Safe House
(31.05.13) - A young CIA operative is bored and frustrated at being the house-sitter at a safe house in South Africa, where nothing happens and his promotion is blocked by his boss who is waiting for him to prove himself, but failing to give him the opportunities to do so. When a rouge CIA operative turns up at the safe house, it is invaded during his interrogation, and the safe house is compromised. Trying to keep both himself and his house guest alive, the two are pursued by a group of gun wielding, relentless gangsters who are after the file that the rogue operative has on him. This was a decent little thriller. It was much better than I anticipated and was very reminiscent of the Bourne films in it's style and content. Both Denzil Washington and Ryan Reynolds are good in their performances and the action is fast paced, relentless and exciting. The car chases, hand to hand fights, gun battles and on foot chases fly at you in quick succession and the action is only temporarily broken up by the interjection of the scenes in the CIA office. Overall a surprising little film which was very entertaining and deserves a second watch.
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back
(29.05.13) - It is a dark time for the Rebel Alliance. Following a defeat on the ice planet of Hoth, the Rebel scatter across the galaxy and Luke Skywalker searches our Yoda to complete his training. But this is interrupted by events when the Empire catches up with Han Solo, Princess Leia and the droids in Cloud City. This penultimate film to the series is perhaps one of the best. The action starts immediately with the excellent battle on Hoth and continues from there. The development of the characters is much more rounded, including the burgoning romance between Solo and Leia, and benefits from the groundwork done in episode IV. There is light comic relief from the droids, but not too over the top and the (now, all too famous) revelation in the climatic light sabre battle still has the power to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Despite a little retouching in the special edition, overall, the special effects stand up after all these years. The direction is also much snappier and the sets are excellent, especially the red and blue neon tinged light sabre battle in the freezing chamber towards the end of the film. Ending on a rather downbeat note, this film drives you to watch the concluding film as soon as possible and still as entertaining as it ever was.
The History Boys
(28.05.13) - A group of working class boys from a grammar school in Yorkshire are groomed for interviews to get into Oxford and Cambridge by a new supply teacher, who has a style of rigidity and stock answers. This comes in stark contrast to the teaching style of the boys favourite teacher, Mr Hector, who is laid back, free thinking and revels in the joy of knowledge. As they boys are trained, they endure the pain of growing up, unrequited love, learning, having conflicting feelings and divided loyalties. This film, based on the play of the same name was an absolute delight. It did exactly what was needed in the play, which was cut the running time down by 40 minutes, leading to a much snappier, fast paced and enjoyable movie. The performances were universally excellent. In particular, Francis De La Tour and especially Richard Griffiths who excels as Mr Hector. The undertones in the story of confused sexuality are toned down, as are the long speeches by the cast and the in depth conflict of the different educational styles. This vastly improved the film and elevated it above the stage show which I saw last week. I have to say that this film far surpassed my expectations and was surprisingly emotional in it's closing scenes. I found this film simply outstanding and would highly recommend it.
Sightseers
(27.05.13) - A couple, newly in love, head off on a camping trip, taking in places such as the Crich Tram Museum and the Kewsick Pencil Museum. But along the way, litter louts, people who insist on them picking up their dog's poo and people with a better caravan than them become the victims of the couples murderous lust, as they slowly turn into serial killers. But their relationship becomes strained by the arrival of a young man with his new camping invention. This black comedy was a very different film and much better than anticipated. The two leads do an excellent job of creating sympathetic characters out of people who are just weird and evil and their acting is very good indeed. The comedy was very dark in it's tone (along the lines of "Nighty Night") with it's subtle jokes which could easily be missed if you were not paying full attention. The death scenes were not particularly imaginative but that is not the reason to watch this comedy horror. Overall, it was very enjoyable and made me laugh out loud on a number of occasions. At a short 85 minutes running time, the length of the film was just right, and never either drags the joke out or outstays it's welcome. The ending is particularly good and surprisingly emotional. All round a surprising, delightfully quirky, little low budget British film.
