| The Texas Chainsaw Marathon - Part II |
[24 May 2012|08:39pm] |
Last time I looked at the votes for the next horror series to review and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the winner. In the post where I counted down the votes I also reviewed the very first of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. Now it's sequel time!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
The DVD cover is entirely taken up by Dennis Hopper, but it looks like that may have been a later decision, rather like the prominent position of Jennifer Aniston on the front of the DVD for "Leprechaun". Sure, Hopper wasn't exactly unknown when Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was released, but his main credits up to this point had been as the quiet and heavily bearded guy in "Easy Rider" and admittedly his brief but significant appearance as the journalist in "Apocalypse Now". However in the very same year as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was released, Hopper was to make a big splash with his central role in Lynch's "Blue Velvet" so the decision to make him seem like the undisputed star of the film may have come pretty quickly. However, in the film the character the audience is really supposed to relate to is a local radio DJ calling herself "Stretch".
Dennis Hopper's character is more of a mysteriously outsider, but unfortunately Hopper doesn't appear to exude the same manic and unhinged performance that I so enjoyed in "Speed" and which I suspect can probably be found in "Blue Velvet" too.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
The last one had Dennis Hopper. Now this one has none other than *drumroll* Viggo Mortensen. I have as yet to see any DVD cover take proper advantage of this star power and certain Mr. Mortensen was not the big star he is now when he made this film. However, his move from Lord Of The Rings to a number of David Cronenberg films seems rather less odd now.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
The Loved Ones (2009)
Yes, I know I said that I was going to be reviewing Tobe Hooper films (and I do have some reviews coming up for other Tobe Hooper films), but watching these Texas Chainsaw Massacre films finally gave me the guts to finish "The Loved Ones", an Australian film that I had found myself too disgusted to finish. I had actually got pretty far it turns out, but a particular element was just too much for me. Having never seen "Hostel" this was the first movie that I could really call "torture porn". However, watching it now it feels like a more fitting successor to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even watching the original, I found myself comforted by the fact that "The Loved Ones" had already been much more shocking.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| "GOSFORD PARK" (2001) Review |
[23 May 2012|12:07pm] |
"GOSFORD PARK" (2001) Review
I wrote this REVIEW of the 2001 Academy Award winning movie, "GOSFORD PARK". Featuring an all-star cast, the movie was directed by Robert Altman.
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| "Avengers Assemble" Review |
[15 May 2012|09:49pm] |
Avengers Assemble (2012)
Spoiler-free review, as always. (Though there may be some mild spoilers for Lord Of The Rings.)
I must admit that I was initially rather sceptical about this one. How hyped people were for this film must have some relation to how familiar they are with the comics and how much they enjoyed the past five Marvel Studios movies. For me that comes to "not at all" and "middling to good levels of enjoyment", so I wasn't exactly buzzing with excitement. When everyone else started raving about it though, you can be damn sure I was keen to see what I was missing.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| Dark Shadows...In a nutshell... |
[13 May 2012|05:32pm] |
I really wanted to like this movie, Michelle Pfeiffer is yummy as always, but this movie was a C+ at best. Not horrible, but I would wait until it came out on DVD, if I were you.
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| Movie Reviews! |
[13 May 2012|01:32pm] |
Looks like it's violence against women week, with reviews for Paddy Considine's directorial debut "Tyrannosaur" about a woman suffering from domestic abuse and David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"....
Tyrannosaur (2011)
I had been pretty excited to see this, but on the other hand I was a little worried by it. On the one hand it stars Eddie Marsan who I think is a brilliant and wonderfully versatile actor as well as Olivia Colman who I mainly know for comedy, but who had always seemed like a capable actress and had received accolades for her performance here. On the other hand, this is a film about domestic violence. In order to treat that subject properly it HAS to be harrowing and I don't really like my movies to be harrowing. I mainly look to movies for entertainment, albeit thought-provoking entertainment.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Let me start this review by pointing out that I LOVED the books. I know plenty of people think they are overrated and heck I might not even deny that. I'm not exactly a big reader so there could be much better material out there of which I am unaware, but I absolutely loved the way that the books built up this protagonist who is both a victim and a hero. She is both simulataneously for the simple reason that she has learnt that the only person she can rely on to end her victimisation is herself. The storyline isn't even about her learning to trust others, but rather about the truth coming out and her needing to make use of those who'd consider themselves friends when things come to a head. Lisbeth Salander does not trust authority, so she uses her powerful intellect to find ways to do without it and sometimes that involves using brute force.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| "HUGO" (2011) Review |
[11 May 2012|09:17pm] |
"HUGO" (2011)Review
I wrote this REVIEW of "HUGO", Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's 2008 novel. The movie stars Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz and Ben Kingsley.
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| Dark Shadows |
[11 May 2012|10:27pm] |
Just saw the movie and liked it. The mansion was very detailed. Only a couple of problems: 1. Kept hearing music that sounded like Phantom of the Opera.
2. The teen girl had headphones on an was carrying her tape recorder like it was a Walkman. Could have really happened in the 70's, but it looked weird.
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| "ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN" (1976) Photo Gallery |
[10 May 2012|10:47am] |
"ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN" (1976) Photo Gallery
Here is a GALLERY featuring images from "ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN", the 1976 Oscar winning political thriller. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the movie starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.
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| "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008) Review |
[08 May 2012|06:10pm] |
"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008) Review
I wrote this REVIEW of the 2008 action-fantasy film called "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM". The movie starred Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
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| The Avengers, Battleship, Griff The Invisible |
[09 May 2012|02:05am] |
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So Ive seen The Avengers movie at last. Its one of the BIG movies that Ive been really looking forward to this year (Batman, The Hobbit & Prometheus being the others). I cant say the film captured my heart and mind but it was about as entertaining as I had hoped. When the heroes meet in the film they do pretty much what they do in the comic books (i.e. get busy thumping the crap out of each other) and for me this part of the film worked a little better than when the heroes had to unite to fight the main baddie.
The one thing that I took from the film is that superheroes are only as good as the villians they face. A proper adversary has to be charasmatic and credible (both as a character and as a threat). The stronger and weaker super hero movies in recent years have largely stood or fallen on whether they were properly balanced with a decent villain. For the purposes of this film I think that Loki is a very worthy, charasmatic foe but the invading alien horde was a little lacking.
As an aside my favourite moment of the film is the Loki vs Hulk segment towards the end - genius!
Battleship is a movie that has been raising my eyebrows for a while. The trailers have been really exciting but Ive had some reservations about watching another film that has toy company Hasbro so high in the credits. It turns out that it was as much fun as it looked, a blissful mix of brainless Summer blockbuster and classic World war two drama. There is a real love affair going on with some of the military hardware in the film (i.e. the battleships) which doesnt sit that comfortably with my personal politics but there is also some deliciously silly fun - like the handbrake turn they perform in one of the battleships in one of the combat scenes! Its good silly fun, just dont tell your brain.
Griff The Invisible: A really good Australian super-hero movie (kind of) that also doubles as a quirky romance. Ryan Kwanten (who plays Jason Stackhouse in True Blood) takes the central role and does rather well. I was expecting some kind of silly romp but found something much more thoughtful. Its well worth having a look.
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| The Avengers VS Batman |
[07 May 2012|11:34am] |
It's a new "I'm a Marvel... I'm a DC..." video. From the same person who brought you "Rorschach and Deadpool".
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| Marvel Marathon |
[07 May 2012|02:07am] |
 Did anyone else do a Marvel Marathon at a movie theater for the new Avengers film? Some friends and I went, where they showed the five films leading up to The Avengers (and then The Avengers at midnight): Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and of course finally, The Avengers. The last three movies were in 3D too which was great. We were in the theater for 14 1/2 hours! From noon to 2:30 am. There was 15 minute breaks between each film, just enough time to piss, refill and smoke. It was perhaps the best way I've spent $20 in recent memory (and we got some free buttons and a poster). Having said that, I don't think I'll do another marathon like that again any time soon.. it was by far the longest I've ever spent in a movie theater. I've seen two movies in a row before, and three at a drive-in, but never SIX IN A ROW. I don't think I've even done that in the comfort of my own home. And I watch a lot of movies.
It was great fun. There were all kinds of kids (teenagers) there dressed up, and they all had lowered inhibitions, which was fun for them. Everyone was applauding at all the right times, from The Dark Knight Rises trailer to Hulk throwing around Loki like a ragdoll
Watching all those films all at once in a row like that, I think, really made my Avengers viewing experience all the better. Everything was fresh in my mind, and I really noticed all those little crossover details from movie to movie. It was a little slow going at first, but I imagine that's just because I didn't need to be reintroduced to the characters, having just watched their own films. I thought they stayed on the flying fortress thing a bit too long; I just wanted them to be a team and kick some ass back on the ground. But when they did get to that, woo boy, it was well worth the wait. And it had not one, but two after-the-credits scenes.
I don't like action movies as a rule, but something about the recent Marvel superhero movies are just good, pretty mindless entertainment. And that's ok now and then. :-) Entertaining as hell, and with the marathon, doubly so.
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