Noeldarling's 2011 film reviews

Puss In Boots

2011-12-10T09:51:00.001-08:00

Puss In Boots

Prequel story to the feline character from the Shrek films. Puss must find a way to redeem his criminal life.

Now apart from the first film, I never fully enjoyed the other Shrek films. This continues on with the same humour, set in the same fairytale universe and the same character Puss. The film was alright, most of the jokes were clearly aimed at the younger audience members, but there were one or two laugh out moments for us, the best being, what can only be described as "The Ooooh Cat". Rest of the jokes were more younger based, compared to the universal humour of the first Shrek film. Also several film culture references to other films, biggest being Fight Club.

Voice cast all did well from Antonio Banderes, Selma Hayek, Zach zach galifianakis,and Billy Bob Thornton.

Recommend: young audience only

Overall: 6/10

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In Time

2011-12-03T16:05:00.001-08:00

In Time

In an alternate future where time literally is currency one man will fight so that the average non-rich get a chance to live longer.

Totally forgot to review this movie, one reason is that its not that memorable.

The story is ok, nothing really wrong with it, but its not that interesting either. The cast were all meh, all round, in fact only positive shouts go out to Johnny Galecki (Big Bang Theory's Leonard) and hes only in the film for 10mins, which is more than can be said for the lovely Olivia Wilde. In fact if Justin Timberlake and whoever the female lead were swopped with Galecki and Wilde, it might have been a better film.

Recommend: not really

Overall: 5/10

P.s. sorry for being short and harsh but I cant remember that much :-(

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My Week With Marilyn

2011-11-30T15:58:00.001-08:00

My Week With Marilyn

A period drama of the true accounts of a young man and the week he spent on set with Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier.

A wonderful movie. Everything about it just worked lovely. Star of the show, in my eye, goes to Kenneth Branagh. His Olivier is fantastic. He gets across true a true thespian, and every line is delivered with point, purpose and in a spot on accent. Now as much of a thespian and film fanatic as I claim to be, I have yet to watch a Monroe movie, however with little info that I know of her, I thought Michelle Williams gave a really good performance. I think(and hope) that whilst at times we, the audience, are supposed to be annoyed with the character, and that aspect comes across well, but she also shines in moments when are supposed to like her. Eddie Redmayne gets similar all around praise as the man in the middle; Olivier's assistant and Monroe's "friend". Supporting cast also get praise all round, including Dame Judi Dench (who is so awesome) Zoe Wannamaker and Derick Jakobi.

I have only 2 negative things to say about this movie. 1, it does seem to drag on a little bit. The "oh Marilyn isn't on set, go fetch her" bit is used several times and did feel a little long at the end. 2, Emma Watson. Now I am forever in love with her for being so attractive and bringing Hermione to life, but in this I didn't like her. When Tom Felton did the Apes movie he added an accent to his performance, here Emma sounds exactly like she did as Hermione. Now that might have just been the role and her accent was right, but what made it worse was that her delivery of lines was very wooden. I dont mean to be mean as I say/type this but there was one line she has when Colin is about to "claim 2nd base" with her character (Lucy???) and she delivers "In a while, crocodile." so wooden that people, myself included, laughed out loud. I dont want to be mean to her, and i'll go and watch other things just because she's in them, but it was rather bad.

Anyway, there are several funny moments in the film, several shots of Monroe bottom and by the end you feel for all the characters and spite me moaning it was long, left wanting a slither more.

Recommend: definitely

Overall: 8/10

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50/50

2011-11-28T08:15:00.001-08:00

50/50

When a 27 year old is suddenly hit with cancer, he and the people around him must deal with its effects and learn how to come to terms with it.

To quote my friend @tom_reaney "Funny and touching at the same time" just about covers this movie. JGL in the lead, gets across this character that already seems to be living an un-forfilling life, and after he is given the bad news, it doesnt get better(despite being told it will by most of the cast) until right at the end, but no spoilers from me.

Seth Rogen still playing the same character as he usually does, but for the time being its still really funny. There are some really funny moments in this film (including a c-bomb, which for an American film is big, us Brits just watch Guy Ritchie films all the time and are immune), but anyway Rogen on usual top form, even does some good acting towards the end.

Anna Kendrick (although rather hot) sempt like she was doing an impression of Kristen Wiig's kinda character she's always done in her movies, but that aside her character came across very professional, very sincere and deserving if her ending.

