Following off from my cover of the series so far, Series 6 comes back in full swing with Let's Kill Hitler.
Warning as the following will have spoilers, and no, that isn't a pun!
Let's Kill Hitler is a great episode the kick the series back up again, it ties up a lot of loose ends left over from A Good Man Goes To War and doesn't leave much open except some overarching mysterious of the whole series. It's very funny and very emotional in equal measures, acting is superb all around and the script is equally as sharp and entertaining, as it was getting through the mandatory stuff.
Let's Kill Hitler starts off with Rory and Amy driving around a crop field following directions which leads them to The Doctor, we learn that The Doctor has been searching for her stolen baby Melody Pond although out the summer (and it is made clear that between the airing of series part time finale and return, that's all The Doctor has been doing). However, before he can have the time explaining how he has failed to find her, we are introduced to Mel (Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink) who is Amy and Rory's troublesome friend, who knows all about The Doctor, and has the police quickly chasing after her. Armed with a gun and a time lord she always dreamed of meeting, she decides to hold him to gun point and make him take her back in time to, you guessed it, kill Hitler.
The strange thing about this episode, is that it all works really well as a whole, but it has a few little nitpicks here and there, while A Good Man Goes To War is full of great moments, but the episode as a whole feels very loosely tied together.
The first main problem that I encountered with the episode was the set up of the character of Mel, other than the fact that she came off rather annoying in her few moments on screen, she was set up very briefly for a huge twist where it is revealed that she is Melody Pond (which didn't take very long to be revealed). It's just hard to be surprised where your character is quickly introduced, especially when this is the very first time you hear from her. But as it was quickly revealed, it's hard to really get caught up on the idea, if it was dragged out until the end of the episode, it would of felt slightly lazy and contrived.
The other problems I have are more nitpicks than complaints, like for the titular character of the episode, Hitler is quickly dismissed off, it seemed more like he had more of a cameo of himself than an actual point, more a ploy to get an attention catching episode name than an actual plot device. It's also strange that Doctor Who is stealing ideas from lame Eddie Murphy films, it pulls it off better alas, but still, Eddie Murphy. More strange is seeing Karen Gillian and Arthur Duvall act and dress as teenagers.
And that's really it for problems with the episode, the episode is very well written, bar the problems I had above. It really complicates matters for most the characters, and really pushes the bar for fucked up nuclear families on TV. It's never overly complex within it's own storyline and definitely doesn't bite off more than it can chew like that other episode I keep seeming to refer back too. It's just a simple stuff to cover list, gets it done and adds a lot of charm to keep the episode running.
The episode, as I said before, is really funny, and so far, the only one that hasn't tried to squeeze horror into it. An earlier scene involving guns and a banana is certainly the comedic highlight of the episode, along with nice scene involving The Doctor asking the Tardis to show a hologram of someone who he hasn't screwed up the life off, showing all the previous assistance he's had over the last few years, which ends with a really heartwarming ending.
Add humour bonus for the evil killer robots which ask you to "Keep calm while we terminate your life"
Let's Kill Hitler will probably go down as a Red Herring, a well written Red Herring, but, ultimately, seeming to cross off people on a list of whodunits (again, not a pun). But it continues the themes of the series so far, and adds general emotion as well as laughs to a good, almost old fashioned Doctor Who adventure.
Doctor Who returns to TV tomorrow, and to give me something to write or moan about, I've decided to start writing some reviews of the episodes, they won't nearly be as lengthy as my film reviews, but they should make interesting reads none the less. However, as I'll start midway through both a series itself, and a strong revival of the show, I should give a good over view of the last series and a half, so that readers like you can see where I am coming from.
David Tennant's run with the character of The Doctor was quickly coming to a close, and so was it's head writer Russell T. Davies. Davies was a good writer, who of course, like many people my age, was introduced to the series via his pen. Series 1 of the revival was fantastic, it was scary (scared me a ton anyway at the age of 10) and adventurous, very creative and mysterious and had a good overarching story. This continued through to series 2 and 3, although towards the end of series 3 you started to see his creativity starting to drain away, come series 4, the show became awful, with The Doctor fighting lard people with very obnoxious Cathrine Tate. News broke that Davies was stepping down as head writer and so was Tennant, so the BBC geared a last hurrah to the couple by commissioning 4 specials to end the run of the two and got Steven Moffat, the writer of most of the best episodes of the previous 4 series, prepped up for a complete revamp.
The specials where, well at least to me, mostly awful. Only one of them was well made, and even then that's in comparison to the others. And the final Christmas two parter made a complete dogs dinner out of Tennant's final hours of his role. And then we came to Matt Smith, I wasn't really hopeful from what I saw of his first moments as the doctor, he looked like his eyes where going to pop out of his head. He looked like a kid on a sugar rush, and not the very old time traveller The Doctor was. Although I was dismissive at the time, due to it being such a short amount of time we saw him as the character, I still had that dreadful thought that the man would be completely irritating to watch.
Needless to say, I had very little to worry about.
Series 5, was a delight to watch, although it had a few dud episodes, i.e. The Lodger and The Hungry Earth, it was still a very strong series. It had a lot of over arching storylines that where smartly crafted into the foreground and a very emotional revelation towards the end of the series. It was very creative science fiction, the best thing about Doctor Who is that you can pretty much do anything you want, and series 5 shows that throughout. It brought the series to new heights, it added the fear factor back in, and brought a new mature element to the plots without it loosing it's child audience.
Doctor Who had never been so good, and had fans literally eating out of it's hands, and the best thing is...
Series 6 so far has topped it.
With the love revolving around Series 5, the natural move for the BBC was to give the show a huge push in the USA, (which also involved it's Spin-Off Cousin, Torchwood, to become a US-UK co-production, but I'll talk about that once that series has finished). So not only for the first time did the show air at the exact same time as UK in the US, but the opening two parter was set in America.
The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon practically blew the entire series 5 out of the water alone. Heck the first 10 mins of series 6 did that. They killed of The Doctor in one quick swipe, obviously, he came back, but the fact still remains that The Doctor died or rather will die in this series. But then the two parter continues to reveal an evil, terrifying alien race called The Silence, with creepy imagery, and strange mind games, Doctor Who had become a far more sinister show. And if you was blown away with the opening of the two parter, then you will be left breathless with the end of the two parter as we see a little girl regenerate.
Which then leads me to Curse of the Black Spot, and the one very fundamental flaw with this series as a whole. It fires away at 100 mph, and then they completely fall to a halt to deliver a typical Doctor Who adventure, when you want to know more about what happened. But the main thing that really hurts Curse of the Black Spot is that it's the worst episode out of the series, and it is only made worse with it's terrible placement. If this stood alone, and not directly after a mind blower, it would of been passable, but the fact is, the episode is dull, it's slow and nothing happens, or is learnt. Even taken as swashbuckling fun, it's a bore.
Which leads me to The Doctor's Wife, which, if Curse of the Black Spot is the worst the series offers, then it's quickly made up by this heartfelt look at the character by Neil Gaiman. The Doctor's Wife is a completely unique episode where the tardis is converted into a woman, therefore becoming The Doctor's Wife, since the tardis is the only character to follow the doctor though his travels all this time. The episode is very dark and very light, but balances them in equal measures, where Curse added very little to anything, Wife adds little to the plot, but adds all sorts of depth to the characters while never becoming boring, it's always moving and never predictable.
Which then takes us onto The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People, a two parter that feels like it should be more an episode and a half, which is probably the main problem the show occurs when doing a two parter. The Rebel Flesh is slow, it's never bad, but it takes it's time getting a move on. It falls on cliches quite a few times, and rarely surprises. It's also at the time the shows horror factor started to frustrate me, with every episode having to be scary, Doctor Who was starting to lose it's child audience, and lost the whimsical adventurous side the the show. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that Doctor Who is going back to scary, but you start to lose effect when it's only scary, and no episode has a lighter tone.
The Almost People was more of the same, and the entire two parter was just creating a plot device which was used in the half time finale, and sure to be used again later in the series.
Leading onto A Good Man Goes To War, which, when I say The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People was stretched, this was way too condensed. This is a problem Moffat encountered in The Beast Below in series 5, he has a lot of very, very good ideas, but most his ideas make whole new worlds, and when shoved into one 45 min segment, it feels very rushed and all over the place. And with a lot of loose ends to tie up from the previous series and this one, the only way it would work was to really give it a second part. A Good Man Goes To War is a very good episode as with almost all the episodes, before I start to sound like I hate it, the acting is superb and it continual keeps you on you toes, but it's really hard to get behind an episode where you can't breath and respect the situation there in and feel real emotion, at the start of the episode you don't really understand what this army is for, or why it is so menacing, which really keeps you from getting into the episode. Although, with that in mind, it pushes the series into more darker, complex situations.
I think A Good Man Goes To War was mainly hurt by it's hype, it was called a game changer, and while it did that, the twist the show offered was a bit of a "Ahh that's cool, but hardly shocking" It ended up being a slight letdown by it's own following, regardless, I will still follow the show to a bitter end, as I may not seem the most keen on Series 6 Part 1, I like 3 of the episodes, loved 3 of the episodes, and only disliked 1. That's good odds to me, and a lot of part 2 seems to be focusing on more hardcore sci-fi elements.
Plus, the first episode is called Let's Kill Hitler, you can't suck with that name!
Check back tomorrow for a full review of Let's Kill Hitler!
Britain is in turmoil, the streets are being torn apart, shops are being looted, factories are being set alight, cars turn over, as the youth of the country is coming out onto the streets in the mass and doing what they supposedly do best, get drunk and fuck shit up, because of something about there rights. But this week all that madness stopped, why?
Because The Inbetweeners Movie came out and none of those people are going to pass up the opportunity to check this out. Sure they think they're in poverty, but they throw there cash down to go in the nearest multiplex, especially if they're have an Orange phone.
Actually, I think cinemas where banking on them all busy looting and what not, because earlier in the week, I looked at the times and they were showing this in the smallest screen they had about 3 times a day, I go in on Wednesday, they've sold out 3 screenings all at the same time that they added half an hour earlier and had a 4th one going in there biggest screen reserved only for 3D films.
Well I can't really talk about the movie without talking about the show first.
I have problems with the show, but needless to say, it is funny, and if you haven't seen it, go check it out. I like it enough, but even then I'm in the minority, everyone loves this show. The Inbetweeners is a British Sitcom known most of all for it's all out crude attitude that comes with being a suburban teenager, and is supposedly written based on actual events that occurred in the writers in there age.
My problem with The Inbetweeners is the fact that the characters are mostly ignorant idiots, even when they're supposed to be smart. There is one all out idiot, called Neil, one naive idiot which is Jay, and the other two are Will and Simon, who are more social retarded than stupid, but become to desperate that they do stupid things. This is ok for a setup, but these character become more and more obnoxious throughout the 3 series run, to the fact that it's less what a character would do realistic, and more the writers trying to jam comedy down our throats.
Add the fact that the filthy dialogue was becoming old the time the third series came around, and I was the person who turned around and said this series of Inbetweeners just isn't funny. The problem is, like any cult, and typical, British sitcom, the audience was gathering around by the time series 3 aired. And all the audience of course said "Oh this is so close to our lives, it's genius!". Than I all out started to hate the series.
That people my age actually associated themselves to a bunch of desperate idiots, who by then, ended almost all the episodes with throwing up or pissing. Come on guys, you are better than this. You honestly believe this desperate attempt at comedy is your life.
(And yes, I do know I sound like I complaining at a show just because it became mainstream, but screw you, I have my reasons)
Of course, I still recommend the show, all series of it, even the third has a lot of great moments, even one of the best at the end of the series. And I also understand that I might honestly be the only person with these feelings. As one of my friends put it drunkenly to me "We thought you was going to hate the new Harry Potter movie, when you said it was shit, we all honestly thought you were serious and didn't think you was joking..."
Thanks for that Jamie, that kinda hurt. But the point still stands, I'm critical!
Now, I baffled on long enough, the movie.
I enjoyed it.
Yeah, it was good.
Not perfect, but pretty entertaining.
Yeaaaaahhhhhh.....
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY!!!! It's a comedy, it made me laugh, I can't really elaborate over that. What you think after a couple long paragraph of bitching about the show, I can write equal amount of words loving the film, I'm being a critic, I can only criticise.
Okay, I'll started off with some of the flaws I had with the film. The main one being the same as the TV show. The characters are still idiots, the two that are supposed to be, I can understand. But there is a very long set piece scene involving one of the characters trying to sell his clothes for money, and you are just think that what is happening is just plain IQ slamming abysmal, and any person doing this would serious need medical attention through out his entire life span, and this is from one of the smarter characters, with the other one standing by his side, it's just plain stupidity, and it the lowest point of the film, and it adds nothing.
And, of course, the film hits a few predictable gags, some of which are pushed far enough to be funny, others of which seem desperate, most of which occupy the trailer, which didn't do much for my hopes. However I don't think I would of been as annoyed with this if I wasn't with someone who literally just consistently said "HurHurHurHurHur..." on endless repeat throughout the entire film.
But with some of the flaws of the show rearing it's ugly head, they actual rectify something that never occurred to me before. There is actually genuine charm in this film unlike the show. Now I understand you have about 10-12 mins to create charm before an ad break to destroy that to bring you back in for the last 10 mins, but this film shows that these rising stars and writers do genuinely have a knack for chemistry that the series never really hits. There are moments that are moving between the characters, and there was even a moment where they avoid a cliche that actually shows that these are more like characters, than forced comedy pawns.
And it's probably the most consistently funny film this year, I never all out laughed, but there were few moments I was thinking it was slouching, and unlike Hangover 2, wasn't clasping to recycle the same shit again and again.
Although, I'm sure The Inbetweeners Movie will once again show what a huge regret it was for the government to drop the UK Film Council, if anything just by the consistent sell out screenings on Wednesday (Which I'm guessing lead to my awful cinema going experience, they were showing a reel too small for the screen, so I ended with two huge black bars either side of the screen). It's kinda sad a truly innovative film like Attack the Block is struggling to make it's small budget back, when this, ultimately, very safe endeavour, is grasping audiences in the masses, and it would of become more of a success before it hits US soil (if it does) than that film probably ever will.
You know that one film that comes out every year that completely takes you by surprise, whether it be when you see the trailer for a film, and you don't expect what you see, and then you suddenly see yourself grasping at straws just to see it, and then when you see it your totally blown off your feet.
Well that isn't this movie...
No, this is that other movie, the type of movie that when it is first brought to your attention, you simply know that it is going to be awesome, and then you twiddle your thumbs watch everything that comes out about it and that same expectation level sits right there. That was where I sat with Cowboys and Aliens. At least I thought for a long time until a few months ago, and my hype died down, not just mine, but all the hype surrounding the film. At some point, this was believed to be the film to save summer from sequels and comic adaptation (although, it's a comic book adaptation itself, but it's not popular enough so it get away with it). And then boom, slowly no one gave a crap about it and it was then almost beaten by Smurfs (those blue assholes).
However, I remand optimistic that this would be that one fun film that spoke sorely to me, and me only (along with a few million people, but so what).
Thankfully, it does. Cowboys and Aliens is one of the few films I can say can hold it's head high and say it's a fun movie and stand proud of it. It isn't a complete leave you brain at the door film, but you can certainly zone out for the certain amount of time the film runs for and not feel like it is pandering towards you.
It's actually very hard to see what the critics are really complaining about when it comes to the film (Currently at 45% on Rotten Tomatoes), most the complaints are that the film takes itself too seriously, yet other complaints say the films too silly, what are people expecting. I'll set the score straight. For the most part, Cowboys and Aliens is straight up Western for the first 15 min, which then shortly is interrupted by science fiction, the two genre's then fight up to see which is best, at which we are constantly given a very strong western, with typical western characters, thrown into a very typical science fiction film.You end up with an interesting view on both genres, both played very straight. It creates a very unique blockbuster, combining all the cliches of both genres into one to see how they work against each other. And for the most part, not all the time but for the most part, they work well.
Daniel Craig plays amnesiac cowboy called Jake Lonergan, who wakes up in the middle of the desert unable to remember anything, he soon heads to a small town where we find out he's a wanted criminal, who has a heft bounty on his head. We soon find out he's pissed of the local Harrison Ford for stealing his gold, prior to amnesia and is about to be sent off to jail when, out of all the unlikeliest of things to happen, aliens attack.
Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are the two names carrying this film (according to IGN, James Bond and Indiana Jones have never been in the same film before, and according to me, all the editors of IGN where born yesterday), and the two of the have terrific chemistry between one another. Among them is Sam Rockwell as the pussy bartender/doctor who is thrown into the mess and must man up to save his wife. They even have the kid from Last Airbender proving he can act (a little). And Olivia Wilde walking around a ton, acting all mysterious and cryptic.
However, what makes all the secondary cast work, is the excellent writing for each of them, you do get a feel that this is a small Western town, all the character know each other, and all have there personal dilemmas floating around, some out in the open, some very subtle. And quite a bit of the time, they have some tragic endings, some happy. But the whole reason this entire film works are these characters, through the whole film, this isn't an alien invasion movie, where they fight the aliens, it's simply a rescue mission. A lot of the time, they are running away from the attacking forces, not until the climax they start to fight back. There is just something relaxing to seeing a film where the characters just feel so fluent.
Now onto the other half of what the title suggest, the aliens. The aliens themselves are nothing ground breaking, but they are very very intimidating, they are scary, especially when the are filmed within limited light. They have a very freaky gimmick of them opening there chest and having arms reach out that is genuinely unsettling. My only slight problem was that I was under the influence that the creatures where going to be more practical effects, instead of total cgi. Now, no complaint with the special effects as the genuinely look impressive, but everything is always more intimidating up close and personal, when they are actually there.
The film also isn't without it's crazy amount of 12a violence, they have aliens heads exploding, blown to pieces, limbs flying everywhere, bodies detached from legs. This is a film that literally gets away with murder.
There is only one fatal flaw to this film, that really stops it's hoped of being perfect. Since a film like Cowboys and Aliens has never been done before, the creators genuinely see the fact that they don't really have to change much in means of real game changing. They feel like they are getting a free ride for adding Cowboys and Aliens, and while it is fun seeing a typical western film and typical sci-fi film get thrown into a blender. There are a few moments where you kind of wish they avoided playing that cliche, or that character, and instead delivered a bit more of a surprise.
Cowboys and Aliens get the joke, it understands subtlety of a joke. So instead of smacking you in the face of meta jokes and humour, it plays itself as the straight man. "Oh yeah, this is all a bit silly, but that doesn't mean I can't be good" unlike films like Machete and Drive Angry, where it has to tell you that it's stupid but it's cool to laugh, we know. Cowboys and Aliens risks itself at being humiliated for have a silly premises to a serious film, however, it's the other films that humiliate themselves for approval, while Cowboys and Aliens simply looks down and tells the world how little a crap it thinks of our opinion, and that's why it works.
As you are probably aware of, we are in the middle of August, which means the summer season of films are coming to a close, however, this doesn't mean that there is nothing good coming out until christmas...well...at least I hope so. And this is what this Monthly Blog is going to be about, I look through the slate of US releases, and see what I think is going to rock or suck, or , hence the very imaginative Title.
Anyway, without any more gibber gabber, lets hope into...
September 2nd
Apollo 18
Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego
Written by Brian Miller
Starring Unknown
The latest in the new cheap as hell, spooky real footage films is this little diddy produced by Timur Bekmambetov (and no, I don't know how that is pronounced), the man behind the crazy Russian Vampire films of Night Watch and Day Watch along with the equally deliciously ludicrous Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which will hopefully stay in the same insane realm as those films. As for this film, which has been nicely placed in the same weekend as The Last Exorcism, which did moderately well from it's very low budget, definitely has the same "Stuff goes bump in the night" premises, which I've always dislike, but respect for catching me out, however, the big problem I've had with these film is the fact that they always come down to having very basic plots with basic characters played by lame actors, I can say from the trailer, the actors at least look better than films like Paranormal Activity, but as for the plot of "Some guys go to the moon, scary stuff happens" it doesn't make for a very compelling film. I hope this film has more to it for us to care about, however, it isn't looking that way.
