Tag Archives: movies

Film Review: Aquaman

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I recently went and saw Aquaman, and walked into the theater with the mindset that it would be just like all the other Marvel movies, super dark, a lot of action, a little storyline and some comic relief. And, this movie finally broke that formula though, it wasn’t necessarily anything that seemed that original. But, it was more of a fluff movie than some of the other recent and extremely dark Marvel movies that had been coming out like Avengers. So, it was nice to have something different that was slightly less dark with a little more storyline.

In essence, the movie seemed pretty typical. A forbidden love between two worlds with a child that has to bring the two together. And, of course, the child at first does not want to but, in the end, decides to try to save the day. So, the storyline is pretty much predictable. Though, the actions scenes where cool and the special effects throughout the entire movie were extremely well done.

This movie is the perfect movie to go and watch and turn your brain off. It is entertaining without much substance. But it provides a nice break to just stop thinking. I would suggest as a movie to go out and see with your friends and family to just have some fun. Since it is more of a light fluffy movie than a typical dark Marvel movie, you can finish the movie and not have that air of darkness and instead, it leaves you with a happy humorous mood. So it is great to just have some fun.

-Ava G.

Film Review: Mary Poppins Returns

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I was utterly ecstatic when I heard in 2017 that there was going to be a Mary Poppins sequel. My excitement tripled when I heard that it would star not only Emily Blunt, but also Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton, In the Heights, and 21 Chump Street, three of my all-time favorite musicals. So one could say that I had a lot of anticipation for this movie.

However, I was not without my doubts. I was afraid that this new sequel might not fully capture the magic that was definitely present in the first film. Perhaps, I thought, they might use modern special effects to create real-looking penguins for Mary Poppins to dance with. Now, while some would not mind this type of movie, it would ruin the film for me, as the animations in the original Mary Poppins are part of what makes it so special to me.

Yet the movie was perfect. The producers kept the animations of old, and, while there were a brand new cast and an entirely new collection of voices, the spirit of the soundtrack remained the same. They even managed to get a hold of Dick Van Dyke and Meryl Streep for a special appearance. I cried, I laughed, and I related to many of the characters. The plot was fantastic, and while I will try not to spoil, the resolution that Mary Poppins and Jack came up with was the cherry-on-top of the film for me.

Overall, this movie couldn’t have been better, and I strongly encourage anyone who hasn’t already seen it to go do so right now. The beautiful London scenery, the enticing plot, and the cheerful characters are guaranteed to give Mary Poppins Returns a special place in your heart.

-Arushi S. 

Film Review: Avengers Infinity War

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Avengers Infinity War was a marvelous work of action, suspense, and many plot twists along the way. The movie would most likely to get an award in at least not just one category. It is about the critically acclaimed Avengers that was first introduced by Marvel Studios in 2012 and was a very good movie fueled by Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2009, making the Marvel Cinematic Universe an even bigger money maker.

They started with the Iron Man trilogy which was at the time the best Marvel movie until a year later, with Captain America: Civil War. Like Civil War, Infinity War movie was not a happy family gathering. It speaks what the all the trailers where speaking. Something very bad is going to happen in this movie.

As the movie started there was silence when we saw the well done Marvel Studios sign. Usually there is music that introduces us to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You could already tell from there that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. It also introduced us to the title of Avenger Infinity War first instead of at the end of the movie. Which is not something Marvel does often. That also right there is a key that this movie is going to be something very different about this film.

Now on the bright side, we finally see the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers fighting Thanos’ army which was something that most fans including me have waited for a long time. We have waited for Thanos’s big reveal ever since the end credits of the original Avengers movie. Then again we saw him in Guardians of the Galaxy sitting high and mighty on his chair. Then again we saw him at the end credit scene in Avengers Age of Ultron. As much Marvel teased Thanos I was not disappointing about him. He had a clear motive about what he was doing and I thought to myself maybe is he right.

-Max U.

Film Review: Ready Player One

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Ready Player One was a great film directed by Steven Spielberg that really came alive as soon as the title screen appeared. The movie was said to be a real Spielberg story and it really was.

Our protagonist is Wade Watts. The movie takes place in Columbus, Ohio or if you want to be technical it really takes place in the Oasis. In the movie, Oasis was designed by James Haliday, a pop culture genius. He made the Oasis as another reality where people can be who they want to be.

Think of the Oasis as modern day VR Chat but bigger. In the movie Haliday died but, before he died he announced a contest. He said he hid an Easter Egg in the game. Who ever finds the Easter Egg will inherit the ownership of the oasis. This had everyone going crazy to find the Egg.

Even though that the fortune was very generous of Haliday people did insane things to find the Egg. The antagonist of the movie is Nolan Sorento, head owner of IOI which is trying to seek control the Oasis.

The start of the movie was slow but surprisingly this was a good thing. It gave everyone to spot out some of the many Easter Eggs Spielberg put in the film. Now when I say Easter Eggs I mean a lot of Easter Eggs. Some of them you could easily spot but also some of them where hard to spot. This helped viewers still feel joy that they saw there favorite video game character or just the title on the screen.

Even though the movie was visually stunning it was tragic in some spots. I mean is this what we want our future to be like? People spending so much time in the fake world they don’t even know what happened to the world? I mean one day you spend so much time in the oasis and then you forget who you are or where you are.

-Max U

Fan Expectations for Predator (2018)

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Recently I came upon a movie called Predator featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was about his crew of commandos going to South America and eliminating a threat. What they didn’t know was that the cause of the threat wasn’t human. Throughout the movie they were being hunted by the Predator, an alien from outer space who came to earth to hunt.

This was the major plot of the Predator movie which led to several other movies. I later found out that it was getting a reboot this year. The only thing on my mind is that the other Predator movies haven’t been successful as the first one. One other remake of a successful Sci-Fi movie is Alien. You might remember the movie Alien Covenant that came out last year. The movie turned out to be not that bad. I don’t see why Predator can turn out the same way as Covenant did. I think fans have a better view for this movie just like the first and most successful one.

The reason why the first movie turned out so good was because it was very straightforward. There were no love interests and not a lot of backstory. Fans wanted this out of Predator 2 but didn’t really get that same aspect as the first film.

I also think they should use a rural area for the setting in the new movie. The setting in the first Predator was a jungle in South America and the setting for Predator 2 was in Los Angeles. If you can see what i’m getting at right here it is that the good movie of the two had a rural area as the setting and the bad movie didn’t.

But maybe this movie doesn’t have to be Predator type like movie. It could also be a whole different kind of movie in the saga. Like a movie that actually talks about the Predator’s backstory. Like the movie Prometheus did for the Alien franchise. But seeing that the movie is named Predator it is most likely going to be a Predator based film. Which means it should be straight forward.

-Max U.

Film Review: Suicide Squad

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I re-watched this movie again and had a better opinion on this movie than I did the first time I saw it. The movie wasn’t still that good as I hoped it would be.

The story as it goes in the comics. In the comics Amanda Waller assembles a team of criminals who would go on missions that where considered suicidal. They planted little bombs inside there heads so, if they try to escape there heads would be blown right off.

I thought the costumes where great. It made every one look very flashy and cool. It definitely deserved a Oscar for the costumes.

The main thing i didn’t like was the Jokers and Harley Quinn’ s relationship. The Joker doesn’t actually love Harley. It was a perfect example of a abusive relationship. But of course they had to take that away. It just didn’t make any sense to me. I also didn’t like the Joker himself. He just didn’t seem to crazy for the big screen. If you look at the Joker in the comics he has style If you look at the Joker in Suicide Squad he is barely wearing a shirt and has tattoos all over him

Then there where other characters that i thought didn’t do anything major. For example Captain Boomerang. I thought he was a funny character to the squad. He just didn’t do anything cool that effected the mission in any way.

One thing i liked about it was that it set up a bunch of more movies. I think DC is going to use Suicide Squad to introduce more villains. Maybe something like another villain hires Deadshot to kill someone and big shocker its Gorilla Grod.

One thing that i didn’t like was that it just was simply too long. I thought it could’ve been shorter. They also tried to do flashbacks like Deadpool did. That didn’t turn out good for them because the flashbacks didn’t make sense. Another complaint was of course dialog that some people couldn’t understand but I understood it fine.

