Sunday, April 24, 2016

Zootopia Review














Zootopia


Release Date: 17th March 2016 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/
Action/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 108 minutes


Budget: $150,000,000

Box Office Gross: $1,025,521,689 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Officer Judy Hopps has become the first bunny cop of the police department and arrives in the big city of Zootopia, where prey and predator co-exist in harmony, but she doesn't quite fit in as she should.

Judy must solve a case to prove herself with the unwilling help of a fox named Nick Wilde. Together, the pair must learn to get along and discover a conspiracy that may threaten the co-existing balance of Zootopia.


Voice Cast
Ginnifer Goodwin - Lt. Judy Hopps
Jason Bateman - Nick Wilde
Idris Elba - Chief Bogo
J.K. Simmons - Mayor Lionheart
Jenny Slate - Bellwether
Nate Torrence - Clawhauser
Alan Tudyk - Duke Weaselton
Octavia Spencer - Mrs. Otterton
Shakira - Gazelle
Tommy Chong - Yax
Bonnie Hunt - Bonnie Hopps
Don Lake - Stu Hopps
Raymond S. Persi - Flash/
Officer Higgins
Maurice LaMarche - Mr. Big
Della Saba - Young Judy
Kath Soucie - Young Nick
Phil Johnston - Gideon Grey
Fuschia! - Drill Sergeant
John DiMaggio - Jerry Jumbeaux Jr./Moose/Pig Reporter/Jesse/Woolter
Katie Lowes - Badger Doctor
Gita Reddy - Nangi
Jesse Corti - Mr. Manchas
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister - Finnick
Josh Dallas - Frantic Pig
Leah Latham - Fru Fru
Rich Moore - Doug/Larry
Byron Howard - Bucky Oryx-Antlerson/Travis
Jared Bush - Pronk Oryx-Antlerson
Mark Rhino Smith - Officer McHorn
Josie Trinidad - Landlady
John Lavelle - Mouse Foreman
Kristen Bell - Priscilla
Madeleine Curry - Sharla/
Gareth/Little Hippo Whose Mother Is Given A Parking Ticket by Judy
David Campbell - David
Koalabell (Australia/New
Zealand Only)
Zach King - Muzzled Wolf
Pace Paulsen - Scout Bully 2
Fabienne Rawley - Jumbeaux's
Café Elephant Patron/Fabienne Growley
Jackson Stein - Jaguar
Pretend Actuary/Scout Bully 1
David A. Thibodeau - Gary

Crew
Story/Visual Development Artist/Director - Byron Howard
Story/Additional Visual Development/Director - Rich Moore
Story/Screenplay/
Co-Director - Jared Bush
Original Idea - Kellie D. Lewis (Uncredited)
Story/Screenplay - Phil Johnston
Story - Jennifer Lee
Story/Heads of Story - Jim
Reardon and Josie Trinidad
Executive Producer - John
Lasseter
Producer - Clark Spencer
Production Designer - David Goetz
Associate Production
Designer - Dan Cooper
Art Director: Environments - Matthias Lechner
Art Director: Characters - Cory Loftis
Visual Development Artists - Brett M. Albert, Justin Cram, Jim Finn, Mac George, Andy Harkness, Shiyoon Kim,
Jim Martin, Borja Montoro
Cavero, Nicholas Orsi,
Armand Serrano and Scott Watanabe
Lead Story Artists - John Ripa
and Marc E. Smith
Director of Photography: Lighting - Brian Leach
Director of Cinematography: Layout -
Nathan Warner
Head of Animation - Renato Dos Anjos
Co-Head of Animation - Tony Smeed
Head of Environments - Hans-Joerg Keim
Head of Characters & Technical Animation -
Dave K. Komorowski
Set Extension Supervisor - John Murrah
Layout Supervisor - Joaquin Baldwin
Animation Supervisors - Nathan Engelhardt,
Jennifer Hager, Robert Huth, Kira Lehtomaki
and Chad Sellers
Crowds Supervisor - Moe El-Ali
Lighting Supervisors - Gina Warr Lawes,
Alex Nijmeh, Amol Sathe, Mark Siegel and
Diana Jiang Zeng
Head of Effects - Cesar Velazquez
Visual Effects Supervisor - Scott Kersavage
General Technical Director - Serge Sretschinsky
Stereoscopic Supervisor/Department Leadership:
Walt Disney Animation Studios - Katie Tucker-Fico
Film Editors - Fabienne Rawley
and Jeremy Milton
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor -
Addison Teague
ADR Supervisor - Daniel Laurie
Original Dialogue/Re-Recording Mixer -
Gabriel Guy
Re-Recording Mixer - David E. Fluhr
Music - Michael Giacchino
Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan
Music Supervisor - Tom MacDougall


