Last night I went and saw a preview screening of the movie Death At A Funeral, a remake of the 2007 movie of the same name.
The Story centres around Aaron (played by Chris Rock) and his family who come together after the father of the family passes away. The family is the usual kind of thing, the brother who has done well, the crazy uncle and so on. Everyone is trying to be civil with each other (even though they really don't like each other) but the day kicks off to a shoddy start with the undertakers making an awful mistake...and then things get a whole lot worse when a mysterious dwarf that nobody seems to know has some devastating news...
The movie is great fun, funnier that I thought it would be and it has a great cast with stars like Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, James Marsden, and Peter Dinklage (who reprises his role from the original). The humour is quite in your face, and I enjoyed every minute....oh and seeing what happens to Danny Glover's character in the end is priceless!
It's difficult to say which version is better, it really does depend on what you want...they are both funny movies but if you want subtle humour then go see the original, but if you like in your face humour then you should really enjoy this movie.
Death At A Funeral (2010) is rated 15 and released 4th June
Wednesday 26 May 2010
Sunday 16 May 2010
A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child
A Nightmare On Elm Street is one of the most iconic horror movies of all time,and it spawned 6 sequels and a pretty awful crossover movie (and did you now he kinda cameos in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday?).
Some of the effects for the deaths are pretty good, for example when Dan becomes one with his motorbike and there are some interesting ideas on nightmares like someone turning into a comic book character and when they are cut they bleed coloured ink, but this does not make for a good movie.
Sadly this movie is quite slow, there are not too many deaths in this movie (not necessarily a bad thing) and the quips from Freddy make him more of a clown than a horror icon.
The only reason you should watch this movie is if you are a die hard Freddy fan and want to watch everything, if you want to see how to make a lame horror movie or if you want to see the fall of a horror icon.
A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child is rated 18 (although I have absolutely no idea why, it should be a 15 to be honest...) and is available on DVD.
Some of the effects for the deaths are pretty good, for example when Dan becomes one with his motorbike and there are some interesting ideas on nightmares like someone turning into a comic book character and when they are cut they bleed coloured ink, but this does not make for a good movie.
Sadly this movie is quite slow, there are not too many deaths in this movie (not necessarily a bad thing) and the quips from Freddy make him more of a clown than a horror icon.
The only reason you should watch this movie is if you are a die hard Freddy fan and want to watch everything, if you want to see how to make a lame horror movie or if you want to see the fall of a horror icon.
A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child is rated 18 (although I have absolutely no idea why, it should be a 15 to be honest...) and is available on DVD.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
The 10 Most "Huh?" Endings in Movies
Today, Maxim put up the following article about odd movie endings:
The 10 Most "Huh?" Endings in Movies
You know the feeling: You've been sitting through a good two hours of a movie only to have it slam to a halt with an ending that either completely messes with everything you just saw, leaves things frustratingly hanging in the air, or just goes completely batshit in the final minutes. It's time to celebrate some of our favorite "Whowiththewhatnow?" endings from movies. Oh, do we even have to say "SERIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD"? Well, there are.
10. Planet of the Apes (2001)
Yes, the infamous Ape-raham Lincoln ending. Mark Wahlberg thinks he's escaped from the simian planet, only to arrive on "Earth" - but an Earth where a monkey wrote the Gettysburg address! Tim Burton knew he couldn't just…wait for it…ape the original's "Goddamn you all to hell!" twist ending, so he decided to throw in a brand new one of his very own. Too bad it was solely a visual gag that didn't make a lick of sense.
10. Planet of the Apes (2001)
Yes, the infamous Ape-raham Lincoln ending. Mark Wahlberg thinks he's escaped from the simian planet, only to arrive on "Earth" - but an Earth where a monkey wrote the Gettysburg address! Tim Burton knew he couldn't just…wait for it…ape the original's "Goddamn you all to hell!" twist ending, so he decided to throw in a brand new one of his very own. Too bad it was solely a visual gag that didn't make a lick of sense.
9. A Serious Man (2009)
OK, this one is actually a little unfair. Sure, we're calling out the "everyone stands around, looking at a tornado" ending as one big, giant "huh?", but that implies that anything that came before that moment made any sense at all. A Serious Man is Coen Brother in-joke at its most insular, so the fact that it has an elliptical non-ending should have come as no surprise.
OK, this one is actually a little unfair. Sure, we're calling out the "everyone stands around, looking at a tornado" ending as one big, giant "huh?", but that implies that anything that came before that moment made any sense at all. A Serious Man is Coen Brother in-joke at its most insular, so the fact that it has an elliptical non-ending should have come as no surprise.
8. The Number 23 (2007)
For the whole movie, Jim Carrey is obsessed with a book about the Number 23 that seems to have odd parallels to his life. The occult is thrown is as a giant, demonic red herring, and then the movie hits you with its idea of a wrap up: Carrey wrote the book! Only he doesn't remember doing it! Yeah, that's right, this whole movie basically hinges on the equivalent of a Post-It you put on the fridge when you were wasted.
For the whole movie, Jim Carrey is obsessed with a book about the Number 23 that seems to have odd parallels to his life. The occult is thrown is as a giant, demonic red herring, and then the movie hits you with its idea of a wrap up: Carrey wrote the book! Only he doesn't remember doing it! Yeah, that's right, this whole movie basically hinges on the equivalent of a Post-It you put on the fridge when you were wasted.
7. No Country For Old Men (2007)
Oh, Coens, you've done it again. After a thoroughly tense and well-structured crime thriller, they decide to wrap up things up with implied off-screen deaths and Tommy Lee Jones explaining his dreams. And then it ends. Now, we understand the desire for an unconventional ending, but this is like suddenly unplugging the TV in the final minute of Murder, She Wrote.
Oh, Coens, you've done it again. After a thoroughly tense and well-structured crime thriller, they decide to wrap up things up with implied off-screen deaths and Tommy Lee Jones explaining his dreams. And then it ends. Now, we understand the desire for an unconventional ending, but this is like suddenly unplugging the TV in the final minute of Murder, She Wrote.
6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
One of the most notorious WTF's ever. We see everything from the POV of Heather, running through the creepy abandoned house in the woods with the camera. She enters a room, and sees…what we think is her companion Mike, standing in the corner awaiting the witch's deathblow (like the children in the folktale version of the witch's story) but before what we're seeing actually registers the camera hits the ground and…that's it. The end. Laters!
5. The Forgotten (2004)
Aliens abducted Julianne Moore's kid. Fucking aliens.
Aliens abducted Julianne Moore's kid. Fucking aliens.
4. The Mist (2007)
After somehow managing to escape from the supermarket that's surrounded by unearthly horrors and (unknowingly) mere seconds from rescue, Thomas Jane decides that he'd rather kill his son, his wife, the other survivors, and himself rather than be subjected to death by Lovecraft. BLAMMO! A WTF and a gut-shot all in one.
After somehow managing to escape from the supermarket that's surrounded by unearthly horrors and (unknowingly) mere seconds from rescue, Thomas Jane decides that he'd rather kill his son, his wife, the other survivors, and himself rather than be subjected to death by Lovecraft. BLAMMO! A WTF and a gut-shot all in one.
3. Vanilla Sky (2001)
So we find out that everything - the undead girlfriend and the masks and everything - is some kind of corporate-controlled dream that's been running through Tom Cruise's head while he's been CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN? Give us a break.
So we find out that everything - the undead girlfriend and the masks and everything - is some kind of corporate-controlled dream that's been running through Tom Cruise's head while he's been CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN? Give us a break.
2. Anything By M. Night Shyamalan
Seriously, take your pick: "Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!" "Samuel L. Jackson is a super villain!" "The aliens' only weakness is water even though they seem intent on coming to a planet that is 90% made up of the stuff" "The village is on a modern-day nature reserve!" "The Lady in the Water is complete shit!" "Trees are killing people!" This guy is, literally, Rod Serling for Dummies.
Seriously, take your pick: "Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!" "Samuel L. Jackson is a super villain!" "The aliens' only weakness is water even though they seem intent on coming to a planet that is 90% made up of the stuff" "The village is on a modern-day nature reserve!" "The Lady in the Water is complete shit!" "Trees are killing people!" This guy is, literally, Rod Serling for Dummies.
1. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Not only one of the biggest mind-blowing endings, but one that will haunt your dreams for all eternity. The killer? "Angela"? SHE'S A DUDE! And not just a dude, but a dude so thoroughly checked into Crazytown that, upon discovery, just stands there, mouth open, making the most ungodly guttural noise we've ever heard with his peen hanging out. Seriously, watch this clip once and never sleep right again.
Not only one of the biggest mind-blowing endings, but one that will haunt your dreams for all eternity. The killer? "Angela"? SHE'S A DUDE! And not just a dude, but a dude so thoroughly checked into Crazytown that, upon discovery, just stands there, mouth open, making the most ungodly guttural noise we've ever heard with his peen hanging out. Seriously, watch this clip once and never sleep right again.
So, what are your thoughts on list? Me personally I would have listed all M Night Shyamalan's movie at #1 for this list as they just seem to get odder and odder!
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
Splinter
I like a good horror movie, and I was recently recommended Splinter.
Splinter is about a young couple who retreat to the wilderness for a romantic camping weekend, but after damaging their tent everything starts to go wrong when they are car-jacked by an escaped convict and his girlfriend on the run from the police.
As the foursome travel the back roads they find themselves in more trouble than any of them could have imagined -- there's a blood-crazed, parasitic creature in the woods, and the two couples are it's next targets.
They shelter at an abandoned gas station, they must use their wits and every weapon at their disposal to defend themselves from not only the creature but themselves.
I really enjoyed this movie, it was a good watch and well worth checking out. I liked the idea of a parasite that infects you and causes spikes/splinters to grow out of the victims bodies (or body parts if removed). After seeing a lot of lame horrors of late, this for me is the way horror should be...simple, but effective. It felt like I was watching some of the simpler horrors from the 80s (and that is nothing but a good thing, some great horrors were made in that time!) and I feel anyone who is going to make a new horror should watch this to see how it should be done.
Here is the trailer for this movie:
Splinter is rated 18 and available on DVD
"This concludes out broadcast day..."
NOTE - I got a tweet from Toby Wilkins, the director of this movie, thanking me for watching and reviewing the movie, it went as follows:
TobyWilkins: Thanks for watching and reviewing, glad you enjoyed it. // RT @yamerias: Fat Bloke Watching: Splinter http://dlvr.it/x3Nc
Nice to have him drop me a message like that!
Splinter is about a young couple who retreat to the wilderness for a romantic camping weekend, but after damaging their tent everything starts to go wrong when they are car-jacked by an escaped convict and his girlfriend on the run from the police.
As the foursome travel the back roads they find themselves in more trouble than any of them could have imagined -- there's a blood-crazed, parasitic creature in the woods, and the two couples are it's next targets.
They shelter at an abandoned gas station, they must use their wits and every weapon at their disposal to defend themselves from not only the creature but themselves.
I really enjoyed this movie, it was a good watch and well worth checking out. I liked the idea of a parasite that infects you and causes spikes/splinters to grow out of the victims bodies (or body parts if removed). After seeing a lot of lame horrors of late, this for me is the way horror should be...simple, but effective. It felt like I was watching some of the simpler horrors from the 80s (and that is nothing but a good thing, some great horrors were made in that time!) and I feel anyone who is going to make a new horror should watch this to see how it should be done.
Here is the trailer for this movie:
Splinter is rated 18 and available on DVD
"This concludes out broadcast day..."
NOTE - I got a tweet from Toby Wilkins, the director of this movie, thanking me for watching and reviewing the movie, it went as follows:
TobyWilkins: Thanks for watching and reviewing, glad you enjoyed it. // RT @yamerias: Fat Bloke Watching: Splinter http://dlvr.it/x3Nc
Nice to have him drop me a message like that!
Sunday 9 May 2010
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Think of some of the people who you think are amazing...is Ian Dury one of them? I think he was one of the greats and his passing in 2000 was a huge loss to the entertainment industry.
So it was great expections I had from Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, a biopic based on Ian Dury..and I'm glad to say this movie delivered.
The movie is kind of themed like a concert, with Dury (played by Andy Serkis) telling the story of his life. At the age of 7 he contracted polio, and it shows some of ths struggles he had growing up and his against all odds rise to superstardom, being one of the founding fathers of the British punk movement.
It also shows the struggles his family had with a volitile person like Dury as a father and husband.
The movie is great, although it could get confusing where is goes back and forth a lot, but the best thing is that they refused to sugar coat what kind of person Dury was. Serkis plays the lead role incredibly well and almost looks like him too! Add to that a great soundtrack and this move is a winner.
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is rated 15 and is available on DVD and BRD on 17th May.
So it was great expections I had from Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, a biopic based on Ian Dury..and I'm glad to say this movie delivered.
The movie is kind of themed like a concert, with Dury (played by Andy Serkis) telling the story of his life. At the age of 7 he contracted polio, and it shows some of ths struggles he had growing up and his against all odds rise to superstardom, being one of the founding fathers of the British punk movement.
It also shows the struggles his family had with a volitile person like Dury as a father and husband.