Even thought I watched Suicide Squad again I was still a little lost. If you like action movies then you should probably go see it.

-Max U.

Suicide Squad is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Film Review: Justice League

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Justice League wasn’t as good as Wonder Woman but it was a solid film that was funny and dark. I thought that it had a solid line that draws comedy and seriousness, which made it a fun film most DC fans could enjoy.

My one problem with the movie is that why have the movie now? They had this movie a year after Batman v Superman. Which is nothing Marvel had to do to build up their cinematic universe. This made it seem like that Warner Brothers were just cramming in whatever they had into a film like the Avengers. The only thing Marvel did was space out each movie. I’m just saying I thought Warner Brothers should’ve introduced their characters first.

But without a doubt I liked the film. It filled my heart with joy and laughter. They kind of introduced each character in the start of the film which made me a little happier. During the movie Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman is faced with a extraterrestrial threat. He decided to assemble a team. This team is composed of many unique individuals. I was very shocked when i learned that Josh Whedon would be doing the film. Since he has been doing the Avengers movies it made sense why he helped with Justice League.

The important thing to have in mind with DC movies is that it’s always a dark aspect. For example: Batman v Superman. The movie wasn’t a happy movie. It was a very new concept to me. I thought the dark aspect was good in the DC films. It really divides the Marvel movies and DC films apart from each other. It divides the fun filled movies with the dark and depressed movies.

If you are very interested in a different aspect then the Avengers, then Justice League is the movie for you. I liked that it at least had some comedy in there. A fan favorite character would be Barry Allen or the Flash. He was very funny in the movie which might have boosted the score up on this movie. You could have seen that this was the work of Josh Whedon. His very funny creativity with the Flash was the very many things i liked in the film.

My honest opinion of the film is a thumbs up.

-Max U.

Creative Writing: Adventures in Ilvermorny Part 2

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This is part two of a short story about some kids that attend llvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (US version of Hogwarts). These characters are entirely made up by me, and my descriptions of Ilvermorny are no doubt very different from what J.K. Rowling’s are. Enjoy!

Cyrus shook her hand, “Well then Jane….?

“-Ingram, Jane Ingram”, Jane affirmed.

“Jane Ingram, are you a first year too?”, Cyrus questioned, “Because I’m stressed beyond belief.”

Jane nodded. “Yea, but I bet you have more of an idea of what’s about to happen. My mom’s a Muggle-born and so she thought it would be best if I was raised without magic until Ilvermorny, like her. Supposedly it will make me appreciate magic more, but I just feel like I’m ten steps behind everyone else.”

Cyrus waved a hand. “Nah there will be plenty of Muggle-borns who just found out about magic weeks ago. That’s not even the issue, its not like Eyla and I get our wands any sooner than everyone else. What’s nerve wracking is the sorting. Eyla is set to be a Wampus, but I’m not really sure where I’d fit”. Cyrus shrugged, looking a little embarrassed to have just shared this with a stranger.

Jane smiled sympathetically, “My mom says the carvings never lie. They know you better than you know yourself.” Jane’s smile slowly turned into a quizzical expression. “Wait did you say that Eyla is a first year too? She’s as tall as many of the 7th years!”, Jane exclaimed a little too loudly.

Eyla, in hearing her name, turned to face Jane again. “Yea, and that’s what’s going to get me to be the first female admitted onto the Quidditch team as a first year”, Eyla announced proudly. “Although, I do wish Ilvermorny had basketball, the one thing I will miss from living so close to muggle cities”, she stated mostly to herself, while sighing.

A smooth woman’s voice on the crackling intercom abruptly interjected the conversation.

“Ladies and gentlemen we are now boarding flight 934 from Miami to Massachusetts, repeat, we are now boarding flight 934 from Miami to Massachusetts”

 

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

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fantastic-beastsThe Wizarding World of Harry Potter appears to be undying, coming back in the form of new books, new amusement parks, and new stories that continue to grow in popularity. J.K. Rowling’s universe now travels to America for Warner Bros. latest movie: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. 