Review
In recent years, the Disney animation department's renewal had scored with the infamous Frozen, which grossed a billion at the box office. It's been years since the craze of that landmark movie ended and two years after Big Hero 6. The studio has unveiled its 55th animated feature and latest production, ZOOTOPIA - a different spin on the animal kingdom. This animated feature has a Midas touch with fun, depth and complexity to the story and characters. I've noticed the film has taken liberties of inspiration from Disney's early movie and cult-classic Robin Hood. It tackles the hot-button issues of real-life society, like prejudice and police bias, that often integrate into an anthropomorphic CGI world. Disney is clever at grafting these messages into entertaining stories with a high standard of quality animation. It must mean that ZOOTOPIA is now a better movie than Frozen and a breadwinner of the House of the Mouse's animation unit.

ZOOTOPIA had a wide range of celebrity voice talents, with many well-known actors selected for huge parts. One of the best is Ginnifer Goodwin, who voices the officer with a cottontail - Judy Hopps. I was unsure about her being an actress due to her previous work in Once Upon a Time. However, her contribution to this film as the voice of Judy in ZOOTOPIA was excellent. Jason Bateman was sophisticated and witty in voicing the sly fox - Nick Wilde. We would have gotten to know more about Nick if the character had been in a more prominent role in the story, which would have been closer to the film's original vision. Idris Elba was known to many Marvel fans as Heimdall when he lent his booming distinctive voice as Chief Bogo, head of police.

I hope to see ZOOTOPIA again if it is available in other formats. It may be the best Disney animated feature released since The Lion KingAudiences of all ages will enjoy viewing the wonderful world of ZOOTOPIA and understand its message.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

Friday, April 22, 2016

In Memory of Prince (1958-2016)










Prince (1958-2016)

Dearest movie bloggers and music lovers, I deeply regret to inform you that the legendary pop musician Prince, whose full name is Prince Rogers Nelson, died on April 21st, 2016, at age 57, in his Paisley Park recording studio. His death has highly affected us. His legacy will live on as long as we continue to listen to his music among fanatics of the Purple Badness. He was notable for his famous movie and best-selling soundtrack "Purple Rain" and his albums "1999" and "Sign o' the Times". Even songs like the two title tracks, "Little Red Corvette", "Delirious", "Kiss", "When Doves Cry", and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

It all started from his humble beginnings at his birthplace in Minnesota to his career transition as a musician. Prince joined a band formed by his cousin's husband called 94 East before signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1978. It started with his early vinyl album "For You". Following "For You" is his self-titled album "Prince", which later generated a few hit singles. It went platinum after reaching the Billboard magazine in charts like the 200 at No. 4. Prince was not yet a well-known musical celebrity and changed his funk sound in the sexually explicit "Dirty Mind". With the double album "1999", which sold over three million copies, and three hit singles, he earned his way to the top. Prince then formed his band, The Revolution and began filming his first movie, "Purple Rain". The songs around the film would not be in its official soundtrack until 1984. When the album went into the pop charts, the feature was released in theatres and became the year's top-grosser. He soon gets an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for that successful movie.

Prince had more albums recorded, which a few served as soundtracks to his underwhelming features that he would later direct and star in, such as "Under the Cherry Moon" and "Graffiti Bridge". He made a concert tour feature of one of his albums, "Sign o' the Times", which happened to be a box office flop and produced several songs for Tim Burton's 1989 movie interpretation of "Batman" and went to have its soundtrack on June 20th, 1989. It sold 4.3 million copies and peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 1. The singer-songwriter also wrote songs performed by other artists, such as "Manic Monday" for The Bangles and "Nothin' Compares 2 U" for Sinead O'Connor.

In 1993, Prince began to adrift from his name and changed his identity to a symbol, thus becoming known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Despite the name change, it lasted until 2000, when he re-changed his name to Prince. He continued to write, produce and perform his music until his death. In 2004, Prince entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Monday, April 18, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review













Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice


Release Date: 24th March 2016 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
DC Comics
DC Entertainment
RatPac Entertainment (in association with)
Atlas Entertainment
Cruel and Unusual Films

Distribution
Roadshow Films


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 151 minutes


Budget: $250,000,000

Box Office Gross: $873,637,528 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
It's been nearly two years
since the city of Metropolis
was almost devastated by
the colossal battle between
Superman and General Zod. Some people begin to fear him for his great power, including Gotham City's vigilante Batman, who sees Superman as a threat to everyone else and embarks on a personal vendetta. Contrariwise, Superman fears that Batman's actions are reckless and tries to stop him. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor, owner of Lex Corp, is devising something big that will destroy humanity! Will one triumph over the other? Or will Lex Luthor take over Metropolis?


Cast
Henry Cavill - Clark Kent/
Superman
Ben Affleck - Bruce Wayne/
Batman
Jesse Eisenberg - Lex Luthor
Amy Adams - Lois Lane
Diane Lane - Martha Kent
Laurence Fishburne - Perry
White
Jeremy Irons - Alfred
Pennyworth
Holly Hunter - June Finch
Gal Gadot - Wonder Woman
Scoot McNairy - Wallace Keefe
Callan Mulvey - Anatoli Knyazev
Tao Okamoto - Mercy Graves
Michael Cassidy - Jimmy
Olsen
Jason Momoa - Aquaman
(Cameo)
Ray Fisher - Victor Stone/
Cyborg (Cameo)
Joe Morton - Silas Stone (Cameo)
Ezra Miller - Barry Allen/
Flash (Cameo)
Kevin Costner - Jonathan Kent
Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Thomas Wayne (Uncredited)
Lauren Cohan - Martha Wayne
Brandon Spink - Young Bruce
Wayne
Robin Atkin Downes -
Doomsday
Wunmi Mosaku - Kahina Ziri
Dennis North - Senator
Barrows
Sebastian Sozzi - Cesar
Santos
Rebecca Buller - Jenny
Harry Lennix - Secretary
Swanwick
Carla Gugino - Kelor (Voice)
Christina Wren - Major Carrie Farris
Patrick Wilson - President of the United States (Voice)
Patrick Leahy - Senator Purrington (Cameo)
Debbie Stabenow - Metropolis Governor (Cameo)
Vikram Gandhi - Himself (Cameo)
Andrew Sullivan - Himself (Cameo)
Charlie Rose - Himself
(Cameo)
Neil de Grasse Tyson -
Himself (Cameo)

