The Jungle Book is based off of the children book written by Rudyard Kipling. The screenplay was written by Justin Marks and was directed by Jon Favreau. It stars Neel Sethi (as the only human main character), Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Christopher Walken.
Summary: Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a a human boy found by the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and is raised by a pack of wolves. When drinking from the water hole the animals of the jungle are confronted by the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) who thinks he is going to kill them all when he becomes a man so he wants to kill Mowgli to stop that from happening. The wolves defend the boy and that night they discuss whether or not he should leave the pack and go to a man-village. Mowgli says he wants to leave so that no one gets hurt; he is lead by Bahgeera into the jungle. As they are crossing a field of grass Bagheera senses something wrong, Shere Khan jumps up from the grass and Mowgli flees. Bahgeera and Mowgli are separated and soon the boy finds himself hypnotized by the snake Kaa (Scarlett Johnasson) and the bear Baloo (Bill Murray) saves him. When Mowgli wakes up Baloo tells him what happened and asks for a favor since he saved the boys life. He sends Mowgli up the side go a cliff to retrieve honey for him. When Mowlgi is done he starts to leave for the man-village; Baloo tells him that they can team up and be themselves together and have fun. Mowgli decides to stay until winter. Bagheera finds Mowlgi and finds out that the boy wants to stay with Baloo. Bagheera and Baloo talk and they decide that it is best if Mowgli leaves to the village. Ball lies to Mowgli and says that he doesn't want him there anymore, which causes Mowgli to take refuge in a nearby tree. Monkeys whisk the boy away and Baloo and Bagheera pursue them. Mowgli finds himself at the home of King Louie who says he wants Mowlgi to make him fire but Mowgli doesn't know how. Bagheera and Baloo enter and all of the monkeys attack them as Mowgli is try to escape King Louie. King Louie tells Mowgli that Shere Khan killed the leader of the wolf pack, the "father" of Mowgli, and then the palace of King Louie collapses on top of him. Mowgli runs away from Baloo and Bagheera and heads to the man-village where he takes fire from them. He is running through the jungle and gets to where the wolf pack and Shere Khan are and tells him that he isn't afraid of him and that he won't turn out like the men Shere Khan talks about. As he says that Shere Khan tells Mowgli to look behind him and the jungle is on fire. Mowgli throws the touch into the water and Shere Khan tell him that was stupid of him to do. Baloo attacks Shere Khan and is bitten on the neck, the wolf pack charges at Shere Khan and Mowgli runs into the jungle. Where Khan fights through the wolves and pursues the boy. Mowgli gets a vine and a tree branch and ties them together all the while keeping an eye out for Shere Khan. The tiger finds him and they run through the branches; Mowgli walks across a dead branch and Shere Khan tries to follow him but Mowgli jumps to the branch tied to the vine and swings out of the way as Shere Khan falls to his death in the fire below. Mowgli returns to the other animals and they greet him as a hero. The elephants put out the fire and peace is restored to the jungle.
Review: This movie could not have been more perfectly cast. I absolutely loved Neel Sethi and was impressed by his acting skills since this was his first film. This is very true to the animated film and to the book more so. It was aesthetically stunning and the animals were very real looking, they weren't cheesy looking and they blended well with the human boy. I highly recommend this movie for anyone who loves and grew up with the animated film because it does not disappoint!
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
The Martian
The Martian is a Sci- Fi Drama book by Andy Weir adapted into a movie, the screenplay is done by Drew Goddard. This space adventure is directed by Ridley Scott and has an all-star cast made up of Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wigg, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Summary: A space team is sent to Mars to gather samples and see if life could one day be possible on the planet. The team consists of Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) the Commander, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) a botanist, Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara) an IT expert, Rick Martinez (Michael Pena) pilot of the space craft, Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) the flight surgeon, and Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie) the navigator and chemist. They learn that a severe storm is approaching so the Commander aborts the mission and everyone heads to the space craft. Debris is flying around and they make it to the ship but Watney gets struck by a large piece of debris and is knocked out of the sight of the others. The Commander searches for him while the rest of the crew is aboard the ship but fails to find him. They all agree that he is dead and decide to leave. The next day Watney wakes up to find that his crew is gone and that he is now stranded on Mars by himself. The rest of the movie consists of Watney coming up with ingenious ways to survive and make contact with NASA to let them know that he is alive and well. Once he makes contact with them they have to figure out a way to get him back before he runs out of supplies. The crew finds out that he survived and although the trip from Mars to Earth is long they decide that they will go back and try to rescue him. The crew is able to retrieve Watney and head towards Earth safely. A year later Watney is teaching a class to aspiring astronauts and he tells them of his struggle on Mars. He then tells the moral of the story: if things should go south, you either accept your fate or you start solving problems, because thats how you survive- by overcoming one problem after another. It cuts to scenes of the other crew members: Martinez is going back into space, Lewis is watching the launch at home with her husband, Vogel is with his family, and Johanssen and Beck have gotten married and are in the hospital with their new baby watching the launch on TV.
