Here’s a forum to discuss what movies we’ve seen lately.
I’m most definiately biased when it comes to all things Stargate and The Ark of Truth is no exception. Sometimes movie versions of TV shows go drastically wrong, but I’m happy to report this one came off as a good, long episode. Much like the X-Files and Simpsons movies.
If you haven’t watched the TV series, I would suggest against watching. Most of it probably wouldn’t make any sense because it’s based off continuing story lines through several seasons of TV.
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I think most people know at least one person that’s into the realm of the fantasy genre. I can’t say any of my friends were the type who couldn’t really differentiate between the real and the imagined. That’s just what I found in Darkon.
The movie was pretty interesting. There are organized communities of people who fight for different realms and get together on weekends to play out these battles. Reminds me of playing around when I was a kid. The main difference is these people have created or bought uniforms, armor, weapons, and equipment for themselves. In one scene they even built a makeshift castle. Now that’s impressive. The only “weird” part for me was when it became apparent not all of the characters were just make believing. I’m a big fan of keeping reality in perspective.
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I’m usually not a very big fan of animated films, not because they’re animated, because the story lines are usually very much geared towards children. Fortunately I have internet friends like ReelFanatic who give me good recommendations on what’s out there.
Ratatouille is a story about a country rat with refined tastes for food who suddenly finds himself lost and in the heart of Paris. Away from his family, he must find his own way and ends up trying out his culinary skills at a once renowned restaurant.
I immediately loved this movie from the start. There’s plenty of seriousness with some comedy thrown in. Remy, the country rat, befriends a human and Remy is able to prove to his family that not all humans are bad. I would have to say one of my favorite parts was the cooking challenge at the end, but I won’t say anymore to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it.
I’d have to say this one if fun for the whole family, and I don’t mean it in the “fun for only the kids” kind of way.
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I can’t say I’ve seen too many Korean films, but this one is top-notch in my book. When I saw the previews for this a couple years ago I was looking forward to seeing it. I don’t think it ever came my way though. In classic Japanese-Godzilla-style, a strange mutated fish thing is created in a river due to toxic waste being poured down the drain. Eventually this creature gets big enough to start terrorizing the local population and eating people.
The film centers around the Park family. The grandfather runs a food stand in a park next to the river. Mr. Park is helped by one son, his daughter is an Olympic archer, and his other son is a bit of a drunk. His granddaughter is currently in the 7th grade and is one of the many victims on the day of the attack. That fateful day, and the death of the granddaughter, brings the whole family back together as they try to deal with the tragedy.
While The Host is definitely science fiction and suspenseful, there’s also some witty humor thrown into the mix amongst some of the more tense scenes. I found it quite hilarious when these sarcastic remarks were thrown in during the scenes when you shouldn’t be laughing.
I would highly suggest this for anyone who even thought of maybe seeing it. While this movie is about a monster, it’s not a scary horror movie that will leave you jumping out of your seats. It’s also not cheesy and boring like many of these can be.
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If you were disappointed by the first film in this more recent series, I think you might enjoy the second installment. I thought The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was too kid-like and G-rated for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoyed it, it’s just that I thought a lot more could have been done with the fight scenes. I do realize this series was C.S. Lewis’ response to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and it wasn’t necessarily made for adults, but it could still be way cooler. If you didn’t know, they were pals back in the day and hung out at the same pub. They both decided to make something for the kids and these two great literary works are what came of it. I should know this because the university I attended and currently work at has a big part of their library dedicated to Mr. Lewis and an exact replica of said bar…
Anyways, back to the movie - I really enjoyed what was done with Prince Caspian. I think Andrew Adamson did a fine job at stepping up to the plate and directing something worth seeing. If you didn’t know, he did direct the first film along with a couple of the Shrek films. He’s also slated as a producer on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader set to come out in 2010.
If you’ve seen the BBC versions, you might be aware that Warwick Davis played several roles throughout those films. I’m not sure what he’s most famous for because he played an Ewok in Star Wars. He was also in Willow, the Leprechaun movies, Labyrinth, and many others more recently. He’s really made a career for himself as being the guy that gets into suits. He happens to play Nikabrik in this film and Liz and I thought it was really cool to see him in a movie with Peter Dinklage, another amazing actor who has also made a great name for himself.
Seeing the progression of these two movies, if there’s one to be seen, reminds me of the Harry Potter series in the way that it grows in age appropriateness with each installment. I really hope these films continue in this manner. I’d also like to see them tackle the last three books that the BBC never got to, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, and The Last Battle. It’s always been my opinion that these three are the coolest of the seven, and also the hardest to make due to needed special effects.
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Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.
There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.
This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.
Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.
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There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, which came out more than a week ago. I only saw it last night, shortly after re-reading the book. The last time I read it was when I bought it at Heathrow Airport in the summer of 2003, after my sister’s wedding in Nepal. I had planned on buying the paperback when it came out, but as soon as I saw the book in the airport bookstore, I had to have it.
The same thing happened in 2005, when I saw Book Six (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) in a bookstore in Lourdes, France.
Then, the same thing happened today — the release date of the final book — when I was at the mall running an errand. There it was, staring me down, and I was forced (forced!) to buy Book 7, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.
I like Harry Potter a lot. I think that JK Rowling is a creative genius. I would love to have even an ounce of her creativity and ingenuity for myself.
I guess I’m telling you all of this because unless the movie just sucked, I was going to love it. This is a biased, unfair review, because I LOVE Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. I love the storylines, the character conflicts, the absolute perfect portrayal of what it’s like to be 15. I love the book so much, and that meant that I could only love the movie. Oh, and I love Sirius Black.
The best moment of the whole movie, I think, was when Harry confessed to his godfather Sirius, “I’m angry all the time.” The darkness of the story lets us know that a major part of this anger comes from the connection between the Dark Lord Voldemort and Harry himself, but the honesty of the story tells us something else: it’s also because he’s 15, and when you’re 15, you have little control over your emotions.
Sure, the director of Movie #5, David Yates, tried to cram a whole lot more than he should have into the movie. But how could he not? Also, he does a great job of knowing what to leave out: Hagrid’s story of living with the giants, the emotional saga of Harry’s banishment from Quidditch, the lengthiness of Dumbledore’s eventual conversation with his favorite student about the history of the prophecy in question.
Yates also knew what was essential: the relationship between Harry and Sirius, first of all, and then Harry’s emotional state. We’ve seen Harry abused and defeated through four books/movies, despite his victories. In the fifth chapter, it’s finally taking its toll. He’s tired, and he’s unsure of himself.
And that’s what Yates does so well to capture. He understands that exhaustion and that weakness, and he shows it to us plainly and honestly. The movie definitely has flaws, but despite them, it’s a really, really good story.
Wow. That’s all I could say after watching this one. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into except all I had heard was good and it was a children’s movie? Well, I was wrong on part of that. This is setup like a fairytale, but this is more like something out of Aesop’s Fables where people die and not everything is happy-go-lucky. This isn’t a G-Rated American fairytale like ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water.’
This film takes place during the Spanish Civil War and is centered around a little girl whose mother has just married a fascist army officer. They move out into the country to where the Captain is because her mother is 8+ months pregnant and about to deliver the Captain’s child. He feels like a baby needs to be born where its father is. We soon learn just what a horrible person this father-to-be is as we see him interact with his family, his soldiers and anyone else that gets in his way. This man will stop at nothing.
On the trip, the girl, Ofelia, is reading a book about a fairy princess who finds her way into the human world and is trying to find her way back. In order to cope with the atrocities of her own life, Ofelia projects this story on her own life through her wonderful imagination. This is a very different take on fantasy from what most people are used to. There’s no elves, goblins or ringwraiths in this film.
This is the first time I’ve seen a movie with mythical characters that are good, yet scary looking. I was also physically on the edge of my seat in a couple parts of the movie and I can’t say that happens very often while watching a movie. Many parts of this movie are about discovery and finding out just what will happen next.
I highly recommend this movie to adults looking for a thought provoking imaginative film. Even though it’s unrated, this would definitely receive an R-rating for violence and language. I think the story and morals portrayed are more than worth the objectionable content you might find while watching.
Back in September there were commercials and previews out for two movies about magicians: The Illusionist and The Prestige. Trying to keep them separated in my head was quite a task. I even went to see The Illusionist in the theater and thought I was going to see The Prestige. Even though I enjoyed that outing and was entertained by the film, I recently found out The Prestige is way, way better. It even made me want to go watch Batman again after seeing Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine in action together a second time.
In this film you have two magicians who have been around each other for a long time and are competing to see who is best. There is also a grudge war between the two that all started with an unfortunate accident that resulted in Angier’s wife’s death. In the end, the obsession to be on top ruins both men’s lives and there are a few twists in there that aren’t easily seen through from the beginning.
This film is full of wonderful actors. It was definitely a treat to see Bowie back in action. I think his performance as Nikola Tesla blows his Labyrinth performance out of the water. Andy Serkis plays his assistant. I’m glad to see he’s getting more work. The two magicians are played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. Michael Caine is an engineer who builds and designs the illusions and Scarlett Johansson plays an assistant. Besides just being a great movie, I think this film also portrays what an unhealthy obsession can do to somebody when taken to extreme levels.
One thing I really appreciated was the lack of offensive material. So often in the box office I see films that great, except I can’t recommend them to certain people because of certain content contained throughout. This is one that will hopefully keep you entertained, and, isn’t full of nudity, violence, language and drug-use. So go out and see it. I caught it at our dollar theater. Hopefully it’s playing somewhere around you for cheap too.
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