Film Review #28 - American Hustle

     American Hustle is an crime comedy-drama movie directed by David O. Russell that was nominated for 10 Oscars during the 2014 Academy Awards. I was naturally drawn to the film thanks to the great actors and actresses casted in the film such as Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence, and I really enjoyed it. The beginning was a bit slow and there was some weird editing but the events leading up to the ending more than made up for it. The way the characters spoke made quite a few lines in the film a bit hard to understand and so I got confused about what was happening multiple times in the movie. There were some great shots, great choice of music in appropriate scenes and incredible acting. The movie is well worth a watch.

Protest Art

I chose the issue of violence against children in Syria that is currently ongoing because I believe that not only is it wrong to use violence, but every human being should be treated fairly and equally. These children aren't getting the help that they deserve so something must be done.
Banksy, a graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter based in the U.K. recently drew a picture to protest against this issue and to show his support for the Syrian children.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/banksy-syria_n_4948562.html

Film Review #27 - Thor: The Dark World

     Thor: The Dark World is the second "Phase 2" film in the multimillion dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe and acts as a sequel to both Thor and The Avengers. In this film, Thor fights all around the Nine Realms to bring peace back. However the return of the Dark Elves threatens the Universe itself and forces Thor to ally himself with his brother Loki, imprisoned after the events that occurred in The Avengers.
The Dark World is a visually impressive film with great CGI and good-looking action scenes but I found myself uninterested in the plot and not invested with any of the characters, which is a shame because the first Thor really captivated me. It's only towards the end of the film when events were reaching their climax that I was actually fully looking at the screen. Overall, I can't imagine anyone other than superhero film fans or comic book fans in general watching this film.

Film Review #26: Breaking Bad S3E10 "Fly"

     The 10th episode in Season 3 of Breaking Bad comes in after blood pumping moments and tense scenes so naturally it'll be amped up as we get closer to the end of the Season right? Wrong. "Fly" is a really curious episode. It's almost entirely self contained and takes place primarily in one location, the plot being Walt and Jesse trying to get rid of a single fly in the meth lab but it really only serves as a backdrop for a lot of dialogue and character development. As the episode got closer to the end the conversation between Walt and Jesse became more and more emotional and it was really helped by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul's consistently amazing performances as the two leads.
     There were some great shots and a tasteful use of symbolism with the actual fly that I really enjoyed. This episode may have been divisive when it originally aired, but I personally loved it.

Film Review #25: The World's End

     The World's End is a 2013 British sci-fi comedy directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg who also stars in the movie alongside Nick Frost as the main character. It's the third film in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy that contains the amazing Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
The first twenty minutes or so of the movie makes it appear very normal. It's from there that things get really weird, in a good way.
     The movie was funny thanks to the great humor and the excellent cast that did a great job. The story was weird and that's what made it great (with an even weirder ending!) It's a shame this trilogy is coming to it's close, but I'm looking forward to what the brains behind this movie do next.