I Love You Phillip Morris Movie Review ..

I Love You Phillip Morris is based on Steven Jay Russell and his real life story, in the movie Jim Carrey plays the role of Steven Russell a regular family guy with no hidden extras. Steven is a good father to his daughter, a good Christian and also a great husband he has everything, or so it would seem. Leslie Mann injects her normal deadpan humour into her performance of Steven’s wife, Debbie; who just happens to have deep religious beliefs, they both visit church regularly; she now has to face the fact that her husband is actually gay and leaving her to explore his new life.

I Love You Phillip Morris goes behind the charade as Steven is actually gay and discovers that being gay is really the true life he wants. When he is involved in a car accident the decision is made to come out of the closet and inform people that he is in fact gay. He spends his spare time in I Love You Phillip Morris searching for his true, biological mother who handed him over at birth, when he eventually locates her the outcome of their meeting persuades Steven to literally leave his old life and begin living his new life as the real Steven Russell.

I Love You Phillip Morris follows Steven to Miami where he soon meets and falls in love with Jimmy a role played to perfection by the rather beautifully effeminate Rodrigo Santoro. The couple enjoy living the high life only to realise that desiring the finer things in life also equals a finer price tag! The only way Steven can afford his new flamboyant way of life in I Love You Phillip Morris is by becoming a conman; some of the funniest scenes throughout I Love You Phillip Morris involve watching Jim Carrey at his ultimate best. The funny man actor slips on cooking oil and hurls himself down an escalator all coupled with facial expressions and actions that only Carrey can pull off.

As with all good things though folks they must come to an end and in Steven Russell’s case the end is the law catching up with him and punishing him in I Love You Phillip Morris with a custodial sentence in the State Penitentiary. Thing is for Steven it ends up being anything but a punishment!
I Love You Phillip Morris has received a mix bag of comments so far amongst audiences, most found it funny but a small minority found if offensive; my advice is if the whole gay scene offends, upsets or angers you then don’t watch I Love You Phillip Morris and to be honest why isn’t this piece of advice obvious to those offended?!

Steven meets Phillip Morris in prison and you could say it’s love at first sight, Ewan McGregor is outstanding as Morris; a sensitive soul trying to go unnoticed in prison. The pair begin to communicate via notes from cell to cell until they eventually share a cell but their cosy little world is shattered when Steven is transferred and Phillip isn’t. I Love You Phillip Morris now allows Carrey to shine like the bright star that he really is with his plotting and scheming, prison breaks and downright lies.

The couple vowed they would stay together even though the odds seemed hopelessly stacked up against them so everything Steven does is done simply to be with Phillip. I Love You Phillip Morris is basically a love story told as any other love story would be, encountering the ups and downs of any relationship the big difference obviously is the main couple are both men. Steven, being the fraudster master that he is, poses as a lawyer and tells the prison that he has an early release order for Phillip.

Once they’re both together on the outside of prison they begin living an eccentric lifestyle with one another in I Love You Phillip Morris, however to afford this grand way of life to which they’ve both grown accustomed Steven still has to resort to his fraudulent ways once again. Steven lies and cheats his way to a top notch job and things trundle along nicely for both he and Phillip. The law is drawing closer though and it’s only a matter of time before they catch up with the pair.

I Love You Phillip Morris is an entertaining movie which has the ability of maintaining a good atmosphere throughout, there are some genuinely very funny moments, many of them shot in the prison, and fantastic performances especially from the two male leads, Carrey and McGregor. Leslie Mann is outstanding as Debbie and let’s not forget the wonderful Rodrigo Santoro as Steven’s boyfriend.

I Love You Phillip Morris Movie Trailer

The Men Who Stare At Goats Movie Review ..

Once in awhile a movie comes along which makes you laugh and I don’t mean the sort of polite, sniggering laugh I mean the real genuine rip-roaring type of laughter, The Men Who Stare At Goats was this ‘movie’ for me and judging by the noise coming from the group watching it with me they shared the same opinion!

Our madcap journey commences with Bob Wilton, Ewan McGregor, Bob is a reporter for his local newspaper in The Men Who Stare At Goats, his personal life’s not working out the way he hoped it would as his wife has just left him for the newspaper’s editor. Bob’s story starts though when he interviewed a guy called Gus Lacey, Stephen Root, Gus claims that he’s part of some secretive government initiative and Bob’s fascinated. He meets Gus and is informed that the government use psychic spies and that he himself actually killed his pet hamster with the power of only his mind!

The Men Who Stare At Goats then allows us to watch a video recording of the said event so we observe with baited breath awaiting the time that the hamster collapses; the tape shows the cute, furry hamster staring intently at its wheel and then, as said, keeling over on its side. Don’t panic though animal lovers as no animals were harmed during the making of The Men Who Stare At Goats.

Gus then proceeds to tell Bob that all the people in his particular unit possessed different ways and that the ultimately strongest psychic ‘warrior’ was called Lyn Cassady, George Clooney. Time passes and the upshot is that Bob decides to prove to both himself and his ex-wife that he’s a man and can handle going to Iraq. The Men Who Stare At Goats follows Bob to the Middle East, he can’t actually get into Iraq so has to pass time in the hotel where he meets Lyn Cassady. Following Lyn’s initial caution regarding Bob’s identity Lyn begins telling him about the New Earth Army; how it was founded by Bill Django played by Jeff Bridges in The Men Who Stare At Goats; basically he developed psychic soldiers/warriors which became Jedi.

Lyn agrees to take Bob into Iraq with him in The Men Who Stare At Goats and this is really where the adventure starts. There are some hilarious scenes to follow including Lyn crashing the car as he perfects his art of ‘cloud-bursting’, the car crashes into a rock to which Bob says, ‘jeez you had like the whole desert to drive in Lyn.’ Then there’s Bill Django jumping off a roof, Brigadier General Dean Hopgood, played by Stephen Lang in The Men Who Stare At Goats attempting to run through a solid door and one of the funniest moments for me personally is when Lyn and Bob are driving after a guy they’re trying to help but it doesn’t quite go to plan.

The Men Who Stare At Goats is action packed and crammed full of acting talent who all put in fantastic performances. Kevin Spacey stars in The Men Who Stare At Goats as Larry Hooper, a psychic who desperately strived to be the number one psychic of them all but Lyn happened to come along and ruin his plans for that slot. Lyn continuously kept beating Hooper hands down in every single test, Spacey is truly at his best in the role of Larry as he’s slightly mad which suits him perfectly!

There’s so much going on in The Men Who Stare At Goats and I don’t wish to ruin the movie so I won’t mention too much here, if you like dark, dry humour and watching the bigger names in the acting world playing the fool and basically having a good time in their role then The Men Who Stare At Goats will entertain you nicely. If you are searching for a serious movie then give The Men Who Stare At Goats a wide berth as it is anything but serious, having said that though you’ll be amazed at how much of the movie is actually based on true events. George Clooney’s character is an assortment of true life psychics and Ewan McGregor’s role is based on the real life investigative journalist called Jon Ronson who did actually discover the strange and bizarre truth of psychic spies.

The Men Who Stare At Goats has so many brilliant performances that it’s hard to select some favourites but I think I would go with Clooney, McGregor and Bridges if I had to choose. Any faults? One small annoying thing for me was McGregor’s American accent as it sounded a bit too put on, other than that The Men Who Stare At Goats is faultless!

The Men Who Stare At Goats Movie Trailer

A Single Man Movie Review …

A Single Man takes place over the course of one day, November 30, 1962—eight months after the death of one man’s lover. The film opens with a dream of George Falconer (Firth). George dreams that he was able to bid farewell to his lover Jim (Goode) at the scene of the accident that took his life. And so A Single Man begins.

George is A Single Man because he is unmarried and gay. It’s a term popular in the 1960’s when it was uttered in hushed whispers or with raised eyebrows.

When George awakes from his dream, he shares the pain and the depression he has felt since Jim died. He reveals small pieces of the 16 years of his life shared with Jim, before stating his intent to end his life at the end of this day.

A Single Man shows the life George and Jim had together through flashbacks. We get to see the intimate moments between them that are rarely shared with outsiders. Oddly though, all of the flashbacks are of positive moments and one wonders if George’s misery is self-imposed and based on a romanticized memory of Jim.

Then we learn that had it not been for one of Jim’s distant relatives (Jon Hamm in a cameo) George wouldn’t have been notified of Jim’s death. Jim’s parents didn’t call George or invite him to the funeral. During their brief phone call George was informed that the funeral is “just for family,” something he certainly isn’t apparently after 16 years together.

A Single Man follows George on his last day of life, which he lives without pomp or circumstance. A college English professor, George gets up and goes to work as usual, although with slightly more vigor than normal. He speaks frankly with his students, an act that leads to the first of many unique encounters in A Single Man.

First George comes into contact with one of his students, Kenny (Hoult) who flirts with him and ignores traditional boundaries. They talk around the subject of their obvious attraction and the fear of minorities George spoke about with such candor in class. Kenny talks to George about using drugs and eventually buys him a pencil sharpener to show his thanks for George walking out of his way just to talk to the boy.

George has lived his life as A Single Man from the moment he was notified of Jim’s death, but it is on this day that he takes the time to soak up the beauty of small events and gestures. He soaks up the honesty in the eyes of a Spanish prostitute with whom he has a brief encounter. Carlos and George flirt in Spanish and share a cigarette, pursuing nothing physical or sexual, despite Carlos’ best efforts. Carlos seemed genuinely surprised and possibly honored that all George wanted was to talk. He gives the man some money and the encounter is over.

A Single Man chronicles George’s various encounters with people directly or indirectly in his life. At the bank to empty out his safe deposit box George notices his neighbor’s daughter, who speaks with the sincerity only a child could have, and she unwittingly informs him that her daddy believes George is “light in his loafers”. Having no clue the insult she just hurled at George, the girls continues indicating that her brother too is “light in his loafers” based on a egg-based hair conditioner she received earlier that day.

George soaks it up and enjoys the candor of the young girl.

Throughout A Single Man we watch disturbing indicators of George’s plan to end his life. He has made all possible arrangements for his death as well as his funeral. We watch him with great precision, lie out the suit in which he wants to be buried, the cufflinks and even the type of knot he prefers—Windsor, thank you very much.

Most disturbing and most interesting is watching George attempt to find the angle to shoot himself that will leave the smallest mess. Even as he prepares for death George is unable to do anything but follow his strict schedule.

The last act of kindness for George before his suicide date is time with his best friend Charley (Moore). Charley is a quintessential 1960’s woman—she pretends to be happy but scratch just a layer below the surface and her misery seems deeper than old George’s. Their last night together is filled with regret mostly on Charley’s part, regret that she and George never had more than few nights between the sheets in London so long ago.

Before heading home George runs into Kenny one last time.

A Single Man is a slow, quiet kind of drama. It doesn’t reach out and grab you by the collar to keep your attention. The film relies on quiet nuanced performances by Firth, Moore, and Hoult to carry the film—a part each actor played beautifully. Firth is magnificent as A Single Man living in the 1960’s, even in California. His eyes are stoic and emotionless, never revealing the thoughts bouncing around his head. That 1960’s repressiveness is evident in both George and Charley, with only Kenny standing out as a young man unafraid to share what he feels with the world.

The brief but tender encounters between Kenny and George were some of my favorite in A Single Man. It was tender and soft, and maybe if things had been differently George could’ve started the final chapter of his life with a new, more public love, which he certainly would have found in Kenny.

A Single Man Movie Trailer

The Warrior’s Way Movie Review …

The world’s greatest swordsman (Jang Dong Gun) abandons his warrior clan to start a new life in the American Badlands in The Warrior’s Way. This is a visually dazzling modern martial arts adventure that uses stunningly choreographed fight sequences and gravity-defying stunts to push the story forward. In an original, gorgeously realized journey into a mythical past, writer and director Sngmoo Lee seamlessly marries the cinematic traditions of East and West.

For where else would the world’s most deadly assassin flee too, but the American old West where his hopes of being free from his past comes crashes around him as he realizes he is being hunted throughout the world. With newly forged allies, he now must make a choice: Flee and eventually be murdered, or stand to fight his past that will put innocent people at great risk.

The Warrior’s Way starts as every good western does, in the Far East, perhaps a bit further than the typical Western film, but the East none the less. We meet Yang (Dong-gun Jang), the greatest swordsman in the world, a fact that must be true because it is presented to us through comic book lettering, but he makes the mistake of taking pity on the final member of the clan his group, a small infant, has vowed to destroy.

Adopting the infant girl of his enemy as his own, Yang flees to America to look up an old friend, knowing full well that his former allies will eventually track him down. Like one can gather from the brief synopsis, this is about the depth of the plot of The Warrior’s Way. But to fully drop into nonexistence, he travels to the town of Lode, which we are told is the “Paris of the West”.

Aside from the light weight plot, the town brings up the initial problem of the film. The town has about 500 people, but from what we can tell, the town is nothing but an assortment of ransacked houses. Where exactly do the people live? The second you start asking questions like this, you are obligated to ask another 100 bizarre occurrences that are simply not answered. Like, for instance, the scene where ninjas come from out of nowhere to land on top of the towns buildings. Seeing how the building are the highest points in the town, where did the ninjas jump down from? But like many other critics have stated, and for the most part I agree, that this rips all the fun out of the movie when blatant errors are pointed out.

