Hi,
Last nights film was the sci-fi thriller Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike and James Cromwell. Directed by Jonathan Mostow (T3).
In a nutshell, the human race has taken to using surrogate robots to live their lives from the safety of their own homes. No crime, no murder, no fear and no pain, the perfect life, or is it. An FBI agent (Willis) gets involved in solving a murder, which leads to a cover up, and the so called perfect life could be torn apart.
I haven't the heart to come up with a decent sounding synopsis of this film, it just doesn't warrant any effort.
It really disappoints me when I see something that has the potential to be really good, well at least good and it turns out rubbish. I wouldn't class this film as rubbish, but maybe average at best.
What did I say in my preview post, as long as the story doesn't become silly and the outcome sign posted from the start. Well maybe not the start, but it was the wrong side of the middle before I knew where we were going, who was behind it and why!
OK so I know, at least take me on a thrilling 2nd half of the film with loads of action and I may walk away happy. I didn't even get that, 2 action sequences in the whole film and neither of them that exciting, in fact the whole film was pretty dull. The script wasn't great, the acting poor even for a robot's standard.
I can't even rant about the main failings of this film because I will end up giving it all away and spoil it for you. But then again you may just like it!
Overall, dull, action-less sci-fi romp with a very obvious end.
(4/10 - Watchable)
Wednesday 30 September 2009
Friday 25 September 2009
Coming soon
Hi,
There are quite a few films I’m looking forward to seeing over the next few months.
Starting this week; is the Bruce Willis sci-fi action film called Surrogates. I like the premise of this, but my main concern is how silly the story may get by the end. Willis is a fine actor and he does add some solid weight to this film, along with a pretty good cast. The SFX shown in the trailer look reasonable good, but it’s where the story will end up that does worry me. Hopefully it won’t become a mediocre ending sign posted from the start.
Fame, remake of course also opens this weekend. Not one to get widely excited about, it may be ok. My daughter likes the look of it though and may get more out of it than me.
Some other films coming in the next few weeks.
Pandorum (October), and we are back to sci-fi, and a film which seems a cross between Alien, Aliens and Event Horizon. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid head the cast list and direction is by Christian Alvart. This I really like the look of, Foster is a smart actor and I think Alvart could be a pretty strong Director in time. Got high hopes for this.
Zombieland (October) – Tony pointed this out, and it looks superb. The trailer is great and really makes me want to see this film. Along with some super reviews I can’t wait for this. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland) and Woody Harrelson are the main stars and the film is directed by Ruben Fleischer.
Jennifer’s Body (November) – A horror/comedy written by Diablo Cody, directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (Mama Mia). I want this to be good and it looked ok from the trailer. But then the reviews are coming out they are not that positive, some are ok but the main problem they say is the horror isn’t there! But we shall see.
Staying on the horror theme and with Halloween approaching we have the next chapter in the Saw franchise. Halloween 2 which I’ve not heard anything good about. The Stepfather remake and Cirque du Freak: A vampire’s assistant, one I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing.
And the teenage girls’ event of the year – New Moon (Twilight 2) also opens in November.
And even further in the future and ones I’ll talk about another time. Daybreakers, Law abiding Citizen, The fourth kind, The Box, 2012, The Road, Ninja Assassin, Sherlock Holmes and Avatar.
There are quite a few films I’m looking forward to seeing over the next few months.
Starting this week; is the Bruce Willis sci-fi action film called Surrogates. I like the premise of this, but my main concern is how silly the story may get by the end. Willis is a fine actor and he does add some solid weight to this film, along with a pretty good cast. The SFX shown in the trailer look reasonable good, but it’s where the story will end up that does worry me. Hopefully it won’t become a mediocre ending sign posted from the start.
Fame, remake of course also opens this weekend. Not one to get widely excited about, it may be ok. My daughter likes the look of it though and may get more out of it than me.
Some other films coming in the next few weeks.
Pandorum (October), and we are back to sci-fi, and a film which seems a cross between Alien, Aliens and Event Horizon. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid head the cast list and direction is by Christian Alvart. This I really like the look of, Foster is a smart actor and I think Alvart could be a pretty strong Director in time. Got high hopes for this.
Zombieland (October) – Tony pointed this out, and it looks superb. The trailer is great and really makes me want to see this film. Along with some super reviews I can’t wait for this. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland) and Woody Harrelson are the main stars and the film is directed by Ruben Fleischer.
Jennifer’s Body (November) – A horror/comedy written by Diablo Cody, directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (Mama Mia). I want this to be good and it looked ok from the trailer. But then the reviews are coming out they are not that positive, some are ok but the main problem they say is the horror isn’t there! But we shall see.
Staying on the horror theme and with Halloween approaching we have the next chapter in the Saw franchise. Halloween 2 which I’ve not heard anything good about. The Stepfather remake and Cirque du Freak: A vampire’s assistant, one I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing.
And the teenage girls’ event of the year – New Moon (Twilight 2) also opens in November.
And even further in the future and ones I’ll talk about another time. Daybreakers, Law abiding Citizen, The fourth kind, The Box, 2012, The Road, Ninja Assassin, Sherlock Holmes and Avatar.
Thursday 24 September 2009
The Final Destination
Hi,
The Final Destination 3D was last night’s film. It was directed by David R. Ellis, (Final Destination 2) and starred Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill),
Nick Zano, Haley Webb and Mykelti Williamson (Con Air).
The 4th in the series and it feels like it too, the film as usually starts with a major disaster seen moments before it actually happens by Nick (Campo), who manages to usher his friends and a few bystanders to safety before the fatal accident. As always Death isn’t going to let these survivors have a 2nd chance and so each in turn meets his or her end, usually in a pretty gory way.
Now I do like these films, they are not great, but they are mildly entertaining, but the 4th instalment was just too much of the same. Fine - follow the formula, escape death, then realise people are dying in the order they should die, try to prevent it.
But at least come up with a few more exciting death sequences, and here lies the main problem for me. Aside from the wooden acting, the poor script and lack of tension, the film just limped from average death scene to average death scene. We all know the outcome, at least let us enjoy the trip, ramp up the gore, and maybe give us something unexpected.
The only good thing about the film was the 3D, never used over the top, it added a little more too each death but wasn’t enough to save the film in the end.
Overall it was ok, the 3D just about giving it a little more edge, but not enough to get past the poor script, average acting and some pretty poor death sequences.
It would have been 4 but the 3d gives it one more.
(5/10 – Average)
The Final Destination 3D was last night’s film. It was directed by David R. Ellis, (Final Destination 2) and starred Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill),
Nick Zano, Haley Webb and Mykelti Williamson (Con Air).
The 4th in the series and it feels like it too, the film as usually starts with a major disaster seen moments before it actually happens by Nick (Campo), who manages to usher his friends and a few bystanders to safety before the fatal accident. As always Death isn’t going to let these survivors have a 2nd chance and so each in turn meets his or her end, usually in a pretty gory way.
Now I do like these films, they are not great, but they are mildly entertaining, but the 4th instalment was just too much of the same. Fine - follow the formula, escape death, then realise people are dying in the order they should die, try to prevent it.
But at least come up with a few more exciting death sequences, and here lies the main problem for me. Aside from the wooden acting, the poor script and lack of tension, the film just limped from average death scene to average death scene. We all know the outcome, at least let us enjoy the trip, ramp up the gore, and maybe give us something unexpected.
The only good thing about the film was the 3D, never used over the top, it added a little more too each death but wasn’t enough to save the film in the end.
Overall it was ok, the 3D just about giving it a little more edge, but not enough to get past the poor script, average acting and some pretty poor death sequences.
