Greetings, earthlings!
I apologise for my lack of activity on here recently. With work and planning my holidays and looking up answers to an impossible picture (that stupid ***** in that ******* big chair with her ****** stupid yellow dungarees!) I've been a bit all over the place. I have things to say but not sure how to put them into readable word-y esq words. On my days off I've been budgeting and just renting films with my work a/c (i.e. free) or just catching films for the paper in the cinema (i.e. free) and jotting down a few quickly thrown together opions over the last week. I've enough for a blog and I didn't want you all to suffer withdrawal ( :wink: ) so here are a few picks:
Everybody was kung fu fiiiighting! Dinananananana! Such fun, I found myself smiling from ear to ear at times, and I rarely do that, especially at screenings. Kung Fu Panda is a delightful piece of entertainment. I gave it a solid a review with very few blips. I simply noted that DreamWorks still haven't quite got on the same level as Pixar, and the stars attached to the film are merely fodder to reel viewers in. What really got to me however is the fact "It looks as though this one might slip through the cracks what with Pixar's eagerly anticipated 'Wall-E' campaign overshadowing it in every way possible, which is a pity. So catch it on DVD if ya miss it in theatres." It's tough being a little fish in a pond infested with Pixar giants. Kids will love this one and you might find yourself enjoying it, too. I did.
I just watched this around 2 hours ago. Why I waited so long I'm still kicking myself over, but, as they say, better late than never! I thoroughly enjoyed this visceral, bloody and entertaining piece of drama. The Coen brothers have done it again and have really created something wonderfully menacing. It all looks so dirty you'll want to take a shower after it just to clean yourself from the blood and sweat that clearly went into this film. I highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good "catch the pigeon" tale with remarkable performances and a beautifully dark film experience. Simple, but extremely effective.
Had to attend the screening for this one on Monday and it's probably one of the most enjoyable action films I've seen in years. Jackie Chan and Jet Li finally go head to head, fight side by side and bounce off each other like ping-pong balls in a film that'd be difficult to dislike. The choreography and action is non-stop, with some really cool bad guys and even better good guys. OK, mebe not, I mean, the White Witch, "the one born of wolves" just kicked so much ass! There's something about a woman with a whip that just does it for me :P
You can never go wrong with Christian Bale. EVER. That said, it's not his best work - I found Rescue Dawn to sit uncomfortably between an easy going drama and a painstaking look at how Prisoner's of war are treated. It never quite commits to being a full on drama and so never effectually reels you in. The acting is generally good all around, and while some folk may appreciate the simple nature of the characters and their interaction with one another, I found it to be somewhat staged and often filler-y.
Jack Black has quite a few "subtle" films coming out over here this summer. Of course, by subtle, I mean he's not screaming like a loon; he's not a panda who loves the word "awesome" and actually shows off a completely different comedic side to him which is mucho more appealing than his aforementioned traits. Be Kind, Rewind won't have you crying with laughter, but it should light a smile or three, and if you're feeling nostalgic, well, you'll love it! There's homage to quite a few celluloid gems in here with plenty of visual gags, too.
In work the other day I said to a customer "he's never made a bad film" about Daniel and I've gotta say...he still hasn't! Overlong, yeah - but who cares?! - this tour de force looks, sounds, IS AMAZING. I was expecting a bland story, cos, to be honest, it didn't have any space ships or kick ass babes so it lost me at the big screen, but I needed to see what all of the gafuffle was about. Well, it's brilliant! Compelling down to the final frame, which is a powerful one at that, this film had me at hello (seriously, it starts with hello...).
Very 24-ish, meaning it has its moments but overall falls flat (take that 24 fans!), Vantage Point packs some punch and has as many turns and betrayals and dead bodies as your typical 24 season, unfortunately it thinks it's such a clever boots and in the end feels as though they threw in a few random twists so they could call it "edge of your seat" stuff. You might fall off your seat, sure...probably because you were reaching for the remote to see what else is on and to make your way back once the tedious replays finished. Seriously, the same event told six time, wtf!? The last 20 or so minutes are decent enough and there's a car chase reminiscent to the Bourne films.
It wouldn't be a blog without a shameless plug :P
I'm writing for a slick sci-fi site - we cover everything from Batman film news to Doctor Who/Torchwood news & reviews. I'll have two reviews up 2moro for Wanted & Forbidden Kingdom. It's a site-in-progress, but so far is doing well enough. People can send in news items, so if you'd like to throw some info our way or rant about something, be our guest - just sign it and we'll post it :D...as long as it's sci-fi :P
The name is inspired...
FI-SCI.COM:lol: