‘Easy A’ Earns a B in my Gradebook

As an updated version of The Scarlet Letter, “Easy A” takes a look at ruined reputations and how valuable it is to be you.

Olive is the not-so-typical high school girl with a squeaky clean rep. She entangles herself in a lie and it leads to self-destruction.

"Easy A" Movie

Olive is desperate to get out of going on a trip with her best friend’s awkward family and quickly fabricates a story about a date she has already planned. The best friend assumes that Olive is sleeping with this mysterious date and starts the rumor mill.

Olive and Her Best Friend, Rhiannon

After befriending a gay guy who is suffering from bullying, Olive decides to protect his reputation by spreading word that she has slept with him. Because Olive’s reputation is on the line, she demands payment. 

Word spreads among the distressed in the school and one-by-one they ask Olive to risk her esteem for the sake of others.

Olive's Fake Identity

The lies get out of hand and “The rumors of [her] promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated.” Consequentially, Olive is pressured into ruining her life to shield a secret relationship between a school counselor and a student. 

Olive refuses to keep up the façade because she realizes that she has lost herself along the way. She begins to tear down the monster she has made because she is “not proud of this.” Olive learns the hard way that you must save yourself before you can rescue others from their problems. As custom in any teen movie, she finds a guy worth dating on her road to recovery.

Todd, Olive's Love Interest

“Easy A” is only suitable for mature audiences because of its content and humor. The cast includes Emma Stone as Olive, Penn Badgley as her sweetheart, Amanda Bynes as her foe, and Aly Michalka as her gossiping best friend. Emma Stone's sarcastic personality was showcased through Olive and she was by far the most talented in the film.

Emma Stone Narrating as Olive

There were a few aspects of “Easy A” that I disliked. First, many of the sexual references seemed to be placed in the movie with the motive of attracting attention from the audience, but were unnecessary and shallow. Also, a few of the scenes were overly dramatic, which is expected of a teen film. Finally, some of the acting was outrageous and fitting for a soap opera.

Although I had some complaints, “Easy A” earns a 4 out of 5 star grade. I admire the film’s allusions to the classic novel The Scarlet Letter and its moral lesson learned by the protagonist by the end.

‘Father of the Bride’ is a Love Story from an Unexpected Angle

This 1991 film is a remake of a 1950 film starring Elizabeth Taylor. This update features actors Steve Martin, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Diane Keaton as the Banks family.

The Original

Kimberly Williams-Paisley’s sweet countenance was fitting for the part of Annie, the sweet-hearted, beloved bride-to-be.

George is Annie’s frugal father who still views her as a “six-year-old”. George’s character is complex, involving both sentimental and comical aspects. Steve Martin took on the character of George with success. 

Nina is Annie’s mother, played by Diane Keaton, who is supportive of Annie’s unexpected decision to get married. She does her best to make her husband George trust his daughter’s judgment. 

Meeting Bryan

Annie comes home, after months of studying abroad, to a family who expects all of her time and attention. She abruptly announces her engagement to a man they have never met. The Banks family is suddenly flung into over-drive in order to prepare for a “small-ish” wedding in only a few months.

Planning the "Big Day"

As expected, Nina and Annie are giddy about planning a dream wedding. George, though, is not sure if he supports the amount of money being spent on the wedding or his daughter’s relationship with Bryan. He says, “I used to think a wedding was a simple affair.”

“Father of the Bride” is ultimately a story of crossing fingers and hoping kids were raised well. George learns to let go of his only daughter through a series of situations which evoke emotion and laughter from the audience. He finally understands that, “She'll always love me, of course, but not in the same way. I was no longer the man in my little girl's life.”

George and Annie

I enjoyed this movie because it was a romance told from an often neglected perspective. That being considered, I would have ended “Father of the Bride” differently if it had been up to me.

I kept wishing that George and Annie would have one last heartwarming, and maybe even cheesy, encounter. I was disappointed that Annie left for her honeymoon after only telling her father good-bye over the telephone. That is why I say this movie deserves 4 out of 5 stars.

The Prime of the Series: 'Toy Story 3'

This is one animated series that has remained entertaining and focused through the years.

"Toy Story 3" Poster

“Toy Story 3” opens in tragedy, as Buzz, Woody, and the gang are struggling to get Andy’s attention. They are disappointed when they realize that Andy has more important things to worry about, particularly college.

As Andy is sorting through his belongings, he decides to keep the beloved toys in the attic together. Everyone would be sticking together, except Woody, who would be going to college with Andy.

A mix up occurs and the toys accidentally end up as donations to a daycare, and Woody, attempting to rescue his friends, is separated from Andy.

The Toys Arriving at the Daycare

Let down and hurt from not getting chosen to go with Andy, Buzz, Jessie, and the others decide to embrace their new life at the daycare and are anticipating more play time than they’ve had in years.

After a clash with Jessie and Buzz, Woody turns toward home. On his journey back, he learns that the Sunnyside Daycare is a prison.

While Woody is making plans for a jailbreak, his friends are attempting escape. They make new friends who help them stand up against a toy mafia.

Attempting to Escape

Andy’s toys realize that they are supposed to be there for him, even when it gets tough. After Andy is reunited with his childhood toys and cherished friends, he begins to understand that he should give his toys to someone who can use them. He gives them to a girl at the day care, telling her, “Now, you gotta promise to take good care of these guys. They, mean, alot to me.”

The audience holds back tears as they watch a mature Andy say good-bye to the toys who helped him grow up.

Andy, Woody, Buzz

“Toy Story 3” is a phenomenal children’s film for parents and children alike.

This movie stars the voice talents of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack. The cast pulls the audience’s heart strings through the characters. The new characters which were added to this third film brought in comic relief, as well as tension.

A touching story of growing up, “Toy Story 3” is a sentimental family film. Of course, talking toys aren’t very realistic, but probably symbolic of parents letting their children “leave the nest”. However, there was some confusion for me at the conclusion of the movie because it seemed that the toys had finally decided on their loyalty to Andy, then Andy determines that he needs to let them go. “Toy Story 3” scores a 4.5 out of 5.

Surprise Turn in 'Anger Management'

Featuring the unlikely pair of Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler, “Anger Management” is distinct. The film takes a psychiatric look at people who are implosively and unnoticeably angry.

Dave, Adam Sandler’s part, is letting people walk all over him and his anger is building up. Dave goes through a few incidents which land him in anger management.

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 Buddy, Jack Nicholson, is Dave’s anger management therapist who is widely praised…and INSANE!

Buddy invades Dave’s life in order to help him manage his “anger monkeys”. Dave is certain that Buddy is out to ruin his life, humiliate him, and split him and his sweetheart up.

Marisa Tomei

 Dave thinks he is the last person to be in anger management, but Buddy wants to work on his implosive anger. He says, “Implosive is the cashier that takes the coupons day after day then one day pulls out a gun and starts shooting... you’re the cashier.”

Adam Sandler

Digging into Dave’s past, Buddy uses almost inhumane methods to force Dave to confront his grudges. Dave learns not to bury his fury inside, but rather express it. It turns out that Buddy is a psychiatric genius, and makes Dave a better person by teaching him to take charge of his life.

Dave learns to pronounce his feelings for Linda, Marisa Tomei, and proposes in front of everyone at the Yankee Stadium. There is a bombshell at the denouement of the show when Dave discovers that Linda was responsible for assigning him to anger management therapy because she wanted him to be content.

The acting by all three lead roles was meritorious. Every scene was packed with hilarity and the movie was based on an intriguing idea. The only short-coming in “Anger Management” was the final scene. The singing and dancing was overly cheesy and not fitting for many of the actors, particularly Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson.

This movie is suitable for a movie night with friends and will have you in stitches.

Sadly, this movie deserves a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. “Anger Management” barely misses perfect.

Guest Post Featuring Mary

Hello followers of the wonderful Erica! It's Mary from Mary Quite Contrary! 

