Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star. ~Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jurassic Park to Be Released in 3D


I’ll be the first to admit that 3D is a fun effect, however at the risk of sounding contradicting; the boom with the 3D trend is getting old fairly fast. It is irritating to shell out extra cash in these economic times just to re-watch a movie you had already seen--- however made with effects to make the movie look cooler. Furthermore it continues to show the lack of creativity in Hollywood today. With that being said, as the titled of this blog notes---Jurassic Park is being re-released in 3D.
            Jurassic Park was originally released in 1993, I was nine years old. I did not care for it then and chances are I will not care for it in 3D. I am being honest here, dinosaurs clones on a island theme park is not really my cup of tea. However, I do give Steven Speilberg an A for effort in the imaginative department with the how Jurassic Park series.
            In 1993 when Jurassic Park was released it smashed the box office…literally bringing in 1,902,110,923. But Jurassic Park was born 3 years prior. In 1990 Universal Studios bought the rights of Jurassic Park from its creator Michael Crichton and turned it into the global phenomena it is today, so there is without a doubt the re-release in 3D will do extraordinary well.
            But if you’re anxious to see Jurassic Park in 3D, you have to wait an entire year. Universal Studios had announced that they will be releasing the 3D version in July of 2013.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Hunger Games: Review


When you see the trailer for The Hunger Games you immediately think---“This story line resembles The Lottery.” In actuality…it does…to a point. The Hunger Games takes place after the destruction of North America by some unknown “apocalyptic” event. North America is now known as Panem. Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts.  As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol in which the 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games.
                        The Hunger Games an event in which the participants or "tributes" must fight in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. The movie follows a 16-year-old girl from District 12 Katniss Everdeen who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school. Needless to say that if you read the book and if you have not…it is already quite obvious that Katniss and Peesta eventually become “star-crossed” lovers.

            First off let me inform you I do not really like movies that involved killing as a sport, which is your basic medieval themed movie of killing regardless of how “into the future” the movie is set. Therefore I am not going to say anything negative about The Hunger Games. However, the movie was thick in plot and the dialogue did support the theme of the movie. For someone who does not like these kind of movies…The Hunger Games does grab your attention from beginning to finish and yes a little part of me is sort of waiting for the second book to be turned into a movie.

            Lastly I do recommend you reading the book at some point if you had not before you see the film. Like so many books that see the ill fate of being turned into a movie…The Hunger Games leave so many things and unanswered questions the movie that was left out that you will find in the book. Unless the screen writers plan on answering some of the things that were left out later in the future films.

The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins. Collins who says got the idea for the story line by simply channel surfing…  On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq. The two "began to blur in this very unsettling way" and the idea for the book was formed. The Greek myth of Theseus served as basis for the story, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus, and that Roman gladiatorial games formed the framework.


The Hunger Games received a number of awards and honors. It was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008  and a The New York Times "Notable Children's Book of 2008". It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category The Hunger Games was also a "2008 Cybil Winner" for fantasy and science-fiction books along with The Graveyard Book.  It also one of School Library Journal's "Best Books 2008"[ and a "Booklist Editors' Choice" in 2008.  In 2011, the book won the California Young Reader Medal. In the 2012 edition of Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine, The Hunger Games was listed as the 33rd best book for children, with the award for "Most Exciting Ending". 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Johnny Depp stars in Dark Shadows (Youtube.com Video)



From June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971…a gothic soap opera series called Dark Shadows aired. Directors Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino, and pop singer Madonna have publicly stated they are fans of the series. As a child, Johnny Depp admitted that he was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him. Well now Depp has his opportunity---he and Tim Burton has collaborated together on a theatrical film adaptation which is scheduled to open in sometime this year. The 2012 film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Boham Carter, with a cameo appearance by Alice Cooper portraying himself.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Titanic 3D an Experience You Do Not Want To Miss: Titanic 3D Review


If you know me personally, then you know how obsessed I am over Titanic. Not just the movie, but the Titanic itself. I’ve watched every movie about the Titanic, I know so much about the ship, and you’d think I work as a historian for Titanic. The reasoning for the attachment is---my great grandmother held a third class ticket on Titanic. Fortunately, she missed the boat when it left Ireland. Every time I watch any version pertaining to Titanic, I always think to myself what would have happened  had she made that trip. Would she have survived?
            Out of all the movies that have covered Titanic, my most favorite is---well obviously James Cameron’s version. Cameron paid deep attention to every detail from the era, and casted each and every role with an exact look a likes to people they were portraying.  Furthermore, he had portrayed the sinking as it were really happened, from the time it struck the iceberg, to when the band stop playing, and when Titanic finally went down to her ice watery grave. Even according to some of Titanic’s few remaining survivors who were still alive in 1997 had said that Cameron’s version was closes to the exact thing that happened on April 14th 1912. The 100 year anniversary of Titanic’s sinking is upon, and along with the recent uprising in 3D. Titanic is being re-released on the big screen---Titanic in 3D.
            Titanic in 3D, you experience the movie on a whole other level. The story virtually comes to life right in front of you, and you feel as if you are walking along Titanic’s decks, or taking a walk down her elegant grand staircase. Titanic in 3D becomes most spellbinding when it’s in the moments of the sinking---the 3D puts you in it. Myself, along with several other audience members said they were overwhelmed with great emotion. Everything you know about Titanic---the personal passenger stories of their hopes and dreams---the excitement and anticipation about Titanic---and all the loss---you feel 10 times more. 
If you loved Titanic when it was first releases in 1997, you will fall in love with it again in 3D.  Out of any movie I had seen in 3D prior to Titanic was just merely preparing me for this one. Take the journey and experience The Ship of Dreams one more time on the big screen. You can revisit Titanic April 6th.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Remembering the Legendary Whitney Houston


