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Stevie G
Reviews
Prometheus (2012)
A brief take on Prometheus
Just back from seeing it (only about a dozen people in the cinema so wasn't disturbed, which was good).
Generally I liked it, there was much to niggle however, it could have been brilliant and it could have been a great direct prequel to Alien with a couple of tweaks.
I won't go into the story itself but just rank the elements:
Visuals - Superb, bar a couple of minor niggles, even the 3D worked quite well 9/10
Sound - Great, lacked the jump moments of previous Aliens films though 8/10
Soundtrack - Superb, linked well to Alien, sat well in the sequences 9/10
Characters - One of the weaker elements, quite frankly I didn't give a monkeys who lived and who died (I would have quite liked a couple of stasis tubes to have failed before they had even arrived), most of them were pretty unlikeable, however David was excellent and Shaw improved as the film went on 5/10
Plot - Didn't explain everything in detail, that's fine I don't need to be spoon fed, though the instant and often wild speculation offered was rather pants, several of the twists were quite frankly stupid and there were enough holes to traverse a Commercial Towing Ship along with it's massive Mineral Ore Refinery through 5/10
Overall - 7/10
Avatar (2009)
The most visually stunning film ever put to the screen
Having avoided seeing Avatar, first due to being away over Christmas and then the bad snow and ice we had (worst for 30 years), I finally got to the cinema to see what all the hype was about (Avatar had just beaten Titanic as the highest grossing movie ever).
I should say this is the first of the new style 3D movies I've seen (i.e. with polarising glasses).
The story is pretty generic; nasty, greedy humans (noticeably mostly white) out exploit a new world for it's mineral wealth, at the expense of the weaker native people and the ecology, backed up with military might. A re-telling of many a tale of the American Indians, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, Aztecs, etc. Thrown in are a bunch of "lefty tree hugging" scientists lead by Sigourney Weaver who are trying to communicate with and understand the culture of the "primitive" people (the hairless blue semi-cat like Na'vi). Enter our hero Jake Sulley, crippled ex-marine but also twinned with one of the scientists who happens to have recently died, he bonds with the natives (via his Avatar in A Man Called Horse kind of way through various trails) rebels against the nasty military industrial might and leads the natives to victory. There's lots of undercurrent to past and present events (destruction of religious /cultural icons, ethnic cleansing, habitat destruction, etc, etc).
Whilst the story isn't the greatest ever told, the visuals and sounds are quite breathtaking, I very quickly forgot what was cgi and what was life action and other than a few moments of poor animation found the whole film utterly realistic and as for the 3D, it made some of the sequences (in particular night scenes with the fluorescence of the flora and fauna on Pandora) a sight to behold, I have never seen anything comparable. The surround sound was also exquisite with it echoing the visuals perfectly, lots of jungle noises.
Does Avatar deserve to be the biggest grossing movie ever, yes it does, because as entertainment it is hard to beat, a long film at kept my attention unwavered for the entire duration, as a piece of brilliant story telling although well paced, no, even with the subtext (District 9 did that better despite being much more in your face about it).
See it in the cinema in 3D, it will never look or sound as good on a TV, even a very big one in Blu Ray with DTS Master Audio.
10 out of 10.
Dead Set (2008)
Dawn of The Dead Set
Considering this is a low budget TV film Charlie Brooker has pulled off a fantastic little gem, based on the premise of a Zombie Outbreak in England and the tale of a eclectic band of survivors (most of whom already hate each others guts) stuck in the Big Brother House, a satirical comment on the vacuousness of Reality TV to rival Romero's commentary of consumerism in the original Dawn of the Dead.
Taken as a gore fest with a huge dollop of black humour it works a treat and even the nihilistic ending fits so well into the message. Some great references throughout for Zombie Film Fans and Big Brother Fans alike. I like fast Zombies, much scarier and more threatening than traditional shufflers and considering the limited time this mini-series had they really were a necessity. Having some of the real ex-house mates and Davina as Zombies was a great touch.
If you enjoyed Dawn of the Dead (2004), 28 Days and Weeks Later, REC and Shaun of the Dead, Dead Set is definitely worth a viewing.
QI (2003)
Brilliant
** Spoilers included - well sort of **
I've been a long term fan of QI, I've watched it from the start and always tune in even to the repeats on UKTVG2 (Satellite channel in the UK). I've decided to put in a review as Series 1 has now finally been released on DVD.
