If anyone's out there, the reason for no reviews has been due to a very busy and lowly funded December. Mainly without a train ticket. Anyway, this is just a wee post to say I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and that I look forward to pushing up and posting more views and reviews in the New Year. Have a good one, while I leave you with this:
Top 5 Best Cinema Releases of 2012 (Not seen nearly enough, apologies)
5. Ginger and Rosa - Very well put together, interesting character drama with some great central performances
4. To Rome With Love - As witty, charming and overall funny as you would expect after Midnight in Paris. This Woody Allen guy shows a wee bit of promise.
3. The Dark Knight Rises - Tom Hardy was great, Christian Bale was great, everyone did their job well, but it didn't have the interest or the structure of the previous two. Still a very well made movie, and one of the best of the year.
2. This Is Not A Film - A fantastic documentary about the need to film. When an Iranian film maker is banned from directing anything all he can do is sit in his house and allow a friend to film him. A really great and interesting movie.
1. Skyfall - Really, see below! It was a very well made apology for the crime that was Quantum of Solace. Worth seeing it, again and again and again.
Top 5 Worst Cinema Releases of 2012 (non of which are really worthy of comment)
5. Argo
4. The Possession
3. Men In Black 3D
2. The Watch
1. End of Watch
Top 5 Pleasant Cinematic Surprises of 2012 (to look out for on DVD)
5. Red Lights - Cillian Murphy gives a really good performance in this silly fun and "super rational" movie. Friday night in? Looking for a movie? You could do a hell of a lot worse.
4. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows - This film makes an appearance because the film for which it is a sequel. The original showed some great promise and as a sequel, Ritchie really delivered. Never thought I'd say that, but hey. In fact, get the two of them - watch 'em back to back.
3. The Expendables 2 - I'm not crazy, no. Hear me out... There's one film I would relate this too, and that is the horror classic Scream. This is a film which knows it's camp and silly and ridiculously violent, and it revels in it all. It knows exactly what makes an average action movies, and hits it up to eleven. Good, good fun.
2. Ruby Sparks - Although there are holes in it, and it's a fraction too long we have a creepy and interesting fairy tale. Half silly, teen rom-com, half freaky Grimm tale.
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Great teen movie. Fun and right on the edge of being a little too quirky. The correct amount of quirk, in fact, to warm your heart. For all outsiders and wallflowers who wish to be taken in with a crowd of misfits - or have maybe already found one of their own - you'll love it.
Thanks for a good movie year, and for keeping up to date with the blog. Hope to see you back for more of the same in January.
Thursday 27 December 2012
Friday 7 December 2012
Alex Cross
Based on James Patterson's novel "Cross", we see Matthew Fox (Vantage Point) and Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) playing the psychopathic sadist Picassso and the psychological profiler Alex Cross, respectively. Picasso is a hired hand assassin taking out high level banking executive, and Cross is tasked with stopping him, but after foiling one of the killer's hits and hurting his pride - it becomes far more personal for everyone involved.
My major thoughts when watching this film? It probably was a good genre book. Everything about it seemed like it was so faithful to an original text, that in places that made it a bit creeky. What works in a book in the way of dialogue and plot device can look and sound a little silly when it's seen on the screen. The same problem comes up in casting, mainly in the form of Richard Brookwell, the head of the Police Unit played by the majestic John C. McGinley (Point Break). Basically, Brookwell seems to be a well meaning, if a little naive police inspector. John C. McGinley, may be well meaning in most cases, but he's also a bad-ass. He should always be the badass.
To be fair, these are my few criticisms of the film. After the tirade of cool-psychopathy in End of Watch, I was very pleased to see some dumb, and silly action with no over pushing of crazy, horrifying agendas. This was just telling a basic police chase story, and that, for me at least, is good fun. Might have made an interesting TV series along the same vain as 24 or Lie to Me, that way we could know the characters a little more.
Finally, is this film worth seeing?
If you want to have a bit of a laugh at chunky dialogue, and genuinely quite tense action sequences - go for it. There are problems, and it's no where near a great film, but it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you like the look of the trailer, you wont waste your time going to see it.
My major thoughts when watching this film? It probably was a good genre book. Everything about it seemed like it was so faithful to an original text, that in places that made it a bit creeky. What works in a book in the way of dialogue and plot device can look and sound a little silly when it's seen on the screen. The same problem comes up in casting, mainly in the form of Richard Brookwell, the head of the Police Unit played by the majestic John C. McGinley (Point Break). Basically, Brookwell seems to be a well meaning, if a little naive police inspector. John C. McGinley, may be well meaning in most cases, but he's also a bad-ass. He should always be the badass.
To be fair, these are my few criticisms of the film. After the tirade of cool-psychopathy in End of Watch, I was very pleased to see some dumb, and silly action with no over pushing of crazy, horrifying agendas. This was just telling a basic police chase story, and that, for me at least, is good fun. Might have made an interesting TV series along the same vain as 24 or Lie to Me, that way we could know the characters a little more.
Finally, is this film worth seeing?
If you want to have a bit of a laugh at chunky dialogue, and genuinely quite tense action sequences - go for it. There are problems, and it's no where near a great film, but it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you like the look of the trailer, you wont waste your time going to see it.
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