No golden statue for Dear John

Image from www.tengossip.com. My older sister was reading Nicholas Sparks’ bestseller, Dear John, about a month ago. She accidentally left it at my house, so I took the liberty of taking it for a quick read. A quick read it was. The book ended with me throwing it across the room and shedding a few sad tears. When books get turned into movies, I like to read the book before I see the movie so I can compare after. I always go into the movie with low expectations, knowing that movies can never live up to books. But in Nicholas Sparks’ case, I went in assuming that the movie would be just... Read more

Holmes packs an exaggerated punch

Sitting in the Great Escape theatre for my own personal premier of Sherlock Holmes, I mentally prepared myself what I expected to be an intellectually challenging film. What I received was not what I was expecting. The movie quickly proved that it was to be classified as an action film, which is not so close to the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I suppose with Robert Downey Jr. posing as Sherlock, I shouldn’t have expected anything more, but I still had my moment of wishful thinking. Doyle’s original works tended to leave the reader lost up until the last possible moment, where the mystery... Read more

Sci-fi Avatar makes a splash at the box office

The hype for the newly released sci-fi thriller, Avatar, is well worth the hubbub. Maintaining a high standard was definitely on the mind director James Cameron as he was spending the movie’s $237 million budget. The story begins in 2154, with the introduction of a Marine, Jake Sulley. His identical twin brother had been chosen for a series of experiments on the planet Pandora using a surragate to gain an extremely rare metal that is very valuable on Earth. Jake’s brother dies right before he is deployed to Pandora, and Jake is sent in his place because he has the same DNA as his brother,... Read more

Disney’s latest is something different

This time, the Disney princess isn't a princess at all. Illustration from www.disney.com After watching The Princess and the Frog, I was a little befuddled. Yes, befuddled. Isn’t it supposed to be a Disney movie? It wouldn’t be surprising if the viewer forgot this fact. Where’s the majestic castle setting, the 100% happy ending, the Barbie-pretty princesses, the guy falling all over himself to win the affection of the girl? Not in this film, apparently, and I find that a marked improvement. In a throwback to classic children’s films, it’s not computer-animated, but an actual hand-drawn... Read more

The Lovely Bones stays true to its name

Photo from http://movies.nytimes.com In Susie Salmon’s heaven, she sees the things she loves about Earth. In the trippy movie interpretation, this means a world where different biomes meet; the beach, the forest, and the mountains are all within feet of each other. However, despite the beauty she is subject to, she can’t get Earth off her mind. In fact, rather than embracing her afterlife, she spends her days in a gazebo, gazing down on her family. She is trying to speak to them, to make them realize the truth. The truth is, Susie was murdered.The Lovely Bones, a novel by Alice Sebold,... Read more

Cormac McCarthy’s modern classic goes through film revival

First came the book… Hannah Davis davis.hannahc@gmail.com A week after school started, I walked on over to the library and picked up The Road. I’d heard about from just about every literate acquaintance, so I thought it must be a safe choice to fulfill my A-option needs for Mr. Kenley’s infamous creative writing class. (If you aren’t aware, a student is required to read at least one book to earn an A, even if he received perfect scores on every assignment.) In short, it’s a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a nameless father and his young son through a... Read more

Nine is the best movie musical since Chicago

As I went to the movie theater to see Nine, I must say I had good expectations. Being a self-proclaimed musical geek, I knew I’d enjoy it, and I did. This movie has been nominated for 5 Golden Globes awards and features an all-star cast with starlets such as Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and Fergie. Set in 1960s Italy, it tells the story of Guido Contini, a man who directs movies. Guido tells the press that he’s working on “the next big movie”, but doesn’t even have a script. With shooting for this movie set to begin the following week, he tries to find inspiration... Read more

The Time Traveler’s Wife goes nowhere

My preconception of The Time Traveler’s Wife was that it would be an endearing love story about a man and a woman separated by time and space. I had enjoyed Rachel McAdams’s previous work, and I looked forward to seeing her star in a new film. A short summary of the plot line piqued my interest, and it was enough for me to desire seeing it in theaters. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star in Hollywood’s latest romantic drama about two lovers whose lives are disrupted by time travel. “It’s hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he’s... Read more

Paper Heart puts love in a new light

Charlyne Yi doesn’t believe in love. There’s no real reasoning behind it; she hasn’t experienced any earth-shattering breakup or betrayal. She’s simply come to the conclusion that love is a figment of the imagination, an element of fairy tales and romance novels that doesn’t relate to the real world. So along with friend and director Nick Jasenovec, she goes on a road trip through the U.S.A. talking with all kinds of peoples, getting their perceptions on this thing called love. However, once Yi meets Michael Cera (Juno), all her beliefs on love’s existence... Read more

Top Ten Holiday Movies

In the spirit of the season, the Mill Stream staff took a  poll of students’ favorite holiday movies. These ten came out on top. 1. Elf: Comedy comes to Christmas in the form of this 2003 film starring funnyman Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, a human who’s grown up an elf in the North Pole and leaves his home to reunite with his father in New York City. 2. A Christmas Story: All 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is “an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time” in this 1983... Read more

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