First half
Jul. 4th, 2009 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jackoFilms I have seen over the last six months:
Australia - A Baz Luhrmann western in the Australian outback. Hugh Jackman does what he does best. Zero historical accuracy but a cracking good yarn. Make that two cracking good yarns, because a whole other story arc begins just as the first finishes. Silly but fun. ***
Blood: The Last Vampire - A lot more American than I expected. A lot more crappy than I expected too. One cliché after another, atrocious CGI, non-existent acting, and fight scenes totally lost to constant jump cuts. Only to be taken with lots of alcohol. *
Bolt 3D - Basically a not-as-good Toy Story with a dog as Buzz Lightyear and agoth sarcastic cat as Woody. Fairly standard Disney fare, enjoyable enough for what it is. Probably more entertaining for pet owners. **
Che: Part 1 - Well-acted biopic but rather disjointed. Difficult to get a sense of timescale. Not good enough to make me want to watch Part 2. **
Chi Bi (Red Cliff) - Solid John Woo epic historical action. Massive armies, ships on fire and some very cunning plans. Takes a while to get going, but the stealing-the-arrows bit is hilarious and the final battle is made of awesome win. ***
Coraline 3D - A solid adaptation of a nicely spooky Neil Gaiman fairy tale by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Effective 3-D without being in your face. Not as creepy as the book, mostly due to the rather cutesy animation style, but otherwise faithful. ****
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt ages backwards and leads a really, really dull life in real time. Three hours you will never get back. Tilda Swinton is endearingly eccentric but even she can't save the film. A good cure for insomnia. *
Doubt - Oscar-worthy drama with great performances from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep. As uncomfortable and ambiguous as it's title. Very good, even if it is more of a film to admire than to like. ****
Drag Me To Hell - Alison Lohman is cursed by a gypsy to have a demon annoy her intensely for three days before literally dragging her to Hell. A glorious rollercoaster ride of tension, scares, and Itchy & Scratchy-style comedy violence. Revels in its own absurdity. An absolute must-see. *****
FAQ About Time Travel - More pub conversation than FAQ. Three mates get caught in one time loop after another, after finding a time rift in the gents at their local. Completely nonsensical and chaotic. Switch off your brain and enjoy. ***
Frost / Nixon - A political battle of wills with electric performances by the two leads. Gripping, funny and poignant, sometimes all at the same time. Recommended. ****
Gran Torino - Clint plays a cantankerous old racist with a very nice car. A Vietnamese family moves in next door and hilarious consequences ensue. A gang turns up and violent consequences ensue. Brilliant on every level. *****
Hush - Claustrophobic low-budget Brit horror. A couple driving home on the motorway at night see a woman chained inside a lorry in front. Or do they? What should they do? Gradually escalating, tense and scary. ***
Inkheart - High-concept kid-orientated fantasy. A superb cast (including Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren and Andy Serkis) lift it above the norm. Doesn't really make the most of its ideas, but a fun adventure nevertheless. ***
In The Loop - Out-of-control political comedy with verbally abusive Scotsmen. Kind of like the twisted offspring of Yes Minister and Withnail & I. Chaotic and funny. ***
Låt Den Rätte Komma In (Let The Right One In) - A slightly psychotic schoolboy falls for a 200-year-old vampire. Kind of sweet in its own creepy, bloodthirsty way. Beautifully shot in a snow-filled suburban wilderness. Haunting and very un-Hollywood (except for the silly bit with the cats). Highly recommended. *****
Lesbian Vampire Killers - Does exactly what it says on the tin. Entertainingly ridiculous. ***
Milk - Overrated but enjoyable biopic. Well-written with rounded characters who (good guys and bad) are fallible, sympathetic and refreshingly stereotype-free (mostly). Some very effective intercutting with historical news footage. ****
Monsters Vs. Aliens 3D - Lots and lots and lots of things exploding and flying around. Biggest "wow factor" of any 3D film yet. Also enough gags and endearing enough characters to stop the paper-thin plot getting boring. Goofy fun. ***
Push - Weird superhero movie starring the other Chris Evans. Can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a government conspiracy thriller, a gangster flick or an X-men actioner. Does Dakota Fanning's mother know she goes out dressed like that? **
The Reader - Kate Winslet and Ralph Feinnes in a post-WW2 generation-spanning tale. A law student has an affair with an older woman who has more than her fair share of secrets. Years later the affair comes back to haunt him. Fairly predictable, but no less enjoyable for it. Brilliantly written and acted. *****
Slumdog Millionaire - Okay, so it may be over-hyped, cheesy and shallow, but I found it an absolute joy to watch. The Mumbai slums come to life and the young stars (kids and teens) are very convincing. Kind of like a happy, feelgood version of Cidade de Deus (City of God). ****
Star Trek - More an action movie than the usual social-workers-in-space fare we normally get with Trek. A convincing cast and a good sense of humour. Even the plot is reasonable. But it's Leonard Nimoy who completely and utterly steals the show. Surprisingly good. ****
The Tale Of Despereaux - Swashbuckling cartoon mouse adventure. Nowhere near as funny as it looked from the trailer. Disappointing. **
Terminator: Salvation - Post-apocalyptic guerilla warfare with killer robots. Killer robots suffer from "the more there are, the weaker they are" movie henchman rules. Skynet gets caught monologuing. More of a plot than I thought there'd be. Not a patch on the first two, but still a lot better than T3. ***
Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen - Not Another Teen Movie level gags mixed with a sub-Dan Brown level archaeology plot, and really dull action scenes. No style and crappy camerawork. The giant alien robots are mainly just there for comic relief. An utter travesty. Avoid it like the plague. *
Valkyrie - WW2 conspiracy thriller starring Tom Cruise and a lot of very English Germans giving each other Very Significant Looks. That's about all there is to say about it really. **
Watchmen - An almost panel-by-panel perfect adaptation of Alan Moore's cold war superhero dystopia. The characters and mood are spot on, and it doesn't pull any punches. Unfolds slowly, drawing you in but without ever getting boring. A film to savour. *****
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - TBH this is redundant drivel re-hashing storylines from X2, but at least it's highly entertaining drivel. Long-running fueds and increasingly epic destruction. Scores extra points for Gambit (finally!) and for the fantastic opening credits montage. ***
Australia - A Baz Luhrmann western in the Australian outback. Hugh Jackman does what he does best. Zero historical accuracy but a cracking good yarn. Make that two cracking good yarns, because a whole other story arc begins just as the first finishes. Silly but fun. ***
Blood: The Last Vampire - A lot more American than I expected. A lot more crappy than I expected too. One cliché after another, atrocious CGI, non-existent acting, and fight scenes totally lost to constant jump cuts. Only to be taken with lots of alcohol. *
Bolt 3D - Basically a not-as-good Toy Story with a dog as Buzz Lightyear and a
Che: Part 1 - Well-acted biopic but rather disjointed. Difficult to get a sense of timescale. Not good enough to make me want to watch Part 2. **
Chi Bi (Red Cliff) - Solid John Woo epic historical action. Massive armies, ships on fire and some very cunning plans. Takes a while to get going, but the stealing-the-arrows bit is hilarious and the final battle is made of awesome win. ***
Coraline 3D - A solid adaptation of a nicely spooky Neil Gaiman fairy tale by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Effective 3-D without being in your face. Not as creepy as the book, mostly due to the rather cutesy animation style, but otherwise faithful. ****
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt ages backwards and leads a really, really dull life in real time. Three hours you will never get back. Tilda Swinton is endearingly eccentric but even she can't save the film. A good cure for insomnia. *
Doubt - Oscar-worthy drama with great performances from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep. As uncomfortable and ambiguous as it's title. Very good, even if it is more of a film to admire than to like. ****
Drag Me To Hell - Alison Lohman is cursed by a gypsy to have a demon annoy her intensely for three days before literally dragging her to Hell. A glorious rollercoaster ride of tension, scares, and Itchy & Scratchy-style comedy violence. Revels in its own absurdity. An absolute must-see. *****
FAQ About Time Travel - More pub conversation than FAQ. Three mates get caught in one time loop after another, after finding a time rift in the gents at their local. Completely nonsensical and chaotic. Switch off your brain and enjoy. ***
Frost / Nixon - A political battle of wills with electric performances by the two leads. Gripping, funny and poignant, sometimes all at the same time. Recommended. ****
Gran Torino - Clint plays a cantankerous old racist with a very nice car. A Vietnamese family moves in next door and hilarious consequences ensue. A gang turns up and violent consequences ensue. Brilliant on every level. *****
Hush - Claustrophobic low-budget Brit horror. A couple driving home on the motorway at night see a woman chained inside a lorry in front. Or do they? What should they do? Gradually escalating, tense and scary. ***
Inkheart - High-concept kid-orientated fantasy. A superb cast (including Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren and Andy Serkis) lift it above the norm. Doesn't really make the most of its ideas, but a fun adventure nevertheless. ***
In The Loop - Out-of-control political comedy with verbally abusive Scotsmen. Kind of like the twisted offspring of Yes Minister and Withnail & I. Chaotic and funny. ***
Låt Den Rätte Komma In (Let The Right One In) - A slightly psychotic schoolboy falls for a 200-year-old vampire. Kind of sweet in its own creepy, bloodthirsty way. Beautifully shot in a snow-filled suburban wilderness. Haunting and very un-Hollywood (except for the silly bit with the cats). Highly recommended. *****
Lesbian Vampire Killers - Does exactly what it says on the tin. Entertainingly ridiculous. ***
Milk - Overrated but enjoyable biopic. Well-written with rounded characters who (good guys and bad) are fallible, sympathetic and refreshingly stereotype-free (mostly). Some very effective intercutting with historical news footage. ****
Monsters Vs. Aliens 3D - Lots and lots and lots of things exploding and flying around. Biggest "wow factor" of any 3D film yet. Also enough gags and endearing enough characters to stop the paper-thin plot getting boring. Goofy fun. ***
Push - Weird superhero movie starring the other Chris Evans. Can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a government conspiracy thriller, a gangster flick or an X-men actioner. Does Dakota Fanning's mother know she goes out dressed like that? **
The Reader - Kate Winslet and Ralph Feinnes in a post-WW2 generation-spanning tale. A law student has an affair with an older woman who has more than her fair share of secrets. Years later the affair comes back to haunt him. Fairly predictable, but no less enjoyable for it. Brilliantly written and acted. *****
Slumdog Millionaire - Okay, so it may be over-hyped, cheesy and shallow, but I found it an absolute joy to watch. The Mumbai slums come to life and the young stars (kids and teens) are very convincing. Kind of like a happy, feelgood version of Cidade de Deus (City of God). ****
Star Trek - More an action movie than the usual social-workers-in-space fare we normally get with Trek. A convincing cast and a good sense of humour. Even the plot is reasonable. But it's Leonard Nimoy who completely and utterly steals the show. Surprisingly good. ****
The Tale Of Despereaux - Swashbuckling cartoon mouse adventure. Nowhere near as funny as it looked from the trailer. Disappointing. **
Terminator: Salvation - Post-apocalyptic guerilla warfare with killer robots. Killer robots suffer from "the more there are, the weaker they are" movie henchman rules. Skynet gets caught monologuing. More of a plot than I thought there'd be. Not a patch on the first two, but still a lot better than T3. ***
Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen - Not Another Teen Movie level gags mixed with a sub-Dan Brown level archaeology plot, and really dull action scenes. No style and crappy camerawork. The giant alien robots are mainly just there for comic relief. An utter travesty. Avoid it like the plague. *
Valkyrie - WW2 conspiracy thriller starring Tom Cruise and a lot of very English Germans giving each other Very Significant Looks. That's about all there is to say about it really. **
Watchmen - An almost panel-by-panel perfect adaptation of Alan Moore's cold war superhero dystopia. The characters and mood are spot on, and it doesn't pull any punches. Unfolds slowly, drawing you in but without ever getting boring. A film to savour. *****
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - TBH this is redundant drivel re-hashing storylines from X2, but at least it's highly entertaining drivel. Long-running fueds and increasingly epic destruction. Scores extra points for Gambit (finally!) and for the fantastic opening credits montage. ***
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