The Book of Eli

-by Ann Marie
Do you believe? You might be saying yes after seeing this movie.

"The Book of Eli" is about a man on a mission. Civilization has been destroyed except for the few that have survived. People are living off of items, in today's world many people would take for granted. Eli (Denzel Washington) carries a sacred book that holds the secrets behind saving the civilization. Along his journey Eli meets Solara (Mila Kunis), Claudia (Jennifer Beals), Carnegie (Gary Oldman) and Redridge (Ray Stevenson). The film is action-packed, spiritual bound and contains a twist at the end that most can't see coming.

Denzel Washington captures the screen, his character is mysterious, spiritual and has ninja skills when cornered by street gangs. Joining him on screen is Mila Kunis, many people know her from "Family Guy," the voice of Meg Griffin and she also was on "That 70s Show" where she played Jackie Burkhart. Other big players on the screen is Jennifer Beals, Gary Oldman and Ray Stevenson. The acting was superb as the audience can see how people's lives are changed after the post apocalyptic event.

The editing of "The Book of Eli" is very detailed oriented and intricately planned. As the film starts the camera stays in a pan as the audience sees first a gun, then a dead body and a cat. They hear heavy breathing and then see a man with a gas mask on release the bow and arrow. The arrow flies through the air, slows down and then returns back to normal hitting the cat. This sequence is just one of the many great techniques used throughout the film. Even the fight scenes are done with finesse. In one scene when Eli is being attacked, the camera backs up and the characters are now shown as silhouettes. Lastly, the film uses the sky as a effect wipe to help advance or change scenes of characters.

Directed by Allen and Albert Hughes, these brothers are known for working together. They have worked on films such as "From Hell," "Dead Presidents" and "Menace II Society."

I would recommend this film to everyone. This film has it all and an added bonus is people who are fans of Denzel Washington.

Sherlock Holmes

-by Ann Marie

Cocky, logical and charming all characteristics of Sherlock Holmes.

"Sherlock Holmes" brings out the children in everyone by following Detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) as they work together to outwit nemesis, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Watson and Holmes work together, even though Watson talks about leaving and starting his life with his fiancee. This film has drama, action and conflict.

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law join together on screen and bring a book series to life. These two actors worked well on screen. Downey's name has been popping up in trailers more as audience have seen him in many films such as "Iron Man," "The Soloist" and Downey will be continuing his role as Tony Stark in "Iron Man 2" and "The Avengers." Jude Law, Downey's on screen partner hasn't been on screen for two years and now besides joining the screen with Downey will also star in "Rage" and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," one of the last movies Heath Ledger did besides "The Dark Knight." Joining them in this film was Mark Strong and Rachel McAdams.

"Sherlock Holmes" had fascinating editing. There were multiple times when Holmes was taking down an enemy and the audience would enter Holmes's way of thinking and see the repercussions of what happens when an enemy is struck. This editing was slow as Holmes explains with a voice over, then the audience is brought back to real time as Holmes performs the actions he described earlier. Establishing shots were used to help the audience know when they were entering back into Holmes's house. The edits were clean and very challenging. They helped advance the story instead of hindering the plot.

Guy Ritchie directed the film and will be working on a sequel which has not been named yet. Ritchie has directed other films such as "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," "Snatch" and currently working on "Gamekeeper."

This film is great for anyone who is a fan of Downey or Law or just loves a good action packed film.

Julie and Julia

-by Ann Marie

Bon Appetit or was it.

"Julie and Julia" follows the storyline of two people, Julia Childs (Meryl Streep), a renown french cook and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a failed novelist. Julia's story works her way through writing her first book about french cooking. On the other hand, Julie cooks and blogs her way through Julia's cookbook. There are many funny parts throughout the film, where Julia wants to become a french cook and takes classes with a bunch of male chefs. Also the audience gets to see what Julie is writing in her blog about the different receipes she is cooking. However, the movie seems to fail for an ending. Although many will disagree with me on this point, the ending didn't grab my attention and I was rather disappointed.

The acting thoughout the film was very well done. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep always have a great performance on screen. Streep has been very famous for her many different roles in such movies as "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Doubt." Amy Adams started off in television and has been in many different television series, but has been making her way onto the big screen with movies such as "The Wedding Date," "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and even sharing the screen with Streep in "Doubt." Also in this movie is Stanley Tucci who has joined Streep on screen in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." Tucci plays Streep's husband, Paul Child.

"Julie and Julia" was done with simple edits throughout the movie. There were many establishing shots to help the audience understand which character the audience is watching. The movie was completely simple even in the sense of each character's outfits. The movie's construction was perfectly done.

This movie was directed by Nora Ephron and based off the novel written by Julie Powell. Ephron is famous for other movies she has done such as "Bewitched," "You've Got Mail," "Michael" and a classic that is shown on television, "Sleepless in Seattle."

"Julie and Julia" is a great movie for anyone who wants to see the life of Julia Childs and how a young woman was inspired by her french cookbook.