Film Reviews, Box Office Analysis, Movie News. Welcome to All About Movies.net! Featuring original reviews and analyses from the world of cinema. http://www.allaboutmovies.net This work is Copyright ALL ABOUT MOVIES.NET. All Rights Reserved. info@allaboutmovies.net info@allaboutmovies.net http://www.allaboutmovies.net http://www.allaboutmovies.net/indextitle.jpg The 2009 Star Trek film brought a sense of hope back to this moribund franchise that was in serious danger of being left to the annuls of entertainment history. Now with Star Trek Into Darkness, I feel as if Star Trek itself is gone, but the franchise will still continue given Abrams’ ability to encourage a younger generation through the turnstiles with lots of explosions, flashy visuals, and shiny things flying around on screen... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-05-14-star-trek-into-darkness-review.php The problem of Hollywood blockbuster films these days being more or less the same despite different directors has finally affected the Iron Man franchise with its third outing. This is particularly surprising given it’s written and directed by Shane Black, a prolific Hollywood screenwriter who is known for witty scripts and dialogue. The story is interesting, the performances are good, with Robert Downey Jr. still at his affable best, but the execution is just the same old too much noise, explosions and computer effects thrown at the screen... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-05-01-iron-man-3-is-solidly-entertaining-but-routine.php You can easily imagine how the pitch for Olympus Has Fallen was made to the studios: It’s Die Hard in the White House!. And that’s essentially what it is. It might not have Bruce Willis in the cast, but Gerard Butler of “300” fame is more than tough enough, and witty enough, to meet that challenge as he goes about taking out the bad guys one by one. It’s not that this movie isn’t tense or entertaining, it’s just that we’ve seen it all before... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-04-25-olympus-has-fallen-is-relentlessly-repetitive.php During the climax of Joseph Kosinski’s “Oblivion” when all the plot elements were coming together to offer a complete picture of the scenario being depicted in the story, I was reminded of old school science-fiction novels that simultaneously combined an intelligent premise, a futuristic setting and an examination of the human condition. This film may not be setting any high-water marks in this regard, and it definitely lacks a certain amount of dramatic tension throughout, but this film offers so much more than the usual Hollywood shtick... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-04-17-oblivion-is-gloriously-visual-and-intelligent-but-lacks-tension.php A scene in the first third of “Silver Linings Playbook”, all done with looks and camera-work, demonstrates how well a character drama can be told and visualised on screen. When Bradley Cooper’s “Pat” meets Jennifer Lawrence’s “Tiffany” for the first time, there is an instant moment of attraction and appeal between these two characters, as if they know right there and then that they belong together... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-04-03-watch-bradley-and-jennifer-go-bi-polar-in-silver-linings-playbook.php In an allusion to the earliest human fascination with images, The Croods opens to the narration of lead character Eep (voiced by Emma Stone) as she charts the course of her family history. Visually this is done through animated cave paintings that are wonderfully rendered and imaginatively conceived. I’m not sure there isn’t anything too deep to read in to this, but the cave animatic that opens the film is a nice touch. What follows is a fun and visually stunning animated film, complete with the sensibility you would come to expect from a Dreamworks film, but it’s not particularly innovative in any way... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-04-03-the-croods-is-fun-and-visually-stunning-if-not-innovative.php I initially approached Sam Raimi’s prequel to MGM’s legendary musical “The Wizard Of Oz” with a general lack of enthusiasm. Creating a prequel to such a classic film was always going to be precarious, but for the most part, Raimi and his crew have managed to craft a film with wonderful visuals, some magical fantasy elements, and a number of performances that together make a film that serves the original well... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-03-19-oz-the-great-and-powerful.php One of the most unusual aspects to Robert Zemeckis’ return to live action filmmaking is its adherence to character-based drama. In a world of whiz-bang movies about comic books characters, killer robots, endless special effects scenes and wall-to-wall action, “Flight” reminds us of a time when story and character were more prevalent... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-02-07-flight-denzel-washington.php Safe House can best be described as being less than the sum of its parts. This film could have been nothing short of amazing if there were less guns and car chases and more of these greyish character moments that are rich with drama and tension... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-01-23-safe-house-delivers-the-action.php The new film “Jack Reacher”, based on the 9th novel in the series of Jack Reacher novels from Lee Child is in the same vein as those 70s films. Director Christopher McQuarrie has updated it for modern audiences of course, but the unstoppable protagonist who will dispense his own sense of justice is just as present in this film as in those earlier films. This makes the film a lot of fun, but with a modern sensibility, we also get a sense of down-to-earth realism infused in to the piece that helps accentuate the crime mystery elements of the story. Even without the character of Jack Reacher in the film, the story presented is quite engaging... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-01-09-jack-reacher-is-cool-tom-cruise-miscast.php Given Ang Lee’s previous work and the uplifting trailers that accompanied his new film “Life Of Pi”, I went in anticipating an emotional, life-changing journey presented in the film as the main character of “Pi Patel” survives a ship-wreck and is left to fend for himself on a life boat with a Bengal tiger. The film as presented, although a visual wonder containing a wonderful sense of humour, lacks any deep emotional connection that would have made the film more moving... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-01-05-life-of-pi-visual-wonder.php I hadn’t read the novel of The Hobbit but knew that it was nowhere near as long or deep as The Lord Of The Rings. I knew that the film would come up trumps technically given Peter Jackson’s abilities as a filmmaker, so my only curiosity was how he planned to turn a third of a slim novel in to just under three hours of quality cinema... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-01-05-the-hobbit-worthy-of-tolkien.php Watching a foul-mouthed Teddy Bear with the voice of Peter Griffin seems like a formula for comedy gold, and for the most part it is. From the voice-over narration by Patrick Stewart, to Mark Wahlberg’s perfect man-boy performance to Seth MacFarlane’s extremely funny voice performance as the title character, Ted is a very funny film... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2013-01-05-ted-is-foul-mouthed-fun.php With Skyfall the Daniel Craig era of the franchise has finally infused elements from the Connery era of films. By the end of Skyfall we can all but expect that subsequent films are going to take on a tone that is more in line with what we remember as opposed to the more modern feel that Bond has taken in the last few films... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-11-25-skyfall-sees-the-return-of-james-bond.php Argo tells the story of a CIA operation to rescue six hostages during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis by faking the production of large scale Hollywood film and using it as a cover to give the hostages fake identities to escape the country. With the immense substance provided by this material, Affleck effectively sets about telling a seemingly unbelievable tale of how the CIA created an elaborate cover story to get the hostages out of this dire situation... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-11-25-ben-affleck-directs-argo.php Every now and then an Australian film comes along that actually breaks through the system in place for the industry to offer a well told, personalised story that can resonate with an audience. “Animal Kingdom” from director David Michôd is such a film. Despite it slow pace and criminal setting, there is something relatable for an audience in this film that tells of a family with various different characters, both good and bad, and their overall impact on the family’s destiny... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-11-16-animal-kingdom-reveals-quality-can-be-at-the-heart-of-australian-cinema.php As long as a film makes money you can bet your bottom dollar that Hollywood will try to turn it in to a franchise. Hollywood is running a business after all so this should not be unexpected, and to give them some credit, there have been times when sequels have been as good as, if not better than their originals... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-10-14-taken-2-hollywoods-love-affair-with-pointless-but-profitable-sequels.php Writer-Director Rian Johnson has provided a quality science fiction experience in “Looper”, his third feature film, starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt. Populating his film with a decent story, strong performances and an intelligence that is sorely lacking in modern day Hollywood films today... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-10-06-quality-sci-fi-returns-to-cinemas-with-looper.php Historical dramas are a hallmark of Chinese cinema. Some of the best produced films offer a fascinating window in to the rich historical tapestry of Chinese history, with its emperors, wars, and other times of upheaval. One of the finest films of recent years to be released in this genre was “Shaolin”, directed by Benny Chan and starring Chinese music idol and actor Andy Lau... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-09-13-andy-lau-proves-his-acting-worth-in-shaolin.php The Bourne franchise is an exciting, gritty set of spy films that provide a stark contrast to the more fantasy-like nature of the James Bond films. In fact, the Daniel Craig-led Bond films must have drawn some of their inspiration from the Bourne films in their tough action sequences and gritty portrayal of their heroes. The Bourne franchise improved on each successive film, a feat not normally achieved with continuing sequels, until that is, the current installment The Bourne Legacy... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-08-28-the-bourne-franchise-continues-steadily-but-its-legacy-remains-with-damon.php Christopher Nolan is one of those rare, gifted filmmakers that actually gives you your money’s worth whenever you go to see one of his films. “The Dark Knight Rises”, although not his strongest work, and a little clunky compared to its superior predecessors in the franchise, is still a rock solid film worthy of the price of admission... http://www.allaboutmovies.net/blogs/2012-08-01-the-dark-knight-rises-to-a-strong-finale.php