Prometheus

Excitement ran through my veins; expectations were high I was about to indulge myself in the new creation by the creator of sci-fi horror.  A prequel to the 1979 classic, (all you will hear from everyone is that it's not exactly a prequel; I disagree) Prometheus looked and sounded fantastic on the trailers and I was therefore holding my breath . . .

Beautiful, thought provoking and well acted, especially Fassbender as David, Prometheus is definitely worth a watch, despite the fact I felt disappointed for a couple of reasons.  At first I thought it was the lack of action, but then thinking back the somewhat gruesome action scenes were my favourite parts of the film.  Then I realised why it did not live up to my expectations.  Because it was Ridley Scott.   I expected more, more action, more story, more explanations, none of which seemed to appear throughout.

Michael Fassbender kept me entertained as he wonderfully portrayed a robot made to look human as 'humans are more comfortable interacting with their own kind.'  This quote stayed in my mind as it seemed an oxymoron that the expedition was to meet our makers whom were not expected to be human.

The team on Promotheus (with the exception of Vickers played rather well by Charlize Theron) set out on the mission to meet the 'engineers' that builti humans to find out the meaning of life, only to be met by anger and violence, depcited in this film as punishment for our curiosity perhaps? 

What I really enjoyed about this film was the anticipation throughout; I was tense due to being scared, exactly how a horror movie should make you feel, and the sci-fi parts in between were well scripted and well acted, although the 'twist' (I highlight thispoint in inverted commas as I was unsure if it was meant to be a twist) seemed extremely obvious.  I also find myself asking questions about one of the main characters which was sadly answered; I couldn't hep but feel that the film would have had more of an edge if it hadn't been answered.  (I would like to explain this further, however I don't want to ruin the film for you!)

For me Prometheus was entertaining although slightly too long, and very gruesome in parts which is a positive point, for me at least!   I realise that was the second time I have used the word gruesome, the reason being that is the first word I used when I came out of the cinema to decribe it!

I would recommend going to see this on the big screen as it's worth it for quite a few of the big scenes, however if you are expecting an Alien prequel masterpiece as offered in the trailers, you will be disappointed.  Despite this, definitely worth a watch, even if you are not a fan of the original Alien movies (But that would be crazy, am I right?!)

Now Ridley, if you're reading this, I would really like to see a film about the whole creation and thought process of David, I was simply fascinated by his character . . . I will wait . . . !

Until next time film fans

CCC

Block In My View

As amusing as it was atmospheric, Attack the Block is a superb display of previously undiscovered talent with regard to the script, acting and score.

Some movie goers may criticise the monsters displayed in this film, as they weren't the most well designed feature, however I found the way it was filmed very Hitchcockian in that it's not what you see, it is what you don't see which forces you to use your imagination.  All great movie makers know this is the best way to draw in the audience as the unwritten gruesome parts are left up to us to fill in the blanks.

I especially liked the way the this film made the audience begin to sympathise and start to like Moses and his 'delinquent' friends, despite the first scene when they rob Sam, quite literally the 'girl next door' whom we all know and like.  It is a twist of fate of how she becomes involved with the gang, and this film wonderfully shows how we humans can forgive and even start to like people we would usually not associate with when our life depends on it!

The script was superb; very witty one-liners to make you laugh out loud is most likely what you will hear from people that have seen the film.  Unfortunately I must admit despite the underlying issues with regard to the way the police were portrayed, I don't think this film displayed any hidden depth or substance.  This was not promised in the trailers, however I still somehow felt disappointed as the credits started rolling . . .

Despite this, for a quick-paced sci-fi comedy, Attack the Block was well written, well performed and I must say the best thing for me was the score.  The music added very well to the feeling of the film during the suspense scenes, and gave me goosebumps in some parts, which is very rare!

If I did not know any better, I would not have known that this film was produced by the same people that produced Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, as this film was such a refreshing change. 

I cannot imagine Attack the Block will go down in cinema history, however Jo Cornish did a great job and I did thoroughly enjoy watching it.

Until next time film fans.

CCC

Monsters

I realise this film is not a new release, however I really enjoyed it and thus wanted to share my thoughts on my new discovery, a treasure of the alien film world.. 

Understandably, this film has been compared to District 9, due to the storyline; the main difference is that Monsters is much more related to relationships and human behaviours.  This was demonstrated very well in the scene where Andrew, played beautifully by Scoot McNairy, pays a ridiculous amount of money for a boat to get them to safety, avoiding the infected area.  Unfortuantely the last boat is not until the following morning.  When Andrew and Samantha go to the boat in the morning, they are forced to pay again.  This demonstrates the selfishness that I wuold imagine experiencing if the situation were to occur in reality.

The 'travelling to get back to safety' story seems like it should be outdated and uninteresting, however director Gareth Edwards certainly exceeded my expectations when I soon realised this was not the usual action-packed alien vs. human battlefield which usually ensues in films of this sort.  The characters are in depth and very believable; they have accepted the situation and the realism in this acceptance is undeniable.

The blurry hand-held camera used is the new modern approach to film-making (this was namely demonstrated in Blair Witch and Cloverfield), however I have found this to be disappointing in the past. I find it usually makes it more difficult to focus on what is actually happening, however again the director has managed to make this an art and turned it into a lifelike documentary style approach, without the characters appearing to actually be documenting the story as per the previous films mentioned.  Perhaps his work on 'In the Shadow of the Moon', a British documentary on the US manned missions to the moon, helped him ascertain such great skills to draw in  the viewer.

The last scene, there was no conversation between the two main characters; it was beautiful, meaningful and summed up the relationship between the main characters through the actions of the aliens.  Two of the aliens (which are rarely seen alive by non-military humans) come together, spend a special moment in time to converse, or make love or whatever the viewer interprets it to be, then go their separate ways.  I cannot describe to you the impact of the scene, this is one you will have to watch yourselves I'm afraid, but it is well worth the wait.  Simple and emotive, a great end to a thoroughly enjoyable and beautiful film.  Well worth viewing, but not a lighthearted film.  Be preapred to be engaged when you watch it - distractions will ruin it, so turn off your Blackberry or Iphone (if it's important, they will leave you a message!), sit back and enjoy.

I will be going to see Attack the Block soon (alien films seem to be a running theme in my reviews at the moment!).  This is a Film4 production written and directed by Joe Cornish - that's right, remeber the Adam and Joe show!! I am pretty excited about this one so watch this space.

Until next time fellow film goers, thanks for reading.

CCC

The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous!

My friends and I had a discussion (not so recently admittedly, but my friends keep telling me to blog about it!) about certain films as a simple 'is it good or bad?' basis.  You would think this would be an easy discussion, however it turns out there are more categories than meets the eye, as you are about to find out!

The argument is that there are good films, but as you would not watch them again, they can then be classified as good bad films, becuase you won't watch them again.  The first film that came to my mind was The Road.  Beautiful, poetic, well written and superbly directed, it is a great film.  I would not watch it again, for reasons I don't want to bore you with, but for those that have seen it, I am sure you will agree.

Now, the next vategory is a bad film that is good, i.e it is not very well made, however due to something that appeals to the viewer, you can watch it over and over again.  Anchorman, and Clueless are good examples of these types of films.  Not much to offer the viewer but humour and another world to absorb into if you just want some easy watching.

Then there are the good good films, one of mine is The Shawshank Redemption.  My usual cinema companion disputed this, stating he would not watch it again and again, as I do, thus the theory starts to fail a little here due to differing opinions!

The last category - the bad bad films.  Now this is a hard film to make, yet certain people in the industry still think it's a good idea, and despite what their familes/colleagues/friends etc tell them, still insist on these films being projected mysteriously into our lives, and why?  Well, not all films can be good or bad.  Or good bad.  Or bad good, or bad bad . . . and so on!  A bad bad film - the worst film I have ever seen?  I will have to think about that one and get back to you next time.  If you can name a bad bad film, please feel free to leave comments, I will be very interetsed to read them!

Until next time, thanks for reading.

CCC

Dream Date

The queues were huge, the cinema was packed, and I was getting that nervous-excited feeling I get when a film has been so hyped-up and I'm just about to see it but I'm nervous in case I don't like it!  I am of course referring to Inception.  The most talked about film of 2010 (probably - a year is a long time to remember ALL the films that are released!)  I did not think it was dissappointing, unlike my usual cinema companion.  I find that this is the one major problem when films are so hyped up that you're expecting it to take everything to a whole new level. (Those of you that thought Blair Witch was as good as everyone said it would be can stop reading -  NOW!)

I thought the idea was excellent, the cinematography original, the complex idea explained well, despite a lot of people suggesting it was a difficult film to follow. This also includes my sister, a very intelligent but young mind, agreeing with the majority that it was hard to follow despite understanding the general idea of the whole plot. The only downfall was the end for me, almost as if the producers, writers and directors could not agree on whether to make it a typical happy Hollywood ending or a twisted bitter ending.  They left it to us to decide because they couldn't.  I do not like this!  If you're going to make a film, make a complete film.  Perhaps my impatience and need for results could bias my opinion here, but nonetheless, I find this lazy approach extremely frustrating, although I do know the majority will disagree with my unusual opinion.  I'm sure the majority enjoyed deciding for themselves and were pleased it was not the typical cheesy ending that we all pretend to hate but secretly feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

The acting was mediocre; Leonardo in his typical moody and disturbed role (similar to his earlier films such as Basketball Diaries) and the other characters I felt were somewhat vacant; not due to theur acting but the lack of intelligent script for them to utilise.

Despite the character flaws and poor script, I got what I expected from the film hence no dissappointment.  It was a great and unusual idea and has excellent action sequences; I just wish the in-between bits were slightly more fulfilling, and an actual ending would have been nice!

SkyLine will be the next topic, although again I feel the butterflies - the nerves are kicking in as I have heard the rumours about the poor acting.  I'll be finding out and blogging about it myself soon enough . . .

Thanks for reading

CCC

Red Thursday

At 8:35 last night, I walked into the cinema full of apprehension assuming 'Red' would be fairly predictable and mildly -if at all - amusing.  I was quickly proved wrong and I was very happy about it! More violent than I expected, it reminded me a lot of Expendables due to the older casting aspect of the film.  The script focused a little on the age factor which added rather nicely to the humour and plot of the film.  If you haven't seen the film, the basic plot is about ex-black ops agents that are on a hitlist along with a few others. (As you may or may not know, RED stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous.)

John Malkovich, as always, plays a fantastic character - I won't ruin it for you but his one-liners are cracking!  Bruce Willis is . . . Bruce Willis, a very similar character to John McClane in the Die Hard quadrilogy, perhaps a little more mellow yet still charismatic.  Helen Mirren does not steal the show but surprised me as the elegant yet lethal Victoria - a great and somewhat different role to that which we are used to seeing her play.

Despite the major players in the movie, the other main characters hold their own with fierce performances from Rebecca Pidgeon and Karl Urban which I was most impressed with.

RED has a decent plot to keep you entertained, great actors all round and humour to make you laugh out loud.  Not the best script in the world but a couple of the action scenes make up for it, despite being a little short - I felt myself wanting just a little more before the end of the scene.   

RED was thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, a little sloppy with some of the editing I thought, but go see it, it's definitely worth it!

I am about to introduce 'Inception' to my sister and will be asking her for her (rather young) opinion afterwards.  I'll let you know on Monday what she (and I) thought of the most hyped up film of 2010!

So until next time faithful film buffs - thanks for reading.

CCC

At First Glance

Inception, Expendables, The A-Team, Salt, Losers . . . Just a few of my favourite films of late! You might have worked out that I am a bit of an action junkie when it comes to films, although I aim to surprise very soon with a few reviews of my all time favourite films. 

I am very much looking forward to writing about Red, as I am undecided on the concept however very fond of the actors; good casting is a must for me, for example Sharlto Copley in District 9 was intense and very emotive, yet very different in his role in the A-Team, encapsulating the essence of the film with ease in both roles.

To give you a taste of what lies ahead for Picture This, I will very shortly be reviewing newly released films, as well as my top ten favourite films and any others I watch in between!  And don't worry, they won't all be action films, I have a very eclectic taste as many people do, so you'll also be reading about classic horrors, comedies, war films, documentaries, sci-fi's and anything else I can get my eyes and ears on!  I am very much looking forward to Skyline, although the plot seems to regurgitate similar stories to those such as Cloverfield and Independence day.  Obviously all Aliens are bad and want to take over or destroy the world.  Although if they were friendly and wanted to live peacefully with all creatures on earth, it wouldn't be a great storyline would it. However there are, of  course, a few exceptions to this rule, and it's the exceptions to the rules that I like.  Unique ideas, perceptions and viewpoints all make for good viewing, Vantage Point being a very poor example.  I had such high hopes for the idea, however it was essentially the same 15 minutes of action being shown over and over again.  If that's what I wanted to watch I would stay at home and watch news 24 all day! 

So for now faithful film buffs, watch this space for new entries; I hope to be updating you bi-weekly, and I hope to make the site look a little more interesting very shortly.  Please feel free to leave your feedback, or if you would like me to review a film you love and I'll do my best!

Next update due very soon.

Thanks for reading.