Charlie St. Cloud (3.5)

A boy loses his younger brother in a car accident and has trouble moving on with his life until a girl from the past crosses paths with him again. The question as to why he survived and his brother didn't begins to re-surface along with the reason why he was given a second chance...

The twist in this movie was completely unexpected. At least for me. Takes a lot to completely surprise me, especially when a story seems as basic as this one, but alas I was pleasantly shocked with the twist.

The movie was a little campy but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Some scenes were chuckle worthy with their forced sentimentality but once you looked past that it was a decent film. I do like the story a lot, not only because I believe in the paranormal and I don't think cinema touches upon the nice sides of it enough, but because of the characters. Well, in this case, Charlie played by Zac Efron.

Okay. I will admit, I am a closet (or not so closet anymore) Efron fan. I know he is still stuck with his High School Musical fame and that people have trouble looking past that but I really think he has it in it. I think he could make films for a very long time. He needs a really serious role now, like a gangster or something. Some action flick so that I can see for sure if how I feel about him is true. He is super talented and I hope he sticks around...he also isn't bad on the eyes. Heh.

Some good scenes. Some chuckles but I really liked the main character and thought Efron did a good job. A good end of the day flick that's serious enough to make it worth your while but not too heavy to make you think too much.

...now all I want to do is go sailing.

3.5/5 ADSENSE HERE

The Girl Who Played with Fire (4)

The sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

These films are amazing. I did like the first one more, it was darker and the characters and story were completely new to me at that time, so it rocked me into space. That being said, this is one of the few occurrences when the sequel to an amazing film can hold its own. This movie was awesome.

I really liked how it just jumps right back in to the story from the end of the last one. I hate when a good 30 minute chunk of sequels are spent catching the viewer up on things they already knew (and if they didn't see the first one then they should have so too bad for them).

Noomi Rapace who plays Lisbeth is one of the best actresses out there right now. I have no idea how she does it but I'm so so so glad she does. I think I might have a girl crush on her from these films...stunning. Just, everything, awesome. I wish I was that cool.

Michael Nyqvist didn't impress me as much in this movie than in the first but I think that's just because he wasn't in it as much as the last one. Either way, he held his own but I felt something was missing this time with his character...

Great story. Great Characters. Great greatness.

If you liked the first you'll like this film. If you haven't seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo then shame on you, go watch it, then watch this movie because you'll love it.

4/5 ADSENSE HERE