It’s about time that somebody made fun of the Twilight saga. Of course it will be way over the top, but some of it does look to be very funny.
Trailer: Vampires Suck
Aug 7
INCEPTION! (2010)
Aug 4
After seeing Inception, my opinion of Avatar has been downgraded to a “meh”. That’s how powerful Christopher Nolan‘s masterpiece is. It is without a doubt the best movie in years. If you haven’t seen Inception yet, but are planning to watch it, I give you permission to expect something extraordinary. You won’t be disappointed.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an extractor. He invades your dreams and steals your ideas and secrets. With the help of an architect (Ellen Page), a point-man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and a few others, he faces a new challenge – to plant an idea in someone’s mind. Director Christopher Nolan takes us into a rich world of dreams within dreams, bringing surprises and confusion at every turn. For a very long movie, this one doesn’t feel like almost two and a half hours. I was dead tired going into the movie, but never struggled to stay awake due to a gripping plot, characters with depth, and a fast-moving, relentless pace. While a lot of movies offer either visual or intellectual stimulation, Inception offers both. This results in a block-buster that makes you think. And in some ways the movie plants an idea in your head while you’re watching. I don’t think anybody leaves a screening of Inception and stops thinking about what they just saw. It will stick in your mind for days to come.
While Nolan has already achieved some remarkable work (e.g. Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige), I feel like he’s still improving. Watching Inception is like getting an insight into the mind of a genius. It shows that Nolan honed the concept for many years to achieve near perfection.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Inception is that you are left to draw your own conclusions about the movie’s end. And the end is what has people talking the most. Already people have come up with dozens of theories to explain certain events in the movie, but ultimately everyone will have to decide for themselves how they see Inception’s conclusion.
I could say a lot more about Inception, but I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot or character development. But if you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to watch it ASAP! There’s no other movie like it. Inception will become a reference-point and yard stick by which a lot of future films will be measured.
Three stunning short films
Apr 26
Recently I’ve come across three really interesting short films. All of them challenge your imagination in some way. “Connected” and “The Gift” don’t have any dialogue, but they each convey an original story brilliantly without it. “The Raven” takes some elements from other popular movies, and combines them to create a fast-paced action thriller. Anyway, enjoy these shorts. My favourite is “Connected”. Which one do you like best? I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments below.
There are so many inspirational stories to tell, but few movies produce such a masterpiece as The Blind Side. It tells the story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), who spent his childhood mostly homeless and poor, until Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) takes Michael into her family to care for him. His grades in school are low and he doesn’t seem to have anything going for him. But it’s not a hopeless situation. Several teachers and the Tuohy family help Michael to find his direction. He starts improving his grades, and finally makes it into the football team. At first Michael doesn’t do well at football, but Leigh Anne is convinced that he can be a star. And so begins Michael’s rise to fame, with several bumps and pitfalls along the road.
Having been based on a true story, the movie feels even more inspirational. Somehow it gives us hope that there are some extraordinary people out there. And I’m not talking about Michael. Leigh Anne Tuohy shows us that a little love towards someone else can make a world of difference in their life. And while it might not always be easy, in the end it helps that someone come closer to being the person they’d like to be.
Sandra Bullock delivers an amazing performance, and it’s no wonder that she won the Oscar (best actress) for her role in this film. She completely deserves the award, in my opinion. Below, you can view the trailer and Sandra’s acceptance speech at the Oscars.
Here are some new trailers that have been released in the last week or so.
The A-Team: Having been a fan of the series, I’m a little uncertain about the cast change. Ok, so it’s not really possible to use the old cast, but still. Well, from the trailer it looks very entertaining, even if it seems extremely over the top. I will definitely watch it, but reserve my final judgement for then.
Salt: This looks like a good mystery thriller. An interesting idea, some good action, and a few twists, I’m sure.
Knight and Day: I can’t wait to see this movie. And the new trailer makes me even more anxious. This should be one of the most entertaining movies of the year, with an excellent mix of action, comedy, and spy-stuff.
The Book of Eli
Mar 30
When I first heard about The Book of Eli, I had some interest in seeing it, but it was more like a “I’ll watch it whenever” kind of feeling. But after someone recommended it to me, I went to the cinema that night to watch it. The Book of Eli is about Eli (Denzel Washington), who, in a post-apocalyptic world, travels across America, fighting his way through the desert. He faces many criminals who want to kill him for food, water, jewelery, or anything else they can find. And amidst all these dangers Eli carries with him a very sacred book – the last of its kind. When Eli reaches a little town run by the power-hungry Carnegie (Gary Oldman), his possession of the book comes to light, and Carnegie, having searched for this book for years, stops at nothing to get his hands on it. He believes this book will give him unimaginable powers. And so Eli flees with Solara (Mila Kunis) to get this book into safe hands.
The movie starts out with very little information for the viewer. You don’t even know what caused the world to become what it is when the movie starts. But, little by little, you are given small clues as to what’s going on, and why Eli is on this “mission” to reach the west coast with his sacred book. I was very glad that not everything got explained, though. Leaving something for the imagination always adds something special to a movie. At least for me. And the ending delivers a novel twist that few people will be able to predict. Even though there was a fair amount of violence (some of it was quite graphic), I very much enjoyed The Book of Eli, and would recommend it to anyone who likes movies of this genre.
This must be the funniest action movie I’ve seen in a long time. From Paris with Love puts together the assistant of the US ambassador in Paris with an NSA spy in a bid to stop a terrorist attack from taking place. James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) leads a very boring life, doing mostly administrative work at the US embassy in Paris. But lately, he’s been starting to do little secret jobs for the NSA. But now the mother-load has arrived and he’s been given a case and a partner. Charlie Wax (John Travolta) seems like the worst partner imaginable, though. Arrogant, rude, out-of-control, and with no regard for anyone. Reece starts wondering why he signed up for this. But soon he’s drawn way too far into the case at hand, and must find a way to work with Wax to get out alive. After all, he just got engaged.
Coming out of the cinema after watching this, I felt almost breathless. The director, Pierre Morel, is known for fast-paced action films like the excellent Taken. And From Paris with Love is no different. Between chases, shoot-outs, and explosions you hardly get a chance to come up for air. But action isn’t the only thing you get. I was laughing throughout the movie, with humour worked into the dialogue in very creative ways. From Paris with Love is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen lately. But I must warn you of two things. This movie contains quite extreme violence and very strong language. If you don’t like either of those… well, you’ve been warned.
Fun Facts: Star Trek (2009)
Mar 11
Yesterday I attended my third cinema screening of J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek. I just can’t help loving that movie. Everything about it is entertaining. Anyway, I’m now starting a new feature for this blog, called “Fun Facts”. And we begin with this great movie. These facts are taken from IMDB.
- J.J. Abrams’ only two choices for Nero were Russell Crowe and Eric Bana.
- Simon Pegg filmed his role in 5 weeks.
- The “Trek” movie with the longest hiatus to date since the last motion picture (7 years).
- Of the now 11 films, this is the most expensive “Star Trek” film by far, at an estimated $150,000,000. Star Trek: The Motion Picture(1979) had a budget of $46,000,000 and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) had a budget of $60,000,000.
- Prior to this film, the most expensive “Star Trek” film ever made was Star Trek: First Contact (1996) with a worldwide gross of $146,000,000. This film exceeded that gross by its second weekend of US release alone.
- To prepare for his role as Captain James Kirk, Chris Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe. However, his research was rudimentary, as he wanted his performance to be original and not an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Indiana Jones, heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has (humour, arrogance, decisiveness).
- Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, who play the odd couple Kirk and Spock, were previously acquainted with each other as they work out at the same gym.
- Winona Ryder who plays Spock’s mother is only 6 years older than Zachary Quinto who plays Spock, and is 24 years younger than the actor who plays her husband.
- Kirk, the “black sheep” of the Enterprise crew, wears only his black undershirt up until he is formally given command; everyone else wears a colored overshirt reflecting their area of responsibility.
- The Romulan Narada is five miles wide and 15 miles long.
- The Kobayashi Maru simulator is the same set as the Kelvin bridge.
- The first Star Trek film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects since Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
- First Star Trek film ever to win an Oscar.
