Kent's Talk

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

This movie's evolved so much from it's predecessors, noticeably. Begins with various flashes including parts of the movie, thrown here and there for confusion but definitely many questions are answered in this one. Characters have clearly grown especially Draco whose performance was surprisingly good, as well as other complications like love, hate, secrets and old hatreds, all these are revealed and answered. Not to mention some serious fights, the long awaited fight between Draco and Harry, some funny good humor this time, action, drama....i'm telling you i was impressed and i'm not a Harry Potter fan.

This is without a doubt one of the best in the H.P. movies so far, though some of you surely beg to differ. It's really nice seeing all this magic this movie had the first 2 movies be turned into such an artistic concept. Definitely worth the watch. Enjoy!!!

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Ice Age 3)

The name says it all. I still stick to the idea that the 1st was the best, it had good story, funny lines, then there's the 2nd that is also pretty good, and this one, well...not so funny, only a few good lines, somehow doesn't seem to have as much heart as the other 2, but still it IS Ice Age and what it lacks in story or humor it compensates with the characters we've fallen in love with. Enjoy!

Event Horizon

Deffinetly one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. One of the movies that scared the crap out of me, plenty of gore, plenty of sci-fi and the chill you feel throughout the whole movie is exhilarating. I've always been fond of spooky space expeditions where something goes wrong and the crew dies of "unnatural causes", really missed watching this movie again, and i seriously think i will keep it on my desk not the shelf.
The cast is great, Sam Neil does an awesome job in this movie, the soundtrack spooky, and everything, just keeps you alert.
Deep-Space movies have always been among my favorites, especially this one that even though it's not made with H.R. Giger's imagination it still does the trick.
Prepare to be chilled, Enjoy!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Haven't seen an animation in quite a while, amd i'm sorry, it felt so fresh, something i haven't tasted for a long time, but it's gotta change, besides Superman and Batman teaming up....that's a treat.
They team up to take on Lex Luthor's corrupt leadership, butthings make it difficult when there's a bounty on the Man of Steel and many metahumans are out to get him.
So yeah, it's good relaxing fun, with two (and more) of world's greatest super heroes.
Enjoy!

The Thaw

Ok, maybe it's just me, but isn't this whole parasite infestation, global warming idea enough as subjects for making movies. I'm fed up with it. Didn't feel scared at all, and suspense?, except for some screams here and there, it doesn't exist.
Two things are good at this movie, the cast's acting is good and they make this whole movie connect with the , and this is the 2nd thing, the storyline that kinda sucks, but somehow the actors pulled it through. Decided to check it out for Val Kilmer cuz i haven't seen him in a movie for a while, but other than that, i had no good reasons.
I wouldn't watch it again.

Witless Protection

Well, to be honest this is the first time that Cable Guy Larry (or the other way around) has caught my attention. So as a first impression, i was impressed, i've seen so many bad comedy's that i sometimes forget to laugh at the good ones, and this one has some funny ass parts.
He's fat, he stinks, has one hell of a way with people and deffinetly not a gentleman, more like he seems related to pigs (most guys are, NOT TRUE, but that's what women think), but i'll be damned if this shit is not funny, however doesn't mean that you'll like it, thank god for trailers, but it's relaxing and might squeeze a few giggles if you're in the right mood.

Have fun..or don't!! :-??

Star Trek

When i was 5 yrs old i remember hearing for the first time the words "Space, the Final Frontier", little did i know then that those words were soon to be among the most known and popular words throughout the movie industry. many tv shows and movies have been made surrounding Star Trek, but so far the end of this movie gave me back that feeling i felt when i first saw and heard for the first time of Star Trek.
Characters are strong, storyline heroic, bravery and the obvious laser guns, ships,a multitude of races, this really looks very good for the beginning of this "new" adventure with a whole new crew/cast. This truly shows a lot of promise, sequels practically beg to be made.
Chris Pine fills William Shatner's shoes pretty good in the role of James Tiberius Kirk, the emobodiment of courage , a man among men and a hero for the ages.
Loved it, it was fun, a good clean sci-fi adventure that i've been waiting to see for some time now. After all these been said i guess i'd say....heck yes, i recommend it.

Enjoy!!!

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

This movie reinvented technology, and non-stop action. Aside from some here and there jibber jabber, all you see is shooting, damage, story, cast, mix it with some future tech, the nanobots (that can be found in humans, suits, warheads, even fish) and take the fight, on, above and below the surface, and you get the Joe squad ready to entertain your ass anytime.
I bet that making a decent storyline for this movie must've been a pretty difficult task, yet they've pulled it off, but the story ain't that important with all the abundant special effects. So yeah this is deffinetly entertaining. Besides, not every movie has Sienna Miller in leather, Enjoy!!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

took me long enough, but finally got to see it...I'm glad.

With this movie you get what you see, same cast (wouldn't have it any other way), bots abound, literally there's autobots and decepticons spreading like x-mas rabbits, even some wannabe romance between Shia and that major fox Megan Fox:> , and deffinetly leaving space for some future sequels or, why not even prequels (you never know these days).
Didn't have the same feeel to it like the 1st one, well nothing is as good as the first time (movie related), but same action packed, sci-fi surreal 'botz' and 'conz whooping each others asses and saving humanity.

it's awesome and anyone who liked even at least the first one this can't be missed. Njoy!

9

The first caveat: If i liked the steampunk style, this would definitely be a 3.5 star and potentially 4.

Now some training for cinen00bs:
Repeat to yourself in mantra style until you have properly remembered it: "Shane Acker wrote and directed this, not Tim Burton. Tim Burton produced." OR shortened, "Shane Acker's 9". Got it? Okay now say aloud Timur Bekmambetov's name until you got it down (Tee-mur Beck-mum-beh-toff) because if you didn't know about him already, he's one of the top directors in the world, specializing in flawless action and monumental visual flair; for this film, he also produced. Okay we go that out the way, and you know this isn't a "Tim Burton's _____" film and that Bekmambetov is quite entrenched in Hollywood now.

Onto actual review:
The story of 9 is a simple and interesting take on the post-human landscape where robots rose to destroy society. The focus of the film is on a handful of sentient puppets who seem to be among the few creatures left alive in a desolate landscape. The detailed design of these puppet characters is amazing and beautiful. They have simple character traits and are one-dimensional cutout characters (and the story tries to justify this with its ultimate revelation about these creatures' sentience). The animation is amazing and presents equally over-the-top action with gargantuan mechanical creations and emotional exchange between the tiny characters.

It's great if you like action, but I found the action segments to be numbing to my senses. Some of the interpersonal exchanges are quite convincing, but sometimes the cutout nature of these characters intervenes and makes a give-and-take too predictable. Still, the simple animations of the numbers' eyes and mouths was enough to keep my mind engaged.

The end was not satisfying for me, but the moments of questing for that truth were quite cool. The thought that went into these designs (and the fictional origin of these designs) is immense and unbelievably executed. When I couldn't care about the simple plot or immense action scenes, there were always novel design details to absorb.

I don't understand the PG-13 rating, except that I know that rating has grown immensely in the past few years as PG becomes far more tame. To me, this is a very PG movie, and actually the people (age-wise) who will gain the most from this are in the 6-12 range. There are too many scary images for small children, but any child who has acquired any sophistication re:"real vs. fake" and the magic of cinema will be utterly enthralled by this story. For me, it didn't have enough emotional resonance because I have been exposed to far too many stories in my short lifespan. To a green mind, this is an intriguing and possibly standout parable with a sharp message of 'The human spirit can and will overcome the "inevitable" robot apocalypse.'

Ultimately, visuals over storytelling (who didn't expect that), but a veritable heaven for lovers of the steampunk aesthetic.

The Chorus (Les Choristes)

SÚPER EXCELENTEEEEEEEE
ME FASCINÓ
TODOOOO, LOS PLANOS, LA ESTÉTICA, LOS MOVIMIENTOS.. TODOOOO =)

Creation

Just want to draw everyone's attention to this UK film starring Jennifer Connely and Paul Bettany playing Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin. Basically the film focusses on Darwin's theories on evolution and relationship with his wife. Contains various other Brit actors too.

Looking forward to this..due to reach UK cinemas this month.

Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum (District 13: Ultimatum)

Well director's might have changed but the writer is still Luc Besson and i'm so glad this 2nd B13 kept that action packed feeel in it. I mean you can never take a fuckin break, it's that exciting, exhilarateing, always keeps moving, surrounded by the same great cast the 2 awesome PK artists that clearly made a good team together in B13(the 1st) and they're back to strike against a corrupt government (another one, ahha they're all the same).

Many just say it's a re-hash of the 1st movie and same old great acrobatics, but a sucker for this kind of action will always be a sucker (or not, heck i dunno), question is,are you bored of Twilight? or some porely made comedys (they just dont make'em like they used to), or some crappy sci-fi, this is the adrenaline pump you need. Great movie in my book, have funz, Njoy!!

Race to Witch Mountain

a pretty interesting story with strong cast, literally and quite the rush, but somehow this feels like a movie that fits children more. Whenever i see Anna Sophia Robb i just remember Bridge to Terabithia, which was probably her best performance in a movie, but either way child or not, Dwayne Johnson is there if you feel like taking it seriously, some effects here and there and entertaining. Enjoy!

Blood Simple

Marty hires a private investigator to spy on his wife, who he suspects of cheating. When Marty hires the investigator to kill his wife and her lover, things get very complex. (IMDB)


Blood Simple is the Coen Bros' first feature film from 1984. It also features Frances McDormand, wife of Joel Coean and frequent collaborator in their films. Blood Simple is quite simply brilliant and of course the beginnings of what would later become two of Hollywood?s great film directors. One of my favourite Coen bros films and perhaps one of my favourite films.

The film also has many man similar characteristics to the Coean Bros 2007 film No Country for Old Men. It's an incredibly dark tale and contains a lot of shots that are in No Country for Old Men. What is also brilliant about this is the use of diegetic sound. That being that it's mainly in the picture that we hear music and aspects of surround sound. We also hear who would later become one of the main characters narrating at the beginning, which is what was in No Country for Old Men. This creates a far more realistic image to the audience and you really feel part of the film.

Worth mentioning some great tracking shots following characters which are just genius and brilliant to watch. Blood Simple is obviously brilliantly directed and such the attention to detail to perfection. The tension in Blood Simple is evident in many scenes and really makes you the viewer on tender hooks itching to know what will come next. I found myself on the edge of my bed just like that. The cinematography, especially in the opening sequence is again perfection. When we are introduced to the two main characters we feel claustrophic in the scene mainly due to the brilliant lighting in this scene.

Blood Simple contains a cleverly written script. One which incorporates humour, with a dark, twisted tale in the form of a film-noir. With all that entrenched in the film, it stars off as a predictable story but with a few twists and turns ( which is what The Coen Bros later did in their films) it becomes more of a complex and more engaging tale which I feel is perfection ( as I've stated before.) I've also got to admit that it will feel like a David Lynch film for the first 40 mins.

Blood Simple is one of cinema's forgotten gems and one which is of course overshadowed by the Coens later and better known titles. If you?ve not got into their body of work yet start with this as it really is a masterful piece of work. Brilliant! Don't expect you?re average crime of passion when you watch this.

Superb

10/10

Masterpiece.

X-Men Origins - Wolverine

Well this is just awesome. I can't possibly imagine how it could've been made any better, making a movie after comics is always a hard job, trying to find best actor for the part, and there's always the fans the ones that disagree with anything that is not in the original comics, well it's a movie and it pretty much let us know the origins of Wolverine.

No point talking about the effects, the cast is great, Sabertooth and Stryker very good choices, not sure about Gambit though, but still overall a great kickass movie. Has some amazing parts, and sure as hell feels nice to see the birth of Wolverine in a movie, really good.

