Film Guide

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a straight to DVD sequel to the 1987 cult classic, The Lost Boys.  About the only thing it had going for it, was the inclusion of Corey Feldman.  And that was more of an inquisitive ‘this’ll be funny’ kind of thing.

But for what it is, it doesn’t play out to bad.  It’s cheesy B-Grade all the way, with an 80’s rock video feel to it, The Lost Boys 2 has just the right amount of gratuitous nudity and splatterific gore to keep it firmly rooted in B-Grade nirvana, and to earn it it’s necessary R18 rating.

Necessary because a movie like this isn’t going to really appeal to fans of the original, unless they are Corey junkies, and the only way to appeal to new viewers of this genre is to keep their expectations on the line with the promise of some R-rated action.

So if you know what you’re getting yourself into, you’ll be able to have a laugh with this movie, which is really the only way to view it, because to be honest, there isn’t much in the way of redeeming features and apart form laughing at the absurdity of it all, it probably won’t have a lasting impression after you press the stop button on your remote control as the credits role.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: R18 – Contains violence,offensive language and sex scenes.
Released on: January 7th, 2009
Stars: Tad Hilgenbrink, Angus Sutherland, Autumn Reeser, Gabrielle Rose, Corey Feldman, Shaun Sipos, Merwin Mondesir, Moneca Delain, Kyle Cassie, Tom Savini, Daryl Shuttleworth, Sarah Smyth, Alexander Calvert, Corey Haim, Jamison Newlander
Length (Minutes): 86
Media Format: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1
Languages: English
Supported Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Brand: Lost Boys
Director: Pesce, P.J.
Studio: Warner Bros

Plot: A group of Special Ops Reservists on a mission in the harsh and hostile terrain of Afghanistan find themselves lost in a Middle Eastern “Bermuda Triangle” of ancient evil. [imdb]

The Co-Creator of the Blair Witch Project, Spec Ops, Middle Eastern Bermuda Triangle of EVIL!!!, oh this ones gonna be a winner!

Plot: Wolverine lives a mutant life, seeks revenge against Victor Creed (who will later become Sabertooth) for the death of his girlfriend, and ultimately ends up going through the mutant Weapon X program. [imdb]

What’s that about cat-scratch fever? Well, TV scribe Tom Wheeler’s got it.

Wheeler has been hired to write the “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots” for DreamWorks Animation, a stand-alone feature foray for the feline assassin/swordsman voiced by Antonio Banderas in the two most recent “Shrek” films.

Michelle Raimo is producing.

The “Shrek” franchise has ballooned into a multibillion-dollar property, with three feature films grossing more than $2 billion worldwide in theaters, tens of millions of DVDs sold and merchandising in every toy store. A fourth feature film, “Shrek Goes Fourth,” is due in theaters May 21, 2010.

The Puss in Boots character, originally hired to knock off the grumpy green ogre, debuted in “Shrek 2,” which is the 10th-highest-grossing movie of all time. He went on to become part of Shrek’s entourage. [thr]

Plot: Based on the BBC mini-series of the same title, a team of investigative reporters work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman’s mistress. [imdb]

A jittery man of God wanders down a gruesome alleyway in central Christchurch, fending off a solicitous prostitute as he asks directions from a group of homeless people.

When the rain starts falling, the preacher, prostitute and rough sleepers are immediately surrounded by umbrella-wielding assistants.

They are all actors in a home-grown but Hollywood-bound feature film, shot in Christchurch yesterday.

The film, The Holy Roller, is a romantic comedy-drama about a struggling preacher who is tricked into starting a church in a nightclub to pay a debt to an underworld boss.

With a budget of less than $1 million, the film was written by Christchurch man Angus Benfield, 36, who is also the film’s lead actor and producer.

Benfield said he drew on his experiences of Bible study in America about 10 years ago for the plot and characters.

“I’ve sunk my heart in it,” he said. “It’s been great fun.”

Benfield said it was feasible to make a decent low-budget film in New Zealand because industry people were eager to help or would accept discounted fees to get the project finished.

Production designer Bryce Holtshousen, 40, said alleyways were tough to decorate because they “sucked up” so many props to look authentic and full.

The South African native has recently moved to Dunedin via Los Angeles where he worked on more than 100 Hollywood films, including Men in Black II, Spiderman and the Oscar-nominated Tumbleweeds.

Holtshousen said film work was harder to come by in New Zealand but the industry was far friendlier.

However, he said it was far more difficult to track down unusual props.

It took a full day of phone calls to acquire an adjustable heart monitor.

British actor Mike Maxwell, 57, who lives in Spain, was in Christchurch visiting family when he heard the cast was being selected. He plays the role of Declan, “a heavy who finds God”. [stuff]

One month after Disney decided to pull the plug on co-financing the third movie in Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series, Walden has found a new partner in 20th Century Fox.

Fox, which was entitled to first crack at “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” after Disney dropped out because of the shared Fox Walden marketing and distribution label, has made a commitment to develop the project. The two sides are still working out budget and script issues, but the hope is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

Fox 2000 will spearhead development and production matters from the Fox front. Topper Elizabeth Gabler had pursued the “Narnia” franchise but was beaten out by Walden. The Century City studio seems to be an ideal fit for the “Narnia” books given that it’s been looking for a family-friendly, lit-based franchise for years — Fox 2000′s “Eragon” failed to catch on with audiences and died after one installment.

Fox and Walden will split production and P&A costs for “Dawn Treader,” which is projected to go into production at a $140 million budget. That’s considerably less than the $215 million or so spent on last year’s “Prince Caspian,” which was considered something of a box office disappointment as compared with the first “Narnia” pic, 2005′s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” ($419 million vs. $745 million worldwide, respectively).

Still, “Caspian,” which is considered the least commercially appealing of the seven C.S. Lewis “Narnia” novels, ranked No. 10 in global box office performance last year. “Dawn Treader” is considered to be a more family film-friendly book, and the goal is to get back to the magical aspects present in the first “Narnia” pic but mostly absent from “Prince Caspian.”

Ultimately, Fox’s commitment to the summer start date is contingent upon Walden’s selection of a writer. Richard LaGravanese penned the most recent draft that both Walden and Fox were happy with, but there’s a question about his availability because he has been adapting Sara Gruen’s bestseller “Water for Elephants” for Fox 2000.

After budget and script concerns are settled, Fox and Walden are expected to greenlight the film. The intention is to move the production away from Mexico, where, ironically, it was going to be shot at the Fox-owned Baja facility called Rosarito used for “Titanic” and “Master and Commander.” “Dawn Treader” will instead likely shoot in Australia because of concerns for the drug violence and kidnappings that are taking place near Baja. [variety]

A baby is born wrinkly, very wrinkly and displaying all the symptoms of old age. As this boy grows the aging process reverses, as he gets older he appears younger. A simple and yet crazy premise for a movie.

So now you know the basic premise of the movie. I guess it’s really just one component of the movie, one simple idea like a planet that is orbited by events, characters and a huge raft of emotions. After all it’s hard to be someone who is different, especially when what sets you apart is something never seen before and something so foreign to the reality that we know that not only is it hard to believe but also difficult to accept. So baring this in mind it makes for somewhat of a harrowing emotional journey. Now this deeply moving film would only be this way due to the wonderful character portrayals of Benjamin Button (Pitt), Daisy (Blanchett) and Queenie (Henson).

It is one of those stories that are best seen, rather than explained and so I won’t go in to huge depth about the plot. I will point out that it has been set up in a similar manner to that of Titanic, the Notebook and various other films, where the story is told looking back. As Daisy lies on her death bed, her daughter finds the diary of a man called Benjamin Button and begins to read the diary aloud to her mother. Leading to in-depth flashbacks and the occasional moment of interaction as the story unfolds and shows a side to Daisy that her daughter did not know. Written in first person by the object of the story, this diary begins to explain the curious life of one Benjamin Button. As explained in the premise description above, this is no ordinary life story.

The makeup and special effects in this film are excellent from the aged young man of Benjamin Button to the youthful Daisy, there are no moments in this film where you don’t believe the what you’re seeing.  I should point out that normally I find so much fault in the way that Hollywood poorly attempts to age people through makeup but here it is flawless and worthy of an Oscar.

Which leads me to the 13 nominations for Oscars this year for this film. One of the nominations is for an up and coming young actress by the name of Taraji P. Henson who plays “Queenie” the adoptive mother to Benjamin Button. Of course there’s Brad Pitt with his first Oscar Nomination since he was nominated for best supporting Actor in Terry Gilliam’s “Twelve Monkeys”. Put yourself in Pitt’s shoes; although he is no stranger to complex and interesting roles, how does an actor find the motivation and experience to play something so new and preposterous as a boy who ages backwards. Well whatever he drew on has helped him to portray immaculately this struggle of humanity that we see in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Take a box of tissues for your tears and be prepared for a deeply moving, sad and yet thoroughly enjoyable close on two and a half hours at the cinema.

Reviewed by: Jon E Clist
Releases: 25th December 2008
Rating: M – Offensive language & Sexual references
Running time: 166 minutes
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton & Taraji P. Henson
Director: David Fincher

One word: Yawn.

Plot: “Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity… but who is watching the Watchmen? [imdb]

I’m looking forward to this movie, but this second poster seems rather weak compared to the first, and that blood look very fake.

Plot: On a busy street in London, Gina thinks she sees herself drive past in her own car. Stunned by this strange event, Gina follows the mystery woman up to her apartment. From here, events take an eerie turn for the worse until Gina’s awareness slides from solid reality into a world that will haunt more than just her nightmares. [imdb]