Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt

Every "Revolution" Needs A Leader

"In the movies the good guy gets the girl. In real life it's usually the prick." This lines uttered by Nick Twisp(Michael Cera), the main character of this movie, sums up all of his actions. Nick in the only child of a divorced parents who can't find any kind of steady relationship in their lives. This isn't easy for Nick because he lives with his mom and her boyfriends are less than nice to him. On vacation with is mom and current boyfriend, Nick falls in love with Sheeni(Portia Doubleday), who brings out his wild side. Nick creates and alter ego, Francois Dillinger in hopes to impress Sheeni. Francois really is a bad boy, causing Nick to get into some trouble once he goes back home so he is sent away to his father's house, closer to Sheeni. Another problem arises as Sheeni is gone away to school and this requires Nick to take a road trip to go meet her where he falls in more in lovely and hatches a plan to have her expelled to be closer to him. Things start to blow up in his face, but his alter ego is able to keep him going as continues to do crazy stunts to win this girl's heart. 

Michael Cera plays the perfect awkward teenage in this movie. His alter ego which appears by him like scenes from Fight Club make this movie even funnier. His actions and lines flow together so well that this movie will have you laughing uncontrollably throughout the whole thing. It's one you'll want to watch over and over again because it's an awkward teen just trying to find love, even if it means making up an imaginary version of himself.

Snatch.

Snatch.

Stealin' Stones and Breakin' Bones

"We get murdered before we leave the building, and I imagine we get fed to the pigs." This is Turkish's(Jason Statham) response to Tommy(Stephen Graham) if their gypsy boxer Mickey(Brad Pitt) knocks out his opponent again. Turkish got into a bad situation with a very powerful gangster. This situation all started because Tommy let their prize boxer get into a fight with a gypsy over a caravan. This led to Mickey the gypsy being their new prize fighter, only he doesn't know how to take a fall like the other guy. This causes a big problem for Turkish who lost this very powerful a lot of money. While all of this is going on, there is a very big diamond that everyone else in the movie is trying to snatch. This includes some bumbling idiots, a Russian, a bullet dodger, and a powerful man from America. Unfortunately for all of them, a dog has swallowed this precious diamond and no one is able to find this dog. Leading everyone to believe each other are lying and only adds to the violence they inflict on each other. All this action eventually intertwines at the end of the movie and quite the shock is left for Turkish and his partner Tommy. 

The comedy is this movie comes from bad luck. Every single character suffers a big case of bad luck at least once in this movie. The lines are also what causes this movie to be so funny. Everyone is so sarcastic to the people asking idiotic questions and it'll have you almost in tears. Not to mention Brad Pitt's character who is barely understood by anyone in the movie. It's another great funny gangster movie similar to RocknRolla.

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom

A tormenting and surprising story of children and adults during the stormy days of the summer of 1965.

"Jiminy cricket, he flew the coop!" This is said by Scout Master Ward(Edward Norton) when he comes to the realization that one of his scouts, Sam(Jared Gilman), has run away from the camp. He has left because he has been exchanging letters with another teenage, Suzy(Kara Hayward), and they have made a plan to escape the small island together. This leads to the few members of the island looking for these two teenagers, led by Captain Sharp(Bruce Willis), Suzy's dad Walt Bishop(Bill Murray) and Suzy's mother(Frances McDormand). The rest of the scout troops are also after these two runaways. Sam and Suzy navigate their way around the island and eventually run into the rest of the troop and a small ensues as Sam and Suzy chase them away. The two lovers then go to a little cove on the island and make a camp where they intend to enjoy life for a little while. They are soon caught and forced apart, Suzy back to her parents and Sam with Captain Sharp who is waiting for Social Services to come pick him up since he's an orphan. The other scouts end up helping them both escape and they make it off the island to the scout troop's base, where they pay someone to marry them. A big storm hits the island as they take to running again, only to be cornered in a church where the big finale takes place during a great thunderstorm.

These two characters are absolutely adorable in their puppy love throughout this whole movie. They pretend to act older than they really are and it adds to the humor. These two young actor/actress really steal the movie from the big names in it. All their awkward little romantic gestures and attempts to be adults really show teenage love at its finest. The big names in the movie also perform their roles well as minor characters, adding even more humor to this fairly new movie that a lot of people will overlook.

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

The supreme shock sensation of our time!

 "I HAVE RISEN!" Yelled by the Skeleton as he awakens from his slumber which adds to the problems faced by Dr. Paul Armstrong and his wife Betty. The couple is just going to a cabin in the woods to try to find a meteorite which would mean actual advancements in the field of science. Little do they know of the troubles they are about the get themselves into on accident. They are soon faced with an evil scientist, aliens, a mutant creature and an evil skeleton brought back to life. The aliens are trying to fit in to get the atmospherium so they can fly their space ship back home after they catch the mutant. The evil scientist wants the atmospherium to bring the evil skeleton back to life who has powers that will allow them to rule the world. The scientist who actaully discovers the atmospherium just wants it so he can do science. The atmospherium is eventually taken by the evil scientist and he raises the Skeleton. Hilarity ensues as the rest of the film is played out ending with  final battle between the mutant and Skeleton.

