Movie Reviews

Jersey Girl (DVD Review)

2011-09-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

Jersey Girl is a movie with a lot of hart. It might be buttered up to give you a good feeling, but it is certainly not bad. Ben Affleck and especially the young Raqual Castro’s performance are great and it helps sell the relationships between the characters. The movie is a romantic comedy loaded with entertainment even down to the end of the credits where the director gives thanks.

Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) has a great job that he loves. But then the love of his life Gertrude Steiney (Jennifer Lopez) dies giving birth and if that is not bad enough, he loses his job. On top of his life coming crashing down, he now has a baby daughter to take care off. For the next few years he is obsessed in trying to get his job back, but through all that he luckily learns that, that is not the only important thing in his life.

Special Features

Jersey Girl is famous for being one of the biggest money loser at the cinema. Coupled with that the press had a field day with Ben and Jennifer’s relationship. The two commentaries on this DVD are exquisitely entertaining.

In the first commentary, writer/director Kevin Smith and Ben Aflleck gets back at the press. This, and the fact that Kevin is aware that the commentary track has no PR rating makes it so entertaining.

The other commentary features writer/director Kevin Smith, Producer Scott Mosier and special guest Jason Mewes. Jason Mews that usually appear in movies with Kevin Smith here represents the viewer and they talk from methods of farting to Jason’s drug addiction.

There are also amusing featurettes and an interview with Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck.

Setup

Subtitles include English, and English for the hearing impaired.

Jersey Girl, the DVD, is great fun and scores a well deserved 8/10.

Movie Lists That Might Be Interesting

2008-03-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

MOST SURPRISING ENDING

- Sixth Sense
- Saw

FUNNIEST MISTAKES MADE IN A MOVIE

- Truth or Consequences N.M. – if you can’t spot it, then the joke is on you.

MOST OBVIOUS MISTAKES MADE IN MOVIES

- One of Clint Eastwood’s old Western Movies. Can’t remember the name right now, but the Cameraman’s shadow was clear as daylight on the ground as Clint walked into a bar.

BEST EVER MOVIE LIST

- Legends of the Fall
- Brave Heart
- The Devil’s Advocate
- Aliens
- Fifth Element
- There’s Something About Mary
- The Matrix 1,2&3

NEW DVD’S WORTH WATCHING

- Ratatouille.
- Stardust.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
- 40 Year Old Virgin.
- Ice Age 2.
- 30 Days of Night.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End.

QUICK ONE LINE REVIEW AND MOVIE RATING

- American Gangster – Too long and too boring, surprising but yet unsatisfied ending though. – 5/10.
- Resident Evil Extinction – If you are a fan. – 7/10.
- Ice Age 2 – Great. – 9/10.
- The Dark is Rising. – Standard Stuff. – 6/10.
- The Covenant. - Not bad, not ‘wow’ either. – 7/10.
- Big Mamma’s House 2. – Funny enough. – 7/10.
- Under Dog. – Not as bad as I thought it would be. – 7/10.
- Ratatouille. – Excellent. – 10/10.
- Stardust. – Fun. – 8/10.
- The Bourne Ultimatum. Big hype, but no bite. – 6/10.
- 40 Year Old Virgin. – Funny. – 8/10.
- Evan Almighty. – Disappointing. – 5/10.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. – Even better than expected. – 9/10.
- The Gameplan. - Not so much a comedy as a feel good movie for the whole family. - 7/10.
- Snakes on a Plane. - Only good for a thrill; DVD features commentary by Samual L. Jackson. - 6/10.
- 30 Days of Night. - Great Horror; love the ending. - 9/10.
- The Invasion. - Remake after remake - we’ve seen it before, but still creepy though; editing was brilliant in telling the story. - 7/10.
- We Own the Night. – But not the high scores. - 6/10.
- The Kingdom. – Boring, except for the beginning and ending; DVD has great Special Features. - 5/10.
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. – Offbeat comedy that is sort-of-funny, but not side-splitting; the DVD commentary is actually really funny. - 6/10.

