Moved again

Yes…that’s right I moved again. The new address…

http://addictedtofilms.blogspot.com

I finally managed to fix the whole Blogger/Google problem…that made me move to WordPress in the first place. Well now since its fix…I’m back using blogger. I’ve even used a new template. Its clean and simple…So click away and check it out…hope you like it.

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A Time For Dancing (2000)

One of the main reasons that I watch this movie…is that I recognise the cast…the two leads…whom we haven’t seen act that much. There’s Larisa Oleynik…she was in the Secret World of Alec Mac…remember her? After 10 Things I hate About You, we haven’t really seen much of her right? Then there’s Shiri Appleby…she was Liz in Roswell…we’ve seen her in some stuff…but all in minor roles.

So anyway….this one is about two childhood best friends who both love dancing…except the other lives and breathes dancing…totally devoted to it and dreams of attending Julliard. But when she is diagnosed with cancer…she fears all her dreams will be dashed.

I didn’t like it…it was boring…Its just like what Will Lightman of About a Boy said…crap made for t.v. movie about a kid with leukemia…Although I wouldn’t exactly say its crap…since it wan’t horribly bad with horribly bad acting…it was just ordinary…the same storyline thrown at us soo many times before…it wasn’t original and interesting…I mean the story was suppose to be this major tear jerker that just pulls your heart strings…sure it was sad and everything…but it just wasn’t that type of emotional drama that just makes you want to curl up and cry. And the acting well…it was only so so. I guess…that the only thing that could have set it apart from the others was the dance back story…but then…I didn’t really like dance sequences…it wasn’t really nice…and neither did I like the whole dream sequence thing…it was weird…I guess its just too artsy for me.

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The Prestige (2006)

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It is near the end of the nineteenth century; Robert Angier and Alfred Borden are two young magicians. They are friends and yet are rivals both in search of the illusive act that would bring them fame and fortune. But when a fatal accident occurs taking the life of Angier’s wife…their friendly rivalry turns into a fierce battle to put the other out of the scene once and for all.

I read a review of this movie somewhere that said it was best to watch this movie knowing as little as possible, due to the twist and turns that the movie has…knowing too much would inevitably spoil the movie…thus I kept to that…and avoided all the message boards on it on IMDB…I’m glad I did. And so if you want to watch this…I recommend you not to read on….

** Contain Spoilers**

Here’s the thing, magicians are such intriguing character…they’re mysterious…and sometimes downright creepy…and you’re always wondering whether its all an illusion…if it is…which part of the act was it that had fooled you making you believe it was real…or maybe it was all real…And here we are transported to their world and a given an understanding of what it takes to make an act work…the importance of a pretty assistant for distraction…for one, a staff planted amongst the audience who would be picked as a volunteer for a trick…the art of disguise and above all the importance of an engineer of the tricks…who not only designs the acts but all the props and gadgets to make the illusion a success…and such a role was played by Michael Caine…the loyal Cutter, the designer of Angier tricks who brings sanity to Angier insane quest and obsession in uncovering Borden successful act…the Transported Man. And Angier played none other than Hugh Jackman …probably in one of his darkest role… a man so intent on revenge it consumes him. While Christian Bale plays Borden, the saner of two…trying to get past the unfortunate accident, setting up a family, building a career , creating the ultimate act….the center of Angier’s obsession, and having Angier at his back…on almost every turn trying to sabotage his act.

I liked the setting…the Victorian era…the colours used…the costumes…even liked the magician posters…and the magician’s props…how can anyone not mention them…the technicality of most of them…somehow I was just never aware that so much science goes into their design… the effects were great too…the scenes with Tesla and his experiments…coming into this movie…I didn’t even know there were science fiction elements in it…and the narrative was interesting. It starts at the present…at the past…we’re given different perspectives…a lot of flashbacks…this might sound confusing…but it wasn’t really…it all worked out…the story flowed well.

