Book of Eli

Starring:

Denzel Washington

Gary Oldman

Mila Kunis

Ray Stevenson

Jennifer Beals

Directed by:

Albert Hughes

Allen Hughes

Written by:

Gary Whitta

I wasn't really planning on seeing this movie in the theaters, after seeing the previews I figured it was one that could wait till it came out to rent. That being said I can say that the movie did not disappoint, it was worth the price of a ticket.

I really expected there to be a lot more of a religious vibe to the movie than there turned out to be. The movie starts out in post-apocalyptic war torn United States. Eli (Denzel Washington) is walking cross-country, headed west to deliver a book to a place that he has been told it will be safe and put to use for good. During his journey he is careful not to get involved in other peoples problems and to stay true to his quest. He comes to a town (or what's left of it anyway) that is populated by a few of the survivors and their offspring. The town is run by a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who has a group of men that he sends out on motorcycles with only one mission, bring back books by an means necessary. Carnegie is only looking for one book however, The Holy Bible. Carnegie is a survivor of the war and knows that all religious documents of any type were burned after the war because it was believed that is what caused the war in the first place. The war seared the sky and depleted the ozone so the sun is extremely lethal to those not wearing protective lenses and proper skin protection. Carnegie knows that if he finds a Bible he can use its words as his own to gain the worship not only of the people of his town, but people all over the country and possibly the world. Carnegie finds out Eli has a Bible and the chase ensues.

I am not used to seeing Mila Kunis play a serious role, so it was hard for me to not see Jackie from That 70's Show up on the screen, but overall I think she did a decent job portraying her character. She really didn't mesh well with Denzel Washington in my opinion. It just felt like that was a gap that needed to be filled the whole movie. Gary Oldman always plays an excellent bad guy role and he did not disappoint. I was first introduced to Ray Stevenson in King Aurthur and then again in the HBO Series Rome. I enjoyed his character in both of those roles and wish he had more lines and screen time in this film.

The movie is rated R for graphic violence and language.

The fight scenes were very well choreographed. I do wish there was a bit more about the "war" itself that describes exactly how the world came to be in the shape it was in.

Overall I would give this movie a 7 out of 10.

Avatar

Starring:

Sam Worthington

Zoe Saldana

Sigourney Weaver

Stephen Lang

Michelle Rodriguez

Giovanni Ribisi

Written and Directed by:

James Cameron

This was the first main stream movie I have viewed in the new 3D format. The effects were amazing to begin with, but add the 3D and it made them seem even more real. I must say James Cameron never does anything in small scale, and this movie proves that more than any of his others. His last big blockbuster was Titanic, which was a special effects marvel as well, but in Avatar Cameron has created a whole world for us to explore.

While the special effects were breathtaking, the actors and the characters they portrayed made this movie so enjoyable to watch, that there was never a moment when I stopped and thought, man this is really dragging! Which is something that is very rare for a movie with a runtime of almost 3 hours. Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) is the Avatar, a marine who is the only one eligible for the position after his brother who was originally chosen for the position and had begun training was killed in a random street mugging. The moon called Pandora is where the story takes place and the people of Earth have begun mining operations for a precious metal found in the ground, but soon find that the local population called the Na'vi might prove to be a bigger problem than originally thought. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) runs the Avatar program, whose only goal is to try and understand how the Na'vi seem to form "bonds" with everything the touch, even the ground itself. Colonel Miles Quartich (Stephen Lang) is a bloodthirsty commander of the troops on Pandora who convinces Jake to help gather valuable intel on how the Na'vi hunt, where they live, etc.. so that he might use it in an attack later on. The Colonel gets his orders from Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) a businessman whose only concern is the precious metal and he will do whatever it takes to get his hands on it.

The movie delivers a pretty clear message, people will stop at nothing to get what they want even if that means destroying or displacing an entire race. This movie has set the bar extremely high as far as special effects go. The whole time you are watching Avatar you truly feel like they are actually filming on location on some alien world.

The movie carries a PG-13 rating for some suggestive dialogue and violence.

I'm going to give this movie a 10 out of 10 because I really can't think of anything I didn't like while watching the movie. It has definitely earned a spot in my favorite movies of all time.