Crew
Director - Zack Snyder
Batman Creators - Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Superman Creators - Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster
Character Creator: Wonder Woman - William Moulton Marston
Character: Alfred Pennyworth - Jerry Robinson (Uncredited)
Writer/Executive Producer - David S. Goyer
Writer - Chris S. Terrio
Associate Producer/First Assistant Director - Bruce Moriarty
Executive Producers - Christopher Nolan,
Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns, Benjamin Melniker,
Michael Uslan and Emma Thomas
Producers - Charles Roven
and Deborah Snyder
Co-Producer - Curt Kanemoto
Co-Producers/Unit Production Managers -
Jim Rowe and Gregor Wilson
Casting Directors - Jo Edna Boldin,
Kristy Carlson and Lora Kennedy
Production Designer - Patrick Tatopoulos
Concept Artists - Michael Meyers,
Vance Kovacs, Victor Martinez, Robert KcKinnon,
Christian Schuerer and Ed Natividad
Supervising Art Director - Tom Sizemore
Art Directors - Lorin Flemming,
Beat Frutiger, Gregory S. Hooper and
Tom Frohling
Art Director: New Mexico Unit - Patricio M. Farrell
Specialty Vehicles/Batmobile Dennis McCarthy
Set Decorator - Carolyn Loucks
Property Master - Doug Harlocker
Costume Designer - Michael Wilkinson
Makeup Department Head - Victoria Down
Key Makeup Artist - Kate Biscoe
Director of Photography - Larry Fong
Aerial Director of Photography - David B. Nowell
"B" Camera Operator/Director of Photography:
Second Unit - William R. Dalgleish
Supervising Location Manager/Production
Supervisor - William Doyle
Location Manager: Chicago - James McAllister
Production Supervisor - Matthew Hirsch
First Assistant Directors: Second Unit - Rob Burgess,
Brandon Lamboin and Julian Wall
Second Assistant Director - Misha Bukowski
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator - Damon Caro
Stunt Coordinator - Tim Rigby
Fight Choreographers - Ryan Watson
and Guillermo Grispo
Aerial Coordinator - David Paris
Special Effects Supervisor - Joel Whist
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor - Joe Letteri
Visual Effects Supervisor - John 'D.J.' Des Jardin
Visual Effects Supervisor: MPC - Guillaume Rocheron
Visual Effects Supervisor: Scanline VFX -
Bryan Hirota
Visual Effects Supervisor: Weta Digital - Keith Miller
Visual Effects Producer - Josh R. Jaggars
Visual Effects: Method Studios - Olivier Dumont,
Troy Moore, Douglas Bloom, Lisa Goldberg,
Christopher D. Sanchez and Crystal Rossman
Animation Supervisor: Weta Digital - Simeon Duncombe
Visual Effects Production Supervisors:
Scanline VFX - Frank Belina, Stephen Davis,
Evan Fraser, Hans Heymans, Joel Kittle,
Yvonne Munde, Eric Petey, László Sebõ and
Dan Warom
Sound Designer & Supervisor - Scott Hecker
Sound Designer - Chuck Michael
Re-Recording Mixers - Chris Jenkins
and Michael Keller
Foley Artists - Gary A. Hecker
and Rick Owens
Editor - David Brenner
Music - Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL
Additional Music - Steve Mazzaro,
Andrew Kawczynski and Benjamin Wallfisch
Score Mixer & Recordist - Alan Meyerson
Score Wrangler - Bob Badami


Review
In 2014, I wondered if BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE would be as good as the hype had suggested. I am sorry that it's nowhere near an improvement to Man of Steel. Unfortunately, its director, Zack Snyder, has assembled a dour narrative with all flatly developed characters except for Ben Affleck's Batman portrayal. Even the redundant inclusion of the Doomsday character is too early to be featured in the climax. Unfortunately, Zack did little to improve his mistakes from his last average feature, Man of Steel. BATMAN V SUPERMAN is in much need of a director's cut and could greatly benefit from some refinement and polishing to the editing of the feature.

The flaws of BATMAN V SUPERMAN degraded the overall quality and made it a near-unwatchable experience. Such notable deficits include Jesse Eisenberg's interpretation of the Man of Steel's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor. This character is supposed to be a technological genius and be so devious. His interpretation was spastic and loopy and is mainly a cross between his previous role as Mark Zuckerberg and Heath Ledger's Joker, but not like Gene Hackman's. I was starting to like Eisenberg in Now You See Me, but after seeing his character as Lex, this has brought him down a notch in my book. The other fault is Henry Cavill, who appeared once again to try and have his Superman character similar to his previous feature and didn't make any changes to the protagonist to improve from his last film.

On a positive note, Ben Affleck's performance as the middle-aged Batman is mesmerising. It'd be impossible to cast him as a masked vigilante like in his previous role in Daredevil. It was an unexpected move to replace Christian Bale as the caped crusader, but he had a wonderful surprise for the fans now welcoming him as the new Batman. One of my favourite actors, Jeremy Irons, was a touch of surprise as he splendidly portrayed Alfred Pennyworth. I see no reason that Irons, of all the old English actors, was not having consistent success like Michael Caine. Gal Gadot was as amazingly perfect as Wonder Woman, and the action sequences are stunningly beautiful in CGI and have a sense of realism.

BATMAN V SUPERMAN does not live up to the expectations and does not beat Marvel at their own game. It's been nice knowing that this is now an average movie of 2016. After this mild disappointment, I hope the following film from Snyder will raise the bar.

Star rating: (5/10) Average

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Monday, April 11, 2016

Around the World in 80 Days (2004) Review















Around The World In 80 Days


Release Date: 26th August 2004 - Australia


Production Companies 
Walden Media
Spanknyce Films
Mostow/Lieberman Productions
Studio Babelsberg
Babelsburg Film
Fitzwilliam Productions
80 Days Productions

Distribution
Roadshow Distribution


Genre: Comedy/Adventure

Rating: PG

Runtime: 119 minutes


Budget: $110,000,000

Box Office Gross: $72,175,895
(Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Phileas Fogg is an 
inventor living in 
Victorian England. He 
believes he can travel 
around the world in 
80 days. Another 
inventor challenges 
him to make the trip, 
and Phileas agrees. 
Accompanying Phileas 
on his journey are 
his manservant 
Passepartout and 
Monique, a beautiful 
navigator. Utilizing a 
variety of transportation 
means and Passepartout's 
martial arts skills, the 
trio embarks on a globe-
spanning adventure.


Cast
Steve Coogan - Phileas Fogg
Jackie Chan - Passepartout/Lau Xing
CĂ©cile de France - Monique Laroche
Robert Fyfe - Jean Michel
Jim Broadbent - Lord Kelvin
Ian McNeice - Colonel Kitchener
David Ryall - Lord Salisbury
Roger Hammond - Lord Rhodes
Adam Godley - Mr. Sutton
Karen Mok - General Fang
Ewen Bremmer - Inspector Fix
Arnold Schwarzenegger - Prince Hapi (Cameo)
Yin Tze Pan -  Lau Xing's Mother
Yotaka Cheukaew - Little Jing
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung - Wong Fei Hung
Prasit Wongrakthai - Man Ting
Daniel Wu - Bak Mei
Rob Schneider - San Francisco Hobo (Cameo)
Luke Wilson - Orville Wright (Cameo)
Owen Wilson - Wilbur Wright (Cameo)
Mark Addy - Steamer Captain (Cameo)
John Cleese - Grizzled Solider (Cameo)
Will Forte - Young Bobby (Cameo)
Kathy Bates - Queen Victoria (Cameo)
 
Crew
Director - Frank Coraci
Based on Novel "Around the World in Eighty Days" - Jules Verne
Screenplay - David N. Titcher, David Benullo and David Andrew Goldstein
Executive Producers - Willie Chan, Solon So, Alex & Alexandra Schwartz and Phyllis Alia
Co-Executive Producers - Jeff Goeffray and Walter Josten
Producers - Hal Lieberman and Bill Badalato
Co-Producers - Henning Molfenter and Thierry Potok
Production Designer - Perry Andelin Blake
Supervising Art Director - Gary Freeman
Costume Designer - Anna Sheppard
Director of Photography - Phil Meheux
Second Unit Director - Harvey Harrison
Stunt Coordinator - Rick Forsayeth
Stunt/Action Coordinator: Jackie Chan - Chung Chi Li
Special Effects Supervisors - Gerd Nefzer and Kit West
Special Effects Supervisor: Second Unit -
John Evans
Visual Effects Supervisor - Jessica Norman
Visual Effects Supervisor: Rhythm & Hues -
Derek Spears
Visual Effects Producers - Louise Hussey
and Susan Zwerman
Digital Effects Supervisors - Simon Haslett
and Jonathan Privet
Digital Effects Supervisor: Rhythm & Hues -
Bud Myrick
Film Editor - Tom Lewis
Music - Trevor Jones


Review
Over the years there have been several movie adaptations that were based around Jules Verne's classical novel 'AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS'. When it comes to the book, you could either revisit the notable 1956 classic or explore the loose modern interpretation with martial arts superstar Jackie Chan. Some consider this version to be an unfaithful translation of the original storyline. This interpretation is not improved by the participation of Chan and Happy Madison director Frank Coraci. The experimentation with the action and comedy in a globetrotting adventure set in the 19th century were not in the original novel. The humour is necessary for this 2004 flop, but the changes throughout the entire story are a quick turn-off to those that were Vernians. The character of Passepartout was rewritten from a Frenchman into an Asian which explains how he is idly portrayed by Chan in the movie.

The Chinese action star at the time was making a poor string of a few heavily CGI-laden movies that were released between his successful 'Rush Hour' and 'Shanghai Noon' series. There is no excuse for Jackie Chan being in the movie. He is a full-time stunt expert and comic genius that oftentimes felt out of place in this film that killed all the other planned adaptations. Steve Coogan does a good impression in portraying the well-mannered and quirky inventor Phileas Fogg, but he winds up playing the foil to Chan's character rather than the main hero of the story as it was intended. There were many cameos in the movie from other stars from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Will Forte in his debut.

Overall, while this adaptation was forgettable at best, it could have been a lot worse. This movie is not for Vernians, is it barely based on the source material. If you aren't a Vernian, you may actually find the feature more enjoyable.

Star rating: (5/10) Average

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Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Sky High Review











Sky High


Release Date: 8th September 2005 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Gunn Films
Max Stronghold Productions Inc.

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Family/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 100 minutes


Budget: $35,000,000

Box Office Gross: $86,369,815 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Will Stronghold is attending high school in his first year and is the son of two superheroes. But this is no ordinary high school. It's a secret learning facility for children with superpowers called Sky High. Will gets branded as a sidekick because of his lack of powers. He must find his inner strength and set out to prove himself when a forgotten enemy returns to wreak his vengeance.


Cast
Michael Angarano - Will
Stronghold
Kurt Russell - Steve/The
Commander
Kelly Preston - Josie/
Jetstream
Danielle Panabaker - Layla
Kevin Heffernan - Ron Wilson Bus Driver
Dee Jay Daniels - Ethan
Kelly Vitz - Magneta
Loren Berman - Little Larry
Nicholas Braun - Zach
Malika & Khadijah Haqq - Penny
Jake Sandvig - Lash
Will Harris - Speed
Mary Elizabeth Winstead -
Gwen/Royal Pain
Lynda Carter - Principal Powers
Bruce Campbell - Coach Boomer
Dustin Ingram - Carbon Copy
Kid
Steven Strait - Warren Peace
Cloris Leachman - Nurse Spex
Jim Rash - Mr. Grayson/
Stitches
Dave Foley - Mr. Boy
Kevin McDonald - Mr. Medulla
Patrick Warburton - Royal
Pain (Voice)
Amy Brown - Twin
Kimmy Brown - Evil Twin
Zachry Rogers - Young Commander
Tom Kenny - Mr. Tinnerman
Jill Talley - Mrs. Tinnerman
Christopher Wynne - News Anchor
Nicole Malgarini - Freeze Girl (Uncredited)

Crew
Director - Mike Mitchell
Writers - Mark McCorkle,
Robert Schooley and Paul Hernandez
Executive Producers - Mario Iscovich
and Ann Marie Sanderlin
Producer - Andrew Gunn
Production Designer - Bruce Robert Hill
Illustrators - Daren Dochterman
and Paul Rudish
Art Director - William Hawkins
Assistant Art Directors - Desma Murphy and
Marshall Lee Toomey
Set Decorator - Robert Gould
Costume Designer - Michael Wilkinson
Assistant Costume Designer -
Christine Bieselin Clark
Makeup Department Head - Christina Smith
Special Makeup & Prosthetics Creator:
Medulla & Babies - Matthew W. Mungle
Director of Photography - Shelly Johnson
First Assistant Director - Justin Muller
First Assistant Director: Second Unit -
Nick Satriano
Second Assistant Director - John M. Morse
Location Manager - Jeremy Alter
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Scott Rogers
Assistant Stunt Coordinator - Chris O'Hara
Special Effects Supervisor - Al Broussard
Visual Effects Supervisors: Asylum -
Nathan McGuinness and Mitchell S. Drain
Visual Effects Supervisor: Furious FX -
David Lingenfelser
Visual Effects Consultant: Asylum -
Hoyt Yeatman
CG Supervisors: Asylum - Dottie Starling
and Sean Andrew Faden
Editor - Peter Amundsen
Supervising Sound Editors - Donald J. Malouf
and Todd Toon
Sound Effects Editors - Adam Kopald,
Charles W. Ritter and David Kern
Re-Recording Mixers - Terry Porter
and Dean A. Zupancic
Music - Michael Giacchino
Music Supervisor - Lisa Brown


Review
Before the production company, Disney purchased Marvel and its characters. There was a time when the studio created its own original stories of superheroes on the silver screen. The only two successful features that came out during the superhero boom of the 2000s are The Incredibles and, to a lesser extent, SKY HIGH. Although the first film was an animated top dog of the previous year, the other is live-action. It's not as successful as Disney had hoped but is said to be one of the best and most likely underrated features to come out in the spring. After viewing SKY HIGH on Foxtel, I find it has a solid coming-of-age story that spoofed the traditional superhero clichĂ©s and blended well with a large dosage of teen comedy.

The men that were behind Kim Possible had written this filmIt could have been a remarkable series for SKY HIGH if there had been three more chapters as if it had planned to continue the movie's characters in their high school years until graduation. The tongue-in-the-cheek humour fitted appropriately to the film, and the pacing was fresh and watchable. The young actors and actresses did very well in the ensemble cast of teenagers who worked well with Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston. It is good to see Kurt again team up with Disney after his long-running partnership with the multi-billion dollar company.

SKY HIGH is a lighthearted, well-paced high school movie that appeals mainly to adolescents. This movie would be good to re-watch as it has an interesting spin on superheroes from the high school life perspective and mixes this element with engaging action sequences.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

Monday, April 4, 2016

London Has Fallen Review











London Has Fallen


Release Date: 17th March 2016 - Australia


Production Companies
Millennium Pictures (presents)
G-BASE
LHF Film

Distribution 
Roadshow Films


Genre: Action

Rating: MA15+ (Not Suitable for Young Children)

Runtime: 99 minutes


Budget: $60,000,000

Box Office Gross: $205,754,447 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
When the Prime Minister
of England died suddenly
due to mysterious
circumstances, all the
world leaders, including
the President of the United
States, Benjamin Asher,
were called to attend his
funeral in London. What
seems to be a well-
intentioned funeral service
is a plot to assassinate all
the attending world leaders,
as is discovered by Agent
Mike Banning. It's up to
Asher, Banning and an
English MI6 agent to
stop a planned terrorist
attack from their potential
assassination.


Cast
Gerard Butler - Mike Banning
Aaron Eckhart - President Benjamin Asher
Morgan Freeman - VP Trumbull
Alon Moni Aboutboul - Aamir Barkawai
Angela Bassett - Secret Service Director Lynn Jacobs
Robert Forster - General Edward Clegg
Melissa Leo - DS Ruth McMillian
Radha Mitchell - Leah Banning
Charlotte Riley - MI6 Jacquelin Marshall
Jackie Earle Haley - DC
Mason
Sean O'Bryan - NSA Ray
Monroe
Waleed Zuaiter - Kamran
Barkawi
Colm Salmon - Chief Hazard
Patrick Kennedy - MI5 Intel John Lancaster
Bryan Larkin - Davies
Michael Wildman - Agent Voight
Andrew Pleavin - Agent Bronson
Deborah Grant - Doris
Clarkson Guy Williams - Leighton Clarkson
Penny Downie - Rose Kenter
Philip Delancy - Jacques Mainard
Alex Giannini - Antonio Giusti
Nancy Baldwin - Agnes Bruckner
Nigel Whitney - Robert Bowman
Tsuwayuki Saotomw - Tsutomu Nakushima
Shivani Ghai - Amal Mansoor

Crew
Director - Babak Najafi
Based on Characters/Story/
Screenplay - Creighton
Rothenberger and Katrin
Benedikt
Screenplay - Christian
Gudegast and Chad St. John
Executive Producers -
Boaz Davidson, Avi Lerner,
Heidi Jo Markel, Trevor Short,
Zygi Kamasa, Christine Otal and
Guy Avshalom
Co-Executive Producer/Production Business
Affairs - Lonnie Ramati
Producers - Gerard Butler,
Mark Gill, John Thompson, Alan Siegel,
Matt O'Toole and Les Weldon
Co-Producers - Peter Heslop and
Danielle Robinson
Production Designer - Joel Collins
Supervising Art Director: UK - Bill Crutcher
Supervising Art Director: Bulgaria - Kes Bonnet
Art Directors - Caroline Barclay,
Nick Dent and Rebecca Milton
Art Directors: Bulgaria - Emil Gigov
and Ivan Ranghelov
Set Decorator - Richard Roberts
Costume Designer - Stephanie Collie
Director of Photography - Ed Wild
Director of Photography: Second Unit -
Lorenzo Senatore
First Assistant Director - Ben Burt
First Assistant Director: Second Unit -
Gerry Gavigan
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Steve Griffin
Stunt Coordinator: Bulgaria - Diyan Hristov
Fight Choreographer/Stunt Coordinator -
Borislav Iliev
Fight Choreographer - Trayan Milenov-Troy
Special Effects Supervisors - Mark Meddings
and Ivo Jivkov
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor - Sean Farrow
Visual Effects Supervisor: Intelligent
Creatures - Geoff D.E. Scott
Visual Effects Supervisor: UPP - Viktor Muller
Editors - Michael J. Duthie and
Paul Martin Smith
Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer -
Lee Walpole
Sound Designer - Andy Kennedy
Re-Recording Mixers - Chris David and
Stuart Hilliker
Music - Trevor Morris


Review
Comparatively different from the original. LONDON HAS FALLEN rehashed the formula used once in the first movie and managed to do a great job. Since Olympus Has Fallen is now in popular demand, the studio has settled to continue the political drama and thrilling action in the barbarity of this next instalment. It doesn't reach the cinematic heights of the first movie, but it changed the setting to the European shores of Great Britain, so it is nice to see the use of different locations and a change of scenery. It makes you wonder what part of the world will be in the next instalment. It's still crammed with brainless action sequences that continue to have that sort of violence that may concern parents of underage viewers.

Gerard Butler appears in steadfast and good shape and continues the winning streak with another successful Die Hard knockoff. Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman were crucial for the success of this movie, and the new director knew this fact as he convinced them to reprise their roles in this latest sequel.

The rules have changed in LONDON HAS FALLEN, and it still doesn't matter that the movie is repetitive and unoriginal. After all, this is a movie you watch for instant thrills and good popcorn action. It's an enjoyable film to date. If you get the opportunity, you should watch this movie in theatres, and you do not have to have seen the original to understand this movie as it is the same old formula.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie