Movie Buzz : Rango
Mayor: “You see Mr Ringo, people need to believe in something.Pick it up your destiny waits.”
Anyone who knows me would know that I’m a HUGE Johnny Depp fangirl – you won’t be surprised if I said I loved the movie, just because Johnny Depp is involved.
Rango is the story of a lonely chameleon who got separated with its owner and off he entered the desert to become a great asset to the town of Dirt. I would say Rango belongs to more of an adult story rather than a simple animation meant for children. Without a doubt, Johnny Depp delivers almost perfectly that quirky, slightly unstable yet confident personality that is almost natural from him. In fact, I think the voiceovers were very well done, including Jake the Rattlesnake, who is actually Bill Nighy, whom you may recognize as Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Rango: “So you want something to believe in? [points at the "Sheriff" sign] Believe in that there sign. For as long as it hangs there we’ve got hope.”
I thought the story took off on a rather slow pace as it was a pretty good introduction to the characters but personally there were certain details that can be left out for me. One thing about animated films is that the suspense is often lost as the audience usually is able to predict the next scene but I thought Rango built up to the climax pretty well. Fine, I still thought it was predictable but at least it was a satisfying conclusion to the film.
Humor? It is definitely there. The animation looks fantastic and overall, it was a captivating animated film. I could almost see bits of Captain Jack Sparrow somehow, just in a lizard form. As much as I dislike lizards, I would say Rango hit all the notes in the right key.
If you like the whole western cowboy feel and Johnny Depp, you are sure to enjoy the story of Rango. I’ll give it 4/5.
Opening in cinemas on 10th March (TOMORROW!)
Movie Buzz : The Tourist
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Tourist‘ which is a remake of this 2005 French Film ‘Anthony Zimmer‘. It gives me the impression of a reminiscent of an old Hitchcock film with Angelina Jolie with this ‘Audrey Hepburn glow’ – beautiful gowns, elegant looking with not a single hair out of place. Classy but I thought it was ridiculous to have the camera lingering on her for a good 10-15 seconds too long at every other shot. Perhaps Jolie’s fans will appreciate it more.
Johnny Depp stars as maths teacher Frank Tupelo, an American tourist who meets a beautiful British woman, Elise (Angelina Jolie) on a train to Venice and finds himself being pursued by Interpol agent (Paul Bettany) and a badass gangster (Steven Berkoff). Elise is acting under the orders of Alexander Pearce, her mysterious fugitive lover, who instructed her to board the train and pick someone bearing resemblances in order to throw Interpol off. However, as the pair fall unexpectedly in love with each other…..and you get the drift.
Depp is without a doubt the sexy man extraordinaire. Terrific performance despite the fact that this is not his usual eccentric on-screen characters. I love how he can portray subtle emotions across his facial expression, though his character seems to be alil over-infatuated with Angelina Jolie, that makes him look as though he has never seen a woman before in his life. You might observe the peculiar side of him as he runs across the roofs at one of the chase, in his pyjamas. Rather refreshing to see him in his ‘normal’ state I must say (and oh so charming in his suits!)
Top notch actors though I’m actually alil surprised that this film gave them the Golden Globe nods. The secondary characters in the story was well casted too. Beautiful scenery – How to resist the charm of France and Venice ? Gentle romance with elements of humor and intrigue thrown in despite the rather implausible plot and weak script. Satisfying ending that is a pleasant well-written twist (perhaps predictable to some but I loved how it ended).
Not nearly as clever or sexy as I wished it would be but enjoyable. I’ll give it a 4/5 since I’m biased and that extra +1 is for Johnny Depp solely. (Why would I say no to watching 103 minutes of Johnny Depp?!) Win-win situation if you’re a fan of Johnny Depp like me or in love with the views of France/Venice. Guilty Pleasures - Just don’t expect too much from this underwhelmed blockbuster.
Movie Buzz : The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
Let’s put it this way, Terry Gilliam isn’t the most coherent story-teller and is the kind of director whom you either love or hate. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is either utter rubbish or rather epic for movie-goers. Unlike the boyfriend, I’ll choose the latter. Almost like how things just don’t make sense at first but evolves into a somewhat fantastic, abstract, and amazing imagery. I feel that the film was rather ‘Hitchcockian’ as well and quite similar to how he directed 12 Monkeys. (Which is not a compliment IMHO)
So the story follows Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his traveling theater troupe, which includes Anton (Andrew Garfield), Percy (Verne Troyer) and his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) as they try to show people the enlightenment within life – through a mirror which brings u to the imaginarium that’s some sort of dreamland where your wildest fantasy are realized. Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) aka the Devil, on the other hand, allows people to get quick gratification they desire. So at a certain point the person in the imaginarium will be given a choice of easy temptation or harder road to enlightenment.
Obviously if you choose the former, your soul will end up with the Satan, while the latter will return and be happy. I will not spoil the rest of the story but Tony (Heath Ledger) was rescued by the troupe and the story progresses from there.
While most people won’t embrace the fantastical,the scenes inside the imaginarium were pretty awesome with the (hand-drawn?) CGI. I thought the usage of CGI environments were pretty well-blended into the story. However,the way how Tony as a character morphing into Johnny Depp/Jude Law/Colin Farrell was just too convoluted and forced. Perhaps Ledger’s death affected the ‘original presentation’ but it felt really incomplete. On a side note, I’m not sure if it’s just me or the dialogues were rather muffled. Perhaps it’s post-production but it was a struggle to understand the actors at times.
There were just way too much set-up to absorb and it was like the movie will never get going ! Just like how your naggy old dad is telling you a story and keeps on interrupting himself with random things, that’s how the movie started. The plot just won’t start rolling and it took me awhile to understand (I won’t even dare to say fully understood) the movie. I’m quite sure the impatient movie-goers would have walked out of the theatre before the story actually start flowing. (You should see how the grumpy boyfriend was frowning at the end of the movie.HAHA!)
I was quite disturbed when I see Doctor Parnassus romancing his daughter, Valentina, or rather her mother who was played by the same actress. It was almost like incestuous ! But Lily Cole is really gorgeous in a special way. Percy”s one-liners cracked me up during the film but overall, I didn’t think any characters actually stood out but great acting nonetheless. I don’t think I’m bias to say that Johnny Depp was brilliant even though it was just a short appearance. In fact, it was only at that point where I understood the story better ! Sadly Ledger didn’t get to act in those imaginarium scenes, would be fantastic to see a quirky side of him.
To keep it short and simple – Watch it if you’re a Ledger’s fan, it’s his last performance afterall. Watch it if you’re Johnny Depp fan. Watch it if you like bizzare stuff. Watch it if you’re a deep thinker (especially if like me, you can relate it to the bible/religion etc). Watch it if you like detailed settings and wardrobe. Watch it if you’re patient enough to stay through the movie. Else don’t bother. Not the usual Hollywood film that movie-goers would enjoy ! I’ll give it a 3.5/5 personally !
source : flixster
I tweet.I blog.I tell my story.
Social network being a very potent force in communication, I think the only way to continue being anoymous is not to get involved in the first place. With all the various platforms, it was certainly overwhelming when I first started. However, being on these social media platforms really allowed me to engage in (almost) real-time learning opportunities and a chance for networking. Not a single bit of regret !
There are times when my parents would ask who on earth will read my blog or follow my tweets. I asked myself the same questions and came to a conclusion. In this sea of information, people (including myself when it comes to choosing who to follow) are looking for 3 main things within the content :
Entertainment
People likes to be entertained – be it youtube videos, music, comics, funny sites that can help to keep their days easier to get by. I certainly hope and prefers to fall under this category, to be a provider of entertainment value. That probably explains why I really enjoy looking for my AOTW features and sharing them with the rest of the world. Getting positive feedback and exchanging words with the various (wonderful) artists really kept me going.
Information and Opinions
I love to follow people who can provide me with great articles that feed me with facts and trivia. I think I’m quite an information junkie, I like having data and interesting insight to keep my mind active. Twitter/Plurk, in specific, is like a social community which allows users to interact and seek for assistance when you need to do some problem-solving. It is much quicker to sift through responses and source for what you exactly need. For example, I tweet and ask my followers to recommend a dining place instead of searching all over google for various reviews. Not forgetting, that’s how I usually get my latest soccer match updates via twitter too ! (Go #MUFC!)
Personal Touch
I have read in a couple of articles that recommended online presence should be professional aka ‘no-nonsense’. I beg to differ, I think my online presence should also give people a sense that they actually know me. It is all the ‘insignificant things’ that defines me to how others view me as. Maybe it is not important to anyone whether ‘I really love Glee’ and thinks ‘Johnny Depp is the most gorgeous man on earth’ or ‘prefers my steak to be medium rare’ – But I think being myself is what draws people to listen or draws them to my ‘social circle’ because they either can identify with you or like you for being you !
At the end of the day, with each virtual update, I am sharing my life story with someone else – almost like an 140 character autobiography each time. Therfore, I take it like a step in developing a relationship or a connection with my readers/followers. Hopefully to widen my social circle with like-minded people who shares my interest or opens up the door to other exciting opportunities in the future.