The only real truth about The Warrior’s Way is that there is a lot of fun to be had if you can wrap your mind around Lee’s blood-soaked aesthetic and his penchant for cartoonish, yet captivating, green screen effects. More specifically, the film is pumped full of rapid-fire decapitations and a great excess of bloody deaths.

Perhaps not a great aspect for all, but it was almost a guilty pleasure of mine to enjoy the “terribleness” of this film. To be sure, The Warrior’s Way, is not for all tastes as not everyone appreciates rapid-fire decapitations. However, those who give it a chance will discover a wildly entertaining movie that succeeds in cutting out a distinct visual flourish amid a bland cinematic landscape. Lee’s intent isn’t to give us a brilliantly written plot, well developed characters, or quite frankly, anything you would typically find in a movie.

His intent, as it would seem from the film, is to dazzle us with his remarkable, garish vision of the Old West in which every sunset is painted, every death is quick and bloody, and moral ambiguity is everyone’s stock and trade. Unfortunately, this isn’t a very original idea as it is actually quite similar to the 2007 film Sukiyaki Western Django, a blend of the old west and ninja film, and the scenes of the lead actor carrying the baby was reminiscent of the movie Lone Wolf and Cub.

Although The Warrior’s way is a fun film that probably has the best cinematography of the year, it is also one of the worst movies of the year. By simply making a beautiful film, Sngmoo Lee has made an extremely lop sided film that simply does not work. The acting throughout the film is mediocre at best, the plot is over after about five minutes of screen time, and most of the events that take place in the film are so unbelievable that they are simply mocked.

It’s a sham that this could have been a far greater film, as I believe the talent was there, especially the acting abilities of the cast, but the film couldn’t get past the cinematography. Although it had a modest budget, it really came across as a cheaply made film that will die as a “B” movie. IF nothing else, you can see this movie for what it was, a movie about cowboys fighting ninjas.

The Warrior’s Way movie trailer

Ninja Assassin Movie Review ..

Ninja Assassin is certainly not a movie for the fainthearted as to put it mildly it’s a bit of a gore fest! It starts as it means to go on with mysterious ninjas making short work of a group of people mocking the fact that they even exist, Ninja Assassin does not hold back on the violence as the audience witnesses quickly in the opening scene.

There are people literally sliced and diced and limbs flying everywhere, and that’s just the beginning. Randall Duk Kim features in the beginning of Ninja Assassin as a tattoo master who has met the Ninja Assassins before, it’s him the group are mocking and saying that they don’t believe in ninjas, he tries to explain that they are very real but their ability to ‘shadow blend’ makes them all but invisible.

If you make it through the beginning and see beyond the gore Ninja Assassin actually tells a touching story about Raizo, played by Rain who incidentally is big news in South Korea as a singing sensation. Raizo was raised by the Ozunu clan, he endures severe training methods from his clan ‘father’ Ozunu acted by Shô Kosugi in Ninja Assassin.

The young actor Yoon Sungwoong deserves a mention for his portrayal of Raizo as a child in Ninja Assassin the emotion and passion he brings to the role is incredible, you can truly feel the pain he is experiencing. The scenes of Raizo’s childhood memories are some of the hardest to watch as they show violence aimed at children and display them being raised under an extremely harsh master. Raizo’s only bond is formed with a young girl within the clan called Kiriko, acted by Kylie Goldstein, Kiriko helps Raizo when his feet are cut and bleeding from being lashed.

As the two grow older their bond grows stronger but Kiriko, now portrayed by Anna Sawai becomes disillusioned about the Ozunu’s ways and wishes to leave, she pleads with Raizo to join her but he won’t and she goes alone. Ninja Assassin contains great emotion and is very moving in places however it can be slightly tedious as it shifts from present day to the past a lot in the beginning as we learn about Raizo’s upbringing.

Kiriko’s escape attempt is foiled and she is soon back with the clan being punished, she is killed in front of Raizo by Takeshi, Rick Yune, it’s this unfortunate event which fuels his hatred towards the clan. Raizo has been raised to be a Ninja Assassin and that’s meant to be his destiny, we do see him assassinate one man but then Ozunu tries to make him execute a traitor just as Kiriko was killed.

Raizo refuses and rebels by slashing Ozunu’s face. Meanwhile in Ninja Assassin Mika, an agent for Eurpol and acted by Naomie Harris, is attempting to prove that recent political murders are linked to the Ozunu clan. People don’t believe there’s such a thing as a Ninja Assassin as they are never seen or heard but Mika truly believes they exist and is setting out to prove the fact.

