Watchmen

- by Ann Marie

"Watchmen" takes place in 1985 America when costumed superheroes are part of everyday society. All of a sudden one former superhero is murdered and vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) puts himself on the mission to figure out who is killing off the superheroes. Rorschach hunts down and reunites with his retired colleagues. These superheroes learn about their pasts and about their importance in society.

The cast for this film was quite fascinating. For one the cast didn't consist of any A-list actors. In this film was Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson and other actors. Many times the acting in these films do not match up very well, but the acting "Watchmen" worked for this cast.

"Watchmen" though had many scenes that were disjointed at times and a storyline that was quite long, did have some very creative scenes. The camera work was beautiful in the fight scenes. The camera flowed in the scenes with a good mix of tight close ups to panning shots. The fight scenes also had a mixture of slow motion to quick motion cuts. This allowed for a high intensity feeling in each fight scene. Another fascinating technique used was the use of high crane type shots. The camera would be on a character than zoom and pull away from the character showing a birds eye view, but keeping the conversations audio levels the same.

Director Zack Snyder is fairly new to directing films, but is known for "Dawn of the Dead" and "300." The viewer can see Snyder's techniques throughout the film especially from his former film "300."

"Watchmen" is recommended for anyone who is into action packed films, comic books fans or knowns the 'Watchmen' series.

Body of Lies

-by Ann Marie

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe work together to take on a gang placing bombs throughout Europe.

"Body of Lies" follows the storyline of a CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), stationed in the Middle East following orders from Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Ferris works with Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) to track down the cleric who is placing bombs all over Europe. The whole plan causes Ferris to learn more about the organization then he knew.

The cast consisted of DiCaprio and Crowe, both had a great working relationship on the screen. Strong was also another major actor on the screen and interacted with both DiCaprio and Crowe. The cast was fluent throughout the film.

"Body of Lies" contained many subuded colored shots during the action shots. One that stands is when Ferris is being tortured. The scene has a dim shaded coloring the film, there is very little light used and shadows over faces are great. This gives the viewer an understanding that Ferris has gotten himself into trouble.

Director Ridley Scott has done many action packed films throughout his career. He is famous for "Gladiator," "Hannibal," "Black Hawk Down," "Matchstick Men" and "American Gangster." He is also known for "Thelma and Louise," "Legend" and "Blade Runner."

I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a Crowe or DiCaprio or action genre film fan.