Frances Ha

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

Ooo so hipster. Black and white and everything. Noah Baumbach's latest, in conjunction with Greta Gerwig, is a sweet little character drama/comedy. Comparisons to HBO's Girls will be inevitable.

It's funny, but also frustrating. Baumbach loves making characters that you just wanna slap sometimes. More often we're seeing coming-of-age stories told about people we generally consider adults. My generation is in a perpetual state of childishness. Sheesh.

Anyway the film conveys this loud and clear. It's rather fun.

Stoker

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

Finally! I held off downloading this or ordering the bluray so I could see it for the first time at the cinema. Definitely worth it. In the same year that Chan-wook Park's fantastic film Oldboy is being remade in English, he goes ahead and shows he's just as good making films in the language himself.

And boy, he filmed it like he's got something to prove. He wrings every little drop of suspicion, mystery, suspense and out each line, each glance, every shot. To the point where it almost becomes comical. It was awesome. It feels a little looser than his recent Korean films, only in terms of his frame compositions. Still, it has a unique style.

This film is all about the Mia Wasikowska. She looks like she's having fun sinking her teeth into the character. Actually all the actors do. It's no wonder, the film was written by a fellow actor Wentworth Miller and all the characters get something to play with.

This is a gloriously dark gothic thriller. It's surprisingly simple but the script and direction and actors just take it to another plane. Great fun.

The First Time

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A first love teen drama. The way it started out I though it could have been a before sunrise type of thing, with a very long opening scene outside a party. I would have been happy if the whole film stayed there but alas it moved on an became quite typical.

I had a problem with the very movie dialogue. Perhaps I'm wrong, I'm not a teenager in high school in America, but I don't think kids actually talk like that in real life. Normally not an issue, but with everything else striving to feel authentic, it stood out.

Nice to see James Frecheville from Animal Kingdom getting some work. This is the last place I expected to see him show up but there he was.

We're the Millers

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This was pretty typical. There were a handful of good laughs but it was all pretty pedestrian. Apart from the abundance of swearing this was a very PG comedy. They unfortunately can't side-swipe the sentimentality and more than once the integrity of characters are compromised in order to keep the story on track and reach a happy resolution. But it passed the time and wasn't horrible.

Kick-Ass 2

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

I do love the first Kick-Ass. Between that films release and the sequel we thought we weren't going to get, I read all the comics, so this time I had a much better idea of what was in store. The two comics that make up the sequel are much darker than the first film. There's stuff in there would easily land it an NC-17 rating, or worse. No surprise that the film sidesteps a few of these sections and comes up with some inventive sequences of its own, that get the same points across but in a much more fun way.

Make no mistake though, there's still a lot of very crass humour and graphic violence in this film. Jeff Wadlow takes over the writing and directing from Matthew Vaughn and while I don't think he's as strong staging the action it all works well.

What the sequel does well though is create all new character arcs for the three leads. The characters and indeed the world has changed a great deal from where things were left at the end of part 1. Escalation can be a bitch.

The film makes light of what came across as a far more serious on the page (a brutal rape scene becomes an easy dick joke here) but it actually makes for a much easier film to digest. It's still very very funny, if a little juvenile at times. It's great to spend more time with these characters, and while I think this film has a few more problems than its originator it's still a worthy sequel.

Hell Baby

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A very very silly little movie. But it has its moments. You should be able to tell from the trailer if the humour is going to work for you or not. If you like Reno 911, Children's Hospital or NTSF:SD:SUV you'll have a ball.

Only God Forgives

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I really liked the lighting and composition. I loved the score. I liked Kristin Scott Thomas' character too. The rest of it was... kinda slow. Bouts of graphic violence doesn't hold my interest if I don't care about the characters. Or can't stay awake.

Cockneys vs Zombies

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Pretty standard zombie comedy. Is it odd that there's a standard now for a zombie comedy? Inept bank robbers and the residence of an old folks home take back the streets from the hordes. This one can be more than a little silly but there are a few good comedic gags and quite a few good gore gags too. Don't expect more than that though.

Elysium

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Steve, Cicely, Belinda, Claire

I really love District 9 and Neill Blomkamp's follow up is even more impressive with its visuals and even more of a sledgehammer with its themes. Seems to be the general trade off when you get a higher budget. The character work isn't as strong this time around so when we segue into the action set pieces it's all pretty typical. Although Sharlto Copley is having a lot of fun playing a real creepy guy, which is hilarious and horrifying at the same time.

It's certainly a fun ride and there are some really great sequences. The realistic shooting style and location work really sell this world and effects are integrated seamlessly. There's also a surprising amount of people graphically exploding. I didn't check the rating going in, I just presumed that being a big budget film it would be PG. It's certainly not PG. Heh...

I must admit I was hoping for a little more from Blomkamp but as a Hollywood sci-fi actioneer it certainly delivers.

The World's End

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda, Claire, Shane

Write Up.

God bless you Edgar and your penchant for 2nd time viewing gags. So much to pick up watching the film again, so many great details and references that are impossible to get the first time through. I don't know how I missed the whole Arthurian legend set up the first time but it sure made me appreciate the end a bit more. Definitely liked it more the 2nd time.