The Twilight Saga Eclipse Movie Review

For anyone who has a ready answer to that question, the arrival of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is as welcome as a northwestern breeze in the middle of a torrid heat wave. And they will most likely feel well rewarded by this respectful, unfussy installment of their beloved "Twilight" series, in which 17-year-old heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) inches ever closer to becoming a vampire and joining her forbidden love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) forever.

Of course, there are complications, not least among them Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), her childhood friend -- oh, and part-time werewolf -- who has a knack for showing up at inopportune moments. "Doesn't he own a shirt?" Edward asks mockingly at one point. And it's true, Jake and his posse give more ab action than the entire cast of "300" (with better tattoos).

In "Eclipse," Bella is also being pursued by the flame-haired Victoria (played by Bryce Dallas Howard in a role originated by the unceremoniously axed Rachelle Lefevre), who is busy amassing an army of "newborn" vampires to wreak vengeance on Bella and the whole Cullen clan.

But anyone interested in seeing "Eclipse" knows this already because, like "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings," the "Twilight" movies are designed not as movies that work as cinematic objects themselves, but rather as illustrations of books whose fans approach them with the exegetical seriousness of sacred texts. As such, "Eclipse" succeeds with honor, if not panache, moving the story along with economy and focused momentum. As Catherine Hardwicke did in the first "Twilight," director David Slade pays close attention to mood and atmosphere, a sensitivity that last year's "New Moon" grievously lacked (somehow both frenetic and plodding, it wound up feeling like "The Da Vinci Code" mashed up with a feminine-hygiene commercial).

With all the talk about the Big Change to come after graduation, with Bella longing for physical intimacy with Edward and Edward valiantly resisting, the cardinal "Twilight" themes of longing, chastity and protection are stronger than ever. More deeply psychological than the first two, "Eclipse" goes further not just in advancing the story but also in illuminating the tension that Bella embodies -- between autonomy and surrender -- and clarifying her desire to become a bloodless, marmoreal being who has no human connections. With Edward, she explains at one point, she feels "stronger, more real, more myself."

Still, for characters with such provocative complications, Bella and Edward are extraordinarily bland, especially channeled by way of Stewart and Pattinson's slurry, reticent delivery and resistance to making eye contact. Barely recognizable beneath pale makeup and brown contacts that give her a dilated, doll-like stare, Stewart registers emotion mostly by looking as if she's just eaten a bad sandwich. The film's most animated scene isn't between her and Pattinson, but between Pattinson and Lautner, as their characters discuss their rivalry with good-natured guy talk. "Face it, I'm hotter than you," Jake says to the cold-blooded Edward.

Filmed mostly as a series of close-ups of people talking, with occasional flashbacks and blurry, nearly incoherent action scenes, "Eclipse" will look fine on an iPhone, which for its teenage audience is probably all to the good. If Slade doesn't necessarily advance the medium with this installment, he nonetheless advances the franchise, with enough lucidity and skill that he's persuaded at least one erstwhile agnostic to take a stand. Team Jacob, all the way. Shirts are overrated.

The Twilight Saga Eclipse Movie Review

For anyone who has a ready answer to that question, the arrival of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is as welcome as a northwestern breeze in the middle of a torrid heat wave. And they will most likely feel well rewarded by this respectful, unfussy installment of their beloved "Twilight" series, in which 17-year-old heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) inches ever closer to becoming a vampire and joining her forbidden love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) forever.

Of course, there are complications, not least among them Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), her childhood friend -- oh, and part-time werewolf -- who has a knack for showing up at inopportune moments. "Doesn't he own a shirt?" Edward asks mockingly at one point. And it's true, Jake and his posse give more ab action than the entire cast of "300" (with better tattoos).

In "Eclipse," Bella is also being pursued by the flame-haired Victoria (played by Bryce Dallas Howard in a role originated by the unceremoniously axed Rachelle Lefevre), who is busy amassing an army of "newborn" vampires to wreak vengeance on Bella and the whole Cullen clan.

But anyone interested in seeing "Eclipse" knows this already because, like "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings," the "Twilight" movies are designed not as movies that work as cinematic objects themselves, but rather as illustrations of books whose fans approach them with the exegetical seriousness of sacred texts. As such, "Eclipse" succeeds with honor, if not panache, moving the story along with economy and focused momentum. As Catherine Hardwicke did in the first "Twilight," director David Slade pays close attention to mood and atmosphere, a sensitivity that last year's "New Moon" grievously lacked (somehow both frenetic and plodding, it wound up feeling like "The Da Vinci Code" mashed up with a feminine-hygiene commercial).

