Tamako Love Story Anime review

Type: Movie

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 26, 2014

Producers: Kyoto Animation

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life

Duration: 1 hr. 18 min.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

"Everybody loves somebody."

"Bitter memories are proof that you did something".

Do you ever get that choked, somehow disappointed feeling when you finish a great show or movie? A void that lingers in your mind, trying to piece together everything you just watched? You curl up in your bed or floor, both incredibly happy but sad at the same time, thoughts racing through the mind? Yep! This particular movie will definitely leave you with that feeling. Tamako love story is a small, nice, pleasant, sweet, adorable and touching film. Highly recommended and a must watch!

 Tamako Love Story is that closure to Slice of Life anime that many don't have. The romance between the characters were apparent in the original series, but nothing really happened. Even though this movie is only an hour and 26 minutes long, it's the perfect ending to a series that was good. Tamako and Ooji are both in their third year of high school, and times are changing. While both are still the same character, you see development in both of them about perspective for the future, and just about each other.

Sometimes you don't need a romance filled with actions everywhere, and also sometimes you don't need a serious dramatical romance. You just need a simple, but profound love to find the perfect beauty of romance. That feeling of embarrassment after telling someone you love them and same for the one being confessed, every step was in this movie. This movie shows just what it's like if you are confessing to a friend, or even anyone, and what it can do to a relationship.

Development in all the characters are something that was really emphasized, even besides the main two. Tamako and Ooji are the main ones with development in the film, but the side characters are also moving on along side the both of them. Tamako Market and the movie itself has really nice art, I can't deny that. Kyoto Animations have always been praised for their excellent art, but there's one problem with it for me. Stunning backgrounds and quality are nice, but their diversity in character design just isn't there, not for this series at least. 

Music was always said to affect many people in different ways, but it's shown in this movie that music is definitely something that can help people. Aside from this aspect, the music was beautiful and sound clips were soothing. Take the stream scene for example, the scenery was visually stunning, but the sound of the water enhanced it to the next level to bring the feeling to life. Sound was certainly a department that didn't drop in this movie. 

"Everybody loves somebody." as the preview suggested has perfectly fit the theme of this movie. This has probably made more of an impact than the series itself, It's breathtaking, light, and brings serenity to your heart. It was quite enjoyable for me, if you are a fan of light story I fully recommend Tamako Love Story. If you have watched Tamako Market (The series) or not, you should definitely watch this Movie.

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Rio 2 movie review

In RIO 2, rare blue macaw lovebirds Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) are now married with three juvenile birds of their own, living in the bird sanctuary established by their married human friends Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro). During a trip to the Amazon, Linda and Tulio discover that there are more blue macaws living in a remote cluster of Brazil nut trees deep in the rainforest. When news gets out about their discovery, Jewel decides that her overly domesticated family needs to go to the Amazon and find out about their roots -- and, as it turns out, her father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia), and old boyfriend, Roberto (Bruno Mars), are the leaders of the flock. Blu has a tough time acclimating to his new wild environment, but even more trouble is brewing: A greedy logging CEO and Blu's old nemesis, Nigel (Jemaine Clement), are both set to destroy the macaws and their habitat.

Director Carlos Saldanha continues his visual love letter to his home country of Brazil with a second adventure exploring the natural beauty of his native land. The plot of Rio 2 may not be as thorough or exciting as the original, but moving the adventure to the Amazon adds even more colors and animals to a franchise that differentiated itself with its detail to landscapes and location. And thanks to spectacular singers like Mars, Kristin Chenoweth (as Gabi the hilarious poisonous frog), and Janelle Monae joining will.i.am, Clement, and Hathaway, the music is once again fabulously memorable.

Rio's "fish out of water" plot line for Blu already felt played out by the time the original movie was over, so it's a bit of a drag to see him still struggling to fit in with his wild(er) mate Jewel's idea of home. And Fernando, the orphaned boy who played such a prominent role in the original, is only seen once in this installment. But even though it's not quite as singular as its predecessor, Rio 2 is still a fun and thoughtful sequel that will make families leave the theater happy and ready to samba, learn capoeira, and adopt a capybara.

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Oculus movie review

This surprise packet of a horror chiller marks the arrival of promising newbie director Mike Flanagan. Expanded from his own half-hour short film, Oculus builds up a palpable sense of dread from the get-go. Tantalising the viewers’ imagination without resorting to shock tactics or gratuitous violence, Flanagan gets more scares from an antique mirror than most genre directors can scrape together with ghouls, gore and what have you.

Serving also as the film’s editor, the auteur adroitly melds events occurring in parallel time frames 11 years apart.  The set-up is simple but it would be futile to expect clear-cut explanations for the supernatural elements here.  

A decade after the mysterious death of their parents, 20-something siblings (Gillan-Thwaites) set out to investigate the malevolent forces unleashed by a century-old mirror in their family home. 

It seems that their parents (Katee Sackhoff-Rory Cochrane) had inexplicably gone berserk under the influence of the demonic mirror.  Now, the focus is on the psychological impact of the tragedy on the two parentless siblings who have to relive their childhood nightmare.

Low on special effects but high on horror and intrigue, here’s a rare small-scaled Hollywood film which delivers the goods and how.  Karen Gillan is outstanding as the sister determined to unravel the mystery. Brenton Thwaites is equally impressive as her beleaguered brother.   

The sparse background music score by The Newton Brothers is extremely effective. A compelling experiment in terror, Oculus is a must-experience.

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The Pirate Fairy movie review

Zarina (Hendricks) is a fairy who likes to experiment with fairy dust, believing that the fairies have yet to harness its true potential. Advised against carrying out such dangerous lab research, Zarina is shamed into self-banishment when an experiment goes badly wrong, causing serious damage to Pixie Hollow. A year goes by and now-wicked Zarina helps pirates, led by Tom Hiddleston's Captain Hook, to steal blue fairy dust that will help their ship fly. TinkerBell (Whitman) and her five buddies move to stop their nefarious plan...

So how do you review a movie like this? Like the summer blockbuster the fairy's devoted fans, who have lifted Tink and co. from what should have been a straight-to-DVD franchise to a bona fide 3D cinema outing, will not pay heed to any negative words a critic might offer up. And the truth is that while The Pirate Fairy might be as simple a story as can be it will prove an entertaining (and thankfully slim) seventy-eight minutes for the kids. Oh, and the singing is kept to a minimum. Always a bonus that.

So what is there to critique? Underneath the beautiful colours and the pretty fairies who flit around wondrous scenery, The Pirate Fairy has a few things to say. 'Tamper ye with science and mischief will reign,' is the one that sticks out. Zarina’s insistence to push science (the fairy dust) is punished first by the ecological disaster she causes to Pixie Hollow, then by her banishment, and further by alliance with the treacherous pirates. Best leave things untouched, Pirate Fairy seems to say.

And it says more. With each fairy given a particular skill - whether it be control over light or water - confusion and chaos takes hold when the skills are unceremoniously swapped around the unsuspecting fairies: 'Rejoice in your pre ordained roles' is a rather unambitious message for a child, don't you think?

It's quite possible, however, that I am reading too much into it. But there is little for an adult to do here.

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Muppets Most Wanted movie review

In a classic opening, Kermit the Frog is in the swamp singing "The Rainbow Connection" wistfully to himself when he's overheard by a passing showbiz agent (Dom DeLuise), who compliments the amphibian on his talents. Fired up by the thought of performing in Hollywood, Kermit hits the road on a bicycle, heading westward and gathering along the way a menagerie of equally-ambitious Muppet animals. There's the painfully-unfunny standup comic Fozzie Bear, the unclassifiable Great Gonzo, the rock band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and the feisty, narcissistic diva Miss Piggy, who immediately becomes infatuated with the go-getter frog. But upon seeing charismatic Kermit, Doc Hopper (Charles Durning) decides he's the perfect spokes-frog for his chain of frog-leg restaurants. The bad guy's cross-country pursuit sidetracks the Muppets, but eventually they arrive in Hollywood and get signed to the standard "rich and famous" contract.

Jim Henson's debut Muppet film was a technological breakthrough because it was the first time his beloved Muppet Show characters were shown in full, from head to toe. In one of the most impressive scenes, Kermit pedals a bicycle. The beauty of the movie is that the relatively low-tech magic, innocence, and sweetness of Jim Henson's characters still hold up. It's wondrous how alive and likeable a piece of felt like Kermit can be with just a smirk or tilt of his fabric head.

Grownups and kids will have no trouble accepting the Muppets' interactions with humans or each other, even if the Kermit-crazed villain seems a weak afterthought. If anything's gone stale it's the jokes and puns, seemingly pitched at the younger scale of the Muppets' global fandom. Still, adults will have more than one occasion to smile, especially at the parade of celebrity appearances, including Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Orson Welles, and Mel Brooks.

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Divergent movie review

In the posters for Divergent, Shailene Woodley has been given the stylized bod of a comic-book sci-action vamp, and her features are as coolly chiseled as her physique. But in the movie version of Veronica Roth's 2011 novel, Woodley, I'm glad to say, is a lot more recognizably human, and that goes for her acting too. Her character, Tris, spends most of the film learning to leap and toss knives and risk death like a badass, and when she puts those skills to the test battling her society's corrupt leaders, there's no doubt that she's a superior, market-tested YA role model, like Katniss in The Hunger Games. But she is also, as Woodley plays her, an intensely vulnerable and relatable character.

Tris, a.k.a. Beatrice, has been raised as a member of Abnegnation, one of five factions in a walled dystopia that was formerly Chicago and still looks, strikingly, like a semiruined concrete-playground version of that city. The members of Abnegnation dress in plain tan frocks, like the Amish, and they're all about puritan self-sacrifice. The other four factions are Erudite (defined by their transcendent knowledge), Candor (who are compulsively honest), Amity (the naturally peaceful), and Dauntless (the fearless tattooed warrior jocks in black — in other words, the sect that anyone cool would want to be part of). Beatrice and her peers have the right to choose a ­faction for themselves (it's like picking a college — you can go to Yale even if your folks didn't). But when she takes the test to learn which faction she's best suited for, it turns out that she's in the rare forbidden ­category known as Divergent, which means she has the qualities of three factions at once: Abnegnation, ­Erudite, and Dauntless. It may sound silly to say she's an outlaw because she's self-sacrificial, brilliant, and strong all at the same time, but what's really forbidden is ­independent thought.

Woodley, through the delicate power of her acting, does something compelling: She shows you what a prickly, fearful, yet daring personality looks like when it's nestled deep within the kind of modest, bookish girl who shouldn't even like gym class. Tris chooses to become part of Dauntless not because she has any special athletic skill but because it's her nature to go for broke. The first half of Divergent is a lean, exciting basic-training thriller, with Tris willing herself to do things like jump aboard speeding trains and fight with her bare knuckles. Woodley, at every turn, lets us feel as if we're in her shoes, not so much Dauntless as thrillingly daunted.

The second half of the movie goes on a bit, with too many rote combat scenes. Yet the director, Neil Burger (the fanciful craftsman who made Limitless and The Illusionist), keeps you invested, staging a rise-of-the-savior-heroine plot so that it seems less ritualistic than it does in the Hunger Games films. It helps that the drill sergeant, named Four, is played by Theo James, who's like an unflaky James Franco with a surly hint of T-shirt-era Brando; he brings off the neat trick of playing a hardass who is also a heartthrob. And it's nice to watch Kate Winslet go full ice-blood fascist as the Erudite leader who makes a scarily smart case for a society rooted in the fine art of ­control. In many ways, she sounds similar to a movie executive, so I'm glad to see the launch of a dystopian franchise in which individuality, as embodied by Shailene Woodley, looks like it could mean something beyond hiply propping up the status quo.

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Mr. Peabody & Sherman movie review

In “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) is a genius dog, a college graduate with a penchant for bad puns. Sherman (Max Charles) is a boy, adopted by Mr. Peabody and raised to appreciate knowledge. They wear matching glasses. Only one of them wears a bow tie (hint: it’s the dog). My parents grew up watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman, the subjects of a series of shorts called “Peabody’s Improbable History” from “Rocky and His Friends” and “The Bullwinkle Show.” My mom is such a fan of the original show that our dog is named Mr. Peabody. I'm sure if I had come second, I would have been named Sherman, just for consistency.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman have stayed much the same in terms of their personalities, but their originally perplexing personal relationship is fleshed out in more detail in the film. Mr. Peabody, a know-it-all who refused to conform to society’s standards of how a dog should act, was never adopted. Because of his past, he decides to adopt a boy and save him from that fate. The crux of the film (and the television show) is that Mr. Peabody designed a “wayback machine” that allows him to witness important moments in history. The plot is kicked into gear when Sherman uses the wayback machine to prove a point to his brainy nemesis from school, Penny (Ariel Winter), against Mr. Peabody’s orders. The three then travel through time on an adventure to fix the past and the future.

Mr. Peabody’s vanity and self-confidence are intended to amuse, and Burrell pulls off the role impeccably. Not only does the dog think he is superior to the members of his own species, but he is also certain he’s better than all humans as well. “How hard could raising a child be?” he asks the judge who grants him approval, as a dog, to adopt. His plentiful puns—a throwback to the 1960s program—are intended to be silly jokes to himself that no one will understand, but they become painfully obvious in the over-the-top way he delivers them, if not to Sherman then to the audience. He wants everyone to know just how intelligent he is, and he never fails to share his knowledge. The character walks the line between grating and endearing with near perfection.What do you think?

There’s nothing spectacular or revolutionary about the animation, but it’s not bad. The story feels forced into being “aww”-worthy and the places and times they travel to are uninspired. In reinventing a classic, the new “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” takes away some of what made the series so original. Instead of a “History of the World: Part I” or “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” for kids, the movie is just another average animated film that panders to parents’ nostalgia

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Vampire Academy movie review

Classifying 'Vampire Academy' into any one particular genre would be doing injustice to the film. It consists of part paranormal romance, part high school drama, part action with teen adventure and part coming-of-age stories that have been woven together into a predictable generic tale of vampires in St. Vladimir's Academy.

The Academy, a very Hogwartisian style institute in rural Montana houses the Moroi, the Strigoi, the Dhampir and humans. The Moroi are mortal vampires of a noble race who practice magic. They depend on human blood for food and have a code, a society, ethics, and a higher education system of sorts.

The Strigoi are the opposite of the Moroi. They are the evil vampires we're all familiar with. The Dhampir are half vampire and half human, they protect their Moroi masters from the Strigoi menace.

The film begins in a very cliched manner; a group of animated and overtly excited teenagers speeding in car and a voice over narrating, 'Less than a year, when we ran away from the academy, wanting to live like ordinary people' suddenly there is a head-on collision, a horrific accident on the highway.

What follows is, Rosemarie Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) and Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry) being nabbed by fellow vampires and are dragged back to the secluded St. Vladimir's.

Lissa is the last of the Dragomir family, heir to the royal throne of the Moroi, and Rose's best friend and classmate at the academy. Her absence at the academy was not going to be tolerated, as she would be the successor of Queen Tatiana (Joely Richardson).

Rose is her Dhampir guardian whose sole role is to protect Lissa from any danger. This forms the crux of the narration.

The sub-plot includes, the two of them trying to decide which cute boy they like while thrashing rivals and dealing with ominous signs of conspiracy. The entire track is so reminiscent of films like aTwilight' and aHarry Potter'.

The narration though engaging, drags a little bit in the middle, with some of the individual scenes lingering for a little too long than required.

The interpersonal undercurrents between the two main protagonists are undoubtedly convincing, Zoey Deutch engages you as Rose. Here character is challenging and she exhibits her charisma to the hilt.

The script by Daniel Waters based on Richelle Meads novels is light, bubbly and pretty devoid of fangs. The dialogues filled with youth slang are verbose and difficult to follow especially while explaining the complicated mythology.

Overall, Director Mark Waters' 'Vampire Academy' has its moments even though it has very little to offer in terms of wittiness, craftiness, shrewdness or novelty that one would expect in a vampire film. But it is sure to satisfy only the fans of the original source material.

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Legend of Hercules movie review

The origin story of the the mythical Greek hero. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom.

Gladiators and Greek mythology is Hollywood's favourite staple diet. The Legend of Hercules is one of the many such films that tries to make a quick buck using CGI, lavish sets and beefed up actors set against the backdrop of the famous Greek hero.

So there are several hard to pronounce and remember names such as Iphicles, Alcmene, Hebe and others, but the basic premise of the plot is quite simple. It is the story of Hercules realising his legacy and raging a battle to claim

Those who love the genre and can devour anything to do with Greek mythology might enjoy the inter personal dynamics between the various characters. There are ample action and battle scenes to keep the testosterone pumping. 

Hercules doesn't have a single original moment. Be it the action, the art work, or the special effects, all of it has been done before. There is a serious 300 hang over with the style of shooting the combat scenes.

Also Kellan Lutz has the body but he's unable to emote and play the lead role with conviction. A lot of times you feel like you are watching a cheap B-grade version of other much intelligently written and smartly shot films of the same genre.Strictly an average fare, Hercules will only appeal to those who can't enough of the Greek demi gods.

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Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones movie review

This supernatural horror/thriller has two distinctions: it's the first new release of 2014 and another installment in the highly successful, low-budget franchise. Unlike its predecessors, it's not set in a haunted house in middle-class WASPy suburbia. Instead, the story shifts into a working-class Latino apartment complex in southern California -- with an ethnically diverse cast of characters.

It begins as Jesse (Jorge Diaz), a recent Oxnard High School graduate, awakens to find an odd bite mark on his arm. Pretty soon, he's experiencing some extraordinary powers, like the ability to levitate himself and others, along with inexplicable mood swings. This mystery coincides with the sudden death of Jesse's downstairs neighbor, reclusive Anna (Gloria Sandoval), whom many suspect was part of a coven of witches performing Santeria blood rituals. Curious, Jesse and his friend Hector (Jorge Diaz) peeked into Anna's apartment after the police left, unearthing her collection of occult artifacts and documenting their discoveries with Jesse's new camera. When Hector and Jesse's sister, Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh), become increasingly concerned about Jesse's transformation and increasing inability to control his violent temper, they consult Ali (Molly Ephraim), who recognizes the telltale symptoms of demonic possession. And so it goes.

Screenwriter Christopher Landon, who contributed to earlier sequels, directs, and it's certainly a step up from the last chapter, "Paranormal Activity 4," which was truly disappointing. One of the elements introduced this time `round is the sinister use of Simon, an electronic Milton Bradley game, which begins answering yes/no questions like a Ouija board. Fittingly, in the finale, it adds to and expands the previous mythology, as a harbinger of "Paranormal Activity 5," which is scheduled for an October release.

For those who have forgotten or missed the 2009 original, the basic concept is based on "found footage," similar to "The Blair Witch Project," but focusing on various incarnations of a malevolent spirit named Toby.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" is a fright-flick 4, a spin-off that's specifically aimed at adolescent Hispanic chiller/horror fans.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug movie review

Gandalf (McKellen) meets Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) in the city of Bree and persuades him to pursue his destiny - reclaiming the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor and take the throne. For that, he needs a precious stone hidden in a mountain guarded by a dragon called Smaug (voice: Cumberbatch). He sets out on this quest with Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) and a group of Dwarves.

After Gandalf the wizard convinces Thorin that he needs to embark on the journey, a motley group is assembled, which includes the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. Baggins the burglar is the only one with the skill and guile necessary to steal the gem that Thorin needs to reclaim the kingdom - the Arkenstone. However, Baggins does have his own secrets from Gandalf and the gang.

So, they set out on the task, with many stops along the way. For example, at Mirkwood, they encounter giant spiders. They are imprisoned by the Elvenking, Thranduil (Lee Pace). They encounter Orcs and more...

In order to keep the film from dragging, Jackson introduces characters at key points, which keeps the momentum flowing. The return of the dashing Legolas is a welcome one, for he is fantastic. His skill as an archer has never been better, and in battle, he makes pincushions out of his adversaries. The only chink in the armour is the romance track between Tauriel (Evangeline) and Kili (Turner) which is only distracting.

Cumberbatch's deeply sonorous voice gives Smaug a new dimension of malevolence. While the previous instalment of this trilogy was a little slow and low on action, Jackson has now ensured that you'll be transported to another land filled with magic, wonder, danger, mystery and more.

The film is supremely accessible and enjoyable, even if you haven't read Tolkien. And surprisingly enough, to keep things from getting heavy, there are more than a few laugh-aloud moments courtesy the Dwarves. This one's a packed-to-the-gills entertainer from start to finish.

Note: You may not like this film if you don't like action fantasy.

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Frozen movie review

Frozen is an endearing fairy tale about two princesses, their dreams, desires, fears, self-discovery and above all, unconditional love for each other.

A 'snow queen' of sorts, Princess Elsa has the power to create snow. Everything she touches turns into ice. A deadly mishap convinces her that she is born with a curse. Ashamed and heart-broken, she distances herself from the world and goes into a self-proclaimed exile. Clumsy and vivacious, younger sister Anna is kept in the dark about Elsa's secret, until their kingdom bears the brunt of it.

Can Anna rescue their kingdom from Elsa's uncontrollable icy powers? Will the sun shine upon their snow-clad kingdom again? Can the two rise above their insecurities and imperfections for the well-being of their people?

Visually stunning and emotionally arresting, Frozen is clearly the best animated film of the year. It's an incredible journey of a brave girl, who sets out to find her sister - the reluctant ice-queen with the help of an adorable snowman and an unconventional 'prince charming'. It is nowhere the 'cliched' fairy-tale, with an archaic view on women. The film introduces the new age Disney princesses, who no longer wait to be rescued. They are brave, uninhibited yet vulnerable and sacrificing. While snow looms over the kingdom, it's the goodness of people that keeps the fire burning. The songs are melodious and meaningful, while the 3D enhances the beauty of it all.

Also, Frozen redefines Disney's quintessential 'true love' theory. Even if you are not into fairy-tales, you'll love this one for it's unpredictable and thus keeps you engaged throughout. It's not about seeking happiness with someone else, but being happy with who you truly are.

There's a lovely line that Olaf, the snowman, says in the film - Some people are worth melting for. Likewise, even if you are not too fond of snow, some love stories are worth freezing for! Do not miss out on this magical journey of love and self-discovery.

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About time movie review

Tim (Harry Potter’s own Bill Weasley, Domhnall Gleeson) has finally decided that the time has come to move to London, away for the first time from his loving mum (Lindsay Duncan), dad (Bill Nighy), and sister Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson). His decision comes about after a disastrous New Year’s Eve party and Dad has finally told him a family secret: that the men in their lineage can travel through time. Now, Tim is making his way as a lawyer, while trying to find true love, which comes in the form of Mary (Rachel McAdams), whom he met at a literal blind date bar. Soon enough, Tim is using his family powers to make everything in life as perfect as he can, but not without a few consequences along the way.

Curtis has really shown that he has the directing chops to bring his own screenplays to life, and has scored his biggest triumph yet in About Time. Along with his brilliant cast and amazing soundtrack, Curtis brings one of the year’s absolute best films to theaters. While some may possibly balk about it being just another message movie, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that in this case. For anyone interested to know, watching About Time is the first time my wife has ever seen me cry. Let that be a warning for all viewers! Gleeson may be a surprising lead, but he makes a fantastic one here, carrying the entire film on his shoulders with gusto. Curtis may fall on the trappings of shaky cam a little too much, but it never gets in the way of the story. As for the film itself, all that’s really left to say is that it’s about life, it’s about love, and it’s About Time 2013 started rolling out the masterpieces.

While I’m not sure if it’s the best film of 2013, it sure gives everything else a run for its money. This is the kind of film I could gush on and on about profusely, but kept it short and to the point, for readers’ sake.

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Free birds movie review

Every year there’s an increasing number of moderate to big budget animation films with recognisable stars that simply fail to make you laugh even once. These are the most frustrating movie watching experiences because you’re witness to some super high end technology, with no heart or soul to drive it. Free Birds is one of these films.

On paper the film should be a laugh riot because it stars Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler, and is directed by the guy who made Horton Hears A Who! and worked on various Pixar films. Sadly Free Birds is one of the, if not the unfunniest film of the year. It’s aimed squarely at very young kids, but the writing falls somewhere between the chasm of demographics — it’s neither cutesy or silly enough to entertain kids nor is it mature enough to entertain adults. The concept is interesting, and would probably have made for a great short film — two turkeys, upset with humans devouring turkeys for thanksgiving travel back in time to the first ever Thanksgiving and stop humans from creating this custom.

Every character and scenario is reminiscent of the ones from either a Pixar or a Dreamworks movie. Wilson’s Reggie is an outcast who dreams of a better life — a character trait that has been done to death in animation cinema. The filmmakers throw in shades of Bill and Ted’s journey with a dash of Chicken Run and in theory that should make for an awesome movie, but it fails on that front.

The film also zips past its runtime in trying to keep things fresh but it fails to escape its clichés. At times it tries to drill in a social message and it fails miserably there as well. The only place where the film actually succeeds is making you wish it ends sooner. That’s sad, considering the talent involved.

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Haunter movie review

Call it one kind of hell on earth: In “Haunter,” 15-year-old Lisa is the only member of her Reagan-era suburban family who realizes that they are reliving the same day, over and over. Yet, unlike Bill Murray’s weatherman in “Groundhog Day,” they are absolutely, positively dead. And the lingering menace in this serviceable ghost story from the director Vincenzo Natali and the screenwriter Brian King is that things could actually get worse.

Lisa (Abigail Breslin) exists in a picture-perfect house with routines that are like a mild adolescent parody of family banality: Mom assigns chores and summons her for sit-down meals; Dad is square and nice; her little brother wakes her up every morning with a walkie-talkie squawk. When Lisa (wholesome, not bratty, in Ms. Breslin’s hands) questions the supernatural order of things, the film’s boogeyman emerges, along with the macabre underpinnings of the past.

The implication of life after death as a risky search for meaning subtly refreshes the notion of eternal suffering, even if the movie is itself haunted by influences from “Poltergeist” to “Insidious.” Another undertow is generated by the specter of fatherly rage.

Mr. Natali muscles his frights, along with flashes of light and close-ups, freely shuffling between ghostly dimensions. But this director of “Cube” and the bigger, bonkers “Splice” scales the ambitions of his new movie appropriately, even cautiously. And lifted by the sepulchral Stephen McHattie as Lisa’s nemesis, the film’s frazzled thought experiment becomes an adequate yarn.

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Carrie movie review

I'm not the biggest fan of remakes, but there are a few of them that have been made over the years that have been just as good or better than the original. I was pretty disappointed when I learned that Stephen King's Carrie was going to get a remake. I wasn't really familiar with the director of the film, Kimberly Peirce, but she managed to cast a group of very talented actors led by Julianne Moore and Chloe Grace Moretz, who were both awesome in the movie! 

Moore absolutely stole the show as Carrie's insane religious mother. She was scary as hell, and gave an incredible performance, one that I think is actually award worthy. I don't know if she'll get nominated because it's a horror film, but damn she was creepy. She just had this look in her eyes that can stab a person's soul. She's the type of person you wouldn't want to piss off. Then there was Moretz in the title role, who pulled it off flawlessly. She was perfectly cast for this role, and had an actual sweetness about her that made you really care about what happened to her, which is one of the things I really liked about this movie. I cared more about the character in this movie than in the original. In the original, Carrie was more of a scary type person, and she was harder to relate to. In this newer film, I think people were able to connect with the character a little more, and it really sucked when things didn't work out for her the way she and the audience wanted it to. You knew what was coming at the end, but you still really wanted to see this poor girl have a happy ending. 

