2011 on Screen - Part 1: The Tides of Change

And so, another film year has drawn to a close, all the popcorn popped, the drinks drunk, the previews previewed and the reels changed all for the last time, and it seems to get faster every year.

As you may have noticed by the title, I'm going to break up my end of year piece into 2 parts, the second part will have the top 3, worst 3 and 3 disappointments, this first part will talk about my own views on the year as a whole as well as the 2 good and 2 bad trends.

So, let's get started, first off I want to talk about the year as a whole in regards to movies as I saw it and to be honest, I thought this was a better than average year at the movies, last year I felt was not a good year for movies, a lot of them came and went and the consensus seemed to be from both critics and mainstream audience members that Toy Story 3, Inception and the Social Network were the ones that stood tall for 95% of the moviegoers.

Here that hasn't happened at all, the choices for top film of the year seemed to vary depending on the person you talked to where it be the documentary Senna, Terence Malick's divisive Tree of Life, the neo pop thriller Drive and others which is great to see I feel as it proves that each person like what they like and they aren't afraid to show that in their end of year lists.

But I can't not mention this year in film and avoid the discussion of cinema going, probably the one thing in life I like to do more than anything and this year saw the closure of my local cinema and its work in progress re opening, now to be honest I wasn't surprised that it closed down as it wasn't all that good to begin with but it was indeed mine and I did feel a sense of loss when it was gone, having seen the work in progress re opening on the day I write this, I feel a great sense of improvement and want to see it when the work is fully done but it will also depend on the film whether I go back or whether I decide to continue doing what I had done prior to it which is to take a trip for those films that I want to see and waiting for the DVD and/or Blu-Ray for most.

Now, with that out of the way I am going to talk about my 2 good and 2 bad trends of the year overall, and to start I'm going to give you the good which are:

The Rebellion against 3D: Yes folks, 2011 was the year that audiences finally woke up to the horribleness that is 3D, last year most gave it a chance, this year they began to reject it and see it for what it really was: dark, dim, horrible, murky and a general drain on your bank account that you just don't need, 2D is all you need it looks better, it looks brighter, it's cheaper and it's not murky, it's all you need when going to the movies.

The quality of the blockbusters: Probably the most surprisingly trend of the year was how well the blockbusters were received, normally most blockbusters are frowned upon but this year Thor, X-Men First Class, Super 8, Captain America and Rise of the Planet of the Apes all got good reviews even though I didn't like some of those myself, still it bodes well for next year's crop which could continue this trend and I hope it does.

Now, that was the good, this is the Bad:

The Box Office: What on Earth Happened this year with the overall Box Office, it seemed that nothing could catch on with audiences, they either came in droves or stayed home, to me the only film to do anything regarding big numbers was the last Harry Potter but then that was always going to happen, you knew it was going to be big going in and it was every bit the big bang it promised to go out with.

Apart from that, so little managed to do well, it was liked those that wanted to see it went in the opening weekend and after that were either the stragglers that got the chance to see it or those that went because "hey there was nothing else on and I was there so what the hell", even movies like the Hangover 2, Twilight 4.1, Transformers 3 and Pirates 4 which did do well couldn't escape the near unanimous negative word of mouth and dropped off big time after their big openings.

But I can't say I'm surprised, the year started off badly and it ended that way, despite a promising middle part of the year, hopefully the box office improves next year but I can't say I hope for it to do so as audiences seem to have made up their mind when it comes to their movie going, well at least for now.

Weak Villains: Ah yes, my old bug bear re surfaced big time this year and that is the action film with the weak villain, I mean come on guys it can't be that hard can it, seriously I have really had enough of this, any film goer worth their salt knows that every good hero needs a good villain to define him and his quest I mean look at the Star Wars Trilogy, those movies would be nothing without Darth Vader and the Empire to help define it and if you want proof of that theory in practice, look at the prequel trilogy.

So, that's part 1 of my look back of the year, stay tuned for part 2 where I talk about my best, worst and disappointments of the year.

Film Review - Ides of March (2011)

The Ides of March is directed by and stars George Clooney as Mike Morris, a US State Governor who seeks the presidential nomination for the US Democratic Party, behind him is a hip young advisor Steven played by Ryan Gosling who along the road gets a few lessons on the political arena.

I went into this movie really with no expectations but I have to say that I felt that it was well directed by Clooney who keeps a firm eye on the proceedings and does well with close ups and getting performances out of his actors, particularly Evan Rachel Wood and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and boy did he remind me of Channel 7 Political Commentator Graham Richardson when he was on screen with the white hair and facial structure.

But outside of them, this film fails, mainly because it lacks a sense of cohesion in its storytelling and a structured 3 act narrative to drive it along, the film feels like a bunch of individual bits edited together but don't really signify anything and if it does, its the same "politics is dirty" and "every dream has a price" message we've heard from other movies, like Oliver Stone's Wall Street as an example.

And speaking of that film, rent that one instead and if you want to see this one, wait for the DVD, it'll be just as enjoyable at home than in a cinema, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

Cowboys and Aliens is based off a graphic novel and stars Daniel Craig, the current James Bond as Jake Lonergan, a man who wakes up in the middle of the desert in the 1870's with no memory of who he is and how he got a mysterious bracelet on him, he's then picked up by some deputies and taken to a nearby town, but trouble soon comes calling.

Before heading into this film, I didn't know much about it only that it starred Craig and Harrison Ford and was directed by Jon Favreau who directed the first two Iron Man movies, was this a winning combination?

Sadly no for one clear reason: The story, I know the title says "Cowboys and Aliens" but a lot of fun could've been had with this title and made for a cracking film but sadly it isn't and for the most part I found it boring mainly because the story didn't hone in on a central purpose and rambled on from one scene to the next and also, the characters in it we don't really care about very much at all as they're introduced for the most part and then not given anything to do apart from become cannon fodder for the Aliens.

And as for the Aliens side well they feel like a cross between the Chimera from the Resistance series and Kuato from Total Recall and nowhere near as interesting or scary as those two alien life forms and even they get a little boring after a while.

But there were some things I did like, mainly Craig himself I mean he nails that old school look of Indy so well with the Fedora, the Outfit, the Gun all he needed was the bullwhip and presto the rightful heir to the Indiana Jones throne, I also liked the action scenes which are well directed and give you a sense of what's happening at any given time and who's fighting who and I also liked the cinematography and the early scenes which had that real western feel with the widescreen landscapes, the old time setting and the "saddle up boy, yaw" feeling they help to create.

You know, if this had been a proper western, I would've loved it but the sci-fi elements bring it down and the messy script keep it lodged deep in the ground, a shame, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Green Lantern (2011)

Green Lantern represents a move by DC to try and follow Marvel's lead and bring their own superhero library to the big screen, the story here concerns the Green Lantern Corps, a Jedi Knight style peacekeeping force who are faced with their darkest foe, Parrallax voiced by Clancy Brown which is powerful enough to destroy entire worlds and defeat their finest warrior, Abin Sur played by Teumeura Morrison, but Sur manages to flee and initiate the selection process which will determine who inherits his ring, meanwhile Hal Jordan played by Ryan Reynolds finds the dying alien and his whole life changes.

