Director:
Kenneth Branagh

Starring:
Lily James, Rob Sta- erm … Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Stellan Skarsgård, Nonso Anozie

Other notable appearances:
Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera

Running time:
105 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Cinderella (1950), Maleficent

[Review contains spoilers from season three of Game of Thrones]

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ella. After her mother’s death Ella’s father remarried, giving her a step-mother and two step-sisters. Not long after, Ella’s father also passes away leaving her a servant in her own home to serve her wicked step-mother and spoilt step-sisters. By remembering to have courage and be kind, Ella finds magic, true love and her happily ever after.

Continue reading Cinderella (2015) →

Director:
Rob Marshall

Starring:
Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Daniel Huttlestone, Lilla Crawford, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, Billy Magnussen, Mackenzie Mauzy

Other notable appearances:
Johnny Depp, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski

Running time:
125 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Cinderella, Tangled

The baker (Corden) and his wife (Blunt) have struggled to bear a child. They discover their neighbouring witch (Streep) cursed his family due to trespasses made by his father.

The Witch tells them that she can break the curse if they gather ingredients for a potion by the blue moon in three days. A cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, slippers as pure as gold and hair as yellow as corn. Enter Jack, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Continue reading Into The Woods (2015) →

Page count: 515 [excluding an interview with Matthew Reilly about The Great Zoo of China]

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

Dr Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameron is the world’s leading experts in large reptiles. CJ is asked to inspect a new zoo in China for National Geographic. With her brother and photographer Hamish in tow, CJ joins a tour group including reporters for The New York Times, the US Ambassador to China, his aide and various Great Zoo of China staff.

The big reveal is made and the group discover what makes this zoo so great. Dragons. Hundreds of dragons, held by technology. However, when the captive dragons sabotage and outsmart the technology, CJ must use her wits and experience to save her countrymen, her brother, and herself.

Continue reading The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly (2014) →

Director:
Sid Bennett

Starring:
Richard Dillane, Peter Brooke, Matthew Kane, Abena Ayivor, Stephen Jennings, Andre Weideman, Natasha Loring

Running time:
83 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Jurassic Park, Chronicle, Anaconda

Jonathan Marchant (Dillane) is a renowned explorer who heads off, with his film crew and stow-away son, to investigate claims of mokele mbembe, the Congo’s version of the Loch Ness monster. When their plane crashes then explodes, they discover that a mythical plesiosaur isn’t their only cause for concern in the jungle.

Continue reading The Dinosaur Project (2012) →

Director:
Joseph J. Lawson

Starring:
Treat Williams, Jillian Rose Reed, Ronny Cox

Other notable appearances:
Plenty of pissed-off prehistoric puppets

Running time:
88 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
The Dinosaur Project or have ever wondered what would have happened if Jurassic Park had a really low budget

A biotech company makes the leap from healing burn victims to reconstructing dinosaurs from a single piece of DNA. During the grand unveiling of the 16 dinosaurs (comprised of carnotaurs, ceratosaurs and pteranodons), something goes wrong and the dinosaurs manage to break free from their enclosure.

With the original dinosaurs on the loose and more on their way, it’s up to former Los Angeles Firefighter Gabe Jacobs (Williams) to save his daughter Jade (Reed) from the Rage of the Dinosaurs.

Continue reading Rage of the Dinosaurs [US Title Age of Dinosaurs] (2013) →