Tips for Picking a Good Movie

Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad, but essentially you have to choose something that’s going to make everyone happy. So lucky you have this wonderful guide with you.
Your Mood, Your Movie
If you’ve been given the “responsibility” of selecting a movie, then there is a bright side – you’ve got control. Your mood can ultimately dictate what genre of film.
• Happy – Go for a comedy, adventure, action or musical
• Thoughtful – If you’re in the mood to be challenged try a thriller, action, crime & gangster, drama, science fiction, or epic historical feature
• Indifferent – Sometimes you just don’t know what you’re feeling, so the best bet is to go for something that has a bit of everything like a comedy, detective & mystery, fantasy, biopics, animations, or chick flick.
• Sad or Distracted – When you’re feeling blue or have your mind on other things, it’s best to keep things light with a positive movie that offers a few laughs or a feel-good theme.
Movie Choice Etiquette
‘Movie Choice What?’ I hear you say. Well, maybe we just made something up and maybe it’s the way of the future. If people can make a blog about car shotgun rules, who’s to say there’s no room for movie choice etiquette?
Your mood will decide the genre of the movie you watch, so being wary of the rest of the people who have to watch the film is always good “movie choice etiquette”.
Choosing For Kids
Everyone loves being the cool parent, the one that lets the little ones slightly get away with things, so if there are kids in the group, choose films that are appropriate for their age, especially if they belong to someone else. That will just come back and bite you ten-fold when they go home and tell their folks that they’ve seen ‘Aliens Director’s Cut’.
Check the Reviews and Starring Actors
If you’re really concerned about the quality of the film, jump online to check the opinions of others who have seen the movie. While critic reviews are sometimes helpful, it is usually the “real people” ratings that offer a fair appraisal of the film. In some cases, a good movie will often generate a good “buzz” anyway – so if you feel like you’ve heard about the movie and can’t quite remember where it’s from, it’s probably been in the media for all the right reasons...sometimes, though, it could be for all the wrong reasons (remember ‘Waterworld’? Neither do I, but it’s a name etched into the Stone of Bad – another thing I maybe just made up like ‘Movie Choice Etiquette’).
Finally, look at the stars – it's a good way of measuring whether it is going to be a quality film, as the big-league actors are very selective as to which projects they sign onto, except Robert DeNiro, he’s really sold himself out these days. Maybe Samuel L. Jackson, too, but it’s a no-brainer he sold out...why else would you be in a movie with Hayden Christiansen, or Christian Haydensen, I can never remember.
If all else fails and you’re just not confident with selecting a good film, turn to the Disney section. After all, everyone will have seen these classics and undoubtedly enjoy reliving their childhood, if only for a few hours.

A Movie Review on Despicable Me

Image via Wikipedia

Are you looking for a summer blockbuster to go see at the theaters? If you are looking for an animated and quirky movie, consider seeing Despicable Me. Many famous actors, such as Steve Carrell and Jason Segal, have lent their voices to the movie.
Despicable Me is an animated film set in a world that only consists of villains. The world's greatest super villain is Gru, played by Steve Carrell. He is a bald, barrel chested, eastern European villain that has lost his greatest super villain status because someone has stolen the great pyramid of Egypt.
To prove his worthiness and get the greatest super villain title back, Gru decides to pull off the ultimate heist. He is going to steal the moon! In order to steal the moon, he must first steal the top secret shrink ray.
One thing stands in the way of Gru's greatness, Vector (Jason Segal). He is a nerdy villain that develops many seemingly useless weapons that are of little use to anyone. Who needs a gun that fires piranhas?
Another thing that stands in Gru's way is the fact that he cannot get financing for the caper from the Bank of Evil. They are only investing money in young, up and coming villains like Vector. The only way that they will reconsider is if he steals the shrink ray.
Gru steals the shrink ray only to have it stolen by Vector. In order to get it back, Gru focuses on Vector's weakness, cookies. The movie finishes up with us thinking that maybe Gru isn't the evil villain after all! This is a great and quirky movie that is enjoyable for the entire family.

The Last Exorcism

 I love a good horror flick. My wife and I went to see The Last Exorcism and found that it was neither a horror flick, or a good flick. Where to begin? How about at the beginning.

We start out learning about the exorcist in this movie, named Reverend Cotton Marcus. He's a former believer who has lost his faith and now makes his living by charging people for fake exorcisms. Sound flimsy? Like an overcooked noodle.

So Cotton gets this letter pleading for him to come and take a demon out of a teenage girl in Louisiana. If you enjoy a Southern like I do, you only get a few despite a large cast- most of the actors sound like they're from Westchester County in New York. Reminds me of calling a Japanese steakhouse for reservations one time and dealing with a woman who sounded like she was from South Jersey. Not very authentic.

Cotton pulls a few parlor tricks to make the father of the girl think the demon has been expelled. He goes on his way with a fist full of cash, and this is where the Exorcism Express goes off the tracks.

The possessed girl winds up in Cotton's hotel room and the story circles the drain for a while before concluding with some sort of ritual sacrifice. It's unclear whether the possession is real or a trick by a demented cult and no explanation is given before the credits roll.

Mine was one of quite a few that expressed a sort of "You gotta be kidding me" at the film's abrupt ending.

If you're still reading, the real icing on the cake is the overdone shaky camera movements, a la Blair Witch Project. Some of the effects were pretty convincing and some were predictable and look like they needed a bit more time in post before being considered "in the can".

I'd name someone from the cast, but I'm not sure there's a recognizable name in the lot. As my wife and I discussed on the way home from the movies, the actors were all people who fit the definition of character actors. Basically, a "Hey, I know that guy from a commercial or something" kind of cast. And it showed in some of the acting, particularly with What's His Name that played the good Reverend Cotton.

A Twilight Movie Review

Twilight movie is one of the latest movies which have its theme based on the book that was written by Stephanie Meyer who is also featured in the same movie. It was actually released in the Philippines way back in November of 2009 and it stars such movie stars as Robert Pattison as Edward and Kristen steward who is featured as Bella. Since its production it has been doing quite well as its casting is cool enough that one can easily derive the theme and meaning of the movie.
Different from the Edward(main vampire character) presented in the book who appears to be confident, perfect and cool at all the times, Edward in the movie is quite anxious and appears uncomfortable at all times. But as the movie continues, he seems to be moved closer to Bella simply because of her behavior through the film. Based on the fact that Edward is handsome, this gives him the advantage of moving even closer to meeting the woman he has always been dreaming of.
Despite the point that Edward is a vampire, this did not actually stop Bella from falling in love with him, something that most people will be intrigued with when watching the movie. In a normal situation, you will realize that once an individual come to learn about the evil deeds practiced by the person you love, their relationship will come to an abrupt end, but the producer of this film/ tackles this differently. Bella still dreams of Edward every night despite having learned about his impureness and so many other evil deeds.
The producer of the twilight movie also uses the music throughout the movie very well. The provision of lullaby songs for Bella is absolutely amazing as it adds to the uniqueness in the film production from other common movie making. The producer of this great movie uses two very important aspect of styles; suspense and romance which eventually bring out the quality production which makes one great movie that you will never want to miss. Therefore in case you really want to enhance all that you have been reading in the twilight book, then you should actually watch this great movie produced by a renowned producer from the Philippine movie style. Watching the Twilight movie will always make you want to watch more from this great producer as it pushes you to the edge of your seat. New Moon(Twilight 2) has also released and promises to continue where this original film leaves off.

At SeekingMovies.com, you can enjoy thousands of movies with HD trailers and detailed movie-specific information. You are also able to take a look at the latest news in the movie entertainment world as well as comment and share reviews on our Movies Forum. SeekingMovies.com [http://seekingmovies.com/movie-categories/] also has all the free trailers and movie screenings updated automatically on a weekly basis for your convenience.

Should District 9 Have Been Banned in Nigeria

Cover of District 9 [Blu-ray]

District 9 definitely got Nigerians talking because of the way we were portrayed in the movie. As a science fiction enthusiast, I was really looking forward to this movie. The short film it was based on called 'Alive in Jo'burg' was an interesting one if you were in the visual effects field. Then word started to reach me about its portrayal of Nigerians. Some were even saying we should boycott District 9. As usual, the internet forums were blazing the trail. I thought I'd reserve judgement until I saw the film. Wherever possible, I like to form an opinion based on fact rather than just jump on a popular bandwagon for the sake of it.

After watching the film, here are my thoughts. Of course it wasn't nice to see us portrayed in a negative light. But that's stating the obvious. I can see why our Minister for Information decided to step in, demand an apology and ban cinemas from showing it. I didn't agree with the move but I can see why she did it. I my opinion she picked the wrong target. There are several reasons why I hold this view.

1: There are crooks from Nigeria in other countries. It is well within citizens of that country's right to use that fact in anyway they wish. We do the same and have done so in history. At no point did the movie say ALL Nigerians are crooks.

2: Nollywood, our indigenous movie industry, has portrayed us in a much harsher light to both national and international audiences. There was a time where you couldn't get Nollywood movie that didn't include one of the following or a combination of them; fraud, juju/witchcraft, armed robbery, incest, adultery, cannibalism and of course our favourite, corruption. Nollywood has been pumping out thousands of movies with these themes for years with no real opposition from the general public or any Ministry. I must point out not all film makers in Nollywood do this but the majority do and I am yet to be proved wrong on this.

3: Banning films sets the wrong precedent; in fact it can be dangerous. Let us the public debate the issue. We are mature enough to do so. In fact our Minister has succeeded in giving the movie more publicity which I'm sure she didn't intend to do.

4: If you analyse the movie, you'll find that the biggest 'bad guys' are in fact the South African based arms company.

I think a more effective way of protecting or promoting the Nigerian image globally is to have a vibrant, respected, highly trained, creative, effective, well financed and subsidised media production sector. We can then do the rest. We can produce documentaries, films, cartoons, music, and stories telling the modern Nigerian story to us and the global audience. It won't all be good positive but you will definitely get a more balanced view.

We need to look at our media and entertainment sector and honestly ask ourselves are we where we should be to really compete globally? In my opinion the answer is no. However, we are heading in the right direction but that is mainly due to amazing trailblazers who are tirelessly working around the clock. We will need a lot more government help and intervention to really get us there. This is where the Information Ministry can really be of genuine help. 

 Let the public deal with District 9, Sony PS3's and all the other distractions.

From Cairo With Love

The romantic mood in "Cairo Time" has a strong presence, but it's missing the tension that films like this thrive on. In fact, this is one of those rare films that fails what's called the Peter Griffin Test: Think back to that episode of "Family Guy" where Peter buys a tank and shows up with it at a drive-in theater. After a few minutes of a bland comedy called "The Even Couple," he yells, "There's no conflict in this movie!" and fires a missile at the screen.

Maybe the reason why films like "Cairo Time" are so rare is because theater owners aren't keen on movies that might put them out of business.

Of course, one might envy its heroine, Juliette (Patricia Clarkson), for getting to hang around in such an exotic place. She's a journalist who's come to Cairo to work on her next story, and to go sightseeing with her husband, a U.N. official named Mark (Tom McCamus). He'd planned on meeting her in Cairo after taking care of some business in Gaza, but when the airline cancels his flight, his old friend Tareq (Alexander Siddig) steps in to keep her company.

You'd think someone who's got a piece to write would want a little time to herself.

Juliette gets so used to having Tareq around that she starts to fall in love with him, which is made all the more surprising by the fact that they don't have much in common. An affair is usually enough to generate some drama, but these characters aren't bold enough to create any sparks - their romance is limited to passionate glances that bespeak of the flames within their loins, and all that other Harlequin crap you find in bargain bins at supermarkets. (Actually, given this film's PG rating, this material seems better suited for the young-adult section at the bookstore.)

Even the parts that don't have anything to do with their relationship come out wrong, all wrong. When Juliette hops on a bus and sits next to a woman named Jameelah (Mona Hala) only to have the Egyptian police pull them over, Juliette's caught off-guard when Jamelah asks her to track her boyfriend down and hand him a love letter. Instead of turning this into a major plot point, the movie allows Juliette and Tareq to take care of the letter as if it were as easy as... well, mailing a letter. It's stuff like this that makes you wonder how a film this dull can last 90 minutes.

Sometimes it's worth waiting through a film's theatrical run for the DVD, but if you must see "Cairo Time," wait until it turns up on television. At least there, you'll get something out of the commercials.

Movie Review of "Snakes on a Plane"

This is a movie that got much hype basically because of its bad reputation, but after watching it for myself; I realized that the plot really wasn't so bad after all. I know it definitely made me hold on to my frequent flyer credit card for a while.
Here you have a movie about a guy who witnessed a murder and is being escorted by two FBI agents to LA to testify against this man. What they do not know is that men who work for this guy put snakes on their plane to kill off this witness before they reach LAX. The snakes are in a timed crate so that while they are in mid air they will be released. To ensure an attack, they passed out leis that have been sprayed with a snake pheromone.
Samuel L. Jackson being an FBI agent spends most of his time killing snakes off one by one while still trying to save everyone else. One thing that people like about Samuel L. Jackson is that he seems fearless in many roles that he plays. This role is no different. While the movie is hilarious because of the ridiculous quotes in the movie, one does have a bit of fear in them just thinking about the situation if they were ever caught on a plane with snakes everywhere.
As in any survival movie, we learn about what people would actually do if we were caught in an extreme disaster like this one. Strangers would hold on to each other in fear and hope, along with helping one another. It is funny how quickly attitudes change towards others when we fear for our very lives. We get to know some of the characters such as a couple who just got married and are coming back from their honey moon or a little boy who loses his mom. After getting to know our characters a little better we feel bad when they get hurt or killed.
Overall, I would say that this movie is pretty bad, but it does have some good points that make up for it. The plot was solid and there was a legitimate reason for snakes being on a plane. While I can see several different ways to kill a man, I guess we can still account for creative people in the world. Another good point was the quotes of the movie said by Samuel L Jackson. One of the most popular ones being "I'm tired of these mother f****** snakes on this mother f******* plane." Who wouldn't laugh to a ridiculous quote like that? Only Samuel Jackson could pull off this role. Even though the movie was bad, it is a movie that I highly advise for everyone to see for themselves. Sometimes a movie can be so bad, it's good.