Tag: 2009

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Movie Review

Twilight: New Moon (2009) Movie Review

Twilight: New Moon – ABC Film Challenge – Sequels/Remakes – J (Jacob) – Twilight New Moon – Movie Review

New Moon

Director: Chris Weitz

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)
  • Anna Kendrick (50/50)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)

Plot: Edward leaves Bella after an attack that nearly claimed her life, and, in her depression, she falls into yet another difficult relationship – this time with her close friend, Jacob Black.

Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight: New Moon starts with Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson) who are now taking their relationship seriously. This changes when the Cullen family learns they must move away, not being able to control their urges.

Broken-hearted Bella struggles to get through the sudden break-up. She ends up getting closer to her oldest friend Jacob (Lautner) only to find herself being left once again. Bella finds herself caught in the middle of another supernatural fight, one she didn’t see coming with Jacob’s background.

Verdict on Twilight: New Moon

Twilight: New Moon is the first sequel in the fantasy romance saga. Here, Bella finds herself needing to be left for her own safety. However, she makes friends with a new group of supernatural creatures that fight vampires, as she tries to understand why Edward left her.

This does continue to build the bigger story going on, showing Bella thrown into the battle between vampires and werewolves. The movie focuses more on Bella struggling to live without Edward, seeing the pair struggling to deal with living apart. It creates a bigger world without showing us everything, leaving us ready for the next chapter. However, this does leave the movie feeling slightly empty because we don’t get enough closure from this chapter.

Final Thoughts – Twilight: New Moon has solid building blocks without getting going.

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Movie Review

Angels & Demons (2009) Movie Review

Angels & Demons – ABC Film Challenge – Mystery – V (Vatican City) – Angels & Demons – Movie Review

Angels & Demons Poster

Director: Ron Howard

Writer: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman (Screenplay)

Writer: Dan Brown (Novel)

Cast

Plot: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.

Runtime: 2 Hours 18 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Angels & Demons starts when Antimatter is stolen from the Large Hadron Collider. Doctor Vittoria Vetra (Zurer) learns that is has been taken to the Vatican. Meanwhile, the Vatican is preparing to announce the new Pope after the death of the last. They reluctantly turn to Robert Landon (Hanks) for help to understand what a group of terrorists want at the Vatican.

Robert must team up with Vittoria to solve the clues as the terrorists threaten to kill potential next popes every hour if they don’t get located. This sends the pair on a mystery of clues linked to the Illuminati to stop the destruction of Vatican City.

Verdict on Angels & Demons

Angels & Demons is an action thriller following the next adventure of Robert Landon. This time he must work to help the church instead of exposing a bigger conspiracy. It follows Robert working with a nuclear specialist to try and stop a threat to Vatican City.

This time around the story feels a lot more contained, it isn’t a race around searching for clues. It still has the clue solving, but on a race against time level. This also continues Robert’s ongoing battle with the Vatican to see if he can examine their records for his own research.

It just so happens to be one of the very few books I have read before watching and it did leave a lasting effect on my experience with the movie. I personally don’t think it is as intense as the book, despite getting a lot of the imagery right. The performances in the movie are strong, Tom Hanks is great as Robert Landon. In the supporting roles, we have a great cast too whom all get their time to shine.

Final Thoughts – Angels & Demons is a tense thriller keeping us guessing.

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Movie Review

17 Again (2009) Movie Review

17 Again – ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – Z (Zac Efron) – 17 Again – Movie Review

17 Again

Director: Burr Steers

Writer: Jason Filardi (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Mike O’Donnell is ungrateful for how his life turned out. He gets a chance to rewrite his life when he tried to save a janitor near a bridge and jumped after him into a time vortex.

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: 17 Again starts as high school basketball star Mike O’Donnell (Efron) gives up his big moment after learning his girlfriend Scarlet is pregnant. Moving forward in life, Mike’s marriage has fallen apart. He has become distant from his teenage children Maggie (Trachtenberg) and Alex (Knight) and he loses his job.

Returning to his high school an adult Mike (Perry) makes a wish to return to his life where things could have gone better. This transforms him back to his 17-year-old version of himself. He convinces his best friend Ned (Lennon) to pretend to be his father so he can return to school. Here, he gets a chance to show life lessons to his kids from a different point of view and even gets closer to his wife again.

Verdict on 17 Again

17 Again is a fantasy comedy following a middle-aged man that is struggling in life. He wishes he was younger again, leading to him turning back down to his 17-year-old self. Here, he ends up using his new chance to connect to his family to help them in a way he never understood before.

This is a fun comedy, it gets to show how difficult growing up can become. Leaving you questioning what might have happened in your life. This brings us a nice story about getting to know the people you love in a different way. As well as showing how life could have gone a different way. The cast is great in the movie, holding the whole story together for extra laughs.

Final Thoughts – 17 Again is an enjoyable comedy with a big heart.

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Movie Review

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) Movie Review

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – ABC Film Challenge – Favourite – C – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Movie Review

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Writer: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller (Screenplay)

Writer: Judi Barrett, Ron Barrett (Book)

Cast (Voice Talents)

  • Bill Hader (IT Chapter Two)
  • Anna Faris (Scary Movie)
  • James Caan (The Godfather)
  • Andy Samberg (Popstar)
  • Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead)

Plot: A local scientist is often regarded as a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know, that things are about to take a turn for the worst.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls starts when ambitious young inventor Flint Lockwood is always coming up with ideas. Most of them are considered big failures, despite his father Tim believing in everything he does.

Flint’s latest invention ends up creating a food shower, making it rain whatever people want to eat. However, this soon starts to spiral out of control, as the orders become too much for the machine to handle. This leads to Flint needing to fix yet another one of his mistakes to save the day.

Verdict on Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls

Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls is an animated comedy that sees a small town become the centre of a giant food storm. It sees an inventor create a weather phenomenon that creates a chance to bring food from the skies to whoever needs it. This sees things getting out of control and Flint needing to save the day.

The movie gets to show the determination an inventor has to be remembered. Shows the big plans he comes up with that he hopes could change the world. The idea that food could fall from the sky is hugely imaginative and could solve problems the world is facing. It does show the greed that goes around the world and gets to poke fun at the amount people want.

Final Thoughts – Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls is a fun wacky animation.

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Movie Review

Orphan (2009) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 2000s Movies – O – Orphan – Movie Review

Orphan

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise, The Shallows, Unknown)

Writer: Davide Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Screenplay)

Writer: Alex Mace (Story)

Cast

Plot: A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Orphan starts as Kate (Farmiga) and John (Sarsgaard) lose their third child at childbirth. The couple has two other children Daniel (Bennett) and Max (Engineer), but they still long to include a third child. Despite Kate having daily struggles with loss, they decide to adopt a third child.

The couple adopts Esther (Fuhrman) a Russian orphan with a traditional look. Although not everything goes as smoothly with the transition. Esther starts showing dark motives around the children and pushing herself between the parents. But the true horrors of Esther are waiting for the parents to deal with.

Verdict on Orphan

Orphan is a horror mystery that sees a family open their doors to an orphan. They learn the orphan has a darker side after a string of incidents happen around her. But as a broken family they must deal with problems they are facing that cause tension between the family.

In what is a very interesting twist on a horror story, that we have seen in previous other films like the Omen. This shows the evil in a child that gets welcomed into a family. Most importantly this shows how a family have been torn about by previous problems that will haunt them for years.

Esther is easily one of the best villains in a horror movie, one that can come off so innocent in one look and twisted in the next. Despite the young age of the actress playing her Isabelle Fuhrman, it is one of the most terrifying performances. Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Jimmy Bennett and Aryana Engineer are all fantastic too, with the correct cast of a deaf actress in Engineer for the deaf character.

Orphan will always be remembered for the reveal as it is one that you will never see coming and one you will never forget.

Where to Watch: Orphan is available to stream on Sky in the UK.

Final Thoughts – Orphan is a terrifying horror with one of the best modern villains in horror.

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Movie Review

Universal Soldier Regeneration (2009) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Sci-Fi – U – Universal Soldier Regeneration (2009)

Universal Soldier Regeneration Poster

Director: John Hyams

Writer: Victor Ostrovsky (Screenplay) Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, Dean Devlin (Characters)

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei Arlovski, Mike Pyle, Corey Johnson, Garry Cooper, Emily Joyce

Plot: Terrorists kidnap the Russian Prime Minister’s 2 kids, take Chernobyl nuclear power plant and threaten to blow up a reactor. 4 Universal Soldiers go in but are no match to a Next Gen. UniSol Luc (Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes in but faces 2 NGUs.


Tagline – Reanimated. Rearmed. The ultimate rematch.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Universal Soldier Regeneration starts when a terrorist group run by General Topov (Baharov) kidnaps the Russian President’s children. Hiding them out in Chernobyl. The power of one of their NGU (Arlovski) becomes a problem for the watching world.

Without having many options, the old program is brought back to life. When the remaining soldiers from the NGU program are sent in to complete the mission. Only for them needing to turn to the best former soldier Luc Deveraux (Van Damme). Coming to face off against the ultimate killing machine.

Thoughts on Universal Soldier Regeneration

Universal Soldier Regeneration will look to continue the legacy of the ultimate soldiers. Created from the corpses of the killed soldiers. We get the new group of terrorists that are looking to use the soldiers for their own benefit. Where one soldier must give up the chance he had of a normal life once again. Becoming the killing machine that could save the world from the dangerous terrorist ring. And the ultimate soldier that feels no pain.

This like most of the rest of the franchise, will be filled with plenty of fight sequences. That will see Jean Claude Van Damme face off against the different action stars. Dolph Lundgren and the UFC’s André Arlovski. If you are a fan of the franchise. This will be all you need to get the kicks out of the wild action fighting soldiers.

Final Thoughts – Universal Soldier: Regeneration fits the franchise world perfectly.

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Movie Review

Scare Zone (2009) Movie Review

Scare Zone is the Halloween Haunted House experience you would expect.

Scare Zone Poster

Director: Jon Binkowski

Writer: Jon Binkowski (Screenplay)

Starring: Arian Ash, Chris Burns, Neil Brown Jr, Michele Simms, Simon Needham

Plot: Scare Zone is OLIVER’s pride and joy. Sure, it’s just another strip-mall Halloween Horror House, but as always, he’s put his heart and soul into it. The attraction is open for three nights only, and Oliver has brought back his old staff. Including ex-con Spider, eager bride-to-be Summer, and the enigmatic Goth princess Claire. A bunch of newbies are also on board, including earnest young Darryl. Who immediately finds himself bewitched by the creepy Claire. The dysfunctional ‘scream team’ learns to work together while someone or something is out to make the horror REAL.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Scare Zone starts as Oliver (Needham) is preparing his giant Halloween Haunted House. One that he always prepared for the next level of scares, bringing back his old team Spider (Brown Jr), Daryl (Burns), Summer (Simms) and Claire (Ash). The trusted actors who must prepare for the horrors that are waiting to unfold.

As the weekend at Scare Zone unfolds, the regular start disappearing, as a masked killer is turning the haunted house, into a murder house.

Thoughts on Scare Zone

Characters & Performances

Oliver is the flamboyant owner of the haunted house Scare Zone, he puts together the Halloween festivities every year. Knowing who he can trust, managing to twist the arms of the people who will work with him. He is always thinking of a new concept for scares.

Claire is one of the loyal members of the team, she runs the gift shop on the nights. With her cold figure, she does help prepare the newest performers. Costumes, makeup and everything they need to give the scares required in the film.

Daryl is one of the newest members of the team, he will try most roles. His attraction to Claire being the reason why he sticks around more. When it comes to the supporting cast. We will get the typical people that will do anything to make sure the job is done safely, even if his reputation is that he is the cooler guy. The woman that wants out of the business and into the next stage of her life. The movie does have fun performances from the cast, who all embrace the colourful character from within the haunted house world.

Story

The story here will see how a Halloween Haunted House of terrors, will turn into a real house of horrors when a killer starts picking off the employees of the attraction. When it comes to the attraction of the Halloween Haunted Houses, throwing in a real killer will always come in to help the horror side of things, as the colourful character fit the world and the kills will play into the environment. While the story might not get into the deeper side of things, it is dealing with the slasher side well throughout the film.

Themes

Scare Zone is horror thriller that will dive into the slasher sub-genre of horror, using the Halloween Haunted Fun House location to make for everything we need to let the less reactions going on with the film, as most of the victim think it is just part of the experience. When it comes to the kills, we will see how the environment will be used to make them all feel unique.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – H – The Horde (2009) Movie Review

Director: Yannick Dahan, Benjamin Rocher

Writer: Arnaud Bordas, Yannick Dahan, Stephane Moissakis, Benjamin Rocher (Scenario)

Starring: Claude Perron, Jean-Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney, Aurelien Recoing, Doudou Masta

Plot: An end of the world battle between gangsters, cops and zombies.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Horde starts when a group of cops including Aurore (Perron), Ouessem (Martins) look to raid a notorious gangland tower block, where Adewale (Ebouaney) runs the operations with his righthand man Bola (Masta), but when the bust goes wrong, the group will find themselves needing to work together.

The group find themselves needing to fight the undead, which have suddenly started running the city and once dead, people aren’t staying dead.

Thoughts on The Horde

Thoughts – The Horde is an action horror that will take us into the zombie world where a group of survivors must fight off an endless number of undead to survive against the odds, using the environment to their advantage, this time a tower block. When it comes to the zombie styled horrors, they are kept on the simpler scale of storytelling, as we will see people needing to put their differences aside to make it out alive, with them needing to overcome more difficult challenges along the way. The action sequences are relentless, with the bodies piling up, the blood splattering, giving us a truly entertaining style to everything we see. The actors all commit to the relentless action required, giving us some over-the-top moments, which do feel deserved for the film.

Final Thoughts – The Horde is a relentless action horror that never holds back on the blood splatter.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – J – An Education (2009) Movie Review

This is under J because of the lead character Jenny.

Director: Lone Scherfig

Writer: Nick Hornby (Screenplay) Lynn Barber (Memoir)

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Cara Seymour, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Sally Hawkins, Emma Thompson

Plot: A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.


Tagline – Innocence of the Young.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: An Education starts when 16-year-old Jenny (Mulligan) who has been raised to thrive in Oxford, with the struggles to get in being pilled onto her by her parents Jack (Molina) and Marjorie (Seymour).

Jenny sees her life change when a chance encounter with an older man David (Sarsgaard), who offers her a chance to see the music she plays in the biggest stage, offering her a chance to escape the life that looks like it will be routine, leaving her with even more questions about her future.

Thoughts on An Education

Thoughts – An Education is a coming-of-age tale for a school girl that finds herself dating an older man, which will see her straight A grades start to come crashing down, risking her future that she has been working for, her whole life, for something as simple as a fling, or is there more behind the man’s intentions. This is a story that will leave you scratching your head at the naivety behind the Jenny character, who has gone from someone filled with such confidence in her future, to someone who will break the rules for a man she barely knows. This does go mostly down the road of us seeing just how badly things are going to go for Jenny, we know this isn’t going to have a happy ending in anyway. The story will get to the correct outcome, showing Jenny enough of another life that she could look to do something more with her life, but it will come at a cost. Carey Mulligan is brilliant in the leading role here, playing the character we know will need to learn fast or face failing, with the supporting cast being great too, with each person getting their important moment in the film.

Final Thoughts – An Education is an important coming-of-age tale about doing the right thing for your future.