Like everyone else, I was in complete shock of hearing about the passing of iconic singer Whitney Houston. I found out of her untimely passing via twitter, I had just got out from seeing The Vow. I started my car, while it was warming up; I was flipping through my tweets. Honestly, I thought it was just another one of those twitter death hoaxes that seemed to emerge on the site way too many times, but sadly this time it was not a hoax. Whitney’s death is such a tragic lost to the musical word, to her family and friends, as well as to her fans.                                      
I grew up listening to her music; my mom was a huge fan of hers. I always used to sing along to “All at Once,” dancing idiotically around my bedroom to “How Will I Know,” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and even “So emotional.” However my greatest memory of Whitney’s music come from when I was in high school, I got to perform in a solo performance in choir her 1986 hit “Greatest Love of All”. That particular song has such a powerful meaning in itself.    
Houston also starred in a couple of movies, “The Body Guard,” and my favorite, “Waiting to Exhale.” With the news of her death still streaming the web, everyone is still trying to process it. To us fans it still seems unreal, and I cannot to begin to fathom what her family and friends are going through right not. In this time of sorrow, I offer my most sympathetic thoughts to Whitney’s family and friends, the world has truly lost a legend.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Woman in Black: Review


When I first saw the trailer for The Woman in Black, I instantly wanted to see it. It caught my attention solely because it was starring Daniel Radcliffe whom we all recognize from the Harry Potter franchise. Since this movie is post Harry Potter, I figured it would be an interesting twist to see how this young actor switched from child star to adult. Nevertheless Radcliffe successfully shredded himself from his child star image in this suspense horror film.
            The Woman in Black script is written by Jane Goldman, who leaves a lot of the movies material up to the audience’s imagination, which I was very skeptical of this approach at first. However, Radcliffe proved his acting skills despite the fact he’s never studied acting before his Harry Potter days. Some people are just born with it, and Daniel Radcliffe proved he has the natural talent of acting. His body language and actions help speak about the story of a man who is being tormented by a vengeful spirit.
            Daniel Radcliffe stars as the young attorney Arthur Kipps. Kipps is summoned to Crythin Gifford, a small market town on the east coast of the United Kingdom to go over paper work that requires legal action. He is given the case and is told that he must use this case to prove his worth to the agency.  The house he must go to is on Nine Lives Causeway and at high tide is completely cut off from the mainland with only the surrounding marshes and sea frets for company. On his first day there, he sees that the town folks are less than welcoming, some of them seem even a bit fearful of Kipss arrival. It is not long until he discovers why.
            His first trip to the house, he hears strange noises, however he doesn’t make much of it. When he looks out the window, he sees a woman in black standing in the yard. When he goes back to town for the night, while talking to a constable, a child comes in and dies in his arms. The area town folks learn of this news, and order Kipps to leave, but he refuses. On his second day, he learns of the myth of a woman in black is seen and a child dies.
            I very much liked this movie, despite the predictable scenes that make the viewer’s jump. The Woman in Black is an adaptation Susan Hill's 1983 novel, it is rated PG-13 for thematic material and violence, disturbing images, the running time: 95 minutes. In his first starring role after Harry Potter, Radcliffe has officially marketed himself as a very versatile actor. I give this four out of five stars.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Review


