THE REVIEW CORNER

Starring:  Suraj Sharma ,  Irrfan Khan  and  Adil Hussain Directed by: Ang Lee Screenplay by: David Magee Based on the novel by Yann Martel      I'm starting to think that the end of 2012 is bringing some quite good films.  Here's another.      Pi Patel is a young boy from India who is forced to move away from India along with his family.  His family runs a zoo and they are taking the animals on a ship with them.  Along the way, the ship encounters a massive storm and sinks, leaving Pi and a ferocious Bengal tiger as the only survivors.  This is the amazing story of how the two will survive the high seas together, and how they will bond.      This is truly an incredible story, one that will have you on the edge of your seat for much of the duration of the film.  Pi is a character who we can become very attached to, and while it seems like we would be very afraid of the tiger, we also become ...

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, and Isabel Lucas Directed by: Dan Bradley Screenplay by: Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore       I know what you're thinking:  Josh Peck is in this film?  I remember him from the TV show on Nickelodeon Drake and Josh too.  You would probably only know this show if you are my age and watched that show as a kid.  Those were the days.       Moving on...  The North Koreans have invaded parts of the United States, causing panic and terror among residents in the occupied zones.  So now it's up to a Marine (Chris Hemsworth) and a bunch of the town's young adults to stop the invasion in their town and rise up against their oppressors, the North Koreans.  Will this newly formed team of "terrorists" (as they are referred to in the film) successfully fend off the invasion?       I will be blunt.  This is one not one of the better concepts for a film I'v...

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, and Tommy Lee Jones Directed by: Steven Spielberg Screenplay by: Tony Kushner Based in part on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin      If you want to see a prime example of gridlock in Washington, this is the film for you.      The film takes place during the month of January 1865.  The Civil War has raged on for four years and has taken hundreds of thousands of lives on both the side of the United States and the Confederacy.  This is not a film based on the life of Abraham Lincoln, but instead the passage of the 13th amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that ended slavery in the United States, and the end of the Civil War.  If you know your history, you should already know how the film ends.       Let me begin by talking about the acting.  Daniel Day-Lewis never delivers a bad performance.  In ev...

Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, and Judi Dench Directed by: Sam Mendes Screenplay by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan       007 is back!  What more can I say?       James Bond has a thing about resurrection.  He is very good at it.  After faking his own death again, he's back at MI6, the British intelligence agency, looking for M to give him another assignment.  This assignment involves M's past coming back and haunting her, and will test Bond's loyalty to her.  Can he still take out the threat?       It's always debated who plays a better James Bond.  It's a debate I cannot participate in very much because I have not seen all of the 007 movies, and there are a lot of them, so I guess I have some catching up to do.  But I can say, that Daniel Craig plays Bond exceptionally well.       But I don't think Craig delivers the st...

Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, and Bruce Greenwood Directed by: Robert Zemeckis Screenplay by: John Gatins       For those of you who have any fear of flying, even the tiniest fear, you will never want to fly on an airplane again after seeing this film.       Captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) saves a commercial airplane from a truly horrific crash, in which only a few people are killed.  Almost everyone survives, including himself.  The stunt he pulls to save the plane is nothing short of a miracle, but an investigation into the crash reveals something that could send Whitaker to prison.  Not only is he going to be responsible for the people who were killed in the crash (which will send him to prison on manslaughter charges), but he was also found to be drinking the night before and the morning of the flight.       The actual plane crash takes place only twenty minutes or so...

Starring: RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, and Lucy Liu Directed by: RZA Screenplay by: Eli Roth and RZA      If you're familiar with the rap group known as the Wu-Tang Clan, you probably know of RZA.  This is his first feature film and I'm not terribly impressed.      There's treasure in Jungle Village.  Warriors, bandits, and even a British soldier (Russell Crowe) are trying to get their hands on it.  Meanwhile, the clans who live in Jungle Village are warring amongst themselves over the death of one of the clan leaders.  So now with all of this chaos going on, it's up to the Blacksmith (RZA) to ensure everyone's safety, and the safety of Jungle Village.      While the concept of this film isn't all that original, it's a concept that is often depicted quite well and serves as the base for a good storyline, even in this film.  My problems with this film do not lie in the story, but in the way the story is brought t...