Welcome to my Blog!!! Because it's 2009, I'll be adding 9 genres to my blog. Expect this 9 genres will appear on my blog for the rest of the year:
Here are the films to watch for this 2009:
And Many More!!! Wait for other films to expect this 2009...
Here is my list of my faves since 2008:
Music
The Box Office of the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival
For December 25, 2008:
(replace 1-20 to 20-1)
Never really said too much
Afraid it wouldn’t be enough
Just try to keep my spirits up
When there’s no point in grieving
Doesn’t matter anyway
Words could never make me stay
Words will never take my place
When you know I’m leaving
(Chorus)
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone
You know we’ve been down that road
What seems a thousand times before
My back to a closing door and my eyes to the seasons
That roll out underneath my heels
And you don’t know how bad it feels
To leave the only one that I have ever believed in
[Chorus]
Sometimes it feels like we’ve run out of luck
When the signal keeps on breaking up
When the wires cross in my brain
You’ll start my heart again
When I come along
A simple Slayer (Amanda) accidentally heard from her parents that she will die after a month because of the severe damage from her heart because of endless battles between her and the Demons. Suddenly, a flamist (Tony) appear to help her to save her life. Unfortunately, Tony can't help Amanda to save her life. But to help her accomplish Amanda's mission... to slay demons in the city. Until the last day of Amanda came, Tony will do anything to save Amanda to the enchantress (Tokina). So Tokina and Tony had a deal. Tokina will get Tony's life after 3 days so that Amanda's life will last forever. But Amanda heard their deal, Amanda did not want Tony to die so she talked to Tokina. What is Tokina's decision and will the love of Amanda and Tony last for long?. Find out at the chapter one of the novel on Friday; November 21, 2008 with the title At First Sight.
BOLT the film is about Bolt (John Travolta), a small white German Shepherd who has lived all his life on the set of a TV show in which he portrays a superhero dog. As a result, he thinks that his superpowers, and events on film, are real. When he is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he embarks on a cross-country journey to reunite with his owner and co-star, Penny (Miley Cyrus). Along the way, Bolt teams up with a jaded housecat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton) who also happens to be an extreme Bolt fanboy, and eventually he discovers that he doesn't need superpowers to be a hero.
Release Date: November 26, 2008
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA Vivian (Jamie Lee Curtis), chihuahua Chloe's (voice of Drew Barrymore) owner, leaves the pooch with her irresponsible niece Rachel (Piper Perabo) to dog-sit. Rachel decides to go to Mexico with her pals, leaving Chloe in the room; the dog sneaks out and gets stolen. Chloe ends up tossed into a dog fight ring, left to defend herself from dog El Diablo (voice of Edward James Olmos). Delgado (voice of Andy Garcia) rescues her from the fight, unleashing the other dogs from their cages and unlocking the ring to allow the two dogs to escape. Delgado was planning to just walk away, but he feels bad and decides to help Chloe get back home.
Release Date: December 3, 2008
TWILIGHT Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie. There, she finds herself drawn to a mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen, who is revealed to be a 108-year-old vampire who is physically seventeen. Although Edward discourages the romance at first, they soon fall deeply in love. When the arrival of three nomadic vampires, James, Laurent, and Victoria, puts Bella's life in danger, Edward and his family, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, put their lives at stake to save her.
Release Date: November 26, 2008
BURN AFTER READINGOsbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who quits his job at the agency after being demoted, ostensibly because of a drinking problem. He then decides to write a memoir about his life in the CIA. His wife, pediatrician Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), wants to divorce Osbourne and, at the counsel of her divorce lawyer, she copies many of his personal and financial files off his computer and onto an optical disc. The lawyer's receptionist accidentally leaves the disc at Hardbodies, a workout gym. After her husband is served with divorce papers, Katie changes the locks to keep him out of their house.
Release Date: November 19, 2008
QUARANTINE A medical emergency at an apartment complex is reported and the night shift is sent in. Yuri (Rade Serbedzija), the building manager, explains that a woman has been screaming, but is now silent. They are joined by two police officers, James (Andrew Fiscella) and Danny (Columbus Short), in the lobby. They are led to the apartment of Mrs. Espinoza (Jeannie Epper), the source of the screaming. Yuri unlocks the door when she does not answer, and a dog runs out. Within the apartment, Espinoza is struggling to breathe, covered in blood, and foaming at the mouth. She bites James before being subdued by Fletcher. The others take James downstairs to get medical assistance, but find the building sealed shut by the authorities. Fletcher falls from the top floor, bitten, breaking his leg. Release Date: December 3, 2008
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is 20th Century Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an alien whose arrival on our planet triggers a global upheaval. As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor's appearance, a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson get caught up in his mission – and come to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described "friend to the Earth."
Release Date: December 10, 2008 (eventhough it is said to the poster, 12.12.08, the production company said that this film is to be moved 2 days befor the US playdate so it's 12.10.08)
ROCKNROLLA When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.
Release Date: December 3, 2008
FOUR CHRISTMASES No one enjoys the holidays more than Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon). Every December 25th, this happily unmarried, upscale San Francisco couple embark on a holiday tradition they have shared every year since they met—ditching their crazy families for a relaxing, fun-filled vacation in some sunny exotic locale. There, sipping margaritas by the pool, they toast the season, knowing they have once again avoided the chaos and emotional fallout of their four respective households: divorced parents, squabbling siblings, out-of-control kids and all the simmering resentments and awkward moments that are the hallmarks of every family Christmas. But not this year. Shorts and sunglasses packed, Brad and Kate are trapped at the San Francisco airport by a fogbank that cancels every outbound flight.Release Date: December 3, 2008
LAKE DEAD Three sisters, Brielle (Kelsey Crane), Kelli (Kelsey Wedeen) and Sam, (Tara Gerard) who are on college break and find out about their grandfather who had just passed away, and he had left them a motel in his will. Their father, John (Dan Woods) tries to get them not to go, but the sisters ignore him and head off, taking their three friends, Tanya (Malea Richardson), Ben (Jim Devoti), Bill (Alex A. Quinn) and Bill's girlfriend, Amy (Vanessa Viola). The group drives to the motel and meet the caretaker, an old lady who appears kind. After finding a lake on their property, the group of friends take a swim, not noticing that a dead Sam is floating underneath them.
Release Date: TBA 2008
UNEARTHED After a sinister crash on the highway in a small New Mexican town, people start disappearing and animals and nature begin dying. The cause of the crash is later revealed to be a 900-year old creature which was unearthed during an archaeological dig in the area. Meanwhile, a gas station owner informs a group of people that the gas tank never arrived, which meant that the small group needed to spend the night at the gas station. Sheriff Annie is called to investigate the crash, and finds a strange piece of evidence.
Release Date: TBA 2008
OTHER UPDATES WILL BE POSTED SOON IF THERE IS A CHANGE OF SCHEDULE
I made this story by myself. Hope you like it...
One day at the city of
Noi Kasahara-
She has an unbreakable love for Takenaga and is often questioning their relationship. She is very beautiful and kind. She is the first female friend that Sunako makes, even if unwillingly. She is always standing up for Sunako at school when people make fun of her. She has a very quick temper around Kyouhei and the two are often found fighting. Like the boys, Noi is not that good when it comes to housework.
Mai Tokiha-
Mai is a recent transfer student to Fuka Academy and the heroine. She takes part-time jobs to pay for her brother Takumi's medical bills. As she's had so many part-time jobs, she considers it a hobby.
Natsuki Kuga-
Natsuki is a loner and truant who seeks revenge against the First District. She ends up working with Mai and Mikoto. She has the rather bizarre hobby of collecting lingerie.
Sunako Nakahara-
Sunako is often referred to as Ghost girl or Scary girl due to her dark presence. A lover of solitude, gore movies, anatomical dolls and objects that reflect the ugly side of life as she puts it, Sunako has locked herself away in a world of solitude due to a traumatic experience with her first love. She has especially mixed feelings about Kyouhei, and as the storyline progresses, their relationship becomes more solid and intimate. She even shared a kiss with him.
C.C.-
A mysterious green-haired girl who bestows the power of Geass upon Lelouch under the condition that he grant her greatest wish. C.C.'s abilities caught the interest of Britannia and she was imprisoned as a part of Britannia's experiments in the past. She passively oversees Lelouch's missions to ensure that he does not die and to help his plans succeed.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year starts when they, As seniors in high school ,Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future. In my own opinion, this movie is the best compare to the past two HSM's. Also, the songs were great like "Now or Never", "A Night to Remember", "High School Musical" and "The Boys are Back". I wish for another sequel like they in the time of Christmas, New Year or other occasions because HSM 3 is the best, I want also for the most not only the best. Also these are the track listings for the HSM 3: Senior Year
I've been watching this anime three weeks from now...
and i'm addicted to it.
"This incident sparks a life change, and as a result Sunako shuns all forms of beauty, both in herself as well as in life. Concerned by her change for the worst, Sunako's aunt, the owner of a beautiful mansion where four very handsome students live, offers the guys free rent in her mansion if they can turn Sunako into a perfect lady"
Here's the list of characters in the anime:
When Ben Stiller sits on the director’s chair, we’re going to get something a little more gutsy than your typical comedy. He’s going to go for something a little bit bigger, a little bit grander, and tons more ambitious. That’s always a welcome thing. Tropic Thunder has a bit more ambition than it can handle, but it’s still one of the funniest films to come out this year.
