Wednesday 30 September 2015

Everest (2015)


Directed by Icelander Baltasar Kormákur, Everest is the account of the 1996 disaster on the world’s highest mountain.  Based on Jon Krakauer’s book “Into Thin Air” the film is a faithful interpretation, thankfully never straying into either Cliffhanger or Vertical Limit territory.

Sunday 20 September 2015

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)


So, I haven’t seen movies 2 and 3 of the franchise, but I figured I probably wasn’t missing huge plot points given the nature of the films. I could always say that I just want to see all the Paul W. S. Anderson iterations.

Afterlife starts off with lots of Paul Anderson’s visual flair, which I happen to quite like (Three Musketeers notwithstanding). It’s all quite silly, but looks quite cool. The problem is this only lasts for about five minutes, the film soon degenerates into a derivative action zombie thriller with some fancy tech.

Thursday 3 September 2015

The Raid (2011)


It would almost seem an obvious thing to say the The Raid heavily influenced Dredd (which I saw at the cinema upon release in 2012; only just seen The Raid), but it seems that principal photography started on Dredd before The Raid was released, so similarities are pure chance, presumably.  You just can’t help the comparison though, even the Dredd music is reminiscent of The Raid.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

La Voyage dans la Lune (1902)


I think it’s hard to review La voyage dans la lune in the same way I do other films because of its age and uniqueness.  Certainly the film is an incredible achievement for 1902, with some impressive sets and some simple yet ingenious effects created by Georges Méliès.  Most striking is the image of the moon and the elegant way the camera slowly zooms in to reveal the face, just before the space rocket crashes in to one eye providing an iconic image of early cinema.