INSIDIOUS [movie review]
© Alliance Vivafilm
If you miss the good old fashioned suspense films that made your hair stand on end, and you really need to see a horror film that will make your skin crawl and keep you on the edge of your seat, I have good news for you. There’s one playing in the cinemas right now. It reminded me of sitting around the campfire as a little kid listening to all the spooky ghost stories that would then make me sleep with a flashlight, and radio, on to keep away the ghosts that might haunt the campground. If you-re expecting a group of teenagers going into a house reputed to be haunted and then finding out it’s worse than they expected, you’ll be disappointed. But as you watch this film you’ll be happy, very happy about that. From the makers of the gore-porn film series Saw, we get an excellent film where there is oddly enough very little blood spilled. But there are plenty more scares that make up for the lack of gore.
First up, a warning about the soundtrack. It fits the subject matter to a “T”. Like with Jaws, there is a theme that presages the appearance of the ghosts and other spooky events. The one possible exception of Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through The Tulips”. In this film I’d personally say that it’s misplaced because it seems almost comic when you look at the context of the rest of the film. But then again, I always thought his rendition of it was creepy even as a little kid watching television back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s so I can see why James Wan has chosen to use it. Continue reading “INSIDIOUS [movie review]” »
George’s review for RANGO
- © Paramount Pictures
I could say the best thing about “Rango” is the preview for Kung Fu Panda II. But then, I’d be lying Big Time! It took me the better part of a day to figure out that if they had done this as a drawn-by-hand animation film the way Walt Disney used to back in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the principal character, a chameleon named Rango, would probably have been played by Don Knots. But Johnny Depp is more capable and in some ways just refreshingly different enough from Don Knots that Rango breathes life with a three dimensionality that was missing from the preview I saw. So that is my first point of contention with this film. This film would have been much better in 3D.
Rango starts his story as bit actor with grand aspirations in a terrarium stage with a severely amputated Barbie doll as his girlfriend, and leading lady, and a wind-up fish as his best friend. But a multi-car accident sends his terrarium out the car window and before he knows it his life changes forever. He has no survival instincts for the wild outdoors. A few misadventures later, he finds himself coming to the small town of Dirt. Straight out of the old west, with it’s dried out wooden buildings and gunslinger mentality, the folks of Dirt use water as currency instead of real money or even gold. This sets up the surprising number of themes that older kids and adults will have no trouble understanding. Conservation, greed, corporate excesses to name but a few. Continue reading “George’s review for RANGO” »
A TRON LEGACY review
© Walt Disney Pictures
A review (mixed feelings) of TRON LEGACY, by George Geza Meszaros.
While it was great to revisit a reality that I enjoyed for the first time in the theatres 28
years ago, and to make sure I was going to give it a fair viewing I went with someone who knew only that we were going to see a film in Imax and in 3D. In fact, the person I went to see the film with wasn’t even conceived never mind having been born when the original was created. Afterwards we went out for a coffee to talk about it.
The story is basically best described as a ReBoot of the franchise and a fair portion of the first third of the story that takes place in the Grid covers the same material as the original Tron. There are divergences and other elements are added that bring a breath of fresh air to the story but, sadly, I found myself making too many connections to other films, other realities that I’ve seen since. Continue reading “A TRON LEGACY review” »
FANTASIA + FANTASIA 2000
© Walt Disney Pictures
A review of the DVD portion of the Blue Ray/DVD combo package by George Geza Meszaros.
FANTASIA
English/French/Spanish
Like a great many people I was not alive in 1940 when Fantasia was released for the very first time. In fact, the first time I saw it, it was in an elementary school gymnasium with a system that was considerably less than state of the art. The sound system was scratchy and the projection system was obsolete and so the impact of the film was greatly muted for me as a twelve year old. It certainly did not make me want to go out and become a musician or an animator or have anything else to do with movies. Except watch them in movie theatres where the set up was more up to date. Continue reading “FANTASIA + FANTASIA 2000” »
Our thoughts on Adam Sandler’s GROWN UPS
©2010 Columbia Pictures
GROWN UPS. A comedy about five friends and former teammates who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn’t mean growing up.
By George Geza Meszaros. In some ways, this film reminded me of what might have happened if the people who brought us “Porky’s” would have continued the series by updating it to include a more up to date looks at the gang as they mature into serious relationships and settle down in to family life.
The film starts with a flash back to a more innocent time where peripubescent are having a basketball game. One group of course has to win, and as it’s a championship game, these will be the boys we will watch later on as they struggle with their own lives, the lives of their spouses, and their childrens’ lives.
It is the death of their former coach brings them together on a Fourth of July weekend in the small town where they originally started out.
To be sure the humor is at times idiotic, and I do mean beyond infantile, but there is an undercurrent of familial values, oddly enough even among just the five guys who are the lynch pin to the story. Sometimes family is what you are born into, sometimes family is about who you marry and have kids with, and sometimes family is that special group of people that you weren’t related to, but grew up with anyway. Continue reading “Our thoughts on Adam Sandler’s GROWN UPS” »
Cinémaniax rencontre Heroes of the North
Guy Caumartin de LeFrelonVert.Com, Sarah Szefer de Cybermaniax.Net et George Meszaros de Cinemaniax.Net/eng rencontrent Alpha Q et Marie-Claude Bourbonnais pour le personnage du Frelon pour la nouvelle série web “HEROES OF THE NORTH” en direct de la Place Bonaventure pour le Comic-Con de Montréal.
Heroes of the north relate les aventures d’un groupe de super-héros canadiens et québécois qui doivent affronter une horde de vilains dont une bande de nouveaux Felquistes assoiffés de pouvoir ainsi qu’une organisation terroriste internationale dans une bataille épique entre le bien et le mal.
Ils prévoient quinze épisodes pour la première saison (appelés Origins): cinq épisodes relatant les origines respective des cinq héros principaux, cinq autres détaillant le recrutement des héros montréalais par The Canadian, le super-héros d’Ottawa, et ses sbires, et finalement cinq derniers épisodes expliquant la montée d’un groupe terroriste international, Medusa, qui trouve ses racines dans les plans diaboliques d’un docteur nazi. Tournée principalement en anglais, elle s’affiche comme bilingue. Elle sera sous-titrée dans la langue dans la langue requise (français / anglais). L’action se situant à Montréal, les Nouveaux Felquistes parlent donc français.
Denis Lalumière│Cinemaniax.Net
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Cinemaniax with Chris Claremont (Nuff said!)
Believe or not, being there, at the Montreal Comic-Con for nearly 2 hours, having collected almost everything written by this man, I could not attend and host this incredible interview due to a dance show where my two beautiful girls where presenting they’re final act at the Saputo Theatre in St-Leonard. All worth it. Still, missing what I wished, could have been my favorite interview so far, I was lucky enough to send in Guy Caumartin from LeFrelonVert.Com, Sarah Sefer from Cybermaniax.Net and George Geza Meszaros from the soon to be available; Cinemaniax.Net/eng for an exclusive face to face with the award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year (1975–1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer; Chris Claremont.
On this podcast you will hear how the “Dark Phoenix Saga”, “Days of Future Past” and “X-MEN FOREVER” writer began his career with MARVEL, his creation process as a writer, the differences of individual ideas from the collectives one, his comprehension of the modern preconceive comics for future movie productions and his critic for X-MEN: The Last Stand.
Listen carefully about his interpretation on the failed project of SPIDER-MAN 4 by Sam Raimi, his evaluations from the 1980’s era with X-MEN and everything related to them, a out of the box look at the Disney·Marvel deal, his created characters and written stories elsewhere at DC Comics, Image Comics and more, the advantages of working with many houses of ideas, the schools of the industries and his hint on how and where to become the best at what you wish for.
Till then, make mine Cinemaniax!
Denis Lalumière│Cinemaniax.Net
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Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (4 of 4)
#4 in a four podcast limited series.
I can’t believe we are at the end of this marvelous Round Table spectacle, here at Cinemaniax.Net with most of the crew. I speak on behalf of the staff when I say that by going into English podcast territory, we meant all the best we could by bringing and sharing information, entertainment about the MARVEL universe on the big screen.
We invite you to go back with us on the first part about the beginning of MARVEL films, the second one about our favorites and worst adaptations over the years about most of our beloved characters from the MARVEL universe and our most exciting third part about upcoming films projects already in pre-production and production. Here, for the last one, we kind of went back into childhood mindset and went crazy on years back memories about some of the best stuff in animations and public broadcast specials. Continue reading “Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (4 of 4)” »
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MTV’s THE HILLS: Season Five 5, Part 2
A Review By G. Geza Meszaros.
When first asked to review this I had my reservations. Coming in to a series with a fresh pair of eyes starting halfway through the fifth season is a daunting task. The characters haven’t really grown on you as they might if you start from the first episode of the first season.
MTV's THE HILLS: Season Five 5, Part 2
One of the many positives of this series is that in each episode, each time a character shows up, their name appears on screen. Like a running scorecard so you can keep track of who’s who. Each scene only last 3 – 5 minutes and the story arcs are hampered by that. Maybe watching too many MTV Music Videos is what is ultimately responsible for upsurge in ADHD in this generation. What should have been major is treated as fluff and what is basically fluff is treated as earth shattering disaster. But that is the joy of youth, it’s strength, and it’s beauty. Continue reading “MTV’s THE HILLS: Season Five 5, Part 2” »
Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (3 of 4)
#3 in a four podcast limited series.
This times around, the whole cast talks about upcoming films projects already in pre-production and production such as IRON MAN 2, THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA.
IRON MAN 2. Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) returns to the big screen—and the Iron Man armor—in 2010. Joined by Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), expect big-time action and adventure in the Mighty Marvel Manner come May 7, 2010.
THOR. Chris Hemsworth portrays the title character with Tom Hiddleston in the role of Thor’s brother Loki, and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. Additionally, the studio has cast Academy Award® winning actor Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Renee Russo as Frigga, Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun, Josh Dallas as Fandral, Jaimie Alexander as Sif, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Continue reading “Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (3 of 4)” »
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Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (2 of 4)
#2 in a four podcast limited series.
On this second part of four for the MARVEL edition of Cinemaniax Round Table, Sarah Szefer from Cybermaniax.Net, Guy Caumartin from LeFrelonVert.Com, George Meszaro (guest), Martin Albert from LeCoinDuDVD.Com and I are going head to head about our favorites and worst adaptations over the years about most of our beloved characters from the MARVEL universe. First up, the underestimated film DAREDEVIL. An American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil. Jennifer Garner plays his love interest Elektra Natchios, Colin Farrell plays the merciless assassin Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan plays Wilson Fisk, also known as the crime lord Kingpin. Continue reading “Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (2 of 4)” »
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Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (1 of 4)
#1 in a four podcast limited series.
Hope that you’ll enjoy our first round table in English, here at Cinemaniax.Net with a coverage of mostly everything we could came up with to presents a special show from the major part of the cast that works here, talking about films being adapted in the past, currently being made or in the process of becoming a reality from the MARVEL universe. In this first part of the show, Sarah Szefer from Cybermaniax.Net, Guy Caumartin from LeFrelonVert.Com, George Meszaro (guest), Martin Albert from LeCoinDuDVD.Com and myself (Denis Lalumière from… here!), are giving away our thoughts about HOWARD THE DUCK, BLADE and, what could be considered the beginning of well done films, X-MEN. Continue reading “Round Table Cinemaniax: MARVEL (1 of 4)” »
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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Review)
A Review By G. Geza Meszaros.
©2010 Paramount Pictures
While Hiccup would be an unusual name in any culture, it is most assuredly appropiate for the main character of this story. Hiccup is a boy on the verge of becoming a man. But not in the way one would expect. He is not about to follow the ways of his ancestors who have hated, and therefore fought dragons usually to the death. His journey to manhood takes the most unusual turn possible thereby making his name most appropriate. His father is Stoick. His is the leader of the vikings, and while otherwise a proud man, who has but one shame. His son. Hiccup is puny, weak, lacking courage as Stoick sees courage. In order to biuld Hiccup into more of a man, he has his son already apprenticed to the local black smith with the thinking that a lot of hard work will bring his son around.
It doesn’t but it does give Hiccup a whole new skill set that will aid him in the very near future. Hiccup is a tinkerer. He designs new things and new uses for old things. During an attack by dragons early in the story, he uses a machine even his boss doesn’t think is going to work well. Hiccup takes it out and uses it during the heat of battle. Blacker than a moonless night, and far more accurate in its aim than all the other dragons, the Night Fury is the least known of the dragons and therefore the most feared. Hiccup uses the machine, which fires a net, against the Night Fury and miraculously down for the count it goes. Continue reading “HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Review)” »
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