Horror movies of 2010

Top Horror movies of 2010

Horror themes are one of the most popular genres in movie making as it is likely to make the audience grip their seats with anticipating and suspense. There are many horror movies released each year but not all of them are of good quality. Actually there are bound to be more bad tasting horror movies than good ones because the horror movie genre is so difficult to get right. However, if done properly horror movies can be extremely successful and entertaining.

Although there have been a few classics like Saw, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, the past decade have not been kind to the horror movie genre. Most of the movies have been substandard at the very best and does not compare with the classics of old. In 2010, the genre did not produce many memorable movies but here is a list of the better ones.

The Crazies

This is by far one of the top horror movies of 2010. A remake of the 1973 movie of the same name, it is both horror and science fiction movie. The plot revolves around the people of Odgen Marsh in Iowa show has been infected by a virus. The virus will turn people into zombies within 48 hours ultimately destroying most of the people in the town.

The Last Exorcism

This amazing movie is about a Reverend who is thinking about quitting the exorcism game. He allows himself one last exorcism to be captured on film. Unfortunately this last exercise turns out to be his most difficult one.

Piranha 3D

Another remake of an old movie, Piranha 3D updates the tale of the carnivorous creatures who are released into a river after an earthquake. The fishes end up in a town famous as a spring break destination and wreak havoc among the tourist.

Saw 3D

This horror genre classic is given the 3D treatment and focuses on a man claiming to have survived the Jigsaw. He writes a memoir regarding his experiences but is embroiled in a true Jigsaw came where he has to save his own wife. Besides being in 3D, the plot and beautifully shot scenes make it one of the top horror movies in 2010.

Let Me In

This is a Swedish movie about a 12 year old boy and his vampire girlfriend. The vampire finally falls in love with the boy but cannot resist the temptation of real human blood. Even though she has been warned of the consequences, the girl tempts fate by getting closer to the boy and harming every one they come in contact with.

DayBreakers

This movie is about the alternate reality were vampires ruled the world and human are being hunted or farmed for their blood. As the number of human diminishes the blood thirsty vampires turn on themselves to devastating effect. The only release for the human is finding a cure of to vampirism. Ethan Hawke stars as the hero in the movie.

There are many movies of the horror genre which came out in 2010 but many did not make it to the cinemas as they were found not worthy of the screen time. Many of these went straight to DVD so you might want search through the racks for one that you might have missed.

A Collection of the Top War Movies

A Collection of the Top War Movies

War movies have always been a favourite of cinema-goers as they flock to the movies for the latest release. There have been many classics in this genre but here is a list of the top war movies of all time.

Platoon.

Directed and written by Oliver Stone, this is the first of 3 war movies by the director. It is set during the Vietnam War about a US army soldier and his experiences during the war. This movie is famous for its realistic portrayal of the hardship and horror of fighting in Vietnam

Full Metal Jacket

This 1987 war themed movie by director Stanley Kubrick is based on the Gustav Hasford novel The Short Timers. The movie title takes its name from the full metal jacket bullet utilized by the infantry. The film follows a two Marines through their training and actual warfare during Vietnam War.

Das Boot

Das Boot or the Boat is a German war movie directed by acclaim German director Wolgang Petersen. The movie is about the lives of the crew about the German U-boat, U96. It shows both the tedious hunt aboard a submarine and the excitement of going to war. This movie is based on the true story of Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, a captain in the German army and commander of the U-96.

L’Armée des Ombres

The title is translated as Army of Shadows and it is a French Moie about the experiences of a French Resistance soldiers who fought against the Nazi in German occupied France. Army of Shadows follows the small group as they work with Allied forces and move quietly trying to evade German forces. While it does portray the group as heroes, it does not paint a romantic view of the French Resistance.

The Pianist.

This Roman Polanski directed movie is an adaptation from the biography of Jewish Polish musician Władysław Szpilman. It is a production which combines the best of British, German, French and Polish film companies and stars Adrien Brody in the leading role.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

This old classic is about the construction of the Burma Railway and the fictional Bridge on River Kwai. Besides being revered as one of the best war movies, the theme song The Longest Day is a favourite of many.

Lawrence of Arabia

This movie is widely considered as one of the top war movies of all time. It stars Peter O’Toole in the leading role and depicts the story of Lawrence in Arabia during World War 1. Its themes revolves around Lawrence’s personal identity, his divided allegiance between Britain and the Arabian desert tribes and his struggles with war violence,

Casablanca

Essentially a romantic movie, it is placed here because of the setting. Its background of World War 2 gives the movie the atmosphere of romance and desperation. With Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as its leading stars, the movie is a classic tale of love and virtue in a time of war. There classic line “Here’s looking at you kid” is etched in the annals of movie making history.

Top Animated Movies of 2010

One of the most endearing movie genres to captivate audience is the animated movie. They deliver and guarantee top quality entertainment and fun for the whole family. Watching an animated movie is the escapism into fantasy that you have always dreamt about. The special effects and vibrant colors are a delightful spectacle, with movies like Fantasia, Tom and Jerry, Aladdin among the more popular favourites. You almost never get tired of watching animated movies. It used to be only Disney that produce the best animated movies but now with more independent studios like Dreamworks and Pixar, we are blessed with the best animated movies all year through.


2010 was great for animated movies especially with the opening of the much anticipated final chapter of the Shrek saga. Among the more successful animated movies of 2010 are:


Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs Evil
This is the sequel of the first movie which was released way back in 2005. It is a story about Red Riding Hood investigating the disappearance of the children storybook favourite Hansel and Gretel. Featuring the voice talents of Martin Short, Hayden Panettiere, Joan Cusack and Glen Close, the movie was just as successful as its predecessor at the box office.


Toy Story 3
In what could possibly be the last movie in the franchise, Woody and Buzz Lightyear are back for this third instalment. In this movie, Woody and the rest of the gang are left in a day care centre fending for themselves against other more antagonistic characters including Ken or Barbie and Ken fame. This is the most successful animated movie of 2010 and was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.


Shrek Forever After
The much anticipated Shrek 4 or better known as Shrek Forever After brings back the gang for another adventure. This time, Shrek is tricked into spending his life in an alternate reality where Donkey does not know him and Fiona is no longer his bride. This movie again features the talents Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas and Eddie Murphy as Donkey

Beauty and the Beast
Actually this is not a new release as it is one of the oldest Disney movies. However it was re-released in 2010 after major upgrading of the computer graphics and sound effects. The tale of classic love and sacrifice still managed to capture the hearts of the audiences who turn out in droves to support this movie.

Despicable Me
Billed as Steve Carrell last animation movie so the expectations were very high. He was widely acclaimed for this voice performance in Horton Hears a Who! And this time he plays a lovable super villain who is willing to literally capture the moon to upstage his opponent. As he unveils his devilish plot, he mistaken becomes attached to a group of orphans which makes him reconsider his actions. It is an interesting mix of emotions and comic relief that made this movie as box-office hit and one of the best animated movies of 2010.

Movie Review - The Girl Who Played with Fire

Synopsis: Based on the second book in the Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson, The Girl who Played with Fire continues the story of Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of the magazine Millennium and fresh from exposing a corporate conspiracy in the last movie. Blomkvist is approached by a young journalist with a thoroughly research these about slave trafficking in Sweden and the cover by a section of the government service. After the journalist is murdered, Blomkvist goes all out to rescue his protégé from the firs movie Lisbeth Salander who has been framed with the murder. Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace reprise their roles as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander respectively.

Toning down, though not entirely ditching the swatches or rough S&M sex that was featured in The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo (the first film from The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson), this sequel, The Girl who Played with Fire nonetheless drags us back into a world of breadknife feminism where sexual violence seldom goes without punishment. And again it is worth the price of admission alone to spend time in the company of Sweden’s premiere bisexual sleuth, Lisbeth Salander, as she get tangled up in a hackneyed and unlikely plot where she must work out who has framed her for the murder of a journalist on the cusp of exposing a government conspiracy and a sex trafficking ring.

The title of the movie refers to an incident from Lisbeth’s childhood where she doused her father in petrol and set him ablaze – an event whose consequences she must now face. Offering less of a cut and dried storyline than the first instalment, this film spend its running time carefully arranging the narrative dominoes in order to have them topple in the third and final part of this excellent trilogy. The only advantage of seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo first is that it gives depth and meaning to Lisbeth’s relationship with the protagonist, ruddy faced reporter, Mikael Blomkvist, who works tireless to clear the name of his erstwhile paramour.

Filmed in murky, grainy tones which chime nicely with the squalid demi-monde that Lisbeth is forced to frequent, the film is more sharply focused on fleshing out the mood and character than it is supplying rudimentary twist at cosy junctures. Certainly much of the story is Google powered, but is that not to be expected from an ace computer hacker? And the debate regarding the film’s credentials is rendered moot at the point where Lisbeth takes down a leering Hell’s Angel with an electric taser to the groin.

Review of Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse

Wireless mice are a becoming commonplace these days but Microsoft’s Arc Touch mouse stands heads and shoulders above the rest.

Designed by the famous French designer, Philippe Starck, the mouse comes with its unique "collapsable" design. With this design, the mouse can be flattened for storage when not in use. That’s not all for this sophisticated device. The mouse powers up when it is snapped into a curved position and automatically powers down when it’s flattened to save battery. The mouse is covered with a thin black rubber and this includes the articulated frame of the device. It has a very minimalistic design with only two physical buttons and a touch-sensitive scroll wheel for scrolling located in between the two buttons

The Arc Touch also has a few other cool features such as a magnetic strip below the mouse that holds the nano wireless receiver in place so that you don’t lose it. The mouse runs on 2 AAA batteries hidden on the underside of the device.

Installing the Arc Touch mouse is a quick and simple process. Just slot in the wireless receiver and it will automatically start up the program installation. This will only take a few seconds, after which the mouse is ready for use.

Practical Test

The curved design of the mouse makes it comfortable to use but we still prefer a standard mouse for day-to-day use. It works fine for simple tasks like web surfing or editing a document. However, it isn’t accurate or comfortable enough when making fine adjustments or quick movements. This was evident when we used it to edit an image in Photoshop and played a few games. The touch-sensitive scroll wheel is remarkably effective for quickly scrolling through a long document. It is able to distinguish between short controlled flicks and longer flicks that quickly scrolls a page to the end.

Interestingly, the touch-sensitive scroll wheel offers tactile feedback - it vibrates gently as you drag your finger over it. Another feature of the Arc Touch is that it uses Microsoft’s proprietary BlueTrack sensor which allows the mouse to work on almost any type of surface, in theory. I tried using the mouse on a variety of surfaces and it worked fine on most but not all. On a glass table top, for instance, the mouse’s tracking capability suffered quite a bit. The mouse also doesn’t function well on most highly reflective surfaces.

Conclusion


The Microsoft Arc Touch mouse is without a doubt a very cool looking and practical wireless mouse. The collapsible design and how the mouse automatically powers up when unflattened are two of its best features..As cool as it is, the Arc Touch still feels like a novelty item and can’t really compare to a regular mouse in some areas. It is not ideal for playing games or doing rigorous video/graphic editing.

TV Series Review - Nikita

Is “Nikita” good? It depends on your definition of the word. On one hand, it will remind you of cheesy action programs complete with over-the-top dialogue, two-dimensional characters, and ridiculous plot twists that defy all logic. On the other hand, not everything needs to be intellectually challenging to be entertaining. “Nikita” is ridiculous in all the ways that we want a show about a super-sexy trained assassin to be ridiculous. Luc Besson and fans of the original-and-far-superior “La Femme Nikita” may not be too happy that their source has been turned into a B-show but this character has grown much bigger than the original film.

The ridiculously sexy Maggie Q steps into the stiletto heels of Anne Parillaud, Bridget Fonda, and Peta Wilson as the title character now reimagined as someone who was burned by the agency for which she worked as a hired killer and now has the solitary goal of bringing them down. In the pilot, Nikita resurfaces after being assumed dead and makes clear her intention to bring down the company that killed her only love.

While Nikita is causing problems on the outside, we’re also introduced to a new recruit played by Lyndsy Fonseca and several of the other young future “Nikitas” (including the great Ashton Holmes of “A History of Violence”). The show cross-cuts between the “training” of a new assassin and the revenge planned by their most notorious one. Will Nikita bring down the company? Will the new girl be a hero or villain?

Of course, the plot is mostly an excuse to watch Maggie Q kick some ass.The most important element of the first episode — the action scenes — are well-done and entertaining. The program features film-caliber production values and, unlike most of the boring junk in theaters this year, never takes itself too seriously. Having said that, it’s strikingly easy to see this program falling apart shortly after its premiere by trying to become something more like “Alias” instead of focusing on its B-movie charms.

I’m hoping for the best, because NIKITA is hands down one of the freshest and better looking new series this fall. It’s unapologetic in its approach, Maggie Q is phenomenal to watch and there’s so many cool characters, you’re foaming at the mouth anticipating what’s coming next

iPhone App Review: Game Development Story

If you have ever dreamt of building a computer games empire (not just an empire within a computer game), then this title is for you.

Game Development Story is a mobile game for the iOS platform and puts you as the boss of a game development studio. Your job is to develop games and market them wisely. This includes management of staff, advertising, contracts, and much more. Although it is a simplified model of the real world out there, it still contains little quirks and details that make it as realistic as it can be.

This however is a management game, so you don’t actually do the game design or programming. The game involves you making the decision in choosing the attributes that affect the quality of work games. The four main attributes are: Creativity, Fun, Sound, and Graphics.

You influence these attributes by employing and delegating the right people for the job, balancing in-house designers with suppliers who can also do the job for you.

Once the game is completed, it needs to be produced, and production comes with headaches of its owns. As in real-life, production is never trouble free so you get problems such blackouts and other natural disasters, being tripped up by a competitor who releases a similar game ahead of you, or having the game console you were developing for taken off the shelves due to poor sales.

If you manage to clear all the development and production issues and your game is completed, it will be rated by a magazine. This magazine has four reviewers who will score your item from 1 to 10. The ratings will determine your sales performance which is the ultimate aim of the title, and will lead you to making as much money as possible. The money can then be used to further your progress in the game such as expanding your company, advertising, acquiring better licenses, and so on.

What make this game interesting and cool is the many throwbacks to what we are familiar in our current game world. Over the course of the game, you will come across company like "Senga," consoles like "Sonny Playstatus" and "Intendro IES," and games like “Space Barrier."

Although the game sounds simple, it does take a huge amount of strategy to be successful. And, it is very addictive. I started playing the game thinking I would give it about 10-20 minutes but ended playing through the night.

It is just one of those games which you find it difficult to give up in the middle of a session, so please be aware and make sure you have the time before starting.