Award Show Winners

It’s time boys and girls to see who you picked for the winners of this Award show. I have to say thank you for all of you that voted this year, I actually received a lot more votes than last year which made me pretty happy. Like always to avoid long list of nominees again I will only put the nominees that got votes and then the winner. I’ll also give my little thoughts on the winner or winners (since there were A LOT of ties this year) so onward to the votes

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE

WINNERS:

1) The Adventures of Tintin

2) Puss in Boots

Gnomeo and Juliet

Rio

Kung Fu Panda 2

Rango

Thoughts: I only three animated movies this year and two of them are actually the winners and only choosing one as the best is pretty hard. I’m glad however that Tintin and Puss in Boots got the wins.

BEST HORROR MOVIE

WINNER: Insidious

Paranormal Activity 3

Fright Night

Scream 4

Final Destination 5

The Thing

I Saw the Devil

Thoughts: I really liked Insidious and out of all the movies on this list I would have picked Insidious, PA3 and I Saw the Devil (although it never got a wide release). Insidious actually had me nervous and gave me chills while watching it.

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

WINNER: X-Men First Class

Thor

Priest

Captain America The First Avenger

Thoughts: X-Men: First Class can be said to be one of the biggest surprises of this year and I’m one of those that believe that. First Class was a great comic book movie and one of the best performances of the year by Michael Fassbender.

BEST FIGHT

WINNERS:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Wizards vs Voldmorts army

2) Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Apes vs Humans

3) Fast Five: Dom (Vin Diesel) vs Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Harry vs Voldemort

Colombiana: Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) vs Marco (Jordi Molla)

Drive: Driver (Ryan Gosling) vs Hitman (Elevator Fight)

Warrior: Tommy (Tom Hardy) vs Mad Dog

Season of the Witch: Monastery Fight

Priest: Priest (Paul Bettany) vs Black Hat (Karl Urban)

X-Men: First Class: X-Men vs The Hellfire Club

Immortals: Gods vs Titans

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Sherlock Holmes vs Assassin

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Sherlock Holmes vs James Moriarty

Thoughts:  This year was a good year for movies but also a good year for fights and as you can see from the winners it was pretty hard to pick just one. The Harry Potter good vs evil fight was one that they have been building up for a while now and it delivered everything we expected. Another fight that delivered the good was The Rock vs Vin Diesel in Fast Five, a pretty brutal fight scene that had a lot of people cheering and on their seats. Of course the last was humans vs apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The takeover on San Fransisco was a great experience to see and some of the best moments of the year for me.

BEST VILLAIN

WINNER: Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Tom Hiddleston as Loki – Thor

Jason Flemying as Azazel – X-Men: First Class

William Fitchner as The Accountant – Drive Angry 3D

Terence Stamp as Thompson – The Adjustment Bureau

Cate Blanchett as Marissa – Hanna

Ghostface – Scream 4

Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose – Drive

The Creature – The Thing

Karl Urban as Black Hat – Priest

Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw – X-Men: First Class

Jared Harris as Professor James Moriarty – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull – Captatin America: The First Avenger

Thoughts: The One That Shall Not Be Named will most likely go down as one of most popular or best villains in movie and book history. While I liked Fiennes performance as Voldemort I actually liked Hiddleston’s Loki in Thor and Fitchner’s The Accountant in Drive Angry.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WINNERS:

1) Kat Dennings as Darcy – Thor

2) Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hayden Panettiere as Kirby – Scream 4

Courteney Cox as Gale – Scream 4

Marion Cotillard as Dr. Leonora Orantes – Contagion

Robin Wright as Erika Berger – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Thoughts: I have to say the supporting actress roles this year were scattered everywhere and I actually like Dennings performance as the comic relief Darcy in Thor and was probably the best one this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WINNERS:

1) David Tennant as Peter Vincent – Fright Night

2) Jamie Foxx as MF Jones – Horrible Bosses

3) Jude Law as Dr. John Watson – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

4) Stellan Skarsgard as Martin Vanger – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stephen Dorff as Stavros – Immortals

Nick Krause as Sid – The Descendants

Simon Pegg as Benji – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Jay Chou as Kato – The Green Hornet

Timothy Olyphant as Henri – I Am Number Four

Ramon Rodriguez as LT. William Martinez – Battle LA

Sung Kang as Han – Fast Five

Nick Nolte as Paddy Conlon – Warrior

Thoughts: Usually it’s the women giving great performance but at least for me it seems that the men bought their A game for the supporting roles. I agree with the winners but I also feel that Nick Nolte gave a great performance in Warrior and of course The Rock in Fast Five.

 

BEST ACTRESS

WINNERS:

1) Shailene Woodley as Alexandra King – The Descendants

2) Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

3) Noomi Rapace as Madam Simza Heron – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter – Captain America: The First Avenger:

Michelle Rodriguez as Tech Sergeant Elena Santos – Battle LA

Rose Bryne as Renai Lambert – Insidious

Saoirse Ronan as Hanna – Hanna

Neve Campbell as Sidney – Scream 4

Jennifer Lawrence as Raven/Mystique – X-Men: First Class

Elle Fanning as Alice – Super 8

Bailee Madison as Sally – Don’t be Afraid of the Dark

Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark – The Help

Thoughts: Woodley surprised me in her role in The Descendants (as did the movie as a whole) and Mara surpassed my expectations as Lisbeth Salander in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The other performances that surprised me was actually Bailee Madison in Don’t be Afraid of the Dark. Although the supporting roles were a bit off but the staring roles shined this year, great job ladies.

BEST ACTOR

WINNERS:

1) Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr – X-Men: First Class

2) Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Jason Sudeikis as Kurt – Horrible Bosses

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America – Captain America: The First Avenger

Alex Pettyfer as John/Number 4 – I Am Number Four

Aaron Eckhart as Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz – Battle LA

Matthew McConaughey as Mick Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer

Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert – Insidious

David Arquette as Dewey – Scream 4

Andy Serkis as Caesar – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Chris Hemsworth as Thor – Thor

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Matt Damon as Mitch Emhoff – Contagion

Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede – Contagion

Ryan Gosling as Driver – Drive

Thoughts: The women bought their A-game but so did the men this year and Fassbender was the man leading the charge with performances in X-Men and other films like Shame and A Dangerous Method. However, Fassbender wasn’t along in the comic book great performance, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth gave great performances as Captain America and Thor. BUT, I thought Andy Serkis gave the best performance this year as the ape leader Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes even though you never see his face.

BEST DIRECTOR

WINNERS:

1) David Yates – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

2) David Fincher – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Steven Soderbergh – Contagion

Gavin O’Connor – Warrior

Jonathan Liebesman – Battle LA

Kevin Smith – Red State

Brad Furman – The Lincoln Lawyer

James Wan – Insidious

Wes Craven – Scream 4

Justin Lin – Fast Five

Matthew Vaughn – X-Men: First Class

Guy Ritchie – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Brad Bird – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Takashi Miike – 13 Assassins

Thoughts: David Yates closed the Harry Potter series in a great way and David Fincher bought us a pretty damn good remake of an already great movie. I also liked what Brad Bird, Matthew Vaughn and Justin Lin did in their movies and Takashi Miike beautiful and bloody direction in 13 Assassins.

So there are your winners that you chose. What do you think? Do you agree with what other fellow movie goers voted on? Let me know down in the comments.

MY Best Movies of 2011

Side Note: Also remember to vote for “Award Show” http://wp.me/pxCnJ-3Y

So it’s that time a year when I stress over finding the best movies of the year. Other years actually haven’t been that tough but this year was a good year for movies and great movies at that. So this list was very hard to put together and I’m pretty sure I’m going to look at this list in a week or so and think it might not be right BUT this is the list and I’m going to stick to it, so here it is. Like always I’m going to start to list the Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mentions:

Bunraku

Drive Angry 3D

Battle: LA

Bellflower

Saving Private Perez

50/50

Moneyball

Ides of March

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Hanna

Thor

Contagion

Real Steel

Paranormal Activity 3

Hugo

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The Adjustment Bureau

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark

Fright Night

Immortals

The Adventures of Tintin

 

Now for the big list, My Best Movies of the year (PLEASE DO REMEMBER THIS IS MY LIST, I’M NO EXPERT just a regular movie goer)

 

15. Horrible Bosses: Horrible Bosses was my best comedy of the year, the movie had me laughing or giggling the whole time.

14.Puss in Boots: Puss in Boots was my favorite animated movie this year (although I did only see three animated movies this year). I love the character and a origin story for one of the lesser character in Shrek was probably not on everybody’s mind but the movie turned out great. Also, unlike the animated movies of today Puss in Boot didn’t rely on cheesy pop references but the adventure element.

13. Insidious: Horror movies nowadays take a lot to actually scare me but this one actually gave me the chills. I love a haunted house story and this had a new twist that usually isn’t in movies nowadays.

12. Super 8: The movie had a lot of speculations around it because everyone wanted to know what the secret was that J.J Abrams had put together this time. To be honest I didn’t really care for the secret, it was the story of the main characters who were all kids that interested me. The secret of the film does crossover to the kids and from that point it was nice crossover.

11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: The end of an era and a long successful film series came to end this year and it did not fail. The film gave fans the ending that we have been waiting to see and the fight between good and evil that we’ve been promised.

10. The Descendants: I had my doubts about this movie, mainly because I figured it wasn’t going to be good or boring. However, hearing all good buzz around it I decided to give it a chance and was surprised at how good it was. The movie has a element of lose and how you deal with it and it felt realistic to me and not just seeing George Clooney playing a character.

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: It’s no secret I like the Swedish version of the film and when I heard they were making a remake I was very hesitant to see it. The David Fincher and Daniel Craig entered the project but then Rooney Mara was cast as the iconic role of Lisbeth Salander and became hesitant again. However, Fincher and Mara did a great job of putting together a descent remake and Mara did pretty good job as Lisbeth.

8. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: Although Mission Impossible III was my favorite of the series Ghost Protocol was a damn good follow up and addition to the series. Also seeing Brad Bird, an animated movie director, did an amazing job putting a MI movie together and if they make another movie I would actually like if he came back.

7. Warrior: MMA is rising sport and although some people thought this was just a MMA movie it really wasn’t, their wasn’t really any MMA fighting until the last half hour of the movie. Warrior is down to the bone a movie about family and has incredible performance by rising stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton but also by Nick Nolte. Truly one of the best movies of the year.

6. Attack the Block: Although it didn’t get a wide released like many of these other movies it still was a damn good movie. A true low budget horror/action/comedy movie with a great young cast including, at least in my eyes a star in the making, John Boyega. Highly recommend you watch this one.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger: Yes the final build up to The Avengers was not only a good period comic book movie but a great movie to make my top five movies. Chris Evans did a great job playing Steve Rogers aka Captain America as a regular guy who all he wants to do is defend his country. The movie also had probably the best love arc in a comic book movie that I can remember with Steve and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

4. X-Men: First Class: That’s right two comic book movies in my top five and both Marvel. In all seriousness, I am a huge X-Men fan and First Class just like Cap was a great period comic book movie. Even though the film was about the first team of X-Men, the film was really about the relationship between Charles Xavier aka Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magento and Fassbender who plays Erik gives the best performance in the movie and probably one of the best of the year.

3. Drive: Some people will probably disagree with Drive being on the list and so high up but I really enjoyed it. The movie stars Ryan Gosling who along side Fassbender had a great year. Gosling plays a man named Driver (seriously) who is a wheel man and when a job goes wrong he tries to fix it when people are trying to kill him. Now the trailer was a bit misleading promising a more action thriller but trailers job is to kinda lie but none the less the movie was more of a slow burner and art film.

2. Fast Five: Surprised? So am I, the Fast and Furious series is a pretty good series (Yes I’m one of few who like Tokyo Drift) and although the last one was only okay they really did a great job of picking it up. Fast Five gave us everything we loved from the series; fast cars, attractive women, witty dialogue and some great chase sequences. Add in The Rock and you got yourself a blockbuster.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: I loved this movie, it was a reboot of a popular series that most of us know of and made us forget about Tim Burton’s movie. The film made actually hate humans to some point and made us root for the Apes and for the main character who was complete CG and the made who did the motion capture for him was none other than Andy Serkis (Gollum from The Lord of the Rings). Serkis made me care for a character was wasn’t human at all and quickly went from experiment to leader.

