Preston.....Preston....Sam, Sam Preston....

Title: 3 Times A Change

Number: Two Hundred and Eleven

Directer: Letia Miller

Writers: Letia Miller & Michael Matteo

Genre: Comedy.

Released: 2011.

Seen on: Sky Movies Anytime.

Seen Before: Never before.

Starring: Carlo Marks, Lexi Giovagnoli, Noelle Perris, Tansy Alexander

Running Time: 87 minutes.

Favorite Performance: Lexi Giovagnoli as Emma Neuman.

Favorite Moment: The final attempt, Emma teaches Chris using an easier subject he does know.

Thoughts: This is just a TV Movie, which means that all round, it is pretty average. Average storyline, average performances, just…middle of the road. Due to this, the review will be smaller than usual.

The premise is an interesting idea, someone gets given three opportunities to attempt the same day, with varying results. The only problem with this is that it allows the characters to act as far contrasted as possible. In one timeline, everyone is an asshole. The next, everyone is just lovely and perfect. Because of this sort of situation, most of the characters acted horrible or unlikable until the last 20 minutes, including, at times, the main character, which means sometimes it is just frustrating watching any of the characters. In fact, it wasn’t until the final timeline that I finally liked the characters on screen.

At times, I felt like screaming at the TV, as every character just came across as being completely up their own asses. It is impressive that any of the characters survived the film not wanting to be murdered by me. Even the supposed friends of the main character come across as parasites, completely nasty and selfish, letting down their friend all the time.

So it is with overwhelming astonishment that the main two performances are, well, not bad. Carlo Marks is okay, a bit of a pretty boy, but when given some actual emotional moments to get his teeth into, the film suddenly feels less frustrating and much more interesting for the audience. As well, the main character, Emma, as played by Lexi Giovagnoli, carries the film well, her ability to wrench some chemistry out of every character, and even still able to make herself seem likable, is a near miracle. She doesn’t seem to have much of a career, but at least in this film, she showed some potential.

It was an okay TV Movie, nothing special at all though, I’m giving it a Thumbs Down, because it isn’t worth watching, unless you are REALLY bored.

Thumbs Down, 4 out of 10

Title:Un prophéte (A Prophet) 

Number: One Hundred and Fifty-Seven

Directer: Jacques Audiard

Writers: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, , Nicolas Peufallit

Genre: French Prison.

Released: 2009.

Seen on: DVD.

Seen Before: Never.

Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif

Running Time: 150 minutes.

Favorite Performance: Tahar Rahim as Malik El Djebena

Favorite Moment: Malik has to attempt an assassination of a state witness, Reyeb, under orders of prison mobsters.

Thoughts: I have a minimum level of knowledge when it comes to world cinema. My watching of foreign films is very limited, sometimes I enjoy them, sometimes I don’t. However, I can easily put a tick next to this movie as a foreign movie I legitimately enjoy. As a fan of the prison series ‘Oz’, I enjoy the machinations between opposing prison factions, the underhanded manipulation between the people in the middle, and the dark substance of the characters immersed in the world of prison. ‘A Prophet’ taps into the danger and fascination of this world, centering on Malik, a French Algerian, who is on the fringes of a Corsican mob and a Muslim faction.

Malik is played by Tahar Rahim, who highlights the loneliness that exists in his life,  his illiteracy and heritage leaving him struggling with his role in prison, manipulated or forced into action by other characters. As the film develops and Malik develops more position of power, his attitude and demeanor develops, so you truly feel you are witnessing the build of a character, he faces challenges, and he attempts to overcome them. Rahim draws the audience in due to his look of helpfulness, and he have a sense of empathy for him due to this.

There are two fascinating relationships that are shown, the first is Malik with the leader of the Corsican mobsters, Cesar, a more derogatory relationship in that Cesar manipulates and bullies Malik. Niels Arestrup is nasty and bullish, which is a complete juxtaposition to his role in ‘War Horse’, which blew me away. On the other hand, you have Ryad, a genteel Muslim friend of Malik, who offers a compatriot to Malik, supporting him in his more desperate times, and Malik’s differing style and position of power with the two shows the atmosphere that surrounds him as a character, how he builds up as a force.

