Movie Review: End of Watch

By Caleb King

Starring  Jake  Gyllenhaal  and  Michael  Peña,  End  of  Watch  is  a  movie  detailing  the  day  to  day  lives  of  fictional officers  Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala.  While  most  of  the  movie  takes  place  in  the  front  seat  of  there  squad  car  the  movie  is  never  boring due  to  the  relationship  between  the  characters,  the  camera  work,  and  the  writing  of  the story.

The  movie's  strongest  appeal  is  the  relationship  between  the  main  characters.  At  its centre, the movie  is  a  109  minute  bromance.  Gyllenhaal  and  Peña  play  so  well  off  of one  another  that  you  just  might believe  that  they  had  grown  up  together,  working  day  after  day  to  keep L.A.  safe.  The  only  problem  with  this  is  that  the  characters  never  disagree.  While  they  do  poke  fun  at  one  another  throughout  the  entire  movie  they  never  even  consider  that  what  the other  did  was  wrong.

Another  quality  that  the  movie  did  well  was  the  camera  work.  The  movie  was  shot  in the  “home  movie”  style.  Similar  to  Cloverfield  and  the  Blair  Witch  Project,  the  movie   is  supposedly  shot  by  officer  Brian  Taylor  for  a  college  thesis.  The  production  crew  went  all  out even  editing  in  the  picture  texture  to  give  it  a  mild  static  look  for  realism.  This  alone  would mean  nothing  if  the  charters  didn't  address  the  camera.

Finally  the  story  itself  is  very  well  written.  If  the  writers  had  gone  with  some  over  the top  action  movie  it  would  have  lost  most  of  its  appeal.  The  reason  the  movie  is  so  good  is because  the  charters  play  well  off  each  other.  Not  just  the  main  characters,  but  all  characters- the  cops,  the  gangsters-  are  ground  in  a  realism  that  adds  depth  to  the  entire  movie.

In  conclusion  the  movie  does  well  with  the  writing  and  character development  and  I  feel  that  the  only  shortcoming  is  that  the  movie  feels  short. Even  though  the  movie  is lengthy  it  crams  so  many  events  into  such  a  small  amount of  time  the  pacing  just  seems extraordinarily fast.

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The Expendables 2

By Caleb King

The Expendables 2 The expendable 2 is the sequels to the 2010 film the expendables. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger one would think that the expendables would be high adrenalin action from beginning to end with a thread bare story to tie it together, and they would be right.

While I personally enjoyed The Expendables I couldn’t help but notice that it felt familiar. The movie really didn’t introduce anything new, but that is not to say that the movie was stale. The core of the film was to be an action movie and I feel that it was accomplished many times over. While the action was spectacular the story was, as stated early, bare. The complex twist and turns that allow other movies to keep you on your toes was not present. The story was overly straightforward and blunt. The villain (Jean-Claude Van) stated his every intention for his plans and telegraphed his every action.
While the story was far from phenomenal I was surprised by the character development. If you had watched the first movie you may have noticed the minor hostilities that Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger had for one another in the church seen, yet in the sequel not only did the three Willing work together they went out of there way to save each other, this along with one character’s view of the deeper meaning of his meal and one character’s surprising M.I.T degree showed that the writers really wanted to show a more human side to their characters.
The humor mostly relies on allusions to the actors others movies. With three “I’ll be back” references, a Yippy-KY-eh and a Chuck Norris joke the film is not afraid to poke fun at the actors including remarks about the age of the actors. Though these are small remarks are funny trying to rely all humor on these is simply not enough for the two hour movie and this is clear even to the writers as they recycle old gags from the first movie.
Though the movie has lacking in story and humor, I do believe it accomplished what it set out to do make a great action movie. With that in mind I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves action movies or remembers these actors from the 80’s and 90’s.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Jenna Lee Stevens

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, rated PG-13, is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, hits select movie theatres on September 21st. Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a must-see film.

The plot involves a teenager under the alias of “Charlie,” who narrates his coming-of-age experiences through a series of letters to an anonymous person. This personal touch effectively captures the inevitable highs and lows of growing up.
Therefore, the obstacles he faces and awkward adolescent moments he endures in high school relate to teenagers everywhere.
The critically acclaimed novel often generates controversy because of its explicit content. In fact, the American Library Association’s list of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009 placed The Perks of Being a Wallflower third.
Many school systems banned the book for its subject matter, including drug use, sexual content, homosexuality, and suicide. However, supporters of the novel would argue that such references make the story more genuine. Despite this criticism, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an exceptional novel and a highly anticipated movie.

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