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Movie Monday – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

August 30, 2011

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Image by aresryo via Flickr

Over the past week i found myself once again in the cinema. This is becoming a very regular occurring for me it seems! Up until i started to talk about the films i have been watching here on my blog, i didn’t really go to the cinema too often, that was also partially contributed to the fact that there wasn’t too many decent / interesting films out at the time. But i feel more up to seeing films these days!

This week i went to the local cinema to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, i managed to go at a bargain of a price, tickets were only €4 thanks to o2 (Irish Phone Network) and including my popcorn and drink it was a little under €10, i can’t remember the last time i spent so little in the cinema! For once i wasn’t broke leaving the place.

I had been really looking forward to seeing this film, i had seen a lot of preview trailers on TV, when going to see other movies in the cinema and of course through YouTube where a large campaign was setup with the popular YouTubers who go to see the behind the scenes stuff which helped create a lot of buzz around the film. So before going to see the film i had heard a lot of things about it, some people had good reviews, while other had other opinions.

As usual i like to form my own opinion of a film, you could tell me it was terrible, but i had intended on seeing it i would watch it anyway, no matter what the reviews were!

The plot of the film is fairly simple (probably going to have spoilers so skip this paragraph if you haven’t seen the film!), scientists are have been trying for years to try and find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, they think they have finally achieved a cure and were testing their treatment of Apes/Chimpanzees. Unknown to them the cure had other effects which not only led to a cure of Alzheimer’s but also improved peoples cognitive abilities, a chimpanzee happened to be the first user of the new Alzheimer’s drug and began to show rapid development and soon became smarter and smarter over time. Later this ‘super-intelligent’ chimp gets forced into a cage where other chimps & apes are being held and realises how different he is and sets out to set them free from the people who are keeping them captive and choose to rebel against the human race in order to gain their freedom.

I thought this was a brilliant film, really interesting to watch, the special effects used were brilliant, the effects i refer to are the fact that humans play the role of the apes and are then digitally made into apes on computers as opposed to simply making the apes fully on the computer. I feel that by using a bit of both it makes it more realistic with the movements etc.

There are a few great actors in this film, i am sure others are popular but i haven’t seen any films that i would recognise them from. The three i recognised are James Franco who played the likes of Harry Osborn in the Spiderman films, Tom Felton who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter Series and John Lithgow who up until recently i only knew him for the role he played in the TV-Show Dexter which he acted brilliantly in, but i looked him up and realised he has been in a lot of popular films, one that i was surprised to see was that he played the voice of Lord Farquaad in Shrek! I would never of guessed it was him, i will have to listen out for him next time i watch those films.

Overall i really enjoyed this film, it’s something different i felt from other films i have watched, especially given that the main stars of the film are animals! If you haven’t already seen the film, i highly recommend this one, you won’t be disappointed! Again here is the trailer below!

And on another note, if this ever happened, we would be screwed!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbCoDf44oCE

Movie Monday – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

August 15, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

This week i got around to watching a film that i have wanted to see for a long time. Every time i go to watch a film i would pick up the case for Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind and then decide not to watch it because people always say you either love it or hate it, lots of mixed reviews and from what i got from people telling me about it was that it wasn’t the most easy watching film, so usually i would just put the film back down.

But this weekend i finally watched it, i had never actually read anything into the film before, all i knew was what was written on the back of the DVD case, other than that i was completely oblivious to what the film was or how it was filmed in a similar fashion to that of Donnie Darko meets all other films that try to mess with your head and get you thinking sort of way. Now don’t take it that the film is like Donnie Darko in the sense that it is really dark, i mean in the way that Donnie Darko has the under lining meaning or story-line to the film, eternal sunshine has its story-line like this too.

Eternal Sunshine is a sort of two in one film, it is about romance and heartache. The romance part comes when two people meet randomly after, Joel, the main character, played by Jim Carrey, decides to ditch work and ends up at a beach. Later the heartache factor comes in where Joel comes to realise that the love of his life, Clementine, has had all her memories of him removed. It all becomes to much for Joel and he too decides to opt in for the same treatment that Clementine had done, only to realise he has made a huge mistake.

This film really likes to play tricks with you, as i have said already, the film makes you think something is happening one way, however in fact there is a completely different storyline being told right in front of you, but it takes a while to work out what exactly is going on. I really enjoy these kinds of films, anything that gets your mind working is good in my books!

As for the statement that people say its either a love it or hate it film, i totally disagree, nothing in my opinion is too obscure than other films, this film has been written by someone who obviously has a great mind for complex story-lines. I suppose if you like to watch more brain dead films that require no intellectual thoughts then this film wouldn’t be for you, but for the majority of people, its a great film and gives you something to work at while watching the film, finding out what exactly is being shown.

I don’t like to ruin any film on anyone so i won’t say too much about the film. The film is about an hour and forty minutes, here is the overview of the film from IMDB:

A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

There are a lot of popular actors in this film including Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood. The camera work is brilliant in this film in parts, in one part camera manipulation is used to make fully grown adults look the size of a 10 year old, usually computers are used to achieve this kind of effect, but if you watch the bonus features of the films you can see how the trick is done. Here is the trailer below.

The official music video for Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless mind is by polyphonic spree and is called Light & Day, the video is odd the way it is made, if you were to come across it you wouldn’t think it is the official video for the film, the only reason i know it is, is because it is on the DVD. The music video is below.

Movie Monday – A Marathon!

August 08, 2011

Since last week i have watched so many film, i seem to be getting more into watching films these days. Even though i have only started doing these Monday ‘challenges’ for me to watch more film i feel like it is working. When i first started with these blog posts i said that i rarely find time to sit down and watch a film, now though or at least in the last week i have gone mad watching films.

So for today’s Movie Monday, i have not just watched 1 film, or just two but 5 films in the last 7 days! Thats just insane! and unheard of for me. I now enjoying sitting down and relaxing after work and throwing on a film, but for the most part of the films i watched over the last week, the majority were on T.V! Thats an even more uncommon thing for me, i never watch films that are on T.V, i hate watching films when there are ads in them! and i was surprised to see so many films that i like were on T.V.

Out of all the 5 films i watched, only 2 of them was new to me, all the other ones i had seen previously, but i liked them so much that i decided to watch them again, couldn’t resist watching them when i saw that they were coming on T.V.

Children of Men

The first film i watched was last monday night, the film was Children of Men, this is a brilliant film. I first saw this film a few months back, my brother showed it to me. If you havnt seen this film i would highly recommend that you do watch it. The film’s plot revolves around the concept that humans have not been able to reproduce for years and when a young woman manages to fall pregnant, the film follows her on her journey. The camera work in this film is amazing, in one scene the camera shot must go on for about 10 minutes straight without breaking, which gives a powerful impact and makes you really aware of what is happening.

Clive Owen and Michael Caine are in this film and they are a perfect match for the film. This is the film description from IMDB;

“In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.”

Men of Honor

The next film i watched stars Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr., the plot of this films is about the first African American to become a Navy Diver.

The film description from IMDB reads;

The story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him.

Speed

Speed is a film i heard a lot about but never got around to watching it. This film came on T.V last week and myself and my family sat down and watched it. To be honest it wasnt for me, i had always wanted to watch this film but i didnt really enjoy it. I found it more humorous than i should have, its probably the fact that its a relatively old film and the acting and style is just old and cheesey and the plot and how it is performed is insane and simply impossible.

I am still glad that i have managed to see the film, and i might watch the next film in the series, Speed 2, not sure if it is going to be an improvement but i might as well give it the benefit of the doubt!

The IMDB plot outline is as follows;

A young cop must prevent a bomb exploding aboard a city bus by keeping its speed above 50 mph.

Speed has some great actors in it thought, including Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock .

The Guard

The guard is the second of the five films that i hadnt seen before last week, this is the newest out of the lot, it is still in the cinema, so i made sure i went to see it. i had heard a lot of good feedback about the film, and seeing that it is an irish film i had to go and check it out, you know, support the local cinema!

The film obviously follows a guard around, and the plot is how a drug smuggling group re trying to get drugs into Ireland, with Brendan Gleeson playing the main actor, he is out to find out the truth. This film is hilarious and simply one of the best films i have seen in a long time, and probably the best Irish film that i have seen. The cast also includes Don Cheadle who plays the role of an FBI agent who has been following the drug smuggling operation for some time now. You would recognise Don from films such as Iron Man and Reign over Me.

The IMDB plot outline is as follows;

An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.

The Social Network

The final film which i watched last week was the Social Network, a film based on the success of Facebook and follows how the idea came about and through to the success and court cases revolving around Facebook.

I have lost count to the amount of times i have watched this film, i really enjoy this film, i like the storyline although bits have been changed to dramatise the storyline a lot. I watched this film with a friend of mine who had not seen the film, i especially enjoy the watching the special features of the film, it shows the challenges of filming the social network along with how special effects were used to replicate one actor to play both the twins in the film!

Its all over

July 26, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Its been about a week and a half now sine the final Harry Potter film has come out, i went to see the film the Saturday after the film came out, and being that it had the option for the first time in the entire series, i opted to watch the film in 3D!

I am fully aware of how much overrated 3D is, to be honest most films could do without it, usually the films i enjoy most are not 3d and i also feel the only films that actually work as 3d are cartoons, simply because they are animated and are fully created using computers and therefore can be worked perfectly using virtual cameras to make the best 3d high definition quality with eye popping effects!

Anyway that was a bit of a tangent, i saw the final installment of harry potter (Deathly Hallows Part 2) in 3d and i am glad i did. There was nothing over the top about it, nothing popped out at you, i had expected to see some spells going straight towards the audience, but nothing of the sort. They kept it simple, depth was pretty much the only factor of 3d in my opinion, and you got a greater feel of how large an area you were looking at.

The film is brilliant, definitely a great way to end the series, they seemed to of really made Neville into a huge role model and the battle scenes were great. Surprisingly though **SPOILER** when Fred died in the film, it didn’t actually show it happening! I thought this would of being a sure thing that would of had a big build up in the film, however they seemed to completely skip it until after the main battle when they panned to him lying there with his family around him, i think that this scene should have been included.

Although, like all of the other films, they had to cut parts out and it is expected that this would happen. Anyone who didn’t read the books wouldn’t have passed any remark on things like this, but i suppose as someone who read the books, you always want to see the whole lot made into a films, but others might not feel like sitting through hours and hours for a film!

Alan Rickman, who plays Severus Snape, was definitely the scariest character in the film, surprising since he was the hero in disguise and Voldemort was supposed to be the person of fear! I was wondering how they were going to tackle ending the film, in the books it skipped ahead to 19 years later, obviously the whole cast would be older and have there own family (they didn’t hang around with only 19 years) and the book ended with them all on the platform sending their own kids to Hogwarts.

When the ending came, i couldn’t help but laugh, literally out loud! Everyone in the cinema seemed to agree as they were laughing too! I was thinking they would attempt to make them look older by using some sort of computer magic, but this didn’t happen, i guess they thought if this was the last time they were going to be on screen for Harry Potter they might as well look as normal as possible. They way they achieved making them look older (only slightly older looking to be honest) was by lashing on a lot more make-up and sticking them into more formal / older looking clothes than they would usually wear!

Anyway it was a great film series and its sad to see its over, but no doubt there will be plenty of special features once the film come out on DVD. All that remains now is to go to the Harry Potter theme park in Florida, which is on my to do list! It’s a great excuse to go back to Florida again, it was great the last time and i am sure it will be just a good next time i manage to go!