For Love of The Movies

I’m not quite sure how we are ever supposed to really look out for a film. Do we subconsciously work out that it’s got a good cast so it should be good? Does the title draw us to it? Do we search the net looking for new films to add to the must see list? Or, is it up to the studios to bombard us with all types of media punting the film – trailers, TV spots, radio spots, viral advertising, website links and cool posters. I don’t know. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, because it is a very important part of getting people into queues to buy tickets. Recently Michael Bay complained that the marketing campaign for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t up to his expectations. It didn’t matter to me. I had seen the first film and was going to be the first in line to buy 20 tickets for me and my mates to the local premiere. Posters and trailers, or no posters and trailers – the 20 of us were going. It didn’t seem to matter to the rest of the world whether the campaign was good or not either – it’s closing in on the $1 Billion dollar mark world wide and is already the 9th highest domestic grossing film of all time in the US with almost $400 Million. (It only cost $300 Million to make!). We call that a successful movie. The critics tore it to shreds and over the opening weekend it didn’t get one positive review that I read. Didn’t matter, the uber-genius that is Michael Bay (one of my Top 3 greatest directors of all time) gave the fans what they wanted – and that’s all that counts. But enough about TF2 – that review will follow over the next few weeks.

The above brings me to today’s review, THE INTERNATIONAL, with (continue reading…)

I can recall back in the very early 90’s, my sister going on about ‘this movie’ that she thought was one of the best films she’d ever seen. She would walk around the house saying things like, ‘Lucaaaaas!’, quoting various scenes and doing a funny dance from the movie. I dismissed it as a totally wavy childhood.

Fast forward 6 years and I end up marrying a woman who has the very same feelings about the very same film. And so does her sister. Intrigued at what could possibly be having this contagious effect, I decided to buy it for her birthday (so I could watch it!). Empire Records is a comedy that I have now found out has a massive cult following. It has an incredible cast of actors and actresses, who back in ‘95 were up and coming but today they have all made names for themselves and continue to make A list movies and popular TV shows.

It’s the story of a (continue reading…)

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this could have been the greatest movie ever made. Period.

I thought that the idea of jump starting the Batman franchise was brilliant. It had simply become too cheesy. When Kilmer got involved with Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey, that was when things started heading South for me and I started losing respect for the franchise.

I thought the original Batman with Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and Jack Nicholson (in my Top 5 actors of all time – with this being one of his greatest performances) was an excellent comic book adaptation.  The sequel maintained the (continue reading…)

This was a film that I was happy to see but wasn’t rushing to get to. I ‘umed’ and ‘ared’ for a while and then eventually went. I’m very glad I did. There’s nothing new about the plot. We’ve seen it before in Big (with Tom Hanks), 13 going on 30 (with Jennifer garner) and the much closer titled 18 Again! (with George Burns from the late 80’s). It’s always going to be a fun film because of the comedy that naturally comes with a  switching of age tale. The premise that after you’ve learnt a lot more about life (and are wiser), you can actually go back to being a teenager and make other decisions, always paves the way for a workable film.  Think, ‘if I knew then, what I know now’.

I didn’t like Zac Efron prior to (continue reading…)

I was very chuffed to hear that ‘Fast & Furious’ would have Vin Diesel back in the lead. The original 2001 film by Rob Cohen was excellent. And, without a doubt, it was a full out ‘boys’ movie. Fast cars, hot women, a buff male lead and more action than could possibly fit into it’s run time.

The sequel (2 Fast 2 Furious – clever) ran on it’s predecessor’s (continue reading…)

So, in 1981, a slasher film was released called My Bloody Valentine. It was exceptionally good. In fact, a a fellow who made a name for himself with films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction called it ‘the best slasher movie of all time’.

I guess if you’re gonna pick a film like this off the shelf, you have to (continue reading…)

Damn, was I hyped about this movie! It was without a doubt my most anticipated film of last year. So, when the film started, and we had the spectacular car chase scene (Aston vs Alfa) I had high hopes… especially after the typical bond reaction when opening the boot to find Mr. White tied up and wounded (The film picks up directly after Casino Royale ended). Then, the opening credits started and I heard the new bond song – Mmmm!

The basic plot of the story is Bond tracking down those responsible for Vespa’s (continue reading…)

Let me just say right now (and you’ll notice this a lot more once I’ve had a chance to work through reviews of the 1000 films I own), I rate Robert De Niro as one of the 5 greatest actors who have ever lived. You’ll have to keep coming back to find out who the other four are…

In the same breath, Tony Scott is without any hesitation, one of greatest Directors that Hollywood has ever produced. He has a style that (alongside genius uber-film maker, Michael Bay) is a frenetic, ultra stylized concoction of action, sound, rapid imagery and splicing that entertains like nothing else. You could suffer with narcolepsy and (continue reading…)

In 2004, Greg McLean scared the shit out of us with Wolf Creek. It was by far one of the most terrifying films that I have ever seen. Not because of the normal scary movie, leap-out-of-the-dark, monster tactics – but because it was like 104 minutes of blunt force trauma. One of those films that says “Hi, I’m here to seriously f*** with your mind!”. It was brilliant. Good Old Aussie, Mick Dundee turns into Ted Bundy… and you and your friends are in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, the way he filmed ‘nowhere’ was what made it the most potent character in the film. Breathtaking. Beautiful. Frightening.

Two years later, McLean, more of a house-hold name, takes us (continue reading…)

Sylvester Stallone. Jason Statham. Jet Li. Mickey Rourke. Dolph Lundgren (Back to a mainstream film). Eric Roberts. Randy Couture (of Ultimate Fighting Champion fame). ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin (of WWE fame). Terry Crews (from The Longest Yard and Street Kings). Brittany Murphy. Bruce Willis. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 12 names. Add a title… THE EXPENDABLES.

Many may find this hard to believe… but in 2010, those 11 actors and 1 actress (and plenty of others) will be part of what (continue reading…)