Reviews by SJMJ91

Wow! Fatal Attraction is indeed a fatal attraction between the actors powerful performances, strong direction and screenplay and the audiences who are watching the film! There were quite a few similarities to this film that I have watched before such as Cape Fear (both original and remake) and the film adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel Misery. It is a story of obsession, desperation and also commitment of how much Dan still wants his family despite the affair and how far Alex is willing to go to get Dan.


Set in New York in the late 1980s. It tells the story of Dan Gallagher who is an attorney for New York who lives with his wife Beth and his six-year-old daughter. Whilst Dan's wife and daughter have gone away for the weekend, he meets Alex Forrest and is almost instantly attracted to her. They begin an affair but when Dan realises that the affair was a mistake, Alex will not be ignored! Not now, not tomorrow, not EVER! So now this is where it becomes dangerous for Dan and his family. How far will Alex go just to be with Dan? Michael Douglas was a fine actor in the 80s! In fact, on the same year of Fatal Attraction's release, he won his first Academy Award but not for this film (was for Wall Street). One thing I must say is when people keep on saying that Alex was the villain all over and attacked the innocent family. I mean, she wouldn't have done what she did in the film if Dan hadn't even begun the affair in the first place so it is partly his fault. Yeah, it was really bad what Alex did and Dan didn't deserve it all but still shouldn't have had the affair with her behind his family's back. Despite the famous films he has been in, I would call Michael Douglas an underrated actor unlike his legendary father Kirk Douglas. Up to 60 actresses were considered for the role of Alex Forrest but Glenn Close was the lucky woman to have won the role (despite without the director's consent). Glenn Close was excellent as Alex Forrest. Her performance in Fatal Attraction did lead to her role as Cruella De Vil in the 101 Dalmatians remake, I believe, seeing as it is that psychotic, stubborn and deadly type! There were some intense moments where Close didn't really scare me or hold tight into my chair but nevertheless she still did a fine job! Yeah, Alex is a villain but I can't believe she is ranked #7 movie villain of all time by the AFI!


Adrian Lyne did direct this film absolutely brilliantly! What I thought of Lyne when he said that Glenn Close was the last person he wanted to play Alex Forrest was 'You fuckin idiot! Goes to show what you know! She was the main reason for the success of the film!' There were 20 directors who were in line to direct Fatal Attractions but all of them passed away from it and let Adrian Lyne direct it instead. It's funny because like the first half of the film, it is like a soppy true love affair but the other half is a psychologically disturbing rollercoaster! It's rare but it still does happen.


Overall, Fatal Attraction is a very powerful, disturbing and intense thriller that gripped me from start to finish and it bound to terrorise audiences worldwide and keep them on the edge of their seats all the way through.

Well, I wasn't that sure of what to expect from this film seeing as Alien Vs. Predator didn't really succeed, Alien vs. Predator 2 DEFINITELY didn't succeed and the second Predator wasn't a huge success either. The trailer caught my attention because I thought it looked an awesome action film and that is what it was! I mean, what I really liked about this one is that it goes somewhere rather new like we'd not seen before but it also goes old school like back to the 80s and the first Predator film. Admittedly, I did get bored in the first 20 minutes but when the attacks and suspenseful came alive, I really got into it!


Eight Earth people – mostly professional soldiers and criminals - are abducted and parachuted into a jungle on an alien world. As they try to co-operate to ensure their survival, an unseen enemy stalks them for sport. Adrien Brody didn't really seem like the actor for a film like this but I thought he actually did a good job! Then again, Adrien Brody has been in an action-thriller film set in the jungle before and that was King Kong by Peter Jackson in 2005. After his role in blockbuster Spider-Man 3, Topher Grace enters himself in a new film of a franchise but this time a completely different character and a different kind of film.


Nimród Antal perhaps had a lot of pressure when working on this film seeing as the first Predator film is such a classic and it is loved all over the world and Predators is mostly considered as a sequel to the first one (like replacing Predator 2). However, despite that I thought he was a good director choice. It felt quite epic during intense action scenes especially around the end. As far as the screenplay, it was a bit flat to start with but it was good half way through and towards the end.


Overall, Predators is an intense thrill-ride that I thought was almost as good as the first original Predator film! It'd be a great film to select on a Saturday night and definitely one of the most entertaining films of the year!

After Nolan's giant success The Dark Knight, I was thrilled to learn that he was doing a sci-fi film with Leonardo DiCaprio as the leading role! However, when the official trailer was released I thought 'this looks about the oddest film I think I'll ever watch but it still looks very interesting.' When I saw this film, I was gripped to it from start to finish and it blew me away completely! Despite it is a sci-fi film, it did in fact tell us some things about dreams that we didn't realise but also some things that we thought 'Ohhhh yeah that's true', you know. I mean, it was bound to be awesome seeing as the ensemble cast is breathtaking as are the special effects and incredible screenplay and direction!


The plot is hard to explain to someone before you've seen the film but when you have seen it, you really understand it. Like the plot reveals itself as you watch it so to speak. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) doesn't steal things, he steals ideas. By projecting himself deep into the subconscious of his targets, he can glean information that even the best computer hackers can't get to. In the world of corporate espionage, Cobb is the ultimate weapon. But even weapons have their weakness, and when Cobb loses everything, he's forced to embark on one final mission in a desperate quest for redemption. This time, Cobb won't be harvesting an idea, but sowing one. Should he and his team of specialists succeed, they will have discovered a new frontier in the art of psychic espionage. They've planned everything to perfection, and they have all the tools to get the job done. Their mission is complicated, however, by the sudden appearance of a malevolent foe that seems to know exactly what they're up to, and precisely how to stop them. Hmmm... I thought at first 'Leonardo DiCaprio in a sci-fi? Good to see him working with Nolan but not sure whether the science fiction genre suits him' but now I take that back! For the second consecutive time in 2010, DiCaprio has portrayed a messed-up confused character about his wife who he is confused about her existence and that it involves children too (previous film I'm on about is Shutter Island). Also, it was a bit weird seeing him in a summer film seeing as I'd not seen him in a summer blockbuster before. I thought he was amazing as Dom Cobb and I do keep thinking he is getting better and better. After Joseph Gordon-Levitt was successful in 500 Days Of Summer, he goes on to succeed once again but this time not only in a science fiction film but in a supporting role behind a very talented actor! He portrays Arthur who is Cobb's work partner, accomplice, side-kick whatever you want to call him. Marion Cotillard was obviously smoking hot in this film like always but her performance was a lot like Michelle Williams' performance in Shutter Island. Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine all deliver good performances too.


Nolan does it again! The man is an absolute genius and creates both something new and goes old school with his own original story. I like to think of Nolan's Inception like Kubrick's 2001. Nolan has proved himself once again that he as a director is a powerful force to be reckoned with. The filming was perfect just like The Dark Knight. To be honest, I would say Nolan is the best living British director. It isn't only the filming and production side of things where Nolan is pretty much always successful in his films but also he likes to have an ensemble cast where he picks the right actors for the right characters. Nolan again shows that he just cannot fail because I have seen every film that he has done and I have really enjoyed every single one so far! I will be damned if Inception doesn't win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects let alone get a nomination for Best Picture 2010, Best Leading Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Editing, Best Film Editing or Best Art Direction.


Overall, Inception is an absolutely AMAZING film that is definitely one of the best films of 2010! I don't think it is a film that you need to fully understand to enjoy because I think you are just instantly gripped by the effects, music, filming and characters pretty quickly. Nolan strikes again!

