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Posts Tagged ‘Weekend Box office’

Evil Dead remake:Horror Anticipation

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , on April 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/16251/The-Evil-Dead-Movie-/overview

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Oz The Great and Powerful:Movie review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

oz poster

Oz The Great and Powerful:movie review
Oz The Great and Powerful directed by the talented and creative Sam Raimi and starring James Franco tells how the origin of the Wizard of Oz came to be. Franco plays a struggling magician part of a traveling circus. A good man at heart, unfortunately Oscar learns how to live his life by tricking the people around him in order to make ends meet. After a day of creating illusions for a show Oscar is swept away in a hot air balloon when he is caught in a tornado.
(The introduction of the movie starts out in black and white just like the original Wizard of Oz.)
Oscar prays that if his life is spared he will change. And suddenly everything stops and he enters another world, Oz. From there on the movie is (shot in color.)
Oscar is memorized by the magic and uniqueness of this place. He soon meets a beautiful woman (Mila Kunis) that admits she is a witch and charms her just like he charms every beauty that walks into his life. In no time Oscar learns that this beautiful land is in trouble and is in search for the one that will save the people of Oz from the wrath of a wicked witch. Oscar quickly makes the people believe that he is the Great Wizard that the prophecy predicted. He uses his charms,wit and ability to create illusions to claim a throne of riches and fame that does not truly belong to him. Once he learns that he is in the middle of a great battle for power among three powerful witches (Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams) he backs out trying to turn his back on the people and the mission to save the land. Forced to demonstrate his true nature of good he soon teams up with Glina the good witch and utilizes his trickster ways to create the ultimate illusion to defeat the two witches.
This movie is actually a prequel to the Judy Garland original. Sam Raimi did an excellent job directing this epic adventure. It was different than the classic Sam Raimi films that his fans know so well but he did not disappoint. The movie was filled with special effects. The effects were created with skill but there were times that I felt I was in Tim Burton’s world. Overall the movie was very entertaining and thrilling. The 3D version of this film did not enhance the cinematic experience for movie goers. That component was pointless. I would not recommend spending the extra money to see this film in 3D. The writing was creative and the make up was artistically developed. Mila Kunis’ makeup as the wicked witch was over the top with added laytex and construction considering the original witch had an elongated nose, warts and green face paint. The costume design was another element that added to the magic of this film. My goal for this review was not be long and obviously I did not meet that goal. ( LOL) The movie is a must see for adults and children to enjoy. I give this movie four stars.
Happy Reading!
L.L

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“The Hobbit” Movie review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 16, 2012| 1 Comment »

The hobbit

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit starring Martin Freeman is the spectacular genesis of an epic adventure that follows a small hobbit a young “Bilbo Baggins” as he sets off on a journey to help a clan of dwarves reclaim their homeland at the Lonely Mountain which was stolen from them by a fierce dragon called Smaug. Recruited by the great wizard Gandalf, Bilbo is approached by the dwarves and their King Thorin to assist in their efforts. Labeled as a “thief” Bilbo is Reluctant to leave the comforts of home and branch off into the world. As the dwarves try to convince Bilbo to take on the task, he continues to let his fears of the outside world get the best of him.
Once the dwarves make way out the Shire, Bilbo soon decides that he will not be a product of his own fears and sets off on “an unexpected journey.”
Bilbo’s travels open him up to a vast array of possibilities that Middle Earth has to offer including the most important aspect of his journey which is his encounter with the creature Gollum and finding “The Ring of Power.” Bilbo and the dwarves encounter trolls, orcs, and even battles goblins on the journey to recapture the dwarf land.
The opening of the film was just wonderful. Bilbo starts off as the Bilbo we know and love in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He and Frodo (yes Elijah Wood makes an appearance!) are preparing for Bilbo’s birthday party. Bilbo is in the process of writing his book An Unexpected Journey.
This movie is the most perfect prequel that I have ever seen. I was looking at this movie as if I hadn’t seen the others. We learn more about the character that makes up Bilbo, as well as the relationship between Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond and Galadriel. It amazing how well Jackson tells this story.
Without giving away anything else, this movie is a must see and fans will be in awe once again over this cinematic experience.
The cast was stunning in their collective performance which included Ian Holm, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian Mckellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, and Christopher Lee. Howard Shore graced the musical scene for The Hobbit and Jackson’s team of creatures and makeup artists ultimately created a film of sensational measure.
I give “The Hobbit” five stars.
L.L

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Paranormal Activity 4 Movie Review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Paranormal Activity 4 directed by Henry Joost and starring Katie Featherston takes place five years after Katie kills her family and kidnaps her nephew baby Hunter.  Hunter now known as Robbie, along with Katie are the new residents of a neighborhood in Nevada.  The moment Katie and Robbie move in across the street, Alice the teen that notices that Robbie is strange begins to experience paranormal events in her home.

The subtle noises in the night become elevated when Robbie is forced to stay a few days with Alice and her family.  Her friend Ben encourages Alice to video record all the strange activity.  Alice feels that Robbie is a bad influence on her brother Wyatt.  After viewing the tapes of recorded footage the teen is convinced that something maybe after her and her brother.  Alice ties to confront her mother about her findings, but her mother continues to not listen and ignore the signs.

Alice eventually discovers that Robbie may be linked to a coven of witches and a demonic force.  By the time she learns this information it is too late for her and her family.

The fast moving movie really was pointless and did not answer any of the questions franchise fans want to know concerning Katie and Kristi’s past that involve the demonic creature.  The movie was done the same way as the others.  A bump here, a crash there, then suddenly Katie pops into the home and randomly kills everyone.  Katie makes a statement at the end of movie telling the possessed Wyatt that “he will be ready soon.”

For those of you who still plan to see the movie, I will not give any more away, but to tell you the truth, I should have gone to see Taken 2, which I am three weeks late seeing.  I am not going to go over special effects or score, because this movie did not bring anything new to the franchise at all.  This movie should have gone straight to DVD and Netflix.  I cannot believe that the production company wasted money to release a movie like this.  I give Paranormal Activity 4 two stars.  I hope they do not make another one for next Halloween.

As a horror fan, I was disappointed and screamed only once.

Happy Reading!!

L.L

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Sinister “Movie Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2012| 1 Comment »

Sinister directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance follows the life of writer Ellison Oswalt as he makes an attempt to write his next best-selling novel.  As he struggles to get back on his feet, he begins his writing journey with moving into a new home that has a horrid past.  Keeping that past a secret from his wife and children, Ellison is best known for writing books centered around real murderers and murder victims.  As the family deals with preexisting strain it does not take long for Ellison to realize that it was a mistake to move his family into the house.

After the official move, Ellison discovers a box of home movies in the attic.  Believing that the movies could be useful research for his book, Ellison views the films and learns that strangely the home movies consist of footage of the actual murders.  As he continues to view the films, he is drawn deeper into the darkness that comes with being in the house.  When paranormal disturbances become prevalent, Ellison learns that there is a dark entity that potentially is the source of the murders.  The dark entity is an “eater of children” and consumes their souls over the course of time. When Ellison’s children become the target , the survival of his family is number one priority.  For the first time, Ellison transitions into a “real believer.”

Usually before I see a movie, I have some kind of background knowledge about it.  In this case I knew nothing about the film or what to expect from it.  Derrickson did a great job with the team of writers, production crew and visual effects artists to create a horror film that was meant to live up to the goal of scaring you. Overall the movie was well done.  The script was written well and the character development was realistic in its delivery and was presented in a way that was believable.  Ethan Hawke is not normally seen in this type of film,, so it was a pleasure to see him take on a character like Ellison. The score and sound were two other elements that added to the fear and made the movie more intense.  The score was an extension of telling the story and created a more balanced component to the film.

The idea of a demonic entity preying on children obviously has been done time and time again but It still brought a freshness to the world of horror.  I highly recommend this movie as part of your Halloween film list this season.  All the theatrical elements combined make this movie very haunting and entertaining.  I give Sinister four stars for its dark and malicious components that “draw in” the horror movie fan that gets a kick out of “things that go bump in the night.”

