Horns

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

Alexandre Aja has made many horror films before and yet each one has had a remarkably different tone. This is no exception, it plays out like one part romance/drama, one part mystery with some strange supernatural comedy/horror sprinkled over the top. A hard film to catagorise but a hell of a lot of fun to watch. 

It helps that he has a great cast to work with, led by Daniel Radcliffe who looks like he's having a lot of fun. The conceit of the horns and what they can do is wonderful, but it's only a part of the story. There's a lot going on here and you an see how adapting this from the novel might be hard because they struggle to find a good rhythm with the flashbacks that are interspersed throughout to bulk deliver exposition. 

But it's a minor quibble. Things pick up towards the end and it was a lot of fun to watch these strange events unfold. Definitely one to check out.

Halloween

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

They had a special screening of this at the cinema. Great to see on the big screen. Noticed a few little details. The digital restoration looked pretty shmick. It's been ages since I've seen it. So much Steadicam. So many long shots. I forgot how simple it is too. I think I saw some crew on the very edges of frame I hadn't seen before as well.

The Best of Me

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I was lamenting that there were no good horror films released for this Halloween. Boy was I wrong.

John Wick

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

Really good B-Grade action movies are a rare thing today. This one thankfully is a lot of fun, if you view it with the right attitude. It has the most basic bare bones plot, one we've seen a thousand times before and it shamelessly parades this front and centre which is hilarious in and of itself. It has a few quirks involving the assassin underworld which are fun and the actors all do their job with a self aware sense. It's not outrageously comic book like Wanted, but it's just as fun.

Basically everything revolves around making John Wick this legendary character. They are not at all subtle about it and I'd say they succeed. It also helps that the action in the film is great fun, violent and brutal but swift and well choreographed. I suppose that's what you get when you have two former stunt men turned second unit action directors eager to prove their worth with their own film.

It's ridiculous but really enjoyable.

Gone Girl

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

Write Up.

Third time through and I'm still noticing thing that perhaps registered subconsciously before or tiny tiny details that were missed. Fincher packs so much information into every frame of this.

Octopus and Scrabble. Everyone's idea of a dignified good time in Greece.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

Well why not? Again, a very silly film, this one feels a little more like an early Zucker Bros. comedy, only not as smart or outlandish. Still, there's some strange and wonderful things here. And a lot of head scratchers. Glad I've finally seen it I guess. Dunno about watching all the others...

Wetlands

IMDB

First time viewed: YNo

Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Andrew, Kate, Tyler

Write Up.

Time to unleash this on friends. To great success. The teen coming of age dramedy that takes the gross-out to extremes.  It manages to get the fun pop aesthetic and have the indie drama side work as well. Fascinating stuff. Keep an eye out for it! Great fun.

House on Haunted Hill

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

Having finally seen the original I thought it might be fun to check out the remake that I grew up with again. This was the first big film for Dark Castle Entertainment, the company that made a name for itself remaking old William Castle horror films. I think they're still around but they were much bigger business a decade ago.

So I haven't seen the film for probably as long, but it all came flooding back with that neat theme tune by Don Davis. And that glorious late 90's cast. I remember this being pretty freaky as a kid but it doesn't hold up so well today. This kind of style of horror editing, the people with blurred faces and mixture of different speeds, stop frame and cg in an old school flickery film aesthetic was new to me at the time, but is really over done now. Hell, even the opening titles of America Horror Story use it.

And of course, all this CG trickery still being relatively new, all the horror films of the time would enlist its wonders to create the big bad monster, which you get a good look at through the ending. This one has an interesting sort of photoshop montage look come to life, but like we've all since learnt, showing your monster this much just makes it less scary.

I watch this now and see a lot of cliche, visual effects by someone who is learning it from 90's photoshop and Geoffrey Rush hamming it up. Still, it's a bit of nostalgia. One of the first DVD's I ever rented and listened to the commentary for. I still remember parts of that and what I learnt from it at that early age. So great.

The Dying Gaul

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

This is a neat little thriller from a few years back set against the backdrop of Hollywood movie making. Making his directorial debut is writer Craig Lucas who has written many plays and indeed this feels like it might have been intended to be a play at some stage, given the small cast and few locations.

Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott and Patricia Clarkson are all wonderful and make for an interesting triangle. I also love how "90's internet" plays a big part in the intrigue. I always liked the premise.

Steve Reich's compositions make up the soundtrack and at times it's intriguing stuff but can also become a little overpowering. I also don't think the the ending lands quite as well as it could have but I always enjoy watching this one and how dark it goes as things sour. 

It never got a release here but it's well worth seeking out on dvd. 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

Time to find some horror cult classics I've never seen. I think we al know the name of this one, I thought I'd check it out. It is a really silly film as you'd expect, but not quite as fun as I was hoping for, given the premise. There's some cool bits and all but actual jokes fall pretty flat. I dunno, maybe that's part of the 80's charm of it all. That theme song... Oh man.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

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

I didn't think too much of the original film, obviously a very low budget affair. I needn't have worried about watching it though, because this new film is set in a present day where the original film exists and the town still watches it every year. Hence we see a great deal of it in this new film.

So this kind of meta sequel plays more like an old school slasher rather than the docudrama of the original but for some reason they decide to keep the convention of not using any music during the kills. That coupled with the film never giving us more than a few shots of the characters before they become victims makes it feel strangely objective and removed from the action. It's not really heightened or thrilling and it's also not sympathetic because we don't know any of these people. The film has no trouble jumping right into the kills with little preamble or mucking around with chases or taunts or tourture. It's all very cold. That certainly can be effective but I found it really hard to engage in at all. It didn't help that our final girl had the personality of a wet blanket.

The cinematography is pretty interesting. Though the majority of the film takes place at night, they manage to work in a lot of bright colour. They have a lot of that diffused glowing light filters that I'm really not fond of though. And a few too many extreme split diopter lens shots.

It's an interesting way to do a sequel. And the kills are somewhat effective. The rest of the film is a bit of a bore. But it also looks pretty cool. A mixed bag.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No

Write Up.

It's that time of year. Time for the Extended Edition. And all those Extra features!

This time the added content includes some backstory to Thorin's dad as well as the reveal he's still alive, some extra Beorn and some more Stephen Fry.

Looking forward to the documentaries, always my favourite part. I'll also have to get through the commentaries at some stage too. Only one more to go after this!

This Is Where I Leave You

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Family drama, with all the actors. They all get their own little problem to deal with. Shawn Levy makes another crowd pleasing effort. The comedy is mildly amusing, the drama mildly emotional. It's not challenging or confronting or hilarious but it's also not offensive. It's pleasant and forgettable. Passes the time.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Pleasant film, Simon Pegg in mid-life crisis mode. Globe trotting adventure filled with little platitudes of wisdom. The cast a great, I didn't trust Rosamund Pike after seeing Gone Girl, but they all do what they can. It's a pretty fluffy film, perfectly enjoyable but particularly memorable.

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 3 - Descent

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Well shit, that was a frustrating experience. Turns out this isn't the end at all. It's a trilogy alright, it's the FIRST trilogy. See, this is why I'm always weary of starting anime series. They just keep going. And usually run out of budget and never get completed, or if they do, unsatisfactorily. 

Well the first half of this movie was much the same. The band of mercenaries get back together, break out their leader who was captured and tortured by the bad guys, our protagonist comes back because he realised outside of this narrative he has no purpose, because, you know, he's not actually a character in any way, shape or form. 

But then the film takes a huge left turn and becomes full on hentai. Hellraiser style demons break free, turns out the leader is becoming one two, that was his plan all along? Everyone dies a horrible gory death and there's quite a bit of rape. And the protagonist again somehow fights his way through this impossible situation and gets out. 

I don't know what I'm supposed to take from this. It's just terrible. The worst. Apparently there's an original Anime tv series and all of these are based of an original Manga. I'm sure they are much better. Anything has got to be better than these movies, which I will admit look very pretty but have no interest in telling the story well or giving us characters to care about, only in showing cool battles and gore and creepy demons. 

So much regret. I don't even know if any other films are being made at this point. If they are though, I have a hard time getting myself enthused to watch them. Unless its with friends who want to laugh at their ineptitude.