TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Lego Movie

It's a little late but it is time to talk about this week's new Trailer of the Week. For this week I decided to choose a little older released trailer, but it is still new and fresh to talk about! So I chose the trailer for The Lego Movie. This movie is about an ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder. He is then recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together (courtesy of IMDb). This film is due out on February 7th, 2014, and stars, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnet, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Cobie Smulders, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Liam Neeson, and quite a few other well known actor/actresses.

Now why did I choose this movie to be this week's Trailer of the Week? Well as a child I grew up with LEGO toys. I loved them so freaking much! I would build things, be proud of what I built, then keep it for a few weeks, then build something entirely new and awesome! Then after I grew up they started coming out with LEGO video games for certain movies like, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and many others. I owe both Harry Potter games and most of the Star Wars ones. They were just the greatest games you could buy because they were all just so much fun and creative. Anyway getting a little off topic, this movie connects to my inner child and I am really excited to see how and where they take this movie. So far from what we have seen in the trailers released thus far, it seems like a pretty legit and awesome movie. Has an awesome cast to talk for it, and I am excited to see how it pans out come February. I hope it does well because maybe (and we all know if it does do well) we will see a series come out of this.

Apart from the inner child in me though, this movie seriously does look good, and quite funny. So it defiantly has been added to my watch list, and it should be added to the rest of yours too. It is on my radar and we will just have to see where this movie takes us. Hopefully it is down a good movie road, instead of some crappy movie. Well now make sure you stay tuned for some more movie talk along with some more reviews . . . coming soon.

Noah Mark Bitney

The Man in the Iron Mask REVIEW

It is review time!!! Today's review is of the 1998 film, The Man in the Iron Mask. In this film the evil and cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother who he had locked away and his face covered. After the King has angered to many of the old Musketeers, they form up again to make a swap with the innocent brother and the cruel King that doesn't deserve the throne.

Well now first thing I want to say about this movie is that it is very enjoyable. If you ever need a movie one night to watch that you will enjoy the crap out of, this one will work perfectly. The story of this movie is actually kind of good. I like what this movie is about. As for the screenplay though, there are a few issues. I mean it seems like a cheap movie, the bad writing and dialogue really do show in this movie. The dialogue is choppy and doesn't flow very well in my opinion. I would also have to say that it is extremely corny in spots. There are points in the film where I laugh and then say to myself, "Did he really just say that? What was the point of that." That does not stop this from being a good movie to enjoy though. The cast of the film really makes the movie in my opinion. If they wouldn't have gotten the people they had gotten for each role, this movie would not be as good as it is.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu, and Gabriel Bryne are the main cast in this film and they do a great job with each of there roles. They are really what make this movie. Leonardo DiCaprio always does a great job in any one of his movies, and again in this movie he does a great job. I love how he portrays two roles in this film. When he has to switch characters and become the other brother, you can really see it in his eyes and I just love it. The chemistry between each on of these actors is good as well. I love when they bicker and banter back and forth, they do such a good job with it.

I also wanted to mention a couple last things in this review. One thing is that the cinematography really didn't work for me in this movie. It seemed to modern to me, and didn't portray the time zone of the movie very well in my opinion. With that being sad I also noticed a few things in the movie, prop items, that really weren't time zone appropriate. The sprinkler system, I mean, did they really have that technology then? I don't think so. Last thing I wanted to mention where the costume designs. They seemed lazy in my opinion, and not very good. What I mean by this is that they seemed to look fake instead of clothing from that time. The hair as well looked like it was ready to fall of some of the characters. This is my opinion though and I am just bickering.

Other than those few things this movie was extremely enjoyable. I love the story and the actor/actresses in this movie portray characters and a story that you will enjoy anytime you need a good movie for a movie night with the family or friends. For the ratings I want to give, The Man in the Iron Mask, a popcorn movie night rating. I would have to say that this movie only gets a DVD buy worthy rating, its worth a buy on DVD but not Blu-Ray. I will also like to say that this movie is perfect to rent . . . it is on Netflix though so if you have Netflix, just check it out on there. Now for the rating out of 10 stars I will give, The Man in the Iron Mask, a 6/10 star rating. It gets this for being an enjoyable story, and having a great cast to support the story. Enjoyable, in my opinion, is the strongest thing to have for a movie.

Well I am hoping that you have enjoyed this review of The Man in the Iron Mask. Have you seen this movie before? Let me know what you thought of in on the Motion Picture Buff's Facebook page, RIGHT HERE, or even leave a comment below. Now make sure you stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK: About Time

After a week it is now time for another Trailer of the Week, and this week's trailer is another romantic comedy, About Time. This movie stars Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, and other. About Time is about Tim, played by Domhnall Gleeson, and Tim at the age of 21 discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think (source:IMDb). 

Now I picked this movie for a couple reasons. These reasons would be the fact that l am a huge softy for romantic movies, the premise is incredible, Rachel McAdams, and the trailer is just absolutely enticing. So to start I want to say again like I said in last week's trailer of the week, that I am a huge lover of romantic/romantic comedy films. I grew up with four sisters in my house, so I am guessing that is why. They just interest me and I am a romantic myself to be honest. Well I think I am at least. So this movie kind of grabs my attention in that aspect. Next I want to mention the premise of this film. I love time travel and this movie seems like it is going to do a good job with it. I love how in the trailer he says that it was going to be all about love, but then he finds out there is complications with time travel. I am really excited to see how they are going to take this movie. Rachel McAdams is seriously an amazing actress. She has done a lot of different romantic movies and it seems like she is going to do a good job in this film. The chemistry between her and Domhnall looks like it is very good, but time will tell when I go to see this movie. Not the last thing I wanted to mention is the trailer itself. In my opinion it is a very good trailer. There are some trailers where they don't get you excited for the film at all, but the film itself is actually really good. With this trailer it gets me excited to see this movie, which I am hoping that the movie will actually be very good as well. 

About Time is due out on November 8th, 2013, which is next week. That is the main reason why I picked this for the Trailer of the Week. I have seen this trailer back in May and I thought about putting it for my Trailer of the Week to help promote it because I am going to make sure that I will be seeing it next week when it comes out. So yes I do give this movie my recommendation to see because it looks really good, so make sure you go check it out next week. Well after you see Thor: The Dark World, of course. So stay tuned for more . . . coming soon. 

Noah Mark Bitney 

Shakespeare in Love REVIEW

The Motion Picture Buff would like to present a review for the 1999 Best Picture Winner . . . Shakespeare in Love. This film is about a young William Shakespeare when he was writing his masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet. It goes on the story of Shakespeare short of cash and out of ideas, but then he meets a woman who inspires him to right one of his most famous plays.

Lets begin with the positives from this film shall we? Well I would have to say that I love the script and story of this film. I just fell in love with the story that Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard had created. I loved the characters. The love between Will and Viola was just incredible. So props to Marc and Tom for creating an amazing story, you definitely deserved your Oscar for this film. Moving on . . . next I will have to talk about the acting. EVERY single actor/actress in this film did a good to great job. Some of the stand out would have to be of course Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes. These two had amazing chemistry together. The way Joseph looked at Gwyneth was just incredible. You could just see the lust in his eyes, and he made you believe that he was truly in love with Viola. Other actors who stood out in this film would have to be Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Affleck, and everyone was just great in this movie. I really enjoyed this movie, so I can't mention everything but I suppose for the last thing I would mention is the set direction. Seriously I love the scenery for this film. I felt like I was in the time period and when you forget that this is all actually fake I think that just makes it an even better movie.

Now some negatives I would have to mention about this film would have to be that at the beginning I was a little confused. It took a little bit for me to understand what was going on, but I finally caught up. The other thing I would mention is that the ending I wasn't really sure if Viola died, got stuck on an island, or what happened to her. I know that she was leaving for the new world, but then Will started talking about his next play. So I wasn't sure what actually happened with her?

So wrapping this review up I would have to say that this movie grabbed my heart. I would for sure watch it again and soon. Now the movie is a perfect date-night movie. So if you have a girl and need a movie to watch . . . look up Shakespeare in Love on your Netflix  and watch it will that special girl. Make some popcorn and cuddle up with that girl of yours. If no girl its still a great movie to just enjoy one night. You will love it, if there is any romantic in you . . . you will love it. I will give it a popcorn movie night rating, date-night rating, and out of 10, I will give this movie an 8/10 rating.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this review of Shakespeare in Love. I plan on doing a review of some non-oscar winning movies soon, it has been awhile and I have the prefect movie to rip to shreds. So make sure you stay tuned for that and more.

Noah Mark Bitney

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery REVIEW

Here comes the "Motion Picture Buff's" first review in the "Austin Powers" series, "Austin Powers International Man of Mystery." In this film a 1960's hippie super spy is frozen to be there when Dr. Evil returns. When Dr. Evil returns Austin Powers is awoken and he must adjust to the new lifestyle, try and defeat Dr. Evil, along with getting the girl.

