Halloween is produced by Jason Blum and John Carpenter returns as executive producer and composes part of the score for this movie and 40 years have passed since the events of the original Halloween film from 1978 but Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) still hasn’t forgotten that night but when Michael Myers escapes from state custody Laurie vows to kill him once and for all.
Halloween is a great continuation of the series and smartly it only follows on from the 1978 original and ignores all of the other sequels that were made over the years so you only have to watch that film and your all set for this new one and there are multiple reasons I feel this new sequel works really well.
- Firstly it is great to hear that proper music for Halloween, Carpenter and his son Cody along with Daniel Davies do a great job of putting new themes while also playing the iconic themes from the original film and when those themes play in the movie it raises you in your seat and really adds to the suspense and tension of the scenes it plays under and I was watching more awarely and tapping my fingers.
- Secondly Michael Myers is menacing again, his shape of pure evil the tale of the Boogeyman personified (though John Wick could’ve killed him as he is the man you send to kill the fucking boogeyman and I did think of that during the film) is so so wonderful to watch as like in the original he feels like an elemental force of pure evil that cannot be bargained with, reasoned with and doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear when he comes for you be afraid, be very afraid.
- And lastly Jamie Lee Curtis is fantastic again as Laurie and though the hand of the late Debra Hill isn’t felt with the writing of her character as it was in the original director David Gordon Green and his co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley do a good job of honouring the character from the first film and building upon it for this new film but 2 others deserve special mention as well.
And they are Judy Greer and Andi Matichak they really hold their own with Jamie Lee in this movie and it was terrific to see the 3 generations of Strode women fight off Michael Myers.
And also before I finish up there is some great MA15 horror violence in this movie and if you are squeamish I would want to either avoid this movie and take someone with you as there are some brutal deaths on show which I loved every moment of.
And so that was Halloween and it was a really fun movie for me that is also one of my favourites of the year so far, 4 out of 5.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Film Review - A Star is Born (2018)
This is the 4th version of A Star is Born to be made the last one being in 1976 with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson this time Bradley Cooper stars and directs and co-writes and produces this version and plays Jackson Maine an alcoholic country singer who meets Ally (Lady Gaga) in a bar and discovers her talent for singing and decides to help her launch a career in the music industry.
I have been very torn on this movie since I saw it but after thinking about it a little bit I think that in all honesty it is okay nothing great but nothing overly horrible either and a lot of that comes down to Lady Gaga’s performance she is a genuine star here and owns every scene she’s in and when watching her in this movie it feels like playing this character just comes as easy to her as putting on one of her personas that she developed early on in her career and I hope she does more movie roles in the future.
Where this falls over for me is Bradley Cooper both in his direction and his performance and I’ll start first with the performance side and it really felt like to me that he was emulating Kris Kristofferson from that 1976 version as he has the scruffy beard, the chest hair and the slightly midwestern twinge in his voice and after a while I kinda got sick of watching him drink every kind of alcohol, clash with people on his tour and sing a bunch of songs now this is the material from what I’ve read I haven’t seen the other versions but it kind of wore out its welcome for me after a while.
As for his direction it was okay but there are an awful lot of close ups some of them very close up indeed and some of them of Lady Gaga made me a little uncomfortable to watch especially during some of the romance scenes where Cooper is touching Ms Gaga an awful lot now I’m not prudish in any way but I sat there thinking “Okay can we call cut and not go so close in, it’s a little uncomfortable to watch like this.”
Lastly the script as it focuses more and more on Jackson’s decline it sends the overall film into a decline in its back half and for me I really began to lose interest and I was checking my watch on a few occasions which is a bit of a shame but these things happen.
And so that was A Star is Born and its okay and that’s really due to Lady Gaga’s performance the rest of it really did very little for me I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
I have been very torn on this movie since I saw it but after thinking about it a little bit I think that in all honesty it is okay nothing great but nothing overly horrible either and a lot of that comes down to Lady Gaga’s performance she is a genuine star here and owns every scene she’s in and when watching her in this movie it feels like playing this character just comes as easy to her as putting on one of her personas that she developed early on in her career and I hope she does more movie roles in the future.
Where this falls over for me is Bradley Cooper both in his direction and his performance and I’ll start first with the performance side and it really felt like to me that he was emulating Kris Kristofferson from that 1976 version as he has the scruffy beard, the chest hair and the slightly midwestern twinge in his voice and after a while I kinda got sick of watching him drink every kind of alcohol, clash with people on his tour and sing a bunch of songs now this is the material from what I’ve read I haven’t seen the other versions but it kind of wore out its welcome for me after a while.
