Inkheart Movie Review

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/inkheart-movie-review.html last February 9, 2009 .

Inkheart is a fantasy movie starred by Brendan Fraser, a very typical hero type of an actor. The movie centers on how a father, reveals to her daughter how her mother was lost and shows her his unique ability which her daughter has inherited, and this ability is to bring characters from books to life. Hauted by the past, Mo (Brendan Fraser) battles againts odds to bring back his wife and saves the world from an evil character he has unleashed years before.

The story itself is relatively nice,its not too deep nor too shallow, a movie that can be shown to the entire family. Brendan shows his hero portrayal once again, and presents his usual ability to be the man that would save the day. Other characters did play well, most notably Hellen Mirren, which portrayed as Maggies aunt. The characters was well chosen, and Brendan would really fit the character of Mo. Cinematography and how the film was shot was very nice, getting less advantage of the background and more focus on the characters.But I felt the movie could have been better with inserting more details on the how the story went.

In all, Inkheart is a great family movie, though it could have gone a lot better if story had a bit more detail. A sequel would be nice to fill the gaps on the story, such as what did the villains do, after they were released and how was life inside the book.

Slumdog Millionaire

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/slumdog-millionaire.html last February 9, 2009.

This is really one of the best movies that I have watched, it has deep meaning, fresh story, something we could relate to and really shows us what reality is in life. Very few movies or stories can reach to what this film has told, something that is not filled with special effects, nothing fancy but something that has meaning.

The film is about the amazing story of Jamal, an 18 year old teenager, his life in the slums and the biggest day in his life. He is one question away from winning 20 million rupees from India's version of the game show "Who wants to be a millionaire" and as the show pauses for the next day, Jamal is arrested because of suspicion of cheating. Upon interrogation, Jamal tells his story and how his experiences led him to the game show, from childhood, to the last minute of the game.

He was born in the slums together with his brother Salem on one of India's poorest places. He lost his mother at a young age, and the two start to live life on their own, doing whatever they can to survive, at this instant Jamal also met Latika. The two had a hard life, they were taken to be part of a gangster though they managed to escape, Latika was left behind. A few years later, the siblings return to save Latika, and Salem managed to kill the leader that once held them captive. Salem then joined another gang and took Latika for himself, leaving Jamal. A few years passed and Jamal found Latika, still captive with Salem as one of the gang members. Jamal then joins the game show not to win, but he simply thought Latika would watch.

Every question in the game was answered with the help of his experiences that he remembered so vividly. He answers the last question and won the prize, but his victory was not of money but of Latika, being saved from the gangster with the help of his brother who sacrificed his own life.

A very very splendid film, something that all of us can relate to.

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Review

One of the best films I have seen, Slumdog Millionaire is a movie worth watching. The plot itself is not new but what makes the story great is how they made the such a way where ordinary people can relate and yet provide an interesting scenario that has deep meaning. Majority of the people around the world are poor or at least their not rich, similar to the Character of Jamal, born of poverty and despite the huge opportunity that he has his desire is the simpliest of things, all he wanted was for Latika to see him in the game show. Jamal has all the qualities of an ordinary person living in a rather ordinary life, but is given an extraordinary experience that everyone wanted, the only difference was, his simple desire.

Even the Antagonist were very realistic, the brother Salim who became bad not because he wanted to but because of circumstances and influence of others, but deep inside, he still loved Jamal. The game show master, who simply became ignorant in accepting Jamal's winning streak, he was also the reason for Jamal's torchure. The police officer who like the game show master refused to accept that Jamal was not cheating and the two simply acted like any ordinary person would act, out of suspicion and the desire to know the truth, and these are very human traits.

There were also the gang members who in todays society is very much a part of. Every society has its own version of a gang, whether its in Mumbai, Manila or New York. These people shape the lives of those they encounter. In all its a great realistic story.

The movie did not have a lot of visual effects, just the normal drama scenes and minimal graphic effects, it was not great but it was well enough. It's rare to see a movie that shows cinematography and choice of shots, and even the angle to be just right, not great not spectacular, but just right. And that is what I think made this movie a film worth watching
This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/slumdog-millionaire-movie-review.html last February 10, 2009.

The curious case of Benjamin Button

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/01/curious-case-of-benjamin-button.html last January 26, 2009

I rarely enjoy movies which do not belong to action, fantasy or science-fiction, and this movie is one of them. I liked the story because I find it interesting and different, the movie showed audiences what its like to live your life backwards, being to old to do things and too young to know almost everything.

The story begins when a dying woman made a request to her daughter to read a diary she kept, and so begins the life of Benjamin. Benjamin had a rare illness, he would live his life backwards, born with signs of old age but as time passes by he body gets younger. Abandoned by his father while her mother died during labor he was left to a Queenie, a care giver.

Queenie loved him like his own son, and Benjamin loved him back, and as he seemed to be on the right place, being with old people and all, he experiences life as if he was old enough to understand yet in his heart he was just as young as his child neighbors.

