A Few Good Men Review

Director: Rob Reiner (This is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride)
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network)
Starring: Tom Cruise (He is a legend.  You should know who he is.), Jack Nicholson (Also a legend.  Needs no introduction.), Kevin Bacon (Footloose, Apollo 13), Demi Moore (Ghost, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle), and Kiefer Sutherland (Stand By Me, 24)
Gross Revenue: $243,240,178
Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter: 83%
IMDB Rating: 7.6
Awards: Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Picture

      It's hard to draw excitement, tension, and suspense from a courtroom, especially one that doesn't dumb down to viewers.  But of course, Aaron Sorkin is able to turn even what on paper looks like a cure for insomnia into an exciting nail-biter of a courtroom drama.  He once again refuses to dumb down to audiences, and the movie features all of the correct legal jargon and procedures, and at least some of it will go over the viewers head.  But despite the often heady intellectual aspects of this picture, it is at its core a movie about honor, service, and sticking up for the little guy.  Who can't get into a movie about that?

    A Few Good Men is about the court-martial trial hearing of two young marines who are accused of killing a Marine during a hazing accident.  The head of their defense is young hotshot lawyer   He is recruited to these young marines' defense by JoAnne Galloway, an impulsive but passionate NIS trial lawyer.  The defense claims that the act was ordered by Col Nathan R. Jessep, while the prosecution claims that the marines were ordered to leave the young marine alone.  Though all the odds are stacketwo marines who are accused of killing a Marine during a hazing exercise.  In their defense is hot shot Naval Investigative Service (NIS) lawyer, Daniel Kaffee, who prides himself on having never set in a coud against the defense, and they are encouraged time and time again to settle, but the young defense team stick to their guns and instead of choosing the easy way out, choose to stand up and defend the marines' honor.
     I once again marvel at the genius of Aaron Sorkin.  No other writer in Hollywood is able to make movies that are so intellectual but also so entertaining.  He refuses to dumb down his script for audiences, and that has earned him much respect from me.  His rapid-fire dialogue throws around legal terms and procedures with n explanation given to the audience, and half of the time spent watching this movie is just trying to keep up.  Any other writer would make the movie "too smart", and wouldn't make it accessible to audiences, but Aaron Sorkin is able to inject the right amount of heart to make the movie relatable and enjoyable for all audiences.  That's what makes this movie so great: the combination of intellectual proceedings and the entertaining interactions between the characters.
    The acting is all around superior in this movie.  Tom Cruise gives a great performance as the young lawyer Kaffee, and one can tell that Cruise has matured as an actor.  He perfectly portrays a smart and talented man trying to make his way in the world, while constantly living in the shadow of his dead father, without losing his trademark charm and charisma.  Seriously, Tom Cruise can do anything.  Despite being on screen for less then 20 minutes, Jack Nicholson steals the show.  As Col. Nathan R. Jessep he commands such screen presence, and every time he holding is on screen one is their breath.  He brings gravitas and believability to what easily could have been a stereotype, and he is one of the highlights of the movie.

    A Few Good Men is a great example of everything a great movie needs.  An exciting story that doesn't dumb down to the audience, layered and interesting characters, and a feel-good feeling at the end.  While the movie does spend too much time on plot and not enough time developing their characters, the plot is interesting and movies fast enough one doesn't have much time to think about that.  Though it is limited to mainly courtroom scenes, they are among the most exciting courtroom scenes one will ever see.  It is a movie for the heart and the mind.  A Few Good Men is an exemplary mix of both heart and mind, featuring exceptional performances from both young and old, and shows that movies don't have to be brainles to be enjoyed by all.  4.5/5
"You don't need a patch on your arm to have honor"

The Social Network Review

Director: David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland), Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Untitled Spider-Man Reboot), Justin Timberlake (Everyone should know who Justin Timberlake is), and Brenda Song (The Suite Life, College Road Trip)
Gross Revenue: $136,242,399 worldwide (As of 11/7/10)
Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter: 97%
IMDB Rating: 8.4

      Some movies are good.  Some movies are great.  Some movies touch the lives of the people that see it.  And then there are some movies, that define the generation when its made.  Easy Rider defined the counter-culture, easy-going attitude of the 60's.  Wall Street defined the excessive greediness of the 80's.  The Social Network defines the globalist, connected, virtually based world of the 21st century.  When people heard about the "Facebook Movie", they were skeptical and doubtful that anything good would come of it.  They were wrong.  The Social Network is one of the best of the year, if not the decade, and it lives up to all expectations.

   The Social Network features three simultaneous story lines, bouncing back and forth between TWO different lawsuits and the genesis of Facebook at Harvard University in 2003.  Mark Zuckerberg is a socially awkward and cold Harvard college student who is a genius and especially adept at computer science.  After his girlfriend suddenly breaks up with him, he creates a website that compares girls with each other as a way to "cope" with the pain of heartbreak.  After crashing Harvard's server, he sets out for something to top himself.  After hearing an idea from some fellow students to create an online network to link Harvard students, he creates "The Facebook", an online social network of Harvard students.  He starts an official business with his best friend Eduardo Saverin, an Economics major, and sets to expand the site.  After expanding to several other Ivy league schools, Mark forms an potentially dangerous friendship with "programming bad boy" Sean Parker, the creator of Napster.  Sean informally advises Mark on many aspects of creating the site, and helps kick starts Facebook's social revolution.  He goes to to start the world's largest social network, and making him the youngest self-made billionaire, despite alienating himself from all his friends.
     The Social Network is a movie that must be seen.  I was also initially skeptical of making a movie based on Facebook.  There were many questions I had during its production, the most important of which was "What is it going to be about"?  However, upon learning that Aaron Sorkin was writing the screenplay and David Fincher was directing, all my doubts vanished.  A better combination of writing and directing has not seen all year, and their two styles mesh perfectly.  Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue and sophisticated stortytelling style combined with Fincher's kinetic and relaxed directing style makes for a film that is both though-provoking and entertaining.
    The acting in this film is stupendous.  Jessie Eisenberg transforms himself into Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and is able to inject humanity and a sense of humor into a very unlikable character.  Justin Timberlake proves once again that he can do anything and gives a great performance as Sean Parker, showing dramatic depth that I didn't know he had in him.  Fincher uses a very clever technique to portray identical Winklevoss twins.  He used to separate actors to play the bodies, and then digitally painted over one actor's face with the other.  A very clever technique that allows the director more freedom in portraying the actions of these characters then just using traditional camera trickery methods.  However, the stand out performance belongs to British up and coming actor Andrew Garfield, who portrays Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.  His relationship with Mark is the emotional centerpiece to the movie, and he brings humanity to a very cold movie.  His care and compassion for Mark are noteworthy, even when Mark is acting selfish and being a terrible friend to him.  Watching him struggle to continue to do what's right and stay Mark's friend is truly heartbreaking, and he is easily the most sympathetic character in the movie.  Andrew Garfield, who has recently been cast as Peter Parker in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, does an amazing job, and his performance is worthy of an Academy Award nomination.
    Aaron Sorkin is amazing.  He is able to turn a movie about programming and lawsuits into an exciting melodrama about heartbreak, friendship, betrayal, revenge, and a lust for power.  Sorkin refuses to dumb down his story for an audience, and even though one oftentimes does not understand what the characters are talking about, it always entrancing and NEVER boring.  To show how much this movie kept me enthralled and on the edge of my seat, I never checked the time once during this movie.  I never wanted it to end, it was just so wonderful.  This is in large part due to Aaron Sorkin, who is a shoe-in to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay this year, and rightfully so, because it is a tale of heartache, revenge, betrayal, partying, sex, rebellion, and the limits of friendship, all wrapped into a movie about creating a website.  Now that takes talent.
    I knew this movie was going to be good going in, but I had no idea it would make such an impact on me.  This movie really made me think about what friendship truly means, and how much one can withstand, or how much one should be willing to withstand.  Eduardo was with Mark through thick and thin, even though he was cautious of Mark's friendship with Sean Parker, which ultimately ended up being faulty and dangerous, just as Eduardo predicted.  Mark betrays Eduardo through a series of backroom deals, and ends up losing everything.  And even after all that, Eduardo still helps Mark out by testifying for him in a lawsuit.  It's hard to imagine that such an exploration on the nature of friendship could come from a movie about creating a website, but that's Aaron Sorkin for you.  I'm also very intrigued by Mark Zuckerburg.  Despite being portrayed as a jerk, I can't help but wonder about his true motives for Faeebook.  Was it all in search of power and a way to prove himself to the Harvard elite, or was it just a way to impress a girl he was hopefully in love with, but just didn't know how to show it?  Just some thoughts.

