I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a huge Twilight fan. Of course, I've read all the books. Now I know they're not great literature (far from it) but still... I enjoy a good cheesy romance novel every now and then. And I've always been fascinated by vampires.
It's been a tradition for me & my grandparents to go see the movies on openin night. I must like to torture myself lol. What I mean is I can't stand most of the crowd that Twilight draws- the loud annoying teenage girls. They get on my nerves and give Twilight fans a bad name. We're not all like that I promise.
That being said, Breaking Dawn: Part 1 was awesome. I definitely think it's the best one so far. It's nice to see that the acting has gradually gotten better and they finally got the look of the vampires right. I shudder to think back to the first film with the ugly blue tint and the horrible make up job.
This time around they got Academy Award winning director Bill Condon. I've only seen bits and pieces of two of his other movies (Chicago & Dreamgirls) but I was impressed. I wasn't sure how the book would translate to film (anyone who's read Breaking Dawn knows it's a crazy mess) but Bill pulled it off. He did the best he could with the material he had to work with.
WARNING: Some might call these spoilers but I really don't think they are. Everyhing I'm about to talk about appears in the various trailers out there.
In this movie, Bella & Edward finally get married in a beautiful ceremony that was just how I always pictured it. Jacob shows up as a "gift" to Bella. Eventually there's some tension (of course) but after that things settle down and Bella & Edward go on their honeymoon. This part was filmed in South America and looks absolutely gorgeous.
Then there's the much anticipated sex scene. All I'll say about that is it does include some headboard breaking and feathers flying all over the place. Woo hoo!
Of course, things don't exactly go perfectly. Bella soon finds out that she's pregnant. I never realized vampires could father children. Edward must have some super sperm or something. It's best not to think too much about this.
Bella wants to keep the baby (despite the huge risk) But Edward's convinced it's a monster and wants her to have an abortion. The newlyweds return home to try and figure out what's going on. The pregnancy is greatly accelerated and is sucking the life out of Bella. It's amazing what technology can do these days. Kristen Stewart looks so sick in these scenes it's scary. You really feel like Bella is at death's door.
There's also some issues with the werewolves. They feel that the baby is a threat to them and are hellbent on destroying it, even if it means killing Bella in the process. Jacob wants nothing to do with this and breaks away from the pack (along with Seth & Leah) to warn The Cullens and protect Bella.
And then there's the birth scene- oh my god!!! It's very intense. Hard to beleive, but it was toned down when you compare it to the book. Still, it was creepy. I'm honestly surprised they got away with a PG-13 rating.
I won't tell you where part 1 ends, but I think you can figure it out. I was, in my head, shouting "Noooo! It can't end now." I could've sat in that theater for another two hours. It really sucks that we have to wait until next November for part 2. It was hard enough waiting the 8 months in between both parts of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. It's far from perfect (there's a certain scene involving Jacob that prevents me from giving Breaking Dawn a higher rating) but so what. You can't take these movies too seriously. Honestly, and I'm not trying to be mean, if you go into a Twilight movie expecting an Oscar worthy experience then you're a moron. Just enjoy it for what it is.
Oh, and be sure to stay during the credits. There's a small but great scene that sets up part 2.
My Rating: 8.5/10
I gave it the extra .5 because before the movie they showed a trailer for Man On A Ledge- a new movie coming out soon starring my Sam Worthington ;) :D
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Immortals (3D)
I must say, seeing Henry Cavill run around half naked in 3D is a pretty awesome way to spend a Friday night ;) Immortals kicked ass!! I knew it would be good but I didn't know it would be this good.
I absolutely love these kinds of movies. Always have. Yes, Immortals has everything you've seen before (an evil king, a poor man who ends up being the hero, and even the slow motion action), but it's still a lot of fun. The best way I can describe it is that it's pretty much Clash of the Titans meets 300.
I'm not going to go too much into the plot since you've seen it all before. But basically there's an evil king named Hyperion (played brilliantly by Mickey Rourke) who's got a lot of issues to say the least. He's hellbent on finding some magical bow (that I beleive had belonged to the Gods or the Titans. Can't remember which) and releasing the Titans. He doesn't care who or what he has to destroy in the process. Meanwhile, in a small village a man named Theseus (Henry Cavill) lives with his mother. They're very poor and pretty much considered outcasts. But Zeus sees something in Theseus and ultimately chooses him to lead an army and stop King Hyperion.
The visuals in this movie were really good. Some of the best I've seen this year infact. You really felt like you were there. Just to warn you, Immortals is VERY gory. There's blood and body parts flying all over the place. If you have a weak stomach this may not be the best movie for you.
