Thor - Trailer 2 (OFFICIAL)

Battlefield Los Angeles

What do you have if you take a popular genre of computer game, add an alien menace and stir up with some extremely dodgy dialogue. This is not a bad film, but then its not a great film. Its  Independence day meets Black Hawk down. A noisy two hour diversion from your troubles. Aaron Eckhart  plays the films main hero tasked with saving some civilians caught in the midst of the invasion. The action scenes are loud , brash and confusing and the plot very derivative of other alien invasion films and more importantly games. This movie very much owes its existence to the gamer culture, and judging by the audience I saw it with it has hit their sweet spot.
I could wax on but hey its a war movie , it delivers what the poster's and trailers promise and does it well. But compared to your basic three act structure movie, its just okay. This movie makes Independence Day read like Shakespeare.

Limitless

Based on the novel The Dark Fields by the writer Alan Glynn, Limitless tells us the story of young Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper).  Morra is a couch potato not getting far in his life and whom the world is passing by. He's a writer unable to write, a man who contributes nothing to relationships, out of sorts with the world and making excuses for his lack of achievement. Then post breakup he bumps into his former brother in-law who offers him a little white pill and a business card. His intentions are clear.
NZT is a wonder drug designed to allow a users brain to realize its full potential, his first trial of the drug results in a cleaned up apartment and one completed manuscript. He is hooked, not addicted in the pure sense of the word but hooked to the power it provides and the potential benefits he had can envision.
But once bitten the shadows begin to close in.  With his gains through manipulation of the stock market he comes to the attention of bigger fish in the form of Robert De Niro’s character of Van Loon in a barely sketched out role that allows him to phone in his by the numbers performance. Added to this mix are a Russian moneylender and a mysterious figure that seems anxious to get hold of the pills that Morra has in his possession.
This is a pleasant diversion; it doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouth. Bradley Cooper proves he has the acting chops to pull off an interesting role but this isn’t really the great thriller that the trailer promises. Neil Burger directs with style, but at the end of the day this is an okay film. It’s not the great thriller it promised to be, and there are area’s hinted at that this film had it chosen to explore would have made for a much more exciting feature. 

Scream and other distractions

Don't you just hate it  when your local cinema has nothing of interest. So it was I found myself forced to hold boredom at bay by revisiting one old classic horror and the discovery of a well crafted expose of another of histories embarrassing episodes.

Bilibo is a 2009 Australian movie which relates the tale of the invasion of East Timor in 1975 by Indonesian troops. This is the background colour, the events this film explores is the death of the Balibo five. A group of journalists who were captured and killed while reporting on the invasion. The tales is told through the eyes of Roger East an Australian journalist who went to investigate the deaths of the Balibo Five and who ended up dead a day after the Indonesian Invasion.
    Anthony LaPagila who also executive produced the film plays East in a memorable and understated performance. East' s is at first reluctant to become involved in the search of the Five but Jose Romos Horta of the revolutionary front for the independence of East Timor shows East photos of the missing 5 and the search for the truth begins. Interspersed with this search are little vignettes that tell us about the Five, what they were doing there and their commitment towards the task of gathering news. This is a time, when news was gathered on 16mm camera's. When reels of footage had to be delivered by hand. When risks were much higher because of this method of news gathering. The tale is well told in an almost documentary fashion. The events as they unfold are devastating, more so when you realise that these are Australians and the proximity of East Timor to Darwin Australia.  This is a film that asks more questions than answers, most of them directed towards Austalia's government. It does not entertain but the truth seldom is, but it does inform and it draws you in slowly towards its devastating conclusion.

Scream is scream ,I  don't need to tell you the story of this re imagining of the traditional stalk and slash thriller. I find myself  referring to the Scream trilogy as the Scooby Doo slasher collection.The fun in re-visting a film is maybe seeing it in a different light. Scream was a fun horror at the time, my personal favourite of the trilogy is the second episode. But my  main reason to re-watch the first episode was the fact that I had just seen the  scream 4 Poster and as a result hunted down the trailer.
   I found  certain scenes between Billy loomis and Stuart Macher prior to the films concluding big reveal, to have more depth and meaning once you knew the big reveal.
   I look forward to part 4 especially after the disappointing part 3 and eagerly await to see if it is a real case of all bets are off.

My last discovery was a little film with big idea's Franklyn. Some people can juggle tales of reality and the warped fantasies of the mind with aplomb. I point you in the direction of one Mr T Gilliam who regularly visits these mind scapes with films such as Brazil, Time Bandits and of course The Tales of Baron Munchausen. Dark fantasy tales with hints of madness and beauty. Franklyn's budget is low but you wouldn't know it on first viewing. On the surface this film appears to be a tale of parallel worlds but by the films conclusion all makes sense. Though not in a totally  satisfactory manner.

It tells three tales, one of the title character in a city in which religion dominates all. A character who is hunting  his nemesis whilst avoiding the forces of the Church. The other tales take place in the now, our world our plain of existence. The second tale is a young man seeking out lost love, the third tale, concerns an avant garde artist who attempts suicide, and films her attempts as pieces of art. Lastly we have the tale of a father seeking his son in London. This is a frustrating film very hard to like, two of the stories left me feeling why bother, and the fantasy elements are just that, the fantasies of a troubled mind very much in the now trying to make sense of the world. Hats off to the director for achieving the visuals that he did on such tight budget, but the story could have been told in a much linear and simpler and less frustrating manner.

Love Birds

Doug played by Rhys Darby happy and predictable life falls to pieces when his girlfriend Susan suddenly dumps him.Doug doesn't know what to do , but an injured Sheldeduck later to be named Pierre crashes into his life and Doug s  romantic journey begins which leads him into rom com territory.
     This is a passable kiwi rom com. The duck scenes would be equally home in a Disney film and the romantic element is handled in a  very family friendly way. The love interest is played by Sally Hawkins who portrays a single mum Holly whose son is still trying to come to terms with the death of his father. Its all inoffensive fun and Rhys Darby proves he is perfectly capable leading man.
  In fact I enjoyed this movie, it was a pleasant diversion on an otherwise boring Saturday afternoon. Auckland has never looked better on film due to the fantastic presence of Alun Bollinger as director of photography. Its not as clever as some Rom Com's it doesnt bring anything new to the table. But what it does do it does well, and in an entertaining way. It' family friendly and thats rare in this genre, so if the romance doesnt get you, then the duck will. I have a feeling due to Rhys Darby's stateside appeal this will be a film that travels well. Also if you are a lover of Queen then you might also score this film a few extra points for having a Queen soundtrack.

Sanctum 3D

Well there is not a lot to be said about this film, don't be misled by James Cameron's name on the poster. Don't be taken in by the hype that this is the same digital technology that made Avatar a 3D behemoth.
     Take a group of barely sketched characters, plonk them in a cave system, add a dash of cyclonic activity and stir vigorously. Taste. mmmmmmmmmmm god help me what is this (fill in blank)
    This is a B movie, you can't feel for the characters in this film because their sketches, you know nothing about them more than their experts at what they do thus preventing any form of emotional investment. It follows the usual disaster movie clichés vigorously but brings nothing new to the table. I didn't feel claustrophobic like I did with Neil Marshall's  Descent. I wasn't on the edge of my seat like I was with say something like the original Poseiden Adventure. You expect clunky dialogue, this isn't Shakespeare,  but not at the expense of characterisation at least make them believable so that I care.
     Saying that the 3D has moments that are strikingly beautiful but on the whole in this movie it didn't really add anything to the mix. Flat or 3D its advertising offers so much but the film delivers so little.

The Thing 1982

Well when there is nothing on at the local cinema its time to revisit the old blu ray and DVD collection. Last weekend and before the big Christchurch Quake I was in the mood for a little classic horror. I had just managed to get the blu ray version of John Carpenters classic 1982 remake or I prefer re imagining of the Thing.
Unfortunately the timing of this classic films release was awful putting it up against ET a film which offers a more positive take on alien visitation.
I remember my first introduction to this tale was Howard Hawkes original 1951 movie which took a more classic route with the source material. ie a almost Frankenstein like alien monster. But as a classic it had its own iconic moments which John Carpenter tipped his hat too. Such as the men measuring out the circumference of the saucer they discover in the polar ice.
What Carpenter did was instead of revisiting Hawkes movie wholesale he went back to the source material John W Campbell Hr "Who Goes There?" and turns up the idea of being taken over and the paronoia that would take over those trapped with the creature.
The last version of this I had on HD DVD prior to that DVD. Yes I backed the wrong format in the disc wars of three years ago. Well in my defence I had an X BOX and the HD DVD drive was a lot cheaper to purchase than a blu ray player. The Blu ray is superb nice natural grain giving a very film like appearance. Colours rich very much a product of its time.
Revisiting this classic after almost 3 years I allowed myself to get sucked up in the story again, brilliantly adapted by Bill Lancaster ( yes Burt Lancaster's son) To the point when the infamous blood test scene came up I leapt out of my skin. That's a sign of good horror and a reminder why CGI may not always be the way to go. In fact the Wolf-man remake is a perfect example of practical effects over digital. They had Rick Baker do the make-up for the title beast but the transformation was digital. How ridiculous was that, American Werewolf still stands out as a remarkable transformation scene.
  Rob Bottin of course did the practical effects and in this film they are a total force to be reckoned with and after viewing remain in the minds eye.Kurt Russell is once again the tired anti hero, though I would say more a survivor than hero, tired and jaded and more than a little pissed with life and this alien invasion isn't progressing his day well.
 Well sometime this year, the prequel will be released, focusing on the initial discovery at the Norwegian base. I'm sort of excited but i wonder how it will pan out. It has pretty big boots to fill but has a promising cast and first release images look interesting. But you know digital and practical effects will be on the table this time and I wonder if it will be a marriage made in heaven or hell.