Director: Steven Spielberg Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller Year: 2005 Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto Plot: As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival. Remake of 1953's War of the Worlds IMDb: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0407304/ 6.6
My Rating: 7
ET is back and boy is he pissed off!!!
Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a simple, divorced, builder living a modest life in New Jersey. His two kids are staying for the weekend, this is however a much different weekend as lightning storms strike all over the world making giant alien machines arise from the ground and killing thousands of lives. In an attempt to bring the kids back to their mom Ray and his family embark on a nightmarish journey where they have to deal not only with mortality caused by the aliens but also with all the desperate humans willing to do anything to survive.
A Long time ago a certain film director contradicted the generalized idea of aliens coming to conquer earth with heart warming tales such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.". Although in 2005 Spielberg completely reversed his vision of aliens to bring us a very dark Sci-Fi story.
Highly influenced by the actual atmosphere of paranoia in which the USA have been living since September 11th , the old H.G. Wells classic finds here a new interpretation. It's still follows its storyline but there are some deep connections to nowadays terrorism reality.
Unfortunately the screenplay is far from brilliant and Spielberg does make the huge mistake of following the box office friendly happy ending formula.
However, the movie does go way beyond the screenplay's limitations and that is due to the fact that Spielberg is a genius behind the camera who is able to create an emotional roller-coaster which keeps us at the edge of our seats all throughout the movie in a series of breathtaking scenes of pure anxiety and terror with astonishing special effects.
Tom Cruise is good at the characterization of an imperfect man who goes beyond his flaws becoming a heroic man who will do everything to protect his family. Dakota Fanning is amazing has the scared kid and it's no wonder why Hollywood cant get enough of her. Tim Robbins is however the scene stealer and manages to be even scarier than the aliens.
Despite not being a masterpiece, War of the Worlds manages to be a mixture of family drama and pure sci-fi horror which, highly because it reflects the actual spirit of an America drawn in fear, will remain as one of the biggest and best movies of the year.
Director: Spike Jonze Genre: Drama Year: 1999 Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman Starring: John Malkovich, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener Plot: A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star, John Malkovich. IMDb: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/ 7.8
My Rating: 6
I am not the biggest fan of Charlie Kaufman writing, whereas most people will find his weirdness something brilliant and unique I simply find it confusing. There's no point explaining the plot as it simply doesn't make sense. You really have to see it for yourself to apreciate the weirdness, weather you will enjoy it I can't really tell you.
One thing I must warn you though, is that in spite of being sold as a comedy this movie has pretty much nothing funny about it (well to be honest there are a few gags but not nearly enough to label it as a comedy). If anything it is an anti-comedy as there is a sense of dread and desperation all throughout the movie. I felt unconfortable watching it most of the time and in the end it is rather depressing.
Two good things about the movie is the acting which is very good especially by John Malkovich playing himself and by the always brilliant John Cusack, who I believe will never do wrong despite how rediculous his roles might get. Also the very last shot is really moving and it's a brilliant touch, it made the movie worthwhile.
In comparision with other Kaufman writen movies I have seen I consider this as good as Adaptation (which is a little bit less confusing) but not nearly as good as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I know I moaned about Being John Malkovich being confusing and I know Eternal Sunshine is even more but there is just something else to that movie that I really can't put on paper.
In the end I can't really recommend it but I wouldn't advise you not to see it. Best thing to do is watch it for yourself, if you're in the mood and willing to let go of all the plot holes you might actually enjoy it quite a lot. I myself might give it another try sometime later on in my life but for now this is where I stand.
Director: Karen Moncrieff Starring: Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt Year: 2006 Genre: Drama IMDb: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0783238/ - 6.9 Plot: The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.
My Rating: 5
A dead girl's body is found. This provides the starting point for the telling of 5 short stories relating to characters that somehow played a part in this girl's life.
The Stranger stars Toni Collette, the woman who discovers the body; The Sister stars Rose Byrn and tells the story of the pathologist who investigates the cause of death; The Wife stars Mary Beth Hurt, the wife of the murderer; The Mother stars Marcia Gay Harden, the mother of the dead girl who is looking for her daughter; The Dead Girl stars Brittany Murphy the soon to be victim.
This movie is not a mystery, it's a drama and a very tragic one. There isn't a glimpse of happiness in these people's lives. The movie is very slow paced and there isn't a single exciting moment all throughtout, it basically just reports a series of events. Some people would argue that this is a good thing and that it shows the real world but, in my opinion it is just depressing and boring, you won't be entretained. However the movie does feature excellent performances all round by the ensable cast.
There have been a lot of movies in the past few years that feature a fragmented timeline and multiple substories. These include Crash, Babel and Bobby all much better films.
If you are really like these types of movies and being depressed you will probably "enjoy" this, otherwise I wouldn't really recommend it.
Ok so this will be a blog mainly about cinema but since cinema and TV are closely related it won't hurt that the first post is on the new TV Series:
Every year networks try to give us a new next-big-thing. We had Lost (still the next big thing in my opinion), followed by Prison Break followed by Heroes. So do we have a massive new hit this year? We don’t, but we certainly have one of the best new shows I have ever seen, even though it will never reach the proportions of the ones mentioned.
Josh Schwartz returns with not one but two news shows. One is for boys and one is for girls. The latter is named Gossip Girl and it is basically a wit free version of the OC in New York. Even though it has been getting some good reviews I have not enjoyed it. There’s just too much drama and no comedy, the concept is not original and even thought they look good the characters in the show have zero charisma. Not for me. However, the former, Chuck, is great. It starts of as just ok but I gave it a chance and it soon became one of my new favourites and by episode 8 in which the lovely Rachel Bilson guest stars you will be hooked. It’s about this nerdy guy who’s sent an email containing all of the US government information encoded in thousands of images. He opens the email and it all flows to his head turning him into a super computer. Ok, the concept does sound silly but the show is not that much about the concept but rather about the characters and you will soon be quoting Chuck (Zachary Levi doing a very good job filling in Adam Brody’s witty boots), Morgan and Captain Awesome among all the other great characters the show has to offer.
So far one good show and one bad show, shame the balance is not kept has there are many more bad shows and not so many good shows. On the negative side we have a Battlestar Galactica wannabe, a Smallville wannabe a whole new bunch of police shows and other mismatches.
Let’s start with Bionic Woman a remake of an old TV series that is very different from the original. So it gets some points for being original but it really doesn’t matter because it is just bad in all other aspects, the acting is bad, the special effect are bad, the plots are bad, basically everything is bad and if that wasn’t enough it is just plain boring so we don’t even get the “Schwarzenegger-factor”. Give this one a miss. You might also like to miss out on the awful remake of Flash Gordon a show that is just a complete failure!
K-Ville, Journeyman and Life are the new cop shows in town, the latter stars Damien Lewis as Charlie Crews a cop who was sent to jail only to be released 5 years after for lack of evidence. He comes out of prison with a whole new perspective on life. It is ok for the first few episodes but it grows tired and I have already lost interest. Journeyman is about this guy that can go back in time and K-Ville is about how policemen in New Orleans deal with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I watched the pilots and I didn't like them. Same formula all over again, it is not worth paying much attention but if you do go for one of the two make sure it’s Journeyman.
There are some shows I haven’t watched yet mainly because the concept doesn’t really interest me. These include: Aliens in America (a show about racism), Cane (Sopranos wannabe), Carpoolers (just another sitcom), Cavemen (about cavemen living in today’s society… I might actually give this a chance to see how bad it really his), Back to You (it does star Frasier but I hear it’s not that great), Woman’s Murder Club (exactly what it sounds) and Tell Me You Love Me (an HBO grown up drama).
I have also watched the pilots of both Dirty Sexy Money and Big Shots. I didn’t enjoy either of them. The first one is about how a very rich family spends its money and the second one is about the life of 4 businessmen.
Samantha Who and Life is Wild are two average series that I have been watching when I have nothing else to do. First one stars Christina Applegate as Samantha a girl who got amnesia after a car crash, you’ll be able to figure out what the show is all about just by that description so it’s not very original although I have to give credit to Applegate for being well funny in it. Life is Wild is a show that might as well be on the Disney channel. It’s about a family that moves to Africa. It features some nice landscape shots but nothing else. You are really better off watching David Attenborough’s Planet Earth (the best nature documentary ever made).
So apart from Chuck it sounds bad so far but fear not my friends because actually there are some pretty awesome new shows.
Reaper, whose pilot was directed by Kevin Smith, is about a clerk (Bret Harrison) that collects escape souls for the Devil. Sock (Tyler Labine) is funny as hell (see what I did there?) but the real scene stealer is Ray Wise’s fantastic impersonation of the Devil. He’s charming, funny and a downright mother fucker just as you’d want him to be.
