Coming Soon

Warm Bodies

Released: Approximately April 2013

Another recommendation from a good friend of mine. I read the book in less than a week and absolutely loved it. It was funny, warm, romantic and a bit gorey as well, in short....it's a zombie love story.
I think I've watched the trailer about 5 times now and I just love it every single time.

So what are my expectations of this? I'm really hoping that they stick to the book as there isn't anything in there that needs to be cut out or modified. It's a pretty simple story, but told from the zombies point of view which really shouldn't be too difficult.

Definitely looking forward to this one.

Man of Steel

Released: Approximately June 2013

 

Only just saw the trailer for this on Boxing Day when we saw The Hobbit and I was super impressed. I really hated the Brandon Routh version of the Superman franchise and I hope that this is a success for Zack Snyder. It certainly looks a lot more gritty and less cheesey.

I'm pretty happy with the choice of Henry Cavill as Superman as well. He looks amazing in the suit and completely buff!

I'm hoping there's no cheese factor and that this does for Superman what Christopher Nolan did for Batman.

Fingers crossed.

Other movies to look out for

Oblivion - Tom Cruise
 Looks a bit like a real life version of Wall E.

World War Z - Brad Pitt
Another in a spate of zombie movies perhaps? Looks interesting but not getting good press from those that have read the book.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Jonathan Rhys Myers
Another book to movie adaptation. I hope they don't 'Twilight' this one. It's a great set of books and they seem to have picked a decent cast. Box office results should be interesting.

The Lone Ranger - Johnny Depp
It's Depp, but the initial trailers aren't doing it for me.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Starring: Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage,
Director: Peter Jackson

 

 

 

Finally, the wait is over.

 

For 3 years in a row, it was a tradition for myself, my husband and a best mate to go and see the Lord of the Rings movies on Boxing Day. When "Return of the King" was released, we were devastated. As we walked out of the cinema we asked ourselves, what the heck do we do next Boxing Day?

 

Luckily, we had a couple of Harry Potter movies to fill in the time and some others, but when we heard that Peter Jackson had taken over the direction of "The Hobbit", the excitement began to build again.

 

Originally, another brilliant director, Guilermo Del Toro, (Hellboy and Pans Labyrinth), was meant to direct, but pulled out for some reason. So instead of letting the idea sink all together, Peter Jackson renigged on an earlier promise and took up the reins.

 

Slowly, the cast was built, press releases made and Peter began to release his video blogs on facebook. We all watched and waited with baited breath until the first trailer came out and then we all cheered.

 

After re-reading the book, I wondered how he would do some things and if he would deviate or stay as true to Tolkien as possible. As with any book to movie adaptation, some changes are necessary and with this, I think he's done a fantastic job, well with the first instalment anyway. The rest remains to be seen.

 

As soon as the music started, my friend turned to me and said ''oh shit, I'm crying already".

 

The introduction to the movie, in my opinion, is well done. Although some deemed it unnecessary, I felt it was a nice tie in for those of us who are fans of the movies. Bilbo (Ian Holm) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) introduce us to this new tale about young Bilbos adventures with a company of dwarves.

 

We see Bilbos first meeting with the legendary Gandalf and are soon after introduced to 13 dwarves who almost eat poor Bilbo out of house and hole.

 

Most of the dwarves are unknown, but there are a few who some may recognise. The mighty Thorin Oakenshield, played by the dashing Richard Armitage, and one of my favourite characters throughout the first movie, was amazing. He drew attention as soon as he was on screen and rightly so.

 

Young Kili, is played by Mr Aidan Turner. Those UK Being Human fans out there may recognise him as Mitchell. Him and Fili are the ''One Directioners" int he company, the young, good looking dwarves.

 

The rest of the company are made up of Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori and Ori. I had trouble telling most of them apart, but it didn't make it any less entertaining.

 

Wonderful cameos from Lord Elrond, (Hugo Weaving), Lady Galadriel, (Cate Blanchett), and two that made the geek in me squeal, Brett Mackenzie from Flight of the Conchords and Lee Pace who was recently in Breaking Dawn Part 2. Lee looked magnificent as the elf Thranduil astride a gorgeous elk.

 

Another cameo that will make the nerds out there happy was the wonderful Sylvester McCoy, who plays the wizard, Radagast the Brown. Sylvester is better known to some as the 7th Doctor in the Doctor Who series. He was great, I really enjoyed seeing this character and hope he's in more of the movies.

 

What else can I say about The Hobbit? Visually beautiful once again. Stunning New Zealand locations and fantastic sets, costumes and make up.

 

As I am not a fan of 3D movies, I saw this in 2D and thoroughly enjoyed it. I truly cannot wait until Boxing Day next year.

 

 

 



Les Miserables

Les Miserables (2012)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried.
Director: Tom Hooper

 

 

When I was in high school, I had the great fortune to go and see the stage play of Les Miserables with our English class. I fell in love almost instantly with the pure power of not only the story but the music and the utter passion of this beautiful story. It was a love affair that has continued through my life.

 

Last year, I purchased the 25th Anniversary concert of Les Miserables at the 02 in London. I spent most of the almost 3 hours sobbing and remembering how much I loved the music.

 

When I heard that it was being remade into a movie, and that it would be a musical, I was ecstatic.

 

The first trailers to arrive saw Anne Hathaway singing Ï Dreamed a Dream" and I was pretty impressed with her voice. I was incredibly sceptical upon hearing that Russell Crowe had been cast as Javert and was doubtful that he would pull it off.

 

How wrong I was.

 

From the opening titles, it was clear that this was going to be one powerful 2 hours and 41 minutes.

 

Hugh Jackman plays Jean Valjean, a prisoner in 19th century France who has served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. Hugh is almost unrecognisable as Valjean but gives a stunning performance as prisoner 24601.

 

Russell Crowe is passionate and imposing as Inspector Javert, the police inspector who vows to hunt down Jean Valjean when he skips parole and goes missing.

 

Valjean, upon obtaining his freedom, goes straight back to stealing but meets a priest, played by the original London Production Jean Valjean, who forces him to question his life and turn things around.

 

Year later we see him as the successful Mayor of a town and owner for a factory who employs the poor unfortunate Fontine, played by Anne Hathaway. Fontine is working to send money to the inn keepers who are looking after her infant daughter, Cosette.

 

Fontine falls on hard times and Valjean tries to save her, vowing to look after her daughter if anything should happen to her.

 

Meanwhile, Javert discovers the Mayors secret and tries to bring Valjean in for breaking parole but fails and the hunt begins again.

 

He escapes to the Inn where Cosette is living with the Thenardiers, played by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter..........these guys were brilliant. They drip evil and ooze shiftiness, the perfect pair to play such despicable characters.

 

Upon paying a large sum of money to take Cosette off their hands, they escape to Paris where they manage to evade Javert once more and begin a life as father and daughter for many years.

 

Cosette, now grown, (Amanda Seyfried), knows that her 'father' has something to hide, but doesn't know what, and then her world is turned upside down when she meets Marius, (Eddie Redmayne) and falls head over heels in love.

 

Another beautiful performance from one of the London Production cast by Samantha Barks, who plays the daughter of the Thenardiers, Eponine. This girl is gorgeous and has the most stunning voice to match her angelic face. I was in tears when she sings of her love for Marius, knowing he will never return her affections. It's heart wrenching.

 

Of course, the climax comes when Jean Valjean realises Çosette is in love and tries to help Marius at the blockades against the French soldiers to make sure he survives.

 

The face off between Javert and Valjean is fantastic and the final scene of the movie had most of the theatre sobbing, especially my friend and the lady at the end of the row.

 

This movie deserves to win every award it is put up for. It was incredibly well cast and very powerful. I can't wait to see it again.

 



Men in Black 3

Men in Black 3 (2012)
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Jermaine Clement.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

In the third installment of Sonnenfelds Men in Black movies, we find Agent J (Will Smith) faced off against a new big bad, Boris the Animal, played by Flight of the Conchords Jermaine Clement.

When Boris escapes from a maximum security space prison, he heads for earth, hell bent on taking out Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), who put him in prison almost 50 years ago.

Agent J is sent back in time to save his partner and make sure Boris doesn't succeed in his plans to kill his partner before he can put Boris in prison.
A much better continuation of the franchise. Wasn't overly keen on the second movie. There was something about Lara Flynn Boyle that I really didn't enjoy.

Seeing Josh Brolin as a younger Agent K was great. He really could have been a younger Tommy Lee Jones.

I also loved Jermaine Clement. He's such a fantastic actor with great chameleon like qualities.

Will Smith was his normal self, but you really wouldn't want it any other way with these movies.

The twist at the end was well done and kind of warms your heart a little. Not sure that they could really squeeze much more out of this though, would depend on the story.