My Favorite Movies

Last Tuesday the grand media-addicted triad (, and myself) pottered off to see what we expected to be "another fun but dodgy b-grade sci-fi". 'Sunshine' is an interesting film before you even begin watching. The director, Danny Boyle was responsible for '28 Days Later' - one of the most significant zombie films I have ever seen. Both films star the wonderfully talented and stunningly handsome Cillian Murphy. He was also in 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' so we can forgive him for 'Red Eye'. So right away we have the sort of tentative credibility that one doesn't usually expect or seek in a B-grade sci-fi.

The concept of the film is nothing short of preposterous. A ridiculous, silly plot. Anyone with any interest in astro-physics laughs uproariously at the notion of humans re-igniting the sun. The only possible reaction you can have, going into a film with such a plot line, is to ignore it completely and see what happens.

What happens is this, the viewer is dragged through a roller-coaster, adrenaline ride from start to finish. The character building doesn't drag on, nor is it entirely skipped. Timing is exceptional and suspense devices are expertly utilised. Vertigo was paramount and tension is built beautifully. It's been a long time since a film has run by so swiftly and smoothly for me - no dragging on or useless self-indulgent sub-plots. The special effects scenes are quite good, understated and slick. Camera angles and zooms are are used expertly to convey extremes of size, proportion, light and dark. The sense of isolation and insignificance is brilliantly brought home to the viewer.

The acting is impressive and the sets are neat - a strange combination of 'Aliens' style gritty and functional, with twists of the uber-slick 'Minority Report'. The combo is a bit strange and the impracticalities of some aspects, combined with the extreme aesthetic excess of others tends to affect consistency and continuity of the film.

The actors - mostly lessor known, but respectable and talented - choose to minimalise their performance. They know their characters well enough and do well in representing them. Rose Byrne's good looks are correctly subdued for the role, but she still shines through as uncannily good looking for an astronaut. Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs of a Geisha) was a stand out for me. Her acting is very strong and I would love to see her get a really good lead role to sink her teeth into. Cillian Murphy, as always, eats up the lense. His subtlety as an actor and exceptional good looks make for an enjoyable big screen experience. I suspect he would be brilliant just playing charades.

I was deeply gratified that a romantic sub-plot was not tacked in. The ending, while technically exactly what was needed, was a smidge religious in intention and in the last 10-15 minutes of the film the editing goes slightly haywire - leading me to suspect this was not the original ending intended for the film. The only film I can compare this to is possibly 'Event Horizon' though the cinematic pans and wide shots, perspectives and visual concepts are above and beyond most sci-fis to date.

A good thrill ride for adrenaline junkies and sci-fi lovers alike. Don't think too hard about the premise it will detract from the joy of the experience. I'd like to give it 3 and a half stars, but dealing with whole stars alone, I upgraded it to four.

It's hard to know exactly where to start with a film like '300'. It heralds such a momentous achievement while also exemplifying some fairly sizable failures. It is very difficult to convey to those who aren't obsessive film buffs and aren't aware of the progression of special effects in film, just how much of an achievement this film truly is.

'Sin City' heralded a completely new approach to film presentation - if you are presenting pure fiction, why on earth try and make it look realistic when you can make it appear fantastic. 'Pans Labyrinth' and 'The Fountain' used special effects to enhance dream and fantasy sequences to enhance the viewers feelings of surreality and thus adapted these techniques for use in specific scenes to convey specific concepts. In a film like '300' where the entire story is fantastic in nature, playing with the style of effects available is fairly essential. This is where Frank Miller's 'Sin City' and '300' cease to be films and instead tread on the turf of art. You could easily mute '300' and simply watch the beauty of the film and get as much out of it (if not more) than if you watch it as a film.

Anyone who knows anything about film tends to be both astounded by the utter beauty of it while gob-smacked by the atrocious dialogue and poorly conceived plot concepts. I dare say that the promotions on this film were the largest of its failures, as so very many people are unaware that it is based on a comic which is a fictionalised version of the tale of the Spartan 300. Being unaware of this will undermine a lot of the joy that this film can provide - as can being unfamiliar with Frank Miller's other works ('Sin City' for example). This is not a film people should walk into cold without any understanding of what they are about to see as it will seriously deplete appreciation for it.

