Happy Hunger Games! In adapting a book to screen, living up to the expectations of readers about how the characters look and act is not the only challenge. If you can make viewers tear up when a scene is moving, or jump when a scene is surprising even though they already know what’s coming, that’s…
Category: (4.5 out of 5)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – Movie Review
As a total fan who has lost all objectivity when it comes to anything Potter-related, the biggest surprise about the seeing the final movie was how it wasn’t a sad experience. I don’t want to use cliches like “the end of an era”, but reading seven un-short books and watching eight un-short movies is quite…
Super 8 – Movie Review
I have really missed those “family” sci-fi films of the 80s–the kind that put Steven Spielberg on the map–and it’s like a warm cup of Nestle’s Quik to be enjoying the nostalgic comfort and thrill again in JJ Abrams’s new movie, inspired by those films. It’s virtually impossible to watch Super 8 without thinking of…
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Movie Review
As much as I loved the first Kung Fu panda movie, I was always a little bothered by the fact that it wasn’t really a very Chinese story. The theme of finding one’s destiny and believing in yourself is more of a western idea. One other thing that irked me was that it made no…
Rango – Movie Review
Rango is weird. He has surreal dreams, wears a Hawaiian shirt, puts on little dramas in his terrarium with a windup toy fish, and has a chorus of mariachi owls singing a lament of his demise. The animated movie from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is quirky to say the least. Nevertheless, the…
Oscar, Schmoscar 2011
When I first started my “Oscar Schmoscar” posts a few years ago, I was tired of the kinds of nominees that Oscar was coming up with. I lumped together some mini-reviews to let readers know what I thought of some of the nominated movies, but it was meant to be kind of dismissive. A few…
The King’s Speech – Movie Review
I love the kinds of films that take us behind the curtain to glimpse the other side of the story. In the case of The King’s Speech, relatively intimate events are taking place against the backdrop of major ones. Colin Firth gives an outstanding performance as Prince Albert, the man who would be King George…
Tangled – Movie Review
Whenever Disney releases an animated movie, I wonder whether they’ve finally abandoned their classic formula. Last year’s The Princess and the Frog was probably their last foray into hand-drawn animation, but Tangled clearly suggests that they’re staying true to the kinds of movies that brought them success in the past. It’s definitely the successor of…
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 – Movie Review
It’s definitely the beginning of the end. When the final Harry potter book came out, fans like me felt sad that this enjoyable adventure with beloved characters was coming to a close. Now, the same is happening on the big screen. It doesn’t help the melancholy that this movie opens with scenes of Hermione casting…
