Non-Stop (2014) Movie Review; A good old action film with twist after twist!

I remember the media slating this film on release, lot’s of comments about Liam Neeson cashing in on his ”Taken” fame.

Well the last point may be true but who cares ? , this film is entertaining, you have the who done it or who is it element along with the action which is all jammed into a commercial airline on its way to London.

The pace of the film is just right, if this was made in the 90’s it would been marketed like a Die Hard film and given the reception it deserves, now days and it seems fashionable to be first in line to slam a film, I watch most films regardless of the commercial reviews, in this case I’m glad I did, I would argue that this is possibly Liam’s best film since ” Taken” with regards to his action films.

7.5/10

KO

Interesting facts –

Roughly 200 extras were cast and stayed throughout filming.

Liam Neeson has frequently been cast as an American agent or soldier, but this a rare such film where his Irish accent, which Neeson uses in all his films, is acknowledged and explained.

September 11th is never specifically mentioned by name, although it is directly referenced several times.

Liam Neeson‘s character name in this film is Bill Marks. In Taken (2008) his name is Bryan Mills. Both share the initials ‘B.M.’.

You can watch this film for free at – http://g2g.fm/forum/showthread.php?4622-Non-Stop-%282014%29-720p-BluRay-Download-Online-Streaming-Subtitles

Tapped out (2014) Movie Review; Using UFC stars to market this Shi* film!

Let me start by saying I love the UFC, since the death of the big heavyweight boxing stars of the 80’s & 90’s the world needed something new and the UFC after some fine tuning has taken over as the number one fighting sport.

So back to this movie and I am afraid there are spoilers included, lets start with the ridiculous script, a boy watches his parents get murdered at some traffic lights when their car gets jacked, the boy spots that the murderer has a unique tattoo on the back of his neck, years later and the boy looks about 15, while casually being took along to a low-grade MMA event he spots his long-lost murderer in the shape of the local champion (Krzysztof Soszynski) he instantly runs away from the event and informs the police that at last he has found the man who killed his folks, the actor playing the policemen shows as much interest in this tail as he would if the boy was reporting his cat missing, the cops acting is outstandingly awful which is an achievement in a film filled with bad acting.

So after police show no interest in cutting their unsolved murder stats the ”BOY” decides his only option is to train and fight the monster that shot his parents, now I know what your thinking, this is where one of the UFC  stars arrive in the movie, nope, instead the writer brings in former Terminator killer ”Michael Biehn” yes he is the man who is going to train a teenager who weighs in at 70 pound to fight a man weighing 300 pound and also giving away two foot in height, the killer has years of experience and is trained in all martial arts, Kyle Reese is trained in Karate, I don’t ever see karate gyms around anymore, but OK.

The kid gets his ass kicked by everyone, including a very old Michael Biehn, when Michael is not drinking whiskey in secret or telling the lad not pork his daughter, the lad is watching Michael drink in secret and eventually pork’s his daughter.

Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida are in the film for less than five minutes, I would love to see how much they got paid, they tell the kid that he is rubbish but that anything is possible, with this script I agree fellas!

To the finale –

The ”Kid” beats several grown men in one night to get his opportunity to fight the killer, in the same night, for $50,000!!!!!

In reality the kid had more chance of beating, cancer,aids and leprosy in one night but I kept on watching with disbelief.

In the final fight the killer hurts his own knee and eventually has to ”tap out”, the $50,000 is handed to the kid in a suit case full of notes, this always happens when you win prize money I am told, ( I would hate to see the size of Floyd Mayweathers suitcase), without thinking ( much like the writer of this film) the kid donates the money to his alcoholic, karate teaching, terminator killing tutor and tells him he can have the money for his training camp.

Just before the end credits arrive you see the kid’s grandfather reading a paper with the headline, MMA star admits to murder! talk about leaving the biggest laugh til the end, my god, so let me get this straight, a man gets away with murder a decade ago, even though there was no real evidence to convict he now feels a large amount of guilt and sympathy for the boy who has just beat him in the ring so decides to put his hands up and accept a life sentence for a double murder charge!!!!

Allan Ungar ( The writer) please stop taking acid or drinking so much, I can only believe that this was the reason for such a crazy and mental script.

1/10

KO

 

A Night in Old Mexico (2014) Movie Review; An enjoyable road movie!

I think Robert Duvall is America’s answer to Sir Michael Caine, they have both made a million films and show no signs of slowing down.

Robert possesses that quality that makes you feel comfortable in the knowledge that he will always deliver a convincing performance, he has many expressions but his face translates a quality of a man who has lived and has character regardless of the role he is playing.

