Blow

"Blow" is the true story of George Jung (Johnny Depp) who helps bring cocaine to America and make it into a big name drug. George works with Pablo Escobar and many others to make his trade one of the biggest in the world.

George grows up in a struggling family where is mother does not like the lifestyle and leaves often and a father (Ray Liotta) who is a hard working man and wants to provide the most for his family. But they go bankrupt one day and George tells himself that this will never happen to him. George starts out as a low level dealer who moves out to California and meets Barbara Buckley (Franka Potente) who introduces him to Derek Foreal (Paul Reubens) and the two of them go into selling marijuana and make big money out of it. But one day he gets caught bringing back 220 lbs. of marijuana and will probably get 1 year tops but his soon to be wife Barbara gets cancer and dies, so George skips town. He goes back home and talk with his father but his mother calls the cops and they arrest him.

George serves time in jail where he meets Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla) a drug dealer with Columbian connections. When they are both released they go into business together and start to work with Pablo Escobar, the single biggest cocaine dealer ever. They bring it back to the States where they hit it big. They make millions upon millions and create the market for cocaine in America. At the highest George has about $60 million in a Panamanian bank. George and Diego are living it up and having the times of their lives.

George meets Mirth (Penelope Cruz) at Diego's wedding and the two hit it off and get married. They have a daughter together and everything looks great but like all happy tales they have to be stopped. After a while everything catches up to George. Diego back stabs George by taking over the business with Derek by themselves, he loses all of his money, and gets caught with cocaine and goes to jail. In jail his wife divorces him and his daughter does not love him anymore. When he finally gets out of jail it is in the 1990's and he wants to change, be a better person and spend time with his daughter. He promises to take her to California. The problem is he needs money because he is broke, he gets in touch with Derek one last time and they do a deal. But it turns out that Derek made a deal with the cops and set up George. George gets 60 years in prison and let down his daughter. He is not eligible for parole until 2012.

The movie is good and I felt bad for George cause he wanted him and his family to be happy but in the end everything went bad for him. To show the rise and fall of George made the movie more personal, like I said at the end of the movie I felt bad for him, ending up with nothing. Just to make things worse his daughter has never visited him, which is sad. Overall it is a good movie and would recommend this movie to anyone. I give it a 8.5/10.

Cloverfield

"Cloverfield" is a monster movie set in New York. The story is about five friends who are having a going away party for another friend, when a monster hits New York City and starts destroying the city. When the monster hits Rob, who the party is being thrown for goes to rescue his ex-girlfriend, Beth, who is stuck in her apartment.

The whole movie is shot from their video camera which adds a sense of realism to the movie, like you are there with them. But after a while it starts to make you dizzy. Another part that makes the movie realistic, is that there are no A-List movie star actors. There are real people so you can relate to the movie more. During the movie it keeps going back and forth between the day of the attack and a month before where Rob and Beth went to Conney Island but don't worry most of the movie is about the monster attack.

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

When the monster first hits New York City the power goes out for a brief second. The news reports that an oil tanker was destroyed and nobody has any idea what happened. Then Rob and the part goers go up to the roof to get a better look when an explosion happens. This is when the monster makes his grand entrance and begins its destruction. The monster takes off the Statue of Liberty's head and throws it near the apartment building where the party is. So now everyone is in panic and is trying to leave New York. But on the Brooklyn Bridge the monster attacks and destroys the bridge, killing Robs brother. Now they have to turn back and find another way out of the city. But while this is happening Rob gets a call from Beth saying she needs help. So Rob still being in love with Beth goes back to rescue her.

When they are going back they encounter the monster and run into the subway system. This scene was quite intense. The monster not only attacks by itself it has these minion type things who come out of his stomach and attack people. While in the subways they attack and it is pretty intense. They continue on and reach Beth's place but there is a problem, the place has been attacked and is leaning on another building. Now it is how to get her out. They climb across the buildings and find that Beth is seriously injured but fine. They leave the apartment building but are attacked by the little creatures. A funny part about this is when the creature attacks, Beth asked what is that and Hud the camera guy answer a bad thing you do not want to know.

