Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Spiderman 3 (2007) – Shehan Fernando

Spiderman 3 is a highly anticipated release of the highly successful Spiderman franchise. The special effects alone are worth watching and similar to the previous Spiderman releases if not better. The character development and acting are also well done with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst playing their roles to a very high standard. The main shortcomings of this film are that it is a very long movie spanning approximately 2.5 hours and jumps around between many story lines with some characters disappearing and reappearing at different stages of the movie. There are a lot of stories that are compacted into the movie and each alone can be a movie in itself but it is definitely worth a watch on the big screen mainly for the abundance of special effects that are breathtaking most of the time.

Rating: 7/10

This is due to it being really long and doesn't really have a huge 'wow' factor. It is a very typical Spiderman movie so if you liked the first 2, then you will definitely like this but otherwise, watch the pirates and other highly anticipated movies that are out very shortly.

The Prestige (2006) – Rhys Andersen

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play two rival magicians who become locked in a desperate battle to be the greater magician. The desire to learn the secrets of each others tricks leads both men to gamble everything including assistant Scarlett Johansson. The acting is really good, the storyline is interesting, twisting & turning and kept me guessing until the very end. Michael Cain also does a great job. If you liked Memento and Batman Returns you will probably enjoy as it is from the same writer/director, Christopher Nolan.

Rating: 8/10

Mr Bean’s Holiday (2007) – John Grant

This film follows the typical Rowan Atkins style of humour where he couples brilliant timing with bizarre actions. Some of the humour is unspoken but is nevertheless uproariously funny.

The film is in some sense a send up of French society with comment on their food, transport, holidays and entertainment. The script meanders from grey looking London to Paris, the French countryside and the French Riviera. There are stopovers to comment on French cooking with a visit to a Paris restaurant, French railways with an interrupted trip on the SNCF and life in a French provincial town. There are even scenes from the making a commercial involving WW2 German soldiers, maybe he was having a go at German culture as well!

The final scenes are on the Riviera at the Cannes Film Festival where wry comment is made about the style of the entries. The film ends with the popular French song “La mer” sung by Mr Bean and a crowd of people at the beach at Cannes.

If you like zany humour you will enjoy Mr Bean’s Holiday.

Rating: 9/10


Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Sunshine (2007) - Shelvia W

Cast: Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh.
Director: Danny Boyle

Fifty years into the future; the Sun is dying. A team of astrounauts are sent out to the space in Icarus II as a second attempt to revive the dying Sun. The team is made up of interesting mixed of characters played by of a well diversed group of actors.
There are quite a few different aspects of the movie at which one can focus at. The advance technology within the spacecraft being the most enticing to me. The amazing space shots they've got in the movie. The character's personality under pressure. The correctness of the science aspect of the movie.
I personally think this movie is quite enjoyable and would definitely recommend Movie Buffers to watch it. =)

Rating: 8.5/10

PS: This post gets the honour of being our 50th review!!! Yippeee!!!