Movie Pet Peeves & Midnight Screenings

One of my biggest pet peeves is people disrupting my attention in the movie theatres. I hate when people are texting, chatting, sleeping or making out heavily in the theatre while a movie is going on. Such disrespect! I don't usually say anything because I've chatted with a friend once during a movie. But in my defence, it was a HORRIBLE movie. Overall, I do generally try to see the movie as soon as it comes out in theatres because the people who really want to see it will be there in the opening weekend.

Personally, I love seeing movies at midnight screenings. The hard-core fans are always there, dressed up in costume. The atmosphere is amazing! They cheer, gasp and laugh all together. I've gone to the Harry Potter midnight screening and people were dressed up like Hogwarts robes with wands and draw-on scars. They cheered when Harry came back to life and teared up with Snape died. The impact of the movie is actually heightened due to the shared emotions that the audience experience. So, I always try to watch my most anticipated movies at midnight to enjoy it the most.

But I have never heard of advance tickets for a midnight screening going on sale a little more then a MONTH in advance. Generally, it's a week at the most but it goes to show you how incredibly anticipated the final of Nolan's Batman trilogy is expected.

I was one of the many who at 12pm on June 11 was sitting in front of their computer, hitting refresh until the tickets popped up. The IMAX site had what seemed like a constant message that apologized for the inconvenience about the heavy traffic flow. It took like half an hour but I managed to save tickets for me and my movie buddies! It sold out quickly too!

But what interested me, was how little they advertised about the advance sales. Sure, it's on their facebook page and there is a couple TV spots that mention it at the end of the commercial. I guess they did it so only the true fans would come out.

If you haven't gone to a midnight screening yet, you should. Go see a movie that you've being waiting for at midnight and you just might notice how much more intense that movie experience will be.

My next midnight screening? Probably for Skyfall in November. Maybe, I'll see you there!

TIFF 2012 Reviews

In 2011 and 2012, I chose to volunteer at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which was one of the best decisions I've ever made. For movie lovers, it is the place to be!

As a result, I had the opportunity to watch many films before they reach the big screen. Click on the title to see TIFF's summary of the film and other details.

To The Wonder

Director: Terrence Malick
Stars: Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem and Olga Kurylenko

If you click on the title of the movie, it will take you to the TIFF page dedicated to this film. The summary of this film IS A LIE!

What seems like a movie focused around Ben Affleck's character, actually revolved around Olga's character (she was the Bond girl in Quantum of Solace). Rachel's character only appeared for like twenty minutes of the film and I have no idea what the point of Javier's character was! Was he part of the Ben and Olga plotline or a completely seperate plotline? Only a certain group of movie goers will like this film as the vast majority will most likely dislike it greatly. I was in the vast majority as I found this film to be a waste of time.

This film has beautiful cinematography (the scenes are shot beautifully) and at the beginning, I enjoyed how Terrence seemed to find ways of making the ordinary seem beautiful (i.e., water and wheat fields). But after over an hour of 'artistic' filming, my head started to hurt and irritation grew. The problem with filming an entire movie like that, is that it loses its impact. The impact of the different filming style was much more heighten in the beginning.

Another problem I had was the complete lack of dialogue. There was only a handful of actual spoken lines. There was lots of lines being dictated over the action while the movie is playing. The story was being mainly told through body language, which is actually pretty interesting because I did understand a great deal of the plot. I do agree that body language and silence are powerful tools but not if they are overdone, which is exactly what happened in this film.

I heard a few people commenting on how they enjoyed the openness of the ending. Honestly, that annoyed me considered the whole movie was wide open for interpretation because there was barely any structure there to begin with. There is 4 main characters and maybe a handful of supporting characters

A fellow viewer summed it up best when he called it a "visual poem". Well, I was never a big fan of poetry.

But if you are - go for it!

Much Ado About Nothing

Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg and etc.

A picture speaks a thousand words and this one gives a way a lot. This film, based on the Shakespeare classic, is in a modern setting yet keeps the language almost the same (only a couple of words are changed). Whedon's twist on Shakespeare is genius. There is still romance, drama, angst, tragedy but there is plenty of humor. There were many times when in the theatre, the whole audience came alive with laughter. This film was shot in 12 days, in between finishing up Avengers. Apparently, he just emailed some of his actor friends and shot the film in his house.

I personally really enjoyed it. I love Shakespeare regardless but I love how Whedon made it accessible to everyone. The dialogue was similar to Shakespeare, and maybe it was because it was spoken by trained actors, it was easy to follow along to. I especially enjoyed the humor. It was a great film that many loved. The audience always seemed to cheer when Nathan would appear on the screen (probably due to a mixture of Canadian pride and love for his acting work). There was a sense of friendship among the cast and crew that was there on and off the screen.

I would recommend it if for a possible date movie as it has both romance and humor to appease both genders. Definitely a sleeper hit.

Cloud Atlas

Director: Tom Tykwer, Lana and Andy Wachowski
Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry , Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving , Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, with Susan Sarandon , and Hugh Grant

Apparently, this film received a ten-minute standing ovations from the TIFF audience at its first showing. That is telling within itself. The buzz was HOT for Cloud Atlas. This is a film people either seemed to hate or love. So I would recommend you see it yourself to judge because what your friend hates, you might like. Either way, it brought out powerful emotions in its viewers. There were six stories being told simultaneously that were subtly interconnected if the viewer paid attention.

I loved Cloud Atlas. This plotline of each story had a moral within them and characters were developed nicely. Plus, the cinematography of the film was beautiful! The CGIs and setting was designed as if to take the viewers into another world. The actors did an amazing job morphing into different characters. The make-up and costume department deserves an award because it was hard to recognize the actors most of the time. It's a beautiful film about the consequences of our actions. I was moved by the abundance of hope this film provided for me.

The only negative was that I had to pay a great deal of attention to the characters because there was elements of reincarnation as well as each actor would play a different role in another story. So, it can be complicated and if you go to the movies to zone out, perhaps this isn't the movie for you. But if you enjoy seeing the connections like a puzzle, this movie is wonderful!

Call Girl

Director: Mikael Marcimain
Stars: Pernilla August, Sofia Karemyr, Simon J Berger, Sven Nordin, David Dencik and etc.

Have you ever watched a movie and knew what was going to happen or what the character would say? If you have, you have watched a lot of Hollywood movies. This happens to me all the time because sometimes, Hollywood movies can be predictable. They have similar formulas that are applied to them. Don't get me wrong! I still love watching the movies but I am genuinely moved a director can come along with their movie and fool me. That or do such an epic job that I love it regardless. That's why I'm one of the few in my personal circle to judge movies by their directors. Just because Jennifer Aniston is in the film, doesn't mean it will be awesome (no offense). Now, there are some actors that know how to pick films (Matt Damon, I'm looking at you!) that are either stories worth telling or blockbusters.

Wow - that turned into a mini rant. Where was I going with this? Oh yes....

The good thing about watching foreign films is that they follow a different formula. I completely did not see how Call Girl was going to end. It blew my mind. I remembered being so shocked that my eyes budged and my jaw dropped (picture any beloved cartoon here). It didn't follow the Hollywood formula but it resonated true in my heart. I will always love it for that alone.


It was an interesting film. There was a great deal of nudity and sexual content (as expected though, when the film is based on a real-life prostitution scandal that involved some of the Swedish politicians). It drags on for a while during the middle. I remember checking my watch and yawning but the end was worth it. It made me want to watch more foreign films (alas the festival was over though).

If you have an open mind or you know the hollywood formula, then I recommend this film for you.

Summer of Superheroes

Summer 2012 featured a great deal of amazing movies but the most popular, without a doubt, were the films about the superheroes. So here's a brief review on all three.

Dark Knight Rises

My favourite movie of the summer and easily the year. I saw it (so far) three times in theatres. Why? Because it's just that good. The final movie takes place eight years after the second film so a lot has happened which are explained well. Wounds have barely scabbed over from the Joker's rein. But there are some new faces joining the older ones. As well as humor to defuse the tension when it becomes too dark. There is a beautiful balance between action & adventure, drama, angst, romance, humor and tragedy.

