Release date: 07/16/2010

Length: 148′

Personal Rating (1-10): 9

You know there are pairs of Directors and Actors that just make a good job. We have Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio and some others also. Well for “Inception” we have a mix in the couples. Christopher Nolan teams up with Marty’s favorite, Leonardo DiCaprio and they do a great job!

“Inception” is a a thrilling sci-fi movie  that brings in front of us the possibility of accessing someone’s dreams and controlling them in order to find out information that the subconscious of the subject can deliver. There are several techniques of manipulation and Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the best extractors in the field. Due to some past mistakes Cobb is now unable to set foot in mother land USA and get reunited with his kids and when he gets the chance to get his record clean he takes it without hesitation even if that means that he has to do the impossible. He has to plant an idea in someone’s head. From here the action starts. Cobb creates a team that will allow him to get close to his subject and make him go into a triple phase dream. Of course things start to go wrong and the team has to face different issues with their plan, including daemons from Cobb’s past.

“Inception” is breath taking, it sticks you to your chair and it feels like you are there. The action scenes are unbelievably well done and the entire script (big thumbs up to Nolan for writing this) is so well figured out, down to the last details, that even if you know that what you see is not possible (yet) while you are watching the movie you believe everything, your mind just opens up and can ignore laws of gravity or plain physics, just like the movie implies you can do in your dreams.

What I especially liked about the production of the movie, is the soundtrack. Unlike other movies, where songs are played to fill gaps and sometimes redirect you to the emotional state they are trying to transmit, the musical background in Inception is there not to fill gaps, but to give more meaning to a scene. Even if characters are engaged in a dialog, this is doubled and enhanced by some music in the background. If you ask me, this is an art.

“Inception” is the type of movie that bewilders you. You get out of the cinema and ask yourself, what the f*** just happened? Do I love this movie, Do I loath it? Everybody is talking about it in the first phase, you hear people telling to one and other “you are in a dream”, you hear comments, bad and good. This is the sign of a good movie. If after you stand up from your chair you don’t think of the fastest route home and something to eat, but instead want to know the other’s opinion, then the movie was a good one.

The originality of the movie is undoubted and yet somehow a comparison with “Shutter Island” is inevitable. Even though, there are different scripts, different plots, different Directors, somehow the general tense atmosphere, the thin line between fiction and reality and the main character that is trapped in two worlds and can not make the difference anymore brings the two movies together.

Recommendation: Go to the cinema and see “Inception”. It is worth it. For now, watch the trailer:

Release date: 01/08/2010

Length: 100′

Personal Rating (1-10): 7

“Leap Year” is a romantic comedy the presents the story of an American girl (Amy Adams) that goes to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on the 29th of February because of an old Irish tradition. What she does not expect, is falling in love with her guide there.

The story of the movie you can see in the trailer. There is nothing unexpected in “Leap Year” but I think it never thought to give us such a thing. The idea of the movie was not as much to give us new plots for romantic movies, but to put some good charm, some tasteful jokes (if cow poo can be called tasteful) and some lovely irish scenery in it.

For me, this recipe worked. Amy Adams plays the role of  the well calculated (never assuming any risk) american bimbo sort of girl in a very good way. Matthew Goode plays the irish local, and his ironic replies to everything the girls says and does are just delightful.

I can’t help noticing that Amy Adams is slowly turning into one of my favorite actresses. I liked her performances together with Meryl Strep in “Doubt” and “Julie and Julia” and I enjoyed this one here also.

“Leap Year” is an easily digestible film that is worth seeing if you are looking for a classical romantic comedy. Recommended scenery: at home on a rainy afternoon.

Trailer bellow:

Release Date: 02/19/2010

Length: 128′

Personal Rating (1-10): 8

“The Ghost Writer” is the story of a mediocre writer played by Ewan McGregor that has to finish the memoirs of ex British Prime Minister, Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan.

Once The Ghost starts getting close to Lang’s entourage he starts finding cracks in the foundation of the politician’s family and also weird details in the presumed accidental death of ex ghost writer.

The entire movie is The Ghost’s research for the truth made in not as much as a detective movie, but a thriller without the thrills. The speed of action is rather slow, not slow enough to take you to sleep, but not fast enough to make your heart race. I think it’s just about right to make you think!

The events are rather smart and the movie is not easily predictable. Once you see the next step you say to yourself “yeah, that makes sense!” but you don’t actually anticipate it. And the ending brings a nice twist.

Pluses: Ewan McGregor’s performance, Storyline

Minus: The performance of Pierce Brosnan is OK, but at a certain moment he makes a small public speech in front of some protesters and he tryes to make this sort of accent, in which he sounds almost Russian. It sounded like some newby actor was trying to make an impression of a personality.

“The Ghost Writer” is a good watch and is worth the two hours. I enjoyed it pretty much. Watch the trailer bellow:

Release Date: 04/16/2010

Length: 92′

Personal Rating (1-10): 5

“Death at a Funeral” is the type of movie that relies only on good charters and not really on a good script. I bet that the producers didn’t even care if all the lines were in the script and put their money on the good charm, comedian act and genius of actors such as Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and others.

The entire movie does not have a plot, a point of climax, not even a good beginning or an ending. “Death at a Funeral” is just a series of random events that are supposed to be funny, but aren’t. Without a good context those comedy bits are simple boring “knock knock jokes” that aren’t enough to sell a movie.

I am sorry to see that Chris Rock has lost his appetite for acting and comedy. In “Death at a Funeral”, but also in the funny “Grown Ups” he is linear, and noticeable in “Death…” because he has a leading role and is in your face, literally. Martin Lawrence still has that vibe, but as the script was not that good, just his energy is not enough.

As a whole, … what whole? there is none. As stated earlier, the movie is a mixture of elements that are supposed to create laughter in the audience (the motive of the drugged persons, the motive of the black dude having a gay relationship with a white midget <not that funny as it sounds>, and the good all loud stereotype of black people) put together in a single location for a doubtfull reason.

If you wanna see al the jokes, watch the trailer (trust me, they are better in the trailer then in the movie):

Release Date: 06/11/2010

Length: 140′

Personal Rating (1-10): 7

“The Karate Kid” is a remake of a classic with the same name but one that follows just the guidelines of the original.

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mom move to China to start a new life after the dad had past away and some other bad things we assume happened but are not presented (probably because this type of story has been already told so many times that nobody actually cares anymore). Here Dre comes into contact first with the handy man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and then with the kids on the block. First the love plot, represented by Meiying, a cute local girl, and the action plot represented by Weng, a kid that picks on Dre. Our boy comes to find out that Weng is in a kung-fu school and somehow gets sucked in this world, having to fight in a tournament in order to gain the respect of Weng’s “crew”.

Luckily Dre finds an excellent teacher in the (this was so unexpected) handy man, Mr Han. And from now on we have the classic story.

Overall the new “Karate Kid” has a good vibe but does not manage to keep you in the world they try to present. If you ask me, in order for a movie to be good it has to keep you in the fantasy world starting from it’s first minutes to the end. “The Karate Kid” has pauses in it and therefor can bore you.

Although the trailer looked kind of awesome when I first saw it, the movie didn’t have that big of a success in the box office. An interesting thing about this movie is that the entire Smith family seems to be involved in it. Will Smith and his wife are producers and the light in their eyes, boy Jaden Smith is the star actor. Surprisingly enough he pulls a good role.

There’s not that much that can be said about the movie and that says it all Watch bellow a mix of training exercises done with the master Jackie Chan (who has aged! this one of the figures in Hollywood you don’t expect to get old) but without the new “wax on wax off” this time represented by picking up and dressing / undressing a jacket.

Release Date: 05/21/2010

Length: 93′

Personal Rating (1-10): 6

I never thought I would say this, but the last Shrek is terrible. I really thought that after the downer with the previous sequels that the writers would come up with something really good this time, but… mmm… no! Big Big Disappointment.

“Shrek 4 ever after” comes up with a good plot but unfortunately doesn’t manage to get it there. What made the first Shrek special, was the tasty dialog between Shrek and Donkey. In plus the first one actually had a story behind the story (see the thing with onion’s layers and lots more) and not just the old good triumphs over evil, love conquers all and “I never knew what I had until I lost it”. But I’m deviating, I was speaking about the plot…

As I said, the general idea of the movie was good. So that we would not get bored of the same story, the script changes the rule of the game and changes everything we know. After Shrek makes a deal with the new villain, Rumpel Stilskin, everything is upside down: Shrek is a feared ogre, Donkey does not know him and fears him, Puss is fat and Fiona is a fearless leader for a group of Ogres that wants to fight Rumpel and stop his reign of terror.

Everything good, the idea of Puss being fat is hilarious, donkey gets back to yelling a lot and being his ignorant self but not as annoying for Shrek, and implicitly, not as funny for us anymore. All in all the story is predictable at all times, the lines are cheasy and rarely funny and so on…

I was one of the few persons that actually believed Shrek 4 was gone rule! Everybody said it would be bad, but I hoped the Shrek saga will go out with a bang! Boy, was I wrong.

I gave the movie an overall 6 because I’m emotionally attached to this movie (“Shrek” is probably my favorite animated movie of all times) and because even if the characters are not that funny, they are still somewhat charming.

If you are a Shrek fan like me, watch it so you can complete the series, otherwise don’t waste your time.

