Film Review - Dredd (2012)

Dredd stars Karl Urban as the titular Judge Dredd of the future, where 800 million people live in the ruins of the old world, one day however he is asked to take on a rookie for an assessment named Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) as they go about a signal inside the Peach Trees complex, run by the wicked Ma-Ma (Lena Headey)

I thoroughly enjoyed this new take on Dredd, Alex Garland's script really nails the character and the world and it will quickly wash away the bad taste left by the Sly Stallone version of the character released in 1995, Urban is terrific in the role and his gruff demeanour really grows on you, Thirlby has a strong resemblance to Rachel McAdams but also delivers the goods as the young rookie on the job, how refreshing it is to see a strong female character in a film for once and not the borderline sexist stereotyping we see far too often as hey that's the easier way to go.

Another strong female character that needs mentioning is Ma-Ma herself, Headey plays the role like a complete bitch and doesn't resort to going over the top in the part as other actresses may be tempted to do when they get a role like this one and as a villain she's simply fantastic, cold and ruthless at the same time as well as being willing to show no mercy, again so refreshing to see a great female character in a film, it's a sad shame that there's so few of them in the movies these days.

But hey, Dredd is a thoroughly enjoyable action film and its absolutely worth seeing, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - The Master (2012)

The Master is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell, a man who serves in the navy during World War 2 but when the war ends doesn't know what to do with himself, one night however he comes across a mysterious man named Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) who may hold the key to his salvation.

The Master is certainly a weird film to be sure but it's one that also overcomes that to deliver what is a finely crafted film, Anderson's eye for direction and editing are on show throughout the whole film always making sure that things don't run on too long nor does he insert scenes and editing shots where he doesn't need to, happily letting scenes play on in a natural flow that is rarely seen in films today as there is a near constant need to have a edit every 2 seconds, Anderson doesn't do that and as a result the film flows a lot better and doesn't make you think that it runs too long for its own good.

Technically however the film is first rate with the cinematography, production design, costumes and musical score all being of very high quality and each element helps to immerse you in both the world of the film and the period in which its set and not once will you get bored looking or listening to any of it as there is always something new to look at in each frame.

But my last bout of praise has to go to the performances, Phoenix and Hoffman are very good and play off each other very well which helps to serve the relationship the two characters have in the film but my favourite performance in the film has to be the one by Amy Adams who reminds us all how good she can really be with the right part and here she makes you think that she is the Master of the film with her quiet sense of dignity and authority that also comes across as quietly chilling at times, definitely not one woman you would want to mess with.

But all in all, the Master is a well made film but it's also a film I would say that I admire more than I enjoyed which is not as some might say is a bad thing, far from it in my eyes but it would also be a hard film for me to recommend but if you are keen to see it then I will do just that if you're not or your unsure about it then I won't, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Justice League: Doom (2012)

Banded together from the remote areas of the world are 7 of the most sinister villains of all time: The Legion of Doom, dedicated to a single objective: The Conquest of the World, only one group can stop this global threat: The Justice League.

Justice League Doom is simply terrific in almost every way, the first reason is that it feels like a feature length film of the first two seasons of the animated series which most of the team behind this movie worked on also, I thought of some of the great multi part storylines the series had like "Twilight of the Gods", "In Blackest Night", "Wild Cards", "The Savage Time", "Starcrossed" and "And Injustice for All...".

But there are three key reasons this film really works:

The first is the cracker of a script by Dwayne McDuffie (sadly to be his last before his death in 2011), it has a real understanding of the characters, it uses its heroes and villains very effectively and it always has time for some great character moments amongst the wildly imaginative action scenes, McDuffie wrote some terrific stories for the animated series and its enormously sad he's gone, may he RIP.

The second is the voice acting, all the regulars from the animated series return but this time we see some changes: first of all Tim Daly returns to voice Superman and what a joyous occasion it is as it was his absence from the role in the series that held it back from being truly great and it's a joy to hear him here, second Nathan Fillion takes up the role of Green Lantern and it's an inspired choice for the part, I found him to be much better than Ryan Reynolds was in the live action film and lastly we see Bumper Robinson as Cyborg, a fun character in his own right that plays a key role in the film.

And last but certainly not least is the animation, it's simply fantastic as its fast and fluid and at times it gives the film a very cinematic feel, I wish I'd been able to see it on the big screen instead of at home as its hard to imagine a future live action Justice League movie being any better than this was in terms of combining great action, strong characterization and exciting animation.

And so, Justice League Doom is absolutely worth the time to watch it, it's exciting, fast paced, cinematic but always finds time to explore its heroes and villains and in terms of film productions both live action and animated it rarely gets better than this, 5 out of 5.

Film Review - True Lies (1994)

True Lies is directed by James Cameron and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a man happily married to his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and has a teenage daughter named Dana (Eliza Dushku) but outside of this he leads a double life as a spy for the US Government, a double life that is about to collide.

True Lies sadly is Cameron's weakest film as a director for me, as a huge fan of some of his work over years (Aliens, Avatar, Titanic and his 2 Terminator films) this one just feels like the 2nd cousin of his for the most part very good body of work as a director and as someone who loves his directorial style its somewhat sad for me to admit this fact.

Don't get me wrong there are things about the film I do like, Arnold delivers a solid performance, no doubt helped by having Cameron as director as does Grant Heslov, Tom Arnold (weird I know), Art Malik and Charlton Heston on backup support, the film's James Bond-esque opening is quite fun and the finale in Florida is actually pretty good though it does go on a bit too long.

But sadly the film has a big flaw in it and that is its female characters and the attitude against them all throughout the film, frankly I hated it and to me it also seemed downright wrong given that all throughout his work Cameron has always had strong female characters that stood toe to toe with their male counterparts (Neytiri in Avatar, Sarah Connor in Terminator and Ripley in Aliens are just a few examples) whereas here they're just there to be rescued, used as a screaming prop in the climax, spied on and the like and in all honesty I really thought Cameron was better than this, I really did but alas even director's you really like pull this sort of thing once in a while.

And so, True Lies is the one James Cameron film I don't rate very highly at all and it's very sad to say that given how much I admire his work as a director and how influential he's been on me over the years, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Side Effects (2013)

Side Effects is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Rooney Mara as Emily Taylor, a young woman whose husband (Channing Tatum) is coming out of jail after serving a 4 year sentence for Insider Trading, but the time he's served behind bars has left some devastating side effects on his young wife.

Side Effects for me, is merely okay, it's far from a terrible film but it's also not a real standout in terms of murder mystery thrillers, Mara effectively carries the film on her own two shoulders and is more than equal to the task, her and Jennifer Lawrence would have to be among the most talented actresses of their generation and it's easy to see why in the case of Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones are also okay in their roles as Emily's doctors that she sees throughout the film though Channing Tatum merely across as "Token Hunk 101" and his character has very little to do with the proceedings.

But the film's biggest problem is the script by Scott Burns, at times it feels unfocused in terms of where to take its storyline and characters and how the various twists are played out made me think of "Jagged Edge" where it tried to be too clever for its own good in terms of who really did what and like that film, it fails at that task.

But hey as I said, it's far from terrible as a movie but it's also a film that's best saved for a Saturday Night DVD rental, a far better example of this type of film is one that ironically enough Roadshow themselves released in 1992 called Shattered with Tom Berenger, seek out a copy of that film instead of seeing this one as it's a much better mystery thriller film than this one is, 2 out of 5.

Why I Adore...

It's hard to begin describing my love of particular VHS brands here in Australia given that were 5 of them that I really love though if I had to pick there is one that I would have to say was my co-favorite of all the ones that graced Video Store shelves in the 80's and 90's.

And that is Roadshow Home Video.

But why this brand, why not one like Warner Home Video or RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video both of which I do like but there was something special about Roadshow Home Video's catalogue in 1982-1985 in particular that is really worth talking about.

One of those is that the releases felt home grown, no doubt due to Roadshow being an Australian company so the tapes themselves felt like a nice piece of your homeland inside your machine, especially when it came to promoting its homegrown movies like Mad Max, Attack Force Z and even the Channel 10 miniseries about the Dismissal.

Roadshow began releasing home video titles in 1982 with the David Cronenberg horror film Scanners, a surprising pick given that it was said for many years that George Miller's Mad Max was the first Roadshow Video released (which wouldn't surprise me given that the tape opens with a small history lesson about the company whereas Scanners doesn't.)

But it wasn't until 1983 that the brand really took off with many hit titles hitting the shelves at just the right time with VHS as a format starting to make a big splash, that year Roadshow moved into releasing titles on video in Stereo (some of those titles were Venom with Oliver Reed, The Beastmaster, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii and Brian de Palma's Blow Out)

83 also saw some personal favorites of mine on the brand released, two of those that stand out are First Blood and Summer Lovers, both films had their theatrical release here in Aus in December of 82 and I enjoyed both very much.

First Blood has been a personal favorite of mine for a long time for its combination of exciting action, great performances and heartfelt emotion of a man who returns to life and find there's nothing here for him, Sly Stallone, Brian Dennehy and Richard Crenna were all fantastic in the film and there was some great direction by Ted Kotcheff.

Summer Lovers on the other hand was far from perfect as a film but for what it strove to achieve it was pretty good, Daryl Hannah and Peter Gallagher had some nice chemistry, the Greece scenery was gorgeous and Valerie Quennessen was just wonderful, showing a real presence on screen very few actresses have, it's enormously sad she died so young and left so much behind (Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert would later name the film as one of their underrated gems.)