     The Social Network is easily the movie of the year.  Nothing else this year (Except maybe Inception and Toy Story 3) has been so enjoyable as well as a smart and adept exploration of life.  It is sure to sweep this year's Academy Awards and I am betting on it to win Best Picture.  Everyone should see this movie.  Not only does it give you an inside look on the biggest social revolution since the creation of the telephone, it also is an exciting and dangerous story of betrayal and revenge, with some technical talk and wild parties to please the kids.  Seriously, this is the perfect movie.  The perfect script, the perfect direction, the perfect cast, everything about this movie is flawless.  I can't wait to watch it a second and third time, and continue to re watch it for years to come.  The Social Network is the best movie of the year, and one of my favorites of all time.  The Social Network is not only an intellectual history of the creation of Facebook, its also an exploration of friendship, betrayal, and revenge, due to to Aaron's Sorkin masterful screenplay, and powerhouse performances by the cast, particularly Andrew Garfield.  No other movie this year will make one's head hurt and one's heart ache as much The Social Network.  The best film of the year.  5/5
"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies"

The Biggest Loser Review

   Obesity is a huge, pun intended, problem in America and around the world.  40 million Americas, over 1 in 10, are classified as obese.  Obesity is increasingly becoming a contributor to early deaths for many Americans.  Some would say it's an epidemic, and that it must be stopped.  Even First Lady Michelle Obama has dedicated her efforts to fighting childhood obesity.  But what is the average overweight American to do?  How are these people supposed to find the information they need to lose the weight, to keep it off, and to be inspired to overcome the weight?  Well, for better or worse, The Biggest Loser is the answer.

     The Biggest Loser, now trucking into its tenth season, is easily the most popular weight loss show in the world.  Various overweight contestants from all over America are invited to stay in the "Biggest Loser Ranch" and try to lose the weight.  In a quasi-combination of Survivor style challenges and the fraternity style living of Big Brother, except with fat people, the contestants compete each week to see who can lose the most weight.  Each week a contestant is voted off, usually determinant on how much weight they lost that week.  The grand prize for the Biggest Loser contestants, besides developing a healthy life style of course, is a 250,000 dollar prize.  The at-home contestants also compete for a monetary prize of 100,000 dollars, so as to encourage the contestants to continue their weight loss journey at home, and to provide incentive upon reaching that goal.  Each season is a little bit different, and is defined by that particular group of contestants.  Sometimes they're a happy-go-lucky family (Boring TV), and sometimes there is much drama and "game play" involved (Good TV).

    There is no middle ground with the Biggest Loser.  Either you love the inspiring show that teaches people how to live healthy lifestyles physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually all the while making a difference in the lives of all the people that watch the show.  Or you hate the cheesy show that takes advantage of fat people, pushing them to their limits to the point where they're nearly dead, and brings out the worst in people all in pursuit of a $250,000 prize.  I am a member of the first camp.  Yes, The Biggest Loser has it's faults.  The show can be unbelievably cheesy, and the product placement is unnecessary and cringe-worthy.  Some of the contestants are jerks, and just ruin the show for the rest of the contestants.  (This however can make for really great reality television.)  It can often be really repetitive, and when the show tries to differentiate itself from previous seasons, it is just....stupid.  Take for example moving the weigh ins to the MIDDLE of the week instead of the end of the week.  While it certainly does make it harder for the contestants and increase the drama in the Biggest Loser house, it really messes up the flow of each episode.  Some formulas you just shouldn't mess with.  Despite all its faults, which can seem to be quite numerous sometimes, I love this show and I am an unabashed fan.

     The Biggest Loser is probably one of the most, if not the most inspiring show on television.  There is quite literally no other show like it on television.  No other show takes in a group of people who are quite broken, both physically and mentally, and gives them hope for a better life and teaches them to be healthy.  How can one hate a show about people changing their lives?  It is so inspiring to see these unhealthy, broken people throw off the shackles of weight loss and live their lives for themselves.  And some of these people are quite broken.  I have never seen such a collection of death, despair, and depression as I've seen on The Biggest Loser.  Parents dead, children dead, emotional abuse, physical abuse, pretty much every cataclysmic life experience one can think of, these people have gone through.  It really puts into perspective the emotional reasons that people are overweight.  Some people aren't overweight just because they are lazy and too much, there are some deeply disturbing emotional causes.  It just makes one's heart ache.  But just like every situation in life, there is always hope.  These people are able to turn their lives around thanks to the help of two fantastic trainers named Bob and Jillian.

    Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels make the show worth watching.  Watching destroy the contestants during the workouts is so funny, and it makes you feel for these people, who are able to withstand a physical experience that would make Marines look like Girl Scouts.  But, there's more to them than that.  They're not just there to kill the contestants every day, they actually care about them.  Bob and Jillian drag these people out of whatever hole they've dug themselves into and turn their lives around.  Weak-willed women shouldn't watch this show, because they'll probably cry every single episode.
    I could go on about the stupid challenges, the dumb "theme episodes", the "over-dramatic" reactions the cast has to EVERYTHING, and how much I think host Allison Sweeney tries way too hard to be a "cool" host.  But I won't.  I have been watching the Biggest Loser for a long time, and it has given me more then most people realize.  I used to be an overweight kid, and I struggled with it for a very long time.  I was never very motivated to lose weight, and I just kinda dealt with it.  I partially credit The Biggest Loser for kick starting my weight loss journey.  Over the course of 8th grade year I lost nearly 50 pounds, and I haven't looked back since then.  I am a living example of the difference The Biggest Loser can make in people's lives.  There is nothing more inspiring then that.

*UPDATE*
To see what a difference The Biggest Loser can make in the lives of others, here's a list of all The Biggest Loser winners from the past 9 seasons.
Season 1. Ryan Benson:
Staring Weight: 330 lbs
Ending Weight: 208 lbs
This is one of the big contributors to critics of deride the show for turning weight loss into a competition.  Ryan has stated that he starved himself after the show was over, and gained 30 pounds back from water weight alone.  He also stated that after the show was over he felt no pressure to keep the wight off.  He has since ballooned back to 307 pounds, only 23 less then when he started the show.  He is the cautionary tale for all Biggest Loser contestants.  After recently appearing on a Biggest Loser special, he has vowed to start losing the weight..again.


Season 2. Matt Hoover
Starting Weight: 339 lbs
Ending Weight: 182 lbs
One of the sweetest and most successful Biggest Loser stories, Matt is now happily married with two children to his wife Suzy Hoover, who he met on the Biggest Loser.  Despite going up to 237 pounds, he is still in great physical shape and recently competed in the Iron Man Competition in Hawaii.



Season 3. Erik Chopin
Starting Weight: 407 lbs
Ending Weight: 193 lbs
Erik also went on to gain the weight back, up to 360 pounds, but Bob encouraged him to try and lose it again.    He appeared at the Biggest Loser finale, and is successfully losing the weight...again.  He has been true to his word, and has gotten back down to a healthy weight of 245.



Season 4: Bill Germanakos
Starting Weight: 334 lbs
Ending Weight: 170 lbs
Bill's weight is now 207 pounds and is one of the more successful Biggest Loser contestants.  He currently is a health and fitness instructor who speaks across the country as well as teaches spinning classes.




Season 5: Ali Vincent
Starting Weight: 234 lbs
Ending Weight: 122 lbs
Ali was the first female winner, and is one of the most visible contestants.  She now weighs 125 lbs, and was a spokesperson for 24 Hour Fitness.  Her book, "Believe it, Be it", will be released this fall.


Season 6: Michelle Aguilar
Starting Weight: 242 lbs
Ending Weight: 122 lbs
Michelle continued the streak of Pink Team girls winning, and has continued to keep the weight off.


Season 7: Helen Phillips
Starting Weight: 257 lbs
Ending Weight: 117 lbs
Helen was the third Pink Team winner in a row to win the Biggest Loser.  She had the highest percentage of weight loss for any Biggest Loser female contestant, at over 54%.  She has successfully kept the weight off, and is up to 135 lbs.


Season 8: Danny Cahill
Starting Weight: 430 lbs
Ending Weight: 191 lbs
Danny is one of the most successful Biggest Loser contestants in history, holding the record for biggest percentage of weight loss, at over 55%.  He has kept the weight off and continues help out with The Biggest Loser, recently appearing in Season 10.  He has kept the weight off.



Season 9: Michael Ventrella
Starting Weight: 526 lbs
Ending Weight: 262 lbs
Michael is the heaviest contestant in Biggest Loser history, and the only one to weigh over 500 pounds.  He set a record for most weight lost by a contestant, at 264 pounds.  He is the most recent winner, and at this writing has continued to keep the weight off.


Season 10: Patrick House
Starting Weight: 400 lbs
Ending Weight: 219 lbs
Patrick, who was unemployed for several months prior to the filming of Season 10, is the most recent winner. He is going to use the money to pay off debts, and now has a job at a school for overweight kids.  It remains to be seen whether he will keep the weight off or not.