By Adam Foster

Directed by: Harry Beaumont

Starring: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love, Jed Prouty

The Broadway Melody is a musical that tells the story about the drama of love and musical theater. Hank (Bessie Love) and Queenie (Anita Page) are a sister vaudeville act who have come to New York City to make a splash on Broadway. Hanks boyfriend/fiance Eddie (Charles King) has written a new number specifically for them. When Eddie meets with the sisters he is immediately enamored with Queenie, whom he hasn’t seen since she was a child. Initially, the shows producer, Zanfield, is not impressed with the sisters but believes he can make use of Queenie for her looks. Queenie begs Zanfield to let Hank into the show as well and he agrees. During rehearsals, however, Zanfield says their number is too slow and cuts the sisters. Simultaneously, a beautiful actress is injured during rehearsal and Zanfield decides to replace her with Queenie. Over the next couple of weeks Queenie becomes the object of every mans affections, particularly Jacques “Jock” Warriner. Even when Eddie and Queenie admit their love to each other Queenie stays with Jock to fight her feelings for Eddie and avoid hurting her sister. After one intense fight between the three of them regarding Queenie dating Jock who is just using her Hank realizes Eddie and Queenie are in love. Hank lies to Eddie saying that she never loved him and he is not a man if he doesn’t go after Queenie. In the end Eddie rescues Queenie from Jock and the two of them marry. After the honeymoon, relationships are obviously strained but they all seem eager to make the family work.

Honestly, I did really enjoy musicals much but on top of that, this film was way too melodramatic for my tastes. While watching I started asking myself how this won the Oscar for best picture and after researching I found out that the 1929 contenders created one of the worst fields in Oscar history. Despite the many cliches packed into the film and its unoriginal “love triangle” story, The Broadway Melody was the highest grossing film of the year in 1928. It was the first “talkie” to win Best Picture and the first film to utilize Technicolor. The scene for the number “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” was originally red and green Technicolor. That scene was lost, leaving only the black and white version for the film. 

In the early stages of this project I have been very surprised and very disappointed. Eager to see what the 1930s films have in store for me.

By Adam Foster

I have decided to watch and review every film that has won the Oscar® for best picture. To date there are 84 “Best Picture” films and I have given myself one year to complete this goal.

Directed by: William A. Wellman

Starring: Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Richard Arlen, and Gary Cooper

Two young men, David and Jack, are from a small town in America. Jack has a need for speed and excitement while David is from one of the wealthiest families in town. The two men are vying for the attention of a young woman named Sylvia. While chasing after Sylvia Jack fails to realize that his friend and next door neighbor Mary is in love with him. As America enters World War I the two men join the Air Service and must leave soon after. Because of a picture from Sylvia (that was meant for David who she really loves) Jack heads off to war believing Sylvia loves him and is clueless about Mary’s feelings. As luck would have it, David and Jack are paired together during their service and become two of the most successful pilots in the war, becoming close friends. Mary also joins the war effort as an ambulance driver in France, secretly hoping to run into Jack. When the two finally meet again Jack is too drunk to recognize Mary so she puts him to bed then changes out of a dress and back into her uniform as two military policemen burst in looking for Jack. Since she is “caught in the act” with Jack and is forced to resign and return home. During the final climactic battle, one of the pilots is shot down, leaving the other to return home and face the small town alone as a changed man.

Initially I wasn’t sure what to expect from a 1927 silent film about planes. I didn’t even know it was about World War I to be honest, but I was very surprised with the actual production of Wings. This film is a full-blown war movie with fighter jets, explosions, and epic battle scenes. The photography is astounding considering this film was made in 1927 and involves numerous mid-air battle scenes that would rival Top Gun. After doing a little research, I discovered that the film had a cost of approximately $2 Million! In 1927! The film must have been progressive for its time due to the amount of drinking and violence shown. In addition it was the first film to show a kiss between two men (the kiss was not romantic but during the scene in which one of the men dies) and also the first widely-released film to show female nudity (when the MPs burst in on Mary changing). These aspects were allowed to stay in the film, however, because the MPAAs rules of “do’s and don’ts” had not been created yet. I really enjoyed the film overall even though it was almost two and a half hours of silent film to watch. The story was good and the characters were interesting. I would say it was a film deserving of a best picture Oscar®. 

By Abbey Prentice (Writer of Deliberations of a Domestic Diva)

I’m a movie fanatic. Comedies, dramas, documentaries, I love it all.

But for quite some time now I’ve been noticing a disturbing trend. Hollywood has gotten, for lack of a better word, lazy. The movie industry is becoming less and less creative and no one even cares. And it shows.

Practically everything these days is a remake of a classic, in hopes of marketing the same story to a new generation, otherwise known as utilizing a billion dollar budget on a stale story performed by sub-par actors. Everything from The Karate Kid, to Footloose, to 21 Jump Street have been remade over the last couple of years, and they never hold a candle to the originals (Replacing Ralph Macchio with Jayden Smith?! OH the humanity!). It recently made news that Michael Bay took on the project of remaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which put him squarely in the number one spot on my hit list as I have no doubt that he will take a classic staple of my childhood and turn it into nothing more than creepy CGI turtles blowing shit up. I honestly cringe at the thought of all of the great movies that will someday be remade into limp reproductions of the amazing originals. I’ll put it this way, if Michael Bay (or anyone else for that matter) decides to redo “The Breakfast Club”, I might never watch another movie again as long as I live.

There’s also been an increased interest in making books into movies, though this has been, for the most part, considerably more successful than the remakes. 2011’s ‘The Help’ was, in my opinion, one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen in awhile and it managed to pull in a respectable 169 million dollars domestically. This, of course, is a small number compared to the hype-machines that are Twilight (‘Eclipse’ was it’s highest grosser, bringing in 300 million domestically) and The Hunger Games (393 million domestically and still going strong in a dollar theater near you), which honestly may have been one of the worst book-to-movie adaptations I’ve ever seen (Come on! They didn’t even explain the rules of the games! I adored the books, but I’m sorry, the movie broke my literary heart and I could probably go on about my disappointment forever. Don’t worry, I won’t). But book adaptations, no matter how successful they are or aren’t, still seem like a bit of a cop out to me. When you begin with a book, the story has already been written for you and there’s usually a decent following so just add a spoonful of hype and a dash of Zac Efron and you have a recipe for a successful movie, insofar as “successful” means teenage girls will flock to it and it will make a respectable amount of money.

Hollywood’s third and final tool to avoid doing any actual work is the wide wonderful world of sequels. Despite the fact that it’s been ten years since Men In Black 2, they’re back with Men In Black 3. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m guessing it involves gooey, creepy looking space creatures, erasing memories, and clever Will Smith one-liners, much like its predecessors. Okay fine, I’ll probably see it, but only because I’m a child of the 90s and therefore can’t resist the temptation of spending a couple of hours with Will Smith (what IS it about that guy??). With the upcoming releases of Ice Age 4 and Madagascar 3, it’s obvious that creatively, Hollywood isn’t doing much better in the kid’s department. In other words, when in doubt, just continue with a story that you already know people like and will pay to go see. Success!

Maybe I’m just cynical, but when you take all these things and couple them with the fact that a movie costs around $12 per person unless you go before 2 PM, it doesn’t exactly make me want to sprint to the movie theater for just anything. A worthwhile movie needs a well-written plot, decent actors, nice cinematography or at the very least, a shirtless Bradley Cooper. Not to mention the fact that for us, actually getting out and going to a movie is a rare date night and involves finding a baby sitter and engaging in beauty regiments that don’t involve sticking my wet hair out of a car window and letting nature do all the work. So it has to be worth it and frankly these days it’s usually not.

