Going into Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect – the commercials made it look a little scary, and I normally have a hard time believing that Katie Holmes can act. I should’ve known that, because it was a Guillermo del Toro film, it was going to be awesome.

First of all, oh it is so BEAUTIFUL. The opening credits were stunning. They may have actually been the best part of the movie itself, and I will be buying the movie when it comes out on DVD just so I can watch the those first few minutes again. As my friend said, you very rarely see opening credits like that these days. They used to do it all the time before Star Wars started the trend of moving away from the elaborate opening credits as an introduction to the feeling of the movie you were about to see, and it’s sad. Sometimes you get the beautiful ending credits (I’m thinking of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events here), but you rarely get the opening ones. You can tell that a lot of care, time and talent was put into just the first few minutes of the movie itself. Totally amazing.

So the opening credits set the scene, and then we get our first glimpse of the setting – an large, beautiful manor on Rhode Island. Stained glass windows, library, monograms engraved into the wood, oh they all lend to an amazingly gothic feel for the movie. Fast forward a few generations, and the dilapidated feeling of an abandoned home oozes atmosphere off the screen. Perfection.

The story itself was wonderful too. It pulled inspiration from the original fairy stories – you know the ones I’m talking about. The dark fey. The fey who would steal children. The ones who caused utter havoc. The ones that people were afraid of. In my opinion, the Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark movie did for fey what good urban fantasy has been doing for years – very much distancing itself from the friendly, sparkly, happy fey that people have come to believe are the real deal.

I don’t know how this version compares with the original made-for-tv movie, but I hear there are a fair amount of changes – especially in the fact that Sally, the main character, is a young girl in the remake, whereas in the original she was an adult. I think having Sally as a child certainly makes the movie quite creepy and more … well … realistic as far as fey go.

In the end, I would highly recommend this movie to fans of dark fey, and I really cannot wait until it’s released on DVD so I can grab myself a copy.

Here’s the thing about John Hughes. He GOT what being a teenager was like. Watching those movies you relive the pain, the awkwardness, the excitement and the insecurity of what teenage life was really like. It’s a snapshot of a real high school, with your divisions and cliques and politics. It’s REAL. The movie industry has lost so much due to John Hughes’ death.

So many of my favourite movies had been written or directed or produced (or all three) by John Hughes – Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off… I still regularly watch these movies, and can still quote along with half of them.

(So, dear radio host – if you are talking about how Sixteen Candles is one of your favourite movies, and how you still get goosebumps in the scene were Samantha exits the church to see Jake Ryan leaning against his car across the street, please at least get the guy’s name right and don’t call him “that cute guy in the movie whose name I can’t remember.” It’s a bit of an insult to those of us who really DO love that movie.)

In honour of John Hughes, I watched Pretty in Pink last night. (I would love to have a movie marathon this weekend of his others, but am heading off to the Fergus Scottish Festival & Highland Games instead.) And watching Pretty in Pink last night made me remember a few things. First is how awesome John Hughes’ movies are for having the perfect music for what is going on and who the characters are. Another thing was how awesome the casting in his movies was. Oh, how I wanted to be just like Molly Ringwald in some of the ones that she was in. Oh, how I loved Jake Ryan. Oh, how I related to The Geek. Oh how I hated Steff. Lastly, is how much fun the dialogue was in his movies. Here are a few of my favourite quotes:

The Geek: So, what’s your story? I mean, you got a guy, or…?
Samantha: Yes, three big ones, and they lust wimp blood so quit bugging me or I’ll sic them all over your weenie ass.

Andie: You know your talking like that just because I’m going out with Blane.
Duckie: His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!

John Hughes, you will be greatly missed, and teen movies will never be the same without you.

I will admit that when I realized that this was made by the same people who made the Saw movies, I seriously reconsidered purchasing it, because I really Do Not enjoy scary movies. But I’m so so so happy that I bought it.

It’s a dark movie, obviously, given the subject matter. In the 21st century, there is a pandemic of organ failures – a lot of people die from it. Out of the chaos rises GeneCo, a company that does organ transplants. If you can’t afford one, they will partially fund it. But if you can’t make any of your payments, they will send the Repo Man to take back the organ that you got.

So yes, dark subject matter. But oh, it was a gorgeous movie. The music is brilliant (but I knew that already). It’s all singing, as per usual for an opera. Sometimes it felt a little awkward, but for the most part it was brilliant. The costumes were awesome. The setting was creepy; it felt futuristic yet somehow gothic. It was just all-around beautiful (in a dark sort of way). Yes, there were parts that were gory, but it was done in such a way that it definitely did not seem realistic at all – I think this was definitely a factor as to why I loved this and wasn’t really squeamish at all about it.

The cast was brilliant – Anthony Stewart Head! Sarah Brightman! Lots of others! Lovely people! Even Paris Hilton wasn’t as bad as I had expected her to be.

I also loved the use of comic book panels to tell the backstory of each of the characters. Because the characters all had a past that (in all honesty) could have made up a whole new movie of its own, it was certainly an effective way to explain it without making it confusing (which it could have easily become).

So yes, brilliant movie! Will be watching it again soon. And now I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all day. Oh, wonderful stuff!

I think most people know what this movie is about – during WWII, there were numerous attempts to assassinate Hitler. This movie is about the last attempt. That’s all, really.

Overall, I have to say that I was impressed. It wasn’t a bad movie. The acting was first-rate – the cast… WELL. There were so many familiar faces in it that I spent a good time trying to figure out where I had seen a lot of those actors before. Highlights of the cast: Bill Nighy is a brilliant actor no matter what role he takes on. Kenneth Branagh is fabulous. Jamie Parker! Jamie Parker! Every time he was on screen, I will completely admit that I had an urge to watch History Boys again. Even Tom Cruise wasn’t as annoying as I normally find him. It was … a little … unsettling.

The score for the movie was beautiful. John Ottman, the composer, has done a lot of stuff for other movies I’ve enjoyed (X2 and Superman Returns particularly), and I’ve always been impressed with his music. There are a couple of songs that I definitely want to get my hands on – especially They’ll Remember You. Ack! Gorgeous!!

So it wasn’t bad. It felt a little slow and dragging in the middle, but other than that it wasn’t bad. Would I see it again? No. Would I listen to the score? Heck yes! Has this movie changed my opinion of Tom Cruise? Not in the slightest. But it wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening.

I’ve only ever seen a few things that Ricky Gervais has been in, but I know that he’s a very funny actor. As far as Greg Kinnear goes, well at times I quite enjoy his work, and at others … I don’t. Happily, this was one of those times where I quite enjoyed his stuff. Gervais and Kinnear played so well off each other, their bantering was by far the best part of this movie. And there was a lot of bantering. It was all completely laugh-out-loud, can’t-drink-my-iced-tea-for-fear-of-spitting-it-out funny.

The rest of the movie was alright, as was the rest of the cast – the female lead (played by Téa Leoni) was pretty good, and there were A LOT of familiar faces in the minor characters, but they faded into the background when Kinnear and Gervais were on screen.

This was a very funny movie, and is definitely something I would recommend to someone to pass a couple of hours quite happily.

And coming away from the movie, I have to say that I loved it. Loved it. There were parts that made me angry, but overall, it was wonderful, and beautiful, and everything that I expected.

First, I need to get something off my chest about it. I did not like the casting choice of Caspian. I still have the image of Jean-Marc Perret’s Caspian in my head, and the Caspian in this adaptation was too old for my liking – he’s 13 in the books, and I prefer him that age. It gives the story more innocence. Also, I didn’t enjoy the whole Susan/Caspian thing going on. I can understand that they need to get the teenage girl audience into watching this movie, but still… Narnia does not need romance to make it good and exciting.

Susan and Peter are my least favourite characters in the Narnia series, and this movie certainly did not change that feeling towards them on the whole. Peter seemed more cocky than normal, and what was up with him leading the troops into Miraz’s castle? Anyone could see that it was a disaster waiting to happen. (People totally need to listen to what Lucy says more often.) In the movies I feel rather indifferent to Susan, which I suppose is better than the dislike I have towards her in the books. She had some beautiful scenes, but it wasn’t enough to make me really like her.

They changed the order of how things happened compared to the book; I can understand why they did it for the most part – wanted to get as many scenes as possible with our kids in them, and whatnot. But it was a little surprising at first. I wish that more of the kids had seen Aslan like they do in the books, on their journey to Aslan’s How… but I can understand that if they had done that, then they couldn’t have Peter storming the castle, and that would’ve taken away half the battle scenes in the movie. Wish Aslan was in it more. But with them taking away all the Christian message in the first movie, it was rather surprising that it felt very Christian when Lucy finally did meet up with Aslan… I don’t remember exactly what it was, but there was something about their conversation.

I love that Warwick Davis was Nikabrik this time around! Warwick Davis is brilliant, and I love how he played an evil character in this adaptation, when in the BBC adaptation he played Reepicheep. Quite the change, and he did evil so well!

I still love Skandar Keynes as Edmund. As one of my favourite Narnian characters, I am so happy that they made such a wonderful choice in actors. He’s a brilliant Edmund! I just hope their casting for Eustace Scrubb is as good as their casting for Edmund.

The score was still lovely, though they totally reused some songs from the first movie. Loved Switchfoot’s song during the credits. Will need to buy that at some point in time.

Overall, a fabulous movie. Again, some things really bothered me, but it was beautiful for the most part! Beautiful! Will be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

Marvel definitely did not disappoint with this movie. But then again, it’s Marvel, so what did I expect? I mean, other than Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand, when has Marvel ever really disappointed me? Oh wait, there was the travesty that was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer too. BUT other than those three movies, when has Marvel Studios ever let me down? It had what I enjoy in movies – great soundtrack (how could it not be good when it opens with AC/DC’s Back in Black?), great cast, awesome special effects and snarky humour. On the topic of the humour in the movie, let’s face it, Pepper Potts had most of the best lines. And she was not some wimpy female superhero’s girlfriend like a certain Mary Jane Watson.

The villain left a little bit to be desired… I can understand his lust for power would drive him to do what he does, but … there’s no mystery! I like my villains to be a little bit more in-depth, to make me wonder what drives them, and why they are the bad guy. I suppose, in the next installment, they can have more time to focus on the villains as the movie won’t be so much about introducing Iron Man. At least one can hope.

Of course there was the scene after the credits that I loved. Ah, how could one not be excited about Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance? I mean, dude. Excitement! Stuff to look forward to! Yay!

Overall, a fun and entertaining movie, but not one that I’m going to buy on DVD.

You have GOT to be kidding me. There are limits to what I will accept as a modern day retelling. I think I may want to cry a little bit.

I read the books about four years ago, and while I loved the illustrations in the books and the general idea of the story, the books themselves did nothing for me. The narration wasn’t enjoyable and there was no real character development. If I had been in the age group these books were aimed at, I would’ve loved them, but as an older reader reading them, they just didn’t do anything for me. Since then, I’ve gone back and looked at the illustrations (because they are beautiful) but haven’t reread them.

The first time I saw the trailer, I got so excited to see this movie. As I said, I loved the general idea of the story, so this seemed like it would work for me better as a movie than the books did. And in the end, I was right – I loved the movie. This is one of the very few times you’re ever going to read me saying this – I did enjoy the movie so much more than the books.

It did have its flaws, the main one being that Freddie Highmore did not have a great American accent. But then again, he’s still young, still learning, so he did well considering all that. It also took liberties with the book. What book adaptation doesn’t? And considering the fact that they had to put five (albeit short) books into an hour and a half movie, it’s not surprising.

But it had a lot of good points too. It was very funny. It could have been the fact that we were surrounded by a bunch of kids and their amusement was infectious, but there were other times when my friend and I were the only two in the theatre laughing. Mary-Louise Parker was wonderful as always, and Sarah Bolger was adorable. The fairies in the movie – well, they ran anywhere from being cute and lovely and gorgeous to slightly frightening. They looked so real most of the time that it was, at times, hard to remember that they weren’t real.

This was definitely one of the most enjoyable movies that I’ve seen in theatres in a while, and I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

John Hughes is brilliant. Sixteen Candles? One of my all-time favourite movies. I may have had a bit of a crush on Jake Ryan, and yes, deep down, I may have wanted to be just like Molly Ringwald.

I may have been a (really) little kid when most of the movies written about in these essays were first released, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love and appreciate them as much if I had seen them all in theatre.

This book is a collection of essays on those films that became such well-known and well-loved movies. It mostly focuses on Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but there are some mentions of Weird Science, Some Kind of Wonderful and Uncle Buck in there as well. The foreword was written by the lovely, talented Ally Sheedy, and it really showed how much she respeced Hughes and enjoyed working with him.

As with any collection by numerous people, there were essays I did not enjoy, and others I loved. Make a Wish: The First Kiss Lasts Forever (written by Mary Sullivan) was my favourite; she analyzed and compared some of John Hughes’ movies (as well as what she herself was going through during that time period) to the Cinderella story. It always amuses me to see how much what we watch and read today has to do with those classic fairy tales or myths, and next time I sit down and watch any of those movies, I’m definitely going to be thinking about Cinderella.

Another one I quite enjoyed was by Moon Unit Zappa – How John Hughes Altered My Life – although, at times it came across that she was trying to impress the reader with everyone famous that she has met.

This was definitely a thought-provoking read, and I will view the movies just a little bit differently next time I watch them.