Now to say in advance of what I thought of the film I have to say that before its release, I was actually really looking forward to it probably more than most movies this year mainly due to the film's director Martin Campbell who unlike some can actually direct a pretty good action film, his work on the Bond series is a good example of this and the early trailers also helped to fuel my anticipation for it, but now that I have finally seen it, how did Campbell do, did he overcome the fear of it all or did he succumb to its dark power?

Well, sad to say he did not do a very good job with it all for multiple reasons, the first being that Campbell didn't do anything with the material given to him to justify his hiring as director on the film which can be absolutely crucial to how a superhero movie can either rise or fall and to use as an example of how a director can make a superhero film work is Richard Donner with Superman, a difficult character to pull off for sure but Donner and Tom Mankiewicz who was brought onto that film to rewrite the script completely nailed the essence of the character and what he stands for and I am also convinced that if they had been able to complete their version of Superman II, they would've made a much better film.

But getting back to this movie and as I said, there is nothing here that justifies the hiring of Campbell as the director as when he tries to put his stamp on the film, the script shifts gear and crashes back to Earth and so much of those scenes which also help to make up the bulk of the film feel lifted from other films such as Hot Shots, Batman Begins, Star Wars and Superman which I mentioned before.

But boy oh boy is this script as a whole a complete mess, nothing makes any sense at all, scenes that start off promising are cut off just as they get interesting and at times I was reminded of Highlander 2 in terms of both movies being completely incomprehensible.

But wait there's more, along with wasting Campbell, it also wastes a great cast I mean you have Ryan Reynolds, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Clarke Duncan, Peter Saarsgaard, Angela Bassett plus Brown and Morrison who I mentioned earlier and all of them I felt very sorry for as they have done so much better work in the past and didn't deserve this to happen to them, but as for Blake Lively well quite frankly wet lettuce would have more charisma than she does in this film.

Though if there was one waste above all that makes me saddened the most it is Strong, who plays Sinestro and it is an inspired choice to play the character if you know his story in the comics, here he doesn't really get anything to do apart from help lay the groundwork for a sequel and that is a real shame as I see in Sinestro's story the true back story of Darth Vader as told by Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars film, the pupil of theirs who turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights and who was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force.

But there was, yes was some small positive moments and almost all of them are to do with the home world of the GL Corps which actually look pretty good and those scenes do try to bring the viewer in and get them interested but they are far too brief and come across as too late as by the time we get to those scenes, most audience members will have lost interest.

And so in closing, In brightest day, in blackest night, no movie this year is as disappointing as Green Lantern's light, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is the fourth film in the Mission Impossible film series and once again Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, special agent for the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) and after a bomb goes off at the Kremlin in Russia, Hunt and his team played by Simon Pegg, Paula Patton & Jeremy Renner are disavowed, leaving them on their own to find who was really responsible.

Alright, now I went into this movie with next to no expectations, having not really seen the other films in the series nor was I really all that impressed with the previews for the film, but along I went and after two and a bit hours in the cinema, how did it go?

Well, lets just say that I'll start with the positives first, mainly the score by Michael Giacchino which combines very well the original MI theme which was composed by Lalo Schifrin and a beautiful Russian choir that reminded me of Basil Poledouris's choir for the Hunt for Red October, there's also a gripping scene involving the world's tallest building in Dubai that frankly, you need to see for yourself to get the full impact.

But the overriding feeling I got from this film was that I was bored, bored out of my mind, this joke of a plot feels like it was ripped from Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies, not only that all Cruise seems to do in this film is "running, running, running, running, running, running, running" and boy does that get tiresome after a while.

But you know, there are three fundamental reasons why a spy film is good, very good, how do I know, let thee count the ways:

1. A Charismatic Hero: Yep, what you need first is a charismatic hero that the audience is willing to follow around on their mission, my favourite James Bond film is the Living Daylights for one reason: Timothy Dalton, he was suave, he was dashing, he moved with great grace and most of all he had that dark side to him which the Bond of the books always had, here Hunt is an uncharismatic bore and Cruise's age REALLY shows on his face in the film, frankly I hope its his last as I doubt he could continue on as an action man for much longer.

2. A good villain: I have said this before and I'll say it again folks, WRITE A FUCKING DECENT VILLAIN, Jesus Christ it can't be that hard now can it, I mean all the best action films succeed on this regard and here all Hunt and Co deal with is a bunch of Russian nobodies that you can't identify and aren't that threatening, apart from the fact that they hit people well and can shoot guns, whoop de fucking chook.

3. A proper plot: To use what is probably my favourite spy movie of all, 1990's The Hunt for Red October, as an example, the plot of that film concerned a secret Soviet sub that had a special silent drive system that could prove devastating if it fell into the wrong hands, here the gizmo of interest concerns a satellite that for all I care could power the Death Star, again some piddling missile has no threat, something Red October had in spades.

To be completely frank, do not see this movie, it's boring to sit through and a waste of your money, rent the Living Daylights and the Hunt for Red October instead, they're MUCH more worth your money than this tosh, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes stars James Franco as Will Rodman, a scientist for the Gen Sys company that is testing experimental drugs on chimps captured in the wild, one of which runs amok and is killed by the building's security but it turns out she bore a cub who Will takes home to his sick father played by John Lithgow who names him Caesar, and from there the legend begins.

Rise of the Apes wants to be the precursor to the iconic 1968 sci-fi film Planet of the Apes and in its defence it has an exciting action climax on the Golden Gate Bridge towards the end of the film but the film's script fails in almost every way to generate anything regarding excitement, imagination or feeling for anyone or anything contained in the film.

And it's a shame as there are some good actors, the biggest waste being John Lithgow, a seriously underrated actor reduced to mouthing "Caesar" and other sorts of gibberish as he's suffering Alzheimer's in the movie, as for Franco well he was fine but Frieda Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire is just pointless, she's okay but her role was just that of the thankless girlfriend cause hey we can't have a major movie without an attractive woman for the main male lead to go all goo goo eyed over now can we?

Hello?

(Cricket noises)

Nope, didn't think so.

Moving right along, you're probably asking "what about those damn dirty apes?" well Andy Serkis is Caesar and he's fine but when you look at the original Apes in the 1968 film, they looked very life like and believable which makes the Apes here feel more like the CG creations they are.

And not only that, one of the locations is the California Redwoods, most famously used as the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi and boy oh boy was I reminded of that every time they went there.

Oh and last point, they shoe horn in the famous "damn dirty ape" line into the film and it falls completely flat, in the original Heston delivered it powerfully whereas here Tom Felton just delivers it like an actor delivering a line in a flat monotone, I suppose that could be said of the whole tone to the film now that I think about it.

All in all, don't watch this movie, watch the original Planet of the Apes instead, it's cheaper and will be more satisfying than this movie which is possibly the most boring movie I've seen all year, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Senna (2011)

Senna is a documentary focusing on the life of Ayrton Senna, a Formula 1 race car driver from Brazil who started in Go Kart racing and rose to F1's greatest heights in terms of his championships and the lows regarding the politics.

Senna is simply great filmmaking full stop, director Asif Kapadia succeeds where so many movies documentary or otherwise based on a real life person and/or events fail to do and that is give the viewer a sense of who the man really is and that we learn about that man as we watch the film, not 5 minutes after we finish watching and look up that person on the internet, no Kapadia doesn't make that mistake instead he uses purely archival footage to tell his tale and it is a masterstroke for it immediately gives the viewer the sense of the time and the place in which he lived and drove on the circuit.

Nothing however can prepare you for the final 20 minutes of the film, it is simply heartbreaking stuff, I won't say too much more if you haven't seen the film yet but if you already know of Senna's final fate then it won't be a surprise to the end but still it is heartbreaking and heart stopping stuff.

But I feel that the main reason I like this film so much is this, to me this gets right what so many action films get wrong and that is it gives you a complex hero, a snivelling villain, the bond that defines them and the arena in which they will face off against each other and where one has to beat the other and its done with real life figures that can't be thought up on the page and in a documentary of all things.

All in all, this is straight up one of the year's finest films, exhilarating, exciting and simply fantastic filmmaking, even if you are not an F1 fan and I know only a tiny bit about the sport its still highly recommended viewing, what an absolute joke that its lost its chance at the Oscars to compete for best documentary as it deserved a shot at the title, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Hanna (2011)

Hanna stars Saoirse Ronan as Hanna, a young girl who grows up with her forest with her father played by Eric Bana who is training her for a great quest to Berlin, but to do so she'll have to avoid the dastardly Marissa played by Cate Blanchett.

Hanna I thought was well made by Joe Wright, last seen directing Atonement in 2007, he imbues the film with a great sense of style and a good pace, never letting things run on for too long, he also gets good performances from his 3 leads and there's a fantastic score created by the Chemical Brothers.

However this film has one big problem: The Script, quite frankly it feels predictable and that infects the film as a whole as you play spot the plot point throughout the whole thing; "That's gonna happen", "this is gonna happen", "Bang they're dead", "that person's gonna die", "they're gonna die" and on and on it goes.

There was one point while watching this movie where I was reminded of another Euro action thriller I've seen, 2008's Taken with Liam Neeson, that film to me felt far superior to this one and its a shame as I'd heard so much good about it before watching it.

All in all, I can't recommend this movie, all the style in the world can't make up for an obvious script that just feels too familiar for my taste, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Fast Five (2011)

Fast Five is the 5th in the Fast and Furious series and this time, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Connor and Dom's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) are hiding in Rio de Janiero following a prison break, but whilst there they learn of a corrupt businessman who has millions of dollars, with that its time to get racing once again.

Fast Five is a fun entry in the series, all of the main characters from the first movie are back and there are some others who appeared in the other entries in the series, notably Tyrese Gibson who appeared in the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious, the main leads have some fun chemistry and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson also has a few good moments despite his near endless sweating in almost every scene.

Unfortunately though the film runs way too long for its own good, it runs about 2hrs 10 when a good 10-15 minutes should've been trimmed from the film to allow for a more fast paced, high speed adventure but given that this is film number 5 in this series, you can't expect miracles.

As it stands, its an okay film with some nice chase scenes but rent the first film instead and leave it after that, this one whilst okay feels somewhat unnecessary, 1.5 out of 5.

Film Review - Red Dog (2011)

Red Dog tells the tale of well, Red Dog, an Australian Kelpie who wanders into the Western Australian mining town of Dampier, from there he meets the locals who work for the mining company as well as the local bus driver John (Josh Lucas) who changes his life forever.

Red Dog was a wonderful Australian film, reminding me very much of the good old days of our industry, especially the miners themselves as I was reminded of a late 70s Australian filmed called "The Last of the Knuckle men" which by the way produced by Byron Kennedy and starred Mike Preston both of whom would also work on Mad Max 2 a couple of years later.

But enough about the trivia, lets get back to this movie, it will tug at your heartstrings almost right away due to Koko the Kelpie, I mean sure Lucas, Rachael Taylor and the other actors are fine, in fact they're quite good but this is Koko's movie through and through and its hard not to fall in love with him with those oh so cute eyes and that look on his face that makes your heart melt, the cute little dog, I know that sounds slightly schmaltzy but if you've seen the film, you will understand why.

Though if I have a gripe with the film it is this, at times the movie plays out like a feature length version of a "This is our story" ad that the mining industry here in Australia showed on TV and in cinemas a while back, I know that is the point of the film but at times the mining segment of the film felt very tacked on and in your face.

And lastly, I couldn't help but call Red Cat MAD Cat at times as I was reminded of that famous cat while watching Red Cat in this film.

All in all, it took me a while to get to see it but it was well worth the wait, especially for that little dog, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Electric Dreams (1984)

Electric Dreams stars Lenny von Dohlen as Miles, an architect returning to San Francisco from Los Angeles as he wants to design a style of brick that can withstand Earthquakes, but one night after work he is persuaded to buy a computer to help keep him organised though the next day he meets his new neighbour Madeleine (Virginia Madsen) and it all goes from there.

I have to say that I really liked Electric Dreams, the film put a big smile on my face and had me toe tapping along to its soundtrack composed by Giorgio Moroder who also worked on Top Gun, Scarface and other films, no surprise the highlight of the soundtrack was the "Together in Electric Dreams" song by Phil Oakley.

Apart from that, the film is also a lovely romance between Von Dohlen and Madsen, speaking of which Madsen is absolutely delightful in this film, it's easy to see why Miles would fall for her as I would find it hard to think of anyone else that didn't either, happily she has gone on to do other things, even Highlander 2.

All in all, I really loved this movie and it comes highly recommended, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Silverado (1985)

Silverado is a western film which stars Kevin Kline as Paden, a drifter in the old west who comes across three other rough riders on the range, Mal (Danny Glover), Emmett (Scott Glenn) and his younger brother Jake (Kevin Costner), as they travel the old west they come across a town called Silverado where their real adventure is about to begin.

Silverado is a beautiful looking western film, well directed by Lawrence Kasdan who is best known for writing The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark and is clearly trying to do a similar adventure in the style of those films.

Sadly though he falls way short of those great heights due to a very scattershot storyline in terms of those four main leads going off onto their own separate storylines that somehow manage to come together in the end but you don't get any sense of satisfaction in seeing that happen nor do we get to see the leads developed as a posse for just as Kasdan rallies them together. They go their separate ways in the very next scene.

The other big problem with this film is the endless supply of characters, there's two sheriffs (Brian Dennehy and John Cleese), a lot of deputies, the barmaid (Linda Hunt), the gambler (Jeff Goldblum), the fair lady of the land (Rosanna Arquette) and so on and so on.

Well, quite frankly some of these characters needed to go, namely Dennehy's and Goldblums' characters, Goldblum is a great actor but here he is unnecessary and just sucks up screen time for no real reason at all and Dennehy's character wasn't all that flash, again a great actor filling in the time card, what should've happened is the two sheriff's being swapped, Dennehy's at the beginning, Cleese's as the main one as his was set up to be the bad guy only for him to exit the film a few scenes later, what a sad waste of a great talent.

All in all, despite some small positives, this film misses the mark as it feels too episodic in its construction, to cluttered in its characterization and too dull for its own good and boy does it feel sad to say that as I am a huge Kasdan fan for he really was a key reason why Empire and Raiders are considered the best of their respective film series but this time, it all fell short, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Re Animator (1985)

Re-Animator is a horror film that stars Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West, who interns as a third year medical student and it's here that he meets Daniel Cain played by Bruce Abbott, a fellow medical student who along with his fiancée Megan played by Barbara Crampton rent out a spare room to West, but little do they know of his dark experiments.

