Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

This one seem a little arbitrary. By now we are more on the side of the Apes, and yet you know the ultimate outcome. Unless you believe they can change the future, but I doubt that very much. Especially since that statue cries at the end.

I totally recognised Paul Williams under all that make-up. And John Huston although that was easier, I have been watching Chinatown lately.

This one is much more kid friendly, by now Fox realised kids love talking apes and toned down the dark social themes in favour of family friendly action. Unfortunately they didn't really give them the budget to accomplish that so this one is a bit of a write off. But you still get Roddy McDowall and I love him.

Well that's the original series done and dusted. Great to watch on the big screen in HD. But I'm all aped out now I think.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Write Up.

This time I watched the theatrical cut. Man the end is really weak compared to the new extended cut. The new version is much more in keeping in tone with the rest of the series.

You've got the riots in this one which leads to the full out war in the final chapter. The story from the new Rise of the Planet of the Apes is kinda different to what is told here, they have very different set ups. I'm interested to see how the new series develops.

One more to go!

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

This one is probably the silliest and lightest. After the last one though you could say it's a welcome change.

The inverse scenario of the first film, the majority deals with the fish-out-of-water comedy of the apes in the 70's.

But the usual sour ending the series is known for is still present here. This time we see the time loop closed. The explanation as to how is rather thin but eh, I'll go with it. Now we have a self fulfilling prophecy going on, and we know the outcome.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Dire.

This could actually be my favourite. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic dystopia and I love all the imagery of the ruined city.

Man, this film is dark dark dark. There's barley an ounce of hope in it. They took the horrific realisation of the first film and ran with it to a logical conclusion. It's none too happy.

The idea of mutant humans worshiping a bomb is fantastic. I find their telepathic communication is a nice idea but the execution is a little dated. However the look of them is still pretty darn freaky.

The new human character looks exactly like Heston from the first film. A little confusing.

This one seemed to put a pretty solid full stop on the story, but that didn't stop them from making more. Of course there's no way you can continue the story after the events in this film but the way the loop it back is pretty neat. One of the reason I always liked the series.

Planet of the Apes

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Watched With: Myself

Time to give the bluray box set a spin.

Never been a Charlton Heston fan. He comes off as a bit of a dick in this film too. But despite that I really do love the film. Rod Serling worked on the screenplay adaptation and it has all the elements of the best Twilight Zone films. A stranger in a set of circumstances where the norm is upsidedown. A strong social message, a story about morality, and a final big twist ending that leaves you gasping.

That and monkeys. Everyone loves monkeys right?

Can't watch it now and not think of the Simpsons musical version. Still it's a fantastic and I always love watching it.

Alien: Resurrection

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Michael

I'm pretty sure this is the Alien film I watched the most as a kid. It just happened to come out at a time when I was the right age for it and I thought it was good fun. I loved the freaky cloning mistakes and thought the hybrid baby was hilarious.

I like to think of this one as the French Art-house alien film. It has a slightly stranger tone than the others. Probably in big part due to how Sigourney Weaver's character has changed. I loved the idea and her exicution of this final outcome. That she's finally become the bane of her original existence, intrinsicly linked to them.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet has made a typically looking grimy yellow-green graded rusty looking film. (At least typical before he made Amelie.) I think he gets the horror and suspense all wrong but his humour is on full display. That could also be due to Joss Whedon's script. 

I've heard many things about changes Jeunet made to the script, I'd love to read the original draft and see what it was supposed to be like. It sounds like there was more action set pieces that were cut out due to expense. 

Nevertheless, Whedons talent for writing a crew of distinct characters is on display here and a few of the humorous lines feel very Whendonesque.

Dan Hedaya, I just can't take seriously as the General. He's just hilarious. Brad Dourif is typically creepy as one of the scientific team and Leland Orser, the freakout guy, gets to do his freakout act. 

They Swim!

The CG doesn't hold up too well, this was still very early cg though. 

On the whole, compared to the others it feels too light. But I grew up with this film and there's much I like about it. 

Redline

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First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex

Write Up.

This is the most anime anime ever. SO GOOD! Everyone has to watch this film immediately, it will make your life better and you a happier person.

Friends with Kids

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

So it's like When Harry Met Sally, only one step further. Can friends have a kid together and remain friends. I think you can probably tell how it ends up, it's the same as in that film.

But apart from the main couple and their strange experiment, the film makes a pretty strong stance that once you're in a relationship and have kids together you become horrible angry people that annoy everyone around you and having kids is just a terrible idea. I can get onboard with that.

There's other things about the film I liked too. Looks like Jennifer Westfeldt just cherry picked the cast of Bridesmaids. Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm look to be having fun playing completely despicable people, the source of many extremely awkward moments.

This film seems to hit a sweet spot between a traditional rom com and the more outlandish antics from the Apatow school of comedy. I think this film gets that balance absolutely perfect for my tastes in romantic comedies. Its just the inevitable forced happy ending that still irks me. Adam Scott really sells it though. He's great.

On the whole I did enjoy this one just fine. It probably helped I was the only person in the cinema too. This one kinda came out of nowhere, I hadn't seen any ads or trailers for it. Pity, it's a step up from more of the rom-com's I've seen this year and deserves to find an audience.

Alien 3

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

David Fincher's first film! It's got quite a nice visual style to it but it's a famously troubled production. I was very young when it came out and didn't see it until later but I do distinctly recall seeing the teaser on a VHS that promised on Earth everyone could hear me scream. That never eventuated.

People shit on this film an awful lot but for all its problems there's still enough that goes right (somehow, I've seen those great making of doco's and it amazes me it was even finished) that I quite like it.

The biggest reason is the cast. This film has a fantastic cast that really bring these characters to life. The alien is a little different this time around. Puppet rod alien! I guess this is where they establish the lore that it takes on the form of whatever was its host. Now in the theatrical cut I recall it was a dog, but I watched the extended cut on bluray and it's now a bull.

The extended cut has a lot of nice extra stuff that really does help flesh out the characters more, it does make for a slower film though. But I like it. It's been a while since I've actually gone back to the theatrical. I should do that soon.

I don't like the way the second unit stuff wasn't shot in anamorphic and they stretch it out. It's also never as scary as the other two. But it has this whole religious fate thingy going on. And makes what we all thought was a pretty difinative end for Ripley.

So David Fincher has disowned the film, had nothing to do with this workprint release and seems to refuse to talk about it today. He's obviously not proud of it, but I think it was probably a steep learning curve for him which informed the rest of his career, so you can't stay mad at it.

[Rec]

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Watched With: Alex, Stacey

Hehehehehehe. I saw this one at a spanish film festival a few years back. The audience was filled with festival going types. Some dear old ladies and gents in for some classy foreign films. This one shook them up a bit. That was a very memorable screening.

It is very shaky cam at places but there is a greta sense of urgency and terror in the latter sections. The end is pretty spectacular too. And of course you can follow it up now with Rec 2 and more on the way.

The remake, Quarantine, is pretty much exactly the same except for the reason of the outbreak. I like this one better.

Aliens

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Oh man the bluray looks so good. The film was shot on pretty grainy stock but it looks awesome.

James Camerons film is hugely ambitious. Of course, it's a James Cameron film. This is text book how to do a sequel. It's removed enough from the original, telling a very different kind of story but keeps all the key things you want and expands upon them too.

The best old school style fx. Rear projection never looked so good. And Stan Winstons gang made some huge contributions. The queen is just awesome. But again, my favourite is always the face huggers. And they get the best showing off in this film.

I'm for the longer cut all the way. The characters a fleshed out a bit more and it's just more awesomeness to take in. Awesomenessss.

This film is intense in a very different kind of way to the first one. This is just a full on assault. I love how utterly dire everything in the film is. The whole last hour is just nightmarish. And throwing a kid into the mix is always fun.

I haven't sat down and watched the whole film since there was that awesome screening 2 years ago where they dug up a 35mm print. It was pretty damaged but still a lot of fun to see in a cinema. But the picture on bluray is fantastic and the home cinema set up here is ideal for watching again. Just awesome.

Alien

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Current Release: No
Watched With: Ant, Emilia, Tyler, Kim

Such a cool film. Ridley Scott gave a b-movie an a-grade look, populated it with great actors and turned it into a classic.

Such a slow burn, I always forget the whole set up, how it lulls you in. And then after a few shocking moments things get very claustrophobic and the tension ratchets up right to the very end. I think for this reason alone I prefer the theatrical cut, as cool as that extra scene is with Dallas all cocooned up it does slow the pace at the end too much for my tastes.

