Tadd Mencer

Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

I’m pretty interested in this movie – I’ve read a few of the comics (I have a few I think) and if I remember correctly I really enjoyed them. SO … hopefully this will be good stuff. Looks interesting.

Apple has premiered the impressive new teaser trailer for 300 director Zack Snyder’s Watchmen adaptation, coming to theaters on March 6, 2009. The Warner Bros. Pictures release stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie and Matt Frewer.

Todd (lostgorilla.com) and I decided to go see the new Guillermo del Toro movie of the comic book, Hellboy. Well, it’s sequel. All the previews look amazing and I really love Ron Perlman flicks, particularly the ‘Big Red’ movie he did in 2004.

For the opening day, even at 4:40ppm, I expected more of a crowd, but surprisingly the theater we were in was only half-full (give or take a few). Not a bad thing. I hate crowds. But it was surprising.

The first thing I’ll say if the visuals for this movie where amazing. You can see that de Toro opened up his imagination and braved doing some really off the wall designs ala Pan’s Labyrinth. And while some may have found a few of the creatures way over the top, I thought it was inspiring and awe inspiring.

As far as the story – well, it wasn’t’ bad and by the flow of current movies it was very well written. There were a lot of dropped hints that could lead to a third movie, if desired (nothing has been said that I know at this point). I think the problem I did have where some large events that just… happened. No reason, they just decided to do it. They didn’t’ explain why the elf prince decided to wage war then … Just that he did. That was the largest one. It just happened.

This movie was dark, sarcastic, adventurous, fantastical and just pure genius. It made me smile more than a few times. Todd full fledged chuckled a handful of times.

Even if you’re not a fan of the Hellboy franchise, this movie may be one anyone would enjoy. Not for kids, by far (though one brilliant parent thought it was toddler appropriate) but teens and adults will all find this great.

The language was low and no nudity or even innuendos (that I could find). It was pretty good that way. It was violent – of course – but not really gory.

I’ve enjoyed this story and hope they do make more in the future. We shall see.

Friday, Carolyn and I rented the movie adaptation to the Children’s story "The Spiderwick Chronicles".  We both were kind of scared to see if after the big ‘Bridge to Terabithia‘ disappointment. We didn’t want another "Oh, just believe and your imagination will make it almost real!" kind of movie. We wanted REAL goblins, REAL creatures and a REAL adventure.

Well, this didn’t disappoint. Freddie Highmore is quickly becoming my favorite child actor (well, honestly he is my favorite) and for good reason. He plays two parts – twin brothers – in this movie and does it extremely well. And no English accent (well, it does poke through every now and then, but hey … no big).

The effects were pretty top notch as is the story and writing. Very few things bugged me about this film, perhaps maybe the fact that the special features try and say that all this fairy and goblin stuff is real and blah blah blah. But hey, it’s all about selling the product.

It’s not a story for little, little kids, mind you. There are some scary elements such as when goblins are pulling one of the brothers or the mole troll. The monsters are not your soft Narnia beasts but very must more volatile and gruff.

So I do say – rent it or buy it. It’s worth it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A very good adaptation of the popular series of books by Tony DiTerllizi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the few family films in recent years to seamlessly integrate magical elements with a potent drama that will strike a chord with many kids. An exceptionally talented Freddie Highmore (August Rush) plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, caught up in a sad shock from their parents’ divorce and coping with a decision by their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) to uproot the boys and their sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger), from New York City to a small town. There, the broken family moves into a spooky old mansion passed on to them by the kids’ great-aunt, Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is spending her twilight years in managed care and whose scientist father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), disappeared some 80 years ago. Jared, angry, defiant, and determined to live with the father who seems to have abandoned him, investigates strange happenings and discovers Arthur’s secret notations on fairies, ogres, and other mythical creatures that live both in and outside the house. Having no idea where his curiosity is leading, Jared soon finds that he and his family are under siege from goblins and a powerful ogre (Nick Nolte) who wants Arthur’s notebook. Suddenly, the boy who is a lightning rod for a troubled family becomes a resourceful warrior intent on saving his loved ones from powerful forces. The Spiderwick Chronicles benefits enormously from a script (partially written by John Sayles) that treats, quite seriously, the emotional pain of its human characters and makes Jared’s will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise fantastic story. It helps, too, that director Mark Waters, who brings a warm and knowing touch to outlandish material (Freaky Friday), has a way of making the spectacular elements of The Spiderwick Chronicles genuine enough to stir real excitement and suspense. This is one of the better film adaptations of best-selling fiction for kids in some years. –Tom Keogh

Product Description
From the beloved best-selling series of books comes an extraordinary fantasy adventure revealing the unseen world that exists all around us. From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house peculiar things start to happen. Unable to explain the accidents and strange disappearances the Grace children Jared Simon and Mallory start to investigate and find the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.

Stephen King has always been one of those dark minded authors who I enjoy. It’s a guilty pleasure. He can chill the bone like no other. Some of my favorite movies are ‘The Stand’ and ‘Shawshank Redemption’.

There are others that stand out also. The Mist is the latest in Stephen King’s movie adaptions. The premise is simple. Storm. Mist. Death. Despair.

Ok, a bit more detail.

A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

The effects are pretty impressive. Some of Mr. King’s movies in the past have had crap for effects, even when the stories are amazing. However, Weistein does the effects, and it shows that they’ve still got the gift for it.

It’s directed by Frank Darabont (Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption) who does a nice job at the scare factor. However, there is something I was disappointed in. The acting. It seemed like the actors/actresses really didn’t care to perform. There were a few exceptions: the boy, the psyco religious lady and the school teacher all did pretty decent jobs. The rest felt like they where in a ‘made for TV’ movie.

This movie was pretty fun to watch. Thrilling. Scary. Not to mention extremely imaginative. It peaked my interest on how it was done and ideas that where hinted yet never fully explored. If you can handle the f-bombs and the moments of gore (a few but not completely everywhere) then you may enjoy this horror/fantasy/thriller.

Description:

The life of a simple family man named Farmer (Jason Statham) is changed forever when a horrifying army of animal-like warriors known as Krugs who are controlled by the evil Gallian (Ray Liotta) invade his village, murder his son and kidnap his wife. Farmer sets out on a momentous journey to get his wife back and along the way, encounters magic and adventure as the quest soon reveals his real destiny in the kingdom.

Ok, let me start of by saying I know nothing about ‘Dungeon Siege’. At all. I came into this movie not expecting anything, especially since its full of big names. Usually those are floppers.

With that said, I’ll talk about the positives of this movie. It was very entertaining with a lot of great ideas and very much a good watch.

While this felt like it was suppose to be much more epic I think it … failed. First of all, the acting in general just was not the best. Which was a surprise. It felt like the actors just … didn’t care. Like it was something they were doing in their backyard for fun. With the exception of Leelee Sobieski it felt like what it was. A B-Movie with A-listers. We’re talking about Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, John Rhys-Davies, Ray Liotta, Matthew Lillard, Burt Reynolds, Claire Forlani … all of these people have been in MASSIVE movies and are definitely not B-listers.

The effects felt like they were stock from Xena. The main baddies, Krugs, looked .. horrible. If it was a still shot it would be fine – but the masks they wore pretty much looked like cheesy Halloween masks. No emotion, no movement. Static. Not only that, but the sounds they made were completely lame and didn’t really make any sense to their animalistic ancestry (from what I gather in the movie). The end is a typical story end with a few things just hanging in midair.

The music … it’s generally goofy feeling. Just not what you’d expect to hear from a medieval fantasy.

I guess there is a petition to stop the director Uwe Boll from directing anymore. Kind of makes me feel bad for the guy.

However, as long as you don’t try to take this movie seriously it may be a nice diversion and a good two hour watch. Again, they feel like they’re just goofing off, but there is still some nice action here or there.