Water for Elephants ( 2011 )

Water for Elephants ( 2011 )

Water for Elephants stars, Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth , the star attraction at the Circus and wife of the owner / ringmaster ; Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski , the lonely poor orphan boy , intelligent and bright , wandering the open road of America ; Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth , as the Ringmaster ; but the star and hero of the film is "Tai" as "Rosie, the elephant" who saves the circus .

Set in the Great American Depression of the 1930s , where no one has any money , and worse than that , any booze . Prohibition just stinks , good hard working circus performers need a bit of the good stuff to carry them thru the day .

The story line is a little thin , but takes a long time getting to the end . The acting is good , and the period of the 1930s comes across well , but the hard sell is the chemistry between these people . The hubsand and wife seem to be in a loveless marriage , and in the end the film seems like a loveless movie .

But what is love ?

This is Francis Lawrence third time in the director's chair the first and second being Constantine (2005) with Keanu Reeves , and I Am Legend (2007) with Wil Smith · Water for Elephants (2011) also has the star power of Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson .

The question now is does Robert Pattinson have the box office draws of the Twilight Movies , or is it the popularity of the Twilight books ?

Coming back to Francis Lawrence , he has wandered away from a strong action based / special effects in his first two films , to a more character driven films in the story of the People of the Benzini Brother's Travelling Circus .

As many of my friends pointed out in the end , the real stars of the film were the animals , cause that is all they talked about , imagine you have a circus movie , without animals . It just does not work . Everyone you could tell wanted more animals , and more story to the animals . You wanted to know more about the horses , the lions , the dogs , the monkey and of course the ELEPHANT .

By the way all you PETA members , out there walk with your box of tissues , this one is a real tear jerker for you PETA guys and gals .

The movie is nice swing away from the Romantic-Comedy , but hardly fits the mold of a Love Story .

Watch for the old time New York Scenes , with the Empire State building and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background .

Also there is not stinger , after the movie , but if you do stay through the credits , you will notice the cast credits are done in the old time layouts :

"Marlena Rosenbluth..................................................................................Reese Witherspoon"

The list of Stuntmen goes on and on and on , but the stunts are so intergrated into the movie you do not see them , in train jumping and the stampede scenes .

The movie is a classic piece of movie making , and could be used to teach film students "HOW TO MAKE A FILM" , yet the story and the acting does not appeal to the mass audience . I am worried if it should make back it's $40 million budget .

The Town ( 2010 )

The Town (2010) : This Bank Robbery Flick , Came on in September 17th 2010 , and i gave it a miss . I skipped it mostly because Ben Affleck was in it , and he directed it too , and I have become fed up of being disappointed by him .

However I caught in on the DVD , and what pleasantly surprise , the film though not FRESH , holds it own against many other films . The characters were real , bay guys and good guys , the female lead plays simple bank manager , ignorant of her surroundings .

During the course of three bank robberies in the film , the tension , drama and action is consistent and well worth watching . Watch for the car chase in the second bank robbery .

The Criminals are true to their nature , almost to the point of making them the anti-heroes of the film. The FBI agent chasing them is far less interesting , boring to the point of making the catching of the criminals un-important. So when the leading lady takes an interest in both a criminal and the FBI agent , no one wants her to end up with the FBI agent.

• Offical site : http://thetownmovie.warnerbros.com/
  
• Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Town_(2010_film)
  

The Trailer

UnStoppable (2010)

UNSTOPPABLE : Tells the tale of a couple of Every Men , not Police , not Firemen , but Railway Men , Frank Barnes and Will Colson . Who decide the best thing is to get out the way of a runaway train . Only to watch it past by and then decide to chase it down and stop it .

The plot line though simple , runs along the normal cinematic track. Incompetent worker screws up , Disaster situation endures , Jeopardy eminent , Hero saves the day .

Denzel Washington plays Frank Barnes, a old standing Railway Man , intelligent in his knowledge of operations of the system. Humble in his approach to things , but expects everyone to do their job.

Chris Pine plays Will Colson, the young rookie, he has done the course work, qualified and family connected . The first day on the job , the "OLD MAN" Frank Barnes shows him up. The decision making process seem to be over written by environmental conditions, and the young man becomes quickly frustrated .

Well as the Crisis come and then escalates , this Odd Couple becomes the Team. Performing Heroic Act after Act . Until they save the day .

With Supporting Role from Rosario Dawson , as the tech person in the booth , the film provide the normal roller-coast ride of an action film , without the emotional attachment . Had everyone died in the film , I might have left the cinema more satisfied. The drama of the heroic acts; hardly seem dangerous , the heroes are never in jeopardy, and the woo-ing and ah-ing of the wife and children watching over live television, provides the emotions of Saturday Night Boxing .

The film gets a pass as an Action film , but is doomed to be relegated to late night cable television.

Buy it now on :

• Offical Website : http://www.unstoppablemovie.com/
  
• Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unstoppable_(2010_film)
  

The Trailer