Foxx lacks charisma, the story is meandering, many of the characters are under developed, and I found quite a lot of the direction and cinematography a bit clunky.
That makes it sound like I hated it. I didn't. It's good, but not nearly as good as I was hoping it would be. It's been touted as Tarrantino's best film since Pulp Fiction but I prefer several other Tarrantino films.
The Impossible or should that be The Utterly Predicatable!
Yes, it's a tear jerker but was rubbish on so many levels. What father would send his 2 terrified children (both under 10) into the montains with total strangers whilst he searched for other family members?
I would give this no more than 5/10 and it was £9 wasted as far as I was concerned.
Shivers (aka They Came From Within aka The Parasite Murders) 1975 Dir David Cronenberg.
The inventor of "body horror" first "proper" horror feature film (Crimes of the Future is more a experimental work) is the template for the first decade of his career. A isolated expensive apartment block in Montreal is the environment invaded by a man made parasite that is passed between humans with results best described as "ikky". Its a cheap film and one that suffers from some rudimentary standards in acting, sound, editing etc but also one that builds, as Cronenberg gains confidence, to a well judged climax as the inhabitants of the complex take on the aura of a sexualized zombie horde.
Shivers is one of several films made in the 70s I've seen recently which would almost certainly fall foul of censorship (or more likely a demanded rewrite) if made in exactly the same way now with teenage children at the core of objections. I won't give anything away but there's a couple of moments that would not be filmed as was. That said it was condemned at the time described by one critic thus - "crammed with blood, violence and depraved sex" and "the most repulsive movie I've ever seen." (some would say that's a rave review! )
And There Were None (1945) - 7/10
An adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery novel, Ten Little Indians. I loved some of characters' deadpan lines. The ending was meh as I predicted it, but I can easily imagine people found it a great twist at the time.
Magic Mike - 7/10.
Entertaining, but I cringed all the way through the dance performances. A shallow film, really. Not much of a story to tell. It also suffers the same problem as The Hurt Locker has - it started with the POV of one character, then it just switched to the POV of a different character with the first character's story is left seemingly forgotten. Yeah, history repeats itself, but it could be told in a better story structure.
Catfish - 8/10
There is a couple of things I found odd, such as how the guys didn't notice the similarity of paintings, voices and writing. I think they already knew, which prompted their decision to make a documentary, and acted clueless for the doc until the music requests bit. I also think they fabricated some parts to make it more suspenseful, e.g. postcards at the farm. Good fun, though.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, at the cinema. Mostly enjoyable. Glad I got to see it on the big screen. Looking forward to part two.
Diamonds Are Forever On DVD. Hadn't seen this film for about twenty years or so, and didn't remember it as been much good. Really enjoyed it, though. Hardly a dull moment, and it helped that I thought Jill St. John looked stunning. Am on reading through the original Bond novels at the moment, and I find it interesting to compare those with the films.
Comments
On DVD: 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' - 4.5/5
Foxx lacks charisma, the story is meandering, many of the characters are under developed, and I found quite a lot of the direction and cinematography a bit clunky.
That makes it sound like I hated it. I didn't. It's good, but not nearly as good as I was hoping it would be. It's been touted as Tarrantino's best film since Pulp Fiction but I prefer several other Tarrantino films.
Timecrimes- interesting low key time travel thriller 7/10
The Man From Nowhere - Koreas answer to Taken and just as good! infinitely better than Taken 2 8/10
Yes, it's a tear jerker but was rubbish on so many levels. What father would send his 2 terrified children (both under 10) into the montains with total strangers whilst he searched for other family members?
I would give this no more than 5/10 and it was £9 wasted as far as I was concerned.
The inventor of "body horror" first "proper" horror feature film (Crimes of the Future is more a experimental work) is the template for the first decade of his career. A isolated expensive apartment block in Montreal is the environment invaded by a man made parasite that is passed between humans with results best described as "ikky". Its a cheap film and one that suffers from some rudimentary standards in acting, sound, editing etc but also one that builds, as Cronenberg gains confidence, to a well judged climax as the inhabitants of the complex take on the aura of a sexualized zombie horde.
Shivers is one of several films made in the 70s I've seen recently which would almost certainly fall foul of censorship (or more likely a demanded rewrite) if made in exactly the same way now with teenage children at the core of objections. I won't give anything away but there's a couple of moments that would not be filmed as was. That said it was condemned at the time described by one critic thus - "crammed with blood, violence and depraved sex" and "the most repulsive movie I've ever seen." (some would say that's a rave review! )
Not one for the sensitive then.
Excellent to be fair. Helped by excellent performances from pretty much the entire cast.
Game Change - 7.5/10
An adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery novel, Ten Little Indians. I loved some of characters' deadpan lines. The ending was meh as I predicted it, but I can easily imagine people found it a great twist at the time.
Magic Mike - 7/10.
Entertaining, but I cringed all the way through the dance performances. A shallow film, really. Not much of a story to tell. It also suffers the same problem as The Hurt Locker has - it started with the POV of one character, then it just switched to the POV of a different character with the first character's story is left seemingly forgotten. Yeah, history repeats itself, but it could be told in a better story structure.
8/10
Abysmal doesn't even come close.
1/10
There is a couple of things I found odd, such as how the guys didn't notice the similarity of paintings, voices and writing. I think they already knew, which prompted their decision to make a documentary, and acted clueless for the doc until the music requests bit. I also think they fabricated some parts to make it more suspenseful, e.g. postcards at the farm. Good fun, though.
Flight Plan 6/10
The Killing Fields 8/10
What a mess of a film!!
Still one of the best 'did he or didn't he' endings.
A stunning performance from Cagney during the execution scene.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. 8/10.
(short movie from 1963 available on You Tube)
The Village. (TV) 7/10
Much better than I was expecting to be honest.
Diamonds Are Forever On DVD. Hadn't seen this film for about twenty years or so, and didn't remember it as been much good. Really enjoyed it, though. Hardly a dull moment, and it helped that I thought Jill St. John looked stunning. Am on reading through the original Bond novels at the moment, and I find it interesting to compare those with the films.