Over the last 10 years, whether or not a film about one of the darkest days in American history has been up for much debate. The debate has been if it’s too soon to have a film made, but to be honest, flight 93 in 2006 was greatly considered to be too soon. Even though, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was just a novel in 2005, it was criticized for being too soon for being released in 2005. As most novels seem to have this happen to them, the novel was turned into a film, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close went through that same debate is it still too soon? However, if a movie is to be made regardless of what is mention, or where it centers, Hollywood is going to make the film.
            Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has the advantage of a decade-long perspective on the events of that day, and it brings back in a rush of all the pain and sorrow. It transports you 10 years back in your life when the world literally stopped, and everyone was focused on their TV watching the horrific events unfold live in front of them. The film follows a highly intelligent 11-year-old New Yorker, Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), whose father Thomas (Tom Hanks), a jeweler who was visiting one of the Twin Towers on 9/11, is killed during the attack. Oskar and his father had a wonderfully close relationship. His bond with his mother (Sandra Bullock) however, is more distant.
            In order to make some kind of sense out of the events of 9/11, Oskar who narrates the movie, sets himself an impossible mission. Discovering a key in an envelope marked “Black” in his father’s closet, he decides to find the lock it opens by tracking down all 472 people named Black listed in all the boroughs of New York. While Most of the time his encounters are brief and dismissive. In a few instances, such as the one involving a woman named Abby (Viola Davis), he finds himself innocently walking in on a domestic crisis. After a while Oskar acquires an ally in his quest, an old man, known only as “the renter” and played by Max von Sydow, who lives down the hall from Oskar’s grandmother (Zoe Caldwell). This dignified and mysterious gent is mute by choice and everything he says is written down on a notepad. It is Oskar’s strong suspicion that the old man is actually his long-lost grandfather.
            Oskar’s precociousness and obsessiveness is linked to a possible diagnosis of Asperger’s. (“Tests were inconclusive,” he dryly comments in voice-over.) He’s a wearying kid, and Horn – who is himself a prodigy and a champ on the junior edition of “Jeopardy” can be a wearying actor. (It’s his first movie.) He never lets up. No doubt this has a lot to do with the way Stephen Daldry directed him. Still, the film’s title could just as easily apply to Oskar as to 9/11. Hanks and Bullock are wonderful, though their screen time is very brief. But the central dynamic of the film, Oskar’s search for meaning in his father’s death – is obscured by the boy’s frantic odyssey, which quickly takes on a life of its own untethered to 9/11. It is only near the end, when Thomas’s increasingly panicky phone messages from that day are played out, that the film hits home. Grade: A- (Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images, and language.)

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Posters For Modern Movies Re-Imagined With Classic Casts





These posters are awesome in so many ways. I can only imagine how completely different these movies would be if these classic actors/actresses really played in these films

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

What’s Your Favorite 90’s Movie? Here are my Top Five

When I was on twitter earlier, I had noticed a term “Favorite 90s Movie” was trending topic. I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about some of my most favorite movies of the 90s, so I took part in the trend and had tweeted my top 5 favorite films of the 90’s. I was surprised at the response, as I began seeing my picks retweeted and replies from followers saying that… that was their favorite films as well. So here are my favorite top 10 films with the reasons why I love them.
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        1)          The 1994 animated Disney hit The Lion King. This is a very personal favorite of mine, the storyline is meaningful and purposeful, but it also comes with the musical geniuses of Sir Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmerman composing one of the best movie soundtracks of the 90s. The music of the movie enhances the structure of the film to a higher level mesmerizing its audience so that they look deeper into the heart of the story being told. Equally important, is the character animators whose use of studying real-life animals for reference to bring real-life quality to the film. Jim Fowler, a renowned wildlife expert, had visited the studios on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other savannah inhabitants to discuss their behavior and help the animators give their drawings an authentic feel. Furthermore, several of the lead crew members, and production designer Chris Sanders, had taken a trip to Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film. Doing so brought the dimension of realism to the story’s foundation.
2)      Another film released in 1994 that is a favorite is Dumb and Dumber. This movie holds such an epic comedy line. “How do they know I got gas?”They gotta be pros.” The movie shows a unique bond of friendship between the two main people, a bond that is rarely seen anywhere. Some people say that you have to have a certain sense of humor to appreciate this grossed out comedy. However, regardless of what people think of the vulgar sense of humor that makes up the film, it’s that precise humor film that is so underappreciated by some. It is the overdose of slapstick comedy that is much appreciated in this film. The technique of slapstick comedy dates all the way back to the renaissance. However, it was not until the “golden era" of black and white, that the style was explored extensively. It was popular in silent movies directed by figures like Mack Sennett and Hal Roach featuring such notables like Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, the Keystone Kops, the Three Stooges and El Chavo. Dumber and Dumber brings the modernization of the technique without evolving it.
3)      Forrest Gump, okay so obviously this one HAD to be on the list. I remember when I was in high school; I had a substitute teacher one day in my 20th Century American History class. When class started, she informed us that she would be subbing for the next three days. In those three days we would be watching a film…Forrest Gump. However, she told us that while watching the film, we had to write down all the historical references that were shown in the film. This assignment actually made me appreciate this film even more for the culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant gem it really is. We’re embarking on a journey through history in the form of a single narrative point of view, which allowed the audience to feel as if they were experiencing the significance of the past along with the story teller.
4)      Drop Dead Fred okay honestly who forgot about this movie? Based on random people I spoken with majority of people have. Drop Dead Fred, while being publicized as a light-hearted children's film, there are quite a few notable adult themes and gags with bizarre visual and make up effects, gross out humor, as well as some profanity. The movie explores the story of emotional abuse, and mental illness, and focuses on the main character that seems to have been unable to grow up because of the fear she has towards her mother. The plot depicts the abnormal upbringing of a young girl; she created an imaginary friend to help her cope with her mother’s stern and controlling behavior.  
5)      Titanic this movie is my list, not because of the chick flick storyline of forbidden love. But the historical references in the. We all know the story, so I’m not going into that. What amazes me most about this film is how eerily close the characters look to the actual passengers on the ship. James Cameron really went back in time with the film, and it was in this film where we saw new never before seen footage of the actual wreck of titanic.