Posts Tagged ‘release date’
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Review
Fanboys follows five friends on a weird road trip across the country to break into the Skywalker Ranch and watch Star Wars: Episode 1 before it comes out. This is Star Wars Nerd utopia, with an unquestionably viva nerd vibe sprinkled over the already undercooked and over expired geek fest.
Let’s be perfectly honest here, Fanboys is nothing to write home about. It’s filled with pro-geek gibberish that most people, like me, who haven’t been able to stay awake through a Star Wars movie will find little to enjoy. We’ve seen the same characters before. There’s the slacker, the two former best friends fighting, the biggest nerd of the group who can’t talk to woman and the girl who has a crush on him. It’s been overdone, overworked and as much as the team tries it’s just too difficult to turn tired jokes into fall of your chair fun.
But let’s look at it from a casual movie goer perspective. It’s not going to be the best movie you’ve seen but it’s certainly not the worst. If there’s nothing better to watch at the movies this weekend Fanboys will provide a few light laughs and may even make you feel better about yourself in some weird way.
4/10
Tags: age restriction, Comedy, Darth Vader, episode 1, fanboys, friends, funny, geek, Holy Grail, poster, ranch, release date, review, sci fi, skywalker, star wars, synopsis, trekkies
Posted in Comedy, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Friday, March 13th, 2009
Review
Dog’s are arguably one of God’s greatest physical gifts to man kind. Those that have them know that no matter how much trouble they are they love you unconditionally. They don’t care if you’re rich or poor, smart or dumb, ugly or beautiful; you’re always the best thing in their eyes. This is the surface message of Marley and Me, but there’s so much more.
Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson star in a movie that will be adored by dog lovers everywhere. Successfully mixing comedy and drama in a two hour heart warming storing that’s deeper than you might expect. Great acting and brilliant direction gives this it a depth and uncompromising honesty. If you walk out this movie with dry eyes you probably don’t have a heart.
The chemistry between Aniston and Wilson is believable and entertaining but the real star of the film is Marley, affectionately labelled the worst dog in the world by his owners. The dog manages to cause every kind of trouble as this family goes through the ups and downs of life. Wilson’s character struggles between his wife, his kids, his work and his over active dog, thus creating a wonderful commentary on the juggle of work and home.
The movie isn’t perfect, at times opportunities for extreme laughter or heart wrenching moments are missed, but overall the movie is difficult not to love.
Tags: Alan Arkin, Comedy, cry, dog, Eric Dane, Jennifer Aniston, Kathleen Turner, labradoodle, labrador, laugh, Marley and Me, Owen Wilson, release date, review, synopsis, the world’s worst dog, trailer, website
Posted in Comedy, Drama, Movies, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Review
After the huge success of the first Pink Panther, and my absolute adoration for it, I had high hopes for the sequel. They had the right ingredients, a great cast, and a huge history to create a good story from but too my great dismay this sequel isn’t even slightly entertaining.
Filled with slap stick comedy and an extremely boring plot line the movie fails to take off before crashing miserably with a horrifically predictable ending. There’s no presence in the film because the actors are totally underutilised and diminished to stupid conversations about nothing. Gone is the originality and unpredictability of the first film. We know what’s coming and this time, it’s not funny.
The Pink Panther 2 can’t hold it’s own for a diverse audience anymore. It’s taken a step down and began catering for young kids with repeated pie in your face jokes that anyone over eight is officially sick of. I would like to speak to whoever came up with the script; they must have some serious form of writers block.
1/10
Tags: Aishwarya Rai, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, cast, Comedy, details, director, Emily Mortimer, genre, Harald Zwart, Jean Reno, John Cleese, PG, rated, release date, South Africa, starring, Steve Martin, synopsis, The Pink Panther 2, Theatrical Release, USA
Posted in Comedy, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Review
The age old saying that youth is wasted on the young is taken to new levels with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It’s the story of a man who ages backwards and who always seems out of place because of it.
The concept is intriguing and unique to say the least. Brad Pitt claims the lead role and does so effortlessly. In fact it’s so effortless I can’t seem to see what was so special about his performance, something for which he received an Academy Award Nomination. Cate Blanchett does a fairly good job as his leading lady but their relationship throughout the film comes off as irritating more than anything else.
In fact the creators of Benjamin Button have gotten so caught up in stunning backdrops of the different time periods and the amazing effects that turned Brad Pitt into a wrinkly old man that they’ve failed to get the audience’s attention on the story. The epic film is a full 166 minutes long, that’s two and a half hours of film which will drag in many places.
It’s not that the film was horrible but it just didn’t have that something that makes you sit up and pay attention. If anything it was a pleasant journey through the last eighty years of American History and little more.
Tags: age, Brad Pitt, cast, Cate Blanchett, Ceán Chaffin, David Fincher, Elias Koteas, Elle Fanning, Frank Marshall, Jared Harris, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond, Kathleen Kennedy, Mahershalhashbaz Ali, release date, review, South Africa, synopsis, Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Tilda Swinton
Posted in Drama, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Review
As an aspiring film maker and a critic I sometimes forget what it is that makes me love movies, because seeing so many bad ones puts you off. Slumdog millionaire reignited that flame for me two fold. The movie is an inspiration to filmmaking, a masterpiece, a shining light in a dull room. If you watch one movie this year it has to be Slumdog Millionaire.
The story of a man who came from the slums of India to be on Who wants to be a Millionaire?. He’s just one question away from the twenty million rupee grand prize. However the authorities can’t see how a slumdog could know the answer to questions that doctors and lawyers couldn’t answer. They pull him in for questioning and an amazing life story unfolds before their eyes. Could it be that it’s this man’s destiny to win the grand prize?
From the opening minutes you can just feel that there’s something special about this movie. The cinematography is fantastic and the score awe inspiring but all of that is blown away by fantastic acting, especially from the kids, and an amazing story. I’ve said it countless times; many movies should never have left the screenplay stage. The screenplay is the most important thing. Without an amazing story you can’t get an amazing movie. What really brings this story to life is that it’s so real. It’s not trying to prove a point or change a perception, it’s telling an amazing story from start to finish.
That doesn’t mean to say the story isn’t done in style. Danny Boyle has put together an amazing movie and deserves all the recognition this film is giving him. The acting is raw, real and crisp. All the elements have come together perfectly.
Hollywood has forgotten to a large extent why movies are made. It’s not all about money; it’s about the age old art of telling great stories, where the tribe gathers around the fire to hear the best stories over and over again. This movie gets that right.
What makes this movie more real is the reality that this is a story that in actuality takes place in our own country, within our own townships. It tackles those universal questions of is it ever OK to do wrong and when will we ever get over our discrimination of all kinds?
This is a tribute to Indian film making and an honouring of the hard lives slumdogs live. It’s hard not to fall head over heals in love with Slumdog Millionaire.
Tags: A.R. Rahman, Anil Kapoor, British, cast, Christian Colson, composer, Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, director, Drama, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Freida Pinto, genre, Irrfan Khan, Jamal Malik, Madhur Mittal, Marc Williams, producer, release date, review, Runtime, sa, screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, slumdog, Slumdog Millionaire, South Africa, starring, street kid, studio, USA, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Posted in Drama, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
