Innerspace (1987)

Film of 2012 #75


Starring Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Martin Short this film is from the family science fiction corner and has the premise of minaturising a test pilot to inject him into a Rabbit but something goes wrong and he ends up being injected in to Martin Short, who plays a Hypochondriac Jack Putter. Directed by Joe Dante this is a fun film that has a sense of danger and excitement as Jack Putter discovers his inner hero through helping Dennis Quaid as Lt Tuck Pendleton get safely resurrected and get Meg Ryan back. 

The effects in this film are for the time fantastic you do actually believe that Dennis Quaid has been shrunk and is floating around inside Martin Short. The danger posed by the evil corporation is while quite cartoonish fits in really well with the film. You have Victor Scrimshaw and Dr Margaret Canker played by Kevin McCarthy and Fiona Lewis ably supported by the ever imposing Mr Igoe played menacingly by Vernon Wells. Capers and comedy ensue and you have good old fashioned character development of Jack Putter to the realisation from Tuck Pendleton what is important. 

This film is great it is a bit dated with the styles of 1987 and they play loose with scientific possibility but overall this really is a fun and enjoyable film, I have seen it several times and will watch it again in the future. Overall this is a 4 star recommend from me go and see how a sneeze can save your life. 

Weekend at Bernies (1989)

Film of 2012 #74


Two losers who in the middle of a heat wave try and show their boss that they are really good workers and at the weekend they discover a discrepancy in the books and they take it to Bernie and as a reward he invites them to his island home. The comedy from there ensues as Bernie is defrauding the company and when he tells his boss that someone is on to him, they decide to take care of him. When Larry and Richard, played by Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman arrive at the Island they discover that Bernie is dead but instead of letting it ruin their weekend they pretend he is still alive and from there the comedy commences.

I had heard of this film but never even really seen or heard that much about it before I saw it and I actually really enjoyed it. There is a bit where you have to believe that the main characters can be that stupid and that people would really believe that Bernie is alive when you see him. However it is from the farce school of comedy and actually really works quite well.

Yes there are serious flaws if you are not willing to give them any credit but if you can go with what they are doing with the comedy. If you do not think about it to hard then it really is a fun film and a good 3 star recommend from me to see this film if you get the chance. There is a sequel which appears to be about Voodoo so will probably not be looking that film up.

The Untouchables (1988)

Film of 2012 #73


From Brian De Palma this film takes a look at Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner who is a federal agent charged with going after Al Capone and the gangsters that broke the laws on Prohibition and brought drink into America. Starring Sean Connery as Jim Malone, Andy Garcia as Giuseppe Petri and Charles Martin Smith as Oscar Wallace identifies how to get Capone who is played by Robert De Niro. You have an excellent cast and with De Palma at the helm you have a competently directed film that has an excellent strong story with many quotable lines.

You follow Ness as he tries to work with the police and tries to catch Capone the normal way and then he realises that he needs to work a different way to get the results he needs. You have him battling with the want to do his job properly and protect his family but knowing that while he is honest many of the people around him are not as honest as he is. It is an interesting look at a time when it was probably very hard to live, times will have been hard for people and corruption was rife as many people could barely survive. Yet Ness takes a high ground that is hard to imagine and yet he also manages to find people to work with that agree and follow his lead.

This film is a classic and well worth a watch, I cannot believe that I waited so long before getting around to watching this film and know that I will happily sit down and watch it again possibly in the not to distant future. This is a strong 4 star recommend and if you have any love for film and have not seen this then it is well worth a watch.

Stag Night (2008)

Film of 2012 #72


A strange little horror film that I saw because it had Breckin Meyer in it and I have always thought of him as quite funny and an interesting actor. However the story which sounded appealing soon became quite boring, 4 guys out on a Stag Night end up leaving a subway train early with 2 ladies after the Breckin Meyer character plays the douche and causes Mace to sprayed making them leave the train. From there they discover an underground way of life that would probably not go un-missed if it really existed.

So you follow them getting lost in the underground while they are being hunted by a brutal band of men/creatures who kill mercilessly and probably eat there victims and while this sounds thrilling it really is so contrived how they get stuck and how they fail to get out of the trouble which they got into quite easily. The ending as well while is what normal horror films portray is cliched and a bit disappointing and not worth the effort.

