What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Xenon]

Predator (1987) - as good as they get. 10/10

[Keung]

I'm in the minority here, but I prefer Predator 2.

[grim_tales]

Hugo: 4.25/5

A boy named Hugo tries to repair a clockwork man that he believes holds a message from his father, and finds it has a link to the past - the first days of filmmaking.

I really enjoyed this In effect, the film is a kind of love letter to the very early days of cinema (and Georges Melies in particular) with many references to early films (in one scene 'Safety Last' plays in a theatre - which as we know, gave Jackie Chan ideas for Project A), and historical facts - but dressed up as a fantasy adventure - resulting in an adult film with a child-like structure and feel. I feel the film was marketed wrongly (the trailer made it look like a children's film which it clearly isn't), and found the child acting a bit stiff at first, mistaking the setting for - dare I say it - Dickensian or Victorian at times because of characters like the panto villain station porter ("To the orphange with you!" etc). Chloe Moretz (playing Hugo's friend Isabelle) - who was so funny in Kick-Ass, might have been more at home using her natural accent in the film instead of plummy English.
I think the film is too long for children, not one they would enjoy. The film is visually stunning however.
Overall though, the film is really about Melies and the magic of cinema in general, his sad story bringing up some very good points about how pioneers shouldnt be ignored in favour of "progress" with some very interesting and often astonishing footage. It's also a film about linking with the past - Hugo trying to find his father and Melies with his past as a film pioneer. A very good film

[saltysam]

The Perfect Weapon 3/5 Solid early 90's actioner gives a first starring role to kenpo expert Jeff Speakman and he does a fine job here in this brisk,84 minute film.Fairly predictable but always entertaining and until now unfairly neglected on home video. The american BD release has a few nicks & scratches but is generally very decent.

[Markgway]

Brooklyn Rules (2007-USA) ***

A small gem of a mob movie that almost no one saw.
It sat on the shelf for about three years after filming.
Alec Baldwin in a small role is excellent.

The Amityville Horror (2005-USA) *

Exploitative trash not worth your time.

[bradavon]

My next published film review . The DVD is out at the end of next month. It's a decent enough looking disc, the commentary's good. I'm gonna see if I can get a blu-ray next time. I can -

The Awakening (2011): 3 out of 5

Director and co-writer Nick Murphy's cinematic debut brings us an old fashioned ghost story.

It is 1921 England, a country trying to come to terms with and still reeling after the loss of life during World War I. Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is a professional ghost hunter who following a visit from Dominic West travels to a boy’s boarding school, to disprove the appearance of a ghostly figure of a child who has died some years earlier.

Florence at first is sceptical about the appearance of ghosts, stating “you can’t hunt what doesn’t exist” but as time goes on starts to see ghostly apparitions of a young boy and begins to doubt her beliefs.

Things starts out well; the BBC productions values are of the usual high standards, the clothes look authentic and the cinematography at times is rather striking. The colour pallet eschews (mostly) all the reds in favour of muted browns and greens, this rather effectively giving the impression of cold and drabness.

Rebecca Hall and Dominic West as the history master and ex-soldier fighting his own personal demons give good performances, as does the ever reliable Imelda Staunton as the school matron.

The trouble is, we have seen it all before and we have seen it done better. Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others and Hideo Nakata’s The Ring (right down to the child's contorted face) both spring to mind because of this; the scares whilst creepy are entirely predictable. More mystery than horror, a couple of particularly clever twists are provided drawing to the film’s finale but instead of going for the braver ending, the tension that has built up is sadly squandered by a rather neat and hackneyed conclusion.

Still, the 100 minute running time nips along nicely and if you like the aforementioned movies you should get something out of The Awakening. Just don’t expect anything new to the genre.

[saltysam]

My next published film review . The DVD is out at the end of next month. It's a decent enough looking disc, the commentary's good. I'm gonna see if I can get a blu-ray next time. I can -

The Awakening (2011): 3 out of 5



Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is a professional ghost hunter who following a visit from Dominic West d browns and greens, this rather effectively giving the impression of cold and drabness.

Rebecca Hall and Dominic West as the history master and ex-soldier fighting

Just curious,why introduce Rebecca Hall to your review by her character's name but introduce Dominic West as himself? (unless he is,i haven't seen it )

[bradavon]

No reason really.

I'm not a fan of repetitive writing though, as in using a similar sentence structure multiple times (sometimes it's hard to avoid). I had one draft where I said "Dominic West (history master) travels to a boy’s boarding school . . ." but thought it read better mentioning his profession later on. I thought it was necessary to mention it but it's her profession that's important.

I also wrote a bit about Rebecca Hall's character, whereas I barely mention Dominic West's character. I hadn't noticed I hadn't mentioned his character's name period though. Ultimately her's is more important.

The "ex-soldier fighting his own personal demons" sentence wasn't originally in the review. There was a paragraph detailing how people were coming to terms with World War I (one of the side plots) but it was wordy and not relevant to the central plot of the film. I already mention World War I at the start of the review, so was repeating myself.

I don't pay "too much" attention to it but they also want reviews to be about 300 words (my Drive one was about 380 and the last paragraph, which I quite liked was exorcised, this one is about 327).

Removing that paragraph, I felt I needed to briefly mention the fact that the history master (Dominic West) was an ex-soldier.

Thanks for asking.

[gasteropod]

[bradavon]

Huh?

[Markgway]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984-USA) ***
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985-USA) **½
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987-USA) ***

[gasteropod]

Wanted (2008) - 3/5

Over the top comic book action, just accept that it doesn't adhere to the laws of physics and you'll enjoy it.

[gasteropod]

La jetée (1962) - 3.5/5

I personally prefer Twelve Monkeys.

[Markgway]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984-USA) ***
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985-USA) **½
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987-USA) ***
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988-USA) **½
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989-USA) **

[gasteropod]

Sans soleil (1983) - 4/5

Dreamlike, alien, poetic meditation on memory, rituals, life - it's a long film that can feel like quite a trek to get through, but is ultimately satisfying.

[Yi-Long]

Tropa de Elite 3.5/5

Watched this movie last night when it was broadcast on Belgian TV.

I quite liked it, although it felt a bit short, perhaps too straightforward and lacking a bit of depth, and the ending came a bit too abrupt. Nothing really outstanding though.

[Markgway]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984-USA) ***
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985-USA) **½
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987-USA) ***
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988-USA) **½
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989-USA) **
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991-USA) *½
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994-USA) ***
Freddy's Nightmares: It's a Miserable Life (1988-USA-TV) *

[bradavon]

It's interesting you rate Part 3 and Part 7 as highly as Part 1.

I remember the TV series being poor.

[luckystars]

Don't expect any logic from Marks scoring!!

[Markgway]

Don't expect any logic from Marks scoring!!

From someone who gives crap films 3/5?

[luckystars]

Don't expect any logic from Marks scoring!!

From someone who gives crap films 3/5?

Such as?

So I can assess what your definition of crap is. Obviously I can't tell from your rating system.

[bradavon]

Obviously I can't tell from your rating system.

It's designed so only Mark gets it .

[HungFist]

brad rarely gets anyone's rating system

Vuosaari (Naked Harbor) (Finland, 2012) – 3.5/5
Near excellent urban drama set in the wintry Helsinki. Very nicely shot (the film looks stunningly good) and featuring an unusually well executed parallel story structure with more than a half dozen main characters that never meet each other. Somewhat reminiscent of the director’s earlier, superb film Paha maa (Frozen Land), although more optimistic and not quite as good. Some odd missteps, such as the ending, and a few emotionally manipulative moments, are slightly distracting.

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rssewuLs3dQ

[Markgway]

Such as?

So I can assess what your definition of crap is. Obviously I can't tell from your rating system.

I meant you've said they're 'crap' and given them 3/5.

Besides I don't see why we keep going back over my ratings system every few weeks. It's not like I'm gonna change it to please anyone.

[bradavon]

brad rarely gets anyone's rating system

You mean by that, no one gets yours because your 5 out of 5 works differently from everyone else's . Where 2 out of 5 for instance could actually mean good but to everyone else it doesn't.

Vuosaari (Naked Harbor) (Finland, 2012) – 3.5/5
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rssewuLs3dQ

Is there a trailer without Robbie Williams? It's really distracting. It looks quite good though.

Besides I don't see why we keep going back over my ratings system every few weeks. It's not like I'm gonna change it to please anyone.

Why? Because it's bollocks . The rest of the world is happy with using 5 out of 5 (or 10 out of 10) but somehow that's beneath you. Doesn't it say something when not everyone immediately gets it? A rating is supposed to be immediately obvious, otherwise it's failed.

The same reason whenever Terminator's brought up, someone comments about Mono; . Trust us, no one expects you to change it.