The Place Beyond the Pines is Derek Cianfrance second directorial film and it is an amazing piece of cinema. Its also a strong piece of drama that hits you hard. It deals with the consequences, relationships with fathers and sons, about legacy and a story that can reverberate throughout generations.

I was emotionally engaged with this film through all three story acts. Its a powerhouse of a cast that play realistic characters which make you care about them. Every actor/actress is almost flawless. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper make another outstanding performance. Ray Liotta gives a great and an unnerving performance. I connected with each character especially Dane Dehaan's character. The stunt work is also great. It has an incredible raw chase scene between Gosling and Cooper.

A lot of people had problems with the third act of this film. I didn't, I felt it was as great as the first two acts. All the problems I've heard are self explanatory. Both Aj and Jason live in the same city, of course they're eventually going to run into each other. It was complete coincidence and I bought it, as you should and of course I have known these types of people they were portraying. Its an ambitious and beautiful story more than deserving the two full hours of your time. Its the best film I've seen this year so far.

Like most people I was anticipating the next chapter in the Iron Man series. The first one was exceptionally great, as far as superhero films are concerned . The second installment was enjoyable to me even though its universally frowned upon. Now, after The Avengers we finally have the third installment of Iron Man. Is it good? No. Not to me.

There are some fantastic moments in this movie. Tony Stark's home getting demolished by "The Mandarin's" men as Tony saves Pepper Potts in slow motion was visually stunning. At that point it was a five star movie for me, as far as summer-action-blockbuster standards. The fight between Iron Man and "The Mandarin" was really fun. Especially having Pepper Potts save Iron Man in the end. Robert Downy Jr.'s performance was superb yet again. The interaction between Tony and the child has good humor but almost pointless. All the action sequences were great but that was it. Everything else was underdeveloped, confusing, and extremely frustrating.

Once we get to the middle point of this movie we are given the "big plot twist" that gives M. Night Shamalama-ding-dong a run for his money. I have never read a single comic book or have any knowledge of who the Mandarin is. Through out the first hour this villain is brought out to be an extremely heinous terrorist. Then, it turns out he's just an actor, a giant ruse. It was so terribly confounding. It didn't make any sense to me. Yes, it was funny but at the same time I was so frustrated and upset of a cheapened character. I'll admit it was an original plot twist but it just didn't work for this concept. From that point everything was underdeveloped and pointless. Absolutely nothing was explained.

Besides Tony Stark and perhaps Pepper Potts every character was underdeveloped or had no real exact motive to their actions. Rebecca Hall's character was completely pointless everything she did was pointless. Guy Pearce's character had no real motive to create evil superhuman soldiers. The only real motive I could think of was how Tony had left him on the roof by himself. Really? That's the reason why he has to make himself superhuman and make a superhuman army and kill Tony Stark? The "project extremis" was never explained at any point and it was an underwhelming concept in general. Why should I care about these characters or find any antagonist or their actions remotely interesting?

There was a scene where Iron Man had to save thirteen people that were falling from a crashing plane. That sequence was looking to be the best scene in the entire film. Yet again it was cheapened by the following scene. Tony wasn't even in the suite, he was controlling it like some sort of video game. Another baffling scene was during one of the final confrontations. Where Tony and Don Cheadle's character are surrounded by the "super soldiers" . At this point Tony Stark had called in his own army of Iron Men to save them. I was only thinking, "So why didn't he use them before?" There were numerous occasions were he could have used them. If it was explained in a quick line then that was very poorly executed. After its all done, Stark and Potts have an intimate moment and decides to neutralize the Iron man suites in mid air as some sort of fireworks scenery. Why?

The comedy was okay at best. Nothing really made me laugh hysterically. The story and the characters were poorly written, underdeveloped and pointless but the action sequences were very entertaining. The ending montage was even more confusing and unexplained and rushed. I really felt this movie was incomplete and had unfinished writing. This is a kids movie and it was fun but I was expecting at least a good enough story with good enough characters and i didn't even get that. The action is all it has going for it.

This was my first musical I went to. I didn't know if I was going to like it or find it unbearable to watch. It was a little less unbearable most of the time. I know now it is just not my thing. I felt it dragged on for most of the time. The most dragged was when the actors had these long solos and the last forty five minutes. I just wanted it to get it over with. Especially with Russel Crowe. I did not feel the same way with Anne Hathaway, though. I thought she gave the best performance in the entire film.

The way the songs were performed were great to watch. There isn't really much for me to say about this movie other than I liked it overall but I don't think I will ever see it again. I partially enjoyed my experience watching my first musical and the songs were well executed. Even Russel Crowe wasn't that bad.

I had heard this to be the "best action film in decades". For someone to say that just made me wan't to instantly watch it, to see if it does live up to that title. A few minutes into it there was tense in it and I was in suspense. The martial arts are non-stop. There are a lot of scenes where you are in awe and martial art moves you probably have never seen it perform in a movie before. It is satisfying but it never makes you feel as if its repetitive seeing fight after fight. The story is great with a few plot twist, great performances all around. I didn't find a single thing wrong with this movie. Better than a lot of American action movies. It will satisfy any action, martial arts fan. A must watch!

I honestly didn't have the same excitement as everyone else did to go see this. I thought I was going to dislike it. Gladly I ended up really enjoying the hell out of this movie. From the first five minutes you fear for the characters and their current predicament. It perfectly captures every bit of emotion your supposed to feel. This is the first time I've seen Jennifer Lawrence perform, other than X-Men but I had no idea it was her. She's a stunning actress and a great one. Josh Hutcherson was good as well. I thought this was such a good movie I consider it one of the best of the year.

The only redeeming and watchable parts of The Dictator are Bobby Lee's small comedic role. I did have a few giggles at the very least three times. I'll give this some points for its crude and offensive humor which was the second and last thing I liked about it. What could have been a hilarious comedy failed at even being a simple movie. I did feel like I wasted an entire hour, it is Sacha Baron Cohen's weakest performance. Not funny.

The Dark Knight Rises was just everything I had anticipated for months, even more. From beginning to finish, it had me on the edge of my seat. My speculations were correct though when the events happened I was still in awe. Yes, call me a fan boy a Nolan Fan boy, but I loved this movie. The score is as always blended great with the action packed scenes. Christian Bale out does himself as Batman and even better as Bruce Wayne. Micheal Cain and Morgan Freeman always give us astounding performances. Anne Hathaway is the best Catwoman hands down. She gives a seductive and strong performance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the best actors and this movie proves it. The same is said of Tom Hardy. Even if his face is covered with the mask and the one scene I didn't understand him, his body language and his eyes are menacing. The story does feel like it's rushing sometimes but still an amazing story plot very intense. Mr. Nolan you did it again nothing but praises.

In 2007 Quentin Tarantino took part in a Grindhouse double-feature with Robert Rodriguez. Death Proof is probably my least likable Tarantino film. The admirable dialogue that has made his movies stand out is missing from the entire movie. There was no memorable dialogue that just made me outburst in laughter. The characters are some of the least likable in any Quentin Tarantino movie and in any movie in general. Even Stuntman Mike wasn't that great of a villain for the most part. There is no real motive as to why he kills these girls and I guess its to keep that killer-instinct-mystery but killing those obnoxious first three characters was a plus for me.

This film was missing a strong female lead. All the females were just annoying to me in some way or another. For example, the first three had this sassy, sour attitude that made me not care about any of them. They had the cliche, egotistical mood that comes out in all the terrible cheesy horror movies. The next group of women we are introduced to are the same way. I could not find one good aspect of any of their roles. Not one. It wasn't until they are chased down by Stuntman Mike and than decide to turn the tables that's when they redeemed the movie for me.

It was the last act were I finally started laughing and enjoying this movie where the predator was now the prey. It was a great turn around for the story. The story and the practical action sequences are what had me drawn into the movie. It had dragged on for so long I was glad we finally got to the point. Quentin Tarantino's movies do drag on a bit and this is the second time where I felt that a lot. I did not care for the first or half of the second act of this movie. This is still entertaining and I still liked it.

Quentin Tarantino has given us the best Christmas present, another one of his "Epic" cinematic accomplishments. Not only one of the best but my favorite movie of the year. Underneath the bloody, revenge, slavery theme of Django Unchained is also a love story. Django's only priority in this story is rescuing his beloved wife from the "evil" hands of Calvin Candie (Dicaprio) and his loyal black land owner Stephen (Sam L. Jackson).
The Western genre is one of my, if not the most, favorite genre of all movie genres. Spaghetti westerns are even superior, in my opinion. So I knew all the little homages Tarantino placed in this film. Including the original Django, Frank Nero, in the same scene with Jaime Fox's Django. These small features of the film just added more fun to my experience not to mention how well the comedy blended while in this portrayal of a dark horrific time in America. The songs used in this movie, MY GOD! Every song fitted so well into the scene it was introduced. The soundtrack is just another reason why Quentin is so unique when it come to film making. From Ennio Morricone to Rick Ross to Jim Croce everything was blended spectacularly to its southern setting.
To say the acting is great is a bit of an understatement. Jamie Foxx plays such a fantastic lead as his character develops from a shy slave to the fastest, ballsy, gunslinger in the south. Christoph Waltz, like in Inglourious Basterds, steals every scene he's in with his witty charm and his lovable character's way of escaping out of a tight spot very unexpected. Leonardo Dicaprio gives another great performances and probably one of his best. A very flamboyant evil character at that. Now Samuel L. Jackson just blows it out of the park by a long shot. He gives such an astonishing performance as great as on the level of Jules in Pulp Fiction. He steals the scenes from the scenes Christoph Waltz is in. He was by far the most evil and outrageously funny character in the entire movie. He deserves an Oscar nomination for this role. Kerry Washington is great but is not the usual strong female performance you usually get in a Tarantino film. Probably because of the plot and its setting in history. All the secondary characters were flawless as well, including Jonah Hill's comedic small role.
I adored everything from the stylized beginning to the showdown in the end. Even the small little details to the actors Quentin uses in his movies like Charles Parks or himself. I honestly found more humor than any comedy I've seen this year. The heavy use of gore and buckets of blood is exactly my taste in movies. Does it drag on? Of course, in the second act it tends to drag on a bit which is probably the set up of Dicaprio's character development. As a fan I wouldn't mind it being five hours long but as a reviewer perspective it could have been trimmed just a tad bid.
The death scenes were a spectacle to experience. I was in awe from every death scene. I have to give this masterpiece a 10/10

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is about Dwarves reclaiming they're homeland from Smaug the Dragon and Bilbo Baggins gets thrown into this epic adventure. Yes I am a huge Lord of The Rings fan and I dare say I prefer it than Star Wars in most circumstances. Just my taste. After hearing the harsh criticism I was going to expect an "okay" movie that was bloated. I'm happy to say it was a fantastic journey of my own. Other than a few minor problems, I thought this was a great movie. I also saw it in 48 fps and I was ready to get disgusted by the visuals but to be truthfully honest I found nothing wrong with this. This is how I saw it but everyone has different taste so therefore the 48 fps for me is alright in my book.
I was so happy to return to Middle-Earth. As soon as Bilbo lit the candle the 48 fps was weird, than not even before the camera leaves Bilbo's face, I just got used to it. It does have its pacing problem where it almost never gets to the point, which it didn't bother me at all. Though to a non Tolkien fan you will find it frustrating. The only main characters are Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin. Balin, Fili and Kili are secondary characters and that's really all the characters you get to know. There are thirteen dwarves but you don't get almost anything from the majority of the group. Unlike in the Fellowship you get to care and get to know about all the nine members in the first Lord of the Rings. So there aren't character development for the majority.

Personally I had enough character development from Martin Freeman who is just so perfect for this role. Ian Mckellen is a legendary presence as always. Thorin played by Richard Armitrage is one of my new favorite characters replacing Aragon as the heroic leader of the group. There is so much development in his character especially the relationship between him and Bilbo and his desire for this quest above anyone. He is the most important new character and a great one. As I have said the acting is nothing short of great.
Andy Serkis has come back to grace us with his presence in the best scene of the entire movie. Riddles between Bilbo and Gollum are top notch acting. I would be saddened if he did not return for the rest two installments . Howard Shore's score is as great as it has ever been.
As a movie lover and a Tolkien fan I am happy to say its worth a watch, if you're curious about this movie. I don't know if you should watch this in 48 fps but my experience was good. If you love this fantasy as much as I do than I guarantee another great addition to this Epic adventure. You may call me a "fanboy" because I would decline every negative review and by going against all the negative backlash said on the 48 fps or whatever they are nitpicking. Everyone has different experiences. If you thought ill of The Lord of the Rings I'd recommend don't watch it. My score is a 9/10.