Silent Hill: Revelation

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

I actually saw this one and a half times. First time jet lag got the better of me, so I had to go again the next day.

Huge disappointment. I am a big fan of the first film and an even greater fan of the game series it's based on. And I came a very long way, at great expense, primarily to see this in 3D in a cinema, as it is not getting a release in Australia. Roadshow just doesn't release its horror films anymore.

Massive fan service at the expense of storytelling. Characters only speak in clunky exposition or terrible movie cliches. Hate to say it, because I like the actors involved, but terribly delivered too. I don't know what you could possibly do with the material though.

What is does get right is the look. Production design has always been hugely important and quite specific with this series and it's recreated beautifully. The characters look and wardrobe are great as well. This film being based on the 3rd game, which is the one I know best, I could really appreciate that. And all the touches from the game they threw in. Or Games I guess I should say, with the way it ended.

However there is a lot of random "normal" horror elements thrown in that I feel are out of place in this world as well as a distinct lack of the wonderful creatures I loved from it. (Well there was one new addition that was great but rather arbitrary.)

And also a distinct lack of anything actually scary. Writer/director Michael J. Bassett is obviously a massive fan boy but I wish a more seasoned writer took a crack a crafting the story and characters into something that was at least barley legible.

The 3D was great though.

Gah, frustrating.

Sinister

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

YES. This one does it right! This is quite literally a found footage film in that it's about a man who finds footage of some bad goings on when he moves into a new house.

Like Insidious, which was probably the best new horror film from last year, this one has great actors really making you invested in whats going on and a real mystery that intrigues. It also has a fascinating score, the complete opposite from Insidious' beautiful lush strings though. I don't think I've ever heard a score quite like this before and I expect it will be copied a lot. Cannot stress enough how fresh that music is.

This also has elements to it that remind me of The Ring. I won't spoil what they are but it's a pretty great premise.

And most importantly, it accomplished the hard task of actually making me scared. Jump scares abound but this one has a few other things going for it too. Gotta admit though, the cinema experience helped greatly. Amazing sound here.

I don't know if this is getting a release in Australia. If it does, it's a must for old-school horror fans. Otherwise be sure to grab it on bluray, not as good an option as this one kills it in the cinema, but still worth checking out. Such a refreshing change from all this Paranormal Activity found footage stuff.

Wreck-It Ralph

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

First off the new Disney short Paperman is just beautiful. And animation wise, it's pretty revelational. I hope this push toward new hybrid forms of animation continues to be explored, the results are great.

Wreck-It Ralph ticks all the boxes. And to my delight the story wasn't spelled out in the trailers but, more like a Pixar film, they show just enough of the initial premise to give you the starting point and it develops from there.

Big nostalgia factor here, even non-gamers should be able to recognise the nice little touches thrown in all over the place.

Alan Tudyk does his best Ed Wynn impression. When People say this film is like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, I see they more than just the ridiculous amount of character licensing going on...

This one is a real winner. It's got the great nostalgic concept, the awesome action and visuals, brilliant animation and great characters with a whole lot of heart. Can't wait to see it again.

Cloud Atlas

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Naomi, Andrew

Cloud Atlas at IMAX. YES! Soo great. There was no way I was waiting until February to see this. Can't wait to see it again. Beautiful.

Seven Psychopaths

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Naomi, Andrew

Fantastic. I love how being self-refferential gives you and excuse for terrible writing of female characters. And what a great cast. Doing what they do best with brilliantly written characters. So enjoyable.

Such great dialogue too. I think anyone would have fun delivering it. Martin McDonagh has taken all the great things that worked from In Bruges and just made it more fun, with a few winks to audience. Again, there's a real sadness lurking just beneath.

The ending is something I'm still thinking about. There's also a mid credit sequence that is telegraphed well in advance but the payoff isn't quite what I was expecting. I think because I really loved the ending and this changed the tone slightly it threw me a little but nothing that's going to taint your enjoyment or anything.

Definitely make sure to check it out.

2 Days in New York

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

I guess you could call this a sequel to 2 Days in Paris. Julie Delpy's films are pleasant enough. It has moments of awkward comedy, not in the good way, but then some great moments of dramatic awkwardness. A little tough to pin down.

I guess it's just the broader comedy didn't work for me. Falls flat. As do the visuals. But the film was okay besides that I guess.

Intouchables

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

Yeah it was a nice little film. Light and fluffy and never went anywhere very challenging. It's all there in the trailer, pretty much nothing else happens.  

Bachelorette

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

You'd be forgiven for thinking this is just a wannabe Bridesmaids. From the trailers I saw at the cinema it looks like a pretty trash rom-com. But then I noticed a few things in the opening credits that made me sit up a little most notably that this is an adaptation of a play.

I don't think this could be further from the fun of Bridesmaids. This is scarring. Horrifying. These characters are fascinating and extreme and terrible, terrible people. Like other Dirty Sanchez productions, you are following characters that are broken and the film walks the line between getting you to laugh at them and just plain being shocked or infuriated by them.

This film is not really going for laughs at all. While I found a lot of it funny and really liked some of the performances, Isla Fisher was a very unexpected stand out, the heart of this film is sad and bitter.

One of the plot lines didn't really work for me and there is a really odd marriage (no pun intended) of gritty character work and terrible rom-com cliche. Those few moments really pull me out of what was an otherwise unexpected surprise and one I quite enjoyed.

The Mummy

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

Well I love the first Stephen Sommers remake of this, so it's great to finally see the original. I think Boris Karloff is far more interesting here than in Frankenstein, perhaps due to the face that he is actually allowed to talk. Again, great make-up.

Man, these film get through the set ups so fast and they wrap up almost immediately as well but then there are just huge long stretches in the middle where more often than not, not much is going on. At least the damsel in this story actually has something to do and is far more interesting than in Dracula or Frankenstein.

Frankenstein

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

Henry Frankenstein? I never knew he had a different name in this version.

Well Frankenstein's monster is not the only thing that's slow moving in this picture. I guess you can't judge films like this by todays standards and I appreciate its historical impact and all but watching it late at night it was putting me to sleep.

Still, that make up holds up. It's iconic and creepy. This monster doesn't speak at all though. And he's hilariously credited as being played by "...?"

And yes, he is a very sympathetic monster, it's so easy to see why he's many peoples favourite. That scene with the little girl is so great, I'd seen it before but never in context with the whole picture. Great stuff.

Dwight Frye shows up again playing another great craaaaazzzy character. He's awesome.

Dracula

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

Ok Time to start going through this Universal Monster Bluray set. I'm ashamed to admit I have only ever seen Wolfman before. Better late than never though right?

Tod Browning's Dracula. Bela Lugosi. This may in fact be the first thing I've seen him in. Love the way they light his eyes in those close ups. But I gotta admit Dwight Frye was the stand out for me. His crazy servant act was by far the creepiest thing in the film for me.

Love that castle set too. 

This still feels very stagey. After all they did base it off the play from the time. I hear the Spanish version they shot concurrently has a bit more cinematic flare. That's also included on the disc so I might have to give that a watch too. 

Anyway great to finally see this classic. I can appreciate its historical significance even if the film itself didn't do much for me today. It's iconography is so ingrained in our culture though it's had not to be impressed by its endurability. 

End of Watch

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

We've had a few films now that are in this pseudo-found-footage style. District 9 and Chernobyl Diaries come to mind. Here we have a gritty cop drama which has a lot of found footage elements mixed in with a Cops doco style that fleshes out scenes as well. Looks like they shot on every imaginable style of digital format available. 5D, GoPro, AVCHD and the higher end SI.

There's a real authenticity to the proceedings in amongst the few moments of shaky cam. I personally didn't like any of the characters so I never really cared about what was going on but your milage may vary in which case the long build to the end sequence will probably work wonders. It's well staged and feels like a very modern spin on an old Western motif.

David Ayer proves once again he's knows his stuff when it comes to police procedurals. I thought this one was alright.

An American Werewolf in London

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Kate, Bobby, Xoe, Tara

Write Up

Beware the moon.

Again, seeing this work a crowd was a treat. Played much funnier that I had anticipated, but I think everyone was just giddy to get to see it on the big screen. Beautiful.

The Thing

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Kate, Bobby, Xoe

Write Up.

Unbelievable seeing this on the big screen. The film just plays so well at the cinema with a crowd. I don't think I've ever enjoyed this film so much or got more wrapped up in it. It's just so well made, the actors all step up, that dog's acting still amazes me. That blood test scare that always makes me jump was just wonderful to experience with a crowd. And the digitally restored print look beautiful. Brilliant first half to an awesome horror double.

Prometheus

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

Write Up.

As I suspected, the writer's commentary is far more interesting and entertaining than Ridley Scott's. It does go a long way into explaining some of the unanswered questions and more importantly, how the film ended up that way. I just wonder, if they could perfectly anticipate the reaction from the audience as to how frustrated with the film they would be, why wouldn't they think to change it? It seems they purposefully made an infuriating film, that's just silly.