[Movie -- / Day 254]
I enjoyed it even more on the second viewing, which surprised me.
My rating: 8.4 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.6 / 10
Running time: 112 mins
IMDB link
Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts
Friday, 11 September 2009
Monday, 7 September 2009
District 9 (2009)
[Movie 236 / Day 250]
20 years ago in South Africa, a massive alien spaceship appeared and stopped above Johannesburg. After floating there for a while, the decision was made to cut into it. Inside were found hundreds of thousands of aliens, malnourished and dying. They were brought to the surface and before long were established in a slum called District 9, policed by a private corporation called Multinational United (MNU).
As the aliens reproduce and cause more and more problems (both real and imagined) for Joburg's indigenous population, the government decides to move them out of District 9 to a purpose built camp 200km away from the city.
Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is an MNU agent put in charge of the unit tasked with serving eviction notices on the inhabitants of District 9. As we watch him go about his business, we see that he, like the majority of the city, revels in bullying the aliens (referred to throughout by the derogatory term 'prawn'). During the evictions, Wikus is inadvertantly exposed to an alien substance that starts to alter his DNA. As he turns from being the hunter to the hunted, we start to see life from the aliens point of view and Wikus's attitude begins to change.
Extremely well acted, especially considering this is Sharlto Copley first time on screen and he allegedly ad-libbed all of his lines; well written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, again, his first feature; and featuring some brilliant CGI, not all of it is perfect, but it's never less than very good and never pulls you out of the film.
I look forward to seeing what the South African director does next - although I wouldn't be surprised to see a District 10 at some point in the future, considering how wide open for a sequel D9 is left.
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.6 / 10
Running time: 112 mins
IMDB link
20 years ago in South Africa, a massive alien spaceship appeared and stopped above Johannesburg. After floating there for a while, the decision was made to cut into it. Inside were found hundreds of thousands of aliens, malnourished and dying. They were brought to the surface and before long were established in a slum called District 9, policed by a private corporation called Multinational United (MNU).
As the aliens reproduce and cause more and more problems (both real and imagined) for Joburg's indigenous population, the government decides to move them out of District 9 to a purpose built camp 200km away from the city.
Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is an MNU agent put in charge of the unit tasked with serving eviction notices on the inhabitants of District 9. As we watch him go about his business, we see that he, like the majority of the city, revels in bullying the aliens (referred to throughout by the derogatory term 'prawn'). During the evictions, Wikus is inadvertantly exposed to an alien substance that starts to alter his DNA. As he turns from being the hunter to the hunted, we start to see life from the aliens point of view and Wikus's attitude begins to change.
Extremely well acted, especially considering this is Sharlto Copley first time on screen and he allegedly ad-libbed all of his lines; well written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, again, his first feature; and featuring some brilliant CGI, not all of it is perfect, but it's never less than very good and never pulls you out of the film.
I look forward to seeing what the South African director does next - although I wouldn't be surprised to see a District 10 at some point in the future, considering how wide open for a sequel D9 is left.
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.6 / 10
Running time: 112 mins
IMDB link
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
The Hurt Locker (2008)
[Movie 230 / Day 244]
Set in Iraq, the Hurt Locker follows an Army bomb squad as they drive their Humvee around and disarm various booby traps while trying to stay alive long enough to rotate out of harms way. There isn't much more to it than that, and yet it is one of the most tense, edge-of-your-seat movies I've ever seen. The sniper scene in particular was magnificently tense.
Extremely well acted and directed (I love the use of slow-mo and long, continuous shots).
My rating: 8.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 131 mins
IMDB link
Set in Iraq, the Hurt Locker follows an Army bomb squad as they drive their Humvee around and disarm various booby traps while trying to stay alive long enough to rotate out of harms way. There isn't much more to it than that, and yet it is one of the most tense, edge-of-your-seat movies I've ever seen. The sniper scene in particular was magnificently tense.
Extremely well acted and directed (I love the use of slow-mo and long, continuous shots).
My rating: 8.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 131 mins
IMDB link
Monday, 31 August 2009
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
[Movie 228 / Day 243]
Tarantino's take on WWII is a return to form and easily his best movie since Pulp Fiction. The Basterds are a rag-tag group of (mainly) American soldiers whose sole purpose is to strike fear into the hearts of the Germans. They do this by wandering around behind enemy lines, killing as many Nazi's as they possibly can and claiming their scalps.
More than that and the plot becomes a bit complicated, featuring a multi-layered story. It's funny, tense, violent, exciting; everything a Tarantino movie should be. Special props to Christoph Waltz who puts in an excellent turn as nasty SS man, Colonel Hans Landa.
Also nice to see (or rather, hear) Tarantino regulars Harvey Keitel and Samuel L. Jackson both get cameos!
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.7 / 10
Running time: 153 mins
IMDB link
Tarantino's take on WWII is a return to form and easily his best movie since Pulp Fiction. The Basterds are a rag-tag group of (mainly) American soldiers whose sole purpose is to strike fear into the hearts of the Germans. They do this by wandering around behind enemy lines, killing as many Nazi's as they possibly can and claiming their scalps.
More than that and the plot becomes a bit complicated, featuring a multi-layered story. It's funny, tense, violent, exciting; everything a Tarantino movie should be. Special props to Christoph Waltz who puts in an excellent turn as nasty SS man, Colonel Hans Landa.
Also nice to see (or rather, hear) Tarantino regulars Harvey Keitel and Samuel L. Jackson both get cameos!
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.7 / 10
Running time: 153 mins
IMDB link
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Moon (2009)
[Movie 211 / Day 223]
Set at some point in the future and mankind has learnt to harvest helium3 from moon rocks in order to provide Earth with almost limitless energy. Sam Bell (Rockwell) is at the end of a three year contract working on the far side of the moon as a technician keeping the harvesting machines running. His only company is a computer called GERTY (voiced by Spacey).
He has a mere two weeks of his contract left before he can go home and see his wife and daughter again. Then he starts hallucinating and has an accident. When he wakes up, he is in the infirmary being tended to by GERTY. After his recuperation, he finds GERTY is under instructions not to let him leave the base until a rescue shuttle has landed to clean up the aftermath of his accident. He manages to take an unauthorised trip out to the broken harvester and what he finds there makes him doubt his sanity and, ultimately, his belief that the company he works for has his best interests at heart.
To say more would spoil the plot, but suffice it to say, Sam Rockwell is absolutely brilliant. It is, at times, like watching two different actors on screen. That he manages to hold your attention for 90 minutes with very few other actors is testament to both his talent and the script.
One of the best films I've seen this year.
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.3 / 10
Running time: 97 mins
IMDB link
Set at some point in the future and mankind has learnt to harvest helium3 from moon rocks in order to provide Earth with almost limitless energy. Sam Bell (Rockwell) is at the end of a three year contract working on the far side of the moon as a technician keeping the harvesting machines running. His only company is a computer called GERTY (voiced by Spacey).
He has a mere two weeks of his contract left before he can go home and see his wife and daughter again. Then he starts hallucinating and has an accident. When he wakes up, he is in the infirmary being tended to by GERTY. After his recuperation, he finds GERTY is under instructions not to let him leave the base until a rescue shuttle has landed to clean up the aftermath of his accident. He manages to take an unauthorised trip out to the broken harvester and what he finds there makes him doubt his sanity and, ultimately, his belief that the company he works for has his best interests at heart.
To say more would spoil the plot, but suffice it to say, Sam Rockwell is absolutely brilliant. It is, at times, like watching two different actors on screen. That he manages to hold your attention for 90 minutes with very few other actors is testament to both his talent and the script.
One of the best films I've seen this year.
My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.3 / 10
Running time: 97 mins
IMDB link
Monday, 3 August 2009
The Hangover (2009)
[Movie 202 / Day 215]
Doug is getting married. His best friends (and his slightly odd future brother-in-law) take him for a night in Vegas.
They wake up the next morning in a trashed hotel room containing a tiger in the bathroom, a chicken in the lounge and a baby in a cupboard - but no groom.
After this simple set up, the rest of the movie is spent retracing their forgotten night in an increasingly desperate attempt to find Doug and get to the wedding on time.
The trailer looked funny and the movie delivers. It's hilarious in places.
My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.2 / 10
Running time: 100 mins
IMDB link
Doug is getting married. His best friends (and his slightly odd future brother-in-law) take him for a night in Vegas.
They wake up the next morning in a trashed hotel room containing a tiger in the bathroom, a chicken in the lounge and a baby in a cupboard - but no groom.
After this simple set up, the rest of the movie is spent retracing their forgotten night in an increasingly desperate attempt to find Doug and get to the wedding on time.
The trailer looked funny and the movie delivers. It's hilarious in places.
My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.2 / 10
Running time: 100 mins
IMDB link
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
[Movie 196 / Day 210]
Another Hollywood remake, Pelham 123 is the story of a gang (led by Ryder, manically played by Travolta) who hold a subway train to ransom, while the guy in the control room, Garber (Denzel Washington), tries to talk him down from killing hostages.
It's not a bad movie, a fairly average actioner; the problem is the trailer. It literally gives away every plot point in the movie and as such, removes all tension. Whoever was responsible for that should be fired as it ruins the movie. You just don't really care about any given situation in the movie as the trailer has already spoilt how it's going to turn out. Amazing.
My rating: 6.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link
Another Hollywood remake, Pelham 123 is the story of a gang (led by Ryder, manically played by Travolta) who hold a subway train to ransom, while the guy in the control room, Garber (Denzel Washington), tries to talk him down from killing hostages.
It's not a bad movie, a fairly average actioner; the problem is the trailer. It literally gives away every plot point in the movie and as such, removes all tension. Whoever was responsible for that should be fired as it ruins the movie. You just don't really care about any given situation in the movie as the trailer has already spoilt how it's going to turn out. Amazing.
My rating: 6.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Brüno (2009)
[Movie 178 / Day 196]
Very funny in places; but Sacha Baron Cohen just went a little too far with the number of explicit gay jokes (and some are VERY explicit) in his movie for me - at times more embarassing to watch than amusing. I've never been to the cinema and seen so many people actually hiding their eyes before.
My rating: 5.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.2 / 10
Running time: 81 mins
IMDB link
Very funny in places; but Sacha Baron Cohen just went a little too far with the number of explicit gay jokes (and some are VERY explicit) in his movie for me - at times more embarassing to watch than amusing. I've never been to the cinema and seen so many people actually hiding their eyes before.
My rating: 5.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.2 / 10
Running time: 81 mins
IMDB link
Friday, 26 June 2009
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
[Movie 165 / Day 177]
More of the same from Michael Bay. In the second Transformers installment, Sam (LaBeouf) is off to college, leaving Mikaela (Fox) working in a chopper shop with her dad. The Autobots are now working with a US government task force to protect Earth from the Decepticons.
Before long, it becomes clear that the Decepticons are going to invade Earth in a big way.
Still too many close-ups on robots transforming, meaning you can't really tell what's happening - even with extra slo-mo, which does help, it's confusing at times. Some of the CGI is TERRIBLE too, one shot in particular was very jarring and just shouldn't have been used.
The film really changes tone when John Turturro's character, Agent Simmons, makes an appearance. Suddenly the comedy really ramps up, which is no bad thing.
Overall, if you liked the first one, you'll like this. It's much too long however; 2.5 hours is really pushing it. Still, I suppose it means we (and by we, I mean heterosexual men and homosexual women) get to ogle Megan Fox for longer.
My rating: 7.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10
Running time: 150 mins
IMDB link
More of the same from Michael Bay. In the second Transformers installment, Sam (LaBeouf) is off to college, leaving Mikaela (Fox) working in a chopper shop with her dad. The Autobots are now working with a US government task force to protect Earth from the Decepticons.
Before long, it becomes clear that the Decepticons are going to invade Earth in a big way.
Still too many close-ups on robots transforming, meaning you can't really tell what's happening - even with extra slo-mo, which does help, it's confusing at times. Some of the CGI is TERRIBLE too, one shot in particular was very jarring and just shouldn't have been used.
The film really changes tone when John Turturro's character, Agent Simmons, makes an appearance. Suddenly the comedy really ramps up, which is no bad thing.
Overall, if you liked the first one, you'll like this. It's much too long however; 2.5 hours is really pushing it. Still, I suppose it means we (and by we, I mean heterosexual men and homosexual women) get to ogle Megan Fox for longer.
My rating: 7.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10
Running time: 150 mins
IMDB link
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Terminator Salvation (2009)
[Movie 145 / Day 154]
I walked into the cinema to see Terminator Salvation expecting it to be a bit rubbish, possibly even worse than T3. Even the presence of Christian Bale and the awesome trailers that have been released didn't relieve me of a sense of foreboding. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, it's directed by a man that calls himself 'McG'. Anyone that willingly calls themselves McG isn't someone to take seriously. Secondly, it's a 12A (PG-13 in the US) - and many an action franchise has been ruined by attempts to make them more family friendly (see Robocop 3 or Alien vs Predator for details).
Terminator Salvation manages to overcome both of these obstacles to be almost on a par with T2. It's really, really good. Dark, moody and with a decent storyline; the writers and, dare I say it, McG, are clearly fans of the original movies and researched them properly. There are loads and loads of references to the other movies, from the massively obvious ("I'll be back") to massively subtle (Kyle Reese uses a very similar weapon and wears very similar Nike's as he did in the first movie).
So, it's not only fun, it advances the storyline and puts the Terminator franchise back on track for further movies.
It is a bit of a shame that the filmmakers didn't make it an R and include some of the violence that is an inherent part of the other three; but really, it doesn't feel like it's missing too much.
Overall, I loved it.
My rating: 8.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.3 / 10
Running time: 115 mins
IMDB link
I walked into the cinema to see Terminator Salvation expecting it to be a bit rubbish, possibly even worse than T3. Even the presence of Christian Bale and the awesome trailers that have been released didn't relieve me of a sense of foreboding. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, it's directed by a man that calls himself 'McG'. Anyone that willingly calls themselves McG isn't someone to take seriously. Secondly, it's a 12A (PG-13 in the US) - and many an action franchise has been ruined by attempts to make them more family friendly (see Robocop 3 or Alien vs Predator for details).
Terminator Salvation manages to overcome both of these obstacles to be almost on a par with T2. It's really, really good. Dark, moody and with a decent storyline; the writers and, dare I say it, McG, are clearly fans of the original movies and researched them properly. There are loads and loads of references to the other movies, from the massively obvious ("I'll be back") to massively subtle (Kyle Reese uses a very similar weapon and wears very similar Nike's as he did in the first movie).
So, it's not only fun, it advances the storyline and puts the Terminator franchise back on track for further movies.
It is a bit of a shame that the filmmakers didn't make it an R and include some of the violence that is an inherent part of the other three; but really, it doesn't feel like it's missing too much.
Overall, I loved it.
My rating: 8.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.3 / 10
Running time: 115 mins
IMDB link
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Star Trek (2009)
[Movie 139 / Day 148]
The original Star Trek series was cheese-laden fluff. Enjoyable, but a bit rubbish. I can remember sitting in the lounge with my grandmother in the mid-80s, watching William Shatner ("Ooh, he's a nice man" in my grandmother's opinion) hamming it up opposite Leonard Nimoy ("I don't like him"). I never really got into the whole Trek thing much beyond that though. Clearly, JJ Abrams did. He's grabbed the original premise, scraped off a decent sized chunk of gorgonzola, polished it up and added lots of whizzy effects. And he's made a decent fist of it.
The casting is very good; in particular, Zachary Quinto's is excellent as Spock. The effects expected in a summer action blockbuster are all present and correct - and as far as I can tell, there are quite a few nods to the original.
So, another Hollywood franchise reboot then. Pretty much, but this one works well - it manages to simultaneously shake off most of the cheese that has been piled onto the series since it started and still remain faithful to Trek's roots. As an introduction to a shiny new franchise, it works well. Would my grandmother like it though? I doubt it; apart from the introduction of some 'modern' language, it also features Leonard Nimoy and not William Shatner which would probably be enough to make her switch it off and do some hoovering instead.
My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.4 / 10
Running time: 127 mins
IMDB link
The original Star Trek series was cheese-laden fluff. Enjoyable, but a bit rubbish. I can remember sitting in the lounge with my grandmother in the mid-80s, watching William Shatner ("Ooh, he's a nice man" in my grandmother's opinion) hamming it up opposite Leonard Nimoy ("I don't like him"). I never really got into the whole Trek thing much beyond that though. Clearly, JJ Abrams did. He's grabbed the original premise, scraped off a decent sized chunk of gorgonzola, polished it up and added lots of whizzy effects. And he's made a decent fist of it.
The casting is very good; in particular, Zachary Quinto's is excellent as Spock. The effects expected in a summer action blockbuster are all present and correct - and as far as I can tell, there are quite a few nods to the original.
So, another Hollywood franchise reboot then. Pretty much, but this one works well - it manages to simultaneously shake off most of the cheese that has been piled onto the series since it started and still remain faithful to Trek's roots. As an introduction to a shiny new franchise, it works well. Would my grandmother like it though? I doubt it; apart from the introduction of some 'modern' language, it also features Leonard Nimoy and not William Shatner which would probably be enough to make her switch it off and do some hoovering instead.
My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.4 / 10
Running time: 127 mins
IMDB link
Friday, 22 May 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
[Movie 138 / Day 142]
I know it's been panned, but I enjoyed it. Don't go into it expecting anything more than a popcorn infused action fest.
This movie tells us Wolverine's backstory and does it with enough explosions and cool claws-cutting-through-metal shots to make it fun.
It's not the best comic book movie ever made, but it's by no means the worst either.
My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.8 / 10
Running time: 107 mins
IMDB link
I know it's been panned, but I enjoyed it. Don't go into it expecting anything more than a popcorn infused action fest.
This movie tells us Wolverine's backstory and does it with enough explosions and cool claws-cutting-through-metal shots to make it fun.
It's not the best comic book movie ever made, but it's by no means the worst either.
My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.8 / 10
Running time: 107 mins
IMDB link
Friday, 6 March 2009
Watchmen (2009)
[Movie 101 / Day 65]
One of the greatest graphic novels ever finally makes it to the big screen. Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 where costumed vigilantes walk the streets of America while the world is on the brink of a nuclear holocaust. One of them, Rorschach (who more-or-less defines "bad-ass") tries to track down the killer of one of the masked men believing that someone is trying to murder all of the remaining (mostly retired) heroes.
I know it's got an 18 certificate, but I wasn't really expecting this movie to be particularly violent - and for the most part, it isn't... But when the violence happens, it's absolutely brutal and almost shocking at times.
It's well acted, written (quite a lot of dialogue seems to have been lifted straight from the book) and directed; the soundtrack is good, the CGI is good... It's just a great film. Not exactly a happy one, but brilliant nonetheless.
I loved the title sequence, full of ultra-slow-mo and Bob Dylan.
I look forward to seeing it again.
My rating: 8.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.5 / 10
Running time: 163 mins
IMDB link
One of the greatest graphic novels ever finally makes it to the big screen. Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 where costumed vigilantes walk the streets of America while the world is on the brink of a nuclear holocaust. One of them, Rorschach (who more-or-less defines "bad-ass") tries to track down the killer of one of the masked men believing that someone is trying to murder all of the remaining (mostly retired) heroes.
I know it's got an 18 certificate, but I wasn't really expecting this movie to be particularly violent - and for the most part, it isn't... But when the violence happens, it's absolutely brutal and almost shocking at times.
It's well acted, written (quite a lot of dialogue seems to have been lifted straight from the book) and directed; the soundtrack is good, the CGI is good... It's just a great film. Not exactly a happy one, but brilliant nonetheless.
I loved the title sequence, full of ultra-slow-mo and Bob Dylan.
I look forward to seeing it again.
My rating: 8.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.5 / 10
Running time: 163 mins
IMDB link
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