Reviews

I saw this film for the very first time recently after having been too scared to watch it for years.

While the film did not scare me as much as i was expecting there is no doubt it is a truly remarkable piece of horror cinema.

The story is pretty much the run of the mill stalk n slash movie so there isn't really any need to go into it. What makes the film so exceptional is contrary to the films reputation there is the minimal amount of actual on screen gore or cheesy dramatic "horror music." Instead the film barrages you with raw psychological fear. The lack of over the top music leaves you with the terrified screams of the main characters as they confront their antagonists, as does the grainy looking film which makes it appear to be more of a home-movie gone wrong than a film at all.

The appearance of Leatherface for the first time, for example is handled as casually as the appearance of any other lead character, but then of course we know the result of his appearance and cannot help but be shocked by what follows within the space of about 20 seconds afterwards.

Make no mistake this film is a test in psychological strength and questions us what we would do in the situations as poor Marilyn Burns.

While the film may look dated in this age of extreme gore and "jump scares" their is no denying the craft that has gone into this. There are some beautiful bits of camera-work and the little music that does occur is chilling and well used.

The only real complaint is maybe the acting could have been tidied up in some parts, as could the character development so we truly feel for the other characters other than Sally. But this is a minor complaint and any true fan of real horror should see this.

I saw King Kon on Friday night, after watching the production diaries for a year or however long they have been running for. All the hype and anticipation had been building more and more whilst watching these, and from every other piece of information that was leaked.

i was so scared that the film would not live up to the hype but was greatly relieved when i saw it and found that it not only was to my expectations but it surpassed it. This film is an amazing epic.

I recently (hours ago) watched the original and couldn't help but be surprised at how similar the remake is in terms of sequences, and certain plot points, even some camera angles. But believe me when i say that PJ's version of the film detracts anything from the original.

Every little difference to the story, characterisation and visual style is an improvement of the original, whilst still clearly showing a great deal of love for the story. the only possible exception is between Hayes and Jimmy, which really seem to have no place in the film, and lead to no real dramatic climax.

The acting is superb all round, especially Jack Black, making one of his rare serious acting appearances, and of course Naomi Watts who does nothing but shine through the film.

the only flaws i have with the film are minor niggles. The first and most annoying being the CGI. True Weta worked for years on this, and the dinosaur sequences look beautiful, as does Kong. you can see every individual piece of hair on Kong rippling and blowing in the breeze. So much detail. and yet they seemed to have a terrible time incorporating the live actors with the digital creatures.

the dino stampede and Namoi being carried by Kong look terrible, sharp edges and jerky movements that seem terribly false. Even in the original at least the actors and stop motion mixed smoothly together. having said that, once the film is converted digitally for DVD it could be straightened up, and if not it still does not detract at all from the story.

the other flaw is a couple of sequences drag out a little longer than they perhaps should have been, notably again the dino scenes.

But as i said this film is an epic and unlike some films that are hugely over-hyped this film seriously does deserve its recognition, and shows once more that Peter Jackson is both passionate and technically brilliant when it comes to directing.

On a side note: Do not let the films 12A certificate fool you. (not sure what its rating is in America, probably PG-13) while the film isn't full of any excessive gore, there are some sequences that are very disturbing to watch, and i certainly wouldn't show it to my children. A certain scene with enormous leeches for one, and another involving the savages of skull island, that plays almost like a scene from a zombie movie.

Hats off to Peter Jackson.

Just saw this at an Advanced Screening the other day and must admit i was not particularly looking forward to it. Mainly due to the fact that i loved the original. I loved its tongue in cheek campness, its fun and exciting action scenes, and Anthony Hopkins.

Thankfully LOZ has 2 out of the 3 (no Anthony Hopkins for obvious reasons) and while the film has clearly been dumbed down and made more "family friendly" as with all mainstream Hollywood sequels, it still has Banderas and Zeta Jones clearly having fun with it.

True, some of the CGI looks a bit naff, and there is a terribly unnecessary scene with a horse which made me laugh just because i would have cried because of the terrible effect, but the action scenes are action packed and use a fairly minimal amount of it.

As for the story there isn't really much to say of it, which is probably why it doesn't live up to its predecessors standards. But it trys well enough.

At the end of the day fans of the original Zorro film will probably enjoy this, as long as they don't expect it to be anything other than a fun popcorn sequel.

I rented Napoleon Dynamite last night after hearing some good comments about it, and was expecting some sort of hidden gem. I had seen some clips of it on TV and didn't think much of it, but i decided to watch it with an open mind. How Disappointed i was.

Why? Imagine if Eraserhead was in colour, and instead of the occasional moment of extreme weirdness, it has an occasional moment of humour. But the painfully slow pace and lack of any clear plot remains. But at least Eraserhead made you think, to try and work out what you have been watching, and what it means

The humour is okay, but not great. While it provided me with some genuine giggles it was nothing that sent me roaring with laughter, and was usually too scarce to hold my attention.

The film points a big finger at those guys from school that everyone avoids because they are so strange and full of such bullsh*t. They don't mean any harm but they're still damn annoying. And that is the character of Napoleon Dynamite. Other than that there is not much else to say about the film. It has not discernible plot, and is basically just a series of things that happen, some of which seems to bring nothing to the film or characterisation, but just to fill time, some of which appears to be there for no reason. For example, at one point of the film we cut to Napoleon tasting different jars of milk at a table with "FFA awards" or something like that written on it. He explains things about the milk that are tainted to some judges. Then we cut to Pedro doing the same with cows udders. For no reason. There is nothing leading to it, no mention of why they're there, and nothing gained from the scene other than seeing Pedro wearing his medal for a few of the following scenes. If i had to describe the extremely loosely related incidents that happen that appear to be a story it is this. Napoleon Dynamite. A geek that usually gets beaten up and spends most of his time with his geeky (but occasionally hilarious) brother Kip. Napoleon meets a new and equally geeky student from Mexico called Pedro Sanchez (original). They ask some girls out and then Pedro runs for class president. And thats it. Really.

Oh and there's some other guff about Kip meeting a girl online who turns out to be very attractive, and Napoleons uncle Rico, who mooches out of their house and tries to sell Tupperware. None of the events seem to lead to any sort of climax, resolution or satisfaction to the viewers.

I was briefly reminded while watching it of the TV series of The Office, with its slow pace and subtle character observations, but at least The Office is witty and has a story in each episode which lets us see more of the characters and their situation every week.