Movie Review written by: Born Movie Reviews

RT Critics Rating: 8.1/10

Born Movie Reviews' Rating: 7/10

I swear, I have been performing Anna Kendrick's Cup Song ever since I saw Pitch Perfect. I mean why not? The song is catchy and you can make a simple beat out of a plastic cup. As long as you have one, you can sing a song with some percussion. The fact that the Cup Song is now a viral thing makes me have more hope in the world. At least this viral thing is healthy.

For the year of 2012, we can now create a trio of movies about the school life. Starting with high school, you can see The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a gorgeously directed film about friendship and relationships and finding oneself. On a lighter note is 21 Jump Street, going back to high school and finishing with a blast to college. And we finish with Pitch Perfect, where we are welcomed to college, the place where we meet the strangest people from all over the world.

Pitch Perfect begins by setting the premise, a conflict between Barden Univeristy's Bellas and the Treblemakers, also from the same college. After a singer vomits on stage during her solo, the Bellas' chance of winning are ruined. The film jumps four months later and revolves around Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick), a Barden freshman who has no interest in attending college and instead wants to pursue a career of music making in Los Angeles. In response, Beca's father, a professor at the university, makes her a proposition: If she joins a club and still does not want to remain at college after a year, he will pay for Beca to move to LA. She soon joins the Barden Bellas, and finds herself caught in the fight for the championship in the national a capella competition, against the Treblemakers.

Like all other films of its kind, Pitch Perfect wanders in conventional territory in the storytelling department. You have typical character introduction sequences, "awkward moment" scenes, and a nice five to ten minute scene where the main character sits quietly and thinks. Usually it is a scene where the protagonist is feeling sorry for him/herself or some other character. For sure, the plot is predictable and the narrative paces at certain formulaic patterns. As a result, director Jason Moore attempts to deliver bizarre eggs that hatch once in a while throughout the film. The key in enjoying the film is accepting the weird rules that the film plays in, because even though it wanders in familiar plotlines, it goes down Wacky Lane.

As a cast, the Bellas are diverse but quirky beyond belief. Members of the group include Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), a horny girl, and an asian who is so quiet that nobody can hear her. Every scene with Fat Amy is hilarious and entertaining, definitely the breakout performance of the film, and in some ways the performance reminds me of Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids. Anna Kendrick has been in a nice variety of films ever since she was little, from Rocket Science to even, sadly, the Twilight films. But here, Kendrick proves that she is fully capable of carrying a film on her shoulders. After viewing Pitch Perfect, I am very excited to see her lead a drama film that targets adults instead of college students.

As for the music, Pitch Perfect is loud entertainment, with nice remixes of famous pop songs in the past couple years. A few of the songs were overplayed by the radio so much that I began to despise them. However, here, through a capella performances, the songs feel fresh and new again, especially when they are sung in sync with another song together. The choreography is excitingly crafted, and the dance sequences are most definitely crowd-pleasing. Here, you can tell that every actor is having so much fun while filming, and there is no reason why you should not join the fun.

In conclusion, Pitch Perfect works in terms of a musical comedy. Using interesting characters, energetic music scenes, and a freakishly comedic tone, the film manages to win over its cliche plot and familiar story. For sure, it is not award-winning material, but it is surely one of the best films of the year where you watch it with a group. It knocks down High School Musical and breeds jealousy into Glee.

Movie Review written by: Born Movie Reviews

RT Critics Rating: 7.7/10

Born Movie Reviews' Rating: 8/10

Yes, I too am tired of superhero movies coming out practically every month. So why not tackle the idea of vigilantes and put it in smaller lower-budget movies? With little to no special effects, what can you possibly have? You have good characters, an interesting concept, brilliant writing, and an exaggeratingly entertaining sense of not holding back its adult content. Kick-Ass is a superhero movie that thinks outside of the "superhero cliche" box, breaking the rules of comics by being an "anti-comic."

Let me start by saying that I do not care a bit about the controversy that the film stirs. In agreeing with Mark Keizer and Wade Major, the violence and profanity is obnoxiously entertaining. Kick-Ass does not just deserve its R-rating, it earned its R-rating. This is a bloody brutal movie with does not shy away from pervasive language, and the funniest thing about it is all of these adult content comes from an eleven-year old girl...

Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a socially awkward teenager who sets out to become a real-life superhero, under the alias of "Kick-Ass." After fighting against a group of gang members, Dave finds his vigilante name becoming the most viral thing on the news, exploding views on YouTube and earning followers on his social network. However, as a result, he finds himself caught in a bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), a former cop who, with his trained daughter Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), longs to take down the drug lord Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) and his son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

The world that the characters live in is surprisingly believable, as if the film is adapted from a graphic novel (That was before I realized Kick-Ass was actually a graphic novel). In terms of characterizations, Dave is a simple human being, easy to follow, and easy to agree with. With crime going around in alleys and streets, you would think somebody would stand up and fight. The interesting thing, though, is Kick-Ass does not know how to fight at all, but he becomes an inspirational force for other true fighters to stand up and let their voices be heard. To quote TIME Magazine, "[the film] soars, jet propelled, on its central idea of matching a superhero's exploits with the grinding reality of urban teen life and on the aerodynamic smoothness of the film's style."

Big Daddy and Hit-Girl's chemistry is wild cinematic gold, one of the most rauciously entertaining duos in years. The very first scene where you see the two together at a river basin is probably the best moment in the entire film. Even better, the film's irony and outlandish tone brings back everything we loved about Nicolas Cage. As for Moretz, this is indeed the film that put her on the map. It is very interesting how a young actress must first be vulgar and twisted to be known in Hollywood.

The most intriguing thing about Kick-Ass is that through Vaughn's direction, the entire film has a funny sense of satirizing contemporary action film cliches, deconstructing the superhero myth with a quirky punky tone. At the same time, it treats its characters with much realism. Just like how New York Magazine describes it, "Kick-Ass is a compendium of all sleazy things, and it sings like a siren to our inner Tarantinos." Though it stands as a very cynical film, it is loudly terrific with so much energy, enjoyable in, as Wade Major describes it, "a cathartic politically incorrect way."

The film is surely going to offend many audience members, but in terms of filmmaking, it is so refreshingly original because it breaks all rules of a manufactured Hollywood film. Practically every action film today is chained by certain marketing techniques or demographic techniques. Kick-Ass is an energetic beast that successfully broke its chains Tarantino-style. For the shocked viewers, you have the right to be shocked. For the other viewers who are seeking something completely exhilarating and innovative, let Kick-Ass consume you.

In conclusion, Kick-Ass is a film not for the faint of heart, but it is so stylishly told in a gleeful manner. Do not judge the film by its cover, for it is loaded with heavy violence, drugs, adult content, and profanity. However, because of its originality and fresh direction, the film comes forth at a lightning fast pace with an edge, and you will enjoy the hell out of it once you know the entire point of the film -- it is one of the most iconoclastic films ever made.

Movie Review written by: Born Movie Reviews

RT Critics Rating: 7.4/10

Born Movie Reviews' Rating: 9/10

The truth is, talking cars have already been a thing since Chevron commercials. Their mouths move at the bottom bumper and their eyes are the lights of the vehicle. They are gimmicks, yes, but they work in advertising gasoline prices that will appeal to many others. However, the idea of making a movie where every single character is a talking car is a little too stretched. Even sillier, their eyes are now the entire windshield. Who would have thought that Cars would eventually become one of the greatest Pixar films of all time?

Cars revolves around selfish hothead race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who dreams of winning the Piston Cup Championship. After the result of a three-way tie, McQueen must travel down to California to attend the final race. However, along the way, he finds himself stranded on the ever-going highway of Route 66, and eventually runs into the broken-down town of Radiator Springs. There, he meets Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), Sally (Bonnie Hunt), and other mellow forgotten town folks who will change his perspectives in life and the things we value in memory...

Before you know it, you will forget that you are watching a film where everyone talking is a vehicle. An hour in, you will find yourself caring for the fate of the characters. The narrative is very tightly paced, with a crowd-pleasing storyline and terrific voice acting on Wilson and Larry's parts. To make it simple, McQueen and Mater are the new Pixar pair of 2006. However, even though McQueen and Mater are more commercially popular for the film, watch out for the chemistry between McQueen and Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), the owner of Radiator Springs. There is a spark between the two, similar to two figures of different generations sharing an experience.

Like all Pixar films, Cars is very colorful, with crisp animation and fast zooming visuals to appeal to the kids. The humor is there and the frame is constantly filled with high octane delight. Furthermore, like all Pixar films, Cars has a touching substance under the hood -- it is one of the themes in Pixar filmography that I value the most.

Cars brings about nostalgia, life in the old days, and the time periods where everyone in small towns knew each other like family. At the same time, this older world slowly becomes forgotten, because the universe has been progressing too fast. The speed of life is unbelievable, too fast for many people, me as an example. For a character like Lightning McQueen, he is a perfect figure to follow, being introduced to some sort of a time capsule back into the fifties. As his personality change, he experiences that there is a whole lot more to racing than just winning, and that some of the smallest things that we unnoticeably take for granted are the most blessed. This is a film with so much heart and soul, cautioning about a sense of loss while pleasing our eyes in beautiful animation and lovable characters.

In conclusion, Cars is on my top five best Pixar films of all time, and confidently sits as my number one most underrated animated film of all time. The characters are charming, the animation is stunning and colorful as always, and it drives with a theme that will last no matter what year you are watching this film in. Though many criticize the film for lacking the "push" that other films have, and that the film is described to have difficulty in appealing to our generation of viewers, John Lasseter's charmer tugged my heartstrings from beginning to end with great horsepower. You know what might help the film reach to your soul better? Watch the film at a drive-in theater. You will know what I mean. Afterwards, you can't help but sing along to "Life Is a Highway."

Movie Review written by: Born Movie Reviews

RT Critics Rating: 6.6/10

Born Movie Reviews' Rating: 8/10

The year is 2154, in which the human population is now split into two classes. The first class is the wealthy, who live on an advanced space station called Elysium, in which life is luxurious with no disease, poverty, or war, built by the Armadyne Corporation. The second class is everyone else, who live on an overpopulated, ravaged Earth.

Elysium revolves around Max Da Costa (Matt Damon), an ex-con who works in one of Armadyne's factories that manufacture robotic drones for Elysium. After being exposed to radiation in an accident, Max discovers that he has five days left to live. Desperate for help, he seeks the smuggler Spider, who agrees to help Max infiltrate Elysium to use a Med-Pod to cure himself, in exchange for stealing corporate information from Armadyne's CEO. In reaction to the attack, the Elysian government minister Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster) deploys crazy mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley) to eliminate Elysium's threats.

As always, the film reveals how Neill Blomkamp flirts with apocalyptic polluted environments, addressing the current issues of the world today. For sure, the ravaged Earth here looks nearly identical to District 9, and the orbiting space station appears in the sky like something out of Mass Effect or Halo. This time, Elysium deals with immigration rights, class warfare, and health care -- themes as important as the ones discussed by District 9, if not more important.

The production design and visual effects are refreshingly original. Though the film is filled with advanced technology, they have all rusted, with dirt and fingerprints all over them, creating a sense that these tools have already been used a lot. Inevitably, this brings about a sense of reality to the future world and to the visual effects. A lot of times, something that is surely computer generated appears realistic because many actors are interacting with it. I will not be surprised if Elysium receives a nomination for Best Visual Effects.

In a satisfying but also disappointing way, the film brought up its themes in the first half of the film, but never sent the messages to the audience until its third act -- an explosive third act. The first and second acts, on the other hand, prioritized storytelling over everything else, and that is not a good sign if the characterization is not the strongest. Matt Damon's Max is enough to care about, but his relationship with his old friend Frey Santiago (Alice Braga) is not stable enough to convince. There is a story told by Frey's daughter though that will sure to get to you. Jodie Foster, on the other hand, is completely miscast. Any actress who knows how to deliver lines can play this role. Furthermore, there is nothing interesting to know about the Secretary of Defense, only that she keeps getting in the way of our protagonist. Sharlto Copley, holding a notorious reputation for playing crazy people, is unsurprisingly crazy here, but he portrays it with great panache and style. The way he looks at someone, how he walks and sweats -- it's like a malfunctioning Terminator with a raged personality and an entertaining accent.

If the first and second acts were shortened, and the third act is extended, then Elysium will become another District 9, a quiet masterpiece in Blomkamp's unique vision of science fiction. It wasn't until the third act where the film finally sells its viewpoints, commenting on the contemporary human condition and the rationing and corporate restriction of the distribution of health care. Without hesitating, I was blown away by Elysium's vision of the world's problems today. The slight problem is, I have been seeking it ever since the first half-hour.

In conclusion, Elysium is yet another astonishing achievement in Neill Blomkamp's career, as he explores important social themes that we face today. On a filmmaking basis, however, the film slogs on for about 70 minutes and comes together in a loud intense gritty climax. Fortunately, the climax sold well. But with some better polishing, it could have sold indefinitely. With Blomkamp's guidance as a director, Elysium is a gritty thoughtful film that aimed for the moon. Unfortunately, the film missed it. Then again, it landed on one of the stars.