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Reviews
Dartmoor Killing (2015)
Nice Scenery
Spoilers here in... Dartmoor looks great here and will make you want to visit. It's beautifully shot. That's almost it though. There is some good tension here as the guy plays mind games with the two women. There is mystery. The film feels a little French with it's countryside, sex, mind games and lurking violence scenario. There is a particular scene that shows his controlling rapacious attitude towards women, it's very brief(ha ha)but it does make you wonder if that was necessary and how the partici-pants(ha ha) felt afterwards. But the plot holes! How did the guy catch up with the women so soon, why did he run over and kill the one woman, and the crucial one: why did the other woman stab the guy's sister?? - we're not given a good reason for this and it's plain they just wanted to introduce a twist. It didn't need a twist. A twist for twist's sake that lets everything before it down. A coherent plot would've made this film.
Green Room (2015)
Sid Vicious
It's a review: it may contain nuts, I mean spoilers. Green Room: a film where a decent enough punk band run up against some very nasty Nazis. It starts off interesting, you warm to the band as we learn about their characters, they play some punk music - the high point of the film being their rendition of Nazi Punks F...Off by the Dead Kennedys in front of a nazi skinhead audience. Though the film surprises us when their music actually goes down pretty well. And then things go wrong. There is some good one room tension in the next act of the film - it works great but beyond that this film will appeal if you really, really don't like punk bands or really, really like to see young people chewed up by vicious animals. The acting is great, faultless in fact. But it's a shame that the second half doesn't match the first unless you really, really don't like punk bands or really, really...Of course I may be missing something here in which case see it for yourself.
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Fight, shoot, boom, escape..fight, shoot, boom, escape..fight, shoot..
Even my 12 year old said it's all just fighting and shooting! If they're still trying to compete with Star Wars (still competing after three plus decades) then the latest Star Wars wins by a long,long way. We had our hopes up with Simon Pegg sharing the writing, however, the trailers say it all- fast and furious. Then again Pegg's own films tend to be the same format so perhaps we were overly optimistic. Beyond, beyond what? They barely go beyond anything! Beyond a decent plot?-yes.. Beyond a plot that's the same as the last film- no... Beyond going boldly? Beyond a film of intrigue, substance, ideas? Beyond fast and furious?er..no. On the positive side the cast are great, the chemistry is good, and the opening half hour looks promising but then fight, shoot, boom, escape, fight, shoot, boom, escape, slight pause for some character interaction, fight, shoot, boom, escape, shoot him now, NOW oh come on shoot him arghhh oh.. fight, shoot, boom, escape, fall asleep. The cast is wasted on this dumb approach.
God Bless America (2011)
Freak Show.. roll up
This film soon becomes part of the freak show culture that it tries to ridicule. It lacks the wit of Man Bites Dog or the depth and craft of Falling Down; two films that it kind of copies. But particularly in the wake of yet another hand gun murder spree of American children by a young American male (Dec 2012) I believe the subject tackled here requires far more craft than just scenes of shooting annoying teenagers and media people in the head etc.mixed with preachy speeches. And while it's true that the culture portrayed well and truly exists, the film doesn't ring true or amuse. The satire is paper thin, if that, and predictable. The action is predictable. The film is flawed through and through.. Does one believe Frank's situation or is he an unrealistic character? In the latter case the rest of the film wont work at all: the guys weakness in getting to see his daughter is exasperating; just stop watching the TV dude, move house, get another job. And the relationship between the two murderers is not at all believable. It's all been done before only much better..Natural Born Killers this isn't. The film is exploitative fodder for 14 year olds written by a bunch of council workers in their lunch break on a beer mat. America: Throw away your guns!
Skyline (2010)
This film does what it says on the tin..
Firstly, this movie/film is no were near as bad as I thought it was going to be and I ended up being impressed in the truest sense of the word. A good ride but not at all like Independence Day. Don't watch it with the earlier film in mind. Skyline has more in common with a zombie film. It also reminded me of The Mist. Faceless monsters, mostly one location, few people. The tone is a consistently doomy one with little token scraps of hope thrown our way, the beautiful people set up at the beginning being a red herring. And yes the effects are...very good. The effects are no small part of this film and the one criticism is that perhaps the spectacular effects are not balanced by the depth and dialogue of the characters. But, the tone, pacing, editing and concept all stand up very well. This film does what it says on the tin
District 9 (2009)
It makes you believe that it has balls...
