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Friday, 16 September 2011
FN Interview : Paul Hough
Pete interviews Paul Hough, director of extreme wrestling documentary, The Backyard, award winning short film The Angel and upcoming sci fi/horror movie The Human Race.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Knight And Day Review
These movie superhero team ups always worry me. The names of the leads, big and bold on the advertising poster seem to scream, “Look! It’s Him! It’s Her! Together! Need we say more?” Once the lights dim and the trailers finish though, we are not always treated to the most substantial of films. Is it wrong to ask for a rewarding film experience or should we just be grateful to the producers for allowing us to share time with Him and Her, Together?
Knight And Day then.
Tom Cruise plays a highly trained rogue CIA operative. Cameron Diaz plays the woman that gets unwittingly dragged into his attempts to keep a perpetual motion battery out of the wrong (or, swerve, right) hands. They are pursued across the world by the good guys, the bad guys and the guys in between. It’s a flimsy plot but it serves its purpose, that being to allow the chemistry between these mismatched characters to simmer and bubble as they run, fight and drive through a world of beautiful locations which frequently end up on fire.
Bit of a problem here though and this comes back to my original point. Tom Cruise is a good, sorry, great looking action man with a winning smile and Cameron Diaz is an equally great looking and charismatic tomboy. They are going to fancy each other, right? It’ll be like Keanu and Sandra in Speed. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the actors. And the writers. And the director. And catering. This is a relationship of zero chemistry. Sure they bicker at first, sure he notices her charm and good looks while she notices his abs and smile and sure the predicaments they are thrown into lead to much landing on each other and rolling about on sandy beaches but they may as well be brother and sister. Sexy brother and sister yes but still. I found myself frequently having to fill in blanks in my own head when it came to their developing intimacy and that can’t be a good thing. I didn’t play the, “It’s Tom, it’s Cameron,” game and I think that plenty of other viewers will have the same problem.
Obviously there is more to this film than the pair’s pairing off but you need to do a fair amount in an action romantic comedy these days to impress, particularly when your USP isn’t that U. The plot is completely disposable, the action set pieces are fine but I left the film feeling unsatisfied, somewhat cheated and wondering if I had only myself to blame for buying into that poster in the first place.
If I keep paying to see movies like this, can I blame Hollywood for continuing to make them? Do I deserve better? Do you?
Let me know what you think.
BSP
Knight And Day then.
Tom Cruise plays a highly trained rogue CIA operative. Cameron Diaz plays the woman that gets unwittingly dragged into his attempts to keep a perpetual motion battery out of the wrong (or, swerve, right) hands. They are pursued across the world by the good guys, the bad guys and the guys in between. It’s a flimsy plot but it serves its purpose, that being to allow the chemistry between these mismatched characters to simmer and bubble as they run, fight and drive through a world of beautiful locations which frequently end up on fire.
Bit of a problem here though and this comes back to my original point. Tom Cruise is a good, sorry, great looking action man with a winning smile and Cameron Diaz is an equally great looking and charismatic tomboy. They are going to fancy each other, right? It’ll be like Keanu and Sandra in Speed. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the actors. And the writers. And the director. And catering. This is a relationship of zero chemistry. Sure they bicker at first, sure he notices her charm and good looks while she notices his abs and smile and sure the predicaments they are thrown into lead to much landing on each other and rolling about on sandy beaches but they may as well be brother and sister. Sexy brother and sister yes but still. I found myself frequently having to fill in blanks in my own head when it came to their developing intimacy and that can’t be a good thing. I didn’t play the, “It’s Tom, it’s Cameron,” game and I think that plenty of other viewers will have the same problem.
Obviously there is more to this film than the pair’s pairing off but you need to do a fair amount in an action romantic comedy these days to impress, particularly when your USP isn’t that U. The plot is completely disposable, the action set pieces are fine but I left the film feeling unsatisfied, somewhat cheated and wondering if I had only myself to blame for buying into that poster in the first place.
If I keep paying to see movies like this, can I blame Hollywood for continuing to make them? Do I deserve better? Do you?
Let me know what you think.
BSP
FN Movies Episode 5 He's not a fisherman's friend
In a very special (poor quality, alcohol fuelled and factually inaccurate across the board) episode, Jackson, Pete and The Official Mildred sit down together to record this show. We sing the praises of David Duchovny and Colin Firth and remember Peter Falk. We (try to) review Vera Drake, 127 Hours, The Karate Kid, A Single Man, The King’s Speech and The Perfect Storm.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Four Lions on C4 in the UK tonight
If you are in the UK don't miss Four Lions on C4 tonight at 9pm. Great film featuring the winner of my best performance of last year award by Kayvan Novak.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Super Review
Movie viewing is subjective but you already know that. Chatting in the bar with friends, it’s easy and fun to share strong opinions on a film and argue their worth with the pals that disagree. Reviewing films, being a film critic, is different and frequently difficult. Obviously a review is not worth reading if the writer has not put their personal opinions into it, however the same writer must remember that their audience is far larger and more diverse than the guys and girls in the pub. A critic must be able to see beyond their immediate personal response and consider that a film that was not to their tastes, will probably entertain someone, somewhere.
So, Super.
Starring The Office’s Rainn Wilson and Juno’s Ellen Page, Super is a tale of one simple, lonely man’s crusade against the perceived injustices in the world around him. Donning a makeshift superhero costume he grabs a large wrench and goes to work. Soon his actions draw the attention of the police and the local comic shop clerk.
Audience members that pulled this title off the shelf because Rainn Wilson was plastered on the cover looking goofy with a funny catchphrase are in for an interesting night. It’s not a comedy, he’s not Dwight Shrute. It is very violent with plenty of blood and a little bit of rape. It’s not for everyone. With a fairly forgettable supporting cast this really is an opportunity for Wilson to step out of the small screen and carry a movie. It is admirable that he didn’t just go for some silly, cheap romantic comedy or angry school teacher kid’s movie and amongst the violence and comic book references, you will find moments of solid introspection of a complex character in Super. Rainn Wilson can definitely pull off a good performance for longer than 22 minutes, he has proved that.
Ellen Page annoys me, always has. She always plays her characters in the same way and seems to have little range. If you like her though, you’ll like her in this. She balances out Wilson’s character with a typically bubbly, quick talking, wise beyond her years performance and writer/director James Gunn is not shy about investigating the unlikely attraction that builds between the leads. Their relationship is not as charming as that of Kick Ass or The Green Hornet, but it does feel more at home in the, “real world.”
Is this film for you? Do you like comic book movies? Do you like violence? Do you like your action movies with a little bit of indie thrown in? Then yes, if you really like violence. Obviously the gore is frequently undercut by witty remarks post and pre kill and we get the old school Adam West Batman cartoon “Kapows!” but this critic failed to see the humour or even the cool factor amongst the blood. It’s funny, but not funny enough. It’s dark, but not dark enough. It’s indie, but not indie enough. It’s real, but not real enough.
It’s alright, but it ain’t super.
Let me know what you think.
BSP
So, Super.
Starring The Office’s Rainn Wilson and Juno’s Ellen Page, Super is a tale of one simple, lonely man’s crusade against the perceived injustices in the world around him. Donning a makeshift superhero costume he grabs a large wrench and goes to work. Soon his actions draw the attention of the police and the local comic shop clerk.
Audience members that pulled this title off the shelf because Rainn Wilson was plastered on the cover looking goofy with a funny catchphrase are in for an interesting night. It’s not a comedy, he’s not Dwight Shrute. It is very violent with plenty of blood and a little bit of rape. It’s not for everyone. With a fairly forgettable supporting cast this really is an opportunity for Wilson to step out of the small screen and carry a movie. It is admirable that he didn’t just go for some silly, cheap romantic comedy or angry school teacher kid’s movie and amongst the violence and comic book references, you will find moments of solid introspection of a complex character in Super. Rainn Wilson can definitely pull off a good performance for longer than 22 minutes, he has proved that.
Ellen Page annoys me, always has. She always plays her characters in the same way and seems to have little range. If you like her though, you’ll like her in this. She balances out Wilson’s character with a typically bubbly, quick talking, wise beyond her years performance and writer/director James Gunn is not shy about investigating the unlikely attraction that builds between the leads. Their relationship is not as charming as that of Kick Ass or The Green Hornet, but it does feel more at home in the, “real world.”
Is this film for you? Do you like comic book movies? Do you like violence? Do you like your action movies with a little bit of indie thrown in? Then yes, if you really like violence. Obviously the gore is frequently undercut by witty remarks post and pre kill and we get the old school Adam West Batman cartoon “Kapows!” but this critic failed to see the humour or even the cool factor amongst the blood. It’s funny, but not funny enough. It’s dark, but not dark enough. It’s indie, but not indie enough. It’s real, but not real enough.
It’s alright, but it ain’t super.
Let me know what you think.
BSP
Episode 4 Young In '97
Right Click and save as the title to download, click to play (it's a long one this time)
We insult the few listeners we do have and chat about E3, Manly Men casting and Oscar fatigue. This week we review Get Him To The Greek, The Lives Of Others. Bob Dylan No Direction Home, The Backyard, Copland, Lovely Bones and Face/Off.
(Warning - Explicit)
We insult the few listeners we do have and chat about E3, Manly Men casting and Oscar fatigue. This week we review Get Him To The Greek, The Lives Of Others. Bob Dylan No Direction Home, The Backyard, Copland, Lovely Bones and Face/Off.
(Warning - Explicit)
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