skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It has been a long time coming and when it ended, I wondered what if Heath Ledger continues to live. His posthumous Oscar win for his role as the enigmatic and twisted Joker in 'Batman: The Dark Knight' has obviously magnified his star quality, which in turn, had increased expectations on his future roles. Ever recall the memorable roles portrayed by the versatile and charming Johnny Depp? Heath Ledger gave glimpses of how he could have done pretty much the same in his brief appearance in 'Imaginarium'. What a huge pity.
The death of Heath Ledger must have surely disrupted productions in the film and I felt it was a little jerky in some parts anyway. Nevertheless, director Terry Gilliam did a remarkable work in tightening up those jerky moments.
In this visually stunning extravaganza, imagination plays such a crucial role. The cast is extremely likable too. Look out for Johnny Depp's turn as Tony (Ledger).
Rated 3.5 out of 5. Apart from those jerky moments, it is worth it.
akim
I had great expectations for this movie. The title itself sounds so delicious on the tongue. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a recycled plot in the mould of so many similar movies. The smaller ideas are highly promising though. The thought that God has lost faith in humanity. That there is a fallen angel while other Angels seem evil to humankind.
However, there is not much positive. There is little scare and only in the beginning with the sweet old lady scene. Leading men Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid have had their run of good movies and I do wonder why they chose to act in this.
Rated 0 out of 5. Not worth your money at all.
akim
An entertaining film based on characters created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As a child, I fancied the stories that revolved around investigative sleuth Sherlock Holmes from the time he took up residence at Baker Street to his death following an episode with his arch-nemesis, which was written by the author as a means to end Sherlock Holmes' story, only to be brought back to life following public outcry over his death.
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr Watson (Jude Law) stopped a criminal, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) who deals with magic, and was about to perform a ritual. The subsequent conviction means that Lord Blackwood must hang for his crimes. However, he seems to have power beyond imagining when he seemingly came back to life instead and goes on to incite fear as he attempts to take control of Britain.
Sherlock Holmes and the reluctant-at-times Dr Watson investigated into the matter and, classic style, managed to solve the case of Lord Blackwood, with a brilliant storyline, fresh cast of minor supporting characters and high dose of wit and humour even if the accent does seem strong to understand sometimes. The closing of the movie only conjured expectations of a sequel, which might only mean the resurrection of Holmes main nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
RDJ and Jude Law proved to be a great team, adding depth to the characters I have only read about in the books. Rated 4 out of 5.
akim
I love the different movie experience that Avatar provided which was sensational, thrilling and most importantly, gave me a cheerful lift after so long feeling in the down. I will gloss over the specific details as Avatar is really worth watching.
Sam Worthington stars as Jack Sully, a wheelchair-bound paralyzed ex-Marine, who is provided with an opportunity to replace his dead twin scientist brother on an Avatar programme on an earth-like planet that is more hostile and still in its primitive stage. The Avatar programme fuses science to allow the human mind to be transposed to another body (an Avatar) and to live on that planet as though the Avatar belongs to that world. The Avatar itself is based on the genetics of the indigenous people of that planet.
With the Avatar programme, Jack is able to walk again and he is rejuvenated enough to enjoy his life in a different body. The Avatar programme however is more than a mere science project and with military backing, the two bodies, led by administrator Parker Selfridge (Giovani Ribisi), were working together to obtain an insanely valuable resource that is worth 20millions a kilogram. That resource can be found on a particular part of that planet where a tribe currently resides.
With Jack's background as an ex-Marine, Colonel Miles Quaritch (the impressive Stephen Lang) being the military guy he is, assigned Jack to be his eyes for information on the tribe so that he need not resort to military hostility to obtain that resource.
Capitalizing on the opportunity presented to him to be on the Avatar programme, Jack live and grew with the tribe to eventually gain acceptance but not before being swayed with the potential of being in love with his mentor. Jack is eventually caught in conflict between choosing sides, who are soon on the verge of war.
Avatar is a captivating cinematic experience that is a welcome change for the audience seeking for a fresh twist of warfare story. In 3-D, which was the option I opted for, and being my first time watching a 3-D movie, the feeling is perhaps enhanced even more. I rate Avatar a worthy 4.5 out of 5.
akim
This is the first time that Im very excited to review a movie! Hehe.
Warning: If you have not watch it and you are planning to, then I suggest you don't read this coz it's gonna spoil the surprise. Hehe.
First of all, the movie was great but compared to the book, it's incomplete. Of course they had to cut some parts, well alot of parts actually, if not the movie would have lasted for five hours I think. (And I don't mind watching Harry Potter for five hours...) =p It was full of romance, now that they are all grown ups, and comedy too. And of course some sad parts.
In the book, the story started out with the Prime Minister of the muggle community receiving bad news from the Ministry of Magic. News that Lord Voldemort has returned and now he and his Deatheaters are not just killing wizards and witches but the muggles too. In the movie, they cut off this part totally, maybe it's not really necessary. But when I read the book, I kinda had a picture in my mind of how the scene would look like. Hehe. Sometimes, reading the book shows a clearer picture. And you enjoy it more. =)
So this movie started out with Harry and Dumbledore making their way to Slughorn's house. The purpose of their visit was for Dumbledore to persuade him to come back to Hogwarts and teach Potions. And by bringing Harry along, it made it harder for Slughorn to decline. So after not much persuasion, Slughorn agreed to come back to Hogwarts if he was given a pay raise.
Harry and Dumbledore then used side apparation back to The Burrows where the Weasleys and Hermione were surprised and delighted to see Harry. Harry couldn't be much more happier and especially when he saw Ginny grown up to be a beautiful young lady. Harry was clearly having a big crush on Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, well, their story was a little complicated but they too had feelings for each other. And I like it. Hehe. =)
Far from them, Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son Draco has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow with her to protect her son and do the job for him, should Draco fail. Snape agrees, and the vow is sealed.
At Hogwarts, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron’s O.W.L.s are good enough to enrol in Slughorn’s class, which has lower its standards, but neither had purchased a textbook, so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry found a book that has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages. Harry discovers that these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions, and that the book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince".
As the year continues, Ron dates Lavender Brown but eventually realises his feelings for Hermione and breaks up with Lavender. Harry realises that he has feelings (that are conflicting with his friendship with Ron) for Ginny, who has stopped pursuing him and is dating Dean Thomas. At this point of time, like Dear said, the story was concentrating too much on the love scenes. Ron and Lavender,and Hermione getting all jealous. And Ginny and Dean, and Harry getting all jealous. But anyways, it was still sweet and cute the way they felt jealous about one another.
During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses Felix Felicis potion (which bestows luck on its drinker) that he had been rewarded with for his newfound "skill" (derived almost entirely from written hints from the Half-Blood Prince) in potion making to gain the memory. In the book, it had showed more scenes where Dumbledore showed Harry memories from Riddle's past but however, in the movie, they only showed two specific memories. Well, I felt that they could have added more on this part rather than the love parts. Like I say, the book tells a clearer picture. So that made it a little disappointing.
They soon found out that in the memory, Tom Riddle was questioning Slughorn about Horcruxes and how exactly does it work. That was when Tom figured out that to attain immortality, he has to split his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects, called Horcruxes. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's Diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore (the ring Harry noticed on his hand earlier).
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve Slytherin's locket. Harry and Dumbledore find the entrance, present a blood offering to a secret door, and row in a small boat across an Inferi-infested lake. To acquire the locket, Dumbledore must drink a mysterious potion. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints, and while attempting to minister to him, Harry provokes the Inferi which attack him and Dumbledore. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety back in Hogwarts, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the school.
That was when Dumbledore told Harry to find Snape and when he did, Draco turned up, his wand pointed towards Dumbledore. He was sent by Lord Voldemort to kill
Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it and at last, Snape was the one who used the Avada Kedavra cursed on Dumbledore, killing the greatest wizard of all. I cried at this part, not surprisingly. Although I knew it was going to happen, I still couldn't control myself. Hehe. If you had read the book, you will know that killing Dumbledore was a plan between Snape and Dumbledore himself.
Harry, enraged by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince and duels Harry until he gets outside Hogwarts grounds and disapparates. If only Harry knew. Snape is not the bad guy.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort.
The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him.
I definitely can't wait for the next movie to come out. I can't wait to see Voldemort destroyed. But of course, more deaths are seen. I hope they don't cut off too much.
Deathly Hallows! I'll be waiting... =)
I shall rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 coz they cut too much.
~huda~
I din watch this movie with Dear. Watched with Hajar instead, on our usual date. =)
A what a good choice of movie for me as I wanted to watch a horror one. We actually couldn't decide on which movie to watch at first, and in the end, Hajar actually asked a comment of the ushering girl, and she said 'Drag me to Hell' was pretty scary. So we went for it.
And true enough it was pretty scary in a disgusting, full of suspense, kinda way. By disgusting I mean, vomitting in your face kinda thing and I absolutely can't stop picturing those scenes. Urgh! =p
The movie is about Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a loan officer at a local bank who hopes to be promoted to assistant manager over her conniving co-worker, Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee).
Christine's boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), advises her that she needs to demonstrate that she can make tough decisions when she needs to.
That day, Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly gypsy woman, asks for a third extension on her mortgage because she is struggling with economic problems due to an illness. To prove herself to Mr. Jacks, Christine, against her better judgment, denies Mrs. Ganush the extension. In desperation, Mrs. Ganush prostrates herself before Christine, begging and kissing the hem of her skirt. Christine panics and shoves the woman away, shaming her in public. As security guards escort Mrs. Ganush out, Mr. Jacks compliments Christine on how she handled the situation and implies that if she can close another big loan, the assistant manager position will be hers.
That night Christine is attacked in her car by Mrs. Ganush. After a violent struggle, Mrs. Ganush removes a button from Christine's jacket and uses it to place a curse on her. Mrs. Ganush disappears, leaving the cursed button with Christine.
Later, Christine's boyfriend, college professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long), takes her to a coffee shop to comfort her. On the way home, they pass a fortune teller's store, and Christine insists they go in. There, they meet the fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), who tells Christine that she has a dark spirit upon her...
I felt that Alison Lohman and Lorna Raver acted well in their character, and I wonder, did she really vomit into her mouth? Urgh! =p
And I am starting to like Justin Long, only found him in Ed, and I din really like his character there, as he was still immature and very irritating I felt.
So you should watch this movie and find out what happens to Christine in the end... Did she manage to destroy the curse?
I would rate it a 4.5 out 5 for it's scary contents. =)
~huda~
