Kill List:
What's it about?
Two hitmen - one of whom who has a dodgy past and has been out of the game too long - are contracted to pull off multiple kills, but something's not right, not least because the victims say thank you before they're offed in Ben Wheatley's dark British horror thriller.
Who would I recognise in it?
Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring, Emma Fryer.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Some might find it slow to get underway, initially focusing on the troubled marriage of a lower-middle-class couple, particularly the husband's askew mental state, but the time taken up-front pays off in the end with greater investment and impact in the closing scenes. Some have mentioned The Wicker Man in connection with this British horror flick, and some connections can be seen here and there. Ultimately, some might find the lack of answers or any real explanation in the third act, which can somewhat undo the genuine creepiness built up during Act II, to be a bit off-putting, but even still it's a cracking little chiller. Good.
Click "READ MORE" for Texas Killing Fields, Tower Heist, and Submarine...
Texas Killing Fields:
What's it about?
Apparently based on true events, produced by Michael Mann (and Directed by his daughter), this killer thriller takes its name from the wastelands of Texas where many missing persons turn up dead.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain, Stephen Graham, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sheryl Lee, Annabeth Gish.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
The viewer is thrown in at the deep end, along with some initially impenetrable mumbled Texas accents (Worthington in particular is damn-near impossible to understand for the first 20 minutes), with character backgrounds, affectations, and motivations scattered wide throughout the fairly breezy running time. It's more about a mood and a sense of place - specifically the harsh swamplands of the eponymous body-strewn fields. Come the third act however, with no help from a confused second act, the reasons behind a girl going missing are totally lost ... I've no idea why most of what happened, happened. It's got a great mood, but an utterly confusing plot that keeps you at a distance from the outset. On the cusp between good and alright.
Tower Heist:
What's it about?
Brett Ratner's glossy crime caper about a group of workers at a high class apartment building (plus a career criminal) teaming up to get revenge on their employer who has gambled away their pensions like a right old white collar rich guy scumbag.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Tea Leoni, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Gabourney Sidibe, Judd Hirsh, Michael Pena.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It's a Brett Ratner film, so deep characterisation and plot detail aren't going to be high on the list of priorities. It's glossy enough and breezes along, but it's ultimately forgettable with it's simple set-up and clear moral compass. There are a few nice touches here and there which suggest a smarter, more unconventional Hollywood heist caper could have been crafted from the collected elements, but as it stands you're in pretty safe and generally predictable territory from the get-go. I almost didn't bother watching it, but it happened to be on Sky Anytime and I gave it a spin - it held my attention for the running time, even with a couple of hanging plot threads (specifically between Stiller and Leoni) proving to be frustrating come the end, and yet it had a sweat-inducing sequence for all the vertigo sufferers out there. Still though, it's a disposable popcorn comedy crime caper that will hang around in your mind as long as the taste of salted popcorn will in your mouth. Alright.
Submarine:
What's it about?
Richard Ayoade's film adaptation of the book that tells the intermittently pretentious tale of Welsh teenager Oliver Tate who has to contend with his parent's faltering marriage and his first experience of love with Jordana Bevan.
Who would I recognise in it?
Paddy Considine, Sally Hawkins.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
The self-awareness and, frankly, gittishness of the two lead characters up-front led to me instantly taking a disliking to the both of them - but then again, this does prove to be a bolder set-up than you might normally expect. Still though, the level of pretentiousness throughout ranges wildly from endearingly original in presentation, to downright eye-rollingly annoying. Ayoade directs a very solid debut however, with some startling visual flourishes - the visual tone of the film in itself proves to be fascinating (it's set in 1986, but much of the look stretches back into the 1960s and 1970s). However, I did spot a P-registered (circa 1997) Vauxhall clearly parked in the Bevan's driveway. Whether it will turn you off with its pretentions, or spark a fire in you with its captivatingly bold style and direction, will be a reaction that is each-to-their-own, but its certainly a strong debut from Ayoade (perhaps best known by the general public as Moss from The IT Crowd). Good with moments of greatness.
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