Dark Shadows

Well, here we are again as the eccentric film director Tim Burton works alongside close friend Johnny Depp for the 8th consecutive time. Yet, we were in for a special treat in 2012 seeing as Dark Shadows is a vampire film and with Burton as director and Depp in the leading role, it could have turned out a dream come true! However, upon the release of the official theatrical trailer, it became almost a totally different film as it became more like a comedy and did not appear any serious vampire film at all. In addition, Tim and Johnny slightly lost their touch with Alice In Wonderland in 2010, there was the hope that they would make up for that. Nevertheless, Dark Shadows became a huge disappointment that has sunk Tim and Johnny to an even lower level.


Just like Lewis Carroll’s world of Wonderland, the eccentric and blood-thirsting nature of vampires is absolutely typical of Tim Burton. Dan Curtis’s original soap opera was the inspiration led to Tim making a film adaptation seeing as he was a fan of the show as a youngster. However, from a story by Seth Grahame-Smith and John August, Tim creates a film that differs to the source. How Tim handled it was that Dark Shadows jumbled many genres together: horror, comedy, drama and romance and yet, none of them successfully worked in this film. For starters, the film was not all that scary as it massively lacked the terror, the fright and the suspense that we have seen before. In addition, the humor was literally the poison within the film and the dialogue was an almost complete muddle. Finally, there is almost no emotional connection between any of the characters and the acting is not entirely convincing either. This made Dark Shadows a very forced, corny and dry motion picture.


Any film starring Johnny Depp by Tim Burton is going to be an immediate attraction, but the fact that Depp is portraying a vampire; it is the jackpot for its target audience (teenagers and young people). On the other hand, because Depp continues to portray eccentric and unorthodox characters with identically the same tone of approach and style of character that we have seen from him before, anxieties arose for his portrayal of vampire Barnabas Collins. Although Depp, like Burton, was a fan of the original soap opera in his teenage years, his performance as Barnabas was nothing major at all. Admittedly, he looked good with the make-up and costume design but it was practically Captain Jack Sparrow dressed as a vampire. If there is anything that Depp has shown in Dark Shadows, it is that he is over-killing what he is best known for, which is by playing these unorthodox and wacky characters. Thus, Johnny Depp does not deliver the absolute worst performance of his career but his role as Barnabas Collins expresses that it is time to take a break from these characters and from working with Tim Burton.


Aside from Depp, there is usually a mixture of new additions to Burton’s regularly selected cast. Michelle Pfeiffer returned to her second film with Tim Burton as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the family matriarch, and made her presence known with an exceptional performance. Helena Bonham Carter doesn’t play as much of a vital role in Dark Shadows like she did previously in Alice In Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street and Corpse Bride, but the role of Dr. Julia Hoffman suited her. Bonham Carter’s style of appearance and character selection is usually rather odd, much like her partner Tim, but only she could have played that character. Christopher Lee made his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton as he made an appearance too.


On the other hand, there were a group of newbies into the cast. This included Eva Green who portrayed antagonist Angelique Bouchard, a heartbroken witch who curses Barnabas Collins and the rest of his family out of rage and jealousy. What the audience had with Green as Angelique was that she appeared as a very seductive and sexy woman that was certainly easy on the eyes. However, what she lacked was that she was not as dangerously disturbing as her character was made out to be. Chloë Grace Moretz makes another rebellious performance as Carolyn Stoddard. Furthermore, Bella Heathcote played an underused role as Victoria Winters. Victoria was not only developed enough as a character but she perhaps was not very relevant to the story very much at all. Heathcote also portrayed Barnabas Collins’s former lover Josette Du Pres. Finally, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Gulliver McCrath and Alice Cooper made appearances in Dark Shadows too.


Overall, Dark Shadows is a hugely disappointing film from Tim Burton that could and should have been better. He is slowly beginning to lose his reputation nowadays and his films are suffering massively from repetition. It is the same old every time. Dark Shadows is one of those films that looks great with fantastic visuals, make-up, background design etc but never captures the imagination or the attention of the audience watching. It is just an empty and lifeless film that is simply not funny, not dramatic and not scary. Nevertheless, Burton has his next stop-motion animated feature Frankenweenie, a remake of his own creation, due for release in October. Hopefully that will make up for the disappointment of Dark Shadows and will give us hope that Burton is not losing his touch.

American Reunion

Following a trilogy of hilarious and wild teenage-comedies and then a number of disastrous spin-offs, the release of American Reunion could result in reviving the entire American Pie series. In addition, we were in for a huge treat seeing as the whole original cast from the first American Pie in 1999 were returning. With this in mind, there were all the laughs, the catastrophes and vulgar sexual references that were expected, which made the American Pie series so popular over the years. For this reason, there was not anything majorly new to expect from this new instalment. Nevertheless, American Reunion literally sweeps away the previous spin-offs and becomes a fun and entertaining addition, or re-awakening, of the original films that will make you laugh until it hurts from start to finish.


Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are not only the latest additions in the directing seats of American Reunion but they take over original American Pie creator and screenwriter Adam Herz as they also wrote the script for the latest instalment together. Each of the directors from all of the theatrical films always aims to bring repetition to the screen that will not have any serious alterations. So, considering that it all involves a series of young men who still acting like teenagers, there is not anything to change. Considering that this film did not even have to be made at all after how American Wedding ended, Hurwitz and Schlossberg successfully manage to make American Reunion heaps of fun for teenagers of this generation and of young men and women who grew up with the series.


Every young member of the original cast returned for this fourth theatrically-released American Pie film. In the predecessors, Jason Biggs excellently portrayed a socially awkward and accident prone but well-intentioned young man who precisely defined the attitude of a male youngster. However, now he returns as Jim Levenstein as a married, family man but still has the mind of a teenager. Biggs led the cast once again and gave us another hilarious performance to remember. Seann William Scott returns as the foul-mouthed, ladies’ man Steve Stifler whose character is not overkilled and was full of laughs. In addition, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Chris Klein return in their respective roles as Kevin Myers, Paul Finch and Chris Ostreicher. The only actor who has appeared in all eight films - Eugene Levy, comes back and is as great as ever as Noah Levenstein.


As for the ladies, Alyson Hannigan reprised her role as Michelle Levenstein (Flaherty). Out of all of the characters within the film, Michelle is perhaps the only one who has truly changed. She is a young woman who takes her personal life very seriously and is not as eccentric and unusual as she was in the previous films. Furthermore, Tara Reid and Mena Suvari return as Vicky and Heather. Seeing all of these actors return again after 9 years (or in some actors’ case – 11 years) was literally to reboot, or update if you will, how much adulthood changes one’s life. Therefore, in that sense, American Reunion has a surprisingly interesting and personal message that is aimed directly towards people of their own age and to teenagers of this generation.

Overall, American Reunion is another hilarious and wacky addition to the American Pie genre that is fresh and successfully manages to not underuse any of the characters. In addition, like the original American Pie films, this new instalment never runs out of laughs. Therefore, it is perhaps the true fourth instalment in the franchise and although it was not entirely a wise idea to make it to begin with, it proves itself to be a film that was worth making. 

A Night To Remember

A few years back when I was picky with film selections of which to watch and which not to watch, I had heard of Titanic films called Titanic but I hadn't heard of this one until I decided to do some research on the films based on the sinking of the ship. I am a huge fan of the American epic romantic-drama by James Cameron and after realising that this isn't only based on history regarding the sinking of the ship, but it goes into a deeper story than that and the main characters involved were real-life people (both survivors and ones who perished in the disaster) and that made the film even more interesting.


What I really liked with how well this film was handled was that it had almost precise historical facts about what really happened, who was on the ship etc which is something that the James Cameron version lacked. However, in small doses, that one had a few more precise key moments than A Night To Remember did. There were a few faults that I spotted in this film and they were the Titanic didn't sink the original way. It split in half and the back of the ship tilted upwards and sank in a vertical angle whereas in this, the front of the ship went down and then the back just followed it. Also, it took too long for it to sink. I mean, in James Cameron's film, the ship was sinking rather fast despite it being a much longer film than A Night To Remember but it just lacked the fast pacing of the water and we were just stuck to the passengers in the lifeboats.


