Film

Review: The Lookalike (2014)

Posted on by indiemacuser

From director Richard Grey and writer Michele Davis-Gray, The Lookalike is a gritty noir thriller starring Justin Long (also a Producer on the film), Gillian Jacobs, John Corbett & Steven Bauer.

This plays like any other drug deal gone bad, mixed-morals thriller. I did however find the plot baffling and hard to follow at times. The screenplay seems to assume you will figure out the back story as you go along as there are no real exposition scenes at the start of the film. It uses that old device of introducing us gradually to the characters intertwining tales; but this has been done better by others many times before.

Justin Long playslookalike1 Holt, the socially-conscious flatmate of drug dealer Joe who sparks up a romance with junkie Lacey (Gillian Jacobs); but as the story develops we see there is more to this interaction than meets the eye. Long turns in his usual quirky performance. Continue reading →

Blu-ray Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past – Empire Magazine Edition

Posted on by indiemacuser

Written by Lewis Mainwaring

After seeing this film on opening night way back in May, I had this on pre-order straight away. IMG_1255_Fotor_CollageAvailable exclusively on Amazon.co.uk this limited edition        Blu-ray comes packaged as a hardback book and features the exclusive  promotional tie-in covers from Empire Magazine.

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Cardiff Film & Comic Con – Sunday 9th Nov ’14

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Event Reporters – Ben Gummery & Lewis Mainwaring

This was our first ‘con’ as ‘Official Press’ thanks to Showmasters !!!!  This was our third overall convention (having attended CFCC ’13 & LFCC Summer ’14). Held at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena for the third time in a row.

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Guests that attended today’s event included:- Harry Melling (Harry Potter Film Franchise), Catrin Stewart (Doctor Who – Revived series), Finn Jones (Game of Thrones), Jeremy Bulloch (Star Wars Film Franchise) & Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who – Classic series & The Hobbit Trilogy).
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Horror ‘B’ Movies – Bats (1999)

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In the run up to Halloween this year; I’m looking at some horror ‘B’ movies that are watched mostly for the sheer comic value of the laughable story, production & performances. Horror is a genre which continues to deliver this type of film in spades.
These films have picked up a cult following over the years however.

Bats (1999)
IMDb 3.6/10 – Rotten Tomatoes 17% – Budget £6.5 Million / Opening $4.7 Millionbatslc1bats
The eponymous ‘batastrophe‘ from director Louis Morneau is a comedy of errors right from the start; but not intentionally so. It also deserves some kind of award for the number of times the characters say the name of the film. The ludicrous plot borrows heavily from many stereotypes of the small town horror/disaster genre and the result is only worth watching for the comic value.  It did manage to spawn a TV movie sequel ‘Bats: Human Harvest (2007)‘ for the SyFy channel. The bats here are a poor patchwork of CGI, animatronics and real bats. Continue reading →

Review: Open Grave (2013)

Posted on by indiemacuser

Open Grave is the new thriller/drama from Spanish director Gonzalo López-Gallego(Apollo 18) and writers Eddie & Chris Borey. The film stars Sharlto Copley (Elysium/District 9/Maleficent), Thomas Kretschmann (Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and Josie Ho (Contagion).

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We open boldly with a stylised shot of Sharlto (John/Jonah) gasping for breath and seeing only by candle-light; discovering for the first time his strange and scary situation, waking up in a huge pit of corpses having no memory of who he is, where he came from, where he is now or how he got there. He soon realises he is not alone however when he finds a house that is occupied by others in a similar predicament. None of them know how they got there or what connection they have with each other.

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Review: Debug (2014)

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Debug is the 2014 Sci-Fi/Thriller big screen debut from writer/director David Hewlett (better known for his sci-fi acting roles such as Stargate & Rise of The Planet of the Apes) and stars Adrian Holmes, Jeananne Goossen and Jason Momoa.

The story resolves around a team of criminal computer hackers that have been sent into space by the Department of Corrections to help salvage old ships by over-riding their computer systems. This seems like an easy job; until they come across an abandoned prison ship. As they interact with the various virtual elements of the ship’s system they s4-debugoon realise it is fighting back in a very real and physical way as it turns the team on each other.

This is hardly new territory in sci-fi (i.e. the Alien franchise starts with a similar premise and there is of course Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Oddyssey) however the hacker angle does provide a fresh and interesting new take on this. All that said I feel the film is well executed but did not particularly stand out for me. Jason Momoa’s performance is ominous and unnervingly evil as the ships AI Iam.

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Review: Reaper (2014)

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Not to be confused with the TV series of the same name; Reaper is the 2014 thriller/horror from director Philip Shih and writers Mark James/James Jurdi. The film features a strong cast including Danny Trejo (Machete Kills), Vinnie Jones (Snatch), Shayla Beesley (Sex and the USA), Jake Busey (From Dusk Till Dawn – TV Series), Christopher Judge (Stargate) and James Jurdi (Pocket Listing).

Reaper (2014) _thumbThe story plays out initially like a typical road horror movie in the tradition of The Hills Have Eyes & The Hitcher. Hitch-hiker Natalie (Beesley) gets a ride with happy-go-lucky travelling salesman Bill (Busey). When Bill crosses the line Natalie turns the tables on him and we learn there is much more than meets the eye to this girl. This leads her to run into drug runner Brad (Jurdi) who is carrying out a pick-up for tough criminal boss Rob (Jones). Later on the pair meet Jack (Trejo) at the suitably named ‘Last Chance Hotel’ and the story turns somewhat sinister. The twists in this tale remind me a lot of Tarrentino’s writing for From Dusk Till Dawn.

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Objects of Desire: Special Edition Blu-Rays – Part One

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As appreciated by film geeks everywhere; there is much more to a good DVD or Blu-Ray release than simply the film itself. The appeal comes equally from the packing, presentation, special features & promotional items that are included with the set. These range from well designed standard jewel cases all the way to through to full-blown promotional sets.  Here I examine a few such sets from my own collection and elsewhere.

Breaking Bad: The Complete Series (Deluxe Barrel Edition)

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This set is packaged in a stylish ‘barrel’ case in homage to the shows final season. The discs for each series are stored in plastics rings sealed with magnets (another reference to the show). Also included is a Los Pollos Hermanos apron, booklet and challenge coin. The top of the barrel contains a ‘secret’ compartment with a bonus features disc. Over 55 hours of special features are included as well as a brand new two-hour documentary.

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1OVE (2014) – ‘A Romantic Comedy For Pop Music Nerds’

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1OVE is a fun internet comedy short from GDB Films; written by G. Daniel Bailey & directed by Reynaldo Rodriguez.

The ensemble cast includes G. Daniel Bailey, Laura TenZijthoff. Keith C. Wade (Burn Notice, Graceland) and Frank Francisco (Univision’s Va Por Ti).IMG_1918-0

The concept here is ‘a romantic comedy for pop music nerds‘. This is achieved through the dialogue which is mostly referencing or byorrowed from well known song lyrics (both recent and classic). With everything from Rihanna to The Who there is something for everyone here. Continue reading →

My Favourite Movie Soundtrack: Reservoir Dogs (1992)

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In 1992, Quentin Tarrentino exploded onto the independent cinema scene with his violent and ferocious debut film Reservoir Dogs which featured an ensemble cast including Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen & Tarrentino himself.reservoir_dogs

This film showed the beginnings of Tarrentino’s bold and unique film-making style that was further developed in later films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. He was unafraid of using on-screen violence as a tool to shock and thrill audiences. He also created believable and relatable characters through the use of everyday conversation and pop culture references of the time; you could almost imagine these violent criminals were someone you might know.

But one aspect that really sets this film aside is the use of music. Continue reading →