Sunshine (2007)

Personal Rating- 9.0 out of 10                       IMDB Rating- 7.3 out of 10

Plot Summary- A crew of earths finest astronauts and scientists is aboard a spaceship equipped with a massive payload of explosives. 50 Years into the future, the sun is burning out, and in turn earth is dying. All of earths resources have been mined and consolidated upon one final vessel launched directly at the sun in hopes of rekindling its flame.

Personal Thought- Honestly this movie really blew me away. I hadn't expected such an amazing film out of such a simple idea. So yeah you're on a space ship with explosives headed right toward the sun to re-ignite it, boring right? Wrong. These are the kind of movies where you KNOW everything is going to be a complete shitstorm by the end and they just barely pull it off, this is true for this movie, however they do an amazing job of making it seem like its in the bag the whole time, even when its really not.

   

This movie really inspired me with some of the technology that the creators thought up, such as an on-ship garden full of plants to supply the ship with oxygen, or the room that they go into to calm down, which creates whole environments of peaceful images. I loved the scene where they are all in the observation room and they're watching mercury float by like a little tennis ball, I teared up as I watched it float across the screen and I don't really know why, don't take away my man card. I think a lot about the things we will have in the future and this movie has got me thinking, and I may even start a new blog about what kinds of things humans will have in generations to come.

But seriously, Whats up with the gravity on the ship??? Arent they supposed to be all floating around because of the 0 gravity? I mean when they're outside of the ship, yeah they're floating around, but when they come back on board their feet are firmly planted...

I know they simply explain this minor flaw away in most space movies by saying that there's some sort of gravity generator on the ship (complete bullshit) but there isn't even the slightest mention of one in this film.

I also thought that the .. "undead" captain of the vessel that failed was pretty unrealistic.. but I mean... I guess thats why its called science fiction right?..  (It still scared the shit out of me tho)

And there you have my minor rant for this film.








Memorable Quotes-

Cassie: Only dream I ever have... is it the surface of the sun? Everytime I shut my eyes... it's always the same.
______________________________________________________________________________

[last lines]
Capa: So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it. Okay, I'm signing out.


Seriously guys, go check this movie out. By the way sorry for throwing a few spoilers in if you havent seen the film. If anyone thinks of a way that I can have like a spoiler rollover or like a way to hide the spoilers leave a comment..

Also any thoughts on "Sunshine" or your guy's own personal ratings and reasons are very welcome below.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Personal rating 7.8 out of 10                IMDB rating 8.6 out of 10 (as of 10/1/10)

First off I'm going to have to say DO NOT let the fact that this movie was made in the 70's deter you from watching. This film has all of the aspects anyone in modern life is looking for in a movie, the picture is great, the setting, acting, soundtrack.... it goes on. If nobody had told you that this movie was made in 1979 you would have almost no chance in figuring it out just by watching the movie itself. I mean, as far as setting goes, this production goes to a very great depth in the form of detail, almost surpassing the attention to detail in modern movies. Although this is a war movie there is much more to this story than war.(but dont worry theres definitely enough bullets, weaponry, swearing, and grit to go around)

The story tracks the journey of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a U.S. Army Intelligence officer sent on a hazardous mission up river into Cambodia to terminate "with extreme prejudice" an American renegade colonel name Kurtz who has spun out of control and out of his mind in a remote jungle compound.

My personal rating was greatly effected by the last 15 minutes of this movie, in which the movie loses a lot of its luster. This is not to say that I wasn't completely immersed with the whole story before the ending. To put it short, I was disappointed with the way the story ended. While the movie is on the longer side (appx. 3hrs) you don't really get that "antsy" restless feeling that you get from long movies until the very end. I will say that this is much more emotionally capturing than any war movie I have seen before, though.

Apocalypse Now has won two Oscars, and is currently rated #38 on IMDB top 250 movies of all time

 I will issue a warning to the animal lovers out there, though. Near the end of the movie there is (what seems to be) a live animal slaughter, so just be cautious if you choose to watch. 
  

Memorable quotes-


Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that?
Lance: What?
Kilgore: Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that.
[kneels]
Kilgore: I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like
[sniffing, pondering]
Kilgore: victory. Someday this war's gonna end...


Kilgore: How're you feeling, Jimmy?
Door Gunner: Like a mean motherfucker, sir! 

Donnie Darko (2001)

Personal Rating: 9 out of 10           IMDB Rating 8.3 out of 10 (As of September 29, 2010)

Donnie Darko is a philosophical labyrinth of ideas. The movie inspires deep thought about life and each of our own destined paths in a unique way. Donnie Darko (actor Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled high schooler with many emotional fears. Not everything is well in the reality of Donnie Darko. Throughout the story he is lead by a higher power whom guides his fate. All of it ending in a huge twist that makes the viewer question why they hadnt put two and two together as the movie progressed.

Donnie Darko

This producer did spawn a sequel (S. Darko, 2009) telling the story of Donnie Darko's younger sister, but the movie just comes off as trying too hard to imitate the theme of the original. It seems more like a stoner movie than a movie that made any real sense.

 Epic Quotes-

Emily Bates: Mom said the school is closed today because it's flooded, and there's feces everywhere!
Susie Bates: What are feces?
Emily Bates: Baby mice.
Susie Bates: Aww.

Highlighted is what I've seen

Highlighted numbers are movies I myself have seen, and willing to write a little bit about, and a yellow dot at the end means I did not finish the whole movie or only saw part of the movie.

Snatch (2000)

So here we have Snatch, the British crime movie with a lightened mood. This movie features some of Britain's most half witted criminals some with their eye on a diamond of unimaginable value, others looking to bet on fixed boxing matches. Every criminal involved gets into a twisting complicated plot that all ties together very surprisingly by the end of the story. If you're looking for something quick and violently funny this is definitely the movie to fulfill your craving.

Personal rating- 8.0 / 10          IMDB rating- 8.2 / 10 (as of september 27 2010)

100 Great movies list

Recommendations for movies are appreciated, and right now I'm pretty much going along with this list. I'll edit this blog and mark which ones I've watched and if you'd like my opinion on any of the movies just comment this post.

The Gladiator

So I started watching this movie last night before bed, was unsure what to expect. If you've seen Russell Crowe in Robin Hood, then you will be extremely familiar with Russell Crowe in Gladiator. Although it would be hard to say that Robin Hood was a better film, because The Gladiator has a constantly engaging storyline that is much easier to follow than the intricacies of Robin Hood. Granted, there may be quite a bit of talking in both films but The Gladiator makes up for it with both focused combat (small numbers in an arena like setting) and the mass combat of a hellish battlefield. I'd have to say that this is one of the most prominent films of Russell Crowes career. The grunge of the combat and easy to follow storyline make this movie an instant hit in my book, and I give The Gladiator an 8.5 out of 10 (IMDB rating 8.3 - 10   as of 9/25/10)

Awards
 The Gladiator has won the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role", "Best Costume Design", "Best Effects, Visual Effects" ,"Best Picture", and "Best sound" among the most popular

Props from The Gladiator

This is a replica of the awesome Helm that Russell Crowe wears in The gladiator, titled "The Helmet of the Spaniard" , Only $69.99 on Amazon

This is the actual armor that Russell Crowe wore during the filming