The Golden Compass *

Title: The Golden Compass *

Year: 2007

Director: Chris Weitz

Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Freddie Highmore

IMDB: 6.2

Seen: December 21st, 2011

My Rating: 7

Not the first time I've seen this film, and not the last time I will see it either. I love it. I loved the books when this film did not exist yet, and I love this adaption!

Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas

Title: Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas

Year: 2011

Director: Karen Disher

Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah

IMDB: 6.5

Seen: December 21st, 2011

My Rating: 5.5

This short film was on tv right before a film I really wanted to see, so I decided to watch this as well. And since Ice Age is quite a fun film, I thought this couldn't be that bad either. The beginning was awful. Nothing funny or interesting. Then, after commercials, it did get better, and it actually got cute. Because of the awful beginning, I can't rate it any higher than a 5.5, but if it would have been like the second half all the way through the film, I would have rated it at least a 7.

Hanna

Title: Hanna

Year: 2011

Director: Joe Wright

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana

IMDB: 6.9

Seen: December 21st 2011

My Rating: 7/10

The moment I heard of this project, I wanted to see it. Honestly, not because of the story, but because of the lead actress, Saoirse Ronan. She was quite a brilliant actress in Pride and Prejudice, and since I saw that one, I've been following her. Unfortunately, she had not really had many challenging roles since, but this film offered her the opportunity to show off her skills.

The film had a boring and slow beginning, I was waiting for some action. But after about forty minutes, the real story started. It also was very vague in the beginning, obviously to keep you hooked, but this did make it confusing. But, as I said before, it got better halfway through: the story sped up and got more interesting.

I'm rating this movie a 7/10 although I'm leaning more toward the 6.5 than 7.5. Still a little confused as to what I think about it, so I might be able to rate it better next time I'll see it.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow

Title: Sherlock Holmes: a game of Shadows

Year: 2011

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace.

IMDB: 7.9

Seen: December 19th 2011

My Rating: 8/10

When I saw Sherlock Holmes a few months ago, I knew for sure that I wanted to see the second one. Another adventure of mr Holmes and his sidekick dr. Watson. Same two actors, the same director and an even better rating on IMDB.

The story starts very 'sherlockesk'. Sherlock himself is acting weird again and he's recommended to go see a doctor. But it soon gets very confusing. Holmes is mingled in a fight already, and the viewer has not go a clue why. It does get clearer as the story continues, but someone of average intelligence will have to watch it at least twice. The directing, the cinematography and the story however, are all better than the previous film, which I suppose makes it equal to the first, and therefore I rate it 8/10!

All in all, go see it!