It would have been 4 but the 3d gives it one more.
(5/10 – Average)
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Memories of movie songs.
I was watching an 80’s music show on VH1 Classic, the other night, when the theme song from St Elmo’s Fire came on, “St Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) sung by John Parr.
I started to recall movie’s which had popular songs in them which made the charts, Ghostbusters, Dirty Dancing, Pretty In Pink and Footloose to name but a few.
Come to think of it during the 80’s and early 90’s the charts had a fair amount of movie songs in them, and quite a few made the Number 1 spot. We all remember Bryan Adams and Whitney Houston hogging the top spot for weeks upon weeks with their film songs!
So where’s the music gone, nowadays we get the odd one or 2, a year, nothing in the quantity or even quality of what we had back then, and I miss it. Some of my most listened to CD’s are film soundtracks, The Lost Boys, Dream a Little Dream, Top Gun and Blaze of Glory.
Even trying to think of good closing or opening credit songs over the past 5 years and I’m drawing a blank. I have to go back further than that. One’s which I do remember are “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile, “Take a look around” from Mission Impossible 2. Elevation from Tombraider and the James Bond themes but even they are getting sub-standard. Casino Royale’s has grown on me though over time. “Hero” from Spiderman 2, now I’m starting to struggle, I know there must be more, but I can’t remember any of them they must have been instantly forgettable, or I never hung around after a film long enough to listen to the credit song. But then again I can’t recall that many in the charts either.
And to remind you of what we had back then, here are some I remember from the charts!
“Don’t forget about me” – Simple Minds (The Breakfast Club) 1985
“Eye of the tiger” – Survivor (Rocky 3) 1982
“I will always love you” – Whitney Houston (The Body Guard) 1992
“Take my breath away” – Berlin (Top Gun) 1986
“The time of my life” – Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley (Dirty Dancing) 1987
“Everything I do I do for you” – Bryan Adams (Robin Hood) 1991
“What a wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong (Good Morning Vietnam) 1987
“Footloose” – Kenny Loggins (Footloose) 1984
“9 to 5” – Dolly Parton (9 to 5) 1980
“Power of Love” Huey Lewis (Back to the Future) 1985
“Into the Groove” – Madonna (Desperately seeking Susan) 1985
“It must’ve been love” – Roxette (Pretty Woman) 1990
“We don’t need another hero” – Tina Turner (Mad Max 3) – 1985
“Up where we belong” – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (Officer and a Gentleman) 1982
Am I not paying attention, are they slipping by unnoticed, or have the film companies given up on them, I’m not sure which, but what I do know is I miss a good movie song!
I started to recall movie’s which had popular songs in them which made the charts, Ghostbusters, Dirty Dancing, Pretty In Pink and Footloose to name but a few.
Come to think of it during the 80’s and early 90’s the charts had a fair amount of movie songs in them, and quite a few made the Number 1 spot. We all remember Bryan Adams and Whitney Houston hogging the top spot for weeks upon weeks with their film songs!
So where’s the music gone, nowadays we get the odd one or 2, a year, nothing in the quantity or even quality of what we had back then, and I miss it. Some of my most listened to CD’s are film soundtracks, The Lost Boys, Dream a Little Dream, Top Gun and Blaze of Glory.
Even trying to think of good closing or opening credit songs over the past 5 years and I’m drawing a blank. I have to go back further than that. One’s which I do remember are “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile, “Take a look around” from Mission Impossible 2. Elevation from Tombraider and the James Bond themes but even they are getting sub-standard. Casino Royale’s has grown on me though over time. “Hero” from Spiderman 2, now I’m starting to struggle, I know there must be more, but I can’t remember any of them they must have been instantly forgettable, or I never hung around after a film long enough to listen to the credit song. But then again I can’t recall that many in the charts either.
And to remind you of what we had back then, here are some I remember from the charts!
“Don’t forget about me” – Simple Minds (The Breakfast Club) 1985
“Eye of the tiger” – Survivor (Rocky 3) 1982
“I will always love you” – Whitney Houston (The Body Guard) 1992
“Take my breath away” – Berlin (Top Gun) 1986
“The time of my life” – Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley (Dirty Dancing) 1987
“Everything I do I do for you” – Bryan Adams (Robin Hood) 1991
“What a wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong (Good Morning Vietnam) 1987
“Footloose” – Kenny Loggins (Footloose) 1984
“9 to 5” – Dolly Parton (9 to 5) 1980
“Power of Love” Huey Lewis (Back to the Future) 1985
“Into the Groove” – Madonna (Desperately seeking Susan) 1985
“It must’ve been love” – Roxette (Pretty Woman) 1990
“We don’t need another hero” – Tina Turner (Mad Max 3) – 1985
“Up where we belong” – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (Officer and a Gentleman) 1982
Am I not paying attention, are they slipping by unnoticed, or have the film companies given up on them, I’m not sure which, but what I do know is I miss a good movie song!
Monday 21 September 2009
Frightfest.
Hi,
Now I must confess one of my favourite types of movie is horror. In my youth that was mainly what I watched, Prom night, April Fools Day, Halloween, Friday the 13th, an endless list of blood and gore. Brilliant!
And I continued to invest in the horror genre with my DVD collection, nearly 1/3 of my films are horror. And then I came across J-Horror, brought on by watching the brilliant Ring. These were some creepy films, Ring, Ju-On and a Tale of two sisters my favourites at the moment.
So that in mind 3 years ago I came across a film festival in London called Frightfest, a collection of horror and fantasy films shown over the bank holiday weekend in August.
OH YES!
I talked to my friend (Tony) about this and he was up for it as well. The line up announced in July, the tickets bought the day after and we were going to our first film festival! Pretty cool stuff!
2 months later and we were on the train to London. Our hotel was 5 minutes from the station and about 25 minutes walk from Leicester square, I remember the walk well, because it was raining, the only time in 3 years it’s rained on us. We arrived around 3 hours before the first film, not sure of what to expect and what to do we weren’t taking any chances. The Odeon at the bottom of Leicester Square was the venue, and there were quite a few festival goers already milling around the front of the cinema and in the foyer. We collected our tickets and found a bar, had a few drinks (something we both regretted by the middle of the 2nd film) and something to eat. 18.00 soon came around, we found our seats and our festival experience began with the Australian Horror-Comedy Black Sheep.
Now the film was ok, but this was a different type of audience, with this type of audience the film worked better than it should have done. They laughed and cheered at a gory death, even applauded at times. They wanted blood and gore and when it came they bayed for more! This was how to see horror films. And so the experience was a good one from the start and it only got better!
The Films
Over 25 horror, fantasy and sci-fi films are shown in 5 days. Many are UK premiers, some are World premiers, some will never see a cinema screen outside this festival. Like the brilliant Trick R Treat we got to see this year, out on DVD in October.
You get the lot from Zombie movies (which I’m not keen on), ghost stories, slasher movies and evil kids. Grim films, really grim films (The Girl next door), fun films, very funny films and of course some utter rubbish too, well you can’t expect it all to be good can you!
Thinking about this more, I think each year deserves it’s own post, I mean there are over 25 films for me to talk about each year so this could become one massive post. The good thing is my reviews are never that big, so catch the rundown from each year and my thoughts in some future Fright fest blogs – coming soon!
The Organisers
Alan Jones, a renowned journalist and writer of horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres in all media fields. Paul McEvoy, co-owner of the Cinema shop (London and Nottingham) and long time horror fan. Greg Day who has worked in TV and Film PR for Channel 4 and Channel Five and finally Ian Rattray who is a film distributor and film booker, working in the industry for over 20 years.