Miller is the master of spectacle. His comics have triggered the reinvention of filmic style in a way that lends itself so beautifully to comic translation that you can't help but wonder why on earth no one tried to do this before. As any die hard comic fan will tell you, comics are as much about the art (if not more so) than plot. This is a concept perfectly produced in '300'. Not only is it a beautiful film, it is quite possibly the most beautiful film I have ever seen. Differing styles of effects are exquisitely integrated to create a world so real you can almost smell it. When watching Miller's film adaptations to find yourself wondering what on earth is going on with other comic adaptations such as the 'X-men' and 'Spiderman' series.

Simultaneously, so little detail was attended to in the way of dialogue that at times you felt yourself wanting to cry out in horror that they could sully such visual splendor with such appalling cliched rot. The queen's speech toward the end of the film being the most notable for me - all it was lacking was 'for truth justice and the American way!" tacked onto the end. It lacked the sincerity and power that the film demanded.

David Wenham - though I like him very much and feel he is a very talented actor - really needed a head's up on his skills at narration. He voice was so unbelievably nasal I found myself wanting to send him off to an ENT specialist. It is deeply difficult to take someone seriously when they sound like a duck. I can only hope that what ever horrid upper respiratory infection he was suffering from, clears up before his next role. Seeing him reprise his role (vocally at least) from 'Van Helsing' was more than a little distracting.

Gerard Butler was fantastic in his role - excellently chosen for the part and did rather well with the hand he was dealt. He looked perfectly the part and I must say that next time I see a beefcake role I will immediately be drawn to thoughts of him. His body was so dramatically buffed with what I refer to as 'real muscle' (as opposed to hollywood gym muscle) it was an impressive site to see.

That leads me to the training. One site claimed the cast of '300' had an intense 6 week training regime to get them into shape for the role. For those of you that are yet to track it down, here's the youtube clip of their training regime. It does seem an awful lot more like torture to my untutored eye, but the visual effect is undeniable. Speculation as to metabolised supplements is fairly rampant.

There was an awful lot of assistance for those whose bodies didn't translate as well to film. On at least one instance (and a friend of mine spotted several of them) the shadows and highlights along abdominal muscles was clearly airbrushed to increase the effect. The same technique was used on 'Lord of the Rings' to give the elves a more surreal look (most noticeable of which is Liv Tyler's jaw line in a few close ups). It's a very effective technique except when lighting suddenly changes. Should an actor suddenly turn around and their body be quite well lit front on, it becomes apparent that there are shadows where none could possibly be. It isn't painfully apparent though and I noticed mostly because I was looking for it.

The translation from comic to film is so beautiful I can't get away without mentioning the comparison website - a similar one cropped up for 'Sin City'. A site in which stills from the movie are compared with the comic frames. It's very important to see this site to get an idea of how well the scenes were created and the sort of attention to detail involved. As ygdrasil pointed out to me (I must admit I did entirely fail to notice) the slow motion sequences in the fight scenes were recreations of images on amphorae. The final scene - a slow pan out of the battle ground - was so gorgeous and representative of a particular classical painting (the name of which escapes me and research has not allowed me to locate) that I nearly wept at the beauty of it.

The film was apparently shot, entirely on blue and green screens, in two months while post-production took almost a year. I feel the result speaks for itself in terms of quality - both a lack of in acting, and an excess of in effects.

Much controversy has erupted over the perceived racism of the film. When I first watched the film, I found myself seeing the Spartan's as cocky a**holes more than resolute saviours. There is of course the current US vs Middle East theory. This is where it is important to understand the film was based on a comic. It was published in May 1998. It is certain that the current political climate may have allowed the film adaptation to be picked up more easily as part of a greater propaganda machine, but it is more likely that they simply thought in this political climate, it would merely make more money. The number of terrorism films lept hugely after September 11th for example.

All in all I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys special effect extravaganzas, has an interest in film and the film industry, loves a good fairy tale, or simply enjoys watching a lot of very muscular men with gleaming bodies running around in their underwear and cloaks. It truly is a visual feast and it's multitude of other short comings still can't detract from it's many achievements. I am eagerly anticipating the DVD release, of only for the 'making of' doco.

Now here's a film for all you hardcore movie buffs. An all star cast that actually acts and meshes well, guest director Quentin Tarantino and some very well employed special effects. This is a must see for anyone who is a fan of the comic book it was based on, enjoys noir, likes something a bit different or is a fan of Quentin, any of the actors involved or cool visuals.

Performances all round were fantastic (yes, even Jessica Alba) and that is a testament to the excellent direction. Some of the 'all star cast' includes:
Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba ('Dark Angel' & 'Never Been Kissed'), Clive Owen ('King Arthur', 'Beyond Borders' & 'The Bourne Identity'), Nick Stahl ('Carnivale' & 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'), Powers Boothe ('Deadwood', 'U Turn' & 'Tombstone'), Rutger Hauer, Elijah Wood (whom we all know as Frodo), Rosario Dawson ('Alexander', '25th Hour', 'The Adventures of Pluto Nash' & 'Men in Black II'), Benicio DelToro ('Basquiat', 'Snatch', '21 Grams' and 'Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas'), Devon Aoki ('2 Fast 2 Furious'), Brittany Murphy ('Girl, Interrupted' & 'Uptown Girls), Michael Clarke Duncan ('The Green Mile', 'Armageddon', 'Cats & Dogs', 'Daredevil', 'Planet of the Apes'), Alexis Bledel ('Gilmore Girls' & 'Tuck Everlasting').

I was particularly struck by the screen presence of Devon Aoki - a relative new-comer with only four projects under her belt thusfar.

The wandering storyline is executed well and (thankfully) without the stereotypical spoon feeding associated with higher budget US films (ones bearing an 'all star cast' seem particularly afflicted) and the good humour of the film is easily translated to the audience. The affection with which cinematic cliches are depicted and contradicted is thoroughly enjoyable. Though not technically a black and white film, for the greater part it is monochrome. Color is only used to highlight and add impact to particular scenes and it's reserved usage makes in extremely effecting in drawing attention to a particular detail. In fact, most striking thing about this film is the way in which they have used color, lighting, shading and angles to give such a strong impression that you are reading the comic book. Enormous effort has clearly gone into this and the effect is as enthralling as it is appealing.

A fantastic film I recomment to pretty much any one old enough to do so, though I suspect that you need to be 'of a certain age' to recognise some of the tributes to various black and white films.

For those of you interested, here's a site that compares images from the comic with stills from the film.
1, 2, 3, 4
Pros: Too many to list
Cons: At times the cliches are a little to forced and excessive in number despite being 'all in good humour'

It struck me as a huge undertaking to create a successful sequel to such a fantastic original film and not have it feature the amazing Cillian Murphy. As it so happens Rose Byrne was exactly the correct choice. Her natural beauty, charm and understated performance followed beautifully in Cillian's footsteps for a remarkable performance.

A brief concept synopsis is probably necessary. In the first film, a zombie virus tore through England leaving few survivors in it's wake. One of the survivors is Jim, a coma patient who awakens 28 days after the crisis and spends the rest of the time trying to stay alive. In this sequel, it is 28 weeks after Jim's adventure and the US is trying to repopulate England by sending refugees back in to a small cleaned section. Something of course goes wrong and fun and games ensue.

Going into the film you really need to be aware that this is not a slasher blood and gore horror series similar to 'Dawn of the Dead' and its ilk. There are no comedy sidekicks or snappy one liners. This series is probably more the 'intelligent human's zombie flick' - the first being heavily artistic combined with thriller moments and the occasional gore scene to link it back to its horror roots.

The score was a single piece of music slightly varied in tempo and drastically altering in volume from scene to scene. This piece of music was taken from later sequences in the first film. It was at times rather alarmingly loud and on occasion could have been omitted or toned down (perhaps commenced and ended at slightly differing points) for a more effective outcome, but on the whole I liked it's gradual build to semi-deafening followed by utter silence. It worked for me, though I am sure, not for everyone.

Cast performances were wonderful. Catherine McCormack and Robert Carlyle were perfectly chosen as the founders of an 'average Joe' family. Imogen Poots, playing their daughter, ate up the screen with her incredible good looks. One might say too good looking for the role in which she featured. My overall impression was that Rose Byrne blew them all away.

Though the attention to detail in the cinematography may not have been equal to the original film, 28 Weeks Later made up for it in many other ways. The special effects were beautiful to watch, the action was adrenaline inducing and the 'crazy-cam' worked rather well in conveying the feel of confusion and chaos the characters were experiencing. The important things to note is that in this film Danny Boyle hops out of the Director's chair and settles in as Producer. Therefore the film has a justifiably different feel to it. Also it does not suffer from sequel-itis in the way that so very many other films do. A decent plot line and dialogue was present and for me they are the areas that tend to let the viewer down the most in sequels. There were also small details that added nicely to the film - Rose Byrne's eyebrows in a state of 'not recently plucked' for instance. They wouldn't be, she's been working her tail off and fleeing the ravening hoards.

Fans would have to be very picky indeed to not enjoy this film. Those unfamiliar with the series may or may not quite get the genre and those without an appreciation for the zombie genre won't have the art house lure the first film also had, and therefore should probably give it a miss.

Trivia: Cillian Murphy starred in 28 Days Later and more recently in Sunshine alongside Rose Byrne who featured in 28 Weeks Later.

Damn good film. First the negative points. The soundtrack was at times both poorly chosen and intrusive. It's inappropriateness in one scene not only took away the poignancy of the scene but rendered it tacky and cliched - a great shame. However that was the only major flaw with the film.

The special effects were fantastic. Most films set in the future go for the uber-slick look. Things so far removed from what we have as to be a holiday from reality. This film has a more realistic look at it - very appropriate given the sort of future it is set in. Cars are not too different from now, but with the evolution of car bodies over the last decade or two, the natural progression is evidently there. Billboards and advertising, security devices and the like are all a few not too distant steps from what is currently available.

ygdrasil drew my attention to one car scene and without giving anything away, it's execution and effects were fantastic. Any corpses or bloodletting was realistic and in one particular scene - though younger audiences probably won't realise - the effects were so realistic, well integrated and effective that I am having a decidedly difficult time figuring out exactly where the edges of (what I can only assume was brilliant) CGI were. The animatronics used were subtle, understated and wholly effective and have concreted my opinion that the only excuse for poor effects in film is pure laziness.

The sets are excellent, gritty and dirty. The cast impeccable - Clair-Hope Ashitey completely stole the show for me and I hope to see her in many more films to come. One thing pointed out by workerant was the length of scenes before a camera cut-away. Quite long indeed, giving a more fluid and less hollywood look to the whole film. There are so many good points to this film I couldn't list them all. I recommend it to those who normally don't enjoy sci-fi. More art-house than action, it's a very intelligent and interesting film. See it on a big screen while you can.

It surely is the most fun I have had at a film in many years. Though there were the various unexplained elements that films tend to have these days, I had so much fun that they faded into obscurity. The film's premise is basically a vamped up version of 1984 - this of course makes the casting of John Hurt as uber-bad guy especially effective. Hugo Weaving (as the voice of V) was impressive. To say that an actor's voice can carry a film is to say quite a lot and even if the film had not been so effective, it would have been worthy viewing if only for Hugo's opening monologue - a wonderfully kitsch alliteration in 'V'. Natalie Portman - though still not able to convince me she can act - was the best I have seen her in film. A little more work on her English accent may have prevented her from sounding quite so squeaky and cartoonish. Overall the casting was superb. The score was brilliant with only one notable exception of 'music swells to tear the heartstrings' and I suspect that this is in fact how Tchaikovsky imagined his works should be presented. The references and not so subtle commentary on current events are beautifully presented but even so the average consumer-bot may not in fact get the joke. This reason alone seats it teetering on the brink of love-hate reactions. A group of young males seated behind us in the cinema obviously did not get the joke and left the cinema complaining it was the worst film they had ever seen. It may help your level of enjoyment of this film to be at least minimally socially aware. Though tackling some darker themes overall the film was enormously fun and entertaining. Though not a huge volume of explosions, the ones undertaken were in fact necessary to the plot and executed well - no exploding chickens for purely budget expanding purposes. The wonderful spiels on American culture make V for Vendetta worthy viewing in itself. I recommend this film whole-heartedly to anyone with a sense of humour, an at least limited knowledge of current events and a desire to be thoroughly entertained. I absolutely loved it.

Should have been the recipient of the coarsest language award. The tv edit of this film would be about 3 minutes long. Lots of fun.

Deliciously dark and entertaining.

There are no words. Utterly brilliant.

Brilliant film! Surprising in its good humour.

A delightfully witty social commentary.

I'm not one for sport's metaphors but it has to be said: Ed Norton hits another home run.

Brilliant film - the exact sort needed to cure people of Steve Irwin fantasies of what an Australian man is like. Kenny's philosophies and quiet decent manner exemplifies all that makes me proud to be an Aussie. It also happens to have one of the best endings I've encountered.

An excellent film made on a very low budget. Though many my find the cast to be unfamiliar, geek and b-grade aficionados will recognise many.

From beginning to end I was absolutely hooked on this film. An excellent concept brilliantly brought to fruition. It's perceived brilliance increases when you realised how much of the dialogue was adlibbed ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/trivia).

Peter Jackson's involvement is obvious in the superb quality of the CGI (all aliens except the carcasses were CG). The layers of commentary and questions you find yourself asking at the end of the film are plentiful. This is definitely one for the non-sci-fi crowd as much as those who adore the genre.

I did find myself recalling 'Series 7' frequently throughout the film - there were many similarities in production style as well as tactics used to approach confronting topics (jump in boots and all). I think I'll find myself in discussions about this film for a long while to come.

Excellent film.

Undeniably charming.

Brilliant film that really emphasises the drastic changes that have occurred in the last few decades. Every aspect of this film is exceptional.

Haven't had this much fun since "Sin City" Undoubtedly one of the best super hero films to grace the big screen.

A very good film - highly intense with exceptional performances by all the cast. As post-apocalyptic films go, this is the serious business version. Being about going blind, society going blind, internment camps, those forgotten, locked away and the break down of societal values as a result - one can't help but think of a particular (now shut) US detention facility.

I forewarn that it does have a very nasty rape scene which, while not particularly graphic in nature, can be distressing. It's an unfortunate scene and I feel it is unnecessary to the film. Without it, the tension is more than adequately built. It only served to limit the audience exposed to the film. Otherwise an extremely good film.

aka "Salute of the Jugger" or "Salute to the Jugger" or "The Blood of Heroes"

The first thing you will notice in this film is the ver stunning and very young Joan Chen. This will immediately be followed by a very long series of 'Oh I know him/her! They look so young!' moments. Despite this distraction you will be drawn into the story of Kidda and Sallow and all the other Juggers and their incredibly harsh and brutal world.

I was amazed at how depressing this film WASN'T. The director knew exactly what he was doing. The cast and well, everything about the film was brilliant. This is not a modern film, it does not have CGI or special effects to knock your socks off and I think that is one of the many reasons I will find myself watching it over and over again. The story, characters and acting are so strong that you don't notice any little imperfections that may occur.

I have seen reviews of this film liken it to "Mad Max" and it does indeed have a strong Mad Max-ian quality with a significant difference - this film is by far and wide the better film.

Pros:
Exceptional cast
Brilliant Acting
A captivating storyline
Wonderful gritty style

Cons:
You will hate this film if you watch films purely for special effects.
Or if you have a weak stomach or dislike 'post apocalyptic future' style stories with violence.

Utterly charming film, excellent animation. Well worth the trip to the cinema.

Best city destruction sequences on film since 11/09