The Other Guys Review

I first saw this movie in a little theater down at the beach. I had practically no idea what it was going to be about, only that it was a comedy and stared Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg. I had seen maybe one trailer and had just decided that day that it would be cool to see a movie and walk around town afterward.

I had no idea how good this movie was going to be. It was just the kind of movie I thought that everyone would love. It had those memorable one-liners. The comedic scenarios. The epic scenes. It was hilarious in every way shape and form. It even carried a substantial story along with it that did have a little bit of a twist towards the end.

Though this movie was amazing, there are a few factors to be warned of. For one, the movie can be a little vulgar. It mentions words and phrases that could have been left out of a PG-13 movie. I would not recommend this movie to anyone under twelve, ten, or eleven. And these ages may vary depending on that child's maturity and understanding of some subjects may be.

RED Review

      RED is a movie I have been hoping to see for a long time. I finally rented it with the high hopes that I would find a funny and action packed block buster worth quoting and watching a few times over. RED certainly was a good movie, filled with tons of enjoyable scenes. Who wouldn't want to watch Bruce Willis step effortlessly out of a car as it spun donuts around a crowded street and immediately start blasting away at a government assassin? Or see Helen Mirren smirk as she mows down a big black SUV with a humongous .50 caliber machine gun. Though this movie was filled with some fantastic scenes, the story itself was a little flat. Its not that it wasn't a good plot to support tremendous action sequences. It's just the fact that the director tries to make us care to much for the story, but what we really grow to care for is the action. And I think that in this movie, there could have been a little more of it. As said before, the story is substantial enough for an action movie, but it often becomes slow, unimportant, and hard to follow.

   But other than some of the problems with the story and the pacing itself. RED is awesome. And though I was a little disappointed with its overall value. It was an entertaining movie.

The King Speech Review

The lack of a video trailer is due to the fact that 

this movie is enjoyed the most with having nearly no expectations

and that trailers usually give away to much of a movie.

And this trailer certainly does give away the premise of the film.

      The King Speech is a movie that follows the journey of an upcoming British King as he deals with his speech impediment. It takes place during the nineteen thirties and  migrates to the forties. It is filled with significant character appearances, comedy, and a story that will blow your mind.

      The King Speech is one of my favorite movies of the year. I was never really excited to see it but after I left the theater I was just in awe. It simply a fantastic movie. The actors are amazing and most scenes could be described by most as EPIC. I don't want to disclose any details because this movie is most enjoyed when one has nearly no expectations. Therefore this should be a relatively short review.

      In conclusion this movie was amazing. I had no idea how good it would be until I actually saw it. And I left the theater with a much more positive outlook on life. 

      I would recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in a very inspiring story and an interesting way to spend a rainy day.

Scene of the Week

This is our second scene of the first week of this new segment. This is from an independent filmmaker called Freddie Wong. Vote if you like this video so I can post more from this specific filmmaker.

Here is the link if the video on this page doesn't work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XzdZ4KcI8Y

You may also find the making of all videos that I post under the YouTube homepage for the specific filmmaker.

Scene of the Week

This is a new thing we are going to be doing on this blog called the Scene of the Week. I will post a random scene from a collection of videos created by independent filmmakers, and if you enjoy the videos, you can follow these filmmakers on Face book, Twitter, and You tube. These videos will usually be action though. And depending on the week, I will post from one to three videos. Vote on each video you like. This way I will know from which filmmakers to post videos.

This is our first action scene from Freddie Wong:

 Here is the link if the video on my site doesn't work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DypnQQDAaU

You may also find the making of all videos that I post on the YouTube channel of the specific filmmaker.

The Social Network Review

 

 
   I was excited when I first knew I was going to see the Social Network movie. I had seen the trailer a few times and was really interested in what it was going to be about. I thought the plot was mostly going to revolve around Facebook, its creation and evolution and the movie mostly did. But the movie itself blew me away. I never knew the real story behind Facebook's starting point. How hard it actually was to create this site and the way in which it grew was amazing relative to other references in the movie. The lawsuits, the egomaniacs, the debates, all were surprisingly effective in the final outcome of the movie. And these are some of the things that really bring out the entire experience of watching this film.

      I also really enjoyed the actors and how well the casting was able to portray each one's personality. From Justin Timberlake, to Jesse Eisenberg, and even Andrew Garfield. They all played really interesting characters and portrayed each of them very well. Each one had their own ideas, their own attitudes, and in some cases disliked each other in different ways.
   
      All in all, the Social Network was a great movie. I would recommend it to anyone who would be interested in the creation of Facebook or genre of this movie. This movie definitely earned the right to win so many awards at the Golden Globes and it is destined to win a few awards at the Oscars.

If you want to hear more about movies and the Golden Globes, go to:
http://www.hbellwoar.blogspot.com/

Make your own Films: Effects

Every kid has the inspiration to want to make their own videos. All you need is a camera and an idea. But what about for those of us who want to make something better with awesome muzzle flares, explosions, lasers, and other effects. Searching for the right effects programs though can be very challenging. Some programs can cost thousands of dollars and do practically everything movie related. While others can cost a few hundred dollars and do only a part of jobs you want completed. Here is a program that I have found that is relatively cheap but can also satisfy nearly all of you movie making needs. This program is called Fxhome but has many different branches that you can buy and download.
Here is the site for one of the cheaper and more basic buys, you can use this one for muzzle flares explosions, lasers, smoke, and some different color grades:

http://fxhome.com/effectslab-pro

If you scroll up on that page to wear it says products, you can view other programs that can serve different purposes.
There is one problem with this program though: it does not produce sound. It may create some awesome visuals, but your going to need to mix your own sounds if you want a final finished project.

Tron Legacy Review

If there is one thing that is to be said about the Tron series it is that it has a ton of potential. This digital world is somewhat like Inception in a few ways: One second in the real world would be 5 months on "The Grid," people can be trapped in this little creation for years such as in limbo, and these two stories are possibly some of the greatest concepts that could be portrayed as a movie. Thankfully, Inception has capitalized on this and made their simple idea one of the most fantastic movies of the decade. Tron, however, I believe does not live up to its full potential. Disney took sponsorship of Tron Legacy, and turned it into the PG rated family-fun action movie of 2011. This is exactly what is wrong with this movie. Not to say that PG rated action films are not entertaining, but the presentation of Tron pushes the envelope as it tries to connect to entirely different audiences. The movie starts off with the young and digitally remastered Jeff Bridges disappearing and leaving his twelve year old son, Sam, to be the head of the families mega-company. It then skips a few years to the twenty something year old Sam base jumping from buildings and leading police on short chases, up to when he to disappears while investigating his fathers creation. This is where Tron Legacy can lose some of its flare. Sure the humongous futuristic mega city is breathtaking at first glance, but it becomes bland throughout the movie to the point where all of the scenes mesh together into one long hallway. The action sequences also become somewhat monotonous. As the entire movie is basically computer generated; the action scenes (like the setting) lose their shine. And if your anything like me you will sometimes find yourself looking around the theater waiting for it to end. The producers also failed to incorporate any interesting dialogue into which this story was pitched. Lines can be somewhat corny and the uncoordinated motion in to which they flow makes them hard to say, act, and receive. Some action scenes were also dialed down to meet the kid friendly status of a Disney movie and in turn boring anyone above the age of thirteen. This was not the case with most people though. Many of my friends really enjoyed Tron Legacy and found their spiffy visuals pleasing. The title was also a problem for me. Tron is not a city or weapon or a machine or anything that could remotely tie into the story. Tron is a digital character that Jeff Bridges created way back when to protect him but turned bad. You only see Tron about two times in the movie. And though he does succeed in momentarily saving the main characters, I do not think his name should represent the entire film. In conclusion, Tron Legacy, for me, was a very long movie. Scenes and settings blended into one bland road. And dialed down content of the film was not very impressing. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys interesting special effects. And anyone with children wanting to go to the movies on a rainy day.

Second Thoughts:

Tron was a relatively entertaining movie. Though some of this movie may be a little boring for some, it can certainly entertain others. This was not a bad movie, it just didn't take advantage of its full potential. In conclusion, Tron was interesting and certainly, at one point or another, grabbed my attention.