If you are looking for a mindless fun flick then this is one for you. I can’t imagine anyone going in to see Journey to the Center of the Earth expecting a thoughtful piece of film making. Especially considering that the main selling point of this film is the fact that it is in 3D. But it is fun. Action sequences and the wonder that is 3d. Honestly, it is great. I loved it for that U2 concert, but in actual film it works too.
This film’s release here and in Britain was delayed for a considerable time due to the supposed similarities between the plot and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. I can see what it happened, but in reality there aren’t that many similarities. The film is about Patrick Kenzie and his “associate” Angie Gennaro who have been hired to track down a missing child, Amanda McCready. Almost at once they find out that the media story isn’t quite the truth.
Dir & Writ: Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on book by Upton Sinclair
Daniel Day-Lewis … Daniel Plainview
Ciarán Hinds … Fletcher Hamilton
Dillon Freasier … H.W. Plainview
Paul Dano … Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
Sydney McCallister … Mary Sunday
It is hard to know how to describe this film. It is more of a character study than a story. Of course there is some plot, an oilman and his desire to suceed, but the story isn’t too important. What is important is the character of Daniel Plainview, as played by Oscar winning Daniel Day-Lewis.
The opening scenes show just how driven Daniel is. We watch him, working on his own, in a mine. No dialogue at all for around 15 minutes, just this man in a hole, digging, dynamiting up the earth, falling down the hole, injured and yet still having the drive to pull himself out of that hole and struggle back into town to get his bit of dirt evaluated.
Dir: Doug Liman
Writ: David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, & Simon Kinberg. Based on book by Steven Gould
Hayden Christensen … David Rice
Samuel L. Jackson … Roland
Diane Lane … Mary Rice
Jamie Bell … Griffin
Rachel Bilson … Millie
David Rice used to be your average chump. His word, not mine. But then he discovered that he could jump; transport himself instantly from one place to another. And suddenly his world is fabtastic. Money is easy, he simply jumps into a bank vault and jumps away with cash. Wants a holiday, or a change of scenery, then all he does is jumps somewhere new.
It actually sounds kinda ok. But to be honest this film sucks. Sucks sucks sucks. End of review. Short and sweet, but perfectly to the point
Dir: Marc Forster
Writ: David Benioff based on book by Khaled Hosseini
Khalid Abdalla … Amir
Atossa Leoni … Soraya
Shaun Toub … Rahim Kahn
Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada … Omar
Zekeria Ebrahimi … Young Amir
Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada … Young Hassan
Homayoun Ershadi … Baba
I haven’t read the book this film is based on so I can’t comment on how well the story makes the translation from one medium to the other. The film tells the story of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, and so before the Taliban came to power. He is best friends with a younger boy who is the family’s servant’s son, Hassan. We first meet Amir and Hassan when they are flying kites above Kabul. Hassan is the best kite runner in the city; he chases, or runs, down the kites that have had their strings cut. But Hassan is of a different tribe to Amir and so both have to put up with a lot of bullying. As Amir’s Baba laments, Amir rarely stands up for himself, it is always the younger Hassan who fights back.
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Writ: Mark Protosevich & Akiva Goldsman, based on book by Richard Matheson
Will Smith … Lt. Col. Robert Neville M.D.
Alice Braga … Anna
Charlie Tahan … Ethan
Salli Richardson … Zoe Neville
Willow Smith … Marley Neville
Dash Mihok … Alpha Male
After the end of the world as we know it Robert Neville lives in New York. All alone apart from his dog, Sam, he drives around hunting deer, chatting to mannequins and going through the stock of a local video store. He also makes sure to be home and locked away by the time night comes. Because at night the rest of the survivors come out. And they aren’t so friendly.
Writ & Dir: Andrew Dominik ; based on the book by Ron Hansen
Brad Pitt … Jesse James
Mary-Louise Parker … Zee James
Casey Affleck … Robert Ford
Sam Rockwell … Charley Ford
Jeremy Renner … Wood Hite
Sam Shepard … Frank James
Garret Dillahunt … Ed Miller
Paul Schneider … Dick Liddil
I loved this film.
I loved everything about it. The acting was brilliant. The way the story unfolded. The narration. The casting. The scenery. The cinematography. The soundtrack. Everything was just great. Best film I’ve seen this year. Which’d be a higher compliment if this wasn’t the first film I’ve been to see so far this year. But I’m guessing it’ll be up on the top ten list by the end of 2008.
Dir: Marc Forster
Writ & Dir: Andrew Dominik ; based on the book by Ron Hansen 
