Verdict
Charismatic Caine pulls off some fine moments in this vigilante blood-bath. It's fast, menacing and utterly compelling - one to watch if you liked Gran Torino!
Roland Emmerich's 2012 delivers in terms of almighty special effects and popcorn-munching action, but if you're expecting a story deep rooted in Mayan prophecy, then you'll be disappointed. The script, although very clever in parts, is not strong enough to support the epic scope of the movie, however, you can't fault Emmerich's sensational style. Despite its faults, this fantastically over-the-top disaster movie is irresistibly entertaining and makes his other film, Independence Day, look meek.
Unlike all other disaster movies, Impending doom isn't just once event in 2012 - there are solar flares, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, flooding and plenty of biblical undertones of the great flood - all rolled into one exhilarating but overly long film. This film is a big investment in terms of time, so don't drink too much fizzy drink at the start (you won't last), but the pace and absurdly oversized effects make it worth your while.
As far as the script goes, it's a fundamentally terrible. The human side of the story is underdeveloped, It's delivered in a slap-dash way, is packed-full of clichés and is brimming with gooey sentiment; however there is a cute yappy dog whose survival becomes almost as important to the viewer as the whole Indian population - Emmerich's journey is about excitement and atmosphere - he never takes this film too seriously, so why should you? Just sit back and enjoy it!
Verdict
2012 is essentially awful, but is charismatic and bigger and louder than any in its genre - whether you like it or not, it will draw you in and leave you with a smile on your face.
Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God.
Hundreds of years after his death the evil Damodar rises from beyond the grave ready to kill any who stand before him in his quest to rule the world. Using the black orb of unimaginable power he intends to take his revenge on the Empire of Ismir, whose inhabitants killed him.
Five champions of Ismir must work together to stop him, with prodigious feats of bravery and sorcery. They must do battle with spectral ghouls, thundering armies, and huge winged dragons.
Obviously this film is most likely to appeal to fans of role playing games but it could find a wider audience because it's certainly better than the film based on the same game that was released a few years ago, that featured a far better known cast and a far bigger budget.
Wrath of the Dragon God, is fairly average, it's inoffensive for the most part without ever reaching the heights that you might hope for. This is due to the fact that the actors are all basically unknowns and because of the low budget effects, and rather basic, yet at times meandering storyline.
The actors do a reasonable job and in terms of fantasy it's generally got the right idea - villains, monsters, heroes, swords and action and magic. However that's perhaps where the film fails - there's just not enjoy magic.
Wrath of the Dragon God is a decent attempt at making a Dungeons and Dragons film it's really only let down by the budget. If it had received a larger budget I think it would have looked a lot better and might have got a cinema outing rather than going straight to DVD.
How the world has changed since 1990, the year Macaulay Culkin's impossibly cute Kevin McAllister was left all alone by his parents at Christmas. If this film were made now, you wonder whether half of it would be moral reproaches and lecturing on child safety. Certainly you would think they might tone down the possible dodgy misinterpretations of the snow-shoveller's speech, which as it is, sounds strangely sinister to a modern audience. But then 'Home Alone' is surprisingly dark for a film aimed at youngsters. It's hard to imagine anything more terrifying to a child than unexplained abandonment. Luckily for us, Kevin decides to make the most of it, fulfilling his frustrated 'youngest-child' fantasies which involve eating mountains of ice-cream and turning the house into a rifle range.
Hapless burglars Joe Pesci (freshly menacing from Goodfellas) and Daniel Stern soon arrive on the scene. They are somehow likeable, characters with quirks and eccentricities aplenty compared with the cardboard cut-out baddies of the later sequels. Stern's Marv makes frequent references to his Jewish background which makes for laughs and in-jokes in a Christmas movie.
The physical comedy is so spot-on that it's hard not to wince at their ever-growing list of injuries. The house of tricks is unforgettable; no doubt the inspiration for home-made security systems in many an angry parent's house. Culkin's sweetness is just a bit too sugary for some tastes but his smile is capable of melting the coldest hearts. His career-making performance, at the age of ten is filled with iconic moments and unquestionably makes 'Home Alone' the first great family film of the 90s.
A follow on from the excellent Three Kingdoms movie, Red Cliff pulls the viewer into a mesmerizing Political power struggle which is superbly executed. The various battle scenes as ever are crafted to impress and are graphically detailed but deeper than this the captivating acting of all concerned and especially the Japanese Orlando Bloom look a-like tactician Takeshi Kaneshiro and the films hero the well established Tony Leung.
Everything about this and the follow up part 2 movie oozes of quality. Beautifully photographed emphasizing the intricately detailed and colourful wardrobe adds to this visually stunning feast. The plot though at first glance simple, draws the viewer in to a very human thus sometimes complex story of hate, power, love and so much more. If you enjoy a film and appreciate the effort that has quite clearly been applied in producing this amazing saga, then you must watch this movie masterpiece.