See you in theaters!!

L.L

 

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The Possession Movie Review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The LionsGate and GhostHouse production of the film The Possession directed by Ole Bornedal opened this Labor weekend.  The so-called “Based on a True Story” was not the horror movie that it claimed to be.  Starring Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffery Dean Morgan, the movie tells the story of a divorced couple, making an attempt to raise their two daughters in two separate homes.  One weekend as the girls spend time with their father in his new home, he takes them to a local yard sale to find items for the house.  His youngest daughter Emily is drawn to a large antique box and ends up buying the box.  Curious over the box it’s self and the possible contents inside the box, the daughter quickly becomes obsessed with it.  Slowly her father notices that his little girl is demonstrating odd behavior at home.  Her life at school is also affected to the point where her dad tries to separate her from the box.

Her downward spiral and her social and physical demise is fast-moving.  The obvious psychiatric evaluation is recommended as well as doctors appointments and MRI’s are scheduled in order for the parents to seek answers in what is wrong with their daughter.  Once medical issues are ruled out the father puts two and two together and learns that his daughter is possessed.  As he familiarized himself with the concept of possession, he realizes that his daughter must have an exorcism.  Finally embracing his heritage, Clyde makes contact with a Jewish priest to seek advice and plead for him to exorcise the demon.

This movie was not what I thought it would be.  The Sam Raimi element of the film to me was non existent.  The special effects were minimal and  the demonic transformation was disappointing.  The movie was not original and had elements of The Unborn, Emily Rose, The Devil Inside, and The Exorcist wrapped up into one film.

The acting skills were pretty basic, and that was not a negative reflection on  Sedgwick and Morgan.  I think it was the lack of commitment and passion from the writers.  Just because the story is “based on true events” does not mean that the writing can be dull.  Just the idea alone is not good enough.  The writing must be passionate so it can transform the story into something that will “Pull us in”.  It was a nice surprise to see Melrose Place’s bad boy Grant Show make an appearance as Stephine’s new man.  The character was really pointless, he took up space in the house and that is all.  The score was not that impressive and did not enhance the movie.

Overall this movie would be best to watch on Dvd or Netflix on a Friday evening when there is nothing else much else to do.  I give this move two and a half stars.

Happy Reading and Writing

L.L!!

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The Possession Movie Preview (Fall Preview#2)

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2012| 1 Comment »

The second movie within my fall preview series is a film called The Possession.  Produced by Sam Raimi and Ghost House Pictures this movie follows the true story of a family experiencing demonic possession.  When a little girl becomes crazy obsessed with a small-sized wooden box that she purchased from a local garage sale, life in the home starts to get unsettling.  As Em’s obsession for the box grows, her behavior becomes more peculiar with time. The haunting activity within the home is indeed disturbing.  Em’s parents do everything they can to seek answers as they make an attempt to save their daughter from the evil spirit that inhabits her soul.

I know some of you may say ” Not another demonic possession movie!”  but really as a true horror fan, for me I can not get enough of these type of horror movies.  Always excited about what Raimi produces creatively, I feel that this movie is going to do well for opening weekend.  Starring Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffery Dean Morgan, Raimi will no doubt fill seats in theaters in anticipation for this film.  I am looking forward to seeing some classic Raimi represented in the film and hope that this makes a lot of noise at the box office.  The movie is  expected to open in theaters August 31st.

Check out the trailer below, Enjoy!!

LaTaeya

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Fall/Winter Movie Preview Introduction “The Apparition”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I checked out my sources and it seems like this fall and winter is going to be great season for new movies.  There are so many good movies to be released that I decided to do a series of movie previews on my site.  As the summer officially comes to a close I get geared up for the fall and expect a nice array of horror flicks to be released in theaters and on DVD.  A few movies to put you in the scary mood are first and foremost a movie called The Apparition, starring some familiar faces from Twilight, Harry Potter and Captain America: The First Avenger.  This movie tells an interesting story about a group of students that set out to prove that supernatural and paranormal events can occur if you create them in your mind and believe in the idea that you created. Check out the trailer below.  This movie is to be released August 24th.  Just by watching the trailer I am sold on the whole idea and really hope that it does a decent job in theaters.  For those die-hard horror fans that appreciate the genre, I think that you will give it a shot and be happy that you did.  Enjoy the trailer and Happy Reading and Writing!! L.L

 

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The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Directed by Christopher Nolan and Starring Christine Bale and Micheal Caine, The Dark Knight Rises is the third film in the modern “Batman” franchise.  Eight years after the death of Harvey Dent, and life long friend Rachael Dawes, Gotham City does it’s best to cope with the loss of a hero.   A broken Bruce Wayne is now isolated and disconnected from a world where he was always in view of the public. Two new villans take the scene in this film, a lovely thief that makes her way in the world by kicking ass and stealing,(Catwoman, played by Ann Hathaway) and a masked protector that seeks nothing but the traditional thing that most superhero villans want; money, power and control over others (Bane,played by Tom Hardy).  As Bane terrorizes the city, a distraught Bruce Wayne aka Batman slowly but surly makes his way back into the limelight trying to protect Gotham and it’s citizens from destruction.

As Bruce Wayne continues to deal with loosing people he loves, the inner struggle he faces grows more intense.
Despite the reconstruction of Wayne manor, the scars that Bruce carry run deep within his spirit and help him to evolve into an even more complex character than we are used to seeing.  Nolan does a wonderful job continuing the telling of “Batman’s” story through the camera lens.  The introduction of the new villans and the directions they are taken  in puts an interesting twist on the overall story.  The action scenes were wonderful as would be expected from a Nolan film.  The all-star cast each played their parts well and made their roles believable and unique to their portrayal.  The special effects were engaging and appropriate for a film of this caliber.  The end has some surprises for sure, and will have the movie goer in tears and in all smiles.  This Blockbuster movie is a must see!! I give The Dark Knight Rises Five stars and hope that a fourth film may surface so that the Batman legacy will continue.

Happy Reading

L.L

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Snow White and the Huntsman “Movie review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

 Snow White and the Huntsman directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron tells the classic fairy tale with a very dramatic twist.  The struggle for power, beauty and immortality are the basis that supports the over all theme of good vs evil.  Kristen Stewart plays a Snow White that is rarely portrayed when it comes to fairy tale princesses.  The character demonstrates strength and perseverance as she sets out on a journey to survive being hunted, avenge her father’s death and to save the kingdom from permanent darkness.   Unfortunately  I feel that Stewart was not a good choice for the role of Snow White.  I understand the goal of  the casting director but Stewart did not do a good job with the character portrayal.  I just saw her as a modern girl who was thrown into period costume, making an attempt to portray a fairy tale princess.  Her mannerisms were way too Bella like, and I kept seeing Bella push through the Snow White character.

On the other hand the Queen played by Theron was a perfect choice of casting right along with the Huntsman played by Hemsworth.  Both characters had a very interesting story that continued to draw movie goers deeper into the fairy tale.  The darkness within Theron was extremely engaging, the more you saw her on camera the more you wanted to learn about her character.  Charlize was by far one of the best evil queens I have seen on silver screen.

The special effects and costumes were stunning and engaging.  They did not over shadow the mood of the movie or the storyline.  They both added to the realness of the environment.  The effects were used in methods that told the story in a way that our imaginations could only visualize.  The fantasy world demonstrated a vast array of creativity and innovativeness.  I was completely drawn into the elements of the magical land.

One major down fall in the movie was the portrayal of the dwarfs.  Played by various known actors, collectively they were not a major component to the story line like in the classic story.  The casting director should have picked real little people to play the seven dwarfs.  There are lots of little people actors out there that should have the opportunity to demonstrate their acting skills.  They would have also presented a more authentic feel representing their part of the story.

The movie has some good action that will keep you interested.  I give this movie three stars.

Happy Reading and Writing

L.L

Check out this movie clip

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