Toy Story was a 1995 animated movie by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by the awesome John Lasseter while the screenplay was written by the equally awesome Joss Whedon and three others. I singled out Joss Whedon cause a lot of people know him now as a fantastic director and it's nice to remind everyone that he's also a writer. It starred Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as Woody and Buzz respectively. It also starred several stars such as Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney and more. It's a highly successful movie, still being talked about by the younger generations. By that I mean, the kids today, I think we still belong in the same generation.
I was just 5 years old when this movie came out, but somehow I have a very vivid memory of the movie. Probably because I've watched it again when I was probably 8 or 9. I was still a kid that time, but old enough to store memories. I remember wishing my toys could really talk and move (yeah I was weird and freaky. But, honestly, who didn't? Didn't we all want our toys to be just like Woody and Buzz) But I was really fascinated with the idea that I really hoped I'd wake up one day and have the coolest toys. It took me a while to really digest what the movie was trying to get across. It wasn't about the toys, it was about valuing something, that friendship that bonded them.
It's a wonderful story of friendship. Sure they used toys and inanimate objects, but I think we all got the message of the movie. The way they utilized the toys, their characterization and incorporated it into the movie was beyond amazing. It's a truly flawless execution of a simple yet fascinating idea. It actually accurately portrays the stages of friendships. The initial discomfort of being with a total stranger, someone you have no idea about. The effort to build a friendship with the stranger. The good and bad times, the highs and lows. It's a dynamic realistic story using unrealistic methods. It mashed up extremely well.
This is a movie I could "gush" about all day. To say that it's an excellent movie would still be an understatement. I just really liked it. Well with that amount of talent bringing these characters to life, who wouldn't? It's one of my top animated movies, and I;m pretty sure it will remain in that spot for a long, long time. Toy Story is still one of the best animated movies ever created in my opinion. It's a movie I highly recommend. If I had my own top 100 films, this movie would be in it easy. Hey I'm actually making this Tom Hanks Birthday gift/tribute work! Sort of. I hope you're enjoying my first "blog event". Sort of.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
July 12, 2012
July 10, 2012
Forrest Gump
In continuation of Tom Hanks week (because this is the week of his birthday), I'll be writing about another one of his movies. I decided to go with Forrest Gump for a couple of reasons. First, it's one of his critically acclaimed movies, and a successful one at that as well. Second, I think this was the movie that really showcased the range of Tom Hanks as an actor.
Forrest Gump was one of the biggest movies in 1994. In reality, it still is a big movie up until now with people watching or re-watching it until today. Even schools use the movie, or at least clips of it, for their class discussions. The movie was written by Eric Roth and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. It starred Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Fields and more. It won several awards, including 6 out of the 13 Academy Awards nominations. That's pretty impressive if you think about it.
It's a story about Forrest Gump but I read that it deviated from the novel it was based on, so we really could not take anything in the movie as fact. However, they probably still kept the spirit of Forrest Gump's life in the movie. Maybe they just changed the details for its cinematography. I must admit that I got really involved in it that I was a bit disappointing to find out it really wasn't as loyal as it could have been. Then I just didn't care because the movie was really powerful that nothing can taint it. I think it's because the structure of the movie and the narration of the story was really great, I just focused on the movie itself.
I've always been vocal that out of the three 1994 movies in the AFI 100, Forrest Gump will only be my second, after The Shawshank Redemption. But as I always say, I do not intend to take anything away from Forrest Gump because it really was a great movie. It was one of the most soothing movies I've seen. I meant that in a way that in a sense that there's a breath in the movie. Nothing too extravagant, but it definitely had impact. I knew that it had a great impact on me because I had to re-watch almost the entire movie as soon as I finished it.
Watching it, the most insane part of it for me was how rich and eventful Gump's life was. From the war to starting his business to searching for the woman he loves to running across America. It's that kind of movie that made me wonder what I'm doing with my life. He achieved a lot, and made a whole lot of something out of his early hardships. It was carefully then narrated on the big screen. Although the movie featured several stages of his life, they kept a sense of continuity. From childhood to adulthood and every thing in between. It just flowed.
The movie showed the range of Tom Hanks in that he was able to embody and effectively portray the character. The character was not the most intellectual person and Tom Hanks delivered that on screen. He captured the essence of a great success story in the form of Forrest Gump. He was flawless, basically. I've seen the movie quite a few times, and still can't pinpoint anything wrong with his performance. He did the movie justice and maximized its potential by delivery a fine performance. The screenplay itself was great, but I thought the actors escalated it.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
July 09, 2012
Saving Private Ryan
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM HANKS! Today, July 9, 2012, is his 56th birthday. To celebrate his pure awesomeness, I've decided to make this a Tom Hanks week. I'll try to write as many Tom Hanks related movie reviews/commentaries this week. I've planned this a long time ago, and thought it will be a nice way to pay tribute to one of the best actors in the industry, and also my favorite. I hope I can keep it up considering I now have a job. But, I'll figure something out.
I decided to start with Saving Private Ryan, the movie that really made me a fan of Tom Hanks. It's one of my favorite movies and one of my first answers, if not the first, when someone's asking for a good movie to watch. I was literally amazed by it, and I became a huge Tom Hanks fan because of this.
Saving Private Ryan was a 1998 war film about the invasion of Normandy. However, the main idea of the film was the search for Private Ryan. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and was written by Robert Rodat. This movie validated that Spielberg is really one of the best directors for me. He became one of my favorite directors because of this movie, though I've been a fan of him ever since he made Schindler's list, my first Spielberg movie. The film was both critically acclaimed and a commercial success, earning more than 410 million dollars in profit. It starred, of course, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, and more.
A team was commissioned to find him after all his brothers died during the war. As the last remaining/surviving son of the Ryans, the team was tasked to locate the Private to be brought home to his family. Tom Hanks played Captain John Miller, who led the team for the search. They encountered and battled enemies along the way, lost some of his men, but he still stood by his orders. That's the basic plot of the movie. Simple enough? Don't worry, the execution of the entire movie would erase every ounce of doubt you have. I can bet you now (but of course, I won't) that you will find the movie one of the best films.
The first 27 minutes were the most intense 27 minutes of any movie I know. It was a hardcore depiction of the the events that happened that day many years ago. As a big fan of the movie, I've done a lot of research about the movie, and I've read a lot of positive feedback about the start of the movie. If you've seen the movie, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven;t seen it, you're going to have to see it to fully understand the gravity of the beginning of the movie. That scene itself brought me to that historic moment because the depiction was really realistic, and it begged the viewer's sympathy. It's clearly one of the best scenes to start off an epic movie. I was really left in awe when I saw this part alone, and I was not even halfway into the movie.
The rest of the movie, though not as bloody, was still intense. It focused more on the bulk of the plot which was about the attempt to locate Private Ryan and to bring him home to his mother. There's the formation of the team, the orders being given, the great lengths this particular team had to go through. It was filled with firing guns and deaths, which led it to being a sensitive dramatic movie. Steven Spielberg crafted the movie to be as authentic as possible, which was probably the reason why there were really nothing too overdone about it. It was as natural as it possibly could be.
The cast was also stellar and gave the finest performances this movie could ask for. Tom Hanks as the lead was commanding, firm, and still had that sensitivity to his men and comrades. There was also a great dynamic going on among the members of the team. The chemistry was so present that whenever someone got hurt, or anything, I could feel the tension. I could feel the paranoia, anxiety and suffering. The actors complemented each other very well and it all worked out well. I honestly can say that I can't see any other actor playing one of the roles in the movie.
There are not enough positive words to describe the movie, the performances and the brilliance of Steven Sielberg. At the end of the movie, there was nothing left to do but to take in the whole experience, be appreciative and be grateful that such a movie could be so inspiring. It's truly one of the best movies I've seen, and Saving Private Ryan will always remain as one of my top movies. In one of the scenes, Captain Miller said,"Things have taken a turn for the surreal. " It's the best culmination I could think of for this post, cause after watching the movie, it felt so surreal to have had the opportunity of watching this exquisite movie.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
I decided to start with Saving Private Ryan, the movie that really made me a fan of Tom Hanks. It's one of my favorite movies and one of my first answers, if not the first, when someone's asking for a good movie to watch. I was literally amazed by it, and I became a huge Tom Hanks fan because of this.
Saving Private Ryan was a 1998 war film about the invasion of Normandy. However, the main idea of the film was the search for Private Ryan. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and was written by Robert Rodat. This movie validated that Spielberg is really one of the best directors for me. He became one of my favorite directors because of this movie, though I've been a fan of him ever since he made Schindler's list, my first Spielberg movie. The film was both critically acclaimed and a commercial success, earning more than 410 million dollars in profit. It starred, of course, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, and more.
A team was commissioned to find him after all his brothers died during the war. As the last remaining/surviving son of the Ryans, the team was tasked to locate the Private to be brought home to his family. Tom Hanks played Captain John Miller, who led the team for the search. They encountered and battled enemies along the way, lost some of his men, but he still stood by his orders. That's the basic plot of the movie. Simple enough? Don't worry, the execution of the entire movie would erase every ounce of doubt you have. I can bet you now (but of course, I won't) that you will find the movie one of the best films.
The first 27 minutes were the most intense 27 minutes of any movie I know. It was a hardcore depiction of the the events that happened that day many years ago. As a big fan of the movie, I've done a lot of research about the movie, and I've read a lot of positive feedback about the start of the movie. If you've seen the movie, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven;t seen it, you're going to have to see it to fully understand the gravity of the beginning of the movie. That scene itself brought me to that historic moment because the depiction was really realistic, and it begged the viewer's sympathy. It's clearly one of the best scenes to start off an epic movie. I was really left in awe when I saw this part alone, and I was not even halfway into the movie.
The rest of the movie, though not as bloody, was still intense. It focused more on the bulk of the plot which was about the attempt to locate Private Ryan and to bring him home to his mother. There's the formation of the team, the orders being given, the great lengths this particular team had to go through. It was filled with firing guns and deaths, which led it to being a sensitive dramatic movie. Steven Spielberg crafted the movie to be as authentic as possible, which was probably the reason why there were really nothing too overdone about it. It was as natural as it possibly could be.
The cast was also stellar and gave the finest performances this movie could ask for. Tom Hanks as the lead was commanding, firm, and still had that sensitivity to his men and comrades. There was also a great dynamic going on among the members of the team. The chemistry was so present that whenever someone got hurt, or anything, I could feel the tension. I could feel the paranoia, anxiety and suffering. The actors complemented each other very well and it all worked out well. I honestly can say that I can't see any other actor playing one of the roles in the movie.
There are not enough positive words to describe the movie, the performances and the brilliance of Steven Sielberg. At the end of the movie, there was nothing left to do but to take in the whole experience, be appreciative and be grateful that such a movie could be so inspiring. It's truly one of the best movies I've seen, and Saving Private Ryan will always remain as one of my top movies. In one of the scenes, Captain Miller said,"Things have taken a turn for the surreal. " It's the best culmination I could think of for this post, cause after watching the movie, it felt so surreal to have had the opportunity of watching this exquisite movie.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
July 08, 2012
Vantage Point
Vantage Point was an action/drama 2008 movie directed by Pete Travis. The screenplay was written by Barry L. Levy It also had a political side to it as it focused on an attempt to assassinate the President of the United States. It starred Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Edgar Ramirez, Eduardo Noriega, Ayelet Surer, and more. Every single one them was amazing in the movie, really investing themselves to their roles. That's already one thing I liked about it.
I got chills minutes into the movie. Literally having goosebumps while watching the first part of the movie. It was the atmosphere of the movie that was really intense and shocking. Maybe it caught me off guard cause usually, the movie spends the first part of the movie laying the ground of it, introducing the characters, setting the premise etc. Vantage point was not one of them. Right at the get go, guns were being shot, bombs were exploding, and people were dying. The whole mood was somber and pretty scary, especially if you imagine yourself in that scenario.
The energy of the film died down midway. It was around the 4th or 5th perspective that it started lose steam. It suddenly became dragging in a sense, and I thought they were repeating scenes not really necessary for the construction of the movie. However, things started to pick up again towards the end when everything started coming together. In the last perspective where it was revealed who wanted to kill the president, the steps they took to ensure chaos, it all started to pick up again. While the movie died down a bit in the middle portion of the movie, the ending more than made up for it. The mystery was beginning to be solved and it ended with a thrill.
It's been compared to Rashomon, a 1950 Japanese movie by Akira Kurosawa. I've seen Rashomon and I think people are comparing the two movies because both employed the same style of film making. Rashomon used 4 perspectives to tell the story of 2 men and a woman, and how the two men fought for the woman. The 4th perspective cam from a person who witnessed everything. To be honest, aside from telling a single story using different perspectives, I didn't think the movies were the same. It had similar ideas, but I thought the attack Vantage Point had was different from that of Rashomon. Although, after reading some of the comments, I understood where these people were coming from.
Overall, I thought the movie was still pretty good. After watching the movie, I forgave that tiny bit in the middle of the movie that got me thinking the movie, which had a great start would end badly. It's probably something I'd watch again, and maybe the second time around, I'd appreciate it even more. But I still found it enjoyable and entertaining. I think that's what matters at the end of the day.
I got chills minutes into the movie. Literally having goosebumps while watching the first part of the movie. It was the atmosphere of the movie that was really intense and shocking. Maybe it caught me off guard cause usually, the movie spends the first part of the movie laying the ground of it, introducing the characters, setting the premise etc. Vantage point was not one of them. Right at the get go, guns were being shot, bombs were exploding, and people were dying. The whole mood was somber and pretty scary, especially if you imagine yourself in that scenario.
The energy of the film died down midway. It was around the 4th or 5th perspective that it started lose steam. It suddenly became dragging in a sense, and I thought they were repeating scenes not really necessary for the construction of the movie. However, things started to pick up again towards the end when everything started coming together. In the last perspective where it was revealed who wanted to kill the president, the steps they took to ensure chaos, it all started to pick up again. While the movie died down a bit in the middle portion of the movie, the ending more than made up for it. The mystery was beginning to be solved and it ended with a thrill.
It's been compared to Rashomon, a 1950 Japanese movie by Akira Kurosawa. I've seen Rashomon and I think people are comparing the two movies because both employed the same style of film making. Rashomon used 4 perspectives to tell the story of 2 men and a woman, and how the two men fought for the woman. The 4th perspective cam from a person who witnessed everything. To be honest, aside from telling a single story using different perspectives, I didn't think the movies were the same. It had similar ideas, but I thought the attack Vantage Point had was different from that of Rashomon. Although, after reading some of the comments, I understood where these people were coming from.
Overall, I thought the movie was still pretty good. After watching the movie, I forgave that tiny bit in the middle of the movie that got me thinking the movie, which had a great start would end badly. It's probably something I'd watch again, and maybe the second time around, I'd appreciate it even more. But I still found it enjoyable and entertaining. I think that's what matters at the end of the day.
Marley & Me
Marley & Me was a 2008c comedy-drama movie starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. It was directed by David Frankel, who also directed The Devil Wears Prada. The story was based on the work of John Grogan which had the same title as the movie. Owen Wilson played Grogan and Aniston played his wife, Jenny. Also part of the cast were Eric Dane, Alan Arkin, Kathleen Turner, Nathan Gamble, Finley Jacobsen, and Lucy Merriam. The film went on to break records on its Christmas day release and became a hugely commercial success.
The first part of the movie was filled with laughs while the second half dabbles on serious matters more. It still had funny bits, but that's really when the drama started settling in and overtaking the comedic side of it. The transition however is remarkable. It flowed really smoothly and it had a clear direction. It started lightly, then introduced the people involved and how the couple got their first dog. Then it continued to follow the couple's joyous moments with the newest member of their family, and the struggles that went along with it. It escalated even more when the couple started having children. It's a great narration of a beautiful story.
Another thing I liked about it was the music. It had great songs, great melodies for the movie. Appropriate and still catchy. Right from the beginning, I already noticed that the movie had very good songs, songs I would actually search for, and listen to.
This movie was right into Jennifer Aniston's wheelhouse. She's really good at this dramedy movies cause she's a very talented actress. She's funny but she also knows how to handle melodramatic scenes. I guess she already showed us her range in the television show FRIENDS. There's also no question about Owen Wilson's comedic side. This movie was probably a little different from his other movies, but still pretty good if you ask me. Eric Dane was also excellent in this, although he really did not have a lot of screen time. The children also were fantastic. I only included the names of the actors who played the couple's children towards the end of the movie. But these kids were seriously unbelievable.
It's a heartwarming story of friendship, family, and as cheesy as this sounds, love. It's an inspiring and touching story about a family and a dog, and the strong bond that connects all of them together. The joys, the tears, the fun of it. It's a great exploration of every single element revolving around the family. Now I know why people are still taking about it years after its release.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
The first part of the movie was filled with laughs while the second half dabbles on serious matters more. It still had funny bits, but that's really when the drama started settling in and overtaking the comedic side of it. The transition however is remarkable. It flowed really smoothly and it had a clear direction. It started lightly, then introduced the people involved and how the couple got their first dog. Then it continued to follow the couple's joyous moments with the newest member of their family, and the struggles that went along with it. It escalated even more when the couple started having children. It's a great narration of a beautiful story.
Another thing I liked about it was the music. It had great songs, great melodies for the movie. Appropriate and still catchy. Right from the beginning, I already noticed that the movie had very good songs, songs I would actually search for, and listen to.
This movie was right into Jennifer Aniston's wheelhouse. She's really good at this dramedy movies cause she's a very talented actress. She's funny but she also knows how to handle melodramatic scenes. I guess she already showed us her range in the television show FRIENDS. There's also no question about Owen Wilson's comedic side. This movie was probably a little different from his other movies, but still pretty good if you ask me. Eric Dane was also excellent in this, although he really did not have a lot of screen time. The children also were fantastic. I only included the names of the actors who played the couple's children towards the end of the movie. But these kids were seriously unbelievable.
It's a heartwarming story of friendship, family, and as cheesy as this sounds, love. It's an inspiring and touching story about a family and a dog, and the strong bond that connects all of them together. The joys, the tears, the fun of it. It's a great exploration of every single element revolving around the family. Now I know why people are still taking about it years after its release.
You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page.
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