Thu, 17 Jan 2008
This years blockbusters?
I've just had a skim through the Times onlines 50 movies of
2008 and while I was picking my handful of must sees (Cloverfield,
Indy 4, and Hellboy 2) I noticed a couple of interesting comments
While I'm actually very fan boy about the idea of an Avengers movie (mentioned in the "The Incredible Hulk" comments) I felt a cold shiver of dread when I read 'Hayden Christensen, who has also just signed to star in the long-awaited movie version of William Gibson's prescient sci-fi classic Neuromancer,'. Nothing good can come of this; unless we get Dina Meyer back as Jane nee Molly.
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Posted: 2008/01/17 20:38 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
Short Review - Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms
I liked the original Hellboy, it had great casting, an OK story and Selma
Blair being hot. Well, technically on fire, but we'll let that slip. I was
expecting great thing from the first of the animated Hellboy films - special
effects are great but you can go completely overboard with the monsters in
an animated film.
Instead I spent a couple of hours watching Hellboy Sword of Storms plod along at a very slow pace. The story was dull, the animation was fine but nothing exceptional and the only highlight were the occasional witty one liners. Wait for it to hit TV
Score: 3/10 - bring on Hellboy 2
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Posted: 2008/01/15 19:36 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Tue, 08 Jan 2008
Short Review - I Am Legend
I've watched the original Omega
Man, enjoyed the Kiwi perspective (named The Quiet Earth) and now
I've seen Robert Neville Will Smith style - and it wasn't bad.
The plot is mostly unchanged (although explained through flashbacks), the pacing is decent and the feeling of being alone is well conveyed - the DVD store scene is a great glimpse of a man about to lose it.
The zombie/mutant hordes are a lot more visually impressive than those in the Omega Man (20 years of special effects and it shows) but their near mindless nature does change the tone and pace a bit. Score - 6/10
PS: there was also a version (The Last Man on Earth ) with Vincent Price which I'll be adding to my rental queue.
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Posted: 2008/01/08 23:48 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Tue, 17 Apr 2007
Sunshine - Short Movie Review
I wanted to like Sunshine, I really did. A
new sci-fi film by the writer and directors of 28 Days Later (a very
entertaining film) should have been enough to keep me going until
Spider-Man 3 is released. Instead it was a seriously dull and
predictable two hours.
The sun is going out (hip hip hip hurray?) so a small group of scientists are sent to detonate a bomb that'll kick start it. They don't make it. So we send a second batch; "Are you the saviour of the human race?" "No, I'm the second choice". The film starts off mid-trip and quickly goes downhill. The psych officer is obvious a fruit loop, the crew are sloppy as hell, the twists are predictable, the on board security system is nearly as comprehensive as an unpatched Windows 3.1 machine and Rose Byrne has An Accent; we're just not sure where it was supposed to be from.
The film starts out with some interesting psychological ideas and quickly becomes a very dull and done before space slasher. This film left me cold (haha) 2/10 - visually impressive but boring.
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Posted: 2007/04/17 21:44 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Mon, 26 Mar 2007
Frank Miller's 300
I've never read the comic, I didn't recognise any of the cast and quite
enjoyed 300 as a not
very challenging film. Lots of very cool fight scenes, an acceptable amount of
plot and a great 'arrows blotting out the sun' scene. Oh, and a war
rhino.
What else is there to say? The fight scenes are bloody but not especially gory, the Spartans are portrayed with the right amount of bad-ass nature and it had a number of Sin Cityesque deformed villains in it. 7/10. Don't think I'll re-watch more than a fight scene or two though.
And it had a cut down (and Venom free) version of the Spider-man 3 trailer before it came on. OH YEAH! Come on Spidey!
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Posted: 2007/03/26 22:13 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Mon, 12 Mar 2007
Outlaw - Short Review
Tonight I saw Outlaw. It starts out
showing how people feel let down and abandoned by the law and the fact it
seems to treat criminals better than the victims. It's a great idea, the
topic is perfectly timed and it's only spoiled by a shoddy execution (no
pun intended).
It soon turns in to a badly plotted gang film that is amazingly one sided - the outlaws are never really developed so their point is lost, it is full of cliches and pretty dull. 3/10 (and those points are for the concept).