Henry Cavill I thought did an excellent job (and no I'm not saying that because he's extremely good looking. Although it certainly didn't hurt hehe). He's probably best known for his role as Charles Brandon in The Tudors. It's a really good tv series that was on Showtime. I highly recommend it. Anyway, I think he's a really good actor and I look forward to seeing more of his movies in the future.
Frida Pinto (she was in Slumdog Millionare) plays a priestess. Can't really say more about her role without spoiling some of the plot. But you can pretty much guess what happens.
If I had anything "negative" to say, it would be that I wish they had tried to make the story a little more original. Not really a big issue for me though since I enjoyed the movie and it entertained me.
The 3D was actually good, but not great. Still, it's worth the extra money to see it that way if you can.
Go see Immortals if you're really into this genre. And if you're not, still go see it. There's a lot of great eye candy ;) ;)
My Rating: 8/10
I absolutely love these kinds of movies. Always have. Yes, Immortals has everything you've seen before (an evil king, a poor man who ends up being the hero, and even the slow motion action), but it's still a lot of fun. The best way I can describe it is that it's pretty much Clash of the Titans meets 300.
I'm not going to go too much into the plot since you've seen it all before. But basically there's an evil king named Hyperion (played brilliantly by Mickey Rourke) who's got a lot of issues to say the least. He's hellbent on finding some magical bow (that I beleive had belonged to the Gods or the Titans. Can't remember which) and releasing the Titans. He doesn't care who or what he has to destroy in the process. Meanwhile, in a small village a man named Theseus (Henry Cavill) lives with his mother. They're very poor and pretty much considered outcasts. But Zeus sees something in Theseus and ultimately chooses him to lead an army and stop King Hyperion.
The visuals in this movie were really good. Some of the best I've seen this year infact. You really felt like you were there. Just to warn you, Immortals is VERY gory. There's blood and body parts flying all over the place. If you have a weak stomach this may not be the best movie for you.
Henry Cavill I thought did an excellent job (and no I'm not saying that because he's extremely good looking. Although it certainly didn't hurt hehe). He's probably best known for his role as Charles Brandon in The Tudors. It's a really good tv series that was on Showtime. I highly recommend it. Anyway, I think he's a really good actor and I look forward to seeing more of his movies in the future.
Frida Pinto (she was in Slumdog Millionare) plays a priestess. Can't really say more about her role without spoiling some of the plot. But you can pretty much guess what happens.
If I had anything "negative" to say, it would be that I wish they had tried to make the story a little more original. Not really a big issue for me though since I enjoyed the movie and it entertained me.
The 3D was actually good, but not great. Still, it's worth the extra money to see it that way if you can.
Go see Immortals if you're really into this genre. And if you're not, still go see it. There's a lot of great eye candy ;) ;)
My Rating: 8/10
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Tower Heist
I was in the mood for a comedy this weekend. I'd seen the trailer a few weeks ago and this movie looked funny so I thought I would check it out. While I'm glad I did, it certainly wasn't the best comedy I've ever seen. Still, I liked it.
Tower Heist takes place in New York City. Ben Stiller stars as Josh Kovacs, the manager of an apartment building called The Tower. These are no ordinary apartments. They're the kind that only the very wealthy can afford. One of the residents is a Wall Street buisnessman named Arthur Shaw. Josh and several other people who work at The Tower are shocked when they find out that Shaw is involved in a large scheme, which has cost all of them their pensions. Josh decides to make things right by robbing Shaw's apartment, in which he has hidden over 20 million dollars. He enlists the help of some of his coworkers as well as Slide (Eddie Murphy), his neighbor who is a "criminal" and has experience in this department.
As I said before, this was not the best comedy. But I did find it funny and laughed at several points. I must say, Ben Stiller was really good in this. So was Eddie Murphy, which I was happy about. Over the last several years, most of his movies have been complete shit with the exception of Shrek. The other actors characters were likable, but these were far from their best roles.
If you need a good laugh, go and see this. But Tower Heist is a movie you'll likely forget about in a few months. It was fun though.
My Rating: 6/10
Tower Heist takes place in New York City. Ben Stiller stars as Josh Kovacs, the manager of an apartment building called The Tower. These are no ordinary apartments. They're the kind that only the very wealthy can afford. One of the residents is a Wall Street buisnessman named Arthur Shaw. Josh and several other people who work at The Tower are shocked when they find out that Shaw is involved in a large scheme, which has cost all of them their pensions. Josh decides to make things right by robbing Shaw's apartment, in which he has hidden over 20 million dollars. He enlists the help of some of his coworkers as well as Slide (Eddie Murphy), his neighbor who is a "criminal" and has experience in this department.
As I said before, this was not the best comedy. But I did find it funny and laughed at several points. I must say, Ben Stiller was really good in this. So was Eddie Murphy, which I was happy about. Over the last several years, most of his movies have been complete shit with the exception of Shrek. The other actors characters were likable, but these were far from their best roles.
If you need a good laugh, go and see this. But Tower Heist is a movie you'll likely forget about in a few months. It was fun though.
My Rating: 6/10
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Paranormal Activity 3
I remember when the first Paranormal Activity movie came out. There was so much hype and when I finally saw it I was like, really? Don't get me wrong I liked it a lot. But I was a little disappointed. It certainly wasn't the "scariest movie ever" that people were claiming it to be. There were a few times I remember jumping in my seat, but that's about it.
This third movie however, really creeped me out. I mean that in a good way. I've been really let down by the horror movies that have come out lately. But not this one. I really enjoyed it. It's easily the best movie out of the three.
This movie is a prequel, taking place in 1988. It tells the story of a young Katie & Kristi (sisters, seen as adults in the first two movies) who live with their mom Julie and stepdad Dennis. One day Kristi starts talking to an "imaginary friend" named Toby and from there, all he'll breaks loose. Dennis decides to set up video cameras around the house to try and find out what's going on.
I can't say much more than that without giving away everything. But I thought they did a good job with the story. Much better than the first two.
The acting was pretty good too. Especially the two little girls playing young Katie and Kristi. And I really enjoyed watching the guy who played Dennis. His character was very likable.
This is not a perfect movie however. Far from it. Just like the first two, there's long periods of time where almost nothing happens. A door might creek shut or a picture falls off the wall but that's about it. It's not until you get to the last third of the movie when things really start to get interesting. The ending I wasn't too crazyabout though. Felt a little too much like The Last Exorcism.
Bottom line, if you liked the first two, then you'll love this one.
My Rating: 7.5/10
This third movie however, really creeped me out. I mean that in a good way. I've been really let down by the horror movies that have come out lately. But not this one. I really enjoyed it. It's easily the best movie out of the three.
This movie is a prequel, taking place in 1988. It tells the story of a young Katie & Kristi (sisters, seen as adults in the first two movies) who live with their mom Julie and stepdad Dennis. One day Kristi starts talking to an "imaginary friend" named Toby and from there, all he'll breaks loose. Dennis decides to set up video cameras around the house to try and find out what's going on.
I can't say much more than that without giving away everything. But I thought they did a good job with the story. Much better than the first two.
The acting was pretty good too. Especially the two little girls playing young Katie and Kristi. And I really enjoyed watching the guy who played Dennis. His character was very likable.
This is not a perfect movie however. Far from it. Just like the first two, there's long periods of time where almost nothing happens. A door might creek shut or a picture falls off the wall but that's about it. It's not until you get to the last third of the movie when things really start to get interesting. The ending I wasn't too crazyabout though. Felt a little too much like The Last Exorcism.
Bottom line, if you liked the first two, then you'll love this one.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Film Columbia 2011
This is the second year I've attended and I was not disappointed . The Chatham Film Club runs this and they do a great job. The movies are shown mainly at the Crandell. If you've never been there, you're really missing out. It's a cute old fashioned theater. I remember going there many times as a kid. The prices really haven't changed much since then. Where else can you go these days and see a movie for $5?
Anyway, since the movies I saw technically haven't been released yet, I'm only going to post very brief reviews & my rating so as not to spoil them for you guys.
Anonymous:
Beautiful cinematography. Wonderful acting, especially by Rhys Ifans. Was Edward De Vere really the author of all those plays and not William Shakespheare? Who knows. But this was a great mystery/thriller. Really makes you think (a rarity in movies these days). Definitely worth checking out.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Like Crazy:
A really sweet, romantic, low budget movie. Took me a little while to get into it, but it was good. Really good performances by the two leads (Anton Yelchin & Felecity Jones). An honest look at relationships.
My Rating: 7/10
A Dangerous Method:
Great period movie. The kind Academy loves. Brilliant acting by Michael Fassbender & Viggo Mortensen as Carl Jung & Sigmund Freud. Kiera Knightly was amazing as well. I wouldn't be surprised if she got a Best Actress Oscar for this.
My Rating: 8/10
The Descendants:
This was the Saturday Night Sneak movie at the festival. A really good dramedy starring George Clooney. I both laughed & cried. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous (the movie takes place in Hawaii). While I don't know if it'll win Best Picture, I can see George Clooney getting the award for Best Actor.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Anyway, since the movies I saw technically haven't been released yet, I'm only going to post very brief reviews & my rating so as not to spoil them for you guys.
Anonymous:
Beautiful cinematography. Wonderful acting, especially by Rhys Ifans. Was Edward De Vere really the author of all those plays and not William Shakespheare? Who knows. But this was a great mystery/thriller. Really makes you think (a rarity in movies these days). Definitely worth checking out.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Like Crazy:
A really sweet, romantic, low budget movie. Took me a little while to get into it, but it was good. Really good performances by the two leads (Anton Yelchin & Felecity Jones). An honest look at relationships.
My Rating: 7/10
A Dangerous Method:
Great period movie. The kind Academy loves. Brilliant acting by Michael Fassbender & Viggo Mortensen as Carl Jung & Sigmund Freud. Kiera Knightly was amazing as well. I wouldn't be surprised if she got a Best Actress Oscar for this.
My Rating: 8/10
The Descendants:
This was the Saturday Night Sneak movie at the festival. A really good dramedy starring George Clooney. I both laughed & cried. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous (the movie takes place in Hawaii). While I don't know if it'll win Best Picture, I can see George Clooney getting the award for Best Actor.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Thing
I have not seen the original movie from the 80's so bear with me. To be honest, the only reasons I went to see this were I was in the mood for a horror movie and Joel Edgerton is in it. He was in Warrior and if you haven't seen it yet you really should. Anyway...
The plot is pretty simple. An alien spacecraft is discovered in Antartica. A scientist enlist the help of a young paleontologist named Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, probably best known for her role in Scott Pilgrim vs The World) and several other people after they find a creature not too far from the craft. So they go to Antartica and start their experiment on the presumed dead creature. Surprise surprise- it's actually alive and begins infecting people. Once infected, the creature takes on the form of that person without them realizing at first. Let the paranoia begin.
The Thing has been getting mostly horrible reviews and I can understand why. But to be honest, I didn't think it was the worst movie ever. Atleast for me, it was so bad that I had a great time sitting there making fun of it and predicting what would happen next (and most of the time I was right). There were a few moments where I jumped in my seat, but overall the movie was more disturbing than it was scary. The special effects weren't too bad.
And aside from Joel Edgerton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who are good actors and do the best they can with what they have to work with) the acting was horrible.
Overall I would recommend The Thing to anyone who's into bad horror movies. It was a fun way to spend a Friday night.
My Rating: 6/10
The plot is pretty simple. An alien spacecraft is discovered in Antartica. A scientist enlist the help of a young paleontologist named Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, probably best known for her role in Scott Pilgrim vs The World) and several other people after they find a creature not too far from the craft. So they go to Antartica and start their experiment on the presumed dead creature. Surprise surprise- it's actually alive and begins infecting people. Once infected, the creature takes on the form of that person without them realizing at first. Let the paranoia begin.
The Thing has been getting mostly horrible reviews and I can understand why. But to be honest, I didn't think it was the worst movie ever. Atleast for me, it was so bad that I had a great time sitting there making fun of it and predicting what would happen next (and most of the time I was right). There were a few moments where I jumped in my seat, but overall the movie was more disturbing than it was scary. The special effects weren't too bad.
And aside from Joel Edgerton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who are good actors and do the best they can with what they have to work with) the acting was horrible.
Overall I would recommend The Thing to anyone who's into bad horror movies. It was a fun way to spend a Friday night.
My Rating: 6/10
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Warrior
I'm so happy I finally got to see Warrior. I'm a huge fan of Tom Hardy and believe it or not, I like watching MMA (mixed martial arts). Although I haven't watched it recently.
Yes it's set in the world of MMA, but at the center of the movie is a family drama concerning two brothers Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and their alcoholic father Paddy. Years ago, Tommy left with his Mom after Paddy had basically beaten the crap out of her. Brendan, for his own reasons, didn't go with them.
Fourteen years later, Tommy is a former Marine and an Iraq war hero. He still holds a lot of anger towards both his father and brother. But he wants to get into fighting and needs someone to train him, which was really the only thing Paddy was good at. I can't remember the details, but I believe Paddy was involved with boxing at some point in his life.
