Alice In Wonderland: Movie Review

Alice in Wonderland
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter


I liked this movie. It wasn’t the best Tim Burton film, but I thought his vision of Through The Looking Glass was pretty damn cool. Wonderland looked awesome and I thought the costumes looked great.


Mia did a pretty good job as Alice, though she was a little bland at times. Johnny was wonderful as the Mad Hatter (though his Scottish brogue got to be a bit much), and I loved the Cheshire Cat. He’s always been my favorite character, and I thought he looked fantastic and Stephen Fry did great. Alan Rickman as the caterpillar was cool. And Helena made me laugh with her portrayal of the Red Queen.


The plot was pretty decent. I liked how it was about Alice’s journey in trying to find her name and who she really was. I think a lot of people can relate to that journey.

I thought the settings and how everything looked was really well done. I liked the overall atmosphere of the movie and how all the characters looked. Some were outlandish (like the Red Queen's big head) but it just works.


Definitely a movie I would rewatch. It wasn’t drop dead amazing, but it was well done.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Sherlock Holmes: Movie Review

Sherlock Holmes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downing Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong


Oh, Robert Downing Jr. How adorable you are. I loved him in this movie. I thought he played a really good Sherlock Holmes (hopefully that doesn’t change when I get around to reading the stories). Him and Law had great chemistry, I loved their little duo. They played off one another well and I after watching them together I cannot imagine another Holmes/Watson act. Loved the humor between them.

That said, the movie wasn’t amazing. It seemed to drag a little in times and the plot wasn’t as strong a mystery as I would’ve liked. The villain was kind of the static evil character, with no real motive on why he was doing what he was doing (aside from selfish “I want to dominate all” reasons). And Rachel McAdams character might have been better played by another actress. I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t love her as the character, either.

The setting was well done, I thought that aspect was really good. They did a good job recreating London.

All in all, it was an enjoyable movie. I’ll definitely watch it again and I’ll be watching the sequel when it comes out.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Inglourious Basterds: Movie Review

Inglourious Basterds
Directed by: Quenten Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, and Diane Kruger

Synopsis:

A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache", Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process.
--Jason Buchanan

This movie was awesome. I loved it. The scenary and detail that Tarantino put into this film were really good. He showed the smallest details, which I adored.

Now, this movie isn't for everyone, and it's not supposed to be historically accurate, so don't watch it thinking it's going to be like your regular WWII movies, because it's far from it.

Brad Pitt's character made me laugh, but I think the two that really stole the show for me were Laurent and Waltz. They were fabulous. They delivered their dialouge perfectly, their postures and physical timing was great. Without these two actors, I don't know how the show would've been. They were both just perfect for their characters.

This movie is pretty long, running at two hours and about thirty minutes, but it doesn't feel that long. Tarantino is great at keeping the audience entertained and wanting more. I'm definitely going to be buying this movie, and highly recommend it. It's not even the plot that sold me, it was how he filmed it. The end product is just...dazzling, almost. A great movie I'm definitely going to be buying.

My rating: 8/10

Martyrs: A Movie Review

Martyrs
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jampanoï


Synopsis:

The Brotherhood of the Wolf director Pascal Lauguier follows his 2004 thriller House of Voices with this relentlessly brutal tale of a girl who suffered unimaginable abuse as a young child, and the unspeakable horrors that unfold when she arrives at an isolated cabin in the woods fifteen years later. The story begins as the young, badly battered Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï) -- obviously the victim of inhuman abuse -- is hospitalized after somehow managing to escape her sadistic captors. Nearly catatonic after her life-altering ordeal, Lucie only manages to become functional again as a result of her friendship with Anna (Morjana Alaoui), a fellow abuse victim who selflessly reaches out to the badly damaged girl. Fifteen years later, Lucie guns down an entire family in cold blood. Is Lucie seeking belated vengeance against the people who tortured her as a young girl, or has her fragile psyche finally snapped, resulting in the bloody demise of an innocent family? Later, when Lucie calls on her old friend Anna, the truth about Lucie's traumatic early life experience slowly comes into focus. Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

[from barnesandnoble.com]

Let me start off by saying this movie was amazing, to me. I'm sure there are many people who won't be able to get through either the violence or graphic images, but the beauty about the movie is that it's supposed to be gruesome and make the viewer a little sick to their stomach. It's a hard movie to sit through, beccause it transcends the horror genre. The acting was amazing from both Morjana and Mylène, both of whom I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for. Their performances took the movie to a higher level than it might have been with another cast.

The first half was just nonstop, I loved it. The second half, while I liked the cult and how they were presented and tied into the film, it dragged a little. Still good, just a little slower paced than the first half.

I wouldn't recommend watching this dubbed, you have to watch it in French. And I wouldn't recommend it to people who have a light stomach. Some of the scenes may be hard for you to handle.

Overall, it's one of my favorite horror movies. It's intelligent, it leaves the viewer with an open and questioning mind, and it has great acting.

My rating: 8/10

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: A Movie Review

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Director: Peter Sollett
Starring: Michael Cera and Kat Dennings

I liked this movie. It was cute. Something to watch that both entertains you and makes you think. I loved Michael and Kat’s performances, I thought they both did really good. I loved the setting of the film, also. New York was practically a character, also.

The plot was simple. It wasn’t so much about the end point as it was about the journey, which I liked. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers say the movie was “aimless” and basically just wandered about from plot point to plot point, but I think that was the point of the movie. As things happen, the characters have to change their destination, that’s just how the movie is. It isn’t about the future, it’s about the present, that one night.

The best thing about the movie was the music. I loved every song they used, I think they picked them well according to the scenes. Definitely a soundtrack I’ll be buying.

All in all, it was a fun movie to watch. Not the best I’ve seen, but I’m glad I got to see it.

My rating: 7/10

The Uninvited: A Movie Review

The Uninvited
Director: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
Starring: Emily Browning, Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, and David Strathairn

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I haven’t seen the Korean film it’s based on, which is A Tale Of Two Sisters, though I desperately want to, but I’ve heard this movie isn’t exactly a remake it’s more of an…inspiration from the film.

I loved the backdrop of the movie. The little town was a good setting, and I loved the house Emily Browning’s character lived in. It was amazing. So the settings were definitely up to par with this film.

The horror level of the movie wasn’t as high as I’d hoped it to be. Some of the scenes, such as the ones with the mother’s body dragging across the floor, were really cool, though. You can see the Asian influence in the way the horror is presented, it isn’t really in your face gore. This was definitely a movie that made you think and you actually had to pay attention to understand it. I definitely didn’t see the twist coming at the end, it threw me for a complete loop. I liked it, but it wasn’t the best ending I’ve seen.

This definitely wasn’t the best horror movie I’ve seen, but it wasn’t the worst, either. It was just…all right. There was nothing really bad about it, but there was nothing spectacular.

So, while this is a movie I’d suggest, I can’t see myself buying it in the near future.

My rating: 7/10

Dawn Of The Dead: Movie Review

Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

Directed by: Zack Snyder. Starring: Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Kevin Zeigers, and Ving Rhames.

Oh, how I love zombies. I went into this without seeing the original, which I really didn’t want to do. I wanted to be able to compare it to the original, but I guess I’ll have to do everything backwards!

Anyways, I loved this movie. I thought it was amazing. It was comical at the right points, had awesome action scenes, and the characters were so well developed I really started to care about them towards the end. My favorite in the whole movie was Michael. I love the actor, he plays Joe on the show Medium. He’s just awesome, and he was awesome in this movie. I also liked Terry (he was cute), Kenneth (I loved the bond he formed with Andy, it was very realistic), and Anna, in most parts. She was a strong lead female.

I think this showed a very humanistic side to the whole zombie plot. There wasn’t a lot of gore, because the zombies weren’t in much of the movie. It was about how they connected trying to survive this ordeal.

I can’t say how this is as far as remakes go until I see the original, however, I already think it’s probably one of the best I’ve seen.

And the music! How the interspersed it with what was going on was awesome, and each time it was the right kind of song to use. Johnny Cash in the beginning? A definite plus!

I loved the movie and will definitely be buying it on DVD! Every horror buff should watch this. It was great.

Oh, and I will be amazingly girly and say the ending made me tear up a bit. Just a bit.

My rating: 8/10

Quarantine: Movie Review

I adore, adore, adore, movies. Especially horror movies. So, I figured why not start reviewing the movies I see? (:

So, for my first movie review, we have Quarantine, which was directed by John E Dowdle. Some of the stars include Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, and the oh-so-cute Jay Hernandez. It came out in 2008, and I've been dying to see it since.

I'm glad I did. It has to be one of the better horror movies I've seen lately. Not the best, of course. The acting was decent, and I liked that it was from the point of view of the camera, though when the action starts the camera got really shaky, which kind of annoyed me a bit. The plot was a little weak, but I liked the idea of it. It was very interesting.

The only thing I was really disappointed in was the end. There was no satisfying answer. You're just supposed to piece it all together yourself, which isn't hard to do, but still, it's nice to have a cleanly wrapped up ending.

The gore made up for that, though. I loved the gore in this. Very cool. It was pretty simple, just some [or a lot] blood and blacked out eyes, but it looked pretty damn good. It was enough to make you cringe.

I will probably end up buying this eventually (I watched it on HBO). It's definitely worth having if you're bored and just want to watch a movie where you don't have to think too much.

My rating: 7/10

I'm definitely getting geared up to see [Rec], which is the Spanish movie that "inspired" Quarantine. [Don't let them fool you, Quarantine is a remake. Inspiration just sounds better.] It's probably even better, seeing as how it's the original.