Captain America (2011)

Director: Joe Johnston

Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci

Date: July 2011

Plot: Small, skinny but very eager Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a WWII U.S. Army soldier who volunteers to be a part of an experimental military program that infuses him with super-human powers turning him into Captain America. It is up to the First Avenger to use his new found strength to battle the villainous leader of Hydra, The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).

Trailer - Captain America: The First Avenger

Review: I must confess, when I saw the first teaser for this installment of Marvels pre-Avengers origin story I was very excited despite not reading any of the comics, old or new.

As I took my seat in the cinema, my anticipation and set to the max, hairs on the back of my neck standing upright I was ready to entertained and I was! From start to finish I don't think I looked away from the big screen, definitely at no time did I look at my watch and to see how long was left or how much more I had to sit through.

Personally I really enjoyed the movie for what it was, a blended War/Superhero/Sci-Fi/Comic Book movie. Did it have its negatives, sure, but nothing to stop me from going to see it again if I wanted. There is alot of talk about the film being a US Army recruitment campaign in disguise as an action movie and that it is very emm... America, Fuck Yeah!!!-ish. Honestly though, what do you expect, Captain America was always that type of hero and it is a rare War movie that doesn't show its own country in a good "recruitment" light, so please stop the trivial arguing and enjoy it because that is what I did!

First thing to note is the special FX for pre-Captain America Steve Rogers and the Red Skull... awesome, seamless, pixel perfect and did I say Awesome! I thought Chris Evan was a great choice for the all American American, he plays the part very well. He can play the action hero, has the comic timing to be funny and the charisma to hold an audiences attention for 2 hours. It will be very interesting to see if he can make his character stand out in The Avengers with Robert Downey Jr, Samual L Jackson, Jeremey Renner and Chris Hemsworth.

No surprises from the supporting cast either with Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving, both great actors who have a terrible habit of stealing every scene they're in, no matter who else is there! Hugo Weaving especially is fantastic as the villain in this story. Even though he has his head in full "Red Skull" make-up for about 60% of the movie you can still feel the characters hate, anger and evilness, which to me is the sign of a very good actor!

To finish, yes, I would recommend this to comic fanboys and casual movie goers alike if not for an entertaining evening at the cinema then to at least start the excitement for the upcoming Avengers movie next year!

Avengers Assemble!!!

Read more »

Guess Who's Back!!!!

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, after a long (very long) leave of absence we are finally making our way back to you, with the intent of bringing you a lot more News, Reviews and Tweets and Views! Please excuse the rhyme!

We have updated the look of the Blog, as you can hopefully tell, and added a few new bits 'n bobs to spruce up the place and make it a lot easier to access and navigate around. let me know in the comments below what you think!

With a healthy, fresh new outlook on film and a backlog of watched/soon to be reviewed movies ready to go, we are hoping to put out more regular content to give you a heads up on what's in-store for you the next time you go to the Cinema or to your local Rental Store.

Along with these and another few changes we are going to make this Blog be all that it can be!

Thanks

Read more »

We're Coming Back Soon!!!

Good News... We're on our way back!!!

After weeks of downtime we are finally making our long awaited return.
Estimated back online July 1st 2011...... Watch this space for updates :)

Read more »

83rd Annual Academy Awards Winners

Another year and another Oscar ceremony, as usual every looked stunning, except for the odd beard being worn by Christian Bale but there is always one at every ceremony!

This year there were very few surprises with the favourite in each catagory picking up their respective award, with both The Kings Speech and Inception picking up 4 awards each. For me the only exception was the Adapted Screenplay award which I believe should have gone to True Grit and not to The Social Network.

In case you didn't get to see the awards, here is the winners list from last night.

• Best Picture: The Kings Speech
• Best Actor: Colin Firth (The Kings Speech)
  
• Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
  
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
  
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
  
• Best Director: Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech)
  
• Best Visual Effects: Inception
• Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
  
• Best Original Screenplay: The Kings Speech
  
• Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
• Best Cinematogrophy: Inception
  
• Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland
  
• Best Film Editing: The Social Network
  
• Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
  
• Best Makeup: The Wolfman
  
• Best Original Score: The Social Network
  
• Best Original Song: We Belong Together (Toy Story 3)
  
• Best Sound Mixing: Inception
  
• Best Sound Editing: Inception
• Best Documentary: Inside Job

So, what do YOU think of the results? Post a comment below and let me know.

Read more »

True Grit (2011)

Director: Joel & Ethan Coen

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Dakin Matthews

Date: February 2011

Plot: Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. by Jim Beaver

Trailer - True Grit

Review: I had high expectations going into this film as the first movie based on this book (True Grit, 1969 starring John Wayne) was very very good. Thankfully the Coen brothers were able to produce a good film that can stand apart from the original as its own. Since this is not a direct remake it is unfair to compare it like one, both films are adaptations from the same book but both are quite different.

With most of the Best Picture Nominees in the Oscars this year, there is a lot of hype behind the movie and this is no different. Yes True Grit is a good film, I am not a big western fan but I did enjoy the film but reading some reviews I am led to believe that this is supposed to be the best film of the past decade, which its not.

Hailee Steinfeld is very good, she puts on a very believable performance as the no-nonsense, hard talking 14 year old Mattie Ross, at times you are rooting for her and others you want to slap her, but that's the character and it is portrayed well. Hailee is definitely one to look out for in the future, fingers crossed she doesn't go down the Rom-Com road!

Jeff Bridges is fantastic, there is no other word for it! Stellar performance in a role that almost seems like it was written for him. He is gruff, likable and a kind of anti-hero that we all love. It really is a huge toss up between him and Colin Firth for Best Actor at this years Oscars!

Matt Damon is a bit of a let down for me, and it is through no fault of his own. I think it was just bad casting! He is not weathered/aged enough to be in a western. As a comparison, Daniel Craig is only 2 years older but looks like he fits in the western environment in the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens. Also, that moustache is just comical! Performance wise, Damon does his best and holds his own in scenes with Bridges and Brolin but I think he should stick to the more clean-cut action movies.

Overall the film was a good watch and is definitely one you should see in the cinema because I feel it will be a long time before you see another good out and out western on the big screen!
A deserving 8 out 10 from me.

Read more »

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Director: Lee Unkrich

Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton, Don Rickles, John Morris

Date: July 2010

Plot: Andy is finally going to college and decides to put Woody and the gang into storage in the Attic but they are mistakenly sent to a Day-Care Center. Now it is up to Woody and Buzz to bring the toys back home.

Trailer - Toy Story 3


Review: It has taken 15 years for the Toy Story story to come full circle and it has been a great ride! We were first introduced to Woody and Buzz back in 1995 and now they are back in their final adventure. In Toy Story 3 we find Andy all grown up and ready to go to college, having packed away all his old toys he can't bring himself to throwing away his childhood friends and decides to put the gang in a box in the attic for storage but a mix up in boxes and bags means that Woody and the gang are donated to a Day-care center.
The Day-care toys are led by Lotso, a pink, fluffy, huggable bear who has a hidden sinister side that we find out about when Woody says they need to leave and go back home.

This movie was one of my favourites from last year, the story seems to have had everything, there was adventure, comedy, romance and genuine connection with the characters. Even though it is an animation movie, it pushes the boundaries of a 'kids' movie to a movie that can be enjoyed and beloved by everyone.

There is the same fun and adventure in this film as there was in the first two Toy Story films but this one does have the feel throughout that it is the ending of the story, this is backed up by the fantastic and emotional scene at the end between Andy and Bonnie in the garden. Still almost brings a tear to my eye!

I don't want to say too much about this because I don't want to spoil it for you, but at this stage if you have not seen this film there is something wrong with you!

It is great, and frankly about time, to finally see an animated film be nominated and considered for an Oscar. I doubt it will win but it has set the bar pretty high for animation films to come.

Read more »

The Social Network (2010)

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Bryan Barter, Rooney Mara, Armie Hammer, Joseph Mazzello, Justin Timberlake,

Date: October 2010

Plot: The indepth look at the founding of the social networking site Facebook and how it led to one of the most publicized lawsuits in recent history.



Trailer - The Social Network

Review: It was only a matter of time before someone decided it would be a good idea/ran out of real ideas and make a film out of an over popular website! Granted, Facebook had a slightly more interesting birth than most websites and it almost definitely has more members but is that a real reason to actually make a movie?

Yes, I am slightly biased because, well, I don't like facebook and am not on it. It is my own preference, facebook did nothing to me! And it is not like I'm anti social-networking... ehhh this is a Blog (And don't forget to follow the twitter)!

My problem is that I thought there were more/better ideas out there for a movie! I like going to watch a movie to laugh, to be scared and entertained all in the comfort of a large box of popcorn, this though, for me was none of those things.

I have spoken to many people who did enjoy this film, but they can never tell me why! Was it Jesse's portrayal of the socially inept, genius Mark Zuckerberg or was it the tale of a college student who managed to create a social networking site from his dorm room? or was it simply because Justin Timberlake is in it!

The Facebook story is worthy of a lenghty magazine spread or even as Zuckerbergs Biography but as a movie, and especially one that is nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars...

Yes there were a few entertaining moments and Jessie Eisenbergs performance was good but I don't understand the hype! If you look at the box office figures for 2010, The Social Network doesn't even break the top 30! Reference.

Anyway, I apologize that this review is more of a rant but I had to get that out!!

Personally I didn't really enjoy the film, I felt it dragged a bit from time to time, the characters were hard to relate to and the ending was very anti-climatic.

If you are cool and follow trends you will probably have seen this movie because someone on Facebook told you too and you may even have enjoyed it. But can you you tell me why you enjoyed it?

Read more »

127 Hours (2011)

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Treat Williams, Kate Burton

Date: January 2011

Plot: A lone canyoneer becomes trapped beneath a boulder while climbing in the baron area or Moab , Utah for 127 hours and is forced into desperate measures to try and survive.




Trailer - 127 Hours


Review: This is the incredible and true story of Aron Ralston and how he managed to survive for over 5 days in the wilds of Utah, with one arm trapped under a boulder and no help around for miles.

With a very simplistic idea and minimal cast Danny Boyle manages to reproduce the terrifying tale of one mans struggle both physically and mentally with being trapped alone in literally the middle of nowhere with little or no supplies and no hope for rescue for 127 hours.

The story works because of its simplicity, what happens if you are climbing on your own, you fall and get trapped under a boulder with no-one around for miles? How do you survive? How do you escape? How do you get help? Danny Boyle manages to use these questions to play on the fears of a lot of people to produce an exciting and nerving movie.

The scale of the film is interesting too, Tom Hanks starred in a 'one actor for 90% of a movie' movie on a much bigger budget in Castaway and Ryan Reynolds did one on a much smaller one in Buried, this though seems to sit almost in the middle. This is where I feel the movie falls short, you almost feel it either needs a cash injection to make it a proper big budget film or it needs to lose the music/flashbacks/swimming scene to make it more... I don't know "real" if you know what I mean.

Where it can stand proud is in the casting, James Franco is very brave for stepping into the realm of being just 'you and the camera'. It puts a lot of pressure and emphasis on his acting and ability to capture the audiences attention! Franco, does do well, he is likable and relatable which is what you want for this kind of role but throughout the film it always feels like you are watching a movie instead of a bringing the audience into the experience.

You could wait for the DVD release but it is one of those films which will be a talking point for the next few months. Overall I did enjoy the film, the end sequence with the real Aron Ralston was a nice touch, an above average 7 out of 10 for me.

Read more »

Inception (2010)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao

Date: July 2010

Plot: In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception. (from IMDB)

Trailer - Inception


Review: Woah!! Firstly, my bad! I know this movie has been out for ages and is on DVD/BluRay already but I just never got around to reviewing it. Now that it is in the mix for Best Picture at the Oscars this year I have the perfect excuse to re-watch it and do the long awaited review.

So here goes, Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) are both skilled thieves who use new technology to invade the dreams of an individual to learn, and steal, their inner most secrets.
Cobb, who is on the run, is approached and offered a job which will pay him enough money to stop running, the job though is to invade the dream of Robert Fischer (Murphy), the soon to be beneficiary of his fathers company, and implant an idea in his subconscious, this act of inception is all but impossible but for the sake of his freedom Cobb is going to attempt it.

As 99% of you who have seen this know, this movie takes a while to comprehend, sometimes a second watching! The lines between reality and dream world blur very quickly and you really have to be on your toes to keep up. The mind blowing and unbelievable special effects and storyline are very reminiscent of The Matrix when it was first released back in 1999.

The casting is very typical of Christopher Nolan as he is infamous for using the same actors in many of his movies, alot of the cast of Inception including Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Cane and Ken Watanabe have appeared or are set to appear in other Nolan productions. That is not to say they are bad choices! I do admire that a Director can have such a great relationship with his cast and always get the best out of them.

Leonardo DiCaprio has not worked with Christopher Nolan before but he has been on an great run over the past few years with great performances in Blood Diamond, The Departed, Revolutionary Road and Shutter Island. It's hard to say a bad thing about him post Blood Diamond really and Inception can be added to the list.

As I said, the story is a little hard to comprehend without a bit of serious concentration but once you get the general idea you can relax and enjoy the action sequences, particularly the hallway fight scene and the insane special effects, which alone are proof that this film deserves to be nominated in the Best Picture category.

In case you haven't seen it yet I won't give away the ending but you really should rent/buy this as soon as possible!

Read more »

The Fighter (2011)

Director: David O Russell

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale,
Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, Mickey O Keefe,
Jack McGee

Date: February 2011

Plot: Based on the early carrer of 'Irish' Micky Ward, The Fighter is the Rocky style story three-time New England Golden Gloves champion boxer and his rise to glory as the World Light-Welterweight Champion with the help of his drug addicted, former boxer-turned-trainer brother Dicky.

The Fighter - Trailer


Review: Running through the Boxing movies of the past 40 years, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby, Rocky I - VI, Ali, When We Were Kings, and so on, there are alot of good ones but not alot of great ones. The Rockys peaked early and went down hill fast (V and VI being so so bad!) and Ali was only ok at best, so with The Fighter I was expecting a typical troublesome amateur overcomes adversity to become champion style story... and that's what I got! But somehow this stands apart as a very entertaining story of Micky Ward and his Brother Dicky and how Micky becomes champ for the first time.

The story begins for us as Micky is on a winning streak, waiting for his big opportunity that never seems to come. After a decimating loss to a much bigger fighter he decides to call it a day.
Throughout the film we get to see Micky overcome his problems and get back on track to challenge for the Light-Welterweight belt against Shea Neary.

Like most great boxing movies, the boxing itself is only a very small part. In The Fighter, Micky is tormented by his brother Dicky, a former boxer and (in his own mind) a local hero in Lowell, MA. Dicky, who is addicted to heroin, believes he is the one to bring Micky to the big time, but a run-in with the law sees him being sent to jail.

There are some great performances in this movie, particularly from Christian Bale. Like The Machinist and American Psycho, he throws himself into the role and really pulls off a near perfect performance.

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast well, he puts in another good performance but to me, he seems to always play the same type of role, the poor tough guy from the bad part of town. He is too small to be an all out action hero but is very relatable in his underdog roles.

As an overall film it was very enjoyable, the direction was good, acting was good, story was good.
It is very hard to fault it on anything specific. I can see this picking up some awards at the Oscars this year so be sure to catch it at your local cinema.

Read more »

The Kings Speech (2011)

Director: Tom Hooper

Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon

Date: January 2011

Plot: This is the story of King George VI, on how he became the King of England before the start of World War II, how he struggled with a debilitating stammer and overcame it with the help of an unlikely friend.



The King's Speech - Trailer


Review: Based around the months before he became the King of England, The King's speech is a fantastic look inside the very private life of the monarch that led England into World War II.
Plagued with a speech impediment the reluctant would-be king is forced to seek help, in private, from an Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Both men become unlikely friends in the class dividing era that was London in the late 1930's.

I will be the first to hold up my hand and admit that I was very reluctant to see this film, Colin Firth with a stammer portraying a king... not exactly my type of film! But to my surprise and its credit, it actually turned out to be a very enjoyable film.

Colin Firth played the role of King George VI very well and very convincingly! And if I didn't know any better I would have assumed he always had a stammer!
The back and forth scenes between Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth also deserves a note, funny, emotional and heart warming, they provided some of the best parts of the whole movie.

I am always very critical of films that seem to be released specifically for the Oscars, a period drama or war time fable that rarely captivates the public and is used by people to make them sound more cultured than they actually are!
The King's Speech though does deliver some great performances and I can see why it has been nominated for so many awards, it has certainly thrown a wrench into my picks for best actor, supporting actor and film!

This general genre (Historic-drama) is rarely on my "can't wait to see this film" list and looking over my movie collection I find it hard to find more than one or two that I would recommend to the public. That being said, this one didn't bore me, I didn't feel like I wasted my money seeing it but at the same time I wouldn't rush to watch it again!

I would be happy to recommend it, a typical Oscar-made movie, maybe, but its a pleasant change from the sequel after sequel we will be bombarded with later this year.

Read more »

We're Back!!

Yes, it's true! We are indeed back in action! I would like to take this time to apologize for the extremely long delay between posts! Hopefully that is a thing of the past now and I can get back into posting often and always!!

Now that that is out of the way, did you have a good new year? Seen anything good? Let me know, TheMovieFridge@gmail.com.

Over the month long hiatus I have had a chance to watch and re-watch alot of movies! Expect to see reviews for Black Swan, 127 hours, True Grit, The Fighter and alot more coming real soon.

I would like to kick off with some very recent news that I came across (and posted on the Twitter TheMovieFridge), there are 27, yes 27 movie sequels being released in 2011! and this is not including remakes, prequals or new movies based on other things, toys, comics!!!
I for one find this insane!, a quick bit of research confirmed that this is the most sequels to be released in a single year ever!!!!

So, are all these sequels needed or even wanted? Is Hollywood running out of ideas or are they just getting lazy? or is it a simple case of money money money?

Lets run through the list and find out.

• Cars 2
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules
• The Hangover Part II
• Happy Feet 2
• Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
• Johnny English Reborn
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Piranha 3DD
• Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
• Big Mommas House 2: Like Father, Like Son
• Madea’s Big Happy Family
• Paranormal Activity 3
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• Scream 4
• Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One)
• Fast Five
• Final Destination 5
• Puss in Boots (Shrek 5)
• X-Men: First Class
• Winnie the Pooh 5
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

Hmmm, seems a serious case of laziness and money money money!!

Lets break it down;

We are told that POTC and Transformers will be the last in the series, Bay and Bruckheimer knowing when to quit while he is ahead!

On fear of mass teen uprising, Harry Potter 5 and Twilight 4 were always set to make an appearence and are destined to continue!

Scream 4, Fast5 and Mission Impossible 4, all trying to re-ignite a dying franchise! Here's hoping they can can bring the films back to the glory days of the first releases!

Hangover 2, Sherlock Holmes 2 and Piranha 3DD are all first sequels so I am quite happy to leave these be and see what happens.

And lastely, do we honestly really need Happy Feet 2, Big Mommas House 3, Another Paranormal Activity, and Alvin and the Chipmunks! Come On!!!
They are all almost guarenteed to barely break even at the box office so whats the point! Good money being pumped into crap!!

Anyway, I hope looking through this list gives you something to think about about the upcoming releases and how they will affect your cinema going experience this year.

Darragh

Read more »

Clearing out the Freezer!

As 2010 comes to a close, I think its time to, as everyone else is, look back on the year and discuss if it has been a triumph for cinemas and movie-goers or if this years variety can be put in the recycle bin!

I would like to take the time to look at the good and the bad movies of the year, unfortunately there was an absurd amount of the latter! So this post may seem slightly negative towards this years releases but believe me it is not on purpose!! Good or bad though this year in movies will probably be known for one thing... 3D! Almost every release had a 3D alternative which got old very quickly, but that dit not stop them making them and converting them!

I'll start on a positive note, we did see two fantastic animated films this year in Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me. These two "kids" movies were above and beyond what I had expected and are guarenteed to be in my DVD collection soon. Unfortunately not all the animated films this year were that good, Shrek 4, Alpha and Omega and Legend of the Guardians all disappointed and I am sure this will be reflected when these are put straight in the DVD bargin bin!!

Another big genre reboot this year saw the return of the minimal thinking, big explosion, one-liner action films from the 80's and early 90's. I have always loved this type of film, pure entertainment, who cares about Oscars when you can have a good time watching shit blow up!
The Expendables, The A-Team, The Losers, Red, Unstoppable, The Crazies and even From Paris with Love, all provided that bit of excitement that casual cinema folk and movie-buffs alike want to see. Give them enough time and these will be as classic as Die Hard, Rambo and Commando!

If you are not into all guns-a-blazin' action films there were more "Rom-Coms" and "Chick-Flicks" out than you could shake a pink stick at! Even at that though, they were not great by any means and will/should be soon forgotten. If you were duped into seeing these I feel sorry for you but I at least you didn't see all of them! Remember Me, Leap Year, Dear John, Valentine's Day, The Bounty Hunter, Date Night, The Back-up Plan, Letters to Juliet, Sex and the City 2...... the list goes on and on! Expect the DVD's to be given away for free with newspapers, magazines and packets of Tayto shortly after release!

We still got the big budget blockbusters this year with Iron Man 2 and Inception spending a long time on the big screen, others like Skyline and Salt came and went without much notice.
Comedies were also hit and miss, with Due Date and The Other Guys being brilliant and Hot Tub Time Machine and Grown Ups being terrible.

I have left out loads of films from the above, good and bad, but this is starting to become a bit of an essay and I don't want it to go on for ever!
I'll leave you with my Top 10 and Worst 10 of the year in no particular order below.
All in all it has been a good year for movies but it does almost seem like two bad films for every 1 good one! Here's hoping 2011 will be better :)

Top 10.

Kick-ass
Buried
The Expendables
Despicable Me
Due Date
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Losers
Iron Man 2
Cop Out

Worst 10

Legion
Leap Year
Extraordinary Measures
Shrek 4
Alice in Wonderland
Death at a Funeral
Furry Vengeance
Marmaduke
Eat Pray Love
The Switch

I would like to hear what you think though, what were your best and worst films of the year and are they similar to mine? Comments and emails always welcome and just in case I don't post again this year... Happy New Year!!

I know you cannot remember all of the films from 2010, so here is a list of the 100 most popular movies of the year, for both good and bad reasons!

2010 Movies:
Daybreakers
Leap Year
The Book of Eli
Extraordinary Measures
Legion
Tooth Fairy
Edge of Darkness
From Paris With Love
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Valentine's Day
The Wolfman
Shutter Island
Cop Out
The Crazies
Alice in Wonderland
Brooklyn's Finest
Green Zone
Remember Me
The Bounty Hunter
Repo Men
Hot Tub Time Machine
How to Train Your Dragon
Clash of the Titans
Date Night
Death at a Funeral
Kick-Ass
The Back-up Plan
The Losers
Furry Vengeance
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Harry Brown
Iron Man 2
Letters to Juliet
Robin Hood
Looking for Eric
MacGruber
Shrek Forever After
Sex and the City 2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Survival of the Dead
Get Him to the Greek
Killers
Marmaduke
Splice
Ondine
The A-Team
The Karate Kid
Jonah Hex
Toy Story 3
Cyrus
Knight and Day
Grown Ups
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Last Airbender
Despicable Me
Predators
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Inception
Salt
Charlie St. Cloud
Dinner for Schmucks
The Other Guys
Eat Pray Love
The Expendables
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Vampires Suck
Piranha 3D
The Switch
The Last Exorcism
Takers
The American
Going the Distance
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Alpha and Omega
Devil
Easy A
The Town
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
You Again
Buried
Case 39
Let Me In
The Social Network
Life as We Know It
Secretariat
Jackass 3D
Red
Paranormal Activity 2
Saw 3D
Due Date
Megamind
Skyline
Unstoppable
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The Next Three Days
Burlesque
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Tourist
Tron: Legacy

Read more »

Deaths this year

With very few Movies of any interest being released this month, it has been a quiet time for me. I have been re-watching some classics and hope to bring forward the forgotten films of the past few years into the lime-light once again.

But in the abrupt halt to my Cinema trips I have had a chance to look back over the year and I noticed that, this year more than most, we have lost a great number of stars of the big screen.


With the recent untimely death of the legend Leslie Nielsen I thought I might take this opportunity to remember some of the Heroes and Heroines that we have lost in 2010.

From the start of the year we have lost;

• Zelda Rubinstein (1933-2010) known for; the Poltergeist Movies
• Corey Haim (1971-2010) known for; The Lost Boys
  
• Peter Graves (1926-2010) known for; Airplane, Mission Impossible (TV)
• John Forsythe (1918-2010) known for; Charlie's Angels, Dynasty (TV)
• Gary Coleman (1968-2010) known for; Diff'rent Strokes (TV)
• Dennis Hopper (1936-2010) known for; Easy Rider, Speed, Waterworld
  
• Harold Gould (1923-2010) known for; The Sting
  
• Gloria Stuart (1910-2010) known for; Titanic
• Tony Curtis (1925-2010) known for; Some Like it Hot, Sparticus
• Tom Bosley (1927-2010) known for; Happy Days (TV)
• Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010) known for; Airplane, The Naked Gun Movies
  

Not all of these actors may have been the most well known over the last 20 years but they have all put in decades of hard work to build the movie industry into what it is today, and for that they will be missed.

Read more »

Due Date (2010)

Director: Todd Philips

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Danny McBride, Michelle Monaghan, Juliette Lewis

Date: November 2010

Plot: After an incident with Ethan (Galifianakis) and being put on a no-fly list, Peter (Downey Jr) must find a way to get cross country in time to see the birth of his first child. Peter has no choice but to team up with Ethan and this begins their hilarious, eventful, odd-couple style journey from New York to LA.

Due Date - Trailer

Review: This review is simply for the 4 people in the world who have yet to see this film because if you haven't seen it yet, there is something wrong!!

This is a classic odd-couple style film with the uptight expecting father Peter, played by Robert Downey Jr teaming up with the free spirited, aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay, played fantastically by Zach Galifianakis.

After an incident on the plane home, Peter is removed and put on a no-fly list, he is forced to hitch a ride across the country with Ethan to try and make it for the birth of his first born.
Ethan, an aspiring actor, accompanied by his Dog Sonny and his fathers ashes in a coffee can is looking to go to Hollywood to start his career as a TV actor.

The journey to LA is full of excitement, humour, tragedy, car crashes, weed and some of the best comic scenes of the year, especially the Downey Jr Babysitting scene and the Zach, a jeep and a drainage ditch scene... I'm still laughing!

I really enjoyed this movie, to the extent that I would easily go see it again! It will undoubtedly be compared to the classic comedies of this generation, The Hangover and Superbad, but the comparisons are valid, this will be a classic!

I felt the film peaked early and kept the high throughout most of the film, it is only at one or two points where the story gets serious and the comedy slows down but these scenes only last a moment and are broken up by some big laughs.

Overall I would highly recommend this to everyone for a good laugh whether its in the afternoon on a Tuesday or on a Friday night, it is always funny!

Read more »

Saw 3D (2010)

Director: Kevin Greutert

Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flannery, Chad Donella, Gina Holden, Cary Elwes

Date: October 2010

Plot: In this next Saw chapter we see a group of Jigsaw survivors gather together to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror.



Saw 3D - Trailer

Review: I feel enough time has passed and I have calmed down just about enough to write the review for this, the latest installment of the Saw franchise. As you can probably tell, I was not impressed with Saw 3D but where do I begin...

It all started about this time last year, we were promised retribution for the terrible terrible Saw IV and Saw V films and we got it with Saw VI, a film that brought back the true styling of the Saw franchise that had been lost in the previous films. Going into Saw 3D on the high from Saw VI I was expecting good things, creepy, terrifying, suspenseful, gore-tastic things but unfortunately it was not to be!

Saw 3D picks up where the last movie left off, with Hoffman continuing the Jigsaw Legacy while hunting down Jigsaws ex-wife, Jill. The main story line is intertwined this time around with Bobby, the guru behind the self-help group for Jigsaw survivors.
In classic Saw fashion, Bobby leads us through the gorey trap-filled story line, in an attempt to break up the ever deteriorating Jigsaw storyline.

To say that Saw 3D is completely useless is an exaggeration but surprisingly not that far from the actual truth!! Saw 3D seems to have been only made to satisfy our annual need for over-the-top and over-complicated bloodlust. Yes, the traps are more ridiculous, Yes, there is more blood than any other Saw film but that's about as good as it gets.

Lets break it down...
The 3D is average at best and feels forced in most places but probably the best part of the movie.
The story is very very predictable, which is a big problem for me because the Saw films always had a reputation for being complete mind-benders.
The Traps are too over-the-top, particulary the last one.
The level of blood and gore bordered on cheap B-Movie effects.
Note: Blood and Gore for the sake of it = Very Lame.

A positive for the film was the nostalgia of seeing Dr. Gordon again, even if he is not in the film for that long, and for this reason alone I would recommend going to see it.

It has become abundantly clear now that the studio obviously does not care about the story and as long as people are willing to spend the ca$h to see them, they will continue to make them. Which is a shame.

Read more »

RED (2010)

Director: Robert Schwentke

Cast: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Karl Urban,
John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirran, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss

Date: October 2010

Plot: Former CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is forced out of retirement and must get his old team back together to find out who is trying to kill him and why.


RED - Trailer

Review: Based on the popular D.C. graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, RED has a relitively simple plot, Frank Moses is forced out of retirement after he is attacked in his house, he picks up his Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) en route to finding who attacked him and why. This proves more difficult than he first thought and must reunite with his former team one by one in an attempt to help him uncover the truth.

Packing a film like this with as many superstars as you can find can either go very right or very very wrong, thankfully RED manages to pull it off nicely. Everyone seems to put in a steller performance and with a good story backing it up RED is going be, in my opinion, a sleeper success!

Without exagerating too much I think Bruce Willis is getting better as he gets older! Willis manages to keep the same comedic timing from Cop Out to make his James Bond/Jason Bourne type character very likable in RED.
As for John Malkovich, all I can say is he is unbelievable! Funny, crazy, sinister, action hero... he does it all! I was even impressed with Helen Mirran, I'm not sure if it was the type of movie or the rest of the cast but I saw her in a new light and really enjoyed her performance.

I didn't have too many expectations going in to see this but I was hopeful that it would be an entertaining 2 hours and it was. A good aul fashioned comedy/action flick.

A must see!

