This is where I keep track of EVERYTHING that I watch. I try to describe them as if I'm talking to a stranger on the street. Here is the definition of my made-up word:

[moo-vyoo-og-ruh-fee] – noun

1. A listing of movies that I have seen
2. A collection of writings about motion pictures, esp. detailed essays dealing with specific films.

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What It’s About: Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter. What I Liked: Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt’s performance were both great. The writing is exceptionally well-written I thought, there were so many situations were I felt awkward and uncomfortable and it was really effective. Charlize Theron’s character is ultimately an unlikeable character, yet she is so interesting. I really love the themes of this film, even it if it is a bit depressing and bleak. What I Didn’t Like: I feel like Patton Oswalt’s character deserved more time, but at the same time I guess that could be the point. I think I would have been satisfied if there were 20 more minutes on the film because there were a few things that were left unrealized and undiscovered which is most likely intentional, but it didn’t satisfy my need to want to know more which is why I think it worked. Watch This If You Like: Jason Reitman films, Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, dark comedy/dramas. Grade: A-

What It’s About: Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.

What I Liked: Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt’s performance were both great. The writing is exceptionally well-written I thought, there were so many situations were I felt awkward and uncomfortable and it was really effective. Charlize Theron’s character is ultimately an unlikeable character, yet she is so interesting. I really love the themes of this film, even it if it is a bit depressing and bleak.

What I Didn’t Like: I feel like Patton Oswalt’s character deserved more time, but at the same time I guess that could be the point. I think I would have been satisfied if there were 20 more minutes on the film because there were a few things that were left unrealized and undiscovered which is most likely intentional, but it didn’t satisfy my need to want to know more which is why I think it worked.

Watch This If You Like: Jason Reitman films, Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, dark comedy/dramas.

Grade: A-

What It’s About: Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way. What I Liked: It takes the movie awhile to get going and once it does it has some funny moments. Jay Baruchel’s character was the funniest part of the movie for me, the way he acts towards other people is just hilarious to me. The fight scenes were brutal, yet awesome. What I Didn’t Like: I just didn’t buy Sean William Scott as a nice guy. Maybe it’s because he’s played an asshole in almost every role he has done before this movie. I thought he was really miscasted and the way he acted just seemed really forced to me. I also didn’t see the point of the romance subplot, but I don’t know…I just don’t think I’m the audience for this kind of comedy. Watch This If You Like: Hockey films, Sean William Scott, comedy. Grade: C-

What It’s About: Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.

What I Liked: It takes the movie awhile to get going and once it does it has some funny moments. Jay Baruchel’s character was the funniest part of the movie for me, the way he acts towards other people is just hilarious to me. The fight scenes were brutal, yet awesome.

What I Didn’t Like: I just didn’t buy Sean William Scott as a nice guy. Maybe it’s because he’s played an asshole in almost every role he has done before this movie. I thought he was really miscasted and the way he acted just seemed really forced to me. I also didn’t see the point of the romance subplot, but I don’t know…I just don’t think I’m the audience for this kind of comedy.

Watch This If You Like: Hockey films, Sean William Scott, comedy.

Grade: C-

What It’s About: When a new assignment places Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry soon becomes a role model to the disaffected youth. In finding an unlikely emotional connection to the students, teachers, and a runaway teen he takes in from the streets, Henry realizes that he’s not alone in his life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world. What I Liked: Adrien Brody’s performance is amazing, I don’t wanna sound like a copy of the quote on the poster, but it really is his best role since The Pianist (which is one of my fav films). He shows so many layers in his character by the way he acts. The story is really compelling, brutally honesty, and it doesn’t hold back. The supporting cast is really great too with Lucy Liu, Christina Hendricks, and James Caan stealing every scene that they’re in. All of the supporting characters seem like archetypes at first, but the film shows that they each are struggling with something within themselves. The themes the film touches are really heavy, yet they’re used very effectively. I’m surprised this film went under-the-radar because I’d think this could have been nominated for a few awards. I think this film is this decade’s Stand And Deliver or Dangerous Minds. What I Didn’t Like: There were a couple of moments where the camera zooms in randomly and I didn’t know what that was trying to achieve by doing that. The interview parts were poignant and thought-provoking, but it felt a bit out of place with the film as a whole. The film hints at a few subplots but never go anywhere with them. Watch This If You Like: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, James Caan, school dramas, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds. Grade: A-

What It’s About: When a new assignment places Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry soon becomes a role model to the disaffected youth. In finding an unlikely emotional connection to the students, teachers, and a runaway teen he takes in from the streets, Henry realizes that he’s not alone in his life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world.

What I Liked: Adrien Brody’s performance is amazing, I don’t wanna sound like a copy of the quote on the poster, but it really is his best role since The Pianist (which is one of my fav films). He shows so many layers in his character by the way he acts. The story is really compelling, brutally honesty, and it doesn’t hold back. The supporting cast is really great too with Lucy Liu, Christina Hendricks, and James Caan stealing every scene that they’re in. All of the supporting characters seem like archetypes at first, but the film shows that they each are struggling with something within themselves. The themes the film touches are really heavy, yet they’re used very effectively. I’m surprised this film went under-the-radar because I’d think this could have been nominated for a few awards. I think this film is this decade’s Stand And Deliver or Dangerous Minds.

What I Didn’t Like: There were a couple of moments where the camera zooms in randomly and I didn’t know what that was trying to achieve by doing that. The interview parts were poignant and thought-provoking, but it felt a bit out of place with the film as a whole. The film hints at a few subplots but never go anywhere with them.

Watch This If You Like: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, James Caan, school dramas, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds.

Grade: A-

What It’s About: Vandal Savage steals confidential files Batman has compiled on the members of the Justice League and learns all of their weaknesses. He plans to destroy them so he can execute a plan that will put humanity in jeopardy. What I Liked: The animation looked good, reminded me watching awesome cartoons on a Saturday morning. Voice acting was good, but no one really stood out to me. The story was great as usual with DC animated films. Seeing all these superheroes and Batman (nothing super about him) work together to defeat their enemies is always exciting to watch. What I Didn’t Like: It felt like an extended episode of the tv show. The villain didn’t feel that menacing to me. The threat on the Justice League members didn’t feel large enough to me, a few of them I didn’t realize they were in danger until they got out of it. Watch This If You Like: DC comics, Justice League or any of its members, animated films. Grade: B

What It’s About: Vandal Savage steals confidential files Batman has compiled on the members of the Justice League and learns all of their weaknesses. He plans to destroy them so he can execute a plan that will put humanity in jeopardy.

What I Liked: The animation looked good, reminded me watching awesome cartoons on a Saturday morning. Voice acting was good, but no one really stood out to me. The story was great as usual with DC animated films. Seeing all these superheroes and Batman (nothing super about him) work together to defeat their enemies is always exciting to watch.

What I Didn’t Like: It felt like an extended episode of the tv show. The villain didn’t feel that menacing to me. The threat on the Justice League members didn’t feel large enough to me, a few of them I didn’t realize they were in danger until they got out of it.

Watch This If You Like: DC comics, Justice League or any of its members, animated films.

Grade: B

What It’s About: When a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative unexpectedly results in the discovery of an imminent, terrifying global threat, an elite team of highly trained Navy SEALs must immediately embark on a heart-stopping secret operation, the outcome of which will determine the fate of us all. What I Liked: On a technical level, I thought this film did amazing. It was filmed using Canon DSLRs, 5D mkII specifically, and was edited on Adobe Premiere Pro. Both which are consumer-grade equipment which are used by many film students and even professionals worldwide. The way they maneuvered and positioned the camera was very different and interesting. I thought the quality of the footage would be grainy on a huge 50ft screen but it was incredibly smooth, it was really impressive. Honestly, I thought the quality looked better than films that were made digitally like The Grey and Public Enemies. Anyways, other than that I really liked the action scenes. I loved the emphasis they put on the tactics of the Navy SEALs, since they’re actual SEALs you can tell they know what they’re doing unlike an actor reenacting those same tactics. The set pieces were used efficiently. I thought this was a nice cinematic love letter for those in the service. What I Didn’t Like: Unfortunately, other than the technical aspects and the action scenes, I wasn’t a fan of everything else. The bad acting was expected since they’re not actual actors so I gave them a pass on that, but their dialogue just made me cringe. The voiceover throughout the film was excruciatingly forced and I thought it was terrible. The story is also very generic and it fell really flat a couple of times in the film that I got really bored. It wasn’t anything that you haven’t seen in an action film or even a videogame before. Watch This If You Like: Military films, Call of Duty/BF3 videogames, or if you have a DSLR. Grade: D+

What It’s About: When a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative unexpectedly results in the discovery of an imminent, terrifying global threat, an elite team of highly trained Navy SEALs must immediately embark on a heart-stopping secret operation, the outcome of which will determine the fate of us all.

