The King's Speech Review

Welcome to my second review of my Oscar marathon (Ending the 27th of February)! For my second review, I'll be reviewing last year's winner, The King's Speech. Enjoy:

The King's Speech is not the best film of the year, but it's still a well acted, well directed, and overall great film. It really keeps you interested in the characters and story, and it has a memorable quality to it. It's not perfect, but it mixes sophistication with entertainment very well. The story is about George VI, played by the wonderful Colin Firth. After his father, George V, dies, George VI is crowned King of England. The problem with this is that is George VI has had a speech impediment all his life, and as king, he has to make important speeches publicly. So, as the country is at war and in need of a leader, his wife arranges for her husband to see a speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush. I won't say anymore, as I just described the first half hour right there. So yeah, the plot is really simple, which can actually be one of this film's downfalls. The films accomplishes so little in such a long time, and even though that often leads to more atmosphere and character development, which it does here, it leaves time to be bored, which is a flaw. The characters are hit and miss. The 3 main characters, George VI, the speech therapist, and Queen Elizabeth are all very well done, but the rest of the characters are uninteresting and most of them seem pointless. However, most of those characters only get about 2 minutes of screen time, as most of the screen time involves the 3 main characters, so it's not much a problem, so I'll let it slide. The acting is... hard to explain. Most of the actors do good, but not great. Helena Bonham Carter, who plays one of the three main characters, Queen Elizabeth, also did good, but not amazing. Nobody does bad, but only two people actually do amazing, and I think they were the best actors of 2010, Colin Firth, and, especially Geoffrey Rush. Colin Firth get's a lot of emotion across, make his character feel like he's not Colin Firth, but his character, George VI. Also, the best of the movie, if not the best of the year, Geoffrey Rush. He's so interesting and when you watch the film, you don't see Rush, you see the speech therapist character. That's how good he was. Now, it's time for "The Best and Worst of The King's Speech". Even though it's obvious Geoffrey Rush was the best part about this film, I already described how good he did, so, to bring up something I didn't mention yet, the best is Tom Hooper's direction. He really knows how to keep us interested in such a simple plot as "A guy trying to speak in front of people", and he does it well. With awesome cinematography and camera work, Tom really brought light to a simple concept. The worst, in my opinion, is that, for a film that act's very important and even won Best Picture, it really isn't that revolutionary. This wouldn't be a problem, but if you're going to make a film that acts like it's a modern classic, it doesn't introduce any new and interesting ideas. Even films like 127 Hours and Black Swan, film's you'd expect to be similar to other films of the past, introduce new ideas that you'd like to see in other films, but this film doesn't do that. So, what's my final opinion of this film? It's flawed, I know that, but it's very entertaining, very memorable, very atmospheric, and with 2 of the best performances of the year (Though James Franco would argue), this is a great film. Worth the watch any day, just don't expect the best film ever. 

4/5

The Tree of Life Review

Welcome to my first review of my Oscar marathon, where I review many different Best Picture nominated films throughout the years. To begin, I'll go with one of this year's nominee's, The Tree of Life. Enjoy:




This is a movie that you need full focus on, as it can be confusing and surreal, and to some people, that's a bad thing, but if you really look closely, you may discover something magical, something Malick probably intended, but it's so much more than his experimental film. He put's great time and effort into the story and makes sure the imagery is similar to the story, so much so that I consider it one of the closest films ever to express inner piece, along with classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey. It has flaws, sure, but if you look deep enough within the story and the imagery, you will enjoy it more than you'd ever expect. The story follows Jack, from childhood (Hunter McCracken) to adulthood (Sean Penn). It shows his relationships with his brothers, his friends, his mother, played by Jessica Chastain (Fun fact, she's in 2 films nominated for Best Picture this year, this and "The Help"), and his father, played by Brad Pitt (Who's ALSO in 2 Best Picture nominated films this year, this and "Moneyball"). His mother was nice and kind to everyone in the family, but the father was very easily tempered and often mean to his children and his wife. It doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it has a lot of meaning when combined with the outstanding imagery. The characters themselves are very well done and realistic. They have great lines and act as like they're real life people. None of them are perfect, but that's what makes them so realistic and likable, well, MOST of them are likable. The father expects to much from his children, so it makes him seem quite vicious and unpredictable, but, again, even though he's unlikable, he's a very realistic character, and along with that, you have genuine fear of this guy. Jack is a very likable character, and you're scared for him when he's around his own father. It adds unexpected suspense to the film, and I commend the film for it. So, I liked the characters, but were they played well. YES. YES THEY WERE. Brad Pitt was scary and in character very well, Penn didn't do much, but was very effective to the film itself, Chastain was awesome and also well into her character, and the newcomer, Hunter McCracken, and I honestly believe he has a future in film. Now, it's time for the "Best and Worst of "The Tree of Life". The best, although I love the character development and acting, I'll have to say the best is the direction, by good ol' Terrence Malick. A little back story: Before I watched this movie, I was nervous Malick was directing, as the only movie I've seen at that point by him was "The Thin Red Line", which, in my opinion, was OK at best. However, he executes such a surreal, yet somehow relaxing atmosphere, as well as making the imagery in the film make SENSE (Unlike that ending scene in 2001). So Malick really is the best part of this film, but what about the worst? The worst, in my opinion, is several scenes in the first hour. Don't understand? Let me explain: In the opening hour, it's just comparing imagery, such as space, trees, etc, to the story that we're about to watch. That's all fine and good, but the problem with this is that they show the characters in the first hour, they explain their personality via visual imagery and spoken poetry, which is a brilliant idea, but with the characters so developed and interesting, you want to see how they interact with each other, see their relationship with the other characters, you know. Unfortunately, you have to wait a FULL HOUR just to get sensible interaction. It brings the movie down as instead of being fully captivated in the stunning visuals, you're awaiting a strip of dialogue from one character to another, and with the long wait, you're only half enjoying the film itself. Luckily though, when the characters DO interact, it's not disappointing, so I'll give it that. Also, the visuals give you something to think about, so a good amount of the first hour, you forget all about it. Overall, it's an outstanding film, and besides a few very annoying faults, it's highly recommended, but only if you have time to watch it over again, to fully understand the meaning of the film.

4.5/5

Oscar Marathon At Pop Cultural Opinions!

Yes, you heard me right, from now until February 27 (Yes, the day after the Oscars), I will be reviewing as much Best Picture nominated films as I can, from any year! This is to celebrate the upcoming Academy Awards, where 9 films have been nominated for the biggest award. So far, I only reviewed 2 of these movies, here are the links:

Moneyball Review: http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2011/12/moneyball-review.html
Midnight in Paris Review: http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/01/midnight-in-paris-review.html

The movies that could possibly be reviewed are included here (Not official, other movies may be reviewed, and some of these movies I may not be able to review):
The Tree of Life (2011) (http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/02/tree-of-life-review.html)
Gone with the Wind (1939) (http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/02/gone-with-wind-review.html)
The King's Speech (2010) (http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/02/kings-speech-review.html)
Apollo 13 (1995) (http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/02/apollo-13-review.html)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (http://popculturalopinions.blogspot.com/2012/02/mr-smith-goes-to-washington-review.html)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
The Blind Side (2009)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! (1966)
A Star is Born (1937)
And More!


So check back here anytime from now to the 27th and see some of the great films I have in store for you!

Top 10 Greatest Songs Of All Time

Hey guys! Today, I'm gonna do something different. I'm going to count down the Top 10 Greatest Songs of All Time. Now before I begin, let's lay down some ground rules:
1. One Song per Band.
2. My Opinion Only.
3. No Covers.
Well, no that we got that out of the way, let's begin:


10. Stan - Eminem

The first and only rap song on this list, Stan is violent, gritty, and unforgettable. The lyrics start out calm and cool but pick up pace leading to the creepiest final verse you'll ever hear.

9. Misery Business - Paramore

Not as much meaning to this one as others, but the talent expressed in this is outstanding. The singer is tremendous, and the beat of the song will have you listening to it over and over again.

8. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

Sure, the genre that this song invented, for the most part sucks, but the song itself is so rebellious and far from normal, it etches into your brain, and your stuck with humming it for weeks.

7. Imagine - John Lennon

By far, THE most meaningful song on this list, and unless you hate all music that hasn't been made in the past 2 weeks, you WILL love this song. I guarantee it.

6. Red Flag - Billy Talent

Probably the best obvious rebellion song out there. It really has a memorable quality to it, and with amazing vocals and instruments, this HAS to be here.

5. After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

Listen to this song once, ONCE, and tell me it sucks. You can't. It's so powerful and meaningful, I'm suprised it's not up there with "Imagine" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" as Best Song.

4. Panama - Van Halen

The best guitar ever in a song, and some of the best vocals. Trust me on that.

3. Thunderstruck - AC/DC

AC/DC is my favorite band, and out of their songs, this is the best. Listening to this song live should be on everyone's bucket list.

2. Thriller - Michael Jackson

I hate when people say Michael Jackson's overrated because his dancing is the best part. His dancing's awesome, and so is this music video, considered the best music video ever, but the song is amazing too. I love it.

1. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

I'm not a fan of this band. They really think they're expressing a lot when they really aren't. HOWEVER, I do like two of their songs: Teenagers and this. And this one is just tremendous. It has an awesome meaning, awesome guitar, awesome drums, awesome vocals, an awesome music video, and just the best song of all time.

Any songs I missed? Leave your favorites in the comments!