Forgetting Sarah Marshall

South African Theatrical Release: 20 June 2008

Running Time: 110 minutes

Websites: IMDB Page

I would describe Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a romantic comedy, but there are honestly a multitude of ways to describe this movie. Judd Apatow is one phrase that immediately springs to mind, and if you have seen his earlier works, such as Superbad, The 40-Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, you will know immediately what I am talking about. A chick flick from a guy’s perspective also succinctly describes this movie as well. Whatever way you look at it however, there is no escaping the fact that Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a good movie.

It tells the story of Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), and his reaction to his famous girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) leaving him for famous British rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).  On the advice of his step-brother, he goes on vacation to Hawaii, but in a supreme twist of irony, Sarah Marshall and her new boyfriend are there too. This unfortunate set of circumstances could also lead some to describe the movie as a sitcom, as all the comedy comes from the situation at hand.

Segel’s performance is masterful, but fans of How I Met Your Mother are in for a surprise: gone is the lovable character of Marshall, replaced by the more … mature … character of Peter, who swears, makes sexual innuendos and is naked a lot more than most normal people are (warning, there are about four full frontal nude scenes, those with weak stomachs or uptight about that sort of thing are advised to be wary and cover their eyes). However, once you get over the changes from his TV show character, you will really appreciate Segel’s performance, especially if you have ever had a really bad breakup, like his character experiences.

Also deserving of special mention is Russel Brand, who is apparently pretty famous, even though I had never heard of him before. He pulls off the arrogant but strangely likable character of Aldous Snow really well, and you will alternate between wanting to punch him in the face to giving him a round of applause. Well, at least that’s how I felt while watching the movie. The role of the title character of Sarah Marshall is filled very well by Kristen Bell, who pulls off the character very well. (Sorry, saying anymore would probably spoil the movie, and I’m trying to go for as few spoilers as possible).

While watching this film, I found myself laughing at a lot of the jokes and even just random scenes when the rest of the cinema was surprisingly quiet. I don’t know if that says something about my sense of humour, cinema audiences, my perception, my dirty mind (again, you’ll get it when you’ve seen the movie), or just the general tone of the movie. Personally I think that there are a lot of jokes which most people will not catch or understand. In this way I think that it is more of a … highbrow? … comedy when compared to straight gross out films like the aforementioned Superbad or Knocked Up. At any rate I found most of the jokes very clever, if somewhat dirty.

Personally, I really enjoyed this movie. It was funny when it needed to be, with just the right amount of grossout to keep the movie interesting without crossing a decency line, while also keeping a nice romantic storyline with a lot of heart. I think that the actor’s portrayals had a lot to do with the last point as you really start to care for the characters, as least I did, especially the character of Peter.

The soundtrack of Forgetting Sarah Marshall is also very interesting. The character of Aldous Snow has his own band called Infant Sorrow, and this provides a few catchy tunes, but none more catchy than the random Hawaiian (I think?) version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” which plays as the final credits roll.

Once again I recommend this movie, especially if you are a fan of Judd Apatow movies, clever comedies (and aren’t too offended by sex and nudity) or a Jason Segel fan (How I Met Your Mother fans leave your fond memories of the character of Marshall at the cinema door please). Overall I’d give this movie an 8 out of 10.

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam

Author: Lauren Liebenberg

ISBN: 9781844084975

Pages: 238

Publication Date: 2008

“Cia is my sister and I am her leader. The two of us are sitting on the flagstone steps outside the kitchen eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Cia peels hers apart, while I squash the layers of bread together between my palms until mine oozes peanut butter and jam goo, and then I gulp it down.”

Despite the misleading title, which conjures up images of a cookbook dedicated to peanut butter and jam recipes, The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam is set during the civil war in Rhodesia. In the late ’70s, two young sisters, Nyree and Cia O’Callahan, live in a rambling old farmstead at the edge of a forest. The decrepit house is itself a metaphor for the country at large, which was governed by a white minority rule until it gained independence from Britain in 1980 and became Zimbabwe.

Race relations between the land-owning whites and the “Afs” - the black Africans - are tense but not yet dire at the time in which the book is set. The two sisters begin to craft a world within the big fence that surrounds their family farm, erected to keep out the ‘Ters’, whom their father Sean O’Callahan is away fighting. Cia and Nyree spend their days imagining what goes on in the forest beyond the farm and listening to the stories of their somewhat alcoholic grandfather.

Told from the perspective of eight year old Nyree, the turbulent politics of 1970s Rhodesia is hazily constructed in the background, and is juxtaposed against in depth descriptions of the natural environment and Nyree’s vivid imagination conjuring up fairies and malignant spirits.

The girls revel in their decaying but paradisical world until the arrival of their orphaned cousin, Ronin “the bastard”, changes everything. A sequence of unnatural happenings occur on the farm that force the girls to stop imagining and realise what evil really looks like. The end of the children’s’ innocence is used as a metaphor for the whole of the country, as the colony is also embarking on a new era of its life.

Liebenberg’s novel is a strange but effective brew of fire-and-brimstone Catholicism and African paganism, along with snippets of Enid Blyton and the Brothers Grimm. This book sends the reader into a purely African read, full of politics, slang and true African traditions. Liebenberg’s descriptions send the reader into a sensory adventure of sight, smell and pure African beauty.

With a helpful glossary of all words foreign this book proves to be more than a satisfactory first novel.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

The Incredible Hulk

Theatrical Release: 13 June 2008

Running Time: 112 minutes

Websites: Official Site, IMDB Page, Wikipedia Article

Let me start off by saying that I will try and keep comparisons with the 2003 movie Hulk to a minimum. Let me just start by saying that this movie is so much better. I mean, it even says “Incredible” right there in the title. Or maybe it is better because the Hulk has gotten his incredible back.

Well the backstory of The Hulk is pretty much general knowledge to everybody (the movie producers seem to agree with me on this one, because the whole story is told via a series of flashbacks in the start of the movie) but I will recap it just in case you haven’t heard of it. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), receives an accidental dose of Gamma Radiation that causes him to transform into a hulking green giant when his heart rate reaches 200 beats per minute. Now he must try and tame the beast inside him while looking for a way to cure himself of the dreaded creature that lives inside of him.

Ok, I’m going to make another comparison here to the OTHER Hulk movie. While the 2003 version focused a lot more on the whole “Who am I? What is this thing that lives inside me? I’m so full of angst” version of the story, this is more of a “pure” comic book adaptation, meaning that there is more action, better visual effects and less dialogue.

So we have Bruce Banner, the wayward scientist who has isolated himself in Mexico to escape the U.S. military (Led by General “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt)) which is chasing him and to try and find a cure at the same time. However, he cuts himself at his job at a Mexican bottling plant and some of his “Hulkified” blood finds it’s way to the U.S. in a soda bottle. The hapless standard Marvel-comic-book-movie-adaption-cameo of Stan Lee drinks the soda and the military is alerted to Banner’s presence by way of the the tell tale gamma radiation poisoning. (Incidentally for those old enough to remember it, Lou Ferrigno, who played The Hulk in the 1977 TV series called The Incredible Hulk, also has a cameo in the movie as a security guard.)

This in essence really starts the movie, as the game of cat and mouse between Banner and the Hulk and the military really starts going. We are also introduced to the character of Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) who acts as The Hulk’s antagonist. First introduced as an elite agent on loan specially to the military to capture Banner, he is quickly given special treatment (that was originally developed on Captain America, incidentally) to become stronger, faster and more agile. When this does not help him to capture The Hulk, he eventually exposes himself to a dose of the same Gamma Radiation as Banner, which reacts to the earlier treatment and causes him to mutate into a hideous creature known as The Abomination.

Shortly after the action packed Mexican scenes, we meet the character of Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross (Liv Tyler), who was Banner’s one time girlfriend and who was injured in the first Gamma Radiation incident, when Banner first transformed. After another action packed battle, The Hulk escapes with Betty and when he transforms back into Banner, they go on the run together.

With all modern movies, and superhero movies in general, the visual effects are rather breathtaking. From the rain dripping down the Hulk’s green skin to the nightmarish portrayal of The Abomination and the destruction of a good portion of New York city, everything looks fantastic. There was no part really where I thought to myself “Hmm, that looks rather fake / cheap.”

Keep a look out when you are watching this movie for the cameo by Tony Stark (still played by Robert Downey Jnr.) which paves the way for upcoming (July 2011) movie, The Avengers. I really liked how they are tying all the characters together now already, it builds the anticipation (Like a 3 year long advertising campaign) and makes it more believable that they would form a superhero team. Even in Iron Man, they already started laying the groundwork for a crossover in the form of showing us the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D., which plays a role in The Incredible Hulk, and in the form of Tony Stark talking about “forming a team”, referring to The Avengers. Subtle nuances, but I liked it.

There is also further foreshadowing for a possible sequel when a professor is accidentally exposed to Banner’s blood, and the mutation of his head begins, thus foreshadowing his role as The Leader, an antagonist of The Hulk in the comic books. The final scene also screamed “Sequel!”, which shows Banner meditating, then a closeup of his eye turning into The Hulk’s green, and a smile filling Banner’s face, thus implying that he has learnt to control the transformation.

The characters were all believable and Norton’s portrayal of The Hulk was actually very good. I’d say just a little under Downey Jnr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark, but still very good. Liv Taylor’s character had little plot development other than being Banner’s love interest and General Ross’ daughter. I think that the director deliberately downplayed the daughter part in order to maximise the attention on The Hulk. The General’s character is also very well done, kinda of one dimensional in his determination to capture Banner and study what he carries inside him, but he also has a softer side when he realises that The Hulk is the only chance they have of stopping The Abomination.

Of special commendation is Roth’s portrayal of the maniac Blonsky. At first, he just wants to get the job done. But after suffering a defeat at the hands of The Hulk, he desires revenge and goes to extreme lengths to achieve this. By the end of the movie, dementia has fully taken hold of him, and there is little left of the character which we met at the start of the movie. I wonder if the portrayal of The Abomination even counts as Roth’s performance? Hmm. Either way the character himself was very well written, and the descent into madness was strangely believable.

Mmmm, what else is there to say? The story was kind of predictable, but I can’t fault it for that, because you already know that the “good guy” is going to triumph and the day will be saved, more or less. The action scenes were incredible, and … well … action packed, which is good. All in all a pretty good movie, one which you should definitely see. My prediction is that you will enjoy it.

Ok so here’s the score, using my new scoring system. I realised that I was giving a lot of half scores IE 4.5 or 3.5, and I figured instead of telling you that I wanted to give a half score, why not just use a 10 scale with no half points? I thought about it and realised that it made a lot more sense to do it that way. So here’s the initial “Bet This Is Original Reviews” 10 score … <drumroll> <trumpet fanfare> … 7 out of 10. Go see it, you won’t regret it.

Wit’ch Fire

ISBN: 9781841491509

Pages: 491

Publication Date: 1998

“Drums beat back the stillness of the winter’s valley, snow etching the landscape in silver. A hawk screeched a protest at the interruption of its night-time nesting.”

Jim Czajkowski, a veterinarian by trade and writing under one of his pen names James Clemens, makes his fantasy debut with the first book of his The Banned and the Banished series, entitled Wit’ch Fire. Published in 1998, and before the author achieved success with other series such as Godslayer and Sigma Force, Wit’ch Fire shows clear signs of a novice writer: such as the extensive overuse of apostrophes in almost everything, which seems novel at first, but quickly becomes an annoyance. Another sign is the relatively cliché theme of a band of misfit, multi-racial, multi-species characters banding together around a central character to defeat the darkest evil.

