Fido (2006)
Fido’s premise is a unique one; take the 1950’s suburban era and add flesh-eating zombies. You would think that the idea itself would give all sorts of opportunities for great social satire. Sadly, this is not the case. Perhaps if the movie was an animated cartoon, the laughs would have occurred more often; I only found myself merely chuckling every once in a while. Upon more thought, Fido, simply takes the last 30 seconds of Shaun of the Dead (a much superior film) and struggles to extend it to 90 minutes.
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Wanted (2008)
When I first saw the trailers for Wanted, I wasn’t excited to see CGI bullets spinning in slow motion, but the cast alone is worthy of checking out the film. In addition, the film is under the direction of Timur Bekmambetov, best known for the Nightwatch horror-action film series out of Russia. It’s alright if you haven’t seen his past work before, but even if you have, a good chunk of Wanted screams stylist to and fro; it’s one of those films where nothing really makes sense, and maybe it isn’t supposed to. It’s also a film that is too big, and overpraised for its britches.
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Miss Potter (2006)
The trailer for Miss Potter did not do the film justice at all. It seemed to imply a portrayal of Beatrix Potter as a mad woman. It showed her talking to her animal drawings as though they were real people and it did not manage to convey the film’s appealing features. I think this may be the reason the film did not do as well as it should have done on its release, as it did not do its job in attracting viewers. I am happy to say that Miss Potter is actually a charming film which beautifully tells the story of the famous children’s author Beatrix Potter (Renee Zellweger). She does not come across as crazy, but actually seems to be a highly intelligent woman who was born years ahead of her time.
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10,000 BC (2008)
Unlike many other people, I am not going to jump on the bandwagon and tell you how historically inaccurate this film is. My reasons are simply this : 1) marco evolution is still a theory, 2) this film is pure popcorn fantasy anyway and should not be taken too seriously and 3) it’s directed by Roland Emmerich, a talented filmmaker who usually sells himself short and is more likely to have a good vision and a ton of overused ideas that tend to sabotage whatever story there is. There is no mistaking that Emmerich is good with a huge cast, and will usually bring out dramatic, yet sometimes cliched themes, and most of the time he can make them work. Because of that, his films tend to be surprising successes. Since the two leads in BC are of good looking stock (especially Camilla Belle), the cheese factor should be on high dosage. So what went wrong here?
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The Incredible Hulk (2008)
When we last left our heroic green giant back in the 2003 film, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) was on the run somewhere in South America and hiding away from Thunderbolt Ross and the U.S. Army. Five years later, a lot has changed. For starters, the Ang Lee film has nothing to do with the new one. Oddly, the new film opens with…huh, guess what? Bruce Banner (now Ed Norton) on the lam somewhere in Brazil, hiding away from General George ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and the U.S. Army. In any case, aside from Lou Ferrigno’s cameo as another security guard, that’s where any and all likeness to the previous film ends. I loved the 2003 film’s cerebral/internal character study.
I loved this film, directed by Transporter 2’s Louis Leterrier even better.
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We Own The Night (2007)
While I was not a big fan of James Gray’s The Yards a number of years ago, I did, at the time, mildly liked the performances of two actors in that film, Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix. In 2007, there was a bit of reunion of the Yards talent, in the form of We Own The Night, which in my opinion was one of the best made pictures of last year. Between the time of the two pictures, the two leads have grown as actors, especially Joaquin Phoenix -who also gave an underrated performance in another 2007 film, Reservation Road- and this film also gives a surprise in Eva Mendes, as well.
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Sex and the City (2008)
I’ve only recently become a fan of the Sex and the City series. Obviously i’d heard of it, but i’d just never got around to watching them. Then my friend lent me the boxset of all six series and I watched them in order from start to finish. Now i’m an addict. Yes, it is kind of unrealistic that these four women with completely different jobs and outlooks would be friends in real life, but forget that, this is tv. Their contrasting tastes on sex, fashion and romance make for addictive and compelling viewing. Anyway, my conversion happened just in time for the release of the movie, so I was extremely excited about seeing how it transferred to the big screen.
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
When I was 14 years old, I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and fell in love with Indiana Jones. As I grew up, this crush evolved into a more than passing interest in historical sites and digs, slight proficiency with a bullwhip (although Batman Returns is in part to blame for that one) and a fondness for movies. Or so I thought. Because I just saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and realised something: despite my growing up into a well balanced historically interested bullwhip wielding movie buff, I am still very much in love with Indiana Jones.
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Iron Man (2008)
It was a slight concern to me that there was way too much promotion on Iron Man - the latest Marvel hero to get a big screen treatment - with every commercial, trailer and You Tube video everywhere showing just about “everything”. The movie stills were variations of Robert Downey in the Iron Man suit striking a pose with his hand. Yet, I had a good feeling about the picture, and after I walked out after the end credits were done (with good reason) I have to admit, this was the best Marvel flick since Spider-Man 2 and as far as origin stories go, the best since the first Spider-Man. I’ll even go one step further: the film is actually one of the best films of 2008, and it won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
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Stardust (2007)
Stardust is a fantasy tale and a love story about the adventures of a young man called Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) and the people he encounters. Tristan lives in the town of Wall and is in love with a girl named Victoria, the town’s greatest beauty. He is not having much success at winning over her heart though, as she seems to be saving her affections for whichever suitor can bring her the best and most expensive presents. The crux of the film starts when Tristan and Victoria see a star falling to earth in the distance, and Tristan promises to bring her back the star in order to win her hand in marriage. To get to the star though, Tristan has to cross the wall that divides his town from a parallel universe called Stormhold and enter this other realm.
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