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Blood Diamond [ 2006 ] [ Hits:19318 ]
Review: Blood Diamond is an intense, thrilling, blood-drenched action drama about diamond smuggling in Africa. The story rests on the capable shoulders of Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, who were both nominated for Oscars for their performances. At the helm is Edward Zwick, another big name in Oscar history, who lays claim to other pearls such as Glory, Legends of the Fall, Shakespeare in Love, Traffic and The Last Samurai. Danny Archer is a Zimbabwean, ex-mercenary diamond smuggler. He overhears ...

Gold [ Hits:11236 ]
Review: Gold is based on a true story. While it may be set in the '80s, instead of the '90s, change a few names and conjoin a few characters... the essence of the story lives on in this film about hitting the big time. Gold is something of a character portrait, blending adventure, entrepreneurship and biographical drama to tell the rags-to-riches story of down-on-his-luck prospector, Kenny Wells. Acting on a vision, he finds himself partnering with a geologist on a promising mining expedition in the jun...

The Mummy [ Hits:11077 ]
Review: Tom Cruise has come a long way since he converted to Scientology and stopped aging. He may have found the fountain of youth, trail-blazed a comeback and reinstated himself as a Hollywood legend, but as tall as he is on that pedestal... he's far from perfect as evidenced in his latest film, The Mummy. One thing that's missing from Tom's repertoire of talent is comedy... the elusive genre that many actors turn to as they age, maybe it's just Bob De Niro. While he was memorable as Les Grossman in t...

Ben-Hur [ Hits:11293 ]
Review: The Ben-Hur of 1959 starring Charlton Heston is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. A remake of a silent movie, the production took six months to film and six months of postproduction to complete at a cost of just under $15 million. Massive sets, thousands of costumes and long days, it was a colossal undertaking, inspired by The Ten Commandments. Originally, Marlon Brando was set to star but the iconic role eventually found its way to Charlton Heston with the film generatin...

The Legend of Tarzan [ Hits:11137 ]
Review: "Me Tarzan, you Jane." This is the essence of Tarzan, King of the Apes. A feral man tries to relate to a civilised woman, creating a tension between their worlds as they attract and society repels. In The Legend of Tarzan, we are cast into the future beyond the events of Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Instead of Tarzan's revolutionary transition from ape to man, the story concerns a return to the wild and adopting old ways. Tarzan, now better known as John Clayton III, Lord ...

The Jungle Book [ Hits:11199 ]
Review: When people think of The Jungle Book, they conjure up images of dancing bears, kooky comedy and jovial songs centring around, essentially a young "Tarzan". While the beloved 1967 Disney fairytale probably has a special place in most people's hearts, few would have guessed that it would be reimagined as a much darker "live–action" adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's books. In what seems like a blend of the brothers Grimm and Kipling, Iron Man director Jon Favreau has reinvented the story. Using am...

Point Break 3D [ Hits:11221 ]
Review: Point Break 3D has been inspired by Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break (1991) starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Instead of a cop infiltrating a gang of ex-President mask wearing surfers in one locale, we're entrenched in a globe-trotting game of extreme sports as a would-be Robin Hood and his daredevil team attempt to do the near-impossible. While it starts as a tribute, essentially picking up where the original left off, everything's been supersized with monumental feats. This re-imagining ...

A Walk in the Woods [ Hits:11182 ]
Review: A Walk in the Woods is just like its movie title: breezy and understated. That's the inherent charm of this adaptation of Bill Bryson's novel, it's an easy-going and amusing adventure drama that ambles along, never straying too far from the path. The path is the Appalachian trail, a 2000 mile hike and six month journey very few manage to see through. While it may not have the spiritual dimension of the Camino De Santiago, it's become a piece of Americana that connects travelers with their ho...

Unbroken [ Hits:11494 ]
Review: Louis Zamperini's story was bound to become a movie. The Olympian, war veteran and survivor's tale of resilience and triumph of the human spirit is astounding. From his early years of fighting off bullies, training for the Olympics, war-time heroics, deep sea survival and prisoner-of-war camp degradation... we're cast into an epic and powerful true story. Zamperini's true life survival adventure caught the attention of filmmakers after it was adapted by Laura Hillenbrand into the book, Unbr...

Exodus: Gods and Kings [ Hits:11252 ]
Review: Exodus: Gods and Kings is a new action adventure drama from Ridley Scott based on the book of Exodus and retold from the perspective of a sibling rivalry. Instead of casting Russell Crowe for the third time, after Robin Hood and his former glory, Gladiator, Scott has enticed Christian Bale to play his hero, Moses. Crowe played a cruel mix of Noah for Darren Aronofsky in a similarly poised Biblical epic. Scott's sword-and-sandals action-adventure turns Moses into a warrior half-prince, whose bat...

Noah [ Hits:11888 ]
Review: Darren Aronofsky's Biblical fantasy epic was spawned from his fascination with the character of Noah. On the surface, Noah was a man commissioned by God to build an ark and gather two of every bird, animal and reptile before the floods cleansed the earth of humanity. The retelling of this Old Testament story tends to focus on the creatures, but Aronofsky turns to the characters and their near-apocalyptic plight. Russell Crowe plays the title role of Noah. He's a strong actor, famous for his mel...

The Perfect Wave [ Hits:12572 ]
Review: Only a surfer knows the feeling. It's not surprising that films about surfing, like Chasing Mavericks, Soul Surfer and now The Perfect Wave, often deal with people experiencing life-changing and near-death experiences. The subculture has an almost religious following around the world as men and women return to the ocean for another transcendent moment on the crest of a wave. This is where The Perfect Wave drops in, based on the true story of Ian McCormack, a wide-eyed young adventurer who...

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty [ Hits:11339 ]
Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an adventure-slash-comedy directed by and starring Ben Stiller. Every couple of years, Stiller decides to direct a film and the result is always interesting: Reality Bites, The Cable Guy, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder and now The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, an adaptation of a short story by James Thurber, which was originally adapted to film in 1947. The story covers the extraordinarily ordinary Walter Mitty, whose daydreaming catches up with him when he undertak...

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [ Hits:11652 ]
Review: The Hunger Games underplayed its hand. While competent and carried by a strong performance from Jennifer Lawrence, Gary Ross seemed like the wrong director for the film. Getting the Seabiscuit and Pleasantville director on-board must have been a ploy to cushion the adult themes to appeal to a much broader audience. While marketed as a teen read, The Lord of the Flies meets Survivor series by Suzanne Collins is actually quite harrowing. After Ross declined to return for the sequel, a number of h...

Life of Pi [ Hits:16735 ]
Review: Life of Pi is a breathtaking adventure drama from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee. Based on the book by Yann Martel, this beautiful film tells the story of Pi Patel, a young Indian boy whose survival at sea forms the basis for a spiritual journey of epic proportions. Ang Lee has a firm grasp on translating intimate and epic moments, making him a great choice to direct Life of Pi, a film which has had several directors attached, including M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and ...

The Rum Diary [ Hits:14075 ]
Review: I hate it when a movie trailer turns out to be a 2 minute highlights reel. The Rum Diary is one such movie that promises a Dagwood and serves up a crouton. On paper, The Rum Diary should have been all that and more, reuniting the legendary actor-writer team behind Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Johnny Depp and Hunter S. Thompson are like hand and glove, but The Rum Diary will be remembered as the one that didn't quite gel. Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary has film adaptation potential: ...

War Horse [ Hits:14316 ]
Review: Stephen Spielberg loves a good war drama and it shows, having directed Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Empire of the Sun and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. All of these epic dramas were set in and around World War II, which is just one reason the Best Picture nominated War Horse is so different... War Horse is set in World War I, based on a 1982 children's novel and the 2007 stage play adaptation. The story begins in a pastoral setting in Dartmoor in 1914 as a local farmer buys a be...

Hugo [ Hits:14319 ]
Review: Hugo is a well-oiled machine that lacks heart and soul. Primed as a family adventure in the style of City of Ember, this Parisian tale looks magical, backed by a solid cast, a fascinating story and a powerful director. However, despite the best intentions - the atmosphere is stilted, the charm is stunted and Hugo relies too heavily on its beauty to carry the story. Child stars, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moretz, do an amazing job as co-leads. You could say that their performances are a lit...

The Adventures of Tintin [ Hits:14446 ]
Review: The nostalgic The Adventures of Tintin animation series by Herge gave Belgium another famous fictional personality other than Poirot, one whose agenda often involved political conspiracy and espionage. The graphic novels have entertained their readers, delivering a soft James Bond meets Poirot type character in elaborate situations with freedom of imagination.Tintin wouldn't be Tintin without its iconic array of lovable characters: Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thomson & Thompson, Nes...

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [ Hits:14711 ]
Review: Blackbeard, Barbarossa, Captain Kidd and Davy Jones would’ve rolled in their sea graves if they’d known fictional pirates like Long John Silver, Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow would become more famous than them. Well, as real as Keith Richards is… he’s no pirate – not the way we think at least! Johnny Depp’s famous pirate characterisation of the legendary Rolling Stones rocker has become probably the most iconic pirate in history after the rollicking success of theme park ri...

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