Greyhound

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Craig M

Viewed – 14 July 2020 Apple TV+

Oscar winning actor Tom Hanks is the latest name to appear exclusively on a streaming platform and shows that the digital medium and subscription services are making quite the impact. This based-on-true-events WWII drama has Hanks as a commander of an American warship given the unenviable task of escorting a fleet of ships across the ocean in 1942. However, they are not safe in the waters as a group of German U-Boats make an appearance.

A fairly simple setup paves the way for 90 minutes of gradually building tension as Hanks attempts to out-wit the Germans over several days before air support can arrive. The movie felt very authentic from the off, with plenty of I’m guessing realistic naval terms, that I’ll confess went a little over my head. Hanks as expected, is mesmerising and delivers a highly nuanced performance of a man with no small degree of humanity in the face of war and death. Support comes from Stephen Graham and Elizabeth Shue, both of which get very little to do, which goes to highlight this movie’s only failing … that of fairly one dimensional support characters, although the movie still managed to make me care, despite a lack of personality. Battles are visceral and heart-pounding and effects work throughout is decent, which delivers a real foreboding scale to the action.

Not as epic as similar fair but this is right, to the point and effective. Even if Hanks wasn’t in this, I would still have found it edge-of-the-seat stuff, but he does elevate it still and because of that I give this a firm recommendation. Just a shame it’s Apple TV exclusive because it surely deserves a wider audience.

Verdict: Recommended

Piranha 3D

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Craig M

Viewed – 14 January 2011 Blu-ray

This is one of those movies that has a certain kind of audience in mind. Guys and fanatics of low-budget trashy horror who grew up on the likes of The Evil Dead and Re-Animator. Those movies understood the basics of any good horror. You need tits, and you need gore – lots of it. Therefore I knew exactly what to expect when sitting down to watch this remake of the Joe Dante (sort of) classic.

Elizabeth Shue is a Sheriff living in a local lake-side community, who stumbles upon an outbreak of Piranhas, unearthed following an earth quake under the sea. It also happens to be spring break, the time where hormonal, sex-crazed teenagers converge on the beach for plenty of sun, sea and wet t-shirt competitions. So naturally for the Piranhas this is an all you can eat buffet, and it’s up to the Sheriff, her son and Kelly Brooke in a bikini to save the day – kind of.

Director Alexandre Aja has made a bit of a name for himself following the break-out slasher classic High Tension (aka Switchblade Romance) and then following it up with the actually rather brilliant The Hills Have Eyes remake. Now delving into his love of 80s horror if Tension could be seen as his tribute to 70s horror, this delivers on its principal promise. There’s plenty of nudity, and most importantly blood & gore – with some money shots really knocking me off my seat. All I’ll say is a boat propeller and a girl’s hair are not a good combination! Sadly the same can’t be said for the acting or the casting, with cranky dialogue and characters so wafer thin they’re almost cartoon-like. And what Christopher Lloyd is doing here is anyone’s guess.

But for fans, this is a joy. Aja cements his reputation as the gore king and at a zippy 85 minutes, its fast, fun and entertaining. Nods to Jaws (such as Richard Dreyfuss’ cameo) only remind the viewer of how gripping and intelligent this could have been, but beyond that this does tick all the boxes for what a Piranha movie needs, and I really enjoyed it.

3D doesn’t interest me at all, so I watched the 2D version.

Verdict: 3.5 /5

And The Award for Mr. Skin’s Nude Scene of the Year Goes to … Piranha 3D! (dreadcentral.com)

Back To The Future 25th Anniversary

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Craig M

Just ordered the Limited Edition Collector’s Tin of The Back To The Future Trilogy: 25th Anniversary. This is obviously the Blu-ray version.

I will let you know my thoughts on the overal picture / sound quality and what the extras consist of. For now though, here’s some artwork from the trilogy from renowned Hollywood movie poster artist Drew Struzan … please click on his name to check out his website!!