August 2010
7 posts
4 tags
Piranha (2010) review
I’m no elitist, I gladly enjoy both “art” and “popular” culture. But…I have ambivalent feelings about Piranha. On the one hand, I applaud its unabashed utilisation of the “R” rating—rarely (in recent years at least) have nudity and (especially) gore been ladled on so copiously. There is no pretense here, what you see is what you get, a...
3 tags
The Night Caller (1965) review
Although the glossy, colour Hammer horror films are the “face” of British fantasy cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of science fiction movies were produced in the UK in this era, roughly book-ended by The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (though there were earlier and later examples, cf Devil Girl from Mars in 1954 and 1969’s Journey to the Far...
3 tags
The Expendables (2010) review
I’d been looking forward to The Expendables for some time—not with the Star Wars or Twilight or Harry Potter-fan level of anticipation, but with a “this should be pretty cool” hope (I felt the same way about Inception and I’ve got a similar vibe for Machete). I wasn’t disappointed, but (of course), I think…it could have been better.
I’m not a filmmaker, so any comments about film style or...
3 tags
The Other Guys (2010) review
At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, “movies are too darn long these days!” I’m not complaining solely because my butt gets numb and my bladder demands relief once the 90-minute barrier is broken. No, I’m willing to tough it out in the name of art. But for some strange reason, contemporary filmmakers seem determined to push the two-hour mark even when making...
2 tags
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) review
A few months ago, when I saw Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, I said to myself, “Has Werner Herzog *gasp* gone commercial?” (I use the term “commercial” in its artistic sense, since Bad Lieutenant seems to have been a colossal failure at the box-office, earning less than $2 million in the USA on a $25 million budget) No fear, Herzog returns to eccentric form...
4 tags
Dinner for Schmucks (2010) review
Dinner for Schmucks, I was surprised to note, has engendered quite a polemic for such a light, disposable film. Some find it pleasant, if not hilarious, while others seem offended or outraged at its blandness and/or its underlying premise. Me? Leaning towards the former opinion, in a very mild way; I certainly couldn’t work up a lot of enthusiasm to either condemn or praise it.
A...
4 tags
Resurrecting "The Streetwalker" (2009) review
For the second time in a few weeks, I found myself watching a faux-documentary about independent filmmaking in the UK (the first movie was Just for the Record, a comedy). Resurrecting “The Streetwalker” doesn’t have a lot of formal rigour—much of the footage is allegedly part of a “making of” documentary, but the viewer tends to forget this after a while,...
