Kerayi

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  I recommend you see...

  Dead Man's Shoes

  by xGary

  This bleak tale of revenge set in a small English town sees Paddy Considine leaving the army and returning home to extract brutal revenge on a group of small time drug dealers who abused his retarded younger brother while he was away. This is an unusual revenge thriller as it often looks more like a slasher flick; Considine is obviously an unstable murderer who has been trained to kill and he systematically executes each of his victims in a very horror film style way. Except in this case his victims are a bunch of unsympathetic scum bags who you can't help feeling probably deserve their fate. In this way the film throws up many mixed emotions as you're never quite sure who you are supposed to be rooting for! But the real kick in the gut is provided by Shane Meadows; he directs very much like a documentary photographer cataloging the grim reality of working class small town life. The actors involved are ugly. They have bad hair and cheap clothes. In other words they look like REAL people, not Hollywood's glamorized, sanitized version of them. As such you feel you are right there in the thick of it, actually witnessing these gruesome events rather than just watching a piece of entertainment. It won't be to everyone's tastes as it's quite a tough movie to sit through because of its extremely grim subject matter, but ultimately it's a very powerful piece of work.

  garyX

  "You were supposed to be a monster. I'M the monster."

  posted 1 day ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Grosse Pointe Blank

  by xGary

  Professional contract killer Martin Blank decides to stop off at his high school reunion while out on a job and rekindles an old flame in the shape of Minnie Driver. Part romantic comedy, part post-Tarantino noir, this is the kind of cinematic hybrid that can sometimes go disastrously wrong (Gigli anyone? Thought not....) but this brilliantly written example is not one of them. The dialogue is witty, snappy and insightful, it has likeable characters played by a great cast headed by John Cusack at his most charming and who shares a real chemistry with his co-star. There are also some great supporting performances by Dan Aykroyd as a rival hitman, Alan Arkin as Blank's unwilling psychiatrist and Joan Cusak as his kind of post-modern old school noir style secretary. Add brisk no nonsense pacing and well handled set pieces and you have a smart and funny black comedy that works on every level.

  garyX

  If you liked Lucky Number Slevin, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Shoot 'Em Up check this out. It's better than all of them.

  posted 2 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  The Dark Knight

  by xGary

  Being a bit of a latecomer when it comes to The Dark Knight, this film was always going to be about the hype. It's a tall order to live up to the expectation generated by the most anticipated film of the year directed by one of my favourite directors containing a performance lauded over by all and sundry.
  Basically, it had a HELL of a lot to live up to. And no, it did not disappoint. Much. I loved Batman Begins, particularly its examination of the psychology of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Unfortunately this is pretty much absent from The Dark Knight; it's The Joker's show all the way, and Ledger tiptoes the line between playfulness and psychosis perfectly. His character is obviously designed to strike a cord with western audiences as a villain with no agenda, fear of death or capture, no objective other than chaos is clearly the ultimate "terrorist". I just wish there had been more dialogue between he and Bale, rather than The Joker making observations while Batman wordlessly pounded on him. But absolutely every other aspect of the film is pretty much flawless; the action, the effects, the performances, all spot on. The script is brilliantly written and I was glad to see it didn't follow the usual pattern of "we're all super-baddies so let's all join up to fight the hero", instead Two Face being a far more believable by-product of The Joker's manipulations. I still prefer the stylistic approach of Sin City, but it's still easily one of the best superhero films ever made.

  garyX

  (Nearly) as good as everyone says it is.

  posted 6 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

  by xGary

  The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is a bit of a mouthful, but it's titled perfectly. The script is extremely literary and the title is deeply ironic and highlights the fact that real life bears little resemblance to the simplistic interpretation of events that "legends" present. In fact it was Ford's disillusionment in his dealings with the man compared to his childhood hero worship that probably contributed greatly to the resulting killing; that and his own wish to be revered as a "hero" himself. The cinematography is simply beautiful, the film resembling a period photograph come to life. The train robbery scene is one of the most visually stunning pieces of cinema I've ever seen. The performances are also top notch, particularly Brad Pitt whose intense and intimidating interpretation of James once again proves that given quality material he can more than deliver the goods. True, it's rather slow moving and talky, but as such it's a completely different take on one of the most oft filmed stories in cinema, and also one of the best.

  garyX

  Short on action, yes, but long on depth, intelligence and beauty.

  posted 9 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Planet Terror (Grindhouse Presents: Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror)

  by xGary

  A deadly plague that turns the populace into flesh eating mutants is released into the atmosphere and a band of misfits join together to fight their way to safety. Robert Rodriguez' pastiche of seventies and eighties style schlock horror seemed like a real breath of fresh air to me. The fact that two of its greatest exponents, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson have been heading further and further down the overlong, sterile, technology orientated road of mainstream cinema makes it all the more ironic. Tarantino and Rodriguez seem to be headed completely in the opposite direction, concentrating on entertainment rather than ego, and in this film they deliver just the right blend of tongue in cheek humour, knowing homage and outrageous gore, the likes of which I haven't seen since Evil Dead 2. It's half John Carpenter and half George Romero, but manages to ape the films of their hey days to such an extent it surpasses anything either of them has done for a couple of decades. The cast overact their cinematic stereotypes to just the right degree, and the gore is amusingly ridiculous in a similar way to Return Of The Living Dead, itself a tongue in cheek semi-sequel to Romero's original zombie film. It'll never change your world, but that's hardly the point. 100% proof pure entertainment.

  garyX

  Hugely enjoyable high-camp comic strip gore-fest from the director of Sin City. If you like Evil Dead 2&3, you'll like this!

  posted 22 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (AVP 2)

  by xGary

  AVP 2 continues directly from the ending of the first film, with an alien/predator hybrid causing the ship to crash land back on Earth. A second ship is dispatched containing a kind of space-age alien cross between a CSI and Batman to clear up the resulting mess. The first film was dumb but fun, but I have to say I did not have high hopes for this one. At first it seemed that my fears were going to be justified because the first act of the film resembled a teen slasher flick more than anything else, complete with semi-clad nubile teens, people being picked off one by one in dark corridors and the inevitable pre-scares and false alarms. However, once the aliens hit the surface things got a LOT better. It "borrows" ideas heavily from other sources, notably Dawn Of The Dead and especially Aliens; a couple of scenes are lifted directly from it and the kick-ass mom protecting her young daughter is an obvious copy of Ripley. But it does it WELL. Despite the fact that the film can look a little too dark making it difficult to tell what's going on in places, it does look great and the fight sequences are very well done. The small town stereotypes are a little underwritten, but the action makes up for it and it never shies away from the gory side of things giving it a distinctly horror style spin. The alien hybrid is also done far better than the one in Alien Resurrection. For once it seems that a sequel has learned form the mistakes of its predecessor, and the result is a very pleasant surprise.

  garyX

  I'm probably going to end up in the stocks over this one as most of my friends slated it, and I must admit the score would probably have been lower if my expectations weren't so low...but I really enjoyed it! Think Land Of The Dead crossed with Aliens. MUCH better than the first one.

  posted 23 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Sweet Smell of Success

  by xGary

  This pitch black hearted noir was something of a flop on its release, and it's not difficult to see why. Not through lack of quality, but rather the fact that its unrelenting cynicism and bleak outlook is certainly not for the faint hearted. Tony Curtis turns in easily his best performance as Sidney Falco, an obsequious press agent who is perfectly willing to sell his soul to get on top, and Burt Lancaster is similarly superb, brilliantly cast against type as a cold-hearted tyrant (even describing an attack on his character as an attack on his country, the cry of despots throughout the ages) who controls all around him through contemptible manipulation. The core of the film is the creepily ambiguous relationship between he and his sister; at one point he refers to her "apron strings", an allusion to motherhood, but he also keeps a portrait on his desk as one would a spouse or lover... It is unusual in that instead of fists and bullets, all the damage is done through words and insinuations; the razor sharp dialogue is amongst the best ever written for the screen, and the magnificent photography represents the city streets as blackly as the protagonists' hearts. The package is completed by a soundtrack of fantastic contemporary jazz and the overall result is one of the pinnacles of film noir.

  garyX

  "It's a new wrinkle, to tell the truth... I never thought I'd make a killing on some guy's 'integrity'."

  posted 40 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Withnail and I

  by xGary

  Withnail & I is the tale of a pair of out of work actors in 1969 Camden who decide to get away from it all for a weekend in a country cottage. And that's about it; plot heavy this film is not. It's all about the character of Withnail, played to perfection to a pre-insufferable Richard E. Grant; in fact Grant was a tee-totaler when he made this film, but Bruce Robinson insisted that the leading actors be paralytic during filming, just to make it more authentic! The pair are like a foul-mouthed, drunken version of Laurel & Hardy as they stagger through the ordinary world in much the same way as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo were in Fear & Loathing, except that this film is very, very British. This film is all about the dialogue, which is hilarious, containing some of the funniest swearing you'll ever hear! It is also, like Gilliam's film, making a comment about the times in which they lived; the end of the sixties. Except in Fear & Loathing, Thompson was bemoaning the loss of power and optimism of the American youth movement, and here Withnail is shown as an endearing but childish and cowardly person, constantly avoiding responsibility and life as a whole, through a cocktail of drink and drugs. He is left behind at the end, like the decade, as "I" gets a haircut and a job, and moves on with his life. Some may think that the "screaming homosexual" uncle Monty is a bit of a caricature and figure of fun, but he is in fact the most sensitive and sympathetic character in the film. it may not translate well to foreign audiences, but it will forever be a firm favourite amongst the British post hippy generation and students alike.

  garyX

  "We're on holiday by accident!"

  posted 42 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

  by xGary

  Hunter S. Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel and essay on the emptiness of the American dream in post sixties Las Vegas is brought to life by Terry Gilliam in a way very few could've managed; his mixture of lurid visuals, surreal humour and celebration of the grotesque captures its spirit perfectly. It's long been one of my favourite books, and this is exactly how I pictured it in my head as I read it. Johnny Depp nails Thompson, and is spot on as the drug-addled outsider who sees himself as an alien in his own country, providing some very insightful commentary on the America of those times. Benicio Del Toro is also fantastic as his Samoan sidekick and it's hilarious to see the pair of them crashing through "polite society" without the slightest regard for acceptable, conventionall behaviour. With cameos from the likes of Christina Ricci and Harry Dean Stanton, the cast is to die for there are loads of funny lines and physical humour that'll make anyone who has had one too many (of anything!) laugh and cringe knowingly at the same time. Capping it off there's also a superb soundtrack of the greatest music of that period. Those looking for a coherent plot will be disappointed, but that's the nature of the beast; deeply sick and totally hilarious, it's America's answer to Withnail & I.

  garyX

  The prefect solution for anyone who wants to know what it's like to be on drugs without actually taking drugs!

  posted 44 days ago
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  Come see this movie with me...

  Psycho

  by girlybat

  girlybat

  not a recommendation, but rather a heads up to check out this groovy Hitchcock homage that you might enjoy. =)
  
  http://up.youngruffians.com/vanityfair/

  posted 44 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Capricorn One

  by xGary

  James Brolin heads a team of astronauts who're pulled from their capsule seconds before the launch and told they must help fake a Mars landing in order to save the space program. Meanwhile Elliot Gould is a reporter whose friend that works in the Houston command centre tells him of a discrepancy in the telemetry. This friend promptly vanishes and he finds someone else living in his apartment, so he sets about discovering the truth. This hugely entertaining conspiracy theory thriller from Peter Hyams delivers an interesting premise told with boy's own panache. Elliot Gould does what he does best as the smart mouthed reporter and gets all the best lines in some witty quickfire banter with his editor and love interest, and the action is provided in the astronaut's escape from the NASA compound. Hyams makes great use of the desert locations and there's an exciting finale in the form of an aerial chase through it's canyons between two black ops helicopters (cleverly given a kind of faceless, malevolent personality through formation flying) and a barnstorming crop duster played by Telly "Kojak" Savalas. Occasionally a little far fetched, but it's funny, intriguing and exciting, and great fun.

  garyX

  A great 70s thriller that's been earmarked for a remake due for release in 2010.

  posted 50 days ago
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  garyX

  
  
  Which is the greatest gun battle in cinema?

  posted 52 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  The Happening

  by girlybat

  not all that i expected but good just he same. the violence was quite startling at times, and was the highlight for me, but i'd much rather the plot had been.

  girlybat

  hey, you might want to see this.

  posted 55 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  Siblings

  by girlybat

  good black comedy. i'd watch it again.

  girlybat

  i caught this clever, little Canadian movie on Showtime last night. highly enjoyable. you might want to check it out. =)

  posted 59 days ago

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In Theaters

On Dvd

• August Rush
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
• Platoon
• Schindler's List
• Shoot 'Em Up
• Hidalgo

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• My Favorite Movies (43 movies)
• Best Chinese Films (14 movies)
• My Favourite Miyazaki/ Studio Ghibli films (in order) (11 movies)

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