Elf.

   For my holiday movie review, I chose the film Elf directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. This fun and comedic story is about a boy named Buddy who ends up in the North Pole and is essentially raised by elves. Since he is human, he finds that there are many things that set him apart from Santa's little helpers. When he grows up to be a man (Will Ferrell), he finds out that he isn't an elf and was given up for adoption when he was born. Buddy then learns about his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan) who lives in New York City. The confused man then wants to travel to New York and meet his dad. But there was just one flaw in his imagined "perfect" father; he is on the naughty list. Devastated, Buddy then makes his way to the big city and finds that there is alot for him to learn about the human world.
   This film has always been a favorite of mine. I probably watch it about five times during the holiday season. The way Favreau and Berendaum develop a story that is much different from all other Christmas movies, makes it one of the best in my opinion. The story is so original and the humor stands for jokes that anyone will remember. All in all, Elf is and always will be my favorite holiday film.

Rating: On a scale from 1-10: 100 (;

Insidious.

      When I first heard about this film, I thought "Really? A movie about a little boy who gets lost in his sleep? Boring." So, as you can see, my expectations were not that high. However, my mind-set was in the wrong place.
      In the movie, the main goal for two parents, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne), is preventing evil spirits from trapping their comatose child, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), in a realm called "The Further." Through a mode of sleep-travel, called "astro-traveling," Dalton is able to explore the immortal would, thinking he is only dreaming. Later on, we learn that Josh had passed on the ability to astro-travel to his son. So he has to travel into the further and essentially save Dalton.
     With every scene that crept by, Director James Wan knew how to pull a viewer in. The music and sound effects were probably one my favorite parts of the film. From sudden, loud and erie sounds to background music that crept its way up in volume, these sound effects definitely added a very important touch to the film. Along with a thriller, comes creativeness. Now-a-days, it is very hard to please everyone and keep people interested. But Wan's ideas for his immortal figures intrigued me and kept hold of my attention.
     All in all, I believe this film was very well thought out and executed. I honestly have nothing negative to say about the film, except that it may only be one of those movies that you can only watch once. But I would most definitely recommend the movie to a friend.

Rating: On a scale from 1-10: 9

Easy A

This rainy Wednesday, I curled up in some blankets and watched the film, Easy A. This movie is based upon the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main character, Olive is a high school student just trying to fit in like everyone else. While trying to do so, she lies in confidence to her best friend that she lost her virginity. Not thinking about the consequences of her actions, her single fib turns into a web of lies that she is ultimately lost in. Along the way, she learns that it is essentially better to just be yourself, rather than lie to make people like you. I really enjoyed this movie because the characters and their stories are relatable to any high school student. The lesson learned is an important moral to remember no matter how old or young you are. The comedic storyline also kept me smiling and laughing. I would recommend this flick to any teenager, or even a grown adult. This is definitely going in my list of faves.