Quantum Of Solace - It's a sequel, and dark as a consequence,

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Excellent movie, I won't add spoilers, but be aware, it's a sequel to Casino Royale and is necessarily darker in tone. Bond has shut down emotionally as a consequence of Vesper's death and is driven to investigate and, to some extent, avenge her death.

Daniel Craig further extends his takeover of the role, he exudes a sense of sadness with a ruthless drive to move forward with his mission. Mention should be made of Judi Dench - she delivers another excellent performance as M.

Would heartily recommend watching Casino Royale on DVD beforehand if you own it, specifically to prepare and remind yourself of the odd plot point as they certainly will be relevant here.

Bond fans rest assured it's fantastic entertainment. It has to be agreed that it is lacking in old-school quips and innuendo, but in my opinion it is entirely in keeping with Bond's situation in this movie. There are some beautiful locations though, especially in Italy and the Aston looks great, for a little while!

As Bond himself says, "you don't have to worry about me". I'm not worried about the franchise and the third part of this trilogy will be worth looking forward to.

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Quantum of solace Trailer

Twilight - A Great Film, Extremely Well Adapted!

Twilight (2008)

I just got back from a midnight premiere, and the movie blew me away. I'm an avid book lover and college lit major and VERY hard to impress as far as book to screen adaptations go. I have NO complaints! (Take that mom and best friend!) Kristen and Rob are the perfect Edward and Bella. They were captivating from start to finish. I sat back in my seat and listened to my whole theater erupt in laughs, gasps, sighs and jumps at all the right places. Granted most of us in there were young women, but the movie just plain rocked that way. It sucks you in and tells the story just right. Even my friend who hadn't read the books was just as enthralled as the majority of us fan girls.

The humor was Twilight's greatest asset. The baseball game was amazing and the mirror fight scene was tense. I enjoyed the music, the non-overdone visual effects, the adherence to all major plot points and characters and the ending. The ending was pretty much the best. I walked out really salivating to see the next 3 on screen, just like that.

If you give Twilight a shot, you shouldn't be disappointed. It's that good.

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A wonderful fantasy tale of action, adventure, and love!

Stardust (2007)

I was one of about 200 people that was lucky enough to see an early sneak of this film.

Stardust follows Tristan a young man on a quest to find a fallen star and bring it back to the woman he loves in order to prove his love for her. The only catch is that the star has fallen on the other side of the wall, a doorway between England and a magical kingdom known as Stormhold.

This film was just a joy to watch, it has something in it for everyone, all of the action scenes are played out beautifully and the comedy is spread out through the film making it funny without being corny. If I had to compare the likes to another film it would probably have to be The Princess Bride, a classic.

All the performances are outstanding, the beautiful Claire Danes makes you love her in her portrayal of Yvaine the trusting naive star and under rated Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a stellar over the top performance as Larnia...but the performance to talk about is Robert De Niro...In every scene that he is in hands down he steals the show...

If you are in the mood for a funny fantasy love story this is the film. Guys don't get turned off by the description there is enough action comedy and not to mention lots of eye candy with Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer to keep you entertained throughout. The cinematography is dead on and keeps with the feel of the film...nothing about the film seems forced.

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Sweet, funny, and endearing

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

For those that don't already know, the second half to that "Zack and Miri" title is "Make a Porno", three little words that have caused a lot of fuss lately. In addition to being deliberately shortened on TV, Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) has had to fight for even the R-rating, a teaser trailer had to be removed from his website, the posters for the flick were so raunchy that the characters could only appear as stick figures(of which Seth Rogen is assuredly not), and already certain theaters have decided not to show it while openly showing Saw V and Max Payne without a moments hesitation. All this for one of the years nicest romantic comedies. "Zack and Miri" is vintage Kevin Smith, blending the cheerily offensive with heartfelt sentimentality, and while its nothing groundbreaking or even terribly gratuitous (sure there are some cock and ball, ass, and boob shots but what comedy doesn't have those now-adays), it's also one of Smith's most successful attempts with the formula.

Seth Rogen plays Zack and Elizabeth Banks plays Miri, two best friends living in a crummy little apartment in Pittsburgh. The bills are stacking up , the heat and electricity have been turned off and they're about to be thrown out on their ass. What do two struggling thirty-somethings do? While crashing their High School reunion, they discover that the school's former Quarterback (Superman Return's Brandon Routh) is actually gay and the boyfriend of gay porn star Brandon (Justin Long). This gives Zack an idea and after ruminating over it for a night, he and Miri both decide that a cheap porno is the only way to solve their money woes. They enlist the help of Zack's coffee shop co-worker Delaney (Craig Robinson) to be producer and also bring on a rag tag team of actors (Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, Traci Lords, Katie Morgan, and Ricky Mabe), first to shoot the movie "Star Whores" with such characters as R2-Teabag, Hung Solo, and Darth Vibrator and then when that encounters a shooting problem, they decide to do a coffee shop porn called "Swallow my Cock-Ucinno".

The problem Smith often encounters is that sometimes it feels like he's throwing F-words, vibrator, pussy, and jerk-off jokes at us a little too easily and it doesn't really jive well with the sweeter side that comes later. As an example, watch "Jersey Girl." Just here he has a good balance for the most part. It starts off a little shaky but settles in nicely with crude jokes that earn big laughs. A diarrhea gag is priceless, a character named Bubbles has a unique talent, and the names themselves are great fun, take the David Mamet inspired "Glen and Garry Suck Ross' Cock" for example. It gets gooey but Smith keeps things down to Earth with an endearing love story about sex and the jealousy and uncomfortable and sensitive nature that surrounds it. It's nothing new. Everything mentioned has been explored to death on every network sitcom ever produced but it keeps its sweetness and that's really what counts here.

Rogen is a big, doughy, lovable ball of enthusiasm and he's always fun to watch. And Banks is adorable, has good comedic chemistry with Rogen but most importantly both actors bring a gentle and heartwarming romance to the screen. The rest of the cast is a big help, starting with "The Offices" Craig Robinson, who nails every line the character has, whether it's defying what he believes to be racism, talking about his wife, or nervously auditioning porn stars, he's the funniest character in the movie hands down. A close second is Justin Long, hilariously flamboyant and filled with gay pride to the point of being applause-worthy, this character deserves his own movie. And Jason Mewes is at his crude best in every scene he's in. "Zack and Miri" gets very good performances from everybody and it manages to do what a lot of romantic comedies this year have not been able to do, which is earn the laughs and earn the love of it's two characters. It's funny, fun, and you don't even need a condom to enjoy it. Let's see "Max Payne" try to make a similar claim.

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Max Payne - Beautiful Rendition

Max Payne (2008)

There's three kind of people going to see this movie. 1--People that have no idea about the game that think they're just going to watch some kind shoot-em-up mixed with a Constantine/Sin-City feel. 2--Those that have played the game and enjoyed the gameplay. 3--Those that have played the game and enjoyed the gameplay, but moreso, were mesmerized by the entire feel of the storyline; the dark noir-like cut scenes, the way Max's loss hunts him continually in an eerie way, the twisted levels with S&M induced screaming in the background of one and others with the valkyrie laced druggies wondering around, and of course, the poetic story-telling by Max himself.

Now, if you are one of the first two....let's face it, the majority of you just won't get it. You won't truly appreciate the lengths the director goes to in keeping the storyline congruent with the game, but not just rip it off completely. For those of you that keep saying Clive Owen should have played Max cause he did well in Shoot-em-up....you people should be the last ones to leave a rating on here. This film is not just a mindless shooter. This film would have been another game-to-film adaptation that had zero substance if Clive Owen had played the part. And people really would have been crying "Sin-city ripoff" if he'd played the part, since he was in that one too. Now was Mark Walberg PERFECT as the role? I don't know about that. But I thought he did a really job and captured Max's demeanor quite well.

I know it seems there may be no difference between liking the game for it's gameplay and then loving the game for it's story-telling, but there really is. When me and my buddy discussed the game, we always talked about how good it was simply for the mood and storyline, rather than the actual gameplay. And we both ended up really liking the movie.

You have to go into this movie understanding that there's more to it than just shooting guns and bullet time. If it was just those, the movie would have gaping plot-holes and would lose it's emotion. But the director leaves equal time for every issue; The eerie mood, how obsessed Max is with finding his wife's killer(s) and the way it affects his relationships, the hallucinations from the drugs, the corruption in which the valkyr has led to, and, yes, even the bullet-time. There really is a lot of substance to this film. It's a murder mystery film that also incorporates some vivid action and special effects. If people would know this going into it, I think their reaction would be a lot better. Probably not much of a movie to go watch with your g/f or wife, as my buddy's wife and her friend sat there and cut up the whole time cause they weren't connecting with the movie (which got on my nerves, as I was really into it).

All in all, I think it was beautifully done. It set out to capture Max Payne from every angle and did just that. It took ample time to make fanatics of the game go "holy crap, that scene was straight from the game", but yet also write in some originality of it's own that worked well within the plot. As far as some of the characters, I thought every one of them played their part to near-perfection. Mila Kunis actually did surprisingly well and it was fun to see her play the femme fatale bad@$$. Ludicrous didn't really have that much riding on him, but he still played the part just fine and I never got the feeling of "rapper-turned-cop" from his performance (unlike the way I can't stand many of Ice Cube's performances cause he's very one-dimensional). Chris O' Donell had a very short role, but I thought he played it amazingly. I haven't seen him in anything in a while, but he played the part of a corporate big-wig scared for his life very well and showed a lot of emotion in his performance in a way in which you almost feel sorry for him. Beau Bridges executed his part perfectly (not much more to say about that). I even enjoyed Donal Logue's serious short role as Max's partner, Alex.

Not a perfect movie, but definitely a good one, and by far the best video game-to-movie adaptation I've seen thus far

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Tropic Thunder - Very funny movie, slightly over the top humor

Tropic Thunder (2008)

I have no clue where to begin with this review. This movie is one of the most off the wall movies I have seen in years, yet it does have a plot, and a lot of humor mixed in.

Without spoiling things, the beginning is very creative, and nothing that you would expect. Once past that, we get into the crux of the movie. Speedman (Ben Stiller) and his crew are in Vietnam, working on a movie based on the book "Tropic Thunder" and the director and author of the book are on set the entire time. During one particular scene, Speedman is really fed up with his crew, and wants to do his own thing. So, the crew goes back to where they were dropped off, and Speedman does his own thing. Speedman gets captured by a group of people and the crew through getting lost eventually figure out, we are in a movie and have to follow the script they had to find Speedman.

There are so many laughs in this movie, some of it was over the top, but some of it was almost crying laughing. Jack Black plays his usual comedic self, but Robert Downey Jr. does a great job with what his character is. Downey had a lot to deal with, and when you see the movie, you will know what I mean.

Some of the music was placed where you wouldn't expect was funny too, some of it original, some of it songs you have heard before. I had not seen the trailer prior to this, which may be a good thing because I am not sure I would have laughed as much. I am very close to saying pay full price for this, but very little of the humor wasn't funny.

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Tropic Thunder Trailer

A Dark and Mature Sequel,

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

This is something you wouldn't want to miss. If you thoroughly enjoyed the first film, then this one is a darker adventure than the first one. Everything in Narnia goes totally out of control and tough to handle.

The film starts off with a Spanish group who have invaded Narnia and wiped out all the creatures living there. As it goes, the Pevensie kids are summoned to Narnia to fix up the wrong doings. A lot of conspiracy is thrown into the movie, but it feels like a plot well presented. It's pace is quick and starts right off not waiting to re-introduce everything again.

The cast is absolutely fantastic. The Pevensie kids, just like the last time, add the right amount of drama and humor to their respective roles. Especially Georgie Henley who plays Lucy is the standout yet again. But a worthy addition would also be Prince Caspian, played by Ben Barnes. He acts like a courageous and brave Prince born to lead an army. This is a good breakthrough for him. Also worth mentioning is King Miraz, a great villain since Tilda Swinton. As for a few cameo appearances you should also look out for, the performances are remarkable.

The other outstanding details I loved to see yet again in the film were the Cinematography, The Production Design, and Visual Effects. The shots were lavish and grand. Specially the Long shots, reminded me of The Lord Of The Rings. The Art Direction and the locations are astounding, very vibrant and unlike anything you would have ever seen in film. And of course the Visual Effects, those everlasting details adds another level entirely. You will love watching all this come together.

Even the action and battle sequences feel like a last stand to something no one can win. Its against all odds. You would cringe just because of the turn the film takes. It is filled with dark themes and more mature elements which would be a little hard to take. You might feel that the first one was pretty good. But give it another chance and you would feel this movie is just as good as the first.

For what I feel, this is a really good movie

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