This film is a spoof on all the terrible 1950s science fiction movies. The film is even in black and white. It also has splendid acting where the actors and actresses are able to be these characters with awful acting skills. I honestly do believe it takes great acting skills to act that poorly. It adds so much humor to the film along with the terrible special effects. This movie is truly one of those movies that is so awful on purpose that it is absolutely amazing. This movie will have you quoting it for a long time even though they don't make any sense at all.

Bunraku

Bunarku

They'll risk everything for honor, for power, for justice, for love, for revenge.

  "All this fighting. It's not who's right. It's who's left." The words uttered by Nicola(Ron Perlman), the big boss in town really sums up the movie. The movie starts out with a paper/puppet show of how the evolution of weapons has caused man to kill itself off in millions of people. The story goes on to explain that after so many wars, a worldwide ban on guns was finally issued and everyone went back to the old weapons, swords, spears and bows and arrows. Nicola runs the town with his killers and red suits, all of his followers. Others try to bring him down, but are never able to because Nicola has the best killers in town. That is until two strangers arrive to town on a train, The Drifter(Josh Hartnett) and Yoshi(Gackt). They help each other get to this man for different reasons, one for revenge and the other for honor. With the help of an older bartender(Woody Harrelson), they are able to infiltrate Nicola's compound. This isn't an easy task and requires the help of a lot of the poor people who have been training for years under an old general waiting for the right to strike. These two strangers provided that right time. A lot of fighting and blood ensues as the two strangers are left in a stand off with the most powerful man in the town.

 

This movie is absolutely spectacular. I has plenty of action with great fighting scenes and gives a look at a future without guns. You'd think it'd be a more peaceful place, but it's just as bloody as ever. Harrelson also does a great job of having comic relief in a very violent movie as the laid back bartender who always knows the right thing to say. This movie also brings together a western with a kung fu type of movie. As it's put in the movie, "A cowboy without a gun and a samurai without a sword." It's filled with a ton of mystery that is slowly answered throughout the movie if you pay close attention. It's a futuristic movie that brings back ways of killing people done in the past. 

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The first step to finding your destiny is leaving your mother's basement.

"You know what? I have a asshole for a brother and it breaks my heart." This is easy going Jeff's(Jason Segal) description of his brother towards the beginning of the movie. His brother Pat(Ed Helms) is following around his wife who is with a mysterious man after they had an argument over the purchase of a car. Jeff runs into his brother because he left their mother's basement to go find a man named Kevin. Jeff is looking for a man named Kevin because he received a wrong number phone call from somebody looking for Kevin. Jeff really hasn't accomplished with his life, hence why he still lives in his mother's basement, but he thinks this call is destiny. Speaking of their mother, she's a middle aged woman, working a boring job who begins to get secret admirer e-mails from someone she works with. This movies involves these three stories with the two brother's stories getting mixed together and having them fight throughout their whole adventure.  

   

Jason Segal does a wonderful job as this loser who seems lost when he leaves his mother's basement, but you can clearly tell he is a man on a mission. Ed Helms always does a wonderful job playing the man who just can't handle being around a socially awkward person like he does as Stu in the Hangover. Honestly, the movie is alright until the last fifteen, then it becomes absolutely amazing. The last part of the movie makes the rest of it that much better and I'd be lying if I said I didn't almost tear up a little bit.

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead

They got up on the wrong side of the grave.

   

"We're going to get you. We're going to get you. Not another peep. Time to go to sleep." A creepy reminder to Ash(Bruce Campbell), that he doesn't stand a chance against the forces of evil. The movie begins with five friends going out to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to have a relaxing weekend. Everything is going fine until they discover an ancient looking book and a tape recorder. They get curious and decide to play the recorder which is man's voice who was previously at the cabin. He begins to say a spell that was inside the book which releases the evil in the book. The recording goes on and the man talks about his wife becoming possessed and that according to the book, the only way to stop her is bodily dismemberment. The evil then of course possesses one of the friends and slowly starts to kill or possess the other members of the party. The whole time the rest of the friends are trying to figure out a way to stop this terrible evil. They slowly begin to learn what they have to do, but they are all friends and will they be able to do these terrible acts to the ones that they love. This adds to the complexity and the horror of the whole film.

 

This movie has the perfect balance of horror and humor. The lines and the voices are all extremely creepy, but the effects and some of the acting can't help but make you  laugh. Definitely a cult classic of the 80s, but it's something that can definitely be enjoyed throughout the different generations. If you happen to watch this movie, you will most certainly fall in love with Bruce Campbell and you will then want to watch The Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

SeX. MurdEr. MyStery. Welcome to the party.

