Reviews

Flags of Our Fathers is based off of James Bradley and Ron Powers successful novel about the life stories of six men who raised the infamous flag on The Battle of Iwo Jima. The book, Flags of Our Fathers, is my favorite book ever written. The development of the six men's lives throughout the book was the greatest thing the book had to offer. The Battle of Iwo Jima, in the book, was extremely powerful and shocking of what the actual men had to go through. There was no development in the film of the six men. All it focused on was the three out of the six survivors who made it back from Iwo Jima. I thought the book was mainly based on the six men's lives, not just three. I mean you really didn't care about the three who died, because it never really focused on them.

The battle scenes were pathetic. Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most horrific and bloodiest battles in history and this film lacked that. There wasn't much emotional and extreme intense battle scenes. I thought it was just all boring. The acting was also mediocre. Ryan Phillipe did fine as John Bradley but I thought Jesse Bradford as Rene Gagnon and Adam Beach as Ira Hayes had bad acting. They tried too hard in their roles and when they acted, it just came out corny. I've never really been a big fan of Clint Eastwood as the director, and I thought Spielberg should of stepped away from just producing, and direct the movie. I thought he would of done a better job overall.

There were a couple moments in the film that were good though. The ending was the best part of the film. With Thomas McCarthy as James Bradley narrating about how the three survivors lived the rest of the lives after Iwo Jima, were great. The War Bond scenes were a lot like the book had it done also. Overall, this was a disappointing film in my opinion, that could've been a lot better.

Hedeen's Outlook: 5/10 *+ D

Accepted is about a high school burnout who has been rejected from every college he has applied to. He starts to create a fake university in order to fool his overzealous parents. This is a surprising comedy that made me laugh on almost every scene. Most of the characters in the movie I never heard of, were all hilarious, especially Jonah Hill and Adam Herschmann. The movie was actually pretty original. I've never really heard of a storyline like this, and when I read it, I thought it would be another dumb comedy with the same jokes as any other comedy. But I was pretty surprised of what I saw. Overall, this was a really funny comedy of 2006 and should get more appreciated. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+

The Departed is about two men from the opposite sides of the law that are undercover within the Boston State Police department and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities. This is an excellent film by one of my favorite directors, Martin Scorsese. The all star cast represented by Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin are all brilliant and they act out their performances with much realism. The screenplay is written out very well by William Monahan and the direction by Scorsese is sensational, with his trademark camera work. The soundtrack was also very well done. Overall, this is the best film of the year so far and even though it's no Goodfellas, it is truly, one of his greatest films. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

The gang is back! This is an instant classic in the comedy genre in my opinion. I don't believe I've ever laughed so hard in my life. Every event and every dumb thing they did in this film was absolutely hilarious and if you didn't laugh once, you don't have a sense of humor. I never saw Jackass Number 1 but since I'm a big fan of the shows, "Jackass", "Wildboyz", and "Viva La Bam", I couldn't resist watching it. Chris Pontius is my favorite person in the movie and I think he might be one of the funniest people in the world. Classic line from the film, after Ryan Dunn burnt the shape of a penis on Bam Margera's ass:

"Why did you do that?"-Bam's Mom

"Because it was funny."-Ryan Dunn.

Overall, this is probably one of my favorite comedies that I've ever seen and I hope they make a Jackass Number 3 in the near future. I highly recommend it!

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

Shattered Glass is based on a true story about a young journalist named Stephen Glass who fell from grace after fabricating about half of his stories at The New Republic. I watched this film in Journalism class about a month ago and thought it was a great movie. This is Hayden Christensen's best acting debut to date and I thought Peter Sarsgaard had the best performance throughout the film and he has a great future ahead of him. Besides the performances, the screenplay and direction by first timer, Billy Ray was excellent. Overall, Shattered Glass is an interesting and entertaining film of 2003. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 9/10 ***+ A-

House of Wax is a remake of the 1953 film about six friends that are stranded in a ghost town where a house of wax is straight ahead, which causes them a BIG delay to where there going. This is another horrible remake and a horrible film in general that made me almost quit watching in the opening credits. I literally watched this film just to make fun of it and watch it because of all of Paris Hilton's publicity she got from the film. This is just like any other horror film. It has to be extremely gory and it has to make the villains impossible to kill, just so the movie can be more scarier. When are they going to stop making these cheap films with handsome heroes that have no acting talent and beautiful actresses to play the main leads? It will never end. Overall, this is a pathetic slasher film that pretty much made me laugh in every scene of how bad it was.

