Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’

Short Take: Flawed but fun. A perfectly acceptable bit of entertainment

Director: Andrew Stanton

Screenwriters: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon; Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel) A Princess of Mars, 1917

Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Willem Dafoe, Dominic West

Length: 2h 12m

Synopsis: John Carter (Kitsch) is a Civil War vet who by accident finds himself transported to Mars where he discovers races of people and intelligent creatures, as well as, just as surprisingly, enhanced physical abilities. Soon John finds himself in the middle of a war between two humanoid peoples, the Red and the Blue, with a beautiful princess named Dejah (Collins) belonging to the former and a corrupt general named Sab Than (West) of the latter leading a war for her hand in marriage. Than is seduced by power given to him by the sage-like Therns; immortals who influence all types of beings to steer historical events all over the galaxy. In order to end the war John must enlist the help of the normally neutral but violent Tharks, led by Tars Tarkas (Dafoe), and find a way to foil the Therns’ plans. If he does, Dejah will show him the way back to Earth. But if he succeeds, will he want to go back?

Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Gets the atmosphere of the books, but not quite its most important aspect: its female lead.

Director: Bill Condon

Screenwriters: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay), Stephenie Meyer (novel)

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

Length: 1 hour 57 minutes

Synopsis: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens with Bella (Stewart) and her vampire boyfriend Edward (Pattinson) on the cusp of eternal happiness. Their lavish wedding marks the beginning of the end of Bella’s human life. She bids farewell to her parents and friends, knowing that transforming into a vampire means never being able to see them again. The happy couple sets off on their honeymoon to a private island in Brazil to finally consummate their relationship. However, things take a bad turn when the impossible happens and Bella finds herself pregnant with a hybrid vampire-human child. Against the advice of everyone around her, Bella decides to keep the baby. As it drains the life out of Bella, Edward and werewolf Jacob (Lautner) worry that the woman they love won’t survive.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the recent DVD release of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch we thought it would be worth our while to revisit our thoughts on the movie and give it a second look. While we stand by our review of the film by Cliff Bugle we nevertheless thought that a female perspective would be particularly interesting to have in this case. Naturally then, we referred to our own Marisa Carpico. The film has been heralded by some as a great “girl power” flick despite what was a largely negative critical reception, and we would like to appease those of you who are part of this growing cult following by offering you another examination of it. Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Points for solid action and great imagery, points off for lousy writing

Director: Zack Snyder

Screenwriters: Zack Snyder, Steve Shibuya

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Scott Glenn, Jon Hamm, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung

Length: 1h 50m

Synopsis: A newly orphaned girl, nicknamed Baby Doll (Browning), gets forcibly admitted into a psychiatric hospital after she accidentally kills her sister in defending her against their newly appointed legal guardian’s sexual assaults. Her admittance is mainly so her guardian can attain her inheritance, but we see that the grief she has been dealing with is actually beginning to affect her mind. While in the hospital Baby Doll befriends some fellow girl internees nicknamed Rocket (Malone), Blondie (Hudgens), Sweet Pea (Cornish), and Amber (Chung). The girls are forced to work by doing chores around the hospital as well as dance for rich men who come in to see their provocatively choreographed performances. The warden-like boss of the facility, Blue (Isaac), is stunned to see that Baby Doll turns out to be a phenomenal dancer, and plans to make a lot of money off of her shows. However, Baby Doll and the girls have no intention of sticking around any longer and form a plan to break out. It won’t be easy, and with the prospect of freedom comes the risk of death, but the girls push on in hopes of a better life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: As entertaining and well-crafted as anything out this year, short of "Inception"

Director: Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)

Screenwriters: Michael Bacall (Manic), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)

Cast: Michael Cera (Youth in Revolt, Superbad), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard), Chris Evans (The Losers, Sunshine), Jason Schwartzman (TV’s Bored to Death, Fantastic Mr. Fox), Alison Pill (Milk), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Kieran Culkin (The Cider House Rules), Ellen Wong, Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons

Length: 1h 52m

Synopsis: Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is a 23 year old who shares a small apartment with his gay roommate Wallace (Culkin) and is the bassist for the garage band Sex Bob-omb. Also in this band are his friends Stephen (Webber) and Neil (Simmons), and one ex-girlfriend named Kim (Pill), all of whom don’t really approve of the fact that Scott has begun dating a 17 year old girl named Knives Chau (Wong) (though they have yet to even hold hands). One day Scott sees a girl at the library that he only saw previously in his dreams – Ramona Flowers (Winstead). After meeting her face to face at a party and working what charm he has, Scott and Ramona start becoming a couple. Upon this development, however, Scott proceeds to be challenged by each of Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes. In order for the two to keep dating Scott must defeat each evil ex he encounters, all of whom combat him in an arcade-like manner. Will Scott survive the tremendous onslaught of enemies? And more importantly, will he eventually be able to date the girl of his dreams? Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: What's different shouldn't be different, and what's familiar should have been original. An overall wasted opportunity.

Director: Samuel Bayer (feature debut)

Screenwriters: Wesley Strick (Wolf, Doom), Eric Heisserer

Cast: Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Little Children), Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body), Rooney Mara (Youth in Revolt), Katie Cassidy (Black Christmas (2006))

Length: 1h 35m

Synopsis: In an unsuspecting suburban town various teens begin to experience frightening nightmares that are dangerously real. And in those nightmares they all come across the same evil man named Fred Krueger who continually tries to viciously murder them. Some teens fall victim to his assaults, the rest try to find a way to stop him – and keep from falling asleep. Pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together, which lead the surviving few to a final confrontation with their supernatural terror. To come out on top, they’ll have to literally fight their fears. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Uncomprimisingly harsh, which helps make it so inspirational

Director: Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer)

Screenwriters: Geoffrey Fletcher

Cast: Gabourey Sidibe (début), Mo’Nique (Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins; Phat Girlz)

Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Synopsis: Clareece “Precious” Jones is a 16-year-old girl living in 1980′s Harlem.  Still in the eighth grade and pregnant with her second child by her father, she is sent to a special school where she finally learns to read and write and is given the support and confidence she needs to finally escape her physically and emotionally abusive mother.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mia Wasikowska as Alice

IGN.com has published a piece detailing a variety of fantasy films that are in the works, from ones that will definitely hit theaters to ones that seem to only have a fleeting chance. It is a very convenient list for anyone trying to keep tabs on the news and rumors of such movies, functioning as a sort of one-stop-shop to note much – if not all – that appears noteworthy.

The list details the latest information on films like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, and The Hobbit, as well as some lesser known, smaller projects like Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, a gothic version of Little Red Riding Hood produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, and a dark, stop-motion animated version of Pinocchio.

Anyone interested in such films should take a look, as the information provided ranges from inducing fervent excitement to cautious optimism. All in all, a very worthwhile article. And don’t worry, there are no spoilers.