CinemaLover

Colin Firth yelling "I have a voice" elucidates the power of thought, opinion and conviction. It also sums up the courage taken by King George VI to simply conjoined and deliver a message through the art of the spoken word. For Firth's character though, King George VI, such an action cannot be looked at as an art, but as an impediment that can only be accomplished in the most trying and basic of steps.

The King's Speech so smoothly nails down the basics, while incorporating a warm exuding spirit. It includes suiting complimentary performances from Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter as well as a slightly more than cameo role for Guy Pearce. This is the breakout film for director Tom Hooper, who has directed HBO miniseries such as John Adams and Elizabeth I. It is also the most notable screenplay written by David Seidler to date.

Although The King's Speech is not a revolutionary film by any stretch, it is one delivered by way of experience, maturation and a point of purpose.

The Dark Knight Rises, released on July 20, 2012, is the third and final film of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. With the enormous commercial success and striking critical acclaim of The Dark Knight, expectations for its sequel rose to a level matched by no film this summer season. Overall The Dark Knight Rises has been well received by critics and the general public alike, with some even proclaiming it to be the best of the series. Yet, as it will be pointed out, The Dark Knight Rises is not without its faults.

The story takes place eight years following the death of Harvey Dent, posthumously celebrated as Gotham's white knight hero. Amidst a time of relative peace and unity a new villain takes Gotham by storm: Bane (The name is only fitting as the very definition of it is a person or thing that ruins or spoils). Bane is bent on revolution, or so he insinuates with rhetoric involving mantras of "liberation" and the plight of the people. Without second guessing, the audience knows none of this to be true and that he intends to serve up the nuclear annihilation of Gotham. Except none of these are really his intentions, but those of Miranda Tate (played by Marion Cotillard), a philanthropist who turns out to be Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), the driving evil in Batman Begins.

Then there is the mysterious John Blake, with the name Robin entered into the mix. Joseph Gordon Levitt as Blake had the strongest performance delivering depth were at times there seemed to be none. For example, in an exchange between Blake and Bruce Wayne, Blake reveals his knowing that Wayne is Batman. The reasoning given that Blake could somehow sense Batman within him. The idea is weak, but the exchange on screen did not come across as absurd. Yet, just as Blake in The Dark Knight Rises was disgusted with Commissioner Gordon's manipulation of Harvey Dent's death, thus basing Gotham's peace on a lie, many found the connection between Wayne and Blake (Batman and Robin) to be held up on weak footing.

Casting Tom Hardy as Bane was a great selection. Hardy has depicted pure unrestrained brutality in Bronson and Warrior, a clever sleek touch in Inception, and subtlety in a supporting role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. All of that, and more, could've been illustrated via the character of Bane. Yet, depicting Bane as a mere stooge of Talia reduced the power and intrigue of the role.

Much of the problem lies within the placement of the character of Talia in the final film. Returning to the villainy of the League of Shadows allowed for no growth beyond what was already established in the first two films of the series. Christopher Nolan has gone the route of implicating multiple villains throughout his Batman series. This could've been extended with Catwoman as the duplicitous female character rather than Talia. Talia al Ghul and her connection to Ra's al Ghul bore similarities to the Die Hard series with its own blood-related pair of villains in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons). Although this provides for instantaneous entertainment, there is nothing beyond that which can be said to lie here. Not adding the character of Talia would've allowed for the rest of the cast to put their talents on a fulfilling display.

Associating Bane with the League of Shadows was not an outright mistake, but inserting the character of Talia came off more as a sly gimmick than any substantive twist. Talia's insertion came at the expense of Bane. Putting more of an emphasis on the revolutionary aspect of Bane's character would've taken the series and the entire film genre to a region not ventured into before. Inevitably though, this would lead to a firm political statement on the part of the Nolan brothers. In light of Christopher Nolan's latest comments on a possible connection between the film and current events, it would seem he'd never consider such a course.

Nevertheless, growth in the character and plot development of Nolan's Batman series would've been seen. Throughout, Nolan looked to be at philosophic crossroads in the direction of the characters and the plot. The eerie connection between Bane and Batman would've carried more weight and make for a battle that would be evermore colossal and simultaneously more profound in the statement that would be made on the part of the film itself and the series as a whole. Story-wise The Dark Knight Rises rounded out the trilogy in admirable shape, but its intellectual intrigue in the series plateaued in its predecessor.

When using superlatives with this show it is totally fair. This show does something all other movies, shows, etc cannot do: it can safely apply any genre and still function as a deep and very entertaining show. As everybody episode goes by the show only becomes more addictive. It taps into almost every aspect of life. Every emotion is shown; love, hate, forgiveness, triumph and the list goes on and on. In fact this show depicts life the most realistically. The strangeness and peculiarity of the many themes perfectly displays the confusion in life and how it affects us. The show displays confusion in the clearest way making it almost impossible not to some how relate to the characters in the show. Not to mention also the series ends on one finest note you will ever see not just satisfying the viewer but taking the show to a level far and above anything else I have ever seen before. This show does the impossible twice over.

I hate saying something is the best ever. Still how could you go wrong with Seinfeld. Just hilarious characters and setups everywhere.

For everyone who has seen this show, what other show or even movie deliver so many open ended endings that still felt like a perfecting closing. That right there is great writing.

The characters are another great example of great writing. To think of people like Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer. These characters were developed so greatly that the ideas for episodes were endless. Also the guest stars did a great job in their appearances just sliding right in.

The plots of the episodes were not that great from the outlook. If you actually watch the episodes though the most basic daily problem could be made into a very enjoyable episode.

This can only be done with great, superb writing. If you have seen this show watch it.

That is exactly what I think every time I watch this. Countless times I have felt like I have just read a long meaningful book after watching this. It follows everything extensively and always includes a wide variety of opinions. PBS seems to always get the ball on the barrel of the bat when comes to almost anything. Nova is not just a home run it is a moonshot just like the channel PBS itself. Nova is such a great show because it is able to explain anything when it comes to about anything. From physics and chemistry to history and archeology things that seem so complex are able to be translated perfectly through this show.

When I think History Channel I think Modern Marvels. In a strange way it is very addictive. You learn so much you just want more and more. You could watch a marathon of this and not notice that hours have passed by. It covers everything from entertainment to architectural achievements to politics. It is so explanatory and at the same times it gives you a time line of whatever the show is displaying. What makes this show so great is that it could cover any topic including ones I'm not interested in and make me interested. This show at times has compelled me to research further to extensively learn about something for myself. A great show that does not base its episodes on speculation but on facts and examines and investigates them as well. I couldn't ever imagine this being taken off the air.

I guarantee you this show will open your eyes up to something new every week that it airs. Whether its about philosophy, politics, new books, ideas, etc. I could just go on and on. This show shows the importance of certain things and always gives you new perspectives. It shows you things that you would never see on network channels, CNN or Fox News. Some things might be startling and some maybe joyous and inspiring to watch. Most of all though it open your mind to wider scope of ideas and perspectives. It is a real eye opener but most of all a real mind opener. Everyone should watch and discuss what is on this show. This show will make you appreciate things that you never would think twice about. Here you know you are getting the truth and that is very hard to get and to get consistently. How could they even think of ever taking this man off the air!?

At least when it comes to network TV that is exactly what he is. He is so unlike the other four guys that have late night talk shows. Something feels different with, you actually get the sense he is having fun and in a way that rubs off on the viewer. He does not get the most famous noticeable guests but he always makes the most of having them. Usually the worst part of the late night talk shows is when they get to the actual talking. Craig seems to make it the best part of his show. He is very funny when he is interacting with his guests. In the case of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien they seem to make it the worst part of their shows. His guests have fun, he has fun and the viewer has fun rather than everyone falling asleep. They do not seem to enjoy having their guests, Craig does. With his show there is more of a positive energy than their is with the other four. One thing that he is not is cynical. He does not take too many cheap shots at people and is still the wildest and most outrageous of the late night talk show hosts. It still is network TV though so there is a limit of what you are going to see but with Craig who cares which is a real testament to his abilities. At first he looked as if he was going to burn out with his comedic style being used on a network talk show but clearly he has not and I hope he stays on the air for a long, long time. It would be nice to see him uncensored for once though. The only thing I can really blame him for is for not allowing me to sleep because he is so hilarious.