The other thing about the casting in this movie was that all of the characters felt like they were actually real high school students. If you recall in the original version, they all looked like 30-year-olds playing high school kids. So that aspect of it made it feel a little more believable. And most of everyone they cast in these secondary roles did a solid job bringing their characters to life. 

This is actually one of those rare moments where I will say that a remake was better than the original. Now I love the original, and there's a nostalgia about it that this remake will never have. But, in terms of filmmaking, this one was an all around better movie. I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out, and it seemed like the audience I saw it with enjoyed it as well. It was a very satisfying horror movie, and if you haven't already seen it yet, I suggest that you do! After all, it's the Halloween season, and for those of you itching to see a really well made horror movie, this one might fulfill that need for you.

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Horns movie review

Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) wakes up one morning to find horns growing out of his forehead. Soon, he discovers that when people look at them, they reveal their deepest, darkest secrets, giving Ig the opportunity to solve his girlfriend's murder, for which he is the prime suspect.

Alexandre Aja is a director that seems to be having fun. Since HIGH TENSION he's been a consistent genre director. With the exception of MIRRORS, his films have been pretty inspired, with his HILLS HAVE EYES remake being way better than it had any right to be, while PIRANHA 3D was probably even better than the Roger Corman cult classic that inspired it.

But, a remake is one thing, while something original is a whole other thing. HORNS is based on the novel by Joe Hill, at it's probably Aja's most ambitious movie to date. While his previous films have been heavy on the splatter, HORNS is a mash-up of several different genres. It has supernatural horror elements, but it's also mixed it with heavy doses of black comedy and most importantly, romance. 

At it's heart, HORNS is a tragic love story, with Juno Temple's Merrin being dead before the opening credits roll. Their relationship unfolds through flashbacks and stories being told by the suspects Ig interrogates with his horns, giving this a hearty tinge of film noir. Mixing and matching genres is a pretty tricky thing to pull off, but Aja seemingly does it with ease. While it runs a shade too long at over two hours, for the most part HORNS is a super-solid horror thriller. In fact, I'd say it comes awfully close to being excellent, were it not for one serious flaw- Daniel Radcliffe.

 Radcliffe is usually a pretty good actor, even when he's not playing Harry Potter. He has two movies at TIFF this year that show that- THE F WORD and KILL YOUR DARLINGS. But in HORNS, he has to play tough and if there's one thing Radcliffe is not, it's tough. Shia LaBeouf was the original choice to play Ig, and while he's hit and miss, he would have been perfect as the scrappy Ig, who's like a little pit-bull (Aaron Paul would have been even better). It's certainly a stretch, with him ditching his UK accent, and playing a guy that's supposed to be a ne'er-do-well, with characters telling him over and over again that his only redeeming feature is his relationship with Merrin. And that's the problem; Radcliffe just seems like way too nice a kid to be playing a “bad boy”.

 The rest of the cast is more ideally suited to their parts. Juno Temple, who often plays eccentric, “weird” characters does well playing the kind, idealized Merrin, although she's so perfect she seems more like an angel than a real person (which I guess is the point). David Morse as her angry, bible-thumping father manages to make a cliché seem relatively three dimensional, while James Remar and Kathleen Quinlan as Ig's parents, each have a memorable scene when confronted by the horns. The two scene-stealers here are Joe Anderson as Ig's drug-addled brother- taking another potentially stale role and giving it nuance- and Max Minghella as Ig's childhood friend turned lawyer, and the one guy his horns don't work on.

 Of course, while HORNS is a mash-up of lots of genres, being an Aja film, you can expect a little splatter, particularly close to the end, with his characteristic, almost funny splashes of ultra-violence. But, given the surprising sweetness of the story, HORNS could have a lot of appeal beyond horror fans, and it should elevate Aja's career, which would be great as he really does have a lot of talent. While I have serious issues with Radcliffe's casting, the movie as a whole is still very entertaining and well-worth checking out.

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Gravity movie review

Pepare to be astonished, for in cinemas is Gravity, a spectacular space drama like no other. Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, this mesmerising movie is a truly towering achievement from director Alfonso Cuarón that exceeds the outer limits of what cinema had previously achieved.

The premise is strikingly simple, though its its execution must have been unimaginably complex. Bullock and Clooney play astronauts working 350 miles above Earth on the Hubble Telescope, when disaster strikes. The rest of the movie sees the two battle to survive in the unbelievably inhospitable conditions of outer space.

Never has so much precision, so much detail, been placed in recreating the zero gravity conditions that seem so alien to us. Even the camera is not contrained by the laws of physics, floating around capturing the whole thing in awe-inspiring long takes. Cuarón also frequently switches between vast wide shots of space with claustrophobic POV shots inside the astronauts helmets.

Character development is surprisingly economical. Bullock's Stone is the hero of the piece, a reserved and detached individual who we learn has joined NASA's programme to escape her own misery back on Earth. Clooney is her opposite, providing comic relief as her incessantly talkative and charming companion.

These are basic characters with little development, and compared with the amount of time focused on the various action sequences, there's no question that Cuarón is in thrall to destruction over deconstruction. But that would be to belittle what is a monumental technical achievement. This is by far the most impressive blockbuster in recent years, a clarion call to the spectacle of cinema that will leave your heart racing and head spinning. Go see Gravity, watch it in 3D, and make sure you catch it on the biggest screen possible.

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We are what we are movie review

There's much to savor in Jim Mickle's "We Are What We Are," a horror film about a kind of religious fanaticism that's gone way off the rails. The movie saves most of its modest number of jolts for its last quarter or so, which makes them all the more intense. They stick in your craw - and be warned, they're not for the squeamish.

Something's off about the Parker family, who live in a depressed part of the Catskills under the strict reign of God-fearing, bearded patriarch Frank (Bill Sage). Teenage daughters Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) have the ethereal look of 19th century portrait paintings. Their young brother, Rory (Jack Gore), seems perpetually hungry.

As the film opens, their mother abruptly collapses and dies of an unspecified illness during an errand in town. Despite his grief, Frank insists that the family continue its annual preparations for a ritual that involves several days of fasting. The event is called Lamb's Day, and we see in flashbacks its origins in dire circumstances involving the family's 18th century forebears.

The girls, who are really the film's focus, carry out their extremely unpleasant duties with great reluctance. Meanwhile, the local doctor (Michael Parks) has done an autopsy on Mrs. Parker, with a disturbing finding. We learn that years earlier, the doctor's daughter disappeared.

Soon comes a report that another young woman is missing. Torrential rains uncover human body parts. Iris, who's retained some hint of a yearning for normality, attracts the attentions of a young deputy. The doctor presses hard to get to the bottom of things.

Director Mickle ("Stake Land") uses the basic story, with many changes, from a 2010 Mexican movie of the same title, made by Jorge Michel Grau. Mickle's version has all the American Gothic trappings, maybe even pouring it on a bit thick at times. Despite the generally somber tone, there are a few moments when he seems to be tweaking genre buffs' memories of movies by the likes of Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper.

But I don't think he's kidding about his main point, which is that in certain remote corners of America, nightmarish, crackpot religious beliefs take root and grow, and are passed on from generation to generation.

A final note, mainly for non-buffs: Be prepared for an ending that's genuinely berserk

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 movie review

The Herculean task of any sequel is repeating the experience of the original film, or improving on it. That’s nigh on impossible because of the simple fact that you only get to take the viewing public utterly by surprise once.

The out-of-nowhere novelty and delight of Sony Animation’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” based on Judi and Ron Barrett’s children’s book, are missing in “Meatballs 2.” The design and color palette are as glorious as ever. But the laughs are few and innovations fewer in this generally winded knock-off.

Inventor Flint Lockwood’s cuisine-creating weather machine has come to the attention of his idol, corporate scientist and TV science show host Chester V (Will Forte), who worries that the island of Swallow Falls is too dangerous to live on — for now. The gadget is producing food animals — predators, “Taco-diles” and Cheese(burger) Spiders, Su-sheep and Shrimpanzees and Fla-mangoes.

So Chester persuades the town to evacuate and Flint (Bill Hader) to join Chester V’s “Think-quanauts,” scientists who work in Chester V’s invention factory. Eventually, Flint is commissioned to go back and turn off his errant weather-food machine, and his pals Sam Sparks the meteorologist (Anna Faris), her camera operator/scientist Manny (Benjamin Bratt), former baby model Brent (Andy Samberg), hyper-active cop Earl (Terry Crews, replacing Mr. T.) and Flint’s sardine-fisherman dad (James Caan, replacing James Gandolfini) venture back there to brave “an eco-system of living food.”

Hats off to production designer Justin Thompson and art director David Bleich, who conjure up a scary Taco-dile Supreme and a syrup bog of slow-motion chases through the sticky stuff, where the dead swamp trees are actually strips of bacon.

The moral lessons, about science making the world a better place (or creating mayhem) and accepting that your children will not always emulate you or live up to your expectations, are muddier. There’s a villain rather than a runaway technology to battle here. And the villain is bland as oatmeal without the raisins.

It’s all more cynical than silly, the sort of movie you get when the corporate desire for a sequel precedes the creative team’s great idea for a sequel. Which, in this case, they didn’t have.

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