Continuing on from last month, my obsession with Prison Break Season One exploded and I'm now eager to see the remaining three seasons. Initially I was sceptical as it does take a good four or five episodes to get you into the groove of the show, but after that you're totally sucked in and fascinated by how every single problem that arises gets solved ... and the last two episodes are nothing but awesome.
I read Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, as I'm a big fan of the film adaptation, and naturally it was ruddy great, and then I simply had to watch the movie yet again - inspiring another mini-Cusack fest complimented by another viewing of Grosse Pointe Blank.
There's been a lot of script writing going on, what with Summer Road (comedy drama, now onto Draft 2.2) and Allen Bridge (drama mystery with a somewhat supernatural tint, now in the planning stages).
I also got the Season 1 through 3 box set of Robot Chicken, so it was nothing but that for a couple of weeks as I gorged myself on the extra features - and yes, season 4 is pre-ordered.
I finished Red Dead Redemption, which was a ruddy good game, and is Rockstar's best game to date, I'd have to say. You really care about John Marston and you end up caring about his family too, and what's more you really feel involved in the setting - that of the dying days of the wild west - and wow, the ending really packs a punch (just remember, the game ain't over till you've seen the credits roll). Speaking of the credits, the soundtrack to the game is tip-top, especially those two tracks on the credits which leave a memorable mark in the context of the ending.
As such, there has been a bit of a soundtrack festival on my CD changer - the soundtracks to Red Dead Redemption, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and The Road - two are westerns, two are by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and all three are excellent.
Finally, a hot topic for discussion over on Homepage of the Dead at the moment is the forthcoming TV series The Walking Dead, and having never read the source material before, I've now gone and gotten myself into that. At the time of writing I've read Vol. 1 "Days Gone Bye", and I've just started Vol. 2 "Miles Behind Us".
...
And there we have it, a whole year's worth of Flavours of the Month - to see the first one, follow this link:
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/07/flavours-of-month-junejuly-2009.html
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Triple Bill Mini Musings: The Jurassic Park Trilogy...
Jurassic Park:
I hadn't seen it in years, possibly even a decade, and I'd forgotten just how well paced, structured, interesting and involving the flick is. It's Spielberg at on his best showman's roll, and the effects still stand up to this day ... well the CGI is a smidge dated and flat by today's standards, but the overall wonder that coats the film smooths over such things easily.
Most impressive are the animatronic dinosaurs (especially the giant T-Rex head), which add to the overall feel of believability (except for Attenborough's roaming 'generally British' apparently Scottish accent), tension and action-packed excitement. A true classic.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park:
Like with the first film, I went to see this at the cinema as an eager, excited kid, and loved every minute of it. Now twice the age I was at the time it feels baggy, lacking of a properly involving plot, and it plays out as one action sequence after another. Sure, the effects (both CGI and practical) had gotten even better and greater, but there's too many side characters with nothing to do.
Even the main characters have little to do but run around and scream from time to time, and there are some biblically stupid things that happen. Malcom's kid stows away and turns up on the island to be almost nothing but a hindrance, and Sarah - supposedly a very intelligent woman - doesn't realise that it's probably not a good idea to continue wearing a jacket soaked in the un-drying blood of a baby T-Rex (she even discusses it directly with a professional hunter!!!).
It's big, bloated and at times needlessly silly, but the convincing dinosaur work and rough-and-tumble action sequences at least make it interesting enough.
Jurassic Park III:
I'd not seen it until now, and I'm hardly surprised. It is interesting to get Grant back - and even a bit more Satler - but the inciting incident is too weak and daft, and Grant simply going along with it literally for a pay cheque doesn't ring true. It made enough sense in the first movie - before he knew what he was getting into - but now, after two movies, you'd think that Grant would just say "NO!" and be done with it entirely.
Even more so than the second movie, it's just one action sequence after another, and while - again - it's all technically very proficient, you just don't give much of a stuff about it all in the end. The film itself is a good half hour shorter than the first two, and that about says it all - there's not enough meat to bother with, and - again - stupid characters make stupid decisions. If it wasn't for seeing the first two movies, and holding the first in such high regard, I wouldn't have otherwise bothered with it.
I hadn't seen it in years, possibly even a decade, and I'd forgotten just how well paced, structured, interesting and involving the flick is. It's Spielberg at on his best showman's roll, and the effects still stand up to this day ... well the CGI is a smidge dated and flat by today's standards, but the overall wonder that coats the film smooths over such things easily.
Most impressive are the animatronic dinosaurs (especially the giant T-Rex head), which add to the overall feel of believability (except for Attenborough's roaming 'generally British' apparently Scottish accent), tension and action-packed excitement. A true classic.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park:
Like with the first film, I went to see this at the cinema as an eager, excited kid, and loved every minute of it. Now twice the age I was at the time it feels baggy, lacking of a properly involving plot, and it plays out as one action sequence after another. Sure, the effects (both CGI and practical) had gotten even better and greater, but there's too many side characters with nothing to do.
