Reviews by SJMJ91

Time and time again, we keep seeing these zombie films where there are people trying to survive but almost every time despite that have brought us something new. When I found out about Zombieland, I think at first it looked too similar to Shaun Of The Dead and didn't looked like there would be anything new in the theme of zombie film. However, after its strong critical response, I decided to give it a go and you know what? I would say it is the best zombie film that I have watched and far surpasses Shaun Of The Dead for me. Another way where Zombieland perhaps has shown us something that we have seen quite a lot recently is a post-apocalyptic or ruined country or world.


There are sometimes different kinds of zombie films: some are ones that do appear as dramas and are meant to be taken very seriously but there are some where drama is added to it but its main purpose is to make it a comedy such as the violence and obviously the humour but like Shaun Of The Dead and Piranha 3D, I found the violence funnier than the humour which makes all three of those films black horror comedies. Well, horror comedies are black comedies.


Searching for family. In the early twenty-first century, zombies have taken over America. A shy and inexperienced college student in Texas has survived by following his 30 rules: such as "look in the back seat," "shoot twice," "avoid public restrooms." He decides to travel to Ohio to see if his parents are alive. He gets a ride with a boisterous zombie-hating good-old boy headed for Florida, and soon they confront a young woman whose sister has been bitten by a zombie and wants to be put out of her misery. The sisters were headed to an LA amusement park they've heard is zombie free. Can the kid from Ohio get to his family? And what about rule thirty one?


I think this is one of the very few films that I have seen starring Woody Harrelson and I think he did a pretty awesome job. I love how we never actually knew his character's real name (we only knew 'Tallahassee' which is where he was heading) and because he had that badass side to him and wanted to create a lot of mayhem and kill zombies, he was a bit like a character that an actor like Jason Statham would play. In fact, I think Statham would have been a good choice selection. Jesse Eisenberg was in the brink of his career and starred in this one just before his critically acclaimed Oscar nominated performance in The Social Network and I thought he was just incredible in this role. Eisenberg reminds me a lot of Michael Cera because he looks like a geek who wants the girl he meets and falls in love with but they are both good at playing action heroes and that is exactly what Jesse Eisenberg did in Zombieland and worked alongside Woody Harrelson and the rest of the cast pretty well. Emma Stone, who is going to be in the Spider-Man reboot, was actually really good in this and I liked her performance and there is one thing that I just must point out: she is smoking hot! I absolutely loved Abigail Breslin's Oscar nominated performance in Little Miss Sunshine and now she is 3 years older and she has changed (like Georgie Henley in The Chronicles Of Narnia film series). Anyway, I loved her performance in this! She was like a bad girl that did remind me a lot of Mindy McCready in Kick-Ass who was portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz.


The direction was brilliant! Fleischer managed to do something that perhaps a lot of college students would try to do seeing as zombie stories are quite a common subject for college and university film projects and that is there was absolutely nothing cheesy about the direction, the story (even though there are many that are possibly similar to it) nor the script for that matter. Impressive how well the action scene at the theme park was filmed especially the scene where Tallahassee was on the roller coaster ride shooting zombies with the shotgun.


Overall, Zombieland is a hilarious horror comedy that I think is perhaps the best film part of that theme. It may looks like just another zombie film but it goes into greater depth than that with story and characters. It perhaps is the most underrated film of 2009 despite its great critical response and has become one of the best films of that year for me. This probably like the American Shaun Of The Dead, but I am gonna stick by the Americans on this one, despite I am British, and say Zombieland is better than Shaun Of The Dead. Such great fun and entertainment at its finest!

I have had this film in my possession for almost 2 years and I haven't really been bothered to watch it for that long but I randomly decided to check it out with rather high expectations seeing as the posters and the still pictures make the film look rather epic despite its mixed critical response. Although, there were some good points in The New World, there is no denying the fact that I found it quite a disappointment. What this film lacked the most was the feeling of emotion and the fact it didn't feel epic at all and just felt rather flat and the conclusion felt rather empty and plain for me. I didn't really like the fact that it is about the Jamestown, Virginia settlement where they add historic legends Captain John Smith and Pocahontas so that made it become a bit of a fail.


Now on to the good points of the film was that the filming of it was really good! The backgrounds were just beautiful and the cinematography was fantastic and yes, it did deserve the Best Cinematography Academy Award nomination. The costumes were brilliant aswell for a film set in the 1600s. I have to say that I think only the backgrounds and the directing was brilliant, nothing else. It perhaps is a film that people would love for the romance between Smith and Pocahontas but I think the fact that they and the inspiring story on the discovery of the island perhaps ruined it for me.


In the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, along the English colonization of North America, Captain John Smith (Farrell) leaves the Jamestown fort to explore another area and trade with the Indians, but he is captured. The princess Pocahontas (Kilcher) asks her father to spare Captain Smith's life and they fall in love for each other. When he returns to the colony, he becomes the president of Jamestown and finds people starving, but Pocahontas brings supplies, saves them and falls in disgrace with her people. When the Indians realize that the English will not leave their country, they attack and after a bloody battle, the English trade Pocahontas and lodge her in the fort to protect their families, and Captain Smith loses his position because he does not agree with the arrangement. With the return of Captain Newport (Plummer), Captain Smith is promoted and sent back to England, and he asks a friend to tell Pocahontas that he drowned along the trip. Pocahontas is civilized and baptized by the English and John Rolfe (Bale) proposes and marries her. Many years later, she hears that Captain Smith is alive, and she has to decide if she keeps her marriage or follows her heart.


The cast was probably the main reason that The New World caught my attention. Colin Farrell was at the stage of his career where he was receiving a lot of major criticism after his supposed awful Razzie nominated performance in Oliver Stone's Alexander and in The New World, he plays a similar character but he did have the looks for Captain Smith but the acting wasn't that good and didn't make him seem like a hero or a charming man like even the Disney animated version voiced by Mel Gibson did. Not only did Q'orianka Kilcher make a good Pocahontas with her acting but she also made her a very attractive Pocahontas aswell! What I love about the Pocahontas character in general is that she is appeared to be a character of great beauty and also a heroine with a big heart and that is what I think Q'orianka Kilcher did really well at. After his performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins, Christian Bale was perhaps in Hollywood's as well as the public's good books and I thought he was about average in The New World but unfortunately we didn't see very much of him in this one. Christopher Plummer was pretty good as well despite his appearance in the film wasn't very much.


Terrence Malick, a director who has hardly directed any films throughout his 40+ career and The New World was his first film in seven years (perhaps did as many films as often as the late and great Stanley Kubrick) and he did do a great job with handling the direction of the characters and backgrounds within but he just lacked to make the film feel epic or even emotional and that is what I am slightly worried about with The Tree Of Life coming up soon. He does have a lot with Stanley Kubrick seeing as Malick also writes his own screenplays for every single film that he has directed but I thought he did a fairly decent job with the script in The New World.


Overall, The New World is a historical drama mixed with legendary characters that I found beautifully filmed and well written and on one occasion: well acted but didn't find very epic or emotional. It's not one of the worst films I have watched seeing as there are so many films that are a lot worse than this. It is quite a forgettable film, if I'm perfectly honest.

I must say that Enduring Love is one of those underrated British films that haven't really been shown to the world all around where everyone would watch it. However, it does have a story that does have a lot of similarities with other films so I would call Enduring Love a mixed combination between Fatal Attraction and Cape Fear but not as suspenseful as either of those two films nor as gripping as expecting.


Joe (Craig), a college professor, is out on a romantic picnic with his long-time girlfriend, Claire (Morton), a sculptor. Joe seems about to propose marriage to Claire when their world is upended by a freak accident. A hot air balloon lands in the field behind them -- its passengers in obvious distress. Joe and a handful of other men run to help. Despite their efforts, a man falls to his death. Standing helplessly over his shattered body, Joe is joined by another would-be rescuer, Jed (Ifans), who suggests they kneel and pray. Joe, strictly a rationalist, does so reluctantly. Joe tries to get back to his routine, but he can't get the incident out of his head, and he is haunted by feelings of guilt and by ruminations about how things might have gone differently. Jed calls him out of the blue and urgently suggests that they meet. Jed soon makes it clear that he feels a connection to Joe that goes beyond their shared participation in the traumatic accident. He begins turning up everywhere Joe goes, sitting outside Joe's apartment at night. Worse yet, he insists that Joe is somehow sending him secret messages and leading him on. This potentially dangerous stalker begins to put a strain on Joe and Claire. As their relationship starts to disintegrate, Joe finds himself being pushed further and further from the rational, secure life he lived before that fateful day.


