This Victorian tale was filmed by the man behind films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and RocknRolla - Guy Ritchie. You would think that the person that's directed numerous gangster films wouldn't be the best director to direct a classic detective in Victorian London with very few guns to use. And yet, Ritchie managed to direct a very, very good film. The was some furore regarding Sherlock himself - Robert Downey Jr. wouldn't exactly be the Sherlock we've come to expect over the years. The very smart, elegant detective that goes about his duties with not much fuss. And yet, Downey Jr. plays an oh so different Skerlock, that I absolutely adored (my man crush on Downey Jr. did further this adoration, mind you).
Once the film started, you could easily tell that Ritchie had spent much time thinking about the setting of the film - Ye Olde London. The very dark and idyllic London is simply stunning, with half-built Tower Bridge being the piece-de-resistance. Each dark alleyway that Sherlock and Watson trudge along from time to time have a genuine eeriness about it that shows that though London is one of the most well known cities in the world, back in the day London had many skeletons in its closet, with courtesans and shafty salesmen being a regular sight throughout.
The story itself is a very interesting one (that Sherlock, naturally, is able to suss out, for the most part), and I was captivated by the way Sherlock went about at explaining how he figured all of the important elements out, sometimes with a sort of flashback, and others you really had to listen to what Sherlock was saying as only a few pictures were shown. This isn't a film you can just watch as a bit of fun on a Sunday evening, if, like me, you want to figure out the story before it gets explained, then your attention is a must. Sadly, I didn't figure out what happened before Sherlock had to explain, but I was oh so close.
Finally, you have to mention the camaraderie between Downey Jr.'s Sherlock and Jude Law's Watson is among the great partnership in current cinema. The connection between them is second to none, regularly making quips to one another.
The film has it's flaws, obviously, but there are so many pros that out weigh the cons that you nearly miss them. Oh, and the fight scene at the beginning is amazing.
To summarise, the classic detective portrayed in not-so-conventional fashion, but this really was a conventionally brilliant film.
7.7/10.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Avatar
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.
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, 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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)