Review: Zombi 2 aka Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Director: Lucio Fulci
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCullough, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver

Plot: A woman searches her father and ends up on an island where an epidemic turns dead people into zombies.

Highly entertaining. Very nice make-up effects that look good even by todays standards. Plot runs smoothly and the cinematography serves calm camera movements and terrific looking angles. Gory and ridiculous (a zombie fighting a shark?!), but makes you want to watch more movies like this.

Why don't they make them like they used to?

Stars: ****

Review: House On Haunted Hill (1959)

Director: William Castle
Starring: Vincent Price, Carolyn Craig, Richard Long, Carol Ohmart

Plot: An eccentric millionair and his wife invite five strangers to spend a night in the house on haunted hill. Survivors will get 10,000 dollars.

Even though this is an old horror movie, it really startled me at one point. The movie is well filmed and the special effects work. Running only 75 minutes, the plot is dense but there is still enough time for character development.

One thing that I find funny in most of the old horror films: when there is a thunderstorm, the flash and the rumble always come at the same time. If this happened in the real life (which is rare) it would mean that the lightnings are hitting near you all the time.

Excellent movie. Classic. Watch it!!

Stars: ****

Review: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Director: Ruggero Deodato
Starring: Robert Kerman, Francesca Giardi, Perry Pirkanen, Gabriel Yorke

Cult classic movie about a documentary film crew that disappears into the South America jungles while searching for cannibal tribes, and the search party sent after them.

The reason why this film has become so "must see" is simple: violence and sex. Since Cannibal Holocaust was made in 1980, with pretty low budget, the 70's adult movie influences are very visible. Sometimes it looks like a snuff film. And since the animal rights movements were nothing like today, the animal killings are real.

Apparently the movie was banned in over 50 countries. But what I really admire about this film is that it is almost like a documentary. The way it's shot and how realistic it is.

Very much a must see if only you have the stomach.

Stars: ***

Stuff On TV etc.

It's been a while since my last blog entry. So once again this is one of those ramblings on everything.

I watched The Hunt For The Red October and I thought it was an alright film with Sean Connery's funny fake Russian-but-still-Scottish accent. Most shocking thing about this movie was how young all the actors were (well, apart from Connery who has pretty much looked the same for at least three decades). Especially Tim Curry and Alec Baldwin (the best of the Baldwins).


See how young he is?!

Alarming news from the TV world. One channel is going to show Baywatch for the whole summer! They already showed a very disturbing ad where Hasselhoff takes off his pants and underneath he has the red trunks. And lots of hair... *brrr*

Yesterday I took my dog for a walk. There's nothing unusual about that, but I asked my little sister to come with me. She was against the idea until I bribed her. It cost me 1€ and the rest of my divine white chocolate (not much, maybe three pieces) to get her to agree. And so we walked for two hours. Then I got my sister to agree that she would go for a similar walk with me once a week. But we'll see if she will keep that promise.

As a comic relief, here's a photo of my dog looking stupid. Maybe it's because I have used too much Cheerios to train her and now she thinks nothing but round things...


She's looking at a Cheerio in this pic...

Review: Crank (2006)

Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Taylor, Jose Pablo Cantillo

Yes, I finally got my DVDs that I ordered from an online store. Of course I watched Crank first since I've seen Lock, Stock... before.

Plot is: Chev Chelios (what a great name) is injected with a Chinese poison that will kill him if his adrenalin level goes down.

The way this movie is shot reminds me of Baz Luhrmann, Guy Ritchie and Sam Raimi's early work. The camera is mostly handheld and in the action sequencens (which there is a lot) it works very well.

Crank's humour is brilliant. The visual jokes that seem a bit cartoonish at times reminded me of Roger Rabbit. Overall there is a surrealistic feel trough the whole movie. I can't wait to see what the writer/director duo come up with next.

This film really was "an adrenaline fueled thrill ride."

Stars: ****

P.S. Yes, Statham is shirtless in this movie too.

Review: Transporter 3 (2008)

Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Francois Berléand

Latest installment in the Transporter series and since I liked a lot the two first ones, I had high expectations on this one. Let's do this with plusses and minuses:

+ Jason Statham, he is great as Frank Martin
+ car chases and fight scenes
+ plot in general
+ Berléand is always sweet

- the girl, I hated her, really HATED her, she couldn't act for peanuts!
- I noticed at least two gaffers
- plot if you start to think about it

Besides the girl Transporter 3 was an ok action movie. I really enjoy watching the fight scenes in Transporter films, they are so well choreographed (hope I spelled that word right) and the bicycle chase brought some variety to the movie.

Stars: ***

(I really like the way Statham uses his clothes for fighting. That way I get to see ass kicking and Statham without his shirt. No commenting on that E! He is a great actor too!)

Review: Revolver (2005)

Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, André Benjamin

Very stylish movie about a con man who gets out of prison and gets involved in a strange game.

I have to confess. I bought this movie because of two reasons: 1. Jason Statham 2. Guy Ritchie 3. Ray Liotta (ok, three reasons) and then there was this guy from The Sopranos (four reasons)

Revolver has great humour and great characters. Liotta's character got the most laughs out of me and not only because he had a wicked tan. At one point of the movie I was completely lost. What the hell was happening?! But then it all started to come clearer. I like movies that can confuse me for a while like that. And the movie was very well directed (and Statham got his shirt off once again..) and the colour scenery was stylish.

Stars: ****

Oh, btw, I wasn't so convinced at first that André from Outkast could act but he was a positive surprise.

