March 28th, 2010 by
Robert
The X Files was a fine television show for its time. A feature film seemed a great idea, and all the quality we have come to expect from the show has been transferred successfully into the new format. The only problem is, film is bigger than TV. What we are left with is a fine episode of The X Files the TV show thrown onto a big screen. Mulder and Scully are left to run around in a world of suddenly expanded possibility, but the film makers fail to scale the concept up to fulfil the potential that it brings. Read the rest of this entry »
March 25th, 2010 by
Robert
It’s been a good year for a dodgy genre. There have been two great superhero flicks made - a bit of an achievement for a genre so riddled with bad films that the mediocre ones have almost felt like triumphs. The first great film was Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight. With an utterly different, but just as fresh an approach to the genre, comes Jon Favreau’s Iron Man.
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March 24th, 2010 by
Robert
Not as bad as I had expected from a C-grade 80’s sequel, but still no world-beater. I’m not squeamish, but a couple of scenes in this were pretty gross, and completely gratuitous.
March 24th, 2010 by
Robert
John Wyndham had a tendency to write stories that set up some really funky situations, but which then failed to develop properly as satisfying plotlines. Based on his book, The Midwich Cuckoos, Village of the Damned suffers from the same problem. Read the rest of this entry »
March 22nd, 2010 by
Robert
It’s obvious that the intention was to make this look like a comic book transferred to the big screen. Nothing new there. But the result of the cheap film enhancement director Kurt Wimmer deploys is that it turns out looking like a poorly rendered computer game. Read the rest of this entry »
March 19th, 2010 by
Robert
Well, I mean, come on. Once you’ve forked out the necessary cash to walk through the cinema doors, or even to walk out of the video store with your copy of Resident Evil: Extinction tucked firmly under your arm, what do you expect? Subtle characterisation? A devilishly intricate plot? Of course not - you expect lots of blood, lots of gore, and lots of slow motion fighting. In which case, this film won’t disappoint you. Read the rest of this entry »
March 13th, 2010 by
Robert
You can just imagine the pitch to the producers: “It’s Godzilla meets the Blair Witch Project!” Yep, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty silly, but there’s a lot to like about this modern take on the old giant monster movie format. Read the rest of this entry »