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Up is Pixar’s 2009 entry to their ever-growing catalog of superb animated classics. I missed seeing Up when it was in the cinemas, so I avoided any discussions about the movie, and went into it knowing only the bear minimum.

What a delightful movie this was. It’s definitely one of Pixar’s most mature movies to date in my opinion. The start of the movie was thoroughly depressing, and it almost had me in tears! Fortunately things became a bit more light-hearted from there onward, but it retained the premise that it set up in the start all the way through.

I’d say that Up is now my favouritest Pixar movie to date, pushing Monsters Inc. into second place. And man, I would love for my dog to have a collar like that!

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[singlepic id=263 float=left]Quantum of Solace is the newest Daniel Craig Bond movie. It picks up directly where Casino Royale left off, so by my count it’s the first Bond movie that’s actually a direct sequel.

Quantum of Solace is a story of revenge. Bond is out to find the people at the route of Vespa’s death, and this leads him on a whirlwind trail across the world. It’s every bit as brutal and action packed as the first, in fact, more so even. It’s a non-stop race to the finish, and you’re hardly able to catch your breath. That’s not a lot of depth to the story, but right now I’m more then happy with an all-out action Bond.

Blu-ray wise, it’s a pretty decent transfer. Image and sound quality if superb, but it’s severely lacking on special features. They will most definitely release a special edition down the line, like they did with Casino Royale.

Overall, a great movie. If you enjoyed the first Daniel Craig Bond, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

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Based on the story of the 300 Spartans who stood against the might of the Persian army. The movie and novel are very stylised accounts of the events, it doesn’t purport to be an accurate retelling. That given, it’s an amazing visual experience. Very violent, but all in context. The movie does a sterling job of bringing the graphic novel to the big screen, with many scenes directly recreated frame for frame from the novel. Fans of the novel are in for a treat.

The Blu-ray is probably the best way to experience this movie. The picture quality is superb, as well as the sound quality. It’s a feast for the eyes and ears. Well worth the price of admission!

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Keifer’s character is a ex-cop, who left after an accidental shooting while on duty. He takes up the job of a nightwatchman at an old department store that burnt down a couple of years back. The store has mirrors all over, and he starts to realise that there’s something quite sinister going on with the mirrors. From there he pieces together the story, and follows it to it’s natural conclusion.

The ending also came as  bit of a surprise, but in a good way. Overall, it was a creepy but enjoyable experience.

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If they decided to not attach the name Max Payne to the movie, it might’ve faired a bit better, as you wouldn’t go in with certain expectations. As is, it’s really just luke-warm.

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[singlepic id=243 float=left] Watchmen is the cinematic entry to what’s arguably one of the most influential graphic novels of all time. Many directors and studios have tried at some point to bring Watchmen to the big screen, with little success. Finally Zack Snyder stepped up to the plate, and delivered what is probably the best cinematic version of Watchmen that we can possibly hope for.

The story of the Watchmen is, distilled to it’s core, a murder mystery. It starts with the murder of The Comedian, and the subsequent investigation by Rorschach into who’s killing masked superheroes. This is set against an alternative 1985 in which Nixon is president, and the ever looming threat of nuclear war is hanging above everyone’s heads. The superheroes in the movie are all ordinary people who don costumes and fight crime, with the exception of Dr. Manhattan, who due to a scientific experiment gone wrong, is the closest thing to the traditional superheroes that we know.

One of the reasons why Watchmen was called unfilmable, was due to the intricate backstories of all the characters, during the twelve issues of the comic their whole histories were investigated and brought to light. Thankfully almost none of this is lost in translation. The only character that suffers is that of Ozymandias, all the others had their backstories sufficiently fleshed out.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the movie version, it never disappointed, even with all the changes that they’ve made to the comic book story. I definitely want to see this movie again, as there’s a lot that one misses, little touches that they’ve added to remain faithful to the source material.

So far, one of the best movies of the year for me. I will admit that I’m having trouble giving it a final score, the more I think about the movie, the more my opinion changes ever so slightly. I definitely will review the score once the director’s cut gets released later this year.

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The story follows Evie, played by Natalie Portman. V saved her from a attempted rape and assualt, and a friendship starts between them. We witness her transformation into someone who embraces the views of V.

Having read the graphic novel before seeing the movie originally, one’s left with a little sadness that they couldn’t bring the full effect of the novel through. But these things aren’t really feasible without making a convoluted over-long movie which would’ve really not appealed to anybody but the hardcore fans. As such, I enjoyed the movie for what it was, and the message that the novel conveys came through well enough in the end with the movie.

Well worth a watch if you enjoy Orwellian type movies.

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[singlepic id=237 float=left]Pineapple Express could be described as the stoner movie for the 2000s. It’s brought to us by the people involved with Superbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, etc. The main character is a process server as well as a pothead. He witnesses a murder, and from there it’s a wild chase from start to finish. He gets his dealer involved, and the attempt to find out what’s happening, while trying to spare his highschool girlfriend and parents from becoming embroiled in the process as well.

There’s a lot of stoner humour in the movie, and I can imagine that the movie would be much more hilarious then they are for those of us watching it in a sober state. The characters work though, and you start making a connection with them, and hope that things work out for them in the end, which it inevitably does, barring some disasters along the way.

It’s a silly comedy, and if you’re in the mood for that, it’s worth watching.

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