Ender's Game (2013)

I never read the book before I saw this movie. Although I have heard of it so many times, with me being such a big science fiction fan and to those of you who wants to know, I'm more into Star Wars than Star Trek but I do love both. Anyway basically Ender's game is the story of a young boy who goes to a special school for gifted kids, they play a sport where they fly around. Sounds familiar Well the novellete was written in the 70's so basically the concept is original and it won awards so there's that. Plus it's science fiction not magic it is set in a future earth, and the school which is a space station orbiting earth was built to train commanders who will remotely command fleets of warships into battle against an alien race of insects to protect the world . Here's the twist they're all kids , because apparently children have a different way of making decisions than adults.

I through that this was just another one of those young adult fiction novels turned movies with a lot of entertainment value on screen but with little real substance. Not to say that all of them are like that after all there are some really amazing exceptions. And I have to say that this movie is one of them. Led by Hugo's Asa Butterfield , this movie is more than just a great ride, it has a strong intellectual depth , which i think stems a lot from the novel which is very cerebral. But of course you can't bring that to life without an amazing cast and everyone from the kids up to the adults did their part well no matter how small . Sadly though, I don't know if we'll get a sequel since the movie did only moderately well in the box office and may not be enough to spawn a franchise. But regardless this movie can stand on it's own , a sequel isn't really necessary . The visuals , the soundtrack are all top notch and as I have said the acting is quality work . And it also got me to read the books , which I say is very interesting and you should check it out as well, after you enjoyed the movie of course...

Watch Trailer Here

Cast
Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin
Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff
Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham
Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian
Abigail Breslin as Valentine Wiggin
Viola Davis as Major Gwen Anderson
Aramis Knight as Bean
Suraj Parthasarathy as Alai
Moisés Arias as Bonzo
Khylin Rhambo as Dink
Conor Carroll as Bernard
Anozie as Sergeant Dap
Jimmy Pinchak as Peter Wiggin
Stevie Ray Dallimore as John Paul Wiggin
Andrea Powell as Theresa Wiggin

Howl"s Moving Castle (2004)

I just realized that this is the first animation film I'll be reviewing, to think that I have watched a lot of those . The Lion King was my absolute favorite as a kid after all . But I'll be talking about an Anime film , which is a very different genre from a disney film.

Howl is a fantasy anime film , set in what I would refer to as a steam punk type of world, with magic of course. The story is not really japanese , it is based of a novel written by a British author . Which explains the very Victorian look of the setting. It tells the story of a young girl who accidentally meets a wizard and not the old wizened type , but a young handsome wizard named Howl. She gets embroiled in a short chase with strange shadow shape shifting type of creatures who were following Howl. He leads them away from her , and she goes on with her normal routine. But when she gets back to her store , she is confronted by the witch of the waste who as it turns out are the masters of this creatures . She is cursed to old age and to not have the power to speak about that curse . The witch then leaves her to her plight . Not knowing what to do , she leaves the next day in search of a solution to her problem and winds up inside the strange moving castle of Howl and this is where her actual journey begins .

This movie is brilliant , the plot and the strange twists in the story is enough to keep you on your seat . The animation is beautifully done , in this day and age where we are so used to Pixar type of rendering, this I have to say may actually be even more visually appealing than that. All the characters are well fleshed out, and defined . The characters don't really need to belt out into a song or depend on humor to get the movie going . Something that does not happen in western animated films . And you really have no idea where the story is going , there is no foreshadowing or a lead on . Which makes it even better . This is generally a great film, within and outside the genre of animation.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Cast Japanese /English Dub

Sophie (young)... Chieko Baisho /Emily Mortimer
Sophie (old)... Chieko Baisho /Jean Simmons
Howl... Takuya Kimura /Christian Bale
Witch of the Waste... Akihiro Miwa /Lauren Bacall
Calcifer... Tatsuya Gashūin /Billy Crystal
Markl... Ryūnosuke Kamiki /Josh Hutcherson
Madame Suliman... Haruko Katō /Blythe Danner
Lettie... Yayoi Kazuki /Jena Malone
Honey... Mayuno Yasokawa /Mari Devon

Keith (2008)

This not the type of teen movie I haven't seen before. When I saw the first few minutes of the movie I already had an idea where it was leading up to . Keith is actually the story of a High school girl who seems to have everything figured out .

She is the perfect daughter , good grades , athletic scholarship is bound for Duke University, and a popular girl to booth . Her life turns upside down when she meets Keith as a lab partner , a boy who seems to be a genius but has no plans in life . Seeming content to just wing it . She of course initially does not care but he in his own way draws her in .

This movies' pacing was really slow for me . I was waiting for the plot that I know was going to happen to unravel. There were some interesting quips , I particularly liked how they play-acted some scenes pretending to create a scenario for the people around them. It helped to fill in some of the slow moments . The two leads were okay , they delivered a good performance especially pop star Jesse McCartney who played Keith. The rest of the cast though were stiff and were essentially nothing more but a background. This isn't really exceptional as a teen movie but may be worth watching because of the two leads, plus there is a twist in the end that may or may not surprise you . So if you have spare time , it is a nice watch just don't expect too much.

Watch Trailer Here

Cast
Jesse McCartney as Keith Zetterstrom
Elisabeth Harnois as Natalie Anderson
Ignacio Serricchio as Rafael Márquez
Margo Harshman as Brooke
Tabitha Brownstone as Cynthia Anderson

Catching Fire (2013)

I'm not a big fan of the Hunger Games . I haven't read the books, I'm not obsessed with the film , although I did think that the first movie was great it did not really wow me in anyway...

So Catching Fire is the second movie in the Hunger Games film franchise and we see heroine Katniss Everdeen and fellow Peeta Mellark go on with their lives after winning the previous Hunger Games feautured in the first film . Obviously they have stepped up with brand new houses and a celebrity status to boot. But it's not all glamour , there is a dark side to it , as they are nothing more but media pawns of the government . And they must follow , or have the people they love be in danger. Unfortunately for Katniss she becomes a symbol of resistance and revolution. Try as she did to stop this persona , she fails or succeeds in sowing the seeds of revolution . This prompts the tyrant dictator President Snow to issue a statement that in celebration of the 75 years of the Hunger Games the current crop of tributes or participants would be taken from each district's previous champions . This is in an attempt to suppress the following of the victors particularly katniss.

This movie is really good. And I think it might even be better than the first one. The first movie was more of an introduction and I don't think we were able to delve enough the underlying philosophy of the film franchise and book series with it. Here it's message about the modern society we live in is more pronounced. Such as the scripted hypocrisy of reality television of how media is used to alter our opinion . It says a lot about government suppression and the power of the people .Which is just beautifully presented without being too preachy. As always Jennifer absolutely shines , so does Josh Hutcherson who could stand up to the spotlight of the main character who is played by an academy award winner with an equally masterful performance . New cast member Sam Clafin who plays fellow victor Finnick Odair also brought in his acting chops . The only problem I had with any of the cast is that of Liam Hemsworth, who seemed nothing more but a prop for the whole thing . Everyone else brought their A-game except him, and amidst all those brilliant actors if you do just an ok performance it will come out bad, he needs to step it up after all there are still two movies to be made of the franchise. Except for that everything is great, the action , the story , the performances , the special effects all of it is amazing . This is not your typical teen fantasy/sci-fi movie it is a must see.

Watch Trailer Here

Cast
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee Latier
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow
Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith
Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair

Run (2013)

Sorry about not writing for a while. I have been a little busy cause you know I have a life outside of the internet . Alright this film Run is about a teenage kid who does parkour , he does it so he could steal stuff to keep him and his father alive while running away from the Mafia. Apparently his mom was the sister of the crime boss , and his dad is blamed for shooting her. So they have been on the run ever since hence the title of the movie, plus parkour involves a lot of running.

Don't be fooled by all the high profile names attached to this movie . The story is crap all the actors one-dimensional , and it has the cinematography of a home made family vacation video. The parkour action is all right and probably the only reason why you may end up watching this and sitting through it . The irony of that though, is the fact that the best parkour action you will see in this movie is in the end credit video . The end credit video is better than the whole movie , plus they used only one soundtrack for the entire movie , that by the end of it you'll still hear the same monotone house music in your head by the time you sleep at night. Not really worth it , unless you really like parkour then maybe by a small chance you may like it.

Watch Trailer Here

Eric Roberts ...Jeremiah
William Moseley ... Daniel Lombardi
Adrian Pasdar ... Mike Lombardi
Kelsey Chow ... Emily Baltimore
Craig Henningsen ... Mark Baltimore

My Top 5 Favorite Horror Movies of all time

I'm not really all that fond of horror movies . Which seems strange because I'm fascinated by the paranormal and I've always really loved ghost stories . But a buddy of mine, one of my best friends really loves watching horror movies so I always end up watching tons of this genre , when I'm alone I tend to watch those things when essentially nothing else is good and I have nothing better to do which happens a lot. This list was compiled with my personal opinion in mind, I rank it by how I like it.So without much further ado my Top 5 favorite horror movies of all time

5. The Conjuring Based on the true story of a couple that investigated paranormal activities during the 70's. The Conjuring may be the best horror film we've had in years. It scared me, not just because of the excellent story and performance of the cast , but also because it is based on a true story , how creepy is that?

4. Ringu (The Ring)
Considered by many as the premier Asian Horror film, The Ring tells the story of a cursed videotape, anybody who watches it ends up dying . This was remade in Hollywood, but I still think the japanese version is superior , plus it is their original idea and story . Absolutely creepy , anybody who has seen this film has had nightmares about the iconic image of Sadako coming out of the television with her extremely long hair. It is a unique idea , and the style of shooting and the story is amazing.

3. Pan's Labyrinth
I'm not sure if this can be categorized as a horror film it certainly touches on the paranormal though, and by the end of the film you're not even sure if that is true. But this is my list and I think it fits the bill. Plus this movie which tells the story of a young girl who may or may not be seeing actual fairies , during the time of the spanish civil war, is a great movie. Just because it is about fairies doesn't mean it's all light and fantasy , this movie is very dark and the fairies are kind of creepy and somewhat frightening , that is why this is on this list .And considering the genius behind the story , and the style of the special effects , and the form of shooting is just beautiful and well made. Is why I put it on number 3 ahead of some really good horror movies...

2. Carrie
The original was campy , but it delivered the goods . Telekinetic Carrie who uses her new found powers to terrorize her classmates who have made a mockery of her while drenched in pig's blood .Is a scene forever etched in iconic hollywood cinema This movie is a great classic and a masterpiece story from Stepehn King.

1. The Exorcist
You have been living under a rock if you haven't heard of this classic, and if you haven't this movie is about possession and obviously an Exorcist. I also remember this fondly because a classmate of mine in high school used to walk around the classroom, reenacting this one scene in the movie . Which scene? Let's just say he used to shout " fuck me! , fuck me !" during those times. Highly controversial for it's time , let's just say that this movie set the gold standard for any other horror film that followed. Sadly one movie that did not follow up on that standard is the absolutely awful sequel of this movie with the stupid flashing lightbulbs on the forehead.

Thor: the Dark World (2013)

Like everyone , I was really excited about this. Come on , another superhero flick from the marvel cinematic universe that is awesome . I'm not gonna waste my time and yours with a synopsis , more or less with this film's marketing you most probably already know what this will be about. It's simply Thor part 2 and he gets to kick ass that's what is important. But I was pleasantly surprised at how good this movie was , and I don't mean blockbuster "good" but cinematic gem. This movie is more than just a comic book superhero film , it is part fantasy , part sci-fi , and all epic. There is only one other superhero franchise I would attach the epic moniker to , and that would be the critically acclaimed Christian Bale-Batman series. There was so much depth in this movie . Chris Hemsworth we already know is great at being Thor, and here he goes unto another level, he was able to flesh out his character. But I have to give props to Tom Hiddleston who portrays Loki , his performance blew me away , I think he deserves an award for it. Plus there is the storyline, that was a great script , I think the story of Thor :The Dark World is so far the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise , I will even go so far to say that in my humble opinion that this is also the best film in the franchise.The Viking Funeral scene was so beautiful, it was a visual splendor , every screen cap felt like a painting , that was shot lovingly. And there were so many twists and turns , every character even in a short while were actually given a chance to shine. And the dramatic scenes did not felt like a nuisance to all the action like in most special effect films of this magnitude . It felt integral, and you actually felt for the characters instead of feeling detached and eagerly awaiting for the next explosion. This is a masterpiece among the large numbers of superhero films we have now . You won't just be enjoying yourself with a blockbuster , you'll also be viewing Art..it's that good.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Alan Taylor

Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
Anthony Hopkins as Odin
Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Christopher Eccleston as Malekith
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Algrim
Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
Zachary Levi as Fandral
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
Jaimie Alexander as Sif
Rene Russo as Frigga