Green Lantern

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

Martin Campbell's strong point has always been the staging of physical action, so he seems a very odd choice for a film which ends up being computer animated. There's barely any live action ACTION in this film. As it stands the action is fine but nothing memorable.

This film is much more interesting when Earth is nowhere to be seen. Like I said about the first Hellboy, they feel tentative about fully embracing the more fantastic elements of the stories. I loved some of those creature designs though, and there's just so many of them, it's too much to take in in one go.

I do love Ryan Reynolds and he's great in the part but has to sell a lot of bad writing, motivation changes that take place out of nowhere and relationships that just don't work. Peter Sarsgaard is funny, he's also giving it his all. But I love him at the start when he's just a boring nerd, his posture is hilarious all by itself.

But overall this isn't a very memorable film. I'm really feeling the superhero fatigue right now and as spectacular as some of the imagery and action is, it all ends up just feeling like yet another comic book superhero film. The completely unmotivated coda at the end of the credit sequences also left a very bad impression but for the most part I didn't complain to much watching it. I'm pretty sure I've already forgotten about 80% of it though.

Space Camp

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

Space Camp guys. Space. Camp.

Terry O'Quinn has hair! Joaquin Phoenix was still called Leaf! JINX is the worst robot ever!

Space Camp!

In The Loop

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

Love this. Hilarious and slightly horrifying. A great political satire that reminds one of Dr. Strangelove or Wag the Dog. And just a great script and performances. Always enjoy looking at this again.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

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

Here's my previous write-up. Great film.

Hellboy

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

A little Hellboy marathon to end the day. I'm greatly anticipating the new cut of Mimic. This one I think you can see in the script the hesitance to fully embrace the fantastic. Human characters are the antagonists (albeit with the powers of gods of chaos. And Nazis.) and although the character of John Myers give an unsuspecting audience a gateway to the world he's a very underdeveloped character that has no other purpose. It's no wonder in the next instalment he's practically erased and the fantasy world takes over, which ends up making for a much more enjoyable film.

That's not to say this film isn't enjoyable. I think it's very successful in setting up the world, it's not as funny or charming as the sequel but the action is still fun, the creatures and effects are pretty great. And you can definitely see how much H.P. Lovecraft's writing influenced Guillermo del Toro.

The whole romance stuff seems to forced to me though. I like that Kroenen dude though. He's neat.

Running Scared

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

Yes I watched this one again. I have a hard time convincing people this film is worth while. But it is damnit. It is.

The Night of the Hunter

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

Another classic I was well overdue in seeing. In fact it's been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to get around to it for well over a year. I knew of it mainly for it's reputation of high key lighting but I didn't know it was going to be as stylised as it was. It does look damn amazing. You can really see every single frame has been immaculately constructed, very painterly, realism be damned.

I can also see why there's an entire generation to which this was the scariest film they ever saw, however I'm sad to say it's lost a little of it's edge in todays film landscape, a major factor being the rather foreign filmic and acting language to what I'm used too. I don't think the kids are very good in this, but kids aside, The rest of the performances are very "of the time" as is much of the writing. Those soliloquies kill me. Imagine trying to do one of them in a film today, you could never get away with it.

Also unexpected, the film is practically a musical the amount of songs people sing in it.

However I can very much appreciate the brilliant direction, the amazing imagery, creepy folk songs and large performances. I'm glad i've finally seen this one, another to cross off the list.

Cure

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

That trailer give away far too much for my liking but it's the best I can do.

I've been severely lacking in my foreign films watching of late. (besides German day the other week). To get this one in I had to disregard my no subtitles after 10:30pm policy and I think I will continue to do so because I miss my foreign films. But you need to be able to really sit down and watch them and lately I've taken to watching films while I work. So I'm very glad I got this one in here, it's one of my all time favourites.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a fascinating director. This film plays out like Seven as shot by Michael Hanake. A very strange and creepy twist on a serial killer procedural shot in a very detached and objective style leaving a lot of the heavy lifting up to the audience. It's deceptively simple, no score for the most part, scenes play out in long static shots and yet it has some of the creepiest and suspenseful moments in any serial killer film I've seen of late. It does so mainly through great acting and very precise editing. The film almost manages to mirror it's thematic content in that way which is just astounding. Purposefully numb, devoid of emotion towards it's subjects and yet mesmerising, hypnotic...

It's very hard to describe, it's much better if you just watch the film. Please watch this film. And any of his other films, they are well worth your time and effort to track down, even his j-horror efforts like Pulse and Retribution. But this is by far his masterpiece for me. And it finally got a dvd release in Australia, so no excuses. It's a definite must see for me. Even if you hate it, it's worth it.

The Room

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Matt, Bonnie, Rob, Felicity, Jim, Jess, Ashley, Claire, Steve

The worst film in the world.

I've tried on a few occasions to watch this by myself but it never works. But never fear, the cult smash hit is back, being projected on a beautiful 35mm print, in the cinema, with a packed house of eager fans ready to throw spoons. The way it is meant to be seen. I'm so lucky.

This is the 2nd time I've sat through the whole thing, the first being one of these events a year ago. It's also the only audience participation screening of a film I've ever been too. That's right, never saw Rocky Horror on the big screen. (Nor have I been to one of those sing-alongs that a scarily coming back in fashion...) But really, it's the only was to watch this film. It really is God awful. Just unbelievably bad. But also a lot of fun with a good crowd.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

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

Superman and Jimmy Olsen team up again! Different comic book movie though. I don't know Dylan Dog at all but it looked interesting.

I guess it was ok.

The Beaver

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

Well, rounding off my trilogy of animal related new cinema releases today is Jodie Foster's latest, a little delayed but finally seeing a release in Australia.

That trailer's misleading. This film is not a comedy. Nor is it happy and uplifting. I thought what I saw there would be the whole film but it's only really the first half. Things get progressively darker and more upsetting towards the end. It was a little unexpected but a great surprise and I love that they didn't deal lightly with some of the mental illness issues they raise.

That's not to say it's without humour, and it does still conclude somewhat hopefully but it's certainly more of a drama than it's made out to be. It actually feels like there's more time spent on the coming of age story of Anton Yelchin's character than Mel Gibson and his Beaver. It's unevenly balanced in that respect but Yelchin is great so I can't complain.

What I really like is the Beaver's arc and how he works with Mel Gibson's character, Walter Black. Walter barely has any lines in the film. He doesn't even speak at all until well after the Beaver is on his hand trying to sort out his life for him. And there are two moments that are kind of tragic and brilliantly performed by Gibson where you can see him desperately trying to say something in his own voice but the Beaver takes over and won't let him. He's a very sad, depressed and sick individual and I like there's no easy out in the end.

It's a curious little film but one I did enjoy.

Red Dog

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

The sadist in me loves that the first time you see the character of Red Dog in the film he is lying down dying with a gun pointed to his head ready to put him down. But the rest of the film is a heartwarming telling of tall tales, a little episodic but for the most part very fun. How could they go wrong, it's a story about a dog. Everyone loves dogs right?

What the film does really well is create this legendary figure and a real sense of time and place. It's beautifully photographed and had a great score, when it wasn't being drowned out by another Australian country rock song.

Some performances fare better than others. Some moments fare better than others. But given the nature of the story telling it never dwells on these moments long. They set up some real tear jerker moments towards the end and if you're really into it, I'm sure you'll ball your eyes out.

It was nice to see the late great Bill Hunter on the big screen. It just feels wrong that we won't see him pop up in every Australian film from now on, like we have for the last 4 decades. He will be missed.

It's a nice little entertaining number, crowd pleasing, family friendly and well put together.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

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

I am a massive Planet of the Apes fan. I love all things Planet of the Apes (even certain bits of Tim Burton's problematic remake) so feel free to disregard anything I say. Was greatly looking forward to this semi prequel/reboot/re-imagining of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the 4th film in the original series (due to the strange time travel timeline and cyclical nature of the original series the start of the story takes place half way through the series, one of the quirks I love about it). They have changed the story significantly though and as much as I love the the insane time loop hole/self-fulfilling prophecy of the original origin of the apes, this version makes greater sense for a more logical, naturalistic and less paradoxical telling of the story.

The opening of this film has some of the most convincing ape effects in the whole film. But on the whole these digital creations are amazing. I thought back to those monkeys in Jumanji and it's really astounding to think how far the effects have matured from those now very primitive counterparts. Of course a great deal has been said of Andy Serkis' performance which is another big reason for the success of the ape sequences which are far more interesting than any of the human scenes (except maybe the stuff with John Lithgow because he's super great).

Also odd was seeing Tyler Labine so soon after only having seen him in Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Tom Felton better watch out too or he'll be typecast as a douche. Also I love when David Hewlett shows up in anything and he has a neat little scene during the end credits to say for.

I heard it said this film is enjoyable if you are willing to accept it's silliness. I didn't find that at all. I'd argue that at least until the third act, there is nothing silly about the film. I probably take my apes much more seriously than the average movie-goers though. When the uprising starts though, as cool as the action is it's probably to fantastic for most people to take seriously, despite the entire rest of the movie spent getting you to believe and invest in these creatures. It works for me though.

What this film lacks is those great, dark, punch-in-the-gut endings that made the franchise popular with adults as well as kids. And while it's there to some degree, the social commentary so prevalent in the original is largely lacking here. It's not usually case in this day and age that a remake is actually lighter in tone than the original, but the difference between the final uprising in Conquest and here is significant (doubly so for the directors cut) and had they gone that direction I would have like the end more but as is stands the very final moments are the only parts I felt let down a little.

There's plenty of nods to the fans, some subtle (Caesar keeps his name, as does his mother Bright Eyes, imagery of police on horseback, apes using spears, gorillas being the muscle and orangutans being the wise elders), some not so subtle (Caesar being squirted with a hose, building a model Statue of Liberty, Charlton Heston on TV) and some awkwardly forced in there (Tom Felton uttering both the phrases "It's a madhouse! A Madhouse!" AND "Take your paws of me you damn dirty ape" *sigh*).

Small gripes like that aside, I think this film does a great job setting this story up. It feels really effortless and natural, it's entertaining and most importantly, it really really makes me want more. I may have to watch through my bluray box set now.

Hellraiser

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

I do enjoy my Hellraiser bluray. A series that stands apart from all other 80's slasher horror franchises (except maybe Phantasm), it's really it's own thing.

It's actually a tragic romance, wrapped in sadomasochistic horror fantasy. I hear there's a remake in the works and I might be able to get behind that if they focused on making the drama and relationship dynamics work a bit better.

But I gotta say, although not all of it holds up today most of those practical gore effects are outstanding. My favourite being the reformation of Frank through the floorboards, with his skull and brain forming and then his spine reattaching. That is awesome.

The other thing I love about this film is Christopher Young's beautiful score. It's unlike most other horror music of the period. It seems everyone wanted to copy Psycho with shrill violins but here the music is beautiful, fantastical sweeping melodies but also dark and brooding. He's my favourite horror composer.

Also yay for extreme 80's fashion and hair.

The Children

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

Weeeeeeehehehehehee.

Oh I do like evil children films, and this one is a great one indeed. Delightful.

They don't really explain why these kids go evil but there are some vague suggestions given through strange jump cuts and fancy editing. Strange cut-aways... But who cares! Kids go evil! Take them out! And boy do they.

Some great gore here. I'm always impressed when films don't shy away from being brutal to infants. There's some good stuff here. And yet the tone is never tongue in cheek, it's deadly serious and that just makes it better in my opinion.