Cin’s Movie Critiques

Two Brothers

Two Tigers, and of course Guy Pearce as a hunter. Rated PG for mild violence. 2004, Drama/Family. Cin’s Critique:

If you liked Homeward Bound with two dogs and a cat, you’ll enjoy Two Brothers about two tiger cubs. Separated when young, each tiger is followed as they have different experiences, and ultimately are reunited. This is a heartwarming tale that my children really liked. Okay, okay, I liked it too…

Guy Pearce only makes a couple of brief appearances in this movie as the hunter that found one of the cubs when it was a baby, and checks on it here and there throughout the story. A good family movie!

The Count of Monte Cristo

Guy Pearce, Jim Caviezel. Rated PG-13 for adventure violence/swordplay and some sensuality. 2002, Action/Adventure/Drama. Cin’s Critique:

The classic novel by Alexandre Dumas is brilliantly brought to life in this tale of friendship, love, betrayal and revenge. Because of the false accusations of his best friend, Edmond Dantes is wrongfully imprisoned for treason, and thought to be dead by all that love him. After 13 years he escapes the island prison of Chateau d’If, and carries out his masterfully planned plot for revenge.

This is a true adventure, full of swordsmanship and swashbuckling. And all with a perfect ending! Guy is remarkably evil, playing a character you love to hate. He was actually stabbed by Jim Caviezel in one of the sword fighting scenes. Truly, if you have not seen The Count of Monte Cristo, get your butt to the movie store today and bring it home for entertainment suitable for the entire family.

Till Human Voices Wake Us

Guy Pearce, Helena Bonham Carter. Rated R for a scene of sexuality. 2002, Drama/Romance. Cin’s Critique:

This one was a bit odd, however, I pondered it for days, so that always gets a bonus point in my book. (That, and a love scene with Guy Pearce!) You’ll recognize Helena Bonham Carter who plays Bellatrix Lestrange in the new Harry Potter movie. She has a dark and mysterious beauty.

Till Human Voices Wake Us is the story of a man who returns to the Australian town he grew up in to bury his father. While there he meets an unusual woman who reminds him of someone he once knew. The substance in this movie comes from the flashbacks the character has to his childhood. The story there is told in bits and pieces, and builds into almost a mystery. What happened to him when he was young to make him the man he is now?

It’s an eerie and slow paced movie, with beautiful cinematography, and a very unique story to tell.

The Time Machine

Guy Pearce. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence. 2002, Science Fiction/Drama. Cin’s Critique:

Based on the book by H.G. Wells, The Time Machine is about a man in the 1800’s who invents a time machine to try and alter the past. When he realizes that is not possible, he travels to the future instead. First to the year 2030 when the human race is trying to colonize the moon, and then 800,000 years into the future where humans have evolved into two separate races.

Guy was excellent as a nerdy mathematician, Alexander Hartdegen. I loved the romantic and tragic beginning to the movie, which led him on a quest to save the woman he loved. The special effects were pretty good too, especially the time forwarding sequences.

I have heard from those who read the book that they hated the movie, so apparently, there were some changes. I enjoyed this one very much, obviously because my “Guy” was in it, but also because it was a great story and an entertaining movie.

Raelynn suggested it would be cool to highlight one actor and review each of the movies they starred in for one of my blog posts. I agreed, that would be cool. But whom to choose? Easy. Guy Pearce. My favorite actor. Why? Well, I will admit, his being an Aussie helps! Who can resist an accent? And yes, he is definitely nice to look at…but here’s the kicker: he actually has talent. There are so many names out there with a pretty face that make billions for a movie just because they are eye candy. Guy Pearce is diverse, he is daring in his role choices, and although I’m sure he is interested in the dollar sign that comes with doing a movie, he seems to choose roles that give him a chance to do something unique.

Born in England in 1967, his moved to Australia when he was three. In his teens, he took up bodybuilding and was named Mr. Junior Victoria in a competition. Two days after taking final exams in high school, he started on the popular Australian soap opera, “Neighbors”. After a while in TV, he received critical acclaim for his performance in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and entered the world of mainstream films. While you will recognize him from movies like The Time Machine and The Count of Monte Cristo, Guy Pearce has done many more independent movies. I read an interview where he said he prefers independent films to big budget movies because they “are really unique and allow you to explore what life is really about.”

Guy likes to keep his private life very private. He currently makes his home in Melbourne, Australia which is also where he married his childhood sweetheart Kate Mestitz in 1997. In addition to acting, he is passionate about music; singing and playing the guitar, saxophone, and piano, and has written hundreds of songs. One of my favorite CD’s is the soundtrack for A Slipping Down Life, yes, that really is him singing. He has an interesting, not quite scratchy, yet very sexy voice!

So, if you’re not a fan of his, steer clear for a while, I declare it Guy Pearce Week!

The Holiday

Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language. 2006, Romantic Comedy. Cin’s Critique:

Two women with heartache problems, one in LA and one in England, trade locations for the Christmas season. They swap houses to get away from their own lives for The Holiday. Of course, they both meet new men and fall in love for Christmas.

This movie is absolutely hilarious! Seriously, there were parts that I had to rewind because I didn’t hear it the first time around because I was laughing so stinking hard! Each of the actors played each of the characters to perfection. And I loved that it wasn’t a typical romantic comedy. There was some depth here, and interesting side plots that only added to the charm of the story line.

I found a funny little tidbit on IMDB. (Which by the way stands for Internet Movie Database, and is easily accessed through the link right over there on the right and has information on practically any movie ever made). There is a scene where Kate Winslet and Jack Black are in the movie store and Dustin Hoffman overhears them talking about “The Graduate”. This scene was not originally part of the script. Dustin Hoffman really was just driving by, saw all the hullabaloo with the movie filming, stopped in to say hi to writer Nancy Meyers, and ended up with a cameo in the movie.

So, if you haven’t seen this one, and you’re up for a little “Christmas in July”, rent The Holiday!

Transformers

Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language. 2007, Action/Science Fiction. Cin’s Critique:

So, I took my kids to see this one and all three of us loved it! Very entertaining from beginning to end. I really wasn’t expecting a great movie, but it actually had a very good story line. And the actual transforming was very cool! I’m sure Santa will bring it to us this Christmas.

Synopsis: Alien robots come to Earth to protect the human race from the evil strain of their species. Loved the action, didn’t like the almost swearing and sexual references, for being a movie that will be watched by the entire family there were a few lines that made me frown.

I know a few of you have seen this one, let me know what you thought of it.

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.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Daines. Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and action, and for language and brief nudity. 2003, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

John Connor is in his twenties now, and although Judgement Day was prevented in the last movie, he is still leery and lives life as a drifter in order to stay “off the grid”. Since the terminator sent back through time cannot find him, she (yes…she…big mistake if you ask me…) targets all of his military officers instead.

John coincidentally meets up with his future wife just as she is about to be killed, Arnold shows up to save the day, and they all figure out that Skynet has still come to pass through different means. The rest of the movie they again try to prevent Judgement Day from occurring.

This was my least favorite of the trio, but that is not to say that is wasn’t a good movie, I liked it. It just had a different mood than the other two, not so science fiction feeling, and, a much different ending. If you haven’t seen this one, I’d highly recommend watching it, as it nicely finishes off the ongoing story, just don’t expect the same ambiance as the first two movies.

So, thanks to Rocky for requesting a review of the Terminator movies. I really enjoyed watching all three in a row, give it a try sometime!

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong. Rated R for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language. 1991, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

“Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Skynet, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the human resistance, John Connor. The first Terminator was programmed to strike in the year 1984, before John was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at John himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for John. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first.”

The movie begins with this narrative, and with two terminators traveling through time, one to kill John, and one reprogrammed by the resistance to protect him. This time around, Arnold is the good guy, and is hilarious as young John Connor tries to teach him to be cool. The famous line invoked here: “Hasta La Vista, Baby”.

Terminator 2 is filled with bigger, better explosions, a little more humor, and a much more hindering feeling of inevitable doom. The terminator sent to kill John is more adaptable, being made out of liquid metal, and thus, much harder to destroy. Sarah Connor is a bit more buff in this movie, crossing the line from helpless girl running for her life, to hardened rigid woman, training her son to become a military leader. The story line is more developed, and we cheer for our heroes to accomplish their goal of preventing Judgement Day from ever happening.

My favorite of the trilogy, Terminator 2 won four Oscars and was nominated for tons of other awards. I first saw this one in high school, and I actually mean, during class. Our substitute teacher was a rebel, and let us watch an R rated movie at school, how cool is that??