Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts

2 Dec 2011

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) / Review

Release Date: 18 November 2011 (India) Runtime: 117 min
Genres: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance
Taglines: Forever is only the beginning

The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven.

Director: Bill Condon
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay), Stephenie Meyer (novel)
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner

Stewart is finally acting, which is one of the biggest reasons why this movie is so much better than the others. She portrays Bella in a way that is so close to the book, and it's wonderful to see her and Pattinson playing lovers that are so, so, so in love. The fact that Bill Condon (director) gave the happy couple so much time to be just that, happy, makes you really believe in their love and it makes you understand why they can't live without each other.
This movie takes you from a beautiful wedding, complete with the most hilarious toasts (Jessica and Charlie) wonderful music, stunning dresses and declarations of love that will touch everyone's hearts, to South America for a sexy, funny and exciting honeymoon where we see heartfelt smiles, kissing, cuddling and teasing along with the epic headboard breaking scene. It then settles back in Forks, where we get to witness the most terrifying pregnancy imaginable.
 The special effects team deserve an Oscar for the work they've done on making Stewart look like she's slowly fading away. The moments leading up to the birth scene are actually scarier than the scene itself. It really is a horror film towards the end, and some scenes should maybe have been rated R. It ends in the perfect place, such a natural and obvious cut. I am so thankful that Breaking Dawn has been split into two parts, because I can't imagine even once scene in this part that could have been skipped.
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Cast
Taylor Lautner , Gil Birmingham, Billy Burke, Sarah Clarke, Ty Olsson, Kristen Stewart, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli , Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz , Nikki Reed, Robert Pattinson, Christian Sloan, James Pizzinato

Produced by Wyck Godfrey, Stephenie Meyer, Mark Morgan & Karen Rosenfelt
Original Music by Carter Burwell       
Cinematography by Guillermo Navarro       
Film Editing by Virginia Katz       
Casting by Debra Zane       
Production Design by Richard Sherman         
Costume Design by Michael Wilkinson    
Filming Locations: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Budget: $127,000,000 (estimated)
Production Co: Summit Entertainment, Sunswept Entertainment, TSBD Canada Productions
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital  | DTS
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MOVIE TRAILER
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4 Nov 2011

Puss in Boots (2011)/Movie Review

A story about the events leading up to the sword fighting cat's meeting with Shrek and his friends.

No regrets at all in watching this animated fantasy-Western adventure.
I see Puss' humble origins as a kitten growing up in an orphanage in the Mexican town of San Ricardo. He develops an unlikely friend in one odd egg named Humpty Alexander Dumpty. Circumstances eventually break up the two friends. After several years, Humpty seeks out Puss (with the help of sultry seductress Kitty Softpaws) to convince him to help get Jack's magic beans from Jack and Jill. I know this sounds like a messy mishmash of fairy tale characters, and it was. The artists also take liberties in their visual interpretation of these characters, including the Golden Goose (which I personally found corny).
Thanks to the Shrek films, we already know Puss in Boots and what to expect from him. His Zorro-like swashbuckling exploits, his charm with the ladies and his cute wide-eyed pleading look are all here, and Antonio Banderas too! Selma Hayek voices Kitty delightfully. This new character is quite likable, and you would like to see more adventures of the two cats. As for Humpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis of "Hangover" fame) though, here lies the prickly problem. You may or may not like him, both his look and his character. Humpty can really be annoying!
There are so many hilarious isolated situations that could make you laugh out loud. I certainly did at several points. My favorite funny moment was that when Humpty changed into his Golden Egg costume. I'm sure you can get an absurd image just by reading that last sentence. Haha! His line when he was running and commented that he needed powder to prevent friction in his pants (he was apparently not wearing underwear) really made me guffaw! You have to hear it to believe that a line like that made it into a children's cartoon flick.
The artwork was of course flawless. The textures are palpable. The action sequences are exciting and funny at the same time. The fight scenes mixed with dance moves were quite interesting to watch as well. The 2D version looked adequate enough to enjoy the adventure. Overall this is a fun movie to watch with the whole family.
 
Genres: Adventure | Animation | Comedy | Fantasy
Release Date: 27 october 2011 (US)
Taglines: Rebel. Lover. Hero.
Cast overview :
Antonio Banderas- Puss in Boots (voice)
Salma Hayek -Kitty Softpaws (voice)
Zach Galifianakis- Humpty Dumpty (voice)
Billy Bob Thornton-  Jack (voice)
Amy Sedaris -Jill (voice)
Constance Marie -Imelda (voice)
Guillermo del Toro- Moustache Man / Comandate (voice)
Rich Dietl -Bounty Hunter (voice)
Ryan Crego - Luis (voice)
Tom Wheeler -    Bartender / Hotel Owner / Mean Boy / Wagon Driver / Rodrigo (voice)

Directed by Chris Miller       
Writing credits:  Charles Perrault, Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Tom Wheeler, Jon Zack  
Original Music by Henry Jackman       
Film Editing by Eric Dapkewicz       
Production Co: DreamWorks Animation
MOVIE TRAILER
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27 Oct 2011

Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse /Book Review

James Wesley Rawles (Author)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Atria Books; 1St Edition edition (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439172803
ISBN-13: 978-1439172803
Genre:Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure,  Mystery & Thrillers

Description
WHAT IF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT ENDED TOMORROW?
The America we are accustomed to is no more. Practically overnight the stock market has plummeted, hyperinflation has crippled commerce, and the fragile chains of supply and high-technology infrastructure have fallen. The power grids are down. Brutal rioting and looting grip every major city. The volatile era known as “the Crunch” has begun, and this new period in our history will leave no one untouched. In this unfamiliar environment, only a handful of individuals are equipped to survive.
Andrew Laine, a resourceful young U.S. Army officer stationed overseas in Afghanistan, wants nothing more than to return home to Bloomfield, New Mexico. With the world in turmoil and all air and sea traffic to America suspended, Laine must rely on his own ingenuity and the help of good Samaritans to reach his family. Andrew will do whatever it takes to make it home to his fiancée, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
Major Ian Doyle is a U.S. Air Force pilot sta-tioned in Arizona with his wife, Blanca. Their young daughter, Linda, is trapped in the North- eastern riots. Three teenage orphans, Shadrach, Reuben, and Matthew Phelps, have no choice but to set out on their own when their orphanage closes at the beginning of the Crunch. Then there is Ignacio Garcia, the ruthless leader of the criminal gang called La Fuerza, who will stop at nothing to amass an army capable of razing the countryside. And over everything looms the threat of a provisional government, determined to take over America and destroy the freedoms upon which it was built. The world of Survivors is a terrifyingly familiar one. Rawles has written a novel so close to the truth, readers will forget it’s fiction. If everything you thought you knew suddenly fell apart, would you survive?
About the Author
Former U.S. Army intelligence officer and survivalist James Wesley, Rawles is a well-known survival lecturer and author. Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com—the nation's most popular blog on family preparedness. He lives in an undisclosed location west of the Rockies. He is the author of the bestselling Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse and a nonfiction survival guide, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.
Review
I'm a Survivor,   By  F. Harrison
If Patriots was a great survival manual in novel format, Survivors is a great novel with a survivalist theme. If you read his first successful novel, you'll be glad to hear that author John Wesley Rawles has made dramatic improvement from the standpoint of fiction writing. The latest (not really a sequel, but based on the same setting of a post collapse world), has a much more fluid story and much more interesting characters. I couldn't tell you one thing about the characters from Patriots, but there are some memorable ones in Survivors.
The lead character, Anders, is a soldier in Afghanistan, who gets stuck after the US cuts off fuel supplies during the collapse. He has to make it back to his wife and brother back in America and uses his technical and survival skills to do so.
Other story lines intersect as Rawles showcases how people in different parts of the country try to cope with the shocking collapse of the economic system. While all of the protagonists in Patriots were survivalists, some of the characters in Survivors aren't, making for a compelling plot. Not only do they have to deal with a shattered economy, but the entire country has turned into a Mad-Max-esque free for all with roving gangs becoming dominant.
If you enjoy dystopian or political fiction like Orwell or the excellent Gods of Ruin, you must read this book!
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25 Oct 2011

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Release Date: 23 September 2011 (India) Runtime:  101 min
Genres: Adventure | Comedy | Thriller
Taglines: Laugh at the face of danger
Johnny English goes up against international assassins hunting down the Chinese premier.
Director: Oliver Parker
Writers: William Davies, Hamish McColl ,Robert Wade &    Neal Purvis
Cast overview
Roger Barclay , Eric Carte , Rowan Atkinson, Togo Igawa, Eleanor Wyld, Mandi Sidhu, Margaret Clunie , Gillian Anderson , Rosamund Pike , Dominic West , Tim McInnerny , Mariella Frostrup Daniel Kaluuya , Miles Jupp, Pik Sen Lim
Original Music by  Ilan Eshkeri       
 Cinematography by  Danny Cohen       
Film Editing by  Guy Bensley       
Casting by  Lucy Bevan       
Production Design by  Jim Clay       
Art Direction by  Paul Laugier & Mike Stallion         
Costume Design by  Beatrix Aruna Pasztor       

Storyline
Rowan Atkinson returns to the role of the accidental secret agent who doesn't know fear or danger in the comedy spy-thriller Johnny English Reborn. In his latest adventure, the most unlikely intelligence officer in Her Majesty's Secret Service must stop a group of international assassins before they eliminate a world leader and cause global chaos. In the years since MI-7's top spy vanished off the grid, he has been honing his unique skills in a remote region of Asia. But when his agency superiors learn of an attempt against the Chinese premier's life, they must hunt down the highly unorthodox agent. Now that the world needs him once again, Johnny English is back in action. With one shot at redemption, he must employ the latest in hi-tech gadgets to unravel a web of conspiracy that runs throughout the KGB, CIA and even MI-7. With mere days until a heads of state conference. Written by Universal Pictures  