Chemical Wedding

Watchmen

Finally got the chance to watch this and first impressions, not what i expected at all. It starts with some twisted blabber mumbo-jumbo that lasts for an hour and a half, then half hour of action and kickass fighting (FINALLY) and some more mumbo-jumbo, only to have a terrible ending.( I don't like Dr. Manhattan at all no man should have that power)

Now something good about it: nudity, depraveacy, morality, laws and lack there of, fights are very good, effects no need mentioning, very good performance, im talking about all the actors, and find out more by yourselves.

Well all these said i'm no expert in Watchmen since this movie is the first time i ever heard of this project, all i knew was that it's some sort of famous and amazing comic, but that is all, so i only expressed my feelings after my personal taste....bottom line.....this movie, IS too damn slow and too damn long, but feel excited to watch since it really is a different movie, i dont regret watching it, besides there's more to it.

P.S.2. Three stars for the sex scene in Archie and Rorschach's awesome performance.
Enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It's such an amazing feeling when you go to watch a movie with low expectations and a feeling that you will be disappointed and then leave the theater with a wide smile on your face because your expectations were wrong and the movie completely satisfied you. That was my experience with Half-Blood Prince. And it's great to watch a Harry Potter movie after such a long absence. Two years were enough and after the disappointment i suffered from Order Of The Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince gave me hope again that the franchise won't die in the hands of David Yates. This is the movie of summer, and it deserves its title for its public appeal and power to entertain and at the same time it has quality work in every single section you can think of while making a movie.

Half-Blood Prince as a book or a movie comes as a preparation for the grand finale of The Deathly Hallows. Harry, with the help of Dumbeldore, becomes his quest to discover the past of Voldemort and know how to defeat him. During so, we see love blooming between the lead characters and personal problems taking place that makes the characters so interesting. when i talked to people who already saw the movie, they said they didn't like it for certain reasons. Well these reasons they stated were why i absolutely loved the Half-Blood Prince. The problem is that people go to watch Harry Potter movies thinking of the books and how the movie will be faithful to the books they forget they are going to watch a movie not a book. So they fall into the details that might be absent and how they are transformed in the movie and eventually end up not liking the movie. To really enjoy the Half-Blood Prince you must completely forget the book you read and watch the movie for the sake of enjoying it. And trust me if you do so you will really love it coz you will feel the pure love of movie making in every step done to make the movie how it ended up.

With this outing, the Harry Potter movies took back the 4.5 stars rating all the other Harry Potter had except Order Of The Phoenix which was a major step down in the series and ended up with only a 3 stars rating. If i have to rank it between all the Harry Potter movies i will put it at #3 after Prisoner Of Azkaban which remains till now the best in the series and one of my all time favorite movies and Goblet Of Fire. This outing doesn't match the intelligence of Prisoner OF Azkaban nor the darkness and creepyness of Goblet Of Fire but it surpasses the rest of the movies in terms of original movie making and quality of filming. To say i only loved this movie would be a understatement, coz what i felt while watching was so much more. It reminded of why i actually chose to study movie making in university and why i even started watching movies at the first place. Its gives me great joy to watch a movie where you notice the effort put in all its element in order to give satisfaction and movie watching pleasure to the audience. It is certainly a job well done here and i salute them all for everything they have done.

I will start talking about the most important part of the Harry Potter movies which is the adapting part or making the book a screenplay. It's funny to say that the movie that was the least faithful to the book and removed so many details from the original work would end up to be almost the longest movie in the series. Doing so was a very risky task coz most of the viewers will be fans of the books and they will go looking for a visual adaptation of the book. So i understand why most people were disappointed when they saw this outing but as i said before, to fully enjoy the movie you must forget the book and just watch the movie as if you don't already know what is happening. For the first time in the series, you don't feel as if the scenes are rushing themselves and that everything is taking place too fast so the movie won't end up four ours long. Here, every scene is taking its time slowly so we feel relaxed while watching and we notice all the details. It also gives a bigger chance for the director to go further in his work so he can bring a bigger element of beauty to the scene. Sure i would have liked it that all the scenes that were removed from the book would be re-added but when you watch the movie you don't feel as if something is missing. Everything was in its place so clear and so understandable. So no harm was done in removing many elements from the book. And i must say that this movie doesn't follow the usual formulas we've seen in all the previous Potter movies in terms of continuity of elements and actions. It's something so new and experimental when it comes to adapting a Harry Potter movies after so many fans were used to a certain formula to come and present something new.

