04/06/2012: Little Deaths [2011]

I glanced through a review of this months ago, on The Wolfman Cometh. As The Wolfman said, Little Deaths is by no means a movie one will watch and enjoy, you will be uncomfortable throughout, and possibly disgusted or disturbed, but that is what it intended. Sometime a movie isn’t made for your entertainment, it is made to make you want to forget everything you saw, and that by no means detracts from how good it is.

22/05/2012: Kill List [2011]

I had been hearing good things about Kill List, and after watching it I tend to agree. But Kill List is a movie I am not even going to try to review spoiler free. So first go and watch this movie, and when you finish come back and we can discuss what the hell just happened and you without a doubt will.

26/05/2012: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [2011]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a movie that was hyped about for quite a long time and yet, in the end never came to a theatre near me. I was a little disappointed, and only now have I finally had the chance to see it. For those of you who don't enjoy slow-burn mystery thrillers, stay away, the rest of you, jump on in.

03/02/2012: I Sell The Dead [2008]

So last night was a night full of horror comedies, and where Tucker & Dale simply took the formula of the standard slasher flick and inverted it, I Sell The Dead is completely originally and equally funny. It is a different kind of humour however, darker and with more satire, with macabre comments that would tickle the deads funny bone.

28/01/2012: Layer Cake [2004]

Layer Cake is a British crime thriller coming from some of the minds behind Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Those two movies being some of the best crime movies ever, Layer Cake had a high set bar to live up to. However, based on a novel of the same name Layer Cake is a slightly different kind of beast.

Lock Stock and Snatch were undoubtedly very comedic in the criminals escapades as they navigated the criminal underworld. Layer Cake however takes a much more serious approach, although still featuring the comedic criminal types, just not as the main characters. Gone are the subtitles that introduce each character and keep who's who straight. So while just like the criminal underworld Layer Cake introduces is to a "Layer Cake" full of criminals and gangs and bosses, and it becomes a little confusing to keep the characters straight.

However with Daniel Craig at the wheel, Layer Cake still gives us a good set of characters and a well woven, if slightly hard to keep track of storyline, with the British crime world written all over it. There are a couple of subplots that don't quite make sense. This is usual for a book to movie adaptation however. I speak mainly of the whole Tammy subplot, who while providing some sexy eye candy doesn't really seem to fit, and you only discover her purpose in the ending which is a little disappointing but abnormal for the movie. I can't even remember the other subplot, I just remember wondering why it was there.

Layer Cakes setting, acting, and story all hold up strong. While not living up to the comedic side that make Lock Stock and Snatch so great, it does capture the elements of the British criminal underworld that those two did. It is comparable as well to Rock N' Rolla in some ways. Overall if you enjoyed any of those three movies, or are looking for a more serious version of those you will enjoy Layer Cake. Just expect to have to follow closely and you may not understand it all the first time. As one who can never remember names I got a little lost, but it does help when the main character doesn't have a name and is listed as xxxx.

Apparently the title was originally spelled with numbers.

Links:
Layer Cake IMDB
Layer Cake Netflix
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels IMDB

20/01/2012: Doghouse [2009]

I always found that the United Kingdom produces the cream of the crop when it comes to horror comedies.It has already given us the well known Shaun of the Dead as well as the lesser known gem Lesbian Vampire Killers. Doghouse mixes the best of both these movies, combining the zombies with the tiny remote village.

05/01/2012: The King's Speech [2011]

Have been rather busy lately, and am also pretty much out of movies at the moment. Going to the movies friday hopefully, and will also be picking some more up soon. In the meantime here come a couple of summaries for a few flicks I caught last week.

The King's Speech... I'd heard a lot of people talking about how good this was, but they never really told me exactly what it was. What it is a massive character study of King George the VI, and his st..st...stammer. Okay that was cruel, played extremely well by Colin Firth, Bertie is a good character who you feel for in all manner of ways, as you watch his story unfold as the man who never expected to be king suddenly is, all the while feeling unworthy due to his speech problems.

The supporting cast was also good, especially Geoffrey Rush, who play the Kings speech therapist. The story is extremely historical, with many real speeches taking place and filled with real life characters. The setting is good as far as I can tell, I'm no historian. As for the accuracy of the story, well I know nothing of its validity either.


Overall The King's Speech is a great historical story, and I'm sure for some, a moving movie. For other it's a slow paced character study. While I fall a little more towards the latter I don't regret watching it, I just won't be re-watching it.

Link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/

23/12/2011: The Descent [2005]

I've always gotten this movie confused with The Cave which came out at the same time and has an almost identical story. However I must say that The Descent is in fact superior and was one of the few movies to really scare me in a whole.

The Descent plays heavily on its cave setting, the claustrophobia and darkness setting a very eerie tone and atmosphere. The fact that only small light sources allow glimpses of only one spot at a time, never allowing you to see everything at once is a terrifying way of filming. Because of this sound becomes extremely important and was just as useful in setting the mood.

The Descent is of course a creature feature, and well, the featured creature was quite terrifying, although as usual implausible.

I was not thrilled with the ending, but their is however a sequel which I will watch soon. You can tell the differences in a horror movie made to be a single movie or a series. The Descent was originally made to be a single film, with a nameless terror. The Descent part 2 however gives the creatures a name and rewrites the original ending a bit. Turns out I saw the European version, the american ending is cut differently and a happier one. I think I prefer the European ending although its not conducive to a sequel.

Overall this is an amazing horror movie, and will definitely get some scares.

Link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/

17/12/2011: Army of Darkness [1992]

Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun.

So heralds Ash once again, an even more badass hero, with a chainsaw hand who has travel in time for the third installment of the Evil Dead series, sometimes called The Medieval Dead.

Unlike the others, Army of Darkness has cut out the buckets of gore and left the lonely wooded cabin of the first two films. As seen in the end of Evil Dead II Ash has been tranported back to 1300 A.D., where the army of darkness threatens a castle and kingdom.

A much more comedic film, I found Army of Darkness to be an amazing blend of the Evil Dead hero ash and a good old medieval quest movie. The special effects while cheesy, allow for armies of skeletons and fun twists all along the way. With Ash using such memorable lines as "Gimme some sugar, baby." and "Honey, you got reeeal ugly"

The end scene is also hilarious as Ash chooses to give up his nearly godly status in favour of introducing himself as "Name's Ash, housewares."

Overall Army of Darkness is an amazing movie, and a great comedy, if they haven't kept the blood rolling down the screen.

I think I will definitely be buying this poster the next time I pick some up.

Ok I already bought it.

Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/

16/12/2011: The Trip [2010]

So I usually enjoy a good British comedy, but in order for that to happen the movie has to well, do something. The Trip is the story of two men who travel on a trip through Northern Britain on some kind of food critic tasting trip, and well that about it. There a very subtle moral change in Steve Coogan, but nothing significant.

Stranger still is the leads are in fact acting themselves, or at least characters based on themselves. Rob Brydon is actually quite entertaining as a impressionist. However most of it is in fact improv.

The key to this movie lies in the fact that is was actually also split into a six episodes and air as a T.V. series. If you can and as others seem to suggest that is definitely the way to go in seeing this story unwind.

Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740047/

T.V. Series: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1698441/