It’s the 1920s, and wizards in America are in hiding. All signs of magic must be kept on the down-low, especially with a Muggle (Or No-Maj, as the American wizards call them) group called the Second Salemers protesting magic in the streets. Tensions are high; a mysterious shadow-like creature is terrorizing New York, and wizardry is on the brink of being revealed to the public. The last thing New York needs is an awkward Hufflepuff carrying a poorly-sealed case full of beasts around town.

Newt Scamander, an ex-Hogwarts student and magical creature extraordinaire, arrives in New York City in the hopes of purchasing a rare beast. However, instead of obtaining a new creature, he accidentally lets his own loose in the city. He and his human friend Jacob, the Ex-Auror Tina her mind-reading sister Queenie must scour New York for the lost beasts, all while evading capture from the Magical Congress and keeping an eye out for the shadowy force attacking New York’s streets and buildings.

It wasn’t until I saw magic on the big screen again did I realize just how much I’d missed the Harry Potter universe. It was, well, fantastic to be brought back into a world of wands and wizards. Eddie Redmayne plays the perfect Newt Scamander, what with his nervous stature and lovable awkwardness. He devoted himself to the role, and the character really came alive for me. Tina (Katherine Waterson), Queenie (Alison Sudol), and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) were also very well cast and incredibly enjoyable to watch. When Jacob could’ve easily been reduced to purely comic relief, the film turns his character into a wonderful and loyal friend for Newt. Mr. Graves, a fitting name for a villain, was convincing, but I have to say that the Second Salemer family- the Barebones- was far more chilling and creepy.

I must say what stole the show were the visual effects. All of the CG and computer-animated magic and monsters were absolutely phenomenal. I was blown away by how real everything looked, and the sheer creativeness when it came to Newt’s beasts or his briefcase was outstanding. The finale in particular used today’s technology in its full potential, delivering visual effects so mind-blowing that I couldn’t bear to blink and miss a second of it. I predict an Oscar nomination, and hopefully a win, for the cinematography in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone, Harry Potter fans in particular. One of my friends, who has never really been a fan of the franchise, went to see it anyways and came out loving it. I want to go see it over and over, re-immerse myself in that world and see the magic again. The movie’s four upcoming sequels primarily seemed unnecessary, but I cannot wait for each and every one!

-Abby F.

Book vs. Movie: Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life

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Image result for middle school worst years of my life bookMiddle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson is a good graphic novel. I feel that it is a great book for tweens and young teens.

I watched the movie with my friends, who have never read the books. They were shocked when the movie revealed something important, while I just sat there, knowing about this since the beginning. This probably altered my perspective, because when you have read the book first, you are comparing it to the movie the whole time. And more often then not, minor details from the book are changed for the movie and completely ruins the adaptation. Many minor details were altered, and I do feel that a couple changed how you look at the movie. Characters were not the same, and some were excluded. In the book, Leo passed away from meningitis when him and Rafe were toddlers.

In the movie, they state that Leo had passed about a year before from cancer. This can really change your perspective of the movie. In the book, you know that it’s amazing that Rafe can think of his brother like this through his imagination. In the movie, it’s just because Rafe is mourning. I feel that Leo is not thImage result for middle school worst years of my lifee same character in the movie that he is in the book. Also, what happened to Miller, or Miller the Killer? He was a huge part in the books as the school bully. In the movie, he only had a minor part and didn’t seem as threatening. Additionally, they did not have Jeanne Galleta and Georgia’s personalities correct. Jeanne is much more different, and defiantly does not sneak into his house. Georgia was way more of a brat, and did not feel sorry for her brother at all.

I would say that if you have never read the books, go see the movie! Maybe your younger sibling wants to go. Even if you think that this is a “kiddy movie,” it’s not. Half of the friends that went with me were high schoolers, and they enjoyed the movie as much as the middle schoolers with us. But for the fans of the Middle School series, I really don’t think that the movie is worth it. It is a humorous movie, but you might be disappointed.

-Rebecca V.

For reference, here is a comparison of Leo from the book and the film:

Image result for middle school worst years of my life book leoRelated image