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Saw this on DVD the other day in preparation for Crank: High Voltage. Gonna be a short review this one... ;-)
Crank is great film. It's just completely ludicrious. It's so over the top it's hilarious. I know I generally stay away from plot details but let's face it, nobody's gonna Crank for the plot. Jason Statham play Chev Chelios, a hitman who has been poisoned by his enemy. There's probably some technical way to describe how the poison is affecting - actually I seem to remember some brief explanation offered by a doctor along the way - but I don't remember really. All you need to know is that if Chev's adrenaline level drops then he'll die. That's right, it's like Speed but with our hero's heart. Cue 84 ridiculous minutes of Jason Statham tearing across town trying to find and kill his nemesis before he kills him - get it?
As an action film it's brilliant, I can't remember the last time I had as much fun watching a film... that might be just because I have a poor memory for some things though. Ok, that's not entirely true. The last time I remember having as much fun was when I saw Snakes on a Plane... a modern classic to be watched by all for years to come. Or at least I hope it will be. Crank deserves that too. I'm glad they've made a sequel and from what I've gleaned by glancing over Rotten Tomatoes it's at least as good as the first.
There isn't really much else to know about the film... if I wanted to nit pick I would point out that the fight sequences are nothing to write home about. This isn't the Jason Statham from the Transporter films. But that's ok because it's not the point of the film... it's not a beat 'em up, it's more of a "run around like a maniac" film.
Anyway I wanted to keep this short so I'll wrap up with this. I highly recommend this film if you like your movies short, snappy, slightly splattery but all fun.
Can't wait for Crank: High Voltage
9/10
Showing posts with label dvd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dvd. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)
Don't know where I'd heard of this film... I think it was probably when I was browsing through Leslie Bibb's filmography while doing the Iron Man review... Anyway wherever I heard of it, I thought it sounded interesting but I put it down as a film I'd never see - didn't seem like the type that would turn up in the local video store. I was wrong, so here's the review!
Wristcutters: A Love Story is set in an afterlife for people who've committed suicide. It's a different kind of afterlife from the traditional winged one (be it above or below)... instead it is, in the words of our main character, "... basically the real world, just crappier".
Zia (Patrick Fugit, best known from Almost Famous, just in case you're wondering where you might have seen him before.) is a young man who's committed suicide because his girlfriend Desiree (Bibb), has left him... their relationship isn't particularly important though. Whatever happened before, he has ended up in this afterlife, working in a pizza parlour, living in a crappy apartment and just existing. So far, so dull - well no actually, the film is interesting so far... A chance encounter in the local supermarket leads Zia to discover that his former girlfriend took her own life a little while after he did. Given that he still has little else to "live" for he decides to take off with his interesting Russian rocker friend Eugene (played by Shea Whigham). While on the road they meet an outwardly interesting young lady called Mikal (played by Shannyn Sossamon) who's on a mission to find the "People In Charge" and explain why she shouldn't be there So far, so interesting - well no actually, this is where the film starts to fall down...
I wanted to like this film... it has lots of interesting ideas, most of which are hinted at early on. Its problems start when they get on the road... from there on in it loses steam... it seems to flounder, the director takes a while to pick the idea he wanted to centre on and in my opinion he picked the wrong one. Then again maybe my expectations were to blame, I thought I was going to see an indie film exploring, I don't know, ideas and concepts - stuff about suicide, naivety of youth, friendship, life after death - the kind of stuff you expect and indie film to cover. I expected it to be smart, funny and quirky... you know, a good indie film... and for a while it looked like it was going that way. Then all of a sudden, to my horror Goran Dukic got lazy and just decided to turn it into a love story. Now I shouldn't have been surprised - the clue was in the title... but I don't know, I just hadn't expected it to be nothing more than a love story in the end. I try so hard to not expect anything of the films I watch, it just sets you up for disappointment... but sometimes... you just can't help it.
Wristcutters: A Love Story just wasn't what I wanted it to be at all and while all the little ideas and side characters made it an enjoyable watch; overall it just didn't live up to the awards and nominations it garnered. I really should have learned after that abominable The Aryan Couple that film festival awards count for nothing and that the only ratings that are worth any consideration and IMDb ratings (after DVD releases) and rottentomatoes.com!
