Being a fan of Slumdog Millionaire, I gotta say I was excited about attending the press screening for 127 Hours. The trailer didn’t reveal much about the movie, and I didn’t really know what I was in for due to me not reading up about the movie before I entered the theater. I came out of the cinema feeling thoroughly satisfied. 127 Hours is one of those movies you just have to watch to experience, someone telling you about it will do no justice to the film. I haven’t read the book so I can’t offer any comparisons, but in this movie, James Franco demonstrates that he’s more than just another pretty face.

127 Hours tells the true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco), an avid adventurer who finds himself in a situation he never thought he’d end up – in the bottom of a canyon with one arm pinned against a wall by a rock too heavy for him to move. It is about the 5 days he spent stuck there.

James Franco gives the performance of his life in this movie. The camera is on him 90% of the time, and it’s just amazing how many different expressions and emotions he can pull off while being stuck in the same place for so long. Ryan Reynolds did something similar last year in Buried, but I gotta say Franco takes the cake. If you thought all he could do was act as an angsty kid playing the Peter Parker’s nemesis, or the stoner/hippy character he’s been doing recently, you’re wrong. This movie will go down as one of Franco’s finest performances to date.

The pacing of the movie was good, it didn’t feel too short or long, and it was pretty straightforward. But the beautiful visuals and great editing makes this movie a feast for the eyes. I don’t have anything bad to say about the movie really, and the brief appearances of Clémence Poésy as his ex-girlfriend in the movie were a pleasant surprise. 127 Hours is definitely one of the movies that you have to watch this year. 127 Hours gets 8/10.

I’m not a big fan of horror movies, mostly because they’re mostly unintelligent dribble and sorry excuses for films that rely on cheap tricks to get some scares out of you. Once in awhile a gem comes along and The Rite is one of them.

Colin O’Donoghue stars in this movie about a boy who has lost his faith and decides to head out to priest college to fulfill his father’s wishes and to find his own faith. He encounters an exorcist , Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) who shows him that the Devil is real.

The storyline is pretty typical, with the exception of the Father Lucas getting possessed – I’ve never seen it done in a movie before and this is where Anthony Hopkins truly shines. He didn’t even need the makeup and special effects to enhance his role – his acting as an unconventional exorcist and as a possessed man scared the shit out of me. O’Donoghue and Alice Braga played their roles decently, but Hopkins just outshone them throughout the whole movie.

The Rite doesn’t rely on cheap tricks to scare you – when you get scared, it’s because of the buildup, all the way until the scares happen. No in your face “RARRR!” moments, and that’s what I loved about the film. It’s not going to win any awards for movie of the year, but for what it’s worth, it’s one hell of a ride. I rate the Rite 7/10.