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Maleficent, a review by Dragonfire

Maleficent

I actually saw this one twice in the theater and almost went a third time.  I will definitely be getting it once it is out on Blu-ray.

The movie starts showing Maleficent as a young fairy and she becomes friends with a young boy named Stefan.  When she is older, is a protector to The Moors, the magical land where she lives.  The King of the human land next to The Moors feels threatened by Maleficent.  Stefan betrays Maleficent so he can become the next king.  Maleficent changes because of the betrayal which also causes changes to The Moors.  When she hears that Stefan and his wife have a daughter, Maleficent turns up and curses the baby Aurora.

I really liked this movie.  I know that some people have complained about it changing Maleficent too much from the animated movie version of the character.  I did see that some claimed this movie made the character weak.  I don't feel that way at all.  This version of the character is different which will disappoint or bother some people.  I choose to look at it as an alternate version of the story that doesn't ...ummm...diminish or negate the animated version of the story.  Other characters are a bit different as well.  I think the differences are interesting and make for an entertaining movie.  There are dark moments in it that may upset or scare younger children. 

I saw both the 3D and the 2D version of the movie.  The 3D added depth to scenes, especially those in The Moors.  I did notice things, but there really weren't any images coming out of the screen.

I loved Angelina Jolie as Maleficent.  She was perfect in the part.  There are times when she looks like the animated character come to life.  She is deliciously wicked in some scenes.  It is a very powerful performance, especially when Maleficent realizes how Stefan has betrayed her.  None of the other characters receive as much attention as Maleficent.  The other characters are interesting and all the cast does a good job.  Imelda Stanton plays one of the pixies that looks over Aurora.  I didn't fully recognize her at first since some kind of special effect was done to make her look smaller.  She, and the other pixies, get bigger for part of the movie.  Once I realized who she was, I did think Umbridge is a pixie. 

Maleficent is a wonderful entertaining movie with a magnificent performance from Angelina Jolie.  It is one of the best movies I've seen this year.  It is definitely worth checking out.

5 out of 5 stars

I did post a longer review to my movie blog.

Maleficent
   

(From Maleficent on August 3rd, 2014)

House of Frankenstein, a review by addicted2dvd

House of Frankenstein (1944)
Deranged scientist Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) escapes from prison and overtakes the director of a traveling chamber of horrors. Pulling the stake out of a skeleton, he revives the infamous Count Dracula (John Carradine) and commands him to kill the man responsible for his imprisonment. He then finds the frozen Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) buried under the ruins of the infamous Frankenstein laboratory.

My Thoughts:
This one I enjoyed. I liked seeing all 3 of my favorite classic movie monsters in one movie. Though I was a bit disappointed that there was in interaction between Dracula and the other 2 monsters... as they got rid of Dracula before they even found The Wolf Man and Frankenstein. No complaints on the audio/video quality on this one either... was really impressed how good it looks after all these years.

(From Classic Monster Movie Marathon on May 18th, 2008)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

03. In The Dark (1999-10-19)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), David Greenwalt (Created By), Douglas Petrie (Writer)
Director: Bruce Seth Green
Cast: David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Glenn Quinn (Doyle), Seth Green (Oz), James Marsters (Spike), Kevin West (Marcus), Malia Mathis (Rachel), Michael Yavnieli (Lenny), Thomas Rosales Jr. (Manny the Pig), Gilbert Combs (Bouncer), Buck McDancer (Dealer), Jenni Blong (Young Woman)

It's fun to see Oz and Spike in Los Angeles. Sadly there were not many crossovers like this.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on March 14th, 2009)