Chariots of Fire

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

WellI finally got around to watching this one. Knew the theme tune and that is was something about running. The start of the film is so amazingly British. And then we get the usual sports movie structure. I like some of the cinematography, but the rest of the film really did nothing for me, not my cup of tea.

Magic Magic

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Whoa, what an odd film. I guess you could describe it as a psychological horror film but it's really just unnerving and dark. Cast are great, the plot, well, there's not really much more beyond the usual cabin in the woods set up. A real show piece for Juno Temple who slowly loses it over the course of the film. Michael Cera is also wonderfully creepy. It's an exercise in tone and director Sebastián Silva really cranks it up. An uncomfortable watch and perhaps not the most satisfying of endings but I really enjoyed the ride.

Compulsion

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A remake of a Korean thriller, it's a quirky little mystery that features a lot of cooking and a little bit of sexy times. It's bright and colourful, which is kind of at odds with the story being told but suits the main character perfectly. Heather Graham tries to sell it but I didn't really find it that interesting, it's too obvious where it's heading. Swing and a miss.

In the House

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

François Ozon's latest is a very intriguing little drama/thiller based on a stage play. Films about writers can be tricky but this one navigates it quite well. There's a great unreliable narrator aspect going on. There also a subplot with Kristin Scott Thomas and her art studio that, while it adds thematically, isn't as interesting as when we follow this student into the house of his classmate. And when things start getting big, they can always hang a lampshade on it. Great fun.

Maniac

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Well I haven't seen the original but I'd be interested to check it out. Taking Peeping Tom style serial killer POV to the next level pretty much the entire film is first person perspective, occasionally sliding out during killing sequences. I thought there'd be longer takes but they jump cut frequently making sequences easier to set up but a little less impressive to watch for me.

there's something strangely distancing about hardly ever seeing our main character. I thought the opposite would be true considering the audience is in his head the whole film. I did enjoy some of the kills, the make up effects were well executed. But the main character isn't that compelling and neither is the film on the whole.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Another teen fantasy romance series? This one is more gothy than Twilight but not as hopelessly relationship drama based, with a bit more Harry Potter style magical fantasy but none of the great character work or intriguing plot, and like Beautiful Creatures, it has a great cast of British supporting actors but with none of its charm.

What the film has going for it is (and I hate to use this word, so apologies,) edginess. I found the film pretty stock standard, but there were elements that made it stand out from the usual fare. Whoever designed the demons in the film must have been a fan of John Carpenter's The Thing. Some unexpectedly gory horror moments perked my interest. Also new to me in a teen fantasy romance was a homosexual character and the possibility of an incestuous relationship. Those combinations make for some interesting love triangles.

Everyone here seems to be sleepwalking through the film. Not nearly as bad as Twilight, but Robert Sheehan from Misfits was the only one that really made any kind of impression. I saw the film in a cinema filled with teen fangirls, the kind that stood up and cheered when the new Hunger Games teaser played before the film. I've never heard such a vocal reaction of sympathy when he gets put in the friend closet by the heroine.

The film moved through the beats so fast that even for someone who hasn't read the book, it felt very abridged. Huge leaps are constantly made and revelations aren't dwelt on at all. It all feels so surface. And then there's the central romance, which really doesn't work. Perhaps I just don't go for Jamie Campbell Bower. Not that Lily Collins was doing much better. There's some particularly laughable dialogue they have to deliver, scenes that come out of nowhere.

A real mixed bag. But somehow this one already has a sequel on the way. I'd rather a Beautiful Creatures sequel than this but then, I'm hardly the target audience.

Blue Jasmine

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

Woody Allen's latest is hard to nail down, it has many elements of his comedic films and his dramas. The amazing cast sink their teeth into these great characters and the results are both funny and tragic. Often at the same time.

Some unexpected faces pop up in supporting roles and it was a joy to watch them interact. And of course, Cate Blanchett is amazing, quite theatrical and I can see why all the comparisons to Blanche Dubois. She's a little unhinged... I loved Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale together too.

The structure jumps back and forth as we get exposition through flashbacks, or perhaps they are more than than. They always hit and very specific moments, like we are following Jasmine's stream of consciousness. And yet the filmmaking is still very observational.

