Good choice! Strangely, I'm actually looking forward to the remake of this, especially in light of what's going to happen in The Scarlet Gospels. When Barker eventually gets round to finishing the damned thing!
Set in contemorary London,about two brothers (Farrell and MCGregor) who are desperate to better their troubled lives. One is a chronic gambler in debt over his head,and the other is a madly in love with a beautiful actress.
Their lives gradually become entangled into a sinister situation with intense and unfortunate results.
Oh dear! what can I say terrible dialogue which at times made you think is this maybe a comedy film in disguise and other dialogue which actually made me cringe.Weak story that wev'e all seen so many times before and told better.
The acting was ok and I have to say Ewan was definetly the stronger character wize and on the acting front.
Colin strangely played a character in much the same postion as "Ray" in In Bruges,but in a much more disturbing way.
As a die hard Mr Farrell fan of course I'd go to see it but alas I cant think up another excuse.
I'll give it 2/5
Hancock (1st view) – A slightly different take on the superhero genre. Will Smith plays John Hancock. He can fly, he has superhuman strength and more often than not undertakes rescue mission with a bottle of booze in hand. I like Will Smith, I always have. A limited actor but he has a great screen presence, which is in show here. A twist in the tale near the end of the film takes things a bit too far, and as the story becomes darker it almost feels like a different movie to the light-hearted tone that fills the first hours, but this is good popcorn fun – 4/5
Transfomers (2nd view) – First things first. I love Michael Bay and I love Michael Bay films. Completely disposable slices of pure entertainment. Great fun. However, some things seemed to be lacking in this. It’s actually at it’s best when it doesn’t consist of giant robots beating the stuffing out of each other. Shia L Beaouf makes for a likeable lead, and so help me if I wasn’t often laughing at the likes of John Turtutto, Kevin Dunn and Anthony Anderson. T’s the action and effects that that this down. Choppy editing, and constant swirly camerawork make it very hard to actually follow the transformations and fight scenes, which is a great shame as I’m sure the effects bos have worked wonders, it’s just near impossible to tell. Good fun, but one of Bay’s weaker films – 3/5
The Story Of The Weeping Camel (1st view) – Set in the Goby desert, this tells the tale of a small group of shepherds who loom after a baby white camel after it’s rejected but it’s mother. It melds drama with documentary, and was in fact nominated for the best documentary Oscar. While it does offer some insight into the hardships of life in the desert, it’s a very slight film and fails to accomplish the most basic task of any documentary: make the subject matter riveting – 2/5
Roberto Succo (1st view) – Roberto Succo was an Italian who, after serving time for killing his parents, escaped a psychiatric facility in the late 80s and murdered and kidnapped numerous people across Europe. This film focuses on his crimes and the police forces out to catch him. In the title role, Stefano Cassetti is quite charismatic, but the film offers no real answers as to why such crimes occurs, which makes it, in some ways more disturbing - 4/5
Titanic (5th view) – Not seen this for a few years. I first saw it at the cinema and I’ve always liked it, but there’s always been a hell of a lot that bothered me as well. Mainly the romance. I’m a sucker for a good romance, but this certainly isn’t good. I really still cannot care for the Rose and Jack storyline. What’s more, so much focus is given to these two that the events of the night almost take second place, which is criminal. It would have struck a far greater emotional chord had it stuck to known facts of the night, focusing on people who actually did live though it. (The most emotional and engaging aspect of the second half is the panic and confusion of countless nameless people, and the actual sinking of the magnificent ship, and shame on me if I didn’t almost shed a tear. That’s LOTR’s doing!) And I hate all the scenes set in modern times (Some of the footage of the wreck is impressive, but I wonder if Ballard thought that Hollywood would come calling back in ‘85?) A gun-toting Billy Zane is one of the most pointless scenes I've ever seen, and I hate the way everyone refers to it as simply Titanic, rather than the Titanic. However, as an action/disaster film, the second half is one of the very best. Kate Winslet is fantastic, Leo isn’t great, but reliable enough. He’d become much better a few years later in Catch Me If You Can. Bernard Hill excels. The design and ambition of the film needs to be marvelled at. Going off and building a near life size replica is no small feat. Such technical bravado was rightly rewarded come Oscar time, but better films came out in 1997. A very good film, but no masterpiece – 4/5
Wanted - A truly spectacular movie from the visionary Timur Bekmambetov, who is obviously the director the Wachowskis wish they were. The story revolves around a cultish group of assassins, complete with their own moral and ethical code and the infamous Loom of Fate.
If you enjoyed Nightwatch or Daywatch, this is pretty much in the same vein visually. It boasts a non apologetic, fast paced narrative which makes the running time seem far less than its 110 minutes.
This is popcorn movie at its very best with the added bonus of a fitting ending that gives the story closure.
Highly recommended on my part, entertaining in every aspect. Another one I can't wait to catch on dvd!
Summer Holiday (1963), a light and fluffy British musical filmed around Europe. It stars Cliff Richard as Don, a London Bus mechanic, who along with his fellow workers Cyril (Melvyn Hayes), Steve (Teddy Green) and Edwin (Jeremy Bulloch), do up a London bus as a hotel, and drive it from London to Athens. They encounter women such as Barbara Winters (Laurie Peters) and Sandy (Una Stubbs), and weird French actor The Great Orlando (Ron Moody). This might be a movie which looks easy to dismiss, but it proves to be good fun, with some good songs to punctuate the journey. It's a movie of it's time, and it's pround of it, it's a shame films like this have died out, as it's a genre in need of an ever so slight revival... 3/5
Ridiculous, badly sung, cheesy - I loved it! 8/10
Best use of 3D i've seen so far, does the job and doesn't outstay its welcome. The highlight though is the lovely mountain guide Anita Briem as seen above. Good cheesy family fun.
6/10