After Earth (2013)

Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, David Denman

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Synopsis: “A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help.”

Review:  

Sometime last year, mid-January I believe, I was chosen to do a sixty minute survey about what I think teens would like in a movie. I had to choose a movie that sounded good and decide what would make it better. There were a list of movies that were recently signed, most of which just started filming, and I easily chose After Earth, because the part of the script they showed sounded interesting. I can't remember the other movie choices, but they didn't stand out to me.

 

They made it clear that the target audience was males, particularly those without fathers, so I was surprised I qualified. Apparently, they wanted just as many males as females, if not more so females readers were more than welcome to take the survey too.

Most of the questions were simple, others required elaboration. By the end of it, I was a bit excited to see After Earth.

The teaser actually looked good but the full trailer seemed terrible. That and the fact that M. Night Shyamalan was the director was enough of a reason as to why I wasn't overly disappointed when I finally saw it.

The world building was fascinating, although the events of the story seemed forced. I don't think the transitions moved smoothly enough and it’s also pretty obvious that Jaden Smith’s acting needs more help. His accent seemed off for one thing. I believe his performance was very weak and had little passion into it. Will Smith was probably the best part of the movie besides the amazing special effects.

 I think I’d give After Earth three stars. I’m not sure why it has so many negative reviews. It wasn't the most entertaining but it wasn't terrible either. I don't know what everyone expected it to be. It’s easy to see that Will is trying to get Jaden out there so of course it’s not going to be the best film ever.

 

When I first heard of ABC Family The Fosters, I had a feeling that it'd be something big. ABC Family is known for showing the realistic struggles of non-traditional families. It reminded of how Switched at Birth came to be so popular.

 

When ABC Family's Switched at Birth premiered in June 2011, it became popular for highlighting the hardships of the deaf community. This itself was enough to make everyone tune in and it quickly became a hit show. Earlier this spring, ABC Family went as far as airing an entire episode without sound. It only included subtitles and music.

The Fosters on the other hand, is about a family of biological and adopted children being raised by a interracial lesbian couple; All of the elements needed to create a hit ABC Family show. It premiered yesterday June, 3rd. Watch the promotional trailer trailer below.

The new NewsTeam members have been chosen!
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Elisabeth
Rianne

Congratulations guys!
We'd like to thank the rest of you for applying and we wish you good luck next time!