Cloud Atlas

I seen probably the most strangest movie I ever seen last night.  I could not figure out the plot to it at all, lol.  According to some research about it, it comes from Germany.  It was ok and Tom Hanks did great acting in it, but not worth buying on DVD/Blu-Ray lol.

Who comes up with such garbage for film?  the futuristic eras’ special effects were pretty good but the whole film was 3 hours of confusion lol.  I would recommend it because it was interesting, but be prepared to get confused.  I believe it was about feeling like you been somewhere before when you really weren’t and having past lives, and how it affects you currently in the state of the universe.  Very weird film.

“ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS” movie review

My wife and I just saw the Alvin & the Chipmunks movie last month, and I felt it was very interesting, intriguing, and on top of that – extremely entertaining.  I used to watch the 1980s cartoon when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much from the cartoon accept that David Seville was like a father figure to the three chipmunks and he was also their manager. 

The movie opens with the chipmunks in a tree in the woods singing while gathering nuts.  They haven’t even met David yet.  David on the other hand is a struggling songwriter, trying to make it big.  He shows his friend who is an executive at a major record label, but he doesn’t make it and is always shown the door until he meets these 3 chipmunks. 

At first he doesn’t like these chipmunks because they make a mess out of his house, but than he finds out they can sing so he starts to like them, and writes a song for them “Christmas Don’t Be Late” (all you Chipmunk fans know this song I’m sure!) and the song is done exactly like the original (David’s spoken words included) – only difference is the fact that they have modernized it for the movie.  When he takes the song and his new-found animal friends to his executive friend, the executive doesn’t buy it until midway through the film when the chipmunks realize they truly messed up and need to fix David’s career.

When they do, they become rich and famous and end up paying the price for fame and lose Dave becoming the record executives slaves until Dave wins them back at the end.  I enjoyed it and I recommend it.  I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 – the guy who played David Seville did alright, but I think I could see someone else better in that part.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE movie review

At a time when true creativity is not much there, Julie Taymor comes out with a movie such as this. It's a musical, but not a traditional film musical. Your traditional film musical is based on a Broadway musical but this is the only musical I've seen that was meant for film.

It's a film inspired and influenced by the universe of the Beatles with songs, references, and character names. You have characters such as Jude, Sadie, JoJo, Lucy, Prudence, and Maxwell. Jude comes from Liverpool, England, and there is a scene of a band playing in the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where Jude is dancing with his than girlfriend. There is also a scene where a band plays on the rooftop of a building in New York City. Another reference is the number 9 on an address for a building towards the end. Also note, the line "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is also used. I really suggest you know the Beatles music and their history or at least do your homework before watching this film because that would make the film even more interesting and entertaining.

Two of the world's greatest rock stars also make a cameo appearance in the film. Bono from U2, and Joe Cocker. Bono I thought covered "I Am The Walrus" really well, and that is probably my most favorite sequence and performance throughout the whole film. And I thought Joe Cocker covered "Come Together" quite nicely.

The Beatles are the greatest band to come out of the 1960s, and interestingly enough, the film takes place in the 1960s. There's references to the Vietnam War, riots of Detroit, and also a reference to the Columbia University strike and Martin Luther King's assassination. There is also references to the era's high drug use.

You have to have an appreciation for film, art and music to really enjoy this film. After all, it is a musical. It's also a very psychedelic film with some references to drug use. If you have a true appreciation for music, art and film I recommend it. I recommend it to everybody, but if you don't have a true appreciation for these 3 things you're not going to get into it much. After watching this film I thought to myself, "Man, now they need to do one with the Eagles universe in mind." I give it 5 fingers out of 5 fingers.

“RAY” Movie Review

· I finally was able to see the biopic “RAY” with Jamie Foxx in the lead role as the late-great Ray Charles, and let me tell you: it is most definitely a must see for every music fan and musicologist!

· Jamie Foxx fit the part perfectly, and this I found very astounding. I find it really amazing how you can’t picture certain actors in certain rolls and they do the job perfectly! They’d do such a good job they deserve Oscar nominations for them. A real good example is Will Smith portraying the great Mahammad Ali in “ALI”. No one, knowing the norm of his usual rolls, would ever picture him playing such a serious character as Ali. Will, I never pictured Jamie Foxx portraying the great Ray Charles either. Not with what he usually does, but he did so will at it that you’d think it was really Ray!

· The movie starts off when he was in his late teens in the 1940s when he goes from his hometown in Georgia all the way to Seattle, Washington where he got his break. A 5 day road trip, and there he mysteriously runs into Quincy Jones, who was just a teenager at the time – I’m sure his name does ring a bell.

· One thing I didn’t know about Ray until I saw this film was that he was an adulterer and a drug addict. He was a heroin addict for quite some time until he finally kicked it in 1966. According to some online information about him, he started using dope when he was 16. He also experimented with Marijuana. I was really surprised and it just goes to show how naïve I really am about all the great musicians. A lot of them I wouldn’t think would ever have done such a thing like committing adultery or use dope, but it just goes to show how much you can underestimate their persona because of their music. All the great music legends may be music legends and icons but they all have deep dark domestic secrets. Whether it be drug abuse or adultery! Paul McCartney still smokes Marijuana to help influence his music.

· The movie pretty much ends in 1966 when he kicked his drug habit, but it’s a definite must see. It talks about his upbringing from poverty, to his struggling as a musician in Seattle trying to score a record deal, he tries to find love, and even though he has found it he’d prefer being with a groupie girl more and using his dope more than being with his wife and 2 kids, and than he realizes that his kids wasn’t worth it so he goes and gets clean and breaks the heroin addiction for good, but most of all it’s about his great music! We will all miss Ray Charles and I’m sure this movie is great for memory’s sake! I give it an A+++

· Ray Charles - RIP - 1930 - 2004

“SCREAM 3” movie review

· In case you haven't known, the "Scream" trilogy was always meant to be a trilogy. When Kevin Williamson turned in his spec script entitled "Scream" he also turned in a 5 page outline for the other two films saying that he meant for it to always be a trilogy, like George Lucas with "Star Wars" but with a killer. If you don't know what a spec script is, it's a script you write without having someone telling you to write it or writing on contract. Sort of like when you bored, you'd feel like writing something (if that makes it any clearer.)

· Rumor has it that according to Kevin Williamson's outline for "Scream 3" it was supposed to go back to Woodsboro, but the majority of people wanted it in Hollywood so it takes place there. It's a better place anyway because if you saw "Scream 2" Sydney tries out acting. But lets clear up something,

· Sydney doesn't try out for any films in "Scream 3" but she does go to Hollywood.

· None of the cast members for "Stab" return for "Stab 3," and Cotton Weary appears again, and so does Jamie Kennedy (the ever so famous Randy Meeks). I know what you're thinking-he's dead. Will it was an idea Wes Craven and Jamie Kennedy had to put him in the film. In the film they show Randy Meeks on a video cassette telling the rules of a trilogy in case he didn't survive in the sequel because he lost his virginity, and he mentions to who in the "final act."

· If you do pay close attention to the "Scream" movies you will notice that Randy gave out rules to abide by for a successful horror movie, it's sequel, and the final film.

· If you haven't seen this film yet I won't give out any information as to who dies in the first scene and also who gets killed or who is the killer. But this tops the other Screams big time.

· Since this is the last "Scream" movie, it's the best one. If you're a big "Scream" fanatic, go see it. It's definitely worth the seven dollars.