James' Talk

Disney's A Christmas Carol

Great special effects,Delightful fun for the family this holiday.

Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One in)

Genre; Romance, Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Drama

**********PLOT**********

Oskar is an introvert twelve year old boy, who has problems in school with some of his classmates. One day a girl at his age moves in next door and he falls in love with her. Well she is not exactly a... girl...

**********REVIEW**********

I honestly don't know how to rate this movie... I heard so many great things about this, so I guess it was a fact that I would be a little dissapointed (the expectations were big.) Besides that it was a good movie indeed... Especially if you are a fan of movies with vampires (yes lol the little girl is a vampire). I liked the fact that some different views about vampires were presented (***SPOILER***SPOILER***SPOILER***DON'T READ THAT ONE IF U HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE*** For example Eli couldn't enter the room unless someone invites her in, so I guess it makes sense why they named the movie "let the right one in"!Cool lol!)
U CAN CONTINUE READING lol
The soundtrack was good enough. The performances were fantastic (of course Kare Hedebrant as Oskar and Lina Leandersson as Eli stand out). The atmosphere was great. Yup, overall seems this movie works well.
PS. It's not a scary movie, but there are some cool and bloody vampire scenes ;D

Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One in)

I'm sure my readers will appreciate that I rarely give a movie more than 3 stars, und this is only the 4th time in my blogging career that I have given 5 stars, so I'm sure that you will understand that this movie must be some great revolution in the history of movie making... in fact, I would venture to say it is very nearly the "perfect" movie...

It was with great anticipation that I went to view this movie, after reading that nearly every reputable movie magazine gave it a 5 star rating... I knew for certain that I was in for something amazing!

I had to travel a little way as my home cinema wasn't showing it, but it was well worth it, und I would recommend it to all of my readers, even if you aren't a fan of the Vampire genre!

***Synopsis***

Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realises that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Låt den rätte komma in or Let The Right One In is a story both violent and highly romantic, set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

Written by John Nordling, Producer

Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, and Lina Leandersson

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

***Fantasy Take***

Excellent fantasy movie, yet not too weird as to alienate the average viewer...

***Storyline: 5 Stars***

Brilliant story, based in a perfect fairy-tale style, simple und easy to follow, yet leaving you as if you had had the most filling meal in your life!

***Graphics: 4 Stars***

Hey, it's not really that kind of movie, but for what it is, the graphics certainly do what's needed of them...

***Acting: 5 Stars***

Oh, just perfect actors! Especially the little girl (Eli), who was both sweet, but still quite freaky at times!

***Music: 4 Stars***

Excellent music, though I would have liked a catchy theme tune to hum on my way home...

***Emotions: 5 Stars***

Excellently emotional throughout, I was completely wrapped!

***Conclusion***

Well, in conclusion... It's basically perfect... need I say more?

Enjoy, nazdrovia

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Well I gotta admit that Jacko's last concert certainly looks as if it would have been pretty special, this doc really shows how much had been created and how far they had come with the event and it did look really good (if you like Jacko that is). I am a Jacko fan yes and have always loved his music and never believed all the court room drama, right or wrong I dunno but I let his music and dance skills speak for themselves as he is probably the greatest musical performer ever.
This film shows how the concert would have covered many of his best songs from the Jackson 5 to Thriller to Earth Song, some of it looking so so but some of it looking excellent with all new film footage created for the song....Smooth Criminal and Thriller looking the best ^__^

Despite his age it shows Jacko really up for the event and still showing all his moves perfectly, he does also come across as weak, tired and slim, this of course all adding to his death but he was still clearly ready to rock as best he could, he still had it.

Yes it does look dated, the whole thing could of been from the 80's easily but Jacko always was an 80's kinda guy, it was his prime, he was only one of few who could actually still make that era work today. You just can't deny that most of his music is classic and will never die despite its dated look and feel, its timeless and this concert would have been a definite story for the grandkids haha

RIP Jacko

Law Abiding Citizen

AWESOME!!!! Gerard and Jamie Foxx are a fantastic pair.Intense and twisty,I loved it!!

Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Loved it! This has been on my see it soon list forever.A film desidned to have the viewer fall in love with the story.I have never really seem anything quite like it.Its amazing what one random act of kindness for a stranger will spark off in another persons life.See this movie if you haven't already!! =)

Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Loved it! This has been on my see it soon list forever.A film desidned to have the viewer fall in love with the story.I have never really seem anything quite like it.Its amazing what one random act of kindness for a stranger will spark off in another persons life.See this movie if you haven't already!! =)

Paranormal Activity

What on earth was that?? Really really NOT scary. Who got scared with this movie!?!? Why does everyone compare this with the Blair Witch project?? Nothing even close to "The blair witch project", which is by the way INDEED SCARY and the best film presented as a documentary pieced together from amateur footage. Paranormal activity is the new Blair witch project? Yeah right! Who dreamed of that? (the fact that I talk more about the Blair witch project than Paranormal activity on a review which is supposed to be about Paranormal activity in the first place does convince you that this movie was stupid and without any reason to exist?)
Ok my opinion(which I think I made pretty clear lol); Paranormal activity was boring, slow and I repeat NOT scary at all (unless this is the first thriller you watch, then I accept it). What a crap...

9

After both Timur Bekmambetov and Tim Burton had a hand in producing this I was kinda expecting some far out fantasy with dark goth elements and neat action sequences but alas its the oppersite (well the action scenes are ok), the whole plot is a very over used story of machines overtaking the earth and killing everyone, oh and humans made them in the first place hmmm. So really you have a total mix of The Matrix, Terminator some Dark Crystal and many other films involving robots/machines gone wrong.
It certainly has an epic feel to it, the design and look is excellent with heavy metallic, grimy, rusty, dark colours and themes thick and fast, with a kind of techo, steam punk, industrial crossover with cute little smurf type heroes battling the evil machines..which unfortunately look like the machines from The Matrix.

You could also include a heavy WWII feel to this, the gritty propergander and hope sense to the human struggle via flashbacks and the fact that some machines look like giant Nazi trooper helmets on legs haha again films such as Mutant Chronicles and Sky Captain spring to mind.

Anyway apart from the heavy borrowings from other films its a reasonable flick, not really a kids film though despite the cgi, its pretty dark, brooding and bleak to be honest with quite afew hints at death thrown in. The main characters are pretty odd looking, they are just small sacks lets be honest, sewn together with clockwork bits inside haha unusual to say the least. Voice work is one of the better aspects with a great cast line up which really helps sell the doom n gloom but with the plot needing more explanation and time (its only about 1h 20min) you can't help but feel this could of been alot better, making it look abit more adult could of helped too.

A cult classic in the waiting maybe.

Paranormal Activity

This one got way too overhyped for me.I was expecting some truly terrifying stuff.Really let down.Still some things you aren't ready for and one hell of an ending,I would just wait for the dvd. =)

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Electrifying!! What a sad sore reminder that Michael is gone.Anyway we are so lucky that this film was put together to hold Michael's legacy together.I do believe that this concert would have put Michael back on top.This concert was amazing and over the top,but in a good way.You get to see this man in a firm,creative businessman,yet he remains humble and full of love.He has so much energy and charisma. The new version of Thriller is AWESOME.Just am amazing film,See this one!!!

Moon

Genre; Science fiction

Cast; Sam Rockwell, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

In case you are bored to check out flixster's page about "Moon" here is the summary; Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diiminish our planet's power problems.

One great performance by Sam Rockwell... and... yeah that's all I guess...
In my reviews, all I really do is writing about the feeling the movie gave me and honestly this time I got dissapointed... Where is the extraordinairy plot?! Where is the suspense and the mystery the trailer gave me the idea I will experience? In conclusion, it's a decent movie, you are not gonna get bored or something like that, but you may get dissapointed, if u expect too much(so I think my review will do some good lol since I prepair u for this)

The Ugly Truth

I am afraid of romantic comedies like some people are afraid of horror movies... That's why it took me so long to decide to watch "The ugly truth". But I am a human too and I read some nice reviews about this one so I thought "yeah why not let's try". I was sure that it isn't anything special....and of course I was right.
Ok I admit there are some funny moments (but not that you will laugh your ass out). The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler is good and that's all... Another predictable romantic comedy which gets kinda boring in the middle... Yeah ok indeed it says the truth about men, but it's not something we didn't already know (sorry guys...I mean the truth about most of u).

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Even I'm not Michael Jackson's fans, but I do appreciate his work and of course I appreciate him by watching this movie... And I must say that this movie is Magnificent..!!! I can't imagine how hard Michael practice for his last-but-never-happened concert... He really wants to be involved in every segment, from choosing the backstage dancer, setting the right tune, and making the videos... And the other thing that amazed me is the camera video used to take this movie, even it is for Michael's private collection but the picture was very clear... It is like it was planned to be released on a movie... And for Michael's himself, his dance and his voice leaves me petrified on my seat while watching this movie... Really amazing... I just don't have another higher praise for him... The weak point of this movie is just this movie only a set of Michael Jackson's song that want to be performed in his last-but-never-happened concert, so people may be bored while watching it... And I do feel it when it comes to the song 'Beat It'... But overall, it's really worth to watch... A documentary movie that gave us memory of the King Of Pop, and of course a movie to show our appreciation to him... Goodbye Michael, may you rest well in Heaven... God Bless U...