Raizo meets up with Mika when she finds herself in a situation in Ninja Assassin where she requires Raizo’s help and expertise. Ninja Assassin contains some spectacularly breathtaking martial art scenes not only in the fight scenes but also just involving Raizo. Rain himself trained for 6 months and for 6 hours each and every day for the role of Raizo, those working with him described as an absolute pleasure to work with. He learnt quickly and trained religiously, I actually thought that he was a true martial arts expert when I watched Ninja Assassin, I had never heard of Rain so wasn’t aware of his pop stardom in South Korea.

There are no real special effects to comment on throughout Ninja Assassin as all the fancy martial arts manoeuvres can be mastered and this a great advantage that the movie has, it doesn’t need to rely on the effects team only the talent of the martial arts actors.

Whether or not Raizo completes his vengeance journey is up to you to discover when you watch Ninja Assassin, it’s not so much the acting that’s top notch in Ninja Assassin but rather the numerous displays of martial arts at its best. If you’re expecting a blockbuster of a movie then think again or you’ll be disappointed but if you want to watch a movie full of stunning martial arts, emotion and middle of the road acting abilities then Ninja Assassin is the one for you. Just be certain that you enjoy gore and lots of it first!

Ninja Assasin Movie Trailer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Movie Review ..

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her beloved uncle is convinced that it was a murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs the disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) to investigate one last time before giving up on his obsession to find answers for the event that took place forty years ago.

But Blomkvist can’t do all the investigating himself, and they hire the tattooed and troubled but resourceful computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to aide in the investigation. When the pair links the disappearance of Harriet to a number of grotesque murders spanning the complete forty years, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. The Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

If this is the first you have heard of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you may literally be living under a rock. Since the novel’s release in 2009 by author Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has turned from a literary phenomenon to a cinematic phenomenon. It is perhaps one of the best novels I have ever read, and I don’t say that lightly since I have a literature degree, and perhaps one of the best movie experiences I have ever read. IF you haven’t already noticed from the names of the actors or the strange language in parentheses next to the film’s title, this is in fact a foreign film.

More specifically, it is a novel that is set in Sweden, written by a Swede, and the movie is also set in Sweden and has a cast of Swedes. So yes, this is in every aspect a Swedish film that is hugely successful. Strange that Sweden can make a good movie? Normally I would agree, but the recent success of Let the Right One In, which has also already have a Hollywood remake, Sweden has already began flexing its cinematic muscles. The truly fantastic aspect of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that it is very accessible for a North American audiences, and it is perhaps one of the best adaptations of a source material that I have ever seen in a movie even though it is quite streamlined compared to the 500 + page novel.

All the credit in the world should go to director Niels Arden Oplev who has truly made a masterpiece that will undoubtedly last the test of time. I actually don’t think a director has gone to the lengths that Oplev has gone to adapt a film from a book. With thousands of fans ready to rip his throat out at the slightest misstep, the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came to life before our eyes. Not only is the plot fantastically written, but the casting of the series’ hero and heroine was spot on.

The idealistic campaigning journalist Mikael Blomkvist, played with battered integrity by Michael Nyqvist, and the punk-Goth computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, literally the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is brilliantly brought to life by Noomi Rapace, which was less like an actor playing a character than the apparent incarnation of Lisbeth herself.

The second she appeared both on screen and in the pages of the novel, she instantly became the icon of the 21st century. The success of the acting, at least from a North American perspective is that there is a level of disconnect from the actors because we have no idea who they are, which is a lot different that the big name Hollywood actors because we recognize the actor first and then try to figure out the character her or she is playing. When Mikael and Lisbeth show up on screen, we only see Mikael and Lisbeth and not the actors playing them.

Although I highly recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the viewers and even those reading the novel need to be warned that this is a very dark and twisted story. More importantly, it is a very twisted exploration of violence against women. This can be noticed at the start of the film where we find that the entire film, and novel for that matter, is framed around the disappearance or murder of Harriet Vanger.

The original Swedish title of book and film is Män som hatar kvinnor: Men Who Hate Women, and director Oplev pulls few punches in showing what Larsson describes in his novel. This is perhaps one of the film’s only minor flaws in that what is implicit on the page becomes disturbingly explicit on screen. But it is perhaps the disturbing violence that Lisbeth endures that makes her one of the great feminist heroines of the 21st century. This is quite frankly a fantastic film and I strongly urge everyone to get out and see this film before the Hollywood version is released in 2011 that is starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. After it is released by Hollywood, no one will remember this gem of Swedish filmmaking and that is truly a shame.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie trailer:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie Review ..

Flint Lockwood likes to invent and even as a child he was inventing but there’s one rather huge problem standing in his way in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and that’s the small issue that his creations don’t exactly work! Well I’ll rephrase that statement actually it’s not that they don’t work but rather that they don’t work the way that they were intended; for example the remote controlled television sprouts legs and wanders out the door!

Bill Hader voices Flint in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Hader is better known for his roles in Adventureland and Night at the Museum 2, he really brings the character of Flint to life with his zany vocal skills.

The town also endures a furry nightmare with wings called Ratbirds which needless to say don’t go to plan either but Flint never gives up in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs he has the loving support of his mother, when she passes away however Flint and his father are left alone. James Caan voices Flint’s father, Tim, in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and he strongly believes that Flint should give up on his inventing as it’s going nowhere. Tim is a complete technophobe happily dismissing the world of technology and continuing to run his little shop in the town.

Flint is your typical ‘nerdy’ type of kid, clever but not always that popular and there’s a bully who has featured in most of his life in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and that’s Brent, voiced by Andy Samberg. Brent seems to literally thrive on teasing and tormenting Flint as much now as he did when the pair were small kids. The small town where they live is facing a rough time and the only thing the people can afford to eat are sardines, sardines and you’ve guessed it even more sardines, so things are looking pretty bleak.

Then Flint turns his luck around one day by making an incredible discovery, how to convert plain old water into deliciously tasting food but something goes wrong and Flint’s food making machine ends up being blasted into space. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs also stars the voice of the quirky Anna Faris as weathergirl Sam Sparks, now Sam’s really brainy but doesn’t like people to know, she’s gone to visit the community to investigate the weather and why there’s no rain. The heavens open and the first item on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ‘sky menu’ are burgers, lots of them, literally pouring from the sky above! For once in his life Flint’s invention is loved, people adore him and his food making machine.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a rollercoaster of a ride through the world of food, Flint can actually programme the machine and order the food of his choice; soon he is taking requests from the community from steaks to waffles. Where there’s so much good though you just know bad will be lurking around the corner and in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs the bad is in the shape of the town’s Mayor Shelbourne, who has the voice of Bruce Campbell. The mayor basically sees an opportunity to use Flint’s magical machine for his own personal gain.

The machine is beginning to malfunction though and the ‘sky menu’ is producing gigantic food. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs shows us all that everything has a consequence and what starts as a complete fairytale for Flint ends in a nightmare. Chaos reigns supreme as Flint and Sam race to control the food making machine. Mr T voices the town’s cop to perfection and bellows his way through the movie frequently pointing out how perfect his son Cal is.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is without doubt one of the best visually exciting animated movies there has been for awhile, the colour is so vibrant and if watched in 3D the movie really comes to life. The humour will certainly appeal to both Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs young and old viewers, the plot is your typical good over evil yarn thrown together with believable characters and wonderful effects, add to that some celebrity names providing the voices and you have an instant winner. If you have kids they’ll love Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and I’m certain that most adults will find it difficult to not at least raise a chuckle whilst watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. You can watch a trailer below.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie Trailer

Twilight Movie Trailer …

Take one pale faced, broody looking Robert Pattinson add to him one twitchy, nervous acting Kristen Stewart, throw in a few more vampires, along the way spice it all up with some atmospheric music and you arrive at Twilight. The movie takes a fresh look at an old story as it is essentially a love story between Bella Swan, Kristen Stewart, and Edward Cullen, Robert Pattinson, with the big difference that one of the couple is actually a vampire.

Twilight follows Bella as she goes to stay with her father Charlie, Billy Burke, in Forks where he is the chief of police. The relationship between the pair is awkward and strained initially due to the fact that they haven’t spent a lot of time together. Try relating to a 17 year old girl who you haven’t seen for awhile, not an easy task and Burke portrays the uncomfortable father with utter believability.

Charlie’s best friend is Billy Black played by Gil Birmingham and Billy’s son is Jacob, the absolute hunk that is Taylor Lautner (oops sorry he’s a personal favourite of mine!) Bella has memories of knowing Jacob when they were both kids. Twilight shows Bella’s apprehension of being the outsider at a new school but she soon meets new friends and whilst she is sat eating lunch with them she notices a group of 4 teenagers entering the room.

The others explain that they are the adopted children of Dr Carlisle Cullen and Esme his wife played by Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser, now we meet Edward Cullen who is following behind the other 4. Twilight shows Robert Pattinson’s acting skills off brilliantly, Edward is moody, quiet, good-looking and sultry and Bella is fascinated by him.

