Immortals

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

Well Australia missed out on the cool 11•11•11 release date but it's finally arrived on our shores. And it ain't too bad neither.

Tarsem Singh (who keeps changing how his name is credited, even within the same film) made one of my all time favourite films with The Fall a few years back. If you still haven't seen it, rectify that immediately. His take on ancient Greek mythology keeps his keen visual sense, and very much takes a page from the 300 school of cinema but this film does have something films like that and Troy and even the recent Clash of the Titans lack, and that it Gods with powers delivering some whoop-ass.

They use some very cool Green Hornet style layered slow motion ramping that will no doubt now be used in every film until we are all sick of it. It's the new bullet time. But it works well coupled with the stylised graphic blood letting.

Tarsem films are all about the style and visuals. There are some truly awesome moments throughout. The depiction of the Gods and the Titans is kinda funky and simple, dunno how I feel about it yet but it may work for some of you. It heavily uses the blue/orange colour pallet and is graded to make everything look almost like a classical painting.

I saw the film in 3D and there was nothing terrible about it but in truth I think a lot of the visuals were designed to be for 2D just from the very painterly look to them. I'll have to see it again and decide. One thing is for sure, it does feel very studio based.

I did enjoy it, the action was good and I love the visuals. Unfortunately the film lacks an emotional investment that I think 300 managed to do so well. Instead of a glorious or heartfelt ending we are treated to a poor set up for the hope of a sequel. That makes this film a fun and entertaining spectacle but nothing that will linger. Don't expect much adherence to Greek Mythology either. Do expect yet another film John Hurt narrates.

The Inbetweeners Movie

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

I do enjoy the tv series and the film is just as great. They take the holiday vacation approach and it works well as a capper to the series and the characters. Just as long as they don't do a Sex in the City and completely ruin it with a sequel, but I don't that would happen very much.

If you're a fan of the series, you'll have a good idea of what to expect and if you're not a fan, you'll still be able to enjoy this.

Pulse

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

Many credit this as starting the J-Horror trend. I really love Kiyoshi Kurosawa's direction and he made one of my all time favourite movies with Cure. This film is more overtly horror and has some very genuinely unsettling moments.

It is also very Japanese. What does that mean? Well I think I've spoken about this before, there are some sections of dialogue that just doesn't sound right to western ears when translated literally. They have a penchant for being what we would consider melodramatic too. This is also a film filled with overt metaphor as text, events probably not meant to be taken literally, like a David Lynch film. I think if you can't see it in those terms you'll just get frustrated trying to frame it in any logical manner.

What it does do very well is use stillness and silence and craft a very creepy atmosphere which subtly builds to an unexpectedly apocalyptic scope. That's right, an apocalyptic ghost horror film that is all a metaphor about isolation and loneliness, the kind that comes from our reliance on technology.

If you want the more jump scare, action packed spoonfed answers approach, by all means check out the American remake, but I find this film far superior. And please check out Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films, especially Cure and Charisma.

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

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

Here's my first post.

Interesting seeing a film print after watching the digitally projected version. The film print was much darker and there were sequences where the whole screen was basically black. But I'm glad I got to see this once more in the theatre because I love the sound design of those little whispering creeps in full surround.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

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

From what I had heard, I was expecting this to be a little harsher. Perhpas I was expecting something more along the lines of a hard drama like Rabbit Hole but it was quite a bit more abstract than that. Almost dream like, jumping back and forth through time. It keeps you at a distance, never allows you to fully connect with any of the characters, which I find very problematic.

Make no mistake though, Tilda Swinton and the various kids that play Kevin are awesome. It's a little odd she appears to be waring contacts because she just stares for most of the film.

Because the events of the climax are foreshadowed right from the beginning, there is a sense of dread brooding throughout. Unfortunately for me, but perhaps fortunately for others, the events aren't shown in the film. Really the film isn't about that, but for me it never got to a climax that the build up suggested. I do like the final moments though.

It's an interesting one, and I do love my evil child films. It just wasn't as gripping as I was hoping for, it's more of a slow burn.

Brazil

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

I mentioned before that I wished I had this title in HD. Well now I do. It has a different opening and closing credit sequence though, I don't know which version that means I have but I didn't notice anything different in the rest of the film.

It's a little head hurty for late night viewing but I do love it.

Super 8

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

Write up here and here.

Watched the commentary on the bluray along with a whole bunch of extras. It was cool to hear how they shot all the reshoot in the Bad Robot offices on a Red camera and they just blend in seamlessly. It was also cool to hear about getting the kids performances.

But best of all are the original 8mm films from the writer, cinematographer, producer and composer. That was really neat to see.

Robocop

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

Awesome!!!

Paul Verhoeven is great. He delights in extremes and dark satire. His squib hits are always so huge and bloody. I also love how 80's this film is. And the great score! An Phil Tippets stop motion robots! Love it.

Series 7: The Contenders

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

This movie is 10 years old and yet it is more timely than ever. The reality tv crazy has showed no signs of slowing. This was a favourite of mine in my high school years. A wonderfully dark satire of of the genre that plays scarily authentic.

Daniel Minahan went on from this to direct some of my favourite episodes of HBO television. I always get excited when his name comes up. The reason I remembered his name was because of this film and the great commentary track that came on the dvd.

The recreation of reality tv conventions is apt and allows for some great characters and delightfully forced drama. I think it works as both an authentic homage and a parody, it really just depends on the viewers interpretation.

I love the use of dramatic reenactments and that the entire climax of the film takes place without the real actors. Throughout the film you can imagine the producers of the show twisting the events to make them more entertaining so that by the time it gets to the end you doubt completely the reality of what you are seeing. Especially when Will Arnett shows up. That's the 2nd film tonight he cameos in!

Great to watch this again after so many years.

Hot Rod

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

There have been many Saturday Night Live movies in the past and many of them don't stick. This one kind of fell through the cracks but I actually think it's one of the better ones out there.

I find any scene with Andy Samberg and Ian McShane are hilarious, what a pairing. I like the cast a lot. There are some very funny bits and the rest of the film is inoffensive enough not to be a bother. It's a very silly kind of humor, one that I'm rather partial too.

The Wizard of Speed and Time

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

I do love my old school fx and this one is all about them. A film that celebrates the insanity and hard work and hoop jumping to get animation to screen. Despite the slightly fantastic reality created in the film it still manages to portray a section of the film industry from a time gone by, as it will never exist again. There's not really anyone left that does effects the old fashioned way but the hand made quality of them really does have a nostalgic flare.

The story is simple enough, self referential and semi-autobiographical, based on Mike Jittlov's experiences trying to get a job at Disney with a 3 minute demo reel. It moves at quite a pace and is filled with little fx flourishes all over the place. For better or worse, it's also a musical.

While the story is nothing amazing the film is quite charming. You get a whole lot of great old school effects and a look at the real problems of trying to break into the industry. Good stuff.

Willow

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

Here's my write up from earlier in the year. I do love my 80's fantasy. And I do love Willow. Awesome.

I Don't Know How She Does It

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

A more apt question would be I Don't Know WHY She Does It. Sarah Jessica Parker has a knack for being in extraordinarily mundane middle of the road nothing films lately. This is another. This film is so light it's amazing they managed to catch it to exhibit in cinemas before it floated out of the earths atmosphere. It's really kind of offensive too. Hardly a role model for females in the work place OR mothers. And it makes terrible cases for both.

The film did afford me other opportunities. The sound in my cinema was playing up, the low frequencies were causing cracking from the front speakers. When I informed the staff they were quick to recify this, discovering a faulty cable as the culprit. Unfortunately all the happened only 2 minutes into the film. Then they restarted it with proper sound.

The neat thing about digital projections is that there is no chance if them burning film in from of the projector bulb, so when they stop the film the image remains on screen. It was a rather flattering shot of Christina Hendricks and you could really see the spherical lens distortions in the bokeh.

A surprising amount of the film was shot in very low light. A lot of late night scenes and candle lit restaurant meetings. There was some unusual grain that was particularly noticeable on the darker sides of skin tones. I was thinking that perhaps that could be from some possible digital smoothing of actors skin, but I think it's more than likely just a fast speed film stock. Digital projection of 35mm film elements really allow you to see the grain without wondering if it's just a bad film print.

Stock footage. Sure all these romantic comedy films use stock establishing shots and many don't match up very well in tone. But there were some real travesties here. If you're going to buy some Getty Images for film, please make sure the footage is not interlaced. REALLY! It happened. And that's not even the worst bit. Aspect ratios. How hard is it to see that your footage is squished? I cannot abide this. Sloppy.

That sums up the film. Sloppy. As you can see I did everything to avoid having to actually notice what was going on in the film. Don't bother with this one.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

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

Well, I've only seen each of these films once each and since the first one, it's become a tradition to plant myself in the enthusiastic crowd at the midnight screening and giggle quietly. If I am going to see it, it's the best way. I love watching the way the sea of teen girls react to everything. That's entertaining enough itself.

But then you have the films. Now, I bare the Twilight series no grudge, if only for the fact that it's made Summit Entertainment enough money to help fund some genuinely cool films over the last 4 years. Pardon the pun, but I find it a very lifeless series of vampire movies. I haven't read the books, don't plan to, I'm just talking about the film series.

I think I will have to reserve judgment on this one until I've seen the concluding part. This is not a whole film, it feels like 2 hours of padding. Especially the first half of the film that just drags on and on. It's "two characters being happy: THE MOVIE." A lot of exposition, set up for what I hope to god is a more interesting finale. My central problem with the films is the writing. Melissa Rosenberg's scripts make me want to pull my hair out. And while the you can make fun of the bad acting all you want, the fact is, I've seen every one of the premiers in this series give much better performances elsewhere, but even a great veteran would find it hard to sell this drivel.

I will acknowledge that it's extremely difficult to make such unashamedly melodramatically romantic material realistic and believable. I just have no connection to the central relationships of the series because it's all so surface. No doubt the books have chapters of internal monologue that flesh out characters and scenarios and you can see director Bill Condon desperately trying to convey some of this in the film but it never gets there.

He heavily uses dreamlike flashback/flashforward montages and dissolves to show connections between characters, visions, dreams, telepathic conversations and such. It works well to get out exposition but never helps add any weight to the drama. Still some of the events in this film are so hilariously bizarre that you kind of forget any of that. They drop stuff in at the end of this film that just seem inane. Perhaps I don't remember the other films enough, so I could be wrong, but there are certain key concepts that really needed to be set up earlier for the non-twilight initiated, the biggest one being werewolf imprinting.

I was even fine with the whole vampire/human birth scene and whilst they don't show anything interested due to the rating, it's implied pretty well and made the young girls squirm in there seats. Unfortunately the rating also kills the sex scenes but since the films haven't given me any reason to invest in these characters and their relationship I didn't really care either way.

I just find this whole series flaccid. There are a few bright spots here and there. Pretty much any time Anna Kendrick and her school pals are on screen it becomes enjoyable. But this film in particular has so many ridiculous situations there is probably nothing that could have been done to keep up any kind of suspension of disbelief. All that leaves you with is the opportunity to laugh at the overt sincerity. I get the feeling most of the cast are in on the joke too, so I feel like it's ok. Thankfully there's only one more.

Real Steel

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

Here's my first review. It's been a while since I've seen anything, I've been extremely busy, so better get right back into it!