Movie reviews

This is an interesting sci-fi drama, about a monster devouring the inhabitants of a small town in Alaska with barely 300 people in it.

It turns out due to man's use of fossil fuels the polar ice caps are melting, which imprisoned mythical creatures from Norse legend The Wyvern, that apparently were created to feast on the dead, but were unsatiated that they moved from the dead to the living, then to all they could find even biting Odin the ruler of Valhalla, hence he banished them to be imprisoned in the polar ice caps for all eternity.

We start off when an unlucky camper enjoying a nice day of fishing cuts his finger on his hook, and walking over to the stream to examine it, his blood drops into the river and moments later the Wyvern, with what looks like the head of a dinosaur, the tail of a snake (a very powerful tail for that matter) and a body with two legs and two wings, makes the hapless man a quick meal.

We then meet some of the people in this idyllic town, Claire played by the lovely Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), who runs the local restaurant everyone congregates to, the local doctor, Dr. David Yates played by David Lewis (White Chicks) who is in love with her, while she only has eyes for Joe Suttner played by Nick Chinlund (Ultraviolet), a drifter who is waiting for an insurance payout for his truck, and holding a very sore heart over the loss of his brother in the same incident. He offers to fix the steps of Claire's restaurant for free, while she offers him breakfast on the house, he politely refuses but she insists that this is the least she can do, we get an idea of how close and friendly everyone is by the fact that some of the customers (if not all of them) don't have to pay for any meals.

Soon afterwards Dr. Yates visits Joe in his caravan, to fix his arm, but really to ask him to lay off Claire as he reckons Joe will be leaving the town as soon as his insurance payout comes through, while Claire and himself will still be in the town, Joe assures the doctor he is not interested in Claire, the doctor apologises and leaves Joe's caravan, but unfortunately he is attacked by the Wyvern, and only his arm is left for the Sheriff, Chief Dawson played by John Shaw (Happy Gilmore) and Joe to discover.

The whole town now faces a desperate race against time to get outside help, relying on General Travis Sherman played by the late Don S. Davis (Stargate SG-1), who previously had tried to get an emergency message to be aired from the town radio station after spotting the creature, but his request was denied by the town's Disc Jockey Hampton played by the lovely Tinsel Korey (The Twilight Saga: New Moon).

When the whole town eventually finds out that there is a monster on the loose, they all face the challenge of contacting help from the outside, and the even more daunting task of what to say to get anyone to believe them.

It is a lovely action thriller very similar in character to Tremors.

Labels: Don S. Davis, drama, Erin Karpluk, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, John Shaw, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nick Chinlund, sci-fi, science fiction, suspense, thriller, Tinsel Korey, Wyvern

This is lovely animation that is every child's fantasy.

It follows an inventor Flint Lockwood played by Bill Hader (Knocked Up), who has been inventing items no one really wanted, and couldn't find a useful purpose for, such as shoes without shoelaces; that unfortunately he is unable to remove, as well as flying rats, a thought translator for a monkey called Steve; played by Neil Patrick Harris (Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay),which has become his pet and his right-hand man for his projects, as well as a television that walks.

What adds to the hilarity is that all through the movie parts of his inventions make little cameos, the flying rats are never too far away, as well as the walking television.

Flint lives in a small town called Swallow "underneath the A of the Atlantic" that is known for its sardines, its sardines are found everywhere for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the town mayor Shelbourne played by Bruce Campbell (Spider-Man 3) is trying to boost tourism by having a Swallow Sardines theme park complete with the original promoter of Swallow Sardines "Baby Brent" played by Andy Samberg, who has now grown but is still riding on his reputation.

Flint tries to invent a machine that makes food by simply adding water, but his dad Jim played by James Caan (Las Vegas) is tired of his many inventions that have so far served no meaningful purpose, and would like him to give it up to start working with him at the local family shop that sells Swallow Sardines.

Flint agrees to work with his father, but does not concede defeat. At the opening ceremony of Swallow Sardines theme park, he puts the finishing touches to his invention but manages to destroy the theme park in the process, much to the anger of the local policeman Earl Devereaux played by Mr T. (for some strange reason he seems to move around in acrobatics), but as luck would have it, his invention is blown away into the clouds, soon afterwards it starts to rain hamburgers. Everyone is fascinated as to how this came about, especially a news reporter Sam Sparks played by Anna Faris (F.A.Q about time travel) who has just started her new job, and meets Flint. Flint realising his invention works, tells Sam that it was his plan all along (to impress her).

