Oceanworld, 2009

Oceanworld, 2009
Director: Jean-Jacques Mantello
Cast: Marion Cotillard (voice)




Oceanworld in short: A tribute to the ocean, "Oceans 3D" takes viewers on a voyage through, among others, Californian kelp forests, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Roca Partida Island off the coast of Mexico, which is home to thousands of sharks. Audiences will witness some of the most spectacular and unforgettable scenes of life beneath the waves ever captured in 3D: the manta ray's enchanting ballet; the noble procession of hammerhead sharks; the lion fish's relentless hunt; a group of young dolphins playing algae-football; the astonishing beauty of the Spanish dancer sea slug; and a unique encounter with the largest cetaceans on the planet.


Stage: Local theatre Dvor, a good morning show, together with three kids and their mothers on a lovely morning.


Preps: I am mad about the ocean and the world inside. And, also a fan of Cousteau's documentary movies. Hence, a must to see.


Reality: A beautiful, picturesque scenery, showing hours of effort in filming everything and putting a concept together for the viewers. Alone, the scenes don't have a thin red line, however, thru a turtle voyage towards the beach where it lays the eggs, the concept shows and reveals many misteries of the ocean.

It is a must see for any fan of sea world and all those that think they know a lot about it. There are several truly endangered species put upfront, shown in their natural environment, shown as they react to other animals and moreover, the specifics of the world these creatures live in, is vividly handed to the viewer.

The music is something most important in a documetary, in this case, carefully chosen and put together to enhance the effect of specific scenes put together. As a piece, I absolutely adore it and recommend it to every fan of the nature. Also, very lively for the kids. All the kids in the theatre just ate from the turtle's mouth, virtually.


My personal rate: 9,0 (one of the most lovely documentaries I have seen lately, with a strong point about protecting the nature and showing respect to it).


Oceanworld on IMDB

Thor, 2011

Thor, 2011
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth



Stage: Local theatre, late Friday show. Just a pop in my head makes me run as hell to catch the show. As I miss the trailer part and commercial, I feel pretty satisfied with myself, as the movie begins in an instant, as I sit down.


Thor in short: This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe; from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy epic which stars Australian actor Chris Hemsworth as the ancient Norse god, Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, a young woman who befriends Thor on Earth, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor's father and king of Asgard.


Preps: None in perticular, have seen the trailer, seems like a thing I would love to see in theatre, because of the effects and sounds.


Reality: Hm, it's fairly amusing, but that's it. Too much of photo shop and movie maker scenes make me not buy the scenery. It's obviously made in a computer room, and not by someone with a lot of imagination. I am not impressed at all. Normalwise, I prefer scenes that derive from imagination, to those that are filmed in real life. Here it's vice versa. Better constructed, with some vision and some energy. With real dialogues and some humorous scenes. For instance, imagine real god tremble into a real life with every day scenery - eating, sleeping, living like a human. All in all, this is supposed to be a punishment for Thor, for being too conceited and not ready to learn. With some help of a human mind, he turns into a good guy.. well, the transformation is too fast and I definitely don't buy it. If you have lived all your life as a conceited first son, ready to be a king, then you cannot really transform your soul and mind in a few days. Probably in a decade, or so, but in this piece everything is shown a bit too romantic - in sense of me trying to buy this and to accept it.

Natalie has definitely been a busy bee lately. I can see her in four movies at the same time. Unfortunately, none of them can raise up to the Black Swan - the cast here is poor and unsatisfactory, the same goes for Anthony Hopkins. Not enough energy coming out of this man. Hemsworth, on the other side, represents some sort of a back up of Brad Pitt in Troy. Nevertheless, the story is weak and too light to be seen in a real spectacle. It's more of a Sunday movie, when you have just eaten and just want something to amuse you and not knock you off your feet. And if you put into perception there is a divine world as opposed to normal human.
For Hopkin's cast - slightly better than in his other latest movie, The rite. In neither of both cases, an exclusive or impressive one. Nevertheless, always good to watch on screen.

The music shows respect to the scenario and to the scenes, wisely chosen and emphasizes the effect of some battles. Another thing that got me a bit cranky during watching this - the "doors" to other worlds. Just by coincidence taken from Stargate (the idea is the same, and the execution also almost the same). And the names of the world. Are we in LOTR or are we in some other movie.. well, it's a wise idea to be pulled on the ocean of other successful movies, but you need to draw a line somewhere and make your piece a bit more authenthic. Because to perceive viewers not so intelligent as some of them are.. is - well naive. I would prefer the worlds to be of another wording (Asgard - as in LOTR - Ares of Asgard); just a coincidence, that here it's one of the lands? ..

Anyhow, not really a splendid piece, but a pleasant Sunday one, as already said.


My personal rating: 4,0 (for the sake of the amusement).
Thor on IMDB

Somewhere, 2010

Somewhere, 2010
Director: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius


Stage: Local movie Theatre in Ljubljana district Vič


Somewhere in short: Hollywood actor Johnny Marco, nested in his luxury hotel of choice, is a stimulated man. Drinking, parties and women keep a creeping boredom under wraps in between jobs. He is the occasional father of a bright girl, Cleo, who may be spoiled but doesn't act it. When Cleo's mother drops her off and leaves town, Johnny brings her along for the ride, but can he fit an 11-year-old girl into his privileged lifestyle?

Preps: Well I have heard a lot of good critics speaking about this piece - in a good way. Besides, Coppola is a famous name and I wanted to see this at Liffe, the movie festival, last November, but I never got the tickets. Now, finally, a chance to induge this.


Reality: Another one of the miserable ones. The movie, I mean. I run out of the cinema almost. If I had this one on my disk, it wouldn't have survived the first 30 minutes. Now, considering I am sitting in the theatre with two of my girlfriends, I have a bit more patience to see if anything happens. In my opinion, nothing. The world depicted is not real. It cannot go like this, even if you are a famous actor. The drive I see within the movie could be or derive from the sense of remorse for leading such a life once you are confronted with your kid, you left with your previous spouse. Nevertheless, the world where a famous actor shows his behind on the balcony and the girls are going mad about it - showing their tits, ass, and having sex at a glance, is not the one I am familiar with. Or I acknowledge.

The movie is too static and doesn't show the energy, nor the drive, vision, call it whatever you might want to. The lead actor, as gorgeous as he is, gets on my nerve with every minute more he spends on the stage. The others are so pale that I even cannot notice a part where they start really playing. I am dissappointed in many ways, I really expected more from the movie Coppola made. But, they cannot all come out as genious ones, true? The only philosophy I can follow is the one where you think about whether it's worth giving up your normal life and trade it off for some actor's fake life. Bad in any way I think about it.

Don't watch it. Neither a showoff of a Hollywood life, nor a showoff of a life of a modern Hollywood James Bond. For this is what I suspect the main lead actor is trying to pull off. In my opinion, a bad failure.


My personal rate: 0 (no comment, a total waste of time).


SOmewhere on IMDB