Giant Pennies and Dinosaur Statues:
Okay, so I’ve been promising our mysterious benefactor, one Mr. Childs, that I’d do this column. I made this promise a good five or six months ago. And, the lazy **** that I am, I’ve never gotten round to doing it. But, on this warm night in June, with my body clock all out of whack, I’ve decided I may as well use this free time to divulge to you the first in a series of articles detailing an introduction to the world of comic books. Week by week I’ll be talking to you about the current status quo of the comic book industry, how I got into comics, what comic books are good for reading if you’re just starting out, and some comics that I’ve been reading recently.
Yes, I share an office with Batman.If I may, what will follow here is a very general, almost patronising account of the current worldview of comic book culture. Time was, a lot of people thought comic books were the domain of children and sad, lonely men who can’t get laid. This is, well, stupid. Stupid, completely wrong and not a nice thing to say at all. Since as early as the late 70s, comics started taking on a darker tone, reflecting real world problems and slowly being aimed at a more mature audience. Even that sentence isn’t totally true, as adults have been reading comics just as long as kids have. The kids who grew up reading about the new and exciting exploits of Batman, Superman et al, became adults and continued reading. The writers themselves were adults, so how could they not put in their adult views, emotions and political views into their work? Many comics in the 70s dealt with the Vietnam war, moving beyond the propaganda-esque comics of the 40s (Superman fighting Hitler, anyone?) and detailing a realistic view of the most unpopular war in history. As the 80s hit their stride we were given stories about the AIDs epidemic, drug abuse, child abuse, and many more darker themes besides. But I digress.
Watchmen, one of, if not the most, revolutionary comics out there.
As soon as “Watchmen” hit the shelves between ’86 and ’87, a lot changed. This was the turning point. No longer was everything like an Adam West “Batman” show, with all the “baf-bam-pow” cheesiness. No, sir. After Watchmen, we were fully presented with utterly (and scarily so) human characters. Of course, this was two – three years before I was born, so I’m giving this information to you second-hand. But the evidence is there – Watchmen, for the past twenty years, has spent much of that time in some of the highest positions on The New York Times’ bestsellers list. You know, that list dominated by esteemed literature and the like. Anyone who has ever read Watchmen has nothing but praise to sing about it.Whether you’ve seen the film or just heard about it, what everyone should do is go out and read it. A 12-part “maxi” series, with a beginning, middle and end – Watchmen concerns a mostly-defunct team of vigilantes living in an alternate 1980s, one where Nixon stayed on for an extra term, and tensions during the Cold War are so intense that both the USA and Russia have their finger planted just above that doomsday button. It’s a world where vigilante “superheroes” emerged in the twenty-year period between the 40s and the 60s, and their successors helped to win the Vietnam war. The story offers a real-world look at what power and responsibility could do to people with the best of intentions. In this story, the heroes are sometimes indistinguishable from the villains. This is where the strength of the comic lies. But let’s not forget the expert multi-layering, the subtle background themes, the real-world commentary, the expressive art, and one of the best lines in comics, ever.
“I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”Alan Moore, the writer of Watchmen, has been hailed as one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. He’s British to boot. Moore is also responsible for “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, a stellar run on “Swamp Thing”, and “V For Vendetta”. Dave Gibbons was revolutionary in his artwork – adopting nine panels a page, for every page, this technique was astounding; he wasn’t trying to shock you with awesome art and page layout, “look-what-I-can-draw”... he was merely laying the art out in perfect sequence, letting the story grab you by the balls (or whatever you’ve got down there) and then topping it off with great art. I’m not going to go too far into detail about Watchmen as it’s been much-discussed elsewhere. Another notable comic of the 80s was Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns”. You may recognise the name – he is the man responsible for “Sin City”, “300”, and some of the best “Daredevil” you will ever read. “The Dark Knight Returns” is critically acclaimed – it’s a story of Batman, Bruce Wayne, being an old man. The plot is pretty basic – set in a dystopian future, Batman comes out of retirement to fight crime. But there’s much, much more to it than that. Lauded by many as one of the best comics around since it’s publication, DKR remains a timeless piece of work – and, was another of the building blocks of comics getting darker, grittier, and more true-to-life. Well, as true-to-life as you can be when dealing with a guy who dresses up like a bat and jump off rooftops in his car, which also looks like a bat.
This image has become iconic since it’s debut as the cover of #1.
These seminal comics are a great discussion point as we can now discuss what followed in comic book history – the 90s, and the Noughties. One important, the other... not so much. The 90s were basically horrendous for superhero comics. Hammy art took over, with big muscles, big guns and lots (and lots) of pouches being the flavour of the week... and decade. The grittiness of Watchmen and DKR were amped up to 11, with many comics going over-the-top.
Rob Liefeld, the “writer” and artist, was big in the 90s, and one of the biggest perpetrators of this kind of art. He made thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But his art is awful. This remains one of the biggest mysteries in comic book history.
Writing took a massive backseat, and Crossovers took hold. The crossover, essentially, is this – if you understand the concept that all of Marvel Comics’ books (for example) exist in the same universe (Spider-Man, X-Men, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc etc) then a crossover would be when you have all these characters teaming up to stop some big world-threatening menace. Whereas, say, you’d be reading one book – Fantastic Four maybe – to get the whole story of a crossover, you would also have to get Spider-Man and X-Men. It’s a big financial move, a way to get more money off you. Now, fortunately, we have good crossovers, so more often than not, it’s worth the money. But in the 90s – it was sh*t. It was so sh*t. As previously mentioned, it was all about crappy art with worse writing. Add to that they’d print multiple versions of the same comic, except with a different cover – called a “variant”. This introduced a whole collectible aspect, and soon enough Marvel was looking at the bad end of bankruptcy. But that’s an article for another time. There were some good stories of the 90s, and I look fondly back at a few – the 90s was when I started out reading comics, and I was just a little kid at the time – so some of these crossovers I look back at with really fond, nostalgic memories. Re-reading them recently, however, is shocking – after the comic book world had experienced the greatness of stuff like Watchmen, it was hard to believe that comics had regressed like this.
The Onslaught Saga, a crossover I remember loving as a kid, does not stand the test of time.
So, at the start of the year 2000, things weren’t looking too great for Marvel. There was a lot of structural change happening within the company editorially, and they knew they had to do something to save themselves from bankruptcy. DC Comics were not fairing much better, only staying afloat because they were/are owned by the massive Time Warner corporation. But superhero comics were pretty crappy across the board. Marvel, to stay afloat, auctioned off the film rights for their characters – for example, they sold the X-Men rights to Fox, Spider-Man to Sony, etc etc. And, when Fox decided to make an “X-Men” film, we all know how that turned out. People started turning to the comics because they saw the films, and the writers of the comics started evoking the films. For example: in the comics (and as I’m sure a lot of you will remember from the awesome 90s cartoon), Spider-Man had mechanical web-shooters. When the film said that he had organic web-shooters, the comics changed to this idea. The X-Men are known for their colourful, unique costumes – but when they were all wearing black leather in the films, they all started wearing the black leather in the comics.
