You get a group of misfits (how couldn’t they be, in zombieland), traveling across the country pursuing each one their own dream, away from the danger of being caught by the undead. The story is narrated by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) who’s developed his very own rules to stay alive, and keeps them in a notepad. while he’s trying to get reunited with his parents, he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Nobody trusts anyone, and the only matter they seem to agree with is killing zombies.

You’ll enjoy the story not being focused on the zombies; They’re an important part of the movie, but the main attraction is the group of four survivors and how each one of them fights to stay alive.

Rated R. Highly recommended. Go see it.

Watch the trailer of Zombieland:

As attractive as a name like Chanel is, this adaptation of her life to the big screen is not. Bringing some good actors is not enough to make a project shine, and this work clearly depicts the desire to spend money just to pay respect. Thoug I’m a fan of Audrey Tautou, I was having a hard time looking at the stiff, bitter look on her face that she kept 90% of the time. Only when Coco and Boy Capel were together she smiled and changed the mood completely.

While Étiene Balsan (played by Benoit Poelvoorde) seems to be supeficially interested in Coco, he´s the one providing the means for her to leave her job and moving on to know the life of France´s rich and famous. Étiene expresses his sincere love for Coco, but he finds her heart already taken by Arthur Capel (played by Alessandro Nivola); Étiene is no match for him.

Coco Chanel’s biography mentions her having more than two lovers, nevertheless she ends up with none, and dedicates her life to her designs.

See the trailer for Coco before Chanel:

A couple is pursued by an obscure entity in their own house.

Micah, the boyfriend, decides to document everything that happens with a video camera, although Katie does not seem to be very happy about this.

Everything seems very quiet and peaceful, until the events become more frequent, and then more violent.

Rated R.
Release date for the United States, October 16th 2009.
Written and Directed by Oren Peli.
Katie Featherston is Katie.
Micah Sloat is Micah.
Mark Fredrichs is the psychic.

Yes, it’s another film recorded in this kind of home movie format. At the beginning it doesn’t look too promising, but as the film progresses paranormal activity grows, so does the tension in the viewer. They manage to catch the attention with little things like noise, a door that moves, some wind blowing inside the house, a Ouija board or an old photo of Katie.

The activity occurs at night. At first the couple did not realize this until they see what is recorded, but later the manifestations won’t let them go back to sleep.

After 30 minutes in the movie, the camera movement and corny dialogue do not matter as much as knowing what is happening in that place and what will happen to the couple.

The dialogue is of course simple. She is a student, he is an online investor, and they have been together for three years now.

There are times when one wishes to have a better point of view of what is happening, because obviously the camera is pointing the other way, or is misdirected, or is in night vision mode, but this is precisely part of the charm of the plot, not to let you see too much.

Although there are more interventions, you will only see the faces of four people, including a psychic who’s appearance is worthless.

If you are a person who likes to be frightened, this film will give you a couple of good scares. It looks like it’s not the big hit kind of movie, but turns out to be a pleasant surprise for this season, leaving aside the way it’s being promoted (it’s supposed to be a real documentary).

Congratulations to the producers. This is the film that comes to take the place of Blair Witch with merits.

Go see it!

Cheers!

metalorn.

Trailer of the movie:

In every school there is one girl every girl wants to be friends with, and every guy would die for.

And that would be Megan Fox character Jennifer, a high school cheerleader that’s murdered by a rock band in a ritual. But, the ritual was incomplete, since it required a virgin, and Jennifer was not. The only person that knows the truth is Needy (Amanda Seyfried), mainly because they used to be best friends, and Jennifer tells her all about her new life as a possessed student.

Megan Fox plays the same sexy chick roll she got us used to. Not too much to offer, except for one or two creepy appearances (ok, that’s a point for the makeup artists). Amanda Seyfried, looks pretty mature. In this movie her face reminds me of Kate Winslet, and her hair was done like Julia Styles in “10 things I hate about you”.

Not the horror film to follow this year, But still you get a few kicks from the dialog. Go see it!

Cheers!

metalorn.

A regular man looses his family when his house is robbed and he’s left to die. The justice system didn’t work for him as one of the two criminals is released after making a deal, so frustration invades him and decides to take justice by his own.

Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton, the man that’s been preparing his revenge for 10 years and let it fall over Nick Rice, played by Jamie Foxx, the district attorney assigned to his case, and the one that made the deal with a criminal.

The murdering scene at the begining of the film is a bit gross, but since the director was in a hurry to present the case, it happens fast, just like the trial, and 10 years of their lives.

The plot is interesting and gets your attention. Clyde Shelton is getting his revenge and everything else he wants, leaving us to find out how he manages to threat his captors and then carry it out.

You’ll see a lot of overacted scenes, but also some bits of good action and a few nice surprises. Go see it!

Cheers!

metalorn.

Here’s the trailer of the movie:

US marshal Carrie Stetko is about to conclude her job in the antartica. While she’s getting ready to get on the plane a call for help is received from another scientific post, and what used to be a simple, boring life in the south pole turns around and becomes a life threatening investigation.

It’s an entertaining mistery movie. Why wouldn’t anyone be curious about the first murder in Antartica? You also get to see wonderful landscapes (which by the way, belong to Manitoba, Canada) and of course, a lot of snow. The murder brings memories to marshal Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) and with that we get to know her past, and the reason why she asked to be assigned to the south pole. The story evolves in a way that you get a couple of misleading hints on who the killer is, but you don’t get to know that until the very end. An old russian cargo plane is found burried under 20 feet of snow. Seems like the pilots and some mercenary passengers fought each other to death to get the contents of a box, now empty. You also get a wrong lead on what the content of the box is.

Kate Beckinsale looks beautiful. She had it easy because she keeps a frawn face half of the movie (she had a lot of practice you know, from the Underworld movies). The couple of times she smiles make the whole movie worth it. Tom Skerritt is… Tom Skerrit; great guy, great actor, looks like every roll he plays is made specifically for him. Gabriel Macht plays the flat character of U.N. investigator Robert Price. This roll would have played better in the hands of Columbus Short, who gives life to pilot Delfy.

It’s a well spent ticket. Go seet it!

Cheers!

Whiteout trailer

Romance, long kissing and disappointment among teenagers? You wouldn’t think you’d find much of this in a Harry Potter movie but …

The romantic aspects were notably approached and elegantly mixed in the adaptation of the sixth book of the series created by J. K. Rowlings. The previous movie, Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix, already had presented us with grown up characters, and this time, their adolescence is consolidated thanks to the romantic interactions and to a good part of the movie being very dramatic.

A new character we get to know now is professor Horace Slughorn, who is introduced in a funny, creative and entertaining way, near the beginning of the movie. He lives in a house that is a complete disaster, and when Dumbeldorf offers himself to fix it, the opportunity comes to show off some visual effects. Professor Slughorn says that because of the death eaters trying to recruit him, he cannot live in the same house for more than a week, nevertheless, you’ll be able to see that he manages to keep handy all kinds of personal articles, such as… a framed photo of the mother of Harry, right in the living room. Looks like you never know when will be your turn to appear in the life of Harry Potter.

The young heroes get back together at the Weasley’s house, where we see the first indication of what is coming between Ginny and Harry.

Fred and George seem to be the only ones that moved on with their lives. They own a trick shop, the only store that remains open thanks to the attacks of the death eaters.

A lot of good visual effects can pass unnoticed due to how well achieved they are. For example, when the protagonists travel to Hogwart’s by train, the camera, in what seems to be a single take, goes from Ginny and Luna in one of the cars, through the glass, floating two cars behind, and back inside to a cabin with Harry and his friends. Other times the effects are more obvious, but equally spectacular, like the scene where Dumbeldorf provides Harry with the memories of Tom Riddle, and these are visualized.

All the funny stuff is on the first half of the movie, then the plot becomes dark and continues like this to the end. The scene that changes the tone is the one where Katy Bell gets coursed upon touching a necklace that she supposedly found and that she was going to deliver to Dumbeldorf.

Except for the outdoors scenes (not too many by the way), the lighting is dark, sometimes too dark.

The quiddtch game is short mainly because that moment in the movie is centered in Ron Weasley.

Hermione Granger seems to be there only to help with the romance/jealousy situations. Although Ginny makes fewer appearances, her character has more weight in the plot.

Voldemort appears for just a fraction of a second, so we can only wait for the Deathly Hollows to see the great Ralph Fiennes in action.

A book for small ones made into a movie for grown ups, very enjoyable and highly recommended.

Cheers!