Same with Pinocchio, Dumbo was made pretty much between the start and the middle of World War II so even making it was a bit of a gamble but despite that, they still went ahead with it and created a film with a fantastic story on friendship, drama and courage that has a powerful message. In a way, Dumbo is like an original film adaptation to The Hunchback Of Notre Dame because they are both based on a character with deformity but who have big hearts too. The Elephant Man is another film that is linked with both of those films. I absolutely love films like them. Dumbo is perhaps the first heartbreaking Disney film that will make you cry with the drama especially in the "Baby Mine song and it is also a very heartwarming and feel-good film that will make you shed a tear with joy whilst you're watching it.


The story follows circus whose animals are expecting new born offspring of their species. There are lions, elephants, hippos, zebras etc. The story starts with a group of female elephants. All of them have had their babies except Mrs. Jumbo. One day, her baby elephant arrives and at first it appears to be a normal baby elephant but after a sudden unexpected sneeze the baby's ears were absolutely enormous. They were almost bigger than his whole body. Instead of a name like "Jumbo Jr." most of the elephants except Mrs. Jumbo decided to call the baby "Dumbo" which is really cold and mean. As Dumbo was growing up in the circus, he began to think that his ears would make his life be nowhere. Dumbo doesn't speak at all but by seeing body language and the way he is I can tell how he feels. That changes when he meets Timothy the Mouse who is not only a companion to Dumbo but also a mentor and a friend. The friendship between them two is a lot like Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio's friendship. Timothy is a very loyal and kind mouse because he sticks with Dumbo every step of the way. There is a tragic moment in the film that becomes very heartbreaking but is beautifully filmed and written. That is during the "Baby Mine" song. That scene is one of the most emotional things that I have ever seen. After this tragedy that happens, Dumbo meets four birds who think that he could fly with his large wings. He attempts it and does it. He goes back to the circus and succeeds. So, Dumbo figures that his ears weren't a disease to him but they were a gift or a blessing.


The film was designed as an economical feature to help generate income for the Disney studio after the financial failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia in 1940. The studio income was negatively impacted due to the war. When Dumbo went into production in 1941, supervising director Ben Sharpsteen was given orders to keep the film simple and inexpensive. As a result, Dumbo lacks the lavish detail of the previous Disney Classics (Fantasia, Pinocchio and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs): character designs are simpler, background paintings are less detailed and a number of held cels (or frames) were used in the character animation.


Overall, Dumbo is a both heartbreaking and heartwarming Disney Classic that will live for eternity! Perhaps not as sophisticated as Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs or Pinocchio but still an awesome classic! It is magical, inspiring and a well-filmed picture that I absolutely love and appreciate for what it is.

101 Dalmatians is an outstanding Disney Classic that I loved as a kid and still do now. This is one of the few Disney Classics that are based in Britain. Only others I can think of are Robin Hood and Peter Pan. This and The Lion King are probably the only Disney Classics that are thrillers. It was tense because we wanted to know what was going to happen especially after the puppies escaped and are trying to get back home. This film is one of the few Disney's too that isn't a fantasy film; well, it is and it isn't. It is because there aren't 101 Dalmatians living together in a house and dogs don't know their way all around London; like normal dogs would just get lost and go anywhere. It isn't a fantasy film because there aren't any imaginative or mythical creatures or atmospheres either. Oh... and this is another Disney Classic that isn't a musical. I mean, yeah there are songs in but they don't flow with the film and the events that are going on like Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Jungle Book etc.


Pongo is a Dalmatian that lives in a London bachelor flat with his owner Roger who is a songwriter. Because of this boring lifestyle Pongo feels, he decides to try and find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. As Pongo was watching female dog and human pairs out of the window, he eventually finds the perfect couple: a young woman called Anita and her female Dalmatian Perdita. As he sees them rush to the park, he immediately gets Roger to take him for a walk into the park so they can meet. Their meeting isn't a pleasant one but when they make each other laugh, both pairs begin to fall in love with each other. Now that they're living all together, Perdita gives birth to 15 Dalmatian puppies and Cruella De Vil pays them a visit and offers to buy all 15 but Roger says they aren't selling any of them! This leads to Cruella hiring Horace and Jasper to steal the puppies so she can have her fur coat out of dog skin. Now that the humans can't do anything about it, its up to all of the dogs in England to help Pongo and Perdita find their puppies and find them. Will they be in time to save them?


101 Dalmatians was the first Disney film created by a single story man called Bill Peet. As done with other Disney films, Walt Disney hired an actress to perform live-action scenes as a reference for the animation process. Actress Helene Stanley performed the live-action reference for the character of Anita. She did the same kind of work for the characters of Cinderella and Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. I couldn't help but notice dogs in one particular scene in this film that looked just like the dogs from Lady And The Tramp (Lady, Tramp and Jock). A sequel was released 42 years later called 101 Dalmatians: Patch's London Adventure. I mean, it is a much weaker sequel compared to the original classic but it is still good.


Overall, 101 Dalmatians is a brilliant animated classic that I could watch over and over again. It truly shows alongside Lady And The Tramp and The Aristocats the beauty of pet animals and how they can effect the lives of their owners.

I guess the expectations of Aladdin were exceedingly high because this was the first Disney animated film that featured computer generated effects as well as hand-drawn effects and what a great success it turned out to be! It is a very exciting, tense, romantic and hilarious film to watch. What I love about Aladdin the most is that it makes you feel different things in different ways. For example, you are with Aladdin on his journey to succeed in life, you are with Jasmine when she is just desperate for happiness and free will and you are even there with Jafar and Iago with their evil plans for Agrobah. Aladdin is a hilarious film as well because of the variety of characters and the humour that they bring out. Aladdin has now been made into a trilogy. "A Whole New World" is my favourite song from the whole film as well as my all-time favourite Disney song.


Aladdin is set in an Arabian neighbourhood in Eastern Asia and it tells three different stories at the same time that join together. First of all, a young man called Aladdin who has spent all his life living off the streets with his pet monkey Aby and always been known as 'the street rat' (especially to the guards). Yeah, he may be poor and perhaps nowhere in life but he does have a big heart and does want to climb higher in his life! Next is Princess Jasmine. She is having a difficult time as of late at the hands of her father (the Sultan of Agrobah) and she is being forced to marry a prince which she doesn't want. Because she can't handle it, she decides to run away (which leads to her meeting Aladdin) and the stories begin to jumble together. Thirdly, Jafar is the Grand Vizier of the Sultan (like a best friend) who seeks to take over Agrobah himself by finding a magic lamp with a genie inside it. When Aladdin is captured by the guards, Jafar disguises himself as a aging prisoner and asks Aladdin to get the lamp for him (so Aladdin could die in the Cave Of Wonders not Jafar). Now, the magic truly begins and everything begins to change! The Genie in this film always has been and always will be my favourite Disney character because he just makes me laugh so much, he is a very powerful character with a big heart.


There are two direct-to-video sequels to Aladdin called The Return Of Jafar and Aladdin And The King Of Thieves. Both are very good films but neither are anywhere near as good as the original first film. The idea of a musical version of Aladdin came alive in 1988 by lyricist Howard Ashman. Ashman wrote some of the songs with partner Alan Menken, the script was written by Woolverton who previously worked on Beauty And The Beast. Tim Rice was another music composer of this film too and after Aladdin, they went onto even bigger success 2 years later with The Lion King. Aladdin won two Academy Awards (Best Original Song "A Whole New World" and Best Original Score) and it received nominations for Best Sound Editing, Best Original Song ("Friend Like Me") and Best Sound Mixing. It was also nominated for Best Picture Musical-Comedy at the Golden Globes.


Overall, Aladdin is perhaps the most magical and colourful Disney Classic to date! It features some of the best songs, best scores and most entertaining musicals of all time! It is definitely one of the best Disney films but not quite my favourite.

Peter Pan is the most famous work from J. M. Barrie and it has proved itself worthy as one of the best Disney classics of all time. Even though I used to love this film as a child, I still love it now! It is beautifully crafted together with a lot of beauty, magic, comedy and adventure! It shows its audience of what true adventure is and it gives us a beautiful way of using our imaginations. Despite how light hearted this film is, it is quite intense to watch too like the duels between Pan and Hook and the scenes with the crocodile. I was blown away by Peter Pan when I saw it again when I was 12 years old after 4 years of not seeing it. Peter Pan is a masterpiece just like Finding Neverland.


The classic story is set in London. It is about a troubled family called the Darling family. Mr. Darling is a well-intentioned but short tempered man who gets himself into a right state at one point in this film, Mrs. Darling is one of those typical mothers who just works in the house 24/7 and looks after the kids, Wendy (the eldest child) is the main reason for the family believing in Peter Pan because she tells the entire family especially her younger brothers John and Michael the stories of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and the Lost Boys. John and Michael are typical young boys who just have the most incredible imagination who just love to have fun and always want to enjoy themselves! One night, Peter and his pixie and close friend Tinker Bell arrives at the Darling house in search of his shadow which was taken off him by the house dog/'maid' Nana. He inadvertently wakes all of the three children up and they all decide to embark on an adventure to Never Land but when they arrive there, they have to try and avoid Captain Hook and his pirates at all costs!


Walt Disney had a tough time trying to buy the film's rights to Barrie's play since 1935. The studio started the story development and character designs in the early 1940s and Walt intended Peter Pan as a follow-up to Bambi, but World War II put the project on the shelf for the time being. After the war, they went on to release it on February 5th, 1953. There is a sequel to this called Peter Pan: Return To Never Land which was released in 2002 and a prequel called Tinker Bell released in 2008.


Overall, Peter Pan is a classic of my childhood that I will never forget. I would definitely call it one of the best Disney Classics of all time. It shows what Disney does best: all the wonder, all the magic and all the fun!

According to many, The Long Good Friday has been called the best British gangster film of all time as well as one of the best British films! Now after watching it, I am not surprised at all! Every single second was intense, dark and psychologically disturbing. I do have to say that it is a very underrated film that I feel should have earned more credit than it received (not so much the critics but the public worldwide). I do love these kinds of films where people are getting killed and there is a complex mystery going on in the aftermath of the incidents but with a revealed killer behind it all!


The Long Good Friday is set in modern day England and tells the story of Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shand's real estate project. Bob Hoskins delivers a great performance in a genre that he works best in! Well, a lot better than Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Hook. Helen Mirren is now 65 years old but she was 35 years old in The Long Good Friday and bloody hell! She was stunning and so was her performance!


It was directed amazingly! I wouldn't be surprise if this film or any of the makers were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy because I do think that The Long Good Friday was a lot like Frenzy but apart from Frenzy was a bit better. I think this as well as Frenzy was so realistic that it felt like a TV drama or soap opera. Plus, it was set in a very modern era of England (still very similar to what England looks like today). Also, like Frenzy, The Long Good Friday has a very powerful shocking ending. Different ending to Frenzy but still awesome!


Overall, The Long Good Friday is an absolutely awesome, intense and quite psychologically terrifying gangster film that I loved from start to finish and would call one of the greatest gangster films as well as one of the greatest of the Brits!

Despite having not seen the original before this one, I did think that this looked entertaining and intense. However when I watched it, it was incredibly disappointing! It was boring, slow, story was a mess and acting was poor! I mean, I do realise now that I just don't get along with mythology films or films based on Ancient Greece (except the Disney version of Hercules). When I was watching this, it had the lack of believability about it which led to the bad acting and bad screenplay.


Was this seriously the leading actor in Avatar?! My oh my, Sam, what were you thinking?! I just felt nothing for Perseus at all in this film because we all know Sam from Avatar and Terminator Salvation but despite that, he should've created his own character once again like he did in Avatar but unfortunately that wasn’t the case and he failed! To be honest, it goes to show how much an actor can change after such a success. I thought the exact same thing with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Usually, they both select great films to star in and deliver grand performances but neither of them managed to do so this time (think it's the first time for Ralph Fiennes of what films I have seen him in)! Gemma Arterton proves once again like in Quantum Of Solace and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time that she just CANNOT act! I mean, yeah she's hot but got no acting talent whatsoever!


Directed by Louis Leterrier! What has he directed in the past? Well, there's the first two Transporter films and The Incredible Hulk. After reading his filmography after watching the film, I thought "Hmmmm... all action films. Could've worked really well but unfortunately didn't." I mean, some of the action sequences were filmed well but in the normal sequences, it was just flat because you only had to look in the background and you could just tell it felt like it was in a modern era which a film set in the past or a fantasy world should never do otherwise it'll fail. Script was VERY flat and just an absolute mess!


Overall, Clash Of The Titans is a very boring, disappointing film that was only good for the effects and that's about it. Heard rumours of a trilogy coming out! Good luck to the next two films with satisfying me and the many critics who gave this negative reviews!

Being a big fan of the series since childhood, I just couldn't wait for the film and it became my most anticipating film of summer 2007! It was pretty much like an extended episode of the original series. One thing that did surprise me and was probably one of the best qualities of the film technically and they was the animated effects. It was really clear and colourful! It felt like watching a film in HD and blu-ray so I can't even imagine what The Simpsons Movie would look like on blu-ray. There were also moments where it looked half live-action, half animated even though it obviously isn't. The plot is very simple that features some of the best jokes and witty moments of humour that I think I've ever seen in an animated film! There was one crude moment but despite that, the jokes were really awesome and I couldn't stop laughing!


Springfield are in an environmental crisis as of late and when Homer dumps waste in the Springfield lake, the entire town becomes trapped inside this dome that is as big as the town itself to protect everywhere else from the pollution Springfield have. When the rest of the Simpsons family and everybody in Springfield discover that Homer 'killed the town' so to speak, he becomes the most hated and they want his head! Miraculously, the Simpsons family escape the dome and Springfield and move on to Alaska. However, they discover the government seek to destroy Springfield! Will the Simpsons arrive in time and save the town? Dan Castellaneta is the main star in the film and portrays the voices of most of the characters in the film like Homer, Grandpa Abraham Simpson, Krusty The Clown, Barney, Mayor Quimby, Sideshow Mel and some others. Julie Kavner has one unique voice but her voice for Marge is absolutely PERFECT! Nancy Cartwright's voice portrayal of Bart is probably one of the most extraordinary things I've ever experienced! I mean, listening to Bart's talk, his laugh and EVERY single thing about the character, it really is hard to believe that it’s a woman's voice! Yeardley Smith is the only actor/actress who doesn't portray the voice of more than one character! She only provides the voice of Lisa Simpson.


David Silverman perhaps had tons of pressure while in production of this blockbuster especially it being a film adaptation of a series that has been around for over 20 years! In my personal opinion, because the film was such a huge success (both critically and box office rating), I wanted the series to end with a bang: the film's release! Like the film would be the last thing we would see seeing as it wasn't going to get any better. I mean, the series itself is dying now unfortunately and they should just stop! I would like to see Silverman make another animated film now! The script was awesome! I'm glad that all of the creators of the series were part of it because they all know the characters so well and it would've really failed if any others did it. One thing I can't believe: How was it not nominated for Best Animated Picture?! Should've been nominated instead of Surf's Up!


Overall, The Simpsons Movie is an absolutely AMAZING film that I loved from the first-viewing, still love it now after 3 years and always will love it! A phenomenal success to the original series that will live on forever! It's one of the best of 2007.