Source Code (2011): Cyclic but Hardly Boring

A man "wakes up" on a train with a beautiful girl in front of him who is definitely showing she knows him but he has not any idea what is actually happening. More than that, the man thinks he should be piloting an army helicopter in Afghanistan at this moment instead of sitting in a train with a woman claiming she recognizes him. If this sounds interesting, it will become even more intriguing after a while in case you are going to watch Source Code.

Source Code is the second full feature of director Duncan Jones and it has a lot of similarities to his first effort Moon. The movie is in the vein of the sci-fi genre again and it is based on a pattern of repetitiveness. Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) somehow gets on that train and discovers step by step that he has the strangest rescue mission. Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) is a woman sitting opposite captain Stevens on the same train and showing interest in him for whatever reason. Suddenly the train explodes. But this is just the beginning of the story for Colter Stevens and a bunch of people in a military-scientific research center.

Source Code is cyclic but not boring. We see consecutive repetitions of a couple of scenes but each subsequent iteration presents lots of new stuff and adds considerably to the development of the story. The narrative keeps to be intriguing during the majority of the movie and although it does not offer any real twists, the audience is keen to understand what exactly and eventually how it will happen. Given the sci-fi nature of the film it is hard to say whether the "how" question is satisfactory answered or not. But this is pretty much the case with every sci-fi movie exploring more complicated concepts.

The acting in Source Code is Ok. Jake Gyllenhaal manages to develop his character from a-near-mess guy in the beginning to a charming and self-confident man towards the end of the movie. Michelle Monaghan plays her part of the repetitive game with ease and she is as beautiful as usual. Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright give authentic performances of troubled assistant Colleen Goodwin and purposeful Dr. Rutledge correspondingly. The rest of the Source Code's cast is also convincing. The writing is quite good especially having in mind the limitations of the film's premise. And Duncan Jones proves to be a director who seems to possess potential of making some great motion pictures in the future.

The movie has some imperfections though but nothing significant. One could start with its title, Source Code, which might not be the perfect match and reach to its ending that is predictable and probably excessively happy. Throughout the film there are several elements that are hard to be understood, e.g., why captain Stevens retains his own appearance during the train sequences. The whole concept of Source Code is sufficiently confusing too if you try to get deeper into it.

But since it is a sci-fi movie a bit of confusion is always excusable and the rest of the flaws are readily forgivable due to the overall entertainment and involvement the film offers. If you are into science fiction thrillers or you've liked the previous Duncan Jones' movie Moon, Source Code should be an easy choice for you.

Free Blu-ray Player Software / Region-Free Bluray Player? Forget it!

Understandably, there are a lot of people searching for free Blu-ray player software or region free Blu-ray player. Often people are looking for free Blu-ray 3D players too. And while it is clear that there are not any standalone players for free similarly to all other hardware devices on the market, the answer concerning both software and region-free players is not obvious. So, here is the current situation.

Free Blu-ray Player Software

There is not any BD player software that is free. At least, not a legal one. And it is valid for all of the markets: Windows, Unix, Mac, etc. The not so pleasant reason behind this fact is that the founding companies and patent holders (Sony, Philips and Panasonic own most of the patents concerning the Bluray disc technology) still require license fees for any kind of BD related device (player or recorder), disc or software and these fees affect any hardware or software unit that has been manufactured. There are some BD drives that come equipped with OEM software for BD playback but usually, OEM software versions are stripped of many features and they are hardly ever updated. Since there are not free Blu-ray player software programs, the only option, if you don't want to become a software "pirate", is to get a commercial software package. You can check which are the available players on the market here. Their prices currently range from $50 to $100 with frequent significant discounts. You can also download free trial versions of the 2 most popular BD player software programmes by looking for Cyberlink PowerDVD 12 Ultra and ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5.

Region Free Blu-ray Player

Similarly to the case with the free software BD players, there are not any region-free or multi-region Bluray players for sale. The reasoning behind the existence of BD regions does not seem very comprehensible. There are probably some questionable benefits for the movie studios but the region codes are definitely a big problem for any devoted BD fan around the world cause it may happen that a movie is released only in a particular Blu-ray region or that a release for another region is better than the one for yours. So, while there are not any out-of-the-box multi region solutions, you can still explore the following links and read a couple of software region free Blu-ray player suggestions as well as a couple of hacks for dedicated standalone players.

Free Blu-ray 3D Players

As you should have already guessed there are also not free software players for 3D BDs. The reason is again due to the existence of patent holders. Concerning the playback of Blu-ray 3D discs, if you own a standalone 2D BD player but it does not happen to be Sony PlayStation 3 chances are you won't be able to turn it into a 3D player. The cause is that 3D requires considerably more computational power than 2D and older standalone players do not have it (except for Sony's PS3). If you've purchased a software player for playback of 2D movies in the past, you have better chances to use it for 3D playback too, either with a relatively cheap software upgrade or without doing anything. Of course, for 3D playback you will also need additional (expensive) hardware like 3D glasses and monitor. Yes, evil never comes alone...

Say Anything... (1989): A Distraction with Potential

If you don't like selling, buying or processing anything as a career, your only option seems to be kickboxing. Except for making a girl happy. As a career... As strange as this may sound, it's pretty much the main idea of Say Anything.... The movie has been turning itself into a romantic comedy classic over the years. And it has plenty to offer apart from its strangeness. Being directorial debut of Cameron Crowe (who is also the writer), the film deserves even more praise for its good execution and the freshness it provides. Say Anything... tells a conventional story with an unconventional approach and even at moments when the film lacks originality it is not boring at all.

The movie is a romantic teen comedy and this says a lot about its plot. But Say Anything... is also capable of surprises. The usual role of the more mature and purposeful partner in the relationship this time is given to the girl. The boy is the person who wants to dedicate his future to the woman. Lloyd (John Cusack) is a pretty simple guy who possesses the important knowledge he doesn't know what he wants to make with his life so after having a chance to spend some time with Diane (Ione Skye) he decides that making her happy is probably a good (if not the best) job for him. Diane is the valedictorian of her class who has won a scholarship for a famous college in England but after meeting with Lloyd she does not only find love for the first time but she also discovers beauty in the simple things.

Say Anything... sports many qualitative dialogues with plenty of memorable lines. A few examples could be Lloyd's thoughts on the "choosing a career" topic, the "being friends with potential" conversation and "I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen" quote but there is a lot more of ordinary, yet clever and effective talking throughout the movie. The writing does not offer any unexpected twists or a genuine plotline. What makes it good though, lies in the details as the already mentioned dialogues or the particular events that happen. The film is also spared from the cheap teenage humor plaguing the majority of other similar movies, which is a big plus for it.

The cast of Say Anything... is worthy as well. John Cusack makes one of his best performances and the scene showing him standing with a boombox in front of Diane's house is probably among his most memorable ones. Ione Skye is charming as Diane Court and John Mahoney is wonderful as her father James Court. Lili Taylor in the role of Corey, one of the female friends of Lloyd Dobler, portrays an interesting character although being a bit annoying with her constant talking and self-written 65 songs about her ex Joe. Cameron Crowe, except for the good writing job, should also be admired for the entire filmmaking of this movie including directing.

