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Mar
09
This review is posted here.
Feb
24
First of all, this movie review will not be compared to the original movie which was made in 1951. Why? Because I haven’t watched it yet. So this movie is reviewed on it’s own. Let me admit something first, when I first saw the trailer of this movie, I was expecting the movie to be about something else, and the movie turned out to be something else. Was it good though? Yes it was. The movie did give me a little surprise because of what it was actually about. Anyway, this science fiction movie stars Keanu Reeves as Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson. As the movie poster suggests, the movie was released on December 12, 2008 in the United States, Canada and Australia. The movie grossed about $31 million dollar on it’s opening weekend itself in the United States. The film was a financial success and has grossed over $230 million dollars worldwide. Very nice numbers for this movie. And I must say that it did earn it.
The movie is directed by Scott Derrickson and he did a good job. Although I am still confused about the first part of the movie. I don’t really know what it has to do with the movie. So if someone could explain it to me, that would be great! The cast on the other hand, was amazing. What else can someone expect? The main character of the movie is the guy with the awesome black suit and glasses, although using that costume in this movie will be totally inappropriate. And the heroine, is the sweet lady who helped the huge green guy calm down. This all translates to; Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly both performed great in the movie. The movie could have been directed a little better though. I’m not saying that it wasn’t well directed, I’m just saying that it lacks a few things, that most people should be able to look past. The storyline was also good, but like I said before, I don’t quite understand what the first part of the movie means. The movie also has very nice special effects and it’s worth checking out. Another thing that I liked is the lack of a love story. Yes, almost every movie like this has a side love story, but not this one. And besides, having a love story will also be too much of a distraction in this movie.
Here’s the plot of the movie taken directly from Wikipedia. There might be SPOILERS, so please be warned. S indicates the start point and F indicates the end point of the plot. Begin highlighting from S and end at F to view the plot.
S“In 1928, a mountaineer (Keanu Reeves) encounters a glowing sphere while on an expedition in the snowy mountains of India. He then finds himself awakening after a sudden loss of consciousness, with the sphere now gone and a scar on his hand. In the present day, Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a Princeton professor, and other scientists are hastily assembled by the government in order to formulate a survival plan when it is feared that a large unknown object with a speed of 3×107m/s is due to impact Manhattan in over an hour. Nothing can be done about it because a vital military satellite has been disabled. The object is a large spherical biological spaceship, which slows down and lands gently in Central Park. A being (taking on the appearance of the man from the opening scene of the film) named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) emerges from the sphere while accompanied by a large robot. Klaatu, a representative of a group of alien races, has come to assess whether humanity can reverse the environmental damage it has inflicted on planet Earth. In the ensuing confusion, Klaatu is shot, but survives. The large robot activates and proceeds to disrupt all electrical systems in the city of New York, including many of the defense systems that the military has mustered in a perimeter around the spaceship. Before it can do any further damage, Klaatu orders it to shut down. While recovering from his injuries, Klaatu is detained by Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), the United States Secretary of Defense, and is barred from speaking to the United Nations. Klaatu manages to escape, and he soon finds himself eluding the authorities throughout northern New Jersey, specifically Newark and the forested Highlands, with Helen and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith).
Meanwhile, the presence of the sphere has caused a worldwide panic and the military manages to capture the robot after it thwarts their attempts to destroy the sphere using unmanned aerial vehicles and Sidewinder missiles. Klaatu decides that humans shall be exterminated to ensure that the planet — with its rare ability to sustain complex life — can survive. He orders smaller spheres previously hidden on Earth to begin taking animal species off the planet, and Jackson, reminded of Noah’s Ark, fears that a cataclysm is imminent. The robot, dubbed “GORT” (Genetically Organized Robotic Technology) by the government, is the subject of experiments within an underground facility in Virginia when it transforms into a swarm of self-replicating insect-like nanites that begin destroying everything in their path back to Manhattan (a classic “Grey Goo“), including a large contingent of the U.S. Army and the Giants Stadium.
After speaking with Nobel Prize-winning Professor Barnhardt (John Cleese) about how his own species went through drastic evolution to survive its sun’s demise, Klaatu is convinced by Helen and Jacob that humans can change their ways and are worth saving. The three go toward the sphere in Central Park, where Klaatu warns that even if he manages to stop GORT, there will be a price to the human way of life. The nanobot cloud arrives before they can reach the sphere and they have to hide under a bridge. There, it is revealed that Jacob and Helen have been infected by the nanites. She pleads with Klaatu to save Jacob. Klaatu saves both of them by transferring the infection to his own body, then sacrifices himself to stop GORT by walking through the nanites to the sphere and touching it. His actions cause the sphere to emit a massive pulse which stops GORT, saving humanity, but at the price of all of Earth’s technology becoming apparently useless and immobile. Klaatu disappears, and the giant sphere leaves Earth.“F
And if you didn’t read the plot that had massive spoilers, here’s a spoiler free summary of it;
“Klaatu, a representative of a group of alien races, has come to Earth to save Earth.”
That pretty much what the movie is about. If I give in a little more detail, it might spoil the movie.
So, what made me watch this movie? Well, one of the main reasons is because Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly were in it. Another reason was because I thought that the movie was going to be about something else. At least, that’s what I thought when I watched the trailer. There was also a lot of bad responses to the movie because of it being compared to the original movie from 1951. But that’s just responses from the critics. The important thing to me has always been the same; the movie entertained me. Overall, even though the movie was not what I expected it to be, it was a great movie and it kept me interested throughout the whole entire movie. And if you are wondering if this movie is a rental type or a purchase type; it’s definitely a purchase type movie.
Final Verdict: 4 / 5
Feb
18
The movie title says it all. Yeah, this movie is about Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) making a pornographic movie. The movie title actually sounds really tacky. But the movie did do a pretty good job at entertaining me. The movie has humor, some bad language, arguments between a male and a female, and it’s also a little love story; which all sums up as a romantic crack headed comedy. What more could you ask for? Of course, I have to admit that my favorite crack headed comedy movie is Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Anyway, Zack and Miri Make a Porno was released in theaters on October 31, 2008 in the United States. As of January 8, 2009 the film had grossed about $31 million in North America and $5 million overseas. Looking at these numbers, looks like the movie didn’t do quite well in the theaters. I don’t know why, but the movie is really worth watching. Comparing this movie to Step Brothers, looks like Step Brothers did way better than this movie. But you know what? That doesn’t mean a thing, because Zack and Miri Make a Porno cannot even be compared to a pathetic movie attempt such as Step Brothers.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is directed by Kevin Smith, and he did a fine job, not splendid, but fine. The movie is basically about Zack and Miri trying to make a pornographic movie to earn some cash. Acting was very well done and everyone did a nice job. The storyline was also believable and not too dumb or stupid. It did actually lean more towards stupid, but it’s a movie, and it did a great job in entertaining me. And that’s all I need to enjoy a movie.
Here’s the plot of the movie taken directly from Wikipedia. There might be SPOILERS, so please be warned. S indicates the start point and F indicates the end point of the plot. Begin highlighting from S and end at F to view the plot.
S“Monroeville, Pennsylvania roommates Zack Brown (Seth Rogen) and Miriam “Miri” Linky (Elizabeth Banks), who’ve been friends since the first grade, are facing hard times and a mountain of debt. Miri works at the local shopping mall and Zack works at a coffee shop, but they are so inundated with unpaid bills that their water gets turned off right before their high school reunion. At the reunion, Miri attempts to seduce her attractive former schoolmate Bobby Long (Brandon Routh), while Zack strikes up a conversation with Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long), who reveals that he is a gay porn star, and Bobby’s boyfriend.
After returning home from the reunion, the apartment’s electricity is turned off. Inspired by both the cultural mainstreaming of porn and the successful viral video that a coffee shop patron shot of Miri in a state of undress, Zack convinces Miri to film a pornographic movie together to make money.
Gathering a group of acquaintances and hired crew, they decide to film a Star Wars parody film called Star Whores. Their coworker, Delaney (Craig Robinson), who is made the producer, initially rents filming equipment and a building to use as a studio. But when they return the next day to begin filming, the group arrives to see the building being demolished, along with the equipment inside. They are told that that the man that rented it to them had run off with the money. Remembering that their boss threatened to install hidden video surveillance, Zack finds it, and decides to use it to replace their lost filming equipment. Zack revamps the film to one with a coffee shop motif, Swallow My Cockuccino, which they will film after hours at the coffee shop where Zack works using the surveillance camera.
Despite their insistence to one another that they would not allow having sex with each other to affect their friendship, when it comes time for Zack and Miri to have sex on camera, they find that instead of the clinical sex enacted by the actors in the other scenes, their interlude is romantic and heartfelt. Later that evening, Zack and Miri are at home when suddenly their power and water is turned back on. The rest of the actors and crew show up and reveal that they pooled their resources to pay one month of their bills, and have come over to throw them a party.
At the party, one of the other actresses, Stacey (Katie Morgan), asks Miri if it is okay for her to ask Zack to have sex. Although Miri has realized that she has developed feelings for Zack, she tells her it is okay to ask him. When Stacey relates this to Zack, the two retreat to Zack’s bedroom, much to Miri’s dismay.
The next evening, Zack is preparing to film a scene between Stacey and another actor, Lester (Jason Mewes), that was supposed to have been with Lester and Miri. Zack is dismayed when Miri shows up and insists on shooting the scene as originally planned. An incredulous Zack asks if she is doing this as a form of retaliation, pointing out that Stacey told him that Miri didn’t mind her sleeping with Zack. Miri corrects him, clarifying that she didn’t mind that Stacey merely made the offer to sleep with him. Perceiving this to have been some type of test, Zack admits that during the sex scene they filmed together, there was an emotional connection between them, and that he loves Miri. When Miri does not reciprocate, Zack storms out of the coffee shop, quitting the film and his job, and moves out of the apartment.
Three months later, Zack sees Delaney and Deacon (Jeff Anderson), the cameraman, and learns that Miri never filmed the scene with Lester. Zack goes to Miri’s apartment, and reveals to her that he never slept with Stacey, as they only ended up talking about Miri and Zack’s relationship. He pours his heart out to Miri, telling her that he loves her, and in response, Miri reciprocates. They marry, and start their own video production company, Zack and Miri Make Your Porno, which makes amateur videos for couples.”F
If you didn’t read the plot which contained spoilers, here’s a spoiler free summary of the plot;
“Zack and Miri are both out of cash and they need the cash to pay up their bills. Zack comes up with an idea to film and sell a pornographic movie, so that they can get some cash and start living normally again. And during this event, they also fall in love.”
That looks like a good enough summary for this movie. It outlines what the story is really about. Wow, I’m actually impressed with my own summary!
One interesting mention about this movie are the poster designs. The poster that I have used is actually a relaunched poster for the United States because for some reason, the original poster was too explicit for them. Jeez, look who’s talking about explicit. Anyway, the original poster actually suggests that the title characters are performing oral sex. Many media outlets refused to run the poster because of this and it was quite an issue. The poster was also banned for use in the United States theaters by the MPAA. Another version of the poster was made, which only shows stick figures. After a while, the poster was relaunched with cartoon styled graphics, which by the way does not give any idea of what the movie is about. But even still, this poster was also somewhat inappropriate because of the word “porno” used in a poster that looks very kid friendly. Now this, I can agree with. Anyway, that was the last version of the poster I know of that was made. To read more about this, visit Wikipedia. Below are the links to the 3 posters I was babbling about;
1st Version / 2nd Version / 3rd Version
What made me watch this movie? Well, last week was one of the most horrible weeks I’ve ever had at work. It was just painlessly busy the whole entire week. And so, I wanted to watch something like Harold and Kumar during the weekend to release some stress and laugh like an idiot. Then I thought of this movie, Zak and Miri Make a Porno. It wasn’t exactly Harold and Kumar, but it was close enough. Overall, the movie did a great job in entertaining me, and I would recommend it to anyone else who like watching romantic comedies like this.
Final Verdict: 3 / 5
Jan
22
This post is a continuation from: Lab Printer Monster
So, today the new printer came in to replace the old one at work. Just before it was replaced, I managed to get 2 shots. YAY!
The shot above shows clearly what the Lab Printer Monster looks like (powered by IBM by the way). Two eyes right on top, some teeth, and a goatee. If you look closely, there’s actually an outline for the teeth. That was how Sheri originally did it, after a slight mishearing from Heather. Heather actually wanted her to put blood on, like how it looks right now. LOL. After taking this shot I thought it would look cool if the printer had a Mohawk. I tried, but failed. But then, Trevor comes to the rescue! This is what we got;
I hope everyone enjoyed this like how I did. It’s one of the most random posts I’ve ever posted.
Jan
21
This was actually a group effort that was done at my workplace. LOL. It’ s just too bad that the video isn’t very clear. Anyway, the idea was suggested by Heather to Sheri. And Sheri did the make up for the printer, and the teeth were modified by Heather with blood (those red markings). The mistake I did was not taking a picture of it, so at least you’ll be able to see what the Lab Printer Monster looks like. Hopefully the printer is still like this tomorrow, then, I’ll take a picture of it and upload it here. And also, this was done to the printer because it stopped working all of a sudden (therefore, no printers were harmed intentionally). The person in the video is none other than Heather, making the Lab Printer Monster come to life! And the other person making that annoying noise, “It’s recording…. it is recording…” is none other than me. LOL. Also note that the Lab Printer Monster has a goatee… hehehe…
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll manage to get some pictures of this monster so that everyone can see this excellent piece of artwork that was created in the lab by some very talented lab tech artists. LOL.
This post continues here: Lab Printer Monster pictures
Jan
18
Hi everyone, I have completed doing 2 movie reviews and 1 game review so far, oh, and also 1 music review. The game review looked like it was pretty in depth but I just have a feeling that the movie reviews aren’t as good. The music review is also ok I guess. I do intend to keep my movie reviews not too long and not too short. Please do let me know what I should improve on, so that I can become better at this. Thank you to all who have been visiting my site.
Jan
18
Just when I thought movies couldn’t get any worse, I saw Step Brothers. This movie is a total waste of time, and is just full of it. I don’t even know how I managed to finish watching this movie, it was just so bad. Well, I didn’t watch it in one stretch though, I watched it little by little for a couple of days. I’m sure there are people out there who might enjoy this type of slapstick comedy, but when I say that this movie is really bad, I think I speak for all the sane people out there. The movie is about 2 good for nothing step brothers; Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell), and Dale Doback (John C. Reilly). It seems that these are also the same 2 people who starred in Talladega Nights. God knows what that movie was like. Step Brothers was released in theaters on July 25, 2008 in the United States and grossed about $130 million after 6 months (July 2008 – January 2009). I’m even surprised that it passed $100 million. I feel sorry for the people who actually watched this movie in the theaters.
The movie is directed by Adam McKay and the story is by Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. This movie is so bad, I’m not even sure why such a movie was made. All I can think of is that the director must be some kind of retard for even directing something like this. And the storyline, is just as bad. I just don’t know what else to say about this movie. Was the movie even trying to be good? The only good part of the movie might be the part a few minutes right before the last part of the movie. And that’s it. In other words, stay away from this movie. But for curiosity’s sake I watched it.
Here’s the plot of the movie taken directly from Wikipedia. There might be SPOILERS, so please be warned. S indicates the start point and F indicates the end point of the plot. Begin highlighting from S and end at F to view the plot.
S“Act I: Brennan Huff (Ferrell) is a sporadically unemployed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his divorcee mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen, Melvin and Howard). Dale Doback (Reilly) is a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his widower father, Robert (Richard Jenkins, Six Feet Under). When Robert and Nancy get married and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. They immediately don’t like each other. Dale warns Brennan not to touch his drum set. Later, Brennan plays on the drum set. Dale enters the room and notices a chip on one of his drumsticks and confronts Brennan about it. Brennan denies this but Dale doesn’t believe him. Brennan then goes and places his testicles all over Dales drums and they both get into a huge fight. The fight ends as Dale and Brennan strike each other at the same time with a bat and a golf club. The parents declare that the irresponsible men should find jobs or else they’re out of the house. Later on, Brennan’s successful but mean younger brother Derek (Adam Scott) comes to visit with his family. As Brennan and Dale hide in Dale’s tree house, Derek comes to mock Brennan and Dale. Angered by Derek, Dale punches Derek in the face. Brennan is in awe that Dale did something to Derek that he always wanted to do. After this occurred, Derek’s long-suffering wife Alice (Kathryn Hahn) finds it arousing that Dale punched Derek, becoming infatuated with him. Both men eventually realize that they have a lot in common, and become best friends. They take job interviews at which they perform quite poorly. Walking home, Brennan and Dale decide to start their own company called “Prestige Worldwide” and encounter kids from a local school that beat up Dale on a regular basis. The kids beat up Dale and Brennan and force them to lick old dog excrement. At home, the parents reveal that they are going to retire and allow Derek to sell the house forcing them to find other living arrangements. Dale and Brennan sabotage Derek’s plans by dressing as bad neighbors (a Klansman and a Nazi) and pretending Brennan had died in front of the buyers. Soon they create a music video to promote their singing talents being shot on Robert’s boat hence the name of the song “boats and hoes,” and show it to the parents, Derek, and others at Derek’s birthday party. The video reveals that the boat was crashed into rocks, and a furious Robert spanks them upon arriving home.
Act II: During Christmas time, the boys sleepwalk and attack Robert after he wakes them up. Angered by this, Robert forces himself to divorce Nancy and put all the blame on them. Dale and Brennan blame each other for the divorce and go back to hating each other. They go their separate ways as they both get apartments. Brennan starts working for Derek and Dale becomes a caterer. At a sales party for helicopters, the Catalina Wine Mixer (arranged by Brennan), the family meets again just as the band quits due to a heckler. Robert realizes that the boys are miserable and tells them to be themselves again and go for their dream. Brennan and Dale go on stage as Prestige Worldwide and with Brennan’s singing of the song Por Ti Volare, the parents and Derek have a change of character. Robert and Nancy fall in love again after realizing why they fell in love in the first place, Dale breaks off his relationship with Alice after she fantasizes him as a centaur and herself as a woman in the woods, and Derek regains the love for his brother after bringing up a memory of them when they were little and Brennan helped him fly a kite for the first time. Since this, Dale and Brennan have become a successful karaoke duo. Brennan is now in a relationship with his therapist Denise (Andrea Savage). Derek and his children are now nicer and more respectful and Derek is in the process of learning to become less of an egotistical jerk. Robert and Nancy get married again and move back into the house with a new tree house made from the destroyed boat just for Dale and Brennan although Derek and his kids also go to enjoy it, and in the tree house are Hustler magazines, crossbows, pirate hats (which when Brennan wears one makes his girlfriend aroused) , and Chewbacca masks, though only one movie quality.”F
That was a really long plot, as if the story was good. If you chose not to read it, good, because here’s my summary of the plot, which contains massive big time ridiculous spoilers;
“Brennan Huff and Dale Doback are 2 stupid step brothers who don’t have a life.”
And that people, should sum up what the entire movie is about.
