Wednesday, November 17, 2010

(film review) - Skyline


This could quite possibly be one of my shortest reviews ever. It's shit. The End. Only joking. Well on the fact that this is the end of the review anyway, but in regards to the film, hmmmm. The storyline seemed interesting. The special effects from a low budget film were standard and well, ummm....well, what you see in the trailer is more or less the film.
Imagine, Cloverfield. A film shot in 'Found Footage' style and because of the "EVENT" and what is going on, no one is none-the-wiser as to what is going on at all, so the film finishes and you leave the cinema thinking "WTF...what was all that about!?! What were their purpose? etc, etc" Well, we didn't need found footage for this film. Not to say that style was used, but I actually got NOTHING from the film to really detail and explain about it. It literally was like watching Cloverfield and thinking the same thing when it ended. But Cloverfiled IMO is 10 times much better.

I'll give you the plot if you haven't already read it somewhere.

Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his girlfriend, Elaine (Scottie Thompson) fly to L.A to celebrate Terry's (Donald Faison) birthday. The morning after the party turns out to be more than just a hangover for one guy when blue sphere type lights come down from the skies striking different locations of the city and once he looks into it, he falls into a trance and gets abducted.
While all this is happening, Jarrod also succombs to the light but is torn away from it by Terry. Jarrod and friends then try to escape the building via means of a car that manages to get crushed by a huge alien foot and the driver doesn't get off lightly. After some running, more confrontation, more running, some brains and waiting, then it is day 2. Day 2 consists of more action and some U.S cavalry and a nuke. That all goes to shit and then the film does too, straight after, IMO it just coming FROM shit. Day 1 was boring for me.

There were some funny bits and that was about it. The story wasn't explained, the characters weren't in the film long enough for you to feel any kind of feelings towards them and it ends in such a way, it makes you question yourself. It's like, a good film with an interesting story which was poorly executed. Maybe things were edited out, maybe the Brothers Strause's have other ideas. I don't know. What I do know is...don't rush to see this, wait for DVD/Blu Ray or stream it. You ain't missing anything. Get ready for Battle: LA instead. Hopefully that will be much better.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

(film review) - Paranormal Activity 2


There was only ONE film that made me feel uncomfortable. That kind of uncomfortable where it's borderline violation. Where for a moment during the preview of the film, you take into account the emptied seats, the aiery feeling and you can actually hear your heart beating. The silence is so quiet that if you focused, you could probably hear someone breathing. Just hope that the person you hear is either YOU or a living breathing and speaking person your sat next to because that chill down your spine will make you think otherwise. That was 6th Sense for me. A brilliant film but a few things in that film just made me feel very uncomfortable. This film is similar.

Maybe it's the fact that you see what's happening but can't see what is doing it because Michael Myers, Jason Vorheez, Daniel Robitaille and Freddy Kruger were very visable. I don't know.

Without spoiling the film too much, all I can say that this film is very much like the first one but although I found the first one funny and not that scary, I believe this one raises the bar. I weren't scared but I was slightly uncomfortable. Maybe it's because I've seen a film of this nature before (also shot in 'Found Footage' style and also with the use of security cameras) I knew what to expect and look out for. In saying that the film still had me transfixed onto the screen and not wanting to move to miss a beat. There were some uncool things in this film which also explores people ignorance which in the end, got the better of the characters, just like the first film.

Just so you know, the film is about a woman, her husband, her little sister and her baby who have just moved into this big house and after a burglary install security camera to keep them secure/safe. However, although warned by the family nanny that the house might be haunted, after they get rid of the nanny, funny and odd things start to happen when noises are heard and the dog keeps barking.
And just so you know, you don't actually need to see Paranormal Activity 1 before you see 2, but after seeing 2, you might want to see 1. If you can stomach it, that is.

Good film. Go see it. In the cinema now.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

(film review) - Takers


Sorry, but first things first. I like hayden Christensen as an actor. Maybe it's because I'm a Star Wars fan (not THAT much into it like going to conventions, just the story), but his acting in that was excellent. He wasn't seen as young Anakin in this film so I weren't expecting him to draw a Lightsabre or anything. If you seek my older reviews, I did one on Jumper and that was an watchable film that lacked storyline. With that said, it is kind of like this film. And his character kept wear this dodgy hat, ALL THE TIME!

Anyway, this film is about a bunch of, well.....Takers and if you didn't already guess, they TAKE things that don't belong to them. Now we aren't talking about Sweets, CD's, DVD's or Cassettes, we are talking CASH MONEY and a lot of it. In the Millions and Billions. They work as a unit. Smart, effective, quick, precise and they always leave NO evidence or paper-trail. In and Out!

In a heist a few years back, Gordon Cozier (Idris Elba) leads his crew which ends up with Ghost (T.I.) a former member going to jail for 5 years when things go wrong. After getting out early on good behaviour, coincidently the same day the crew do a major heist which leaves Jack Welles (Matt Dillon) and Eddie Hatcher (Jay Hernandez), investigating, Ghost pays John (Paul Walker) a visit, drinks scotch and talks about a new heist that he wants done in no more in what would seem like a few hours of his release. John says he will speak to the crew about it and let him know in the morning.
Being the persistant guy that he is, Ghost gate crashes a party and starts giving it the, 'I'm the man you need in your life' to his former girlfriend who is now with one of his crew members, Jake (Michael Ealy). Although he says that he harbours no ill feelings for the crew leaving him to get caught and him serving time and now Jake has his former girlfriend, there is nothing but tension in the air.
Ghost lays out his plans and as long as everything seems do-able, the team agree to do the heist make off with the money and give Ghost what he was owed from the heist that sent him to jail plus the accumulated interest. However, the heist goes very wrong and although they make off with the money, Jack spots Jesse (Chris Brown) in the subway which ends up being one of the best chase scenes I've ever seen on camera. They all meet up later on in a hotel after a "successful" heist but then someone has other plans.

The film was an enjoyable watch. If your a man looking for action, it has it. If your looking for a lovely female too, Lily (Zoe Saldana) is too hot. She didn't even do or say much in the film but she is sexy enough to just rock a frock and make you forgive the fact that her lines were short. Plus females (as i went with a female), all the men are hot, apparently and with a storyline that isn't too terrible, you won't complain watching this film.
The only bit you would complain about would be the scene that has Jesse and Jake in it. I can't think of a word to describe that scene that would be radio friendly.
The funniest bit had to be Ghost's commentary during the heist where he depicts everything what is happening through his headset to the rest of the crew. And like I said before, Jesse's chase scene had me on the edge of my seat. For Chris Brown's first film I've seen him in, he weren't a bad actor at all.

Watch this film, I'm sure you will enjoy as it has something for everyone. For me, it was Zoe Saldana.