Stephen Fry is perfect in the role of QI Master asking lots of general knowledge trivia questions that we, the audience and the panelists think we know the answers to, but are usually wrong (How many moons does the Earth have?, not it's not just the one, as we all thought). Alan Davies plays the regular stooge to Fry's Oxbridge smarty pants and usually looses. Joining Alan and Stephen are three other contestants who change each week and comprise of comedians, TV presenters, actors and assorted celebs.
Each series has a letter as the common thread, series 1 was A, 2 was B and so on, this means a possible 26 series (I wish). Each question can be rewarded with 5 points for an incorrect but interesting answer or anecdote, 10 points for a correct answer and -10 points for the answer we think is the obvious but always incorrect (accompanied buy a loud siren and the answer flashing up on the screen), other amounts of points are sometimes awarded such as 1 million for recognising the chemical formula for a custard explosion. Also always fun to look out for a lovvie award given to anyone who mentions someone famous in an anecdote.
The BBC produces great quiz shows with Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You, but for me QI is the best of the bunch.
The Planet (2006)
Astounding Local Film Making *Mild Spoilers
I have to confess that I know some of those involved, I was in the forerunner to The Planet, Evil Unleased, however this was more than 10 years ago and I had since lost contact with them. I happened to be watching BBC Scotland News and a piece regarding Scottish Cinema, this mentioned and showed clips from The Planet and comments from it's director Mark Stirton, this prompted me to order a copy of the film on DVD.
Now to the film, the level of acting, writing, directing and sfx is up there with some of the best around, OK it's not Star Wars but I've seen many a Hollywood product that is far inferior. It is very strange watching a film spoken in my local North East Scotland accent but that soon passed.
^Mild Spoilers^
The Planet draws on several sci-fi classics; Star Wars, Alien, Pitch Black, Forbidden Planet and Predator, a handful of the merchant crew of a deep space transport ship survive their craft being attacked and destroyed by unknown ships, they escape onto a deserted desert planet, one by one they are killed by invisible attackers, the ships only passenger, a mysterious prisoner also makes it to the planet, a battle ensues as the crew fight to survive.
The Planet is a brilliant piece of sci-fi film making that certainly hides it's limited budget, well done to Mark, Mike and all those involved, I look forward to your next work.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Not so much a remake more a new Dawn - SPOILERS
Just been to see a preview showing of the Dawn of the Dead 2004. First I should state that I love Romero's original trilogy although Day was my favourite. If nothing else I hope that as many people will go and see this so that George can get the funding for Dead Reckoning / Twilight / Land of the Dead (whatever it's going to be called).
***SPOILERS***
So onto the film, nice to see cameos by Tom "shoot them in the head" Savini and Ken "when hell is full" Foree. At the start a good future portent, Ana, a nurse is discussing a patient who was bitten in a bar brawl but is now in intensive care "from a bite!" We see Middle American Suburban perfection but in the morning of the next day things change. To cut a long story short Ana's neighbourhood has become infected and people have become super charged zombies. The little girl next door bites Ana's husband and he try's to bite her, it's all done in the goriest possible taste. Ana escapes and meets up with others who are alive (including Andre and his pregnant wife Luda we'll come to them later). They all go to a mall and have a run in with a couple of zombies who are quickly dispatched. Then they meet the mall security guards and an uneasy alliance develops. Several more survivors join however a couple of them have been infected, become zombies and are killed. Some novel ideas, a dog appears and is used to get food to another survivor, Andy, in a building near by, seems zombies don't frequent Korean restaurants. Luda, the pregnant woman was infected after a bite and hidden from the rest of the group by Andre, becomes zombified, but the coolest part is the baby, she gives birth to a zombie! The group decide to leave the mall and head to a marina get a boat and sail off to somewhere less inhabited. In best A-Team style they beef up a couple mini buses and head out. Lots of zombies (I mean lots) get squashed, shot, chainsawed and blown up. One bus crashes and only a handful make it to the boat. Happy ending, well if you stay for the credits NO!
Overall I really enjoyed the film, quick zombies work for me, could have done with more gore but the deaths were good especially Andy's, nice to see an unhappy ending as well. Definitely a re-viewing on the cards.
Someone please give George some money instead of making zombie films based on video games they suck!!!
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Brit horror with all the best bits.
A new Werewolf Movie has arrived, An American Werewolf in London and The Howling are easily the best to date, this can be added to the list. References to various Horror/Sci-Fi/Action films are abound. My favourite film of all time is Predator and there are a number of similarities with Dog Soldiers, unseen (to start with) predator killing off soldiers in a forest, even a deserted camp with lots of gore and no bodies ! Dog Soldiers also has elements of Aliens (smart, lethal un-killable predators working in a pack). It is a British (hurrah!) movie so the budget isn't huge but for all that the werewolves are pretty cool, on two legs like The Howling although not that scary. Also one of the main reasons for seeing this film is the humour, from black humour and sarcasm it goes into an Evil Dead style slapstick mode at the end of the film that creased me up. I'll probably go and see this again (it's that good). As an added point is Kevin McKidd related to Alistair McRae (Mitsubishi World Rally Driver)?
Made in U.S.A. (1987)
Rollercoaster Road Movie With An Eco Message
First saw this movie many years ago as a rental. Feeling nostalgic and remembering it as an excellent film. After tracking down an ex-rental (never released as sell through in the UK) I sat down to rewatch. The story of rebellious youngsters who turn into environmental warriors although motives are rather dubious. Lori Singer is a total sex bomb in this film, Adrain Pasdar is very dark and moody and this is the best performance from Chris Penn in any film he has done. The scenery and cinematography is excellent and captures the non-apple pie side of America and the soundtrack fits the film perfectly. I'm waiting for a DVD release but for now if you have some time to kill I recommend this little known film for a thought provoking ride across America.
Joshua Tree (1993)
Car Chase Heaven (Almost)!
Low budget, c list actors, expanses of wide open scenery but for all that a really good film. There are some parallels with Vanishing Point but generally stands out on its own. Dolf does a reasonable job but the character just isn't believable. Just a note all the cars used are replicas, but then what a crime it would be if they were real. Just ordered it on DVD from the US hope it is better than the UK video release was as the quality of that was the worst I had ever come across. Looking for something to kill a couple of hours and enjoy car chases then add this to the list of classics : Bullit, The Hidden, Ronin, Taxi, Gone In 60 Seconds, The Rock, Vanishing Point.
Pitch Black (2000)
The Best Brain Out Sci-Fi For Decades
Occasionally along comes a film which is not hyped to the maximum and generally comes recommended by a friend, my favourite Sci-Fi film of all time came to me this way, that film was The Hidden. Now it has been surpassed by Pitch Black, received the US DVD last week and so far watched it 5 or 6 times and the film just gets better and better.
So where to begin, the start is excellent full of action not the usual eerie pan around the spaceship interior. The bodycount also starts pretty quickly. This leads into a very fast pace for the whole film all the way to the end.
The sound (on DVD) is excellent and the visuals (although not scientifically accurate) are a wonder to behold, with lots of freeze framing going on. Characters are well in two camps ( those who survive most of the time and those who don't ), Riddick, Fry, Jack, Imam, Johns and to a lesser degree Paris all have some development throughout the film and add some interesting plots.
The acting on the whole is very good and Vin Diesel deserves to increase his Hollywood profile following this film. The DVD offers a lot of information with the commentaries sections and would recommend checking these out. I look forward to 10th November when Pitch Black is in UK cinemas ( yes that is 9 months since the US release and some one should face criminal charges of cruelty for that ) as it will be a visceral feast to enjoy on the big screen.
If you liked Predator, Aliens, The Hidden, Independence Day, The Thing or any other leave your brain at home and enjoy the ride movie then you MUST see Pitch Black.
Godzilla (1998)
Time To Revisit This Monster Mash
I have just watched Godzilla on DVD and had to add a comment on this film. I remember all the fuss over the team from ID4 making a bit of a stinker with Godzilla. I for one was pretty happy after seeing the film in the cinema (at least three times). I expected to see a large lizard smashing things up and that was pretty well what I got. Having now rewatched Godzilla on DVD I have to say that there are some really outstanding moments. The effects in general are very very good and sound is impressive, this might be down to the DVD transfer but they are only really as good as the original so the original must be pretty damn good. I still find myself rooting for Godzilla and the ending is very sad indeed. Only two complaints the baby Godzillas are a complete waste of time and the human characters tend to fall into that category too. So for a smashing good time with the best CGI monster to date give Godzilla a second chance.
Farscape (1999)
Great Sci-Fi With Brains And Muppets
Farscape has to be the Sci-Fi event of the Early 00's, it is intelligent, stylish, fantastic characters (very hard to pick a favourite), very believable acting, great plot twists and has enough cliches to satisfy the B-movie / comic roots of Sci-Fi. Scorpius is the archetypal bad guy and the Peace Keepers are more ominous for his inclusion. Chiana has a very interesting almost schizophrenic personality and the bringing in of new characters keeps this show interesting. One thing I will say is that for Farscape read Blakes 7, have the guys at Jim Henson's been taking a leaf from B5's JMS and tapping into 70's & 80's Brit Sci-Fi. This is no criticism as no better a source of inspiration could be found.