Well this is a first, well a first for sometime! A Nic Cage film which is really good, both his performance and also the film!
Yes, I have to admit Cage's recent efforts have been a little off key - well actually a lot off! His return to form started in Kick Ass, but that wasn't his film, but there were signs he was coming out of the slump. In Bad Lieutenant Cage's return is complete, bang on form, helped by a wonderful script and direction from Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn), Cage delivers a fine performance.
The supporting cast also add their weight to the film with a strong show from Eva Mendes. Val Kilmer seems to be enjoying films again and Xzibit, Jennifer Coolidge and Brad Dourif all do what is required.
The story is superb and drew me in completely and I had a lot of empathy for Cage's character as he tried to make the best of his life and each situation.
Overall I thought this was superb film making, with a strong perfomance by Cage!
(9/10)
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Robin Hood
Well I've seen this twice over the last few days, the 2nd time with my eldest child, after making sure it was suitable for her!
And so to the film!
Brilliant!
Ridley Scott has attempted to show something more than the myth that is Robin Hood, proof that maybe this legend really did exist. And from starting where he has with this story he's built a solid foundation for future films (well I got the impression that he wants to continue). Scotts vision of 12th Century England is superb and the Tower of London surrounded by forest just looked amazing.
The story he is telling is really good, and he paints Robin to be a man of honesty and commitment, something I think as always been shown in other stories, but Scott really drives it home in this film.
His battle scenes are Epic, but I still wonder about the French landing boats being a little out of place in this period! See for yourself!
I like Crowe's Robin a lot, even the accent and on the 2nd viewing try as I might I never heard any Irish! Will Scarlett played by Scott Grimes (ER), is the one that drops the ball on his Welsh accent. Little John played by Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle plays Alan A'Dayle. They all play good parts, but the best performance was by Cate Blanchett as Marion, she was brilliant.
Mark Strong gives his usual villainous performance while Prince/King Jon is played really well by Oscar Isaac (Body of lies).The rest of the cast are all good as well.
The music is great and another OST to add to my collection.
So overall I liked this a lot, from the story and direction to the cast, solid entertainment! (9/10)
And so to the film!
Brilliant!
Ridley Scott has attempted to show something more than the myth that is Robin Hood, proof that maybe this legend really did exist. And from starting where he has with this story he's built a solid foundation for future films (well I got the impression that he wants to continue). Scotts vision of 12th Century England is superb and the Tower of London surrounded by forest just looked amazing.
The story he is telling is really good, and he paints Robin to be a man of honesty and commitment, something I think as always been shown in other stories, but Scott really drives it home in this film.
His battle scenes are Epic, but I still wonder about the French landing boats being a little out of place in this period! See for yourself!
I like Crowe's Robin a lot, even the accent and on the 2nd viewing try as I might I never heard any Irish! Will Scarlett played by Scott Grimes (ER), is the one that drops the ball on his Welsh accent. Little John played by Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle plays Alan A'Dayle. They all play good parts, but the best performance was by Cate Blanchett as Marion, she was brilliant.
Mark Strong gives his usual villainous performance while Prince/King Jon is played really well by Oscar Isaac (Body of lies).The rest of the cast are all good as well.
The music is great and another OST to add to my collection.
So overall I liked this a lot, from the story and direction to the cast, solid entertainment! (9/10)
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Iron Man 2 AGAIN!
Again! Why not?
Well actually it was a cock up on my part, I was sure Bad Lieutenant was on at 9, but it wasn't! So I didn't fancy waiting an hour and 20 minutes for Four Lions and Iron Man 2 was showing in 10 minutes, in we went!
I love this movie, the character Tony Stark is brilliant, the world Marvel are creating is brilliant. The SFX are brilliant. The story is very good! The cast is brilliant and I think the director has done a great job with this sequel.
After that I can't see why people are bashing this so much, it's solid entertainment, it keeps the momentum of Iron Man going and what Marvel are doing with the avengers. They have a plan and I like it!
So what if he creates a new element, this is the world of comics and I can't forget that, why do other people? I mean just look at his computer system, I mean come on it's that's not so far over the line of reality what is?
Just because Dark Knight brought the comic book film in touch of reality, it's still a comic book character and all these films should be still seen with some detachment of real life!
What makes me laugh is that people say they go to the pictures to escape for 2 hours but then complain the film is unbelievable! What do they want?
Well I know what I want - Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and more Iron Man!
(10/10)
Well actually it was a cock up on my part, I was sure Bad Lieutenant was on at 9, but it wasn't! So I didn't fancy waiting an hour and 20 minutes for Four Lions and Iron Man 2 was showing in 10 minutes, in we went!
I love this movie, the character Tony Stark is brilliant, the world Marvel are creating is brilliant. The SFX are brilliant. The story is very good! The cast is brilliant and I think the director has done a great job with this sequel.
After that I can't see why people are bashing this so much, it's solid entertainment, it keeps the momentum of Iron Man going and what Marvel are doing with the avengers. They have a plan and I like it!
So what if he creates a new element, this is the world of comics and I can't forget that, why do other people? I mean just look at his computer system, I mean come on it's that's not so far over the line of reality what is?
Just because Dark Knight brought the comic book film in touch of reality, it's still a comic book character and all these films should be still seen with some detachment of real life!
What makes me laugh is that people say they go to the pictures to escape for 2 hours but then complain the film is unbelievable! What do they want?
Well I know what I want - Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and more Iron Man!
(10/10)
Double Bill Friday - Part 2
Well after the slight dissapointment of Elm Street, we opted to see the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. Didn't really have time for a beer between films!
I was looking forward to this!
Directed by Steve Pink (Accepted) and starring John Cusack (2012), Clark Duke (Kick Ass), Craig Robinson (D-War) and Rob Corddry (W), I ended up liking this film. It has some very funny moments, a lot of crude moments and time travel!
The overall homage is to back to the future, and they even manage to get Crispin Glover to star in this. And being an 80's film why not find a comedy icon from that time in the form of Chevy Chase.
It's well shot, the cast are all very good, though I do like Cusack and Duke a lot, and they are both very good in this. The look of the film is great and captures the 80's feel really well. The soundtrack is also really good (well if you like 80's music it is), however the story lacks a little, it's your typical we have to get back to the future, but don't mess with the time lines or the future will be different story!
Overall it's good fun and very crude (7/10)
I was looking forward to this!
Directed by Steve Pink (Accepted) and starring John Cusack (2012), Clark Duke (Kick Ass), Craig Robinson (D-War) and Rob Corddry (W), I ended up liking this film. It has some very funny moments, a lot of crude moments and time travel!
The overall homage is to back to the future, and they even manage to get Crispin Glover to star in this. And being an 80's film why not find a comedy icon from that time in the form of Chevy Chase.
It's well shot, the cast are all very good, though I do like Cusack and Duke a lot, and they are both very good in this. The look of the film is great and captures the 80's feel really well. The soundtrack is also really good (well if you like 80's music it is), however the story lacks a little, it's your typical we have to get back to the future, but don't mess with the time lines or the future will be different story!
Overall it's good fun and very crude (7/10)
Monday 10 May 2010
Double Bill Friday - Part 1
The remake of A nightmare on Elm Street was the first of the double bill.
Samuel Bayer, a music promo director opens his filmography with this remake/re-boot of the classic horror film. With a cast of the new hollywood teen pack, I got something I liked in places, disliked in others and ended up stuck in the middle.
The burnt face and knife weilding dream monster is brought back to life by Jackie Earle Haley, and this I liked, his Krueger is much more meanacing, and I think a little more frightening than the original. The deaths are more violent and also the lack of Kruegers one liners help to make him much more sinister. We also get to see more of the back story which lead to these events. Though I'm not sure that was presented in the right way in the end!
The rest of the cast look pretty, act dumb and get killed! Nobody stands out, but the script and the story do hold them back. Rooney Mara the new Nancy is not in the league of Heather Langenkamp and I always struggled to connect with these characters.
The look of the film is great, especially some of the dream sequences, the music was good and we had buckets of blood. But what we lacked was any tension, as meanacing as Kueger was, I had no feelings for the kids of Elm street so when freddie did come for them, I didn't care! And that's the problem!
