The Five-Year Engagement

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Rating: B-

Tom (Segel) proposes to his year-long girlfriend Violet (Blunt) but staying engaged is something that becomes too easy for them. Violet gets accepted at Michigan University to be a part of the department of psychology team, something she has been working years at. So she and Tom uproot their San Franciscan lives to move to Michigan, where talented chef Tom can only find work as a sandwich maker at a popular cafe in town. The couple finds various reasons to prolong their wedding, only to come to the important question staring them in the face: what is more important- getting ahead in Violet's career or finally tying the knot?

Just another romantic comedy of the year, "The Five-Year Engagement" is an unexplored story line of a couple who keep putting off their wedding. With some cliches and predictable drama, it's still a film with a promising tagline to reel in the viewers. Judging from the commercial, this movie appears humorous and with actors Segel and Blunt as the leads, it could be potentially worth seeing.

While Tom struggles to accept the path his life is taking, Violet gets drawn deep in her dream as she sets out to what she's been working towards. Though the couple claims to know each other better than anyone else, they have trouble talking about the obvious, Tom's downward spiral of what his life has become and the never-ending engagement. The movie takes on a realism that most romantic comedies don't. It deals with the hardships that would delay a couple getting married, like Tom's resentment of what his career has become over the potential of what it could have been.

"The Five-Year Engagement" actually feels like a five-year engagement when viewing this movie. Only at a running time of two hours, viewers go through the stages of boredom and entertained numerous times. The film opens up and introduces the characters and their excitement of getting engaged. Then as conflict after conflict keep reoccurring, it reaches a slow point. It's hard to predict the outcome when it feels like it should be ending any minute but there's actually thirty minutes left. Then finally the ending arrives, though a bit rushed it comes off as spontaneous and works out.

In the end, I would recommend waiting for "The Five-Year Engagement" to be released on DVD before spending money at the movies to see it. It depends on your movie tastes, because those who are a big fan of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Bridesmaids" might actually enjoy this a lot then someone who is looking to be entertained but doesn't really care about the premis.

The American

Matthew Modine, Diana Rigg, Aisling O'Sullivan, Andrew Scott

Directed by Paul Unwin

Rating: D

Christopher Newman (Modine) is an American who travels to France a fresh start after the Civil War has ended in America. Many of the French refer to Newman as "The American" who is ignorant to the French customs and is searching for a wife. Newman sets his eyes on unattainable Claire Bellegarde (O'Sullivan), who's old family name prevents her from marrying just anyone. The Bellegarde's live a proud life, where everyone knows to leave them in peace.

"The American" does not give a good first impression at the start. The film is cheaply made, which may be a result of it being a product of PBS Pictures. The film is "supposed" to take place in France but none of the area in which the film takes place looks it. Everyone in the film has an accent other than France, so where are the French people of the film?

Christopher Newman, the main character, who is snobbish and because he has money, thinks he can get what he wants. He's determined to speak to Claire and gets her brother, Valentin (Scott), to help. There was nothing admirable about Newman, except maybe that he wouldn't give up on Claire when she admits she loves him.

The only reason I watched this film was for Andrew Scott, who's character is a little reckless. He's tired of living the life his family is used to and is the rebellious one in the family. This wasn't the best role Scott has played but if you're as infatuated with him as I am at the moment, then he makes it worth watching at least once in your life. I don't recommend this movie for anyone to watch unless you're trying to watch all the Andrew Scott movies. At least "The American" isn't a long movie and the ridiculous ending makes up for it.

Catfish

Yaniv Schulman, Angela Wesselman

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

Rating: C

In late 2007, Yaniv Schulman began corresponding with an eight-year-old girl, Abby, and her mother after seeing her paintings she drew based off his photographs. Yaniv made regular phone calls with the mother, Angela, and began getting involved with the family, making contact with Angela's oldest daughter, Megan, and talking on Facebook. After eight months of getting to know each other, Yaniv starts to become suspicious when a song Megan claimed she wrote sounded exactly like another artist. Yaniv decided to visit Megan, Abby, and Angela in Michigan to get the story straight.

"Catfish" is a real documentary and sheds light on how easy people can deceive you through means of Facebook and phone calls. Yaniv would call Megan fairly regularly and they had a romantic relationship through talking on the phone and texting, yet they have never met each other. Yaniv starts to put the pieces together after investigating Abby's art gallery and finds out the building is vacant.

I think in most situations, people wouldn't have handled Yaniv's situation as calmly as he did. Yaniv finds out that Angela is the one who painted the pictures and while Abby and Megan are really her daughters, Angela hadn't talked to Megan in years. It's sad and it makes you pity Angela for the life she lives and for making up such a huge story. She led Yaniv on to think Megan was really someone interested in him but it makes you pity her because she must be a desperate person to do that. Yaniv doesn't think so. He spends a few days with her, getting the story straight but never expressing anything other than sympathy.

