Juno

"A Fresh, Unusually Intelligent Comedy" - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Review
Juno (Ellen Page) is a Mid-Western highschooler, who decides one day, out of boredom or curiosity, to have sex with with her friend Paulle Bleeker (Michael Cera), a member of her school's track team. She likes him well enough, but isn't hung up on him. This one time encounter results in Juno's pregnancy. She and her best friend Leah (Olivia Thiriby) decide to take control of the situation by browsing for prospective adoptive parents in the local Pennysaver newspaper, and Juno settles on seemingly the perfect, affluent couple mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner) who is desperate to have a child.

Juno Trailer

My rate & Comment	* * * * Actually the reason I watched this film because of Jennifer Garner on it. But then I found this movie very interesting. The story is kinda slow but its different and not boring. This movie is cool.
Directed by	Jason Reitman
Produced by	John Malkovich, Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
Written by	Diablo Cody
Starring	Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J. K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight
Release date(s)	September 1, 2007 (Telluride) December 5, 2007 (limited) December 25, 2007 (wide)
Genre	Comedy - Drama
Running time	96 min.
Country	Canada United States
Language	English
Budget	$6.5 million
Gross revenue	$229,911,304

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Minnesotan high-schooler Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers she is pregnant with a child fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). While at first she intends to have an abortion, she changes her mind and decides to make a plan for the child's adoption. With the help of her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver and finds a couple she feels will provide a suitable home.

Along with her father, Mac (J. K. Simmons), Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), in their expensive home and expresses a desire for a closed adoption.

Vanessa is extremely anxious around Juno and their initial interactions are uneasy. However, Juno and Leah happen to see Vanessa in a shopping mall being completely at ease with a child, and Juno encourages Vanessa to talk to Juno's baby in the womb, where it obligingly kicks for her. On the other hand, Juno more easily forms a friendship with Mark, with whom she shares tastes in punk rock and horror films. Mark, who has set aside his rock band youth (now confined to memorabilia displayed in the one room of the house allowed him by Vanessa), works at home composing commercial jingles. Juno hangs out with Mark a few times, ignoring a warning from her stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) that she should not spend time alone with a married man.

As the pregnancy progresses, Juno struggles with the emotions she feels for her baby's father, Paulie, who is clearly—although passively—in love with Juno. Juno maintains an outwardly indifferent attitude toward Paulie, but when she learns he has asked another girl to the prom, she is hurt and angrily confronts him. Paulie reminds Juno that it is at her request they remain distant and tells her that she broke his heart. He also suggests that she has feelings for him she is unable to admit.

Not long before her baby is due, Juno is again visiting with Mark when their interaction becomes strongly emotional. Mark then tells her that he will be leaving Vanessa. Vanessa arrives home, and, to her shock, Mark tells her he does not feel ready to be a father and that there are still things he wants to do first—dreams Vanessa does not share. Juno watches the Loring marriage fall apart, then drives away and cries by the side of the road before coming to a decision. Returning to the Lorings' home, she leaves a note.

After a heartfelt discussion with Mac, Juno accepts that she loves Paulie. Juno then tells Paulie that she loves him, and Paulie's actions make it clear that her feelings are reciprocated. At his track meet, when Paulie notices Juno is not in the stands and realizes she must be in labor, he rushes to the hospital to be with her (she had not told him because she did not want him to miss the meet). He arrives to find Juno has given birth, and comforts Juno as she cries. Vanessa comes to the hospital where she joyfully claims the newborn boy as a single adoptive mother. On the wall in the baby's new nursery, Vanessa has framed Juno's note—addressed only to her—which reads "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. —Juno."

The film ends in the summertime with Juno and Paulie playing guitar and singing together, followed by a kiss.

Plot source: Wiki

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

"A Rush of Non-Stop Action!" - Lou Lumenic, New York Post

Review:
The film start five days after the end of the Civil War. When a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth surfaces, Bens great-great grand father is suddenly implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincolns death. Determined to prove his ancestors innocence, Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him ancestor’s innocence, Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America. This journey leads Ben and his crew not only to surprising revelations - but to the trail of the world’s most treasured secrets.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

My rate & Comment	* * * * Its all like puzzle even not so much like the first. Just more action. Entertaining :)
Directed by	Jon Turteltaub
Produced by	Jon Turteltaub Jerry Bruckheimer
Written by	Story: Gregory Poirier, Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott Screenplay: Marianne Wibberley & Cormac Wibberley
Starring	Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	December 21, 2007
Genre	Action
Running time	125 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$130,000,000
Gross revenue	$457,363,168

Plot
Five days after the end of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth and Michael O'Laughlen, both members of the KGC, enter a tavern and approach Thomas Gates (Ben Gates' great-great-grandfather). They produce a diary containing an encrypted message, and entice Thomas, a well-known puzzle solver, to decode it. Thomas recognizes the message as using the Playfair cipher and begins to translate it. While he does so, Booth leaves for Ford's Theatre to assassinate President Lincoln. Thomas solves the puzzle, a clue to a treasure map, and realizes the men are still loyal to the Confederate cause and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure. Unfortunately, he realizes this too late. O'Laughlen pulls a gun on him, threatening to shoot him if he does not hand over the diary, however he is distracted from Thomas when chaos erupts in the bar over news of Lincoln's assassination. Thomas rips several pages from the diary and throws them in the fireplace. The gunman shoots him and attempts to retrieve the pages, only succeeding in saving a fragment of a page. The dying Thomas gasps, "The war is over," but the man disagrees, stating, "You're wrong about that, the war has only just begun," and rushes from the bar. As he lies dying, Thomas tells his distraught son, Charles Gates, "The debt that all men pay…"

Over 140 years later, Ben Gates is telling his great-great-grandfather's story at a conference on Civilian Heroes to great acclaim until black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson shows one of the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, with Thomas Gates' name on it, convincing everyone that Thomas was not only a conspirator, but the grand architect of the Lincoln assassination. Ben sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great-grandfather.

Using spectral imaging, Ben discovers a cipher pointing to Édouard Laboulaye hidden on the back of the diary page. He travels to Paris, where he finds a cryptic clue engraved on the torch of the scale model of the Statue of Liberty on the Île des Cygnes in Paris, referring to the two Resolute desks. Ben heads to Buckingham Palace, seeking out the closer of the two desks. With the help of his friend Riley Poole and estranged girlfriend, Abigail Chase, he is able to sneak into the Queen's office to find an ancient wooden plank hidden in the desk. He is then pursued by Wilkinson, who, having broken into his father Patrick Gates' house, has cloned Patrick's cell phone in order to track Ben's whereabouts. Wilkinson eventually obtains the piece, but not before Ben manages to photograph the symbols carved into the plank.

At Ben's insistence, Patrick reluctantly asks his ex-wife, Dr. Emily Appleton, a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, for help in translating the mysterious glyphs. She does so, but points out that some of the glyphs are partial, leading Ben to conclude another plank must be hidden in the other Resolute desk, which is located in the Oval Office. With the unknowing help of Abigail's new love interest, who works for the White House, Ben and Abigail coax their way into the office to see the desk, where Ben discovers that the second plank is missing. However, he does find a stamp bearing the seal of the Book of Secrets. According to Riley, the Book of Secrets contains documents collected by Presidents for Presidents' eyes only, covering such controversial subjects as the JFK assassination, Watergate, and Area 51.

To find the location of the book, Ben manipulates the President's staff into moving his birthday party to Mount Vernon by booking all of the other approved locations. When Ben sneaks into the party, he convinces the President to follow him into a secret tunnel under the House where he confronts him about the book; the President sympathetically warns Ben that his actions will be interpreted as an attempt to kidnap the President, confirming a conclusion Ben and his companions have already reached; Ben is now wanted for committing a federal offense. Appealing to the President's well-known love for history, Ben convinces the President to reveal the location of the book (which turns out to be in the Library of Congress). The President also tells him to read page 47 as well as the information he needs. In the book, Ben finds a picture of the missing plank from the desk and an entry by President Coolidge, who found it in 1924, had it destroyed, and comissioned Gutzon Borglum to carve Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks in order to protect the treasure.

At Mount Rushmore, Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick meet Mitch, who has kidnapped Ben's mother. Mitch provides a clue to the entrance of a cave containing the legendary native American city of gold, Cíbola. Despite several traps they manage to find the city, but rising flood waters force them to leave. In the last room before the exit, a mechanism requires one person to stay behind while the others could leave. Mitch forces everyone to let him go first by threatening to kill Abigail with a knife, and a terrified Ben agrees to stay behind. However, rising water forces Mitch to be the last person left. Ben tries to help him out, but Mitch cannot come to Ben without the door closing.

Mitch decides to sacrifice himself and allow the others to escape the flooding cavern, and Ben agrees to give him credit for finding the treasure. Ben clears his family's name with the discovery and is cleared of all charges when the President tells everyone that Ben saved his life after the door to the tunnel closed accidentally. Ben also ensures Mitch receives joint credit for the find. The President then asks Ben about what he read on page 47 of the Book of Secrets, to which Ben states that it is "life altering".

Source: Wiki

We Own The Night

"A tense, terrifically action dazzler" Peter Travers, Rollong Stone

Review
Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) has turned his back on the family business. The popular manager of El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, he has changed his last name and concealed his connection to a long line of distinguished New York cops. For Bobby, every night is a party, as he greets friends and customers or dancers with his beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend, Amanda (Eva Mendes), in a haze of cigarete smoke and disco music.

But it's 1988, and New York City's drug trade is escalating. Bobby tries to keep a friendly distance from the Russian gangster who is operating out of the nightclub a gangster who is being targeted by his brother, Joseph (Mark Wahlberg), an up-and-coming NTPD officer, and his father, Burt (Robert Duvall), the legendary deputy chief of police.

We Own The Night Trailer

My rate & Comment	* * * * Great movie about New York police vs gangster.
Directed by	James Gray
Produced by	Marc Butan, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Nick Wechsler
Written by	James Gray
Starring	Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall
Distributed by	Flag of the United States Columbia Pictures Flag of Australia Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 12, 2007
Genre	Action
Running time	117 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget
Gross revenue

Plot
The film is set in Brooklyn, New York from November 1988 through early April 1989. Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is the manager of the very successful El Caribe nightclub in Brighton Beach that is frequented by Russian gangster and drug lord Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov).

Bobby has distanced himself from his police chief father Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and his police captain brother Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg), preferring to remain on the sidelines and enjoy a hedonistic life with his girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes). When police forces led by Joseph make a raid on Bobby's nightclub, hoping to net Vadim, Bobby refuses to cooperate. The incident strains his relationship with his father and brother even more, to the point that he and Joseph exchange blows.

The police are unsuccessful in capturing Vadim, who decides to retaliate. At 5:43 pm on the evening of November 24, 1988, Joseph is shot by a masked assailant, and his 1988 Ford LTD Crown Victoria police cruiser firebombed. Joseph survives the ambush, but the extent of the injury requires him to be hospitalized for months. Bobby visits his brother in the hospital and, undergoing a change of heart, resolves to help his father and the police. Despite Burt's apprehension, Bobby goes undercover inside Vadim's drug-smuggling operation. Bobby and Amada are placed under constant police protection and their relationship begins to deteriorate.

On February 20, 1989, Vadim escapes custody while being transported to a hospital. The police prepare to move Bobby and Amada to a new location. During a white-knuckle car chase in a blinding thunderstorm, the police convoy is intercepted by Vadim's men and Burt is killed.

To avenge his father, Bobby decides to officially join the police force without the consent of Amada, who leaves him. Bobby and his brother Joseph work together to organize a final sting operation, set for April 3, 1989. During a raid, Joseph is emotionally paralyzed by the memory of his shooting. Bobby ends up hunting down Vadim by himself. The film ends on November 3, 1989, exactly a year after the film's opening with Bobby graduating the NYPD Police Academy to become a full-time police officer, and still grieving over the loss of Amada.

Death Sentence (2007)

".. brutal and satisfying..." USA Today Claudia Puig

Review
If I didn't read the review first and just following the first scene.. I would not think this gonna be a brutal action thriller. When a family falls victim to a vicious attack perpetrated as a gang initiation ritual, the vengeful father vows to tract down each person involved in the crime in Saw director James Wan and screenwriter Ian Jeffers feature adaptation of author Brian Garfield's original novel. Aisha Tyler co-stars as the sympathetic homicide detective who questions her pledge to assist Bacon's character after suspecting that he may have turned to murder as a means of exacting his revenge.

My rate & Comment	* * * * Violent .. but also emotional. Its kinda predictable but still entertaining.
Directed by	James Wan
Produced by	Ashok Amritraj, Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin
Written by	Screenplay: Ian Jeffers, Brian Garfield (uncredited) Novel: Brian Garfield
Starring	Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Jordan Garrett, Stuart Lafferty, Aisha Tyler, John Goodman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	August 31, 2007
Genre	Thriller
Running time	110 min.
Country	United State
Language	English
Budget
Gross revenue	$9,109,405

Death Sentence (2007) Trailer



Plot
The story revolves around Nick Hume, a loving husband and father of two sons, Brendan and Luke. After a hockey game, Nick and his oldest son Brendan are driving home and flash their headlights at two passing cars with their headlights off. They then make a quick stop at a gas station to get some fuel. While Brendan is getting a smoothie inside, the two cars they passed earlier, containing gang members about to rob the gas station, arrive. The station owner reaches for his gun, but is spotted by one of the gang members and shot to death. It is then revealed that a new gang member named Joe must prove himself to "become a man", so he slits Brendan's throat with a machete. Nick attempts to ambush the thugs, and manages to tackle Joe, who was making his escape out of the gas station. Nick pulls off Joe's mask and sees his face, but the murderer escapes and is hit, albeit not killed, by a car. Nick rushes Brendan to the hospital, but he later dies from major blood loss.

Nick later discovers that, if the case goes to court at all, Joe will only get a maximum of a few years in jail for his crime, so he forces the police to drop the case, deeming it a waste of time. Joe, now a free man, becomes the target of Nick's revenge and is eventually stabbed by the enraged father.

The gang, led by Joe's older brother Billy, wants revenge for the murder of one of their own. The gang attempts to, and almost succeeds in killing Nick, but he is able to escape while killing one in the process. The police, aware of what is happening, do not take Nick into custody, but grant him protection. The officers watching over the house of the Humes are killed, and the gang members make their way inside, where they shoot Nick, his wife Helen, and his other son Luke.

Nick survives, and learns that Luke did too. After paying a short visit to his son, who is in a coma, Nick escapes from the hospital to go after the remaining gang members. He pays a visit to a person named Bones, a gun shop owner and buys a .357 Magnum revolver, a Colt .45 pistol, and a double barrel shotgun. It is revealed that Bones is the father of Billy and Joe, but Bones allows Nick to carry on with his plans anyway. When Bones attempts to warn Billy of Nick's plans, he is shot and killed by his own son.

Later, when Billy arrives at the gang's meeting place, dubbed the Office, it turns out Nick is already there, and has killed some of the gang members. A fire fight breaks out, but ends when Nick and Billy both run out of bullets. They sit next to each other and Billy tells Nick to realize the murderer he has become. Nick then pulls another gun from his jacket and asks Billy if he's ready. Billy responds with a sigh. The next shot shows Nick walking out of the building, implying that he just killed Billy.

When Nick arrives at his house, he turns on the TV to watch the videos of his family. The police arrive and tell him that his son started moving, and that he'll probably make it through. Nick shows a sign of relief and looks back to the TV. It shows Luke, Helen, Nick and Brendan singing on the couch.

Butterfly on A Wheel

"a good movie coming your way" - E!Online

Review
Neil and Abby Warner have the perfect life and a perfect marriage. With their beautiful young daughter, Sophie, they are living the American dream... until today. When Sophie is suddenly kidnapped, they have no choice but to comply with the abductors demands.

The kidnapped - Ryan (Pierce Brosnan), a cold and calculating sociopath takes over their lives with the brutal efficiency of someone who has nothing to lose. In the blink of an eye Neil and Abby's safe and secure existence is turned upside down.

Butterfly on A Wheel Trailer

My rate & Comment	* * * * How come Pierce Brosnan can be a bad guy.. ? watch it and you will know. So entertaining.
Directed by	Mike Barker
Produced by	William Morrissey, David Valleau, Beau St. Clair
Written by	William Morrissey
Starring	Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello, Gerard Butler, Callum Keith Rennie
Distributed by	Icon Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment
Release date(s)	August, 2007
Genre	Drama, Thriller
Running time	98 Min.
Country	United Kingdom, Canada
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Gross revenue

Plot
Chicago residents Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) and his wife, Abby Randall (Maria Bello) have the perfect life and a perfect marriage. With their beautiful young daughter, Sophie, they are living the American dream... until today.

When Sophie is suddenly kidnapped, they have no choice but to comply with the abductor's demands. The kidnapper, Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan), a cold and calculating sociopath, takes over their lives with the brutal efficiency of someone who has nothing to lose. In the blink of an eye Neil and Abby's safe and secure existence is turned upside down.


Over the next twenty-four hours they are at the mercy of a man who wants only one thing: that they do his bidding. It soon becomes clear that Ryan's demands are all the more terrifying because he doesn't want their money.

What he wants is for Neil and Abby's life, the life that they have built over 10 years, to be systematically dismantled and destroyed, piece by piece.

With time running out on their little girl, Neil and Abby realize their nightmare is just about to begin. They will have to submit to Ryan's challenges over the next 24 hour period.

How far will they go to save the life of their child? - would they kill an innocent man to save their own child? In the far distance a solitary light burns in the window of a lodge as the car glides to a halt - and Neil knows it is a question only he can answer - when Ryan hands him the gun…

August Rush

An incredible journey moving at the speed of sound

Review
The story of a charismatic young Irish guitarist and a sheltered young cellist who have a chance encounter one magical night above New York's Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, August Rush, orphaned by circumstance. Now performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger, August uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth.

August Rush Trailer

My rate & Comment	* * * * This movie is sweet, sentimental and also entertaining.
Directed by	Kirsten Sheridan
Produced by	Richard Barton Lewis
Written by	Nick Castle James V. Hart Paul Castro
Starring	Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams, Terrence Howard, William Sadler, Alex O'Loughlin
Distributed by	Warner Bross
Release date(s)	November 21, 2007
Genre	Drama
Running time	113 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Gross revenue	$65,278,570 (worldwide)

Plot
A boy named Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) lives in an orphanage, all the while believing that his parents are alive. He believes the music that he hears all around him is his parents communicating with him. He meets a counselor, Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard), of the New York Child Services Department. Evan tells him he does not want to be adopted, because he believes his parents are still alive and will come to collect him eventually.

Through a series of flashbacks, his parents are revealed to be named Lyla Novacek, (Keri Russell), a famous concert cellist, and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer of a rock band, who spent one romantic night together and never saw each other again. Lyla became pregnant, which her father did not approve of, instead wanting Lyla to have a successful career without the obstacle of a child. After an argument with her father, Lyla ran out of a restaurant and was hit by a car. While in hospital, she gave birth to a son. Afterwards, she was told by her father that her child had died, unaware that he had actually been delivered successfully and then been sent to an orphanage by her father.

Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore)

Evan has a strong faith that as long as he follows the music he hears and reacts to it, he will have a chance to be found by his parents. He makes his way to New York City, where he is taken in by a man known as "Wizard" (Robin Williams), who houses various orphans and runaways, employing them to play music on the streets and taking a large cut of their tips. Evan immediately proves to be a musical child prodigy. Wizard enlists him and gives him the name "August Rush", convincing him he will be sent back to the orphanage if his real name is ever discovered.

Lyla only discovers that her son is alive when her father, knowing that he is dying, confesses what actually happened. Lyla immediately sets out to New York to look for her 11-year-old son.

Louis has never forgotten Lyla and does not know about Evan. Both have since given up music careers.

After a raid by the police, Evan takes refuge in a church, where he again impresses with his natural musical talent and is enrolled at the Juilliard School as "August Rush." A work he composes is chosen to be performed by the New York Philharmonic in Central Park, but Wizard barges into a rehearsal, and Evan reluctantly follows him back to his life of performing music on the streets.

Meanwhile, Lyla has discovered Evan's identity and has decided to stay in New York while searching for her son. While there, she decides to resume her cello career. She is then chosen to play in the same concert, which features Evan's piece. Louis, being wrongly told that Lyla has since married, also returns to New York to resume playing with his former band. He has a chance meeting with Evan in Washington Square Park and they play music together, although neither knows who the other is.

Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell)

The night of the concert, Evan finally chooses to run from Wizard in favor of performing at his concert. In the meantime, Louis races to the park when he sees Evan's pseudonym along with Lyla's name on a sign billing the concert. Evan conducts his piece, and at its conclusion, he turns around to see Lyla and Louis standing hand in hand, and he finally makes the connection that they are his parents.
Source: Wiki