Quickly, to address the other stuff... the acting was commendable, the cinematography and art direction were great. Special mention as well to Will Arnett, I always find him entertaining and his appearence was a well needed laugh, even though the idea behind it did have a feel of an after thought... Overall I'm actually going to give it a decent enough rating because actually it wasn't a bad film at all. For all my complaints about it, the main thing I didn't like was the love story - I wasn't expecting it when I really have no excuse - it was in the title!!
6.5/10
Wristcutters: A Love Story is set in an afterlife for people who've committed suicide. It's a different kind of afterlife from the traditional winged one (be it above or below)... instead it is, in the words of our main character, "... basically the real world, just crappier".
Zia (Patrick Fugit, best known from Almost Famous, just in case you're wondering where you might have seen him before.) is a young man who's committed suicide because his girlfriend Desiree (Bibb), has left him... their relationship isn't particularly important though. Whatever happened before, he has ended up in this afterlife, working in a pizza parlour, living in a crappy apartment and just existing. So far, so dull - well no actually, the film is interesting so far... A chance encounter in the local supermarket leads Zia to discover that his former girlfriend took her own life a little while after he did. Given that he still has little else to "live" for he decides to take off with his interesting Russian rocker friend Eugene (played by Shea Whigham). While on the road they meet an outwardly interesting young lady called Mikal (played by Shannyn Sossamon) who's on a mission to find the "People In Charge" and explain why she shouldn't be there So far, so interesting - well no actually, this is where the film starts to fall down...
I wanted to like this film... it has lots of interesting ideas, most of which are hinted at early on. Its problems start when they get on the road... from there on in it loses steam... it seems to flounder, the director takes a while to pick the idea he wanted to centre on and in my opinion he picked the wrong one. Then again maybe my expectations were to blame, I thought I was going to see an indie film exploring, I don't know, ideas and concepts - stuff about suicide, naivety of youth, friendship, life after death - the kind of stuff you expect and indie film to cover. I expected it to be smart, funny and quirky... you know, a good indie film... and for a while it looked like it was going that way. Then all of a sudden, to my horror Goran Dukic got lazy and just decided to turn it into a love story. Now I shouldn't have been surprised - the clue was in the title... but I don't know, I just hadn't expected it to be nothing more than a love story in the end. I try so hard to not expect anything of the films I watch, it just sets you up for disappointment... but sometimes... you just can't help it.
Wristcutters: A Love Story just wasn't what I wanted it to be at all and while all the little ideas and side characters made it an enjoyable watch; overall it just didn't live up to the awards and nominations it garnered. I really should have learned after that abominable The Aryan Couple that film festival awards count for nothing and that the only ratings that are worth any consideration and IMDb ratings (after DVD releases) and rottentomatoes.com!
Quickly, to address the other stuff... the acting was commendable, the cinematography and art direction were great. Special mention as well to Will Arnett, I always find him entertaining and his appearence was a well needed laugh, even though the idea behind it did have a feel of an after thought... Overall I'm actually going to give it a decent enough rating because actually it wasn't a bad film at all. For all my complaints about it, the main thing I didn't like was the love story - I wasn't expecting it when I really have no excuse - it was in the title!!
6.5/10
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Control (2007)
Ian Curtis died on May 18th, 1980. He was 23 years old.
Control is a biographical film based on the 1995 memoirs of Ian Curtis's wife, Deborah Curtis, entitled Touching From A Distance. It is directed by acclaimed photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn.
Shot in colour than transferred to black and white, Control is a portait of a man who didn't seem to fit, no matter how much he wanted to. The film starts with Ian in school, just before meeting his future wife and chronicles the formation of the band, it's signing, including the apocryphal tale of Tony Wilson signing the contract with the band in his own blood, Ian Curtis's diagnosis of epilepsy and his downward spiral into depression, culminating with the events just before the band's first scheduled US tour.
Despite the dark and depressing nature of the subject matter, this film isn't particularly difficult to watch. I don't know if that's a good thing though, perhaps it should have been. It's an interesting story that focuses on Ian Curtis's life and relationships, as opposed to any telling of the band's days on the road or anything like that. Looking back I suppose, given that it's based on Deborah's memoirs (and she was left at home with their baby), this is partly out of necessity. Also, given that it's based on Deborah's memoirs, it's very balanced. What the film gives you is quite a stylised telling of the pressures that Ian Curtis faced and the pressures that he placed on himself. It doesn't blame anyone for his death nor does it particularly romanticise his life, he was a normal man who just couldn't cope with what was going on around him.
To be honest I'm not sure if it's really right to rate this film as there are so many ways interpret a person's life and to rate this film would be rating this particular interpretation. I don't feel particularly qualified to do that, I didn't know the guy. What I will say is that there were only really two or three moments in it that I really felt a truth to it, which is not to say that any of it was lies, but in many ways it did just feel like a story. The scenes involving Debbie and Ian around the housewarming party, during and after, and then one particular scene when Ian talks about how much he gives on stage but it's never enough. Those scenes, I think, are really the most important scenes in the film, they give the couple character and sympathy.
What I can say, in terms of rating the film, is that the acting by the two leads - Sam Riley and Samantha Morton - was excellent. Having watched some videos of Joy Division now on youtube, Sam Riley had him spot on. Also, it looks great, the fact that Anton Corbijn is a photographer is obvious.
My main, and possibly quite odd, criticism of the film is that I felt it was missing a sense of time. I didn't really know anything about Ian Curtis beforehand and it felt like a lot of time had passed between each scenes. I had no idea he was so young when he died and I think I would have looked at it a bit differently if I had had any idea of how quickly everything happened.
Anyway, on the whole this was a relatively entertaining way of spending 2 hours. I don't think I could say that it was really fascinating but the music was great - I have to say, that song Love Will Tear Us Apart is one of my all time favourites - as were the performances. It really is a sad tale and one can't help but wonder how things could have been. Of course, there's no way of knowing...
7/10
Control is a biographical film based on the 1995 memoirs of Ian Curtis's wife, Deborah Curtis, entitled Touching From A Distance. It is directed by acclaimed photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn.
Shot in colour than transferred to black and white, Control is a portait of a man who didn't seem to fit, no matter how much he wanted to. The film starts with Ian in school, just before meeting his future wife and chronicles the formation of the band, it's signing, including the apocryphal tale of Tony Wilson signing the contract with the band in his own blood, Ian Curtis's diagnosis of epilepsy and his downward spiral into depression, culminating with the events just before the band's first scheduled US tour.
Despite the dark and depressing nature of the subject matter, this film isn't particularly difficult to watch. I don't know if that's a good thing though, perhaps it should have been. It's an interesting story that focuses on Ian Curtis's life and relationships, as opposed to any telling of the band's days on the road or anything like that. Looking back I suppose, given that it's based on Deborah's memoirs (and she was left at home with their baby), this is partly out of necessity. Also, given that it's based on Deborah's memoirs, it's very balanced. What the film gives you is quite a stylised telling of the pressures that Ian Curtis faced and the pressures that he placed on himself. It doesn't blame anyone for his death nor does it particularly romanticise his life, he was a normal man who just couldn't cope with what was going on around him.
To be honest I'm not sure if it's really right to rate this film as there are so many ways interpret a person's life and to rate this film would be rating this particular interpretation. I don't feel particularly qualified to do that, I didn't know the guy. What I will say is that there were only really two or three moments in it that I really felt a truth to it, which is not to say that any of it was lies, but in many ways it did just feel like a story. The scenes involving Debbie and Ian around the housewarming party, during and after, and then one particular scene when Ian talks about how much he gives on stage but it's never enough. Those scenes, I think, are really the most important scenes in the film, they give the couple character and sympathy.
What I can say, in terms of rating the film, is that the acting by the two leads - Sam Riley and Samantha Morton - was excellent. Having watched some videos of Joy Division now on youtube, Sam Riley had him spot on. Also, it looks great, the fact that Anton Corbijn is a photographer is obvious.