What I Liked: On a technical level, I thought this film did amazing. It was filmed using Canon DSLRs, 5D mkII specifically, and was edited on Adobe Premiere Pro. Both which are consumer-grade equipment which are used by many film students and even professionals worldwide. The way they maneuvered and positioned the camera was very different and interesting. I thought the quality of the footage would be grainy on a huge 50ft screen but it was incredibly smooth, it was really impressive. Honestly, I thought the quality looked better than films that were made digitally like The Grey and Public Enemies. Anyways, other than that I really liked the action scenes. I loved the emphasis they put on the tactics of the Navy SEALs, since they’re actual SEALs you can tell they know what they’re doing unlike an actor reenacting those same tactics. The set pieces were used efficiently. I thought this was a nice cinematic love letter for those in the service.

What I Didn’t Like: Unfortunately, other than the technical aspects and the action scenes, I wasn’t a fan of everything else. The bad acting was expected since they’re not actual actors so I gave them a pass on that, but their dialogue just made me cringe. The voiceover throughout the film was excruciatingly forced and I thought it was terrible. The story is also very generic and it fell really flat a couple of times in the film that I got really bored. It wasn’t anything that you haven’t seen in an action film or even a videogame before.

Watch This If You Like: Military films, Call of Duty/BF3 videogames, or if you have a DSLR.

Grade: D+

What It’s About: Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. What I Liked: Michael Shannon’s performance was incredible in this film, throughout the whole film he shows great restraint in his face and his dialogue that I thought was extremely effective. I’m really surprised that he wasn’t at least nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. After this film, I’m now a huge fan of Jessica Chastain because I thought her performance here was better than The Help and Tree Of Life (both where she was great). I really liked the character development of their characters, especially Jessica Chastain’s which I thought was really interesting. The atmosphere of dread and paranoia throughout the film was really effective and I enjoyed it which sounds weird to say. What I Didn’t Like: I’m gonna be vague on this because I don’t want to spoil the film. I probably still need to take some time to think about this, but I’m not sure what I feel about the ending. I really liked it, yet I feel it makes some of the events that happened before somewhat meaningless at the same time. I guess it really depends on how you perceive the ending (which I’m still struggling with) and the film as a whole is a great conversation piece. Watch This If You Like: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, The Road? Grade: A

What It’s About: Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

What I Liked: Michael Shannon’s performance was incredible in this film, throughout the whole film he shows great restraint in his face and his dialogue that I thought was extremely effective. I’m really surprised that he wasn’t at least nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. After this film, I’m now a huge fan of Jessica Chastain because I thought her performance here was better than The Help and Tree Of Life (both where she was great). I really liked the character development of their characters, especially Jessica Chastain’s which I thought was really interesting. The atmosphere of dread and paranoia throughout the film was really effective and I enjoyed it which sounds weird to say.

What I Didn’t Like: I’m gonna be vague on this because I don’t want to spoil the film. I probably still need to take some time to think about this, but I’m not sure what I feel about the ending. I really liked it, yet I feel it makes some of the events that happened before somewhat meaningless at the same time. I guess it really depends on how you perceive the ending (which I’m still struggling with) and the film as a whole is a great conversation piece.

Watch This If You Like: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, The Road?

Grade: A

What It’s About: Tells the story of a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman. What I Liked: Meryl Streep’s performance is, of course, the highlight of this film. She did amazing in her portrayal of Margareth Thatcher. It reminded me of Marion Cotillard’s performance in La Vie En Rose where she completely immersed herself into the role. I think she might win this year’s Oscar for Best Actress. What I Didn’t Like: I say it reminds me of La Vie En Rose because the story itself wasn’t that great, but was only being carried by the lead actress’ outstanding performance. The story here didn’t really engage me in an interesting way and I actually found it to be quite boring. It was Meryl Streep’s performance that kept me into the film. Watch This If You Like: Meryl Streep, Margareth Thatcher, biopic films. Grade: C-

What It’s About: Tells the story of a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.

What I Liked: Meryl Streep’s performance is, of course, the highlight of this film. She did amazing in her portrayal of Margareth Thatcher. It reminded me of Marion Cotillard’s performance in La Vie En Rose where she completely immersed herself into the role. I think she might win this year’s Oscar for Best Actress.

What I Didn’t Like: I say it reminds me of La Vie En Rose because the story itself wasn’t that great, but was only being carried by the lead actress’ outstanding performance. The story here didn’t really engage me in an interesting way and I actually found it to be quite boring. It was Meryl Streep’s performance that kept me into the film.

Watch This If You Like: Meryl Streep, Margareth Thatcher, biopic films.

Grade: C-

What It’s About: An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid’s point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis. What I Liked: I really liked all of the performances, particularly by Jessica Chastain and Viola Davis. Having seen Chastain’s other films, she really shows how good she can act here and it’s quite impressive. Octavia Spencer also did a great job, but I personally liked Viola Davis’ performance better (for the Oscar) as it was more endearing to me. I would like to see Emma Stone in more dramatic roles because I thought she wasn’t going hold her own against the other actress but she surprisingly did. Bryce Dallas Howard also surprised me with her performance as a conservative and prejudiced Hilly. Basically all the performances in this film are great and worth watching this film for that reason. What I Didn’t Like: While the execution of the film was great, I thought the story was a bit predictable and it offered nothing new to me. Watch This If You Like: Any of the cast, great acting, feel-good films. Grade: B

What It’s About: An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid’s point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.

What I Liked: I really liked all of the performances, particularly by Jessica Chastain and Viola Davis. Having seen Chastain’s other films, she really shows how good she can act here and it’s quite impressive. Octavia Spencer also did a great job, but I personally liked Viola Davis’ performance better (for the Oscar) as it was more endearing to me. I would like to see Emma Stone in more dramatic roles because I thought she wasn’t going hold her own against the other actress but she surprisingly did. Bryce Dallas Howard also surprised me with her performance as a conservative and prejudiced Hilly. Basically all the performances in this film are great and worth watching this film for that reason.

What I Didn’t Like: While the execution of the film was great, I thought the story was a bit predictable and it offered nothing new to me.

Watch This If You Like: Any of the cast, great acting, feel-good films.

Grade: B

What It’s About: A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had. What I Liked: Demian Bichir’s performance was just outstanding and his Best Actor nomination is very well deserved. I watched this after hearing a conversation about how this film was hard to watch for my classmate, who knows the story of the film all too well. It brought to life the plight of an illegal immigrant trying to make his way for himself and more importantly his son. I thought this film was going to be very predictable judging from the first 20-minutes, but it went in a completely different direction and it was very touching, yet satisfying to watch. I really enjoyed how it focused on the subject of the characters between the father and son than on the politics of illegal immigration, it made for a much better story. What I Didn’t Like: There weren’t any resolutions to the interactions with other characters that the son had. I felt like there were consequences that weren’t shown. Watch This If You Like: Dramas, Demian Bichir (the guy that played Esteban from Weeds), a film focusing on illegal immigrants. Grade: B+

What It’s About: A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had.

What I Liked: Demian Bichir’s performance was just outstanding and his Best Actor nomination is very well deserved. I watched this after hearing a conversation about how this film was hard to watch for my classmate, who knows the story of the film all too well. It brought to life the plight of an illegal immigrant trying to make his way for himself and more importantly his son. I thought this film was going to be very predictable judging from the first 20-minutes, but it went in a completely different direction and it was very touching, yet satisfying to watch. I really enjoyed how it focused on the subject of the characters between the father and son than on the politics of illegal immigration, it made for a much better story.

What I Didn’t Like: There weren’t any resolutions to the interactions with other characters that the son had. I felt like there were consequences that weren’t shown.

Watch This If You Like: Dramas, Demian Bichir (the guy that played Esteban from Weeds), a film focusing on illegal immigrants.

Grade: B+

What It’s About: Sir Laurence Olivier is making a movie in London. Young Colin Clark, an eager film student, wants to be involved and he navigates himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to see the blonde bombshell, while Olivier is struggling to meet her many demands and acting ineptness, and Colin is intrigued by her. Colin’s intrigue is met when Marilyn invites him into her inner world where she struggles with her fame, her beauty and her desire to be a great actress. What I Liked: At first I was very displeased with Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe because I wanted Scarlett Johansson to get the role mostly because she resembles her more even if she wasn’t that good of an actress, I just have crush on her okay. For some reason I was surprised that Michelle Williams did a great job as Monroe and she made her a fascinating character. Like Colin Clark, I was intrigued by Williams’ Monroe and wanted to know everything about her. Kenneth Branagh did an incredible job as Sir Laurence Olivier that I though he stole the show every time he was on screen. Judi Dench was only on screen for about five minutes, but just like in Shakespeare In Love, she did an amazing job in that time frame. What I Didn’t Like: I didn’t know Emma Watson was in this film until I saw it (obviously), but after she appeared it seemed like she was already forgotten. I guess it makes sense to the story, but I didn’t see much use or a point of her being in the film at all. Also, as a fan of Vivien Leigh, who is a great actress and I feel is somewhat underrated when it comes to the modern world obsessing over Hollywood icons, I didn’t think her portrayal in this film was that great. It seemed a lot different and little off from now she normally acts, but I guess that’s alright since she’s a hard person to emulate. I spent way too much time talking about that part even though it was only like two minutes. Watch This If You Like: Marilyn Monroe, biography films, drama, Michelle Williams. Grade: B

What It’s About: Sir Laurence Olivier is making a movie in London. Young Colin Clark, an eager film student, wants to be involved and he navigates himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to see the blonde bombshell, while Olivier is struggling to meet her many demands and acting ineptness, and Colin is intrigued by her. Colin’s intrigue is met when Marilyn invites him into her inner world where she struggles with her fame, her beauty and her desire to be a great actress.

What I Liked: At first I was very displeased with Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe because I wanted Scarlett Johansson to get the role mostly because she resembles her more even if she wasn’t that good of an actress, I just have crush on her okay. For some reason I was surprised that Michelle Williams did a great job as Monroe and she made her a fascinating character. Like Colin Clark, I was intrigued by Williams’ Monroe and wanted to know everything about her. Kenneth Branagh did an incredible job as Sir Laurence Olivier that I though he stole the show every time he was on screen. Judi Dench was only on screen for about five minutes, but just like in Shakespeare In Love, she did an amazing job in that time frame.

What I Didn’t Like: I didn’t know Emma Watson was in this film until I saw it (obviously), but after she appeared it seemed like she was already forgotten. I guess it makes sense to the story, but I didn’t see much use or a point of her being in the film at all. Also, as a fan of Vivien Leigh, who is a great actress and I feel is somewhat underrated when it comes to the modern world obsessing over Hollywood icons, I didn’t think her portrayal in this film was that great. It seemed a lot different and little off from now she normally acts, but I guess that’s alright since she’s a hard person to emulate. I spent way too much time talking about that part even though it was only like two minutes.

Watch This If You Like: Marilyn Monroe, biography films, drama, Michelle Williams.

Grade: B

What It’s About: A gang of tough inner-city kids who try to defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an extraterrestrial warzone. What I Liked: This film was very entertaining and fun to watch. The group of kids were actually very funny and it was enjoying watching them interact with each other in dire situations. The dialogue is witty and clever. Even though this is predictable, it was still entertaining. What I Didn’t Like: When the kids are separated, it’s a little hard to care for them or what they’re doing. It’s much better seeing all of them as a group. The story is very predictable, but that doesn’t stop this film from being very fun to watch. Watch This If You Like: Misfits (the tv show), British comedy or just comedy in general, action, alien invasion films. Grade: A

What It’s About: A gang of tough inner-city kids who try to defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an extraterrestrial warzone.

What I Liked: This film was very entertaining and fun to watch. The group of kids were actually very funny and it was enjoying watching them interact with each other in dire situations. The dialogue is witty and clever. Even though this is predictable, it was still entertaining.

What I Didn’t Like: When the kids are separated, it’s a little hard to care for them or what they’re doing. It’s much better seeing all of them as a group. The story is very predictable, but that doesn’t stop this film from being very fun to watch.

Watch This If You Like: Misfits (the tv show), British comedy or just comedy in general, action, alien invasion films.

Grade: A