Filmsy - Movie Reviews Blog

Half-Blood Prince Delivers

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I saw “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” yesterday and as can be expected it was good. My main problem with the movie though is that it just left me hanging! I haven’t read “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and since I do enjoy the movies a lot don’t plan on reading it until I’ve seen the last film. I know I’ve got it backwards but it’s just more exciting to watch without knowing what’s going to happen next. I do love reading but this time the film adaptations are just so good (despite minor scenes) that I don’t think it would do a disservice to the book by watching the film before reading it.

Anyway, back to the “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.” What I liked about the movie (let’s not discuss the story anymore because we all know it’s good) is that it delivered. The CG was spectacular, a lot better than in the last movie “Order of the Phoenix” where we were introduced to Hagrid’s giant half-brother, Grawp. Grawp was adorable but like the centaurs was obviously CG. In contrast I don’t remember any part of the “Half-Blood Prince” looking unrealistic. Watching the film makes you think that everything is being shot as is.

The actors/actresses did not disappoint as well. The cast has obviously grown not just in age but in maturity in their acting skills. Those that stood out to me were Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), who was able to embody his very conflicted role, Rupert Grint (Ron Weasly), though I must be biased because Ron is my favorite character, and Frank Dillane (older Tom Riddle), who just sent shivers down my spine…he was so creepy! Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) did a good job as ever showing as Harry growing to be more than a boy. Others who did not stand only because in relation to their own achievements as actors (they always do an excellent job) are Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix), Alan Rickman (Snape) and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore). Cutest character in this movie is the same one in the last movie – Luna Lovegood (played by Evanna Lynch). She’s so cute I can’t help but wish Harry would just hook up with her instead of Ginny.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

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The Ice Age will be back tomorrow and we hope for everyone involved sakes that it will be received warmly. To be honest I am not a fan of Ice Age but since this one’s in 3D and I promised my dad just this weekend that I’ll be bringing my nephew to the next 3D movie then I just might see this (cross my fingers they don’t decide to come by and visit till Ice Age is out of the cinemas). Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it at all but I’d rather spend my money on other movies that would be more enjoyable for me. Of course, it’s called selfishness. Anyway here’s what the makers say you expect if you do decide to watch Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

There’ll be dinosaurs – Quite obvious from the title. This is scientifically erroneous since dinosaurs were no longer around during the real ice age so start explaining that it’s only in the cartoons that those mammals coexisted with those dinosaurs.

Better animation that the first two Ice Age movies – Again this should be pretty obvious since a 3D film would have better animation. So at least the 3D aspect will surely provide entertainment value.

The laughter meter – It might not be that funny but according to Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel some of the jokes worked mostly thanks to Scratte (voice of Karen Disher). According to Ella Taylor of the Houston Press though, “there’s no breathing life into a formula that ought to have bowed out gracefully while the going was good.” Ouch! So don’t expect too much but try to keep it positive so you can still enjoy the movie.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Falls Flat

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Got vetoed and ended up watching “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen” instead of “My Sister’s Keeper”. So did I end up enjoying myself? Yes. Did it live up to the hype? I’m not quite sure. Will it keep on topping the box office? Hell, yeah!

“Transformers Revenge of the Fallen” was a fact-paced action-filled movie with such loud booms that my seat vibrated time and again. It was definitely entertaining and did deliver on the promise that it will provide plenty of action and lots of visual effects. My problem with the movie though was that I actually found the action scenes a bit too much. There were way too many action scenes that the storyline, though an interesting one, seemed like an excuse just to make a blockbuster action movie at times. Not only were there too many action scenes but the action scenes though they really looked great, were often too confusing. Half the time I couldn’t distinguish whether the Decepticons or the Autobots were getting blasted.

I did like the concept because it was great to learn more about the Primes and the history of the Transformers. The problem was that I would have liked the movie to be a bit more cerebral giving us more insight to the history and not coming up with lame symbols that looked senseless when Sam (Shia LeBouf) explained why Einstein’s theory was all wrong.

As for the actors the ones that did entertain were mostly the CG twins and the Decepticon that fell in love with Mikaela (Megan Fox). I liked Sam and Mikaela’s characters in the first Transformers movie but this time their characters seemed a bit lacking in substance this time. Megan Fox managed to be as sexy as ever but this time around it just fell flat, like they were just shooting scenes to show how sexy she was, it wasn’t funny, cool, nor significant, like in the first movie when her sexiness underlined the reason why Sam had the hots for her. Sam’s character also managed to seem a little shallow with his wanting to be normal problems. The Sam before meeting the Transformers is permitted to be shallow but who would still be totally wrapped up in oneself after such experiences? The characters I did like this time around were Agent Simmons (John Turturro), Leo (Ramon Rodriguez), and of course Sam’s mom (Julie White), who provided the laughs in the movie.

With all my criticism about the movie would I say that it wasn’t worth watching on the big screen? Definitely, not. It just didn’t deliver for me but it was still entertaining. If you plan on watching it at least watch it on the big screen to be able to enjoy the visual and sound effects, because it is the kind of movie where you can do without watching it at all if not for that. Watch it because of the CGI. Watch it because the first movie just compels you to watch this one. But don’t expect to be blown away by this film.

Toy Story 3 Trailer Now Out

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I can’t believe that the first Toy Story came out FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. Boy, does that make me feel old!
Toy Story 3 is coming and it’s trailer premiered on Entertainment Tonight.

What’s new with this movie is that it will be in 3D. Knowing Pixar we can prepare for one hell of a 3D experience. Story-wise the writers didn’t do a cop out and made sure they came up with a very interesting albeit somewhat upsetting storyline. Like the little kids who first watched the movie 14 years ago Andy has grown up and is going off to college. This leaves Woody, Buzz and the rest of the toys no space in his life. Fortunately or unfortunately, we don’t know yet which until we see the movie or Disney releases another trailer that will actually reveal something about the story, Andy decides to leave the toys in a daycare center where other kids can get to play with them. From that we can only imagine all the kind of kids the toys can encounter and all the adventures the toys can have.

If you have any kids or enjoyed the movie a decade ago this is one movie to watch out for. The movie is set to be released on June 2010 so there’s plenty of time to wait. In the meantime you can watch the latest Toy Story 3 teaser trailer though you won’t get much there because it doesn’t show anything about the story. Something we’re used to when it comes to Pixar trailers. Enjoy!

Terrence Howards Counts on Karma to Get Marvel

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Iron Man producers better have an iron clad excuse to refute the accusations the disgruntled Terrence Howard has been throwing or bad karma just might get them. According to Terrence Howard, who was replaced by Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the movie sequel (Iron Man 2), “”Marvel made a choice, and it was a very, very bad choice. They didn’t keep their word. They didn’t honor my contract…They produced a great bounty with the first one but they put it all in the storehouse and you were not allowed in.” What he is referring to is a salary raise he’s been expecting to get for the sequel but apparently was disputed by Marvel. The salary issue obviously ended in him not doing the movie and being replaced. Howard also said that from what he’s heard this happened to all the cast including Gwyneth Paltrow. The only one who supposedly did get a raise is Robert Downey Jr.

Despite his misgivings Terrence Howards assures Marvel that he won’t leak any details of the upcoming movie even though he is indeed in a position to give a massive spoiler since he has read the script. Furthermore he harbors no ill-will towards his replacement and even roots for Don Cheadle, wanting Cheadle to do a better job with the character than him since, according to him, he has lots of love for Cheadle who helped Howard get his gig in “Crash”.

As for his payback? He plans on doing nothing (aside from obviously complaining) because as he said, “I believe in karma. When someone does something wrong, you don’t have to get them back. Everything right will return the favor for you.”