Skyline

Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his girlfriend Elaine (Scotty Thompson) visit his successful best friend Turk…I mean Terry (Donald Faison). Terry from what I gather is Jarrod’s old mate and is a big successful somebody living luxurious high-rise apartment in LA, an apartment that nearly the entire film is constricted to.  When strange blue hypnotic lights descend on the city, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an alien army sucks them into the sky and eats their brains the friends must find a way out of the city and escape the invasion all while not looking up!

Skyline, the alien invasion film about brain eating extra-terrestrials that distract you with little blue lights and then grab you! The little blue lights have mesmerising effect on anyone who sets eyes on them… sort of like how women get over Edward Cullan. The lights cause their flesh to explode with varicose veins, and their eyes to glaze over… again sort of like Edward Cullan. This blue light phenomenon is never explained or understood why it is needed in the movie… exactly like Edward Cullan. Im just thankful it was only 94 minutes or my eyes would of glazed over, my brain turned to mush and be totally overcome with the weight of the sheer blandness of it!  Skyline is tired, lame and predictable following in the line of Cloverfield and District 9.  The script is horrible the story is useless and the characters are flat one dimensional and carry no substance!  Honestly I was rooting for the aliens the whole way through. The special effects are spectacular, and even more impressive when you realize it was all done by a couple of guys sitting in there front room but all the special effects can’t get over the dull boring and un-sympathetic acting style, its really nothing more than a big screen B movie!

Why did I choose this movie, why indeed! It looked so good in the promos and the trailers, the special effects looked spitcacular with a nod towards movies like Independence Day but sadly it wasn’t! It looks like it was directed by a brain dead baboon, written by a drunk tramp with a wrench in his pocket and edited together by a disembodied hand suspended in ethanol. Seriously the people who wrote this cant tell a story worth spit, but damn those special effects are cool.  The thing that annoys me most is the untapped potential of this movie. The aliens are somewhat intriguing and kind of like zombies because they crave brains.  The tag line was “Don’t Look Up” but it should of been “Script is Terrible , Acting is laughable , FX are amazing” I can’t say much more than just do yourself a favour and miss this one out!

My Rating: F-
Format: Rental Download (NetFli)
I Would Not Buy This Movie

Inception

Complicated as the architecture of this movie is the story itself is relatively simple. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are corporate spies specializing in “extraction” the art of entering a subject’s subconscious while in a dream state, to extract their deepest secrets. Cobb is the absolute best at what he does making him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Saito (Ken Watanabe) approaches the pair with a job unlike any other, it’s not extraction but Inception, The implantation of an idea so deep in the subjects subconscious that they believe that it is their own. Desperate to return to his two young children Cobb accepts Saito’s job and offer safe passage back to the United States as payment. Cobb and Arthur put together a crack team, Eames (Tom Hardy), Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and Ariadne (Ellen Page) who travel into the deepest recesses of the mind of their mark, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and implant the idea that will make Saito incredibly rich.

The cast attached to this movie is nothing short of astounding and the chemistry between them is fantastic.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy are perfect together both at odds in looks and mannerisms.  On further reading I found their relationship is a metaphor of left brain/right brain interaction. Marion Cotillard’s elegant and powerfull beauty demands you pay attention.  Her screen presence is felt with an overwhelming ferocity.  The sex appeal of this woman is off the chart, an inviting gaze that whispers “love me” and a body that screams “take me to bed” she is an alluring goddess that no man could resist.  Ellen page who is also undoubtedly beautiful was perfectly cast in the role as the immensely talented architect whose inquisitive and hopeful personality lends well to the darker more tormented nature of Leonardo’s character Cobb. Everything in this movie is emotionally charged!  The score for Inception by Hans Zimmer is astounding, I bought it and listen to it quite a lot.  It has a haunting way of interweaving with the plot but on its own still beautifully melodic.  Its intensity wither on a grand thumping horns or on a simple piano key is mesmerizing and brings in the ambient world that this movie creates. I would urge to  but the soundtrack for its on intrinsic beauty and listen to it.

Why did I choose this movie, it is undoubtedly one of the best mind-blowing movies I have ever watched, and it gets better upon every revisit. Writer Director Christopher Nolan is a mastermind film architect, and Inception is a feat of complicated construction. It works on so many different levels, all at once managing to be a smart action thriller, a poignant and grief filled drama and an examination into the recesses of our minds that are completely unknown. Christopher Nolan is a visionary filmmaker I would put him up there with my all-time favourite Directors like Peter Jackson, Tim Burton and John Hughes among others. I would love for him to get his hands on Doctor Who could you imagine what he would do with that about of scope!  It is rare that a movie will get away with ambiguity but Inception in parts is left up to the interpretation of the watcher, you will get what I mean when you watch it. Most of the cast have worked with Nolan before most notably in The Dark Knight Rises with Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine and all are epically fantastic. It won an Oscar and a BAFTA for visual effects which is not surprising at all when you watch the beautifully sculpted cinematography in all its glory. This is am ridiculously intense, sophisticated thought proving and visual astounding masterpiece.

My Rating: A*
Format: Blu-Ray
I Own This Movie
Artwork By: Aruno

Akira

“I am Tetsuo” – Tetsuo

On July 16, 1988 an atom bomb vaporizes Tokyo. 31 years after WW3 in 2019, Neo-Tokyo has risen, a decrepit city filled with violence and desolation.  In this chaotic future a teenage motorcycle gang member Kaneda finds his best friend Tetsuo get involved with a secret government project known as Akira, who endeavour to unlock godlike powers of the mysterious Akira and in doing so transform Tetsuo into a rampaging homicidal telepath.  Kaneda desperate to save his friend joins up with an anti-government movement and goes in search of the mysterious Akira, a telepath even more powerful than Tetsuo.

I sat down to watch this knowing nothing about it other than it was an acclaimed Anime Movie.  Its dark motorcycle gang warfare set in the back drop of an imagined Neo-Tokyo looked utterly stunning, and even more impressive when you realize it was entirely hand drawn. The film itself is based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, a hugely popular Japanese comic. It has the feeling of all these small elements being brought together to form the greater story, the Teenage rebellion and over all dissatisfied youth and society’s fear of that youth, it just explodes on the screen.     The movie takes place in 2019 and depicts Neo-Tokyo creating a new Olympic stadium. Coincidentally, Tokyo is scheduled to host the 2020 Summer Olympics which I am unsure they wold of been are of back then.

Why did I chose this movie? Akira is regarded as a revolutionary movie in the anime film world, one that not only influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed, but led the way for a growth in the popularity of anime movies outside of Japan. It was for this reason that I chose to add it to my list of 32Things, Anime being something I have always wanted to get into a lot more.  While watching the stunning visuals I kept thinking how a live action version would be epic, and even a live action TV series.  This visually astonishing, dark, apocalyptic science fiction adrenaline ride will have you glued to your seat for the whole two hour running time.  The genius of what captures you so much is the linking of the apocalyptic aspects with the rage of the dissatisfied teenagers.  I watched a dubbed version but I will be picking up the subtitled version when I can.

My Rating: A
Format: Download (I-Tunes)
I Would Buy This Movie

Children Who Chase Lost Voices

Children Who Chase Lost Voices is a Japanese Anime film created and directed by Makoto Shinkai.  I watched this movie not knowing anything about it and find it hard to summarise the plot because of it. This movie really is something you must discover for yourself but in essence and in its most basic form it is a coming of age story centring on a young girl Asuna who spends her after school hours in a special place listening to strange music on a crystal radio.  When Asuna is rescued by a mysterious boy Shun, she is drawn into a larger world more ancient and mysterious than she could ever dream of.  The story about young love and a mourning husband leads Asuna and her teacher Mr. Morisaki deep into a hidden world beneath the earth on an adventure to find what was once lost to them both.

It is a completely different movie experience watching a subtitled anime movie, reading while watching and listening all merge together and it becomes almost instinctive.  It is my first real experience with this genre and I was instantly captivated by the complexity and beauty of the story and art in which is visualized.  You are instantly drawn into this world, immersed totally in artwork of unimaginable beauty.  The stunning detail that is put into every scene from sprawling vistas to the wind blowing though the grass is subtle and mesmerizing.  The music is graceful and tender fitting each scene perfectly coupled with the voices which are in Japanese I found myself unable and unwilling to look away.  The visionary is astounding, completely otherworldly and new and instantly familiar and ancient.  Some of my friends hear the words subtitled and are instantly turned off but I will say this to you all now, don’t be.  If you give this the attention it deserves you will be carried deep into a journey that will take you through a plethora of emotions.

Why did I chose this movie?  I had been wanting to watch this for months now but I knew as it was subtitled It was not the type of film I could just put on.  I needed to wait until I was ready to really watch it and I am so glad that I did.  Giving this film the attention it deserved I was immensely rewarded. It is a stunning work of art and it moved me more than I can say.  I truly believe I watched this at the right time, because it spoke to me, silly as that may sound but it did.   It is a touching and captivating journey about the meaning of friendship, of love and loss, truth and mistrust, but most importantly of letting go and saying goodbye.  It is a movie that I know when I watch again I will find something new, its altogether a book and a movie and I urge all of you to watch it at some point when you have a quiet evening to yourself.

Rating: A
Format: Blu-ray
I Own This Movie

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Ten years have passed since the ALZ-113 Virus or “Simian Flu” swiped across the globe killing all but those genetically immune.  Those who survived the virus faced the nightmare that followed, riots and starvation brought what was left of the human race to the brink of extension.   The ape population however thrived, having no contact with the troubles of the humans they built a new home in the Muir Woods, north of San Francisco where we last saw them at the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  When a small band of humans ventures into the woods to restart a hydroelectric dam that will provide power to the city a fragile peace is reached between the apes and humans.  However peace proves short-lived, as mistrust and old animosities both sides lead to an oncoming war that will define who will arise as Earth’s dominant species.

I am falling into the trap of not wanting to say too much because it is the subtle nuances, the delicate shift in relationships between the characters, human and ape alike that makes this movie so much more than a Si-Fi Action Thriller.  It is a real dramatic piece of film making, the apes more than hold their own on screen and you feel for them as much as the humans.  The overall plot is there to move the story along from beginning to end but it’s the interaction between the characters, the journey each ape and human take that was at the heart of the movie.  You see the personal struggles of the apes mirrored in the human counterparts how the build up to war comes not only from hate but from a love.  Family, and the need to protect that family is at the core of this movie and it’s hard to pick out a classic bad guy because you really can relate to them all, and no one is necessarily evil.

Why did I chose this movie?  I have been wanting to watch it for a while, keep going to other shows but this past Tuesday  Keith and I took  a trip to see it.    I can honestly say that if the entire movie was just Apes it would have been just as watchable.  The special effects team have done their job so well that you don’t realize its special effects.  The apes look absolutely real, even on the extreme close ups, its breath-taking. The cast is phenomenal.  On the ape cast we Andy Serkis returning as Caesar leader of the ape population along side Toby Kebbell as Koba, his second in command. Karin Konoval plays Maurice, the lovable kind hearted Bornean orangutan who is a big nod towards Dr. Zaius from the original and Nick Thurston as Blue Eyes, Caesar young son. On the human side we have Jason Clarke  Keri Russell and Kodi Smit-McPhee playing the family unit who bond with the apes while Gary Oldman and Kirk Acevedo playing parts on the desperate human survivors.  The soundtrack, again which I have purchased was amazing, big thanks to LOST’S Michael Giacchino for that one.  You will go through the full range of human emotion with this one, it’s a little bit long so get comfy but it is well worth the watch!

Rating: A
Format: Cinema (Movie House: Coleraine)
I Would Buy This Movie
Artwork by: Edward Julian Moran II