Movie Reviews
Horton Hears a Who
- Watched this kids cartoon under sufference because I was stuck on a plane to Johannesburg. And you know what? Except for the cheezy ending, it was actually very, very enjoyable. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell both shine in their roles and this despite the fact that I found their voices almost unrecognisable. The vulture Vlad has a voice that is a dead ringer for "Achmed the Dead Terrorist". I've seen it twice now. :)
Death Defying Acts
- With Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones. Loved Guy's warm American accent. He gave a slightly scary, multi-layered performance as Harry Houdini. Timothy Spall as his manager is starting to seem typecast now - he's been playing the same character ever since he did The Last Samurai. The movie was slightly spoiled by the child actor's voice over - which tended to both give away the plot before it happened and then disappoint when the reality didn't quite measure up to her forboding narrative.
Spiderwick Chronicles
- Finally saw this the other day. Its a quite ordinary production with few moments of genuine sparkle - like the bird-eating hobgoblin. A little short on content and the whole dysfunctional family/sibling rivalry thing was waaaay too overdone. There was no fight choreography whatsoever on the swordfighting of the elder sister - a supposed fencer. She just flailed away - both in training and in fighting later one. (Though I was cheering when she cut loose with her sword on the little trolls). The main character (one of twin boys) seems almost sociopathic in his destructiveness until the plot gets underway and his aggression becomes appropriate. Reminded me of Tuck Everlasting for some reason. Perhaps its just the "house in the woods" thang.
- Watched this kids cartoon under sufference because I was stuck on a plane to Johannesburg. And you know what? Except for the cheezy ending, it was actually very, very enjoyable. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell both shine in their roles and this despite the fact that I found their voices almost unrecognisable. The vulture Vlad has a voice that is a dead ringer for "Achmed the Dead Terrorist". I've seen it twice now. :)
Death Defying Acts
- With Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones. Loved Guy's warm American accent. He gave a slightly scary, multi-layered performance as Harry Houdini. Timothy Spall as his manager is starting to seem typecast now - he's been playing the same character ever since he did The Last Samurai. The movie was slightly spoiled by the child actor's voice over - which tended to both give away the plot before it happened and then disappoint when the reality didn't quite measure up to her forboding narrative.
Spiderwick Chronicles
- Finally saw this the other day. Its a quite ordinary production with few moments of genuine sparkle - like the bird-eating hobgoblin. A little short on content and the whole dysfunctional family/sibling rivalry thing was waaaay too overdone. There was no fight choreography whatsoever on the swordfighting of the elder sister - a supposed fencer. She just flailed away - both in training and in fighting later one. (Though I was cheering when she cut loose with her sword on the little trolls). The main character (one of twin boys) seems almost sociopathic in his destructiveness until the plot gets underway and his aggression becomes appropriate. Reminded me of Tuck Everlasting for some reason. Perhaps its just the "house in the woods" thang.