Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Michael Bay continued working on the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“, a.k.a. “Transformers 2” in association with Hasbro written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
The plot: After Optimus Prime destroyed the Cube in the previous movie, the Decepticons have no choice to keep their race alive and [...]

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The long-awaited sequel to the Terminator trilogy was directed by McG, written by John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris. Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Ironside.

The plot: After the Judgement Day, John Connor (Christian Bale) is now the leader of the resistance. Well, one of the leaders. In fact he [...]

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

A prequel to X-Men (2000), X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), directed by Gavin Hood (directed famous award-winning Tsotsi), written by David Benioff  and Skip Woods.
The plot: A brief history of James Logan (Hugh Jackman) begins with his childhood in 1845 in Northern Territory. When his brother Victor kills their [...]

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Frost/Nixon (2008)

A great movie by Oscar-winning director and producer Ron Howard (Changeling (2008), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Cindirella Man (2005), A Beautiful Mind (2001), How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)) starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell and Kevin Bacon based on the play by Peter Morgan.
The plot: A British game-show host David Frost [...]

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The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

This 3D-animated adventure based on Kate DiCamillo’s book was directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen, featuring voices of Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Sigourney Weaver, Matthew Broderic, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Klein and others.
The plot: The lives of three heroes, a mouse with big ears who prefers reading books to eating [...]

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Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Written and directed by Kevin Smith (”Catch and Release“, “Dogma“) this romantic comedy starring Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Superbad, Knocked up etc.) and Elizabeth Banks (”Definitely, Maybe“, “The 40 Year Old Virgin“, “Catch me if you can“ and more), albeit R-rated, is a good movie to see on [...]

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Foyle’s War (2002-2008)

“Foyle’s War” is British TV drama series that marry history of World War II and detective mystery.
The plot: English Channel is the only thing that separates Britain from the Nazi invasion. In a small town of Hastings in the vulnerable Southern coast. While the whole Europe is at war, people of Hastings [...]

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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006)

This award-winning picture was directed by Tommy Lee Jones, his first work as director, and based on the book by Guillermo Arriaga, an Oscar-nominated author and play-writer. Arriaga also wrote script for Universal/Focus feature film Amores Perros (2000) starring Benicio Del Torro, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, 21 Grams (2004) and [...]

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Better then the original Hellboy (2004). Very entertaining. Not particularly memorable. Would not watch it second time. No originality.

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Hancock (2008)

Hancock (a.k.a. John Hancock, a.k.a. Tonight He Comes) is directed by Peter Berg written by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman.
The plot: LA’s local super-hero John Hancock (Will Smith) is really unpopular. Homeless and drunkard, he still helps people and saves them when they are in [...]

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Get Smart (2008) PG-13 111min

Director Peter Segal (Nutty Professor II, 50 First Dates) revived flopped spy-spoof TV series from the 60s and 1995 as a feature film based on characters created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. Starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Alan Arkin.
The plot: Maxwell (Max) Smart (Steve Carell [...]

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“Bella” (2006)

This drama directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde was a surprise People’s Choice Award winner at Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Consequently, it won Crystal Heart Award at Heartland Film Festival in 2007 and the actor in main role, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, a prize for most inspirational male role in the movie.
The plot: Jose (Eduardo [...]

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

19 years after “The Last Crusade”, Indiana Jones is back. So excited to see the favorite character of my childhood.
The plot: 1959. Indiana Jones is kidnapped by KGB agents to help them find the Crystal Skull, whose powers they plan to use to create a mind-controlling [...]

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Iron Man (2008)

We tried to see this movie on Friday night, but it was sold out. On Saturday night we got in after standing in line for half an hour and watching commercials and trailers for another 25 minutes. Was the movie worth it?
The plot: The wealthy military industrialist, a brilliant engineer and a [...]

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The summary: this is definitely a better movie then Ocean’s Twelve, but the 11 was the best one of the trilogy. Good entertainment, in theater and on DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray – whatever you watch it on.

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Harold And Kumar From Guantanamo Bay (2008)

John Cho and Kal Penn of “Harold & Kumar go to White Castle” are back for a sequel written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who also directed the film this time around.
The plot: The plot picks up right when Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) come [...]

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“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is a comedy directed by Nicholas Stoller who is well known for co-writing Fun With Dick and Jane with Judd Apatow – his directorial debut. It is written by Jason Segel, an actor from a few episodes of CSI and Alias, and most recently was cast in Knocked Up, and now [...]

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Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Pretty good!
The plot: Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a congressman from Texas. He’s been known for being a womanizer and alcoholic. In 1979 the policy of US regarding Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was to stay out of the conflict. While the government officially morally supported the Afghans, they were not helping [...]

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From Judd Apatow, the guy who brought you Knocked Up and Superbad – a new comedy starring John C. Reilly!
The plot: America loves larger-than-life musician and songwriter Dewey Cox (a composite character in whom you can recognize Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Johnny Cash and others). But behind the music is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of [...]

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Beowulf (2007)

Just came out of the theatre. Saw it in both regular and 3D. This movie should only be seen in 3D! Completely different experience.
The plot is based on the only known surviving Anglo-Saxon poetry manuscript about a warrior Beowulf, hero of Geats (a.k.a. Goths, Swedes)  in 6th century A.D. who defeated three antagonists: [...]

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