Rennick Quinn

Based on the nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer, this movie is one that is well worth a watch. It follows a young man named Chris McCandless through the two years between his college graduation and his death in 1992. Through these two years, he donates all of his money, travels America, and impacts the lives of everyone he meets before ending up in Alaska. Released in 2007, it stars Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Jena Malone, and Kristen Stewart with a budget of around $15 million. It only pulled in a little over $56 million at the box office and runs for a total of 2 hours and 26 minutes. I would give this film a 9 out of 10 just because of its amount of information regarding Chris' life in such a short time. So, on here, it will be a five out of five. The style of the film feels very unique, even though it has been used in many other films. The cinematography involved really helped capture the beauty of the scene locations and was astonishing throughout the entire film. The movie's got a lot of time to cover and so the use of jumping back and forth from Chris' bus days to his trip to Alaska can be confusing to some people. The editing and writing of the script really helped clear this confusion up. As for the characters, they aren't always around for a long time in Chris' life, but they all impact him and he impacts them, making them vital and somewhat relatable. The last half hour or so was both amazing and extremely sad. Since it's based on a true story, the ending is predictable, but it's hard to prepare yourself for it anyway. Into The Wild is a movie that makes you think and feel. It explores the idea of happiness and life itself. The characters and their connections delve into society and the way that people connect. Friendships and family are shone in a new light. Very few movies are capable of pulling this off successfully, but this movie did it and succeeded. It really is wonderful.

The sequel to the 2018 hit, A Quiet Place, surpassed all of my expectations. Starring Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, and Cillian Murphy, A Quiet Place Part 2 became one of the best movies to be released in 2021, grossing over $297 million worldwide. The first ten or so minutes of the film is shown as a flashback to Day 1 of the apocalypse, but after that, it picks up right where the first movie left off. It follows the Abbott family as they are forced to move away from their decimated farm, leaving us to watch them venture off into the presence of new dangers. Overall, I would give this film a 9 out of 10. Which would be a 4.5-star rating, but there is no half-star option, so I did five. Like the first film, its use of auditory components proved to be brilliant. The differences between the complete silence, loud screams, and quiet sounds really helped create a thick tension that had me on the edge of my seat. It was, however, significantly louder than Part 1, but to go from dead silent to a sudden crescendo of noise still amplified my understanding of the characters’ fear and made the film’s jump scares more effective. As for the creatures, their abilities can continue to be controversial to those who care deeply about plot holes, but for Part 2, they seem to work just fine with the film’s dark atmosphere. Many of the jump scares, although occasionally expected, were highly successful in making me jump, particularly the ones from the train scene. I admire the amount of editing and timing throughout the movie. The jumps between storylines near the end, however, can feel like a bit of repetition from the first movie. The editing and cinematography are still wonderful. Without the excellent editing and framed camera shots, the jump scares and atmosphere would’ve failed horribly. It is the atmosphere, I think, of this film that makes it work the way that it does. The dark colors, cinematography, and varied patches of audio can make the viewer feel like they're almost there, standing next to the characters. These characters, all perfectly portrayed by their actors and actresses, are beautifully written characters. The entire Part 2 film takes place over a time span of only a few days, which doesn’t give the characters a lot of time to develop, but throughout both movies (Part 1 & 2), the character development is evident and stunning. One example of this can be seen in Part 2’s apparent new lead. We get to watch as Regan Abbott (who is played by Simmonds) takes the initiative and braves the unknown in order to save her family, even though in the first movie, she seemed a bit resentful towards her mother and father. This theme surrounding the importance of family can be found in both films. It is strongly used and helps the viewer connect with the characters. In fact, the last scene in Part 2 can be seen as a sort of tribute to Part 1’s fallen Abbott. It can be very emotional if you were a fan of the first movie. A Quiet Place Part 2 isn’t for everyone. The gory parts and bloodshed is kept to a minimum onscreen, but it can still be very scary to some people. In my opinion, though, this movie is a near-perfect balance between story and scares.