I was initially drawn to this film because of its storyline- two men kidnap a rich, young woman and hold her hostage for a large ransom from her wealthy father. I had enjoyed similar films in the past and wanted something straight forward and easy to watch…but I got much more. Read the rest of this entry »
In the crowd of j-horror remakes, for me The Grudge is one that really stands out. In short, it’s actually scary. Unlike The Ring it doesn’t drag on and just concentrates on actually giving you shivers and scaring you. The Grudge is one film that can genuinely still creep me out and I really don’t know why.
The theatrical film was cut by around five minutes to achieve a lower rating for the American release, removing several scenes of extreme gore and violence. The Director’s Cut version in the UK, however, has the same rating. The new cut vastly improves the viewing quality though.
Although the story is a little shaky and sometimes difficult to follow, the scares more than make up for that though. With the cuts, it’s a pretty average horror, but without the cuts it’s an absolutely brilliant horror movie. It has a perfect balance of suspense, scares and gore. Oh, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
It’s pointless explaining the plot of The Grudge because even I’m not sure of it. All I know is that it’s about a curse, and a few scary, pasty spirits. The story doesn’t follow a chronological time scale which can get puzzling and difficult to follow, but you start to piece together the story as it progresses.
It really is no classic, but it’s a great movie to watch when you want to be scared silly with a few friends.
Rating: ★★★½ | Trailer | Official Site
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
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To be honest, movies like The Football Factory aren’t usually ones I enjoy. But this one really surprised me. The Football Factory is a study of the English obsession with football violence and hooliganism, but there’s so much more here. It’s documentary-like presentation gives the film more charm than if it was presented as just a generic movie.
Although I do have to say that Danny Dyer seems to play the same character in every movie he’s in (Doghouse,Severance and Mean Machine are just a few examples) you can’t fault him for it because he does it well and believably. His character, Tommy Johnson, is a typical British football fan who just, as he puts it, “loves to f*cking fight”.
Dyer also narrates the movie, giving it that documentary vibe, making you think you’re actually watching a retelling of events that have actually happened. Dyer’s narration also gives his character a little more depth and does a good job of effectively separating him from the rest of the cast.
The Football Factory is essentially played out as a serious approach to the issue of football hooliganism, but there’s something more there. The sub-plot of Tommy’s granddad and his war-time friend moving abroad together with Tommy’s recurring dreams that play out like sort of Final Destination-esque premonitions give the story that little bit more depth.
The Football Factory is a hugely entertaining and funny movie that isn’t exclusively for only football fans. It’s nothing brilliant, but it’s a pretty good watch.
Rating: ★★★ | Trailer | Official Website
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
Sherlock Holmes, the latest offering from Guy Richie is a pretty decent movie if I’m honest. Not at all what I expected. For the most part you don’t even feel like you’re watching a movie. For instance, part of the opening titles are superimposed onto cobblestones and the other part is written in a newspaper-like form. It’s a pretty refreshing change.
It’s pretty clear from the outset that Downey Jr. nails Holmes’ accent and speech patterns. Not once do you believe the actor playing Holmes’ actually has an American accent, and the same can be said for Jude Law as Watson.
Although I don’t usually comment on the soundtrack of films, I do feel I should mention the soundtrack inSherlock Holmes. Hans Zimmer’s ‘Discombobulate’ is used at various points in the movie, most notably in the opening credits and it helps greatly in setting the scene. It’s hard to imagine a better fitting score for this movie.
Although this is going to sound pretty cliché, Jude Law is on fine form here, his portrayal of Dr. Watson as both a friend of Holmes and as a professional is literally flawless, the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Law works extremely well. Mark Strong is brilliant as the movie’s villain Lord Blackwood, he seems to play bad guys pretty well, he’s all you could want from the ‘dark side’: mysterious, cunning and quite creepy. A notable highlight here for me was Rachel McAdams’ portrayal of Irene Adler, a criminal and past love-interest of Holmes’. McAdams has certainly come a long way since her Mean Girls days and really shows exactly what she can do with her acting skills here.
Acting talent aside, I was pleasantly surprised when I went to my local cinema to see Sherlock
Holmes. The martial arts aspect was new to me. I’ve never pictured Sherlock Holmes as a martial artist, but it did bring a decent helping of action to the table. There’s a pretty decent helping of humour here too; the movie works surprisingly well with a small helping of comedy thrown in here and there, although there’s not enough there for big laughs, it brings a certain charm to the scene.
I won’t ruin any of the story in this review as I’m aware my past two reviews were a little too revealing in terms of plot details and spoilers. All I can say is if you haven’t already, I would strongly recommend going to see Sherlock Holmes. There really is something there for anyone.
Rating: ★★★★½
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
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I’m sure even before you started to read this review you knew it was going to be a good one. But it’s hard to find faults with James Cameron’s Avatar. The fact that the movie has been in development since 1999 says a great deal about Cameron’s determination and the sheer volume of work that went into producing this cinematic delight.
Avatar is a tricky one, you do actually have to pay attention and follow the plot as it happens. It’s not a sit down and lounge about on the sofa movie. I’m not going to waffle on and tell you the plot though, I really don’t want to ruin it for you. You can use WIkipedia or IMDb for that anyway.
The visuals in Avatar are just stunning. The CGI is literally flawless. So much so that it’s not directly obvious that you’re actually watching computer generated images, it all looks extremely realistic. Sam Worthington, of Terminator: Salvation fame, is absolutely brilliant in this, the same can be said for Sigourney Weaver, who features in the film quite surprisingly, as she isn’t featured prominently on any of the promotional material.
There is really no reason not to watch Avatar in 3D or in an IMAX theatre, I couldn’t give a completely accurate comparison of watching in 3D as opposed to 2D but the three dimensional aspect of the film worked amazingly well, people in the cinema were actually wow-ing throughout. The world of the Na’vi tribe is literally breathtaking and full of colour and life. You really do have to see it for yourself. I’m really quite happy to name Avatar as my first five-star review.
Rating: ★★★★★
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
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It was so promising. I’ve actually been looking forward to the remake of The Wolfman since I saw a teaser trailer in 2009. When I learned that it had been rated 15, I was a little disheartened, but still positive. After all, how can you go wrong with a werewolf?
It turns out, quite a bit. Although The Wolfman has a great cast, it’s the lesser known actress Emily Blunt that does the best job along with Hugo Weaving as secondary character Abberline. Aspects of Del Toro’s acting are laughable in particular scenes but he does pull of the brooding and moody side of his character. Hopkins again plays the crazy guy, as he does so well in other films such as Hannibal.
The film does have a good story to it, although at times it plods on slowly and you find yourself losing interest at times.
The make-up and effects department must have been changed part-way through production. Some scenes feature a realistic looking wolf-man and others look cheap and tacky. It’s not all bad though, the amount of blood and guts is surprising considering the 15 certificate. Amputations, decapitations and gut-removal is shown in graphic detail, albiet briefly, in the most exciting scene in the movie.
Danny Elfman provides music here, and it’s brilliant as usual. The score, however, doesn’t go far enough to save this relatively dreary and slightly disappointing remake.
Rating: ★★★ | Trailer | Official Website
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
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The Crazies is a remake of George A. Romero’s 1973 film of the same name. The story revolves around a town whose water supply has been poisoned by an mysterious and unknown toxin.
To be honest there’s nothing really new here, but that really doesn’t matter. The Crazies is made in such a way that not many other horror movies are. Rather than just throwing random and senseless violence at you, director Breck Eisner actually builds up suspense instead. It works brilliantly and it’s a refreshing change from other recent horrors that are basically just splatter-fests.
Although this story has been done before in movies such as 28 Days Later and, to some extent, Cabin Fever, this movie plays it out incredibly well. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are brilliant in the main character roles, Mitchell more than making up for her role in 2006′s disappointing Silent Hill.
The special effects are brilliant, the make-up on the faces of the ‘Crazies’ is really effective, it’s amazing how brilliantly chilling some contact lenses and deformations can make someone look. They’re not conventional looking or acting zombies but they’re still pretty menacing and amazingly fierce.
I’d recommend The Crazies to any horror fan who wants something a little bit different than what’s currently out there. It really is a scarily great movie.
Rating: ★★★★ | Trailer | Official Website
This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.
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