Category Archives: News

May 29 2012

Movies I’m looking forward to

There are several movies I’m eager to see in the next twelve or so months.  On the near horizon is Christopher Nolan’s final part of his Bat Man Trilogy in the shape of The Dark Night Rises.  My reservations aside with what Nolan has turned the Batman mythos into over the last few years, few can argue how good The Dark Knight turned out, especially with the involvement of the late Heath Ledger.  It seemed a movie even Nolan was going to struggle beating, and even though this latest entry has mostly passed under my radar undetected, recent images have immerged of Ann Hathaway’s Catwoman, to get this film goer all twitchy and excited.   Out July 20.

Further on the horizon is the return of cult movie director Quentin Tarantino with his much hyped new western Django Unchained.  Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and also Leonardo DiCaprio … this following the excellent Inglorious Basterdz has gotta be a must see by anyones expectation.  ETA: January 2013.

I didn’t know what to make of the forthcoming The Amazing Spider-Man.  A second origin story, this time featuring The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in place of Tobey Maguire, and pitting the web slinger against The Lizard, in the form of the always enjoyable Rhys Ifans.  Then I heard that the wonderful Emma Stone will be playing love-interest Gwen Stacy … and suddenly I took notice.  I don’t know how it will compare to the already very good trilogy that went before (especially 1 & 2) but the casting is good, and effects have moved on a fair bit … so it could deliver.  It’s out July 4.

Not quite making it to cinemas here in the UK but for a select few, the latest entry in Spanish horror saga [REC] makes a splash on DVD / Blu-ray in September in the shape of the very interesting looking [REC] Genesis. A prequel to the shaky-camera terror masterpieces that came before it, I fear this may be a bit too action driven and gore laden to have the same disturbing feel of 1 & 2 … but either way, I still have to see it.

Feb 18 2012

Forgotten movies: Point Of No Return

Continuing my look back at those forgotten or misunderstood movies I grew up loving, we now come to the much underrated thriller: Point Of No Return.

Aka The Assassin (UK title) this was an American remake of the widely acclaimed Luc Besson Thriller La Femme Nikita (1990), which also spawned a television series.  Although this movie is not entirely forgotten, it has never been blessed with the same regard as either the TV series or the French original, which I think is a shame.  For me Besson’s Nikita whilst good, isn’t as enjoyable as this 1993 thriller, directed by John Badham (Bird On A Wire, Stake Out) and starring Bridget Fonda as the drug-addicted street punk transformed into a professional gun for hire by a shady government organisation, lead by Gabriel Byrne.

It has good action, a decent feisty turn from Fonda in one of her few action roles (and she’s damn sexy too) and even a memorable cameo from Harvey Keitel as ‘the cleaner’.  Ok, Fonda doesn’t exactly pull off the street kid punk as convincing as Nikita’s Anne Parillaud did, and some of the romantic bits border on cheesy, but if it wasn’t for the movie being a remake I think this would be a lot more respected than it is.  The U.S. title stinks though, which probably didn’t help its long-term appeal.

Jan 15 2012

Modern Warfare 3 – impressions

This needs little introduction.  The biggest video game franchise in history, at least as far as sales go, and the widest played online multiplayer game in the world.  Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare franchise reinvigorated the Call Of Duty brand, bringing into the modern-day and hitting us hard with total realism, glossed over with Michael Bay-like fireworks.  It’s the blockbuster of the video game world, and one of my favourite game series ever.

This time around you’re after a Russian terrorist who brings about World War 3, and you are sent in with your team to stop him.  This is a game filled with ‘oh my god’ moments of action and spectacle, with a globe-trotting storyline and production values that set it apart from almost any other game on the market.  Infinity Ward this time have teamed up with new developer Sledgehammer Games, and each mission and each fire fight feels like its been designed with absolute immersion and Hollywood-like excitement in mind.  I’m almost done with the single player campaign, and have experienced some amazing moments, none of which I will spoil for you, all I’ll say is … its brilliant, well crafted, and longer lasting that previous instalments.

Now onto the reason 90% of fans love this franchise … the multiplayer.  Again you have a variety of maps to play on, and a reward system that enables you to upgrade weapons and install new perks to help you in your quest for online supremacy.  Not much has changed from the well-honed formula of MW #1 & 2, but this time with new mode Kill Confirmed where you collect dog tags of your fallen foes to increase points for your team – it seems more addictive than ever.  As can be expected, the online lives or dies depending on the time you put into it and how good your reflexes are, but when ‘in the zone’ it can be an adrenaline-fueled joy, and one I will be returning to again and again.  Add to this modes like Spec Ops, Domination, Free-For-All and the classic Team Deathmatch, and this is one game that just keeps on giving.

Modern Warfare 3 is the best Call Of Duty yet, no question … and a flagship title regardless if your playing it on PC, Playstation 3 or XBOX 360.

Jan 5 2012

It will be mine, yes … it will be mine!

Guess what I have being installed on Saturay?  Yes that is right, the UK satelite service SKY in beautiful HD.  Now my world will open up to the wonders of obscure TV shows, bizarre channels, movies I’ve seen a dozen times, and repeats of old favourites.  But hey, at least I won’t be bored … hopefully.  Here in the UK we don’t quite have the luxury of cable television, at least not to the extent as in the States, although things have greatly improved in the digital age, where previously we had to just flick through (count them) five channels – we now have digital channels, cranking that number up dramtaticaly.  Yet Sky, which is a subscription service, offers even more choice.  Colour me excited!!

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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