Movies

The Maze Runner

 in Books / Books-to-Movie / Movies by

Starring

Dylan O’Brien – Thomas
Aml Ameen – Alby
Ki Hong Lee – Minho
Blake Cooper – Chuck

Summary

“Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in “The Glade” for three years, trying to find a way to escape through the Maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys.”

-by KelseyJ on IMDB

Review

So I haven’t read the book yet but I recently saw this movie on the plane and absolutely loved it. It was definitely dystopian and I don’t usually like those types of movies, and books, but this one was actually really well done and interesting as you didn’t really know that it was dystopian, or the outside world was.

The setting of the movie was extremely simple, having no serious graphic effects besides the Grievers really and it was a nice change from the regular really large, bigger than life movie. I’m going to have to find the book so I can compare the two but people who have read the book who I know have said the movie did the book justice, but I’d like to find out for myself, though I’d love input from others.

The characters did develop well even though I felt that everything which happened did happen extremely rapidly. I felt like from the time that Thomas arrived only a few days had passed, and maybe that was what it was supposed to be, but to me it moved a little quickly. I wanted for time to drag out a little more because it was just one thing after another, being thrown all around. I know that The Maze did force them to move faster, but to get up to that point was extremely rapid.

A lot of the movie was based around, or started filming, somewhere around the maze wall entrance.

Overall I just really loved the movie and would definitely see it again and I’m going to have to find the book and read it and will hopefully get a review of that soon. So what did anyone else think of this movie and the book-to-movie aspect as well?

Enjoy and happy watching!

The Thing (1982)

 in Movies by

John Carpenters The Thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnFc7D0ZoCc
You totally have to just listen to the music while reading the review and all that stuff, because why not set the mood. >Does scary voo-doo fingers.<

Starring

R.J MacReady ~ Kurt Russel
Dr. Blair ~ Wilmford Brimley
Nauls ~ T.K. Carter
Palmer ~ David Clennon

Summary

An American research station in Antarctica come across a dog who a group of Norwegians had been pursuing, trying to kill it. The Norwegians are all disposed of because of an accident of their own doing but the dog they went after survives. But why fly all that way and threaten other humans lives to kill a dog? It quickly becomes clear that there was a reason behind it when the dog turns into something terribly inhuman. The Doctor finds that the cells of whatever the dog had become is able to imitate and take on shapes of any living organism and then the question arises, who is human and who is not? Quickly it becomes a fight for their lives and a battle against this inhuman organism to stop it from spreading out to the human population as if it did, the world would end as we knew it.

Review

This movie was fabulous, and scary, and classic, and overall I just loved it. After 3 years of begging to see it, thinking that I was ready, I was finally able to see it and boy was it good. It’s not like the scary that modern-day movies are, where you are literally almost leaving your skin in fright, but this made your heart race at certain moments and yes, it did have quite a few gruesome moments.

It was definitely different from other movies because instead of there being CGI (even though it wasn’t really invented at the time of this movie) the scary creatures were actually made and were animatronics. That just gave the movie a whole new level of cool to see what they were able to do with models and such.

This movie is definitely a classic but I agree with being older to see this. Yes, it doesn’t really compare with modern movies and as a lot of teens see modern horror movies at such a young age, this probably will not even compare up, but still, I believe you need to be at least 16 to see this movie, preferably 18. This isn’t just scary, but it does have some gruesome moments, and even though you know it’s fake, with the suspense which had previously been built, it was a little…intense?

The story line was quite decent and definitely held up over time and even my parents think so. Even though this movie is so old, I think that it will definitely still be seen for a long time to come as it is a class. There was a remake of The Thing made in 2011 and I heard that that one was quite good and was similar, but definitely a lot scarier and more gruesome and I will hopefully be watching that some time soon to be able to get a good comparison up.

Overall it was a very enjoyable movie. This is a Halloween movie or even a winter movie as it is based in Antarctica and there is lots and lots and LOTS of snow. But no, this is not warm and fuzzy at all, unless you consider burning bodies ‘warm’ and fuzzy. xD

I recommend this movie as it is a classic but I do warn you, it is intense and not a movie for everyone.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Happy watching!

Warning! The trailer does show a few of the scarier scenes, but is approved for general audiences.

Godzilla (2014)

 in Interesting / Movies by

Starring

Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Ford Brody
CJ Adams – Young Ford
Ken Watanabe – Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
Bryan Cranston – Joe Brody

Summary

“In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody’s colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe’s son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster’s secret cause on the wreck’s very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have.”

– Kenneth Chisholm on IMDB

Review

Now this was definitely a different take of the classic Godzilla story with Godzilla being the good guy. I didn’t get to feel the full force of the movie as I watched it on a small screen on a plane, but either way I absolutely loved it.

It kept you questioning what was happening and wondering who was going to win as it really was a close call many times and it was just…wow. I never expected the story to be taken as it had been as Godzilla is usually the bad guy but in this, he was the only hope for humanity.

And I mean the CGI’s in this movie were incredible. I mean, look at the comparison.

There really isn’t anything to question. Modern movies make everything look so much better and so much more epic, in my personal opinion. I know people believe that the classics are better just because of what they are, and don’t get me wrong, watching a classic Godzilla is funny and really interesting to watch, but if you want to really get lost in the world, watching a new movie is sometimes the way to go.

