X-Men, First Class (2011)

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

X Men; First Class is a captivating and action packed movie. It has excellent special effects and yet still manages to maintain that special hallmark X- Men feel.

If you have seen the other installments in the X- Men franchise you will not be disappointed. However, if you have not seen any other X-Men movies this is an excellent place to start. Even though this is a prequel to the other four X-Men films it is definitely a stand alone.
This new installment is set after World War 2 and features intermittent images of Charles Xavier/Professor X, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, and Raven/Mystique's childhoods.

X- Men; First Class is full of spectacular displays of special effects. However, this movie isn't just tricks and lights. It is riddled with heart, raw emotion, and captivating acting performances. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence really deliver. Each of these actors bring a lot of new meaning to Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique. New actors supply a lot of comedic relief with their strong supporting roles.

However, be aware that there are some adult themes in this movie, such as some drinking and violence, as well as the pervading theme of evolution that is ever present.
Overall, this is a worthwhile watch that I would recommend.

A Review By: Christie S.

Rango(2011)

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Rango is a lizard who has lived in captivity his whole life. His only friends are a wind-up-fish, a head-and-leg-less-barbie, and other little plastic toys.
But one day when his owners are on a road trip, Rango(Johnny Depp) is thrown out of the car.
He is in the middle of a desert that doesn't quite agree with him. The desert has no water. There he meets a friendly armadillo with some wacko advice. He tells Rango to keep walking until he hits Dirt. Rango keeps walking until he meets Beans, a lizard with a panic disorder, Beans then takes him to her home town of Dirt.
Rango then becomes sheriff, and must save the town of dying from thirst.

This movie was cute, but not great. It is just a little wacko, I'm not sure that kids as young as four would be able to follow this movie that well. I wouldn't recommend buying the movie until after you seen it.

Review by Sweetie Pie

Inception (2010)

By Christopher Nolan

It’s very intense, but good. It plays around psychologically and gets faster and more intense as you progress into the movie. It is one of those movies that you have to watch multiple times in order to catch everything. The movie follows the life of Dom Cobb, a man accused of murdering his wife and who must therefore do illegal brain extraction (extracting secrets from a person’s mind via dreams). Saito hires Cobb and his team to perform inception-to plant an idea in someone’s mind without the subject realizing that the idea is being planted. The mission can be easily compromised by Cobb and the secret he holds. Will they complete their mission and get out safely? And will Cobb finally face his secret and get back to his family?
This movie had a lot of death and some issues with language. Life does not appear to be valued in this film, as can be seen by the fact that the only way to get out of a dream is to kill yourself. Predictably, there is a lot of dying in this film that is not seen as a problem.

Review by Beckyelsie

Phantom of the Opera(2004)

directed by Joel Schumacher

The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind.
So I had been wanting to see this movie for a very long time, and was so excited when I got it from netflix (netflix is amazing). And well I was entranced during the whole movie.
It is a story of a young Dancer for Opera Populaire, Christine Daae (pronounced Die-ee), who has been learning to sing by her 'angel of music'. When Opera Populaire changes ownership, and one of the people invovled is her child-hood-sweetheart, Christine (played by Emmy Rossum) is suddenly haunted by The Phantom of the Opera(played by Gerald Butler).
Christine is forced to chose between the man behind the mask(literally) and her love from long ago.

This movie is excellent as long as your older than 13, it is definitely not a kids movie. There are quite a few murders committed by the title character. And there is a lot of touching of the skin and kissing(not exactly going together). If you have a problem with kissing and touching then this probably isn't a movie for you.

But the Pros for me way out weigh the cons. First of all, the music. I had never heard Andrew Lloyd Weber's music before this and was captivated. it was not like what I thought of an opera. In fact it isn't much of an opera as a very extravagant musical. Everyone singing is superb. And the music is just fantastic. And the whole story is very intriguing, exciting and amazing. And the acting(acting police here) was phenomenal , and I don't usually say that, but seeing as all the actors sang their own song, and were completely in character.
This movie is a must see for any one who loves very extravagant musicals.

Review by Sweetie Pie