Hey folks, maintaining sites like the one you are reading are never easy, especially when there is only one author to do all the stuffs. Sometimes, certain movies when under the radar and it is a little shame that these movies did not made it into the one-article movie review. There are times, we did not get them a proper treatment. The facts are; sometimes these movies are watched after the theatrical run has ended in the local cinemas and sometimes we just too hectic to write one especially when there are tonnes of movies released in within a week.
On the part 3 of our reviews that we have kept under the radar, we have "Zookeeper" and "Cowboys and Aliens". Read them after the jump.
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Release Date: 11 August 2011
Running Time: 101 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Director: Frank Coraci
Screenplay: Jay Scherick, David Ronn
Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Donnie Wahlberg, Adam Sandler, Cher, Jon Favreau, Slyvester Stallone
Plot: In Zookeeper, the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes (Kevin James). Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get a girl in his life is to leave the zoo and find a more glamorous job. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship - animal style.
Short Review: It's campy, it's lazy and it's boring. It is bizarre to have this kind of feeling when a comedy meant for family turns out to be nothing more than a pile of junks. 'Zookeeper' puts an exactly much needed that extra point on why movies with annoying talking animals should never been made. The high concept behind this movie that supposedly mimics 'Night at the Museum' has failed to charm. Parts of the faults can be blamed on those talking animals; give pretty much bad examples to the adolescent. Then there is the script writing to blame, as it feels like it was written by some talking animals. To be honest, if Griffin talking advises from talking animals on how to court a girl by urinating on the tree, Griffin has lost his mind. Oh yes, he did! That strange relationship between a zookeeper and his bunch of animal friends is oddly saved by the TGIF scene. At least that is fun and true giggling than the rest. Sorry, I hate this movie - really immature and wasted!!
Genre: Western/Science Fiction/Action/Adventure
Release Date: 11 August 2011
Running Time: 118 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Jon Favreau
Screenplay: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Deno
Plot: 1875. New Mexico Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force.
Short Review: This genre-masher between the insoluble elements of science fiction and western comes out way short of expectation. 'Cowboys and Aliens' carries difficult subject matter and unfamiliar material source it adapted; all mean it will be difficult to sell-out to the unfamiliar audiences. Nevertheless, 'Cowboys and Aliens' relies heavily on its muscles of star-power that consist of James Bond and Indiana Jones to carry this on. As always, both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are the appealing factor but those Hollywood-standard culture of presenting a predictable plot and jagged direction ruin the movie's potential.
On positive notes, the concepts running is cool and unique, although not very fresh to mention. The existence of a mysterious man marooned in a nowhere desert, amnesiac and having an explainable wrist-band do help the causes. After all, the movie opens strongly by introducing the characters in alternating flash-forward and narrative timeline, although there are not much about the aliens origin. Daniel Craig's role as a mysterious man with dark past is spot on, perhaps it is an easy role as he would easily borrowed some from James Bond. Besides, the cinematographic experience is pleasant.
Unfortunately there is nothing you have not seen because the marketing trailers have spill out all the necessary sequences - hence also ends up lack of surprises. Right till the scene when the small town of Absolution is run over, the plot lost its objective and constantly in struggle to find its true direction. It is a baffling to wonder where this movie is heading - to be cool or to be ridiculous, to be Western or to be Sci-fi. I do not know, with inconsistency in its tempo, 'Cowboys and Aliens' can easily side-tracked from the real deal. Plus, I do not enjoy Olivia Wilde and Harrison Ford, which I though are the weakest links in the movie.
Watch if you can bear with the 90 minutes of going 'huh!' and another 30 minutes of 'what!'.
On the part 3 of our reviews that we have kept under the radar, we have "Zookeeper" and "Cowboys and Aliens". Read them after the jump.
ZOOKEEPER (PG13)
Release Date: 11 August 2011
Running Time: 101 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Director: Frank Coraci
Screenplay: Jay Scherick, David Ronn
Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Donnie Wahlberg, Adam Sandler, Cher, Jon Favreau, Slyvester Stallone
Plot: In Zookeeper, the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes (Kevin James). Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get a girl in his life is to leave the zoo and find a more glamorous job. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship - animal style.
Short Review: It's campy, it's lazy and it's boring. It is bizarre to have this kind of feeling when a comedy meant for family turns out to be nothing more than a pile of junks. 'Zookeeper' puts an exactly much needed that extra point on why movies with annoying talking animals should never been made. The high concept behind this movie that supposedly mimics 'Night at the Museum' has failed to charm. Parts of the faults can be blamed on those talking animals; give pretty much bad examples to the adolescent. Then there is the script writing to blame, as it feels like it was written by some talking animals. To be honest, if Griffin talking advises from talking animals on how to court a girl by urinating on the tree, Griffin has lost his mind. Oh yes, he did! That strange relationship between a zookeeper and his bunch of animal friends is oddly saved by the TGIF scene. At least that is fun and true giggling than the rest. Sorry, I hate this movie - really immature and wasted!!
THE RATING:
Story: 1.5
Casts: 2.0
Cinematography: 2.5
Effects: 2.0
GREEN-TEA-O-METER: 7.3/20.0
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COWBOYS AND ALIENS (PG13)
Release Date: 11 August 2011
Running Time: 118 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Jon Favreau
Screenplay: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Deno
Plot: 1875. New Mexico Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force.
Short Review: This genre-masher between the insoluble elements of science fiction and western comes out way short of expectation. 'Cowboys and Aliens' carries difficult subject matter and unfamiliar material source it adapted; all mean it will be difficult to sell-out to the unfamiliar audiences. Nevertheless, 'Cowboys and Aliens' relies heavily on its muscles of star-power that consist of James Bond and Indiana Jones to carry this on. As always, both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are the appealing factor but those Hollywood-standard culture of presenting a predictable plot and jagged direction ruin the movie's potential.
On positive notes, the concepts running is cool and unique, although not very fresh to mention. The existence of a mysterious man marooned in a nowhere desert, amnesiac and having an explainable wrist-band do help the causes. After all, the movie opens strongly by introducing the characters in alternating flash-forward and narrative timeline, although there are not much about the aliens origin. Daniel Craig's role as a mysterious man with dark past is spot on, perhaps it is an easy role as he would easily borrowed some from James Bond. Besides, the cinematographic experience is pleasant.
Unfortunately there is nothing you have not seen because the marketing trailers have spill out all the necessary sequences - hence also ends up lack of surprises. Right till the scene when the small town of Absolution is run over, the plot lost its objective and constantly in struggle to find its true direction. It is a baffling to wonder where this movie is heading - to be cool or to be ridiculous, to be Western or to be Sci-fi. I do not know, with inconsistency in its tempo, 'Cowboys and Aliens' can easily side-tracked from the real deal. Plus, I do not enjoy Olivia Wilde and Harrison Ford, which I though are the weakest links in the movie.
Watch if you can bear with the 90 minutes of going 'huh!' and another 30 minutes of 'what!'.
THE RATING:
Story: 2.5
Casts: 3.0
Cinematography: 3.5
Effects: 3.5
GREEN-TEA-O-METER: 11.5/20.0
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