Thursday, September 30, 2010

HaX0rZzZz

Nabbed myself a copy of Hackers on DVD the other day and just got round to a first time viewing last night.  My wrap up goes a little something like this...

Hackers is a 1995 film starring Angelina Jolie and some other actors, who were completely eclipsed and overshadowed by Jolie.  The film was intended to be an action-packed, ultra-cool, and at the time, innovative forray into the uber-l337 supernerd subculture.

Don't watch this film with the expectation of being blown away, it is however, quite entertaining and capable of providing some laughs, action, and some light hearted-fun.  The acting doesn't stand out, there's nothing special in that regard.  The special effects are funny but hard to take serious, and it kind of pains me to say it but the same could be said about the rest of the film in all honesty.  Nothing stands up and screams for attention aside from, perhaps the subject material, which I can imagine at the time of this film's release, would have been reasonably significant.

There are two more good points I should mention about this film as well, you get to see Angelina Jolies tits ;-)

I know this film is held in high regard in certain circles and I can understand why.  Theres's some cult potential here, and I think its one of the few films where Angelina Jolie actually looks as attractive as people make her out to be.  I'm going to recommend this film, it isn't phenomenal, but it is good entertainment.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Nothing new film-wise...

I haven't had a chance to see anything noteworty recently.  This is mainly due to the fact that I picked up Mass Effect 2 the other day and have been unable to leave my computer since. 


I absolutely love this game.  The gameplay is well-crafted and intuitive at all the right times, the settings and world design are an absolute delight to play through, and the storyline so far seems to be pretty solid and interesting.

I never played the original Mass Effect, but if its anything like this I'll have to add it to my to-do list. 


Great game, but its killing all my time. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Easy A

Last night I saw Easy A, as I indicated I would in an earlier post.  Nice enough film. 

People will see this film and find it both very tempting and easy to write it off as teen comedy garbage, and I'll be honest, in a lot of ways, it probably is.  However, I'm not saying this was a bad film, as far as teen comedy garbage goes, this is a pretty standout example of the genre. 

Emma Stone plays Olive Penderghast, an unpopular, unnoticed high school (or community college or something?) student who invents a tale of her sexual escapades, to recount to her best friend.  Her story is overheard, and pretty soon everyone in the entire school thinks shes a massive superslut.  Olive decides, that this need not necessarily be a bad thing, and basically decides to troll everyone into thinking shes a massive whore.  Teenage shenanigans ensue, reputations are ruined, people get some serious butthurt, people get some serious payback, roll credits. 

If anyone is able to look past the teen spoof aspects of this film, there's actually some pretty impressive acting, and very clever dialogue.  Emma Stone is fantastic, she delivers an energetic performance and slips into character so very nicely.  The roles of her parents are also filled brilliantly by Stanley Tucci, and Patricia Clarkson, their performances earn this film significant merit. 

Sadly there were some pretty cringeworthy moments weaved into what would of otherwise been a completely entertaining film.  The storyline itself doesn't really stand out as anything special either. 

Look there are deffinitely some lulz to be had here, it won't win any awards, but if you're sitting around home this weekend thinking "maybe I should leave the house this month" like I do every so often, then do yourself a favour and kill 92 minutes and $16 with this film. 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Kids Are Alright

Ok, ok so after seeing this film some may accuse me of indie-dabbling douche-baggery but I think when a film manages to score 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, it's earnt my patronage. 

Starring Mark Ruffalo (one of my favorite actors), Julianne Moore, and Annette Bening, the film centres around some kids who are allright. 

Ok it isn't quite that straightforward, basically; Moore and Bening are a Lesbian couple, they have some kids, who were concieved by a sperm donation, the kids grow up, they learn that Ruffalo was the bloke that provided their...ermmm...donation I guess....Then Ruffalo's life becomes intertwined with theirs, and then some shit no one cares about happens.  The End.

Acting in this film is A+.  Brilliant performances all round.  Direction is nicely done, and the plot tells a pretty cool story (bro).  I did have some criticisms though, the most striking of which would be poor time management on the writing/directorial side of things.  It ended way too abruptly, there was a lot to keep track of in this film, a lot of sub-plots and backstory, and it just kind of felt like towards the end it got to a point where they realised what they were making was pretty lengthy and they just had to kind of forcefully shut everything down without tying the storyline off properly. 

