Movie Preview : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Director: David Yates
Writer(s): Steven Kloves
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, David Bradley, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Natalia Tena, Julie Walters and David Thewlis, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Jim Broadbent, Helen McCrory, Jessie Cave, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Frank Dillane

Release Date: July 17, 2009
Official Site: HarryPotter.com
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: Not Available

Movie Preview : Food, Inc. (June 2009)

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of e coli - the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms' Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising -- and often shocking truths -- about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Director: Robert Kenner
Writer(s): Not Available
Cast: Not Available

Release Date: June 12, 2009
Official Site: FoodIncMovie.com
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Rated PG for some thematic material and disturbing images.

Movie Review : Juno

Review (9.5/10)

Every year, the Toronto International Film Festival manages to unearth a few "hidden gems" - films that gain box office momentum more through critical and audience praise and endorsement than through aggressive marketing. Films like Brokeback Mountain, Almost Famous, Crash and Sideways have all screened to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2007, the Festival’s hidden gem would have to be Juno, the sleeper hit by Canadian director Jason Reitman. No stranger to Toronto, Reitman’s freshman feature debut, "Thank You For Smoking", screened at the 2005 Festival and garnered numerous awards, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

Juno tells the story of Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), an eccentric, wise-beyond-her-years sixteen-year-old who finds herself pregnant after her first foray into the mysterious world of human interpersonal relations with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). After perfunctorily deciding to terminate the pregnancy she realizes, upon attending at a local woman’s clinic, that the decision is not quite as uncomplicated as she thought. She decides to have the baby and to give the child to a couple, "desperately seeking spawn", and in doing so she begins a journey that is sometimes humorous, sometimes bittersweet, but always heartwarming.

Since its wide release in Canada on December 25th, 2007, I have been eagerly anticipating the day that Juno would make its way to my local theater, and began to fear that it would not. Although I saw it at the Festival, I wanted to have an opportunity to savour it again, away from the crowds and the critics. My second viewing merely confirmed that Juno is an absolute delight and is deserving of the critical praise and recognition that it is receiving. It is a perfect storm of writing, directing and acting.

Juno is the first screenplay by Diablo Cody, a former stripper and infamous internet blogger, whose website name I dare not repeat in any publication that could be read by minors. With Juno, Cody has made her mark as a masterful storyteller, giving the audience a wonderfully nuanced tale that slowly and deliberately unfolds onscreen. An unlikely feat for a teen film, Cody creates characters that are surprisingly complex, a storyline that is refreshingly unpredictable and dialogue that is witty and original. I will be shocked if Diablo Cody does not walk away with a gold statue on Oscar night.

For director Jason Reitman, Juno is a coup on several levels. While the critical success of "Thank You for Smoking" created a level of expectation for his sophmore project that may have been difficult to achieve, Reitman rose to the challenge and crafted a film that exceeded its predecessor. The critical and commercial success of Juno will no doubt allow Reitman to step out of the shadow of his famous father, Ivan Reitman (Animal House, Stripes, Ghostbusters) and to forge his own path in Hollywood.

At the end of the day, however, it is the casting of Juno that gives it the distinction of being a truly great film. Casting the lead role with a relatively unknown Canadian actress was risky, but the gamble was well-rewarded. Ellen Page is a delight and, while I fear that she is a longshot to win the Oscar for which she has been nominated, I also believe that she is well on her way to becoming Canada’s next great entertainment export. Canadian Michael Cera, who always reminds me of a child who has been caught with his hand caught in the cookie jar, is a wonderful comedic foil for Page. Jennifer Garner delivers a surprisingly poignant performance as Vanessa Loring, the potential adoptive parent for Juno’s unborn child. Cast alongside her as her husband, Mark Loring, is Jason Bateman, who is quickly becoming one of the busiest supporting actors in Hollywood. The cast is rounded with the solid supporting performances of J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno’s beleaguered parents.

Contrary to popular belief, Juno is not simply, "that teen pregnancy film". It is a film about falling in and out of love, about making difficult choices in the face of adversity and about striving to distinguish oneself. As the audience watches Juno being ostracized by her classmates and looked upon with disdain by school and hospital staff, it is clear that the film is not intended to glorify teen pregnancy.

Although it is rated 14A, Juno is a film that I would have difficulty recommending to anyone under the age of 16. Juno is not a teen comedy. While it has its share of humor, it is really more of a light drama. The film’s language and dialogue, while peppered with euphemisms directed to a teen audience is, at the end of the day, decidedly more mature and adult than one would expect to see in a teen comedy. I also found that the film was just as much about the reactions and the relationships between the adults around Juno as it was about Juno herself.

It is very rare that I will make two trips to the theater to see any film, but Juno was, for me, an exception. Unfortunately, much like Sideways in 2005, in the face of some stiff competition, is unlikely to take the Oscars by storm. But Oscars or not, like Sideways, it is also a film that is refreshingly original and multi-faceted and, for cinephiles, it is a worthy addition to their "must-see" list.

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By Erin Cullin

Movie Review : The Host

Every now and again a great piece of original entertainment comes along, something that takes a common theme, adds something sparkling and relevant and creates a new whole. In this case, it happens to be a breath of fresh air for a classic movie genre. That area of filmmaking is the "monster" film and the title of the film is The Host. The monster story in this movie is good but it's the film's family elements that make this film worthwhile. Others would seem to agree since this Korean film has already been singled out for a remake in the United States. All the adorations aside, I have not seen a monster movie this good in years. The reason why The Host is so satisfying is because it is a family drama masquerading as a monster film. Godzilla (all of them), Lake Placid, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Blob and most of their genre brothers and sisters were all lackluster-to-good monster films at best but their human elements almost always meandered as unrealistic and non-substantive. The inhabitants of these films were simply waiting to be killed off or to survive, in one piece, the absolutely farcical and ultra dangerous situations that would see the end of a top tier team of Green Berets.

That is what is so novel about The Host. No one is safe. A dose of reality has been added to the monster movie genre in this film. When you watch the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you know from the beginning that nothing is going to happen to Jessica Biel. Sure, the protagonist will be put into perilous situations at the hands of a misanthrope and the idiotic decisions on their and other characters part but that is it. These characters are the audience's bridge into the presented world on screen and some writers/directors feel that the destruction of that bridge will be detrimental to their film. The Host's director, Joon-ho Bong, takes a chance with his bridges and it pays off in the end by escalating his film beyond the established limits of its genre.

The Host revolves around the five members of a slightly dysfunctional family consisting of a father, Hie-bong Park (Hie-bong Byeon), his champion archer daughter Nam-Joo Park (Du-na Bae), a son he has put through college, Nam-il Park (Hae-il Park), another son prone to dozing off, Gang-Du Park (Kang-ho Song) and Gang-Du's 13-year-old daughter Hyun-Seo Park (Ah-sung Ko). In some scenes these people actually make you believe they have known each other for years. They call each other names behind each others back, crack insensitive jokes and hit each other. Though the family has its problems, they have nothing to do with the emergence of the film's monster. When formaldehyde is carelessly dumped into the Han River (a stream of water that flows through Seoul into the Yellow Sea) at the beginning of The Host, the film's mutant monster soon makes its first full on-screen appearance, after two smaller off-screen sightings. During its third appearance and subsequent rampage against unarmed civilians, Hyun-seo is kidnapped by it and initially thought dead. When it is revealed that she is still alive, her family breaks out of the hospital all the rampage survivors are being kept in and go in search of Hyun-seo.

This is the point where The Host notches up the tension and where the drama involving the Parks comes to fruition and blooms. When the family becomes separated during the course of their search, handing off leads to one another via the means at their disposal, the lambency of The Host's screenplay comes out for all to see. It's just good and effective plot construction and once again, something you would not expect in a mere monster film. Sure the computer generated effects could be better in some scenes but when the effects need to be great, they are. Case and point - when the monster regurgitates some of its victims, very well done. The monster in the Host is the main draw for the film's marketing campaign but in actuality, it's the film's human elements which are its real centerpiece.

