Esteban Gonzalez (ESTEBUENO)

My Sister`s Keeper is a very touching family drama that will bring most viewers to tears because it is a very sensitive movie (and very manipulative at times for that matter). It seems as though the main goal of this film is to bring the audience to tears and it was very effective in doing so although it isnt a dificult task because most people can relate to the subject matter: a family that has to deal with the news that their child is sick with leuscemia. It is a very touching film without a doubt and it has its moments, but this isnt as good as Cassavetes`s previous films such as The Notebook, Alpha Dog, or John Q which I enjoyed a bit more. I really liked The Notebook and found it very touching without being that manipulative. My Sisters Keeper had its up and downs. I liked the way in which the narrative was told in flashbacks through the memories of each character, although the down side of this was that it was narrated by each one of them and that put me off at time. It could have done without the narration and we would have still got the point.

The cast was pretty good and I found most performances convincing which is a must in a family drama. Many people had issues with Cameron Diaz`s performance but I found it realistic. She was playing the mother who had to look strong for her daughter in order to help her fight the cancer so yes her character seemed cold and distant, but I think that it was part of her personality as she was giving everything she had to defeat her daughter`s sickness and perhaps that`s why she was a bit distant at times and overly protective. Abigail Breslin always steals every scene she is in and she is one of the best child actors working in the film industry. She has had to play several dificult roles and this was one of them. Jason Patric played the loving father and his performance was also convincing as he managed to try to keep his family together despite the dificulties. The real star of this movie was Sofia Vassileva who played Kate, the sick daghter. The flashbacks she had and the journal she wrote were probably the most touching moments of the film. The scene where she meets Thomas Dekker`s character is perhaps one of the best scenes as we see how there relationship blossoms despite their fight against cancer. There will to go on with their lives and enjoy it despite the dificulties is probably the highlight of the movie. This family drama works because the performances are convincing and becuase we see a family that we can really relate too and sympathize with.

I thought the movie was going to go in a diferent direction when I watched the trailers, and I somehow wish it did. I thought this film was going to deal more with the moral dilemma of having a child for the sole purpose of having her donate her organs to her sick sister. I sincerely thought this was what the movie was going to focus on with Abigail Breslin searching for an attorney (played by Alec Baldwin who always puts a smile on your face when on screen) in order to fight for her right to decide over the emancipation of her body. The movie briefly tackles this subject matter but everything is left undone in middle of the court case and this is where I though the film took a downhill twist. Despite it all, I still enjoyed this intense and touching family drama although I didnt appreciate the soundtrack to much either. The movie is decent, not great but not bad either.

The wait is over for Twilight fans as the second film of the franchise is finally out and just like the first one it`s getting mixed reviews. The saga is based on Stephenie Meyer`s novel of the same name. Just like in the novel, there are going to be four parts and New Moon is the second one of the franchise. I really enjoyed the first Twilight, and thought that the action slash romance was well balanced and worked very well. When I heard Twilight was about vampires I was completely expecting it to be the typical vampire blood sucking movie, but I was suprised to see how different the film was. In New Moon I already knew what to expect, but I found it even better than the first one. I thought it had a lot more action and the addition of the werewolves was a plus because their characters were complex, interesting and it presented a whole new world that hadn`t been introduced to us yet the first time around. The romance also got better as Edward and Bella were seperated and a third character was thrown in the mix, Jacob. The friendship between Bella and Jacob and the mixed feelings of love and friendship that they felt was an interesting addition to the saga. It`s always good when in a film you have mixed feelings for which character you want him or her to end up with and in this case many of the fans were routing for a different guy and that is what explains so many status updates about Team Edward or Team Jacob.

I know this film is targeted towards teenage girls, but it has enough action and good vissual effects to be enjoyed by guys as well. I really thought the special effects were much better than in the first one and after watching 2012 I thought these effects felt cool and they just felt more real and not exagerated. The werewolf transformation scenes were pretty nice, as were the chasing scenes between werewolves and vampires. There is plenty of action for guys to enjoy as well although the first 20 minutes do feel a little cheesy. The dialogue is probably one of the weekest parts of the movie, but the story is just engaging and I guess most guys can identify with the Jacob character. We have all fallen for a girl that sees us as a friend who has always been there for her, but not as boyfriend material. Ouch. I don`t know maybe it`s just the teenage adolescent girl inside of me doing the talking. It feels kind of good of letting that repression out. The love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob was a great addition to the franchise. There were several references to Romeo and Juliet and in a way this film has several similarities to the Shakesperean play (although they could have learned a lesson or two on how to write decent dialogues that didnt feel so cheesy) because of the rivalry between two families, in this case the werewolves and the vampires and somehow Bella is caught in the middle of both worlds.

Another improvement from Twilight were the villains. Micheal Sheen was great as Aro the head vampire of the Volturi (a sort of vampire royalty), and Dakota Fanning was also creepy in her role as Jane a pain inducing illusionist. These villains made you feel like the ones in the first Twilight were a joke. Kristen Stewart is also a delight to watch on screen and she makes the love scenes work despite the bad dialogues. The chemistry between her and Pattinson really works and you can feel the sexual tension between both chracters despite the awkward long pauses and stares. Taylor Lautner plays Jacob, Bella`s best friend who is in love with her and actually is a werewolf who haunts down vampires therefore the plot thickens. The rest of the Cullin family doesnt`t have much screen time as the main focus of the film is in introducing the werewolves and building the relationship between Bella and Jacob. I really enjoyed this movie and it will probably end up in my top ten films of 2009.