The script is very tight, whilst the movie may be 150 minutes long, it doesn’t feel as if the film is bloated, it just feels like a true biopic of a character, you feel the passing of time within prison, you learn to understand the main character, and by the end, you feel you’ve been through an experience. Definitely recommendable, definitely worth a watch.

Thumbs Up, 8 out of 10

Title:Hobo With A Shotgun

Number: One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Directer: Jason Eisener

Writer: John Davies

Genre: Canadian Exploitation Action Horror.

Released: 2011.

Seen on: Netflix.

Seen Before: Never before.

Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Robb Wells

Running Time: 86 minutes.

Favorite Performance: Rutger Hauer as the Hobo.

Favorite Moment: When the Hobo finally picks up the shotgun.

Favorite Line: “He made me come!” A ridiculous moment where someone gets electrocuted to the point he comes in his pants. Just made me laugh.

Thoughts: I haven’t really watched many ‘Grindhouse’ movies, I have to admit, in fact, it was really only the double bill ‘Grindhouse’ movies, ‘Planet Terror’ (good fun) & ‘Death Proof’ (mind-numbingly boring). However, I did like the fake trailers done with them, including the one of “Hobo With A Shotgun”. Now, here, is the feature-length adaptation.

One thing I have to say, is that it has Rutger Hauer, who is already awesome. He appears in a lot of crap, but he always elevates it to at least watchable. He naturally brings a sense of gravitas and a sense of loss to the Hobo, and is the relative straight, sane man, in an insane world. He is the only reason I would ever watch this film a second time.

The rest of the actors are kind of so-so, they pretty much all overact (intentionally), in the style of an old ‘Grindhouse’ film, which suits, they aren’t outstanding, it is more of a…is. The performances were mostly what they were.

Now, the exploitation level? It was ridiculously over-the-top, in a fun style, you really get immersed into this violently depraved location, ironically referred to as ‘Hope Town’. The nudity was average, mostly resorting to cartoonish violence, with several set pieces repeated over the course of the movie, with minute differences each time. I actually didn’t mind the violence, though if you do mind violence, you should probably stay away. However, what drew me in was the build-up. When Hauer, as the Hobo, finally picks up his weapon of choice, you think “yes, do it!” and that is a good moment.

Overall, the film was just okay to me, not mind-blowing, more cartoonish over the top than anything, but Hauer is solid as always. Worth a watch maybe at least once.

Thumbs Up, 6 out of 10

25 Days of ‘Sherlock’ - Day Twenty-Two: Favorite Actress.

Lara Pulver was an actress I’d never heard of before ‘Sherlock’, and I had no expectations when I sat down to watch ‘A Scandal In Belgravia’, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Well, Pulver blew me away, with a brave, sensual, intelligent, charismatic performance that nearly stole the episode, and made her a strong enough character to still be memorable 5 months on. I can’t wait to see what she does after this, and hopefully, she will have Cumberbatch/Watson rise.

25 Days of ‘Sherlock’ - Day Four: Favorite Episode From Series 1.

I’m gonna have to go with the first episode, because, I was fascinated in the series before it began, but was slightly nervous, as I wasn’t sure how good he contemporary nature of the series would be. Well, within the first 20 minutes, I was not only convinced, I was hooked, line and sinker, I already could not wait to watch the rest of the series, and that was a major achievement, this wasn’t a guaranteed hit. But after just the first episode, I was blown away.

The introduction of the text messages coming up on the screen, was one of those where you go, “My God, yes! That’s fantastic!” and the introduction scene between Sherlock & John was just perfect. Oh, and Mycroft’s introduction, fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Mrs Hudson & DI Lestrade are revamped in a great way, Molly is created, she’s great, the inclusion of previous cases of Sherlock was a great touch, the characterization was strong, this episode just hit it out of the fucking ball park, and set a standard for the series.

The first episodes of a series are usually the most important, and here, it set an extremely high standard. For me, “The Blind Banker” had some really clever inclusions and the setting up of John being mistaken as Sherlock was brilliant, but unfortunately was a sixty minute episode stretched out a bit too much into a ninety minute episode; and “The Great Game” was a return to the awesomeness of the first episode, culminating in a classic meeting between Sherlock and Moriarty. But for me, I love “A Study In Pink”, as it really sold me on the entire concept.