The movie is great, although it could get confusing where is goes back and forth a lot, but the best thing is that they refused to sugar coat what kind of person Dury was. Serkis plays the lead role incredibly well and almost looks like him too! Add to that a great soundtrack and this move is a winner.
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is rated 15 and is available on DVD and BRD on 17th May.
Saturday 8 May 2010
Pierrepoint
This afternoon, I watched Pierrepoint (also known as The Last Hangman) on DVD.
This movie is the story of Albert Pierrepoint, who was the last hangman in the UK. During the span of his 22 year career, he executed some 608 people, including the so-called "Beasts of Belsen" for which he had the country's gratitude....he also had to hang his friend because he killed a woman, which changed him.forever.
By the time he had done his last hanging (Ruth Ellis) the public felt differently toward Pierrepont, calling him a murderer, and he felt very differently about the job and resigned in 1956.
The movie is very sad, and Timoth Spall portrays Pierrepoint creepily well.
Pierrepoint is rated 15, and available on DVD
This movie is the story of Albert Pierrepoint, who was the last hangman in the UK. During the span of his 22 year career, he executed some 608 people, including the so-called "Beasts of Belsen" for which he had the country's gratitude....he also had to hang his friend because he killed a woman, which changed him.forever.
By the time he had done his last hanging (Ruth Ellis) the public felt differently toward Pierrepont, calling him a murderer, and he felt very differently about the job and resigned in 1956.
The movie is very sad, and Timoth Spall portrays Pierrepoint creepily well.
Pierrepoint is rated 15, and available on DVD
Friday 7 May 2010
How To Train Your Dragon
I've always had a passion for animated movies, and I've liked the animated features that Dreamworks have done (although they have never beaten anything by Pixar so far) so I thought I'd give this movie a go.
The story is about a boy called Hiccup, who wants to be a dragon killer. The village he lives in is attacked by dragons constantly, the village men are huge Viking warriors who battle them and Hiccup is...well...not.
Hiccup finds a dragon (which he calls Toothless) he had caught with a contraption he invented..but instead of killing it as he wanted to, he released it. He then trains to kill dragons, where he learns all about dragons, and hears about Night Furies, which happens to be the breed Toothless is. Hiccup and Toothless become friends, and he learns more about them that grasses that make them docile and fish they cannot eat, and Hiccup also makes the dragon a new tail fin so he can fly again.
In the end, after a huge battle, Viking and dragon learn to coexist in harmony.
The movie isn't too bad and had a feelgood factor to it was well as a message of tolerance and understanding.
This movie is also available in 3D, although I'm not sure it would be worth seeing in 3D.
How To Train Your Dragon is rated U and in cinemas now.
The story is about a boy called Hiccup, who wants to be a dragon killer. The village he lives in is attacked by dragons constantly, the village men are huge Viking warriors who battle them and Hiccup is...well...not.
Hiccup finds a dragon (which he calls Toothless) he had caught with a contraption he invented..but instead of killing it as he wanted to, he released it. He then trains to kill dragons, where he learns all about dragons, and hears about Night Furies, which happens to be the breed Toothless is. Hiccup and Toothless become friends, and he learns more about them that grasses that make them docile and fish they cannot eat, and Hiccup also makes the dragon a new tail fin so he can fly again.
In the end, after a huge battle, Viking and dragon learn to coexist in harmony.
The movie isn't too bad and had a feelgood factor to it was well as a message of tolerance and understanding.
This movie is also available in 3D, although I'm not sure it would be worth seeing in 3D.
How To Train Your Dragon is rated U and in cinemas now.
Thursday 6 May 2010
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
As I will be watching the reboot of the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise sometime in the next week I thought I'd watch the original movie from 1984. The version I watched was from the US New Line Platinum Series "The Nightmare On Elm Street Collection".
The movie is about a group of high school kids who keep having the same dream. They dream of a badly burned man wearing a brown fedora hat, a dirty striped jumper and notably a glove with blades on the fingers...and every time they dream about this man if they die in the dream they die for real. The man in their dreams is Freddy Krueger, the son of 1,00 maniacs who was burnt alive by a group of parents after he escaped charges of child molestation on a technicality.
The are brilliant kills in this movie by Freddy, when he attacks Tina was a seriously jaw dropping moment when I saw it the first time as was Glen when he become the blood fountain...which had to be for me at the time one of the goriest scenes in a movie I had ever seen (I also would never forget the comment shortly afterwards "You don't need a stretcher up there, you need a mop"!) and it got me hooked on the horror genre.
This is a great movie, which for me still stands the test of time. Wes Craven created a masterpiece and Freddy Krueger was certainly the man of New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye's dreams and New Line is often known as "The House The Freddy Build" due to the massive success of the franchise. It was also the movie that introduced the World to Johnny Depp (He also was to cameo in one of the many sequels too!). Robert Englund plays one of the scariest characters in a movie as far as I'm concerned (I'm talking about this movie, not the sequels which almost all just made him into more of a clown than a monster)
When it comes to old school horror movies, this is a truly iconic movie and does make you think...after all how do you defend yourself from your dreams...or your nightmares?
A Nightmare On Elm Street is rated 18 and available on DVD now...or if you want to import it you can get it on region-free BRD from the US or Canada.
The movie is about a group of high school kids who keep having the same dream. They dream of a badly burned man wearing a brown fedora hat, a dirty striped jumper and notably a glove with blades on the fingers...and every time they dream about this man if they die in the dream they die for real. The man in their dreams is Freddy Krueger, the son of 1,00 maniacs who was burnt alive by a group of parents after he escaped charges of child molestation on a technicality.
The are brilliant kills in this movie by Freddy, when he attacks Tina was a seriously jaw dropping moment when I saw it the first time as was Glen when he become the blood fountain...which had to be for me at the time one of the goriest scenes in a movie I had ever seen (I also would never forget the comment shortly afterwards "You don't need a stretcher up there, you need a mop"!) and it got me hooked on the horror genre.
This is a great movie, which for me still stands the test of time. Wes Craven created a masterpiece and Freddy Krueger was certainly the man of New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye's dreams and New Line is often known as "The House The Freddy Build" due to the massive success of the franchise. It was also the movie that introduced the World to Johnny Depp (He also was to cameo in one of the many sequels too!). Robert Englund plays one of the scariest characters in a movie as far as I'm concerned (I'm talking about this movie, not the sequels which almost all just made him into more of a clown than a monster)
When it comes to old school horror movies, this is a truly iconic movie and does make you think...after all how do you defend yourself from your dreams...or your nightmares?
A Nightmare On Elm Street is rated 18 and available on DVD now...or if you want to import it you can get it on region-free BRD from the US or Canada.
Monday 3 May 2010
The Man Who Sued God
Yesterday I watched the movie "The Man Who Sued God" on DVD.
The movie is about a man called Steve Meyers (played by the very funny Billy Connolly) who decides to sue God after a bolt of lightening hit and destroys his fishing boat and the insurance company decline payments declaring the incident an "Act of God".
The film is quite funny, and also quite sad too. It makes you wonder about the act of God clauses, and also about religion too.
All in all it's a fun movie and quite enjoyable.
The Man Who Sued God is rated 15 and is available on DVD now.
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
The movie is about a man called Steve Meyers (played by the very funny Billy Connolly) who decides to sue God after a bolt of lightening hit and destroys his fishing boat and the insurance company decline payments declaring the incident an "Act of God".
The film is quite funny, and also quite sad too. It makes you wonder about the act of God clauses, and also about religion too.
All in all it's a fun movie and quite enjoyable.
The Man Who Sued God is rated 15 and is available on DVD now.
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
Saturday 1 May 2010
Worst movie ever?
I have actually found a movie I could not watch the whole way through, and considering some of the truly awful movies I have watched this really must be quite a bad movie.
Right, so now you have looked at the awesomeness that is the trailer, would you really want to see this movie? Against my better judgement and reviews almost everywhere saying this is one of the worst movies on the planet.
Bad call.
The dialog is cornier than a field of maize, the special effects look like they were done by a4 year old using crayons, and the film is outright dreadful.
If you have a passion for truly awful movies, you will be in your element with Birdemic, otherwise avoid it as if your life depends on it.
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
The movie in question is Birdemic which made in 2008. It is about a small town who get attacked by eagles and vultures, and 2 people who fight back...will they survive the Birdemic?
Here's the trailer for this....er...classic:
Right, so now you have looked at the awesomeness that is the trailer, would you really want to see this movie? Against my better judgement and reviews almost everywhere saying this is one of the worst movies on the planet.
Bad call.
The dialog is cornier than a field of maize, the special effects look like they were done by a4 year old using crayons, and the film is outright dreadful.
If you have a passion for truly awful movies, you will be in your element with Birdemic, otherwise avoid it as if your life depends on it.
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
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