Hedeen's Outlook: 1/10 No stars F

Carlito's Way is about a Puerto Rican ex-con named Carlito Brigante who is just released from prison, tries to lead his life to a good path although being pressured by the people around him and his earlier life. Brian De Palma (Scarface and The Untouchables), directs another successful film that has colorful characters, a good soundtrack, and a good screenplay by David Koepp. The performances were good especially by Al Pacino (who performs with another accent like in Scarface), Penelope Ann Miller, John Lequizamo, and Luis Guzman. I didn't think that Sean Penn was that great in this film. I thought he tried too hard and I sort of thought he did the part pretty badly honestly. Don't get me wrong, I like Sean Penn a lot, but I just thought he played a dull performance. Overall, this is a good film by Brian DePalma, that will be appreciated more and more in the future. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Rounders is about a reformed gambler that must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. This is a really entertaining film that is almost comparable to Ocean's Eleven. The cast was incredible. Edward Norton, Martin Landau, John Malkovich, and especially the main lead, Matt Damon did there roles very well and without their great performances, the film would be a let down. The direction by John Dahl and the screenplay written by former writers, David Levien and Brian Koppelman, were very well done also. The dialogue was written well and the narration by Matt Damon, made the film even better. Overall, this is a very gripping and entertaining movie. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+

World Trade Center is based on a true story about two port authority police officers trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center and the families that try everything to rescue them. This film is extremely powerful and can traumatize a lot of people who are still affected by the tragic incident or the loved ones they lost. Oliver Stone, director of political films such as JFK, Nixon, and Born on the Fourth of July, uses very little politics in the film and as your watching it, it's hard to tell that its made by him. He's been in kind of a funk lately and I think that in this film, he has broken out of it. The two main leads played by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as the police officers trapped in chaos did very well and it should of made the two real life police officers very proud. Overall, this was a good film that will get more and more appreciated as time goes by. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is one of the best comedies of this year so far and probably will stay that way. Will Farrell has not let me down yet and I think he never will. Most of comedies are actually stupid but its him that brings every one of his movies up and makes it a lot more funnier than what they actually are. John C Reilly, who is actually most known for serious films, puts on a great performance as Ricky Bobby's sidekick as well as Gary Cole, who played Ricky Bobby's father. Overall, this film is top notch and although I don't think its better than Anchorman, it still made me laugh a ton and not worry about anything. Will Ferrell does not fail!!

Hedeen's Outlook: 9/10 ***+ A-

Grandma's Boy is a very funny movie of 2006 with a great choice of casting. Allen Covert and Peter Dante pretty much stole the show especially with some hilarious lines from Peter, "dude there was a f***** lion!!" Most of the cast did really well in pulling off funny lines and I thought for how this was made on a pretty low budget, it did really well. Most of the lines in the film were very funny and about every scene, it was hard not to laugh. Overall, this is an extremely funny stoner comedy of 2006 that I think will get better recognition in the near future. I recommend it and especially for Adam Sandler fans.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

The Land Before Time is one of my favorite childhood memories when watching movies. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were my absolute favorite characters back in the day. The characters are what made me love this Disney classic and will forever stay that way. The music by my personal favorite composer, James Horner really sunk in to the film and I think there couldn't of been a better score than this for the movie. Don Bluth is very good at making powerful Disney movies and I'll actually admit that I had a few tears about to come out on some scenes. Overall, this is one of the greatest Disney movies to ever come out and one of the best tearjerkers also. Great movie, I highly recommend this timeless classic.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

Dante and Randall are back in a funny sequel that follows them starting a new life by flicking burgers at a Disney-McDonald's style fast food restaurant called Mooby's since Quick Stop Groceries was burnt down. The film is not much different from the first one considering how Dante and Randall argue about the most random and uncontrollably funny conversations just like in Clerks. Jay and Randall make the most laughs in the sequel and about every word they say, you can't stop laughing. Kevin Smith is great at making original ideas and I think that is what has made him a very successful film director and writer. Overall, this is a hilarious sequel that got me laughing a ton in almost every scene. I recommend it highly.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+

The Devil's Rejects is the sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses" that is set months later with the Texas State Police making a full scale attack against the murderous Firefly family residence for the 1,000+ murders and disappearances of the past several years. As two of the Firefly family escape from an attack from the police, they go on another murderous rampage. This film was highly enjoyable from beginning to end. Although the film is highly sick and brutal, it never really seized to distract me. I also thought the film was a lot more realistic than other horror films and that the good guys and bad guys didn't win. The direction by Rob Zombie was done well and I thought the soundtrack was very good with a couple of my favorite songs being in there. Overall, I thought this could probably be the best horror film in the last 20 years because of its realism and how people can become so sick and bizarre. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest is an entertaining sequel that takes off with Capt Jack Sparrow owing an unpaid debt to the monstrous Davy Jones and his army of sea phantoms. Sparrow has to find a way to save himself from becoming one of them by wrecking William and Elizabeth's wedding plans and forcing them to join Jack on another adventure. This is an exciting sequel that have made fans across the world happy. I enjoyed the film pretty well and I thought all the actors especially Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow to be the best just like in the first one. The only actor I thought was kind of boring would be Orlando Bloom and his overacting. Although, I thought the film was entertaining and funny, I don't think its close to being better than the first one. It felt way too long on some parts and I thought some scenes shouldn't of been included in the film. Overall, I thought Verbinski's sequel was good and had some pretty funny parts. But if your saying this is better than "The Curse of the Black Pearl," I think your pretty wrong on that answer. I recommend it all and all though.

Hedeen's Outlook: 7.5/10 *** B-

The Squid and the Whale is a black comedy about two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's. This is an excellent film that surprised me in every way. The acting is superb, mainly by Jesse Eisenberg and Jeff Daniels, who I thought should of been nominated for best actor. Noah Baumbach, which actually the movie is based on his childhood experiences, wrote and directed this film very well for how he's only made a couple of films in his career. I thought the dialogue was very realistic and it made me feel like I was there, as well as how the film is extremely realistic. Fortunately my parents aren't planning a divorce but a couple of my friends actually experienced it before and they said that their parents acted a lot like the parents did in this movie. Overall, this is a very powerful and realistic black comedy that shows a strong career in the future for Mr. Baumbach. The Squid and the Whale is one of the best films of 2005, I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 9.5/10 **** A

Match Point is about a former tennis pro named Chris who falls for a femme-fatal type who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. He has a comfortable life with his soon to be wife but is only interested in his friend's fiancé and that's what leads to his downfall. I have not been a huge fan of Woody Allen, but after watching Match Point, I think that I might pay a little more attention to his films. This is a very interesting film with great acting from the whole cast especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, and Emily Mortimer. The screenplay written by Allen was pretty original actually and most of the dialogue was neatly written out. The direction also was good and I like some of the camera shots that Allen pulled out. I like how the film was pretty sappy in the beginning and as things start to turn out bad halfway through, it got darker and built up a lot of suspense. Usually Woody Allen makes comedies and happy ending romances but this is a totally different outlook on his films. Overall, this is a great film that put Woody Allen out of his slump and showed us his best side. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a story about a group of California teenagers who enjoy a variety of things such as sex, malls, and rock n' roll. This film is very enjoyable and for its running time at 90 minutes, I thought it flew by extremely fast and maybe that's why it got its title. Fast Times introduced us to two new people that have changed the course in films today. One an actor by the name of Sean Penn who played the stoner, Jeff Spicoli who loved spoking pot, surfing, and irritating Mr. Hand. Later on Sean Penn became a huge star in movies like Mystic River, 21 Grams, and The Thin Red Line. The other being a writer and director who wrote the screenplay for this film and wrote and directed other hits like Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. He goes by the name of Cameron Crowe. Overall, this is a very entertaining and funny teen flick of the 80's that boosted a lot of careers up for some people that were involved in the film. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Kicking and Screaming is just one of those movies that you might watch one time fully through and if it's on TV, you might watch a little bit of it if nothing's on. It's a very forgettable film that had Will Farrell in it to give some good laughs. I thought Will Farell was hilarious though and pretty much stole the show just like any other comedies he does. Lines like, "No, you go to hell, and while you're there, why don't you grab me a juicebox," made me laugh a lot. I thought Mike Ditka and Robert Duvall were pretty funny also and had a couple funny lines. Overall, this is a film that I might watch maybe once or twice and then totally forget about it. It's enjoyable because Will Farrell steals the show.