I bought these episodes via Find-dvd and I can honestly say it is a great purchase, the series starts slowly and the format is great.
An impressive list of celebrity personalities feature as a running gag, their appearances for the first few series are as callers to the Frasier Crane Show and the humour is always sharp.
In mid to latter series the guest performers are not restricted to voice; often a star turn comes about.
Patrick Stewart plays a character as camp as a row of tents, Michael Keaton's character is devious and calculating.
A common feature is Harriet Sansom Harris as Frasier's agent, in my opinion she steals every scene as a venomous go getter. Devious and manipulative to the last.
As the series go on there is a sense of family about the cast, they are all familiar with each other and they all work well together.
It is said that they "jumped the shark" with the final series, please consider the boxset as a whole, the subtlety of the dialogue throughout is hilarious and even several viewings are often needed to appreciate the expert construction of the episodes.
One of the most intelligent comedies ever, it is up there with Yes Minister.
10/10
Subtle comedy,mild sexual references,slapstick,intelligent witty dialogue.
I love this film it's not just for little girl's, I think it's for everyone and it even made me have a tear in my eye. Miley Cyrus is such a good actor and singer, this is one of my favourite films.
A true classic. 'The Shining' is haunting in every way a psychological thriller should be and even the use of the somewhat clichéd aspects of horror films, such as cute little girls singing songs and visions of what may or may not be there, can be overlooked because, basically, they work. There are so many classic scenes that would be spoilt to just read about them in a review. They have to be seen. And when they are seen, they will take a long time to be forgotten. And when they are forgotten, they will be remembered with the help of the many parodies of them used in other media. Like the terms we use now that were coined in Orwell's '1984' (Big Brother and Room 101, for example), the iconic scenes from 'The Shining' have been imitated and remoulded for other uses many times over, just showing in what a bright shining light this film is seen the world over.
Having recently watched a television adaptation of Henry James' 'The Turn of the Screw', it seems apparent that Stephen King (the author of the short story 'The Shining') took strong influence from James in respect to the nuances and ideas about ghost stories but Stanley Kubrick directs the film in such a way that it seems like the most original thing in the world, like he did with many other films.
In short, it is possibly one of the best films ever made and everyone of suitable age and disposition should see it.
Ghost Rider is a fantastic film with the popular Nicolas Cage taking up the lead Role. The film is very interesting to see how he became Ghost Rider and how his life has changed since he became the Ghost Rider. I would recommend this to any fan of the Comic books or other Comic Book films i.e. Batman.
This is quite possibly the archetypical Bond movie. A classic baddie in Goldfinger himself, complete with classic side-kick in Oddjob. Gadgets galore, including the Aston Martin with ejector seat, and in my humble opinion, the finest of all the Bond girls - Pussy Galore. There is so much to love with this film, and nothing to hate. Bond fans love Goldfinger, and those who aren't so sure or have never been exposed to Bond, become fans after watching this film. A must buy for anybody!
Directed by Doug Liman ('Swingers', 'The Bourne Identity') 'Go' was one of my favourite movies of the late 90s: overshadowed somewhat by big hitters like 'Episode I', 'The Matrix' and 'Fight Club', it followed the drug fuelled misadventures of some L.A. youths out clubbing on Christmas Eve.
Adopting a 'Rashoman', 'Pulp Fiction' narrative style, 'Go' bought us three different perspectives on the same story with clever overlaps, pop culture witticisms and snappy dialogue. Sarah Polley was excellent as Ronna, Taye Diggs was typically smooth, Katie Holmes was better than usual, Scott Wolf & Jay Mohr made for an hilarious double act, Timothy Olyphant won a young Hollywood award (in the prestigious 'Best Bad Boy' category no less!) as laid back criminal Todd Gaines, William Fincher was the kind of funny /weird that has to be seen to be believed; whilst co-stars Desmond Askew, Breckin Meyer, Jane Krakowski and Robert Duvall played their parts well. All in all: just a cool, clever and funny movie that keeps you hooked from start to finish with lots of repeat viewing potential. Go see it.
RENT RENT REEEEEENT!!!
Rent is probably one of the best musicals, if not the best, I have ever seen in my life. After doing Rent myself it helped me realise just how powerful and wonderful the musical is. La Vie Boheme is just one of the amazing feel good songs that gets you, the audience, right in the middle of the film/musical.
Rent isn't a well known show, causing it to come to an early end unfortunately. If more people had seen it, I can insure that it would be a worldwide phenomenon. All-in-all I think that RENT hasn't been given a fair chance to prove itself. BRING RENT BACK - that is all I can say. I am on Rent's side on this battle to bring it back. Also if it did come back it would help to raise awareness for people who suffer with Acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Rent is so amazing
Rent has such a good message
Rent is the best ever
Rent needs to come back
I give rent a 100 out of 10 (lol) *****
Project A is one of the best movies Jackie Chan has made. I reccomend this movie for all Jackie Chan fans, it is a very enternaining, funny and has amusing fight scenes.
Let me just start off by saying that you really don't need to know anything about American football to enjoy this film. In fact, it might help to be a newcomer, as I was, so every play and decision made seems exciting and mysterious. Friday Night Lights, based on the book by H.G. Bissinger, tells the true story of the 1988 Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas. We follow the players and coach (Billy Bob Thornton) through the season, as the whole town follows them religiously. If this film does one thing right, it gets across how important this game is to the town. No one in their right mind would be anywhere but the field on Friday night to cheer on the panthers. The coach gets a bigger salary than the head teacher, the field is more of a stadium, and if you don't have a state championship ring you aren't remembered after high school. However, Director Peter Berg does realise that this infatuation is unhealthy, and although the townsfolk are not portrayed as overly stupid or evil, we are shown that football is just a small part of these boys' lives, and should be treated as such. Due to the wide range of characters and fast moving plot some characters are a little underdeveloped, which is disappointing as we are meant to feel a connection to the whole team, rather than a couple of players. The digital cameras used give a grainy, realistic look which helps this true story even more believable. Acting is solid and understated all round, Billy Bob Thornton is the big name of this film but he doesn't steal anything away from his co-stars. The classic animated knockout-stage board is used later in the film, and feels a little out of place, given the real, down to earth way the film is shot. Overall, Friday Night Lights gives us a compelling look at a town's obsession with their high school football team, with just the right amount of sentimentality to make us care.
Gutted! Not about the DVD but that after watching it, I am even more gutted that I can't get tickets to see Frankie Boyle without remortgaging my parent's house. Though, in the current "climate", I'm not even sure you can do that anymore.
Anyway, I digress. The imaginatively titled 'Frankie Boyle Live' is what it says on the tin - or plastic case, as it happens. As the previous review of this states, most people that know Frankie Boyle will know him via the TV programme 'Mock the Week' and so will already know of his reputation for "shocking" humour. However, it is most certainly NOT the standard and stale brand of shock exhibited by many a comedian, despite on first take it sounding as such. No. Akin to Bill Hicks in some ways, there is depth to the things Frankie Boyle says and nearly always a logical grounding for it. Yes, I did say "nearly" because, of course, there are just a few cheap laughs where he simply abuses a member of the audience of calls a celebrity a nasty word, though they are far from actually being the core of his act. And that is what truly makes Frankie Boyle an amazing comedian.
Having not watched any of the previous X-Men offerings other than maybe the odd glimpse of the cartoon series in my younger days, 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' may seem like an odd choice. However, as with many things, there is more to the story. It was not my choice. Despite this, I sat happily for the entire duration, watching and learning why there are so many X-Men fans all over the world. This film is good in its own right but I suspect I would have got a little more from it by watching the previous films first, just because I would have then known more of the general background of the X-Men. However, this does not take away from the fact that I still enjoyed it and it is undoubtedly a must for any X-Men fanatic.
There are only so many remakes, sequels and iterations of the Saw franchise that I can stomach. This year I was beginning to become disillusioned with the genre, accepting the fact that original horror movies were on the decline and that guts by the bucket-full (in 3D, no doubt) was the kind of popcorn fodder I would have to settle for. And then came Drag Me to Hell.
Any fan of the Evil Dead series should have known that Sam Raimi's return to his home in the horror field would be something special. And what a treat this is. To be fair, it's nothing too original, nor complicated or particularly thoughtful. But it's difficult to deny that this film is balls-out, guilt-free pleasure.
The plot is quite simple. Christine Brown, a loan officer in California, denies a mortgage extension to an elderly gypsy woman, who in turn places a deadly curse on her which destines her to be tormented by demons, and after three days, dragged to the fiery depths of hell. What follows is Christine's tumultuous struggle to break the curse laid upon her before she is quite literally swallowed up by the ground beneath her.
By the time Christine has a second encounter with the slimy gypsy in an underground car park, the tone of the film is firmly set in place. Being strangled by the gypsy woman in her car, Christine does whatever she can to free herself, including making hilariously inventive use of a stapler and ruler from her box of stationery. Crashing her car into a parked truck, the gypsy's false teeth come gushing out her mouth in glorious slow-motion. This is NOT a serious horror movie.
Alison Lohman's performance of Christine is pitch-perfect: lacing some of the more comical dialogue with just the right dose of irony, taking the demands of all the gruesome set-pieces in her stride, and delivering some of the best screams in recent memory. Every good scary movie needs a heroine who can really scream.