Of course, Say Anything... is not void of imperfections. The main plot is unoriginal. There are some scenes and characters that are not must-haves. Some of the events and a big part of the narrative although being possible are not among the most probable things to happen. But does someone really care about such flaws if the movie is entertaining and makes you a teenager again having a strong empathy with the screen couple? Do not say anything... If you love romcoms, this one is for you.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011): Alienated Old Wild West

On a first thought the idea of mixing cowboys and aliens in a single movie may appear preposterous or cheeky. So, perhaps a bit surprisingly, what makes this concept cool is the fact the movie is serious about itself as opposed to the humorous and light approach to the Old West in, for example, Wild Wild West. Cowboys & Aliens is based on the graphic novel of the same name and is made by the director and cinematographer duo Jon Favreau and Matthew Libatique who also did Iron Man and Iron Man 2 together.

Apparently the filmmakers were aiming to merge two genres: the classic western and the aliens thriller. Cowboys & Aliens starts as a western, develops into an alien-abduction-sci-fi-meets-search-party-westerns and then dives into an alien thriller, mixing genre conventions in its way. The western part of the mix is easily the better one. There are numerous allusions to the classics: from the opening shot which tips its hat to Leone through Daniel Craig being Steve McQueen look-alike to the emulation of Conrad Hall's western looks. Matthew Libatique has certainly gone to great lengths to make the movie stay close to the classic look: it is shot with anamorphics and sticking with normal and short telephoto lenses, moving away from the more modern and aggressive appearance of the wide angle glass.

The story is not very interesting and, somewhat surprisingly given the topic, succeeds in being generic. The first act is the most convincing. This is the part where the filmmakers embrace western conventions and pacing to the fullest. Lots of steam is lost in the second act when the aliens are stripped of most of their mystery. The final encounter, which probably emulates western showdowns is largely underwhelming, mixing dull stunts with dull pathos.

The cast of Cowboys & Aliens is pretty good. Daniel Craig is successful in a mostly silent leading role offering a new spin on the old no-name hero motif. Harrison Ford is cool in anything, which is not a romcom, once again unleashing his usual mannerisms. He is certainly one of the few actors who can afford playing the same role over and over again and stay entertaining all the time. His iconic charisma adds interest to an otherwise rather flat movie. Fans are even served with an "I am your father" line. Sam Rockwell's and Paul Dano's talents aren't put to particularly efficient use. Especially the latter gives a quirky and whiny but somewhat tiresome performance, which is probably supposed to add some old school character actor color but will also annoy many moviegoers. Olivia Wilde is hardly making the role of her life but with her intriguing and obscure character she manages to bring some decent feminine flavor amidst all the cowboys and aliens populating the film.

Sticking to the classic looks, the filmmakers have stayed away from 3D. A high point in the movie is the first appearance of the aliens. Their assault on the town is largely achieved through practical effects: lights (including lasers) rigged onto a spydercam system with minimal (if any) use of CGI. The alien creatures themselves are based on a mixture of xenomorphs and predators in yet another nod to the classics.

If most of the above has not been sounding too awful do not hurry to raise your expectations. Cowboys & Aliens has an interesting premise but it is not realized even to its half potential and as already stated, the better parts end in the first third of the movie. For keen lovers of the two genres used to produce the mixture, the film could possibly be a watchable effort but if you are among the rest of the general movie audience, there are better films you can see.

Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy Blu-ray Warm-up Reviews

(...continues from Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Reviews.)

Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Episode 1 is where the decline of the Star Wars series started. I mean a decline when considering The Phantom Menace as a part of the series. It's not such a bad movie on its own although it has elements of unintended parody. In my personal opinion the movie is the least spoiled in the prequel trilogy since it doesn't offer so much debunking of old characters and ideas as the next 2 episodes. But compared to the original trilogy it is a big departure from its virtues. There are no strong characters like Darth Vader or Han Solo. The music is similar to the old score but weaker without any new memorable themes (it did not receive an Academy Award or even an Oscar nomination as it had always happened in the case of the original 3 movies). The film offers parody characters like Jar Jar Binks and suggests the Immaculate Conception notion for Anakin Skywalker. And finally, The Phantom Menace is the closest to a childish story of all 6 Star Wars movies which is not mandatorily bad. It has proved to be the most successful of the prequels in terms of box office, probably due to the older Star Wars fans' enormous anticipation of something big.

Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Attack of the Clones is darker than its predecessor and not so childish but it's where the debunking of the myths starts. We are offered a forbidden love story combined with some early signs of Anakin's temptation to embrace the dark side of the Force. But while this adds a bit to the overall storyline of the Star Wars saga it's not presented in the most believable way. On the other hand, while Anakin shows symptoms of disobedience and non-compliance with the Jedi Order's rules, it's hard to associate him with the future Darth Vader. To make the lack of correspondence worse arrives the flying Yoda who looks no better than a teddy bear floating in the air. And if the flying ridicule of Yoda is also not enough, a few unnecessary characters like Count Dooku are added. In brief: an even weaker sequel to a weak opening installment.

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

The final (let's hope) film of the Star Wars saga... Some people consider Revenge of the Sith to be the best of the prequel trilogy most likely because it's the darkest and also chronologically the closest to the original trilogy. It shows familiar characters like the newborn Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader in his usual "clothing" and the well-known Emperor. Yet, the Emperor is not the same. If the debunking of Yoda has been unpleasant in Episode 2, here's the time to feel the same way about Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. If he has been an embodiment and the root of all evil in the original trilogy, in Revenge of the Sith he is much closer to an ordinary although clever and skilful villain. Of course, Yoda continues his flight too. And in addition to Count Dooku, there is another unneeded character in the face of General Grievous. The transformation of Anakin in Darth Vader is hugely forced and unconvincing: in no time he changes himself from a supposedly good person to a merciless mass murderer of children. The "mighty" Jedi Order is destroyed with an incredible ease and almost everything intended to provide a link to the original Star Wars trilogy seems in fact strained.

This ends the 6 short reviews of the films forming Star Wars: The Complete Saga package expected to be released on Blu-ray discs in September. Expect to read our comments on the constant "improvements" George Lucas is applying to his original movies in the upcoming weeks.

Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Blu-ray Warm-up Reviews

Just to warm up for the upcoming release (September 16, 2011) of Star Wars: The Complete Saga as well as for the separate releases of the both Star Wars trilogies on Blu-ray discs I've decided to write a few lines about each of the 6 Star Wars movies. I prefer to order them chronologically in terms of original theatrical release dates as I feel this approach is better. You can find also some thoughts on the endless alterations George Lucas is applying to his creations here.

Star Wars (1977) a.k.a. Episode IV - A New Hope

The first film of the original Star Wars trilogy is still considered to be the best by a huge part of fans and critics. It introduces the whole Star Wars universe to the public with interesting places, creatures, space ships, weapons, etc. It presents the Jedi and the Force with both of its sides. The movie has an interesting and likeable story. The characters are fun and entertaining. We are introduced to one of the strangest cinema couples in the face of C-3PO and R2-D2. The music is among the greatest to be heard in a motion picture. The special effects are fascinating. And the good wins the battle against the evil Empire. What more to be desired from a Hollywood movie?

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

If the first film of the original trilogy is an achievement to be remembered, the second one is not a step back at all. The only major "flaw" it has is to have a predecessor. It's a sequel that is not often seen and it's the author's personal favorite in the Star Wars series. Unlikely for a sequel, The Empire Strikes Back changes considerably the form of the initial installment: it's darker, deeper and more mature. There is not a regular "happy" ending. The film sports one of the greatest twists in the movie history. And we see the initial appearance of the universal favorite Yoda. Independently of the overall darker atmosphere, Han Solo is still fresh and funny, while the evil Darth Vader seems unshakeable and stronger than ever. The music is still a great match for both, the whole Episode 5 and the individual scenes. And in addition, we learn considerably more about the Star Wars universe compared to the first movie. All of the above makes The Empire Strikes Back an essential part of the saga and arguably its best installment.

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Episode 6 could be considered the first step back in the Star Wars series and the weakest in the original trilogy. Still, it offers genuine entertainment, big portions of fun and judged only by itself it is a very good picture. While it is closer to Episode 4 in overall atmosphere and even in terms of plot, it provides some interesting scenes and an army of new creatures. Considerable amount of time is dedicated to non-humans: Ewoks, Jabba the Hutt, Rancor and Sarlacc to list a few. The action sequences are also at their peak here (speaking of the original trilogy) with a significant screen presence. The story offers a couple of small twists although nothing so striking compared to The Empire Strikes Back. So in general, Return of the Jedi is a likable effort if not as strong as the first 2 movies. But then again, it's a part of the original Star Wars trilogy.

To read short reviews of the prequel movies follow the link: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy Reviews.

Region Free Blu-ray Player Software and Hardware Hacks

Introduction (or why would you need a region free Blu-ray player)

If you are a movie buff you may have already experienced the annoyance caused by not being able to play a Blu-ray disc in your player due to region restrictions. Of course, the answer to the question Are Blu-ray players region free? is negative. The Blu-ray region code policy comes from the dark ages before information globalization and somehow it has managed to sneak into modern times. Sarcasm aside, the system of the Blu-ray region codes is in a way inherited from DVDs but with less number of separate areas. Back then standard definition reigned and the notion of having different discs for NTSC and PAL regions was at least technically relevant. This is not the case with high definition movies. TV sets around the world do NOT differ intrinsically in their high definition capabilities (and BD playback in particular). So the idea of these restrictions now is simply to enable movie studios to differentiate content and prices by geographical area.

While this is (arguably) good for the studios and their business, it is a pain in the ass for dedicated movie fans on account of at least two reasons:

• Editions of the same movie sometimes have differences in specific regions, which means you may happen to live in the area with the crappier edition, which kinda sucks.
• Some high quality Bluray discs are only available (and coded) in a single area. For example, movie fans' darling Criterion only ever releases BDs in North America (region A). On the other hand, European publishers like BFI, Eureka, etc. release movies coded in region B (Europe).

Some studios (Paramount and Universal) are good enough to release their titles as region-free, but most movie companies either release region-locked discs only, or a mix of locked and region-free titles.

Back in DVD times this annoying situation was eventually solved with the introduction of region-free (also known as multi-region or codefree) players, which were able to play DVDs from all over the world. So what can you do to eliminate this frustration in the case of BDs?

Again, just to get it out of the way, there is not any region free Blu-ray player out-of-the-box. Manufacturers of BD players are required to enable their products to play only discs coming from the area they sell the product in and region-free (multi-region) titles. Discs coded for other areas are not supported. That said, there are solutions or hacks for both BD player software (like Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra, ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre, etc.) users and for fans of hardware BD players (for some products, at least).

Region free Blu-ray player software for Windows 7, XP and Vista systems

In PC systems with BD drives Blu-ray region codes are checked only by the software player, and NOT by the optical drive itself. Blu-ray player software products typically allow for up to 5 changes in their settings menus before finalizing the region code. There is an important consequence stemming from the fact that the drive itself does not verify region codes: you can have more than one software player installed on your computer and each could be set to a DIFFERENT code.

And this presents the first solution (albeit not very elegant) to the region free Blu-ray player problem in the software case: you can buy two (or even three) different BD playing packages and have one set for region A and another for region B (or region C, if you so desire). For example, suppose your primary region is A (North America), but you also want to be able to play B (Europe) discs. Then you can have PowerDVD set to reg. A and TotalMedia Theatre (or Corel WinDVD, etc.) set to reg. B. This is, actually, a viable solution to make your Blu-ray player region free (multiregion) capable, especially if you buy a cheaper software player as your secondary one (that could be Corel WinDVD).

There is another software solution to perform a Blu-ray region hack. Its legal transparency is vague, so use the following tip at your own discretion. Once again, this follows from the fact that optical drives in PC systems do not verify region codes and only software does. This means that if the software is forced to "think" that the region code change count has not expired (is less than 5), the user will be able to change the Blu-ray regions indefinitely. Different software players protect this counter by different means, but as is often the case, some kind people have automated the process of "cheating" the software and turning it into a multi region Blu-ray player. Blu-ray Region Tray Tool is a very simple (and free) program by ChiDragon running in Windows tray which allows you to change the Bluray region setting in PowerDVD Ultra 7, 8, 9 and 10 (no support for PowerDVD Ultra 11 at the time of this writing) and TotaMedia Theatre 3 and 5 at will, thus enabling you to bypass the change count limit in these packages. Here is a link to a more detailed description.

For a complete list of all software BD players available on the market check our reviews of Blu-ray player software.

Our review continues with Part 2 dedicated to region free Blu-ray player hardware.

Region Free Blu-ray Player Software and Hardware Hacks, Part 2

(...continues from Part 1 of our region free Blu-ray player reviews introducing the main issues caused by the existence of Blu-ray region codes and suggesting a couple of software solutions.)

Region free Blu-ray players (hardware)

As mentioned in the previous part, there is not a region free Blu-ray player out-of-the-box due to restrictions forced by the Blu-ray Disc Association. And unlike HTPCs which use Blu-ray player software for playback, getting your hardware player to read discs from multiple regions requires more work or may be impossible, depending on the model. There are two general ways to transform BD playing devices into region-free / multi-region players (more or less).

The first method utilizes the fact that sometimes manufacturers (usually unintentionally, for testing or whatever purposes) leave "doors" in their firmware which permit the user to change the region code (or to unlock the device thus making it region-free) by entering a specific sequence of remote control button presses at specific times. This process is usually tedious and may require a lot of tries plus precise timing. In addition, once such sequences appear on the web, subsequent firmware updates tend to disable them as manufacturers get alerted and address that. So you either install the update and lose the region-free (multiregion) capability, or stick with older firmware and get locked out of any features and fixes provided by the firmware updates.

The first BD players which were notable for being able to turn into "region free" were Momitsu BDP-799 and Momitsu BDP-899. Users used to utilize the above method to unlock them. Various Momitsu clones are still available under different brand names. For example, Sherwood BDP-5004 is a Momitsu BDP-899 clone. It can be programmed to specific Blu-ray regions by the following remote button sequences:

87510+1 for region A

87510+2 for region B

87510+3 for region C

(And it seems that 9735 can replace 8751 in the beginning of the sequence.)

The selected region will stay active until the device is switched off. After that the player reverts to the original region code. These sequences also make the Blu-ray player region-free in terms of DVDs (and it stays so on power off, unlike the Blu-ray region code selection). Also, keep in mind that firmware updates from 2010 or later disable this "hack". You may need to downgrade the firmware if your device has a newer firmware version preinstalled and you want to turn it into a region free Blu-ray player.

The second hardware method uses modchips to cheat the device into "thinking" that Blu-ray region code verification is successful. In general, this method results in a much more pleasant user experience compared to the first Blu-ray region hack described above. Another advantage is that the modchip is transparent to the firmware, so future firmware updates can be installed safely with all the benefits that follow. Downsides include voiding the warranty (this may not apply for newer chips which are solderless and can be easily installed and removed) and higher price - chips usually go for $50-$150, depending on whether you buy a player with preinstalled modchip or install the chip yourself.

OPPO BDP-93 is the choice of many enthusiasts who want to have a multi-region Blu-ray player, and also the preferred BD player choice of the AVSForum hive-mind. It combines exceptional video and audio quality with tons of features, including Netflix streaming, Blockbuster on Demand, Vudu HD support and cinema-like 24p playback (if your TV set supports it, of course). Audiophiles may want to get the highest model, OPPO BDP-95, which has high-end analog audio output in addition, plus some extras (for double the price). But if you connect your audio through HDMI you better stay with OPPO BDP-93. You can mod the player yourself, for example with the beautifully made solderless kits from bluraychip.dk (free shipping worldwide, last time I checked but better ask for availability before ordering). Installation is easy and painless even for people with zero tech skills. Or, alternatively, you can get yourself a pre-modded region-free player, for example OPPO BDP-93, which will cost you a bit extra. And you can get a premodded OPPO BDP-95 too but it's really expensive.

A cheaper region free Blu-ray player alternative, although not as highly regarded as the OPPO BDP-93, is LG BD550. Similarly to the OPPO, it supports Netflix and Vudu plus Netcast, Roxio CinemaNow and YouTube. LG BD570 is the same as BD550 but with Wi-Fi connectivity.

This ends our reviews of software and hardware hacks that allow you to make your Blu-ray player multi-region capable. If we become aware of any new solutions in the future we will gladly add them to the list of possible options.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - Teaser or More?

Captain America: The First Avenger is the last of the individual avenger movies before Joss Whedon's The Avengers next year. We've already seen Iron Man and Thor get their place under the spotlight. This time we have the all-American hero there. So is this a legitimate movie or just milking the Marvel universe?

Joe Johnston was chosen to direct due to his experience with period movies, having previously made The Rocketeer and October Sky. He brought on board his long time collaborator, cinematographer Shelly Johnson. The movie sports a somewhat distinctive look, based on stylized sets and simple and direct color schemes: heroes' scenes in warm tones, villains' scenes in blue and green. This stylization provides a certain comic book element to the period feeling.

Captain America: The First Avenger plays it safe and doesn't take any risks. This results in some decent entertainment, if not exactly thrilling. The story is generic and somewhat choppy, especially in the motivation department, but nevertheless provides an OK background for the introduction of the captain. Chris Evans is actually nice in the lead role. He already has half a dozen roles in comic book adaptations, which apparently did not stop him from accepting this one. The supporting cast is heavyweight, with Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving and Stanley Tucci. Hugo Weaving, in the role of the main antagonist Red Skull (only called by his real name, Johann Schmidt, in the movie), takes a particularly comics' inspired approach with his character, utilizing overdone accents and over the top attitude. In fact, all fake German accents are on the heavy side, which you may find entertaining, hilarious or silly, depending on your inclination. As the movie keeps it tight and doesn't take free dives into exposition, some of the supporting roles do feel rushed. This is especially true for the captain's crew: it almost looks like they are building them up for something that is never shown on screen.

Highlights include the digitally shrunk body of captain Rogers before his scientific "treatment" (no body doubles there); a certain demonstration by Stark Industries in the Modern Marvels Pavilion; the "creation of the American hero" montage that shows how the image of Captain America was conceived; and a chase scene through the streets of New York (which, incidentally, was shot in the UK). Last, but not least, there is a treat for the fans after the credits in the form of The Avengers teaser scene.

Similarly to Thor, the movie was post-converted to 3D. The result is smooth and pleasing. Apparently post-conversion to 3D has gone a long way since epic failures in this respect like Clash of the Titans.

In summary, Captain America: The First Avenger is a decent entry into the summer blockbuster ranks. Marvel fans obviously don't need any recommendations but everyone else can also see it in preparation for next year's The Avengers.

To discover other movie reviews go deeper in our Review Maze.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

After a decade of success the Harry Potter series has come to a conclusion. It all began as a children's story under Chris Columbus's direction in 2001. The first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was a box office success but was largely overshadowed by the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings trilogy amongst the older audience. The third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, is still probably the best in the series. It was a drastic change in look and feel: darker and tighter, setting the tone for more mature future development. The next installment, under Mike Newell's direction, acknowledged both this fact and the supposed growing older of the fanbase by moving the series into PG-13 ground.

When David Yates, a relatively unknown TV director, was selected to continue the saga many were puzzled and doubtful. But (un)surprisingly, Yates went on directing all four final episodes. While the material he was working with was not always interesting he managed to bring in some fresh air. Yates succeeded in fleshing out Harry's inner turmoil, which was largely uninteresting up to then. At times his episodes got an almost indie drama touch to them, especially when putting the three main characters against the urban London backdrops. This weird (for a multi-million budget blockbuster) indie inclination culminated in the character drama aspirations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Boring happenings storywise aside, this movie could easily be mistaken for a character driven drama, masterfully filmed by Eduardo Serra.

The closing installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, is all about the final confrontation of Harry and Voldemort, the event that the whole series was building towards. It is competently executed fast paced non-stop action with tight script and editing, and in stark contrast with the slow previous episode. Everything is at its best here: the acting of the leads is passable (as opposed to "unbearable" before), the visuals are convincing, the musical score of Alexandre Desplat is the best in the series (and yes, this means better than John Williams's scores for the first three episodes). Unnecessary exposition and overexplanations are shoved aside and the only infodump sequence is beautifully made. The cinematography is great. Eduardo Serra had to fill in the shoes of Bruno Dellbonel (who got an Oscar nomination for filming the sixth episode) and he did exactly that, and then some more: framing is perfect, the camera movement and angles are vigorous, but competent, and the lighting is gorgeous; it conjures some suitably dark atmosphere without the images themselves being unpleasantly dark and making stuff hard to see. And unlike the so-so leads, the seasoned British actors in the supporting roles are all delightfully good.

It is not all flowers and songs, though. Despite a couple of thrilling sequences, battle scenes are not very epic (compared to a certain fantasy trilogy) and may feel small. This is not a fault per se, but is worth noting. There are a few cringeworthy attempts at pathos delivered through pathetic speeches, pun intended. The epilogue closes the cycle and returns the mood back to the first movies which is not entirely convincing. A more contemplative final might have been a better choice cinematically, but apparently fans of the books need to be serviced too.

This final episode is also the first and only of the series with a 3D release. The movie is post-converted to 3D which is usually a bad sign (cashing in on the 3D wave and whatnot). But in this case it is well done and makes the whole 3D experience less taxing. Still, watching this in 3D is not a must so feel free to see it in good old 2D.

In conclusion, this is a very easy movie to recommend (or not): if you haven't seen the previous episodes, there is no reason to go see this one as it is really the last chapter in a series; if you've seen them, you obviously don't need our recommendation to watch this one. The series has certainly been an uneven ride but it is nonetheless an unprecedented undertaking in cinema (and a pop culture phenomenon), and that makes it worth knowing.

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It's a Wonderful Life (1946): Is It a Wonderful Movie?

When you feel sad or full of frustration and despair, it would be a good time to watch this movie. It's a Wonderful Life is likely to bring back your vitality and trust in yourself and people. It is one of the classic films that will never grow old or boring and despite being shot in black and white Frank Capra's picture is full of color like not too many movies. It shows how valuable the life of everybody is although this fact is often obscure and unrealized by many of us. After seeing this film, a man could think of himself as a more important part of the society and probably raise his own self-esteem considerably.

It's a Wonderful Life is about a guy with dreams who has never had an opportunity to realize them. George Bailey (James Stewart) has spent his entire life sacrificing his longing for travel, his honeymoon, his perspectives of better career and more money in order to help his fellow-townsmen against the greedy and heartless Mr. Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) who would love to take over the entire city making its citizens dependent on his will and loans. During the years, George becomes more and more frustrated and finally reaches to a point when he is thinking about suicide in result of an unfortunate event. But thanks to the prayers of his wife Mary (Donna Reed), his uncle (Thomas Mitchell), his children and other good people, a wingless angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) comes down to help George in an unusual way.

If the synopsis above has started to sound like a fantasy movie, you can indeed consider the film to be a product of loose imagination. But the presence of fantasy elements only helps It's a Wonderful Life to communicate its main message in a superb and effortless way, and to finish on a high note. The movie does have a happy ending but it is mandatory in this case and since it is anyway a fairy-tale-like film a happy ending fits it better compared to many other Hollywood pictures.

Director Frank Capra is at his best here. The movie has plenty of funny moments in parallel with a good portion of drama. We see George's inner fight multiple times when he is standing on some of the crossroads destining his future life. James Stewart makes one of his greatest performances here and he is a fantastic match for the role of George Bailey. George's romance with Mary Hatch is both beautiful and humorous. Donna Reed makes a good portrayal of one of the Bedford Falls' longing-for-George girls and his future wife. Lionel Barrymore is a convincing "villain" and Thomas Mitchell presents likeable impersonation of Uncle Billy. The movie deservedly has been nominated for the Academy's Best Picture award but not so fairly it has missed to win the Oscar statuette in this category similarly to all other Academy Awards it has been nominated for.

It's a Wonderful Life is a tale for adults but it is a suitable film for the whole family. What I mean by labelling it "a tale for adults" is that if you have some real life experience, you'll be in better position to appreciate this movie's message. The film should definitely help you if you are in a bad mood and think your life is a failure. It can surely kindle your thirst for living once again if you are in one of those unhappy periods of your existence. But as it should be expected from each and every great motion picture, It's a Wonderful Life is a movie you can delightfully watch even when your life is in a marvellous condition. It's a wonderful cinematic experience you can try out anytime.

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Hardware Vs. Software Blu-ray Player: Which Is Better?

In order to build a complete Home Theater system you need media reproduction hardware, i.e., video and audio playback modules, and some equipment to feed these modules with content. Due to the complexity of the video signal compared to the audio, the sound experience has been considerably ahead of its visual counterpart for many years: with the appearance of the compact disc, we have had digital audio since the dawn of the 1980's and various audio technologies are almost perfect nowadays offering high fidelity sound and surround sound systems with multiple channels.

A couple of decades later, the visual side of the hardware has begun to catch up: big high definition two dimensional displays and projectors are now widely adopted, a new generation of 3D displays is gaining speed fast, and good Home Theater experience is more popular than ever.

Conventionally, the media playing equipment has been represented by a box positioned near the TV: either a videotape player, a Laserdisc player, a DVD player, or as of recently a Blu-ray player (or HD DVD player for people not having enough luck to make the right choice in the HD format wars). But over the years, the personal computer has begun to establish a new trend as being an all-in-one machine for education, work and entertainment (like movie playing, browsing, gaming, etc.). A similar approach towards convergence has been shown with the introduction of the newest generation of video gaming consoles. They have moved closer to the PCs in terms of functionality as being advanced media entertainment devices rather than just boxes for gaming.

So, the good old video playing hardware box is more and more often substituted by software running on an already available PC at home. Indeed, the media player software has a bunch of advantages and since the latest broadly popular storage media is the Blu-ray disc, let's look at some of the better sides of the Blu-ray player software over its box / hardware counterpart (of course, pretty much the same is valid for the DVD playing options):

• A software Blu-ray playing product could be considered a part of an all-in-one media entertainment solution.
• BD playback software is to a big extent independent from the particular underlying hardware. And as the desktop PC hardware is modular by nature, this brings three more advantages out.
• A Blu-ray software player can be easily updated with new functionality. Any new features could come with a downloadable software update. The recent introduction of Blu-ray 3D format is a suitable example.
• If you want or need to change your PC's optical drive it will be cheaper compared to a dedicated hardware Bluray player full change.
• If there is a need of more processing capacity with the appearance of new BD profiles in the future then only a CPU or/and a graphics card update can be easily made in the case of a personal computer.
• BD playback software comes with more features compared to any Blu-ray hardware player.
• Since most of the software Bluray players offer free trials, you can test them before making a purchase.
• As most of us already have a PC, the additional price of the software Blu-ray player is lower compared to a dedicated hardware box. Blu-ray player software could be bought for prices as low as $50 and often even for less if you take advantage of a promotional Blu-ray software offer.

Some possible disadvantages of the software players include:

• In the majority of cases, you will need your PC to be situated in the living room. And this may be a problem.
• Compared to a dedicated hardware player, preparation to watch a movie will take a little bit longer.

Regardless of its minor disadvantages, Blu-ray player software will gain more and more popularity as if you already have a computer with a BD drive, you can download a software player instantly, cheaply and you don't need to purchase any additional hardware. In case you are looking for a media playing product like this, you can read our 2012 Windows Blu-ray player reviews in order to make the best choice for your particular needs.

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Almost Famous (2000): Almost Great

Some people like Almost Famous because of its cleverness, honesty and truthfulness. But although there are some elements of these in the movie, Almost Famous is still not much different than the typical Hollywood feature. This does not prevent the film from being a good effort but it is hardly so close to reality as people try to describe it. There is drama, comedy, small twists and of course a happy ending... What else would you expect from a Hollywood movie?

Almost Famous tells the story of William Miller (Patrick Fugit) who is a 15-year-old wannabe rock music critic. He luckily gets the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about Stillwater, an "almost famous" rock band which he accompanies on their American tour. William is not alone in the world: he has an exacting mother (Frances McDormand) who loves him very much and is always worried about him; he has a mentor in the field of rock journalism - Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman); and there are several young girls (groupies) travelling with the band who take care of William. He also seems to be a good friend with Stillwater's members but do they consider him a pal or he'll remain their "enemy" forever...

Almost Famous is undeniably a good movie. The story is interesting. William sees a lot of new things about life, love, drugs, betrayal, etc. and it is easy to like him. The direction is fine. The acting is quite strong. Kate Hudson makes a very nice performance as the famous groupie Penny Lane (though she and her colleagues prefer the term "Band Aide" instead of groupie). In this movie, Hudson is capable of bringing a sad smile to your face. Frances McDormand is wonderful as usually in her role of William's mother. You can easily feel the concern about her son and at the same time she is very funny in her attempts to protect him from all bad and evil. The actors playing band members (Billy Crudup, Jason Lee) as well as Patrick Fugit also make decent performances. And of course, we have Philip Seymour Hoffman who has a tiny portion of screen time but makes a memorable appearance as an honest, experienced and predictive rock journalist that readily helps the naive and enthusiastic William in his march towards the success.

The director Cameron Crowe tries to present some of the nasty sides of being a rock musician or a person working/living in rock industry circles. And indeed, the movie manages to make it at times. But somehow Almost Famous suffers from being a Hollywood film. There is a forced happy ending and there are several unbelievable events. Why a magazine would ask a rock star whether an unfavourable article about him is true? What answer do they expect? "Yes, we behave like stupid, immature bastards, go and publish it." There are a couple of other not feasible moments too but let's not spoil the whole movie.

Despite its faults, Almost Famous is an interesting and entertaining picture to watch. Being a movie about music, it could be anticipated that the film would offer a good soundtrack too. And it does. Just do not expect that this is the definitive movie about the rock industry or about journalism. It's a motion picture after all thus it's a bit disconnected from reality. But if you don't insist on learning everything about the real doings of "almost famous" people from this source only and you enjoy movies about music, go ahead and watch the film.

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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981): Not Fully Engaging

If after seeing Jack Nicholson's and Jessica Lange's names on The Postman Always Rings Twice cast list you've expected to watch a great film you will be most likely unpleasantly surprised. The Postman Always Rings Twice from 1981 is a remake. And as it often happens with movie remakes this is not a very good one. Bob Rafelson has tried to make a more modern and open-minded version of the film but while he succeeds in this attempt, the movie lacks heart and it barely keeps you involved into any of the events that happen.

The film is based on James M. Cain's novel and it is about the attractive and unsatisfied wife Cora (Jessica Lange) of Greek roadside saloon owner Nick Papadakis (John Colicos) and the crude vagabond Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) who is incidentally hired by Nick. Cora and Frank start an uneven affair that finally evolves in a plan for murdering her husband. Naturally, there are complications of all kinds and various fatal coincidences happen all the time. How everything will end is up to you to discover if you decide to see the movie.

While the plot is moderately interesting and could be a premise for a decent movie, in reality The Postman Always Rings Twice does not effectively turn the plot into a good feature. Motivation of the main characters changes quite too often for such important decisions they have to take. Cora's and Frank's behavior is frankly chaotic. At the same time, the pacing is somehow slow. There are too many coincidences for a serious drama. And in addition to all of these, there is not enough heart in the movie as I've already mentioned. The audience cannot dive deeply into the film and cannot associate with its characters.

The acting of the leads is overall good but the truth is that Jack Nicholson being one of the greatest actors of our time has had many better performances than this. Jack demonstrates a solid acting as usual but he does not seem to be the perfect match for his role since he does not present to the viewer a real look and feel of a hard-hearted drifter. Jessica Lange is an appropriate choice for the part of Cora but another unsuccessful side of the movie is that there is not enough chemistry between Cora and Frank. Even the famous sex scenes between them seem somehow forced and unnatural. John Colicos makes a good portrayal of Nick Papadakis and there is a short appearance of Anjelica Huston which is also not bad but both are not enough to compensate the lack of genuine passion and involvement in the picture.

1981's The Postman Always Rings Twice is mildly intriguing and unfortunately even less engaging. It has some sparks here and there and it is not a complete waste of time but the main question should be is it worth watching when there are so many other great movies released through the years. The answer could vary depending on who's asking. In general, if you are a more casual movie viewer you can skip this film and watch one of the better pictures starring either some of these actors or whoever else. If you are seriously into the movies and you've already seen thousands of films, well, you can see this one too.

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Bigger, Louder, Messier

The new Transformers movie, a.k.a. Transformers 3, a.k.a. Transformers: Dark of the Moon, is everything you would expect from it: loud, colorful, stupid and pathetic. All that presented in glorious 3D. It is a big and relatively long movie with a lot of everything. And by being so exorbitant it transcends its stupidity and turns it into a statement.

The movie's massiveness leaks in every scene. It starts with a totally unnecessary and messy sequence showing the inception and execution of the Apollo flight to the Moon. This sequence mixes documentary shots with staged scenes and serves as an extremely boring introduction. All the more boring considering how it is all told in the trailers already. It really is about time summer blockbusters leave Kennedy docu shots to rest. They were only semi-interesting the first one hundred times. Transformers: Dark of the Moon also has Buzz Aldrin (the second guy on the Moon) playing himself. Ain't that grand?

This intro sequence is quite symptomatic cause randomness is all over the movie. One part due to the laughable script. Scenes and characters consistently lack motivation. Stuff happens for the sake of it. Scene after scene, the Autobots come to save the day (and our heroes) after the forementioned heroes have struggled for 20 minutes of screen time while the Autobots have seemingly been relaxing around in the meantime. Boy, these Autobots certainly have a thing for dramatic entrance. Speaking of the dramatic, Transformers: Dark of the Moon sports an excess of lame pathos.

There is a horde of wacky supporting characters. Apparently Bay liked John Turturro so much from the first two Transformers movies that he now has him and a whole bunch of other weirdos, played by Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Alan Tudyk and Ken Jeong. Having such actors playing these random wacko roles is so self-indulgent in its pointlessness that it is impressive. It is almost like if Bay was looking for some kind of artistic credibility by casting them. Oh well, we surely don't mind and here go our congrats for their fat paychecks.

Continuing the excessiveness is the large cast of new transformers (mostly Decepticons). There are more of them and they all lack the slightest bit of personality. This is an inherited problem from the first two movies, but worth mentioning anyway. From the Autobots only Optimus and Bumblebee have any distinctive personality. There are, of course, a bunch of smaller transformers which are probably inspired by the more recent George Lucas' works. At least, they can successfully rival his creations in their annoyance.

One thing you can't accuse Bay of is the lack of style. His style may be too obvious, or insultingly straight to the point of being cringe-worthy, but it is still there. It is interesting how his trademark slow motion shots and fast action cuts mix with the 3D environment. Fast cuts and 3D don't mix well in general (the eye needs time to accommodate spatial changes). Bay has slowed down a bit in this department. Action is still fast cut, but not to the point of the previous movies. The filmmakers have also utilized both on-set 3D image capture and post-processed 3D (for the slow motion scenes, of which there are plenty).

Now for the good stuff: hand-to-hand mech combat can't go old (too bad there is not much of it); the new girl is not a worse actress than Megan Fox (which doesn't say much, indeed); depending on your attitude, you may find the wackos mentioned above mildly amusing.

In conclusion, Transformers 3 is a glorious mess. It is a huge and noisy flick that you may find occasionally interesting if you are willing to not grumble over the boring, annoying and insultingly stupid parts (which is most of the movie anyway). It will also keep you informed of the way Hollywood is going to. So, yeah, that's something.