As for his direction it was okay but there are an awful lot of close ups some of them very close up indeed and some of them of Lady Gaga made me a little uncomfortable to watch especially during some of the romance scenes where Cooper is touching Ms Gaga an awful lot now I’m not prudish in any way but I sat there thinking “Okay can we call cut and not go so close in, it’s a little uncomfortable to watch like this.”
Lastly the script as it focuses more and more on Jackson’s decline it sends the overall film into a decline in its back half and for me I really began to lose interest and I was checking my watch on a few occasions which is a bit of a shame but these things happen.
And so that was A Star is Born and its okay and that’s really due to Lady Gaga’s performance the rest of it really did very little for me I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
Film Review - Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Bad Times at the El Royale is written and directed by Drew Goddard and concerns a lounge singer (Cynthia Ervio), a priest (Jeff Bridges), two young women (Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny) and a vacuum salesman (Jon Hamm) all come to the El Royale hotel which is a Bi State hotel between Nevada and California but all is not quite what it seems.
I did not like this movie very much I’m afraid and have likened to calling it “Diet Tarantino” as a nod to Diet Coke for this movie so desperately wants to be a Hateful Eight type of movie where a group of strangers come to a secluded place, their stuck there and things get very twisty and turny about why their there and what they want to do.
And Quentin can pull off that kind of film as he is a great screenwriter that can blend jukebox soundtracks, extreme violence and snappy dialogue that balances the tones of being fun and serious and direct those actors in a way that really seems to bring out the best in them in his films Mr Goddard is not that kind of director and it really shows in this film as the extreme violence moments come out of nowhere and land with a thud (and I love MA15 violence) and the jukebox soundtrack and snazzy dialogue just feel very out of place.
And I loved the Martian in 2015 which Mr Goddard wrote but this feels like a major step back, now as for the performances Ms Ervio and Ms Johnson really shine best here as both of them get a lot of meaty screen time and develop their characters well as for Mr Bridges well he kinda just does the Jeff Bridges thing same with Jon Hamm but the biggest waste is Chris Hemsworth now I love this man and wish he would get some of the opportunities Mel Gibson got at the height of his stardom (Hamlet, Maverick, Air America for example) but I thought he was terrible here as this flower child hippie type of character who shows off his abs and I didn’t like him here.
And so that was Bad Times at the El Royale aka Diet Tarantino and in all honesty wait for the Classic Tarantino to come out next year with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 1 out of 5.
I did not like this movie very much I’m afraid and have likened to calling it “Diet Tarantino” as a nod to Diet Coke for this movie so desperately wants to be a Hateful Eight type of movie where a group of strangers come to a secluded place, their stuck there and things get very twisty and turny about why their there and what they want to do.
And Quentin can pull off that kind of film as he is a great screenwriter that can blend jukebox soundtracks, extreme violence and snappy dialogue that balances the tones of being fun and serious and direct those actors in a way that really seems to bring out the best in them in his films Mr Goddard is not that kind of director and it really shows in this film as the extreme violence moments come out of nowhere and land with a thud (and I love MA15 violence) and the jukebox soundtrack and snazzy dialogue just feel very out of place.
And I loved the Martian in 2015 which Mr Goddard wrote but this feels like a major step back, now as for the performances Ms Ervio and Ms Johnson really shine best here as both of them get a lot of meaty screen time and develop their characters well as for Mr Bridges well he kinda just does the Jeff Bridges thing same with Jon Hamm but the biggest waste is Chris Hemsworth now I love this man and wish he would get some of the opportunities Mel Gibson got at the height of his stardom (Hamlet, Maverick, Air America for example) but I thought he was terrible here as this flower child hippie type of character who shows off his abs and I didn’t like him here.
And so that was Bad Times at the El Royale aka Diet Tarantino and in all honesty wait for the Classic Tarantino to come out next year with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 1 out of 5.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Film Review - First Man (2018)
First Man is directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong the astronaut who would make history by being the first man on the Moon in July 1969 well this movie tells the tale of how he got to be on that Apollo mission and finally that history making Moonwalk.
First Man is a movie I very much enjoyed mainly due to Mr Chazelle’s craftsmanship which has come a very long way from La La Land last year which I merely thought was okay there is some beautiful visuals here by Linus Sandgren where he combines an old fashioned film feel with deep blacks in space and tight angles when the astronauts are in the various space rockets and capsules and the way he also uses the blacks, reds, yellows and blues in particular was very eye catching.
And also there is some truly brilliant sound design on show here so good that I want this movie to win the Best Sound Design Oscar next year (A Quiet Place should get the other Sound Oscars) there is some great uses of silence when the rockets and capsules are in space and some great rumbling on the mix when the rockets take off or when something goes wrong.
Both of these elements made this very worthwhile in the cinema and will really shine on the new 4K Ultra HD format.
As for the performances well Mr Gosling was fine but he was pretty much his usual self he does a good job for sure but dialogue for me isn’t his strong suit particularly when it comes across as a little clunky at times, Claire Foy is great as Janet Armstrong who is trying to have something of a normal life and raise her family while also having to bear the burden of someone who could become a widow at any time not to mention live with having already lost a loved one and her grace and dignity out front that conceals a private fever, rage and feeling of powerlessness is fantastic to watch.
It gives me hope that she can overcome my doubts about her as Lisbeth Salander in the Girl in the Spiders Web next month and also I enjoyed seeing Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler and Ciaran Hinds in their small roles.
But lastly if I have a complaint and I do its that this movie is too long, at 141 minutes there are times where this movie drags with some sections of the story going on longer than it feels like it does and during those moments I was checking my watch and with a trimming of 5 to 10 minutes it would’ve made for a great film.
And so that was my review of First Man, a film I really liked despite being a little long, 3 and a half out of 5.
First Man is a movie I very much enjoyed mainly due to Mr Chazelle’s craftsmanship which has come a very long way from La La Land last year which I merely thought was okay there is some beautiful visuals here by Linus Sandgren where he combines an old fashioned film feel with deep blacks in space and tight angles when the astronauts are in the various space rockets and capsules and the way he also uses the blacks, reds, yellows and blues in particular was very eye catching.
And also there is some truly brilliant sound design on show here so good that I want this movie to win the Best Sound Design Oscar next year (A Quiet Place should get the other Sound Oscars) there is some great uses of silence when the rockets and capsules are in space and some great rumbling on the mix when the rockets take off or when something goes wrong.
Both of these elements made this very worthwhile in the cinema and will really shine on the new 4K Ultra HD format.
As for the performances well Mr Gosling was fine but he was pretty much his usual self he does a good job for sure but dialogue for me isn’t his strong suit particularly when it comes across as a little clunky at times, Claire Foy is great as Janet Armstrong who is trying to have something of a normal life and raise her family while also having to bear the burden of someone who could become a widow at any time not to mention live with having already lost a loved one and her grace and dignity out front that conceals a private fever, rage and feeling of powerlessness is fantastic to watch.
It gives me hope that she can overcome my doubts about her as Lisbeth Salander in the Girl in the Spiders Web next month and also I enjoyed seeing Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler and Ciaran Hinds in their small roles.
But lastly if I have a complaint and I do its that this movie is too long, at 141 minutes there are times where this movie drags with some sections of the story going on longer than it feels like it does and during those moments I was checking my watch and with a trimming of 5 to 10 minutes it would’ve made for a great film.
And so that was my review of First Man, a film I really liked despite being a little long, 3 and a half out of 5.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Film Review - Halloween (1978)
Halloween is directed by John Carpenter and stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Lori Strode a young high school girl who is babysitting on Halloween night while also hanging out with her school friends but an evil presence has descended upon their night in the form of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is the only one who knows how evil he really is.
Halloween is a very effective horror film that I found very refreshing to watch for three reasons:
- First is John Carpenter’s direction, score and screenplay also co written by Debra Hill the two of them really take the time to both develop the main characters, build up the menace of Michael and the dread of when he will strike and the way the 3 strands of the storytelling play out is well handled by Carpenter in his direction and though it can be a little long before the killing happens it is very well done and all the more shocking when it happens as it isn’t thrown at you in a cheap jump scare like we see so often today.
- Secondly the performances are really good here, Jamie Lee Curtis is effective as Lori both as a young girl in school and as someone who is thrown into this horrifying home invasion while also trying to protect the 2 children under her care, in many ways I was reminded of Linda Hamilton in the first Terminator movie an innocent girl living her life then caught up in a horrifying situation.
Donald Pleasance is also very good here as Dr. Loomis the doctor who tried to bring Michael back to sanity but failed and is now trying to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone else one scene he has with a local sheriff is really effective.
- And lastly Michael Myers is a terrific villain, he has no dialogue, no face save for that mask and yet he is so good at instilling terror and feat wherever he goes that when Carpenter is moving his camera around it instils this sense of dread and tension in regards to when and where he will strike next and this was so refreshing to watch as today he’d be another evil creature with some apparatus that is the subject of endless jump scares, quick cuts and LOUD NOISES ON THE SOUND MIX!
And so that was Halloween a really really good horror film that is highly recommend, 4 out of 5.
Halloween is a very effective horror film that I found very refreshing to watch for three reasons:
- First is John Carpenter’s direction, score and screenplay also co written by Debra Hill the two of them really take the time to both develop the main characters, build up the menace of Michael and the dread of when he will strike and the way the 3 strands of the storytelling play out is well handled by Carpenter in his direction and though it can be a little long before the killing happens it is very well done and all the more shocking when it happens as it isn’t thrown at you in a cheap jump scare like we see so often today.
- Secondly the performances are really good here, Jamie Lee Curtis is effective as Lori both as a young girl in school and as someone who is thrown into this horrifying home invasion while also trying to protect the 2 children under her care, in many ways I was reminded of Linda Hamilton in the first Terminator movie an innocent girl living her life then caught up in a horrifying situation.
Donald Pleasance is also very good here as Dr. Loomis the doctor who tried to bring Michael back to sanity but failed and is now trying to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone else one scene he has with a local sheriff is really effective.
- And lastly Michael Myers is a terrific villain, he has no dialogue, no face save for that mask and yet he is so good at instilling terror and feat wherever he goes that when Carpenter is moving his camera around it instils this sense of dread and tension in regards to when and where he will strike next and this was so refreshing to watch as today he’d be another evil creature with some apparatus that is the subject of endless jump scares, quick cuts and LOUD NOISES ON THE SOUND MIX!
And so that was Halloween a really really good horror film that is highly recommend, 4 out of 5.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Film Review - Venom (2018)
Venom is based off of the villain from the Spider-Man comics and this time Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock an investigative journalist who is living with his girlfriend Annie (Michelle Williams) and is assigned to interview the head of the Life Corporation (Riz Ahmed) but when he pushes on allegations of bad behaviour he is fired from his job but one night a mysterious substance enters his body and unbeknownst to him gives him great power.
Venom was a movie that before I saw it I thought it would be great or it would be horrible and instead it is only ok nothing great but nothing horrible either, the film works best when Tom Hardy who is easy to understand this time after so many movies where no cared who he was unless he put on the mask is playing Eddie Brock the journalist someone who has a bit of a reputation that like in the Spider-Man animated series from the 90s conflicts with his superiors will go to any lengths to get his story, when those scenes were playing I was interested.
But when the Venom symbiote shows up and takes over the movie it becomes very cartoonish and at times it literally feels like a live action cartoon with the Symbiote CG effects having that very animated feel and it also doesn’t help that the storytelling starts to develop this dual identity of going from a serious investigative journalism story with this evil company (and Mr Ahmed is good in his scenes) to a cartoon with people flying everywhere and the predictable action scenes and climax and payback of the early scenes.
And its not that those scenes are bad certainly not but they just feel very disengaging and I just sat there kind of a bit bored by it all but not like with the new Predator movie where I just began to hate what I was watching but just feeling very eh and meh about it all and when you have a film like Split by M. Night Shyamalan from last year that did this kind of anti hero film so well this feels very very bland in comparison.
But hey at least Venom is done and we have Glass to look forward at the end of January next year and frankly watch Split instead of this movie, 2 out of 5.
Venom was a movie that before I saw it I thought it would be great or it would be horrible and instead it is only ok nothing great but nothing horrible either, the film works best when Tom Hardy who is easy to understand this time after so many movies where no cared who he was unless he put on the mask is playing Eddie Brock the journalist someone who has a bit of a reputation that like in the Spider-Man animated series from the 90s conflicts with his superiors will go to any lengths to get his story, when those scenes were playing I was interested.
But when the Venom symbiote shows up and takes over the movie it becomes very cartoonish and at times it literally feels like a live action cartoon with the Symbiote CG effects having that very animated feel and it also doesn’t help that the storytelling starts to develop this dual identity of going from a serious investigative journalism story with this evil company (and Mr Ahmed is good in his scenes) to a cartoon with people flying everywhere and the predictable action scenes and climax and payback of the early scenes.
And its not that those scenes are bad certainly not but they just feel very disengaging and I just sat there kind of a bit bored by it all but not like with the new Predator movie where I just began to hate what I was watching but just feeling very eh and meh about it all and when you have a film like Split by M. Night Shyamalan from last year that did this kind of anti hero film so well this feels very very bland in comparison.
But hey at least Venom is done and we have Glass to look forward at the end of January next year and frankly watch Split instead of this movie, 2 out of 5.
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