Release Date: 10/08/2010

Length: 100′

Personal Rating (1-10): 4

My Opinion on “Stone” is a quote from someone who prefers to remain anonymous: “This is a stupid movie!”

“Stone” trailer:

Release Date: 11/12/2010

Length: 98′

Personal Rating (1 – 10): 7

Official Website

“Unstoppable”: plot

Based on real life events “Unstoppable” is the story of a runaway train in Pennsylvania and of the two heroes that helped stop it. And that’s about it!

Longer version: In a rail yard a couple of workers are asked to move a huge cargo train from one line to another to make way for another train fool of school children. In order to save time one of the workers choses not to connect the air hose for the pneumatic brakes thinking he will not need it. Whilst the mechanic of this cargo train decides to get down from the slow moving train and change the track lane himself the brake shift gets disconnected and the strain starts moving at full throttle.

On the other hand new comer in the train industry, Will Colson (Chris Pine) is assigned a job with veteran Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington). Needles to say, after they play a small game of “chicken” with the runaway train, they end up trying to stop the railroad menace.

“Unstoppable”: remarks

The movie is at all times predictable, but even so it keeps a certain tension in the viewer. Even though you always know this will be a happy end movie, you feel the suspense and always wonder what will they do next to stop the fast moving disaster. The explosions are kind of awesome and from what I’ve heard they are not computer generated, but real trains going “boom”!

“Unstoppable”: recommended?

I really enjoyed the movie, but I think it’s because of the trains. I have always liked trains for some reason, I even played train simulators (which are probably the most boring games ever) and enjoyed it so this is probably why I gave this movie a 7. You have to see “Unstoppable” simply because Denzel Washington is starring in it, anyone who loves movies as much as I do, does not miss out on movies with Denzel, even if this is not a very demanding role for him. As the talented actor said on David Letterman’s show this is not a breath taking movie but is something to enjoy with your family on a Friday evening. He also suggested the Cinema, but I’m not sure about that.

“Unstoppable”: Pictures

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“Unstoppable”: Trailer

Release Date: 09/17/2010

Length: 88′

Personal Rating (1 – 10): 6

“Alpha and Omega” – Plot

“Alpha and Omega” is a new animation movie that presents two wolves from the same pack but with different social status. Kate is the daughter of the alpha male in the pack and she is soon to become the leader of the pack, as Humphrey is at the other end of the chain, an omega wolf that does nothing but play around and joke with his omega friends.

Even if pack law forbids it, Humphrey has a crush on Kate and on the night when Kate was supposed to “howl at the moon” with the son of the alpha wolf of a rival pack in order to bring peace in the valley, our two beloved characters, Humphrey and Kate, an Alpha and an Omega, get tranquilized by humans and moved to a different national park. From here on the adventure begins as the two try to get back home and as tension rises between the two packs with Kate’s missing.

“Alpha and Omega” personal remarks

You should know that “Alpha and Omega” is a movie for the kids and not for adults. It is a good watch and with funny moments but childish like jokes and with more of a morale lesson and with a playful sort of view on life. I have always enjoyed allegories when animals represent human stereotypes but this one is, as said before, a bit to childish.

The addition of the two helpful duck and goose gives a boost to the dynamics of the story but doesn’t make it attractive enough as other famous additional characters have done in the past in gigantic animation hits like the series from “Shrek” or “Ice Age”.

“Alpha and Omega” recommended?

I gave the movie only a 6 because it was not intended for me. But the children in the targeted viewer’s segment they should give it at least an 8. All in all it’s a good watch but I would recommend it for a weekend morning. There’s definitely no need to go to the cinemas for this, except if you have kid that desperately wants to see a movie on the big screen.

“Alpha and Omega” character posters gallery

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“Alpha and Omega” trailer

Paul Walker…

Vin Diesel…

Dwayne Johnson…

Jordana Brewster…

and Ludacris

They all return for another of the well known franchise “Fast and Furious”: “FAST FIVE”

Release Date: 10/01/2010

Length: 121′

Personal Rating (1-10): 7

We all know that “The Social Network” is the movie about Facebook as every little kid on torrents calls it. Thing is, it’s not so much about Facebook, it’s about the inventor of it and even more about the conflicts this website generated.

I have to admit I did not do my homework about this, so I can’t tell facts. Not knowing if this is fiction or documentary makes it really hard for me to evaluate this movie. I get that it’s based on real happenings, but how much of it is true and how much is “art”?

I don’t want to talk that much about the plot of the movie, because you can read that on several places on the internet. I would just like to say that even though it can get annoying at times it is a rather interesting idea of wrapping  the entire story on two law suits against Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). This construction allows us to see the story from different points of view, but unfortunately this also gets in the way of a continuous story line.

There is not much to comment on how the roles are played because there’s not so much acting as there is line reading… I don’t know if this is the best way to put it, but heh, sue me! All the “stars” did their job and nothing more, bringing nothing to the characters. We have to mention Justin Timberlake (good for search engines) who plays the role of  Sean Parker, inventor of Napster, in a cute and curly way as a teen toy from N’Sync but nothing worth mentioning. He pulled a way better performance whilst along side Morgan Freeman in “Edison”, but hey! maybe the company inspired him. Jesse Eisenberg has an interesting performance and I look forward to see his next movie so that I can draw the conclusion if the semi-autism look a like he added to Mark was a fluke or not. That was an interesting touch and probably the only acting I’ve seen in the movie. But again, I’m not sure if that wasn’t something that he got to by mistake.

As the story goes, it’s kind of hard to make an opinion. All in all I didn’t get bored and I enjoyed watching the film, but I can’t help wondering what would have happened if I had seen the same story without the Facebook stationery and familiarities of this website. Because Facebook is such a big part of our lives we can’t help relating to the story of  ”The Social Network” and thus all objectivity we might have hoped to achieve kind of goes in the wind.  I think this was also the marketing strategy. The movie will automatically sell itself to most Facebook users, and let’s admit, we are quite a lot!

Getting back to the story line of “The Social Network” I was a bit disappointed by the ending which is a bit melodramatic and not in keeping with the rest of the story. But I can live with that.

As a whole and as a fiction movie based on real live events (how was that?) it was an interesting watch, but I would not recommend it for the cinemas. Just rent the DVD.

You can watch the trailer bellow:

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.