Be with You (2004) Ratings: Genre 4.5/5 | Overall 3.5/5

Right from the start and from the very first scenes Be with You instantly reminded me of Japanese animations. And just like those animations this movie is mesmerizingly beautiful both in story and cinematography. And this could be the best romantic plot that I have ever come across in a fantasy drama.  It is so heartwarming that it would be impossible for someone with a heart not to shed a tear or two while enjoying this amazing tale of romance.

Takumi (Shidô Nakamura) is a middle aged widower living with his son Yuji (Akashi Takei) in a scenic village. He struggles to raise his son amidst his volatile heath condition and it’s being a year since his wife Mio (Yûko Takeuchi) has passed away. Broken by his loss yet ambitious by the love for his kid Takumi does his best to keep Yuji company. But Yuji believes that his mother has gone to a distant star and she will return on the rainy season. And it seems to be that even Takumi believes in the same story and secretly wishes for her return. And when the rainy season starts they both are astonished from a visit from someone special.

Be with You is nearly two hours long, which is kind of bit too long for a romantic movie at a glance. But the wonderful plot and the simple yet spell binding beauty of the flow will keep viewers gazing at the screen. The story unfolds little by little with flawless and artistic frames and touching script and acting. Though the other cast is entirely new for the Hollywood movie fans Shidô Nakamura who plays Takumi is familiar as he have done some memorable roles in western movies. But the real treat of Be with You is the child actor Akashi who steals the show with his cuteness. And there are some scenes that you would wish that you were his parents so that this kid will not have to cry again. And Yûko Takeuchi who plays Mio makes the character glamorous with her charm. The combination of these three performances is simply and truly touching.

While being a fantasy and as a movie with live actors Be with You is a remarkable one. It is based on a novel of same name and as per the reactions it seemed like the readers have loved it as well. To be honest this easily could be one of the best romantic movies I will remember. And for a moment it felt like Just Like Heaven (2005).

Original title: Ima, ai ni yukimasu (Japanese)

Genre: Romance | Drama | Fantasy

Director: Nobuhiro Doi

The Lego Movie (2014) Ratings Genre 4.5/5 | Overall 3.5/5

What do men crave for? Cars!! And what do small boys crave for? Legos! But the good thing is while there is an age for cars, Lego’s has none!!

When the first few scenes opened up I thought to myself “oh this looks very strange with all these cubes as characters with sharp corners and it’s definitely going to be boring”. But guess what? I was shamefully very wrong. The Lego movie was amazing. I repeat it’s AMAZING.

In the world of Lego land the evil president Lord Business is planning to destroy everyone. And a normal construction worker Emmet is selected to avoid it as per an ancient prophesy. But soon the Lego land realizes that this construction worker is not the chosen one. And he is challenged with proving that he is the right one for the job.

The Lego Movie is a fast phased and mesmerizingly colorful movie. In Lego land you will miss a lot if you blink. So for some it could be a bit tiresome to keeping up with the speed but once you get on board the speed train it’s a super fun ride. And surprises wait at every turn. And beware every line is funny! This has some super characters including good cop mixed bad cop voiced by Liam Neeson, Vitruvious voiced by Morgan Freeman and Batman voiced by Will Arnet. And that’s just a few of them. There is a bunch of superheroes, NBA players, Star Wars characters, Cowboys and so on which makes The Lego Movie an awesome mix of voice plays.

Coming to the eye candy animation the work done there is simply crazy. Though at the start it looks a bit weird the animators proves that animation potential is endless and anything is possible. The brilliant animation quality teamed with upbeat music tracks brings the true joy of the Lego land.

Big studio animations are becoming larger and larger by the year. Yet we seldom come across something ground breaking and mind blowing. The Lego Movie is one of such fantastic animation that definitely blows away the minds of the viewer. It’s insanely creative with super different animation quality and comes with a fantastic story and belly tickling humor. In my book this is the best animation of a different kind after Wreck it Ralph (2012).

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Fantasy

Directors : Phil Lord, Christopher Muller

300: Rise of an Empire (2014) Ratings Genre: 3/5|Overall 2.5/5

While this being the second installment of the famous 300 (2006), it is clearly showing vast improvements to the production and the looks but degrades to the overall quality of storytelling. However, fans of 300 would definitely enjoy this as it has its own bloodily stylish way of being one of the brutal and reddish historical epics ever made. 300: Rise of an Empire is clearly larger in production value, action choreography and CG and trio itself can keep someone attracted for the full length of the film. However, all you get is battles upon battles and after sometime more battles. End of the day all is left are piled up dead bodies in the name of heroism and the true feeling is lost. The one true good thing and the brilliance remembered is the performance by Eva Green who portrays a shockingly lethal female villain which we seldom see.

300: Rise of an Empire tells a story in parallel time line to its predecessor. And at times it touches the story of the 300 brave Spartans led by King Leonidas but mainly concentrates on the story of Themistocles a Greek general and a war hero. This movie is based on the war raged against Greece by Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia his war commander. When the expertise of strategic Themistocles meets with the brutal and unforgiving Artemisia’s army the battle upon seas becomes bloodier.

Keeping the graphical properties which 300 is known for, 300: Rise of an Empire does a fabulous job at being gory right from the start. And no doubt the high speed action sequences chopped right in to super slow motion frames are a sight to witness. And the overwhelming amount of blood signifies the brutality of the war which at times can be obviously disturbing. But without these 300 will not be completed. And as mentioned earlier without them this movie could have being one boring looking expenditure. Yet I do not hold any grudge against 300: Rise of an Empire because it looks like it delivers what it supposed to. It would have being great if this installment also had a gripping and a truly heroic story like the one before but sadly the fans have to settle in for less than that. And since the third installment to 300 and sequence to 300: Rise of an Empire is already rumored let’s hope we will see something better soon.

Genre: Action | Drama | Fantasy

Director: Noam Murro

The Hobbit: Desolation of the Smaug (2013) Rating 4/5

Oh, misty eye of the mountain below

Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls

And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke

Keep watching over Durin's son….

Till you hear that vocals and closing titles rolling up, The Hobbit: Desolation of the Smaug will tightly put you in a deep trance of an epic journey of fantasy filled with mind boggling atmospheres and characters filled with heroism either they are short or tall or men or not. And this installment of The Hobbit jump right in to the action and it stays that way till the very end. There is little room for conversation and drama and it’s certainly is well evolved from the first movie and steadily on its way to the finale.

In this installment the Dwarfs accompanying Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit and the Gandolf the wizard continues their journey to Erebor to claim it back from the fierce dragon Smaug.  On the way they are hunted by the Ork and the team split in separate directions as circumstances fits. And all of them find challenges to deal with while a so far unseen greater enemy is brewing a war upon middle earth.

When it comes to Peter Jackson on the director seat, a fan will not expect anything less than to feast their eyes with mind blowing details scene by scene filled with fantastic action and animation. And this movie delivers all of them exactly or beyond expected. Some of the stunts you will witness are simply nothing less than anything you have seeing in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And the sheer amount of simple to most complicated yet extravagant details the sets, costumes, CG delivers ads heavy value to the movies overall success.

Though I have felt that the first movie was a bit too long and some of the scenes could have being done without, this time the timing and the flow is simply great. Thus I have no complaints to express. And it’s certain that many bigger and better things await in the next one. Maybe the only thing I hate is the cliffhanger ending!! And the wait to see what happen next is bloody too long.

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

We all know this story right? But what a sec. It’s not the same story of the Jack and Beanstalk here but far improved and a more heroic one. Still it is a fairly tale and fairly tales tend to have many many plot holes. If you wish to enjoy it there is lot of things which you might have to ignore. Like the enormous stamina humans must have to reach heavens by climbing straight up a tree! But to be honest that’s the beauty of this movie. There are many fears battles, ruthless creatures and daring moments throughout but all seems like a piece of cake at one point. It all ends well just as all fairy tales suppose to be. Technically not the best seeing animation work out there but it does the job. No big deal with character developments or acting mention worthy. Just enjoy it for what it is.

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) 2.5/5

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Seriously I have no idea where to categorize this one. It looks like some ‘Twilight’ type fantasy movie but when it comes to cinematography and animation some TV series is way better than this. Maybe I’m done believing in romantic movies that involved people or creatures with super powers. They don’t work anymore. And this is trying to do the same old formula once again and from my perspective it doesn’t worth the 2 hours spent from your life. I’m pretty certain that some girls are hating me right now for writing this!

