Synchronization
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| Name | Chris M |
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| Gender | Male |
| I'm From | England, UK |
| Member For | 828 days |
| Last Login | Thu. May 15 |
| Profile Views | 3562 |
| Age | 16 |
| MCT Score |
| Movie: | See My Favourite Movies list. |
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| Actor: | See My Favourite Actors list. |
| Director: | N/A |
| Quote: | Kianna: Dude, I lost track 20 cards ago. Micky Rosa: Don't call me dude. ~21 (2008) |
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Exams: 2008 - May 15 - June 2, 2008
Exams are around the corner (beginning May 16 to be exact), so really don't expect to see many updates. Infact, Smart People, Shutter and Indiana Jones 4, (and maybe a few others if there is spare time, which i'm sure there will be) will be the only movies that will be seen over the next few weeks. I shall be back to normal, in time for the Summer on June 3, 2008. Good luck to anyone else doing exams over the next few weeks or so. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Movies 2008 / UK Box Office Top 10 / USA Box Office Top 10 / Movies: 2008 |
Chris' Recent Reviews
What Happens in Vegas...
PG-13
Hollywood have another go at creating a romantic comedy. Unfortunatly, there's nothing new about this one either.
Chris' Favorite Movies
![[Rec]](http://content6.flixster.com/movie/10/52/28/10522876_tmb.jpg)
1.
[Rec]
Unrated
28 Weeks Later meets Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project. An early but strong contender for best movie of the year.
2.
Saw IV
R
The best in the series so far answers questions and adds new ones into the ongoing story line. The question is, when will it all end. Saw IV is still a great movie, not just the first time or the second, but the third as well.
Chris' Movie Scrapbook
Chris' Talk
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FilmsExpertposted 22 hours ago -
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I recommend you see...
Iron Man
by IlyaIron Man (2008)
Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges"Tony Stark: [reading the newspaper] Iron Man? That's kinda catchy"Tony Stark is a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armour and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armour and vows to protect the world as Iron Man.
Iron Man was touted to be a good film from the start, but boy; I didn't expect it to be "that" good. It is primarily good because of its stunning special effects. Now, those who are familiar with Iron Man comic book or even those who have seen the TV series will know what I am talking about. For others who are not familiar with Iron Man, this film has a strong storyline that shows briefly how Tony Stark came up with the Iron Man suit and why did he actually decided to create it. You will also see a man who decided to change his life, in order to fight against evil and help all those innocent people from getting killed. Sounds familiar? Yes, the story is not original but it is well delivered.
The plot is a typical superhero story; a guy who uses his talent for doing something completely irrelevant or something that only makes his life better, (creating weapons of mass destruction and selling them worldwide in this case) but after a terrible situation that put his life in danger opened his eyes, and so he decided to use his knowledge by helping humanity and protecting civilians from the bad guys. Only one difference to most of the other super hero flicks: just like Batman, Iron Man doesn't have any super powers. He is a normal man, only he is extremely good at machinery and engineering. He is a genius. So, while Tony Stark has being attacked by terrorists, he was brutally injured by his own weapon during the attack. This made him realise that he wasted his life by creating something that takes lives of innocent people. After the incident, he constructs a suit which will help him escape from his kidnappers an later on; he will create a much better version of this suit, in order to protect people around the world. But unfortunately for Tony, there is someone that wants to stop him from helping people, someone who only wants to earn money by causing other people deaths, and therefore Tony Stark must face this person and stop him from killing him and everyone else.
Robert Downey Jr. Plays Tony Stark. A thing about playing a superhero in the movie like Spider-Man or X-Men is that people will remember you for your role, no matter how well or bad you performed in this movie. Robert most certainly will be remembered as one of the best actors to play a superhero. He did ever so great; he acted as a typical jackass millionaire at the start of the movie, but later on he changed, he became more responsible and grateful for things he could have achieved if he was using his knowledge in a good way. He was witty, hilarious and the way he said all of his dialogues, all that was fantastic. He handled the role well, even though he is older that Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow played Tony's fiancé Pepper Potts. She and Robert had a lot of mixture between them, they looked great together and their dialogues were often hilarious yet romantic. Terrence Howard played James Rupert Rhodes, a close friend of Stark and his future superhero partner War Machine. Terrence were good in his role, even though at times he looked a bit out of place, he was generally fine and even funny at times. Even though we don't get to see him as War Machine, we get a hint that he will definitely use the suit in the next Iron Man movie. Finally, Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane, Tony's business partner and later his primal enemy of this film, Iron Monger. Jeff is extremely good as a bad guy, I can guarantee that you will dislike his character after the first time you see him in the movie.
Most of the superhero movies are famous for its special effects but this one had more than that. The dialogues were really good; they are brilliant throughout the whole movie. Cinematography is great, the light mixture is good and it is easy to watch the whole movie without moving your eyes away from the screen.
Overall, Iron Man movie is a pleasure to watch, especially on the big screen. While most of the superhero movies don't have what it takes to be called "super", Iron Man rose beyond expectations and quite easily became one of this year's best superhero movies. A massive credit to John Favreau for creating this stunning film that can be truly remembered as one of the best in its category.
Review Date: 11th of May, 2008.Hey, you all probably seen this by now,and so have I (about a week ago), but I didn't had time to do a review straight away, and so i only finished it now. Definitly the best superhero I have seen so far, after Batman Begins of course. My mate at the ciname said after the film finished : " surely there is no film better than Iron Man in its category", on which I replied: " just you wait until The Dark Knight"...
posted 4 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
Millions
by IlyaMillions (2004)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Starring Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan"[first lines]
Damian Cunningham: [voiceover] The French have said au revoir to the franc, the Germans have said auf wiedersehen to the mark, and the Portuguese have said... whatever to their thing."Millions tells the story of 7-year-old Damian, whose family moves to the suburbs of Manchester after the death of his mother. Soon after the move, Damian's "hermitage" is obliterated by a bag of money flung from a passing train. Damian immediately shows the money to his brother, Anthony, and the two begin thinking of what to do with it. Anthony, the selfish one, wants the money only for himself and his entertainment.
Damian, the kind-hearted and religious of the two, had recently overheard three Latter Day Saint missionaries lecture other members of the community on building foundations of rock rather than foundations of sand, an old Christian principle which dictates that self-worth should be based on spirituality rather than worldly things like money and wealth. The lecture inspires Damian, who is particularly enamoured with the missionaries because of the name of their church; Damian is obsessed with saints, studying their biographies and even seeing them in his day-to-day activities as visions. He immediately begins looking for ways to give his share of the money to the poor.
Very underrated and really unknown, but in fact this film is a real gem. The story is perfect, the acting is great and I really loved the idea that we were meant to receive after we have seen this movie. It's a typical family film; two boys find a box of money and they both are trying to spend the money, each their own way. The older one spends it on sweets, cloth and many other different items. The younger one though is a typical dreamer; he believes in god, he prays, he studies bible and he reads about all the different missionaries. He also has a really good imagination; he always seems to talk to different people who in fact, do not exist. So as he receives the money, he decides to give it to the poor ones. But who are the poor ones these days? Obviously, that the young kid like him has no idea what poor people look like and basically, he follows his own mind and gives out the money to everyone who he thinks would really need them.
Typically, if any of us would have received this kind of money, we would have probably spent it on every single thing we wished for at this point of our life. This movie lets us see our imagination transfer into reality of this film, some of us will find the stuff that kids buying absolutely ridiculous, but some of us will often smile when they see what kids purchased or how they spend it. This film tells us what's right and what's wrong, why money is so important in our lives and why we usually spend something that by accident becomes ours, but in fact it wasn't earned by us in the first place. The scene before the very last one is very sad, yet beautiful. It shows that someone who has absolutely no idea what money can make to people decides to leave them out of his own life. It makes us think: is money really that important? Yes, today's world depends on money, but there are much more important things in this world such as: love, family, and happiness. If you can be happy with no money in your life, you are indeed a very lucky person. Truth is though, that there is hardly anybody that is happy in this world, even with money in their lives, not talking about people without them.
Alex Etel is amazing as Damian Cunningham. He really is a very young and talented actor and I absolutely loved his performance in this film. Lewis McGibbon plays his older brother, and he also does really well. James Nesbitt and Daisy Donovan played a perfect couple. Nesbitt is great as Damian's father Ronnie. He is a natural actor and he looks really experienced. Daisy Donovan is also good and she is kind of funny when she first appears in Damian's school.
This film is not that famous I must admit, but if you get hold of it, you will be really surprised when you see it because it shows us a very good example of something, that we should never forget.
Review Date: 4th of May, 2008.Hey, you should really see this!
really great. I recommend.posted 11 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
Total Recall
by IlyaTotal Recall (1990)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside"Douglas Quaid: I don't remember you.
Melina: What are you talking about?
Douglas Quaid: I don't remember you. I don't remember us. I don't even remember me."The story is set in the year 2084. Douglas Quaid is a construction worker who has been experiencing dreams about exploring the planet Mars with a sexy brunette. After seeing an ad from Rekall, a company that sells imaginary adventures by implanting memories, he decides to buy a "vacation" on Mars from them, one in which he will take a vacation from himself by becoming a spy. Rekall calls it an "ego trip." Before buying the vacation, Quaid is cautioned by a co-worker that Rekall are "lobotomizing people", in reference to failed memory implants which caused the recipients to suffer permanent brain damage. Quaid hesitates, but disregards this warning.
Total Recall is a nice action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid/Hauser the main protagonist of this film. He plays typical action hero, he know how to kill people effectively, he can shoot like a real soldier, he can even drive a car; he can do all that but the big problem is: he doesn't really know anything about himself. The whole storyline looks simple at first, but it's far more complicated than you can even think of. It twists and turns and by doing so, it leads us to an ultimate twist towards near the end of the movie. It is a typical Arnold Schwarzenegger movie but it is certainly a good thing because it makes the whole difference here. We know that Paul Verhoeven can create a really good action movie and once again he proved that by making this movie.
The acting was great: Arnold was as good as ever: he did lots of shooting and lots of fighting and he said some really bad ass lines that won't disappear from your head for a while. Sharon Stone played Quaid's wife - Lori Quaid. She was ok, even though it wasn't the best performance of her career but it was still not bad at all. The rest of actors did well too; Rachel Ticotin was good as Quaid's fiancé; Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside both playing bad guys and they look good in their roles.
Special effects were great too. The shooting scenes, the fighting scenes, car chasing: it was all well made and it was a pleasure to watch. The amount of blood and violence is really high but that is what makes this a true action movie.
Overall, Total Recall is a great film to watch, sometimes maybe it is hard to understand what's going on but you can still enjoy the movie. If you are a big fan of action movies and you enjoy watching Arnold Schwarzenegger doing what he is really good at (by that I mean acting), then this film is definitely for you.
Review Date: 2nd of May, 2008.Hey, you should really see this!
pretty goodposted 13 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by IlyaCharlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Johnny Depp, Freddy Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, Christopher Lee"Mike Teavee: Why is everything here completely pointless?
Charlie Bucket: Candy doesn't have to have a point. That's why it's candy."Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is a tale about an eccentric chocolate maker, Willy Wonka, and Charlie, a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in fifteen years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka's fantastic world.
This is Tim Burton's remake of a famously known film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, both being based on a children's book with the similar name, written by Roald Dahl. This film turned out to be a huge success at the box office, making around $475 million and famously known for its great visual effects.
Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka, an eccentric chocolate maker, who is known worldwide. Depp did a tremendous job, his dialogues were spontaneously hysterical, his movements were elegant, yet funny, and once again, he proved that he is a top actor. Freddy Highmore plays a little boy called Charlie Bucket, a founder of the last golden ticket. Charlie, being unfortunate throughout his whole life finally gets a chance of winning a grand prize in the Willy Wonka's mysterious competition. I didn't see anything special in Freddie's performance, for me he looked like a normal kid who didn't do any sort of memorable acting. I am not saying he was bad, I am just saying that he is just a pretty boy, who can do what he is asked to, but that's as far as it goes. On the other hand, I think all the actors who played the rest of the kids did really well; they were picked perfectly for their roles and shine in this film. David Kelly played Grandpa Joe, and he was one of funniest guys in the film. His character's dream was to see Willy Wonka for the second time in his life, and also to help his grandchild Charlie to be the winner of the competition. Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor played Charlie's parents. Their only wish was to make their son happy, so they tried to encourage their son to be happy not with all money he can get, but with the family that he owns. Deep Roy played all of those weird "Oompa-Loompas". He was generally pleasant to watch, and especially funny at the times. Lastly, Christopher Lee played Wilbur Wonka, the father of Willy. Wilbur is a famous dentist, and therefore forbid Willy to eat any sort of sweets.
The story was generally good. The whole family issue was supported well, and even the fact that Tim Burton relied more on special effects, rather than the story, hasn't affected the overall performance of this film. I also think that the use of flashbacks was a great idea, every time we saw one of them, we got to know a bit about Willy Wonka childhood and that builds up the whole anticipation of the story, with the final secret being revealed towards the end of the movie. Maybe not many people can understand this movie, and some children might find it weird, but generally it's a pleasure to watch it, especially with your family as it's a comedy film. The ending rounded up the story nicely, and brought a conclusion with the thought that family is much more important than money and fame.
Lastly, Special Effects were amazing. I loved the whole atmosphere in the movie, and all the inventions of Willy Wonka were interesting to watch, in fact, the whole tour to the factory was a pleasure to watch. This film received an Oscar nomination for "Best Costume Design" but lost to "Memoirs of a Geisha". I really loved the makeup and the costumes; they made this film look especially good.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - a great family movie and another success for Tim Burton, but it might look weird for the younger audience. Without a doubt, you can always see a first adaptation of Roald Dahl's book, but I recommend you see this one too as it has that little bit of Tim Burton's magic.
Review Date: 27th of April, 2008.Hey, you should really see this!
Pretty cool huh..posted 18 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
I, Robot
by IlyaI, Robot (2004)
Directed by Alex Proyas
Starring Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Shia LaBeouf"Dr. Alfred Lanning: [voiceover] There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code, that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul. Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light? Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together, rather than stand alone? How do we explain this behaviour? Random segments of code? Or is it something more? When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote... of a soul?"The year is 2035. Detective Del Spooner is sent to an experimental space station to investigate the death of brilliant, eccentric scientist Dr. Alfred Lanning. Spooner is aided by psychologist Dr. Susan Calvin, and the death is initially labelled a suicide. Spooner, though, suspects that a robot may have perpetrated the crime. That seems unthinkable since robots are governed by The Three Laws of Robotics, which state that a robot may never harm or allow harm to come to a human being. As Spooner and Calvin investigate the death, they come to believe that a robot did, in fact, commit the crime. They are aided in their investigation by Dr. Lanning himself, who appears as a hologram, and reveals that he was working on a top secret project at the time of his death.
"I, Robot" is one of these action movies, which have a really good storyline. Rather than involving some random killing and shooting, it is based on a mystery death of a famous scientist. There are twists and turns throughout the whole movie, and the final outcome can leave you absolutely puzzled. "I, Robot" based on a book with the similar name and therefore it has a strong storyline. Alex Proyas is a talented director and he handled the script well, by producing one of the best action movies of its decade.
Will Smith was given a leading role of Del Spooner, a detective who hates robots and most of all, don't trust them. He doesn't like the way that robots nearly dominate everything in his world, and says that one day they will get out of control. Will Smith does one of his best action film roles, al because of his astonishing acting. He doesn't just go around and shooting robots, he is trying to solve a mystery that is beyond this film. He also had some funny bits in his dialogue which will make you smile. Bridget Moynahan plays a geeky psychologist, Dr. Susan Calvin. Her performance was good, even though she seem to be a bit tired in most of the action scenes. Alan Tudyk plays Sonny, a robot who is suspected of a murder of Dr. Lanning, played by James Cromwell. It is amazing what technology can do these days, Alan looked really different to his character Sonny. He isn't one of the really famous actors, but I think he did extremely well on his role.
