Here we go. The film everyone has been talking about for months. The return of James Cameron, director of Titanic and Terminator. Revolutionary special effects, we were promised? Are they? Oh hell yes. Was it worth the wait? Oh hell yes.
If you don't know what this is all about, where have you been for the past 6 months? Well, this is the story of a man named Jake Sully who takes part in the AVATAR Programme in 2154 (yes, I paid attention to the video logs) where he takes control (drives, as called in the film) of a member of the Na'vi, a tribe of aliens that live on a planet named Pandora, where he becomes one of them in order to find a rock named "Unobtanium" (stolen from "The Core"?) and, well, obtain it. The story is one of simplicity, and yet the manner in which the movie goes about it is so incredibly epic, that you couldn't care less about the story until it all kicks off in the last 30 minutes, you just want to watch Jake's progress as he learns the ways of the Na'vi.
When I first saw Jake's Avatar, around 10 minutes or so in, I was a bit apprehensive. He started running around the camp in which he was "made" per se, and he easily stood out as a CGI creature, and I was wondering "oh no, please don't say it looks like that for the rest of the movie!" and two things occurred. 1) It doesn't. 2) Even if it does, you don't notice because the creatures are so immaculately created. After the bump in the first 10 minutes, it was pure jaw-dropping sights. The Pandora jungle is simply stunning, everything has been created to the tiniest detail. The space is so vast, it's unreal how, err, real it actually looks. But, what's even more impressive than that are the creatures in the jungle itself. Every tree, flower, strange floating insect has had time spent on it, getting every detail precise. An astonishing feat considering the vastness of the whole project.
I'll talk about the Na'vi later, I'll begin with the animals. Well, not animals, creatures. The bizarre dog-like aliens that attack Jake early on his Avatar experience, are incredible. Even the way they're mouths open is astounding. The big dinosaur crossed with hammerhead shark creatures are cracking too, but the big achievement animal wise has to go to the ikran, or however you spell it, commonly known as a Banshee. They're just amazing. They're pterodactyl likeness and the different colours on their heads are of such detail that it'll take hours and hours of viewing to see every little thing they've put on these incredible animals.
The Na'vi. These 12ft beasts are just astounding. Where Cameron came up with this tribe is beyond me, it's like Smurfs have been subject to Gamma radiation and this is the outcome. The fact that Jake and Naytiri look so real is one thing, but to have thousands upon thousands of them, all with they're own personal traits and evident trademarks, set them apart from everyone else in the crowd of thousands. Though the female Na'vi remind me a bit of Mystique from X-Men, they're originality is breathtaking.
After leaving the cinema, I had time to have a real think over what I just saw. I did that with Transformers 2 and look how that turned out. But this one really is a spectacle you mustn't miss. It's been twelve years in the making, and it shows. Everything has been meticulously planned. Everything from that huge mean animal called a Thanator, to that has wings that spin colourfully when it flies. The added effect of when at night, everything sort of glows, with a fairytale like appearance to it all. Clearly, Cameron as taken time. In fact, to make one scene, it took 2 years. That's just phenomenal (I'm running out of superlatives here). He's not rushed into anything, he's planned every scene to a tee, every conversation, the Na'vi language, the shrieks of the Banshee's, everything. Exceptional.
Cameron has said that if Avatar is a success, he's planning 2 sequels. We only see a snippet of the wondrous world of Pandora, it has so many different directions it could go to. If so, I've already booked my tickets. But please Mr. Cameron. Don't rush into it, you've set a brilliant foundation. Don't ruin it.
Though the film is a bit weird, and it probably won't be every one's cup of tea, it really is outstanding. Make sure you go see it, make sure you can say that you were there when the future of cinema truly began.
Using my brand new RBJ-O-Meter, I give Avatar, an incredibly impressive, 9.1/10.
Sunday 20 December 2009
Sunday 29 November 2009
New Moon
The most of you that read my film reviews must know what film this is. Yes, it's the second film of the both adored and hated saga (got it yet?) across the world. Twilight. I'm a strange one. I utterly despise the books...but both films so far have pleasantly surprised me in being quite an enjoyable experience.
The story has a Romeo and Juliet esque, with a slight difference where the Montague's and Capulets are actually Vampires and Werewolves. This does sound promising, and though the books rumble the pits of my stomach with what I ate last night, the film does otherwise, leaving me satisfied, wanting to know more of the story as the films continue. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has fallen in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), Edward is the Vampire, Bella is the human. That's all you need to know, anything else could and probably will cause numerous spoiler alerts in this review, so I shall say no more and review the movie, not story tell.
Let's begin with the good stuff. Stewart has much, much improved her performance from the first film, being much less annoying and really grasping her character in this film, the pain showed after Edward leaves her (No, that's not a spoiler, it showed that in the advert), and though her reaction is rather strange - screaming out loud while you sleep is slightly unnatural to say the least - she gradually loses her pain as she comes closer to Jacob (Taylor Lautner), and then gains it once more when an incident involving Jacob causes her to remember Edward again. Cue un-human screaming once more. But, nevertheless, this is a minor gripe in an otherwise good performance from young Kristen.
Though there is very, very little action, the action it contains is of a good standard coming from a romantic movie, with the Werewolves fighting eachother and Werewolves fighting a Vampire (yes, it only happens once sadly) which is another gripe. I know this is a romance, but come on. There're vampires and werewolves. Action scenes should be a plenty, but sadly it was concentrating on the romance, leaving less than 5 mins of action in the 130 minute film. Poor turn out, Chris Weiz. This is where I prefered the first film, it's action was plentyful, the baseball scene was superb and the climax was one of high tension and good fighting. Though this is another gripe, the film's content is an important crux to the story and possibly to the crux of the entire series its self.
To finish, I pose you all a question. We've all seen this Team Jacob and Team Edward business because, after witnessing the latest installment, they both have impressive labido's. But, the thought I pose to you, is one of wonder. Where the hell is Team Alice?
To sum up, an impressive film that lacked the action the 17 year old male inside me desired, but the story was well told by a group of relatively young actors and very impressive turns from both Michael Sheen (the leader of the Vulturi) and a surprise appearance from Dakota Fanning, playing the creepy Jane, a young vampire with the ability to inflict pain. Chris Weitz has set up for a very interesting 3rd installment, and with (hopefully) more of Sheen and Fanning, it should be a belter.
7/10.
The story has a Romeo and Juliet esque, with a slight difference where the Montague's and Capulets are actually Vampires and Werewolves. This does sound promising, and though the books rumble the pits of my stomach with what I ate last night, the film does otherwise, leaving me satisfied, wanting to know more of the story as the films continue. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has fallen in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), Edward is the Vampire, Bella is the human. That's all you need to know, anything else could and probably will cause numerous spoiler alerts in this review, so I shall say no more and review the movie, not story tell.
Let's begin with the good stuff. Stewart has much, much improved her performance from the first film, being much less annoying and really grasping her character in this film, the pain showed after Edward leaves her (No, that's not a spoiler, it showed that in the advert), and though her reaction is rather strange - screaming out loud while you sleep is slightly unnatural to say the least - she gradually loses her pain as she comes closer to Jacob (Taylor Lautner), and then gains it once more when an incident involving Jacob causes her to remember Edward again. Cue un-human screaming once more. But, nevertheless, this is a minor gripe in an otherwise good performance from young Kristen.
Though there is very, very little action, the action it contains is of a good standard coming from a romantic movie, with the Werewolves fighting eachother and Werewolves fighting a Vampire (yes, it only happens once sadly) which is another gripe. I know this is a romance, but come on. There're vampires and werewolves. Action scenes should be a plenty, but sadly it was concentrating on the romance, leaving less than 5 mins of action in the 130 minute film. Poor turn out, Chris Weiz. This is where I prefered the first film, it's action was plentyful, the baseball scene was superb and the climax was one of high tension and good fighting. Though this is another gripe, the film's content is an important crux to the story and possibly to the crux of the entire series its self.
To finish, I pose you all a question. We've all seen this Team Jacob and Team Edward business because, after witnessing the latest installment, they both have impressive labido's. But, the thought I pose to you, is one of wonder. Where the hell is Team Alice?
To sum up, an impressive film that lacked the action the 17 year old male inside me desired, but the story was well told by a group of relatively young actors and very impressive turns from both Michael Sheen (the leader of the Vulturi) and a surprise appearance from Dakota Fanning, playing the creepy Jane, a young vampire with the ability to inflict pain. Chris Weitz has set up for a very interesting 3rd installment, and with (hopefully) more of Sheen and Fanning, it should be a belter.
7/10.
Friday 20 November 2009
The Men Who Stare At Goats
Yet another strange title, and though this film was closer than Imaginarium to a good film, this attempt falls short of the mark, leaving what could've been a hilarious wild ride with all the good people, into a good premise, but a poor finale, quite literally.
The story is one of deep wonder, and bafflement (taking into account part of the story is actually meant to be true) where supposedly near the latter part of theVietnam War (1970 give or take), there were experiments held by the American Army into supposed psychic ability, taking all of the people with the most ability and training them up to become Psychic Spies (or Jedi Warriors, ironically called when the main character is played by Ewan McGregor, one Obi Wan Kenobi himself) enabling them to get the upperhand in any wars over the Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Germans, whoever the hell gets onto American land.