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Posted: 2007/03/12 20:59 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Sun, 11 Mar 2007
Ghost Rider - Short Review
Ghost Rider took a
lot longer to reach our screens than it should have, and considering the
amount of re-work involved it isn't that good. Very middle of the road
(haha), only see it if you're a comic book geek, bored or want another
chance to see Nicolas Cage not have expressions. 4/10.
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Posted: 2007/03/11 12:38 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Fri, 29 Sep 2006
Clerks 2 - Short Review
I'm a big Kevin Smith fan and Clerks 2 more than met my
expectations. Great dialogue, some top-notch one liners, inside jokes (for
both comic and View Askew fans) and more story than he's usually given
credit for. A couple of things stood out in a bad way though, the choice
of music seemed very slapdash, some of it really hit but a lot of it
seemed to detract from the scenes. I was also a little surprised by
the big dance number. Although watching Rosario Dawson get her grove on
wasn't exactly hard to sit through.
Score: 7/10 if you've seen Clerks, 5/10 if not - the less than dynamic duo of Randall and Dante make a return, leave a mark and end on a high. Well written and great fun.
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Posted: 2006/09/29 08:42 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Children of Men - Short Review
I ended my sudden bout of cinema going with Children of Men, a very
British Sci-fi films about a world that has no children. No screaming on
buses, running riot in restaurants or being herded along the street in
an annoying and impossible to pass snake of tiny, whiny voices. But the
film paints it as more of a bad thing.
Includes Spoilers: As you'd expect this changes during the course of the film and it turns in to a woman (and unborn baby) hunt through a Britain that's known terrorism, treats immigrants a scant few steps above how the Nazis treated Jewish people and has some freedom fighters / terrorists that don't know where their line is anymore.
The story's good, the cast all turn in solid performances (including a great appearance by Michael Caine) and the film is incredibly well shot. It feels gritty and I really enjoyed watching it, but I didn't come away with much once I got away from the slick visuals and editing. I was also disappointed with the end, it was tied up a little too neatly and wasted a chance to screw with peoples heads.
Score: 6/10. A good 90(ish) minutes but I won't be buying it on DVD.
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Posted: 2006/09/29 08:24 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Sun, 17 Sep 2006
DOA - Short Review
I was completely unprepared for DOA, I'd heard nothing
about it, seen no trailers and didn't know it was based on a game (which
I've never played) - if I'd have known anything about it I'd have stayed
well clear. Which would have been a shame.
I missed the first five minutes or so of this film so I'm not sure if they actually explained the, um, plot? In essence there is a fighting competition where "the best representatives of each style" come together and kick the shite out of each other. With lots of wire work and some very attractive actresses in skimpy outfits. And one scene, featuring Holly Valance and Sarah Carter, which is essentially a wet t-shirt competition pretending to be a fight.
It's well paced, there are actually a couple of plot threads woven in and most of the cast perform above and beyond the call of duty; these all combine to make the film more enjoyable than it sounds, doubly so if you leave your brain at the door and you're male.
One of the best scenes in the film is a staircase fight featuring Kane Kosugi, it was actually spoiled by some of the wire work, the actor seemed to be able to hold his own without it. Score: 7/10 - because any film featuring Holly Valance in a bikini, wrestling, deserves some extra points.
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Posted: 2006/09/17 14:34 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Dungeons and Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God - Short Review
When I was at school I was an avid Dungeons and Dragons player, over the
years I've lost contact with most of it (the occasional novel, issue of
Dragon or, very rarely, a source book is as close as I get these days)
but one of the few things I did see was the first Dungeons and
Dragons film. Which was BAD. But I'd waited so long that I watched
it. And I own a copy on DVD that I one day plan to watch again. Honest.
Tangent: how the hell did they get Jeremy Irons in the film? That's
magic!
I didn't even know they'd done a sequel until a friend of mine came back from the US recently, and I'll be honest, the idea of another one didn't fill me with joy. Fortunately, this time none of the behind the scenes crew survived from the first one and only one of the cast (Bruce Payne as Damodar) carried over. And to be honest his character is completely different so they might as well have recast and renamed it.
So is it better than the first film? Yes! Do you need to have seen the first film to follow this one? Nope, it's completely stand alone. Is it worth watching? Yes. It's a pretty enjoyable adventure that will feel familiar to anyone who's played the game (the characters are all class stereotypes) and will tick enough of the fantasy film boxes for most moviegoers to tolerate it. The cast are pretty solid (although nothing special) and the story has enough depth to carry it through some not very special effects.
Score: 7/10 - best of the films I've seen this weekend (it's been a long weekend!) and the best D&D film I've seen. Although I'm an un-ashamed fan boy. I'm still waiting for a really cool on-screen dragon though.
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Posted: 2006/09/17 14:33 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Crank - Short Review
Jason Statham has found himself a Hollywood niche, action films that don't
set the box office on fire but provide a decent level of "leave your brain
at home" entertainment. The Transporter movies and now Crank are shining examples.
Despite the trailers (and my expectations) Crank isn't as action packed as I'd expected, in between a number of fight scenes there is a surprising amount of plot and amusing dialogue. While the plot itself isn't exactly original the films constant changing from one scene to another and some decent dialogue makes it a lot less painful than it could have been. It's worth pointing out the visuals; a lot of the film looks like it was shot by someone with ADD, a background in short music videos and on a decent amount of drugs. From CISesque internal body shots, head banging in the back of cabs and some "medical assistance" from Amy Smart. This'll drive some people nuts. I liked it here but hope it's not copied in too many other places.
Chev Chelios: "I'm looking for something.. begins with E..."
Pharmacist: "England?"
Score: 6/10 - unchallenging with some decent action, a couple of smart one-liners and some nice set pieces.
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Posted: 2006/09/17 14:33 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Severance - Short Review
Severance had a lot of
potential, it could have been Dog Solders meets The Office, but this
time with The Office actually being funny. Instead, it's an OK paced
generic slasher film with a lot of attempted humour - only a handful of
which hits the mark.
Laura Harris puts in a decent performance, Tim McInnerny is completely wasted (if you've seen him in Spooks or Blackadder you know he can act when given decent material) and Danny Dyer does an acceptable job as the very two dimensional everyman. I'd give it 4/10 for a couple of nail-biting moments and a few cheap (but funny) gags.
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Posted: 2006/09/17 11:05 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Wed, 23 Aug 2006
An Evening with Kevin Smith - Short Review
I've been watching my way through Kevin Smiths back catalogue of work
recently and one of the forgotten highlights of my DVD collection is
An Evening with Kevin
Smith. Although the format's pretty simple, Kevin Smith engaging the
audience in Q&A sessions in a number of American colleges, the material
is polished, the delivery near perfect and the speaker charismatic.
Over three hours of footage he fields questions on pretty much everything, his films, loves and life. All tied together with a number of entertaining stories and anecdotes. If you like Kevin Smith films and his style of dialogue then buy this now. 9/10.
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Posted: 2006/08/23 00:34 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Snakes on a Plane - Short Review
How could I resist a film called Snakes on a Plane, featuring
one of the masters of over acting, Samuel L. Jackson, that had some of
its scenes re-shot to be funnier, yes, funnier, based on anonymous
internet posts on movie forums? Well, obviously I couldn't.
I'm honestly not sure why I bothered. I like good films, I also like REALLY bad films, I have a soft-spot for the old Godzilla movies for instance, but this film wasn't good and it wasn't that bad. The over acting wasn't as extreme as I thought it would be, the pacing was OK and none of the actors either redeemed or destroyed their careers with their performances. The film was pretty much middle of the road. Rent it on DVD if you're really bored. 3/10.
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Posted: 2006/08/23 00:34 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Thu, 17 Aug 2006
Azumi 2 - Death or Love Short Review
Azumi 2: Death or
Love is a pretty standard Japanese sword fighting film with
impressive wirework, well choreographed action scenes, very little plot
and a pretty lead, in this case Aya Ueto.
It follows on directly from the first film, between the continuation of the plot, a number of the same characters and, aside from a few small flashbacks, it makes no attempt to welcome new viewers. Although as a sequel why should it? While it ticks all the same feature boxes as the first film this one seemed to have more (at least more noticeable) bluescreen backgrounds and the pacing didn't seem as well thought out as the first film.
It's watchable and has a couple of great katana fights but it's not as good as its own prequel. 6/10.
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Posted: 2006/08/17 00:30 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Wed, 16 Aug 2006
Alien vs. Predator - Short Review
What can I say, one of the most intriguing ideas for a 'vs' film. Two of
the best alien menaces from the 80s. A big budget. A cast of complete
unknowns. A really shite film.
While the film needed a human element to get the audience involved the director took it too far and ended up with a human / Predator buddy cop feel by the end of the film. The action scenes were dull, no where near the standard of Aliens and mainstream nature of the two namesakes means a lot of the shock and surprise was lost even before this heavy handed attempt to scare the audience.
I was hoping for a couple of decent special effects, a small Predator platoon fighting an encroaching horde of Aliens for example. Instead we get the Iraq Reserve Militia of the Predators homeworld fighting some Aliens that consider the Winona Ryder days of Alien Resurrection to be a career high. The scariest thing about it? They've commissioned a sequel. 3/10.
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Posted: 2006/08/16 21:10 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Sat, 15 Jul 2006
Superman Returns - Good but no Spiderman
I'm not a huge fan of the Man of Steel, I find his comics boring, the
Christopher Reeve films were watchable but nothing that stands out from my
childhood and Smallville is mostly dull. I'd heard the hype about Superman Returns and
considering how well the second X-Men film went I thought I'd give it
ago. On opening day. Because it's a comic book based film dammit. And
Spiderman 3 is taking TOO LONG. HEAR ME RAIMI?!
I wasn't really grabbed by the film as a whole. While Brandon Routh does a decent enough Superman with enough of a boy scout look to be passable, Kate Bosworth was a very weak Lois Lane compared to all the other incarnations I've seen and I just don't see the appeal of James Marsden. As either Richard White or Cyclops (in the X-Men, the first two of which were also directed by Bryan Singer) he's bought nothing to the screen. He's not a good actor, he's not extreme eye candy and he always looks too much like an everyman. And we've got Clark Kent for that in this film. The special effects were decent if not ground breaking and Kevin Spacey seemed to be the only person enjoying himself. He's not my favourite Lex but he did a decent job.
5/10 - Watchable but don't rush.
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Posted: 2006/07/15 14:08 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Is the DragonLance Movie Happening? We Have a YES!
I played a lot of ADnD at school, and while I only took part in a couple
of short DragonLance campaigns, I'm a Forgotten Realms man, the books
written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman really grabbed me. Over the
years, where ever ADnD fans gathered in sleepy, huddled masses, the topic of
a DragonLance movie would occasionally crop up and we'd all say how great
it'd be but that it's never happen; looks like we were wrong...
It seems that a DragonLance Movie based on the Dragons of Autumn Twilight is undergoing production. It's going to be animated rather than live action (even though The Lord of the Rings big screen adaption showed what can be done in this genre) and I have to say the news fills me with both excitement and dread.
The idea of seeing those characters bought to life is exciting, I want to know how other people perceive Tanis and Raistlin, but I can remember the Dungeons and Dragons film (which was bad, very bad) and the script is being worked on by George Strayton, 'whose credits include "Cleopatra 2525", "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys".', three shows that I've seen and have never inspired me to think the world epic. Well, not in a good way.
These books are some of my favourites, let's hope he's very careful with them.
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Posted: 2006/07/15 09:30 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Wed, 28 Jun 2006
X-Men 3 - A Respectable Finale
When I was a teen I read a fair amount of X-Men comics (and I've
started again now Joss Whedon is writing Astonishing X-Men) so they are
close to my heart, while the first film felt like a prologue, the second
film did them justice and the third gives them a decent send off.
I'm not going to spoil any of the plot but Storm gets a decent showing this time, Halle Berry - who has six toes on her left foot, made some (deserved) noise about Storm being down played in previous films. That's been fixed in this one.
Three things that jumped out at me, they've done pretty well at making Hugh Jackman look short while playing Wolverine but it didn't work as well in this film. There were a lot less in-jokes and little fan bits this time and lastly the Juggernaught isn't a mutant (in 616 continuity anyway). So he couldn't have been stopped that way. But that's me nitpicking.
Beast looked well in the fight scenes and it's going to be interesting to see how much of what they've learned from him can be applied to Spider-man 3, their fighting styles have a lot in common.
It's also worth staying until the credits have finished, there is a nice little scene that not many people have stayed to see...
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Posted: 2006/06/28 18:26 | /movies | Permanent link to this entry | This entry + same date
Copyright © 2000-2005 Dean Wilson
