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sullivanm
Reviews
Lost: The End: Part 1 (2010)
I'll see you in another life, Brotha
Going into the Lost finale everyone had a question they wanted answered. Whether it was a main storyline question about the Man In Black or what exactly what the light in the heart of the island, or if it was a random question about Walt and the birds, or who built that statue; everyone had a question they got answered. However, chances are your question was not answered, but in the end that was okay.
Many people forget that Lost is a drama first, not a puzzle or mystery. As an individual who never missed an episode and whose living room became a Lost viewing party every Tuesday night, I had plenty of questions, however at the end of the day I had a connection built. Lost fans have their favorite characters, favorite episodes, favorite couple, etc. etc. Fans cried when Charlie died because they loved Charlie. Lost was a world of mystery that intrigue millions, but that mystery drew us into the lives of Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, the Kwons, Locke, and everyone else on the island.
The finale answered some of the questions we had, but it went beyond trying to answer all of our questions, it did its fans one better, it closed the story lines of everyone we cared about, not necessarily all the way through to their death, but through their life and the island.
In the end the island was a cork to stop evil from flooding the world and the flash sideways was the "in between" of the afterlife. In order for the castaways to move on to the next "stop" they needed to find each other in a life where they never crashed on the island. Not because it was some great test, but because they needed to move on with the people they loved.
The final ten minutes of Lost showed us how much the lives of the castaways were intertwined with each other's lives. How much they loved each other, and how important those relationships were to each other's life.
Very rarely does a show end and teach you a lesson about the people in your lives. Look around your life, who are the people that matter? Who will be the people you need to find in order to move on in the after life. Are you blessed enough to have people in your life that you share a bond with as strong as Jack and Kate? Or Sawyer and Juliet?
I cried tears of joy seeing the castaways find each other and remember how important each one of them is to the other. Jack died not to save the island, but to save his friends, and after he did it, they were all waiting for him, just like he told Desmond, "I'll see you in another life, Brotha."
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
A movie struggling with identity problems
Transformers 2 does not disappoint as a summer popcorn movie. It has all the ingredients for a summer blockbuster; a good fan base from the first movie, great special effects, and a popular cast. However, Transformers 2 was just a good movie and not a great movie, which it very well could have been.
The opening sequence is good and sets up the story quite nicely but the story that is set up does not get a chance to fully develop throughout the movie. The reason is because Michael Bay can't decide on what to focus on. Does he make this an action movie? A dramatic movie? An action/comedy? There are too many different movie elements in Transformers 2.
Some of the problems were the inclusion of too many low brow jokes in the movie. There is a scene involving Sam Witwicky's mother shortly after arriving at college that should not have been in the movie. It wasn't very funny and did not contribute to the advancement of the plot. These jokes throughout the movie take up screen time where dialogue explaining the plot and advancing the story should have been.
Transformers 2 builds on the stories from the history of the Autobots and Decepticons, but those stories are not sufficiently explained and too much has to be assumed. The stories still make some sense and does not make the plot confusing or impossible to follow, but it makes the story seem incomplete.
Where the first Transformers movie thrived on a strong story and good action scenes, Transformers 2 relies on just action scenes.
I did give this movie a 7 because the story was still good. The action scenes were enjoyable to watch and the acting was well done. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson did great with their supporting roles as soldiers. It is easy for everyone to try to vie for the spotlight in such a big budget movie, but those two played their roles very well which is one of the reasons this movie was good.
Transformers 2 also uses many elements from the original television series and some from Transformers: The Movie (1986). That made the movie more enjoyable as it was more in tune with the Transformers many of the fans grew up with. Bumblebee is still a lovable robot and Optimus Prime is still everyone's favorite leader. Megatron and the Decpticons are still just as evil as we all remember and the transformation of the beloved 80's cartoon series to a live action big screen film is just as amazing as the first one.
Once you walk out of the theater a few things will stick in your mind. Optimus Prime is still a bad-ass and a terrific movie hero, the special effects were great and so were the action scenes, and Megan Fox is gorgeous. But, maybe the most important thing a movie should leave you imprinted with is not stuck in your mind and that is an intricate story that you want to see over and over again... maybe just twice, I know I'll probably see it again
Falcon Beach (2006)
Entraping
I had seen many commercials for this new show on ABC Family. I was very skeptical about it. Eventually one Sunday night I saw that the 2 hour pilot was on followed by the first episode of the season. It was a Sunday night and I thought I should give the show a chance. Before I knew it I was entrapped by the show. This is not anything like the O.C as one might think, plus it takes place in Canada.
The show is set is the small community of Falcon Beach where everyone waits on the Summer, even the local economy which depends heavily on summer tourists. The show follows the lives of a couple twenty something year olds trying to figure out where they are going in life.
Jason is the main character of the show. He is a local boy whose father died when he was younger. His mother and him run a boat rental where business is struggling. He is torn between two girls that enter and re-enter his life at the start of this summer, Paige and Tayna. Paige is an out of towner who is there for the summer with her mother while her father tries to save the business he is CEO of in Toronto. Tayne is a local who had been gone for a couple for years modeling in Europe and has returned with many problems in her life. Helping him get through all of his troubles is Jason's good friend Danny, who I might add is having his own girl troubles.
The acting in the show is done quite well. Steve Byers does a very good job of portraying the 20 something Jason and really shows Jason's up and down emotions. I think that Jennifer Kydd as Paige may be the best actress on the show portraying Paige the snobby rich girl who is disgusted of Falcon Beach at first but slowly breaks out of her shell and becomes a part of the lives of the locals. The only bad acting comes out in Devon Weigel who plays the role of Tayna, the model who has come back to Falcon Beach. She has a tough time with emotional scenes and always ends up over acting.
Overall the show is very entertaining and as I said earlier, the story lines are entrapping and the most the characters are easily liked. It is a show where you become attached to the people in it and as you watch you wish you could tell them what to do. I recommend it to everyone.
The Matrix (1999)
Awesome
In my mind this is one of the great movies of our time. It has a plot that seems hard to understand at first, but everything you need to know is revealed in the movie. It ends in a way that you are not sitting in anticipation for the sequels. I loved it, and it is a movie that has no equal, and in my opinion the second and third are the same. Many will say the sequels ruined the movie, but in my opinion it just helped create a trilogy that compares to the star wars trilogy. A must see movie/ trilogy.
The plot is simple after seeing the movie. Years ago man created A.I, and soon a war broke out between man and machine, the war is better described in the ani-matrix. The war ended with the machines enslaving the human race as a power source. The humans are put in a virtual reality that is set in the 20th century. The war still continues, but only a small percentage of the human population remains. Then the movie begins.