Joon-ho Bong's The Host is a film I did not expect to be as good as it was based on the trailers released for it. I was wrong. Many films have great trailers but sometimes the films they advertise fail to deliver when the lights go down in the movie theater. Sometimes the trailers are actually better than the films themselves. Neither of these is the case with The Host. The advertisements for this film actually fail to sell or even hint at this film's true strengths. This may have cost the film dearly in box office receipts but since it is being so well received (its the highest grossing film in South Korean history), people are actually being given a surprise when all they think they are going to see is the latest monster flick.

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By Reginald Williams

New Movie : Saw 5

There's a certain part of me that's envious of the average "SAW" fan. I truly wish I could appreciate this horror franchise on a more visceral level, screaming along with the rest of the crowd as mayhem arrives, lives are ended, and Jigsaw's legacy is twisted further into a mind-bending puzzle only the most patient out there have kept up with.

It's criminal that I refuse entrance into the club, but, then again, when I view a "Saw" movie all I can see are bargain-basement production values, abysmal acting, and a soggy narrative that's spun completely out of control. The only elements holding the franchise together at this point are the blind enthusiasm of horror nuts, truckloads of distraction, and the forgiving nature of the Halloween season.

Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is being prepped for hero status after his takedown of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), thus ending the string of crude murders that plagued the city. The only person alive to challenge Hoffman is Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson), who barely survived a Jigsaw trap and is now ready to uncover the truth behind Hoffman's clandestine activities. Chasing the clues, Strahm gets closer to the horrors of Jigsaw's legacy, while Hoffman ventures back into his own past and the events that introduced his evil ways.

Not to rock the boat here, but I consider last year's "Saw IV" to be the finest installment of the series so far, contorting itself hilariously into a shell game of a motion picture, perhaps best titled "Saw 3.5" for comfort. With a genuine actor (Patterson) slapping the film awake and director Darren Lynn Bousman taking a few minor chances with the plot, "Saw IV" was garbage, but not a hideous proposition quite like the other volumes of this rancid franchise. For "Saw V," Bousman is off to directorial purgatory, replaced by series production design vet David Hackl, who sticks uncomfortably close to the "If it ain't broke..." motto during his face time with Jigsaw.

It's actually somewhat startling to watch "Saw V" behave more like a dopey detective story than the hardcore horror extravaganza fans have come to expect. Either the mythos of Jigsaw is becoming too complicated to shoehorn in some gore sequences or perhaps the producers are finally growing weary of repeating themselves with increasingly ridiculous torture devices. Either way, "Saw V" is a sedate feature film, spending more screentime tracking Hoffman's footsteps with Strahm than snuggling up to bloody entrails. The change is refreshing, as is the loss of Bousman, but the restraint only lasts for a few breaths. After all, there's a legacy of blood to protect here.

A sophisticated Jigsaw trap subplot weaves throughout "Saw V," returning to the "Saw II" aesthetic of strangers (including Meagan Good and Julie Benz) duking it out for precious remnants of life. How it ties to the rest of the story is spoiler territory, but it's clear imagination is running low for the death set-pieces, with explosions and low-light executions replacing the splatterfest that once was.

"Saw V" feels like a transitory piece to clear a way for next year's "Saw VI." Hackl chucks in plenty of inexplicable material ready to be explored a year from now, teasing the audience with characters and props that feed the haphazardly constructed arc being assembled by the producers, who resort to time travel once again to pad out the running time to 85 minutes. Not only is "Saw" losing its taste for blood, it can't stay in the present, leaping back and forth through the sequels to shake the audience off the narrative's trail. A trail, mind you, that doesn't actually lead anywhere in "Saw V" except to absurd backstory and the chance to spend more time with Bell as Jigsaw (pass).

"You won't believe how it ends" is the official tagline for "Saw V," but the real question is, will you care? Admirers will undoubtedly fling themselves at the feet of anything the producers dream up, but more careful viewers might be starting to question the validity of this ongoing story: a five-film-too-long journey that has never felt more arbitrarily plotted than in the final 10 minutes of "Saw V."

(By Brian Orndorf)

Movie Review : X-Men Origins: Wolverine

(By Garth Franklin)

Whether you deem it a prequel, a spin-off or a cost-effective fourth entry in the "X-Men" film franchise - the result either way is an oddly bland if modestly respectable adventure through some of the important life events of cinema's most famous mutant.

The lack of emotional resonance or visceral punch is surprising, especially to those of us unfamiliar with the comics who won't be sticklers for detail like the hardcore fans. Admittedly the three previous "X-Men films have grown our awareness of the character and the events of the 'Weapon X' incident. Yet you can't help but feel that the best bits of Wolverine's back story were either left on the cutting room floor or didn't make it past the script stage. This character has had decades of written adventures and, chronologically according to this, almost two centuries of life and THIS is the best they can come up with?

Though the slowest and clumsiest portion of the film, the first act also demonstrates the other potential avenues of where a more ambitious adventure could have gone. An opening credits montage shows us Logan and his brother Sabretooth fighting together in the American Civil War, both World Wars, and in Vietnam before kicking off with its own story of Stryker's team of covert ops mutants on a mission in Africa.

That concept alone would make for an interesting adventure all by itself, but the filmmakers seem acutely aware that this film is already overstuffed and are determined to keep things lean. Thus they move on to loosely establish storytelling archetypes of brothers turned rivals, a mentor gone bad, and an inevitably tragic romance with the sweet Kayla (Lynn Collins). The promising and gorgeous Collins tries her best, but her screen time is so limited and her character treated with almost disdain by the writers that you could cut it out with minimal impact to the rest of the feature.

Things pick up as the story moves to the familiar Weapon X events with Wolverine undergoing the adamantium grafting. Danny Huston is perfectly cast as a young Stryker who is using these mutants to advance his military experiments. Despite knowing its outcome, it's his conviction in these scenes that makes the Frankenstein-esque birthing and nude escape scene of 'Wolverine' himself the film's best scene. Soon after comes the most thrilling action sequence involving an impressively explosive motorbike/helicopter chase.

The cast is the biggest slice of muscular beefcake on display this side of "Troy". Jackman spent months getting in shape for this film and he won't let you forget it. Donned in a tank top and form-fitting jeans much of the time and butt naked during one scene (albeit from behind and at a distance), the actor is what grounds the film and saves it from itself at points. You can see how demanding the action is as the veins and muscles of his upper body bulge obscenely, but being the trooper that he is Jackman delivers the determination, the rage, and sadly only glimpses of the sly humor that his portrayal of the character has become so synonymous for.

For bear lovers there's Liev Schrieber as Sabretooth. Considering the embarrassing way the character was treated in the first "X-Men" film, Schrieber's take as a beastly foot soldier with a dark heart and fierce sense of loyalty makes for a welcome antagonist to Wolverine. The role doesn't allow for much outside of atypical bad guy antics (ie. lame putdowns, off camera killings), but Schrieber makes it sly fun without falling into self-parody and has a solid chemistry with Jackman.

For the twink brigade there's Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch. The former as Deadpool only shows up at the start and end, impressing more with his sword skills than his usual quick wit which is decidedly limited. The latter as Gambit starts out as a potentially interesting hustler who quickly turns into Wolvie's bland personal assistant for much of the final act. This character is the one the fans have been clamoring to see the most on screen and while Kitsch himself, like Collins, demonstrates a dashing charisma and a lot of potential beyond this franchise - the character itself seems like a decidedly wasted opportunity. Smaller supporting roles like Lost's Dominic Monaghan and musician will.i.am come and go with little impression.

With almost all the action confined to the film's second half, the balance here is decidedly awkward. The early rush of exposition feels dry, lumbering and ungainly. There's very little feeling of a thought out plan on the writer's part so events and characters are thrown together for the sake of it and written around to try and make things gel cohesively. It doesn't work. This feels especially true in the latter half which is a bunch of action set pieces strung out on screen one after the other. A young Cyclops is inserted purely as fan service, while a visual effects-assisted cameo by one of the other regular cast members is cute but perfunctory.

Director Gavin Hood, more notable for his politically fascinating dramas like the brilliant "Tsotsi" and the misguided "Rendition", displays a surprising adeptness at shooting action. Even if the set pieces themselves are rather under choreographed, they are filmed and edited with cohesion even if the visual effects are often not up to scratch. Yet Hood's hiring is obviously to bring a depth of dramatic chops the way that Chris Nolan turned the previously cartoonish "Batman" series into an emotionally and thematically rich franchise, or Bryan Singer's clunky first film and pitch-perfect second film in this franchise did the same to a lesser and more pulpy extent.

On those terms this "First Blood"-lite fails. It's not an outright betrayal of the characters or embarrassing example of studio interference like "X-Men: The Last Stand" was, but it lacks the polish and visual bang for your buck of Ratner's better paced fizzer. To be fair it 'gets' the character and makes faint-hearted attempts at establishing its own sense of mythology, but it always feels forced and all too familiar. Falling somewhere between noble failure and modest success, "Wolverine" is ultimately a generic Summer film actioneer that will quickly be forgotten.

Movie Review : Indonesian Movie - Laskar Pelangi

by NN

Satu lagi film yang diangkat dari novel yang telah menjadi best seller dan fenomenal dari Andrea Hirata, menggambarkan kehidupan pelik anak-anak miskin Beltung yang terus menggantungkan cita-citanya lewat pendidikan murah di sebuah SD Muhammadiyah Belitong, sekolah Islam pertama dan satu-satunya di salah satu kota terkaya di Indonesia.

Laskar Pelangi

merupakan pencerminan sebuah perjuangan anak-anak miskin yang ingin tetap mewujudkan mimpinya menjadi nyata, bersama membangun image sekolah mereka kembali yang tidak pernah ada adik-adik kelas mereka sejak kesepuluh anak paling mengagumkan itu telah menyelamatkan sekolah tersebut yang terancam di tutup, Harun, seorang anak yang telah menjadi anak paling berjasa karena telah membuat sembilan anak lainnya tidak kecewa untuk kembali pulang dengan harapan yang kandas untuk sekolah.

Perjalanan guru-guru disini pun ditampakkan, bagaimana semuanya dilakukan dengan ikhlas dan penuh ketulusan, walaupun apa yang mereka dapatkan tidak sesuai dengan kebutuhan yang merong-rong mereka, tujuan mereka hanya satu, "Membuat anak-anak miskinpun berhak untuk mendapatkan pendidikan", saya melihat bahwa kunci inilah yang coba di urai dengan kisah perjalanan yang membukau dan mengharukan, dan diselingi kisah cinta Ikal dengan A Ling yang disuguhkan dengan lucu, khas cinta monyet yang membuat kita tak henti berdecak kagum, bagaimana cerita begitu sederhana bisa membawa kita terbuai, larut kedalamnya.

Tak lupa ajaran-ajaran agama Islam yang disuguhkan terselip dalam beberapa adegan dengan implisit yang tertata dan bagus untuk disuguhkan sebagai film pelengkap liburan anak Anda semasa liburan lebaran ini. Anak-anak kita yang hidup di perkotaan, yang serba kecukupan, atau bahkan begitu menyepelekan arti pendidikan, perlu dijejali film ini, sebagai pendorong semangat bagaimana mereka harus terus menggantungkan cita-cita mereka setinggi langit dengan segala daya upaya untuk mewujudkannya.

Tapi terkadang apa yang kita lakukan tidak seperti kenyataan yang digariskan, Lintang salah satu anak paling cerdas diantara Laskar pelangi ini, harus meninggalkan bangku sekolahnya, setelah memenangkan Lomba Cerdas Cermat, karena ayahnya telah meninggal dunia, dan dia harus menggantikan posisi ayahnya untuk menghidupi adik-adiknya. Sebuah polemik yang kita tidak inginkan, setidaknya saya berharap Lintang bisa menjadi manusia berhasil dimasa datang, tapi dia memang telah berhasil, karena dia berhasil membuat Ikal bisa meraih cita-citanya atas dorongan Lintang, dan menularkan semangat belajarnya kepada anak perempuannya.

Memang semua orang tua tidak menginginkan anak-anak mereka hanya bisa seperti mereka, hidup dalam kesusahan, tidak berpendidikan, mereka berupaya untuk menjadikan anak-anaknya lebih baik dikemudian hari, tapi apa yang kita dapatkan kenyataan di kota-kota besar, mungkin hanya segelintir orang tua seperti itu, contohlah Jakarta, bagaimana exploitasi orang tua kepada anak-anak tampak semakin jelas dan semakin banyak, anak-anak dijadikan media pengganti orang tua untuk mencari nafkah.

Inilah Indonesia wahai saudaraku, film mungkin bisa saja membuat kita tercerai berai air mata, berdecak kagum, terharu, bahkan terpingkal oleh ulah anak-anak Laskar Pelangi dan perjuangan Bu Muslimah (Cut Mini), Pak Harfan (Ikranagara) yang memacu ardrenalin kita untuk membuat Indonesia lebih baik, tapi apa yang kita hadapi sekarang lebih pelik dari sebuah cerita yang membukau, perjuangan yang mengharu biru, warna hidup yang suram. Warna Indonesia sudah lebih parah dari itu, mungkin saya menyarankan film ini menjadi tontonan wajib para petinggi negara, ya kalau bisa NOBAR seluruh anggota MPR, DPR, mentri hingga Presiden, duduk bersama meresapinya, dan coba merefleksikannya dengan kenyataan Indonesia yang ada saat ini, sudah tercapaikan cita-cita UUD 1945 untuk mencerdaskan seluruh bangsa Indonesia, dan adakah perlindungan hak anak yang ada di Indonesia sudah sesuai dengan cita-cita negara kita, dari pada mereka sibuk memperkaya diri, menjejali mulut mereka dengan uang, membuat perut mereka semakin buncit dengan kandungan ulat haram yang siap meledak di hari pembalasan, atau sibuk dengan urusan politik yang berputar tak berujung.

Tapi dari semua film Indonesia yang diputar di bioskop-bioskop tahun ini, Laskar Pelangi merupakan film terbaik sepanjang tahun 2008, dan seharusnya film seperti inilah yang diangkat dan di tuangkan di big screen Indonesia, bukan cerita Urban dan Horror, bahkan percintaan dengan model yang sama. Dengan balutan budi pekerti, nilai-nilai agama yang bisa menjadikan masyarakat film lebih cerdas dari sekarang.

Movie Review : Slumdog Millionaire

(By Brendan Cullin)

Most times when I read about a movie with a lot of hype surrounding it, I find more often than not, the movie never actually lives up to the accolades it receives. "Slumdog Millionaire" is a movie that received such hype. I believe, as I write this review, it has been nominated for best picture by 11 of 20 critics associations. It has already received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture in the Drama category. It most certainly will be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. "Slumdog Millionaire" has all the ingredients it requires to be a bit of a letdown, based on my past history of movie viewing. Well, this holiday season I finally got around to seeing "Slumdog" and I just want to assure everyone that this movie is as good, if not better than you have heard. Chances are that it will be adding the Empire Movies Best Picture of the Year to the above accolades sometime in the next couple of weeks.

"Slumdog Millionaire" is the story of a young man from the slums of India who rises from poverty to become a contestant on the game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". When Jamal answers every question correctly and is on the verge of winning the grand prize, the show takes a 24-hour break and Jamal is arrested and tortured because it is suspected he is cheating. The movie then takes us through the heartbreaking and often horrible life of Jamal and his brother Salim as they grow up parentless, homeless and without any real direction in life. As he explains to the police how he managed to answer the questions presented to him on "Millionaire", each question that was presented to Jamal on the game show triggers a flashback that involves Jamal, Salim and some horrible event that happened in their lives. Along the way, we learn of a girl named Latika with whom Jamal fell deeply in love during his childhood. Right up to his appearance on "Millionaire", that love has not wavered and we learn that winning money on the game show is not his real reason for even being there.

"Slumdog Millionaire" is basically a mix of a rags-to-riches story with an unconventional love story thrown into the mix. Most North American audiences are probably not used to seeing a love story that doesn't take place in New York or Chicago and doesn't involve Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Aniston or Vince Vaughn. "Slumdog" takes us to the worst parts of India and features the worst people we could possibly meet and some of the worst situations we could possibly imagine. Is there anything more horrific than seeing children tortured? If there is, I don't want to know about it. But out of all this doom and gloom, there rises one young gentleman who manages to find his way onto the most popular show on television and uses this opportunity to profess his unfailing love for the girl of his dreams. It might not be the most realistic story. In fact, it surely has all the makings of your typical fairy tale. But it's damn entertaining nonetheless. Without a doubt, "Slumdog Millionaire" is one of the best, most absorbing and most enchanting movies to hit the theatres in 2008.

Movie Review : Terminator Salvation

by Dave White

Grade: B+

Who's In It: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Jane Alexander, Michael Ironside, Helena Bonham Carter

The Basics: Skynet keeps trying to kill all the stupid humans and the stupid humans keep getting themselves killed. And this movie proves that it's a never-ending battle, one destined to be played out over many more marketing platforms sequels. With luck those sequels will help me figure out how messiah-of-the-future John Connor and his own teenage father--who hasn't met John Connor's mother yet-- can exist in the same time frame without John Connor magically disappearing back up into Dad's balls.

What's The Deal: I have no emotional connection to any of the people in this mythology. What that means is that when the giant machine robot thingies pluck them from the ground and squeeze them to death, all I can think to do is yell, "AWESOME!" I don't even care if John Connor messiahs everybody back to safety in a post-machine future. But I figure the movie probably wants you to care. Which means on one level it fails in a spectacular way. Of course, if cold mechanical death, megadestructive nuclear blasts, humanoid battles, helicopter crashes and wacky hellish fiery peril are what you care about, if sensation alone makes a movie work for you, then this one succeeds on those strengths every 15 seconds.

Starring The Dark Knight And Some Australian Guy: I walk in thinking, "Nice, this is Christian Bale's wildman rant movie. He's going to be all kinds of crazy." But no, that happened when the cameras weren't rolling. What he's doing here is the husky whisper-talking he uses when he plays Batman. Not that it's bad. I just expected something else. Meanwhile, Australian newcomer Sam Worthington seems to be battling a dialect coach terminator living inside his own throat, one that's trying to squash his native accent and failing in a way that would make Outback Steakhouse laugh out loud. If restaurants laughed, I mean.

Number Of Surprises: A nice handful. There are some freaked-out machines that are actually pretty frightening, some character reveals that, while predictable, are still entertaining, and a chance to see former NEA chairperson Jane Alexander get herself into a shocking machine-based predicament. But again, if you're looking for something satisfying story-wise, humanity-wise, logic-wise, or any of the other -wises, then you'll be bored after the 37th thing explodes in your face. And there are like a hundred more to come after that.

Summer Movie Earplug Warning: It's loud. Really loud. If you go see it in a theater with a good sound system you might want to bring protection for the big decibel moments.