So overall I liked it, well some of it, just keeps into.... (6/10)
Samuel Bayer, a music promo director opens his filmography with this remake/re-boot of the classic horror film. With a cast of the new hollywood teen pack, I got something I liked in places, disliked in others and ended up stuck in the middle.
The burnt face and knife weilding dream monster is brought back to life by Jackie Earle Haley, and this I liked, his Krueger is much more meanacing, and I think a little more frightening than the original. The deaths are more violent and also the lack of Kruegers one liners help to make him much more sinister. We also get to see more of the back story which lead to these events. Though I'm not sure that was presented in the right way in the end!
The rest of the cast look pretty, act dumb and get killed! Nobody stands out, but the script and the story do hold them back. Rooney Mara the new Nancy is not in the league of Heather Langenkamp and I always struggled to connect with these characters.
The look of the film is great, especially some of the dream sequences, the music was good and we had buckets of blood. But what we lacked was any tension, as meanacing as Kueger was, I had no feelings for the kids of Elm street so when freddie did come for them, I didn't care! And that's the problem!
So overall I liked it, well some of it, just keeps into.... (6/10)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Last Thursday saw the thriller The disappearance of Alice Creed, with only 3 actors this seemed an interesting film.
Directed by J Blackson on a low budget starring Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans), Martin Compston (Freakdog) and Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) make up the cast, and all do a great job.
The film revolves around a kidnapping, and the aftermath as things turn out to be not what I expected. With some strong narrative turns, the story doesn't really unfold as you would expect. There's not much I can say about it as it would give to much away, but the cast were all really good. The script was clever, shot well and overall an solid thriller.
(8/10)
Directed by J Blackson on a low budget starring Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans), Martin Compston (Freakdog) and Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) make up the cast, and all do a great job.
The film revolves around a kidnapping, and the aftermath as things turn out to be not what I expected. With some strong narrative turns, the story doesn't really unfold as you would expect. There's not much I can say about it as it would give to much away, but the cast were all really good. The script was clever, shot well and overall an solid thriller.
(8/10)
Wednesday 5 May 2010
Iron Man 2
Oh yes! One film I have really been looking forward to seeing for over a year!
The same team is back, bar Terrence Howard who has been replaced by Don Cheadle for the part of Rhodey. Not sure why, but I don't think it made any difference.
So the big question is it any good! OH YES! It's bloody brilliant! I enjoyed every moment of it. RDJ as Stark just keeps getting better, I liked the sub-stories surrounding Stark along with the main story arc with Vanko and Hammer. The introductions to the next two super-heros was done well, the introdction of shield seemed more thoughtful, and gives me an insight to what Marvel are aiming for.
The action is outstanding, the script is brilliant, the dialogue between Hammer and Stark is superb along with Stark and Potts. Johansson as Natasha Romanoff doesn't have much screen time but when she does she is great. Rockwell as Hammer is just great, and Rourke was never over the top as the russian Ivan Vanko (Whiplash).
The soundtrack (not the AC/DC stuff) was great as well, pity they never seem to release them.
RDJ like Bale has made a believeable character I can follow and I like.
I am going back, hopefully more than once!
10/10!!!!
The same team is back, bar Terrence Howard who has been replaced by Don Cheadle for the part of Rhodey. Not sure why, but I don't think it made any difference.
So the big question is it any good! OH YES! It's bloody brilliant! I enjoyed every moment of it. RDJ as Stark just keeps getting better, I liked the sub-stories surrounding Stark along with the main story arc with Vanko and Hammer. The introductions to the next two super-heros was done well, the introdction of shield seemed more thoughtful, and gives me an insight to what Marvel are aiming for.
The action is outstanding, the script is brilliant, the dialogue between Hammer and Stark is superb along with Stark and Potts. Johansson as Natasha Romanoff doesn't have much screen time but when she does she is great. Rockwell as Hammer is just great, and Rourke was never over the top as the russian Ivan Vanko (Whiplash).
The soundtrack (not the AC/DC stuff) was great as well, pity they never seem to release them.
RDJ like Bale has made a believeable character I can follow and I like.
I am going back, hopefully more than once!
10/10!!!!
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