It is 1912, and the White Star Line's new ship - the 'unsinkable' Titanic - is making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from Southampton to New York City. Unfortunately, the night of April 14-15, 1912 proves to be a night in which man's arrogant overconfidence in his technological creations was shaken to its core, as the legendary ship collides with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The much-touted watertight compartment system that supposedly rendered it 'unsinkable' was never designed to cope with such extensive damage, and the Titanic is doomed. Focusing on the accounts of most of the real people who sailed on the ship, it centres largely on the experiences of the ship's 2nd officer, C.H. Lightoller. With these accounts come frightening revelations about the ship - not only are there way too few lifeboats, but people are loaded into them according to their class - first before Steerage.


I haven't seen Kenneth More in a leading role before until A Night To Remember although I saw him in Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Present. I did like his acting as Second Officer; Charles Lightoller. However, there was one minor fault that I didn't really like was after the ship sank completely, there is almost no fear, heartbreak or tension on his face or anybody else for that matter but the solid direction, screenplay and great music saved the film from a bad ending. Just like in the 1997 film, there are other real life characters in A Night To Remember such as Captain Edward J. Smith, Thomas Andrews, First Officer; William Murdoch, J. Bruce Ismay and a few others. Aside from the characters on the Titanic, we see and meet characters on Carpathia and ship which was near the Titanic (about 10 miles away but could see it) when it struck the iceberg and did nothing about it so we learned more historical facts in this one.


I was thinking that this could be a pretty damn cheesy film in comparison to the films made nowadays but I think despite it was made in the late 1950s, I thought the filming was incredible and the effects were awesome! I was also impressed with how well it was edited for its time. The best filming moment was obviously when the back of the Titanic was being hoisted upwards and people are falling downwards of the top of the back. I also was impressed with how real Titanic looked when it was a long shot as it was slowly sinking diagonally into the Atlantic. Making it black and white than colour was just brilliant because of the real pictures of the Titanic itself that we have seen, it makes it look more believable like it is the real Titanic in the film. The script was adapted from the book of the same name by Walter Lord so that was a helping hand to write a solid script but it still takes someone with real talent to write a solid script, especially in a film like this where there is a lot of actions involved.


Overall, A Night To Remember is an absolutely fantastic film based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic that is, despite its flaws, one of the most underrated films of all time and one of the best British films ever so it is definitely a must-see for everyone! It makes its clear mark as perhaps the most precisely historic Titanic film yet (I guess I will have to wait until I see the 1943 and 1953 version whether to know for sure). I do prefer the James Cameron version but this almost reaches up to that high level of masterful filmmaking that is almost beyond believe where we are on this tragic adventure. In a word; fantastic!

Four Lions

In many ways, I was expecting something that is just ingenious and a masterpiece but in other ways, I was expecting it to be an utter piece of crap that was just trying to be shit. However, despite my expectations for Four Lions were mixed, I thought it was absolutely brilliant! To be honest, it is a typical project for the British to make seeing as there is this war going on right now and they are almost like taking the piss out of terrorists (as are British Muslims involved in the film). The British are the best at making black comedies and they certainly prove that once again with Four Lions.


Sure, this film is bound to offend some viewers watching this but the director and screenwriters have as much right to make this film as Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles did with Borat in 2006 and Bruno in 2009 but I am sorry to say this but if you found this an offensive film, you have no sense of humour. Admittedly, there are moments where I guess one could feel offended but there are others that are just absolutely hilarious! Also, Four Lionsperhaps gives out a strong message not just to the people of Britain but around the world that Al Qaeda are a very sneaky organization and nowhere is safe and for the poor civilians, it will all depend on where they are and when they are there.


In a British city, four men have a secret plan. Omar is disillusioned about the treatment of Muslims around the world and is determined to become a soldier. This is the most exciting idea Waj has ever heard. Better still it's a no brainer because Omar does his thinking for him. Opposed to Omar and everyone else on earth is the white Islamic convert Barry. He'd realize he joined the cell to channel his nihilism - If he had half the self knowledge of a duck. Faisal is the odd man out. He can make a bomb - but he can't blow himself up just now coz his sick dad has "started eating newspaper". Instead he's training crows to fly bombs through windows. This is what Omar has to deal with. They must strike a decisive blow on their own turf but can any of them strike a match without punching himself in the face?


Well, I find that writing about the actors and characters in this film will be quite difficult but here goes. I thought the bond between all of the characters was just brilliant! I have to say that it is rather brave of those actors to play characters who are ripping off some of the people of their own race as nothing more than scumbag terrorists. The actors with these performances and strong commitment to the project showed that there are a lot of good Muslims in the world, not just members of Al Qaeda. I also loved how they try to terrorise a particular place and every time they mess it up and the fact that the characters try and fail, just really made me laugh during the entire film.


Chris Morris is a guy who is in his late 40s and has only just began his filmmaking directing career and what a great debut it was! The filming was brilliantly handled especially in the scenes where they are trying to act like terrorists in the flat in front of a camera and also when they are in Pakistan aswell. It was just brilliantly filmed all the way through it. Four Lions really is one of those films where the script must be read first by an actor or anybody who is going to be part of the film because you could just read the synopsis and automatically think 'this group of guys are just going to take the absolute piss and will cause a major fiasco'. Morris and fellow screenwriters Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain joined together and wrote this script that I think deserved more recognition and awards to win. Four Lions was robbed of a Best Picture Musical/Comedy nomination just like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World were aswell but I hope that this will win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Director like it rightly should.


Overall, Four Lions is an absolutely hilarious black comedy that can be marked as another great British film. It perhaps is the most underrated film of 2010 and I wish it earned more critical acclaim than it did. This is ultimately a bitch-slap to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin-Laden and for that; you are a group of Gods! If you are up for a good laugh, this is the one to choose!

The Happening

My first impression of The Happening was just another film about a place where the people living there are being terrorised by a natural cause and/or a group of aliens so basically, I thought this looked like a cheesier version ofWar Of The Worlds. I was going to skip it but it was on DVD that a relative of mine had and I decided to watch it out of boredom and now I really wish I hadn't watched it at all now. There was nothing realistic about this film at all especially the fact that this airborne virus so to speak makes people commit suicide! That is quite possibly one of the dumbest ideas I have even heard of in my entire life!


After its very negative critical response and after its Golden Raspberry Award nominations, I really can understand why it was nominated for those awards. Despite, I haven't seen it yet, I can see Skyline receiving the same fate asThe Happening did in terms of critical response, reviews and comments. I think the only way where people could like this film is the effects and the settings, not for the making of the film, the writing and definitely not the acting and unfortunately there are a lot of people who care more about how a film looks more than what it tries to bring out and express to the viewers and I'm afraid I can't give the makers credit for that.


Elliot Moore is a high school science teacher who quizzes his class one day about an article in the New York Times. It's about the sudden, mysterious disappearance of bees. Yet again Nature is doing something inexplicable, and whatever science has to say about it will be, in the end, only a theory. Scientists will bring out more theories, but no explanations, when a more urgent dilemma hits the planet. It begins in Central Park. Suddenly and inexplicably, the behaviour of everyone in the park changes in a most bizarre and horrible way. Soon, the strange behaviour spreads throughout the city and beyond. Elliot, his wife, Alma, and Jess, the young daughter of a friend, will only have theories to guide them where to run and where to hide. But theories may not be enough.


Mark Wahlberg, what in the hell has happened to you?! I thought you were an actor of selecting great films but obviously I was wrong. First you chose Max Payne which I let you off on but then you be part of a film that is even worse than that! You deserved that Razzie nomination and probably should have won it. That was more like a kick up the backside to open his eyes to be part of real films, not stupid crappy ones like this! I'm sorry but Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher? Just didn't work in the slightest. I did find Zooey Deschanel an underrated and quite talented actress until now. No, she isn't a serious actress like Mark Wahlberg is (well, actor) but it is common sense when a performer decides to be part of something that is actually interesting and took a lot of hard work. I do like John Leguizamo as the voice of Sid in the Ice Age trilogy but as far as acting goes in live-action films, he doesn't greatly satisfy especially in this one so he didn't exactly help the reputation of the film.


I'm sorry but Shyamalan really needs to wake up and make films that are actually tense and catches the audience's attention from start to finish, not boring them and making them fall asleep like he was achieving with The Happening and most recently did with The Last Airbender. I mean, for all we know, this could have been a dream that M. Night Shyamalan randomly had one night and decided to write a script for. Yes, there are some directors who do experience that but at least they actually make great films out of dreams they have. Examples are Tim Burton and Edward Scissorhands, James Cameron and Avatar and a few others. When I first read about the film, I instantly thought that the title 'The Happening' was absolutely dreadful and that made the film even more dreadful than it already is. The script was incredibly dull and it makes its mark as one of the cheesiest and most lame screenplays that I have listened to while watching a film.


Overall, The Happening is an absolutely shit film that Shyamalan can mark as another disappointment on his filmography. He's on a role at being a failure and, as I said, continued with The Last Airbender so lets hope that whatever project he will do next, he will show us what he really is great at (like another film as good as The Sixth Sense).

Knight And Day

You want to know what my first immediate impressions were of Knight And Day were before I saw it? It is something that perhaps everybody thought at first: just another money-grubbing, action-comedy blockbuster that has a rather lame dialogue and annoying characters but with good action and that is Knight And Day in a nutshell. As predicted there was a lot of impressive action scenes that were a lot of fun to watch but even the intense action in the film didn't save the film. Over the years, we have seen films like Knight And Day that tries to charm the viewers by giving us lots of action but this was just so predictable and I was almost certain of what was going to happen after about 30 minutes during the film.


June has a garage in Boston. At an airport heading home, a man bumps into her a few times and tries to keep her off the plane. He's under FBI surveillance; they wonder if he and she are working together, so they let both on a flight full of armed men wanting to arrest the stranger. He's Roy, he shoots his way out of trouble and tells her she's in danger. She's home the next day, miraculously, when agents pick her up; Roy saves her again, and a transcontinental chase ensues with Roy convincing her that he's the good guy, protecting an energy source that a rogue agent wants to sell on the black market. Can she trust Roy, and will trust matter when the bullets start flying?


Admittedly, I find both Cruise and Diaz overrated even though I did like them in Vanilla Sky together but they reunite for a second time. However, this time, the chemistry between both characters was just annoying as hell! Tom Cruise is one of those actors who try to play a kind of hero that we have seen time and time again but he really doesn't catch the audience's attention in this film at all. I mean, it's like one minute he is fighting for June and defending her, then he is fighting against her and then defending her and so forth so became quite annoying and a rather messed-up and chaotic character. Cameron Diaz may have been incredibly hot as June Havens but her performance as June Havens was one of those performances where you find the character incredibly annoying. I mean, Tom Cruise playing a guy called Roy and Cameron Diaz playing a woman called June! They are the oldest fashioned and elderly names anyone could possibly come up with and they really don't suit actors like Cruise and Diaz. Peter Sarsgaard is just another actor playing a cob looking for someone. There was nothing new added to that character kind at all, really. I liked Paul Dano's mild appearance and performance which makes him the best actor in the film.


James Mangold certainly knows how to direct a film brilliantly in the action scenes but elsewhere such as developing the characters and the non-action scenes, he just cannot do it and it just didn't work that out for him and I couldn't see it, really. I think the best action scene throughout the entire film has got to go to the aeroplane scene where they need to land the plane. Now, that was pretty impressive. Apart from that, it was just a director who tried but failed.


Overall, Knight And Day is just another action-comedy that does have its obviously fun moment but has its very flawed and rather crap ones at the same time. It is nothing special but it isn't one of the worst films that I have watched. 

Rocky

Okay, I am going to begin this review by saying that when I first saw Rocky a few years back, I didn't really appreciate it for what it was and what it was trying to show to the viewers worldwide but now after re-watching it (as well as the rest of the sequels back-to-back which I hadn't seen before until just after I watched this one again), my eyes were opened to how awesome Rocky really is. I will also admit that at first I didn't really have and excitement to see the rest of the films (apart from Rocky Balboa/Rocky VI) which I actually saw before the first one at the cinema. Time and time again, I have heard from many people that this is the 'underdog story' and the most inspiring film of all time but I think, despite that it is indeed an underdog story and is inspiring, I have watched more inspiring underdog stories in my time.


Rocky Balboa is a small-time boxer who lives in an apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his career has so far not gotten off the canvas. Rocky earns a living by collecting debts for a loan shark named Gazzo, but Gazzo doesn't think Rocky has the viciousness it takes to beat up deadbeats. Rocky still boxes every once in a while to keep his boxing skills sharp, and his ex-trainer, Mickey, believes he could've made it to the top if he was willing to work for it. Rocky, goes to a pet store that sells pet supplies, and this is where he meets a young woman named Adrian, who is extremely shy, with no ability to talk to men. Rocky befriends her. Adrian later surprised Rocky with a dog from the pet shop that Rocky had befriended. Adrian's brother Paulie, who works for a meat packing company, is thrilled that someone has become interested in Adrian, and Adrian spends Thanksgiving with Rocky. Later, they go to Rocky's apartment, where Adrian explains that she has never been in a man's apartment before. Rocky sets her mind at ease, and they become lovers. Current world heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed comes up with the idea of giving an unknown a shot at the title. Apollo checks out the Philadelphia boxing scene, and chooses Rocky. Fight promoter Jergens gets things in gear, and Rocky starts training with Mickey. After a lot of training, Rocky is ready for the match, and he wants to prove that he can go the distance with Apollo.


Sylvester Stallone has always been an actor who cannot give awesome performances and has been voted by many as the worst actor of the 20th century but his debut performance as Rocky Balboa was absolutely magnificent and he rightfully deserved his Oscar nomination. He shows only this one time (and perhaps in Rocky II) that he really can be a great actor but unfortunately didn't express that enough. Talia Shire who made a big name for herself playing Connie Corleone in The Godfather (4 years before Rocky) and in The Godfather: Part II (2 years before Rocky) both directed by her brother Francis Ford Coppola, stars in another franchise set in a similar era but she is in more of a leading role in Rocky. Anyway, her performance was fantastic! What I loved about Adrian's character particularly this one is that when she met Rocky, she was probably the shyest woman in that neighbourhood but as their relationship got better and when they got to know more about each other, she broke out of that! There are a lot of supporting actors in this series and most of them appear in all six (Burt Young is in all six) and I think he is the best supporting actor. Burgess Mederith and Carl Weathers gave awesome performances as well.


John G. Avildsen is a director who is perhaps only best known for directing this film, Rocky V and The Karate Kid original trilogy especially when he won the Academy Award for Best Director when he did Rocky. I do respect a lot of directors who direct films based on someone else's work which they have written and are starring in so in this one, Avildsen is basically directing Stallone in Stallone's own creation. Despite this, he did an absolutely fantastic job! This was a worldwide success seeing as this became not only the first major boxing film but maybe even the first breakthrough sports film too. I also must admit, what a fantastic script! Stallone writing a solid script is almost bewildering especially after his later works weren't so successful.


Overall, Rocky is a great underdog story that does take its rightful place as a fine example of inspiration and courage. It also showed to follow your heart and to take a stand at where you're at or want to get at. Despite that Rocky won Best Picture in 1976 and as awesome as it is, I really don't understand how it beat other nominees Taxi Driver and especially Network. As I predicted from the very start, it is easily the best film of the Rocky franchise and I am pretty sure that everybody thinks the exact same thing. Good one, Stallone!