MOVIE REVIEW : Sherlock Holmes

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law

PLOT

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

REVIEW

+ Some of the best use of slow motion I have ever seen in a film. +

+ Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are both absolutely fantastic. +

+ Great sense of fun throughout. +

+ I am pleased that a lot of detective work was actually done. +

+ Some really great action scenes on display here. +

+ Mark Strong made a fantastic bad guy, as ever. +

+ Victorian England was been captured perfectly, and looks brilliant. +

+ The chemistry between the two main characters is flawless, I can't wait to see more of them together. +

- It seemed to slow down a bit in the middle. -

- The music was quirky, but frankly felt a little "meh" to me. -

BEST MOMENT

The slow motion explosion, a truly brilliant moment in cinema that I know I could watch time and time again.

MY RATING
++++++++--

MOVIE REVIEW : Where the Wild Things Are

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Directed by Spike Jonze

Starring Max Records and James Gandolifini

PLOT

An adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world--a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.

REVIEW

+ The Wild Things all looked great. +

+ Really makes you feel like a child again. +

+ I like the way that every creature seemed unique, but also represented one of Max's emotions. +

+ Had a lot of moments of greatness. +

+ Sucks you in, and often brings you to the edge of your seat. +

+ The story was wafer thin. +

- It all seemed a little... pointless. -

- Seemed to lack direction in some places, and actually got confusing with all the emotions and creatures bouncing off each other. -

- The music was a bit naff. -

- Unfortunately it had the problem of "I know this story already". -

BEST MOMENT

When Carol turns on Max, it actually had me on the edge of my seat. It would be terrifying for young kids.

MY RATING
++++++----

MOVIE REVIEW : Moon

MOON

Directed by Duncan Jones

Starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey

PLOT

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.

REVIEW

+ Sam Rockwell knocks out of the park with his performance. +

+ A very simple story, well told. +

+ Could get lost among all the sci-fi films this year, but comes out as an original piece of filmmaking. +

+ Some great, and truly hideous make up effects. +

+ Excellent use of miniatures and minimal CG. +

+ Very well written and intelligent script. +

+ Great direction from newcomer Duncan Jones, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. +

- It was very brief, and seemed to be over very quickly. -

- Could it be a bad point to say that I wanted more GERTY??. -

- There's no denying its a brilliant story, with an amazing performance... but wasn't quite as great as it was being built up to in my eyes. -

BEST MOMENT

It's gotta be the end. It all builds up to this pivotal moment and doesn't disappoint.

MY RATING
+++++++---

MOVIE REVIEW : A Christmas Carol

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Starring Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman

PLOT

An animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.

REVIEW

+ Along with Avatar, some of the best use of 3D I have seen so far. +

+ Jim Carrey is brilliant in all the roles he plays in this, though especially good at Scrooge. +

+ Even though its all mo-capped... you can really feel the emotions of the characters. +

+ A simple yet great, and very festive, score.. +

+ Because Jim Carrey played Scrooge throughout his whole life, there was really a connection between character and actor not achievable in the other adaptations.. +

+ I like how it portrays the story in all the ways you have never seen it from before. +

+ Often very scary, and is better for being so. +

+ The world looks brilliant, and the characters are all well designed. +

- The CG still isn't QUITE there, the characters still look a little "off". -

- Unfortunately it had the problem of "I know this story already". -

BEST MOMENT

Actually, the opening credits. I loved the effect of flying through Victorian England in 3D - it was brilliant.

MY RATING
++++++++--

Shalom!

Hey readers!

Sorry I've been away for a while. Been extremely busy at Uni... editing our film. It's coming along very nicely though. And we just filmed the final scene recently, which had its problems... but on the whole went very well!

Just had two of my wisdom teeth out, so have been feeling pretty poo these last few days. Luckily saw Avatar yesterday, which made me forgot about all that for 2 and a half hours. You can read the review below.

A lot of people have asked why Blessed-Topia 2 never came out this December. I can confirm now that a sequel is in the works but with my massive work load of the film and my dissertation, I just couldn't do it for this December. Keep looking however, as it will be out early next year.

Anyway, here's a couple of new movie reviews from you. I will be posting my top 10 films of the year soon so keep watching.

Bye for now!

MOVIE REVIEW : Avatar

AVATAR

Directed by James Cameron

Starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana

PLOT

A paraplegic marine dispatched to the planet Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

REVIEW

+ After months of me worrying that it wouldn't be very good - it blew me away. +

+ The 3D is absolutely incredible and super immersive. +

+ Even though the CG characters weren't 100% photo realistic, after 10 minutes you just forget about it and believe every single one of them is there. +

+ The planet of Pandora is the true star here, and one of the most amazing locations ever put to film. +

+ A simple story, but great in that you don't get confused and can just enjoy it for what it is. +

+ The music by James Horner was similar once again to all his other stuff, but still perfectly suited the film. +

+ It's two and a half hours long, but I didn't feel it at all - I wanted more. +

+ Incredible performances from everyone, even the digital characters. Zoe Saldana needs to be recognised for her work in this film. +

+ Amazing direction from the master of sci-fi James Cameron. It draws you in, never lets go, and makes you just want more. +

+ The biggest compliment I can give is that it pure escapist entertainment. It may not be 100% perfect. But I knew I was watching something special, and I loved every single minute of it. +

BEST MOMENT

There are so many fantastic moments, and I can't actually say my favourite without giving away a massive spoiler. So instead I'm gonna say when Jake rides his banshee for the first time.

MY RATING
++++++++++

MOVIE REVIEW : 2012

2012

Directed by Ronald Emmerich

Starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet

PLOT

An epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

REVIEW

+ Visually incredible. +

+ You felt like you were getting your money's worth - about 5 disaster films rolled into one. +

+ Very entertaining throughout. +

+ Brilliant destruction on a scale you've never seen before. +

+ Often very tense, edge of your seat stuff. +

+ Even though lines are often super cheesy, I still liked all the actors and the characters that they played. +

- It felt a little too long. -

- Sometimes the plot was just TOO stupid. -

- The score was pretty forgettable. -

- I saw it on the front row - so it was all a bit mish-mash... but I look forward to seeing it again on Blu-Ray. -

BEST MOMENT

When Yellowstone volcano explodes... WHOA!

MY RATING
++++++----

GAME REVIEW : Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)

HALO 3: ODST (Xbox 360)

Developed by Bungie
Published by Microsoft Game Studios

REVIEW

+ The music is absolutely incredible. +

+ Firefight is insanely addictive, and fantastically team based.+

+ The storyline is very good, and well presented. +

+ It adds many new elements to give it a fresh take on the Halo FPS. You really do feel smaller than the Master Chief. +

+ The sound design is as brilliant as ever. +

+ All the levels are action packed, memorable and fun to play through time and time again. +

+ Some of the cutscenes are absolutely awesome. +

+ It felt great to play alongside Nathan Fillion, Tricia Helfer and more.+

- Don't get me wrong, the storyline is fantastic, but it was nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. -

- The graphics are starting to show their age now. -

BEST MOMENT

There are loads of points that stand out. I'm gonna say an awesome cutscene where the ODST troops all team up to take out a massive Brute Chieftain and his hammer.

MY RATING
++++++++--

GAME REVIEW : Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (PS3)

Developed by Naughty Dog
Published by SCEE

REVIEW

+ Absolutely fantastic story and characters. +

+ Probably the best graphics I have seen in a game so far.+

+ Amazing action that always keeps you on your toes. +

+ Some of the best platforming moments I have ever played. +

+ Some really good stealth sections too. +

+ Online co-op is extremely fun and addictive. +

+ The multiplayer is really good too - but still not as great as Halo for me. +

+ Brilliant sound design. The effects, dialogue, score and more are all done to perfection.+

+I really can't stress enough about how great the story is. The cutscenes are perfectly done thanks to brilliant mo-cap and acting work from everyone involved. I couldn't put the controller down, cos I always wanted to see what happened next. +

- Sometimes there are too many gunfights, and you can't help but want a break. -

BEST MOMENT

There are so many to choose from. I'm gonna say the train sequence though. There's nothing better than hanging off the side of the train, and managing to climb up just in time before you hit a signal. So good.

MY RATING
+++++++++-

MOVIE REVIEW : The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Starring Heath Ledger and Christopher Plummer

PLOT

A traveling theater company gives its audience much more than they were expecting.

REVIEW

+ A film that most people assumed was doomed never to see the light of day, but it made it, and it was good! It was also very brave to keep an image of Heath Ledger being hung in there too. +

+ As most people are expecting, Heath Ledger is very good in his (sob) final ever role. He's actually in about 80% of the movie though. +

+ The way that the character keeps changing appearance actually does work perfectly. +

+ Absolutely brimming with originality and wonderful images. +

+ The story was good, though took a bit of a while to get going. But when you realise something about one of the characters, it does start to get a lot more interesting. +

+ Feels ultimately very British, and is better for it. +

+ All the supporting cast are excellent too. +

- The music was completely forgettable, which is a shame. -

- Towards the end, it did get a bit too weird. -

- The story got a bit muddled sometimes. -

BEST MOMENT

I think my favourite part was the Jude Law segment, just some really fantastic imagery.

MY RATING
++++++---