Chalet Girl

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

Oh what fun. Not only does this have the fun summer (well, winter) romance thing, and the rather superficial different class issues, it also has our heroine needing to win the big snowboarding trophy but can't do the big jump because of unresolved issues with her mother's death. Yes that's right. Amazing.

It's not trashy per se, perhaps only because most everyone has a British accent which makes it seem classier... But it's not trying hard to be serious. It's the kind of film where everyone is perfectly paired off by the end and they all sing a song together over the end credits. The plot is very basic but the cast seem to be having fun. Bill Nighy and Brooke Shields as husband and wife? Yeah sure, ok. And if you ever wanted to see Bill Bailey in nothing but a towel, this film is for you.

I wouldn't call Felicity Jones England's answer to Amanda Bynes just yet, but this film gets close.

One thing this film did do is make me want to book a skiing holiday again immediately. So much fun.

The Muppets Take Manhattan

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

Aha! This one is the one I must have seen when I was younger because I remember most of it. The Broadway Show one. And there are some nice songs in it too with Ralph Burns providing the very musical theatre sounding tunes. Frank Oz's turn at directing too.

Well it's a greta way to spend a night. Certain lines from this one I vividly remember from when I was younger, they are still funny now. High hopes for the newest Muppet film coming out in just a few months!

The Great Muppet Caper

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

Ok, so again, I haven't seen a frame of this before. Shocking. Well it's great fun. This one has some crazy huge classical style musical numbers. A big hat and cane number in a restaurant and a hilarious Busby Berkeley style pool number, both with Miss Piggy. Very funny indeed.

Again the cameos and the silly joke are a lot of fun, John Cleese has a nice extended cameo. The caper is almost an after thought.

I'm loving catching up with these tonight. On with the last of the original trilogy! (That has to be the one I've seen before!)

The Muppet Movie

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

Awesome! I have vague memories of the older Muppet movies and I don't remember which scenes are from what movie but in watching this tonight, I realised I've never seen any of this, their first feature, before. Very exciting indeed. Can't wait to watch the rest to see if I've actually seen any of these older ones before.

Some classic silly jokes in there and a lot of cool cameos. Orson Welles! Hah the best. I do love me some Madeline Kahn too. Paul Williams music! I've never seen the Rainbow Connection! What is wrong with me? Well I've seen it now, it's a beautiful start to the film.

I do have my favourite Muppets, I love me some Animal and Beaker. Miss Piggy kicking Mel Brook's butt is rather amusing too. Love it.

A Horrible Way To Die

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

Hmm, it's not really that horrible. Especially after having watched Martyrs last night.

A mumblecore horror film. Slow paced, meandering not that involving for me. I loved AJ Bowen from The Signal, a small indie zombie horror film from a few years back that was far more successful. He was excellent in that and he's pretty good here too.

But in the end I just didn't really care about anyone in this. It didn't hold my attention. I hear their next collaboration, You're Next, is more successful so I'm holding out for that.

Martyrs

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

I've watched some pretty brutal films in my time, I love seeking out the extreme and the shocking. This year, I've already seen Salo and A Serbian Film this year but this is the most intriguing to me of the bunch. It's brutal, shocking, dark dark dark, never lets go of the audience and also manages to be rather thought provoking too.

Right from the start the film expertly keeps tripping you up, defying expectations and never giving you a firm footing to figure out what's going on. Is it a ghost story? Is it torture porn? Is it a slasher? One thing it's certainly not is funny. There is not one small moment of levity, the film never lets up.

This film has one of my all time favourite bait and switches at the beginning. It's very mean spirited and completely shocking and I love it to death. Best watched with the sound pumped up for maximum effect. The opening segments are filled with energy, sound and fury. And then when the film kicks into the final phase it slows down and becomes unrelenting and almost unbearable. It takes its time to get to the point and doesn't reveal it's true intentions for quite some time.

It's in these moments you realise they way the film is expertly constructed to mess with the audience. It's after a reaction and it won't fail to get it one way or another.

The dedicated performances of the leads in this film are rather staggering. what they are required to pull off physically and emotionally is enormous and they are incredible.

The other stand out here is the make up effects. Not just some simple gore and buckets of blood, this film has some beautifully designed prosthetic effects and three full body jobs that are stunning and horrifying.

I've been avoiding saying anything about the plot of characters, this is a film best discovered. But rest assured it's brutal and fascinating. One of the best horror films of the decade.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

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

Here's my first write up.

Still really love this film, it has a great feeling of adventure about it that I love. It's such a complete world that Miyazaki's created too. The designs of the insects are awesome and I love the whole backstory behind the toxic jungle. I also love the vague suggestions as to what happened to cause the apocalyptic scenario so many hundreds of years ago.

Lord Yupa kicks ass too.

Titan A.E.

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

One of those film that never hit in the way a studio would have liked. everything it has going against it is something I like about it. Animated sci-fi adventure, 2d and 3d animation, modern rock soundtrack, too violent and scary for very young children. Bless you Don Bluth.

I can really see Joss Whedon's hand in the script. A lot of this feels like a precursor to Firefly, it very much feels like the same universe, except being animated allows for some kooky alien characters and some very very cool action sequences. I don't know why but often when I watch animated films I imagine them as live action. This film would be absolutely spectacular as live action. Pity it pretty much single handedly destroyed Fox Animation Studios.

The villains aren't as developed as the rest of the story but they are pretty damn scary. There are some really spectacular visuals, being in widescreen helps the classic adventure feel too. A lot of the CG doesn't hold up too well but It was pretty revolutionary when it came out.

The most important thing that works for me is the story and the main characters. The whole finding your place in the universe coming of age story is really well done for such a short running time. They have a pretty neat cast doing voices too.

Yeah I really love this film. It seems almost tailor made for me. The public just didn't seem prepared for a slightly more teen targeted animated adventure, such a pity. Here's hoping it gets a bluray release sometime. It looks great.

Submarine

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

A sweet, quirky, fun British coming-of-age dramady with very indie sensibilities. It's everything you'd expect it to be, not overly sentimental and just barley manages not to get too clever for its own good.

I can't remember the last film I saw set in Wales. The way it's shot here is constantly overcast and in very low light, usually at dusk. Not exactly a loving portrayal but I still really love that.

I also really love Sally Hawkins and Paddy Considine and they are both really great in this, although Considine doesn't have that much to do. The whole cast is good in fact, I'm sure the young leads will get plenty of work from this.

Surprised to learn this was directed by Richard Ayoade of IT Crown and Dark Place fame. Also excited to see he's going to be directing an upcoming episode of Community. Good for him.

The Hunt for Red October

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

Gotta admit, this is the first Tom Clancy story I've seen. It's also the first one adapted to my knowledge. It's also been a while since I've seen any John McTiernan film.

It's a pretty cool story, and although I don't think submarine warfare is terribly cinematic visually, there are some great moments of suspense and a bit of action. Plus there is a ridiculously talented cast in this film that don't seem to have all that much to do, but look happy enough to be there anyway.

It is a fine looking film technically too. I actually owned the soundtrack for a very long time so I was aware of some of the music but had never seen the film to which it went. Funnily enough Basil Poledouris also did the music in Serial Mom which I watched today. Very different scores but both pretty cool nonetheless.

Anyway, It was cool to finally see this one, and in HD. The 90's effects hold up pretty well for the most part. I do love them. I'm not sure I'll be rushing out to see the other Tom Clancy films, it's not really a genre I seem to be able to sink my teeth into but I definitely wouldn't say no to them if they popped up as an option.

Single White Female

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

Ooo a fun 90's thriller. So many I've never seen before but I can now cross this one off the list. This one has a fairly standard story and a pretty good cast. And it has the infamous stiletto heel in the eye. I'll be honest that's pretty much all I knew about the film and all I really wanted to see.

But what I got as a bonus was some great early 90's production design. I'm mainly talking about the women's New York fasion and the very nostalgic apple computer displays. I do love them so.

This slow burn was just a little too slow for my tastes. I do appreciate the fun girl fight in the basement at the end though, that was fun.

Serial Mom

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler

Ooo another John Waters film I've never seen. I find his films delightfully trashy, a little uneven but very amusing nonetheless and this one, while not as trashy as his other output is definitely amusing.

In fact it probably is the most mainstream film of his I've seen. Kathleen Turner is simply delightful in this and is the main reason to watch the film. Her Brady Bunch mentality serial killing is a lot of fun.

That's my general consensus on the film, it's very fun, some good light entertainment, nothing too ambitions. I would have perhaps liked a bigger ending but it works fine and the cast are all great.

[Rec] ²

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

The original Rec was just wonderful. I was lucky enough to be able to witness it in a cinema, the one and only time it played in Perth and it was one of the best nights in a theatre I've had. That film works a crowed like few can.

I didn't have the same luck with its sequel but it has finally gotten a release on dvd here. The american remake "Quarantine" was ok too I suppose but pretty much because it was almost identical to the original. However the ending that they changed makes that series impossible to follow on with what the original has done with its sequel.

The film starts off with the last shot of the first film a then continues from there, albeit with a new group of people entering the diseased building. The continuity between the films is impeccable, with main characters from the first film returning as crazed zombie things in this one, even in the same rooms they were left in. Watching the films back to back is the best way to enjoy them.

What this one lacks is the slow build and set-up the first one has. This one throws you straight into the action again, which is fine if it's carried over from just having seen the first part but not so much if you just walked out of a Rowan Atkinson comedy. I think for that reason, watching it this time through didn't seem nearly as effective as the first time I watched it. But it still has its share of great moments.

This film wisely develops the mythology of the disease that was left extremely vague in the first film, but still leaves enough questions to make me excited for the next two sequels set to be released next year. It also starts a convention of jumping around in chronology a little where we re-wittness events but now from the perspective of a new group of characters until they meet up again. It does make an entire section of the movie seem like filler but now that I read they are using these same characters in the next sequel I'm hoping they will pay off in the way this second film makes me appreciate and understand the first film even more. Few sequels pull that trick off successfully.

That creature is still one of the scariest things ever put in a movie but I have to admit I don't like the rather supernatural lengths they took the night-vision cam tricks too. The American remake opted for a very scientific explanation whereas the original series seems to be becoming more and more supernatural and religious. I still like the first film the best, but this is a great addition to the story, which I hope continues to develop in an intelligent and exciting way.

Johnny English Reborn

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

Well I liked this one much more than the first one, that's for sure. The new James Bonds streamlined the series, got rid of some of the campy stuff and added the more modern touches, i.e. wobbly cam action, some parkour etc. This film wisely takes it's lead from those films and as a result is a much more well rounded film than the first one.

While there's still a lot of very silly jokes and physical comedy in there, which is to be expected, there was also a touch more wit. There were some bigger action sequences and they each had a little quirk to make them stand out. My favourite was the parkour chase in China, where instead of trying to follow the villains crazy physical feats he finds a simple and more logical way around obstacles, like, opening doors. It's very funny and a great comment on the new form of action.

The evil plan is a lot less cartoonish in this film as well, which helps a great deal and the climax worked better for me too. The managed to find a vehicle for Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy which came much more organically from the plot.

The silly humour still isn't my thing, but on the whole it's a much better film than the original. Much like Mr. Bean's Holiday was more successful as a feature than his Ultimate Disaster film.

Johnny English

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

Well I figured I couldn't see the sequel without first watching the original. Probably not the case with this film. I'm not too sure how much I really want to see the sequel anyway but I've at least seen this one now.

It's not great. I grew up loving Mr. Bean but Rowan Atkinson's physical humour hasn't really been translated very well to features. The silly slapsticky humour doesn't really appeal to me much now.

Natalie Imbruglia is in this. Hah.

Fright Night

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

I've been so busy I haven't seen a film in 5 days! Serious withdrawal. So let's get back into it.

And what better way than a surprisingly decent remake of a classic 80's horror I love. Who would have thought the director of Lars and the Real Girl would pull this one off?

The best thing about the remake is Colin Farrell's performance. He's delightfully sinister. David Tennant's take on the Peter Vincent character is very different, hilarious and as a bonus they give him more to do as well. Christopher Mintz-Plasse has the unenviable task of portraying Evil Ed, probably the most iconic character from the first film and he does ok, they give him a great death.

Oh and there's a cameo from Chris Sarandon that's delightful for fans of the original.

One of the things I loved about this film is the look of the vampires when they go full monster mode. It looks just like the awesome poster from the original film. It's one of those things you see on the cover and think, oh man that looks cool, but then never quite pull it off in the film. Well they do now.

There's also a few surprises along the way that I really liked. I really liked their climax. Perhaps it's not as scary as it could have been but they do keep the humour in tact. Also there's a fun "Children of Men" style one take car driving scene that comes out pretty great.

The 3D looks fine. Only a few spots where they draw attention to it but actually filming it in 3D means there's no annoying layering issues.

Overall I really had a great time watching this one. My experience may be tainted by the fact that I could just be so happy to be watching any film again, so I'll have to see it again to be sure, but as far as remakes go, it's definitely one of the better ones. I want to watch the original again now too.