Where the Wild Things Are

If you cross Labyrinth's escapism and large creatures with maybe a hint of The Dark Crystal and some Muppet lunacy here and there you may have an idea of what to expect in this film. The huge 'wild things' are actually designed and made by the fantastic Henson company and you can see it through and through :) lovely to look at and charming in every way. Each one looks exactly as they should and move pretty well too, even though they are all pretty much like Sweetums or Big Bird from the Muppets they all work so well and look realistic, this could of been a huge cgi mess so I'm really happy they went with this option, Henson's boys are fudging gods in their field, excellent.

After numerous false starts and problems with bad previews etc..I can see why its a mixed bag but still worthy of recognition. The look is lovely and original much like the classic children's book, sure its kinda drab, rough and maybe plain looking but that's just the outback wilderness feel of the book which is kept perfectly. Much of the beloved book is right there on the screen making a great adaptation with some (not too many) nice ideas to beef up the plot (the book had virtually no text) and a very artistic approach with filming making this almost as lovely as the drawings by Maurice Sendak, a nice knarley fairytale of sorts. I think the extra time Jonze spent with his view on this was time well spent as its a beautiful film in simplicity, colour and view points.

One problem of course comes with the minimalistic story, as there was only about ten sentences in the book new or extented story was needed to flesh out the film, its very 'primeval' and simple which unfortunately does become alittle dull and boring midway through. The film feels stretched for ideas and you can see everything slowly running out of steam due to the very basic plotline, its very very basic, almost non existent hehe
That's the other problem, I feel kids will bore of this very quickly and may even fear some of it as its alittle dark in places and not as light or glorious as the book, they may not even follow the story much either as its alittle off the wall haha basic but weird. Kudos on the voice work here too, everyone really fits their 'wild thing' well and brings a true sense of feeling and soul to their character.

I think folks of about 25 upwards will really like this, many will have been brought up with this children's book and like me have fond memories come flooding back :) I since have checked out the book and it almost brought a lump to my throat as I looked over the images which I recalled instantly.
Its not a stunning film but its a lovely well made film from a classic much loved source, a must see.

Carriers

Genre; Drama(yes drama indeed!), thriller, horror.

**********PLOT**********

Determined to elude a deadly virus, Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), his brother Brian (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Danny's school friend Kate(Emily VanCamp) speed across U.S.A. to reach a beach, a place of possible safety.

**********REVIEW**********

Interesting...very interesting I have to say... Very satisfying performances from every single member of the cast which kinda turned this one to a drama rather than a horror movie (not that I have a problem with horror movies, I WANTED ZOMBIES!! lol). So although it's another "a virus will kill us all, run to save your life!!" movie, it's different because it emphasizes to the feelings of the heroes. It is a little slow, but don't worry I insure you that you won't get bored (you won't even notice it lol). The good atmosphere will make u feel that you are part of the movie, that may cause u some chills (or it was just the stupid air-conditioner of the cinema- why do they use "cold wind" at winter!? Uug I go to my cave make fire). Yes definately worths the watch. It reminded me a little bit of "28 days later" (which means only one thing; GOOOOOD).



PS. I loved the little girl's dad...Aaaww he was so nice :-( You will understand when u see the movie...

Pandorum

Hard to sum this film up really, add alittle 'Aliens', 'Alien' and 'Event Horizon', then a total rip of 'The Descent' and 'The Cave', set in space aboard yet another derelict spacecraft and film it in near total darkness using choppy/fast cutting camera work with loads of unusual angles and there you have it :)

I liked this film because it was alittle different and sci-fi but 'alittle' being the operative word haha the plot is a mish mash of all films said above and it doesn't really hide that fact, even the creatures are pretty much the same as the creatures in 'The Descent', with a slight 'Mad Max' touch about them if you ask me (their homemade armour) as do certain crew survivors along the way.
The whole thing starts off pretty well and keeps you really glued to the screen, Foster is excellent as usual, almost too good for the film really, the rest merely make up the cast to an average standard, Quaid being badly miscast as a mental baddie that looks like Dallas from Alien or a slim Captain Nemo hehe
Effects are also likeable and look space age yet murky and eerie at the same time (Event Horizon style), creature makeup is also top notch again showing up cgi for being crap half the time. Problem is as the film moves forward it becomes less intriguing and more confusing and rather stupid. The creatures simply turn into a gang of zombie like flesh chompers that run around screaming , getting killed and at one point have a one on one martial arts style kendo fight with one of the disposable 'heroes', a loooow point there.

As you near the end of the film there are twists galore as you completely lose the plot haha and trying to actually see what the hell is going on through the darkness and epileptic fit inducing camera work, but there is something here that does entice me still, despite all its failings I do actually kinda like the film and I'm not sure why. Acting by Foster helps, it looks good is another factor and it moves at a good pace with a reasonable plot (people trapped with lots of creatures after them is a good solid winner normally hehe) despite quite afew questions that linger in the air.

There is an obvious sequel there too but lets not go there, not yet anyway.