Knightriders (1981)

Directed by George A Romero
Starring Ed Harris, Tom Savini, Gary Lahti, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, Christine Forrest, John Amplas
Produced by Richard P Rubenstein
Written by George A Romero
Music by Donald Rubenstein

I must admit, I put off watching Knightriders for the longest time purely because of the front cover of the DVD. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the material is anything but crap. But the film surprised the hell out of me, and I rank it as one of Romero’s best. It’s clear that this was a deeply personal film for him. Long story short, you have this bunch of stunt players who have established a sort of on-the-road bikie medieval community, with a King, Billy (Ed Harris), Queen, and (presumably) First Knight (Morgan, played by Romero’s gore-effects maestro Tom Savini). Instead of horses, they use motorcycles (less shit to clean up). They make ends meet by staging dangerous medieval tournaments, joust with motorcycles, perform jumps and other stunts, that sort of thing. However, as their financial problems worsen they are courted by big business who provide the means to finance their tournaments in exchange for a little cross-promotion.

"Yeah, see that fantasy troupe fan over there? I had her, and her sister too.
The chicks love the Black Knight get-up, Ed, I'm telling ya!"

It’s blindingly obvious, therefore, that Knightriders is Romero’s commentary on the movie industry and, in particular, how he fits in with it. Romero’s always preferred to make films on his own terms, even if that often means he winds up with limited budgets. His choice is pretty clear: stay independent and make the films you want, but work with the budget you can scrounge up. On the flipside, “sell-out” to the big studios as a director-for-hire, make films with virtually no restrictions in terms of resources, but have a set of demands imposed on him which often affect the quality of the outcome. Take the third and fourth zombie films in Romero's Dead series. Romero had an epic zombie movie envisaged for the third, Day, but ended up filming only a fraction of it due to the budgetary limitations; however, this meant he could keep the film unrated and not have to appease the notorious MPAA and their retarded demands. Had he opted for the studio-backing, he would have had to have slashed Day’s notoriously gory effects to gain a US R rating. For Land of the Dead, he got a larger budget with Universal’s backing, but had to make a bunch of cuts to meet an R rating for cinema release and made it a bit more commerically appealing, rather than mirror the grim and downbeat tone of Day.

Here, Romero’s saying that just as the characters in Knightriders have a choice between artistic integrity and compromising your vision for the sake of a few bucks, so too does virtually every artist, whether you’re in film, print, paint, whatever. Like the commentary he puts in some of his other films, it’s not exactly subtle, but it works.

Bernard was secretly envious about the superlative printing on  Ron's shield.

Beyond all that guff, however, the film is a real oddity, yes, but also extremely entertaining. It’s also surprisingly moving in parts, at least, as much as a film about men on bikes pretending to be knights can be. The opening scene is a bit weird and trippy, but get beyond that and you start really getting to know the characters, and you'll see a lot of familiar faces from other Romero films pop up. Harris is reliably solid as usual, and Savini is a blast playing a more reckless biker who wants to run things his own way.

The stunts are very well staged. Some of the stuff looks pretty dangerous, so kudos to the stuntmen. One issue I have is that the driving around and jumping and racing goes on for a bit too long. Knightriders could have benefitted from some tighter editing; at two-hours-plus it definitely strains the limitations of the material. However, when you take into account the sheer enthusiasm of the production and the quality of the material then you don't really mind. Ultimately, if you're in the mood for it, I found this to be one of Romero's stronger films. Definitely the oddest, but surprisingly too it's probably one that's the most emotionally resonant.

Best bit
Savini coming to terms with what he has to do for his corporate benefactors

Iconic moment
the memorable finale

Worst bit
the very start, complete with "vasoline lens" vision

Best line
"We're bigger now. Things are different. Christ, we've got an overhead."

Best performance
Ed Harris, of course, as reliable and sturdy as a really big frickin' rock

MVP
George Romero, for bringing this oddball vision to life

What would have made this better
some editing trims, ditch the offputting opening scene

What would have made this worse
if Romero ditched the bikes and focused on one of those pissweak medieval meets as shown in Role Models

Companion film
now that I mention it, Role Models would make a pretty neat double bill with this

If you liked this...
watch Martin for another excellent Romero film that isn't quite what you expect

Pros
+ a great cast, with Harris and Savini standouts
+ a terrific "family" vibe, both in front of the screen and behind it
+ some great stunts
+ both surprisingly entertaining and curiously emotional

Cons
- a bit too long in places
- the opening scene has to go
- for a lot of viewers, the very concept will put people off
- the front video and DVD cover is extremely offputting too

Rating on the Tom Savini/Sex Machine level of tough-guy biker cameos:

After.Life (2009)

Directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Starring Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long
Written by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, Paul Vosloo and Jakub Korolczuk
Music by Paul Haslinger

Psychological thrillers, especially ones that deal with the afterlife (like The Sixth Sense) are tricky to get right. Tricky because there's a fine line they have to straddle between being true-to-life (so to speak) and completely daft. The Sixth Sense managed it through some strong performances, a grounding in as much reality as could be managed, and a strong script. After.Life only has one of these things (hint: it's the first).

Capably directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo (how's that for a name, I thought that guy who directed The Tourist had a hell of a name!), it's an interesting look at what *might* happen in that brief doorway between life and death. Interesting in that it's a different take on the usual thriller fare, but unfortunately fails in the execution, and what we're left with is a fairly middling thriller. Plus, it seems to contradict itself (unless I've failed miserably to grasp what the director and screenwriters were trying for).

Christina Ricci's expression when informed her wardrobe
budget for the film was going to be slashed to $20

--- minor spoilers ahead ---

Ricci gets in a car accident, and winds up in a funeral home, and the film takes pains to hint that (a) she was dead to begin with and this is merely a transition to the "after life", and Neeson can talk to dead people or (b) she's on the verge of death and Neeson is a deranged nutter who is killing people. Unfortunately, though this is resolved by the film's end, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense throughout. Some scenes strongly suggest, right from the outset, that Ricci is dead, or dying, or a ghost, or something. Then, later on, we get the sense that Neeson is the one who's lost his mind, not Ricci, and that she is alive all along. Or something.

--- end spoiler alert ---

Ultimately the script lets the film down, not the performances nor the direction nor anything else. Liam Neeson provides a creepy and effective performance as a possibly unhinged mortician. Christina Ricci, who suffers through the majority of the film either as a psychologically damaged character, nude, or both, grounds the film, and our sympathies, as she tries to work out what the hell is going on. Justin Long is probably the only weak link, acting-wise. He's not terrible by any means...he's just...himself. Maybe After.Life benefits from a second watch to see if everything makes sense (a'la Shutter Island) but, to be honest, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the entire experience and I don't think I could stomach a rewatch.

"I've got the latest script right here...I'm afraid it still doesn't make any sense."

The film is suitably atmospheric, there are some nice makeup effects throughout (apart from one "big" scene which has too much CGI crap) but ultimately this is a case of "nice concept, average execution", very much like a lot of M Night Shyamalan's work post-Sixth Sense. It's not scary or thrilling enough to truly work well, which means we have to rely on the script and performances to see us through, and not even Ricci and Neeson can save us in that respect.

Best bit
eh, hard to pick one - Ricci's car accident, perhaps?

Iconic moment
none, really

Worst bit
the cliched "walking down a corridor and the lights go out one by one" which seems to be completely out of place...unless I missed something

Best line
"You're a corpse; your opinion doesn't count anymore."

Best performance
Liam Neeson, just the right blend of creepy and oddly sympathetic

MVP
Christina Ricci, for at least giving it a go and acting in a challenging role that requires her to be 50% naked throughout the film

What would have made this better
a more satisfying resolution, replace Justin Long, remove the glaring continuity errors and actually make sure the damn thing MAKES SENSE

What would have made this worse
replace Christina Ricci with Kathy Bates

Companion film
for more life-near/after-death shenanigans, Flatliners

What to watch instead
probably The Sixth Sense

If you liked this...
try the very first Saw film if you want more of that "value life" lesson

Pros
+ Neeson and Ricci are very good and effectively keep the film on track
+ lots of nudity for the raincoat brigade
+ some good makeup FX
+ intriguing concept

Cons
- some illogical plot devices
- Justin Long is fairly weak in a pivotal role
- weak ending
- not enough gore for the gorehound, not enough chills for the thriller fan, not enough meat for the serious film buff

Rating on the Angus Scrimm/Tall Man level of creepy morticians:

Rambo (2008)

Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Reynaldo Gallegos
Written by Art Monterastelli and Sylvester Stallone
Produced by Kevin King, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin King Templeton and John Thompson
Music by Brian Tyler

First Blood is a great film. I watched it recently and it's amazing how much you forget the fact that Rambo, in that particular film, doesn't kill anyone. He injures a few people, but he hardly runs around slaughtering hundreds of bad guys. Then you watch Rambo First Blood Part II and the lamentable Rambo III where he fights off entire armies and you see the huge leap in direction the series took. You can compare First Blood to Taxi Driver; both films are about ex-Vietman vets who return home and are abandoned, finding nothing for them except disillusionment and scorn. They both have a gritty, low budget vibe. Compare that to the Rambo sequels, which are basically big, dumb cartoons.