If I sound bitter, it’s only because I am. I remember the good old days when I anxiously bit my nails throughout the Oscars because I wanted all of the movies to win, as opposed to these days when I either a) Have never even heard of the nominated movie or b) Have no desire to watch the nominated movie. I miss going to a movie and wishing I could immediately watch it all over again as soon as it ends. I miss the days when a trip to Redbox didn’t feel like a tedious chore of sifting through hundreds of straight-to-DVD choices before I realize that I am wasting my time. Most of all, I miss the days of not sounding like a 90 year-old reminiscing about the “good old days” when it comes to film. I just miss the excitement of a great movie, one that doesn’t need to be the top story on every talk show to convince me I want to go see it. I just want to see something that lives up to the expectations I have for it. I want to see something that isn’t a slightly different version of a movie I’ve already seen, a crappy adaptation, or yet another sequel. I want to be impressed. Actually, I just want to see something that doesn’t suck.

Come on Hollywood, is that so much to ask?

By Adam Foster

As author Nicholas Sparks’ seventh novel-turned-movie, The Lucky One delivers just as much as most of the others while still falling well short of the godfather of chick flicks, The Notebook (also by Sparks). While the movie isn’t nearly as awful as many I’ve seen, it does contain its fair share of awful lines and flimsy plot points.

Logan (played by Zac Efron) is a Marine who returns from Iraq, attributing his life to a picture he found of a beautiful girl (as if it would ever be an ugly or even plainly attractive woman). Logan finds difficulty in adjusting to his life at home, seemingly suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After nearly harming one of his nephews he decides to find his mystery girl. After a ridiculously easy internet search of lighthouses, Logan identifies the one in the picture he carries and heads out, on foot no less, from Colorado to Louisiana. There he finds his girl, Beth (played by Taylor Schilling), working at her Dog Kennel that happens to be looking for help. Instead of telling her why he’s there he does the only logical thing in this situation which is to keep it a secret.

In the beginning, Beth is standoffish with Logan but warms up to him about halfway through the movie. Logan bonds with Beth’s gifted, shy son and finds out about her abusive ex-husband who is a power-spoiled deputy sheriff.

The characters feel generic and the chemistry doesn’t feel natural between the two stars. Director Scott Hicks also uses rain as a blatantly obvious metaphor for the emotions and turns of the story and only skims the surface of the situations at hand. While making a movie based on a book doesn’t necessarily lend to creative license, there could have been more substance from the movie overall.

While this is a watchable movie with enjoyable moments, at some point film studio executives are going to have to realize that just because Nicholas Sparks wrote it, doesn’t mean it needs to be made into a movie. When it comes to the bottom line, however, the movie has grossed forty-seven million dollars to date, which can only mean one thing: an eighth Sparks movie is undoubtedly on its way.

Grade: C+

By Jeremy Hamlin

The Five-Year Engagement (R, 2 hours 4 mins.)

Let me preface this review with a general disclaimer: I really enjoy Jason Segel as a comedic actor and I love British women! With that being said, I really enjoyed what this movie had to offer. Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) are a charming couple that you love from the beginning.  The movie centers around their engagement, and ultimately several postponements, as they struggle with handling life and its many complicated issues that inevitably pop up.  The brilliance of the movie comes out in the characters, and not necessarily the story.  Giving yet another brilliant comedic performance, Jason Segel leads this cast consisting of Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt (his best friend in the movie, and in my opinion the comedic star of the movie) and Alison Brie (playing Emily Blunt’s sister).  Playing smaller roles, but still delivering in the laughs department, Kevin Hart (Doug), Randall Park (Ming), and Mindy Kaling (Vaneetha) (from the Office) provide several laugh-out-loud scenes.  I enjoyed the movie, but it definitely dragged during the middle, and could easily have been 20 minutes shorter. If you are in the mood for a laugh this weekend, I suggest it!

Grade: B

By Jeremy Hamlin & Adam Foster

What is sure to be THE movie of the summer, The Avengers did not disappoint.  Director Joss Whedon made the complex task of bringing so many Marvel Heroes together look easy.  The chemistry among the actors was obvious, providing a strong foundation for this highly anticipated movie. We strongly recommend seeing The Avengers in theaters if possible.