Filming Locations:  Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK
Production Co:  Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Studio Canal
Sound Mix:  Dolby Digital  | DTS (as Datasat Digital Sound) | SDDS

Review
Agent Tucker played by the famous and well known Daniel Kaluuya is exactly what many movies are missing. Agent Tucker is the missing link to all those movies which lacked the ignition to make them blockbusters. Tucker plays Johnny Englishes (Rowan) sinister assistant in the epic race to find the third member of the assassination group Vortex. Tucker brings action, comedy and drama to the screen with a performance which is sure to win him an Oscar and major roles in the years to come. Many people say that this sequel does not live up to the expectations of the prequel but i can surely say that this movie had me and the edge of my seat with laughter as well as the audience who attended the screening.
MOVIE TRAILER 

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20 Oct 2011

The Three Musketeers (2011)/Review

Release Date: 21 October 2011 (USA) Runtime: Germany: 110 min
Genres: Action | Adventure | Romance

The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writing credits (WGA): Alex Litvak , Andrew Davies & Alexandre Dumas père     (novel "Les Trois Mousquetaires")
Cast overview:
Matthew Macfadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Helen George, Christian Oliver     , Ray Stevenson Til Schweiger, Markus Brandl , Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Dexter Fletcher, Jane Perry Mads Mikkelsen, Andy Gathergood , Ben Moor
Original Music by Paul Haslinger       
Cinematography by Glen MacPherson       
Film Editing by Alexander Berner       
Casting by  Suzanne Smith       
Filming Locations: Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Budget: $75,000,000 (estimated)
Production Co: Constantin Film Produktion, Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), New Legacy Show
Sound Mix: Dolby

Review
Leave your sensible head in the foyer
Author: imbigmo from Bristol
I've read other reviews lambasting the historical inaccuracies, the deviation from the original book and the technological impossibilities.....get a grip guys it's a fantasy/adventure movie and I loved it. It's beautifully stylised, the 3D works well and the action sequences are extremely well choreographed. I didn't give a "stuff" that there were a combination of accents that bore no relation to the geography, that the dialogue was campy and that it strayed well away from the original novel, which in fairness has been done to death anyway. It was fun, well made and rattling good entertainment. I read a gazillion reviews telling me how good "Drive" was........that really did bore the pants off me!

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19 Oct 2011

Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan/Review


 
John Flanagan (Author

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Philomel (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399256180
ISBN-13: 978-0399256189
Genre : Science Fiction, Fantasy , Horror , Magic, Action & Adventure

Amazon Price    
Kindle Edition     $10.54 / Hardcover     $8.99      
Description
The secret history of the New York Times bestselling Ranger's Apprentice
Unconfirmed accounts of a group of Araluen warriors - tales of adventure, battle, and triumph over evil - have spread for centuries throughout the known world. Most notable is a clan shrouded in mystery, phantom warriors known as the Rangers.
Two names pass the lips of every storyteller: Halt, and his apprentice, Will. They and their comrades in arms are said to have traveled throughout the kingdom and beyond its borders, protecting those who needed it most. If true, these rumors can be only part of the story.
Only now, centuries after these men and women walked the earth, do we have confirmation of their existence. Behold The Lost Stories.
Inspired by questions and letters his loyal readers have sent over the years, John Flanagan offers a gift in response: a collection of "lost" tales that fill in the gaps between Ranger's Apprentice novels. For the first time, readers can learn the truth behind how Will came to be orphaned and what his real relationship to Halt is, or watch Alyss in action as the young Araluen diplomat disguises herself and becomes the perfect spy.

Review
By  Dadinator (Wisconsin)
The story behind this book are that these are stories that have been found while historians are exploring the ruins of Castle Redmont and its nearby village. The book is a collection of short stories that fills in some of the blanks that didn't fit into the original books. eg. Gilan hunting down Foldor who is mentioned as Halt is banished from Araluen).
The ton of the book is different; some parts are more sad/somber and others are just shortened adventure stories. I think some younger readers may be bothered by the thought of a time when Castle Redmont lies in ruins and they realize this world has moved on.
As a stand alone book, I still prefer the full stories to a collection of short stories. Still this is a very fun read and for fans of the series, I think you will love it. If you haven't read the entire series, there will be a name or two you may not recognize, but it won't be a big deal. I, for one, am not ready for this world to move on.
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20 Sept 2011

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)/Movie Review

 Release Date: 26 May 2011 (India)  Runtime: 91 min
Genres: Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family
 Sound Mix: SDDS  | DTS  | Dolby Digital (Dolby Surround 7.1)


