Reviews by SJMJ91

I decided to watch this straight after the original version because it is even closer to Christmas and wanted to find out the similarities and differences between both adaptations. Admittedly, most remakes simply do not and, quite frankly; this is another one that doesn't. There was nothing emotionally convincing in this film. I mean, you really do not remake a Christmas film especially when it has the exact same bloody script! I am not criticising the script (the script is fantastic), but there was just nothing new or different about this and the fact that the makers don't even try to.


There are many Christmas films that certainly increase one's excitement and enthusiasm about Christmas but this (unlike the original version) lacked the Christmas spirit which I guess is something that quite a few other Christmas films lack as well. As predicted, the remake perhaps looked more of a fantasy film than the original because it is filmed in colour and there would be better costume design, art direction and cinematography but it is mostly a non-fantasy film and just a drama about Christmas. This lacked a soul and the spirit as I said which is more important in a film than the production side of things. I mean, yeah they are still important but they clearly are not as important.


A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" about Santa a long time ago, so Susan doesn't expect to receive the most important gifts on her Christmas list. But after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in.


Elizabeth Perkins, you out to be ashamed of yourself! Your performance was just lousy and it was like you bitch-slapped Maureen O'Hara right across the face! Richard Attenborough may be a great director and actor and he was good in this as Kris Kringle but I'm afraid, Edmund Gwenn's performance as Kris Kringle is 10 times better! What Attenborough lacked was the friendliness and gentle attitude towards children when as Santa Claus but despite that, he still did a fairly decent job. Mara Wilson rose into fame after Mrs. Doubtfire one year before and she stars in another family film that she is well-known for. I did like her acting as Susan Walker perhaps even more than Natalie Wood in the original version so that is literally the only thing where the remake is better than the original.


Until now, I had not even heard of a director called 'Les Meyfield' and I have seen many many films in my time so that goes to show how great and popular he is.. NOT! This is perhaps something like the Psycho remake because of the same script and all but at least there was a slight change of direction admittedly. Personally, I think the only three differences are different director for this remake, different actors and actresses and filmed in colour. Well, they are actually the three obvious differences, to be honest. As stated in the review of the original film, the screenplay is absolutely amazing! So that is one of two strong points about the Miracle On 34th Street remake.


Overall, Miracle On 34th Street is, in all honesty, a rather weak remake of such a great classic! Admittedly, this film does have some good points but there is nothing majorly special about this and I just cannot find the enthusiasm to watch this during the Christmas season. It is as simple as this: you really don't remake a classic because you will just fail every time! Bottom line.

I have been meaning to see Miracle on 34th Street for a long time but the list of films to see was and still is endless but when I noticed that it was on TV, I decided to watch it especially when it was only a couple of days until Christmas. I realised that I needed to see the original film first seeing as that obviously earned better responses and reviews than the remake did. Plus, I have had friends and family who have recommended it and said that it is a Christmas treasure and it certainly was! This is probably the most underrated Christmas film publically but it rightfully deserved the award nominations it got such as Best Picture 1947 and won Best Supporting Actor (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing Original Story and Best Writing Screenplay.


There are probably loads of people out there who call Miracle On 34th Street a fantasy film because it involves Santa Claus but I wouldn't call it fantasy because it doesn't involve fictional creatures like in Christmas films like Elf, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Santa Clause trilogy but it just involves an old man in a Santa's outfit who claims to be Santa so there is nothing fantasy about that and there is no involvement of mythical creatures or objects. Despite the fact I really liked Miracle On 34th Street, I did find there was actually one very crucial flaw. No, not what was based within the film but the outcome of how people would think about the film. The film is about Santa Claus and it questions his existence and everyone is doubting it, right? Well, it is a children's film and no normal sane child would grow up believing in Santa Claus as a child so I think if children watched this as a child, it ruins the belief of Santa's existence seeing as the characters in the film speak of Santa doesn't exist and saying that this friendly old man is insane for claiming that he's not Santa and that Santa is just a myth. So it does effect its target audience so, to be honest, I am pretty damn glad I never saw this as a child and didn't see it until Christmas 2010 when I know Santa doesn't exist. Well, I have known that for years anyway.


At the Macy's Department Store Thanksgiving Day parade, the actor playing Santa is discovered to be drunk by a whiskered old man. Doris Walker, the no nonsense special events director, persuades the old man to take his place. The old man proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to be the store Santa at the main Macy's outlet. While he is successful, Ms. Walker learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Despite reassurances by Kringle's doctor that he is harmless, Doris still has misgivings, especially when she has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan, to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. And yet, people, especially Susan, begin to notice there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris finds himself held at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberates fails a mental examination to ensure his commitment. All seems lost until Doris' friend, Fred Gaily, reassure Kris of his worth and agrees to represent him in the fight to secure his release. To achieve that, Fred arranges a formal hearing in which he argues that Kris is sane because he is in fact Santa Claus. What ensues is a bizarre hearing in which people's beliefs are re-examined and put to the test, but even so, it's going to take a miracle for Kris to win.


Maureen O'Hara was absolutely fantastic as Doris Walker. She is one of those people who will not stand for any of this Santa and excitable children business about Christmas and she fears it'll rot her daughter Susan's mind about believing and getting over-excited about someone who really does not exist. I guess many could say that Doris is to start with like a female Ebenezer Scrooge (leading character in Charles Dickens's classic Christmas novel A Christmas Carol) or another Mr. Potter from It's A Wonderful Life but when Kris begins to slightly prove that he is the real Santa, then she slightly changes her mind about him. O'Hara originally turned down the role as she returned home to Ireland but when she read the script, she immediately changed her mind and went back to America. John Payne was pretty good as Fred Gailey. Fred is the babysitter of Doris's 6-year-old daughter Susan aswell as an attorney and a neighbour of theirs. Edmund Gwenn was absolutely outstanding as Kris Kringle! He really is exactly what kids around the world would imagine Santa to be like regarding both appearance and personality. He totally deserved that Academy Award and I would say that it is perhaps one of my favourite supporting male performances of all time. Natalie Wood was a child star in this before she rose into fame and despite being a child; it is definitely one of the best child performances that I have seen in a long time.


George Seaton wasn't only the director of Miracle On 34th Street but he was also the screenwriter of it too. The remake of this film has the exact same script so I guess, he was part of that remake as well. Anyway, as for how he did in the original version, I think he was a great director and did a great job of it but because of that crucial flaw I mentioned that wasn't in the film but the outcome that might have rocked it a little bit. If not Seaton, I would have liked a director like Frank Capra, Robert Wise or Victor Fleming to have made it instead even though Seaton was a great director choice. His screenplay was touching and despite we obviously know it is a kids film and it is a Christmas film, we can easily feel the magic of the Christmas season.


Overall, Miracle On 34th Street is a fantastic Christmas film that I will watch every year before Christmas (like It's A Wonderful Life, The Nightmare Before Christmas, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Love Actually). Despite that one flaw I mentioned previously in the review, it is something that I did really enjoy and would recommend as a great Christmas film and one of the best films of the 1940s.

Over the years, there have been war films based on different wars that either feature real-life characters or fictional characters. Saving Private Ryan is one that is a combination of both; characters are fictional but the invasion of Normandy itself is true. Also, there are films set during a war that features normal people not in combat but there are others set during a war where there are soldiers in combat. In all honesty, Saving Private Ryan is the absolute masterpiece of them all and there are many reasons for this. The action scenes were filmed and directed literally perfect, the opening action scene on Omaha Beach is quite possibly one of the most powerful openings in cinema history, it is directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg with the great Tom Hanks in the leading role and it takes us into great depth with war. We see the horror of war and the ugliness that people have to kill each other for what is right whatever the cost, the determination, courage and bravery that the Allies (especially British, Americans, French and Soviet Unions) had. It also showed that there is still beauty in the world and there was a bit of beauty shown during World War II because the soldiers bond, make friends and share their thoughts on life, family etc.


I would call Saving Private Ryan an unusually artistic film in a lot of ways because the background settings were so fantastic and the cinematography was breathtaking. Most artistic scenes were scenes with the sunset/sunrise and a soldier in front of the camera looking all-black like a shadow. I would also call Saving Private Ryan a road film because these 8 soldiers are hiking across France to just search for one man and it is indeed an intense, brutal and quite emotional journey. I mean, a lot of action films are overloaded with meaningless explosions (Transformers 1 and 2 for example) but Saving Private Ryan does have a lot of explosions but it is epic! The action, the story, the characters, EVERYTHING! Saving Private Ryan won 5 Academy Awards: Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound and was nominated for Best Picture 1998, Best Leading Actor (Tom Hanks), Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Make-Up and Best Original Score.


Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother.


You may find the plot is very basic but it goes a lot deeper than a group of men searching for one man and to be honest, there aren't many war films with quite a simple dialogue. First of all, I must point out that the ensemble cast is just incredible and gladly Tom Hanks who is one of my favourite actors is in the leading role! His performance as Captain John H. Miller was just brilliant and can be added to his best performances list and maybe even the best leading performance in a war film. What I loved about Captain Miller's character wasn't only that because he was a brave leader with a big heart but also because he was before he fought in the war a school teacher and that is brave. Also, despite the entire war isn't completely in his hands, he still has hope for him and his men to find Ryan and get their justice to go home. Matt Damon was in the early stages of his career and already earned a Best Leading Actor Oscar nomination for Good Will Hunting as well as a Best Original Screenplay Oscar win which he shared with Ben Affleck and unfortunately, his acting wasn't that awesome for such a crucial and important character in the film. I mean, he was decent but could have been a lot better.


Steven Spielberg has always been a director of making blockbusters all part of different genres and he has made history with Saving Private Ryan in this case by this becoming the first blockbuster war film. It is now his time to make a war film and gladly Saving Private Ryan was the one he chose to make. As many times as I have seen this film, I still can't believe how brilliantly Spielberg directed the opening beach scene and the final action scene where Miller and his men eventually find Private Ryan. In a lot of ways, I would call Saving Private Ryan a tribute from Steven Spielberg to all of the Allies and innocent civilians who lost their lives during both World Wars. The script really impressed me especially the beach scene at the start. I mean, it must have been really hard to write a scene like that which controls the actions of a character and what they say and how they must say it so that is another way where Spielberg's direction was flawless.


Overall, Saving Private Ryan is a landmark of cinema that, in my view, felt almost completely real from the beginning to the end. Steven Spielberg has created another masterpiece that can be added alongside Jaws, Schindler's List, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and the Indiana Jones franchise on the greatest works from Spielberg. It is definitely one of Tom Hanks's best roles as well and always will be. One of the greatest war films ever as well as one of the best films of all time.

Ever since I saw the trailer, I literally became addicted to this film and repeatedly watched the trailer to build up to the hype of seeing the film despite knowing that I might be disappointed by it. However, when I watched it, I was blown away by it due to its beautiful production, its beauty and heartbreak and even the comedy within. I won't only remember the first time I watched it but I will also remember when I watched it for the first time. I saw it in the first 2 ½ hours of 2009 so that makes the film even more special. I think what is so extraordinary about The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is that as we enter Benjamin's life and watch him grow up there is a background of gold and everyone else looking younger than he is when he is really younger but as it gradually gets to the end when Benjamin physically becomes a child but is really a pensioner, we see another new background and it feels like that they are split into two different films when they are really together. In shorter words: like seeing the old days at the start during World War I and World War II with clothings, neighbourhoods and attitudes but seeing modern day life like today as the film progresses.


I think mainly why The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is so awesome is because it is depressing throughout the whole 166 minute duration of the film and it makes it more tragic so therefore it is more powerful and is going to keep a firm hold on the audience. I mean, a lot of people would say that this is a very daft story seeing as it is about a man who ages backwards but as the film progresses and Benjamin gets younger, you begin to realise just how clever this film really is despite the plot being so basic and can be explained in one single sentence. The cinematography was just fantastic! That is another thing about it: it is a film of both dark and beautiful art. It was robbed by Slumdog Millionaire with the Academy Award. The art direction was just fantastic as well and made the audience sink into the film and stick with it all the way through. The make-up was fantastic obviously. Probably the most impressive make-up I have seen on a film. Visual effects were stunning too especially on Brad Pitt as child-pensioner Benjamin.


Time and time again, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button has been compared as like a cousin so to speak to both Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump and Tim Burton's Big Fish and that it is 'the Forrest Gump of the noughties' and, to be perfectly honest, I really can see why and how all three are similar. Forrest, Benjamin and Edward tell their life stories with the adventures they experience and their love lives as well. Also, they are unsure about what they want out of life but they live their lives anyway and just see what happens in them. The film received 13 Academy Award nominations and it is one of the three films to have been nominated for the most Academy Awards in one year without winning Best Picture (others are Mary Poppins in 1964, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? in 1966 and The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring in 2001).


Hurricane Katrina is hitting New Orleans and Daisy is on her deathbed in a local hospital with her daughter Caroline by her side. Daisy requests Caroline get out a diary for her to read and it is the story of her life-long friend Benjamin Button. As Caroline reads the diary to Daisy, her voice begins to change to Benjamin's voice. The story of Benjamin begins on the night World War I ended and follows a man named Thomas Button trying to get back home as quickly as possible because his wife is giving birth. When she passes away in childbirth, Thomas looks at the baby in horror and takes him out into the streets and abandons him outside a senior's home and is raised in a nice warm place by a young black woman called Queenie who happens to be the caregiver at the home. A doctor who was there told Queenie that Benjamin's body is failing him before his life has begun so therefore he is going to die soon. As Benjamin grows up into his teenage years but still looking in his early 70s, he meets Daisy who is just a little girl at the time and almost instantly falls in love with her. Her grandmother is a pensioner who lives at the home. As he begins to grow, he begins to realise that he is in fact getting younger so he heads to sea during World War II but that leads him away from Daisy. Despite this, they keep in contact throughout their lives and the tables begin to turn and begin to get more depressing. Julia Ormond's performance as Caroline is very underrated. Again, like with Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson, Ormond is playing the daughter of Cate Blanchett's character Daisy and in real-life Julia Ormond is older than Cate Blanchett by


I was surprised by Brad Pitt's performance as Benjamin Button. Brad is usually seen as this tough hunky guy playing criminals, gang leaders, heart-throbs or cops but Benjamin bought out something in Brad that we hadn't seen before. He was absolutely fantastic and he certainly proved in this one that Benjamin really is his very own character and there will never be another film made like this again. Despite that Benjamin was narrating the story, every single time that Brad was on screen, there was always either visual effects or make-up added. I was impressed with Brad's child-pensioner Benjamin voice before he went to war in his teen years. Brad totally deserved the Best Leading Actor Academy Award but I feel he should have won it because not only was the character a breakthrough in cinema but it was also a breakthrough for the actor playing him and the performance itself. Cate Blanchett was fantastic as Daisy! Not only did Daisy and Benjamin make a great couple despite their differences but so did Brad and Cate and I really wish that Cate would keep her hair red because I think she looks absolutely gorgeous with that coloured hair. She was robbed of an Academy Award nomination so that was another crucial mistake from the Academy that year. Taraji P. Henson was really good as Queenie. This is weird but she is playing Queenie who is older than Benjamin seeing as she is his foster mother but Brad Pitt is 7 years older than Taraji P. Henson.


After a career of directing films based on crime and mystery, David Fincher goes somewhere different this time. Not only does the audience go on an extraordinary new adventure but so does the director Fincher doing it seeing as it is perhaps the first drama he has done. Also, the first fantasy film he has done as well. As far as how well he worked on it, I think it was absolutely fantastic direction! He probably did have a lot on his shoulders because viewers would be expecting something extraordinary and new that we hadn't seen before. Fincher, you have given us your masterpiece and unfortunately you didn't receive Best Director or Best Picture for the film itself but I think he'll win Best Director and Best Picture for The Social Network this year anyway. Eric Roth is another reason why Curious Case Of Benjamin Button has its similarities with Forrest Gump because he wrote the scripts for both of these films. His scripts are just fantastic and he is one of my favourite screenwriters.


Overall, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is a personal favourite of mine that will stick with me throughout the rest of my life. It is probably the most emotional and tear-jerking film I have ever watched and I can't see how people can watch it without crying. This will probably always remain as my favourite David Fincher film and Brad Pitt performance. One of Cate Blanchett's best as well. If you're looking to go on a journey beyond any other than you will ever see, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is the one you are looking for. It is pretty much a perfect film for me.

Quite frankly, at first I had no idea what to expect with Black Swan apart from a flawless performance from Natalie Portman and that she is a ballet dancer. After the great critical acclaim it has received by reviews and has by awards so far, I really needed to see this! When I watched it, I was blown away by it completely and I loved literally every second of it. There were some moments that really surprised me and wasn't expecting in the slightest which I won't reveal. Many who would watch Black Swan would say that is partly like a fantasy film but, to be perfectly honest, I really isn't. It's just a psychological thriller that is like a 'mind-fuck film' so to speak and that is exactly what it did to me. Without revealing anything, that is the main thing that surprised me the most; with how disturbing it was but then again, I love disturbing films seeing as they are the most powerful films one could possibly make. The ending was pretty damn powerful as well. I think that this is mildly similar to David Fincher's Fight Club but features women more than men.


As far as production, I was really impressed with the construction of cinematography, art direction, costume design and make-up. The opening segment with the dancing is probably one of the best opening scenes in a film that I think I have ever seen for 3 reasons: Natalie Portman's ballet dancing was awesome, the cinematography was fantastic with flawless lighting and the way the camera was moving around was fantastic too with solid direction. Black Swan needs to earn many Oscar nominations and wins for me but the one that it really needs to win regarding production is Best Cinematography because the cinematography was just magic and my jaws dropped literally.


Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily, who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.


Natalie Portman, you have always given a great performance to me but Black Swan is your absolute BEST and you so greatly deserve an Oscar for it even though you're long over-due for one anyway and should have won for Closer. I will literally hit the roof if she doesn't win the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. Well, she's the favourite and it is almost like a sealed win for her anyway. I don't only deeply admire Natalie's performance in Black Swan, but I also really admire her preparation for the role. She learned ballet and trained for months with co-star Mila Kunis so inspiring and strong determination for the role regarding training for the character plus a great performance should equal an Academy Award. She goes on my list for Best Female Performances alongside her performance in Closer. I also really liked Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy. His penetrating of Nina by seducing her and asking her about her sex life made it even more disturbing and added the innocence to Nina's personality. I am surprised that Cassel isn't a contender for Best Supporting Actor. No, he wasn't quite good enough for a nomination but he wasn't that far off for me. Mila Kunis was brilliant as well as Lily. She is an enemy of Nina's seeing as she is the Black Swan and Lily is the White Swan who works for the same ballet company. They both bond in friendship but there is one scene that features both of them that I really enjoyed but was surprised about. She deserves a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination but perhaps not the favourite to win it.


After watching this, I am not surprised that Darren Aronofsky chose to direct this because it really is his kind of film (excluding the ballet) because it is dark and its psychologically disturbing which is something that is pretty much every single film Aronofsky has ever done (except The Wrestler in 2008). I never was a great admirer of his at the start before Black Swan was made but now I really like him and I hope he continues to make more masterpieces like this. One thing I was pretty damn impressed with was that during the scenes in the studio with Nina dancing and there are the mirrors all around her, I didn't notice one blooper where you could see the reflection of the camera, a crew member, whatever and the camera was moving so quickly! The script was absolutely fantastic! There was some very slight black-comedy added into this film that was quite vulgar sexually but sometimes dark humour like that can be pretty funny at times. Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin (don't mistake him for the 9/11 survivor) all merged together to write a script that, in my opinion, deserves to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (after Toy Story 3, of course).


