May 2011
Hanna was very interesting, albeit not quite what I was expecting. The movie did a good job of breaking up the action and suspense with a little bit of much-needed humor. This is a story about a girl, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan; Atonement, The Lovely Bones), raised in the wilderness – well raised isn’t the right word, more like trained; survival, tracking, evasion, deception, combat, languages, as well as typical education. Essentially, she is trained by her father (Eric Bana; Star Trek, The Time Traveler’s Wife) as a spy from early childhood for one purpose: to kill Marissa, the woman (Cate Blanchett; The Lord of the Rings; Elizabeth) responsible for her mother’s death. She grows up completely cut off from the world, but deeply curious about it as only a child can be. In the beginning, you get a glimpse of her life as it has been and then you are thrown into the adventure. She has the mission to complete and she wants to see the world, but she also finds herself on a dangerous, but necessary, journey of self-discovery. The cast was great and the suspense was well done, but I think my favorite parts of this movie were Hanna’s interactions with regular people, as she gets to see how people interact. If you’re in the mood for some suspense and action with a couple of good laughs thrown in, then I say go for it.
Rating: Fun to watch, not to own.
Scream 4 is possibly my favorite from the Scream franchise. I had to go just because I couldn’t imagine why they were making a 4; 3 seemed to wrap things up so nicely and they had just been getting worse as they went. I wanted to know what was up. So, there you go. In this case, curiosity did not kill the cat; curiosity made the cat’s night. This film stays true to the franchise in that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and is poking a little friendly fun at the genre. We get back the original cast… well, those whose characters were still alive at the end of the last movie: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox. They throw in some new faces: Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin; and add some fantastic cameos (you’ll just have to watch the movie for those). I can’t lie… I really, really liked this. Humor For The Win. I am indifferent to fake violence and to scary/horror movies, in general, but if you can make me laugh, you got me. There are some good jumpy moments and plenty of bloody, slasher scenes so if you like that, then definitely go; and if you don’t, then this probably isn’t for you.
Rating: I think I will buy this… might look into a boxed set situation.
Well, it took me long enough to get around to watching The King’s Speech. This was a really well done film. The acting was fantastic; Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush worked really well together. This is the true story that follows a Prince of England (King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II’s father, to be precise) as he struggles with the public part of his royal responsibilities due to the speech disorder alalia syllabaris, commonly known as stuttering. This is the story of his ascension to the throne and how hard he works to become the king that his people need, in spite of the challenges he faces every day. It was a good story to tell, uplifting, and I learned some things about the British monarchy that I did not know before; like if her uncle had not abdicated the throne, there might not be a Queen Elizabeth today. Interesting.
Rating: great movie, but I don’t need to own it.
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