“New X-Men”, published in July 2001, reflected a lot of what the movie created, and was much more besides.
Personally, I don’t know what happened. Something clicked in these creators’ minds, and all of a sudden we were getting great comics across the board. Artists got better, writers got seriously crazy, and some of the best comics you could ever read were published in the first decade of the 21st Century. Lord only knows what’s coming next. Obviously we’ve now had a string of great comic book movies – The Dark Knight, Iron Man, etc, and comics have been flung into the public purview. It’s now even deemed pretty cool in some social circles to read comics, a huge leap forward for those fans who were belittled for sitting in their “parent’s basement” (I hate that stereotype) doing nothing but poring over these great characters, who offer us good morality tales and awesome escapism from the dreary tic-tac-toe of our lives.
The Dark Knight offered us a great comic book film, all the while drawing in curious strangers to the art form... yes, comics are an art form.
I’m going to delve more into this past decade of comics in the next instalment, but for now, let me tell you – life is good for the average comic book reader. Really good. All I’ve spoken of here are superhero comics for the most part – there are so many more independent comics out there that branch out to many different genres – romance, horror, sci-fi... and heck, I’ll probably cover those too at some point. More and more people are flocking to comic book stores, more and more Waterstones are stocking “graphic novels”, and I’ve got many more people to talk shit about comics to. Hopefully you’re one of them, if you’ve carried on reading this far.
Comics can now be found pretty much everywhere.
Take away this message, dear readers – go read Watchmen. Go read The Dark Knight Returns. Comics are for everyone. They always have been. Come back here next week and I’ll give you more recommendations. Because once you read those two, you’ll be crying out for more - and my friend, there is much, much more to be read.
Dan Woburn
Nowhere Boy - Sam Taylor-Wood
A massive Beatles fan, been playing Beatles Rock Band, listen to the early albums like Please Please Me, watched the documentaries about the band from the beginning and have even spent an evening on Wikipedia just researching every detail about the band and then i saw this, recently released on DVD, the early life of John Lennon, played by Kick-Ass himself, Aaron Johnson, and how he began the band The Quarrymen. I knew it had received some good reviews, and was expecting an accurate, funny, interesting story in how Lennon became the man he was, and how he met Paul McCartney and the rest of the band. I was expecting some good music, some entertainment, and some light hearted fun. Unfortunately i came away unhappy and not fulfilled in filling the huge gap of information that i wanted to receive in the way of John’s upbringing and him becoming John mother flipping Lennon.
The story follows John as he lives with his Dad and his girlfriend whilst he is at school. The relationship he had with his Dad was very special, you can see the deep emotional love they had for each other and how the Dad influenced John into becoming a musician. After the Dad dies early in the film, sorry for the spoilers, John becomes a tearaway, meeting his biological mother and becoming close to her whilst becoming further away from the woman he lived with, his step-mother. He flunks at school and after listening to new types of music, wants to form a band with a few of his friends to get money, to get famous and to get girls. He successfully forms a band, and they play well together, but with more people going to see them perform, fellow musicians also want in, and beg to play with the band, one of these people is the one and only Paul McCartney. They join forces in the band, and you can instantly see the connection and how they perform excellently together, even from an earlier age and i think the actors they got to play these two were spot on, Aaron Johnson as John Lennon, and Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney, even though Sangster is very weedy at that age.
So overall, it’s a disappointing film, and i was expecting a lot better as what the reviews beckoned for it to be, but sadly, some reviews are utter shit sometimes, and you can’t always believe what you read I guess.
5/10
Simon Childs
Bunny and the Bull – Paul King
After seeing the posters in tube stations, seeing trailers on the TV, and seeing behind the scene featurettes, i finally got to see Bunny and the Bull on DVD and I’m glad i have. I was worried i was going to miss seeing this film because of rubbish cinema times, but after watching it, and loving pretty much every second, i can reveal that this film is awesome. It truly lives up to its reviews and fame it gained from the underground scene in which The Mighty Boosh is the film of chose, Camden is the place of choice and Top Shop is the clothes of chose. It all follows a trend in which “young” people are meant to be a part of. But luckily, the film deviates from this trend and creates a new form of cinema that i haven’t seen before. It continues the trend of British cinema but adds a twist, something that is unexpected. The plot moves along quickly but at the same time is confusing to follow. It doesn’t have a direct path, nor does it finish properly at the end, there isn’t a fairytale ending.
So moving onto the plot, Bunny and the Bull tells the story of a road movie, kinda, where Stephen played by the excellently emotionally detached human being Edward Hogg, recalls the story of his year of travel in the past with his best friend Bunny, played by Simon Farnaby, a scene stealer. The ascetics of the scene are all constructed using objects in Stephen’s flat, inanimate objects which come to life and form the memories and hallucinations. On their journey, they visit various places which are strange and wonderful, meet various people, both crazy and delusional, and end up trying to win the heart of a woman they meet named Elosia. Throw in comic appearances by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh) as a dog-loving Russian tramp and a Spanish alcoholic ex-matador, with also a surprise appearance from Richard Ayoade, Moss from The IT Crowd, and the film is exciting, surprising and very fun all at the same time.
The way it moves from being serious to funny is perfectly done, where the audience are pressured into seeing sad, but get those genuine feelings, like throughout most of the film, i was rooting for Stephen’s character by how hard done he was and how unlucky he was in every situation thrown his way. I really haven’t got a bad word to say about the film, it’s surprisingly good and the style is defiantly unique which you may fall in love with. Go check it out now!
8/10
Simon Childs
Part 2: Directed by David Nutter
Leading off straight from part 1, the action turns to Basilone and the 7th Marine, landing on Guadalcanal and helping to keep the airbase that will ensue victory for the Americans. It’s a long and bloody battle, leading to many men being killed, but due to Basilone with his steer determination and willingness to fight, along with the help of his marines, they kill thousands of Japanese soldiers and the airbase is safely American. In-between the fights, the closeness of the group is shown, where they wait until the fighting begins again, just waiting, making jokes, smoking, reading letters sent from back home. It’s a horrible life to lead and when seeing the amount of death and carnage, it surely gets to you, and it’s shown in how a couple of soldiers can’t handle th
e war and begin to lose their minds. You can tell by just watching these sequences that a lot of thought and money has gone into it, with every scene having a function and being set out perfectly to continue on the story. With two episodes of war and fighting in the island, and the Japanese army now moving away, it seems that The Pacific will either follow a different battle somewhere else or keep following these soldiers as they dock to new places. And i especially like the scene at the end where they enter the ship that finally comes to pick them up, and they are recognised as being heroes back home. The joint expression of honour and sadness is played very well in how these soldiers look along with the fantastic score which throughout this episode is astounding. Looking forward to the next instalment and wondering where it will go next!
LEGO Harry Potter – Various consoles
Welcome readers to the brand spanking new Video Game twice-monthly review that will be unleashed in this fine month of July. So from now on, two games a month will be highlighted for your pleasure, and will cover most platforms, but mainly staying with the PS3 and X-Box 360. For the first review, we have an early peek at LEGO’s latest instalment in their famed series of turning recent films into the LEGO world’s we’ve always been craving for more of. After huge success with Indiana Jones, Batman and the most popular of the series, Star Wars, the newest addition to the franchise is the huge cultural and generational definer, the book series about the boy who lived and the film series that started the new wave of cinema goers, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Yes, Harry and his friends are now turned into LEGO and we the gamers will traverse through each year of Potter’s education. Starting when he first joins Hogwarts, the school for Wizards until when he duals with Lord Voldemort for the first time. LEGO Harry Potter covers the first 4 years, covering Harry Potter and the Philosophy’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and finally, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
For each of these books/film, LEGO
have turned them on their heads and shortened them, involving the main storylines filled with action and suspense, with the films being turned into 6 acts. Each act covers a chunk of the films, mainly with learning new spells, meeting new teachers and wizards in the wizarding world, developing the relationships you have with your friends, and facing off against evil. All of these topics are covered heavily in this game, but you may find that it takes a lot of time to cover everything within that year. With LEGO being renowned for creating games that have longevity in how many collectable items there are, here Hogwarts is turned into a massive playground, where various spells and tricks are used to open new doors, destroy enemies, use building blocks to reach new heights and so on. It’s hard to describe the amount of time we will have trying to 100% the game, it’s almost on par for the likes of Final Fantasy, where it certainly challenges the more hardcore gamer, even though these series are aimed at the younger audiences, even myself, being 20, found it engaging and entertaining.
The cut scenes used here are very funny and charming, which help with the large nature of collecting everything and hitting everything you see on scene. It does take a long time to move onto the next chapter or film/book. I only reached up until the middle of the third, with not completing the game entirely. Even just doing up to the third book/film, i man
aged to knock up about 20 hours of game play, maybe even more with the secret levels and secret missions. And this game also emphasises the use of friends and multiplayer, where a friend can jump in and help you in certain missions. A great new feature, which i would love to see in other games is the use of split screen, where normally, the screen is split and a massive black line is produced in the middle causing you to see less and finding it much more of a challenge to move around freely, but here, if the characters are near each other the line goes away and the whole screen is viewed. I’m not sure it would work in larger area games, but it does a massive favour to the game play.
Overall, an engaging, charming and funny game which continues the tradition of solid game making by LEGO. I look forward to the next 3/4 years in the Harry Potter universe, especially with the last of the films being released at the end of this year and next year.
VISUALS: For a LEGO game it sure has a great looking shine that slicks all the way through 17%
SOUND: At times annoying but others, the sounds of the film melt into the scene and its wonderfully enjoyable 15%
GAMEPLAY: Gone has the times of annoying falls into a random pit or getting stuck, perfect! 18%
LASTING APPEAL: You've got a few hours of collecting all the bolts and collectables 18%
SPECIAL FEATURES: A few special levels, but no online multiplayer 13%
81%
Simon Childs
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Chris Columbus
A teenage novel turned into a film. A common thing nowadays, it seems any children’s or teenage novel released, and a group of people enjoy it, the studios are now snapping up to make mega dosh from. I really hope these trends stop soon, it’s becoming boring and predictable, and we’ve already had the huge explosion of Harry Potter and Twilight. I want more adult themed kinda stuff, shit that doesn’t make sense you know. I can’t imagine films like Donnie Darko or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ever coming from novels, because they are too much to handle, which is why the gap between films like Harry Potter and Twilight will never be classic filmmaking, rather just cult classics for a new generation of film goers. But, sometimes, a film can come out of this whole thing that changes the game, creates the difference between a clear definition of cash-cow and genuinely for the audience, and Percy Jackson & The Olympians seems to want to be the later, creating a new exciting franchise that i would love to see more being made in the future.
The film tells the story of the family of Greek Gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the three brothers that rule the Heaven, the sea and the underworld. A rule had been made where the sons and daughters of these gods, made with humans would be abandoned and left on earth to fend for them and have powers from these gods. As well as these gods, demi-gods also have sons and daughters where they have connections to their powers. Introducing Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, one of the most powerful humans on Earth, but he is a teen at school, who soon learns that he is much more powerful than he first thought, where the people around him know of his secret and help him become who he is meant to be. After Zeus’s powerful weapon, the lightning bolt is stolen, many blame Percy, including Zeus who threatens to destroy the human race if the bolt isn’t returned in a set amount of time.
It’s a great plot, with different twists and turns and for a film advertised for teenagers and the younger audience, it holds up well, really well. Has a great cast with the likes of Steve Coogan, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener, Rosario Dawson and Uma Thurman all performing well, doing the best they can. It has some great action scenes and a good pace. It’s a real surprise, i guarantee you’ll find the film exciting and a good Sunday night film.
7/10
Simon Childs
Solomon Kane – Michael J. Bassett
A release that wasn’t paraded with much attention when it came out in the cinemas, i didn’t read any articles about it, watch any trailers, see any behind the scenes action. This DVD release of Solomon Kane was only recommended to me by a friend who believed it to be better than it deserved to be called. I’m going to give it a chance and watch it, and if it is a surprise hit, then great, I’ll spread the word and make sure others watch it, but if it proves that the tags and labels it was given are well deserved then sadly this film will fall into the depths of hell. Well not literally, but it will fall into the £3 HMV sale that seems to sell films that have been watched by an average of 6 people. Half of them by accident.
So moving onto the plot, Solomon Kane follows Solomon Kane, a former warrior for the Queen’s guard in olden times England. He kills, he slaughters, and he practically is a one man army until he fights death himself. The reaper has come for Solomon but Solomon escapes and leads a peaceful life, ending the conflict and violence in his life. He goes into hiding. After being expelled from the monastery he lives in, he returns back home to his former kingdom which he left as a teenage boy after accidently killing his brother. On his way back, he finds a family, who help him after being beaten up. Several towns on their travels have been demolished; lay a waste with dead bodies and rubble. The family are then attacked, leading Solomon to become the man he used to be and kill the people who are involved. This is the basic plot, a few plot twists and several massive fights, which include three different enemies at the end. You’ll be surprised how he managed to kill them all and save the day.
Its okay, not great. It does have the setting look of Lord of The Rings, but the money isn’t there and the adventure seems to dip in excitement, from parts that are fast moving and at a great pace, then cut to slow, boring, religious sub-texts within scenes that seem to drag on a lot longer than they need to. The acting is okay, the lead James Purefoy plays it well, it’s a shame he has no one to bounce off of in terms of villain or friend of Solomon, like in Lord of the Rings, Aragorn has a band of people to work with instead of being by him throughout most of the film. I wouldn’t recommend it, very dull.
4/10
Simon Childs
44 Inch Chest - Malcolm Venville
The writers of Sexy Beast return with another look on life for older geezers, instead of the holiday getaway and crime, here we have, a more realistic turn of a man losing his wife and marriage and having an emotional breakdown. It has the witty dialogue, the common phrases, bundles of swear words and phrases that you’ll be repeating on a regular basis and has sequences that are from the mind of the lead character, Colin, played by the wonderfully broken Ray Winstone. His look of London gentleman on a holiday in Spain suits it well, and having a hard man like him, being in a history of films of being the “bruiser” you feel the emotion more, you feel the heartache and the breakdown. He may just sit down in a chair for most of it, but he does talk, it’s very intellectually and spiritually, giving real meaning to the film and creating a better bond between you and the character. It all takes place in a disused house in the middle of what seems like a rundown area of London. Only flashbacks change the scenery and at the beginning where the kidnapping takes place. The setting suits the action taking place, adding to Colin’s dismay.
The supporting cast here round up the film, not given an amazing amount of inspiring dialogue, but do it well enough to create different personas and have different effects on Colin. Tom Wilkinson and Stephen Dillane play Archie and Mal, two friends of Colin who seem to talk the most, helping him with his situation and calming him down. These two seem the most intelligent and down-to-earth. Then John Hurt plays Peanut, a fucking mad man who swears every line he has. He rips into Colin for turning into a mess, and he isn’t afraid to tell him. He seems the most outspoken, telling him to kill the man who cheated with his wife. And finally Meredith, played by Ian McShane, who brings the comic relief in how he is a gay gangster, which seems to irritate Peanut and upset him. The scenes with these two teasing each other are laugh out loud good, it’s a shame other parts are lacking.
The whole point of the film is about the true feelings of love and how a woman can damage another man very easily. It’s not seen in cinema that much, very rare, but here it’s affective. Colin’s wife cheated on him with another man, leading for her to leave him. So throughout the film, the man who did it is locked up in a wardrobe in the disused house, as they seem to talk and make a plan of what to do. It’s a small concept but works. It’s a shame that parts of the acting and dialogue let it down. It’s boring in parts, long winded, but it’s clever.
6/10
Simon Childs
Part 1: Directed by Tim Van Patten
Starts off with a short narration by the legendary Tom Hanks, i really wasn’t expecting this and it also gives archive footage of the war, which shows it’s based on real events with the main characters representing the real people in the war. Now going into more detail about the leads. Three different set-ups are seen, where Leckie’s father doesn’t talk to him and doesn’t have a great relationship with him. Then there is Basilone who is eating a family meal and they are encouraging him to war and the third is a young adult who cannot go because of a heart defect. It shows Leckie later on with the group of marines and clearly stands out being the intellectual of the group. The 1st lot of marines land onto the island and it’s quiet. Too quiet. Straight away, the detail of the show is incre
dible, the costumes, the setting, the make-up, everything looks spot on. I love this so far. On the island, the war sequences, well i say war, i mean the fighting, between the Japanese army and the Marines is amazing. Really is. This has gone so quickly and it’s an hour. So far, very pleased with the episode. The connections between the marines are very strong and you can tell that they are in this together. And especially after their stock boat is destroyed. The climax with the gun fight on the creek is a great build and shows that the American Marines means business especially Leckie’s group of men. I’m looking forward to what happens next with the 7th Marines and Basilone who is only briefly shown. Simon Childs
Let’s begin with a short introduction to the new TV Thursday’s, and give the short story of where it came from. I’m not gonna lie, i have got nothing planned for the summer. I’ve got three months of doing fuck all, and i thought, as to cover my time productively, instead of getting into shape, volunteering, seeing family members I’ve haven’t seen in years, sorting out lose paperwork, or consolidating my debts, I’m gonna review some TV shows for shits and giggles. And one of the biggest releases, which finished last month, was The Pacific. Luckily, i watched each one, and write down short reviews of each part, and for the next 10 Thursdays, you’ll have the pleasure of getting the review of each one, which will lead to, at the end, having a massive review for the whole series, which I’ll tie up sometime in September. And hopefully after that, reviewing a similar type format show, possibly a whole series of something new. I’ll decide nearer the time. So, let’s begin with part 1 of the massively constructed, war-drama epic The Pacific! Now with added photos!
Simon Childs
The Ruby in the smoke - Rubicon preview
Seven years ago, James Badge Dale was running around LA with a grade 1 hair cut, getting his hand chopped off in order to save the day. His big TV moment as Chase in 24, however, soon dimmed into obscurity, never to be seen or heard from again. Until last year when he appeared once again; new haircut and a new found intellect, carrying a machine gun through tropical jungle in the epic TV mini-series The Pacific. In the first episode of The Pacific, his character observes that he'd much rather be carrying his typewriter into war than a gun, and voila! In the summer of 2010, he is reborn as Will Travers in the new mystery show Rubicon.
Far from being a delicious mango based drink or a famous roman river, Rubicon is the latest in a series of possible successors to the now disenfranchised Lost viewers (along with already planted Fringe and the new NBC series Per
sons Unknown) that promises clues, questions and hopefully answers. I am not a massive fan of the mystery series, and one Mr Childs or Mr Woburn will attest to my disregard for Lost's seemingly endless trek into the wilderness of despair (which then ended. Damn) but I decided to look at Rubicon with a fresh eye. The network AMC (who are also responsible for Breaking Bad) are not releasing Rubicon until August 1st, but played the first episode as a teaser last month, so I decided to check it out.
The series revolves around one man, Will Travers, an introspective brain in a government think tank (the purpose of this think tank appears to be analysing intelligence to find patterns in terrorism, economics etc). One day, Travers discovers what he believes to be a pattern in the crosswords of America's biggest newspapers, leading him to investigate the possibility of a global secret society. It sounds like the premise of a Dan Brown novel, sure, but the real quality of this show comes from the intellectual acting of Dale along with the sheer interest of what he is investigating. When sho
wn the office of the think tank you genuinely believe there are placed in America attempting to connect cities by whether or not they have university hospitals, public fountains or a low defence budget. The direction itself is subtle, but not without its punches. A haunting accident scene half way through the episode had me pause the video while I composed myself - here is a mystery show that doesn't rely on flashbacks, arguments or polar bears to intrigue its viewers. Instead a mystery that could exist in our own back yard - a conspiracy drama that is comprehensible and, almost, believable.
I don't want to say much more than I already have about the show itself. But as someone who may feel like they missed out on the Lost craze, Rubicon offers another chance at being fully amerced in the tough questions, in the puppet strings being gently pulled behind the scenes and a character with emotional depth that can pull you into this new show just enough, so softly that you'll think it was your choice to get involved in the first place.
