Thursday, December 29, 2011

The War Horse

From director Steven Spielberg comes “War Horse,” an epic adventure for audiences of all ages. Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. “War Horse” is one of the great stories of friendship and war— a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.



Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

This is the third movie from the chipmunks. Always fun for the kids, this comes at a good time during the holiday season.
On vacation aboard a luxury cruise ship, Alvin, Simon, Theodore and the Chipettes are up to their usual antics, turning the ship into their personal playground, until they become 'chipwrecked' on a desert island. As Dave Seville frantically searches for his AWOL charges, the 'Munks and Chipettes do what they do best – sing, dance and wreak havoc. But they're in for a surprise when they embark on an island adventure with their new friend – a castaway who's more than a match for Alvin and the Chipmunks.




Monday, December 26, 2011

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

Friday, December 23, 2011

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This is David Fincher's version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" based on the novel by Stieg Larsson.

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

We Bought A Zoo

We Bought A Zoo is a funny, inspiring and true story about the magical power of family to persevere in face of extraordinary challenges.  When Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) decided to uproot his family and move them to an unlikely new home—a dilapidated zoo where more than 200 exotic animals would be their new neighbors—his friends and colleagues thought he was crazy. Mee’s dream was to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. The grand reopening was scheduled for spring, but there was much work to be done and none of it easy for the novice zookeepers. Tigers broke loose, money was tight, the staff grew skeptical, and family tensions reached a boiling point.

Then tragedy struck. Katherine (Scarlett Johansson) Ben’s wife, had a recurrence of a brain tumor, forcing Benjamin and his two young children to face the heartbreak of illness and the devastating loss of a wife and mother. But inspired by the memory of Katherine and the healing power of the incredible family of animals they had grown to love; Benjamin and his kids resolved to move forward, and today the zoo is a thriving success.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law returns as his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”


Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room…until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may give him an advantage over the renowned detective.


Around the globe, headlines break the news: a scandal takes down an Indian cotton tycoon; a Chinese opium trader dies of an apparent overdose; bombings in Strasbourg and Vienna; the death of an American steel magnate… No one sees the connective thread between these seemingly random connective thread between these seemingly random events—no one, that is, except the great Sherlock Holmes, who has discerned a deliberate web of death and destruction. At its center sits a singularly sinister spider: Moriarty.


Holmes' investigation into Moriarty's plot becomes more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London to France, Germany and finally Switzerland.

But the cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead, and moving perilously close to completing his ominous plan. If he succeeds, it will not only bring him immense wealth and power but alter the course of history.


Filmmaker Guy Ritchie returned to direct “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” the follow-up to the smash hit “Sherlock Holmes". The sequel also reunited producers Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram reunited producers Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. Bruce Berman and Steve Clark-Hall served as executive producers.


In her first English-speaking role, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who gained international attention in the Swedish film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” plays a mysterious Gypsy named Sim, who becomes allied with Holmes and Watson in their quest to stop Moriarty. Jared Harris (TV's “Mad Men,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) joins the cast as the notorious Professor Moriarty. Stephen Fry (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) plays Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's decidedly eccentric older brother.


Returning from the first film, the cast also includes Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler; Kelly Reilly as Watson's bride, Mary Morstan; Eddie Marsan as Watson's bride, Mary Morstan; Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade; and Geraldine James as Holmes's long-suffering landlady, Mrs. Hudson.


“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” was written by Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and appear in stories and novels by him.




 


Monday, December 19, 2011

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt who is disavowed with the rest of the agency after the bombing of Kremlin. He is blamed for the bombing and therefore the President activates "Ghost Protocol". However, Hunt and his members are allowed to clear their names. Thus begins their chase from Russia to Mumbai to San Francisco.
The movie includes high speed chases, bombings and andrenalin-pumping actions that will make you be at the edge of your seat. Bollywood star Anil Kapoor joins the cast as a rich businessman who buys a defunct Soviet military satellite from Kurt Hendricks, the person the agency is trying to track down.

Monday, December 12, 2011

New Year's Eve

There are so many big names in this film. Academy Award winner, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Academy Award nominee, Abigail Breslin and Michelle Pfieffer and other make this an ensemble of sort.
There are 8 short stories, one of them Michelle Pfieffer plays Ingrid who quits her secretary job to fulfill her lifetime dream. Then we have Robert De Niro as a patient on his death bed persuading his doctor (Cary Elwes) and his nurse (Halle Berry) to let him see the countdown from the rooftop of the hospital. Jessica Biel and Seth Meyers play a couple who are expecting their child, and are in competition with another couple played by Sarah Paulson and Til Schweiger to produce the first New Year's baby to walk away with 25 thousand, engaging the help of Carla Gugino's spiritual doctor. Leaving the hospital and into the hottest party in town, there's food caterer Laura (Katherine Heigl) who has to contend with rock star Jensen (Jon Bon Jovi) who is trying his utmost to win her back after walking out on her a year ago.
With so many stars and stories, you can bet you will get yourself entertained with the celebration of love, forgiveness, second chances and starting over again.


Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Descendants

Filmed in Oahu, Hawaii, this film stars George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller. Clooney is Hawaiian land baron Matt King whose wife met with a boating accident and is now in a coma. This workaholic of a man now has his life in disarray not only because of his wife's condition but also he discovers that his wife is having an affair before the accident.
He also has to deal with his daughters Scotti (Miller) who is 10 years old and teenager Alexandra (Woodley) who are both rebellious and hard to talk to.
As a family man, Clooney gives a superb performance showing his vulnerability, strength, anguish and anger.
This film is not the typical I-have-to-connect-with-my-family but instead it throws in different perspective that makes a drama. Director Alexander Payne has done an great job in making this film a must see.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Shame

British artist, Steve McQueen, directs this film about Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who is a sex addict. Outwardly charming and confident, Brandon is soon exposed as a casualty of a bull-market culture where sex has been traded so heavily, so easily and in so many exotic flavours that the consumer has gorged himself sick.
Then his sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) moves in with him and had a stand with Brandon's boss, Dave (James Badge Dale). Sissy is a club singer and is in the same bad club as his brother.
This show is provocative, sensual, something which tugs at your emotion.