Enduring Love was a film released around the time before Daniel Craig began his role as James Bond and was released in 2004 which was the same year Daniel Craig's crime film Layer Cake came out. I did like Craig in this film and I did like how he slowly loses his mind at the hands of his stalker and that pushes him away from his girlfriend but I think we have seen too many of the character kind in the past but where it would have been brilliant and rather shocking to the audience watching would be if he actually does kill his girlfriend and gets with this stalker but I knew that it was a very predictable film. Despite his hilarious performance in Notting Hill, I wasn't too fond of Rhys Ifans' performance in this because he wasn't exactly a terrifying villain out for the one he loves no matter what (like Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction apart from that was a heterosexual attraction but this was a homosexual attraction). He was just a stupid stalker who literally got nothing out of it. Plus, the way the character went out of the film was like a ''Wait... and that is it?'' kind of situation. I didn't like the performance from Samantha Morton very much at all, really. There could have been a much better actress for the role!


Roger Michell was chosen as director of the film based on Ian McEwan's novel who previously was director of critically acclaimed British romantic comedy Notting Hill. He goes somewhere slightly different with a thriller but this lacked what most films like this have: gripping suspense and strong character development. I did like the screenplay and there were some pretty good lines aswell as some quite cheesy ones too but was decent enough for me.


Overall, Enduring Love is an underrated British thriller that I did enjoy but didn't find as tense as I was expecting so was just entertaining, nothing else. It is just another victim-stalker film that showed us nothing different or new but despite that, I still liked it but probably wouldn't watch again.

When I first saw the trailer of The Green Hornet and a few still pictures of it, I was intrigued to see it and it did seem like a good bit of fun. Plus, the cast is strong aswell but the critical response has been mixed to negative but after watching it, I found it incredibly entertaining and a load of fun so I cannot fully understand why there were so many negative problems about it; except Seth Rogen perhaps seeing as a lot of people find him an annoying actor. Anyway, I just went into this film with almost no knowledge whatsoever about The Green Hornet comic books from the 1940s nor about the Green Hornet character for that matter but he was cool and did have a good laugh watching it.


The Green Hornet is a film that I feel is mixed between three different films: Iron Man, Kick-Ass and Superbad and I must say that is quite a hard combination to make a successful film. Well, for me, anyway. I must say, the purpose of The Green Hornet in 3D was what exactly? I knew from the very start that it doesn't look good in 3D but, overall, it wasn't and should have been in 2D so I would have rather seen it in 2D but there weren't any 2D showings of it in my local cinema. However, I will say that there were one or two moments where 3D was really good: the action car chase scene that leads almost to the end and the ending credits so too bad that the 3D experience was exhilarating until the last parts of the film instead of the whole way through. So I guess The Green Hornet is an example that every film will probably be in 3D in a couple of years or even months.


James Reid (Wilkinson) single-handedly built a media empire, but unfortunately his industrious genes weren't passed down to his son, Britt (Rogen). Irresponsible, slovenly, and frequently inebriated, Britt is shaken out of his drunken stupor upon receiving word that his father has died. Shortly after Britt learns that he has inherited the family business, he forges an unlikely alliance with Kato (Chou), one of his father's star employees, and together the pair hatch a plan to pose as villains in order to get close to the city's most high-powered criminals. Outfitting their indestructible custom-made car, The Black Beauty, with the absolute latest in technology and high-tech weaponry -- and arming themselves to the teeth with an array of gadgets that would make Batman blush -- the masked duo hit the streets as The Green Hornet and Kato. As the public's fascination with the mysterious crime fighters hits an all-time high, Britt's resourceful secretary, Lenore Case (Diaz), helps them to gather intelligence on notorious underworld kingpin Benjamin Chudnofsky (Waltz), a criminal who holds the entire city in the palm of his hand, and represents everything that Britt's father fought against. Little do the Green Hornet and Kato realize that Chudnofsky is already on to them, and that he's not about to go down without a fight.


