Transformers: Dark of the Moon:
The first one was solid, the second one was a confused and poorly judged mess that inspired guilt more than enjoyment, and now this third one (which would be wise to be the closing chapter) comes clunking along with it's gigantic running time filled with gigantic Autobots and Decepticons that all look the same (bar Optimus, Bumble Bee, and Sentinel) punching each other. Fortunately it's a big improvement over the second movie, and it even kicks off with an intriguing opening half hour that re-purposes major historical events.
However, the plot becomes less-and-less important and the EXPLOSIONS and FIGHTING ROBOTS become more important to the filmmakers, as the movie progresses. This all culminates in a ridiculously overlong final battle (with a ridiculously short wrap-up, that caught me off-guard with its brevity). If you want lots of shit exploding and looking pretty whilst doing so, you'll get what you want, but beyond that it's an exhausting experience. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley isn't as pointless as the trailer makes out, but she's far from interesting, and Patrick Dempsey's Dylan is a casualty of an overlong running time that can't manage to cover all of the human characters in enough detail (let alone the Autobots and Decepticons). It's a cursory sort of movie in that way, all (impressively martialed) mouth and no trousers.
The Killing Machine:
For what it is - straight-to-DVD action fodder designed for fans of a particular name, in this case Dolph Lundgren - it's decent. The production value is decidedly better that The Mechanik (another Lundgren DVD vehicle), the plot is straight forward (but nothing to set the world on fire), and there's some nice moments of action. If you're going to watch one of Lundgren's DVD actioners, you'd probably do best to make it this one.
Mercury Rising:
Weirdly I've had a dubbed copy of this on videotape ever since its video rental release (circa 1998), but I never got around to watching it. Then it was on Sky Anytime t'other day, so I figured it was about time. Bruce Willis is an FBI agent who has to protect an autistic boy (the "Autism?" "Yes, Autism is..." exchanges are slightly funny in their near-PSA directness) who has cracked a supposedly unbreakable government code, and is now being hunted by those who want to either silence him, or use him. Decent thriller fare.
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd:
A surprisingly enjoyable prequel to the Farrely brother's beloved chuckle-fest, featuring Derek Richardson (Harry) and Eric Christian Olsen (Lloyd), who do a remarkably good job of inhabiting the performances established in 1994 by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Harry and Lloyd are in high school, and end up in a phoney special needs class due to a scam being run by the Principal and the Lunch Lady. It's gleefully silly, and while it was never going to top the original, it's actually quite good fun.
Grown Ups:
I was expecting something worse than this, but the real-life friendship between the central male leads shines through the so-so workman-like comedy. Adam Sandler and pals are re-united 30 years later by the death of their school basketball coach, and spend the July 4th weekend together in a lakeside cabin with their respective family. Cue silliness, prat falls, and some paint-by-numbers lessons-to-be-learned, and you've got a decent (if not especially memorable) way to spent 90 minutes - even if several characters (of a rather large cast) are ditched with cursory roles to play.
Fanboys:
This one came late to Sky Movies (it's originally from 2008), but it's about a bunch of Star Wars geeks who go on a mission to steal the work print of The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch. Like Grown Ups, it's a servicable comedy with some good giggles along the way, but it's a light meal (enjoyable at the time) that'll fade into the background for most.
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest:
A satisfying closer to the Millennium Trilogy. Sure enough, the second film was setting up lots of the third film - although numerous new characters and plot details are surfaced as well, which can prove slightly confusing until it's all wrapped up in the final act. It's more stylish than the second one, but the first remains the best - it featured a complex stand-alone narrative that was translated with style and precision to the screen by Niels Arden Oplev - while the second two (directed by Daniel Alfredson) never matched that level, they weren't let downs either. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is indeed a new cinematic icon.
