• The Secret World of Arrietty
     
     http://bartybooks.com/the-secret-world-of-arrietty.htm
  • Gone
     
     http://bartybooks.com/gone.htm
  • Wanderlust
     
     http://bartybooks.com/wanderlust.htm
  • This Means War
     
     http://bartybooks.com/this-means-war.htm
  • Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
     
     http://bartybooks.com/ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance.htm
  • The Vow
     
     http://bartybooks.com/the-vow.htm
  • Safe House
     
     http://bartybooks.com/safe-house.htm

Posts Tagged ‘Dwayne Johnson’

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Just to be noted, I am a 15 year old girl so my input may be different than what you actually think of this movie. To start, this movie was brilliant. Throughout the theater, that had a wide range of children and adults and teens, there was not one moment where the laughter stopped.

The 3D wasn’t needed, but it was a nice touch, not really a gimmick. The effects were incredible, the island was gorgeous and it really looked like they were immersed in the island, and all the creatures were very well done. Cinematography: 15!!! oh ooops….10.

The acting was great. The Rock was shown a different, touching side and personally I liked it, he was very funny. He can sing! Josh Hutcherson is such a great, young, gifted actor it’s actually insane how awesome this kid is. I love him. Vanessa Hudgens was much better than her regular High School Musical role, though she was stereotyped as the eye candy, which i didn’t like, but she gave a great performance. She and Hutcherson had great chemistry. The grandpa, Caine, was very funny and is always a great actor. Finally the comic relief: Luis Gozman (Spelling?) was very funny and really fit the that caring, over protective father role well. Yes, it was a bit cheesy at times Acting: 9

Now for the story. I had no idea that this was related to Journey to the Center of the Earth, 2008, a movie that i also loved. This story was all its own. It was wonderful, slightly predictable at times, but wonderful. I liked the story. It brought in different elements but wasn’t too complex or hard to understand. There were great relationship developments between boy and girl, father and son, father and daughter, grandfather and stepson. It taught good lessons and was very cute. The story was creative and different. I wish it had been a bit longer though, some more character development scenes would’ve been nice. But overall I really liked the story, I thought it was different and unique. Story: 9

So that’s a 28/30, that’s a 93. If you’re 4 or 104, you will love this movie. The only thing to worry about is a few scary monsters, but its great. This movie was gorgeous, well-acted, and nonstop funny. Don’t miss this one.


Fast Tube by Casper

Movies Review: Fast Five

Making a sequel to a film is never normally a good thing. They excite all the fans of the previous film(s) and then disappoint them with a production that is not better than the original. The same goes for a remake. Some films turn into a series where each film becomes worse – this has been the case with the Fast and Furious series. However this fifth film is one that outclasses its predecessors, read on to see why.

Fast Five continues where Fast and Furious left off, with Dominic sentenced to 25 years in jail and the bus chase that was seen at the end involving Mia and Brian. The aftermath of their interception was that they managed to break Dom out of custody, dodged every authority, and have fled to Rio de Janeiro (where every Brazilian seems to be portrayed as a gun-toting thug). In order to break free, they attempt to pull off a 100 million dollar heist. It isn’t long before they all become a few of the most wanted criminals. Their mission that rips through Brazil sees two on their tail – federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), who never lets anyone escape and corrupt drug lord Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) who wants them dead.

That’s not really a witty plot. And there aren’t great performances guided by a witty script either so rule out suspenseful conversations and memorable dialogue. A merit goes to the Dwayne Johnson though – he was perfectly cast for his role and shows a lot more of his talky WWE side unlike his last film Faster where he was virtually on mute. But Fast and Furious has never been known for excelling in those aspects of filmmaking. It’s known for the action scenes. And what spectacular action scenes there are in Fast Five. It takes it turn to be more of The Expendables instead of the previous films of the series by having a ‘men on a mission’ plot element and emphasising more on fighting than racing. There’s more road rage in here than street racing, and for the record there’s even an ex-wrestler versus action hero fight like there was when Stone Cold fist fought Sly Stallone.

The first act of the film is fast and furious. It quickly takes the audience on a relentless train ride where we see a train robbery in process. This act quickly builds up a background for the story so the audience knows who, what, when, how and why the team are in Brazil. The second act revolves around the main plot element of the $100 million heist. The film decelerates slightly here when we see the crew plotting. Anyone who would have seen the details of the film beforehand would realise why – this lasts over 2 hours, longer than all of the previous films. The 10 minutes after a full two hours weren’t really necessary but show us the aftermath of the third act, the hugely thrilling act. Any who feel frustrated at the pace of the second act – stay for the climactic scene in the third act.

Think of Fast Five as the cinematic equivalent of a mindless muscular athlete. Can’t talk a good game but can surely play a good game. We have all met that person, that guy who failed his exams but took the football pitch by storm at high school. Fast Five is as absent minded – plain characters and clunky dialogue. But the ‘physical’ side is where it amazes – the action scenes of course. It’s like the men behind the camera decided to perfect the action scenes, the plot was secondary. Looking at this year’s earlier films The Mechanic and The Green Hornet, it’s safe to say that Fast Five has the best action sequences of the year yet, and is the best action film overall so far.

Verdict: Forgive the simplicity of the script and get ready for the fastest and most furious ride yet.

abandon hope all who enter clipart, www newbiemovie wwe com

Faster (2010)

I thought The Rock had abandoned us for Disney movies until I went to an early screening of Faster hosted by our local Rock station.

I’ve always wanted to like Dwayne Johnson as an actor. He was so entertaining when he was The Rock, why can’t his movies be just as entertaining? Unfortunately his best received films are the more family oriented ones and watching an ex-wrestler who used to talk about his love for pie and “laying the smack down” seems a bit bittersweet. Films like Faster are what Johnson should be sticking to, but it doesn’t live up to its potential and results in another flat action film.

Wasted potential is the perfect way to describe Faster. Dwayne Johnson spends more time walking around looking really angry than he does revenging his brother’s death or actually saying anything at all. Billy Bob Thornton doesn’t do much of anything either as his character struggles between being a drug addict who doesn’t amount to anything to a police officer who’s about to retire and get full benefits who is also trying to get his family back together again. He spends most of his screen time drowning in his depressing life. Then there’s Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter who seems to be brought into the film to do nothing more than show up, cry a little, and say a few lines of nonsense. Nothing the actors did really helped drive the story forward.

The cinematography fluctuated between being interesting and being incredibly annoying. Right when something like the way the camera was placed while the driver was driving or something as simple as reloading a gun was done in a way that seemed original to catch your attention, the film would turn around and throw shaky camera techniques at you for no reason or the scenes that caught your eye would be too brief to really make up for the mediocrity of the rest of the film. The most interesting aspect lies within the final minutes and relates to the hired killer going after the driver. That concept alone that’s about the length of a one minute conversation is better than Faster as a whole.

Dwayne Johnson seems to have better luck with family films, but I think his fans would rather see him in R-rated action films since his physique and film presence fit that genre best. If he could find a film that was like Faster with a meatier role that gave him more lines and had better writing, it’d probably be a lot more satisfying. The kills in Faster should have been the highlight since the film revolved around the driver gaining revenge for his brother, but they fell short. Everything about Faster did. I was completely expecting Johnson to either turn himself over to the authorities or take his own life to be with his brother at the end of the film. The driver received the revenge he so desperately sought and did it in a nonchalant, hot-shot vigilante kind of way to let everyone know it was him doing it. Yet police can’t seem to keep up with him and he just kind of drives off into the sunset at the end. It felt like Faster was left open ended for nothing more than sequel purposes alone, which is the weakest form of a cop out for a movie ending. Coincidentally, a film called Faster managed to feel twice as long as its 98 minute duration.

In the end, Faster contains elements from both Gone in Sixty Seconds and Taxi Driver, which should result in an excellent film. Instead we’re left with an action film that uses these elements at face value; it contains the fast cars and intense chases of Gone in Sixty Seconds with the uneasy and unpredictable shootouts that are reminiscent of Taxi Driver but Faster lacks the depth, star power, enjoyment factor, strong cast, or lasting value these two films still have today. If you plan on seeing this film, you better be sure because that’s a long dark road you’re headed down (sorry, couldn’t resist) and that road is nothing more than a pointless detour from greater things.

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