THE OPTIMIST - MOVIE REVIEWS

   Where to begin...    So, as I sat in the theater after watching " The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 ", while the credits were rolling, I immediately began to think about what I wanted to say in regards to this feature. This blog, the premise behind The Optimist is that this would be a place where one could find positive reviews from a guy who loves everything there is about film. As I took in the events that occurred on screen during this particular film, knowing that there had to be a positive review floating around in my head somewhere, a scene from another film popped into mind. I pictured Heath Ledger 's iconic Joker from " The Dark Knight " in the interrogation room of GCPD; Batman himself throwing the mad man around the room in hopes to squeeze some positive, useful information out of the Clown Prince. Batman has a rule, and Joker doesn't hesitate to reveal that in order to obtain the desired outcome:  " You're gonna have to br

       There's an idea or thought that has been around for quite some time making the case that Hollywood has abandoned all hope of original material and has simply decided to chug along, siphoning the spoils of big blockbuster films. I have a hard time with this idea only because I can see the relevance to both sides of that argument. There has been a surplus of big-budgeted, bloated Hollywood popcorn flicks and I'll be the first to admit that I scurry out to see them as often as any body else does. But over the last few years I've tried to expand my horizons, delving more into the independent films, small-budget movies; those films that tend to slip under the radar. The reason being that there's something to say when a filmmaker can take a piece of material in a familiar genre and do something original with it. Nine times out of ten, these films will surprise you. Now I'm not saying that larger-scaled movies can't have the same affect. Say what you will (