I am Legend

Thrillingly scary

Plot Summary

Will Smith is the sole survivor of a man made virus gone wrong. He lives in New York with his dog Sam who is his only companion and partner in their bid to survive. They live among those who have been infected by the virus which makes people into mutant zombie vampires. They can’t hack sun light and aren't too bright (more on this later). Unlike normal zombies these ones are fast, strong and have some intelligence.

A day in the life of a sole survivor

Morning: exercise, gather food. Mid day relax, have a hit of golf, hunt some deer. Afternoon-evening work in lab to develop a cure. Twilight to dawn: bunker down, hide, survive for that’s when the zombies come out to hunt you and eat you.

Golden Compass

“My books are about killing God”

Pullman author of the books which the movie is based wondered why his books hadn’t attracted as much controversy as the Harry Potter series.

“As he told The Sydney Morning Herald, he was “saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”

(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/religious-movies)

Killing Narnia and Lord of the Rings

Pullman in the past held the much loved Narnia and Lord of the Rings books in contempt.

          He once dismissed the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an “infantile work” primarily concerned with “maps and plans and languages and codes.” Narnia got it even worse: “Morally loathsome,” he called it. “One of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.” He described his own series as Narnia’s moral opposite. “That’s the Christian one,” he told me. “And mine is the non-Christian.”  

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/religious-movies

Fun family viewing

This is a fun film. It had the audience (and even me) laughing out loud at times. It was enchanting. Disney flexed its fairytale muscles in this film to weave its spellbinding magic while at the same time not being afraid to have a dig at itself. There is a great scene where the Princess sings in a New York apartment and is answered not with nice forest animals but rats, cockroaches and city pigeons. The cleaning work gets done in a rather eeeewwww fashion.

Safe-ish

If you’re looking to take the family out on Boxing Day to see a film then this is the film to see. It’s “G” rated although in my opinion there are some adult concepts (themes) which perhaps should have pushed this film to “PG.”

Story

A Princess gets shoved into our world and is later followed by the Prince with a chip monk and other characters. There is loads of fun to be had as the Prince and Princess struggle to cope in the real world with their very ideal fairytale worldviews.

Likeably confused

For me this was like meeting someone who I thought was a nice person but a little bit light in the head. It didn't know what it want kind of film it wanted to be. It was not overly funny, thrilling, suspenseful, romantic, interesting, engaging or thought provoking. It did a little of each of those things but none of them very well. It doesn't matter how good the animation is if the story and the characters aren't sure of what they are supposed to be it lacks a degree of appeal.

Rats in the roof

Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm for this film rests in its principle character a rat and his family. We've just had a team of rats playing soccer over our bedroom at night and maybe that hasn't helped endear me to rats. Rat lovers will no doubt disagree with me but I find rats dirty, they pooh and wee everywhere so it's hard for me to accept a rat that wants to be a chief, especially when you see a kitchen full of rats.

French?

This film wanted to have a French feel but some of the accents where really just plain horrible. You may not know but I was born in France and so when you have to endure a whole film of American actors destroying one of the most beautiful languages of the world it's pretty hard to take.

Spectacular thriller

The sound and visuals of this film makes this a spectacular experience. Particularly for those of us who were able to see it at the cinemas. It will certainly give your sub woofer a good work out. As you would expect travelling to the sun is no easy trip so it isn't long before you are immersed in the terrifying experience of space travel. This is a great thriller with plenty of action, suspense, desperation and tension. Life on earth rests on the success of this mission. The smallest mistake doesn't just jeopardise the crew but billions of people back home.

Engaging Characters

Each crew member plays an important part in this film. They are all very believable with the exception of one which I will mention later. The extraordinary mission calls upon the crew to not only survive the many extreme disasters but also successfully fulfil their mission. Despite the fact that for the most part some of the crew members definitely don't get along they are forced to work together, even when that means sacrificing their own life for the sake of the mission.

Provokingly Pathetic

the Host

Extra ordinary Monster Movie

This movie provoked me, made me feel uncomfortable, made me suffer and most of all made me think. This movie works on much more levels than just a monster running around and eating people.

The monster

The monster is definitely a central character but not one of its stars. We meet the monster very early in the film and it appears throughout. It’s an interesting fish type mutant thingy that can swallow people whole. However, it may have a small stomach because it spits whole bodies out into a drain so that it can come back later and eat them (not very nice hey).

The monster has some character, it seems to know what it is doing and it’s good at what it does best, causing havoc and eating people.

Much more than a swinging movie

Peter and MJ grow up

This third film stands out from the others in a number of ways. There is more depth to the characters and plot which makes the action far more enjoyable than the first two instalments. The first two films were ok but it was hard to connect to the computer generated spider man (more about this later). The on/off relationship between Peter and MJ was really annoying, particularly in the second film. Here is where the improvement is most noticeable.

Important message

I was pleasantly shocked with this films upgraded message. Previously it was “With great power comes great responsibility.” Now we get walked through ‘Anger’ ‘Revenge’ and ‘Forgiveness.’ Most films are about getting even. Spider man 3 explores the pit falls of anger and revenge. It was so refreshing to be encouraged not to seek revenge but to forgive. I was amazed.  

The funniest fun

This film is an encyclopaedia on funny.

It will make you laugh using the full range of humour available to mankind. There is visual slap stick, surprise gags (most often with slugs), excellent character based humour, recurring jokes, background humour in the form of advertising billboards, aural humour, witty humour, suspense humour and gross humour. It’s a film that only skims across the top of seriousness. Just enough to keep the film grounded in some meaning and connection with the audience.

It’s like going to a banquet and enjoying a full range of satisfying dishes.

A scary film for kids

Excellent balance

Mag (my daughter) said it was a bit scary, a good scary. So it had fright with just a pinch of horror. There was a good mix of creepy moments, like when the house rings DJ up on the phone several times. He thinks it’s a hoax so he calls back and then you can here the phone ringing across the street in the Monster House even though no one is home. Scary when people get sucked into the house and when the three kids find themselves in there. It’s Frightening when the house really goes crazy and chases the kids down the street. You will have to see the film to see how a Monster House gets mobile.

The best martial arts film ever

A tough lesson to learn

Jet Li’s character grows up wanting to learn martial arts from his father instead of doing his school work. One day he watches his father break a block of stone using a powerful technique. Later when his father is fighting in a tournament the same move is made but withheld just above the opponents head. Clearly the father could have killed the man. The Father steps back knowing that he has stayed the winning blow but the opponent fights on and wins. Jet Li’s character as a young boy then fights for his father’s honour and loses. Then he gets in big trouble from his father because he has been fighting. At this point Jet Li’s character promises that he will never lose another fight.

A movie about the connection of corruption

This film tells the story of a number of different people who are affected by the corrupting power of the Oil industry. From the board of directors, to lawyers investigating charges of company corruption (while they themselves do dodgy deals), to a CIA agent left out to dry, right down to the poor lives of those working on rigs that are laid off and preyed upon by Islamic Terrorists. Oh of course, you have the story of the royal Arabic family and the plots involved in maintaining power in America’s advantage.

Long, pointless and hard to watch

I have already been howled down by my spirituality class for saying I didn’t like this film so I know that young people are already going to disagree with me. This film broke box office records but I still think it wasn’t as good as the first one and I didn’t particularly like that one either.

Fun and Funny

This movie was great fun. The movie really climaxes to a great finish and connected with me on many levels. For example, when RJ opens the chip packet it is represented like an atomic explosion of sensory overload. When Ham the Squirrel drinks soft drink and the world slows down so that everyone else is moving in slow motion. There is more than enough in this film for it to be watched more than once.

It's nice to see that feminism and political correctness has overlooked the name of this comic and movies otherwise I would be writing about X-People.

Movies are million dollar sermons

They often take months to write, involve many people and are mostly over and forgotten in a few hours. But while you may not remember aspects of a movie their message may have touched you in ways you may not realise.