Hosts: David McVay, Josh Philpott & Dave Kozicki
Welcome to the Film Actually podcast, your weekly dose of movie geek. Film Actually is the official movie podcast of geekactually.com.
This week David McVay and Josh Philpott are joined Dave Kozicki for a pair of movie reviews. First up we take a look at Nicolas Cage in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ and then we pull apart M. Night Shyamalan’s new film ‘The Last Airbender’. We also have a new List of Five, the listener requested 5 top techie movies.
*Update 14/10/2011 – Film Actually was a split off from the main Geek Actually show and originally maintained numbering continuity with that show. That logic no longer works as the shows have become two unique entities, so we have gone back and re-numbered the Film Actually shows to reflect their true episode number. This show is now officially episode 8 but when you listen to the show you will hear it referred to as episode 100, this is why. Sorry about any confusion or inconvenience.
Film Actually is recorded live every Saturday at approximately 1.15pm (AEST UTC +10) at geekactually.com/live
Your show notes:
Feature Film Review 1
‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Matt Lopez, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard inspired by the Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence in Walt Disney’s Fantasia. It stars Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Alice Krige and Monica Bellucci.
Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. – source Walt Disney Pictures
Watch the trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ4s3JIcou8
Our Verdict: A fun family film that shows that there is still life in Nicolas Cage’s career. The stand out performance is Alfred Molina though, the man is a god and should be in every movie. Not a perfect film but a good romp.
Just for giggles
College Humor’s No One Likes M. Night Shyamalan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wjqYKljwaE
Feature Film Review 2
‘The Last Airbender’ Written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan based on the 2005 Nickelodeon animated series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It stars Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi and Cliff Curtis.
The Air, Water, Earth & Fire nations are tied by destiny and the powerful benders, people who can control the elements, are kept in balance by the Avatar, the one person who can control all four elements and communicate with the spirit world for guidance. When the Avatar disappears the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction until a water bender and her brother discover Aang, the lost Avatar in the ice. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) rediscovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to stop the war and re-unite the nations.
Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive. Source: IMDB & modified by me
Watch the trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMoGFeMmhKA
Our Verdict: Even though the film has nice production design, costume design and fabulous special effects the film is absolutely the worst movie of the year. Awful performances, sloppy cutting and slow moving, clumsy action scenes prove, once and for all, that M. Night Shyamalan either used everything he had on ‘The Sixth Sense’ or it was a fluke. Why does Hollywood keep giving this man money?
Lists of Five
Here is the listener requested Five Techie Movies.
This episode carries an explicit tag due to infrequent coarse language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
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