What Jeremy Liked: The witty jabs from Robert Downey, Jr. definitely kept me laughing throughout. Downey, Jr. took his comedic relief to a new, even funnier level with constant jabs at Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk), and most of all Chris Hemsworth (Thor).  Miraculously, Mark Ruffalo nailed the awkwardness of Bruce Banner and the furiousness of the Hulk. It’s hard to imagine that Mark Ruffalo could out-do Edward Norton in any acting category. Jeremy Renner continued his dominance in Hollywood with yet another solid performance as Hawkeye. The action scenes and visual effects were out of this world and really kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the movie.

What Jeremy Didn’t Like: This might be a quick rant from someone who is getting tired of the constant grip of capitalism and Corporate America in every aspect of our lives, but I am really getting tired of seeing “spot-ads” in movies. I understand that this is a huge money maker for everyone involved, but I would appreciate it a lot more if movies could keep some aspect of commercialism out of the movie and try to maintain the art. 

Also, if you’re going to throw Cobie Smulders in a movie, please give her more of a role than the one she had playing Agent Maria Hill.

Jeremy’s Grade: A-

What Adam Liked: There was such a good balance of comedy, drama, and action. In comic book movies, it can be rare that the one-liners and punch lines are actually funny but not in this one. Director Joss Whedon (who wrote the screenplay as well as directed) decided to center the avengers around Ironman and it worked because of Robert Downey, Jr.’s great performance and timing. The two and a half hours provided plenty of time to flesh out each hero without making the movie seem too long.

What Adam Didn’t Like: It was actually difficult for me to find faults with this one.  I would have liked more insight into the story of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) since that was one major storyline throughout the movie. Other than that I found it to be a very entertaining movie that lived up to the hype.

Adam’s Grade: A-

I have to start this review with a retraction of the “Informant Pick of the Week” given to this movie in my ”Opening this week” article. I thought this film would provide clever scenes and perhaps a little innuendo but it really provided neither. It was, however, full of trite puns and flat jokes. I was hoping the monkey with flash cards would provide some comic relief, but that also did not deliver. Sometimes with movies that aren’t particularly good or well-done I can say, “it was entertaining enough,” but it’s not that case for this one. I actually felt bored more than once and I even saw the 3D version. The brightest spot for me was the cameo of Jeremy Piven as “Black Bellamy” but his character played a limited role. If you’re looking for a strictly kids movie this could be the answer, but I would suggest looking elsewhere if possible. 

Grade: D+/C-

By Adam Foster

The 1990 film Edward Scissorhands was in pre-production and Tom Cruise was favored for the title character until the audition of a listless television star changed everything. Not only for the film, but also the lives of director Tim Burton and his new lead actor, Johnny Depp. The names Johnny Depp and Tim Burton have become synonymous with each other so much so that it approaches absurdity. Over the past two decades, Depp and Burton have collaborated on 8 films, most of which can be characterized as strange and absurd. Absurdity is undoubtedly a common thread between the two men. According to Burton it is this strange and abstract partnership on which they both thrive.

In the book Burton on Burton, Depp addresses the working relationship he and Burton have developed over the years: “I know very deeply that Tim trusts me, which is an amazing blessing, but that is not to say that I am not always paralytic with the fear of letting him down. In fact, that is first and foremost in my thinking as I am approaching the character. The only elements that keep me sane are my knowledge of his trust, my love for him, and my profound and eternal trust in him, coinciding with my hefty yearning to never disappoint him.” Depp is allowed the freedom to add quirks, personality traits, dialogue, and any other additions he deems fitting for his character. It is this freedom that makes working with Burton so exciting and challenging for Depp.

Over the course of reading a number of articles, it is obvious the respect and admiration Depp and Burton have for one another. Their personal relationship is so close that Depp is the godfather of Burton’s son, Billy Ray Burton. The success of their professional relationship is unquestionable as well; their first seven films have grossed over two billion dollars worldwide. Yes, TWO BILLION. Now that’s a bromance.