1984 and 85 saw the brand go from strength to strength, continuing on what was established in 82 and 83 as well as starting to use longer trailers for promoting their titles as well as a mix of the shorter ones that graced the earlier releases.

Some of my favorite titles promoted during this era were Razorback, Never Say Never Again, Cross Country, Street Hero (with a use of "Wilder World" by Dragon), Silkwood, Blame it on Rio (with Michael Caine and Joseph Bologna the voice of Dan Turpin in Superman TAS), Beat Street, Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac and Jimmy the Kid (the trailer being narrated by Don "Inspector Gadget" Adams who starred in the film) even though I have a more mixed reaction to the films themselves.

1985 would see the brand change into what it is today, Village Roadshow Home Video though some of those titles would be promoted on some of the early Roadshow titles such as The Falcon and the Snowman, The Terminator and Avenging Angel to name a few.

Also promoted during this era were titles like Cannonball Run 2, The Man from Hong Kong, 1984, Target Eagle with Maud Adams, The Philadelphia Experiment and the Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai to name others.

But with all that out of the way I'm sure your all thinking "What do you love most" about these releases and the brand as a whole.

Well that answer is twofold, the first is that it represents a time when movies had a sense of reality to them and were cheap to make somewhat, most movies now rely heavily on digital special effects to bring characters to life and it rarely works as the audience can tell that it's a computer generated character and as a result of a reliance on CG, overall spending budget's for films have gone up as well whereas back then there was more of a reliance on practical and optical effects and as a result it kept the budget down.

The second is that it also represents a time before I was born and being a history buff I love to read about that period of the 80's (heck even the decade as a whole as well as the early 90's) and to know what the new releases were at that time as well as what was popular is a great thing to be able to know.

And so that is my piece about my love of Roadshow Home Video and some of the titles that were released under it.

An Opening Comparison: Argo and Mad Max 2

Recently I got my hands on the Blu-Ray release of Ben Affleck's Oscar Winning film Argo (a film I really loved, saw twice in the cinemas and was my favorite film of last year) and was struck by something that I hadn't really noticed until watching it on Blu-Ray.

And that is how similar the opening to this film is to the opening of Mad Max 2 (another personal favorite of mine) from 1981, now I'm sure some of you are thinking "what a stupid comparison" and on the surface it looks that way but allow me now to dig deeper.

First and what will probably be the silliest, both of the films open with the same Warner Brothers logo that has the black circle with the two and a half stripes and the red background, this was the standard WB logo at the time in which the events of Argo took place though with the release of Gremlins in 1984 it was changed to the shield style in use today.

The version on Mad Max 2 reflects the 4:3 aspect ratio that the film opens with, shamefully Warner's changed it for a modern day logo in full widescreen in 2007 when the film was first released on Blu-Ray, I hated the change when I first saw it in 2008 and I still hate it now as it ruins the mood of the film's opening and robs the viewer of a certain memory, perhaps coming from when they first saw it in cinemas in Christmas of 81, its US release in 1982 or indeed even on Video when it was released originally in 83 or its first re release in 86 or its other re releases over the years.

The second part of the comparison is the story it tells, Argo's is more rooted in fact, telling a brief version of the history of Iran prior to the 1979 revolution in a sense telling what has happened while Mad Max 2 tells of a future that feels like a believable one if things continue along a certain path.

The common theme that for me links the two together is the way both tell a specific period of time, one tells of the past and events that have already happened and faded into history while the other tells of one possible future among many even though the Future itself is not always set in stone and can very easily change in more ways than one.

The third part of my comparison comes down to its use of filmmaking technique to put its opening story across, Argo uses an animated storyboard sequence for the most part and it's a brilliant way to blend the two story ideas that run through the film while Mad Max 2 opens in a 4:3 window boxed ratio.

There are also three common elements both use, the first is the use of a narrator to help tell the story and that narration being acted in a way that feels somber, the second is the use of archival footage to help give more of an impact to the events being told and the third and last is the almost sad music that underscores both, helping to make the viewer of both openings feel more emotional about the tales of the past and future that they're watching.

But last and certainly not least, both are the prelude to a big opening sequence that sets the stage for the rest of the film, in the case of Argo it's the raid on the US Embassy in Tehran and in the case of Mad Max 2 it's a thrilling opening chase sequence with the famous Interceptor.

And the common theme of both is that they are very good openings that generate feelings of tension and excitement and are masterfully handled by their directors.

And so, that's my take on the openings of two films that I really love as personal favorites and the differences between the two as well as the commonalities that bind them together as well as the various strands of history that the two strive to tell in their own way.