Po joins forces with a group of new kung-fu masters to take on an old enemy with a deadly new weapon.
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Writers: Jonathan Aibel|Glenn Berger
Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro
Original Music byJohn Powell | Hans Zimmer
Film Editing by Maryann Brandon| Clare De Chenu

Cast
Jack Black|Angelina Jolie|Dustin Hoffman|Gary Oldman|Jackie Chan|Seth Rogen|Lucy Liu|Jean-Claude Van Damme|Danny McBride|Michelle Yeoh|David Cross|James Hong|Dennis Haysbert|
Victor Garber
Box Office
Budget: $150,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $47,835,000 (USA) (29 May 2011) (3925 Screens)
Gross: $163,942,842 (USA) (21 August 2011)
Production Co: DreamWorks Animation
Review
The question that has been floating around about Kung Fu Panda 2 is if it is Shrek 2 or Toy Story 2 of animated sequels? It's Toy Story 2 kind of animated sequel - a genuine good movie that takes risks and succeeds rather than rehashing the first movie.

Po isn't as much of a gastro-kung-fu fighter and fanboi from the first movie but has grown in his personality; he's less the Jack Black as a panda and more of a character that stands on it's own. However, Po is now the tragic hero in a Greek style prophecy which foretells of a warrior in black and white who would defeat a certain Lord Shen who has invented a new weapon that could spell the end of kung-fu. As Po learns that he is adopted, he struggles to find out about his past and the strange symbol from his nightmares. The heavy subject matter doesn't weight down the movie and is continually and cleverly able to escape into funny moments without losing gravitas. It successfully weaves the topics of fatherhood, friendship and family into a colorful story that even though we know how it will end, it gets there very very emphatically.
 Kung Fu Panda 2 didn't go the route of being a purely children's movie and didn't go the route of being built on jokes of Po's eating and Po's weight.The fortune cookie philosophy of master Shifu is slightly missed but purely a small quibble in a good movie. Highly recommended movie.
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11 Sept 2011

The Race (Isaac Bell) by Clive Cussler & Justin Scott/Book Review

Clive Cussler (Author) & Justin Scott (Author)
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (September 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157816
ISBN-13: 978-0399157813

Description
Detective Isaac Bell returns, in the remarkable new adventure from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.
It is 1910, the age of flying machines is still in its infancy, and newspaper publisher Preston Whiteway is offering $50,000 for the first daring aviator to cross America in less than fifty days. He is even sponsoring one of the prime candidates-an intrepid woman named Josephine Frost-and that's where Bell, chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, comes in.
Frost's violent-tempered husband has just killed her lover and tried to kill her, and he is bound to make another attempt. Bell has tangled with Harry Frost before; he knows that the man has made his millions leading gangs of thieves, murderers, and thugs in every city across the country. He also knows that Frost won't be only after his wife, but after Whiteway as well. And if Bell takes the case . . . Frost will be after him, too.
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7 Sept 2011

Shelter: A Mickey Bolitar Novel by Harlan Coben/Review


Harlan Coben
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (September 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399256504
ISBN-13: 978-0399256509
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches

Description
A young adult debut from internationally bestselling author Harlan Coben

Mickey Bolitar's year can't get much worse. After witnessing his father's death and sending his mom to rehab, he's forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools.

A new school comes with new friends and new enemies, and lucky for Mickey, it also comes with a great new girlfriend, Ashley. For a while, it seems like Mickey's train-wreck of a life is finally improving - until Ashley vanishes without a trace. Unwilling to let another person walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that this seemingly sweet, shy girl isn't who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey's father. Soon, Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it makes high school drama seem like a luxury - and leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.
First introduced to readers in Harlan Coben's latest adult novel, Live Wire, Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his uncle Myron, and eager to go to any length to save the people he cares about. With this new series, Coben introduces an entirely new generation of fans to the masterful plotting and wry humor that have made him an award-winning, internationally bestselling, and beloved author.
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3 Sept 2011

Colombiana (2011) /Review

Release Date: 26 August 2011 (USA)  Runtime:107 min
Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller 
Tagline: Vengeance is beautiful.
Budget:  $40,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend:  €174,369 (Belgium) (31 July 2011) (33 Screens)
Gross:  €328,248 (Belgium) (7 August 2011)
Production Co: Europa Corp., TF1 Films Production, Grive Productions
Filming Locations:Chicago, Illinois, USA

Director  Olivier Megaton
Writers:  Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
STORYLINE
A young woman grows up to be a stone-cold assassin after witnessing her parents' murder as a child in Bogota. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target - the mobster responsible for her parents' death.

CASTS
Zoe Saldana, Amandla Stenberg, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Callum Blue, Jordi Mollà, Max Martini,
Lennie James, Graham McTavish, Monica Acosta, Beau Brasseaux, Jesse Borrego, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Affif Ben Badra

Production Companies
  • Europa Corp.
  • TF1 Films Production (co-production)
  • Grive Productions (co-production)
  • A.J.O.Z. Films (executive production)
REVIEW
Among  Luc Besson's most famous films are Léon: The Professional , Nikita and The Fifth Element
 Besson started his own production company, EuropaCorp, which in the last ten years or so has funded its fair share of diverse movies, both in the French and English language. Nevertheless Europa (as it's known in short) is best known to mass audiences for its numerous, high-octane, medium-budget action films, most of which are written or co-written by Besson himself
Among these are the Taxi, Transporter and District B13 series of films, Wasabi, Taken, From Paris With Love, Danny The Dog (also known as Unleashed), Bandidas, Kiss Of The Dragon, Yamakasi, Crimson Rivers 2, Hit-man,... Through these films, Besson is also responsible for introducing the world to Parkour, which seems to have taken over action cinema in the past 5 years (and even making its way to films such as Step Up 3D).

Colombiana is another one of action's movie . The story starts in 1992 in Bogota, where some mob guy, Don Luis, orders a hit against a former associate of his who he considers has betrayed him, and naturally his whole family. Only young Cataleya Restrepo escapes the bloody shootout during an intense Parkour chase (what else?), and manages to reach her uncle in Chicago, to whom she swears that she'll become a hit-man and avenge her family. Fast-forward and enter Zoe Saldana as adult Cataleya as the rest of the film takes place, strangely enough, in 2007. With her uncle's help, Cataleya has indeed grown up to be an awesomely skilled contract killer, having performed 22 jobs in 4 years. However, she signs each of her kills with a message destined for her real prey, making her one of the FBI's most wanted. When the FBI decides to divulge her "serial killer" status, Don Luis and his men know what's up, and all hell breaks loose.

Much has been said of the film's similarity with Besson's Léon and Nikita, with many people musing that the film could just have well have been a sequel to Léon with Natalie Portman's character all grown-up and kicking butt.  Colombiana is really your typical, run-of-the-mill Besson action production, which is really not a bad thing. It is not in the top-tier of action films but still it's an entertaining romp.

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27 Aug 2011

Conan the Barbarian (2011) / Movie Review

Release Date: 19 August 2011 (USA)   Runtime:  113 min
Genres: Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Filming Locations:  Bistriza, Bulgaria
Production Co: Nu Image Films, Millennium Films, Paradox Entertainment
Storyline
A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil. 

Directed by Marcus Nispel
Writing credits(WGA): Thomas Dean Donnelly,  Joshua Oppenheimer, Sean Hood, Robert E. Howard
Original Music by Tyler Bates
Cinematography by  Thomas Kloss
Casts
JasonMomoa , Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols , Ron Perlman,  Rose McGowan , Bob Sapp , Leo Howard , Steven O'Donnell , Nonso Anozie , Raad Rawi , Laila Rouass , Nathan Jones,  Saïd Taghmaoui , Milton Welsh , Borislav Iliev

Top Review
The first Conan is one of my favorite movies of all time. The Destroyer sucks although I did like it when I was a kid. The new one sucks too. There are too many battle scenes and they are all dull. There is absolutely nothing new here. What made the first movie so great was the poetry of it all. The land felt barren. Conan was not another cookie cooker hero on a cookie cutter George Lucas hero quest but a true nomad...a man who wanders from one encounter to the next...a witch...a snake cult...getting drunk and laid...punching a camel...happening upon the man who murdered his father...killing him...the epistemological space in which the first Conan takes place is that of a senseless premodern universe in which magical events succeed each other without ever truly fusing into one overarching narrative. Meaning is always somewhere over the horizon and the gods never deign to show themselves. The movie is filmed, scripted and scored in such a way that we feel the radical foreignness of Conan's universe. In the new film, however, there is no alterity at all, no imagination, no sense of being transported, no attempt to depart from the vaguely ideological boilerplate superhero narrative in even the slightest way...no mythical resonance...the new Conan struts and smirks like something out of the Fast and the Furious and has none of the cruel charisma of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although the movie is incredibly violent and gory, the pat coziness of the narrative renders all of this violence absolutely sterile. Nothing real is ever at stake and the movie has nothing to say about anything. It practically evaporates off the screen it is so ephemeral. Don't waste your time with this one...watch the first one again.
By the way, I am not one of those people who dislikes remakes and "reboots" on principle...I actually really enjoyed Marcus Nispel's reboot of Friday the 13th...but he's out of his depth here.
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24 Aug 2011

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)


Release Date: 20 May 2011 (India)
Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Plot:
Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) crosses paths with a woman from his past (Cruz), and he's not sure if it's love -- or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past. Written by Walt Disney Pictures

Directed by
Rob Marshall
Writing credits Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert, Tim Powers
(WGA)
Original Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
Additional Details
USA:136 min | Argentina:137 min
Shooting location: Fajardo, Puerto RicoSee more 
Company:  Walt Disney PicturesSee more 

SYNOPSIS-
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) travels to London to locate the person who has been impersonating him. The impostor has reportedly been recruiting a crew to search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. First Sparrow rescues his former first mate, Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally), who is about to be hanged, though the two are captured. Jack is brought before King George II (Richard Griffiths), who wants him to guide an expedition to the Fountain before the Spanish find it. Heading the expedition is Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now a privateer in service to the British Navy after having lost Jack's ship, the Black Pearl, as well as his leg.

Jack escapes, and is found by his father, Captain Teague (Keith Richards), who warns Jack about the Fountain's tests. Jack soon discovers that the impostor is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), his former lover and daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who possesses supernatural powers and practices voodoo magic. Jack is forced to join Blackbeard's crew and to lead them to the Fountain. Meanwhile, Gibbs, who memorized, then destroyed, Sparrow's map, barters with Barbossa to lead him and his crew to the Fountain.

Aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, Jack learns that the Fountain's water must be drunk simultaneously from two silver chalices once belonging to Juan Ponce de León. The person drinking from the chalice containing a mermaid's tear has their life extended, while the other person dies, their years of life drained from their body. Blackbeard intends to use the Fountain's power to circumvent his fated fatal encounter with a one-legged man, and sets a course for Whitecap Bay. There he traps a mermaid that Philip Swift (Sam Claflin), a captive missionary, falls in love with and names Syrena (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey). Blackbeard then sends Sparrow to retrieve the chalices from de León's grounded ship. Sparrow arrives finding only Barbossa: the Spanish have already taken the chalices.
Casts:
Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally,
Sam Claflin, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Stephen Graham, Keith Richards, Richard Griffiths,
Greg Ellis, Damian O'Hare

Top Review-
Jack Sparrow, You ROCK!, 14 May 2011

What Rob Marshall did with Pirates series, no one else could have done with such finesse and panache. Dropping out two key protagonists without explanations and instead of picking on famous novels, he opted for rather under-rated Tim Power's On Stranger Tides to fit the characters.

Similarly, what Johnny Depp has been doing in all Pirates movies and what he did in this movie, no one else could have done it with such perfection. That's Johnny Depp(Jack Sparrow) for you.

Most of you must have seen Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, I guess. You're gonna have a feel of Deja Vu in many of the scenes. Following an appropriately pulpy prologue, the film opens on erstwhile Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) as he's marooned in London in search of a ship, and pursued by local authorities who he makes little serious effort to avoid. Hearing that an impostor Sparrow is auditioning pirate recruits at a seaside bar, he seeks out the interloper only to discover his spitfire former lover Angelica (Penelope Cruz), disguised as him After some requisite sword-clashing, Angelica kidnaps Sparrow and ferries him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, lorded over by Angelica's (maybe) father, Captain Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Commanding a crew comprised of equal parts stray pirates and hulking zombies -- why he needs the former when he has the latter is never explained -- Blackbeard enlists Sparrow to help him locate the fountain of youth, which becomes an especially urgent task after a prophecy foretells Blackbeard's imminent death at the hands of a one-legged man.

Meanwhile, Sparrow's rival Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now conveniently one-legged, has bid farewell to his pirate's life, and seeks the fountain on behalf of the king of England, who is keen to find it before a rival crew sent by the king of Spain can claim it for themselves. As the three parties converge on the fountain's jungle location, they must also deal with a ravenous horde of vampiric mermaids, from whom a single tear must be procured to drink the fountain's waters.

In case any one of you haven't seen the previous movies, frequent recaps are provided through out and it doesn't matter too much anyway. Depp remains the face of the film. But a majority of his thunder is co-opted by an on-point Rush, who not only gets the funniest lines and reaction shots, but also starts to siphon away much of the roguish charm that used to be Depp's stock and trade. McShane, on the other hand, is underwhelming. Never appearing comfortable in his heavy pirate get-up, his tired Blackbeard is only menacing via other characters' testimonials to his evil, and his one on screen atrocity seems tossed in merely to stress that he is, in fact, the bad guy.

Cruz is a reliably welcome, gorgeous presence, though she too often falls back on the "feisty Latina" signifiers that have been the crutch of so much of her English-language work. Sam Claflin supplies some semi- risible gallantry as a super-studly priest, and Astrid Berges-Frisbey looks effectively terrified as a captive mermaid.

All in all, it is must watch for everybody who is a fan of Pirates series and Johnny Depp. Go for it and chances are less of you being disappointed.

Thanks & Regards,
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23 Aug 2011

30 Minutes or Less (2011) /Movie Review


30 Minutes or Less (2011)
Genre:  Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime
Runtime:  83 min
Plot:
Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else..

Casts:
Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria , Michael Peña
Bianca Kajlich, Fred Ward

Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Writing credits  Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan
Original Music by Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography by Jess Hall


Country:  Germany | Canada | USA
Language:  German | Spanish | English
Filming Locations:Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Company:  Columbia Pictures

Top Review

As most of you know, 30 Minutes or Less released this weekend to join the countless number of comedies we've seen this summer. My initial expectations for this movie were somewhat high as I thought we would be seeing a clever comedy about a pizza delivery boy having to go through a series of hilarious trials in order to get a bomb off his chest. Instead what I got was a simple, sexual joke infused, and foul mouthed comedy that was not as funny as I had hoped.

To give you a refresher on the plot, 30 Minutes or Less is about a lazy, careless pizza delivery boy named Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) who really has no interest in his responsibilities. The arrogant jerk, which Eisenberg seems to be a master at playing, has no real friends with the exception of his loyal Indian pal Chet (Aziz Ansari), a hard working, rule abiding teacher who just want to be successful. Their simplistic life of playing video games and drinking beer is soon interrupted, when an irresponsible, vulgar, and idiotic man-child named Dwayne (Danny McBride) and his naïve, clueless, innocent sidekick Travis (Nick Swardson) kidnap Nick and strap a bomb to his chest. The price for Nick's freedom, $100,000 for funding Dwayne's personal plans and Nick must deliver in 10 hours or less.


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22 Aug 2011

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D/Review

Official Site : http://spykidsmovie.net/
 Release Date: 19 August 2011 (India) Runtime: USA: 89 min
Genres: Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi
Sound Mix:  Dolby Digital  | DTS  | SDDS

A retired spy is called back into action, and to bond with her new step-children, she invites them along for the adventure to stop the evil Timekeeper from taking over the world.
Director:  Robert Rodriguez
Writer:  Robert Rodriguez (screenplay)
Original Music by Robert Rodriguez  &Carl Thiel
Cinematography by Jimmy Lindsey &  Robert Rodriguez
Film Editing by Dan Zimmerman

SUMMARY
On the surface, Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) has it all...married to a famous spy hunting television reporter, a new baby and intelligent twin step kids. But in reality, trying to mother Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who clearly dont want her around, is her toughest challenge yet. Also, her husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), wouldnt know a spy if he lived with one, which is exactly the case - Marissa's a retired secret agent. Marissa's world is turned upside down when the maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) threatens to take over the planet and she's called back into action by the head of OSS, home of the greatest spies and where the now-defunct Spy Kids division was created. With Armageddon quickly approaching, Rebecca and Cecil are thrust into action when they learn their boring stepmom was once a top agent... now the worlds most competitive ten year olds are forced to put their bickering aside and rely on their wits. With a little help from a couple of very familiar Spy Kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), and some mind-blowing gadgets, they just may be able to save the world and possibly bring their family together while they're at it.

Cast
Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Jeremy Piven, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara
Danny Trejo, Belle Solorzano, Genny Solorzano, Ricky Gervais, Elmo, Jett Good,  Chuck Cureau

Box Office
Budget: $27,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $11,644,672 (USA) (21 August 2011) (3295 Screens)
Gross: $31,201,190 (USA) (4 September 2011)
Production Co: Dimension Films, Troublemaker Studios
Filming Locations: Troublemaker Studios - 4900 Old Manor Road, Austin, Texas, USA
REVIEW
The action was very well done and the acting was sound. Loved Alba, thought Piven was great. Re. Joel McHale: so often talk show hosts can't act (they play themselves), but though he wasn't called on for much, he was believable as someone other than Joel McHale. I enjoyed the head-twisting Guillermo Del Toro-esque stuff. Loved the art design. The inside of the machine and all the swirling gears...that was cool.I know the text about family is maybe a tad hackneyed but it was more strident than before in this one, which made me wonder a tad re Rodriguez's own anxiety. In any case, I was entertained and the kids were too (which made me feel good about time with the kids!) I loved it. We even kept the 4-d smell card (which admittedly did not work very well) so we could remember the experience. Summary: We have seen all the Spy Kids movies and I thought this one was the best. I felt like RR finally hit his stride. Honest. Maybe I'm missing something but I loved it.
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5 Aug 2011