Red Bovie is an old Cowboy forced to sell his land and move into an old people’s retirement home for the poor, Bovie has a change of heart when his nephew arrives out of the blue and decides instead that there is more life left in his old bones yet, the story between the two of them is what makes the film.

This is not a classic but there is enough in it to be enjoyable, there seem to be a spate of these type of films in the 80’s/ 90’s ( Road trips / adventure seekers) so it feels fresh after a lull and has lots of life lessons along that way that doesn’t come off as too preachy.

Worthy of a watch.

7/10

KO

Anna – Mindscape (2014) Movie Review; Great idea, rushed ending.

I love a good thriller, in fact I would probably say this genre has become my favourite the older I get.

Anna / Mindscape is filled with great actors and the story is not bad, when a memory man in the shape of Mark Strong is asked to visit a girl named Anna my brain tweaked with the endless possibilities that were available to the writer and the director, to have someone who can hold your hands and revisit your memories makes for an entertaining an interesting idea.

Mark Strong is solid as usual, Tasissa Farmiga has that creepy quality which allows your begin the guessing game of where the story is going, with all the foundations for the story and film beginning so well the film eventually disappoints, there are so many questions pinned up on the screen that you look forward to the revelation only for the film to be wrapped up like the police arriving to close down a teenagers alcoholic party, I don’t know if they ran out of money or time but the end just feels very rushed and left me feeling unsatisfied as a viewer.

5/10

KO

The Double (2014) Movie Review; The style of the film reminds me of a really bad hangover

Jessie Eisenberg is a very talented man, he alone is what drew me to this project, before we get started I know there are people out there that will defend everything that Dostoyevsky writes, his books may be classics but this film is certainly not.

The style of the film reminds me of a really bad hangover were everyone seems to be talking very loudly and the vision seems to have a dark grey lens in place.

I think this film will split a lot of people, it’s not total rubbish I would just say that there is not enough in the film to keep you interested for the 93 minutes, if this was a short film lasting ten minutes I would applaud it but there is simply not enough for a feature film.

People will bang on about hidden meanings and complex issues, I think to  enter this world on film you have to create a lot of love, likability or intrigue in the first quarter, this movie ruins any chance of this with the style and the lead actor, Jessie is a great actor but he is all wrong for this role, he normally plays a cocky, dry witted asshole, straight away you are fighting the urge to believe that he is some wimpy coward.

5/10

KO

 

Godzilla (1998) Movie Review; Sleepy Zzzzzzzzila

I am looking forward to seeing the recent version of Godzilla with Brian Cranston (2014), I thought it would not be a bad idea to watch the 1998 version with Matthew Broderick, each time I see the trailer for the 1998 version with the old man fishing on the end of the pier and Godzilla rising from the water I forget what a pile of sh*t this movie was.

Everyone loves Broderick from Ferris Beullers days off, but in this role he is anxiously boring, if he walked into a room you would not notice him he so forgettable, his love interest in the movie fits into the same bracket, so forgetting about the romance in the film you are still stuck with a hundred foot monster walking the streets, the CGI effects are not very believable, before long you feel like you are on a ride at Universal studios.

Even the fabulous Jean Reno cannot save the day, he offers a certain amount of charm but it is lost with all the crap that is going on around him.

Best trailer to one of the worst films ever made!

3/10

KO

Interesting facts –

In a television interview, Matthew Broderick said that the entire cast were given wet suits to wear underneath their costumes while filming in Hawaii. He was upset because his wet suit zipped up in the back, which made it difficult to put on every day. One day during a break in filming, he was talking with co-star Hank Azaria, who had his shirt off, revealing a wet suit that zipped up in front. Broderick remarked, “Oh, your wet suit zips up in front.” Puzzled, Azaria replied, “They ALL zip up in front.” Broderick had been putting his wet suit on backward every day.

 

The film’s first teaser trailer began appearing in theater a full year before the film was released. The trailer contained a shot of Godzilla’s foot coming through the roof of a museum and crushing a T-Rex skeleton. This scene was cut from the final version of the movie. It cost $600,000

 

The film created quite a backlash among the fan base of the original series. The fans conceived a nickname to distinguish this film from the original: G.I.N.O., which is an acronym for “Godzilla in Name Only,” indicating their despise for it.

 

Before Hank Azaria‘s character runs atop cars to get footage of Godzilla, he looks up and says Aw Jeez, using the voice of his character Moe Szyslak on The Simpsons (1989).

 

Halfway through a screening, Kenpachiro Satsuma, who played Godzilla from 1985-1995, walked out, saying “It’s not Godzilla. It doesn’t have the spirit.”