Complex film…really like it, keeps you thinking long after the credits roll. The ending…Never saw it coming. At some point I thought…could it be real magic?…then when we met Tesla…I thought they were clones…and then it seemed they were twins afterall?? Twins?? Now did I get it right? Or did I miss something…or are they really clones. Hah…I guess I might have to watch it again. Actually I found this post on IMDB…The Definitive Guide to “The Prestige”…Interesting interpretation of the movie…I quite agree on a lot of it…plus it does shed some light on the stuff I wasn’t clear about. Certainly a link you might want to check out.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the film… a great story…love all the twist and turns…its soo clever…really makes you think. Watch it.

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Mistress of Spice (2005)

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Aishwarya Rai plays Tilo, who belongs to some cult group that worships spices. She is sent to San Francisco to open a shop there and to help people using the mysterious powers of the spices. To be successful and faithful to her role of helping people with spices…she must obey three rules, never leave her store, never touch another person, or use the spices for her own gain. But as it so happens…she meets a man who she later becomes attracted to, who may force her to break all the rules.

The similarities with Chocolat are pretty obvious…only difference…this deals with spices not chocolate…but I just found this one a tad more weird. Tilo belonging to some secret group…worshiping spices…sent to help people through the use of spices…ok…so the the intentions does seem noble…but the whole magical aspect of it is weird…at least in Chocolat…Juliette Binoche’s character, who makes chocolates that seem to have magical effects, opens a shop to feed her family…not to serve some higher purpose. And I didn’t like the subplot with Tilo helping her customers too…mainly…mostly cause most of the scenes were bad and not well acted.

The movie is sweet that I can say. A sweet magical fairytale…ends as you’d expect. The colours were pretty. And the shop…was pretty too…Never seen such a pretty spice shop before and Aishwarya Rai is as pretty as ever…Though as a romance flick…couldn’t really see much attraction, chemistry between the two leads….no foolish passion …lust…that would overcome Tilo to break all the rules. But anyway if you like romance flicks or Aishwarya Rai…then you’d probably enjoy this one.

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The Covenant (2006)

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Often called the male version of The Craft…yes…substitute 4 witches with four warlocks…and film them 10 years later…ta-dah…we have the Covenant.

The story: The first born male from four families all have supernatural powers and gains full power by the age of 18. But the powers are addictive…use it too much…and it will weaken and age them. Adding danger…the son of the fifth banished family has arrived, driven by revenge and greed, to destroy and steal their powers.

You know what…I thought the story was interesting…it had the whole supernatural thing going on…it actually had potential…what a waste though…The bad script…the bad lines…and the acting…the horrible acting…pretty much ruined whatever potential it might have…and Wasn’t Pogue just robotic. The special effects…well that was so-so too….I liked the whole car crashing and resembling part…that was pretty much it…the others were just energy balls being thrown around…something like that.

Overall…Well…no surprise…it wasn’t great. But hey…I didn’t think it was horrible horrible…It is after all a teen supernatural flick…take it for what it is. And for what it was…it was rather entertaining…I wasn’t bored… 🙂 even with the horrible acting and lines…which was sometimes quite funny.

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New Pages

I’ve actually added a couple of new pages….as you can see above…the Recent Watches, Want to See and Interesting Links page. So take a look around and click away.

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11:14 (2003)

 

11:14 consists of five stories of about a dozen small town inhabitants whose lives intersect at… well 11:14 as the title suggests.

I knew very little of this movie…actually almost nothing of it other than what’s written at the back of the dvd cover…I don’t think it even got any theatrical release here. But I was looking for something short to watch and this one fits…it was only 86min long.

The story starts off with this guy talking on the phone while driving…pretty drunk too and as he comes out from under a bridge his car hits something. And so this is how the movie starts off with the other stories following, connecting the characters in some bizarre unimaginable way.

The movie is puzzle like.Often going forward and backwards…each story leaves you wanting more… to know what is actually going on here…how are they connected?…what other insane things are the characters going to do next?…hide a body, rob a convenience store, urinate from a window of movie car…Surely another disastrous consequence. But then none of the characters are truly that good…all very flawed and makes the worst choices…they had it coming.

The movie was an interesting drama/black comedy. Had a pretty good plot…easy to understand and piece together and good pacing too…I like it.

