life looks glamorous on the surface but he himself is constantly hiding money and living on the edge for fear someone could turn on him.

Really why this film was so perfect is because there was not the high speed car chases, the insane explosions, the dangling from a helicopter action scenes. They kept the three plots separate from one another and Michael C. Martin kept the plotlines simple enough that you will not be wondering after viewing who was who.

Ultimately the three storylines are just building tension through-out the film so that within the final 25 minutes they explode and their lives will forever be altered.

Jackson Curtis: No matter what happens, we'll all stay together.

As scientists begin to fear the end of the world, one man tries to keep his family safe from disaster. Jackson Curtis (Cusack) begins to listen to the wild theories of Charlie Frost (Harrelson) and he realizes that everything Charlie speaks about on his radio program is coming true. Also at the same moment Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Ejiofor) is the geologist who begins to realize that the end of the world may be happening faster then he originally predicted. Now with the impending disaster about to strike it is a battle of survival and people are willing to do all that it takes to survive.

Adrian Helmsley: The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment we lose our humanity

From the way I saw the commercials they labelled this as a John Cusack film but he was not able to pull off the level of performance I have seen from him in the past. His lines were monotone and sound like the same record scratching to look for the next good thing to play. Cusack failed to grip during the emotional family moments, the tender moments where he was supposed to make it seem to his children like everything was going to be ok. Perhaps it felt this way because these films are way to predictable as far as knowing what to expect next. Cusack perhaps could not deliver the emotional fervor because we knew that the next scene would feature the same sort of idea.

I however was pleasantly surprised at the performance of Chiwetel Ejifor, he played Adrian on a human level, he was not racing against an ash cloud or massive tsunamis to save his children, but he was the man who had to keep this catastrophe a secret and watch as the people developed a sense of hysteria and a will to do what it took to survive. He has the right idea about restarting humanity but just like every other redundant disaster flick there was one man who felt he had authority and whatever he said is what happened. All though through the commonplace of events one could understand that Adrian was in fact human and was trying to keep humanity alive and alienating people because of status and class was not the way to go about doing it.

After looking into the surprised reaction and sheer terror of these characters and deciding whether or not the circumstance that took place are believable or not one must then do a little bit of research to discover whether or not the science beyond 2012 is actually realistic. The Earth Crust displacement is a real theory. If you want to read more about it check out this website here [Link removed - login to see]. There is evidence gathered by Professor Charles Hapgood on this theory but he could not narrow it down and say that it would be taking place in the year 2012. The theory states the earth is supposed to move on its axis which in the movie caused the fault lines to create massive mid ocean tsunamis which had enough force to destroy land for miles. My advice to anyone who likes science is to watch the film and then look into the theories yourselves, because I don’t know all that much and so I decided to link to a page that has more sources then I can possibly give you.

Now if you want a film where you watch the devastation of mankind where you can predict the outcome from mile away or you are looking for action that is way beyond anything I hope to ever see in my lifetime then 2012 is your film, it is explosive with CGI and the destruction of the cities is rather action packed. Take note Governments and build these “arks” and everyone begin the trek to China in early 2012 because The date of December 21st may not be when the world as we know it comes to end. If you want to believe in the 2012 theory that is.

Take away the over the top visuals and there is really no reason to watch these films, all these big name actors hired to play filler roles to help build the realism was waste of budget money. My advice, rent this film for a 3 hour filler gap of time, if you are completely and utterly bored beyond belief then take a 10-20 minute walk and rent this from your local store, oh and turn on the surround sound if you have it, other than that I say skip this one entirely.

Sources
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Larry Gopnik is professor and his life is about fall part because his wife is planning on leaving him. Larry tries to figure out where his life is heading, as he tries to manage his career his brother and being a father all at the same time.

I liked the realistic 70's feel to the film and some of the music that was played over a few scenes, but that is where my liking for this film basically stops. This film was one of those films that left you saying "Did that actually end?" There were so many questions throughout the film, so many odd bits introduced and so what do the Coen brothers decide to do? End the film during the best scene in the film. The Coens had the fans hooked with the feel, but after that they brought a weak cast of characters, ones that they failed to really add substance too. I thought the characterization of Gopnik was repetitive and he kept going through the same old routine as the film progresses.

This film lacked in so many ways. The Coen’s delivered their flattest film since No Country For Old Men, a film I also could not buy into. The Coen’s seem to have a knack for getting mediocre pictures recognized by the academy. I simply just don’t get what these guys are all about. I mean No Country for Old Men was a decent flick but nowhere near Academy Award winning material, and I have to say the same for this flick. All though it is pretty clear this picture is not going to win come Oscar Sunday.

As much as I did not like the film, I really wanted too, and there will little elements that I could relate to. For example the brother sister relationship seemed real enough, and I did like the tie in with the Jewish faith.

I just think this film comes down to its main Character Larry Gopnik having no real development or any stand out character trait we can really relate to as an audience. I feel the Coens put too much effort into the world he lived in and the situations he was a part of instead of really giving us a character we felt compassion for.

In the end this is simply my take on this film, and this film has been getting rave reviews and many people liked it, and I can honestly see why. It is a faith we often do not see a lot of on the big screen, and the Coen brothers really tried for offbeat comedy but they failed miserably at establishing the off beat humour in which they were looking to present.

This film had no clear cut ending, and I think that was a mistake, the ending scene was too dramatic and too good to just leave it open. I didn’t buy into this film until the final scene and then just like the rest of the film they found some way of throwing the little bit of greatness they had away. I really wanted more out of the Coen brothers. I was hoping to be amazed at what I saw because usually I really connect with these types of films. Yet I still hope that the next Coen brother’s project is good and I will continue to watch their films because they have the potential as I saw with “Burn after Reading”

Danny Archer: That diamond is my ticket out of this God forsaken continent.

After Danny Archer(Dicaprio) is caught smuggling Diamonds across the border he is sent to prison, where he overhears that a local fisherman names Solomon Vandy(Djimon Hounsou) has found a massive diamond, but he isn’t telling anyone where it is. Danny works the angle knowing Solomon wont know who to trust. Danny has ulterior motives, but all Solomon wants is to get his family back. While on the journey Danny reveals bits and pieces of his life story to Maddy Bowen (Connelly), but as the two connect, Danny and Solomon decide they must be the ones to go in and retrieve the Diamond before anyone else gets their hands on it.

Danny Archer: T.I.A. This is Africa.

I went into this film having seen Leo’s masterful performance in The Departed only two months earlier. I was hoping for the same kind of emotionally charged performance in this film. What I was left with was a completely different character. It is easy to understand his cynical viewpoints, but the one thing the audience does not get to understand about Archer is why he has shut himself off from showing just a little bit of compassion. We all can understand that living his life, he would become hardened and self sufficient, but the one thing we dont understand is why he would not want to help Solomon Vandy who is an innocent man. We see Archer through-out the film scheming and planning to get Vandy out of the picture so that he can cash in on something Vandy worked hard for. But as the film progresses and Archer connects with Maddy we see glimpses of a softer more vulnerable Danny Archer, and these are the scenes in which DiCaprio is able to fully utilize his talents. DiCaprio is so good because we aren’t sure if we want to believe anything Archer says but we can’t help but feel sorry for all that he has been through.

Maddy Bowen: The people back home wouldn't buy a ring if they knew it cost someone else their hand.

Then there are Solomon Vandy, a local man who is a fisherman just trying to right by his family, and Maddy Bowen an American Journalist who just wants the rest of the world to be aware of these issues. At first neither of them like Archer as he gives them no reason to feel anything but resentment towards him. Maddy sees right through his tough guy exterior and Solomon knows that he has no other choice but to work with Archer. Connelly and Hounsou feed off the energy and the emotion of DiCaprios finest performance in his career. Hounsou and Connelly play two innocent people caught up in an age old war.

Why is Blood Diamond such a good film, because it just doesn’t focus on Archer, Vandy and Bowen, but on the government, the child soldiers the slavery in which these people have been forced to partake in for many generations now. Blood Diamond is such an emotional film because they aren’t afraid to show you all the horrifying images that many people are afraid to look at. People can raise the argument that all three of these characters are fictional, but I will raise the counter argument that there are people out there just like Archer, just like Solomon and there are real children who are forced to fight for the revolution of which they want no part of. As the final screen tells us, without giving spoilers as to how the film finishes, there are still over 200,000 child soldiers in Africa.

Danny Archer: Sometimes I wonder... will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize... God left this place a long time ago.

Now you may not see this as the greatest film of all time like I do, or you may not see DiCaprios performance as one for the books, but if one image from this film stuck with you, whether it be the child soldiers, the refugee camps, the burning of villages or the men working in Camps day in and day out just to find diamonds so that wealthy people here in North America can buy each other presents then this film did what it was supposed to do.

Blood Diamond is the best film of 2006, and perhaps the best film I have ever seen, DiCaprio should have won best actor, Hounsou should have won best supporting actor. But most of all this film should have at least been up for best picture.

[to Maddy Bowen]
Danny Archer: You come here with your laptop computers, your malaria medicine and you little bottles of hand sanitizer and think you can change the outcome, huh

Dr. John Cawley: We don't know how she got out of her room. It's as if she evaporated, straight through the walls.

Two us Marshalls are sent to investigate the disappearence of a patient at a mental institution, but as soon as they get their they realize nothing is as it seems, no one is willing to talk or give them the information they need. Teddy (Dicaprio) is also involved in the case for his own personal reasons. His partner Chuch (Ruffalo) is newly relocated Marshal and this is his first case working with Teddy. The island is not what it seems to be, there are a stockpile of questions that never seem to get answered.

When I heard that this film was going to be made by the team of Scorsese and Dicaprio I knew right away this was going to be an intensely dark and dreary drama with little to know hope for the characters in the film. That mood is established right away in the film, with eerie music and dark and depressing war flashbacks. Scorsese uses lighting to perfection, making the building seem darker then one would believe it to be, this is a trick used to build our anticipation to the thrilling climax. What I liked the best was the unhappy fantasy feel to the flashbacks, you could tell right away it was flashback and that it was all part of the nightmares Teddy has been having.

As everyone already knows I am a huge fan of both Dicaprio and Scorsese, both together and separately, their careers speak for themselves, and now with the fourth collaboration the created a truly authentic and well acted Psychological thriller. This was best movie I have ever seen classified under the genre of horror. Horrors need to have the real life feel to them; play on the craziest of the crazy.

And as he has in recent years Dicaprio gives off another award worthy performance that he wont win for, its a shame the academy keeps passing on this guy, when is he finally going to win. Three previous noms and he strikes out going 0/3. I find that ridiculous especially if you take a look at what he was nominated for. We all were hoping this would come out in October and make a strong push for both Dicaprio and Scorsese but that didn’t happen. Now it has to hold up against the entire year of films, which includes another film starring Leonardo Dicaprio. When Dicaprio finally wins an Academy Award (Which he will) I will be happy for him, because looking at his career thus far it is hard to believe he isn’t nominated every time he turns in a performance

Ben Kingsley was perfect for the role of Cawley, Kingsley has that notion about him, the intelligent man wise beyond his years, and this performance is probably one of the best I have seen from him in recent years. I like this guy, he has a lot heart as an actor and he made a good choice.

This film was as good as they come, for a film that won’t win an award, this film was visually intense, the setting with the island and the Warden and the doctors and the patients as they walked in. All a way of showing the audience how creepy this film was going to be. But down the line they switched the focus from visually creppy to emotionally and mentally creepy.

This feeling was portrayed by the near perfect cast, Dicaprio and Ruffalo, Kingsley, Michelle Williams. They all had different emotions to portray. Dicaprio one of distrust, Ruffalo played his character is the easy going guy just tagging along for the journey. Kingsley played Cawley with the hint of mystery to him, but he continued to maintain the fact that there was no larger conspiracy happening. Michelle Williams for the most part played Dolores as the perfect image in Teddy’s mind. But as the film progressed she began to take on another image, that of the one thing Teddy always felt guilty about.