Seth Rogen is one of those actors who does get a lot of grief from many people saying that he cannot act and that he is a really annoying guy playing the same character over and over again but I will go ahead and admit that I don't mind him at all and I like the guy. As for his role in as Britt Reid/The Green Hornet, I thought he was brilliant! In fact, I think this is perhaps his best role yet for me because he showed his normal style of acting but at the same time showed us something that we hadn't seen from him before. Green Hornet character reminds me of Tony Stark in Iron Man films because they are both rich snobs who inherit their fortune and business after their father's deaths and out of the money they've got, they use it on inventing new technology to either prevent crime or to make the company they own more successful. I have only seen Jay Chou in one film and that was Curse Of The Golden Flower but his performance in The Green Hornet as Kato was actually pretty good as the sidekick of The Green Hornet when he, in fact, does all of the work for Britt. Cameron Diaz has in many films that she has been in, been the love interest of the leading actor (mostly in rom-coms) but despite how hot she was in The Green Hornet, I wasn't too fond of her in this one because I don't think the Lenore Case character was developed enough. As for the man of the show, Christoph Waltz. His breakthrough Oscar winning performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds was just incredible but I also really liked him in The Green Hornet too. He was an evil badass who wants all the power and control just like Hans Landa does. One thing I must say about the gun he carries around with him, that is one badass gun! A flawed part on the casting of the Chudnofsky character (not the acting from Christoph Waltz) was that Chudnofsky is a Russian character who was played by an Austrian-German actor. I still really liked his performance though. Another flaw this film had was the rather frustrating love triangle between Britt, Kato and Lenore but that didn't effect my liking.


Michel Gondry is a director who has been almost at the very bottom of creating great films (Be Kind Rewind in 2008) but also almost at the top of creating great films (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind in 2004) but his direction in The Green Hornet is stuck in the middle between the two so is about in the middle. The action scenes were brilliantly filmed but the script that was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg was quite badly written but, quite frankly, I don't care because I just found this very good fun, nothing more.


Overall, The Green Hornet is a film that I think people should at least appreciate for its entertainment and not to take it so seriously. The 3D was unnecessary throughout most of the film but I still enjoyed it. I would say it is probably my favourite Seth Rogen film so far and I liked the cast. I will admit, though, if you love the original TV series and comic books of The Green Hornet, I think you might be disappointed by this one. The first 2011 film I have seen and it certainly has gone off to a fun start.

All this film was being criticised for on the brink of its release was that it is like a possible spoof of the Alien franchise but I must admit that I think the Alien franchise must have led something to make Predator and the rest of the films (aswell as Alien Vs. Predator and its sequel). When I first saw Predator (which was actually only early 2010), I was both horrified and blown away by it and there are many reasons for this! Obviously it was really scary and I feel that it should be known as one of the most spine-chilling thrillers that have ever been made. However, where I was blown away by Predator was that despite that story is obviously rather silly but the story just felt so real from the start to the end. It felt a lot like it was the audience who were the Predator's prey in the film too because we were fooled by a character like we are going to be killed and ripped apart by a random alien.


Despite its real randomness and its main purpose just to entertain, it is perhaps the manliest film one will ever watch as well as a total badass film too like the Alien franchise. I think what is so special about this franchise aswell as the Alien franchise too is that despite how fictional the characters are, it just feels so real and you are journeying alongside the characters in a terrifying ride which certainly does leave you off the edge of your seat as it did to me when I watched it for the first time and every time I watch it now after seeing it once.


The film begins with the arrival of a specialist Army Commando team (led by Alan 'Dutch' Schaeffer) at a US military outpost somewhere non-disclosed in Central America. After a short briefing from the commanding officer there, they learn that they are to rescue a 'Cabinet Minister' whom was in a helicopter that was shot down whilst flying over enemy territory. Accompanied by a CIA operative, they head deep into the jungle; only things are not as they seem. Almost immediately, they find the remnants of another US military team, Green Berets; who have been skinned alive by some unknown enemy. A short while later, they strike the enemy encampment; only to find that they have been set up by the CIA to bring back important military intelligence information, rather than effecting any rescue. But something else is hidden, waiting, watching in the jungle: an immensely advanced and powerful alien that hunts only the most dangerous prey in the universe - the Predator. One after another, the team is picked off as they desperately attempt to escape the jungle by reaching the extraction point as the enemy guerrillas and the Predator close in on their position, can any of them survive this nightmare?


