Film Guide

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Following hot on the heels of Tomas Alfredson’s widely lauded Let The Right One In (2008), Matt Reeves’ Let Me In resolutely lays to rest fears of another Hollywood remake travesty and is a ‘must see’ for all genre fans and lovers of cinema. Taking on many of the best aspects of the Swedish original as well as other selected elements direct from the source material (John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel Låt den rätte komma in) Reeves’ adaptation remains true to the quietly eerie tone of both whilst being a convincing entity in and of itself. Finally, a recent piece of vampire fiction worthy of its rich literary and cinematic heritage, in a choice of two enticing languages and contexts!

An outsider romance-horror, Let Me In explores the bleak, brow-beaten world of pre-teen schoolboy Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Road) as he grasps at some sense of balance and power in the midst of bullying and parental breakup. Then suddenly everything seems to be changing for the better when young loner Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz – Kick-Ass) moves into the apartment next door with her father (Richard Jenkins – The Visitor), and subsequently into Owen’s life. Overcoming a cold first encounter (emotional and literal) each soon discovers in the other a kindred spirit. And though she displays a capacity to galvanise strength in Owen that he wasn’t aware he possessed, too soon he discovers that all is not as straightforward as it appears. You see, Abby has dark, dark secret; one that Owen is not sure that he can get past.

Credit must go to director Matt Reeves for the level of restraint he displays putting this film together. He made a point of going back to the source novel’s author to talk about the best way to adapt the film for the English speaking (read: American) market and the resulting film bears witness to the positive effect this had. The filmmaker resisted any notion of making the story’s protagonists older in order to milk more out of a possible romantic/sexual storyline, instead recognising that much of the film’s power and creepiness is derived from the contrast of youthful innocence with the seeming necessity of brutality and violence. The film is cast exceptionally well – the youthful stars shouldering the dramatic weight of the piece like seasoned pros – with shooting to match. Whether following the path of cars driving a snowy road through a forest (as in the opening scene) or lingering on the expressive faces of our young leads, cinematographer Greig Fraser (Bright Star, Out of the Blue) frames in a thoughtful, effective manner making this film a visual treat.  Read the rest of this entry »

The premise behind The Colony is great, and some would say timely, what with earthquakes and tsunamis rearing their ugly heads recently, and with pop-culture’s fascination with all things zombie. The Colony is a reality TV show where the Discovery Channel selected 10 strangers, put them in a post-apocalyptic scenario and sat back to see if they could re-build society from scratch.

It’s a great concept, and brilliant because even though it’s a reality TV show, there is no prize for ‘winning’ and no one gets voted off.

It’s all about survival.

The problem with the show is it’s instance with pretending to be authentic, and wanting you the viewer to actually believe that the show’s participants believe that they are living in a post-apocalyptic world. The show even falls back on the tired use of video diaries.

How would anyone fall into a sense that this fake life that they are living, TV cameras and all, is reality is beyond me.

The other factor that hurts the show, is that this apparently random selection of survivors is stacked with engineers and rocket scientists. Not a checkout operator or unemployed bum is sight.

If we ever do find ourselves living in a post-apocalyptic world, this is a group of people you would want to be with.

The location for the experiment is an abandoned warehouse, the conveniently has all the necessary equipment for this rocket scientists to have a reliable power source (once they’ve figured out what they need to scrounge) so they can have lights and use power tools, and enough vehicles so that they can scrounge parts to make their escape plans.

It’s all a little too much for what looked like it was going to be a serious look at how woefully prepared we would be, if the end did come.

But that’s not to say it isn’t entertaining, and even educational.

As a staged reality TV show it’s brilliant. Without the ridiculous obsession with voting people off each week, these survivors have to learn to get on with each other, plus, without a dwindling number of people to feed, food and water becomes a real issue for them. The show’s producers manage to throw enough surprises that each episode has plenty of action, along with a few moral dilemmas.

But rather than being a reality series looking at our ability to re-build society, I would describe it as Scrapheap Challenge meets Survivor. It really is fascinating to see what this mixed bunch of specialists can come up with each week, and throwing in a dwindling supply of crap food means that before too long hunger and fatigue begins to eat away at their brain power and stamina.

All in all, The Colony is great viewing, just don’t approach it thinking that this version of reality TV is going to be any more ‘real’ than anything else you might watch on DVD.

FILMGUIDE rating:

Reviewed by: Jonathan

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After a species of giant python invades the everglades, park rangers breed mutant alligators to counter the threat. Soon, the battle between massive pythons and enormous gators threatens all of Florida.

With a synopsis like the one above, you should already know that Mega Python Vs Gatoroid isn’t going to be a serious, or well produced film. Hell, even the films name should have given that away!

The funny thing is, I’m not sure what is worse, the acting or the special effects. Though I’m gonna go for the special effects.

But in all seriousness, you’re not going to be watching Mega Python Vs Gatoroid alone, or without a cold drink (or 2) in your hand. It’s the kind of film that you rent or buy and invite a few mates around and have a good laugh at.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere kicks off with a static shot of a black Ferrari driving past and going round a corner. Some seconds later it drives past again, still with the camera doing it’s best impression of playing stuck-in-the-mud. The Ferrari does this about 4 times before coming to a stop right in frame, and the driver getting out and looking off into the distance.

It’s not exactly an opening that grabs you.

Later on, the Ferrari driver is recovering in bed after a drunken fall, watching with little interest as two pole dancers put on a private show for him. He manages to fall asleep. We don’t have that luxury. We have to watch the entire, uninspired and soulless routine.

Later in the film, when we discover that the Ferrari driver is actually a very famous actor, we see him arrive at make up. He has to sit still whilst the make up crew apply what looks like plaster of paris to his face. Once done they tell him that he needs to sit still for the next forty-five minutes, then they leave the room. Stuck-in-the-mud camera stays focused on the actor as he sits stationary, breathing out of the two holes left under his nose.  Read the rest of this entry »

Its a telling title for this Pirates movie. Has the tide turned and can the roller coaster ride from Disney sustain a fourth journey around the themepark? This time we have a 3D ride which is still the going fad with a number of movies particularly from the Disney stable. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are out probably due to fame having a cost and we have a fresh injection of talent from Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane. Old friends like Kevin McNally as first mate Gibbs and a turncoat role for Geoffrey Rush keep the tone of familiarity in the cast. Rob Marshall has taken over the directing chair from Gore Verbinski and the ride kicks into gear eight years after the first voyage aboard the Black Pearl.

Despite the lack of previous star talent, the key ingredients for a Pirates movie are still part of the mixing pot. While I may sound a little cynical at first on the 3D factor this was a movie where it sat comfortably in the myriad of scenes from open vessel seascapes to the dark interior shots and amongst the jungle fight scenes. It was used sparingly for a few ‘jump out of the screen’ pieces and used well at those points. Like any Pirate story there needs to be a treasure, a fight and a damsel. The ultimate treasure sought on this voyage and to which only Jack knows the way, is the illusive fountain of youth. One of the characters believes the end is nigh unless they can reach the goal and drink the water of eternal life. Of course there has to be more than one team racing and in this edition we have two pirate teams, His Majesty’s navy and the Spaniards with a head start. All up it makes for a crowded finish line but who wins? Now not to give any spoilers its still not quite the same as Harrison Ford’s dance with the Holy Grail in the third Indiana Jones movie and there will be winners and losers.  Read the rest of this entry »