Angels and Demons was released on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this week and would be a great movie to watch if you’re a conspiracy theorist or you are suspicious about what happens behind the closed doors of the Vatican.

In the film, Langdon delves into the deepest parts of the Vatican and discovers that the Illuminati, a religious offshoot group, has resurfaced and they are making some major demands.

With the Pope dead and the clergy fighting among themselves, it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad ones.

It’s got a little bit of everything so it’s a decent film if you’re having people over for a movie night.  It might be a little offensive to the deeply religious but, aside from that, I thought it was a worthy follow up to The DaVinci Code.

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

Let’s get something out of the way right away, shall we?  The first movie was a little self-indulgent and I’m praying  that they learned from that mistake and corrected their approach when creating this film.  I liked the storyline but something (a lot of things) were just a little off for me.

Another thing to mention is that, as you could probably tell from the title, people who don’t like movies about religion are probably not going to want to see it (plus, I can tell from the soundtrack that it will likely be pretty creepy).

Robert Langdon (Hanks), a Harvard symbolist, is called in when physicist, Leonardo Vetra, is murdered.  Robert meets up with Vetra’s daughter, Vittoria and their quest to find the truth, leaves them searching for clues around the Vatican.  When they learn that an assassin working for the Illuminati (a secret brotherhood) has captured and killed four cardinals, Robert and Vittoria realize that they are not only looking for her father’s murdered but also a new, very destructive weapon that could kill millions.

I don’t know to what extent Angels and Demons relates to The DaVinci Code since I don’t want to ruin the movie for myself but it’s clear that there is a similar theme going on.  Check out this great little sneak peek of the film with director, Ron Howard.

images: Columbia Pictures

Post from: EveryJoe

This week, I’m suggesting the movie Big for two main reasons.  The first is that it was just released on Blu-ray this week and the second is that it stars Tom  Hanks who is reprising his role Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons today in theaters.

Big tells the story of Josh Baskin, a kid who makes a wish in front of a fortune-telling machine on the boardwalk of a county fair.  Shockingly, he wakes up the next morning to learn that his wish came true – he was now all grown up and his poor mother, after having an encounter with this grown man in her home, reports him as a missing person.

It’s a great movie filled with a lessons about relationships, work, aging and the importance of keeping laughter and fun in our lives.

Memorable scenes – Tom Hanks playing the giant piano in F.A.O. Schwarz and teaching Elizabeth Perkins to jump on an indoor trampoline.

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

Anyway, the Angels and Demons soundtrack has now been released and it’s just as creepy as you might expect but, for whatever reason, I quite like it and I feel like it’s completely appropriate for the film’s storyline. 

Directed by Ron Howard, Angels and Demons follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) as he works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

The music has been composed by Hans Zimmer and Joshua Bell.  Zimmer has a very impressive résumé, creating scores for The DaVinci Code along with films like Pirates of the Caribbean (At World’s End and Dead Man’s Chest), Crimson Tide, Gladiator, The Lion King and more.  Bell is one of the top young violinists in the world and, together, the music is very beautiful.

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe