| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek Generations - PG | Urgh. I don't remember this being so.... dull. The meeting of the two captains, Kirk and Picard, however unlikely, should have been a celebration, or at least dramatically involving. But the plot device of The Nexus, which the film hinges around but which itself only exists for fifteen minutes, is dreary, restless, boring. None of the supporting cast have anything of significance to add (Data's 'arc' - experiencing human emotions - peers dangerously close to parody and sits at odds with the rest of the film) and the baddie, a scenery-chewing Malcom McDowell, is neither hissable nor sympathetic, basically a waste of space. Newcomers to the series will be baffled, Trekkies will be groaning from all the plot holes, contrivances and appalling lack of Trek continuity and casual fans will likely be turned off for good. This is a below-average TNG episode padded out with appalling humor and godawful exposition. Pass. | December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Inglourious Basterds - R | Might just be Tarantino's masterpiece... | December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Death Bell (Gosa) - Unrated | December 18, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Exam - Unrated | December 18, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Killing Room - Unrated | December 18, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Sparkle - Unrated | December 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Tormented - R | December 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Black Water - R | December 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Rogue (Rogue Crocodile) - R | Exciting, reasonably unpredictable creature feature with very good croc effects and a surprisng amount of care given to characterisation. The low budget can be seen in the copious use of green screen, which sits rather uncomfortably beside beautiful aerial shots of the Australian Outback that look like they've been taking off a Discovery documentary. Radha Mitchell (in her own accent - hooray!) and Michael Vartan are better than needed, and if nothing else the film is proof that Greg McLean is not a one trick pony. | December 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Avatar - PG-13 | I had low expectations for James Cameron's latest megabucks blockbuster, given the rather dreary theatrical campaigns and the uninteresting looking "sneak peaks", so four stars may be more indicative of my immense surprise than actual merit, but my reviews are never going to be objective anyway. Firstly, I should state that the film is rarely unpredictable - the plot trajectory is pretty much a given from the moment Jake navigates his Avatar - and the, essentially, amounts to yet another "white American man saves 'savage' village, somehow developing better instincts/combat skills than the natives" story familiar from the likes of The Last Samurai and their ilk. To be fair, Avatar is far better developed than that because the species' mythology/belief system (a sort of neo-Wiccan religion) turns out to be based on fact and not merely dogma, and because even with so much CGI, the film has a soul. With all this in mind, Avatar remains an exhilarating experience best seen in the overhyped "three dimension" and on a giant screen. I was unlucky enough to be sat in the third row from the front in a packed theatre so did experience occasional bouts of nausea that I was able to relieve by taking off the unflattering 3D glasses for a minute out of every 25 or so. Though I feel slightly queasy about the many, many millions of dollars spent to bring the film to life, I cannot doubt the beautiful imagery. I was disappointed for a while that it seemed the humans and Na'vi rarely interacted together and that perhaps the reason lay in how unwieldy the two species look together in the same shot (the Na'vi tower over the puny humans and look decidedly more alienesque than when they are on their own), but the final extended battle sequence - breathtakingly shot and choreographed - put paid to that, confounding my fears. Physical acting and voice acting was better than expected across the board, with Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver (who has a rather perfunctory character) especially impressing. I actually am looking forward to watching this bizarre film again. | December 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Surveillance - R | I'm being generous in four stars, because the twist, which was too obvious, deadened the pace thereafter and - above all - required far too much suspension of disbelief, was ludicrous. What I like to call the High Tension factor. However, the first 1 hr and 12 minutes are near perfect; controlled, blackly humorous and laugh out loud funny, tense, scary and visceral. Props to the great performances and beautiful photography too. | December 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Ta'm e Guilass (Taste of Cherry) - Unrated | December 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Un prophète (A Prophet) - R | December 8, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Sparks - Unrated | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Uncertainty - PG | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Dark City - R | A frustratingly flawed but undeniably ambitious and audacious film, Dark City is a neo-noir/expressionist piece made in the late 90's on a mid range budget of $27 million, but looks like an incredibly expensive