Review: If you liked Interstellar and Gravity then you will love The Martian. It is a testament to how powerful the human will is and that by solving one problem at a time you can achieve great things. All of the actors carried their weight and when delivering their lines they seemed to really know what they were talking about, even when it came to the math and science portions of the film. Matt Damon was funny and relatable, he was a fantastic pick for the lead and he did not disappoint. It was so awesome to see a female as the Commander of a space mission and who was so incredibly knowledgeable about science and math. The only thing that threw me off about this film was Kristen Wigg playing in a dramatic role, it seemed strained and forced. Other than that I think this movie was top notch and the effects were nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend this movie and I know I will be watching it many more times.
Summary: A space team is sent to Mars to gather samples and see if life could one day be possible on the planet. The team consists of Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) the Commander, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) a botanist, Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara) an IT expert, Rick Martinez (Michael Pena) pilot of the space craft, Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) the flight surgeon, and Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie) the navigator and chemist. They learn that a severe storm is approaching so the Commander aborts the mission and everyone heads to the space craft. Debris is flying around and they make it to the ship but Watney gets struck by a large piece of debris and is knocked out of the sight of the others. The Commander searches for him while the rest of the crew is aboard the ship but fails to find him. They all agree that he is dead and decide to leave. The next day Watney wakes up to find that his crew is gone and that he is now stranded on Mars by himself. The rest of the movie consists of Watney coming up with ingenious ways to survive and make contact with NASA to let them know that he is alive and well. Once he makes contact with them they have to figure out a way to get him back before he runs out of supplies. The crew finds out that he survived and although the trip from Mars to Earth is long they decide that they will go back and try to rescue him. The crew is able to retrieve Watney and head towards Earth safely. A year later Watney is teaching a class to aspiring astronauts and he tells them of his struggle on Mars. He then tells the moral of the story: if things should go south, you either accept your fate or you start solving problems, because thats how you survive- by overcoming one problem after another. It cuts to scenes of the other crew members: Martinez is going back into space, Lewis is watching the launch at home with her husband, Vogel is with his family, and Johanssen and Beck have gotten married and are in the hospital with their new baby watching the launch on TV.
Review: If you liked Interstellar and Gravity then you will love The Martian. It is a testament to how powerful the human will is and that by solving one problem at a time you can achieve great things. All of the actors carried their weight and when delivering their lines they seemed to really know what they were talking about, even when it came to the math and science portions of the film. Matt Damon was funny and relatable, he was a fantastic pick for the lead and he did not disappoint. It was so awesome to see a female as the Commander of a space mission and who was so incredibly knowledgeable about science and math. The only thing that threw me off about this film was Kristen Wigg playing in a dramatic role, it seemed strained and forced. Other than that I think this movie was top notch and the effects were nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend this movie and I know I will be watching it many more times.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Deadpool
Deadpan is written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, its is directed by Tim Miller. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin, and T.J. Miller. This movie is NOT for children and it isn't the typical super hero movie and there is heavy violence, cursing and sexual content.
Summary: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is ex Special Force and turned into a mercenary. He meets a prostitute named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and falls in love with her. Wade proposes to Vanessa but he faints shortly after and then finds out that he has cancer all inside his body. When he goes to the bar he usually goes to his friend (T. J. Miller) tells him that a man is looking for him. When Wade goes over to the man the guy tells him that he can heal him of his cancer and turn him into a super hero. Wade laughs in the mans face and leaves the bar. As his girlfriend is sleeping he leaves and calls the man who approached him earlier at the bar. Wade is strapped to a hospital bed and Ajax (Ed Skrein) the doctor of the facility and tells him that they are going to put him under sever stress in order to get his mutant genes to react and come through. Wade is tortured but maintains his humor and wit. Ajax hates Wade and puts him in a chamber that takes the oxygen out of the air and makes him suffer for the weekend. The chamber dehydrates his skin leaving him terrifying to look at. When Ajax returns he says that he is going to leave him in for a few more days. Wade sets the facility on fire and is "killed" by Ajax. When the ash settles Wade comes out from them fully healed. The rest of the movie is Wade becoming Deadpool and hunting Ajax down so that he can fix his face so that he can get back to his girlfriend. Vanessa ends up getting kidnapped by Ajax and Deadpool and the two X-men who have been trying to recruit him have to go save her. Deadpool kills Ajax and saves Vanessa who he shows his face to and she tells him that she will get used to it and that it doesn't matter.
Review: I absolutely loved this movie!! It isn't a superhero movie that we are used to seeing, there is extreme violence and the cursing makes it more realistic to me. Ryan Reynolds plays the perfect antihero and the movie is so witty and incredibly sarcastic. I think most people need to understand that this movie is not a typical superhero movie and that it doesn't uphold the same super hero values and ethical standpoints.