Overall, Black Swan is an absolutely amazing film that I loved from shot #1 to the very last. It is definitely one of the most powerful and psychologically disturbing drama-thrillers that I have ever watched. It is definitely one of the best films of 2010 after Toy Story 3 (which won't be de-throned on that list). Natalie Portman gives the performance that we have all been waiting for like Darren Aronofsky has as well. Well, for me anyway. If you are just expecting Natalie Portman doing ballet dancing, you are blind! This film goes a lot deeper than just ballet dancing! It isn't just a masterpiece in general but it is also a masterpiece of fine art.

After the giant success 3 years before which was Toy Story, expectations was incredibly high for A Bug's Life. Admittedly, no it didn't reach up to Toy Story's level but my oh my! It wasn't that far from it. I absolutely loved it when I first saw it as a child and I have grown up with this one and still love it now. This perhaps rivalled with Antz in 1998 seeing as they were both released in the same year and are very similar films but I think that A Bug's Life easily blows it away! In A Bug's Life, we are like swept away into a world that isn't only smaller than ours but also shows the way bugs make their living as well and what they do to survive so it is perhaps a lesson too.


It wasn't until I really started to watch films like classics that I realised A Bug's Life is a loose animated remake version of the classic Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai and its remake The Magnificent Seven by John Sturges. Obviously, there are massive differences such as characters, the themes and the backgrounds they are set in and the fact the two older ones involve humans and A Bug's Life involves... well, bugs. Strong similarities are the plot itself with ants in trouble due to a group of grasshoppers and try to find soldiers to defend themselves. If there is a message that A Bug's Life brings out, it is a message about bullying. Bullying should never happen and if someone is being bullied, they should stand up and fight against the bullies; which is what the ants did against the grasshoppers in this film.


Set on a hot summers day on Ant Island (what they like to call it) where ants are pulling food off crops and are taking them to a pile of other food that isn't for them. It is for the grasshoppers. When they see that the grasshoppers are coming, they all hide in the Ant Hill but it doesn't become that simple for them. Flik, a friendly but rather clumsy ant accidentally breaks the stand where the food is and tips it over a cliff into the water. Grasshopper gang leader Hooper and the rest of his gang are angry at this but they give the ants one more chance but Flik doesn't get away with it that easily. However, instead of being sentenced to one month digging in the tunnels, he leaves Ant Island to find some stronger and bigger bugs to fight off Hopper and his gang (he had to persuade the Queen and Princess Atta first). We clearly see that these bugs Flik finds aren't soldiers. They are almost like the exact opposite: like clowns in a circus. Flik responds in shock when he finds out but what will happen with the rest of the Ant colony find out and what will happen with the grasshoppers after this?


Every single character involved is just brilliant! Flik, the main character in the film, is a rather clumsy and unlucky ant who always makes mistakes and messes things up for himself and the colony but despite this, he is an ant with a big heart who is always well-intentioned but as I said, is never lucky. Fighting off Hopper and the rest of the grasshoppers is his best chance at proving himself wrong to the rest of the colony that he does do things right but throughout what we see during the film, he doesn't exactly help himself at the best of times. Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey provides the voice of Hopper and what a great performance it was! I thought that he was perhaps the best choice for that character because he is a possessive and cold-hearted creature which is what Kevin Spacey is really good at by previously being in The Usual Suspects and Seven. I did like Princess Atta's character but she did get on my nerves a little bit at times and, quite frankly, the acting from Julia Louis-Dreyfus wasn't brilliant either, I don't think. Dot is just so cute! She is like Flik in a lot of ways but she wants to be able to fly whereas Flik just wants a bit of luck in his life. I love all 9 circus bugs so I cannot choose a specific favourite. All of their characters were well developed and I hope to see them again in a sequel or prequel in the future.


Direction is another among the list of other reasons why Pixar haven't failed. It was really well handled and the pacing of the film was quite suspenseful at times and it was almost like it was calm and rising up to explode into something crucial and when that was over, it would sink and begin to fill up again. No, this isn't a thriller, obviously, but there are some segments in A Bug's Life that do prove that. It also showed quite a bit of violence as well and a slight involvement of death too (like The Incredibles does a bit). Pixar always take us away on different adventures that feature different things and people (even Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 do that. It is like they all have different themes but you can almost instantly feel that it is by that specific animation studio because of the comedy used, the drama and also some of the animation especially on the humans. Another flawless thing about Pixar is their scripts. A Bug's Life was full of fantastic jokes, some memorable quotes and some that are quite moving too.


Overall, A Bug's Life is a beautifully artistic, creative and extraordinary family animated film that is perhaps is the most underrated film from Pixar. I mean, no it isn't officially a remake of Seven Samurai like The Magnificent Seven but pretty much the whole story is based on it so I would call it a remake, personally, despite it is animation. One of Pixar's finest accomplishments! Actually, I take that back because every single Pixar film is an accomplishment so they are no failures. Loved this throughout childhood and still love it now and always will.

Beauty And The Beast was released in a time where Walt Disney Animation Studios were in a phase of a breakthrough despite the death of Walt Disney. The Little Mermaid became a huge success in 1989 and Beauty And The Beast is another great success that has been added to the list of great Disney Classics. This one has received the strongest positive response regarding awards than any Disney animated film (until Up was released). It became the first ever animated film to have been nominated for Best Picture and it won 2 other Academy Awards: Best Song for 'Beauty And The Beast' and Best Original Score (which doesn't surprise me, quite frankly).


Beauty And The Beast bought out in the Disney industry the enchantment and the beauty that they perhaps never thought they'd see again after Walt's passing despite that most of the films between Walt's death and The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast were still very good. They just didn't live up to the level of imagination, charm and magic within it like pretty much all the Disney Renaissances did. The way Beauty And The Beast is filled with so much magic is that there are almost like two different worlds that merge together: the normal village in France with normal people and on the other side, a Beast (a former prince) inside a castle with a moving and talking candlestick, clock, teapot, teacup and others for servants who were humans and are under a spell like the Beast is.


A prince is transformed into a beast by an enchantress as punishment for his cold-hearted attitude and that 'she had seen there is no love in his heart'. She gave him an enchanted rose and if the Beast could love another and earn her love back then the spell would break but if all of the petals fell off, the Beast would remain that way forever. Meanwhile, a young girl named Belle is left alone after her father Maurice heads off to a fair and gets lost in the woods and ends up at the Beast's castle. While home alone, she tries to avoid the clutches of the desperate Gaston who seeks to marry her because 'she is the prettiest girl in town and he deserves the best' and he goes to deep measures to try and make Belle his wife. Maurice's horse returns to Belle and leads her to the Beast's castle where her father is held prisoner and when Beast meets Belle and keeps her captive there instead, everything begins to change and Belle discovers that there is a good man within the Beast that hasn't been discovered before.


Belle is just an absolutely beautiful woman for a cartoon character and the character in general is so powerful hence why I would say that Belle is my favourite Disney Princess. Even a cartoon character has more sense on what's more important about someone than most women in the world nowadays. I think perhaps Beast was quite an eerie character to add in a Disney animated kids film because he is both disfiguring and scary but despite this, they still managed to make him disfiguring to add the drama but also scary to make the audience get more to grips with his character. Gaston is a perfect example of a lot of the men in the world: arrogant, self-absorbed and selfish who think they can just get what they want but not every one has a good physique like Gaston does. Well, for an animation anyway. Lefou is a great character for me because he mysteriously sticks with Gaston even though Gaston treats him like crap (bit like Mr. Smee and Captain Hook) so I guess that goes to show that Lefou is really thick and that Gaston is quite a powerful force over some of the people in that French town. I love all the characters in the castle but I have to say that my favourite character is Lumiere.


Both Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise as co-directors isn't only their first time directing a feature film together but also a feature film that both have directed in general for the first time so I would say that this goes on the list of the greatest directorial debuts list for both of them because they rightfully deserve it. They both did a fantastic job on The Hunchback Of Notre Dame as well. The screenplay was fantastic! I love how they had the prologue of the Beast and the spell he is under at the start and then the film really begins. Personally, I think what makes a film instantly epic is if there is a prologue at the start with solid music and with strong screenplay. I have to say that the script for this film was just fantastic! I think the most crucial point about this film is the message is sends out: no matter how beautiful one really is, it is more about a person for who they are as a person than what a person looks like. I mean, is better loving someone who's ugly with a strong and nice personality than handsome and an evil bastard. It is just a shame that there aren't many people around nowadays who do appreciate that fact.


Overall, Beauty And The Beast is an absolutely beautiful masterpiece that I fell in love with from when I first saw it and still love it now. It is definitely one of Disney's best animated films ever and it deserves to be. It is also one of those films that almost made me cry but failed to do so. I would still call it a tearjerker. Beauty And The Beast was released on the year I was born so that is another reason why I love it. You have no heart if you decide not to watch this! By the way, if any of you have a blu-ray player, go and get it because you enter a world beyond this one while watching it. Highly recommend both the blu-ray and the film.

I almost saw Tron Legacy at the cinema without any knowledge that it was a sequel to this film and that night, I decided to watch it. I did enjoy it but I did not find it amazing. I mean, a lot of people nowadays wouldn't watch it because the effects aren't like Avatar, District 9 or anything else and some would find it cheesy. Me, on the other hand, didn't find it cheesy. I thought the effects were fantastic for its time and they were really good in comparison to films nowadays. It is like a mixture between Fantastic Voyage, Blade Runner and Star Trek: The Motion Picture so clearly there is a lot of action and adventure, stunning effects and also a lot of suspense too. Disney's involvement of this film made it even more magical than it already was and I am glad that they produced the 2010 sequel too.


Hacker/arcade owner Kevin Flynn is digitally broken down into a data stream by a villainous software pirate known as the Master Control and reconstituted into the internal, 3-D graphical world of computers. It is there, in the ultimate blazingly colourful, geometrically intense landscapes of cyberspace, that Flynn joins forces with Tron to outmanoeuvre the Master Control program that holds them captive in the equivalent of a gigantic, infinitely challenging computer game.


Tron was the first film I experienced with a younger Jeff Bridges so was rather weird seeing him younger. As far as his performance as Kevin Flynn/Clu is concerned, it was brilliant! Then again, when is he not brilliant? I'll be looking forward to seeing him in the sequel. I liked Bruce Boxleitner as well as Alan Bradley/Tron and will be looking forward to seeing him in the sequel too.


Steven Lisberger perhaps had a lot on his shoulders as director because many were expecting stunning effects with intense action, solid acting and a good script but I think it was a wise choice to make him director of the film as well as writer. He did a good job and handled the scenes inside the program and outside the program pretty well. In many ways, it takes an absolute genius to write a screenplay alone based on one's own creation, Lisberger can be added to that list because he did a good job of the script and there wasn't really anything cheesy about the way it was written at all. He managed to keep the pace of it at normal so it didn't feel rushed and it wasn't slow so that's good. Tron was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Costume Design and Best Sound but I think it should have won both. Plus, it should have won Best Visual Effects in 1982 over E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, let alone be nominated for it.


Overall, Tron is a fun action-packed thrill ride that I did enjoy and perhaps would watch again in the future. It is an underrated film but not one of the best science-fiction films I have watched. It was still a fun piece of entertainment that was worth watching and that I would recommend to others only for the fun of it.

After loving The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and disappointed by Prince Caspian, expectations were both high and low for the third instalment in the Narnia franchise. As stated in the other two reviews of the Narnia films I have done, the two older Pevensie children aren't in it so that is one thing that made it better than the first two films but where I don't think it was better than the first one was because it felt quite rushed. I mean, it perhaps needed to be a bit more precise because this felt rushed and admittedly, its two predecessors were quite slow so all three lose in that case. For the third time in a row, we see another different Narnia where we experience different adventures and meet new characters. Unusually, this didn't feel like Narnia seeing as pretty much every character was human and I think there was only like three Narnian creatures within: the mouse Reepicheep, the minotaur aboard the Dawn Treader and, of course, the great lion and the highest of all the Kings of Narnia: Aslan. The Pevensie's enter Narnia three different times in all three films: through the wardrobe in the spare room and entered a forest in the snow which was optional in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, the London Underground was collapsing and a train past them and they saw Narnia on a beach in Prince Caspian and through a painting of a ship in a bedroom and each time we experience a different adventure.


Disney not part of it is perhaps the main reason why I wasn't sure what to make of this one because they produced The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian but then again, at least another fantastic studio: 20th Century Fox took their place. Yeah, they made the film more adult but I couldn't quite feel the magic (like I couldn't in Prince Caspian) which is another flaw that this film has. I mean, yeah, I appreciate that the stories take us on different stories about Narnia in different areas but at least make it feel like it is still the same place that we have seen before! As far as the making of Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, it was really well filmed especially the scenes on the Voyage Treader. The effects are absolutely fantastic as predicted! They used the same water tank that was used in Titanic and Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World for filming the Dawn Treader and water scenes. The make-up was splendid also and the art direction was different to what has been seen in the two previous films but still brilliant! The way the Dawn Treader was constructed was just incredible and it did look really good on-set.


With Peter and Susan now too old to enter Narnia and are away elsewhere (Peter is studying with Professor Kirke and Susan is in America with her parents) so it is now the last time we will see Lucy and Edmund Pevensie in Narnia. They aren't alone, however. They are transported into Narnia with their cousin Eustace. Before this happens, Lucy and Edmund are staying with their aunt and uncle Harold and Alberta and cousin Eustace. In the house, Lucy and Edmund notice a painting in Lucy's room and they discuss Narnia but Eustace overhears and starts teasing them about their 'secret country'. They realise that water is leaking out of the painting and as more of the water comes out, it gradually begins to flood the room and out of nowhere, they are underwater in the middle of the ocean. Luckily, they are found by Prince Caspian and his crew and they aboard the Dawn Treader and go on a new but darker adventure.


Georgie Henley was just a little girl in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, she changed a lot in Prince Caspian but in Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, she is now almost like a grown woman. Her performance as Lucy Pevensie was brilliant once again so that has made is a successful trilogy for her and her character a success. Shame she's not in anymore of the Narnia films that we will see but she's still done very well. Skandar Keynes was great as Edmund Pevensie! Better in this than Prince Caspian but still really like his performance in Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Shame we won't see him anymore either after this but it has still been an incredible experience watching them both on-screen. Hope they both stick around and be part of more films. Will Poulter actually really surprised me as Eustace! He really made me laugh and his character was actually really strong! At first, Eustace really is one of those kids where you only have to flick on the arm before he cries and where you just want to beat the living hell out of him but after an event that occurs whilst in Narnia, that all changes. I'll be glad to see him return in The Silver Chair. Well, if Poulter is still cast as Eustace anyway. Ben Barnes wasn't that bad this time which really surprised me and he did make Caspian a good king. I think I preferred him this time seeing as he used a British accent than the Spanish accent which was used in Prince Caspian.


Michael Apted become director replacement over Andrew Adamson who directed the first two films so that was another change as well as the studio change. Despite that, he did a good job and in some ways, better than Adamson did; mostly because the action scenes were better filmed in this one than the two predecessors. As stated previously, the filming on the Dawn Treader ship were impressive and was similar to filming from Peter Weir in Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World and Gore Verbinski in the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy. The script was good and I have to say that out of the three Chronicles Of Narnia novels that I have read, this is the film out of three that have been released thus far that stays loyal to the book.


Overall, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is a good third instalment in the Narnia film franchise that I did enjoy despite the flaws that it had. I preferred this over The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian but didn't like as much as The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. It isn't one of the best films of 2010 but it is one of the most entertaining and one of the best cinema experiences you'll see out of the films released in 2010. I'll be looking forward to The Silver Chair's release.

Quite frankly, despite it being a Pixar Animation Studios film and being a big fan of them, I really had almost no idea what to expect out of this one except a visually impressive and quite a dark adventure. That is exactly what we got but I think with WALL-E, we perhaps got something a little deeper than we have got with any other Pixar film to date (at the time of its release anyway). What I mean by this is that we got a deeper understanding for the world, the Universe, what the future could bring and also for the WALL-E character as well. It had a very strong critical response and it has been named by many critics as 'Pixar's greatest film; even greater than Toy Story'. I am sorry but me on the other hand has to disagree. I mean, yeah WALL-E is a great film to watch and is another fine accomplishment from Pixar but it definitely isn't one of their ultimate ones for me like Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Up and Monsters Inc. are for me.


WALL-E takes us on a journey beyond any other than we've ever experienced. Despite it is quite a dark story and is perhaps the most complex Pixar to date (even though it isn't very complex at all, just the most out of all 11 that have been released so far) but there are a lot of child-friendly and beautiful moments as well such as the beautiful settings and the romance between WALL-E and EVE. Another very good thing about WALL-E is that it expands on the audience's imagination by making us want to thing that there is a giant space ship like that and it is as fun as it looks but it sort of shows the horror as well by showing us what the world could be like in the future either if we damage it too much or what it would be like without the human race in general. The film does have its funny moments but I wouldn't really call it hilarious (like Ratatouille, to be honest). Understandably, Pixar wanted to make something slightly different than anything else they have done but they still managed to stick with what they can do so that's good. You can identify this as a Pixar film despite how different it is to some of the others.


The year is 2700, and planet Earth has long been uninhabitable. For hundreds of years, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), a little robot has been taking out the trash, and collecting precious knick-knacks in order to stave off the boredom of his dreary routine. Little does WALL-E realize that he has recently stumbled onto a secret that could save planet Earth, and once again make the ravaged planet safe for all humankind. When highly advanced search robot EVE lands on Earth to inspect any life on the planet, she meets WALL-E and soon enough become friends but he is looking for something more. However, when her ship returns, But after centuries alone in space, WALL-E can't stand the thought of losing the only friend he's ever known, and eagerly holds onto the ship and follows her into the deepest reaches of space on the adventure of a lifetime. Along the way, the friendly trash-collecting robot who has always known what he was made for gradually begins to understand what he was meant for.


I'll tell you something: you could almost instantly fall in love with WALL-E. He resembles a lot of E.T from Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial such as voice, the confusion he feels and even the curiosity of things in the world but there are some differences as well: E.T is an alien and WALL-E is a robot, they both experience different adventures. In fact, it is almost like the opposite: WALL-E is from Earth and he goes on a space adventure and E.T is from another planet in space and he goes on an adventure on Earth. So in many ways, I guess you could say that WALL-E is the noughties of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. I loved EVE's character too! She made me laugh and despite that she doesn't really talk very much (and neither does WALL-E, really), the bond between them was so powerful and you just felt that they were meant to be together. The captain of the ship was really good as well. His character was really well developed too. He is a lazy guy but he is doing the worst job for a lazy guy seeing as he has many responsibilities even though he has got HAL 9000-like speech program Auto to work with.


After Andrew Stanton's gigantically successful previous Pixar film Finding Nemo, people perhaps thought that WALL-E wouldn't receive as much critical acclaim as Finding Nemo but it seems like most people preferred WALL-E even though I cannot fully understand why. Stanton does go for something more adult this time but he does take us on another grand adventure but in a different world. There isn't really that much of a script in WALL-E seeing as there is mostly music involved and visually stunning effects but of what we heard of it, it was fantastic! It deserved Best Animated Picture (even though it was a sealed winner anyway) and it was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song. If there was 10 nominees for Best Picture in 2008, I am pretty sure that it would be nominated for Best Picture as well (not like it wouldn't deserve it).


Overall, WALL-E is another fantastic Pixar film that takes us onto a whole new level of filmmaking as well as a new level of Pixar. Because it is such a brilliant film and I prefer pretty much every Pixar over this except Cars, I cannot call it 'one of the worst' so think the best way I can say it is 'one of my least favourite Pixar films'. Despite this, it must be watched and you are a moron to have missed out on this! Admittedly, it is a little overrated but I still love it. Bravo, Pixar! Keep up the good work.