Silver Screen Review:I am Number Four

Instead of watching one the latest new releases, for weeks review, I will look at a movie that is somewhere in the box office top 10. I thought it would better than seeing yet another movie in 3D. Is that so wrong? Anyway, this weeks film is based off a sci-fi novel title “I Am Number Four”.  Some may say that this is just another movie based off a book and it is nothing special,  and maybe it is, however what I have to say might just be a surprise. Find out in my review of “I Am Number Four”.

Story: For me this story is very much reminiscent of a superhero movie and for that it makes the movie really intriguing. My biggest problem with this movie’s story is that it just throws you into the plot with very little explanations.  It is felt like the filmmakers were saying,” oh, by the way, these character are from space, but we figured you have seen the trailer for this movie so we won’t explain anything to you”. The filmmakers should have included a proper back story and explained some of the plot points. Instead what we seem to get is an ok story with little to no explanation.

Characters/Acting:  I have to say that I really like the characters of the film, but I did not care for the performances. The characters in the movie were complex and interesting, but I felt that performances did not live up to the characters.  The most compelling performance in this movie was Timothy Olyphant’s character, Henri. Besides from him, the other actors were good, just not that good.

Directing: D.J Caruso did a fairly good job with this movie. I think he knew what he wanted to make and I think translates fairly well on this screen.  If there is any problem with the directing of the film, it would have to be the details in the works.  He does not seem to be a stickler for details and it shows in the final product.  

Everything Else:  What makes this movie reminiscent of the superhero genre is the fact that the main 

character has powers known as legacy. I have no problem with this except for the fact that the powers are not explained. I really wish the filmmakers went into more detail about the powers instead of just throwing in there. If there is anything that makes this compelling to see is the action, it takes its time to get into the action, but it is worth it.

Overall:  “I Am Number Four” turns out to be better than I expected. True, it does not have a compelling plot or characters, but it does make up for being interesting enough to see. Do not expect this movie to be the best of 2011, but expect to enjoy it. “I Am Number Four” gets 3 /5 hats.

Timidana Look at the Oscars

For this week, I have something special for you the reader. As you may or may not know, the Oscar are coming up very shortly and I could care less; but I suppose give my thoughts and who is going to win the Oscars this year.  So stick around and here read my thoughts on the so called most prestigious award ceremony in the movie world: The Oscars.

Best Actors:  The first Categories deals with the actors who are determine to be awarded the best of the best.  These are the nominations for the best actors: Javier Bardem (“Biutiful”), Jeff Bridges (“True Grit”), Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”), Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and James Franco (“127 Hours”).  All of these nominations are good choices (even the films I have not seen); but there are only one winner. My choice to win the nomination for best actor is Colin Firth with Runner Up: Jesse Eisenberg.

Best Actress: For every best actor, there must be a best actress. Here are the nominations for best actress: Annette Bening (“The Kids are Alright”), Nicole Kidman (“Rabbit Hole”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) and Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”).  Another prestigious list making the choice indeed a difficult one…oh who am I kidding, Natalie Portman is winning this thing. Winner: Natalie Portman, Runner Up: No One.

Best Director:  I have always thought this award would just be compensated into the best picture award, but I guess this is not the case. Anything to make another award I guess. Anyways, here are the nominations for best Director: Darren Aronfsky(“Black Swan”), Ethan Coen and Joel Coen(“True Grit”), David Fincher(“The Social Network”), Tom Hooper(”The King’s Speech”), David O. Russell(“ The Fighter”).  Each brings something to the table…well I suppose that is obvious seeing that they are nominated for best director.  But which style prevails?  My choice for best director is David Fincher for “The Social Network” . David Fincher manage to take a particular genre that I do not care for and make it refreshing and feel original. Runner Up: Daren Aronfsky.

Best Picture: Now we come to the big one: the best picture. With 12 nominations it is a difficult choice to make. So many good films, so many different choices and so many film that I have actually seen. But as the dust settles and winner must be declared, my pick for best picture is…”The Social Network”. It is everything you would want in a movie and it actually deserves the title of best picture. Runner Up: Inception(Hey I can dream).

And that is my look at the Oscars. It is worth much…probably not; but I guess I could say the same thing about the Oscar in general.

Here are some other picks to win:

Best Animated Movie: “How to train you Dragon”

Best Score: Hans Zimmer (“Inception”) or Trent Renzor( “the Social Network”)

Best Cinematography:” Black Swan”

Spider-Man Reboot revealed

So the title for the Spider-Man reboot has finally been revealed. After looking a the title and seeing the picture, I'm contempt to give it a chance. Here is the link to the story: http://www.richlovatt.com/2011/02/the-amazing-spider-man-movie-costume-revealed

A much different style, but I'll go with it.

