The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Bella Swan, Edward Cullen and Jacob Black returned to our screens in 2009 in the sequel to Twilight and viewers were certainly not disappointed. The movie was a smash hit, proving that the saga, written by Stephenie Meyer, was no one hit wonder. New Moon was released on November 20, 2009 in most countries, and set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight screening, taking 26.3 million US dollars. This led to the biggest single day domestic gross with 72.7 million dollars.
Although it received mixed reviews, most of the female staff members at the Algarve Resident office were immediately hooked and are waiting with baited breath for the next instalment in the series, Eclipse.
Directed by Chris Weitz | Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner | Genre: Romantic gothic fantasy
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James Cameron had reportedly been planning this movie since 1994. Initially the film was due to be made in 1999 after Titanic, however, as he believed that technology wasn’t quite up to scratch to produce the film at that time, it was held until recently. There were rumours that the sci-fi film would be one of the most expensive flops in history, but when released, worldwide, the film grossed an estimated 232,180,000 US dollars on its opening weekend. Paulo Silvestre went to see the film – in 3D – and described it as “brutal” (in other words… fantastic).
Directed by James Cameron | Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang | Genre: Sci-fi
Confessions of a Shopaholic
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This 2009 film adaptation of the book by Sophie Kinsella tells the tale of Rebecca Bloomwood – a woman who simply cannot resist a spot of retail therapy. The trouble is that she manages to get herself into all kinds of trouble because of it. Isla Fisher’s performance generated great reviews and she was nominated for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy at the Teen Choice Awards 2009, but lost to Anne Hathaway for Bride Wars. The film itself was also nominated for Choice Movie: Romance but lost to Twilight.
Directed by P.J Hogan | Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter | Genre: Romantic comedy
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
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The plot revolves around Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between the Autobots and the Decepitcons, having visions of Cybertronian symbols, and getting hunted by the Decepticons under the orders of their long-trapped leader, The Fallen, who seeks to get revenge on Earth by finding and activating a machine that would provide the Decepticons with an energon source, destroying all life on the planet in the process. It’s far better than it sounds!
Although the film received mixed to negative reviews from film critics it was a box office success, achieving the highest Wednesday opening gross in history, bringing in 62 million US dollars in North America and close to 100 million US dollars worldwide.
Directed by Michael Bay | Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel | Genre: Sci-fi
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
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Certainly a laugh a minute, this sequel proved to be a smash hit with people of all ages. The laughs were immediate, with Scrat falling in love with a fellow sabre-tooth squirrel, Scratte, as they fight over his beloved acorn. The scenes are hilarious. The main movie follows the movements of Diego, Sid and Manny and Ellie, who are expecting their first child. The story has Sid being taken by a female Tyrannosaurus Rex after stealing her eggs, leading the rest of the group having to rescue him in a tropical lost world inhabited by dinosaurs beneath the ice.
Directed by Carlos Saldanha | Starring: John Leguizamo, Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary | Genre: Animation
