Snow White and the Huntsman

(Movie, 2012)

I wanted to watch SWatH mainly because of Charlize Theron. She’s one of my favorite actresses not only because she’s stunningly beautiful, but mainly because she’s one hell of an actress. She can be really persuasive when she’s bitchy (watch Young Adult for instance) yet she can also effortlessly obtain your is sympathy if that’s the character she’s playing. And yes, I was not disappointed with her in this movie. I agree with other critics saying this movie should be titled “Queen Ravenna”. Other characters were good, too, like the seven dwarfs. Though Kristen Stewart was “not in her worst” in movie, I cannot say that this is her best performance either. It is just a so-so. She wasn’t convincing especially when she gave that speech to attack the palace. Kristen, please stop that heavy breathing act with your mouth open whenever you’re zoomed in by the camera. You look like you’re having asthma attack. And thumbs down to the writers who tried to focus the “love” story between Snow White and the Huntsman. Next time you do that, please make sure there is chemistry between the two actors.

And by the way, why did they make Chris Hemsworth narrate? I was having goosebumps listening to him… And not in a good way! He sounds like one of those steroid-using individuals, if you know what I mean.  

Casting & Acting:        8.0

Cinematography:       10.0

Overall Production:    10.0

Plot/Story:                 7.0

Rating:                     8.75
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Edit

I had to change my rating on this movie after watching Princess Mononoke. Before, I saw some posts on 9gag and tumblr comparing a scene where Snow White bowed down to a deer-like creature in the forest. Some say that the scene was copied from Princess Mononoke, others say the whole forest was copied from the said movie. I have to agree. Although Princess Mononoke is a cartoon (and in 2D), the whole concept was lifted by SWATH. The small white doll-like creatures in PM were like the cute fairy-like kids in SWATH. In this regard, I have to modify my rating in consideration of originality. 

Casting & Acting:        8.0

Cinematography:       10.0

Overall Production:    8.0

Plot/Story:                 7.0

Rating:                     8.25

Seven Devils & Breath of Life

(Song, 2012)

I first heard Seven Devils in Revenge season finale. When I searched for the song in YouTube, I found out that Seven Devils was also used in Game of Thrones Season 2 trailer. I liked how the song was used in Revenge but I would say (although I haven’t watched GOT yet, but I will soon) it better suited GOT's story line. Moving on, I also found out that the singer/band behind Seven Devils, Florence + The Machine, also sang Breath of Life. Breath of Life is the theme song of Snow White and the Huntsman. This song is so appealing that it made me watch the movie. I will blog about SWatH later. I’ve downloaded F+TM two albums and boy, they are heaven! The songs are worth listening to.

The Happening

(Movie, 2008)

M. Night Shyamalan is one of my favorite directors. I love his previous works e.g Lady in the Water, Sign, and of course one of my all-time favorites, The Village. I have long wanted to watch The Happening but the critical response I read everywhere discouraged me to do so. Tonight I did it. I finally watched The Happening starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. Well, Zooey was pretty good even if I’m not used to watching her in a drama role. Mark, on the other hand, looked like he’s joking all the way to the end of the movie. He looked like he’s mocking. I don’t know, I’m not an expert but he was really awful on this one. He’s been one of my favorite actors since forever but I think this is his worst performance ever. And M. Night, plants?! Really??! It's airborne yet it chooses who to attack? *mind-blown*

Casting & Acting:      5.0

Cinematography:      5.5

Overall Production:   5.5

Plot/Story:               4.0

Rating:                  5.00

The Grey & The Man on a Ledge

I always tell myself to read a book for the past week or so. Today, that didn't happen. Again. Instead, I watched two movies: The Grey and The Man on a Ledge. 

My hard-drive is screaming H-E-L-P for quite some time now. I have to clean it up. Apparently, I have to choose wisely which movies &/or series I have to give up. I already used up all my portable HDs, USBs, and DVDs. So I decided to let go of the movies/series that I can live without watching again. I saved the ones I downloaded myself so I can watch them when I go out of town starting next week. My brother downloaded the two movies mentioned above. First off, The Grey:

(Movie, 2012) I like Liam Neeson. He's a great actor but I never knew what this movie was all about. I never heard about it, I didn't notice any fuzz going about it in Twitterverse or Tumblr. I haven't even watched a trailer of this movie. I'm only aware of this because I have seen this DVD cover almost in every store or stall that sells pirated DVDs. I thought the movie (based on the intensity of Liam's gaze on this photo) was action-packed that involves guns and martial arts just like his other recent notable works. Well, it was about a plane crash and "adventures" of the survivors. I have seen a number of plane crash movies in the past, Needless to say, this will make me more nervous riding a plane again. The actors are good. They are all somewhat veteran when it comes to acting so kudos to the cast. I felt tingly that I wanted to pee everytime they run away from the wolves. If I were in that situation, I would probably cry myself to death having survived the place crash only to be eaten by wolves??!! Come on!!! And ehm, sorry but this has to go to my recycle bin. Although the movie was good, it's not the kind that I'd keep around for repeats.  Casting & Acting:       9.0 Cinematography:        9.0 Overall Production:    8.0 Plot/Story:                7.0 Rating:                   8.25

(Movie, 2012) Man on a Ledge -- I think I saw a trailer of this before. It probably didn't have an impact on me otherwise I'd remember this movie and probably download it myself. Anyway I checked the reviews first before watching, which turns out to be a mistake because it would create some expectations or biases on a person's views. Anyway, the movie was intense. The cast are good-looking (ahem!), so there goes commercialization.It was all good until the last 30-40 minutes where the pacing, the acting, and everything else looks done in a hurry. They appear to suddenly be in a tight deadline or something. The movie suddenly became somewhat dull at the end. Some action scenes were poorly executed. Nevertheless, I decided to keep this movie for awhile. I find it worth replaying probably once.

Casting & Acting:       7.0

Cinematography:       7.0

Overall Production:    7.0

Plot/Story:                6.0

Rating:                    6.75

Mirror Mirror

(Movie, 2012)
Wow, first entry!  Ok, so what should I write about?  Hmmm... Right! The movie I watched last night: Mirror Mirror.

When I first knew about this movie, I checked YouTube for the trailer. Mirror Mirror's trailer was out around the same time Snow White and the Huntsman was also out. Mirror Mirror's trailer in YouTube was flooded with haters. Needless to say, they were Kristen Stewart fanatics. I mean they were obviously Twilight fans as they were mainly comparing Lily Collins and Kristen Stewart as Snow White. I do not understand that behavior as for me, what I find more interesting in the movies are the antagonists Julia Roberts and Charlize Theron. I was thinking, "I will watch these two movies because of Julia and Charlize!" They are already tested acting-wise. I don't understand haters in YouTube why they are bashing Mirror Mirror just because of Lily Collins' eyebrows. How shallow viewers are... I'm not a Lily Collins fan but come on!... She's way "fairer" than Kristen. And the acting, MY GOD!  Kristen's like a talking brick. I neither applaud Lily on her performance but Kristen has been acting since forever. I don't see any improvement since her performance in Panic Room. And besides, these two movies are made in a totally different approach: one is a comedy while the other is a Joan of Arc-ish type.

Enough with the rant about YouTube and Snow White and the Huntsman... Let's talk about the subject, Mirror Mirror.

Julie Roberts as the evil queen was wicked! I love her. She's brilliant, no surprise about that. 

What really surprised me was Armie Hammer's take on his character. He was funny. He can deliver well. I was surprised because all I have of him pictured in my head was as a Winklevoss (Social Network). He proves to be one of the most promising actors of this time (and when I say "promising", I mean talent-wise). I hope he gets the part of Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Or Garrett Hedlund. As long as it is not Taylor Kitsch!

Look at this delectable treat! Hmmmm...

Score?  Let's see...

Casting & Acting:     9.0

Cinematography:      8.0

Overall Production:   8.0

Plot/Story:              7.0

Rating:                   8.00

Note:  At the last 10 minutes of the movie, I was surprised when Snow White suddenly sang and danced. I mean, the movie was not a musical and it had no previous notes on music. The director is Indian so I think he  just made a Bollywood touch in the movie... It was just so sudden for me. The song was cute though!