Film Guide

When I first heard the premise of Justin Timberlake taking a lead in Andrew Niccol’s new Sci-Fi Thriller In Time, I immediately thought this sounds like Logan’s Run with a Pop Star. Driving to the preview showing I was then confronted by a publicity poster on the back of a bus that looked like a mash-up of Tron and Water for Elephants which initiated an emotional tangent or two but what was I truly in for? The trailer had given great premise for the story which is always a key strength of an Andrew Niccol production so would the movie itself live up to expectations.

As a fan of his works in The Truman Show (writer) and The Terminal (writer/director) the New Zealand born Niccol has mesmerised International audiences with his ability to challenge societal values through connected story telling. While Gattaca was his first release it wasn’t his first feature story as The Truman Show took so long to come to production primarily because of sourcing Peter Weir and Jim Carey. His first public release was never the less the Sci-Fi flic Gattaca which took Ethan Hawke and future wife Uma Thurman into the world of genetic engineering with a younger Jude Law. This is definitely worth watching again or maybe for the first time. On a side note watch for a possible remake of this one.

“Hollywood’s only allegiance these days is to money. If they think there’s cash to be made by making films with a conscience, then you might see a revival of that kind of film-making. Otherwise, forget it.” – Andrew Niccol

When you hear quotes like this from Niccol, you have a perspective on what he is trying to achieve and deliver to customers through the Hollywood sausage machines. So if Hollywood has an allegiance to money then what is that value actually mean to you and I? In a not too distant future Niccol suggests through In Time a world where genetic engineering means you don’t age past 25. Look in the mirror, like what you see? This is what you’re left with for as long as you have credit. And in this environment the credit for every transaction from taxes and loan repayments through to a bus ride are all paid in ‘time’.  Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

A remake of the 1985 original, teenager Charley Brewster (Yelchin) guesses that his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Farrell) is a vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths. When no one he knows believes him, he enlists Peter Vincent (Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.  Read the rest of this entry »

Geeks of Doom are reporting that George A. Romero is currently working on adapting the Steven Schlozman novel, The Zombie Autopsies, with the assistance of the author.

The film will follow the story of scientist Dr. Stanley Blum, a man infected by, but also attempting to cure, a zombie virus It’s told through his journal entries, and is apparently quite elaborate in its descriptions of things.

I’m a little hesitant to get excited about this because, lets face it, Romero’s recent work hasn’t been that good. However, we can hope that this new direction, and with the assistance from the books author, will put Romero’s career back on track.

At the least, it’s given me another book to add to my must read list.

Riese: Kingdom Falling is another TV show like Sanctuary that began life on the internet only to be picked up by SyFy. It follows the story of a traveller who goes by the name Rises, who is wandering the dangerous lands of Eleysia with her wolf Fenrir. Riese is being hunted by a religious cult, mainly because she has the royal mark and is the only real threat to their power base, one which was presumably stolen from the royal lineage.

The religious cult have embraced the industrial revolution and have a distinct steampunk style, with a fair bit of steampunk styled robotic technology being fused onto their warriors.

As Riese continues on her journey she discovers sinister plans that the religious cult has with the stealing and experimentation on all new born babies.  Read the rest of this entry »

First up, a brief overview for anyone not familiar with Sanctuary: It began life as an eight episode web series in 2007 that was so successful that it was picked up by an American SciFi TV station and made into a more traditional 13 episode TV show.

It follows the work of Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) who is a good looking and enigmatic scientist who seeks abnormals – creatures and monsters who secretly dwell in our world – to protect them or keep them from harming others. She os aided by a forensic psychiatrist, a computer genius, a con artist, Big Foot and a vampire, all who work out of the Sanctuary – a safe haven for abnormals.

I first discovered Sanctuary back in late 2009 when it was first released on DVD in New Zealand. Whilst it took me a while to get into it, I was pretty much a fan by the end of it. The quirky and often cheesy sci-fi story-lines, reliance on cheap CGI, and making real the things that go bump in the night, all packaged together with a superb collection of (mostly) human characters just worked so well together.

A few years have gone by and I somehow managed to miss out on Season 2 – not that I was going to let that get in the way of me watching Season 3!

Season 3 kicks off with the resolution of a cliff hanger from the end of Season 2 and it’s apparently that somewhere in that second season, one of the key characters has disappeared. It’s also apparently – probably due to having to upgrade my TV since watching Season 1, that most of the show appears to be filmed in front of a green screen. At times this is so glaringly obvious that it’s a distraction, but at other times it just fits the feel of the show.  Read the rest of this entry »

Playing loose versions of themselves, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reprise their hilariously fictionalized roles from Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and reunite with acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom for an acerbically witty, largely improvised ride through the English countryside. Tapped by The Observer to review fine restaurants throughout the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, Steve finds himself without a traveling companion after his girlfriend decides not to go at the last minute. After being turned down by everyone else he knows, Steve extends an invitation to Rob, and together the pair attempt to navigate the winding back roads of rural England, impersonating popular celebrities such as Michael Caine, Woody Allen and Liam Neeson (among many others) and bickering along the way.  Read the rest of this entry »