Apollo 18

Found footage movie collected from old moon landing cameras. This movie had potential but felt like it never got off the ground. A couple of good scares but mostly you’re waiting for it to fire up but it really doesn’t. I would give this one a miss unless you’re bored in which case by all means give it a shot.

5/10


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The Debt

This was a really great film (Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkison) about some agents who try to take down a Nazi war criminal. There’s some really intense scenes including some great interaction between the agents and their Nazi prisoner while held captive. Also some good twists to compliment and help finish the story. I highly recommend this movie.

The only negative was with the casting. The movie is set both in the past and modern day following the same characters. The older versions of the guys are the wrong way round (in looks) so the whole movie I was thinking they were the other guy. I had a read on IMDB and it seems many people felt the same way.  It’s annoying because if they were playing the right character they are almost perfect.

8/10

IMDB Information for The Debt

The Company Men

An interesting film set in the U.S during their recent (and ongoing) economic turmoil. It follows a few characters at different levels in the corporate ladder and their struggle after losing their jobs to find work again. It also shows the other side of the story where with all these people losing their jobs the CEO’s and company execs made record profits from increased stock prices and reduced costs. I wouldn’t call this movie fantastic but definitely an interesting watch with solid production and themes that resonate with Guy's and my own dinner discussions :)

Some big actors help carry this on too such as Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner and Chris Cooper.

6/10


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The Cell

Continuing my exploration of horrible humanity, I thought Id re-watch The Cell and see how it held up. I havent seen this since it came out a decade or so ago and thought it would be shithouse but I was actually suitably satisfied. Its a creepy weird film but the story is kind of clever, the characters give you enough to get involved with them and even the makeup/art work holds up in the face of the special effects falling over in early naughties crappiness. I dont think Ill ever bother with it again but it was better than I expected it to be.

SCORE:5/10

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The Artist

This one was the academy award for best picture this year and is a silent black and white film! Yes thats right a silent black and white. Ive heard such good reports from it though I had to give it a shot.

It really is quite an extraordinary film and in my opinion deserves best picture, but its strange in this day and age not to have big soundtracks, dialogue and lots going on. Its brilliantly portrayed and acted, with such a clever script I was giggling often and super impressed but I was also a little bored at times and found my concentration wandering. Maybe thats just a sign of the times that I cant concentrate long enough but I recommend this film a lot. I laughed often and was overall impressed plus its just refreshing to see something different. It got me all inspired and Ive started writing the next script for a short film!

SCORE:8/10

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Into The Abyss

Another that messed me up unfortunately .. I didnt quite know what I was getting myself into with this as I thought it was a documentary about the death penalty in America which I was curious about.

Its directed by Werner Herzog who is a really famous documentary filmmaker who has done some others Ive seen. What this film actually is though is a look at the impact of a triple murder committed by two 18 year olds on themselves, their families and the victims families. It shows real police evidence footage which is really graphic, but, the thing that shocked me the most was when they interview the guy on death row the week before he is killed. The things he says just show such a warped and institutionalised frame of view its sickening, let alone what he did and denies doing. So once again, this film was captivating but also troubling and only watch it if your happy to mope for a few more weeks about how disgusting people can be.

SCORE:7/10

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Hunger

This movie is truly disturbing. Not in a horror or gore sense, but in a way Ive never really seen done in a film before. It made me feel utter contempt for some of the acts mankind are capable of doing as I sat in awe of the skill in film-making, shot composition and acting.

Its a movie about the hunger strikes of the IRA in northern Ireland in the 80's filmed by Steve McQueen who Ive heard a lot of buzz about (and rightly so) and starring the man of the moment Michael Fassbender who has grown even closer to becoming the new Daniel Day Lewis for me after his turn as the lead character in this film. He does a bit of a Christian Bale and starves himself in real life to show how weak and disgusting the actual men would have looked in the 80's and at one point he is bent over and his rib cage is sticking out from him like a weird breast or something and he is playing with it. It was terrifying.

This movie is utterly amazing but is also truly horrifying so I only recommend watching it when you can handle having thoughts running rampant in your head for a few weeks about how evil people can be, wondering why humans do what they do and what it must feel like to have such conviction to your cause that you will starve yourself and others to make a point to another countries government.

SCORE:9/10

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Silent House

First of all this movie should have been called CLEAVAGE HOUSE.

The most notable thing about this film is that it’s made to look like one continuous camera shot – e.g not edited. It does this quite cleverly by cutting at times when the camera is panning around over walls or through doors etc. It’s done well and if you’re not looking for it you won’t notice. This technique draws you into the movie straight away, kind of like found footage handy cam stuff, except this was absolutely professional A-grade camera work. It also made the 85 minutes fly by in an intense rush.

The story itself was a bit of the same old and overall not very satisfying.. it may have been if I was paying attention but was too distracted by Olsen's cleavage.  I wouldn’t recommend seeing this movie if it wasn’t for the camera work above. It’s worth sitting through just to see how cleverly it’s done, get some ideas etc. It’s not terrible though and you will get a few good scares and enjoy the ride a little.

5/10

IMDB Information for Silent House

Flowers of War

This was a really amazing film from China with Christian Bale as the lead role. It’s set in World War 2 during the Japanese taking of Nankine. The story itself is quite beautiful but what I found amazing was the film making. It was a huge mix of Chinese and Japanese style film making with slow elegant shots, beautifully detailed shots and also the trademark over-the-top blood – although in this movie done quite tastefully. I can’t recommend this film enough for something different and really beautiful.

9/10


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Man On A Ledge

Quite a big cast here.. Sam Worthington, Ed Harris, Ed Burn and lots of familiar faces. Go into this movie without reading the premise.. it’s quite a clever plot and satisfying to watch. Although a bit unrealistic at times, just sit back and enjoy without analysing it too much :)

7/10

IMDB Information for Man On A Ledge