Posters Galore: Where have you seen that before?

Ok so I was bored the other day and just surfing the net and checking the latest movie poster that has been released on Impawards. If you don't know what Impawards is...well its probably only the largest online movie poster gallery...so if you love movie posters head on there. So anyway I noticed this poster of a film called Feast of Love...and I thought...well I just saw a poster like that released like a week ago...only its of a different movie. Hence...I started searching the web....recalling movies at the top of my head...and some that I had recently watched...I guess its hardly surprising right that they all had pretty much the same poster design? We see a lot of duplicates in this day. And these are only the ones I found to be very similar to each other.

(above: all three have 2 slashes of scenes...and they all in the same pale pastel hues
below: black and orange are the colours of choice)

(from left to right) The Ultimate Gift, Bee Season, Proof, The Parent Trap, The Holiday, Something's Gotta Give, Ladder 49, Something's Gotta Give, Land of Women, Feast of Love, My Summer of Love, Tuck Everlasting, The Dead Girl, Reservation Road, Head in the Clouds, The Four Feathers

The trick is I guess for most to make a movie poster... is to have a design that have slashes of actual movie scenes...most preferably ones that shows the lovely pretty faces of the actresses and actors...thats the way to sell a movie right??

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Growing up...I never read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...unlike the other kids my age...so when this movie came out...I wasn't particularly interested. So what if they showed a lot of yummy chocolates...so what if it had Johnny Depp in it...I just wasn't a fan of either...and the storyline just didn't look interesting enough.

But having nothing else to watch...and wanting something that was light and fun and colourful...I chose this very title...the dvd box certainly was colourful. I had heard pretty good things of this flick from friends...so it had better be good...then again they all love chocolates and of course Johnny Depp.

The opening sequence was actually pretty good...it was a cgi animated scene of the chocolate bars being made packed. Very cute...I liked it... which I thought would set the tone for the film Then we meet Charlie a pleasant little boy and his equally charming little family who lives in this old rickety crooked looking house. They're very poor but live humbly, contented and happy. Later we meet the disagreeable children who got the golden tickets. When will poor Charlie get the ticket? And so we eagerly wait for that moment where he gets the ticket...and we he does we cheer for him...So everything from start up to here was great. We met some interesting characters...the sets and costumes were colourful and interesting.

Finally we arrive at that moment where all the 5 kids are at the front steps of the factory...And from this point onwards...the flick just got weird and not enjoyable for me. Where do I start. Willy Wonka is just this bizarre creepy eccentric and sometimes rather childish character with an extremely pasty face...always wearing this heavy velvety get up (kinda reminds you of another creepy celebrity right)...most of the time I have no idea what he means or trying to say. I certainly don't like the character one bit...maybe he isn't supposed to be liked...maybe he's just supposed to be one of those misunderstood characters. I've never read the book so I wouldn't know.

The sequence of events in the chocolate factory was just wacky. Augustus being sucked up by this huge vacuum, Violet turning into this huge blueberry blob, Veruca going down the rubbish chute...and Mike being zapped and turned mini...Sure the scenes were slightly funny...with the Oompa Loompa singing and dancing...but you have to admit...it was all very strange...the way Willy Wonka wanted to get rid of all the kids. And the magical glass elevator that can move vertically and horizontally...and can transport you everywhere....which kinda makes you think...why not have a teleporter instead...at least it won't destroy someone's house (Charlie's)...ok I guess thats besides the point. The thing is I just did not like the flick. I like the part where me meet Charlie and his family...but not any with Willy Wonka. It was just weird, creepy and freaky. I definitely don't see this as a fun kids movie...

200 Pounds Beauty (2006)

There has been some sort of a Korean Kraze over here in Singapore...and maybe even other parts of South East Asia for a while now...their tv series are hugely popular (it must have started with Winter Sonata)...so are their romantic comedies and horror flicks...And 200 Pounds Beauty is just one of the latest romantic comedies to have hit our shores. Initially I wasn't too interested in the movie...but after see a clip of it at the video store...the one where she was involved with a car accident with a taxi...It seemed really funny...so I rented it once it was available for rent.

So basically the story is about an obese girl called Hanna...who because of her appearance is not marketable as a real singer and thus 'lends' her voice to the latest but talentless pop sensation Ammy... Ridiculed and constantly made fun off...Hanna decides to take a drastic step....a full body plastic surgery. Will being skinny ensure Hanna a better life?

