Pizza

The story can be described in one sentence: Overweight girl befriends hot thirty something pizza guy on her 18Th birthday! But really there is much more to it. This movie has a few layers that make it incredibly sweet and sophisticated. On the outer layer it's an overweight girl whose lonely,angry, and longing for something much more in her life. At her 18Th birthday party no one shows up besides the hot pizza guy (Ethan Embry) delivering her pizza, so she starts talking to him. She's smart and witty and he likes talking to her. He starts to realize that no one showed up to her party so he invites her to eat with him in his pizza truck. While eating pizza in his truck she begs him to take her with him for the night. So he tells her she can help out with his deliveries for the night. The rest of the movie is them delivering pizza and becoming really good friends.
What I really loved about the movie is the simplicity of how it faces truth in a lot of young people today. There's Cara Ethel. She's overweight, she's strange, and she scares people off as a defense to not have to deal with her current situation. But she's also incredibly smart and has huge ambitions with her life. She dreams of herself doing all kinds of things in the world, but in reality stays home and eats while hating the rest of the world. Then there's Matt. He's in his thirties, he's still a pizza delivery guy, he claims he's a political activist for rallies that he never shows up for, and he lives with younger guys to make himself feel young because he doesn't want to face the idea that he might have to grow up. To everyone around them he is the hot guy who has been with tons of girls, but never really commits. In each other they find a connection. She finds someone who can see past the weight and the glasses and appreciate her for the smart girl that she is. And he finds someone that he finally feels like challenges him, someone who calls him out on his bullshit. All of this is discovered through a simple night of delivering pizza. He's trying to show her a good time, while she's trying to experience some life outside of food and cynicism. By the end of the movie they both show each other that they are better, and worth more than the life they have convinced themselves they are happy and comfortable in.
The movie is very sweet and thoughtful. And the writing is very eloquent, making you love each character with every idiosyncrasy you discover in them. I wouldn't say a lot of guys would really like this movie. It's more for a girls a night with some pizza. So if your looking for something a little more thought provoking than the typical chick flick you should definitely rent this.
I would give this a B+!

1408

Audiences have become obsessed with gore. And no I don't mean Al Gore, but bloody, limb losing, stomach turning gore. Horror films have lost their "jump in my seat" affect. The studio's become wealthier with every blood fest they release, but these movies just don't have the thrill they used to have. Given, the occasional gruesome feature does have the bird popping out or a broom suddenly falling to make me jump. But for the most part scary movies have lost their best quality, the excitement! It's the unsettling feeling in my stomach of not knowing whats around the corner, not knowing Who or What is going to pop out at me next. 1408 is the first movie I have seen in a while that has brought that thrill back to the movies. It has all the thrill of venturing through haunted house without actually having to turn a corner or leave a room.
I was slightly hesitant wanting to see this movie, it being written by Stephen King and all. Generally his movies these days consist of oddball horrors that don't make much sense to his story line or are not well developed when turned into a feature film. But this one looked decent in the trailer and anything with John Cusack is a good selling point for me (and every girl who has seen Say Anything). I was also very excited to see Samuel L. Jackson in something that did not involve snakes in the movie nor the title. He definitely contributed to movie's eerie nature which made it flow like one long haunted house that you weren't sure you would ever find the end.
A little background:
John Cusack is a writer who stays in "supposedly" haunted places and writes about them. He has all kinds of tools to detect for spirits or haunted occurences but has yet to truly experience anything. He finds out about this room 1408 at a hotel in New York. He decides it would be perfect for his book and decides to go stay in it. Samuel L. Jackson, the manager of the hotel, tries everything in his power to talk him out of staying in that room. Cusack insists and Samuel L. allows him to.
The movie is full of "jump in your seat" moments. It has a very twilight zone and Disneyland's haunted mansion feel to it. It takes you on a haunted maze without every having to leave room 1408. The acting is very good (Cusack usually is good), and the effects are very well done. The movie messes with your head, almost like you've taken some bad acid. It makes you feel, like they refer to in the movie "like you've fallen down the rabbit hole". It's scary and taunting, it makes you nervous and jumpy without ever having to sever a head or have a blood bath of any sort. I highly reccomend this movie if your looking for the same excitement you get from walking through a haunted house. It makes you want to do it all over again!
I would it give it an A!!!

Fracture

Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling side by side in a court thriller? Doesn't get much better than that in the acting department. With that kind of stellar casting who wouldn't be intrigued to see what kind of story they came up with for these two.
It starts off with Anthony Hopkins as a smart and rich buisness man who is working out of town. He decides to go home early. Then we soon find out that the reason he leaves early is because he is suspicious of his wife having an affair. He shows up to the hotel his wife is at and watches her with another man in the pool. He finds a way to get into the room they have rented out and sees the bed has been used. Cut to his house when his wife finally comes home. She sees that her husband has come home early and they start to have a somewhat uncomfortable discussion. At this point the film reiterates the fact that whoever you are "Dont piss Anthony Hopkins off"! Because he brings up the affair to his wife and proceeds to shoot her in the face. Cut to the always sexy Ryan Gosling as a young hot shot lawyer who is moving on to a fancy firm from his down in the dumps firm to make millions of dollars. He's quick and very cocky. In his last week at his old firm he gets put on Anthony Hopkins murder case and becomes completely enraveled in it. At first he wants to get it over as quickly as possible and move on, then he realizes that Anthony Hopkins is messing with him. Playing very well witted mind games on him. So Gosling risks everything trying to figure the whole thing out.
The movie is very clever and the characters are well written. The story line progresses easily not leaving the moviegoer behind...until the end! And I blame bad editing for this. The end jumps around from piece to piece of this puzzle your trying to put together. The twists that are revealed in the speeches at the end are very well written. But sadly the impact was lost because I was confused.
The end doesn't ruin the whole movie though. So I would recomend this if your looking to watch some great acting, a hot boy, and decent a story.
I would give it a B-!