The Change-Up – Movie Review

Posted on August 5, 2011 by GusF

A couple of weeks ago I was one of the lucky people to have gotten a sneak preview of The Change-Up thanks to Klout Perks.

I have to admit I was skeptical about seeing this movie. After seeing the movie trailer I thought this concept was already done to death. Did I need to see another “Freaky Friday” style movie? I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after watching this movie I thought I was stupid for thinking this way.

The Change-Up stars Canada’s own Ryan Reynolds (Mitch) and Jason Bateman (Dave) who play long standing friends who grew up together but are now living completely different lives. Dave is a married man with 3 kids including 2 twins and is up for a partnership promotion at his law firm. Mitch is a free spirited single man who doesn’t hold a job down and is looking for his next big acting gig. Both have that “the grass is always greener on the other side” mentality about each others life that during a night of heavy drinking the two wish that they had each other’s life and thus begins the hilarity.

Directed by (David Dokin) who also directed The Wedding Crashers) and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (who also wrote The Hangover) this R-rated movie earns it’s stars.

If you want to go see a movie where you laugh from beginning to end, go see this movie! It was a great fun movie that I highly recommend it. I think this will be surprise hit of the summer movie run. The movie opens up on August 5, 2011 so get your tickets now!!!

Thor – Movie Review

Posted on May 8, 2011 by GusF

I’ve been a big superhero movie fan. I might not be familiar with the comic books version of superheros, but I’ve always enjoyed them. From DC’s Batman and Superman, to Marvel’s Iron Man, X-Men, Hulk, Spider Man and now Thor.

Thor is one of Marvels more mythical characters in my view. He comes from another world or realm where magic is as natural as science is to us here on Earth. He truly is over the top and rightly so as the God of Thunder.

The movie plays so well and plays like a Shakespearean play and this might be due to Kennith Branagh directing this movie as he is known for his Shakespearean acting or if it’s due to Sir Anthony Hopkins role as Thor’s father Odin.

Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), an arrogant warrior of Asgard, is about to be crowned king when their enemies, the Frost Giants sneak in to try to steal back their ice key. Thor, disobeying his father who is trying to keep the peace, goes to the Frost Giant’s lair to find out why they tried to steal back their key. Being the arrogant warrior that he is, almost looses his live as well as those of his friends. Odin, who is furious with Thor banishes him to Earth where he must live his life as a mortal and hope to find himself, while his brother Loki remains in Asgard.

While on earth, Thor realizes that all his powers are gone and must learn to navigate himself in a true “fish out of water” fashion which brings some great humor in the movie. He befriends a scientist Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) who shows him what true compasion and humility are.

Without getting into more details, this truly is a fun summer action movie to watch. Though the 3D rendering is great through some of the film I found the quick action sequences to be blurry and hard to watch.

If you do end up watching the movie, stay until the end for a nice little easter egg clip which are setting us up nicely for the Avenger’s Movie coming up next year. I think Marvel has done a great job of integrating their characters into the movies and setting the stage for next year.

Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) Begins Tonight

Posted on September 2, 2010 by GusF

Tonight marks the opening of the 8th annual Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) and I will be going the premiere of Los Vajes del Viento (The Wind Journeys) thanks to my winning tickets from Hummingbird604′s VLAFF giveaway.

The synopsis of the film is as follows:

For most of his life, Ignacio Carrillo travelled the villages of northern Colombia playing traditional songs on his accordion – a legendary instrument said to have once belonged to the devil. He eventually married and settled in a small town, leaving the nomadic life behind. But after the traumatic death of his wife, he vows never to play the accursed accordion again, and embarks on one last journey to return the instrument to its rightful owner. On the way, Ignacio is followed by Fermín, a spirited teenager determined to become his apprentice. Tired of loneliness, Ignacio accepts the young man as his pupil and together they traverse the vast Colombian terrain, discovering the musical diversity of Caribbean culture. Hardened by a life of solitude, Ignacio tries to discourage Fermín from following in his footsteps, but destiny has different plans for them.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t watch many foreign films and when I do, they not always Spanish films. That said I always feel great after watching most of them and I always leave refreshed at seeing something new and interesting that isn’t “Hollywood” based.

This sounds like it will be an interesting film and I can’t wait to see it tonight.

The Vancouver Latin American Film Festival runs from September 2nd until the 12th so come out and enjoy some great looking films.

The Revival of the 3D Movie

Posted on July 29, 2008 by GusF

This past weekend, Russ and I went to see “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. This movie was presented in RealD 3D. Now the theatre handed out 3D glasses, but these were not the typical blue and red 3D glasses, but polarized glasses that almost look like sunglasses.

The movie itself wasn’t the greatest, but watching the movie in 3D was a great experience.

I have experienced 3D movies through IMAX 3D before and that was amazing, but to see a 3D movie that is over 1 1/2 hours long and at the movie theatre is a different experience.

With the ability to download movies and people having home theatre systems with 50 inch plus flat screen monitors, the movie experience needed to change and I believe this will help bring back people to the movie theatres.

Based on the RealD’s website:

RealD 3D is the global leader in 3D. We bring you the world’s leading 3D movie experience- RealD Cinema- and provide revolutionary new ways of seeing entertainment. RealD brings the third dimension to life and creates stunning 3D that is as real as the world around us and as mind-blowing as the imaginations of today’s greatest filmmakers.

This is not the 3D of years or decades ago, but a next-generation digital technology – bright, clear images which immerse the viewer in a realistic and powerful experience. In a RealD 3D theater you are seeing unparalleled visuals based upon 3D science used by NASA and others.

Because RealD 3D is digital 3D, it is easy on the eyes and every seat in the house is a great seat. Images not only come straight at you – the depth and clarity of the RealD experience pulls you into the movie.

With RealD 3D, you truly enter a new dimension.

How RealD 3D Works

Some movies that have used the RealD technology in the past have been:

Chicken Little
Monster House
Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas
Beowulf
Hanna Montana
and U2 in 3D

Just recently Cineplex Theatres has signed an agreement with RealD to have more theatres (175 of them) installed with the technology. This will help with some up coming movies, especially the James Cameron – Avatar scheduled to be released in December 2009.

Star Wars – The Clone Wars

Posted on May 12, 2008 by GusF

Just incase you didn’t get enough of Star Wars, a new Star Wars movie is hitting the theaters this summer, August 15th to be precise.

Below is the trailer.

Stranger yet is that it’s a Warner Bros release and not a Twenty Century Fox release. Or am I wrong in what I see?

Movie Review – Casino Royal

Posted on November 21, 2006 by GusF

This weekend thinking it would be another fun filled day of rain, Russ and myself decided on going to the movies. Of course our choice was the new Bond flick Casino Royale.

While waiting in line to get our tickets, we happened to run into Freddie Prince Jr. and his lovely wife Sarah Michelle Gellar (known for her Buffy the Vampire series). It was nice to see stars up here in Vancouver and just hanging out like regular people. It was also funny to note that we ended up sitting in front of them at the show, no this wasn’t planned, it just happened this way.

Well Movie review time.

This to me was a kick ass movie. Daniel Craig does a brilliant job of portraying James Bond. In this movie we see less gadgets and more action. This is the story of how Bond became a Double “O” agent. I don’t want to get into much detail as most of you would probably already know the plot of this movie. It’s just nice to see Bond get beaten up and actually bleed for once. We get to see that there is still some remorse in Bond as he kills. He isn’t as cold hearted. He also blunders which is great to see. All in all a fantastic movie which I would greatly see again.

Spider Man 3 Trailer

Posted on November 10, 2006 by GusF

We will all have to wait until May 4, 2007 for the movie to hit the theatres, but definately looks like it will be interesting. I was hoping to see just “alittle” more of Venom, but I’m sure that will come closer to the release date. I believe another trailer is scheduled for February.

Movie Review – "The Illusionist"

Posted on August 28, 2006 by GusF

So Russ and myself went to the movies on Saturday to watch “The Illusionist”

Now this movie is set in Vienna at the beginning of the 19th Century. Very visual and stunning cenimatography really makes this film. The acting is enjoyable, but for the most part very slow moving. Now I can’t remember the movie critics name, but he said the movie is a combination of the “Usual Suspects”, though one suspect, a love story and a period piece. Definitely has a “oh my gosh” moment at the end, though very predictable I thought.

Ed Norton as Essenhiem could have been better in the roll, but was enjoyable to watch. Jessica Biel as the Prince’s intended Sophie von Teshcen I thought “why is she in this?” She sorta reminds me of Wynona Rider in Dracula. Paul Giamatti was the most enjoyable to watch as the struggling Chief Inspector Uhl followed by the ruthless Rufus Sewell as the crown Prince Leoplad.

I won’t get into more details about the movie as you can find that on its website. Still overall a very enjoyable movie for getting away from the world for 2 hours!

My only concern was they previewed “The Prestige” just before the movie which looks ALOT better than The Illusionist.