As someone who isn't much of a horror fan, I was somewhat impressed by this film, mainly due to its intriguing story of re animating the dead using scientific methods and the great performance by Combs as West, he is delightfully manic and at times compulsive about his work and not once do you get bored watching him on screen in this role, Abbott and Crampton also had some nice chemistry as the young couple and David Gale was good also despite his near scary resemblance to Australian politician Bob Brown, though Combs also bears some resemblance to a young version of Australian prime minister John Howard.

However, what I didn't care for so much was the final act as it went a little too much in the "monsters on the attack" direction which in all honesty was very off putting mainly because of what I said above, not being much of a horror fan, I kept wishing the blood had been toned down a bit as the story was strong enough to not need it that much, but then that's just me.

All in all though, I did think the film was well done enough in its first two thirds to get it over the line, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Lighthorsemen (1987)

The Lighthorsemen tells the tale of the Australian Light horse division during the first world war, well 1917 to be exact, the story here is that a young man named Dave Mitchell (Peter Phelps) who is eager to join the light horse and save his country, meanwhile a new army sergeant plans to take one of the enemy towns to use as a supply base.

The Lighthorsemen is a rousing Australian adventure directed by Simon Wincer, best known as one of the key people behind the Man from Snowy River and who also directed the recently released film The Cup about the 2002 Melbourne Cup horse race, he clearly seems in his element here doing a proper action adventure film with hundreds of horses at his disposal and their put to good work here as some of the action scenes in this movie are nothing short of spectacular as the sight of all those horses charging down the planes is a fantastic sight, especially in the final charge scene which is just breathtaking in its exhilaration, THAT is how you do a long battle sequence, not the relentless 60 + minutes of loud banging and crashing and smashing and shouting that we got in Transformers 3, but then you can't expect something bordering on coherent with Michael Bay now can you?

But my praise doesn't stop there, it extends to two other people, Mario Millo who composed the music and Dean Semler who was the films cinematographer, Semler shoots this film beautifully with rich colours, long wide shots that you couldn't bare to see butchered in pan and scan 4:3, long shots of the Australian desert that seem to go on forever and ever and finally the lush paradise at the hospital that seems a world away from the barren wastelands of war.

Millo on the other hands composes a rousing musical score that perfectly captures the tone of the film, some parts rousing, some parts with a lightness of touch and others capturing the spirit of Australian mateship, at times I was reminded of both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Gallipoli while watching this movie, no doubt the intention of its makers in which case if it was well they damn well succeeded.

All in all, despite a small role from Sigrid Thornton that bordered on dispensable despite doing the best she can to make it work, the Lighthorsemen is a rousing Aussie adventure that's well worth your time, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Street Hero (1984)

Street Hero stars Vince Colosimo as Vinnie Romano, a young man who lives in commission housing and is sent back to school in the hope that his life might start to find some meaning again as his father is dead, one day he is persuaded to join the school band and it's here that Vinnie may start to change things for the better.

I liked this movie, it was well directed by Michael Pattinson and the film has some good performances from almost everyone on board, the highlights for me being Colosimo, the late Bill Hunter, Tibor (yes that is his first name and I did get a good laugh when I saw it) Gyapjas and pretty much the rest of the cast, what can I say everyone here delivered the goods though at times the plot did feel a little cliché in terms of "that I'll happen" and the film did also feel a little long at times despite being only about 98 minutes.

Though there is one that I want to talk about and that is Sigrid Thornton who plays Gloria and boy does she look young in this movie, the reason I say this is that when I talked about Summer Lovers, I mentioned that it was such a sad shame that Valerie Quennessen was killed before she had the chance to do that one iconic role that would ensure people remembered her as Thornton got to later with her TV Series Sea Change and that she was so enchanting that she could've been something great regardless, happily that didn't happen with Thornton and she had the chance to blossom into a great actress and one that is always worth watching.

One other highlight I want to mention also is the soundtrack or more specifically the songs that were in the film, all of them had my toe tapping but the highlight without a doubt was "Wilder World" by Dragon, this song was also used to promote the film and I did perk up a bit when it came on during the film.

But what I think is most appealing about the film is this, and that it reminded me of a time when Australia had a proper film industry and that not only we made the more art house style films but we could also make a good popcorn guzzler like this, Mad Max, Razorback, Alvin Purple and others, a shame that its gone by the wayside and with it, our industry, hopefully the success of films like Tomorrow when the War Began and Red Dog will help to re energise our industry and get it going again like it did in the 70s, 80s and early to mid 90s.

All in all, Street Hero works best as a product of its time, don't get me wrong, the film is enjoyable but all it does is remind you of the past, of a time when things weren't what they are now and I suppose if it does that and give you a good time while your watching it well you have to say that the movie did its job and did it well and that is something that you can't complain about, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Summer Lovers (1982)

Summer Lovers is about an American couple, Michael (Peter Gallagher) and Cathy (Daryl Hannah) heading on a holiday to the Greek islands in order to enjoy themselves, have some fun in the sun and in the case of Cathy, enjoy some time to herself and have a sense of freedom, but one day while exploring some caverns Michael comes across an archaeologist named Lina (Valerie Quennessen) who changes his life forever.

Summer Lovers is an okay film directed by Randal Kleiser who also made Grease and the Blue Lagoon and here he shows off the Greek scenery to full effect and you can't say you blame him for doing so as the islands look terrific, Gallagher and Hannah also do a good job with their roles too even if their dialogue is a little flat at times.

But this movie belongs to one person and one person alone and that is Quennessen, quite frankly she is absolutely wonderful in this movie with those beautiful eyes that say so much and her natural easy going charm that would make just about any man fall in love with her right there and then, she steals the show as far as I'm concerned and that sadly is the good part.

Now comes the bad part, a few years after making the film, Quennessen was killed in a car crash in France which is such a sad waste as she was very talented and charismatic, in all honesty part of me keeps wishing that she was able to do the remake of Breathless with Richard Gere before she died as she would've stood toe to toe with Gere and made that film a big hit, don't get me wrong Valerie Kaprisky wasn't that bad in that film but Gere blew her off the screen, that wouldn't have happened with Quennessen had she had the chance to do that role.

All in all, watch this movie for the scenery and Quennessen's performance, though it may also have you thinking what might have been had she lived to do other movies and leave more of a mark than the brief flicker that remains, it was said in the movie Blade Runner that the light that burns twice burns half as long well this was one light that burned so very very brightly and it was also one that deserved to burn far longer than it ultimately did, may she rest in peace, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Seventh Sign (1988)

The Seventh Sign is an apocalypse tale that tells of the seven signs of God or to be more precise the seven signs that foretell the end of the world, with the sun becoming black and the moon turning to blood and the boiling oceans that kill everything inside them, meanwhile Abbey Quinn (Demi Moore) is pregnant with her first child and her and her husband Russell a lawyer (Michael Biehn) take in an old man (Jurgen Prochnow) who may have more to him that what is seemed.

Going into this movie I was expecting a somewhat competent apocalyptic tale of death and destruction but something that would ultimately be forgettable but I was surprised by how much I got into this movie, it was I felt very well made, well directed with a nice sense of pathos and with some good performances from Moore, Biehn and Prochnow.

But I think what makes the film work as well as it does is the integration of the religious aspect regarding Judgment Day, not a new idea to be sure but here it seemed to have that feeling of believability to it with the quoting of the Bible and the use of the priests in a key role to the film's events, something that could've easily killed the movie if not done well but here is given the right treatment.