The film is by no means perfect. A fifteen-minute séance scene in the home stretch gets somewhat yawnsome, even though the action is accompanied by a comically villainous talking goat, and Justin Long's performance as Christine's very accommodating boyfriend is, well, boring.
The critics claimed that this is the scariest film to have come along in years. About that, I'm not so sure. When the film wants to make you jump, it will. But it isn't scary. But I don't think it was ever really meant to be. Where it doesn't scare, it shocks. But when it wants to make you laugh, it rarely fails. The abundance of blood, slime and bursting eyeballs is what helps to makes the film so enjoyable.
The film consistently pokes fun at its genre, with all the jumps and shocks scored with overly loud, screeching strings (as all jumps should be), a kitten that DOESN'T jump out of a cupboard (but instead meets a hilarious demise) and a knee-slapper of a twist ending that will have you gasping and groaning in delight in equal measure.
With Raimi's tongue firmly in cheek, the film stands out from the hundreds of miserable horrors these days that take themselves far too seriously. The scares are often cheap, but well done, and Raimi knows it. The gore is outrageously over-the-top, and it's all completely intentional. It's destined to be a classic for all the right reasons. It's exactly what a horror movie should be: fun.
A great way to revamp the franchise! Non-stop action, awesome cast - Zachary Qunito as Spock is the perfect choice! Simon Pegg as the new Scotty is a bold move, but he pulled it off well. The story is not so confusing for those who have never seen any form of star trek before. A must have on blu-ray.
With a new version of Day of the Triffids about to hit the screens this is probably a very good time to review this 1981 BBC adaption of the classic John Wyndham story.
A large proportion of the Earth's population is rendered blind by a mysterious meteor shower. Only a few lucky people who hadn't seen the spectacular lights retain their sight. One of these is Bill Masen played by John Duttine who gives a splendid, commanding central performance. He and the other few sighted individuals left have to agree on how to look after the blind population but they haven't factored in the presence of the triffids, a deadly plant which had been used as a source of oil before the crisis.
The story was adapted by Douglas Livingstone into a six part half hour series for the BBC in 1981. The beautiful latex triffids models, which is what most people will remember from this programme, were created by Steve Drewett and are one of the best 'monster' costumes to come out of the BBC at this time. Having said that technology has moved on considerably from that time and they no longer have the power to scare that they did, however, director Ken Hannam uses them cleverly and does not showing too much. The sound design is what still holds the fear factor. The use of a rhythmic knocking sound whenever the triffids are close will still cause a shiver to run up your spine. If you want to keep your child quiet show them this and remind them that triffids can only find you via sound vibrations, it worked for my parents!
This is an excellent adaption from the golden age of BBC drama. While the production values may look a little primitive to a modern audience the story has lost none of its power to thrill. So suspend your disbelief, sit back and let the story wash over you. Remember in 1981 this sort of drama was commonplace and not just special event television. But there is nothing commonplace about this adaption.
In season five of LOST - apparently the penultimate season - there are some interesting changes. The regular flashbacks of previous seasons are replaced with a new twist - time travel or time shifting when the island goes on the blink, after Ben tried to move the island at the finale of season 4. Our heroes are tossed around in time before settling in the mid 1970s when Locke manages to stop the shifts.
I don't really want to tell you anything more about the plot because with LOST, secrets and clues and working things out as you go along is everything, it's difficult not to get drawn into trying to work out one character's relationship to another, or trying to work out what might happen, so I'll allow you to experience that for yourselves instead of giving too much away in a series synopsis. Suffice to say, there are plenty of twists and turns and surprises to be enjoyed from finding out more about the dark past of Charles Widmore and Ben Linus, to finding out what happens to Kate, Locke, Sawyer and Jack.
The storyline is gripping; the characters are likable and are endlessly watchable. It's certainly difficult when watching the series not to keep watching it episode after episode as each instalment leaves the viewer with a cliff hanger that you'll feel you need instant clarification of, naturally as the show tends to focus on different storylines each episode, you might still find yourself waiting one or two more episodes before you find out what you wanted to know. It can be infuriating at times but it'll keep you watching LOST well into the small hours of the morning, most probably night after night until you reach the season finale.
LOST boasts a very strong cast and the actors are always at the top of their game. It's interesting to see new characters blend seamlessly into the mix, with their own backstories and their own uniquely personal character arcs and motivations. It's also interesting to see characters that have been at the forefront of previous seasons now take a backseat while other characters now have larger roles to play. Naturally this must be good for the actors but it's also good for the audience as of course everyone will have their favourite and least favourite characters.
Ultimately, even if season five doesn't quite reach some of the highs of seasons three and four (perhaps because it begins quite slowly), it is testimony to LOST in general that the show nonetheless remains totally unmissable.
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