Attack the Block!
I really enjoyed this, more than I expected to - the monsters look crappy in the adverts, but are a lot more impressive with more screen time and more pixels.
The film reminds me mostly of Predator, but set in a south London block, and up against a bunch of mildly criminal local kids. The whole thing has a lot of unexpected warmth and humour, which is played subtly but made the audience laugh throughout.
Which is a huge improvement over the cloying smugness of post-Shaun populist British cinema, by treating the characters and the audience with a lot more respect.
It manages to capture London in a way you never normally see, the characters are well defined and endearing. The start of the film sets itself up to fail by introducing the gang in a way that is going to put the whole audience off, and then has to work hard to win you back over - which is a fun journey to take.
It is a little rough around the edges, mainly related to a low-ish budget and presumably first time director finding his feet, but has more than enough enthusiasm to make up for it. Good stuff!
Oh yeah - really good soundtrack too.
I've been looking to see Attack The Block, I will definitely check it out.
Recently I saw Thor which I really enjoyed, Marvel have got their act together with these movies now - ever since Iron Man things have been brilliant. It's a very fun movie which doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't shy to lay on the pure fantasy of the Thor universe.
I also enjoyed Sucker Punch, REALLY loved it actually. I'm very surprised that it flopped and it gets slated in reviews. The main complaint being that the plot is hard to follow - I didn't find it hard to follow in the slightest :/
Saw the latest Pirates of the Carribean recently too, now THAT is hard to follow. Johnny Depp is entertaining but the film itself is an absolute mess. You get no sense whatsoever of how the various plot pointsd fit together. There are 3 groups all in (I assume) a chase to get to a treasure which they want because.....I don't know. But Johnny Depp is funny...
Last night I saw Xmen: First Class - not allowed to talk about it but it was WIN!
Saw the trailer for the new X Men film with Attack the Block - it was quite dull for the first 60 secs, then ramped it up for the last 30, making it look great. Its on my list
Sucker Punch got slated for zero plot I'd read, the trailer is confusing as hell, I don't really know what it is, but I am intrigued. Might blu ray that one.
I saw Salt recently, which was just bizarre, not only for the hamfisted Sony product placement, but the setting plot and everything was almost Infinity Ward strange. It goes places that you don't expect in a tone that is a little too light for the content. It's stuck with me, since it was so freaking weird.
Been meaning to see Thor, but the work has been heavy recently and I can't get out of my head long enough to sit in a dark place with strangers with the doors shut.
I don't understand what is not to 'get' about Sucker Punch. Is it snobbery? Or are people genuinely THAT thick that they need to be held by the hand to such a degree?
Sucker Punch does exactly what it sets out to do; massively OTT comic book action scenes. The plot which weaves these together I thought was very stylish and nicely handled. The basic premise is that a young girl has been sent to an asylum because she accidently killed her sister. The action scenes are the mental/visual representation of her plan to escape the asylum with a group of friends she has organised. She's created a completely new reality in her mind and that's what you're watching.
Thor I think is brilliant, I've seen it twice so far and it still held up as a very entertaining movie.
I went to see Fast 5 last week. Never watched any of the others before as I presumed they'd be shit. Anyway, I was really pleased with it - a really good action film by today's standards, Vin Diesel and The Rock were solid, deffo The Rock's best performance on the screen (not that I've watched anything else of his to compare
).
One disappointment was the lack of car action, I expected more Burnout style racing and crashing with fancy motors. It kind of seeps into a Gone in 60 Seconds/Oceans 11 type heist flick and I don't like those films, I was willing to keep interest with this though as the fighting and shoot-out sequences were quite decent, the Vin Diesel/Rock fight is brutal.
Anyway, it's well worth a watch. I'd have been all over this when I was a kid.
It was a toss-up between this and Thor actually when we got to the cinema, I'm afraid of watching Thor as I'd just get jealous of all the muscle flying about, especially knowing it's the 6-week Hollywood routine they put weedy guys through, regardless, that guy they picked looks perfectly cast from the trailers.
Saw Pirates 4, agree with what Saur says. At least Cruz has a bit more up front than Kiera, so that was another plus. I thought Lovejoy Ian McShane was pretty aces as Black Beard too, but yeah the plot was all over the shop.
Looks like I should check out Sucker Punch then...
