Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin) is a paranoid twelve year old. He is obsessed with accident statistics and is too afraid to even climb the ladder to his own treehouse. After a particularly nasty storm he is driven to shelter in the library, where he is sucked into an animated world run by the Pagemaster (Christopher Lloyd). He is accompanied by three enchanted books, Adventure (Patrick Stewart), Fantasy (Whoopi Goldberg) and Horror (Frank Welker) to overcome his fears.
I loved this movie when I was a kid and its been a good ten or so years since I saw it last. The same as most of my favourite childhood films, it was no where near as clever or funny as it was when I was a child, but some of the charm is still there.
Overall it's a story about friendship and conquering fears and that message comes across quite nicely, despite the story being predictable and quite often rushing to get to the next story.
Rating: 2.5/5
Max
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
World's Greatest Dad (2009)
Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) is a writer, he has written five novels, several stories and countless articles. The problem is he has never been published. He lives at home with his son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara). Kyle is a loud arrogant brat who is a loser at school, where Lance also happens to teach an unpopular poetry class. Lance is in a discreet relationship with the high schools art teacher Clare (Alexi Gilmore). Although he tries incredibly hard, Lance just can't relate to his son, or get a break as a writer, that is, until an unexpected turn of events flips his misfortune into the chance hes been looking for.
Robin Williams has been attached to a string of really poor films recently, such as Old Dogs, RV and License to Wed, and although he is trying to shake off his "family movie" image this too was a rather poor film. None of the characters are likable, the situations are far from believeable and the writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait (of Police Academy fame) pulls out every tired cliche he can think of.
The films one redeeming feature is it quite well depicts how easy it can be to distort and manipulate peoples views and create mass hysteria.
Rating: 2/5
Max
Robin Williams has been attached to a string of really poor films recently, such as Old Dogs, RV and License to Wed, and although he is trying to shake off his "family movie" image this too was a rather poor film. None of the characters are likable, the situations are far from believeable and the writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait (of Police Academy fame) pulls out every tired cliche he can think of.
The films one redeeming feature is it quite well depicts how easy it can be to distort and manipulate peoples views and create mass hysteria.
Rating: 2/5
Max
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Blind Side (2009)
The Blind Side is based on the remarkable true story of American football player Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) who was homeless, ripplingly shy and traumatized until he was taken in by the caring Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her family. They accept him as one of the family and enrol him in school, where he learns to play football.
This is the film that won Sandra Bullock her academy award for best actress. She is absolutely superb in portraying the strong willed mother who fights for the boy she very quickly takes on as her son. Relative newcomer Quinton Aaron is also very beleivable in his role. Kathy Bates is fantastic as the tutor brought in to raise Michaels grades in order for him to qualify for a scholarship.
The film is wonderfully made and is so honestly performed. There is something incredibly genuine about everything in this story. It was very easy to like.
Rating: 4/5
Max
This is the film that won Sandra Bullock her academy award for best actress. She is absolutely superb in portraying the strong willed mother who fights for the boy she very quickly takes on as her son. Relative newcomer Quinton Aaron is also very beleivable in his role. Kathy Bates is fantastic as the tutor brought in to raise Michaels grades in order for him to qualify for a scholarship.
The film is wonderfully made and is so honestly performed. There is something incredibly genuine about everything in this story. It was very easy to like.
Rating: 4/5
Max
Date Night (2010)
Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are going through the motions in their happy, albeit boring married life. They have two children, steady jobs and go out on a date once a week at the same restaurant. After learning that their close friends are splitting up due to a boring, routine lifestyle, they decide to spice up their date night by going to the classiest restaurant they can find in New York city, despite not having a reservation. In an act of defiance they steal another couples reservation and so begins the rollercoaster ride of mistaken identity, gun fire and government blackmail.
I am a huge fan of Steve Carell and Tina Fey and seeing them together in a movie was a joy. They play off eachother sensationally. The film is padded out with several celebrity cameos such as Mark Wahlberg, James Franco and Ray Liotta.
The film,despite being fun, fast and action packed, is very predicatable and lined with some cheap sentiment which can easily be glossed over by audiences, losing interest in the slower moments.
Rating: 3/5
Max
I am a huge fan of Steve Carell and Tina Fey and seeing them together in a movie was a joy. They play off eachother sensationally. The film is padded out with several celebrity cameos such as Mark Wahlberg, James Franco and Ray Liotta.
The film,despite being fun, fast and action packed, is very predicatable and lined with some cheap sentiment which can easily be glossed over by audiences, losing interest in the slower moments.
Rating: 3/5
Max
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
Being a fan of the graphic novel, I was incredibly anxious to see this film. I was in no way dissapointed with the adaptation. Every second was bright with colour and cheezy as hell graphics and special effects, from the re-vamped, pixel graphic and MIDI orchestrated "Universal Studios" logo and theme, to the mind blowing final fight sequence. It is also riddled with video game and pop culture references.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a lazy 22 year old, who lives with his gay roomate Wallace Wells (Keiran Culkin). He's trying to make it big with his band, Sex Bob-omb and is currently dating a 17 year old high school girl. That is until he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and his life is turned upside down, because, to be with Ramona, he need to defeat her seven evil exes.
No-one really thinks "action star" when they think of Michael Cera, star of "Juno" and "Superbad", but he proves to be an incredibly competent hero and leading man. Not to mention he beats the crap out of former Superman, Brandon Routh, and former Human Torch and future Captain America, Chris Evans. The rest of the cast do a really great job of eminating the quirkiness of the characters of the Scott Pilgrim universe.
The first half of the film is incredibly true to its graphic novel counterpart, and the second half takes a new twist on the story, due to the fact that writer/director Edgar Wright began working on the screenplay well before the final three installments of the graphic novel went to print.
I really enjoyed this film and my only criticism is that, although incredibly true to the graphic novels, the first half an hour of the film seems to drag along quite slowly and takes a while to get to the point. Other than that, the tagline doesnt lie. It's an epic of epic epicness.
Rating: 4/5
Max
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a lazy 22 year old, who lives with his gay roomate Wallace Wells (Keiran Culkin). He's trying to make it big with his band, Sex Bob-omb and is currently dating a 17 year old high school girl. That is until he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and his life is turned upside down, because, to be with Ramona, he need to defeat her seven evil exes.
No-one really thinks "action star" when they think of Michael Cera, star of "Juno" and "Superbad", but he proves to be an incredibly competent hero and leading man. Not to mention he beats the crap out of former Superman, Brandon Routh, and former Human Torch and future Captain America, Chris Evans. The rest of the cast do a really great job of eminating the quirkiness of the characters of the Scott Pilgrim universe.
The first half of the film is incredibly true to its graphic novel counterpart, and the second half takes a new twist on the story, due to the fact that writer/director Edgar Wright began working on the screenplay well before the final three installments of the graphic novel went to print.
I really enjoyed this film and my only criticism is that, although incredibly true to the graphic novels, the first half an hour of the film seems to drag along quite slowly and takes a while to get to the point. Other than that, the tagline doesnt lie. It's an epic of epic epicness.
Rating: 4/5
Max
Monday, August 2, 2010
My New Movie Blog
Who says that to be a film critic you have to know all the inner working of filmmaking, what makes a good or bad screenplay, how to use cinematography effectively or even how to act.
This blog is just an opinion on film from an avereage guy who just loves movies. I'll be trying to write here whenever I see a movie, be it new in the cinemas, lying around on DVD or treasured childhood favorite. I won't rant on about the technical side of things, I'll just let you know how much (or little) I enjoyed it.
I'd like to hear your feedback so feel free to comment. Also, if there's a specific movie you'd like me to review, comment or email me.
Max
This blog is just an opinion on film from an avereage guy who just loves movies. I'll be trying to write here whenever I see a movie, be it new in the cinemas, lying around on DVD or treasured childhood favorite. I won't rant on about the technical side of things, I'll just let you know how much (or little) I enjoyed it.
I'd like to hear your feedback so feel free to comment. Also, if there's a specific movie you'd like me to review, comment or email me.
Max
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)