Well negatives shall we start with? Well yes this movie is hilarious but its that stupid kind of funny. I mean more on this later, but the only negative is that it is just the dumb funny.

In this film though the dumb funny works too. So the positives right? Yes the dumb funny can be annoying but in all reality the dumb funny is also HILARIOUS. In this film it just works. I like how they make fun of what movies always do too. Just helps add to the humor. Mike Myers wrote this film and I have to say that he does a good job at making all of us laugh. He jokes you get, they are humorous, and they will have you laughing all the way till the end. It has pointless humor, but Mike does it in a good way. Mike Myers also stars as Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. I believe that helps with the humor, and he plays both roles perfectly as well. Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, and others are in this movie. Everyone helps make the film even more funny. I just loved it. Whenever I am in a bad mood, these films always cheer me up. Jay Roach is director of this film and he has a way with this film that just helps add to the humor. The score and theme of Austin Powers is phenomenal and if you have seen this film you will remember it forever. Just has that crazy Austin groove to it. I want to say props to the costume and make-up department too because you really are put into the 1960's at point and they did it so well.

So all-in-all a freaking hilarious film that will keep you laughing. I will give it a DVD buy worthy rating. No need to go get it on Blu-ray. I will give it the popcorn flick rating along with family night film, just make sure your kids are at least 12 years or older. It is a classic to me because I grew up with these movies so yes a must-see film rating "Austin Powers" is going to get. As for the rating I can only give "Austin Powers International Man of Mystery" a 3.5/5 rating. This does not stop it from being one of the funniest comedies out there.

Thanks for tuning in for the review. I hope you have enjoyed it. Sorry about lack of reviews, I have been busy moving. I got some time today so I thought I would do some. So stay tuned for more . . . coming REALLY soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Titanic REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to divert for a little bit from the reviews of the "Harry Potter" series, and review one of his TOP TEN MUST-SEE FILMS, "Titanic" written and directed by James Cameron. In this film a boy and girl that come from oppostie ends of the social class meet during the ill-fated journey of the RMS Titanic.

Firstly I want to say that if you have not seen this movie . . . how dare you! So, obviously I am starting with the positives first for this review. I can 250% understand why this movie got its 11 Oscars on Oscar night that night. This film is just beautiful in every single aspect. The direction and camera angles are just beautiful and everything. It captures and sucks you into the story in such a fantastic way that you don't want the film to end even though it is three hours long. Which leads me into the screenplay/story-line of this film. Oh my god I don't think I have ever loved one more. Oh it is just absolutely beautiful the way James Cameron took this movie with the script. You know the ending right off the bat, and yet your sitting there hoping it won't, but it is inevitable. James Cameron was involved in almost every aspect of this film and I am glad he was. It was defiantly his baby, and one of my ALL-TIME favorite movies. Moving off James Cameron though, lets talk about the music (or score) of "Titanic." James Horner this is probably one of the first of your works I have heard . . . before I saw "Braveheart" and let me say your a genius. This album is a definite must-buy. He just adds to the movie in a way that is unimaginable. Okay before I move onto acting I want to say this . . . I could watch this movie forever and never get bored . . . it may be number six on my MUST-SEE MOVIES LIST, but it is the only movie I could never stop watching. Now acting in this film is outstanding and there are so many great actor in this film and to make sure I do not leave any one out I am not going to mention anyone. The whole cast of this film does an outstanding job and that is all I have to say here. I just don't want to leave a single cast member out when I say that everyone was MADE for there part. They all made me believe in such a great and well made movie. So thank you to all the cast and crew for creating such a great movie.

Of course though there has to be a negative. I have only one thing to say really that is a main thing which is the fact that the love story within this film is just SUPER SUPER cheesy and kind of annoying. Only really negative of this film.

So all-in-all "Titanic" is going to get the ratings of theses: date-night movie, Blu-Ray buy worthy, must-see film, and a tour-de-force. It is just one of those movies that everyone has to see in there life-time. So on the scale out of five "Titanic" is going to get a four point five out of five.

Well thank you for reading the "Motion Picture Buff's" review of James Cameron's "Titanic." I hope that you have enjoyed it and will stay tuned for more. One thing I do want to say before I end this review is that make sure you subscribe by email in the sidebar on the right, so you can be emailed when I update the blog next. Thanks again though, and now make sure you stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff