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Entries in Jennifer Connelly (4)

Friday

11Sep2009

'9' web reviews

Friday, September 11, 2009 at 10:22AM | By

Shane Acker's animated adventure "9" debuted in theaters this week, and it features the voice of Elijah Wood as a puppet-like being trying to survive in a world where machines won a nasty battle against humans. Here is what some of the Web's critics have to say about the flick:

• William Goss @Cinematical: "For the most part, '9' makes a gorgeous and often thrilling case for its own feature-length existence..."

• CinemaBlend's Josh Tyler: "Though lacking in scale the movie’s look is consistently impressive and the story, though stretched too thin, is fairly creative."

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Review: “9”

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 12:41PM | By

Franck Tabouring

Seen on: August 28, 2009

The players: Director: Shane Acker, Writer: Pamela Pettler, Cast: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly

Facts of interest: "9" was co-produced in Luxembourg, my home country. Neat!

The plot: In a world in which humanity was defeated in a battle against machines, a rag doll named 9 sets out on a mission to save what is left on the planet.

Our quick thoughts: Director Shane Acker took an acclaimed short film he created and developed it into a big-screen adventure with the support of producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. Sounds neat, doesn’t it? The result is Focus Features’ “9,” a decent animated action film that boasts incredibly intriguing visuals but fails to impress in the story department.

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'The Day the Earth Stood Still' web reviews

Friday, December 12, 2008 at 1:56PM | By

Franck Tabouring

Remakes are taking over the world of filmmaking! The latest updated version of a classic is Scott Derrickson's "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which stars Keanu Reeves, Jaden Smith and Jennifer Connelly (read my review here). Let's take a look at what the Web's critics say about it:

• Cinematical's William Goss: "As a flashy big-budget distraction, 'Stood Still' is adequate overall -- rarely above, occasionally below -- and often familiar in its spectacle."

• CinemaBlend's Katey Rich: "If it were just a workmanlike disaster movie, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' might be a guilty pleasure or a fun distraction. But its cowardly treatment of the political issue at its center kills it."

• Brad Brevet at RopeOfSilicon: "In the 2008 version the story is of little consequence as long as things explode and cities are leveled."

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Review: “The Day the Earth Stood Still"

Friday, December 12, 2008 at 1:39PM | By

Franck Tabouring

Seen on: December 12, 2008

The players: Director: Scott Derrickson, Writer: David Scarpa, Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Jaden Christopher Smith

Facts of interest: Based on 1951's "The Day the Earth Stood Still" by Robert Wise.

The plot: Keanu Reeves plays an alien tho visits Earth to warn of an ultimate destruction if the human race does not abandon all its violence and starts to take better care of the planet.

Our thoughts: A drastic drop in creativity is the only explanation I have for the massive increase in remakes we’ve seen in Hollywood over the past years. Okay, the studios’ desire to earn big bucks may be another factor, but then again, not every remake scores big at the box office, right? Other than that, I just see no reason why someone would want to rehash a film classic. It’s completely unnecessary.

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