Meanwhile, Brendan is now married and has two young daughters. He works as a high school physics teacher and to earn extra money, participates in small fights at night in parking lots. Despite this, he and his wife are struggling to make ends meet. Plus the bank is about to take their house. After getting suspended from his job as a teacher when word of his parking lot fights reaches the superentendint, Brendan decides to get back into MMA (at one point he was part of the UFC, but he wasn't exactly the best fighter out there) and compete in a big tournament in Atlantic City where the big prize is five million dollars.
Tommy ends up in the tournament as well. They both have a series of fights that ultimately lead to the championship where they must fight each other.
The fight scenes in the movie were some of the best I've ever seen. They're very brutal and intense. I cringed several times. But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen as they were playing out.
I think the best part of Warrior, for me anyway, was the acting. Tom Hardy was just incredible. You can really feel for his character and understand why he is the way he is. And the amount of training he had to do to prepare for the role... Wow! When you see him, he'll scare the crap out of you. He's huge! There's no doubt in my mind that Tom will make a great Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, which comes out next summer.
Joel Edgerton is really good as well. While he may not be as huge as Tom Hardy, he's just as intense. This is the first movie I've seen Joel in and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
Nick Nolte gives a brilliant performance as a father desperately trying to recconnect with his sons. His character did many horrible things and Tommy and Brendan have every right to hate him. But Nick does such a good job with the role that during one scene in particular, I kinda felt bad for him. I really think he's going to get nominated come award season. This role just screams Oscar.
The movie does have pretty much every cliche you've ever seen in a sports movie. But unlike most sports movies (where one opponent is usually more likable than the other), in Warrior it's really hard to pick a side. I liked both brothers so much and found myself routing for both of them. Warrior is so good that you can look past the minor flaws.
It's almost two and a half hours long but it doesn't feel like it at all. I got so caught up in the story and was on the edge of my seat. I never wanted it to end!
I can defiantly say that Warrior is one of my favorite movies this year. You don't have to be a fan of MMA to enjoy it. PLEASE go and see it if you get a chance. Hopefully you'll love it as much as I do.
My Rating: 10/10
Yes it's set in the world of MMA, but at the center of the movie is a family drama concerning two brothers Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and their alcoholic father Paddy. Years ago, Tommy left with his Mom after Paddy had basically beaten the crap out of her. Brendan, for his own reasons, didn't go with them.
Fourteen years later, Tommy is a former Marine and an Iraq war hero. He still holds a lot of anger towards both his father and brother. But he wants to get into fighting and needs someone to train him, which was really the only thing Paddy was good at. I can't remember the details, but I believe Paddy was involved with boxing at some point in his life.
Meanwhile, Brendan is now married and has two young daughters. He works as a high school physics teacher and to earn extra money, participates in small fights at night in parking lots. Despite this, he and his wife are struggling to make ends meet. Plus the bank is about to take their house. After getting suspended from his job as a teacher when word of his parking lot fights reaches the superentendint, Brendan decides to get back into MMA (at one point he was part of the UFC, but he wasn't exactly the best fighter out there) and compete in a big tournament in Atlantic City where the big prize is five million dollars.
Tommy ends up in the tournament as well. They both have a series of fights that ultimately lead to the championship where they must fight each other.
The fight scenes in the movie were some of the best I've ever seen. They're very brutal and intense. I cringed several times. But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen as they were playing out.
I think the best part of Warrior, for me anyway, was the acting. Tom Hardy was just incredible. You can really feel for his character and understand why he is the way he is. And the amount of training he had to do to prepare for the role... Wow! When you see him, he'll scare the crap out of you. He's huge! There's no doubt in my mind that Tom will make a great Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, which comes out next summer.
Joel Edgerton is really good as well. While he may not be as huge as Tom Hardy, he's just as intense. This is the first movie I've seen Joel in and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
Nick Nolte gives a brilliant performance as a father desperately trying to recconnect with his sons. His character did many horrible things and Tommy and Brendan have every right to hate him. But Nick does such a good job with the role that during one scene in particular, I kinda felt bad for him. I really think he's going to get nominated come award season. This role just screams Oscar.
The movie does have pretty much every cliche you've ever seen in a sports movie. But unlike most sports movies (where one opponent is usually more likable than the other), in Warrior it's really hard to pick a side. I liked both brothers so much and found myself routing for both of them. Warrior is so good that you can look past the minor flaws.
It's almost two and a half hours long but it doesn't feel like it at all. I got so caught up in the story and was on the edge of my seat. I never wanted it to end!
I can defiantly say that Warrior is one of my favorite movies this year. You don't have to be a fan of MMA to enjoy it. PLEASE go and see it if you get a chance. Hopefully you'll love it as much as I do.
My Rating: 10/10
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