The Raven

Friday 6th February 2015

Director: James McTeigue
Year: 2012
Stars: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve

I wanted to see this when it was released, the subject matter (Edgar Allan Poe - even if this was clearly going to be fictitious) and genre (thriller/ horror) both appealing to me. It didn't get great reviews, but having seen clips of the movie this didn't really put me off. Unfortunately I never got the chance to see it at the cinema, so when it was shown on TV I was fairly determined not to miss it.

Raven is all about a copy-cat murderer who uses Allan Poe's stories to inspire him. It becomes, to some extent, Poe's (Cusack) responsibility to find the killer, as he knows the subject matter of his stories best.

In my opinion, Cusack does a fantastic job of playing Poe, and is a joy to watch. I've always enjoyed him as an actor, but he really does a great job in this role. The film is pretty gory, and initially I wasn't sure if I was watching a gory horror film or a drama about a writer. This improved though, and by the end of the movie I was really enjoying the story. The film has a fair bit to say about whether or not fiction can lead to real-life horror, but also manages to tell a decent story. I'm not entirely sure why this movie got such negative reviews, but I'm glad I chose to ignore them and watch it anyway.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Sinister

Monday 5th January 2015

Director: Scott Derrickson
Year: 2012
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Michael Hall D'Addario, Clare Foley

This did turn out to be quite Sinister. At first it felt like your bog-standard horror movie, and wasn't doing a great job of drawing me in. To be fair, this wasn't entirely the fault of the movie - it was clearly aiming for a build-up of suspense, and there's only so much build-up you can get when you're having to pause the movie every five minutes to deal with your own screaming toddler (which is a different type of Sinister all of it's very own).

The movie tells the story of Ellison Oswalt (Hawke), a true-crime writer who moves to a house that children were hanged in to find out what happened, and who the killer was. Eventually (and fairly satisfyingly, being that you know he might not), he does find all this out. Although this is a horror movie of course, so it might have better for him not to know...

Once I actually got to sit down and pay attention to this (for the last 40 minutes or so), I did enjoy it. And it did creep me out, which horror movies don't always have the power to do. Although how much of that was down to the movie, and how much of it down to the fact that children were involved and I was dealing with my own horror child, I'm not sure...

Rating: 3 out of 5

First Snow

Wednesday 17th September 2014

Director: Mark Fergus
Year: 2006
Stars: Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo, William Fichtner

Before seeing that this was on TV, I had heard nothing about it - or perhaps I had, I just don't remember because the movie is nearly ten years old now. Either way, I definitely haven't seen it before, and it sounded intriguing enough - a movie about a man (Pearce) who learns that he's going to die when the next snowfall hits, and tries to do everything in his power to stop it happening.

The idea isn't a bad one, but somehow the implementation is a little lacking. There seem to be two movies in here struggling to get out - one about a normal man who is just trying to avoid death, and another about a man with something of a shady past. As it is, neither story is told in enough detail to make it feel real, resulting in you feeling as if you're watching two halves of two different movies.

Some great ideas, but something of a messy result.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Grey

Wednesday 9th April 2014

Director: Joe Carnahan
Year: 2011
Stars: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie, James Badge Dale

Wow, this meanders. And I don't mean that in a good way. Grey in name, grey in colour, grey in just about every sense. The Grey is so dull.

Liam Neeson plays John Ottway, a man who ends up on an aeroplane that crashes somewhere in Alaska. Cue the potential for a movie about cannibalism, and how to survive in the wild (try Alive, a much better movie). By this point in the movie I was already bored rigid, so to be fair it didn't really matter that The Grey didn't head in this direction. Instead, it introduces wolves. Wolves that like to kill men in Alaska who have just been in a plane crash. I honestly didn't think that a movie about blood-thirsty wolves could be this dull.

I'd finish this review, but I've fallen asleep...

Rating: 1 out of 5

The Guard

Tuesday 8th April 2014

Director: John Michael McDonagh
Year: 2011
Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong

Well, what a pleasant surprise this was. I had recorded it knowing little about it, but thinking it sounded quite good. When we came to watch it, we were a little dubious about whether or not it would be worth it.

Within minutes we were decided. The Guard is set in Ireland, and focuses on Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Gleeson), an Irish Guard based in a  village in County Galway, where very little ever happens. Except there's just been a murder, and it seems that there are some international drug smugglers somewhere nearby  - cue the arrival of the FBI...

This may all sound overly familiar, but The Guard is actually a novel, jolly good romp, with a massive hint of irony about it (a bit like the main character). And has a finale that made me comment how I haven't enjoyed the ending of a movie this much in ages.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Angels and Demons

Saturday 8th March 2014

Director: Ron Howard
Year: 2009
Stars: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor,Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard

Another movie that we've had sitting waiting to be watched for some time, one of the main reasons we hadn't gotten around to it yet was that it's nearly 2 and a half hours long. This coupled with the fact that neither of us were expecting it to be that good (although I still wanted to watch it) meant it had been ignored for a while.

Angels and Demons was better than expected. The basic premise is, unsurprisingly, quite silly (a scientist [Hanks] has to save the church from a terrorist act), but if you can get over/ ignore this set-up the rest of the movie is quite enjoyable. There's plenty of clue-solving, death and running around in circles, which is fine if you enjoy that sort of thing.

There's not a lot else to say really. If you plan to watch this you probably already know what you're getting yourself into, and you probably won't be too disappointed.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Awakening

Saturday 1st February 2014

Director: Nick Murphy
Year: 2011
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley, Joseph Mawle

Another random movie choice for a Saturday night to ensure we get those last 10 or so movies watched, I don't really know why I recorded The Awakening. It's a fairly standard thriller/ horror movie in many respects. Rebecca Hall plays Florence Cathcart, an educated woman who has become a ghost hunter. Initially Florence is trying to prove that ghosts exists, but usually succeeds in proving the exact opposite. She is invited to a boarding school by Robert Mallory (West), to try and explain why a boy has died, and whether or not that odd boy in the photos really is a ghost or not.

As always with movies like this, there is more to it than meets the eye. Everybody has a secret, but some are more relevant than others. For the majority of The Awakening I was fearful that the conclusion wasn't going to be as clever as I wanted it to be. Well, it ended better than it could have done - but it still isn't as clever as it thinks it is. We didn't fully guess the ending (as we often do), but we were halfway there. As horror movies go, you could do a lot worse. But Drag me to Hell is a lot more fun, and Let Me In is a better story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Invasion

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel, James McTeigue
Year: 2007
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jackson Bond

Yep, still ill. And getting a bit fed up with it now. So, in order to make myself not fear illness at all, I decided to watch a movie called The Invasion. All about people who get ill and have their bodies invaded by aliens that are slowly taking over the human race. And if you're thinking that this sounds like the plot of The Host (or, I've been informed, World's End), you're right. It takes a slightly different point of view, but the premise is basically exactly the same.

However, it's not badly done. As alien invasion movies go, it's actually pretty enjoyable and kept me watching. Of course, I knew pretty much who was going to survive and who wasn't (this is a Hollywood alien invasion movie, after all), but I didn't necessarily know how we were going to get there. Pretty average, but enjoyably so.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Number 23

Friday 20th September 2013

Director: Joel Schumacher
Year: 2007
Stars: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins

I have vaguely wanted to watch this movie for a while, having heard that Jim Carrey is quite good in it - and always having been something of a Jim Carrey fan anyway. But I also had my reservations - I was never entirely convinced by the plot, so didn't necessarily think the movie would actually be any good.

The title of The Number 23 tells you everything you need to know about the plot really. Walter Sparrow's (Carrey) wife (Madsen) finds a book called The Number 23, and Walter becomes obsessed with the number. And that's pretty much the whole premise...

... which isn't actually as bad as it sounds. The conclusion is one of the few that could probably have worked without me either sighing or thinking it was all a bunch of nonsense. So, whilst perhaps not groundbreaking, The Number 23 is at least an enjoyable movie with a vaguely plausible storyline.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Insidious

Saturday 7th September 2013

Director: James Wan
Year: 2010
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lyn Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey, Andrew Astor, Joseph Bishara

I really, really enjoyed this movie. Not, you realise, particularly because of the plot - just because I haven't seen a horror film for ages, and I miss them. It did help, of course, that as horror films go, this is a better one. Not having watched a horror movie in ages also helps - the fewer of them you watch, the less used you are to all the conventions, and the more scary a horror movie becomes.

In most ways, Insidious sticks quite firmly to those conventions. It focuses on a family who move into a new house, and suddenly demons start appearing; then one of the sons loses consciousness. Getting him to wake up turns out to be the only way to get rid of those demons.

The one time Insidious doesn't stick to horror film convention is actually the one time the movie annoyed me (which is rare for me). I won't say much more than that because it happens very near the end of the movie, but to me it just felt wrong.

Oh, and stick around for the end of the credits. As with all good horror films there's a bit more. It's nothing major and doesn't change the ending, but it's a nice touch.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Compliance

Monday 25th March 2013

Director: Craig Zobel
Year: 2012
Stars: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp

This was my second experience of baby cinema; this time, at the Watershed in Bristol. Once again, Joe was mostly lovely - playing quietly for the first half, and sleeping for the second half. Which he should be given some credit for as he was about to get the worst, stinkiest cold he had ever had.

Which also means he's due more credit than this movie. I can't deny that it's memorable, but it's also stifling (to be fair, it's meant to be), depressing and a very, very odd choice for a movie to show at a baby screening where all the mums want something to cheer them up a little (I would imagine anyway - I did)! Compliance is all about how we react to authority figures, doing whatever they tell us to just because they say they're authoritative. In this case, it's how a 19-year old female is treated when somebody claiming to be a detective rings up to say she's stolen from a customer. In case you can't guess, she's not treated well...

The idea is interesting, and even the story itself, whilst tough, is intriguing. But somehow the movie makes it all feel a bit too much like hard work. Maybe it is partly because I was there with a 7 month old baby, but I can't really think of a situation in which I would have enjoyed watching this.

 Rating: 2 out of 5

The Woman in Black: Film #142 of Film 365

Thursday 23rd February 2012

Director: James Watkins
Year: 2012
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White

When we were going to the cinema, we couldn't decide whether to watch this or The Muppets. I half wish we'd chosen The Muppets, although I knew I wanted to see this more. And that's not because The Woman in Black is a bad film - in the words of some girls leaving the cinema, it's truly terrifying. It's just because I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.

If you've read the Susan Hill novel this is based on, or seen the play in London's West End (I've done both and can't recommend either highly enough), you'll know what the basic premise of this story is. The story has been changed from the original - which, for the most part, I didn't mind. It's only the ending I have some issues with- and that's partly because I love the original ending so much.

If you love ghost stories, you will love this. It's definitely a slow burner - the scares don't come thick and fast, but when they do come you'll be very, very scared. There aren't a lot of jumps, but when they come, they'll get you. And you won't once think of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. He embodies Arthur Kipps perfectly. I can now recommend the movie (almost) as highly as the book and the play- as long as you don't mind a massive scare or two.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle: Film # 126 of Film 365

Wednesday 18th January 2012

Director: Curtis Hanson
Year: 1992
Stars: Annabella Sciorra, Rebecca DeMornay, Matt McCoy, Julianne Moore, Ernie Hudson, Madeline Zima

I was convinced I'd seen this before, although I knew it was some time ago. However, having talked to a colleague at work about it, I couldn't really remember any of the scenes he mentioned. So when it was being shown on TV, I thought I'd give it a re-watch to remind myself of what happens.

Five minutes into the movie, and I had no memory at all of any the scenes. I'm really not sure I had seen this before - either it's been wiped from my memory entirely, or I was just mixing it up with some other movie.

In The Hand that Rocked the Cradle, Claire (Sciorra) accuses her doctor of molesting her when she's pregnant. This leads to a rather angry wife managing to work her way into Claire's family, as a nanny for her two children. Obviously this isn't good news, and the rest of the movie focuses on the events that follow.

There are a lot of scenes in The Hand that Rocked the Cradle that feel very familiar to me in a "I've seen this in a Hollywood thriller before" sort of way. However, many of these thrillers may well have been made since The Hand that Rocked the Cradle was released, so it's possible this movie is something of a genre definer. It was certainly an enjoyable movie to watch, even if it was fairly obvious (at least to me) what was coming when.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Taken: Film #118 of Film 365

Saturday 7th January 2012

Director: Pierre Morel
Year: 2008
Stars: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen

In an attempt to break free from the romantic-comedy cycle I seem to be on at the moment, I figured an action/ crime drama might be a good choice. So Taken it was.

Taken is a pretty good example of the type of movie it is. It has an interesting (if entirely implausible) plot, and the lead man (Bryan Mills, played by Neeson) is truly kick-ass. You know he's going to win, but you still want him to. He's got some properly evil guys to fight so it's OK to kill them all.

Taken follows Mills as he tries to track down the Albanian human traffickers who have kidnapped his daughter, and get his daughter back. Mills is an ex-CIA agent, meaning that he's so kick-ass he can take on rooms full of the bad guys, even when they all come at him at the same time. Like I said, implausible. But still a fun watch, as long as you're happy with car/ boat chases, scraps and gun fights.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Near Dark: Film #98 of FIlm 365

Saturday 10th December 2011

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Year: 1987
Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton

I watched Near Dark many years ago, when I was about 15. I remember enjoying it at the time, but not much about what actually happened. So when I discovered it was being shown on TV I was keen to watch it again and remind myself of why I had enjoyed it first time round.

Near Dark is all about Caleb (Pasdar), a man who meets a girl but doesn't realise exactly what she is - until it's too late. It's a pretty traditional take on the vampire movie, but with things that clearly date it to the 1980s. Not that that makes it a bad movie - it's still an enjoyable story, and well paced. I'm less keen on the ending - it just felt a little too Hollywood for me.

I don't have any problems with Near Dark, but having rewatched it, I remember why I enjoyed it all those years ago - but also why it never made my list of most loved movies. The Lost Boys may be far more '80s, far less slick and far less critic-friendly, but it's a lot more fun and the vampires are just so much, well, cooler.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Vacancy: Film #92 of Film 365

Friday 18th November 2011

Director: Nimrod Antal
Year: 2007
Stars: Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley

I was feeling rather unmotivated on Friday evening, so what better way to spend my time than watching a short, taut little horror movie?

David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox are a couple who get lost in the middle of nowhere, and end up being talked into staying at a motel before they get their car fixed the next day. Sound familiar? The movie definitely gives nods to Psycho and The Shining...

Vacancy won't surprise any horror fans out there - but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. It subverts some of the more obvious genre traps, and is short and interesting enough to feel satisfying. If you're already a horror fan it will make a nice change from stupidly obvious slasher movies, and if you're new to horror, it's not a bad place to start.

Rating: 4 out of 5

We Need to Talk About Kevin: Film #87 of Film 365

Wednesday 2nd November 2011

Director: Lynne Ramsey
Year: 2011
Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller

Now this is better. Let's hope all of November's movies are like this, and maybe I'll feel motivated to watch more than in the last couple of months. I had wanted to see We Need to Talk about Kevin at the Toronto Film Festival, as that was when it premiered. We did request tickets, but because it was such a big movie and we were unlucky when the box numbers were drawn, we didn't get to see it. So when it got released a couple of months later in the UK, I was very keen to see it. Oddly, it only seemed to be showing at one of the art house cinemas - I thought it would be a bigger movie than that. But I like the Watershed in Bristol, so had no problems with going there to see this.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is adapted from the book by Lionel Shriver. It is all about Eva Katchadorian, the mother of Kevin - a boy who goes on a high school killing spree. Told through flashbacks after the event, the film focuses on Eva's reactions to the event, her feelings of guilt, and how she copes with life after it has all happened.

The movie is incredibly faithful to the book, and portrays the feelings of the characters remarkably well. The book focuses on feelings a lot, so this must have been pretty tough to do. I didn't really feel that the film added much to the book, but it's a powerful story, and I'm not sure much really needed to be added.

If you haven't read the book (or even if you have), this is really worth a watch. Tilda Swinton does an amazing job of making you understand exactly where Eva is coming from, and the entire movie is incredibly thought-provoking; although not exactly an uplifting experience.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Dark: Film #86 of Film 365

Monday 31st October 2011

Director: John Fawcett
Year: 2005
Stars: Maria Bello, Sean Bean, Sophie Stuckey, Abigail Stone

As it was Halloween, watching a horror movie seemed appropriate. We had plenty to choose from (most of them recorded over a year ago), and this seemed to be one of the more interesting things on offer. The Dark is a British movie, set in Wales and playing on Welsh mythology.

In truth, The Dark is more of a psychological thriller than a horror. That's not to say it doesn't have its horrific moments, but it's not really a "jump-in-the-dark" horror movie. The movie starts off well, and seems to have a story to tell. Adelle's (Bello) daughter vanishes, and a child appears in her place. Adelle spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out what has happened to her daughter.

Not all the plot lines take the obvious route, but at times this hinders rather than helps the narrative. The ending is confusing, and a number of plot details were left totally unexplained. I spent some time reading reviews online, and it seems that everybody else was just as confused as I was - or at least in total disagreement about what had actually happened. I wander if the ending is clear in the director's mind?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Film #84 of Film 365

Thursday 20th October 2011

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Year: 2011
Stars: Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch

My initial reaction to Tinker Tailor Solder Spy was "what?!". And I won't take it back. I just don't understand. I don't understand why critics loved it, I don't understand what was going on, I don't understand why so many of the scenes were considered important when they were clearly irrelevant, I don't understand Kathy Bate's accent (Perry from Kevin and Perry anyone? You can't take a character seriously when you're imagining them as a 13 year-old schoolboy with their cap on backwards), I don't understand why I'll never get back those 2 1/2 hours of my life...

The movie had something to do with moles. And a Russian agent who it seemed that you were meant to care who he was, but apparently you weren't. And lots to do with fanatically praising sometimes-good actors about how amazing they are in this movie (that end scene with Gary Oldman? Really? Please).

Maybe I needed to have been alive in the '70s and have seen the original drama. Maybe I need be more intelligent. Maybe I need to like grainy shots more. Maybe I need to have a reverence for Gary Oldman that just isn't there (yes, he can be good. But I want to be watching Harry Potter, not this). But I have none of these things, and I don't want them. Especially not after having to sit through this.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Orphan: Film #82 of Film 365

Thursday 20th October 2011

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Year: 2009
Stars: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jimmy Bennett, Aryana Engineer

I had wanted to see this for a while, as I had heard good things about it, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It was billed as a horror, but for me it felt more like a psychological thriller. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it's just that the theme was more 'disturbed kid' than 'scary kid'.

The basic premise of Orphan is that Kate and John Coleman lose a child, so decide to adopt Esther - a kid they find in an orphanage who seems pretty sweet - at least in their eyes. Really, she's just kind of creepy.

Orphan is actually a pretty enjoyable movie, as long as you don't start watching it with false expectations. If you want a scary jump-out-your-seat horror movie, this isn't for you. If you want something more psychological, then you'll likely enjoy it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5