Vampires Suck

Well lets be honest, no one is expecting this to be a great film. and it isn't.

as i watched in a surprisingly busy cinema, there was not one audible laugh throughout the entire film.

the gags are incredibly weak and the makers seem to have not bothered with any set ups for any jokes.

Jenn Proske, who plays the lead does well enough, especially considering this is her first acting role since leaving university (according to imdb), unfortunately the script gives her nothing, and is reduced to imitating Kristen Stewarts teen angst tic, well observed and mildy amusing the first time, but after the thousandth time and attempting to hang a whole comedic performance on one small gag is pathetic.

i have no idea why this spoof film as with all other spoof films in the last ten or so years are just so bad. Looking back at the eighties with the likes of Airplane!, Naked Gun and Hot Shot films were brilliant and near classics of cinema - why now then, have spoof films become so amazingly poor. No one even expects them to be funny, audience or the makers it seem. I love the genre of spoof and hope one day they will return to be genuinely funny and observed films.

0 stars

Mr Nice

Rhys Ifans must have been pretty much born to play the role in this bio-pic of Howard Marks, who was apparently chief marajuna trafficker in the eighties.

unfortunately the aspect of casting a perfect leading man in your role does not a good film make. it is acted brilliantly, with Ifans perfect and a fantastic supporting cast in particular David Thewlis puts in a memorable show as a crazed IRA dissedent. and i feel i should mention Omid Djalili, who does a small role put played very well and not for laughs.

however, i do feel that not enough happens in the film and it does move forward as well as it should, just when the plot gets going for a bit it seems to stall again and returns to not much happening. and as for Chloe Sevigny, i have no idea what she is doing in this film whatseoever - and neither does she it seems.

so all in all a well acted film, but ultimately forgettable.

2 stars

The Social Network

There is something comforting watching a film about something you know about. And i, like 500 million other people across the globe, know about Facebook. maybe this is why i enjoyed the film, or maybe it is because it is a wonderfully crafted character piece - or most probably due to a combination of both.

Jesse is a joy to watch as Mark Zuckerberg, a complex anti-hero, just trying to do his best. A brilliant performance and as an audience you find yourself wanting to root for him and support him, but he is an anti-social and awkward character that he doesn't make it easy. It is a tribute to Eisenberg that he doesn't say much indeed no more than he needs to but he is able to draw you in and feel good or bad, for his character.

credit to to Andrew Garfield, i hadn't seen or really heard of him in anything apart from being announced as the next Spiderman, but he puts in a good strong solid supporting performance.

This film though, belongs to Fincher, He has grabbed hold of this story and made it fit perfectly for the screen. flitting from flashback to flashforward without ever losing the audience. With delicate flashes of inspiration, it keeps you interested and entertained whilst also carving out a brilliantly told story. An unbiased and dramatised look at the beggining of facebook could have turned into a confusing mess, but it has been fashioned into a manageable and enjoyable film, by a director back on the top of his game.

a great film of a great story.

4.5 stars

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stones first ever sequel and a timely film ready to reflect the world economic crises. i was expecting a powerhouse of a film, unfortunately this wasn't it.

now im not sure if it was due to my ignorance about the banking world and the world of investment banking, but i was pretty much lost for most of the the main plot. Considering the secondary plot was a fairly feeble one of Gordon Gekkos daughter and her relationship with her father this didn't make for great viewing for me.

And as for Shia LeBeouf. i have never liked him. He was ok and just about suited for his role in Transformers. as for the indy 4 debacle, don't get me started. I'm sure if he must be given roles by Hollywood directors that there are roles out there for him, but he was totally mis-cast in this instance and not once did i ever believe him.

2 Stars

Oliver Stone turns in a few visual and editing flairs as he does with his films, but on the whole the film was lost on me.

Buried

there was a lot of excitement about this film coming out. a one man film, and that one man was Ryan Reynolds. Now i for one, for whatever reason, wasn't too excited about this. not excited at all - i thought it'd be pretty boring.

how wrong i was - this is a terrific, energetic and gripping thriller. a claustrophobic and haunting piece. i do not consider myself claustrophobic, but for the first part of th film i felt trapped and uncomfortable, actively restless in the cinema and the thought crossed my mind about leaving. a tough watch, however the performance given by Reynolds starts to blister across the screen and you are gripped by his experience and and desperation.

a fantastic film and a jaw dropping performance from Reynolds, a very pleasant surprise.

4 stars

The Girl Who Played With Fire

This is brilliant stuff, most noticeably from the actress Nkomo Rapace, a quite simply brilliant and definitive Lisbeth Salandar. Dark, brooding and vulnerable and played with majestic ease.

The rest of the film is shot beautifully. It does resemble slightly a tv crime drama, but it is wonderfully acted and shot, subtle and slow cranking up drama and tension, and one can only hope that Hollywood tries to keep a bit of that when it comes blazing in with the remake. There a few moments where you question why certain things happen in the plot, having not read the novels I wouldn't know if that is a fault with the novelist or with the script writers trying to cut it down for a reasonable length for a film.

One other gripe with the film is that the last act is basically a set up for the third and final film and not a finale for itself. I understand the reasons for this and it is a dilemma - but the film makers failed to end this film properly in my opinion. However they have set up for the third and final film brilliantly.

4 stars

The Other Guys

A very funny if a little random film. The sort of film you would expect to see Will Ferrel in, not so much the sort of film you would expect to find Mark Wharlberg in. But he does a great job.

They play two hapless cops who want go make the big time, but they make many mistakes and find themselves the laughing stock of the police force.

There are some great moments, almost to the point of being surreal, characters opening up tangents for no particular reason then cutting straight back to the plot as if nothing has happened. In a similar way to how family guy uses it's comedy, but not to the same extent.

Some great set pieces and laugh out load moments but ultimately a fairly forgettable film offering up nothing to really savour to the comedy buddy cop genre, although all credit to the director Jay Roach being daring and trying out a few new things, but maybe not hitting the bullseye quite right.

3 stars