Soon the magic of the movie takes shape with Flint being able to order anything from his base where his device in the clouds causes it to rain said product, be it eggs and ham, bread, toast, any food that can be thought of, is rained down.

The mayor realising the potential of a town that rains food (and getting overly accustomed to it) invites everyone in the world to Swallow, where they can have any food they want, simply rained down from above, he realises this will boost the town's tourism and put Swallow on the map.

Flint's dad on the other hand sees something very wrong with a device that just brings food from the sky, and tells him it doesn't feel natural, unlike his sardine business which has to be manually compressed into a tin, but Flint is caught up in the acceptance of his invention and the super hero status he has now cultivated after years of ridicule, so dismisses any worries with the device.

It has come classic scenes, especially where Flint is trying to get his dad to operate his computer. It is a unique and lovely movie the whole family will enjoy, especially the image of all kinds of food raining down from the sky.

Labels: animation, Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, comedy, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, funny, James Caan, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Neil Patrick Harris, romance, romantic

This is a fantastic science fiction movie that served as a template to launch a new action star in Vin Diesel (Saving Private Ryan, something about his voice reminds me of an engine).

He stars as Richard B. Riddick, a no-nonsense convict, who is being transported by an equally rugged bounty hunter William J. Johns played by Cole Hauser (Too Fast Too Furious). The rest of the crew headed by the captain Carolyn Fry, played by the lovely Radha Mitchell (Phone Booth), are all told to steer clear of Riddick as he is considered extremely dangerous, hence the very large bounty on his head, and are told Riddick would sooner take the ship and leave every one stranded if he could, in order to save his skin.

They crash land on an apparently desert planet, with supplies running low, and the crew of the ship made up of an Imam, Abu Al Walid played by Keith David (Crash) and his disciples searching for New Mecca. In a desperate search for water, they happen to come across what looks like trees from a distance but on closer inspection it seems it is the skull of a dead animal almost like a dinosaur. It soon becomes obvious to the rest of crew that there is life on this planet, and eerily, this particular night, an eclipse will occur which would mean the nightlife will come out in search of food, seeking out fresh victims in the crew.

The captain makes a decision that they must all work together if they are to successfully get out of this planet, and that involves freeing Riddick, while Riddick's bounty hunter William keeps a close guard, weapon at the ready in case Riddick tries anything.

Riddick seems to have gotten a fan in the midst of the crew, which could end up ominously for all involved.

In the midst of all this Riddick does have a little advantage over all the other members of the crew, his eyesight is superb in the dark, however he is extremely sensitive to light not unlike the creatures on the planet, and he has to wear some made to order goggles to protect his eyesight. Since Riddick is the only one able to navigate at night when the creatures on the planet are hunting, he is the only one best equipped to gather the equipment needed to fix the ship, so they can all fly out of this dangerous planet, but Riddick seems to only look out for himself, unless Fry can convince him to show some humanity, which is not one of his strong traits.

Labels: Action, Cole Hauser, drama, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Keith David, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Pitch Black, Radha Mitchell, Rhianna Griffith, sci-fi, science fiction, suspense, Vin Diesel

This is a charming-magical movie about the age-old topic of believing in Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas.

It stars the lovely Nicole De Boer (Cube, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Liz McCann a Real Estate agent who doesn't believe in Christmas but sees it just as any other holiday, and would rather be working.

However she is a single mother to a young Mason played by Gig Morton who is eagerly in the festive spirit. While at work Liz gets a phone call from her father played by Gary Chalk (Stargate SG-1), inviting her and Mason to come along and pay him a visit at Hollyville and celebrate Christmas with him, she initially declines as she remembers her dad never celebrated Christmas.

It so happens that her dad phones again while they are at home, and asks her a second time, Mason happens to be around, and not wanting to dash his hopes she agrees.

On their trip they are unable to find Hollyville, until the car breaks down and Mason spots a reindeer in the woods, Liz doesn't see the reindeer and dismisses it, while she runs after Mason they both see Hollyville lighted up in the midst of all the trees.

On arriving at the town Liz is extremely surprised to find her father working at the local restaurant where everyone seems so happy, she has never seen her father so happy and friendly, and at one point she asks him "Who are you and what have you done to my dad"?

It so happens her father would like to make up for all the years he was never any good at making her happy especially during Christmas, and he would like to make this Christmas special not just for his grandson but for his daughter too.

Mason on the other hand has found some surprising discoveries, the quiet town is home to N.P. Enterprises short for North Pole Enterprises, whose business seems to be transport all over the globe.

There is also the case of a mysterious sleigh the local mechanic is fixing that is considered top secret, and characters that could easily be ascribed to those of elves. Of course Liz finds all this hard to believe, but Mason is eager to prove his mother wrong and make her a believer, while there is potential for some romance for Liz from Kevin (played by Paul Muldoon [Star Ship Troopers], his mannerisms are a lot similar to Rob Lowe), the boss of the diner her father works at.

It is a lovely magical movie the entire family will enjoy.

Labels: Christmas, Christmas Town, family, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Gary Chalk, Gig Morton, magical, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nicole De Boer, Paul Muldoon, romance

This is a very entertaining futuristic science fiction movie, that has one of the best trailers out there purely for its suspense.

It stars Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as James Cole who has been placed in a psychiatric ward, lead by Kathryn Railly played by the lovely Madeleine Stowe (We were soldiers), in the same ward is Jeffrey Goines played charismatically by Brad Pitt, he simply steals the show in every scene he is in.

Cole tells an unbelieving Kathryn that he is from the future where there are no animals, and a plague has wiped out most of humanity, and his mission is to prevent the first occurrence of the virus that lead to the plague.

However he is constantly taken back to the future for a progress report, which disorientates his thoughts and mindset. It turns out he is a prisoner in the future, and doing this mission will guarantee a pardon.

It seems there are problems sending him back to the correct time line to continue his mission; after being debriefed on how progress on the mission is going. When sent back, in some cases he is several years out of sync with the proposed date he is supposed to be in, with one occurrence landing him in the trenches of the First World War where he is unfortunately shot in the leg.

Of course Kathryn doesn't believe a word he says, and sees him as an advanced delusional schizophrenic, until she happens to look through an archive book of the First World War, and sees a clear picture of James in it, she also happens to have the bullet from World War One in his leg removed and analysed, and she confronts him as to how he came to have a bullet from World War One in his leg.

At this point she begins to believe him, and although James wishes for it not to be true, and that he is still a psychiatric patient (since he prefers this timeline) in a world without a plague, realises he must continue his mission of preventing the plague that has wiped out most of humanity. It becomes a desperate race against time for James and Kathryn to find who is responsible for the plague, the only clue they have to go on is a sect called the Twelve Monkeys that may or may not be responsible for setting off the first instance of the plague.

Labels: 12 Monkeys, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, drama, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Madeleine Stowe, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, science fiction, suspense

This is a charming fantasy with friends star Matthew Perry, and Zac Efron of High school musical, interchangeably as Mike O'Donnell in the lead roles.

It is a little similar to Big starring Tom Hanks.

We meet Mike 20 years ago about to be signed up to college basketball, but he finds out some news that meant he had to make a choice between his girlfriend Scarlett or his professional dreams.

We fast forward to the present and Mike is a little disappointed in the way his life has turned, as he and his wife Scarlett played by the lovely Leslie Mann (The 40 year old virgin) are facing a divorce, and all Mike can do is reminiscence on how his life could have turned out, in the meantime he crashes at the home of his best friend an extreme dork/geek Ned Gold played hilariously by Thomas Lennon (Reno 911).

Mike happens to bump into a mysterious old man as a janitor played by Brain Doyle-Murray (Bedazzled, looks a little like M.C. Gainey, Tom in Lost), who asks him what he would like to change in his life, he replies if he could go back to high school and do things differently, the Janitor asks him if he is sure, to which to reinforces his wish. Soon afterwards he sees the Janitor leap off a bridge and in the process of trying to save him, finds himself falling down the bridge into a portal, he wakes up in the home of his best friend but inside the body of himself when he was 17.

This is where the fun begins, as he sees this as a chance to be closer to his kids, because he enrols back in his high school, the same high school his kids now go to, Alex and Maggie played by Sterling Knight and Michelle Trachtenberg respectively, there is a funny sequence where he tries to encourage everyone in the class to abstain from sex apart from marriage, whilst not that far away the local troublemaker is kissing his daughter.

He also has to handle his soon to be ex, who finds he looks remarkbly similar to what Mike looked like in high school, when she first meets him as a 17 year old again, she can't help pulling his face like a plasticine, much to the embarrassment of her friend, and Mike takes this chance at trying a reconciliation with his wife (on his older self's behalf of course).

His best friend, Ned who now acts as his father also has fallen for the local school principal, Jane Masterson played by the lovely Melora Hardin (The Office), and he is using all his means to get her to at least agree on a date.

It is a charming fantasy, many will sure to reminiscence about their high school years.

