It's a very late update this week and I can only apologise. It's been a frantic two weeks which has led to me getting a dream job in a Two Michelin Star restaurant. The only downside to this is that it may lead to my movie experiment taking a hit, as the hours will be long. But fuck it, I'll keep it going for as long as I can!
This week was a mixture of mind twisting thrillers, animated superheroes, spaghetti westerns and below average sci-fi. Bit of a mixed bag I'm sure you'll agree. Onto the movies........
March 4th - Memento
Most people think that this was Christopher Nolan's debut, when it was in fact his sophomore effort. His first was a little known black and white thriller set on the streets of London called Following. It's an entertaining movie with a little edge, and I recommend catching it if you can. For his 'Hollywood debut', Nolan worked off of a short story by his brother Jonathon (who would later go on to script The Dark Knight) about a man with short term memory loss. Usually this would be a drama of some kind, where the hero finds love and understanding. But for Nolan, it was interesting territory for a noirish murder mystery, and it works beautifully. Guy Pearce plays Lenny, a man whose wife is murdered by two men who break into their home. Lenny is left brain damaged, and is unable to form new memories. But he won't let a little something like that stop him from tracking down those responsible. Add into the mix the fact the story is told backwards and you've got all the ingredients for an entertaining, intelligent night in. But be warned, this is not a movie you can have on in the background. You will need to pay attention. Highly recommended, and it's definitely the kind of movie you'll want to watch more than once.
9/10
March 5th - Last Man Standing
Bruce Willis can play the action man role in his sleep. And he will always be entertaining to watch. When given roles where he is actually required to act, he can excel even more. See Twelve Monkeys and Sin City for good examples. Last Man Standing is a prohibition era set Spaghetti Western, directed by Walter 'The Driver' Hill. That should be enough to peak your interest right there. Throw in Christopher Walken as a psycho henchman and you have one of the most criminally underrated movies of the last 20 years. Willis plays John Smith, a drifter who settles in a town run by two different gangs. An opportunist and skilled gunsman, he sees a chance to make a lot of money by playing both sides against each other. But playing both against each other is a dangerous game, and it's only a matter of time before at least one of them finds out. What follows is a great movie. There's some great action sequences, some pathos for Smith and a quick draw showdown. As I say, very underrated and little known movie, this is highly recommended.
9/10
March 6th - Justice League: Doom
I've been watching quite a few of these Warner Brothers animated movies, and this is the first one I approached where I didn't know the story. This one is based on the acclaimed 'Tower of Babel' series of comics. The story goes that Batman has files on all of the Justice League members, detailing their weaknesses. Being the paranoid loner he is, it's a failsafe in case any of them turn to evil and they have to be stopped. But what happens when the enemy is able to infiltrate the Batcave and is therefore able to learn how to defeat the Justice League? The story is big in scale and endlessly interesting, so it's just a shame that the movie seems so small. The style of animation that continues to be used just pales in comparison to the style and ingenuity of their Manga counterparts. Entertaining enough, but you always feel that they could do more with these movies. Oh well, if it inspires a younger generation of comic book geeks then it's all good with me.
6/10
March 7th - Legion
My recent subscription to LoveFilm has been a double edged sword. I have undoubtedly been getting my money's worth, but every so often a movie pops up on screen that a while ago I thought 'meh',
but it's right in front of me so let's do it. Legion is one of those movies. It got pretty terrible reviews but the trailers always looked interesting to me. It's an end of the world scenario, with Michael the Archangel coming down from heaven to help protect humans. Instead of a massive scale action piece, it's set in a small diner in the middle of nowhere, with just a small group of characters to lead us through it. It starts well enough, and the scene with the granny in the restaurant needs to be seen to be believed. But unfortunately that is as good s it gets. Everything else goes downhill, follows generic rules with one character dying at a time and ends in a very unsatisfactory way, leaving it feeling like half a movie. And given its lack of success I don't think a sequel will appear anytime soon. Not great.
4/10
March 8th - The Killer Inside Me
I first read the book of The Killer Inside Me about a year ago. A short read at just over 100 pages, it packed quite the punch, detailing what goes on in the mind of a small town sheriff who everyone thinks is the height of timidity, but is actually a twisted psychopath. This is such a faithful adaptation that I think distance was needed in order to enjoy it. Well, maybe enjoy is the wrong word as this can be tough viewing at times. Casey Affleck is very well cast as the lead, easily able to portray both the gentle sheriff, but also his dark side. Jessica Alba plays the prostitute who starts a torrid affair with him, with Kate Hudson playing his high society girlfriend, completely oblivious to his troubled mind. What follows is a small town scam
in which the sheriff and the prostitute plan to extort the son of a wealthy landowner. You just know that none of this is going to end well. If you're looking for a story with a happy ending, then look elsewhere. But if you fancy watching a well crafted, well acted and interesting movie, then settle in for the evening.
8/10
March 9th - Batman Begins
Two Nolan movies in a week? Well, I had to restore my faith in movies after last weeks awful showings! The origin of Batman treated with respect, and it delivers on every conceivable level. This is now the template for Superhero origin movies. And it's made all the more interesting that you don't actually see Bruce Wayne don the cape until after an hour into the movie. This is where Nolan was smart. He understood that for modern audiences to connect with the Batman mythos he had to go back to basics and make people understand what would drive a man like Bruce Wayne to become a masked vigilante. This is superhero moviemaking with a straight face. Gone are the over the top stunts. Gone are the bright colours. And gone are anyone who was even remotely attached to the absolute debacle that was Batman & Robin. The fact that this was the follow up Batman movie to that travesty makes it even more of a miracle that it turned out to be as good as it did. This movie is all about Batman / Bruce Wayne. Even the villains chosen were not particularly well known to anyone who doesn't follow the comics. Ra's Al Ghul and The Scarecrow may not have been household names before, but they certainly are now. Christian Bale was apparently given the choice between being Batman and being James Bond. And while I would have loved to have seen his version of 007, it's now unthinkable to have anyone else in the black cape. Essential viewing. Sidenote, I rather like this Star Wars influenced fan poster.
10/10
March 10th - 16 Blocks
Remember I said earlier that Bruce Willis could excel when given a good character to chew on? Here is another good example. This movie sort of slipped between the cracks when it came out. No one took much notice of it which is surprising given Willis's involvement and that it was directed by Richard 'Lethal Weapon' Donner. Willis plays an aging, uncaring, broken down cop. He is about to head home for the day when he is given one last assignment to transport a prisoner 16 Blocks from the station to the courthouse. Simple stuff. Drop him off, movie over right? Come on, when does that ever happen in these movies? Turns out the prisoner is actually a witness and that he is going to testify against some dirty cops. Said cops try to take him out en route, but you know that Bruce is not going to stand for that. Pretty standard fare, but a solid and entertaining movie nonetheless. And if the ending doesn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will.
7/10
Week 10 is over, and week 11 is certainly not far behind. Will get the update up asap. On this weeks plate we have Harry Potter, Swordfish and Lost in Translation amongst others. Hope you guys enjoyed the read and feel free to leave comments below if you take particular grievance with any of my reviews!
Until next time........
Bruce Willis can play the action man role in his sleep. And he will always be entertaining to watch. When given roles where he is actually required to act, he can excel even more. See Twelve Monkeys and Sin City for good examples. Last Man Standing is a prohibition era set Spaghetti Western, directed by Walter 'The Driver' Hill. That should be enough to peak your interest right there. Throw in Christopher Walken as a psycho henchman and you have one of the most criminally underrated movies of the last 20 years. Willis plays John Smith, a drifter who settles in a town run by two different gangs. An opportunist and skilled gunsman, he sees a chance to make a lot of money by playing both sides against each other. But playing both against each other is a dangerous game, and it's only a matter of time before at least one of them finds out. What follows is a great movie. There's some great action sequences, some pathos for Smith and a quick draw showdown. As I say, very underrated and little known movie, this is highly recommended.
I've been watching quite a few of these Warner Brothers animated movies, and this is the first one I approached where I didn't know the story. This one is based on the acclaimed 'Tower of Babel' series of comics. The story goes that Batman has files on all of the Justice League members, detailing their weaknesses. Being the paranoid loner he is, it's a failsafe in case any of them turn to evil and they have to be stopped. But what happens when the enemy is able to infiltrate the Batcave and is therefore able to learn how to defeat the Justice League? The story is big in scale and endlessly interesting, so it's just a shame that the movie seems so small. The style of animation that continues to be used just pales in comparison to the style and ingenuity of their Manga counterparts. Entertaining enough, but you always feel that they could do more with these movies. Oh well, if it inspires a younger generation of comic book geeks then it's all good with me.
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