Arnold Schwarzenegger was perhaps one of those actors who were in Hollywood's good books back in the 1980s especially for his roles in The Terminator and Commando but he proves once again in Predator that he is the most badass actor of all time despite that he is the actual prey this time not his enemies in the films he is in. His performance as Dutch was really good and I loved his character because he is the leader of the unit in the journey so it is his responsibility to be there for the rest of the unit. Plus, I admire that when Dutch seems to be the only person left in the jungle, he chooses to stand and fight against the Predator. Kevin Peter Hall was just badass also as the Predator but bloody hell! Just when we thought there wasn't anybody who is bigger in body build aswell as taller than Arnold Schwarzenegger, there happened to be Kevin Peter Hall! What makes the Predator character so great is that he isn't a CGI or modelled character like some characters like him are but because this alien is portrayed by a man, it makes him seem more real and more terrifying to watch especially just when the Predator unmasks. Kevin Peter Hall, may you rest in peace.


The direction from John McTiernan was just fantastic! There were moments where the directing was a bit like films such as Jaws, Alien and even Psycho with the very suspenseful music and the fact that a lot of the violence in the film looked totally real. I would've loved to have seen McTiernan's response when he saw Predator 2 seeing as that one was a massive disappointment to this one.


Overall, Predator is an absolutely fantastic action-science fiction-thriller that is definitely one of the best films of the 1980s. Arnie, you are one badass actor! Predator certainly is the most manly film one will ever seen aswell as one of the most badass films ever. It also deserved its rightful place as one of the best thrillers and science fiction films of all time. Unfortunately, Predator 2 was a huge failure to this one but thankfully, Predators was the sequel that Predator deserved. The film aswell as the Predator certainly is an ugly motherf**ker to watch!

First of all, I am going to say this: all I have heard about Predator 2 is negative criticism saying that "it is an unnecessary sequel, it has a bad dialogue and it was hardly scary" and, quite frankly, that is exactly what it is! Over the years there have been sequels that have surpassed its predecessor (The Empire Strikes Back, The Two Towers, The Dark Knight are examples) but there are others that are failures and almost disgraceful to its predecessor and Predator 2 is one of those. I have to say, what the f*** is with the story?! The poster looks pretty damn scary like the first one does and I think we were all expecting something that is set in somewhere similar to the jungle like the first one but the fact it was set in Los Angeles! Ridiculous! Also, there were so many plot holes in this film regarding the Predator and how he ended up in Los Angeles and this one almost killed the deadly and evil one that was in the first one even though it was the original actor that returned. That is probably the only good thing about Predator 2.


Whoever decided to adapt a Predator film and set it in the modern world is a douchebag and might aswell set an Alien film or even a film that is similar to The Lord Of The Rings in the modern era and that will just ruin everything! I mean, this failed after 2 minutes because you really don't add fictional characters especially deadly, evil ones and mix them in the modern era seeing as it lacks imagination; therefore it feels empty and heartless which is the exact thing that ruined Predator 2 for me and probably most people who have watched it.


Lt. Harrigan (Danny Glover) is a cop fighting the good war against drugs. But recently, the major drug lords have been killed off in a very brutal fashion. His superiors tell him to stay out of it, but Harrigan knows that something is wrong. His instincts are right when he discovers that the person behind the murders is none other than the Predator, the human-hunting alien who likes to make trophies out of his victims' skulls. But how can Harrigan stop the Predator when it can turn invisible and kill him without him knowing it?


To be honest, I haven't really been a fan of Danny Glover and unfortunately Predator 2 didn't exactly help at all because not only was Glover's character rather weak but his performance was really lame! I mean, he is meant to be the hero who has the courage to stand against the Predator and fight him like Arnie did in the first film but I just wish that the Predator had actually killed him because he was such an annoying character all the way through. Why? Because he is just another cop who says he feels threatened by something but doesn't exactly show it. He sort of showed that he was threatened to join the cast in this sequel. I was pleased to see Kevin Peter Hall return as the Predator just before he died but unfortunately he didn't bring out the terror in the sequel like he did in the first film. R.I.P. Kev.


First off, Stephen Hopkins, who the f*** are you?! Oh yeah I remember, you directed the fifth, yes fifth, Nightmare On Elm Street film so you know what it is like to be a failed director who uses other people's creations to make yourself famous but again, you failed miserably! Gladly, you haven't continued to create a sequel to a successful franchise because you have failed twice at that now. The script was very cheesy throughout the entire film and it is rather hard to believe that it is written by the same guys who wrote the first film!


Overall, Predator 2 is one of those sequels that is just totally unnecessary and didn't need to be made like at all! Good make-up and effects at times, though but totally forgettable so it is a cheesy, thoughtless failure, nothing more. Thank you, Predators (which was released in 2010), for giving us the true sequel that the 1987 classic totally deserved!

