Cast: Mia Wasikowska (Alice), Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter), Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen), Anne Hathaway (White Queen)
For complete info, see the IMDb Alice in Wonderland page.
I love Tim Burton, but perhaps I had heard too many good things about this Alice in Wonderland. I'm glad I didn't spend a ton of money to see it in IMAX 3D. Seeing it in 3D was nice and there are parts of the movie that are visually stunning, but it wasn't nearly as good as I expected from Tim Burton. Wonderland gave him so many opportunities to shine - perhaps I expect too much of Tim Burton at this point. I'm a huge fan of his work, so maybe I needed to look at the movie a bit differently.
I like what they did with the story and found it interesting. The cast was great, of course, and it's definitely worth seeing this Alice in Wonderland in 3D if you like 3D movies. If not, renting it would work, too.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2010, adventure, Anne Hathaway, comedy, family, fantasy, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin), Jamie Campbell Bower (Anthony Hope), Jayne Wisener (Johanna), Laura Michelle Kelly (Beggar Woman), Ed Sanders (Toby)
For complete info on this great cast, see IMDb's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street page.
As a huge fan of musical theatre, any time they're making a great musical into a movie (even if it's one that was already a movie, like The Producers), I worry that they might not do a good job. I go into them with open minds and have really loved what they've done with Rent, Hairspry, and many others. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is Sondheim, though... this raises the bar some, since I think Sondheim is probably the best musical theatre composer ever. His scores are always complex and many of the parts in his shows are challenging, which makes it more difficult to find a good cast for any production of one of his shows. I've always loved Sweeney Todd, though I've never been able to see a live production. I've seen the Original Broadway Cast on video (thank goodness they recorded it!) and that's it. I was very excited about the concept of Sweeney Todd as a movie.
I think they did an amazing job with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! I think that even those who don't generally enjoy musical theatre can appreciate the movie, but those who love musical theatre will really like this movie. I'll definitely purchase this one on DVD as soon as it comes out and I'm going to buy the CD, too. The cast is wonderful, the make-up, costumes, and sets were all very well done... Sure, a lot of stuff had to be cut out musically. That's always the case with a musical made into a movie, since they don't want to alienate the non-musical theatre lovers. The only song that I really missed in the movie version of Sweeney Todd was The Ballad of Sweeney Todd. They played the music from it at times, but never actually played the song. I expected them to use it in the credits (as they did with my favorite song from Hairspray, which they skipped in the movie), but they just played orchestral music, nothing with lyrics. Oh well, since that's the only thing I truly missed in the movie and I understand why it wasn't there, they did a great job. I'm glad that Johnny Depp got best actor for a musical or comedy in the Golden Globe Awards and that the movie won the best musical or comedy. The movie is wonderful and they deserve to be recognized.
If you haven't seen this, try to catch it on the big screen. It's still playing here at almost all theatres. Check it out before it goes away!
Grade: A
Labels: 2007, Alan Rickman, crime, drama, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, movie, musical, Stephen Sondheim, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 5:33 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow), Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann), Jack Davenport (Norrington), Bill Nighy (Davy Jones), Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa)
For complete info, see IMDb's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End page.
It's a good thing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has a lot of action, since seeing a 3-hour movie at 11 on a Friday might have made staying awake very difficult otherwise. The original movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl will always be my favorite of the Pirates movies, but I think this one was better than the second.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End might be a bit too much of a love story for some, but I thought it worked well within the story they'd set up in the first two movies. Of course, they also left the ending open for a 4th movie.
The monkey was a bigger character in this movie than in the first, and the scenes with him were very amusing.
I would definitely recommend catching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in a theatre for the special effects. I'm sure it'll be there for a while, so you've got time.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2007, action, adventure, comedy, fantasy, Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, movie, Orlando Bloom
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow), Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann), Jack Davenport (Norrington), Bill Nighy (Davy Jones), Jonathan Pryce (Governor Weatherby Swann)
For complete info, see IMDb's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest page.
As soon as I saw the first ad for the original Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie, I was sold on the franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest proved that the series of movies will continue to impress. I was so happy that they had beat out the opening day and opening weekend records right away, even though I couldn't be a part of that (I was away that weekend). I'm thrilled that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is still the number one movie in the box office. I wonder if it can stay there three weeks in a row...
I think they did a great job with the story and some of the action scenes were amazing. The whole sequence with the wheel really blew me away. I missed the pirates that would change from flesh to skeleton in the moonlight, but I have a feeling they might be back for the third movie. I guess we'll find out about that next year.
It's amazing that a series of movies based on a Disney ride could manage to be so impressive, while still having occasional nods to the original ride. And, of course, now the ride has characters from the movie in it. It's one of the things I'm looking forward to most the next time I go to Disneyland.
If you haven't seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, I highly recommend that you catch it while it's still in theatres. The special effects are still wonderful, the cast is still great, and the story is very well done! This is definitely a must see on the big screen! The original movie was a bit more impressive, but I think it's just because we expected this movie to be amazing and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had doubts about the first one.
All those people who were wondering if Disney made a stupid move making the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies together must be realizing that it was brilliant, which those of us who are fans of the movies knew all along. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is going to do better than the first movie and who knows how well the third movie will do. The potential is definitely amazing.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2006, action, adventure, comedy, Disney, fantasy, Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, movie, Orlando Bloom
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast (voices): Johnny Depp (Victor Van Dort), Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride), Emily Watson (Victoria Everglot)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Corpse Bride page.
I bought Corpse Bride without seeing it, since Tricia (my aunt and fellow Tim Burton and animation fan) told me that it was good and I didn't get to see it when it was still out in theaters. I figured I'd most likely buy it anyway, so I'd take the chance.
To be honest, the first song scared me a bit, since I really didn't enjoy it. However, the rest of the movie was wonderful. I definitely recommend it! Very good Tim Burton movie. Great cast of voices, and amazing Danny Elfman music.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2005, animated, comedy, family, fantasy, Johnny Depp, movie, musical, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Willy Wonka), Freddie Highmore (Charlie Bucket), Deep Roy (Oompa Loompa)
For complete information, see IMDb's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory page.
This was a wonderful remake of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory! I liked the original a lot and had, of course, seen it many times, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the remake. Seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in IMAX surely helped me to get into the movie, since you feel like you're almost there with images that big.
Johnny Depp did an amazing job as Willy Wonka and the rest of the cast was very good. The story hasn't been altered much. In fact, this movie follows the original book better than the original movie did, which was nice to see.
Deep Roy is so great performing the rolls of all the Oompa Loompas in the movie. With a song for almost everything, the Oompa Loompas do a lot in this version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it adds to the humor of the movie. If you liked the books and/or the original movie, I definitely recommend that you see the new version with Johnny Depp!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2005, adventure, comedy, family, fantasy, Freddie Highmore, IMAX, Johnny Depp, movie, remake
Reviewed by Kat at the 9:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Sir James Matthew Barrie), Kate Winslet (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Julie Christie (Mrs. Emma du Maurier), Radha Mitchell (Mary Ansell Barrie)
For complete info on this great cast, see IMDb's Finding Neverland page.
It's always great to see a movie that truly deserves the nomination for best picture get it, even when it's not an epic tale. This story about the author of Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie) and his friendship with the family who inspired him to create the story is a wonderful escape from reality on one hand, while it addresses the harsh reality of life and death on the other. The way Allan Knee (author of the play) and David Magee (author of the screenplay) interweave reality and fantasy is very effective in Finding Neverland. Marc Forster does a wonderful job with the directing and the cast is amazing. I was particularly impressed with the children, since I hadn't seen most of them before and they did such a great job. I'm used to expecting great things of Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet and they delivered again here.
I highly recommend this movie. It didn't get as wide of a release as I think it deserved, but it is definitely a bit artsy for some of the regular movie crowd. If you missed it, try renting it. You might be pleasantly surprised and if nothing else, the scenery, music, and acting are amazing.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2004, drama, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Mort Rainey), John Turturro (John Shooter), Maria Bello (Amy Rainey)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Secret Window
I didn't know much about this movie, or I might have been scared away by Stephen King's name. I tend to avoid his movies after Misery really freaked me out. However, Secret Window is not your typical Stephen King movie, so I'm gldad we saw this in a preview.
Of course, I figured out the twist really early in the movie, which was entertaining, since the guy next to me thought his friend had figured it out early and he figured it out only about 5 minutes before they really blatantly spelled it out for you.
Although the special effects were unfinished, I enjoyed this thriller. It wasn't all that scary, since I figured it out early, but I imagine if you're not trying to figure it out or just don't have as much luck figuring it out, it would be a bit more suspenseful. Still a very entertaining movie. Of course, I like Johnny Depp, so I'd see him in almost anything.
Grade: B
Labels: 2004, drama, horror, Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow), Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swan)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl page.
A movie based on a Disney ride... My first thought was, "Man, Disney is desperate now." I laughed it off and said I'd ignore it and maybe rent it to fast-forward through it and see parts of it, but then I found out who was going to be in the cast and knew I had to see the movie on the big screen. Once I saw the first preview, I was convinced that Disney had somehow managed to make a good movie based on an attraction. I was shocked.
The special effects alone in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl are worth the price of the ticket. When you add the decent story and great cast to the mix, it's a must see.
I hope they make more Pirates of the Caribbean movies. If they do, I'll be there!
Grade: A
Labels: 2003, action, adventure, comedy, Disney, fantasy, Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, movie, Orlando Bloom
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Juliette Binoche (Vianne Rocher), Johnny Depp (Roux), Victoire Thivisol (Vianne Rocher)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Chocolat page.
A woman and her daughter who shake up a small French village when they open up a chocolate shop. This mouth-watering movie is very well done. The cast is wonderful, the story is great, the soundtrack is beautiful, the scenery is gorgeous, and the chocolate is delectable. What more could one ask for in a romantic comedy/drama (other than, perhaps, that it not be released during Lent, as some of my Catholic friends have pointed out)?
I highly recommend this movie. It takes the idea of chocolate and romance being intertwined to the next level and is thoroughly enjoyable.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2000, comedy, drama, Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, movie, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 5:55 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Johnny Depp (Constable Ichabod Crane), Christina Ricci (Katrina Anne Van Tassel), Miranda Richardson (Lady Mary Van Tassel), Michael Gambon (Baltus Van Tassel)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Sleepy Hollow page.
I really enjoyed this Tim Burton movie. I like the story of Sleepy Hollow and I love the way Tim Burton presented it! In Sleepy Hollow, we get to see Ichabod Crane's back story, which is very a great touch. Danny Elfman's music adds the perfect touch to the amazing cast and great scenic design and lighting.
If you like dark stories and are at all interested in the story behind Sleepy Hollow or Tim Burton movies, this is a must see!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1999, Christina Ricci, fantasy, horror, Johnny Depp, movie, thriller, Tim Burton
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:55 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Al Pacino (Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero), Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco/Joseph D. 'Joe' Pistone), Michael Madsen (Sonny Black), Bruno Kirby (Nicky)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Donnie Brasco page.
This movie about an FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate the mob is different from the other mob infiltration movies I've seen. In Donnie Brasco the agent ends up really identifying with the mafia life. And, on the other side, Lefty ends up really working to protect Donnie even when he discovers that he's been betrayed by him. He looks more hurt than angry and seems to understand that Donnie was just doing his job.
I highly recommend this movie!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1997, Al Pacino, crime, drama, Johnny Depp, movie, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:50 PM show | 0 screams