tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19297894136733313242024-03-08T02:08:10.701-08:00Movies IllustratedReviews and news on upcoming films and moviesmoviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-38821848139978243922007-04-30T11:20:00.000-07:002007-04-30T11:21:43.519-07:00Trailers and more trailers<center> <img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/pirates3.jpg"/> </center><br /><br />So we have all the summer fun and excitement to look forward too with some seriously big movies being turned out for this summer. First up that we cant not mention is Spider man 3. I saw the trailer on the big screen the other week and i really didn't even think i would like it, but i tell you its a great trailer, it really sucks you in even if your a unwilling victim. Everything you need to know about Spider man 3 is already out there so im not going to go into any real depth except to say that if you haven't seen the trailer yet, then you really should.<br /><br />Next up is Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End, now i know Pirates 2 had a lot to live up to and it had too much cgi going on, but cm on it was pure entertainment once you got over the slow 20 minutes or so at the start. Really good fun with some likeable character and some seriously good action and slapstick scenes the like of which you don't see that often, definitely not on this scale. So the 3rd Pirates is gearing up and it going to be opening on May the 25th. <br /><br />Oceans 13 is another upcoming movie with a solid trailer, i've spoke about it enough here already so ill keep this one short. <br /><br />Evan almighty is the unlikely sequel to Bruce Almighty, who would have though that movie would get a sequel. Steve Carell place Evan with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as god, what a role!<br /><br />Disney and Pixar are at it again with Ratatouille, yes i know hard to say and even harder to spell. Featuring some stunning animation as we have come to expect lets home the laughs and slapstick moments are up there with solid animation movies like Ice age and its sequel.<br /><br />All the links are below and take you to the relevant Apple site<br /><br /><center> <img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/rata1.jpg"/> </center><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/spider-man_3/">Spider man 3 - trailer link here</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/piratesofthecaribbeanatworldsend/">Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End - trailer link here</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/oceans13/">Oceans 13 - trailer link here</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/evanalmighty/hd/">Evan Almighy - trailer link here</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/ratatouille/">Ratatouille - trailer link here</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-39054383732244738872007-04-23T11:59:00.001-07:002007-04-23T11:59:58.969-07:00Review - Severance<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/severance2.jpg"/><br /><br />Team building weekends away get a nice little promotion with the British movie Severance. We follow the trails of a team from a government weapons company who take a nice European vacation to a woodland lodge retreat. On the way to the lodge the coach driver stops as the road is blocked here we see the team dynamics come into play as the crew bicker and argue leaving them to find their own way to their team building accommodation.<br /><br />Severance calls on some cliché horror shocker moments and is played out with a strange balance between realistic and spoof situations and acting, this is my opinion is where it falls down. There are some nice moments in severance with some characters that are easy to identify with and this is one of its strongest points. However some of the characters aren’t explained enough and well most of the action is really about the shock and the suspense.<br /><br />Its a British film so I don’t want to rain on it too much, but I cant be too biased, its an average movie at the end of the day, not up there with serious shockers like The Descent or at the top of the pile with full out spoofs like Shaun of the dead, and like I mentioned earlier some scenes don’t play right the tone isn’t quite consistent enough to really get the movie. <br /><br />Overall as a bit of light entertainment with some laughs and a bit of gore thrown in for good measure severance dishes up an overly long but not a painful piece of slightly confused comedy horror.<br /><br /><center> <img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/severance1.jpg"/> </center><br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/2stars.jpg"/>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-12500456937486573252007-04-09T02:08:00.000-07:002007-04-09T02:09:25.687-07:00Oceans 13 Trailers & Teasers<center><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/oceans13new1.jpg" /></center><br />Oceans 13 release date is getting closer and the trailer gives us some hints and teasers to the story. Based once again in Las Vegas hopefully this will be a superior sequel than Oceans 12, which was an average movie and not quite up to par compared to the superb original film.<br /><br />Danny Ocean and the 11's crew are back with some new cast members, Benedict is on side this time as the gang work at hustling Al Pacino's character. This time round the motivation is revenge rather than money, Reuben (Elliot Gould) goes in a partnership with Willy Banks (Al Pacino) but ends up forced out of the deal and in hospital after suffering a heart attack. Danny Ocean gives Willy Banks a chance to let Reuben back in on the deal but is dismissed.<br /><br />Steven Soderbergh is back directing and the movie is due out on June 8th 2007 & the trailer is out now and looking sharp and available in a variety of formats and quality, take your pick.<br /><br /><a href="http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/oceansthirteen.html;_ylt=AnaSUMX.2lvRHFBY6AtUNwdfVXcA">Link to the yahoo trailer & teaser page<br /></a><br />Source - wikipedia.orgmoviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-35548011553776528682007-04-03T12:58:00.000-07:002007-04-09T02:12:32.742-07:00News - Daywatch dubbed and due to land<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/daywatch1.jpg" /><br /><br />The long overdue english language version of Daywatch is due out soon. For those not in the know its the sequel to Nightwatch or Nochnoy dozor, the highest grossing Russian movie ever, and with good reason too, its a pretty solid inventive movie that will appeal to vampire fans sci fi and fantasy fans. In its favour it has flair, style and good acting with a whole heaping of weird and the occult thrown in for good mearsure. Its loosly based of the novel of the same name, just like the first movie was, a final movie is also due to be made in 2007.<br /><br />Daywatch is well worth checking out when it lands on US and UK shores, of course though make sure you have already seen the origional movie Nightwatch otherwise you may well struggle to keep up with the characters and the story.<br /><br />I hope the poster and promotional material is as solid and strong graphically as the origional material was. Daywatch is out in the US around the 1st of June and later around November time in the UK.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/daywatch/hd/">Link to the Daywatch trailer at Apple</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-46921653228767365722007-03-29T15:04:00.000-07:002007-03-29T15:09:13.457-07:00Review - Smokin Aces<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/smokingaces.jpg"/><br /><br />Smokin Aces, I always type it Smoking Aces, but it’s definitely Smokin. There is actually a lot of smoke in this movie, guns too, but the Aces come from the man who everyone wants, Buddy 'Aces' Israel. Everyone from hit men to the FBI want to get hold of this Las Vegas showman turned gangers snitch, but who will get to him first. The Main characters are the FBI who needs to get their man to prosecute various mobsters involved in various dodgy deals, the supporting cast as the various hit men, assassins and hired crazy killers who want to get their hands on Buddy for the Price on his head from his enemies.<br /><br />Gunshots, Complex interwoven storylines, character mythology are all forced upon us some are done more smoothly than others. The story is very complex and its not shown in a visual fashion its often monologues or voice over where an incredible amount of information is packed in. The director Joe Carnahan is obviously a big fan of Guy Ritchie’s as his movie takes many cues from Snatch and Lock Stock & Two smoking barrels. The characters are introduced in similar fashion with appropriately stylistic font types displaying it on screen, you also have the merging storylines, the conflict of interests and the hip and funky soundtrack. <br /><br />It doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of the previous mentioned Guy Ritchie movies though, it’s not as well paced, and the story is often forced down the throat rather than slowly poured. Not many of the characters are really likeable, only Alicia Keys's character, Ryan Reynolds character and his partner played by Ray Liotta make us show any real interest. Andy Garcia also plays a cop in this movie but because of the setting and the music I kept thinking he was playing his character in the Oceans movie, maybe that was just me. The second problem with the movie is that it doesn’t quite know what to be, some of its ideas are obviously larger than life and caricatures, but at the same time is also tries to be a straight up story too with the FBI angle, especially going into he last quarter of the movie.<br /><br />So to sum up if you loved lock stock and snatch liked the high jinks and settings of Oceans 11 you might get a kick out of this, if you like cop dramas maybe also for you. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/2stars.jpg"/>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-26462625600133147552007-03-20T12:30:00.000-07:002007-03-20T12:31:36.260-07:00More Evil in residence<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/extinction1.jpg" /><br /><br />The upcoming Resident Evil trilogy closing movie keeps catching my eye, and this trailer certainly did, with a quick nod to Planet of the Apes, we get to see Milla Jovonovich jumping, kicking and as captured above generally being a badass zombie killer who is followed everywhere by flames.<br /><br />The new trailer is best watched over at the Apple site where you can choose your quicktime quality, its far superior to the trailer on the official site so go take a look.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/residentevilextinction/">Link to the Resident Evil Extinction trailer at apple.com<br /></a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-78539049266025617802007-03-19T12:37:00.002-07:002007-03-19T12:39:24.535-07:00Review - The Marine<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/marine.jpg"/><br /><br />The Marine, it’s a pretty simple title for a movie and it’s a pretty simple movie, Marine fights for his country does a rescue mission with no authority and gets honourably discharched from the military as a reward. The Marine then arrives back home where his wife decides they should take a road trip after fitting back into society isn’t proving easy for said marine. Bad move they get caught up in something they shouldn’t have, involving a gang of robbers.<br /><br />The Movie stars John Cena as the Marine, Kelly Carlson as his foxy wife and the only recognizable face I knew which was Robert Patrick as the leader of the robbers, Rome. The gang of criminals led by Rome has knocked over a diamond store and had a stash of goodies. The basic plot and its execution reminded me of some early Schwarzenegger movies, it’s quite cheesy in points but somewhat entertaining with it. I wished at a few points though that there was more substance during the movie or at least better dialogue between the characters. As a movie it took itself a little too seriously and the comic relief wasn’t quite up to par for a movie that would have benefited from some nice one liners, or some funnier sidekicks.<br /><br />In comparisons to some of the larger movies recently doing this kind of action it’s not quite up to par, the current alternatives are much more imaginative, better produced and with superior acting. One for the die hard action movie fans only.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/1point5stars.jpg"/><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/the+marine" rel="tag">the marine</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-64303676284027233822007-03-12T10:12:00.001-07:002007-03-12T10:12:59.694-07:00Review - Babel<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/babel1.jpg"/><br /><br />Babel is a strange movie, it doesnt follow the typical hollywood movie style, it does have some shocking moments and it does seem very realistic. However it also walks the line of being shocking for the sake of being shocking and also taking itself to seriously at points. However the music and use of sound is excellent and it does manage to help define the various stories.<br /><br />We have no one star in the film but the ones you will recognize are Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. the rest of the actors are unknowns to me but everyone is great in the movie i do mean that there are some good performances. With a mix of good performances and some tense and gripping scenes you are often glued to the screen very immersed in what is going on. This is possibly what didnt quite gel for me about the movie it was hard to jump from one story to another, when you had been immersed in one there was a period of readjustment and this broke the movie up for me, which is the reason im only giving it an average score. <br /><br />Babel is a movie that could have quite easily slipped under the radar completely were it not for the award nominations its received, and its two well known stars. I have really struggled to decide whether or not i like this movie, and my conclusion is i think i do! Babel has made me think if only to wonder whether i enjoyed it or not, or trying to remember which parts i liked, it definately made me think though.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/2stars.jpg"/><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/babel" rel="tag">babel</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-14494990163008352242007-03-08T13:51:00.000-08:002007-03-08T13:52:02.485-08:00Review - The Devil Wears Prada<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/prada.jpg"/><br /><br />The Devil Wears Prada is not the kind of movie i would normally watch, Running at a time of 109 minutes its not to long and its not to short. If you've ever worked with a complete maniac boss before you will feel some empathy for the lead character Andy Sachs played by Anne Hathaway. The devil in the title is played by Meryl Streep and she does play it well in the right tone for the movie. The Film itself is set as you should be able to tell from the title in the cutthroat world of fashion where the women are bitches and the men are bitchier meoww!<br /><br />so in The Devil Wears Prada we follow Anne Hathaway who is trying to get by in a job in the fashion industry with aspirations of becoming a writer, this job is a just a temporary fix but it soon becomes more encompassing as she gets drawn in. Soon she notices that the more she hangs out with these people that she intially disliked, the more she starts to become like them and her friends recognize too, enter tempation money and glamour. This is the major force of the story, with a whole load of other sub elements thrown in, sure its a nicely put together movie that actually reminded me of movies from decades gone by. <br /><br />So The Devil Wears Prada isnt a bad movie, alas it has no car chases and no fight scenes but its not a total washout, Meryl Streep got an oscar nomination for it and the movie itself has racked up 23 award nominations in total and the acting was fairly solid and likeable throughout, personally though i still found it wasnt quite up my street.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/2point5stars.jpg"/><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/devil+wears+prada" rel="tag">devil wears prada</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-55351207381162737492007-03-06T11:58:00.000-08:002007-03-06T11:59:22.346-08:00News - 28 Weeks Nearer<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/28weeks2.jpg"/><br /><br />Fox Atomic has a new 28 Weeks later clip up on their website. It’s mostly pre production footage but still gives you a nice little glimpse into what we might be getting soon. 28 Weeks later has a release date of the 11th May, it’s really not that far off launching. As mentioned before the same creative team is behind this movie with Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and Andrew Macdonald, with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directing. The story this time centres around the clean up process by the US Army where they are attempting to get things back to more normality, however there are still infected and one starts the Rage virus spreading again expect some running and probably a lot of screaming.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.foxatomic.com/#movie:TitleId=7">Fox Atomic Page with Video link</a><br /><br />Source - Foxatomic<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/28+weeks+later" rel="tag">28 weeks later</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/danny+boyle" rel="tag">danny boyle</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-40844249936366244172007-03-04T08:35:00.000-08:002007-03-04T08:36:08.544-08:00News - More Resident Evil Extinction<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/residentevil3.jpg"/><br /><br />Resident Evil : Extinction now has its own trailer site with suitably annoying desert sound effects. This is the 3rd and final Resident Evil movie in what has been a successful series. Milla Jovonovich is back reprising her role as Alice, this time she has super human crazy person powers because of the biogenic testing that the Umbrella Corporation has been doing on her. <br /><br />The Movie picks up 4 years after Apocalypse where the Virus is still breaking out and survivors are forced to travel in armoured convoys. There are new and old characters in the movie Chris and Carlos are back, with Ashanti playing one of the new characters humourously titled Nurse Betty. <br /><br />Filmed in mexico for the desert scenes, Resident Evil : Extinction isn't due for release until September 2007.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pagename.com">Link to the Resident Evil : Extinction site.</a><br /><br />source - sonypictures and wikipedia<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/resident+evil" rel="tag">resident evil</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/film" rel="tag">film</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/resident+evil+extinction" rel="tag">resident+evil+extinction</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-79682646039930577142007-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:002007-03-01T12:33:09.499-08:00Rewind - For a Few Dollars More<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/rewindfewdollarsmore.jpg"/><br /><br />Part of the Fistful of Dollars trilogy, for a Few Dollars more is a classic spaghetti western movie. You've got to love a character who actually has no name and who plays that character? Yes Clint Eastwood does and all by speaking as few words as humanly possible. It's the second move in the trilogy and as such you don’t have all the characters yet that are revealed in finale The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. You only have the good played by Clint eastwood, and the bad Eagle eyes played by Lee Van Cleef. <br /><br />The story is based on these two bounty hunters who end up after one paycheque, this results in a standoff, a scuffle and a lightweight partnership between the two to catch the criminals involved and make the biggest pay day of their lives. It’s directed by the legendary Sergio leone who only ever made a handful of movie and it features an Ennico Morricone musical score. Your eyes and your ears are in for a stylish treat. For a few dollars more is a slow paced movie that takes its time introducing its characters and how the story is going to unfold, all the while though it’s very gripping thanks to the interesting camera shots, short and abrupt dialogue and excellent music. <br /><br />If you haven’t seen any of the Fistful of Dollar movies you might be put off by the age of the movie or the quality of the footage and sound effects which aren’t quite up to today’s standards. But this doesn’t stop the movie being highly entertaining and the style has influenced all kinds of modern time directors which is testament to how strong a film this was and still is. Well worth adding to your movie collection or staying up late to watch if you see it on TV even if you dont like western movies. <br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sergio+leone" rel="tag">sergio leone</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/for+a+few+dollars+more" rel="tag">for a few dollars more</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-90206721920241602092007-02-27T10:42:00.000-08:002007-02-27T10:43:05.684-08:00Review - The Wicker Man<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/wickerman.jpg" /><br /><br />The original Wicker Man movie starring Edward Woodwood is a cult classic, so i was excited when i heard a remake was being made. The Wicker Man remake is vastly changed from the original obviously its been brought a little more up to date and the star this time is Nicholas Cage playing officer Edward Malus. The basic story line follows Nicholas Cage's character who after failing to save a girl and her mother he gets depressed and haunted, out of the blue a letter from an old girlfriend arrives asking for his help to find her missing daughter. This prompts him to travel to the island where the letter came from to help his ex girlfriend, however the island is very remote and private, and when he arrives the locals seem rather odd and unwilling to help him track down the missing girl. <br /><br />So the locals are having bad harvests and their supply of honey has not been good, they blame someone and they will need to amend things in the only way they know how. The leads Ed off on many wild goose chases and misdirection are flying all around, missing photos and strange going ons all lead to the confusion.<br /><br />Its a pretty strange remake of the story while it does hold some similarities on its own this movie isn't very good, Nic Cage seems to laid back about the whole thing and doesn't really convince as a man who is being pushed around a lot. i found it quite uncomfortable to watch although having seen the original i knew that it wasn't going to be a pretty ending. Be afraid of the bees, do yourself a favour and watch the far more impressive origional movie.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/1star.jpg" /><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/the+wicker+man " rel="tag">the wicker man </a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-22369268623152641912007-02-26T11:27:00.000-08:002007-02-26T11:28:18.458-08:00News - The Oscars 2007<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/oscar.jpg" /><br /><br />So this is the big one of the award ceremonies, the Oscars, and this is the 79th in 2007. The Oscars if its on tv in the UK is shown as some ridiculous hour in the morning, and if you have work to do on Monday its not easy to stay up to watch, so i didn't get to see it, but a quick look at the news this morning helped me to catch up. Lets start off with the list of who won what.<br /><br />Actor in a Supporting Role - Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine<br /><br />Visual Effects - Pirates 2<br /><br />Animated Feature - Happy Feet<br /><br />Short Film(Live Action) - West Bank Story<br /><br />Short Film(Animated) - The Danish Poet<br /><br />Costume Design - Marie Antoinette<br /><br />Make-up - Pan's Labyrinth<br /><br />Actress in a supporting role - Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls<br /><br />Documentary Short Subject - The Blood of Yingzhou District<br /><br />Documentary Feature - An inconvenient Truth<br /><br />Art Direction - Pan's Labyrinth<br /><br />Music(Score) - Babel<br /><br />Sound Mixing - Dreamgirls<br /><br />Music(Song) - An inconvenient Truth<br /><br />Sound Editing - Letters from Iwo Jima<br /><br />Foreign Language Film - The Lives of Others<br /><br />Film Editing - The Departed<br /><br />Actor in a leading role - Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland<br /><br />Cinematography - Pan's Labyrinth<br /><br />Actress in a leading role - Helen Mirren for The Queen<br /><br />Writing(adapted screenplay) - The Departed<br /><br />Writing(Original Screenplay) - Little Miss Sunshine<br /><br />Directing - The Departed<br /><br />Best Picture - The Departed<br /><br />Honorary Oscar - Ennio Morricone<br /><br /><br />First off all i'm glad that Martin Scorsese won best director, out of all of the nominated movies its the one im most eager to see and will do this week i expect time permitting. Babel won best musical score and admittedly i watched this recently and though at the time what a good soundtrack this is, wasn't 100% about the rest of the movie but the sound was done in a A+ fashion. Nice to see Pan's Labyrinth win best art direction i haven't seen this yet but from all the pictures, trailers and clips it looks gorgeous, and Del Toro's previous films have all been good lookers.<br /><br />Ah special effects, brilliant when used and you don't even notice them, rather bad and annoying when they detract from the immersive nature that runs in all the best movies. So why did pirates of the Caribbean win, it must purely be on technical merit because although it was rather impressive it was too much for my liking. Finally best actor and actress awards both went to the people who were hyped to win weeks ago, now im wishing i put a few bets on even though the odds were terrible.<br /><br />That's it for another year with the Oscars, i have only touched the surface though if you do want more Oscar related news, clips and reading material then head over to the official website the link is below.<br /><br /><a href="http://oscar.com/">The Official Oscar hompage link </a><br /><br />Source oscar.com<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/oscars+2007" rel="tag">oscars 2007</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/oscars" rel="tag">oscars</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-38974466014512935412007-02-23T09:46:00.001-08:002007-02-23T09:46:57.668-08:00News - More Grindhouse details<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/grindhouse1.jpg" /><br /><br />More of the double bill B movie frenzy from two cool directors Rodriquez and Tarantino, yes its Grindhouse. So sticking to form we have Tarantino using well known actors who haven’t had the best run of luck lately, and im sure were going to have some fast pacing and some styles tunes from both movies.<br /><br />Well the webpage is jam packed with lots of little touches that will keep you entertained for a short while, quite short actually im not a big fan of most movie site styles. Personally I prefer to see my content straight off easily accessible, with a choice of more eye candy if I deem it necessary! There are some tasty wallpapers there though which I spoke about a while ago, go take a look and make your desktop more B movie 'ish.<br /><br />Here's some of the official spiel out there -<br /><br />Planet Terror<br />'In Planet Terror, married doctors William and Dakota Block find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by gangrenous sores and a suspiciously vacant look in their eyes. Among the wounded is Cherry, A Go dancer whose leg was ripped from her body during a roadside attack. Wray her former significant other, is at her side and watching her back. Cherry may be down but she hasn’t danced her last number. AS the invalids quickly become enraged aggressors, Cherry and Wray lead a team of accidental warriors into the night, hurtling towards a destiny that will leave millions infected, countless dead and a lucky few struggling to find the last safe corner of Planet Terror<br /><br />Death Proof<br />'For Austin's Hottest DJ, Jungle Julia, dusk offers an opportunity to unwind with two of her closest friends, Shane and Arlene. This three fox posse sets out into the night, turning heads from guiro’s to the Texas Chilli Parlour. Not all the Attention is innocent: Covertly tracking their moves is a stuntman Mike, a scarred weathered rebel who leers from behind the wheel of his muscle car. As the girls settle into their beers, Mike's weapon, a white hot juggernaut, revs just feet away...'<br /><br />Sounds spooky right well I should let you know a teaser trailer is available on the site which is full of style and cheesy voiceovers don’t let that distract you though its all pre meditated in the name of style.<br /><br />Grindhouse is available April the 6th everywhere get excited, because I am.<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/grindhouse" rel="tag">grindhouse</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/quentin+tarantino" rel="tag">quentin tarantino</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-90744601073542244582007-02-20T11:40:00.001-08:002007-02-27T10:52:58.389-08:00Review - Children of Men<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/childrenofmen.jpg" /><br /><br />Children of Men completely crept up on me, a really interesting idea and story. With some solid visuals, good cast and characters and sets. The story in Children of Men is based in the future and follows the character of name name played by Clive Owen as he tries to do what he feels is right. This would be a much more ordinary story, if the future was not childless where the youngest person is 30 something, and humans are infertile and unable to have children. So Freedom fighter Julianne Moore who plays Julian Taylor ropes in her ex husband name to help her transport name the only known pregnant woman in the world the potential future of the world.<br /><br />Children of Men has Strong visuals hint at the future as a rather bleak dirty place where hope seems to been lost without children. Snappy direction and storytelling keeps things moving a nice pace and in some scenes everything antes up to some really jarring scenes that at the time seem very belieable and well acted. There are some subtle touches to scenes that probably could have stood up without them but these nice little touches make the scenes fizzle and crack, seeming more alive.<br /><br />The casting is overall very good here, Clive Owen is great as Theo Faron, Julianne Moore plays the strong willed woman she often does to a tee and Claire-Hope Ashitey playing the pregnant Kee is sharp and witty when neccessary. Good support from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Micheal Cane. Summing it up didnt see much wrong with this movie i liked the idea, the style, the way the future was depicted, the occasional use of iconic images, the characters and the pace of the movie.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/4stars.jpg"/><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/children+of+men" rel="tag">children of men</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/clive+owen" rel="tag">clive owen</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-87323753697306539442007-02-19T10:44:00.000-08:002007-02-20T11:39:49.031-08:00Rewind - Pitch Black<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/rewindpitchblack.jpg" /><br /><br />Pitch Black turned up out of the blue in 2000 with one of the best trailers i've seen to date. It was minimal, visually stark and left you wanting more and wanting to know what happened to the alcohol fuelled flame blowing man as he was surrounded in the darkness.<br /><br />Pitch Black follows the story of a passenger space vessel that is carrying a variety of passengers from traders and collectors to criminals and bounty hunters. When the vessel loses its flight path its spirals and crashes on a strange planet where things are exactly what they seem to be. The film was the launching vehicle for Vin deissel playing a great anti hero character Riddick. Name name is the eye candy who plays the vessels pilot who wises up to the situation she finds herself in,. Cole Hauser plays Johns the bounty hunter. These 3 characters form the main trio and they are a good match, they all bounce well off each other are believable and the acting is above par in what is essentially a b style movie. The rest of the supporting actors play their roles as expected you have a holy man and a typically English gent who collects art and antiques and wine.<br /><br />Sure it takes ideas from other movies and the low budget shows at certain points, but what you do get is an interesting character driven film that explores some basic ideas and loyalties which and aslo you get a strange alien planet, an eclipse and some interesting ideas. If you like science fiction movies you'll more than likely find this enjoyable and its a far better movie than its sequel.<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/pitch+black" rel="tag">pitch black</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-27159094912663033892007-02-15T13:51:00.000-08:002007-02-15T13:52:03.513-08:00News - Hot Fuzz everywhere<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/hotfuzz.jpg" /><br /><br />Hot Fuzz is everywhere at the moment, on the tv, in the news and getting rewiewed. Yes it’s been a short time coming round between the time I first heard about this movie, and its actual release date, that makes a nice change. The official Hot Fuzz site has some clips and trailers on there for you to take a look at involving fence jumping and other shenanigans. Reviews are surfacing now and the general consensus is that Hot Fuzz is as good as the expectations for it. After Spaced and Shaun of the Dead I do have high expectations myself. We will have a full review in due time.<br /><br />The BBC website has some official clips and interviews over there go take a look the link is posted below.<br /><br />Link to the BBC Hot Fuzz video and site.<br /><br />Source bbc.co.uk<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/hot+fuzz" rel="tag">hot fuzz</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/simon+pegg" rel="tag">simon pegg</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-32323973494830228332007-02-12T11:21:00.001-08:002007-02-12T11:23:09.347-08:00News - Bafta Film Awards 2007<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/bafta20071.jpg"/><br /><br />So once again the Bafta Film awards are hosted by Jonathon Ross, the Bafta awards are always interesting to watch, partly to see what outrageous things are said by the host and also who walks away with the winning statues. I watched the show last night and tried to write this while i was watching, I have missed a couple of categories out, but the post below this one has the full list of winners from this years Bafta Awards<br /><br />First up was the award for the oustanding British movie of the year, won by The Last King of Scotland, still haven't had chance to watch this movie so I’m even more excited now. Next up was the Rising star award and this was won by Eva green, with some strong competition in a tough category. Pans Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro won for best film not in the english language, another one I haven’t seen yet, I see a theme emerging here. <br /><br />The winner of Best cinematography was won by Children of Men, Emmanuelle lubeski and richly deserved too it had a strong consistent theme with some great backdrops. I’ve got a review coming in on this someone this week if you haven’t already watched it.<br /><br />Best supporting actress Bafta went to Dreamgirls and former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson. Best supporting actor was another hotly contested category won by Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine. The Anthony Asquith Award for acheivement in film music went to Gustavo Santaolla for Babel, how many times do you think he is going to have to say the award title, yeh thanks Bafta!. Winner for Original Screenplay went to Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine, but was overlooked by the funniest presentation speech for a category by Simon Pegg. Ricky Gervais gave an almost as funny speech but it was just a wee bit too smug for its own good, when he presented the award for best animated film which went to Happy Feet<br /><br />Best visual effects went to..... Pirates of the Caribbean Dead mans Chest, mainly for the living beard sea creature thing that Bill Nighy sported. Best Adapted screenplay went to Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock for the Last King of Scotland. Best director went to Paul Greengrass for directing United 93. Best Actor was awarded to Forrest Whittaker for the Last King of Scotland of course, with a lengthy acceptance speech that was nice to see obviously he was really pleased! <br /><br />Best actress was won by Helen Mirren for The Queen, which is another film I haven’t see yet, wow I have a lot of DVDs to rent, although admitedly this is the one i will rent last. So one of the most popular awards of the show is of course the best film award. The winner in this category was The Queen. <br /><br />Finally Anne V Coates got a Fellowship and Nick Daubeny got The Michael Balcon Award.<br /><br />That rounds up the Bafta Film Awards for another year, The show itself was well worth watching just for a few nice speeches and presentations and a bit of pre Oscar buildup. The full list of winners are below<br /><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/baftas" rel="tag">baftas</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/british+bafta+awards" rel="tag">british bafta awards</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bafta+2007" rel="tag">bafta 2007</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-6096259510386398592007-02-12T11:21:00.000-08:002007-02-08T10:43:40.173-08:00News - Bafta Film Awards 2007 Winners<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/bafta20072.jpg" /><br /><br />THE ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP<br />Anne V Coates<br /><br />THE MICHAEL BALCON AWARD for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema<br />Nick Daubeny<br />FILM<br />THE QUEEN - Andy Harries/Christine Langan/Tracey Seaward<br /><br />THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year<br />THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel/Kevin Macdonald/Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock<br /><br />THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film<br />ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road<br /><br />THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction<br />UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass<br /><br />ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY<br />LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt<br /><br />ADAPTED SCREENPLAY<br />THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock<br /><br />FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE<br />PAN'S LABYRINTH - Alfonso Cuarón/Alvaro Augustin/Guillermo del Toro<br /><br />ANIMATED FEATURE FILM<br />HAPPY FEET - George Miller<br /><br />ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE<br />FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland<br /><br />ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE<br />HELEN MIRREN - The Queen<br /><br />ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE<br />ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine<br /><br />ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE<br />JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls<br /><br />THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music<br />BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla<br /><br />CINEMATOGRAPHY<br />CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki<br /><br />EDITING<br />UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson<br /><br />PRODUCTION DESIGN<br />CHILDREN OF MEN - Jim Clay/Geoffrey Kirkland/Jennifer Williams<br /><br />COSTUME DESIGN<br />PAN'S LABYRINTH - Lala Huete<br /><br />SOUND<br />CASINO ROYALE - Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor<br /><br />ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS<br />PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles Gibson/Allen Hall<br /><br />MAKE UP & HAIR<br />PAN'S LABYRINTH - José Quetglas/Blanca Sànchez<br /><br />SHORT ANIMATION FILM<br />GUY 101 - Ian Gouldstone<br /><br />SHORT FILM<br />DO NOT ERASE - Asitha Ameresekere<br /><br />THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD<br />Eva Green<br /><br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/baftas" rel="tag">baftas</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/british+bafta+awards" rel="tag">british bafta awards</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bafta+2007" rel="tag">bafta 2007</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-45986608487536835172007-02-08T10:40:00.000-08:002007-02-08T10:42:09.522-08:00News - Cinema Release dates 09th Feb 07<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/hannibalrising.jpg"/><br /><br />Here are the UK movie releases in cinemas near you from the 09 February 2007.<br />Charlotte's Web<br />Hannibal Rising<br />Epic Movie<br /><br />And here are the US movie releases in cinemas near you from the 09 February 2007<br />Hannibal Rising<br />Norbit<br />The Lives of Others<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/movie+releases" rel="tag">movie releases</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cinema+releases" rel="tag">cinema releases</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/film+release+date" rel="tag">film release date</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-19495155149765305752007-02-08T10:38:00.000-08:002007-02-08T10:39:48.336-08:00Rewind - High Fidelity<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/rewindhighfidelity.jpg" /><br /><br />High Fidelity is a movie based on a Nick Hornby novel starring John Cusack. The film follows Rob Gordon played by John Cusask and is a perfect movie for him he does this role so well. I did enjoy the movie but I wasn’t sure if I would intially not the kind of movie i would normally go out of my way to see. There are no explosions, no guns, no kung fu and no car chases, so what is there for the average movie goer. Well it’s all about relationships just like the other well known book to film adaptation from Hornby was, About a Boy. it’s very similar to that movie in content and idea but High Fidelity is much cooler because it has a music store in it and not Hugh grant playing a guitar!<br /><br />As we follow Gordon around we see his music store where he employs various music fanatics including Jack Black who is hard to watch in this role after you have seen him do bigger things. When Gorden breaks up with with his girl friend starts to re evalueate his life and question why every things is going wonky, he revisits all of his previous failed relationships. Wow sounds like an upbeat film right? So alongside a member of core characters who evolve and grow which is the main theme in this movie is relationships and learning as a person, its serious stuff I tell you! it also features some characters we never get to see in person in the movie. I always like this tactic in movies and tv shows.<br /><br />So yes it’s a decent movie, about people. their lives, their record collections, their relationships, the ups and downs, their growth and their journeys. Oh and it has some funny moments too, quite a lot in fact squished in between all the relationship analysis, with some good performances some nice cameos and some great top 5 lists<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/high+fidelity" rel="tag">high fidelity</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-26819059159239292007-02-05T11:00:00.000-08:002007-02-05T11:01:48.138-08:00News - The Messengers Box office no 1 US<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/themessengers.jpg" /><br /><br />Just released in the US and The Messengers is box office no 1. Directed by two brothers Danny and Oxide Pang who have made a string of movies together none of which i can pronounce correctly im afraid, but im sure in the future i'll be delving into some of their work. The reviews for The Messengers so far have been mixed with it coming accross as only an average horror thriller that had more potential but its a pretty short 84 minutes long.<br /><br />The story follows the Soloman family as they renovate and repair an old farm in North Dakota. However things arent all present and correct and the children are highly aware of the invading darkness and the effect it is having around them. The official site have a trailer up if you wish to take a look the link is below.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/themessengers/index.html">Link to The Messengers official website.<br /></a><br /><br />source - film.guardian.co.uk<br /><br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/the+messengers" rel="tag">the messengers</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-38547924959738015002007-02-05T10:28:00.000-08:002007-02-05T10:29:10.687-08:00News - Uk region 2 Dvd Releases 06<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/devilwearsprada.jpg"/><br /><br />Here are the dvd releases for for next week<br />UK - Region 2 Dvd Releases <br />05th February 2007<br />London Voodoo<br />Snow Cake<br />The Best Man <br />The Devil Wears Prada<br /><br /><br />Source - www.dvdtimes.co.uk<br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dvd+release" rel="tag">dvd release</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dvd+releases" rel="tag">dvd releases</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1929789413673331324.post-73568629244904024972007-02-04T09:14:00.000-08:002007-02-05T10:29:28.703-08:00News - US Region 1 Dvd Releases 06th Feb 2007<img src="http://www.thedumpvalve.com/blogger/flagsofourfathers.jpg"/><br /><br />Here are the dvd releases for next week<br />US - Region 1 Dvd Releases<br />06th February 2007<br />Flags of Our Fathers<br />Holly<br />Running with Scissors<br />Grudge 2 unrated directors cut<br />The Science of Sleep<br />Trust the Man<br /><br />Source - www.dvdtimes.co.uk<br />Technorati tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dvd+release" rel="tag">dvd release</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dvd+releases" rel="tag">dvd releases</a>moviesillustratedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739533818656729361noreply@blogger.com