When I found out that Disney's next animated feature is going to be in 3D animation, I was like 'Oh no! Disney are going downfall again!' and I even considered giving this one a miss but when hearing about the strong critical response that reached up to universal acclaim, this became a must-see! When I watched it, despite the new high expectations, I was really surprised at it. It certainly did go back down memory lane and showed us the magic of Disney from the past (The Princess And The Frog also did that in 2009). I have to admit that I am surprised that there hadn't been a Disney film based on Rapunzel so this is perhaps a long overdue Disney film.


The animation was just amazing! In that way, I perhaps wouldn't recognize this as a latest Disney animated film that is the next on the list of the likes of Aladdin, The Lion King, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs etc but I would think that it was either by Pixar Animation Studios (who also work with Disney, obviously) but even DreamWorks Animation. In every film that Disney has ever done, they have taken us to a different world but it just depends on how enchanting the world really is and believe me, you are literally swept away in Tangled.


After receiving the healing powers from a magical flower, the baby Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped from the palace in the middle of the night by Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel knows that the flower's magical powers are now growing within the golden hair of Rapunzel, and to stay young, she must lock Rapunzel in her hidden tower. Rapunzel is now a teenager and her hair has grown to a length of 70-feet. The beautiful Rapunzel has been in the tower her entire life, and she is curious of the outside world. One day, the bandit Flynn Ryder scales the tower and is taken captive by Rapunzel. Rapunzel strikes a deal with the charming thief to act as her guide to travel to the place where the floating lights come from that she has seen every year on her birthday. Rapunzel is about to have the most exciting and magnificent journey of her life.


In every Disney film there is a storyline with a hero and/or a heroin, a supporting character or sidekick and a villain who sometimes has a sidekick or partner aswell and Tangled had all that so it was an ordinary traditional Disney animated film and there were moments regarding the characters that did bring back memories and did have some similarities. For example, Rapunzel is now officially the 10th Disney Princess (others are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana). Rapunzel reminds me of Giselle in Enchanted who is both voiced and portrayed physically by Amy Adams (who is included as a Disney Princess for me) because they are both very feminine, are very sensitive towards themselves and suddenly meet a man in awkward circumstances but gradually fall in love and for that very reason aswell as the villain, it did become a rather predictable story. The relationship between Rapunzel and her guardian Mother Gothel reminded me a lot of the relationship between Quasimodo and Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame because it is 'forbidden' for Rapunzel and Quasimodo to leave their towers and how they wouldn't be appreciated because of the cruel world when really those guardians are the ones that make the world a sinister place.


Like most of the successful Disney Classics, Tangled was directed by two directors and, they certainly did do a great job despite one of the directors hasn't even directed a Disney feature film before. The screenplay in Tangled was just brilliant! There are a lot of cheesy quotes in a lot of animated films but, quite frankly, in Tangled I don't think I spotted one.


Overall, Tangled is a film that admittedly did surprise me and does deserve its rightful place as another success from Disney but not quite one of their best and not quite one of the best films of 2010. A beautiful film for children to watch and would recommend to adults aswell. It certainly is a great film to mark as the 50th Disney animated feature film.

In all honesty after seeing the trailer quite a few times in the cinema, I realised that this perhaps doesn't look the most ingenious film you will ever see but I did notice that there perhaps might be something special about this film. I never got chance to see in 3D but when I eventually watched it (going into this film for just entertainment, nothing else), I did enjoy it but there were quite a few of very clear flaws. For example, the film lacked believability. There wasn't very much that expressed any feelings towards the audience where they might be stuck to the screen from beginning to the end, although the 3D experience may help that. Also, it would have been an epic build-up to the final battle but that is unfortunately what we didn't get.


I am going to confess that I never saw Legend Of The Guardians in 3D and after watching it, I regret it now because there were many moments where objects within the screen would pop out. The visual effects and art direction was just stunning as predicted and I thought the music was brilliant as well. This is perhaps a film that I would call an animated war film but just involves animals and I have to admit that because of that, it is a film more for adult eyes than for kids. It had its fantastic effects but lacked a soul in the story where the audience would feel effected by it.