Rubicon airs August 1st 2010.
SMT
Ninja Assassin - James McTeigue
OMG LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF FUCKING BLOOD AND LIMBS THERE ARE JUST POPPING OFF OF PEOPLE AND THE FUCKING GROANS AND MOANS. TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH! ERRRRRR! LOOK AT THE MANS STOMACH AS THE GUTS JUST FLY OUT, I’VE JUST SEEN ABOUT 20 PEOPLE DIE IN ABOUT 1 MINUTE OF FILM. WTF?!?!? THIS IS SOOO AWESOME I’M CRYING IN PLEASURE! THIS DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT, I NEED TO CALM DOWN AND JUST THINK ABOUT MYSELF AND MY LIFE. THIS. FILM. IS. AWESOME. CRAZY. AWESOME. CRAZY. FUCKING. AWESOME. YEAHHHH!
That’s the best way to start with the review of Ninja Assassin, but after writing that, i realised, there is something wrong with the film. With all the action, all the guts, all the blood, all the violence, what else is there? Not much really. A shit plot about an ancient group of ninjas, formed in Asia by a crazy guy. They go out and kill people for 100 pieces of gold. And then one rebels and they go after him. At the same time, police, or some kind of European or World police try to figure out who they are. It’s kinda shiteous. It really is. But, luckily for it, Rain, the lead Ninja as you would say, the technical term, makes up for it with all the god-damn amazing action, the flips, the kicks, the punches, the slices, the cuts, the blood. This dude is awesome. Seriously awesome. He can’t act for shit though. So, as a tribute to the film, I’m gonna do a short review. Because, I’m just gonna review the action and shit. Fuck the rest of the film. If Ninja Assassin can’t be bothered with acting, its script or anything other than the action, then why should i care about writing little details about shit that doesn’t matter? I’m gonna be more like Rain. Yeah, sounds like an amazing idea.
(At this point, i punched the counter next to me, thus leading for screams and crying from me. So being like Rain really didn’t help. It just made my hand hurt and plus made me look like a girl. Which i know i am now. I’ve accepted it. I’ve kinda embraced it!)
4/10
Simon Childs
The Wolfman - Joe Johnston
Remakes are getting a lot of stigma nowadays. Any type of that film that’s either a sequel or something that redoes what has been is instantly regarded as shit. It’s strange, for a little while i agreed with this but i started seeing the ones that deserved to be remade, telling the story in a different way, normally in a newer setting or using new plot devices. Take for instance, The Wolfman. A remake using the historic and well known character the man who turns into a wolf and it’s not necessarily going to include a topless scene where he tries to win a girl over in a sloppy love triangle, he is instead going to kill people by ripping their heads off and slashing their guts out of their body. Fucking A! The gore is of a high level here, but it suits it. I don’t like how violence in some cases is dumped down or not shown so it gets a better rating. Sometimes, it needs it. Not like Saw though or Hostel, that’s just mindless fucking violence.
So, you should know the story of Wolfman, a man gets bitten by a wolf slash man; yes i said slash man and not use the symbol! He then turns into one and goes on a spree. Throw in a love story, where the women most overcome the fear or the Wolfman must overcome the urge to kill her. Plus some family problems and involve a person trying to kill the Wolfman and that pretty much sets up most Wolfman stories. Here though, it does use these stereotypes, but changes them for the better. The Wolfman played by Benicio del Toro, who is fucking amazing here, as an actor, who some believe to have mental problems with alternative personalities, is bitten by a Wolfman. When he comes back to his home which is inhibited by his father, played by the eerie Antony Hopkins and the widow of Del Toro’s brother in the film, Emily Blunt, who i have a mild crush on, he begins his path of destruction, turning into the wolf at full moon and killing dozens of people. The inspector, played by Huge Weaving, with one of the best beards I’ve seen in years, goes about trying to capture him. Its very cat and mouse, with a few surprises here and there.
The setting, the set design and the overall mood of the piece strikes the right cord and defiantly brings about the classic horror films made in the 40’s and 50’s using costumes and make-up instead of CGI to show the beast. It brings about those memories and it makes it a better film for it. So it’s a good view. It’s long, but you soon forget the time once the first 45 minutes are out of the way.
7/10
Simon Childs
Sherlock Holmes - Guy Ritchie
Not being a massive Guy Ritchie fan, i came into this film expecting something righteously shit. I don’t know why i had such low hopes for it, mainly just being directed by the massively overrated Ritchie and staring the irritating as fuck Jude Law. I should of thought better as it did have Downey, Jr. A man on a mission to create the perfect career, going from strength to strength. As the title suggest, he may be the next Jeff Bridges, which to me is a massive compliment. It’s either going to be him or Jesse Eisenberg, who i absolutely love too, and i look forward to his next film, The Social Network (the trailer dropped this week!). But anyway, back to Sherlock Holmes, a film, i thought was going to be shit, and surprisingly, i was wrong. I was completely wrong about it; it’s actually a fucking good film. I wasn’t bored not one single second, right length, good mix of action and comedy, the performances were jarring, the pace was good, the villain was good. The way the film looked, how London was made to look, i was impressed by all of it. And I’m sure you will too.
It sets Robert as the famous detective Sherlock Holmes with his trusty sidekick Watson played by Jude Law, as they set about solving crimes, but they seem to be growing apart as friends but can’t resist the action and the mystery with solving other people’s problems. This week’s problem is with Rachel McAdams character that sets about a massive scheme, her being a rival trickster, leading to investigating Lord Blackwood, played by the fucking brilliant Mark Strong who seems to be in every film nowadays. Massive set pieces in different locations give it a refreshing feel and the dialogue never lets up. They all do well here. I’m looking forward for what they do in the next film, as the massive plays that were strung together in the shadowy background were by someone called Moriaty, who is one of the leading villains in the books and past adaptations, so by not revealing who he is or what he looks like, a big actor can be brought in, rumours being Brad Pitt or Daniel Day Lewis, which would be awesome. Really would.
Now I’m gonna quickly go back to something which i may have not really talked about that much. Rachel McAdams. Yes, that sweet, intellectual girl from The Notebook who let’s be honest acted like a bit of a dick towards Ryan Gosling. I’m sure we all agree on that. But here, she finally embraces the fact she is a woman and that loads of men casually touch themselves whilst watching her. Maybe not in public, like in the cinema, as that’s one, illegal and two, quite rude. But you get the jest. Her being the semi-love interest with a surprising twist in the end was refreshing. I hate how the lead girl always gets the girl when sometimes they don’t deserve it. The only person who deserved the girl they wanted was Sam-Wise from Lord of the Rings, the dude fucking walked for like a year and back just for a fucking ring. That’s commitment!
