Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
21/04/2014
1408 (2007)
A writer famous for debunking 'haunted house' stories, stays a night at The Dolphin Hotel in the infamous room 1408, the owner begs him not too, previous guests have taken their lives to 'escape' the horrors it apparently hides.
A superb psychological, claustrophobic horror, adapted from a short story by Stephen King and very similar in tone to the masterful 'The Shining'.The film relys on genuine scares and not buckets of blood or dopey American teens running away from rednecks, and is one of the finest mature horror films of recent years.
*****
30/11/2013
Teeth (2007)
'Teeth' is the "every day" tale of Dawn, a High School student suppressing her sexual desires, only to discover that she has, a,umm toothed vagina.
Rape, incest, sexual abuse and masturbation are the movies main subjects, so you'd expect some kind repellent twisted grim horror flick, well twisted yes, but the movie has a wonderful black horror humour running through it's veins, wholly original, and pretty clever, and sure to be a bit of an underground cult horror classic with plenty of bite!
*****
28/11/2013
The Lookout (2007)
Chris Pratt (John Gordon-Levitt) is a former high school hockey star who's life (and others more seriously) is changed forever whilst showing off with friends, his memory is handicapped, constantly making notes as reminders. He hooks up with some 'random' strangers in a bar, the cool sophisticated hip Gary (Mathew Goode) and starts a relationship with the sexy and sassy Luvlee (Isla Fisher) but soon he realises he is being manipulated to conspire in the robbery of a bank he works at as a Janitor.
I'd never heard off this movie and only saw it advertised on Netflix one night, Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher in a heist movie, got to be worth a play, and boy was it worth it. A heist drama like no other, quite low key, with thoroughly engaging characters, Gordon-Levitt is always a great screen presence and this movie is no different, this guy is one of the best young actors out there, an ingenious intelligent and engrossing movie, well worth seeking out.
*****
I'd never heard off this movie and only saw it advertised on Netflix one night, Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher in a heist movie, got to be worth a play, and boy was it worth it. A heist drama like no other, quite low key, with thoroughly engaging characters, Gordon-Levitt is always a great screen presence and this movie is no different, this guy is one of the best young actors out there, an ingenious intelligent and engrossing movie, well worth seeking out.
*****
07/06/2013
Outlaw (2007)
When the directors (Nick Love) previous credits have been 'The Football Factory'
and 'The Business' you know what to expect. As in the director's previous
movie's, this stars Danny Dyer, a guy people either love or loathe, me? I don't
mind the cheeky cockney. The main man though is Sean Bean, a former paratrooper
who assembles a gang of like minded individuals out to extract justice on
Britain's streets, something they see the law is failing to do so.
Very much like a Death Wish' 2007, or the under-rated Michael Douglas flick 'The Star Chamber', this is a movie about revenge and vigilantism. The film has received many negative reviews, The Guardian labelling it "crime revenge porn", yes it's non pc but the ideas in the film are what a lot of fed up Britain's are thinking right now, something the poe faced liberals hate to see expressed.
Things do get very daft in the final third of the film, the 'outlaws' get embroiled in a 'Heat' style gun fight when previously they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag, but the whole movie has an earthy gritty feel and the cast is a pretty good one, Bob Hoskins as a Police 'grass', a very subdued Danny Dyer and the always reliable Sean Bean.
*****
Very much like a Death Wish' 2007, or the under-rated Michael Douglas flick 'The Star Chamber', this is a movie about revenge and vigilantism. The film has received many negative reviews, The Guardian labelling it "crime revenge porn", yes it's non pc but the ideas in the film are what a lot of fed up Britain's are thinking right now, something the poe faced liberals hate to see expressed.
Things do get very daft in the final third of the film, the 'outlaws' get embroiled in a 'Heat' style gun fight when previously they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag, but the whole movie has an earthy gritty feel and the cast is a pretty good one, Bob Hoskins as a Police 'grass', a very subdued Danny Dyer and the always reliable Sean Bean.
*****
14/11/2010
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Six months after the events of '28 Days Later' and the rage virus decimated the British Isles, the US Army declares the country virus free.An area of London has been cordoned off by the Army and the area is slowly repopulated, little do they know that a hidden carrier of the virus enters the safe zone.....
I have to admit I thought the prequel 28 Days Later was a good horror film, not great, but one I enjoyed at the time but with no real sense of urgency to revisit the film.This though blew me away from the very first 5 or 10 minutes, this is one full on blood and guts horror roller-coaster, great action scenes, strong acting and some real gory scenes (the helicopter attack had me leaping from my seat)
The film looks great too, great scenes of London abandoned except heavily armed Soldiers, burnt out cars and piles of rubbish strewn across the streets.Some of the fx are spellbinding, the aforementioned helicopter attack, jets fire-bombing and gassing the streets to kill carriers and non-carriers of the rage virus, a deserted dilapidated new Wembley and as for the ending.....the icing on the cake!!
*****
01/11/2010
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
If you've seen The Blair Witch Project or the more recent Paranormal Activity you'll know what to expect here.Again filmed in hand held documentary style, The Poughkeepsie Tapes tells us the "true" story of a serial killers private collection of video tapes that are discovered by the Police force of a small American town.
For such a low budget film this is on the whole well acted, not gory, but tense and very unnerving, the grainy black and white footage adding to the sense of dread and impending terror.
Well worth tracking down.
*****
14/06/2010
The Number 23 (2007)
I have to admit, my expectation's were pretty low for this flick.The reviews have been pretty scathing, and as it's director was Joel Schumacher, who brought us the pretty lamentable 'Batman And Robin' and '8mm', I really had my reservations. Well what a surprise, 'The Number 23' turned out to be quite an engaging thriller with a pretty smart script.
Jim Carey stars as Walter Sparrow, who on his birthday is bought a book which soon takes over his life ,as becomes obsessed by the similarities the number 23 encompasses.Carey is an actor I have a lot of time for, not only in comedy but time and time again in more 'demanding' roles such as 'Man On The Moon', 'The Truman Show' and 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'.Here again he holds his own with fine support from Virginia Madsen as his wife and Logan Lerman as their son Robin.
The twist is very clever and fairly believable and rounds of what was a very decent and quite unfairly criticised film.
Jim Carey stars as Walter Sparrow, who on his birthday is bought a book which soon takes over his life ,as becomes obsessed by the similarities the number 23 encompasses.Carey is an actor I have a lot of time for, not only in comedy but time and time again in more 'demanding' roles such as 'Man On The Moon', 'The Truman Show' and 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'.Here again he holds his own with fine support from Virginia Madsen as his wife and Logan Lerman as their son Robin.
The twist is very clever and fairly believable and rounds of what was a very decent and quite unfairly criticised film.
11/12/2009
Rogue (2007)
Directed by Gregg McLean who was responsible for the excellent gritty slasher 'Wolf Creek', I had high hopes for this 'monster' movie.
A party of tourists in the Australian outback are terrorised by a man eating Crocodile, the film is fairly tense, well made, but you get a sense of you've seen it all before, and if you've seen the excellent 'Black Water', then you've seen it done so much much better.
A good solid, if unspectacular, thriller.
*****
15/11/2007
Blades Of Glory (2007)
When a comedy stars Will Ferrell and John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) you pretty much no what to expect.The two leads play Olympic ice skaters who are stripped of their gold medals and banned from the sport after a fight.Years later they discover a loop hole in the banning, they can compete as a pairs act, queue lots of staring at backsides and such like.
You either love or hate someone like Ferrell, I'm in the former.He's starred in some great comedies in the past few years, such films as "Anchorman", "Elf" and "Zoolander" spring to mind, good films that are made funnier with this guy in.Even standard fare such as "Talladega Nights" is more watchable with this lovable buffoon in, and this is the case with "Blades Of Glory".
There's plenty of funny moments in the film, it's nothing amazing, but having Ferrell, and Heder, as leads makes this an enjoyable, fun and totally daft film.
14/11/2007
I Want Candy (2007)
Two film students head to London with their script which they believe will be the first step to Hollywood, they hook up with a dodgy film producer who agrees to finance the film, provided they can get porns hottest star Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra).
I Want Candy' it must be said is quite a sweet and charming film in a 'The Full Monty' kind of way, sadly though unlike that film, the laughs are few and far between it must be said, I think I went a full hour before a proper laugh, a very amusing scene that all I shall say "required wet wipes"!
The only selling point this film would seem to have is the chance for men to see Carmen Elektra in various sexy outfits and states of undress, something I'm sure you could see say in a Playboy dvd, if she has one that is, not that I'd know about that sort of thing!
Lightweight fluff all in all with a serious lack of laughs I'm afraid.
*****
I Want Candy' it must be said is quite a sweet and charming film in a 'The Full Monty' kind of way, sadly though unlike that film, the laughs are few and far between it must be said, I think I went a full hour before a proper laugh, a very amusing scene that all I shall say "required wet wipes"!
The only selling point this film would seem to have is the chance for men to see Carmen Elektra in various sexy outfits and states of undress, something I'm sure you could see say in a Playboy dvd, if she has one that is, not that I'd know about that sort of thing!
Lightweight fluff all in all with a serious lack of laughs I'm afraid.
*****
Mr Brooks (2007)
Kevin Costner (remember him?) stars as Earl Brooks, a highly respected local businessman man, loving Husband and Father, who hides a dark secret, a psychopathic urge to kill.The urge proves too much and when he kills two lovers in their apartment, he is seen and caught on film at the scene by a sleazy photographer.The photographer (Dane Cook) though doesn't turn him into the Police or blackmail him though, he wants to learn to kill like Brooks and experience the 'thrill' first hand.
Costner is superb in this film and proves something that we tend to forget, what a very, very good actor he is.Equally good is the reliable William Hurt as Marshal, Mr Brook's alter-ego, this was a great idea for the film as they discussed how they would solve issues and problems together in Mr Brook's life.
Supporting cast too is a fine one, Demi Moore (remember her?) is good as the Cop pursuing the killer, CSI Vegas' Marg Heldenberger stars as Mr Brooks oblivious wife, though I felt her character took a back seat during the second half of the movie.The lovely Reiko Aylesworth of 24 also puts in an appearance as the lawyer out to screw Demi Moore in divorce proceedings against her money grabbing ex-husband.
The script is clever and intelligent with a good dose of black humour and some neat twists, including one all mighty one at the end!!!
Highly recommended.
*****
Disturbia (2007)
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The first obvious comparison is "Rear Window", this time though the voyeur 'spies' on his neighbours not just with binoculars but with a video camera as well, he trawls the net too looking for clues and evidence.Nobody will believe him though, is he suffering from cabin fever, when it looks like he might catch him with guilty evidence, Mr Turner always delivers an alibi.
"Disturbia" is a thoroughly enjoyable, and very quirky, little thriller.There's no unnecessary gore or T&A, just a good old fashioned tense, exciting and well paced little film from director D J Carusso (who has also directed a few episodes of 'The Shield')
*****
01/09/2007
Going To Pieces (2006)
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The film contains some great slasher moments (Jason's 'death' etc) but the highlight is the vast array of interviews with big names from the genre, there's the usual big guns such as Wes Craven and John Carpenter, the genius that is Tom Savini, but you also get loads of lesser known names thrown in the mix with plenty of interesting anecdotes such as Paul Lynch ("Prom Night") and Fred Walton ("When a Stranger Calls", "April Fool's Day").
If you're a fan of the genre, which I am, then you'll love this highly enjoyable documentary
*****
31/08/2007
Fast food Nation (2007)
'Fast Food Nation' is based on the 2001 best selling book book of the same name and and centres on a fictional fast food chain 'Mickeys' .The story is told from the point of view of different people involved in the industry, you could say this is the Burger version of 'Traffic'.We have Don (Greg Kinnear) a high ranking marketing executive of Mickeys who is concerned at an independent company's research into the meat in their Burgers and decides to investigate, Sylvia, Raul and Coco three Mexican nationals who illegally enter the States for a better life and are employed by the Meat Company who supply Mickeys burgers and finally Brian and Amber, two high school kids who work at their local Mickeys.
The three inter-weaving stories on the whole are very good, things do get a bit dull when Brian and Amber join an animal rights group in school and try to release cows who will be slaughtered for the Meat Company.On the whole though the film is pretty entertaining, though hardly ground breaking, yes we know these company's treat their staff pretty poorly, the meat is not good quality, and they will lie to cover up any 'chinks in their armour'
*****
The three inter-weaving stories on the whole are very good, things do get a bit dull when Brian and Amber join an animal rights group in school and try to release cows who will be slaughtered for the Meat Company.On the whole though the film is pretty entertaining, though hardly ground breaking, yes we know these company's treat their staff pretty poorly, the meat is not good quality, and they will lie to cover up any 'chinks in their armour'
*****
19/07/2007
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The first Spider-man movie for me, alongside ‘Batman Returns’, was, and still is one of the great comic book movie adaptations ever, great story, characters you cared about and some great action set pieces.The second Spidy movie gained even more plaudits, except for me, yeah it was still great to look at but it was strating to get boggged down in Peter Parker’s private life, and more so, Mary Jane’s.
So we come to Spider-man 3, and I have to admit was wasn’t expecting that much, but over-all I was pleasantly surprised.Let’s deal with the major minus point this film has, one inherited from the previous film, Mary bloody Jane.This character spends the entire movie, moaning and complaining about how her career isn’t panning out as hoped, how Spider-man is too busy to pay her enough attention.Please, if there’s a fourth outing can we please kill this irritating excuse for a woman off!The scene in the restaurant when Parker slaps her made me stand up and cheer, yes that’s how much she annoyed me.Another minor niggle was that there were a lot of villains for one movie, I thought Venom was nothing more than Spider-man with nasty pointy teeth.Let’s limit the amount of bad guys so that the one’s we do have get plenty of time to smash things up,fight Spider-man and generally cause havoc.
Now onto the good stuff, again the film is a visual feast, the scenes involving Sandman were spectacular and also the scene early on involving the crane.An appearance by Bruce Campbell is always a bonus, especially when his character is a snooty French restauranter.The action is fast and furious, yeas it does get a little bogged down with the amount of characters but this is two hours of fine pop-corn entertainment.
*****
So we come to Spider-man 3, and I have to admit was wasn’t expecting that much, but over-all I was pleasantly surprised.Let’s deal with the major minus point this film has, one inherited from the previous film, Mary bloody Jane.This character spends the entire movie, moaning and complaining about how her career isn’t panning out as hoped, how Spider-man is too busy to pay her enough attention.Please, if there’s a fourth outing can we please kill this irritating excuse for a woman off!The scene in the restaurant when Parker slaps her made me stand up and cheer, yes that’s how much she annoyed me.Another minor niggle was that there were a lot of villains for one movie, I thought Venom was nothing more than Spider-man with nasty pointy teeth.Let’s limit the amount of bad guys so that the one’s we do have get plenty of time to smash things up,fight Spider-man and generally cause havoc.
Now onto the good stuff, again the film is a visual feast, the scenes involving Sandman were spectacular and also the scene early on involving the crane.An appearance by Bruce Campbell is always a bonus, especially when his character is a snooty French restauranter.The action is fast and furious, yeas it does get a little bogged down with the amount of characters but this is two hours of fine pop-corn entertainment.
*****
29/04/2007
Captivity (2007)
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Directed by “acclaimed director” Roland Joffe, he of “The Killing Fields” and “Super Mario Brothers”, which he likes to omit from his c.v. the question was, is this as bad as people say? Well in all honesty, yes it’s a very poor film, but it’s biggest crime is that it’s so dull. The “Saw” and “Hostel” film franchises are pretty average to poor horror movies but at least they’re fairly interesting, the first hour of this film was akin to watching paint dry, things do pick up a little towards the end but by then you’ve gone past caring.
The only plus point I can muster from this film is the eye candy that is Elisha Cuthbert, great to look at in a leather dress, but this doesn’t disguise the fact that she still can’t act for toffee. Another major failing of the film is that for a horror/thriller it is neither suspenseful nor scary. The film just about fails on all levels really.
*****
Knocked Up (2007)
Slobby jobless Ben (Set Rogan) can’t believe his luck when he meets an attractive charismatic career girl Alison (Katherine Heigel) in a bar, a one night stand and 2 months later and Alison is horrified to learn she is pregnant!
‘Knocked Up’ starts off as your by numbers ‘American Pie’ comedy but it soon becomes a very grown up, and very funny ‘adult’ comedy. When I say adult, I don’t mean T&A, this film deals with real relationships and all the troubles and anxieties that they entail.
As well as the charismatic Rogan and Heigel the supporting characters are excellent too,from Bens’ stoner mates (”Tell him not to jerk off with a noose around his neck - it’s dangerous”), Alison sister and brother in law(”You look like Babe Ruth’s gay brother… Gabe Ruth”) as well as smaller parts, in particular ‘Saturday Night Lives'’ Kristen Wiig as Jill, a snobby TV executive(”We don’t like liars in Hollywood”)
The film never sags during it’s lengthy 2 hour running time, even the trip to Vegas brings in the laughs with a hilarious conversation on magic mushrooms about the amount of chairs in their Hotel room (”Isn’t weird how chairs exist even when you’re not sitting on them?)
‘Knocked Up’ starts off as your by numbers ‘American Pie’ comedy but it soon becomes a very grown up, and very funny ‘adult’ comedy. When I say adult, I don’t mean T&A, this film deals with real relationships and all the troubles and anxieties that they entail.
As well as the charismatic Rogan and Heigel the supporting characters are excellent too,from Bens’ stoner mates (”Tell him not to jerk off with a noose around his neck - it’s dangerous”), Alison sister and brother in law(”You look like Babe Ruth’s gay brother… Gabe Ruth”) as well as smaller parts, in particular ‘Saturday Night Lives'’ Kristen Wiig as Jill, a snobby TV executive(”We don’t like liars in Hollywood”)
The film never sags during it’s lengthy 2 hour running time, even the trip to Vegas brings in the laughs with a hilarious conversation on magic mushrooms about the amount of chairs in their Hotel room (”Isn’t weird how chairs exist even when you’re not sitting on them?)
03/04/2007
Bridge To Terabithia (2007)
Joss Hutcherson plays Jess, a lonely bullied kid who befriends the school newbie Leslie (the superb Anna Sophia Robb), together they invent an imaginary world, Terabithia, which they explore to escape the drab mediocrity of their school and in Jess’s case, home life.
I have to admit I was expecting something along the lines of “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe”, but I couldn’t be more wrong. The film is set in small town in modern day America, Joss’ parents show very little love or affection to him, something he becomes more aware of when at Leslie’s house when they ‘help’ paint a room. The film also deals with very adult themes, that as a child bad things can happen, you can lose people you love and care for.
The two leads are excellent, and for two actors barely in their teens they should have promising careers ahead of them.
*****
I have to admit I was expecting something along the lines of “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe”, but I couldn’t be more wrong. The film is set in small town in modern day America, Joss’ parents show very little love or affection to him, something he becomes more aware of when at Leslie’s house when they ‘help’ paint a room. The film also deals with very adult themes, that as a child bad things can happen, you can lose people you love and care for.
The two leads are excellent, and for two actors barely in their teens they should have promising careers ahead of them.
*****
14/11/2004
Fracture (2007)
(Sir) Anthony Hopkins stars as Ted Crawford a successful and very wealthy engineer who shoots his wife after discovering she is having an affair.Lawyer Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) has to prove what seems and open and shut case, that he did it, this starts to prove more and more difficult as Ted weaves his way through legal loopholes.
I have to admit I was quite looking forward to this film, the first hour it build up quite well, as the prosecution case slowly disintegrates, the trouble is the final half hour or so seems so laboured, I was expecting a real sting in the tail. My biggest problem has to be Anthony Hopkins, I really can't take the guy seriously since "Silence Of The Hams", sorry "Lambs", it's all Hannibal Lekter cheese with an accent that flips from English to Welsh, and then bizarrely Irish!
Not a bad film by any standard, just a very ordinary one I'm afraid.
*****
I have to admit I was quite looking forward to this film, the first hour it build up quite well, as the prosecution case slowly disintegrates, the trouble is the final half hour or so seems so laboured, I was expecting a real sting in the tail. My biggest problem has to be Anthony Hopkins, I really can't take the guy seriously since "Silence Of The Hams", sorry "Lambs", it's all Hannibal Lekter cheese with an accent that flips from English to Welsh, and then bizarrely Irish!
Not a bad film by any standard, just a very ordinary one I'm afraid.
*****
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