Apollo 18 gets an 5/10 on the Rock-O-Scale, for the fact it could go either way, it could be good, or it could be bad, but I'm certain it won't be amazing, and it won't be a complete waste of time.
Shark Night 3D
Directed by David R. Ellis
Written By Will Heyes and Jesse Studenburg
Starring Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan and Alyssa Diaz
Yes, the Director of The Final Destination, that's the sign of true quality. Now if you want your Horror films less inventive and creative, and prefer CGI and more likely more predictable scares, well done, you can sit on the stupid isle where this film play 24/7. I know I was hard on Apollo 18, but at least that film will at least try. And if you are reading this a thinking, but dude, this is just some stupid fun similar the Piranha 3D and The Final Destination. Well, a PG-13 rating will have to disagree with you.
Shark Night 3D gets a 2/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as it is going to be the biggest load on nothing the hit the big screen in 2011, the only thing going for it is the fact it won't be offensively bad.
September 9th
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star
Directed by Tom Brady
Written by Adam Sandler, Allen Covert and Nick Swardson
Starring Nick Swardon, Don Johnson and Christina Ricci
I hate this blog, I only just started it and I hate it, this is the first I heard of this abomination, so I checked out the trailer get an opinion on it...Holy Shit! Usually the aim of the game when it comes to a comedy trailer is to show the best jokes to get to see your film, well if what they showed where the best parts of Bucky Larson then there is no lord. I'm not kidding when I say I went onto the IMDB page of this film, that I was shocked that this was written by 3 writers no less, and it was directed, IT HAS DIRECTION, the fuck, I'm probably a better director then this asshole and I probably won't have a career where I direct Hollywood films.
Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star gets a 0/10 on the Rock-O-Scale because it looks shit, go figure...
Contagion
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Scott Z. Burns
Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law
Wish the anus faces behind Bucky Larson would catch this disease. Contagion isn't a very original idea for a film, since a deadly virus outbreak in a film has been done with films like Outbreak. But it's never been done quite so seriously before, and done in such a horror element. Now I know this isn't "Horror" Horror, but the trailer does have so creepy/scary moments, like the cities being deserted. Contagion looks very interesting, however my key worry is that I hope it isn't a lot of talking about what is going on between Doctors and Politicians and more character base families trying to work out what is going one and trying to save one another.
Contagion gets a 7/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as it may not be the most exciting film hitting the cinemas this year, but it might make for a very haunting and interesting one.
Warrior
Directed by Gavin O' Connor
Written by Gavin O' Connor, Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman
Starring Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton
Boxing, Wrestling, Football, American Football, Tennis, Bowling, etc, name a sport and it'll probably have a film based on it, however, since UFC became increasing popular, Hollywood saw an empty space and set about filling it up. Now Mixed Martial Arts gets it's thematic turnaround, and it looks just about to hit every note covered in all those other films. Father problems, family problems, alcoholism, redemption, regret, you name it, the trailer probably has at least a shot going for it.
Warrior gets a 6/10 on the Rock-O-Scale for being what will be an ok film, with good performances, but little in the terms of breaking boundaries.
September 16th
Johnny English Reborn
Directed by Oliver Parker
Written by William Davies and Hamish McColl
Starring Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike and Dominic West
I am sick of seeing this goddamn trailer, it's on every film I go to watch whether it is relevant or not, it's just a simple pain in the buttocks. Johnny English Reborn will not be a good film, not at all, it doesn't look very funny, simple as. But there is some sort of admirable charm to it, where you can see it's trying, you Rowan Atkinson is trying (well, at least he's not sleep walking it for a pay check anyway), so I don't think the fact that I'm sick of seeing the trailer is due to the fact that it'll probably suck, it's just the fact I can't truly hate it.
Johnny English Reborn gets a 4/10 rating on the Rock-O-Scale due to some charm, and the fact that at least the trailer is funnier than what the whole of Bucky Larson will be.
I Don't Know How She Does It
Directed by Douglas McGrath
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna
Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Kelsey Grammer
SNORE! I don't care how she does it, har har har. Seriously, I have a pair of testicles, I don't need to see this film, if you have a pair of ovaries and you think that the film looks good to you, good for you, go watch it have a blast. The only way I'll be checking this one out is if Michelle Rodriguez (at least I think it's Michelle Rodriguez) pops out an assault rifle half way through the film and shoots Sarah Jessica Parker in her horse like face, and uses the rest of the run time fighting Pierce Brosnan.
I Don't Know How She Does It gets a 3/10 on the Rock-O-Scale because, frankly dear, I don't give a damn!
Straw Dogs
Directed by Rob Lurie
Written by Rob Lurie
Starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgård
This is where my slight film snobbery comes in, I really hate Screen Gems films, there is nothing gems in there title, at least not recently. All they seem to make are run of the mill thrillers with nothing of interest at all, the only thing close to interesting within their arsenal are the Underworld films, and when you boil those down, they have very little original in them. So when it comes to Straw Dogs, a remake of a film I hear still holds up very very well (I haven't seen the original Straw Dogs), I'm more than likely going to hunt that version down than watch this generic version.
Straw Dogs gets a 3/10 on the Rock-O-Scale due to the fact it's all rather pointless.
Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by Hossein Amini
Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Milligan and Bryan Cranston
You know a film is going to be good when you watch a 2 minute clip on Youtube and within that clip you being to get so entrapped within it that you forget you're watching a clip and when it ends, for a brief second, you wonder why it's stopped. That's what happened when I saw a clip of Drive, that alone should show that Drive is going to be one of the better films this year, but if not, word of mouth is telling us it's great and a few Cannes nominations where thrown around including a win for Best Director.
Drive gets a 9/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as everything on the film points to it being awesome, yet I'm yet doubtful if it will strike the right strings to make me love it to pieces.
September 23rd
Abduction
Directed by John Singleton
Written by Shaun Christensen
Starring Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins and Alfred Molina
You remember when you saw the Bourne films and thought, "Geez, I wish these appealed more to teenage girls", no, well you're not a teenage girl. Now I'm not one for Twilight, as you can guess, but the problems of those films do not come from the cast, so it's good to see this dude try and push himself into a new area of work (After all Twilight ends next year), but, if this trailer is anything to go by, he has the emotional range of a brick. The films looks like forgettable fun, nothing to great, nothing brain-thrashing terrible, but I'd rather see the baby of Jason Statham do all this stuff than this lame prick.
Abduction gets a 5/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as I won't be pissed of with any of my friends if they go to watch it, but they will probably come out telling me it's meh...
Dolphin Tale
Directed by Charles Martin Smith
Written by Karen Janszen and Noam Dromi
Starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.
Disabled Dolphins healed by Morgan Freeman and the friendship of a little boy, doesn't that just sound the sweetest...NO!
Dolphin Tale gets a 2/10 on the Rock-O-Scale because I'm a heartless bastard!
Moneyball
Directed by Bennett Miller
Written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
Starring Brad Pitt, Robin Wright and Jonah Hill
Moneyball has good actors and good scriptwriters, heck Aaron Sorkin is probably the biggest screenwriter going today after his work on The Social Network. The first part of the trailer seems to deliver on the very sharp rapid fire jargon he seems to deliver, while the second half looks like the give me my Oscar Nomination as soon as please film most films feel like at this time of the year, and it looks very boring because of it.
Moneyball gets a 6/10 on the Rock-O-Scale for half the film feeling naturally good, and the other half artificially good.
Killer Elite
Directed by Gary McKendry
Written by Gary McKendry and Matt Sherring
Starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro
I guess Jason Statham doesn't like that Twilight motherfucker coming in trying to steal his gig, he's got his own film coming out and, although it may not the the most emotionally stirring, thought provoking or pain achingly dull, Killer Elite is the film I'd pick to watch out of the films out this weekend. There is always something likable and funny in Jason Statham, but I can never quite place it, the closest I've gotten is that no matter what sort of ridiculous situation he gets into, he's always very straight lace, I think the whole reason Crank 1 and 2 work is just the sheer fact of how he just acts it's another day, whether intentional or not. Anyway, this film gets bonus points for De Niro and Clive Owen with a porn star mustache.
Killer Elite gets a 7/10 on the Rock-O-Scale for looking like plain old school fun.
September 30th
50/50
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Written by Will Reiser
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick
This is a film that is gathering a lot of attention due to it's subject matter of Cancer, and because of that is gathering a bit of talk of getting awards. And while I doubt it'll be getting a lot of nominations (after all, everyone was saying the same thing when Funny People was coming out) I do think 50/50 does look like a sweet little comedy with a lot of dramatic elements. I don't think it'll become a big cult indie classic like predicted, but it'll make for a nice movie.
50/50 gets a 7/10 on the Rock-O-Scale because it looks like a decent film, nothing more, nothing less.
Dream House
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Written by David Louka
Starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts
Dream House is a film that is Shutter Island...wait, no, I mean it is The Shining...no, crap, got it wrong again. It's a psychological thriller by the acclaimed director of the 50 Cent film that came out. He didn't get his acclaim for that film obviously, but more than likely, if your are reading this, that's the one you would of heard of. It sounds like I'm being harsh on Dream House, but the fact is, Dream House is a film that deserves harsh feedback, since I've watched the entire film already. The trailer just about gives away everything the story has to offer, including the huge turning point twist. Although the trailer looks to have a few creepy moments going through the whole thing, at the end of the day, if I want a haunted house film, I'll go watch Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark at the end of the month over waiting for this watered down version to come out.
Dream House gets a 5/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as it has some creepy moments going in it, and Daniel Craig's hair-do looks halrious.
What's Your Number?
Directed by Mark Mylod
Written by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden
Starring Anna Faris, Chris Evans and Chris Pratt
Ugh, as soon as I started watching the trailer for this I wanted to run head first into a brick wall, it's so obnoxious, the overly girly boppity music, the lame "OMG ROFL you get what I mean" style voice over, no thanks. But sitting through it, it actually has a few cool actors in it, Sylar from Heroes, Captain America, the dude from Community, Andy Samburg and Martin Freeman all in for a nice payday. But the more I think about the plot "Crazed woman tracks down and stalks all her old exes", this would of made for a far more compelling horror film than a romantic comedy.
What's Your Number gets a 4/10 on the Rock-O-Scale for a pretty cool cast, and a lack of Sarah Horse Face Parker
BONUS
Since I live in the UK, a few films will be hitting here earlier than the US, it'd be unfair to cover them once I'd watched the film since you would be getting my after thoughts over my opinion on how a film looks, so I will simply be copy and pasting what I say here, to the later editions of the blog...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Directed by Thomas Alfredson
Written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy
Do you want to hear something really depressing, Gary Oldman has never been nominated for an Academy Award, not once. Some one considered almost as a veteran of acting, has never once been considered for Best Actor. Well Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy not only looks to correct that, it's looking the sort of film to attempt to sweep all the awards, it won't, of course, as The King's Speech already got the awards for Britain for at least a decade. However, it will become a popular name by the time the awards roll out, and undoubtedly so, as the director of Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In seems to have created a very tense and taunt MI6 Cold War thriller.
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy gets a 9/10 on the Rock-O-Scale as it looks to be one of the most tense back to basic thrillers this year, although I doubt many of my friends will be lining up to watch it
The film is out September 16th in the UK and November 18th in the US
Red State
Directed by Kevin Smith
Written by Kevin Smith
Starring Michael Parks, Melissa Leo and John Goodman
This is the latest film by raunchy comedy filmmaker Kevin Smith, the thing is though, this isn't a raunchy comedy. This is a straight up horror about extreme Fundamentalists who kidnap some kids looking for sex. Now this is very dark territory for any filmmaker, covering Christianity in a negative light, never mind a filmmaker with a long track record of comedy, however, he looks to be delivering a very disturbing and unsettling film, and I'm very interested in seeing how it turns out. My only problem at the moment is that the trailer seems to be setting it as more of a dark action film than straight up horror, I'll have to see how it turns out with the end.
Red State gets a 7/10 on the Rock-O-Scale for looking like a very intense and sickening film with a message
The film is being released September 30th in the UK and October 19th in the US.
That's it for September, next month expect Rock Em' Sock Em' Robots, Crazy Swedes ("They're Nowegian, Mac"), The 3D Muskataree's, more Parnormal tomfoolary, Shakespear meets 2012 and hopefully a quasi-sequel to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, all in October.
