Good but not America's Godzilla

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 10 July 2008 06:41 (A review of Cloverfield)

I was really young when I first watched Godzilla and fell in love with the monster and when I heard this was suppose to be the American version of a Godzilla monster so I got excited. Then I heard it was going to be filmed with just hand held camera ala Blair Witch and that excitement faded. But after seeing the movie the camera wasn't the issue, it was the monster.

The movie really starts with a farewell party in a New York apartment when a blackout hit and building shakes the partygoers head outside and notice a giant explosion on the other side of the city. As debris falls near them, including the head of the Statue of Liberty, the camera man captures a glimpse of a giant monster. The rest of the movie follows the 6 people trying to both find out what's going on and to escape the city.

Acting wise the movie is solid as the actors conveyed the sense of urgency and fear really well.
Sound in a music sense is nonexistent but that was okay as the sound FX's were great and the lack of music just makes the filming feel more genuine.
What really killed most of the movie was that it was filmed from the ground and the monster wasn't shown much. Now in Godzilla movies, Godzilla was the main protagonist and was featured most of the time while the Cloverfield monster seemed like a afterthought and so the film makers failed at what they said they wanted to do.

While the overall movie is good and would recommend to someone that likes monster movies to see and judge for themselves, I wouldn't recommend it for someone trying to find America's Godzilla as the film makers said it was.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Gran Date Movie

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 10 July 2008 03:47 (A review of Priceless)

It really is. I don't know a girl (or a guy) who doesn't like Audrey Tautou. She's beautiful and splendid in this movie, but terribly unlikable at first - and that's because she plays her character so well! But by the end, the love affair ensues on and off the screen and everyone goes home a little happier. It's a fun and refreshingly French film.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

The Seeker

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 11:56 (A review of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising)

As much as I enjoyed the cinematography and special effects on this movie I felt like there was something wrong. The story was good enough and the acting was fine but it was lacking. If it had of gone for a little bit longer but also had far more detail to it then I think I would have been happy but as it is the story felt like it could have been told in 20 minutes. My impression of it was that the cinematography and special effects was just being used to mask the fact that there really wasn’t much effort put into and that it was being stretched out. Basically it turned into visual candy for the senses rather then being anything remotely in depth.
Funnily enough I still found it really engrossing for what it was lacking and it was enough to make me want to read the book it was based on to see not only what they missed out on but also because I liked the story line.
Going by a child’s reaction though I don’t think this is really a winner for the young ones, granted it’s only one child’s reaction but seeing as he started to fidget half way through the movie and then left not long after I don’t think it’s possible to hide the fact of what was wrong with this movie from children by using big effects.
A shame really because it had a lot of potential

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Under Suspicion review

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 11:01 (A review of Under Suspicion)

Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman deliver excellent performances in this tense drama centered around a police interrogation. There's no physical pain inflicted, only the relentless mental pressure of a interrogation that leaves no stone unturned to get an upper hand on the suspect. Freeman is brilliant as the calm and collected cop who boxes in his suspect, Hackman. Monica Belluci is also great eye candy as Hackman's wife.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Plot Holes, And Quite Cheesy, But Entertaining.

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 10:36 (A review of Mindhunters)

"Mindhunters" tells the story of several FBI Agents that go on a training mission on a deserted island to see if they have what it takes. At first, the mission is normal. With practice objectives, and obstacles. There is only one thing. Are these small objectives and occurences actually just training? the answer is no, they are not. This film is filled with so many twists and turns it boggled my mind. First I thought these weird happenings were part of the training process, then I thought differently. I just kept changing my mind, and the film was really making me think. At first it was confusing, but when I got further through the film it got highly entertaining to watch, and I was really enjoying it. After all of that, the group members begin getting killed one by one in vastly different ways. The group realizes the killer is one of their own and things start going crazy and very thrilling. The film is great up to the final fifteen minutes or so where there was just one twist too many, and I just wanted the film to get to the main point. The film had some corny scenes, and the fight choreography was horrible. Good thing there was only one fight. Other than that I highly enjoyed this film and recommend it very much.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

casts was so amazing :)

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 09:15 (A review of Pride & Prejudice)

i would really commend the director for picking such a awesome cast for the movie. Matthew Macfadyen and Kiera Knightley seemed like the perfect match. this is one of my favorite movies.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

You'd Eat Them Too!

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 08:41 (A review of Cannibal Holocaust)

Yes, a revenge flick, my most favorite meta-genre, but good enough to be better than most. What I like best about this movie is the format in which it's told. Here's the high level overview, copied and pasted directly from Wikipedia.org...

"...the movie tells the story of four documentarians who journey deep into the jungle to film indigenous tribes. Two months later, after they fail to return, famous anthropologist Harold Monroe travels on a rescue mission to find the group. Eventually, he recovers and views their lost cans of film, which reveal the missing filmmakers' fate."

(Their fate is pretty obvious, btw.) In any case, the format gave it a true sense of reality as all you know about the four filmmakers is what you see as you watch the films with Mr. Monroe, the anthropologist.

It's a fascinating film, but heed the warnings! It really is as graphic and disturbing as they say and there are scenes of actual animal death. Also, I highly recommend reading the rest of the Wikipedia article. This movie knocked people off their asses back in the day!


0 comments, Reply to this entry

I enjoyed it

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 12:54 (A review of The Banquet)

This film is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, using the play as a basic framework with enough big changes to make it its own whilst still holding familiarity to the original idea. The main characters are almost all there, apart from the ghost and Horatio, the latter working out fine especially as he could have easily turned into a sidekick figure in the scheme of things.

Moving away from the origins of the story, the cinematics were rather impressive. The fight and dance scenes were very well choreographed and articulated throughout, adding an artistic touch to a brutal story. The sets successfully helped provide the film with an aesthetic aspect also, especially seen in not only the physical scenery (just take a look at the cityscape at the coronation ceremony) but the lighting and colours too.

Overall I rather liked the adaptation of the Western classic. A very aesthetically pleasing film with awesome fight scenes that don’t overpower the film itself, providing a good balance. My only qualm was the very end, as the question hangs in the viewer’s mind: Who? But if this is the only problem I had with the film then that’s a good thing really. I recommend this movie to fans of Asian cinema and anyone curious to see how the Hamlet adaptation went. Its worth a watch.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

A let down

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 12:48 (A review of Wassup Rockers)

Watching this movie I felt rather disappointed with Larry Clark and not entirely sure what he was doing, or try to do, rather. Wassup Rockers pales in comparison to both Kids and Bully (and I hope Ken Park also, which I have yet to watch at the time of writing this review), seeming much more strained and dull.

In short, the film consists of a rather uninteresting storyline which picks up more and more forced scenarios. I kept thinking to myself, ok, when is the real story actually going to begin? And it never did. The only reason I would say this was actually worth watching is in comparison with his other works, otherwise I think this was a very average production, not at all up to Clark's usual standards.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Simply an awesome action flick!

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 9 July 2008 11:35 (A review of RoboCop)

Bob Morton: "What are your Prime Directives?"
RoboCop: "Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law."

RoboCop was released during a generation dominated by a studio obsession with futuristic science fiction action flicks. Prior to the release of RoboCop, James Cameron accomplished success with a low-budget old-school sci-fi action film flaunting muscle-bound actor Arnold Schwarzenegger portraying a killer robot in The Terminator. Even before that, there was Blade Runner and Star Wars - so it's safe to assert that sci-fi was the prominently triumphant genre throughout the 70s, 80s and beyond. Orion, the studio that distributed The Terminator, was more than happy to tackle another science fiction action film featuring an unstoppable cyborg...and found satisfaction when the script for RoboCop fell into their lap. The film's screenplay effectively masquerades as your customary superhero film in the same vein as Superman. Underneath it's possible to ascertain a far more complex multi-faceted production that wears several of its inspirations on its sleeves. This includes references to Frankenstein, Dirty Harry, Judge Dredd and Metropolis among many others. With a few similarities to formerly familiar films, the charm of this wonderful action flick continues to elevate.

It's the ideas that swirl around underneath all the action and killing (of which there is a lot!) that make this film interesting. Nevertheless it's an awesome action romp that still works well on the simple level of a superhero who is wronged, transformed, and ultimately rededicated to foiling evil. And of course, some of the robots and weapons are pretty fun - like those enormous cannons that the thugs employ to shoot up the city. The RoboCop firearm is just badass as well! Practically every aspect of the film remains virtually impeccable decades after the initial release.

RoboCop is set in a not-too-distant, non-specific futuristic time frame. The charm of the film is that no specific time period is disclosed. It could be 100 years into the future, or virtually present day. The film's central location is the city of Detroit that is falling apart as a consequence of crime. Police officers are unhappy with their work conditions, and a strike is in negotiations. A private organisation, Omni Consomer Products (OCP), eventually seizes control of local law enforcement to ensure security on the streets. Technicians at OCP begin developing a robot that can uphold the law and work diligently. Subsequent to a disastrous prototype, the technicians instigate a new program - the RoboCop program (therein lies the title) - as a follow-up to sustain the philosophy. When policeman Alex Murphy (Weller) is sadistically slaughtered by a street gang (one of the most brutal executions in film history), OCP technicians use his deceased corpse to manufacture a perfect cop with mechanical limbs and superhuman capabilities...a machine completely impervious to bullets and explosions. The results are highly successful as RoboCop begins abolishing crime in the city. However, RoboCop begins remembering some of his past memories and commences a rampage aiming for a goal of retribution.

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven contributes stellar direction to the production. Originally the director wasn't interested in taking the reigns until his wife talked him into it. Verhoeven seized RoboCop with escalating enthusiasm, seeing the film as a way of making keen annotations regarding the conditions of things in the USA from the perspective of an outsider. He conveyed an unyielding impression of pace and economy...with a few hundred litres of fake blood to compliment the action scenes. In addition to the ingenious creative concepts contributed by Verhoeven, there's the remarkable Ed Neumeier script that takes an enthralling look at a dystopian society of the future. Unfortunately, the film's marginal weakness is in the script. The film will surely be scoffed at by today's audiences. In tradition with typical 1980s action flicks such as those executed with Stallone or Arnie as the film's primary acting talent, the one-liners are badass but laughable. One of the film's principally stand-out features at the time was the work of gifted Rob Bottin who contributes special effects that still retain their 'wow' factor. Sure, some of the stop motion techniques look dated but they are still mighty impressive. The RoboCop outfit looks inspirationally spectacular. If that's not enough, the score by Basil Poledouris is truly wonderful. The theme is awesome! It sincerely delivers the correct messages and constantly portrays a sensation of exhilaration during the action scenes. Memorable themes are persistently absent from movies nowadays, and so it's revitalising to take a look back to when movie music meant something.

RoboCop is supported by an amazing cast! Peter Weller instantly perfects his role from his first line delivery. When Weller is placed underneath the elaborate outfit, all we see is his lower face. The filmmakers were apparently seeking someone with a strong jaw-line. This goal is achieved...and the altered, more mechanical voice sounds fantastic and perfectly suited to the corny lines assigned to the character. Kurtwood Smith is also very impressive as the film's central villain. Like many other aspects of the film, his performance will probably be regarded as laughable. Still, he seems evil and he does evil things. This is the period of the 80s action films in question!

Overall, RoboCop quickly earned a place among my all-time favourite action films. It's an extremely fun action flick that, despite all its predictability, delivers an engaging portrait of a futuristic superhero kicking arse and unleashing a one-man war on the bad guys. A commendable facet of the action scenes is that we can no longer criticise the appalling aiming of those firing at the hero. Instead RoboCop is hit several times...but of course cannot be wounded by bullets or weapons so he is able to continue his tremendous killing spree. It's a rare event to witness an action film of this stature anymore: instead the studios opt for watered down violence and kiddie action scenes to aim for a mainstream audience. RoboCop is everything one could desire from a hardcore science fiction action film. There's awesome production design, abundant action and plenty of opportunities for corny lines to surface while violence unfolds. In a sense it's a futuristic western that also borrows elements from other famous films. This is simply an awesome movie that is worthy of multiple screenings.

0 comments, Reply to this entry