• An experimental drug gives a writer (Bradley Cooper) extraordinary mental abilities.
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• A man (Matt Damon) battles the agents of Fate to be with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loves.
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• A traumatized young girl escapes into an imaginary world where she must steal five objects before an evil man captures her.
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• Greg and his older brother try to survive their parents’ attempts to have them bond.
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• A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

• A traumatized young girl escapes into an imaginary world where she must steal five objects before an evil man captures her.
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• Greg and his older brother try to survive their parents’ attempts to have them bond.
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• Two British comic-geeks encounter an alien outside Area 51.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

• Two British comic-geeks encounter an alien outside Area 51.
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• A tech-savvy Earthman and a rebel Martian join a boy’s quest to rescue his kidnapped mother.
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• A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
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• A woman (Amanda Seyfried) learns that she has a connection to the werewolf tormenting her village.
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• A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles.
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• After a spurned classmate curses him, a teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
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• A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
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• An experimental drug gives a writer (Bradley Cooper) extraordinary mental abilities.
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• A man (Matt Damon) battles the agents of Fate to be with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loves.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

Blue Valentine is a raw film about the turbulent breakdown of a marriage after only a few years. It’s not a film i’d recommend seeing after a break-up as its subject matter may hit home a little too hard. It shows a couple who have come to resent eachother and can no longer communicate unless they are arguing, but who are attempting to hold it together for the sake of their child. It’s a familiar story, but i’ve never seen it done on screen before in such an up close and personal way.

In Blue Valentine, the husband Dean(Ryan Gosling) makes a last ditched attempt to rekindle the romance in his dying marriage by convincing his reluctant wife Cindy(Michelle Williams) to spend a night with him in a cheap motel. The motel scenes are extremely uncomfortable to watch, and are so intense that you feel like you’re invading a couple’s personal space by watching them. This feeling of discomfort reflects the way Cindy now feels about Dean; she recoils when he tries to touch her and does not want to be alone with him. The physical intimacy they once shared is now all but completely gone.

The film cuts from the present motel scenes to the past, showing how Cindy and Dean met and got together. Their budding romance is nearly cut short when Cindy announces she is pregnant with her ex boyfriend’s child. Dean offers to bring the child up as his own and proposes to Cindy. As a result, they marry and find themselves tied down and settled with a child before they really even know eachother.

The audience are not shown what has happened in the intervening years for the couple, but there is no need. It’s clear from their current feelings for one another that things went downhill for them the moment they got married before they were really ready. A lot of the film is shot using a handheld camera which refelcts the turbulent and unstable nature of their relationship, as well as the dysfunctional nature of the characters.

The familiar story is what I found most disturbing about Blue Valentine, as it was very easy to see why the couple did rush into things and it was not obvious that they were making a mistake. Their actions seem like a logical response to the situation they have found themselves in, and this makes the resulting breakdown of their marriage more heartbreaking and relatable.

The performances by the two leads are superb. They convincingly portray the raw emotions of a desperate couple who have come to the end of the line in their relationship. I was really hoping Michelle Williams would get an oscar for this, but Natalie Portman pipped her to the post. My only complaint regarding Gosling’s performance is that sometimes he seemed to be trying too hard and he didn’t fall into the role quite as naturally as Williams did.

Blue Valentine is a raw film that makes for uncomfortable viewing. It’s definitely not a date movie, but if you can handle the intensity it contains and don’t mind the discomfort, then it’s definitely one to watch.

Starring: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling

Dir: Derek Cianfrance

• A woman (Amanda Seyfried) learns that she has a connection to the werewolf tormenting her village.
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• Two garden gnomes try to avoid tragedy and find a happy ending to their star-crossed love affair.
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• A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
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• A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles.
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• Two men get permission from their wives to spend one week doing whatever they please.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

• A man (Matt Damon) battles the agents of Fate to be with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loves.
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• Two men get permission from their wives to spend one week doing whatever they please.
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• A woman (Amanda Seyfried) learns that she has a connection to the werewolf tormenting her village.
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• An Australian actor tries to help England’s Prince Albert overcome a speech impediment.
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• A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
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• A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles.
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• After a spurned classmate curses him, a teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

Many, many years ago, this website was started to exchange movie opinions among a group of friends. We’d recommending hidden gems, and warn against rotten apples. Today, it’s time to do that once again, because I Am Number Four is such a terrible abomination that I feel compelled to warn you about it. Don’t go see it. Save the money and go do something fun instead. I wish I had.

Normally, I’d try to do a full review, explaining the movie’s plot, giving you details about acting performances, the works. But in this case, it’s all utter crap. Well, except for the cinematography perhaps. The movie looks okay. So do some of the effects. The irritating teenage brats playing the lead parts are all photographed very well. Teen hormones will likely be stirred.

I Am Number Four tells the story of a bunch of alien kids on Earth that are being hunted down by other aliens for no apparent reason. There may be more details in the book this movie was based on, but without them, the whole thing doesn’t make any sense. Why, for instance, would the guardian sent with each kid fight using a knife, when the evil “Mogadorians” (really, they’re called that) have plasma guns? And since when is escaping lethal enemies suddenly not important any more when there’s a pretty girl in town?

Halfway through the movie, my friend and I were making jokes about the ridiculous romantic plot, the costumes, the flashlight hands (worst superpower ever) and the overwhelming number of sci-fi cliches. We had contemplated leaving the theatre, but it seemed like there would be more action in the second half. I Am Number Four was produced by Michael Bay after all, so more stuff was bound to be blown up. And indeed there was. But it didn’t help.

• Two men get permission from their wives to spend one week doing whatever they please.
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• A coma patient (Liam Neeson) awakes and finds that his wife does not recognize him.
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• After a spurned classmate curses him, a teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
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• John (Alex Pettyfer) is an extraordinary young man. Three like him have already been killed…he is Number Four.
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• A man (Matt Damon) battles the agents of Fate to be with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loves.
  #
• A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
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• A man enlists the help of a woman and her kids to land the woman of his dreams.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

• The young singer rises from street performer in his Ontario hometown to worldwide superstardom.
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• Two garden gnomes try to avoid tragedy and find a happy ending to their star-crossed love affair.
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• A man enlists the help of a woman and her kids to land the woman of his dreams.
  #
• Two men get permission from their wives to spend one week doing whatever they please.
  #
• A coma patient (Liam Neeson) awakes and finds that his wife does not recognize him.
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• After a spurned classmate curses him, a teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
  #
• John (Alex Pettyfer) is an extraordinary young man. Three like him have already been killed…he is Number Four.
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• A man (Matt Damon) battles the agents of Fate to be with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loves.
  #
• A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
  #
• An Australian actor tries to help England’s Prince Albert overcome a speech impediment.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office

• A man enlists the help of a woman and her kids to land the woman of his dreams.
  #
• The young singer rises from street performer in his Ontario hometown to worldwide superstardom.
  #
• A coma patient (Liam Neeson) awakes and finds that his wife does not recognize him.
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• A brutal felon (Nicolas Cage) breaks out of hell to save his grandchild from bloodthirsty cultists.
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• Two garden gnomes try to avoid tragedy and find a happy ending to their star-crossed love affair.
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• Two men get permission from their wives to spend one week doing whatever they please.
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• Malcolm Turner and his stepson go under cover at an all-girls school to find a killer.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office