And now we have the fourth Rambo film, confusingly titled Rambo (the original title, John Rambo, would have worked better). Initially it's an odd sight seeing Stallone as John Rambo not as the so-muscular-he-looks-like-a-knobbly bare-chested hero of parts II and III but as a moping, sour old veteran who looks like he's about ready to quit and retire to somewhere really remote like Bermuda. His face is a combination of 2008-Mickey Rourke and a melted wax candle. And once again we have John Rambo getting involved in a horrible war zone (Part II was Vietnam, III was Afghanistan, this time it's Burma and its civil unrest that's been going on for years and years). We are introduced with real footage of the atrocities in Burma, and some of the footage is deeply unsettling, as much for their content as it is that Stallone decided to include it in a Rambo film. His intentions are noble, I suppose; he wants to show the appalling violence that has been going on. It just seems a little strange to be including this sort of stuff in a film which, ultimately, wallows in the sort of gory violence that you'd expect to see in a Takashi Miike film.

Don't be fooled - though this is a rare, quiet moment, Rambo
is still thinking about eviscerating someone with a branch

We end up with a film of two halves. The first half we have Rambo as a bittered man who is thoroughly sick of the violence all around him. He's only reluctantly drawn back into action because he has a thing for a female missionary, Sarah Miller (Benz). We see the devastation of the village by an army led by a nasty NASTY general (the film points out how bad he really is by him having sex with young boys, shooting innocents in their hundreds and running a band of soldiers so ruthless that their chief enjoyment comes from raping women and making villagers run through mine-infested farmland and laying bets on which ones get blown up).

We get some truly horrific violence in the first half: people being shot down indiscriminately, mothers and children shot, limbs being hacked off. You forget this is a Rambo film, it could as easily have been a sequel to Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down. The film has that same sped-up, jarring, shaky camera technique pioneered by Spielberg for Ryan and, annoyingly, used by virtually all war films since. The second half of the film has Rambo tracking down the missing missionaries with a band of mercenaries. This was a sensible decision on Stallone's behalf. At 60-something, John Rambo is clearly too old to take out an entire army by himself. He still looks pretty fit and handles the action scenes well, but at least it's not the same old 1 vs 100 that we've seen in parts II and III.

The second half of the film treats us to some truly awe-inspiring scenes of carnage. After an age of mournful pessimism, Rambo's back to what he does best: killing the shit out of baddies. And boy, does he. Rambo is by far the most violent film of the series. It's like comparing the original 50's version of The Fly to Cronenberg's gloopy remake. The first three Rambos are subdued in their presentation of violence compared to this one. Stallone said that he wanted to make the violence real, to show how bodies are actually affected by bullets and explosions. And HOLY SHIT DOES HE EVER. Let's just say if you like the Saw movies for their grisly violence, you'll love this. We see bodies torns and chopped to pieces by 50 calibre bullets. Limbs go flying in showers of blood. You have enough exploding heads. Rambo does his fair share, gunning baddies into mincemeat with a mounted turret gun and decapitating and gutting people left and right. Rambo even rips a guy's throat out in one particularly wet scene. It's shot with quite a fair amount of style and the look and feel of the film is pretty gritty (again, like a jungle version of Private Ryan) so it's not as cartoonish as it could have been. But you're still left staring open-mouthed at some of the delirious gore that showers the screen. It's certainly one of the most gloriously violent action films ever made.

"I respectfully disagree with your position, sir."

Therein lies the problem. Rambo wants to be two things: a sobering reminder of the atrocities being committed in Burma, and at the same time an exciting action-cum-war film with enough gore to make George Romero stand up and cheer. Stallone does a decent enough job both in front of and behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith's memorable main theme is reused here by composer Brian Tyler; this is a thoughtful touch for fans and quite respectful of the work done by the legendary composer.

So the fourth (though probably not last) Rambo film is definitely one for fans. People who have felt that the first three films wallowed too much in excessive violence (a criticism that I felt the first film did not deserve) will definitely want to steer clear of this one. It's the most unashamedly gory, violent and grisly of the lot. There are possibly more deaths in this film than the first three combined. You have to ask yourself how it was that the notoriously scissor-happy MPAA let this through pretty much unscathed. First Blood will always be the strongest film in the series, but at least Rambo ends things in a way that has him come full-circle. In general this is a better Rambo sequel than I think most have been expecting.

Unless you like films with strong dialogue, compelling characters and a thoughtful script.

Best bit
Rambo turns some baddies to mush with a jeep mounted gun

Iconic moment
the decapitation is both sickening and hilarious

Worst bit
most of the dialogue scenes in the first half which try to be deep (but aren't really)

Best line
"Fuck the world."

