The Help

It is the early 1960's Mississippi. African Americans still do not have equal rights. They may not be slaves but they might as well be in small town Jackson. This story follows African American maid Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) as she cooks, cleans, shops and even raises the children of her white employees.
On the other side of the racial barrier is young aspiring writer Skeeter, (Emma Stone) who decides to write a book detailing the lives of a dozen African American maids.
These two characters begin a secret partnership writing Aibileen's story. Soon more maids join up, including the memorable Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer).
Skeeter may be the only white female in Jackson that isn't racist, having fond memories of her own maid who she idolises. Skeeter's best friend however, Hilly Holbrock (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the complete opposite. Hilly is oblivious to her blatant discrimination, even treating her own mother like trash.
This is another film documenting the very racially unbalanced and scary era of the 60's, but it explores the topic in a new way. What can be very male dominated and violent films,  The Help differs as it is a female ensemble cast.  This results in the exploration of not only the violence apparent in this era, but also the extreme hurt of gossip, along with the power of the written word.
The female ensemble is amazing. Emma Stone has already proved her worth in Easy A and she shines once again in this film. But it is Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer that contribute the more powerful and emotional performances on screen. Bryce Dallas Howard is fucking scary as Hilly Holbrock, capturing the essence of pure evil in her performance, making it impossible to feel anything but hate for this woman. Sissy Spacek gives a hilarious performance as Hilly's mother, proving that not everyone in the Holbrock family are the spawn of Satan. Allison Janney plays Skeeter's mother and she does her normal wonders in a role that has surprising heart. Finally Jessica Chastain gives a sweet performance as a ditzy wife shunned from the other women in town.
This is an emotional film; one minute you may be crying with a character,  the next laughing with another and then tearing up all over again.  You would have to be a member of the KKK not to be emotional moved by this film. Maybe the film's poster doesn't evoke much official prestige but if Touchstone/Disney plug the movie at Oscar nomination time, there will definitely be acting nominations from this amazing ensemble.

Cowboys and Aliens

Jake (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the middle of the desert thirsty, disorientated and with a strange metal band locked to his wrist. He has no memory of who he is and when he strolls across a nearby town he soon learns that he is a wanted man. Local cattle owner Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) is one man affected by Jake's criminal activities after robbing Dolarhyde a fair amount of gold. Naturally Dolarhyde wants to seek revenge. But before any of these issues can be resolved, flying Alien spaceships come and destroy half the town, stealing most of the townsfolk. The aliens leave as quickly as they appeared but not before Jake subconsciously uses the metal wrist band to shoot and destroy one of the spaceships. Unfortunately Dolarhyde loses his bratty son to the aliens and so sets out on a mission to rescue the stolen people. Jake tags along in hope for answers about who he is. There is also a beautiful woman Ella (Olivia Wilde) thrown in the film, who really wants to help Jake remember, for mysterious reasons of her own.
The plot may seem like a lot to take in - Cowboys, Aliens; in one film? The west meets space? But hey, it's fun! Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man 1 and 2) knows how to make an action film, and Craig, Ford and Wilde look like they are having heaps of fun on screen. But the film can not just survive on the element of fun alone. There are many structural problems with the story. Firstly there are way too many characters, meaning there is not enough time to develop any of them substantially. Even the main characters seem rather hollow to the point that you aren't even emotional involved with their story.  Because of the amount of characters, Jake's back story is rushed and when we finally learn the truth it is rather anticlimactic. Then there is Dolarhyde gallivanting about like a hero rescuing his douche of a son. I was left wondering why Dolarhyde was even bothering, the annoying son is perhaps better left dead. Really all we needed Dolarhyde to say was that his son is the only family he has left or something cliche like that.  Then there is Olivia Wilde, yes she looks amazing, the girl can even act but everyone could see her character twist miles away. Actually the whole film was predictable and ran like most other action films. And don't even get me started on Daniel Craig's over sized hat!! I just wished I could walk up there and lift the damn thing so we could actually see his eyes.
There were elements of the film to be enjoyed. The western setting was beautiful. They included the gore and grittiness so common in the western genre. The aliens reminiscent of the creatures seen in the Alien films were also fun. The CGI was top notch and the comedy helped to lift up the drab characters.
It was fun to see the two genres of Western and Alien films mashed together, but is the world a better place because of this film? Definitely not.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios last venture together comes in the form the Captain America: The First Avenger, Disney has since bought Marvel along with the rights to the other Avenger films. The film is set during World War Two after the USA has joined forces with the allies to fight against the Nazis. Chris Evans plays the title hero but when we are first introduced to him, he is simply known as Steve Rogers. He is a skinny, short but very persistent, brave man; who longs to fight for his country. This sparks the attention of Scientist, Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who enlists Steve in a secret squad of the US Army to become apart of his experiment to create the ultimate soldier. One thrilling transformation scene later, Steve is turned from super dork to super hero.
The action takes an unexpected, yet welcome side step, as Captain America becomes the face of the war and is used as propaganda for the US Army to gain more war bonds.
But soon Captain America is forced to use his abilities against one particular Nazi leader, Johan Schmidt also known as Red Skull (played amazingly by Hugo Weaving) who is trying to succeed Hitler by destroying the world with science and his belief of Teutonic legends.
Love interest is in the form of British Agent Peggy, played by the beautiful and charming Hayley Atwel, who gives a solid performance for what is an undeveloped character. The main issue is the fact that her role as joint collaborator with the US Army is never explained, making her an awkward tag along. Tommy Lee Jones shows up as Colonel Chester Phillip, giving the audience the best timed performance and the most witty lines out of the entire cast. Iron Man's grandfather takes a supporting role as Scientist Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) to further tie the Avenger franchise together.
One of the highlights of the film is the 1940's set design and costumes which are brought perfectly to life.
This film actually succeeds, where so many fail,  in using the 3D element and I would recommend paying the extra to view the third dimension. 
Where the film fails is the fact that it downplays and glazes over the emotional parts. It doesn't properly set-up or reward the audience with any sort of credible emotion but instead rushes through it. I think it is more a timing issue opposed to anything else, as there is some nicely revisited dialogue at the end climax but there is no time to feel the emotional impact of these words along with the action.
One major annoyance I had with the film is the very opening scene that places us in a time and location that plainly gives away the conclusion of the film.  Without the inclusion of this first scene the ending might have been a welcome twist opposed to something that was setup far to obvious. One thing the film lacks, is the wit of Iron Man. Chris Evans is no Robert Downey Jr. And while Chris does play the hero adequately, he is rather bland, even more so when the supporting actors out shine his performance.
The film could be a lot worse. It could be Thor. But fortunately it is a very fun, action packed film which explores an era that is rarely looked upon in the super hero world.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The film's tagline so prominently states, 'It all ends,' bringing the past decade of Harry Potter films to an epic close. This final installment in one of the biggest film franchises in history goes out with one magical bang! The action starts off literally where Part One ends and continues fast paced down the highway to a satisfying conclusion. Harry and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, are still on the mission to kill three more horcruxes that each form a part of Voldemort's soul and the reason behind his almost immortal existence. The race is on to find and destroy these remaining horcruxes before Voldemort finds and kills Harry.
This race soon finds everyone back to where it all started, to the magnificent location of Hogwarts. This leads into an intense battle against the good and bad guys with an unforgiving amount of causalities. Professor Mcgonagall (played wonderfully by Maggie Smith) is one of the highlights to the beginning battle scene.
I think most fans of the book will be extremely happy with this film, it follows closely to the original source and does wonders with parts of the story that I thought might fit clumsily in the film. One of the best achievements is the flashback sequence concerning an important character, this sequence is handled beautifully and retains more information than I could have hope.
It was fun, although at times sad, to see all of our loved characters back, fighting in a war torn Hogwarts setting. The acting overall was better than expected, but by the eighth film you would fucking hope so. Daniel Radcliffe surprisingly did not annoy me once and gives a solid performance as the story's hero. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint do wonders as Harry's sidekicks and are there for constant support.  
This is an epic film and although there are large amounts of action and fighting, the film still has time to stop and breathe for some truly touching scenes. That being said, the fighting is really exciting and the final face off between Harry and Voldemort (apart from that odd hug) is intense and satisfying.
Some audiences will hate the epilogue of the film and for those that haven't read the book I will leave it a surprise, but I believe it fitted well and was a suitable ending to a story arc that concentrated so much on family, friends and subsequently the importance of love.
This eighth film brings an end to a saga that has defined the decade, defined multiple generations, defined both the literature and film world, and has personally help to define the small wizard inside of me. And with the closing credits we forbid a happy, fulfilled, yet noticeably sad goodbye.

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

Transformers Dark of the Moon is the third film of the franchise and supposedly the last, and boy did it go out with a bang. It was a massive improvement on the second and while it didn't have the same freshness as the first film, Micheal Bay did achieve in making one entertaining popcorn 'turn-your-brain-off' spectacle.
The story is exactly what we expect of a Transformers film; withdrawn epic battle scenes, some quite well crafted comedic moments and at times some impressive showcasing of acting abilities. Transformers 3 is an 'End of the World' film which is pretty much played in fast forward and as an audience member we are more than happy to go along for the ride.
Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is again the main character but is now dating a British babe Carly (Model, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) after being dumped by Megan Fox's character. (The removal of Megan Fox is maybe the best part of the film). Sam soon learns of a secret that has been kept since the 1960's concerning the dark side of the moon and a possible Autobot weapon that may hold the key in defeating the Decepticons. And so the race begins to uncover the true purpose of the weapon and the surrounding secret alliances between robots and humans. Nothing in the story is too complicated or for that matter much of a surprise. Transformers 3 does however succeed in concluding the requirements that the story sets up in the first act of the film. 
One of the highlights is the list of stars that lend their talent to the film. Frances McDormand is a clear winner as the US Secretary of Defense but Patrick Dempsey, Alan Tudyk, John Malkovich and yes even that Asian guy from The Hangover, Ken Jeong, give memorable performances. Shia LaBeouf again delivers wonders as the true hero of the film and first time actor Rosie Huntington-Whiteley does a great job as the female lead, so great in fact that we can almost forget about that other chick from those previous films - almost.
There are some great comedic moments in the beginning half of the film which is imperative because the final hour is filled with fight after fight in an epic conclusion to the trilogy.
The CGI effects are naturally top notch and the 3D adds a much needed layer to the viewing experience and enjoyment of the film, bringing depth to these fantastic robots.
One of my favorite moments in the film is the opening sequence where real footage from the 1960's is intertwined with the films own recreations of key world events that aids in visually explaining a main part of the films back story.
While the film is not without fault, mainly all within the lack of script development, it does deliver an epic Hollywood blockbuster that is sure to make millions around the globe. And yes, this will not be every one's cup of tea, but it is a film that you need to watch if you have bothered to see the first two installments. With this third film we say good bye to the Transformers franchise although a part of me wants to say 'until next time,' after all we are talking about the sequel dependent Hollywood.

Water for Elephants

Set against the depression in the early 1930's, a young and intelligent Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) has a life full of hope and dreams. But while he sits his last exam to graduate veterinarian science, his Polish immigrant parents die in a car crash. With no family, no home and no money; Jacob is reduced to leaving his life behind and heading to the big city. One night while walking along the railway tracks, he jumps onto a passing train which so happens to be home to a travelling circus. And so Jacob is thrust into the world of circus folk and is instantly mesmerised by the beautiful star performer Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) and her dazzling act with animals. Due to Jacob's vet background, Circus owner and husband to Marlena, August (Christoph Waltz) snatches Jacob up as the new elephant keeper. This introduces the greatest character of the film, Rosie the Elephant and also begins the catalyst for Jacob and Marlena's relationship to grow. The power hungry and unstable August soon becomes suspicious.
Water for Elephants magically captures the magnificent life of the circus while never shying away from the cruel realities. The acting is amazing; RPatz handles lead role well and is a perfect match for the always beautiful Reece Witherspoon. Christoph Waltz brings another chilling performance to the screen, as the antagonist of the story - seriously this guy gives you the chills! But the most beautiful performance is by Rosie the Elephant, who steals the film.
The film runs at a pleasant two hours and the story follows nicely through. Yes it may seem like we have seen this story plenty of times before; "poor lost boy" falls in love with the "rich unattainable girl" but the magic of the circus easily allows you to escape within this world and you are more than happy to go along for the ride. The cinematography captures the exuberance and colour of the circus while the music accompanies the passionate lifestyle.
Flock to the cinemas and run away with Water for Elephants!

Source Code

Source Code is a different take on the “save the world against terrorists” genre film and at its heart it raises a solid moral question regarding the value of life. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as US Captain Colter Stevens, as he races against time on a mission to save Chicago from an imminent terrorist attack. The film begins as Stevens wakes up on a train in somebody elses body and minutes later the train blows up. He then wakes up a second time to learn that he is working on a mission for the US Army using a new weapon known as source code. The weapon allows him to infiltrate the last eight minute memory of the victim who died on the bombed train earlier that day. Stevens works with fellow soldier Colleen Goodwin played wonderfully by Vera Farmiga to unravel the mystery of the person behind the attack. Love interest Christina portrayed by the beautiful Michelle Monaghan, as one of the victims that Stevens has to save, brings some smiles to the film.
The story as it is written in this blog might seem confusing but it makes a lot of sense on screen. The story unfolds well and perhaps goes in a direction that you would not originally anticipate. The cinematography is beautiful and the effects while maybe not top notch, do the intended job.
The highlight is Jake Gyllenhaal, proving once again that he can play a diverse array of characters in a range of different genre films. An intriguing thriller with credible in depth drama, with a very unique and cool concept – go live and relive Source Code!