2007 / USA/ 190 minutes
Director: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Screenplay: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Michael Biehn, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Genre: Action, horror, crime, science-fiction
This film is a homage to the world of "grindhouse" cinema. Grindhouses were cinemas that specialised in low-budget exploitation films in the 1970s. The movies they showed were usually not very good quality and often released in damaged prints, and they were often shown in double bills are all night marathons. Here we have what you might be letting yourself in for at a double feature at the grindhouse.
The program kicks off with Planet Terror, directed by Robert Rodriguez, in which the residents of a small Texan town struggle to survive against a virus which turns people into hideous, flesh-eating zombie like monsters. Next up is Death Proof, directed by Quentin Tarantino, in which women are pursued by a psychopathic stuntman who kills his victims with a customised "death proof" stunt car. To add to the fun, the films are preceded by trailers for fake movies: Machete (which did become a feature film in 2010), Werewolf Women of the SS, directed by Rob Zombie, a homage to the Nazi exploitation sub-genre, Don't, directed by Edgar Wright, a tribute to the Hammer Horror films, and Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth, a tribute to the holiday themed slasher movie sub-genre.
It's a very entertaining show, and certainly full of action, however the excessive violence and callousness, as well as the plot holes and bizarre quality of the films will not be to everyone's taste. The film is made to look like a grindhouse show, including scratched film, washed out colours, missing reels, out of focus images, and at several points the film seemingly burning up in the projector, which adds to the authenticity, but at times does become quite irritating.
Grindhouse underperformed at the US box office and so Planet Terror and Death Proof were released internationally in extended versions as separate stand alone movies.
Showing posts with label science-fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science-fiction. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Her
2013 / USA/ 126 minutes
Director: Spike Jonze
Screenplay: Spike Jonze
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt
Genre: Science-fiction, romance, drama
This film is set in a near future Los Angeles. Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) is in the process of divorcing his wife, Catherine (Mara), and works writing heartfelt, intimate letters to people on behalf of clients who either can't or won't write their letters themselves. One day Theodore installs a new, talking, computer operating system (voiced by Johansson) with artificial intelligence, that can seemingly learn, adapt and evolve. Calling itself Samantha, the operating system soon becomes invaluable to Theodore, and they soon fall in love.
This is a surprisingly sweet, and heartfelt romantic film despite it's science-fiction trappings. There is a genuine poignancy in Theodore and Samantha's relationship. Phoenix gives a great performance as the lonely, soulful writer who can only really express himself when he is writing letters posing as someone else. Johansson however, is the real standout with her entirely vocal performance as the operating system. There are wonderfully quirky science-fiction touches such as voice operated computers that mimic human handwriting, and the world that the film creates is far enough away that it seems strange and yet close enough to our own that it feels all too plausible.
This is a wonderful film and one of the best love stories of recent times.
Director: Spike Jonze
Screenplay: Spike Jonze
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt
Genre: Science-fiction, romance, drama
This film is set in a near future Los Angeles. Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) is in the process of divorcing his wife, Catherine (Mara), and works writing heartfelt, intimate letters to people on behalf of clients who either can't or won't write their letters themselves. One day Theodore installs a new, talking, computer operating system (voiced by Johansson) with artificial intelligence, that can seemingly learn, adapt and evolve. Calling itself Samantha, the operating system soon becomes invaluable to Theodore, and they soon fall in love.
This is a surprisingly sweet, and heartfelt romantic film despite it's science-fiction trappings. There is a genuine poignancy in Theodore and Samantha's relationship. Phoenix gives a great performance as the lonely, soulful writer who can only really express himself when he is writing letters posing as someone else. Johansson however, is the real standout with her entirely vocal performance as the operating system. There are wonderfully quirky science-fiction touches such as voice operated computers that mimic human handwriting, and the world that the film creates is far enough away that it seems strange and yet close enough to our own that it feels all too plausible.
This is a wonderful film and one of the best love stories of recent times.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Gravity
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Screenplay: Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
This film is kind of a disaster movie in space. Doctor Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission, accompanied by veteran astronaut Matthew Kowalski (Clooney). Their mission is to perform maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope. They run into trouble when they are struck by high speed debris from a destroyed satellite. Ryan becomes detached and is sent spinning off into space. With oxygen rapidly diminishing and the shuttle destroyed they have to stay alive and fund a way to return home.
This film is almost entirely a two-hander between Bullock and Clooney. They are the only characters on screen, even though there are radio transmissions from other astronauts and Mission Control. The film is a staggeringly beautiful experience as the astronauts and spacecraft tumble and fall against backdrops of starfields and the earth so near and so far.
It is also anchored by two powerful performances, particularly from Bullock who really provides the film's heart and soul as the terrified and vulnerable and yet strong and resourceful Ryan.
It is definitely advisable to see it on the biggest screen you can and also in 3-D. Yes, it is one of those very rare films where 3-D is actually a huge benefit to the experience.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Screenplay: Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
This film is kind of a disaster movie in space. Doctor Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission, accompanied by veteran astronaut Matthew Kowalski (Clooney). Their mission is to perform maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope. They run into trouble when they are struck by high speed debris from a destroyed satellite. Ryan becomes detached and is sent spinning off into space. With oxygen rapidly diminishing and the shuttle destroyed they have to stay alive and fund a way to return home.
This film is almost entirely a two-hander between Bullock and Clooney. They are the only characters on screen, even though there are radio transmissions from other astronauts and Mission Control. The film is a staggeringly beautiful experience as the astronauts and spacecraft tumble and fall against backdrops of starfields and the earth so near and so far.
It is also anchored by two powerful performances, particularly from Bullock who really provides the film's heart and soul as the terrified and vulnerable and yet strong and resourceful Ryan.
It is definitely advisable to see it on the biggest screen you can and also in 3-D. Yes, it is one of those very rare films where 3-D is actually a huge benefit to the experience.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
The Darkest Hour
Year of Release: 2011
Director: Chris Gorak
Screenplay: Joe Spaihts, story by Leslie Bohem, M.T. Ahern and Joe Spaihts
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman
This alien invasion movie opens with two American entrepreneurs, Sean (Hirsch) and Ben(Minghella), who travel to Moscow to sell their new idea for a social networking site. However when they arrive they discover that their Swedish partner, Skyler (Kinnaman), has betrayed them and sold the idea beneath them. Drowning their sorrows in a club, Ben and Sean meet tourists Natalie (Thirlby) and Anne (Taylor). Suddenly, however, the city comes under attack from invisible aliens who disintegrate people. By the morning, Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne and Skyler are forced to venture out to find safety and other survivors while avoiding the aggressive aliens.
This film really is pretty terrible. The storyline is full of clichés and the characters are almost non-existent. There are some effective sequences, with the deserted Moscow streets being very evocative, and there is some tension in certain scenes. The problem is that there is very little suspense, probably most fans of this type of film would be able to easily guess who is going to live or die, and the storyline is fairly predictable, pretty much involving the same pattern where the characters rest up somewhere and then realise that they should get to somewhere else necessitating a dangerous trek across the city. The aliens themselves, although largely invisible, make their presence known by appearing as kind of golden, glowing dust clouds and causing electrical items to flicker.
Director: Chris Gorak
Screenplay: Joe Spaihts, story by Leslie Bohem, M.T. Ahern and Joe Spaihts
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman
This alien invasion movie opens with two American entrepreneurs, Sean (Hirsch) and Ben(Minghella), who travel to Moscow to sell their new idea for a social networking site. However when they arrive they discover that their Swedish partner, Skyler (Kinnaman), has betrayed them and sold the idea beneath them. Drowning their sorrows in a club, Ben and Sean meet tourists Natalie (Thirlby) and Anne (Taylor). Suddenly, however, the city comes under attack from invisible aliens who disintegrate people. By the morning, Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne and Skyler are forced to venture out to find safety and other survivors while avoiding the aggressive aliens.
This film really is pretty terrible. The storyline is full of clichés and the characters are almost non-existent. There are some effective sequences, with the deserted Moscow streets being very evocative, and there is some tension in certain scenes. The problem is that there is very little suspense, probably most fans of this type of film would be able to easily guess who is going to live or die, and the storyline is fairly predictable, pretty much involving the same pattern where the characters rest up somewhere and then realise that they should get to somewhere else necessitating a dangerous trek across the city. The aliens themselves, although largely invisible, make their presence known by appearing as kind of golden, glowing dust clouds and causing electrical items to flicker.
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