Amazing Grace, How SOUR the Sound!

Inspired by the true story of William Wilberforce fighting for the abolition of the slave trade, Amazing Grace has all the makings of a great movie. However, the movie was very disappointing let down by silly jokes and bad acting.

The Plot: The movie seemed to take hours to get into the main story and I couldn't work out what was going on until about 30 minutes into the movie. After that the story really picks up and makes some good social comments about racial equality. Unfortunately, it will just lose too many people who are still left wondering after half the movie has gone.

The Jokes: Amazing Grace attempted some humorous moments, but only a few really seemed to come off. Most of the jokes are far to corny and I didn't hear many of the other people in the Cinema laughing.

The Acting: Very wooden acting without much emotion also lets the film down. The movie should be emotion charged but is let down by the poor acting. It felt like a budget movie at times, not a Hollywood blockbuster.

Pros:
- Moderately thought provoking
- Some funny moments

Cons:
- Took too long to get into the story
- Many corny jokes
- Wooden acting
- Terrible rendition of the song Amazing Grace

Overall Score: 31%

Cars Review

Who doesn't like animated films? Most animated films are loved by both adults and children and make Hollywood stars big bucks. But how does the movie Cars stack up?

The Plot: This movie follows a typical kids story- someone (in this case a car) thinks they are better than everyone else and come to realise that they need others. The ending is typical Hollywood and has a great message for the kids (and adults too!) However the movie just seems to drag on and on and goes nowhere fast. The jokes are just not as funny as Pixar's usual standard. It seems it is just one bad car joke after another! The movie should have been 30 minutes shorter and only the few truly funny jokes kept in the script. Overall, the plot is very average and really quite boring at times!

The Characters: While only cars, the characters are quite believable, with impressive voices from Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt and more. It is just disappointing that the script fails to really flesh out the characters (apart from Lightning McQueen) and under utilizes the two hours it had to bring out more of the characters personality.

The Animation: The animation in this movie is absolutely terrific! The cars look like they have real personality and the movie is very slick. The most impressive thing about this film is the incredible animation, and I often found myself appreciating that rather than listening to the terrible jokes!

My Rating: 45%- I am not surprised that this was beaten in the Academy Awards as the plot is quite poor and only the incredible animation saves the movie. Unless you have young kids I suggest you avoid this movie!

American Dreamz Review

I saw this movie last week and just had to review it, so here goes...

The Plot: This movie sets up anything and anyone in popular culture. From the President of the United States to terrorists nothing in this movie is beyond sending up. Unfortunately, the focus on all these quirky characters means that it takes considerable time to get into the plot. After twenty minutes I was still wondering what was going to happen, although the plot gets easily predictable after that apart from a very unexpected ending. Even with all its flaws, the storyline actually becomes quite engrossing and it is easy to laugh at the sending up of George Bush, American Idol and terrorist training camps. The plot is supposed to be ridiculous and, even though I fell it goes way over the top at times, it generally works. It is one of those stories you are either going to love or hate.

The Music: For a movie sending up American Idol you would think there would be quite a bit of singing. However, you only hear a few songs and none are really that good. This is a disappointing feature of the movie as I would have liked to see more of a send up of the music on American Idol.

The Acting: Hugh Grant is just perfect for the role of the host and Mandy Moore is alright playing his love interest. Dennis Quaid played the perfect send up of George Bush and Sam Glozari does very well playing a terrorist who dreams of more. Overall the acting is well done and some of the more ridiculous plot moments are saved.

Overall: As I said earlier you will either love or hate this movie. If you like satirical comedies then you should love this movie.

Score: 76/100- The story works for me, even if it is a little ridiculous at times.

The Simpsons Movie Review

You'd have to be living under a rock if you haven't heard about The Simpsons! Those little yellow people have been featured everywhere and now, finally, the producers have released a film. But, after the hype of the release of the movie can it live up to the expectations?

The Laughs: The opening joke is classic Simpsons, with Homer calling everyone a "sucker" for paying to watch something that they can watch free on television. From that moment on the jokes keep on coming but the movie starts to drag after about half an hour when the jokes just don't seem to work anymore. It is easy to tell the writers are used to writing only half an hour of jokes at a time. It is a little disappointing that the first half of the film is so funny and innovative but the second half just drags along. Still, you will find yourself laughing often enough for a comedy.

The Plot: The Simpsons is knows for its over the top and sometimes quite ridiculous plots. The movie is no exception. The plot is, in my opinion, far too over the top and focuses only on the Simpsons family with the secondary characters (a normally important feature of a Simpsons episode) only making very short (if any) appearance. In defence of the writers, not everyone who see The Simpsons Movie will be a fan of the show and they probably thought that concentrating almost solely on the Simpsons family. Unforunately, they may have also disappointed die hard fans (like me!) in the process.

Pros:
1. It's the Simpsons in a full length feature (finally)
2. The first half of the movie is very funny

Cons:
1. The movie starts to get boring in the second half
2. The plot is just to ridiculous
3. Die hard fans will be disappointed with not seeing the regular characters for long

My Rating: 58%- Rent it at the video store unless a die hard fan

If you have any comments feel free to post them (open to anyone and everyone!)

First Post

Hello everybody!

I am starting this blog to write reviews about all sorts of movies, whether they be new, old or anywhere in between. Every time I watch a movie I have an urge to review it so here is my chance!

I hope you enjoy my reviews and they help you. If you want to make any comments feel free to!