The film follows the exploits of a bunch of prima donna actors as they shoot a Vietnam era war movie. Tugg Speedman is a big name action star trying to raise his stock after a disastrous turn in a serious drama. Kirk Lazarus is a five time Oscar winner who goes to extreme lengths to portray his characters. Jeff Portnoy is a lowbrow comedian with a drug problem. Alpa Chino is a rapper who shills energy drinks. Because of their antics, the production is a month behind schedule just five days in shooting. Desperate and facing pressure from the studio, the director decides to just drop the cast in the jungle and shoot the film guerilla style. But things don’t go according to plan, and the actors are forced to fight their way out of drug cartel controlled territory.
There’s a lot of funny in this script, but it lacks a little focus. Tropic Thunder tries to do a lot of things in its attempt to lampoon the entire structure of Hollywood, poking fun at prestige films and “serious” actors and awards and adoptions and movie executives and action films and assistants and everything that makes the mad world of movies tick. All that, and it still tries to give us rounded characters, a full arc of stories and a fully functioning action movie in itself. That’s a lot to tackle for any production, and while this script comes amazingly close, it just falls short. It’s still laugh out loud funny, but there are parts where it’s obvious that we’re just being rushed through the scene to get the next big joke.
It’s a good thing, then, that the big jokes are actually really good. While the satire lacks focus, it makes up for it with sheer potency. There are lines in this movie that will be quoted and repeated and put up on blogs for years to come. There are moments in the film that just stick with you; that you’ll play back in your head on the ride home. Much of the film’s potency is owed to the spectacular cast. Ben Stiller can be pretty hit-and-miss, but he thrives in this kind of character: well-meaning dopes who rely on a truckload of false bravado and hang on to the fringes of sanity. His crazed look has always been one of Hollywood’s best, and when used well, it’s just instant laughs. Robert Downey Jr. steals the show playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor playing the role of an African-American sergeant in the movie. He stacks his role with so many levels of meta-acting that it’s hard to actually see him under all of it. Lazarus stands out as one of Downey’s most memorable characters, in a career already filled with great characters. Of the leads, Jack Black seems to have done the least, generating most of the easy laughs. Jay Baruchel is full of heart, and it would be great to see him in more things. Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, and Tom Cruise all take terribly memorable turns in this film as well.
It’s the people that really sell Tropic Thunder. There’s a fair amount of things in this film that just shouldn’t work, but the cast delivers it all with such gusto and perfect comedic timing that it’s almost hard to notice. And perhaps it’s a little self-indulgent, at times, a little too Hollywood insider-y. But all in all, it’s hard to think of a recent film with as many hearty laughs in it. And really, Downey Jr. is worth the price of admission alone.
The names attached to Body of Lies are probably enough to get most people into theaters. It isn’t too much of a stretch to say that anything director Ridley Scott does is going to be at least worth a look, and Crowe and Dicaprio are never going to offer up anything less than good performances. Add William Monahan, who wrote the script for The Departed, and that’s a formula for success. And while the final product doesn’t quite live up to the potential of these names, Body of Lies is still a far better film than we’ve seen lately.
Roger Ferris is a CIA secret agent stationed in the Middle East, keeping tabs on terrorist cells and gathering intelligence for counter-terrorist operations. He is sent to Amman, Jordan to follow the trail of an evasive terrorist responsible for suicide bombings in Europe. There, Ferris makes fast friends with the charismatic Jordanian head of covert operations, Hani, who offers to help Ferris as long as they keep honest with each other. But back in America, Ferris’ boss, Hoffman, has his own ideas on how to run things, and causes friction between Ferris and Hani, threatening to ruin all their operations. As Ferris gets closer to his prey, the harder it is to tell where his loyalties ought to be.
This film is based on a novel, and this where things get a little tricky. Novels, with their longer form and slower consumption, tend to get away with things that are difficult to pull off in movies. Movies need more narrative momentum, and can’t really afford to have several separate arcs start and end in the middle of the story. When Ferris starts a new operation, it feels like we’re starting all over again. Monahan’s script is plenty clever, and does everything it can to keep the film moving, but he can’t keep it from feeling episodic, and thus, a bit disjointed and long. The film can also appear a bit preachy, favoring direct statements rather than building up its arguments. But amazingly, despite all that, there’s still a lot to love about the story they’re telling. The film is a pretty affecting look into how the war on terror is operated: how the operatives on the ground are subject to the whims of bosses who run this war while taking their kids to soccer practice, how cooperation is needed but rarely sought, how the people who actually know things tend to be put into the background. It’s a terribly harsh, fascinating tale with too many great elements to mention; it just isn’t structured that well.
Everything else works pretty well. Ridley Scott is just terribly good, and he leaves very little to complain about in the directing department. It’s interesting to note that the film’s Director of Photography Alexander Witt has mostly worked in second units, which means that his primary experience is in shooting big action sequences. He injects the same mentality in this film, treating everything as if it were about to explode. He’s injects frantic energy into the film, which helps somewhat. Does anyone still need to point out how good Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe are? They are fantastic, and Crowe in particular seems to have lots of fun in his role. Mark Strong, who plays Hani, is almost frighteningly charming, and he steals a good number of scenes in this film.
Body of Lies probably isn’t as good as it could be; the structural problems of the script really make it lag in the second act, and its preachiness softens what could’ve been a real jolt to your system. No, it’s not as good as it could be, but having said that, it’s still pretty good. The performances are strong, the directing is solid, and the story will still provide moviegoers with a lot to chew on. While it won’t floor you, it’s going to be hard to deny that you got a lot out of seeing the film.
Rating- 3
Credits- clickthecity.com/movies
There are points in Eagle Eye that really test your suspension of disbelief. There are points in the film where even the most open-minded and accepting moviegoer will go “now hold on, I’m not buying that.” But even as the film forces the very limits of plausibility, it offers up enough excitement and fun to keep you in your seats; maybe even on the edge of it. While there are certainly flaws to Eagle Eye, humongous action scenes and great performances might just make you enjoy it.
Jerry is an underachieving young man who works at a copy shop and has trouble making the rent. Rachel is a divorced mother with a deadbeat ex, and she’s seeing off her only son, who’s off to Washington to play trumpet at the Kennedy Center. The two have no connection to each other, but one fateful day, they both receive phone calls from the same female voice, telling them that they’ve been “activated,” and giving them a set of very specific instructions. With their lives and the lives of their family on the line, the two are forced to travel across the country, being guided by what appears to be an all-seeing force, made to play out an elaborate plan. It soon becomes clear that a much larger conspiracy is at work, and the fate of the entire country lies in the hands of these two unwitting pawns.
There are four words that could’ve made this screenplay infinitely better: “20 years from now.” The problem with this film is that the second act sags under the weight of all the implausible happenings. The script needed some sort of out, a quick and dirty explanation for all the crazy stuff that goes on. What the script does is it tries so hard to establish that the people were relatable and real and normal, and that actually hurts the film, because it just makes it hard to buy some of the more improbable stuff that happens. You tend to give action films a lot of leeway in this area, but Eagle Eye just challenges you at every turn. The script also kind of suffers from explaining too much, but that’s already to be expected from big blockbusters.
Despite all that, though, the story mostly holds together, and even leaves some room for a bit of cleverness. The characters actually end up being pretty well developed, in spite of all the strangeness that goes on. The film also benefits from a couple of crazy, high-energy action scenes full of exploding things and crashing cars and generally fun stuff all around. D.J. Caruso turns out to be a pretty decent action director, and he has a pretty good grasp of what makes a set piece work. He really conveys a sense of speed and danger and movement, and that can really pump you up.
Shia Lebeouf has taken a lot of flack over the last year or so for his performances, but he makes up for a lot of it here. It still doesn’t feel like he really deserves the place he’s in, but it feels like he genuinely trying to get there, and he’s working hard to be better. I have proclaimed my love for Michelle Monaghan several times already. She is a terrific actress, and it’s easy to watch her, no matter what she’s in. Billy Bob Thornton is almost too much fun to watch. Michael Chiklis gets a pretty good turn in here as well.
Eagle Eye has its flaws, and some things just don’t work as well as they ought to. But when it does get to something that works, it manages to squeeze enough good will out of those moments to sustain you through the tough times. I do wish that the film ended five minutes earlier, with a gutsier, more powerful ending, but Hollywood is just the way it is. Still, Eagle Eye ends up being pretty fun, and you can do far worse than fun.
Rating: 4
Credits to: Clickthecity.com/movies
You come to dread watching horror movies these days. Not because they’re scary, but because they’re usually so poorly made. They’re often just showing you stuff in a mirror and calling it scary, or filling the screen with blood and guts and calling it realistic. And so, Rogue comes as a refreshing little surprise. Prioritizing actual horror above all, we end up with a film that’s not particularly original or exciting, but definitely scary.
Pete is a travel writer sent to the Australian outback to write about the growing tourist trade in the Northern territories. He, along with a group of tourists, joins a river cruise down crocodile infested waters. The tour gets derailed when they spot a distress flare upriver, which they decide to follow. It all goes terribly awry when a gigantic rogue crocodile attacks and damages their boat. In a panic, they run their boat aground on a tiny island in the middle of the river. With the rising tide threatening to put them underwater, and an unstoppable predator waiting in the wings, the group must figure out a way to escape their predicament.
