Headhunters

IMDB

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

I loved being surprised by foreign movies. All I know about this going in was it was something to do with an art thief and it had the guy that plays Jamie Lannister in Game of Thrones in it. That's a great jumping off point because things soon escalate way beyond what I was expecting and it happens fast.

This is a film that's just begging for a hollywood remake, no surprise I read it was sold before its release. Probably because the author of the books and the producers of the original adaptations of them have already done so well with the Millennium Trilogy. 

I've only seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but already this is a great deal more fun and interesting that that was. I also think that in the original language it classier and more sophisticated than it really is, and any remake will just feel like another regular hollywood style fugitive story. 

Anyway, if you get a chance to see this one, check it out. A very pleasant surprise that feels expertly structured with not a hair out of place and with a few unexpected twists and scenarios I wasn't prepared for but revelled in.

Critters 3

IMDB

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

A very young Leonardo Di Caprio in his first film, wearing a fluro orange and hot pink tshirt and playing a gameboy. God bless the 90's.

We shift the action to a city apartment block this time. However Charlie and Ug both make appearances and tie the continuity together nicely with a big "to be continued" ending to set up part 4 which was apparently shot back to back.

Being trapped in the apartment give it a nice claustrophobic feeling, I really liked the set up. However more than ever the critters and their jokes are abysmal. They have to resort to fart gags and cream pie throwing this time.

There's still some good stuff to be found though and the characters work pretty well. So far it's the weakest of the three I've seen but it's not trailer that far behind. We'll have to see how part 4 goes to wrap everything up. 

A Dangerous Method

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

Nice to see some new David Cronenberg, even if it's a film about psychoanalysis. Let's be honest, it's not the most cinematic of subjects and while the film has its moments it is a very dry affair.

I hear a lot of fuss kicked up over Keira Knightley. I've never had much of a problem with her and even in early scenes playing her most crazy she never bothered me that much. She certainly has the more interesting character.


Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender get a few nice scenes together. Unfortunately the film is as clinical and distant as the characters. Handsomely made but not entirely satisfying. Well the good news is there's more Cronenberg on the way.

Vanya on 42nd Street

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

I'm really not that familiar with Chekhov, never seemed like my kinda thing, but this is certainly an interesting way to do it. Literally just watching actors rehearse the play.

And they give great performances too. Without the artifice of costumes or many props or sets it really becomes just about the performance. And surprisingly those extras are never missed. Everything comes across perfectly naturally.

The actual story I found slow and not that interesting but I like the way it was done.

Mirror Mirror

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

You know what, it's not bad. It knows full well it's target audience and aims squarely for them so that's cool. Whereas so many kids films feel the need to pander to adults with irreverent humour there's not really any of that here. Besides the dialogue being more contemporary there isn't any annoying post modern film references either which made this vastly more appealing to me. Instead Tarsem Singh has crafted a gorgeous looking (as to be expected) and very fun take on the old tale.

The one thing that did annoying me is again, that habit of making your damsel in distress kick more ass than what should be the hero. Also they kinda forgot about the whole witch with the apple thing and tried to squeeze it in in the last few seconds of the film but it becomes more of a joke than anything. But I guess this was never going to be a wholly accurate telling of the tale.

Unexpected Sean Bean!

It saddens me to read about the passing of Eiko Ishioka, the wonderful costume designer, whose work is so distinctive and has always added so much to Tarsem's visuals. Her work here is just as stunning and the production design is brilliant. This is a film that's all about the look. And like Immortals it feels very stagebound but it suits this film so much more.

The dwarfs weren't nearly as grating as the original trailer made out. Neither was Nathan Lane's bumbling sidekick shtick. The most annoying thing was probably the random Bollywood number in the end credits.

Perhaps this is another case of such low expectations resulting in a unexpected good time. The film is light and fluffy and kids will love it. For everyone, well, Snow White and the Huntsmen comes out in a few months, which looks to be a very different take.

Critters 2: The Main Course

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

Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Despite growing up with the original and having low expectations I think I ended up liking this film more.

