Returned 45 results for 'Category: Hollywood Movie Reviews'
Movie Ratings and Reviews: Groundhog Day
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
Movie: Groundhog Day
Year: 1993
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy
Director: Harold Ramis
Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott
Snapshot of Story:
A weatherman from a popular US TV channel finds himself in a town where he relives the same day again and again with interesting consequences.
Storyline:
Groundhog Day is an unusual movie not coming from the same classes of mainstream movies but has a very charming feel to it. Bill Murray comical in every way gives a superb performance to an often melancholy movie that stirs up tangible emotions and feelings in all of us.
Phil (Bill Murray) the weatherman is assigned to a location where he needs to report on the cold freeze much to his dislike. The town is celebrating the ‘Groundhog Day’ and he covers up his frustration as much as he can with sly comments and remarks towards his tv crew. When he retires for bed that evening, he goes through the whole of the next day in the usual manner and as he wakes up for the following day, he finds that day has been repeated. In essence, all the other town folks are experiencing a new day but for Phil he is experiencing the same day. This happens day by day with interesting consequences.
The repeated daily incidents allows for interesting developments from the part of Phil who sees the same day again and again. This development of the movie has been well portrayed with much creativity and humor and has made this movie a big hit of it’s time.
For example, since he already knows the incident about to occur, Phil takes quick action much to the amazement of the other town folks. What is interesting in this movie is that he takes the opportunity to improve his own self by understanding the nature of people since he has nothing better to do. He learns the piano and explores other people’s personalities by doing something different each day. This shapes Phil’s character as he is able to see beyond the facade of people and digs deep into their inner lives.
During one night he finds that the life has resumed as usual and he is no longer living the same day. Much to the amazement of his tv crew they are astonished to find a new ‘Phil’ with the change of personality and heart.
Final Thoughts:
The movie is based on an original script by screenwriter Danny Rubin who is to be credited for writing such a wonderful, creative and clever script that blends all the elements of character, humor and intrigue in one. Bill Murray was the perfect choice for this role with his uncaring and frivolous attitude to life and the change we all witness as he goes through each Groundhog Day.
Rating:
8.5/10
Tags: Bill Murray, Chris Elliott, Harold Ramis, Movie Ratings and Reviews: Groundhog Day, Moview reviews of Groundhog Day
Movie Ratings and Reviews of Paranormal Activity III
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
Movie: Paranormal Activity III
Year: 2011
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Stars: Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown and Christopher Nicholas Smith
Snapshot of Movie:
The movie is a continuation of the popular Paranormal series that produced a sensation in its simple story telling with it’s original version which was done on a very small budget. The movie is about a family and the evil spirit inside of their house as they record the events through a home movie camera.
Storyline:
The hugely successful original Paranormal in 2007 was created by independent filmmakers on a low budget but attracted a worldwide audience in much the same manner as the Blair Witch Project. Unfortunately, the two successive movies did not quite live up to the mark with the third helping being somewhat of a disappointment.
Dennis who is a wedding movie/photographer lives with his recently wed wife Julie and two girls from Julies first marriage. Having all the equipment for movie making, he finds unusual events occurring around the house which he records on his camera positioned around the home. The setting of the movie is in the 80’s and one can reminisce with some of the objects of the movie such as the car, movie camera, furniture and even their clothings. The director has gone to great lengths to create the 80s theme although I am not quite sure if this was necessary since the storyline itself does not require a time era to make it believable.
When Dennis discovers unusual happenings he has a hard time convincing his wife of the paranormal behavior occurring around their house. At one point he places the camera on a fan so it sweeps the whole dining, living and kitchen area at the same time. We see a figure that is wrapped up in a sheet in one corner of the room and as the camera pans to the right we again see the figure moving further towards Julie. This effect was deftly created to portray a sense of danger and keep the viewers excited.
When happenings around the home get too much, the family takes off to Julies mums house but evil awaits them in her house too.
Final Thoughts:
The movie does well to recreate the sensation of realism and ghostly happenings in a simple household. There are clever scenes such as the panning of the camera that keeps the audience’s excitement heightened. However, the confusing events towards the end of the movie was not well executed despite the frantic pace that it was delivered. Unfortunately, the Paranormal series may have come to the end of the line with this third helping since there were not much originality from the first two movies and was let down with a confusing end. Perhaps a new setting other than a house maybe required to keep the audience engaged with the highs and lows that they have come to appreciate in the Paranormal series.
Rating:
6.5/10
Tags: Chloe Csengery, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Jessica Tyler Brown, Movie Ratings and Reviews of Paranormal Activity III, Movie review of Paranormal Activity III, reviews of Horror movie
Movie Ratings and Reviews: The Thing - It’s Not Human Yet
Saturday, November 19th, 2011
Movie: The Thing
Year: 2011
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Ulrich Thomsen
Snapshot of Story:
The movie is a recreation of the 1982 horror sci-fi by John Carpenter where an alien being terrorizes a group of explorers in the Antarctica.
Storyline:
It is a tall order to recreate the monumental movie of its time ‘The Thing’ in 1982 directed by John Carpenter. However, the movie does have it’s moments but unfortunately does not quite live up to the previous showing where Kurt Russel’s brilliant performance coupled with John Carpenter’s directing adds great depth and realism to the whole story.
The new main star played by a woman Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Kate Lloyd) may not have been a good choice as the person to take the lead role when comparing like for like roles (ie. Kurt Russel) in the last movie.
Although the story has good twists and turns, it does not quite gel together to make it a worthy movie to remember. The lack of coherency in the storyline despite some very good special effects brings it down.
There were some sensational scenes where the bodies mutate into disturbingly contorted figures that were very life-like. At parts also there is great tension amongst the team which was well portrayed and the clever part of the ‘teeth fillings’ which could not be replicated by the alien. Often directors miss essential points in the movie that adds realism to the whole story telling and this is what separates some great movie directors of our time. The parts can be so minuscule but adds to the overall credibility and realism to the movie and many a times directors with vision surpass the limitations of current technology and philosophy of cinema making and is able to come up with something great.
Final Thoughts:
The movie is a satisfactory rendition of the original but the towering performance of Kurt Russell and the brilliant directing of John Carpenter cannot be beat in the original version. Although today the modern aspects of movie making are far superior to that of 20-30 years ago, ultimately the storyline has to be on par to have an effective overall movie that can be appreciated by everyone. Take the examples of the movie series ‘Paranormal Activity’ where a good story telling with some special effects brings the movies together into something very watchable and almost addictive.
Rating:
6.5/10
Tags: Joel Edgerton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Movie Ratings and Reviews, Movie Ratings and Reviews: The Thing - It's Not Human Yet, movie review of The Thing, sci-fi by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., Ulrich Thomsen
Finest Sci-Fi by James Cameron: The Terminator
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Movie: The Terminator
Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure/Thriller
Year: 1984
Director: James Cameron
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn
Snapshot of Story:
A person arrives from the future and takes on an human appearance but is in fact a state of the art robot with super human abilities and skills. He has come back to eradicate a human that gives birth to someone that changed the course of a future war and goes about hunting that person with total ruthlessness.
Story:
James Cameron’s brilliant direction of this movie set a new dimension in Sci-Fi action adventure coupled with horror. The story starts with the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who appears from the future on the planet earth and then immediately goes about hunting Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton.
The superior skills of the Terminator in imitating voice over and the callous nature of his approach to the killings suggests a human-like person but with no emotions. The resistance group of the future also sends back Lieutenant Kyle Reese to thwart the cyborg’s attempt at killing Sarah Connor.
There are some heart thumping wild chases through the city when both Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor almost comes face to face with the Terminator. It is in those clips that James Cameron shines as he delivers the special effects along with very believable scenes to heighten the reality of those shots.
Sarah Connor develops an affection for Kyle as the movie progresses.
Final Thoughts:
The ironic part of this movie is that the child that Sarah Connor bears is from the resistance fighter Kyle Reese sent back to protect her. Effectively, the cyborgs who starts the war in the future seal their own doom by sending back the Terminator, a very nice touch.
Like many outstanding directors of his time James Cameron pushes the limits of technology and movie making scenes with the Terminator. It is for this reason we need to thank and appreciate the great works of all the famous directors such as Ridley Scott, Alfred Hitchcock, Victor Fleming, Stanley Kubrick and more.
Rating:
8.5/10
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Finest Sci-Fi by James Cameron: The Terminator, James Cameron, movie reviews, movie reviews and ratings, review of The Terminator
Murder Mystery: Dial M for Murder by Alfred Hitchcocks
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Movie: Dial M for Murder
Year: 1954
Genre: Murder Mystery
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings
Snapshot of Story:
This is another engaging crime thriller by Alfred Hitchcock with Ray Milland (Tony Wendice) and Grace Kelly (Margot Mary Wendice) delivering towering performances as actors. The story is about an husband Tony Wendice who tries to stage the perfect murder of his wife Margot Mary Wendice.
Storyline:
Tony Wendice finds out that his wife Margot Mary Wendice has been seeing another man behind his back and goes about planning the perfect murder. He black mails an old university acquaintance to murder his wife through a staged break-in into their apartment. Unfortunately, the whole sequence of events goes wrong and the man who was supposed to kill the wife gets killed himself. Tony using his quick wit and judgement is able to manipulate the situation to his advantage and as a result able pin the blame for the murder on his wife and send her to jail. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Hubbard played by John Williams decides to investigate further and through various twists and turns is finally able to apprehend the true culprit.
Conclusion:
Hitchcock in his true form is able to paint an entirely believable crime drama that keeps the viewer engaged right up to the end. There is plenty of dialogue as is expected in a crime drama and there are times when one can become lost in some of the scenes. In particular, the part where the key was left under the carpet for the person to get into the apartment. This piece of the puzzle was the most damning evidence that the inspector was able to use to uncover the murder mystery.
Rating:
8/10
Tags: Hollywood movie reviews, movie reviews and ratings, Murder Mystery: Dial M for Murder by Alfred Hitchcocks