However, Jacob has a secret of his own and he too leaves Bella. Jacob we find out is in fact a werewolf and a member of the ‘Quileutes’ werewolf clan who are the sworn enemies of vampires holding an uneasy truce with the Cullen’s only because the Cullen’s do not drink human blood. When Bella finds out about Jacob (well technically she already knew) they get back together and draw even closer to each other.

The ‘Quileutes’ in the meantime are hunting Victoria who has returned to Forks determined to exact revenge on Edward and Bella for the death of her mate from the first film ‘Twilight’. Edward believing Bella is dead visits the ‘Volturi’ who are the leaders of all vampires so that the ‘Volturi’ can kill him only to be saved by Bella who he finds out did not die. After some violent disagreement with the ‘Volturi’ Edward reconciles with Bella after agreeing to turn her. The film ends with Edward asking Bella to marry him.

What did I think?

This is very much a Bella and Jacob film exploring the relationship between these two complex characters and Jacob has certainly buffed up since ‘Twilight’; no doubt he has been hitting the gym extremely hard. This film includes vampires and werewolves (what a combination) and sets the scene for the return of ‘Victoria’ in the next film ‘Eclipse’ due out Summer 2010.

The ‘Volturi’ were very interesting and I would like to have seen more of them; they seem cold and heartless and it would be interesting to explore who and what they are. The special effects of man turning into wolf were very well done and the wolves were very life like. This film focused on the more emotional side of our characters coming across in Bella’s lack of confidence in herself. Jacob trying to come to terms with what he is and his love for Bella were very well done and conveyed real acting for all the actors in the movie.

On the Sammy Sonar I rate this movie 9 out of 10 – losing a point because Robert Pattinson appears in only a few scenes. Eclipse is due out Summer 2010.

Thoughts On The Movie, The Twilight Saga – New Moon is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

The 2009 movie, Whiteout, stars Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Van Helsing) as a rather unlikely “tired” US Marshall “Carrie Stetko” posted to an Antarctic Research Station and Tom Skerrit (Alien, Contact) as the base Doctor as they investigate a reported dead body in the snow – miles away from anywhere. The research station is readying to shut down for six months following warnings of severe and lethal whiteouts (major snow storms) so the race is on for Stetko to unravel the mystery before the base closes operations. The investigation has to wait however, whilst Beckinsale has her obligatory undressing then shower, which takes up about five minutes of the movie.

There are two major problems with this movie.

The first big problem is that the movie should really be about the difficulties of living and working in such an isolated environment as the South Pole. However, from the party atmosphere, people walking around with very little on, and gratuitous shower scenes, the Antarctic seems more of a holiday destination than an isolated research station.

However, the really big problem with the movie is that nothing major really happens. Yes, there’s a body, and yes there is a murderer on the loose, but there is little feeling of peril or suspense. This is no “The Thing” or “30 Days of Night”, and the Whiteout of the title doesn’t really seem that menacing. Stetko and others often head out into the Whiteout with little facial protection. During the first half of the movie we were waiting for the alien/monster/whatever you like to appear but it doesn’t … it just snows … ooh scary. It’s weird as the characters seem to really struggle to move against the wind of the Whiteout until they are connected to the flimsy rope line – at which point some invisible barrier seems to prevent the wind having any effect.

Stetko is haunted, again and again, by her back story through a sequence of repetitive flash backs and it’s unfortunate that that story seems far more interesting than the one we are watching. Stetko does lose a few fingers to the snow as she tries to evade the murderer, however as she doesn’t wear any sort of face covering one is left wondering how her complexion could remain so glowing from one scene to the next if her fingers could suffer so badly. Also, during one scene her fingers seem to suddenly reappear then disappear again. When Stetko heads over to the Russian base she heads inside through the outer seal door then, for no apparent reason, seems to leave the inner door open – surely she should know better?

Tom Skerrit is way under utilised in the movie and it’s really quite obvious about his eventual involvement in the plot. Note to film makers – if you are going to add a stalwart of the movie industry into an otherwise star bereft movie then give them something to do other than reach into cupboards for bottles of Scotch before eventually making them the obvious lynch pin of the movie – give the audience a little credit. Tom Skerrit’s characters exit doesn’t have the drama it should have which lets the movie down considerably.

Quite what the government character “Robert Pryce” brings to the movie is questionable as he literally appears from nowhere then sort of stands around talking to Stetko from time to time – almost as if he just wandered on set one day and they decided to leave him in. The same can be said of the character Delfy – who does end up being stabbed quite severely but later seems to make an almost perfect recovery.

It’s a shame as the movie feels promising at the outset – onboard the plane with the tension obvious and there are some interesting things in the movie (not the shower scene!). However, the movie seems to run out of steam around half way and the last third doesn’t build any momentum, the movie just sort of ends which is a shame.

There is a lot of CGI going on here (it’s not great either) and the set at one point looks like a studio set with a wallpaper mountain background (the part where they first discover the body – look at the icy mountain behind the far character).

I hope it doesn’t sound too negative – not so much Whiteout as Washout!

Thoughts on the Movie: Whiteout is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Imagine being at the pitch meeting for Pandorum and you might have heard it described as Aliens meets the Poseidon Adventure – as that’s pretty much the idea behind Pandorum but elements of other stories are included, for example it has threads of caving horror Descent, tones of Planet Of The Apes played out in reverse, even a slight feel of Stargate Atlantis, and on a lighter note – we also got pangs of Red Dwarf and Wall-E whilst watching this movie.

You know the story by now, a deep space vessel (it’s called the Elysium in this movie) is on it’s way to, or from, somewhere, the crew are in hibernation, one or more of them awake unexpectedly, somewhat disoriented, only to discover something has happened whilst they have been asleep – and in these stories it’s never something pleasant like an alien race popping onboard to give the place a spring clean. We could be loosely describing any number of movies including Alien, Aliens, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Event Horizon, Supernova, Sunshine, Moon, Dracula 3000, Sphere, Pitch Black.

The plot in Pandorum is driven by two lead characters, Bower played by Ben Foster and Payton played by Dennis Quaid, who awake from their stasis chambers with severely inhibited memories of what’s going on around them. However, they soon discover that they need to get to the ship’s core to re-activate it, and get to the bridge to take control of the ship, before the ship self destructs. However, as Bower soon discovers – things onboard the Elysium have changed in the few years they have been asleep.

The Zombie like monsters are good, appearing only in shadows and half-shots at the outset of the story and slowly building up to the big reveal where we find out that the few sleep years the crew have been in stasis may somehow have been extended beyond what anyone could have dreamed of.

All in all Pandorum is a surprisingly good movie. The story holds together well, Ben Foster brings a great intensity to the role, and Dennis Quaid brings a deeply reflective, slightly unhinged, character to the movie. The other, international cast, add an extra dimension to the movie. We enjoyed it and so might you – though you might want to leave the lights on.

Movie: Pandorum is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

We often hear about “Movies that never should have been remade” but there are exceptions to this rule and John Carpenter’s 1982 horror fest “The Thing” is a prime example.

The plot of the movie focuses on a twelve-man remote Arctic research station where an alien body is discovered buried in the snow (footage from the original movie is used to great effect). These days we know better than to take creepy alien bodies back to our research station, but back in 1982 things were a bit different…

The remake of “The Thing”, took ideas from the original 1951 movie, “The Thing From Another World”, and upped the scare factor to number 11 on fear dial giving it a feel only ever matched by the original Alien movie. The movie has some classic scenes such as as the barking dogs, the walking head, the scene where the team are all tied up together whilst they have their blood tested (that still makes me cringe – Editor), and the closing scene sitting in the snow “Why don’t we wait here a little while and see what happens”. The music behind the movie also added massively to the movie’s intensity.

We hear a prequel is in the works, apparently starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Death Proof, Final Destination 3) and Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom, King Arthur) – let’s hope it does for the 1982 movie what the 1982 movie did for the original version. The prequel looks set to explore the back story of the Norwegian Scientific Arctic base whose scientists uncovered the alien craft.

The movie has a lot to live up to – let’s hope it does.

Movie Watch: What Sort Of Thing Would A Prequel Be? is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

It seems the latest trend in the movie world is to attempt to turn retro classic science fiction video games into blockbuster movies. News is already circulating that the big studios are clamouring to grab their slice of the classic pie with Missile Command heading to the big screen from Fox, Asteroids will be smashing up the box office from Universal, and more recently Space Invaders itself looks set to be picked up by Warner Brothers.

So, what is likely to be next – here are our predictions for retro classic tie-ins:

• Christian Bale takes the controls in a 3D extravaganza of BattleZone
• Moon Patrol sees Tom Cruise trapped in a Moon Crater – running out of air whilst trying to repair his moon buggy
• Lunar Lander sees Sam Rockwell struggling at the controls of a rogue space craft
• Scramble sees a cast led by Gerard Butler piloting their ship through the caverns of an alien world
• Bruce Willis defends the people of a small planet colony, from alien attackers, in Defender

Movie Watch: The Rise Of Retro Classic Video Game Movies is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Christian Bale has helped re-ignite the role of Batman for the current generation – a far cry from the comedy antics of Batman & Robin. With a third movie in the series under development it’ll be interesting to see what the producers can do to keep the story fresh.

With regard to the Superman movies, Brandon Routh gave it a good try in the recent Superman movie and was close to getting Christopher Reeve down to almost perfection – but perhaps that was the problem – the focus was off Superman a little too much. Whilst it was a good effort, there wasn’t much excitement following the Superman movie which simply tried to reboot the Superman franchise off the back of the original Superman 2 movie.

However, a new “Superman: Man of Steel”, slated for 2011, is hoping to breathe life back into the franchise with an “about time” re-imagining of the story by Batman Begins writer David S Goyer. Let’s hope it get’s a proper overhaul bringing back the brawny square jawed Man Of Steel and less of this understated softly softly approach that has driven Superman for the last twenty or so years. Looking around at who might be available – it is fun to speculate who might be cast in the role?

Latest news is that a new “The Flash” movie is in the works, following the announcement of “The Green Lantern”, played by Ryan Reynolds, and a new movie in the rebooted Batman franchise, played by Christian Bale, are we seeing the makings of a potential Justice League movie? If we hear of definite “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman” productions then chances could be pretty high.

Movie Watch: DC Comics At The Movies is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Filming a movie in 3D typically produces two images which are slightly tinged with colour then overlayed at viewing time. Two images allow for three layers (hence three dimensions in movie terms), which are image 1 priority, image 2 priority and both images equal priority. The tinge of colour allows the 3D glasses to trick our eyes into accepting these two images at the same time and process these priorities which presents a 3D like effect – in the style of those stereoscopic images that few people can see.

Calibrating the screen and equipment for 3D playback takes a lot of time and if not just right the 3D effect fails. When we watch 3D stuff on our rear-projected television, at home, it hardly ever works properly though and you can often see both images with or without the glasses – and no matter how much fiddling you do with brightness and contrast controls it doesn’t fix it. Some 3D DVD movies are also supplied with slightly the wrong glasses too – providing red/blue glasses when they need to be red/green (or some other combination).

Mind you, our ageing rear projection often gets a 3D mind of its own these days as the bulbs seem to drift out of alignment all by themselves.

So, when will we see proper 3D movies – ones where you don’t need glasses and you can’t watch on a 2D screen but instead you need some kind of ampitheatre and holographic equipment where you can move around the picture and get the full treatment?

When Will 3D In Movies Really Be 3D? is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

It will be great to see what Sam Worthington brings to the role of Perseus in this re-imagination/remake. Sam is having a helluva couple of years – coming from small parts, then marginally missing out on the role of James Bond (lost it to Daniel Craig) to suddenly land this role, the lead in Avatar, Terminator Salvation, and a bunch of soon to be released movies including Last Night, The Debt, The Texas Killing Fields with more in development.

Other roles are filled by movie stalwarts including Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, upcoming actress Gemma Arterton, Danny Huston, Jason Flemyng (more Primeval please!), and Pete Postlethwaite.

If you aren’t familiar with the mythology the movie is based on, it follows Perseus, born as a God but raised as a man, he embarks on a personal journey to defeat Hades, the God of the Underworld (who is trying to oust Zeus for being a bit too nice), who kills Perseus’ family.

Think “Jason and the Argonauts” and you’ll be in the right ball park for this movie but looking at the trailer this looks to be a very promising outing indeed!

Movie Watch: Clash Of The Titans is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

G.I. Joe: The Movie isn’t the first time this brand was attempted in a movie length production. An early attempt was a 1987 cartoon video production, but these days the Hasbro company must be looking at the success of, say, Marvel and thinking there must be some way of doing something similar with the branded characters they own and/or distribute. Transformers demonstrated the popularity of taking a Hasbro distributed brand and converting it to a box office success which would inevitably lead to someone looking through back catalogue for new potential ideas.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra sees a couple of new soldier recruits, Duke and Ripcord, to the secret G.I. Joe alpha team who quickly get tied up in a plot by NATO weapons manufacturer (defense systems manufacturer?) McCullen (played eagerly by ex-Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston) to steal his own nano-mite warheads. It also turns out that one of the baddies is also one G.I. Joe’s latest recruit Duke’s ex-girlfriend, and not only that but the Cobra, of the title, is also linked into the close personal relationships of Duke – it’s all a bit convenient and frankly – if this is the best of the best then the world is in a bit of trouble (Ripcord didn’t even know there were instructions to his suit!).

Much mayhem, action, and CGI ensue as the story ropes in ideas from major blockbuster movies ranging from James Bond to Star Wars (with a few ideas from The Man In The Iron Mask). Dennis Quaid seemed a little out of place in the movie as General Hawk (the role might better have suited a much older actor IMHO), but the set pieces were as good as anything you might expect to see in a Hollywood blockbuster (perhaps a little more on the CGI for future though).

You might recognise ex-Lost cast member, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, in the role of Heavy Duty and Scary Movie veteran Marlon Wayans plays the character of new recruit Ripcord. Brendan Fraser even turns up for a brief cameo.

The movie is fun and moves along at a fair old pace, even though it runs for just under two hours (113 minutes) – but don’t expect too much from it, eat the popcorn and enjoy the experience.

If G.I. Joe becomes as successful as Hasbro might hope we may even see additional characters transferring to their own movie franchise, including M.A.S.K, Zoids, and Jem.

Movie: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

To introduce a new actor in the role would require a huge re-imagining of the series so it’s great news to see Tom Cruise signed up for Mission: Impossible 4 – the franchise that just gets better and better. The alternative, of course, might be to sign Cruise up for one last outing to hand the mantle over to a newer character with a new, and currently in vogue, “rebooted” format – something akin to how the first movie got started.

So, the news is a new Mission: Impossible movie is slated for release somewhere around May 2011. There is still little definite information as to whether JJ Abrams will return to helm the movie or what role he may play (Producer is the latest gossip). Other rumours indicate that at least part of the movie may be set in Tokyo.

Ving Rhames might return as Luther Stickell but, typically, none of the rest of Ethan Hunt’s team ever make it to the end of the movie – I doubt any of the team members discuss pension options when they sign up for the job.

Movie Watch: Mission: Impossible 4 is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology