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.