Dear Cinema Diary - Vol 3 E9 - Sept 2012

I'm in the minority with regards to actually liking this film. This also could have something to do with the fact that I knew before hand that there were no dragons in the film. Duh... based on real events...

The journalist uncovering his father's secrets was a nice way to frame the film. I really enjoyed the three main characters, the priest, the pragmatist and the revolutionary. I feel that the film did a good job of presenting the different side of the Spanish Civil War without glorifying any of the characters. In the end they were all just men who had beliefs and faults and one action does not determine the merit of a man but his entire life must be taken a whole. Nothing is entirely black or white and there are no dragons ;)

Plot: Dramatisation of the case of serial killers Fred and Rose West, focusing on the way in which they were brought to justice.

OK, when I rented the film it just said 'a serial killer' if I had know that it was based on Fred and Rose West... I might have changed my mind and taken a pass on the film. Luckily this is a made for tv mini series and you never see any of the murders. So, if your expecting blood and gore... don't watch this film.

However, if your looking for a more serious film about two of the most horrifying serial killers I would recommend this film. The actors were all exceptional and the film manages to be disturbing enough without divulging too many aspects of the case. A case that managed to still give me nightmares.

Action Thrillers is a genre of film that I seem to enjoy less as the years go by. Safe House did manage to balance the story vs 'cool action sequences' very well. However, the story wasn't very compelling and rather predictable.

I agree with Phillydude about the shaky-cam. It isn't so much that I don't think it has a place in a film of this type, which it does. However, the scenes geared toward getting you to care about the characters, should not have been done with close-ups and shaky-cam. If you want us to focus on a character... we do actually need to be able to focus.

OK, now this was a case where the movie poster sort of ruined the film for me. You end up feeling like your waiting for the twist ending to happen and not really appreciating anything that happens in the mean time. So, instead of 'looking for clues' I do recommend actually just trying to enjoy the ride. After all it is a rather simple film.

So, I liked the film but ya... not sure if I would recommend.

Well, this film marks the official end of my love affair with the Alien's saga in all shapes and forms. I'm going to spare myself any further disappointment by avoiding any future films.

The story was well... sort of stupid and many basic plot elements don't get explained and/or explained well enough. There are far too many characters who are given very little screen time, making their actions... again... confusing. One can hope for a 4 hour directors cut collectors edition that might give this film the meat that it needs. Still, there were some pretty basic things that left me scratching my head and leaving the theater in disgust.

Wow, I'm all for simplified story telling but this was ridiculous. It was also strange to have Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe, act out such bland characters. A film about a kidnapping with pretty much no drama... no twists... no personal discover... strange... film...

I actually think I'm starting to dislike John Cusack the more time passes and I see him drag out the same "Cusack" performance to each film. This also has something to do with his acting style or non-style. He never seems to be able to transcend and 'become the character or brings something more to a roll then just repeating lines with a bit of emotion. Again the pairing with the eloquent Luke Evans only magnifies anything that might be lacking in Mr Cusack's performance (Note to future directors: Avoid pair stage actors with screen actors).

The main reason to watch the film is to see a number of Edgar Allan Poe's famous stories turned into crime scenes aside from that don't look for much sense into any of the crimes or story as a whole.

So, meh acting... meh story that gets a little silly, toss in some overexposed film with the tradition 'this is a dark movie' where they fade the edges of the film and you get a film that I'm quite happy that I waited to rent.

Yay, all the 'indy film romantic comedy' without feeling like an indy film. So... ah... garbage?

What is really tragic is that Mandy Moore's performance is so lack-luster it makes everyone else look bad. At least Tom Wilkinson and Billy Crudup broke up some of the over all boredom of the film. Take out a few swear words and this could have been rated G or played on the Lifetime network.

Several short films loosely strung together. This is all done in the style of hand held camera footage. So, if you don't like shaky cam you are really going to dislike this film. So, I gritted my teeth and opened a bottle of wine and found myself 'enduring' this film rather then enjoying any of the micro stories it presented.

Hay, look it is a shark in a supermarket!

So with that premise you aren't expecting Macbeth. I can't really rate the film as I just sort of got bored and left the room... which is saying a lot for a guy with only one leg... so... meh...

Hum, sort of a rated PG 'horror' film for people who hate horror films.