They make it to the extraction point and are leave on the helicopter when the monster attack and brings down the helicopter. Hud, Beth, and Rob survive but when they are leaving the crash site, Hud forgets the camera and goes back to get it when the monster comes. My question is who on Earth does this big monster sneak up behind them, is the monster nimble on his feet or what. It kills Hid and Rob and Beth run into central park. They hid under a bridge but do not last long because the army drops a nuclear bomb on NYC.

**SPOILERS OVER***

Overall it is not a bad movie and would give it a 7/10 but if you go see it, bring some Dramamine with you to help.

Cinema Paradiso

"Cinema Paradiso" is a movie about people watching movies. The story is about a boy named Salvatore "Toto" Di Vita who befriends the local theater's film projectionist. The movie takes you through the life of Toto, from a boy to an adult and the village surrounding him. You see how movies play an important part in this community, whether it is dating, killing, and even prostitution, everything revolves around this theater.

You first see Toto as an adult living in this big apartment with this young girl in his bed. So you can tell he is rich and maybe famous. His mother calls and tells him that Alfredo died. Then Toto gets upset and he reflects on his childhood. We flashback to when he is a young boy and you find out that Toto has a love of films and wants to work the projector with Alfredo. Alfredo befriends Toto and teaches him how to use the film projector. But one day the film catches on fire and causes the theater to burn down. Toto tries to help Alfredo but Alfredo gets burned and loses his vision.

Since the theater is destroyed nobody knows what to do, but a man named Cicci who recently won the lottery rebuilds the theater. What is funny about this theater is previously the other theater was run by a priest, any kissing scene was cut from the movie but since it is under management every kissing was kept. While as a teen working the projector, Toto meets a girl who he falls in love with right away. She originally does not love right away but he tells her that every night he will stand outside her window and wait till she changes her mind. After New Years Eve Toto leaves and Elena comes after and they two date. But Toto goes into the army and Elena goes to college and the two separate and never see each other again.

This destroys Toto and is probably the reason why Toto dates many young women and has no real relationship with them. When Toto comes back from the army Alfredo tells Toto to leave the village and never return no matter what. So Toto listens and lives his live and never returns. When Alfredo dies, Toto goes to his funeral and it is the first time he is back since leaving. Everything has changed, the theater is abandoned, the place is more populated and built up, Toto almost does not recognize the place. The theater is set to be destroyed and built into a parking lot. When the demolishing is set everyone who ever saw movies in the place was there. You see how this one place had such an impact on this community.

One nice thing is that Alfredo left Toto a film real to watch after Alfredo died. Toto takes the film and watches in his screening room. I think he is a famous director but there is no real hint what he does for a living, just it has to do with movies. So Toto watches the movie and it turns out that it is all the kissing scenes that were cut from the movie from the original theater. This is a nice thing and shows the relationship between Toto and Alfredo and how it was really close.

Overall it is the best foreign film I have scene in this class considering the ones I previously saw. I would give it a 8.5/10 and would recommend this movie to anyone, it is a good story and a touching one at that. Let me also mention this won the Academy Award for best foreign film.

The Searchers

"The Searchers" is about Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) who returns to his brother's ranch after the Civil War. He wants a place to live and be near his secret lover, his brother's wife. But one day Comanche Indians attack the ranch while Ethan and everyone is out looking for the herd that the Comanche stole. The Comanche burn down the ranch, kill his brother, sister in law, and nephew and kidnap both of his nieces. Now Ethan and Martin, a 1/8 Indian that Ethan help save as a young boy, go looking for these Comanche and want to get back Debbie and Lucy.

This movie is directed by John Ford who is a famous director who won four Oscars for "The Grapes Of Wrath", "The Quiet Man", "How Green Was My Valley", and "The Informer". Ford does a great job showing life after the Civil War. He shows the vast openness of the ranch and its surroundings. Also he does a great job in his shots, whether it is showing the true emotions of his characters or framing everyone in his shots.

Now everyone knows John Wayne as a cowboy, the good everyone roots for but in this movie he is a different character. He might still be a cowboy and wanting revenge but he is a mean spirited person. He is a racist against Indians, lust for his brother's wife, and is a loner, nothing like your typical hero. For example during their search for Debbie when it starts to look hopeless after years of searching, Ethan has no desire to save Debbie, he wants to kill her because she probably has become to Indian and not a white person anymore. He expresses this in a few ways, such as when he is talking to Marty about his will, he says since he does not have any blood kin left alive he will leave everything to Marty, even though he knows Debbie is alive.

Marty is a voice of reason, a conscious so to speak. He wants to save Debbie and get revenge but he also wants to protect Debbie because he knows that Ethan wants to kill her and he will not let that happen. Like I previously stated Marty is 1/8 Indian and his parents were killed by Chief Scar, the Comanche Chief who kidnapped Debbie and Lucy. But when Lucy is killed it is more of Marty wanting to save Debbie even more.

After years of searching they finally find Chief Scar and the final show down is great. When Marty kills Scar you feel no pity for Scar because he deserved it. But when Ethan comes across his dead body, he scalps Scar a way of taking away his dignity. They rescue Debbie and take her back to the Jorgenson ranch to live happily ever after. One thing that was good was how John Ford framed everything, you see everyone welcome Debbie and slowly walk into the house. The door frame is framed and you can only see from the door. When everyone walks in, Ethan is left all by himself and is about to walk in himself but realizes he does not belong and walks away into the sunset. Like a typical John Wayne character.

Overall I would give a 7.5/10, it is not a bad movie and I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a John Wayne film.

A Christmas Story

Christmas movies is set in the 1940's and is about Ralphie who wants a Red Rider BB Gun with a compass in the stock for Christmas. He will go to any lengthens to get this gun but everyone thinks that it is too dangerous to have a BB Gun at his age because he can shoot his eye out. The story is narrated and supposed to be based on the life of Jean Sheppard as a child. This movie is well thought out, you could relate to this movie cause some of this stuff happened to you.

This movie is a satire of family life in the 1940's and does a great job of it. Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), his brother Randy and his friends Flick and Schwartz to deal with everyday struggles of a child. Whether it is the school bully Scott Farkus or dealing with school. One of the funniest things and everyone should probably know is when Flick thinks that if you lick a frozen pole that you tongue will not stick to the pole. And when he is triple dogged dare, which basically means he has to do or he is a chicken, he licks the pole and gets stuck to it. When the bell rings everyone leaves him outside stuck to the pole. A few minutes into class the teacher realizes Flick is missing and when she looks out the window she sees Flick stuck to the pole. She calls the firefighters to help and they finally get him unstuck. It is very funny and easy to relate to.

Like I previously said Ralphie is willing to do anything to get his BB gun. Once his mother tells him no he writes a paper for school about what he really wants for Christmas but the teacher did not like it. He then goes and visits Santa and when he tells he just like everyone else he says that you will shoot your eye out and how every adult says the same thing, you can relate to that because that is what happens as a child. The funniest thing was when Randy, Ralphie's brother gets dressed his mother, being the over protected mother she is, puts layers upon layers of clothing to the point where Randy can not even put his arms down.

Another thing that is relate able is when the school bully Scott Farkus picks on Ralphie and his friends, they all run away back and forth to avoid him and his terror. The best part is towards the middle of the movie Ralphie had a bad day knowing he could not get the BB gun and when Scott Farkus comes to bully him Ralphie beats him up badly. At this point Farkus deserved it and I was happy he got what was coming to him.

The movie was not much of a big hit in the theaters when it came out in 1983 but has spread like wildfire and has become a holiday classic. Every Christmas TBS plays A Christmas Story for two whole days, back to back to back. This is a family fun movie and is very funny, whether it is the child like parts of the movie or the cleverness of the movie it is a great movie to watch. I would give it a 8/10 and recommend it to anyone.

Charlie Wilson's War

"Charlie Wilson's War" is about a Texas Congressman named Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) who wants to help Afghanistan fight off the invading Soviet Union. Charlie Wilson is not a famous politician but does his job well. What he is know for is partying and having a good time. While partying with a few friends he notices Dan Rathers on 60 Minutes and his piece on Afghanistan. After watching this he wants to help out anyone possible. He gets involved with Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) who is a powerful, wealthy Texas woman who wants to help the cause as well. Charlie gets involved with a man named Gust Avarkotos (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) who works for the CIA and wants to get rid of the Soviets as well.

The movie is well acted and directed. The director is Mike Nichols who directed "The Graduate" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". All actors and actress give great performances and in my opinion Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole the show. He acted great and was very funny. There was one scene in particular where Charlie and Gust where meeting for the first time and Gust brought a bottle of scotch and bugged it. He was listening to the entire conversation when he was asked to left the room because of an incident with Charlie. When he tells Charlie he is shocked and Charlie asks him to open the bottle because he wonders want else he did and if a noxious gas will come out.

Another funny incident is when Joanne sets up a meeting between Charlie and the President of Afghanistan. When the two meet to discuss war efforts the President asks Charlie if he would like a drink and Charlie says he would like alcohol and the President says alcohol is not permitted in the Presidential Residence. Charlie then says you must get that often and the President response by saying no. It was funny the awkwardness of the situation and Charlie's partying habits.

Charlie is in charge of the budget for convert operations in Afghanistan and wants to increase the budget from $10 million to $40 million. Once he gets his money it comes on coming. At the end when he all the weapons and training for fighting the Soviets to the Afghanistan people the budget comes out to $500 million. Because of his efforts in getting weapons to the Afghanistan people, they were able to shoot down helicopters, tanks, and airplanes and beat the Soviets. This victory over the Soviets helped furthered there downfall into the eventually destruction of the USSR. Due to his involvement to defeat the soviets Charlie Wilson was recognized with an award for helping defeat the Soviets, this award is the highest honor that could have been given to him.

Overall it is a pretty good movie and I would recommend this movie to anyone. The acting and directing where good and you will like this movie. I would give a 8.5/10, so check out this movie.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" is about Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) and his rise in the music industry. How he comes from nothing to be a big music start. While a young boy he accidentally kills his brother by cutting him in half during a machete fight. His father never forgives him and at 14 years old leaves his house to pursue a music career. Through the years Dewey Cox produces hits, fights drug problems, and marriage.

This movie is making fun of "Ray" and "Walk The Line". For example in "Ray" when Ray Charles's brother dies Ray goes blind and when Dewy Cox's brother dies he loses his sense of smell. Also how both Ray Charles and Johnny Cash developed drug addictions so does Dewy Cox. The funny part about the drug addiction is he walks in on one of his band mates and his band mate tells him he wants no part of it and Dewey should leave but when Dewy asks what it does he makes it sound great and Dewey does the drugs. One of the funniest moments is when a record label comes to watch Dewey perform, and they are all Hasidic Jews, with the black clothes and hats. It was very funny and making fun of a stereotype that happens to be funny.

Another funny part is how Dewey has so many children that when he wants to catch up and get to know them all. So he plays catch with them and while having catch, he throws to this Asian kid and says are you sure that you are mine. Some moments were very funny. This movie was produced by the same guy who did "Knocked Up" and "40 Year Old Virgin". There were some very funny moments in the movie but because of Judd Apatow the man behind those movies I was expecting more and it did not live up to my expectations but was still a good movie with some funny elements. Overall I would give it a 7.5/10 and would recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of movies.