Nonetheless, the film was enjoyable, there were some lols to be had, and some great performances.  I'm not quite sure it's 96% material but it wasn't exactly a long way from it either. 

Friday, September 17, 2010

Recent blog...what recent blog?

Again guys, sorry but no film review, I've had a huge week at work, and last night I bought a new laptop.  So between working, sleeping, and configuring my new toy I haven't had time to scratch my arse, much less watch a movie or review something. 

I've made plans to get to the cinema tomorrow (or should I say, today), and will hopefully have something call to write about tomorrow night. 

Pic related; its the Asus K52JC I picked up last night.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Currently Watching.

Sorry no film review today, just this filler piece instead.

I like to keep a steady stream of TV on DVD flowing through my DVD player.  I'm currently making my way through The Seinfeld Series, and have just started season 4. 

I know people hold this show in very high regard, and after only seeing the first three seasons (chronologically, and in their entirity) I can see why.  Its a great showcase of comedy that the audience can often relate to. 

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Falling Down

"I've never like you, you wanna know why?  You don't curse.  I don't trust a man that doesn't curse.  Not a 'fuck' or a 'shit' in all these years, real men curse..."

Some of you may have been wondering why I named this blog Falling Down...wait...no, in fact I doubt any of you have been wondering that.  Nonetheless, I'll go ahead and reveal my motivations, this blog is named after the 1993 film of the same name, starring Michael Douglas, and Robert Duvall. 

Basically the film revolves around a button down white-collar worker (Douglas) who on one hot Summer's day whilst stuck in gridlocked LA traffic, basically decides, "fuck this shit, I'm going postal".  He abandons his car and sets off on a walk across the city.  Along the way he does a lot of lulzy social adjustment stuff, but eventually his out of control temper and discontent for society causes him to go too far. 

The great thing about this film is the way the character's actions transverse a moral greyscale.  Some of the things he does you agree on, thinking "yeah!  There are some people in my city that really deserve that!" but as I said before eventually he crosses a line, the beauty of which, is that the line can be drawn at a different place, for different people.  In other words, the audience is constantly questioning themselves about whether or not they agree with the point he's trying to deliver. 

Duvall plays an old-timer cop on the eve of retirement trying to track him down, pretty decent performance on his part. 

Anyway, its a great film, I highly recommend it...



Oh and back to my original point, the reason I named by blog after this film?  Well the case just happened to be sitting on my desk at the time I created it.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Emma Stone anyone?

'Easy A' drops locally for me on the 16th of this month.  I think I'm gonna check it out, it doesn't look particularly good, but I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for Emma Stone.  It probably has something to do with 'Zombieland'.  Quite frankly I'd brave endless hoardes of the undead if meant I got to be next to her for most it.  





In other news, 'The Other Guys' is out, and I can't for the life of me figure out if I want to see it or not.  I think Wahlberg is a fantastic performer, and I enjoy 99% of what he does, but on the other hand, I absolutely loathe Will Ferrel and can't bring myself to watch any of his films without contemplating becoming an hero. 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Tomorrow when the hurrpa durrped

I checked this out recently, and I'll be honest, I was surprised for anumber of reasons.  Firstly, it was actually half decent, a rare quality in Australain films.  And, secondly, it delivered a far greater homage to the original John Marsden novel (I read the series in high school, they were, and still are some of my favourite ever novels) than the trailers in the lead up to its release suggested. 

It wasn't above criticism by any means, some of the scenes were very unplausible, and some of them were a little cringeworthy. 

Breathtaking scenery, standout cinematography and a damn fine looking lead actress were the standout features of this film. 

7/10 - I was impressed, and entertained...
I should also warn you not to be put off by this appauling poster, it looks like a product of my year 11 design class...

Friday, September 3, 2010

Last movie I saw in the cinema...

So I have this blog, might as well talk about something amirite?

Directed:  Roman Polanski
Cast:  Pierce Brosnan,  Ewan McGregor, That slag from sex and the city.

It's been pretty slow going in the cinemas recently, last half decent thing I found myself watching was Ghost Writer. 
Solid film, great scenery/setting, fairly decent acting, perhaps a tad dissapointing in story development.  Remided me a lot of the coastal parts of Point Lookout, which I loved.

6.5/10

First Post...thinking about putting some sort of template in place...you know...for aesthetics...