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Wizz Air and flibco.com Follow-Up: The Actual Experience

Let's follow up my unfavourable reviews of WizzAir.com and flibco.com websites with the actual experience both services offer. If you haven't read those reviews and you are not familiar with these companies, note that Wizz Air is a low cost airline company and flibco.com offers a shuttle bus service. Both of them operate in Europe.

Wizz Air (wizzair.com)

In addition to not having a user-friendly site, Wizz Air has also some room for improvements concerning their actual service. Contrary to many other big airline companies which advise you to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours in advance of your flight, Wizz Air want you to be at the airport just 40 minutes before the departure time of a particular flight. But when you arrive at the airport even much earlier than the aforementioned 40 minutes, you are unpleasantly surprised by the large queue of passengers waiting in front of the check-in desk and you become even more sick after seeing the enormous line of people waiting for security check. The reason appears to be that there are several Wizz Air flights in a short span of 10 minutes but nevertheless this does not comfort you at all.

When you finally pass through the check-in desk (after you've been waiting for nothing more than just leaving your luggage there), if you ask Wizz Air's employees how do they expect that all those people waiting for security check will manage to board their plane on time, the answer you receive is "once you're here, we will wait for you to board". Well, at least we won't miss our flight but the result is that at the announced departure time, the passengers have not reached further than the boarding gate. I suppose this happens every time so it is strange why Wizz Air do not change something.

Independently of the late departure, the pilots managed to overtake the delay and the plane arrived on time. I do not know if this is actually good or bad from a safety perspective if it is at expense of a higher than recommended speed. And while speaking of the pilots, the plane took off very smoothly and also the landing was Ok. Yes, there was something good at last. Another not so pleasant experience was the very short legroom on the plane but it was expected. And finally, not something mandatorily bad but somehow strange was that we had to walk from the boarding gate to the plane and vice versa at two of the airports. It was a new experience for me.

flibco.com

Concerning flibco.com shuttle bus service there were not any unpleasant surprises. The buses arrived on time and reached their destinations promptly. The seats were comfortable (much more comfortable than the seats on the Wizz Air planes) and adjustable. Online reservations worked just fine and driving was safe. Frankly speaking, flibco.com bus service was really good and offering a much better journey than the one you would expect after using their website.

To recapitulate: While flibco.com shuttle service is far better than their site and there is nothing to be desired from their buses and drivers, Wizz Air have to make improvements not only concerning their web site but also in regard to their actual airline services. The flights seem safe and this is definitely the most important thing when speaking of airline carriers but there are other things that could be easily made better and that would offer Wizz Air's passengers a more pleasant and satisfying experience.

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Super 8 (2011): J.J. Abrams' Love Letter to Filmmaking

Judging from the trailers of Super 8, many would think director J.J. Abrams wanted to create E.T. for the new generation. This is somewhat contradictory in itself considering the Super 8 movie is set in the late 70's. Even though it does refer to producer Steven Spielberg a lot, most notably to E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, it is also not a remake of these. So, in a way, Super 8 is probably more like a recreation of a childhood fantasy.

Unlike E.T., the alien creature does not take center stage until late in the movie. And this is for the best, because the alien is the weak part of this movie. Super 8 is at its best while focused on the children and keeping the extra-terrestrial in the background. The children themselves are excellent: in their childish determination to make a zombie flick and in their sense of exploration once things get serious. Performances are good throughout the children cast, with the kid in the main role deserving a special mention, considering this is his first film.

Super 8 has a nice 70's/80's feel to it (unlike the recent example of X-Men: First Class, which failed miserably in recreating the 60's). And this comes from both the atmosphere (songs, cars, scenery in general) and the way the movie itself is made. The film is shot with anamorphic lenses which is not a very popular choice as of late (Star Trek, the previous film of J.J. Abrams, was also shot anamorphic, so apparently he does have a thing for this format). The anamorphic artifacts (wide lens flare, vertical smear in out of focus areas, etc.) reinforce the old school feeling. So do the light and the mostly frivolous music as well as the dialogue and situations with a slight touch of non-realism and on the edge of over-the-topness.

Pretty much the only weak thing about Super 8 is that the movie loses some steam once the E.T. comes into the foreground. The creature's design does remind of the monster in Cloverfield a bit. And it is simply not very interesting, both visually and thematically. Luckily, this only happens at some time in the last third of the movie. Still, it is somewhat unfortunate, as a good ending would have made a remarkable film out of an already good movie.

So, in recap: an easy sci-fi recommendation. Super 8 might not be as good as its Spielberg inspirations but it does show what a summer blockbuster should be. Now lets see what Cowboys & Aliens has to offer in the extra-terrestrial department.

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Sliding Doors (1998): Avoid Big Expectations to Enjoy It

Sliding Doors is one of those movies you are not quite prepared for when you read their synopsis. A couple of days ago, I partially watched this film again catching it accidentally on TV more than a decade after its initial release and I immediately remembered my pleasant surprise from the movie in the late 90's. At the time, after reading Sliding Doors synopsis, I expected a completely uninteresting and boring film but in fact I was wrong. Of course, it's possible that the lack of any hope for a good experience has been also important for my final appreciation of the movie.

In an attempt to make another confusing synopsis, here is a brief summary of the movie. Sliding Doors is about a young woman who is just fired from her job. On her way home she tries to catch a subway train and from that point on, the movie forks. There are 2 parallel worlds: in one of them Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) catches her lover Jerry (John Lynch) with another woman (Jeanne Tripplehorn) in their bed and she tries to change her life including dating another man James (John Hannah); in the other universe, Helen continues her existence unaware of Jerry's cheating and not making radical changes.

It might sound not very interesting and honestly Sliding Doors is not a must see movie but if you approach it without any big expectations, chances are you'll find it entertaining. It's not the most realistic film but who would expect a believable movie given the premise above. There are enough funny moments to make you laugh and the use of various types of sliding doors throughout the movie adds to the experience. A smart decision of the moviemakers has been to present Helen with different hairstyles in both of the parallel worlds thus making it really easy to differentiate between them.

The performances of the main characters in Sliding Doors are good although the screenplay does not offer the cast many opportunities to show extraordinary acting abilities. Gwyneth Paltrow plays both Helens convincingly and she is beautiful in both of her impersonations. John Hannah is charming as James and his Scottish accent is fascinating. There is real on-screen chemistry between Hannah and Paltrow. Jeanne Tripplehorn is a nice match for a seductive and possessive woman while John Lynch makes us to believe that Jerry really does not know what he wants.

To be objective, Sliding Doors has its flaws. There is not much character development, the plot offers standard twists and solutions, and some of the events in the movie are probably more appropriate for a pure comedy or parody than for a film with elements of drama and romance. Nevertheless, I believe the main purpose of the movie has been to present an easily accessible and not too serious exploration of the completely various directions a single person's life could take depending on an almost insignificant everyday occurrence.

If you've ever thought what it might have been if you've left your car home instead of driving to your work or whatever other "what if" comes to your mind, you are in a good position to appreciate Sliding Doors.

