Men In Black 3

There have been a lot of remakes and sequels in the land of film, and some of them should be locked away in a tower guarded by fire breathing dragons, never to be seen again. When Hollywood adapted the famous comic; people instantly fell in love with the slimy aliens and the coffee drinking worms.

Knowing Hollywood, it is practically law to make a sequel; hence Men In Black II, which in my opinion, was not as good as the first one, mostly because it lacked what the the first movie had: intensity and ambition. It seems few films made sequels far better than the first one; still the second installment did great in the box office.

So, what of  Barry Sonnenfield’s Men In Black 3?

15 years since the first film, and well, it was worth it. The fact that the characters remained true to their personalities we have all loved. Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, still with the snide remarks, and Will Smith as Agent J with his cool antics. The famous partners-in-alien hunting are as charismatic and as witty as ever.

This perfect partnership, however, was interrupted by an escape of a prisoner in Lunar Max: Boris the Animal played the brilliant Jemaine Clement. K, it seems, brought Boris in that moon prison, and in doing so, has shot of his left arm. Boris swore to kill K and to ensure that the Bonglodites can invade our little blue planet, so he sought the son of the inventor of time-travel in Earth and went back in time. Obviously, K disappears, and J also goes back to the 1960′s to find K.

Although the film goes off plot a couple of times, the script still worked itself. Probably the best times in the film are those which are not in the main narrative, and at some point the audience forgets that went off a bit. Also, one must have a sharp eye, there are shots where the film is showing images of who they consider to be alien in origin, Lady Gaga, for instance, and the blatant proclamation that all models are aliens.

But what really made the film amazing was Josh Brolin’s young Agent K portrayal. It is as if he really is the young Tommy Lee Jones; it is that convincing. Plus, we have Emma Thomspon sporting the black suit, and she is, as expected, amazing in the film.

Men In Black 3 is a film you will not let slip. It is very entertaining, and if I’m going to be really honest, it will give you tears both from laughing and for all the other feelings.

The Great Gatsby trailer

The Great Gatsby, an adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Mcguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton, and is directed by Baz Luhrman. The film is set to be released on Christmas.

Skyfall Trailer

Finally, the first official teaser for the most awaited 007 movie, Skyfall. By the looks of it, the film will most definitely be worth the wait.

Daniel Craig reprises his role as the famous MI6 Agent, James Bond, Judi Dench as M, Javier Bardem as Silva, and Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory. The film is directed by Sam Mendes.

Fire. Angry Agent. Helicopter. More fire. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

Piranhaconda

SyFy Productions presents a movie about a half anaconda, half piranha that lives in the river and feeds on bikini clad females—well, no not really.

While most of us are probably not surprised another hybrid creature threatens to make its way to our screens since Sharktopus  and Dinocroc , Piranhaconda might actually be the worst one yet.

So, what do you make of it?

Dark Shadows

In two words: Weirdly entertaining.

Dark Shadows is about Barnabas Collins, an 18th century man from Liverpool whose family moved to the New World to expand the Collins fishing business. A witch by the name of Angelique cursed him, turned him into a vampire, and buried him alive. Barnabas is exhumed in the 1970′s and found a different Collinsport from the one he once knew. His mansion, Collinwood is falling apart, their family business in shambles, and his family dysfunctional. He then set out to restore the family business, but a rival company owned by the very witch who cursed him ,is making it impossible for him.

I can appreciate the extensive focus on 70′s culture on the film,but a but on other aspects. It was funny the first few minutes, but the next half hour became unbearable, and the plot seemed to be going on a loop.

While it doesn’t even reach Depp-Burton standards, Dark Shadows still has its moments. One would think that the fish-out-of-water aspect might get a bit annoying, but it was one of the few things that kept it together, albeit spending majority of the film’s time on it.

The film was enjoyable, but the storyline was incoherent. There are parts where I forgot what the movie was initially about, and there was no character development. It actually seemed as thought each of the characters are just there for Barnabas to creep out with his 18th century antics.

I can’t relate to people who were able to see the 1960′s gothic soap opera this film was based on, which is why I can’t tell whether the reboot was justified. The movie was mildly entertaining, funny, lacked character development, and it became a little too Depp-centric. In modern terms, it still needs a bit of the umph! factor.

But it was a fun film to watch, and  the cameos and the audio were very exciting.

Battleship

Hasbro’s Transformers did well in the box office, which is why it is no surprise that its famous board game would get its time in the spotlight.

Battleship is about how humans foolishly transmitted a message to Deep Space, and this message eventually caught the attention of five alien ships poised to attack the Earth. Meanwhile, here on Earth, we are introduced to Alex (Taylor Kitsch), a lazy bum who lives with and is a constant pain to his brother Stone (Alexander Skarsgard), who then forces Alex to join the US Navy. A few years after, Alex, who is already in the navy, still hasn’t changed his ways and gets on everyone’s nerves, most especially Admiral Crane’s (Liam Neeson), which is bad because Crane is the father of his girlfriend, Samantha (Brooklyn Decker).

During a naval exercise with the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean, all fleets were attacked by alien ships whose weapons are far better than ours (no surprise there). Alex and his comrades fight the baddies in an effort to save the world and prevent human extinction.