Ripley is such an interesting character, especially in this film. I was someone who grew up with Aliens and Alien came later so the shock of her surviving when the captain who is set up as the hero gets killed off was lost on me, but I can imagine it being pretty neat back in the day. You hear stories of people running out of the theatre to throw up during the chest burster scene. That would have been something to behold.

The score is sparse. It's all about the silence here. The most tense moments have hardly any sound. The whole chest burster scene just comes out of nowhere. Poor John Hurt. You know I can;t watch that scene now and not think of Spaceballs. Thanks Mel Brooks.

I also love Ian Holm's Ash. He's kooky.

Love watching the film again. I'll try and get through the rest of the series too.

Prometheus

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jess, James, Paul, Brett, Alex, Josh, Tyler, Sam, Aaron, Jordan, Ben, Steve, Kate, Tara, Marko, Ellie, Ant, Merlin, Trevor, Ethan, Dominic, Zoe, Stacey, Chris, Andrew, Kim, Tom and all the rest.

A more beautifully design modern sci-fi film you will be hard pressed to find. This film is gorgeous. That's the one thing we can all agree on yes? That and how awesome Michael Fassbender is.

I really like the rest of the film too but there's dissension in the ranks. Ridley Scott returning to the Alien universe after 33 years has certain expectations attached to it. Tonally this is very different to the original Alien film and only tangentially related.

This is a more ponderous big-question sci-fi film and my main concern with it is how it raises many interesting points but get bogged down in horror fan service without developing any of these themes properly. I love the horror stuff. I love the existential sci-fi stuff. But the two halves never form a complete whole in this film. A pity, because I really did love the two halves I saw. Is this another case of just setting up a franchise reboot? I wish it weren't so but that's exactly what it feels like.

So many questions. I guess you should expect that with a script from Damon Lindelof, the man who was more concerned wrapping up character stories on the show Lost, rather than answering all the big mythology questions that I was more interested in. Unfortunately the same attention to characters doesn't seem to have been paid here, at least not compared to its predecessor. Ironically Fassbender's robotic David is the most fleshed out for me.

Guy Pearce in old man make-up. Questionable. Unless they had planned that TED talk in advance and new they needed him to be young there, or possibly in future films.

The Engineers are hot, right? All buff and tall with nice pale skin. Their motives remain largely unanswered. But they make some nice looking creatures. As a facehugger fan, I particularly liked its giant shoggoth-like pre-evolved relative Noomi Rapace births. John Hurt's birthing scene is a tough act to follow but the film makes a great attempt and manages to evoke stomach-squirming without excessive gore.

On the whole the FX, cinematography, sound design, all that stuff is great. 3D works a charm, shot natively on the Epic. They made Laurence of Arabia into 3d!!! Interestingly the first time I saw the film is was in 3D but presented in the widescreen scope at Vmax. This time at the fake Imax it was full frame. I wonder if it is square at a proper Imax? Seemed like there was extra image on the top and bottom. Unfortunately the sound at fake Imax is echoey. They really need to dampen the sound reverb in there.

I really like the music in the film, and the small nod to Jerry Goldsmith's original score. I just don't necessarily agree with how much of it there was. Sometimes silence is scarier. Scott seems to have forgotten that. Or he's further trying to distance himself from his original.

The film is set about 30 years before the events in Alien. And on a different planet. Presumably they can link the two with more films. We've yet to see how a ship with a cargo of eggs lands on that planet driven by an impregnated engineer that we see in the first film. I guess it's easy enough to speculate and join the dots yourself. You'll need to be doing a lot of that though.

Despite the vagueness of theme and character, the things that work, work very well. It's certainly has its moments and throughout is constantly a joy to gaze upon. Really makes a case for good sets and location work (or reference, the FX were good enough to make it hard to tell). At the moment it just feels incomplete.

Ted

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

This is first, I'm officially under embargo. I'm not allowed to write a review and it's all G.I. Joe's fault too. I'll write up something later in the month though. For now I'll just say it was rather fun...

Last Action Hero

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First time viewed: No

Current Release: No

Watched With: Michael, Jordan

Write Up.

Such a delight. The guys responsible for the greatest 90's action hits just letting loose and parodying what they do best. And they succeed in making an enjoyable 90's action film in the process. That;s the best. Then there's a whole extra film on the end of that. Fatigue sets in a little but it's all worth it to see Ian McKellen as Death from The Seventh Seal. Hah.