In biology she is assigned as his partner but Edward is decidedly rude implying that she smells and storms out, Twilight draws its audience in as it is so captivating but not only that, Twilight is unique. Yes there have been numerous vampire movies produced and many love stories told but with Twilight you receive a whole new experience.

The audience can relate to both main characters and their awkwardness at discovering their feelings for one another but then Twilight takes a different route at the crossroads and declares one of them is a vampire, so we are not just dealing with a regular forbidden love but one that should not happen because one of the couple risks being eaten by the other one! Okay perhaps that is a bit over the top but Twilight does deliver a new outlook on the whole vampire genre and general love story.

After their biology class encounter Edward seems to vanish for several days and he is completely different towards Bella when he comes back, chatting to her about regular subjects and ignoring the fact that he was so rude previously. Twilight now introduces the vampire concept when there is an incident which Edward manages to save Bella from by using his incredible speed and strength; she is left both shaken and bewildered.

She meets Jacob who explains about a legend and mentions quileute legends, Bella acquires a book on the subject and begins to slowly put all the pieces of the jigsaw together but what she comes up with surely cannot be true. Twilight is peppered throughout with some classic humour, so don’t think it is all dark and moody.

Bella discovers Edward can read minds and is concerned when hers is the only one he cannot read, to which Edward comments, ‘I hear voices in my mind and you’re worried that you’re the freak?’ There are numerous funny lines but one of my favourites is when Edward makes the decision to take Bella home to meet the family in Twilight and Bella is worried about them liking her, ‘You’re worried, not because you’re headed to meet a houseful of vampires but because you think those vampires won’t approve?’ Edward says.

Is Twilight the best vampire movie ever made? My answer to that question would probably have to be a ‘no’ but if you asked me if I enjoyed Twilight and if I would recommend it then my answer would be a resounding ‘yes.’ Twilight’s intention is not so much to scare the audience with the whole vampire legend theme but rather to live the experience as seen through the eyes of both Bella and Edward. Kristen Stewart is a delight to watch on screen there is an element to her which is almost hypnotising and Pattinson is splendid as Edward.

There are many great supporting roles in Twilight but the stand outs for me are Cam Gigandet as James, one in the trio of ‘bad’ vampires, Ashley Greene as the quirky Alice and Billy Burke as Bella’s father.

Twilight Movie Trailer

Bandslam Movie Review …

Meet Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) your average, typical high school student with a fascination for David Bowie. Bandslam follows Will and his mum, played by the quirky Lisa Kudrow, as they move to New Jersey to start a new life; Will’s thrilled by the decision to move as he’s unhappy at school. It seems that his new high school is pretty much the same however music plays a big part in the kid’s lives in Bandslam.

Will meets Sa5m, yes the number 5 is meant to be there and according to Sa5m is silent! Sa5m is played brilliantly by the pretty Vanessa Hudgens from High School Musical fame. Sa5m is a bit of a misfit in Bandslam, a loner who loves to read and speaks in a peculiar monotone voice throughout Bandslam. Will and Sa5m form a friendship as they’re both outsiders.

Charlotte is a popular girl at the same high school, the sort of ‘it’ girl if you like, the beautiful Alyson Michalka plays the role wonderfully. Charlotte enlists Will’s help with a group of kids called The Monsters and he discovers that she’s actually a very talented singer and songwriter. Charlotte has a couple of guys who jam with her and Will goes along to listen, Bandslam shows us all that if you have a common interest with someone you’re on the first rung of the friendship ladder as Will begins to slowly fit in. There’s no question that Charlotte can sing but let’s just say her band, or lack of it, could use some assistance.

Will discovers himself recruited as the band’s manager in Bandslam and sets about finding other band members one of which is their drummer, Basher Martin acted in Bandslam by the talented Ryan Donowho who incidentally is well known for playing the drums on the streets of Manhattan. Basher becomes infatuated with Will’s mum and there are some great scenes involving Lisa Kudrow as the awkward recipient of his affections.

Bandslam itself is the ultimate music competition held at the high school and according to Sa5m is, ‘Texas High School Football Big.’ The winners receive a record deal and a cheque, Charlotte wants to enter and as band manager Will has to ensure they’re ready.

Meanwhile he and Sa5m are building a strong friendship which has some especially hilarious moments, look out for the smooth removal of Sa5m’s hat by Will and the caress of her face, for me personally this scene is the gem of Bandlsam for laughs. Charlotte’s driving is also a riot and more so if you’re the passenger as Will discovers.

