Donnie Darko

"Donnie Darko" is about a troubled teenager named Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He has been in trouble with the law and is seeing a psychiatrist. One day while sleeping he hears voices and goes outside to investigate when he comes across a 6 foot bunny named Frank who tells him the world will end in 28 days. While out talking to Frank an airplane engine falls onto his room and destroys his room. Because Donnie was not in his room he did not die. So now in a sense he owes his life to Frank the bunny so now whenever Frank asks him to do something for him he does.

The Darkos seem like a normal looking family on the outside, but they are far from it. Donnie seems to have mental problems and is seeing a psychiatrist, the parents do not know how to handle Donnie, the oldest daughter parties a lot but is pretty normal, and the youngest daughter is too pure and innocent. As I said, Donnie is quite out there; in the beginning of the movie he wakes up in the middle of the road sleeping. What is he doing you ask it will be answered in the movie later on. He goes home and acts like nothing, same with his parents. He attends school and what is very creative is how the scene is shot. The director uses slow motion to show the effect of time on everyone and time plays a huge role in the movie.

I know what you are thinking: Donnie must be a crazy movie but it is not that simple. When this movie ends you will definitely have questions that will not be answered. One of the biggest questions is who is Frank the bunny. Is he here to help or hurt Donnie? Is he a time traveler from another universe?

Frank starts to visit Donnie more frequently and tells Donnie to do things that are illegal but open a new world and exposes things that help and destroy people. What is very interesting whenever Frank visits there is some sort clear force field between them that they can not cross, a boundary of some sorts. It makes you wonder is Frank, is he from another universe traveling through time and trying to help Donnie or is he destroying the world himself. There are also a lot of time travel questions, when Donnie is watching t.v. there seems to be a life force that is coming out of his chest directing him to places. This is not only weird but makes you think again is this real or not.

This movie is definitely a movie for someone who wants to think and wonder about time travel and if there is another universe. As I said, most questions will be answered, everything will tie together very nicely but some questions will not be answered because I think the director wants people to talk about the film and create more hubbub about the movie. It is a very creative and good movie. I would give it a 8/10 and I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone.

I Am Legend

"I Am Legend" is a post apocalyptic movie about a man named Robert Neville, played by Will Smith. Robert Neville is a scientist for the army who is trying to find a cure for a virus that turns people into vampires. This virus was created by prevent cancer but when people took it it caused them to change into vampires. Neville is trying to work on a cure in New York City, ground zero, where the outbreak first started and hit the hardest. He is somehow immune to the disease and seems to be the last man in New York City and the world. He is trying to find a cure for the disease but experimenting on vampires in his basement. He has his trusty dog by his size named Sam who goes everywhere with him and is his only companion.

This movie is visual stunning, to see New York City deserted and animals rooming freely throughout the city is remarkable. To see Robert and Sam speeding through New York City in his Red Mustang GT 500 trying to find food is great. Through out the movie you will see flashbacks of the outbreak and what happened. This part does help explain the story but the one aspect I really want to know about is how this vaccination during people into vampires, that is the only real thing that is not explained clearly. Not only is this movie thoughtful and creative it has its elements of comedy whether it is when Robert is running on the tread mill to get exercise, Sam is on another tread mill running with him. Also when Robert goes to a store to rent a DVD he was talking to the manikins and noticed a woman manikin looking at the adult section and Sam looks at Robert and he says that he will talk to her the next day they come in. The movie provides some comic elements to it even though it is generally a depressing movie, which helps lift the spirit of the movie.

The director Francis Lawrence did a great job capturing the post apocalyptic world Robert lived in. Also capturing the mood surrounding Robert, that he really was the last man on earth and how is true living friend was his dog Sam. Let me say that the dog, Sam, did well and was very good in the movie, in a way stole the movie from Will Smith. Even though the movie is about 1 hour and 40 minutes all 100 minutes of it are captivating, it is faced paced and you will not be boring. The whole idea of a post apocalyptic world was great and captivating. Without a doubt Will Smith deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance of Colonel Robert Neville.

I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone, it is a great movie and will keep you in your seats for the whole 100 minutes. I would give a 8.5/10, so check out this movie!!

Rushmore

I do not know if anyone here is familiar with any movies directed by Wes Anderson such as "The Royal Tenenbaums" or "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". This film is definitely better that Life Aquatic and one of Wes Anderson's better films. It stars Bill Murray as Mr. Herman Blume, Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer, and Olivia Williams as Rosemary Cross. It is the story of Max Fischer who is a 15 year old student at Rushmore Academy who one day falls in love with a teacher named Mrs. Cross but Mr. Blume a wealthy business man Max has become friendly with likes her too. And it is a fight to get Mrs. Cross.

Max is in charge of many clubs and does a lot of after school activities but is not good in school. One day Mr. Blume comes to talk to his school and Max likes the speech. He introduces himself to Mr. Blume and Mr. Blume likes him. They become friendly and they usually do things to help each other out. While in the library Max is reading a book about under water animals and noticed a quote and likes the quote. He finds out who has taken out the book and finds out it is a teacher named Mrs. Cross. When he goes to see her he falls in love. He tries to win her over by putting on one of his famous plays that he creates. One of the funny things is that Mrs. Cross brings a friend along with and the whole night Max antagonizes him. But the funny part is when Max asks him what he is wearing he replies O.R. scrubs and Max says o are they. It is just so predictable but funny.

When Mr. Blume sees her at this diner he likes her and tries to win her over. He tries to persuade Max that she is not for him so he can have her. When Max finds out about this he and Herman have a back and forthing of fighting and retaliation. They even go to the points of ruining each others lives, where they become obsessed with getting back at one another. I will not tell you the things they do because it is funny and good. The things they will do to get Mrs. Cross are funny and great. One funny thing that has nothing to do with the fighting is when Herman is talking to Max about Mrs. Cross he comoes across a few kids playing basketball, he tells Max to hold on and he runs over to the court and blocks a kid shooting the ball. It was very random but very funny.

The movie might be dry humor but it is funny and witting dry humor. It is a movie definitely worth watching. I would recommend to anyone who is the mood for a good laugh and a good movie. Overall I owuld give a 8/10.

Chunking Express

"Chunking Express" is directed by Wong Kar Wai and was made during Hong Kong's film movement, where Hong Kong films where being made left and right. But this one was not a good one. The movie was like "Crash" in the sense that everyone lives affect one another but it is poorly done.

The first story we come across is about Cop 223 who is not that good of a cop because he has not arrested someone in a while. He is trying to get back his old girlfriend who broke up with him on April Fools Day so he thinks she was kidding and he is waiting for him to come back. One day he comes a across a women in a blond wig and falls in love with him. What you learn about this women in a blond wig is that she is a dealer and looking for her drug mules that ran away. The one good thing is in the beginning of the film you see Cop 223 and the women in a blond wig running in slow motion, the whole screen is semi blurry while they run, which is "Matrix" like but that is the only good thing about this part.

Let me start off by saying the second part is much better than the first part. It is too about another Cop, Cop 663 who also broke up with his girlfriend and wants her back. He usually goes to this fast food restaurant to get food and one day comes across a girl named Faye. Faye always plays the song "California Dreaming" by the Mamas and the Papas, which is a good song but that movie made that song annoying fast. Faye and Cop 663 like each other but none of them take the first step to talk to each other. Until one day Cop 663 ex-girlfriend comes in to the restaurant to give Cop 663 a letter because he is always at the restaurant. He is not there and leaves the letter with Faye. Everyone reads the letter including Faye. When Cop 663 comes by for food he is told about the letter but does not want it. So he keeps it there. So one day Faye takes the key to Cop 663's apartment from the letter and goes to his apartment.

This is where story two gets bad. She starts stalking him in a sense. She basically breaks into his apartment and starts eating his food, lying in his bed, fixing the place up, and many other things. She is basically a weird person. He walks on her one day in his apartment and confronts her. They talk and plan to meet later for dinner but she leaves him to go to California, here is where "California Dreaming" comes into play. She becomes a flight attendant, like Cop 663 ex-girlfriend. A year later they meet up at the fast food joint that Cop 663 has now bought and they basically live happily ever after.

I have to tell you how these stories relate. Cop 223 also ate at the fast food restaurant where Cop 663 went. Cop 223 story ended when he bumped into Faye when she first started working there. That is how the stories switched, that is hands down the dumbest way to switch stories. I would not recommend it, it was an hour and forty minutes of my life I would certainly like back. I would give it a 4/10.

No Country For Old Men

This movie definitely lives up to the hype, the Coen Brothers who have done Fargo, the big Lebowski, and O' Brother Where Art Thou? make another great movie. The movie is about a man named Llewelyn Moss played by Josh Brolin who comes across a drug deal gone bad while hunting. He finds more than $2 million and is being hunted by a killer named Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who is trying to help Llewelyn and find out what is really going on.

The movie might be violent but is also well written, the dialogue is smart, especially bySheriff Ed Bell and the story is creative. Javier Bardem gives a great performance and deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of a cold blooded killer who will stop at nothing to get the money back. Like I said previously Llewelyn Moss was hunting in the Rio Grande and came across a drug dealer where everyone was killed and found a bag full of money a took it. He would have gotten away Scot free if he did not go back to the site to check on a man there he saw earlier who was alive. While there one of the groups involved in the trade showed up and found him. They chased him until they lost him.

The other group involved in the trade hired Anton to track down Llewelyn down. So he has two people on his tail but Anton in the more dangerous one. That is very interesting is Anton carries around a cattle-gun which uses compressed air to shot out this rod that kills cattle but Anton uses to kill people and break down doors. He also uses a shotgun with a silencer attached to it. These are the weapons he uses to conduct his violence. Anton is unstoppable, he is like a machine once he is on a mission he continues until the job is finished. He is also like a machine in the sense he can not be destroyed because he uses his wits to outsmart his enemy. But don't get me wrong he is still a crazy insane murderer and you want to see someone stop him on his bloody rampage.

I will not tell you the ending of the movie because it is worth seeing. I would definitely recommend this movies, it is one of the movies this year that is worth the ridiculous $10 a ticket. I would give it a 9.5/10, so go check out this movie.