In a World...

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

Lake Bell has made herself a fine film, a nice set up for a story, good characters and cast to play them and rather funny too. Quite enjoyable.

Short Term 12

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

A great debut for Destin Cretton. And a showcase for Brie Larson. John Gallagher Jr. makes a good foil too. It's a sweet little drama and manages to keep a pretty even tone whilst dealing with the subject matter of troubled teens. It doesn't sugar-coat or lapse into the melodramatic. Keeps that air of realism. Really good watch.

Elysium

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

Write Up.

Pain and Gain

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

Write Up.

All I can see is the Teal and Orange colour grading now.

Ghost Team One

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

A very silly movie. A fun take on the over-abundant found footage paranormal movies with some really great ideas and funny moments and almost equal parts stupid low brow humor that didn't do much for me. It's almost like gross out style American Pie-ish characters are starring in the next Paranormal Activity.

There's enough good stuff to make this one worth a look, or if you're sick of how saturated the market is with these found footage horrors, this could be a breath of fresh air.

You're Next

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

Write Up.

So much fun.

Haunter

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

Vincenzo Natali tries his hand at the haunted house genre and true to from, manages to twist things up quite a bit. Using a familiar twist as his starting point he develops his story from another perspective and  still manages to create some spookiness and surprises from the limitations of his single setting. It's not the scariest haunted house film but it's one of the most fun I've had watching one in a long time. Definitely one to seek out.

The Uninvited

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

It's getting harder to find good haunted house movies, but there's still plenty of classics to go through. I'd heard a little about this one although nothing much about the specifics of the plot. It's a really great classic set up and must be some very early examples of classic haunted house staple.

It also has a very odd set of relationships. A very close brother and sister, and a romance between a young girl and a much older man. Just comes off as a bit suspicious today I guess. Also very odd by todays standard is the shifts in tone. There's some really great spooky stuff going down but they always feel the need to make a really goofy terrible joke every 10 minutes, which really kills it.

A curious film but I'm glad to have seen it, I think it's a great story that could use an update.

Cloud Atlas

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

Write Up.

Her

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

Spike Jones has made a beautiful sci-fi romance that speaks so well about our current social interactions and hypothesises what the next steps could be. This is a film so brimming with ideas that it'll probably take more than one viewing to really appreciate. Even so, it's left me thinking about it for days after.

But on top of all these great ideas is a great drama with wonderful characters. Add to that a beautiful soundtrack and cinematography and you've got one of the best films of the year. Can't wait to see this one again.

Inside Llewyn Davis

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

The Coen Brothers' latest is an ode to folk music and perfectly captures that rambling poetic melancholy you associate with the form. I have to admit, I really don't like folk music and while I can appreciate the tone they were going for, it's not really my cup of tea. However there's a really great cast and plenty of great dialogue exchanges and humor. And seeing Adam Driver sing that ridiculous bass line is a real delight.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel has given the film a rather extreme colour grade. I've never been a fan of that overly diffused look. But I guess it suits the setting and tone.

Don Jon

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

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's feature directing debut is a fun little character drama with a great cast and pleasant sensibilities, given the subject matter. Scarlett Johansson sinks her teeth into the New Jersey character, which is great fun to watch. Julianne Moore is reliable as ever and I'm glad Brie Larson eventually had lines. Good stuff.

A.C.O.D.

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Tyler

Great cast and a good premise that was kind of wasted on a mediocre film. While it was enjoyable enough there were a few too many missed opportunities. A shame because I really love the cast. It's an alright flick mainly because of them but the writing doesn't do them many favours. 

What Richard Did

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A very slow paced drama but a good showcase for the young cast who all equip themselves ver well. The story is so slight though, It's a film that really just takes its time and lets the actors improvise and be natural in scenes together. They create a realistic atmosphere but most of the scenes didn't add to the story or build tension or get me invested in any way, they just felt like filler.

Jack Reynor is the titular Richard. I've already seen him pop up in Delivery Man and I'm guessing that won't be the last of him I see in movies this year. This is his film and when things finally get going he's great. Also very easy on the eye.

It's beautifully shot, the editing feels sparse and the story more focused on character study than plot. So probably not the best film to watch at 1am but I liked it for what it was.

Dinosaur

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This washed out the bad taste Walking With Dinosaurs 3D left in my mouth. I haven't seen this in such a long time and I can't believe it's 14 years old. Feeling my age...

Well the films hit many of the same story beats but everything (except the dated computer graphics) is just better here. So Walking With Dinosaurs has bounce lighting and sub surface scattering, better fur simulation and better compositing in general. What it lacks is some kind of developed characters, a good sense of humor and any sort of tension or pathos. I.e. anything to make you care about what's happening.

There's some pretty scary stuff in this one actually, I remember a big deal being made about it being rated PG at the time. That meteor hit is still pretty spectacular even though I can tell all the compositing elements they probably used now. Must have been tricky at the time though. It doesn't look it now but this was the most expensive film of 2000.

What really helps this film soar is James Newton Howard's magnificent score. I can still hum that theme tune.

So great to catch up with this one. Despite its age and the dated graphics it's still great.