With all the talk about the Big Change to come after graduation, with Bella longing for physical intimacy with Edward and Edward valiantly resisting, the cardinal "Twilight" themes of longing, chastity and protection are stronger than ever. More deeply psychological than the first two, "Eclipse" goes further not just in advancing the story but also in illuminating the tension that Bella embodies -- between autonomy and surrender -- and clarifying her desire to become a bloodless, marmoreal being who has no human connections. With Edward, she explains at one point, she feels "stronger, more real, more myself."

Still, for characters with such provocative complications, Bella and Edward are extraordinarily bland, especially channeled by way of Stewart and Pattinson's slurry, reticent delivery and resistance to making eye contact. Barely recognizable beneath pale makeup and brown contacts that give her a dilated, doll-like stare, Stewart registers emotion mostly by looking as if she's just eaten a bad sandwich. The film's most animated scene isn't between her and Pattinson, but between Pattinson and Lautner, as their characters discuss their rivalry with good-natured guy talk. "Face it, I'm hotter than you," Jake says to the cold-blooded Edward.

Filmed mostly as a series of close-ups of people talking, with occasional flashbacks and blurry, nearly incoherent action scenes, "Eclipse" will look fine on an iPhone, which for its teenage audience is probably all to the good. If Slade doesn't necessarily advance the medium with this installment, he nonetheless advances the franchise, with enough lucidity and skill that he's persuaded at least one erstwhile agnostic to take a stand. Team Jacob, all the way. Shirts are overrated.

Toy Story 3 Gets Record Openings

Toy Story 3 logged the biggest debut in June history, taking in $109 million this weekend and extending Pixar's streak of opening at the top of the box office to 11.

The last film of the franchise, which debuted a decade ago and introduced Pixar Animation Studios to the world, bested its competition — and predecessors — by a mile. The original movie opened to $39.1 million in 1995, while Toy Story 2 did $83 million four years later.

This time around, the cartoon added 3-D and Imax to the mix, boosting repeat business as kids checked out the film in different formats. The movie became Imax's biggest animated movie on record, taking in $8.4 million on 180 screens.

"Given the history of Toy Story, it was great to be invited to the club," says Greg Foster of Imax. The film trumped last year's Monsters Vs. Aliens, the previous record-holder at $5.1 million.

"This franchise hit on every cylinder, every time," says Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which releases Pixar's films. Pixar's other number ones include Finding Nemo, Up and Monsters, Inc. No Pixar movie has debuted below No. 1.

Even critics, an often haughty bunch, hopped aboard the Toy Story bandwagon. According to RottenTomatoes.com, which surveys film critics nationwide, no movie in the Toy Story franchise has gotten a thumbs-down, making it the best-reviewed franchise in Hollywood. A competing survey site, metacritic.com, reported that 92% of critics recommended the first film, 88% the second and 91% the last.

The computer-generated juggernaut, which features Tom Hanks and Tim Allen at its core, gave the industry a boost in what has been a middling summer. Competing films, while posing no threat to Toy Story's hold on the box office, enjoyed spillover audiences as the film sold out thousands of theaters.

"Given how much Toy Story had everyone's attention, we couldn't be happier with the weekend," says Rory Bruer of Sony Pictures, which released the remake of The Karate Kid last weekend. The film, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, dropped a respectable 48% from its debut, taking in $29 million and taking second place, according to studio estimates.

Toy Story 3 Gets Record Openings

Toy Story 3 logged the biggest debut in June history, taking in $109 million this weekend and extending Pixar's streak of opening at the top of the box office to 11.

The last film of the franchise, which debuted a decade ago and introduced Pixar Animation Studios to the world, bested its competition — and predecessors — by a mile. The original movie opened to $39.1 million in 1995, while Toy Story 2 did $83 million four years later.

This time around, the cartoon added 3-D and Imax to the mix, boosting repeat business as kids checked out the film in different formats. The movie became Imax's biggest animated movie on record, taking in $8.4 million on 180 screens.

"Given the history of Toy Story, it was great to be invited to the club," says Greg Foster of Imax. The film trumped last year's Monsters Vs. Aliens, the previous record-holder at $5.1 million.

"This franchise hit on every cylinder, every time," says Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which releases Pixar's films. Pixar's other number ones include Finding Nemo, Up and Monsters, Inc. No Pixar movie has debuted below No. 1.

Even critics, an often haughty bunch, hopped aboard the Toy Story bandwagon. According to RottenTomatoes.com, which surveys film critics nationwide, no movie in the Toy Story franchise has gotten a thumbs-down, making it the best-reviewed franchise in Hollywood. A competing survey site, metacritic.com, reported that 92% of critics recommended the first film, 88% the second and 91% the last.

The computer-generated juggernaut, which features Tom Hanks and Tim Allen at its core, gave the industry a boost in what has been a middling summer. Competing films, while posing no threat to Toy Story's hold on the box office, enjoyed spillover audiences as the film sold out thousands of theaters.

"Given how much Toy Story had everyone's attention, we couldn't be happier with the weekend," says Rory Bruer of Sony Pictures, which released the remake of The Karate Kid last weekend. The film, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, dropped a respectable 48% from its debut, taking in $29 million and taking second place, according to studio estimates.

The A-Team - Movie Review

"I love it when a plan comes together." Thus speaks Liam Neeson's squinty-eyed, attractively graying Hannibal Smith in "The A-Team," a thoroughly unnecessary but nonetheless satisfying adaptation of the cheeseball 1980s TV series.

Smith's catchphrase has to do with the harebrained scheme Neeson's Army Ranger and his "Alpha Team" routinely choreograph to save whatever day happens to be at hand. But it might as well apply to the movie itself, a project that has clearly been engineered to exploit baby boomers' nostalgia while it frantically courts the gnat-like attention spans of their grandsons.

Thus "The A-Team," which co-stars Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley, engages in the same blurry, incoherent close-up action to which young filmgoers have now become accustomed. Plenty of stuff blows up in between wisecracks, and Smith's explanations of what the audience is seeing -- exposition that is badly needed in a film this visually frenetic and breathlessly paced. During a preamble set in the Mexican desert, we meet the guys: the unflappable Smith, who from behind a haze of cigar smoke figures all the angles and inspires doe-like admiration in his men; Face, the blue-eyed ladies' man played by Cooper, whose chief job in the gang seems to be seducing women and assuming an ever-more-cocky air of bluff bravado; Murdock (Copley), the crazy-like-a-fox pilot who flies the dudes to safety in whatever whirlybird is parked nearby; and Bosco "B.A." Baracus, the Mohawked muscleman.

The A-Team - Movie Review

"I love it when a plan comes together." Thus speaks Liam Neeson's squinty-eyed, attractively graying Hannibal Smith in "The A-Team," a thoroughly unnecessary but nonetheless satisfying adaptation of the cheeseball 1980s TV series.

Smith's catchphrase has to do with the harebrained scheme Neeson's Army Ranger and his "Alpha Team" routinely choreograph to save whatever day happens to be at hand. But it might as well apply to the movie itself, a project that has clearly been engineered to exploit baby boomers' nostalgia while it frantically courts the gnat-like attention spans of their grandsons.

Thus "The A-Team," which co-stars Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley, engages in the same blurry, incoherent close-up action to which young filmgoers have now become accustomed. Plenty of stuff blows up in between wisecracks, and Smith's explanations of what the audience is seeing -- exposition that is badly needed in a film this visually frenetic and breathlessly paced. During a preamble set in the Mexican desert, we meet the guys: the unflappable Smith, who from behind a haze of cigar smoke figures all the angles and inspires doe-like admiration in his men; Face, the blue-eyed ladies' man played by Cooper, whose chief job in the gang seems to be seducing women and assuming an ever-more-cocky air of bluff bravado; Murdock (Copley), the crazy-like-a-fox pilot who flies the dudes to safety in whatever whirlybird is parked nearby; and Bosco "B.A." Baracus, the Mohawked muscleman.

The Karate Kid - Movie Review

Speaking of eye-rollers, not a few cynics grumbled when they heard that Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith were bankrolling "The Karate Kid" as a vehicle for their son, Jaden. But the serenely self-possessed 11-year-old, while at times uncannily resembling his father, manages to carve out a screen persona all his own. As Dre Parker, who with his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson), has just moved to Beijing from Detroit, he brings a soulful, searching sense of vulnerability to a kid who comes under attack from bullies on his first day in town. After a particularly brutal beat-down, Dre is defended by his apartment house caretaker, a quiet introvert named Mr. Han (Jackie Chan).

When Han -- who turns out to be a kung fu master -- goes up against the crumbums who have been terrorizing Dre, he does so largely with defensive moves that wind up literally tying the belligerents into knots. Thus does "The Karate Kid" honor the ancient Hollywood art of serving up bone-crushing violence with enlightenment on the side: Though the filmmakers invite viewers to wince and cheer during the film's increasingly painful fight scenes, they make sure to soften the blows with wise tutorials in self-discipline, respect and balance.

FULL STORY

The Karate Kid - Movie Review

Speaking of eye-rollers, not a few cynics grumbled when they heard that Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith were bankrolling "The Karate Kid" as a vehicle for their son, Jaden. But the serenely self-possessed 11-year-old, while at times uncannily resembling his father, manages to carve out a screen persona all his own. As Dre Parker, who with his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson), has just moved to Beijing from Detroit, he brings a soulful, searching sense of vulnerability to a kid who comes under attack from bullies on his first day in town. After a particularly brutal beat-down, Dre is defended by his apartment house caretaker, a quiet introvert named Mr. Han (Jackie Chan).

When Han -- who turns out to be a kung fu master -- goes up against the crumbums who have been terrorizing Dre, he does so largely with defensive moves that wind up literally tying the belligerents into knots. Thus does "The Karate Kid" honor the ancient Hollywood art of serving up bone-crushing violence with enlightenment on the side: Though the filmmakers invite viewers to wince and cheer during the film's increasingly painful fight scenes, they make sure to soften the blows with wise tutorials in self-discipline, respect and balance.

FULL STORY

Kites opens in top 10 in Hollywood

Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and Mexican star Barbara Mori's action-romance Kites has become the first Bollywood film to debut in the North American top ten on opening weekend flying into the number ten spot.

Released by Reliance Big Pictures, the Rakesh Roshan-produced film grossed an estimated USD 1 million for the period of May 21-23, ranking just behind the ninth-place film How to Train Your Dragon which has grossed over USD 210 million.
Directed by Anurag Basu, Kites has been praised by US film critics and has generated the most number of mainstream reviews ever for a Bollywood film on opening day.
It has earned an exceptionally high 85 percent score on RottenTomatoes.com, a popular film review aggregator website in US.

In India, Kites soared to the second biggest opening day gross in history trailing only 3 Idiots. In addition, the film has opened at number five at the UK box office.
This Friday, on May 28, an international version of the film titled Kites- The Remix will open in select theaters in US.

It is presented by Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner, focuses more on the action and runs 90 minutes in length.

Some theaters across North America will be playing both versions simultaneously giving fans a choice in their viewing experience.

'MacGruber' Movie Review

Is dressing up a corpse funny? Is '80s music funny? Is blowing up your best friends funny? It depends, really, on who's involved. You need a great character to make a bad thing good, and the action comedy "MacGruber" is sadly short on great characters. For all the wacky, taboo, parodic situations that "MacGruber" plunges into, the film seems content to simply point at its hero, yell "What a schmuck!" and leave it at that.

In the sometimes-grand tradition of "Saturday Night Live" skits that morph into movies, "SNL" cast member Will Forte brings his crime-fighting character, MacGruber, to the silver screen and takes full advantage of an R rating with potty jokes and grisly throat-slitting (our hero's preferred method of dispatch). The cast, many of them "SNL" regulars, ham it up with verve, but it's the writing (by Forte and other "SNL"-ers) that brings things down. There's little evidence here of the fully imagined characters and silly turns of phrase that made, say, "Wayne's World" so inspired.

In the "SNL" skits, MacGruber (parodying TV hero MacGyver) established himself as a hapless guy who attempts to use everyday items to defuse bombs. But he invariably gets sidetracked and forgets to jerry-rig a life-saving device. Tick, tick, boom, the bomb explodes, but obviously MacGruber lives to die another day. (Oddly, this gimmick isn't used in the film.)

At the start of "MacGruber," we find our hero hiding out in a monastery-type place, where he fled after the villainous Dieter blew up MacGruber's wife on their wedding day. MacGruber survived the blast, but allowed the world to believe he'd perished. Now, years later, Dieter is in possession of a nuclear warhead, and the Pentagon wants MacGruber to go after him. Hungry for revenge, he agrees.

After MacGruber accidentally blows up his crack team of men, he's dismissed from the case, but he pleads with a Pentagon newbie, Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe), to reinstate him. Piper agrees, and the two join up with MacGruber's old associate, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig), in a bumbling chase after Dieter, the warhead, sweet vengeance, love and sex in a graveyard.

Directed by "SNL's" Jorma Taccone, "MacGruber" sets out to parody not only the bad '80's hair and super-suaveness of "MacGyver," but also the absurd machismo and melodrama of action flicks at large. The deeply inept MacGruber acquires just enough of a persona to cobble together a feature-length story, but not enough to really make an impression.

The whole package, for all its energy, is often lamentably unsubtle. Like a kid banging pots together in a kitchen, it's a little bit funny, until it's not.