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albertovalls
Reviews
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (2006)
Prince and the Pauper ......Sort of
Very loosely based on the story 'Prince and the Pauper' but named after an altogether different story 'Tale of Two cities' mainly because there was a pun to be had. Go figure!
I say loosely based because Garfield is far from a pauper in his own lasagna orientated pampered life.
Through a series of unplanned events Garfield switches places with an identical cat called Prince, whose owner had died and left him her large estate; much to the horror of Dargis played by Billy Connolly, who aims to remove the only thing stopping him from inheriting the estate..Prince. After the switch Garfield unknowingly becomes the target.
The plot (however thin (but it is a kids movie)) is afoot. Dargis (Billy Connolly) becomes the bad guy and tries to get rid of Garfield who he thinks is Prince returned from his first attempt on his life. The script for Dargis sounds like it was written for John Cleese and doesn't quite work for Billy some of the time.
All in all my 12 year old wants to watch it again as does my 9 year old and my wife actually laughed, so it's not as bad as some would have you think.
Half Light (2006)
More spooky than horror
Writer Rachel Carlson played by Demi Moore is left unable to write after the tragic death of her son.
In a hope to remove her writers block she moves to a remote island off Scotland. A local psychic startles her with a comment about her son and after befriending a local lighthouse keeper things begin to get creepy. Is she imagining strange things happening because of the isolation and the fact she has recently stopped taking medication for depression, or are they real? There is an unfortunate plot stopper 3/4 of the way in the film where a conversation opens out the plot to a point you may think why continue watching, but there is still a twist in the end.
R17 rating but no profanity or nudity (but did have short above the shoulders tasteful sex scene). I think the rating came from one violent scene in particular involving a child. A little bit of gore toward the end but not too graphic.
My Kingdom (2001)
A story not an action film
A film found in DVD/VCR recorder I just bought. I would not have seen it otherwise. So thanks to whoever tested it with this film and left it in it.
This film is a story about a family in the criminal underworld. The terms Gangsters and Mobsters give the wrong impression, it is supposed to be inspired by King Lear after all. My wife who studied King Lear at college, found the underlying story and characters did resemble that of King Lear.
A controlling father toward the end of his life finds rebellion in the family. It is quite believable that someone as busy as he appears to have been in his life misses out on the most important things with his daughters,(love etc) and finds a chasm he did not know existed.
Events unfold and he has to set straight the dishonourable way his daughters treat him. The cold and calculating way in which this is done is what makes a "gangster" not the usual portrayal of beating up everyone who disagrees with them, but if you cross them that is a different matter. People like the Krays, were in the minority in doing this, or they would not have been so infamous.
All in all an enjoyable dark film.
Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
In the spirit of Herbie
I think it's a 7 although I have given it a 9 to up it's average as I think others have been unfair. I'ts a film for kids and the young at heart. Anyone who gave it less than 5 is a grumpy old s*d who just wants to whinge about anything.
I found it in the spirit of the other Herbie films which all included a bit of slapstick comedy and a tail of good over evil and a lesson in loyalty and manners when you hurt someones or in this case somethings feelings. I think the light use of cgi was good and the stunts matched those seen in the 1960's film. Remember Herbie's not only sentient he's magic.
This film and indeed none of the original Herbie films made you fall off your seat laughing but generally kept you amused and held by the story and action and made you leave the cinema with a smile on your face and a feel good factor.
Lighten up guys it's a family comedy, good clean fun, and I don't remember hearing one profanity uttered (even a minor one)which was a refreshing change.
My 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter enjoyed it, and in that, it is a success.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Hmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!
This may be considered to contain spoilers, but as this story is over 50 years old most of you will have some idea what happens anyway, but I do reveal the differences.
The 4 stars are only for the effects as the tripods are in the essence of the original drawings and move well (see the cover of Jeff Waynes album of the musical version narrated by Richard Burton), this was the only thing I had against the original film as they floated on 3 beams but it was probably technically impossible back then or at least too expensive. As for the story why change it to THIS!! This was a perfectly good story that has now been mullered. Spielberg has done to this story what an iceberg did to the Titanic.
At this point I should tell you I have read the book many years ago bought the vinyl mentioned above and seen the 1953 film (no, I'm not that old I saw it years after it came out) the same goes for the radio show. The 1975 film about the radio show 'The Night That Panicked America' showing how gullible you lot in the USA all were/are was most interesting. Sorry, I had to get you lot back for the "Europe fell in minutes" gag in the film. (Not Sorry really ;-) Well the USA were not making dent in them either.
If a race was so advanced 1 million years ago to create these tripods, why bury them in the Earth and wait for it to be populated? Surely they would know that in a thousand or even few hundred years later let alone a million years on they would develop much better craft that could take out/harvest humankind in one go and wouldn't be bothered with what would become 'that ancient junk tripod technology!' The original story has them coming from Mars (a million to one chance but still they come, as the story goes) landing, which made a crater from where the tripods were built and emerge.
There was no time given for investigation or explanation of many things that happened. For example in the 1953 film we had 'lets try this; oh, it didn't work lets try something else' etc. This film just had the troops throwing everything they had at them and we didn't see much of that happening.
In answer to comments about blunders I have read here. If you think about it you can get around some of the EMP knocking out everything electrical mistakes. As someone who has qualifications in electronics I know not everything would necessarily be affected depending on where it was at the time of the EMP and if it was shielded for example in a thick metal box or garage or even if it was underground in a basement or car park. But this aside when they emerged to find a plane had crashed on them it was very convenient for the car to have no damage and to have a path through the rubble to make their escape.
I had shown the original film of 1953 to my 11 and 8 year old a few weeks ago and they enjoyed it and even got a bit scared with it. The thing missing in this film is ambiance, no time given to get any real suspense, just burn baby burn. I will not be letting the kids see this one yet (it's a 12A in the UK) for this reason.
Not a good remake as so many aren't.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The big G did us good
Thanks George you did it! I was very pleased in the overall story and effects. I rate this one very close to A New Hope. He could never beat it though as anything new, original and innovative can never be recaptured. As a teenager in 1977 I remember the first time I saw A New Hope; Revenge of the Sith left me with the same grin I remember walking out of the cinema with all those years ago. None of the other Star Wars films quite managed this. There were a few bits where I noticed a definite edit and felt a lack of explanation of what happened or was about to happen but you know anyway if you follow the films and unless they make the film three hours long or yet another film I suppose the scissors have to snip somewhere. In the main it was very good a must for anyone who is in to Sci Fi.