Doubt - 2008, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Directed by John Patrick Shanley

Excellent excellent movie.

Meryl Streep has always been a wonderful actress and this movie definitely is a great addition to her repertoire. The verbal sparring between her character and, the just as awesome actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman's is just priceless. I really wish I had her as a teacher at my schools, even though she was incredibly strict you definitely got the sense that she cared deeply about the students almost from the get go.

The writing for this was perfect, and although I have never been in that kind of position, I felt as though it was handled well and thoughtfully. There are no graphic scenes of any truly disturbing nature and the language is kept to a minimum as you would expect in this kind of surrounding.

The ending was a tear jerker for me, but then I am always prone to endings with heart felt meaning.

This is definitely one of my top picks for movies for people to see before they die.

Four thumbs up

- The truth points to itself

War of the Worlds - 2005, Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Ok so I have to admit the main reason I chose this movie is because I had seen it before and have always loved the War of the Worlds story. I would have loved to have even around when Orson Wells read it over the radio.

There isn't too much I can say that's bad about this movie, however I can't truely enjoy a movie if there is nothing at all wrong with it.

The protagonist father figure is portayed as the dead beat dad as usual, though I feel Tom Cruise plays that part well. The really bad special effects come when a flock of seagulls fly overhead, however they stick to the original designs of the ships perfectly with slight alterations because of the new time that it is based.

Dakota Fanning is just superb in this movie and honestly I feel she steals every scene she is in.

The brother/sister dynamic is great and if and when my partner and I have children I only hope they have the same dynamic.

I really like the fact that if you put aside the fact that this is from a different time period from the original movie, you can kind of meld them both and see the same thing from a second point of view. 

Overall I love this movie along with the original, the musical and the book. If those who dislike Tom Cruise can see past that then you will enjoy this movie.

Four thumbs up

- The truth points to itself.

Darkness - 2002, Anna Paquin, Iain Glen. Directed by Jaume Balagueró

The beginning of this movie is nice. Not the usual music and opening credits, you actually get a slight history of the house.

The acting in this movie is really quite good, which is what I was expecting considering some of the actors and actresses.

It is a very subtle movie, sure you get the bits that make you jump a little, but the overall feel to the story builds as the time goes on. It is a progressive horror that, in my mind, isn't so much scary as it is suspenseful. 

The downsides to this movie. My big main issue with this movie is that the father's character, although played excellently, is too reminiscent of the father from Amityville, whereas the mother was just another overworked cardboard cutout of a horror movie mother, again nicely acted though.

The daughters character was strong and one thing I loved about this movie was the abundance of common sense (not going to turn my back on the obviously creepy man.)

All in all I enjoyed this movie a lot, certainly been the best I have seen in a couple of days, and if you want to watch Rogue (X-Men) and Ser Jorah Mormont (Game of Thrones) in a movie together then this is the movie to watch (though I did keep waiting for Iain Glen to call his wife khaleesi)

Three thumbs up.

- The truth points to itself.

[Prototype] - 2009, Joe Cabatit and Mark Kelly. Directed by Michael Reilly

What I thought would be a fairly good marriage between video game and movie (especially in the light of some recent movies) was a mistake.

As you will see from the image below, the imagery and text all look like they come from the video game of the same name. What this actually appears to be is a low budget religious remake by a very young fan.

The budget appeared to be less than my pocket money when I was 9. When you have someone who can manipulate objects why have a high budget when the actors can just fake being hit by an invisible force. This is truly as good as the acting gets, leading lots of credence to the old adage "you get what you pay for."

This movie is very slow, if your expecting action do not hold your breath!

There is a lot of religious under, over and all around tones from the very start to the very end, along with so many stereotypes ranging from the Redneck stepfather to the illegal immigrant abusing store manager (though this is only really referenced once)

All in all unless you like this type of thing avoid like the plague!

Hopefully the next review will be a good one!

Four thumbs down!

- The truth points to itself.

Phantoms - 1998, Peter O'Toole and Rose McGowan. Directed by Joe Chappelle

So this is not the best movie to start my blog with.

This movie starts off a little weak, trying to instil in us the fact that the sisters aren't best friends but also not enemies.

There are some impressive wide pan shots to detail just how isolated this town is. However, these become tiresome after a while.

Unfortunately this movie just becomes the stereotypical horror movie bent on making you jump as often as possible, from the first body we see, to the loud noises they insist on using.
As with any stereotypical horror, the cars and phones only work when the bad guys want them to.

Some of the effects could be better, more blood on some of the things they find wouldn't break the bank I am sure.

Overall this is a movie that becomes too predictable and boring and it is a shame to see some of the, quite big, named actors in this.

I suspect the book is better than the movie, which is usually the case.



Three thumbs down.

- The truth points to itself.