Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Chris O'Dowd overload, I just watched 4 season of the IT Crowd in a day and followed it off with this. I've said before I'm a sucker for Time Travel films but very particular about the rules. This one works for the most part except for the end, which admittedly they do explain away with a parallel universe gag, but still felt a bit like a cop-out.

There are a handful of nice time travel antics but for the most part this wants to be a comedy and it's mildly successful at that. Unlike the awesome Timecrimes the action spreads over thousands of years so the changes are more drastic and less effected by determinism.

There's some fun to be had but it's nothing to write home about.

Day of the Dead

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Wow as this started I realised I'd never actually seen it. I thought I had for some reason but must have had it confused with some other zombie film. Well my reason for watching the other 2 films tonight was mainly so I could watch this one because I didn't remember it at all. Now I know why.

Better makeup is the thing that stands out most in this. That and the first sympathetic, emotive zombie in the series. Not sure I like that though.

It's also more serious than Dawn of the Dead. 3 big jump scares got me unawares. Something none of the other films had.

So we got some scientists and some military dudes underground. The male lead for both parties seem to over act a little but everyone else was fine.

I did like this one. But I don't think I'll be doing the next 3, at least not at the moment. I do know for sure I have seen them though. Heh.

Dawn of the Dead

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Probably the most popular of the series and certainly the one I know the best. Who hasn't dreamt of making camp in a shopping mall when the apocalypse arrives?

I don't much care for the start of this film though. I can never get into it until the small group is formed and they make there way out of the city in the helicopter. I do love that zombie whose head gets clipped by the chopper blades. Funny.

It's a very different film from the original. The whole style is different, far more modern. The colour really shows up the make-up as well, which is supposed to be grey but looks blue, the blood looks a bit pinkish too at times. There's also much more humor and I think, despite the extra gore, there's less suspense.

Watching it again now all I could think of the whole way through is how much Roger, played by Scott H. Reiniger, looks exactly like Brad Bird.

I do like this one. Actually I recall quite liking the remake as well but I have only seen that once when It came out. Anyway good stuff.

Night of the Living Dead

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

That ending still manages to pack a punch. It's done so offhandedly as well. It's been a very long time since I saw this, I forgot how annoying I find Barbra.

The set up is a little slow but it does get you used to a certain pace so things get intense when they crank up the action at the end. Some of the sound recording isn't top notch, as is some of the focus issues made more noticeable in the HD transfer but it still holds up well. Some of the acting I find a bit "of the era" but it's manageable for the most part.

When they talk about Romero zombies as the slow moving kind, boy do they mean it. I guess I'm so used to the faster ones prevalent in every zombie film today that even the ones I thought were slow still zoom by in comparison. They pretty much just stand there.

Good to watch again. I was in the mood for some good old school horror tonight.

Cherry Tree Lane

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Last time I tried to watch this I accidentally watched Cold Creek Manor (similar names though right?) but I got the right film this time. This is not like The Cottage, there is nothing fun about the events of Paul Andrew Williams' follow up film. Apart from a few slow motion shots things are kept very real. There's no music until the end credits. It's more like a play. Short and to the point. Even the more brutal stuff is kept off screen, but you can hear muffled screams from other rooms in the house while we just sit on the helpless characters tied up downstairs.

The whole film feels more like a horrific naturalistic drama. The characters are very believable and it's the performances that ground this film.

The most mystifying thing though is the ending. It's abrupt and unexpected and like the rest of the film, the suggestion of what is happening rather that actually seeing it if far worse an experience. Depending on how you look at it, it's a very gloomy ending. Another great entry in the current wave of home invasion horror films.

One Dark Night

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

This was pretty neat. Some mean high school girls dare the new kid to spend a night in a mausoleum to join their group, but it just happens to be the same night a recently deceased telekinetic occult master was laid to rest. Naturally some bad stuff happens. The mausoleum setting reminded me of Phantasm. Like that film we have various people breaking into the mausoleum at night while a whole bunch of spooky stuff goes down.

They have some nice dead bodies here. You can't really call them zombies because they aren't undead, they are just spookily floating around being controlled by the occult dude, who has Rayden-like electricity coming out of his eyes. Some neat effects there, what looks to be practical electricity elements, works really well. His final defeat and decomposition is really nice too.

Elizabeth Daily aka E.G. Daily who voices Tommy in Rugrats has a small part here. I don't think I've ever seen her in a live action before. Adam West is also in it (in a serious role) but I can't watch him without snickering. Is it just me or is his mere presence warrant as a joke nowadays?

There's not much to this one, some good bits at the end though and it doesn't drag on thankfully.

Monster House

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex, Kyla

I watched this earlier in the year but had some new victims to inflict it upon.

Just to add to that review, I love the awesome cast they assembled for this. You can really see them come through their digital counterparts when you know who you're looking at.

I also like that they opted not to worry about realistic hair or spending extra time adding motion blur to everything. It gives it a little bit of a stop-frame feel. Instead they focused on all the beautiful bounce lighting. In fact I think this is one of the first CG films to be lit entirely this way. It's beautiful.

The other thing I neglected to mention, probably because I never really noticed it until this time around is just how successful the score by Douglas Pipes is. I guess that's a testament to how unobtrusive it is, but I was listening to it this time and it's really great and goes for practically the whole film. Some of it is very cartoonish and some of it is full out horror but like the film, it strikes the dark but fun vibe perfectly.

It's also the first bluray transfer I've seen that doesn't look as top notch as others. I have one of the original 2d transfers from it's first release. It's been re-issued since then, I'd like to see a 3D version but don't have any technology to play it with. Anyway it's still great.

Speed Racer

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex, Kyla

One of my all time favourite films ever. And I hate Car Racing. Number 5 on my Top 10 of 2008, just below The Dark Knight but above Wall-E. I think I might actually rate it even higher now though. Like Scott Pilgrim Vs The World it's a film I find joyously exhilarating and a visual feast and yet no-one went to see it and some people down right hate it and just can't handle the hyper-stylization.

The Wachowski's take things to a whole new level on this one. It's a real live action anime, using the flat style 2d compositing from animated shows but with 3d and live action elements for the layers, complete with disregard for perspective. It's also a whole different kind of editing too, with overlays functioning as transitional wipes and many a whip pan, the shots just flow into one another. It boggles the mind. And shooting digitally there is no film grain, the bluray is the cleanest, brightest most colourful live action film I own. It's like nothing else.

The action is just awesome. I believe they coined the phrase "Car-fu" and it suits. There's some ridiculously fun sequences and they fit in a lot of the fun gadgets from the TV Show. But it's not just the racing and car madness, there's also some kick-ass hand to hand fight sequences with ninjas (more like nonjas... terrible what passes for a ninja these days) and shoot outs with hilariously cartoonish gangsters. They even have the anime style whoosh lines. Oh man I just love it so much.

But through all this mad visual candy, a really great story is told, it's pretty epic too. The characters have been perfectly fleshed out from the show by great actors. Even Spritle and Chim-chim, while playing the annoying comedic relief have a few genuinely great moments. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon are the best mum and dad in the world. There's some real dramatic moments too. The whole opening is a dazzling feat of storytelling and editing, from multiple timelines and character set-ups all rolled into one sequence. We see young Speed at school and meet Trixie, intercut with the present and Speed racing the ghost of his brother, intercut with his brothers tragic backstory. I just couldn't even imagine getting all that out in a script like that. Incredible, easy to follow AND emotional.

There's something about the editing, the music, the action, the acting in that final race that always manages to get me on the edge of my seat, get my heart pumping and I'll admit it, get a little teary eyed. It just gets me. I think Michael Giacchino's great score has a lot to do with it.

I just can't understate enough how much I love this film. Too many people wrote this off as a stupid looking kids film, cash in on an old Show. But you can expect s much more from the Wachowski's. It's not as stupid or kiddy as it looks. I can appreciate it's just to much stylistically for some people to get their heads around but just give it a chance and you might be surprised.

Point Break

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I say first time viewed and this was indeed the first time I watched the film in its entirety in one sitting but I had actually seen a lot more of it than I thought in bits and pieces over the years, it being a regular favourite of my siblings. This jumped on the list when I threw on Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days a few weeks ago and thought I should probably give this one a view too.

Such a man film. I think I grew chest hairs watching it. And I didn't need Hot Fuzz to tell me that. It is a little silly but more importantly it's entertaining and a lot of fun. John C. McGinley is the funniest stereotype of a berating police chief ever. And that skydiving scene is so badass it's the stuff of legend.

Enjoyed watching this one all the way through, there wasn't that much I hadn't seen, a few details here and there mainly the love interest stuff. Nice to see it all together at last. Another in the long list of films I feel guilty about having not seen to be crossed off.

The Mist

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex

Watched this one again, felt like watching some sort of creature feature. Previous post here.

I really do love this one. I understand it's not for everyone but It's pretty much note perfect for me. I think people were put off by the trailer which makes it look a little hoaky but it's damn effective. At least it is for me.

Battle Royale

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex

Well what can one say about this, except it's an all time genre classic. A class of high school kids forced to fight to the death. Genius.

It's also a very Japanese film. Sometimes you don't know if it's supposed to be comedic or melodramatic or both. I think that's just how Japanese films are though. I enjoy it too.

I haven't read the manga but I understand that it delves much more into the backstory of all the characters. We watched the Directors Cut on an imported Bluray that includes a bit more of these moments (as well as some extra gore), some of which are haphazardly piled up at the end of the film. But the ones within the film are nice touches.

With so many characters though the film ends up being a series of vignettes, there's not much time to get characters and relationships established for everyone, but it's surprisingly comprehensible and filled with some delightful deaths. I especially like the 5 girls cooking breakfast that just turn on each other. They only have one scene but it's a good one!

And of course the legendary Takeshi Kitano as the teacher, he's very funny.

I actually think this film is a brilliant satire. It seems to be undermined by more serious dramatic tendencies that come off as overly melodramatic but there's actually a lot to think about with this one.

Great to have another look with the director's additions in HD. If you've never seen this you should check it out before some bad american version comes out. (I think there's already been several but never a straight remake.)

Julia's Eyes

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

What a great film! Absolutely loved this one, scared the crap out of me whilst still being a beautiful dramatic story. One of those film that has its cake and eats it too. It does result in a longer running time but it's well worth it.

Unfortunately the cinema I saw it in had very bad crackly sound and was projected from a very pixilated digital format, it didn't even look full HD. Very upsetting, it would probably have been better if I had waited for the bluray release and watched it on my set up at home. But who knows how long this will take for a home release?

I thought the set up looked a little like the Pang Brother's film The Eye. But throughout the film you are unsure if what is transpiring is supernatural or not. Even by the end I'm not completely sure, but I don't think so, there's another conceit at play here thats much more creative albeit harder to explain.

Guillermo del Toro's name is stamped on this one as producer, which I must admit is a reason I wanted to see it. And like The Orphanage it has some genuine suspenseful moments with a real great story and characters you can care about as well. How can you not feel bad for someone going blind, especially when there may or may not be someone trying to kill her?

Now it was very hard to tell if it was purposefully shot very dark or if it was just a bad projector, I have the feeling it's the latter, but there are definitely some p.o.v. shots as she's going blind where it's hard to make out what your seeing. It's damn scary too. And they make the decision not to show the faces of anyone Julia meets after she starts going blind, so you are never sure who is really there. It's a great device and makes you suspicious of everyone.

It's a really well put together film and one I highly recommend seeing, even with bad projection and sound it worked wonders. Can't wait to see it again in a cleaner format!

Deadgirl

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Brilliant! Delightful! I love seeing guys coming from the Troma school of film and making their own things in a much more serious manner but still just as screwed up. This one reminds me a bit of Teeth. A great twisted high concept film but done in a serious indie drama way. Works wonders.

Here the high concept is also a horrific analogy of budding teen sexuality. Two very horny young guys find a zombie girl chained up in an abandoned mental hospital, stuff gets worse from there...

Although not everyone is great in the film the two leads are very good. They actually hold off on a lot of the gore, opting to show very quick flashes and focusing more on the drama and characters. The music is a pretty shameless take on Michael Andrews' iconic score from Donnie Darko.

I am probably going to be watching a few more teen zombie films in the coming weeks, a bit of research. I highly doubt most of them will be as good as this one though. Well worth seeking out.

Cold Creek Manor

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I thought this was a different film. After watching The Cottage again recently I wanted to see the directors latest work and when I saw the cover of this I thought it was his film. Mixed up the titles though, his film is Cherry Tree Lane and this film is Cold Creek Manor.

So imagine my surprise when all these famous people showed up in a no-name low budget horror. Kristen Stewart's age gave it away, this film was not made last year. Pleasantly surprised to find Mike Figgis made it though. And that it's not that bad either.

The other advantage to not knowing anything about it was that I had no idea what to expect. At first I thought it might be a haunted house story. Then when Dennis Quaid's character turned out to be a documentarian filming everything I thought it might go the Paranormal activity route. Then when we're introduced to the town and some other shifty characters I thought it might turn into a slasher film, a whodunnit. And boy does it take its time setting things up and building tension. Really did keep me curious just to see where the hell they were going with this story.

And most of that was not to do with anything horrific or mysterious, it was the tension between the characters in the story that was keeping me on edge. An awkward situation to be placed in with some unsettling characters. All of that stuff worked really well.

The last half hour goes more into a run of the mill horror film though and I guess it was building up to that the whole time but I guess the journey was a little more fun that the destination. Another strange way to discover a film and it was enjoyable enough but went a little long for my tastes.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

What a revelation. Don't watch all that trailer though there are massive spoilers at the end.

So I got onto this film after a facebook discussion about if Maggie Smith ever appears to be young on film. It prompted my recent viewing of Clash of the Titans. However, someone responded with a youtube link to a scene from this film that intrigued me so I thought I'd give it a look. This now replaces that film as the youngest I've seen her.

But apart from that I got a very unexpectedly awesome film. I had no idea Maggie Smith won an oscar for this film or that it was based on a play and novel and had a much higher calibre of writing and characters than I was ready for. I was expecting it to be a simple inspirational teacher movie like To Sir, With Love, made around the same time and one I did not get into much at all. That film pales in comparison to this though.

At the beginning I couldn't figure it out. Her character, Miss Brodie, is so flamboyant and even a little reckless I thought that she isn't exactly 'safe' or someone to be at the centre of a motivational teacher film. And of course that then becomes an issue, but there's much more going on than that. I started this at midnight thinking if I fell asleep I could watch the rest tomorrow but unlike To Sir, With Love it captivated me more and more as it went along. All the actors are great especially the main school girl Sandy. And it climaxes and comes to a close magnificently. There's no straight happy ending here, there's a definite resolve with a hint of bitter irony that will leave you satisfied but with enough to think over as well. A hard balance to pull off.

I love finding these unexpected surprises and in such strange ways too. It's invigorated me. Defiantly one to seek out.

Blade Runner

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly

Jordan your favourite song is in the trailer!

Watched the "Final Cut" version on bluray. Looks very pretty. Growing up our video library only had the Directors cut, so I never knew there was voice over narration until it was part of a film course for noir (it is always part of some film course or another) and they played some and my mind melted a little bit.

Such an amazing looking film. Again we see Ridley Scott cramming the frame with as much atmosphere as possible. So many lens flares too. Awesome.

Once you are used to the wonder of the imagery though it ends up being quite a slow paced film at the start there. At least thats how it played tonight, I think I'm tired too though.

Still, one of the all time best sci-fi films and just films in general, looking top notch. Great to catch up with.

Deckard is a Replicant.

Shock Treatment

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

So I like Rocky Horror and all, but I'm not a crazy fan. I've only seen it twice in my life and don't really know it all that well, besides doing the Timewarp. This film is sort of a Spin-off from that one, you couldn't really call it a sequel (Revenge of the Old Queen fans might get upset) but it does feature further adventures of Brad and Janet in the world of the Denton local TV circuit and a new idea of fast-food style mental health. It's a concept that is just as intriguing today in the world of talkshow hosts and daytime TV celebrities offering quick fix solutions and telling people what to like and how to think. As much as I like this idea, it's not delivered in a very comprehensible package. The film is at the same time delightful and maddening.

To combat a low budget and a S.A.G. strike that didn't allow any location shooting, the film was created to take place entirely in a TV Studio world, resulting in a very surreal looking film, where even the outdoor locations look like all minimalist white TV sets.

I love Jessica Harper from Phantom of the Paradise and Suspiria (and just found out looking up her credits she was the dead lady in the water in Minority Report. Woah.) and it was nice to see her in this, singing again. Barry Humphries is also very creepy and funny.

The songs all start to sound the same to me after a while, they even blend into my vague memory of songs from Rocky Horror. But even through most aren't memorable they are upbeat enough that you don't mind. For some reason the ones I can recall are the title song, Shock Treatment and the opening number about Denton not having any pretension.

Exactly what happens in the film was a bit lost on me. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what certain characters were trying to achieve but I think with this sort of film you just go with it. It's not entirely successful and nowhere near Rocky Horror standards but fans would do well to check out this little curiosity.