All in all, I found this to be a well made apocalypse tale with some good performances, certainly one of the better ones I've seen to be sure, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Unknown (2011)

Unknown stars Liam Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris who at the beginning of the film is arriving in Berlin with his wife Liz played by January Jones to give a talk at a Biotech conference, but he mistakenly leaves a briefcase at the airport he takes a taxi back to collect it but is in a mysterious accident not long after and wakes up in the hospital not remembering anything, but there is more to this than meets the eye.

Unknown is a serviceable action thriller that is thankfully not very long and it has some good performances from Neeson, Diane Kruger and Frank Langella all of whom I like quite a bit especially Neeson who would have to be one of my favourite actors.

However, the script for this movie borders on the ridiculous at times and it got to the point where I not only started laughing (especially at the German accents in this movie that made me think of the "Don't Mention the War" sketch from Fawlty Towers) but also thinking that some of the characters may as well have put name pins on them saying "I'm the Bad Guy", "I'm his accomplice" and "I'm the Dead Man".

But hey, if you want to see some good Liam Neeson action, my advice is to rent Taken instead and skip this one, its a serviceable thriller but one that I didn't find engaging or interesting, the whole thing just bordered on being downright silly, 1 out of 5.

FIlm Review - The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Adjustment Bureau is based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick and stars Matt Damon as David Morris, a Senate candidate for the state of New York who loses but one night meets a young ballerina played by Emily Blunt, they get to know each other but it may turn out to be that destiny has other ideas.

The Adjustment Bureau starts off pretty well with an interesting premise that being that the fate that we choose to make may not be what is planned for us in the grand scheme of things and that sometimes things happen because they are simply meant to and it also has some very nice location work in New York which helps give the feel of authenticity to the film and there is also a good performance by Terence Stamp as one of the senior adjusters, Stamp has always been a long time favourite and not only was it a pleasure to see him in this movie, I also had a bit of a geek out when he first came on screen.

However the film has a big weakness in the casting of Damon, quite frankly he has very little chemistry with Blunt and the character is meant to be this young hot shot when Damon himself is nearly 40 in real life, the film also flip flops around with the rules regarding the adjusters which like in Source Code is a little annoying but unlike Source Code didn't get on my nerves.

All in all, the film was okay, nothing great but nothing that terrible either, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Real Steel (2011)

Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who is now retired as the world has moved to robot boxing, after losing a robot in a bull ring he learns that the mother of his son has died and young Max (Dakota Goyo) is now in his care, one night he goes to collect the kid and he falls down a cliff only to be saved by an old robot.

Real Steel is actually a pretty enjoyable film, thanks largely to Jackman's presence, Jackman has the ability to slip into the shoes of almost any character seamlessly and here he does a great job as well as a somewhat convincing American accent though it does at times slip back into his natural accent.

I also liked the robot effects, they looked pretty convincing and the fights were for the most part well filmed by director Shawn Levy though at times they did go a little too close, also the story for the most part borders on being a bit predictable but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the film too much though another small niggle I had was with the score by Danny Elfman, I was hoping it would found more of that Bill Conti feel from the Rocky series as I did find myself humming some of that music in parts of this film.

So overall, Real Steel is a great time at the movies with the kind of tone I really wished had been in the Transformers movies instead of the heartless piles of mashed up junk we got, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Source Code (2011)

Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhall as what seems to be Jeff, a school teacher who is on a train heading into Chicago and sitting across from him is Christina Warren played by Michelle Monahan, but suddenly a bomb goes off killing all on board, but there is more to all of this than meets the eye.

To start things off I think that the movie is well directed by Duncan Jones, also known for the 2009 sleeper Moon, he paces the film well and doesn't let things run on too long though I also can't help but think that he was helped in this endeavour by the films editor Paul Hirsch who also helped edit Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back, there are also some good performances in this film particularly by Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga.

However I have a BIG bone to pick with this film and that is with the script, quite frankly it is pathetic, plot hole ridden and at times illogical, now to be fair it opens very well with the initial train explosion but after that Gyllenhall asks all these stupid questions that make you think "JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THE FUCKING LADY YOU DOPE".

I know I shouldn't have done that but it's because Farmiga's character (probably the only character in this movie with SOME intelligence and humanity) tells you exactly what you need to know before going into the train but Gyllenhall keeps asking all these stupid questions that are very off putting and to be frank made me angry, you're asking me to play fair dinkum with the movie and the logic within it but why should I do that when the movie itself keeps throwing up these endless and pointless questions about the who, what, where and why of all this when you only need to know that info at the time its required, all it did in the end is make me think that the movie itself is unsure of itself especially in light of what I said earlier when its wanting a confidence from its audience to follow it when it doesn't project that same confidence within the world the movie exists in or in its own rules.

But wait there's more, and it regards the ridiculous ending that I can't say too much about it but quite frankly I found insulting as it betrayed what the film was saying up to that point but I guess it had to be there so the pretty leads that are oh so beloved could end up together and we can wrap the film up in a nice neat little bow and have the happy ending with the clear blue sky and singing birds and "love is in the air, everywhere I look around", give me a fucking break.

If you haven't guessed by now, I didn't think that much of this movie at all and all it did in the end was make me appreciate Chris Nolan's Inception a lot more, a movie that not only asked its audience to stick with it but also have the courage of its convictions and not dumb itself down to try and get the conventional audience to go and see the film and be confident of not only itself but the world it exists in it and the rules that guide it, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - Rio (2011)

Rio is an animated film by Blue Sky studios, best known for making the Ice Age series, the story here is that a rare Blue Macaw bird is captured from his natural habitat and placed in captivity in a rural town in Minnesota, but he is found by a young girl who raises him as her pet and one day, a bird doctor comes to her book shop and says that he must go to Rio and meet a female from his species voiced by Anne Hathaway so that their race will survive.

Rio is a better than average animated film with some rather nice visuals that look great with their bright colours and starry nights, yet again proof as to why you don't need 3D as it would dark and dim and blurry like all 3D productions do these days, though there are some rare exceptions.

As for the voice acting, well it isn't too bad though the bright spot was Hathaway who gives a spirited performance and reminds you of how good an actress she can be when given the chance to prove herself and carry a film on her own two shoulders which she can do almost effortlessly which was also proved by the re do of Get Smart she did a few years ago.

But in all honesty, Hathaway's the only reason to check out the film as pretty visuals alone a good film does not make as outside of her the film borders on the boring, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Lion King 3D (1994/2011)

A re release of the classic 1994 Disney film, the Lion King tells the tale of young Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick) who is the son of King Mufasa voiced by James Earl Jones and is also destined to become king, but his evil brother Scar voiced by Jeremy Irons wants to take the throne for himself.

The film has held up wonderfully well, seeing it back on the big screen with the dynamic sound was an absolute treat especially the films songs by Tim Rice and Elton John and the orchestral score by Hans Zimmer and the famous Stampede sequence also sounded terrific, needless to say I had a big smile on my face the entire time I was in the cinema.

However, I must talk about the 3D effect and I'll say that it's not terrible like the kind that happens with a lot of recent films like Captain America and Thor which did not benefit in any way at all from the 3D treatment but getting back to this film as I said it isn't terrible and there is a nice use of the effect in some scenes in regards to the depth of field and showcasing some of the background details but again I took the glasses off and noticed it was brighter and more colourful, which leads me to say that if you saw it on a nice 2D screen with a properly projected print, you'd have every inch the same experience.

All in all, if your thinking about going to see this re release, do it despite the 3D, it's wonderful to see it back on the big screen and it deserves to be seen with a sold out crowd, nothing else would do it justice and if you haven't shown your kids or nieces/nephews the film and want to do so, now is the time and chance to do it, 5 out of 5.

Film Review - Spaceballs (1987)

Spaceballs is from the comedy icon Mel Brooks and this time he turns his attention to the Star Wars Trilogy with the Planet Spaceball and its inhabitants wanting the fresh air of the nearby planet Druidia, to do this they send their most fearsome agent Dark Helmet played by Rick Moranis, meanwhile on Druidia King Roland played by Dick van Patten wants to marry off his daughter Princess Vespa played by Daphne Zuniga. but she runs away and flees the planet, which gives Helmet an idea to kidnap her to get the air from her planet, but to succeed he'll have to deal with Lone Star played by Bill Pullman and his companion Barf played by John Candy.

Now, I remember first seeing this movie a few years back and loving it to death, the parody of Star Wars to me felt spot on and I laughed my head off for the most part, but recently I felt compelled to revisit it after having not seen it since then, has it held up?

Sadly no, mainly for two reasons, the first being that I just didn't laugh all that much, don't get me wrong I smiled and chuckled a little bit at some of the gags and riffs on characters from the Star Wars movies but the first time I really laughed was at the 40 minute mark which can be death in a comedy and even then there were only a few laughs after that.

Which leads me onto my next reason: It's Boring, yes folks I was bored throughout large chunks of this film and as if that wasn't enough, it's a slow comedy, why wasn't was some zing added to this movie, a sense of pace and movement, I mean a year after this movie came out the Naked Gun hit cinemas and that is an example of a great comedy that moves along, piles jokes onto each other and does its riffs very well, this in comparison just plods along to its tedious end.

But I do have to sound out the main positive and that is some of the cast, Moranis, Pullman and Zuniga give it their all and try to do their best but in the end like many actors before and since they just become lost in the material which doesn't do them justice and in the case of Moranis well quite frankly he is wasted in this film and that is a real shame as he is a talented actor.

So in closing, the Force just isn't with this comedy and yet Brooks would later make Robin Hood: Men in Tights which was funny, but as I said this isn't and its tedious and slow, I can't recommend this film, 1.5 out of 5.

Film Review - Colours (1988)

Colours is a crime drama directed by Dennis Hopper and stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn as two cops assigned to a special branch of the LAPD that deals with the gang violence in the area, and they're going to need all the help they can get.

Colours starts off strong and assigns its two leads straight away and both Penn and Duvall play off each other very well and Hopper at least tries to take the time and develop both the gang culture and the chief characters from that part of the film and the two leads so that when the action comes, we get a sense that these are actual characters fighting it out rather than props for those scenes.

I also liked the cinematography at times showing a down and dirty LA compared to what we usually see but even as I talk about the film and all it accomplishes and it does get a lot right, a lot of it also feels familiar in terms of the buddy relationship between the cops, the gang dynamic and the obligatory love interest played here by Maria Conchita Alonso and it feels totally unnecessary but tradition in regards to these kinds of movies demand this sort of subplot and its a shame as the film tried to take this genre somewhat seriously though happily its only a brief subplot.

In closing, I thought the film was okay, it's clear Hopper and Co tried to do something different but tradition got in the way and what we end up with is a bit of a mishmash unsure of what direction it wants to go in, 1.5 out of 5.

Blu-Ray Review - The Star Wars Trilogy (1977/1980/1983)

May 25th 1977,

The world has been a strange place with much upheaval in the world in regards to the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal in America and the tumultuous prime minister ship of Gough Whitlam in Australia, all of this has helped to create a feeling of darkness and despair in the world and there are no modern heroes of that time to aspire to and believe that somewhere out there, there will be someone that will help to light their darkest hour.

But on a scant 32 cinema screens in America, a small film called Star Wars opens to very little fanfare, not much in the way of preview showings and no advanced word, the film starts small and grows to become the biggest hit of all time until Steven Spielberg's ET took the spot a few years later.

You know, it's hard to talk about these three movies objectively for me as pretty much everyone that knows me knows that I love these movies above all others, even the first two Mad Max movies which are the only ones I've seen that have come anywhere near as close to topping these three films as my all time favorites but for me they are an example of movie making at the top of its form with its pure imagination, a fearsome villain in the shape of Lord Darth Vader and the mighty Galactic Empire, a valiant band of heroes plus some of the greatest special effects, music and dialogue ever put on a cinema screen.

But alas, I cannot talk about this release and not talk about the tinkering that Lucas has done to these movies, for the most part they don't work and at times pull you out of the viewing experience due to it looking different than the original production footage but for the most part I didn't find them to be too intrusive but I do wish there wouldn't be anymore as its starting to get more and more pointless which each round of changes, I mean sure the changes made in 1997 for the 20th Anniversary were done for some sort of reason but the others since have not, having that feel of uselessness to them as they interfered with the actual story of the films themselves but alas as I said I didn't find them too intrusive but again, they are starting to wear rather thin.

The Video:

The Video quality for the most part is actually rather good, it is said that when the 2004 restoration work was being done, Lucasfilm also created HD masters for the three films, if they did than these clearly served as the basis for these new 1080p transfers.

The movies have had several clean up efforts throughout the years starting in the early 90's where the negative had faded very badly and needed immediate cleanup work in order to be salvaged for future generations, which is also part of the inspiration for the 1997 re release in the cinemas which at times resulted in a blue tint that ran through all three films and in 2004 when Lowry Digital, a restoration house that was hired by Lucasfilm to do their own restoration work, more problems surfaced in dimmed lightsabers, a general dimness throughout the movies and oversaturated colors.

As to whether these have been fixed, I'm happy to report that for the most part a lot of these problems have indeed been corrected for this release, to my eyes this is probably the best the films will ever look in regards of it looking like a real film rather than a HDTV print with a lot of the details scrubbed out in the process and boy are the details in these transfers superb, really goes to show how these older movies can really look in HD and also how they have a much more human touch than the more cartoonish CG effects we see today.

The Audio:

As with the video transfer, the audio for the Star Wars trilogy has never been the same way twice either, starting with three separate mixes that were created just for the original 1977 release to cover the mono, stereo and 70mm screenings for the film, then in 1985 Ben Burtt went back and created a brand new mix combining elements from those three mixes and then in 1997 a new 5.1 mix was created for the Special Edition releases as Digital Sound was now the norm in cinemas.

But it doesn't end there, in 2004 for the DVD release the first Star Wars film received another new mix which sad to say was not the best, it was clear that the ravages of time had played their part and some scenes sounded uneven in terms of balance between sound, dialogue and music while Empire and Jedi clearly sounded like the 97 mix and as a result sounded terrific.

But that was then, this is now and new sound designer Matthew Wood has been keen to restore the balance and give fans a mix that will please them in terms of having a similar sound to how they sounded when originally released and take advantage of the new lossless HD sound.

In this case, DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 sound and pleasing to say he does a good job, particularly on the first Star Wars film which again had to be done from the ground up, a lot of the problems from that mix are now gone but as with the video transfer this is likely to be the best we will get in terms of balancing faithfulness to the original style and going balls and all for a more modern style sound mix.

The Extras:

There are multiple releases for these movies on Blu-Ray, the 2 trilogies on their own and the 9 disc Complete Saga which combines the 6 movie discs and 3 exclusive discs with extras, as I only bought the Original Trilogy 3 pack I will cover those discs.

2004 Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher: These commentaries appeared on the 2004 DVD release of the trilogy and the only difference is the addition of Kershner on Empire who sadly passed away last year, these commentaries are okay but at times are a bit dry and all participants are recorded separately so there's no real interaction between the various participants but still, it will kill a couple of hours when listened to.

Audio Commentary with Archival Interviews from Cast and Crew Members: New to this Blu-Ray release is a second commentary track compiled of archival interviews from many cast and crew members ranging from Lucas himself to people like John Williams, Richard Edlund, Ken Ralston, Alec Guinness, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels and many more but sadly one noticeable absentee is Richard Marquand who directed Return of the Jedi and sadly passed away in 1987 to a heart attack and I was really hoping that there might have been some interviews with him on this track but alas there is not.

But still, these new tracks are well worth your time and in a very nice touch, both commentaries have their own subtitle tracks so you can watch the film and read the commentaries as you watch, something that should be compulsory when you have audio commentaries on disc releases and also, when you take the disc out for the first time, an option appears to allow you to resume where you left off, another nice touch.

In terms of the other Original Trilogy extras created for this Blu-Ray release, the long awaited deleted scenes, the conceptual art galleries, the archive collection and the new and vintage interviews you'll have to pick the Complete Saga set and to be honest I can't say that I recommend you do mainly because of the prequel films not being all that good as the story in those films was already familiar to us and as a result it created no real surprise as to how those newer films would play out in the end.

But I also thought about this as I was mulling over the extras released for this set and the DVD set back in 2004 and that is apart from a few vintage documentaries, some of which also appear on the Complete Saga set and that was that there really isn't that much more left to release when it comes to bonus materials for these movies, most of the major stuff is now out on release in terms of commentaries, documentaries, deleted scenes, a look into the archives, trailers, TV spots and still galleries though if all of that from both major disc releases were combined you'd have a pretty definitive set apart from HD transfers of the original versions and we all know there's no way on Earth that will happen for a long time, a long time.

The Verdict:

In the end, most Star Wars fans are going to buy these movies on Blu-Ray if they haven't already, in terms of my own opinion as to how you should purchase these well the original movies 3 pack should be more than satisfactory as it contains great Audio/Visual quality as well as a new and interesting Archival commentary track on each film though I do wish the OT archive disc from the complete saga set was in this set so fans that don't want to shell out for the full set can get the original movies and its full complement of extras but alas that in the end is up to you fair readers but for most fans I would grab just the original movies pack, that should be more than enough.

Film Review - Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers is based off the famous Sci-Fi novel by Robert A. Heinlein but takes its own path from the book, in this film version written by Robocop Co-Writer Ed Neumeier and directed by that film's director Paul Verhoeven it is the near future and bugs are the great threat to humankind from the planet of Klendathu but service in the military guarantees citizenship in the Federation and its these brave men and women of tomorrow that will take to the stars and defeat this evil menace, would you like to know more?

"Would you like to know more?" is a key line in this film and its used very well to keep the audience interested in the films plot rather than just its good special effects work in terms of the bugs itself which are rather good and you do get a sense of satisfaction of not only seeing them blow up real good (though you do wish the humans would use better guns to blow them all sky high before they tear them all limb from limb) but also seeing them tear the humans apart during the battle scenes.

But apart from that, the film is also so much fun to watch and its anchored by a great cast combining young and old actors from Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards in possibly her only good part, Neil Patrick Harris (yes that one) and Jake (son of Gary) Busey to the older crew such as Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, Rue McClanahan in a small role, Brenda Strong all of these people and more do a great job plus there's a great script by Neumeier, great direction by Verhoeven and a terrific score by the late Basil Poledouris which combines the WW2 and Patriotic aspects beautifully.

But the main reason this film is so much fun is that it knows exactly what it wants to do, which is be an old fashioned 1950s B-Movie with an A-Movie budget, okay the central romance sucks the diddly but hey the rest of the films pretty good.

All in all, this is a very fun film that is easily worth a rent, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Superman 4: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Superman 4: The Quest for Peace sees the Man of Steel confronting the real world threat of Nuclear War after a 12 year old boy named Jeremy writes to him hoping that he can put an end to the atomic crisis, but while Superman sees this as his chance to help the people of the world, the dastardly arch villain Lex Luthor has other ideas.

To be honest, I really don't know where to start with this movie as the whole thing comes across as a complete mess, but in the mean time, let me count the ways:

1. The Effects: Oh my God, this thing is laughable to look at as there is just no effort put into the special effects work at all as the exact same shot of Superman flying towards the camera is used again and again, the only difference being the background plate be it outer space, somewhere else, the Moon or Metropolis, but then again this film looks as though it had little to no money spent on it and boy does it show on screen.

2. The Story: Dear god is this story so noble and self serving, it just hits you over the head again and again with its moralising about how "there will be peace in our time and when people scream so hard for peace, their governments will have no choice but to give it to them" give me a break.

And to make matters worse on this front, almost all of the main points are borrowed from the earlier films, the battle on the Moon and the chief super villain feel right out of Superman II, Clark on the Farm and the scene of Superman and Lois flying feel right out of the first film, but then again you didn't need another reminder of those two great films now did you.

3. The Cast: Oh god what the hell is Gene Hackman doing in this movie I mean Hackman did a great job in the first two Superman movies and here he just becomes a cartoon character going "I am going to profit from all of this and destroy Superman for good, nehahahahahaha" plus there's also Margot Kidder looking like she's aged 10 years since the first Superman movie where she looked really bright and vibrant, here again everyone seems to be phoning it in.

And yet there is one small positive in this movie, what's that you're saying a positive for this mess well yes there is but as I said it's a small one and that is Chris Reeve himself, proving why he is the one true Superman and that anyone that fills the role will most likely never be as good, Reeve is just great as the Man of Steel but again its just this one very small ray of hope against this plodding mess that stinks all the way to the Moon in its own right.

But what is the worst thing of all is this, that it all could have been avoided if Richard Donner hadn't been fired from Superman II before he had a chance to finish it in 1979 as I fully believe that if he did get the chance to do that, he would've made possibly the best comic book movie of all and been able to continue with future films but alas things change and different creative people come in and think that if we focus on the real world stuff and less on the fantasy and wonder that Donner focused on then people might relate more to this Superman, well sorry to say this but it doesn't quite work that way, sometimes it might but most times it does not.

All in all, unless you're an absolute die hard Superman fan please do not watch this movie, trust me you will feel so much happier that you didn't, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - The Shadow (1994)

The Shadow is based on the pulp novel and stars Alec Baldwin as the Shadow, a man living in the East who is taught to use his dark powers to defeat evil, and he'll need every inch of his mystical training to defeat his greatest enemy.

I actually quite enjoyed this film, it was directed by Russell Mulcahy and he does a good job with the material as well as his cast, almost all of which are effective, the highlights being Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller (who reminded me a lot of Rachel McAdams), Ian McKellen, Tim Curry and the late Peter Boyle, they're all great.

I was also struck by the effects in the film which complemented Mulcahy's style very well as well as Jerry Goldsmith's score and the dynamic between Baldwin and John Lone, which reminded me of the conflict between Connor MacLeod and the Kurgan in the first Highlander, no surprise as the same man directed both of those films.

All in all, a well done comic book movie that in some scenes lay the seeds for Batman Begins in 2005, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - The Way Back (2010)

The Way Back is the first film by veteran Australian director Peter Weir since his 2003 movie Master and Commander which starred Russell Crowe, the story here concerns a group of prisoners in a Siberian gulag who during a storm one night make a break for it, but the journey from there has only just begun.

I was very much looking forward to this film, mainly due to the fact that Weir was the director, having greatly admired some of his earlier films such as 1981's Gallipoli and 1989's Dead Poets Society which is also one of my all time favourite films, but did Weir manage to deliver the goods in light of his long absence.

Gladly, he most certainly did, the film is beautifully shot by Weir regular Russell Boyd with the various regions of ice and mountains, sand and forests plus a beach or two feeling like a central character in it's own right, but apart from that the film is a wonderful journey with some fine acting by Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong among the highlights.

You know, as I watched this I was reminded of the fact that directors like Peter Weir and James Cameron knew fundamentally how to make a great big screen adventure whereas a lot of modern directors really do stuff that feels more like a big budget TV show, but still I enjoyed this film thoroughly and it was well worth the wait to see it, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Captain America (2011)

Captain America is the last of the Marvel movies to help set up the upcoming Avengers film which will be released next year, the story here is that in the 1940's the Nazi's have declared war and Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans is keen to enlist and serve his country but because of his skinny body and asthmatic health he is rejected, until a doctor played by Stanley Tucci offers him the chance of a lifetime.

In all honesty I wasn't really sure what to expect with this film, while the trailer looked pretty neat I kept thinking to myself "maybe I should skip this one" but thinking about the trailer made me change my mind, so was I right to be skeptical or was I right to trust my instincts in the hope that this one would deliver the goods?

As it turns out, I actually had a lot of fun with this movie, more so than some this year and the credit has to go to the director Joe Johnston, Johnston started at Lucasfilm in the 1970's and cut his teeth on the Star Wars Trilogy and Raiders of the Lost Ark and that background is on full show here with a car chase in the beginning of the film feeling a lot like the truck chase from Raiders and a bike chase in a forest towards the end of the film feeling a little bit like the Speeder Bike Chase from Return of the Jedi, now I'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily but it's something that I noticed as I was watching the film.

As for the performances well generally they were quite good, Evans made for a strong and heroic Captain and Hugo Weaving made for a good bad guy, even though I still hate him as Megatron this and the Wolfman reminded me that he's a good actor though at times I did think to myself "When did he turn into Sam Neill" as he sounded a lot like Sam Neill when he played Visili in The Hunt for Red October and Hayley Atwell was pretty good too as the main love interest though again I was reminded of Claire Danes as she looked a lot like her, though it's a pity Danes didn't play Emma Frost in X-Men First Class as January Jones looked like her in that movie too.

Plus there's the fact that Tucci looked like Dr. Malikov from the Resistance video game series on the PS3 and I mean that literally, it was a dead ringer for Malikov.

Now comes my main bone of contention with this movie and it regards the 3D, frankly it wasn't needed as it felt more like 2.5D and low and behold, when I took the glasses off it looked great, it was brighter, more colourful and I got to appreciate the cinematography a lot more too, but then again it's not as if you needed further proof that 3D isn't needed and everything looks better in good old fashioned 2D now did you.

All in all, a good year for blockbusters notches up another win for its ranks but PLEASE see it in 2D instead, you'll feel so much happier you did, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

In this, the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry. Ron and Hermione are continuing their quests to destroy the Horcruxes which will in turn help to defeat the evil Lord Voldemort, but Voldemort and his followers are now descending on Hogwarts but the magical school won't go down without a fight and in the end, there can be only one.

If the Highlander reference is somewhat confusing I'll say it refers to the final battle between Harry and Voldemort which is the final showdown that ends this series and it does so very well indeed, the battle in Hogwarts which also helps to dominate much of the film is also beautifully staged with some very surprising moments.

But the reason it works so well is this: We actually care about the characters in it and that feeling permeated throughout the movie, in an age where we have movies like Transformers 3 where you have these big effects scenes full of elaborate camera shots and state of the art computer graphics and dialogue like "You didn't betray me, you betrayed yourself" but behind that is a hollow heart, one with no real love or genuine thought attached and as a result audiences don't have any reason to care about the action on screen, here that isn't a problem, we've invested so much into the main characters here that we want to see them succeed, to stand united as one and defeat evil once and for all and it's all brought together so wonderfully well and emotionally it's just as satisfying.

But in the end there can be only one and that is given due credence but I won't say too much more than that other than "One shall Stand, One shall Fall."

All in all, a very satisfying conclusion to a series that has come to mean so much to so many, strongly recommended, 4 out of 5.

PS: Hello to Jason Issacs!

Film Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)

Part 1 of the final Harry Potter book the Deathly Hallows, darkness has descended upon the world, the evil lord Voldemort has captured the Ministry of Magic and ultimate power is within his grasp but somewhere out there, Harry, Ron and Hermione are racing to destroy the sacred Horcruxes and end his reign of evil.

After the plodding dullness that was the last HP film the Half Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows 7A captures a tone of darkness and despair rarely seen in a blockbuster, you truly get the sense that no one, nowhere is safe from the evil that plagues the world, in a way it reminds you of the Two Towers which had a similar feeling of darkness and dread, of a world where evil has real power and good men can do nothing.

But as for our valiant heroes, all three actors have really grown in confidence of their roles, Emma Watson in particular who shows real strength in the face of near overwhelming odds, but they all go on in their quest knowing that they must do all they can to defeat evil once and for all.

All in all, part of a tale that is worth your time but the battle is not yet over, one more remains, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - The Green Hornet (2011)

Based off the comic strip, The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen as Britt Reid, son of a famous newspaper tycoon played by Tom Wilkinson who dies after a bee sting and is left in charge of his empire, but one night he gets the idea to become a superhero with his aide Kato played by Jay Chou and run the story in his paper, but a local mob boss played by Christoph Waltz may have other ideas.

Okay, onto the good parts of the movie and they are some of the individual gags and chase scenes, for the most part these work on their own and the chase scenes are well directed but unfortunately they only work as individual scenes.

However the glue that holds this movie together; the script simply doesn't work at all, going from boorish to action to emotion as it goes on without any rhyme or reason to tie it all together and make the audience give two shits about anything happening on screen, as for the performances Rogen comes across as really annoying for most of the movie and just does nothing more than the stereotypical "overgrown man child who must learn to grow up well after he should've" routine that is REALLY annoying me to no end and Waltz really just does nothing more than the cartoon villain with his "I finally have Gadget exactly where I want him, hehehehahahaha" dialogue that is again very very annoying while Chou is given the impossible task of carrying the whole movie on his shoulders which he does rather well I must say, one can't help but think that if it wasn't for him the whole film would've been a total disaster.

All in all, as I said it has some good points but the script just doesn't work, 1 out of 5.