Even the main characters have little to do but run around and scream from time to time, and there are some biblically stupid things that happen. Malcom's kid stows away and turns up on the island to be almost nothing but a hindrance, and Sarah - supposedly a very intelligent woman - doesn't realise that it's probably not a good idea to continue wearing a jacket soaked in the un-drying blood of a baby T-Rex (she even discusses it directly with a professional hunter!!!).
It's big, bloated and at times needlessly silly, but the convincing dinosaur work and rough-and-tumble action sequences at least make it interesting enough.
Jurassic Park III:
I'd not seen it until now, and I'm hardly surprised. It is interesting to get Grant back - and even a bit more Satler - but the inciting incident is too weak and daft, and Grant simply going along with it literally for a pay cheque doesn't ring true. It made enough sense in the first movie - before he knew what he was getting into - but now, after two movies, you'd think that Grant would just say "NO!" and be done with it entirely.
Even more so than the second movie, it's just one action sequence after another, and while - again - it's all technically very proficient, you just don't give much of a stuff about it all in the end. The film itself is a good half hour shorter than the first two, and that about says it all - there's not enough meat to bother with, and - again - stupid characters make stupid decisions. If it wasn't for seeing the first two movies, and holding the first in such high regard, I wouldn't have otherwise bothered with it.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Double Bill Mini Musings: Brits and South Koreans...
Outpost:
If only more horror movies had a similar vibe to this flick. It's not about big jumpy "BOO!" scares and loud crashing noises on the soundtrack. It's about a creeping sense of dread in an intimidating atmosphere, and while it's not going to freak out horror fiends such as myself, it was a far more convincing slice of genre fare than - for example - The Haunting In Conneticut, which was a case of loud noises and jumpy moments (incidentally that flick was decent for a viewing, but it tried too hard).
It's low budget, it's creepy, it's well pieced together and while the script isn't anything particularly special, the overall package is pleasing - after all, it's ghost/zombie Nazis in a dark, spooky Nazi bunker!
The Good, The Bad, and The Weird:
The last South Korean movie I recall watching was The Host (which also stars one of the same actors) - and I didn't care for it - however this love letter to Sergio Leone (specifically For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, and Once Upon A Time In The West) is a corker. Aside from some second act pacing dips, and a mildy confusing interplay of character groups, it has some brilliant action - a raid on a moving train, a market bullet ballet that ascends to the skies, and an all-out chase after the treasure map featuring multiple factions running and gunning like crazy set to Santa Esmeralda's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (a possible Tarantino nod?).
In short it is a beautiful-looking, beautifully crafted South Korean take on the Spaghetti Western. Your patience might be tested around the middle portion, but it's entirely worthwhile to stick around and enjoy the spectacle of it all.
If only more horror movies had a similar vibe to this flick. It's not about big jumpy "BOO!" scares and loud crashing noises on the soundtrack. It's about a creeping sense of dread in an intimidating atmosphere, and while it's not going to freak out horror fiends such as myself, it was a far more convincing slice of genre fare than - for example - The Haunting In Conneticut, which was a case of loud noises and jumpy moments (incidentally that flick was decent for a viewing, but it tried too hard).
It's low budget, it's creepy, it's well pieced together and while the script isn't anything particularly special, the overall package is pleasing - after all, it's ghost/zombie Nazis in a dark, spooky Nazi bunker!
The Good, The Bad, and The Weird:
The last South Korean movie I recall watching was The Host (which also stars one of the same actors) - and I didn't care for it - however this love letter to Sergio Leone (specifically For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, and Once Upon A Time In The West) is a corker. Aside from some second act pacing dips, and a mildy confusing interplay of character groups, it has some brilliant action - a raid on a moving train, a market bullet ballet that ascends to the skies, and an all-out chase after the treasure map featuring multiple factions running and gunning like crazy set to Santa Esmeralda's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (a possible Tarantino nod?).
In short it is a beautiful-looking, beautifully crafted South Korean take on the Spaghetti Western. Your patience might be tested around the middle portion, but it's entirely worthwhile to stick around and enjoy the spectacle of it all.
Monday, 21 June 2010
MacGruber...
I knew nothing of the MacGruber sketches featured on Saturday Night Live (we don't get SNL in the UK as far as I'm aware), so all I had to go on was a review in Total Film and the trailer on YouTube. I was expecting a vulgar, gleefully scattergun, laugh riot and I certainly got that. The early afternoon screening we attended (on a sunny Sunday) wasn't densely populated, but that didn't stop riotous laughter breaking out every few minutes.
It's a daft film with a daft sense of silly joy at making you laugh at vulgar and inane things. It's seriously good fun and I'm really quite glad I checked it out. Stand-out gags come thick and fast, including a wonderful undercutting of the traditional movie love scene that caused uproarious laughter amongst the relative few of us who chose air conditioned darkness over a blue-sky sunny Sunday. Two throat-ripping thumbs up from me.
It's a daft film with a daft sense of silly joy at making you laugh at vulgar and inane things. It's seriously good fun and I'm really quite glad I checked it out. Stand-out gags come thick and fast, including a wonderful undercutting of the traditional movie love scene that caused uproarious laughter amongst the relative few of us who chose air conditioned darkness over a blue-sky sunny Sunday. Two throat-ripping thumbs up from me.
Double Bill Mini Musings: A strange pairing...
Milk:
Sean Penn makes you believe he's Harvey Milk in this fascinating biography from Gus Van Sant. It's big-scale biography with an indie thoughtfulness mixed with real-life newsreel footage. What's more, it's astonishing to think that 30-40 years ago, some politicians were seriously lumping homosexuals together with paedeophiles and animal botherers as their argument against pro-gay legislation. Living in present day Britain - where religion is subtle and sexuality is no bother - it's amazing to think that the above argument was seriously being made, and met with vocal support, not all that long before I was born.
Tormented:
A slightly weird British horror comedy that's got two of the original cast of Skins in it. A bullied kid comes back from the dead to torment and bump off those whose bullying and selfishness affected him most. I'm still not sure why he kills the nerdy kid with the pencils up the nose gag, and it's frustrating that none of the bullies show a single ounce of understanding or regret for their actions ... and the reveal of the website that's foreshadowed earlier proves so wholly troubling (as it bloody well should) stalls proceedings with distinct unpleasantness.
That said, there's some great gore gags - a broken classroom guilotine, a towel-whipped eyeball, and a steamy encounter in a cemetery among them - and the final pay off is a rallying cry to those who have been bullied. A violent resort such as this isn't the answer - naturally - but who wouldn't want to see a bunch of despicable teenage bullies getting what they damn well deserve? A pretty decent flick - worth a watch.
Sean Penn makes you believe he's Harvey Milk in this fascinating biography from Gus Van Sant. It's big-scale biography with an indie thoughtfulness mixed with real-life newsreel footage. What's more, it's astonishing to think that 30-40 years ago, some politicians were seriously lumping homosexuals together with paedeophiles and animal botherers as their argument against pro-gay legislation. Living in present day Britain - where religion is subtle and sexuality is no bother - it's amazing to think that the above argument was seriously being made, and met with vocal support, not all that long before I was born.
Tormented:
A slightly weird British horror comedy that's got two of the original cast of Skins in it. A bullied kid comes back from the dead to torment and bump off those whose bullying and selfishness affected him most. I'm still not sure why he kills the nerdy kid with the pencils up the nose gag, and it's frustrating that none of the bullies show a single ounce of understanding or regret for their actions ... and the reveal of the website that's foreshadowed earlier proves so wholly troubling (as it bloody well should) stalls proceedings with distinct unpleasantness.
That said, there's some great gore gags - a broken classroom guilotine, a towel-whipped eyeball, and a steamy encounter in a cemetery among them - and the final pay off is a rallying cry to those who have been bullied. A violent resort such as this isn't the answer - naturally - but who wouldn't want to see a bunch of despicable teenage bullies getting what they damn well deserve? A pretty decent flick - worth a watch.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
The Losers...
I didn't really know anything at all about this flick until just before seeing it. An article in Total Film and the trailer in the cinema the week before it opened when we went to see Cop Out, and that was all I knew of it - but it looked like ruddy good fun - and ruddy good fun was what we got.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Losers, not that it's especially clever or has an exceptionally original script, because it isn't and it doesn't - but it's just a bloody good time at the movies. Big guns, big explosions, big characters with sarcastic senses of humour, and tub-thumping action set pieces.
It's a movie to just enjoy, like eating a take-away dinner on the sofa with a couple of kick ass DVDs on the telly.
My one grievance, though, is the 12A rating. The violence feels neutered - although the neutering is done within reason (a comic book style freeze framing device at times) ... but then again, for a 12A it's pretty bad ass. It's been a while since I've heard "shit" flung around so freely in the dialogue of 12A flick, and there's a damn clear "fuck" thrown in for good measure. The violence swings between stylistic awesomeness and bruisingly bloodless. It'll be interesting to see if they do an unrated version for DVD, but even if they don't, I can easily see myself enjoying the hell out of this movie all over again on DVD.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am - that's The Losers for you. Pure, boiled-down entertainment.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Losers, not that it's especially clever or has an exceptionally original script, because it isn't and it doesn't - but it's just a bloody good time at the movies. Big guns, big explosions, big characters with sarcastic senses of humour, and tub-thumping action set pieces.
It's a movie to just enjoy, like eating a take-away dinner on the sofa with a couple of kick ass DVDs on the telly.
My one grievance, though, is the 12A rating. The violence feels neutered - although the neutering is done within reason (a comic book style freeze framing device at times) ... but then again, for a 12A it's pretty bad ass. It's been a while since I've heard "shit" flung around so freely in the dialogue of 12A flick, and there's a damn clear "fuck" thrown in for good measure. The violence swings between stylistic awesomeness and bruisingly bloodless. It'll be interesting to see if they do an unrated version for DVD, but even if they don't, I can easily see myself enjoying the hell out of this movie all over again on DVD.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am - that's The Losers for you. Pure, boiled-down entertainment.
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