There are a lot of long drama like scenes in this. They are needed in the story, but did get rather boring. All the scenes with the older guys doing chemotherapy are great and overall a good movie, just a little slow at times.

Recommend: yes but this is not a comedy.

Overall: 8/10

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Tintin

2011-11-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

Animated adventure of a young reporter and his pet dog, as they unravel the secrets surrounding the fabled voyage of The Unicorn.

Cheesy, childish, but extreamly enjoyable.

Let me start by saying this is, primarily a kids film. However I loved the film. The animation is absolutely fantastic. There are some points when it could be live action. The 3D wasnt necessary at all. Cast wise, Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Capt.Haddock and Daniel Craig as the villian. Craig sounded completely different to what he does in other films, but it works more for the villian character.

Story wise, it all flows from place to place well andlinks together action sequences and comedy gold.

On the story though, my cinema buddy summed it up perfectly: TinTin is the adventures of a young Nathen Drake, with Haddock becoming Sully.

Recommend: yes, 2d only though

Overall: 9/10

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The three musketeers

2011-10-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Three Musketeers

France's top three operatives, made obsolete without a cause to fight for, are brought back into action when the arrival of a fouth member brings a noble cause.

I'm down for all these steam-punk types of movies, some work (Sherlock Holmes) and some fail (Sucker Punch), fortunately this is one of the ones that works.

Cast wise, varied. Matthew Macfadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson in the top three leads of the film are really good, even if Evans has less to say than the other two, still all good. Christoph Waltz and Milla Jovovich awesome as two of the film's villians. However, Logan Lerman as the young recruit to the team, Orlando Bloom, as the evil Duke and Freddie Fox, the young king, didn't bring their best performance to the camera. Bloom was more bareable than he was in the Pirates films, but still quite weak. The utter low part of the film, personally was James Corden's bumbling servent to the Musketeers. He's annoying in ever other role he has done and this is no different.

Now after ripping the cast, let me exlain that this film is actually worth watching. The story is gripping, leaves you guessing all the way through, it has some really good fight sequences, including a very Final Fantasy 9 esque airship fight and several awesome sword fighting scenes, nothing new within them (cart gets used as a see-saw, rope used to circle round and the few beat the many) but still awesome.
I really liked the opening to the film. It's animation set on a war strategy table and the figures are lightly animated to show their actions. It happens a few times more throughout the film and i loved it.
It's witty and funny also throughout and ends with a lovely set up for a sequel, hopefully soon.

Recommend; Yes
Overall: 8/10

Despicable Me

2011-10-06T09:14:00.001-07:00

Despicable Me

A evil genius and his hoard of minions, attempt the crime of the century, with the help of 3 little girls.

To say that it was made by an unfamiliar animation company, the film is animated really well, nothing too over the top, but nothing bad either.
The voice cast features an ensamble of comedic names: leading the way, Steve Carell dons an eastern European accent to high success. Other appearances from Russell Brand, Jason Segal, Will Arnett and Julie Andrews.

The story. Im not saying its bad, or anything, just a little less than I expected. Now I know its a kids movie and all but, I wanted more than only one objective for the entire plot. Its funny throughout, and as I said the cast are all awesome, its just lacking that spark we've all come to expect from an animated company, due to the high successes from Pixar and Disney.

Its very similar to Megamind. Both feature a villian who eventually prove themselves a hero.

Recommend: Yes
Overall: 8/10

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Killer Elite

2011-10-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Killer Elite

When a former hitman gets a message that his former mentor is being held hostage, he must take out the best of the best, in order to secure his release.

In a nut shell, Jason Statham in a Jason Statham movie, also featuring Robert de Niro and Clive Owen. All top three actors on top form, especially the Stath, proving why he is my favourite action actor in the bizz atm. DeNiro also looking great with a beard and popping up every now and then. Clive Owen shows us that he has more to offer than a tash worthy of Movember. The supporting cast backed the main three up nicely, special mention to Dominic Purcell for his "Phony Welshman", but unfortunately his sidekick in the film, Aden Young, seemed to go to the "Tommy Wiseau in The Room" school of acting, weakest link in my opinion, but the coolest character, with his pipe and all.