Beautiful Creatures (2013) 2/5

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Most of us wake up in the morning and sometimes wonder what the meaning of life is and what purpose we serve being alive. And depending on our beliefs and observations we all have a way of explaining it. But none of us would explain why everything must come to an end including human life with death. And if death serves its purpose of putting end to life will there be a day that we accept it and move on to the next?

 

This movie is a fascinating point of view of a man who encounters death and spends few days with him until death decides that it’s time to move. Though this is a tale of fiction most of the time it feels so real and that’s the gravity it creates. Coupled with a very good script that speaks splendidly with the theme and fantastic performances by the cast it is a story of life and death and love in between. Though some one can argue that there are loose ends and the ending is a bit cheesy this is one movie that has the ability to keep the viewer guessing till the last moment.

 

අපි සියලු දෙනාම යම් කිසි මොහොතක හෝ ජීවිතය යනු කුමක්ද සහ අපගේ ජීවිතයේ අරුත සහ අවශ්‍යතාවය කුමක්ද කියා සිතා ඇත්තෙමු. එමෙන්ම අපගේ විශ්වාසයන් සහ අත්දැකීම් අනුව ඒ ප්‍රශ්න වලට නොයෙක් උත්තරද අප හා සතු වෙයි. නමුත් අප කිසිවෙක් මෙලොව පවතින සියලු දෙයම අවසානයකට පත් වන්නේ ඇයිද එලෙසෙම මනුෂ්‍යය ජීවිතයද මරණයෙන් කෙලවර වන්නේ කෙසේද කියා කීමට නොදන්නෙමු. මරණයේ රාජකාරිය ජීවිතය අවසන් කිරිමනම් එය එසේය කියා සිතා අප විසින් මරණය පිළිගන්න දිනක් වේද?

 

මේ චිත්‍රපටිය තම මියෙන මොහොත එළඹෙන තුරු මරණය නමැති පුද්ගලයා සමග දින කිහිපයක් ගත කරන මනුෂ්‍යයෙකුගේ ශෝබාවත් කතාවයි.  මෙය හුදෙක්ම මනංකල්පිත කතාවක් වුවද එය ඉතා තාත්වික ලෙස ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙනු ලැබෙන නිසාම ඉතා ආකර්ශනීය එකක් වන්නේය. ඉතා හොඳ පිටපතක් සහ රංගනයන්ගෙන් පිරිපුන් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය ජීවිතයත් මරණයත් සහ ඒ අතර මැදි වුනු ආදරයත් ගැන කෙරෙන සුන්දර කතිකාවතකි. සමහරෙකු විසින් මෙහි අවසානය බොළඳ එකක් ලෙස කියා තර්ක කල හැකි වුවද අවසන් මොහොත දක්වාම ප්‍රේක්ෂක මනස අනුමානයෙන් පිරවීමට හැකි කදිම චිත්‍රපටියකි.

 

I rate this 3.5/5

 

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Drama | Fantasy

 

Synopsis: A media mogul acts as a guide to Death, who takes the form of a young man to learn about life on Earth and in the process, fall in love with his guide's daughter.(IMDB)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

When the words fantasy and cinema are connected what comes to mind is a world filled with imaginary creatures and beautiful landscapes that can only exists in a magical land. This is true for most of the movies out there but not for this one entirely. The fantasy here works in a very subtle and different way. For the best of it is not really anything to do with fantasy but real life. This is a story that can happen anywhere at any place and that’s what makes it beautiful and easy to connect with.

 

Filled with dramatic details and powerful performance this movie comes to light bringing a touching story line. And the cinematography is simply one of the best this year. You will see a great performance by a child and taste and smells the life in the ‘Bathtub’ and imaginary colony in the south east corner of the planet. And you will get to live the lives of a set of people who are bound by culture and values. It’s a tough life out there but plenty to laugh and drink about. Even the death!

 

සිනමාව සහ මනංකල්පිතය යන වචන දෙක එක් වුනු විට අපට මතක් වන්නේ දැක පුරුදු නැති වෙනස් සත්වයින් සහ අතිශය පියකරු භුමිතලයි. නමුත් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ මනංකල්පිතය යන්න වෙනස් එමෙන්ම සියුම් අරුතක් ඇති එකක්. මෙහි බොහෝ දේ සැබෑ ලොවට වඩාත් සම්බන්ධ අතර මෙම කතාව කොහේ හෝ තැනක සැබවින් සිදු විය ඇති එක සේ හැඟෙ. එම නිසාම එය සමග ඔබට වඩාත් හොඳින් සම්බන්ධ වීමට හැකියාවක් ඇත.

 

ඉතා නිර්මානාත්මක පසුතල සහ ප්‍රබල රංගනයන්ගෙන් පිරිපුන් මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහි කතාව හදවතට දැනෙන එකක්. ගිනිකොන දිග ලෝකයේ දේශයක දුෂ්කර ජීවිතයක් ගතකරන ජලාශ්‍රිත මිනිසුන් කොට්ටාශයක් වටා එය ගෙතෙනවා. එහි වෙසෙන මව නැති කුඩා දැරිවියක් සහ ඇයගේ ලෙඩින් පසුවන පියා අතර ඇතිවන කතාවකි මෙහි මුලික තේමාව. මේ දැරියගේ රංගනය ඉතාම සුන්දර එකක්. ඒ අතරම ඔවුන්ගේ ජීවිතයට තර්ජනයක් වන කාලගුණික බලපෑම් සහ ඔවුන්ට ශිෂ්ට සමාජයෙන් එල්ලවන තර්ජනද බොහෝ වෙයි. ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් තම විශ්වාස සහ සංස්කෘතිය රැක ගනිමින් සොබාදහම සමග දිවි ගෙවන මේ මිනිසුන්ගේ කතාව ඉතා අපුරුයි. ඔවුන් මලගමකදී පවා කෑ බි සිනහවෙන් ගත කරන්නට තරම් සැහැල්ලු ශක්තිමත්  මිනිසුන්.

 

I rate this 4/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Drama | Fantasy

 

Synopsis: Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love. (IMDB)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I’ll try to keep this review short as possible. There are enough and more reviews for this one on the net already. My first thought of the first scene of this was that ‘Feels like coming home’. Being a hardcore fan of LOTR trilogy it’s just pure bliss to lay eyes on the magic of Tolkien and Peter Jackson blending in together once again. And just as I expected this movie is nothing less but cinematic wizardry right from the start to end. For 3 hours it will put you in a trance (or a coma whatever you call it)  and this spectacularly detailed characters, landscapes, sets ,costumes and music starts to emerge one after another at one point you might think OMG this is too much to digest at one go. Yes it’s that much visually breathtaking.

 

And then comes the story. And it’s not that great as the visuals yet. Why I said so is that this is a trilogy. And we all know that Jackson’s trilogies have no meaning taken separately. They do once all 3 combined. So for us to go ‘OMG what a story’ we have to wait 2 more years. But still the part what’s packed in this chapter is very well made. There is equal amount of danger, humor and heroism. But sometimes it makes you wonder if some sequences are really required. (Like the battle of Stone Giants). Maybe it stretches the movie unnecessarily.  But all in all when you watch it in that jaw dropping 3d no sequences is a bad sequence. And the closing scene is so detailed and power packed that you might piss your pants thinking of what’s coming in future!!

 

(From this point onward it's translation in Sinhala language)

 

දැනටමත් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය ඇති පදම් විචාරය වී ඇති හෙයින් මම කෙටියෙන් ලියනු කැමැත්තෙමි. ලෝඩ් ඔෆ් ද රින්ග්ස් චිත්‍රපටි පෙලේ මුල් කාලින දැඩි රසිකයෙකු වශයෙන් මා හට මුලින්ම කිව යුත්තේ මේ චිත්‍රපටිය සත්‍යය වශයෙන්ම අමුර්තයක් බවය්. නැවත වරක් ටෝල්කයින් ගේ සුන්දර කතාවක් පීටර් ජැක්සන් ගේ අධ්‍යක්ෂණයකින් දකින්නට ලැබීම භාගයක් මිස වෙනකක් නොවේ. මා අපේක්ෂා කල පරිදිම මෙය දැවැන්ත ආකර්ශනීය සිනමා විජ්ජාවක්. එහි පැය 3ක් පුරා එකිනෙකට නොදෙවෙනිව දිග හැරෙන චරිත, භූමිතල, පසුබිම්, ඇඳුම් ආයිත්තම් සහ සංගීතය නිසා ඔබ අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම මෝහනය වෙයි. විටෙක ඒ තරම් සුන්දරත්වයක් දරාගැනීමට ඔබට නොහැකි වේදෝ කියා බියක්ද ඇති වෙයි. ඔවු. මෙය එතරම්ම ලස්සන රුප රාමු එකතුවක්.

