| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Big Combo - Unrated | Cornel Wilde stars as detective in love with society girl and gangster's moll Jean Wallace whose suicide attempt gives him the name "Alicia"; the clue that could be the break he needs to bring the sinister kingpin down. The Big Combo is the kind of Film Noir that feels like it's trying a bit TOO hard to be Film Noir. It has much to admire, mostly from a stylistic standpoint and has some excellent visual moments, but underneath it feels a little stale. The plot is simplistic and rather episodic, it misses the witty, literary dialogue of the best of the genre and Wilde and Richard Conte as his evil nemesis make for rather bland protagonists. What makes the film are some superbly directed scenes of gritty violence that invariably lack these two characterless adversaries; the joy of the film is definitely to be found in the supporting cast. Best of all are the two sexually ambiguous assassins played by a young Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman and Wilde's burlesque queen love interest, someone I wished we'd seen a lot more of. If you're a fan of Noir it's well worth it for the highlights and cinematography but if you're new to the genre, there are much better starting points. | December 30, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Big Easy - R | The Big Easy is an 80s noir set to the colourful backdrop of New Orleans in which Assistant District Attourney Ellen Barkin is sent to investigate police corruption only to be seduced by morally dubious detective and local lothario Dennis Quaid. The biggest weakness of The Big Easy is its over reliance on the afore-mentioned "local colour", which means that the film is wall to wall chicken bones, hillbilly music and bizarre accents (Grace Zabriskie in particular sounds like a rastafarian with special needs after a stroke). This fact combined with the workmanlike plot and gratuitous 80s pyrotechnics at the end conspire to make it feel like a made for TV pilot episode for "New Orleans Vice". What can be admired about the film however is the chemistry between the cast; Barkin's fiery girl next door paired with Quaid's believable turn as a man finally meeting a woman that makes him want to re-examine himself makes for a charming and sexy couple and the amusing squadroom antics make for a very likable set of characters. Very formulaic but it avoids the usual 80s macho excesses and is still an entertaining, if rather dated detective story. | December 30, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Stan Helsing - R | December 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| One Dark Night - PG | December 26, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina - Unrated | The Appleseed saga continues as Deunan and cyborg sidekick Briareos are joined by a bioroid created from his genetic template and fight to prevent an evil scientist from taking control of the entire population with an insidious communications device. The first Appleseed film was a visual feast that perfectly captured the essence of the Manga it was based upon. The story here is rather predictable and derivative, involving the usual stereotypical mad scientist having megalomaniacal designs on the human race, but it was never really the plot that the original was all about. This sequel obviously concentrated on upgrading the visuals, and they are a lot slicker and more up to date than the originals; but that does not necessarily mean that they are "better". Everything has a glossy sheen on it that lacks the gritty, dark style that made it so good, and they manage to make it look more like a cut scene from a Final Fantasy game rather than less. The action sequences are far less intense and exciting as a result, and the simplistic characterisation means there is little in the way of emotional involvement. There's still some gorgeous images and fantastic manga-style production design, but as a whole it's another case of a franchise becoming a glossy shadow of its former self. | December 26, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Incredibles - PG | When superheroes are outlawed by a government sick of lawsuits and compensation claims, Mr. Incredible finds himself stuck in an dreary insurance job pining for the good old days. Expecting The Incredibles to be a witty, satirical parody of the superhero genre I was slightly disappointed to find it a more an affectionate homage than anything else. The best sequences are definitely the ones showing Mr. Incredible's frustration with his dead end job, but at the end of the day, this is a kids film so I was probably just expecting too much. It has that plasticky quality that CGI films always have, but it has some nice Gerry Anderson/James Bond themed images and the usual mix of references and in-jokes that are common to this type of thing; the Return Of The Jedi chase sequence probably being the most fun. I can't say I laughed out loud at any point during the film because it lacks the sly wit of Toy Story, but it's always amusing, pretty to look at and above all, fun. I could've lived without the inevitable touchy-feely "be everything you can be" message that infers that as long as you love yourself, everyone else will love you too that kids films ALWAYS have but otherwise, it's all good, clean family entertainment. | December 26, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Watchmen - R | Based on the Alan Moore graphic novel, Watchmen is set in an alternate reality where costumed "heroes" were created as state sanctioned vigilantes to fight the mob and who helped the US win the Vietnam war and get tricky Dicky elected for 5 successive terms as president. Another superhero movie with a difference, it sticks firmly to the moral grey areas, showing these "heroes" as human and fallible. The core of the film is provided by Rorschach's noir style investigation into the murder of fascistic black ops hero The Comedian, set to the backdrop of a skewedhistory and political situation. It all makes for very interesting viewing and tinges the usual stylized action and spectacle with a nicely grimy undercurrent. Snyder's overly stylized visuals which I found rather empty and irritating in 300 work perfectly here with some meaty characters and plot to back it all up and Rorschach makes for an interesting and charismatic anti-hero. Definitely up with the best of the modern style hero movies, Watchmen is intelligent, dark and although I wouldn't describe it as "exciting", it's perfectly paced over its 2 and a half hour length. Considered by most to be unfilmable, Snyder has managed to pull off a bit of a coup with this one and created a superhero film that ranks amongst the best. | December 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel - PG | December 23, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - PG-13 | December 23, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Closer - R | Mike Nichols directs a well observed and witty study of relationships based on the love quadrangle between two couples. Far from the usual sentimental drivel you'd expect from Hollywood style films about "romance", this movie which although can seem a little overly self conscious in places, does have the kind of brutal honesty that superficially seems the antithesis. These lovers are in turns selfish, manipulative, spiteful and pathetic; just like real people. Jude Law is the perfect choice for playing a smug, self-involved asshole, Owen treads the fine line between likability and self righteous nastiness as does Portman's beautiful but emotionally needy bimbo. And Julia Roberts is inevitably Julia Roberts. At the end of the day you're still just watching a bunch of pretentious, priveleged, pretty people back stab each other and as such is not really my kind of thing, but if you're ever emotionally blackmailed by your other half into having to sit through a film about *cringe* "relationships" then this is far from the most painful. I am a man, after all... | December 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Tombstone - R | Hollywood once again retells the story of the legendary lawman, this time in the guise of Kurt Russell. Add Val Kilmer, Sam Neill, and Bill Paxton into the mix and what you get doesn't exactly scream "A list" but what you do have is an ensemble cast that gels particularly well; this is one of those films that manages to be more than the sum of its parts. The bond of brotherhood and friendship between the Earps and Doc Holliday feels genuine and Kilmer clearly relishes the scene stealing part of sickly gentleman adrenaline junkie Holliday. Powers Booth and Michael Biehn also make charismatic villains, the scenes between Biehn and Kilmer being particularly sharp and the Peckinpahesque shoot outs extremely well staged. In fact the shoot out at the OK corral is one of the best versions yet filmed. It does occasionally slip into melodrama (Morgan's death being the prime example) and the climax is a little montage happy and feels a little rushed as a result, but it's a great slice of old school popular entertainment that's a lot more engaging than Kevin Costner's pompous yawnfest released the same year. | December 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Sherlock Holmes - PG-13 |
Here's the review by The Financial Times: "Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (1 star rating) won't do for anyone, anywhere. The Baker Street sleuth is played by a Robert Downey so preoccupied with his English accent (which he bases on the principle that you clip or eliminate every other vowel) that it is like watching a man try to act with his talent tied behind his back. Jude Law's Dr Watson is slightly better. But the overblown plot (world domination conspiracy, villains returning from the dead) reminds us that all the best Conan Doyle stories had an atmospheric, even seedy particularity of place and event. The script here is a pretext for fatuous action pyrotechnics, misfiring comedy, the inevitable star from Central Crumpet Casting (Rachel McAdams) and CG jiggery-pokery evoking Ye Olde London. In short: Doc, Sh'lock and Every Scraped Barrel." Doesn't sound very promising does it...? The trailer doesn't help either. It looks like Van Helsing! |
December 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Enter the Dragon - R | A Shao-Lin monk is recruited to infiltrate a tournament held by a corrupt martial artist to recruit new members to his organisation. Enter The Dragon was Bruce Lee's final completed film, and this reason alone was enough to make it pass into legend, and it is a monument to Lee's incredible skill and potential. If you look at the film objectively however, it's more difficult to see as a great film in its own right. Take away Lalo Schifrin's excellent score and Bruce and it's 70s exploitation pure and simple; the characters (Jim Kelly's be-afroed black power stereotype sticking it to the man and John Saxon's adrenaline junkie playboy) are cartoon characters,and the crude photography and gratuitous female nudity are all standard elements of the trashy crowd pleasing flicks of the era. The plot also does not stand up to scrutiny; did Han (with his metal hand, cat stroking and secret base making him look like a Frankenstein's monster made up of old Bond baddies) really think that holier than holy Lee whose sister's death was caused by the lascivious advances of his evil henchmen would want to throw in with him and his drug running, white slave trading buddies...? Please. The upshot of all of this is that every second of screentime devoted to anybody but Bruce is screentime wasted, and you spend ALL of it waiting for him to reappear and strut his stuff. But when he does, he is simply incredible. Worth it for Lee and Schifrin, but anyone expecting a cinematic classic will be disappointed. | December 18, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Shining - R | A writer and his family move in as caretakers to a secluded mountainside hotel for the winter, but a presence inhabiting it causes his mental disintegration leading to the urge for bloody murder. I'm not a fan of Stephen King. In fact, I'd go as far as to describe him as "a bag of cock". But what Kubrick did was to strip away the hokey nonsense of King's original novel, and create a masterclass in haunting imagery and suspense. In fact, the supernatural elements of the story are almost irrelevant. The horror lies in the subtext of domestic violence; it's difficult to see a plaid wearing, balding middle-aged man as a terrifying monster, and Nicholson is hardly the most physically formidable presence. But in the classic scene in which he finally snaps, it is easy to see why waif-like Shelly Duvall (or anyone like her) would be incredibly intimidated. Without resorting to unnecessary gore Kubrick's visuals are disturbingly intense, and complimented by one of the eeriest soundtracks ever written, the sense of unease is as creepy and atmospheric as any created. Far from being dated, compared to what passes for "horror" these days The Shining has actually improved with age. Another example of Kubrick being Jack of all trades and master of all. | December 18, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Did You Hear About the Morgans? - PG-13 | December 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Crazy Heart - R | December 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Bullitt - PG | When the state's witness against the mob he is assigned to protect is assassinated, Lieutenant Frank Bullitt refuses to hand the investigation over to self serving politician Robert Vaughn. Despite his absurdly macho name, Frank Bullitt is not the trigger happy tough guy you'd expect; more the strong, silent type, Steve McQueen oozes charisma as one of the archetypal maverick cops that redefined the entire genre. Peter Yates' direction is as stoic and attentive to detail as Bullitt's investigation and the seminal car chase through the streets of San Francisco featuring McQueen's iconic green Ford Mustang has passed into legend. It is not without its flaws; although very nice to look at, Jacqueline Bissett's love interest is cliched and rather unnecessary and the film inexplicably reveals the plot twist to the audience ten minutes before McQueen discovers it, but as stylish cop thrillers go, this is pretty much timeless and worth it for Lalo Schifrin's superb score alone. | December 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Requiem for a Dream - R | Jared Leto stars as a junkie looking for a way onto easy street for himself, his bored upper class girlfriend Jennifer Connelly and partner in crime Marlon Wyans. It's easy to dismiss Requiem For A Dream as a simplistic "drugs are bad" fable, but if you watch it with unbiased eyes, it actually is not preachy at all. It is a beautifully shot, visually inventive and extremely well acted tale documenting the modern world's obsession with the quick fix; every character in their own way is dealing with their empty, meaningless lives by avoiding dealing with them with the use of various addicitons; whether it be heroin, chocolate or television which inevitably leads to an unending spiral of degradation. After all, if you spend all of your time avoiding your problems, when they finally catch up with you they will inevitably be infinitely worse. Making Trainspotting look like The Little Mermaid, it's a harrowing, grimly affecting yet hypnotic film that you can feel gnawing at you in the pit of your stomach. This is cinema as an artform, and the best film David Lynch never made. | December 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Primary Colors - R | Primary Colours is a political satire following a southern governor who bears a striking resemblance to Bill Clinton on his presidential campaign trail. This film was obviously aimed far more at mainstream audiences than I was hoping for and so seems very tame to anyone used to the likes of The Thick Of It or even 70s sitcom Yes Minister. The story is shown through the eyes of the idealistic grandson of a civil rights activist played by Adrian Lester, but as we don't get to learn much about him, there is little in the way of emotional involvement; in fact the whole "human drama" aspect of it felt very forced. Travolta's drawling womaniser is shown to be basically an honest and straight talking man with one flaw, and this lack of satirical bite also compromises his character. What does make this film however are the supporting characters; partly Billy Bob Thornton's red neck adviser but mainly Kathy Bates who tears through the film like a large lesbian version of hurricane Katrina. She has the best character and most of the best lines as a disillusioned ex-activist but once again the outcome of her part in the story felt a bit contrived and hollow. It does have wit, intelligence and a message, namely that this era of spin is a Frankenstain's monster that the complicity of a gossip-hungry public and sensationalist media have helped create, and it is always engaging; I just wished it had the cynical, satirical teeth to go in for the kill. | December 15, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Road to Morocco - Unrated | The third and best of the Road series sees Hope and Crosby wooing desert princess Dorothy Lamour away from the clutches of Sheik Kassim, played by Anthony Quinn who returns from the first film. Three is most definitely the charm for this series as the formula attains the perfect balance of surreal sight gags, post-modern self deprecation and fast paced wise cracking. It has the best story, best songs and the jokes flow thick and fast in one of the best examples of wartime escapist entertainment. Hope and Crosby's partnership has an ease and sense of fun that is rarely matched and everyone involved clearly had a fantastic time making it. A minor comedy classic from the golden age of Hollywood. | December 15, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Up in the Air - R | December 12, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Pornographer - Unrated | December 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Road to Zanzibar - Unrated | Hope and Crosby continue their travels across the dark continent as a pair of con men who meet their match in the form of hustlers Dorothy Lamour and Joan Marsh. Zanzibar was the second Road movie and this is where the formula was set with far more of the duo's fast talking bickering and less of the musical interludes. Bob Hope is now the willing victim of Crosby's hair brained money making schemes and the pair have become the immoral, back stabbing cowards we know and love! Lamour is far feistier as a rival con artist rather than the doe-eyed innocent of the first film and Joan Marsh is a welcome addition to the team. The script is little more than a string of excuses for various skits and slapstick set pieces but the laughs flow much more freely than in Singapore. Dated (especially the painfully politically incorrect opening titles), but still funny. | December 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Road to Singapore - Unrated | Sea faring buddies Hope and Crosby dodge marriage vows and set up house together on a remote island paradise, until beautiful gypsy girl Dorothy Lamour appears and upsets their domestic bliss. This is one of those old style Hollywood films that seems hilariously naive by today's standards. A pair of men who don't want to get married to glamorous women so they decide to live (and sleep!) together...okaaaay then! This was the first of their collaborations and so the formula hasn't quite found its feet; Hope is more of a sidekick to main man Crosby (even appearing below Dorothy Lamour on the credits) and so the screwball banter of their later outings is sorely missing. In fact there are far more songs than jokes so it can be seen more as a romantic musical than a straight comedy. There's not much in the way of plot either, but if you're in the mood for old school, undemanding fluff decorated with some 40s Hollywood glamour (involving some lovely costumes by Edith Head) and a few chuckles, this adequately fits the bill. | December 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Ink - Unrated | December 10, 2009 | N/A |
15704 ratings
2135 reviews
