Reviews by The Mighty Celestial

Simply put, good quality popcorn escapist fare, right here.
A very insignificant character in the Marvel universe is transformed on the big-screen into a sword-welding, bad-ass with the fighting skillz that Batman only wishes he possessed. The fight scenes in this movie are a true stand-out for any kind of action movie. Yo, and the story & visuals supercede any comicbook that Blade was ever involved in.
Now this is how all comicbook superhero film adaptations should be approached.



(BTW, even tho on this particular list I have Blade ranked at #3 ,
as a vampire character, Blade definitely rates as #1.
So, for any vampires out there reading this, I don't care what your position is in the bloodsuckers' heiarchy, Blade would still kick all yo' asses.
All yo' asses.
Suckas.)

Really cool childlike fairytale visuals with a level of creativity that reminds us why mythic tales fascinated us so much during our young ages, yet with enough of a few dark undertones to keep the interest of that part of our spirits that were crushed by the reality of becoming an adult. Fantasy fun with a slight twist of macabre for the whole family

For me, this is kind of like a "The Matrix Unloaded".
A very stunningly stylish movie that features action sequences that any martial arts or straight-up action flick would be proud to call it's own. And even tho the story, like The Matrix, seems like it can lose it's audience every couple of turns and again, it does have a more solid & linear structure, making it is possible for the viewer to get back onto understanding it's premise.
And I liked that since Equilibrium did not have the big budget that it's computer themed bigger succeeding cousin had, that it came up with a concept called "Gun Kata", to allow for the insane bullet hails that make these types of gun-toting movies the kind that could cause even the hardiest NRA member to bust his own cap.

As someone who had no real interest in this series or it's subject matter, it wasn't until this istallment that I finally watched a Harry Potter movie. And being that I never read any of the books, I was quite taken aback at the over-all consistancy of balance between the fantasy element of the wizarding world & that of the perosnal struggles of what goes thru a young person's mind trying to deal with things like death, authority & finding one's place in the life. Compelling drama, a storyline that both successfully continues the series & yet also manages to stand on it's own, well-placed chemistry between the characters, medevil sets that visually stun, Dementors that horrify, old tree willows that whomp & even a werewolf that looks pretty damn bad-ass.
I walked into this film an indifferentiated non-fan & ended up coming out of it a hardcore Pot-head.

In this one, Peter Parker roughs thru his dilemas with the same down-to-earth fustrations as in the comicbooks, his relationship with Mary Jane convincingly reaches it's next level, & Doc Ock is portrayed much better as a villian than he ever was on the printed age.
As a hardcore nerd of this genre, I was pretty satisfied at Marvel's initial effort at trying to do what Burton did with the Batman; introduce the webhead as a serious legitimate property for film.
The most I could've hoped for this sequel was that it be at least half as good as it's predessor.
Instead, Spidey-2 turned out to become one of my favorite movie adaptations of a comicbook superhero ever.
Which I guess I should've anticipated since before I entered the theatre, my spider-senses didn't go off, all atingling an' sh*t.

Johnny Depp & Kate Winslet solidly anchor this fairy tale-ish depiction behind the process of a fairy tale.
Finding Neverland starts off as a story of a man who's refusal to grow up results in the fantasy based chapters of his stage production & ends with a boy who is forced to grow up by the grim reality of the loss of a loved one.
The end is truly moving & successfully endearing enough to mask the pixie-like liberties taken with any historical fact of this story of the man who founded the Lost Boys.

While I felt that the Harry Potter movies, up to this point had peaked with The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Goblet Of Fire is a worthy follow-up, coming in as the second best (IMO at least) of the series.
Great balancing between the wizard fantasy element that still sparks off childlike imagination, yet enough of a grittiness in it's story execution & fatalistic consequences in it's action scenes that will keep those of a more mature mindset entertained.
With this installment, the franchise keeps it's momentum smoothly rolling as each of the main characters' growth moves effectively & convincincly thru the center plotline of a Tri-Wizard Tournament & the otherworldly dark mystic situations that revolve around it.
Goblet Of Fire ends with a feeling of accumilated weight, full of emotion & excitement that can make the viewer feel as tho he/she is in the middle of a ride whose magicks can be just as fantastic as they are deadly.
Not exactly your typical mindless tweener escapist-fare.

Take Flashdance, replace the female construction worker/stripper lead character with a male loser-pimp (loser even by bowery street standards) whose portrayal was nominated for an Oscar. Then remove the dancing & put in rappin' instead. Replace the implausibility of the plot with a straight forward script that holds no punches & booyah....there you have it. A hard-nosed "makin' your dreams come true" film that is about as far away from that Jennifer Beals torn sweatshirt-a-rama that I first began this entry with.
And if comparing these two movies seems like an incredibility poor choice on my part for a comparison, cut me some slack, yo.
It's hard out here for a pimp.

A simple story of a simple girl who discovers that she can simply leap thru time. But instead of using her powers for good, or even for evil for that matter, she uses it in a manner that we all wish we could if we were so magically endowed (especially if we were her age): to make up time when we were late, to retake exams we didn't study for, to get to our favorite snacks in the fridge before our annoying little siblings got the chance to polished 'em off, etc..
Which all leads up to a simple coming of age story that is as simply & beautifully told as it is simply & beautifully animated.
Simply put, simply beautiful.

Pan's Labyrinth is a film whose creativity & emotion are elegantly entwined in a manner that blurs the barrier between the "real" world & the fantasy dimension, almost beyond physical distinction.
Just an absolutely beautiful movie that successfully takes the constant air of peril that comes with living under the grim realities of war & overlays it with the macabre & twisted influence that such a situation can have on a young creative mind's fairy-tale-like imaginations.