Thursday 25 December 2008

Tuesday 23 December 2008

Twilight




I like Vampire movies!


Synopsis


Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a bit different, never caring about or fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother Renee (Sarah Clarke) remarries and decides to move with her new husband to Florida, and Bella decides to go live with her father, Charlie (Billy Burke), in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, his piercing eyes see straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than any cheetah, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Most importantly, he's a vampire. Like all vampires, he's immortal. He doesn't drink human blood (they're vampire "vegetarians"), which is rare among the vampire population. Instead, they go on regular "hiking" trips, where they feed on prey such as grizzly bears and mountain lions. For Edward, Bella is the thing he has waited ninety years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. And what will they do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi), and Victoria (Rachel Lefevre) come into town and James sets his sights on Bella? Will true love prevail when Edward is forced to save her life and conquer his thirst? The true question is, When you can live forever, what do you live for?




Storyline: 4 Stars
The Story is surprisingly gripping with a homey western backdrop... taking a slow story-telling technique speeding up at important parts...
It's a relatively long movie... but that didn't seem to bother the audience at all...
So good work Director Catherine Hardwicke!
There are to be a couple sequels to be created in the future years... and I must say that I'm certainly looking forward to them! There's just one problem... they have taken Catherine Hardwicke off the directors chair, and put Chris Weitz on there instead (director of Golden Compass); he single-handedly destroyed New Line. But too early to see, Weitz may still come up with the goods on these movies...
Graphics: 3 Stars
The graphics aren't overboard, just enough for what the movie needs. There's some excellent camera shots though! Absolutely beautiful!
Acting: 3 Stars
Acting was relatively good The actor for Edward was extremely popular, and I personally liked the actress for Bella, though slightly plain and inanimate.
Conclusion
I certainly really enjoyed this movie.. and certainly promises much for the sequels. Beautiful scenery and a great story, now I've got a bit of a craving for Human Blood!



Friday 19 December 2008

Coraline Review

Finally we have the first reviews of Coraline come through on Ainitcool...

From the reviewers point it seems like it's going to be a great movie... So all looks very hopeful!

Jump over to the review here.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Inkheart



I must say I absolutely loved this movie, but as I'm quite partial towards fantasy as a rule, I don't want to lead people astray straight away.



This is basically New Line's second attempt at creating an alternative to Lord of The Rings... the first attempt was The Golden Compass which turned out to be a devastating flop... but ths one is quite the oposite, wonderfully created... greate cast.. this is The Golden Compass as it should have been!




Synopsis



Mo Folchart (Fraiser) drags his daughter Meggie (Bennet) all around the world completing his skilled work as a 'Book Doctor', otherwise known as a bookbinder. At their most recent home, an old enigmatic acquaintance of Mo's, named Dustfinger (Bettany), shows up and, in a very rare moment in their relationship, Mo talks to Dustfinger in private. All of a sudden, the next morning, Mo packs up and leaves with Meggie without telling her what is going on, a very strange thing in their relationship. They travel to Meggie's Great Aunt Eleanor's (Mirren) house to stay and Meggie finds herself, once again, surrounded by books (Eleanor is rich, and collects rare books. She calls them her children, and she has thousands of books in her library).



Then, one night, a bunch of thugs arrive at the house and kidnap Mo to take him to see Capricorn (Serkis), a cruel and evil dictator.



Meggie soon finds out that Mo has the ability to read characters out of books. The only drawback is that when he brings something out of a story, something must go back in to replace it. this is how Meggie lost her mother, Theresa (Guillory), when she replaced Capricorn and Dustfinger, characters from the book: Inkheart.



Determined to get Mo back, Meggie sets out with Eleanor to Capricorn's village; however, within a short time of arriving there, both women are also abducted and locked up with Mo.



Dustfinger soon comes to the rescue and smuggles them out with a boy, named Farid (Gavron), who came out of 'Arabian Nights'.



Now, the group of them must find a way to get another copy of Inkheart to send Capricorn and his thieves back into it's pages and return Dustfinger to the home he misses so much.



Source: IMDb






Fantasy Take



This movie certainly filled my desire for fantasy... loads of different creatures... some cool magic tricks too... and a really well done narration at the beginning, giving it a very mystical feeling!



I REALLY enjoyed it!



Acting: 4 stars



The cast in this movie is excellent, so many well known faces... Andy Serkis plays a wonderful villain... Brendan Fraser seems to be on top form and the girl did quite well for her age.. though could have done slightly better!



Paul Bettany's jester character is also quite amsing, and really well acted!



Conclusion



This movie is well done right from the start... and it's extremely enjoyable.



If this movie were given the bdget that Golden Compass was given... I'd almost say that it would have done the company as much good a Lord Of The Rings did!



Great movie!






Wednesday 10 December 2008

Changeling



Well Clint Eastwood has certainly created a masterpiece this time.



I'll mention straightaway that it's not particularly my genre, being more of a Drama movie, so I'll be reviewing more indifferently here. Nevertheless, this movie turns out as a pure classic, to be remembered for years to come!



Synopsis



Inspired by actual events that occurred in 1920s-era Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LAPD after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. The year was 1928, and the setting a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich).



Source: IMDb



Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, and Gattlin Griffith. Directed by Clint Eastwood.



Storyline: 4 Stars



The story of the movie is both intense and gripping... the movie was 2.5 hours long, it never got tedious, in fact I didn't feel like it had taken more than about 2 hours... and, unlike The Dark Knight, this movie felt like it had a nice rounded ending... Quite satisfying through and through!



Music: 5 Stars



In my opinion, this music score is the only worthy contender with Danny Elfman's Hellboy 2 score for the upcoming oscars. A wonderful score, not overly done, carrying the tone of the movie beautifully!



Now that I look at it, I find that on the IMDb page that the music composer is actually Clint Eastwood himself... Never knew a director could make such great music!



Acting: 3 Stars



Angelina Jolie makes a wonderful performance in the leading role in this movie, and really connects with her character!



The other members of the cast aren't excellent, but don't let the side down on no account...



Conclusion



I suppose you already know what I'm about to say... It's an excellent movie!



Watch it!








Monday 8 December 2008

Transporter 3



I wasn't all too keen on this movie to tell you the truth... but I never saw the two previous movies, whether that makes a difference...
There was a few things that bothered me about this movie:
1. The camera jumped around far too much, taking about 10 different angle shots in the space of a few seconds... REALLY got on my eyes' nerves... and the rest of me kind of gets a bit sad when my eyes are unhappy!
2. I found the girl a bit bothering ( minus [-]10 hotness on the Shaka gauge) ... She got on my nerves a bit too. (I guess with all these nerves getting bogged down it's getting me a bit nervous)
3. A minor thing really, but I like my movies to have a few famous names attached to them... the only name I really recognised was Jason Statham's.
There were, however, a few good parts to the movie. Statham's a great actor, there were some nice choreography parts (which I feel were a bit ruined by the camera movements).
Anyway... a message to directors: Please don't hurt my eyes like that again!





Thursday 4 December 2008

Four Christmases



The perfect movie for the season, perhaps a little early to start watching Christmas movies, but it's cool to get the early christmassey feeling!
Synopsis
When a couple tries to fly away from their family for Christmas, as they do every year, their fun turns around when all flights have been canceled. Now they have to go to four houses to celebrate Christmas while going through memories they don't want to go into and suprises they can't handle while they have to use a safe word to get out of situations
Source: IMDb
Storyline: 3 Stars
Simple structure but done really well... nice and easy to follow, and kept my attention throughout the movie.
Music: 2 Stars
The music does very well in capturing the festive spirit, though there were times that I forgot that I was watching a Christmas movie, whether that's a good thing or not I'll leave you to decide.
Acting: 2 Stars
The acting wasn't anything spectacular, though I thought Jon Voight did a very good job with his character.
Emotions: 3 Stars
The movie has a nice emotional streak, highlighting the importance of family, which I supose is quite an important concept at Christmas time. The movie should be able to give you a soft heart after it's finished with you.
Conclusion
I enjoyed the movie, and thought it was a great movie to start of the festive season... so buckle in and enjoy the movie!


Tuesday 2 December 2008

Del Toro to Direct Stop-Motion Version of 'The Witches'?!

Wow more great news about Guillermo Del Toro...

Bloody Disgusting brings us the news that Del Toro and buddy Alfonso Cuaron will be co-creating a stop-motion movie of Roald Dahl's book "The Witches".

It seems that Del Toro will direct and Cuaron will produce.

No Idea of the release date as yet, but seems quite promising!

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