You aren’t going to find many new ideas in this film, but there’s some really effective horror in here. It works by keeping everything gloriously simple. A group of people trapped in one place, a deadly predator keeping them from escaping, and an external factor (the rising water) keeping them from just waiting it out. Those elements add up to some powerful suspense. The script also has the patience to not show all of its cards right away. It lets things build slowly, allowing the fear and paranoia to accrue, until it all comes out in bursts of concentrated horror. Again, it’s nothing particularly original, but it’s done pretty well.
The film is a bit of an exhibition of how horror ought to be done. Horror isn’t about seeing someone get harmed. It’s about the anticipation of someone getting harmed. This is where the film excels, but really building that air of anticipation. Director Greg McLean never lets you forget the threat, even while using the threat rather sparingly. The violence is meted out in small doses, never becoming more important than the fear of the unseen. The croc itself looks pretty good, although there’s shot of it near the end that feels kind of off.
There isn’t a lot to say concerning the performances. The characters aren’t exactly the most complex, and don’t require much acting in general. The most that you can really ask from this horror cast is to sell the fear, and they do that well enough. Michael Vartan isn’t the best actor out there, but he’s used to pretty good effect here. Radha Mitchell gets a few nice moments in there. Sam Worthington does a nice little in here as well. The cast mostly gives way to the fear, never giving in to the temptation of just hamming it up.
Rogue is just a nice little surprise. Horror movies in general have deteriorated over the last decade or so, with most of them relying on sheer shock value instead of proper horror filmmaking, or falling back on the camp crutch in order to get away from building an effective story. Rogue does it right, building suspense and withholding violence, letting fear fill the air instead of blood and body parts. It’s the kind of thing that recalls movies like Jaws, and it’s nice to get something like this every now and then.
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You Don't Mess With the Zohan sort of feels like it started out with a lot more ambition. You can just get a whiff of that certain subversive absurdity that Robert Smigel tends to pepper in his work. Maybe they lost their nerve along the way. Instead, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan falls back on some very old tricks. Big Sandler fans will still probably love a lot of it because of that. Everybody else can probably get away with not seeing it.
Zohan is Israel’s greatest Mossad agent, but he’s grown tired of the constant conflict. He fakes his own death so that he can escape to America and follow his dream: to cut and style hair. Taking the name Scrappy Coco, he takes a job at a small hair salon run by a Palestinian immigrant, Dalia, who’s struggling to make the rent. Zohan’s unorthodox approach to hairdressing makes him a hit with the clientele, and he soon finds himself living his dream. But a greedy landlord, a Palestinian taxi driver, and an old rival threaten to take it all away from him.
The film has some really funny moments in its repertoire, and there are a few big laughs scattered throughout. Unfortunately, the film tends to run its jokes into the ground through endless repetition. The first time you see someone in the film use hummus for something other than spreading on flatbread, it’s pretty funny. The next eight times, not so much. Cheesy disco, sex with old people, and Hacky Sack all get the same repetitive treatment. That’s pretty much the film in a nutshell: some funny ideas, done over and over again, for far too long, until they just aren’t funny anymore. There are bits of cleverness here and there; a light, subversive undertone that almost does justice to the controversial subject matter. It just doesn’t go far enough to actually matter.
One of the reasons the satire doesn’t have any punch is because of the filmmaking. Dennis Dugan doesn’t really have a light enough touch to let any the sophistication shine through. He hits hardest when doing slapstick, and the film works well enough at those points. When the film tries other things, when it dips it toe into the realm of satire, the cracks begin to show. He plays it too big, too broad, and it just becomes another throwaway joke lost among the much easier laughs.
Adam Sandler, whether you like him or not, is always a lot of fun to watch. He’s clearly comfortable in Zohan’s skin, and he delivers an effortless and strangely natural performance. John Turturro, who plays Zohan’s Palestinian nemesis, the Phantom, really commits to the role, and his enthusiasm carries you through some of the character’s weaknesses. Sandler’s usual gang of comedians manages to show up, and they do add something to the background of this film. Watch out for cameos from the likes of Henry Winkler, Chris Rock, John McEnroe and George Takei.
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is really funny at times. There are points in the film where you’re just taken in by the majestic absurdity of what’s on screen. But then it starts to go wrong. The film shows you that majestic absurdity a second time. Then a third. And as it runs its jokes into the ground, your attention may begin to wander towards the paper-thin plot and the stale direction. And it might still surprise you with a bit of inventiveness, but by then, it might be too late. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan has it moments, but all in all, it’s not the easiest film to recommend.
