Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part IStarring: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes
Brief Synopsis: The seventh, and second to last, installment of the Harry Potter franchise. Harry, Hermione and Ron head out to find Voldemort's horcruxes and destroy them. Along the way they face off against each other, death eaters, and other various hoodlums. This installment sets up what should be the final battle of Good vs. Evil in Part II.
Opinion: I really enjoyed this film and thought that each of the main characters did a great job. It is still not my favorite of the franchise as that still goes to Order of the Phoenix. I do hope that in the end my favorite will be Part II. I guess, like Lord of the Rings before it, this film is just too incomplete for it to be a favorite - it lacks an end.
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Title: The Professional
Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Brief Synopsis: Leon (Reno) is a professional hitman. He lives in an apartment with his plant and drinks a lot of milk. Overall, all he really does is kill and has no real life. Then along comes Mathilda (Portman), a 12-year old girl in his building that lives with her abusive father. One day a man named Stansfield (Oldman) comes to Mathilda's apartment while she is at the store and wastes her entire family. She sees this as she comes home and heads to Leon's apartment for safety - and an amazing, yet strange, bond is formed between the two.
Opinion: I did not watch the original Leon film like Nick instructed, however, I still feel like this was a good enough version. I loved Oldman's over-the-top villain role here and Portman was amazing at such a young age.
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Title: Avatar
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel Moore.
Brief Synopsis: Humans look to become close with a tribe of Na'vi on the moon Pandora in order to help gather a rare mineral called unobtanium. In order to get close to the tribe, some of the humans become Na'vi through an avatar. Jake (Worthington) is an old military vet who was paralyzed from the waste down. After his twin brother is killed he is tossed into this mission to control one of the avatars. While there, a military boss promises him he can get his legs fixed if he reports back all information to him. Jake, however, begins to become one of the Na'vi tribe members for real and even begins to fall for Neytiri (Saldana).
Opinion: Amazing. Simply stunning. And so poignant about what the message was trying to portray. There were so man amazing details - but I have to say that my favorite was the simple fact that the Na'vi had four fingers, and all the human avatars had five. It was just a beautifully filmed movie with an amazing message that became really entertaining as well
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Title: From Paris With Love
Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Kasia Smutniak
Brief Synopsis: James (Rhys-Meyers) is working his way up as a spy and finally gets his big break when he is asked to escort American spy Charlie (Travolta) around. Of course, Charlie is a bit crazy and James tries to keep him in line - or at least understand what he is trying to do. As they begin to unravel a terrorism plot that is right under their noses, it's up to them to try and stop it.
Opinion: I liked this much more than I thought I would. Travolta can certainly have his duds for roles, but I actually enjoyed him in this role - and I really like Rhys-Meyers and I don't think he does enough of these films. I honestly didn't see what happened coming, so
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Title: Street Kings
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Hugh Laurie
Brief Synopsis: Tom (Reeves) is part of a crooked police force that includes himself. After his partner rats him out for something, Tom tails him and ends up at the scene when his partner is murdered - and evidence points to him. He recruits Paul (Evans) to help him clear his name and eventually uncover the truth that is hidden inside the police force.
Opinion: This one I thought I would like more than I did. I was still pretty decent, but not as good as I thought it would be. I really like Evans as an actor - and it was great to see Laurie in something outside of House (and still doing his American accent). However, the story was pretty obvious to me - so the end was not as good because I knew what was coming.
Grade:
Title: The ProfessionalStarring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Brief Synopsis: Leon (Reno) is a professional hitman. He lives in an apartment with his plant and drinks a lot of milk. Overall, all he really does is kill and has no real life. Then along comes Mathilda (Portman), a 12-year old girl in his building that lives with her abusive father. One day a man named Stansfield (Oldman) comes to Mathilda's apartment while she is at the store and wastes her entire family. She sees this as she comes home and heads to Leon's apartment for safety - and an amazing, yet strange, bond is formed between the two.
Opinion: I did not watch the original Leon film like Nick instructed, however, I still feel like this was a good enough version. I loved Oldman's over-the-top villain role here and Portman was amazing at such a young age.
Grade:
Title: AvatarStarring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel Moore.
Brief Synopsis: Humans look to become close with a tribe of Na'vi on the moon Pandora in order to help gather a rare mineral called unobtanium. In order to get close to the tribe, some of the humans become Na'vi through an avatar. Jake (Worthington) is an old military vet who was paralyzed from the waste down. After his twin brother is killed he is tossed into this mission to control one of the avatars. While there, a military boss promises him he can get his legs fixed if he reports back all information to him. Jake, however, begins to become one of the Na'vi tribe members for real and even begins to fall for Neytiri (Saldana).
Opinion: Amazing. Simply stunning. And so poignant about what the message was trying to portray. There were so man amazing details - but I have to say that my favorite was the simple fact that the Na'vi had four fingers, and all the human avatars had five. It was just a beautifully filmed movie with an amazing message that became really entertaining as well
Grade:
Title: From Paris With LoveStarring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Kasia Smutniak
Brief Synopsis: James (Rhys-Meyers) is working his way up as a spy and finally gets his big break when he is asked to escort American spy Charlie (Travolta) around. Of course, Charlie is a bit crazy and James tries to keep him in line - or at least understand what he is trying to do. As they begin to unravel a terrorism plot that is right under their noses, it's up to them to try and stop it.
Opinion: I liked this much more than I thought I would. Travolta can certainly have his duds for roles, but I actually enjoyed him in this role - and I really like Rhys-Meyers and I don't think he does enough of these films. I honestly didn't see what happened coming, so
Grade:
Title: Street KingsStarring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Hugh Laurie
Brief Synopsis: Tom (Reeves) is part of a crooked police force that includes himself. After his partner rats him out for something, Tom tails him and ends up at the scene when his partner is murdered - and evidence points to him. He recruits Paul (Evans) to help him clear his name and eventually uncover the truth that is hidden inside the police force.
Opinion: This one I thought I would like more than I did. I was still pretty decent, but not as good as I thought it would be. I really like Evans as an actor - and it was great to see Laurie in something outside of House (and still doing his American accent). However, the story was pretty obvious to me - so the end was not as good because I knew what was coming.
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