I see young Mick Garris and David Twohy were involved and they really managed to craft the best kind of sequel, one that relies on the exposition of the first film and jumps right into the action, which is bigger and funnier. It's obviously made by two horror nerds what with the amount of somewhat obscure references thrown into the dialogue.

There are many many more critters this time and they take over the entire town instead of just a house. The also manage to juggle more humans and give them decent enough characters and pay offs to hold you through. Even the Bounty Hunter shape shifters, who didn't really do anything much int he first film get more story.

While a lot of the jokes fall flat, overall this is a far more exciting film. I really enjoyed this one. Now, how many sequels will they keep that up for? I guess I'll find out soon enough...

The Lorax

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Alex

The best thing about this film? Seeing the new Universal 100 years anniversary logo in 3D. Everything after that was downhill.

I never read Dr. Seuss books. I have no love or affection for them, but even I was pissed off at the adaptation. Also, I'm really over the whole Betty White thing, whatever that was in the first place.

This film has the most horrible songs. The score is great, but the songs are just tragic. They'll make you long for Alvin and the Chipmunks singing Lady Gaga. All the cute little critters they are so forcefully trying to make us love just fall flat. I didn't laugh out loud once in the entire film, and it doesn't take much to make me laugh.

The fluffy CG thing was damn impressive in Horton Hears a Who, a far superior and more enjoyable film on every level. Fluffy characters are not enough to save this film though. The entire thing is just bland.

Wrath of the Titans

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Alex, Paul

Is it an improvement on the the last effort? Well, yeah I guess so. But that's very faint praise indeed. At least this time they just seem content to let Sam Worthington do his natural accent and not care what it sounds like.

It felt like there were about 5 lines of dialogue in the film that weren't some kind of basic exposition. This film is really all about Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades, which is great, that's what we want to see. Unfortunately all other characters, including our protagonist, are shoehorned in just to fight some creatures and pad out the running time.

Look, it's not like the original Harryhausen films were great works of drama. We watch them to see fantastic creatures and people fighting them. But this all just feels hollow in a way that they never did. I ca see the father son relationship thing they are going for with Perseus and Zeus, but giving Perseus a son, who serves no purpose but to emphasise this theme is rather annoying, especially when they could have focused on fleshing out Ares' character more to do the same thing and work better as an antagonist at the same time.

Thank the gods they killed Io though. Bringing her back at the end of the first one was the most ridiculous slap in the face of their own storytelling I've ever seen committed.

Danny Huston actually gets some lines this time. Bill Nighy pops up and delivers the only memorable character in his brief time. Once again Bubo is the butt of a joke but nevertheless fits in better this time. Rosamund Pike takes over as Andromeda and they finally end up together like they were supposed to the first time around although it's just as undeserved this time as it would have been then, which is why I understand they ended up bring back Io in the first place. And for some reason she's a warrior queen because all females need to be able to kick ass as good as the men or your film is anti-feminist or something. God that really shits me, it makes no sense for her character.

They learnt nothing from the notoriously bad 3D post conversion on the first one. Except how to fake jabbing an audience better by adding in black bars for one shot so the offending object can appear to sit outside the screen. A trick I saw pulled off more often and with more confidence in G-Force.

I will give it this. If you want to see dudes fighting monsters, it delivers. At the end of the day, that all this film seems to be aiming for and you'll get that. The effects are done well, the creatures look great. Anything more than that and you're better off playing God of War again.

Big Trouble in Little China

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

Well...

The mandate for the evening was something fun and crazy and although there was a little resistance from non-believers (much like the films original theatrical release) but from the moment Kurt Russell starts speaking you know it's going to be ridiculous but a good time.

It really is bewildering. It's like John Carpenter only wrote dialogue in movie talk or hilariously overt exposition delivered in a fast paced 1940's farce comedy style. All the actors seem to be in on the joke and slip into the style nicely. Kurt Russell crafts another iconic character for Carpenter, this time an all American tough guy with a heart of gold, who could have stepped straight out of a Western.

All that and fantasy creatures and great 80's fx plus a lot of kung fu action! Needless to say there is an eclectic range of filmic influences infused into this and although it never looses its straight face it's obvious to me that everyone involved is having a good time and they intend you not to take it seriously either.

It's definitely not going to work for everyone, it walks a fine line, but for me it's hilarious and thoroughly entertaining and filled with the love of cinema. With an awesome 80's soundtrack.

Candyman

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

Been a long time, I saw this was released on bluray and thought it time for a catch up. I remembered less than I thought, jut the opening and the end. It's such a strange tone for a horror film from that time. Everyone else was doing slashers or thriller and this has elements of both but isn't really either. Like Clive Barker's other great horror release Hellraiser it has this strange romance at the centre of it all.

It's also a film that's all about setting up a mythos and the power of that kind of storytelling. It's certinly interesting and has some great iconic moments but apart from that jump scare at the start (with Ted Raimi! tee hee hee) this one fails to scare me at all. Especially when it creates such a strange compulsion to it's villain.

I might have to look at the rest of this series too, if only because I just saw Bill Condon directed the sequel and my mind had some trouble reconciling that.

Critters

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

Critters is awesome. By far the best of the Gremlins knockoffs. I did not realise the kid in this is now the voice of Steve in American Dad. But I do remember that the E.T. reference seemed funnier because Dee Wallace was actually in the this too.

I also remember seeing this when I was very young and how hilarious it was that they subtitled swearing from the aliens. I think up until when I was 7 I never thought aliens could swear. It was truly a life altering revelation.

This is a very silly movie but I always have a lot of fun when I revisit it. Somehow I have never seen any of the sequels though, so I'm going to change that. I doubt they could be as great as this first instalment though.

Alien

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

When I saw the Titanic re-release they had the new full trailer for Prometheus in 3D at the front of it. I couldn't resist racing home and chucking on the bluray. God it's such an amazing film. I'm so unbelievably excited to see what Ridley does next.

I'm planing a marathon when that's released so I'll write it up properly then. Just wanted to wet my appetite a little. So good.

Titanic

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

What a spectacle. A movie made for the big screen. Scoff all you want at the romance or the moustache twirling villain but when that iceberg hits it's a master firing on all cylinders. It's been years since I saw the film and besides that old lady who just ruins everything for me, pretty much everything else works like a charm.

The 3D conversion works well for the most part. They even made some of the video footage from the rovers diving around the wreck into 3d. Only a few spots I noticed masks popping. But besides that they've cleaned up the print and the images look stunning, which it's straight from the camera. It's pretty incredible to think of the strides made in digital water and motion capture since this film but the majority of the fx hold up well. There are a few fully digital shots where the image quality drops, probably because they never created them in the resolutions we use today.

I can't stand James Horner using synth in this score. It sounds cheap and tacky when it should be as grand as the rest of the film. Do not like the score.

Despite its flaws I can easily give myself over to this film and enjoy the ride. I'll even admit to getting teary at the end despite that old lady opening her mouth and saying words that hurt my soul. James Cameron wrote some corny dialogue but most of the cast is so good they can get away with a lot of it.

I can't believe it's already been 16 yeas since this was made!

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

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

Yeah it's what the trailer makes out. Perfectly enjoyable, sweet, a little bit sad and quite amusing.

They have an impressive cast that's sure to keep the film playing to seniors for months and months. Maggie Smith is particularly wonderful, although her character has to take a few unbelievable leaps to get the film to a happy conclusion for everyone.

In fact there's a lot of very obvious plotting and manipulation going on, and with this many characters they squeeze in a lot of your basic plot lines, so there's something for everyone even if they all have to be boiled down to their bare essentials to fit in the running time.

Despite how annoying this can get, the fact is that it's a crowd pleaser. Chances are no one else will bat an eyelid at any of these grievances and have a good time.

The Hunger Games

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Belinda, Josh, Tyler

Write Up.

Probably should have waited till after opening weekend o see this again, all the sessions were practically sold out and we ended up having to sit right up the front, which for a film with this much shaky cam is not great. Still, good crowd reactions.