Category: Reviews
prometheus
Based on a pre-existing universe that he helped create in Alien, Ridley Scott brings us Prometheus; a quasi-prequel focusing on a bunch humans searching for the origin of all life on earth… in space.
When cave paintings of ancient and non-related cultures hint at life being “engineered” by beings from outer space, archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Repace) believes very strongly that our makers put us here for a reason, and that they want us to travel to their planet to give them our thanks.
dark shadows
Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton, is a comedy/horror film based on the gothic horror soap opera (1966-71) of the same name.
It stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, an 18th century nobleman-turned-vampire, who, after being buried alive by a jealous witch, awakens in the strange and very swinging 1970s.
stop spoiling it, comicbookmovie.com
I thought that I’d have a heavier heart when saying this, where actually, it’s somewhat of a relief to finally get it off my chest.
Here’t goes: comicbookmovie.com is a bad, bad idea.
the avengers
Back when Joss Whedon was announced as the lucky (or not so lucky) writer/director of The Avengers, internet forums were awash with equal parts joy and scepticism. And rightly so; even though Whedon was already a skilled storyteller (Toy Story, Buffy, Astonishing X-Men), his only cinematic directing gig to date had failed miserably (Serenity).
So how does Marvel justify its decision to hire a relative cinematic-unknown to direct the most-anticipated comic book movie ever?
smoke and mirrors
Neil Gaiman understands the macabre and mysterious; American Gods saw him skilfully integrate old and new deities into modern-day American culture; in The Sandman he explored the mysterious dreamscape, giving it meaning and purpose; his works are submerged in the fantastic and blur the line between what is real, unreal, and what can be construed as both.
In Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, a novel-length collection of 36 of his short stories and poems, Gaiman seeks to entertain the reader by the means of horror, fantasy, perversion and dark humour.
new moon
Based on the multi-million dollar book of the same name, New Moon is a cinematic adaptation of the second instalment in the Twilight series. But you already know that.
Fresh off the heels of having reviewed its prequel, I wasn’t really in a hurry to watch more films about love and turmoil in Forks, Washington; let alone within a couple of weeks. What am I, a “twi-hard”?
twilight
There was a time when I would proudly profess to never watching “bad” films (unless of course they were so-bad-it’s-good); but, with the seemingly unstoppable onslaught of the mega-schlockbusters (Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers) I felt it only appropriate that I jump on board with the one franchise that I have managed to avoid from the very start.
I was hoping to see what all the fuss is about. Based on the phenomenally popular book of the same name, Twilight is a 2008 film from the director of The Nativity Story. No, really. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is at a crossroad; living in Arizona with her newly-remarried mother, she chooses to move in with her living-in-another-state father in an effort to re-establish familiarity.
mission impossible: ghost protocol
When The Kremlin is destroyed and Ethan Hunt‘s (Tom Cruise) secret spy team is fingered as the culprit, the US president initiates “Ghost Protocol”; disavowing the entire IMF and branding Ethan and Co. as terrorists.
On-their-own and on-the-run, Hunt and his team are forced to save the world (literally, as in “nuclear apocalypse”) with ever-dwindling resources. This allows the team to do the one thing previous MI episodes have done very little of: stop and think.
captain america: the first avenger
Set in the early years of the Marvel Universe, Captain America: The First Avenger tells of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans); a scrawny, sickly and just-plain-good “kid from Brooklyn”, who despite his lack of fitness is given an opportunity — albeit an unorthodox one — to fight for his country in WWII.
In comic book terminology, Cap’ would be considered a “Countdown to The Avengers” issue, being the last stop before the all-in superhero brawl; but does the film stand on its own two feet?
flashpoint
The world has changed; if you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you will be unaware that DC Comics have had a massive shake-up by resetting 52 of their titles to #1.
But what brought us to this point? Why is the world anew? Well, you can blame Flashpoint. Sort of.
