#release review

[partysan]

Trevor Macey: Thujon and the magic fairy

Dreaming of a lovely summerday gives the main acting parts always to sunshine, palm trees and a beach on the sea, nothing else than housy tunes would better fit to such a summerday. What about a wonderful summernight? Tropical nights with a warm summer breeze, falling stars, fireflies and the man in the moon let dance the fairy everywhere.

  When the night comes down we’re more addicted to Techno…

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[weheartnerds]

Release Review: Carrie 2013

I should probably start by apologizing for missing last week, work and life has been crazy and it really didn’t leave time for much writing.  Sad, I know.

Last weekend though, a major player in the We Heart Nerds crew had surgery, so all us girls sat down and had a Stephen King movie marathon.  We started with It, so that Sarah could hopefully overcome her fear of clowns.  I don’t know if that really worked, but at least she can say she's seen it.  Then we moved on to the 2013 Carrie; the topic of this review.  After that, we watched The Shining.  The original, Stanley Kubrick of course, then finished it off with Stand By Me.  I live in Brownsville (where Stand By Me is filmed) and it was late, so I decided to skip that one.

Now, on to the review.  Carrie 2013, starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore.  Original not withstanding, this was by far one of the best remakes I’ve ever seen.  And it’s definitely a remake, not a reboot.  I do have to say, there isn’t as much symbolism in this version as the original and Carrie’s telekinesis is far more obvious than Sissy Specek’s version.  One of the other things I really like about this version is the Carrie character feels a lot more “trapped” to me and a lot less “just dumb sheltered girl.”  Granted, that may have been the cinematography of the 70’s, but it could also have been the Director guiding the actor.

Julianne Moore, to me, while she’s a far better actress than Piper Laurie, she doesn't really portray that “crazy religious psycho” feeling to me.  I think maybe because she’s more mainstream, I had a harder time suspending my disbelief that she is a religious zealot bent on keeping her daughter a prisoner of God forever.

The new Billy Nolan, Alex Russell is far more believable as “the bad boy.”  A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that I wouldn’t recognize a 70’s bad boy if he ran me over with his car, but I still think Alex is more believable as Billy.

I love the fact that they kept with the theme that you don’t really get to see the gore of the movie until after the bucket was dropped on her.  This made the end of the movie far more intense.  The idea that you know what’s happening, but you have to use your imagination makes the visuals more surreal.

Last but not least, the popular girl, getting hers in the end… A-Mazing!  Can you guess that I wasn’t a popular girl??

What did you think of the new Carrie?

Luanne Johnson

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Release Review: After Earth *SPOILERS*

I was fairly meh about this movie from the beginning.  It sat on my coffee table for nearly two weeks before I finally, in a peak of cabin fever brought on by a snow storm, popped it into my DVD player.  I was still pretty meh about it when it was over.  Discovering afterwords that it was yet another M. Night Shyamalan movie made me okay with being meh.  I don’t usually get all excited about his movies.

The plot is fairly weak all things considered.  Dad uses crazy amounts of mind-over-matter to fight icky gribblies.  Being such a bad ass results in dad being a douche to his children.  Dad takes son on final mission before retirement, only to crash land on even more icky gribbly planet.  Since Dad is injured in the crash, and oh, everyone else is dead (go figure) unprepared son has to go save the day.  Son grows and matures to a man in the 4 days it takes him to cross the landscape.  This brings Dad and Son closer, they escape with their lives and everyone lives happily ever after.

Meh.

Most of what I pulled from this movie is, Will Smith is showing his age.  And apparently is grooming his son to take his place.  I wonder though, if Jaden couldn’t get a part in a movie that his Dad didn’t write, or that his parents weren’t the producers on.  Granted, he’s a little new to the acting scene, but really? Talk about who you know.  The only movie I can find that Jaden has been in without the help of his ultra famous parents was The Karate Kid reboot, and that was a complete flop.

Other than Will and Jaden Smith, the only even remotely known face in this movie was the mother, played by Sophie Okonedo.  I kept expecting her to start crying while shoving tiny pieces of paper into a rock wall.  Obviously the only other movie I’ve seen her in is The Secret Life of Bees, although, according to IMDB her filmography is rather extensive.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I was rather underwhelmed with this movie.  It was decent, if you’re stuck in the house and your internet is down, but it would definitely go at the bottom of my stack.

Sorry, M. Night.

Luanne Johnson

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[weheartnerds]

Release Review: Man of Steel *SPOILERS*

I have absolutely no review for this movie.  I'm not generally a DC fan and definitely not a SuperMan fan, but for what it was, it was a decent movie.

I love Amy Adams in just about everything I've ever seen her in, so that was a bonus, since I didn't even know she was playing Lois Lane till I sat down to watch the movie.  And Henry Cavill is SUPER HAWT!!!  They can keep putting him in a spandex and rubber suit, thank you!

Other than that, the plot was a mish mash of other movies, long over-done.  Honestly, I think this is just DC's way of attempting to keep up with Marvel.  Sorry guys :(

Luanne Johnson

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Release Review: The Wolverine

Wolverine.  I am a CRAZY Wolverine Fangirl!  The gruff grumbly exterior just makes me want to cuddle him till he can’t stand it.  Kind of like small children do with cats, tight hugs while the cat is stretching in a Gumby like fashion to get away from them.  The mystery of a guy who supposedly volunteered to have his bones laced with indestructable metal then doesn’t remember anything before it happened means you can make up ALL kinds of stuff about his past and never really know for sure if it was true or not.  He plays hard, he loves hard.  He might be grouchy, but he’s a loyal grouch.

Now, Hugh Jackman; can I just say, YUM!!  The eyes, the muscles.  The accent, the muscles.  The hair, the muscles.  The wife beater, did I mention the muscles?  Oh, yeah, the muscles!

The movie… meh.

Luanne Johnson

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[weheartnerds]

Release Review: Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters **SPOILERS**

The long awaited sequel to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was in my opinion, well, disappointing.

First off, you’re the children of Gods.  That in and of itself makes you a little weird, why can’t you accept a Cyclops?  Why does he have to prove himself to you?  Hell, Luke is a bad guy and his parents are Gods?  Geeze, people, be a little more accepting.  Specists!

Second, Percy’s been in training for how long now, since he saved the world and he hasn’t learned any new cool water tricks?  Also, what’s with the, “my Dad’s never around,” teenage angst?  He had to know that was going to happen.  News flash, you’re father is a God!  He can’t just take you to the batting cages.

Having said all that, we get to meet some new characters which was good.  Expand the story a little bit.  We also got some background on Camp Half Blood and why it’s protected the way it is.  And they do eventually explain why Annabeth hates Cyclopses so much.

I’m just disappointing because of all the hype they made out of this movie.  I was crazy excited to see it.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but probably not as much as if there hadn’t been so much hoopla.  I seem to be saying that a lot lately.  It seems that the movie industry is incapable as of late of making a movie that lives up to it’s hype.

The faces are the same as the last movie, with the exception of Anthony Stewart Head playing Chiron instead of Pierce Brosnan.  And the addition of Mr. D. and some additional students.

Having not read the books, I can’t say how closely the movies are sticking to them, but as stand alones, they are at least good movies.  Just don’t watch too many trailers before you see the actual film.

Luanne Johnson

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Release Review: Oblivion *SPOILERS*

I haven't really ever been a HUGE Tom Cruise fan.  I know, crucify me now, but it's true.  There are always exceptions to the rule.  Legend, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Last Samurai and now, Oblivion.

First off, let me just say the visual effects in this movie are stunning.  I was, in fact, so impressed that I actually watched the Special Features included on the disc.  I don't usually do this as it tends to kill the movie magic for me, but this time, I needed to know more.  Most of the visuals are computer generated, which is really nothing new in this day and age, but some of the tricks they used to get the final product combined with the sets to make an all encompassing movie experience.

Oblivion is a post-apocalyptic story of Jack, a military veteran who is sent to earth to mine the last remaining resource, water.  During his time, he begins to question his mission and who he is.  This movie takes place in the far future. The screen writers vision of the future is beautiful as far as technology goes.  It's ghastly as far as the rest of the planet is concerned.  But without this post-apocalyptic vision, the movie wouldn't work.

Jack works away, day to day, same old routine, until one day he begins to question his mission.  He questions it so hard that he also begins to question who he his.  This leads to a series of events that create the most intriguing plot twist I've seen in a long time.  And honestly, one I didn't see coming.  Usually, I can, but this one was jaw dropping.  The movie is great, but even if it's not your cup of tea, it's worth watching just for this plot twist.

There's quite a few unrecognized actors in this movie, but the other actor of interest is Morgan Freeman.  His character is that of an apocalyptic survivor who helps Jack on his quest of self-discovery.  He's mysterious and very sort of Magi like in his advise to Jack which makes me enjoy his character all the more.

All in all, I highly recommend this movie.  It's a little longer than the typical 2 hour movie, but it's well worth the time to microwave some popcorn.

Luanne Johnson

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