Bernie

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

Always happy to see another Richard Linklater film. This time tackling a true story and interspersed with interviews and scenes with local residents playing themselves. And it's rather fantastic.

A real show piece for Jack Black who absolutely kills in the role. Pun intended I guess. He gets to sing an awful lot in the film. Shirley MacLaine isn't given much to do but Matthew McConaughey sure looks to be having a lot of fun.

It's such a strange circumstance and it's portrayed wonderfully with a sense of empathy and understanding. It's also hilarious and a little heartbreaking and thanks to Blacks portrayal, sure to leave you with a few questions about the morals of the situation.

Very enjoyable with a real air of authenticity.

King Kong

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

Extended cut on bluray. Don't think the film really needed to be extended but the extra action stuff is fun. As much as I love Jamie Bell I just wish they would get rid his whole story with Evan Parke, it's terribly written and drags the film down and makes me want to tear my hair out every time they start talking about Heart of Darkness. Especially since all the characters on the ship are pretty much gone after the first hour and a half and have no relevance in the climax.

It's obvious where Jacksons sensibilities lie. He makes Kong a real tragedy and Denham a real asshole. His love for the original film is quite clear. This passion project is pretty over indulgent but there's a lot to like.

The action sequences and the beautiful backgrounds are the reason I revisit this film. Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis/Weta are great and I shall never stop enjoying that whole V-rex vs Kong fight in the vines.

I still can't justify them taking an hour to get to the Island. The '33 Kong does it in under 10 minutes and granted they aren't exploring theme as in depth and fleshing out far to many characters but still, that's a lot to take in before it feels like the actual film begins.

Once they are up on the Empire State though it's all smooth sailing.

I really like the James Newton Howard score. I'm curious as to what Howard Shore would have done and why they decided to change but what we ended up with was pretty great.

In a film with this many effects it's probably useless to complain about the few small bits that always pop out as rush jobs but there's always those few shots that make me wince a little. For the most part though, it's fantastic.

A real mixed bag but always a big adventure if you're gonna take it on.

The Most Dangerous Game

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

After watching Kong again I though it was about time I saw this other classic, if only to see if we could recognise the reused sets. There doesn't appear to be a trailer for the film but I'm sure you all know the story.

More beautiful matte paintings here. Leslie Banks as Zaroff is wonderfully creepy. Fay Wray screams some more. The whole thing is over in an hour. I don't know if the longer versions survives to this day.

Very glad I finally got around to seeing this one. Made me want to watch Fincher's Zodiac after.

King Kong

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

Classic. I love this one. Kong is awesome. Love the old school acting, dialogue, effects and music. Just great work from everyone. Been a while since I caught up with this one. Also watched Weta's try and re-creating the infamous lost spider pit sequence. It's an interesting extra. Great fun to watch again.

Take This Waltz

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

I missed Sarah Polley's first directorial effort and this one almost slipped me by to but I managed to see it on its last day. And I was very pleased to see they have upgraded the digital projection system at the cinema it was playing at, so hopefully no more complaining from me about the terrible image quality. This looked great.

This is one of those films about a situation where there are no easy answers and the film manages to treat everyone pretty sympathetically. At least I thought so. It's objective enough that you can read what you want into it. I personally thought Michelle Williams's character was never going to be happy with whichever guy she was with because the problem was her.

It's nice that although there's very recognisable beats, situations never play out exactly like you've seen before. There's a real reluctance to ever make anything too big or showy. But there is a sad anxiety at the heart of everything here. You're just waiting for it all to blow up in your face but that never comes and in the end the anxiety remains.

The cast are all great. I do love seeing comedians use their skills in different contexts. They manage to make Seth Rogen out to be a real sweetheart and sexy.

There were a small handful of scenes that felt a little clunky, mainly at the beginning to get things going. But there were also a handful of scenes latter on that were just pitch perfect. A few nice directorial flourishes too.

I enjoyed this little film. And I'm glad I held off seeing it until the new projection equipment was installed. There was what looked to be some 5D footage in a few low light scenes that looked great on the big screen. Interesting use of Video Killed the Radio Star too.

Detention

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

There needs to be more films made like this. Correction: There needs to be more people that end up seeing films like this. I never saw Torque but I know Joseph Kahn went to director jail because of it and ended up just making this one independently. Which is the only way films like this can get made.

Gloriously off the wall, completely bat-shit insane and even though I can recognise that it can be a bit of a mess at times, I could not help but love every minute of it. It just goes for broke. Undoubtably it's going to turn many people off but this was like movie crack for me. It also wins the award for most references in a film ever. I think I got most of them too.

Josh Hutcherson, what a champ. Every film I see him in I like him more and more.

I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone so I'm just gonna say, this is a MUST SEE film and if you hate it that's completely fine. But look out for it and give it a try anyway because it may just be your new favourite film.

Cosmopolis

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

Are we really lucky enough to get 2 new David Cronenberg films within a year? That makes me very happy. Especially since I found A Dangerous Method to be so dry and clinical. I like this film a great deal more.

Although the way it starts out it looks like it could be as dry and unforthcoming as the latter, however through all the waxing philosophical, a handful of characters start to be unveiled, growing sense of unease creeps up on you and the final scenes are just a joy to watch unfold.

While it's true the film is basically Robert Pattinson in a limo on his way to get a haircut while various people come in and have discussions, once you get into the slightly absurdist nonsequitur's and get your head around the themes through all the techno jargon it's surprisingly enjoyable. Probably not for everyone, there were a few who walked out of the screening.

Also they are lovely random bursts of unexpected violence, where old-school Cronenberg rears his head. There's also an absolutely hilarious, yet at the same time managing to be poignant at sad, segment about a dead rapper. Beautiful.

I also loved all the scenes with his wife. Sarah Gadon does an amazing job of conveying so much whilst maintaining this stilted emotionless tone that permeates the style of the film. Actually same should be said of Robert Pattinson who is just fantastic.

Cronenberg uses a lot of unusually high wide angles for his two way conversations. It's an odd feeling it creates and it certainly doesn't look like anything else I've seen, except maybe some Terry Gilliam. Certainly looks unique. The sound and music is very sparse, actually in the limo it's uncomfortably almost dead sillent except for the dialogue. The reasons why are later revealed but for the start of the film at least it's just another subtle thing that makes this world off-center.

Howard Shore again does music, it's very very sparse and only highlights certain small segments but it's pretty neat.

The first segment with Jay Baruchel had some dodgy greenscreen and I was worried the whole film would be like that, but they seemed to get better as they went along.

All you 99 percenters should definitely check this one out while you have the chance. I love that we got this so soon from Cannes and I'm sure I'll go back and see it again.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

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

I think it's mandatory now for every animation house to do something with pirates. This seems to be the exact same story as the last films except the baddie macguffin is pirates this time. There's a horrible teen movie sub plot going on on the side too. And once again the cartoonish exploits of Scrat are the more interesting parts.

Seriously though, every single main character goes through the exact same arc and most of them pretty unconvincingly.

Peter Dinklage and Wanda Sykes are FINALLY in a film together. Uhhh...

Terrible terrible auto-tuned music number in the middle and at the end. It seems they cast a whole bunch of unknown to me R&B stars to play all the one liner characters so they can work in a pop tune at the end. The Dink gets to sing too though, so it can't all be bad. 

Now I missed out on seeing this in 3D, I left it too late, which is a shame because it's one of the few reasons I think it would be worth seeing at all. Actually there was a Simpsons short animation starring Maggie Simpson that looked like it was made for 3D as well, I'm sorry I missed that. 

Even more hilarious was the Madagascar 3 trailer followed by Ang Lee's Life of Pi trailer and all the kids that couldn't tell the difference between the two. 

Well I can't imagine how many more films this series has left in it before they gotta start making someone extinct. But judging by the cast list there's plenty of talented people willing to say a few lines in a booth for money no matter what the content. Not nearly as reprehensible as some kids films I've seen this year but also entirely forgettable.

Hudson Hawk

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

I actually watched this a while back and completely forgot to write it up. But I just remembered today. Oops.

Hahah, Oh that trailer. I've never seen it before but no wonder the film failed. I was lucky enough to see it in my youth with no preconceived notions of Bruce Willis or what the film was sold as so I never had any problems with it growing up.  But it's not the film they advertise at all. It's a very silly comedy with a little bit of action in there. Really bizarre but I gotta admit I do love it.

Sandra Bernhard and Richard E. Grant make for some very strange, very big, villains. I just... wow. 

There are some really great ideas in this script, I'm not sure how well they are pulled off in the execution but I gotta admit, that tone and style that seems to drive anyone who sees the film crazy is what makes me like it so much. I always have fun watching it. It has a small cult following in this house. 

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

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

I kinda wished this film cut lose more often. Timur Bekmambetov's visual style is always intriguing and his action sequences opulent and filled with wild abandon. Unfortunately we only get 2 big memorable sequences, and besides some fun but forgettable hand to hand fights throughout, the film feels bogged down by its historical surroundings. A shame, as those 2 sequences are pure joy, utterly ridiculous and completely enjoyable, like the rest of the film should have been,

Should I really complain about the lack of character emotional connectivity in a film called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Well I think I have the right to. The script and the actors are all taking it very seriously and so shall I. Now obviously this makes the joke of the whole piece even more hilarious but it really does kill the fun vibe and without being acute enough to set up these characters for anything more than mere historical necessity, it really makes the whole affair rather empty.

I do love that they found a new use for 3D technology. When the vampires eyes glow as their blood-lust rises, a different opacity level is sent to each eye of the viewer creating a doubled holographic effect that one often sees as a mistake from the filtering of unpolarised light reflected at different angles from each camera. They use this mistake to a purpose here and it's actually really neat. Subtle enough that most viewers would only perceive something crazy different is going on with the vampires eyes as compared to the normal eyes. Now I can't be sure if this is a post-invention or a happy accident from on-set practical effects, eye contacts that reflect light differently. Either way. it was fun to see them using this unusual 3d phenomena to a purpose.

The 3d itself was fine however I take issue with the colour grading. I'm fine with the very stylised palette, I'm even fine with the radically incongruous two-stripe technicolor look for a brief flashback. But the whole film seems to have had a rather unpleasant digitally sharpened look that makes for some very digital looking photography, even lower res than what you'd expect. I don't know if that's an issue with the particular print we saw, an intentional look or something to do with the grading or the Arri Alexa they reportedly shot on. I've never seen footage from that camera look this much like DVC-PRO though.

The other thing that bothered me right from the get go is the over use of chromatic aberration on the edges of every frame. Sure it makes it  look like old lenses but I just couldn't stop noticing it. This though is most likely only going to be an issue for me, I doubt anyone else will be as enraged. It was just one of those things that once you noticed you couldn't stop looking at. They may have even used the 3d channels to generate some more extreme versions of this in close ups. It seemed to be the case. That old lens look coupled with the overly digitally sharpened look didn't do it for me. One or the other folks.

Unfortunately the cinema I saw this in had the sound unbearably low. The sound and music mix never pumped in the way I expect it was intended. What I did hear of the score didn't entice me much.

There are some good actors in this film. Good actors that Seth Grahame-Smith's script doesn't give anything much for them to do.

UNCREDITED ALAN TUDYK!

Also allow me to add my voice to the multitudes online expressing just how much Benjamin Walker looks like a young Liam Neeson. No surprise to see he actually played young Kinsey in the film of the same name. If Spielberg stuck to his original casting choice for his Lincoln biopic it could have been a confusing year.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days

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

This is the other Makoto Shinkai film I wanted to check out before the Anime festival. Again we are dealing with the nostalgia of childhood and a very sombre love triangle. However this time this is also a parallel universe slant from an alternate history of a divided country. All just really cool sci-fi style metaphors for the same issue, that of being separated, just like 5 Centimetres Per Second.

The whole sci-fi plot that's going on has a tendency to get a little confusing I don't think that even really matters as much as the emotion, again, very sincere. Also very pretty. One of the bonuses of animation is you can make every scene set at magic hour if you want. Shinkai certainly takes every opportunity he has.

I think his previous effort is the cleaner, more relatable film. As much as I love all the sci-fi stuff I think it tends to bog down the film in places. Perhaps another viewing is in order for clarification, but I still enjoyed the watch.

Magic Mike

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

It's that stripper movie!

Man, Soderbergh loves that yellow look. He seems to colour grade everything like that these days.

After walking out of Step Up 4, I like that this reminded me where Channing Tatum started out. He still got the moves. And little Stormbreaker is growing up too. The rest of the male cast have very interesting stories hinted at but frustratingly we never get around to them.

It seems to be a fairly level headed portrayal of the profession. Well, what would I know? It certainly caters well to the female demographic though.

Soderbergh and the actors keep things flowing and moving naturally. I love they way we always cut out of a scene what feels like a beat too early. Cody Horn almost comes across as boring she's so understated but I didn't actually have a problem with her. I enjoyed the whole thing just fine. I don't know about a musical version or a sequel but this one stands on its own well enough.

Step Up 4: Miami Heat

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

Gotta love your dance movies. The tried and true formula is pumped out yet again. Mercifully this time they actually play out the majority of the admittedly very entertaining dance sequences, instead of the rapid cutting every 2 seconds that destroyed what enjoyment I could have had out of Streetdance 2 earlier this year.

Unfortunately anytime one of the characters opens their mouth to say something I don't know if I should laugh or cringe. I loved that they ended up celebrating selling out to corporations after the whole film was spent protesting corporate greed. But does anyone really come here for the story? Probably not. There's not really any point pointing out plot holes. All that matters is that besides on or two extremely wide convergence shots, the the 3D was good, the leads were sexy and, blatant hip grinding aside, the dances were off the hizzle.  We're a long way from where this franchise started out. It's assembly line filmmaking and you'll already know if you're gonna enjoy this or not.

5 Centimetres Per Second

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

I've been meaning to check out some of Makoto Shinkai's work for a long time now. The animation and artwork really is as beautiful as people say. Stunning even. The film uses a lot of faked narrow depth of field to get all that beautiful filmic bokeh. A lot of the more modern digital compositing techniques are used to great effect here, something those old-school animators seem to be afraid or unaware of.

The film itself is made in 3 parts. Little poems about the growing distance between people. Very sad stuff. It has heart firmly on sleeve, never eases you into it either so if you aren't prepared I think the unwavering sincerity could easily backfire. Most likely due to the segments being so short and the film being a little over an hour it doesn't spend the time to lay out much groundwork. It didn't quite get me all the way there, I need more of a lead in but I think that's my personal taste. It's sure to bore some and enrapture others, so your milage may vary.

You can't doubt though that it's a visual feast. Everyday images somehow become magic and artistic. That's the wonder of animation I guess. I'll try and check out some more before the Reel Anime festival starts next month.

The Sapphires

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

Didn't know about the stage musical but the film was fine. A sure crowd pleaser.

When they label something as a musical, I usually expect characters to sing original songs about their lives or the plot, but this just occasionally shows the girls performing a number, so I'd hardly call it a musical.

The film hits all the beats you would expect, we've seen this story done many times before. I know it's based on a true story but I feel like a lot of the truth has been squished and mangled or exaggerated to fit this tried and true formula we all know.

There are a couple of rather large world events that are brushed over or used in a way that could feel exploitative. I guess it keeps the focus on the girls  and provides some context which is fine but it just felt like they were throwing stuff in to try and pull at the heartstrings any way they could.

Also despite the happy uplifting ending, only one of the girls personal storylines was actually wrapped up. I guess the rest are hinted at or just not important but when they spend all that time in the middle of the film talking about love life to have it amount to nothing is a little frustrating.

This film has some fx work in it that look about the level of what I can pull off on my old laptop. I guess it's passable enough that the target audience wouldn't really care but I sure as hell notice. And it mainly looks to be things that could have easily been shot on set too.

The songs are enjoyable though and how they got Chris O'Dowd I don't know but thank god they did because he's just charming and wonderful throughout.