Now, it sounds like a potentially good story to me, anything American conspiracy takes my fancy. This film ticks all the buttons (well, maybe not one). George Clooney (hilarious in Burn After Reading), Kevin Spacey (love the movie 21), Jeff Bridges (he's in Iron Man. Iron Man is epic.) and...errr... Ewan McGregor making an attempt at an American accent once again. Surely has he not realised that after his failed attempt at one in The Island (a film I very much enjoyed) that he shouldn't go back to it again? Or that failed attempt at a Scottish accent in Angels and Demons? The list goes on. And, fair play, this was better than those two attempts, but it was still pretty dire.
The film itself was fair average overall. Clooney, naturally, steals the show as the hilarious Lyn Cassady, a "retired" (see movie for reason of double inverted commas, though you can probably guess) Jedi Warrior, with an ability he lost many years ago, with numerous one liners ("I've developed the power to be invisible...well, not invisible, just found out how not to be seen") that make this film worthwhile. Spacey is fair bland as he doesn't have much to do until the last half hour, and Bridges is moderately amusing. However, one thing that kept striking me is that this should've been a Coen Brothers production, the premise is perfect for them to step up to the plate and make another Burn After Reading. But, sadly, this movie attempts a Coen Brothers movie, but without the Coen's themselves, it's just impossible.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Usually, short films seem too short or long films seem too long. Maybe long films seem short because it's an epic film. This film, for the first time ever, made a 90 minute movie into a 180 minute movie. It was short, yet incredibly long at the same time. That's the bafflement as aforementioned.
Average, really.
6.3/10.
The story is one of deep wonder, and bafflement (taking into account part of the story is actually meant to be true) where supposedly near the latter part of theVietnam War (1970 give or take), there were experiments held by the American Army into supposed psychic ability, taking all of the people with the most ability and training them up to become Psychic Spies (or Jedi Warriors, ironically called when the main character is played by Ewan McGregor, one Obi Wan Kenobi himself) enabling them to get the upperhand in any wars over the Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Germans, whoever the hell gets onto American land.
Now, it sounds like a potentially good story to me, anything American conspiracy takes my fancy. This film ticks all the buttons (well, maybe not one). George Clooney (hilarious in Burn After Reading), Kevin Spacey (love the movie 21), Jeff Bridges (he's in Iron Man. Iron Man is epic.) and...errr... Ewan McGregor making an attempt at an American accent once again. Surely has he not realised that after his failed attempt at one in The Island (a film I very much enjoyed) that he shouldn't go back to it again? Or that failed attempt at a Scottish accent in Angels and Demons? The list goes on. And, fair play, this was better than those two attempts, but it was still pretty dire.
The film itself was fair average overall. Clooney, naturally, steals the show as the hilarious Lyn Cassady, a "retired" (see movie for reason of double inverted commas, though you can probably guess) Jedi Warrior, with an ability he lost many years ago, with numerous one liners ("I've developed the power to be invisible...well, not invisible, just found out how not to be seen") that make this film worthwhile. Spacey is fair bland as he doesn't have much to do until the last half hour, and Bridges is moderately amusing. However, one thing that kept striking me is that this should've been a Coen Brothers production, the premise is perfect for them to step up to the plate and make another Burn After Reading. But, sadly, this movie attempts a Coen Brothers movie, but without the Coen's themselves, it's just impossible.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Usually, short films seem too short or long films seem too long. Maybe long films seem short because it's an epic film. This film, for the first time ever, made a 90 minute movie into a 180 minute movie. It was short, yet incredibly long at the same time. That's the bafflement as aforementioned.
Average, really.
6.3/10.
Sunday 1 November 2009
Michael Jackson's This Is It
Here comes the review of yet another star that has left us. First, Imaginarium. Now, the musical legend that is Michael Jackson. And his curtain call is an absolute belter.
This Is It is no ordinary film. In fact, it's not actually a film at all. It's 2 hours of rehearsal footage of MJ himself in the run up to his 50 date sell-out show (you can't call it a tour, it's all in one place!) in London's O2 Arena. And on the basis of the footage shown, the Show-That-Never-Will-Be would've been among the greatest shows of our time. The show was co-created by MJ and Kenny Ortega, the genius (ahem) behind the High School Musical films. Having said that, "co-creator" isn't really what Ortega does, as it shows in the footage, he just goes with whatever MJ tell's him he wants and says "Yes, do what MJ says" and just watches, clapping.
The film shows many of MJ's best songs in full rehearsal form. Songs such as Bad, Beat It, Thriller and Smooth Criminal, but to name a few. But MJ never really gives it everything in the performances. He was holding himself back, ready to unleash his absolute genius for those 50 dates, and those 50 dates only. He wouldn't sing the songs full belt in order to save it, his dance moves were much more intense than his singing, but even they were lacking in much oomph, if that's how you spell it. And even without the oomph, his dancing really is absolutely effortless.
One of the highlights of the film for me, however, was the footage of The Way You Make Me Feel and Billie Jean. The Way You Make Me Feel was breathtaking, MJ had changed the song slightly to a more acousticy feel, with just him, a piano and a small drum beat, and it was outstanding. Billie Jean was absolutely superb. In the final moments of the song, there is one spotlight, MJ and a drum beat. And that's where MJ shines. He seemingly improvises a dance routine that was close to his absolute best, and you have to wonder. In those 30 seconds, I was mesmerized. What would it be like for 90 minutes? Absolutely no one knows. And that's the sad part. It would've been absolutely incredible. But we'll never get to see it. After seeing that, I will completely blank out whatever he did that was controversial, his skin solour change or the business with kids or whatever. Michael Jackson was. An absolute genius.
A truly excellent experience, that still doesn't give full praise of the master himself. 7.6/10.
The following is for a male species that read my blog, but the female species may still read on if you're that interested.
I have no idea how, and I envy him incredibly for this. But MJ managed to find, without a doubt, the hottest guitarist in history. And she's bloody good at the old guitar too. There's footage of her improvising to the end of a song (I can't remember which song, I was mesmerised by her beauty) and that's unbelievable. Shortly afterwards, it shows her and the other guitarist doing a sort of duel/dual guitar solo, and it's just breathtakingly good. I find girls who play guitar very attractive indeed. And I've just found the best one yet. Unless Hayden Panettierre or Hayley Williams plays guitar, then they may have just been overtaken. Shocking, I know.
This Is It is no ordinary film. In fact, it's not actually a film at all. It's 2 hours of rehearsal footage of MJ himself in the run up to his 50 date sell-out show (you can't call it a tour, it's all in one place!) in London's O2 Arena. And on the basis of the footage shown, the Show-That-Never-Will-Be would've been among the greatest shows of our time. The show was co-created by MJ and Kenny Ortega, the genius (ahem) behind the High School Musical films. Having said that, "co-creator" isn't really what Ortega does, as it shows in the footage, he just goes with whatever MJ tell's him he wants and says "Yes, do what MJ says" and just watches, clapping.
The film shows many of MJ's best songs in full rehearsal form. Songs such as Bad, Beat It, Thriller and Smooth Criminal, but to name a few. But MJ never really gives it everything in the performances. He was holding himself back, ready to unleash his absolute genius for those 50 dates, and those 50 dates only. He wouldn't sing the songs full belt in order to save it, his dance moves were much more intense than his singing, but even they were lacking in much oomph, if that's how you spell it. And even without the oomph, his dancing really is absolutely effortless.
One of the highlights of the film for me, however, was the footage of The Way You Make Me Feel and Billie Jean. The Way You Make Me Feel was breathtaking, MJ had changed the song slightly to a more acousticy feel, with just him, a piano and a small drum beat, and it was outstanding. Billie Jean was absolutely superb. In the final moments of the song, there is one spotlight, MJ and a drum beat. And that's where MJ shines. He seemingly improvises a dance routine that was close to his absolute best, and you have to wonder. In those 30 seconds, I was mesmerized. What would it be like for 90 minutes? Absolutely no one knows. And that's the sad part. It would've been absolutely incredible. But we'll never get to see it. After seeing that, I will completely blank out whatever he did that was controversial, his skin solour change or the business with kids or whatever. Michael Jackson was. An absolute genius.
A truly excellent experience, that still doesn't give full praise of the master himself. 7.6/10.
The following is for a male species that read my blog, but the female species may still read on if you're that interested.
I have no idea how, and I envy him incredibly for this. But MJ managed to find, without a doubt, the hottest guitarist in history. And she's bloody good at the old guitar too. There's footage of her improvising to the end of a song (I can't remember which song, I was mesmerised by her beauty) and that's unbelievable. Shortly afterwards, it shows her and the other guitarist doing a sort of duel/dual guitar solo, and it's just breathtakingly good. I find girls who play guitar very attractive indeed. And I've just found the best one yet. Unless Hayden Panettierre or Hayley Williams plays guitar, then they may have just been overtaken. Shocking, I know.
Friday 23 October 2009
Zombieland
Having been very lucky in going to see two films in the space of around 4 hours, Zombieland gets the praise, with it's gory, occasionally jumpy, and frequently funny outing.
The story is no different to any Zombie film that we've seen. A virus spread through America, infecting pretty much everyone, apart from Columbus, played by the awesome Jesse Eisenberg, Tallahassee, played by the brilliant Woody Harrelson, Witchita, played by the lovely Emma Stone and Little Rock, played by the sometimes annoying, yet amusing, Abigail Breslin.
Jesse Eisenberg is fast becoming the new teen comedy star, quickly taking over Michael Cera, who I don't think is any good anyway. And this film really epitomises that. He plays the all alone geek Columbus, just trying to get to Columbus, Ohio to find his parents, or rather to see whether they're still alive, or one of the undead. And his performance is superb, his simple visual jokes and his many one-liners are one of the many highlights of the film, along with the brilliant Rules that Columbus thinks up to survive a Zombie plagued country, and, surprisingly, the opening credits, which was just pure brilliance.
The zombies of this film are the zombies of 28 Days/Weeks Later. They're not dead, they're infected, and can run, rather than the typical slow zombies that stumble along. These running zombies are much scarier than your average Joe zombies, and really suit this film well, keeping the laughs and the constant on edge-ness of a zombie could run at you quite quickly anywhere keep the horror comedy going, and it's bloody good.
And, as every other critic has mentioned in every review I've read, but for those of you who don't know, there is a rather big cameo in it. It's a he, and it's easily the best cameo I've ever seen, giving me the biggest laugh I've had in a long, long time when in the cinema, since probably The Hangover, and that was months and months ago.
This film is just superb on so many different levels, and puts it, for me, on a par with Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg's brilliant British RomZomCom, or maybe even better. It's just awesome, it's not a classic, which is when I only give 5/5 (District 9 and The Hangover), but it's oh so very close.
8.5/10.
Oh, and always Check The Back Seats.
The story is no different to any Zombie film that we've seen. A virus spread through America, infecting pretty much everyone, apart from Columbus, played by the awesome Jesse Eisenberg, Tallahassee, played by the brilliant Woody Harrelson, Witchita, played by the lovely Emma Stone and Little Rock, played by the sometimes annoying, yet amusing, Abigail Breslin.
Jesse Eisenberg is fast becoming the new teen comedy star, quickly taking over Michael Cera, who I don't think is any good anyway. And this film really epitomises that. He plays the all alone geek Columbus, just trying to get to Columbus, Ohio to find his parents, or rather to see whether they're still alive, or one of the undead. And his performance is superb, his simple visual jokes and his many one-liners are one of the many highlights of the film, along with the brilliant Rules that Columbus thinks up to survive a Zombie plagued country, and, surprisingly, the opening credits, which was just pure brilliance.
The zombies of this film are the zombies of 28 Days/Weeks Later. They're not dead, they're infected, and can run, rather than the typical slow zombies that stumble along. These running zombies are much scarier than your average Joe zombies, and really suit this film well, keeping the laughs and the constant on edge-ness of a zombie could run at you quite quickly anywhere keep the horror comedy going, and it's bloody good.
And, as every other critic has mentioned in every review I've read, but for those of you who don't know, there is a rather big cameo in it. It's a he, and it's easily the best cameo I've ever seen, giving me the biggest laugh I've had in a long, long time when in the cinema, since probably The Hangover, and that was months and months ago.
This film is just superb on so many different levels, and puts it, for me, on a par with Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg's brilliant British RomZomCom, or maybe even better. It's just awesome, it's not a classic, which is when I only give 5/5 (District 9 and The Hangover), but it's oh so very close.
8.5/10.
Oh, and always Check The Back Seats.
Thursday 22 October 2009
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The film that has the award for the weirdest title of a film I've reviewed so far. And, even though this film won't win any other awards, it was a satisfactory experience.
As you should all know, or you've all turned into hermits, this is Heath Ledger's final performance. His curtain call. His final shabang. And you'd've thought that this would be his best performance ever, even better than his Joker. Sadly, though this is a rather good performance, he doesn't live up to his Joker. But what his performance as the mysterious Tony shows is that Mr. Ledger really could've been one of the great actors of our generation, but he was cut short, and, apologies for the cliché, the cinema will miss him.
Anyway, soppyness aside, the film needs reviewing. The story is rather complicated. Dr Parnassus is an extremely old man who has this ability that is never really explained, but at a guess, his mind is extremely powerful and can make people walk through this magic mirror of his into they're perfect world, they're imagination really. Now, I'm going to try and avoid any spoilers, Parnassus makes a bet with the Devil to do with getting 5 souls and the first to 5 souls wins. The victory is something to do with Parnassus' daughter, but that is never really explained either.
So, the film is a confusing one, and not very self-explanitory, leaving the viewer to join the dots and come up to their own solutions to the many questions asked by the film. It isn't looking too good for Terry Gilliam's film, but on the whole, it's quite good.
The effects are excellent, especially when they go through the magic mirror. The acting is good, Heath Ledger standing out, however I found Parnassus' daughter exceptionally annoying.
To summarise, the film was average for me, we were expecting an epic, but sadly it wasn't.
6.1/10.
As you should all know, or you've all turned into hermits, this is Heath Ledger's final performance. His curtain call. His final shabang. And you'd've thought that this would be his best performance ever, even better than his Joker. Sadly, though this is a rather good performance, he doesn't live up to his Joker. But what his performance as the mysterious Tony shows is that Mr. Ledger really could've been one of the great actors of our generation, but he was cut short, and, apologies for the cliché, the cinema will miss him.
Anyway, soppyness aside, the film needs reviewing. The story is rather complicated. Dr Parnassus is an extremely old man who has this ability that is never really explained, but at a guess, his mind is extremely powerful and can make people walk through this magic mirror of his into they're perfect world, they're imagination really. Now, I'm going to try and avoid any spoilers, Parnassus makes a bet with the Devil to do with getting 5 souls and the first to 5 souls wins. The victory is something to do with Parnassus' daughter, but that is never really explained either.
So, the film is a confusing one, and not very self-explanitory, leaving the viewer to join the dots and come up to their own solutions to the many questions asked by the film. It isn't looking too good for Terry Gilliam's film, but on the whole, it's quite good.
The effects are excellent, especially when they go through the magic mirror. The acting is good, Heath Ledger standing out, however I found Parnassus' daughter exceptionally annoying.
To summarise, the film was average for me, we were expecting an epic, but sadly it wasn't.
6.1/10.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Up
Pixar is back to our big screens, and it's back with a...well, glide really.
Up is Disney Pixar's latest film to grace our cinema screens since the brilliant Wall-E last year, and my god I've missed Pixar. Pixar is so unbelievably imaginative and brilliant, that I just have to watch one of them every month or so. Toy Story is the clear favourite, but Finding Nemo and The Incredibles are extremely close. But, what really makes this stand out from the rest? Well, it's in 3D of course, and me being and avid film reviewer and cinema-goer, I decided to see it in...2D.
Don't get me wrong, 3D is really good, and I'm looking forward hugely to the December epic, Avatar, which will be totally in 3D. But there're some films that I really don't see why it's 3D. The Final Destination was in 3D, and that really didn't add much to the movie, even though it was poor, I didn't see the point of it. I think Up is much of the same. I was watching it trying to figure out where the 3D moments would be, cause I really couldn't see many. Maybe the title "Up" in the sky would've been 3D, and possibly the blimp and Kevin's beak would be 3D, but that's really about it. I'll watch a film in 3D, but only if the film was made to be seen in 3D, not just that it's available in 3D if you wish.
Now, to the film. The story is simple, an old man ties a million balloons to his house and floats away. And even that's brilliant in itself, but the story is so different from anything we've ever seen, and from the people who brought us Toy Story, that's an incredible feat. But, this film contains something Pixar has never done before - true sadness. Toy Story 2 came close with Jessie's song, but there's been no real sadness that do make you feel sad. After the first 5 minutes, there is a 5 - 10 minute montage, completely silent with a slow piano playing in the background. I won't give away what happens, but it really is sad, and it makes you feel for old Carl, who, on a side note, is an absolute spitting image of my Grandpa. And that's where the film really gets started, you feel sorry for Carl, and you will him on in every where he goes, him and his unintentional sidekick, Russell, all the way to their epic adventure through a South American jungle.
We all love those small facial expressions, the attention to detail, the real life-likeness of the whole thing. That's what Pixar is all about. It's CGI, but it feels so real, like anything can happen. And that really is what happened. Anything could happen, and I think that was it's slight downfall for me. I loved it, yes, but I noticed something's that didn't quite match up. Like at the beginning of the movie, Carl needed a walking stick badly, and was walking very slowly and tentatively. But as the movie went on, he started running around like he was 22. He was 76. Now, maybe that was the point of the film, to show what happens when you fulfil your dreams, but I'm probably looking to deep into things, but I thought that wasn't like Pixar. Pixar always do things spot on, and in Up, it wasn't quite right in my book.
Russell, for me, was the absolute star of the show. You just couldn't help but laugh or just crack a smile whenever you saw him, because he really was a comically brilliant character. His many one-liners had me laughing out loud, as usual, and I loved him, he was brilliant.
I love Pixar. They're just unbelievable. But, I don't think this film is as good as the others. Wall-E. Finding Nemo. Toy Story. Toy Story 2. A Bug's Life. The Incredibles. They were all better than this one in my book. You come out smiling, oh you do, and it makes you laugh, but they've done better. And seen as I recently saw another animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, given the choice, I'd take Cloudy.
7.7/10
Please Toy Story 3. Be absolutely wonderful.
Thursday 1 October 2009
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The latest animation that took my fancy was the Sony Production, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It had a potentially very amusing premise, with animated destruction guaranteed, but the quality wasn't only in the animation, it was the wit, and voice acting that steals the show in this occasionally laugh out loud hilarious film.
The story? A wannabe scientist, Flint Lockwood (voiced by the always hilarious Bill Hader) creates a machine that can turn water into food, and, after an accident involving an explosion, Shamu the Sardine and Mr T, the machine shoots off into the air. The machine's water-to-food system reacts with the clouds, and in turn, making it rain food whenever Flint tells it to. And so, he soon becomes the town hero, but naturally, it doesn't go to plan, and destruction occurs.
I found it a very clever plot, and considering it was a U certificate, I thought it was very clever, and more adult orientated. The kids watching would be mesmerized by the falling food, but the adults would be captivatd by the plain-sight visual jokes, the hilarious lines and, more than anything else, the small visual jokes in the background that will take a number of views to catch every single one. For example, there are often short shots of different cities such as New York, London and Paris, and, in New York in particular, there are numerous billboards, and I could only ever read one in that space of time. But, I can assure you, there will be at least 5 jokes on those billboards.
Anna Faris plays Flint's love interest with apprentice-turned-weathergirl, Sam Sparks, and it's the weathergirls scenes that really steal the show. It's not Sam's jokes, it's that whenever she broadcasts the news, there is a ticker accross the bottom of the screen. The kids will be watching the film, but the mature audience will know that there will be an abundance of jokes just scrolling accross, oblivious to the kids, but often during those scenes, the children would be very quiet, but you could hear numerous adults laughing out loud at certain news stories, me included.
This is what I love about animation. Pixar often do background jokes, but Sony have taken it a step further, with there being something to see at every single moment in the film. You could argue that it's taking your attention from the film, but you just can't help looking around the screen at every person and every sign, hoping for a comedy gem that no one else notices.
The film's effects are nothing short of outstanding. This wasn't a typical animation, it wasn't so perfectly clean as films like Toy Story or Shrek, but that added to the character of the movie, and added to our main character. Flint was not the perfect guy, the animation wasn't state-of-the-art brilliant, but by not being brilliant, it was. They concentrated on the story-line, targeting every audience, and they hit the nail bang on the head.
Unfortunately, the film's second half wasn't as crisp as the first, concentrating on the tense moments of Flint trying to save the day, but that didn't really bother me. I'd spent so much of the first half laughing, that I needed a lull to calm myself down. An excellent children's comedy, that, I feel, adults will get so much more out of.
8.3/10.
The story? A wannabe scientist, Flint Lockwood (voiced by the always hilarious Bill Hader) creates a machine that can turn water into food, and, after an accident involving an explosion, Shamu the Sardine and Mr T, the machine shoots off into the air. The machine's water-to-food system reacts with the clouds, and in turn, making it rain food whenever Flint tells it to. And so, he soon becomes the town hero, but naturally, it doesn't go to plan, and destruction occurs.
I found it a very clever plot, and considering it was a U certificate, I thought it was very clever, and more adult orientated. The kids watching would be mesmerized by the falling food, but the adults would be captivatd by the plain-sight visual jokes, the hilarious lines and, more than anything else, the small visual jokes in the background that will take a number of views to catch every single one. For example, there are often short shots of different cities such as New York, London and Paris, and, in New York in particular, there are numerous billboards, and I could only ever read one in that space of time. But, I can assure you, there will be at least 5 jokes on those billboards.
Anna Faris plays Flint's love interest with apprentice-turned-weathergirl, Sam Sparks, and it's the weathergirls scenes that really steal the show. It's not Sam's jokes, it's that whenever she broadcasts the news, there is a ticker accross the bottom of the screen. The kids will be watching the film, but the mature audience will know that there will be an abundance of jokes just scrolling accross, oblivious to the kids, but often during those scenes, the children would be very quiet, but you could hear numerous adults laughing out loud at certain news stories, me included.
This is what I love about animation. Pixar often do background jokes, but Sony have taken it a step further, with there being something to see at every single moment in the film. You could argue that it's taking your attention from the film, but you just can't help looking around the screen at every person and every sign, hoping for a comedy gem that no one else notices.
The film's effects are nothing short of outstanding. This wasn't a typical animation, it wasn't so perfectly clean as films like Toy Story or Shrek, but that added to the character of the movie, and added to our main character. Flint was not the perfect guy, the animation wasn't state-of-the-art brilliant, but by not being brilliant, it was. They concentrated on the story-line, targeting every audience, and they hit the nail bang on the head.
Unfortunately, the film's second half wasn't as crisp as the first, concentrating on the tense moments of Flint trying to save the day, but that didn't really bother me. I'd spent so much of the first half laughing, that I needed a lull to calm myself down. An excellent children's comedy, that, I feel, adults will get so much more out of.
8.3/10.
Saturday 26 September 2009
Dorian Gray
A film based on a classic Oscar Wilde tale, that, it seems, is almost completely different to the book itself. So, we can say it's loosely based, or just used the title and the whole painting business, and filled the rest in with sex, drugs and rock and roll. Well, rock and roll is going a bit fair. But, sex and drugs take up three quarters of this movie to substitute the rock and roll.
I'm sure you all know the story. A man aptly named Dorian Gray travels to London to go back to his house. A painter paints Gray's "beautiful" face, as called many times during the film, and hangs it up in Gray's home. But, this picture is one of mystery and wonder. A painting that ages, rather than Gray himself. It's more a story of how things can get into a man's head doing many stupid things along the way, thinking he's absolutely invincible to everything, but in the end, this is his downfall. A plot so familiar, we don't realise that Oscar Wilde was the first to write such a story.
Ben Barnes plays Gray, the star of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, in a role that is completely different to the Prince. A sex, drugs and alcohol addict, hell-bent on sleeping with every woman in London. Cue many pointlessly short scenes involving Gray having sex with a girl, Gray having sex with a group of girls, Gray having sex with both men and women, and Gray having sex with a mother and daughter. At least, I think that's what I saw. Over and over again. Oh, and there's even a short gay scene too, for good measure.
On the plus side, the film is visually stunning, with the incredibly designed Victorian London houses, and the stark colour contrasts from scene to scene - when we first see Gray's signs of madness, it is in his dark, mysterious house living room, scratching at the painting, and the next, a very bright, blue scene in another of London's many upper class Victorian houses, and the next, Gray is walking through a dark, dingy back street, looking for a prostitute to satisfy one of his many needs. This continued through the whole film, and it was something that struck me throughout the film.
However, the film was far too long. The story could easily have been told in 90 minutes, but the film stretched closer to the 120 minute mark, with half an hour of sex and drug scenes. The film's predictable ending was one of no surprise, and what should have been a powerful final scene to end on, the film suddenly shoots to another scene, in which Henry (Colin Firth) is on the phone, and says something about Agatha. God knows who Agatha is, but the scene remains.
4.6/10.
I'm sure you all know the story. A man aptly named Dorian Gray travels to London to go back to his house. A painter paints Gray's "beautiful" face, as called many times during the film, and hangs it up in Gray's home. But, this picture is one of mystery and wonder. A painting that ages, rather than Gray himself. It's more a story of how things can get into a man's head doing many stupid things along the way, thinking he's absolutely invincible to everything, but in the end, this is his downfall. A plot so familiar, we don't realise that Oscar Wilde was the first to write such a story.
Ben Barnes plays Gray, the star of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, in a role that is completely different to the Prince. A sex, drugs and alcohol addict, hell-bent on sleeping with every woman in London. Cue many pointlessly short scenes involving Gray having sex with a girl, Gray having sex with a group of girls, Gray having sex with both men and women, and Gray having sex with a mother and daughter. At least, I think that's what I saw. Over and over again. Oh, and there's even a short gay scene too, for good measure.
On the plus side, the film is visually stunning, with the incredibly designed Victorian London houses, and the stark colour contrasts from scene to scene - when we first see Gray's signs of madness, it is in his dark, mysterious house living room, scratching at the painting, and the next, a very bright, blue scene in another of London's many upper class Victorian houses, and the next, Gray is walking through a dark, dingy back street, looking for a prostitute to satisfy one of his many needs. This continued through the whole film, and it was something that struck me throughout the film.
However, the film was far too long. The story could easily have been told in 90 minutes, but the film stretched closer to the 120 minute mark, with half an hour of sex and drug scenes. The film's predictable ending was one of no surprise, and what should have been a powerful final scene to end on, the film suddenly shoots to another scene, in which Henry (Colin Firth) is on the phone, and says something about Agatha. God knows who Agatha is, but the scene remains.
4.6/10.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
District 9
The idea behind District 9 is based upon new-boy director Neill Blomkamp's short film, Alive in Joburg, an idea strung up by Lord of the Rings legend, Peter Jackson. What happens when a rookie and a veteran combine? Well, quite simply, brilliance caught on camera. Observe.
The story is simple enough. An alien ship mysteriously stops above Johannesburg, South Africa, and aliens land on planet Earth. The Joburg'ians don't take too kindly to these aliens and segregate them from the rest of Joburg. And while making a case to move all of the aliens out of Joburg and into a new area called District 10, something, inevitably, goes wrong. Our main character, Wikus van der Merwe, gets infected by some alien "fluid" as they called it in the film. And the result of the infection makes him move to District 9, the only area where he will feel moderately safe, even with aliens living around him.
Special effects are an integral part of this film, with all the aliens in the form of CGI, and look absolutely breathtaking. First sighting of these creatures is one of bewilderment, seeing how strange and not-like-any-other-alien-ever-seen-before the creatures are. The tentacle like arms and mouths are brilliant, and their own language is one of total uniqueness. Evidently, months of work has gone into designing the creatures down to every last detail, and you will not be disappointed. They move like humans and interact like humans, which makes really warm to them through the film, knowing that they're not ravenous beasts of fury. For me, these CGI creatures are a real step forward, cinema wise. They almost looked real, it's the best special effects I've seen in a long, long time.
District 9 was shot with a mix of documentry-style interviews and hardcore action shots. They blended really well, and it was easy to figure out which were documentry and which weren't. The whole film was shot with "shaky camera", so provide a more realistic, in the action affect. Without this, I don't think it would've been as good.
Sharlto Copey is the man to take on the role of van der Merwe, and considering this was his first big screen lead role adventure, he's nothing short of outstanding. His character is a bit of a misfit, doing his best at his job, but never impresses anyone. van der Merwe is a character that you have to like, he doesn't do anything wrong, he's been wronged, so you immediately feel for him when he suffers the consequences of his infection. As the infection spreads, Copey changes van der Merwe into a character that wants to be cured to get back to his wife, and will do anything to get himself cured. A man hell bent on destruction to get his way. But you never lose faith, per say, in Merwe. He stays funny throughout, making comedy out of his luckless situation. But what is most incredible out of this new-boy actor, is that he improvised his whole dialogue. His whole dialogue, through the whole 1 hour and 53 minutes, with Merwe being in nearly every scene. Unbelievable. Surely this spells big things for this guy.
The films undertone is one that is obvious to everyone - racism in South Africa. In the wake of Mugabe's ridiculous rise to power over the past few months, District 9 proves that no matter who you are or where you come from, no one likes any major changes. The xenophobes that make up most, Merwe included, of the cast, and it's these films that make us realise that we really are, to put it nicely, kind of fucked up. And we need that sorted. District 9 points out what we all know happens, but don't do anything about it, worrying about what could happen as a result.
My only very, very, very minor gripe is the amount of swearing. Almost every Merwe line after around the 30 minute mark has a swear word in it, be it "fuck" or "shit". But, considering situation, what would anyone else do but swear at everything? So, on that basis, it won't affect the overall score.
To conclude, District 9 is a different, complex, funny, exciting, gory, and one of the best films you'll see in a long, long time.
A new-boy director. A new-boy actor. A new-boy movie. A new-boy runaway hit.
9.4/10.
The story is simple enough. An alien ship mysteriously stops above Johannesburg, South Africa, and aliens land on planet Earth. The Joburg'ians don't take too kindly to these aliens and segregate them from the rest of Joburg. And while making a case to move all of the aliens out of Joburg and into a new area called District 10, something, inevitably, goes wrong. Our main character, Wikus van der Merwe, gets infected by some alien "fluid" as they called it in the film. And the result of the infection makes him move to District 9, the only area where he will feel moderately safe, even with aliens living around him.
Special effects are an integral part of this film, with all the aliens in the form of CGI, and look absolutely breathtaking. First sighting of these creatures is one of bewilderment, seeing how strange and not-like-any-other-alien-ever-seen-before the creatures are. The tentacle like arms and mouths are brilliant, and their own language is one of total uniqueness. Evidently, months of work has gone into designing the creatures down to every last detail, and you will not be disappointed. They move like humans and interact like humans, which makes really warm to them through the film, knowing that they're not ravenous beasts of fury. For me, these CGI creatures are a real step forward, cinema wise. They almost looked real, it's the best special effects I've seen in a long, long time.
District 9 was shot with a mix of documentry-style interviews and hardcore action shots. They blended really well, and it was easy to figure out which were documentry and which weren't. The whole film was shot with "shaky camera", so provide a more realistic, in the action affect. Without this, I don't think it would've been as good.
Sharlto Copey is the man to take on the role of van der Merwe, and considering this was his first big screen lead role adventure, he's nothing short of outstanding. His character is a bit of a misfit, doing his best at his job, but never impresses anyone. van der Merwe is a character that you have to like, he doesn't do anything wrong, he's been wronged, so you immediately feel for him when he suffers the consequences of his infection. As the infection spreads, Copey changes van der Merwe into a character that wants to be cured to get back to his wife, and will do anything to get himself cured. A man hell bent on destruction to get his way. But you never lose faith, per say, in Merwe. He stays funny throughout, making comedy out of his luckless situation. But what is most incredible out of this new-boy actor, is that he improvised his whole dialogue. His whole dialogue, through the whole 1 hour and 53 minutes, with Merwe being in nearly every scene. Unbelievable. Surely this spells big things for this guy.
The films undertone is one that is obvious to everyone - racism in South Africa. In the wake of Mugabe's ridiculous rise to power over the past few months, District 9 proves that no matter who you are or where you come from, no one likes any major changes. The xenophobes that make up most, Merwe included, of the cast, and it's these films that make us realise that we really are, to put it nicely, kind of fucked up. And we need that sorted. District 9 points out what we all know happens, but don't do anything about it, worrying about what could happen as a result.
My only very, very, very minor gripe is the amount of swearing. Almost every Merwe line after around the 30 minute mark has a swear word in it, be it "fuck" or "shit". But, considering situation, what would anyone else do but swear at everything? So, on that basis, it won't affect the overall score.
To conclude, District 9 is a different, complex, funny, exciting, gory, and one of the best films you'll see in a long, long time.
A new-boy director. A new-boy actor. A new-boy movie. A new-boy runaway hit.
9.4/10.
Sunday 6 September 2009
(500) Days of Summer
Now, I'm not usually a man for soppy RomComs, but this one was different. This was that film that makes you feel good. This was that film that wants you to do something different. This was the film that I absolutely loved.
In the words of the narrator, this is a story of boy meets girl. But it isn't a love story. And that's exactly what it was. It didn't follow the predictability of most boy meets girl films. It's the film of boy meets girl that follows the true life script, rather than the happy-go-lucky script where everything falls together, something that was summed up perfectly in the "Expectations meet Reality" scene. Exactly what normal boy meets girl films are. Expectations. But this was a true, reality film, that broke the barrier and is up there with the best RomComs of my generation.
The film was beautifully shot, with split screens and the jumping back and for between the 500 days was a stroke of genius. It was so simplistic, so creative, so brilliant.
But this was more of a Com, than a Rom. Another way it defied all the odds of a typical boy meets girl story. The typical story follows the Rom, but this was the Com of it. Winning performances from the two leads, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), made it the Com. You could not have put a better pairing on screen if they were a real life couple. It was as if they'd known eachother since they were small children, laughing and joking together like there was no tomorrow. But what makes the film is that neither of them are the typical "jock" or "cheerleader". They're the normal, shy ones that realise they're in love with someone because of who they are, not by the size of their penis/breasts. Bah, this review has gone all soppy.
The film was very funny indeed. A number of one liners made me laugh out loud. One particularly memorable line is "Roses are red, Violets are blue...fuck you, whore." That had me laughing. For a fair while, truth be told. Also, Tom's work compatriot-come-drinking buddy McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) is brilliant, with at least 1 classic line in every scene he's in.
My only gripe of the film is that I was slightly confused by the goings-on during the leaping back and for, thinking that what went on at 350 days (just a made up day, I can't remember when I got confused) was contradictory to what happened a matter of days before that. Sadly, we can't all be perfect, but this was almost perfect. Almost.
8.8/10
In the words of the narrator, this is a story of boy meets girl. But it isn't a love story. And that's exactly what it was. It didn't follow the predictability of most boy meets girl films. It's the film of boy meets girl that follows the true life script, rather than the happy-go-lucky script where everything falls together, something that was summed up perfectly in the "Expectations meet Reality" scene. Exactly what normal boy meets girl films are. Expectations. But this was a true, reality film, that broke the barrier and is up there with the best RomComs of my generation.
The film was beautifully shot, with split screens and the jumping back and for between the 500 days was a stroke of genius. It was so simplistic, so creative, so brilliant.
But this was more of a Com, than a Rom. Another way it defied all the odds of a typical boy meets girl story. The typical story follows the Rom, but this was the Com of it. Winning performances from the two leads, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), made it the Com. You could not have put a better pairing on screen if they were a real life couple. It was as if they'd known eachother since they were small children, laughing and joking together like there was no tomorrow. But what makes the film is that neither of them are the typical "jock" or "cheerleader". They're the normal, shy ones that realise they're in love with someone because of who they are, not by the size of their penis/breasts. Bah, this review has gone all soppy.
The film was very funny indeed. A number of one liners made me laugh out loud. One particularly memorable line is "Roses are red, Violets are blue...fuck you, whore." That had me laughing. For a fair while, truth be told. Also, Tom's work compatriot-come-drinking buddy McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) is brilliant, with at least 1 classic line in every scene he's in.
My only gripe of the film is that I was slightly confused by the goings-on during the leaping back and for, thinking that what went on at 350 days (just a made up day, I can't remember when I got confused) was contradictory to what happened a matter of days before that. Sadly, we can't all be perfect, but this was almost perfect. Almost.
8.8/10
Tuesday 1 September 2009
The Final Destination 3-D
It's been a while since my last review, so here's my latest - a review of the (quite) popular franchise, Final Destination. Having seen the previous 3 - yes, this is number 4, despite the deceiving title - I had high hopes for the final installment (at least, I think it's the final installment) to offer scares, laughs and everything in between.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
The latest batch of misfits to be part of "Death's plan", were four teens, maybe 19/20 years old, a character who had no name and was just called "Racist", a mother of two children, the husband or boyfriend of a girl who dies in the best way, which is explained later, and a Security Guard. Nick, the unfortuante be-holder of preminitions, played rather poorly by Bobby Campo managed to get these 7 lucky people from a Speedway race, just moments before hell broke loose. The highlight of the film was the preminition itself, giving full use to the clever 3-D effects, with debris seemingly flying out of the screen (ironic, considering a later scene) from the race track, and spiky objects all over the stadium, impaling people left, right and centre, cars and engines flying into the crowd crushing the unfortunate mother-of-two and many people getting crushed by the collapsing ceiling. The highlight, however, was the first death in the preminition (a woman being be-headed by a tyre), and therefore the first real death of the movie, by, err, getting be-headed by a tyre, the first-preminition-death was the element of surprise, the first-real-death being the goriest death of the movie, with the addition of seeing the unfortunate woman's head and spine strewn over the floor.
Sadly though, the film never reaches the standard of the first preminition.
The following deaths were lacking in gore and scares to fully satisfy the onlooking cinema audience's need for scares. Probably the reason they came into the cinema to see it. Instead, they were treated to a film that was either intended as a horror, but surely failed, or intended as a comedy, but surely failed. It was impossible to tell which genre it was aimed at, with Nick, Laurie (Nick's girlfriend, Shantel Van Santen) and Janet (a friend, Haley Webb) taking it way too seriously to take it as a comedy. However, Hunt (another friend, Nick Zano) and George (the security guard, Mykelti Williamson) provide comic relief at a satisfactory level, with George having the most laughs after his attempted suicides which all failed, due to the fact that he wasn't "next on Death's list".
Overall, it was a film of a satisfactory level, brought down by the lame lead actors and actresses. But as the opening preminition is the best yet, I'll give it the most average of average scores - 5.0/10.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
The latest batch of misfits to be part of "Death's plan", were four teens, maybe 19/20 years old, a character who had no name and was just called "Racist", a mother of two children, the husband or boyfriend of a girl who dies in the best way, which is explained later, and a Security Guard. Nick, the unfortuante be-holder of preminitions, played rather poorly by Bobby Campo managed to get these 7 lucky people from a Speedway race, just moments before hell broke loose. The highlight of the film was the preminition itself, giving full use to the clever 3-D effects, with debris seemingly flying out of the screen (ironic, considering a later scene) from the race track, and spiky objects all over the stadium, impaling people left, right and centre, cars and engines flying into the crowd crushing the unfortunate mother-of-two and many people getting crushed by the collapsing ceiling. The highlight, however, was the first death in the preminition (a woman being be-headed by a tyre), and therefore the first real death of the movie, by, err, getting be-headed by a tyre, the first-preminition-death was the element of surprise, the first-real-death being the goriest death of the movie, with the addition of seeing the unfortunate woman's head and spine strewn over the floor.
Sadly though, the film never reaches the standard of the first preminition.
The following deaths were lacking in gore and scares to fully satisfy the onlooking cinema audience's need for scares. Probably the reason they came into the cinema to see it. Instead, they were treated to a film that was either intended as a horror, but surely failed, or intended as a comedy, but surely failed. It was impossible to tell which genre it was aimed at, with Nick, Laurie (Nick's girlfriend, Shantel Van Santen) and Janet (a friend, Haley Webb) taking it way too seriously to take it as a comedy. However, Hunt (another friend, Nick Zano) and George (the security guard, Mykelti Williamson) provide comic relief at a satisfactory level, with George having the most laughs after his attempted suicides which all failed, due to the fact that he wasn't "next on Death's list".
Overall, it was a film of a satisfactory level, brought down by the lame lead actors and actresses. But as the opening preminition is the best yet, I'll give it the most average of average scores - 5.0/10.
Thursday 13 August 2009
Orphan
In the midst of my jet lag induced tiredness, I decided to take the adventure down to the cinema to see a good film, and we (Adam, Sarah, Ffion and I) chose to see Orphan. And the result, one of the best horrors I've seen in a long time. Well, since Drag Me To Hell. The only horror to top Drag Me To Hell in my opinion - so far - is 30 Days Of Night, which I'm annoyed to discover the second installment of the trilogy will be going straight to DVD. Anyway, back to the review.
The story, as you could probably guess, is about an orphan named Esther, who gets adopted by the husband and wife duo of John and Kate after losing out on their baby. She seems perfect for them, she's polite and gets on with her adoptive parents' youngest (but not so much their oldest), Max. And she likes to be different, until unpleasant things start to happen, all revolving around Esther.
The films scariness comes from the dread you feel whenever you see Esther in a scene. Esther takes Max under her wing, by simply threatening her with death unless Max does what Esther says, which gets immediately irritating for the audience at how this 9 year old, Esther, can force a child as young as Max, who I guess to be around 5 years old, not to tell anyone what Esther's doing, forcing a number of audience members to groan in frustration as Max lies to her parents in fear of what would happen if she tells. One of the main strong points of the film is how much Esther angries the audience into hating this monster of a child.
Isabelle Fuhrman, Esther, played the demonic psycho-child brilliantly, as I said earlier, causing the audience to absolutely despise her, me included, and some actually cheering and clapping when Kate hits Esther near the end of the film. But, I must question the director for one scene in the film, Jaune Collette-Saume, for making an 11 year old actress try and seduce a grown, maybe 40 year old man, her adoptive father. That scene was insanely creepy and disturbing, but Fuhrman, has balls to do that.
Sadly though, only the kids are the other quality actors in the film, with John (Peter Saarsgard) annoyingly oblivious to the obvious insanity surrounding Esther and he's a sex freak, taking to having sex with Kate over the island in their kitchen and Kate (Vera Farmiga) is not a very strong lead actress, and generally being annoying.
Unfortunately, the film hasn't been reviewed very highly, with it only receiving 2 stars from 5 by Empire, but I will be much more generous and give it 6.9/10. A genuinely entertaining horror, recommended to everyone who likes horror films.
The story, as you could probably guess, is about an orphan named Esther, who gets adopted by the husband and wife duo of John and Kate after losing out on their baby. She seems perfect for them, she's polite and gets on with her adoptive parents' youngest (but not so much their oldest), Max. And she likes to be different, until unpleasant things start to happen, all revolving around Esther.
The films scariness comes from the dread you feel whenever you see Esther in a scene. Esther takes Max under her wing, by simply threatening her with death unless Max does what Esther says, which gets immediately irritating for the audience at how this 9 year old, Esther, can force a child as young as Max, who I guess to be around 5 years old, not to tell anyone what Esther's doing, forcing a number of audience members to groan in frustration as Max lies to her parents in fear of what would happen if she tells. One of the main strong points of the film is how much Esther angries the audience into hating this monster of a child.
Isabelle Fuhrman, Esther, played the demonic psycho-child brilliantly, as I said earlier, causing the audience to absolutely despise her, me included, and some actually cheering and clapping when Kate hits Esther near the end of the film. But, I must question the director for one scene in the film, Jaune Collette-Saume, for making an 11 year old actress try and seduce a grown, maybe 40 year old man, her adoptive father. That scene was insanely creepy and disturbing, but Fuhrman, has balls to do that.
Sadly though, only the kids are the other quality actors in the film, with John (Peter Saarsgard) annoyingly oblivious to the obvious insanity surrounding Esther and he's a sex freak, taking to having sex with Kate over the island in their kitchen and Kate (Vera Farmiga) is not a very strong lead actress, and generally being annoying.
