Herbie: Fully Loaded Movie Review

Release date: June 22, 2005
Directed by: Angela Robinson
Running time: 1:32
Distributor: Disney
Starring: Michael Keaton, Matt Dillon, Breckin Meyer, Justin Long, Lindsay Lohan Genre: Action, Adventure
Rating:
Photos and Stills from the Movie: View here

Herbie: Fully Loaded is the remake of the 1960s comedy about a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own. Herbie is a living car that raced through his own run of movies through the ’70s to the ’90s. It is a fast paced, breezy ride for the summer. The story sets up a lot of racing scenes to show Herbie in action.

Herbie is more animated, both in character and in form and instead of freaking out bad guys with the whole “possessed car” thing, he now actively beats them up. What was once achieved with driverless maneuvering and horn honks is now communicated through special effects and computer animation. The headlights move like eyes, his sun visors frown like eyebrows and when he is angry, his grill curves like a smile. He demonstrates here a lot of emotional sighs like oohs and aaha.

Apart from CGI animated car action the film revolves round the Maggie/Herbie buddy relationship, the Maggie/Kevin romance, the Maggie/Trip rivalry, the Maggie/Father overprotection issue and the whole fake persona of Max. One subplot affects another. Revealing Max affects Maggie’s father, the rivalry with Trip raises tensions with Herb. The whole dynamic sets up a lot of racing scenes and it all ties together.
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The Island Review

Release Date: July 22, 2005
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures
Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriter: Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, Shawnee Smith, Noa Tishby
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Official Website: TheIsland-themovie.com
Rating: 3/5
Photos and Stills from Movie The Island: View here

Cast:
Ewan McGregor - Lincoln Six Echo/Tom Lincoln
Scarlett Johansson - Jordan Two Delta/Sarah Jordan
Djimon Hounsou - Albert Laurent
Sean Bean - Merrick
Steve Buscemi - McCord
Michael Clarke Duncan - Starkweather
Ethan Phillips - Jones Three Echo

‘The Island’ directed by Michael Bay of The Rock, Armageddon, and Pearl Harbor fame is the first picture Bay made without the production company of long time partner Jerry Bruckheimer. Right from the start, “The Island” plot zips along at a blistering pace, creating continuous suspense. Bay’s gifted sense of visual style adds a smooth edge to the film, and the realism and intensity with which he captures the freeway chases is incomparable.

He locks into the story from the beginning and never strays, giving it a strong narrative drive that has few superfluous scenes with even the extended action beats moving the plot forward. The film deals with various issues, our societies obsession with physical perfection and immortality, what makes us human, and our natural impulse for freedom and survival.

Although the non-stop action is given number one priority, however, a strong storyline with little foray makes it easily Bay’s best film to date.

The film takes us to the year 2050 with this notion that a few years ago some sort of contamination destroyed most forms of life on Earth. Of course some people survived. They were rescued and live in a contained city. These people live in a futuristic, climate controlled complex that shields the inhabitants from ‘the contamination’. The several thousand residents all live regulated lives.
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V For Vendetta action-packed trailer

There is a lot of trailer talk going around for V For Vendetta the upcoming live-action adaptation of the Alan Moore/David Lloyd graphic novel.

The action-packed trailer begins with young British woman Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) kidnapping and interrogation.

She is being advised by a mysterious interrogator that she has been charged with conspiracy to commit treason, terrorism and sedition. She is offered one way out: reveal the identity of the masked revolutionary known only as V. She refuses.

The trailer progresses to chilling scenes of a totalitarian-state England of the near future that hints at conspiracy and chaos. There is a lone person seeking to take back control, codename V. This is a slightly futuristic Britain where V wages his vengeful crusade against a totalitarian regime.
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Ray Liotta Singed to play “Dungeon Siege�? villain

After playing bad guy Tommy Vercetti in the movie like game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Ray Liotta, the “Godfellas” star and one of Boll’s favorite actors, will portray the film’s villain, Gallian, in Dungeon Siege according to Shawn Williamson, producer for Brightlight Pictures.

“I’m really proud that he liked the script so much that this is his first time doing a fantasy period piece,” executive producer/director Uwe Boll said. Uwe Boll has previously filmed “House of the Dead,” “Alone in the Dark,” and “Blood Rayne”.

Shawn Williamson said “Uwe and Tony are a great combination for this film! Together they will make this an epic action adventure film.�?

“Dungeon Siege”, the $60 million fantasy film, which the director said will run three hours, is based on Gas Powered Games’ million-selling PC game franchise. The director already has the rights to films based on Hunter: The Reckoning, Fear Effect, and Far Cry.
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Superman Returns Director Talk at Comic-Con

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At the recent Comic-Con International convention, after showing a teaser trailer for the film, Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer answers questions from the fans and told them that the film will be as much action as it is love story.

Singer previewed a three-minute clip of the new “Superman” flick for several thousand eager fans at Comic-Con and drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

Picking up several years after the 1978 “Superman” film, this movie follows the Man of Steel’s return to Earth after unsuccessfully attempting to reach his home planet, Krypton. The film is something of a reboot in that the three sequels to the original film never took place.
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Tom Hanks has signed on to voice a character in the animated adventure “The Ant Bully�?, a new CGI film from Warner Bros. Pictures, DNA Productions, and Playtone Productions. The film will be released on August 4, 2006, in both IMAX 3D and conventional 2D formats.

The film will be directed by John A Davis, who also worked for the 2001 box office hit ‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’.

The Ant Bully is based on the John Nickle’s book, which tells the story of a naughty boy, Lucas Nickle, who floods an ant colony with his water-gun, and is magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor in the ruins. Before returning to half-pint stature, he comes to appreciate the selfless nature of the ants and learns a valuable lesson about tolerance and empathy.

Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Kahn himself, Ricardo Montalban, Cheri Oteri, Alan Cumming, Regina King and newcomer Zach Tyler Eisen are also voicing characters. Zach Tyler Eisen will voice the miscreant Lucas.
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Tom Hanks, a wayward US politician in “Charlie Wilson’s War�?

Double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks will play a real-life rogue Texas congressman in the upcoming movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” made by Universal Pictures and based on the book by George Crile.

Hanks will find himself at the centre of a political scandal involving sex, drugs and alcohol in the movie.

The movie is based on Charles Wilson, dubbed as “Good Time Charlie�? by detractors whose liking for alcohol and women earned him the nickname.
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“Smurfs�? smurfing in 2008

“Smurfs�? is being turned into a computer animated movie as Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to create a movie based on cartoon characters and has hired producer Jordan Kerner to develop it.

Paramount wants to make a trilogy, with the first film coming out in 2008 on the 50th anniversary of The Smurfs.

The film would be made in 3-D CGI in association with Nickelodeon Movies. Writer Herb Ratner will script the project and the storyline is being kept under wraps. He recently wrote Mr. Lucky for Revolution and co-wrote Focus’ Clean Break with Trevor Sands.

‘The Smurfs’ originated as a comic strip in Belgium in 1958. The television version was launched in 1981. There were 256 episodes of the show and it won a number of Emmy awards.