Hairspray
(26.05.13) - In Baltimore in 1962, Tracy Turnblad is a little girl with a big attitude, a big dream and even bigger hair. She dreams to dance on her favourite music TV show, the Corny Collins Show, but her acceptance is blocked by the station manager who is more interested in stepping on everyone to keep her daughter in the spotlight and have her crowned (again) as Miss teenage Hairspray. But Tracey befriends the black kids who star in the "negro day". Tracey feels that they should all be allowed to dance together, so she takes on the station, the system and the community to do what's right. This movie is an absolute delight and perhaps my biggest guilty pleasure. The songs are superb, catchy and memorable. The dance sequences are just brilliant. The film is funny, fast paced, well directed and choreographed and just wholly entertaining. The perfect feel good, no brainer to watch when you have not had the best of days. The cast are superb, even John Travolta as Edna Turnblad. But the stand out performance in this film is Nikki Blonksy who excels as Tracey. This is perhaps one of my all time favourite film, which never fails to get me singing along and my feet tapping. A real guilty pleasure.
Star Wars - A New Hope
(19.05.13) - Luke Skywalker, a farm boy working on his Uncle's Moisture farm on Tatooine, finds himself embroiled on an adventure into the far corners of the galaxy when he comes into possession of two droids, who appear to have a link to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sensing the force in the boy, Kenobi trains him as a Jedi as they embark on a mission to deliver the stolen plans for the Death Star, a planet sized space station used by the Empire to keep the galaxy in line, to the rebel alliance. When captured, they spring a daring rescue of Princess Leia who is held captive on the Death Star and the rebel alliance launch an attack on the massive spaceship. This film is a part of my childhood and will always be one of my favourites. But even without the rose tinted glasses and the smell of nostalgia in the air, this is still a brilliant film. Ground-breaking special effects, great writing, exciting action and classic characters all come together to make this film the legend that it is. Still standing up today, despite me having seen it literally hundreds of times, this is a great film and one which I can trace back as being one to the roots of my interest in films. Simply excellent.
The Thing (1982)
(17.05.13) - A group of American scientists find themselves doing battle with a shape shifting alien which clones and kills those it takes over. When an infected dog arrives at the camp, the alien finds a new group of people to exploit. Once again tension claustrophobia and paranoia reign as the group try to work out who is infected and who is not, whilst trying to survive in the Arctic conditions. This film was great and is considered a classic. John Carpenter does an excellent job with the direction and builds the tension nicely. The special effects do look dated at times, although that said, they do still stand up and it was so nice to go back to mechanical effects instead of CGI. Kurt Russell oozes testosterone as the hero of the piece and the remainder of the cast are all good. The film was very enjoyable and when watched back to back with the new prequel, made for an excellent story arc and a night of very entertaining viewing. The Thing is a classic and well worth seeking out.
The Thing (2012)
(12.05.13) - A group of Norwegian scientists find a creature buried in the ice in the Arctic and dig it out. But as it thaws, despite being frozen for thousands of years, it comes to life. It hunts by absorbing people and cloning itself into them, so that they are indistinguishable from the original victim. Trapped in a remote and isolated base, the group try desperately to survive and prevent whatever it is they are facing from escaping and decimating the planet. This film is a cross between a re-imagining of the original and also serves as a prequel which tells the story of the events at the Norwegian camp explored by Kurt Russell's character in the John Carpenter version and explains the back story of the discoveries that they make in the abandoned camp. The film also explains how the dog which arrives in camp at the start of the 1982 film came to be there. Overall this was a much better film than I anticipated and I did enjoy it. There were some tense moments of claustrophobia and the paranoia of those trapped not knowing who was infected and who was not came across well. The special effects were good, the performances were all competent and the film was an enjoyable one. There are a lot of nods to the 1982 version of The Thing, the story flows nicely into the events of the carpenter classic and it did leave me wanting to watch the Carpenter classic almost immediately
Star Wars - Revenge Of The Sith
(11.05.13) - As battle rages in the galaxy, the film opens on a thrilling operation to rescue Senator Palpatine from General Grievous in the middle of an epic space battle. With the senator rescued, Annakin moves further to the dark side and is haunted by visions of his wife, Queen Amidala dying. Waging war on the galaxy using the Clone Army to secure his control, Palpatine reveals himself to Annakin as a Sith Lord, he seduces Annakin to the dark side of the force. As battle rages, Annakin and Obi-Wan face off on a volcanic planet leading to the conclusion of Annakin's journey to the dark side. This was the final film of the prequels and was incredibly good. It far surpasses the previous two, and it is a shame that they were not of the same quality of this film. The action is relentless, there is a number of old characters coming into the story, including Chewbacca and the revealing of The Emperor and the arrival of Darth Vader. . The story itself nicely links the new and old films together, the architecture and spaceships start to look a little more like the ones in the original film and the special effects are good. I do think that it is a bit of an underrated film, which was actually a good sci-fi flick as a whole and is perhaps one of the better films of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the final battle between Annakin and Obi-Wan and some great villains, including General Grievous. Overall, a great conclusion to the prequel trilogy.
