August 21, 2007
I recently made a spur of the moment trip to Las Vegas to visit my beautiful, yet twisted sister. (Yes, I’m going to use that line every time I refer to her, it is just so fitting!) Anyway, Vegas is always fun. We visited the Stratosphere, we ate at the buffet. We covered our eyes at the Taxi Cab advertisements. Great fun. From the top of the Stratosphere, I could see the hotel named…Stardust.
Stardust
Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro. Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and risque humor. 2007, Fantasy. Cin’s Critique:
A young man from a small countryside town crosses the wall into a magical kingdom to retrieve a fallen star. The star turns out to be a lovely young woman and the two begin their journey to safety while being pursued by those that want to use the star for dark and sinister purposes.
I was expecting a wonderful movie here, but was absolutely blown away by how spectacular this one was! Thoroughly entertaining and imaginative from beginning to end. Claire Danes is lovely, and believable as a fallen star. Michelle Pfeiffer nails her performance as a beautiful, evil witch. And although Robert De Niro only has a small role, he steals the entire movie. He was absolutely hilarious!
Stardust is a fantasy adventure suitable for the entire family, you will love it as much as your children. (Hmm…I meant as much as your children love it, but I think I’ll leave that sentence as it is for emphasis.)
July 18, 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. 2007, Adventure/Fantasy. Cin’s Critique: 
What can I say? I love the Harry Potter books; I love the Harry Potter movies! The movies do not exactly follow the books, but how could you expect to fit all the content of these wonderful books into even a very long movie? Not possible. The books coming to life on the big screen is magical, literally…
In this fifth installment, Harry again wards off dementers, learns wizardry, and battles Dark Lord Voldemort. Many reviews say this is the best acted movie for the young stars, many say it was hard to follow, many say it was a redemption after the fourth movie. Me, I say it was wonderful beginning to end. I had a huge grin on my face the entire 2 ½ hours just out of sheer excitement of being there in front of the big screen!
Sorry for a horribly unhelpful movie review here. In my very biased opinion, this movie of course is a must see! If you have seen it, let me know what you think.
March 22, 2007
Pan’s Labyrinth
Foreign film with subtitles. Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro. Rated R for graphic violence and some language. 2006, Fantasy/Drama. Cin’s Critique: 4 ½ *
A young girl goes with her pregnant mother to a remote region of Spain in 1944 to be with her stepfather, a sadistic army general. A fairy visits her in the night and leads her to the center of a labyrinth. Here she meets a faun that tells her she is a princess of the underworld, and must prove her worthiness by completing three tasks. The movie jumps back and forth between this fantastical world she is experiencing, and the world of her stepfather with all its’ brutality.
This was a mesmerizing movie. That is to say, it was fascinating to watch and to try and figure out. It was a little disturbing. It was a little bizarre. There were parts that I went “Eeewwww…..” while covering my eyes, and there were parts that I went “wwhhooooaaaa…” while leaning towards the movie screen. Such evil, such magic, such drama and passion and humanity all poured into one movie, it was a bit overwhelming. Yes, I liked it, but what earned it an extra bump in my rating system is the fact that I have pondered it so much. If you like thought provoking movies, this one is for you. If you’re looking for a fairytale, be warned, you’ll get much more than you’re asking for.
So, I had to include a picture of my favorite character in the movie. This is the pale man. He is involved in one of the tasks the girl has to complete. I liked him so much because he’s very easy on the eyes…ha! As you can see, he cradles his eyes in his hands. What an imaginative character, I loved how frightening he was.
One more note: the official website for this movie, http://www.panslabyrinth.com/is worth checking out. Some cool info on the movie, plus, you can listen to the entire soundtrack online. This is one I bought, it’s absolutely beautiful.
February 10, 2007
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Fellowship of the Ring 2001, The Two Towers 2002, The Return of the King 2003. Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and frightening images. Fantasy/Action/Adventure. Cin’s Critique: 5 *
Whether you have read the books or not, these three movies are some of the greatest ever made. Proof that my opinion is shared: all three movies were nominated for or won hundreds of prestigious awards, (to have a look at all the awards go to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/awards), with the last movie winning every Oscar category it was nominated for, 11 in all!
When I think of the movies I often feel that The Fellowship of the Ring is my favorite of the three. Yet while I watch The Two Towers and The Return of the King, I feel that they are my favorite movie of the trilogy. Each movie is so different and has a life of it’s own. I love that as the story intensifies the characters keep stepping up, proving themselves time and again. That as evil becomes more prevalent, friendship and good still unite the main characters.
The movies are beautiful to watch. The scenery is breathtaking, the costumes are perfect. The sets and structures of the cities are on a grand scale with no comparison. The actors portray emotions and feelings with such reality that you actually feel what the characters are feeling. I cannot watch the part where Liv Tyler cries for Frodo without crying with her.
These movies have it all: action, drama, romance, comedy, suspense, and a good moral to the story, all with an underlying urgency that make the hours pass like minutes. Clear your day, turn off the phone ringer, and watch all three movies in a row. It will be a day well spent!
