It is a shame when your most famous actor, probably the one selling the film, is the worst actor by far!
When Evan's (Keanu Reeves) family leave for the weekend to go to the beach, he is able to focus on his current architectural project. Listening to music on full volume and thinking of partaking in a little recreational drug he is disturbed by a knock at the door. Stranded in the pouring rain, with mobile phone issues and a lost address, are two beautiful and flirtatious teens. Evan is convinced to let them in to dry off whilst he rings a taxi for them. Their intentions are a little more maniacal than there looks perceived.t
Eli Roth's name strike fear into me when I see him credited with a film. Hostel and Cabin Fever gave him a little push into the regular cinema going minds, but he doesn't seemed to have developed much since then in ways of variety. Knock Knock has some real uncomfortable parts, but the delivery is pretty samey.
The two lead seductresses are very well played and their deceitful nature had me questioning motives, but Keanu is just terrible, just absolutely terrible. He starts well enough, but then just gets worse are the film progresses. In one scene, he has earphone on whilst the sirens torture him with loud feedback noise. Keanu then shouts and screams in pain, it is one of the worst acted scenes I have had the displeasure of seeing. "Oh, I'm going deaf!", "My Ears!", yes, it is as bad as you just read!
There are some good little sections, and the two girls are completely bonkers, but there are far better films of a similar ilk out there, one I kept thinking of throughout was Hard Candy, which is an absolute gem and far better than this installment of torture porn from Mr Roth
Taking over from the success of the Despicable Me franchise, the little yellow babbling fellows get their own prequel. Based 63 years before Gru, the Minions are looking for the biggest and baddest master to serve. Through Tyrannosaur, Cavemen, Vampires and yeti, to Scarlett Overkill, the baddest female super villain ever, our titular heroes are pushed into committing the heinous crime of stealing the crown of our beloved queen so Scarlett can self proclaim regal status.
With the minions being the far funnier parts of the DM films, they only had small parts to play (although a little bigger in DM2), I was a little concerned how a 90 minute film of nonsensical babbling would fair. At certain points it did feel like I was watching a foreign film without subtitles, whilst heavily drunk....but it does work.
There are many, many laugh out loud moments in Minions and the three main characters have a great connection with each other. Scarlett is a standard bad guy with a huge climatic battle to end so nothing new or groundbreaking there, but I laughed from beginning to end, and sometimes, I really laughed.
There is a lull in the mid section, the jokes seemed to feel a little forced and as I mentioned the babbling got a little incoherent
Stuart, Bob and Kevin are definite staples in modern society now, with them appearing in more tv adverts, posters, supermarkets, McDonald's, in fact pretty much everywhere. I don't think asking for a banana will ever be the same again
Feeling a little lackluster towards the previous installments of Insidious, due to their overuse of the lazy jump scare, but wanting to take in a horror film, I decided to go and see the third film in the franchise. This time round the film is directed by the writer from the previous films, not the jump scare happy James Wann, but would it be any good?
Set a "little time" before the first film, Insidious Chapter 3 focuses on Elise, the physic, who has recently suffered the loss of her husband and subsequently found a dark place whilst hoping to say goodbye. Elise is approached by a young girl, Quinn, whose mother passed a few weeks ago and feels that her presence is still lingering and would like to make contact. Initially her request is denied due to Elise's fear of a dark entity, but after events force Quinn into double leg casts and a neck brace, Elise decides to help
Insidious Chapter 3 is full of the usual horror tropes, but this time it seems to do the jump scares right. Instead of the quiet, quiet, LOUD approach to everything (like a dad walking up behind, or a bird at the window), it uses the tension to scare at the right characters.
To explain better, please watch this video by Chris Stuckman,in which he details the problems with horror movies today, his explanation of the lazy jump scare against an actual scare is pretty much bang on, and may make you think about how modern horror is problematic if it sticks to the same formula.
Elise is a real likable character and the story being focused on her is an excellent choice. With the inclusion of the "Ghost Team" later in the film and the teaming up of our "heroes", it just seems more fluid that it's predecessors.
There are a few chilling moments, some good scares and some definitive jump moments.
Worth a watch if you are a fan of the series, but I would wait for DVD or Netflix
I am a huge Jurassic Park fan, I remember back in 1993 queuing numerous times to watch the film over and over again. The awe and spectacle of seeing the giant, towering Brachiosaurus and fearing the dreaded T-Rex and Raptors, all accompanied by the joyful music of the greatest composer of our time, Mr John Williams.
Then a few years later, despite some questionable scenes , Jurassic Park: The Lost World did it all over again, it all started with ooh's and aah's followed by screaming (in relation to ridiculous acrobatics). Jurassic Park III however, did not follow suit.
So, when the announcement of Jurassic World was first heard, and the first trailer seen, I was anxious. Wanting a return to form, willing the director to take me back to that childish nostalgia and boyish awe. I was excited every time the quintessential score was played, ever so slightly slower and eerier. Jurassic World could not follow in the footsteps of it's last adventure, could it?
During a 3D showing of Mad Max, the trailer was shown once again, however this time it was in the extra dimension, both Clare and I looked at each other after this teaser and said, "I think that is how we should watch it", and so we did
Donning the colour reducing, headache inducing, perspective increasing eyewear, we settled in to be amazed.
After 20 minutes, I kept wondering why everything looked so small. The Jurassic World Main Street looked like a toy town, the helicopter in which Simon Masrani (the new John Hammond) arrives in looked minute. In retrospect I put this down to the extreme perspectives given in 3D and feel that this extra depth reduced the awe of the film.
There are some very, very entertaining parts of Jurassic World, mainly down to the fan favourites, the Raptors. I was a little concerned from the trailer that they were merely Chris Pratt's puppets, but the film holds a little surprise back in that respect. There were some great little nods to the original film, and the new dino has some qualities that fill you with dread like the original T-Rex, but there is also a lot wrong with it. There are some real dull bits, the kids are annoying, the dialogue seems clunky in parts and the continuity is laughable. At one point, seen in the trailer, the kids jump off a waterfall into a muddy lake, yet moments later, their clothes are dry, hair and make up done. Also, why oh why is the most awe inspiring music, which in JP was used to bring in the wonder of the dinosaurs, why is it being played whilst we fly over and through gift shops, sweet shops, merchandising and the Jurassic World Main Street, you kind of missed the mark with that one.
Jurassic World was my second most anticipated film of the year, so Mr Abrams, you have more pressure on your shoulders now!
It was not a bad film, like Jurassic III, not an awesome film like Jurassic Park, but definitely on par with The Lost World. Some great moments amidst lots of filler.
I understand as well that the late, great Stan Winston could no longer be part of the special effects team due to his moving to another plane of existence, but why sully his work with excessive CGI when the practical effects worked so well?
To me a trip to the cinema is a bit of a mixed experience, I do enjoy the huge screen and the superior sound quality but the experience is usually marred by other people, I don’t really understand why people are happy to pay money to talk through a film or fidget in the seat or spend their time checking various social media sites.
There are, however, certain movies that you just have to experience on the big screen, certain films that are worth subjecting yourself to the uncomfortable seats and the proximity of people who can afford cinema tickets but are seemingly reluctant to spend 99p on a can of lynx.
As I have always been a fan of the Jurassic Park franchise then there was no way that I was going to let the latest Dinosaur epic pass by without seeing it in the way it was meant to be seen.
So we booked our Tickets and off we went to see Jurassic World. The plot of the film is nothing new, if you have seen any of the Jurassic Park movies then you will
know what to expect.
The Jurassic World theme park attendance has been in decline so a new attraction is needed. This is delivered in the form of a Brand new species of Dinosaur, The pedigree of which has been kept under wraps by the scientist who created the creature.
At this point 2 quotes from the previous Jurassic park movies were going around my head as they gazed on the new creation with wonder and delight.
John Hammond: Don't worry, I'm not making the same mistakes again.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and um, screaming.
What follows is a roller coaster event where we see that this intelligent new breed of Dinosaur has a vast array of tricks up its sleeve to enable it to break free from the enclosure before the attraction has even been opened to the public.
The casting of Chris Pratt as the reluctant hero of the hour is pretty much a part he was born to play. His character is attempting to train Raptors and while this seems to be going well we are also given a glimpse into the wild side of the creature when he has to intervene in the rescue of an inexperienced employee. So we see early on that this is the man who will be there to save the day.
There are obvious comparisons to the original movies throughout Jurassic World and we even get a glimpse of the old, redundant park.
If you are a fan of the Jurassic park franchise then I would heartily recommend that you witness this film at the cinema. There are plenty of Jumpy moments and at certain points during the show my wife clamped her hand firmly in mine as if this was going to save her from the screen monsters.
We repeated our "night before screening of the original" tactic that we applied for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, watching Pitch Perfect knowing that the day after we would be watching it's sequel.
Clare had originally thought that the films were based on Baseball not A Capella glee clubs. I had heard so much praise for the original film prior to watching this and felt that whilst there were fun moments it was all a little too camp and predictable to be hailed the classic that is seemingly claims.
With most of the cast returning (thankfully Anna Kendrick is along for the ride), the Barden Bella's are kicked from their current tour for "mooning" and "front mooning" the President of America. The are then replaced by a German A Capella group Das Sound Machine, who live up to all the stereotypical racial tropes you can think of. The Bella's decide that the only way to reclaim their title is to enter the International A Capella competition and win, which at first seems an unattainable task as they have lost their "voice".
I actually laughed more during Pitch Perfect 2 than the original and mainly at the sub character of Lily (Hana Mae Lee) who just steals the show for me as the whispering member of the Bella's. Some of her comments and mannerisms are just delightful. Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins are brilliant and the commentators for the A Capella events and their views on the shows are always comedic and somewhat skewed.
As far as sequels go, if you enjoyed Pitch Perfect then there is pretty much the same here, and of course, throw Anna Kendrick in the mix and you can't complain
Diving straight into the action and not letting up for two hours, Mad Max Fury Road is a visual masterpiece of practical effects, great story development and just sheer entertainment.
Taking part in some kind of alternate Mad Max time frame, Fury Road starts with a 5 minute chase scene with no explanation, who are the people chasing our hero? Why are they branding him,. and where are they? Moments later we are introduced to Imperator Furiosa, a big rig driver who has a secret. All the characters are not given any exposition or back story, you learn as the film progresses.
Fury Road then goes on a monstrously massive car chase sequence with little dialogue. The spectacles of the chase scenes are just beautiful yet disfigured, I sat forward for most of the film, laughing at the ridiculous transports such as the Rock Band Rig, or the porcupine cars, being taken in by the action, and drawn to the characters of Max, Furiosa, Nux, Immortan Joe and the Wives.
Furiosa for me is the main character and Max only used as a name to link the film to an apocalyptic world without explanation. Charize Theron is brilliant cast and superbly acted throughout, as her story evolves the character of Furiosa becomes more human and endearing, and leaves you yearning for more.
Immortan Joe is a Bane-esque bad guy who has warped the minds of his "war-boys" who spray their mouth with chrome paint before jumping to their deaths hoping for Valhalla. He is a haunting nemesis with one thing on his mind, and relentless with his task.
Nicholas Hoult plays Nox, one of the War Boys mentioned above, who has probably the biggest character arc in the whole film, very entertaining to watch as he goes from completely warped and brain washed going to hero of the day.
Mad Max Fury Road is a must watch on big screen film, and recommended. It is slightly gruesome in parts, but very entertaining
There have been some terrible and pointless remakes of classic horror films recently, and most of them have a Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay) connection. There have been a few brilliant re-imaginings slipping through the net as well, although the ratio does favour the latter.
Not being a fan of remakes in general, but having a nostalgic interest, I ventured to Leigh Cineworld, to watch Poltergeist in 3D (another thing I am not a fan of!), with low expectations.
Poltergeist (2015) takes the original film's story, plot and pretty much everything but the name Carol-Anne and copies it straight from the page. There are a few things done well, the clowns are ridiculously creepy, the special effects are far superior to the 1982 version, yet the practical effects still look better in the original. The kids are creepy, one scene involving shadows actually made the hair on the back of my neck tingle. There are nods to the classic version, "I't not like your house is built on an ancient burial ground", Hooper High, in reference to Tobe Hooper, but I cannot forgive the #ThisHouseIsClean reference. No-one, but No-one can say that line but Zelda Rubinstien and there is no need to put a hash tag in front of it to make it "cool"
I have to admit, I enjoyed watching the updated version, however, as I mentioned above, the film is creepy in parts but lacks the scares of the original (and that was a PG, and Stephen Spielberg!) It is happy to throw in lazy jump scares and loud music rather than building tension. As a stand alone film disregarding the superior original, it is better than most of the horror films I watched in 2014, it is a popcorn film, one to just enjoy for what it is and then walk away smiling.
As a side note, I was in Las Vegas a few years ago with my brother and a memorabilia shop had the clown from the original film sat in a rocking chair. I was going to buy it for him and leave it sat at the end of his bed, then one night just move it whilst he slept! oh the fun! The Clown from the 1982 Poltergeist makes the remake version look like a cabbage patch doll in comparison