When I first saw the trailer of the movie, I already knew that nothing good could come out of this movie. But as I said before, I was just curious to know how bad this movie could be. And I can safely say that it was far worse than I imagined it. So to sum up this review, stay away from this movie. But watch it if you are curious. This movie is a very good example of how bad a movie can be. As a compliment, I think it did a very good job in accomplishing that.
Final Verdict: 1 / 5
Jan
13
First off, before I go on, I would just like to say that this movie was overly hyped for nothing. Now, I’ll begin. Basically, this movie is about a teenage girl, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls in love with a male vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Twilight was released in the theaters on November 21, 2008 in the United States and in Canada and grossed $35.7 million on its opening day. That’s quite a lot for a movie like this.
When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was expecting it to be more of a awesome vampire story, but unfortunately it was just a misleading movie trailer like most over hyped movies. The movie tries to be a vampire story, and a love story, which is good, but because the direction (Catherine Hardwicke) was not so good, the movie did not perform at it’s best. Acting wise, both Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart could have performed better. They do have potential, and hopefully they will gain enough experience in all the movies that they are going to act and give us great performance later on in the future. As for the hype and reviews, they are all just full of it. I read in a magazine saying that this is the best romantic movie since Titanic. Make no mistake people, this movie is nowhere close to what Titanic was. Overall, Twilight was just an average movie trying to be a great movie. It could have been better if the direction was better and also if the acting was better.
Here’s the plot of the movie taken directly from Wikipedia. There might be SPOILERS, so please be warned. S indicates the start point and F indicates the end point of the plot. Begin highlighting from S and end at F to view the plot.
S“Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, after her mother remarries a minor league baseball player. She is quickly befriended by many students at her new high school, where she is intrigued by a mysterious group of siblings known as the Cullens. Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in Biology class on her first day of school, and he appears to be disgusted by her, much to Bella’s confusion. A few days later, Bella is nearly struck by a van, when Edward suddenly appears and stops the vehicle with his hand. Although he refuses to explain this act to Bella, Edward warns her against becoming friends with him.
Bella eventually discovers that Edward is a vampire, though he only consumes animal blood, and the pair fall in love. After Edward introduces Bella to his vampire family, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, three nomadic vampires—James, Victoria, and Laurent—arrive and put Bella’s life in danger. James, a tracker vampire, is intrigued by Edward’s protectiveness over a human, and decides to hunt her for sport. Edward and his family put their lives at risk to protect Bella, but James lures her into a trap by making her believe he is holding her mother hostage. James attacks Bella and bites her wrist, but Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, arrives before he can kill her. James is destroyed, and Edward sucks the venom from James’s bite out of Bella’s wrist, preventing her from becoming a vampire herself. A severely injured Bella is then taken to the hospital to spend some time recovering. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses to let happen. The film ends showing Victoria at the prom watching the pair dance together, ready to seek revenge for the murder of her lover, James.”F
If you didn’t read the plot which contained spoilers, here’s a spoiler free summary of the plot;
“Bella falls in love with Edward, who is a vampire. She slowly discovers what abilities Edward has. Soon after their love starts growing, Bella’s live is in danger because of a tracker vampire, James. This causes Edward to do his best to protect his love, Bella.“
Hopefully that was a good enough summary for the movie. That should give you an idea on what the movie is about.
So, when the movie first came out, I really didn’t have any intention on watching it as I already knew that the movie wasn’t going to be that good. So, what made me watch the movie? Well it’s all because of the movie’s soundtrack titled Decode. Decode is performed by Paramore, and it is a beautiful song. Paramore did a great job for the song, but the music video might be a little too awesome for this movie, as it is quite misleading. But, I love the song and the music video, which made me want to watch the movie, even though I knew the movie wasn’t going to be very good. All in all, the movie has a lot of potential. If you can overlook the few flaws the movie has to offer, you will enjoy it. My suggestion would be to wait until the DVD comes out, and then just rent it. But it’s up to you, some people might love the movie, and others might not. Hopefully this review gave everyone a rough idea on what the movie is like, so that you can decide to watch it or not.
Final Verdict: 3 / 5
