New-to-me movies watched in July
1. Dragon Hunters (2008)
2. Lockout (2012)
3. Pandorum (2009)
4. Born Free (1966)
REVIEWS:
1. Dragon Hunters (2008)
Cute animated movie about a big tough looking guy with a soft heart and his greedy shrimp of a companion, who helps a girl (who has a passion for old heroes) on a quest to defeat a great dragon. The kid and the shrimpy guy were a bit annoying and the storyline was predictable and corny, but the animation and world creation was very cool. I'm interested in seeing the original (British, I think) TV show and seeing how it compares.
2. Lockout (2012)
The president's daughter goes to inspect an orbiting prison, in which prisoners are kept in experimental stasis. While interviewing an inmate (who happens to be just about the most deranged prisoner in the bunch and thus a bad choice on the part of the corporation), the prisoner escapes and sets all the other prisoners free. A man (played by Guy Pearce) wrongly accused of murdering a fellow operative is sent in to get the president's daughter out. It's very much Escape from New York, but in space, and while it's action packed and entertaining for the most part, it is definitely not the best of Luc Besson's work.
3. Pandorum (2009)
A ship officer wakes from stasis sleep to find the ship in chaos and violent humanoid creatures gnawing on any survivors they can catch. "Pandorum" is apparently a side effect of stasis sleep that causes a person to become paranoid and violent (though it has nothing to do with the humanoid creatures. It's a really odd movie, which I only half paid attention to while it was on tv. I don't know that if I had paid full attention, whether or not I would have figured out just what the humanoid creatures were or why they were there (very odd), but the movie was entertaining enough for me to keep from changing the channel. So, yeah.
4. Born Free (1966)
A cut movie about a woman who raises a lioness from a cub and then sets her free in the wild. Definitely old fashioned in tone and style, and there was a lot that they got away with while filming back then that they could not have gotten away with now. The lions fight vigorously with each other, for example, and its hard to tell how much interaction with the wilderness is staged and how much is real. It also leaps at the actress and nearly topples her a couple of times-very brave actors all around. Overall it was funny and sweet, and worth a watch.
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Also in movies, I just learned they're making a sequel to Silent Hill and I'm kind of stoked. I loved the atmospheric quality of the first one and the insane, twisted creatures. The sequel looks like it will have some of the same actors and even more fantastical and twisted creatures. The story seems to have more of a dark fantasy rather than straight horror premise with the girl being the choosen one to destroy the darkness, so that's cool.
The trailer for Life of Pi, which is directed by Ang Lee, is looking rather awesome, too
2. Lockout (2012)
3. Pandorum (2009)
4. Born Free (1966)
REVIEWS:
1. Dragon Hunters (2008)
Cute animated movie about a big tough looking guy with a soft heart and his greedy shrimp of a companion, who helps a girl (who has a passion for old heroes) on a quest to defeat a great dragon. The kid and the shrimpy guy were a bit annoying and the storyline was predictable and corny, but the animation and world creation was very cool. I'm interested in seeing the original (British, I think) TV show and seeing how it compares.
2. Lockout (2012)
The president's daughter goes to inspect an orbiting prison, in which prisoners are kept in experimental stasis. While interviewing an inmate (who happens to be just about the most deranged prisoner in the bunch and thus a bad choice on the part of the corporation), the prisoner escapes and sets all the other prisoners free. A man (played by Guy Pearce) wrongly accused of murdering a fellow operative is sent in to get the president's daughter out. It's very much Escape from New York, but in space, and while it's action packed and entertaining for the most part, it is definitely not the best of Luc Besson's work.
3. Pandorum (2009)
A ship officer wakes from stasis sleep to find the ship in chaos and violent humanoid creatures gnawing on any survivors they can catch. "Pandorum" is apparently a side effect of stasis sleep that causes a person to become paranoid and violent (though it has nothing to do with the humanoid creatures. It's a really odd movie, which I only half paid attention to while it was on tv. I don't know that if I had paid full attention, whether or not I would have figured out just what the humanoid creatures were or why they were there (very odd), but the movie was entertaining enough for me to keep from changing the channel. So, yeah.
4. Born Free (1966)
A cut movie about a woman who raises a lioness from a cub and then sets her free in the wild. Definitely old fashioned in tone and style, and there was a lot that they got away with while filming back then that they could not have gotten away with now. The lions fight vigorously with each other, for example, and its hard to tell how much interaction with the wilderness is staged and how much is real. It also leaps at the actress and nearly topples her a couple of times-very brave actors all around. Overall it was funny and sweet, and worth a watch.
.
Also in movies, I just learned they're making a sequel to Silent Hill and I'm kind of stoked. I loved the atmospheric quality of the first one and the insane, twisted creatures. The sequel looks like it will have some of the same actors and even more fantastical and twisted creatures. The story seems to have more of a dark fantasy rather than straight horror premise with the girl being the choosen one to destroy the darkness, so that's cool.
The trailer for Life of Pi, which is directed by Ang Lee, is looking rather awesome, too