Zombieland (2009)

I was browsing the home entertainment channels for some possibly good content or new/unwatched movies. I came across Zombieland on Pix. I remembered that I had watched that movie about 2 years ago on the same channel. Though the movie felt a bit bland and dis connective when I first watched it, I gave it another chance (mostly because I was bored and didn't want to get back to work). On watching the movie a second time, I found it to fun and entertaining no matter how lame the intended jokes sounded.

The movie is based on a modern zombie-infested world where four non-infected individuals try their best to survive given the apocalyptic conditions. A student, Columbus (note that the characters are given names from the places they lived in and they are not their real names) wants to travel to meet his parents and Tallahassee a redneck like person is in search for his last Twinkie. A girl and her sister also struggle to survive in the zombie infested area. The plot is very similar to other zombie movies, the only difference is that there have been desperate attempts to integrate humor in every part of the movie. I can not help but call this movie an attempt to recreate the plot and atmosphere of Shaun of the Dead, a movie that was largely appraised in terms of it's combination of horror and comedy, which redefined the horcom genre.

Though Zombieland is entertaining for a first time watch, I don't think it's enticing enough to watched another time. The horror nor comedy is that excellent to be noted and the movie suffers from a poorly drawn plot and quotidian story line. I'd probably give it a 5/10.

Bye till my next review.

I, Frankenstein

Good day readers,

All of you may have heard about the tales of Frankenstein, the large reanimated monster. As a kid, I always used to take a liking to such stories about Frankenstein. A few years ago I read the classic book of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. I always despised the fact that there had been no decent movie of Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the last 30 years. Half of my disappointment was reduced when I, Frankenstein was released. It was an awesome movie and satiated all my curiosity regarding the mysterious monster, his looks and personality. I also liked the fact that the movie does not only focus on Frankenstein. It also focuses on two types of creature races, the Gargoyles (whom we have not observed or even caught glimpse of recently in movies) and the Demons.

The movie starts out with the introduction of Frankenstein, or actually, the creature discovered and reanimated by legendary scientist, Victor Frankenstein. The scientist, gathered parts from several corpses, unified them into a single body and instilled life within the body by using thousands of watts of electricity. Giving the creature his own name, Frankenstein, and promising life-long companionship, the creature was devastated to find out that his master, Victor, did not actually mean what he promised. In a rage, the creature, Frankenstein killed Victor's wife and hunted him. while running away from the Frankenstein, Victor froze to death. Searching for answers and a companion, Frankenstein goes on a quest and meets the Gargoyle queen, learning about the never ending war between the Gargoyles and the Demons. He also meets an established electro-physicist Dr. Wade who seems to understand him, pity him and think of him as not a monster but an equal person. 

The character of Frankenstein, played by Aaron Eckhart, has been nicely viced and presented. We get to know that maybe Frankenstein was not as bad as portrayed in other versions of Frankenstein, other movies or tv shows. I like that the movie portrays a different personality of the antiquated creature, and his appearance. The modern setting of the movie presents a somewhat different view from the classic Frankenstein book, but 'different' provides opportunities for new discoveries, doesn't it? The best thing about the movie was probably the ending dialogues voiced by Frankenstein. I, Monica Panchal, take leave for today, thus returning in the indefinite future to post another movie review.

Unfriended (2014)

Dark Greetings,

I was browsing my horror movie collection for some new entrees, or maybe some unseen ones. I came across Unfriended. I had read a short synopsis of the movie in a magazine or something and I thought it was a movie worth watching. The story of the movie resembled my favorite television series, Pretty Little Liars, thus encouraging me to watch it. 

The movie starts off by introducing the main character Blaire Lily (Is her name an analogy? if it is, it's terrible.) and her boyfriend Mitch. It's really awesome that the whole movie(except the ending) was filmed by using a mac book screen recorder. Anyways Blaire and her friends start receiving Facebook and chat messages, video calls and emails from their dead friend, Laura Barns, who committed suicide exactly a year ago. Initially careless, they gang gets restless when faced by personal confrontations and threats by the anonymous user billie a.k.a Laura. One by one, all of the gang members die in ways which appear as if they committed suicide. The anonymous party also has the remaining high-schoolers play 'Never Have I Ever' bringing out all of their secrets. The end though predictable was a bit shocking.

The character death scenes in the movie are a bit scary like when the Ken crushes his hand in the blender and when the blonde girl(don't remember her name) gets electrocuted by the hair curler in her mouth. Anyways, the movie, though not scary in the same way as other horror movies, depicts the threat of anonymous internet users, whose identity is not known by anyone. I mean, they can after all be dead, ready to avenge injustice directed towards them in the past.

Up (2009)

Hey readers,

I welcome you back with one among st the best of the animated movies, Up. The movie really made an epic spot in the list of the best and most acclaimed animated movies. With an IMDb rating of 8.3, this movie really boasts its place among the most highly rated animated movies, and promises much to offer. It is a movie based on imaginative ideas and proves that some castles can be built in thin air, opposed to the well-known saying.

Anyways, the movie focuses on Carl, an old man who has had to suffer the passing away of his beloved wife Ellie. Carl reminisces his past with Ellie, which holds so many memories from the time they met when they were kids to the time they were separated by Ellie's death. Carl's last dream is to fulfill Ellie's wish of living besides Paradise Falls. They had dreamed of living on Paradise Falls since they were kids an Carl had promised that he would make this wish come true. Carl had been blowing up millions of balloons and attaching his house to them so that one day his house would be able to fly and reach Paradise Falls. After the balloons were ready, Carl took off along with his house and astonishingly enough, his house was flying in thin air. To Carl's dismay, a stowaway appears unexpectedly. His name is Russel, a little boy scout who happened to be selling cookies or something and got trapped on Carl's porch while the house was taking off. Carl and Russel have many adventures on the trip to Paradise Falls. They encounter the Friendly Doug the Dog, who happens to be a talking dog, and Kevin, a female exotic bird who is in the search of her baby birds. The four of them bond through the trip and also encounter an evil adventurer who happened to be Carl's idol.

The story of a house flying using balloons, dogs that can talk using intelligent devices attached to their collar, a happy-go-lucky little boy-scout and an old man who wished to fulfill his dead wife's dream has been fantastically collaborated into a magical movie. This is one of the best Disney's Pixar films every made and easily deserves a rating of 9/10.

Journey 2 the Mysterious Island (2012)

Welcome back readers,

Lazy, boring afternoons at home and the best way to spend such afternoons is to watch a movie about an exciting, overly imaginative and humorous movie based on Verne's classic 'The Mysterious Island'. One of the reasons I watched it like I think 20 times is cause of the presence of Rock. He just seemed really funny as Sean's stepfather. Anyways, the movie is pretty awesome for those people who have read Julius Verne's books or people who have a taste for fantasy/comedy movies. A few of you may have watched the preceding Journey to the Center of the Earth. Story-wise, cast-wise and overall movie-wise, I think the Mysterious Island is way cooler than the first, which was a bit dull.

The movie starts out with Sean, the protagonist being chased by the police on his dirt bike. Appears he broke into a satellite facility to retrieve some abstruse signals, which were sent by his lost explorer grandfather. Sean apparently hates his stepfather, Hank, the ultra-cool Rock Johnson (I mean, Dwayne Johnson) for trying to replace his dead father. To gain Sean's trust, Hank tries to help Sean decode the signals. Decoding the signals leads the duo to the discovery of the co-ordinates of the mysterious island. Determined to find the island, Sean goes to Palau in pursuit, followed by Hank (much to Sean's dismay). They meet an  ugly, clumsy and funny helicopter pilot named Gabato and his pretty daughter Kalaini. During their helicopter ride to the co-ordinates, Gabato's helicopter gets stuck in a category-5 earthquakes within whose center lies The Mysterious Island. They crash land at the island and Sean meets his grandfather, Michael Caine. During the duration of their survival on the island, the quintet see much of the island's miraculous beauties and also discover shocking truths about the island. But to survive, the must think of a way to get along, sorting out their differences and finding a way to get off the island.

Though the movie can seem a bit immature, it is entertaining to watch the jokes and the bond
development among the characters. The funniest part was probably when Hank was afraid of the Big Lizard and gave it the Thunder Cookie. It was also hilarious to see Johnson in such a light and funny role. Overall, I would give this movie a rating of 7.5/10.

Keep Tuning in!

The Secret of Kells (2009)

Welcome Back Readers,

Today I will be reviewing a quaint animated motion film called The Secret of Kells. This movie is based on the folklore of France and Ireland. The names of the characters in the movie are mostly Irish and are a bit hard to catch because they are based on different languages.  This film largely differs from the animated movies produced by large companies such as Universal, Disney, Pixar and Sony. The animation effects are a bit primitive, but I think that it adds to the aesthetic effect of the movie's uniqueness. The movie appears to be a motion of thousands of beautiful hand drawn images of the characters and environment.

The story is based on a town called The Abbey of Kells. There lies a monastery in Kells where many brothers reside. Among st them lives Brendan, a young, curious and intelligent boy who is constantly put to work by Uncle Abbot, the strict and overprotective Abbot of the Abbey. The Brothers of Kells tell Brendan a story about the book of Iona, illustrated by the most magical Illuminator. This Book largely inspires Brendan and he dreams about it. One day, Brother Aidan of Iona, a prominent illustrator lands in Kells. Brendan hears the talk about Aidan and wishes to learn more about the book and see the book. He reaches the scripting room where the book of Iona lies and proceeds to open it. There Brendan is greeted by Aidan's white cat Pangur Ban who resists when Brendan tries to see the book. After Brendan gains Pangur's and Aidan's trust, he is allowed to see the book of Iona. Seeing that Brendan has the potential to become an illustrator of the book of Iona, he convinces Brendan to learn to become an illustrator and sends him to complete various tasks, much to his Uncle's fury. On one such task, Brendan goes to the forest and meets Aisling, a beautiful little fairy, who owns the jungle. She helps Brendan complete his tasks and become a successful illustrator of The Book. After Kells is attacked by the Viking, Brendan goes on a quest to complete the remaining of the Book. After the Book is completed, a now adult Brendan returns to Kells and returns the book to his long lost Uncle Abbot and calls the book "The Book of Kells". Brendan wishes that the book would inspire the people for generations to come.

This film was inspiring and the deviation of the plot and visual animation from other animated movies makes it enticing and intriguing to watch. The main moral that I caught from the story was "To believe in magic and imagination". Though the end seemed a bit incomplete, the main goal of the film (the completion of the Book and its distribution for the welfare of the people) was accomplished, thus the end. I believe this film contained more substance than any of today's animated movies which are successful only in entertaining viewers.

See you at another review.

The Jungle Book (2016)

2016 is on the verge of leaving us. So today I feel like giving a review of the most sensational Disney movie released this year, The Jungle Book. Everyone had enjoyed the original version or read the book by Rudyard Kipling. The idea itself of a child raised by wolves in the jungle is intriguing. I was really excited about the release of this movie 6 months ago and I watched it on the first day. This movie was one of the most budgeted and highly anticipated releases of Disney. Great expectations were made about the movie's potential with it's amazing cast and cast-voices.

Now about what I felt of the movie. To be honest, I liked the original Disney version of the movie better. Not even this movie could replicate the bond of friendship between Baloo and Mowgli and the original story as sketched by Rudyard Kipling. The movie though had its perks. Sher Khan was amazing. I mean the voice of Sher, Idris Elba's voice, was terribly frightening and really apt. I felt that Sher's voice in this movie was probably the best among st those of all the Disney villains. Voices of Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa the Snake, respectively Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray and and Scarlet Johanneson were also remarkable. Neel Sethi, the little boy who plays Mowgli overshadowed all the other characters. His performance and acting as Mowgli deserves a noble ovation. It was as if he was really interacting with the wild animals. I don't want to go on rambling about the story of the movie because everyone already knows it and the purpose of this post is to give a review.

This movie gives everything you need to have a great movie experience. Adventure, thrill, comedy and the bond of friendship are the key component of The Jungle Book. I took a survey and found out that most of the people liked this movie more than its original Disney counterpart. People tend to like live representations more than animated representations nowadays. The visual effects and animals shown are amazing. My favorite wild animal in the movie is Bagheera the black panther. I loved his glossy black coat and his shiny green eyes. ( I don't know why I added that.) To sum it up, The Jungle Book provides a perfect watch for anyone and everyone regardless of age, ethnicity, language or movie preferences. Thus, a true movie. 

Cinderella (2015)

Hey welcome back,

I thinks my blog readers may have gotten tired of my recent chain of horror movie recommendations. So today I will be giving my views on the most fairest princess story of them all, Cinderella. Though I was not really a fairy tale of kid, I did watch all the Disney versions of the fairy tales. I was interested in watching the newest remake of Cinderella and comparing it with the original Disney one. Actually there was not much to compare as the stories are the same. The only difference was that The newest version is a live remake and not the animated one. Usually I like the original animated versions of the Disney movies better, like the Jungle Book and others. But in this case, I loved the newer one. The effects were amazing and Cinderella's dress was probably my center of attraction.

Anyways, to sum it up, Cinderella is a story about a young, kind woman, Ella, who has to bear her evil stepmother and irritatingly rude stepsisters. Her mother had died while she was still a little girl and her father remarried after about a decade to her evil stepmother. Her stepmother makes her live in the attic and do all the household chores, thus leading to her new name, Cinderella. Anyways, she meets a young handsome man in the forest near her house and they both like each other. The man turns out to be a prince, and wishing to meet the mysterious country girl again, he keeps a lavish ball. Though ordered by her stepmother to stay at home, Cinderella, with the help of her hairy dogfather, I mean fairy godmother, reaches the ball in the most beautiful avatar ever. The prince instantly notices her and they dance together having the time of their lives. When the clock starts to chime. Cinderella starts running away before the spell would wear off, revealing her usual self. While running, Cinderella loses one of her glass slipper. The prince uses the glass slipper to find the mysterious girl whom he loved. All the maidens of the land try to fit their foot in the slipper, but to no avail. Finally, Cinderella is found by the prince, despite her being hidden by her stepmother. Cinderella and the prince then live happily ever after. Oh, and the stepmother and her daughters are banished form the land of course.

My favorite part of the movie is probably the fairy godmother part. It is very entertaining with Helena Bonham Carter as the godmother. It is fun to watch as she transforms everything plain into something majestic as she gets Cinderella ready for the ball. Though I am more of a dark fairy tale type of person, this movie is fun and entertaining to watch and everyone who loves Disney movies should watch it if they haven't already.

Bye

The Cabin In The Woods (2011)

Hello readers,

You may have noticed I was inactive for quite a bit of time there. Just had a lot going on so I couldn't watch any new, old or eccentric movies. Anyways, I am back to recommend some of the wildest movies ever made. The crazy-ass movie I will be discussing today is The Cabin In The Woods. My reaction after watching the movie was: "Dude, what a movie! Don't know what to say...cause it was one of the weirdest movies I have ever watched in my life." Cinema is never out of eerie movies, but I gotta say, this was one of the most craziest awesome movies I have come across in a long time. I had heard about this movie a ton of times, but as the title did not sound promising, I refrained from watching it. I mean, from the title, the movie sounded like it would be all about friends trapped in a little cabin surrounded by flesh eating zombies, I mean a repetition of The Evil Dead. This movie totally proved that one can not judge a movie by the title of it.

Anyways, being a horror movie, it did not provide many scares. As for the shocks, it gave intermittent ones of 100W each. After watching the movie, I went through the reviews of IMDb user reviews. I found that ratings were bitter extremes. Some of the people gave it a mere 1 or 2/10 and the rest gave a 10/10. So saying, people either loathed the movie or acclaimed it. As for me I enjoyed the merciless, blood sucking movie a ton. I mean, being a horror movie fan, you can only pray that movies with new concepts are being developed, and this one presented a view of horror that was never seen before. The Cabin In The Woods appears to be a parody of horror movies though. I feel that it mocks the common horror movie monsters. The movie reminded me a lot of The Evil Dead, Goosebumps and The Hunger Games. The twists and turns at the end of the movie are too much to ask for. I praise the director for developing and carrying out such a crazy plot seemingly effortless. The cinematic and movie effects are also awesome.

I am not going to give a summary of this movie because I am afraid it will end out being ten pages long. To sum it up, you are either going to love the movie or hate it. So I wont bother giving a rating because it depends on one's perception and interests. The keen eyed movie goers will probably love this movie as I did, but no burden, not everyone can watch these types of movies. The movie does contain objectionable content such as gore scenes. There are a few scenes where I could not stop laughing like the speakerphone scene. This is a perfect mood to add a bit of excitement and weirdness to an otherwise dull day. That, and hats off to Drew Goddard for presenting horror fans with a masterpiece.

Night, Night
Monica