I’m going to admit it….I’ve read all the books and now I’ve finally seen all the films. They aren’t THAT bad! Ok the books aren’t Shakespeare and the movies aren’t Gone With The Wind but they ARE entertaining! All the Twilight haters seem to spend more time broadcasting to the world how much they hate the Saga rather than avoiding it.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 left a sour taste in my mouth with its over dramaticness and what was essentially a filler for the finale.

So Part 2 picks off exactly where the previous finished. Bellas eyes are red, hurrah she’s finally a vampire! The following 10 minutes are spent on showing Bella as a newborn vampire, hunting down food, climbing up walls, resisting human blood and actually seeming quite normal! She meets her daughter (creepy CGI baby face) finds out Jacob has imprinted on the baby, see’s her dad for the first time since he found out she was ‘ill’ and starts on a normal family life. This pretty much all happens in the first 30 minutes of the film. The pace is fast and unlike anything we’ve seen in the previous Twilight films.

This means that when Bella’s daughter (Renesmee) is seen by Irina, the Volturi is made aware that it the Cullens appear to have made an immortal child. Then the race is on to convince other vampires and then the Volturi that she was born half vampire, not turned. As this is the focus of the book, it’s good to see how much of the movie was actually spent on this plot. We don’t have an hour of brooding looks and ‘I love you’, instead we get the introduction of more vampires, some nifty supernatural gifts and a plot that is actually worth our time.

Kirsten Stewart performs the best compared to how Bella is in the previous films. Clumsy, stuttering Bella has gone and now is this confident, happy and self sure Bella which is more joyous to watch. Robert Pattinson seems to have fun as Edward and spends quite a few scenes actually smiling which is a nice change. And Taylor Lautner isn’t in the movie too much which is a bonus in itself!

The story movies at a good pace until the finale arrives and we are treated to a SFX spectacle with a Vampire/Werewolf show down which doesn’t disappoint. Or does it? The ending, elaborated from the book, will divide people…it will make non fans stay as non fans and it will keep fans happy and show what Stephanie Meyer was too afraid to in the books.

I really enjoyed this last installment. And while not an amazing piece of filmmaking, I was thoroughly entertained and in context of the Twilight Saga, I give this a thumbs up.

I tried to avoid everything about this film after hearing it was being made. I have been let down by Tim Burtons films since Big Fish and before that, Sleepy Hollow.

When I was watching a different movie I saw the trailer for Frankenweenie and I genuinely thought it looked good. So dare I say it, I was really looking forward to watching it.

Victor Frankenstein doesn’t have any real friends. His only one true friend is his dog Sparky, an enthusiastic playful animal who is always there to help Victor make short films using his camera. When Victor promises his dad he will try out for baseball in exchange to sign Victor’s permission slip to compete in the science fair, tragedy strikes Victor tries to bring Sparky back from the dead which has is consequences on the whole town.

Frankenweenie trailer:

Firstly…the animation is beautiful. I think stop animation really will start up again, especially after Coraline, ParaNorman and now Frankenweenie. The voices are slightly creepy adding to the quirky odd style of the film and as I watched the film in 3D, I have to say it really added a lot of depth to every scene on screen!

The film takes a nice amount of time focusing on Victor and Sparky’s relationship before it gets to the tragic scene where Victor loses Sparky. And it’s because of this, you understand where Victor is coming from when he wants to bring Sparky back from the dead. Even once Victor has brought back Sparky, he knows what he has done is wrong and that he needs to keep Sparky a secret. But we all know that this isn’t a secret that will stay quiet for long! Once word gets out, the other kids in the science fair try to do the same but each resulting in different ways.

It was good to have a different twist on this Frankenstein story than to keep it with Sparky. And this is because it really shows you the love Victor has for his dog and why his intentions were completely honest and true.

Obviously inspired by the obvious Mary Shelley story, this ‘kids film’ definitely appeals to adults too with a few classic horror references and even has one or two genuine jump scares!

I’m glad to see Tim Burton behind a story that doesn’t rely on the CGI to do the story telling. The characters really drive the story here and that’s why this is his most successful film in a decade. It’s good to see Burton back on top, let’s hope he can stay there.

Barry El Beardo

Frankenweenie featurette:

Sci-Fi/Thriller, 118 min, Sony Pictures

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Jeff Daniels, Tracie Thoms, Noah Segan, David Jensen, Qing Xu, James Hébert, Nick Gomez, David Joseph Martinez, Dikran Tulaine, Jay Amor, Adam Boyer, Kristyl Dawn Tift, Brian Oerly, Pierce Gagnon, Kamden Beauchamp, Miles Marmolejo, Frank Brennan

• Director: Rian Johnson
• Writer: Rian Johnson

Going in to Looper I knew what to expect….I’d seen Brick and was an instant fan of director Rian Johnson. I was expecting the smart dialogue, the clever camera angles and above all else, a great film. Was I disappointed? Not at all!

Starting off with a dialog free epilogue really sets the scene for the rest of the film. It says Joe (Joseph Gordon Levitt) knows what he is doing down to the T.

Joe is a looper who assassinates people (kept restraint in a strait jacket and a hood) who have been sent back through time, 30 years into the future. When your contract as a looper ends, your future self is sent back for you to kill in order to ‘close the loop’.

Official trailer:

What might seem like just a throw away phrase in any other sci fi film is really explored here in a torture scene which while looks extremely clever, is actually very dark and twisted. But when on an assignment Joe notices the ‘client’ is sent back late, he is taken off guard. This doesn’t help when his target appears in the form of his future self (Bruce Willis) prepared to escape and get on with his own personal mission.

Did you say boom?

What makes this step up from your usual sci fi is definitely the dialogue. Instead of tackling the very complicated task of trying to decipher time travel, the characters accept the inevitable…’this time travel crap, just fries the brain’. Add Sara (Emily Blunt) into the mix as a woman trying to bring up her kid in a world where things are unraveling, and Young Joe starts to question his mission and what he is actually doing.

Rian’s style is evident and helped along by the big budget which only goes to show what vision the man has. The only downside I would say is that one expecting an action film will be disappointed….this is a sci fi thriller in its purest form.

Barry El Beardo

Looper featurette:

Fox je objavio novi featurette sa snimanja filma Ridleya Scotta Prometheus i opet nas je snimljeni materijal ostavio bez daha. Film jednostavno deluje spektakularno.

Ridley Scott, režiser Aliena i Blade Runnera vraća se u žanr koji je definisao. U Prometheusu on je stvorio originalnu mitologiju o timu istraživača koji otkrivaju trag nastanka ljudske rase na Zemlji i na osnovu kojega svemirski brod Prometheus kreće na uzbudljivo putovanje u najmračniji deo svemira. Tamo, ekspedicija Prometheusa otkriće tajnu koja može da ugrozi čitavu ljudsku rasu…

Na osnovu klipa možemo zaključiti da Charlize Theron igra operativca kompanije, Noomi Rapace podseća na mlađu Ripley, Logan Marshall Green je njen saradnik i najverovatnije partner, Sean Harris je akcioni član posade, Michael Fassbender je David, brodski android, a Rafe Spall i Idris Elba su drugi članovi posade, a svi znamo kako prolaze nebitni članovi posade buhahaha…

Prometheus ima zakazanu premijeru za 8 jun, a u najavi za ovaj film mogao bi danima da pričam u superlativima ali ipak da vas dalje ne ubeđujem proverite i sami: