The Raid 2

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

The Raid was an intense fast-paced action-packed thrill ride. A beautifully crafted action film with a simple set up and ample pay-off. A joy to watch.

The sequel however, is just simply epic. It breaks free of the simple confines of the original and spans generations and various warring clans from around the world. And though it does take quite a while to understand what exactly is going on and what is being set up, once the dominos start toppling, there's no stopping it. The character work here is wonderful and then of course there's the insane goretastic old-school action. Beauteous.

Gareth Evans really stepped up to the plate and delivered. Across the board, the cinematography, edit, production design and acting, and yes the action, all are honed with great care and the finished film is very satisfying indeed, despite the very slow burn. In truth I didn't even realise the film was 3 hours long while watching it. Great stuff. And some thrilling camera moves too...

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Here's my write up of part 1. Man that's a long film.

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes


Some typical Lars von Trier fare. Irreverent, controversial, interesting, hilarious and pretentious. A series of stories from our protagonist's life framed by their telling to an apparently asexual Stellan Skarsgård.

The stories are sometimes interesting and often funny in that black comedic way Trier loves. But the stilted and strange writing in the framing device really rubbed me the wrong way and the piece as a whole is not very cohesive. Actually it's a complete mess. Although I did like a few bits of it it's not something I think is worth sitting through again.

Now I'm aware that the version I watched is an edited down version (still covering 2 films at 5 and a half hours...) and not the Directors cut, it goes out of its way to tell you this at the beginning. I think it's the American cut that censored much of the sex scenes, although there's still plenty in it. Perhaps the full version is a little more worth while? But from what I saw here I don't think I'll bother.

Cheap Thrills

IMDB

First time viewed: No

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Sam, Sean

Write Up.

This film is the best.

City of the Living Dead

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

I haven't seen that much Lucio Fulci. I should work on that. This one's a doozy. They throw everything in. And of course it makes no sense but hey that doesn't matter really as long as there's some good gore.  This one has quite the drill scene... And a lot of maggots...

So I don't really know if there are zombies in this film or ghosts. Or ghost zombies. The rules are never really established and these zombies appear and disappear like ghosts. The don't seem to want to eat brains, they just want to squish them with their hands, which they do, repeatedly.

There's some Lovecraftian references, there's magic and fortune telling and the zombie ghosts commanded by this evil priest dude that looks a bit like Christopher Lee as Dracula. It's a confusing mess and has some hilariously bad dialogue but I guess that's part of the fun too.

Noah

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

If you ever wondered what Darren Aronofsky's telling of a biblical epic would look like, well you're in luck! To be honest I could not imagine what that would look like but now that I've seen it, well yeah that's exactly what Darren Aronofsky's telling of a biblical epic would look like.

It's the story of Noah that we all know, but Aronofsky pimps it out with beautiful visuals and fills it with a lot of really dark emotional turmoil. It's rather amazing and sometimes completely baffling.

I really love his version of the Watchers. Their stop-frame like animation reminds me of the rock gnomes from Return to Oz. So cool. And the seed from eden and the story of creation sequences are pretty stunningly told with a sort of timelapse photography style. Super cool.

I love the setting and the fable feeling of the whole thing. And just how dark it goes. It is a horrifying story and we aren't spared those aspects. It tends to lose me when it goes bombastic and adds in action. Especially so towards the end where a character is blatantly kept around in order to facilitate an act 3 climactic one on one fight. I get why he might be there to thematically re-iterate some points but I don't think it was needed.

Oh and Clint Mansell is just reusing his score from The Fountain. Kinda lazy...

It's a really odd one to nail down. To do this kind of mythological story in a realistic tone is always going to result is some slight goofiness by virtue of the story being told, but the actors all dig in and they try real hard to make things matter. Ultimately I think there's much more about the film that I like than I didn't. It's a great experiment and I certainly hope it leads Aronofsky to do more big budgeted fare. I think that's the most important take away from this exercise.

The Spectacular Now

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

Write Up

Such a great film.

Phantasm

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

Kooky low budget 70's cult horror fantasy that kicked off a very unusual series. I've only seen the sequels once before but I've seen this first one a few times and although it's very rough around the edges it has quite a few fun things in it. And a lot of left turns.

The Tall man is kind of iconic. As is that chrome ball of death. What the hell is that thing? Just bizarre. And I love how the sequels keep up with the series of twist endings. Cool theme song too.

Ride Along

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Buddy cop comedy! Pretty straight forward. It was ok. I didn't find it all that funny though. I don't get Ice Cube. 

I, Frankenstein

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Kate, Lauren

Stuart Beattie's made another film. I don't recall gargoyles and demons in the Frankenstein story but this is hardly by the book. From the Underworld universe comes another light vs darkness, with an iconic character as our anti-hero. 

Aaron Eckhart is all angry and action man. There are many CG creatures. The story is predictable. Everything is Teal or Orange. That's pretty much all you need to know. It's not that good.

Cabin in the Woods

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

Non-Spoiler write up here.

Slightly more in-depth write up here.

Pompeii

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

Paul W.S. Anderson tries his hand at a disaster epic. The first half plays out like Gladiator, the second like a melodramatic Dante's Peak with a terribly saccharine romance plastered over everything. Kiefer Sutherland is having a wonderful time playing an out and out villain. This is trying very hard to be a romance disaster like Titanic, and while I enjoyed the gladiator action and the effects, and the fact that it was shot natively in 3D and looks pretty shmick, Kit Harington and Emily Browning are hampered by some pompously schmaltzy dialogue and just can't overcome the terrible. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has fun though.

Bad Neighbours

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

Universal treated us to a very early screening for the film. So early that there was still ungraded footage and no finished credits.

The film is delightfully hilarious from beginning to end. Seth Rogen has always been a favourite and here Rose Byrne matches him admirably. They even let her keep her Australian accent. She also gets her own comedic set piece that's easily the grossest part of the film and somehow manages to never have to resort to being the voice of reason for the stupid guys, instead instigating just as many hijinks as the other characters do.

Zac Efron leads the cast of frat boys and while they have their own college comedy he also gets a little coming of age drama, but nothing that ever stops the comedic flow. They manage to fit a lot into the this one without the jokes ever really stopping. 

There were a few obvious set ups that I expected but they didn't play out quite like I presumed which was nice. And the level of destruction and mayhem went beyond what I was expecting too. Nice to know that not everything is given away in the trailers. 

Definitely check this one out, very good fun indeed.

Cabin in the Woods

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

Non-Spoiler write up here.

Slightly more in-depth write up here.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

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

I was never really enamoured with the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. I am more intrigued by the time travel but this is a kids film and they just make up their own rules to suit the story needs, not anything that actually makes sense. But if you're a fan of bad puns, just like the old cartoons, this film is full of them. There's also an allegory that could be made of the unusual parenting of a dog owning a boy but I don't know if the film makers were thinking that hard.