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Review of the best comic book movie of the year.

BRICK LANE
United Kingdom / English & Some Bengali with English Subtitles
Running Time: 102 min; Rated: PG-13
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
Reviewed by Denise Castillón

A Still Yet Moving Cinematic Journey Down BRICK LANE

An eloquent portrayal of the inner isolation of a Muslim woman living in foreign country delivered by one of India’s leading actresses, Tannishtha Chatterjee in BRICK LANE.

At 17, an arranged marriage to an older man, in faraway London, tears Nazneen (TANNISHTHA CHATTERJEE) away from her beloved home, Bangladesh, and adored younger sister, Hasina.

Now a dutiful wife and mother, Nazneen has made a home for her foolishly idealist husband, Chanu (SATISH KAUSHIK), and her two teen-aged daughters, in East London’s multi-cultural neighborhood known as Brick Lane.

Long-term plans for the whole family’s eventual return to Bangladesh are jeopardized, when her husband quits his job to protest his pass over for a promotion. This is particularly upsetting for Nazneen, who has been quietly and persistently suffering from homesickness. The long-distance letters she receives from her sister not only fueled her nostalgia, but, on reading about her sister’s romantic life, also has created a longing for the same experience of love.

Highly motivated to return to her homeland, Nazneen steps out of the shadows and starts a home business sewing mass-produced garments. The young, handsome Karim (CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON) delivers her weekly assignments. Slowly, with each visit, their attraction develops into a passionate love affair.

Then, two commercial airline planes hit the Twin Towers in New York City.

Directed by Sarah Gavron. Produced by Alison Owen and Christopher Collins. Executive Produced by Tessa Ross, Paula Jalfon, Duncan Reid and Paul Trijbits. Written by Abi Morgan and Laura Jones. Photography directed by Robbie Ryan. A Red Rudy Film Production. Released by Sony Classics.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D
(Running Time: 92 min/Rated: PG)
Three Out of Five Stars
Reviewed by Denise Castillón

MAKE YOUR NEXT FAMILY TRIP A “JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH”

Like amusement park roller-coasters, the movie JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D is great family entertainment. Just as long as every family member is tall enough to fit their seat, -and old enough for the movie’s PG rating “for intense adventure action and some scary moments”! At unexpected times, you will squirm and jump out of your seat, -thanks to the movies’ spectacular 3D digital effects, while being transported to a fantastic new world full of exotic creatures living beneath the earth’s surface.

Solitary bachelor and eccentric science professor, Trevor Anderson (BRENDAN FRASER), minds his apathetic teenaged nephew, Sean (JOSH HUTCHERSON) for his sister-in-law for a couple of weeks. In attempt to interest Sean in science, Trevor brings him to his research laboratory. Once there, Trevor observes that the Earth is displaying the same seismic conditions that occurred at the time when his brother, and Sean’s father, vanished, without a trace, ten years ago. Analyzing his findings, Trevor determines his brother traveled to Iceland at the time of his disappearance. With the single-minded purpose of finding his missing brother, Trevor reluctantly brings Sean along for the journey. Once in Iceland, they hire a beautiful and capable mountain guide, Hannah (ANITA BRIEM), and all three embark on an adventure of a lifetime and discover a world thought only to be merely conceived by the imagination of a storyteller.

Based on the classic science-fiction fantasy novel by Jules Verne, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is the first live-action feature film to be shot and released entirely in the newest digital 3D format, REAL D.

JOURNEY 3D is the part of a whole batch of upcoming three-dimensional movies. This modern new wave of 3-D pictures are seen by the movie studios as their best game plan to improve theater attendance and box-office grossess. Today’s 3-D digital systems require major financial investments, both by the studios and theater owners. To produce such films, a 3D camera is used to simultaneously record separate left and right-eye images onto two filmstrips – one for each eye. To project the REAL D format, IMAX theaters and other 3D-equipped movie auditoriums require a 3-D digital projector, which alternates the two polarized images clockwise and counterclockwise at 144 frames per second. The theaters also need a special silver screen, or IMAX screen, which is designed with a slight curve to integrate the audience’s peripheral vision. Until 3-D display technology is successfully developed, polarized 3D glasses are still necessary to fuse the two images together and create a single, larger-than-life image and the sensation of being “in” the movie.

Directed by Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig (TOTAL RECALL, PEARL HARBOR), from a screenplay by Michael Weiss and Jennifer Flackett & Mark Levin. Produced by large-format film producer Charlotte Huggins. A co-venture between New Line Cinema and Walden Media.

A review of this movie.

A Review of this 3d movie.

THE RUINS DVD

Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey and Joe Anderson

Directed By: Carter Smith

Unrated contains: violence, language, gore, nudity and sexuality

By John Delia

Not being a huge fan of horror I was surprised when I came up liking The Ruins. The film has a story that’s very creepy, chilling and with today’s modern special effects, very scary. If you like your horror with a supernatural ingredient then The Ruins is a must see DVD.

The movie centers on a group of college friends who are on vacation in Mexico when they run into a young German tourist Mathias (Anderson) who tells them of an ancient Mayan pyramid dig his brother is working. Peaking the interest of Jeff (Tucker) and Eric (Ashmore) the two convince Stacy (Ramsey) and Amy (Malone) to take the side trip for their last day in Mexico. With Mathias as their guide, they go to the ruin. Arriving at the site in the thick jungle, the group gets surrounded by Mexicans who seem to be protecting the ancient temple. But, when they realize that the locals are not there to protect, but to prevent something very disturbing from being spread, the college kids are forced into inescapable terror.

The wonderful acting by the young newcomers adds a lot to the movie experience. Under the able direction of Smith, the performances by Malone, Ashmore and Ramsey provide a new dimension in fright. Although special effects and make-up play a large part in the grotesqueness of many scenes, the actor’s expressions of horror and terror make for some very morbid entertainment.

The film does borrow from some horror films of the past, but the way The Ruins incorporates the elements makes for more terrifying entertainment. I was jolted a few times when Amy and Stacy are trapped in the interior of the pyramid. And when night falls, the creepiness of their attackers gave me a chill. Add to this some very inventive gore and you have a weird treat for those that love their horror bloody and nasty.

The bonus features in The Ruins are slim, but interesting. There are some deleted scenes that should have been left in the original theatrical showing as one of them gives more depth to the characters and the alternate ending to me was a lot more disturbing. The behind the scenes featurette is a must see, but not until you have seen the movie as there are some spoilers.

The film contains nudity, sex, language, violence, gore and brutality and should only be viewed by responsible adults.

FINAL ANALYSIS: The Ruins is near the top of my fright list for 2008 and I highly recommend it as a must see for horror fans. (3.5 of 5 stars)

A review of this good movie.