My main, and possibly quite odd, criticism of the film is that I felt it was missing a sense of time. I didn't really know anything about Ian Curtis beforehand and it felt like a lot of time had passed between each scenes. I had no idea he was so young when he died and I think I would have looked at it a bit differently if I had had any idea of how quickly everything happened.
Anyway, on the whole this was a relatively entertaining way of spending 2 hours. I don't think I could say that it was really fascinating but the music was great - I have to say, that song Love Will Tear Us Apart is one of my all time favourites - as were the performances. It really is a sad tale and one can't help but wonder how things could have been. Of course, there's no way of knowing...
7/10
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Knocked Up (2007)
Judd Apatow has had a very successful few years... between Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy, The 40-year Old Virgin and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, he's been involved in some of the biggest comedy films in the last four years. While 2006 was quiet in terms of releases he obviously spent the time working on upcoming films as Knocked Up was only one of three films he produced for 2007, the other two being Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Superbad. While I haven't seen Walk Hard, I can say that I thought Superbad was very funny. However, while Apatow produced those films, he also wrote and directed Knocked Up, it's the second film he's directed, 2005's The 40-year Old Virgin being his first.
Plainly spoken, Knocked Up is the story of one drunken night and its consequences. Alison Scott (played by Katherine Heigl) is a 24-year old who's been promoted to on-screen after working behind the scenes at the entertainment channel E!. Ben Stone (played by Seth Rogen") is a 23-year old stoner living off a compensation award with a group of buddies. Theoretically they're working on a website concept however really... they're watching out for nude scenes starring famous actresses.
There's nothing remarkably deep about this film so, don't go looking for it but I did think it was very entertaining. All the supporting characters were strong (particular mention to Kristen Wiig who played Jill - an exec in E!) and the two leads were very well suited. I found it very funny and the situations, though somewhat ridiculous, were made believable, in the same way we saw in The 40-year Old Virgin to be honest. There was charm to everything and really, it's just a nice film.
I will say this, I was initially apprehensive when this came about in the cinemas because it looked a bit like a chick film however after hearing that it was great from girls and guy alike and also because of Judd Apatow's other films I thought I'd give it a go. They weren't wrong and so I join others in wholly recommending it as a good way to spend approximately 130 mins of your life. I do wonder though, as a girl was it fundamentally a different film for me than it would be for a guy? Not humourwise I mean, just in general... I guess I'll never really know!
Plainly spoken, Knocked Up is the story of one drunken night and its consequences. Alison Scott (played by Katherine Heigl) is a 24-year old who's been promoted to on-screen after working behind the scenes at the entertainment channel E!. Ben Stone (played by Seth Rogen") is a 23-year old stoner living off a compensation award with a group of buddies. Theoretically they're working on a website concept however really... they're watching out for nude scenes starring famous actresses.
There's nothing remarkably deep about this film so, don't go looking for it but I did think it was very entertaining. All the supporting characters were strong (particular mention to Kristen Wiig who played Jill - an exec in E!) and the two leads were very well suited. I found it very funny and the situations, though somewhat ridiculous, were made believable, in the same way we saw in The 40-year Old Virgin to be honest. There was charm to everything and really, it's just a nice film.
I will say this, I was initially apprehensive when this came about in the cinemas because it looked a bit like a chick film however after hearing that it was great from girls and guy alike and also because of Judd Apatow's other films I thought I'd give it a go. They weren't wrong and so I join others in wholly recommending it as a good way to spend approximately 130 mins of your life. I do wonder though, as a girl was it fundamentally a different film for me than it would be for a guy? Not humourwise I mean, just in general... I guess I'll never really know!
Thursday, 10 January 2008
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Until a few years ago Michel Gondry was primarily known as a music video director. His videos include Around The World by Daft Punk, Everlong by Foo Fighters, Come Into My World by Kylie Minogue and my personal favourite Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground by The White Stripes. His first foray into feature films in 2001 with, Human Nature written by Charles Kaufman, was generally ignored however it was his next collaboration with Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, that really made people take notice. With such a critically acclaimed film to his name it seems only fair that Gondry be allowed to be somewhat... indulgent with the next film he wrote.
