"Twilight"

Kristen Stewart
Robert Pattinson
Cam Gigandet
Billy Burke
Ashley Greene
Nikki Reed
Jackson Rathbone
Kellan Lutz
Peter Facinelli
Elizabeth Reaser
Taylor Lautner







PG13           120min           2008


Based on the international bestseller by Stephanie Meyer's Twilight is about a teenage girl moving to a small town in Washington and falling in love with a vampire.

A couple of years ago I came across this web site that named books that were being turned into movies. It had a description of the book and information on the film. Two of the films that happened to be on it were Jumper and Twilight. I read there description and thought they would be interesting reads and they have not disappointed.

This is a faithful adaptation of the book and is one giant shout-out to the fans of the book without leaving out the uninitiated. The angst and drama is all there. The changes made by Melissa Rosenberg and Catherine Hardwicke really make Twilight fresh and new for fans of the book. This going to be a global phenomenon.

There many little things that the fans will recognize from the book. Its these little details that will make fans of the series see it again. But it also a film that girlfriends will take their boyfriends and they can enjoy. There is more action and less of the introspective dialog from Bella that will make most men uncomfortable. Most who are new to the series will not be disappointed.

The angst and drama from the books is there. Pattinson plays Edwards as a younger version of Angel without the curse. Stewart plays Bella unabashed love for Edward rivaling Juliet's love for Romeo. Just as in the book the movie romance scream for a sequel.

The changes made to the screen whether it was in the adaptation of the screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg or the ideas that Catherine Hardwicke made, Twilight is familiar but totally fresh unlike the first two Harry Potter that were almost direct adaptation from the book. It follows the overall plot of the book but makes changes to the story that makes it more accessible for live action. Being a fan and knowing the story I can wait for the next ones to come out.

If you have not be introduce to the Twilight Universe here are the books for purchase:

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)

Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
I give Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) 4 out of 5.

Trailers at the beginning of my screening was Knowing, Push, and 7 Pounds

I give Twilight 4 out of 5.

"Next (2007)"

Nicolas Cage
Julianne Moore
Jessica Biel
Thomas Kretschmann
Tory Kittles
Peter Falk
Jose Zuniga
Jim Heaver
Enzo Cilenti
Jason Butler Harner

PG13           96min           2007


Cris Johnson ( Cage) earns his living in a seedy Las Vegas magic act, but his ability to see a few minutes into the future is authentic. Government agent Callie Ferris (Moore) know this, and relentlessly recruits him to help thwart a terrorist group from detonating a nuclear bomb in the heart of Los Angeles. – from the back cover

Based on the short story “The Golden Man” by Philip K. Dick, "Next (2007)" uses special effects efficiently to tell the tale of a this science fiction paranormal drama. It’s a tale that worked as a film but as been done so many times before. Nicolas Cage does his normal waverly coherent acting.

The special effects are prominent but they enhance the film. There is nothing spectacular about them but they do get the job done. They are the standard effects that are tailored to this film. They make this film entertaining in a plot that has been done similar so many times before.

"Next (2007)" is a standard science fiction paranormal drama. It’s an expanded tale from a story but over the decades many time travel films have come before. It’s an interesting talk on the genre but it does not to enhance or redefine the time travel wheel.

Nicolas Cage is a geek at heart but is miss cast in this part. I don’t know if its Jessica Biel as his love interest or what but I felt Cris Johnson would have been a younger manThe character seems to be facing the problems of someone younger. Biel’s character was just too trusting and placed too be the damsel in distress. Julianne Moore as the FBI Agent hunting him was more of a comparative love interest. I think that if the roles between Moore and Biel had been reversed the film would have been more interesting.

Overall there are a few things wrong with "Next (2007)" but it works. It’s science fiction and a suspension of belief goes with the territory as longs as the tale is coherent. The actors are a little miss cast but they make it work. The special effects enhance the film and make it is entertaining.

This DVD’s special features are just half assed promotional featurettes. It has four featurettes talking about four aspects of the film but saying the same thing. There are no other bonuses. It has movie previews for “Transformers”, “A Mighty Heart”, and “Blades of Glory”.

I give it 3/5 Gs.

"She's the Man"

Amanda Bynes
Channing Tatum
Laura Ramsey
Vinnie Jones
Robert Hoffman
Alex Breckinridge
Julie Hagerty
David Cross




PG13           105min           2006


Amanda Bynes proves that girls can do anything guys can do in “She's the Man”. The laughs are non-stop when Viola (Bynes) disguised as her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) joins the high school boys’ soccer team and helps win the big game while unexpectedly falling for Duke (Channing Tatum), the star forward. Viola discovers that dealing with high school politics and twisted love triangles is a major challenge when you’re a guy who’s really a girl. – from the back cover

Inspired by “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare but more of a re-imagine of “Just One of the Boys”, a title to a movie that I had to research as I saw this movie when I younger. Amanda Bynes leads a cast of beautiful people trying to seem like their lives are normal. It’s a movie that does what it set out to do is be funny.

“She's the Man” takes a lot of the names and places from the Shakespeare play and relies heavily on its plot. But as I was watching it I kept be reminded of this film that I saw when I was a kid and I just couldn’t remember the name. They play very similar to each other by following the same shtick or they are just following the line that William Shakespeare laid.

This is a cast of beautiful people in a beautiful world doing things that until recently people who have never done. Maybe Shakespeare wasn’t just a writer but a foreseer to and instead of making prophecies he wrote them into plays. There’s one moment when she steps out of the car that you believe she could be a boy. The rest of the time her voice betrays her, it sounds like a castrated six year old, which is fine for a girl. The old change in her voice is when she’s coaching Duke in one scene. Even though she’s not convincing to him as a boy she is a talented comedic actress.

“She's the Man” does what it set out to do…be funny. It set its characters in situations that were bound to be funny. Amanda Bynes carries the majority of the load but she also surrounded by some talented comics too. David Cross and Julie Hagerty make you laugh the minute they hit the screen. It’s a teen comedy classic depending on your taste.

This DVD is full of features. It has a director and cast commentary and a pop-up trivia track. It contains several deleted scenes and a gag reel. There is a boiler plate behind the scene make of featurette and a music video by Dave Lichens called “Let Go”, pay close attention to extras in the video many of them are former child stars of the 90’s. There are movie previews for “Over the Hedge”, “Failure to Launch”, Laguna Beach, Season 2”, and “All You’ve Got”.

I give it 2/5 Gs.

"Mystic River"

Sean Penn
Tim Robbins
Kevin Bacon
Laurence Fishburne
Marcia Gay Harden
Laura Linney
Kevin Chapman
Thomas Guiry
Emmy Rossum
Spencer Treat Clark

R           137min           2003

During a summer in 1975, Dave Boyle and two friends, Jimmy and Sean, are playing on a sidewalk in Boston when Dave is abducted by two men and subjected to sexual abuse over a period of several days. Eventually escaping, but haunted into adulthood by his trauma, Dave becomes a primary suspect when Jimmy's daughter, Katie, is found murdered. Sean, assigned to investigate the crime, finds himself facing both demons from the past and demons in the present as the circumstances surrounding Katie's death are uncovered is the plot of “Mystic River”. Written by J. Lake

Directed by Clint Eastwood and winner of two Oscar awards I found Mystic River to be a striking film. I found that the characters were flawed and real. It was a story that could happen on any street, no just in the USA but anywhere. This film has an outstanding cast.

Although it set in Boston this film could be set anywhere. The way Clint Eastwood tells this story makes it so accessible. It could have been set in Africa, England, or France and you would still gotten the drama and flaws of this characters. It ground with reality and flawed characters. Every character in this film was flawed and it was these flaws that fleshed out the characters. It had the feel that it was the retelling of a murder case that you have all the inside information. It a movie that gives you clues to what has happen and what is happening. Mainly what is shown you is misdirection and when it is revealed the behavior makes sense.

The film is full of outstanding veteran Hollywood actors. Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden lead this riveting drama, but its Sean Penn, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in a Drama, gave a performance that man me respect him more as an actor. I never really paid attention to him until seeing him in “I am Sam” that when I became a fan of his. His performance in “Mystic River” shows that Hollywood underrates him and he truly deserved his Oscar.

I give it 4/5 Gs

"The Count of Monte Cristo"

Jim Caviezel
Guy Pearce
Richard Harris
James Frain
Dagmara Domincyzk
Michael Wincott
Luis Guzman
Henry Cavill




PG13           131min           2002


“The Count of Monte Cristo” is a tale of betrayal, adventure and revenge. When the dashing and guileless Edmond Dantes (Caviezel) is betrayed by his best friend (Pearce) and wrongly imprisoned, he becomes consumed by thoughts of vengeance. After a miraculous escape, he transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, insinuates himself into the French nobility and puts his cunning plan of revenge in action.

Based on the book of the same name by Alexander Dumas, “The Count of Monte Cristo” keeps the basic themes and the overall plot of the book but changes some of the major events from the book. You can’t use this version to pass your test. It is still entertaining and exciting to watch.

Caviezel and Pearce play off each other well enough to believe that they are best of friends in the beginning and total enemies in the end. Pearce comes across with an underlying anger that is believable through out the film. Caviezel transformation from a young man naive to the world into a man that has seen the world at its worst and embraces those darker impulses is subtler.

An outstanding cast featuring Richard HarrisLuis Guzman and Dagmara Domincyzk, the woman at the heart of this conflict, supports them. Richard Harris in one of his final performance is Dantes’s mentor in the Chateau d’If. Luis Guzman as “his man for life”, Jacopo is Dantes’s conscience. Dagmara Domincyzk is stunning as Mercedes and Dante’s one true love.

This re-imaging is more accessible to the modern youth than the book is. Having first read this in the ninth grade “The Count of Monte Cristo” has always been a favorite of mine but his a complicated read. I was always intrigued with the betrayal and revenge part of the book, and how it transformed a naïve young man into a harden survivor. This film completely captures what’s in the book with out being completely faithful to it.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

"Eragon"

Edward Speleers
Jeremy Irons
Sienna Guillory
Robert Carlyle
John Malkovich
Garret Hedlund
Djimon Hounsou


PG           104min           2006

"Eragon" is tale of, a farm boy who is chosen by a dragon's egg -- a discovery that leads him on a predestined journey where he realized he's the one person who can defend his homeland of Alagaesia against an evil king.

Eragon is reminisant of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series and based off a novel by Christopher Paolini. It has characters with the British imagined names and tale of dragons, orcs, magic, dark sorcerers and kings. Filmed in Hungary it has scenes with the most striking landscapes that you forget to watch the movie.

Fairly well acted with a cast that features Jeremy Irons as Brom, Eragon's mentor, John Malkovich as King Galbatorix, Sienna Guillory, from Resident Evil: Apocalypse, as Arya, Djimon Hounsou as Ajhad, and newcomer, Edward Speleers as Eragon.

It’s an entertaining movie for with amazing special effects. The dragon, Saphira, voiced amazingly by Rachel Weisz, is a stunning work of computer animation. If by design or not Saphira overshadows the picture with is majestic poses and movement. The effects makes you want to ride her with her power and grace; “Only a rider may command its dragon”.

Just as the movie starts to pick up it ends. Eragon leaves you with a WTF feeling. There are definitely sequels coming. If you have never read the book it does make you want to see more. Having at this point never read the books I was entertained. As is with most movies based on books I maybe disappointed with this movie.

I give it a 3/5 Gs.

Having now finished Eragon and its sequel Eldest; I'm disappointed with this movie. Its one of the worst book to movie translations. I stand by my review but it could have been so much more. Only have reading Paolini's descriptive narratives due you realize that this film was too fast paced and skipped several major plot points that are crucial sequel hard.

If you have the time in your life to read check out this two books. They are part of a trilogy called Inheritance, with the third due out sometime in the future. You won't be disappointed with the books as they are so much more engrossing that the film.

I would still like to see a sequel just to see how they recover from the bludder that the film maker made of these books.