Reviews

I usually have no problem reviewing movies, but I find the "Lovely Bones" a very difficult movie to review. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the story-line: the movie focuses on young 14 year old Susie Salmon who has a passion for photography but who is later raped and killed by the sadistic Mr. Havery, a man who lives in her neighborhood. When Susie is killed, she goes on to watch her family from her "Heaven". I would not usually watch movies of this genre, but the book (by Alice Sebold) and fantastic visual affects pulled me in straight away. The first-half of the movie is absolutely brilliant and many pivotal scenes (and dialogue) from the book are kept in i.e. when Susie drives her "sick" brother to the hospital. We are introduced to several main characters (Ruth, Ray etc) and are able to see Susie grow up, thus making her murder more difficult to sit through (though nothing is actually shown).

Pardon my expression but I was biting my fingernails on several occasions and quite literally, on the edge of my seat, especially when Lindsey Salmon breaks into and escapes the murderer's house! The graphic details, although not shown, are still very dark and disturbing and the movie is overall, very difficult to sit through, though this does not mean it is not entertaining. As many reviewers have already pointed out, I felt at times, the movie focused its valuable time far too much on the visual-affects (in "Susie's Heaven") rather than the story or in this scenario, character development. For example, I did not feel we knew enough about Buckley (Susie's younger brother), who plays a pivotal role in the book, while Ruth's character is sadly not explored at all. Other characters featured in the book are also missing.

On the bright side, the CGI/visual affects are very beautiful to look at and with it's bittersweet humour and ability to play at your heart-strings like a fiddle, this makes this movie well-worth watching. Many of the scenes in the book are in here, although for somebody who has not yet read it, it may be a little confusing. Saoirise Ronan (as Susie Salmon), is absolutely faultless, as are many of the other actors/actresses in this movie. To sum it up, I think the "Lovely Bones" is a very entertaining movie. It's not the best movie I've seen but it's certainly not the worst either. I would agree with other reviewers when I say the "Lovely Bones" focuses more on the imagery than anything else, thus earning a 7/10 rating from me. Give it a go but be prepared to lower your expectations.

Imagine Me and You is a wonderful uplifting film and is everything a comedy should be. It is original, charming, witty and has some great laugh out loud moments while having just the right amount of drama in between. Granted, this is not your usual stereotypical love story. Instead of boy meets girl, it's girl meets girl! Here's the story in a nut shell: Rachel is getting married to the very lovable Heck who is also her best friend. During the wedding, she meets florist, Luce whom she "clicks" with immediately. But when sparks begin to fly, it causes some trouble between her family and friends; hilarious results ensue! I also think it delivers a very good message although I will let you figure that out for yourself.

Piper (Rachel) and Lena (Luce) have amazing chemistry on screen (and really feel like a "real" couple) while Matthew Goode shines as the all lovable Heck! Do not be put out by the ridiculous R rating! There is only one lot of bad language and the suggestive content is only what you would expect in a 12 rated movie. This is definitely a "feel-good" film and really puts a smile on your face. It has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and does not use crude humour and ridiculousness to deliver them. The "football stadium" scene for instance was very sweet and funny at the same time. Yes, some may say it's a little predictable but it's lighthearted and fun and well worth watching. Whether you are lesbian or straight, I would definitely recommend watching this movie. I only wish there were more comedies like this...8/10.

This film is OK but I found it exceedingly predictable and a little far fetched. The CGI is OK but is not great, it is definitely not King Kong CGI. Baby Crusole was cute but there was not much interaction between boy and water horse as every time we did see them together, the boy (Angus) was either called away or was interrupted. There was only one long scene of them together and in this scene Angus actually rides the water horse in the loch and somehow manages to hold his breath for long periods of time while under water! I know it was only fiction but you have to be realistic to some extent. However this scene was done well, especially when the water horse rises quickly to the surface and water splashes everywhere. This was one of my favourite scenes and my only criticism is that it kept repeating similar shots.

The story - An old man who is obviously an elderly Angus tells his story which is set in WWII to two tourists in a pub. The boy Angus finds a heavily encrusted but crystal blue egg on a beach (I thought it looked pretty similar to the egg in Eragon) and takes it home to a large house where his mother is the house keeper and keeps it hidden in an outhouse. It hatches by itself and Angus discovers the empty shell later. Angus finds it exceedingly hard to keep his growing friend a secret especially when soldiers move into the grounds of the house. From then on the story was pretty predictable, big water horse is in the loch, army try to destroy it, water horse needs rescuing. It was just plain and simple! To help her Angus's mother hires a mysterious handyman called Lewis. Angus and Lewis get off to a rocky start but soon become friends thanks to the water horse and Lewis becomes a temporary father figure to Angus.

This story was OK. Some scenes were pretty moving while others were over-dramatic and very loud because the boy unfortunately had a loud and screeching voice when excited which happened quite often. Kids are bound to enjoy this film though, there is action, no romance and a cute critter who grows enormous in short bursts and has to be released into the loch. Oddly enough, Crusole is only ever called a water horse and the name, Loch Ness Monster is not mentioned. Also, the story bares some resemblance to the ending of Free Willy.

This film is good and worth watching and I think kids will enjoy it as it is fast paced and exciting and has a nice twist to the end. My rating = 6/10.