The Science of Sleep is that film. Starring Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the film tells the story of an innocent man, a man who lives in a fantastic land where his dreams can help him realise a relationship with a women he's just met. It's a sweet story and I'll come straight out and say it. I thought it was great. I will say this, the weirdness hits you from the outset, everything I had heard before seeing this pointed to the fact that it would be strange but I had expected the film to build to it in the same way that we would have seen in Eternal Sunshine.
The plot itself is quite simple. Following the death of his father in Mexico, Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), a shy dreamy fellow, agrees to move to Paris to be closer to his mother as she has promised him that she has an apartment for him and a creative job in a calender company . He moves into the apartment and becomes entranced with his next door neighbour, Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). However his life keeps getting in the way, his aspirations to be a graphic designer are stifled in the calender-making company as his actual position is completely mudane and is driving him further into his dream world. He shares a delicate bond with Stéphanie however he has become caught up in a lie pretending that he lives in another building. As he becomes more frustrated his fantasies start to consume him however his relationship with Stéphanie is growing and it all has to come to a head sometime... a fairly classic tale of boy meets girl.
That said, a simple plot can be worked into a great film and that's what Gondry has done here. His strength lies in his visual style and whereas in Eternal Sunshine he understated the stylistic end and carried a more complicated plot, in this film he fills out the plot with intricate visuals. If you're familiar with Michel Gondry's music videos at all then you'll notice different elements from the likes of Everlong throughout the film. From cellophane water to the patchwork horse, the details in this film are immense and, if I'm being honest, some people will probably find that this overwhelms the film. Even as a fan of Gondry I think do it’s somewhat indulgent however as weird, whimsical and sometimes engulfing, some of images are, I never felt that Gondry lost sight of his characters. Through it all I cared what happened to this two… kindred spirits if you will… and end of the day this is something that so many film makers fail to do.
Anyway, this is my first review for this blog and I’m afraid that I’m waffling on too much so I’ll stop now… let me know what you think, anything else about the film you want to hear? I hope you found this interesting, good bye!
The Science of Sleep is that film. Starring Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the film tells the story of an innocent man, a man who lives in a fantastic land where his dreams can help him realise a relationship with a women he's just met. It's a sweet story and I'll come straight out and say it. I thought it was great. I will say this, the weirdness hits you from the outset, everything I had heard before seeing this pointed to the fact that it would be strange but I had expected the film to build to it in the same way that we would have seen in Eternal Sunshine.
The plot itself is quite simple. Following the death of his father in Mexico, Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), a shy dreamy fellow, agrees to move to Paris to be closer to his mother as she has promised him that she has an apartment for him and a creative job in a calender company . He moves into the apartment and becomes entranced with his next door neighbour, Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). However his life keeps getting in the way, his aspirations to be a graphic designer are stifled in the calender-making company as his actual position is completely mudane and is driving him further into his dream world. He shares a delicate bond with Stéphanie however he has become caught up in a lie pretending that he lives in another building. As he becomes more frustrated his fantasies start to consume him however his relationship with Stéphanie is growing and it all has to come to a head sometime... a fairly classic tale of boy meets girl.
That said, a simple plot can be worked into a great film and that's what Gondry has done here. His strength lies in his visual style and whereas in Eternal Sunshine he understated the stylistic end and carried a more complicated plot, in this film he fills out the plot with intricate visuals. If you're familiar with Michel Gondry's music videos at all then you'll notice different elements from the likes of Everlong throughout the film. From cellophane water to the patchwork horse, the details in this film are immense and, if I'm being honest, some people will probably find that this overwhelms the film. Even as a fan of Gondry I think do it’s somewhat indulgent however as weird, whimsical and sometimes engulfing, some of images are, I never felt that Gondry lost sight of his characters. Through it all I cared what happened to this two… kindred spirits if you will… and end of the day this is something that so many film makers fail to do.
Anyway, this is my first review for this blog and I’m afraid that I’m waffling on too much so I’ll stop now… let me know what you think, anything else about the film you want to hear? I hope you found this interesting, good bye!
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