Moon (UK, 2009)

This film has been lauded and is even rated in the top 250 by imdb users; why? I don’t know as I found it  overwhelmingly derivative: 2001: A Space Odyssey (UK-US, 1969), Silent Running (US, 1972), Dark Star (US, 1974), Solaris (USSR, 1971, US, 2002),  Android (US, 1982) and The Truman Show (US, 1999). Of [...]

Quatermass and the Pit (UK, 1967)

The image above might suggest a rather tacky, low budget SF-horror movie but this is a terrific example of Hammer horror. It’s not the Gothic remakes, featuring Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster, but Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass, a character who first (and last in 2005) appeared on TV. Whilst some of the characterisation, the paternal academics, has [...]

Star Trek (US, 2009)

The new Star Trek has been, like Casino Royale, described as a reboot. Both were long running series that had grounded; the makeover for Bond was based on ‘going gritty and serious’ to distinguish it from Brosnan’s parody (though Connery had parodied too). Star Trek, however, had always taken itself seriously so that option wasn’t [...]

Blindness (Canada-Brazil-Japan, 2008)

A Lord of the Flies for the 21st century. This harrowing film , based on Nobel prize winner Jose Saramago’s novel, investigates what happens if everybody goes blind. The first sufferers are interned in an old hospital and the main section of the film investigates the dynamics of what might happen. The film is science [...]

Wall-E (US, 2008)

As you can see above, Wall-E looks terrific. It’s not just the landscape, the character’s worry about being conveyed across the solar system is indicated subtlely by his eyes and the film works so well, primarily, because of the characterisation. Much of the first half of the film is a ’silent’ movie where we learn [...]

Wanted (US, 2008)

‘Who’s watching the watchers?’

Up until the last 20 mins I quite enjoyed this routine (ie heavily generic) action feature with some eye-popping stunts. Then its subtleties kicked in and it revealed itself as a very clever play on the action genre (with its boring rites of violence passage). The visuals are impressive throughout, presumably from [...]

The Happening (US-India, 2008)

The end of the world as we know it?

Like Cloverfield (two posts ago) The Happening is an obvious disquisition on the west’s ‘war on terror’ intermingled with the ongoing climatic disaster. The opening half is terrific, a mixture of stunning imagery (the builders falling off buildings) and portentous threat. However, it’s difficult to deliver on [...]

Cloverfield (US, 2008)

American liberty has lost its head.

It’s taken 10 years for Blair Witch (1999) to get a proper sequel. Whilst Cloverfield is not as effective as its predecessor, it is a fascinating take on a (western) world at war on terror. It’s not just the camcorder aesthetic that is so effective, much of what is happening [...]

Blade Runner – The Final Cut (US 2007)

Blade Runner – The Final Cut looks and sounds better than ever
Even if the difference between ‘the final cut’ and the ‘director’s cut’ is minimal it was still worth releasing because, in the DVD version at least, it both looks and sounds better than ever. I’ve probably seen the film 15 times in [...]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (US, 2004)

This has fantastic production design and the sexist banter between Law and Paltrow serve to humanise the CGI. Not sure why this did so badly at the box office as there’s enough thrills to keep the narrative going. Maybe the cod-RAF, stiff Brit routines didn’t play well.
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