Sound of Noise

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

Bravo, haha. Great fun.

Compliance

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

So unbelievable it must be true. Yikes. Gripping stuff, also extremely frustrating...

The cast are great, especially Ann Dowd and the fast food restaurant manager who is tasked by the voice on the phone to do some questionable things.

It's a great bad situation movie, revealing some rather alarming things about human nature.

Father's Day

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

Oh man. It's been a very long time since I watched a Troma film. Actually I haven't seen that many now that I look at their catalogue, I know them more by reputation. Very low budget, but extremely graphic and balls out insane. This film certainly fits the bill. Gloriously insane. Very entertaining.

The film is very funny. Filled with laugh out loud moments. Some intentionally and some, well it's harder to tell. Such a fine line to walk. The Grindhouse nature of the film gives them a bit of license for the very rough around the edges production. And they ape the 80's late night television programming very well.

The tone is a little inconsistent, but overall that's not really an issue, it's not aiming to be perfect. It's a very silly film and if you can stomach the graphic content it's damn entertaining.

Trouble with the Curve

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

Grizzly old Clint Eastwood. Grrrr. Baseball. Grrr.

Add to that a bit of sports movie and a romantic comedy starring Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. Enjoyable enough. Baseball's not really my thing though. So I was left with a very formulaic film with some hilarious lines that seem to have been written because they just thought it would be amusing to make Clint Eastwood say them. I guess they were right, it was pretty amusing.

When the Wind Blows

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

Could not find a trailer, not sure if one even exists, so instead you get David Bowie's themes song.

Nothing like a happy little piece of animation to start the day. This is one of the classics of nuclear holocaust films and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to watching it. I remember the graphic novel being in my primary school library and flicking through it once or twice.

The animation is facinating. The low budget is quite apparent, but the mixture of miniature photographed backgrounds and cel animation and stop-frame, as well as video and graphics in some segments is intriguing.

Our two main characters are so frustratingly naive. It's both adorable and annoying. Crumbs! Watching them slowly die of radiation sickness over an hour of animation has its ups and downs.

Never Let Me Go

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

Write Up.

What a sweet little film.

Brick

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

Write Up.

Yeah, I still think this is Rian Johnson's best film.

My Dinner with Andre

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

In the tradition of We Bought a Zoo and Snakes on a Plane, a film with everything you need to know, right there in the title. It really is just Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory meeting up and having a dinner conversation. I thought there might be some trick to it, but that's really all it is. Sometimes I found it engaging, there were some interesting ideas and stories and sometimes my interest waned. But I get the reference in that episode of Community now.

Death Ship

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

Hah, shlocky stuff. Doesn't quite hold up. Some very basic spooky goings on, killing off the cast one by one. Evil Nazi ship needs blood to operate. To what ends is not discussed. They do there best to create atmosphere with edits and music but it doesn't really work. Still, it's pretty fun.

Texas Killing Fields

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

Just trying to squeeze in a few film that slipped by from the start of the year before I compile my list. It's such a huge list though. And I think there's a reason why I skipped a lot of them. This one has an eclectic cast but really was pretty run of the mill. And considering the title it would have been nice if some of the lead characters had or could maintain a Texan accent.

Monsters

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

Write Up.

I see Gareth Edwards is now making the new Godzilla film. Nice.

Take Shelter

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

Write Up.

A nice apocalyptic psycho-therapy drama double with Melancholia. Cool soundtrack after all the Wagner too. Great film.

Melancholia

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

Write Up.

This one just keeps growing in my estimation.

W.E.

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

Madonna makes another film. I didn't see her first effort. This one's not technically to shabby though. But the story and structure are. Ultimately I'm not sure what you're supposed to take away from this.

Piranha

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

The original film, now out on bluray. Joe Dante's shlocky and hilarious Jaws rip-off. Love the noise they make as they swarm. So silly.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum, Naomi, Tyler, Paul, Jess, Jim, Marcus, Aaron

Hard to talk about the film through all the noise made about the high frame rate. Even within our own group it was very divisive. I'm still deciding what I thought about it. I'll have to go see it again first. Some parts I liked though, Some part I didn't as much. I think everyone has the wrong Idea about it though, I would worry less about there being more frames and more that Jackson had to shoot that frame rate with such a large shutter angle so the cut down to 24 looks normal. I think if he was able to shoot at 48 without all that motion blur that makes it look like it's in fast forward at the beginning, it could still look a bit more filmic. Anyway I got used to it after a while, and I thought the 3d blended all the CG creatures in with live action magnificently.

A film of many beginnings. After everything I heard and knowing Jackson's penchant for embellishment I had expected the dwarfs arrival at bad end to go one twice as long as it actually did. And once they were on the road, I was back in middle earth and loving it, could have happily stayed there for another 3 hours. But that's just me, everyone else had a problem with the length.

Yeah, Radagast feels superfluous but I guess they had to introduce their added necromancer plot that pads out the other films somehow. And that's the annoying thing about his film, you get tiny glimpses of everything that's to come but the only closure in film one is a rather forced point of wether or not Thorin believes in Bilbo. Perhaps Fellowship being our introduction to the whole world made it more satisfying but even so I think it had a stronger ending.

The real problem is the stakes in the Hobbit are not nearly as consequential or immediate as Lord of the Rings. Maybe that will change with the Necromancer plot in later films but for now it's just some fun action and some more fantastic world to explore.

Lee Pace! Only in a few shots, but man, that guy's getting around now, jumping from franchise to franchise. And we got more of Flight of the Concords' Bret McKenzie as an elf. Barry Humphries as the goblin king was quite fun too. It's cool the got Christopher Lee in there. Was he shot with the others or on greenscreen and inserted in? I'll have to find out. Same goes for Ian Holm.

They outdid the fellowship shot of Gandalf and Bilbo in the hobbit hole, selling the scale differences. That was always my favourite fx shot where the pass each other the hat and cane. The intro shot in this film is much longer and far more complicated what with all the dwarfs running around. And in 3D. But  it really sells the scale differences. Amazing. I'll watch the film again just to see that shot.

Les Misérables

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum, Naomi, Marianne, Paul, Jess, Jim, Cicely, Froud, Felicity

Write Up.

Wow everyone just HATES Russell Crowe. I didn't think he was all that bad? Eh.

The Cabin in the Woods

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

Non-Spoiler write up here.

Slightly more in-depth write up here.

My perfect christmas day movie of course. Unfortunately we had to stop halfway through when relatives dropped over so we only finished it today. No ideal at all, really kills it. But nice to finally show the folks what I was talking about this whole year...

Bullhead

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

A slow build drama, some intense moments of suggested violence and a very intriguing main character. And a live cow gets a c-section, wasn't expecting to see that.

I had a problem with pacing at the beginning, but it all servers a purpose I guess. They do the ol' bait and switch. The film begins as a meat mafia deal gone bad but slowly through the course of the film as we get to know the past of our lead character and things become more personal it becomes a character study against this thematic backdrop of animal abuse.

It's visually quite stunning. Beautifully photographed. The leads all give great performances. I thought it might have been a struggle to get through but it won me over in the end with this great tragic story arc.

Quartet

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

Well, it his all the story structure beats as something like, say, Pitch Perfect, but it feels much classier, for a few reasons. Here, our subject is opera singing. Instead of a cast of American teens we get cream of the crop of the British octogenarian thespians. The film also manages to be much more subtle about how it hits all those story beats, so it flows quite naturally.

I thought some of it might have actually been too subtle, there was plenty more drama to be milked out of these situations. But Dustin Hoffman, directing his first feature, and screenwriter Ronald Harwood, who's adapting his own play, seem to be content to leave things on the level instead of going over the top, which makes for an easily palatable experience but not a particularly memorable one.

Still, it's sometimes great to just watch these guys chew the scenery.

Butter

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

I've been reading about this one for a while now, the script was high up on the 2008 black list. Still don't know what's going on with its release but it's a damn fine film with a great cast. Very enjoyable. Perhaps not as darkly funny as, say Drop Dead Gorgeous, but along a similar vein and with some delightfully robust characters.

Keep an eye out for this one.

Red Tails

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

A passion project for George Lucas. And it has some nicely rendered dogfights. It's corny as hell though. Yeesh.

Being Flynn

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

So this is what Paul Weitz has been up too. Another one that seems to have been lost in the shuffle of release dates in Australia.

It's a solid little character drama and Paul Dano and Robert De Niro are dependable as ever. The end dragged a little.

Premium Rush

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

David Koepp is directing again. And he's crafted a really fun little action thriller. And with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon going head to head too. Great stuff.

The pace keeps moving and despite all the time jumping, the use of some funky info-graphics keeps everyone updated on time and geography. 

Short and sweet, just the way I like it. I dunno why but this really hit the spot today. Hopefully it will get a proper release soon after being shifted from the 2012 slate.

Sleepwalk with Me

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

Mike Birbiglia lets himself be known. Noted. 

It's an interesting way for a comedian to do a kind of stand up routine of stories, as extrapolated out into a narrative feature, talking directly to the audience. I enjoyed it muchly. It's sweet and heartfelt and very funny.

Silent Night

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

I do like my Christmas horror films. But there aren't many good ones. The original Silent Night, Deadly Night and its sequel are not exactly classics. From what I remember they were pretty terrible actually, being fun despite themselves.

This remake is a step up, still nothing amazing but pretty fun nonetheless. Just a bit of christmas cheer.

The Wicker Tree

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

Robin Hardy's trying to recapture something here and it just doesn't quite work out. It feels like a fan fiction version of The Wicker Man. All the same beats are here but without the performances or intrigue of a mystery to pull you through. 

Christopher Lee pops up for a line or two on greenscreen, just to link it back in some way to the original. A little vague but it's nice to see him. 

Soooooooo much singing. I get the first one had a lot of songs, it's practically a musical. But they really overdo it here. 

Trying to capture lightning twice rarely works. This is just too similar to the original to be interesting and where it differs is boring. 

96 Minutes

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

Well it's not terrible. The kids do a good job actually, playing kinda stupid young teens. Believable though unfortunately. But the non-linear story structure was a little over the top sometimes.

Wreck-It Ralph

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jess, Jim, Paul, Kelly, Tyler

Write Up. 

Loving that Sugar Rush theme song.

Les Misérables

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Matt, Kelly

I must have been 3 or 4 years old when my folks took me to see the first Australian tour of the musical at His Majesty's Theatre. I sill vividly remember certain scenes and number from the show. The years following, the cast recording was on constant rotation in our house and I enjoyed it. But then as the years went on and I fell out with theatre and then back in again, everybody seemed to become more obsessed with it with each passing year. Every time I had to listen to yet another rendition of one of the anthems from the show I would feel overcome with dread at the thought of having to endure it yet again. Whatever magic the show once had was well and truly lost on me from over-saturation. So it was with much trepidation I went into this screening.

The film is a good adaptation of the stage show. That's really all you need to know. The film adaptation brings with it all the problems from the show though. The sprawling text's structure does not easily condense into concise and palatable acts. Characters dropping in and out and new characters being introduced half way through, a whole revolution that feels almost superfluous and the majority of the time spent singing about either wallowing in misery or just being inappropriate feeling slapsticky nonsense. It's all rather melodramatic. But that's what the show is. It's a huge emotional musical with heart on sleeve. You know this going in and that's exactly what you'll get.

So what about the film? Well I guess the biggest deal has been made about recording all the voices live and yes, it's about time. The acting comes through loud and clear and you can be sure the actors take full advantage of being able to eb and flow from the rhythm to suit their performance. I think10 minutes could have been shaved off just from them milking their pauses. I was worried at the start, the first few numbers I had a hard time making out the words at all, but either I got used to it or the mixing got better. I have no idea how the hell they recorded On My Own with rain towers drenching poor old Éponine, there must have been some post dubbing there, and occasionally the room sound more "live" than other times but on the whole, it sounds good.

Handheld camera was an interesting and at times infuriating choice. For such a stylised show, to try and make it naturalistic seems counter-productive but for the most part you get used to it. Every so often though, a cut would come where characters singing out to the skies are suddenly staring almost right down the barrel and it suddenly feels like watching a music video. Actually there's quite a lot of jarring editing going on but I guess you should expect that when recording songs live. Piecing together performances becomes trickier.

And the performances on the whole are great. Everyone gets their little episode with a wide lens shoved right up their nose as they scream or whisper. Such dynamics. At any rate, they can all hold a tune.

It's been so long since I've listened to the whole show that I couldn't tell you where alt he new bits and changed bits are. I forgot about all that recitative and jarring sudden key changes between songs that you never have to hear on cast recordings. What did stand out to me was one or two moments of orchestration that grated in my head. Look, I can't stand classical guitar at the best of times, due much to the same reason as I can't stand having to listen to people belt these songs again, over-saturation. But the few quiet moments of solo guitar intos for Éponine and Marius stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of a lush orchestral backing.

I'm being nit-picky and cynical. That's just how I am with this show. But make no mistake, it's pretty much the musical I remember transplanted to the screen. You should know if you're gonna love it or hate it based on that.

Red State

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

Write Up.

Recent world events had me thinking about this film. It's such an odd film tonally, keeps you guessing as to where it's going to go next.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Paul, Naomi, Leith

Write Up.

Really cool little heartfelt film.

Life of Pi

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

Write Up.

Mum went in as a doubter, believing there's no way a film could possibly do her beloved book justice and came out ecstatic. It's just as amazing and awe inspiring the second time through. I need to see this at the cinema as many times as possible, it's just stunning. Can't wait for the IMAX version.

Everything about the power of cinema and its craft is on dazzling display here. It's real magic.

Alex Cross

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

This film is so cliche ridden and predictable and so overly serious I'm not exactly sure if it's a satire or just really terrible. Unfortunately I think it's the latter. It's like a 12 year old's idea of what a serious cop movie should probably look and sound like. Oh man. Just surreal.

The Brood

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

Time for some more classic David Cronenberg. Oliver Reed is a scary guy. Samantha Eggar is also pretty spooky. And the brood is just messed up. Bizarre concept. And like other Cronenberg horrors, they don't play out like other horrors of the time. There's gore sure, but it isn't mindless exploitation and it's not ever whats disturbing about the film. There's always something else, something psychological, that figuratively and literally gets under your skin.

Always nice to go back and refresh these.

The Andromeda Strain

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

Robert Wise has such an eclectic and fascinating filmography. The way he translates Michael Crichton's patented verisimilitude is great, it feels so different to any other kind of disaster film. And yet as cold and sterile as all the scientific mumbo jumbo could get, there's still a great amount of character and build of suspense at the end.

Some really interesting graphical elements and moments. Very 70's and yet I can only imagine how ahead of its time the film was. Very cool.

Princess Mononoke

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

Write Up.

Just Awesome.

Grave of the Fireflies

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler, Kim, Maria, Tara

Write Up.

Well I finally did the double feature with Totoro. There are many similarities between them but really, not the best two films to be viewed together...

The HD copy I got a hold of was from the Japanese bluray, so I have yet to hear the new english dub, but I can't wait to check it out, because the original english dub is just appalling. For now though, the Japanese track with subtitles is the best way to go.

Such a beautiful and sad tale, the full impact of which I don't think is known until the second viewing, if you're game enough.

My Neighbour Totoro

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Kim, Maria

Just magical. A joyous experience every time. And now on bluray, it looks stunning. 

I really love disney's new english dub, mainly because of the two performances from the young Fanning siblings, that are as natural and well observed as the animation itself. 

Again, Miyazaki's stream of consciousness style of story structure really makes this such a curious film, especially for first time viewers. You really have no idea where the story's going most of the time, or even if there really is a main plot line. 

And the title character only shows up for 3 scenes. But when he does the impact is all the more great. The music drops out, everything gets quiet and the pace slows and it has a funny way of drawing you in to try and get a glimpse of the big man himself. It has a strange way of transfixing me everytime. He's also just hilarious by design. (Although sometimes he can look a little freaky. That goes double for the Catbus.)

It's always the natural behaviour of the two girls that I'm fascinated by most. They've captured it perfectly. Always love revisiting this and a great way to introduce people to Studio Ghilbli, with their flagship creation. 

Requiem for a Dream

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

In the process of re-mounting a theatrical production we did earlier in the year. This felt like an appropriate title.

Some more Aronofsky. I forgot hom many edits there are in this film. So stylised. And a sound design that's almost comical at times. And a score that is now overused to death. But if you can look past all that it was something pretty interesting and new at the time of its release.

And some great performances by the cast.

Parental Guidance

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

This is a relic from the 90's. It's average sitcom joke writing at best. At worst it's annoyingly contrived. Somehow Bailee Madison is yet again the best thing in a film. It certainly makes a good argument for corporal punishment. I wish some was applied to the little shits in the audience too.

Carnage

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

Write Up.

Hehehe, such fun.

The Thompsons

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

Hmm, it's like an indie hipster family drama with vampires. It's not exactly a big twist on the monsters but it has a slightly different film. And despite the low budget it scrubs up ok, though nothing particularly memorable. Could probably have used some better acting in parts...

Star Trek

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

Watched the new Star Trek trailer and thought I'd check this out again. Make a Chris Pine double feature while I'm at it.

This is the first simultaneous official sequel/reboot/prequel that I know of. They have their cake and eat it too. And it's rather tasty.

I was never a Trekkie, this was a Star Wars household. But I knew just enough to get the majority of in-jokes, references and set-ups. The recasting of these iconic characters worked pretty well I think. And despite his now hilarious lens flare obsession, J.J. Abrams has made a thoroughly entertaining film.

Aww and I forgot about Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Morrison in that little prologue. That's neat.

Well now the've got their pieces in place, can't wait to see where they decide to go from here.

Rise of the Guardians

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

Yeah, it's just missing that certain something that makes an okay movie a memorable one. Perhaps it's just we've seen all these elements before so many times, not together like this, but still it doesn't feel particularly new or interesting.

There's a lot of great technical work on display, I like much of the natural feeling camera movement, the 3d works great with the multitudes of different kinds of particles throughout the film, and just look at all that Bokeh. But something about the designs just never grabbed me.

I'm also pretty cynical and all that stuff about making kids believe in non-existant entities has always annoyed me, so take that with a grain of salt.  Certainly not the worst attempt at a holiday film though, it was pretty good but I did want this to take off and it just sat there.

The Day

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

An indie post-apocalyptic siege movie. Kids hole up in a house, people attack, they defend. It didn't hold my interest, the plotting was pretty straightforward and the shot outs were pretty standard. Some extreme grading going on here...

ATM

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

Noooooooope, doesn't work.

Insidious

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

 Write Up.

I own the soundtrack now. I'm going to put it on again whilst falling asleep. Terrifying music. Interested to hear about the sequel they are planning...

Watching this again, I realised it's really all just about people trying to get inside Patrick Wilson. I can relate.

Hitchcock

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

The film did benefit from us watching The Girl yesterday. But it was still a pretty broad and simplistic look at events. The cast all do fine with what they have. I do think some of the choices were a little odd, particularly Ed Gein hanging around. I can see the point but it's so clunky and kept taking me out of the film and ultimately wasn't needed.

Every now and then they thrown in something for fans that makes you perk up but then the stifled drama comes back.

It was okay but it didn't thrill me.

The Ruins

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

Write Up.

Hah, I really do enjoy this one. Really great cast.

The Girl

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

So this is an HBO TV movie about Tippi Hedren's collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock. I'm seeing the Psycho era biopic film later tonight so I thought I'd check this one out first. Cool to see some of the making of my favourite Hitchcock film, The Birds.

But ultimately they made this relationship pretty black and white and it was constantly in danger of tipping over into melodrama. Unfortunately they aren't really able to take their time and most likely didn't have a budget to show more of the filmmaking side of things.

I think there's a great drama to be told here but this telling was a bit of a let down. I'll see how the other biopic fares tonight.

3, 2, 1... Frankie Go Boom

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

Yeah, is quite good. I like the people in it. Put together well. Story is alright. Quite a few funny bits. No complaints really.

V/H/S

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

Ooo ok, so anthology movie. Can be problematic. As can short form horror. As can the found footage genre. And this is all 3. Yes, it's rather problematic.

And like all anthologies there's always a few duds and ones that play better than others. None of them really stood out to me as being the best though. The found footage gimmick gets really tired after the first two times they have to introduce new characters and sell the concept and reason they keep filming everything.

There's some nice bits every so often but I'm not sure found footage works well as anthology material. It just gets pretty annoying.

Redline

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

Write Up.

WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

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

Write Up.

Awesomeness. So pretty.

The Avengers

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

Write Up.

Finally got around to listening to the commentary by Joss Whedon. Very funny and informative. Great stuff. You'll have to order the disc from America to get it unfortunately but it was worth it for me.

Lockout

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

Ahhhahah. Yes I can see what they were going for. Escape from New York set in space. And Guy Pearce does his best Snake Plissken but it's never quite the same. There's a few good lines here and there though.

Funny to see Joseph Gilgun from Misfits. And Maggie Grace makes another appearance in a Luc Besson produced film. 

It's pretty slick. Entertaining enough. Some of the effects are better than others. A bit of fun but nothing memorable really.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything

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

A stylised little indie film from the UK. The main draw of course being Simon Pegg. It's an odd little film, a sort of horror comedy thriller drama thing. It's well put together though and I enjoyed it for the most part. More than I was expecting given the release it got.

Children of Men

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

Write Up.

Any chance to share this with friends who've never seen it is one that must be taken. Sooooo good.

Pitch Perfect

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Kim, Maria

Tots got pitched slapped.

And the film was all the more enjoyable with the people I saw it with. Best way to watch these kinds of films. What fun.

The Man with the Iron Fists

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

Well I don't know a thing about RZA's music but I enjoyed the hell out of his film. Kung-fuy Grindhouseness, a bit of authentic silliness, some modern style thrown in. And with Eli Roth producing you can be sure there'll be a few geysers of blood thrown in for good measure.

Russell Crowe lets loose here and looks like he's having a grand time. The fighting is all wonderfully choreographed and shot. I guess that's the most important thing here. Looks and sounds great, if you don't mind a hip hop beat to your kung fu. I think it's a pretty good marriage actually.

Some of the CG ain't that flash, but this is a really low budget affair considering what they got on screen. If you're in need of entertainment this will be sure to please.

Here Comes the Boom

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

Didn't I see this story already as one half of Warrior? That was a film I didn't really care about at all. This is a more family friendly version. Again, didn't care for it at all.

Intruders

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Myself

I did this film a bit of a disservice in that I watched it in bits and pieces over 3 nights. But it really did have trouble holding my attention. It's really well shot, the actors are all fine. The story itself is a bit meh and the execution of the telling is nothing really new or interesting. 

Life of Pi

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

The second film in our π double feature. A lot of intrigue and apprehension about this one going in. I had read quite a bit about it, my mum is a huge fan of the book and very opinionated on the subject of a film adaptation and after reading some mixed reviews I was not sure what I would make of it. Days later and I still think about it and can't wait to see it again.

First thing's first, this film is a technical and visual marvel. No denying. Best use of 3D I've ever seen. I can't wait to check it out at Imax too. They way they use it for transitions, they way it sells the amazing fx work, just awesome. They also do that ol' trick of going into scope for one segment to have the 3d pop over the edge of the frame. Gimmicky but fun. And the FX, the creation of water, the mixing of CG and real animals, it's by far the best I've ever seen.

And then there's the story. As I've seen already from reviews it's not going to be for everyone. I thought it was a lovely story and despite apprehension, I didn't feel cheated or swindled by the end. It made perfect thematic sense here. As a non-religious person if has a message about spirituality that I can get behind. It borders on being preachy but thanks to the youthful idealistic protagonist, it never feels like a lecture.

I can only imagine the nightmare Ang Lee faced with this film. Not just adapting an unadaptable story but then working with water, animals, children, extraordinarily complex visual effects and 3D. It's certainly a feat of cinema and a pretty special experience. Can't wait to see it again.

π

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

Been a very long time since I last saw Darren Aronofsky's breakout hit. And the first of our Pi double feature. Heh.

You can see strong evidence of the filmmaker to come. Aronofsky's pop edits, the subjective camera, heavy use of visual symbolism, hell even the film's name is a symbol, a protagonist that's slowly going crazy/existential. Clint Mansell's music. All those elements are there.

Very high contrast photography from Matthew Libatique. It feels very low budget, raw and rough around the edges. Cool to see again.

