The Giver Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera

Stars:
Brenton Thwaites - Jonas
Jeff Bridges - The Giver
Meryl Streep - Chief Elder
Katie Holmes - Jonas's mother
Odeya Rush - Fiona
Alexander Skarsgard - Jonas's father
Cameron Monaghan - Asher

Director: Phillip Noyce
Release Date: August 15, 2014
Genre: Action / Fantasy / Drama
Rated PG-13

The Giver could be likened to movies like The Hunger Games and Divergent but that would be an over simplification.

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) appears to be an ordinary teenager living in a somewhat dystopian community set sometime in the distant future. His friends, Fiona (Odeya Rush) and Asher (Cameron Monaghan), look just as ordinary as him.

In fact, everyone in his community looks pretty ordinary. They all dress in the same drab clothing and are completely devoid of all emotion. By which I mean they were all genetically engineered and modified to the point of no longer being able to feel any discernible emotions.

The sole purpose for doing this is to ensure the propagation of a completely gullible and non-rebellious race of people. Oh and in addition to not feeling emotions they also cannot see colors. They only see in black and white, even though they have no concept of black and white.

Then the day comes for Jonas and his friends to graduate and be assigned their lifetime careers. Asher is assigned the position of pilot, Fiona is assigned the position of nurturer and Jonas is assigned the position of Receiver. As in receiver of memories. The collective memories of all mankind throughout all of history.

Luckily, Jonas is trained to receive these ancient memories by the current Receiver (Jeff Bridges) who can now go by the title The Giver.

The Giver shares many wonderful memories with Jonas but he also shares some very hateful and violent memories with him. Jonas finds it hard to stomach them all but he is still grateful for being shown a forgotten yet important aspect of being human.

The more memories he receives the more he evolves into a distinct individual. Of course, this is considered to be very wrong by the elders of the community. The Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) eventually notices Jonas becoming individualistic but the only thing she can do to try to get him to stop is threaten his friends and family with uncertainty.

This movie has a great story, great performances by each actor, great special effects and great cinematography.

On a scale of 1 tamale to 10 tamales I give The Giver 8 tamales!

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The Extra Man Movie Review by Ryan A. Loera

The Extra Man 

Stars:
Paul Dano - Louis Ives
Marian Seldes - Vivian Cudlip
Patti D'arbanville - Katherine Hart
John C. Reilly - Gershon Gruen
Kevin Kline - Henry Harrison
Katie Holmes - Mary Powell

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Release date: July 30, 2010
Rating: R
Based on a novel by Jonathan Ames.

Louis Ives (Paul Dano) is a teacher of English literature with a penchant for cross dressing. One afternoon, after trying on a female colleague's brazier, he is told that due to budget constraints he is being let go. Louis takes the news with a grain of salt then decides to move to Manhattan to try his luck at becoming a writer.

Months pass before he finally works up the nerve to look in the classifieds for available lodgings in Manhattan. He then happens upon an ad that reads: Gentleman Seeks Same. The rent seems pretty cheap. So, he dials the number and schedules a date to stop by. The man on the other end recites the address rather hastily but Louis is able to jot it down. The very next day, Louis drives into Manhattan and visits the apartment and his soon to be roommate Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline). Henry wastes no time in showing Louis around the apartment and asking all the important questions. From the get go he proves to be quite eccentric and very misogynistic. When Henry reveals that he teaches English composition and is primarily a playwright Louis asks if he might have seen some of his work. Henry replies with: "Sadly no. The only copy of my greatest work was stolen by a Swiss hunchback!" Louis is reluctant to move in but then Harry convinces him by telling him he can help advance him socially. Louis then agrees and moves in the following month. From then on Louis has a hard time figuring out exactly what kind of person Henry Harrison is. Most people write off Henry's bluntness as plain rudeness. Louis, however, recognizes Henry's overbearing confidence as being nothing more than a suit of armor protecting a fragile artist. Within a few days, Louis finds employment with an environmental journal. When he is hired and introduced to Mary Powell (Katie Holmes) he immediately becomes infatuated with her. She almost appears to be the Zelda to his F. Scott Fitzgerald. Almost but not quite. In an attempt to explore his fascination with cross dressing, Louis enlists the aid of a recession priced Spankologist. She goes by the name Katherine Hart (Patti D'arbanville). Ms. Hart does everything she can for Louis but is unable to find any deeper meaning behind his yearning for women's undergarments. Then Louis finds out that Henry has been escorting a billionairess by the name of Vivian Cudlip (Marian Seldes) for some time. Louis assumes Henry is a gigolo but Henry then explains further. He is not paid in money but in pleasure. Vivian Cudlip enjoys lavishing Henry and her other escorts in gifts and good meals at five star restaurants. Eventually, Louis meets Henry's burly friend Gershon Gruen (John C. Reilly). Gershon is even more eccentric than Henry but also much more affable.

I'd like to go into greater detail about the story but doing so would mean spoiling the entire movie. The Extra Man is filled with quirky characters, head scratching humor and brilliantly shot scenes of New York City.

On a scale of 1 tamale to 10 tamales I give it 8 tamales.