Castelar at the Movies: Bad Teacher & Super 8

Bad Teacher

In this film, Cameron Diaz portrays a horrible teacher named Elizabeth Halsey. This character convincingly manner displays her hate for her job and she is looking for a rich guy to take care of her. Honestly I must admit, Diaz surprised me in this film as she believably portrays a vain and selfish educator who will do anything to get ahead in life. She is a woman who doesn’t care about anyone else except herself. Elizabeth doesn’t care about her students and their problems as she constantly avoids them as much as possible throughout the film. Elizabeth doesn’t want to get to know any of her colleagues as she avoids any sort of interaction with them as well.

The school’s gym teacher, Russell Gettis, is portrayed by Jason Segel. Gettis is interested in going out with Elizabeth as he wants to form a stable relationship with her. She turns him down every time, but throughout the film he becomes someone Elizabeth can relate to in various ways.

 Justin Timberlake portrays the new substitute teacher Scott Delacorte; Elizabeth wants to have all to herself because he comes from a wealthy family.

The biggest surprise of the film comes from Lucy Punch, who portrays Elizabeth’s nemesis Amy Squirrel. Amy is a teacher who cares about her students. Unfortunately, she is a very demanding person who expects a lot out of her colleagues and she doesn’t know how to address certain problems which Elizabeth causes to those who are in charge.

If you want to see a wild and uncaring teacher in a film which has many memorable moments then you should go and see this film.

Super 8

This movie is a tribute to all the great movie classics Steven Spielberg and other directors have made in an era where the story and the performances from the actors were the most important elements of the film.

  J.J. Abrams created a film that is a mixture of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Monster Squad and The Goonies. Surprisingly, the movie is anchored by strong and comedic performances from the entire cast. The best performances were by Joel Courtney who portrayed Joe Lamb and Elle Fanning who portrayed Joe's romantic interest, Alice Dainard.

Joe Lamb is a young boy who lost someone whom he deeply cherished in his life. With los,s his hope of having a normal family life has been shattered to a certain extent. Meanwhile, Alice Dainard lives with a drunken father who is miserable with his own existence. Together these two characters find solace in each other as they escape their own personal struggles by being around other kids.

Joe has a group of friends who are shooting a zombie film. He likes to be around the friends because it makes him forget about how miserable things are back home. His friends are a bunch of likeable characters that seem to play their roles with much joy and enthusiasm.

When they sneak at night to film some scenes of the movie, they witness a horrific train accident which nearly cost them their lives. They discover someone they know caused the accident. When the kids flee the scene, they agree to never speak of that incident again because they would get in trouble if anyone found out. Unfortunately, the U.S. Air Force arrives to do an investigation and strange things start to happen in their hometown. Afterwards, these kids decide to find out what is going on and what they find is something which is truly spectacular.

If you want to see a movie with great acting and with some truly unique special effects then go see this wild science fiction film that the whole family can enjoy.

Castelar

Castelar at the Movies: Green Lantern & X-Men First Class

The Green Lantern

(taken from Life & Play)

During the course of the year, there have been two great comic book films, Thor and X-Men: First Class, which gave moviegoers a thrilling ride. It was worth the wait. Unfortunately, the latest comic book film adaptation of the beloved comic book character Green Lantern is not an enjoyable experience. This film is marred with some horrible dialogue and simplistic jokes that are more annoying than funny. Furthermore, this film contains some of the worst special effects I,ve seen in a superhero film as many of the characters look fake and it is a shame that so much money was spent on this movie.

Ryan Reynolds portrays Hal Jordan, who is a cocky bold pilot who is struggling with his inner demons as he lost his father in a tragic accident. However, Reynolds performance in this film is not an admirable one. At first, I thought he could pull it off after seeing him in the film "Buried" where he created a sympathetic character moviegoers care about. However in this movie, he doesn’t have the necessary charisma to portray Hal Jordan. Fortunately, both Blake Lively and Mark Strong give good performances. Lively portrays Carol Ferris, Hal’s boss and love interest while Strong portrays Sinestro,  one of the leaders of the Green Lanterns. The rest of the characters are not interesting enough to warrant your attention. If you want my advice skip this film at the theater and rent it once it arrives on video.

X-Men: First Class 

This film depicts the origins of some of the most famous heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. The film starts off by showing us the events that shaped the lives of two different men who would become two of the most powerful mutants that ever lived. These two mutants are Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr who are polar opposites of each other, but they have a mutual respect for one another.

 First of all, we have Charles Xavier portrayed by James McAvoy who possesses a calm and collected demeanor which he uses to help others like him. Xavier wants to show to the rest of the mutant population that mutants and humans can coexist in a peaceful manner. On the other hand, Eric is a mutant who seeks to avenge someone who was very close to him. His humanity and his compassion were crippled by the suffering which he endured for many years as his heart is guided by bitterness and hatred. Michael Fassbender portrays Eric with a sadistic demeanor and every time that he appears in the film. He is a force to be reckoned with; he has a sadistic edge and a natural charisma that few actors have. In other words, this character is a vindictive maelstrom of destruction whose wrath consumes everyone that gets in his way.

Both of these men share a common enemy and his name is Sebastian Shaw. Shaw is a malicious mutant who wants to eliminate the human race so that mutants can take over the world. In this film, Shaw is portrayed marvelously by Kevin Bacon. Bacon creates a malevolent villain who is dangerous and charming at the same time. This man has gathered some of the most dangerous mutants to serve as his personal band of destruction such as Azazel, Riptide and Emma Frost. Frost is a very powerful telepath who protects Shaw from any harm that might come to him. All of these mutants unite to eradicate those people who may reject them. Eventually, the government finds out about Shaw's plans while learning that mutants really exist and they decide to find someone who can neutralize this dangerous threat. Overall, Shaw, Xavier and Eric are natural born leaders, but they have different ideologies on what mutants should do and how to face the human population.

While most humans either fear or hate the possible threat of the mutant population, there's one human being who befriends Xavier and his team. Moira MacTaggert is a smart, strong and sexy CIA agent who believes the mutant population should be seen as allies instead of enemies. Rose Byrne gives Moira the necessary attributers to create a believable character who fights for what's right. This woman joins Xavier and his team in order to stop Shaw and to prevent a war that will cause an infinite amount of damage. Unlike most humans, Moira decides to embrace reasoning over ignorance in order to work together with the young team of mutants who are willing to help the government. This film has many spectacular special effects along with some astounding action sequences that are a joy to watch. Furthermore, there is a special cameo in this movie which is truly surprising. One of the best parts of this film is the ending because it shows how one character embraces the darkness that dwells in his soul and what he is willing to do to fight for what he believes in.

Kung Fu Panda 2

(Pictures taken by Ruby Leonne or staff)

    Kung Fu Panda 2 takes Po on a journey to discover his past; as he has forgotten where he truly came from. He seeks to find the answers to his origins even if it lies down a dangerous road which brings back haunting memories he has hidden inside the corners of his mind. Po must come to terms with his past if he is to save the future. The only way he can do this is to find a harmonious balance of will, focus and grace which comes by achieving inner peace.

(Pictures not taken by Ruby Leonne or its staff)

  The film also shows a new villain rising to sweep the land with fear and devastation. The new villain  is Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, a malicious peacock who is determined to annihilate anyone that gets in his way. Shen is the heir of the peacock clan that ruled Gongmen City in China. He's tempted by the darkness inside his soul for power and despair. Shen seeks to harness the power of fireworks and to use it as a weapon to rule the entire country. During this time, Po is living his dream of being the Dragon Warrior who is the sworn guardian of the land. Po protects the Valley of Peace with his comrades known as the Furious Five who have become his friends. They work as a balanced unit to stop any threat that harms the stability and peace of their surroundings.

(Pictures not taken by Ruby Leonne or its staff)

Even though this is a sequel, it expands the mythology of its protagonist while teaching him new lessons along the way. The film is full of many dazzling animations throughout its running time as the scenery is colorful and vibrant which creates an impressive visual spectacle for any moviegoer. Many sequels fail because they don't bring anything new to the story, but this one adds new layers of depth to its characters while creating a memorable adventure that captivates our imagination.

 Castelar

The Hangover 2 Movie Review

 Ruby Leonne wants to welcome Castelar Garcia Rivera to our family. Castelar will be doing a column on movie reviews and what to do on the weekend every Friday! (Remember...these are personal movie reviews, reviews doesn't necessarily reflect the RL family.) Sometimes there will be spoilers.

First of all, I will admit that The Hangover part 1 didn't make me laugh very much. It was a film which didn't have many memorable comedic moments. However, I must admit its sequel was a wild and fun ride because of all the crazy shenanigans that occurred during this movie. 

This time around the plot revolves around Dr. Stuart "Stu" Price, portrayed by Ed Helms, as he is getting married to Lauren on Thailand. He wants his friends to be there except for Alan Garner, portrayed by Zach Galifianakis, who Stuart considers to be a weird person. Both of his friends Phil Wenneck and Doug Billings convince Stu to invite Alan to his wedding. Before these men reach Thailand they go to the airport and they meet Teddy who is Lauren's brother. Alan doesn't like Teddy because he wanted to spend some time with his friends without somebody else getting in the way.

When they reach Thailand everyone can sense Lauren's father hates Stu as he constantly makes insulting remarks towards him in many scenes throughout the film. In order to make Stu feel more relaxed his friends decide to have a bonfire on the beach and drink some beers in honor of Stu, but before you know it they wake up in a strange place and they don't remember what happened the night before. This is very similar to the plot of the first film, but this time you can tell these actors are comfortable working with each other as the humor doesn't feel forced. When these gentlemen wake up they realize that Teddy isn't anywhere to be found. 

In their road to self discovery they find Leslie Chow in their room and as it turns out he partied with them all night long, but he isn't able to tell them what happened because he passes out in a scene that is absolutely hilarious. This sets up a fun ride as these bumbling travelers realize that they are in Bangkok while they look for Teddy. Unfortunately, they will realize that they did a lot of dangerous things during their hectic hangover. Overall, if you want to see a crazy male bonding experience then see this movie.