The Stepfather

Director Nelson McCormick, who was earlier helming TV serials, entered the big screen through the remake movie Prom Night. Now, he has come out with another remake movie with most of its characters being the TV actors like Nip/Tuck's Walsh, Gossip Girl's Badgley, series veteran Ward, Damages's Turco, The Closer's Tenney, and ER's Sherry Stringfield (except Heard). The movie is nothing but a TV movie quality remake.

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Veteran TV director Nelson McCormick's The Stepfather is a remake of the 1987 cult classic, which was directed Joseph Ruben. Donald E. Westlake had penned the original screenplay and Terry O'Quinn had played the lead role as a serial killer. Now, the remake features Dylan Walsh and Sela Ward in lead roles.

JS Cardone, who had written the script for remake Prom Night, has now once again reworked the original screenplay for The Stepfather. But the script of new Stepfather is astonishingly dull and it is so relentlessly dumbed down the original. Cardone has lifted many sequences from other movies.

The original movie has an enduring reputation as a suspense thriller. Although the remake is considered as generic thriller, it does not provide thrill to the audiences. It is a bland movie. The scattered murders are perfunctory and the suspense is nonexistent until a climax as overwrought as it is predictable. There are no surprises or revelations, but just the playing out of the inevitable conflict between David and Michael.

Wayward teenager Michael (Penn Badgley) comes back home after spending a year in military boarding school to see his mother Susan (Sela Ward) and his insanely hot girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard). But he finds his mom is engaged to a new man called David (Dylan Walsh). David goes out of his way to make Michael feel welcome. But suspicions unravel his nasty track record of marrying widows and divorcees and then killing them and their kids.

NIP/TUCK’s Dylan Walsh is good in the title role. But he is nowhere near Terry O’Quinn when compared to his canny charming/crazy performance in the original. Sela Ward is also pretty good as his wife Susan. The real star here is probably Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl. Amber Heard fares better as his insanely hot girl friend.

However, the movie The Stepfather utterly fails to create interest among the audiences with its predictable screenplay. It can be a negligible horror film.

The Final Destination

First things first The Final Destination is in 3D this time. And just in case you haven't seen any of its three predecessors and don't know what this: According to the premise, those who cheat death will get their mortal comeuppance. David R. Ellis returns to direct the franchise after James Wong called the shots in the Final Destination 3. Eric Bress also makes a comeback as a writer after missing out on the in the last part of the franchise.

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Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) has a premonition of a car crash which sends debris into the audience, killing almost everyone present in the 180 section. In a panic Nick convinces his girlfriend Lori Milligan (Shantel VanSanten), and friends Hunt Wynorski (Nick Zano) and Janet Cunnigham (Haley Webb) to leave, with them being followed by a handful of others who become angry with Nick after he pushes past them to escape. Security guard George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson) intervenes when the catastrophe Nick had foreseen occurs.

After a memorial service two of the spectators who followed Nick and his friends die violently in freak accidents. Before their deaths, Nick had seen omens of clues how they would die. Hearing about their deaths on the news, Nick and Lori begin doing research, and learn about the disasters that occurred in the previous three films (the explosion of Flight 180, highway pile-up of Route 23, and roller coaster derailment in McKinley, Pennsylvania) and discover that the survivors began dying in a series of improbable accidents shortly afterwards. While Hunt and Janet refuse to believe them, Nick and Lori manage to convince George that death is after them and the trio begin trying to warn other survivors.

With all the criticism there are few inspired moments in the movie too with a series of accidents in the crowded theatre results in nervous giggles for those attending. But special effects alone can never make a movie go a long with a poor screenplay. One problem the movie suffers from is that with every scene director David R. Ellis. Every tries to outdo the previous one. The movie has a bit of sense of humour but is predictable most of the times. The franchise might have gone 3-D but most of the actors are very one dimensional with their acting.

David R. Ellis has very little that can get the audience hooked to their seats. Although the runtime stands at just 82 minutes this also seems never ending as the movie doesn't seem as clever as its predecessors. The omission of the numeral from the title and adding of the definite article in it might signal the end of the franchise. Having said that it really won't be a bad idea for the franchise to reach their final destination with The Final Destination!

Away We Go

After American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, director Sam Mandes has now come out with his fifth feature in ten years. Hollywood movie Away We Go is the tenderest film that he has done upto date. The director has milked malaise from Burt and Verona’s road trip through suburbs.

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Away We Go is a little road comedy, which has everything - great cast, prestigious director, tender concept, clever script from acclaimed novelists. Husband and wife Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida have penned the willfully woolly screenplay for the movie, which is episodic narrative and it is spun from a thin, cute premise.

Away We Go is about the flight from adulthood, from engagement, from responsibility. The movie deals with ideas and ideals that could not be more true to life. It is a sincere story about making it. It is buoyed by a couple’s genuine rapport and insecurities. It brings out their melancholy state of being both unsure and essentially hopeful about living in this world.

Burt Farlander and his girlfriend Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) are enjoying a marriage-less relationship. They live in a ramshackle, poorly heated house and drive a boxy old Volvo. They are expecting their first child and searching for a place to raise their unborn baby.

The movie begins with Burt and Verona's visit to his over-sharing parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), who announce their trip to Europe. Then Burt and Verona head out on their homesteading journey through Arizona, Wisconsin, Montreal and Florida to visit other family and friends.

Away We Go is a metaphor about filling a house with love. It suffers by being a movie about a theme and meaning. All the supporting cast simply rotates in and out during Burt and Verona's trip. Each of them demonstrate to the main couple, in glaringly obvious ways, how not to raise their baby.

Ellen Kuras’ cinematography has grown somewhat louder. His leads before the camera find themselves giving low-key a good name. Thomas Newman’s music evokes the film's emphasis on drowsy vocals and a quiet guitar. Special song score by Alexi Murdoch is probably his silliest creative error.

Away We Go is a change of pace for Sam Mendes, but unlike his previous movie, it ends without hanging around in hope of an Oscar nomination. It looks like a short story. It has obscenity and sexual situations. It is just obnoxious.

Terminator Salvation

A Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to be difficult to digest after all Arnie had made Terminator a household name. Terminator Salvation is the latest in the Terminator series after The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Joseph McGinty Nichol, better known McG who had directed Charlie's Angels and Full Throttle helms the movie. The Dark Knight's Christian Bale takes up the responsibility of saving the world and Sam Worthington plays a mystery character.

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The movie is set in 2018 and the atmosphere is post-apocalyptic. An artificial-intelligence network called Skynet has arranged for the earth’s machines to rise up and launch an attack on mankind. Only a few men and women led by John Connor (Christian Bale) stand between the machines and extinction of mankind. Skynet's pinpoints John's father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) as their main target. John and others live in the fear of being spotted and killed by digitally-enhanced exterminating robots. Things get complicated with the arrival of a stranger Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington).

Marcus faces a death row and awaits execution. He is visited by Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) who offers him a kiss if he agrees to allow his body to be used for cyborg research. There is a lot of mystery that surrounds Marcus. John Connor has doubts if Marcus, who roams around with a mixture of guilt and aggressive machine-blasting fury has retained his human traits or whether he is an agent implanted by the enemy among their ranks.

The screenplay of the movie is weak and it seems robots being programmed to destroy the human race is the one and only plot in the movie. Christian Bale seems ordinary in most of the movie and allows Sam Worthington hijack the attention of the audience. Arnold appears as a robot for a brief period in the movie reminding us of the hay days of the Terminator series. Other characters have been wasted and hardly make an impression in the movie.

Terminator series has been famous for showcasing effects and technology ans setting benchmarks for Hollywood but most of the technology showcased in Salvation is pretty average. Many a times it seems like a flashback of the earlier movies in the series. The sound effects in the movie lack the degree of sonic sophistication which die-hard Terminator fans are used to. The movie seems like a misfit in the Terminator saga.

McG's direction ordinary and nothing to write about. If Jonathan Mostow's direction was considered bad in Rise of the Machines than McG has made an apology of a movie. The Terminator franchise perhaps should go back to James Cameron who had delivered two back to back hits with Terminator and Judgement Day. The 114-minute running time will surely give headache to many of you. Arnold has been definitely missed in the movie. The verdict well if you haven't seen the other movies in the series Terminator Salvation may seem average to you but if you are Terminator fan its a disappointment.

Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen

Not all movie can be made into good sequels. Perhaps this is the thought director Michael Bay missed while directing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie seemed to be directed by the aliens rather than Michael Bay as the story falls apart in the first hour itself and seems like the director tries to forcefully establish it. He can’t even put a coherent series of shots together in the entire movie.

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All Bay seems to know is action that never stops and seems to be obsessed with it throughout the movie. Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman share the writing credit for apology of a script. The actors in the movie seem to have come out of a sitcom and it is the robots which entertain the audience. It will be difficult for Michael Bay to live up to the standards set by this movie!

Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky) had saved the planet from the attack of the aliens in the first sequal and in Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen he is trying to forget that he discovered a robot alien race. Sam is now interested about his education and starts going to the college. He also holds onto his sizzling girlfriend Mikaela Banes(Megan Fox)

The Autobots are still on earth and have now allied with the US military. They are working together to protect the earth from further Decepticon attacks Unfortunately, as Optimus Prime solemnly intones, "Fate never calls on us at the moment of our choosing." The Decepticons are on the move again, with the very ancient and very evil Transformer - The Fallen - masterminding a diabolical plan to destroy the Autobots

Optimus Prime's aim is to destroy the Earth itself and secure the future of his race. Soon earth turns battleground for these ancient robotic foes to wage war. Sam Witwicky sheds his student self and once again takes up the responsibility of saving the human race from these aliens. While Sam be able to save the human race from Optimus Prime?

Shia LaBeouf is highly repetitive throughout the movie and doesn't seem to be the same actor as in the first sequel. He is anything but impressive in the movie. Megan Fox is has been totally wasted in the movie and Bay used her only to display her ample bosom and curvaceous butt. Other characters hardly find an significance in the movie. The robots make superstars like entries and at times outshine the actors in most sequences.

The only thing noticeable in the entire movie was the graphic works. It has surely improved from the first part. The drama is short on a variety of military bases, and throws in several robot-on-robot battles for good measure . In the end 147 minutes gives us a never ending feeling and is too much time for the sloppy work. Michael Bay could have easily done something in this regards and shortened the torture period for the audience.

Eastern Promises

David Cronenberg has once again come out with an intriguing thriller a genuinely troubling and unsettling movie. You come out of it with a feeling of having been physically present in the story, not just an innocent spectator. The blood, pain and gore cling to you long after you have left the cinema hall.

In London, a 14-year-old bruised and bleeding teenager collapses at a hospital. Hospital midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) watches helplessly as the girl dies in childbirth. Besides the orphaned infant, she leaves behind a diary that chronicles her horrific exploitation and that may contain information about the identities of those responsible for it and her child. Anna is soon obsessed with identifying these vile beasts and turning them in, exposing her to considerable danger. She soon finds herself in the middle of an underground, underworld scam in human trafficking and is at once fascinated and repelled by it. Naive and vulnerable but hopelessly determined to find the men who let that young girl die, without actually knowing it, Anna is soon entangled with the Russian mob. Where does Anna's search take her? Does she free herself from the conniving villains who are now after her?

The movie is basically about the moral scandal of slavery, the traffic in human bodies and human misery that persists, in secret and in the shadows, even in the modern, cosmopolitan West. The brutality does not make you wince in disgust; it makes you writhe in pain.

Scripted by Steve Knight and directed by David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises is a routine thriller that has been deftly transformed into something that truly pierces your mind. Like Cronenberg's earlier movies History Of Violence, Spider, The Fly and Crash, here too, we are baffled by the ideas he presents to us and the way he has packaged them all. As in the case of his scripts for movies such as Dirty Pretty and Amazing Grace, Knight proves that he is clearly as interested in the social and ethical implications of the story as he is in its twists and reversals.

While Knight tugs at your heart, Cronenberg creeps under your skin. The result is a movie that will haunt and taunt you for a long time to come.

The Eye

Asian horror gets a facelift in Hollywood land! Starring Jessica Alba, The Eye is a remake of Jian Gui by Thai directors David and Oxid Pang. What the Pang brothers gave us was a lowly-lit, silent chiller; what David Moreau and Xavier Palud have spun for us is an eerie tale, packaged with a fair share of strobe lighting and spine-chilling effects.

Blind since the age of 5, Sydney Wells is eager as she is fascinated by the idea of a cornea transplant that will restore her sight. With the surgery over, Sydney prepares to see the world as everybody else does, but is instead faced with some rather horrifying and inexplicable encounters with the dead. She can not only see the normal world, she can also see beyond it! For Sydney, the world with all its colour and contour is a new experience and completely different from the one she sensed sightlessly. But before she gets used to her eyes, she is harassed and haunted by spirits. At last, she figures out that all these terrible experiences have to do with her eyes, so she sets about tracing her donor.

Jessica Alba is undeniably pretty and in supremely good shape. The movie has offered her not only scope to flaunt her lithe figure, but has also displayed her acting skills. As for the chills and thrills, the movie is full of them. When they begin to come, the scares make you shudder but as the movie proceeds, the background score gives you blaring notice of the ghosts to come! The Eye is a reasonably good attempt at scaring you out of your wits; A little more attention to detail and a tad more depth to Sydney's character would have given the movie a whole better feel.