The movie starts of well...Hanna is such a likable...what she lacks in appearance...she makes it up with her character....cute, sweet and bubbly...but also horribly naive...dancing backstage...causing the platform she was on to break...falling for the record producer...having her hopes ups...So after being humiliated by Ammy and that funny and horribly sad scene where the hospital staff weren't able to move her from one stretcher to another....she disappears and goes for a plastic surgery...one of the reasons Hanna had was that she couldn't eat less...nor exercise more to loose the weight...so her only solution...surgery...but here's the thing...she didn't just had surgery to lose weight...she also did stuff to beautify herself...like having a new nose...new boobs...new butt...which kinda makes you think...what message is this movie trying to send out?? Then I thought...maybe there isn't suppose to be one...its just no brainer fun...coz...the flick did get funnier...the commotion that Hanna caused with her new found beauty...Hanna wearing the bike helmet when she meets her crush again for fear of being recognised, the accident with the taxi...that must have been the funniest scene of all. I did find myself rooting for her....to be a successful singer instead of being a ghost singer and to even get the guy.

Too bad though...the second half of the movie wasn't as funny as soon as the novelty of Hanna's new found beauty has worn off...in fact...Hanna herself gets on my nerves with her constantly being on the verge of tears....her best friend was utterly annoying with her lack of sensitivity... and what's with her wanting to have full body surgery at the end too...especially since she was critical of Hanna having done one in the first place?...I thought the singing scenes wasn't nicely dubbed...and pity most of the songs were just covers. In the end...I guess I'm left confused...if this was an all out no brainer comedy...the second half wasn't all that funny...it was all about Hanna hiding her identity...a lot of drama and crying and then being accepted by society...as a public person who had plastic surgery...and trying to win the heart of her crush,who doesn't mind other people doing it...just not his girl... And I'm surprise how easily they seem to portray her fans excepting her when she was forced to confess the truth at her concert (again thru tears).

Concluding...I liked the funny, light hearted first half but not the serious, trying to be a tear jerker, mix messaged second half...Actually...its more like the movie...has no idea what type of message its sending out...just a whole lot of ideas being thrown around. Being thin and pretty...can swing a lot of things your way...it can make you a popular artist...but guys still want a natural beauty for a girlfriend?? When getting a liposuction...why not fix everything else that is not the least bit perfect...?? Your best friend might be mean to you initially, not because she thinks your new look has gone to your head...but she really is just jealous and wants the surgery too??

Children of Men (2006)

You have to hand it to the British...for giving us a bleak grim look at the future...There was 28 Days Later...where there's a contagious virus that sends people on a murderous rage...V for Vendetta...where the nation, in exchange for 'peace' gives total submission and their silence to the government...now we have Children of Men...where humans are no longer able to procreate. Oh yes what a dark future that is...and what a fitting quote it has on one of its posters..."the future's a thing of the past".

*Contain Spoilers*

Clive Owen plays one of the main characters, Theo a former activist...a pretty depressed guy, who is extremely cynical about the future, having lost hope of ever having one years ago. Somehow he becomes a reluctant hero...reeled in by his ex wife, Julian...whom he hasn't seen for years...I mean...really...you can hardly imagined they were ever married..., to help her get papers for a girl called Kee...who is miraculously pregnant...She maybe the answer to an actual future. But things are never what they seem...Kee as it turns out is just a pawn of Julian's 'activist' friends in getting the nation to rally with what they believe in...and how easily they would eliminate Julian when they see her as a hindrance to their plans...yes things does get a tad confusing and complicated here on...a lot of running...a lot of sieving on who's to be trusted.

The movie does move rather slow...and was rather confusing like I said before...all the scheming...all the shady characters thrown in the mix...you kinda wonder why anyone wanna hide the fact someone is able to get pregnant when its suppose to be such a miracle...would people really want to kill this miracle...and truly live in a world without a future?. Clive Owen I thought was perfect for the role...He had this deep grave voice...perfect for a character like Theo...rather detached, depressed. The world that was portrayed was bleak, dark and dreary...the only hope they were running towards was the Human Project...but what was the Human Project? I kept asking...one of the reasons why I did watch to the very end is to find out who/what it was. A bunch of scientist?...they were made out to be some kind of Utopia...no one made contact with them...only Julian...now she's dead...and so no one knows who or what the Human Project was...maybe its just a myth...a metaphor for hope..all they had was to look for a sign...tomorrow.

The movie is ok...I manage to follow through.You know what...I actually like the ending...it wasn't really a happy one. No feel good ones here...its just one filled with a lot of uncertainties...so after a bunch of people died to get Kee and the baby safe...what we get is a ship called tomorrow...a slight sign of hope...I mean really...If the world really was in shambles with no child being born the last 18 years...the one child being born then...is after all just a small slight hope for the future right...there is no certainty. A fitting ending.

Mean Girls (2004)

Lindsay Lohan plays Cady…the new girl at school. You know how everyone hates being the new kid at school…well Cady has got it bad…not only is she the new kid…she is also new to the whole concept of school. You see…Cady is the daughter of two zoologist who had lived in Africa and was home schooled all her life …in other words…she is socially unprepared for what everything school is.

This is where the movie begins…with Cady’s induction into school. Being socially handicapped…there was several awkward moments for Cady…,not knowing even the common slang used…like ‘shut up’,…providing us with most of the comic scenes. Making friends with Janice and Damien she is given a crash course on the typical high school stuff and soon she is introduced to the various cliques that exist in the school and the most popular of them all the Plastics…the absolute teen royalty…led by the pretty and extremely manipulative Regina George. Recognised as a hottie, Cady is encouraged by Janice and Damien to join the Plastics in order to expose them. Before long Cady learns about the cruel,mean, backstabbing, ugly world of the Plastics and even high school itself…and soon looses herself completely in it and turns pretty ugly herself.

A humourous satire on high school. Exposing the the typical teen, school antics. Yeah...girls can really be that manipulative, mean especially to other girls...and school can be a really cruel world (of course the movie does glossify everthing with pretty faces, pretty clothes...even the school was clean...haha...ugly was never this pretty eh...)…You know what...I actually like the movie. It was wickedly funny. The naïve clueless girl…who unexpectedly overthrows the existing queen bee and who unknowingly crowns herself as the new one…Lindsay as Cady was extremely likeable as the new girl and was able to turn into this unlike able bitchy character when she turned into the second Regina. Regina herself is such a wickedly charming manipulative character…no wonder she has the whole school (her family...actually almost everyone right) around her little fingers right?…remember the burn book scene at the principal’s office. The other Plastics deserves mentioning too…they were pretty as they were dumb…their stupidity gave rise to several funny scenes…that was just soo ‘fetch’. :)

The story is funny …the acting was pretty good. There were some fun, interesting, catty characters…An incredibly entertaining, fun movie. Definitely one of the best teen movies out there.

Trailer Watch: Fierce People

Sixteen year old Finn wants to escape New York and join his father, an anthropologist, studying tribes in South America...instead his mother packs their bags and they crash at Ogden C. Osbourne's, an eccentric billionaire , estate...that also houses his equally eccentric family.

A dark comedy with quirky characters...I wanna watch...Kinda sounds and looks similar to Running with Scissors doesn't it?...the weird eccentric patriarch... down to the Evan Rachel Wood/Kirsten Stewart character ( I maybe wrong...since I have yet to watch Running with Scissors) ...plus its also an adaptation. And you know what...it seems that it has been making its rounds at film festivals since 2005 (And I've only heard of it now) but has yet to get a full release... I hope it does get one in Singapore...definitely want to see it. At least a dvd release maybe?

Sydney White….weird

The poster: A pretty plain one…with a lot of white…Hah…her name is Sydney White after all. On the right the geeks/dorks…on the left the ‘beautiful” people…and in the middle a frumpy looking Amanda Bynes playing the title role. She really does look pretty horrible. She looks like she’s hunching…the hairstyle doesn’t suit her…and worse…I mean I know she’s suppose to be a tomboy (yet again right…wasn’t she a tomboy in What I like You, She’s the Man and Lovewreck…a tomboy that dresses in very girly outfits most of the time…go figure…) or something…but come on she kinda looks like a drag (am I the only person who things so?). I guess the image people or publicity people aren’t doing their job…the poster looks awful.

The trailer (watch here): And guess what’s worse?…Amanda Bynes actually look the way she looked in the poster… in the trailer too…really…like a drag…and here I thought maybe it was only a bad poster with bad air brushing. She’s just way too tan…her hair colour is too light(kinda looks like a wig)…and she wore like these nude silvery kinda make up…that just doesn’t suit her at all...What are the stylists doing? And the movie itself…doesn’t look the least bit interesting… it just looks like her countless others…she’s a ‘tomboy’…who kinda looks at the frivolous rituals of the sorority with disdain or something like that (in She’s the Man there was the whole Debutante affair and What a Girl Wants…the very English way of doing things). So she bands with a bunch of dorks and is now going up against a sorority. Of course…thrown in the midst of the story is a boy, with whose presence Sydney won’t able to stop talking…it’s a disease she blabbers…it is after all an Amanda Byne’s movie. You know I actually liked her tv series What I Like About You…but after seeing her pull the same comic facial expressions…playing the same tomboy, talkative, klutz character…it gets old…maybe her character in Hairspay is different? The trailer is certainly cute...I might want to check that out. As for Sydney White…I’ll pass.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

A dysfunctional family takes a road trip across the country in a small Volkswagen van, having to endure each other’s company…all to send the youngest of the brood to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

**Contain Spoilers**

A quirky dark comedy about a dysfunctional family…just the kinda film I would love. But no…I didn’t love it…I liked it…but nope I didn’t love it. The thing is I didn’t really like the Little Miss Sunshine pageant part…I much liked the road trip part of the story…I know that’s a weird thing to say…since the pageant is an essential part of the story…showing how the family manages to come together…and also the ridiculousness of these pageants… little girls…parading all dolled up…and then there’s Olive…who through the guidance of her Grandpa…did that raunchy dance number…I guess …It was probably Grandpa’s way of saying F*** you…cussing as usual… to mock them(the parents)…the absurdity of the pageants…but then again who knows what he was thinking teaching his grand daughter such things...rite? So anyway…the Little Miss Sunshine scenes…were suppose to be the highlight of the film…it is the title after all… To me…it was…blah…is this what it all leads up to? is that it?…wasn’t as funny as the others…the road trip had more intense scenes…with suppressed emotions pouring out.

Ok so I didn’t love the story as a whole…what I did love…were the characters…what a bunch of interesting quirky characters. There’s the high, crazy, swearing grandpa…the things that comes out of his mouth were just astonishing…no censorship at all…too bad they killed him 2/3 through the movie…I really wanted to see his reaction after seeing the pageant. Then there the suicidal, gay uncle…he’s funny…all depressed…I almost wished they had him try to commit suicide and fails once again. Of course…there’s the brother the mute angst ridden teen…he isn’t really mute…he chooses to be silent…Remember that scene…when he wrote this note…I hate Everyone…I guess its no wonder he doesn’t talks right?( Why talk to anyone when you hate everyone) Lastly the parents….the father trying to be a self help/motivation guru of some sort…and trying to get his book published…wat a loser…I mean seriously…these life coach/motivation gurus are a load of bull…glad they portrayed him as a person who struggles just like everyone…even he can’t even use his steps to success (or whatever it was) to actually succeed...Haha the irony…Love the scene where he tries to put into practice his steps on himself and his family…but everyone thinks its crap…and he just looks more pathetic than ever. And the mother…well…you know…I actually thought she was the sanest of them all (other than Olive…she’s just a kid) trying to bring the family together and all. And Olive…the cute…wide eyed girl…the heart of the family…actually…she doesn’t seem that quirky at all…she actually is pretty normal little girl…the girls at the pageants are much more insane...wait their parents are more. As wacky and screwed up as Olive's family are...at least her parents let her be a child.

You know what I’d probably give the movie 6.5/10…Liked the first 2/3…the sharp witty dialogue and the eccentric characters….but not the last third.

Back at Blogspot

Addicted to Films has moved again. I fixed the whole Blogger/Google problem...with some help...finally...That's one of the main reasons I haven't been posting for the last week. And Blogger doesn't have an import function like Wordpress....argh!!!...So I had to copy and past everything...well almost everything...And all the comments are gone :(

I've changed the blogskin too...looking for something clean and simple...like the one I used on Wordpress...I do need help though...How do I change the image header? Where should I paste the image code on the template? Here's a link to the template code. K2 template. So anyone that can help...please post a comment on this post. Thanks.