When i first knew that David Yates will be directing the rest of the Potter movies i was really pissed off coz i didn't like at all his work in Order of the Phoenix and i thought that the franchise will die. But i was completely surprised by his work here. Sure it doesn't compare to Alfonso Cuaron's genius work in Prisoner Of Azkaban, but it comes closely behind it as the second best directorial job in the potter series and i'm really looking forward to see what he has hidden in the two parts of the Deathly Hallows. In Order of the Phoenix, Yates was so busy trying to bring a new style to the visual aspect of the series that he ended up making a very messy movie that has little style and many flaws. It's a whole different case here. Probably the fact that so much was removed from the book gave more space for Yates to discover himself as a director and be more artistic in the way he shot his scenes. And indeed he was. He used different style of shooting in different scenes that shows real professionalism and knowledge in directing. Yates knows what he's doing here and he learned from his previous mistakes. He used in several scenes hand held camera, and this use was clearly explained and justified so even a person who isn't studying cinema will understand why he used such a style. In other scenes we notice fast editing coz it's actually necessary to build up the tension. But what really fascinated me were his traveling shots. They aren't like typical traveling shots that we see in typical movies. He used his traveling shots to mix several tones in one shot which was brilliant beyond compare. In one shot he goes from comedy to romance to dark to scary and he does it in such a toned way it makes it so hard for you not to praise it. And i must say that some scenes were really scary you think you are watching an actual horror movie. His angles are so well chosen and every single shot is more beautiful than the other.

On technical terms, the movie is an absolute visual feast. It has the best technical work since Prisoner Of Azkaban. I have to salute the director of photography for his excellent work when it comes to image. Every scene got the mood it needed when it comes to lighting and colors and you get a blast just from looking at the image. And when it comes to visual effects, the movie is a major improvement from the video-games-like effects of Order of the Phoenix. The visual effects were amazing and so true you forget the fact that these are computer generated images. The scene of the fire was so breath taking you can feel the fire burning on your skin. So it comes as a real contender against the perfect visuals of Transformers 2. Although this is the movie with the least locations, yet the art direction and set decoration were great.

Nicholas Hooper was a great disappointment when it came to his score after the genius beginning of John Williams and the phenomenal continuous of Patrick Doyle. Here, he still doesn't come even close to them but his work was an improvement from his previous one and i must mention that there's a certain track called ""When Ginny Kissed Harry" which is so good i immediately downloaded it and can't stop listening to it. In this movie the use of music was different from the others. In all Harry Potter movies, we're always used to hear music accompanying the scenes. Here, some scenes came without music and it was a perfect choice. You feel the chill and the effect of striking strings in the silence of the scene which was so brilliant.

As for the acting, the show stealer as in Order Of The Phoenix was again Helena Bonham Carter. I can't understand how someone with such a small appearance on screen can do such an amazing job. She gives the best performance in the series and keeps it up. A new brilliant performance finally came after six movies from the woman who plays Ron's mom. For the first time her performance was very good and the look on her face while her house was burned was PRICELESS!! Michael Gambon gives an exceptional performance and i'm very happy that he's playing Dumbeldore coz Richard Harris couldn't have played the part in the movie. Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson still don't know how to act but they improved from the previous movies. But still the best in the trio is Rupert Grint.

Pink Panther 2

haha, Clouseau strikes again. This time around however he is accompanied by the best detectives to complete the Dream Team founded to catch a dangerous thief. Always funny, and entertaining, doing nothing but goof everywhere he goes but wouldn't be him if he wouldn't be goofy and clumsy and a total dumbass, or just a very lucky guy who's at the right place and the right time.