1408

1408

Based on the short Stephen King horror story of the same name, 1408 is about supernatural writer Mike Enslin, an author of two successful books on supernatural phenomena. As research for his latest book, Enslin is determined to check out the notorious room 1408 in a New York City hotel by personally staying as a guest in the fabled room. He believes that 1408 is just a myth perpetuated by stories and rumors that Enslin has collected for his past works. However, hotel manager Mr. Olin has strong objections to Enslin's stay and only warns him of possible danger to come. Enslin is determined to go anyway. But what Mike Enslin is about to experience is no myth, as 1408 truly is a room where the guests don't check out by noon

The Review

This movie is a thoroughly enjoyable with great build up and suspense. Stephen King adaptations can sometimes fall flat and fail to deliver. In some respects I feel this is a great compliment to King as others cannot create the unique world that he creates. There is always attachment to the notion of the tormented soul and in this movie John Cusack is expertly cast. Samuel L Jackson is great as the defiant hotel manager who does not want Mr Enslin to check in.

If you are a fan of horror/suspense movies, but are bored with the conventional style I would definitely give this movie a shout. It is paced brilliantly. The acting is great and you can really feel the range of emotions that Cusack displays. On top of that the Stephen King feel has not been lost.

There are two versions of the ending, and the one where Cusack and his wife are listening to the tapes of his dictations are the best ending. With the look of horror on her face, this version is not easily found but is on the DVD disc set. It was removed as when the test audience initially watched the movie they felt it finished too much on a downer. Those pesky Americans.

If you miss the chance to watch this movie then you will kick yourself.

Movie Rating: 4.5/5

Robin Hood

Robin Hood

Birth of a legend. Following King Richard's death in France, archer Robin Longstride, along with Will Scarlett, Alan-a-Dale and Little John, returns to England. They encounter the dying Robert of Locksley, whose party was ambushed by treacherous Godfrey, who hopes to facilitate a French invasion of England. Robin promises the dying knight he will return his sword to his father Walter in Nottingham. Here Walter encourages him to impersonate the dead man to prevent his land being confiscated by the crown, and he finds himself with Marian, a ready-made wife. Hoping to stir baronial opposition to weak King John and allow an easy French take-over, Godfrey worms his way into the king's service as Earl Marshal of England and brutally invades towns under the pretext of collecting Royal taxes.

The Review

For me usually I do not have to watch a film too many times. A lot of the times I watch a movie maybe twice at the most, but the movie is imprinted in my mind, and therefore makes it less enjoyable if I watch it again. This movie had me scratching my head for ages, as I could not remember too much about it the movie after a few days of watching it. Though I thought the movie paced along quote well. Had some good action scenes and a score similar to Gladiator, I knew to expect that as it was a Ridley Scott film. After the story of the French trying to invade and conquer England, there was not too much substance.

I appreciate that this was one take on the story of how Robin Hood came to be, the beginning of the legend, but this movie did not feel like a movie that would be remembered in legends in the future. To be honest, I feel that the movie fairs poorly with Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, that movie really brought the love of Robin Hood back into the mainstream. In this movie, characters such as The Sheriff of Nottingham were so minor that it was a waste having him in the movie. I watched an interview with Russell Crowe and he wants their to be a sequel which would pick up from the end of this movie, which is really roughly this movie should have started. At the end of the day, if you removed the name Robin Hood and named this movie The Archer, perhaps that would have done better.

The original idea, and one that I thought sounded very creative was to name the movie Nottingham, and have the Sheriff as the central figure and more sympathetic figure, while Robin Hood was more the villain. I think that this would have been a fantastic take on a the film and given an edge the others had not had. In the end the movie was rewritten even in production.

I guess the defining moments would be when King Richard is looking for his 'honest Englishman' and encounters Robin and Little John fighting. Despite the fight being caused by Little John, Robin takes the blame, and in doing so earns the right to express his very frank view of the war to the king. The King agrees about finding his honest naive Englishman and has them both put into blocks. This was the attempt to create empathy with the character.

Again, something that was stressed in earlier posts, in this movie there is very little connection made with the characters so it is hard to care for them. It makes the film difficult to be either interesting or in this case memorable. I feel the movie started to early in the timeline of events. Think Star Wars, much of the original history was revealed in the graphic writing at the start of the movie. The rest picks straight up from there. There could have been some similar text, and perhaps start with Robin attempting to reunite England and then becoming an Outlaw, hence why he was on the run.

I just wish I could have seen Nottingham

I think this movie just scrapes in at 3/5 as it is watchable but not something you will remember down the line.

500 Days of Summer

500 Days of Summer

The plot

He's Tom, from New Jersey, working in L.A. writing greeting cards even through he's an architect by training. She's Summer, in from Michigan. Day one is her first day as an AA in Tom's office. We jump back and forth in time: by day 67, they've become an item when she decides to put aside the lovemaking and just be friends. Tom, a romantic who's sure Summer is the one for him, wallows in self pity. We go back to the early days and see the relationship begin. Summer tells him right away that she doesn't believe in love. He mopes well past day 100. Then, as day 500 approaches, they find themselves at a wedding together. Does the old flame rekindle? Is Tom right that destiny controls love?

The Review

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL) is the star of this movie. I have been familiar with this guy ever since he graced the silver screen in the TV Show 3rd Rock from the Sun. His performance in that show demonstrated that he had enough ability to be a break out star. But rather than take the Hollywood route, JGL has chosen the more accomplished route of starring in Indie movies. But every so often a quality movie will reach the top whether it chooses to go all Hollywood or not and this movie is an example. Not to say that JGL has not dabbled in commercial movies, as he was the villain in the enjoyable G.I Joe Movie.

As you can tell Summer is the girl in the movie and the centre of attention for Tom. This movie has fantastic performance from the actors. What I love is the way that you invest in the characters. When Summer meets Tom later in the movie at this park, somewhere she knows Tom goes to reflect, you are screaming at the screen at Summer for invading Tom's space. I also love the scene where Tom is on his way to see Summer and believes that she has invited him to the party to potentially get back together with him. The screen splits into two as we have expected outcome on one side and reality on the other.

This is just another example about how the movie attempts to reflect the inner workings of the mind. Often when we think back on a relationship, the mind does not work in a linear chronological order, but gears back and forwards based on events that have impacted us. In the same way how many times have we played out a scene in our head but in actuality the outcome is different.

I would not say this is a romantic movie, but one one that tries to illustrate how our minds work. This movie will have you laughing, feeling sad and very angry...sharing the emotions with the characters and it is rare for a movie to do this.

I think that this movie is 5/5