Set in the 1920's Roy Walker (Lee Pace from Pushing Daisies, and nothing to do with Catchphrase) is in a hospital on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Roy while filming on his latest movie took place in a stunt that has now landed him in a hospital run by the church, incapable of feelings from the waist down. At that same hospital is Alexandria (Catinca Untaru)a very young girl suffering with a broken arm; one day while walking through the hospital her path crosses Roy's who tells her an amazing fact about Alexander The Great. Overwhelmed by his tale, Alexandria agrees to return the following day when Roy will tell her of a story set in a faraway place, but one that has a suspiciously familiar ring about it. For Alexandria this is a friendship with a man who could be a substitute father, for Roy his reason for striking up this relationship is far less innocent, he has an agenda and Alexandria is a pawn in his game.

I should begin by saying there is nothing of a sexual nature to Roy's intentions to Alexandria, this is very far from his mind. As you watch the movie you slowly get to understand what he wants from Alexandria, while being fairly innocent it is tragic, you can see that clearly Alexandria needs a father and as most of the movie is set in images from her head, you soon realise that Roy is the only man that can fill that role.

While the real world that the story is anchored in is set in normal surroundings, it's what happens when Roy and Alexandria when they start imagining the story Roy tells that sets this movie alight. Tarsem Singh (known in credits simply as Tarsem) is an Indian director best associated with the world of commercial and music video work. Tarsem should have come to the attention of the world back in 2005 when he was the original Director assigned to make the movie Constantine, Warner recruited him for his incredible eye for detail. But when Sony Pictures approached Tarsem with The Fall, it was something that the director could not resist, dropping (rather wisely in my opinion) the weaker Constantine for The Fall. Tarsem does indeed have an eye for beauty and wonder, and nothing would tell you otherwise when watching The Fall. If you are not blown away by the sheer majesty of this movie then sadly you had better get on to the hospital because you do not have a pulse.

I really cannot put into words how wonderful this movie looks; it looks so fantastic and in a world where computer generated effects are used in pretty much every movie you cannot believe that none were used here. From the colours, to locations that literally look out of this world; everything visually about this movie is just breathtaking. From the magnificent structures that have sat for thousands of years, to gloriously designed hedgerows. Tarsem uses some of the worlds man made wonders and completely reinvents them. A race across the top of The Great Wall Of China, which you would only know was the Great Wall if you swotted up on it. But it's not just the sights that are familiar and re-imagined, it's also the sights you have never seen that really create the icing on this movies cake; you would indeed need to be a world traveller to identify many of the sights seen in this movie. But it's not just the locations that are striking, it's the costumes, the make-up, and the unique cast that make this an experience like nothing you have ever seen before.

While visually you have not seen anything like The Fall, the story as not quite as satisfying. The story which for the most part is told from the mouth of Roy and imagined in the head of Alexandria follows the trails of movies like The Neverending Story. But don't go getting excited that this might be another great family movie; because while the movie seems like a fairly standard piece of family viewing, suddenly 30 minutes before the movies end things suddenly get much more adult, and brutally so. As is the case with all great adventure movies along the way there are casualties, and as Roy's alter ego The Bandit in the second story leads his motley crew of geniuses, explosives experts, shaman, and warriors through a sprawling landscape some must die.

Rather than allowing the time honoured tradition of killing one or two per quarter of the movie, the deaths occur as the movie draws to a conclusion, and these deaths are borderline horrific. One of The Bandit's crew is butchered to death with axes, while birds fly from his mouth; you suddenly are teleported from beauty to horror at the movie takes a stark transition becoming more like Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. And then as quickly as the horror raises its head it movies back do to innocent adventure style story telling. It's very hard to understand where The Falls target audience is, and this makes the story a touch disjointed, movie the film away from the mainstream to something more along the lines of Cult. In fairness, the storyline regardless of confusion, is a little bit lacking and for most of it I never really knew what was going on completely, but it hardly matters the biggest story is in the visual feast before you.

The movies warriors, a group of masked soldiers that make noises that cross between a dog and a crying child provide one of the most unpleasant bad armies of all time in my opinion. Ruthless in their assaults they have no time for hostages, cut off their heads and ask questions later. Their systematic execution of The Bandits men towards the end literally highlights this.

The performances in the movie are pretty good, with the exception of Lee Pace and the odd familiar star most of the movies cast are complete unknowns, some never having acted before. Its Catincu Untaru who really shines here, this Romanian actress does not speak a word of English, yet she delivers her lines (in a language she did not understand) with a quirkiness that really endears the actress. As an inexperienced actress and naive to the way of movies she was allegedly mortified when she discovered that Pace was not actually a paraplegic.

Why is it that when there is a girl vampire in the script she must be a creature of lust, usually towards a member of the same sex? This lowers the probabilty of further fims being made that will represent these creatures in the proper form. On of the few occasions where these creatures are represented in their true nature are within the pages of the well known Bram Stroker's Dracula. Why is it that writers cannot see that we as a majority do not want to see such things as lesbian vampires when we seek a much deeper film? Stroker showed as a path through which they should have followed.

Now that you know how i feel on this subject, my biased view might be accepted and my mind may not seem so closed on the subject. This film is based around a central charcater who is creating a documentary based on people who who are best described as people who simply wish to be vampires them selves and who argue amoung themselves about the very existence of these creatures. This character Holly meets the highly enigmatic and beautiful Vicki who claims she is a real-life vampire. This sounds like a good find in a movie so I wonder why the creators felt the need to ruin what could have been a masterpiece to vampire fans. Holly is fascinated by and attracted to Vicki, Holly thinks that Vicki could be her soul mate and soon the two embark on a passionate affair. However Vicki's lust for blood is growing and when Holly discovers that Vicki is pregnant with a 'vampire' baby, she is drawn deep into the life of vampires were she will never recover.

The baby holly is forced to slowly kills here as she fights to stay alive herself as she needs to live to supply for the child. I feel this movie would have been a good creation if it were not for the over use of attraction between the two girls. The lesbian sex throughout is not something of a movie which sticks in your mind, but more the begining of a porn flick. There is also some parts of the movie which seem as though they have just been thrown into the cauldron to add time to the movie. These were not needed and unwanted. This movie leaves me to believe that this movie is nothing but a good peice of cover work and a waste of a perfectly good disc, and on the whole rather tiresome to watch after the 10th cutting of wrists.

Jesse was a low-class boy who was bullied every day because he was poor. His parents were farmers. Leslie was a middle-class girl with a big house. Her parents were authors. She may not have been bullied, but she was pushed aside from the rest of the girls. Since both of the kids weren't accepted, Leslie tried to become friends with Jesse. A strange coincidence that helped Leslie was that they were both neighbors, and could become friends much easier. Soon after, she was friends with Jesse. She raced him into the forest and to a rope hanging above a creek. “I wouldn't trust that rope, it has been there for years”, said Jesse. But Leslie didn't listen and swung right across. Across the creek, Jesse and Leslie discovered a magical land in their imagination, which they called Terabithia.

As their friendship was growing, Jesse and Leslie raced to Terabithia every day. They swung across the rope and saw the bare land turn into a magnificent kingdom right before their very eyes. Jesse learned to keep his mind wide open to all possibilities, which allowed him to see his imagination clearly. The two friends discovered what their imaginations had in store for them. Soon they had started creating their own Terabithians. They were all named after people in their lives. For example, the squirrels suddenly became ferocious animals called Sqogres, named after squirrels and Scott Hoager, a bully. The mountain troll looked like Janice Avery, an eighth grade girl who was once a bully. Leslie even made up the idea of an evil sorcerer of the black, who terrorized the Terabithians before the rule of Leslie and Jesse. The two friends made up some creative stories and put them into action by using their imagination.

The two friends realized that Jesse's talent for art and Leslie's talent for writing was nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, their talents were helping them create Terabithia. Creating Terabithia taught them both about working hard. Jesse learned from Leslie's dad, Bill Burke, that working hard can sometimes be fun. “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing”, he later quoted from Roosevelt, to his parents after completing his chores. Everything was going well for Jesse and Leslie. Jesse got to meet Leslie's parents and Leslie got to go to church with Jesse. They both worked hard to create Terabithia. But suddenly a tragic accident occurred that would change their lives forever.

“Your friend Leslie Burke… is dead… she was apparently trying to swing across a rope on a creek out in the forest”, said Jesse's father. After Leslie's death, Jesse was never the same. He was very upset about it and was never lively in class again. He even punched Scott Hoager in the face during class because he made a joke about it. Jesse got really angry when May Belle tried to come into Terabithia. But he soon realized that he can still keep her in his heart. “She loved you, you know”, said Bill Burke. Jesse decided to build a bridge to Terabithia, so that no other accidents could happen. He brought May Belle into it and made her the second queen of Terabithia. As soon as May Belle and Jesse entered, all the Terabithians appeared to greet their new queen. The wooden bridge that Jesse had built turned into marble. May Belle's crown turned into gold. “Terabithia!” exclaimed May Belle.

Being a fantasy fan, I loved the movie from beginning to end. It also has the elements I'm looking for in a movie. If you're looking for a good story, sword fights, romance, treachery, comedy, revenge, and fantasy; you'll definitely find it in the film. Fortunately, Neil Gaiman's humor was not absent in it.

The story flow was superb. It kept me from sleep during the film. I like to compare it to a vise; it grips you tighter and tighter and will only loosen when the film is done. I also like to add, that, Stardust is reminiscent of the Rob Reiner film, “The Princess Bride”, which is as far as I know also based on a book.

“Stardust” only proves that a director can practice his/her artistic license without gaining the disapproval of some other artist's fans by destroying the latter's work. “Stardust” will definitely be a classic film.

The movie appears to be so colorful. It is presented by Walt Disney Pictures and will be in theaters on May 16, 2008. This is one movie that I would love to see with 3d glasses. I would love to see the lion jump out of the screen and all the other exciting characters. Seeing the scenery would really be beautiful in a pair of 3D glasses. I can not wait to see this movie. I am so anxious and ready to get lost in this one.

You can can learn more at the Disney site. There you will see a picture gallery, more about the movie, the blog, and more. It is almost like entering into Narnia which I think is a beautiful fairy tale world.

However, this England is more like a parallel universe where the world is run by the organization known as the Magisterium. The Magisterium is clearly a stab at organized religion, which probably where the whole controversy started from. Anyway I digress; in this parallel universe every individual has a daemon. A daemon is essentially an animal that is a physical manifestation of your soul. And if your daemon gets hurt, you get hurt, and if you daemon perish you will too. Lyra daemon is named Pantalaimon who is not only her daemon, but her best friend. He's a shape shifter who can transform into any form, from a mouse to a leopard. But his primary form is that of a weasel.

Lyra's uncle is Lord Asriel, a professor at the Oxford University and his daemon is a snow leopard. Asriel at the university discovers the existence of Dust, which from what I understand is an allegory for God. His colleagues dismiss his theory as heresy and his theories are quickly disregarded. But they still agree to give him funding for the expedition to the north. Meanwhile, Lyra is approached by Marisa Coulter who tries befriend Lyra by taking her to the north as her assistant. But Lyra quickly realizes her attentions are less than noble. Coulter is after the golden compass that can help answer inquiries about anything you want. Lyra escapes Coulter and befriends Iorek Byrnison, a talking ice bear that helps her on her quest to find her uncle Asriel, who has been kidnapped by Marisa Coulter. The film is very entertaining, thrilling and often times funny, and it reminded a little bit of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And I didn't see anything inherently anti-religious about the film.

Roger Ebert who gave the film a four star review, states that: “Attentive as I was, I was unable to find anything anti-religious in the movie, which works above all as an adventure.” Ebert also states: “Let me just say that I think, The Golden Compass is a wonderfully good looking movie, with exciting passages and a captivating heroine in Lyra. That the controversy surrounding it obscures its function as a splendid entertainment.”

 

The element of mood and symbols displayed in The Chronicles of Narnia adds to the plot and action of the movie. The scene begins and the blue sky filled with clouds, provides the perfect setting and suspenseful mood together with the howling of wolves and sad, haunting music. In this very moment, the viewer is still unsure of what will happen, but has a clue that something has to happen. Edmund steps over the wolf statue and he is caught unawares. The statue turns out to be a real wolf and he soon realizes this along with the viewers. Edmund enters the castle leaded by Maugrim (a wolf), who is the Head of the Secret Police, and not long after, the Witch catches him by surprise as he sits in her throne. She gets angry, when she discovers that Edmund did not do what he was told to do and her voice changes from calm and soothing, to booming and frightful. Symbols in this scene include the crown that the White Witch wears, representing power: winter setting, which is the result of the Witch's ruling over Narnia and Edmund sitting in the throne, as his future role as a king of Narnia.

Place and time is not as clearly defined in the specific scene, as the other elements of drama. The setting for this movie is Narnia is a mystical, enchanted place ruled by Aslan, a courageous and kind-hearted lion. In this amazing place, animals can talk and there are fauns and other half-human half-creature inhabitants roaming about. Narnia is filled with snow and icecaps, because ever since the Witch began her reign, there was no other season, but winter. Edmund enters the Witch's palace and he is greeted by an entirely different array of colors and textures. In front of him is the Witch's throne, which looks and feels like velvet. The castle has high ceilings and is adorned with statues of creatures the Witch froze.

In the scene, the focus is mainly on important characters/ surroundings in Narnia. When Edmund is approaching the castle and Maugrim attacks him, near the entrance, the camera is drawn to the sudden tension between him and Edmund. When the wolf leaves Edmund alone, as Edmund walks up the stairs leading to the entrance of the castle, the focus is on the castle itself, and this is because the castle plays an important role in the story. The statues placed near, are also in focus, and this is because they prove just how powerful and merciless the Witch is. Edmund finally enters the castle and he is drawn to the throne as if it is of importance. Later in the scene, when the Witch yells at Edmund, the camera is drawn to the Witch's face. The focus plays a very important part in this scene as it helps the audience understand what is happening and adds to the suspension.

The elements of drama are successfully represented and demonstrated in this scene, and in the whole movie. The Chronicles of Narnia- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is an imaginative and unique movie that involves the audience in the story and puts the viewer on the edge of their seat, in every moment.

According to Gerald Dipego, the movie's screenwriter, this story was a result of a dream he had which involved a family picture of a mother, a father and a young son where “…the son's image began to fade,” then the other figures slowly disappeared too.

The film is actually about a mother who never forgets she had a son. Her husband, psychiatrist, neighbors, and even friends believe she is sick or delusional because their memory was somehow tampered with to erase all memory of Telly Parretta(Julianne Moore) ever having a son. But the bond between a mother and child is strong, such is the message this film somehow projects to the audience; that Telly can never forget she has a child.

As expected, this film was one of the best thriller films I've seen during my college days. However disturbing it is to me when thinking of the possibility of such things. You might say my overactive /imaginative mind is taking over me but this movie made me think. How dare they make a supernatural film by using UFO elements in the movie? It somehow scared me that this film may have a sense of truth. If it hadn't been for the movie's website my mind wouldn't get relieved to find out this was just a figment of someone's dream.

I just couldn't believe someone could come up with this kind of story. Let's just say, the special effects and the actors made this a very convincing movie, and that each music aptly fits the scenes, and that if it were treated differently, it may not be a movie worth watching. Even the overall feel and setting of the movie contributed to the emotions they wanted the viewers to grasp.

The movie employs juggling shots (shaking or unsteady-like scenes), which are quite unnoticeable when you're steady and just sitting down. It might not be important to other people but it does contribute to the feeling of being lost or having an "unstable" state of mind.

Ah heck, you don't want me getting into technicalities and such so yes, this movie is great. This movie is really worth watching. The ending is not that disappointing unlike one movie I saw which had a tragic and unhopeful ending. Truly, a movie that ends badly and somehow has no happy ending sucks. Obviously this is not one of those done in bad taste. It's not a big budgeted film but still it turned out great.

As with all films, it does have some flaws. Take the case of using wallpaper for covering up evidence of having had a child. I mean they're aliens right? But perhaps they wanted to establish doubt in the involvement of aliens in that situation - maybe. Another thing I found preposterous was Telly running after her son. I mean, somewhere in the movie it was said that "humans are treated much like laboratory rats," but they shouldn't need to show her running and running and running AND running after her son like some brainless rat in some kind of experiment. Humans are not stupid like animals. That's what makes us different from other living things, we can think. Yes you can justify this situation as the mother being anxious blah blah blah but I still think this part wasn't given much thought on.

Anyway, there are people who may not see this as a great film because the story lacks depth. But it does have depth, it is not a normal film, it is a supernatural film where the normal things in life are missing. There are many impossibilities that arise as the movie progresses. It may seem illogical to some but that is the aim of the movie, that there are more things we don't know that exists out there. I may sound X-Files-ish but that is what it somehow projects to most people.

If you want a movie that makes you think, this is it.

The real threat here is intolerance to people and things different and thought provoking. I realize that I’m probably going to get some very nasty messages regarding my opinions. I go back to my first statement, the real threat is intolerance. There are folks that will pound their bibles and quote lots of scripture about how anything involving witchcraft or magic is against the word of God and is therefore dangerous. Ignorance is dangerous, intolerance and bigotry are dangerous. A fantasy movie is far from being public enemy #1.

Of course, I have a simple solution to this problem. If you don’t want to see the movie then don’t go! If you don’t want your kids to see this movie or read the book then don’t let them! Don’t expect society to decide what is appropriate for you or your children. It’s your responsibility to decide these things, not mine or anyone else’s. I also expect to hear something about it being a Christian’s duty to be his brother’s keeper.

Well, when those folks decide to truly be their brother’s keeper and help the homeless, actually assist the mentally ill who are wandering the streets because they are no longer being treated at facilities due to budget cuts and no longer can get their medication, to help stop the chronic drug use in their towns and neighborhoods, to make sure that no child goes to bed hungry or cold or dirty; and to actually get involved and help the abused and neglected. When those same bible thumpers can say and show that they have actually gotten involved - down in the trenches - then they will have earned the right to suggest what may or may not be appropriate viewing material to the public. Until then I suggest that they go back and study what Jesus actually said and taught and did.

So, stop shouting and yelling about what is right and fussing over a fantasy movie and take a look at societies real problems and, heaven forbid, get your hands dirty by actually doing something.

The story begins in Victorian England in the village of “Wall” so called because it shares a bordering wall with the magical land of “Stormhold.” Although it is forbidden to go beyond the wall, young Tristan (Cox) defies the rules of his community to go in search of a fallen star, which he promises to retrieve for the woman he loves (Miller). Little does Tristan know that there are other predatory characters after the star, which takes the form of a young woman called Yvaine (Danes). Needless to say Yvaine does not appreciate Tristan's designs to take her back as a trophy to his would-be girlfriend and causes as much trouble as possible for him until she meets a much deadlier foe: Michelle Pfieffer in some truly terrifying make-up.

Pfieffer is chilling as the evil witch hell bent on eating Yvaines heart which will bestow the gifts of youth and beauty, and fans of the Godfather and Taxi Driver will get to see a whole other side to De Niro. All this certainly contributes to the fun factor, but Danes without doubt out-shines everyone else around her putting in one of her most sensitive performances to-date. She is highly watchable and demonstrates a beautiful capacity for on-screen vulnerability and a certain unspoken innocence meaning that the audience has no choice but to warm to the lonely star who is just trying to find her way home to the sky, and accidentally stumbles on true love.

Although the piece is held together by a deliciously dark sub-plot about the fight for the throne of Stormhold, the pacing of this piece could be better. Some segments of the film are slowed and over stressed when brevity would have been a better strategy. The success of the coupling between writer and director depends very much whether or not they function on the same wavelength. It's clear from this piece that Vaughan and Gaiman aren't quite the perfect fit, especially when compared to other pairings such as De Maurier and Hitchcock who together created works of genius.

In short, it is worth watching and has some beautiful and enjoyable moments. Just make sure you take a bag of sweets in with you to get you through the slow moments, as the overall flow of the piece is a little bit disjointed.