A very promising start. It mixes in a little grit at the same time as having its tongue in its cheek. One moment its tongue then its grit! Swapping between the two at quite a dizzying pace which all makes you wonder where the film can go. Is it saying something? Is it some kind of commentary on racism? Is it going to challenge me? It makes you believe that it has balls...and then it loses them half way through. And you think why have you done that to me? Why have you turned into predictable entertainment. Why have you turned into a cross between E.T., Robocop and The Fly without being as focused as any of those films? Why has this promising film turned into mulch? In the end its just entertainment of a fairly low order.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Just about makes it..
The best of the three prequels and the only one I didn't get bored of watching. It has the usual visual flare piled on with virtuosity and then piled on some more and its not always engaging sometimes coming across like a computer game. But, there is an interesting story to follow. Namely, how does Anakin flip to the Dark Side. And it does have an excellent turn by Ian Mcdiarmid as Palpatine. Christopher Lee is great but we don't get enough of him and Yoda is always watchable. Ewan McGregor is better than in Phantom but there is something of the Mary Poppins Dick Van Dyke about his Alec Guinness impression. There are some memorable scenes particularly the final fight and anything with Yoda. However, the main let down of the film is that the Anakin story just isn't believable enough and in order to enjoy the film you just have to kinda of let that go. And there aren't enough meaty characters to get your teeth into. Which leaves you thinking that Lucas got lucky in having the original trio of Ford, Hammil and Fisher. So its definitely worth a look. It will entertain, mostly.
Children of Men (2006)
A grim vision paired with hope
Opinions seem to be polarised on this film. as many giving 1 star as give 10 stars. The film has some remarkable scenes in it, particularly in the final third, that will probably stay with me, imprinted on my film brain. At times the film has a B movie feel to it particularly with the dialogue. Combine the remarkable scenes and the B movie feel and you've got something that fees like Planet of the apes or Omega Man. It paints a grim picture of humanity taking its cue from current issues-immigration, Guantanamo, ideology over compassion(terrorism), radicalised Muslims, radicalised middle class and so on. There are lighter moments chiefly provided by Michael Caine's wise hippy character. But above all the film believes in hope. Some will find the film's commentary on many of the bad things in our world rather preachy. Others, like me will love it. The only negatives were some clunky dialogue and /or miscasting particularly with the Miriam character. Though I could see what they were going for so I went with her. Finally, others will hate it because it is much changed from the book but P.D. James, author of the book, likes the film and is in it at the start!
The Mist (2007)
All about the human
----------------SPOILERS probably-------------- The Mist. I'm shocked at how good it is. The dialogue is quality, the acting is mostly superb and the characters are realistic. The monsters- well its not really about the monsters. They're good enough. The Mist is not a roller coaster ride nor is it torture porn. Its bleaker. This film makes you ask what would you have done. What emotions would you go through. What would you do if you had a child to protect. How would fear affect people in a survival situation. How long would you have faith in hope. This is all about the human. But then thats what monsters are anyway-expressions of our fears. Of our dark side. The ending. They got the ending just right. Right down to the soundtrack after the music has finnished. Its not spoon fed to you. All those who don't get it need to imagine themselves right there- in the mist and ask themselves would they still have hope. what would they do if they felt that they had no more options....
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Its good Jim....but not that good.
---------SPOILERS--------- Well, firstly try and ignore the hype from earlier in the year. This film does not live up to it. However, it is well worth watching for some very memorable scenes and dialogue and of course Daniel Day Lewis's performance. What is wrong with it? Maybe the hype didn't do it any favours. But the main problem as I see it is that we are not allowed inside Plainview's mind. He keeps blocking us out. This is obviously intentional but what else are we left with? None of the other characters are developed to any great depth. And, for all its technique, it ends up feeling rather flat. I've heard it gets better on second viewing though...
The Cold Equations (1996)
if only Tarkovsky could have had a go at this
It took a little while to warm to this film but once the real drama began to unfold I was hooked. The lead characters are believable and there is some good acting on show from the lead actors. Don't watch this expecting great effects or stunning cinematography but those things are not needed for most of the film's length. Its a play set in a spacecraft. A drama that engages the intellect as well as the emotions, as one would expect from a film based on classic 50s sci fi. ------SPOILERS below------
Although the main story is about the coldness of space and the physical laws that make it, the tone only hinted at this..if only Tarkovsky could have had a go at it.. The developing relationship between the two main characters is the films strength. But its weakness is that the bad corporation story feels tagged on- there either needed to be more of it or none of it. The cutaways to the courtroom and back to the drama work well. Unfortunately the final scene felt a little lame.