Chronicle is  about how three high school friends living in Seattle choose to handle their newfound telekinetic powers after coming in contact with an alien substance they find in a crater in the middle of the woods. It is a fictionalized found footage film that relies only on shots obtained from security cameras and the cameras that the characters operate themselves. Even though it is a sci-fi film, it is very much grounded in reality, presupposing that having the ability to move things with one's mind is actually possible.

    Because of the sheer amount of superhero and found footage films that have come out in recent years, there has been a lot of unfounded backlash towards Chronicle from people who havent seen it yet, because they assume that the movie is simply slapping the two premises together as if they were cheap gimmicks instead of interesting plot devices, that when used correctly, can really elevate a relatively simple story. By going the found footage route, the cinematography is nowhere near Spielberg levels, but that doesn't matter because it allows for some amazing special effects to be pulled off on an insanely cheap 15 million dollar budget. As with any Hollywood movie set in a high school, it can be hard to look past the fact that the baby-faced  actors have a median age of 24 and they all talk in short witty sentences, but that's what the CW Network has programmed us to believe it's like nowadays. I graduated almost a decade ago, so maybe I'm just out of the loop and all teenagers actually are annoyingly moody and constantly updating the world about their boring lives on some blog.

    Even though it can be difficult to relate to these basic high school stereotypes at first, the movie takes its time with letting us get to know the three main characters and understand the bond between them as we watch them go through this incredible transformation. Eventually you do see that each one does have their own personality and flaws that make you care about them. But what really makes us connect on a more visceral level is the fact that at some point, all of us have imagined what it would be like to get a standing ovation at the school talent show, levitate off the ground and fly through the clouds, or more importantly, make a girl's skirt fly up without her ever knowing it was you that made it happen. Surprisingly, all of these quick scenes of self discovery are quite touching, and at times, pretty funny.

    The tone of the film can change quickly because there is supposed to be no editing and each scene is just another piece of footage shoved right up against the next one, so it can be jarring when the movie goes from hilarious to fairly scary, but that is part of the magic of using this story telling device. There is no music to let the audience know how they should feel and it is almost impossible not to become obsessed with thinking about the imaginary person who put the film together and how they got the footage. I highly recommend that you relax and trust that the real life filmmakers have worked hard to make sure they are going to give you an entertaining ride and any plot holes have been taken care of.
 
    Chronicle may not be a non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end like Cloverfield was, but the pacing gives us the time to get to know and genuinely like these guys before taking a very dark turn towards an incredibly satisfying and action packed ending. And trust me, even though it is only 83 minutes long, it will only take the final 20 minutes to convince you it was worth your money.

Joseph Vosevich
Saint Louis, Missouri

The Grey is a very suspenseful, "keep you on the edge of your seat and be ready to cover your eyes" movie. Quiet scenes with a lot of beautiful scenery interspersed with bloody feeding of wolves. Not for the squeamish; but a lot of thought-provoking drama for the Liam Neilson fan!

Nancy Hallock
Linthicum, Maryland

This was such a beautiful movie. It showed the love of a father and son, the joy that discovery could bring - whether it was discovering something you were looking for, discovering something you lost, or discovering something that you never knew was already there. I would recommend this movie to everyone and it deserves any awards it gets.

JImmy Rone
Mount Juliet, Tennessee

Excellent movie! Red Tails was educational and suspenseful. This movie will make you desire to open a history book or Google search the actual story of the Tuskegee Airmen. A definite must see!

Chephon Morrison
Springfield, Illinois

 I was very disappointed in the film quality. I went in with high expectations and walked out feeling like I had paid to watch someone's home movie. I expected more. This movie was formatted similar to the Blair Witch movies. I did not like those movies either. I would not have paid to see this movie, if I would have known this prior to arriving at the theatre. However, I would watch the film, again, on tv or on video for some of the scenes.

Roxzanne Richards~Davidson
Hendersonville, North Carolina

Good movie; George Clooney portral of the loving husband and father is great.  Bring the tissues, but is a great movie on life and the real deal.  So many of the scenes reminded me of family members and dealing with real life.

Melisa Smith
Tallahassee Florida

Excellent!  A true insight into how our government works - J Edgar was a man who set a high standard for others as well as himself - a lesson here to be learned.

Carol Baublitz
Westminster, Maryland

I really enjoyed this movie.  It was packed with Tremendous action and GREAT Special Effects. Mickey Rourke was superb at being the "Guy You Love to HATE!!

Martha Agnew
3725 North 36th Street

The kind of subjects director Tarsem Singh picks allows him to imbue his canvas and characters with a sense of monumentality that is becoming rare in cinema.

Whether it is The Cell or The Fall, they are treated like epics. His latest, Immortals, is brutal, engaging and ironically savage given that it depicts a social order in which the gods of Greek mythology disembark for a feast of Mahabharata-style visual effects. What gives the film consistency is its explicit sense of disorder and mayhem and Tarsem seems to revel in that.

He reserves his best not for storytelling but in the care with which he treats his images, and mythology allows him leeway to recreate this world vis--vis his personal vision. His pictorial style may not be unique but it does have its appeal.

Tarsem's imaginative artistry is nowhere more apparent than in the ability to see the inner lives of the gods, such as Hyperion's (Mickey Rourke [ Images ]) evil gambit to control Greece or Zeus's (Luke Evans) concern for humanity.

Zeus chooses to pit Theseus (Henry Cavill) against the ruthless Hyperion. Theseus is assisted by Stavros (Stephen Dorff) and the oracle Phaedra (Frieda Pinto).

Tarsem's actors do not let him down, whether it is Rourke, who is as tough as the headpiece he wears, or Cavill, who is set up against the mightiest and has the personality to make the action and ambition look believable.

Films like Immortals depend so much on visuals to tell the story that the other important aspects of cinema are often given scant attention. Unlike Tarsem's The Fall, there is little originality in Immortals but it is not without its moments.

It's a project designed for beefy heroes, wartime spectacles and digital wizardry. Of all people, a visually good-looking film like this would be a treat for Caravaggio, "the bad boy painter" as Tarsem described him. rediff.com.

rohan kumar
Cincinnati, Ohio