  "Do not play detective. This is not a book. This is not a movie." This is advice given to Harry(Robert Downey Jr.) as he wants to help out an old crush from high school. Harry is a petty thief who stumbles upon a movie audition and is able to win the part. He's shipped to Hollywood from the east coast where he starts to learn some very hard life lessons. He's sent with Gay Perry(Val Kilmer) who is giving him private eye detective practice for Harry's potential role in a movie. Something that is supposed to be boring and mundane turns into the complete opposite as they unwittingly discover a murder. Perry wants to leave this case and advises Harry to do the same, until that body they discovered appears in his hotel room and they are forced to take action. Harry also begins to become more active as he lies to the "girl who got away" telling her he is a detective. The rest of the movie plays out Harry and Perry getting into a lot more trouble and narrowly escaping death on more than one occasion as they try to solve this mystery murder.

 

 This movie will have you laughing almost the entire time. Robert Downey Jr.'s character narrates the movie and talks to the audience with lines and mess ups that are gut splitting. The movie will also make you laugh with the amount of sarcastic lines used between every character. It also makes fun of the Hollywood scene in the mid 2000s and addresses a lot of the stereotypical problems that people see in the part of the country. It's a terrific film that has the right amount of action and humor that will make you want to watch it over and over to remember the witty comebacks.

RocknRolla

RocknRolla

A story of sex, thugs and rock 'n roll.

"We all like a bit of the good life - some the money, some the drugs, others the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he's different. Why? Because a real RocknRolla wants the fucking lot." Part of the opening speech of the film to explain exactly what a rocknrolla is all about. After the opening speech the movie begins with One Two(Gerard Butler) and Mumbles(Idris Elba) trying to get a loan to buy a building to get into a legitimate kind of business. This requires going through the very powerful Lenny Cole(Tom Wilkerson) who has a lot of the city in his back pocket. Little do they know, Lenny Cole who is supposed to help them, shuts them down and requires a payment for his services. Requiring One Two and Mumbles to go back to a life of crime to figure a way to man this man to avoid being fed to the crawfish in the Thames River. In comes a powerful Russian wanting to build a new football stadium willing to pay Lenny Cole a lot of money for this transaction to occur. In good faith the Russian gives Lenny a prized painting of his which he considers good luck. One Two and Mumbles with the help of the Russians accountant are able to easily rob the Russian's money that was the payment for Lenny Cole for the stadium. One Two and Mumbles now pay Lenny the money he was already going to get to clear themselves of their debt. Then the Russian's painting gets stolen from Lenny and One Two and Mumbles try to discover the rat in their little gang of thieves who has been getting members locked up over the past decade or so. The rest of the robberies, revealing of the rat and who exactly stole the painting is shown hysterically throughout the rest of the film.

                                                                                  

This whole film has subtle humor that will have your gut busting. You get to see Gerard Butler bust a move, get chased by invincible guards, and discover his close friend being gay, all while trying to avoid being crawfish food. This is another movie with a twist at the end that comes out of the blue as well as a fantastic ending that leaves it open for hopefully a sequel in the near future.

Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin

Wrong Time. Wrong Place. Wrong Number.

"A Kansas City Shuffle is when everybody looks right, you go left." One of the opening conversations of the movie has Bruce Willis' character, Mr. Goodkat, setting up not only the Kansas City Shuffle, but also the reason behind the movie. The movie's main character, Slevin Kelevra(Josh Hartnett), needs time to get away from his life as some pretty bad things have happened to him. He gets fired from his job, his apartment is condemned, he goes to his girlfriend's house to find her cheating on him, and when he arrives at New York for his getaway, he is mugged. Well when you're on a roll, you're on a roll. Slevin(Hartnett) is soon mistaken for his friend Nick and picked up by two gang members working for the Boss(Morgan Freeman).  Slevin, with no way of proving his identity, is mistaken as his friend Nick, who owes the Boss a very large sum of money. Slevin is given a few days to come up with a very large sum of money and sent back to his apartment. At this time he meets Nick's neighbor, Lindsey(Lucy Liu), who helps Slevin figure out his troubles. After Lindsey leaves there is a knock on the door and two very Jewish men are at that door to big up Slevin, again mistaken for his friend Nick. Slevin is now is the big building opposite to the one where the Boss resides, faced with another gang leader, The Rabbi. No surprise here, Nick also owes The Rabbi a very large sum of money as well, which is not put to Slevin to have in a couple of days.

The rest of the movie plays out a very elaborate plan put together by Slevin that ends in a very fantastic twist. To see what this twist is, you will have to check out the movie. It has a phenomenal cast and the storyline is absolutely wonderful. It is a great thriller that has plenty of action as well as very witty conversation.