Ironclad (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date: 26 July 2011 (USA)   Runtime: 121 min
Genres: Action | Adventure
 Heavy metal goes medieval
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Director: Jonathan English
Writers: Jonathan English , Erick Kastel
Original Music by  Lorne Balfe
Cinematography by David Eggby
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Casts
James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Kate Mara, Derek Jacobi, Charles Dance Jason Flemyng, Jamie Foreman, Mackenzie Crook, Rhys Parry Jones, Aneurin Barnard, Vladimir Kulich, David Melville
_____________________________________
Storyline
It is the year 1215 and the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a noble, seminal document that upheld the rights of free-men. Yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word and assembled a mercenary army on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back under his tyrannical rule. Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle, a place that would become the symbol of the rebel's momentous struggle for justice and freedom.
_____________________________________
Filming Locations:  Dragon International Studios, Wales, UK
Production Co:  ContentFilm International,   Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 4 GmbH & Co. KG (I), Molinare Investment 
_____________________________________
REVIEW
Take a rather large bit of liberty with English medieval history, throw in some rather garbled declamations about the Magna Carta (yes, it led to more democracy, but no, it had nothing to do with liberating peasants, just giving the aristocracy more powers of their own versus the king's power) and take a huge bunch of medieval war-story battle clichés, and you have "Ironclad." You see, wicked King John (Paul Giamatti, not attempting an English accent), after having been forced to sign the document, then completely ignores its contents and instead goes after the noble signers and kills them one by one. Of course, to do this he must recruit a Danish army, which he does by promising the leader Tiberius (Vladimir Kulich, channelling the elder Malfoy) that the Pope will see to it that no Christians come in to take over the Danes' land and to convert them to Christianity. Against this vast horde are a motley group of seven (yes, this is based on "The Magnificent Seven," in part), led by Knight Templar Marshall (James Purefoy, so good in "Rome") and Baron Albany (Brian Cox, so good in, well, everything). In order to stop King John from continuing his tyrannous ways, they decide to take and hold the castle at Rochester, from whence the entire South of England can be held; to do so, they must take the current occupant, Lord Cornhill (the magnificent Derek Jacobi), and his young rebellious wife Isabel (Kate Mara) hostage. And in the process, young Guy (Aneurin Barnard, aka Frodo with a Sword), squire to Albany, must learn if he's a man or a boy. Can the Magnificent Seven – sorry, the Forces for Good – hold off an entire army laying siege to the castle for long enough (you see, the French are coming to their aid)? Can noble Marshall withstand the wicked wiles of the lovely woman, Isabel? Will Paul Giamatti get to have at least one pull-out-all-the-stops raving rant shouted at the top of his lungs? Well, what do you think? This is actually an extremely bloody movie for a mainstream film, lots of limbs shown being cut off and the like. But it's also quite a silly movie too, at least if you know any history. Suspension of disbelief is paramount in such action films, yet we constantly see Isabel and the other women of the castle wandering around freely, with their hair floating around the shoulders and bare arms and cleavage everywhere. In fact, Christian women (at least noble and/or respectable women) in 13th Century England wore wimples to cover their hair and were quite restricted in their movements, much like Muslim women in some countries today. And chopping off various limbs generally resulted in the victim bleeding out in minutes, not sort of lingering on for a few rousing statements to his mates. Still and all, this was a lot of fun if you don't mind cheering for either side as the mood strikes; seeing it with a FantAsia 2011 crowd was probably the best way to see it at all.

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1 Jul 2011

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)/Movie Review

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Genres:Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi    Runtime: USA: 157 min
Release Date: 29 June 2011 (India)
Tagline: The battles are over. The war begins.
Director:  Michael Bay
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Executive producers  : Mark Vahradian, Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, Michael Bay
Original Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography by Amir M. Mokri
Storyline
Autobots Bummblebee, Rachet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action taking on the evil Decepticons, who are eager to avenge their recent defeat. The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, to reach a hidden Cybertronian spacecraft on the moon and learn its secrets, and once again Sam Witwicky has to come to the aid of his robot friends. New villain, Shockwave, who rules Cybertron, is on the scene while the Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle it out on Earth.

Main Casts
Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Rich Hutchman, Frances McDormand, Kevin Dunn, John Malkovich, Julie White, Alan Tudyk, Ken Jeong, Glenn Morshower, Lester Speight, Buzz Aldrin, Bill O'Reilly, Ravil Isyanov
Budget:  $195,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend:  $97,400,000 (USA) (3 July 2011) (4013 Screens)
Gross:  $348,540,006 (USA) (21 August 2011)
Production Co:  Paramount Pictures, Hasbro, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Filming Locations: Cambodia
Review
I liked the first Transformers, and while it did have its problems the second was better than I expected. I came into the cinema not expecting much, but I left feeling very underwhelmed. Other than the amazing effects, authentic sound, quite excellent action and above average cinematography and editing, this Transformers entry was a waste of time in my opinion.

In my opinion Transformers:Dark of the Moon is the dullest and worst of the three. The first half is poorly paced and dull to the point of boredom, and while the second half fares much better due to the action it came too late and wasn't enough to stop the film from becoming a messy bore overall. The dialogue is stupid and formulaic, the film is much too long and the story is choppy and confused complete with a messy ending.

Michael Bay's direction is another low point, it is murky and unfocused throughout, while the characters are either underused(the robots) or annoying(John Tuturro's character). The acting is not great at all, the voice work is decent, however John Malkovich is wasted, Shia LaBoeuf's easy going charm doesn't disguise the fact his performance is uncharismatic and dull, Patrick Dempsey(performance and character) is useless, John Tuturro tries hard but ends up over-compensating and the less said about the lovely but bland replacement for Megan Fox Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the better.
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