Nolan brings it back full circle as Batman has to face his fears, limitations and demons to overcome the huge obstacle that is threatening the destruction of Gotham. One of my favourite things about Nolan's films, is that there is a great amount of depth in the film. Whether it is plot or symbolism. There were many times were I felt, symbolically, Nolan was showing his audience his first film again. Spoiler Alert but for example, when Bruce was climbing up from the Pit, it reminded me of the him in the first movie trying to climb up from the well. Actually, the whole part of the film where Bruce was in the Pit, was almost a homage to the Batman Begin's well known quote: "Why do we fall, sir? So, we can learn to pick ourselves up." That's what Bruce shows us in the pit - never give up. End of Spoiler Alert. Unlike Spiderman 3, Nolan masterfully juggles with the multiple villains so that the audience never feels awkward.

But as much as I loved it, it could be easily disliked as well. For those who had extremely high expectations - it will not meet them. After the late Ledger's legendary performance as the Joker, it's hard to come even close. Also, many people will not like it simply because Nolan's ending is not the one they wanted.

One thing you should know though is that this is the last Batman movie in Nolan's series. If another Batman movie comes out, it will not have Nolan as director, Bale as Bruce/Batman or probably many of the other actors.

Avengers

The big blockbuster hit of the summer, directed by the famous Joss Wheldon. For those who don't know the name, you know of his creations: Buffy, Firefly, Angel and even Toy Story. Originally Jon Favreau (director of the first two Ironman movies) was supposed to direct but he chose to stay on as an executive producer. This movie has a little bit of everything! It has action & adventure, drama, romance, angst, tragedy and plenty of humor to keep the audiences engaged. It is entertain for everyone. It nicely balances the storyline of the four protagonists as well as the supporting characters without neglecting anyone. It is incredibly easy for the view to connect with any one of the heroes. Also, Joss Wheldon does an amazing job with dialogue as many characters have memorable lines without being cheesy.

Personally, I saw the film four times in theatres because there were many scenes that I loved. In particular, Hulk had many hilarious scenes that I died laughing.  The first time I watched it, my friend had to nudge me in the ribs to get me to stop cackling like a hyena. 

The only problem with this film is that if you haven't watched the other four series (Hulk, Ironman, Thor and Captain America) you are going to miss something because a lot of the same faces pop up in this movie.  Ideally, to watch this movie, the viewer has to be up to date on the other four series. Well, not so much Hulk, seeing as they changed the actor. Mark Ruffalo, by the way, does an amazing job as Bruce Banner (I think you found a winner Marvel)!

One other negative for this film is that it is currently the most mistake filled film of 2012. It's not that much but it is still more then any other film so far.

But it's still an amazing movie.

Amazing Spiderman

I had mixed feelings about this reboot. I loved the new actors, Emma and Andrew, but I was still sort of loyal to the older actors. I disliked strongly where Spiderman 3 left us and I did feel like they were screwing up what had great potential from the first film. But at the same time, I was wondering where's Mary Jane and who's Gwen Stacey in the new reboot? Ultimately, I decided to approach the film with an open mind.

I'm glad I did because they did an amazing job. Andrew Garfield's version of Spiderman was more easier to identify with then Tobey Maguire's saint-like approach. Andrew's Peter was multi-dimensional. Sometimes, he was angry, vulnerable and hurt and other times he is shy, friendly and funny. But overall he is a nice guy. But Andrew's approach allowed for the audience to accept it more when Peter wasn't always nice whereas I judged Tobey's Peter more harshly simply because he seemed more saintlike and naive.

Emma Stone also did a wonderful job as Gwen Stacey to the point where I was like 'Mary Jane who?' Plus, the chemistry between the two actors set the screen on fire. There were times where I blushed more at their flirting then I did at some other movie's explicit scene. I'm glad they became a real-life couple as well because they are very cute together.

This movie like the other two superhero films mentioned aboved, have the same genres; action & adventure, drama, angst, tragedy, romance and humor. This movie is also a very good compromise for a date.

Unlike the previous two films, Amazing Spiderman has a slower build to the climax because unlike Dark Knight Rises and Avengers, it is starting from the beginning so it needs screen time to set up everything.

Chances are you will either love the new reboot or hate it because you are that loyal to the Tobey's. But personally, it really does deserve to be called the AMAZING Spiderman.