Character development in this book is kept to a minimum, which may or may not be deliberate, what with it being the first of a five book series and all. At times, however, the book comes across as almost like those old Goosebump books. You know what I’m talking about, when every chapter finishes on such a cliffhanger and you sort of hold your breathe and think “What’s going to happen to these characters?”. It seems like a you’re reading a soap opera, if that makes any sense, and for better or worse.

Elena Morin’stal, the young (she’s 13 years old when the novel starts) daughter of orchard keepers, longs to leave the valley of trees where she’s lived her short life to see the world. She is a child of Alasea, a land whose inherent magic of Chi long ago deserted it, leaving the land and its peoples all but helpless in the face of Gul’gotha, invaders from across the ocean. Alasea’s people have been subjugated and assimilated, and its true history has been destroyed, forgotten by all but a select few individuals. Living in the valley, however, Elena is blissfully unaware of most of that. All that changes when, after a long day spent working in her parents’ orchard, she is surprised and delighted by the long-awaited occurrence of her first blood. The joy of becoming a woman is short-lived for Elena though, when the forbidden magic awakening in her draws the attention of an ancient evil that has waited centuries for a prophecy to be fulfilled.

A young soldier and a wizened dark-mage come to Elena’s parents, accusing Elena of something horrible and demanding that she be turned over as a wit’ch. Her parents refuse, and all hell breaks loose shortly thereafter in appalling fashion, with powerful “magicks” and revolting other-wordly creatures leaving Elena without a family in less than a day. Her beloved brother Joach is taken by the Dark Lord’s evil, dragonlike skal’tum, and Elena is left alone in the world. Alone, but for the small and diverse group that has banded around her, also drawn by the budding of her power and the lines prophecy. Er’ril of Standi is a wandering one-armed juggler, handsome but unbelievably ancient: cursed by the failure of a desperate attempt against the invading Gul’gotha to wander Alasea for centuries on end; never aging and never dying. Nee’lahn is a Nyphai, a tree sprite who is the last living of her kind. Kral, a towering mountain man come down to the valley to avenge the death of a kinsman at the hands of the skal’tum, is also drawn into the fight to keep Elena from the clutches of the Dark Lord.

As public opinion is (shockingly easily) swayed against Elena, and while Er’ril and the others battle and flee to keep her from being taken, another group of odd companions is being formed. Tol’chuk is a half-breed og’re banished from his home for accidentally killing another of his tribe. Mogweed and Fardale are si’lura twins, members of a shape shifting race who are unfortunately stuck in the form of a human and a tree wolf respectively. They too are banished, until such time as they can free themselves of their static shapes and become true si’lura once again. The og’re and the si’lura agree to travel together across og’re lands, and unwittingly accept into their party Rockingham, the young soldier who came with the dark-mage to steal Elena away; who is a creature influenced far more by the Dark Lord then even Rockingham himself is aware of. The two groups will come together under a mountain and face off against the Dark Lord and his powers in the first battle of the war for the soul of the land.

Wit’ch Fire is a enthralling first installment to this wonderful five book series of The Banned and the Banished. It kept me turning each page against my body’s call of exhaustion and my interest never seemed to wane. Even though one knows James Clemens is a novice and his tell tale sign give him away, this story has proven a great and chilling read. It make the reader’s emotions go from gut wrenching fear to bile-stirring disgust. In one word: brilliant.

I give it 4 out of 5.

The Other Boleyn Girl

ISBN: 9780006514008

Pages: 529

Publication Date: 2001

“I could hear a roll of muffled drums. But I could see nothing but the lacing on the bodice of the lady standing in front of me, blocking my view of the scaffold”

The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical novel (which has also been adapted into a major motion picture starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson) by acclaimed writer Philippa Gregory in which she portrays the vibrant, fast and at times muffled life of 16th century Tudor England. Philippa Gregory is known for her Tudor portrayals in other books such as The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen’s Fool and The Constant Princess, all of which are sequels to this book.

The setting: King Henry VIII is on the throne and Katherine of Aragon by his side.

The story opens with a gruesome execution, one of Mary Boleyn’s distant cousins (the Duke of Buckingham). His crime: suggesting that Henry couldn’t produce a healthy heir. A year later, Anne Boleyn returns from France to find her sister Mary married to the wealthy William Carey, despite Mary being only 14 years old. At this stage, one begins to question the reason why Philippa Gregory chose to portray Anne as the older of the two Boleyn girls, when most historians agree that Anne was in fact the younger of the two.

But when King Henry takes a fancy to young Mary, she is sent into a world of fast paced life at court as the Queen’s lady-in-waiting. Mary, now the King’s mistress, is forced by her family’s crushing ambition to go against the Queen she has served and loved. Her two siblings George and Anne are at her bidding, teaching her to keep the King interested. But when Mary falls pregnant by King Henry, for the second time, her scheming sister Anne sweeps in and captures the King’s wavering eye, Mary is reduced to Anne’s lady-in-waiting, effectively being reduced to a non-entity, and the titular “Other Boleyn Girl”.

But the story doesn’t end there, with the powerful wrath of King Henry VIII turning on the Boleyn family in the form of a gruesome set of executions and scandalous allegations but the question is will Mary be strong enough to follow her heart before the Boleyn’s enemies get the better of them.

Through this entire novel the reader is swept into a world of family ambition, treason, sex and whispered flirtations. Gregory’s adaption of Tudor England is fresh and riveting; forcing you to turn the page and take delight in each word. The famous tale ofThe Other Boleyn Girl will capture you right from the first page.

However; with historians saying one thing and the author saying another one is sent into a whirling sense of confusion. There is such a thing as artistic license, but there is always a limit that needs to be imposed before it gets in the way of telling the story.

With amazing reviews from the Daily Mail and the Sunday Telegraph this is a breathtaking adventure of silk corsets, jousting, and suspense.

I give it 3 out of 5.

Review by Kelly Ansara

Iron Man

Theatrical Release: 1 May 2008

Running Time: 126 Minutes

Websites: Official Site, IMDB Page, Wikipedia Article

Iron Man is the latest Marvel comic book adaptation released, and the first (I stand to be corrected here) in a long string set to be released this year (see Hulk, Batman etc.). For those unfamiliar with the comic book (like myself before I watched this movie), Iron Man is a story of a rich playboy who owns a weapons manufacturing company. While demonstrating a new weapon in Afghanistan, he is captured by a terrorist group and ordered to build one of his new weapons for them. However, instead of complying with their wishes, he builds himself a super powered suit and makes his escape.

Let me get something out of the way: the director (Jon Favreau), has already made clear his intentions to make this movie in a trilogy, and all of the original cast have signed onto the next two films. So expect more of these, probably in the same manner as Spiderman.

The casting in the film seems perfect, and the cast manage to pull off a very believable world, with characters we can really get behind and become involved in. For instance, the moral dilemma that Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) goes through when he finds out that the weapons his company has made were used in a massacre in the middle east is very believable. It also seems to foreshadow a future plotline: where Stark has turned into an alcoholic and Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Stark’s friend, ally and contact within the military, dons the suit in his place. The relationship between Stark and his secretary Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is also very honest, and seems awkward and unsure, but in a good way, like a real relationship between two inexperienced people might be.

Of course, no super hero movie would be complete without a super villain, right? Naturally. In Iron Man, there is a villain, but I cannot name him without spoiling the movie. Let’s just say that his technologically inferior (it still used jet fuel to fly) but better powered (he steals Stark’s updated power source) copy of Stark’s suit is quite a match for the upgraded Mark III that Stark uses. The final battle in this movie is somewhat lacking, as it is more one sided than most, and eventually the villain is overcome (like we didn’t see that coming) by the teamwork of all the “good guys”. Nevertheless, it was still quite an epic battle, albeit a little formulaic and predictable.

Another thing that bugged me a little bit about this movie is the hypercommercialism that is present throughout. Certain parts of the movie are essentially Audi R8 adverts, as one of Stark’s supercars is the aforementioned R8. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful car, and I personally love it, but its presence and exposure (more than a car normally gets in a movie, with the exception of Firewall and it’s Chrysler) distracted a little bit from the main movie. In addition, there were numerous other Audi’s in the movie, like the Q7, the S6 Sedan and the S5 Sports Coupe. As I mentioned, not a major issue, but it was a little distracting. And another thing, none of the Audi’s got wrecked in the movie, although I did notice a few Fords getting crushed or blown up…

Needless to say, the special effects in Iron Man were incredible. Everything from the suit itself, down to the amazing gadgets that Stark has in his house were well presented and strangely believable. Speaking of the house, Stark’s California mansion looked amazing, and it was surely an architect’s dream to study it and just generally drool over all the little features, like the part supported by stilts, or the spiral staircase separated by a curved glass waterfall. For those people, it would probably be worth watching this movie just for that house. Some of the incredible technology at this house included: windows which doubled as computer screens, a holographic display that reacts to human touch, voice activated and responsive robots, and a talking, seemingly sentient computer which ran the house, and later became integrated into the suit.

The suit looked good and had a nice array of powers at its disposal, including flight, numerous weapons such as a minigun and a rocket launcher, super strength and what looked like a kinetic shockwave type weapon that was used to physically push enemies away with extreme force. Everything looked good, as one would expect from such a big budget movie such as this.

Despite being an action movie, there were a few scenes which were actually quite funny, such as when he first attempts to fly, but the thrust is too strong to handle, and he goes flying into a wall, or when Potts comes down to his workshop and he attempts to explain how it works, and again goes flying into a wall. I was actually laughing at those scenes, which is quite something. The comedic timing I suppose was just brilliant, and the fact that one doesn’t really expect it to happen in such an otherwise serious movie.

At times, the dialogue was too fast and had two or three people all talking over each other. This bothered me a little bit, because I like to hear and understand everything that’s being said, and, although it was obviously done on purpose and was not meant to actually contribute anything to the plot or movie in general, it was still a bit of an issue for me because it happened about four times that I can remember. Again, not a major issue, but still.

Anyway, sorry for the long review, I’ll finish up now. At the end of the day, this is a fairly standard blockbuster that you are probably going to go see regardless of what the critics say. And rightly so, because in my opinion, this is one of the best movies that have been released on our screens in a while. There’s also been a lot of hype around it online, not so much in South Africa though: I guess the “nerd”/”geek” (Whatever that means!) demographic must still find a voice here in South Africa. I would give this a 4.5 out of 5, but I don’t use half stars, so I must round it down to a 4 out of 5, because it didn’t deserve 5. Go watch this movie, you will probably like it.

Highlights of the movie: The character and portrayal of Tony Stark, Stark kicking ass in Afghanistan while testing his suit out, the Audio R8 (beautiful car) and the scene where he is being fitted for the suit.

Lowlights of the movie: Low screentime and development of Jim Rhodes character (although he will feature more prominently in the sequel), the somewhat contrived and predictable jokes and the audience who laughed at said jokes.

One Missed Call

Theatrical Release: 14 March 2008

Running Time: 87 Minutes

Websites: Official Website, IMDB Page, Wikipedia Article

One Missed Call is another one of those movies that is an American remake of a popular Japanese horror movie. Other such movies which have done the same thing are some famous ones like The Grudge and The Ring. However, unlike those movies, this one is actually good.

Like most movies of these types, the plot is strongly driven by a creepy, supernatural occurrence that slowly kills the characters off one by one. In this case, the deaths occur as a result of a mysterious call, that occurs after a strange and creepy ringtone plays from a phone. Once this call has finished, a voicemail is left, dated with a future date, and it contains the audio recording of the final moments of the character’s life.

When her friends start dying after receiving these phone calls, Bethany (Shannyn Sossamon) must race against time with Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) to figure out the mysterious calls and how they can save Beth’s life.

I am at a loss for what to call this movie. I mean, what genre does it fit into? I am tempted to say Horror, but to me, that implies monsters trying to kill people. I suppose it fits into the genre, but it is not as over the top as most horror movies are, such as Friday the 13th or The Descent. I suppose the best way to describe it would be “Supernatural horror”.

Anyway, this film is truly disturbing. When I watched it, I was genuinely freaked out afterwards - and that was with all the lights on! This effect is accomplished by the use of genuinely disturbing, recurring imagery that is present throughout the entire film, such as the characters who are about to die seeing people with no eyes, burning people and truly disgusting worms crawling everywhere. Another recurring element is a sharp intake of breath, which again is present at every death. All these elements, together with the usual “buildup-shock” moments which are present in all horror movies, make this movie really creepy, and this is One Missed Call’s main attraction.

The plot, as I mentioned, is nothing special and could be out of any supernatural horror movie. The character development is also quite weak, which is a shame, as these types of movies are driven by strong characters. That said, the main characters of Beth and Detective Jack are not unlikeable characters, and they serve their purpose of carrying the plot forward, even though we as the audience do not care too much about them.

Overall I really enjoyed this film, and have no problem in recommending it to anybody who is a fan of supernatural horror movies, or who is just in the mood for being scared / creeped out. With this in mind, I give this film 4 stars out of five ****/*****, and a recommendation to watch it with somebody if you are a bit squeamish. For the daring of you out there, I dare you to watch it in the middle of the night with all the lights off…

Reviewers Wanted

If you are gifted with the ability to write a captivating review (be it of a book, video game, movie, DVD or music CD), and wish to showcase your talents, then “Bet This Is Original” Reviews is looking for you!

We are currently seeking to expand our contributor list and increase the frequency of reviews being posted. So if you are an aspiring critic, living in South Africa, and you feel the calling to contribute to this blog, then by all means, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

In your email, please include:

• Name
• Location
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• Gender
• Interests / Hobbies
• A review (or 2) of either a book, a video game, a movie or a music CD (the more recent the better)
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• How often you would be willing and able to contribute reviews (estimate)

Email all of the above to me, at mikevgelder@hotmail.com, if you are interested.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Rush Hour 3

Theatrical Release Date: 9 August 2007

Running Time: 91 Minutes

Websites: Official Website, Wikipedia Article, IMDB Page

Rush Hour 3 is the latest in a long line of sub-par “buddy cop” comedy-action movies. These movies, which are generally terrible, include Shanghai Noon and the sequel, Shanghai Knights; National Security; Blue Streak; the dreadful I Spy and the Bad Boy movies.

Typical features of such movies include action stunts, elaborate fight sequences, with unusual props being used in these scenes, predictable comedic situations and punchlines and outright slapstick. Rush Hour 3 has most of these, with Chris Tucker providing the slapstick and stupid jokes, and Jackie Chan providing the action stunts and the fight sequences.

The paper thin story holding all the above mentioned devices and carrying the film along from one punchline to the next, goes something like this: After Lee’s (Jackie Chan) ambassador friend gets injured by a mysterious assassin while giving a speech about the Chinese mafia, Lee and James Carter (Chris Tucker), have to team up and travel to France to track down the assassin. Cue lots of toiler humour, ridiculous situations, crazy stunts, and terrible jokes from Tucker’s character.

One of the worst scenes in this movie occurred somewhere in the middle, when Carter had just defeated a group of villains in a fight. He breaks into this terrible dance and starts singing “Everybody was kung-fu fighting”, in his high pitched, grating voice. I was cringing when I saw it and wishing it were over. Unfortunately, it didn’t end there, and the rest of the movie just kept up that sort of standard.

The only good thing that I can say about this movie is that Chan’s fight and stunt sequences are very well done. That, however, is not a good enough reason to watch this rubbish excuse for a comedy movie. It is this sole reason, however, that this movie manages to salvage a one star (*) rating, out of five.

Don’t watch this. Don’t buy this on DVD. Don’t rent it on DVD. If you see somebody buying it, punch them in the face. If your friend wants to watch it, punch them in the face and disown them as your friend. Seriously though, if you support this dreck in any way, you will just encourage them to make another sequel, which is already rumoured to be in the works…

Jumper

Release Date: February 14, 2008

Running Tine: 88 Minutes

Websites: Official Website, Wikipedia Article, IMDB Page

Jumper tells the story of a young man named David (Played as a teenager by Max Thieriot) with the amazing ability to “jump” - that is to say, teleport - anywhere in the world, instantly. He discovers that he has this amazing power quite accidentally one day: as a teenager, he fell through ice to his almost certain death in the freezing cold river, until he miraculously found himself in the middle of his local library. Scared and confused, he tries to do it again, and it works. Using his new found power, he leaves his abusive father, his small hometown and his childhood crush behind, taking a bus to New York, where he plans to start his new life.

After practicing his new power and learning more or less how to use it, he uses it to become rich, most notably by teleporting into a secure bank vault, and cleaning it out. The police, of course, are baffled, as there are no signs of any forced entry.

The movie then cuts forward a few years, to an adult David (played by Hayden Christensen), who has obviously been living the good life: he has an penthouse apartment in New York, filled with gadgets, money and expensive decorations. Also, the walls are covered by photographs, which allow David to jump to each of those locations. However, one day, a Paladin, Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives and tries to kill David with all sorts of high-tech equipment, explaining that only God should have the power to be everywhere at once.

David, however, manages to escape Roland, and then reunites with his childhood crush Millie (Rachel Bilson). He uses his considerable wealth to take her to Rome on holiday, where he meets another Jumper; Griffin (Jamie Bell), who has sworn to hunt down and kill every Paladin.

So that’s the basic (well, rather more than basic) outline of the story of Jumper. Actually one of the better scripts in recent movies, in my opinion. The dialog isn’t cheesy, which seems to happen so often these day, with lame one liners that make you roll your eyes shoved inappropriately in. No, the script definitely doesn’t let this movie down.

Let’s talk about the special effects in the movie. If I had to describe them in one word, I’d say “brilliant”. For example, in the one scene, David manages to jump a whole room; and the visual of this happening was amazing. There were other examples as well, but those aren’t really spectacular special effects per se, but just used really well. Like when two Jumpers are fighting, they fight literally all over the world, rapidly Jumping away and towards each other, throwing punches, and even Jumping cars and buses at each other! Ok so it doesn’t sound all that exciting, but translated on screen it really gets the adrenalin pumping. Another brilliant scene has Griffin stealing a car and driving it high speed through the streets of Japan, with the aid of his Jumping ability of course.

The locations used in Jumper really give it an epic feeling; as David can jump anywhere in the world, we are treated to shots of London at nighttime (from Big Ben where David has jumped to), Tokyo, Egypt, New York, the Grand Canyon, The Coliseum at Rome and the Golden Gate Bridge at San Fransisco, where the aforementioned fight scene takes place.

Here’s a fun fact: Eminem was originally considered for the role of David. Hayden Christensen, however, managed to get the part at the last minute. However, I hate to say it, but his portrayal of David just seemed a little bit flat to me. Maybe the character was just very bland and non-expressive, in which case Christensen has pulled it off wonderfully. Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of the bad-ass Roland was excellent: he brought just enough craziness to translate the religious zealotry that was apparent in the character.

Um, what else do I need to talk about? Oh yes, this movie was apparently based on a trilogy of books, and I have heard rumours that they have already green-lighted the next movie, which will presumably be based on the second novel, which is called Reflex. From what I’ve heard however, the movie varies quite considerably from the novel from which it takes it’s title, changing the main character’s personality totally on his head and (from what I can tell) totally inventing the whole “Paladin thing”.

Ok I’ve blathered on enough I think. Time to get to the part that you really want: the score. Overall I’d have to say that Jumper earns a solid **** (Four Stars) out of ***** (Five Stars). I can’t say exactly what it was that let it down for that extra, final star, but it simply wasn’t worthy of 5 stars. However, **** (Four Stars) stars is still an excellent score, and I recommend that you watch it if you have the chance.