Conveniently around the time or shortly after the release of The exorcist, there was the case of Anneliese Michel, who appeared to be going through the Linda Blair experience. So a lot later, someone decided to make a movie out of it. Again. Apparently there’s a film called Requiem which is also based on Anneliese’s story. But the film I just watched was The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I just briefly read some bits and pieces of the true story, and it seems the film was following the actual events pretty closely (I am not really saying anything about anyone being possessed); reading about Anneliese was like reading the synopsis of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

The Exorcist is a really good horror movie. It’s not exactly new, but its good. This one, on the other hand, is new, and the horror movies of the 21st century are a bit too polished for my taste. And on top of that, here we have a weird mixture of court room drama with a serious attempt of creating scary moments. The movie works for some, I’m sure – the mouse hiding in my sitting room got scared and ran across the room under the couch. To me, that was the best special effect in the movie, a bit of a shock really. Have to buy mouse traps. Humane ones.

All in all, a good enjoyable movie. Would have liked a bit more horror and less courtroom and someone less Jodie Foster – like lead actress. And to have that thingy at the beginning, “based on a true story” or similar, it’s always great. Like in Fargo… 😉

Ocean is back, Roberts is out, Pacino is in. How many big stars do you need to change a light bulb? Or rob Pacino?

I really enjoyed this one. I recently watched the 11 on TV, and it’s pretty much the same story again. What makes this now more enjoyable, its like watching a your favourite series, Desperate Housewives or Sopranos, Prison Break, 24, Oz, Seinfeld, you name it, because you know the characters, the characters have depth already. So there’s more to the film than just the basic plot of stealing loads of money or whatever you think they’d be going for this time. But you must be able to guess it’s a mission impossible of some sort.

What I don’t remember really seeing is Pacino playing a role like this. Certainly not his best performance. An OK choice for this role, but I felt something was missing.

Brad: Does your wife call you a lot on the set?

Matt: Gotta love the nose!

I must mention that one of my favourite French actors makes an appearance, if just a short one, in this film. Someone said this film is sexy, adding four stars after that. Well, according to the names in the poster here, the film is worth at least 8 stars… I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is a sexy film. There’s plenty of movies you can go for if that’s your cup a tea. Then again, I suppose the ladies still like Brad and George…

Not outstanding, but very entertaining film.

When I saw the trailer for Paradise Lost, I straightaway started thinking about The Beach. The trailer wasn’t bad, and films like this usually come and go, so I didn’t really get my hopes up. seeing all those skimpy bikinis made me think that no matter what, it’s not total waste of time. Entertainment.

Location for the film is really nice. Everything looks good and surely the cinematographer has enjoyed the experience. Even more underwater filming would have been nice. The story line is simple, not that there’s anything wrong with that. There’s a bad guy, and he’s bad guy with a twist I’d say.

Acting perhaps a little mediocre, but I did like the whole cast. I don’t think I actually recognized any of them. I just realized John Stockwell directed Into the Blue. So he really likes water and bikinis. I haven’t seen Into the Blue, so I only know the bits about Jessica Alba diving…

When you next rent a dvd or a vhs or ‘borrow’ a film from someone, somewhere – hopefully not with the help of p2p programs, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT waste your time with this one… 😉

Snakes on a plane

I actually went to the movies to watch snakes on a plane. well that’s money well spent… NOT.
What do we have here? Samuel L. Jackson and loads of not-so-well-done 3D snakes on a plane. Acting and style is uneven throughout, and there’s not really any point going to watch this movie, even if it is free. But if you have a thing for snakes, or Samuel, then maybe you can consider it, if you really don’t have anything better to do. For me, complete waste of time. It’s so bad, I’ve decided to rate it! Rubbish.
0/5

I googled ‘classic wes craven’, and last house on the left came seventh or so. Maybe unsurprisingly, first on the list was The Hills Have Eyes, which I may or may not review at some point… The 1970s version that is. The original Nightmare on Elmstreet might also be considered a classic in my opinion, and I may include a review of that one as well sooner rather than later.

Back to this notorious last house on the left, it certainly was an interesting piece of film history. At the time, shocking, perhaps still shocking – if a remake was done today, could it possibly capture the feel of the original? I doubt it. Everything seems to be very polished nowadays.

Enjoyable? Perhaps. Interesting? Yes. Original – well, shocking in itself is not original, and a lot of films have tried to be shocking and notorious, and often using similar means. See for yourself – it’s only a movie…

I wanted to go and watch severance when it came out, but never had the time. So I watched it on DVD. I suppose it’s a decent time filler, but it was no Shaun of the Dead. It reminded me of an old Kenny Everett film, Bloodbath in the something something, or similar. But less funny, less sex, less just about everything. Danny Dyer is of course good. In fact, all the characters are pretty good. It all starts pretty well, but it is a bit of a let down. I won’t even bother to write a long review.

I do like to see some British films occasionally, and any other non-American films really, they have a different, fresh feel.

Christina Ricci is definitely one of my favourite actresses. I’ve always liked Samuel L. Jackson as well. And I’ve never really liked Justin Timberlake, though am yet to see Alpha Dog. Luckily Justin is not around too much in this one.

If you like seeing Samuel sing and play guitar, check this out. If you like seeing Christina Ricci half naked a lot, check this out. If you want to see a good film, see this one. I know that mention about Christina is a bit out of order, but she is a pretty woman and is not wearing that much clothes in this film. I would not call this a regular erotic movie though, its not that kind of movie.

At the beginning there were some small scenes that brought to my mind Lilja 4-Ever. That’s a good movie by the way. And more touching then this one.

Samuel’s side story is not on the same level really, perhaps there was no time to concentrate on that one more – at least I think there was more to it, it did not seem complete. Otherwise a very touching film. Well cast, including Justin. And if you usually like Justin’s acting, then this should be just as good if not better.

Black Snake Moan.

Danny Boyle must be very busy nowadays. Someone else had to do this.

I just can’t find any photos of Imogen Poots… A real shame. A memorable performance in its simplicity.

You don’t see a start like this movie very often. the setup, what is it sometimes called, ‘inciting incident’ or something. Very careful build up. Made me wonder at first, then I received the reward. Nice. Well, it is a sequal, so maybe that makes it different to start with.

When 28 days later arrived came, I was quite impressed, not just about the film, but how they managed to empty roads in London. And they’ve done it again. There are some scary moments there, it was not waste of time to watch this. There were times I wished they’d ditch either Carlyle or the theme music, or both.

This is my second review on this site, so just in case its not clear: I try not to talk about the story line too much… I find it irrelevant to the review bit. don’t you agree?

I think it was Ben Jones on virginradio who said it’s pretty gory for a 21st century flick. I think he does the virgin drivetime, some time afternoon. I’m guessing he also did the film advert for radio there. There sure is a fair bit of blood here. And some good acting. Apart from a couple guys who seemed to have escaped from Doom III. The wheelchair guy from Oz was there as well, still not really walking that much.

Didn’t care for the story so much, but I can’t complain, I suppose you can’t expect too much for a film like this – it just didn’t hold together very well. Some really nice shots here though. And the ending of the film did make me smile.