BEST LOW-BUDGET MOVIE

- 20 Dates.

BEST COMMENTARY TRACKS ON DVD

- Jersey Girl.
- Knocked Up.
- Talladega Nights the Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

BEST SECRET SCENE AT THE END OF THE CREDITS (STINGER OR TAG)

- Hideaway.

(feel free to participate with a comment)

KNOCKED UP STARRING SETH ROGEN AND KATHERINE HEIGL (DVD REVIEW)

2008-03-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

The most important thing I want to get across is that you shouldn’t rent this movie thinking this is a comedy. Only the first 20 minutes, or so, plays off in a comedy tipe of style, but as soon as Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) finds out that she is pregnant, the movie changes into a drama trying to be a comedy. While you get some laughs from the movie, it is actually more probable, that you will get more laughs from the commentary track.

As soon as you get over the fact that you didn’t actually rent a comedy, but an ‘undercover drama’, then you might start liking it. The movie unfolds as a light hearted look at what an unplanned pregnancy can do to your comfort zone. In the end, I appreciated the level of realism and the fact that the movie wasn’t too much ‘Hollywood’ as you would expect.

I would absolutely recommend this movie to anybody going through the same ordeal. After watching the movie, you might just feel that what happened to you is not the end of the world and that thousands of people have gone through the same thing probably most of them being in worst circumstances than yourself. At the same time, those of you that haven’t gone through something like this might be even more inspired not to let it happen to you as a rule of thumb.

I liked Katherine Heigl’s performance; I noticed her acting talents in Love Comes Softly, a movie I saw on TV recently.

Special Features

Some of the special features include deleted scenes, extended/alternate scenes, gag reel, a music video by London Wainwright III and even some jokes. There is also a featurette called Directing the Director which I don’t get. It must be an inside joke or something.

Commentary by Writer/Director Judd Apatow; Executive Producer/ Star Seth Rogen and Actor Bill Haden is certainly entertaining especially the impersonations of Al Picino. They also start the commentary promising to inform you about everything involved in filmmaking but fail to do so. You also discover that a lot of people involved in this movie, were also involved in the 40 your old virgin; a movie, that for one, was hilarious to the core.

Setup

Spoken languages include English, Spanish and French. Subtitles include the same and all off them are for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Knocked Up, the DVD, scores a 6/10.

Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss and David Morse (DVD Review)

2008-02-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Kale (Shia Labeouf – Transformers) just lost a family member in a motor vehicle collision. He has a hard time coping with it, and he takes some of his frustration out on his Spanish teacher. This gets him in trouble with the law and he is placed under house arrest. With nothing to do, he starts to spy on his neighbours, and soon enough one neighbour, who just moved in, is suspected of being a serial killer.

The idea seems real simple and you expect nothing special to evolve from the story, but from the beginning the movie keeps you intrigued and it leads you to the edge of your seat. Building from a great script, all the pieces are masterly put together to bring you a great thriller. The movie also includes some action, comedy and just plane fun.

I also enjoyed the performance from the actors, especially that from Aaron Woo who played Ronnie. I will keep an eye out for him in future productions. Al the other elements like casting and editing are done with great skill. It is refreshing to see a thriller that is nicely put together without obvious gaping holes in the script or something else bothering you all the time to the ending.

With Disturbia, it is not about doing just enough to make a movie and making money, it is creating good quality entertainment, and it is going the extra mile, something that is unfortunately not the norm anymore.

Special Features

Special Features include a great variety of selections. The Commentary with DJ Caruso, Shia LaBeouf and Sara Roemer, includes interesting segments like what they did to keep the PG-13 rating, how professional Davis Morse is and even allowing Aaron Woo to give some commentary over the phone.

There is also a fun selection called ‘Serial Pursuit Trivia Pop-Up/Quiz’. This gets you clued up on interesting facts while you watch the movie. You can also activate this feature while listening to the commentary.

Other selections also include the making of Disturbia, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Photo Gallery and a music Video by This World Fair.

Setup

Setup doesn’t include anything except subtitles in Dansk, English, Nederlands, Norsk, Suomi, Svenska and English for the hearing impaired. It is a pity that there are no spoken languages. A variety of spoken languages would have made the DVD more dynamic and fun.

Disturbia, the DVD scores a surprising 8/10.

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Vacancy starring Kate Beckinsale & Luke Wilson (DVD Review)

2008-02-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Vacancy is about a couple that books a room at a desolate Motel, only to find out that they are not going to get any peace and quite for a while. In fact the owner of the Motel and his buddies want to kill them on tape and sell the snuff film.

This is a great idea for suspense and the writer does get you to the edge of your seat sometimes, but there are so many holes in the story that you just can’t allow yourself to go with the direction of the story. Soon enough you realise that this movie is just a quick thrill so that the studios can get paid already. There are only rundown explanations of script shortcomings and very little logic towards character behaviour.

The typical Hollywood ‘happy sappy ending’ is the cherry on the cake. Show a little guts and have the character die at the ending will ya. Food that just taste the same al the time is unprocessed vomit at some time. I mean, really, if you’re going to let a character be incapacitated and believably dead for hours, maybe you just would have gotten away with it this time.

All the usual tactics for scaring the audience is present, but here it is applied with skill. The performance from the actors is great, and this helps the scare factor a lot. The idea of the snuff films is used with great effect to reach the same result and some of the credit must also be given to the editing. Casting and set design is also masterly done. The same can be said about the stunts performed and orchestrated.

If you want a quick scare and get on with your life, then this film is for you; just remember to switch off your brain when the movie starts.

Setup

The dialog in the movie is translated into Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Turkish.

Special Features

Special features include an alternate opening sequence, behind the scenes featurette and a deleted scene. There is also a very nice section of extended snuff films from the movie. Even here the acting is convincing. There are also trailers included of Ghost Rider and Identity. Identity is an older movie and I’m not sure why it is included in this DVD. It gives me the feeling that Identity and Vacancy is somehow connected. Maybe both were written by the same writer, or something; I don’t know. But Identity on the other hand is a movie I enjoyed. I can also remember that I enjoyed the commentary by the writer.

Vacancy, the DVD, scores a 6/10.

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National Treasure Book of Secrets starring Nicolas Cage (Cinema Review)

2008-02-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

With the title and poster you expect to be thrown into the middle of an epic adventure with many life threatening dangers. Well you get that, but only in the last 20 min of the movie. The lead to those minutes is long and boring with no relief, not even from the comedy which only manages to be meagre at best.

National Treasure Book of Secrets, scores a disappointing 5/10.

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Wild Hogs (DVD Review)

2008-02-02T04:10:00.001-08:00

Middle age – yup it’s a crises alright; especially when four men decide to leave it all behind for the freedom of the open road on a Harley. This is one way to plunge yourself into an adventure or is it a death wish?

Wild Hogs is great fun for the whole family and with a packed cast like John Travolta, Ray Liotta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen and William H. Macy you can’t go wrong in a comedy.

Special Features:

The Special Features include standard stuff like outtakes, alternate endings and behind the scenes. The Director’s commentary doesn’t really include anything special except maybe for how the cast was put together, each actors precipitation in what ends up on screen and a cameo you might have recognised – or not.

Wild Hogs, the DVD, scores a well deserved 7/10.

THE ASTRONOUT FARMER (Cinema Review)

2008-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

Chasing your dream no matter what. Yeah, we’ve seen it before; and this movie brings nothing new to the theme. In fact, this whole movie is a bit blasé. Standard stuff. Just another run-off-the-mill production spit out by the Hollywood machine. A quick buck.

If you’re very gullible, you might be surprised by two things in the movie, which off course I won’t reveil now, but I will give a clue. The first is a twist in the storyline and the second is an unexpected actor playing in the movie.

I guess if you’re looking for a family movie that is not completely child orientated and won’t demand your undivided attention, The Astronout Farmer is a perfect choice. Rather watch it on DVD than in the Cinema.

It scores a flat 6/10.

Bee Movie (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

With animation, there are so many factors to get right. In Bee Movie, they do so with most, but, here and there, is something that is off; and it will gnaw at the back of your head the whole movie through.

The image of Vanessa that they build around the voice of Renée Zellweger just doesn’t fit. So also do her movements and gestures not fit with the acting in her voice. The dialog between Barry the bee (Jerry Seinfeld) and Vanessa the human, is unnatural at times. Not unnatural like in, a human is talking to a bee, but unnatural in relation to what is happening with the two characters at the time. The worst of it all, is trying to belief that the thunderous voice of Jerry Seinfeld is coming from a little bee like that.

The story is not much of a story also, it’s more of an excuse to get to the next joke, which, most of the time, is not bad, but not great either.

Luckily these are little things, and as I said, most of the element they do get right. Like for instance, the animation. The scenes of Barry flying are masterly done. Bee Movie is an opportunity to sit back, relax and catch a few laughs. It’s not going to blow your mind, its just easy fun.

Bee Movie scores a laid back 6/10.

The Last King of Scotland (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

To portray a complex man like Idi Amin requires a special talent. I’ve always enjoyed Forest Whitaker’s performance, and wondered why he wasn’t cast more in leading roles. Well with this movie he is perfectly cast, and his acting talent calls forth a bone chilling presence of a man who killed about R300 000.00 of his fellow countrymen.

Special Features

Commentary by director Kevin Macdonald will give some insight into what is fact and what is fiction in the movie. There’s also some deleted scenes and a documentary with real footage of Idi Amin.

Setup
Languages include English, České and Polski. Subtitles include a great variety of Languages.

The Last King of Scotland, the DVD, scores 8/10.

Blood Diamond (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:29:00.001-08:00

Blood Diamond is a movie with a strong message about diamond trafficking in Africa. In order to deliver this message effectively, every aspect in this movie needs to be convincing. This criterion, the moviemakers, masterly achieve. The passion and dedication of everyone working on this movie contributes to this result. From the performance by the actors, down to the look and feel of the sets and extras; everything is woven together to say TIA – this is Africa. There are two stories being told in parallel. The one is of Danny Archer (Leanardo DiCaprio) looking for a significantly big diamond and of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounson) looking for his son. Both of them has to make their way past treacherous situations to get what they want and ultimately discover what is valuable in life.

Setup

Spoken Languages include English and Italiano. The subtitles has one more language namely Islenska.

Special Features

Commentary by director Edward Zwick will be testimony to the professionalism of everyone involved.

It is disappointing that there are not more features than the Commentary and the Theatrical Trailer. After the commentary it is disappointing not to see any behind the scenes footage and featurettes about the African countries that were visited in the making of the movie.

Despite the shortcomings of the Special Features, the story is so powerful that Blood Diamond, the DVD, scores 9/10.

Miami Vice (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Miami Vice entrails the old successful theme of Cops and Robbers. Here it is about the life and trails of undercover cops. As you infiltrate the crime ring, what do you do when the Bad Guys gets to your family? What do you do when you fall in love with one of the Robbers?

Unfortunately instead of being realistic the movie is beefed up with cheap Hollywood trills. You know, fast cars, naked woman and big explosions. If you have no problem with this, this movie will provide loads of entertainment.

Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) are two undercover cops. They are being sent in where other undercover cops have failed, and what’s more, is, that this isn’t America, it is Miami. A place run by criminals, and here a cop is quickly sniffed out. It takes a certain type of cop to take out these criminals. Luckily for them, what they have to their disposal, is fancy planes, fancy boats, and yes, fancy cars with the big guns to go with it.

From the beginning it is clear that they are not dealing with any street punk. The big fish is a criminal with his fingers in everything. A criminal that does his homework, and his sidekicks are very bloodthirsty.

SETUP

No setup except subtitles. With no Dolby Digital 5.1 or any other option, it is not surprising that the sound quality of the movie is bad. Like in – the dialog being soft and the background being very loud. Something the neighbors won’t appreciate.