Review: The Mexican (2001)

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini

I liked this movie. It's plot was not great but it was a perfect film to watch on a friday night. The cast was really good and the jokes worked fine. I prefered the Roberts/Gandolfini storyline to the Brad Pitt-getting into trouble because of the gun -plot, though it had its moments as well.

Extra points for the dog and for the car rental scenes.

Stars: ***

Review: Hide And Seek (2005)

Director: John Polson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen

This movie was a pleasant surprise to me. I was expecting solid performances from De Niro and Fanning but not much from the plot. However instead of being a "thriller" it really was a thriller. Not many scare-you-shitless effects spoiling the tension built with small but meaningful things and what's more important, no underlining things with a musical score that is so loud that it will blow you a new hairdo.

One thing I got to mention: Just before the movie started I took my dog out. After we got back inside she went straight on my bed. I asked if she wanted to come with me to watch Robert De Niro and she came running. I guess she really likes Bob because usually I have to really tell her to come watch tv with me.

Anyway, stars for Hide and Seek: ***

Review: Gilda (1946)

This movie is a classic. Everyone who hasn't seen it but has seen Shawshank Redemption, knows the scene where Rita Hayworth makes her first appearance as Gilda.

The plot of the film isn't that original. A femme fatale mingles with two guys who are friends and business partners. However the humor saves a lot. It still makes people laugh after more than sixty years.

It's the preformances of the actors that make this movie stand up from the crowd. Hayworth is excellent and the men (Glenn Ford and George Macready) don't come far behind. The chemistry between the actors works and brings extra dimension.

Film noir style voice over narration fits for Gilda. The movie is beautifully shot and the two classic songs Amado Mio and Put The Blame On Mame fit to the film. Sometimes I find it disturbing when musical numbers are embedded to old movies but not this time.

The most memorable scene is of course Rita performing the latter song. The way she acts, drunken but seducing, makes the scene facinating and funny, and the funniness doesn't come alone from the lyrics.

Director: Charles Vidor
Starring: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready

Stars: ****

Review: The Dark Knight

I'm just going to list the positive and negative things because I'm lazy today and I have to go watch TV.

Good things:
+ Heath Ledger, absolutely my favourite Joker from now on. This is how I thought Joker should be.
+ Harvey Dent until the first half of the movie.
+ Gary Oldman, once more a solid performance.
+ Plot, not bad.
+ Bat suit, cool enough.

Bad things:
- Batman's voice (c'mon does anyone take him seriously with that voice that says "I've been drinking whiskey for twenty years"?)
- Bat car/bike, 'nuff said.
- Russians as bad guys. Why always the Russians? (or the Germans) Why not the Brits or the Chinese? You can make a movie with the Chinese as regular bad guys, you don't have to always use kung-fu with them!
- Harvey Dent in the last half of the movie.
- Bagpipes. Do they really use them in the States in every government official's funeral? Please let me know.

To put it all together shortly:
Heath Ledger IS the movie. Batman movies have always been about the bad guys and The Dark Knight is no exception.

Stars: ****

Oh, and a comment about the whole "should Ledger get an Oscar for this movie" -thingy.
The guy is dead. If he was still alive then definitely yes. But I think that it should be handed to someone whom we can hear say thank you.

Now I'm off to watch telly.

Review: The Bourne Movies

The Bourne trilogy is something that I finally watched after thinking about watching it for a long time. My friend had told me that they are good action movies and that I just might like them. She was right.

The first movie starts the trilogy well. Although at some points it gets very annoying to hear the same "I can't remember anything!" sentence all over again. The plot is very good and Matt Damon fits well to the part.

The second movie has the best story. Conspiracies have always interested me. Loved Brian Cox as the corporate bastard.

The ending of the trilogy ties up nicely the whole thing. Mostly very disturbingly directed but in certain scenes the style works.

The Bourne Identity, director Doug Liman ****
The Bourne Supremacy, director Paul Greengrass ****
The Bourne Ultimatum, director Paul Greengrass ***

Review: Hot Fuzz

Directed by: Edgar Wright, Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Shaun Of The Dead-posse is back! This time in police uniforms.

Very enjoyable comedy. One might expect a bit of Shaun at the beginning, but this is clearly not a zom-rom-com. Solid performances from Pegg&Frost, well made action sequences, excellent script and many interesting side characters make this movie a must see.

Some of my favourite bits were (and no spoilers here, I hate spoilers):

1. Transmissions from one genre to another
2. "Yarr!"
3. The mumbling farmer-scene
4. The gun montage (yes, even Rocky had a montage, but this one was really well made)

Stars: *****

And I hope the three mentioned at the beginning will make more movies together. Loved Shaun. Loved Fuzz.

Review: The Fountain

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

There are a few things that come to mind at the beginning of the movie:

1. Hugh Jackman doesn't look good bald
2. So much cgi! But it's not bad when you think if this film had been made like 10yrs ago (would have looked horrible)
3. Rachel Weisz seems crazy. I mean really crazy. Why does Hugh hang out with that crazy chick?!

Conclusion:
The three stories are in balance once you get into the idea of the movie. It looks beautiful and Jackman is very impressive throughout.
The movie as a whole is weird, but I like it that way. Aronofsky has his own ways to bring images to life and it somehow reminds me of one of my favourite "weird directors": David Lynch.

Stars: ****

(this is how I will review movies. maximum of stars is five and minimum is 1/2. so The Fountain did very well.)