 

දැන් කතාව දෙසට හැරෙමු. රූප රාමු තරම්ම එය තාමත් සුන්දර එකක් නොවේ. මා එසේ කිවේ මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ තවත් කොටස් දෙකක් අපට ඉදිරි කාලයේදී දැකීමට ඉඩ තිබෙන නිසා. ජැක්සන්ගේ චිත්‍රපටි ත්‍රිත්වයන් වෙන් වෙන්ව ගත් කල ඒවායේ කතාවේ අරුත අඩු අතර ඒවා සියල්ල සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ගැනීමේදී පමණි එහි නියම වටිනාකම තිබෙන්නේ. මේ නිසාම කතාව ගැන වඩා හොඳක් කියන්නට අපට අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම තවත් වසර දෙකක් බලා සිටින්නට සිදු වේවි. මේ කොටසේ ඇති තරම් හාස්‍යය, ත්‍රාසය සහ වීරත්වය ගැබ් වී තිබෙනවා. නමුත් සමහරක් ජවනිකා ඇත්තෙන්ම කතාවට අවශ්‍යයද යන්න සැක සහිතය් (ගල් යෝධයින්ගේ සටන). ඒ නිසා චිත්‍රපටියේ ධාවන කාල ඕනවට වඩා දික් වීම සිදු වෙය්. නමුත් සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ගත් කල අධි තාත්වික ත්‍රිමාන රූපරාමු  නිසා ඕනෑම අනවශ්‍ය හටනක් කට බලියාගෙන බලා සිටින්නට පුළුවන. ඒවාගේම චිත්‍රපටියේ අවසාන රුප රාමුව කෙතරම් ප්‍රබල සහ සවිස්තරාත්මකද කිවහොත් මීළඟ චිත්‍රපටි වලදී දකින්නට ලැබෙන දේවල් ගැන සිතන විට සමහර විට ඔබේ කලිසම තෙමෙන්නටත් බැරි නැහැ.

I rate this 3.5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Adventure | Fantasy

Synopsis: A younger and more reluctant Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out on a "unexpected journey" to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of Dwarves to reclaim a their stolen mountain home from a dragon named Smaug.(IMDB)

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

Drama | Fantasy

 

I’m quite certain that this movie is one coming straight from the heart. And it is simply a magnificent mix of fantasy and true life woven so fine that for many it would leave with a load of warm feelings. Perhaps the most emotional fairy tale of a movie made in 2012.

 

Whichever the way you describe this movie to be sweet, fantasy, family, heartfelt or warm all of those definitions has its place in it. And the wonderful story and the characters are so memorably fantastic. The fine plot works straight one way and I can’t imagine it to be different and better. It has a perfect pitch, flow and ending that at one point would soak your eyes with tears if you ever known the meaning of lives foundations and childhood.

 

This movie is not for cinematography or for Oscar worthy directing. But it is sure one for the beating hearts. Cherishable!

 

දරුවන් ලැබීමේ භාග්‍යය අහිමි වී සොවින් පසු වන යුවලකට නොසිතු මොහොතක ආශ්චර්යයාතමකව දරුවෙක් හමු වනවා. මේ දරුවා ඉතා විශේෂ එමෙන්ම වෙනස් වන්නේ ඔහුගේ කකුල් වල තිබෙන පත්‍ර නිසාත් ඔහු මෙලොවට බිහි වන ආකාරය නිසාත්. මේ යුවල සහ දරුවා අතර ඇතිවන අසීමිත සෙනෙහස සහ ආදරය මේ චිත්‍රපටිය පුරාවට සුන්දර චිත්‍රයක් මෙන් සිත්තම් වෙනවා.

 

සුරංගනා කතා ලොවත් සැබෑ ලොවත් යන දෙකම එකට යා කරමින් ගෙතුණු මේ ලස්සන චිත්‍රපටිය තදින්ම හිතට දැනෙන මනරම් එකක්. එය ආරම්භයේ සිට අග දක්වාම එකම අරමුණක් එනම් මව් පිය සෙනෙහස මුල් කොට ගෙනය ගෙතෙන්නෙ. මව් පිය සෙනෙහස මෙතරම් රමනියව හුවා දැක්වෙන මනංකල්පිත චිත්‍රපටියක් මගේ මතකයට තවත් නැගෙන්නේ නැහැ.

 

සම්මාන ලැබීමට තරම් හොඳ අධ්‍යක්ෂණයක් හෝ සිනමාකරණයක් මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහි නැහැ. ඇත්තේ ගැහෙන හදවත් වලට කතාකරන හඬක් පමණි. සුන්දරය්!!

 

3.5/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears. (IMDB)

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Fairy tales are a bunch of stories which are close to heart. They are the most vivid imaginations we have in our childhood. And I can't recall many movies coming to light based upon fairy tales. And Snow White and the Huntsman is one brilliant movie version of a once childhood imagination. It is gripping, touching and heroic. It has taken a simple tale and given it a new definition. And for a fact it’s beautiful. While a few lead roles providing the much gripping performance the cinematography and the CG alike creates the base of cinematic wonder corner to corner of the screen. Speaking of performance, Charlize Theron entirely flames the character of the dark queen and you cannot forget her thundering voice screaming in those dark corridors. No doubt her role is the most prominent where as Snow White falls behind. That maybe is a down point considering the plot. Overall the details and the production values are truly commendable. One cannot simply not say “wow” for many moments that unfold.

කුඩා කල දහසක් වර්ණවත් චිත්ත රූ විවර කල හිම කුමාරිගේ කතාව මෙලෙස රිදී තිරයේ දිග හැරී තිබෙනවා. එය හුදෙක් එක් සුරංගනා කතාවක සිනමා ප්‍රතිනිර්මානයක්ම නොවේ. මේ කතාවට බොහෝ රසවත් චරිත සහ කතාංග එක් කොට එය මනා ලෙස රසගන්වා තිබෙන බව කිව යුතුය්. ජවනිකාවෙන් ජවනිකාව බොහෝ උසස් නිෂ්පාදන වටිනාකමකින් යුතුව නිර්මාණාත්මකව නිෂ්පාදනය වී ඇති බව නොරහසක්. මුලික රංගන දායකත්වයන්ද ඉතා හොඳ මට්ටමක තිබෙනවා. එයින් වඩාත්ම කැපී පෙනෙන්නේ Charlize Theron විසින් රඟන නපුරු රැජිනගේ චරිතයය්. ඇය එම අඳුරු චරිතය කෙතරම් හොඳින් රඟපානවද කිවහොත් ප්‍රධාන චරිතය වන හිම කුමාරිගේ චරිතය පවා එයට දෙවැනි වනවා. සුරංගනා කතා බොහෝමයක් සාර්ථක චිත්‍රපටි බවට පෙරළෙනු අපට දකින්නට ලැබෙන්නේ කලාතුරකින්. මේ එවැනි අවස්තාවක්.

3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen (IMDB)

Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter (2012)

Abraham Lioncoln : Vampire Hunter (2012)

Action | Fantasy | Horror

When I wanted to watch this all I expected was to see some good action and animation and that’s what exactly it delivered. Other than that there is no unique plot, acting nor drama here. It’s just another big action vampire flick that won’t stay in your mind. ‘Maybe’ if I watched this on 3D I would have liked it a wee bit better.

පරිගණක සජීවිකරණ සහ ක්‍රියාදාම හැරුනුකොට මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහි සඳහන් කල යුතු වෙනත් වටිනාකම් නැහැ. තවත් එක ඇසට ප්‍රිය මනසට කිසිත් නොදෙන හුදෙක් විනෝදය සඳහාම පමණක් වැය කෙරුණු චිත්‍රපටියක්.

2/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them. (IMDB)

Dark Shadows (2012)

Dark Shadows (2012)

Comedy | Fantasy

There was once Casper who was a friendly ghost. And now here comes Barnabas Collins the good hearted but a blood sucking vampire.  What’s important is he is not who he is by choice but by curse. Johnny Depp wittingly and charmingly breathes life to this hideous character which is one strong point for the flick. And then the other element such as attention to detail, dark cinematography and the fun in the script gladly follows. Though it’s not a horror by all means it still can give you a scare or two when you least expect it. But it will put a smile on your ugly face most of the time! And wait till you see the sex scene.

සාපයක් නිසා වැම්පයර් වරයෙක් බවට පත් වන ධනවත් බාර්ණබස් කොලින්ස් වසර 200 කට පසු මිනි පෙට්ටියෙන් එලියට එන විට ඔහු දැන සිටි ලෝකය බොහෝ සෙයින් වෙන වී ගොස්. නමුත් ඔහුගේ පැරණි වලව්ව සහ එහි ජීවත්වන ඔහුගේ නෑදෑයින් සොයා ගන්නට ඔහුට වැඩි වෙලාවක් ගත වන්නේ නැහැ. විටින් විට තරමක් භයන්කාර වුවද විනෝදාත්මක රංගනයන් සහ තේමාවකින් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය හැඩ වෙනවා. ජොනි ඩෙප්ගේ අද්විතීය රංගන දායකත්වයෙන් තවත් විශේෂ වන Dark Shadows හොඳ නිෂ්පාදන වටිනාකමකින් යුතු එකක්. ත්‍රාසය, කුතුහලය සහ විනෝදය එකට කැටි කරගත් චිත්‍රපටියක්යය් කීම වඩාත් නිවැරදි.

3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection. (IMDB)

Wonderful Days (Original title korean) AKA Sky Blue (2003)

Wonderful Days (Original title korean) AKA Sky Blue (2003)

Action | Fantasy | Animation | Sci Fi 

There are absolutely no two words that this movie is one of the most epic visual experiences you can have up to date from an animation. It’s not just animation but a hybrid of CG and 3d modeling mixed to make a stunning eye pleaser from start to the very end. And the brilliant score becomes one with the visual and puts the viewer in to mesmerizing trance. The soundtrack is just awe perfect and grips the viewer by the depths of the ear canal. Yet the same cannot be told about the story. It has being tested before and has a bit of vast unexplored and unexplained territories. But with the sheer magic unfolding with the stunning visuals and the music the plot seems to be tagging along just fine. Animation and Sci Fi lovers will dig this! And this is going in to my personal favorites collection.

Sky Blue මොහොතක් මොහොතක් පාසා ඔබ මවිත කිරීමට තරම් සුන්දර ජවනිකා දහස් ගණනකින් හෙබි, ඔබට දැකීමට ලැබෙන විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධ සජීවීකරණ චිත්‍රපටි අතර විශිෂ්ටතම ස්ථානයක මතකයේ රැඳෙන එකක් වනු ඇත. කන්කළු සහ අසන්නාගේ මනසේ ගැඹුරු ස්ථානයන් පවා ස්පර්ශ කිරිමත සමත් පසු බිම් සන්ගීතයන්ගෙන්ද මේ චිත්‍රපටිය පිරි තිබෙනවා. එලෙස මන බඳිනා දර්ශන සහ ඒ හා උරෙන් උර මිත්‍ර වුනු සංගීතයද එක්වූ කල මේ දෙස විමතියෙන් බලා සිටීම හැරෙන්නට වෙනත් කිසිවක් කිරීමට ඔබට අමතක වන්නටද පුළුවන්. කෙසේ වෙතත් චිත්‍රපටියේ කතා වස්තුව ගැන එසේ වර්ණනාවන් කිරිමට අපහසුය්. මින් පෙර අත් විඳ පුරුදු තේමාවකි එහි ඇත්තේ. නමුත් මේ සියල්ල එක් කොට ගත් කල Sky Blue සජීවිකරණ චිත්‍රපටි ප්‍රිය කරන ඔබට දිව්‍යමය ආහාරයක්.

3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: In the future, after the human civilization ended by war and pollution, only those few people who had the power and technology escaped the disaster. Those people built the last human city of Ecoban. As its energy source is the pollutant, the people of Ecoban plan to destroy the inhabitants of Marr to get more pollutant. Standing against Ecoban is a young man who wants only to clear the skies of the clouds to show the wonderful heavens to the girl he loves. (IMDB)