-
Blog Search
Links
Certificate: 
Directors: Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña
Release Date: 29 May 2009
Tagline: Think inside the box.
Main Cast:
Lluís Homar … Hilbert
Alejo Sauras … Galois
Elena Ballesteros … Oliva
Santi Millán … Pascal
Federico Luppi … Fermat
I enjoyed this. However, it is far too much like Cube for me to rate it too highly. In a nutshell, four geniuses have been selected (supposedly on their ability to solve a kind of mathematical problem) to attend a special gathering of elite minds. They are all directed to drive to an isolated location, and are all given pseudonyms. It soon becomes clear that they have fallen into a deadly trap and must use their intelligence and quick thinking if they are to save their lives.
There are, however, two plot holes (see here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016301/goofs) that are far too big to overlook. All in all, though, I did enjoy it, and would recommend watching it.
Rating: 
Certificate: 
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release Date: 16 July 2010
Tagline: The dream is real.
Main Cast:
Dom Cobb … Leonardo DiCaprio
Arthur … Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Ariadne … Ellen Page
Eames … Tom Hardy
Saito … Ken Watanabe
Ok, first things first. 12A? Ludicrous. Not only is there a lot of violence, you’ll have to be very intelligent and/or are able to concentrate well to follow this if you are twelve. Any child less than this age/and or ability will only whinge, moan, declare (loudly) that they want to go to the toilet (it’s 148 minute long) and, more than likely, run around. Therefore, watch it with children present at your peril – distractions *will* result in you being completely lost.
Secondly, forget what you have heard about how it’s confusing and incomprehensible. The primary plot is very easy to grasp. It’s only when you try to link every subtle and glorious details that you begin to question and mull things over.
The primary plot is this. Dom Cobb and his colleagues are thieves, but not in the ordinary sense. They go into the the dreams of people to extract and steal things that are in the dreamer’s mind. They are architects of dream worlds and are able to manipulate the dreamer. Cobb has been accused of his wife’s murder and is unable to return to his home and children. A powerful business man, Saito, offers him a chance to get this accusation ‘taken care of’ if he helps him plant a seed (an inception) in to the mind of his terminally ill fiercest rival’s son. The inception in question is to place the idea that the son does not simply inherit the company and keeps it as it is, but to convince him that he is his own man and dissolve the company and follow his own path. Saito claims that if the son continues the business as it is, then it will be “the next superpower”. It seems that Saito has the world’s best interest at heart, but this is niether confirmed or proved false. Needless to say, Dom accepts this job.
It makes total sense. At least on the surface. I need to watch it again to fully understand all the intricacies of the film as a whole!
Inception is a true slice of originality that is sadly lacking in today’s remakes and regurgitations of the same plot but with different trimmings and actors. Absolutely bloody marvellous!
Rating:
P.S. Leonardo DiCaprio is proving himself to be an exceptional actor with every passing year
Certificate:
Director: Scott Derrickson
Release Date: 25 November 2005
Tagline: What happened to Emily?
Main Cast:
Laura Linney … Erin Bruner
Tom Wilkinson … Father Moore
Jennifer Carpenter … Emily Rose
This is by far the second best demonic possession/exorcism film that I’ve seen (The Exorcist will, inarguably, never be surpassed). It’s based on the True Story of Anneliese Michel, a German Catholic girl who was possibly mentally ill, possibly an epileptic, possibly possessed by demons, and possibly a combination of two or all three. After the failure of medication (it’s entirely possible that this failed because of her belief that she might be possessed) she underwent sixty seven exorcisms over a period of ten months.
There are photographs of her after the illness(es) and or possession took hold that are really quite shocking. Is it possible that she was ‘only’ mentally ill and the suggestion that she was demonically possessed caused added complications to this? It seems very unlikely that psychosis, epilepsy and/or anorexia was her primary problem and the cause of all her disturbances.
Now, although I do believe (through personal experience and other eyewitness accounts that are absolutely genuine) that there are ghosts and other things that science cannot explain, I don’t believe in Heaven and Hell. Bearing in mind that I’m an atheist (although I accept that I could be wrong; after all the existence of God can neither be confirmed or denied), I find the story of Anneliese very disturbing. The photographs of her before, during and at the end of her life are genuinely shocking.
So, what do I believe? Illness or demonic possession? Surprisingly, I don’t know what I believe. What *did* happen to Emily?
Rating:
Certificate: 
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Release Date: 12 March 2010
Main Cast:
Michael Nyqvist … Mikael Blomkvist
Noomi Rapace … Lisbeth Salander
Lena Endre … Erika Berger
Sven-Bertil Taube … Henrik Vanger
This is an absolute cracker. An adult, engrossing and thrilling film that does not fail to deliver. It’s absolutely brilliant on every level, and if you are a film lover, then you need to see it.
I really can’t give anything away, but the story is about how, forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs the disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate.
Fantastic. What are you waiting for – watch it now!
Rating:
Certificate:
Director: Danny Boyle
Release Date: 7 January 2011
Tagline: There is no force more powerful than the will to live.
Main Cast:
James Franco … Aron Ralston
Based on the true story of how Aron Ralston got himself trapped in an isolated and treacherous canyon walk, 127 Hours is, just like Touching the Void, a brilliantly made yet difficult to watch film.
Aron had a freakish accident and found himself trapped by his right arm between a huge boulder and an impenetrable rock wall. 127 Hours documents his harrowing experience and the only solution that he had left to him if he wanted to survive.
It’s a captivating film that never strays into anything other than a pure and simple story of survival.
It’s hard to rate it as this is a real story being played for us, and unlike the average real life biographies (such as Walk the Line), there is not a lifetime of experiences to draw from - only 127 hours. So, I shall rate it purely on the basis of its ability to captivate the audience.
Rating:
Certificate:
Director: Andrew Niccol
Release Date: 20 March 1998
Tagline: There is no gene for the human spirit.
Main Cast:
Ethan Hawke … Vincent Freeman
Uma Thurman … Irene Cassini
Jude Law … Jerome Eugene Morrow
Many sci-fi films portray the future as a bleak place where humanity is in decline and/or some kind of place that is post apocalyptic and lawless. Gattaca is the exact opposite.
Instead of bleak hopelessness, we are given a future where we have refined genetic engineering, and perfect human specimens can be born. Those, however, who have been conceived and born naturally are deemed to be of a lower class, and therefore only suitable for menial work.
Vincent Freeman is a ‘faith born’. Genetically inferior and predicted to have many and severe health problems, Vincent has no chance of fulfilling his ambitions; at least not as himself. He takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, genetically perfect but paralysed as a result of a car crash, to realise his potential, but he must pass rigorous and frequent tests to prove his genetic suitability.
On the surface, genetically engineered humans may seem like a good idea but wouldn’t we be creating elitism and damning natural borns into the bowels of society? Perhaps Gattaca is not the exact opposite after all.
I think that this was perhaps one of those films that seemed to pass by without too much notice but will find its audience in due time. Slick, subtle and with a strange feeling of clinical calmness, Gattaca is a very, very good film.
Rating:
Certificate:
Director: David Slade
Release Date: 16 June 2006
Tagline: Strangers shouldn’t talk to little girls.
Main Cast:
Patrick Wilson … Jeff Kohlver
Ellen Page … Hayley Stark
I can suspend disbelief, and I can just about cope with a plot hole (as long as it’s not a major one). But these conditions apply only to otherwise great films. Hard Candy, however, is not a great film.
It’s totally unbelievable and ridiculous. If you couldn’t give a monkey’s toss about realism, then you might enjoy this. It feels like it wants to be intelligent torture porn, but the reality is that it is neither. Having said that though, I felt a bit tortured watching it.
Rating: 
Certificate:
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Release Date: 28 August 2009
Tagline: You’ll know when you’re in it.
Main Cast:
Jeremy Renner … SSgt. William James
Anthony Mackie … Sgt. JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty … Spc. Owen Eldridge
I am at a loss as to why this film has been rated quite highly by film critics. I found it tedious and predictable and I didn’t find one single character in it that I liked and rooted for. Do US soldiers really behave like total twats, or are these characters just stereotypical for this genre of film.
I will be more than happy if I never see this again.
Rating:
Certificate: 
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: 21 September 2001
Tagline: David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not.
Main Cast:
David … Haley Joel Osment
Monica Swinton … Frances O’Connor
Jude Law … Gigolo Joe
William Hurt … Prof. Hobby
I first saw this on its release, and I was left feeling rather ambivalent. The first half of the film is superb but then it sort of collapses somewhat suddenly into a sort of Blade Runner scenario. And then it gets even odder than that with the introductions of aliens.
One thing I was not left ambivalent about was Haley Joel Osment. He’s absolutely stunning as David and gives one of the best performances in cinematic history.
And then I watched it again and now I have an altogether different opinion of it. I found myself liking the stark contrast. I still think that it could have been less ‘neon futuristic’, but I was expecting it, and it made a difference. I also found myself liking the ending much more. David may not have got what he desperately wanted, but in the end he still finds peace and happiness, and it’s very touching.
Perhaps this film is one of those that ‘improve’ with a second viewing.
Rating:
Certificate:
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Release Date: 31 August 1990 (UK)
Main Cast:
Cristina Sánchez Pascual … Yolanda Bel
Julieta Serrano … Abadesa Julia
Dark Habits is a completely bizarre film, and one that I think will either bore you or leave you thinking about it for a few days. I’m not sure if it’s a satire, black comedy, serious drama or even all three!
All of the nuns have very unique personalities and all have different reasons for being there. They are a very eclectic bunch!
Basically, the story is about a group of nuns who provide refuge for life’s waifs and strays. They offer no judgement on those whom they help, and with good reason.
Whilst this is not one of Almodóvar’s best films, it’s still very thought provoking and surprises you in many ways.
Rating: