movies

articles

• Battleship is great science fiction adventure
• Don’t Miss American Pie Reunion!
• The Lorax is a treat for Dr Seuss Fans!
• If you like action, action, and more action, you have to see Safe House
• Hugo – A 3D adventure for young and old
• Tintin hits the big screen in 3D
• Puss in Boots is a hilarious 3-D comedy adventure for the whole family!
• Cowboys and Aliens – an exciting 3-D collaboration of two popular Movie Genres!
• Super 8 – A super Sci-Fi movie adventure for young and old alike!
• Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon – The saga continues…
• Thor – a movie review
• Rio – a movie review
• Hop the movie: a review
• Rango will Bring a Smile to Your Face!
• Bieber Fever
• “Never Say Never!” Justin Bieber didn’t….
• “True Grit” brilliant remake of the classic western
• Scott Pilgrim vs.The World, a review
• “The End of The Line”, imagine life without fish
• Charlie St Cloud, a review
• Despicable Me in 3D, a review
• Jock of the Bushveld soon in 3D and as theatre
• Marmaduke : a movie review
• Toy Story 3 in 3D: a review
• Space Chimps 2: write a review and win
• Nanny Mcphee 2 – movie reviews
• How To Train Your Dragon 3D – movie review
• Alice in Wonderland 3D – a movie review
• The Princess and the Frog – a movie review

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

Directed by Peter Berg and released by Universal, the movie begins after NASA’s discovery of a  planet, with a similar blueprint to Earth, and curious to establish whether the planet is inhabited, they decide to transmit a signal from their powerful Hawaii satellite transmission station, aimed at this planet, with the aid of a satellite in orbit.

At the same time we are introduced to Alex Hopper (Played by Taylor Kitsch), a lazy,  good for nothing, who sponges off his brother, Stone, a talented and decorated naval officer (played by Alexander Skarsgard). In an attempt to impress the gorgeous Samantha Shane (Played by Brooklyn Decker), Alex breaks into a convenience store to get her a chicken burrito, and causes havoc, resulting in him being tasered and arrested by the police. Samantha is the daughter of the  United States Pacific Fleet commanding officer, Admiral Shane (played by  Liam Neeson),  who happens to be his brother’s commanding officer. Stone is furious and gives Alex an ultimatum: Join the Navy or you are on your own!

When the real action starts, Alex has progressed to the rank of  lieutenant, and is the Tactical Action Officer aboard the destroyer, the USS John Paul Jones, and  Stone has risen to the rank of commanding officer of the USS Sampson. Alex is in a relationship with Samantha, and wants to marry her.

The Rim of the Pacific, the world’s largest multinational naval exercise, gets under way, off the coast of Hawaii and during the opening ceremony Alex gets into a brawl with a Japanese Captain, however it is minutes to the start of the naval exercise and naturally the show must go on!

And then it happens! A fleet of alien ships arrives in response to the NASA signal, and lands in the waters near Hawaii, very close to the Sampson,John Paul Jones, and Myōkō, who are sent to investigate. The ships are trapped when one of the alien ships erects an impenetrable force field around the Hawaiian Islands.

A fierce battle ensues, which results in the Sampson and Myōkō being destroyed, and the entire crew of  the Sampson being wiped out, including Stone, Alex’s older brother.  Damaged and leaderless, what’s left of the crew of the John Paul Jones are left to fight the battle alone. As fate would have it, the talented but undisciplined Alex is the most senior surviving officer and is forced to take command. The John Paul Jones takes the Myoko’s surviving crew members aboard, including Alex’s nemesis, Captain Nagata. The two decide to put their differences aside and join forces to fight off the alien attack.

With the Aliens trying to take command of the Oahu satellite array, and the John Paul Jones destroyed in another devastating  battle with the aliens, Alex and Captain Nagata take over a retired naval battleship, the USS Missouri, a museum ship based in the Oahu harbour.  With the help of the Navy Vets that are responsible for her preservation, the Missouri is activated and what follows will keep you on the edge of your seat!

This Sci fi naval war adventure has it all…. drama, action, comedy, bad boy makes good, romance, and the inevitable triumph of earthlings over an alien invasion.

Although a variation on an old theme, the effects are breathtaking and the story is captivating, and although the movie runs for more than two hours, you don’t even notice the time going by!