(Picture courtesy of Nina Cayaban - http://society6.com/supernining/A-Study-in-Pink_Print)

Title: A View To A Kill

Number: Ninety-Seven

Directer: John Glen

Writer: Michael G. Wilson & Richard Maibaum.

Genre: Spy

Released: 1985

Seen on: DVD.

Seen Before: Few times when I was younger, but not for a few years now.

Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee, Robert Brown, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell

Running Time: 131 minutes.

Favorite Performance: Christopher Walken as Max Zorin

Favorite Line: ”Well, my dear, I take it you spend quite a lot of time in the saddle.” says 007 to Jenny Flex, who replies “Yes, I love an early morning ride.” 007 then retorts with “Well, I’m an early riser myself.”

Favorite Moment: The climatic fight on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Thoughts: I have to say, even when I was younger, I found this film slightly questionable. Whilst I enjoyed it, in the back of my mind, something always felt off. Now at an age where I can properly assess what is occurring and the details of the film, I can truly articulate aspects I probably always knew about the film, which aren’t all positive.

First of all, this is the point where you had to say, Roger Moore as James Bond was a step too far. It had been noticeable in both “For Your Eyes Only” and “Octopussy” that Moore had begun to look much older, and here his appearance is shocking to see. His face is extremely lined, and he looks less like a debonair playboy, but now more like a creepy aristocrat. His love scenes are now uncomfortable, and the fight scenes are difficult to enjoy as he looks too slow to be able to properly fight anymore.

The disappointment of this is even worse when you measure up against the villain. The idea of destroying the San Andreas Line so as to destroy silicon companies so that the villain’s own company would become the most important, isn’t the best idea they’ve had. It just doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t seem appropriate for a Secret Agent for the British Government to be involved in. The worst of it is that, Christopher Walken actually makes a really good villain. Max Zorin, a supposed psychopathic genius, the product of Nazi experiments, actually comes across as suitably insane and threatening, with a better motive for himself, and maybe Timothy Dalton as Bond, this could have become a classic Bond. Instead, it is underwhelming.

Grace Jones as May Day could be one of the most terrifying henchman in the Bond films yet. She is strong, dangerous, and psychotic. However, I didn’t enjoy the sexual aspects of her character, it just didn’t seem needed. She had a fight scene with Zorin where she had a thong leotard, and I just didn’t think it was needed at all. Her best moments were when she overwhelmed her opponents as a physically capable personality. But nevermind.

Also, Stacey Sutton, as portrayed by Tanya Roberts, was a terrible Bond girl. She spent so much time screaming, worrying, having to be rescued, that she just felt completely useless, and more of a hindrance to Bond. At one point, she almost knocks him off a bridge, she was just frustrating. I will say, she started off well, seemingly intelligent and knocking barbs with 007, but then she just descended into a shrill, helpless woman. Although, she was also extremely beautiful in her scenes, that I will give her.

Even Roger Moore admits he regrets this one, and with the amount of stuntmen needed to cover him, you won;t be surprised. This is an unfortunate last film for Roger Moore as 007, who though he outstayed his welcome, in the earlier films, he was a brilliant replacement for Sean Connery, and helped keep the series going during some of its weaker years. Thanks for the memories Roger, but unfortunately, now is time for a new Bond, and I can’t wait.

Thumbs Up, 5 out of 10

Title: Gojira (Godzilla)

Number: Ninety-Six

Directer: Ishiro Honda

Writer: Ishiro Honda & Takeo Murata

Genre: Science Fiction Kaiju (Kaiju is a Japanese genre that means ‘strange beast’, or ‘monster’)

Released: 1954

Seen on: DVD.

Seen Before: Never.

Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura

Running Time: 93 minutes.

Favorite Performance: Godzilla

Favorite Line: “I can’t believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of it’s species…But if we continue conducting nuclear tests…it’s possible that  another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.” Kyohei Yamane-hakase.

Favorite Moment: There is a shot of a mother holding her two kids, and she tells them they will be with their father soon…their father is dead. Just quite sobering as a scene.

Thoughts: I remember watching the American remake when it first came out, I was only 8 years old at the time, and thought it was okay, a fascinating idea, but always felt something was missing. As I got older, the American remake gradually deteriorated in retrospect until now, it is just a brainless over-the-top monster movie. I’d begun to get interested in the original film, wanting to see how the first Godzilla measured up in comparison.

The surprising development is that the original film was less a monster movie and more an intelligent representation of the history of Japan following Hiroshima. The dangers of atomic energy and what effect, whether a bomb or, in the film, a prehistoric dinosaur, it would have. A lot of time within the movie is actually spent dealing with the scientists trying to find an answer to Godzilla, an interesting decision. I admit to finding the characters a bit unmemorable, I recognized them more as “journalist”, “one-eyed scientist”, “female scientist and her fiancee”, but it was a good method to orientate around the characters instead of Godzilla.

Godzilla itself was introduced about 20 minutes in, giving enough time to build up this mythical creature before it suddenly appeared. For the next 40-ish minutes, it would be glimpsed briefly, before returning to the main characters again, until near the end of the film, Godzilla finally arrives in Tokyo, and the results are unbelievable. Representing the actions of the Hiroshima bomb, Godzilla destroys the entirety of Tokyo, with scenes of wounded mixed with crying women and fire raging everywhere. The scenes are surprisingly sobering and impactful, a magnificently orientated work from the director. The scenes would have had a fresh impact upon most audiences as Hiroshima was still in people’s memories.

I have to be honest, the themes and also the work revolving around Godzilla is extremely good, but the human element is a little more boring, and takes you out slightly. I definitely recommend it as a surprisingly emotional film, but I do think that it has flaws.

Thumbs Up, 6 out of 10

Title: WALL-E

Number: Ninety

Directer: Andrew Stanton

Writer: Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon

Genre: Science-fiction post-apocalyptic computer animation

Released: 2008

Seen on: DVD.

Seen Before: Never.

Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin

Running Time: 98 minutes.

Favorite Performance:  Ben Burtt as WALL-E

Favorite Line: “WAAALLLL-EEE?” “EEEVVVEEE??”

Favorite Moment: When WALL-E protects a closed down EVE from the weather.

Thoughts: (Apologies, my original review got wiped, so this won’t be as long and as in-depth as my original review was. Currently very annoyed it got wiped).

When this film first came out, I actually wasn’t that interested in seeing it. At the time, I’d seen A Bug’s Life (good film), Monsters Inc (good film), Finding Nemo (awesome film), Toy Story 1 & 2 (awesome film), The Incredibles (okay film), and Cars (okay film). I was hearing such magnificent reviews of WALL-E that I began to fear it would be underwhelming. So instead, I ignored it, until this week, when I decided to watch it for my 500 Films A Year Challenge.

Okay, I hold my hands up, I apologize, I couldn’t be more wrong if I tried. This was a beautifully orchestrated movie that created a wonderfully interpretative relationship between two anthropomorphic characters. The film introduces us to a post-apocalyptic world, where Earth is a garbage world, and yet also introduces the beauty of the space around it, the amount of detail for both Earth and Space feeling very authentic.

I also loved the characterization of both WALL-E and EVE, the details in their body language was almost up there with Andy Serkis, even their annunciation of each others names were extremely emotive and affecting for the audience. I think the attention to WALL-E’s ‘eyes’ and ‘eyebrows’ is very impressive, and made me smile wonderfully. The relationship between them is very lovely and you root for them from very early on.

I have to admit, I found the most fascinating part to be when WALL-E was first on his own, living in this crapsack world, and having become sentient, being entranced by different elements of the history of Earth, such as a bra, video tapes, and even a cricket. I loved the fact that he watched musical videos, it instantly made him likable and I probably ended up smiling everytime I saw him, in any aspect.

I think that this is the type of film that after you watch it, you just know that it was great. It makes you smile, makes you laugh with some great slapstick, Chaplin-esque humor, it makes you feel, and by the end, you feel very happy for the main characters, another wonderful Pixar classic. If you love Pixar, watch WALL-E.

Thumbs Up, 9 out of 10