Overall this film is not worth seeing at all, even the acting is not that great, certainly not the worst I have seen but nothing that special, I give it 2 stars and that is simply for the efforts on the character design and the sets are really good and there is obviously some budget there but overall not worth seeing at all.

Safe House (2012)

Film of 2012 #71


Starring Denzel Washington as an Ex CIA agent that is out to for himself and Ryan Reynolds who is trying to get make in the CIA and make a name for himself. This is a spy thriller that has the usual mental twists and anguish and there are points that are quite exciting when you try, with Ryan Reynolds to figure out who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. With Denzel Washington playing the hardened rogue agent you also become confused about what he thinks is important and why he does what he does.

You have a strong supporting cast with Vera Farminger and Brendan Gleeson as higher up agents who are battling with each other on whether Ryan Reynolds has turned or is trustworthy. I have to say that there is a twist that I think is supposed to be a shock but I saw it coming a mile off and was not that surprised at the way the film pans out.

For the performances of all of the actors involved I will give this a weak 3 star recommend, there is nothing that special but if you like spy thrillers and trying to figure out what is happening then you could do worse than spend a couple of hours watching this film.

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Film of 2012 #70


Directed by Stan Winston, one thing you know about this film is that the creature effects are going to be good and they certianly are. It opens with a man knocking on a door and the family in the house ignoring him and off camera he is dispatched. You then cut to Lance Henrickson as a country hick with his young son, he is a single father but you get no more story than that. You can simply see that he is working hard to earn enough to look after his son and he loves him very much. You then have a group of clearly well off youngsters who turn up with dirt bikes and disaster strikes when little Billy ends up getting struck and killed accidently by one of the bikers.

Lance Henriksen in his grief ridden state then seeks vengeance by getting an old witch woman to raise Pumpkinhead to seek his revenge and the film goes from there. There are some cool death scenes in what is a monster movie with a slight difference. With the teenagers being killed off one by one, they soon realise what is happening and then when Lance Henriksen realises what he has done he then tries to help and the film comes to a dramatic conclusion and there is a nice little point at the end.

This is an 80's horror film that is worth seeing, I know that it has built a bit of a cult following and for historical purposes is worth seeing. Overall though the film is not that strong and is a bit dated, however as it falls in the horror genre which I love and Lance Henricksen is brilliant in this it is a 3 star recommend if you like the same sort of films that I do.

Fort Apache (1948)

Film of 2012 #69


From 1948 starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda with a small part for an Adult Shirley Temple as the daughter of Lt. Col. Owen Thursday played by Henry Fonda. Lt Thursday is posted to Fort Apache at the end of his career and he has a point to prove. John Wayne plays Capt. Kirby York and this film is really a look at the conquering of the Apache Nation and the end of the film looks at how history remembers American Heroes. Henry Fonda plays Lt Owen Thursday as an arrogant soldier obsessed with military order and glory and against the advice of his colleagues goes after the indians in a destructive final battle.

If you like westerns this is a good version it is more about the Calvery than Cowboys but is still Cowboys vs Indians. The story does revolve around the idea that Thursday wants the glory that he thinks he deserves and this plays through as he does what he wants, how he wants and does not really care for the consequences and how it impacts his men. It is interesting as it revolves around military rules and how they are actioned and it takes a look at how the leaders of the past are measured and John Wayne sums it up at the end of the film as he was there and knows what the man was like and how differently he was remembered.

This is a good film and one I have watched it a few times, I am not a big fan of Westerns but this film captures everything that a good western needs. I would say that this is a strong 3 star recommend and would say that if you want to view a film from the 40's you could do a lot worse than giving this film a go.

Flash Gordon (1980)

Film of 2012 #68


From director Mike Hodges and the comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond comes a hero to save us all....FLASH ahhh saved everyone of us!! Starring Sam J Jordon as star Football player Flash Gordon, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden jounalist and Topol as Dr Hans Zarkov. They travel to the planet Mong and face off against Ming the Merciless this is a family battle with the Music of Queen to stir the heart. Dr Zarkov recoignises that recent strange weather effects on Earth are being caused from the planet Mong and he kidnapps Flash Gordon and Dale Arden and takes them with him to help solve the issue. Then you have the story as the figure out what is happening and what they have to do to fix the issue.

The acting is campy and the outfits are totally cheesy and this is very child friendly, you have Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed as bad guys? With Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, this film is a lot of fun but is very dated and very simple with a lot happening but not a lot of it that meaningful to me. The best part of the whole film is the sound track provided by Queen. With some great music including the title rack Flash Gordon and I will listen to this in the future however not that sure I will watch the film again.

Overall this film is an 80's campy classic but overall it is not that great and not worth seeing in my opinion, it is 2 stars and only worth seeing for nostalgia and if you want to see how comic book films were done in the 80's and late 70's.

The Fly (1986)

Film of 2012 #67


The David Cronenberg remake of the 1958 body swap horror film, sees Jeff Goldblum as Dr Seth Brundle a genius who is creating the next big thing. He meets Geena Davis at a party, they get together and she sees what he is creating. In his hurry to show off and impress her he uses his machine and he tele-ports from pod 1 to pod 2 in the first human tele-portation, however something goes wrong. You follow him in his discovery as he realises what has happened and he tries to come to terms with it.

This is a classic, from the master of body horror and it sees the transformation from Dr Brundle to the Brundle-Fly of the Jeff Goldblum character and you have him trying to understand it and document it. The best part is the fact that he does not actually do that much to try and fix the problem. You have that realisation from the Geena Davis character and the fact that she can do nothing as Jeff Goldblum does not want any help. This captures the horror of science gone wrong and is really gory and think that it is a modern classic.


I am disappointed in myself that it took that long for me to get around to watching this film but I am really glad that I finally did. If you enjoy David Cronenberg's other films or just horror in general then it is really worth seeing and a 4 star recommend from me.

Knowing (2009)

Film of 2012 #66


Starring Nicholas Cage this film has received some hate based upon the ridiculous premise of a sheet of paper left in a time capsule for 50 years. Nicholas Cage finds it and figures out what the numbers are. I went in with pretty low expectations and they were not met at all by this nonsense. You have Nicholas Cage as a single father of a son who is deaf. He is a University lecturer who at the start has some different thoughts that he puts to his students but I think he is predisposed to believe these numbers.


His wife died and he is struggling to cope with this, it shows him drinking a lot and it is actually one night when he is drunk that he looks at the numbers and it just happens to be the September 11th date and the number of deaths. The premise itself is fine for me I understand to look at this sort of film it is really the execution that causes me a problem. He happens to be at the point when a plane crashes and the effects are really quite spectacular and good. But he happens to be a the right spot at the right time for the disaster, would have made more sense if his son had directed him there or if he had realised the other numbers were locations.


Overall this is a disappointment, an interesting idea done badly, I think they could have made more of the ending and for such a big story they focused incorrectly on the smaller story with the big ending and it just did not work for me. This is a 1 star film that you should avoid, the plane crash is actually really good CGI but is not actually worth sitting through the whole film for.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Film of 2012 #65


I think I had heard of this film and this is why when I saw it on the TV I decided it would be worth a watch, but I think all I had heard was the name and a very basic premise, this made it so much better. Leslie Vernon invites a university film crew to document him, as he tries to become the next supernatural serial killer. The film starts with a brief history of Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger and it sets the tone for the whole film. 

It starts as a documentary with your female lead interviewing Leslie and trying to find out what he is trying to achieve and he takes them on a tour and shows them his plans. This film is an excellent idea and take on the slasher film, it is from the point of view of the killer and what he is hoping that his antics will achieve and how he thinks out everything, so that what you see in the slasher film from him knowing where people will go, to weapons not working. It really is well executed. There are some flaws especially with the acting but there is a couple of really nice touches that appealed to me as a fan of the slasher genre. 

Overall this is a fantastic new take on the slasher film genre, I highly recommend it to you if you have any love for the slashers and the horror genre, not perfect but still a solid 4 star recommend.

Escape From New York (1981)

Film of 2012 #64


The John Carpenter film starring Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, New York has been walled off as a maximum security prison and the inmates are allowed to run free. A Terrorist takes Airforce One and crashes the plane and the President is played by Donald Pleasence ejects and lands in New York and the army have to get him out. So they use Snake as the best at what he does to go in and get him out. He meets Ernest Borgnine as the Cabbie and runs into Isaac Hayes who is the Duke of New York and the person who runs the city. Lee Van Cleef as Hauk and Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie round out the cast from this 80's cult favourite.

Scored by John Carpenter this film is another of his very strong 80's films with a strong cast and interesting story, even if it is a bit contrived. This film looks at a society where criminal actions and violence reach such a peak that it becomes viable and acceptbale to shut off New York and turn it into a prison and as plot point in a film it is good as it gives you a famous city to run around and you can make up your own rules as anything goes. There is some interesting thoughts on how far people would go to survive with some of the lower class criminals running around the sewers eating people and others trying to make some form of living by doing what would be considered a normal job, such as Cabbie. This falls into the Action genre with some social commentary but really it is about the fight scenes and the chase scenes and the desperation of Snake trying to get the president. There is also another story with the problem being there is a threat to the whole world safety based on what the president has in his brief case. 

I really enjoy this film with Kurt Russell totally over acting in the role of Snake and really playing the bad-ass. The score and direction from Carpenter paint a really dark and scary future and there is very little light in the story, I would say this is a 4 star recommend if you enjoy anything that Carpenter has done in the past.

My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)

Film of 2012 #63


The First of the 3D horror spectaculars that came out at the start of the new Digital 3D revolotion and was part of the catalyst for all of the horror films that followed in the vain of Final Destination. I did not see this in 3D at the theartre and watched it as I had been meaning to and I do enjoy a good slasher film. This is a remake of a 1981 film and is a common idea behind a slasher film with the main protaganist returning 10 years after the slaughter of 22 people in a local mine by Harry Warden. The main character is Tom Hanniger played by Jensen Ackles, his old flame is Sarah Plamer played by Jaimi King and her husband Axel Plamer played by Kerr Smith who is also the local sheriff. 

This film is slightly different from your typical 80's and 90's slasher as the targets of the slashings are not your typical teen victims, they were teenagers at the time of the original attacks and when the film is set they are in their late twenties so that is the first small twist. It is funny as the characters still behave like they are teenagers, the difference being a couple have kids and are married but they react like teenagers. The film in itself tries to throw red herrings at you but you realise they are pointing so firmly in one direction that it has to be wrong and you then know exactly who is the killer. 

The 3D effects, as they normally are in horror films of this ilk are obvious and easy to see when the 3D is off and I think that this falls into the fun with a few drinks and friends category. I like what the film tried to do with the story twists and the idea but I think they got to carried away with the idea of the 3D and forgot the rest of it. This is a 2 star avoid unless you are a fan of the horror/Slasher genre then it is a film that is enjoyable enough within this genre.

Outlander (2008)

Film of 2012 #62


Picked up this film as it starred Jim Caviezel and I have always liked him, also it was indicated as a Sci-Fi film so thought it would be worth a look. Jim Caviezel is Kainan, an alien that is chasing a "Dragon" and ends up on crashed on Earth in the time of the Vikings, he is captured by a tribe and taken prisoner. John Hurt plays Hrothgar the Cheiften and his Daughter Freya played by Sophia Myles who is promised to the next leader Wulfric played by Jack Huston and you have your obvious set up. Kainin comes in and Freya is keen as he is different, Wulfric does not like him because he is different and Hrothgar thinks a differnet type of leader. They have an ongoing battle with Gunnar played by Ron Pearlman's tribe and when the "Dragon" rears it's head you have the coming together of the tribes to fight a common enemy.

This film is nothing special, there is the usual fish out of water trying to learn and understand a culture he does not know, but as an alien he is not that different from the tribesmen other than his technology which he soon loses. You have the love triangle between Kainan, Freya and Wulfric, you have Wulfric not liking Kainan but coming to a trust him after they play shields and he sees what a Warrior he is. It follows the basic trope where the Dragon which is actually an Alien creature attacks the village and they have to battle it to win and he comes to respect him more.


To be honest I was not surprised by anything that happens in this film and there is nothing that special about it. Saying that within the scope it was aiming for it was pretty servicable, the acting and effects are not mind blowing but adequate overall this is a 2 star film, not worth seeking out but not a total waste of time if you are doing something while it is on in the background.

Christine (1983)

Film of 2012 #61


Stephen King's Christine brought to Life by the master of Horror that is John Carpenter, however this happened I am very happy to have seen the outcome. The story follows Arnie Cunningham played by Keith Gordon, who is bullied. He has nothing other than a friend who is on the football team Dennis played by John Stockwell. That is until passing a garden they see Christine for Sale, she is a beat up, broken down, junker that Arnie falls in love with and decides to restore so he has a cool car. However there is something supernatural about Christine and things start to happen.

I have read this book and it is better than the film but then this is usually the case when books are made into films. However this film still holds up to me, the story follows Arnie to begin with and then as things start to happen you switch to Dennis and the Girl that Arnie hooks up with played by a very Young Alexandra Paul as they try to figure out what is happening and what they can do to sort the situation.

This is a fun horror film with some good effects, some great music and an interesting story I really like the film a and would say that if you like Carpenters early works or the the writings of Stephen King then it is worth a look, it is 4 stars for me.

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Film of 2012 #60


After watching the original Planet of the Apes and the recent release of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes which I reviewed here, I revisited the remake from Tim Burton. Starring Mark Whalberg as the lost astronaut and Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Paul Giamatti and Michael Clarke Duncan taking the roles of Apes. While this film is a remake in basic terms it is a very different film, there are some homage's to the original and the idea behind it with a human discovering the Planet ruled by Apes is the same concept but what it explores is a different idea. 

The film explores some of the ideas of the original with Humans being the weaker race but the ending is vastly different and the overall idea behind the film misses something of the original. If this film had been an original idea or at least had taken a different name I could almost accept this as a film, however it simply plays on the name of the original. As a remake it does not stick to the original idea which in itself makes a different movie but it gets lost in the comparison to the original so is not judged fairly. 

I have to say that I like what the film does with the ending with the statue at the end but overall the film annoys me specifically with the decisions that the Mark Whalberg character makes. This film is an interesting idea behind what a remake could be taking an original idea and taking it in a totally different direction rather than as a shot for shot remake, overall I cannot get behind Mark Whalberg and the decisions or the direction the story goes. This is a 2 star avoid, worth seeing if you are interested in Tim Burton's take on the Planet of the Apes but no more than that.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Film of 2012 #59


The Charlton Heston Sci-Fi classic, sees Charlton Heston crash landing on an unknown planet where humans are the slaves and the planet is ruled by Apes. I have seen this a few times and it is enjoyable enough however Charlton Heston is annoying in this film, he is arrogant and quite unlikeable and having heard a few things about him I do not know if this is supposed to be the character or the actor himself. Anyway one of the big things about this film is the make up effects with Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter spending the entire film in Ape make up and the effects are quite  fantastic. 

This film is another film with a message about the equal treatment of animals and other races as the roles are reversed with Humans being the test subjects in experiments that include the dissection of the brain. Also there is a feeling from Heston of the frustration at getting his point across with him not being believed to the point where he is not allowed to defend himself and being treated like an animal. Cornelius and Zira played by Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter are the liberals of the Ape world fighting for equal rights for humans.

This is a classic film and is worth seeing on many levels from the moral question about humans being treated as equal to the shocking conclusion that leads to other questions about humans on this planet to simply the make effects before CGI. Overall this is a 4 star recommend with a note to it being a classic film worth watching.

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Film of 2012 #58


The sequel to Jumanji that does not refer to Jumanji or the characters and is simply a new game with a different theme to the Jungle antics of Jumanji. This time it is an adventure in Space and the kids playing the game have to survive meteor showers and alien invasions while learning something about themselves. The kids are played by Jonah Bobo and Josh Hutcherson with Dax Shepard playing the Astronaut and Kirsten Stewart as Lisa, the boys older sister. There is a brief performance from Tim Robbins as the father and the rest of the characters are voices including Frank Oz and it is directed by Jon Favereau. 

This is a family film with a message and it is set in a world where literally anything can and does happen. It is a bit of fluff that is enjoyable and if you like Jumanji then it is worth a watch, it is definitely in the same vain as Jumanji. The performances as few of them as they are, surpass the expectations especially the kids, they have a little to do and what they do is done very well. They are not infuriating like some child actors can be. The grown up roles with Dax Sheperd and Kirsten Stewart are fine, really there is not that much for them to do. 

Overall there is not actually that much happening in this film bit it is enjoyable enough to keep you interested and to see the valuable lesson that they learn. Well worth a 3 star watch and if you are in to family films then worth trying to see it. 

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Film of 2012 #57

This is a much maligned film from Renny Harlin, it is a Shark attack film with the standard stuck in a tight location and an interesting idea that the sharks are stuck in as well. It is basically a monster movie and the monsters are created by man. So you follow Saffron Burrows as a scientist running experiments on Sharks trying to cure Alzheimers. As it goes it is not a bad premise, they made the sharks more inteligent so when they attack it is calculated.

The main star of the film for me is Thomas Jane as a shark wrangler with a murky past, this is only here to show he has to stay. Samuel L Jackson plays the role of supposed star and you expect him to be the hero. There is some comedy from LL Cool J and Michael Rappaport which I like and is entertaining. This film has it's flaws with what Sharks can do but then you have to remember these are no longer natural creatures.

Overall I enjoy this film and have watched it many times and will watch it again. From the fact that you can see the deaths coming and the fact that there are a few decisions made that you are like what are you doing oh yeah and Saffron Burrows is a horrible actress. However I will say a strong 3 star recommend for me on this film as it is a lot of fun.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Film of 2012 #56

Geena Davis stars in this film that hints a little at the Bourne Films, at the start of the film she knows she has amnesia and to a certain level has accepted this. She has hired private investigators to try and find her past, one of these investigators is played by Samuel L Jackson in a post Pulp Fiction role. He starts as a fraudster just trying to take Geena Davis for all he can, to then becoming her partner as she tries to piece together her life. As with these things there is a secret from her past that comes back to haunt her in her new life and as with all these stories there is a decision to be made whether she wants to return to her old life or the new life she has found since amnesia.

As with a lot of these films there is a point where you have to suspend your disbelief about the situation and what actually could and does happen but overall this is a lot of fun. You pretty much stay with the Geena Davis character and as she finds out things so do you as the watcher. I think that there is a level where they felt back in the 80's and 90's that small stories did not work and they need to be bigger and bigger and push the levels all the way. It works in this film as it sort of runs along the fantastical and gets more and more unreal for everybody involved. There is a nice point when it switches from the Geena Davis character on to the Samuel L Jackson character and he ends up the one not knowing what is happening.

This is a fun film without being anything mind-blowing, it is well worth watching especially if you like the Bourne films it is an older female role that I think is a different take but very similar to these stories. Overall this is a 3 star film that I think you should watch.

Rare Exports:A Christmas Tale (2010)

Film of 2012 #55

This film is from Finland it is based upon a folk tale they have around Santa Claus, which is a very different story to what the Western representation of Santa Claus. This film is subtitled and is very much a cultural film and therefore it will not appeal to everybody. I think that it is supposed to be a comedy and there are certainly elements that make you smile but you have to be aware before going in that there is an element of comedy. You follow a young boy called Pietari Kontio played by Onni Tommila whose real life father Jorma Tommila plays his father in the film. Upon research this film is the 3rd film in a trilogy with the first two parts being short films that this story was adapted from.

This is quite a dark film and there are some adult scenes with some male genitalia on show at the later part of the film and there are some scenes of blood and gore. I think that if you can see the comedy in this film and appreciate it as a whimsical comedy then you will really enjoy it. The acting is strong enough and the effects while not brilliant are not terrible, there are some issues around being comfortable where the story goes and why they do what they suggest at the end but overall this is a fun film.

There are not enough foreign films that I really enjoy but if you liked things like Let the Right One In then while this is not in the same league as that film there is a certain level of enjoyment within this Christmas film, 3 star recommend if you do subtitles.