MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D

2009

3D – 6/10

2D – 6/10

Not bad. Knew what it was doing, what its genre was and how to maintain a sense of suspense. Though the horror genre is hardly Shakespeare, this film took itself seriously and was played for drama, as well as revelling in the horror.

Not too gory, but violent none the less, and there was a scene of gratuitous and yet laughable nudity. Well worth a watch, and not bad in 3D either, but it was hardly necessary.

It certainly kept us guessing throughout, even though it was pretty obvious who dunnit, but the movie did pull out some dubious cards to keep us off the scent, but in parts, going too far.

ICE AGE

2002

4/10

NOT A PART OF MY COLLECTION

Not a bad little film, but I was disappointed with the lack of an engrossing plot. The characters were okay, but not particularly engaging, and it if wasn’t for the long running acorn gag, I think it would have had trouble holding my interest.

The animation style of the backgrounds was reminiscent of those drawn for the Loony Tunes cartoons, which I, being a huge fan, was pleased to see. The style in general was quite animated rather than digimated, which I also took to quite well, but overall the film lacked any real depth and was only really, a cursory experience.

But, I’m sure that the kids loved and love it and with the pronounced nature of the character design, I can see why…

LORD OF WAR

2005

9/10

Ever since the first time I saw this film back in 2005, I’ve been a fan. It broached an incredibly serious subject with the light touch of satire, whilst with striking imagery, great performances and some first class scripting left us with a sense of the moral ambiguity of arms dealing. Asking the question, rhetorically mind, of “is there as much blood on a dealers hands as there is from those who pull the triggers of their merchandise?”

This is one of Nicholas Cage’s better films of the past decade, I may even go a far as to say his best film of the naughties. Andrew Niccol is a lost writer/director in my view as well, directing Gattaca, writing The Truman Show, this is a man with a sharp talent for dealing with socially perverse subjects , such as selective breeding, reality TV and gun running.

I always look forward to seeing his work, but there is just too little. The sound design in absolutely amazing, with a gentle, soothing tone throughout, only to highlight the deafening noise of gunshots and bullets flying. And the same for his musical choices.

All in all this is a classic, but I fear it lost and will not be truly appreciated for some time yet…

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

2009

7/10

In short this was a good, enjoyable film, though it was clearly a long and relatively simple journey to its climax rather than a well-rounded narrative, as I understand the novel to be. But it was well paced, funny and dark enough to hold my attention for its two and half hours, and I would happily see it again, though I do feel that it could have been adapted better.

The core flaw with a series like Harry Potter is just that, it is a series and I feel that it struggles to hold its own creatively against its other blockbuster rivals. Maybe better suited for the small screen, but that is not to say that it hasn’t been well presented on the pearl screen, because the series so far has been excellently transferred.

THE DARK KNIGHT

NEW & UPDATED REVIEW CLICK HERE

2008

10/10

A TOP TEN FILM!

A masterpiece? Quite possibly. If it was possible, this film surpassed the original, “Batman Begins”, a film which IMHO ticked every box for an excellent and near perfect movie, but on Friday night, the bar was positively raised.

Comic book blockbuster meets “Heat”, Chris Nolan has now delivered a very different yet progressive take on the same genre while almost reinventing it, in a way not dissimilar from James Cameron and T2. Clearly not afraid to explore the world of Batman, this was defiantly on of, if not the most thoughtful and intelligent Blockbuster to make its way out of Hollywood in years, though it does have to fight off competition from likes of Mission Impossible, Batman Begins, T2 & Heat.

In short though, it doesn’t really matter how you qualify it. This movie had a stellar cast, great music and wonderful direction from a director who has only had one dud in “Insomnia”, and many would disagree with that. Role on Batman 3…

A COMMENT ON THE BLU RAY EDITION

It has since come to my attention that the BLU RAY version has a varying aspect ratio, with the 35mm elements presented in 2.40:1 whilst the Imax elements are presented in 1.77:1. This is scandalous in my opinion and certainly damages the cinematic experience. Add the fact that the correct Imax aspect ratio should have been 1.44:1, what is the point?

The DVD edition has the full Imax scenes in the correct 1.44:1 ratio as a special feature, but the fact that they have been shoe-horned into the main feature regardless is ridiculous and until this changes, there will be no Hi Def edition of this film in my collection.

BLU RAY is supposed to offer MORE choice and the option of branching the Imax scenes into the main feature would have been nice but I don’t go to the cinema to get shown a film with a varying aspect ratio and I don’t expect it on DVD/BLU RAY either.

CLUELESS

1995

5/10

Not bad, pretty inoffensive and clearly the starting blocks for many a well known actor in the 14 years since this film was released. It just went through the motions, made me chuckle but didn’t hold my interest as I would have hoped.

But I do think that I would have liked this a lot more back in 1995, as the comedy was very much of its time but has been done to death in the intervening years.

Wish I’d bothered to watch this sooner now…

MERRY MADAGASCAR

2009

5/10

NOT A PART OF MY COLLECTION

Will we be adding this our collection? No

Having not seen either of the first two Madagascar movies, watching what is effectively the third, wasn’t quite as the writers had intended. I don’t know the characters properly as I missed their establishment in the first movie, but I still got the picture.

But from this short, I would have to say that Ben Stiller’s Alex, the lion, was somewhat soft and very boringly played, but what would you really expect from Ben Stiller.

Yes, he can play some diverse characters but he can also act and sound as if he is literally phoning in his performances. The rest of the talent were reasonable and there were a few laughs but it was obviously contrived for Christmas so in my mind is too cynical to be taken seriously.

The same can be said for any major film or franchise but this is a very slight film with little impact other than to show Stiller’s even slighter voice talent…

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2

2005

3/10

NOT A PART OF MY COLLECTION

Will we be adding this our collection? No

A typical example of why Steve Martin should quit while he is decidedly NOT ahead, in fact, ‘passed it’ would be a more apt description.

The Man With Two Brains this isn’t, and unfortunately Mr. Martin has fallen along way from these comic heights and a hard that fall it was. But saying that he does keep getting work so he must be doing something right.

To the right audience this film works though, as a vacuous, light hearted and completely inoffensive romp, this was mildly enjoyable to watch in the background but certainly would not hold my attention for more than a few minutes, let alone 100.

REAR WINDOW

1954

8/10

This is one of Hitchcock’s finest, showcasing voyeurism and only knowing half of the story before jumping to conclusions, now matter how informed you think you are.

Hitchcock’s ability to demonstrate our darker nature in almost every one of him films was unsurpassed in my opinion, and this essay on voyeurism was no exception.

Never moving from Jimmy Stewart’s apartment and the subsequent courtyard of apartments, the photographer’s curiosity with his neighbours takes a dark turn as it turns to obsession, when he believes that one them has murdered his wife.

This story has been replicated for decades since, on Television and Film alike, more recently in Shea Labouf’s Disturbia.

Though somewhat dated in style and cinematography, this still cinema at its most effective, it;s massage just a poignant today as it was 50 years ago.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

2009

8/10

This was a worthy sequel to an excellent and well written first outing. Only suffering, but in a minor way, from being a sequel, it needed to be bigger and more action packed than the first, but it achieved this admirably though at times, it seemed to be a little cluttered…

The visual effects were second to none, with excellent music, editing and sound design, let alone some great, steady performances and in moments some outstanding acting, certainly from Kevin Dunn.

The pacing works so well, that like the first, the movie gets better with each subsequent viewing.

Great movie none the less and role on Transformers 3…