Reviews

With so many films that focus on the end of the world as we know it, I'm looking at you Roland Emmerich, this film chooses to focus on how people deal with the after effects. The reason for the earth being in this post apocalyptic state is never given, I guess it is seen as being irrelevant, which I though was a nice touch, you don't need to know why this has happened just that it has.

The film follows a father and son on their way south where they believe the weather to be warmer and the food to be more plentiful. Their main concern is a band of Hills Have Eyes style hillbilly cannibals that have resorted to eating people because of a massive food shortage and they will kill women and children with out a second thought.

The film was touted as an Oscar contender before its release but fell a bit flat at the box office and got forgotten about and I can see why, the scenes with just the father and son can feel overly long at times, but not that its a slow film it just could have been a bit more entertaining.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

Doctor Parnassus leads a travelling show around the streets of London, where he invites people to step into their own imagination.

Unfortunately I think the film will always be remembered for being Heath Ledger's final film, but his performance is nowhere near as good as in The Dark Knight, that said it is not a criticism of him the character he has is not the same as playing the joker which you can do so much more with. Personally I thought the stand out performance was that of Andrew Garfield, who we will see in the forthcoming Spiderman reboot in which he will be the title character.

The visuals of the imagination are fantastic, the occupier must always face the choice while in their own imagination to go with salvation or damnation, salvation and they will come out a better person, damnation and they will lose their souls to the devil. The loss of Ledger forced Terry Gilliam into some inspired improvisation, while having completed the real world scenes before his passing the imaginarium scenes were left unfilmed, step in Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to save the day, surprisingly this works really well, showing different sides of the Tony character and maybe exposing him as the person he really is.

Good that is was, it wasn't quite the trip I was expecting from the director of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

For those who know and love This is Spinal Tap, Anvil: The Story of Anvil could well be the real world version. In case you've never heard of them, and most people haven't, Anvil were a heavy metal band that hit their peek in the early 80's. Noted as a major influence for bands such as Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer to name a few, these are the guys that fame and fortune passed by.

Now in their 50's and working normal jobs, Steve 'lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner, yes I thought that was a joke too, still believe in themselves and that fame and glory could come at any time, so like Spinal Tap they embark on a disastrous tour of Europe. You truly feel for them when they get to the Monsters of Transylvanian Rock Festival, where they are promised a crowd of 10,000 people in a 20,000 capacity venue and then only 174 people show up, it leaves the wondering why they put themselves through it, but for them the answer is simple, they love the music.

They carry on plugging away as they try to get their 13th studio album recorded and released, with constant infighting it doesn't prove easy, but with this fighting you can see their passion for what they do come through and win you over. Surprising funny in places this I loved this movie as it had something Spinal Tap doesn't, heart, and lots of it.

I give this film 5 out of 5.

I made a conscious decision not to see Fantastic Mr. Fox at the cinema having seen the trailers and thought I wouldn't quite like the style of animation and therefore would not enjoy this, how I was wrong.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is having trouble settling down to family life after his life of chicken stealing, but when he moves in to his new tree, he finds three villainous farmers as his new neighbours he gets drawn back in for one last job.

The stop motion animation works perfectly for this with director Wes Anderson purposely using a slower frame rate to film it in so as your attention is not drawn away from the animation artwork. The tone of the film is excellent mixing humor, and it is quite a funny film, with heartfelt sentiment of a much loved children's book.

There were influences of the directors other films, most notably The Royal Tenembuams with the dysfunctional family and Mr Fox's struggle to find common ground with his son Ash (Jason Swartzman). Watch out for former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker's cameo halfway through with a brilliant musical highlight, I also thought the use of blueberries to take out guard dogs was particularly in genius.

An animation of a children's book this may be but I cannot see a child taking any thing from this as it is largely an adult affair. Over all an excellent, humorous adaptation of a Roald Dahl classic.

Many years after Alice's first adventure in underland, a now late teens Alice returns to thr magical place that feels like a strange dream for her.

I cannot say I've read the original book, so I can't comment on how far it strays from the story, I do understand that this was meant as a kind of sequel rather than a straight adaptation. Tim Burton has definitely put his own touch on the characters, of which I thought Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen was the standout winner, even over a usually crazier than anyone Johnny Depp, the Mad Hatter, who seemed to me more of a manacly depressed hatter. I found myself routing for the Evil Red Queen over the strangely goth like White Queen in Anne Hathaway, as she was much more entertaining. I particularly found amusing the Red Queens abuse of animals, playing Croquet with flamingoes and hedgehogs and using a pig as a footstool, also every time someone anyoed her she would shout "off with their head".

I also have issues with films that were never supposed to be in 3D from day one and then decide to go 3D as an after thought, when done properly 3D can really add an extra dimension, if you will, to a film but when added at a later date it feels gimmicky, like the film companies are just using it as a way of charging an extra £2.

Unfortunately I think I set my expectations too high and was sorely disappointed with a very mediocre film.

As formulaic as it gets really, it starts with a pre credit scene in which a Russian plane crashes in the Antarctic in the 50's. We skip forward to present day and US Marshall Stetko (Kate Beckinsale), who is trying to escape an incident from her past which reveals itself in a series of flashbacks, she stumbles upon a dead body in the middle of nowhere and it all begins to lead back to the precious cargo on the crashed plane.

Very predictable and uneventful, where the most amount of tension comes laughably from the protagonist and her assailant clipping and unclipping themselves onto a series of ropes to prevent them getting swept away in the treacherous conditions. All the action comes about 15 minutes from the end which leads to a massively boring and unfulfilling ending that seems to have been ripped straight from Point Break. I couldn't help, while I was watching this, comparing it to other films of the same setting like The Thing and how much I would rather be watching a superior film like that.

Overall not totally terrible but there are many, many better thrillers and could have done with a better lead rather than the always dull Kate Beckinsale.

Not to say that this isn't any good, but I found it to start with a little hard to get into due to its subject matter of corporate espionage and price fixing, which I don't really know anything about and this film didn't do much in the way of educating me.

Based on a true story, in the early '90s Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) plays stooge to the F.B.I., blowing the whistle on several companies price fixing scandal, then meanwhile accidentally revealing his own embezzlement of millions of dollars of kick backs from his own company.

Matt Damon physically looks the part, carrying a bit of weight and sporting a '90s mustache. He is pretty much solo here as none of the other characters have much to do, which is a shame as there is a quite superb supporting cast there. Damons character is essentially a buffoon telling the authorities of his bosses illegal activities in the hope they would all go to jail and he would be made C.E.O. His idiocy does provide some laughs though, from his excellent line "call me code name 0014", and when asked why he replies with "because I'm twice as smart as 007", to playing with a 'secret' tape recorder concealed in his briefcase during an meeting he is supposed to be spying on.

Unfortunately I can not decide whether the film makers were going for a comedy or simply a quirky amusing film, if it was the later they done their job, but I have a feeling it was the former. There was flashes of the coolness that made for me Oceans Eleven such an brilliant film from the same director, Steven Soderbergh, but it wasn't engaging enough for me as some of the others in the genre.

for more of my reviews please go to; http://alansmitheejrmovieblog.blogspot.com/

Nowhere Boy, a biopic of John Lennon's teenage year and the forming of The Quarrymen, the original Beatles, was a pleasant surprise for me, I expected a slightly slow mediocre film and it was an engaging, gloriously acted film.

Aaron Johnson plays the lead superbly, with the kind of talent that will see him become a star before not too long. I found the relationship with his estranged mother, the woman who introduced him to rock 'n' roll music, slightly uncomfortable as there is a strong undertone of sexual attraction between them.

The music is great and I found the introduction of the young Paul McCartney and George Harrison a nice touch.

All round a very enjoyably paced movie that kept me well entertained all the way through.

For more of my reviews please go to; http://alansmitheejrmovieblog.blogspot.com/

Finally I have seen Iron Man 2, an as I expected I loved it.

Now for anyone who has been in an underground bunker for the past couple of years this is the second instalment of one of Marvel Comics biggest franchises. Directly following on from the first film we join Tony Stark with his life filling up with a whole host of new problems.

The ever brilliant Sam Rockwell is a rival arms dealer, who is envious of stark and his business. I've always loved Rockwell from when I first saw him in Galaxy Quest and wonder how he is not a bigger star, especially after watching his solo turn in Moon.

Mickey Rourke is out for vengeance as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash a genius physicist who believes the Howard Stark, Tony's dad, stole his arc reactor idea, the piece of kit that keeps Tony alive and powers the iron man suit.

Don Cheadle steps into Terrance Howards shoes as best friend to Stark, Jim Rhodes. I originally wasn't happy to hear that Howard would not be returning for the second film, but Cheadle is a more than capable replacement and makes the part his own.

I was afraid before I saw the film that it was going to suffer from Spiderman 3 syndrome by featuring too many characters to fit into one film, but it really doesn't allowing each their own screen time with solid character development.

Director Jon Favreau has beefed up his cameo from the first film into something of a supporting role and you can tell he was having fun during the making , by giving himself some great comedy moments.

The star of the show, Robert Downey jr. puts in another charismatic turn in his most natural role to date. It may not be his best but being Tony Stark comes so easily to him.

There are a number of geek out moments if you are a comic book fan or used to watch the cartoon, mainly the suitcase suit moment as Stark used to carry his suit around with him so he could become Iron Man at anytime, and they have worked this into the movie. Also there are a few, seven to be exact, obscure hint towards the imminent Avengers movie. As always with Marvel movies stay after the end credits and you shall be rewarded.

I knew before seeing this film I would love it and although it may not be a 10/10 film such as The Dark Knight it is a lot more enjoyable and accessible.

For more reviews please view my blog at; http://alansmitheejrmovieblog.blogspot.com/

Christmas eve and seemingly happy couple Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reece Witherspoon) are at the airport on their way to Fiji to avoid their families over the holiday period, when weather conditions scupper their getaway and are forced to visit each of the divorced parents houses on Christmas day. Unfortunately for a movie called four Christmases apart from the opening 15 minutes when they are at a work Christmas party i felt there isn't much of a Christmas feel about it. I've liked Vince Vaughn since Swingers, which is a fantastic film, but lately he has been doing the same thing in all his is in and with his latest efforts has been struggling. The leads do not make a convincing couple with no real chemistry between them with the main laughs coming from the smaller roles. There are some good comedic moments and its worth a watch as long as you don't expect too much, but when there are so many better Christmas comedies out there I would rather watch one of them.

I give this movie 2 out of 5.

So its early 80's Sweden and in a small community a loner child, Oskar, befriends a girl who has just moved in next door, Eli, who only comes out out night. I don't think I have ever seen a movie with such a lack of pace of sense of direction, I did not enjoy this at all, for a vampire movie it had no tension and for a supposed horror movie it had no kind of horror in it. I have read a lot of reviews on this and cannot understand why its got such good write ups, I clearly don't think they were watching the same film as I was. There is talk of an American remake, please don't unless they can work some kind of story line into it that will keep me vaguely interested. For a movie that I hated I don't wish to waste my time writing about it, don't waste yours either.

1930's Chicago, Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is a treasury agent intent on bringing down one of the most powerful criminals in the prohibition era, Al Capone (Robert De Niro), by forming his own group of incorruptible, untouchable agents.

Every job on this film is undertaken, in my opinion, with near perfection, from the acting to directing to the music, they are all executed with such brilliance it makes me realise why I love movies so much.

All the stars do a superb job especially Sean Connery, who won an Oscar for his part and is in the best role of his career. Even Kevin Costner, who I am not the biggest fan of does a fine job going from an inexperienced agent to one of the most well known lawmen in American History. David Mamet's script is is excellent with some lines that are unforgettable, one of which, my favourite when Robert De Niro loses his cool and says about Ness "I want him Dead, I want his family dead, I want his house burnt to the ground and I want to go in there in the middle of the night and p*ss on his ashes".

True master composer Ennio Morricone fame for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is on board for scoring duties and it enhances it even further. The different types of camera shots make it a visual treat with a crane shot early on which depicts a street filled with Ford Model T's which transports you straight to the 1930's to a hand-held single cut as a killer stalks Connery's Malone through his apartment.

I really have no bad words to say about The Untouchables, this to me is essential viewing.

After seeing this at the cinema I gave Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen another watch yesterday, I know a lot of people who have seen it would wonder why I was wasting my time but I have to admit its a guilty pleasure of mine.

We pick up with the story two years after the events of the first. The Autobots have united with the US Military hunting down Decepticons, when they learn of an ancient Decepticon that is coming to destroy the human race.

Its not that I think the story should be completely void of a human story line, but I just don't care whether or not Sam, the main character, can keep his girlfriend while he goes to college especially when there's fighting robots in the same movie. The film comes in at a hefty 150 minutes run time, which I think even tests a die hard fans concentration levels, it definitely needs some trimming down in certain places.

There was far too many rubbish jokes in there as well, although a couple of them made me laugh, the mother getting off her face with hash cakes and running loose on a college campus and John Turturro making a robot-scrotum reference were highlights for me, also the promise of Matthew Marsden coming on screen with his cringe-worthy acting is always entertaining but for the wrong reasons.

You have to take it at face value though, its entertaining however you look at it.

For more of my reviews please go to http://alansmitheejrmovieblog.blogspot.com/

The film has an easy to follow plot, Dwayne Johnson is a Las Vegas cabbie who becomes embroiled in helping two, quite annoying, teenage aliens with supernatural powers get back to their spaceship after crashing on earth, meanwhile escaping from a shady government division and an assassin from their home world. The film has a good pace to it which helps keep your attention on what is a fairly poor and predictable story. The action was flowing and set pieces well put together but then I expect no less from a Disney production. This film reaffirms in what I believe 'that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is a good actor' despite the fact that his acting background comes from pro wrestling. His natural screen presence for me makes anything that he is in watchable. Overall I thought it was an enjoyable film which would be good for family viewing. For more of my reviews please go to my blog at http://alansmitheejrmovieblog.blogspot.com/