film of the 80's, if you follow me. It has an aesthetic that brings to mind Blade Runner and City of Lost Children but is also very original and seems to have been an influence on a lot of today's sci-fi output, though at the time it wasn't a big success. The story, which initially seems like a standard noir mystery with a SF edge, develops themes used later in The Matrix (and, especially, The Matrix Revolutions) - the sets were even re-used for the Wachowski Brothers' film. The uneasy/restless feelings I had during the first half of the film (where/when is this set?) led me to guess the two major twists but the way in which things are revealed meant my viewing experience was never boring, and the interesting camera framing, beautiful set designs and stunning photography kept things moving. The performances are also fascinating: Jennifer Connnelly was *made* for noir, Rufus Sewell (the cheap Joaquin Phoenix) plays his everyman hero-with-a-gift affably and Kiefer Sutherland's affected performance as the enigmatic Dr Daniel P Schreber is a joy. William Hurt and Richard O'Brien are gifts also. The fact that the film is too self-contained and ultimately avoids answering a question that should have been answered stops this from becoming the full out masterpiece it could have been. I'm all for ambiguity, but the motivations behind "The Strangers" doesn't give enough closure for me, and the final 10 minutes feel rushed and unsatisfactory. Still, this is largely an often overlooked gem. That Alex Proyas has gone on to make, of all things, the overblown Knowing and the exceedingly dull I, Robot, is somewhat depressing. | December 6, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Were the World Mine - Unrated |
"Shakespeare was queer, too!" An early episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, called "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", had Xander perform a love potion, which backfiring - at first with welcome results - had seemingly the entire female population of Sunnydale suddenly in love with him. Typically for such a strongly written tv series, even this largely "throwaway" episode was wittily written, had some great ideas, and the after effects (especially Xander's relationship with a now betrayed Willow) were not ignored. Were the World Mine takes the central idea of a love potion, here magically found hidden within the text of Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, and spins it by having the formula attract people of the same sex. Obviously filmed on a low budget, I can only imagine how fantastic this would have been with just one more rewrite and a few million dollars chucked at it. Nevertheless, this is largely a huge success, is massively enjoyable and plays very well with Shakespeare's words - mixing styles together in clever ways. It works well as a musical - with imaginatively staged and choreographed routines - as a charming romance, as a comedy drama, and as a big two fingers up towards outmoded and outdated homophobic institutions, such as religious organisations and boarding schools (you can send your hate mail to bitemyass@gmail.com). It's also beautifully photographed. Best of all is the above average acting from all involved, which really took my surprise. Tanner Cohen as lead Timothy not only has the angst and hormones down pat, but also has a great singing voice (reminiscent of Jay Brannan). But special mention should go to the three leading women - Wendy Robie as the drama teacher, Judy McLane as Timothy's mother and Zelda Williams as Timothy's best friend, Frankie, who are all excellent. I urge you to watch this with some of your gay fearing friends and make them squirm. Now, where can I get one of them flowers?! |
December 6, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Werckmeister Harmoniak - Unrated | December 5, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Faust - Unrated | December 5, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Haunting of Molly Hartley - PG-13 | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Bristol Boys - Unrated | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Backseat - Unrated | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Shrink - R | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Noroi the Curse - Unrated | November 28, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Paranormal Activity - R | Pretty damn good, but I would say that if you go in with a "this is going to be shit" attitude, you'll likely struggle through this. I've yet to watch a film that has equalled the chills I have felt after watching The Blair Witch Project, which left me reeling and with sleeping issues for at least a week, though this one does come close. Slowly built up so that the daylight scenes, which at first offer respite from the "Night #n" stuff, become just as harrowing. Low-tech effects are used sparingly and cleverly, with one especially impressive moment where Katie is dragged from her bed and out the room, the door slamming behind her. The performances have Blair Witch-like believability and spontaneity and the whole project has obviously been crafted with care and attention to detail. It's little wonder that the big bucks at the box office is leading to an inevitable sequel that will doubtless be as effective as Book of Shadows was to BWP, and it won't be long before the inevitable backlash sets in. For now though, this is an excellent film to slot into the hand-held "found footage" sub-genre. | November 28, 2009 | N/A |
3889 ratings
626 reviews
