Megamind

This animated film is about a supervillain, Megamind (Will Ferrell) as the protagonist, whose arch-nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), is the town hero whom everybody loves. He finally kills Metro Man early on, but realizes that he is a useless villain without anyone to fight.

With a somewhat unique twist on a plot concept that has been explored before, this movie takes its humor to another level--not as far as HOW funny it is (because it is probably on the same level as The Incredibles in that category), but with the KIND of humor. It's very satirical--interrupting the emotion, even, at some parts. But it was very interesting and an amusing film to watch. I enjoyed it thoroughly--although I wished it would be funnier at times (especially considering the vocal talent that it possesses). However, I feel as though the humor that it had was possibly above many people's heads, and will be appreciated more somewhere down the line. But for now, it won't be the best of the year as far as animated films, but it will be far better than many that I've seen before.

Overall Grade: A-


-Ethan Brehm

Due Date

This movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Peter, who is trying to catch a flight back to Los Angeles to witness the birth of his first child, and Zach Galifianakis as Ethan, an flamboyant wannabe actor who crashes his car into Peter's door outside of the airport. Later, inside the flight, Peter realizes that Ethan is sitting behind him on the plane. Ethan then proceeds to get Peter kicked off the plane and onto the no-fly-list. He then has to find another way to get to California. Ethan offers him a ride in his car, which he soon realizes will be a ridiculous ride with a ridiculous person.

I loved the clean and fun humor in this movie--with the exception of one or two parts. And I loved the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Galifianakis. Downey plays a great straight-man, and has a great goofball opposite with his costar. This film seemed to be a modernized version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but offered a little bit different take. It was the same concept, with different character depths and a different relationship between the characters. It was the same in all the right parts, but different enough so that you can't blame it for being a shameful replica of a classic. Instead, it has the right unique elements to make it a potential classic of its own.

Overall Grade: A


-Ethan Brehm

Hereafter

This film that was expanded to wide release is one that should be seen, but probably won't be. The movie has 3 different stories about death and how it affects each individual. It stars Matt Damon as George, a psychic that can speak to the dead but doesn't want to because of his fear that he cannot have any normal relationships because of it. When he touches someone's hand, he immediately is able to speak to their dead loved ones. Cecile de France plays a French TV journalist, Marie, who survives a tsunami and claims to have died and come back to life. In England are 12-year-old twin brothers, Marcus and Jason (played by Frankie and George McLaren), one of which dies in a car accident early on in the film.

I loved this movie! It portrays death in so many aspects and scenarios, without being too morbid about the topic. It also celebrates the appreciation of life through facing death. The two child actors have never had any acting experience before, and Eastwood perfectly directs them both to convincing performances. All the other actors are greatly casted. The script is perfect, and the movie has great messages. It will make you laugh and cry without too much of either. See this movie while you have the chance!

Overall Grade: A+

-Ethan Brehm

My Soul To Take

In the first film that Wes Craven wrote and directed since New Nightmare in 1994, this film offers nothing new as far as jumpiness and gore in the horror genre. It's about a serial killer, Abel Plankov, that comes back from the dead and attempts to kill seven teenagers who were all born on the day that he died.

It's an interesting story. However, the acting sucks with the exception of John Magaro, who plays Alex, the best friend of the main character, Bug (Max Thieriot). Magaro has a bright future if he plays his cards right. Other than him, the actors are literally all terrible. The film isn't as scary as a lot of other films that I've seen this year. I mean, you see the "ghost" of Plankov within the first few minutes, which makes it a little less scary. However, there are a lot of jumpy chase scenes involving him towards the end. That, and you never know when he's going to strike. He doesn't look all that scary either.

Also, this film felt like it was leading towards a religious theme at some parts--e.g. camera shots focusing on pictures of Jesus, comments about going to church, etc.--but nothing came out of it, as though it was forgotten about.

The story of this film is somewhat unique, and it throws a couple twists your way, but overall, the bad acting and poor screenplay doesn't allow this film to climb the ranks with other films of the same genre.

Overall Grade: D+


-Ethan Brehm

Paranormal Activity 2

I hate movies like this. It's a film, shot documentary style, with no-name actors who live in a house and just had an addition of a new-born baby boy. Meanwhile, there is this paranormal force that keeps disrupting their lives and seems to want something. Throughout the film, they try to figure out what it wants.

It's a very creepy movie. There is no music to hint to you when the scary parts are--which kind of makes it even more scary! The storyline is decent, and the acting (considering they are all unknown actors) is pretty good actually. Granted, I haven't seen the first one (and probably never will), so I can't offer a valid comparison. Though, many other critics liked this one a lot compared to the first one. Either way, I'm not the type of person to grade a movie based on comparison to the first one.

The story isn't terribly original in the scary movie genre, but it will still keep you guessing and wanting to know what happens next. I still will never watch this movie again though.

Overall Grade: B-


-Ethan Brehm

Red

This film stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and Morgan Freeman as a group of ex-CIA agents who are forced out of retirement. They prove to everyone that they all still have what it takes--if not more--that they shouldn't be reckoned with. It also stars Mary Louise-Parker as Bruce Willis' on-screen girlfriend.


I really enjoyed this movie. It's full of fun action scenes. It's suspenseful without taking the humor and lightheartedness out of it. The film never takes itself too seriously. I had a lot of fun watching this movie--which is what matters most.

Overall Grade: A


-Ethan Brehm

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

This is an animated film about two brother owls that are kidnapped by an evil owl clan. Soren, one of the brothers, escapes and begins his adventure to seek out the Guardians, who he has heard stories about all his life, to stop the evil owls. He meets friends along the way to help him on his journey.

This is a beautifully done film. It is brilliantly written. There is so much great dialogue! It has a perfect combination of drama and humor. It is a great adventure film. It is not as predictable as it may seem. Some parts of the story reminded me of Star Wars (don't hate me for saying it).

There is nothing I didn't like about this film. It just adds to the amount of amazing animated films released this year!

Despite what the critics say, this story does live up to its potential! I can't wait for the sequel!

Overall Grade: A+


-Ethan Brehm

Let Me In

This film was under the radar a bit. It stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen, a bullied 12-year-old who lives alone with his mother in an apartment in New Mexico, and Chloe Moretz as Abby, Owen's new neighbor who is also a 12-year-old--except she is a vampire. Owen befriends Abby in this movie, set in the 1980s, and learns about her little by little.

This movie was brilliant. It wasn't really scary. It had some scary scenes, but it was more of a drama. The film takes the genre of horror movies, filled with cheap budgets and bad acting and writing, and takes it into a world of passion, feeling, and mystery. It moves a little slowly but keeps you enthralled the entire time. This movie had the feel of The Lost Boys but with a little more heart and drama. It plays on a couple of twists that are geniusly placed. Rarely does a film work with the two leads being children, but this movie is an exception--Moretz and Smit-McPhee are both very convincing and have a great chemistry with each other. Richard Jenkins has a small role in this film as well (I love Richard Jenkins).

Movies from 20-plus years ago tend to move more slowly than modern films, and it worked for them. Slow films nowadays don't get too many fans because they are usually PAINFULLY slow. However, this movie takes the pace that worked for so many films of years ago and makes it fit right in with this modern-day film without involving any pain whatsoever.

The only thing I was confused about, though, is that it seemed as if there was a religious theme to it the whole way through, but then no conclusion as to where that went. Maybe I read into it too much and it was just supposed to be small thoughts here and there.

There's no wonder why Stephen King says that this is the best horror film of the past 20 years. Go see it!

Overall Grade: A

-Ethan Brehm

It's Kind Of A Funny Story

This film stars Keir Gilchrist as Craig, a 16-year-old who admits himself into the hospital after contemplating suicide for the umpteenth time. They send him to the psychiatric ward. There, he meets Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) who is also a patient. Throughout the film, Craig is on a journey to find out what is really wrong with him, what he wants out of life, and how to deal with his severe self-awareness issues.

This film is really entertaining. It's hilarious at times, and dramatic at times--never taking itself too seriously. It is really well written and acted. The film is original and quirky in all the right places. There are also some great messages about life and thoughts that trouble and stress out most of our society. When you watch this film, really listen to what it's trying to say to you.

Overall Grade: A


-Ethan Brehm

Jack*** 3D

If you've ever seen these films before and liked them, you may like this one as well. Otherwise, it's the same old gross-out humor as before--if not less funny.

I'm not a big fan of these to begin with. The first one was the best out of all three. It actually had a few things that I would laugh out loud at. This one had barely any at all--but maybe that's because I'm no longer in high school anymore either. This one was, I think, more gross than funny. It didn't do as much hidden-camera stuff as usual--which is what I liked about the first one more. There was, however, one hidden camera scene in this film that I found really funny. But other than that, I think most people who don't like the first two films, or think that they're just ok, won't really care for this one especially.

However, there was a funny Beavis and Butt-head short before the movie, prepping the revival of the series on MTV!

Overall Grade: D+


-Ethan Brehm