Starman (1984) - ★★★★★

Director: John Carpenter
Writers: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel

Starman is my favourite sci-fi film of all time, and one of my favourite romances. It saddens me to see that hardly anyone knows of this film, when there's so much beauty to be found within this tale. In my opinion, Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges give their career best performances in Starman. Their chemistry was as powerful as any I've ever seen captured on film, and the pure emotion they expressed was more believable than almost any other. It features some really nice special effects, fantastic cinematography, and some of the most beautiful dialogue I've ever heard in my entire life. On top of all this, it is scored by the brilliant Jack Nitzche, who created one of the most soul-touching compositions I've ever heard in a movie. I love this film as much, probably more, than any other I've ever seen.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) - ★★★★½

Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Writers: Yasutaka Tsutsui (novel), Satoko Okudera (screenplay)

Yet again, the great country of Japan has produced a near-perfect animated film. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a visually stunning, surprisingly emotional masterpiece. Its unique visual style separates it from other great animated films, plus the story and characters are beautifully developed. It piqued my imagination and made me wonder if there is more to this world than meets the eye. Without a doubt, the story is what makes this such a masterful film. Its other attributes are the cherry on the cake. The style lies somewhere between sci-fi and drama, with a twist of romance towards the end. At times the film had me feeling terribly emotional because there's so much happiness and innocence in the story, but also searing moments of tragedy and heartbreak. This is easily one of the greatest animated films ever made.

Elysium (2013) - ★★

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writer: Neill Blomkamp
Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura, Diego Luna, William Fichtner, Emma Tremblay

Elysium is easily one of the most boring sci-fi / action movies I've ever seen. It just moves at a glacial pace, and I've seen the same formula done better... many times. The performances are nothing remarkable... in fact, Jodie Foster couldn't keep her accent from dabbling between American and English. In some ways, you can draw parallels between the story in Elysium, and actual asylum seekers today. That's the most genius thing about this film, and probably the purpose of the story. However, I was ready to leave the cinema after about 45 minutes. The sounds, the sights... everything was irritating to the senses. Not once did I feel suspense, or even a remote sense of urgency. There's just nothing noteworthy about this film. Not even the special effects.

Disney Movie Blogathon!

That's right guys! It's time for my first ever Movie Blogathon! I thought to myself, what haven't I seen in a while that would be awesome to watch non-stop for a few days? A few things came to mind: Horror, Quentin Tarantino, Akira Kurosawa, Film Noir, Spaceship Flicks... in the end, I chose one of my favorite movie companies: Disney! Hopefully you'll join me in watching these movies, I look forward to discussing them with you all.

It's a long list, but I have a feeling that the time will just fly by!

• Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937) | Watched on 22nd May, 2013 | ★★★★½
• Pinocchio (1940)
• Fantasia (1940)
• Dumbo (1941)
• Bambi (1942)
• Cinderella (1950)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) | Watched on 23rd May, 2013 | ★★★★
• Peter Pan (1953) | Watched on 24th May, 2013 | ★★★★
• Lady and the Tramp (1955) | Watched on 8th June | ★★★½
• Sleeping Beauty (1959) | Watched on 21st May, 2013. | ★★★★½
• 101 Dalmations (1960)
• The Jungle Book (1967)
• The AristoCats (1970) | 26th May, 2013 | ★★½
• Robin Hood (1973)
• The Rescuers (1977)
• The Fox and The Hound (1981)
• The Black Cauldron (1985)
• Basil - The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
• Oliver and Company (1988)
• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) | Watched on 24th May, 2013 | ★★★★★
• Aladdin (1992)
• The Lion King (1994) | Watched on 26th May, 2013 | ★★★★★
• Pocahontas (1995) | Watched on 5th June, 2013 | ★★★
• Toy Story (1995) | Watched on 24th May, 2013 | ★★★½
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
• Hercules (1997)
• Mulan (1998)
• A Bugs Life (1998)
• Tarzan (1999)
• Dinosaur (2000)
• The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
• Monster's Inc (2001)
• Lilo and Stitch (2002)
• Treasure Planet (2002)
• Brother Bear (2003)
• Finding Nemo (2003)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Valiant (2005)
• Chicken Little (2005)
• Cars (2006)
• Ratatouille (2007) | Watched on 27th May, 2013 | ★★★★
• Meet the Robinsons (2007)
• WALL.E (2008) | Watched on 24th June, 2013 | ★★★★★
• Up (2009)
• Tangled (2010)
• Mars Needs Moms (2011)
• Frankenweenie (2012)
• Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
• Brave (2012)

Alien³ (1992) - ★★½

Director: David Fincher
Writers: Vincent Ward (Story), David Giler, Walter Hill, Larry Ferguson (Screenplay)
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton, Paul McGann, Pete Postlethwaite, Lance Henrikson

In my opinion, Alien³ is the most unnecessary sequel ever made. However, it wasn't a terrible movie. What I hate about it is that it pretty much ruins the ending of Aliens (1986). With this new installment, it turns out that everything that happened in its prequel was pointless and futile. It was super depressing to see, which is why I'd prefer to act as if this movie never existed.

Prometheus (2012) - ★★

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: John Spaihts, Damon Lindelof (Screenplay)
Stars: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green

I had such high expectations of Prometheus. It has incredible special effects and beautiful music. That's as far as my praise for this film goes. I don't know what the writers of this film were thinking. The film raised a thousand questions and their answers raised thousands of more questions. There were more plot holes in this movie than in Inception (2010) (and that's not easy to beat). Scott abandoned simplicity and created a movie so complicated that he forgot to focus on character development and tying loose ends.