Riley Griffiths and Joel Courtney in the scene of Paramount Pictures' Super 8.

Back in late December (which was when I watched this, and started writing this review article), I received J.J. Abrams’ latest project Super 8 on DVD, which revolves around a group of early teenage filmmaking friends who witness, and almost get killed by, a derailing train in the middle of making a zombie film in the year 1979. Unknown to them in the moment, they also catch the event and aftermath on Super 8 film with the still-rolling camera. After the derailment, air force troops immediately appear to clean up the mess, while mysterious events happen in this small town. When the film roll is developed a few days later, the filmmaking friends discover what was really on that train, and they also find out the reason the military so desperately wants to keep it a secret.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d get myself into, given J.J. Abrams’ recent history with what I consider as both good (Alias, Mission: Impossible III) and not-so-good projects (Lost, Star Trek), and his endless love with gratuitous lens flares (a feature of Abrams’ films that may or may not have been turned into some sort of drinking game). Then again, he has also paired up with legend Steven Spielberg as the producer on this project, which would hopefully bring the quality up a few notches. I don’t believe Spielberg would go for just any project out there – I’d think he would know “good” when he sees it (or fully trust those he enters into partnership with).

Thankfully, the story itself comes across as good, and we follow the group of filmmaking friends more than external shots, meaning that we see the action more or less from their point of view, rather than being told from a distance. You can really immerse yourself into this story.

Both the special and visual effects are in the place they’re supposed to, and are only where necessary. There are also a few things hidden in the background, and you won’t notice these until you’ve seen this film a few times (I was actually made aware of this in the behind-the-scenes featurettes on the DVD, and I went back into the film afterwards just to confirm those sightings).

I did feel that there were a few missing plot points, and slightly silly antics that didn’t quite fit in (although they were very few), plus the unnecessary lens flares (yes, you can’t escape them in this one, either), which prevent me from giving this film a full score.

But, as a whole, a great film. Absolutely recommended for the sci-fi buff.

Rating: 8/10  

DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter in Warner Bros. Pictures' fantasy adventure HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 2, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk.

The story has finally come to its conclusion. And what a conclusion it is.

I went to see the latest – and last – of the Harry Potter movie series today, on its world premiere day, expecting a worthy end to a long running series. I haven’t read any of the books yet, so I was truly going into the theater blindfolded, not knowing exactly how things would turn out. I bought my ticket about a month ago, and spread across these weeks, I’ve re-watched the entire Harry Potter movie series from beginning to end; the first 6 on DVD from my collection, and the seventh (Deathly Hallows Part 1) was downloaded from a file-sharing site. I chose to download it (technically, that probably makes me a criminal) because, given their titles, I merely want to wait until the last one comes out on DVD to buy the last two together as some sort of box set or collection. And over the last week, I must’ve watched “Part 1″ of this pair about 2 or 3 times, just to be buried deep enough into the story and not miss a thing when the final one would be released. That, and it’s really a great movie.

Those who have read the books, probably already knows how the last film turns out in the end, and those who haven’t, are in for quite a treat as well. If I had to make a suggestion: Don’t watch Deathly Hallows Part 2 unless you’ve seen the previous 7 movies first. I’d say that’s a necessary prerequisite before watching this one, or you’ll miss out a great deal on the story.

The movie picks up more or less where we left off, and the last scene from the previous movie (showing Voldemort) does make an appearance at the very start of the movie (before the title is shown). We are then returned to the beach safe house seen at the end of the movie, starting with Harry at the grave of *mumblemumblemumble*, mourning his friend (I won’t name names to avoid spoiling the end of part 1 for those who haven’t seen it yet). The trio (Harry, Ron and Hermoine) begin their plans for continuing the quest of finding the remaining horcruxes to destroy Voldemort, starting off at a certain storage location (again, not naming names to avoid spoiling too much of the fun).

I can’t really say much more without spoiling too much of the whole story, which I think really says a lot about how much stuff that happens throughout the movie. I feel I can say this much, though: Yes, some people we’ve known in the movies for some time now will die, but they do so in such a manner (and are minor enough) that we can mourn the losses and move on, although the moment of finding out they died certainly was filled with sorrow.

The movie’s story seems to take place in less than a day (not counting the epilog at the end), and is quite well-paced and filled with action.

Aaaarrrgh! I want to say so much about the story, but feel that I have to restrain myself to avoid spoiling the details!

We have followed these youngsters from a very young age, throughout about 7 years at Hogwarts and beyond, and along the way, these have become, at least in spirit, our good friends. It feels a bit sad to part ways with these friends, but it’s also a relief that so many bad things also come to an end.

All in all, a perfect conclusion to a long story.

Rating: 10/10  

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, right) and Saul Silver (James Franco, left) are two lazy stoners running for their lives in Columbia Pictures' action-comedy Pineapple Express. (C) 2008 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

Today, I managed to turn my attention to one of those movies I bought on DVD because they had some promise (based on what I’ve read and heard about it in advance), but never had a proper chance to actually watch it. According to a colleague of mine, I just had to see this one, and now was the time to do just that.

Considering the theme (somewhat revolved around marijuana smoking), I was a little hesitant to go through with the viewing. Personally, I’m all for people smoking pot, weed, or whatever you’d like to call it, as long as you don’t overdo and are fully aware of the consequences. As the Cracked.com humor website recently pointed out, marijuana activists (if you can call it that, considering the dulling effect it has) often use bad arguments for legalizing marijuana, and about half of them came into play in Pineapple Express (more or less, it’s the top three of those five). Basically, what can be learned from this movie, is that smoking pot may make your life more mellow when smoking it, but it also makes you throw all logic and common sense out the window, which is what these two guys (Dale and Saul, played by Seth Rogen and James Franco, respectively) appear to be doing.

Dale is a process server (ie. those who serve subpoenas to people on behalf of civil courts) who leads a pretty much successful life, using a wide range of creative disguises to fool his targets into acknowledging who they are and receive their subpoenas. He has a girlfriend who’s in high school, and he smokes pot every day (but hides this fact from his girlfriend). After getting a batch of new high-grade pot, with the exotic name “Pineapple Express”, from his dealer Saul, he goes on to serve his next subpoena to a guy named Ted Jones (Gary Cole), who he had found out might be Saul’s dealer, separated by a middle-man named Red (Danny McBride). While finishing up his current joint soon after arriving in front of Ted’s house, Dale becomes witness to a murder inside Ted’s house, assisted by a corrupt female cop, and all hell breaks loose. Dale throws away his joint and gets the hell out of there, ending up at Saul’s house again, telling his story. After finding out that Saul is the only one who has a “preview” of the exclusive Pineapple Express marijuana, the two of them decide to go on the run, since Ted is bound to trace back the source supplier of the joint Dale dropped outside of Ted’s place sooner rather than later. This erupts into a series of bad choices and decisions from the pair, as they jump from running away to finally fighting back.

As I said, during their trip, not a single choice they make is bound by either logic or common sense, and I feel myself cringe at those moments in the film. And to make matters worse, they even take their time to refill their bodies with weed smoke, again, without thinking about the consequences, or sometimes even the fact that they are being chased by people intent on killing them.

The movie does have its high moments (in more than one way), which does pull it back up on its feet, although whenever Dale’s girlfriend (and her family) is involved in the story during their chase (even on a minor level), it all becomes awkward, perhaps hilariously awkward for some people, but just plain awkward for me.

This is more a little above the middle of the road in my case, although those more involved in the pot culture (either directly or in spirit) may enjoy it more than me. I, however, don’t plan to watch it again unless it’s suggested by others (once was enough for me).

Rating: 6/10