It Follows

It Follows

28th February 2015 18:50 - Bolton

Dealing with STD's (Sexually Transmitted Demon's), It Follows is a modern day working to help prevent unprotected sex, or did I miss the point.

Hailed as one of the scariest films in the last couple of years, I entered the auditorium on my own wondering what delight lay ahead.  As the film started and my ears were presented with a 70's style electronic soundtrack that was disjointed and unsettling I was thinking this could be the horror film I have been waiting for.  

It Follows starts with two consensual teens going to the next stage of their young romance only for the young male putting chloroform over his partners mouth.  When she wakes up tied to a chair, he explains to her that he is sorry for passing "it" on.  "It" will always come after her, always be walking towards her, and if "it" catches her, "it" will kill her.  The only way to get rid of "it" is to sleep with someone else.  Although, if that person dies, then "it" will come back down the line and start again.  It will be someone in a crowd, someone you may know or a stranger, but it will always be there.  The thought of this is terrifying, the portrayal of it in the film is just comical.

"It" is always walking works for films like The Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, Friday 13th etc as the  walking brings the sense of dread and fear of never being able to escape.  After "It" breaks into Jay's house, she get in a car with family and friends and drives to a lake side retreat.  After 3 days of relaxation, it eventually turns up, why? because it had to walk there - always walking.  The crowd escapes and drives back home, again, It doesn't show up for three days, why? because it has to walk back from the country retreat it has just walked all that way to.  This is where all terror and fear of the monstrosity dissipate.  You could go on holiday to France for a week, and then come home, It would turn up at your hotel, find out that you left three weeks ago and then have to walk all the way back.  There is no fear.

If you emigrated to Australia, by the time It got to your front door you would have aged 60 years and be happy to see it like a long lost friend.

As the film was ending with a couple strolling down the street without a care in the world, it really proved that there was no threat at all.

So kudos for the music score, I thought that was really unnerving and in a better film would have been great, but geez, how did this get passed any film producers, utterly pointless.

Focus

Focus

27th February 2015 - 20:10 - Bolton

With the film titled "Focus" there is really one thing you shouldn't lose!

Will Smith back on our screens being suave and stylish is always a welcome treat, even for a heterosexual male like myself, for Clare it was a delight.  Put him in a Danny Ocean style setting as a con man with a plan, and you have the makings for an enjoyable time, throw in the stunning Margot Robbie and you must be onto a winner, well that is definitely true for the first part of the film.

Will Smith takes Margot under his wing just before a huge Superbowl-Esque Mardis Gras in New Orleans.  Money is for the taking and the light fingered con artists adorn the streets in their masses stealing watches, wallets and as much money as possible on the three day event.  The haul from this triumphant task is over 1 million dollars and Margot Robbie is hooked on both the skills needed and Will Smith's heart.

A nice centrepiece with gambling at the Superbowl concludes the first part of the film with me wanting more.  Really enjoyable, and reminding me of the Oceans Trilogy I was wondering where the film could go from here.

This is when the film lost it's focus and the second part of the film felt like a lesser sequel, the story seemed to really slow down and the con's became slightly uninteresting.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but the momentum from the opening had deteriorated. Will Smith wasn't the cool character he started as and for no reason.

Clare enjoyed the film and liked the few little twists involved, leaning over to me and whispering in my ear who she couldn't trust and what she thought was going to happen, but agreed the second part was  not as good as the start.

BAFTA Tour 2015 Birdman

Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

25th February 18:15 - Bolton

Based on the success of Birdman at the Oscars and Bafta's Cineworld re-screened this Winning Picture.  I had missed it the first time round so this was a welcome treat.

Micheal Keaton is Riggan Thompson, an actor who found public fame with his portrayal of a super hero called Birdman, before this became his type cast character such as Iron Man (mentioned in the film) or the other Avengers, he decided to leave the act at Birdman 3 back in 1992 and remained stagnant with his career afterwards.  Trying to prove that he is not a washed up actor, Riggan decides to put on a Broadway play which will either make or break his career

Filmed as a one continuous shot (but obviously not), I can see why Birdman won best picture.  It is really original and spectacular to watch, definitely one for the critics to woo over.  For me is was a very enjoyable film, very funny in parts and slightly confusing in others, but there were definitely better films out there in 2014.  The soundtrack is brilliant with basically drum accompaniment throughout the whole film, and Michael Keaton is just awesome.

With Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Zack Galifianakis taking major roles within the film, it just got better.  All playing their characters superbly they were a joy to watch.  Emma Stone plays Riggan's druggy daughter dealing with the life of divorced parents and rehab, Ed Norton is an actor with serious issues which push Riggan to the limit of his sanity.

It is a film I would recommend to people who love film, but not one for the general masses as when I was leaving the cinema with everyone else, the collective "How the hell was that the best picture?" comments seemed to be coming from many of the patrons.

As an original concept though and very clever direction, Birdman is one to watch, at least to form your own opinion

Project Almanac

Project Almanac

19th February 2015 - 20:50 Bolton

I only know of the word "Almanac" from the classic Back to the Future II, in which Biff changes the past by using a Sports Almanac from the future, and on booking the tickets for this film, that was all I was thinking about.

What I was not expecting to find in Project Almanac was Platinum Dunes logo at the start (The dreaded Michael Bay production company) or that the film was 100% found footage.

When the main character (I can't remember his name) sees himself of the same age in a reflection in a mirror at his 7th Birthday Party it leads him to finding a prototype time travel device that his late father was building.  Piecing it together through an Xbox 360, the device is used by a scooby gang for numerous gains.  As it is a high school group the main focus is revenge on bullies, passing tests and winning the lottery (which I must admit was a real laugh out loud moment).  Eventually, one of the gang uses it for personal use to improve his love life, but this has effects on the present date.

It is all leading to the initial viewing of himself at his 7th birthday party, and the pay off is not too great.  Don't get me wrong, it is a reasonably enjoyable film, but the found footage style and Michael Bay influenced down female tops or direct at girls butts approach are completely unnecessary and not needed.

There are a few major issues with the time travel element as well, were continuity goes out of the window and future selves should be present when repeating time frames, but hey ho, Back to the Future is not perfect on those fronts either

One of the reasons I don't know the name of the main character is becuase you don't really connect with them due to the found footage style, all conversations that would have been full of emotional are solely one sided as you cannot see the person behind the camera and how they are reacting

Ex Machina

Ex Machina

Cineworld Bolton: 7th February 2015 

I was intrigued by this film from early trailers, but did not know what to expect.  Was it going to be a silly love story, a sci-fi mishmash or film of claustrophobic, high tension and mistrust  throughout. Luckily for me it was the latter

Caleb (Domhall Gleeson), a coder for a large telecommunication/network company wins a corporate prize to spend a week with reclusive billionaire CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac).  Little does he know, that Nathan has a hidden agenda for the retreat, he requires Caleb to partake in an experiment in finding out if the Artificial Intelligence created has true self awareness through the Turing Test.  The AI in question in house the the robotic form of a beautiful girl, Ava (Alicia Vikander)

What plays out for the next 100 mins is a story of tense, gripping and second guessing moments. Who is telling the truth? Who is playing who? What are the real motives?

It is generally just the three characters in the film and it all revolves around their interactions.  With the remote location and confined spaces the film really does feel as though you are trapped in this security heavy cabin in the woods with them.  The soundtrack is unnerving throughout as well, making the experience a little uncomfortable.

Ex Machina is a great British Sci-Fi film, not for everyone, but definitely worth a watch

Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6

Cineworld Bolton: 1st February 2015

If you leave this film and don't want a Baymax then there is something wrong!

I could honestly say Big Hero 6 is one of the most visually stunning animation films I have ever seen, simply stunning.  The futuristic San Fransokyo just looks amazing and during a "How to Train Your Dragon"-esque flyby sequence I was blown away at the vista's on offer in this digital world.

Big Hero 6 starts with tragedy, as do all Disney films and then the cute a cuddly side character comes into play.  It is a run of the mill story just done extremely well, the comedy is great and the action sequences perfectly paced.

After an accident at San Fransokyo University, Hiro is left in tragic circumstances, until he finds his brothers science project, Baymax.  Baymax is a medical droid/robot who has been designed to help people back to health.  Determining that Hiro is suffering from loss and mild depression, the only way to resolve this issue is to help him find the villain responsible for the fire that took his dreams and family.  With the help of his brothers work colleagues, Hiro form the Big Hero 6, a band of science geeks using their skills and Hiro's robotics knowledge to defeat the evil masked villain.

The heroes all trying to harness their skills is a great scene with Fred being a stand out for me.  The effects on Baymax are superb, every time you hear him walk the noise is just perfect and the characters are not all schmaltzy.

Disney is definitely onto a winner at the moment, and this is a great additional to their collection.