Four men with a passion for films, I would guess mostly Horror and Fantasy, but I’ve never actually posed the question to any of them what other genre’s they do like. Something I may ask next year (Yes we are going back for Year 4!).
They manage the weekend brilliantly and even though it looks extremely hard work and they look somewhat stressed at times they are always willing to engage you in conversation, about the films you’ve seen, the stars, the way the weekends going, or just anything to do with films. If you ask and they know they are likely to tell you.
We were late for the Monday morning zombie movie, while getting our wake up coffee, Alan Jones came over to see us, shortly after all we were joined by the other 3 and we had a good chat about Frightfest and each of their backgrounds. As it was 10 years old what better way to remember it but get them all to sign our programmes, which they gladly did.
The Directors and Cast
A fare few Directors come along to promote their films and I suppose they enjoy seeing it played in front of a genre-friendly audience, because these are the people who are going to get it more than anyone. Various cast members also turn up, some stay for a few days, some stay all weekend. They are all told by the organisers that the public will engage them and there’s nowhere to hide!
So unless they leg it out the door at the end of the film, they tend to get asked for autographs, about the film, what they are doing next and so on. Most are willing to talk to you, if only for a brief moment. Most are just happy to be told you enjoyed the film, the direction or their part, I guess it makes them feel they have achieved something worth while.
Then we have some Directors which just keep coming back, Joe Lynch, Adam Green and Neil Marshall. Neil’s wife Axelle Carolyn is almost always with him. I always wondered if Axelle came to keep Neil company, as she’s been there the last three years, but I think it may be Neil keeping Axelle company as it would appear she is the horror expert. I picked up a book at the festival called It Lives Again! This is a history of horror films from 2000 to 2009, a very good read I must say. Then I found a picture of the author with Neil, (who had written the preface), and a caption stating the relationship between the two. I was more than a little surprised, they were married.
So the book will be returning with me next year in the hope I can get it signed.
"Me, Joe Lynch and Tony"
Joe Lynch, the director of Wrong turn 2 which played at the Festival in my first year has also been here the last 3 years, even without bringing a film to the 2 of them.
"Me and Adam Green"
Adam Green, another who had come for the last 4 years but who has a couple more films to his credit, Hatchet, which I really liked, Spiral which showed in my first year, not bad a sort of thinking man’s horror, and this year we got to see the trailer for his new film Frozen, which looks great!
But these two have gone one step further than most, in our 2nd year the 2 of them created a series of “on the road to Frightfest” shorts, taking the opening sequence from the Twilight Zone: Movie, and coming up with 5 very funny shorts. They can be found on You Tube.
With this years showing of American Werewolf in London, they did their own version, again brilliant, even Alan Jones ended up in one of them.
In my 2nd year and the year of The Dark Knight, I spent 20 minutes talking to Joe Lynch about the Batman film. He urged me to see it on an Imax screen, we were back in Manchester on the Tuesday and in our Imax on the Wednesday. All I can say he was right, awesome! Joe Lynch reminds me of Quentino Tarantino, his enthusiasm for film and this genre is infectious and he and Adam are great to chat with.
It’s moments like these that makes the film festival so damn good, ok the films – yes, but the conversations with actors and directors now that really makes it worth while.
The Audience
You may think this would be a whole load of horror frenzied geeks, well not quite, or not as many as you would think really. They are horror fans pure and simple, they love the genre, looking at the countless horror t-shirts which drift pass me in the foyer they really love this genre. And you need too, 25 horror films tests the biggest geek!
I’ve tended to talk to the people sat around me in the theatre, but not really got into many conversations with anybody else. Something I should do, because these people would be just as interesting to discuss horror with as the directors or cast. I think this should be my aim next year, talk to more geeks like myself!
So the 3rd year has been and gone, I’ve seen 84 films, missed only 3 and enjoyed nearly all of them to some degree. Only a couple I’ve really hated!
They have been 3 brilliant weekends and I’m looking forward to a few more!
ROLL ON YEAR 4.
Now I must confess one of my favourite types of movie is horror. In my youth that was mainly what I watched, Prom night, April Fools Day, Halloween, Friday the 13th, an endless list of blood and gore. Brilliant!
And I continued to invest in the horror genre with my DVD collection, nearly 1/3 of my films are horror. And then I came across J-Horror, brought on by watching the brilliant Ring. These were some creepy films, Ring, Ju-On and a Tale of two sisters my favourites at the moment.
So that in mind 3 years ago I came across a film festival in London called Frightfest, a collection of horror and fantasy films shown over the bank holiday weekend in August.
OH YES!
I talked to my friend (Tony) about this and he was up for it as well. The line up announced in July, the tickets bought the day after and we were going to our first film festival! Pretty cool stuff!
2 months later and we were on the train to London. Our hotel was 5 minutes from the station and about 25 minutes walk from Leicester square, I remember the walk well, because it was raining, the only time in 3 years it’s rained on us. We arrived around 3 hours before the first film, not sure of what to expect and what to do we weren’t taking any chances. The Odeon at the bottom of Leicester Square was the venue, and there were quite a few festival goers already milling around the front of the cinema and in the foyer. We collected our tickets and found a bar, had a few drinks (something we both regretted by the middle of the 2nd film) and something to eat. 18.00 soon came around, we found our seats and our festival experience began with the Australian Horror-Comedy Black Sheep.
Now the film was ok, but this was a different type of audience, with this type of audience the film worked better than it should have done. They laughed and cheered at a gory death, even applauded at times. They wanted blood and gore and when it came they bayed for more! This was how to see horror films. And so the experience was a good one from the start and it only got better!
The Films
Over 25 horror, fantasy and sci-fi films are shown in 5 days. Many are UK premiers, some are World premiers, some will never see a cinema screen outside this festival. Like the brilliant Trick R Treat we got to see this year, out on DVD in October.
You get the lot from Zombie movies (which I’m not keen on), ghost stories, slasher movies and evil kids. Grim films, really grim films (The Girl next door), fun films, very funny films and of course some utter rubbish too, well you can’t expect it all to be good can you!
Thinking about this more, I think each year deserves it’s own post, I mean there are over 25 films for me to talk about each year so this could become one massive post. The good thing is my reviews are never that big, so catch the rundown from each year and my thoughts in some future Fright fest blogs – coming soon!
The Organisers
Alan Jones, a renowned journalist and writer of horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres in all media fields. Paul McEvoy, co-owner of the Cinema shop (London and Nottingham) and long time horror fan. Greg Day who has worked in TV and Film PR for Channel 4 and Channel Five and finally Ian Rattray who is a film distributor and film booker, working in the industry for over 20 years.
Four men with a passion for films, I would guess mostly Horror and Fantasy, but I’ve never actually posed the question to any of them what other genre’s they do like. Something I may ask next year (Yes we are going back for Year 4!).
They manage the weekend brilliantly and even though it looks extremely hard work and they look somewhat stressed at times they are always willing to engage you in conversation, about the films you’ve seen, the stars, the way the weekends going, or just anything to do with films. If you ask and they know they are likely to tell you.
We were late for the Monday morning zombie movie, while getting our wake up coffee, Alan Jones came over to see us, shortly after all we were joined by the other 3 and we had a good chat about Frightfest and each of their backgrounds. As it was 10 years old what better way to remember it but get them all to sign our programmes, which they gladly did.
The Directors and Cast
A fare few Directors come along to promote their films and I suppose they enjoy seeing it played in front of a genre-friendly audience, because these are the people who are going to get it more than anyone. Various cast members also turn up, some stay for a few days, some stay all weekend. They are all told by the organisers that the public will engage them and there’s nowhere to hide!