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By now, after months and months of hype and anticipation, compounded with the shroud of Heath Ledger’s untimely death, people are probably expecting The Dark Knight to be practically the second coming of Jesus. It’s not quite that, of course, but it is a tremendously good piece of cinema. Bold, complex, gritty and unwaveringly intelligent, The Dark Knight may have just changed everything.
About a year after the events of Batman Begins, crime in Gotham has plummeted, thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant Jim Gordon, the Batman, and a fearless district attorney by the name of Harvey Dent. The three of them have the organized crime families on the run, and are on the verge of a breakthrough that could severely cripple the criminals’ operations. But a new player has entered the picture; a psychotic, remorseless killer who calls himself the Joker, whose brilliant schemes thwart the authorities at every turn. He issues a challenge to the Batman: reveal himself, or people die. As the body count grows, the Batman is faced with the reality that he may have met his match, and must make a difficult choice that could mean the end of his crimefighting days.
The story was a surprise. It is sprawling and ambitious, almost Shakespearean in scope. It is far more than what we’ve come to expect from superhero films. It is blindingly intelligent and darkly tragic, unafraid of leaving audiences with a bad taste in their mouths. The Nolans’ script is heady stuff, a meditation on crime and how order is achieved in a society. It is Batman and Joker as two extremes in the spectrum of order: the Joker as anarchy and the Batman as fascism. It is a story of how in a battle of extremes, it’s often the people in the middle who suffer the most. And it paints everything in a gorgeous palette composed mostly of shades of gray, sometimes giving you the terrible realization that the villains might be right, and Batman, for all his good intentions, may be wrong.
It’s good stuff. Maybe there are a few narrative shortcuts taken along the way, but Nolan builds his characters so well that you hardly notice. He establishes the threat of his villains so well that you just come to accept their ability to accomplish any of their goals. Nolan’s filmmaking holds up pretty well, too. Nolan fills his scenes with a sense of unease, making every sequence feel like a ticking time bomb. He wisely focuses on the characters, building his movie patiently as we get to know what defines these people. And when things do explode, Nolan offers up a satisfying rush. His fight sequences do get a little messy, but this movie isn’t about the fights.
It’s about people, and thankfully, the people in this film are great. Christian Bale’s Batman is much the same as in Batman Begins, except a little wearier, perhaps a little more unsure of his place in the city. He still employs the goofy scary voice as Batman, but it doesn’t really break the performance. Heath Ledger’s Joker is mesmerizing, a deadly combination of nervous energy, pure danger and unabated psychosis. It’s a landmark performance, one that the late Mr. Ledger will certainly be remembered for. Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent will probably be glossed over by most people, but that would be a mistake, because he’s brilliant. Amazingly, Maggie Gyllenhaal might be better at being Katie Holmes than Katie Holmes herself. Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon is wonderfully subdued. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine bring so much to their small roles, and it’s greatly appreciated.
Since I didn’t just want to buy into the hype of the film, the first I did when the movie finished was list down all the things I didn’t like about it. I came up with a good number of things: it may have been ten minutes too long, maybe too many things were said out loud when they could have been implied, maybe we could have kept Batman attacking from the dark like in the first film, and maybe Edison Chen shouldn’t have been in it (even for just a little bit). Honestly, I could nitpick all day, because I’m trained to find these little flaws, but at the end of the day, that’s all they are: nitpicks. This is a fine film, one that may redefine our idea of what a superhero movie can be. It’s a wonderfully complex film that delivers on the action, but chooses not to stop there. Instead, it gives you more and more, never letting you turn your brain off. This is grand cinema, and it’s a proof positive that great movies are still being made.
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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a good film compare to the other mummy movies that Cohen directed. It started in the end of WWII, the rough riding O'Connell Family -- Rick , Evelyn, and college age son Alex -- have been in semi-retirement. Gone are the days when they would circumnavigate the globe looking for ancient treasure and kicking antiquated butt. When they get the chance to return a precious diamond to the people of China, they jump at the chance. Unfortunately, the gem is instrumental in the resurrection of the evil Emperor Han a ruthless tyrant bent on conquering the world. Luckily, an ancient witch has cursed him to an eternity embedded in rock. Of course, it won't be long before our haphazard adventurers have him up and around -- and seeking immortality via his massive terra cotta army.
Compare to other reviews, they say that this is an annoying film like this statement: "Borrowing every beat it can from the entire Indiana Jones lexicon, and lost in waves of pungent cinematic cheese, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is the latest in a long line of "who asked for it" three-quels as talent paycheck providers. It's a routine romp which owes more to the modern technology of today than the giddy joys of the '30s serials it constantly steals from. How can you defend a film which wastes the undeniable talents of Li and Yeoh and then allows CGI yetis to upstage them both and become the stars of the story? You heard right: Fake as faux fur Abominable Snowmen show up during the second act and become ferocious fuzzy-wuzzy bodyguards for our heroes. They even know the practical way to avoid an avalanche."
I will say that their reviews are a big wrong- wrong because this movie is a big hit even without Yeoh and Li, they can make a surefire hit film. My rating for that film is an excellent rating. I will say that this film have the guts to fight to the academy awards. I would say that do not believe to other reviews that say negative opinions and watch the movie that you can witness the action and the suspense of this film. Go and watch this movie!!!.
My rating:
The movie musical is a rather tricky thing. Cinema tends to deal with a certain level of realism. Many people will never be able to accept characters breaking into song, especially when they’re dealing with serious matters. Mamma Mia! succeeds because it doesn’t deal with serious matters, letting the sheer campy joy of the songs do most of work.
Twenty year-old Sophie is about to get married, and she’s determined to have her father give her away at the wedding. The problem is that she doesn’t know who her father is. After reading her mother’s diary, she narrows it down to three suspects. She invites all three of them to the wedding without telling her mother, believing that she’ll know her father when she sees him. But when all three show up, and Sophie can’t tell, the wedding becomes a little more than all of them can handle.
The plot, if we’re being generous about it, is really thin. The original musical wasn’t really a narrative force to begin with, but the film trims it down even further, just barely maintaining enough story elements to keep some semblance of plot. But let’s be honest: this is a story based on the music of ABBA, and for the most part, it works. It works because the film is so adamantly cheesy, so free from pretension that you just start letting things go. You start to forgive the film for things like a lack of character development, broad, easy humor, and flat dialogue, because it never pretends to be anything more than it is. It doesn’t quibble with themes, doesn’t pretend that it’s giving us a timeless love story, or a grand meditation on life. It is unabashedly frivolous and lacking in gravity. At its core, it’s just people singing ABBA songs, and that’s okay.
Unless you don’t like ABBA, of course. Then it’s not okay at all. The film’s not going to change your mind about them. On the filmmaking side of things, there isn’t really much to say. Director Phyllida Lloyd clearly doesn’t have much experience with film. Her scenes mostly play out like they were still on stage. Some pretty scenery perks up a couple of frames, but a lot of it is remarkably flat. Lloyd relies solely on the production design to keep her film visually interesting, and it isn’t really enough. She does make up for a lot of her filmmaking deficiencies by injecting the film with a ton of unbridled joy, and for some people, it would be easy enough to just get caught up in all of it.
Is there really anything left to say about Meryl Streep? I will say that in this film, she attacks every song with enough gusto that she manages to make The Winner Takes It All work. Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie, is just stunning, and this movie might finally make her the star that she deserves to be. Pierce Brosnan may want to retire from acting and just spend the rest of his days singing Disco hits, because he looks like he’s having a lot of fun here. Colin Firth spends the movie being Colin Firth, which people seem to find charming.
Mamma Mia! isn’t really great cinema, but it doesn’t need to be. A good bunch of movie musicals get caught up with trying to be epic love stories or having some sort of profound insight, and they fall flat because all the singing inevitably clashes with the gravity of what they’re trying to address, and you just can’t solve life’s mysteries by singing pop songs. Mamma Mia! seems terribly aware of this fact, and skips the inevitable dash of pretension in favor of the outright cheesy camp flavor that only ABBA can bring. The production, for all its flaws, succeeds in bringing a lot of unmitigated nostalgic joy to the screen. It’s probably not for everyone, but joy is hardly ever a bad thing.
Journey to the Center of the Earth as a normal, run-of-the-mill 2D picture, isn’t a particularly interesting one. The story is blindingly simple, the characters lack any depth, and the effects aren’t anything we haven’t seen before. But Journey to the Center of the Earth isn’t meant to be seen as a normal, run-of-the-mill 2D picture. When this film enters the third dimensions, things start to get interesting.
The film is sort of an update to the Jules Verne classic sci-fi story. Trevor Anderson is a professor of volcanology. A little over ten years ago, his brother, Max, didn’t return from an expedition, under mysterious circumstances. Trevor, studying his brother’s notes, heads out to Iceland with Max’s thirteen year old son, Sean. There, they hook up with Hannah, a local mountain guide. They travel through the Icelandic mountains to retrieve some of Max’s research materials, but get caught in a cave-in along the way. As they try to find a way out of the cave, they inadvertently stumble into a deep chasm that takes them all the way to a hidden underground world at the center of the Earth.
There isn’t much to the plot. It’s pretty clear that the filmmakers wrote this script by first thinking about the action sequences they wanted to produce, and then just kind of filling in the blanks. The characters aren’t really fleshed out all that well, despite only really having three of them to focus on. Aside from a pretty large plot hole, however, there’s nothing particularly offensive about how this film tells its tale. It’s dead simple, just enough to keep it from becoming a random sequence of vignettes. That may be just enough, because any more, and it might start getting in the way of the main attraction.
If you don’t see this film in 3D, you’re missing out. It’s that simple. The third dimension defines this film, making it something more than your generic family adventure film. It becomes your connection to the film. The characters and the story are a little too simple to really grab you, but the 3D makes the film experience immersive. It’s a gimmick, all right, but it’s a terribly fun gimmick, one that has you dodging in your seat and grabbing at things that aren’t there. Kids will certainly love it.
The acting in the film isn’t exceptional, but it gets the job done. Brendan Fraser isn’t the world’s greatest actor, but he knows what he’s doing. He’s goofy and quippy and you can’t really hate him, no matter how cheesy he gets. Josh Hutcherson, who’s really become a staple of American family films, is always pretty good, and he’s no different in this film. He’s no Freddie Highmore, but that’s all right. Few kids are. Anita Breim has pretty decent chemistry with both of the boys, and that’s enough to get her through the film.
It’s all about the 3D with this film. Without it, I would probably knock half a star (or maybe more) from the final rating, because it just isn’t as exciting or as fun an experience. I know it’s a lot more expensive, and having only one cinema showing it in that format is a problem, but really, 3D’s the way to go. Get a seat closer to the screen so you can just barely see the edges of the frame, and it’s even better. And maybe if enough people see it in 3D, it’ll convince other cinemas to invest in digital projection. And then we’ll all be better for it.
Hancock could've really been something. The superhero genre, despite its popularity (and my own personal fondness for it), has not exactly been a venue for complex characters. The movies just go larger than life, painting good and evil in wide swaths that leave no room for quibbling. Hancock had a chance to turn everything around by deconstructing the superhero myth, demystifying it and bringing it closer to the real world. And for the first third of this film, it felt like we were going to get that. Unfortunately, there was an hour left in the picture, and old habits die hard.
Hancock is the world's only superhero, but he's not a particularly nice guy. He's an alcoholic, and often, when he's saving the day, he causes more damage than he prevents. The people of L.A. hate him for this. Then one day, he saves the life of Ray Embrey, an idealistic P.R. man who spends his time trying to convince corporations to give aid to poor countries. Ray offers Hancock his services, believing that he can help Hancock become the superhero that people want. But as all this is happening, Hancock finds himself inexplicably drawn to Ray's wife, Mary, and an earth-shattering secret between them threatens to change everything in their lives.
The first thirty minutes or so of this film are great. It's just a great set-up, and the Hancock character offers up tons of intriguing possibilities. He's a hero, but he's also a tremendous jerk. Unfettered with origin stories or distinct motivations, Hancock starts out as something more than your prototypical superhero. He didn't see his parents murdered, or have his dying uncle tell him "with great power comes great responsibility." He's just a guy trying to cope with being alone in the world, be it through superheroics or a bottle of bourbon. It's quite a character, and one that just had tons of potential. But then the first act ends, and the script takes a hard left turn, letting go of all its potential and dragging the film into typical blockbuster fare. There are still some good scenes, but it feels like the film just never takes it to the next step, content with mucking about with a muddled mythology that never really manages to make sense.
Peter Berg's shaky cam style makes its way into a blockbuster, and it mostly works. It doesn't always make the action easy to follow, but it adds incredible urgency to his scenes. But Berg is really at his best when shooting simple things, his camera picking up little nuances that tell us so much. Berg likes to draw in close to his actors, letting them reveal their characters with things as small as an eye twitch. It doesn't all work, however. Berg isn't great at showing us the fantastic, and the style doesn't lend itself well to the typical big blockbuster musical score. It just doesn't mesh well, and a couple of scenes come off awkward because of it.
The performances in the film are all really solid. Will Smith doesn't really get enough credit for his acting abilities. As Hancock, Smith is terribly compelling, a remarkably strong portrait of loneliness. Smith is at his best when he goes smaller, when he's not trying to chew up the scenery. He gets to do that here, and it's good stuff to watch. Jason Bateman plays the everyman really well, and he's the heart of this picture. Charlize Theron is always really good, and this film just continues the trend.
There is word that there is an R-rated director's cut of Hancock floating around somewhere that is thirty minutes longer and features a good deal more complexity. That sounds like a version worth waiting for, and hopefully, something we'll eventually see on DVD. This current version of the film has its strengths, but in the end, it becomes little more than your average summer blockbuster, falling into the same old bad habits that these movies tend to have. Which isn't to say it's bad, really, since there's still lots of fun to be had watching an inebriated Will Smith breaking things. It just isn't everything it could be.
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