SPECIAL FEATURES

In the featurettes you will discover that Director Michael Mann decided not to use extras, but rather shoot in real locations between real people. This gives the movie a certain look and feel that the audience appreciates.

Subtitles include English, Arabic and Icelandic.

It is disappointing that there are no commentaries, however the Special Features does feature the music video of Nonpoint’s ‘In The Air Tonight’.

Miami Vice, the DVD, scores an undeserving 7/10.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

Despite the writing and overall feeling of the movie being original (which is refreshing) this is ultimately a comedy trying too hard to be funny.

Robert Downey Jr. plays a wannabe actor (Harry Lockhart), with a bad drinking problem and a string of fuck-ups right through is life. This role seems to mimic his real life persona and he even makes fun of his fiasco when he was again arrested, this time for unknowingly stumbling into somebody else’s house and sleeping in somebody else’s bed.

Harry together with his gay, more capable, friend Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) get mixed up in a murder mystery where they are the prime suspects. This Harry can’t afford right now, because he just found the love of his life, and he tries to make her see past the fact that he is a complete screw-up.

Special Features

No Special features are available which is a pity. I would have liked to see a comment by Robert Downey Jr. about the movie, as it seems to hit so close to home.

Setup

Spoken Languages include English and English audio descriptive. Subtitles include English, Hebrew and English for the hearing impaired.
As there is no Special Features to enhance the DVD experience, so Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the DVD, scores a disappointing 6/10.

Invinceble (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

Based on the real life story of Vince Papale being selected to play for the Philadelphia Eagles against all odd. A thirty-year-old bartender that hasn’t even played football in collage making the team is just unheard of, but as history showed it is possible. If you have heart and you life your dream, you might just hit the big time.

Go for your dream is a theme that a lot of Hollywood movies depict, especially when it comes to sport. Except for this being a true story, this movie has nothing special to make it stand out. In fact, it fails to build the tension and excitement as others with the same theme has managed to do. The story also ends when Vince’s career gets exciting.

Vince Papale’s (Mark Wahlberg) life hits rock bottom. He lost his teaching job and his wife walked out on him. Not being able to pay the rent and not really being able to turn to anybody, everything seems hopeless. But then the new coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) for the Philadelphia Eagles, announces that he will hold trail outs for anybody who wants to. Having nothing to loose and every thing to gain, Vince shows that he wants this more than anything.

Setup
Spoken Language includes English, German, Italian, Turkish and Russian. Subtitles include a great variety of languages.

Special Features

A behind the scenes featurette will give some insight into the real Vince Papale as Vince himself is featured and actual footage is shown.

Commentary by Vince Papale, producer Mark Ciardi and writer Brad Gann will reveal just how close the storyline to the real life story is, but this is basically the only subject for almost two ours.

Commentary by director Ericson Core and editor Jerry Greenburg will give you more indication of what went into the making of the movie.

Invincible, the DVD, scores 7/10.

Deja Vu (DVD Review)

2008-01-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

Deja vu is a sci – fi movie that is not.
What? Say that again.
Deja vu is a sci – fi movie that is not. When you hire a Sci-fi movie, you expect to be teleported to a futuristic world where everything is advanced technology. In this movie however it is present time where advanced technology, that you expect will only be available in the future, is being used. It is an interesting mix, but as the present is a very familiar setting, the movie lacks extra spices to capture your interest. The ending is predictable as the story drives to an ending where only one of two things can happen, and because the pace is slow, you feel that you can’t get there soon enough.

A credit to the writers must be given, as time travel stories must be one of the most difficult stories to tell, because, usually, if you keep on running with the idea, the whole plot collapses. With this story there is no obvious fault that stands out like a thorn and you allow yourself to go with it.

Setup

Subtitles include English for the hearing impaired which only means larger subtitles to read and it must not be confused by Audio Description that does not feature on this DVD.

Special Features

The first thing you might notice is that the Commentary and the behind the scenes featurettes are mixed into one feature, which also is an interesting, experience. It is masterly put together so that you will feel like one of the characters playing around with time. Here you will discover that, as in the movie, the producers used new and advanced technology to bring you scenes never seen before on screen. This is one of the reasons why the effects you thought was CG, actually was practical.