I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to watch this documentary. It's a little slow and in the beginning there's not much of a point to watch it until you get wrapped up in the drama. I wouldn't recommend watching this unless you want to experience the drama yourself.

Dead Bodies

Andrew Scott, Kelly Reilly, Darren Healy. Katy Davis

Directed by Robert Quinn

Rating: D-

Tommy (Scott) is going nowhere in life. He lives in an abandoned house, can't hold a job down, and just as things couldn't get worse, his ex-girlfriend moves in. Jean (Davis) wants to give the relationship another try but  Scott doesn't. When Scott's annoyance with Jean escalates they argue and Jean falls back, hitting her head on the coffee table. Scott doesn't know what to do so he buries her but when the police are informed about a dead body in the park, they start digging. Not only do they find Jean's body but another one, long decayed since. Tommy is under suspicion but he claims he's innocent.

"Dead Bodies" does not give a very promising start. It tries to hard in the beginning to be a suspenseful thriller but in reality the first forty-five minutes are boring. It's very tempting to stop watching then and there but the end makes up for it. It doesn't mean it's a great movie all of a sudden but at least it gives you some suspense. The plot is very weak and Tommy's boring life bores the viewer.

The movie takes a new direction when Tommy becomes the suspect for the second found buried body. A woman missing eight years ago turns up in the same grave as Jean's and the original suspect, her husband, turns on Tommy. Tommy and his friend Noel decide to take care of this problem which results in a suspenseful and unexpected ending.

The only reason I spent eighty-five minutes watching this movie was for Andrew Scott, who plays the criminal mastermind "Moriarty" in BBC America's "Sherlock". Scott plays a lethargic role and it's a little hard to feel sympathetic for his character. He keeps digging himself in a hole and by the end of the movie there is no way out. "Dead Bodies" is definitely worth watching once, if you really like Andrew Scott as I do, but only once. I doubt I will be watching this again because there are better movies out there.

Immortals

Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans

Directed by Tarsem Singh

Rating: C+

King Hyperion (Rourke) is raising hell throughout Greece, on a mission to seek the legendary Epirus bow. If placed in the wrong hands, the Epirus bow is one of the most powerful tools to win a battle. Theseus (Cavill) is just a poor young man and when he loses his mother at the hand of King Hyperion, he is determined to get back. With the help of the Oracle (Pinto), Theseus steps up to fulfill his role that Zeus (Evans) hoped he would to fight Hyperion's army.

"300", "Clash of the Titans" and "Immortals". While the latter two have more in common, those three are all similar in nature. They all have a big fight against an enemy with a bigger advantage: whether it's a bigger army or a fight against the titans. "Immortals" was a decent movie but was an average fit in the old Greek myth category.

"Immortals" did capture viewers attention at least and was not boring. However the main thing that saved this movie from being called a bad movie was the choice of actors. For women at least, Henry Cavill was the best part of this movie. Cavill is the reason why I would even call "Immortals" better than "Clash of the Titans". Even the Greek gods Zeus, and some of his sons, weren't all that bad looking.

The plot could have been more interesting. Zeus was a pretty angry character, who refused to help the mortals and it was a fatal mistake if any of his children went to their aid. After watching "Immortals" I couldn't look at Joseph Morgan the same way again when watching the CW show "The Vampire Diaries". Morgan's character, Lysander, was weak and a traitor. Not very flattering when he plays bad boy Klaus on the CW show.

I would definitely recommend renting this movie to watch with the girls, if they don't mind some gory scenes. The male leads are definitely worth watching this for. As for guys, I think they should give it a shot but watch with no expectations of it being amazing.

Casper

Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Malachi Pearson

Directed by Brad Silberling

Rating: C

Casper (Pearson) is just a friendly ghost stuck haunting a house with his three uncles Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie. However, Carrigan finds out that after her father has passed away a treasure is hidden in the house that he left her. Unfortunately she can't get to the treasure do to Casper's mischievous uncles so she hires Dr. Harvey (Pullman), a ghost therapist, to help these ghosts with their unfinished business and move on. Dr. Harvey's daughter Kat (Ricci) befriends Casper and helps him deal with Carrigan.

Casper has the potential to be a good movie but the general audience to want to see this film again is probably under ten. At first the film captures your attention but then after Dr. Harvey and his daughter move into the house to deal with these ghosts, the movie starts to falter. Dr. Harvey tries to help the three rude ghosts move on but instead gets pulled into their schemes. Kat allows her whole class throw a Halloween party at her house on her first day of school which is totally unrealistic.

The plot has a way of quickly being resolved and the ending leaves you unsatisfied, thinking, "that's it?" Apparently each Casper movie following this first one gets just as bad a rating. This film was rated 5.7/10 while the next two receive 4/10. You would hope that Casper would be a great choice to watch Halloween night but you're better off watching The Nightmare Before Christmas or Halloween Town.