DVDs This Week 22 & 29/03/10
Twilight Saga: New Moon
I am not going to be converting anyone with my comments on this film: chances are if you love it or hate it (and there is no middle ground), me telling you that it is a steaming pile of faeces aint gonna change your mind. I have no problems with REALLY bad films like this becoming massively popular, I like Taken, the Scooby Doo movies and have probably seen Dude, Where’s my Car around 15-20 times. We all have our guilty pleasures. My problem with this series of films is that there seems to be a complete lack of love for this film by the people who made it. Both films seem rushed, with bits missing and what is possibly the biggest lack of chemistry in cinema. Two(or in this case, three) leads having little chemistry is annoying but forgivable in, say, Transformers 2 (another film I absolutely can’t stand) because it’s an action film, but in a romantic film it’s an abomination. That says, it comes just above the Transformers series for me for the simple fact that it cost a hell of a lot less. This will probably break records for DVD sales and although completely undeserving, I am willing to consider in the same way as the topic of old people sex. I realise that it exists, just don’t talk to me about it otherwise I may vomit.
Harry Brown
If this wasn’t such a quiet weeks I would have just reviewed this with the words ” Michael Caine’s in it, therefore it’s a must see”. Caine has got to have been one of the most consistent actors of modern times and if it’s true that this will be his last film as said in press interviews during release, it will be a massive loss not only to British cinema, but to Hollywood too. This revenge tale is intelligent and relevant in ways that a lot of modern revenge tales avoid. While it is enjoyable to see Caine’s transformation from accidental killer to ruthless murderer, the film is no slouch in it’s re-enacting of modern Britain. Young gangs controlling areas, pensioners left to fend for themselves and the feeling that the police are unable to help are all issues in Britain that have been happening for years. An impeccable performance by Caine and great supporting cast made this a big hit at the film festivals last year, but it deserved more than the limited release that it got. Catch in on DVD.
Paranormal Activity
It’s easy to compare Paranormal Activity to the Blair Witch Project. While it seems lazy journalism to make the connection, there’s no shaking the similarities, and not just the amateur footage style. Paranormal Activity followed tips on market from Blair Witch and it paid dividends. Also, like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity is a very important horror film. These small films that make a huge return (and they are horrors in the majority) serve a purpose to show the studios that you don’t need to remake a successful movie or throw heaps of money to get a blockbuster on your hands. Both films try to concentrate on the FEAR itself, rather than the events, but Paranormal is definitely not as intelligent a film as the first Blair Witch and this is probably it’s failing. The Blair Witch Project didn’t need jump scares, loud noises or even something to be scared of. It was essentially a character study in the arising of fear and how when it becomes conscious, how it can envelop you. Granted, there was something to be scared of in the Blair Witch, but we didn’t see if, just the outcomes of it’s actions. It was about a small group being isolated, growing in fear and reducing in hope and then a stark realisation that their fear was rational, that they were in danger.
So while Paranormal Activity was an important horror film, I think it doesn’t need a sequel and that repeat viewings of the film are not favourable. Maybe rent the DVD, then buy The Blair Witch Project, Rec, or Lake Mungo (which probably sell for less than a fiver now).
2012
Watch the trailer and you will pretty much immediately know what to expect from this film. Fantastic CGI, a wafer thin plot and poor characterisation. I always have time for films like 2012 because they don’t intend to be anything else. You get characters that wise crack despite it being the end of the world and limousines doing handbrake turns. This is a film I would love to be made into a theme park ride, because essentially the film is a ride – big, dumb fun. From a film critic’s point of view, it’s a bad film, but it’s one of those films where you can just switch your brain off and get a few friends around and just have a really good laugh.
Bunny and the Bull
Here is another film I saw at Leeds Film Festival (surely we must be near the end of them now?!). Right from the off, this film is inventive. Reminiscent of Gondry in style with a lot of guerrilla special effects (a theme park made from clock mechanisms), but able to be it’s own style, those expecting a Mighty Boosh movie will be SLIGHTLY disappointed. The humour is to some degree the same as Mighty Boosh, but is not as laugh out loud funny as the tv series. In fact, it’s quite short on real laughs to be honest, but in some ways that is to it’s benefit because it adds emotion into the mix. The film is bleak for the most part and is essence a story about someone who is not mentally sound. But there are out and out MAGICAL cinema moments (especially the scene with the titular bull).
This is a film which will follow suit with the Mighty Boosh in that it will gain cult status and it is definitely deserving. It may miss the mark a lot of the time, but when it delivers, it does so in such an original way that it’s hard not to be impressed.
Also out this week: Glorious 39 – Caprica (Pilot Episode) – Dread
Slade to Take on Eclipse
The rumour-mongering and chatter can finally end, ladies and gentlemen. It has been confirmed that David Slade, the director of Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night has been signed up to helm the third Twilight film, Eclipse.
If nothing else, you have to give the Twilight producers at Summit some credit on their method for choosing directors. Catherine Hardwicke, best known at the time for her helming of the evil teen parable Thirteen and the underrated, and somewhat underdone, Lords of Dogtown, was never any sort of obvious choice to take on the project, even if that proved to be a mistake overall. Chris Weitz was less of a surprise given his work on The Golden Compass and Slade, who’s already taken on vampires of a kind, isn’t really a huge surprise. But, that said, they are at least not just quick job hacks promoted from writing or producing production line crap.
Round Up
Twilight racked up first-day sales of 3 million for its DVD release.
Warner Brothers is to open its archive for sale, offering custom made DVDs for $20 a pop.
A biopic of Steve McQueen is in the works. As is one on Pancho Villa. Oh, and one about Judy Garland, starring Anne Hathaway.
Kurt Russell has turned down an opportunity to star alongside former cohort Sly Stallone in The Expendables.
Amanda Seyfried has dropped out of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. Apparently its due to a shooting conflict with HBO drama Big Love.
Hardwicke Taking On Bird People
Catherine Hardwicke, the director so unceremoniously dumped from the Twilight series after directing the first installment, is to return by taking on an adaptation of Maximum Ride, the comics book series by James Patterson.
The series follow six teenagers that undergo a genetic experiment after which they become half-bird/half-human. They then escape from the laboratory which has performed such experiments on them and are pursued by another genetically mutated clan, this time the half-wolf/half-human pack called the Erasers.
So, Hardwicke moves from sparkling vampires to bird-people? Quite an interesting career path. I’ve not seen the comics but this does not sound particularly conducive to a screen adaptation without accidentally recalling Howard the Duck.
Recent Comments