The commentary is by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Tony Scott and one of the co-writers Bill Marsillii. Instead of splitting them up into different commentaries, they all sit together and talk about the movie. This allows you to get a sense of the movie making process and also the unique roll every one of them plays in the composition. You also get a sense of how each of them views the movie differently and how the story changed from the writer to the producer and director. Unfortunately they do not elaborate on the idea of time travel and all the possibilities the story could have gone to. They also do not set your mind at ease about thoughts of possible untied loose ends in the movie. You’ll just have to accept that the explanation you have come up with so that everything fits is the one they intended. They also don’t explain the weird camera angle on Val Kilmer’s face maybe it’s connected to the joke of good looks in the movie.

All in all, it is sad that the Special features are more entertaining than the storyline itself. Even though the Cinema version of the movie is the same as on the DVD, the Special features, makes the DVD experience more entertaining.

Deja vu, the DVD, scores a 7/10.

Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

It seems that the movie makers only concentrated on what would look cool and nothing else. Yes the special effects are great, but with every second movie having at least that these days, it takes more to make something worth watching. A movie where the best performance is by the man in the suit coupled with the huge gaps in the story line will offer you nothing but disappointment after the big marketing hype.

Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer scores an undeserving 5/10.

Transformers (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T08:03:00.001-08:00

Transformers is one of those movies where the special effects don’t enhance the movie, but the special effects are the movie. The movie is so packet with special effects that there’s not really space for a story, but with this movie you won’t care. If you allow your inner child to come out, this movie will be a feast! You will be blasted by mind-blowing action packed effects till it drips out of your ears. Transformers takes cutting edge technology available in the making of movies to the next level.

The action is followed by extreme close-ups and shaking steady cams that helps you feel part of the grid and grime, but it also makes you feel that you loose some of the visuals and sometimes makes it difficult to follow what is happening.

Transformers scores a cool 8 out of 10.

Spiderman 3 (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T08:01:00.000-08:00

Well you’ve seen the advertisements and can’t wait to see it. What’s the black suit all about? Well it’s a great reveal in the genre, and it’s probably not what you expect.

With a budget of R200 000 000.00 you’ll get a lot of special effects, thrills and action to move you to the edge of your seat. But that’s about it. The storyline is stretched out, and the acting is forced. One gets a feeling that the producers were under a lot of pressure to finish the movie in time. Not all the loose ends were tied up, but they did manage to play with color in one of Peter Parker’s black and white flashbacks. Look for that little gold nugget in the movie!

Overall Spiderman 3 score’s a 7 out of 10.

Pirates of the Caribbean at Worlds End (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

A movie is too long when you’re aware of the time when watching the movie. Pirates of the Caribbean does not manage to hide the clock, but it does manage to bring relief – comic relief. There’s a joke after every twist and turn as the story drives to a spectacular climax with loads of special effects – the kind we came to expect from the franchise.

The characters are well portrayed by the acting talents of Johnny Debb, Kiara Knightly, Orlando Bloom and Jeffrey Rush which is not only good, but also lucky, because you don’t only get to see Captain Jack Sparrow again, but you get to see more than one of him.

Pirates of the Caribbean at Worlds End is a twirling story full of imagination. It scores 7/10.

Next (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

The idea of a man that can see two minutes into the future, might be hard to fathom if your not a broadminded fiction lover. Luckily I feel very much at home in fiction, and really enjoyed the way the writers had fun with the idea. They manage to twist the story into all direction so that nobody except Frank Cadillac (Nicolas Gage) knows what’s going to happen next.

The movie follow a lot of the Hollywood clichés for a box office hit like great special effects and the hero saving the heroin, but then the studios allow an ending, which is brave, but ultimately it will be the reason why people don’t flock to the cinema. Walking out of the cinema you’ll have the feeling of being cheated out of the greatest climax in cinema history. The story takes a while to take off, and the writers should have invested that time in such an ending. An audience looking for the standard thrills of an action movie (and the usual huge climax following it) can only be left disappointed by an ending that fits more in cinema nouveau, where it might have fed the palates of the more cultured.