Soren, a young barn owl, is kidnapped by owls of St. Aggie's, ostensibly an orphanage, where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He and his new friends escape to the island of Ga'Hoole, to assist its noble, wise owls who fight the army being created by the wicked rulers of St. Aggie's. The film is based on the first three books in the series.


The cast is quite good in this film. I was impressed with how precise they got the voice acting with the moments of the animated characters. I did think that the owls looked real especially on the close-up shots despite having the owl helmets on their heads. Jim Sturgess voices Soren the Barn Owl who is the main character in the film. He is an owl who dreamed to be a Guardian. He was captured by the Pure Ones, along with Kludd. He eventually warns the Guardians of Ga'Hoole of the Pure Ones' plans and helps to defeat them in battle, Geoffrey Rush voices as Ezylryb the Whiskered Screech Owl one of the Guardians and Weathering and Collier for the Guardians became Soren's teacher (also known as Lyze of Kiel), Helen Mirren voices Nyra the Barn Owl. A secondary antagonist. Nyra is the queen of the Pure Ones and Metalbeak's mate, David Wenham who previously appeared in Zack Snyder's 300 in 2007 voiced Digger the Burrowing Owl. An owl who loves digging and tracking. He is friends with Soren, Gylfie and Twlight. Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving and Abbie Cornish had other voice roles in the film also.


This was made by Village Roadshow Pictures who were also the makers of Happy Feet in 2006 and after watching Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole, I can see how typical it is that the studio would think of a story like this. Like the characters featuring animals with great effects, art direction and music but weak regarding story. Had moments in the script where it feels too modern. In a lot of ways, I am rather surprised at Zack Snyder and that he chose to direct this film! I think it was mostly because he hasn't done an animated film before and, quite frankly, I don't really want to see him do another one after this. I mean, it wasn't a bad film but it could have been a lot better. It was like a mixed combination of 300 (which is also Zack Snyder's film) and Beowulf. Admittedly, Zack knows how to make a dark film with dark settings and great effects but he lacks talent in plot, direction and script (if he writes his own stories). You can really easily spot this! As far as the script is concerned, I thought it was mostly soppy because it seemed too modern and the lines that the screenwriters come up with are just lousy.


Overall, Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole is a film that I neither loved nor hated. As I said, the effects were just outstanding but the story was pretty weak and was rather poorly written. Zack Snyder, do not go back to animation again! Just stick with the dark graphic films when you are at your best. I do wish I had seen the film in 3D at the cinema but my liking for it probably would have stayed the same if I did see it in that experience. I don't really want to see any more film adaptations of anymore of the Guardians Of Ga'Hoole books, sorry.

After seeing the very cheap trailer, I didn't think it looked a very good film but there was a slight curiosity I had for it so I did decide to watch it but when I did, I thought it was an absolute failure of a film! There are many reasons for this but the biggest flaw is how in the FUCK can someone ring an emergency line in America from somewhere in Iraq on their mobile cell phone when the guy is God knows how far underground?! There would be no signal! I mean, that is like someone from Earth ringing another person from the moon! Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. The first phone call occurred very early into the film and it became a failure after only 5 minutes.


One thing I just cannot understand is the positive critical reception that Buried received. I mean, what was so successful and interesting about this film? In fact, what was good about it? I mean, there was nothing tense, heart-racing or emotional in Buried AT ALL. For me, it was just so boring! I mean, the phone issue made it a bad film but the fact it wasn't emotional and there was just hardly anything interesting about this film, it was just a disaster. It felt pretty random as well a guy suddenly getting trapped inside a coffin underground.


Waking groggy in pitch darkness, Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq in 2006, slowly realizes he is trapped inside a wooden coffin, buried alive. With his cigarette lighter, he can see the trap he is in, and he quickly realizes that there's not enough air for him to live long. He finds within the coffin a working cell phone, which allows him contact with the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.


Ryan Reynolds has never really been able to impress me with his acting (even from trailers) but, to be honest, I can almost say the exact same thing about his performance in Buried. I'm sorry but Paul (the character he played) literally had no personality and, quite frankly, I didn't even feel sorry for him that he was in that situation. I think they could have expanded and improved on the character a lot but obviously not. I mean, he seemed very forward because it suddenly started and *bang*, he was stuck underground in a coffin. I mean, over and over again where he would ring someone up and he'd tell them his situation, he'd start shouting out of fright and then the person on the phone would say ''Can you not shout over the phone, sir?'' or something along those lines. Another reason why this film was so crap was that there was no other story added that made it emotional! There were no supporting characters who are either friends or relatives of Paul's who are grieving over his disappearance and their desperation to find him! Only bit we got was a few random people on the phone who could have actually been anybody.