 

The original plans called for two sequels to be produced. These plans were scrapped due to the poor reception of this film.

 

At the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards, the film was nominated for five Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. It took home two overall for Maria Pitillo as Worst Supporting Actress and for the film as Worst Remake or Sequel.

 

 

Make your Move ( 2014) Movie Review; Another Dance movie :(

I started watching this in the vain hope that it was a tribute to Clint Eastwood, instead by gut feeling was right and it was another dance movie with ” ATTITUDE”, my wife loves these movies, I must say for the dancing and not so much the story or the acting so that means I am stuck with seeing nearly all of them.

I have noticed they all share the same plot, somebody wants to dance, a dance group of some kind are not so keen on newcomers , a girl has no intention of falling in love, but before she has taken off her funky cap the close-ups and relaxed touching begins…..

I find the extras in the background more annoying that anything else, they create the opposite reaction to reality and instead of booing some ego maniac who has just taken over the stage and starts dancing like an erratic outpatient, everyone is smiling in the crowd, clapping and responding like Beyoncé and Jay Z are on stage.

Rant over, shame this genre is not!

1/10

KO

Devils Knot ( 2014) Movie Review:A Pointless movie !

This movie has already been made only a few years back, they took the heart breaking documentary from 2012 (West of Memphis) and created a film, everything is the same apart from the fact that you have Colin Firth hanging around in the background telling anyone who will listen that these boys are innocent.

If the documentary didn’t exist I could fully understand the makers wanting to make this film, as they brought nothing new to the story I don’t understand what they were trying to achieve so soon after the documentary was released.

If you are not aware of the story, three boys go missing and then shortly afterwards their bodies are found in the local lake, when three boys are arrested for their murders everything seems tied up until investigators start checking on the evidence collected.

There is a scene in this film that shows the three dead bodies being pulled out of the water, for me this was too much, I understand the need to show what happened but there are ways of showing, this scene left a bad taste in the mouth for myself and showed disrespect to the families concerned, this was not a fictional horror.

If you have not seen the documentary you may enjoy this film, for me the documentary is better as for one you hear the story from the people involved, and they go into more details and facts than this film does (Ref Turtles).

5/10

KO

 

Monuments Men (2014) Movie Review; Very disappointing !

Very disappointing movie, you have such talent on show but in my opinion this story was not worth telling and the end result is a borefest that seems to just go on, and on, and on…..

I was picturing a quirky Oceans 11 based around war-time, instead you are left with a goofy John Goodman, a wasted and tired looking Bill Murray, even George Clooneys faultless cool starts wavering early on, Matt Damon  has one joke throughout the film which circles around the fact he can’t speak french but tries his best.

Overall the movie just does not work, the group of actors chemistry is all wrong and not sensing any electricity all you are left with is dour film that tries to explain how some art is worth risking soldiers lives for, if you agree or disagree the movie still sucks, by the way I disagree, it’s the equivalent of the recent war in Iraq when the first thing America and the UK soldiers did was secure the oil fields, like back then and now, it all comes down to money and who gets to have some.

4/10

KO

Generation Iron ( 2013) Movie Review; All juice and no personality!

I have watched Pumping Iron (1977) a million times, each time the movie ends I convince myself that I am going to start training like Arnold and Louie, the movie is a pure Jem, even if you don’t have an interest in the sport, the story between Arnold the extrovert and Louie the introvert is fascinating.

Fast forward forty years and we have ” Generation Iron 2013” there are several body builders all giving their reasons why they should win the Mr Olympia contest, before long each competitor merges into another, in the finale the film starts to focus on the two men tipped to win it, Kai Green and Phil Heath, it becomes clear early on that there is no one with star quality in this film, Arnold was more than a big guy, he had personality, his ego and arrogance shines at the camera, matched with this you had Lou Ferrignos naive shy innocence.

Micky Rourke narrates the film, I like Micky but his voice sounds like he has just smoked a hedgehog, his vocal talents do not match the story very well in my opinion, after twenty minutes you have to remind yourself that you are not listening to Sin City 2.

Kai Green is a monster of a man but when he opens his mouth you can barely understand what he says, you could argue that Lou was in the same boat but when I watch Kai I see a man who is desperate for fame and success, if he was to get this via bodybuilding or reality TV he would not care.

Phil Heath looks fantastic but he too is missing that character that made Pumping Iron such a hit, he doubts himself and seems very self conscious about his media image, I am not taking away the men’s commitment to the sport, I just feel this movie is an example of all the things that society has become, to be a celebrity is key to everything, I know Arnold was ambitious but he played the game a little smarter than these current crop of posers.

6/10

KO