Category Archives: Movies

Feb 5 2012

City Of The Living Dead

Viewed – 04 February 2012  Television

In the early eighties, a bunch of horror movies were deemed, at least here in the UK as too shocking for public consumption, and were banned outright.  In subsequent years these so called ‘video nasties’ began to slowly emerge, more often than not in a censored form.  Thankfully these days many of them can be found uncut, and one of the pioneers of such movies was late Italian director Lucio Fulci.  I have only seen a couple of his movies, but can attest they do live up to his moniker of ‘the godfather of gore’.

This 1980 release has a priest hanging himself in a cemetery whilst at the same time a psychic see’s the incident in a vision during a séance.  Soon after weird things start to happen, and recently deceased persons start coming back to life.  The psychic and a group of other people then journey to Dunwhich, where the priest hung himself to hopefully prevent the end of the world … as you do.

This is typical 80′s horror fair, with questionable acting, a couple of pretty females, and stand out moments of gore.  Lucio Fulci was a skilled director that’s for sure, even if his stories were usually wafer thin and incoherent.  This movie is no different, as the plot is mostly left unexplained (like what was the priest all about?) and the characterisation non-existent.  The movie is very creepy however, with some decent atmosphere and the soundtrack certainly works to crank up the tension.  For a Fulci movie the gory moments are a bit hit and miss (the drill sequence is stunning, but the vomit-up-ones-own-guts bit, is just ridiculous) and whatever interesting ideas it has to start with, just degenerates into your average zombie movie towards the end.

This was entertaining though, and I’m glad I have finally managed to see it.

Verdict:  3 /5

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Feb 4 2012

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Viewed – 03 February 2012  Blu-ray

In the run up to the awards season, this has become one of the most talked about movies around.  With a heavy weight cast of top British thesps and a gritty cold war storyline, this is the movie many people are putting all their hopes in.  Call it this years The King’s Speech, if you like.  Adapted from the novel by John LeCarré … Gary Oldman stars as a former M16 agent who is persuaded by an old friend to come out of retirement in order to investigate the possibility of a Russian mole in the organization.  The movie jumps back and forth between time lines and shows us the history behind such suspicion after former boss John Hurt sends field agent Mark Strong to Budapest in hope if discovering the identity of the mole from a Russian contact.  In the present, Oldman must piece the clues together and line up the suspects, whilst uncovering a wealth of shady dealings.

For such a talked about movie, I admit to finding it extremely difficult to follow.  It is told in such a vague and scatter shot way, that I kept hoping for a narration to fill me in on who is who and what’s what.  But no, this is the sort of movie where you the viewer are left pretty much in the dark, and everyone on-screen seems much more well-informed.  Sometimes people would say things and the other person would look shocked, whilst I would respond with ‘huh?’.  I don’t know.  Other movies have played the trick of showing you something, making you believe its one way, then later revealing it wasn’t quite what you thought.  That can be cool, but here it was simply frustrating.  Gary Oldman is very good as the veteran MI6 agent ‘Smiley’ but doesn’t ever really have a moment to stand out, neither does John Hurt, who apart from an acceptable performance, is barely in it.  I actually warmed much more to underrated actor Mark Strong, as I felt his story was the most intriguing, but like everything here, it never really delves enough to totally satisfy.

Tomas (Let The Right One In) Alfredson’s direction, on a technical level is sublime and very stylish.  He makes the mostly London-set locations look gorgeous, and there’s no doubt he’s a genuine talent.  However the material he has been given is confusing, a little too sure of itself and ultimately … boring.  Really, when a movie can be summed up as two hours of stiff upper collar British chaps sitting in rooms looking confused, that can’t be good, can it?

Verdict:  2 /5

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Feb 3 2012

Strange Days

Viewed – 02 February 2012  Blu-ray

German import review

Kathryn Bigelow may be more known these days for her Oscar-winning war movie The Hurt Locker, but once upon a time, she was one of the coolest directors around, responsible for the likes of vampire classic Near Dark, Keanu Reeves & Patrick Swayze thriller Point Break, and also this much underrated techno-thriller.  Based on a story by her then husband James Cameron (Terminator 2, Avatar) this tells the story of former cop turned dealer Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) who instead of pedaling drugs, peddles ‘clips’; fragments of other people’s experiences recorded by a black market device known as the squib, and sold in clubs to rich business men.  He offers people the chance to experience things they would not normally experience, such as sex or armed robbery.  He’s the santa clause of the subconscious.  However, when a famous politically-themed rapper is murdered, events spiral out of control as a desperate hooker and two psychotic cops become involved and soon Lenny is racing against time to piece together the clues, as the clock ticks ever closer to the millennium.

At the time this was released (1995), there was much speculation about what the new century would bring, what would change, the millennium bug and everything that came with it.  Several other movies followed similar themes, but none did it in such a stylish, controversial and accomplished way as this.  The story tackles themes of racial tension, sex, violence, technology and love with intelligence.  At times some of the dialogue is a little too cool sounding to be convincing, and it does get quite complicated during its 2hr 20 minute running time.  Also some of the more controversial moments, like a first-person-perspective rape sequence, sit uneasily within the otherwise ‘cool’ vibe.  Yet the performances from not only Ralph Fiennes (playing against type), but also Angela Bassett, Tom Sizemore and a wonderfully sleazy Juliette Lewis (showing off a powerful rock chick persona) impress regardless.  Yet above all this is Bigelow’s show, and her direction is classy and confident.  She’s an incredible action director and with a daring but brilliantly written script to bounce her (ahead of its time) camera-trickery and booming soundtrack off, this remains one of those movies, that for me … made the nineties.

Strange Days hasn’t always been treated the best, with an almost bare-bones DVD version previously, boasting a pointless 40 minute commentary from the director and a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer … and at the time of writing, has yet to get a major release on Blu-ray.  Thankfully German label Kinowelt Home Entertainment has seen fit to release the movie as part of their Blu Cinematech label, in deluxe gate-fold packaging and with behind the scenes featurettes, a music video and a photo gallery.  Best of all the movie has been treated to a quality HD transfer that really upgrades the movie from any previous release.  This is the kind of respect the movie has been sorely missing for years, and for now makes it the only edition worthy of your money.

Verdict:  4 /5

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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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Jan 29 2012

Laputa: Castle In The Sky

Viewed – 29 January 2012  Blu-ray

It goes almost without saying, that Studio Ghibli, the animation house that brought us the Oscar-winning Spirited Away has become one of the most respected animation studios in the world, and taking just a glance at their back catalogue reveals a wealth of magical and endearing movies.  Back in 1986, the famed studio was formed to make its first feature-length movie, and so we have this, a magical Jules Vern inspired adventure that proves even over twenty years ago, director and studio founder Hayao Miyazaki was a true talent.

Pazu is a hard-working young boy in a mining community, who one day witnesses a young girl fall from the sky.  Hurrying to her rescue, he soon discovers she is on the run from a group of pirates and the army, who seek the magical properties of her necklace.  Before long a spectacular adventure ensues as Pazu tries to help the girl unravel the mystery of the necklace’s origin and its connection to a fabled city floating in the sky.  Clearly the imagination and artistic style Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have become known for, was their from the start.  The animation and character on display here is quite breathtaking.  The story borrows from the aviation-mixed-with-science-fiction of Jules Vern, but also reminded me of the Brit fantasy Stardust, which this could easily have been the inspiration for.  The two young characters are easy to like and get caught up in their adventure (voiced well by James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin), and the mother pirate is a classic Ghibli creation, as is the shady villain, all smart suit and sunglasses.  The action, when it comes is also very exciting (the robot encounter, the various sky battles) and the final act is pretty damn magical.

At over two hours, the movie is quite lengthy for an animation, but doesn’t drag.  I would have liked more revealed about the floating city, and sometimes the comedy was laid on a bit thick.  Yet this doesn’t really spoil what is essentially a well made and enjoyable movie, surely worthy of any animation fans viewing list.

For an older movie, this Blu-ray release from Optimum is difficult to fault.  The colours are vibrant and the detail is very sharp.  It looks like the whole movie has been remastered to show off the format, including a decent soundtrack and some good effects with booming explosions, as well as clear voice work.  Extras include brief behind the scenes featurettes, story boards and trailers, as well as the movie on DVD.

Verdict:  4 /5

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