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Reviews
The Road (2009)
Powerfully Emotional.
I just got back from seeing this movie and I can tell you that I left the movie with more than a tear in my eyes. This movie was so powerful and emotionally challenging throughout, that you would have to be very hard hearted not to be effected.
There wasn't one moment in the movie where I was bored, there where lots of moments that did however make you think and wonder what you would do, how you would react, indeed, question your moral center.
*SPOILER ALERT* Actors where excellently picked for their roles. Charlize Theron made me so mad although at the same time I could totally relate to her suffering. Robert Duvall as always was top notch, leaving me genuinely interested in his story.
As for Viggo Mortensen, what can I say. His acting was gut wrenching and his story heroic. He brilliantly captured the pain and anguish of a Father whose only reason for living was the safety of his son. Adding to that, he so clearly portrayed the workings of the human animal in these situations, the fear, the mistrust and the real threat of losings ones own humanity.
Kodi Smit-McPhee, the boy, couldn't have done a better job. He totally captured the purity of an innocent. Helping his Father complete their journey with dignity and heroism. Truly a masterpiece. So much so I intend to read the book as with most movies, so much detail is left out. If the movie was this good, I can only expect wonderful things from the novel.
Two thumbs up, a must see especially for all wondering what they would do in a natural disaster scenario, or indeed those living in the shadow of 2012. Would you be able to survive emotionally, physically or indeed, would you want too?
The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
X Files 2008 Review.
I would like to start off by saying I am a die hard fan of the X Files and love the characters of Mulder and Scully and as such I was chomping at the bit to see this latest installment. It would be very difficult for me not to like anything they where in however sadly I have to say I was so very disappointed in this film. I am so shocked at just how badly this movie was put together. If this had been a made for T.V. special, I would say, fair enough, it would have been enjoyable. However considering new episodes of the X Files and the first movie where so long ago, it should have been a priority to make this new movie solid straight out of the gate and "on the edge of your seat"! Sadly it was no where close.
The whole premise for bringing Mulder and Scully back into the fore front in this picture was severely weak and a stretch at best. The case presented to them was one that any agent worth their salt could of handled in the beginning, nothing that would bring to mind Mulder and have to have him be brought in out of the cold. This shows very poor writing as there where so many other avenues Chris Carter could have gone down to re introduce Mulder and Scully.
Dialogue between Mulder and Scully was at times very "Day time Soup Opera", which made it almost painful to watch and needlessly stretched out in parts. Yet the conversation in the bedroom scene *SPOILER ALERT* where for the first time we not only know they are a true couple but are seeing them in bed and hear Mulder actually say the child is his. All very important and pivotal conversations considering the shows history, yet these conversations were so quickly skimmed over compared to the others! The characters themselves in this movie show clearly what poor writing can do. It seems Chris Carter is very much bored with Mulder and Scully and seemingly was dragged kicking and screaming to do this new movie! David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are very good actors and I am so pleased for them regarding their careers after X Files however in this movie their abilities were not shown in the best light at all.
At the end of David Duchovny involvement in X Files the T.V. Show, it seemed Scully became this dark, beaten down character which really bothered me as she had been such a strong female presence on the show. Strong, intelligent and very quirky however not so much at the end. Her character did start to get into her own again somewhat when Robert Patrick came into the show and the X Files started to build new momentum again but then the show was over.
The point here is I had hoped to see some of that old Scully in this new movie, strong and motivated, alas that was not to be. Once again we saw the depressed, beaten down Scully who only got into character at the end of the movie. Not to mention her seemingly "over the top" reaction to the Priest upon her first visit. I get he was not a character to be liked in the first place but Scully's emotional interaction with his character seemed at times way overboard, once again down to poor writing and character development.
As for Mulder, he seemed interesting at first and even funny like his old self at the beginning of the movie however his character went down hill from there. Again there where so many "stretches" in believability in not only the movie but in Mulder's reactions that it was to say the least off putting. There was plenty of time in this movie for strong character development by the writer for the very capable actors involved in this project but something went wrong somewhere! As for the story line, I get that the last movie was about Alien's and they wanted to go a different route, however I feel that this was not the way to go for this second movie. The whole "Alien" thing was the heart of Mulder's story in the X Files and I feel that the story line for this second movie seemed too weak for a follow up. Especially a movie that came after such a long time. Again, if a T.V. special, this would have gone over much better I think but it was not a powerful enough story line to give this long awaited movie the "wow" factor.