Summary: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is ex Special Force and turned into a mercenary. He meets a prostitute named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and falls in love with her. Wade proposes to Vanessa but he faints shortly after and then finds out that he has cancer all inside his body. When he goes to the bar he usually goes to his friend (T. J. Miller) tells him that a man is looking for him. When Wade goes over to the man the guy tells him that he can heal him of his cancer and turn him into a super hero. Wade laughs in the mans face and leaves the bar. As his girlfriend is sleeping he leaves and calls the man who approached him earlier at the bar. Wade is strapped to a hospital bed and Ajax (Ed Skrein) the doctor of the facility and tells him that they are going to put him under sever stress in order to get his mutant genes to react and come through. Wade is tortured but maintains his humor and wit. Ajax hates Wade and puts him in a chamber that takes the oxygen out of the air and makes him suffer for the weekend. The chamber dehydrates his skin leaving him terrifying to look at. When Ajax returns he says that he is going to leave him in for a few more days. Wade sets the facility on fire and is "killed" by Ajax. When the ash settles Wade comes out from them fully healed. The rest of the movie is Wade becoming Deadpool and hunting Ajax down so that he can fix his face so that he can get back to his girlfriend. Vanessa ends up getting kidnapped by Ajax and Deadpool and the two X-men who have been trying to recruit him have to go save her. Deadpool kills Ajax and saves Vanessa who he shows his face to and she tells him that she will get used to it and that it doesn't matter.
Review: I absolutely loved this movie!! It isn't a superhero movie that we are used to seeing, there is extreme violence and the cursing makes it more realistic to me. Ryan Reynolds plays the perfect antihero and the movie is so witty and incredibly sarcastic. I think most people need to understand that this movie is not a typical superhero movie and that it doesn't uphold the same super hero values and ethical standpoints.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
The Danish Girl
The Danish Girl is adapted from the novel written by David Ebershoff and the screen play was written by Lucinda Coxon. It is directed by Tom Hooper and stars Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Amber Heard. It is loosely based on the lives of Einar and Gerda Wegener.
Summary: The Danish girl follows the evolving lives and relationship of Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and Einar (Eddie Redmayne) Wegener. They are a married couple who are both artists, Einar is more well known than his wife Gerda. When Gerda and Einar are supposed to go to an event Einar states that he doesn't want to because people gush over him being an artist. Gerda has an idea to disguise Einar as a woman, Lili. As the movie carries on Einar expresses that he wants to be a woman, that he has always felt more himself as Lili than he did as Einar. This confession is destructive to their relationship as husband and wife their relationships as a woman and a person who identifies as one evolves. Gerda begins to paint Lili and gets incredible feedback and becomes very well known for these portraits. Towards the end of the movie Lili has an operation done that is the first step of the process to becoming a full fledged woman. However, this operation takes its toll on her health wise and Gerda begins to worry that she is moving too fast. The next operation rolls around and Gerda is there with Lili when she wakes up. The operation almost killed Lili before it was even done. Gerda and Lili are sitting outside talking to each other when Lili passes away.
Review: This movie was good but I feel that it moved forward too quickly. It seems that Lili dressed up once and then was determined to become a woman right away. I think that if they had showed flashbacks of his childhood and teenage years where it was seen that he had feminine tendencies then it would have made more sense. I do think that Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne were amazing and deserved the nominations. It was a very heartfelt movie that showed the love between two people even if they weren't meant to be together as husband and wife. This is a "watch once" kind of movie for me but I do recommend that people see it because it provokes compassion and sympathy for both parties involved.
Summary: The Danish girl follows the evolving lives and relationship of Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and Einar (Eddie Redmayne) Wegener. They are a married couple who are both artists, Einar is more well known than his wife Gerda. When Gerda and Einar are supposed to go to an event Einar states that he doesn't want to because people gush over him being an artist. Gerda has an idea to disguise Einar as a woman, Lili. As the movie carries on Einar expresses that he wants to be a woman, that he has always felt more himself as Lili than he did as Einar. This confession is destructive to their relationship as husband and wife their relationships as a woman and a person who identifies as one evolves. Gerda begins to paint Lili and gets incredible feedback and becomes very well known for these portraits. Towards the end of the movie Lili has an operation done that is the first step of the process to becoming a full fledged woman. However, this operation takes its toll on her health wise and Gerda begins to worry that she is moving too fast. The next operation rolls around and Gerda is there with Lili when she wakes up. The operation almost killed Lili before it was even done. Gerda and Lili are sitting outside talking to each other when Lili passes away.
Review: This movie was good but I feel that it moved forward too quickly. It seems that Lili dressed up once and then was determined to become a woman right away. I think that if they had showed flashbacks of his childhood and teenage years where it was seen that he had feminine tendencies then it would have made more sense. I do think that Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne were amazing and deserved the nominations. It was a very heartfelt movie that showed the love between two people even if they weren't meant to be together as husband and wife. This is a "watch once" kind of movie for me but I do recommend that people see it because it provokes compassion and sympathy for both parties involved.
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