X-Men First Class Trailer 1

Well it is time to see if this movie will be worth it or not, here is the trailer to X-Men:First Class 

.... Dammit, this looks intriguing enough to see. Well, we will just have to see when it comes out June 3rd.

Silver Screen Review:Gnomeo and Juliet

Do you remember the great animated movies that came out of the year of 2010? I already miss seeing them on the big screen. Why am I bringing this up? Because this week’s cinematic viewing is a very dull start for the animated genre for this year.  Allow me to first interpret what I believe was the conversation for the idea of this film. The producers needed an idea for a new animated movie. They thought long and hard on this idea and they came up with this: what if we do something like “Toy Story” and combined it with one the most timeless love stories of all time. So what did they get out this? They got “Gnomeo and Juliet”; and this is the review.

Story: The plot of this movie obviously follows Shakespeare’s classic tale...very loosely mind you. This is a very light hearted rendition of the story and very much family friendly. So if you are expecting the same classic tale, keep in mind that you are going into a movie with the main concept is lawn gnomes.

Character/Acting: Looking at it on paper, you would never expect any of these voices to take part in project like this.  Actors such as James Mcavoy, Emily Blunt, Micheal Caine and Maggie Smith to name just a few, feature their voices in this film. There are no characters that stand out in “Gnomes” besides William Shakespeare himself (voice by Patrick Stewart).  I was pretty content with the voice work, not greatly impressed, but not disappointed either.

Directing: I have nothing to say about directing because nothing about the directing even remotely stood out. If director Kelly Asbury was aiming for a movie of one liners and music from Elton John, then a job well done.

Everything Else: Now I might be a crazy person, but having Elton John not only as the composer, but the executive producer seems to me like a poor choice on the filmmakers’ part. Going to a movie and hearing some of Elton’s greatest hits repeatedly just does not sound like a good time at the movies. If you are hoping for clever humor in your movie, then this is not the movie for you. However, if you love one liners, then by all means, go see this film because it is full of them.  I should point out that this movie was featured in 3D, and that is all I am going to say on the subject.

Overall: Despite all of the issues I have with this movie, I will say that it is harmless. It is not excruciating to sit through, but do not expect to get anything out of the movie. Need I remind you that this movie deals with the subject matter of lawn gnomes? Well it could be worse…it could be Justin Beiber in 3D. 2 ½  out of 5 hats.

Timdiana the Reviews:the Openings

Here is the intro to my web reviews. It is just the opening and nothing more...enjoy!!!

Silver Screen Review: Sanctum

For this week’s review, I look at yet another movie inspired by true events. This time it deals with the wonders of diving in under water caves. This is the movie “Sanctum” which was shot in 3D. But this movie is not just another movie in 3D, it is a 3D movie produced by James Cameron…let us just begin this review. Here is my review to “Sanctum”.

Story:  The inspired plot of “Sanctum” is about the drama and excitement of cave diving. The movie throws the audience right into the plot, and in this case, that is not a good thing.  The movie has no back story with little to no explanation.  It does get better by the last act, but there is still that one hour and fifteen minutes worth of aimless, mediocre plot.

Characters/Acting: Character Actor Richard Roxburgh actually has a decent performance in this movie as Frank. It is not an amazing performance but it gets the job done. As for the rest of the cast, I cannot say the same thing. The rest of the cast is either forgettable or they just put on a performance that I could care less about.  But at the end of the day, these characters either have no proper development or they are just really stupid.

Directing: “Sanctum” is Alister Griesons first full length feature presentation.  If the director’s goal was to make a 3D film about diving in caves, then I suppose he did a good job.  That being said, I think there is room for improvement for Alister. For example: remembering details such as explaining your story and characters and using proper camera shots. You know the little things.

Everything Else:  I will give the movie this; the filmmakers did a good job on the film’s location. It did feel as though I was looking at an underwater cave.  The films greatest mistake is also its greatest asset, 3D. The 3D of the movie does little to nothing to enhance the experience; in fact I think it is more of a strain to watch. The 3D is used for the bigger wide shots of the film’s locations and that is about it. This movie proves that just because you can put something in 3D, it does not mean you should. The film also goes to show that the grand effects of 3D are over exaggerated and it really needs to stop.

Overall: “Sanctum” in itself is a rather interesting idea, but it turns out to be one poor execution. The story is very lackluster, the characters are forgettable and the only decisions the filmmakers were thinking when making this movie was how much money could they get from making a 3D film. I questioned why it was in 3D, and when I left the theater, I was still questioning why it was 3D. In conclusion, all “Sanctum” did was loose my tolerance for any movie with James Cameron’s name attached to it. 2 ½ out 5 hats.