Late Night Double Features Episode 24 - 90s

2016-02-24T15:47:00.002+00:00

We are massive 90s kids! So we're going to do the time warp back to our youth to view some 90s films.

This week's films: Cape Fear, Dazed and Confused

Next week's films: 500 Days of Summer, Collateral

E-Mail us anything you like, we promise to reply:

7 Days a Critic - Week 2

2015-11-11T00:10:00.000+00:00

Not nearly as many films this week because I've been much busier. I have literally nothing else to say. Here are some film reviews.

Barton Fink

Yet another Coen Brothers film. As I slowly nibble through their filmography, I find myself at their characteristically odd Barton Fink, a film that explores the misadventures of the eponymous playwright in Hollywood. I quite enjoyed it. The first half was intriguing but nothing happened that particularly floored me. Then something happened that I genuinely thought was some sort of disturbing nightmare sequence. From there, the film just snowballs into absolute insanity. It is laden with humour and the absurdity of the story could be seen as a parallel to Fink’s psychological deterioration. That’s symbolism that I can get behind.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I absolutely loved this film, which is surprisingly directed by Ben Stiller. Part of me feels a little guilty for liking this as it has been criticised for being pretentious. I can more than understand the sentiment of Mitty’s life not being so bad given his ridiculously interesting job and loving family but it has just enough character and heart to stun in time for the knockout blow that is everything else in this film. The visuals are absolutely stunning especially during the latter half of the film. This coupled with an astounding soundtrack creates a film that left me speechless.

New Nightmare

Having heard Wes Craven vicariously berate the Elm Street sequels on multiple occasions I thought I’d just skip them and go straight to perhaps the series’ weirdest entry. In this instalment, Freddy is antagonising the makers of the original Nightmare on Elm Street; this concept alone is immediately engaging. I would say that this film is not nearly as entertaining as the original but it is still a film that will undoubtedly take your interest for 2 hours and not give it back. So basically, this is a film slightly worse than the original Elm Street with a concept that more than makes up for it.

Way of the Dragon

This is the last Bruce Lee film that I hadn’t watched largely because I heard that it’s the worse. It’s not even close to as entertaining as the others (besides Game of Death) and it isn’t as kooky as Game of Death and so can’t be treated as a deformed curiosity. Very, very little of the comedy works and so many parts of the film are absolutely unbelievable at a very basic level such as native Italians speaking English and looking like Turks. Even besides that, the fighting is dull for a Bruce Lee film. Unfortunately disappointing.

7 Days a Critic - Week 1

2015-11-02T22:40:00.000+00:00

I watch a lot of films. I review comparatively few films. This is something that's annoyed me for quite some time and so to amend this, my idea is to do loads of short reviews about every film I see. It works as a sort of weekly recap of what I saw. It's so simple I don't even know whyI'm explaining it. Basically it's a bunch of reviews no longer than 100 words each (except for new releases, they get 200 max). Also, I will put any film that I saw prior to this week in red.

The Graduate

I really enjoyed The Graduate. It’s a brilliantly compelling story of a graduate (who knew!) who gets enticed by his parent’s equally aged friend into the sexiest activity known to mankind; sex. Dustin Hoffman’s absolutely naïve (I mean this in a good way) portrayal propels the plot for the entirety of its runtime. The soundtrack, which ended up being somewhat overused is hugely memorable and versatile being used at myriad different moments throughout the film. It’s no wonder Simon and Garfunkel are so perpetually linked to this film. It was a tight, unique story that I rather enjoyed.

Adaptation

Adaptation is one of the weirdest films I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen Space Jam! Not only is it weird but also it is entirely aware of it, which is simply fantastic. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has written himself into this film which is one thing to make your head spin. Another is a bunch of switching timelines. This coupled with real-world connections like the filming of Being John Malkovich (also written by Kaufman) and unexpected yet sensical twists make this film a confusing but rewarding concoction. Not only that but Nicolas Cage is in it and he is legitimately good.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Often regarded as one of the best films of all time, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a surprisingly simple one. It examines a peculiarly normal mental hospital (this is compared to films like Shutter Island) and questions who are the actual unstable ones; the doctors or the patients? With a brilliant central performance from Jack Nicholson and a suitably calm score, this film is like sitting by a fire before being subjected to electro shock therapy then smothered by a massive, lovable native American called chief. Excellent, but not quite as good as everyone says. Whoa! Curveball.

Miller's Crossing

I don’t particularly like gangster movies. I just find it so difficult to get into them and the protagonists are almost always detestable. Miller’s Crossing isn’t quite like that. It is like every gangster movie mashed together into an indistinguishable pulp. That sounds terrible and at some points it does become a bit tedious but what really turns it right around is that it is directed by the Coens. Their ever present, unique brand of comedy keeps this film from sagging into what may have simply been seen as another gangster movie. Also all the performances are fantastic.

Saw

I’ve recently been trying to catch myself up with the entirety of the horror genre and the Saw franchise is something that clearly left its mark. To be honest, I can see why judging by the series’ first entry. It’s a smart story that unravels before you as it the characters learn more about one another and their captor. It’s budget meant that it was forced into quite minimal yet effective sets. Another thing that struck me was the lack of gore. The reputation that this series has would suggest some pretty gruesome moments. This is luckily not the case.

The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter’s The Thing is easily in my top five horror films of all time. I am a real sucker for a smart and straightforward story and there is no story smarter or straighter forward than this. A shape-shifting alien is stealthily killing fools. It’s as good as it sounds. On top of this are the now hugely famous creature effects. You’d have to go pretty far to find a film with better creature effects than this. The grotesque are brilliantly alien yet startlingly anatomical making them seem realistic immersing you right into the story.

Game of Death

Game of Death is a Bruce Lee film made after Bruce Lee’s death. How does that work you ask… it doesn’t. It’s almost as if they forgot how utterly irreplaceable Bruce Lee was and so just had a guy pretend to be Bruce Lee for an hour. Some archive footage of Lee is used but is shockingly out of place it’s borderline insulting. The last 20 minutes go someway to redeem the film but in no way make up for the mess that came before it. Basically the ending is a few scenes of Lee fighting. It is still great.

22 Jump Street

I enjoyed the first Jump Street film but felt that people really overrated it. Its sequel on the other hand is absolutely fantastic. What’s amazing is that the opening scene is actually terrible while the rest of the film is consistently hilarious. Filled with self-referential jokes about sequels and by far the best end-credits sequence of all time. There are a couple of jokes that fell really flat like Channing Tatum accidentally doing a fisting motion with his hand… twice! But besides those moments 22 Jump Street was a refreshingly smart comedy.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is one of the more interesting takes on dystopian sci-fi. Instead of the technology being put into everything like literally every other dystopia, the people of this world decided to make everything look like a Picasso painting and just forgot about law and order. This leads to a surprising entertaining film about the views of young people, gangs and experimental medical methods like the Ludovico technique seen in the film. What I’m most impressed by is that Malcolm McDowell agreed to have those prongs put in his eyes. A truly disturbing image.

Howl

One of the shorter feature length films to exist is Howl, a film about poet Allen Ginsberg and his raunchy four part poem that attempted to capture life and its subsequent legal battle. There are three concurrent parts of this film: Readings of the poem which are beautifully animated using a combination of 2D and 3D techniques, interviews with James Franco as Ginsberg explaining his story and the court case in defence of Howl (the poem)’s literary value. Each of these sections are as entertaining as each other and having Jon Hamm in the courtroom scene does not hurt.

True Grit

Wow. Another Coen Brothers film? You must be mad! No, I’m not mad, I just like me some good films and I am yet to watch a Coen Brothers film that I don’t love. Making Jeff Bridges the protagonist of your film is a quick step in the right direction but to give him an eyepatch, that is a stroke of genius. Needless to say, Most of the characters were great except the little girl. Not sure if it was the writing or the acting but there were something persistently aggravating about her. That being said, I still enjoyed it.

Taxi Driver

I’m not a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. However, this being an uncharacteristically pacey film makes the man far more tolerable than usual. If you want a film that shows why Robert De Niro is a legend then look no further than this enrapturing, nuanced and oddly likable portrayal of the memorable anti-hero Travis Bickle. It is a film that better than any other, conveys my favourite feeling which is when you just want to smash someone’s head in. This combined with the consistent, subtle jabs at American society make this a film that I absolutely loved.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

This film is surprisingly ambitious and it has Jeff Goldblum and when those two things come together; sweet, sweet film is created. Much like The Thing, this is a horror film about deception and the unknown with impressive practical effects. Unfortunately, The Thing is much better than this in almost every respect. Better acting, better script, better effects. That is not to say this films is without merit. What is impressive is its use of large crowds of people clearly indicative of a capable director. The film really does feel like an invasion. Plus, the final scare is blood curdling.

Spectre

Oh my god! A new release! Would you believe it? Now, I’m not too great a fan of James Bond so if you loved this film don’s get your knickers in twist just understand that your opinion is wrong and we can all move on. The opening shot of this film is so impressive you would think that the rest of it would hold up. Nope, right after this amazing long take, we lurch painfully into extensive, shaky cam action scenes that I’m supposed to care about just because James Bond’s doing it. Not to mention Christoph Waltz’s criminally mediocre performance as the fan service driven Blofeld. This not including the even more forced inclusion of the CNS, a made-up security agency looking to replace James Bond as the people doing the spying. It is incredible that they attempted to add a salient political message to a film in which a wingless plane slides down and snowy mountain and obliterates an unassuming farmer’s barn. I guess if you just wanted something pretty to look at for a couple of hours then this will satisfy you but you can count me out.

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Perhaps the first film to bring zombies to the mainstream was George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. In it, a group of survivors make their way to shopping mall just after the dead start to rise as flesh hungry zombies. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this film is its ridiculous impact on media. Great films like Shaun of the Dead play clear homage to this classic and if that doesn’t speak to its quality, I don’t know what does. It is a film with a hugely likeable band of heroes just trying to thrive in an inhospitable world.

Cabin in the Woods

Cabin in the Woods is another of my favourite horror films. I actually reviewed it quite a long time ago. While I’m cautious to link to such an old review of mine, I’ve still got two more films to review and I am quickly running out of time so here’s a link to that original review:

http://kiltsmcfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tcitw2012.html

The Mist

I had very low expectations going into The Mist largely because I knew so little about it. Fortunately, I soon found that it was fantastic. Leave it to Frank Darabont, the director of the Shawshank Redemption to direct a good film. While the CGI is terrible (even for the time dare I say), the build up mass hysteria throughout the film is remarkable and incredibly tense. It also leads to some excellently powerful scenes of Lord of the Flies style slayings. Also, despite the cast being largely unknown actors, the performances were consistently good. Toby Jones was, as usual, great.

Carrie (1976)

Another tightly written horror film as well as another Stephen King adaptation. It’s sort of incredible how quickly the plot of Carrie moves. It felt like only twenty minutes between the opening scene and a horrifying mass murder. A mass murder whose direction is surprisingly unconventional. It’s not often you see a thick black bar down the centre of a screen in a film that is trying to retain its realism. That being said, some of the characters can get a little goofy, John Travolta notably. But all faults can be ignored when you have a scene of countless teenager perishing.

That's it. Those are all the films I watched last week. This took a surprisingly long time.

KiltsMcFilms

Late Night Double Features Episode 24 - 90s

7 Days a Critic - Week 2

7 Days a Critic - Week 1