Tag: Films

Beowulf and the Mouse…

I went to see Beowulf last night and I must say it is totally awesome. I heard some less than complementary reviews, but they obviously saw a different film to me. I thought the storey was good, the visuals were amazing and I thought the characters had some depth.

I’ve found myself getting a bit sick of visual effects lately, but when the whole film is CGI, the “less real” affects like dragons, seem all the more real. I guess it’s easier to suspend your disbelief when the whole thing is a posh cartoon, as opposed to live action.

I didn’t think the visuals were a giant leap forward from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which is probably an indication of how well they did the job 6 years ago, rather than a criticism of Beowulf.

When I got back from OpenWorld I noticed a mouse had taken up residence in my house. I wouldn’t mind only I’m a bit nervous about it chewing through my electrical cables, so I decided to buy a humane trap and see if I could get rid of it. When I got back home from watching Beowulf I noticed the trap was triggered and my little furry friend was inside. I drove off to a field and let it go into a hedgerow. I forgot how fast mice can move. I didn’t so much see it move and see the leaves swish in it’s wake. 🙂 It was about -2 degrees last night so I feel a little guilty…

Cheers

Tim…

30 Days of Night…

All I can say is what a shame! 30 Days of Night had such promise, but it washed it all down the toilet.

You can see lots of ideas from other films thrown into the mix. It’s in Alaska, so the darkness and snow is reminicent of The Thing. A place locked in darkness for a month allowing the baddies to be set free for that time is very much like Pitch Black I guess. The sreaming of the vampires was totally Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There are some more comparisons, but it would give the story away so I won’t do a spoiler.

The vampires themselves were cool. Proper ugly villians, not the usual hollywood vampires. The trouble was, there were just so many flaws. The vampires were incredibly fast and strong, but if one of the lead character wanted to run away from them, they just kind of walked and screamed a bit. Give me a break.

The ending was so infuriatingly trash it… Oh forget it!

I should have gone to see Saw 4 instead. At least you know you’re going to get a crappy gore-fest, rather than thinking you might get something reasonable and being disappointed.

Cheers

Tim…

WordPress 2.3.1 and Films…

If you’re reading this my WordPress 2.3.1 upgrade when well…

I went to see a couple of films at the weekend. First up was Eastern Promises. I came out of the film thinking it was OK, but the next day I really couldn’t remember anything of note in the film. The performances weren’t bad, and the story was OK, but it was a little lack luster. I guess it’s supposed to be an action thriller about underworld crime centered around a family of Russian immigrants in the UK. There are a few grizzly scenes, one of which involves Viggo Mortensen having a fight in a steam room. I really didn’t expect, or want to see, quite so much of his wedding tackle. I’m not sure this level of “exposure” was necessary to the story. 🙂

Next up was Resident Evil: Extinction. Milla Jovovich running around kicking zombie butt. I don’t think I need to say anything more do I? OK, it’s exactly the same as the previous two films, but that’s why I love it. Unfortunately, there were no scenes with Mila kicking zombie but in a steam room. This was a glaring omission in my opinion. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

War (the movie)…

I went to see War at the cinema on Saturday. I’m a fan of Jet Li and I think Jason Statham has been kind-of cool in a few films so it seemed like a safe bet.

Let’s start by saying, this is not a Martial Arts film. There is a little bit of fighting, but nothing technical or cool. At first I was enjoying the film on face value, but the true plot became evident towards the end of the film. At that point I felt a little let down because the idea was better than I expected, but the implementation wasn’t so good. I know that sounds odd, but I guess if you watch the film you will see what I mean. It could have been a lot better.

So I guess the verdict has to be not too bad for a nondescript film. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Rush Hour 3…

When watching Rush Hour 3 you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching either of the first two films, except Chris Tucker has put on some weight and Jackie Chan is looking that bit older. Once again, it plays heavily on stereotypes of Chinese and African Americans, but this time it includes the French in the mix. I know it’s meant to be comedy, but this kind of stuff is getting very old these days. It is funny in parts, but it’s more of DVD film for those occasions when you’ve got nothing better to do.

The only real thing of note in the film is Noémie Lenoir. She’s one of the models in the current advertising campaign for Marks & Spencers in the UK, amongst other things. As you would expect from a model-turned-actress, she looks great, but when you see her with her head shaved she is off the scale. If I were her I would keep my head shaved, or have very short hair all the time. She looks amazing.

Cheers

Tim…

The Bourne Ultimatum…

I don’t know who starred in this film, or what happened because the camera never stopped shaking long enough for me to focus on anything. 🙂

Seriously though, The Bourne Ultimatum is a cool film. Like the previous films, it’s gritty and ugly and feels kind-of real, in as much as a Hollywood assassin film can. I thought the rough camera work worked really well on the first two films. It was quite over the top on this film, but even this didn’t spoil it for me.

I think this franchise has run its course, because I can’t see where else they can take it, but if they do make any more I will definitely see them.

Cheers

Tim…

Transformers…

For the last year or more in the UK they have been showing a Citroen advert on TV with a car that turns into a robot then dances, ice skates and runs. The camera work on this advert is really clean and you can see everything really clearly. I went into the Transformers movie expecting to see something similar, which no doubt tainted my view of the movie.

It’s a good movie and no doubt deserves the 8/10 ratings people have been giving it, but there were two major drawbacks, which seem to be common to every film these days:

  • If I make it longer, it must be better! Wrong! Keep kids films like this under 90 minutes and they will go down a storm. Take them above 90 minutes and they become boring.
  • If I shake the camera it will look exciting! Wrong! It just makes me want to start fitting. It seems these days the only prerequisite for being a Hollywood camera person is to have an acute case of Parkinson’s.

Moaning aside, I enjoyed it, but with a few minor modifications I could have come out saying it was the best film I’ve ever seen.

Cheers

Tim…

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer…

I saw Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer last night and thought it was a pretty decent film. My expectations had been lowered by a friend who told me it was very average, which always helps. The first few shots of Jessica Alba freaked me because she looked kind-of weird, like she had had some plastic surgery. I think she had gone a bit mad with the bottox, because in a few shots she looked like she was trying to produce a facial expression, but nothing happened. Especially round here eyes and forehead. As the film went on I either got used to this, or the bottox wore off.

Anyway, there were some cool visuals and comic book action, without the endless whining of a Spiderman film. The film was paced quite reasonably and at only 92 minutes, I never got chance to get bored. If you like your cartoon spin-offs lightweight and choppy I think you’ll like it. If you prefer overly long, moralizing crap go an see Spiderman 3.

Cheers

Tim…

28 Weeks Later…

This weekend turned into a bit of a film and TV fest.

I went to see 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later, at the cinema. In 28 Days Later the “Rage Virus” as released from a research facility and infected everyone in the UK, turning them in to shrieking, running zombies. I guess the idea was not dissimilar to Resident Evil. Anyway, the sequel starts 28 weeks after the initial outbreak. By this point all the zombies have starved to death and the US army help start the re-population of the UK, stating with the Isle of Dogs in London. Inevitably, it all kicks-off again…

Although the original film was relatively low budget, it was executed well. The sequel followed the same format. It was noticeably a higher budget film, but still looked rather gritty. It did make use of the “shake the camera to add excitement” technique, which is one of my pet hates, but it was used in the appropriate manner, so I can’t complain. It was quite a grisly film, but it worked really well and I enjoyed it.

I’d read a number of reviews that talked about it being a metaphor for the Iraq invasion. I think if you are looking for this sort of thing you are always going to find it. Personally I think it is total trash.

Cheers

Tim….

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End…

I’ve just got back from watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. I was expecting to have trouble getting in, as this is the first day of release in the UK, but there were no queues and some empty seats. It’s a bank holiday weekend, so I guess lots of people decided not the brave the first day queues and will go to see it over the next two days.

I must say, I really enjoyed the film. Like most films these days it was overly long, but in this case it wasn’t a major problem. Johnny Depp stole the show once more, but everyone else did a good job. Of course, there’s an opening for future episodes, but it also seems like a pretty good place to finish. I think they could easily dilute what is currently a pretty decent trilogy by trying to drag it out. I guess that decision will rely on the box office takings and the concent of the cast.

Cheers

Tim…