Movie Night: Snow White and the Huntsman

Logline: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.

Rating: PG-13

IMDB Link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1735898/

Synopsis: After the beautiful, but evil Queen (Charlize Theron) kills Snow White’s father, she locks the young girl away. It isn’t until the girl turns of legal age, that she becomes a threat. Her fairness not only rivals the Queens, but is greater, as Snow (Kristen Stewart) doesn’t have to suck the life from girls to stay looking young and beautiful. The Queen is angry, but before she has a chance to kill her rival, the Magic Mirror informs the aging beauty that if she were to suck the life from Snow, the Queen would remain young and beautiful for eternity.

Unfortunately for the Queen, her bumbling brother becomes enamoured with the young girl, letting his guard down and allowing Snow to escape. With Snow White gone and her beauty fading, the Queen hires a Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to go after her and bring her back. Lucky for Snow, The Huntsman realizes who she is and promises to deliver her safely to those who can help her regain the throne.

Review: Fairy tales have always been portrayed either as a cartoon mock up, or some rendition that’s either too silly or barely keeping with the original story. Now while most fall under the former, I can honestly say that SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, doesn’t fall into any of the previous categories. This is a dark, gritty story about survival; both Snow White’s and the Queen’s. Each of the characters from the tale are depicted with new twist, with surprising variation on the ‘kiss’. There is plenty of sword fighting with some comical and heart-touching moments thrown in as well.

The most impressive thing about this movie is the special effects. They are incredible, but at a few points it did overpower the movie. There were a few scenes where I thought I was watching lost footage from Lord Of The Rings or live-action remakes of Ferngully. While these were a momentary jar from the flow, the main story does pull you back in.

I’ve wanted to see this movie for a while now, and I did hear good things about it. The trailers looked really good, but like with many movies, they’re made that way, so I was relieved to see that this time they were true. SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN was a good movie with plenty of action and just enough mixture of old story with new to keep it interesting. I’ve even heard that despite the ‘incident’ between the director and the actress, there will be a sequel. It will be interesting to see if the writers can keep the same balance that made this one so good.

4 out of 5.

Movie Night: Real Steel

Tagline: Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he’s found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.

Rating: PG-13

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433035/

 

The entire time I watched this, I could only think of that 70′s game Rockem’ Sockem’ Robots.

This was a pleasantly heart-warming tale about second chances, not only for the human characters, but for the robot as well.  In a future when boxing with human contestants has been replaced with fighting robots, a has-been boxer, his estranged son and an old sparring robot get a new lease on life when the boy finds the robot buried under a pile of junk. It soon becomes clear that this is no regular fighting robot and with a ‘shadow’ program installed, mimics the moves of the person who controls him. I will say, watching a robot dance The Robot, was rather funny. Only when the father uses his experience as a boxer to help the robot fight, do things finally start looking up for them. Of course, the father’s past does come back to haunt them and put a crimp in their plans, but not for long. The final battle sets the small sparring robot with only the skills of a human boxer, against Zeus; the much bigger, more powerful, self-learning, fighting robot.

I’m not going to tell you who wins, but it’ll bring a tear to your eye.

Apart from the violence when the robots fight, there is some mild language, but other than that, it’s a good movie for the whole family to watch. Okay, there is one kissing scene, but nothing too intimate. The one thing I couldn’t shake was the fact that for a movie based in near-future, it looked too modern and that did ruin the futuristic element of the plot. Another thing that wasn’t lost on me, the idea that it doesn’t matter how much money you have, or what kind of tools you use, if you don’t have the skill—the knowledge to use them, you might as well be walking through life like a robot.

 

5 out of 5

Movie Night: Battleship

Tagline: A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.

Rating: PG 13

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/

 

I was a little surprised by the IMDB tagline as it vaguely describes this movie. Yes, there are navy ships battling alien ships, but it’s pretty clear right near the beginning what they were trying to do, and both sides aren’t a big as the tagline suggests.

After hearing a lot of crap about this movie, I was expecting it to be pretty cheesy. After all, it’s based off the Hasbro BATTLESHIP game. How lame is that? I was pleasantly surprised to be disappointed, and I rather enjoyed the movie once it got going.

BATTLESHIP reminded me of SKYLINE; the good and the bad. Like SKYLINE, this was a good concept movie with a lot of potential, and like SKYLINE, it fell short. The premise was good, and the movie was interesting once they got past the first act. I really liked the way they tied the plot to the game, but there were scenes in the beginning that weren’t needed (establishing the MC and the ‘love interest meeting), and the actions of the MC– specifically showing him somewhat disrespecting is position in the Navy, smacked of being forced. In my opinion, there was no need for the writers to show the MC as being a slacker, ‘full of wasted potential’. They would have been better off modeling like BATTLE LOS ANGELES, and stick to the ‘survival plot’.

Overall, I did like the movie. There were some heartwarming scenes with old Navy vets and it was interesting to have the aliens technology just as limiting (in some ways) as the humans. There is swearing, but nothing really bad.

4 out of 5

Movie Night: Sherlock Holms; Game of Shadows

Tagline: Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty.

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/

Rating: PG-13

 

In the second instalment of the franchise,we find Holmes racing across England and France to try and stop his arch nemesis Professor James Moriarty from finishing his most recent scheme. To make matters worse, Moriarty now considers Watson and his new wife collateral damage. They are now fair game to be eliminated.  Holmes and Watson must try and stop Moriarty before he brings the entire world to war.

First of all, I have to say Moriarty is an incredible villain, and the chemistry between him and Holmes makes one think they were best friends than enemies. The chivalry between protagonist and antagonist is brilliant. Instead of beating the snot out of each other (which seems to be the norm), they’re eventual ‘good guy/bad guy’ fight is via a chess game. While I thought the action scenes were not as spectacular as in the first movie, the special effects were just as good. Especially the scenes involving the large scale weapons. The slow-motion effects really were spectacular. There were a couple places that came off as unrealistic (when Holmes took the red book), but nothing that was jarring to the story.

One thing I did find interesting, was the relationship between Holmes and Watson. It reminded me a lot of the odd friendship between House and Wilson.

4 out of 5

Movie Night: The Woman in Black (2012)

Tagline: A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596365/

Rating: PG-13

This movie is all kinds of creepy. Based on the 1983 novel by Jane Goldman, this movie takes place during the last years of the nineteenth century. It has every possible hair-raising element, from the creepy abandoned Victorian home, to strange sounds emanating from the mist that rolls along the marshland, to the mystery the local townsfolk refuse to talk about.

Daniel Radcliff plays Arthur Kips, a widower still mourning the loss of his wife four years after her death. A young lawyer, Kips is sent to look after the estate of a woman who died alone, and finds himself in the path of a tormented and vengeful spirit. The locals know if the lady in black is seen, even just a glance then a child in the town will die a horrible death. Because there is so much paperwork, Arthur spends the night in the old house. Once alone, all sorts of strange things begin to happen, with Arthur unsure of what is happening around him.

While most of it is predictable, it’s the mounting tension that sends shivers up your spine, and while there are some gross scenes, this movie reminds me of the old Alfred Hitchcock movies that relied on what you don’t see and what you hear to create the real horror.

The ending was not what I expected but suited it. Overall, I haven’t been this creeped out since I watched The Changeling with George C. Scott. If you like gothic stories, you must watch this movie.

5 out of 5.

Movie Night; In Time

Tagline: In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage – a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637688/

The tagline for this movie doesn’t do it justice. What it doesn’t tell you is that your life—the minutes, hours, days, months, are the currency you use to pay bills, buy food, generally survive. You work long hours and receive time as payment, but the price of living fluctuates on a daily basis, so a bus ride to work might cost you an hour one day, and two hours the next.

This was a smart movie; good dialogue, plot, a little on the slow side when it came to action scenes, but I don’t think big productions with intense car chases would suite a plot like this. There were a few, but only lasted a few moments. Just enough for the characters to get from point A to point B. You also can’t help but compare the circumstances between the movie and real life, and the motto ‘For some to be immortal, other’s must die,’ is a frightening epitaph.

The reviews in IMDB weren’t all that great, but IMO, these viewers failed to see the true plot; that no one should live/die at another person’s expense. In today’s society where we judge our standing in life by our material possessions or wealth, perhaps the concept of giving up your most valuable currency seems a little far-fetched. Yet isn’t that the idea of thought-provoking movies? To make us think instead of entertain? Personally, I don’t think Hollywood puts out enough of the latter.

5 out of 5 stars.

Movie Night: Super 8

Tagline: During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650062/

The tagline doesn’t grab you like I’ve been told they’re supposed to, but then this movie was written and directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. In Hollywood, if you can give the studio a high concept movie with big names attached to it, you don’t need a catchy tagline.

Even though the trailer for this movie hinted at an E.T.-type feel, it is far from a PG rating. Yes, there is an alien trying outwit the army and get home, but it is anything but friendly.

After barely escaping a train wreck, six friends realize the after effects would look great as the backdrop for their amateur zombie movie. Spurred on by strange incidences happening in the town (all the dogs leaving, people disappearing), it’s only when their lead actress is taken by the alien that they end up getting into trouble trying to find her.

This movie was good with a hint of conflict between two of the parents, but like I said earlier, this isn’t a movie for small children. Some scenes, especially with the alien, are downright frightening and intense. Be warned, there is swearing. Not a lot, but it’s there.

4 out of  5