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.

The Grey (2012)

Film of 2012 #30
Some Spoilers

The latest film from Liam Neeson, sees him as a hunter in the Arctic circle protecting the oil workers from the wolves if they come to close. There is a plane crash and the story follows the survivors lead by Liam Neeson as they try and survive the weather and the wolves. I knew very little of this film going in but my Father-in-Law-to-be is a massive Liam Neeson fan and we always go and see his films as they come out so this was the next in line. I have to be honest and say that I knew very little of this film going in and I was disappointed with what I got. 

It is a well acted film and the characters are good and some of the set pieces were excellent and enjoyable and I have to say that the cinematography actually worked so well that I felt the cold that the actors did as you believed they were cold. There is a bit of predictability about the plot but there are also some points that I did not see coming but at the end of the film I was not that impressed or bothered about it. The ending in itself was not what I wanted from a film and to be honest this sort of film is just not for me. 

This is a hard film to recommend as I did not like it and will not see it again, overall I know that there will be an audience for this sort of film and you will know if you fall in to this category, I am going to give it 2 stars, the acting is good and some of the scenes are worth seeing but overall not a film for me. Let me know if this is your sort of film and let me know why I should like and appreciate this film. 

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Film of 2012 #13
Some Spoilers

The film based upon the Richard Matheson Novella "I Am Legend" it is the 1st adaptation and  the truest to the original story. It follows Vincent Price in the titular role of the only surviving Man in a world over run by vampires. If you have ever read the book, this is the visualisation of the world that Matheson envisioned and explores what it would be like to be the only living human in a world of Vampires.

I love the book and the story and the end point that explains the title and the fact that you might not necessarily know what the consequences of your actions are no matter what your intentions or or thoughts The biggest flaw for this film for me is that Vincent Price while an awesome actor and character he is very much Vincent Price and it is hard to see past this when watching the film but still you get the idea of the impression that Matheson was trying to convey in the book.

This film is a must for all fans of genre films and the Richard Matheson story, this is a solid 4 star recommend for me, the flaw of the wrong actor for the art and the clearly small budget within a film that is clearly dated, still well worth seeing.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Film of 2012 #12
Some Spoilers

The Tim Burton directed musical starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter as Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett who sing and slice their way through London killing people making pies out of the bodies. I had not heard many good things about this film but i thought that I enjoyed Tim Burton and what he does with Johnny Depp and his wife but after viewing this film and really not liking it at all I am beginning to wonder if I just do not like Tim Burton's style or if it is the fact that the Gothic look has been done by him so many times it is just boring.

The story itself is not one I was aware of but appears to be a historically fictional character that has been adapted into film and Musical previously. It involves, Johnny Depp being imprisoned wrongly by a judge that fancied his wife and when he comes out of jail believing that she is dead he decides to take his revenge on those that wronged him. Now why he then decides to kill everybody and make them into pies is strange to me and a twist at the end was so obvious even though I was not paying that much attention and the overall ending I just thought What was the point of that?

Overall I can not recommend this film at all and give it a meagre 1 star, the singing is fine and the acting is comparable but nothing stands out, even though there is a great cast with Timothy Spall and Alan Rickman filling some of the other roles, on the whole very disappointing film and not worth seeing.

The Three Musketeers (1993)

Film of 2012 #11
No Spoilers

This family romp through the story from Alexandre Dumas about the betrayal of the French King by Cardinal Richelieu played menacingly by Tim Curry is enjoyable enough fair with what was a very impressive cast. Playing the lead of D'Artagnan was Chris O'Donnell, the musketeers were played by Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland and Oliver Platt with the bad guys rounded out with Rebecca De Morenay as M'lady and Michael Wincott as Rochefort.

As per the recent remake which I reviewed here, I am not sure how close to the original story this sticks but based upon the remake they are very similar with the Cardinal trying to seize power from the young King of France and his young wife who are still discovering each other after an arranged marriage. I think I prefer this version over the remake as it sticks to the time more and also does not include the Duke of Buckingham or the Steam Punk.

Overall this is 3 stars and if you enjoy the story or want to see a decent film representation I would recommend seeing this film rather enjoyable fair.

Teeth (2007)

Film of 2012 #10
Some Spoilers

The Black Comedy from Mitchel Lichtenstein, well i presume from the tone in some parts that this is a very Black comedic film. It stars Jess Weixler who discovers through some events that she may suffer from "Vagina Dentata" Toothed Vagina and the issues that this can cause as a young woman exploring and discovering her sexuality.

Part of the reason that I think it goes for comedy is the fact that Dawn the lead character is in a group that pledges to maintain virginity to marriage and has a purity ring. And some of the external comments regarding this are quite random. There are some fairly graphic scenes with a scene of rape and seduction by drug and was actually uncomfortable but I think that it was handled quite well as the subject matter leads Dawn to end up with the control and the eventual victor.

This film is actually quite good fun and the scene in the Gynaecologist office actually had me laughing out loud. This will obviously not be for everyone but anyone that enjoys the darker side of horror and comedy should really enjoy this, I have given it 3 stars.

In Time (2011)

Film of 2012 #8
No Spoilers

Finally got to catch up with the Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfreid Sci-Fi film based on the idea that we have to earn time to survive, the concept is baffling and you should not try and figure out why they got there, simply go with it and how it works, I thought of it simply as an alternative world and it works really well. It is slightly confusing as at 25 years old people stop ageing and look like that forever more, so you have a situation when a 25 year old man shows you his Mother-in-Law, Wife and Daughter and they are all played by 25 year old actresses makes an interesting looking film.

I have to say that the setting is used really well with Justin Timberlake as a man living literally day to day, it is easy to see that there is social commentary with the differences between the rich and the poor and what that can really mean in real terms to people and I have to say that I was captivated by that idea. The main premise of the idea though is that if you are robbed of all of your time you will be timed out and die.

With a solid performance from the 2 main leads and Cillian Murphy as the time cop you have some really good tense scenes and with the threat of time running out on them down to the last few seconds it is an interesting film. I would say that if you like science fiction or fantasy then it is well worth seeing, one of the best films I have seen this years so far a solid 4 stars from me.

Red Riding Hood (2011)

Film of 2012 #4
Spoilers

Finally got a chance to see this film, however I was not actually that bothered about seeing the Wolf film from the director of Twilight based upon a simple Fairy tale. Amanda Seyfried plays Red who has a Grandmother in the woods and their village is haunted by a Werewolf that everybody knows about but lives with it until it goes to far and kills a young girl.

Now it plays very strong on fairly tales with some interesting homages including the Oh Grandma what Big Eyes you have, one of the main characters is called Peter, I just kept thinking of Peter and the Wolf while it was on. Overall this is not terrible but again it is not captivating, they try and create suspense around who is the Wolf and so many red herrings I was pretty sure i figured it out and I had.

And the promise you won't tell anyone was followed by that person telling everyone so blatent and obvious it was happy when it was over. You get some good performances from Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman has a bit part and I was surprised at where his character ended up. This is not worth seeing unless you catch it on TV or are interested to see anything to do with Werewolves, a 2 star film for me.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)

Film of 2012 - #2
No Spoilers

Originally shown in 3D I watched this film on the TV so did not need the red and blue glasses that the 80's 3D technology required. I have to say that for a film that to me appeared to have it's tongue in it's cheek as it romped from set-piece to set-piece with Wolff and Nikki getting in and out of trouble with varying degrees of danger, to a conclusion that you can see coming a mile off it was a lot of fun.

The dodgy effects at the beginning make so much sense when you know the 3D origins but there were not as many obvious cliche 3D moments in the rest of the film but it would have been quite fun to have seen this in the theatre in it's time, I think that in today's effect and CGI driven movie industry it does not hold up but overall it is really worth a watch if you enjoy the 80's Sci-Fi classics.

If you enjoy the 80's fayre of dodgy acting, dodgy stories and dodgy effects then this film will work for you, if you do not go for cheesy story lines then you will probably not like it. A small note if you are a fan of Red Dwarf, there is an episode from an early season of this that I think rips this basic story off, it is episode "Kryton".