The storyline was interesting because of how they worked it around Godzilla being the good guy and then bringing in these other creatures (which were kind of creepy) and having it be a ‘I-Am-The-King’ kind of fight. Everything was epic and it honestly kind of reminded me of Pacific Rim but instead of it being robots against the Kaiju, it was the MUTO against Godzilla. All big, all epic, and all just WOW.

I honestly do suggest seeing this as it takes an interesting spin on a classic but this is for older viewers because it was quite violent and quite scary in a few places. It’s a great watch and I hope that you all enjoy.

Let me know what you think!

Maleficent (2014) – Movie Review

 in Books-to-Movie / Creative / Fantasy / Movies by

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Starring

Angelina Jolie – Maleficent
Elle Fanning – Aurora
Sharlto Copley – Stefan

Summary

“Explore the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain in this wickedly fun twist on the classic SLEEPING BEAUTY. In an unforgiving mood after a neighboring kingdom threatens her forest, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) places an irrevocable curse on the king’s newborn daughter, the Princess Aurora. but as the child grows, Maleficent finds herself becoming fond of the girl. And as the conflict between the two realms intensifies, Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land. Journey beyond the fairy tale in this soaring adventure that is “visually arresting, brilliantly designed” (Andrew Barker, Variety).”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Honestly, I’m speechless. This movie was absolutely stunning. The visual effects were beautiful, the characters were portrayed amazingly well, and the story of such an evil villain, and showing how she wasn’t necessarily what others saw, was so creative.

In the Sleeping Beauty story, and in the movie, you always disliked Maleficent, and you were supposed to because she was the bad guy, oh, sorry, bad woman. But in this movie, it showed why she was portrayed to be the bad woman and how she changed as she watched Aurora grow and looked after her.

So the story was the first amazing thing about it, how they were able to twist such a well-known story and make you feel for her. But then the other amazing thing was the visual effects. From the moment the movie started, it was magical and the creatures, from fairies to the water creatures, was just stunning.

Some of the creatures were kind of creepy looking, but they were supposed to be. It was all about judging someone by how they looked throughout this entire movie. They judged Maleficent and her friends because they were magical beings and the one Kingdom wanted to destroy them because of it.

Now Angelina Jolie, playing Maleficent was amazing. She played that part SO well. She took on that role and really was just….amazing. I don’t know how else to explain it because she had the personality down pat and was able to get all the subtle things down. Jolie was able to walk around with an air of grace but deadly grace when she went evil.

This, is probably one of my favorite scenes of her portrayal of the character in the movie with the way she looks down and acts all innocent but has this deadly air to her.

So, to me, besides the story, the visual effects were the best thing to me as I’ve always been interested in how they do it and such and it’s amazing how magical they can make a movie nowadays.

All in all, this is a really really good movie. It was PG-13, so it’s not for children, and it really wasn’t, especially with all the violence. For being based on a Disney movie, this really was Hollywoodized (not a word, but I’m making it one now) which is kind of annoying but as a near adult, it didn’t really detract from the movie for me and I still loved it, but if you want your younger kid to watch this, this really isn’t for them because of the nature of what happens. It is quite a dark movie, lighting wise (for parts of it), and dark also in the nature of what happens.

I highly recommend it, even if you don’t really like Disney movies, because I don’t love Disney movies but still absolutely loved this. It take the classical fairy tales and adds a twist to them.

So let me know what you think and enjoy!

The Conjuring (2013) – Movie Review 1

 in Movies by

Starring

Vera Farmiga – Lorraine Warren
Patrick Wilson – Ed Warren
Lili Taylor – Carloyn Perron
Ron Livingston – Roger Perron

Summary

“In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Perron move their family into a dilapidated Rhode Island farm-house and soon strange things start happening around it with escalating nightmarish terror. In desperation, Carolyn contacts the noted paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to examine the house. What the Warrens discover is a whole area steeped in a satanic haunting that is now targeting the Perron family wherever they go. To stop this evil, the Warrens will have to call upon all their skills and spiritual strength to defeat this spectral menace at its source that threatens to destroy everyone involved.”

-From IMDB.com written by Kenneth Chisholm

Review

Wow…just wow. Honestly this movie scared the living CRAP out of me. It was REALLY well done, not bringing in any of the gruesome things which most horror movies just SEEM to need to have (such as SAW (do not watch if you dislike blood and torture)). This played on your real life fears of things that scared you such as clowns/dolls, doors opening on their own, and things which just scared the living bejeezus out of you.

I can honestly, and happily, say that I left my seat about two times from jumping, and successfully screamed once. My dad even had the hairs on his arms stand up, which is quite hard to do. It was such a successful movie that I couldn’t sleep and then my dad just HAD to scare me by placing our old, and creepy, clown under my pillow. I nearly had a heart attack and it wasn’t funny. BUT, we still had a good laugh.

I couldn’t breathe after the movie and my heart was in my throat but it wasn’t so scary that you felt sick. There was almost NO special effects and I really liked that.

It’s a great Halloween movie but DON’T watch it alone, otherwise it will not end will for anyone. I would walk around my house with a knife and lock myself in a closet or something x.x

But anyway, overall it was REALLY well done. It is rated R and fits its rating, so I suggest that you be at least 16 to see this movie. I saw younger kids watching it, and know of them see it, and this was NOT appropriate.

But definitely check this out tomorrow or even watch it during Halloween. ^.^

Let me know what you think and enjoy!!!!

Warning! This trailer is quite scary and will make you jump. Do not have your volume too loud!
You have been warned.