Inglourious basterds

Inglourious Basterds is a 2009 fictional war film directed and written by Quentin Tarantino. The film takes during World War 2 in Germany and follows multiple storylines that eventually combine at the end of the film. The film stars Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger. Christoph Waltz would be win a number of awards for his performance in the film.

The film focuses on fictional assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler during World War 2. One plot involves a group of American Jews led by Brad Pitt's character, Aldo Raine. The other involves Jewish French cinema owner. Another important character in the film is Christoph Waltz's character, Hans Landa, who hunts for Jews in Nazi occupied territories.

Like most Tarantino films this film has a great mix of comedy, violence and great acting. Christoph Waltz is amazing in this film. He steals the show from the other actors. The rest of the actors do a great job as well. The violence is graphic but in a somewhat comedic way. If you are familiar with Tarantino films you will not be surprised with this film. It is a typical Tarantino film except taking place in World War 2. If you like his previous movies you will love it.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

This 2011 documentary follows Conan O'Brien after his departure from his short stint of hosting NBC's The Tonight Show. Following his departure he is not allowed to be on TV for 6 months. Conan and his team create a live stage show called, "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour". The tour would go across the entire US.

This was a very interested documentary. If you are a Conan O'Brien fan it is interesting to see what exactly happened after Conan left NBC. You get a intimate look at how Conan and his team come up with the jokes that will be used in the tour. The most interesting part about the documentary is seeing Conan nervous about how the tour will be received by critics and audiences. Off stage Conan continues cracking jokes, especially with his personal assistant. This documentary might not be interesting if you are not a Conan fan but if you are you will not be disappointed.

(500) Days of Summer

(500 Days of Summer) is a 2009 Romantic Comedy, directed by Marc Webb. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. The film follows the character of Tom, who tries to forget his failed relationship he had with a girl named Summer. The film shows this by jumping back and forth in time between different times in the relationship and the present time.

The film utilizes a bunch of different visual techniques throughout. During one scene, Tom breaks out in a song and dance with people from the city. In another shot, a scene is turned into a drawing. The way the story is told, is a bit all over the place but the film makes do a good job not confusing viewers by displaying the number of the day within the "500 Days". The film utilizes a great soundtrack that really makes the viewer feel emotion along with the great visuals.

It was refreshing to see a romantic movie from a guys perspective for once. I really enjoyed this film because it is hard to not feel emotional after watching it. It is so well made and the pace is perfect. I never felt bored while watching it. I usually do not like "romantic" type films but this one is so unique that is really enjoyable. If doesn't matter if you love or hate romantic films, you will enjoy this film. It has something for everyone.

Religulous

I recently watched the documentary, Religulous. I haven't reviewed a documentary yet on here so this would be a good one to start with. It follows comedian Bill Maher and his quest to understand religion. It is basically a documentary about religion from the eyes of an atheist, with a comedic aspect to it. It was directed By Larry Charles.

The documentary begins with Maher describing his upbringing with a Catholic Father and Jewish Mother. From there, we watch as he interviews people from different religions about their own religions. He travels all over the world to conduct interviews. Some of the people he interviews are Catholic Priests and former Mormons. Maher intertwines humor within the interviews. Most of the humor comes from video clips mixed in with Maher's jokes.

This documentary will definitely be enjoyed by Agnostics and Atheists. Religious people with a sense of humor will probably also enjoy it. I can see some religious people being offended by the film. It does poke fun of religion a lot. The title of the film should give that away though. It was one of the recent documentaries where I have watched and really enjoyed.

The Machinist

The Machinist is a 2004 film directed by Brad Anderson. It is a psychological thriller. It stars Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The movie is famous for Christian Bale's performance. Christian Bale lost 62 pounds to play the main character, Trevor. He would end up weighing only 120 pounds and risked his health to play the part.

The film is about a machinist named Trevor, who has not slept in a year. He is suffering from severe insomnia and because of it he has lost a lot of weight. Trevor also suffers from paranoia and the viewer feels this along with him. He suspects a new coworker of sabotaging his life. As the movie goes on we find out that Trevor's life may not be what it seems to be.

The movie has a really dark tone. It is also very disturbing at times and has very graphic imagery. It is a great movie to watch if you love movies with twists. It does have some slow parts but is still entertaining. Christian Bale's appearance and performance is worth the watch alone.

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Drama was released in 2000 and directed by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky would go on to direct recent successful films such as The Wrestler and Black Swan. The film stars Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans and Ellen Burstyn. 

The film shows the lives of four characters, who battle addiction in the span of three seasons. The film starts during the Summer. Three of the characters battle addiction to illegal drugs such as heroin, while the other played by Ellen Burstyn battles an addiction to diet pills. The film starts with all the characters lives being positively effected by using and/or dealing drugs but eventually it shows the decline of their lives because of the use.

What really helps this film is the way Aronofsky shoots the film. He uses split screen shots and other unique filming techniques to really make the film stand out from others. The score of the film is amazing because Aronofsky uses composer Clint Mansell with the Kronos Quartet. The acting is great, especially from veteran actress, Elen Burstyn. 

The film is a vary graphic portrayal of the negative effects hard drugs can do to someone. It may be too much for some viewers. In my opinion every high school student should watch this movie so they can see that hard drug use has very bad consequences. 

Overall I really enjoyed the film. It will probably make you depressed but it was not a boring film. I've heard from others that did not enjoy it because it felt "too artsy". You be the judge. 

Evil Dead

Evil Dead is a low budget horror movie released in 1981. It spawned two sequels, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. Since it was made with a low budget, most of the actors were all virtually unknown actors at the time. The main character, Ash is played by Bruce Campbell and is the only actor in the film who would go on to have a somewhat successful movie career. He also stars in both sequels to the Evil Dead.

The movie's plot involves five college students, who go away to a secluded cabin in the woods. While there they find an ancient book called "The Book of the Dead" in the basement of the cabin. They also find a audio recording, which they play and it releases a demon. Eventually one by one each of the students are possessed by a demon. At the end of the film Ash is the only one left as all the others perish.

Since the film was made with such a low budget, the acting is pretty bad at times and it isn't much to look at. It is very gory and graphic which will either make you want to watch it or avoid it. If you are a fan of campy classic horror movies then definitely check it out. As a horror fan myself, it is definitely one of my favorites.