"The King's Speech" hits the mark

The film based on a true story, “The King’s Speech” gracefully blends smart humor and lowbrow humor, which makes it one of the more entertaining historical dramas and 2011 Best Picture nominees.

It follows the stuttering, King George VI’s public speaking troubles and rise to power from 1925-1939.

George VI’s problem is so bad it is uncomfortable to watch, especially since he is royalty. Colin Firth played the role of the powerful, insecure king perfectly. He captures King George’s peculiar speech flawlessly.

Geoffrey Rush from “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” plays the king’s charming and demanding speech therapist. All the scenes with Rush and Firth were great, the two played off each other very well.

Helena Bonham Carter from “Big Fish,” beautifully recreates the great historical figure as the king’s wife otherwise known as “The Queen Mother.” Guy Pearce from “Memento,” plays a good jerk as usual in the role of the king’s brother. Michael Gambon from “Harry Potter,” is good in a small role as the king’s father.

Director Tom Hopper did a fantastic job regenerating the early twentieth century. Hopper also directed the 2009 soccer movie “The Damned United,” which got good reviews from ESPN.

Rating: A-It demonstrates many emotions effectively like anger, sadness, happiness, joy, surprise and fear. But it’s a little slow and the parts without Rush and Firth together aren’t as good. However it gives a very realistic portrayal of the life of someone with a stutter.

Could a Ballet Flick Entertain Guys?

The psychological ballerina thriller “Black Swan” is a surprisingly good film for both genders.

Although most movies about ballets are not male friendly, this film uses sex, suspense and some violence to keep the men interested.

The sexual movie follows the life of a straight-edged ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, she is about to perform “Swan Lake” at a prominent New York ballet. It shows her struggle between good and bad through two roles, the white swan and the black swan. The colors white and black are prevalent throughout, which brings attention to the differences of the two swan parts in the ballet.

Portman is incredible as one of the most interesting characters in recent memory, she deserves the Oscar for best leading lady. The supporting cast only enhances her performance with Vincent Cassel from “Ocean’s 11,” Mila Kunis from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and Winona Ryder from “Edward Scissorhands.”

Director Darren Aronofsky, who is the king of making messed-up, sad movies like “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Wrestler.” He did maybe his best work in this film using both depressing scenes like in “The Wrestler” and crazy, weird scenes like in “Requiem for a Dream.”

Slow at parts, but those parts are just building tension and anxiety. It can also be a bit confusing. Do not watch this with your parents.

Rating: A-
Really good movie, however people might be turned off by Aronofsky’s extreme direction.

Rock Me "Amadeus"

The highly fictionalized 1984 film "Amadeus" follows the rock star life and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

His story is told through the eyes of his jealous opposing composer, Antonio Salieri.

It brilliantly shows Mozart's creative process and the scences are edited perfectly with the music being played over.

Tom Hulce beat out David Bowie for the role of the enthusiastic, childish and unpredictable Mozart.

It had some historical inaccuracies, but the film wasn't made to be historically accurate. The film depicts a less formal, more realistic society that isn't usually shown in films about this era.

It is one of the few 80s movies where the electronic music and neon colors from the era don't bleed through and kill the movie.

If you don't like long movies then this isn't for you, it's over two and a half hours. But if do you like classical music this is the perfect film.

Rating: B+, Really good biopic, but it's long and not historically accurate.

It's a "Bottle Shock"

The 2008 film "Bottle Shock" is a fun, light story following one California vineyard before the American wine boom in 1976.

It stars Bill Pullman from "Independence Day," as the owner of the vineyard, his son and employee is played by Chris Pine from "Star Trek." Pullman and Pine, both give good performances.



The best scenes are with Steve Spurrier (Alan Rickman), a knowledgable wine professional who discovers the vineyard. His performance is key to this film, because the snotty but charming Spurrier is only person who gave American wine a chance.

Rachel Taylor from the first "Transformers", plays Chris Pine's love interest. Although she is good in it, the love story is the weak part of the film.

The love story got a little weird, if it was a little different it could have better.

Rating: C+, It is a good wine movie with laughs and drama, but it lags a bit in the middle.

Best Picture Favorite "Inception"

The star studded action packed thriller “Inception” is incomparable to other Oscar favorites.

The story is about Dom Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) whose work consists of stealing people’s secrets in their dreams.


Cobb has a team that helps him in and out of dreams. His team is great and perfectly casted. It consists of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Dileep Rao and Tom Hardy.

Ken Watanabe plays Mr. Saito, who employs the team to perform the extremely difficult task called inception. It means to plant an idea in someone’s unconscious mind. The target is an wealthy businessman played by Cillian Murphy.

Christopher Nolan uses all the actors’ strengths to tell this complicated story. He also uses colors to show the differences between each dream sequence. For example, one would be gray, the other would yellow and the last would be white.

Rating: A, It’s really good and unique, but it is a little long and confusing.

Wonderful "Wonder Boys"

This excellent character study "Wonder Boys" from 2000 is interesting, but might not appeal to all audiences.

It's about a writer past his prime, played by Michael Douglas, and his mentoring of a young talented pupil played by Tobey Maguire.

Douglas does a great job as the eccentric, pothead mentor. Maguire had the tough role as the uppish and mysterious pupil, but he was fantastic.

The story is intriguing and evolves well throughout. However, it is slow and there is very little action.

Rating: B+ or B, It really depends on if the viewer can watch a slow movie.

The "Brothers Solomon" is Funny

The comedy, "Brothers Solomon" from 2007 is similar to the 1994 "Dumb and Dumber" in character and laughter.

It follows two brothers trying to have a baby for their dying father. The comedy is as ridiculous as it sounds.

Will Arnett and Will Forte are both hilarious as the brothers Solomon.

The story is stupid, but what do you expect from a dumb comedy.

Rating: B or B-, It has some really funny parts, however it isn't non-stop laughter.