So unless they leg it out the door at the end of the film, they tend to get asked for autographs, about the film, what they are doing next and so on. Most are willing to talk to you, if only for a brief moment. Most are just happy to be told you enjoyed the film, the direction or their part, I guess it makes them feel they have achieved something worth while.
Then we have some Directors which just keep coming back, Joe Lynch, Adam Green and Neil Marshall. Neil’s wife Axelle Carolyn is almost always with him. I always wondered if Axelle came to keep Neil company, as she’s been there the last three years, but I think it may be Neil keeping Axelle company as it would appear she is the horror expert. I picked up a book at the festival called It Lives Again! This is a history of horror films from 2000 to 2009, a very good read I must say. Then I found a picture of the author with Neil, (who had written the preface), and a caption stating the relationship between the two. I was more than a little surprised, they were married.
So the book will be returning with me next year in the hope I can get it signed.
"Me, Joe Lynch and Tony"Joe Lynch, the director of Wrong turn 2 which played at the Festival in my first year has also been here the last 3 years, even without bringing a film to the 2 of them.
"Me and Adam Green"
Adam Green, another who had come for the last 4 years but who has a couple more films to his credit, Hatchet, which I really liked, Spiral which showed in my first year, not bad a sort of thinking man’s horror, and this year we got to see the trailer for his new film Frozen, which looks great!
But these two have gone one step further than most, in our 2nd year the 2 of them created a series of “on the road to Frightfest” shorts, taking the opening sequence from the Twilight Zone: Movie, and coming up with 5 very funny shorts. They can be found on You Tube.
With this years showing of American Werewolf in London, they did their own version, again brilliant, even Alan Jones ended up in one of them.
In my 2nd year and the year of The Dark Knight, I spent 20 minutes talking to Joe Lynch about the Batman film. He urged me to see it on an Imax screen, we were back in Manchester on the Tuesday and in our Imax on the Wednesday. All I can say he was right, awesome! Joe Lynch reminds me of Quentino Tarantino, his enthusiasm for film and this genre is infectious and he and Adam are great to chat with.
It’s moments like these that makes the film festival so damn good, ok the films – yes, but the conversations with actors and directors now that really makes it worth while.
The Audience
You may think this would be a whole load of horror frenzied geeks, well not quite, or not as many as you would think really. They are horror fans pure and simple, they love the genre, looking at the countless horror t-shirts which drift pass me in the foyer they really love this genre. And you need too, 25 horror films tests the biggest geek!
I’ve tended to talk to the people sat around me in the theatre, but not really got into many conversations with anybody else. Something I should do, because these people would be just as interesting to discuss horror with as the directors or cast. I think this should be my aim next year, talk to more geeks like myself!
So the 3rd year has been and gone, I’ve seen 84 films, missed only 3 and enjoyed nearly all of them to some degree. Only a couple I’ve really hated!
They have been 3 brilliant weekends and I’m looking forward to a few more!
ROLL ON YEAR 4.
Adventureland
Hi,
Here’s what I saw last night-
Adventureland, Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad) and starring Jessie Eisenberg (Cursed), Kristen Stewart (Twilight Saga), Bill Hader (Superbad) and Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).
Like Funny People this film is more a drama with some comedy elements thrown in, and like Apatow, Mottola has reigned in the comedy to tell a heart warming coming of age story.
Set in 1987, the film follows James (Eisenberg), leaving college and finding his summer European holiday and New York Ivy League school plans crushed by his parent’s career problems. He sets out to find a job to pay for New York, and that job is working on games in Adventureland. It may be boring, but he meets and befriends a number of people including Em (Stewart) who James falls in love with.
The more the film went on the more I felt I was watching a John Hughes movie, not as good as that, but not far off. The acting was fine from all concerned, with Eisenberg turning in a superb performance. Reynolds was solid, Hader much more controlled than some of his previous roles and Stewart so much better than her turn in Twilight. The characters were all very believable and likable, and the situations they found themselves in all felt very real.
Direction was sound with some very good cinematography, the soundtrack was brilliant and used very well throughout the film.
Overall I really enjoyed this film, with its likable characters, sombre moments, funny moments which were all acted and directed really well.
(8/10 – Extremely Good)
2 (a young couple) left the screening!
Here’s what I saw last night-
Adventureland, Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad) and starring Jessie Eisenberg (Cursed), Kristen Stewart (Twilight Saga), Bill Hader (Superbad) and Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).
Like Funny People this film is more a drama with some comedy elements thrown in, and like Apatow, Mottola has reigned in the comedy to tell a heart warming coming of age story.
Set in 1987, the film follows James (Eisenberg), leaving college and finding his summer European holiday and New York Ivy League school plans crushed by his parent’s career problems. He sets out to find a job to pay for New York, and that job is working on games in Adventureland. It may be boring, but he meets and befriends a number of people including Em (Stewart) who James falls in love with.
The more the film went on the more I felt I was watching a John Hughes movie, not as good as that, but not far off. The acting was fine from all concerned, with Eisenberg turning in a superb performance. Reynolds was solid, Hader much more controlled than some of his previous roles and Stewart so much better than her turn in Twilight. The characters were all very believable and likable, and the situations they found themselves in all felt very real.
Direction was sound with some very good cinematography, the soundtrack was brilliant and used very well throughout the film.
Overall I really enjoyed this film, with its likable characters, sombre moments, funny moments which were all acted and directed really well.
(8/10 – Extremely Good)
2 (a young couple) left the screening!
Thursday 17 September 2009
Gamer
Hi,
Saw Gamer last night, starring Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta (Transporter 2), Michael C Hall (Dexter) and Kyra Sedgwick (Singles). Directed and written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor the pair responsible for the Crank films.
Now if you thought the Crank films were load of rubbish, I can’t see how this is going to appeal to you at all. I thought the Crank films were a lot of fun, but I do like Statham so they had some appeal to me anyway.
My initial thoughts were this wasn’t a bad movie but the more I thought about it the more I realised that Gamer is a mess of a movie. It has some good ideas which never amounted to anything in the end.
So it was a bit of a let down really, as I was looking forward to this, a lot!
As a piece of trashy entertainment it does have its moments; the battle scenes were done fairly well. Michael C Hall’s dance number was great, the idea regarding controlling humans in either a first person shooter or a SIMS style game I liked.
However the more I watched Gamer the more I thought of Death Race, and for me Death Race is a class above this film, and Gamer never managed to get out of its shadow at any point.
One thing that I really missed was any humour, ok visually Neveldine and Taylor were bashing all kinds of hell out of the gaming community. We had 17 year old boys hooked on violent FPS games. Slobs hooked on a perverse “real life” SIMS game, getting their characters to perform lured acts and getting off on it. But the script was so serious it just sucked the fun right out of the film. Surely these gaming geeks have some sense of humour? Obviously not!
Butler, handled the action with ease, Hall wasn’t bad as the villain. The rest of the cast did what they could with an average script. Direction was fast and furious especially when we were emerged in the game world, not just the battle scenes, but the SIMS world as well, and that was a little frustrating.
Overall it entertained in flashes, but good ideas never developed into much and it lacked any funny lines, unless I missed them!
(5/10 – Average)
Saw Gamer last night, starring Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta (Transporter 2), Michael C Hall (Dexter) and Kyra Sedgwick (Singles). Directed and written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor the pair responsible for the Crank films.
Now if you thought the Crank films were load of rubbish, I can’t see how this is going to appeal to you at all. I thought the Crank films were a lot of fun, but I do like Statham so they had some appeal to me anyway.
My initial thoughts were this wasn’t a bad movie but the more I thought about it the more I realised that Gamer is a mess of a movie. It has some good ideas which never amounted to anything in the end.
So it was a bit of a let down really, as I was looking forward to this, a lot!
As a piece of trashy entertainment it does have its moments; the battle scenes were done fairly well. Michael C Hall’s dance number was great, the idea regarding controlling humans in either a first person shooter or a SIMS style game I liked.
However the more I watched Gamer the more I thought of Death Race, and for me Death Race is a class above this film, and Gamer never managed to get out of its shadow at any point.
One thing that I really missed was any humour, ok visually Neveldine and Taylor were bashing all kinds of hell out of the gaming community. We had 17 year old boys hooked on violent FPS games. Slobs hooked on a perverse “real life” SIMS game, getting their characters to perform lured acts and getting off on it. But the script was so serious it just sucked the fun right out of the film. Surely these gaming geeks have some sense of humour? Obviously not!
Butler, handled the action with ease, Hall wasn’t bad as the villain. The rest of the cast did what they could with an average script. Direction was fast and furious especially when we were emerged in the game world, not just the battle scenes, but the SIMS world as well, and that was a little frustrating.
Overall it entertained in flashes, but good ideas never developed into much and it lacked any funny lines, unless I missed them!
(5/10 – Average)
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Do they know what they are watching?
Hi,
As an avid film watcher at the cinema, it amazes me how many people leave a film, or turn up and start discussing which film they should watch while stood in the queue.
So why do people leave? Ok it’s their right to walk out if they are not enjoying the film, but they are not getting any money back, so why leave? Even the worst films I’ve seen I’ve always managed to sit it out, maybe something good while happen at some point. Then again maybe it won’t but I’ve paid for it I’m watching it.
But I really get the impression that these people don’t know what they are sitting down to watch. Maybe these are the same people who have turned up on spec and picked a film while stood in the queue, I don’t know.
Sometimes you can spot the “walkers” coming into the film, and we do comment on how many may leave a showing, depending on the film.
Sometimes though people do surprise me, watching Devil’s Rejects a few years back, and when we walked in there were 2 old women, I’m talking well into their 70’s sat waiting for the film to start. Hold on, surely they are in the wrong film! Then again maybe they were gore hounds who knows, what I was expecting was for them to leave. Guess what they stayed the course, through torture, rape and killings they stayed. We had to laugh, prime candidates for a walk out and they watched the credits roll – brilliant!
There have been a few films were people have left, Sunshine, Tormented, Planet Terror, but I’m going to look at just 3, 1 is obvious, 1 I could believe and 1 I was surprised at.
Funny people is maybe the one where I didn’t really expect people to leave. However 4 left (2 couples) they were fairly young though, maybe expecting another 40 year old virgin or Knocked up, come on it’s by the same director and has a lot of the same cast members, it’s going to be as funny or even funnier than them films, the audience will be rolling in the aisles. Well we weren’t and they weren’t going to stick around and see if it got any better.
Everything I had read or heard about this film, even the trailer implied a more subtle, “grown up” kind of humour than Apatow’s previous outings, so I’m sitting there and got what I expected, well actually it was better than I expected.
The obvious one is Anti-Christ; just the title alone would draw in young people hoping for an Omen style horror film, with lots of scary moments and major blood letting. Don’t think they got what they bargained for. A horror film yes, but grounded in reality and based on a persons descent into guilt/grief stricken madness. This film was hard to watch, grim, strange, but somehow gripping. As a film it was very good as a piece of entertainment it was terrible.
Well back to my point, 8 people left from an audience of 16, these 8 were young adults, who were just not going to get this film. Again every indication this was not a genuine horror film, from reviews, I mean it’s content was discussed all over the place surely anybody with half a brain is going to know this is not a typical horror film, and if that’s what they want they should wait for likes of Final Destination 3D or Sorority Girls!
My final film for walk outs is one where I was waiting for someone to go! Part 1 of the Grindhouse double bill – Death Proof. Qt’s films are love or hate them type’s, I usually like them, I did like Death Proof. But some didn’t and they left, can’t remember how many went, but it was a few. And again mostly young adults or teenagers, who again are never going to get what QT was doing with this film.
Again read the previews, read the hype, see the trailers this is not Pulp Fiction, this is not Kill Bill this is Grindhouse. I even think the editing put off many, I thought it added a certain feel to the whole thing. But that’s me!
So I get myself ready for a film, watch the trailers read the hype, read some reviews. Some I have high expectations for, some I don’t. But with all of them I know what I’m going to see and the ones I don’t like the look of, Year One, Miss March, Doubt and so on I miss and find something else to watch.
It’s all part of the plan!
As an avid film watcher at the cinema, it amazes me how many people leave a film, or turn up and start discussing which film they should watch while stood in the queue.
So why do people leave? Ok it’s their right to walk out if they are not enjoying the film, but they are not getting any money back, so why leave? Even the worst films I’ve seen I’ve always managed to sit it out, maybe something good while happen at some point. Then again maybe it won’t but I’ve paid for it I’m watching it.
But I really get the impression that these people don’t know what they are sitting down to watch. Maybe these are the same people who have turned up on spec and picked a film while stood in the queue, I don’t know.
Sometimes you can spot the “walkers” coming into the film, and we do comment on how many may leave a showing, depending on the film.
Sometimes though people do surprise me, watching Devil’s Rejects a few years back, and when we walked in there were 2 old women, I’m talking well into their 70’s sat waiting for the film to start. Hold on, surely they are in the wrong film! Then again maybe they were gore hounds who knows, what I was expecting was for them to leave. Guess what they stayed the course, through torture, rape and killings they stayed. We had to laugh, prime candidates for a walk out and they watched the credits roll – brilliant!
There have been a few films were people have left, Sunshine, Tormented, Planet Terror, but I’m going to look at just 3, 1 is obvious, 1 I could believe and 1 I was surprised at.
Funny people is maybe the one where I didn’t really expect people to leave. However 4 left (2 couples) they were fairly young though, maybe expecting another 40 year old virgin or Knocked up, come on it’s by the same director and has a lot of the same cast members, it’s going to be as funny or even funnier than them films, the audience will be rolling in the aisles. Well we weren’t and they weren’t going to stick around and see if it got any better.
Everything I had read or heard about this film, even the trailer implied a more subtle, “grown up” kind of humour than Apatow’s previous outings, so I’m sitting there and got what I expected, well actually it was better than I expected.
The obvious one is Anti-Christ; just the title alone would draw in young people hoping for an Omen style horror film, with lots of scary moments and major blood letting. Don’t think they got what they bargained for. A horror film yes, but grounded in reality and based on a persons descent into guilt/grief stricken madness. This film was hard to watch, grim, strange, but somehow gripping. As a film it was very good as a piece of entertainment it was terrible.
Well back to my point, 8 people left from an audience of 16, these 8 were young adults, who were just not going to get this film. Again every indication this was not a genuine horror film, from reviews, I mean it’s content was discussed all over the place surely anybody with half a brain is going to know this is not a typical horror film, and if that’s what they want they should wait for likes of Final Destination 3D or Sorority Girls!
My final film for walk outs is one where I was waiting for someone to go! Part 1 of the Grindhouse double bill – Death Proof. Qt’s films are love or hate them type’s, I usually like them, I did like Death Proof. But some didn’t and they left, can’t remember how many went, but it was a few. And again mostly young adults or teenagers, who again are never going to get what QT was doing with this film.
Again read the previews, read the hype, see the trailers this is not Pulp Fiction, this is not Kill Bill this is Grindhouse. I even think the editing put off many, I thought it added a certain feel to the whole thing. But that’s me!
