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Pitch Perfect 2012
"I've wrestled crocodiles and dingos simultaneously"
So... my flatmate thinks I've gone mental. Literally spent the past couple of hours laughing my arse off. This is crude, quick-fire gutter humour at its very best.
Sure, the plot is as cliched as they come, but the delivery is excellent and the performances are outstanding. There are so many quotable lines in this film. The interactions between Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins especially stand out as golden.
Well worth a watch
... and I hate a cappella groups... and laughing -
Warm Bodies 2013
I've got to admit, as an old school Romero fan and lover of other Zom-Coms such as Shaun Of The Dead and Zombieland the first thing that tends to run through my mind when I catch some conventions being broken is... "BLASPHEMY"!!!
Then I realise I'm being too uptight and that the whole premise is incredibly far fetched anyway.Yes, Warm Bodies does some oddball/ left-field things with the concept, but good golly it has fun while it's doing it.…
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The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 2006
I KNEW not to bother with this film until I'd caught the others!
To keep from spoiling it, there's a sequence at the end of Fast & Furious 6 which basically shows that Tokyo Drift is set AFTER 6. So for those of you paying attention the franchise goes:
- The Fast & The Furious
- 2 Fast 2 Ridiculous
- Fast & Furiouser
- Fast Five
- Fast & Furious 6: Back In The Habit
AND... Tokyo Drift.Essentially, this is Karate Kid…
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Fast & Furious 6 2013
After being brought back into the fold with the rather fun 5th entry I was slightly concerned to hear that the plot of Fast 6 is a sort-of-sequel to the events in Fast & Furious (the 4th entry and my least favourite to date).
Still with me?
So... the plot is rather threadbare and the the dialogue is beyond cringeworthy at times but if you go to see a Fast & Furious movie for anything other than sheer exhilarating silliness then you've…
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Holy Motors 2012
When David Lynch gets around to seeing this movie he'll have a stiffy for its entire duration!
This film is odd... and then some.Pretty sure I have no idea what was going on or what the message is that Leos Carax is trying to convey but it looks outstanding.
Denis Lavant's central performance is wondrous. His sheer physicality and ability to metamorphose in every narrative scenario blew my mind. In addition to this, Edith Scob's Céline and Eva Mendes'… -
The Place Beyond the Pines 2013
As much as I enjoyed this movie, the performances, the score and the beautiful way in which it's shot, I couldn't help but really FEEL every languid minute of its 2hr 20 minute running time.
I had no problem with the narrative structure and the transition between perspectives was well handled. Unfortunately, the jump made into the final 3rd really didn't gel quite as well as the rest of the movie.
Still, a solid Drama with some truly great performances.Although... whoever was in charge of Eva Mendes' wardrobe in her first scene needs shooting. I found her modesties to be a little unnecessarily distracting!
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The Last Stand 2013
When Bruce Willis or Danny Glover showed signs of rust and engine trouble, it was kind of funny. Somehow... hearing the same thing from Grandpa Terminator just seems really sad.
My biggest problem with The Last Stand was its tone. This is a film with split personalities and nothing really adds up at all.
Is it a straight down the line Action movie?
Is it a "I'm too old for this shit" Action movie?
Is it a Buddy Comedy Action… -
Star Trek 2009
I know this is a little "arse backwards", but after watching Into Darkness earlier I wanted to revisit the 2009 Reboot/ Prequel/ Sequel.
After many iffy big screen outings and a failure to reinvigorate the franchise with the Enterprise series, J.J. Abrams and co. utilise a time travel and string theory plot which wonderfully sidestepped 43 years of convoluted story and universe crafting.
Good bloody job if you ask me.
We meet The Original Series crew in a fledgling state.… -
Star Trek Into Darkness 2013
The first thing I want to say is that I'm not a massive Star Trek fan. Over the years I've been passively entertained by some episodes of The Original Series, The Next Generation and a handful of the earlier motion pictures, but on the whole, I never found the franchise overly accessible. I never felt part of the club.
So with regards to Into Darkness being a "good" Star Trek film, or even if the franchise reboot (or rearmament) is… -
Black Sunday 1961
"Now you mustn't be afraid of the dead. They sleep very sound".
Fantastic Italian Horror with great set and costume design, excellent framing with a foreboding and shocking-for-its-time opening sequence.
The visual effects are outstanding when considering this film is now 53 years old. A considerable head and shoulders above its peers.OK, so the lip sync is abysmal and the film sags in the middle, but the performances are great and the look and feel hold many similarities to…
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The House by the Cemetery 1981
Good grief. I was hoping for so much more. Loved Zombie Flesh-Eaters, adored City Of The Living Dead, so I figured The House By The Cemetery would be a sure bet.
How wrong was I?!
The dubbing and lip sync are atrocious.
The leading man looks like Michael Bay.
Bob is so irritating I wanted him mortally wounded.
Walter Rizzati's score is lazy and repetitive and repetitive.On the whole, I found the whole film quite lazy and no matter…
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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986
Michael Rooker: Man. Monster. Murderer. Actor.
Nothing seems to register at surface level with Henry in this movie. Calm on top but boiling underneath. He's positively a marvel to watch. The manner in which he manages to rope in Tom Towles' Otis is weirdly seductive. One can imagine that this is how killers actually recruit their subordinates. Rooker behaving as the dominant, silverback, Towles as the Robin to his Batman.
The relationship between Henry and Tracy Arnold's Becky is both…
