The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters is a powerful movie about a black college that forms a debate team and does so well that it earns the opportunity to take on Harvard. The movie is based on a true story.

The movie takes place in 1935 at an all black college of Wiley College in Texas. Professor Melvin B. Tolson, played by Denzel Washington, started a debate team the year before, but really started to form the team in 1935.

Tolson holds the tryout at his house and picks a team consisting of troubled young man Henry Lowe, Hamilton Burgess, prodigy James Farmer Jr., and transfer Samantha Booke.

Once the team is formed, they go into action right away under the leadership of Tolson. Tolson helped show them what they should look for and help them find the confidence to make the convincing arguments.

Lowe is an interesting character because of how confrontational he is, even with Tolson. He rarely sees eye to eye with Tolson, but he is the best debater. He is able to use how confrontational he is when he debates and makes great arguments as well. But he still continues to drink and goes off and does what he likes without thinking of the team.

Booke transferred from her college just so she could participate on the debate team. At first Booke is timid, but once she overcomes that, she makes strong points and teams perfectly with Lowe.

Farmer Jr. is a prodigy like I said before. His father is Dr. James Farmer Sr., played by Forest Whitaker, who is a preacher and a professor at Wiley. He is considered very smart and at 14, Farmer Jr. is following in his footsteps. Farmer starts off as a researcher for the team, but at the end he plays a very pivotal role.

Tolson tries to keep to himself and doesn’t want the team or the town to know too much about him or his family. This almost gets Tolson in trouble during the movie. It is also the case of most of the confrontations with Lowe. It even causes one of the members to quit the team. But Tolson makes sure they keep the eye on what is important and the team continues to improve and figure out what is important in life.

I won’t go much more in depth because I urge you to rent the movie and find out. The movie also does a great job at looking the racial tensions in Texas at the time and how the team handled it. The racial aspect of the movie is very powerful and a big reason to see the movie.

The main actors did an amazing job in the movie. Washington and Whitaker did a great job in the movie and Nate Parker (Henry Lowe), Jurnee Smollett (Samantha Booke) and Denzel Whitaker (James Farmer Jr.) all did as great as a job as Washington and Whitaker.

Rent the movie and you won’t be disappointed.

5 out of 5 stars.

——-Justin Rust

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I didn’t have much else to do in Vermillion so I decided to go to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I am a huge fan of the Indiana Jones movies so I basically had to see this one but I heard of the mix reviews that are out there and have read a couple of them. So I had my doubts.

The movie has earned some pretty good revenue this weekend as well by the way, about $125 million dollars worth.

The movie starts off with Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford of course, captured by the Russians who want him to find an artifact that he helped study. The artifact is stored in Area 51 and they have Indy find where the artifact is. He finds it but is outnumbered and the Russians are able to make off with the strange artifact.

The FBI then gets ahold of Indy and question him and are suspicious of him. They are so suspicious of him they have him removed from his professor post at the university.

Indy is heading off to somewhere, but before he can leave, a young kid named Mutt Williams who is played by Shia LaBeouf, tracks Indy down on the train he is leaving on. Mutt tells Indy about a mutual friend “Ox” who went off looking for a crystal skull, one that is rumored to have great powers if returned to its rightful home. Ox sent a letter to Mutt for Indy to read, but before Indy can read it, KGB members try and kidnap Indy and Mutt.

They get away and start their trail to find the crystal skull so they can find Ox and Mutt’s mom, who was kidnapped by the Russians. Indy and Mutt must also avoid the natives in Peru, where the skull is. The Russians are also looking for the skull, and Indy must beat the Russians to it to prevent them from getting the crystal skull and returning it to its home.

This movie takes place in 1957 so Russia is still a “red” state. It has also been 19 years since the last Indiana Jones movie. You can tell the age has taken its toll on Ford, but there are jokes about it in the movie.

The plot is topic of debate with the movie. It isn’t a typical Indiana Jones plot. Yes, Indy is out treasure hunting and preventing evil from taking over. But the plot is alien based, which makes the movie very hookie. I just couldn’t buy it as a typical Indiana Jones movie because of it.

Cate Blanchett who plays the Russian in charge of finding the crystal skull has a horrible accent. You can tell it isn’t even close. But this has been Blanchett’s selling point. Most characters she has ever played she has totally overacted.  Her reactions in the movie really aren’t genuine as well.

Also, Indy is reunited with Marion Ravenwood, his old flame from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Once they start having feelings for each other it is way too lovely dovey, because that’s not what Indy is like from the past movies. He lets his swagger do the talking, but now he has softened I guess.

These three things really helped drag down the movie. I love Indiana Jones and for as much as I wanted to like the movie, I couldn’t. If you are an Indy fan and see the movie, maybe you can talk me into liking it.

Here’s to hoping they don’t make another Indy movie now and let the legacy just speak for its self, but unfortunately with the money it raked in, we will probably see another Indy movie in three to four years. Fortunately, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg don’t have any plans for another one yet.

2 out of 5 stars

—-Justin Rust

Charlie Wilson’s War

If you want to see how the Soviets started to lose grip on their country and the role the United States played in Afghanistan’s defeat of the USSR, this is the movie you have to see.

Charlie Wilson’s War is based on the former congressman Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks. The movie right away shows Charlie Wilson as a man who loves life, especially beautiful women, and keep promises to his voters by voting in congress basically. He really hasn’t done anything important in Congress but has made a lot of friends during his time in Congress.

Then Charlie starts taking an interest in the war in Afghanistan with the Soviets. The United States hasn’t really taken a stand in the war and has barely helped, and Charlie helps bump up the budget a little bit. This draws the interest of a close friend of Charlie and anti-Communism activist Joanne Herring, played by Julia Roberts. Joanne convinces Charlie to take a more active part in the war and that it could be the main strike the United States needs against Communism.

Charlie reluctantly agrees and visits Afganistan and talks to their leader, who convinces Charlie to look at the refugee camp. Charlie agrees and visits the camp. That’s when he realizes he needs to get Congress to agree to up the spending to send weapons for the Afghani troops.

Gust Avrakotos, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, catches wind of Charlie’s plan and wants to help and meets Charlie and they hit it off and Gust joins forces with Charlie. They start to find someone who can help back it in Congress and a defense expert to figure out what to send to the Afghani troops.

During the process, Charlie is able to get two enemies, an Israeli and a Pakistani, to agree to help even though they hate each other. The Pakistani leader backs Charlie in his task because he is fascinated by Charlie. The Israeli is in charge of modifying and manufacturing former Soviet weapons for the Afghani troops to use so it shows the Americans are still neutral in the war.

As the war continue to be a success, you can see Charlie start to transform and become a congressman who did nothing in Congress to someone who helped end Communism. Amy Adams plays Charlie’s level headed secretary Bonnie Bach. The movie is great and Hanks and Hoffman have a great chemistry on camera. Adams plays an important role and brings a sense of responsibility to Charlie in the movie. This movie is based on true events and some of the most important events in end of Communism. I recommend that you go out and rent it.

Hoffman was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and the movie was nominated for Best Motion Picture by the Golden Globes.

4 out of 5 stars.

———-Justin Rust

Lars and the Real Girl Review

Okay, so I know I am a sports writer but I enjoy my share of movies. My tastes range from, well about anything. This brings me to an interesting movie, to say the least, I watched the other night: Lars and the Real Girl.

The movie is about a socially awkward man Lars, who is played by Ryan Gosling of The Notebook fame. Lars is a mid-to-late 20 something man who works an office job but is very quiet and keeps to himself. Later on, it’s found out Lars is socially inept because his mother passed away giving birth to him and his father was always sad because of this and raised Lars and his brother, Gus, alone.

At his job, Lars has attracted the eye of a new coworker, Margo, who is an eccentric young woman. Lars notices this but is too shy to say anything to her and basically ignores her advances.

Lars’ sister-in-law, Karin, tries to get Lars to break out of his shell and be more outgoing, but it doesn’t seem to have an effect on Lars and only pushes him away more.

Lars then does something completely unexpected. He purchases a life-size atomically correct doll that he dresses up and thinks is a real person who he calls Bianca. He treats her as if she is real and he can hear everything she is saying and reacts to it and is madly in love with her.

When Lars first brings Bianca over for supper with Gus and Karin, they are taken aback at first and don’t know what to think. Karin decides right away to go with it to help Lars, but Gus thinks he should put his brother in for mental treatment.

Since Bianca has a medical problem only Lars knows about, Karin and Gus talk him into going to doctor Dagmar, who is not only a doctor but also a psychiatrist. Dagmar talks to Lars about Bianca and about Lars as well.

Dagmar comes to the conclusion Lars is suffering a delusion and will continue to think Bianca is real as long as he wants her to be real. Dagmar tells Gus and Karin to go along with it because it could do more damage to Lars if they try and tell him Bianca isn’t real.

Gus and Karin then go on to tell their friends about Bianca and Lars, and at first their friends are appalled, but one friend points out other people’s faults and says they should all help Lars throughout this important time in his life.

Lars proceeds to bring Bianca all around town and at first people are shocked as they see Lars wheel Bianca around in the wheel chair she needs, she her disease doesn’t allow her to walk obviously. Margo is just as shocked as everyone else at first, given the crush she has on Lars.

But everyone gets used to Bianca and Lars and even start to treat her like she is a real person as well. This helps Lars feel like he isn’t as socially awkward anymore. He finds the courage to go out more with Bianca. Also, Lars starts to develop quite the friendship with Margo as the movie goes along.

I won’t give away the ending so you will have to watch the movie.

I will say I enjoyed the movie. It was very interesting about a topic some might call taboo. Ryan Gosling did a great job as Lars, portraying a socially awkward character. The supporting cast was great as well with a couple of maybe up and coming actresses in Margo (Kelli Garner) and Karin (Emily Mortimer). Both actresses do a great job displaying the emotion and enthusiasm necessary that Lars needs in his life.

The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing. I agree with the nomination because it is a tough topic to write about. Lars and the Real Girl is worth watching because you feel for Lars’ character throughout the movie and you hope the experience is good for him and his family. It’s definitely a movie you will have to rent for the summer.

4 out of 5 stars. Straight from my Netflix account.

———-Justin Rust

It All Started With A Chair..

New on DVD Juno is a Hilariously funny, and sarcastically humorous movie about a young girl who gets pregnant at 16 and must deal with the consequences.  If you have not had the pleasure of watching this movie, you must go rent it.  It is worth it, and will leaving you crying from laughing so hard.  Nominated for four Oscars including best actress Ellen Page, and Best Movie.  This edgy movie also take place in Minnesota, so you get a nice midwestern feel to the atmosphere. Check it out, you’ll love it!

What’s Playing?

Drill Bit Taylor; Owen Wilson takes on the role of a body guard for some grade school kids who are being bullied.

Leatherheads; George Clooney and Rene Zellweger, star in this comedy about the sport of football int he 1920’s

The Ruins, A thriller about an archaeological dig  in Mexico gone wrong.

For Local Show times and Theaters, Click Here.

Have A Great Weekend and Enjoy The Show!

~ Kandi

Prom Night

I watched this movie last night with a friend, and I have to say my expectations were not set high at all.  But after it was all said and done I felt that for a Bubble Gum Horror Flick, it wasn’t half bad.  You of course had your typical kill without showing the kill scenes mixed with the over obvious foreshadowing,  the running up the steps when she should be running out the front door, mixed with girls with cleavage pouring out of their dresses, and the fabulous mix of love them hate them high school prom kings and queens we have all come to expect from all teen slasher films.  The soundtrack wasn’t half bad though in fact I rather liked The Dan Taylor Band’s revision of “Time Of The Season,” So if your bored, looking for some entertainment or a good movie to add your own commentary to, and you enjoy your run of the mill Teen Scream  I’d say check it out, you will probably enjoy it.

What’s Playing In Vermillion?

For Local Showtimes and Theaters Click Here!

Nim’s Island

A young girl Abigail Breslin goes on an amazing tropical adventure after the island she has built based on her favorite book is disrupted, she reaches out for help from the author of the book a big city recluse portrayed by Jodi Foster.

Drillbit Taylor

Owen Wilson takes on the role of a bodyguard for some young kids being bullied at school.

College Road Trip

Raven Simone stars as a young girl who decides to travel the country looking for the perfect college and at the last minute is accompanied by her cop father played by Martin Lawrence who is determined to keep her in line.

Have A Great Weekend! ~ Kandi

The Future of Disney!

On Monday Disney gave us a glimpse into the future.  Previewing 10 movies that would premier over the next four years.  Of these 10 movies, 8 of them will be in Digital-3D, Yea! For Funky Glasses!  Of those 8 two of them are releases of Toy story 1 & 2 with the third movie in the series slated for release in June of 2010, the original cast has signed on to return for the third film.  Other movies we can look forward to seeing include,

“Newt, a story of the last two blue-footed newts on the planet that aims to show that love is not a science, which is due to hit screens in summer 2011.”

“Bolt”, about a dog who thinks he has superpowers, featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus.

“The Bear and the Bow, an action-adventure about a royal family in rugged and mythic Scotland, is slated to open Christmas 2011 starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson.”

“Up”, about a 78 year old man and his 8 year old side kick who go on an adventure together.

And last but not least the sequel to “Cars” with the obvious title “Cars 2”

The other two movies are hand drawn cartoons in classic Disney style entitled Wall. E ( a robot love story), and The Frog and The Prince which is set in New Orleans.

What’s playing in Vermillion?

For Local Showtimes and Theaters Click Here!

Superhero Movie

A parody on the superhero movie genre.

Shutter
A Thriller about a newly married couple haunted by the ghost of a young girl they discover on the side of the road on Mr. Fuji in Japan. This is a remake.

Horton Hears A Who
An adaptation of the Dr. Suess book Horton Hears A Who about an elephant who discovers an entire civilization of Whos living on a speck of dust.

Nim’s Island

 A young girl Abigail Breslin goes on an amazing tropical adventure after the island she has built based on her favorite book is disrupted, she reaches out for help from the author of the book a big city recluse portrayed by Jodi Foster.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Based on the book The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory, this tells the story two sisters competing for the affections of the king.

The Other Boleyn Girl, and Nim’s Island both start on friday.Have A Great Weekend! 

~ Kandi