Some cool action sequences, Statham being Statham, including beating two guys up whilst tied to a chair. Funny in places, but action film funny as aposed to comedic funny (“Funny? Funny how? Like a clown??")
Is it brilliant? No, but you get what it says on the tin. An action film that's based on a true story. Entertaining, but not oscar worthy.

Recommend: Sure if there's not much on, or your a Stath fan
Overall: 7/10

Red State

2011-09-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Red State

In the town of Cooper's Dell, a pastor is getting a bad reputation in the local area for his very christian ways and three teenagers think they have hit the jackpot when they get asked to take part in a three way with a woman on the Internet.

Now for anyone who hasn't spent more than 10mins talking to me or hasn't been in my bedroom; I am a HUGE Kevin Smith fan. I love all his movies (yes even Jersey Girl and Cop Out), podcasts, books and comics. So it would mean that this film would need to be Cyrus level of terrible in order for me to not like it, fortunately that isn't the case and I loved it.

Performance wise is quality is quite varied. Michael Parks is fantastic. His borderline eccentric Paster Cooper is one of the strongest characters iv seen in a film in a while. John Goodman also bringing his a-game with a fantastic mix of good acting and just being funny. My favourite of the cast without a doubt Mr Babble-On himself: Ralph Garman. Although being the Silent Bob/Boba Fett character in that he is mute, he simply awesome. The three boys in the movie were also pretty good. However, i feel the need to say my honest opinion, in that i wasn't too blown away with Melissa Leo, she wasn't bad by any standards, just a little dwarfed in scenes by Park's awesome aura. There was also the girl who was in the final season of Scrubs, (Kerry Bishé if IMDB is to be believed) she was OK but some of her lines, i thought lacked proper delivery; a particular moment included a Harrison Ford "And i thought they smelt bad........on the outside" like pause in between her lines. But that's just me nit picking so i don't sound too biased when i say its the most beautifully made of all of Smith's movies. From Clerks to this, its clear he has matured as a director and although the View-Askew films are legendary, its sad that we will only get to see him make one more film with his current level of directing skills.

OK the story. I agree with something that Jeff Canata said on TRS's review and that it feels like 3 movies in one. It opens with a teen comedy and its a strong opening, but then it suddenly stops that and becomes a psychological horror movie, involving psycho Christians with Parks, then it flips again and becomes an action movie with Goodman, it continues down the action route until the end when it closes with the comedy. The ending is one of most funniest tedious endings ever. I'll not go into it for fear of spoilers, but the ending is really good.
A lot of other reviewers have stated that the plot doesn't flow and this isn't the case, its just it cant decide what genre it wants to be until half way into the film.

Recommend: Yes, but remember this isn't primarily a comedy
Overall: 8/10

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2011-09-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

When a mole is thought to exist somewhere at the top of British secret service, a retired spy must come back to try and figure out who.

My first words after seeing this, were "that was the best film i'v seen that i didn't understand" I stand by that review.
With a cast overflowing with talent, its hard to knock the film, i just had no idea what was going on.
From Gary Oldman in the lead to a long list of thesps, including: John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth and Toby Jones, not one gave a less than perfect performance.
However the plot of the film lost me. I constantly forgot the names of charcters, not to spoil the ending but the motive behind the entire plot isn't explained, I was constantly confused as to what was a flashback and what was present. The other thing i noticed was whenever Gary Oldman looked at the camera with his sunglasses the DP cameoed as he was filming. Now the film might be a little slow and be a very "pay attention" kind of film, but even for its flaws, its still a good watch. Tom Hardy and Mark Strong's plot lines are particularly memorable and every time John Hurt pops up he's just awesome.

Recommend: Films fans only for this I think, not a casual watch.
Overall: 7/10

Lord Of The Rings: The extended trilogy.

2011-09-17T18:29:00.001-07:00

LOTR: Extended trilogy.

The trilogy of the final story of the One Ring, set in middle earth.

First off, yes we did the whole 12hour experience, back to back. Second, I didn't take notes and don't intend on writing a lot on this, but still need to mention something. We wanted to do it for simple nerdy checklist reasons and I hadn't seen Return of the King since theatrical release.

First up: Fellowship Of The Ring. The most boring of the trilogy. Nothing happens until 'you shall not pass' and then its just waiting for Boromir and the end.
Two Towers. It gets better. The battle for Helms Deep is one of my faves. All scenes with Treebeard and the ents are all good. The main problem with the first two movies that isn't in the third is all the depressing elf crap with Arwen or any time Frodo is being emo.
Return Of The King. The best. Love the Andy Serkis opening of Smeagle. Love the battle for Minas Tirith, every bit of it. Love all the undead legion stuff. Didn't like the bits with Faramir until he meets Gandalf. Frodo is still all boring and emo all up to the end.

Most of the bits I noticed that are new seemed to have more of a comedic nature to them, some did add to the story, some didn't. Again I didn't want to do a detailed review, but normal service will be resumed next time.

Recommend: die hard fans only, with 12 hours free and lots of caffeine
Overall: 6/10

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Columbiana

2011-09-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Columbiana

When a young girl's parents are killed right infront of her, she spends her life training for the day she takes down their killer.

A terrible movie, so a nice short review. Zoe Saldana was good, she got a nice charcter down and she was sexy to boot. But the entire story was boring, all the action scenes were nothing new and the film was just boring. When I watch movies, I do like to be enticed and be in the movie, but with this I found myself criticising most of the movie and laughing at terrible CGI....i think they were supposed to be sharks. In most films there is a certain amount of theatrical lisence, with technology and software that does things it cant do in real life, but some of the stuff they got going in this film was unbelieveable, including 4 taps on a keyboard which turn the PC on, launch all the survalliance cameras on all her screens and start playing the specific song she wants to play. MADNESS!

Recommend: One to avoid im afraid
Overall: 3/10

Fright Night

2011-09-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

Fright Night

With mysterious disappearances in the neighbourhood, two teenagers start to prepare themselves for if their neighbour is a Vampire.

Now I never saw the original of this so I'm only reviwing it as it is, without the word "remake". I liked it. The film is kinda split into two parts, the first part is a quirkey teen comedy and the other a thiller/horror, either way the film is good. Anton Yelchin in the lead role as Charlie. He was OK but his voice/accent can be very boring at times. He has a very throaty voice and sometimes was hard to pay attention to what he is saying. Colin Farrell plays the vampic neighbour in question and is fantastic. He has a great way of imbedding a sacrastic, kinda "modern" take on a vampire, but not being gay like Twilight (one nice stab at Twilight in the film was good). Most of the cast was in fact good, there weren't any poor performances throughout. Now i feel i have missed someone out in the cast list....oh yea DAVID TENNANT!!!!!! Fantastic. His drunken, cowardly Peter Vincent was a definate show stealer. Now some may argue that his character is just as eccentric and knowledgeable as his portrayal as The Doctor, but as #10 is my Doctor, i don't care, he was awesome. Not only do i hope he gets more big movie work from this, he has the best line in the entire film. Its clear from the trailer who and what his character is, and he has been using E-Bay to purchase his "tools". When he finally gets to use them and one malfunctions he simply yells "FUCKING E-BAY!!"
Love it!!
The story is pretty simple, it's really scary and doesn't have the suspence or the fear of the unknown. We know from the start who is who and what is happening, the entire film is a big build up to the ending, but it keeps your attention held and the ending was rather unique and rather genius in the art of vampiric killing.

Recommend: Definately, especially those who just more Tennant in their lives.
Overall: 8/10

Last Action Hero

2011-09-01T06:03:00.001-07:00

Last Action Hero

When a little boy who is a giant fanatic is given a magic ticket into the movies he must help save the day with his favourite movie character.

I really liked this movie. Another recommendation (this time my friend Kent) and after I loved Tangled, I think my friends really understand my movie tastes. Schwarzenegger gets a bad rep in my film collection as the worst of all the Batman villains, but in this he is awesome. He plays the action hero known as Jack Ryder, who is the lead in a series of movies based around Die Hard meets Beverly Hills Cop meets The Terminator. Arnie is awesome throughout the film and proves that he is best suited to action heroes than he is a super-villain. Just as the title would suggest the film is filled with action sequences, explosions and cheesy one liners. I loved the 4^th act of the film in which the characters go through to the “real world” and there is a fantastic moment when the villain, Benedict played by Charles Dance, who is fantastic as the sarcastic evil British genius (aren’t we all?), anyway he is in the real world notices that not all crimes are given justice and decides to try his look by murdering a man, only to shout out that he did it, to no response from the law. My favourite scene in the entire film. Other supporting cast to look out for include Danny DeVito as the voice of Jack’s animated friend Whiskers the Cat and Sir Ian McKellen as death.

The film is funny, witty and full of action there is nothing to not like. Except that it can be too cheesy in places, but for an 90’s movie not that bad.

Recommend: Yes, and definitely worth a re-watch if you have seen it before.

Overall: 8/10

The Guard

2011-08-30T07:17:00.001-07:00

The Guard

When a local murder is part of an FBI drug bust, a big shot agent must team up with the local slacker officer in order to solve the case.

I don't think there is much that Brendan Gleeson has done that I haven't enjoyed in some way. This is no exception. He takes the lead role as Boyle: the slacker member of the Irish Guard. In typical film style the slacker also turns out to be quite intelligent just lazy. Gleeson is fantastic, he's got perfect comedy timing and he's perfect for the lead. Don Cheadle, still good in his own way, but easily shadowed in every scene by Gleeson. Bringing up the supporting cast includes Mark Strong. He went from a terrible big budget blockbuster(Green Lantern) to this; a fantastic little film. He brings the British element to the Irish vs American bit.

The film itself is a little slow, but for the content of the film it all makes sense. What redeems it is all the witty humour that's used. So many one liners that left me in stitches at times.
The only critisicm i'll make is that with all the thick irish accents in the film it is a little hard to hear some of the standard dialogue at times. Oh and not to ruin it, but the half cliffhanger ending should have either been full cliffhanger or just explained.

Recommend: definitely!
Overall: 9/10

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The Inbetweeners Movie

2011-08-27T09:43:00.002-07:00

The Inbetweeners Movie

Carrying on from Season 3 of the TV show the lads have finished collage/6^th form and go on a holiday before they have to go to uni. It’s then hilarity in the sun for the whole week.

Loved it. The plot is rather simple and obvious but they pull it off and its so funny. I loved the inclusion of Will’s dad, in the form of Anthony Head (real life father to the actress who plays Carley) There was also a really big camera moment, usually in films that its through a really big tense scene, but in this it just swooped through an estate in the burbs: I liked it. There was a nice short opening with them pre-holiday and nice moment to see all the original actors who play their parents. Then the jokes are just one after another when they get to Malia. I’m not going to list off all my favourite funny points, but from sun creme drawings to “stylish” dance moves it’s a hysterical movie.

I do have two gripes with the film though. The female nudity to male nudity was a little swinging in the wrong direction, for me personally, they were funny moments, but it did seem every 10mins in the film, there was a penis or some form of excessive male nudity going on. The second is that the character of Simon’s sub plot seemed too over the top. Even if he is still infatuated over his ex, there some times that just seemed over the top.

Definitely contender for funniest movie of the year.

Recommend: Yes, but better to have seen the all three seasons of the TV show first, but not essential.

Overall: 9.5/10

Cowboys and Aliens

2011-08-27T09:43:00.001-07:00

Cowboys and Aliens

Just as the title says, a spaceship interrupts life in a western and starts stealing people and its up to a rag tag group to rescue them.

My quick review of this film was: “A good western film with an average scifi sub-plot”. This is primarily a western with a scifi element.

Harrison Ford, always a pleasure to see in films, he was very good in this film, a little “Ralph Garman- Esq” mumble at the beginning, but got better. His character however was a let down. He is opened as the bad guy of the town, the mob boss as it were and yet 20mins into the film aliens arrive and suddenly he’s fighting for the greater good of getting the aliens. It seemed a little weird that he did that. Daniel Craig’s mysterious Jake the outlaw has the right motive to get the aliens to find out about the contraption on his arm (which eventually is just a big “I win” button in the end) It’s also like he watched Clint Eastwood do the Dollars trilogy before doing that and decided to do his Man With No Name Who Gets Named In The First Thirty Minutes. I like Olivia Wilde and her character was a twist I didn’t see coming. Sam Rockwell also on top form.

The aliens themselves were a little generic. Not quite generic with ET and Paul, but more Alien meets Predator with two extra little T-Rex eating arms.

Recommend: If there is nothing else or its like £5 on DVD sure

Overall: 7/10

Star Trek Nemesis

2011-08-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

Star Trek Nemesis

Picard finds he has a clone who cannot live with more of his DNA, and is willing to do anything to get it.

Short review this one. As usual all cast on top form, quick mention to Tom Hardy for a good performance as the troublesome clone. The story was all little meh and the ending really annoyed me with Data.

Best part of the film was the opening with Riker and Troi’s wedding.

Recommend: Every Star Trek fan has already seen it and if you don’t like Star Trek then this isn’t for you, but this is my second least favourite out of them all, just behind The Final Frontier, where they meet god.

Overall: 5/10

Star Trek: Insurrection

2011-08-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Star Trek: Insurrection

The second Next Gen film. When Data malfunctions and poses a threat to a colony on a planet that the Federation is keen on acquiring, Picard is summoned to help.

I’ll skip the usual cast breakdown, to just say that all cast were on usual expected top form.

Several moments to point out in this film, though. First; it seems weird that Worf keeps flitting between serving on The Enterprise just for the movies then back to DS9, but more on this might be explained after I watch all of them. I loved the whole capturing data/Gilbert and Sullivan part of the film. Not only can all the actors sing well, but my favourite line of “Sing Worf sing!” is not met well by Worf. Its nice after the weird ending to Season 7 that Riker and Troi finally get back together, it was building up for nearly fifteen years. Another personal few favourite moments were Data explaining that he can be used as a floatation device and the boob conversation he overhears and tries on Worf.

This is definitely a more Next Generation movie compared to First Contact.

Recommend: Every Star Trek fan has already seen it and if you don’t like Star Trek then this isn’t for you.

Overall: 9/10

Star Trek: First Contact

2011-08-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Star Trek: First Contact

The proper first Next Generations movie. Picard and the NCC-1701-E crew follow a rogue borg ship into the past to stop them from altering the First Contact of the human race to alien life.

Yes, I finally finished watching Next Generation so it was time to re-watch the movies and we start with First Contact. One of my rules is: Time travel in a film is usually a clear sign of awesomeness, and this follows that rule rather well. Probably my favourite of the Next Gen movies.

First off I loved the split plot. Data, Worf, Beverley and Picard on The Enterprise with the Borg and Riker, LaForge and Troi on Earth helping Zefram Cochrane, played brilliantly by Star Trek veteran, James Cromwell.

Now with the Borg plot line, I loved the scenes with Data (Brent Spiner) and the Borg Queen, the chemistry between the two characters and their similarities was nice to see. Patrick Stewart’s Picard as awesome as ever.

Down on the planet I liked everything between the crew members and Cochrane. James Cromwell just knocked out a perfect performance. There was a nice moment when LaForge is explaining to him about his effect on the future and Reg Barckley comes up to him all giddy. It was fun moment, especially to see Barckley again. Everyone in the film had a nice role to play, except for Troi. She has one bar scene where she gets drunk and passes out but other than that she does nothing for the film.

The gripe I have with the story is that I didn’t believe they would risk going against the Prime Directive so easily. I would have thought that they would have figured out a way to explain their presence rather than tell him straight out everything.

Recommend: Every Star Trek fan has already seen it and if you don’t like Star Trek then this isn’t for you.

Overall: 9/10

Sixteen Candles

2011-08-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Sixteen Candles

Typical 80’s high school film: Girl wants boy, boy doesn’t know she exists, geeky friend intervenes and then boy and girl go out.

This is the film that Pretty in Pink had to live up to and failed. This is a much better film with very similar stories (as John Hughes wrote them both) Molly Ringwald, who plays the same, ish, character in every film I’ve seen her in, actually works in this one. She’s the ignored sibling and ignored classmate. Anthony Michael Hall, although occasionally too over the top, played a very good part, although he or his character seemed far too young to hanging around with his two very borg friends (one of which a very young John Cusack) who were both very funny. I loved the cheesy sound effects when things were happening or reactions to things, cheesy but fun. As mentioned in my review of The Blues Brothers, any film with the Peter Gunn theme tune in is an instant like in my book, love that tune. The one other thing I remember loving about the movie is that the car that Long Puck Dong/the Chinese exchange guy is driving has a food tray attached to the wing mirror: loved it and when I get a car: WANT! A good typical 80’s film.

Recommend: If you don’t mind watching 80’s movies then yes.

Overall: 7/10

Batman: Live!

2011-08-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Batman: Live!

Ok special review this one, not a film. Yes The Dark Knight himself shows Spiderman that you don't have to break a couple of cast members to perform a comic book story live.

Ive come to the defense of Batman and Robin with the statement "Any Batman is good Batman". After seeing a few out of context clips online before hand it looked very Joel Schumacher, some would say too much. So very unsure what to expect we took our seats ready with our opinions sheathed.
OMG it was sooo good. It was rather Schumacher throughout but live, it worked so well.

Right first off the cast. They were perfect. All the actors got the personalities, posture and voice of all the characters, with Commissioner Gordon more Pat Hingle than Gary Oldman. I did have slight issue with Harley Quinn's costume, although nothing technically wrong with it, something just looked amiss, but I loved her proper queens accent. Not in it as much as i would have liked are: The Riddler; dropped his cane after spinning it once but flawless incarnation as the brains behind the main scheme, The Penguin: loved his 'wark wark' laugh, Two-Face: got the schizophrenia just right, Poison Ivy; not on for long but got her trademark paralysis kiss in there and The Scarecrow; again not on long but teamed up with Poison Ivy with his fear gas in order to stop our hero. This show also has my favourite incarnation of Catwoman. The actress got the right balance between "Purrrrfect" and sexy. Robin wasn't as annoying as Chris O'Donnall was and Alfred was done right too. Now the big two: The Batman. Didn't do a Christian Bale and adapted a more Adam West approach to not see the need to change voices to distinguish between Bruce Wayne and Batman. He was great he had the right badass-ness of The Dark Knight with the sophistication of Bruce. His costume, thank god, was free of bat-nipples. Now stealing the show, as any incarnation of him does, was The Joker. In my eyes this Joker was more Mark Hamil than that of the any of the live action film versions (Caesar Romaro, Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger) which is personally the best version. He got the moves, the voice and the laugh all pitch perfect. His purple jacket was equally as spot on. The Joker needs to be played with total madness, and this one was.

When writing the story to this, the writers clearly had just watched the Tim Burton Batman films and finished playing Arkham Asylum. Act One focuses around the origins of both Batman and Robin. Now Batman's is standard Zorro watching then mugged and the Flying Grayson's death also the origin of Robin. The second act is The Joker has taken control of Arkham Asylum and teamed up with the other rogues in Batman's history. The story features a catwoman karma turn-around at the end where she helps Batman defeat her former friends. One of the best parts was when Bruce tells Dick that he is Batman; there is a nice long pause and he clearly says "I'm Batman". Well rightfully so the entire audience erupted in applause and cheers.
The sets were all great, although the giant chair in Wayne Manor still confuses me. At the back of the stage was a huge screen that showed backdrops and other useful images, turning pages of a comic book to represent a scene change or the showing the bat-mobile driving through Gotham, being Bruce's Bat-Computer screen (Nerdy appreciation to the "Bat-OS" logo in the corner, to showing close ups during fight scenes all drawn by the genius that is Jim Lee. During the fight scenes it was hard to choose where to look; the stage or the screen, but everywhere was good.

I loved it. Not much else i can say other than if your a bat-fan and get a chance to see this: Do So. I saw it opening night at the Sheffield Arena and there was a technical fault, but there was an announcement that apologised and 5mins later the action started up again.

Overall: 9.5/10 (only because i wanted more)

The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

2011-08-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

A re-imagining of the origins of the original classic film Planet Of The Apes. When apes are tested with a "cure-all" drug, one is left to be raised by humans, to which sparks the conquest for supreme being.

I liked it. Ok cast: James Franco is good. Might be the best film he's been in since Pineapple Express (didn't see 127 hours). It's always nice to see John Lithgow in things and he gives a knock out performance in this as Franco's dad. Other mentionable cast include Brian Cox as a primate enclosure manager and his son played by Tom Felton, proving that he can play another role other than brat teenager...oh wait. Sarcasm aside he did good, his accent sounded a little off in places but Draco is the first of the Potter lot to have a good role in another movie (Rupert Grint in Thunderballs doesn't count).
No cast mentions would be complete without Andy Serkis (although IMDB would have you believe he wasn't in the film) Just like in King Kong Serkis donned the motion capture suit and monkeyed around. Without looking into too much how they captured him, if it's anything like the L.A Noire capturing, Serkis did an awesome job at all the movement and especially the facial expressions of the lead ape, Caesar.

*Spoilers*

There are some really good moments in this film, that are very emotional and you are drawn into the film. There are several moments with Caesar and Charles (Lithgow). The big two are in the trailer with the turning the fork the right way and the way he comes to his rescue when Charles sits in someone else's car. The other emotional moment is when Charles eventually dies. You see this character at their lowest with Alzheimer's, then they get temporarily cured only to have them pass away is a high roller-coaster for both character and audience. Other more non-depressing moments are when Caesar finds a circus Orangutan that can also sign language, when he climbs a tree for the first time and (again spoilers) the final moment when he speaks to James Franco.

True to its original roots there are several references to the original film. Caesar's mother is named Bright Eyes, which is the name that Charlton Heston's Taylor is named in the first film. There is clip of Charlton Heston in a film being played on the monitors in the Ape area. There is also many Tv news and newspaper references to a failed mission to Mars which is how the first film started. In the second Apes film we are told that the first word an ape said was "no", this is also Caesar's first word, which is said after Tom Felton delivers the most famous line from the apes film: "GET YOUR STINKING PAW OF ME YOU DAMN DIRTY APE!"

Recommend: Yes.
Overall: 8/10

A League Of Their Own.

2011-08-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

A League Of Their Own.

Set during the war and whilst the men are off fighting, it is decided that a women’s baseball league is set up. The story follows two sisters who are talent scouted to join the teams.

I liked it, although so far, apart from “Mazes And Monsters” (which I never finished), I have found it impossible to hate a film that Tom Hanks is in. He’s on his usual top high form and might even have played the first Hanks character that I didn’t particular like, but that didn’t stop him from being awesome. And speaking of awesome he may have only been in the first 20/15 mins of the film but Jon Lovitz proves why he is one of my favourite comedians. The rest of the cast were equally as good, (after a quick glance at the back of the DVD cover) Geena Davis and Lori Petty in the two lead roles with Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna bringing up the supporting cast. Also hiding at the back end of the movie in a small role is current Torchwood baddie Bill Pullman.

There is a lot to like in this film. I myself have never played baseball, but have learned so much simply by watching films like this, The Benchwarmers, The Natural and The Longest Yard. All, in essence the same film, but each really good. It’s clear why Americans make such a fuss over it (and apple pie…mmmmm) There are a couple of nice scenes I want to mention; like the dance hall scene. What energy and perfection in that dance sequence, made me out of breath watching it. There was a really nice little moment when one of the girls admits she cant read the board to know if she’s on the team and someone walks up and helps her. Only like 30secs long but a memorable moment none the less.
The one and only flaw in this film I found was Hanks’ fault. His character has a broken knee and it’s only about half way through the film does he remember this and starts limping for a scene. Other than I have no memorable faults, other than it might have been maybe 15/20 mins longer than necessary.

Recommend: Yes
Overall: 8/10

Tangled

2011-08-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Tangled

Disney's take on the classic tale of Rapunzel, a young girl who has long magical hair, and a shrouded past.

Now I was pestered into watching this movie by Rachael, a friend at work and Iv put off watching it for a while now as Star Trek was always an easier option to watch. Its now that i wish i hadn't and had seen this film sooner.

Its a beautiful recapturing of classic Disney. The art work is beautiful from the get go, it might be cgi but it has all the classic look from the Disney films of my childhood (Lion King, Robin Hood, Hercules) that recent Disney films have lacked (Bolt, Chicken Little). All the voice cast sounded right, but the only voice i could pick out and asign to was Brad Garrett. This film also brings back Disney's musical talents and is filled with songs that tell plot points and emotions throughout the film and are all catchy and fun. Now i watching this film with two of my other friends and the humour of the film transfers to three kids in our early twenties. The biggest laughs were without a doubt all down to Maximus the horse. My favourite character by far, second only to the chameleon. Curiously both these characters not having voices, which for a disney film a curious choice, but one that pays off in bucket loads. The physical comedy of the horse and the facial expressions of the chameleon are fantasic.

Recommend: Yes, it is still a Disney film, but no less fun.
Overall: 8/10

EDIT: Just re-listened to the soundtrack and i can also tell that Jeffrey Tabor aswell as Brad Garett, is one of the pirates in the bar.

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