I'm doing a guest post today and I figured I'd just do my top ten favorite movies. Considering Erica's blog is reviews about movies!

I'll just start with number ten and work my way down. (these are not in order by preference. Just thought I'd be original and number backwards)
TEN. Letter's to Juliet

"Letters to Juliet" Scene

NINE. The Perfect Man

Stars of "The Perfect Man"

EIGHT.The Last Song

"The Last Song" Featuring Miley Cyrus

SEVEN. Dear John

The Couple From "Dear John"

SIX. Fever Pitch

"Fever Pitch" Duo

FIVE. Princess Bride

The Princess and Her Hero From "The Princess Bride"

FOUR. Twilight

The Famous Pair From "Twilight"

THREE. New Moon

A Clip From "New Moon"

TWO. Eclipse

The Third Part of the Series: "Eclipse"

ONE. P.S. I love you

The Romance of "P.S. I Love You"

I recommend ANY of these movies. They are all pretty much romance stories though, so just forewarningg. I have many favorites these are just the ones that popped to mind. (:
You guys are awesome and continue following Erica!

'Knowing' Plot Twisted Beyond Apprehension

This film was advertised as a horror film, but it seems that the producers get mixed up in the process. About the first hour of the “Knowing” was decent for a scary movie, but during the start of the second hour the movie made a transition to more of a science fiction film. 

"Knowing" Poster

Starring Nicolas Cage, “Knowing” was intriguing because of the intense advertisements. The story is based on the theory that there is a code which predicts cataclysms and forewarns the end of the world.

John Deciphering the Code

John and Caleb Koestler, father and son, witness the opening of a time capsule at Caleb’s school. In the capsule is a number code which reveals the date, location, and time of natural and human produced disasters. After they stumble upon the code, they notice that strange things begin to happen, particularly to them. 

They are frantic to stop the inevitable and use the code to their advantage. While they try to figure out how to stop the apocalypse, there are mysterious agent-like men stalking them.

Chandler Canterbury as Caleb

Sounds action-packed and alluring, right? As soon as the story reaches its peak, it switches gears and drops the audience.

It turns out that the eerie stalkers are actually angels. These angels have come to Earth to take two perfect children away, one boy and one girl, as the world experiences its Armageddon. 

Angels

The boy that has been selected is sadly Caleb Koestler. After realizing that this is the only way for his son to live, John gives him up. Caleb and the girl will be taken to a new, untarnished planet to start over.

“Knowing” is a poor revamp of the Noah’s ark story.

"Knowing" Finale

The acting was only average. Nicolas Cage usually has effective roles, but didn’t impress this time around. Chandler Canterbury, who played Caleb, was also only mediocre.

The plot was horrendous. I was really hoping for a successfully scary film, but this was not one. “Knowing” turned out to be an oddly written sci-fi, alternative movie.

2 out of 5. I will never watch this movie again.

'Yes Man' is a Tactful Comedy

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As expected of any movie starring Jim Carrey, “Yes Man” is humorous.

Carl Allen is not enjoying life to the fullest and is miserably stuck in his everyday routine. After listening to a motivational speaker, Carl is committed to take every opportunity that is available to him.

Carl and the Speaker

Carl is reluctant about trying new things, but realizes that taking chances is what makes life interesting. His new life style has gained him memories, friends, and a new girlfriend.

Zooey Deschanel as Allison

He has been scared of putting himself out there since his marriage ended. He learns through saying yes in every situation that he can enable himself to move on and take charge of his life.

Jim Carrey was a perfect match for Carl and allowed viewers to identify with a character who needs to live life. Zooey Deschanel as Allison, Carl’s new love interest, was also entertaining, funny, and well picked for her part.

Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel

A few of the scenes in the movie were tacky, though. While they were intended to be farcical, I was repulsed by the tasteless humor.

“Yes Man” did make me think about what opportunities I did not want to miss out on. Worthy of a 3.5 out of 5 star mark, this film is fitting for a movie night with friends.