 

 

Movies I have let to see:

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Young Adult

The Artist

Midnight in Paris

Shame

Hesher

The Lincoln Lawyer

Limitless

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Trollhunter

The Help

Worst/Disappointing Movies of 2011

I’ve gotten better over the years to avoid crappy movies and this year I did pretty good. However, we do always fail and this year was no different. Now the reason I put disappointing on the title is because although this were the bad movies I saw this year they did have their moments that didn’t make them THAT bad. So all these movies should be considered disappointments of the year rather than worst movies of the year.

1. Scream 4: Might because I felt the last Scream wasn’t that good but this one didn’t really pick up the series for me. The new concept of the killer recording his killings was okay but if you’re movie is meant to be a mystery to try to find out who the killer was, try to hide the identity a little better. I actually figured out who the killer was before that person was revealed.
2. Sucker Punch: Sucker Punch might have had some potential of being really good and have a following. Beautiful women kicking ass and great visuals all done by the mind of Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead), BUT the all that you need to still have a good story. The story was there but need more execution and if they had put as much thought in the story like they did with the action sequences then the movie might have been good.
3. Conan the Barbarian: How can a movie with a great teaser poster (having your main character in a field of skulls) be soo BAD. Conan is really a remake like many people think but I’m starting to think that maybe we won’t get a good Conan movie. The movie really felt like a straight to DVD movie relied too much on the name than what was happening on screen.
4. Green Lantern: I’m not one of those bandwagon haters for GL but the movie wasn’t as bad as a lot of people said. Was it good? Well not really but really not the worse movie on 2011. I felt like I was watching a animated movie at the very beginning and the complete CGI and awful looking villain did not help.
5. The Three Musketeers: Yet another adaptation of the great novel by Alexandre Dumas and yet another not so good adaptation of the novel. Musketeers was directed by Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson and to be honest the movie felt like a Anderson movie. Trying to modernize classics is a crap shot and most of the time they don’t really work and this one was no exception. The films only real standout moments are the swords fight which unfortunately are not that many.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: I was not a fan of the last movie and my hopes for this one were not really high or really there for the matter. However, I still went to go see the movie and it was better than the last one but that isn’t really saying much. Pirates 4 had one good moment in the middle of the movie for about 8 minutes (the mermaid scene) and from there the movie kinda just stayed at a below average level. The other only good thing I liked was the scene that had Depp and Rush’s characters of Jack Sparrow and Barbossa.

So there’s my list of the disappointments of the year. What do you think? Agree/Disagree? Let me know what you’re worst or disappointing movies of the year were.

My Award Show 2011

Alright everybody it’s that time again were I like I did last year have YOU choose your best actors, actresses, supporting actor/actress, director, animated, horror and fight of 2011. So prepare yourself for a long list. When I did this last year I was surprised on the amount of votes I got (also thanks for some people spreading the word too).

RULES/INFO:

1. Vote for your favorite (obviously)

2. You can vote as many times as you want (PLEASE DON’T SPAM)

3. You can vote for 4 recipients each time.

4. Voting ends on Jan 8th

 

Best Comic Book

 

Animated

 

Horror

 

Fight

 

Villain

 

Supporting Actress

 

Supporting Actor

 

Actress

 

Actor

 

Director

Immortals Review

Director: Tarsem Signh

Cast: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Isabel Lucas, John Hurt

Story: Theseus is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion, who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity.

While the trailers for Immortals make the movie look like 300, it is not that trust me. Tarsem’s approach to the visuals in Immortals is like watching a moving painting (yes I know how that sounds). However, Tarsem has proven himself once again that he is one of the best visual directors working right now. Now onward to the review.

Immortals is the story of Theseus played by future Superman Henry Cavill, a peasant who may be humanity’s only hope against the mad King Hyperion (Rourke), who has declared war on mankind and the gods themselves. Hyperion’s plan is to acquire the powerful Epirus bow, the only weapon powerful enough to break the Titans, that the gods banished after a war, free from their prison.

Theseus’s adventure starts when he sees his mother and his entire village slaughtered by Hyperion and from that point on he makes it his sole purpose in life to kill Hyperion. He is also aided on his quest by Phaedra (Pinto), a beautiful Oracle who has foreseen Theseus’ future and wants to make sure he stays on the right path. They also have Stavros (Dorff) a thief who joins the cause and proves to be a loyal ally by the end of the movie. The gods in the movie show up from time to time by according to Ancient law, the gods cannot intervene with the affairs of humans, unless the Titans have been awakened to wreak havoc on Earth.

Now the other comparison to 300 (and some other movies) is the use of slow motion and whil Tarsem uses slow-motion in many of his action scenes it lets us enjoy the some of the fights taking place on screen. Especially when the gods show up which is some of the best parts of the movie, although enjoy them while they last since they are very limited. Also like 300 the action looked pretty cool with the beautiful background behind but I give it Tarsem’s credit that every time the film breaks out into hardcore action it still manages to keep its beautiful imagery around it.

Let’s get to the actors themselves and who better to start off with than Henry Cavill. His first big role since being announced as the next Superman, the actor proves himself a true movie star in the making. Which is good if you were worried about him playing an iconic character like Superman. Mickey Rourke plays King Hyperion as a man with a vengeance-filled heart. He is basically the definition of evil in this movie as he kills his own men when they fail him and gives off a senses of “you better be scared shit of me.” Freida Pinto does well with what she has, and her character seems to disappear at the end of the movie and Stephen Dorff character is bound to be many people favorite when they see him.

Luke Evans plays Zeus pretty well and you can tell he is torn in his decisions for most of the film. Isabel Lucas as Athena, Zeus daughter has limited screen time but the scenes she shares with her father Zeus is some of the best scenes and I wish there were more. Other gods in the movie are Kellan Luts (yes from the Twilight movies) as Poseidon, Daniel Sharman as Ares and Steve Byers as Heracles (although they never address them by name) all get their moment to shine, despite spending the majority of the film looking down at Earth from Mount Olympus.

All in all Tarsem’s Immortals created a beautiful and bloody mythological epic and while the story falls a bit and the movie does slows down a bit. However, Some people will find the movie a bit boring (which is understandable) but the visuals and the action that builds up from the very beginning it what really bring the movie together.

Immortals

4 out of 5

Drive Review

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson)

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Issac, Christina Hendricks

Story: A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.

Now I’m not going to lie despite the cast and how the trailers made the movie seem good, the director did a movie I really didn’t like, Valhalla Rising aka the ONLY movie I ever walked out of, so I was really split on whether I wanted to watch it but in the end I went to go see it and I’m glad I did. Also I want to mention people might think this movie is slow paced (in some cases it is) but the pacing actually makes this movie and despite it being a action thriller it is in some ways an art film.

Ryan Gosling stars as Driver, a Hollywood stunt performer and mechanic who on his off time is a getaway wheelman for criminals after their heists. He is also a man of strict professionalism; he will give his client five minutes of his time. What they wish to do in the moments leading up to those five minutes, or after them, is none of his concern. Driver’s skills are cleverly demonstrated in the opening scene that sets the tone for the rest of the movie but does not really follow the regular Hollywood action rules.

After making a connection and somewhat relationship with his next door neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, Driver attempts to protect them by helping out Irene’s ex-con husband who just gets released from prison (Oscar Isaac), whose family has been threatened by the mobsters that kept him out of danger in the jail. Of course it goes wrong and now Driver is in deep with gangsters Bernie (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman) who he has brief connection to them.

While the movie sounds like any other heist gone wrong films, Refn does a good job of making this movie is own giving his leading action-man the silent, silky scorpion jacket wearing and borderline awkward at times character but Gosling’s performance is so well done that the film’s sudden outbursts of extreme violence are powerful and cringe worthy. Also with the title like Drive the car chases are spread out through out the film. When they do happen it’s very loud and done for a reason (yes I know that sounds weird but trust me). Refn also give the film a European feel and it’s very clear with the feel and the way the camera is set up in certain scenes, this may be what makes the film so powerful and good.

Gosling and Mulligan have an incredible chemistry, which is weird considering how little they actually talk to each other. Each of them manage to say more with a glance or an awkward smile than long dialogue. Albert Brooks on the other hand, is the most talkative character in the film and has an intimidating attitude throughout the film. Ron Perlman is reliable as ever, and you can tell he has a lot of fun with his foul-mouthed gangster-role, and Bryan Cranston Shannon as Driver’s boss and friend is close to the heart of the film next to the Gosling/Mulligan arc.

Drive is a great combination of car-thrills, an excellent soundtrack, great performances and shocking violence and dare I say one of the best if not the best film of this year.

Drive

5 out of 5

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark Review

Director: Troy Nixey

Cast: Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison, and Guy Pearce

Plot: A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.

In a remake of a TV movie, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark stars Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes as Alex and Kim, a couple living in a large, old, creepy looking home that Alex is restoring, when his young daughter Sally (Bailee Madison) comes to live with them. When we get to know Sally at first she’s a bit of a handful as she sees her dad with a new women but later becomes fascinated when she hears odd voices coming from hidden basement that Sally helped discover. Those noises turn out to be caused by small creatures living inside the house, who have been there for ages and who seem to want to be Sally’s friend but this is a movie so you can guess that’s not the real reason.

While he didn’t direct it, Guillermo del Toro’s (he produced and co-wrote) presence can be felt with a lot of those weird kinda creepy but still beautiful images and even has a bit of Pan’s Labyrinth feel to it. Of course, like all Del Toro films the creatures, who are eventually fully revealed about half way, are pretty fascinating creations, whose small size and speed make them pretty damn creepy.

Director Troy Nixey does a great job at setting up the scenes and getting the right mixture of creepiness as Sally finds out what these creatures are capable of. The movie is being advertised as a horror film the movie isn’t as scary as you think, it has its moments as you feel anxious for Sally when she’s alone in the dark. Holmes does okay as Kim, who is doing her best to connect with Sally. The always amazing Guy Pearce who plays Sally’s father Alex is the typical horror movie character who blows off all the signs about what is really going until it’s too late. But even though the movie has Pearce and Holmes the movie is delivered though Madison’s character and does an amazing job making us believe her performance as a little girl going from curious to terrified by her encounters with the creatures.

All in all though, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark feels like any other Guillermo del Toro story with a haunted house with little creepy creatures. Along with Nixey’s directing skills of creating a perfect mood and atmosphere when the creatures attack, and they have many scenes when they do, the movie works very well in sending the audience home happy and scared of going home or buying an old fashion house.

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark

4 out of 5

Best Summer Movies in 2011

So another Summer Movie Season has gone by and it was filled with superhero films, remakes, comedies, etc. So the question is, what is the best or what are the best summer movies? Well I’ve put together a list to show you what I thought were the best movies of the summer. So let’s start off with the honorable mentions

Honorable Mentions

• Fright Night: Yes, the remake of a cult classic is on my list of best summer movies. Believe it or not the movie was actually quiet fun (for a remake) and falls into my surprise hits of the summer and so far the year (have 2 more but I’ll save those).
• Transformers: Dark of The Moon: Despite it not being the best movie on my list Transformers 3 does have its moments where I enjoyed it enough to put it on here. Give it to Transformers however, it was what we thought it was going to be, a summer action popcorn movie.
• Horrible Bosses: At first I wasn’t really that interested in seeing this but once I saw it I can’t believe I had those doubts. The movie had my laughing or at least giggling throughout the film. It was always fun seeing Colin Farrell in a different role than usual.
• Cowboys & Aliens: Although most people didn’t like it, I found C&A an enjoyable film that did a descent job of mixing the Western and Sci-Fi genres which has never really been done before.

• Don’t be Afraid of the Dark: Guillermo Del Toro has done yet another job of making something that is suppose to be creepy into something that is somewhat beautiful that can kill you (I know but that’s just the way I see it).

Now on the what I think are the best Summer Movies this year, please feel free to agree of disagree with me. (No order here)

• Thor: It not only was the first summer movie and the first comic book superhero movie, it was also a good way to start off the summer. Hemsworth did a great job playing the God of Thunder and had strong emotional scenes which is weird for a comic book summer movie.
• X-Men First Class: Yes another comic book movie in the best section list but it’s not because it’s the X-Men but because it told a great story on two characters (Xavier and Erik) and how they became friends to enemies. Also a great period film.
• Super 8: J.J Abrams is one of the few directors in Hollywood to keep movies pretty close to the chest (Cloverfield anyone) and he did it again with Super 8. However, the film was as strong when it didn’t have Abrams secret in it as well.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: The end of an era, childhood’s for most of us, came to close this year in one of the biggest openings to a movie that I can remember. HP delivered what many of us wanted and expected.
• Captain America: The First Avenger: The last comic book superhero movie to come out was one of the strongest. The movie had everything from action to good strong telling and love story. Of course this was the last Marvel film before we see the super team of The Avengers come to screens next summer.
• Attack the Block: A film that made the rounds in film festivals and eventually got limited release in theaters in various cities was a great low budget horror action comedy from the UK about aliens attacking a suburb in England. Highly recommend this movie when it comes out on DVD for all of you.
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes: The last great Summer Movie in my opinion did a amazing job of rebooting a series that has thought to be dead (Let’s just say Tim Burton’s version doesn’t exist okay). Andy Serkis does a great job of playing a CG character of Caesar that leads apes against humankind. It’s also rare that a movie is told through a CGI character that never talks and a director that has never done a big budget movie.

So there is my list. Do you agree of some or disagree? let me know

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Cast: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis

Plot: An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

Even though it was back in the day before our advance computer effects and makeup the original Planet of the Apes movies were consider to be somewhat good movies and if you ask some they might have been ahead of it’s time (only some people by the way). Now I’ll admit I wasn’t really that excited at first about this movie mainly because I was only somewhat familiar  with the Planet of the Apes films and the plot seemed a little weird (it’s a reboot and remake at the same time but with it’s own origin story too, if that makes sense). After I saw the first trailer I knew it looked good and when Andy Serkis (Gollum from Lord of the Rings) was cast to not only play the REAL lead and do the motion capture, I was really interested.

I’ll start off with the talented Andy Serkis as Caesar the real protagonist of the film. Caesar receives great character development as he grows from a baby chimp to a grown human-like character to a confused and tortured soul, torn away from the only family he’s ever known, and then finally to an ape freedom fighter and leader. Also that’s not really a spoiler since they show in the trailers but trust me seeing that transformation is worth the price of your ticket alone. Serkis is one of those actors that people trust with mo-cop work and and his portray of Caesar is excellent and dare I say the best performance I’ve seen this year.

James “I kinda always look high” Franco is Will, a geneticist who is searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s. which is father played by John Lithgow, is suffering from. Will as we seen in the beginning is using an experimental drug on chimpanzees which is meant to repair brain cells but, as it turns out, is also giving the chimps heightened intelligence. After one ape, Bright Eyes (one of many references to the original series), goes berserk, the program is shut down by Will Greedy Boss Steven Jacobs (Oyelowo).

The thing is, prior to her outburst, Bright Eyes had given birth to a baby that no one knew about (Caesar). Will, seeing that the chimps are being put down, sneaks the baby home (not willing) with him and winds up raising it. The years pass, and Will attempts to rebuild his cure program after seeing Caesar doing so well. Meanwhile, Caesar, now able to communicate through sign language, is clearly a very special ape, but is still an ape living among humans (tell me that wouldn’t be weird to see). Eventually he winds up in a nasty primate sanctuary run by the always reliable Brian Cox and his son Tom Felton (who plays yet another douche bag), he must learn to live among his fellow apes.

