07/07/2012: Moonrise Kingdom [2012]

So yesterday I headed out to the theater with my friends to spend the entire day watching movies. I had not really planned anything and had simply been told that we were heading out after lunch and they had arranged it so we could watch as many movies as possible for the rest of the day. The first movie on their billet was Ted, but when we arrived, I saw to my surprise Moonrise Kingdom was playing and while I was five minutes late, I figured I’d only miss the previews. 

23/04/2012: The Return of the Living Dead III [1993]

One thing to notice about both The Return of the Living Dead series and Romero's Dead series is that both have been spread out over almost 4 decades now. So there has been some major shifts in the series overtime. While The Return of the Living Dead II had brought nothing fresh nor improved over the original, the 3rd film was definitely a worthy sequel, if it was a different beast. 

23/04/2012: Up In The Air [2009]

So after watching a surplus of horror movies the week before this I decided to mix it up, and put on something a little happier and more lighthearted. I still can't believe that Up In The Air acme out almost 3 years ago now, but I finally got around to seeing it, and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for when I chose it. It is however a strong movie that examines some strong issues.

30/03/2012: Natural Born Killers [1994]

The Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 25 most controversial list is an interesting one. One of it's most surprising factors is the number of big name directors and well known movie on the list. From Martin Scorsese, to Stanley Kubric, from Oliver Stone to Mel Gibson the list is filled with well known films. Sitting at number 8 is Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, the only director to hold two spots on the list.

17/03/2012: True Romance

"People have  asked me: 'So would you ever do a romance movie?' like that's so not what I would do. 'Well, I did a romantic movie, True Romance.' 'No, no, I mean like a real romantic movie'. 'Well that is a real romantic movie.' 'No, like one without violence?' 'Well, there'll be a lot of things in any movie I do that will be contradictory, but anybody's who's a fan of the movie will tell you, the title - True Romance - is not ironic... this is True Romance." - Quentin Tarantino

17/03/2012: Midnight In Paris [2011]

There was a lot of buzz around Midnight In Paris when it came out, but I think it still slipped under most radars. Midnight In Paris is truly a Nostalgic movie, and can only be best appreciated when one had significant knowledge of  1920's art and culture in Paris.

21/01/2012: Gattaca [1997]

I had only heard of this movies once before I discovered it on Netflix and that had only been its name. After watching it I find it amazing I had never heard of it before. I have always found it strange that, with all the books in the world, high school english class still makes everyone read 1984 and A Brave New World and such Utopian/dystopian novels. But if those are the chosen novels why would you not mention or show a movie such as Gattaca?

By now I hope you have realized that Gattaca is another greatly written movie about a Utopian/Dystopian society "somewhere in the near future" where there is no racism, sexism, and whatever other ism's you can think of. Instead society has taken discrimination down to a science. With one drop of blood they can determine all of your potential. At birth they know when you will die, what chances you have of contracting heart disease, going blind etc. However with this advance in genetics, comes the ability to genetically engineer your child. Pick gender and colours, along with a standard removal of depression, alcoholism, and diseases you get the best of you. These engineered people become the worlds elite, while those known as degenerates or in-valids live a life of poverty, struggling to find jobs and never attaining their dreams.

Gattaca of course being what it is, follows the story of Vincent, an In-valid with dreams of going into space and working for Gattaca (NASA really). Being with a 99% chance of developing a heart condition, Vincent has no chance to get in himself regardless of how hard he works or how much he studies.

However in a world where DNA scans occur so frequently there comes a new kind of identity theft. Vincent meets Jerome, a man with the perfect genetic makeup. Athletic, smart and with no chance of dying from disease. Jerome however has become paraplegic in a car accident and with no possibilities ahead agree to give Vincent his identity.

What follows this is a great story I won't ruin for you and an impressively under-appreciated movie. The cast includes well known Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law who all give great performances. The visuals and setting paint a great picture of the future, as usual mixing elements of science with the art of the past.

I must say even if you've never heard of Gattaca, there is no reason you shouldn't have. This movie is right up there with the rest of the Utopian/Dystopian films and benefits from being written for the screen and not a novel.

This poster is a concept poster but I didn't like any of the official ones.

Link:
Gattaca IMDB
Gattaca Netflix

14/01/2012: An American Werewolf In Paris [1997]

An American Werewolf In London, is a great 80's classic horror movie, and one of the rare werewolf movie gems. Almost two decades later this sequel was released, and well here's what I thought.

First, it really isn't a sequel, I didn't even know that Serafine was supposed to be the daughter of the original American werewolf. Perhaps it is hinted somewhere, but she shares no family name, nor references the previous movie. All in all this movie almost feels like a remake mashed with Eurotrip or some such comedy.

The werewolf curse and how it works stay true to the London mythos (i.e. the undead victims remain), but increases the world with the usual cure and an underground werewolf cult with a conspiracy. So, the simplicity of the London is clearly gone here. Ontop of those horror elements derived from the first movie, the black comedy of the first one has been turned to up and into a slightly different type. These American tourists and some of the comedy feel like they are taken out of Eurotrip, and is built on stereotypes. Mix this with some of the black humor of the first and the film is quite funny.

The cast is alright but leans more toward the Eurotrip side of cinema. The disappointment of the movie is definitely the werewolves themselves. AWIL has always been known for its amazing transformation scene and effects, while sadly, AWIP falls to the age of CGI and disappoints in this category.

However, while we did not get such a classic as An American Werewolf in London, with this sequel it is a decent movie, with a good mix of comedy and horror to make it entertaining even today.

Link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118604/

03/01/2012: Beastly [2011]

You may wonder, why the hell did I watch this?
1. Neil Patrick Harris
2. It was simply on the T.V.

Warning contains some profanity.

So I guess this was some kinda re-imagining and modernization of the whole Beauty and the Best story. I was just kinda like. Sure he's got tattoos and scars, but what the fuck is with the metal vine in his forehead? You seriously couldn't remove that?  However that guy was a pretty big douche, and a better ending woulda been to keep him ugly.

As for reason #1, NPH was a pretty cool character, he actually wore opaque contacts so he was blind when they were filming.

Another cool thing, was apparently Mary-Kate Olson was the witch, I didn't notice, glad to see her child acting career really went somewhere.

Overall, watch this movie if your a teenage girl.

Link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152398/