Pixar's Princess

I skipped last year's Pixar's outing, Cars 2, for two reasons: 1. there was a film boycott going on in my country so no Cars 2 and 2. it doesn't look so good, after all Cars was the only Pixar film where I yawned. So, I have my hopes up for this year's Pixar film simply titled Brave. It's set in medieval Scotland and my only thought was: how will they insert a Pizza Planet car in there?

The story is simpler than Pixar films like Toy Story or Up. This one's about a princess who loves adventuring named Merida. She was going to be married to one of the three princes from three different clans. That's according to the tradition. But Merida doesn't want to follow the tradition and get married so soon. She blamed her mother after her mother trained her to be a real princess. She stormed out of the castle and met a witch. And then the plot begins.

Like I have said, this one's simpler than other Pixar films. The film is beautiful and touching. I almost cried during this film! Princess Merida is a kick-ass, I adore her for being so awesome, shooting arrows and stuff. The film is also funny. I love hearing the Scottish accent throughout the film. Also it has beautiful Scottish bagpipes score and amazing songs from Julie Fowlis. Like all Pixar films, it has something to say but this doesn't get too preachy like Cars. It preaches, but by being not too preachy. The complaint about this film is that it's too simple. Comparing it to other Pixar films, the others are rich with stories. Brave is a bit more slapstick in its jokes. Also some things are not explained well enough but it's not so important anyway. And I just checked on the internet that the Pizza Planet car IS on the film! Be sure to see it when you see the film in cinemas. Also don't get in late cos there's a Academy Award-nominated Pixar short titled La Luna, which I didn't get to see because I was late. Brave: rated 3 out of 4 stars

Check out the best scene from the movie below!

(insert Presidential quotes mashed with vampire-jokes)

The post title is quite literal isn't it? It's one of the two films coming out this week. It's Tim Burton-produced and Timur Bekmambetov-directed film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Cool premise makes it a must-watch. It stars newcomer Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper of Mamma Mia!, Anthony Mackie of The Hurt Locker and also Scott Pilgrim's Ramona, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Benjamin Walker as the young Abraham Lincoln

If you already learnt or read history about the real Abraham Lincoln, the story of the film is quite familiar. Although they inserted a 'deleted chapter' to Lincoln's life in Springfield, Ohio. Lincoln (played nicely by Walker, he reminds you of a young Liam Neeson) was driven by revenge after the mysterious death of his mother by a vampire.    He met with a hunter and got trained by him. He then revealed that many of the people living among him are vampires and also the vampires' plan to take on America.

My first reaction after watching this film is 'THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVERR!' I'm not lying. The film is jam-packed with intense action scenes, cool slow-motion that reminds you of Zack Snyder films. I'm also a sucker for those 'weapon-spinning' thing so yeah, figuratively just jizzed while I was watching this. I'm also a fan of history so it's kinda cool to see these kinds of films. Think of this as a hardcore version of The DaVinci Code. Also a refreshment from those soft, PG-13 vampire films (Twilight reference). You couldn't expect less from Bekmambetov, cos this film is bigger than Wanted. The film is also smart and did so much justice to the real, charismatic American president. My greatest fear was that this film would dumb down Abraham Lincoln, but hell no. This film just made him cooler. However, my complaint was that the 3D effect of this film is too cheesy, when you watched it in 2D it became silly (the first whipping scene, the worst of em all). Also some of the characters don't get developed much like Will Johnson-Lincoln's friend and assistant and Joshua Speed-Lincoln's fictional employer who also became his assistant. Put in mind that this film is rated R, but it just feels like a PG-13 film because there was no 'real' blood splattering everywhere. I'm brave enough to say that this film is one of the films that I enjoyed most this summer. This film just stimulates you to make a vampire hunter film featuring your country's president, doesn't it? Or is it just me? Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter rated 3 out of 4 stars

Double Feature!

Been away a while, yes. After Dark Shadows, I got to watch three films. Firstly, Statham's Safe which features the usual ass-kicking Jason Statham. And then I skipped MIB3 straight on to SWATH and Prometheus.  So, let's kick it with this Charlize Theron double feature, first as Queen Ravenna in SWATH and Meredith Vickers in Prometheus.

Snow White & the Huntsman
After the superb first trailer, this film becomes a must-see. It is a re-telling of the classic story of Snow White and her apple. The film offers amazing spectacle with all the creature design and imaginative scenes. The highlight of the film is of course Charlize Theron as the evil Queen who needs to be the fairest of them all. Chris Hemsworth again proves he can throw weapons and fight plus a Scottish accent. However, the film sometimes becomes slow-paced and without the help of any score, a few scenes become quite boring. I need more dwarves too! I mean who would miss Ian McShane, Nick Frost, and Ray Winstone to name a few as dwarves! The dwarves only had little screen time, which is a bummer. Also, Kristen Stewart must hold the title of giving the worst pre-battle speech ever, no matter how good she looks in her battle armor. But Theron and the spectacle are already worth the price of an admission, so check it out, it doesn't disappoint. So kudos to debutante Rupert Sanders. And it's safe to say that SWATH wins this year's Snow White battle against Mirror Mirror. Snow White and the Huntsman: rated 2.5 out of 4 stars

Prometheus
Prometheus must have the best viral videos ever, you know, The Weyland TED speech and David ad are genius. The core story of the film is that a group of people funded by the Weyland Industries are on a mission to find the beginning of mankind to distant galaxy, but everything goes wrong. They went to the moon where Nostromo made its transit some years later. The film is superbly epic and it gotta be the most satisfying experience you had in cinemas so far this summer (sorry Avengers). I salute whoever designed the Prometheus and the spacesuits and all the techs on board because it is incredible. It has it flaws, unexplainable flaws yes, like [spoiler alert!] why did Fifield become a monster instead of being consumed by that black goo? Or maybe the captain didn't have to tell the remaining crew that there was a killing spree? And one of the crew didn't tell the captain that there is someone else on board? Or these questions are just from me? The star of the film is of course Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, both of them are ah-may-zinggg. Especially Fassbender as a freakin android, damn creepy and realistic. Dude, the David viral ad is enough to win him a Golden Globe at least. But don't you just hate it when they make a prequel out of classic sci-fi films, like Star Wars? Because when you watch em in chronological order, they don't make sense, in terms of technology advancements. One bit you saw a cutting-edge tech and supposedly some years later, you're back to Flintstones. And to be honest, this doesn't feel like a prequel to Alien. So, as a prequel it fails, but as a stand-alone sci-fi film, it succeeds. Prometheus: rated 4 out of 4 stars

Hypnotic

As a big fan of Burton-Depp collaboration, Dark Shadows is a must-watch film for me. However, I do not know anything about the original TV series. The trailer actually surprised me because I do not expect the comedic tone of the film. However, it's Johnny in another pale make-up show by Tim Burton. It also has that little cute boy from Hugo and Jackie Earle Haley!

The story is about Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), a member of the successful and wealthy Collins family from England who moved to Maine, America. There they continued their business and built a town named Collinsport. All was well until jealousy steps in. A maid named Angelique (Eva Green) was enraged by Barnabas' love refusal to her. She was in fact a witch and she cursed Barnabas to a vampire and had him locked up in a chained coffin for 196 years. Cut to 196 years later, Barnabas returns to Collinsport to find their family on the verge of bankruptcy and the witch Angelique still lives and took over the business once dominated by the Collins.

That was very much the essence of the story. However, I find the film was unfocused with too much sub-plot to tell about and sometimes it comes out of nowhere and ends with no satisfying resolution. But the film was nice. And this is what should Marvel do, a film advertisement that doesn't give away the third act. It makes us surprised when watching it. The film was greatly acted. Johnny Depp as always although I think it's time to leave the eccentric make up. Eva Green is ravishing and amazing.  I also like Bella Heathcote and I wish she would star in many films after this. But Jackie Earle Haley here is underused. He's got so much potential. Chloe Moretz is annoying, I think her best role is only Hit-Girl. Helena Bonham Carter's makeup is her make up from Alice in Wonderland, I mean, really? The score by Danny Elfman is incredibly haunting. I shivered a lot everytime the score plays. It's basically what you would expect from a Tim Burton film. The darkness feel and also the absurdity. It is also sometimes funny too. Although some jokes are a bit pointless. It's still fun to watch though. Dark Shadows: rated 3 stars out of 4

It Burns You

How desperate am I that I leave this blog in order to wait for The Avengers? I'm not going to review it but I'm going to put my thoughts about that event film here in this post. I saw it on May 4 and it took me 4 days to come with this. Okay, so what do I think about that film directed by Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

- AWESOME. You would now be in a mental asylum if you thought otherwise.
- Hulk is badass. Mark Ruffalo is--yeah okay. But his different take on Bruce Banner makes you wonder how would Edward Norton fill that role. Ruffalo may stole a few scenes but the Hulk stole the film #BannerQuote "That's my secret Cap, I'm always angry"
- Iron Man is, as always, charming. And this film makes it legit that Robert Downey Jr. wasn't acting everytime he plays Tony Stark. Because he IS Tony Stark. #StarkQuote "I'm bringing the party to you"
- Captain America is plain. Like his solo film, a bit boring. No memorable quotes from him. Sorry.
- Thor is one of my favorite Avengers. The fact that he head-slammed Iron Man makes him cooler than ever. #ThorQuote "You people are so petty, and tiny!"
- Black Widow is less cooler than she was in Iron Man 2, and her reverse interrogation skills is not that amazing because she gave a lot of personal info too. But still, sexy [It's Scarlett! What do you expect?] I prefer the long hair like in Iron Man 2 though.
- Hawkeye is useless and a bit too fake. Not seeing a target when shooting? Unrealistic. Got turned by Loki? Stupid. However it's great to see this small character has his moment.
- Coulson? Take Natasha away but not Coulson. He's just so cute and I was hoping that his death was faked by Fury up until Thanos appears. Coulson, you'd be missed!
- Maria Hill? "Kids, it was Summer 2012 when Aunt Robin decided to join The Avengers", nuff said.
- Samuel L. Jackson always plays a badass. Although I'd love to see Fury involved in action too. Not stupidly trying to aim a fighter jet with a handgun.
- Loki is underdeveloped here. He's not mighty enough to be a villain that made The Avengers assemble in the first place. I would like to see Loki win for some time. I thought he would win when he threatened Black Widow. I thought he would dodged Hawkeye's arrow, not being blown by the bomb! However, Loki is cooler than all the Avengers except for Iron Man of course. Tom Hiddleston is the man, yo!
- The only thing I complained about The Avengers is that the humors. The humors are not in place sometimes. And for a movie like The Avengers, I didn't anticipate these kinds of humor: a SHIELD staff playing game and Loki being bashed up by the Hulk! It's takes the film to a wrong pace. Worse of all, it comes from the director's vision that did not want to include a scene where Steve Rogers to meet with Peggy Carter!
- Marvel should definitely re-plan their marketing strategy. It's not good when you actually give half of the film away by releasing revealing trailers and movie clips. I thought you learnt that when you release Iron Man 2. It makes the film less surprising. For example, we know that Iron Man would be caught by the Hulk: gone is the thrill. The only thing surprising in this film is [spoiler] Agent Coulson's death, that's to be honest.
- About The Avengers breaking records overseas and domestically, Marvel and Disney successfully made this film a must-watch for everyone. In my area, the cinema has 4 screens and all four screens plays The Avengers. So, people are forced to see this film because there's no other choice! Not that I'm rooting Harry Potter to maintain their record. I'm just saying, it's kinda unfair. It takes 2 weeks to collect 600++ million for this mega film, which means it needs 300++ million dollars to get to the 1 billion club. Amazing.

Anyways, it would be crazy for every human being to skip this film. This is the ultimate superhero team-up film guys. You should be watching this in cinemas not downloading illegal torrents with cam-quality or wait for the DVD. It's awesome and it's basically your dream comes true after 4 years of waiting. Don't forget to see the post-credits scene! The Avengers: rated 3.5 stars out of 4 stars

A tip for non-fans: Watching Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger prior to The Avengers would definitely help a lot in understanding the story and also the awesomeness.

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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES