#66 FILMED IN SUPERMARIONATION. THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Stephen La Rivière.
The history of Gerry Anderson's AP Film company as told via a chronology of its output from Twizzle, through Four Feathers Fall, Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett to The Secret Service. The brief seems to be, hence the title, if it had puppets it's in the movie! So we sadly stop short of UFO but, thankfully miss Space 1999.
Talking to the surviving crew members, Parker and Lady Penelope (who act as our guides to this biography), various living voice actors and recorded interviews this is a glorious and deeply involving documentary that if you're a fan of Gerry Anderson's fantastic output, like I am, you're gonna bloody love!
With unseen behind the scenes footage, reminiscences and clips galore this, this is practically note perfect which makes you ache for more and sob for what was lost.
9/10
Sunday 28 September 2014
#65 A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES
#65 A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES
Starring Liam Nesson, Dan Stevens, Boyd Holbrook, Sebastian Roché. Written and directed by Scott Frank, 113 minutes.
Liam Nesson is Mathew Scudder an ex-cop, ex-alcoholic unlicensed private investigator who gets caught up in with a kidnapping gang and various organised crime families in a race against time to rescue the daughter of a Russian drug dealer.
A lot more low key than Liam's Taken and action films, this time round his hard-boiled action hero is just at home detailing his own flaws at an AA meeting as he is laying down the law, although he's just as likely to have the shit kicked out of him. Asked to help a drug dealer whose wife was abducted and murdered by a couple of serial killing kidnappers, Scudder starts to investigate and he gets drawn into a world of appalling vileness, luckily he's be-friended a young street dweller, TJ to help him in his investigations.
This felt like a throw back movie, feeling and looking like a 1970s crime film, ditching the vileness of the shaky cam approach this is a much more basic and gritty crime drama that entertained greatly. Based on a book by Lawrence Block, there's 17 of them in the series, you don't need to have read the books to get the character of Scudder though the book this film is based on gives you much more insight into his mind, obviously.
Enjoyable and satisfying. 8/10
Starring Liam Nesson, Dan Stevens, Boyd Holbrook, Sebastian Roché. Written and directed by Scott Frank, 113 minutes.
Liam Nesson is Mathew Scudder an ex-cop, ex-alcoholic unlicensed private investigator who gets caught up in with a kidnapping gang and various organised crime families in a race against time to rescue the daughter of a Russian drug dealer.
A lot more low key than Liam's Taken and action films, this time round his hard-boiled action hero is just at home detailing his own flaws at an AA meeting as he is laying down the law, although he's just as likely to have the shit kicked out of him. Asked to help a drug dealer whose wife was abducted and murdered by a couple of serial killing kidnappers, Scudder starts to investigate and he gets drawn into a world of appalling vileness, luckily he's be-friended a young street dweller, TJ to help him in his investigations.
This felt like a throw back movie, feeling and looking like a 1970s crime film, ditching the vileness of the shaky cam approach this is a much more basic and gritty crime drama that entertained greatly. Based on a book by Lawrence Block, there's 17 of them in the series, you don't need to have read the books to get the character of Scudder though the book this film is based on gives you much more insight into his mind, obviously.
Enjoyable and satisfying. 8/10
#64 THE EQUALIZER
#64 THE EQUALIZER
Starring Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas. Directed by Antoine Fugua, written by Richard Wenk, 132 minutes long.
Ex-covert, black-op, wet-worker operative, Robert McCall - by day mild mannered DIY store clerk, by night lethal, one-man war machine taking up the causes of the little man and 'equalizing' the balance in their favour. The story unfolds slowly giving us time to see Robert as he simply exists and nothing more, although even when just existing, this McCall still finds time to help his fellow staff member, be it with their fitness regime, or generally try to be a good egg, almost as if he's hiding something...
Trouble is, all this inactivity is playing merry havoc with his sleep and he spends his nights sat in an all-night diner drinking tea and chatting to teenage Russian prostitute, Teri played by Chloë Grace Moretz. And it's her plight that brings McCall's certain, particular skill set to the surface' and sets him on a road to redemption and re-awakening, reminding him not only how good he is at this sort of thing but also that this time he can actually make a difference.
Offering nothing new but still providing a satisfying an enjoyable action thriller, Denzel shows it's not just Liam Nesson who can play the 60 year-old hard ass bringing a whupping down on the less than righteous!
A thoroughly entertaining flick which does get progressively more silly the longer it goes on.
7/10
Starring Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas. Directed by Antoine Fugua, written by Richard Wenk, 132 minutes long.
Ex-covert, black-op, wet-worker operative, Robert McCall - by day mild mannered DIY store clerk, by night lethal, one-man war machine taking up the causes of the little man and 'equalizing' the balance in their favour. The story unfolds slowly giving us time to see Robert as he simply exists and nothing more, although even when just existing, this McCall still finds time to help his fellow staff member, be it with their fitness regime, or generally try to be a good egg, almost as if he's hiding something...
Trouble is, all this inactivity is playing merry havoc with his sleep and he spends his nights sat in an all-night diner drinking tea and chatting to teenage Russian prostitute, Teri played by Chloë Grace Moretz. And it's her plight that brings McCall's certain, particular skill set to the surface' and sets him on a road to redemption and re-awakening, reminding him not only how good he is at this sort of thing but also that this time he can actually make a difference.
Offering nothing new but still providing a satisfying an enjoyable action thriller, Denzel shows it's not just Liam Nesson who can play the 60 year-old hard ass bringing a whupping down on the less than righteous!
A thoroughly entertaining flick which does get progressively more silly the longer it goes on.
7/10
Sunday 21 September 2014
#63 THE GIVER
#63 THE GIVER
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgård, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift. Directed by Philip Noyce.
97 minutes long.
Another year, another post-apocalyptic, homogonised civilisation in search of a young, heroic, rebel/outsider/different teenager eager to bring the whole damn edifice come crashing down around the stuffy oldies shoulders. Based on yet another fantastically popular series of young teen fiction books. This time, the book seems rather well lauded so perhaps it won't be as desperately dull as last years, Dullvirgence or any of the other, seemingly, thousands of similar books, all trying to catch the same Hunger Games spark of lighting and reap the rewards.
In the year 2048, years after a global war, a society has grown on a cloud obscured plateau, a society that has diverged itself of all emotion, desire or any of those unnecessary concepts of free-will and ambition thanks to a strict set of social laws and a daily dose of drugs to dull the pain, laws that include, no lying, no touching, no fun and no rocking the boat. As a result this colour devoid world is serene, safe and a horrible sham just crying out to be rescued from its social blindness. Luckily every generation its teenagers are assigned jobs as exciting as bottle washer, gardener, bin man and baby murderer and this time the once in a life-time role of The Receiver is up for grabs. Step forward, Brenton Thwaites's Jonah who has been chosen to be the Receiver, the sole inhabitant who must store all memories of mankind from before the war, including all concepts of love, hate, war, death, murder, genocide, lust etc etc just in case it's important or something later on. Obvs it's a great idea to give this responsibility to a 15-year old and not to bother with any form of prior training. Step up the current Receiver who calls himself The Giver to avoid confusion to transfer his and the entire society's memories and herald the demise of their entire way of life when Jonah realises something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
After that, it's the usual chase and hero run but this time with a boy doing the hero stuff and a baby in tow.
Trouble is, there's lots of stuff that doesn't make sense in this world, serious, a 15 year old child is going to be thrilled to discover the rest of his or her life is going to be spent cleaning up dinner tables, or driving a garbage truck or murdering babies and old people? A world where concepts of violence and killing are done away with, but there exists men who are happy to hunt down and kill other people when asked to by their boss, Meryl Streep?
Luckily the movie's not too long, there's very little kissing and the relationship between Jonah and Jeff Bridges's Giver is involving and interesting, it's just a shame the ending makes a mockery of what's gone on before and leaves you with a great big 'what the?'.
7/10
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgård, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift. Directed by Philip Noyce.
97 minutes long.
Another year, another post-apocalyptic, homogonised civilisation in search of a young, heroic, rebel/outsider/different teenager eager to bring the whole damn edifice come crashing down around the stuffy oldies shoulders. Based on yet another fantastically popular series of young teen fiction books. This time, the book seems rather well lauded so perhaps it won't be as desperately dull as last years, Dullvirgence or any of the other, seemingly, thousands of similar books, all trying to catch the same Hunger Games spark of lighting and reap the rewards.
In the year 2048, years after a global war, a society has grown on a cloud obscured plateau, a society that has diverged itself of all emotion, desire or any of those unnecessary concepts of free-will and ambition thanks to a strict set of social laws and a daily dose of drugs to dull the pain, laws that include, no lying, no touching, no fun and no rocking the boat. As a result this colour devoid world is serene, safe and a horrible sham just crying out to be rescued from its social blindness. Luckily every generation its teenagers are assigned jobs as exciting as bottle washer, gardener, bin man and baby murderer and this time the once in a life-time role of The Receiver is up for grabs. Step forward, Brenton Thwaites's Jonah who has been chosen to be the Receiver, the sole inhabitant who must store all memories of mankind from before the war, including all concepts of love, hate, war, death, murder, genocide, lust etc etc just in case it's important or something later on. Obvs it's a great idea to give this responsibility to a 15-year old and not to bother with any form of prior training. Step up the current Receiver who calls himself The Giver to avoid confusion to transfer his and the entire society's memories and herald the demise of their entire way of life when Jonah realises something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
After that, it's the usual chase and hero run but this time with a boy doing the hero stuff and a baby in tow.
Trouble is, there's lots of stuff that doesn't make sense in this world, serious, a 15 year old child is going to be thrilled to discover the rest of his or her life is going to be spent cleaning up dinner tables, or driving a garbage truck or murdering babies and old people? A world where concepts of violence and killing are done away with, but there exists men who are happy to hunt down and kill other people when asked to by their boss, Meryl Streep?
Luckily the movie's not too long, there's very little kissing and the relationship between Jonah and Jeff Bridges's Giver is involving and interesting, it's just a shame the ending makes a mockery of what's gone on before and leaves you with a great big 'what the?'.
7/10
#61 PRIDE
#61 PRIDE
Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, Paddy Considine and Freddie Fox.
Directed by Stephen Beresford, 120 minutes long.
Back in 1984, Thatcher tried to crush the mining industry forcing the miners to go on strike and causing a war of attrition that was to last a year. Whereas that aspect of the story is well known what perhaps isn't is the support given to the miner's cause by the gay and lesbian community and that's the theme of this much lauded movie. Using the device of a young gay man's own awakening sexuality as its main plot device this film, Pride is heavily worthy and earnestly documents those dark and hate-filled years caused by Thatcher and the Tories as the mining industry was eviscerated and the blight of AIDS began to make its presence felt.
Despite great performances and a well-written script, Pride lacks a solid enough plot and ultimately comes across as a worthy, earnest, homogenised docu-drama, with very little drama. What we do get is uncomfortable silences as the, naturally homophobic Welsh miners come face-to-face with the coach-load of gay activities who show up in the valley town and overcome their prejudices and come to love the gays, interspersed with London skin heads shouting abuse and thoroughly good egg and young 20 year-old Joe as he embraces his burgeoning homosexuality and comes out to his strait-laced, right-wing parents and finds his voice.
Lots to enjoy, but just not particularly engaging, although this is an important story and deserves to be told.
7/10
Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, Paddy Considine and Freddie Fox.
Directed by Stephen Beresford, 120 minutes long.
Back in 1984, Thatcher tried to crush the mining industry forcing the miners to go on strike and causing a war of attrition that was to last a year. Whereas that aspect of the story is well known what perhaps isn't is the support given to the miner's cause by the gay and lesbian community and that's the theme of this much lauded movie. Using the device of a young gay man's own awakening sexuality as its main plot device this film, Pride is heavily worthy and earnestly documents those dark and hate-filled years caused by Thatcher and the Tories as the mining industry was eviscerated and the blight of AIDS began to make its presence felt.
Despite great performances and a well-written script, Pride lacks a solid enough plot and ultimately comes across as a worthy, earnest, homogenised docu-drama, with very little drama. What we do get is uncomfortable silences as the, naturally homophobic Welsh miners come face-to-face with the coach-load of gay activities who show up in the valley town and overcome their prejudices and come to love the gays, interspersed with London skin heads shouting abuse and thoroughly good egg and young 20 year-old Joe as he embraces his burgeoning homosexuality and comes out to his strait-laced, right-wing parents and finds his voice.
Lots to enjoy, but just not particularly engaging, although this is an important story and deserves to be told.
7/10
#62 THE GUEST
#62 THE GUEST
Starring Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Lance Reddick and Leland Orser. Written by Simon Barrett and direted Adam Wingard, 99 minutes perfectly formed.
What an absolute hoot of a movie! What a ridiculous and silly ride, what fun!
The less you know about The Guest the better, the plot at its most basic form is this, months after the death of their marine son, Caleb, the Peterson family get a visit from David, a solider who claims to have fought along their son and witnessed his death. Gently insinuating himself into his dead friend's family, David seems to have only their best interests in mind, that is until odd coincidences start happening to Caleb's brother, sister and parents and a sense of, almost, supernatural menace starts to pervade their lives, perhaps David is not all that he seems...
In an absolutely career-making role, Downtown Abbey's Dan Stevens crushes any memories you might have of him as a posh toff as he re-invents himself as a solid leading man in this 1980's throw-back that seems to delight in leading you down one route before throwing you head first down another, at turns hilarious, savage and downright silly and all delivered with a glorious John Carpenter inspired soundtrack. One minute a psychological thriller, the next an action film and then a all-out horror film, this is a film that delights in playing with your expectations. It's by no means perfect, some of the direction is ropey and there are several 'what the?' moments but nothing that spoils the action.
8/10
Starring Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Lance Reddick and Leland Orser. Written by Simon Barrett and direted Adam Wingard, 99 minutes perfectly formed.
What an absolute hoot of a movie! What a ridiculous and silly ride, what fun!
The less you know about The Guest the better, the plot at its most basic form is this, months after the death of their marine son, Caleb, the Peterson family get a visit from David, a solider who claims to have fought along their son and witnessed his death. Gently insinuating himself into his dead friend's family, David seems to have only their best interests in mind, that is until odd coincidences start happening to Caleb's brother, sister and parents and a sense of, almost, supernatural menace starts to pervade their lives, perhaps David is not all that he seems...
In an absolutely career-making role, Downtown Abbey's Dan Stevens crushes any memories you might have of him as a posh toff as he re-invents himself as a solid leading man in this 1980's throw-back that seems to delight in leading you down one route before throwing you head first down another, at turns hilarious, savage and downright silly and all delivered with a glorious John Carpenter inspired soundtrack. One minute a psychological thriller, the next an action film and then a all-out horror film, this is a film that delights in playing with your expectations. It's by no means perfect, some of the direction is ropey and there are several 'what the?' moments but nothing that spoils the action.
8/10
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