Now this is where the movie picks up you truly feel for Caesar and some of the other apes are feeling in this horrible place that is suppose to be some sort of sanctuary. This point of the movie places on a somewhat silent movie and we observe what the other apes go through and what lead Caesar into eventually becoming man’s worst fear. It’s also there were we the people that know the original movies start to see the references (because it is after all a reboot/remake movie). Some of them are more obvious than others (sort of) while others you might have to think a bit (if you don’t catch them you can ask me later ). However, even for me I felt that those lines were kinda rushed or even a little silly and didn’t have the same effect as it had before.

So now that I mention it the apes are the real stars of this movie you don’t really care that much for the humans after the second half. You actually start rooting for the apes when they take over at the end sequence which is really cool by the way. Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) shows up as Caesar’s vet and Franco’s  love interest but that’s pretty much all she’s there for.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great summer movie and great movie overall and while some might prefer the original (some people might) to this one I still highly recommend it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

5 out of 5

Cowboys & Aliens Review

Director:Jon Favreau

Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach

Plot: A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist that isn’t man made.

Now before I do the review I want to say something. Ever since the trailer to this came out people have been saying this movie looks stupid or even worse saying it doesn’t make sense like saying “But the aliens are going to win duh” and what I want to say to those people is…are you fucking kidding me? I’m sorry I thought you go to the movies to enjoy what you’re watching on screen (or not). Thinking that EVERY movie has to make sense is really stupid because people seem to like the true story of transforming alien robots coming to save the world. We go to the movies to lose ourselves not question everything we see on screen (well sometimes but not all the time anyway). So lets get to review

Cowboys & Aliens is loosely based on a graphic novel of the same name, is a sci-fi/western mashup set in the Arizona Territory and follows Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), a gunslinger who wakes up in the middle of nowhere with a futuristic gauntlet on his arm and no idea of how it got there. He eventually arrives in Absolution, a small town where meets preacher Meacham (Clancy Brown) and comes to the aid of saloon owner Doc (Sam Rockwell) who is being harassed by young thug Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano) and his cronies (including Adam Beach). Later he is approached by the Ella (Olivia Wilde) who like Jake is a little mysterious and who knows more about Jake’s gauntlet than he does. But before Jake can get any answers, Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine) and his deputies come to arrest him. It turns out Jake is quite the outlaw who, although he has no memory of it, allegedly stole from the all-powerful local rancher (and Percy’s badass dad) Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford).

Before Dolarhyde can take Jake away to punish him distant lights signal the sudden and violent arrival of the alien invaders. The brutal attack on Absolution plays out really well with the alien ships destroying the town and abducting some of its inhabitants before Jake destroys one of the spacecraft with his strange gauntlet. This otherworldly threat forces Jake and Dolarhyde to team up and take Ella, Doc, Meachum and Taggart’s grandson, Emmett (Noah Ringer) to rescue the townsfolk. Of course this is a western  so along the way, they join meet up and eventually forces with Apaches who have encountered the aliens as well.

Now don’t be fooled by the title (like other people are) this is at most times a straightforward western, with elements of the sci-fi genre. In fact like alot of zombies movies (not that I’m comparing the two genres) the word alien is never mentioned. In fact alot of people see the aliens as either demons or a curse in some way.

Now on the cast, Craig is as always cool playing a man of a few words trying to figure out why he’s in this mess while Wilde’s character Ella is more of a presence than her underwritten role provides, however she does have a very important role in the movie next to Craig. But it’s Ford who is the one most people will probably be watching, primarily because he’s such a bastard or badass for most of the movie. Rockwell and Beach do a pretty good job playing his supporting role and both have their moments to shine in the movie. The aliens themselves are not something we haven’t seen before (expect for maybe one thing) they’re big greenish monsters. Also some people might find why the aliens are here kinda ridiculous but like I said it’s a movie just enjoy it.

Cowboys & Aliens is fun overall and some might like the western aspect more than the aliens and other it might be the other way around. However, as far as summer popcorn flicks go, Cowboys & Aliens gives us a bit of originality in a season of sequels/reboots/remakes etc.

Cowboys & Aliens

4 out of 5