"Lean on Me" is a Great Film with Morgan Freeman

"Lean on Me" is a great film with Morgan Freeman. It has appointed Principal Joe Clark, played by Morgan Freeman, trying to improve the inner city of high school he leads. The school is filled with violence, drugs, and urban despair that urban schools go through every year. With the help of Ms. Levias, played by Beverly Todd, Principal Clark can really make a difference.

This film is very well written and directed. It really showed the troubles some urban schools go through. Constant violence incidents, drugs being distributed, and unexpected teenage pregnancies. It really is a great to watch even if you are out of school. It might be a little cheesy, but it still gets the message across. Morgan Freeman and Beverly Todd really steal the show in this film. Morgan Freeman is not just a narrator, he can really act very well and can play almost any role. Beverly Todd is very good in this film. She is an actress that was a hidden gem in this film but she did a fantastic job in this job. This whole film was a great film about an issue that is apparent even today. It is a great film to see.


Grade = 83/100 = B

"Blue Jasmine" is One of the Best Woody Allen's Films in Years

"Blue Jasmine" is one of the best Woody Allen's films in years. It has Jasmine, played by Cate Blanchett. She is moving in with her sister, Ginger, played by Sally Hawkins, in San Francisco. Jasmine was the wife of a billionaire, who spoiled her but he did not treat her right in the end. Jasmine tries to pick herself back up in San Francisco but she starts to become the same person she was that did not work in the first place.

The actor, writing, and directing in this film is phenomenal. Woody Allen is amazing at everything he does. He was not in this film, but he uses his craziness and neurotic behavior through his characters especially the main character. In this film, Jasmine is a crazy character. She talks to herself, but she is trying to better herself and fix the problems she has in her life. And Cate Blanchett does a fantastic job because of it. Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale are perfect in this film. They are both becoming well known actors and they are great in this film. Regardless that Alec Baldwin is the villain he is great in this film. Louis C.K. and Peter Sarsgaard also make great appearances in this film. This film is beautifully casted, acted, written, and it comes to together beautifully also. It shows that sometimes having a large amount of money is not always the best way to live and living a simple quaint life is almost as good. Go see another great Woody Allen film.


Grade = 91/100 = A-

"Office Space" is a Great Comedy

"Office Space" is a great comedy. It has Peter, played by Ron Livingston, working at a company called Initech. He hates his job. he hates his boss, Bill Lumbergh, played by Gary Cole, his cubicle, and most of the people he works with. he has two good friends that work there named Michael and Samir. The three of them devise a plan to take down the dreaded company and obtain a fortune from the company. Along the way, we meet Joanna, played by Jennifer Aniston. She is a waitress at the guys' hangouts. Eventually Peter gets the courage to ask her on a date. They develop a relationship and he really starts to like her. they try to work everything out in their lives that they do not love.

This is one of the best dark comedies I have ever seen. It has so many great lines, that are just relatable to anyone who does not like their jobs which could be most people. Also, a great cast to go along with this hilarious film. Ron Livingston was brilliant in this film as the protagonist that really wants to do right. Gary Cole, is the villain and he does a great job as the boss nobody wants. Stephen Root was really great also as Milton. He probably had one of the hardest roles as an employee with a stutter. This film is so great and it is not extremely popular and it should. Go see this hilarious film, and you will be satisfied.

Grade = 82/100 = B-

"To Rome With Love" is a Hilarious Woody Allen Film

"To Rome With Love" is a hilarious Woody Allen film. It has Woody Allen at his usual best with laughs and crazy antics. In this film, there are a few story lines going on all revolving love, and cheating all in the beautiful city of Rome. It shows how much a person could want to cheat, it is always better to be with the person you love.

This film has many great actors and with the help of Allen's writing makes this film great. Alec Baldwin is very good in this film. He plays essentially Jesse Eisenberg's conscious and he is very funny and plays the voice of reason character really well. Jesse Eisenberg also is very good at what he does. Every movie he is in is golden. Ellen Page was also very good for this film. She is becoming a very well known actor and is extremely good at all her roles. Not many actors or actresses have said that their first movie was extremely successful, and also get nominated for Best Actress. Penelope Cruz also extremely well in this film. She is a very talented, beautiful, bilingual actress that is very good at any role with any language she speaks. This film is very good, but obviously not Woody Allen's best. This is a funny, quirky and at times brilliantly funny movie just like Woody Allen. He is a fantastic director/writer/producer/actor and he will always be considered one of the best.


Grade = 84/100 = B

"Slumdog Millionaire" is a Winner.

"Slumdog Millionaire" is a Winner. It has Jamal, played by Dev Patel, growing up in India trying to make way in the slums of India. The movie has him on India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and with his childhood, and adolescence he is able to answer the questions for him to finally be wealthy. After a day of shooting, he is arrested for a suspicion of cheating. To prove his innocence he tells the story of his life, his older brother, played by Madhur Mittal, that was with him for a large portion of his life, and his lost love, Latika, played by Freida Pinto.

This film is so great because it is great to see his story. It is beautifully acted, and beautifully made. This film is filmed all in India, a beautiful country. And the story really is compelling, and kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The Bollywood nation really came alive for this movie with the dancing, and singing throughout the film. This film is great to see, mainly because of the love story between Jamal and Latika. This film did win Best Picture for a reason.

Grade = 90/100 = A-

"42" is a Great Story About Hope

"42" is a great story about hope. It tells the true story of how Jackie Robinson became a major league baseball player. Jackie, played by Chadwick Boseman, gets a call from the Brooklyn Dodgers team executive Branch Rickey, played by Harrison Ford, about being a pro baseball player. Rickey wants to stir things up, and bring a Black man into baseball. In 1947 there were no African American players in Baseball, and Jackie Robinson became the first one to play in the majors.

This film is so great because we clearly saw how hard it was for Jackie to play, and for African Americans in general. Chadwick Boseman is very good in this film, mainly we can clearly see how terrible it was for him in the beginning of his career. His emotion came out on screen. This role was great for him. Also, Harrison Ford was great in this film. This is one of the best roles he has had in the past few years and he nailed it. He is a great actor that has not been in the best films but I think he bounced back with this film. Furthermore, Nicole Beharie, played as Jackie's wife, and she was great. This was a great film for her to break out into this business. This film is great to watch even if you are not a baseball fan. It is a great story about determination.

Grade = 82/100 = B-

"The Butler" is a Contender for the Oscars this Year

"The Butler" is a contender for the Oscars this year. It tells the story of Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, and how he becomes this great butler for the Presidents in the White House. He tries to deal with the racism, and civil rights movement, that occurred during he middle of the 20th century. His job pays pretty well for an African American during the that time, so it he keeps the job for his family. His wife, Gloria, played by Oprah Winfrey, is a housewife trying to take care of their two boys, Louis and  Charles. The film has a distinct view on each Presidency through the eyes of both sides, the civil rights activists and the Politicians trying to fix the fighting that went along with it.

This film is so great because of the authenticity and the amazing cast. David Oyelowo was extremely good as Louis because of his constant struggle to have civil rights. Each President was fantastic in this film. Robin Williams, John Cusack, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber, and Alan Rickman were all equally great. The first ladies that were shown, Minka Kelly, and Jane Fonda, were also great for their parts. Also, the other butlers were great also, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz. Also Terrence Howard was great as their neighbor. The best part of this film was how great Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker were both spectacular in this film. Oprah Winfrey actually went back to acting school for this film, and it worked out because she was amazing and it was nice to see her in a film because she was as good as she was almost thirty years ago in "The Color Purple." Furthermore, Forest Whitaker had the role of his lifetime, and he did a great job for this film. This film included the main contributors for the civil rights movement, and it clearly showed how horrible the African American community was treated at that time. This film was extremely good and it deserved to be recognized.

Grade = 93/100 = A