Bullets 'n' Babes

The Church (1989) - 3.5/5

Great music and prosthetic effects, the film reminded me of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. The English dub made me laugh out loud a couple of times, need to seek out an Italian version.

Repo Man (1984) - 4/5

So quotable

Frantic: 4.25/5

I really enjoyed this. A fine action/mystery film (it reminded me of Unknown in some ways) but this was even better I thought. It wasnt always easy to understand what is being said because the French dialogue isnt subtitled on the old DVD (I heard the US BD mistakenly uses the French soundtrack..?)
Emmanuelle Seigner looked very coquettish in leather, popping bubblegum
Hope there's a UK BD one day

V For Vendetta ★★★¾ out of ★★★★★ (7.5/10)

Cracking film with a unique feel that holds up over multiple viewings, and never fails to make an impact on me. The UK Blu-Ray is ok picture wise, a little underwhelming on the audio too, but certainly a step up from DVD.

Stage Fright (1987) - 3/5

A slasher elevated by its style and music, and has some decent gore scenes. Similar to 'Opera', but here the rock music works.

Law Abiding Citizen (2009) - 3/5

Far-fetched but nice to see bad guys getting tortured for once, and there's some kind of vicarious pleasure in seeing someone getting their own back on the shitty justice system.

The Shrine (2010) - 1.5/5

Seen it all before, and this isn't done well - wooden acting and very basic dialogue.

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (2009) - 3.5/5

The experimental footage was great, it is a shame Clouzot never finished his film.

Coming to America (1988-USA) ***

Very charming romcom that stretched Eddie Murphy's persona.

Warrior (2011-USA) **

Cliche-ridden MMA drama with poor photography and dull fights.

Demons of the Mind (1971-UK) *

Almost unwatchable Hammer piffle; hysterical acting throughout.

Bull Durham (1988-USA) **

Adult baseball comedy; didn't do anything for me.

The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002) - 3/5

Bonkers no-budget Ken Russell film, rather amusing and the nurse was great

Punishment Park (1971) - 4.5/5

Intense and incredibly realistic pseudo-documentary that is just as relevant today.

Pete Walker Double:

House of Whipcord (1974-UK) **

A French teenage model is incarcerated in a private prison for moral crimes by a gang of ageing psychopaths. Interesting horror premise never overcomes major flaw: How can a dozen or so fit young women be terrorized and held captive by a trio of unarmed old ladies?

Frightmare (1974-UK) **½

Britain's first cannibal movie? Deranged old lady kills and eats lonely tarot customers. Is her delinquent daughter falling the family tradition? Surprisingly watchable horror with some gory scenes. I felt the ending was a bit of a letdown but some might feel differently.

Should also mention that Scottish character actress Sheila Keith is great in both.

Safe House - 4/5

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011-UK-France-Germany) **½

Deliberately oblique spy thriller will try the patience of many viewers by overcomplicating a not particulary complicated plot. I found it interesting enough to watch, but the energy ebbs and flows and the final unmasking has almost no power to it as if the filmmakers didn't really care that much. The cast is good, especially a restrained Gary Oldman, but the script takes the long route to an obvious location.

The Muppets: 4/5

I have to say that I really enjoyed it, a warm and nostalgic tribute to the characters and TV show. Steve Whitmere does a superb job as Kermit and I'm used to the difference - he has been Kermit and Ernie since 1991 (though no one can truly replace Jim Henson, he is there in spirit) but Fozzie and Miss Piggy sounded all wrong and its a shame Frank Oz wasnt on board. The music is great - as good and clever as the Oscar winning song Man or Muppet is, I was nearly crying during the moving Pictures in My Head which was even better (that should have won)
The old favourite Rainbow Connection was touching too.
I thought the film was a bit long in places but good fun, and was disappointed some of the Muppets Tonight muppets such as Clifford didnt have cameos.

F (2010-UK) **

A gang of faceless hoodies lay siege to a private school after hours. Film starts out well with some pertinent commentary on violence in schools and institutional and societal apathy but soon lapses into conventional stalk 'n' slash territory (although most of the actual violence is kept offscreen, the injury reveals are still shocking). Film maintains a constant level of suspense and threat, but we don't care enough about the thin characaters (most of whom are obnoxious or stupid). The ostensible 'hero' of the piece winds up doing very little. Perhaps most infuriating is the lack of an ending - you'll think to yourself 'is that it'?

JFK (1991-USA-France) ****

A stunning piece of cinema.

Thor 3/5 Entertaining superhero romp,Chris Helmsworth in the title role displays an easy charm and Natalie Portman is always worth watching

Safe House (USA, 2012) – 2.5/5
Passable time killer with some nasty editing and shaky cam, but decently entertaining storyline. While Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington hardly make unforgettable characters, the film at least takes some time to establish characters and create tension between them – something that has become a rare threat in action movies these days.

Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Finland, 1989) – 3.5/5
Classic Kaurismäki comedy with “the world’s worst rock band” heading to America because “they buy all kind of crap there”. An amusing film filled with dry, minimal humor and lacking Kaurismäki’s typical arthouse touch. Nobuhiro Yamashita’s masterpieces would follow the same path a decade later, although with far more character depth. In comparison Kaurismäki’s cowboys, while nicely played by the Finnish cast, are little more than walking sketches.

The Woman in Black: 3.5/5

Well played supernatural ghost story with a few jolts and shocks and a good performance from Daniel Radcliffe. Rather creepy in places but would have been creepier if I wasnt distracted by loud whispering/talking, laughing/giggling at inappropriate moments and mobiles etc

grim_tales wrote:The Woman in Black: 3.5/5

Well played supernatural ghost story with a few jolts and shocks thought you and a good performance from Daniel Radcliffe. Rather creepy in places but would have been creepier if I wasnt distracted by loud whispering/talking, laughing/giggling at inappropriate moments and mobiles etc

thought you would've grabbed this from a newsgroup.been around for a while.

Hopefully the DVD will be uncut and I'll check it out then.

What do you mean Sam?

Deadfall (1993) - 1.5/5

I rented this to see Nic Cage's most mental performance, but unfortunately he was only in some of the film, check out how amazingly hilarious he is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwb9kWRrT4