Filmstalker Reviews

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:40:28 +0000

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a film I first saw on pirated videotape when I was far too young to be watching it. My brother had managed to secure a copy and I sat down to watch it one night when my parents were away. It scared me so much I imagined a man with a chain saw coming out of the cupboard next to me for nigh on a week and a half. It kept me awake and frightened the hell out of me.

It's interesting though what time does to the memory of a film, and looking back I realise just how much my mind has embellished my viewing of it. The main surprise is that the film has next to no gore in it or blood, and much of the horror is psychological terror, and that's why I think it worked so well then and still works today. It's quite a contrast from the film my mind had made up since.

Moon

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:15:03 +0000

I really enjoyed Moon (Filmstalker review) when I saw it, Duncan Jones crafted an excellent film that could have gone disastrously wrong, after all it concentrates on just one main character, and when a film does that for it's entire length, it has to be good and that character rich and hugely interesting. Everything relies on the writing and performance of that character, and no matter what is around them in terms of effects and story, if that character fails, the film fails.

What was so great about the film is that everything about the film works really well, and the strong lead actor and character are superb. In fact everything about the film is superb. It's no wonder that some are saying this is the best science fiction film of the year.

Now Moon is on Blu-ray, and the offering is really good. It boasts an excellent picture transfer, great sound, two audio commentaries, a short film from the director, a couple of Q&A's and some strong featurettes that take us into the making of Moon.

Brüno

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:12:17 +0000

Sacha Baron Cohen was a huge success with his film Borat, so why not try and follow it up with another of his characters he's developed from his television show and bring him to life in a fully fledged film?

Once again the idea is that Brüno is a character from another country, another world even than the one we'd know even, and he's coming to ours with a big clash.

That's pretty much the idea and how it plays out, however with Brüno there's more of an attempt at a real story behind it all, something with emotion and drama, and a little more depth but still with the set sequences of ridiculing real life people in real life situations.

Bronson

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:14:49 +0000

The moment you hear about Bronson you'll be interested, the director, actor and story are all aspects of the film that will draw you towards it. Nicolas Winding Refn writes and directs, with the excellent talent of Tom Hardy leading the film. Then there's the story itself.

The story of Bronson is a fascinating one, it focuses on a man who has lived most of his life in prison, and in solitary confinement, for crimes that could well raise the argument of whether prison does indeed cultivate violence and breed criminals, or whether violence is built into the person.

Paranormal Activity

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:50:07 +0000

I was excited to hear about how well Paranormal Activity was doing, after all I'm sick of a lot of the factory belt made Hollywood films of late and I get quite exasperated when audiences go to so many dumb Hollywood films at opening weekend and make them successful when there's so much else on offer that doesn't get a look in at the multiplexes.

So when a small independent film makes it big I want to see it and I want to love it. Yet if I don't like it what do I say? That's why I'm a little torn with Paranormal Activity. The film is good, it has some strong elements in it, but at the same time there's some awful groan-worthy moments.

It's a real mixed bag, and while the press is filled with descriptions of people being terrified, screaming, and running out of the cinema, there was a fair amount of laughter in the screening I was in, but then there were two moments where everyone leapt. Mixed bag indeed.

New Town Killers

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:54:55 +0000

New Town Killers has a lot of promise, it's a great idea filmed in a great city by a Scottish writer/director and a strong Scottish cast. Richard Jobson is the man behind the writing and directing, and in front of the camera we see Dougray Scott and Alastair Mackenzie playing the high flying financial businessmen who have an extremely dark pastime.

I'm not a huge Richard Jobson fan, but the draw here is the dark story, that comes at a time in Scottish business that fits the idea rather nicely, it carries the very underused talent of Scott and a chance to see what Mackenzie has to offer in the film world.

It has all the building blocks of an interesting and possibly very good thriller that happens to be in Scotland.

Law Abiding Citizen

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:30:58 +0000

I'm a fan of Gerard Butler, and Jamie Fox can be good, although he can often be complacent in the performances he gives. The plot of Law Abiding Citizen sounded interesting, but it was F. Gary Gray that really caught my eye with the entire package, and really rounded off what was shaping up to be looking like a great film.

Gray directed The Negotiator, a tense, well written and directed thriller that I still love watching to this day. So with all this going for it how could anyone not be excited for the film?

Pandorum

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:37:19 +0000

I watched the Christian Alvart film Antibodies and was totally taken in by how good the story and how well filmed it was, I thought that Alvart was heading to Hollywood, and he hinted as much after the screening, and probably to remake Antikörper or Antibodies (Filmstalker review) first of all.

However he wasn't going to remake his own film. He headed to Hollywood and started with Case 39 which struggled to get a release, and next was Pandorum, which surprisingly got a first release.

Pandorum pitched itself as a science fiction psychological horror, and it was something that I thought would have suited Alvart perfectly. I was sorely disappointed.

Coraline

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:46:09 +0000

Looking back I have no idea why I decided to avoid Coraline in the cinema, I mean now when I look at the two creative names behind the project I can see the powerful attraction in the conveyor belt factories of Hollywood, Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman. That should have been enough for me.

The twisted imagination of Gaiman and his superb storytelling and characterisation, and the magic of Selick as an animator as seen by his beautiful The Nightmare Before Christmas and the way he brought to life his figures.

So why did I avoid Coraline? Well I assume it's because I thought it was too close to a children's film, despite the words to the contrary when it arrived. I can now say I was wrong, and if that's holding you back then I tell you now to drop the idea and watch it.

Zombieland

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:37:10 +0000

Zombieland. For those of you who know about that British advert that ends with "It does what it says on the tin", that describes Zombieland really well. The trailer and the blurb describe a world filled with zombies and some survivors meeting on their various travels and teaming up to not only survive, but to live life to the full, and following a few rules along the way they'll make sure they do just that.

That's your story. The film delivers exactly that. Well that and plenty of humour, fun and action, as well as a great performance from Woody Harrelson and strong supporting from the other cast members, and a style that's a little unique, a little quirky, and always fun. Welcome to Zombieland, don't forget your seatbelt, that's rule number...

Fast & Furious

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:57:53 +0000

I'm a fan of fast cars, action and adventure, and the Fast and the Furious franchise delivers just that. Okay, it hasn't been steady in its delivery, and it's not exactly deep, but it does what it says on the tin, and for fans of action and cars that's just great. Call it a guilty pleasure or not, but the adventures of the the underground racers is something that makes for entertaining action sequences, in the right hands.

Justin Lin picks up the franchise once again in the fourth outing called Fast & Furious, after directing The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third film in the franchise that only featured Dominic Toretto, aka Vin Diesel, in the closing few moments of the film as a reference to the other films. Fast & Furious could be seen as a return to what the strengths of the franchise are, and those strengths are in the leads and their relationships together. That's Diesel and Paul Walker who plays Brian O'Conner, and the supporting cast of Michelle Rodriguez as Letty and Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto.

The question is does the film manage to recapture the strengths of the original Fast & Furious and return the franchise to form?

The Good, The Bad and the Weird (Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:54:37 +0000

The Good, The Bad and the Weird, or Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom, is an interesting concept for a film from the Korean film-maker Kim Ji-woon that can be summed up quite simply, a Korean Western. It sounds incredibly bizarre but when you see the trailers you find that you're instantly drawn to the style and the energy of the film, and the trailers aren't just cut cleverly either, this is what you're in store for with the film.

The trailer showed an extremely stylish film with long action takes, sweeping camera zooming you right into the action, and there's plenty of it too, and to top it all a strong line-up of actors.

It seemed a great film to watch on Blu-ray, style, big shots, great action, it seemed perfectly suited to the high definition screen.

The Boat that Rocked (Pirate Radio)

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:37:26 +0000

I have to admit that The Boat that Rocked is one of those films that came out and had little effect on me. There was an interesting cast, proven film-makers with the Working Title team and Richard Curtis, but the idea at the core of the film didn't fire me up.

That idea was about a pirate radio station off the coast of Britain broadcasting rock and roll to a nation that was loving it while the government tried to ban it. All the while there was music and fun.

No it didn't really appeal at the time. Now I've seen it I do think it's better than the original blurb made out, but it still falls somewhat short of the Working Title successes.

District 9

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:49:47 +0000

The hype for District 9 began before the film even saw the light of day when Neill Blomkamp, the director, and Peter Jackson, the producer, seemed set to make Halo before it fell through in typical Hollywood fashion. Fans of the Halo franchise were devastated because the test footage that Blomkamp had created looked exciting and raw. That was when District 9 was born.

Already those who were awaiting Halo were excited, could this be a science fiction film that would show the studios behind the failed Halo attempt what they could have done? Well yes, but did they manage to pull it off? A story smaller in scope, scale and budget?

Inglorious Basterds

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:20:14 +0000

I tried not to be swayed by any of the press or hype regarding Inglorious Basterds before I saw it, and believe me that took a fair amount of work because the sway on this film has been huge. From the moment it was seen in Cannes the negative press was pouring out about it, then there was the talk of the re-cut and finally it was being seen, and the majority were loving it and claiming how great Quentin Tarantino was, again. In fact more than that, the general press were coming out with some great quotes and ratings. Now it would seem, after the cut, the majority loved it.

So keeping my distance from all this I tried to keep an open mind while I wrote articles about it, after all he was tackling a genre I love, the war film, and being a fan of films like The Dirty Dozen I thought that this couldn't fail to disappoint. It's also fair to say I am a fan of his films to date.

That is, until now.