Inkheart

Cast
Brendan Fraser
Andy Serkis
Eliza Bennett
Paul Bettany
Helen Mirren
Sienna Guillory
Jim Broadbent
Rafi Gavron
Jennifer Connelly
Screenwriter
David Lindsay-Abaire
Director
Iain Softley
Running Time
106 mins

Mo (Fraser) can summon characters from books by reading aloud. He is nagged by Dustfinger (Bettany), a fictional character who wants to go home, and hunted by Capricorn (Serkis), who wants to exploit Mo and his similarly-talented daughter Meggie (Bennett) to evil ends. [Empire]

It was alright.

Tom Brooks’ list of the top ten films of 2008

Ten
Cadillac Records. A tribute to America’s R&B legends, with Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters and Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, just two names in a powerful ensemble cast. Heartfelt, genuine and enjoyable.

Nine
Wall-E. Another excellent Pixar animation telling the story of an endearing robot. A romantic fantasy that makes some intelligent points about our consumerist culture.

Eight
Man On Wire. James Marsh’s documentary on Philip Petit and his high wire World Trade Center act. Well structured, with skilful reconstructions.

Seven
The Visitor. Written and directed by Tom McCarthy, this is a story of human relationships that deals with, among other things, immigration policy and the transcendent power of music.

Six
Wendy and Lucy. A portrait of American poverty with a knock-out performance from Michelle Williams as a young drifter strongly bonded to her dog.

Five
Waltz With Bashir. A highly original animation in which Tel Aviv filmmaker Ari Folman attempts to find out what happened to him as a young soldier during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Four
Revolutionary Road. A young couple struggle to lead authentic lives as their marriage falls apart in suffocating 1950’s suburban America. Well acted by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and well directed by Winslet’s husband Sam Mendes.

Three
The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke in what’s being called his comeback film, directed by Darren Aronofsky. The gritty story of a man trying to bring his life together who won’t give up on having one final smackdown.

Two
Milk. Sean Penn gives a masterful performance leading a strong ensemble to tell the story of the charismatic American gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Directed by Gus Van Sant.

One
Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle’s wondrous celebration of underdog triumph and the enduring power of love in a vibrant Mumbai.

[Talking Movies]

Twilight

Cast
Kristen Stewart
Robert Pattinson
Ashley Greene
Peter Facinelli
Elizabeth Reaser
Jackson Rathbone
Nikki Reed
Kellan Lutz
Taylor Lautner
Screenwriters
Melissa Rosenberg
Mark Lord
Director
Catherine Hardwicke
Running Time
122 minutes

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother re-marries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen, a boy unlike any she's ever met. Edward is a vampire, but he doesn't have fangs and his family is unique in that they choose not to drink human blood. Intelligent and witty, Edward sees straight into Bella's soul. Soon, they are swept up in a passionate, thrilling and unorthodox romance. To Edward, Bella is what he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will Edward & Bella do when a clan of new vampires comes to town and threaten to disrupt their way of life? (Summit Entertainment)

It's not really like a horror or action movie but more an indie drama. The setting is magnificent, tree covered mountains half shrouded in fog. It takes its time slowly building the story and introducing a lot of supporting human characters although having done that not a lot is done with them and after a certain point they vanish but I guess you needed them just to create that sense of place. The three predatory Vampires sub-plot seems contrived, sort of bolted on, it would have been more interesting to have the murders committed by one of the Vampire family. It was much better than I thought it would be, I was somewhat reluctant to see it although say Empire gives it 4 stars. In a way I justified it that adding to its revenue would if however slight increase the chances of a Buffy movie. The climatic fight was done really well, the special effects especially the destruction to the wooden floor were impressive. The wire work where the characters were jumping was a little obvious generally. Moving on a wire you travel in straight lines where as jumping you would follow a curved trajectory so that stood out. The speeded up running kind of worked, maybe 90% worked and 10% was Benny Hill but they always seemed to cut away before it got too bad. I haven't read the books so it's difficult to say really that another film could be that different if that's all there is to it, I don't see where it could go from here.

Transporter 3

Cast
Jason Statham
Natalya Rudakova
Robert Knepper
François Berléand
Justin Rodgers Hall
Eriq Ebouaney
Screenwriters
Luc Besson
Robert Mark Kamen
Director
Olivier Megaton
Running Time
104 minutes

Frank Martin has been pressured into transporting Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Ukraine, from Marseilles through Stuttgart and Budapest until he ends up in Odessa on the Black Sea. Along the way, with the help of Inspector Tarconi, Frank has to contend with the people who strong armed him to take the job, agents sent by Vasilev to intercept him, and the general non-cooperation of his passenger. Despite Valentina’s cynical disposition and his resistance to get involved, Frank and Valentina fall for each other, while escaping from one life-threatening situation after another. (Lionsgate)

It has better CGI effects than the second which were often obvious and cartoony. Here they were much less so, you believed what was happening. The fight choreography wasn't as good as the first two films, it wasn't terrible just not as clever. There's a major problem with the female lead, you couldn't tell what she was saying a lot of the time. She's playing a character for whom english is not their first language and that's probably true of the actress as well. Large parts of the film are just her and Frank Martin in the car, so if that doesn't work, if it's not engaging in some way like funny, romantic or dramatic then it's just dull. Unfortunately she was just one dimensional and difficult to understand. The plot was fine but it wasn't really revealed to the audience and Frank until quite a long way in, reading the summary at metacritic told me more than I learnt from watching the film, although you can kind of guess the gist, for some reason they hold back the details and make it much more frustratingly vague than it needs to be.

March Comics

Newsarama has the new Marvel and DC solicitations for March.

This is the stuff I'm thinking about in addition to my regular pull list.


SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #1
Written by Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Pete Woods
Cover by Gary Frank
Variant cover by Ladrönn
Following the events of the “New Krypton” crossover, the Man of Steel has had to embrace his past to ensure humanity’s future. And while a devastating armed conflict with Earth may have been averted, keeping the peace will be Superman’s greatest challenge yet.
Hot new writer Andrew Kreisberg (BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL) and fan-favorite artist Pete Woods (ACTION COMICS, SUPERMAN: UP, UP AND AWAY!) lead Superman through a world of interstellar treachery and deadly machinations where the lives of two races hang in the balance!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Gary Frank), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ladrönn). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale March 4 • 1 of 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Not sure what's happening with the New Krypton story but I guess to find out I'm buying this.


THE REAL POWER OF THE DC UNIVERSE Poster
Art by Adam Hughes
Originally designed as a promotional piece for DC Comics at San Diego Comic-Con, this oversized poster featuring the Women of the DC Universe is now available for retail sale! Measuring an impressive 39”wide x
24”high,the poster shows Catwoman, Oracle,Zatanna,Black Canary,Power Girl, Wonder Woman,Supergirl,Batwoman, Vixen,Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (collectively regarded as the REAL power of the DC Universe) in their bridal best, as depicted by acclaimed artist Adam Hughes.
Advance-solicited; on sale August 26, 2009 Poster * $8.99 US

It's not painted like other Hughes posters which gives me pause but I'm considering it.


DEADPOOL #8
Written by DANIEL WAY
Penciled by PACO MEDINA
Cover by JASON PEARSON
King Variant by TBA
“MAGNUM OPUS,” PART 1 OF 4
SPECIAL CROSSOVER WITH THUNDERBOLTS! Deadpool unleashes his most insane plan yet: a full-on assault against Norman Osborn! As Deadpool storms his way to the top of Avengers Tower, Osborn is forced to pull out all the stops to save his own skin — and that means deploying the brand new Thunderbolts! Plug your ears, kids — this is gonna be loud!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory ...$2.99

I've heard good stuff about this character recently and over time so I'll jump on.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Cast
Keanu Reeves
Jennifer Connelly
Jaden Smith
Jon Hamm
John Cleese
Kathy Bates
Brandon T. Jackson
James Hong
Screenwriter
David Scarpa
Director
Scott Derrickson
Running Time
103m 29s

The Day the Earth Stood Still is 20th Century Fox’s contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Klaatu, an alien who arrives on our planet, triggers a global upheaval. As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance, a woman and her young stepson get caught up in his mission – and come to understand the ramifications of Klaatu calling himself a “friend to the Earth.” (20th Century Fox)

It was kind of dopey and not very good. That I liked it at all was mostly Jennifer Connelly's presence, if you don't share my affection for her or any actor in the movie consider it 1 star. It was the first film I'd seen in a long time, I can't remember the last one, where I had not been able to read reviews beforehand because I suppose they didn't allow advance press screenings which should have told me something. At least it wasn't more than two hours long. The makers didn't really try to make it good, which is the really weird thing about it. It was not made intelligently, there's so much wrong with it it's difficult to really cover everything. [Spoilers] Klaatu came to deliver the bad news at the UN but he just didn't do it. With that amount of power and supposed intelligence why not, he said they were unable to stop him but he just gave up and only really told a few people about why he was there. The lie detector scene, the operator says he's going to ask him a series of questions to calibrate the machine. He asks one question to which he gets a yes/no response but the next two he doesn't and just carries on without the machine being properly calibrated. Then when he attacks the operator no one seems to be monitoring the room. When the power to all machines goes and the earth stands still, surely planes and helicopters would fall from the skies which would be the most spectacular thing to show but they don't and then they have supertankers stopped dead but they're ships on the water they would drift, it would take miles for them to stop moving. There's a stupidity there, no subtlety, no intelligence, no cleverness behind it. The kid thought they were dangerous and wanted the aliens to be killed but soon after he saw one destroy two helicopters he suddenly changed his mind, that's crazy! The US military name Gort which I can only think was to explain why he has a name in any planned toys. The product placement which undoubtedly is in lots of things but it jarred more here simply because there was nothing else to distract me. I don't remember Klaatu killing anyone in the first film I think his species were essentially pacifists who had placed the robots in ultimate charge of everything so it was really odd seeing him kill which undermines the whole point of us being the bad guys. John Cleese's character explains people change when faced with a crisis which is a pretty obvious point but apparently hadn't occurred to "superbeing" Klaatu. You see the robot when he emerges to defend Klaatu who is then taken away and it seems ages before you see it again when it's being attacked. There's no discussion of what to do or examining the robot it's just attacked by drone aircraft, led by some guy in army fatigues some place which seems to have no relation to anything else. There's no discussion of who shot Klaatu and no one seems too worried about firing the first shot in a intergalactic war. They could have just done a sequel to the original which ended with Klaatu giving a warning to the human race so it could have been "The Day The Earth Stood Still 2: Times Up" or remade it more closely and if it had been successful then done a sequel which would have been essentially a big fight. The original is far far better probably a 4 or 5 star sci-fi classic.

Changeling

Cast
Angelina Jolie
John Malkovich
Jeffrey Donovan
Colm Feore
Jason Butler Harner
Amy Ryan
Michael Kelly
Gattlin Griffith
Michelle Martin
Jan Devereaux
Erica Grant
Antonia Bennett
Kerri Randles
Frank Wood
Morgan Eastwood
Madison Hodges
Devon Conti
J. P. Bumstead
Screenwriter
J. Michael Straczynski
Director
Clint Eastwood
Running Time
141m 35s

Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working-class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned. Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter. As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A., women don't challenge the system and live to tell their story. Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb, who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy. Based on the actual incident that rocked California's legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of a mother's quest to find her son, and those who won't stop until they silence her. (Universal Pictures)

Absolute masterpiece.