Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

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

Superman and Jimmy Olsen team up again! Different comic book movie though. I don't know Dylan Dog at all but it looked interesting.

I guess it was ok.

The Beaver

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

Well, rounding off my trilogy of animal related new cinema releases today is Jodie Foster's latest, a little delayed but finally seeing a release in Australia.

That trailer's misleading. This film is not a comedy. Nor is it happy and uplifting. I thought what I saw there would be the whole film but it's only really the first half. Things get progressively darker and more upsetting towards the end. It was a little unexpected but a great surprise and I love that they didn't deal lightly with some of the mental illness issues they raise.

That's not to say it's without humour, and it does still conclude somewhat hopefully but it's certainly more of a drama than it's made out to be. It actually feels like there's more time spent on the coming of age story of Anton Yelchin's character than Mel Gibson and his Beaver. It's unevenly balanced in that respect but Yelchin is great so I can't complain.

What I really like is the Beaver's arc and how he works with Mel Gibson's character, Walter Black. Walter barely has any lines in the film. He doesn't even speak at all until well after the Beaver is on his hand trying to sort out his life for him. And there are two moments that are kind of tragic and brilliantly performed by Gibson where you can see him desperately trying to say something in his own voice but the Beaver takes over and won't let him. He's a very sad, depressed and sick individual and I like there's no easy out in the end.

It's a curious little film but one I did enjoy.

Red Dog

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

The sadist in me loves that the first time you see the character of Red Dog in the film he is lying down dying with a gun pointed to his head ready to put him down. But the rest of the film is a heartwarming telling of tall tales, a little episodic but for the most part very fun. How could they go wrong, it's a story about a dog. Everyone loves dogs right?

What the film does really well is create this legendary figure and a real sense of time and place. It's beautifully photographed and had a great score, when it wasn't being drowned out by another Australian country rock song.

Some performances fare better than others. Some moments fare better than others. But given the nature of the story telling it never dwells on these moments long. They set up some real tear jerker moments towards the end and if you're really into it, I'm sure you'll ball your eyes out.

It was nice to see the late great Bill Hunter on the big screen. It just feels wrong that we won't see him pop up in every Australian film from now on, like we have for the last 4 decades. He will be missed.

It's a nice little entertaining number, crowd pleasing, family friendly and well put together.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

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

I am a massive Planet of the Apes fan. I love all things Planet of the Apes (even certain bits of Tim Burton's problematic remake) so feel free to disregard anything I say. Was greatly looking forward to this semi prequel/reboot/re-imagining of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the 4th film in the original series (due to the strange time travel timeline and cyclical nature of the original series the start of the story takes place half way through the series, one of the quirks I love about it). They have changed the story significantly though and as much as I love the the insane time loop hole/self-fulfilling prophecy of the original origin of the apes, this version makes greater sense for a more logical, naturalistic and less paradoxical telling of the story.

The opening of this film has some of the most convincing ape effects in the whole film. But on the whole these digital creations are amazing. I thought back to those monkeys in Jumanji and it's really astounding to think how far the effects have matured from those now very primitive counterparts. Of course a great deal has been said of Andy Serkis' performance which is another big reason for the success of the ape sequences which are far more interesting than any of the human scenes (except maybe the stuff with John Lithgow because he's super great).

Also odd was seeing Tyler Labine so soon after only having seen him in Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Tom Felton better watch out too or he'll be typecast as a douche. Also I love when David Hewlett shows up in anything and he has a neat little scene during the end credits to say for.

I heard it said this film is enjoyable if you are willing to accept it's silliness. I didn't find that at all. I'd argue that at least until the third act, there is nothing silly about the film. I probably take my apes much more seriously than the average movie-goers though. When the uprising starts though, as cool as the action is it's probably to fantastic for most people to take seriously, despite the entire rest of the movie spent getting you to believe and invest in these creatures. It works for me though.

What this film lacks is those great, dark, punch-in-the-gut endings that made the franchise popular with adults as well as kids. And while it's there to some degree, the social commentary so prevalent in the original is largely lacking here. It's not usually case in this day and age that a remake is actually lighter in tone than the original, but the difference between the final uprising in Conquest and here is significant (doubly so for the directors cut) and had they gone that direction I would have like the end more but as is stands the very final moments are the only parts I felt let down a little.

There's plenty of nods to the fans, some subtle (Caesar keeps his name, as does his mother Bright Eyes, imagery of police on horseback, apes using spears, gorillas being the muscle and orangutans being the wise elders), some not so subtle (Caesar being squirted with a hose, building a model Statue of Liberty, Charlton Heston on TV) and some awkwardly forced in there (Tom Felton uttering both the phrases "It's a madhouse! A Madhouse!" AND "Take your paws of me you damn dirty ape" *sigh*).

Small gripes like that aside, I think this film does a great job setting this story up. It feels really effortless and natural, it's entertaining and most importantly, it really really makes me want more. I may have to watch through my bluray box set now.

Hellraiser

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

I do enjoy my Hellraiser bluray. A series that stands apart from all other 80's slasher horror franchises (except maybe Phantasm), it's really it's own thing.

It's actually a tragic romance, wrapped in sadomasochistic horror fantasy. I hear there's a remake in the works and I might be able to get behind that if they focused on making the drama and relationship dynamics work a bit better.

But I gotta say, although not all of it holds up today most of those practical gore effects are outstanding. My favourite being the reformation of Frank through the floorboards, with his skull and brain forming and then his spine reattaching. That is awesome.

The other thing I love about this film is Christopher Young's beautiful score. It's unlike most other horror music of the period. It seems everyone wanted to copy Psycho with shrill violins but here the music is beautiful, fantastical sweeping melodies but also dark and brooding. He's my favourite horror composer.

Also yay for extreme 80's fashion and hair.

The Children

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

Weeeeeeehehehehehee.

Oh I do like evil children films, and this one is a great one indeed. Delightful.

They don't really explain why these kids go evil but there are some vague suggestions given through strange jump cuts and fancy editing. Strange cut-aways... But who cares! Kids go evil! Take them out! And boy do they.

Some great gore here. I'm always impressed when films don't shy away from being brutal to infants. There's some good stuff here. And yet the tone is never tongue in cheek, it's deadly serious and that just makes it better in my opinion.

The Company Men

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

A simple film with a cool cast.

Being fired is bad, that's basically what I got out of this. Really there's nothing else too it. No story or charcaters that were worth caring about just a bunch of scenes of people dealing with being fired, looking for new jobs, changing their life style, handling it differently.

Pretty much all there is too it. It's not bad, just didn't interest me much.

The Illusionist

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

One of the few oscar nominated films from last year that I had yet to see, finally gets a release in Australia. I didn't like this film as much as The Triplets of Belleville but they are very different in tone, this is a deliberately paced, more observational and ultimately sad little story.

Still, it's really beautifully animated. I love the watercolour style backgrounds in particular. The Illusionist seems to be an animated version of Jacques Tati, as the story is based on one of his unproduced screenplays. I don't know much about his films, I've only seen Playtime, but like that film  there's no consequential dialogue. It's all about the non-verbal, which is perfect for animation.

It's a very slight film that, while subtly amusing, becomes progressively depressing as it comes to a close.  Very melancholy, something I wasn't expecting after the fun and action of Belleville.

Eight Legged Freaks

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

A very silly film indeed but I do enjoy it, as stupid as it is. I just love how the spiders become more anthropomorphic when they get bigger. They give them some very loony toons style animation in parts and they have the most ridiculous voices, very funny.

Another film I remember learning a lot from the commentary growing up. Some of the effects don't hold up perfectly but they are far from bad. John Ottman's score is pretty funny too.

Also much more fun watching with a genuine arachnophobe.

5 Days of War

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

2nd film today that I had to seek out in order to see. Like The Eagle, it's only showing in one small cinema once a day. Ahh well. Still better to see at the cinema, I say.

Renny Harlin is a name that seems to have fallen by the way-side in recent years. Although I did quite like Twelve Rounds. Now he turns his hand to a bit of political propaganda, a true story that he manages to make kinda boring, despite all the explosions. There's a lot of explosions.

I think the biggest problem with this film is the score, the music just does not fit in a lot of places and it greatly affect the mood and tension. It just falls flat.

As far as I know, this is Renny Harlin's first digitally photographed feature as well. It shows in a lot of places, highlights are clipped, grading can be uneven at times and most slo-mo shots are very blown out. Most of the time it's not too bad but they seem to be jumping formats in some action sequences and it shows.

The cast do an ok job. The strange romance between the leads does not work at all.

The propaganda issue is hotly debated. I don't know enough about the events or the production, all I know is the Schindler's List style interview felt very pandering and awkward. I did not like that at all.

There were some ok bits but they didn't form a cohesive whole.

The Eagle

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

Some more early morning battle violence. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Channing Tatum does a pretty good vague european accent even though all the other Romans seem to just be American. Donald Sutherland doesn't even try and even Mark Strong (who is once again trying to prove he can be in more films than any other actor in a year) puts on an american accent.

My god when did Jamie Bell get so hot. Even in Jane Eyre he's rather dashing. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he does in Tin Tin even thought I wasn't actually be watching his face.

I love the landscape of the North of England and that part of the world. There must be something way back in my ancestry that draws me to it, but I can't get enough of it. And I have never seen nor heard of the more primitive tribes of England's past. When you think of historical England you either think Dickensian or Victorian, something along those lines. You don't see much of the savage looking warrior tribes in film so it was interesting to see them here.

It was a nice little story and an enjoyable film, nothing spectacular but it held my interest.

Needle

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

Didn't know this was shot in Perth. This is the 4th film I know of shot here being released this year. That's got to be some kind of record right?

But apart from the unexpected novelty of seeing UWA and various other locations (and local actors) on the big screen this film didn't offer much. Boringly shot, not scary, really ugly grading, bad accents and a central device who's rules are never well established, let alone having anything much to do with needles.

This film is the height of Meh.

Larry Crowne

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

Amiable.

The Conspirator

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

I saw the trailer for this one a while back and din't even remember what it was about going to see it today. Didn't even remember if it was period or not. It's a period courtroom drama with a great cast and an interesting historical story, well produced but ultimately I felt it dragged out a little bit.

They seem to be struggling to make the drama interesting after it's established in the first trial scenes what the central conflict will be. Once you get the idea that James McAvoy is fighting a loosing battle against a prejudiced courtroom it just repeats and repeats until the inevitable outcome and then they drag the ending out too.

It's not a bad film by any means, it is an interesting story worth telling too, but perhaps not for feature length running time. Courtroom dramas are always tricky like that.

I noted the production company was The American Film Company. It had a very patriotic logo. Apparently this is the first of many historical films the company plans to specialise in. I wish them well, but hope they can choose their stories and adaptations wisely.

Forbidden Planet

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

Just got back from Return to the Forbidden Planet and that's the perfect excuse to check out my new bluray of the original classic. I have such love for this film, that many people look at as a funny 50's sci-fi B-movie but never seem to realise that at the time of it's release there was NOTHING  b-movie about this. This is a top notch production, a widescreen production with great actors and every crew member, the top of their field. They spared no expense with this film and whilst there are the occasional hammy lines there's some astounding intellectual concepts at the heart of the story(very loosely based around The Tempest). The Destruction of the Krell, the idea of a subconscious monster manifested unwittingly from someone blows my mind to this day. The idea's been used many many times since, but this is where it all began.

This really is where a lot of core sci-fi concepts were created and visualised. The electronic score is infamous. The teleporter beams and handheld communication devices pop up again later in Star Trek. Robbie the Robot is the original and the best. And their ship is a friggin Flying Saucer! So awesome. This film paved the way for countless others. It's influence is still seen in modern movies.

Now I don't much care for the drama with the girl and the officers. Although it is a bit of 50's fun, as is some of the bad humour with the Robot making Alcohol for a crew member. But that monster from the ID scared the CRAP out of me. They "borrowed" some animators from Disney to create that thing and it's damn impressive work. (The Lazers, not so much). I couldn't really comprehend why that monster existed when I was younger but Just knew when you heard those footsteps, you were in serious trouble. Invisible monsters were not good for my very active young imagination. Predator gave me nightmares for months.

Oh and I love love love the matte paintings and the way they create the interior of the planet and those impossibly massive spaces. On the bluray you can seethe slight changes in brightness where matte lines appear but I love that about it too. Everything about these films are hand crafted. That giant landscape background on the ship set is impressive.

Man it looks amazing, they've done a brilliant job making this looks it's best in HD. This film and films like The Day the Earth Stood Still made sci-fi legitimate. They are fun and fantastic and also very thought provoking. They both have pretty dire messages too but nevertheless, they were massively popular at the time of their release and there's no reason they shouldn't still be though of in such high esteem today in my opinion.

Finding Nemo

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

Again watching the commentary. I haven't seen this film in ages either but I do love it. As much as I like Randy Newman, I'm SO glad they changed it up for the first time and Andrew Stanton asked Thomas Newman to score this one, I love his scores and it sets the tone of this film so well. It's great stuff.

Surprisingly the creative team don't spend that much time talking tech, most of the time they talk about their story process and the many evolutions of characters and scenes. I guess that's one of the reasons their films are so great (as well as looking amazing, the lighting in this film is unbelievable and completely different from any of their other films).

I had no idea that kid from Weeds was the voice of Nemo. It's such a sweet little tale and has some has some great sequences, like the jellyfish and the whales. I liked heard about how the fishing net incident at the end of the film was inspired by a read event in Norway. I never really like that bit I knowing it's somewhat true makes it much more interesting now.

Delightful heartwarming classic from Pixar. They are awesome, we all know this. Great to watch this one through again.