aleara_cerridwyn Reviews

The Invisible (2007)

Wonderful film

[9/10 · 16 May 2007]

Granted, I was not looking forward to seeing this movie. The trailer was absolutely dreadful; just another one of the teen "thrillers" we've seen coming out for years. In fact, I continued to believe that the movie would be this way during the first few minutes. Luckily, the trailer was misleading--this story was one worth hearing. Margarita Levieva is wonderful as Annie, a troubled teen who accidentally murders the main character on false information. She appears to be ruthless, a cliché character of teenagers in "school gangs", just another school shooter. However, Annie has more lying beneath the surface. That bland cap hides a head full of deep thoughts, and, of course, extremely long hair. She is not as ruthless as it would seem; she has been hardened by her life. Fortunately, we are not told that her hard life is an excuse for her actions. Annie is still a criminal, and must redeem herself. As for the main character, his death is not what it seems. I can only suppose that this is an extremely long "near-death experience", Nick being forced out of his body by the violence of Annie. All of his actions take place in the astral plane, but make no dent in the world he knows. Although many of the reviews of this movie have been harsh, I believe it is because no one wants to accept that a movie can be calm and "boring" while still holding a message. The dialogue is wonderful, the silence placed in just the right places. I recommend making this movie a part of your collection.

Thirteen (2003)

Response

[9/10 · 20 November 2006]

This summary is, as the title suggests, a response to the review above, though it will tell quite a bit about the story. Nikki Reed wrote only the first 9 pages of the screenplay, though I'm not sure what age she was. The movie was not marketed as a movie written by teens, and it was independent, so I'm certainly not going to agree with the "it's amazing that a 13 year old can write" theory. I think when the person above says "Rachael" they mean Tracy. Tracy may not be "depressed", but that perfectly gets rid of most clichés about teens. One does not need to have a dead father and a mother with cancer to be fed up with life. I am in no way saying that cutting is good, but Tracy certainly isn't heartless. Her father isn't around, her mom is a recovering alcoholic, and her mom's boyfriend is a recovering crack-head. Can't we all agree that that's lots to deal with? The "tug-of-war" between Mason and Tracy is not with a broom, it's with a hockey stick, and in truth Mason is just trying to get it away from his sister because she's fricking insane and he's freaked out. It's extremely realistic. Real siblings are more likely to act out "hokey" scenes that don't make much sense, and not very likely to actually start shooting at each other or something. The fast pace of the movie is meant to represent the life of a thirteen year old. It is also realistic in that as a teenager (as the director points out), one can feel amazing and high one moment and totally low and sick the next. The clumsy "dutch-angle" shots are not made purposefully, but instead because all of the movie was shot with a hand-held and the cameraman fell a lot (does anyone besides me listen to the film commentary? For reals). I was just upset with the review above, and this summary (admittedly) is n't very helpful...however, I would recommend watching the movie with the commentary before making judgements. And get all the facts straight!

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999 TV Movie)

Don't Be Ashamed

[8/10 · 13 July 2006]

This movie came out when I was maybe, 6 or 7 years old. I fell in love with it, and the sequel "Zenon the Zequel." Truthfully, after a while I outgrew the Disney Channel, especially once the DCOM started to get beyond corny. However, Zenon game out in the "golden age" of DCOMs. Is the movie a bit unbelievable? Yes, of course it is. Is it cheesy? Yeah, the lingo makes you cringe sometimes. I watched the movie again last night though, and realized that this movie has something that the recent DCOMs doesn't: good acting. Kirsten Storms is amazing as Zenon, with her insanely expressive eyes. She works as hard as she can to make the words she's saying not make you laugh, especially the 7 odd times she exclaims "Ceedus Lepeedus!" As of last night, I've decided that I shouldn't be ashamed if I still like this movie. The clothes are hilarious, since in the future we apparently have flashbacks to the 80s, and same with the words (Stellar, etc). This movie also has a plot that you can't predict right away. When Lutz puts the disc into the Class 4 system, we don't know what he's doing, and neither does Zenon. And the idea of "grounded" meaning being sent to Earth is brilliant. Overall, this movie is a bit hyper and a bit corny, but it's one of the few DCOM that I've watched recently that actually has a somewhat believable plot and great acting. So those of you around my age: don't be ashamed if you still love this movie. It's much better than being in love with High School Musical.