Scott Porter stars as Charlotte’s ex-boyfriend Ben Wheatly in Bandslam and he obviously wants her back again, Ben has his own band entering Bandslam too so they’re in direct competition with one another from the start. Bandslam is one of those movies which you read about and you don’t feel instantly compelled to watch, it’s almost as though you convince yourself it’ll just be another high school movie about a band but it’s surprisingly good. Bandslam has the perfect blend of humour, music and likable characters.

Gaelan Connell puts in an emotional and totally convincing performance as Will as does Lisa Kudrow as his mum, the pair share a secret and it’s this secret which has always kept them moving from one place to another. This time is different though and the Bandslam competition is just too important to Will and his newly found friends to walk away from, all the characters have their ups and downs and there are certain twists along the way.

There’s even a cameo role by David Bowie himself in Bandslam. In my own opinion Bandslam was the surprising movie of 2009 for me; sometimes the movies which have all the hype should take a step back and allow movies such as Bandslam to step out of their shadow for awhile.

Vanessa Hudgens plays a cool Sa5m and yes you do hear her sing in Bandslam and boy can that girl sing! If you weren’t that keen on the High School Musical movies don’t let that put you off Bandslam just because Hudgens stars in it as her role is completely different and she’s a pleasure to watch. You can catch a trailer below.

Bandslam Movie Trailer

Friday 13th Movie Review …

Friday 13th retells the story of serial killer Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears), from his traumatic childhood during which he watched his mother beheaded by the camp counselors she was trying to kill to avenge the treatment of her son, up to the point where he realizes that disemboweling sexually frustrated teenagers is his calling in life.

Jason Voorhees has been around for a number of sequels and spin offs (Freddy vs. Jason) and to add to the confusion, Friday 13th isn’t exactly a remake of the very first film where he appeared to traumatize young adults. Instead, this film takes a new approach to the story by seeming to pick the best bits from several sequels but essentially focusing on the storyline of the very first movie.

A group of five teenagers arrive at a campsite, urged on by one member who has heard tales of a marijuana crop so abandons the other two couples to get up to what teenagers usually do when they’re left to their own devices. Predictably, he’s the first to come to a sticky end, shortly followed by most of the rest of the camp.

It’s always tricky to work out which of the doomed kids you’re supposed to be warming to and whose names you shouldn’t bother to learn because they’ll probably have an axe in their heard twenty minutes in, but Friday 13th helpfully manages to dispatch the entire initial cast before Clay Miller appears on the scene in search of his lost (and possibly murdered) sister. Clay is played by Jared Padalecki, the only actor involved in Friday 13th who the audience will probably recognize, so fortunately we know that we can make some bets about Clay living out the film as the next group of over-privileged teenagers arrive at a boat house nearby.

Friday 13th sticks to all the gory splendor of its slasher predecessors, but it’s obvious that it’s trying to take everything that was great about Voorhees and cut out the parts that made up a series of well known but ultimately mediocre sequels. To a certain extent this works – over the years I’ve seen most of the Voorhees series with varying enthusiasm, and I can’t say that there was anything missing from Friday 13th that really worked in the past.

It definitely beats Jason X for example, where he’s taken into space 400 years in the future and becomes a cyborg with the help of nanotechnology. Over time, Jason became increasingly less scary and easy to mock for the fact that he was apparently incapable of moving faster than walking pace but somehow managed to always be yards behind his prey.

In Friday 13th he’s leaner, faster and slightly more human, as it turns out that he’s captured Clay Miller’s little sister (Amanda Righetti) to keep as a pet because she looks a little like his mother. So for once he doesn’t have to kill everything, but it seems as though we’re expected to feel sorry for him for a brief moment before returning to being on the side of the vapid kids running from him.

It’s a new approach to the Jason Voorhees series, and although I don’t really buy the attempt to show a softer side of this particular masked serial killer, it’s not a bad attempt. To be blunt, I was surprised at how good it was. Maybe it’s the result of years of lackluster sequels that forced my expectations to be so low, but Friday 13th isn’t a bad film and it’s not a terrible slasher either. Everyone involved did a good job of playing the parts of terrified teens and Jared Padalecki was decent as the movie’s obligatory big star, even though this film has made me realize that he doesn’t appear able to close his mouth when he’s running.

It’s worth a watch if you’re into the slasher genre and it takes the Voorhees story far enough away from any of the previous films that you won’t feel like you’re re-watching anything. It was also nice to have an insight into what Jason does when he’s left alone in his little shack in the woods, which is most likely get high and stare lovingly at his mother’s skull.

Friday 13th Movie Trailer