Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Juno


Y'know when I saw this advertised I was like "Meh", when I saw that it had won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is was like "Ok, Meh", having now watched it I can say "Cheers!"

A surprisingly awesome film, maybe a little over the top on some of the "teen slang" scripting and performances in places, but still a heartwarming, interesting and highly entertaining movie.

Michael Cera's stunningly understated performance clearly steals the movie, and I'd hazard a guess that it pisses on Superbad (yet to endure that one) and despite the caricatured characters that the film requires, they all had depth and actually, believability.

I can't take it with all these movies that as far as I know I shouldn't like, but then do, what's with that? A new found open-mindedness? Being in touch with my feminine side? Dunno, maybe it's just there's some good films about in the indie sector now and I should pay more attention, and so should you.


Juno - 9/10

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Bank Job


I like Jason Statham, to the extent that my girlfriend thinks there's some sort of "man-crush" in there somewhere, well possibly. I think that, in a similar way to Dwayne Johnson, he can actually act, but unfortunately he hasn't been given a good enough script or director yet, yet a film I'm quite looking forward to is Transporter 3, not so much Death Race, cos that's a Paul WS Anderson, so chances are it won't be that good. Anyway I digress...The Bank Job...

It's not bad, the reviews I heard were pretty mediocre, and to be fair, it's not the best film in the world and is not without fault (there's a fair few), but as far as britflicks go, I thought it was pretty entertaining.

Statham gives hints of a deeper than usual performance, but ultimately does the job with the usual JS thang. Saffron Burrows is just plain annoying, but you can kinda let that go. Plot wise, it's a little messy, with bits all over the place and maybe tried to be a bit too complicated for it's own good and how close it sticks to the "based on a true story" side of things is anyone's guess.

Anyway, another one that's worth a watch.


The Bank Job - 7/10

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

30 Days of Night


I have to be honest, this was a bit of a let down. I love the comic and the film just didn't seem to have the impact it should've done.

My main issue was how they represented the main characters differently from the comic, it changes the dynamic and, in my view, not in a good way.

Apart from that it's a slow slow film, ok, it's set over 30 days, but it just doesn't have the tension it should do, and as such the interest levels drop lower and lower over the course of the film.

And yeah I agree with the comments on IMDb, too much velociraptor style screeching.



The Condemned


When you see the WWE logo pop up at the start of the picture it can't be a good sign, and to be fair this ain't the best film in the world, however, it's okay.

Someone on IMDb for their user comment, put "A Great Movie, Average Remake", WRONG!!, what it should be is "An average movie, NOT a remake", this isn't a remake of Battle Royale, it's a similar concept yes, a load of people on an island who have to kill each other, however the political subtext of Battle Royale isn't there, in it's place a rather ham fisted attempt at a message, one which somewhat contradicts most of WWE's output.

So, the film's so so, Steve Austin's no Dwayne Johnson, but he's not terrible either. Vinnie Jones is pretty much awesome in this as a deranged ex-SAS soldier on the rampage, playing it proper brit suits him, and to be fair more should've been made of him. (whoever thought that would be said?!)


Sunday, April 06, 2008

Rawhead Rex


Good God this is bad, and to think Clive Barker wrote it, you'd think he'd be able to come up with something a tad better than a man in a toothy monkey suit!!

And the title!?! Really?! Rawhead Rex?! As if ANYONE will take you seriously now!

Rawhead Rex - 2/10


Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Walking Tall (2004)


I've got a lot of time for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, I think he's extremely charismatic and can actually act!

I'm not sure how far he could be stretched on the acting front, but with the stuff he's done so far (I *still* need to see Be Cool and Southland Tales), he's been pretty good. He's a solid action hero, that has absolutely no problem with a helping of self deprecation, all of which makes for an entertaining watch. Give him a good script and a good director and see what happens.

As for Walking Tall, based on a 1973 film and real events, we have Chris Vaughn returning home after 8 year's army service, to find his home town ain't what it used to be. He gets pissed off, beat up and sets out to put things straight.

This is another film that I've been waiting ages to see, and well, it wasn't as good as I was hoping for. It's a tad slow and choppy, Johnny Knoxville was pretty lame, and the script wasn't the best, thank the lord The Rock was in it tho, that made it watchable.