Upcoming Movies

Iron Man 3

Release: April 26th
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sir Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce.
Genre: Adventure
Trailer:

The long awaited third movie following summer hit The Avengers Assemble, We return to Marvel's Playboy superhero as he deals with life after the alien invasion of New York and a new terrorist threat, in the form of Mandarin.

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Release: May 17th
Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Cho, Zoe Saldana.
Genre: Si-Fi

J.J. Abrams is taking on the si-fi world at large with the sequal to his hugely successful reboot of Star Trek at the same time as taking on the task of directing the seventh Star Wars film now that Disney has bought the franchise. The film looks to be slightly darker in tone than the last with the inclusion of rogue agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Monsters University
Release: June 21st
Director: Dan Scanlon
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi.
Genre: Comedy

A prequel to the successful 2001 Pixar movie, Monsters Inc, a film about the buisness of the monsters in your cupboard and under your bed. This time the monstrous duo of one-eyed Mike (Billy Crystal) and the gentle giant Sully (John Goodman) are at university and it turns out their friendship wasn't always steady.

Oz the Great and Powerful
Release: Out Now
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zack Braff.
Genre: Adventure

A prequel to The Wizard of Oz, this time instead of following the adventures of Dorothy, we look into the life of Oscar Digg, a magician who is taken to the land of Oz to find his destiny. Along the way he will meet the witches and cause all their lives to change.

After Earth
Release: June 7th
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Isabelle Fuhrman.
Genre: Si-Fi

Starring the father-son duo of Will and Jaden Smith, this summer Si-Fi sees the two crash landing on earth a 1000 years after ti was evacuated. The dysfunctional pair must learn to work together in order to survive the harsh primal fears of the evolved earth. While I'm not normally a fan of M. Night Shyamalan's work, this movie looks interesting, as with many of the directors movies the audience should expect a twist.

Leon Review

Review no. 3


Leon
Director: Luc Besson
Release: 1994
Starring: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman.
Genre: Thriller

This film is an excellent example of Luc Besson's signature style. It shows his mastery of seamlessly blending humor with action and tying in emotion.
The plot of the film follows Mathilda (Natalie Portman), an abused New York child, and Leon (Jean Reno), a peculiar Italian "cleaner" or hitman. Taking in Mathilda after a tragedy in her family, he begins to teach her the rules and art of professional killing.

Portman steps up to the role of the damaged child on a path of revenge. She shows convincing emotion and has a charm that makes the audience care for the fate of this girl. Reno is equally likable with his polite manner and awkward walk which is in complete contrast with his profession. This is just one of the instances of subversion of the norm in this movie. Luc Besson is always switching things on the audience very subtly.  One example of this is the fact that the hero is an assassin and the villain is a federal agent. This keeps the audience hooked; always keeping their attention and making sure the pace never drops. This film is an exciting and emotional tale from start to finish.

Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman) deserves special mention as the chilling villian of the movie. He is always polite and calm however he always gives the sense of a pot about to boil over which makes the instances when he is angered very tense. This politeness that he exudes is similar to the character of Hanz Lander in Tarantino's acclaimed movie "Inglorious Basterds".

5/5 This is a spectacular movie that will keep you glued to the screen. It is certainly one of Besson's best movies.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Review

Review No.2


CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Release: 2000
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen.
Genre: Action Adventure

This famous wuxia adventure takes the audience on a journey of Chinese myth and culture. The movie is a brilliant show of Chinese cinema; with its beautiful scenery and exciting action, it is a treat to the eyes. Chow Yun Fat is brilliant as the serious and weary master of Wudang swordsmanship, Li Mu Bai. 

This film is less of a Kung-Fu movie and more of an epic story, with martial arts involved. The fight scenes are beautiful and give a real sense of power to the characters. The plot of the movie revolves around three characters as they try and find out who they are. When Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) gives up his sword, Green Destiny; his friend and long time holder of his affection, Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) must take it to Beijing. However, when the sword goes missing, a series of events unfold which will hold knowledge and tragedy for all involved.

The story is engaging, interesting, and the audience feels for the characters. The serious tone of the film is occasionally splashed with funny, subtle remarks and visual humour. If the story has any flaws it is that at one point one of the love stories drags on a little too much; but this flaw is small in comparison to the excitement that will be induced by the rest of the film. It also gives the audience a window into Chinese culture and is great for anybody with an interest in China. The film has many themes running throughout such as, betrayal, love, destiny, responsibly and the innate ability of man (or the Crouching Tiger and the Hidden Dragon).

5/5 A truly brilliant example of Asian cinema; a gripping tale of swords, love and bad haircuts.

The Evil Dead Review

Review No.1

THE EVIL DEAD
Director: Sam Raimi
Release: 1981
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich
Genre: Horror

So with the remake of Sam Raimi's cult classic in the making I thought that the original Evil Dead would make a good first review for this blog, so with that in mind let's get started.

The Evil Dead is a cult classic known across many countries; however, a cult classic does not necessarily need to be a good movie; in fact, lots of them are terrible. This gory horror thankfully is not one of them. The film follows five all american teens from Michigan State University, as they go to a secluded cabin in rural Tennessee; however, things begin to get a bit crazy when they stumble upon the "Book of the Dead, then possession and lecherous trees ensue.  

The movie's use of clever angles and tense build up make the movie a blood splattered thrill from start to finish. The films use of claustrophobic angles deserves special mention with the camera never straying too far from the actors' shoulder causing the audience to fear what might be lurking just off screen. The use of the dutch tilt on occasion also adds to this sense of unease. The gore, for the most part is excessive bordering on camp; however, this does not take away from the film and is enjoyably shocking at times. The infamous tree scene with Ellen Sandweiss is one of the more disturbing moments of the film; however, it is not nearly as shocking today as it would have been at the time of the release. The characters, while plain on the outside, all have a connection that becomes a struggle when the need arises to kill each other. All in all this movie is well deserving of its place in the cult hall of fame. It is engaging and reaction-provoking; you can't sleep through this one and at points it could startle even the most hardened of horror fans. 

SCORE:4/5 Exciting and heart pounding, the gore can be silly but certainly a must see for horror fans.