Release Date: 03/26/2010

Length: 100′

Personal Rating (1-10): 6

I wanted to make this cool awesome review for “Hot Tub Time Machine” that would be even funnier than the movie (not that’s that hard) but I just feel lazy at the moment and I’ve been procrastinating this post for two long. So here it goes, the short version:

“Hot Tub Time Machine” is about three middle aged guys that want to relieve an experience from their teenage life in order to regain some optimism to their otherwise fucked up lives. They also take one of them’s (John Cusack –  most known face in the movie) nephew. Wam Bam they somehow teleport back to 1986 and so their adventure begins. They only have one day to make sure they make up for past mistakes or for some of them, make sure they get conceived.

According to the trailer “Hot Tub Time Machine” should have been mega fun, but unfortunately the jokes in the trailer are not as fun in context and them singing Black Eyed Peas’s “let’s get it started” not affecting the future makes less sense then them teleporting back in time using a hot tub as a time machine (that I could have believed).

All in all it’s a really dusty movie with a very good plot and failed action. No more comments, not worth it.

Watch the trailer bellow to see the fun in it:

Release Date: 02/12/2010

Length: 119′

Personal Rating (1-10): 4

“The Wolfman” is the allready well known story of the werewolf that can only be killed by silver bullets. The representation in 2010 brings nothing new to the table, just maybe some scenery and some new actors (that are actually old actors, age-wise).

The story is as simple as it gets: Long lost son, Lawrence Talbot, comes back in small English town, after his brother was killed in a brutal way by what is believed to be a beast. In an altercation with the beast Lawrence gets bitten by the animal (which as in all good soap opera’s is his father) and is then saved by a gypsy, only to become “The Wolfman” himself. Everything ends with a terrible fight between the beasts in which the youngest animal prevails, and then gets killed himself. Ta Da! I ruined it for you!

Let’s take a look now at the selling points of the motion picture “The Wolfman“:

Sir John Talbot (the senior wolf) is played by Sir. Anthony Hopkins, a remarkable actor that does not disappoint us, and makes a secondary, mediocre role to be the only entertaing part in an otherwise dull movie.

Lawrence Talbot is played by Benicio Del Toro, an actor everybody praised that has left me with an impression of a classy Stevan Seagal and no acting gift at all. Surprisingly he also starred in some other medium rated movies before like “21 Grams” and “Snitch” and also in the classical “The Usual Suspects”.

Not sure if the next two things were on the poster for the movie but they are worth mentioning. The producers managed to put together a great set, with a lovely castle for the Talbots, some nice woods near by for “The Wolfman” to roam free and lovely dresses and costumes for the people so the air from the beginning of the last century can be refreshed.

Also in a production point of view, probably in order to attract teenage boys that are still dealing with puberty, the film is extremely bloody and describes very well and in detail how “The Wolfman” bites, scratches and pulls every limb off its victims.

“The Wolfman” took me 4 nights to see because I repeatedly fell asleep. I think they put their money on the simple legend and on the presence of Anthony Hopkins and didn’t bother giving this tale the new twist in the plot that was needed to revitalize a dusty anti-hero. Shame on them!

About 12 hours ago a viral clip was released on the internet and allready Google is buzzing about it with all sorts of rumors.

I have no idea what the short clip is announcing but “Mortal Kombat: Rebirth” is awesome! It brings all sort of cool characters from the old action movie but puts them in a set where there are no gods involved and where things border between fantasy and reality.

I for one enjoyed “Mortal Kombat: Rebirth” very much and hope that an actual film will be released asap.

Not suitable for children:

Release Date: 03/05/2010

Length: 108′

Personal Rating (1-10): 5

“Alice in Wonderland” presents the story of teen Alice and continues the childhood bla bla bla. I don’t care about the script, I can enjoy almost any story.

The thing about this story in particular is that it’s a bit too childish even for me, and trust me when I say I’m one childish critic, I have recently re-watched ”The Jungle Book”. “Alice in Wonderland” takes the old story and makes a well put together sequel that unfortunately just doesn’t speak to me.

I totally recommend this for the kids, but if you are past 14 years old or something alike then you should not waste your time with this! I have been skeptical about this even from the beginning but the media made it seem like something else and also the fact that Johnny Depp is in was a key factor into my decision of viewing “Alice in Wonderland“.

The magical creatures presented are very well created and drawn but then again, they are nothing new, they are just in 3D now. Also the role of Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow and very little of an innocent girl that dreams to much.

Johnny Depp, playes “The Hatter”, a character that wears so much mascara then you can not see his mimic, so there’s a waste of talent, luckily you can still hear the charming voice of the once beloved pirate. Even this superstar, that enjoys a weird role, could not save “Alice in Wonderland” from becoming “Alice in Sleepyland”.

All in all the story has density, but for me, as a grown up, it bored me as hell. Maybe I’m no longer a dreamer, but hey, that’s just me.

Other then that there’s not much to say. I enjoyed the performance of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and dreaded that of the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). You will find that the White Queen is most annoying and you kind of hope, secretly, that she will lose the battle with her sister.

The conclusion is a very simple one: if you have kids buy the DVD and let them watch it. If not then go see Prince of Persia or whatever works for you.