It's more than just a character study, but the great tragic character at the heart of the story grows more interesting as the film progresses. very enjoyable.

Grave Encounters

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

This one came out a few years back, never got around to it. Pretty standard found footage ghost stuff. There are some big scale gags here that seem a little outrageous.

I always watched the paranormal activity films wondering why they never showed more. Well now I know, when you show as much of your monsters as they do in this film they lose their edge.

I didn't really get into this one but under the right circumstances I can see how it could be fun.

Elysium

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

Write Up. Went to see it at IMAX. Image didn't hold up as well as I'd thought, maybe because we were sitting closer to the front that usual, but you could see the individual pixels blocking up the whole way through. 2K just didn't cut it that close. Fun movie though, if a little obvious.

I Declare War

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

What fun. Kids playing war in the woods, only we see it from their perspective, so all the weapons they imagine are real. And these kids mean business. The film plays out like any serious war film, with a rag tag band of heros, a love interest, dirty double crossings and revenge.

The young cast perform admirably to varying degrees but most importantly they and the film treat every moment as life or death which makes it easy to get caught up but also hilarious. Very enjoyable.

Killing Season

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This is a very pretty looking film. Basically two guys in the forest trying to shoot each other and they play up the emotional turmoil. John Travolta has a crazy accent. It's okay.

Emperor

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

An alright drama and an interesting historical period to explore, occupied Japan right after WW2. The film is basically a procedural where Matthew Fox is tasked by Tommy Lee Jones to uncover who ordered the attach on Pearl Harbour and if the Emperor needs to be tried for war crimes. It's made difficult by the fact that the Emperor is basically a god to the Japanese and due to ceremony and tradition, barley anyone ever sees him and removing him from the head of government could lead the country into revolt.

I enjoyed the film, if not emotionally just for the story. It's technically well put together too, the period recreation and cinematography is great. Worth a look if you're interested in the period.

Primer

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

Shane Carruth made a heck of a debut with this time travel drama. The logistics of the plot can be overwhelming and more so the engineering technobabble the characters speak in. But when you get down to it, this is a somewhat sad story about how two friends with insatiable curiosity invent something they don't understand, and as their lives spiral out of control their trust is put to the test.

This is a very dialogue heavy film, there are layers of it all overlapping and the majority of it is like a foreign language spoken only by extreme engineers. But you learn to let it wash over you and filter out the key points that drive character and story. The way it's acted out makes the characters and language feel very authentic. It's probably the most believable time travel film I've seen.

The 16mm film is sometimes out of focus a little but the shots and nice and the colour grading has an interesting palette too. As well as writing, directing and acting, Carruth also made a nice little score for his film.

Now the time travel is paradoxical, I generally don't go for that but the way it screws up peoples comprehension of the film is kinda funny. Not even I would claim to understand every event that happens in the film, but I have a very good idea and some theories.

But after all the fun ideas of time travel and causality are explored, in the end it's the two central characters that keep you invested. And the mess they make for themselves is, for me, as fascinating as it is confusing.

This is a real gem. One of those great small realistic sci-fi films that I love. Be sure to check it out if you've never seen it before and see how well you go. I look forward to giving Carruth's next film another look soon too.

Red 2

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

Hmm, well this film was even more average than the first one. Although the guy sitting behind us lapped it up like he'd never seen a film before in his life, so what do I know. Sure there's a few fun bits and the action is okay at times but there's so much rehashing that the second time through it just felt uninspired.

Except for maybe some of the Byung-hun Lee stuff. He was neat. Death by oragami.

Yeah, it's a good fun time but I barly remember anything about the plot. I just remember thinking Mary-Louise Parker was hamming it up too much.

The Canyons

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

What a strange combination of people. Paul Schrader directing from a script by Bret Easton Ellis, starring Lindsay Lohan and porn star James Deen.

Even if I could ignore the terrible acting I'm left with a bland story about assholes told in an amateur way. I get this was a really really low budget film but it was just terrible. Ellis loves his yuppie narcissistic characters but it gets old real quick and you need more charming people to be playing them.

This was a curiosity but ultimately not worth the effort.