So I get myself ready for a film, watch the trailers read the hype, read some reviews. Some I have high expectations for, some I don’t. But with all of them I know what I’m going to see and the ones I don’t like the look of, Year One, Miss March, Doubt and so on I miss and find something else to watch.
It’s all part of the plan!
Funny People
Hi,
Last night I saw Funny People, starring Adam Sandler (Switch), Jonah Hill (Superbad), Seth Rogan (Zack and Miri make a Porno), Leslie Mann (40-Year old Virgin) and Eric Bana (Star Trek). Judd Apatow wrote and directed the film.
I really liked this film; Sandler was superb, supported brilliantly by Rogan, Hill, Mann and Bana. The script was brilliant most of the time, sometimes it did lag, but trying to maintain a 146 minute drama/comedy with great writing was going to be a hard thing to pull off. This isn’t a flat out comedy like Apatow’s 40-year old virgin but more of a moment in time piece about Sandler’s ailing character, and his coming to terms with a life which has passed him by. The film has no real resolution.
The film starts with quite a sombre tone, the comedy subtle and warm in places, while loud and in your face in others worked well throughout the film. Mind you this isn’t a roll on the floor laugh a minute, there were long spells between these funny moments, sometimes they lagged, but on the whole I was never bored by the proceedings.
Cameos’ came and went, and there were a lot of them, from Eminem to Sarah Silverman, Paul Reiser and James Taylor, but all worked in the film really well. Rogan, Hill and Schwartzman as the housemates were great with Hill having some great lines.
The direction was sound throughout, and I think Apatow got a lot from Sandler.
Overall it was long, but well worth sitting through, the acting great with the writing superb most of the time.
(8/10 – Extremely Good)
Monday 14 September 2009
Dorian Grey
Hi,
Saw Dorian Grey last night. The films stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Grey (Narnia 2), Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rachel Hurd Wood (Peter Pan) and Rebecca Hall (Frost/Nixon). Directed by Oliver Parker (St Trinians 1 & 2).
A missed opportunity in my opinion. Overall it had some good ideas, which never evolved into a good film. It's not a bad film, the script is ok, the direction ok, the acting was good, Chaplin and Firth being the best, the supporting cast of women were ok as well. Barnes I wasn't sure, he was the right actor for the role with his looks and youth, but seemed a little wooden, maybe he nailed the innocent young man and his growth into a heartless monster but he didn't convince me.
The film wanted to push decedant issues but never really crossed the line, the quick editing took away most of the shock value in these scenes and left them a little weak. Also the confrontation at the end of the film felt a little flat.
Maybe this film needed to be an 18 and really gone for it.
Maybe an unrated DVD version might make a better watch.
(6/10 - Not bad)
Saw Dorian Grey last night. The films stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Grey (Narnia 2), Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rachel Hurd Wood (Peter Pan) and Rebecca Hall (Frost/Nixon). Directed by Oliver Parker (St Trinians 1 & 2).
A missed opportunity in my opinion. Overall it had some good ideas, which never evolved into a good film. It's not a bad film, the script is ok, the direction ok, the acting was good, Chaplin and Firth being the best, the supporting cast of women were ok as well. Barnes I wasn't sure, he was the right actor for the role with his looks and youth, but seemed a little wooden, maybe he nailed the innocent young man and his growth into a heartless monster but he didn't convince me.
The film wanted to push decedant issues but never really crossed the line, the quick editing took away most of the shock value in these scenes and left them a little weak. Also the confrontation at the end of the film felt a little flat.
Maybe this film needed to be an 18 and really gone for it.
Maybe an unrated DVD version might make a better watch.
(6/10 - Not bad)
Sunday 13 September 2009
Twilight (DVD)
Hi,
Vampire films are one of my favourite sub genres, so got round to watching Twilight last night and I was not that impressed really.
I haven't read the books, so I can't comment on Book Vs Film, and after watching this I doubt I will bother reading them anyway.
The main problem I had with it was it that I couldn't figure out what it wanted to be. A horror film, a romance, a teen-drama or all of them. It felt so empty in the end and it never really went anywhere or did anything. As a film, the script was poor, the acting reflected the script, the action wasn't great. Scene's where the vampires used there powers reminded me of the Bionic Man, I was just waiting for the "boing boing sound effect" to start.
Vampire lore was torn to shreds, ok certain aspects like garlic, holy water, crucifixes have been played about with in other films, but they really turned it on its head this time. Sunlight's always been the biggest natural threat to a vampire. Here vampire + sunlight = diamond skin effect! What is that all about!
Anyway even the scary vampires weren't that scary, and to keep the rating down and not scare all the teenage girls the vampire killings were kept to description only, again taking away the horror! So really what was the point!
Fair enough I am not in the main age group or gender that this film is aimed at but it's a vampire story, made well this should have had some appeal to a wider audience. And to prove the point my daughter liked it - the film hit it's mark. Wait till she's older then I'll show here some decent vampire movies, like Near Dark, Interview with a vampire, Blade, and The Lost boys.
I'm sure I'll have to take her to see the 2nd one, maybe it will improve. I hope so!
Vampire films are one of my favourite sub genres, so got round to watching Twilight last night and I was not that impressed really.
I haven't read the books, so I can't comment on Book Vs Film, and after watching this I doubt I will bother reading them anyway.
The main problem I had with it was it that I couldn't figure out what it wanted to be. A horror film, a romance, a teen-drama or all of them. It felt so empty in the end and it never really went anywhere or did anything. As a film, the script was poor, the acting reflected the script, the action wasn't great. Scene's where the vampires used there powers reminded me of the Bionic Man, I was just waiting for the "boing boing sound effect" to start.
Vampire lore was torn to shreds, ok certain aspects like garlic, holy water, crucifixes have been played about with in other films, but they really turned it on its head this time. Sunlight's always been the biggest natural threat to a vampire. Here vampire + sunlight = diamond skin effect! What is that all about!
Anyway even the scary vampires weren't that scary, and to keep the rating down and not scare all the teenage girls the vampire killings were kept to description only, again taking away the horror! So really what was the point!
Fair enough I am not in the main age group or gender that this film is aimed at but it's a vampire story, made well this should have had some appeal to a wider audience. And to prove the point my daughter liked it - the film hit it's mark. Wait till she's older then I'll show here some decent vampire movies, like Near Dark, Interview with a vampire, Blade, and The Lost boys.
I'm sure I'll have to take her to see the 2nd one, maybe it will improve. I hope so!
Friday 11 September 2009
Bladerunner - The Final Cut (DVD)
Hi,
It's a long long time since I saw Bladerunner, so sat down last night to watch it. Apart from the obvious missing voice over, I'm not too sure what the difference was with the Theatrical cut of the film and this cut. I do seem to remember Deckard and Rachel in a car in the sun at the end, but not 100% on that.
What a film, Scott's vision is remarkable, the look and feel of the whole thing is amazing. The cast is superb, the cinematography stunning and the music outstanding. A near perfect film!
(10/10 - Outstanding)
The picture even on my standard CRT looking great but the sound rumbled through my sub woofer with the constant hum of the city and it sounded amazing.
There are 4 more versions in the set, I doubt I will watch them, maybe the Theatrical cut to see the difference but that could be it, I will also make some time to watch the making off as well.
Tonight I'm watching Twilight with my daughter - see what all the fuss is about.
It's a long long time since I saw Bladerunner, so sat down last night to watch it. Apart from the obvious missing voice over, I'm not too sure what the difference was with the Theatrical cut of the film and this cut. I do seem to remember Deckard and Rachel in a car in the sun at the end, but not 100% on that.
What a film, Scott's vision is remarkable, the look and feel of the whole thing is amazing. The cast is superb, the cinematography stunning and the music outstanding. A near perfect film!
(10/10 - Outstanding)
The picture even on my standard CRT looking great but the sound rumbled through my sub woofer with the constant hum of the city and it sounded amazing.
There are 4 more versions in the set, I doubt I will watch them, maybe the Theatrical cut to see the difference but that could be it, I will also make some time to watch the making off as well.
Tonight I'm watching Twilight with my daughter - see what all the fuss is about.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Sorrority Row
Hi,
Just got back from the pictures.
Not bad at all, maybe I'm a little surprised at what I saw tonight. The death's were never over the top and the gore never excessive. The acting was competent from all which came from a pretty good script. The stronger performances came from Briana Evigan (Step up 2), Leah Pipes and Jamie Chung. Rumour Willis wasn't bad either. But all very easy on the eye as well.
Overall the direction was ok, the party scenes were very well done accompanied with a loud rock/pop soundtrack.
The only let down really was it lacked any real tension or menace when the killer arrived on screen. But there were a couple of nice jumpy moments here and there, and for the girl 2 seats up from us it was all a little scary for her as she had her hands over her eyes most of the time!
Sometimes I wish someone would just throw the horror rules out and create something really scary and original, it all seems like "horror by numbers" at the moment and that's just not scary!
(7/10 - G00d)
Nothing now till Sunday when I think it will be Funny People.
Just got back from the pictures.
Not bad at all, maybe I'm a little surprised at what I saw tonight. The death's were never over the top and the gore never excessive. The acting was competent from all which came from a pretty good script. The stronger performances came from Briana Evigan (Step up 2), Leah Pipes and Jamie Chung. Rumour Willis wasn't bad either. But all very easy on the eye as well.
Overall the direction was ok, the party scenes were very well done accompanied with a loud rock/pop soundtrack.
The only let down really was it lacked any real tension or menace when the killer arrived on screen. But there were a couple of nice jumpy moments here and there, and for the girl 2 seats up from us it was all a little scary for her as she had her hands over her eyes most of the time!
Sometimes I wish someone would just throw the horror rules out and create something really scary and original, it all seems like "horror by numbers" at the moment and that's just not scary!
(7/10 - G00d)
Nothing now till Sunday when I think it will be Funny People.
A choice
Hi,
Well it's still up in the air which film we see tonight, but I think we will be going for Sorority Row. Funny people will be Sunday now and then Dorian Gray maybe Thursday, with Final Destinantion on Tuesday or Monday.
A couple of these should slip into the week after so I doubt we will miss any.
Right, off to the cinema!
Well it's still up in the air which film we see tonight, but I think we will be going for Sorority Row. Funny people will be Sunday now and then Dorian Gray maybe Thursday, with Final Destinantion on Tuesday or Monday.
A couple of these should slip into the week after so I doubt we will miss any.
Right, off to the cinema!
District 9
Hi,
So this is my first review-blog, I don't tend to go through the events of the film, so most of my reviews should be spoiler free. I just like to talk about the things I liked or dis-liked in the movie.
"And... here… we... go! "
Last night saw District 9, a film I had been looking forward to seeing for a while. I have to say I was not disappointed at all, in fact it was better than I expected.
I must admit the shaky-cam films do make me feel ill, Cloverfield and Rec just did me in, I still liked the films but I felt rough after them! District 9 didn't make me ill! Thank God.
The documentary style of the film worked quite well and I liked the overall look of the film, slipping from the documentary into the more conventional style of filming with ease.
But what I was impressed with the most were the aliens and the special effects. We all know that CGI in films can look amazing nowadays, but sometimes it doesn't and poor CGI can really drag a film down for me. Well this film had it spot on, the alien craft suspended above Johannesburg looked amazing. But the aliens impressed even more, they really did seem very real and the interaction between the actors and them looked seamless.
Then there are the alien weapons, oh my god, devastating. The gore level was pretty high when these guns hit there targets. Brilliant. The action in this film is very good.
I'm not getting into the social commentary in this film, but sometimes it was pretty hard hitting and you really did feel for the aliens at times. Judge for yourself.
The main actor, Sharlto Copley was really good. The director Neill Blomkamp did a fine job of keeping it all very real. The cinematography was good and the music from what I can recall was also pretty good.
(9/10 - Brilliant)
This is the 3rd sci-fi film this summer, Star Trek (10/10) - now this is one great movie, now District 9 (9/10) and Transformers 2 (5/10).
So this is my first review-blog, I don't tend to go through the events of the film, so most of my reviews should be spoiler free. I just like to talk about the things I liked or dis-liked in the movie.
"And... here… we... go! "
Last night saw District 9, a film I had been looking forward to seeing for a while. I have to say I was not disappointed at all, in fact it was better than I expected.
I must admit the shaky-cam films do make me feel ill, Cloverfield and Rec just did me in, I still liked the films but I felt rough after them! District 9 didn't make me ill! Thank God.
The documentary style of the film worked quite well and I liked the overall look of the film, slipping from the documentary into the more conventional style of filming with ease.
But what I was impressed with the most were the aliens and the special effects. We all know that CGI in films can look amazing nowadays, but sometimes it doesn't and poor CGI can really drag a film down for me. Well this film had it spot on, the alien craft suspended above Johannesburg looked amazing. But the aliens impressed even more, they really did seem very real and the interaction between the actors and them looked seamless.
Then there are the alien weapons, oh my god, devastating. The gore level was pretty high when these guns hit there targets. Brilliant. The action in this film is very good.
I'm not getting into the social commentary in this film, but sometimes it was pretty hard hitting and you really did feel for the aliens at times. Judge for yourself.
The main actor, Sharlto Copley was really good. The director Neill Blomkamp did a fine job of keeping it all very real. The cinematography was good and the music from what I can recall was also pretty good.
(9/10 - Brilliant)
This is the 3rd sci-fi film this summer, Star Trek (10/10) - now this is one great movie, now District 9 (9/10) and Transformers 2 (5/10).
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Changes already
Hi,
See told you it would change. My wife is out Thursday, plus I missed off Final Destination as well. So tomorrow night is now on, but I need late films and it's orange Wednesday (Don't get me started on that!) so it's going to be Sorority Row or Final Destination. I'll re-schedule the rest tomorrow.
See told you it would change. My wife is out Thursday, plus I missed off Final Destination as well. So tomorrow night is now on, but I need late films and it's orange Wednesday (Don't get me started on that!) so it's going to be Sorority Row or Final Destination. I'll re-schedule the rest tomorrow.
What to see this week.
Hi,
Tuesday is the day Cineworld release their current weeks schedule. Well it would seem a busy week.
Tonight I have District 9 - I have been looking forward to seeing this for some time now. And will be my first review-blog. Which I'm looking forward to posting hopefully tomorrow.
Funny People on Thursday. I really liked The 40 year old virgin. The waxing scene had me laughing so hard it hurt! Knocked up I haven't seen yet. So I have high hopes for Funny People.
Sunday I hope to see Dorian Grey. I really liked the look of this, but really bad reviews have slightly dented my expectations. However the extended scene we saw at Frightfest did look very good.
The Sorority Row on Tuesday, not sure but the trailer makes it look like any other prank gone wrong film.
Whiteout on Thursday, this looks really good, kept away from the reviews for this.
Adventureland is also released but I think that can wait till the week after.
So that's the plan, no doubt it will change, it sometimes does but overall we don't miss that many films really.
Tuesday is the day Cineworld release their current weeks schedule. Well it would seem a busy week.
Tonight I have District 9 - I have been looking forward to seeing this for some time now. And will be my first review-blog. Which I'm looking forward to posting hopefully tomorrow.
Funny People on Thursday. I really liked The 40 year old virgin. The waxing scene had me laughing so hard it hurt! Knocked up I haven't seen yet. So I have high hopes for Funny People.
Sunday I hope to see Dorian Grey. I really liked the look of this, but really bad reviews have slightly dented my expectations. However the extended scene we saw at Frightfest did look very good.
The Sorority Row on Tuesday, not sure but the trailer makes it look like any other prank gone wrong film.
Whiteout on Thursday, this looks really good, kept away from the reviews for this.
Adventureland is also released but I think that can wait till the week after.
So that's the plan, no doubt it will change, it sometimes does but overall we don't miss that many films really.
Monday 7 September 2009
Let them entertain me!
Hi.
What makes a movie good? What makes one outstanding (a 10/10 in my book)? What makes one dreadful (1/10)?
Subjective to every body's taste I can assume. Each to their own and something I will look into through this post - that is people's taste or maybe lack off! Usually lack off!
A good film to me on a basic level is if it entertained me. In my younger days that was all I wanted from a film. As I've matured (Ok got older!), and spent a good few hours in the cinema I've come to appreciate movies a lot more. It still has to entertain but now I want more, I want so much more, the cinematography to astound me, the music to sweep me away. I want the director to sell me his vision, the actors to breath life into the script. I want to feel tension, excitement, fear and joy. I Want it All! And if I get most of that I'm happy, not many films do deliver the works, but I would say most I see are 7 and above.
Then we have the ones which are not so good, some are even dreadful, the script is terrible, the acting poor, the direction off, the music doesn't fit, but that's my opinion and again is rare that a film has all them elements of failure. One does spring to mind though - "Doomsday". Some people think it's great and I don't have an issue with them liking this film, its their opinion. They may not like Crank 1 and 2 but I think they are great fun!
Everyone's a critic
So as I pass through the pages of IMDB, Aintitcool and comingsoon.net to name but a few to see what's good or not, the comments, reviews and talk about movies differs from the intellectual to the down right silly. Some comments make me want to buy or see the film, others make me think have I just wasted my money or should I see something else tonight?
Wait! Should I listen to these people, take on board what they say. Maybe, at least these are the comments of the common man or woman, not some over-paid critic who never seem's to give an impartial view of a film, and so now I mostly ignore what they say.
Most comments I read, I pay some attention to, especially if it's got some intelligence in what it says. And then we have the ones who rant on how bad a film is "I've just wasted 2 hours of my life watching this rubbish", or the one comment I really don't like "Don't bother watching this film it's rubbish!". Hold on, I don't mind a review explaining why he/she didn't like it, but to expect me to not see a film on this person's say so, nope not having that. Makes me want to see the film all the more. And they may be right and quite a few times they are, it is utter rubbish but at least I've made up my own mind.
So hopefully in my review-blogs I can be subjective and convay some reasons as to why I think this movie is great, average or awful. And if it's awful I won't be the one telling you not to waste your time or money in seeing this film, thats for you to decide!
What makes a movie good? What makes one outstanding (a 10/10 in my book)? What makes one dreadful (1/10)?
Subjective to every body's taste I can assume. Each to their own and something I will look into through this post - that is people's taste or maybe lack off! Usually lack off!
A good film to me on a basic level is if it entertained me. In my younger days that was all I wanted from a film. As I've matured (Ok got older!), and spent a good few hours in the cinema I've come to appreciate movies a lot more. It still has to entertain but now I want more, I want so much more, the cinematography to astound me, the music to sweep me away. I want the director to sell me his vision, the actors to breath life into the script. I want to feel tension, excitement, fear and joy. I Want it All! And if I get most of that I'm happy, not many films do deliver the works, but I would say most I see are 7 and above.
Then we have the ones which are not so good, some are even dreadful, the script is terrible, the acting poor, the direction off, the music doesn't fit, but that's my opinion and again is rare that a film has all them elements of failure. One does spring to mind though - "Doomsday". Some people think it's great and I don't have an issue with them liking this film, its their opinion. They may not like Crank 1 and 2 but I think they are great fun!
Everyone's a critic
So as I pass through the pages of IMDB, Aintitcool and comingsoon.net to name but a few to see what's good or not, the comments, reviews and talk about movies differs from the intellectual to the down right silly. Some comments make me want to buy or see the film, others make me think have I just wasted my money or should I see something else tonight?
Wait! Should I listen to these people, take on board what they say. Maybe, at least these are the comments of the common man or woman, not some over-paid critic who never seem's to give an impartial view of a film, and so now I mostly ignore what they say.
Most comments I read, I pay some attention to, especially if it's got some intelligence in what it says. And then we have the ones who rant on how bad a film is "I've just wasted 2 hours of my life watching this rubbish", or the one comment I really don't like "Don't bother watching this film it's rubbish!". Hold on, I don't mind a review explaining why he/she didn't like it, but to expect me to not see a film on this person's say so, nope not having that. Makes me want to see the film all the more. And they may be right and quite a few times they are, it is utter rubbish but at least I've made up my own mind.
So hopefully in my review-blogs I can be subjective and convay some reasons as to why I think this movie is great, average or awful. And if it's awful I won't be the one telling you not to waste your time or money in seeing this film, thats for you to decide!
Sunday 6 September 2009
Introduction to my world.
Hi, and welcome to my world of movies. It's not an obsessive world well I hope it’s not. But it’s something which I think I'd like to share, though I must admit I have been pushed into this a little, so let me tell you about it.
Years ago when I was a lot, lot younger and at college, I rented quite a few films a week to fill in the afternoon's when I didn't have lectures or anything to do. I wouldn’t say I paid much attention to what I was watching but if the film entertained me then it must have been ok. Soon I had run out of things to watch, and being young I didn’t really turn to older films. So my film watching slowed down to the odd visit to the cinema and a few videos every now and then.
Some years later 7 or 8 I think, I met my friend’s sister, who later became my wife. After the engagement we spent quite a few night’s staying in, you know how it is saving for a house etc, and so we rented a fare few videos in that year. The odd trip to the cinema as well and I was getting my interest back in film. Then the house came and the video’s died off again along with the cinema.
Roll on a few more years and DVD comes around, now not one for collecting movies, I think I had 4 in total, Lost Boys, Die Hard 1 and 2 and Purple Rain. I got a DVD drive for my computer and so my collection began. But this is for another post soon.
A few years later I was starting to get back to the cinema, and watch some DVD’s! But it was the cinema I liked the most the whole experience was great, but good God was it expensive. We limited it to the “I really want to see that at the cinema” movies. I think we saw 1 or 2 a month.
However our local cinema is a Cineworld and they do an Unlimited card for £12 a month (or it was then), with which you can see as many films as you like. Now this sounded like a good deal, in fact this was perfect. My friend and I signed up and the first film we saw was the Dawn of the Dead remake on the 02/04/2004. By the end of this month we had seen 7 films. Brilliant! Last night I saw my 508th film at the cinema.
Seeing all these films we decided to note then down and give them a score, everybody rates a film so we do as well, with our own rating list from 1 to 10, we kept track of what we saw and we would discuss the film in a brief email usually the day after. Now it’s these emails, or some my wife read which prompted her into saying I should write a blog, create a web page anything to show my interest in movies. For a few weeks I dismissed the idea, but recently and especially after this years Frightfest (oh another blog for this I think) I came to think maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.
Well I have a plan, well to start off with anyway, so over the next few blogs I want to explain what make’s a movie entertain me. Then I must write about Frightfest a horror film festival in
In general I just want to blog about movies!
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