Hedeen's Outlook: 7/10 **+ C+

Cocktail is about a cocky and talented New York bartender who takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love. I'm not so sure why I really enjoyed this movie, maybe because it was just so hokey that I forgot about the qualities of a great film and just enjoyed it. A young Tom Cruise plays the cocky bartender, but I didn't think that he was that bad in this film, concerning his character was a little goofy. The soundtrack was really good and the atmosphere in Jamaica made the film a lot better. Elisabeth Shue is sizzling in the film and I thought her performance was the best of any actors, even though Bryan Brown did really well. Overall, this is a pretty good 80's flick which Tom Cruise later went on to starring in the Oscar winner, Rain Man. I recommend Cocktail.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Scent of a Woman is about a prep school student named Charlie Simms that needs money to help pay for a trip home for Christmas. He agrees to "babysit" a blind man by the name of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, but the job is not all what he anticipated. This is an excellent film of 1992 that boosted Chris O' Donnell's career up for his performance of Charlie Simms. But the one actor who stole pretty much every scene in the movie, was that of Al Pacino as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, which later on granted him an Oscar for his role. The screenplay written by Bo Goldman and the direction by Martin Brest were very good and I don't think any other writer or director could've handled this film more carefully than these two. Overall, this a terrific film of 92 and an amazing performance from Pacino that made this one of my favorite films of the 90's. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

Ethan Hunt is back again in another big mission when he comes face to face with a crazy arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend. This was a very entertaining sequel to the mission impossible trilogy. The acting was good from pretty much the whole cast especially Ving Rhames as Luther Strickell and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davien. J.J. Abrams, creator of the series "Lost," directs his first movies and does it pretty well. Although this is a pretty good film and a ton better than the second, this is for sure no first as most people believe the third is better. The first, I thought was a lot more stylish and had a better story than the 3rd, with good character development flowing which I thought the 3rd lacked compared to the first film. Overall, this is just the start for a bright future in films for J.J. Abrams and hopefully this film can make Tom Cruise get passed all the media nonsense.

Hedeen's Outlook: 7/10 **+ C+

Cruel Intentions is about two step siblings by the names of Sebastian and Kathyrn, who make cruel and tasteless actions on the people they hook up with. Kathryn decides to make a bet on Sebastian by ending a young girl's virginity, but things get all mixed up when Sebastian regrets his bet and starts to fall for the girl. This is an excellent film of 1999 that boosted a lot of the actors careers up that were involved in the movie. This is Ryan Phillipe's best performance by far as well as Sarah Michelle Gellar's. The acting couldn't of been any better in Roger Kumble's first film, which is his best also since none of his other projects have been up to the caliber of Cruel Intentions. The screenplay that was written by him also was very well done with nicely used dialogue from the actors. One of the strongest points in the film that I haven't mentioned yet, is that the soundtrack was amazing. "Color Blind" and "Bittersweet Symphony" were perfect songs that were used greatly in the film. Overall, this is a powerful and sexy film that is actually a little more mature than a teenager movie, in my opinion. I highly recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

The Da Vinci Code is based on Dan Brown's popular number one best seller about a murder that occurred in the Lourve mansion and clues in Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings that is being investigated by a Harvard symbologist and a french cryptologist that lead to a religious mystery that could shake the foundations of Christianity. There's not much new to this film, but just Tom Hank's goofy hair and some french accents. I have never really read the book so I had only a little clue what this film was going to be about. I came out of the movie theater with a lot of information, but was still confused on most parts. There is still tons of question that still need to be answered and what I've heard from many fans from the book was, that they were missing some key points in the movie. But there were a few positives. Although Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors, his performance in this film was pretty dull and could've been a little better.

But it was Paul Bettany and Ian McKellen that made the acting carry the film. There performances were very enjoyable and they played their parts perfect. The screenplay was written really well by former writer of Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman and had nicely used dialogue. Overall, the film was decent and could've been a lot better. For its 2 and a half hour length, I thought it went way to slow and felt like it was almost 4 hours, but that's just me. I think this is one of Ron Howard's weakest films, compared to his previous ones such as A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13. But then again, this is my opinion on the film.

Hedeen's Outlook: 5.5/10 ** D+