8/10
Simon Childs
Whip It - Drew Barrymore
Let’s begin with a small story revolving around the film and watching it. There is a milkshake shop near where i live, it’s called Shake Away. And I’m gonna be honest, the people who work there make me crumble inside. I’m not being sexist or insensitive but the women who work there is one of the main reasons i keep going back. There are beautiful, but in a Zooey Deschanel kind of way. Which many of you will understand, as I’m sure you’ve either tried to find someone like this or dress like her to seem more like her when in fact, no one dresses like Zooey! Anyway, yes the people that work there are amazing, and so one day, as i waiting in line, staring at the people behind the counter, i notice a new advertisement campaign, staring Whip It. Film advertising with a trendy milkshake place, no wayyyy! So i checked it out, staring Ellen Page, the chick from Juno, and is directed, for the first time, Drew Barrymore. I’m surprised as i haven’t heard much about it. I check more of the poster and see Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Fallon, two actors who i fucking love. And that’s when i knew i had to see this film. So, from going into a milkshake place, getting the weekly milkshake, chatting to the staff and then noticing a new film being released, i had fallen into a surprise new film that i had to see. And who knows, i could invite one of those lovely ladies (that didn’t happen, I’m way too much of a chicken to do that!).
The film is about Ellen Page, who joins a roller derby team, which is underground and full of women. It’s basically roller-skating round a track, dodging people are trying to hit you and take you out in small teams. It’s a really cool indie sport and it’s something different which hasn’t been represented on screen that much. In the team with Page is Drew Barrymore, Wiig, Eve and some other peeps. They have a rival team, and that fight against each other in a typical sports movie fashion a la Mighty Ducks. Along with his storyline, Page’s family are against this, and so are her friends. So the constant disapproval starts to get to her, but it works out well at the end. Throw in a love story too with this indie kid she meets, who you will want to punch in the ear several times over. Overall, a good plot, something a bit different and well crafted.
I defiantly recommend it, it’s fun, it’s full of action, and funny in many parts, and will make you laugh out loud and has a good message behind it. Plus full of good looking women doing something that is pretty fucking cool. I just wish i could rollerblade!
7/10
Simon Childs
Crazy Heart – Scott Cooper
I’ve mentioned before my love of the actor, the legend that is Jeff Bridges, and nowadays, it seems that every film he’s been in and had a release, I’m reviewing. Almost feel kinda biased towards him. It’s like a secret man-crush, well not very secret as I’ve described to you the many ways i love him, as an actor and as a man, but because of his great career and how every single film he ever makes is wonderful, then I’m gonna have to keep going. Strangely today though, i find myself, not enjoying his latest offering, Crazy Heart. His performance in it is excellent but sadly his one performance cannot string this poorly paced, boring film together and which ultimately comes across as a Walk the Line impression which fails greatly. It sounds kinda harsh, true, but i know Jeff can bounce back. He got a lot of awards for his performance and a lot of applause for it, i totally agree, it’s a wonderful display by the man, but the film is fucking boring. Not as boring as say 2012 (look at my review at that film and you’ll realise my deep hatred for it) but it’s still dull. I just want to be brain-numbing entertained. I want to switch off and just watch shit happen. Like Transformers, a shit film, but fucking amazing if you just switch off, the soundtrack is always good, the action sequences last a decade. Quality.
Anyway, back to Crazy Heart, it follows an old, drunk famous musician, imagine the old folk singers, like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, but add less fame and fortune and performing in small bars to 10 or 20 people. The once famous Bridges now plays bowling alleys for money and is always trying to find new venues to play and get back to his arena tours. Throw in some love story with Maggie Gyllenhaal and some songs played by Bridges, and the film is basically that. Not much exciting happens, until a good three quarters in where the character seems to be getting worse and worse with his antics. Plus a huge appearance by Colin Farrell, who seems to be annoying in nearly everything he’s in, but here, he comes off quite well. It has nice ending, ties everything together, but it will bore. I don’t really suggest viewing it, but instead watching Walk the Line which is ultimately better than this.
I just hope that the next film Bridges releases will be awesome, which I’m guessing it will be, i believe it to be Tron: Legacy. Which, if you haven’t seen the trailers for, please go watch them and cry in joy like i have many a time. Deep tears of joy that i collect in a small Jeff Bridges lunchbox plastered with his face. I also like to wash my face in these tears in the lunchbox. Got a problem with that?
5/10
Simon Childs
Law Abiding Citizen - F. Gary Gray
To be surprised in Cinema anymore is rare, to find a story you haven’t seen before or to find characters who you’ve never sided with before, it’s something you treasure, which truly separates a film from being good to being amazing. Finding a film that does that, that’s where the difficultly comes in. Not based on how many millions of people saw it like Avatar or how many awards it got, like The Hurt Locker or how many stars magazines and newspapers gave it, for example Empire giving 5 stars to District 9. To find a film, that no one knows about, that not much information has been released about, but you know, it will never be forgotten as an amazing film by you. Now I’ve only ever had that feeling a couple of times in my life, finding a film so excellent that i tell my friends about it, we watch it together and it keeps spreading, but recently, it’s hard to find a film that good, that hasn’t been noticed yet. And Law Abiding Citizen is a film that had the attention, but got given terrible reviews, when in fact; i think it’s a decent film worth seeing. It’s the total opposite of what i was talking about earlier, where too much publicity could ultimately harm your film, especially with the leads being Jamie Foxx and Gerald Butler.
The film follows a lawyer who gets entangled with a widow’s revenge where his wife and child were killed and the two responsible are not given the right amount of justice. Butler sets about a string of killings with everyone involved in the case, leading to him being arrested and locked up, but still people die. The gradual build up of the plot is delightful and you fully realise by the end of it how fucking evil Butler really is. I won’t ruin the ending, but it’s a good plot twist. Foxx plays it well, trying to figure out Butler’s next move. It mixes Shawshank Redemption with recent films revolved around exaggerate killings and tests. The film is layered with questions about revenge and picking which side you would agree with, Butler, standing up for his dead family and making sure he gets his justice he deserves or Foxx, who follows the law system and only does what he is allowed to do. It’s a great question to ask, one that doesn’t have an easy answer to.
So overall, a decent film, a really decent film, something that will surprise you. It has a good pace, good action sequences and the acting isn’t as off putting as you first may believe. So go check it out, it may be a surprise hit for many. I don’t understand the bad reviews, but i guess its different strokes, different folks.
7/10Simon Childs
Alice In Wonderland - Tim Burton
Let’s begin with the story of my admiration for a man named Tim Burton. It all started watching The Nightmare before Christmas, then his short Frankenweenie and then buying his collection of poems and short stories, illustrated by him. What a wondrous start. Then i fell in love with Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, great films, fucking weird but great, following the trend of the animation and illustrations. Then came the Batman films. Now i like them, for taking the Batman franchise and placing it into the larger society, making the character what it is today, but compared to the comics and how the character should have been displayed, like in The Dark Knight, it’s awful. I think Burton was more focused on creating a creepy world for Batman to be in, rather than create a Batman that drew a lot from his background and history in the DC comics. Moving onto other films like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, which i didn’t like, James and the Giant Peach, which i did enjoy, Mars Attacks, which freaks the shit out of me, then Sleepy Hollow which was well made. Planet of the Apes, a big pile of poo, whilst Big Fish, was surprisingly good, Corpse Bride tried to recapture Nightmare’s good parts and create a new tale, but wasn’t as good, but still decent and then Sweeney Todd, a decent musical, something i will never say very often, as i hate musicals. And so we arrive at Alice in Wonderland. And if you follow the trail, in recent times, Burton has lacked the spark which once made him great; does Alice have the same fate?
Sadly, yes, it’s poor. Compared to his past, it’s not that good. It has a strange storyline, which somehow doesn’t work, the performances lack any direction, and are just there to fall in line with the Burton way, which is make everything weird. The CGI is good, but you always have the feeling that it’s not real. It almost feels like an animation. But maybe in a couple of year’s time, it will be better. The story follows Alice, who is beckoned once again to Wonderland to fight the evil Red Queen and save the day. Stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, an unknown actress as Alice, Helen Botham Carter, who is cast in everything Burton does, as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, which is actually cringely funny to watch. It just shows that when people are in Burton films, they have to act like what they think Burton likes, mainly just twirling, putting your hands in the air and having your eyes larger. Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas and a few others round up the cast as the animated characters like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
You’ll be disappointed by the film, it has large places of nothing happening, no humour, and the pace is very off. Not seeing it at an IMAX or in 3D, i feel like i may have taken away the main draw of the film, which it is meant to be, but at the same time, it shouldn’t rely on it for its fun.
4/10
Simon Childs
Astroboy - David Bowers
One of the most famous and prolific animated characters has had a recent outing, being updated for the American audiences, for people who don’t know the name or who he is. This character, originated in Asia, stared in many video games, television shows, films, graphic novels, comic books, novels, and shitloads of stuff really. His name is Astroboy. A robotic boy made by his inventor father after the real boy dies. He’s a culture figure in Asia, and to the masses of fans of anime and following the cultural figures from cartoons, but as fallen out of the limelight in the Western world. Ask a person who Astroboy is, chances are, they either know of the name or know what he looks like or sometimes people just won’t know. They know more about Snooki then they know about Astroboy.
Any who, the story follows a famous inventor, here voiced by the strangely good Nicolas Cage, or Nic Cage, which sounds fifty times cooler. He is a famous inventor who helps in building robots and creates the future of society, where they are living on a large piece of land which is floating in the sky, covered in technology advancements and helpful robots, he has a son, who he loves, he accident is killed, and a robotic version is created using a piece of pure ultimate good energy, creating the strongest, the fastest and the smartest robot ever, being able to think like a regular human and fit into society easily. But as he learns to find out he is a robot, he begins to experience problems with fitting in, especially his father who cannot accept himself for what he has done to his original son. Through in a political struggle between the current major and the inventor, a fight ensues over the created ultimate good energy, along with the invented ultimate bad energy. Yes, it sounds very cheesy, but it’s a kid’s film, come on.
Overall, for a CGI film, its good, it has some parts that bore you and have no action, to parts that are explosive and defiantly going in the right direction. But as a whole, the film lacks the Pixar quality for it to be taken seriously as a great animation film. Unfortunately because of how great Pixar is, all animated films are compared to them, it should be the level of all quality, which Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation company always seems to compete with, and Astroboy falters. Even Wallace and Gromit matched up to the standards...
5/10
Simon Childs
The Book of Eli – The Hughes Brothers
The destruction of civilisation, the end of humanity, the final days of man, the, erm, stopping of, say, perhaps, people? Yeah, there have been loads of media, including films, television shows, video games, that depict the end of the world, where it becomes a baron wasteland. We’ve all seen different interpretations, some original, some following the general consensus of how the human race will become horrible, ravaged people, fighting to stay alive. And to a point, they could be true, i certainly believe that without the right order, chaos would ensue. But, the way that people suddenly change is slightly more exaggerated, for instance, if the world did go to shit, i would instantly kill my family for the last of the milk supply in the fridge. And i would stab my neighbour’s cat for food. Come on. We are not that bad, maybe in extreme circumstances, but i highly doubt it! Anyway, here is a new version of the world becoming destroyed by something or someone, and it follows a lone man, wandering through the desert to find something. It’s The Book of Eli staring the always amazing Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman with the on/off Mila Kunis.
The plot revolves around civilisation being destroyed by an explosion. It isn’t really described in detail what has happened, but something to do with the sun perhaps? I’m not entirely sure what happened, just that everyone is killing anyone for food and water, that towns are rundown, filled with people in raggy clothes and beards. A lot of beards. Denzel stars as a man who just walks a lot, and can fight very well. He likes to wear sunglasses too. There is a massive twist at the end, that you won’t quite believe, but it works, adds a new angle to the whole film and you question the beginning to the end. Oldman stars as a sheriff of a local town who is in search of books, so by having these books he can take control of other towns as he seems to be the only one who can read. He is desperate search of the bible, as all copies were destroyed in a massive fire back in the day of the explosion which caused the world to be like this. So, with that in mind, you can guess who has a copy. It begins a cat and mouse chase with Mila Kunis involved as Denzel’s love interest who after being a slave to Oldman, follows Denzel and helps him out with his travels.
It’s okay. It’s very long in parts, not much happens, but the action sequences are shot well. It’s defiantly not going to win any acting awards, it’s a middle order film, where it isn’t amazing, nor is it shit. It will fill a good hour or two of your time, but don’t expect anything truly spectacular.
6/10
Simon Childs
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus – Terry Gilliam
I wanted to put a title that summed up this film. I thought for a long time about it, i even delayed myself writing it. I wanted it to sink in, to slowly bubble in my subconscious and that when i came to writing the review, i could eloquently place the right words in a sentence that described Terry Gilliam’s latest feature, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. And after a long time of thinking, of just sitting at my desk, my computer next to my fingertips, i still couldn’t think of the right thing to say. Only three words kept coming to mind and i knew i could never use them. It’s not proper reviewing, it’s not professional, but seeing as this is a blog online, created by a university student, being read mostly by students, i must use these three words: WHAT. THE. FUCK. Throughout the film, that’s the three words that kept coming to mind.
Now, i get film, i get some parts of the surreal, the mind boggling, the pieces that just don’t make sense and are meant to be like that. Sometimes i like that, but most of the time, i just want to be entertained, i want to be switched off. It’s like watching a TV show, listening to music or going to the theatre. It’s entertainment. It’s meant to take me to places i have never been or put me into universes that i want to be a part of. But this, it just down righted confused me. I get the plot, where Doctor Parnassus has made a deal with the devil to capture souls and if he hasn’t collected enough by his daughters 18th, she will become Lucifer’s new slave. Doctor Parnassus uses his travelling shows to tempt people into his “universes” where he tests them and makes them better people, seeing their true happiness. And after finding Tony, the hanging man, they use his charm to lure more souls. That’s the basic premise, but still, I’m fucking confused.
Maybe you’ll have better luck that me watching this. Maybe you’ve watched Gilliam pieces before and just are used to his style, to the way the audience are meant to be challenged and bemused. But me, I’ll stick to Die Hard, to Star Wars and to superhero films. Because that’s what i like and used to. But I’m sure it will make you think, but you got to stick through it. You got to stick with it till the end, don’t be put off by the strange pacing or the sometimes wooden acting. Just try it out.
6/10
Simon Childs
Nothing To Lose:
Late last night, I watched the newly minted action team flick The Losers. I found myself at the offset cynically thinking about the number of action team related films coming out this year – For the nostalgic crowd The A-Team remake, upcoming action buff love fest The Expendables and for the alternative quasi-comic book followers comes The Losers. Just what the trailer had told me – That a group of elite soldiers had been framed but escaped, who are now on the run, and if you’ve got a problem and if you can – oh no wait. Sorry. All joking aside and whatever the motivation for this movie, this film looked like an entertaining side booth for those not overly excited about the A Team or any film involving Sly Stallone, so I thought what the hell, I’ll give it a shot. 1 hour and 40 minutes later, I was left with a decidedly pedestrian view of the whole thing.
Aside from the trailer showing the best and most exciting seconds of the film (but that’s my own personal hatred of trailers for you), what’s left of the film is either less exciting than hoped or less impacting than a sponge salad. You remember all those films that rushed everything? You realise they’re going in for the big battle and its only an hour in? I guess that was my biggest problem with this film – it’s all over far too quickly and you’re left with 8 pounds out of your pocket, half you’re popcorn left and another hour to kill.
The acting, such as it ever is in an action film, was a fun distraction but nothing special – the best part probably being Chris Evan’s failed attempts to act natural (we have all been in the same situation). As I say, the film was nothing special to me. But looking back at the over acting villain, the gratuitous explosions and classic action film archetypes, I wonder if the point of this movie is to create an alternative 80s throwback, complete with melodrama, romance and black stereotypes; a flashback to the film that never happened, but maybe should have. Like I said, this is truly a film for those hoping to avoid The A-team’s sentimentality or The Expendables inevitable bare chested 50 year old action star’s:
This film never claimed to be about winners, for winners or even be a winner. Its The Losers, exactly what it says on this tin. And if you’ve got 100 minutes and a tenner to spare, then you’ve got nothing to lose.
Rating: An eventual 6.5/10
SMT
The Losers – Sylvain White
A slew of new releases lately have been following the mantra of having large ensemble casts, with large explosions, witty comments about society, cool graphics, up to date music and short in length, and The Losers follows in that trend. Seen in films such as Law Abiding Citizen, Gamer, Wanted and other such hits, the audience are just let into a world of unbelievable acrobatics, where the characters will never die, unless the lover of the main character, the traitor or the funny sidekick. The Losers, adapted from a relatively famous and well-liked graphic novel, similar vein with Kick-Ass but revolving around war and destruction, it tells the story of a group of mercenaries, who are set up and become wanted men, they try to regain their life’s back after them being destroyed by the government they worked for.
The cast has the whose-who of random television and film actors, starring the guy from Greys Anatomy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the guy who was recently in Luthor, or if you follow your American sitcoms, The Office, back a few series ago, Idris Elba. Followed by the stereotypical token Mexican/Porta Rican/South American who doesn’t say much, Columbus Short, the computer tech geek played by the future Captain America, Chris Evans. Rounding up the cast is Zoe Saldana, the franchise stealer with appearances in Star Trek and Avatar. She’s in high demand clearly. The villain is played here by the famous actor who you know the face of but can’t quite put the name to. Its fine, i was thinking for at least a week after watching the film to find out who he was, i finally caved and searched on Wikipedia and imdb and found out it was Jason Patric who was in The Lost Boys, Speed 2 and In the Valley of Elah. Big films!
Lets back to the review, it’s a decent film, has got good set pieces, good action, a great comedic turn from Chris Evans, shows he isn’t a one trick pony, which, the more and more i see of him being someone else, showing that he isn’t one dimensional, the more confident I’m getting of the Captain America film being fucking amazing. But yeah, check it out for a laugh, it’s short, it packs a punch, a few massive errors are there, but for a short while you’ll be enjoyed, some new ideas thrown in, but the ending is clear from the get go. The more films like this are released, the more unhappier I’ll get though, i don’t want production companies to keep producing these types of films, i want longer, better scripted and better ideas thrown in. I can’t wait for the action film of the year Inception, reckon it’s gonna blow everything out of the water and show young directors and production companies that putting money into something with half a brain is clearly worth it. Or it will show that Christopher Nolan is the best and that everybody should stop working in the business. I hope it’s the first option.
6/10
Simon Childs
Capitalism: A Love Story – Michael Moore
Another documentary review after the lovely and beautifully crafted American: The Bill Hicks Story, and this one, made by the king of the documentary, the master, the Hollywood standard documentary maker, the one, the only, Michael Mother Fucking Moore. A legend in his own right. Not one documentary maker comes to mind who is on the same level that Moore is on successful and more renowned. With films like Bowling For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, Capitalism: A Love Story follows in the footsteps of mixing heart breaking stories, hard hitting truths, funny videos, engaging interviews and intelligent quips made by Moore. It follows the line of being an interesting piece that showcases something wrong with society, in this case, Wall Street in America and the economy as a whole, questioning the government and the connections it has with the companies that seem to the run the society it supplies.
A combination of interviews with people in financial crisis, showing the true affect on the average American person, with personal reveals of Moore’s family and the workforce loss mixed with interviews with experts and stunts, that seem tacky and unexplained, but show that the companies don’t care, and that money rules the land. These little sequences are the weakest thing in the film, but overall, the heart ache of the real people is deafening. It’s very similar to the sequence in Fahrenheit 9/11, the strongest scene i remember in the cinema, fully booked, everybody watching the screen and it felt like forever. Audio of the place crashing, hearing people scream and cry whilst the setting around them exploded. It was moving. I think it was one of the boldest things I’ve ever seen a film do. And the film follows in that same trend.
Overall, the film is wonderful, has a great pace, it sets out who is evil and who is good and just keeps shocking all the way through. Not knowing about this issue before watching the film, i had no idea the extend of the situation and how terrible the crisis is. It informs most of all, and it shows Moore is catering towards a world audience instead of an American one, especially with a large following in the UK, the film feels like it was made for us to understand and to join in the hatred and despair Moore has for America. I would recommend the film if you’re a fan of documentaries, a fan of Michael Moore, a fan of the truth or a fan of decent films.
8/10
Simon Childs