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Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)

Ice Age was one of the few animations that I actually enjoyed watching and found it extremely funny. So naturally I was keen to watch the second one when it came out and finally rented it recently. Our favourite prehistoric trio are back…and have accepted and comfortable with the idea of being friends. Manny seems to be facing extinction. Diego has to face his fear off water…especially with all the ice melting…and Sid…well he is being his usual zany self. Of course Scrat the ever positive squirrel is back. How could they ever leave him out…his scenes are probably one of the funniest…him battling all odds to once again save his precious acorn. With a new movie comes new characters. There’s the two crazy possums and their adopted sister…Ellie…a mammoth who thinks she’s a possum and does whatever her possum brothers do…silly yes…she too becomes Manny’s love interest..which is inevitable….since we know they have to mate and all to prevent extinction. And Ellie has got to be the character I least like from the bunch…she just seems …to me at least…loud,irritating…and well not likable.

I have to say though…I much much prefer the first Ice Age. I felt that, that has a better story and much much funnier. The first one seems too, to have more memorable scenes…remember the wacky dodo birds and their watermelon…and the baby that the gang found…This one well…half way through…I kinda lost interest in the story…seems like they’re just walking and walking… there’s just less funny and memorable scenes here…though there were the scenes with the crazy sloth cult group…that was rather funny. Overall…yes its still an enjoyable film…just that I like the first one more 🙂

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Devil Wears Prada (2006)

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All the new posts are there.

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Ahhh….the vain and shallow world of the fashion industry. Isn’t it just funny and ridiculous how they run around…pondering over which belt or which shoes will go with some dress…I mean who cares…they all look the same anyway. Or what colours are in this season…what type of tan to get…Or if big sunglasses are still cool. I think thats what I like most about the film…seeing them scurrying around over the smallest things…the behind the scenes look at the fashion industry/magazine were all interesting and funny at the same time. Plus I have to admit…the clothes all look very pretty and of course expensive. I actually like the scenes where we see Andy transforms from this awkward to a fashion forward girl.

Besides that…I thought Meryl Streep was just devillish as the mean, demanding, determined, ruthless, career obsessed, intimidating boss who expects almost always the impossible. To think that she never even screams her demands all she does is says it softly, slowly and coolly…in an icy cold tone… and poof…everyone runs around in panic mode to get whatever she wants done…You kinda wonder how people can have such a power over other people.

And not to forget,Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway is the protagonist of the film…the character is likeable as it should be … the same though could not be said about her friends…they seem too me a tad annoying. Not at all supportive of her and her career choice…complaining bout the late hours and the boss from hell…shouldn’t the one working the long hours complain more…go figure. I do question one thing though which is central to the plot….how is it ever possible for a girl who have no interest in fashion what so ever to even get a single interview with a fashion magazine? The same goes for Ugly Betty…i guess…logic plays little part.

 

Overall it was an enjoyable film.Some good acting by Meryl Streep. Pretty funny for the most part( especially the catty sarcastic remarks made by Nigel and Emily)…but I wouldn’t consider it great. Hmm I think I’ll give it 3/5

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Night Listener (2006)

Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone a radio host. Through a friend he strikes a long distance telephone relationship with a boy who is one of his biggest fan. Soon he begins to question the boy’s identity…is he even real??

The movie starts out ok.The tone is dark and moody. Gabriel’s lover has recently decided to take a break…and he’s pretty depressed about it. So when a mysterious boy comes along under the guise of a fan with a tormented past…Gabriel give his full attention to this boy…sympathizes…becomes his friend and all…diverting his mind away from his failed relationship. Then his lover notices that boy’s voice sounded similar to the boy’s guardian,Donna….here’s the thing though….I can’t see the resemblance…too me they are two different voices…then again…what we get is Gabriel’s perspective…and to him they are two different people…Soon Gabriel comes to see there is something really wrong and he goes to meet Donna to get the truth…some suspenseful scenes are thrown our away…but the end is disappointingly unsatisfying…there was no real climax…since the whole plot has been pretty predictable the whole way…they should have at least thrown in a twist ending…In the end we never did get to know who Donna really was…sure she is loony…but who is she?…and who the boy was too?…also would love to know more about the true story the movie was inspired by…if only they included it as a feature on a DVD…that would have been interesting… Overall, I felt that the movie is a mystery thriller that fails to live up to its potential. Could have been a lot better…right now…it looks like a made for tv thriller.

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