Labels: 17 Again, Brian Doyle-Murray, comedy, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, funny, Leslie Mann, Matthew Perry, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, romantic, Thomas Lennon, Zac Efron

This is a wonderful magical fantasy, with an all star cast narrated by Ian Mckellen (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings).

It stars Charlie Cox as Tristan in the middle century, where there is a wall somewhere in England humans are not supposed to cross, in fact there is a 97 year old man played by David Kelly (Charlie and the chocolate factory) who guards it.

It so happens that Tristan's father Humphrey, played by Nathaniel Parker (Bleak House) 18 years previously had somehow got across from the real world into the fantasy world, and had met a trapped princess, Uma played by the lovely Kate Magowan (Blade 2), they spent the night and 9 months later he was handed a basket containing Tristan.

18 years on in the fantasy world, the king of that kingdom played by the legendary Peter O'Toole (Venus), is facing his death bed, and with his sons he sets a challenge that whosoever can retrieve the fallen star he has just set loose gets to be the new king, all the sons are as ruthless in chasing this just as the king was ruthless against his brothers before he became king, the chief of the king's sons is Septimus played wonderfully by Mark Strong (RocknRolla).

In the real world Tristan is trying to impress the girl of his dreams, Victoria played by the lovely Sienna Miller (Casanova), but she has a suitor she prefers, and even though she enjoys getting Tristan to do things for her, the love is never returned.

Tristan happens to find out from the 97 year old guard that his father had previously crossed the wall, on confronting his father over this, his father tells him the truth, and shows him the items that came along with Tristan in the basket, one a magical Babylon candle that can transport anyone to wherever they are thinking of going, "the fastest way to travel" as Tristan's mother puts it, in the letter she left for him in his basket.

Tristan uses the candle and ends up in the fantasy world, where he happens to encounter the fallen star , which apparently is a person called Yvaine in the form of the lovely Claire Danes (Romeo and Juliet). At first Tristan plans to take the star to Victoria in order to get her to marry him, and although they get on awkwardly at first, the inevitable romance soon blossoms, however there is trouble in the form of Michelle Pfeiffer (The Witches of Eastwick) as Lamia, a desperate witch who along with her sisters wants to eat the Star to maintain their immortality.

It is a wonderfully enchanting movie the whole family will enjoy, and many will be surprised by how enjoyable it is.

Labels: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Ian Mckellen, Mark Strong, Michelle Pfeiffer, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Stardust

Movie Reviews this week looks at the animated feature Nine.

It tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has all been wiped out by the machines it created to help them, and the only remnants of humanity are stored in little gingerbread man toys, fabricated from clothing, buttons zips, and any material lying about the house, and designated numbers for each one made as their names, our protagonist is number nine.

It stars the voices of Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) as Nine, Christopher Plummer (Dolores Clairbone) as One, the lovely Jennifer Connelly (A beautiful mind) as Seven, John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) as Five, Marin Landau (Ed Wood) as Two, and Crispin Glover (Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels Full Throttle) as Six.

We join our protagonist Nine as he awakens to life, without a voice, looking at his make-up consisting of house-hold items, old cloths, and a zipper which he is conscious of opening (which is a little strange, seeing that there is nothing inside), he sees a little talisman with strange objects on it and picks it up, puts it in his body, and goes out onto the world. The world is typical of a post-apocalyptic version, machinery strewn everywhere, and crumbled buildings littering the streets. He happens to bump into Two, who fixes his voice, and in so doing sees the talisman Nine has brought along with him, but just as Two is about to take him to a sanctuary, there are attacked by a malevolent machine, seizing Two and taking him away to it's lair, along with the much prized talisman.

As Nine tries to figure out how to save his new found friend, he meets others like himself, led by the careful One, and his body guard, who charades Nine for getting himself in trouble, there is a great exchange between Nine and One the voice of experience and survival, with the voice of youth and adventure. Despite One's warnings, Nine manages to convince Five to join him on a quest to save Two, it seems a daunting prospect, such small beings against a much powerful and stronger malevolent force, on their journey, they find out that the talisman is a lot more powerful than they ever thought, but is there any hope for them or their remnants?

This is a very enjoyable animated feature film, with brilliant scenery throughout, and a gripping storyline equally well suited to children as well as adults, with the suspense beautiful captured especially for an animated movie.

Labels: 9, animation, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Elijah Wood, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies

This is a magical fantasy movie starring Hong Kong Kung fu Legends Jackie Chan, and Jet Li in their first collaboration, Jackie Chan(Police story, Drunken Master, The Myth) plays Old Hop in the real world and Lu Yan in the fantasy Forbidden Kingdom, while Jet Li(Romeo must die, Hero) plays The Monkey King, and also stars as The Silent Monk.

The story surrounds Jason Tripitikas played by Michael Angarano(24, Will and Grace) being bullied by a gang, and his love of Kung fu movies, which he rents from an elderly Old Hop(Jackie Chang), during one particular night, Old Hop is robbed, and in the event of trying to protect Old Hop, he gets hold of an old staff, which transports him into the realm of the magical Forbidden Kingdom, where an evil Jade Warlord played by well known Kung fu Star Collin Chou. The Jade Warlord has taken over the Forbidden Kingdom while the King of Heaven is away.

This magical kingdom has a select number of Immortals, who cannot be killed except by a jade poison dart. It turns out that there was an immortal a Monkey King(also played by Jet Li), who had been challenged to a duel by the evil Jade Warlord, who was growing increasingly bitter over the favouritism shown to the Monkey King by the King of Heaven, as the King of Heaven left the Forbidden Kingdom into the hands of the Jade Warlord until his return, the Jade Warlord saw the opportunity to end the Monkey King once and for all, by attempting to kill him during the duel, just in time before he is killed the Monkey King freezes into stone, and sends out his magical staff out of the Forbidden Kingdom, and a prophecy was born that one will come that will return the Monkey King's staff to the rightful owner.

Our young protagonist suddenly finds himself in the Forbidden Kingdom, where he, Lu Yan, his associate Golden Sparrow played by the lovely Yifei Liu and a monk known as The Silent Monk (also played by Jet Li) have to get the staff to the Monkey King, however he is still immortalised in stone, in the lair of the Jade King.

The cinematography gives the impression of being in a fantasy world, where everything is possible.

It has some classic funny moments, especially where Lu Yan is trying to summon rain while the stern faced Silent Monk makes a mockery of his attempt.

This is a great action movie with fantastic comedy moments, and the fans are no doubt clamouring for a sequel.

Labels: Action, Collin Chou, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Kung fu, Michael Angarano, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, The Forbidden Kingdom, Yifei Liu

This is a classic science fiction tale that was ground breaking for it's story line and special effects.

It stars Keanu Reeves(Point Break, Bill and Ted Excellent Adventure) as Neo/Mr Anderson(apparently Will Smith(Independence Day, I. Robot) was asked by the Wachowski brothers to play Neo, but he declined the role saying he wasn't mature enough as an actor to carry out the role), an I.T. guy seemingly bored with his existence, he is contacted by the mysterious Morpheus played by Laurence Fishburne(Apocalypse Now), wanted by many for alledgedly terrorist activities.

It turns out that Neo isn't really living in the real world at all, but under slavery, as he and the rest of humanity are under, being hooked up to a machine, providing life source for A.I(Artificial intelligence) that has taken over the planet over a war with humanity, leaving only a few renegades to continue the war against the A.I.

As Morpheus succinctly puts it "What if you were in a dream you couldn't wake up from, how would you know what is real and what is not?".

This all makes sense at this point, because as a prelude to this mind boggling discovery, there was an action sequence, where Trinity played by Carrie-Anne Moss(Memento) runs away from a couple of agents, into a phone box, and whilst she has the ear-piece of the phone to her ears, one of the agents runs down the phone box with a truck, with Trinity's body nowhere to be found in or around the phone box after this encounter(apparently after showing that ten-minute action sequence to their executive producers, they signed up immediately).

Morpheus has been told a prophecy by the Oracle played by Gloria Foster that he will find The One that will put an end to the slavery and set humanity free from A.I., and he believes Neo is that one, however Neo needs some convincing, especially as Morpheus, Trinity and a host of others take him to see the Oracle, to see what predictions she has in store for him.

During this scene an interesting occurrence takes place, that just separates The Matrix from just another science fiction movie, Neo sees a black cat, and sees the cat again, he mutters to himself "deja vu", immediately everybody in the entourage tenses up and he is asked what he saw, he relays what he saw, and everyone finds a hiding place, weapons at the ready, with Trinity explaining to Neo that deja vu happens when the A.I. change something in the Matrix, and sure enough the antagonist Agent Smith played magnificently by Hugo Heaving(Lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring), is just around the corner.

It is a ground-breaking story line coupled with some superb action sequences, with great twists along the way makes for a classic science fiction movie.

Labels: Carrie-Anne Moss, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Gloria Foster, Hugo Weaving, Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, science fiction, The Matrix