Archive for August, 2009
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Released 28th August 2009
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The Final Destination is big, bold, brassy and literally right in your face action - it is over the top and all the better for it! Ok, so the story may have been done before, but there is a new generation on the block that may not have seen the original, and deciding to do this latest instalment in 3D was not only genius, but, quite simply, the perfect way to conclude the Final Destination franchise.
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From the moment it starts you are playing the guessing game; when, who and how death will begin its gory disposal of unsuspecting victims. It opens with an explosive car race disaster and as much as you try and play it cool, you will jumping back in your seats as the debris comes hurtling out of the screen right at you.
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Released 28th August 2009
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The excellent Vincent Cassel excels again, exuding arrogance, defiance and devilish charm as the brutal Public Enemy No.1, Jacques Mesrine. In Jean-François Richet’s immensely enjoyable sequel to Killer Instinct we revel in watching Cassel taking the brazen and dangerous showman to new heights, as Mesrine gets caught up in his own inflated self-importance that subsequently becomes his downfall. The second part is equally well acted and well directed, and a perfect compliment to the first, oozing more apparent black humour in its wake.
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Released 28th August 2009
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‘Adam Sandler in a drama’ is a phrase that doesn’t instantly spring to mind. Indeed, Sandler in an Judd Apatow drama most certainly sounds like a contradiction in terms, given the Superbad and Knocked Up writer/director’s usual observant and lighter - some might say - slapstick comedic style. But by going for the dramedy angle, or drama about comedy, Apatow has achieved his best film yet, the directorial triumph of his trilogy. This is possibly due to the heartfelt and emotional subject matter of past life experiences that are dear to Apatow - the life of a comic performer. This may seem somewhat self-indulgent of a man who had to admit long ago that he wasn’t cut out for stand-up, but Funny People works because we can appreciate the highs and lows of the job of entertaining people, and this is dealt with seriously and openly, which makes it… funny.
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Released 28th August
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Every now and then you are knocked for six by a film that puts its money where its mouth is, and just delivers on what it sets out to do. Visionary Point Break director Kathryn Bigelow, teamed with ex-journalist-cum-screenwriter Mark Boal have achieved just that with a quietly sobering, yet thrilling look at life on the ‘real front’ in Iraq but, thankfully, with no nauseating political agenda, and no judgement or end resolution offered. This is a film that gives the serving soldier a voice, so much so, you often forget that the men in the story are actually acting.
