US BOX OFFICE REPORT JULY 26

A bunch of guinea pigs ruled the US Box Office last weekend crown while the school of wizard kids tumbled down hard. Jerry Bruckheimer-produced G-Force grossed US$ 31.7 million in the box office ticket sales domestically, opening for a number one. The gross number was short form the earlier estimation of US$ 33 million, but the actual number is still solid.

G-Force is a story about a group of home pet – guinea pigs and hamsters which can talk and do karate kicks, been trained by the government of the United States to run a mission against a thug. Been a family film always have an upper-hand advantage because it plays to a wider spectrum of audience. G-Force will opens in Malaysia on September 17.

Harry Potter and the gangs fell to number two, collecting another US$ 29.5 million for a total of US$ 221.3 million after 10 days. The gross dropped 62% which is harsh but expected due to front load demands.



Also opening solid are two films with different genre. Gerard Butler and Katherine Hiegl’s The Ugly Truth opened not far behind at bronze medal for US$ 27.6 million. The romantic comedy with a little ‘vulgarity and sexuality’ will opens in Malaysia on October 1.

Opening at fourth, a horror thriller that has sparked a little controversy due to its negative impact among child adoption is Orphan. The horror grossed US$ 12.9 million, on par with most horror movie including Drag Me To Hell recently. Orphan will opens in Malaysia on September 3.

Here is the complete actual Top 12 for the weekend in US.

MORE THRILLER SPY MOVIES IN TALK

Today, three news emerge as three big name producers are in the hot seat to deal two different but similarly take on a thriller spy genre. Ever the success of The Bourne Trilogy - a three films adaptation from Robert Ludlum's beloved hits based on a amnesic CIA hitman Jason Bourne. This is based on our reliable source at here and here.

First, it has been a long story since Bourne 4 been officially announced. No title yet to be attached but actor Matt Damon has been long attached for the title role of Jason Bourne. Paul Greengrass was also been attached to direct as like the previous installments. The film may role out on 2011 release by the Universal Pictures.



Secondly, The Parsifal Mosaic, another Robert Ludlum but it will not involve anything about Jason. Again, Universal Pictures, who owns the rights on all Robert Ludlum's works has attached Ron Howard to direct this espionage thriller. David Self (Road To Perdition, The Wolf Man) will adapt the novel about "a CIA operative who thinks he witnessed the execution of his lover after she was identified as a KGB double agent."

Lastly, we turn the attention to Steven Spielberg. He is seriously considering to turn Donald Hamilton's 27 novels in the Matt Helm series into a blockbuster that reminiscence Bourne-mania. Matt Helm is an American 'counter-agent' rather than a spy but still involve in killing enemy agents. No official announcement but we know that Spielberg was excited to restart the project which was left behind at Paramount after the draft rewritten by Paul Attanasio last week.

POSTERS AND TRAILERS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, SHUTTER ISLAND AND MUCH MORE

First look and 'not-so-exclusive' in GreenTeaMovie!, we have several movie posters for our reader to gaze on. Be anticipated - that is my first reaction upon seeing this great posters and trailers.

POSTERS

Upcoming movies that will be feature in this particular post includes Sherlock Holmes, Shutter Island, and next summer's Prince of Persia.

SHERLOCK HOLMES
(Warner Bros. 25/12/2009)

SHUTTER ISLAND

(Paramount Pictures 02/10/2009)


PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
(Buena Vista 28/05/2010)



TRAILERS

Besides those awesome posters, here we have a collection of a few new movie teasers and trailers online from Youtube exclusive for you.

ALICE IN THE WONDERLAND (TEASER TRAILER)
(Buena Vista 05/03/2010)



TRON LEGACY (TEASER TRAILER)
(Buena Vista)



DORIAN GRAY (OFFICIAL TRAILER)
(Momentum Pictures UK release of 09/09/2009)

NEW FOOTAGE: PRINCE OF PERSIA – THE SANDS OF TIME

Next year’s May 28 will be the date when another Jerry Bruckheimer’s blockbuster production, under the direction of Mike Newell will hit the theatre. If you do not know who Jerry Bruckheimer is, where have you been? He is the man behind many hits like The Rock, Pearl Harbor, The Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy, Armageddon and upcoming G-Force (coming soon).

Based on the best-selling games; Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time will be a summer box-office in the making, with the brooding Jake Gyllenhaal will plays Prince Dastan, along with the sexy Gemma Arteton whom will plays Princess Tamina. The movie also stars Sir Ben Kingsley (as Nizam), Toby Kebbel and Alfred Molina.

Buena Vista has published these following footages from the sets of the movie; enough to quench those thirsts under the heat sun of the Middle Eastern desert.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND: NO 24 MOVIE YET

During the recent Comic-Con, it was confirmed that there will not be any movie based on the popular TV series, 24. The Jack Bauer-led actioner TV series will not in any immediate period be translated into a silver screen adaptation, at least not yet!

With season eight installed for the coming US and global television season, works for another 24 movie (earlier this year, a movie version was produced to serve as a prequel to the season seven) or a theatrical movie version looks skeptical for the moment.



"Well, there has been a lot of work done researching ideas for a film or a potential film franchise," explains Sutherland. "But the energy that's required to make the 24 episodes a year... we agreed that we would put any serious planning for a film aside until we were finished with the series. So outside talking about ideas for a film it hasn’t gone any farther than that. But there are certainly some cool ideas and we’d love to make it.” – EO

So, no 24 movie yet!

MOVIE REVIEW: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

ENGLISH - (18PL) - 23 July 2009 - Thriller
Distributor: Sony Pictures/MGM
Running time: about 106 mins.
Director: Tony Scott
Producers: Tony Scott, Todd Black, Jason Blumentahl, steve Tisch
Writers: David Koepp (screenplay); Morton Freedgood (novel)
Casts: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman, John Turturro
Plot: Tony Scott directs this remake of the original 1974 "The Taking Of Pelham 123" where Subway train Pelham 1-2-3 becomes the focal point of an audacious terrorist attack. A transit cop (Denzel Washington) goes against a group of hijackers lead by Ryder (John Travolta), that take over a subway train in order to rake in a hefty ransom. The ransom must reach them within an hour or they'll start killing the hostages in the train.

THE VERDICT:

Green Tea Bern says:

Tony Scott has his own formula when it comes to action or thriller film. Who will ever doubt this maestro of such genre – with his previous productions including Déjà vu, Top Gun and crimson Tide. This one is no such exception of creativity display and cinematography uniqueness.

The Taking of Pelham 123 starts as a normal day for one train dispatcher, Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) whom recently demoted from VC of the New York Subways train management due to accusation of receiving bribes. However, his mayhem routine began when a group of thugs headed by a mysterious Ryder (John Travolta), take a particular coach of a train and held all passengers as hostage. With Garber on the other side of train intercom connection, they embark in a heat-tainted and intriguing conversation over the connection while clock is ticking towards the zero before one by one passenger is been killed.



The story, it is not as complex as the other Scott’s outing. The plot is simple and is easy to follow, merely a straight forward one. The story is also very centralized and focuses on a challenge for making the audience totally aware of the story - in which I think the movie did very well.

The movie offers several subtle performances which creates havoc and tense moments, particularly some good suspense that gives room for actors to explore the inner depth of the essence of the story. The suspense becomes more coherent when the audiences are keep reminded about the remaining time. With much simplicity, the story also evolves around a bit but still find it too much confined or minor stuffs.

The ensemble casts of two superstars – John Travolta and Denzel Washington prove to be a strong and energetic performance. Denzel's character is the calming effect while John's character engulf in rampage and maniac effects - both in opposite but yet still an engaging one. It's not difficult to say that John Travolta's performance is in fact very critical for this movie.

Overall, it is not that hard to engage and adjust to the seats while chewing some popcorn when watching this movie. It is not too over-rated nor too underwhelming. It is just enjoyable to see how both strong performance from both stars been used and maneuvered well into making one fine art thriller. Too bad, still not the best for this year.

THE RATINGS.....
CAST - 4.0 stars
STORY - 3.5 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 3.5 stars
EFFECTS - 3.5 stars
an overall>> 3.5 stars
GreenTea-O-Meter: 14.6

WHO WILL BE BILBO BAGGINS?

Peter Jackson, the acclaimed director behind The Lord of the Rings, recently warned fans not to expect anything following rumors that the casting of Bilbo Baggins for The Hobbit may be announced at Comic-Con festival soon.

"No, we won’t be announcing Bilbo for a little while," he said when we asked about a Comic-Con announcement. "We’re starting to think about casting, but we’re knee-deep in the script right now. And when we do go to actors, they’re probably going to ask to see a script, so we’re powering ahead with getting the first draft done.”

Slashfilm.com reported recently in the blog that the casting of Bilbo Baggins for the movie will be a horse-race between: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)

James McAvoy (Wanted),

and David Tennant (Harry Potter 4).

The Hobbit, serves as the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy of which it would recall the journey of much younger Bilbo Baggins on his quest and adventure that lead him to the discovery of the One Ring.

FRANCHISE MOVIE THAT CAN'T BE KILLED

On two separate franchise notes, as reported on Empire Online earlier this month, the Hollywood studios have decided to make another installment to extend the respective franchise.

THE NEW PREDATORS MOVIE
First of all, Robert Rodriguez, the famous thriller action film-maker has announced that Nimrod Antal will be indeed the director for the next installment of Predators. It was revealed in his interview recently that Antal won the seats from the list of possible directors in whom Rodriquez stated that the selection as appropriate as Antal is "an outstanding presence, a great communicator full of ideas... great with action and has a keen eye for casting." Antal was the man behind the Hungarian comedy thriller Kontroll, 2007’s Vacancy (starring Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson) and soon to be released actioner Armored.



Plot-wise, it tells a story about "a very intense group of stranded people, discovering unspeakable horrors that are not always from outside their own group."

THE NEW RESIDENT EVIL MOVIE
On another note, Sony Screen Gems has confirmed that Resident Evil 4 has started production. If you remember at the end of Resident Evil: Extinction (3rd installment), a bunch of clones of Alice (Milla Jovovich) began an assault against the Umbrella Corporation in Tokyo, and the story continues. Paul WS Anderson will be writing for the fourth series, while Milla herself will return as the main protagonist of Alice. With Carlos Olivera been killed off last time, I cannot stop from pondering which characters from the game will be included this time.

Tentatively, Resident Evil 4 will be scheduled for September 17, 2010 wide release.

MOVIE REVIEWS: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

ENGLISH - (PG13) - 16 July 2009 - Adventure/Fantasy/Family
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Running time: about 153 mins.
Director: David Yates
Producers: David Heyman, David Barron
Writers: Steve Kloves (screenplay); J K Rowling (novel)
Casts: Daniel Redcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman
Plot: Lord Voldermort is wreaking havoc throughout Britain as Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts. The pressure to defeat the Dark Lord grows stronger in the young wizard. Using an old Potions Book which previously belonged to the 'Half-Blood Prince', Harry is able to increase his magical knowledge and prepare for battle. However, he must first help Dumbledore discover the secret to Voldermort's quest for immortality - the location of his Horcruxes. But the quest for the Horcruxes and the resulting battle at Hogwarts produce a tragic outcome - leading Harry to believe that he must head out on his own to conquer the Dark Lord.

THE VERDICT:

Green Tea Bern says:

I never have the preference to any of those previous Harry Potter movies before but this one should make a little exception by the way. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is perhaps a little surprising for me, more standout and much better. If you doubt it, please read on to get convinced.

Harry Potter 6 continues the saga following the death of Sirius Black. Now that Harry Potter is convince that he is the chosen one, Professor Dumbledore shows Harry about the greatest secret ever held regarding Voldermort. Voldermort whom known as Tom Riddle during his childhood once discovered a powerful magic spell that may have threatened the wizardry world. With the clues, Harry finds himself getting closer on his final battle with Voldermort.



The plot this time is much simpler and easy to follow. The best thing is, the story telling is much improved and very conscience. The story is compact, condense and very central on what is necessary. These are in contrast with most of the previous movies in the franchise. Remember the very dry, out of focus story telling in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix?

Although it gains so much this time, the story pace is still utterly slow. The differences are this time it is still making me fully awake. The problem of slow pace is still imminent after all these while. It feels like a wasted product for an otherwise great franchise. Regardless how good or bad this movie can be, it is still going to be a hit after all. The plot is much subtle and average I would say but it is still can be improved further.

The casts assemble displays a better quality this time compared to the Order of the Phoenix. Characterization becomes more detail this time. However, the sense of unclear still exists - especially the character of Draco Mafroy. However, I would have to say that Tom Riddle is the most exciting and in fact I anticipated the most. Greatly it lived up to expectation though. Professor Dumbledore is charisma and enchanted, reminded me of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

Harry, Ron and Hermione are equally good, but I felt that the movie centralize too much of their romantic parts rather than their adventure and fun in their sixth year in school.

Cinematographic aspect is breathtaking like the previous. Kudos to the team in which it has produce such a great scenery. The problem is the effects. The visual is stunning but the particular visual effects still suffered from the effects of poorly done and in some parts the scenes look fake as ever. With such high budget, the effects were still not the best I have ever seen. In fact, the Goblet of Fire has the better edge.

Whether this movie is awesome, it depends on whether you are a fan or not. The novel is still by far better than the screen adaptation. If you are a fan, you will always enjoys it. If you are not, you will end up have the feeling of getting burned. By contrast, I would still rank the movies as such: 1) Goblet of Fire 2) Prisoner of Azkaban 3) this one 4) Chamber of Secrets 5) The Sorcerer's Stone and 6) Order of Phoenix.

THE RATINGS.....
CAST - 3.5 stars
STORY - 3.5 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 4.5 stars
EFFECTS - 3.5 stars
an overall>> 3.5 stars
GreenTea-O-Meter: 14.6

EW PREVIEWS IRON MAN AND BLACK WIDOW

You can mark your calender now - next year's May 7 because this is the date when Marvel's second largest hero after Spider-Man will take the world into a storm. The anticipated sequel, Iron Man 2, which features a flamboyant billionaire weaponry expert Tony Stark in his red-dot metal slug superhero.

While many may have noticed, Entertainment Weekly has published a first and exclusive glimpse of the superheroes picture. Paramount Pictures has confirmed that the filming of the sequel has wrap-up and now entering post production phase.

Now that you may have heard somewhere that the picture will features the return of Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man himself, Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko (Whiplash), and the hot now red-haired Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow).



Also taking part in the film includes Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Don Cheadle as Liutenant Colonen James Rhodes (War Machine) whom replacing Terrence Howard from the first film.

Tony Stark (Iron Man)

Whiplash

Black Widow

HARRY POTTER AND THE GANGS BROKE A RECORD

Say hi to the new Harry Potter movie. Stunningly the beloved Harry Potter's sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince scored big in the US Box Office. The movie raked in US$ 22.2 million to emerge as the biggest midnight gross of all time.



The storms seems to have been taking into the effect that only at last August, the studio - Warner Bros. pushed the release of the picture for a further eight months, away from its tentative release of November last year.



With screenings beginning at 12:01 a.m. around the country, the sixth film in the phenomenal franchise beat out the top two record holders, 'The Dark Knight' and 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,' which earned midnight grosses of $18 and $17 million, respectively. Earlier this summer, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' cracked $16 million for its initial midnight run. - Entertainment Tonight

However, one thing in mind, Harry Potter may not be able to match the collosial US$ 2oo.1 million that Transformers 2 raked in late last month. Nevertheless, do keep in mind that Harry Potter 6 has a well-reviewed movie in contrast to the robotic film. Box office gross can be in the upper hand more surprising and difficult to tell.

Join in for more updates of the box office take in days to come!

MOVIE REVIEWS: OBSESSED

ENGLISH - (18PL) - 09 July 2009 - Thriller
Distributor: Sony Screen Gems
Running time: about 108 mins.
Director: Steve Hill
Producers: George Flynn, Glenn S. Gainor, Beyonce Knowles, Magic Johnson, Matthew Knowles
Writers: David Loughery
Casts: Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter, Bruce McGill, Scout Taylor-Compton
Plot: A new temporary staff at an asset management firm develops an unhealthy crush on a successful and married African-American businessman.

THE VERDICT:

Green Tea Bern says:

When obsession becomes an imaginary thin line between reality and fantasy, it can get out of hand really fast. Obsession is dangerous but for this movie, it does not really the perfect match of word to describe it. One word - disappointing.

Obsessed tells about a happy married couple of Derek and Sharon Charles (Idris Elba and Beyonce Knowles) whom just moved in into their new home. Derek has just been promoted to the Exec VP post but faces one seductive challenge that unnerve him. A new temporary worker, Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter) attempted to seduce him in all possible way. Derek rejects as she advances but these only making situations getting bad to worst.

Obsessed has an interesting theme been used here - seduction. While it is not a new subject matters; sensuality and sexuality are seductive but for this movie, it is a dampen material. The story begins abruptly without much detail on the origin of the temp lady int he first place. We do not know her motives, background nor her past relationships. While ignoring such details, the story comes in without a proper understanding to the audience.

The other problem here is the lack of consistent thrill factor in this movie. Juicy and tempting, but it does not keeps you wondering what happens next and it does not serve further encouragement to inject more interests to the audience.

Another disappointment is the expected twists are totally absence. Predictable as it is, the other disappointment comes from the fact that it is annoying that no further story expansion nor thrill are served. Easy to say, watch the trailer and it is enough to tell you how the story goes. Forget about those guessing whether who is paranoid or insane because these questions have been answered since the first minute.

Ali Larter is an eye-candy. She is gorgeous as she looks and her attempt to seduce seems to work well. Blend in some psychological disturbing cocktail, you have one hot hell performance. Beyonce in the other hand is a bit frustrated. In the first part of the story, she serves no role although her finale catfight with Larter been the turning thrill chill refreshment into the movie.

So as it may seems, I can only tell you these: Watch the trailer if you want to watch the movie without digging out any money, because everything in the movie is inside the trailer. What point it is if there is no twist and turns? What a waste and shame.

THE RATINGS.....
CAST - 3.0 stars
STORY - 2.0 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 3.0 stars
EFFECTS - 3.0 stars
an overall>> 2.5 stars
GreenTea-O-Meter: 10.4

RENO REVIEWS: PUBLIC ENEMIES

ENGLISH - (PG13) - 24 June 2009 - Action/Adventure/Science Fiction
Distributor: Dreamworks/ Paramount Pictures
Running time: about 147 mins.
Director: Michael Mann
Producers: Michael Mann, Kevin Mischer
Writers: Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann; Book: Bryan Burrough
Casts: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Emilie de Ravin,
Plot: Set in the 1930s, "Public Enemies" is a film adaptation from Bryan Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34." The story unfolds during America's Great Depression Era with the focus of FBI agent, Melvin Purvis trying to stop notorious American gangsters like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.

THE VERDICT:

Green Tea Bern says:

WARNING FOR SPOILER! Like those previous directions, Michael Mann maintains the loud banging and silencing the movement of the plot in his latest, Public Enemies. Uniquely driven but may test the patience of the audience, the new features serves more than an episodic thriller and criminal trails that resembles past hits like Miami Vice or Collateral.

Based on the true story which sets in 1933, it tells the story of the legendary notorious John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) on his fame into becoming the most wanted man in the history. His notorious criminal activities that include mainly bank robbery and a cocktail of money laundering syndicate attract the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with Agent Melvin (Christian Bale) to set a trail to capture him.



On its plot, it is strong and heavily-condensed, although sometimes not at its most senses at all. The story especially on Dillinger's escape from the prison is practically technical and mechanical, merely a shoot-duck-and-shield-method been used.

The story is noticeably relied more on its criminal background and Johnny Depp-Christian Bale collaboration to sell. I like the way the story is tell - keeping the feet to the ground and very close to the each character's view. The cat and mouse hunt is never-ending but I notice the lack in its thrill factor.

One may also easily points out for its sloppy and very slow pace in terms of plot development, although energetically loud for the bullets exchange.

As I said earlier, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are two actors that sell this movie out. Fortunately, adding a hot Marion Cottilard in, with her Oscar-rating, the star powers are strong. The characterization is a bit sluggish but it handles well into the story. Acting wise, both men are great. What much I can say besides those persona and styles that owned by Mr Depp himself. Luckily, those star powers are not wasted.

Overall, I like this movie but like all other Michael Mann's, I hate the say that the boring mood is unavoidable. However, the movie is dark, gory and intense, while not forgetting the brutal and inhuman methods been used - the cinematography and art direction are stunning. This is a crime drama that floats you along but the thrills are less intensify.

THE RATINGS.....

CAST - 4.5 stars STORY - 3.0 stars CINEMATOGRAPHY - 3.5 stars EFFECTS - 3.5 stars an overall>> 3.5 stars GreenTea-O-Meter: 14.5

MOVIE REVIEW: PUBLIC ENEMIES

ENGLISH - (18SG) - 09 July 2009 - Crime/Drama
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Running time: about 139 mins.
Director: Michael Mann
Producers: Michael Mann, Kevin Mischer
Writers: Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann; Book: Bryan Burrough
Casts: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Emilie de Ravin,
Plot: Set in the 1930s, "Public Enemies" is a film adaptation from Bryan Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34." The story unfolds during America's Great Depression Era with the focus of FBI agent, Melvin Purvis trying to stop notorious American gangsters like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.

THE VERDICT:

Green Tea Bern says:

WARNING FOR SPOILER! Like those previous directions, Michael Mann maintains the loud banging and silencing the movement of the plot in his latest, Public Enemies. Uniquely driven but may test the patience of the audience, the new features serves more than an episodic thriller and criminal trails that resembles past hits like Miami Vice or Collateral.



Based on the true story which sets in 1933, it tells the story of the legendary notorious John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) on his fame into becoming the most wanted man in the history. His notorious criminal activities that include mainly bank robbery and a cocktail of money laundering syndicate attract the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with Agent Melvin (Christian Bale) to set a trail to capture him.

On its plot, it is strong and heavily-condensed, although sometimes not at its most senses at all. The story especially on Dillinger's escape from the prison is practically technical and mechanical, merely a shoot-duck-and-shield-method been used.

The story is noticeably relied more on its criminal background and Johnny Depp-Christian Bale collaboration to sell. I like the way the story is tell - keeping the feet to the ground and very close to the each character's view. The cat and mouse hunt is never-ending but I notice the lack in its thrill factor. The plot is good, untouchable and prominent to its highest level. Forget about the two hours long in it.

One may also easily points out for its sloppy and very slow pace in terms of plot development, although energetically loud for the bullets exchange.

As I said earlier, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are two actors that sell this movie out. Fortunately, adding a hot Marion Cottilard in, with her Oscar-rating, the star powers are strong. The characterization is a bit sluggish but it handles well into the story. Acting wise, both men are great. What much I can say besides those persona and styles that owned by Mr Depp himself. Luckily, those star powers are not wasted.

Overall, I like this movie but like all other Michael Mann's, I hate the say that the boring mood is unavoidable. However, the movie is dark, gory and intense, while not forgetting the brutal and inhuman methods been used - the cinematography and art direction are stunning. This is a crime drama that floats you along but the thrills are less intensify.

THE RATINGS.....

CAST - 4.5 stars
STORY - 4.0 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 4.0 stars
EFFECTS - 3.5 stars
an overall>> 4.0 stars
GreenTea-O-Meter: 16.3

RENO REVIEWS - ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS

ENGLISH - (U) - 01 July 2009 - Animation
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Running time: about 94 mins.
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Producers: Lori Forte, John Donkin
Writers: Michael Berg, Peter Ackerman, Yoni Brenner
Casts: Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Sean William Scott, Sean Pegg
Plot: The sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbusters "Ice Age" and "Ice Age: The Meldown" are back, on an incredible adventure...for the ages. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while, maybe, finding true love); Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini-mammoth; Sid the sloth gets into trouble when he creates his own makeshift family after finding some dinosaur eggs; and Diego the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too 'soft' hanging with his pals. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora and fauna run amok - and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.

THE VERDICT:

Reno Ooi says:

'Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosours' -- something I don't quite expect from after watching Ice Age 2. Surely the producer didn't think about making it a trilogy when making the first one. It's wide popularity by kids and adult as well is what make this franchise going on. Strictly, it can't be really considered a trilogy as the connection among all the three stories is fragile and neglectable.

Story-wise, it's indeed a great comedy cartoon. 80% of the conversations are humour. So, basically, you can laugh starting the story till the end. It can lighten up your day by watching it. You don't need any basic knowledge of the prequels to understand this third installment. All you need is just relax and laugh.



Cast-wise, it can be summed up as everyone from the previous ones plus a new but favourable character - Buck. Buck is clearly an Ice-Aged version of the character from the book 'Old Man and the Sea'. Everyone of the story are equally fun and easy to appreciate their characters.

Overall, it's, again, another movie which you can leave your brain at home to attend to. It's definitely good to watch it to kill some time, and those comedic scenes remain funny and laughable no matter how many times you watch it.

THE RATINGS.....
CAST - 3.5 stars
STORY - 3.0 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 3.5 stars
EFFECTS - 3.0 stars
an overall>> 3.0 stars
GreenTea-O-Meter: 13.0