Tuesday 11 November 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy(2014)


Awesome, best movie of 2014 so far. Interstellar is going to have to be very good to top it. I put Guardians of the Galaxy in the same league as Star War, Star Trek and The Fifth Element. However it would not win a playoff round. Chris Pratt was great but he was not fantastic, same for Zoe Zalandra. But this is a franchise with legs so hopefully they will hit nothing but home runs next time. The rest of the ensemble cast had Vin Diesel and Bradly Cooper lending their voices two two of the best most human CGI characters ever. The wrestler Dave Bautista was also very good in his role as Drax.  I am sure in a theatre some of the funny lines would have worked better. Rotten Tomatoes loved it with a 95%. It did $330 million domestic and close to $800 million total. Its sure to be the top Blu Ray of the year. They have created a universe where anything is possible and a crew that overall can go toe to toe with some of the finest ever assembled.

A sample of a much better review.
Marvel does it again with Guardians of the Galaxy being one of their best and most accessible films to date. Director, James Gunn, gives us one of the most unique, entertaining, and hilarious adventures ever put to film. It is like a combination of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mass Effect, and Firefly, packed full of 80s references, action, and absurdly lovable characters. Even if you have never seen a Marvel film, there is so little connection to the main universe that it does not matter, yet there are still plenty of Easter Eggs for the fans like myself.

Five Stars

Saturday 8 November 2014

The Zero Theorem (2014)


Its a Terry Gilliam movie. (12 Monkees) If you don't know he was an integral member of Monty Python shame on you. He has made some great movies and some interesting ones. This was one of the interesting ones but more normal than some of his wildest flights of fantasy. The movie is set in the near future. The protagonist played by Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained and Inglorious Bastards). Quohen Leth is an ageing super nerd who punches the clock for the MAN. Of course he is unhappy. Gilliian creates one of his patented high stimulate and spot on commentarys of the world. He has a modern love interest played by French Actress Mélanie Thierry. An enchanting sexpot who can act. Matt Damon has a cameo as The Man.  This movie is deep and dark and I have to admit early on I came close to walking out.I concluded this was more a work of art and philosophy about longing, belonging and mortality than a movie. If your a student of the human condition this belongs on your curriculum. Its more disturbing than entertaining although it ends well.  Rotten Tomates barely passed it. I am going to have to use Cloud Atlas as a benchmark and give it a decent score. Do not be confused this is a far better movie than Cloud Atlas. It also looks like The MAN made sure no one in America saw it.

Three point seven stars.
Warrning!!This is a movie where you should not watch the trailer! The Man is trying to fuck with you again.



Thursday 6 November 2014

Young Ones


I am a sucker for authentic visualisations of a dystopian future. As a movie the Young Ones was a interesting time waster. The future is presented to the viewer in small bites and it is not until the final reel you really get a look at the world. Character development is sparse, the director assumes you know these people. Its Jake Patltrow's third motion picture. He has also directed a year of Boardwalk Empire, another name to look for in the future. Micheal Shannon best known for Boardwalk Empire  shares the staring role with Nickolas Holt and Kodi Smit-McPhee (is an Australian actor known for his roles as The Boy in The Road, Owen in Let Me In, and Alexander in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.) Kodi in particular puts in a superb performance. He is going to be a major star.The other star of the movie is a mechanical burro. What sunk in days later is just how realistic this movie could be. Rotten Tomatoes hated it. I liked it.

Three point two stars