First Word

Rating: **** Another adult film released amidst the usual holiday popcorn flicks worth seeing. I'm just not a fan of the mega popcorn flicks unless they're just so great like Avatar you can't miss it. So with that thought I passed on Hunger Games and went for 12 Years a Slave . This film is like the 20th century version of Roots . It does nothing to glamorize slavery and takes a realistic perspective on the brutal reality of being a "free" man who loses his freedom when he's kidnapped and taken south to New Orleans and forced into slavery. As an educated man, he is self-aware and knows the difference between enslaved and being free. The film realistically walks the viewer through the emotional and physical breakdown of the man forced into degradation. The film is not uplifting. It's brutal and sad. Even at the end, you're not feeling inspired to do much more than hope slavery is ended forever everywhere in the world. The movie addresses the human...

Rating: ***** Just to show the movie studios a little something important -- grown-up movies done right still rule the box office. Two very grown-up films Captain Phillips and Gravity dominated the box office ticket sales in a refreshing change since a summer onslaught of terrible movies. After seeing Captain Phillips , I actually noted how refreshing it was that we weren't be subjected to films targeted toward 12-year-old boys and pre-teens. This gritty, realistic and action-packed movie is filmed in that handheld camera style that has become popular that gives it a sense of frenetic realism. Now I am not a fan of this style and find it hard to follow and a little annoying, but I soon got over it. The film has a documentary-style to it and creates such a normal everyday feel about it. Any stars in the film are hidden behind their average, everyday appearances. Hanks' Capt. Phillips comes across as a normal family man who runs his ship with a stern, polite manner. Then ...

After the awards season, I always love it when the nominated films start to be released. I know I will have have some wonderful movies to enjoy -- and one such movie is the mind-blowing, inspirational film titled The Impossible . I had so many people recommend this movie to me. I was sitting on an airplane, and a woman was watching it and said I should see it. Taking heed, I decided to pick up a copy this weekend. Of course, it turned out to be just an incredible film. On just a technical level alone, the CGI was truly impressive. They were able to recreate what it would really be like to be hit by a tsunami with such true-life accuracy, I started wondering how the heck they did it. But the technical aspect wasn't the impressive part -- it was the story itself. The movie is the true story of the Bennett family who were swept up in the tsunami that hit Thailand's coast and destroyed it. It's a tale of survival, human perseverance, and family love. The filmmakers take ...