Category Archives: Cinema

Feb 14 2012

Forgotten movies: The Fury

Continuing my recollections of the movies I loved as a kid / teenager that seem to have vanished or been ignored in subsequent years … today’s forgotten movie is 1978′s The Fury.

Brian De Palma’s sort-of follow-up to his earlier Carrie explores similar themes of people with telekinesis, but for me this had a broader focus and was actually a lot more scary.  I recall a young man and a woman (Amy Irving -  one of the women who bullied Carrie) linked by their psychic ability, one trained to kill, the other in an institute learning about her ability.  When the man’s father, Kirk Douglas turns to her for help to rescue his son, it’s soon becomes a race against time, to save him from a government agent and himself .

This was a classic horror / thriller if I recall, and had some really scary stuff (the psychic man hovering in mid-air in a darkened room … an image that has always lingered in my head) and at the time, the subject really creeped me out.  It’s weird that considering the movie’s pedigree, that of famed director Brian De Palma (Scarface, Mission Impossible, The Untouchables) and screen legend Kirk Douglas being involved, that when anyone ever recalls seventies horror or even just classic movies – it’s never mentioned.  I think many have just forgotten about it, and without Stephen King’s name above the title, it’s never had the sort of respect or long-standing admiration I think it deserves.  A real shame … as this one movie I’d love to see again.

Feb 1 2012

The Grey

Viewed – 31 January 2012  Cinema

In recent years, Irish-born actor Liam Neeson has enjoyed a resurgence in mainstream popularity following the hit kidnap thriller Taken.  Now Neeson is the new poster boy of cool, and with this man vs the elements plane crash drama, he’s not pitted against terrorists, but that of nature itself.

As one member of an oil drilling team, Neeson must use his skills as a hunter to survive the harsh wasteland of the Alaskan wilderness, following a horrific plane crash.  As the group of men battle the raging blizzards and try not to freeze to death, they must also try to outwit a pack of wolves that begin to hunt them, and are soon picking the men off one by one.  What got to me about this movie was not the setting, nor the wolves, but the realistic emotion on display as the surviving men bond, open up about their families, and change over the course of their journey.   In many ways it touched me, which I wasn’t expecting.  Neeson of course is brilliant, lending real weight to the story; hung up on thoughts of his wife and the responsibility he finds thrust upon him.  Aiding him are several recognisable faces and the different characters are all well realised.  The wolf attack scenes are done well, even if some close-ups give away their animatronic counterparts, but this is barely noticeable.

Director Joe (The A Team??) Carnahan’s movie is expertly shot however, making the harsh Alaska setting quite beautiful at times, and there’s many clever camera tricks and subtle effects to enhance key moments, like the very real plane crash.  Smatterings of humour also work well to break up the tension, and along with a ballsy ending that will linger in your head (and heart) for a good while afterwards … this was powerful and surprising.  A must see.

Verdict:  5 /5

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Dec 31 2011

Top Ten 2011

So readers, here it is.  After much deliberation, list-making etc, I have finally come up with my Top Ten, comprised of the best movies I have watched this year.

Note:  Some movies may be older than 2011.

1.     Black Swan

2.     127 Hours

3.     Julia’s Eyes

4.     I Saw The Devil

5.     Source Code

6.     Despicable Me

7.     Monsters

8.     Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

9.     Easy A

10.   The Loved Ones

I think this year has been very memorable and offered up some very interesting and unique movies.  Of those that did not quite make the above list, I would also recommend the following:  Tangled, The Fighter, Insidious and Hanna.

Dec 31 2011

2011 a look back – part four

…and so we reach the final quarter, and with the last three months, some gems appeared and a few not so gem-like…. enjoy.

October  – December

October started off with the enjoyable but underwhelming Scream 4 that considering the long gap between that and the last movie, delivered clever ideas, but not much new.  Revisiting the Star Wars saga continued with four of the six movies being viewed and reviewed, which was exhaustive to say the least, but very memorable … and documentary-style sci-fi drama Monsters impressed with great performances and a very convincing atmosphere.

Drive Angry was a fun road-movie come horror actioner, with a great Nicolas Cage and a sexy-as-hell Amber Heard.  Not a bad way to start off November.  Justine Timberlake made for a credible action hero in sci-fi thriller In Time, and Spanish chiller Julia’s Eyes delivered tension, good performances and brilliantly executed scares.  It was great to view The Lion King again, in pin-sharp Blu-ray, and also a second viewing of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds proved it to be a better movie than I had originally realised.  The Strangers however was disappointing and predictable, and really, the premise was done better in French horror Ils (aka Them).

December kicked off with David Lynch’s classic Blue Velvet, a creepy and erotic masterpiece.  It was good to see Terry Gilliam back on form with The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, which proved he’s lost none of his bonkers brilliance.  And although I usually avoid remakes, The Thing showed that revisiting a classic and throwing in a few new ideas and a good cast, can make it work.  On Christmas Eve I checked out the much hyped Super 8 which despite aiming for 80s family movie nostalgia, just felt old-fashioned and lacking in its own identity.

So, now you must be asking yourself, with all these movies in mind, what will make the final Top Ten.  Well, you will just have to wait until later today.  Happy New Year!!

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Dec 29 2011

2011 a look back – part three

With the year really in its stride now, my viewing habits once again danced between old favourites and new titles.  Hope you see something you might have otherwise passed by…

July – September

The summer movie season being in full swing, I spent July mostly trawling through the remainder of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  Sucker Punch may have not made a great deal of sense, but with plenty of ‘cool’ and scantily clad women wielding swords and machine guns it was still a lot of fun.  Then Christian Bale impressed as a drug-addled ex-boxer training up younger brother Mark Wahlberg in the very absorbing The Fighter.   Brit-gangster drama Brighton Rock disappointed though with a unconvicing cut-throat lead and a bordering-on-pathetic female co-star.  The English seaside however, was captured nicely.  Thankfully the Coen Brother’s award winning True Grit made for a great western, if not necessary that deep a story, but child actor Halee Steinfeld was very good indeed.

August kicked off with gory grindhouse action-comedy Hobo With A Shotgun.  Rutger Hauer may be great but supporting cast and surrounding film was more gross-out bad taste than b-movie classic.  Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code was great, with the movie equal parts Hitchcock and Quantum Leap, and all round entertaining.  Costume caper Super may have had plenty of ideas, but felt a little deja-vu and even the excellent Ellen Page couldn’t save it.  A movie-light month ended brilliantly though with the clever and exhilarating Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Pre-teen killing machine Hanna appeared in September and surprised by how heart warming and less bad ass it ended up being.  Yet much of the month was dedicated to rediscovering the Star Wars saga, from the prequels right through to the older movies, in order – and it was brilliant.  Comedy Hall-Pass was one of the better comedies in recent memory, with genuine laughs and plenty of surprises.  And ending the month was Hole 3D, a great throwback to the likes of Gremlins and The Gate, scary, freaky and a great deal of fun.

So onto the final quarter.  Coming very soon indeed!