Fun Size

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

Sometimes you watch a movie and just sit in amazement that people actually got paid to write and make  what you are watching.

On a lighter note, unexpected Ana Gasteyer double with Robot and Frank.

Robot & Frank

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

This film was just delightful. I do like robots. And I do like Frank Langella. And while I knew a very basic premise for the film I had forgotten about the whole heist scenario. So much fun.

The film does a great job of never getting overly sentimental about dealing with Frank's memory loss. And the way the robot factors in to this is great. I see Peter Sarsgaard does the voice of the robot, although he does sound a lot like Kevin Spacey in Moon.

It's all kinds of brilliant. Get out and see this one before it finishes.

Celeste & Jesse Forever

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

Rashida Jones and Will McCormack have written a film for themselves. Good for them. It wasn't too bad either. And nice to see Andy Samberg in a slightly less comical role.

Now, this film is only 92 mins long but it really feels longer. There are long stretches of ups and downs towards the end that really start to drag. I just wanted the Celeste character to hurry up and reach her inevitable epiphany. But the start was all fine and enjoyable.

They managed to get a good cast of supporting players together. I especially enjoyed Elijah Wood trying desperately and failing to do the typical romantic comedy gay best friend. An unexpected Emma Roberts had a fun character, but one that felt pretty superfluous to the plot. She serves to make one point and not much more. 

This could very well connect with others more than it did with me. I did enjoy it but it's not something I'll feel the need to revisit soon. 

The Sessions

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

A nice little film. Sometimes refreshing to see a simple story told simply. It's also refreshing to see an American film that is so straight forward dealing with sex, especially sex and the disabled.

It was funny seeing Moon Bloodgood as the uptight, slightly geekish caretaker, simply because I'm used to her playing the tough stoic type in Pathfinder, Terminator Salvation and Falling Skies.

And of course our leads are great. Glad I finally got to see this one before it finished.

Brave

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

Write Up.

Listened to the commentary. Brenda Chapman is notably absent. I only know vaguely what happened there. This one never really soars, it's so tied to formula but still very pretty.

Red Dawn

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

Ahh well, it was a silly idea anyway. I really like the original, I have a bit of a soft spot for it after first watching it while recovering for getting my wisdom teeth out. John Milius's film is such a product of its time, the idea of remaking it now is pretty problematic.

So like another Chris Hemsworth film, the awesome Cabin in the Woods, this film was shelved in 2009 when MGM fell into financial difficulties. Originally conceived to have China as the bad guys it has since been repurposed to have North Korea as the evil invading army. (Because China is now one of the most sort after film markets and North Korea had a convenient change in leadership...) In truth, I spent most of the film looking out for all the digitally replaced arm bands, banners, signs and I think I even spotted some digital lip syncing in one scene. Unfortunately that was probably the most fun part of the film. 

The film is all over the place. An action scene that ends in tragedy immediately followed by a fun bonding scene then followed by an inspirational speech and ill-conceived action. Jumping all over the place like that really hurts the film, it feels like we are missing a whole bunch of connective tissue. More annoyingly the most interesting part of the film for me, seeing these kids go through hell and have to learn to fight for their survival, well that's all done away with in a little training montage.

The whole affair is just flaccid. The shaky cam is annoying. The writing is pretty bad and the cast do what they can but can't save it. Meh.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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

Beautiful. I love a good coming of age story and this was a very good coming of age story.

They really tricked me casting Melanie Lynskey in a small but integral part. What a brilliant deception for those of us who love her work.

The whole cast is great. I thought I might have trouble adapting to Ezra Miller in this after his rather iconic performance in We Need To Talk About Kevin. And after just rewatching the end of Harry Potter it was nice to see Emma Watson again, I thought she was great.

Yep, really enjoyed this one.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

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

Write Up.

Finally finished watching all the commentaries and extra features. Some great stuff. This really only rubs in just how lacking that dang Twilight series is, I don't see why it's so popular.

Interview with the Vampire

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

Before Twilight and Buffy, there was Anne Rice. And this awesome film by Neil Jordan. I do like this one a lot, it somehow manages to be serious and camp at the same time. And Kirsten Dunst is delightful.

I also love how epic it feels, probably just because of the time span. Always a satisfying watch.

This is 40

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

I'm under embargo. oooOOOOOOOoooo...

Phantom of the Paradise

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

Write Up.

Such a crazy film. I picked up an import Bluray when I was overseas. Neat.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

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

Write up.

Ultimate Edition Bluray FINALLY was released and arrived. Watched picture commentary. Good stuff. Some great extras too. What a remarkable series.

Where The Wild Things Are

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

A film of contradictions if ever I saw one. Fascinating though, I really love it. Made an interesting double with Tideland too.

A children's book made into a film that I'm sure children can enjoy but it has a very adult drama feeling. There is a wonderful sense of playful danger to the proceedings. And the monsters are beautifully realised with a mixture of amazing creature suits and composited faces.

I must admit the incessant indie music soundtrack makes me want to blow my brains out.

This is a film all about the feels. I think it succeeds in capturing that feeling of the disillusioned youth. It might fail as a fun family film but I'm not sure it was ever intended to be that anyway.

Tideland

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

Write Up.

Always fascinating viewing. Love this strange little film.

Skyfall

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

Write Up.

I know I said I wouldn't see this again for a while. I also said I'd see the scope version instead of the IMAX version again. Well that didn't happen. But I may as well enjoy it full frame while I have the chance right?

So many people are claiming this is the best Bond ever. I might not argue it's the best produced, but I still don't know yet where I sit on the how Bond-like the film actually is. It's quite removed from the "traditional" Bond movies, so if it IS the best I don't know what that says about what peoples idea of Traditional Bond is anymore. I guess that's a fluid thing, I mean it's certainly changed a lot over the years already.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

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

The highly anticipated finale of the Twilight Saga is upon us. After the thrilling cliffhanger ending of Part One we finally see, oh nup I can't keep that up.

It really doesn't help that My year 7 Harry Potter bluray just arrived and I've been watching extra features on that. I think that series is a perfect example of how to stick the landing.

Once again this series has the problem of having characters that just don't seem to emote or make me care about them in any way. It also doesn't help that none of the characters change or develop throughout this film, any conflict is external. They introduce a whole bunch of new characters, some of them are fun but there's not enough time to get to know them all much. They also tried to keep the same actresses face for the character that grows from baby to kid over the first half of the film, resulting in freaky uncanny valley CG child.

Thank god for Michael Sheen, who seems to be the only person here that seems to get how ridiculous this is and plays appropriately. Hilarious.

They pull a Savages with their ending too. A disturbing trend. You really do feel cheated by a cheap trick. Again, it makes sense enough but there's no real price to pay and once again everything is left weightless and dull.

And these vampires have a real design flaw if their heads are that easy to just pop off. (NO blood of course, gotta keep this PG.) Apparently they are more like X-men than vampires, all these powers you can just introduce right at the end that ended up not serving any purpose at all. Bad writing. Such a frustrating series. So inept.

Well it's over now. 

How to Train Your Dragon

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

Write Up.

Such joy. Sometimes you just need to watch Dragons.

Argo

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

Write Up.

I feel bad watching a repeat at the cinema when there's so much I have to catch up on, but I had vouchers about to expire. And this film is great.

Skyfall

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

Ok I've now seen all 25 theatrically released James Bond movies.

Well I was gonna leave it at that because I'm all Bonded out but I'll write some more.

I wrote before about how I didn't like them getting personal with Judi Dench's M. Well this get very personal, not just for her character but for Bond as well. I'm hoping with this film we are well and truly done with the re-booting phase now all the elements are back in place and they can get back into the action adventure side of things, going after Quantum or whoever else.

I miss Bond films that end with a bang. All the Craig ones have been kinda downers. Or at least certainly not action oriented.

Not to say it wasn't good, because it was really great but it's a very different Bond movie. So personal. Filled with backstory. It's strange because I know I saw huge action set pieces but because none of these end that way it feels like I missed out. Judi Dench gets to say the f-word so I guess that makes up for anything. And it definitely leaves you wanting to see what's next. They've got to deliver on the promise of their 3 film prequel set-up now.

Javier Bardem is all kinds of glorious. I think this is the first time they've played up sexual tension between the two male leads to this degree. A lot of fun, even if it's all just for show. We can still dream. 

He has an island secret lair. He's that kind of big villian. And yet it still somehow plays out more plausibly than any of the latter Brosnan films could manage. Even with the Home Alone style ending. That's a big harsh, Straw Dogs is closer, plays less comical...

I love Ben Whishaw.

You know what, I was so intrigued by what a Thomas Newman scored Bond would sound like and perhaps not surprisingly enough, it sounds just like you'd expect a Thomas Newman scored Bond film to sound. I actually don't think it fit it a couple of places, to quirky comedic for the tone of the rest of the film. 

I was surprised to find myself liking the title song much more now that I've seen it in context. Bonds decent into the underworld is beautifully realised in the title sequence and all the imagery from here keeps recurring throughout. Some striking images.

Which brings me to Roger Deakins and his awesome work, shooting digitally again on the Alexa. It should be noted that I saw the film at IMAX digital so I saw the 1.90:1 ratio version. There's a few times you notice the space in the framing but for the most part the compositions still work wonderfully on the big format, but I'll be interested to see it again cropped for scope.

This has got to be one of the most colourfully lit films of the series. And a lot of low light and practical looking sources. It's beautiful. Probably my favourite thing about the film. 

There's quite a lot of nods for fans of the series. some not-so-subtle. The reveal of the car got applause at our screening. "Carplause"we have coined it. Blatant fan-service. And why not? 50 years is cause for celebration.

I think fans might have a tough time with this one. It will entirely depend on what you are expecting from it. Watching it after the frantic last week of catching up on the films has left me in a bit of a Bond blur. I'll wait a while and try and catch it again later when the memories of the previous films aren't foremost in my mind and my knowledge of what the film is rather than what expectations of it informed by said films actually are won't hinder the experience. 

Geez, reading this back it looks like I'm on the fence, but I really really did like it. I want to make that clear. It's awesome. Still it's going to promote a lot of discussion from fans. 

Quantum of Solace

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

Well I like that it's a direct follow on to the last film. That's a first. But I don't like how it then proceeds as much. It feels like treading water in a 2nd act.

They went too Borne here and have gone shaky cam on their combat fights. No! There's some good sequences though, I like the fight at the start hanging from the ropes. That's pretty brutal.

And then there's some talking and an opera and something about water in the desert. Eh.

Casino Royale

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

The Daniel Craig one.

Martin Campbell's second Bond reboot. You know it's extra classy because the start is black and white.

I never understood why they kept Judi Dench as M when they rebooted everything else. She's great and all, but that was just confusing, especially since this plays like a prequel. And Bond is Blond! Scandalous.  

After the funky titles (no nude females for a change) we get one of the best chases in the whole series. The way that parkour sequence is shot and edited is so damn enthralling. And it says much about character as well as being awesome action. 

This film has the action packed up front. The finale, whilst being a big set piece isn't as big on the energy and it ends on a rather melancholy note with many plot points left unresolved. 

Still the style has changed much for the better I feel. Q is done away with. Super villains taking over the world is done away with. There is a handful of one liners but I love that they hang a light on it. This feels more like the Borne series. A more grounded, gritty version with a very physical star and lots of hand to hand combat. 

And Eva Green is great too.

Die Another Day

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

So what I was saying about Bond turning into peoples memories of the idea of what Bond was rather than what it actually was? Well, that goes double for this one.

This is comic book big. It's probably more ridiculous than Moonraker. You can't have a Bond grounded in reality and then pull shit like this. It doesn't work. That's what I've struggled with most with this series, I never know how serious to take it. I guess it comes down to personal opinion and me, while I like the fantastical premises I think I prefer something more grounded for Bond.

And this one starts out so promising too. Bond being captured and tortured over the (absolutely terrible) opening song for the credit sequence. Something very different for the franchise. But it get progressively bigger and fantastic as it progresses. The Villain swaps bodies, builds a giant ice palace and then destroys it with a big sunlight ray satellite thingy. And Bond surfs to safety. I don't think the technology was quite there to pull that off when they did this.

Invisible car?!? Ehh.

I'll admit I love the design of the bad dude with diamonds embedded in his face, even though it's impractical and seems like an easy fix. And the contact lenses don't exactly work.

Rosamund Pike amuses me to a degree. But Halle Berry? No. They even give her a "yo mamma" joke. Uh. American Bond girls are the worst. 

Time for a reboot!

The World Is Not Enough

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

Replacing Q with R just emphasises how much that relationship has degraded. I find all through the Brosnan era Bond films that, now we are getting a generation of filmmakers who grew up with Bond and their films tend to be more like an idealised memory of what Bond was rather than what they actually were. There's increasingly more Bond cliches and iconography in each of his films. The famous introduction "Bond, James Bond," the comedic banter with Q and his gadgets, the bad one liners, shaken not stirred, M chewing out Bond, bad one liners, Bond girls with ridiculous names. Sure they are all parts of Bond but not every film had all these things. But now they've become lore.

Speaking of bad Bond girl names, Christmas Jones has to be one of the more head scratching. Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. I guess that's balanced with the first Bond girl to be the main antagonist.  Elektra King is definitely one of the more interesting female characters in the series.

I think M is a bit of a hypocrite in this one, always chastising Bond for making things personal. Then goes and gets herself kidnapped trying to help out an old friend using MI6 resources.

The important thing is the action is there I guess.

Tomorrow Never Dies

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

The one with Rupert Murdoch as the villain. This one ain't that hot. Sounds like a trouble production too.

I love Michelle Yeoh and she handles the action great of course but there's no chemistry between her and Bond. Nor is there with Teri Hatcher really and that relationship really needed it.

Gadgets, so much gadgets. Q has become a comedy relief instead of someone who gets genuinely angry with Bond like he used to. I miss that.

But we DO get David Arnold scoring for the first time. This is how I think of Bond films sounding in my head. And we do get Götz Otto and he is dreamy.

Overall the whole thing is loud, silly and not that involving. There are nice bits of action but this isn't one I'd prioritise revisiting.

GoldenEye

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

Now we move into all the bond films I've seen before. The Pierce Brosnan era. And the first one is definitely the best in my opinion. It also marks the first time Martin Campbell is asked to helm a Bond reboot.

That trailer gives away a pretty big spoiler. A small quip from the outset had us watching the film reading sexual tension into the relationship between Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean. It made the film even better.

Daniel Kleinman is now in charge of titles. I do like his work from here on. And this is one of the better title songs too.

Judi Dench as M is a wonderful addition. Before they overuse her in later episodes. 

And Famke Janssen. Gloriously crazy Famke Janssen. Delightful.

This one has great action, good characters a compelling story. Great escapist fun and everything I think you'd want or expect from a Bond film. So many miniatures too. I miss miniatures. 

Eric Serra's score is interesting. The series has had almost every kind of score imaginable now but I'm still just itching to get to David Arnold's more classic big orchestral approach. Those electronic anvil hits are so mid 90's. Although rather appropriate considering the content of the film.

The thing that stood out to me most was the lighting. Especially apparent after just watching the previous films but suddenly this looks like a modern film. Light is actually sculpted and composed rather than just being exposed correctly. It's a beautiful looking action film.

Licence to Kill

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

I think this might have been the first Bond I ever saw. The guy exploding in the pressure chamber scarred me for life. Looks kinda stupid now though. But Perhaps that explains my reluctance to getting into the series. This film is just so out of place with the franchise. It's just an American style late 80's action film, complete with the revenge plot, drug dealing mexican bad guys and excessive violence. What it lacks is the wit and playfulness that someone like Shane Black might inject into the proceedings, that make the violence easier to swallow.

This doesn't have anything to do with spying or British Intelligence. It does have a very young Benicio Del Toro though.

They took that slightly angrier version of the character Timothy Dalton played and exaggerated that out to the point where he's almost unlikable. Perhaps they pushed too far in a lot of these new directions, trying to keep up with the evolving landscape of action cinema. It's a tough call though. Bond couldn't remain the same forever or he'd become a dated joke but they've started changing him to the point where he doesn't resemble the same character anymore.

Here he's got two girl's affections and they actually meet up and get jealous of each other. That's something new, a little love triangle. I shouldn't say love because there's no emotion behind any of it..

Anyways, 6 years later and we'll get back on track. Onwards and upwards.

The Living Daylights

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

This is a breath of fresh air. Timothy Dalton this time and he changes things up a bit. I can imagine the same lines as performed by Roger Moore's Bond and it would be a very different film. Dalton seems more serious, short tempered and overall just a better spy.

Speaking of which, it's nice to see some actual spying going on in a Bond film for a change! Less emphasis on a ridiculously cartoonish evil villain plot and more on espionage. It still has all those elements and some big actions pieces but it just feels better for some reason. Odd, considering it's pretty much all the same team behind the camera that did the last few.

Even just the look of it feels more modern. And the characters are ever so slightly more dimensional. Liked this one.

A View to a Kill

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

WOW this is 80's. That Duran Duran soundtracked title sequence... wow.

And snowboarding to Beach Boys. OK....

Christopher Walken just cracks me up. He totally mows guys down with a machine gun. Feels very 80's action film but a little gratuitous for a Bond movie. Grace Jones never fails to horrify me. 

We have a whole first section that seems like just an excuse to set up a horse chase. And then the all important plan to flood silicon valley. MICROCHIPS!

Roger Moore's really getting on in years. He's the same old dude while the action around him becomes more violent and loud. A fire truck is not the most inconspicuous get-away vehicle.

Octopussy

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

To INDIA!

This one has action. It feels like one prolonged action chase sequence. I had fatigue at the end. Also jet lag was a factor, but I had to rewatch the end the next day to make sure I picked up everything. We got car, train and plane sequences. Shoot outs, bombs, circus performers turned assassins.

And an Island populated only by women.

This one does have a definite Indiana Jones vibe to it. Although it most resembles Temple of Doom to me, and that didn't come out till the year after. But it was up against the Connery Bond film Never Say Never Again which were released mere months apart. Crazy.

Roger Moore as a sad clown is horrifying.

Never Say Never Again

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

Ok so this is not an Eon Bond film, so it's not official cannon. But it is Sean Connery returning to the role in what is basically a remake of Thunderball. It's just as long as that one too.

Rowan Atkinson's first film, before he parodied Bond himself.

And Irvin Kershner directs. 

Fatima Blush is kind of glorious. And I liked Maximilian Largo too I guess. We should see more villains making their own holographic computer games.

For Your Eyes Only

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

I just keep hearing the "For British eyes only"sting from Arrested Development.

Even longer than the last! At least this one had some sort of suspense in its climax, with all that rock climbing. There's also a car chase through some olive picking hills that's quite fun. But there's still a lot of scenes that I have to make sure I don't fall asleep in.

And I presume that's the last we see of Blofeld. Kind of an anti-climax.

We are in the 80's now. And Bill Conti's score is funktastic. I've noticed the scores for each film in the series of late have been all over the place. This one still seems out of place but on it's own might make some good dance music.

Moonraker

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

Another one I've seen most of before but never all the way through.

People shit on this one quite a bit. It is ridiculous. Really ridiculous. But I've found most of these evil villain plots of late to be equally ridiculous, so why not cash in on Star Wars while you're at it?

Is it just me or are these getting more slow going?

Jaws is back! He gets a girlfriend too. As far as I can tell they live happily ever after.

So much music licensing in the name of bad referential jokes.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

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

Two annoying people in an apartment having sex and talking on skype while televisions talk of global warming and pop religion. This film is boring and I want to forget it.

The Bay

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

Write Up.

Hah, just creepy. Totally didn't recognise our heroine from Cabin in the Woods was in this either.

The Spy Who Loved Me

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

Back to the Bond marathon. Gonna have a lot to squeeze in between now and the new release.

Well this one gets back to a more global scale with a world-wide destruction bent villain. He has a trapdoor with sharks at the bottom. Classic. And I like how the Bong girl works in this film, even if the wrap up is kind of arbitrary.

This one introduces Jaws too. Another favourite for fans. He's a lively chap.

I really dig the Atlantis design. Oddly enough, watching the climax of this reminded me of Battleship. (Just in terms of imagery.) Also, I can't believe they just let 2 nukes go off...

The theme song just reminds me of that old L.J.Hooker ad jingle.

The Ring

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

Write Up.

Checked out the bluray. Such a pretty film. The visuals are so deliberate.

Spaced Invaders

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

Ok well I have no childhood nostalgia for this one so I'm watching it cold. And it's pretty annoying. Although I do appreciate the War of the Worlds references. I guess if I had seen this as a kid I would have enjoyed it but I like to think the aliens antics would still have annoyed me somewhat.

Piranha DD

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

Really love the first one. (And the original, which I just got on bluray and can't wait to watch again). But this one misses the mark. Obviously this is a much much smaller budget. It falls into the trap the first film managed to avoid of trying too hard to be stupid exploitation and not succeeding as a sincere film on its own merits too.

Everything here is scaled back. The set pieces, the make up, the fish fx. Unfortunately they didn't make up for it in writing marginally interesting characters. We really don't need much for a film like this but something is better than nothing. Instead they try too hard to up the sex and crass ridiculousness. I think they over-estimate how amusing David Hasselhoff is.

True, some of it is rather amusing, their blatantly scripted exposition being one example. And Christopher Lloyd always makes me laugh. But there was just too much stupidity and wasted opportunity here for me to really enjoy it overall. Damn shame, the first one was so great.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see this in 3DD (hence the DD title on the film), and while I didn't really like it, I still would have appreciated being able to see it in a cinema in 3D, but apparently they aren't allowed to release horror films in Australian cinemas anymore.

The Revenant

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

This one has taken me a long time to get around to seeing since I first read about it at festivals years ago. I am a fan of David Anders from his various tv credits and he does a great job here. Didn't like the other guy at all. And the film is patchy at best.

There are some nice ideas at play here but often the concept is better than execution for me.

The Big Chill

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

Finally got around to watching this one. I'd always been hesitant because all anyone ever says about the film is how great the soundtrack of 60's songs is. I really don't like films where the song choices are more important than the story.

And now having seen the film I see why people would be more forthcoming about the music than the plot. If you asked me to describe it I'm not sure I'd be able to get the basic premise. It's like a reunion for the breakfast club or something.

Great cast though and I did enjoy watching.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

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

This is one of those magical realism films, feels more like a fable than a straight drama with more fantastic elements. It has a sincere tone that is in danger or tipping the scales at every moment into the overly sentimental drama or the fantasy fariytale. It mostly does a pretty good job of walking this line.

Everyone seems pretty in tune to what the tone should be. It has some fairly predictable beats but I'm not gonna complain because it's kinda nice to see what feel like a classic live action Disney film again. No doubt this will be a favourite for a new generation.

People Like Us

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

Alex Kurtzman gets a shot at directing. And he's made a perfectly enjoyable film helped by a great cast. It's pretty much all there in the trailer so you'll know what you're in for. Mark Duplass seems to be in everything I watch these days...

On the Road

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

I saw this film rather appropriately over the course of 4 different flights travelling in and out of the country. Perhaps that did the film a disservice but honestly I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it much in  one sitting. And being such a long film it would have just annoyed me.

A road trip movie. A 50's beatnik movie. Very episodic and by the end it feels like we didn't really go anywhere much. The actors are all great and the individual scenes themselves are fine but this looks like the kind of thing that works better as writing and is not as cohesive in a feature film format.

The Master

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

This film doesn't have that satisfying kick There Will Be Blood did but it does have the great cinematography, score and character actors doing what they do best. And being able to see it projected from 70mm film print was something I never thought I'd be able to experience. It's like, high definition film.

Always good to see new P.T. Anderson.

The Bay

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

Don't watch the trailer! Just watch the movie. Immediately.

I know in my Sinister post I said how refreshing a change it was from all this found footage horror (even though technically that was found footage horror). Well this just re-invigorated my passion for it. This is something very very different. And while it's pretty much entirely comprised of found footage it is in-fact made in more of a documentary style.

Barry Levinson is the last person you would think of to make a film like this. But he's such a great film maker he seems to be able to do anything well. And he certainly brings something new to the table. This is like a found footage Contagion, just more confined and on steroids. Actually the music reminded me a lot of that film too.

Now at this stage it doesn't look like this is getting a release in Australia but, like Sinister, if it does, it's a must for horror fans. This is not big cheap shock scare horror, this really gets under your skin...