Movie Review: Priest



Priest

Starring:
Paul Bettany (Legion, The Tourist, The Da Vinci Code)

Cam Gigandet (Twilight, Never Back Down, The OC)

Maggie Q (Nikita, Live Free or Die Hard)

Karl Urban (Star Trek, Red, Lord of the Rings)

Stephen Moyer (True Blood, The Starter Wife)

Director: Scott Stewart

Run time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)

Rating:  PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images, and brief strong language)

Release Date:  May 13, 2011

Distributors: Screen Gems and Sony Pictures

Synopsis (from moviefone.com):

In a world ravaged by wars between humans and vampires, a renegade priest fights to rescue his niece from the legions of bloodsuckers who seek to transform the young girl into one of them. A battle-weary veteran of the last vampire war, warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) now resides in a heavily fortified city where the ruling Church is a greater menace than any creature of the night. When a pack of vampires abduct Priest's niece (Lily Collins), the vengeful holy man breaks his vows and promises to save the young innocent from a fate worse than death. He can't do it alone, but with a powerful warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) and his niece's boyfriend, a sharp-shooting sheriff (Cam Gigandet), on his side, Priest may have a fighting chance. Stephen Moyer, Karl Urban, and Brad Dourif co-star.

 

Our thoughts:

First off, JoAnna and I saw this back in November as part of a screen test. We had to sign a confidentiality agreement and we are glad to FINALLY be able to talk about the movie and drag our friends to it.

I wanted to see this when I first heard about it is because I love Cam Gigandet. After seeing the first trailer, I was still just as excited as when I read the synopsis, if not more so. The movie did not disappoint. The entire cast was wonderful and were great together. The set was also visually wonderful.

The opening title sequence was unique because it is a comic book-esque style, which gives the background of the priests. I thought this was great because I did not know that it was a graphic novel, so adding that to the opening was a nice touch.

With a lot of movies and television shows these days having cute, sexy vampires, the vampires in this movie are far from sexy. They are ugly and grotesque. But that works with the darkness of the movie. It helps to show that the vampires are something to fear, even though the Church swears that all the vampires have been killed.

The ending shown in theatres is different than the ending we saw back in November, but I like this new ending a little bit more, even though it doesn't show Cam like the other one. We also noticed that they added a small scene, unless we over looked it in Novemeber. But the parts we really loved remained in the film.

JoAnna got to see it in 3D and said that they don't have things popping out at you. Instead, the background has more depth to kind of make you feel like you are in the movie.

We highly recommend seeing this. Beware, there are moments that may make you jump. The girl sitting to my left also spent quite a bit of the movie with her eyes covered. So if you get scared easily, you may want to wait until you can watch it from the safety of your home.

Movie Review: Scream 4

Synopsis:

Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer. (IMDB.com)

Director: Wes Craven

Starring:
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
David Arquette as Sheriff Dewey Riley
Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers-Riley
Emma Roberts as Jill Roberts
Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed
Rory Culkin as Charlie Walker

Release Date: April 15, 2011

Run Time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)

Rated: R

Our Thoughts:

First of all, we were a little shocked that they made a fourth one. We weren't sure where they could go with the story and who could be the one trying to kill Sidney. Well, just like the surprise of it being made, it kept you guessing who the killer is. Even then, it was someone you really didn't expect.

The very beginning of the movie was confusing (movie within a movie within a movie). We weren't sure how good the movie could be after that. But it still surprised us. Some of the new members of the movie tried to be like the older characters you loved (for example, Erik Knudsen and Rory Culkin trying to be like Matthew Lillard (Stu from the first Scream) and Jamie Kennedy (Randy from the first 3 Screams). But it just didn't work. They made us miss Randy and Stu! Emma Roberts did a wonderful job in this movie. We couldn't get over how weird Hayden Panettiere's hair looked. Even with the weird haircut, she did a good job as well.

Scream 4 seemed to be very similar to the first Scream, but with a different aspect to things. In fact, they used a few of the same things from the first one, Gale placing cameras during a party, the killers trying to attack each other, etc. But even with these things in it, the movie itself was making fun of the fact that they were in there. One of the best lines in the movie was Sidney actually saying "One thing about remakes, you don't f*** with the original!" Which Hollywood needs to really take to heart.

Even though it seemed like the original in a few aspects, it was still a good movie. It really kept you guessing, it even made people nearby jump and scream. We still can't believe who the killer was. We may have thought about it at one point, but soon thought past it.

We rate this movie 3.5 out of 5.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Conspirator

This is normally hosted by Breaking the Spine used for books. But we figured, why not apply it to movies as well?

Synopsis:

Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.

Directed By: Robert Redford

Starring:
James McAvoy as Frederick Aiken
Robin Wright (Robin Wright Penn) as Mary Surratt
Justin Long as Nicholas Baker
Norman Reedus as Lewis Payne
Evan Rachel Wood as Anna Surratt
Alexis Bledel as Sarah Weston
Kevin Kline as Edwin Stanton
Tom Wilkinson as Reverdy Johnson

Release Date: April 15, 2011

Run Time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)

Why We're Waiting:

JoAnna loves historcial movies and the trailer seems very interesting. Not to mention, James McAvoy for JoAnna and Norman Reedus for Valerie.

Waiting on Wednesday: Thor

This is normally hosted by Breaking the Spine used for books. But we figured, why not apply it to movies as well?

 

U.S. Release Date: May 6, 2011

Synopsis:
The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Starring:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Anthony Hopkins as Odin
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster

The Hangover Part 2 (The Hangover Part II) - Official Movie Trailer 2

We've seen the first one and laughed our butt's off. When we heard that they were making a second one we were a little surprised. I mean how much more can they add to a second one?! Well after watching this new trailer for it you can clearly see how much more you can put into a movie like this. This is another movie that we plan on seeing when it comes out and not wait to see it on DVD. The whole gang is back in this sequel. Release Date: May 26, 2011

Priest Movie Trailer 3 Official (HD)

This is one movie that we BOTH can't wait for it to be released in theatre's. We will for sure be seeing this at midnight when it's released! If you are a fan of Cam Gigandet (Twilight, The Unborn, and The Roommate), Paul Bettany (A Knight's Tale and Legion), and Maggie Q (Live Free or Die Hard and T.V.'s Nikita) then this could be the movie for you. Just by watching the Trailer it seems like it's going to be a really awesome ass-kicking movie. Release Date: May 13, 2011

DVD Review: St. Trinian's School for "Bad" Girls

DVD RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2010

SYNOPSIS:

St. Trinian's, the infamous school for 'young ladies', is in trouble. Despite being an old flame of its Headmistress (in a top-of-his-class comic performance by RUPERT EVERETT,  My Best Friends Wedding), the new Education Minister is shaking things up and the school is facing financial ruin. But the students of St. Trinian's aren't going to give up without a fight. After all, they excel at chaos and attitude, not chemistry and algebra...and that's exactly what it's going to take to beat the authorities, before they close down their beloved school for good. Starring COLIN FIRTH (Mama Mia!, Bridget Jones's Diary), LENA HEADEY ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," Vacancy), RUSSELL BRAND (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and CATERINA MURINO (Casino Royale). Also starring MISHCA BARTON ("The O.C.," "The Beautiful Life"), TALULAH RILEY (The Boat That Rocked) and GEMMA ARTERTON (Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), with a cameo appearance by U.K. sensation GIRLS ALOUD.


Our Thoughts:

First of all this movie is one of those movies that one of us randomly saw at a Blockbuster and decided to rent it. Then decided to buy it and got her friends to watch it, which they ended up loving it also. This movie also makes you watch what is going on in the background. Rupert Everett was great as the headmistress. Yes, mistress. The girls of the movie worked well together and made chaos look like fun. Great laughs, great chaos, and great Mission Impossible-esque adventure. The one downer: St. Trinians 2 is available on DVD, as Region 2 only. The first one ended where there was nothing left hanging. But we are curious to find out what mayhem they unleash while looking for treasure in the second one.