Benjamin met Daisy from her grandmother at the home care, and as time goes by they went their separate lives. Benjamin now a sailor who soon enters World War II on a tug boat and Daisy who became a ballerina, but soon had an accident. Both experienced a lot of new things, specially Benjamin, time went on and despite their misunderstandings they soon lived together bearing a child. Benjamin realized Daisy could not raise both of them, now that he is getting much younger and decides to leave them. Daisy found a suitable father, and Benjamin starts to be a child in form, but looses memory. Daisy now old,took care of young Benjamin,until he looked like he was just a new born. Soon Benjamin looked at Daisy for the last time then slowly closed his eyes and died.

Pretty tragic, but very deep, I liked the story, the plot, the way it was directed, and the characters as well,I think this movie should be a classic.

Click here to see some of the lines that I liked on the movie

Quotes from The curious case of Benjamin Button

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/01/quotes-from-curious-case-of-benjamin.html last January 26 2009.

I'm supposed to include these on my other post, but I think, these lines deserve a separate post. You can check my blog on The curious case of Benjamin Button movie here.

Now, here are some of the lines I find interesting on the movie:

"Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance." -Benjamin

"Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss." -Benjamin

"It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you." -Benjamin

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." -Benjamin

"Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?" -Ms. Maple

"It's funny how sometimes the people we remember the least make the greatest impression on us." -Benjamin

"You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could wear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go." -Capt. Mike

Twilight the Movie

This blog was previously posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/12/twilight-movie.html last December 1, 2008

One of the most anticipated movies of 2008, Twilight tells about a teenage girl who has just moved in with his father and fell in-love with a vampire. The movie is a screen adaptation from a novel with the same title by Stephenie Meyer, you can click here to check my previous blog about the book.

The movie adaptation was fairly nice, but I just can't help to notice some points that really made this movie less that what it supposed to be. First was the choice of characters, while I liked Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattison as Edward Cullen, some of the supporting characters just made me think, for example, why did they made laurent a black jamaican dude, and why did they choose a chinese teenager as Eric. I've heard rumors that Kristen isn't beautiful enough for Bella but, the book doesn't state Bella to be a beauty queen, not until she becomes a vampire herself.

Another point was that the movie made a lot of emphasis on the scenery of Washinton state which kinda made it look like a film from a wildlife channel. I also didn't liked the way the vampires move, since they looked liked moves from Power Rangers or something. And the last, the movie looked more like a soap opera or a TV series rather than a movie.


But the movie also has a few points, while it's expected that the movie adaptations would be different from the book, this movie still sticked to the book with few minor changes for effects but still acceptable, since you can clearly hear the characters say the famous lines from Meyers book. I also think the characters portrayed their role pretty well just as it was told in the book.

In all, the movie should have been great if it were just made just like say, "Underworld" or "Interview with the Vampire", films that feel like a movie and not a TV series. I'm no director but I think the angles which the movie was shot could have been in a better position.

I like twilight, and thanks to the book, this movie is still a great film to watch. A modern Vampire lovestory and putting a new definition to vampires.

The Incredible Hulk

This blog was previously posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/06/incredible-hulk.html last June 16 2008.

I'm always amazed on how they make movies out of comic without making it cartoon like. The incredible Hulk is a very well made film, though it wasn't as spectacular as I'd hope for.

the story is like the continuation of the first movie, but I'd really like to know why it's title isn't called The Incredible Hulk part 2. The story goes after Bruce Banner played by Edward Norton whose experiment for the US military used himself as a guinea pig on gamma rays and ended up being a rampaging green monster killing people and destroying properties. After avoiding detection for a long time he ended up in Brazil and not only that he was able to find a job and learn Portuguese.

At first I thought the factory girl he saved from a bunch of factory bullies would be his partner, but then she never left Brazil. Unlike Bruce whose blood has dropped into one of the bottles and ended up in a US consumer in America (played by the legendary Stan Lee) gave the US military a hint on where to find the elusive green giant. As soon as the military was tailing Bruce he ended up in a tight situation with the factory bullies and with the military, as a result, Hulk emerges destroying everything in its path.

Bruce then finds himself in Guatemala and works his way to the United States to find her partner the lovely Betty Ross played by Liv Tyler. As soon as they met they worked to find a cure to the green menace but again the military was tailing them, this time of the military officers Emil Blonsky took some of experiment of Bruce to become a supper villain but still his exposure to the gamma rays was low and sure enough one kick from the hulk and his bones became crushed gravel.

Bruce and Betty after eluding the military finds Mr. Blue who helped Bruce suppress the green giant within him, but after a successful experiment, the military ever persistent came to ruin everything and this time Emil took Mr. Blue and asked him to inject more gamma rays and the result was an abomination, another green giant and this time gave the hulk a fairly good match. But then the Hulk still prevails after a few hits here and there plus a few damaged property.

At the end of the movie Gen. Ross (father of Betty and the guy responsible for making and chasing Bruce) was found drinking in a bar and all of a sudden Tony Starks shows up, and we all knew him, he's the Iron Man, and he tells Gen. Ross that they are building a team! Hhmm... wonder what that was all about but I guess if all the Marvel super heroes would show in one movie, that would be a blast.

The movie was great and I think the story was fairly nice, but there was a lot of talk and the hulk seemed to be more timid and in control of himself, not like the one we knew that rampaged everything in sight. The hulk in the movie was also more controlled by Betty and though the green giant still gives a nice scream, there were a lot of times he looked rather calm. It's also nice to know that the hulk uses his signature moves in the movie.

The movie was great and is a good addition to other great marvel movies.