Unfortunately, the film hasn't been reviewed very highly, with it only receiving 2 stars from 5 by Empire, but I will be much more generous and give it 6.9/10. A genuinely entertaining horror, recommended to everyone who likes horror films.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
G-Force
This is going to be a short review as it really hasn't got much to talk about.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here and try and make it sound promising, but it was the worst film I've seen in a long time. The trailer seems really promising making me laugh every time I watch it, but the film is god awful. The humour is for children 11 and under (my brother thought it was really good, obviously), even though it's a PG which usually means older kids will like it too. But no. The humour was stupid, the characters were very stereotypical ("The mole is the mole!") and the acting from the real people in it is awful. The only redeeming factor was that Hurley (the fat one, obviously) made me laugh twice I think.
On the plus side, the action scenes were pretty good. But, err, that's it.
Truth be told, you'd probably get more fun out of watching the trailer for 90 mins than sit through that.
1.8/10. Just abysmal.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here and try and make it sound promising, but it was the worst film I've seen in a long time. The trailer seems really promising making me laugh every time I watch it, but the film is god awful. The humour is for children 11 and under (my brother thought it was really good, obviously), even though it's a PG which usually means older kids will like it too. But no. The humour was stupid, the characters were very stereotypical ("The mole is the mole!") and the acting from the real people in it is awful. The only redeeming factor was that Hurley (the fat one, obviously) made me laugh twice I think.
On the plus side, the action scenes were pretty good. But, err, that's it.
Truth be told, you'd probably get more fun out of watching the trailer for 90 mins than sit through that.
1.8/10. Just abysmal.
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
The end is approaching. It's approaching fast. Too fast, for my liking. Harry Potter has two films left. And I found that rather depressing. Just as I was feeling after coming out of the film today.
And before you think, no, I didn't hate the film at all. It was absolutely brilliant. But I was very sad after the loss of a very beloved character, I'm sure all of you know who it was, but I won't say, just in case. The film actually managed to reduce me to tears. They weren't very big tears, but tears they were. I have never cried at a film or a book before. This film and the final Harry Potter book have made me do so. Good work, JKR.
Before I begin, I have to point out that Harry Potter brings people together. I know that's terribly cheesy, but that's what happened with me and my friends. And that's what happened in the cinema. I arrived early, so there were about 15 people in there. And we were all talking to eachother about Harry Potter, having a joke. I'd never met half of these people before. But that's what a good book series does. More of the same please.
The opening second got me all excited about the film. All it was, was dark clouds, and the Warner Bros. logo. But that was enough to get me hyper and realise "Harry Potter 6 is here!" and there was a shared emotion of the same context throughout the cinema. And that excitement continued throughout the whole 153 minutes of it. Something that hasn't kept me gripped so much since...well...anything. Transformers...well you know my opinion on that. The Dark Knight was incredibly long, and even though it's an amazing film, there was a time around 2/3 of the way through that I just wanted it to end. It seemed to drag on longer than it needed to. Lord of the Rings, I feel the exact same. But with Harry Potter I was completely absorbed. I knew exactly what was happening throughout the film as I read the book (again...) very recently, but I was still whispering "No, don't do it!" even though I knew they were going to do it.
The special effect sequences were just brilliant to watch, and whoever did them deserves huge credit for that. When Dumbledore made that incredible circle of fire around him and Harry in the cave, I was amazed.
The acting was good too, especially amongst Slughorn (Broadbent), Snape (Rickman) and Dumbledore (Gambon), who were superb, with Snape having the greatest villain voice ever to grace the cinema screen. Helena Bonham Carter deserves a mention too, because her Bellatrix manages to be - scary, funny and quite sexy all at the same time. Rupert Grint (Ron), however, out-shined every young actor in the film. I personally don't think Daniel Radcliffe is good enough an actor to play as big a character as Harry Potter, Emma Watson (Hermione) has improved so much, whereas Bonnie Wright (Ginny) was just annoying.
Another small gripe is the amount of stuff taken out of the book and added into or changed in the film. There were a number of scenes that I was confused at, and didn't see their relevance to the story as a whole, but also a number of scenes (one in particular - fire at the Burrow) that were added into the film. And that I was gutted there was no battle at Hogwarts at the end, but that could be down to the fact that there's going to be a huge battle in Deathly Hallows, so I can forgive that one. But on the whole, they kept all of the important scenes in, setting up for an absolute blockbuster of film A and B of Deathly Hallows. And I for one can't wait.
It wasn't perfect, but it was so very close. 8.1/10
And before you think, no, I didn't hate the film at all. It was absolutely brilliant. But I was very sad after the loss of a very beloved character, I'm sure all of you know who it was, but I won't say, just in case. The film actually managed to reduce me to tears. They weren't very big tears, but tears they were. I have never cried at a film or a book before. This film and the final Harry Potter book have made me do so. Good work, JKR.
Before I begin, I have to point out that Harry Potter brings people together. I know that's terribly cheesy, but that's what happened with me and my friends. And that's what happened in the cinema. I arrived early, so there were about 15 people in there. And we were all talking to eachother about Harry Potter, having a joke. I'd never met half of these people before. But that's what a good book series does. More of the same please.
The opening second got me all excited about the film. All it was, was dark clouds, and the Warner Bros. logo. But that was enough to get me hyper and realise "Harry Potter 6 is here!" and there was a shared emotion of the same context throughout the cinema. And that excitement continued throughout the whole 153 minutes of it. Something that hasn't kept me gripped so much since...well...anything. Transformers...well you know my opinion on that. The Dark Knight was incredibly long, and even though it's an amazing film, there was a time around 2/3 of the way through that I just wanted it to end. It seemed to drag on longer than it needed to. Lord of the Rings, I feel the exact same. But with Harry Potter I was completely absorbed. I knew exactly what was happening throughout the film as I read the book (again...) very recently, but I was still whispering "No, don't do it!" even though I knew they were going to do it.
The special effect sequences were just brilliant to watch, and whoever did them deserves huge credit for that. When Dumbledore made that incredible circle of fire around him and Harry in the cave, I was amazed.
The acting was good too, especially amongst Slughorn (Broadbent), Snape (Rickman) and Dumbledore (Gambon), who were superb, with Snape having the greatest villain voice ever to grace the cinema screen. Helena Bonham Carter deserves a mention too, because her Bellatrix manages to be - scary, funny and quite sexy all at the same time. Rupert Grint (Ron), however, out-shined every young actor in the film. I personally don't think Daniel Radcliffe is good enough an actor to play as big a character as Harry Potter, Emma Watson (Hermione) has improved so much, whereas Bonnie Wright (Ginny) was just annoying.
Another small gripe is the amount of stuff taken out of the book and added into or changed in the film. There were a number of scenes that I was confused at, and didn't see their relevance to the story as a whole, but also a number of scenes (one in particular - fire at the Burrow) that were added into the film. And that I was gutted there was no battle at Hogwarts at the end, but that could be down to the fact that there's going to be a huge battle in Deathly Hallows, so I can forgive that one. But on the whole, they kept all of the important scenes in, setting up for an absolute blockbuster of film A and B of Deathly Hallows. And I for one can't wait.
It wasn't perfect, but it was so very close. 8.1/10
Monday 6 July 2009
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Before I start, I'd just like to make the point that I'm a big fan of the Transformers in 2007 (and Megan Fox, but that's beside the point) so bias may be an issue in this review.
I originally didn't go into Transformers 2 with high hopes, after reading many a review saying pretty much the exact same thing: it's shit. But, on the contrary, a number of my doppelgangers had already seen the film and had told me it was "awesome", "class" and "sometimes hilarious". This only proves one thing about these people: they like loud noises. So on this basis, I ploughed on to the Odeon, Bridgend (which as it happens isn't as good a cinema as the Showcase Cinema, Nantgarw where I saw the other films I've reviewed so far, even though they have these "Premium Seats" which are exactly the same as the normal chairs, except they have a head rest) to witness the spectacle.
And, my first impressions of the film after I came out where these descriptions seemed true. But while actually looking back, there were a few, make that many, flaws.
The good stuff. The action scenes (which at a guess lasted 120 minutes of the 150 minutes the film lasted) were spectacularly loud with many an explosion and robot faces being ripped in two. That's about it.
The bad stuff. These noises are all very well, if there's a reason for them. Half of the sequences were pointless and didn't really have anything to do with the final story, with mini-skirmishes between anyone and everyone, it seemed purely for revenge of the fallen, surprisingly. And even though they were great to watch, I did get annoyed at the fact that it all seemed very similar to the first film. Optimus making a comeback to winning the battle versus Megatron/whatever the master Decepticon's name was, they never really said that. Or I just wasn't paying attention. And the ending was pretty much the spitting image of the first film. Shia LaBeouf and Optimus standing on the edge of something, with Optimus talking over it about how they won the war and they'll stay on earth. That pissed me off.
Shia LaBeouf did his best to rescue the film, with Megan Fox guaranteeing every male in the galaxy will watch the film one way or another, but sadly the film was poor on hindsight. I can understand why the audience gave it a good reception because it's what a summer film should be. Explosions, fighting and aliens. But, it has to be good at the same time. The humour I found rather stupid, clearly aimed at the younger audience, other than Skids, Mudflap, and the Decepticon that Fox took under her wing, were very funny indeed. But the soldiers in the film seemed very stupid and were just there because they had overly big arms.
So on that rather pissed off sounding review, Transformers 2 gets my worst review so far, if 3.9/10. Shame really. I'll watch the original to get my hopes up a bit more.
I originally didn't go into Transformers 2 with high hopes, after reading many a review saying pretty much the exact same thing: it's shit. But, on the contrary, a number of my doppelgangers had already seen the film and had told me it was "awesome", "class" and "sometimes hilarious". This only proves one thing about these people: they like loud noises. So on this basis, I ploughed on to the Odeon, Bridgend (which as it happens isn't as good a cinema as the Showcase Cinema, Nantgarw where I saw the other films I've reviewed so far, even though they have these "Premium Seats" which are exactly the same as the normal chairs, except they have a head rest) to witness the spectacle.
And, my first impressions of the film after I came out where these descriptions seemed true. But while actually looking back, there were a few, make that many, flaws.
The good stuff. The action scenes (which at a guess lasted 120 minutes of the 150 minutes the film lasted) were spectacularly loud with many an explosion and robot faces being ripped in two. That's about it.
The bad stuff. These noises are all very well, if there's a reason for them. Half of the sequences were pointless and didn't really have anything to do with the final story, with mini-skirmishes between anyone and everyone, it seemed purely for revenge of the fallen, surprisingly. And even though they were great to watch, I did get annoyed at the fact that it all seemed very similar to the first film. Optimus making a comeback to winning the battle versus Megatron/whatever the master Decepticon's name was, they never really said that. Or I just wasn't paying attention. And the ending was pretty much the spitting image of the first film. Shia LaBeouf and Optimus standing on the edge of something, with Optimus talking over it about how they won the war and they'll stay on earth. That pissed me off.
Shia LaBeouf did his best to rescue the film, with Megan Fox guaranteeing every male in the galaxy will watch the film one way or another, but sadly the film was poor on hindsight. I can understand why the audience gave it a good reception because it's what a summer film should be. Explosions, fighting and aliens. But, it has to be good at the same time. The humour I found rather stupid, clearly aimed at the younger audience, other than Skids, Mudflap, and the Decepticon that Fox took under her wing, were very funny indeed. But the soldiers in the film seemed very stupid and were just there because they had overly big arms.
So on that rather pissed off sounding review, Transformers 2 gets my worst review so far, if 3.9/10. Shame really. I'll watch the original to get my hopes up a bit more.
Friday 19 June 2009
The Hangover
Wednesday night. Chris, Andrew, Tomos and Ieuan. Showcase Cinema. Perfect set up for a comedy. And, boy, what a comedy it was.
The plot of the film is not original. Bachelor party gone wild, suffering the consequences the next day, and in this case, trying to retrace their steps to find their missing friend, and Groom-to-be, Doug. Seems like a typical comedy, really. With a few laughs, but not that enjoyable. But this film can be summed up by one simple line: "I'm not leaving a baby in the hotel room, with a fucking tiger in the bathroom." That pretty much sums up this movie - totally unpredictably funny, with anything and everything included, causing an absolute abundance of laughs in the process.
The 3 main characters, Phil, Stu and Alan, cause absolute mayhem while trying to find Doug, discovering just what they got up to last night. The connection between the 3 is hilarious, with Alan claiming most, if not all, of the physical comedy in the film, Stu with the sarcasm and the "no hope card", and Phil with everything in between. But really what steals the show is the abundance of one liners (Come on handsome...not you fat Jesus!) from everyone in the film.
To sum up, I would personally call The Hangover one of, if not the, funniest films I've ever seen, and I don't think I've laughed that continuously in any film I've ever seen, with maybe only around a maximum of 3 minutes going past without me chuckling at something. Hell, sometimes, I even laughed, and was the only one laughing in the cinema. That's how funny I thought the film was.
Riddle Me That.
9.1/10 for The Hangover.
The plot of the film is not original. Bachelor party gone wild, suffering the consequences the next day, and in this case, trying to retrace their steps to find their missing friend, and Groom-to-be, Doug. Seems like a typical comedy, really. With a few laughs, but not that enjoyable. But this film can be summed up by one simple line: "I'm not leaving a baby in the hotel room, with a fucking tiger in the bathroom." That pretty much sums up this movie - totally unpredictably funny, with anything and everything included, causing an absolute abundance of laughs in the process.
The 3 main characters, Phil, Stu and Alan, cause absolute mayhem while trying to find Doug, discovering just what they got up to last night. The connection between the 3 is hilarious, with Alan claiming most, if not all, of the physical comedy in the film, Stu with the sarcasm and the "no hope card", and Phil with everything in between. But really what steals the show is the abundance of one liners (Come on handsome...not you fat Jesus!) from everyone in the film.
To sum up, I would personally call The Hangover one of, if not the, funniest films I've ever seen, and I don't think I've laughed that continuously in any film I've ever seen, with maybe only around a maximum of 3 minutes going past without me chuckling at something. Hell, sometimes, I even laughed, and was the only one laughing in the cinema. That's how funny I thought the film was.
Riddle Me That.
9.1/10 for The Hangover.
Saturday 13 June 2009
Terminator Salvation
After the debacle of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator really needed a reboot to the franchise. And what a way to do it.
Salvation starts from halfway through the war between the Resistance and the Machines, as called in the film, set in 2018. Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the accidental leader of the Resistance, and there was some controversy with this appointment. In T3, John Connor is around 19 years old, and he looks nothing like Christian Bale. But they chose Christian Bale. That aside, he did play the role very well, besides his voice which was like The Dark Knight reincarnated. That growl that I personally found very annoying. But ho hum, he'll have to do.
The action epic that is Terminator certainly improved compared to T3 and The Terminator, but it seems unlikely that anything will match Judgement Day, but Salvation certainly has a good go at it. The action is brilliant, with all the fire, explosions and guns you could want in a film, and, fair play to the guy, Sam Worthington was brilliant in it. It was very clever by the Producers dodging the not-having-Arnie (even though he does turn up in the last half hour) barrier. It seems Terminator 5 will be the conclusion to the iconic series, and I'm most certainly sticking around to see it.
Terminator Salvation gets 7.1/10.
Next review: The Hangover.
Salvation starts from halfway through the war between the Resistance and the Machines, as called in the film, set in 2018. Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the accidental leader of the Resistance, and there was some controversy with this appointment. In T3, John Connor is around 19 years old, and he looks nothing like Christian Bale. But they chose Christian Bale. That aside, he did play the role very well, besides his voice which was like The Dark Knight reincarnated. That growl that I personally found very annoying. But ho hum, he'll have to do.
The action epic that is Terminator certainly improved compared to T3 and The Terminator, but it seems unlikely that anything will match Judgement Day, but Salvation certainly has a good go at it. The action is brilliant, with all the fire, explosions and guns you could want in a film, and, fair play to the guy, Sam Worthington was brilliant in it. It was very clever by the Producers dodging the not-having-Arnie (even though he does turn up in the last half hour) barrier. It seems Terminator 5 will be the conclusion to the iconic series, and I'm most certainly sticking around to see it.
Terminator Salvation gets 7.1/10.
Next review: The Hangover.
Drag Me To Hell
Quite simply, Drag Me To Hell is one of the best horrors I've ever seen, along with 30 Days of Night. 90% of the film is flawless. There are some bits that are rather pointless, like for instance, when we meet our main character Christine, played by the brilliant, and rather attractive, Alison Lohman, she is driving to work listening to an enunciation CD. It was utterly pointless in my book as it had nothing to do with the actual story. But other than that blip at the beginning, the rest of it was pure horrific genius. With some moments of comic genius thrown into the equation. There were moments where I actually yelped in my seat as Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) jumped out from behind the curtains in the shed scene. And when she was on the bed. And was curled up in a ball whenever she turned up in the film. Classic.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi, the man behind the Spiderman films, and this return to his roots (after his Evil Dead triolgy, which I have yet to watch) to old-school horror films. And it was an absolute blast. Hopefully, with Spiderman 4 in the process of filming, it should live up to the expectation, and match, or possibly better, the quality of Drag Me To Hell.
Drag Me To Hell gets 8.2/10.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi, the man behind the Spiderman films, and this return to his roots (after his Evil Dead triolgy, which I have yet to watch) to old-school horror films. And it was an absolute blast. Hopefully, with Spiderman 4 in the process of filming, it should live up to the expectation, and match, or possibly better, the quality of Drag Me To Hell.
Drag Me To Hell gets 8.2/10.
Welcome!!
I've decided to be a bit more inventive with my blogging, by blogging something that could be more interesting than my life. I've decided to review the latest films I see in the cinema. I have seen a fair number in the past few weeks, and will do some short reviews today for two of them - Terminator Salvation and Drag Me To Hell.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
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