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Twilight, a review by addicted2dvd

Twilight (2008/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Summit Entertainment Director: Catherine Hardwicke Writing: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenwriter), Stephenie Meyer (Original Material By) Length: 122 min. Rating: Rated PG-13 : Some Violence and a Scene of Sensuality Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos

This is a film that was given to me back when it originally came out... was a birthday present. I have watched it before.... but didn't think much of it. Since part 2 was recently given to me I decided to give this one another chance and remind myself of what happened before watching part 2. After watching it this time I will say it is a watchable film. Really nothing more then average. I can accept the whole teen-angst thing... I can also handle the whole romance thing. But being the huge vampire fan... I can't handle is their take on the vampire lore. While I can appreciate that there is a lot of versions of the vampire myth... this one more then stretches it to it's limits. There is certain aspects of vampires that shouldn't be messed with. I have mixed feelings on the whole baseball game during the thunderstorm... part of me found it to be entertaining... but another part of me just found it to be silly. At least the end of the baseball game brought in a little of a horror aspect into the film. This storyline is what really kept my interest. Makes the film bearable for me.



(From What Movies I Been Watching on September 13th, 2013)

The Constant Gardener, a review by Jon

The Constant Gardener
5 out of 5



Academy Award® nominee Ralph Fiennes ('The English Patient') and Rachel Weisz ('Constantine') give electrifying performances in this gripping suspense thriller. A diplomat on the hunt for his wife's murderer uncovers a treacherous conspiracy that will destroy millions of innocent people - unless he can reveal its sinister roots. From the best-selling spy novel by John Le Carré comes this edge-of-your-seat story of murder, deception and revenge that critics are calling "...outstanding...dramatic...hair-raising..."

I love it when this happens. I’d already seen The Constant Gardener and knew I liked it, but I had an urge to watch it again and it seemed to take on a whole new level. On this occasion, I found it achingly brilliant.

Conspiracy thrillers such as this more often than not concentrate on the conspiracy, reducing the characters to fit and drive the main plot to a grand finale Where All Shall Be Revealed. There is nothing wrong with this, especially in a Bond movie where it’s merely an excuse to link up various set-pieces, but when the conspiracy is based on a grain of truth, you have to subscribe to and accept the writer’s viewpoint to fully appreciate what’s unfolding. A little bit of doubt goes a long and wrong way. Blood Diamond suffers from this.

The conspiracy at the centre of The Constant Gardener –African’s being used as unwitting test subjects for a drugs company- is developed by Jeffrey Caine from John Le Carre’s novel. It’s a fine adaptation that Le Carre has praised as “bearing little resemblance”, in a good way! It is fairly complicated, well researched, engrossing, but as with any other such plot, demanding. The clever thing in this case, is how it is hidden in a love story. As such, our belief in the politics and intrigue become secondary to our belief in Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz), despite them being irrevocably linked.

In fact, the love story is shown in fractured memories, as it starts with the awful scene of Justin discovering his wife Tessa has been murdered. She was always the passionate driven one, determined to uncover the truth, while he is the quiet diplomat, avoiding being involved. He has to unpick his past with Tessa, coming to terms with several revelations and his own decisions, to understand how he should deal with the future. In a sense, it is a film of two halves, though beautifully fluid in their coming together. It’s such a clever and playful narrative that teases out the characters in such a way you might not be sure how to feel about them. That might be why a second viewing is in order. You know them better and the story takes on new meaning.

The photography is stunning and proves director Fernando Meirellies to be a unique talent. His previous film was City Of God, but that is no indicator of your reaction to this film. Looking at both films, he clearly has a way of matching the cameras movements to the nature of the plot. So whereas City Of God was intoxicating, sharp and powerful, The Constant Gardener has a smoother nature. His use of focus is frequently breathtaking, right from the abstract opening scene of Tessa’s vehicle coming to rest after an accident. We see only the tyre, only the conclusion of the action. Where City Of God was angry, this is poignant, full of longing.

I was reminded of this film after watching The Fountain and finally realising the brilliance of Rachel Weisz. Maybe I’m a bit slow, but The Mummy movies loudly distracted me from how good an actress she actually is! She is gorgeous and captivating in a difficult, Oscar winning role to balance. Her flirty outgoing nature supports the evidence she was having an affair; her soulful gazes at Justin diffuses it. She has to capture our imagination and indignation at once, and she does it. Ralph Fiennes has an even harder job, with a character that by nature is quiet and unassuming (preferring his plants to anything as vulgar as life!) and developing resilience, so he goes under our and the Academies radar, denied the plaudits he surely deserved (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Capote, not withstanding). He is heartbreakingly real as he tugs the threads of his life back together and anyone who understands how tough grief is cannot fail to be overwhelmed. So much better than the obvious The English Patient. The two leads work together so well and the flashback to their first meeting an utter joy, followed by a sex scene that actually builds the characters. “Thank you... for this gift”, Justin says. “How very generous of me!”, exclaims Tessa. Dialogue throughout is brilliant, especially from Bill Nighy and Gerard McSorley.

They and the main plot comes to sharper focus in the second half and it is affecting, tense and powerful. The decision to actually film in Africa makes for a vibrant and real film, especially with a passionate cast of extras, though it never falls into the trap of becoming a faux documentary. A trust was set-up to support the areas used for filming as way of thank you and it’s a small price for such authenticity.

Ok, so I’ve gone on. A bit. But it shows how much I must regard this film when I can tell you it isn’t perfect. A couple of the supporting characters are a bit obvious, such as Justin and Tessa’s lawyer (Richard McCabe) and especially his annoying computer whizz son, Guido. Bill Nighy is fantastic, but over the top and a concluding scene might be a bit silly (still works though!). They’re balanced by perfunctory roles from Danny Houston and Herbert Kounde. Perception of them is essential to the plot though, which might explain their simple development. They are thriller characters, after all and concessions to the genre are needed somewhere!

There may be other gripes tucked away here and there, but it takes nothing away from a grown-up, ambitious film that is memorable and sublime, thanks to a passionate director and central performances that cut to the bone. Simply wonderful. Watch it, then watch it again. I certainly will.



(From Jon's Alphabet Marathon 2010 on July 12th, 2010)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The attacks on alliance ships have been increased and the alliance races point fingers at each other of who is being repsonsible for the attackes. And the blips have made things worse because they spied on the ambassadors and have stolen their secrets to ransom a homeworld of their own. Meanwhile Londo and his bodyguard G'Kar have arrived on Centauri Prime where the regent seems to be under the influence of a foraign power.

My opinion: Now we know that the Centauri or at least a part of them is behind the attacks and that the regent is influenced and so will his successor as seen in "War Without End". But this episode also marks the beginning of the end. From now on more and more main characters will leave Babylon 5.


Synopsis: The teeps are becoming a real problem to Captain Lochley, especially since they've threatened to reveal the secrets of the ambassadors. Lochley asks Bester for help and he comes again to the station. Meanhwile Londo and G'Kar discover a forgotten prisoner in one of the palace's prison cells.

My opinion: Teeps again, but at least the Londo/G'Kar story was worth watching and funny to see how Londo got the prisoner out of the palace.


Synopsis: Bester and his Bloodhound units hunt one part of the teeps down, while the other has sealed themselves off and has gone to a hunger strike. But the first group takes hostages, Michael and Stephen among them and Byron (who is with the second group) has to act.

My opinion: Byron and his storyarc is gone! Good riddance! Now the season can really begin and it sadly does this with Michael starting to drink again.


Synopsis: While G'Kar was on Centauri Prime, his book, the "Book of G'Kar" has been gotten in the hands of other Narns and they copied it - about 500 to 600,000 times. G'Kar is treated like a religious icon although he does not want to be. Meanwhile another attack on a ship has taken place and this time there was a survivor. Garibaldi gets the job of getting him out of the Drazi homeworld.

My opninion: Now Sheridan knows that a fraction of the Centauri is involved but I worry for Michael who's drinking more and more. It was a good episode, better than the last ones.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on February 2nd, 2008)