Lastly I am so sick of weak ass writers having nothing better to do than being lazy and using the whole Catholic Priest abusing kids angle. Yes these things happen in the Catholic Church however if I am not mistaken, Pedophiles are from all walks of life and certainly in many "religious" guises. It is very weak and lazy writing to keep using this same story line over and over and I am surprised that Chris Carter use this as the main body of his new movie, not to mention using yet another Catholic priest, in the hospital, as another bad guy!
Where is that old creative process Chris Carter that gave us the X Files in the first place? It is not lost I hope. It is out there! I want to believe! I so badly wanted to believe ....that this movie would be great!
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
All I can say is that they should have stopped at the third one. This was AWFUL, a true bastardization of a great movie trilogy! It was so bad I seriously considered getting up and leaving as did my hubby. However as fans of the previous movies we hoped and prayed it would get better, it did not! So many inaccuracies, it was just a hodge podge and major cluster you know what! Oh well it won't be something I will need to see again and I have advised all my buddies to wait for the DVD! Just so they can say they saw it lol. I had hoped Sean Connery would have reprized his role, thank God he didn't! I get that the previous movies have had an air of whimsy about them and some pretty improbable things have occurred and that is part of the charm but just way too many in this movie and too many glaring inaccuracies to go unnoticed and as such spoilt the overall enjoyment of it, IMHO and I didn't even go in to the movie with that great expectations in the first place lol.
But again, just MHO!
Doomsday (2008)
My review....
Absolutely LOVED this movie. It has been along time since we had a decent,intelligent blood and gore flick. The way Hollywood has been pumping out crappy moves of this genre, I thought I would never see a another good one anytime soon! I found this movie to be very well thought out,well acted, by great actors doing their job!
Sure there where a couple of little things that could have been handled better, for example the window breaking a bit too easily on the army vehicle, little things like that however it was just such a very good and enjoyable movie for me that it was easy enough to over look those kind of things.
Sure there where a lot of familiar themes from movies past, like Thunder Dome, Escape from New York, Resident Evil, 28 days to name a few, however this movie very expertly managed to go from what could have been just a another "repetitious blood and gore flick", to instead, a well acted and believable blood and gore flick.
After all I think any fan of this genre knows that pretty much all story arcs have been used by now, so if we want to keep seeing movies of this type produced, it is just a matter of making the next movie seem that much more interesting even with the familiar themes present.
IMHO, for the genre that it is, they did this and did it well! Loved it and totally recommend this movie.......and what about that car chase!
Halloween (2007)
My Review...Don't spend your money!
God Awful...don't bother! The original Halloween is such a classic and in my mind no need to be remade, however if your going to remake it, please make it a good one! I personally think Rob Zombie sucks when it comes to movies, not because there isn't gore and horror but just because he sucks at making the characters and story line believable.
In this remake, you don't know if your looking at scenes from the 70's, 80's or what, yet the guy who plays Donald Pleasant's character is carrying a very modern cell phone! Malcolm McDowell is a good actor and I am surprised that he went for this part, it was very weak and I feel sorry for him that he has had to add this to movies he has been involved with! On a side note, his character seem so self absorbed in the movie that honestly I am not surprised poor Michael Myers stopped talking, he was probably hoping the good doc would shut the hell up or eventually go away lol! I could see that maybe Rob Zombie was going for the more "real" Michael Myers, a screwed up kid and why he was that way. If left at that and nothing to do with Halloween, he could have had something really good IMHO, however the constant back and forth of making Michael Myers "real" as opposed to a remake of the old movie was just annoying and God awful! My advise, AVOID THIS MOVIE WITH A TEN FOOT BARGE POLE, as we say back in the old country lol! Or if you have to absolutely see this tragedy of a bastardization of a cult classic, don't even rent it, borrow it from some other poor sap that paid the rental fee!
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
This movie kicked ass!
We just saw it Friday too ...LOVED...LOVED...LOVED IT....well at least I did lol...I love a movie to start out with kick ass scenes right at the beginning plus I am a huge Zombie Movie fan and Resident Evil is my first on my list...so as you can imagine I couldn't wait. The second movie was a bit of a let down but still OK but this third one kicked ass right from the get go.