The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey
(10.05.13) - Before The Lord Of The Rings, Bilbo Baggins had an adventure of his own which led to the Ring falling into his keeping. Baggins is selected by Gandalf to become a member of a gang of dwarves who are embarking on a quest to reclaim the dwarf kingdom and it's hoards of gold which is the legacy of the almost extinct race. Guarded by a fearsome dragon by the name of Smaug, the group depart on their journey, facing a number of familiar and unfamiliar enemies in their quest. This is the first part of a trilogy based on both The Hobbit and the appendices of the Lord Of The Rings. As a starter film, it sets the scene quite nicely and established both the story and the characters. There are some nice pieces within the film and the sets, characters and scenery transport you back to the memories of Middle Earth with ease. Martin Freeman is excellent as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellan does an excellent job as Gandalf and the whole thing is directed well by Peter Jackson. I did enjoy it, but I did feel that it took a little while to get going and I do have to wonder whether stretching this out over three films is spreading the source material too thinly. The film has a more comedic tone than the previous trilogy and seems, like the book, to be aimed at a younger audience. But that is a minor quibble over what is effectively a very entertaining film which has a real feel of familiarity within it.
Star Wars - Attack Of The Clones
(08.05.13) - In the second of the series, Annakin Skywalker, not a young man, is assigned to guard Queen Amidala, former queen of Naboo and now member of the senate. Following an assasination attempt in resepct of her, Annakin and Amidale head back to Naboo whilst Obi-Wan Kenobe invesitages the creation of a clone army, which is being built on behalf of the senate, but under who's request? The evidence seems to point to an outlawed Jedi, Count Dooku, but within the senate, a chancellor continues his rise to power through manipulation and corruption. All out war eventually leads to the use of the Clone Army, but to what cost? And as Annakin struggles with his inner conflicts, his journey to the dark side starts. This second film was actually very good, and did have some cracking moments. Once again, the set pieces were actually much better than anticipated, in particular, the fight between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett, father of the bounty hunter, Boba Fett. The climatic battle which takes place in an arena where our hero's are due to be executed, was great and action packed and there is a good battle between the Jedi and Count Dooku. Overall, an improvement on the first of the prequels and a good film to start bringing the characters of the later films into the story.
Star Trek Into Darkness
(07.05.13) - Kirk and the crew take on an international terrorist, John Harrison, who has a real grudge against the federation. His motives are a mystery and he is tracked to a planet on the outskirts of the Federation's territory, whereby his is captured by Kirk and the crew. But this charismatic criminal seems to have information which may be useful and whether he is really a criminal or a saviour is brought into question when the Enterprise is attacked by a Federation warship and falls to earth, crippled and badly damaged. But whether Harrison will help or hinder the crew is a gamble that they have to take. This film was outstanding. The whole thing was handled with much more maturity and sensitivity than the first. The plot comprises of simply breathtaking set pieces of action. The special effects were flawless and the story was excellent. The performances in this film are a step up from the previous one, with both Chris Pine and Zacharry Quinto showing a more mature and sensitive Kirk and Spock. The film thankfully ditches the time travel aspects of the first one and concentrates on relentless action, explosions battles and fight scenes. But the highlight of the film is Benedict Cumberbatch who plays the mysterious Harrison excellently, presenting us with a smooth, calm, calculating and extremely charismatic villain. His performance was just brilliant and he was the shining light in this absolutely awesome film. If there was one criticism to be levelled, it was the use of 3D, particulalry in the early sequences, but this did (thankfully) peter out and became more about depth of vision as opposed to gimmick. That said, everything that made the first film great has been multiplied by ten and this is simply a must see movie which will undoubtedly make the top 12 of the year.
Star Trek
(06.05.13) - Following a bar fight, a young James T. Kirk joins Star Fleet and soon works his way up the student ranks. Following an emergency distress call from the planet Vulcan, they students are thrust into the world of real combat against a rogue Romulan who is out to avenge the future destruction of his planet by travelling into the past through a black hole and destroying the Federation planets before time catches up and they destroy his planet. But with Spock brought from the future to witness the destruction of his home planet and with a young Spock and a young Kirk at each other's throats, the fate of Earth lies in their hands. This film was absolutely fantastic. I watched this again in preparation for seeing the sequel at the cinema and the film still grabbed me, despite it being a repeated viewing. The action set pieces followed each other at breakneck pace, but they were wrapped into a good story and around well developed characters. The special effects were excellent and the whole film was a joy to watch. If there was one flaw in it, it was Simon Pegg once again playing himself and doing his usual contorted face pulling which he calls acting (why JJ Abrahams (or anyone for that matter) keeps casting him I will never know), but when a film is this good, it can be forgiven for such a quibble. The cast were great as the young crew (Zachary Quinto in particular excelled as Spock) and I am looking forward to seeing just how they follow it up.
Star Wars - The Phantom Menace
(04.05.13) - A Jedi Knight, Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, are sent as ambassadors of the senate to try to end a trade blockade, but they are attacked and escape to the planet of Naboo. Planning to escort the Queen to the senate to plea her case in person, they are forced to land on Tatooine, a desert planet, which is populated by gangsters, swindlers and slaves. They meet with Annakin Skywalker, a small boy whom is sensed to be strong with the force. Freeing him from slavery, they take him along with them, but their plea to the senate falls on deaf ears and so the group head back to Naboo to regain the invaded planet by force. This was the first of the prequels, which was not as good as hoped upon it's release. The tagline of the film was "Every saga has a beginning", but it was quickly turned around by disgruntled fans into "every beginning has a sag". However, upon repeated viewing, it is actually not a bad little film. Perhaps it is the weakest of the Star Wars films, but starts off the story fairly well. There is a number of annoyances - the performance of Jake Lloyd as the young Annakin and the annoyance which is Jar Jar Binks, but look amongst the annoyances and you will find some excellent set pieces - the pod race and the attack on Naboo to name just two.That said it has, in my view, the best Star Wars villain of all in Darth Maul who is menacing and more than agile with a light sabre. The climatic fight between Qui =-Gon Jin, Obi-Wan Kenobe and Darth Maul is one of the best of the series and it is all too short in my view. It does have it's flaws and redeeming features, which overall add to an enjoyable film when watched for what it is in the right frame of mind.
Resident Evil Damnation
(03.05.13) - Leon S. Kennedy is deep undercover in an Eastern European country where a fierce rebellion is taking place. But something is amiss, as there appears to be something more sinister than politics in play. Captured by the freedom fighters, Kennedy teams up with them in their battle against the army and a new evil that has been launched. This CGI animated film looked absolutely stunning. The, at times, photo-realistic animation was excellent and it is worth watching for that alone. I have to confess to being a big fan of the first CGI movie and was looking forward to this one. However, as an honest reviewer, this is where I have to halt.... I watched this when I was tired and a little worse for wear (thanks to the wine consumed) and nodded off at various stages during the film, not because I was not enjoying it, but because of the aforementioned tiredness and alcohol induced haze. I will re-watch this in the near future and update this review when I am in a position to actually remember what happened!
Life of Pi
(03.04.13) - A young Indian boy leaves his home with his family when they decide to sell the zoo that they own and heads to Canada with the animals they have sold. But a huge storm sinks the ship and he finds himself stranded in the middle of the pacific ocean in a small lifeboat with only a Bengal tiger for company. This film continues to delight me. I saw it last year at the cinema and it was one of my top films from 2012. The direction and special effects are breathtaking. The film is much better in 2D than it was in 3D, although it does suffer slightly from where the 3D format was taken into account in the direction (a couple of "point something at the camera moments), but it did not loose anything on the small screen. The story, special effects, performances and the emotional ending still enthrals and I thoroughly enjoyed this repeat viewing.
S.W.A.T.
(02.05.13) - A young SWAT team member finds himself on the wrong end of his bosses rage when his partner disobeys an order and shoots a hostage in a bungled bank raid. Demoted to "the cage", handing out equipment and shining shoes, he gets a second chance when an old instructor hand picks him for a new team. But as the team conclude their training, an international criminal who is caught by chance offers $100 million for whoever breaks him out of custody. Assigned to transport him to a federal prison, the team have to fight off rescue attempts from the local gangs. This was a good little film. It is one of those which you literally have seen all before. The story is cliche, the plot development has been done time and time before and the scenes (building the team, the training, the running along the beach in slow motion etc) were all familiar. But there is something about this film which made it highly enjoyable (perhaps it was it's familiarity). The leads were all fine (Colin Farrell and Samuel L Jackson were good) and the action scenes were pretty fast paced and frequent. The film moved along at a cracking pace and overall, was a good two hours entertainment. A very present, if unoriginal, surprise.