Trailer Park Of Terror:
You want some horror fodder? Then step right up. A bunch of fodder-ready Christian development kids from the wrong sides of their respective tracks, find themselves at the mercy of a bunch of hellish ghouls at a trailer park. The plot is fairly threadbare, and early on the movie can't decide which tale it wants to tell (neither have enough meat to them when collided together in this brief presentation). However the production value and style of the whole thing is impressive ... but unless it's particularly tickled your fancy, it'll remain forgettable genre fodder.
Sunset Boulevard:
The other week I finally got around to seeing Billy Wilder's superb film noir Double Indemnity, and now I've gotten to see his oft-quoted, landmark, and grippingly acerbic take on 1950s Hollywood. Featuring real Hollywood names of the silent and early talkies period (Cecil B. DeMille, Erich von Stroheim, and even Buster Keaton), the involving narrative charts a struggling (practically failed) writer (Joe, played by William Holden) who accidentally gets involved with a fading star of the silent movie era (Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson) - a deluded and aging actress who resides exclusively in her decaying mansion. Soon he becomes her kept man, working on a script for her, while moonlighting on another script with another woman (Betty) by night. It's a wonderfully intriguing and skilfully concise tale - no wonder it's an icon of cinematic history (indeed it provided heavy inspiration for Chuck Palahniuk's 2010 novel Tell-All). Highly recommended.
Showing posts with label terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terror. Show all posts
Monday, 11 July 2011
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Machete...
As soon as I saw the trailer at the head of Grindhouse/Planet Terror, I knew I wanted to see a feature length version of Machete, and now three years later here we are. Disappointingly there was barely (if any) pushing of this flick here in the UK. If you weren't somehow in the know, you wouldn't know a damn thing about it being in the cinemas.
As such the screening we went to was a bit on the sparse side, but even still it was a ruddy good old time. The pre-title sequence is the movie at quite possibly it's best - to say it starts of strong is an understatement. Heads and limbs are lopped off, gags are thrown out to the audience, and generally speaking there's just a bunch of bad-assery going on for five minutes.
Continuing the vibe established by the under performing (Theatrical Box Office wise) cult extravaganza Grindhouse, Machete goes for the 'dirty old print' look (albeit in a far subtler way), and pretty much just wants to have fun with over-the-top characters in over-the-top situations. The guys are tough and the girls are smoking (and pretty tough themselves), and the violence is brutally humorous.
Sticking the various set pieces together (the best of which are found in the first half) is a plot relating to illegal immigration, which is fair enough as without that the plot would be drearily similar to countless other exploitation flicks. However, what is disappointing is that Rodriguez & Co never really bother to get into the meat of the issue - it's pretty much 'the proponents of a great big fence are murderous uber-rednecks, and those against are poster boy freedom fighters' ... weirdly, for an exploitation flick, the plot is a bit undercooked. If you're going to introduce an interesting start point for a plot, at least dive into it, rather than leave the stone half turned.
Indeed it's when the movie focuses on getting some of the plot out of the way that the movie dips, in that it begins to lack some of the memorable moments that we are treated to so regularly in the first half. It's as if the throttle keeps slipping in the second half, which is unfortunate, because when the movie is cooking it's on fire.
Danny Trejo is fun-as-hell as the titular short-talking tough-guy hero - getting great lines like "Machete don't text" to play with, and hot chicas to bed throughout - while the supporting cast dive into the fun of it all, most notably Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, and Robert DeNiro, the latter of whom is a bit underused.
This was the sort of flick that had already shown us many of it's best bits in the faux trailer that preceded Planet Terror, although it was fun to pinpoint where the existing shots turn up, and where certain changes have been made along the way. Machete had a lot of hype going into it, so perhaps that explains the slight twinge of disappointment that I felt in the second half of the flick, but now that I've seen it, it'll be good to see it a second time - on its own terms for exactly what it is.
However, despite some slow points in the second half, and a slightly underwhelming finale, Machete is a rip-roaring good time that does what exploitation movies are supposed to do - give the audience bad ass dudes, sexy tough girls, and an over-the-top sense of action and violence.
As such the screening we went to was a bit on the sparse side, but even still it was a ruddy good old time. The pre-title sequence is the movie at quite possibly it's best - to say it starts of strong is an understatement. Heads and limbs are lopped off, gags are thrown out to the audience, and generally speaking there's just a bunch of bad-assery going on for five minutes.
Continuing the vibe established by the under performing (Theatrical Box Office wise) cult extravaganza Grindhouse, Machete goes for the 'dirty old print' look (albeit in a far subtler way), and pretty much just wants to have fun with over-the-top characters in over-the-top situations. The guys are tough and the girls are smoking (and pretty tough themselves), and the violence is brutally humorous.
Sticking the various set pieces together (the best of which are found in the first half) is a plot relating to illegal immigration, which is fair enough as without that the plot would be drearily similar to countless other exploitation flicks. However, what is disappointing is that Rodriguez & Co never really bother to get into the meat of the issue - it's pretty much 'the proponents of a great big fence are murderous uber-rednecks, and those against are poster boy freedom fighters' ... weirdly, for an exploitation flick, the plot is a bit undercooked. If you're going to introduce an interesting start point for a plot, at least dive into it, rather than leave the stone half turned.
Indeed it's when the movie focuses on getting some of the plot out of the way that the movie dips, in that it begins to lack some of the memorable moments that we are treated to so regularly in the first half. It's as if the throttle keeps slipping in the second half, which is unfortunate, because when the movie is cooking it's on fire.
Danny Trejo is fun-as-hell as the titular short-talking tough-guy hero - getting great lines like "Machete don't text" to play with, and hot chicas to bed throughout - while the supporting cast dive into the fun of it all, most notably Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, and Robert DeNiro, the latter of whom is a bit underused.
This was the sort of flick that had already shown us many of it's best bits in the faux trailer that preceded Planet Terror, although it was fun to pinpoint where the existing shots turn up, and where certain changes have been made along the way. Machete had a lot of hype going into it, so perhaps that explains the slight twinge of disappointment that I felt in the second half of the flick, but now that I've seen it, it'll be good to see it a second time - on its own terms for exactly what it is.
However, despite some slow points in the second half, and a slightly underwhelming finale, Machete is a rip-roaring good time that does what exploitation movies are supposed to do - give the audience bad ass dudes, sexy tough girls, and an over-the-top sense of action and violence.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Contempt @ The Milano Film Festival 2008...
The Milano Film Festival 2008
I'd spoken about this earlier, but at the time their website hadn't updated, but now it has - so click the above link and check out the page for Contempt of Conscience, which is showing as part of the "State (t)error" segment, described as such:
I'd spoken about this earlier, but at the time their website hadn't updated, but now it has - so click the above link and check out the page for Contempt of Conscience, which is showing as part of the "State (t)error" segment, described as such:
"This out-of-competition season, now at its fourth edition, has increased in the number of works screened and in the audience's interest.
The documentaries tell little know stories or stories whose best-known versions are doctored. Stories about the violation of human rights and democratic principles, that highlight the iniquities and crimes committed under the banner of great concepts like "the export of democracy", "freedom of worship", "war on terror" and "peace missions".
The topics and countries featured in the documentaries try to offer an image of the world as accurate and varied as possible. But of an upside-down world. A world in which many areas haven't been mapped out yet.
In 2007 it was Chechnya, Belarus, Iraq, Italy, Palestine, Bosnia, and the USA."
The documentaries tell little know stories or stories whose best-known versions are doctored. Stories about the violation of human rights and democratic principles, that highlight the iniquities and crimes committed under the banner of great concepts like "the export of democracy", "freedom of worship", "war on terror" and "peace missions".
The topics and countries featured in the documentaries try to offer an image of the world as accurate and varied as possible. But of an upside-down world. A world in which many areas haven't been mapped out yet.
In 2007 it was Chechnya, Belarus, Iraq, Italy, Palestine, Bosnia, and the USA."
And there I am in the credits:
Fotografia - Cinematography: Nick Thomson
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