Best performance
it'd have to be Sylvester Stallone, if anyone - at least in terms of screen presence

MVP
obviously Sylvester Stallone, for acting, directing, writing and everything else

What would have made this better
make the main villain less overtly nasty (we get it, really), strengthen the opening scenes between Rambo and the missionaries

What would have made this worse
more ridiculous comic-book action like Rambo II and III

Companion film
First Blood

What to watch instead
if you can't handle the gore but want something stylistically similar, try Black Hawk Down

If you liked this...
you're a wee bit sick in the head (like me) and should watch Saving Private Ryan (you probably already have)

Pros
+ it's short, streamlined and doesn't muck about
+ a stunning amount of violence and gore
+ the action scenes are well directed and exciting
+ a good, satisfying ending
+ Jerry Goldsmith's theme is reused

Cons
- it'll be way too gory for some viewers
- it wants to thrill us with exploitative violence and hammer home a "violence is bad" message as well
- some dialogue is weak

Rating on the R Lee Ermy/Sgt Hartman level of hard-arsed war veterans:

Zodiac (2007)

Directed by David Fincher
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Chloe Sevigny
Written by James Vanderbilt
Produced by Cean Chaffin, Brad Fischer, Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer and James Vanderbilt
Music by David Shire


Some people say that Zodiac is director David Fincher’s masterpiece. It quite possibly is, although it’s not like his career is in decline and he hasn’t got a few good years left in him. Plus, this is the man who made Fight Club. Is one better than the other? It’s not like some directors don’t have two or even more masterpieces in them. Kubrick had 2001 and Dr. Strangelove, Kurosawa had Seven Samurai and Rashomon, Spielberg has Jaws and Schindler’s List.


Zodiac tells the story of the serial killer the press came to label as (funnily enough!) the Zodiac Killer who, for a period in the late 60’s and early 70’s, was linked to many murders, only a few of which were proven to be his. He gained notoriety by changing his methods and taunting the police and media with letters written in a cypher code, threatening to kill others (including a busload of school children) if his demands weren’t met. Filmmakers based Scorpio from the classic movie Dirty Harry on the Zodiac killer; interestingly, Fincher directly makes this reference within his film.

The rough draft of the final Harry Potter book was roundly criticized as a massive departure for the series

Zodiac benefits from three great lead performances by Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr and, especially, Mark Ruffalo as the driven inspector David Toschi (apparently Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character is partly based on the detective). You can see the case weighing down on their characters and their private lives, both physically and mentally, as the film goes on. Fincher establishes a great feeling of time and place, using detailed information gleaned from the crimes methodically without sacrificing the film’s tone or pacing. It’s not like those bullshit CSI-style shows which use show-off zooms into bits of evidence and corpses and the detectives do EVERYTHING, from investigations to interviews to forensic analysis to capturing the killer. Zodiac has a strong grounding in reality because it doesn’t flash up the police procedures involved in a case of this nature, and shows just how some cases can get bogged down in minutae and just plain bad luck. These sort of things aren’t necessarily filmic in nature, but somehow Fincher has made Zodiac utterly compelling; it may not be fast-paced, but it’s certainly not slow or dull. I’ve watched 80-minute shit-fests that feel far longer and drawn-out than Zodiac. Though it's occasionally show-offy, Zodiac presents the killings in such a clinical fashion that it makes them feel more chilling than if they were more stylised, especially a particularly brutal stabbing involving a young couple.

"Three letters, down...a domestic animal, known as man's best friend..."

I liken this film to the TV series The Wire – probably my favourite TV show ever, certainly one of the greatest series ever made. Like Zodiac, The Wire takes its time to delve into the methods that law enforcement uses which aren’t always glamorous, but they’re at least halfway truthful. For those who prefer the glamorous detective hijinks of, say, CSI or CSI: New York or CSI: Bethlehem, well, David Fincher wouldn't want you watching his brilliant crime film anyhow, so just go back to dragging your knuckles on the ground and picking nits out of your hair.

Best bit
detectives interview the cagey and unnerving Arthur Leigh Allen


Iconic moment
the intensely creepy driveby in 60's suburbia, shadowed by fireworks


Worst bit
a late scene in a suspect's basement reeks of try-hard suspense


Best line
"Methinks our friend's a tad bit fuckered in the head."


Best performance
Mark Ruffalo's David Toschi; hard-arsed but haunted


MVP
David Fincher, who has crafted an elegant, and eerie, crime thriller


What would have made this better
probably just the removal of the basement sequence with Gyllenhaal, and not much else


What would have made this worse
if they'd tacked on a deliberately happy ending


Companion film
Dirty Harry, obviously


What to watch instead
if you're after a more straightforward, but equally brilliant, serial killer thriller, go for Silence of the Lambs


If you liked this...
you're awesome, and you should watch Fincher's Se7en (and if you've seen it, watch it again)


Pros
+ a superb recreation of 60's/70's America
+ uniformly excellent performances
+ utterly compelling, chilling, enthralling
+ doesn't take any easy (read: cheap) routes
+ treats the audience as intelligent
+ technically astonishing


Cons
- a couple of scenes ring false
- might be too long for some
- some of the murders are deeply unsettling (this might be a Pro if you're sick in the head)


Rating on the Andy Robinson/Scorpio killer scale of completely mental serial killers:

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Don Cheadle

Written by Justin Theroux

Music by John Debney

What the hell happened here? Iron Man was a genuine treat; exciting, compelling, innovative in terms of superhero films, with Robert Downey Jr the highlight as a spoiled, somewhat eccentric, but charismatic billionaire. The sequel is a bloated mess, with not even a fraction of the original's wit or excitement. We have a bunch of new characters, most who are only peripherally involved with the main drive of the film (which is pretty thin anyway, involving a weapons contractor rival, Tony Stark's heart giving out and other shit). The action scenes are distancing, not involving. And even though the CGI is pretty amazing for the most part, you don't end up caring what happens from one dumb fight to the next.

