The Runaways

I am one of the lucky few that got to see any early screening of this biopic about Joan Jett’s first band, The Runaways. I was also extremely honored to have Joan Jett actually attend the screening and speak afterwards. Now, I don’t want to make this about my personal experience, but let me just say, she’s pretty awesome. Just cool, in the original meaning of the word. Now on to the movie.

First off, don’t skip this one just because you may have hated Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga. Cut her some slack, Bella Swan is written as a pretty annoying character, how’s she supposed to play it? Anyway, her portrayal is appropriately nothing like the character she plays in the vampire flicks. You may have heard the same rumors as me, that Joan Jett made Stewart cry on set, but quite frankly, I don’t care. Stewart had a great performance. After seeing Stewart in the movie and then being able to see the woman she was playing standing in front of me in real life, I was impressed. Jett also had nothing but good things to say about Stewart and her performance. And even if all this doesn’t quite convince you, let me tell you, this movie is more about Dakota Fanning’s character, Cherie Currie, than Jett. And Ms. Fanning is all grown up. I’m sure she’ll be sick of hearing that by the end of publicity for this movie, but there’s no way of avoiding the subject. Fanning is edgy. I know, who would have guessed that that little charmer from Uptown Girls would grow up and put on a corset and lingerie and perform rock ‘n roll; not to mention portray a hard into drugs and extremely sexually free young woman. Not me, but she pulled it out. She committed to the role, and I believed it. Both also did excellent jobs actually performing the music themselves. That’s all Fanning when you see her singing.

It’s also hard for me to resist a movie with music, especially such great music. And, the fact that the women producing this music were starting a revolution for women in the industry only left me cheering for them more. There was definitely a sense of authenticity to the time, and all the costumes were believable and very stylish (some even appearing to be exact replicas from the actual band). There were a few too many hazy, drug-induced scenes for me, but it did give you a kind of rush (most certainly intended) that can somewhat put you in the minds of the girls in the band. Because of it's genre it also tends to focus a lot more on the "wild" lives of the girls than the music, something that you can accept as part of a rock 'n roll movie or hate. But, if you’d like to see a piece of rock ‘n roll history and the making of a band (and some great actors), I wouldn’t miss it when it comes to theaters.

If you want to see the original Runaways perform "Cherrybomb" go to this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5LkU4646E

There are better recordings of it though. You can find one if you google cherry bomb runaways.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief

Yes, the title is too long. I lose interest just while listening to it in the trailer; one of the reasons the marketing team appeared to have some trouble with this film. Another big reason you may not know about it is because it came out the same day as Valentine’s Day, which was destined to be the box office favorite. A lot of people may have forgotten about it after opening weekend when any marketing that was taking place seemed to have stopped. But, as for me, I’m glad I choose this film, despite my annoyance with the title.

It’s fun to watch, and when it comes down to it, if a movie achieves that, you can’t ask for a ton more. The characters were extremely enjoyable to watch, and the surprisingly star-studded cast, although adding to the cheesiness, was certainly entertaining. It almost seemed like this was supposed to be a blockbuster, what with the big Hollywood actors, first class director, and epic plot, but somehow it got lost along the way to theaters. I recommend going out and finding it. The younger actors all did great jobs, especially Logan Lerman, who is sure to make teenage girls swoon with his boyish grin and self-confidence befitting a god. The female lead, Alexandra Daddario, was also a pleasant surprise. It’s become ever so rare to have a teenage girl play a character that isn’t a boy-obsessed, princess in distress, but that’s exactly what Alexandra does (You go girl!)

The plot is fast-paced and delightful in it’s recreation and integration of ancient Greek stories into the twentieth century. The setting changes rapidly and the heroes are constantly bombarded with new, if not slightly ridiculous, obstacles. It’s true that some of the circumstances and set/costumes designs are a bit cliché, but it feels okay to laugh at this, like it was planned to add to the comedy of the movie (which is already substantial from the fairly clever script). So, if you’re looking for a laugh and a bit of fantasy, hit it up.

Shutter Island

Let me preface this review with some important information about myself. I don’t do well with scary movies. I don’t like things popping out at me. I don’t like creepy people. This is a person who had Bilbo Baggins' psycho face from the scene near the end The Fellowship of the Ring branded onto my eyeballs for weeks after seeing it. I think you get my point. Now, I’m not saying this is a scary movie, but rather that it does contain some elements that are scary-movie-like that are not my favorite. These elements made the movie somewhat difficult for me to watch, but I’ll do my best to try and leave out my terrified bias.

Visually and conceptually this movie is very well done. The time period and place are very believable, and the flashbacks and dreams are dynamic in color and plot. Although many of the visuals are disturbing, they do not feel out of place and are executed with a style and consistency with the period. They shock the audience’s mind, and leave us searching for answers just as much as DiCaprio’s character is. As for Leonardo DiCaprio, he does a stand out job at freaking out. Obviously, that’s not all he does, but I will say it takes up a large chunk of his time. It appears the he and the audience are often unsure what exactly is going on. This uncertainty keeps you completely engaged in the story-line. I won’t give away the big finale… but I found it a nice twist, if not exactly the ending I wanted. Once out of the theater I actually found the ending comforting, allowing me to remind myself that the more frightening sequences had a purpose.

On a somewhat odd side note, I found the music rather odd. I believe this movie to be a more sophisticated thriller, but the music was classic and cliché “scary movie music.” The foreboding tune was consistent, and perhaps this was just my theater, but LOUD. It almost seemed like the makers might be mocking this type of music because of how prevalent it was.

Overall, I’d recommend it. It makes you think and certainly keeps you interested. Plus Leo’s accent is fun to listen to.

Dear John and Valentine's Day: Battle of the Romantics

Honestly, I could not muster up enough words about either of these films individually, so I’m going to combine them into one review that will reveal which mushy movie you should see. Annnndddddd go!

First off, if you’re looking for a plot, you have to go with Dear John, simple as that. It has a certain unexpected substance to it along with the very expected love story. Depending on how deeply you get into movies when you watch them, Dear John can have you leave the theater thinking about it. Stuff happens in Valentine’s Day, but I think it pretty much says it all that Julia Roberts’ “story” in the movie involved her being on screen for a total of six minutes. This in no way diminishes her performance, I’m just saying, this is no Love Actually. Secondly, if you’re looking for “feel-good” you should go with Valentine’s Day. If you happen to see both, you’ll understand why. Plus it wins the award for comedy, but that wouldn’t be hard to guess. (Taylor Swift is an especially nice touch for fans).

Eye-candy wise for girls, I’d have to go with Dear John. Nowadays I actually don’t think you can get a better shirtless man to stare at than Channing Tatum. Valentine’s Day has the quantity, but not necessarily the quality in this area. It does feature the up-and-coming hottie Taylor Launter though, which was a little bonus for the teenage crowd. Partly because I don’t entirely know how to classify hot girls, but mostly because I don’t think a ridiculous number of guys are rushing to the theater to see these movies, I won’t go into depth about which flick has better looking girls in it.

I’m sorry if these comparisons seem a little superficial, but there’s not a ton going on under the surface in Valentines Day and Dear John is really meant for the romantic crowd. In the end it depends on what you’re in the mood. For, if that’s a fairly well thought out, if not cliché romance, hit up Dear John. If you want to just let your mind melt for a little while while watching most of Hollywood flash before you eyes, go with Valentine’s Day. Best of luck with you gut-wrenching decision.