Timdiana the Reviews: The Twilight Saga New Moon

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

Silver Screen Review:Paranormal Activity 3

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Happy Halloween everyone; and being the Halloween Season, it is once again time for another annual horror flick;  however instead of it being another “Saw” addition, a new set of movies has taken its place; a movie that will undoubtedly be sticking around for a while longer. I speak of course about “Paranormal Activity” with its third installment “Paranormal Activity 3”. The third film has broken box office records by having one the best opening nights a horror film has seen in quite some time.

                Before I jump into this review, let me just make one thing perfectly clear: I do not like this serious. I compliment the movies for their practical effects, but that is about it. Everything I have seen in these movies are not worthy of praise. So going into this film, I was a bit skeptical. So does this film deserve the praise it is receiving, or is it just another footage found film. Find out in this review of “Paranormal Activity 3”.

Once again, the film’s plot is another prequel to help explain and understand what happened in the first film, or just make more plot holes, at this rate, it is pretty much a shot in the dark.  The film story takes place in the 1980’s where and shows the early lives of Katie and Kristi, the two girls haunted by the supernatural being throughout the course of the film.  That might seem terrifying, unfortunately, it is nothing new. The plot follows the same structure as the previous two; and at the story goes on, it just leaves me in a state of confusion.

The movie follows four characters: the two girls, their mother and her boyfriend who mysteriously looks like Michah from the first film. As characters, they do nothing for me as the development has been playing the same song for years now and it is not interesting. However, when it comes to performances, I did not mind the two little girls. Sure, I did not care for their characters, but I will give them credit for their performances because I did believe them. Everyone, on the other hand, are just bland uninteresting.

I have no directing notes as every directorial decision has been the same since the previous two. It is like they just a have book for the basic to follow when making “Paranormal Activity”.

When it comes to the scares of the films, there are things I liked and there are things I disliked. I  enjoyed the practical effects of the film. Some of the things they did were actually impressive and looked believable. However the same thing cannot be said about the scares.  The problem is that scares take so long to get to their executions that it feels like seeing Sir Lancelot running towards the castle in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”; and to make matter worse, this happens all time in the moviw. It comes to the point where the scares of “Paranormal Activity 3” are just not scary.

What can I say? The movie has its moments; unfortunately the scares are only startling and the plot is predictable as well as being full of plot holes. The movie left me disappointed as well as confused; to put it simply, it is “Paranormal Activity”.  2 out 5 hats

Silver Screen Review: The Help

Sometimes, it is good to get away from the norm, and that can be seen in the new hit film “The Help”. Some may recognize the title. “The Help” is based off the bestselling book written by Kathryn Stocket, the book tells the story of an unlikely friendship in a time where racial differences conflict the country.  The film has already received much praise, so let us see if “the Help” lives up to the buzz. Here is an interesting perspective in this review of “The Help”

Story: The films’ plot is at first is difficult to follow. It feels as if there are a lot of unclear details and it is not difficult to feel lost. However, the film makes up for keeping true to the idea behind the story and making it compelling.   So though the story has its issues, it does make up for getting the idea across.

Characters:  The film’s strongest factor.  The main characters are well developed, and with great performances to go with them. Actresses such as Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Bryce Dallas Howard shine through with their performances as they lead a well rounded cast of actors creating a very impressive ensemble.  One of the only issues was that it could be difficult to believe some of the female parts because they look a bit young for the roles, but that is just nitpicking.

Directing: Tate Taylor helms this film adaption of the bestselling novel.  The major issue with his directing was timing in scenes as well as the pacing in some of the film’s transitions. It felt as if some of the moments came out of nowhere and it is hard to follow the direction behind it.  Though Taylor’s direction was hard to follow at times, he did however make up with a good atmosphere as well as directing some very compelling scenes.

Everything Else: Two things stand out in this film, atmosphere are compelling scenes.  The film’s atmosphere seems very definitive thanks to the movie’s set as well as the lighting. As for the scenes, there are indeed some strong, compelling, and memorable. The scenes showed wonderful symmetry between acting, pacing and technical aspects.

Overall: “The Help” has it issues such as the details in its storytelling technique; however the film makes up in other aspects. The movie showcases terrific acting as well as an atmospheric sense that captures you right into the world of the film. You do not need to be a fan of the book to enjoy this film. “The Help” receives a gracious 4 out of 5 hats.

Silver Screen Review: Rise of the Planet of the Aoes

Another franchise can be added to the list of reboots which just so happens to be “Planet of the Apes”. The film series began in 1968 is back once again with a back story entitled, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. The movie is getting a lot of positive reviews, but that remains to be seen with this critic. Is it a movie of the year contender or does it fall short like so many other movies dealing with Apes?   Find out in the review of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.

Story:  The film’s plot deal with the events prior to the 1968 classic. In this plot, there are thing that work and things that falls short by failing in execution. What works is the story of Caesar the Ape and his evolutionary rise into the world, which made for compelling storytelling.  What does not work is the plot’s pacing as well as the missing details that would have helped the film’s execution. That aside, the greatest of all the film’s flaws is that there are very few surprises to the story as most of the film’s plot can be seen and deciphered from the advertisement.

Character/Acting:  What can be said when the best character, as well as the best performance, is in fact a monkey. It is not as bad as it sounds. Since the majority of the film is seen through the perspective of Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, it comes to no surprise that he has the most development.  To see a  character having no dialogue and to be able to remain compelling is an impressive feat.  The film also see a great performance from John Lithgow, a decent performance from James Franco, and a complete waste of characters from both Brian Cox and Tom Felton.  However , the biggest issue about the development is how the movie seems to suffer from the cliché of characters being bad for the sake of being bad.

Directing: This film marks the fourth cinematic feature for director Rupert Wyatt.  Wyatt had some good decisions like making a standalone film as well as trying to make the characters and storytelling compelling as possible. Though these elements did succeed, other decisions were not as effective such as a good way to translate the original idea with the new idea.

Everything Else: The movie features the effects of WETA, the company that created the effects of “Avatar” and “The Lord of the Rings”. No Apes were hurt in the making of this film because they were all CG. That being said, the CG is definitive, not the best, but the well defined nonetheless.

Overall: Though not the best reboot, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is still a good film. It is compelling and makes for a compelling standalone film, just do not expect too much from this film. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” receive 3 ½ out of 5 hats.

Silver Screen Review:Green Lantern

DC comic have been a part of the movie world for some time now, but only two of their prominent heroes have ever found success on the silver screen. Now another big name can be added to the list of superheroes adapted into film: Green Lantern.  Green Lantern marks the third DC mainstream superhero to make to the movies, but will this film is the comic’s brightest day or will it be its blackest night.  Many surprises await you in this review of “Green Lantern”.

Story: The plot of “Green Lantern” tells the iconic story of Hal Jordan becoming a part of the Green Lantern corps and becoming the intergalactic hero protecting earth with no fear. Unfortunately, this is the film’s biggest problem. It is not so much the story that is the issue but rather the pacing of the story. The movie does not take the time to develop scenes. The results of this leave the story feeling very much choppy.

Characters:   the movie center around Hal Jordan, played by Ryan Reynolds. So it makes that he has the best development.  Everything about his character was understandable and Ryan Reynolds performance was not too bad either.  The issues come from the film’s supporting cast.  The likes of Blake Lively did better than expected, but the villain Hector Hammond was indeed a letdown.  The movie features some great voices from the likes of Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clark, but they only such little screen time making it difficult to get any proper development. Thankfully, the movie featured an enjoyable performance from Mark Strong as Sinestro, a character who will hopefully get more development in the future.

Directing: Martin Campbell may not have the directed the perfect superhero movie, but he did have a few good decisions.  He directed some scenes fairly well and kept true to essence of Green Lantern. However, his ideas seem too be lost in translation as the movie seem to fall under the stereotypical superhero movie.

Everything Else: To be expected, the movie has some pretty decent effects. Seeing how the filmmakers bringing the effects of the Green Lantern’s powers to life were both effective and creative, and the designs for the characters and world of “Green Lantern”  were impressive.

Overall:   “Green Lantern” is far from perfect. A movie that could have been innovative turned out to be nothing more than a stereotypical superhero film. Yet despite all of its problems, the movie is ok. It is exciting enough and it is not too painful, only a little. “Green Lantern” receives 3 out 5 hats for sheer mediocrity.

Silver Screen Review: Super 8

Last weekend, the latest from the mind of J.J Abrams came to the silver screen. It was none other than the highly anticipated film: “Super 8”: Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. The movie has received many positives, but that remains to be seen from this critic. Does it live up to the anticipation and is it worth your time?  Well maybe this will bring some enlightenment; here is the  review to “Super 8”.

Story:   The story of “Super 8” follows a group of kids filming a movie, until they discover an alien life form has escape from the government and the begins to create havoc.  What do the kids do about the alien havoc? They continue to film their movie while ignoring the conflict completely at least that is what it felt like. If you were to discover an extra terrestrial, would you not get involved in the situation? Odds are you would. 

“Super 8” felt as if the plot was trying to do too much in too little time and because of that, the story suffers.

Characters:  Character development was actually done rather well. The kids’ performances were a bit of a hit and miss, but for the most part, they did alright.  The only issue was that although the characters had good development, they lacked dimension.

Directing: J.J Abrams has been known for many entertainment projects, so as the director of this film, there was much anticipation in seeing what he would do with this picture. He was able to create some good scenes as well as great details yet the movie still came up short.  In this critic’s opinion, the director recycled ideas from several 1980 films such as playing the jaws effect and not revealing the alien until an hour into the movie. I felt that it greatly detracted from the originality of the film.

Everything Else: Technically, the movie was impressive with its effects and its use of sound.   The location couldn’t be better; it took place in Ohio. Actually, “Super 8” was filmed in West Virginia, but it really looked like Ohio.

Overall: “Super 8” indeed had its moments that can be considered exciting, but the film lacked in telling a good story. The movie tried to do too much and for that, it suffered.   Did the film live up to hype? The answer to that is an unfortunate no.  Honestly, you would not be missing much if you skipped this one. “Super 8” gets 3/5 hats.

Silver Screen Review:X-Men First Class

This week's review is the most talked about film from the past weekend; the fifth film in the X-Men franchise, none other than “X-Men First Class”. The film has received a great reception, even from the likes of Rotten Tomatoes. I will be the judge of that. Is it worth your time and does it do not just the franchise, but the comic book genre justice. Find out in this review of X-Men: First Class.

Story:  The film’s plot deals with the X-Men before the X-Men as Xavier meets Eric as  they bring mutant kind together in the year of 1962. To be honest, the story to” X-Men First Class” was very original. The story had terrific pacing and had the perfect three act structure. Each act could be its own story while remaining a part of one solid story, which makes good story telling.

Character/Acting: The film features a surprising well formed cast.  Seeing the origins of Professor X and Magneto brought these characters full circle as their development creates more dimensions for both characters, especially Magneto.  The rest of the cast had a purpose being placed in the story and it felt appropriate seeing these characters in the movie. The movie features strong performance from James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon much to my surprise.  With great character development and good performance,” X-Men First Class” passes in the area of character and acting.

Directing:  I must admit, when I heard that Matthew Vaughn was directing this film, I was skeptic; but the end result put my worries to rest.  Vaughn brought something original to the franchise. He brought a lots of tones to the film’s story which helped with the storytelling. My hat is off to Vaughn as he manages to keep the essence of X-Men alive by creating something new.

Everything Else: The film’s effects were both glamorous and subtle. The film was also very creative with certain scenes such as the training scene. Perhaps the one issue some may have is the film continuity with historical events and the characters used in the film. However for this critic, this factor did not hinder the film, in fact, it seemed to work for the movie.

Overall: “X-Men First Class” is perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the year. The film feature terrific storytelling, a good cast of characters and great performances, and that is just a few of the film's positive factors.  Not only did the “X-Men” franchise need a film like this, but this could quite possibly be one of the most original superhero films to come out in quite some time. Therefore I have no other choice but to take my hat off to” X-Men First Class” as I give it 5 out of 5 hats