Read more »

Despicable Me (2010)

Director: Pierre Coffin

Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher, Julie Andrews

Date: October 2010

Plot: Super villain Gru has hatched his most diabolical plan ever, to steal the moon! But first he needs the help of 3 orphan girls to to get a shrink-ray from his new nemeses Vector.


Despicable Me - Trailer

Review: The tragic flaw with animation films over the last 15 years is that they are constantly being compared to Toy Story and Shrek.
While both of these are true classics, I feel it very unfair and quite boring to compare every film in the genre to these two! Could you imagine doing this in other Genre's? No!

So I believe that Despicable Me deserves to be judged on its own merits. In saying that, I thought that this was a fantastic film for both kids and the young at heart.
The movie really does have a bit of everything, there are laughs for everyone, from the fan of the slapstick to the subtle play on words, there is warmth and good intentions for those looking for a moral to the story and you would have to be made of ice not to fall in love with the cutest little girl, since Boo from Monsters Inc.

The storyline does follow the formula which makes it a bit predicable but there is enough in the movie to keep it fresh and new. The voice acting from all is done very well, at times it is sometimes a bit hard to understand Gru's (Steve Carell) accent but I don't believe it is enough to mark him down on it.

As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The jokes, story and animation worked well, I was even impressed by the 3D.
I believe that everyone left the cinema with a smile on their faces!

Definitely recommended to all.

Read more »

Fridge Door News

Welcome to another Marvel-ous edition of the Fridge Door News!!

On this weeks news we get to to don our tights, cape and mask as we look into this past weeks News, Rumours and Story's from the courageous and amazing world of Superheros!



The past 2 weeks have been rife with story's of the big budget action fests that are coming our way next year including Batman 3, Spiderman 4/ revisited Spiderman 1 and Superman: Man of Steel.

Read on my fellow Heroes and Heroines...

We kick things of with some big news on the new Spiderman reboot coming Summer of 2011. We broke the news, via Twitter, that Rhys Ifrans has signed on to play the villain in this much needed reboot. The rumour-mill lit up with suggestions of who he is going to play and it looks like it is going to be Doc Connors AKA The Lizard. Although this has yet to be confirmed it has not been denied either by Ifrans or the studio! Here's hoping!!


We move to Gotham City were the big news on the set of one of the most secretive movie, the untitled Batman 3, is the recent addition of Tom Hardy.
It is yet unknown who Hardy will play, Good guy or Villain but the storeys and theories have spread like wild fire... The best guesses are Killer Croc, Black Mask or The Riddler! Guess we will have to wait and see.


Debunked rumours: The two big rumours that have been laid to rest this week are that General Zod will NOT be in the new Superman movie, Zack Snyder himself put laid this one out to all the fanboys. The second is that Bradley Cooper will not be playing The Flash in the 2012 feature film. Cooper is quoted as saying "I've never heard anything about it ever in my life". This one particularly interests me as Ryan Reynolds was another fore runner to play the super fast hero... could he possibly play 3 super hero roles at once... Deadpool, Green Lantern and The Flash!!!

Read more »

Buried (2010)

Director: Rodrigo Cortes

Cast: Ryan Reynolds

Date: October 2010

Plot: An American truck driver in Iraq is captured and buried alive in an old wooden coffin, armed with only his lighter and a cellphone he must find a way out.



Buried - Trailer

Review: Upon seeing the trailer for this movie a few months ago I had great hopes and expectations, it was daring, suspenseful and above all beautifully original! I did have one or two notable concerns though; Can Ryan Reynolds act by himself for 90 minutes? Can he movie the story along and essentially carry the whole movie alone? Would a story of basically Ryan Reynolds in a box work? I believe I got the answers to all these questions last week...

We open in pitch blackness as Paul Conroy (Reynolds) awakens in the old wooden coffin, we are introduced to our main character from the light of a Zippo lighter and never leave his cramped claustrophobic side for the rest of the movie.

The film is daringly shot from inside the coffin at all times, we never cut to another scene or pan away for a moment. This along with the minimal lighting brings the audience into film and allows us to experience the similar fears and isolation that Paul feels.

Although a bit sceptical at first, this did really work! I am not sure if it was the fantastic performance from Ryan Reynolds or the master cinematography but I found myself engulfed in the film and sometimes even checking to make sure I had enough space to move my arms and legs! Bravo!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the film but there were a few unhappy patrons at the cinema, I'm not sure what they were expecting from a film about one man trapped in a buried coffin with the story told from his perspective... maybe some vampires or a transformer or two!!

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a good thriller of a movie.
And yes I will be buying this one when it comes out on DVD/Blu Ray next year!

Read more »