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flibco.com Shuttle Bus Service: Unfriendly Website Again

After reviewing Wizz Air website as an online place not offering a pleasant customer experience, let's continue this trend with another user unfriendly site flibco.com, the online presence of a Luxembourgish bus shuttle service operated by Sales-Lentz. The service offers bus transportation between several Western European countries primarily connecting Luxembourg with a couple of secondary airports in adjacent lands. As we are going to see, not only airline companies offer terrible websites but the same is also valid for other kinds of carriers independently of the assumption that a transportation service depending mainly on web reservations should offer a good online service too.

My particular experience with flibco.com started with their website not working with IE 8 and the browser constantly crashing and restarting itself but I'm not sure if the problem has been in the site itself or there are some compatibility issues between my computer and flibco.com. So, let's assume it is not a sin of the site and continue with its true flaws.

Similarly to Wizz Air, flibco.com does not offer a shopping cart, so if you want to book tickets for more than one route or for several trips, you have to proceed with the reservations one by one. Of course, this is tedious process because your booking data is not saved at all. It doesn't matter if you've entered your information correctly or not, you have to re-enter it every time. And at the end of each reservation you must enter your payment details again, too.

Another pretty annoying issue is that flibco.com forces you to enter a "flight destination". First, somehow the site assumes that a flight destination exists when this is not mandatory to be the case for you and second, even not all of the possible airports in neighbouring European countries are listed in the dropdown box, not to mention other cities. Naturally, if you miss to fill in this field, all of your information is deleted and you have to re-enter it again, so it is better to put something in (obviously, in many cases, it will be whatever flight destination you like from the available options in the dropdown list). It's a solvable problem but it's another nonsensical requirement anyway.

During the booking process you'll be referred to "my flibco.com", for example, to print your reservations. It might seem like a mistyped URL to you but in fact, it's not. This is a section on the site where you are able to access your purchased tickets. Still, its name is confusing when you read it among other pieces of text thus I count it like another user-unfriendly feature of the website's design.

To sum it up, flibco.com is not the friendliest site out there and I just hope their bus service will be better than the online booking experience they offer. At least it's not an airline company so I'm slightly less concerned in comparison to what I should expect from Wizz Air's flight service.

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Wizz Air: A Low Cost Airline Company with a Terrible Site

Several days ago, I had to make flight reservations at WizzAir.com for a couple of flights in Europe. While I haven't made myself sure yet that Wizz Air airline service is also a low quality one in addition to being low cost, I can definitely say that Wizz Air's website is terrible and very user unfriendly.

I have always wondered how it regularly happens that big companies with a considerable amount of constant expenses cannot manage to put aside some resources once in order to create a decent web site. It's even more shocking when talking about companies whose business is very closely related with the Internet. Apparently, Wizz Air's website offers one of those nasty web experiences and frankly speaking, in result of that "user friendliness", I'm quite concerned about the quality of their airline service too.

To start with, there is not a shopping cart at Wizz Air website (so you are not able to make more than one reservation at a time). If you want to buy tickets for several flights, you have to go through the whole process again and again. Of course, if some kind of error happens (and errors do happen often at WizzAir.com) you'll have to make even more iterations entering your details. It's not the world's end but it's really boring when you do the same thing several times in a row.

The next surprise coming from Wizz Air is that entering your address is mandatorily. But the surprise is even bigger because the address field is so short, you practically cannot enter even a middle-length address. Of course, this makes the requirement for entering your address redundant and mostly annoying because you have to enter something anyway though it is not your actual address.

Now, another weird event follows at WizzAir.com. You make a reservation for a flight and the prices are shown automatically in a particular currency (probably the one that is somehow considered to be best for you). Then you make a reservation for another flight and oddly enough the currency is automatically changed to another one. In both cases if you decide to choose another currency some unpleasant exchange rate is applied so you unwillingly prefer to keep the automatically proposed one in either case.

Certainly, the above has not been all the charm you can get from Wizz Air's website. Since Wizz Air is a low cost airline company you are charged separately for almost anything that may come to your mind. There are baggage fees, extra legroom seat fees, credit card booking fees, etc. One of the possible fees is for a check-in at the airport. But you have the option to make the check-in online for free at WizzAir.com. Why not, one could think? Well, if you have a big bag you should go to the check-in counter at the airport in order to deposit it so the web check-in is again a kind of redundant option in many of the cases but anyway...

Let's make an online check-in. You have to enter your Wizz Air flight confirmation code and some additional information and then a couple of forms appear which you must fill in. After doing so you hopefully press the confirmation button but (not so) surprisingly you receive a connection error with a message that probably the lines are overloaded. Naturally, all of your information is lost and you have to enter it again. Well, you make a second attempt and this time you get another error: pnrParseError. At least, one cannot complain of error diversity at Wizz Air's website.

Well, I understand that Wizz Air is a low cost company and they offer cheap services but I don't think it will cost them a fortune to implement a user friendly and working site. After all, if they rely on the size of their customer base, having a crappy website is not the best way to attract returning customers. And it is definitely not a good recommendation for a company in a risky business like airline carriers. How a passenger could expect safe flying after going through such a nasty online experience?

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Priest (2011): An Action Sci-Fi Movie You Can Safely Skip

Priest is the second feature of director Scott Charles Stewart and his second collaboration with Paul Bettany after Legion. Priest is a movie that mixes post-apocalyptic sci-fi, western and the vampire genres and it is based on some Korean graphic novel series of the same name.

The premise of Priest is quite straightforward and cliched and is told in an animated intro (apparently the filmmakers were running on a tight budget). There was a war going on between humans and vampires raging for ages. Humans won the war after their super warrior-monks (a.k.a priests) defeated the vampires. At the time of the movie, vampires live in reservations, humans are closed in cities (think Judge Dredd) and governed by the Church. The order of the priests is disbanded and only a few of them have survived. Vampires in this universe are non-human hive creatures, the only feature distinguishing them from any generic stock monsters being the slaves they occasionally keep to feed on their blood.

The cast of Priest features some heavyweight names. We have Paul Bettany (as the priest), Maggie Q, Karl Urban and a small role for Christopher Plummer. A role of the kind that makes you wonder why they would need an actor of that caliber to play it. Oh well, maybe he lost a bet or owed someone a favor. Or he got some large bills to pay. Anyway, Paul Bettany is pretty much the only redeeming feature of this movie as the lean protagonist. Of course, it is not really an achievement of the film and, more specifically, the script. It is just that Paul Bettany is cool as an action hero. And that was the case with Legion too, so no surprise here.

Considering the director's visual effects background one can expect lots of CGI in Priest and this is indeed the case. Creatures and environment designs are not very inspired, though. There is an overall impression of derivativeness. The movie sports a bleached and contrasty look. Not unlike The Book of Eli in that regard. And, incidentally, Priest was shot by the same cinematographer, long time Robert Zemeckis' director of photography Don Burgess.

To give Priest some credit, the short length of the movie leads to some fast paced story development. But this is brought down by predictable narrative, zero character development, some embarassingly cheap drama (admittedly, a little less compared to Legion) and cliched action sequences. Dull and forgettable. The humorless dialogue doesn't help, either. The 3D is another disappointment. Priest is one of these movies shot in 2D and post-converted to 3D and this shows.

To sum it up: you should probably skip Priest, unless you are a fan of the genre(s). And if you decide to see it, go for the 2D version (if available in your area).

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