This looks really retarded but thankfully when it's in full-motion it's 4% less retarded

Chief of the film's problems is Marvel Studios' insistence on shoehorning this bullcrap about Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and some organisation called S.H.I.E.L.D. who wants to recruit Tony/Iron Man for some reason, and yet not. Or something. I don't really know, nor care, because it has no impact on the main storyline. It's so they can lead into the forthcoming Avengers movie, making Iron Man 2 more about advertising the Marvel universe than, y'know, making an ACTUAL FUCKING MOVIE for those of us who think S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Shitty Humans Interrupting Everything Largely Decent. Most of us non-comic readers probably don't give a rat's arse about all this shit. And the references to Thor and Captain America? Again: WE DON'T CARE! All it does is take us out of the moment. It's like watching The Godfather and having Robert De Niro from Goodfellas turn up in the middle of the film saying how there's a bunch of mobsters planning a heist with Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and a bunch of others and how Marlon Brando and Al Pacino should totally join up with them and then leave it at that.

The story is all over the place. Sam Rockwell is surprisingly ineffective as the main villain. Scarlett Johansson as some S.H.I.E.L.D. agent whose name I forget and don't care about looking up looks hot in tight black pants and kicks people in the head quite well, but again her character is quite superfluous. Mickey Rourke is the only actor in this who surpasses the lame material he is provided; even the usually excellent RDJ fumbles with a character who is supposed to be amending his wild, childish ways but in the next scene flip-flops right back into those annoying characteristics I thought were supposed to be dispensed with in the first Iron Man.

Note to self: fire agent, do sequel to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang instead..."

There's a lot of CGI-stuffed action for those who like boring scenes jerked out of a computer. Where the action scenes in Iron Man felt organic and real, most of the stuff in Iron Man 2 is so over-the-top and so inconsequential to the story (such as RDJ and Don Cheadle's fight) that we, the audience, quickly lose patience. Instead of one or two iron-suited baddies at the end, we get a whole horde of them who are surprisingly easily dispatched. *Yawn*.

Iron Man 2, along with Spider-Man 3 and Transformers 2, has to be the gold standard for the typical Hollywood overblown sequel: too much of everything stuffed into an otherwise simplistic story that fails to engage the audience, too reliant on CGI to smooth over the glaring flaws, with nary an actor able to save it, not only hugely disappointing, but bad enough to besmirch the legacy of the original.

Best bit

Whiplash confronts Stark on the Grand Prix circuit

Iconic moment

none I can think of other than Mickey Rourke thrashing his electric whiplashes about...pretty piss-poor selection, really

Worst bit

so many scenes to choose from, but I'd have to say the pointless, energy-sapping moments with Samuel L Jackson and all the malarky about S.H.I.E.L.D.

Best line

"I've successfully privatized world peace."

Best performance

Mickey Rourke in full-blown Russian bad-guy mode

MVP

cinematographer Matthew Libatique: Iron Man 2 at least LOOKS excellent

What would have made this better

remove all the Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. crap, cut out a lot of the characters, don't make Tony Stark such an annoying prick

What would have made this worse

ditch the Iron Man storyline and make him a background character to a feature-length film about S.H.I.E.L.D...yet still call it Iron Man 2

Companion film

presumably the companion films to this, as advertised by Marvel frigging Studios, is Thor, Captain America and The Avengers

What to watch instead

Iron Man, and pretend it's a standalone film

If you liked this...

you've fallen into Marvel Studios' trap

Pros

+ the CGI is mostly excellent (when it's not slapping you in the face with hundreds of Iron Man knockoffs)

+ the cinematography is very nice

+ Scarlett Johansson in a tight black outfit

+ good cast

Cons

- good cast, wasted

- overlong

- needless stuff about S.H.I.E.L.D. gets in the way of the main story

- references to other Marvel characters and forthcoming films makes this feel less like a movie and more like a two-hour-plus advertisement you payed for

- too many pointless characters

- unnecessary scenes that contribute NIL to the film

Rating on the Michael Keaton/Batman level of superheroicness:

Good poster, crap poster #2: Bank heists

GOOD BANK HEIST FILM POSTERS:

You don't get much cooler than this. It's simple, eye-catching and effective, and evocative of Michael Mann's ultra-blue-tinged masterpiece. Plus you have Pacino and DeNiro together, which adds extra cred (until Righteous Kill came along, anyway). I'm not a huge fan of Val Kilmer being shoved in the middle there, but I reckon this still works quite nicely.

One of a few posters for Ben Affleck's excellent The Town, this one is probably the best of the bunch, even though I'm personally not mad keen on it (this is about GOOD posters, not brilliant ones). The shot from the film is intriguing, and the tagline is a strong one. Like the Heat poster, not so stunning you'd want to frame it, but it captures the mood of the film well.

This second one for The Town has the old "floating head" cliche, but the mood and lighting work well enough in its favour so that you don't mind so much.


CRAP BANK HEIST FILM POSTERS:

I'm not sure if this third one for The Town is part of the studio's official marketing strategy or just a "teaser" poster, but either way it doesn't work. It's going for an "Angelina Jolie moody side shot from Wanted" look, but unfortunately ol' Ben can't carry it off, and the whole thing looks like it's been pasted together in a few minutes.


But, of course, that's a masterpiece compared to...

This one is particularly notorious around Photoshop "FAIL" circles, and it's clear to see why. Pretty much horrid on every level, from the lame tagline, the way the lighting falls on the actors' faces from all directions, the fact that the designer has obviously pasted heads onto other people's bodies (and in most cases, such as with Paul Walker, not very well) to the general crumminess of the concept. And that line down the bottom - "taking theaters soon"? Absolutely awful. They should stop doing that sort of thing: "hitting cinemas soon" and "smashing its way into theaters this fall" and all that. It's not clever, it's irritating.


By the way, I have no idea if this reflects the general quality or mood of the film itself, but based on this poster I have no desire to see it, and if it does, then I would assume the film Takers is a Heat-wannabe with actors' heads CGI-ed onto other actors' bodies, with a script that is a humongous pile of shit.


This second one for Takers is somewhat better, but that's like saying stomach cancer is better than bone cancer. And it still has Hayden Christiansen's awful headwear:

And what are those cops aiming at? Why does one look like he's taking a dump in his pants?

Review Listing

0-9

A
Apocalypse Now (1979)

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

M
Machete (2010)

N

O


P


Q


R


S


T


U


V


W


X


Y


Z
Zodiac (2007)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Directed by Simon West
Starring Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Daniel Craig, Iain Glen, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor
Written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman
Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Colin Wilson
Music by Graeme Revell


It really wouldn’t have been that hard to make this a decent adventure film on par with something like The Mummy. After all, no one was expecting an adventure on par with Raiders of the Lost Ark. But something Mummy quality, even The Mummy Returns? Sadly for all involved, ingredients seemed to be in place, but something got screwed up along the way.

Mr. Brittas was not at all pleased with the "new" Whitbury Leisure Centre

The ridiculously-proportioned Lara Croft was the star of a popular series of video games which apparently got crummier as the series went along. The games were basically an excuse to attract the lucrative teenage boy market and create a boom for one-handed controllers. In the lookout for a new viable film franchise, the makers decided that the complex storylines and deep characterisation present in the original...ah, whatever. For two hours, they figured they'd put a pair of tits on screen and count the money that rolled in.


Like I’ve said, the ingredients seemed to be there. You had a character which should translate nicely from game to screen. The simplicity of the source material made it perfect for an adventure romp. They have a perfect lead for Lara Croft in Angelina Jolie, who does her best but ultimately the retarded story, the idiotic MacGuffin (a mystical triangle) and some dumb choices hamstring the film. The action scenes aren't too badly staged, but the makers decided they couldn’t have Croft shoot any bad guys or kill them directly. For example, instead of Croft going all Chow Yun-Fat on a bunch of baddies and emptying a bunch of clips in their heads, they have her shoot something that drops a weight on their head, or she incapacitates them with some object within reach. For God’s sake, just let her shoot or stab someone! Obviously they wanted to get a PG-13 rating for the US market, but for crying out loud, Indiana Jones gets to shoot and stab and maim people in his series, so why not here? Is this some sort of discrimination thing? It’s okay for Indy to shoot people, but not a female adventurer? Thankfully, this annoying issue was dropped for the sequel.

The three stars of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

It’s a shame because the potential is there. Jolie is great in the lead role, and let's be honest, without her this film would have been nigh-on unbearable. It's nice to see Daniel Craig in an early role, but the main bad guy is a bit of a wet fish. Sure, there are far better action films out there, but if you want to waste two hours I guess you could do worse.


Best bit
for the lads, Jolie's shower scene; for the gals...um...did I mention Daniel Craig is in this?


Iconic moment
if anything I guess there's a shot of Jolie with her dual pistols in there somewhere


Worst bit
the statue warriors are pretty naff


Best line
"I woke up this morning and I just hated everything!"


Best performance
has to be Angelina, without whom this would have been a very sorry film indeed


MVP
again, Angelina Jolie virtually saves this dud


What would have made this better
more actual TOMB RAIDING, cut out the robot and the statues, make the bad guy more memorable, and let Lara shoot people for God's sake!


What would have made this worse
replace Angelina Jolie with Lindsay Lohan


Companion film
presumably the sequel The Cradle of Life until the remake comes out


What to watch instead
any of the Indiana Jones movies, even the fourth one


If you liked this...
catch Jolie in Wanted, a far superior action film that at least has a sense of humour


Pros
+ Angelina is a perfect Lara Croft
+ some half-decent action scenes
+ some of the cinematography is quite nice
+ um, that's about it


Cons
- too much CGI crap
- the main villain is weak
- stupid story and a lame MacGuffin
- Lara seemingly can't shoot people


Rating on the Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones level of grumpy-but-lovable adventurer:

Machete (2010)

Starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan, Robert DeNiro
Written by Robert Rodriguez and Alvaro Rodriguez
Music by John Debney and Carl Thiel


Look at that cast - Trejo in his first starring role! DeNiro as a sleazy right-wing senator! Alba, Rodriguez (and even Lohan) in various stages of undress! Johnson, Marin, Fahey and Seagal all together (along with makeup legend Tom Savini, for God's sake)! Look at the concept - Trejo, a former Mexican Federale (apparently an awesome Mexican version of a SWAT member/FBI agent/commando/whatever-else-hardarse there is rolled into one), is hired to assassinate racist senator John McLaughlin (DeNiro) but finds he is framed for the shooting and ends up taking bloody revenge. Look at some of the scenes - decapitations, stabbings, bloody shootings, disembowlments, and a cavalcade of other atrocities!


So why didn't I love this like I should have?

Machete had some compelling arguments about the US/Mexico immigration situation

It's an extremely messy film. After a beautifully executed opening scene which introduces us to a kick-arse Machete and his arch-rival (drug lord Torrez played by a ballooning Seagal) which involves plenty of gratuitous gore and nudity in the classic grindhouse tradition, I was all set for a brainless romp. Unfortunately there are way too many characters and subplots which are either messily tied together or, in the case of a few characters, not at all. This should have been a straightforward revenge film, but instead we get tortuous scenes involving a lifeless Alba as an immigration official, and way too much stuff about the US/Mexico immigration situation which, apt as it might be for the setting, gets in the way of Rodriguez producing a braindead action-fest. And the film never reaches the heights of the opening scene. In fact, the finale is so lackluster you might have thought that the budget had run out halfway through the film and everyone was just going through the motions without a paycheck.


Machete started as a fake trailer for the Rodriguez/Tarantino two-parter Grindhouse. That's where it probably should have stayed. The trailer was glorious. It speculated on a film that was never meant to be; the rest of it could have been played out in our heads and that would have been fine. But in adhering to what has come before in the fake trailer, Machete itself feels hamstrung. Even the memorable shot of Machete jumping a motorcycle equipped with a mini-gun which worked so well in the trailer falls flat in the feature film.

The CGI Steven Seagal was done quite well, almost as good as Gollum

Rodriguez needed to simplify, bring Machete back to the basics: Trejo maiming people indiscriminately, and seeking bloody justice against a cache of scumbags. When he does this in the film, it's done reasonably well. Unfortunately there's a lot of other needless stuff getting in the way. It's not terrible, it's just not what it could (and should) have been, considering the talent involved.


Best bit
the opening scene where Machete raids a house


Iconic moment
should have been the motorcycle-with-minigun-jump but I'd actually go with the hospital-intestine jump


Worst bit
Jessica Alba's cringeworthy speech


Best line
"Machete don't text"


Best performance
Danny Trejo - stony-faced, dispensing justice with nary a quip


MVP
again, Danny Trejo, finally getting top billing after years of supporting roles


What would have made this better
cut out Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan and probably even Don Johnson's characters, streamline the story, weave the illegal immigration debate more subtly into the story, amp up the finale


What would have made this worse
cut out Machete's character altogether and focus on the adventures of Jessica Alba's immigration character


Companion film
Spy Kids...seriously, look it up


What to watch instead
for a proper faux-grindhouse experience, Hobo with a Shotgun


If you liked this...
you should probably watch the two-parter Grindhouse for the complete experience if you haven't already


Pros
+ Trejo, Seagal, DeNiro, Fahey, Rodriguez, Marin and Savini all in the same film
+ some action scenes are nicely executed
+ there's plenty of blood, guts and boobs for the discerning viewer
+ Trejo getting a starring role


Cons
- the final fight between Machete and Torrez falls flat, as does the entire finale for that matter
- too much of Jessica Alba's character
- Lindsay Lohan's character and her "revelation" feels ridiculous and out of place
- too many characters and subplots, not enough revenge
- heavy-handed messages about illegal immigration
- loses pace and energy after the first half hour or so


Rating on the William Sanderson/Jessie Lee Kane level of grindhouse sleaziness:

Good poster, crap poster #1: Rom-Coms

I love movie posters. Correction: I love good movie posters. Posters that are eye-catching, carry across the theme of the movie with a few simple visual cues, inventive and not too busy. I'll be taking a look at some and comparing posters from particular genres.


GOOD ROM-COM POSTER:

Okay, this isn't exactly one that should be wall-mounted or anything like that, but it's a clever use of the screen credits and inventive enough to get around the fact that you have Katherine Heigl in the movie. Plus there's no annoying tagline, other than the "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride" which is tastefully woven into her credit-dress. Simple, clean, effective.


CRAP ROM-COM POSTER: 

Visually I suppose it's a bit striking (what with the violent-yellow theme going on) but otherwise this is pretty rubbish. First, you have Lindsay Lohan, which is enough of a sin, and she's pretty badly Photoshopped in this one (and that has to be a stunt-arse, to boot). I suppose it presents the theme of the movie pretty clearly (I'm guessing that she's either pregnant or pretending to be pregnant - I don't much care which) but it in no way compels me to want to see the film (okay, it's a chick-flick, sure, but faced with this one and the poster above, I'd much rather see 27 Dresses). And the tagline is shit: "Some stories just keep on growing"? I assume that means she lies about being pregnant and the lie gets out of control. Still, it's simply awful. And what's with the glow around Lohan? Is it a crystal meth sort of afterglow?


x Lindsay Lohan
x Too yellow
x Too much Photoshopping
x Shit tagline


Alternate tagline: "So hilarious it's a miscarriage of justice!"

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms
Written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola
Music by Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola

Bat-shit barmy war film has somehow transcended its notoriously insane shooting difficulties to emerge as a true war classic and, fittingly enough, provides a telling commentary on the insanity of war by proving itself to be equally bonkers. Coppola, who seemingly is unable to make a decent film these days, provides impressive spectacle without the aid of CGI (most modern directors would soil themselves at the thought) and squeezes a memorable performance out of Martin Sheen who plays a captain sent up river to dispatch Marlon Brando's Colonel who's gone completely nuts amongst all the carnage.

Martin Sheen is ready to strike after camouflaging himself in pygmy shit

The film struggles with a straight narrative and some would say gets completely derailed by its conclusion, but the strong performances, eerie atmosphere and stunning, Oscar-winning cinematography by Vittorio Storaro should see most viewers through. Personally, for this simple-minded viewer, Apocalypse Now stands head and shoulders above more heavily-awarded fare such as Platoon or The Deer Hunter. Brando might have been a royal pain-in-the-arse on set but he delivers a typically stand-out performance that out-weirds the weird, and with a drugged-out cast that includes Dennis Hopper that's saying something. But every one of the strong supporting cast (including Duvall and his famous 'napalm' quote) each get their moment to shine.

"I should have two goddamn Oscars on my mantlepiece by now, kid!"

Possibly a little too cerebral for some who prefer the guts and grue of Saving Private Ryan, this landmark achievement ranks up there with the first two Godfathers as Coppola's best work.


Best bit
has to be the chopper attack to 'Ride of the Valkyries', but I also have a soft spot for a lot of Brando's scenes ("the horror...")


Iconic moment
Sheen emerging from the mud


Worst bit
excluding Redux-added scenes, the Playboy bunny show is a bit unnecessary 


Best line
"Saigon...shit; I'm still only in Saigon..."


Best performance

Probably Robert Duvall, just pipping Marlon Brando at the post


MVP

Francis Ford Coppola, for seeing the damn project through, making a brilliant film out of the madness and putting up with Brando's BS


What would have made this better
not much, and certainly no newfangled bullshit like 3D or CGI - more of Duvall's Kilgore perhaps


What would have made this worse
if it had been directed by Michael Bay


Companion film
not the Redux version, for God's sake - Born on the Fourth of July, perhaps?


What to watch instead
if you want a more straightforward war story, then go with Saving Private Ryan


If you liked this...
watch The Conversation, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II to remind yourself how awesome Coppola once was


Pros
+ awesome imagery that still boggles the mind today
+ brilliant performances abound, especially Sheen, Duvall and Brando
+ has a truly unsettling and off-kilter (drug-fuelled?) vibe
+ superb use of music, especially the opening
+ so many iconic moments and scenes


Cons
- some people will be put off by the weirdness of the final third
- the Redux version is unnecessary - stick with the original
- hope you don't mind a bit of cruelty to animals


Rating on the Marlon Brando/Colonel Kurtz level of bat-shit insaneness: