The Prestige

 

There was a level of anticipation tied to this movie. When I first heard about it I misunderstood and thought it would be a fantasy movie about wizards. I thought that might be cool and felt some anticipation. When I realized the film would be about magicians having a rivalry I kind of lost interest, not sure how that could be very exiting. When the trailer finally hit the web I was turned around again and was really exited. It had been a very long time since trailer had had such and effect on me, making the level of anticipation rise.
I left it after that, thinking that I didn't want to know anything more and I would try to put the trailer out of my mind, because I suspected it was rather spoilery.

So after waiting a long time for this film, I finally got to see it yesterday. The opening scene of the film kind of dissapointed me, but that was just due to expectations, it was rectified in my mind as the story progressed and I understood more about how the story was built up. It took me a little while to get into the non-linear way the story was being told. As the story unfolded I got sucked in to it, and really enjoying myself. Exposing layer after layer, keeping the suspense up, was all very well done.
Even though I figured out pretty much every big turn before it happened, and the big twist for the end of the movie was something I picked up on very early, I still managed to enjoy myself when they were revealed. For one it made me feel smart since by the reviews I've read very few others picked up on these things ahead of time, but it was also because having the suspicion was part of the fun of the film. Trying to figure out what would happen next, being part of the mystery just made me enjoy myself that much more.
It's one of those stories of war where you can't help but think if one of them would just have let it be this wouldn't have kept getting worse, and growing the way it did. It did make for a great film, and actually a good comment on humans and the need for vengance.

Eragon

I went in expecting it to suck, I hadn’t planned to see it at all, but plans change.

It was a bit better than I had expected, but I had expected to be bored out of my mind. It had its moments. I was amused, and entertained, but there were also moments that I was bored out of my mind.

When the film first started I thought that it reminded me a bit about “Earthsea”, then as it progressed I saw elements of “The Lord of the Rings” and even an element or two from “Harry Potter”. One of the creatures and some events reminded me a lot of “Wizard’s First Rule”. So it had borrowed a lot from other elements, and the cinematography didn’t help with trying to separate this film from the others.

Seeing Jeremy Irons again was great, same goes for Robert Carlyle, though neither had much to work with, they did the best they could. John Malkovich seemed just to have put on his Cyrus the Virus persona again, however it wasn’t very intimidating

The little Saphira was adorable, that had to be my favourite parts of the film, the scenes where she was a baby. If they make plush toys or something of her, I’m sure it’ll be a big seller.

I understood that being a dragonrider was a very important role, but after the word had been emphasised several times I got tired of it. Pretty much every time it was mentioned the person who said dragonrider put this tone in his or her voice that made it sound like some kind of doomed thing. It just happened to often and ended up loosing its importance. By the third time I wanted to tell the screen: “We get it, it’s important!”

Message to moviemakers! Fight scenes and close-ups don’t mix! You can expect the audience to get a reaction from the audience during a fight scene if they can’t see what’s going on.

I didn't get much out of this movie, I was entertained at times, but it will never end up in my collection.

Supernatural – 208 - Crossroad Blues

I liked the recap, if only because we got to see a little of John again. It was different when he was just ‘missing’, but now he’d really gone, and I want him back!

The intro was good; the fact that they actually brought in a real person to the show and played around the myths about him was just wonderful. Honestly one of the ideas I’ve enjoyed the most when it comes to the weekly urban legend.

I think the love for the first scene with the boys has been expressed in pretty much every review I read for this episode. And I can only say that I am very much in agreement.

Sam: So much for a low profile. You’ve got a warrant in St. Louis and now you’re officially in the Feds’ database.
Dean: (laughs) Dude, I’m like Dillinger or something.

Sam: Dean it's not funny. It makes the job harder. We gotta be more careful now.

It was nice, Dean almost seemed like his old self. I’ve not thought about it a lot, but after watching some of the season 1 episodes again, the difference is big. In this scene he was more of his old self, season-1-Dean.

Dean: What do you got on the case there, you innocent, harmless, young man you?

Happy Feet

First off I have this to say; awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

It took about half a minute before I was charmed to bits by the penguins. The opening was sweet, and I have to admit that I think my heart skipped a beat when Hugh Jackman (Memphis) started singing, even though I hate that song.
When Mumble entered the scene more cuteness ensued. Now, I usually hate mushy, cutsie movies, but this one won me over very fast. Maybe I'm getting soft? However it wasn't pushing the mushy stuff, this movie actually had a story to tell and it got right down to it.
I liked the movie a lot, even though there were about two or three times I thought it was over before it actually was, and each time I was thinkin; 'It can't end like this!' It didn't end like that, and I was very happy. It kept going on. I was suprised before the film to learn that it lasts almost 2 hours. It doesn't feel like that at all.

It's a very sweet and endearing film. The story builds up nicely, might not turn the way one expects, but it's the better for it. I knew almost nothing about the storyline going in, so I was very pleased about it turining in a direction I didn't know about. It kind of has two storylines, but the first one helps set up the second one, so it worked nicely.
This movie will end up in my DVD collection, there's no doubt about that.

In closing; I want a Mumble doll.

Supernatural - 202 - Everybody Loves a Clown

I loved this episode, I can't really add much to the reviews I've read, but will give you my views.
Clowns have never creeped me out, and they still don't. This episode obviously decided to focus more on what the boys were going through than the scary bit, which I was very happy about. There are too many shows where a main or important character dies and after one episode of grieving everything's back to normal. Both Sam and Dean will be struggling with this for a long time, and I suspect Dean is heading for some kind of meltdown. I don't see that happening till the end of the season, but you never know.

Both boys did a wonderful job with the scenes revolving around John's death. Many have commented on Dean's single tear, and I have to say I loved that too. He's trying so hard to be strong and not letting it get to him, but we can all see that it has. Sam's reaction is also very natural. He has a lot of guilt to carry, and he's doing the best to work through it. I do however think that Sam is the one that will manage, he'll end up having to support Dean through this.
I'm still waiting for that hug, Kripke!!
I suspect that when Dean said: "You know what, you're right. Come here, I want to lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug, maybe even slow dance." it was the writers way of letting us know that a hug isn't coming anytime soon, which I do understand considering what kind of guys Sam and Dean are. I'm still pretty sure that it's coming though.

Little Miss Sunshine

*This review contains spoilers*

This film was a rollercoaste of emotion. I loved this film. I had expected that I would enjoy it, but not as much as I did. It could never have come out of a big Hollywood studio, they are incabable of bringing this much charm and hart to the screen.

All the actors did a great job, I was very pleasantly suprised by Steve Carell, as I've never been his biggest fan. Here he showed that he can do something other that slapstick comedy, and it was very refreshing.
Toni Collette is always great, I don't think I've ever seen her do a bad performance. The only one I'll say something negative about  is Greg Kinnear, I'm not saying he did a bad job, it's just that I was very aware of the fact that he was Greg Kinnear.

Saw 2

I had expectations to this film, as I really like the first one, but it didn't exactly manage to live up to the first. I liked the idea of the setup, but I didn't feel the same kind of dread and uneasyness as I did during the first one.
I was stressed at times, but it never quite managed to peak. The revelation at the end didn't grab me.
However I did enjoy it on some level, it works well as a scary movie, I might actually say it would have benefitted from being a bit longer, letting us know a little more about the victims.
I think I might have let it pass as okay if it wasn't the second in a series, but as a follow up to the original it's dissapointing.

Jarhead

I have to say I really liked it, and that's saying a lot as I usually can't stand war movies.
I really liked this one, maybe because it was more about the people than the war. The cinematography was wonderful, really stunning. The actors all did a great job.
I know the film fared better outside the US than in the US, I kind of get it as it doesn't really show a positive view of the american army, but come on, it's not like we believe all the propaganda stuff either.
Long story short, I really enjoyed this film, and it might actually end up in my DVD collection at some point

The DaVinci Code

 

I never thought I would say this, but I liked the book better... and I didn't really like the book in the first place. Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman pretty much had a ready script with the book, all that was needed was to make it into a script, but apparantly this was too hard for them. There have been changes from the book, changes that were completely idiotic, most notecably the ending, which I maybe wasn't too crazy about in the book either, but the movie ending is just so ridicoulous.

Now to be honest I don't think I would have enjoyed the movie any more or less if I hadn't read the book. The material drags along and I couldn't really give a damn about the characters involved. For me it was even less engaging than the book.
Acting wasn't the best either, Tom Hanks seemes to be bored out of his mind, Audrey Tautou didn't seem to know what to think, and Silas looked more like he was addicted to clown makeup than an albino. Paul Bettany didn't really deliver either acting wise, he seemed as if he was in a haze. The only actor that seemed to at least try to give it his all was Ian McKellen, but then again he's very good even on his off days. His was the only character I enjoyed in the film, that I felt had some kind of depth to him.

I enjoyed the theories put forth in the film though, that Jesus was married, was a human just like the rest of us, with wife and child. The bible was written so long after his death, that I find this easier to swallow than what's written in the bible, I have to say. However, these things that might have helped the movie gain some ground, just fell in the cracks and drowned in what was supposed to be suspense. Calling this film a thriller is just silly as I wasn't thrilled at any point during the film.

The film was also way to long. 149 min is to long to expect people to sit still for this. Towards the end I was going through how many more things would happen before the film would finally be over, according to what I had read. It was just too much. They could have easily made this a two hour film and much more engaging, the flashbacks were awkwardly done, and I was left thinking that we really didn't need Silas' flashbacks as he really is a minor character.

The style and cutting of the movie also felt awkward to me, something that pops up in the first scene. The scene shows Sauniere running for his life, this is intercut with a very calm and collected Robert Langdon getting ready to make a speech, to hold a lecture in an auditorium. It was just so badly cut together, and totally ruined the flow of what should have been a suspenseful scene.
When it comes right down to it the only things I enjoyed about this film was Ian McKellen, the soundtrack and the theories put forth.

Bottom line, if you really want to see this film, wait for the DVD and chip in for it with some mates.

Slither

AKA, the movie where I had the whole theatre to myself.

I liked this movie, I felt like I was taken back to the 80s and 90s with regards to the storyline and some of the effects, but I have to say that is partly why I enjoyed it so much. It was funny and gross and scary and such a good time. It managed to be all those things at once and hit all the right notes.
Now, it's not one of the best films ever, I think it took a little too long to really get started, but the buildup was good and totally worth it. I also have to admit that it was really fun to see Nathan Fillion on the big screen again, and I'm sure his character Bill really would've loved some help from River (Serenity/Firefly) in ass kicking mode.
This film is fun, plain and simple. It gets in, delivers its scares and its laughs, and gets out quick. As what it was meant to be, it was absolutely brilliant. It does its own thing, and it does it perfectly, and the result is pure entertainment.
There were a few things that suprised me, but in a good way. There are 2-3 things that always seems to happen in movies like this, especially with the kind of introductions we are given to the characters, and how the storylines unfolds, but none of them happened here, and it pleased me to no end. To some extent in the middle of all the crazyness they kept a little element of realism, or at least thinking how those things would most likely develop. So a big plus to James Gunn on that one!
You all should definetly go check it out! It's innocent fun, and yes you will be scared, grossed out and have a good laugh while watching it.