Before Pirates I saw Source Code, which I thought was good and really enjoyed it, but Bel didn't really like it despite the Jake effect... I suspect people will moan that the 'twist' is obvious, but then that's revealed about half way through the film. you also have to have completely bought into the premis, which is ludicrously far fetched, but I kinda liked it even though it didn't make any real sense. Nice paradoxical ending too.
I did enjoy Source Code too - I loved the way you get to follow this guy through a whole range of different emotional states as he repeats the same situation over and over. The "twist" you could see coming from 100 miles away, but on the whole I thought it was an entertaining film.
Xmen was very good, the trailers don't do the film justice at all. I don't know if that was intentional or not. I'm looking forward to the Green Lantern, I hope to be able to nab tickets for a press screening.
Oh yeah Source Code, last thing I saw, thought it was brilliant, totally my thang, big fan of causality stuff. Basically the premise of Quantum Leap. Al didn't turn up though.
A brother of a friend did production design on Source Code Director's earlier film Moon starring Sam Rockwell. I really really liked Moon, good script, tiny cast, really tight film, with a fairly simple concept that's very nicely played out.
Watched Astro Boy (or should that be Astroboy?) over the weekend. I know it deviates from source material, but I really enjoyed the film. The action is very well done and the pacing of the film, as a whole, isn't rushed. There's enough time for you to get to know and care about Astro, which adds impact to the key themes running through the movie. Same studio that did TMNT, so I think I'll be adding that to our rental list.
Last film I saw recently was Green Lantern, which I really enjoyed. It's obvious they tried to cram in as much as possible into a single film, they never spend enough time in any one place. But it was an enjoyable ride and highly recommend checking it out.
I think I must have spent two weeks on and off watching Apocalypse Now, Hearts of Darkness, Redux, and all the extras. Looking great in HD, though I should have stopped after the first two. The more often I watch it, the more I become convinced that it would have been a disaster if they'd stuck to budget and schedule. Also the most memorable moments on repeat viewing also become the most irritating and cheesy. It is a really odd film, but I always do enjoy it.
More recently I watched The Fighter, which was really great - Bale is always enjoyable in those dislikeable supporting character parts, and this is up there. Even Marky Mark does a good job, its a fun, and a strange film - all the odder given the truth of it.
Oh yeah, and after that - Drive Angry - which had a few great William Fichtner moments, but overall somehow managed to be too restrained to be really enjoyable. I get the impression the whole thing was just too rushed.
Lined up next... the three most recent Seagal movies on disk.
Hmm, this list of films is classic man-child stuff isn't it. I also have Chungking Express, Seventh Seal, and Empire of the Sun, and The Thin Red Line on the pile!
Some of those are a little more worthy...
Empire of the Sun is great*. You're developing an unhealthy like of the Bale if you ask me.
* had to read the sodding book for GCSE english only to find out later that the movie is so close to the book that I needn't have bothered.
Watched Black Book at the weekend, pretty far from Robocop but a very good story nicely told. Worth a watch if you like WWII drama with some twists and turns.
Ah yeah, Black Book is really great. Just when you are wondering if there are two Paul Verhoeven's, out comes the pubic hair dye.
Not sent Salt back yet... maybe I should, who knows what's in my rental list now...
Picked up Alien boxset (again, different format). Man in suit, still great stuff... not booted up Aliens yet, and am looking forward to different Alien 3 superscript and Alien 4 is er entertaining.
Adjustment Bureau, totally solid film, nice concept, nice and well executed and totally slick.
Which version of Salt do you have. I hear there are at least 2 different cuts of that film, with substantial differences.
I must have seen the naff one then
Is Salt actually worth watching then? It seemed really generic from the trailer, though slickly produced.
Seagal news:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/moscow-charity-authenticity-questioned
Also, worth mentioning another good film I've seen recently, Winter's Bone
Very tense drama, set in poverty stricken rural US, based around a very strong teenage girl having to deal with her parent's failed lives and her younger siblings. It looks amazing, there is a pervasive sense of danger, the dialogue is cracking throughout, some really good, well observed characters, and a great central performance leading the whole thing. Highly recommended!
Salt is like a Tom Clany video game plot... Not a Tom Clancy plot... I watched one of the version on the disc, possibly the Directors cut, where some pretty morbid things happen out of whack with the tone it fails to present.