Special effects were astonishing. The whole idea of robots being part of our community in future didn't surprise me but I loved the way it has been represented. The action scenes were done superbly and cinematography was also above the average. I must also give a special credit to the music score, which was really good, and it was used properly during the certain scenes in the movie.
Overall, "I, Robot" is a great action movie, that has a great storyline and it will make you think about it until the end. If you want to see an action movie that isn't all about shooting and can actually provide some sort of mystery, then watch this movie and you will feel very pleased indeed.
Review Date: 26th of April, 2008.Hey, you should really see this!
Good old Will Smith and his action movies.posted 19 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Donnie Darko
by IlyaDonnie Darko (2001)
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, James Duval, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze"Donnie: [in a letter] Dear Roberta Sparrow, I have reached the end of your book and... there are so many things that I need to ask you. Sometimes I'm afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I'm afraid that you'll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to."The story takes place in 1988 in the town of Middlesex, Virginia, during the time of the United States presidential election. Donnie Darko is an intelligent and emotionally troubled teenager who sleepwalks and is in the medical care of a psychiatrist. One night, a jet engine from a commercial aircraft falls into Donnie's bedroom. He avoids death only because prior to the accident, he had obeyed a voice in his head that led him to sleepwalk outside of his room. The voice is that of Frank, an apparently imaginary friend in a man-sized rabbit costume. At midnight on October 2, Frank prophesies to Donnie that the end of the world will occur in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
Donnie Darko is an emo kid. He dresses like one, talks like one, and even has an exact haircut. But for some reason, he is forced to do unexpected things that usually acquires late at night time. This is one of those films that needed to be watched carefully. By that, I mean you don't have to watch it a numerous number of times, but you have to notice every single detail in order to understand it. You either love this film, because you worked out the whole idea of it (doesn't mean you have to explain it, as long as you understand it its fine) or you hate it, because you think that it is way too complicated, or spooky, or just really pointless. I doubt many people hate it, even if this movie didn't receive high gross revenue, it has a lot of fans, and the number of them increasing every year.
Story has been developed really well, we get to know every aspect of it, and even if we feel that something is missing, or something is not right, you will get this detail by the end of the movie, but only if you pay close attention to the film. Jake Gyllenhaal was casted for the role of Donnie Darko, and this role made an instant impact on his career. He does a very good performance, his dialog was good, he acts well and looks really sick, and I am sure that his creepy smile will be stuck in your head for a while after you have seen this movie. So one day, Donnie Darko meets a new girl in his school called Gretchen, played by Jena Malone. Jena is nice and cute, and does all the acting perfectly, especially at the age of 17, she still handles her role well. James Duval plays Frank, a mysterious guy in a rabbit suit. For the guy dressed as a rabbit for the entire movie, he did pretty well. Drew Barrymore plays a teacher in Donnie's school, who doesn't get on well with some stuff in the school and therefore being sacked towards the end of the movie. She is Donnie's favourite teacher, and she sometimes encourages him and she does a great deal of work in the school, so in the end when she gets sacked, you really feel for her. Last two notable actors are Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle. Both had minor roles, but despite that fact they did really well.
Donnie Darko has a really nice music score, used well during the main scenes in the movie. You don't have to be a genius to understand that this is a really good movie. It is a fine debut movie for Richard Kelly, who must build on this great experience and produce something similar next time he directs a movie. I think the whole point of this movie is to let people understand it in the different ways that are most suitable for them. There is no ultimate explanation for this movie; you just choose the most suitable one for yourself and enjoy the film.
Overall, Donnie Darko is not a masterpiece, but it's a very original movie, that touches some important aspects like time travel and the motivations of all the troubled teenagers. This is a movie, which you can only enjoy, if you have worked out the true meaning of it.
Review Date: 24th of April, 2008.Hey, you should really see this!
Quite a film.posted 21 days ago
