My top 10 Crime Films

1. The Departed
2. Ocean's 11 (George Clooney one)
3. The Godfather 2
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. A Time To Kill
6. The Town
7.Reservoir Dogs
8.American History X
9. Die Hard
10. Sleepers
What are some of yours!
Ingènue

The Town

Crime dramas have sadly become predictable and since 2006's "The Departed" I have not really found a gritty crime drama worth watching. "The Departed" has everything you could want story, gun scenes, villains, and a stellar cast. The elevator sequence still makes me jump and surprised. Crime dramas have to surprise me and entertain me, and now with "The Town" I can say I found a new one to enjoy.
Charlestown, Massachusetts is the capitol of bank robbers, it is basically a family business, and the setting for this film. Four friends who each have their part, the brains, the crazy hitter, the hacker, and the get away driver; start the film off right away by robbing a bank. After someone trips a silent alarm they take a woman bank manager hostage and bail out. They release the hostage by the beach and take off. Then the rest of the movie is spent with them trying to stay out of the FBI's radar and keeping a watch on the hostage. Ben Affleck plays Doug, the brains of the operation who takes it upon himself to watch the girl, Rebecca Hall, because crazy Jeremy Renner 's Jimmy, has no problem taking her out of the scenerio. Soon after the mistake Doug makes in talking to Claire he begins a relationship with her. Problems with the FBI getting to close and another job in the works looms and when Jimmy discovers that Doug is seeing the hostage all the trouble starts. For Ben Affleck I see this film as a huge success; co-writing, staring, and directing this film, you could tell a lot of care when in to the flick. The scenes where they are investigated by the FBI agent, played by Jon Hamm, were a little lacking for me. Other than that the revenge, schemes, the fact that they try to take Fenway Park...was all awesome.
The stand-out performance of this movie for me was Blake Lively's portrayal of Krista, Jimmys sister. Krista is Doug's old love interest and the man that she hoped would be the father of her daughter. It is a really gritty, slummy role and to be honest it shocked me when I realized who it was. The girl has range from her normal roles in the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and "Gossip Girl." Her gritty Boston accent and tone really changed who she was. I must also say Jeremy Renner playing the keyed up Jimmy was fantastic, he's psycho.
All in all let me say, when people say that "The Town" is Affleck's come back to Hollywood, I say what ever the man never left. He is always worth my price of admission, don't count him out! Affleck's the bomb! (wink) I give "The Town" an 8 out of 10, and that's this ingènues opinion.

Liberty Heights

One of my favorite things to do is look through the $5 dvd bin when one is available, you never know what treasures you might find. Usually you skip over those movies you have never heard of, but look closer sometimes you find a random independent movie that has "that one actor you like." You spend maybe $2 on the movie, cause surprise its on an even better sale and you take it home and give it a chance. In this case the actor I like is Ben Foster and the movie "Liberty Heights."
The story of two Jewish brothers in Baltimore in the 1950's, where people weren't just prejudice about blacks. In the opening scene Foster the main narrator tell us that as a kid he thought everyone was Jewish, and as he grew up he discover that outside of Liberty Heights he is a minority. He finds that he is attracted to a young black woman who integrates in his high school, and all he wants to do is spend time with her. Adrian Brody plays the older college going brother who knows that he is a minority and just blends in. Brody falls for an upper class girl who has a boyfriend, and soon realizes what he has at home is nothing to be taken for granted. Even at home though, there is always something going on, that you might just not see. The movie is rich with side stories, especially the father's played by Joe Montegna. Its a coming of age story that has heart and depth. One of the best scenes is when Ben Foster plans to go out for Halloween dressed as Hitler and his mother Bebe Neuwirth has "heart failure". Fueled with an awesome soundtrack of 50's music it was worth the find. My problem with this movie is it is slow paced. Some things get drawn out where you want to move on to another character. It is also a movie where you meet minor characters, and they drop of somewhere in the movie...why bother introducing them.
Usually when I pick a performance to review it is never the main character but in this case it is, Ben Foster. His cool attitude and easy going spirit adds to the sarcasticness of his character. This is one of his first movie rolls and it is so well acted, that there is no question why he got more rolls. He has a soft voice approach to the serious subject matter, and excels at the subtle teenage rebellion the roll calls for.
So if you see this at the rental store or even the $5 bin, pick it up, you never know it might mean something to you. I give Liberty Heights a 6 out of 10, and hey that's this Ingènues input.

Easy A

So today's blog is all about another teen movie that is designed for the youth of America. Like other teen movies such as "She's All That" and " 10 Things I Hate About You" it becomes a time capsule for a generation; the clothes, the hair, the slang. So what makes "Easy A" better than most other teen movies, it gives us the awesomeness that is Emma Stone. She plays Olive a typical unnoticed girl in high school and after telling a friend a lie about the loss of her virginity she gets a new reputation. Then when a friend wants her to help change his reputation with a lie, she does and then the rumor mill goes crazy. Tied in with the "Scarlet Letter" "Easy A" is witty, sarcastic, and just fun.
The thing about this movie is though lead by Emma Stone, it is filled with awesome supporting characters and actors. You can tell when some movies depend on its lead character and their love interest, such as "She's All That," but when you fill the rest of the cast with great individual parts like in "Easy A" it make the movie so much more interesting. Amanda Bynes as the Jesus-freak, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are Olive's eccentric and loving parents, and Thomas Hayden Church plays the dry humored English teacher. These are just some of the awesome characters you also have performances by Lisa Kudrow, Ally Michalka, Dan Byrd, and Cam Gigandet. Besides the awesome cast, the script is packed with one liners. "So I thought lying about losing my virginity would be more special, Judy Blume should of prepared me for that" Plus any movie that pays homage to the great films of the 80's is awesome in my book. All this aside the movie has a lot of heart and has a moral which is what the teen film formula wants.
There are so many awesome performances, but one of my favorites is Penn Badgly. He plays Woodchuck Todd the school mascot and long time friend and crush of Olive. He has a simple easy going attitude and is the person who does not care what people think, also he is very good looking! He makes the perfect counter part for Emma Stone's quick witted and intelligent Olive. The two of them together are a special pairing. So remember "A is for Awesome" and check out Easy A, I give it an 8 out of 10, but hey that's just this ingènues input.

Charlie St. Cloud

Sometimes movies are not what you expect them to be, such as "Remember Me" staring Rob Pattinson, a movie advertised as a romantic drama then at the end through you a curve ball that made it seem more important. Well my dvd choice of the week did that for me, "Charlie St. Cloud." I paid to rent Zac Effron and got a different experience all together.
Charlie St. Cloud is a drama about 2 brothers and how after a horrible car accident they die. After flat lining Charlie, Effron, comes back. Now the twist is he mad a promise with his brother to teach him baseball, and that everyday for one hour they would play. When Charlie realizes he can now "see dead people" he keeps his promise to his brother. Then of course he meets a girl and falls in love...now I wont spoil the movie for you all, but that's the gist.
Now the reason I liked this movie, It has always interested me in how people show the transition in to heaven, and the choices made when they do. Like "ghost whisperer" the spirits in this movie linger a while, such as the younger brother and an old army friend, that because he flat lined, Charlie can see. It is not that they have unfinished business to take care of, it is that they are not ready yet to make that transition into the after life. Like Charlie's brother Sam, played by Charlie Tahan, just is a scared boy who is usually always with his brother, so he sticks to Charlie for 5 years after the accident. When Sam realizes finally Charlie is letting him go after he meets Tess, a girl who will change his life, he thinks about transitioning. Then as soon as Charlie doesn't make a baseball practice, Sam follows the light. People see this transition differently like in "The 5 People We Meet in Heaven" or in "Heart and Soul", but in the end who knows how it really happens.
Another thing I loved about this movie was the character of the Paramedic played by Ray Liotta. With his powerful eyes and sense of urgency that Mr. Liotta brings to the part, he is unmistakably sincere. He is the moral bringer of this piece. "Why did you get a second chance?" "Don't waste your life" Carpi Diem. He is the person that Charlie sees 5 years later and shows him basically that their are no lost causes. Just watching Liotta as he talks with his hands and with those intense eyes you can see the character truly believes in no regrets.
So I give "Charlie St. Cloud" 7 out of 10. It is worth the rental fee and might even be more than you expect from a Zac Effron film. It has me thinking of St. Jude. Plus way to go Effron, I'm loving the stuff you have been putting out lately, if your interested check him out in "Me and Orson Wells". This is just one Ingènues input!

The Expendables

Dear Sylvester Stallone,
I know your trying to bring back the action film, and I understand you want to be the #1 action hero, but really? What "The Expendables" really needed was more Bruce Willis and according to a certain fan more of Arnold too. Thank God Jason Statham was the second lead, he was worth watching, but I'm not going to lie I fell asleep shortly after there was no more Bruce. I thought it was nice to see Mickey Rourke as the tattoo artist, and great choice in having Eric Roberts as the bad guy. Actually you can never go wrong with Eric Roberts.
So sadly, unless they redo this movie and throw at least 75% more BWT (Bruce Willis Time) in there I can't go higher than an 3 out of 10. Hey this is just this Ingènue's input.

A New Year Resolution: Burlesque

Okay so its a new year and as one of my resolutions I've decided to start writing on this blog again. So my apologizes for anyone who followed and I just stopped writing, but I am determined to do better. So lets start it off with the last movie I went to in theaters "Burlesque"!
Now in movies there are always equations to follow... good vs. evil, shy guy gets the girl, well "Burlesque" is no different it follows an equation: small town pretty girl, alone in the world, moves to the big city to find herself. So Christina Aguilera plays Ally, who leaves her small town diner job to move to LA. After a little while she uses 10 of her last dollars and enters a club called "Burlesque" and just has to be on stage. Cher owns the place and Stanley Tucci is her right hand man. Let me just say who doesn't love Stanley Tucci, but I digress. Ally sure enough finds herself as a waitress working her way to the stage. Now "Burlesque" has one part "Moulan Rouge" one dose of "Coyote Ugly" and a dash of "Chicago" does it make for a good movie...damn right it does! Fueled by an awesome soundtrack provided by the highly talented Aguilera and 2 new songs by Cher; the soundtrack enough is worth the price of admission. With a slew of minor parts filled by some well known faces - Eric Dane, Julianne Hough, and Kristen Bell; who plays the withcy girl everyone hates and she is good at it. This movie is fun and entertaining, and that's why you should go see it, if you like to dance and sing you will be in your glory!
The performance that I'm choosing in this film is by Cam Gigandet, who I like to call prince charming. In any movie I see him in whether he is playing the bad guy or not, charm flows out of him (sigh). In "Burlesque" he plays Jack, a young and handsome bartender who is secretly a song writer. Jack is the first person to befriend Ally and sure enough falls for her after she moves in. For Gigandet its the eyes and subtle movements. He spends the movie trying to help Ally, and his soft funny character-isms really can make you fall in love ladies. Its all in the charm.
So overall I give "Burlesque" a solid 8 out of 1o, it is a good time, and does what every great film does: It allows you to escape. But hey that's just this Ingènues input.
Happy New year!