I do admit one thing, without Scorsese beautifully imagining the scenery, this film movie probably wouldn’t have been so good. It was Scorsese willing to do what many filmmakers won’t, create authentic emotions will keeping the element of surprise completely intact.

There has been a lot of debate over certain things that took place in the film, and I don’t want to reveal too much, but there is no question as the outcome of the film, there are a few scenes that really depict this, and maybe you had some questions after reading the novel, but the film answers all of them, as I was hoping the visuals would give more closure then the words on the page. Still this is finally a book adaptation that has been handled with precision and care. The thing is, Dennis Lehane novel adaptations seem to have a knack for being turned into stellar films. Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and now Shutter Island, three of the best films I have had the pleasure of watching. Dennis Lehane also likes to be an observer of the script being penned for adaptations of his novels. He ensures they will be done to his liking, and I can respect that, no author wants to see their work torn to bits buy a terrible script and a terrible film crew. Dennis Lehane is a great writer, his stories drag you in and they wont let you go until even when they do you are still searching for more. They have a way of gripping you tightly, and you hope for the best while ultimately knowing the best is never what happens.

This is the film I have been waiting for since I read the novel, and this is probably going to head straight to the top of my list of book to film adaptations which already includes Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. Dicaprio, Kingsley, Williams and Ruffalo are perfectly in synch together that it gets way to emotionally intense during its final moments.

After his Daughter is murdered outside his home detective Thomas Craven goes on a hunt to find her killer, at first suspecting that he was the target and not her, it doesn’t take him long to figure out otherwise, and he begins to look into her life, her job and the people she was hanging out with.

The whole who is the target plot got really old, it was clear right away that she was the target and it had something to do with her job. You could easily figure out that she had something wrong and she didn’t want to tell her father. It was poorly executed and I was hoping that they would be a little more intelligent about this aspect. But like most films these days it was disappointing, before she even had time to explain, she began puking and bleeding and flipped out randomly and asked her father to take her to the hospital. Then she is shot out front of the house, and you know right away when they only yelled “Craven” who the target was. The name Craven was yelled so that we the audience would believe that someone was out to get detective Thomas Craven, but the mistake they made was having the daughter bleeding and puking and freaking out like something was horribly wrong. The smart way would have been to have her come like nothing was wrong, then have her get shot and then we find out about what she was involved in. But these filmmakers always assume their audiences are stupid, so they need to add little things that make it clearer. Give credit allow the audience to be surprised by one of these plots sometime, don’t just spell it all out, leave something’s up in the air.

Also the acting was good to a point. I am never really a fan of take matters into your own hands type characters, because they always seem to get out things that bail them out of certain death situations, and Thomas Craven is the same old same old resourceful cop that is featured in everyone of these modern day conspiracy theory films. Where I found Mel Gibson was the same as he always is, over the top I really liked Ray Winstone, a man we know little about, yet he seems to be trying to help out his mysterious ways, and as the film progresses we learn more about his methods and why he does what he does. His performance was spectacular because he was the one character that had the answers to the questions that were never answered throughout the film, and close to the end of the film we learn that he knew everything we wanted to know the whole time.

Even through all the questions and all the non answers we seemed to be receiving through out the film, the worst part of the film was the look about Northmoor, it was the clichéd eerie looking cliff nuclear energy plant, that had this fake air about it, why is it that all powerplant seem to run off in the ocean, and why do all these thrillers have a sequence where the badass guy is looking down about the city like he rules the world. Places like this don’t look that nice, it looked more like a hillside home built with mega security walls.


In the end it remains just your average run of the mill slow paced thriller with explosive bits of action that are off the handle, like shooting a guy in the head while driving at 50 or 60 miles an hour. There was supposed to be some hidden message deep inside that was supposed to make us think that we should stand up to things we don’t think are right, but the only thing I learned is that if I stand up to the wrong people they will kill me and get away with it, also that the government lies and supports illegal activities, like we all didn’t already know that. An attempt to be clever, fails. Saved by Mel Gibson’s decent return to acting and Ray Winstones mysterious portrayal as well as the revenge, one can surely relate to that.