Beautiful Creatures: Movie Reviews

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to catch a preview of Beautiful Creatures. I have been exposed to the advertisements for the movie for a while now, and though it looked somewhat intriguing, I was not sold on spending my time and money to see it. I had a conversation with a colleague who was reading the book and she had mentioned that, from the previews, she could tell that the movie cut off the first half of the book. I interpreted that as very important information hacked out of the script to make the movie a reasonable length. But, like every movie out there, I gave it a chance, and I was glad I did.

Beautiful Creatures is a book to movie coming of age adaptation involving the complication of living life as a caster. Casters are the equivalent of witches and wizards. It is a romantic fantasy that stars Lena (Alice Englehert) and Ethan (Aiden Ehrenreich). The moment Lena moves to the small town that Ethan is growing tired of his small hometown, struggles arouse. Lena is a member of the wealthiest family in town and who possesses the power of magic. Their love is at a disadvantage when Lena turns 16, she will either be claimed buy the light or the dark. This movie involves battle after battle between good and evil.

The special effects were done flawlessly It definitely helps deliver the notion that the story is takes place in a different realm. The acting chemistry between Alice and Aiden is delivered naturally, which makes the romance extremely believable. The rest of the cast delivered solid performances as well: by Emma Tompson, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, Viola Davis, and Margo Martindale.

Overall, I would suggest moviegoers to see this movie. It is different and filmed extremely well. I have yet to read the book, but from what I saw in the movie, I felt Beautiful Creatures would have been an effective television show. There is a lot more depth in the storyline than what is presented. Adapting the full story could be more effective through a television show.

Warm Bodies : A new take on Zombies

I guess you could call me a zombie fan. For fun, I am developing a short film script based on zombies. So, it is important to pay attention to zombie movies that appear to have different twists and takes on it. I am a fan of the novel World War z, I enjoyed 28 Days Later and I have become an avid watcher of The Walking Dead. They all have its similarities: mindless, gruesome looking wanderers. Each focuses on finding a government ran facility for safety. Despite the similarities, they each deliver their own interpretation of how a zombie apocalypse. 

Warms Bodies is based on a novel by Isaac Marion. Warm Bodies stars Nicholas Hoult (Skins and X-men: First Class), as R, and Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four), as Julie. While R is searching for his next meal, he comes across a  young militia in training. Upon the encounter, R notices Julie and it is love at first site for R. To avoid Julie getting eaten by the other zombies, R becomes protective over Julie and takes her back to his home. The communication is very minimal. R understands everything that Julie says, but can only communicate in grunts and moans. During their daily encounters, R begins to build a vocabulary and slowly becomes more human each day.

So, why does Warm Bodies work? It gives a more optimistic spin on the zombie apocalypse perception. It gives a new kind of hope and twist for a painstakingly standard plot: zombies will forever be zombies and there may be a cure. R is personified. We are taken on a journey through the film through a R's voice over. Normally, I would be apposed to to voice over narrations because they are mostly ineffective. But Warm Bodies uses it in an effective way to carry the plot. The soundtrack give Warm Bodies an upbeat feel so the world being consumed by zombies is not as bad as it appears.

The main reason I wanted to see this movie is because of the British actor, Nicholas Hoult. He always puts on an outstanding performance and has a unique acting style. Hoult decided that his character R would not blink in any scenes and hunch is back. 

This is a must see movie. The zombies are easy on the eyes, compared to the classic zombie look. The movie has some strong special and visual affects. Alltogether I give the movie a 9 out 10 stars.