Tangled

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

Just showing this one to some friends who haven't seen it yet.

Original reviews here and here.

Looks great on bluray. Really disappointing extras though.

Insidious

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

Works for me!

This one has some really creepy moments and gets a great look and scares from a really low budget. James Wan has finally eased up on the flashy editing and just concentrated on a slow building tension. Everything about this film. The music, the filming, the editing, the script, and the acting feels like a lost horror film from the 70's. Not a low brow slasher but one of the slightly classier ones where they actually get good actors in and take time to set things up.

The opening title sequence is absolutely gorgeous. Beautifully designed, and the music! Joseph Bishara perfectly captures that 70s feel, it's the best horror score I've heard since Drag Me To Hell. I am in love with it!

Everything in this film is very simply set up and shot. There's no gratuitous use of computer graphics or a cheap jump scare every two minutes. The ghosts share very similar looks with other James Wan ghosts, i.e. they are pretty freaky. The demon though...

The Demon is a little harder to sell, I think they show a little too much of him. He does look pretty horrifying though. There are certain aspects of him that seemed a little out of place, I don't want to say what and spoil anything here. But it's defiantly not enough to tarnish my enjoyment of any of the rest of the film.

This was obvious;y shot quite cheaply on some digital formant but it makes for an eerie look. I don't think I've ever seen a film that is so consistently this dark and in shadow. It's not like the decent where there is pitch black surrounding the entire frame, everything is there, but barley visible. I really loved that.

Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson show up halfway through and they are pretty funny if not a little out of place. The other actors are great. With Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne in the leeds you know it's probably going to be above average.

Overall a really enjoyable experience. A lot of nervous whispering in the cinema and some really creepy moments. Check it out.

Water for Elephants

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

Not really sure what Francis Lawrence saw in this story. I found it to be pretty average. The main problem was the central relationship. The whole story hinges on the audience wanting these two to be together but I didn't feel it. It was more a case of just get her away from crazy ass Christoph Waltz coz he's scary.

Twilight fans will probably like this though, it has the same cold dead relationship only this time there is some actual sex.

It's easy to garner sympathy for a guy who helps animals, especially saving them from cruel owners. But I don't think Robert Pattinson earns much else.

The music's good, the production design was really great and it was impeccably shot. But the rest just didn't click. I haven't read the book so I don't know what kind of adaptations it is but the film isn't making me want to go read it any time soon.

And not once did he get water for the elephant.

Perfect Blue

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

The late great Satoshi Kon's first directing gig. It was great to watch this again with fresh eyes especially after having seen Black Swan which shares some startling similarities in theme, tone, character and visuals. Arronofsky is obviously a huge fan too. There's even a scene from this he recreated in Requiem for a Dream.

Like a lot of Kon's film there is a great deal of blurring of the real world with fiction and fantasy. We follow a young Japanese pop singer who decides to leave her group and become a legitimate actress. Some fans are not happy about this and threatening notes appear. The action in her new tv show and her real life start to collide as the events get more threatening and confusing and a real identity crisis develops.

Unlike Black Swan there is a much greater influence from external forces that are helping cause this madness as well as her internal struggles. And there is a more concrete resolution that ends up more like a traditional thriller.

It's pretty cheap looking animation for the most part and it always seemed odd to me that this kind of story needed to be animated at all when it could just as easily have been acted out. It's such a big character drama acting piece and sometimes the animation just doesn't cut it. I think a lot is also lost in the translation. But the action and themes and certainly the creepy and chaotic mood are conveyed brilliantly.

It's a great film and defiantly worth seeking out. In fact most anything Satoshi Kon has made should be given a look. You'll see where a lot of Black Swan came from too.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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

I've been holding off getting these for 10 years waiting for the inevitable ultimate editions to be released. I really was just waiting for versions with commentary tracks but now the blurays are out it appears all they will be making are these partial visual commentaries in the ultimate editions so I've started getting them. 3 and 4 are my latest acquisitions and 5 and 6 should be out in June. 7 part 1 and 2 should be out for christmas.

Most unfortunately, the 3rd film, Prisoner of Azkaban which is probably my favourite doesn't even had the partial visual commentary. It's a shame, Alfonso Cuarón's is the only one I really wanted to see a directors commentary on.

I'm planning on watching them all through before the last film so i'll write up more thoughts then but I will say that this is not a particular favourite of mine. Mike Newell is not an action director and it shows. That dragon fight could have been awesome. How on earth he was hired to make Prince of Persia is beyond me.

As cool as she is, Miranda Richardson's character is superfluous and probably should have been cut, she has important action in later books but seem as they didn't end up doing any of them in the films there's no reason to introduce her.

The only good bits of the film for me are the Yule Ball, the first major on screen death in the franchise and the rise of Voldemort. Oh and Viktor Krum who is the best.

The Weasley twins head up the commentary and they are a little annoying with some forced bad jokes. I'm hoping the future film tracks will be better.

Jason and the Argonauts

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

Got the new bluray of this classic too and listened to the commenatry by Peter Jackson and Randall William Cook. I was surprised at how well this brushed up actually, it looks fantastic. There's enough detail that you can see in the quality of the grain where Ray Harryhausen has done processed shots, projection, sulpher screening and applied masks.

I always loved Talos, the giant bronze statue. That works so well animated as stop-frame and the sounds that go with him really sell the illusion that a huge metal statue is moving about.

The harpies are pretty neat, the Hydra with 7 heads would have been a nightmare but the real reason to watch this film it the jaw-dropping sword fight with the skeletons right at the very end of the film. That sequence still makes me giddy. It would have require so much planning and I think still holds up today.

Todd Armstrong is pretty dreamy as Jason. The story the film tells is alright but as usual seems to take a back seat to the creatures Harryhausen animates. Still I seemed to watch this one more that the Sinbad films. Bernard Herrmann provides a neat score too.

The commentary was great too, these guys are just huge fans and geek out about what they are seeing. Randall William Cook learnt from Harryhausen and tells some interesting personal stories. He also did effects for one of my favourite kids horror films ever and you can see where he was influenced. Gotta love the old masters.

Alice in Wonderland

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

It's been a while since I last watched this Disney classic. The bluray's just been released and has a great visual commentary filled with interviews and historians commenting not only about how the film came to be but about the author and the story of it's creating. It's really well done.

So of my favourite stuff is the live action reference with those great comedic actors that provided the voices. There's a slightly more freer sense of timing in the voice acting than some of these early animations which I think is due in large part to them being able to act the scenes out and interact with each other, instead of just being recorded one at a time in a booth.

There have been many adaptations of this material and it's always been problematic as is usually the case with such episodic writing and not a very strong through line. This version manages quite well, the main invention being Alice getting lost in the forest and singing a sad song which helps give some shape to the structure and gives her a climax to work towards from that low point.

But it's a story that's so suited for animation, with all the animal characters and a lot of Disney's inventions too. It's a brief little film, a cool 50's score that was nominated for an oscar and some great character animation from the original team. And the Bluray transfer is phenomenal, as expected.

Something Borrowed

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

Not one of the good ones.

The whole film is in the trailer. I never saw the trailer but you can still see everything coming a mile away. I just didn't expect them to drag out the revelation so damn long.

Kate Hudson is such a bitch in the film it's impossible to believe that anyone could stay her friend more than 2 minuets, let alone a life time, or that someone would get engaged to her.

John Krasinski is the most likeable character, he's not in it much and gets snubbed by everyone when he is in it. Still he provides the only funny scene in the film.

The film looked a little pastey, like digital film with no D.I. But I guess technically everything else was fine. No creative direction in this one though, just point and shoot t.v. editing.

This story could have worked if there was even an ounce of sympathy or at least understanding of why someone would befriend Kate Hudson's character. But in writing, in direction, in performance, it's not there and the whole film is unbelievable because of it. Don't bother with this one.

300

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

My 300th film for the year. It's only May too so there's a good chance I'll break my 669 film record this year.

I thought this would be a fitting film for such an occasion. This time I watched the bluray with the in-picture Bluescreen version. You can watch the whole film without any backgrounds or effects added yet, it's an interesting insight into how they went about piecing together the various sections of the film with a very limited space and sets.

The most interesting thing you can discern from watching them side by side is the way the colour grading was used to give the film the very high contrast look that mimics Frank Millers distinctive drawing style. There are sections with huge amounts of detail that just ended up becoming flat black once the grade was put over it.

It was neat to peruse over this one again. It's had a significant influence on style and subject matter in more than a few films that have come since.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

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

WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Bay could take a few lessons from Stephen Sommers on how to lighten up a bit. Both Hasbro franchises have huge action, ridiculous special effects and laughable characters but G.I. Joe is the one that genuinely feels like the film was made by recording what some kids were imagining as they were playing around with the toys. It's just so much fun people. If you can't get any enjoyment out of this film, ironic or not, then you must be dead inside.

I genuinely love this film. I can't call it a guilty pleasure, it because I don't feel guilty about enjoying this. There's certainly some laughable lines and major cheesy moments but no worse than in most other films of its ilk. But perhaps most surprising of all some really awesome ninja fights, great hand to hand combat the likes of which I didn't recall seeing since the Bourne series.

There's also a lot of action helped by digital trickery and some of it is quite inventive, I especially like the car chase in Paris. That sequence is just great. Sommers fills his film with some crazy camera moves and creative blending of live action and digital. There's some really delightful eye candy. And every weapon has such great sound to go with it.

This film does suffer from a lot of flashbacks some of them seeming to come at very inappropriate times, which I actually find funny too. But it does do it's job, as the first film of what is supposed to be a franchise should, it sets up the ridiculous world, all the characters and gets them where they need to be by the end of the film for ongoing stories. Everyone basically ends up where they are remembered as from the cartoon show or whatever it is they are known from. I don't know the franchise or the characters so I had to do a little reading up, but as far as I can tell, this is the case.

This is not as great as The Mummy but a step up from Van Helsing. Sommers isn't directing part two though so I hope it lives up to the promise of this first film. We all saw what happened with The Mummy 3. Don't do that again please. And show transformers that you don't have to take your toys so seriously.

Source Code

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

Saw it again tonight. It is neat. Duncan Jones's second film after the brilliant indie sci-fi Moon. This is another sci-fi head spinner but this time he has a slightly larger budget thanks to some studio backing. And it's an impressive looking film and there are quite a few neat directorial flourishes I appreciated.

Jake Gyllenhaal has a hard job to do and he does it very well indeed. The script also has a few things to juggle but it holds together surprisingly well, at least while you are watching, the logistics of the ending may leave you with more questions than answers but I feel it makes up for that by being emotionally satisfying.

If this were strictly a time travel film I probably wouldn't make that allowance, but the strange quantum mechanics of whatever it is they are doing is kinda vague and in some ways it's left up to you to decide what you think the reality of the situation is. It's murky stuff.

Jeffrey Wright was a bit weird to me, he has a very odd speech pattern. But Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan are great as usual.

Overall I found it a neat little sci-fi thriller with some cool ideas but that will leave you with more questions than you might like. But the emotional story at it's core worked wonders for me so I've forgiven it any extraneous loose threads, intentional or otherwise.

Oldboy

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

Checkin out my bluray.

The 2nd film in Chan-wook Park's thematic trilogy of revenge and probably the most well known. It's pretty slick, stylish, funny, a little violent and quite operatic. It's a mystery with a pretty dark pay off. Min-sik Choi gives a hell of a performance.

This film is probably most famous for it's one take fight sequence of one guy against a whole gang of thugs in a corridor. It's quite a spectacle.

But for all the awesome fighting and stylish transitions, the thing that you'll leave this film thinking about the most is the endings. Even IF you manage to figure out some of the twists in the plot the emotional resonance will still stay with you. That climax is gut-wrenching.

I really love Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the film that comes after this one. I think it's a little more subtle, well as subtle as Chan-wook Park seems to get but there's something wonderfully melodramatic about this one. Plus it's the only one that seemed to get a wide enough release to allow me to see it in a cinema which was great.

There's been a lot of really cool films coming out of Korea over the last few years. This was the first of them I saw. Check it out.

Timecrimes

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

I'm using this trailer, even though it isn't that great, because the American one basically spells out the whole movie. And this is a good one to go into clean.

I love a good low budget sci-fi thriller. I especially love time travel movies when done as non paradoxically as possible. Therefore I absolutely love this film which doesn't cheat the time travel rules and just reset everything whenever they need, or create parallel universes where everything works out ok. All the actions in this movie have very real and dire consequences and the time travel only complicates things. But there is always one constant timeline and that is the most important thing to me.

Well that and telling a damn good story, done extremely well. It's scary, a little funny, and a whole lot of tragic. But still completely enjoyable and satisfying.

Such a cool film.