The Help

It's always a joy when a movie which you think you know everything about turns out to be totally different than what you expected. Don't get me wrong; The Help is obviously about injustices between races in a much earlier decade but the overall feeling is one I didn't expect. Not only is The Help heartbreaking and powerful, it's actually much more entertaining, hillarious, and witty than I ever expected, easily one of the best movies of 2011.

The Help stars Emma Stone, as Skeeter Phelan, a young writer determined to make an impression in the literary world. So she decides to write a novel from the viewpoint of the help, collecting her material from local servants Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson (played by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer), and exposing the evil of the people they work for led by Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) as the town's main racist with plans of making all of the black servants be demoted to using separate bathrooms outside of their employers' homes.

The Help's performances are easily one of the strongest positives of the movie. Emma Stone as Skeeter is quite effective, summoning up a rare contrast of an innocent, yet powerful and agressive energy, and she works both of these traits so well. Octavia Spencer (who deservedly won the Oscar) and Viola Davis (who SHOULD have won the Oscar) are forces of nature here. They'll go from breaking your heart to making you laugh your ass off in a matter of seconds, and not once do you see actresses performing roles, you see people behaving as people. Bryce Dallas Howard is also deliciously evil and the town bitch, and Jessica Chastain (who was rightfully nominated for the Oscar) is terribly endearing as Celia Foote, the town housewife who doesn't treat the help like dirt...and as expected, is despised for her differences and kind outlooks.

The Help's tone achieves the perfect blends of different types of attitude here. Rarely would I consider a movie about exposing social injustices to be entertaining, but The Help actually managed to capture and hold my attention from beginning to end. And considering that this movie is almost 2.5 hours long, that is no easy task mind you. And as heartbreaking and effective as the movie can be with the emotional punches that it swings at you, The Help is actually quite spicy and at times, very hillarious as well. Not once do you feel like you're watching a soap opera/Lifetime special of prejudices. The screenplay would be what Goldilocks describes as "Just right". Just the right amount of drama, of comedy, and of all that good shit in the middle.

The Help is easily one of the best movies of 2011 bar none. It exposes social injustices in a way that will attract all types of audiences. Those who are looking to find out about how things were in the 1960's according to race, those who are just suckers for those Oscar bait types of movies, and those who want a good laugh and possibly a good cry (TRUST ME, there will be at least one scene that will come close to making you cry/actually making you cry). The Help is a masterpiece that should be seen by every type of moviegoer.

4/4



The Children

It's not exactly a mystery that children are generally regarded as a big pain in the ass, but The Children depicts this in a whole different way that is rarely seen; children turning on their parents. The Children is an effective horror movie about what happens when your offspring want you to disappear...for real.

Two sets of parents bring their younger children, and one teenage daughter up to the mountains for Christmas vacation. The younger children soon develop flu/cold-like symptoms all at once, and once the sickness kicks in...they'll want a little bit more then chicken noodle soup, turning on their parents and planning their demises the entire way.

One of the best things about The Children is the subtleties. The Children isn't a horror movie with back to back gruesome death scenes (though there are a few of those spread throughout), but what's most frightening about The Children is just the simple idea of it. How would you deal with a child that wanted nothing more than to see your head on a platter? Would you be able to strike them down or would your parental instincts forbid this action in your head? The Children answers these questions and more about the nature of evil children in a very chilling manner.

The Children is a solid horror movie that will capture and keep your attention from beginning to end. Though the idea of evil children (The Omen, Orphan, Wicked Little Things) setting highly unlikely and sometimes preposterous traps (Final Destination) for others to fall victim to, The Children sprinkles some freshness in the plot from beginning to end to avoid a "been there, done that" type of feeling that tends to suck the fun and enjoyment out of most other recent horror movies. And it will make you think twice about procreation after viewing this. What's not to love?

3/4



Jack and Jill

Probably one of the few movies I'd ever refer to as an abortion

0/4



Woman in Black

You know those PG-13 horror movies that give horror movies a bad name? The ones that take the 2-3 scenes that have the most amount of potential to be scary and end up using these on the entire preview. The ones that are so tame you think that they were written by Hannah Montana and her friends. The ones that not only avoid bloodshed but any types of thrills as well. I just summarized Woman in Black perfectly, a dull, tedious, worthless horror movie that never should have hit the screens.

Following his massive Harry Potter success, Daniel Radcliffe stars as Arthur Kipps, a lawyer who is sent to a strange village where he discovers that the locals are being terrorized by an ominous prescence. She does ghastly things, spooks the residents, makes their children commit suicide, hides the remote. You know, that type of deal. Will Arthur be able to solve the mystery behind this evil spirit? Why are the locals treating Arthur like such a leper? Why are they all afraid of him? What are they hiding about this evil woman?

To answer most of these questions, a big N/A can be put in the slot. You barely find out jackshit about the woman in black or how she's doing what she's doing. Apparently she lost her kid, and like all parents that lose their children, she is granted the amazing and worthwhile power of making all the kids off themselves. The coolest scene in the movie is the opening with a triple suicide. The rest of it is absolutely downhill from there.

For being a movie advertised as a ghost thriller, there's very little thrills and not even enough ghosts in this one. About 90% of the movie is Daniel Radcliffe walking around an empty house only to have things bang, clank, and smash around like a fucked up episode of Scooby Doo. The scariest scene after the beginning scene was when a faucet turned on loud and a crow flew through the window. I kid you not. The movie is that desperate for thrills.

There's such a bare amount of material in this movie that I don't even know how it didn't end up as a junky Twilight Zone episode or some shit. There's barely any dialogue for such long periods of time that it's unbearable. The story is no larger than a quantity of material that can be written on a post-it. The ending feels like the director shoved his hand in the trash can, sorted through the trash and resulted in choosing the most unsatisfying and disappointing final scenes possible. You can save $8 by just opening your window tonight. I gurantee that will provide you with more chills and entertainment than anything that Woman in Black can provide for you.

0/4

50/50

When it comes to what I would consider funny, cancer is certainly something I would put at the bottom of the list. It shouldn't be funny. It shouldn't be entertaining. But surprisingly enough, a movie about cancer actually manages to be entertaining and funny. 50/50 is easily one of my favorite movies of 2011.

The plot: Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds out he has cancer one day, affecting not only his own life, but the lives of everyone around him. Including his carefree party friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), his unorthodox and free-spirited therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick), his cheating girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his good-hearted, but paranoid and overbearing mother Diane (Anjelica Houston).

The good: The performances here all-around the board are amazing. I dare say that this is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's best performance to date and I would say the same about Seth Rogen as well. Not one person feels like they're acting in this movie at all, it really does seem like an authentic movie about how people react when they're staring cancer straight in the face, knowing that someday it will take their last breath out of them.

50/50 also has authenticity on its' side. Most directors would probably throw in some slapstick or cheesy humor to keep the mood light, but oddly enough, 50/50 doesn't need to do that to get humor from the material. It can be quite depressing and in a matter of moments, quite hillarious as well. 50/50 uses these less than fortunate situations about cancer and disease and actually is able to get some humor out of them without having to resort to cheap humor or any bullshit like that.

50/50 actually feels quite original as well. It keep me entertained and though many movies have dealt with diseases before, I was actually entertained and eager to see how this one would play out. Will Adam live or die? Will he stay with his adulterous girlfriend or the therapist whose strong interest to keep things professional will possibly damper their relationship? 50/50 gives you the answers to these situations in a way that you almost don't see coming.

The bad: I really don't have much to say about 50/50 that's bad, but I guess the movie could have been a tad shorter. Like, maybe 10-15 minutes shorter. And it wasn't even that big of a deal really.

50/50 is one of the best movies of 2011. It's authentic, it's heartwarming, it's realisitc, the performances are wonderful and powerful, it's funny, and it will keep you entertained from beginning to end. And how many movies about cancer can you say that for?

4/4