Short Term !2

It's sad to say that most movies now-a-days films have a predictable formula. Whether it be romance, horror, action or chick-flick, almost all the movies now have been seen. That doesn't make them bad but a lot of audiences have been wanting to sick their teeth into something where they are unable to predict the out come. That's where Short Term 12 comes in. This film features Brie Larsen as Grace-the lead character who is in charge of guiding the at-risk teens in the foster home in which she and her fiancee, Mason, work. Grace has a bit of a troubled past like the kids she looks after and she's managed to keep it down and in the past until a young girl with problems similar to the ones she's trying to hide checks into the facility. This girl is named Jayden and she is the typical angsty teen, but the subtle hints she leaves Grace about her troubled home life causes Grace to sit back and examine her own situation that she's tried to push away for years.
I believe the best thing this movie has going for it is it's use of camera work. The camera here wouldn't use any tripod or stabilizer so the camera movement makes you, the viewer, standing there with characters moving. We instantly realize this with the opening which involves one of the inhabitants of Shot Term 12 trying to make a break for it. The running feels real due to the camera adopting a hand-held motion. The camera movement also works when there is nothing really going on in the scene. For example, the scene where Jayden is trying to explain to Grace, through symbolism, about her abusive father. It's never too ditsracting and somehow never unnoticable but in a good way.
One film that didn't use shakey cam well was "Hunger Games"

This entire movie makes me want to throw up into my popcorn. It tries to simulate the fast shakey movement of an action see so it comes out all blurry but surprise, surprise, we actually want to see the action sequences.