*Possible Spoiler*
Now my only problem with it but not a real issue for me, however was for hubby, is that you have so many scene ideas from other movies....The birds scene, so reminiscent of The Birds and 28 days later, Reign of Fire with the whole perimeter, Dawn of the Dead with the explosion, flashback to Jeepers Creepers with the whole bus scene, not to mention the whole, female jedi knight thing lol..just to mention a couple! Again not a real problem for me because if your going to do intentionally or non intentionally a homage to movies, at least they picked great ones! However this was an issue for the hubby and what he didn't like about it although agreed this movie was so much better than the second. I told him that for me, a good zombie movie constist of the following:
1. Loud hellish screaming zombies...this had that! 2. Fast ass running zombies on a mission...this had that! 3. Lots of blood and gore...definitely had that lol! 4. Cool characters in cool clothes with kick ass weapons or defenses and she definitely fits the bill lol!
Can't wait to see it again without my hand or fingers in front of my eyes lol.
The Last Sin Eater (2007)
Very Enjoyable....
I had no idea what this movie was about however I did have some preconceived ideas about "sin eaters" coming from a Celtic background. Having said this....I very much enjoyed this movie, bad accents aside and little inaccuracies here and there, I would definitely recommend. A movie that can make me sad, happy, tearful and ultimately hopeful, is all right in my book!
This movie showed how fear can rule no matter what time or place, how old traditions and beliefs are not always the way to go, especially coming from the old world to the new. Man kinds inability at times to adapt to his surroundings is not only sad but can be brutal and horrific in the process. There is a moral in this story for all.
Happy viewing.
The Gravedancers (2006)
Review
Wow when are we going to see real movies again that are actually half decent, let alone great!
This is another bad movie, which surprised me as Tchéky Karyo is a good actor and I really like his body of work. Surprised that he would be in such a movie but what can I say. It had the guy that is perpetually trying to get out of prison or is on the run, in it so what did I really expect!
Sure there where a couple of kinda scary parts but predictable as hell.
Two thumbs definitely down on this one IMHO!
If you have to see this, please rent a DVD only if you have nothing better to watch.
Eragon (2006)
Eragon 2006
We went to see this movie last night based on the fact that our Brother In Law read the book and loved it. Also because of the well known and very seasoned actors that where in it. We expected great things however watching this movie was awful. The well known, seasoned actors seemed so out of place in this awful, awful production of a movie. Every scene seemed to come right out of another well known movie, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Legend, The last of the Mohicans, just to name a few. We half expected the main character of this movie to run into the cast of Lord of the rings in parts, it was just that bad.
And as for the costumes, they where like something out of Bollywood, tacky and over the top for this particular setting and time. How Djimon Hounsou could stand to wear the outfit he did is beyond me! The make up and costumes where something else throughout!
If I can give anyone anything for Christmas this year, it will be the knowledge of how badly this movie sucks!!!
Don't waste your money. If the kids have to see it, so be it, otherwise don't bother, or wait for the DVD! For those that have to go see it at the movies, my sympathies are with you!
If Only (2004)
Love Story!
Although up to now I would have been embarrassed to say that I watched a Jennifer Love Hewitt movie, (laughed too much at the teen movies to take her too seriously as a "serious" actress), I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was funny, entertaining and so very sad! Have the hankies ready ladies! With Ghost Whisperer and now this, I have to say that my opinion of Jennifer Love Hewitt is changing for the better.
The movie brings us a love story, two people from different worlds, with two different jobs. Both doing their thing, not really having time to just enjoy each other. The story evolves, along with some stunning scenery and both actors do an excellent job of getting the point of the story across. I was so surprised at Jennifer's performance, she was truly funny and delightful where appropriate and her performance in the more serious, sad parts of this movie where truly moving.
As for the lead male, having grown up in Ireland, Eastenders was always a TV.staple, his transition from TV Soap actor to this lead role was perfect. Node to the Taxi driver too, he is such a great actor and I am so pleased to see him getting the roles he deserves.
All in all this movie was so good. I would never have imagined that I would be so moved by this movie. I cried like a baby!