The Next Three Days

            The Next Three Days is a 2010 crime drama written and directed by Academy Award winning writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash), and stars Russell Crowe (Gladiator), Elizabeth Banks (Zack and Miri Make A Porno),  Liam Neeson (Taken), and Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy). 

            John Brennan (Crowe) is a happily married college professor who is madly in love with his wife Lara (Banks) and together are raising their son Luke (Ty Simpkins).  One morning when getting ready to leave for work, John and Lara's home is breached into by police and SWAT team officers.  They quickly arrest and leave with Lara saying that she is being arrested for the murder of her boss.  After a few years of unsuccessful appeals and trying  to prove Lara's innocence, the courts decide that it is now time to take Lara out of city to a higher security prison.  John then decides that it is time that he figures out a way to get Lara free.  After meeting with a mysterious man who has escaped prison before, he then decides that it is time that he get his wife back.

            Surprisingly, the film was pretty well done.  One of the strongest aspects of the film was the performances by Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks.  It was very surprising to see that Elizabeth Banks could do such a good job  in a dramatic performance, and that she wasn't her usual type casted comedic character.  Most of the film seemed to flow rather well with not very many sequences that seemed to "drag".  However, there is one sequence in the film that is so over the top dramatic and poorly executed that it came off rather cheesy and comedic rather than the climactic sequence it intended to be.  This one scene alone definitely seemed to throw the film off track, and the film then has to spend a few scenes after this particular sequence setting the pace again.

            In conclusion, The Next Three Days is a pretty decent crime drama that will definitely be entertaining for many audience members.  Not to mention that the film features strong performances by its two lead actors Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks.  The film doesn't have too many problems, but has one sequence that really needed to be left out as it really seemed to bring the quality of the film down.  Overall, The Next Three Days gets a 3.5/5.

           

Megamind and Young Frankenstein

                Megamind and Young Frankenstein are both comedies in which the protagonist creates something that he originally despises and stands completely against.  In both films the thing that he creates is the opposite of himself.  In Megamind, he is a villain who creates a hero, and in Young Frankenstein he is a doctor who creates a monster.  Both film's creation is portrayed as "the evil creature". 

                In both movies the heroes' get the girl in the end of the movie.  The other big commonality between the two films is the minion style character for our central character.  In Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein has a minion named Igor.  In Mega Mind, Mega Mind has a minion simply named, Minion.  Both films minion character is a main source of comic relief in the film and are also very loyal and helpful to our central character.