Tweenies, teens,  young adults and Science Fiction addicts will love this movie!

The show is rated 10V and was released on nationwide on  05 May.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

This one is a definite no-no for the kids but for the older teens and adults, it’s a must see if you want to literally laugh your butt off!  You don’t HAVE to have seen the previous 7 American Pie movies, but if you have,  so much the better!

Written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, this movie will delight audiences.  It is risque and hilarious and it will leave you giggling for days!

The movie features the same five high school buddies -  Jim (played by Jason Biggs), Oz (played by Chris Klein), Kevin (played by Thomas Ian Nicholas)  Finch (played by Eddie Kaye Thomas), and Stifler (played by Seann William Scott).  Thirteen years after graduating high school, thefriends have gone their separate ways and are living the stereotypical American Dream.  Jim is married to Michelle (played by Alyson Hannigan) and they have a toddler of their own.  Oz is an NFL sportscaster living in Los Angeles with his supermodel girlfriend,  Mia,  (played by Katrina Bowden). Kevin is an architect,  married to Ellie (Played by Charlene Amoia) Finch has supposedly gone MIA and Stifler works as a temp at an investment firm, and is as crazy as ever. .

When they are invited to a high school reunion, Jim and Michelle decide to attend, and they meet up with Oz and Kevin at a bar. Finch and Stifler also arrive and the fun begins!

The following day they meet up with various other long lost high school buddies and a weekend of debauchery, misunderstandings and awakening of long lost love ensues, in typical American Pie Style.

18-year old beauty,  Kara, who Jim used to baby sit, and her friends,  end up in the middle of the shenanigans,  and all hell breaks loose, with hysterically funny consequences.  And, of course, Jim’s dad (played by Eugene Levy) and Stifffler’s mom, played by Jennifer Coolidge are still around and still as entertaining as hell!

The movie is classified 16 SNL, and opened at cinemas countrywide on 05 April.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

The Lorax is quite possibly one of the sweetest movies I have seen in a long time!  In typical Dr Seuss fashion, it is total escapism.. a chance to just smile and laugh,  and get lost in the absurdity.

The kids will go nuts for this movie, but I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed every minute of the movie,  and I am an old lady with grown up kids!

The movie is a computer animated  3D extravaganza, based on the children’s book of the same name, written by Dr Seuss. The movie was released by Universal Pictures on 02 March 2012, which would have been Dr Seuss’ 108th birthday, and also marks the debut of Universal’s centennial logo.

The film centres around Ted (Voiced by Zack Efron), a 12-year-old boy, who lives in “Thneed-Ville”.  Thneed-Ville is a totally enclosed manmade city, and for the most part, the citizens are perfectly happy in their little artificial world.

Ted is head over heels in love with Audrey (Voiced by Taylor Swift), and in his quest to win her favour, he discovers that the one thing Audrey yearns for is to see a REAL tree, so he sets out to find one!  Ted’s extremely funny grandma (voiced by Betty White of The Golden Girls fame) suggests he speak with the Once-ler.

The search for the Once-ler (Voiced by Ed Helms) leads Ted to venture out of Thneed-Ville for the first time,  and he soon discovers that the outside world is a vast, scary wasteland and the Once-ler is a grumpy and bitter old man.  Never-the-less the Once-ler agrees to tell Ted why there are no trees in Thneed-Ville and how to find one, if Ted agrees to return and listen to HIS story!

Ted agrees, even though the arrogant, mean, and  greedy mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O’Hare, puts pressure on him not to leave town, as he is afraid that if Ted discovers the truth, his bottled oxygen business might be in danger of going bankrupt.

The Once-ler  tells Ted how he met the Lorax, (Voiced by Danny de Vito) a cute, charming, but grumpy little creature, who is the guardian of the land.  He also recounts how he had invented the “thneed”, made from tree tufts!  His thriving business leads to way too many trees being chopped down and so the demise of the precious tree began! Eventually, the forests are completely depleted, and even the Lorax and all the wildlife leave, and the Once-ler is left alone and broken to deal with the disaster he has created.

The Once-Ler sees a chance to rectify the situation through Ted, and Ted sets out on a mission to restore the trees and the wonders of nature to Thneed-Ville, which makes for a comical, musical adventure that you can’t help but enjoy!

The film releases throughout South Africa on 23 March, and will put a smile on your kids’ faces this Easter.

There is also an important environmental message in this movie, in keeping with this age of environmental awareness, following years of destructive behaviour by mankind.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

If you are a fan of Spy/Espionage movies, you are going to love Safe House!  And, the fact that it was almost entirely filmed on location in Cape Town provides an added thrill to an already thrilling thriller! The movie stars Oscar Winner,  Denzel Washington, who seems to get better looking with age, as the legendary spy, Tobin Frost, and the equally good looking Ryan Reynolds as Matt Weston,  the CIA Safe Housekeeper.

As a woman, obviously the fact that the two lead actors are eye candy, made watching the movie even more appealing ! Tobin Frost is a legendary spy, turned rogue, and on the CIA’s most wanted list.  Once one of their top operatives, the cunning ex-intelligence officer is wanted for a host ofcrimes, including selling military secrets to enemies of the United States, and trading secrets to the highest bidder. Matt Weston has been stationed in the backwaters of Cape Town for the past year, minding a CIA Safe House.  He is bored and frustrated and longs to be given the opportunity to be out in the field, working on a case. When Frost surfaces in Cape Town, little does Weston know that he is about to embark on the challenge of a lifetime, trying to keep himself and the worlds most notorious assassin from being eliminated. Frost is a skilled manipulator and Weston has his work cut out for him!  Tested to the limit, Weston knows he has to keep Frost alive for long enough to find out exactly who is trying to kill them!

Directed by acclaimed director and writer, Daniel Espinosa, written by David Guggenheim and produced by Scott Stuber, this movie is a must see. It is classified 16V, as there is a great deal of violence and bloodshed in this movie, but the older teens will be on the edge of their seats, as will the moms and dads. And, in particular, teenage boys will definitely enjoy this movie, as there is lots of action, lots of excitement, and lots of surprises! The movie was released on Friday, 10 February, nationally.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

Based on Brian Selznick’s novel,  The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the Oscar nominated movie, Hugo, really captivated me.

Martin Scorsese’s first 3D offering is an epic adventure, set in Paris in the early 1930s.

The story revolves around Hugo Cabret, a 12-year-old boy, who lives with his father, a master clockmaker. Sadly his father is burnt to death in a museum fire and Hugo finds himself in the care of his alcoholic, grumpy old uncle who is responsible for ensuring that all the clocks in the Gare Montparnasse Station are maintained.

Hugo’s uncle teaches him the tricks of his trade, and then abruptly disappears.  Not wanting to end up in an orphanage, Hugo continues to maintain the clocks and live in his uncle’s home at the station, stealing food to survive.

Hugo has fond memories of his father taking him to see films, and in particular, he remembers the fantasy films of  master filmmaker, GeorgesMéliès, and as the story unfolds, the name Georges Méliès features prominently, as the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place!

Before his father’s death, Hugo and his dad had also been trying to repair an automaton,  a mechanical man who is supposed to write with a pen. Hugo is fascinated by the automaton and takes it with him to his uncle’s home, where he spends every spare moment attempting to complete the project.

He steals mechanical parts from a toy store  in the station, but the owner catches him red handed and confiscates a precious notebook Hugo has on him, with detailed notes and diagrams of the automaton.  Desperate to get it back, Hugo follows the shop owner home, and meets Isabelle, the toy store owner’s goddaughter, and they set out on a path that will change all their lives forever!

The ever popular Sasha Baron Cohen (of Borat fame) stars as the inept station policeman.  Policing the station with his equally inept Doberman dog, Baron Cohen becomes Hugo’s number one nemesis, and provides the audience with endless laughs!

The cast includes a host of stars including Asa Butterfield as Hugo,  Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law and Christopher Lee.

To say that this movie is touching and heartwarming is an understatement.  And, to say that it is an epic masterpiece goes without saying, as it has been nominated for 11 Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Distributed by Paramount, the movie releases countrywide on 10 February, and is destined to become a classic.  The film has been rated PG, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the under 10 age group, but the tweenies and teens will love it, and the moms and dads will definitely leave with a tear or two in their eyes!

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

We all remember the Adventures of the lovable and fearless Tintin and his cute dog, Snowy, but the movie elevates Tintin to a whole new level of excitement and adventure!  Tintin has been all over the world, but he has never been to the big screen, so prepare yourself for the thrill of thrills.

The animation is absolutely amazing and at times I had to remind myself that the characters were NOT real people J And the 3D action brings the screen to life like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

When Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) buys a mysterious model ship from a flea market stall, he and Snowy discover there is more to the ship than meets the eye, as they find themselves being drawn into the middle of a centuries old mystery.

Enter Ivanovitch Sakharine, the bad guy, who wants the ship more than anything else on the planet and doesn’t care who he has to annihilate to get it.  Sakharine (voiced by Daniel Craig) believes that Tintin has stolen the ship, a priceless treasure, from a pirate named Red Rackham, and Tintin is on the evil villain’s hit list.

Tintin and Snowy team up with the constantly inebriated, entertaining Captain Haddock (voiced by Andy Serkis) and Scotland Yard’s finest two detectives (NOT!!!), to solve the mystery and outwit Sakharine.  This results in a rip roaring adventure on land, sea and in the air, travelling across continents to find the remains of the Unicorn, a shipwreck that they believe holds the key to a fortune in gold, and an ancient curse.

Thrills and danger galore will keep you wondering until the very end, when all is revealed.  Or is it?

This movie is a real classic from the Master of epic movies, Steven Spielberg, and in Spielberg’s own words “As soon as I read my first of the books, Tintin never strayed far from my thoughts and heart.  I knew Tintin and I were destined for some kind of collaboration …a journey of discovery”.  He was right!

The movie was released at cinemas countrywide just before Christmas.  Put it on your “to do” list for 2012.  Kids and adults alike will be enthral

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

The action takes place long before Puss met Shrek, and is the story of how the Spanish Kitty Cat achieved notoriety, and ultimately became a hero!

Many of our favourite childhood fairytale and nursery rhyme characters come together, albeit with a new twist to their original stories, to make this adventure exciting and amusing.

The story starts when  Puss (Voiced by Antonio Banderas) escapes a bounty hunter,  and whilst having a drink (milk of course) at a local bar,  learns that the giant outlaw couple, Jack and Jill,  have managed to find THE magic beans he’s been looking for since he was a mere kitten!  Puss knows that these beans will grow into a massive ladder, leading to a giant’s castle in the clouds, where the mysterious golden egg laying goose resides, so he sets out to try and steal the beans from Jack and Jill’s hotel room, while they are asleep.

However, he unexpectedly encounters a masked cat in their room, who appears to be on the same mission. Neither of them manages to pull the heist off, but Puss has a massive surprise in store for him!  The masked cat, burglar Kitty Softpaws is a GIRL, (Voiced by Salma Hayek) and further more she  is involved with Humpty Alexander Dumpty  (Voiced by Zach Galifianakis), his long-lost childhood friend from the orphanage where they were both raised. He is enchanted by the gorgeous Kitty Softpaws, and the threesome set out on a rip roaring adventure, in search of the beans and the golden eggs!

There is a lot of adult humour in the film that will have the moms and dads giggling, but will fly over the heads of the kids. But, the story and the fabulous animation will be a treat for kids of all ages. And, all this in 3-D!

This masterpiece from DreamWorks Animation is directed by Chris Miller and produced by Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou.

I know that the kids have been eagerly awaiting the release of this movie and I promise they will not be disappointed!

Classified PG, the movie hits the big screen on Friday, 03 December, just in time for the school holidays, so grab some popcorn and prepare for 90 minutes of fun and fantasy.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

This movie is such a clever collaboration of the ever popular western and science fiction genres, so if you want to see something that’s the same, yet vastly different, this movie is the one to pick!

Starring the yummy Daniel Craig and the even yummier Harrison Ford (for the moms), the gorgeous Olivia Wilde (for the dads) and the cute Noah Ringer (for the teens), this movie will keep the whole family entertained.

Combining puppets, and Computer Generated animation,  the visual effects are awesome and the kidswill definitely be glued to the screen when the Aliens finally make their spectacular 3-D appearance!

The action takes place in late 1800’s Arizona, and starts when a stranger (Daniel Craig), wakes up in the dessert, with a strange shackle around his wrist, and severe amnesia, which leaves him with nomemory of who or where he is. Confused and injured, he stumbles into the “skiet, skop and donner” town of Absolution and quickly discovers that  townsfolk don’t take kindly to strangers and that the town is ruled by the all-powerful Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and his delinquent son.

At least this WAS the case, until the town is caught in the grip of fear, as a strange and eerie force attacks the town, and picks the residents off the street, one by one, and spirits them away in a strange alien craft.

In true hero style, the stranger slowly regains his memory and becomes the town’s only hope of salvation!  The crack shot cowboy comes to the realisation that the mysterious shackle around his wrist holds the key to fighting off the alien force, rescuing the abducted townspeople and saving the town.

Cowboys and Aliens is Universal and Dreamworks latest 3-D offering and is directed by Jon Favreau and based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name,  created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

The film was released on Friday, 19 August, so if you haven’t already seen it, make a point of doing so this weekend.

The movie is classified 13 L V and runs for 117 minutes.

by Joy Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

Super 8, Spielberg’s new Sci-fi movie is reminiscent of Blockbusters such as ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Although, not quite as spectacular, Super 8 will keep you glued to the screen until all is revealed at the end.

Five Ohio school friends decide to make a monster movie on an 8 mm camera, in the summer of 1978.  Filming one evening at a remote railway station,  they witness a catastrophic train crash, whichnot only interrupts the sequence they are shooting, but almost ends up killing them, as carriages derail and fly into the small wooden station building.  Luckily the six manage to escape physically unscathed, but soon realize, to their dismay, that the train wreck was not an accident.

Soon afterwards a series of strange disappearances and unexplained events in town, lead the children,  and the town Deputy, to investigate and uncover a terrifying military conspiracy that rocks the very fabric of this close-knit community.

The central character is Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother and trying to make sense of the relationship he now has with his grieving and bitter dad.  His friends are Charles (Riley Griffith), the chubby, and hilarious, movie producer; Cary (Ryan Lee) who is a certified pyromaniac: Martin (Gabriel Basso) and the beautiful and wicked Alice (Elle Fanning, who is the sister of Dakota). They are a typical bunch of happy-go-lucky American kids, amusing themselves during the summer vacation, until the train wreck changes their lives forever.

Brilliant performances by all five make this movie funny, sad, scary and nail biting until the last credits roll!

Very young kids won’t get it, but everyone else will love it, especially if you are a fan of Science Fiction movies.

The movie opens on 29 July, so make a point of taking the older kids to see it this weekend.

by Joy Robyn Dembo, married, with an 18 year old son and a 25 year old daughter.  Addicted to the www, particularly Twitter. Recruitment Response Handling Consultant and Freelance Copywriter, vegetarian and animal lover. Visit her blog.

Sadly, I didn’t see Transformers 1 and 2, as I really love Science Fiction movies.  I mean, I saw all gazillion Star Wars movies, so I am not really sure why I didn’t see Transformers, BUT I can say with confidence that if you have seen the first two, you are in for a treat, and if you haven’t, don’t worry, you will catch on quickly and still be in for a treat! And, unlike the first two, this sequel is in 3D, which makes it even more spectacular.

Directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg, the movie is an EPIC of even more EPIC proportions. The special effects are beyond words and the magnitude of the Autobots and the Decepticons (See! I am already talking like a Transformers Junkie!) is absolutely awesome.

Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro continue to give star studded performances, and Peter Cullen and  Hugo Weaving return as the voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.  A new addition to the cast is English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who plays Carly, Sam’s gorgeous new love.

Without revealing the complex plot, I can tell you that the movie begins when a mysterious event from Earth’s past reappears in the present day and threatens the entire future of mankind as we know it.  A catastrophic war threatens to erupt and even the Autobots find it difficult to save the planet.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky is living an ordinary and frustrating life until he finds a job,  and meets up with Jerry Wang, who discusses certain conspiracy theories about the “the dark side of the moon” with him, and so the adventure begins.

I came out of this movie absolutely wonder-struck.  It is really that awesome!

Not for kids under the age of 13, but  a must see for the teens this July holiday.

Releasing today, 29 June, but get your tickets quickly as a little birdie told me that it is already almost fully booked for all shows in JHB today!