Rodrigo Cortés, who the f*** are you for starters and how can you carry on directing a film that was deeply flawed within only 5 minutes? This had no heart whatsoever and I couldn't feel any desire of compassion by the director, writers or even the actors involved. I mean, this could have been a similar kind of thing as Danny Boyle's 127 Hours that pretty much just stars James Franco but obviously not. As far as the making of the film, compared to the many films out nowadays, it is very cheap. The budget was under $2 million so that perhaps made it as cheap as a lot of films where effects aren't really required or a high budget for the set. Despite the film is so crap, I must admit there was like one or two moments where the filming was pretty good. I won't say because it is in fact a spoiler. The script was just lazy and the events were pretty much the same all the way through.


Overall, Buried is an absolutely rubbish film that I almost regret watching! It was just a very random that failed miserably. I mean, if there was no cell phone involved and if we actually had a supporting cast where they are grieving for Paul's disappearance and even if he tried to get out and died, it might been a great film but as far as I am concerned, this was an absolute pile of crap. I would tell everyone I know to just avoid this! Yes, there are worse films than Buried but, believe me, this isn't that far off from falling down to that level.

As soon as I started reading about this film, the first thing that came to my mind about The Fighter was that it just looks like another boxing film but is was something that did go pretty personal on a lot of levels. Admittedly, it is a lot like most boxing films: a story that is told about a boxer who was an underdog and became a great success but this did something that I think not many boxing films nowadays managed to do so brilliantly! What I mean by this is that this is a mixture of basically two classic boxing films - Rocky and Raging Bull. I have to admit, though, that this is such a predictable film with a climax was all but obvious from the very beginning but despite that, it was a great film!


The Fighter tells us the remarkable story of the rise of Massachusetts-born, junior welterweight title winner "Irish" Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky -- a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime -- perennial underdog Irish Micky rebounded from a disheartening series of defeats to win both the WBU Intercontinental Lightweight title and the WBU Light Welterweight title thanks to a fierce combination of determination and hard work.


Ok, I am going to admit that Mark Wahlberg is not a brilliant actor but he does do a decent job in every film he has been part of. As far as The Fighter goes, his performance was nowhere near as fantastic as the rest of the cast within the film and I do think he is perhaps better in a supporting role; like his outstanding performance in The Departed. His performance was good, yes, but I think the role should have gone to someone better so not an Oscar worthy performance at all, really. Everyone knows Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Patrick Bateman and now the new John Connor but that was just for fame. However, in The Fighter he goes on to show how well he can act. He was almost if not completely unrecognizable as Dickie Eklund! I still can't believe it is the same actor in The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, American Psycho and Terminator Salvation. Christian looked really skinny in this one and had to lose weight which was part of the character seeing as Eklund was a drug addict and Bale had to lose weight for a previous role so that was an easy task for him. He should get the Academy Award for The Fighter because his performance really showed what he can do despite just starring in Hollywood blockbusters. For the past 4 years in a row, Amy Adams has starred in an contender where she either is nominated for an Oscar herself or starred in a film that has been nominated for one: Enchanted in 2007, Doubt in 2008, Julie & Julia in 2009 and now The Fighter in 2010. Her performance was absolutely fantastic! Her character in this film reminded me a lot of Talia Shire's character and performance in Rocky. Adams should get her third Oscar nomination in four years for The Fighter.


I had almost zero knowledge of director David O'Russell before I saw The Fighter but I think he is actually a really good director! I think where I was impressed with the filming of The Fighter the most is during the main boxing championship match because it was filmed like a real boxing film that you would watch on TV and the crowd were brilliantly directed as well as the actors as the boxers. Admittedly, the boxing scenes in The Fighter were better filmed than probably every other boxing film there has been. David O'Russell directed this film really well but I did think that David Fincher, Tom Hooper, Chris Nolan, Darren Aronofsky and even Danny Boyle did better jobs this year.


Overall, The Fighter is another fantastic boxing film that is, as I said, a mixture between Rocky and Raging Bull. Outstanding performances from the majority of the cast, well directed and a solid script so should be a strong Oscar contender. It is definitely the best sports film since Ron Howard's Cinderella Man.