The movie is actually very formulaic. One of those sci-fi movies that is predictable. It came to a point where even the arrival of the alien ships and its crazy ocean landing did not seem to be as exciting as it should be. It was a weak first part, and it is too Michael Bay-ish.

However, during the part where Captain Nagata was already with Alex and they were tracking the movements of the alien ships through Tsunami buoys and its radio frequency, it got really exciting. Not only because it now resembles the game, but it is because the mano-a-mano fight promised to us was already happening. The adrenaline rush was quite intense, it was like being in the game.

Battleship is slightly better than Transformers, although still didn’t quite deliver. The script was uninspired, and I feel like there is something missing. The motivations of the aliens were left out, it would have been better if it was said in the movie, just to clarify things. A random invasion doesn’t just happen. I honestly didn’t think the length of the movie was a problem, there were just some bits where it was focusing on certain things for far too long. It is an okay movie, still delivered, effects wise. Still very much enjoyable, and the humour was delivered precisely at the right time. 

If you haven’t seen it, do watch Battleship. It may have its flaws, but it still did better than what a lot of people have expected from a movie based on a board game.

Splice

A modern Frankenstein, this sci-fi horror movie takes us deeper into biogenetics, ethics, and what happens when humans go against nature.

The movie takes on the usual sci-fi thriller formula: Ambitious humans experiment on something they shouldn’t have, producing a monster, then said monster becomes aggressive and starts killing people. But the movie goes beyond science and dabbles on the human and emotional, and ethical side of the film.

Clive and Elsa are biochemists famous for successfully splicing DNA and mixing it with different animal species. They wanted to push for experimentation on humans, but the pharmaceutical company they work for forbids it. So they did the experiment clandestinely, and to their surprise, the experiment was successful.

Here spawned Dren, the girl with amphibian, bird, and human features. A cute little creature, intelligent, and very much the gymnast, was hidden from the world…and it wanted to get out.

The audience will not know who to side with, or who to sympathize with, because the movie makes you see that these three: Dren, Clive, and Elsa, have issues. They’re all vulnerable, and they’re all monsters.

Ethical issues are also very evident in the movie. How far will people go for ambition? Problems arise when the goal of proving oneself is what is dominant than to the actual primary goal which is to help people. Recognition can go a long way, but to be rash about things and to not think about the consequences of an action will create a monster, whatever that monster is.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Perfume: The Story  of a Murderer is basically a story of a serial killer set in 18th century France.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is gifted with the best olfactory sense in all of France. His goal of getting a whiff of everything, and his obsession with finding the perfect scent, lead him to Grasse, France, where he killed thirteen young girls and captured their scent to be preserved forever.

There was nothing wrong about the movie. It is possible that the pacing, which is a bit slow and seemed to drag on forever, made it a little bit unbearable. But it did get exciting when he was already on his way to Grasse, when he found out that he had no scent of his own. This made him even more determined to make the perfect perfume, and thus gives us one heck of a storyline to gnaw on, finally.

What I like most about the movie is its magical realism. Everytime he leaves a place something bad always happens. For instance, when he was sold by the orphanage to a man who delivers leather skins, the lady in charge of the orphanage was robbed and killed on the way. Or when he left Giuseppe Baldini a hundred new perfume ingredients, upon leaving the house, Giuseppe died because their house collapsed on the bridge. And the most ludicrous of all the events, and probably one of my most favourite magical realism scenes was when he poured all the contents of the perfume that he made, and everyone started devouring him until he was gone. Not even blood was left.

The movie is good, yes it is a bit slow, but you will probably get the hang of it. You might even try smelling things after watching the movie.

PS. The movie is based on a book of the same title written by Patrick Suskind. As always, the book is better than the movie. The imagery is just amazing, I do recommend that you read it first before watching the movie.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil

It’s spring-break, and a bunch of college kids decided to camp out into the woods. So they set off to a place they have never been before where they can smoke, skadoodle, and drink like there’s no tomorrow. Unbeknownst to these hormone driven kids that they are not alone in the woods, and it looks like there is going to be some trouble.

Sound familiar?

Practically everyone is, I think we are all too familiar with the premise that the we can literally just lay out the whole story to someone without actually watching the movie. Always with the masked chainsaw-wielding guy who turns out to be the freak, misunderstood person in town, and a screaming girl running for her life but stumbles down, falls to the ground, and meets her untimely death, and lo and behold the voice of reason in the bunch gets to have a little action time with the killer, actually wins, and gets to survive at the end. *slow panting*

Phew! See what I mean….

But Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a bit different. They have adapted that premise, and turned it around, and the result is actually better than what I had expected.

In the movie, Tucker (Alan Tudyk)  and Dale (Tyler Labine) wanted nothing more than to fix their newly bought cabin in the woods and spend a couple of days there to relax, and maybe drink a few beers (an unintentional reference to the Joss Whedon film, but I heard that movie’s awesome). Anyway, they are actually pretty harmless, Dale  wouldn’t even hurt a fish. So they set out riding their pick-up truck, and on their way up the mountains.

Also going in the woods are the college kids, and this is where trouble begins. They thought that Tucker and Dale are  mindless killers out to chase them in the woods. They decided to attack first when they saw Ally (Katrin Bowden) being taken away by Tuck and Dale, one of them says that he saw them eat her face off . When what actually happened was when Ally fell into the lake and hit her head, Tuck and Dale were saving her from drowning.

From there, a lot of the deaths are pretty accidental, and not really caused by our supposed hillbilly killers. And there’s your lesson: Say no to stereotyping. Just because Tuck and Dale were hillbillies, the college kids thought they were up to no good. People are people and should be treated as individuals. Don’t let your preconceived opinion about a person ruin you.

This is a very violent film, but in true black comedy spirit, the movie plays everything for laughs. I actually can’t tell if this is one of the best horror-comedies out there. Well, virtually better than the Scary Movie franchise (which is oddly not scary at all, just sort of a very mocking movie). But if you are into gruesome horror movies, and you know, still want to laugh about it, then this movie is probably for you.

The Hunger Games (Movie)

As expected, the movie has been a phenomenal adaptation to one of  the most popular sci-fi books. This dystopian fiction sold millions of copies, and I can only congratulate Gary Ross for trudging on the very dangerous book-to-movie waters, and has come up with one of the strongest, most entertaining, teen sci-fi film of all time. The Hunger Games is darker, scarier, political, and very much intense. The audience is left grasping on to their armrests and on the very edge of their seats.

A little synopsis for those who need to refresh their memories:

The Hunger Games takes place in the future (no time period was mentioned) after the destruction of North America, in a nation now known as Panem. Now Panem consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding districts. There used to be thirteen districts, but a rebellion against the Capitol  in which the districts lost broke out and District 13 was destroyed to rubble.

As punishment for the rebellion, every year, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected randomly to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a televised event in which the tributes from the districts fight to the death in a dangerous arena, until one remains standing to be crowned victor of the Games.

The story begins in District 12 where Katniss Everdeen, during reaping day, volunteered to take her sister’s place for the 74th Hunger Games, followed by a boy named Peeta Mellark whom Katniss knows from school and who once gave her bread when her family was starving. [ The Hunger Games (Book)]

Although she has the skills to overpower her would be enemies, she realises that she needs to win over the viewers who are potential sponsors and can send them gifts to help them survive in the arena.

This actually describes our society a bit. We live in a world where a hegemonic state can make people from other states do labour for them, and that is vividly depicted in the books, and in this movie.  It also shows our morbid love for violence, and how we, as the audience, consider this as entertainment. A bit disconcerting, if you will think about it. The books could well be our possible future, if this goes on, or if this gets worst.

The great thing about the movie is that it introduced us to the world of Panem. The books were written in Katniss’ point of view, and so we only are limited to what her thoughts were before and after the game. In the film, we get to have a behind-the-scenes look, and showed us the political aspect of the Hunger Games.

Ross made us feel, or experience, what the characters are feeling. He made us present in the world of Panem. The camera work is amazing, and combined with the perfect and most brilliant use of music, it made us feel afraid as the characters were afraid, as disoriented as the characters were disoriented, as panic-stricken as the characters were also unbearably nervous.

The success of this film also boils down to the cast that it has, and really, one could never ask for a more brilliant cast than the lot that we have in this movie. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen was a perfect choice. Since we don’t get to hear her internal monologue, we do get to see her struggles in Jennifer’s acting. Her expressions tells us a lot about what the character is thinking, and what she is about to do. Truly, she depicted the heroine in the most perfect way any could have imagined.

Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson were fun to watch, they were the  perfect choice for Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy simply because Elizabeth captured the eccentricity of the Capitol lifestyle and the personality of Effie, and Woody showed us, quite well, the transformation of Haymitch from drunkard and ignorant to the responsible mentor and eventually friend to Katniss and Peeta.

I appreciated the sports-commentator like setting of Caesar Flickerman and Claudius while they were explaining the events of the game. And the creepiness of President Snow through Donald Sutherland was almost too perfect. Lenny Kravitz was brilliant as Cinna, the people doubting his performance as the caring stylist are now fans of his.

The cast was just really brilliant, it is almost impossible to single out anyone specific. They all just worked together really well, and the chemistry between the characters was just amazing.

Another great thing about the film is how it depicted the Capitol and the Districts. Obviously, not all districts were shown, but from the few that we have seen, we have an idea of how hard life in the district really is, and that the eye of the Capitol sees everything. The Capitol was as obnoxious and beautiful as in the book. It is too pretty, in fact, that one would think that this definitely is the worst place to be in.

But the film left off some of what I think are vital parts of the story, and they have a lot of explaining to do in the next installments. Having said that, even an avid fan of the books will truly appreciate the movie, even with the few tweaks and unfathomable changes.

Katniss’ relationship with Gale and the progress of her awkward relationship with Peeta is a bit unexplored. And while the book explains quite vividly, the struggles of the Tributes, the film just showed us that, yeah, they had a hard time finding food and shelter, just that.

The film did make up for some if its little flaws two dozen times over. This is the strongest teen movie that I have seen, and yes, this is no Twilight.