The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This film review doesn't have a catchy phrase in the title. I'm feeling a bit dubious about my presentation of this film. This film, as most may know, has become famous as halfway through filming it, one of the lead actors, Heath Ledger, was found dead by combination of drugs and alcohol. This was the only thing I knew about this film before going in. That was my motivation for seeing it.
It's about a man, Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) who makes a deal with the devil (the one and only Tom Waits), trading any children he may have for eternal life. He then has a daughter. When she is about the turn 16 the devil comes back and they bet they can each get 5 souls before the other. Parnassus runs an 'Imaginarium'; a place where people see their dreams come true. He has other people working with him and business is not good. The other characters find Tony, hanging by the neck under a bridge. He's not dead and he starts helping.
Heath Ledger didn't finish filming his role as Tony and production ceased temporarily to find a way to finish the film. Terry Gilliam, the director made sure that the film runs well and the plot is not full of holes. For this, Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp play Tony whenever he goes into the Imaginarium.
The film itself is a bit psychedelic for my taste. I found the storyline to be a little confusing at points, especially near the end. Maybe it had to do with the sound, but I am pretty sure that the movie had subtitles as I watched it on the plane.
The movie was visually interesting, outside the Imaginarium everything was dark and dreary, a bit Sweeney Todd-esque. The Imaginarium is colourful in contrast.
I was a little disappointed to be honest, as I had to look online to figure out why certain characters did certain things as the film itself wasn't fully clear.
I was a little depressed that Heath Ledger's last film was this, as his character wasn't as clear to understand.
I would give this film a 7. Mostly for Heath Ledger's performance and Tom Waits' look.

Castle

I have been spending time watching different television series. One such is the excellent detective series Castle.
I found this when looking at some of the things that Nathan Fillion has been working on. He is famous for roles in the television series Two Guys and a Girl and Firefly, and the film Serenity. Being a fan of his work, I thought I would check it out. It as not disappointed me.

This show follows a best-selling author, Richard Castle as he follow Detective Kate Beckett for inspiration in his next novels. What follows is a series of murder cases solved by Beckett's training and problem-solving skills and Castle's out of the box ideas based mostly on mystery novels and the concept of the 'perfect murder'. The show is both humorous and dramatic at times, showing a slightly more realistic view of the crime-solving business (for an example of less realistic; watch CSI).

Castle is a lovable flirt who knows just how to push Beckett's buttons as Beckett attempts to hide the fact that she is a really big fan of his writing.

Kate Beckett is played by the lovely Stana Katic (hadn't heard her either). She's quite a good actress but her character is less interesting than the other characters. Of course she's been damaged and because of this she became a cop. A true Bruce Wayne story. Castle has a daughter of his own, Alex, played by Molly C. Quinn. She is a really sweet character who is often portrayed as the more mature in her family. Also living with them is Castle's mother, the recognisable face of Susan Sullivan who has been on TV since the late '60s.

The show often makes references to the failed show Firefly which makes it more interesting to Browncoats (or Firefly fans). The show is a lot of fun to watch with well placed humour, which doesn't seem to get old.

Overall, I would give this show a 8.5/10 because I am planning to follow it from now on.

The Ox-Bow Incident

I appeared to be under the impression that this film was on the IMDb.com top 250 list, but it wasn't when I checked again today. Maybe Avatar kicked it off.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) is a nice short, get-to-the-point movie. It has a basic storyline: A man in shot by his own farm and his cattle has been stolen. The townsmen go crazy and they form what is turning into a lynch mob. A couple of men try to stop them but the majority is buying their ropes for hanging already. All the men decide to follow the murderers, some to kill them, and some to make sure that justice is served. They catch up with a group of men suspected to be the murderers, seeing as they have the man's cows.
The story unfolds and it turns into a tale of morality. The short screen time and the leading actors, Henry Fonda, remind me of another great movie, kind of like it, Twelve Angry Men. The main character by himself doesn't actually play much of a role, besides disagreeing with the mob and being an observant outsider.
Apparently this film has one of the biggest stage set, as they basically recreated a whole countryside on a stage.
We see the classic marks of a western, cowboys and cattle ranchers, shotguns and cigarettes. It's a perfect Marlboro commercial in the works.
Henry Fonda, again, is a brilliant actor and is not known well enough by the younger generations. He is comparable to the likes of Gregory Peck as being able to play the fatherly-wise characters, and takes many likeable roles, usually where he helps the other characters learn something about their own inadequacies.
Go! Watch!
I would give this film a good 8/10

Whip It

Another Ellen Page film. She's one actress I don't mind watching a lot.
She gives another pretty good performance in this film about a girl joining a roller derby league. Yet again, I had no preconceived ideas about this and it turned out to be a pretty endearing film about a girl trying to discover her identity while struggling with a somewhat overbearing mother with high expectations and a friend who, like the main character herself, is doing anything to get out of small town USA.
It's also Drew Barrymore's directorial début, and it honestly showed her to be better behind the camera than in front of it. Other actors include Matthew Wilson (Owen and Luke's older brother), Jimmy Fallon, Marcia Gay Harden, Eve, Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore herself. This will by now means revive her career, having done nothing worthwhile since Music and Lyrics in 2007 (if that is what one calls worthwhile).
The quirky-indie feels of this movie was interesting. It's based on a book by Shauna Cross, and I have to admit that this roller derby was actually a fun topic, seeing as I had never heard of it before.
Of course it has a mostly happy ending, so that's usually a plus point. I thought Page's character Bliss Cavendar was pretty well worked out and fun.
I liked how her love interest wasn't made as likeable to the audience as he seemed to her. He is reasonably annoying and somewhat self-centred.

Another 7/10 from me for a fun movie that can easily be watched more than once.

If the sun dies, so do we.

I was a little bit edgy about watching Sunshine, the film that tells the story of a crew of people who are on a mission to re-ignite the sun.
Finally I watched it because I knew that Cillian Murphy can give a pretty decent performance and I can't say I was disappointed.
I really don't like the typical Deep Impact - Armageddon types of films because they always end the same; with a bitter sweet taste. Elijah Wood doesn't die, while Bruce Willis does. Wow, sorry to spoil all the fun you would have had watching the inevitable stories. But Sunshine intrigued me because it starts out in space, so the whole dramatic saying goodbye thing never happens.

The story is this: the sun is dying out, so they send a crew of people to restart the sun with a bomb the size of Brooklyn. This is the second mission to go out and try it, because the first failed for inexplicable reasons. They run into the first ship and investigate why they failed. Problems occur causing a few people to die and they pick up an unexpected guest.Can't say more. It's pretty exciting, a bit depressing at parts.

It's a good watch, it's sad, but it doesn't play too much on the heart strings like other directors like to, which is a relief sometimes.
The film has been directed by Britain's very own Danny Boyle, and a great performance is given by Cliff Curtis. Also recognised are Mark Strong and Chris Evans, who give great performances. This movie also has excellent effect shots of namely the sun...

Overall, a 7/10

America's Most Wanted

I watched Public enemies just yesterday while trying to work.
I enjoyed this film for tow main reasons: Christian Bale and Johnny Depp. These are both very talented actors playing the good cop and the good bad guy respectively. This film however, was nothing Oscar-worthy.
I read some of the forums on this and people complained about the quality of the cinematography. I think what people don't understand is that the live quality of the filming was done to make the audience feel like they were in the story, as it becomes more realistic.
I have to admit, I was a little thrown by this when I started watching it because usually only some low-level indies use this type of filming. I think that this made the film stand out to me that the cinematographer would make a choice like that. It seems pretty daring.
Also, some people complained about the use of lighting, that often characters were covered in darkness or that the light was so bright the the camera was blinded. People honestly act as though it was a mistake that people didn't notice until too late. The use of lighting would be what I call 'artistic' and I think that people were expecting more conventional cinematography in this film because of its blockbuster status.
Both the lead characters, Melvin Purvis and John Dillinger, are made to look like heroes, even though they are enemies on opposite teams. Purvis is trying to capture and execute Dillinger, meanwhile both those characters seem like the only ones who put some value on life. They're likeable and endearing in the way they both deal with Dillinger's girlfriend, played by Marion Cotillard.
I guess the characters aren't really well fleshed out, but because of the action in this film, there isn't much time for it.
Overall, I would encourage people to watch this film, but it wasn't a spectacular unconventional movie.
I would give it a 6.5/10, mostly because the acting was good and the whole style was well done.

Mumford in Mumford

"I want you to meet Dr. Mumford" "Mumford, like the town?"
This film has become one of my favourites. Mumford is a film that takes place in small town America, where a new psychologist called Mumford (Loren Dean moves to the town of Mumford where he becomes popular, helps solves many problems in the town and falls in love with a local girl. We meet many different varied characters, including a billionaire played by Jason Lee with a secret of his own.
The reason I love this film is that it is pretty unknown. This is the first time I ever saw Loren Dean, and I quickly fell in love with him. He's a pretty diverse actor, having played a villain in the series "Numb3rs" and usually plays under-noticed characters in films such as Apollo 13, Enemy of the State and a supporting role in Gattaca. He played a recurring role as Bones' endearing brother in Bones.
To me, this film is really just about him. He has been so undervalued. If I made a film I would have him play a main character in it because I would love for him to become more famous...
But oh well...
the film is cute, happy ending et al. We don't really expect anything else. The film is acted by mostly semi-famous actors. Mostly people who are known from something but you can't remember their name.
The film does cover some more serious topics, which sometimes a little bit shocking in the context of this film. This includes dealing with affairs with another person's wife, self-image, obsession with some weak pornography and the past catching up with you.
Anyway, I would give this a 7/10, pretty close to what IMDb gave it.
I would really encourage you to watch it if you want to watch an easy-going film with a feel good ending.