Unexpectedly, Big Bang Theory, a 20 minute sitcom about a bunch of nerds and a hot girl is extremely funny. I look forward to every single episode and the over the top geekiness of its main characters is just great. This is the new sitcom to watch!
Californication, starring David Duchovny starts out with a nun giving a blowjob! But unfortunately its comic tone reverts to drama as the series progresses. First season is finished by now, only 12 episodes, and it is well worth watching, especially because of Duchovny (and well the many great boobs we see throughout the show).
Another unexpected good show is Private Practice a Grey’s Anatomy spin off that has nothing to do with Greys Anatomy! It stars Dr Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) of Greys Anatomy fame and a bunch of other great actors including some well known TV faces. Like Anatomy it has both drama and comedy but it has a completely different tone to it. You just got to watch it to understand. However I still prefer Anatomy but that is mostly because of the surgeries.
Moonlight is a show I expected to hate. I don’t even know why I watched the pilot because the concept seemed so stupid and unoriginal. I mean a PI vampire? Do we really need another Angel or worse another Bloodties? Don’t make the same mistake as I did, this show is amazing. It has a sexy gothic feeling to it and it does not follow the vampire clichés we are all used to. Alex O’Loughlin is seriously cool as Mick Saint John and Veronica Mars fans will be pleased to see Jason Dohring back on telly.
And these are basically the six new shows worth watching! Obviously some older shows are also back for their new seasons. Most of them remain true to themselves and if you enjoyed them before you will probably still enjoy them now. These include Prison Break, Grey’s Anatomy, CSIs, Weeds, Dexter, Smallville, House, Battlestar Galactica (which starts with a cinematic release of the first episode!!!), Simpsons, Shark, Ugly Betty, Family Guy, Avatar, Desperate Housewives and the rest of the bunch.
Special mention goes to Heroes. It starts out slowly and boring, and you will be thinking that the writers don’t know what they are doing anymore, well just keep watching and when episode seven comes along you will be left jaw dropped by the cleverness of the twist they had been planning since Hiro was last seen dropping in 16th century Japan at the ending of first season. It’s fucking brilliant!
By now you will have heard about the writers strike. It will affect most of the shows but the only ones I am really worried about is Scrubs which will probably have a shortened last season and Lost which looks like it is only going to have 8 episodes instead of 16 (when really it should have a full 24 episode season…). Also, 24 (which I don’t really care about) is only going to have 8 episodes which is pretty funny as it ruins the whole concept of the show. Oh One Tree Hill is also going to be back for its fifth run. It’s probably going to go downhill as last season finale was pretty much perfect and tied up all the loose ends. I think they ran out of story to tell but I will give it a chance because I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this show after disregarding it as an OC rip off.
Also there are some Summer series you might want to check if you missed them because you were partying too hard. Including: Entourage, a series any guy will love, featuring the brilliant Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold with its foul mouth (quotes include: “open your mouth like JT is gonna drop a load in it” and the famous “do you wanna hug it out? Lets hug it out bitch”); the clever sci-fi Kyle XY about a kid with no belly button; Eureka about a town full of intelligent people, 4400 a sci-fi show about alien abduction and Burn Notice a show about a spy that got a burn notice featuring king of coolness Bruce Campbell!
So that is basically it but I have left the best for last. This year’s gem, this year’s Lost, this year’s amazing new show is… Pushing Daisies. The facts are these: It is about a pie maker, Ned (Lee Pace), whose first touch brings people back to life but second touch kills them forever. He tries to live a quiet life until Emerson Cod (Chi Mc Bride) discovers his secret and proposes a crime solving society. All goes well until the murder they have to investigate is of Ned’s childhood sweetheart Chuck (a gorgeous Anna Friel). Top this with a love triangle between Ned, Chuck and Olive (a cleavage friendly Kristin Chenoweth) and you have got a winner. This is probably the sweetest TV show you will ever watch and Chuck and Ned are the cutest couple ever. Everything looks as if it came out of a fairy tale and the cross between Tim Burton, Dr Seuss, Amelie and the narration of Jim Dale is just plain perfect. It will leave you with the biggest smile! Let’s just hope its quirkiness doesn’t result in poor ratings and eventual cancellation as it happened with Wonderfalls and Dead like Me (Bryan Fuller’s previous shows). Watch this! Only 6 episodes and it is already one of my favourite series!
Here's a Preview:
So in conclusion do your self a favour and give Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Reaper, Californication, Private Practice and Moonlight a chance and, make sure you watch Pushing Daisies I promise you won’t be disappointed.
PS: Also re-watch Roswell, the best show ever made!