The patterns of the end credits don’t make you feel any better either.

Next barely scores 6/10.

Shrek the Third (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

The previous two movies were well thought out, expertly constructed and funny from beginning to end. This unfortunately is not true for the third one. Here you are saddled with a boring plot sprinkled with a few jokes here and there for relief; that being after the best jokes was in the trailer. Its not all bad though, the animation is still great and the voice acting was expertly done.

Shrek (Mike Myers) doesn’t fit in with royalty in the Kingdom of Far Far away, and what’s worse is that the dying king wants him to rule after he pass away. The only way out for Shrek is if he could convince the other air to the thrown, Arthur (Justin Timberlake) to take his place. To do this Shrek, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has to go away to find Arthur. But this is only the beginning of his problems; Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) assembles all the villains of Fairytale Land to take over the Kingdom while Shrek is away. But this is not the end of his problems; Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is (OH NO!) pregnant. Through all this, it is only a blessing to have friend like Puss in Boots and Donkey.

The fear of becoming a father drives Shrek out of his mind and the fact that Arthur is just a teenager being nothing but difficult doesn’t help either. Even Merlin is called in to help. He manages to do so, but his spells have some strange side effects especially for Donkey and Puss.

The theme of Prince Charming not being the hero and the villains of Fairytale Land taking over the kingdom has already been exploited by Happily Never After and some might find the repeat tedious.

Shrek the Third scores 6/10.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Cinema Review)

2008-01-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix will once again transport you to a world full of magic and mystery. Again this film lives up to the expectations of billions of fans as well as the successful book series. In the movie, it shows that the makers in every department are at the best of what they do.

The unthinkable has happened! The dark Lord Voldemort has returned. It is so unthinkable, that the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, just won’t believe it. This must be a plot by Albus Dumbledore, the principle of Hogwarts, to overthrow him. So he does everything in his power to suppress the rumors of Voldemort’s return and keep Dumbledore in his place.

Harry is branded a liar and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is sent to Hogwarts with authority higher than that of Professor Dumbledore. She sets rules that forbid the practice of magic by students. This means that Harry has to assemble an army in secret because the dark Lord is doing the same.

As they train for the big confrontation, Harry start to realize that there’s a closer connection between him and Voldemort as he starts to get visions directly from him. Voldemort is penetrating Harry’s mind, and it is there that he has to fight the dark Lord. There where nobody else can help him.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix scores a 9/10.

DIE HARD 4.0 (Cinema Review)

2007-12-30T14:51:00.000-08:00

Die Hard 4.0 is the next biggest action movie. But unlike some other action movies that think that big explosions and car crashes is sufficient, this movie brings expertly choreographed stunts with a sharp script to the playing field.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) is again at the wrong place at the wrong time. Exactly there where the big-time terrorists plan to unfold their master plan for massive disaster. And what do they do? They cripple the departments, take over the country, and, yeah, underestimate McClane’s ability to stop them.

Gabriel, an ingenuous computer expert, assembles a capable team to take over the country and steal the loot. Since about everything is run by computers these days, this was easier than everybody thought. Their only threat is detective McClane’s talent to bust out of tight situations. But this time it is a high-tech battle and McClane finds himself outclassed in this aspect. Luckily he gets his hands on a nerdy computer hacker (the only one the terrorist didn’t manage to kill) to help him fight back.

With the hacker (Justin Long) to take care of the technical computer stuff and McClane to unleash some old school but-kicking, things for the terrorists doesn’t go as smooth as planned and McClane lets them know this from the get go.

The fourth Die Hard instalment has everything you come to expect from a Die Hard movie and the only way to do the previous movies justice, is to go big. A national terrorist treat, bold action packed stunts between flying bullets and guts right down to the bone. What more can you ask for? How big must you go to be the next biggest action movie? Well for that you have to see Die Hard 4.0.

Die Hard scores 8/10.